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[prodystopian]

Ok PC GAF, I just got my newegg gift card for $25 and I'm thinking about getting the Sapphire card while the instant rebate is good. If I don't buy it, I'll probably be getting a new card in the next month or two. I'm upgrading from a 8800GTS 512mb, will be playing at 1920x1200 and would prefer to stay around or under $200.

Talk me into or out of this deal.

 

[scoobs]

GAF i picked up a GTX470 with my christmas money... can i expect to play everything @ 1080p on highest settings? Rest of computer is i7 860, 8gb ddr3, etc...

 

[pje122]

Can someone please put together a desktop build for my friend, preferably through Newegg:
Budget: $500-600 USD
Main Use: Gaming, Blu-Ray Playing
Monitor Resolution: 1024x768, using a 42" Plasma TV, he sits 8 feet away (I asked him if he wanted to use a higher resolution, he said no, 1024x768 was fine)
SPECIFIC games: NFS:Hot Pursuit, Black Ops, The Witcher 2, New Vegas

Edit: I noticed this link earlier in the thread, but maybe there is a better/more current build now?
http://i.imgur.com/gdc1C.png

 

[Dr.Acula]

GAF i picked up a GTX470 with my christmas money... can i expect to play everything @ 1080p on highest settings? Rest of computer is i7 860, 8gb ddr3, etc...

I got a i5 750, and GTX460 and BF:BC2 is 1080p60fps no prob for me.

 

[Trojita]

I'm about to try to overclock my Q9450 for the first time. Any tips?

 

[zaidr]

A higher clock would generally benefit you more than the additional memory. In most cases you'd be better off with 2x2GB, or 2x4GB if you needed the additional bump. If populating all the slots was the best choice you had to get above 4GB, opting for properly matched 4x2GB sticks would be better than going with 2x2+1x2.

Unless you lucked out with your particular chip, I'd be more concerned with the amount of volts that you'd need to hit 4GHz or higher for 24/7 use.

I just realized the voltage issue you described while playing around with the lower clocked ram removed. Apparently my board has trouble maintaining consistent voltage to my processor at load for anything 3.6ghz...LOADS of vdroop. I have it at 1.45 vcore in the bios, and its 1.37 at IDLE...and it just gets shittier from their, eventually crashing in a few seconds of Prime95 small FFTs. Maybe it isn't my ram, but my damn board

Do you think it would be safe, if lets say I set he vcore to something above my processors stated vcore max of 1.5 in the bios, when in reality its much lower when in windows or when under load?

Also, why do you recommend I only use 2 of the 4 ram slots? Lower temps, or is there another reason?

 

[Drkirby]

I am having Memory Corruptions issues lately, any good tools to see if it is a Driver issue? At the very least I don't think it should be the ram, since I just swapped it out for a different set (Yes, I checked if it was compatible), I have tried running it at the specifications and all auto.

 

[Ashhong]

should i trade my 512mb 4870 + 30$ for a friends 768mb GTX460?

 

[AndyMoogle]

So I picked up a GTX 460 1GB, but I'm not getting any performance gain whatsoever over my 8800GTS 512MB. I was planning on upgrading my mobo, CPU and RAM sometime next year, but I thought I would get a new GPU for now since I thought it would give me a nice boost. Apparently not. :/

Here's my current setup:
GA-P35-DS3
C2D 6750 @ 2.66 GHz
4GB DDR2 RAM
Corsair 550W

I didn't expect it to be such a bottleneck that I wouldn't see any gains at all. Now I'm considering just returning the card and waiting until I can afford to upgrade everything.

 

[scoobs]

So I picked up a GTX 460 1GB, but I'm not getting any performance gain whatsoever over my 8800GTS 512MB. I was planning on upgrading my mobo, CPU and RAM sometime next year, but I thought I would get a new GPU for now since I thought it would give me a nice boost. Apparently not. :/

Here's my current setup:
GA-P35-DS3
C2D 6750 @ 2.66 GHz
4GB DDR2 RAM
Corsair 550W

I didn't expect it to be such a bottleneck that I wouldn't see any gains at all. Now I'm considering just returning the card and waiting until I can afford to upgrade everything.

Looks like your CPU and memory are huge bottlenecks for your new GFX card. The problem with upgrading a single part of a PC is there will always be one part bogging down your performance. Tahts why whenever I make incremental upgrades its to my mobo + cpu + memory first . That way i can swap in any gfx card i want cuz my mobo is the latest and greatest.

 

[Corky]

So I picked up a GTX 460 1GB, but I'm not getting any performance gain whatsoever over my 8800GTS 512MB. I was planning on upgrading my mobo, CPU and RAM sometime next year, but I thought I would get a new GPU for now since I thought it would give me a nice boost. Apparently not. :/

Here's my current setup:
GA-P35-DS3
C2D 6750 @ 2.66 GHz
4GB DDR2 RAM
Corsair 550W

I didn't expect it to be such a bottleneck that I wouldn't see any gains at all. Now I'm considering just returning the card and waiting until I can afford to upgrade everything.

if the gpu-change didn't give you a boost then something is definitely wrong
edit : or like the dude above said, something may be severely bottlenecking your new gpu

 

[AndyMoogle]

The CPU is running near 100% all the time in the games I've played, so yeah, it's quite a bottleneck. I guess I could try to OC it a bit and see if that helps.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

So I picked up a GTX 460 1GB, but I'm not getting any performance gain whatsoever over my 8800GTS 512MB. I was planning on upgrading my mobo, CPU and RAM sometime next year, but I thought I would get a new GPU for now since I thought it would give me a nice boost. Apparently not. :/

Here's my current setup:
GA-P35-DS3
C2D 6750 @ 2.66 GHz
4GB DDR2 RAM
Corsair 550W

I didn't expect it to be such a bottleneck that I wouldn't see any gains at all. Now I'm considering just returning the card and waiting until I can afford to upgrade everything.

CPU is botlenecking you. and RAM as well.

 

[SuperAngelo64]

This is slightly off topic but I don't know where else to ask this and I certainly don't want to make an entire thread dedicated to question, so here it goes:

I recently just built a new computer. I want to have my HDTV display a duplicate of my monitor. I've been doing this for years via S-Video with my old 7600 GT card. My new computer has a GTX 460, and as a result only has 2 DVI-I slots and a mini-HDMI slot. I thought buying a DVI (male) to component (male) would do the trick, but it didn't for some reason (Even though DVI-I supposedly supports analog). So I want to know if a mini-HDMI (male) to HDMI (male) will work, running from my GTX 460 to my TV.

I'm thinking of buying this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004DKF6A2/?tag=neogaf0e-20


tl;dr, can I use my TV as a display if my videocard has a mini-HDMI outlet and my TV has a normal HDMI outlet using the cable posted in the link above.

 

[DodgyGeezerFella]

Just ordered a 6970..... im scared :lol

 

[Sanjay]

The CPU is running near 100% all the time in the games I've played, so yeah, it's quite a bottleneck. I guess I could try to OC it a bit and see if that helps.

What games do you play?

 

[Karg]

Been tracking this thread for some time, I would LOVE to say I can spend the time to build from scratch but I just know I wouldn't have the time to put to it.

So I'm hoping if anyone has had feedback experience from a custom builder?

http://www.velocitymicro.com
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com
http://www.buydirectpc.com/

I'm looking to replace my 4 year old PC, its on its last legs but I've put aside up to $2000 for a new desktop.

Its main use would be for work and some gaming (Starcraft II on High to Ultra settings would be nice). So high end processor, around 6gb 1600 RAM, SSD for main HDD and 1TB HDD for anything not application related.

Just wanted to see real feedback from someone who used a custom builder.

 

[GodofWine]

I'm posting a question on PC performance related to Crysis for a friend whose been waiting for acceptance into GAF for 8 months :lol

His question is

"I have always been a console gamer, because I never really had a PC that was capable of running the better games. About a year ago, I bought a Dell XPS 8000, which had some pretty awesome specs compared to my older PC. I recently bought Crysis (Best Buy had the 3 pack for $40), and installed it. It turns out that my rig can run Crysis pretty well on "Very High" settings across the board (not sure about the other 2 games yet), but there may be a couple of issues:

1. I want to upgrade to an HD monitor (card has an HDMI port). I have read in the past that when you play games in HD, there might be a performance hit, and I was wondering about the likelihood of this happening. If this turns out to be the case, can anyone recommend good cards around the $150 range?

2. How do I determine how many fps I'm getting? I see people mentioning this on game threads, but I'm not sure how to find out for myself. Is there an option in the menus that will allow me to do this?

Here are my specs:

Dell Studio XPS 8000
Intel® Core™ i5 CPU 750@2.67 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240
6.00 GB RAM really not sure what type of RAM, sorry.
Windows 7 64 bit

I apologize for my ignorance about this stuff, but like I said, I'm pretty new to the PC gaming scene, and I think it's better to seek advice before going out and buying something that I can't use/don't need. I guess the obvious solution is to just do the HD upgrade, and see how it goes, but I'd like to know beforehand if I'm going to have any problems.

Thank you in advance,
Shadybiz"

 

[TheExodu5]

Not sure if we do peripherals/etc questions here, but I'm in monitor hell.

I ended up buying an Asus VE248H LED LCD, and it's absolute shit. I spent a week trying to adjust it/myself, to no avail. Not sure if it's a dud, but it has terrible ghosting, and I can't match colors to save my life. No hue adjustment on the monitor, just awful. Some people on Newegg complain of the same issues leading me to believe it's the series.

So PC GAF, I need recommendations for a ~24" monitor with HDMI and really good configuration options in a price range preferably $200-250. I looked at some monitors at BestBuy today, but I could use a few more recommendations.

Protip: LED monitors suck.

 

[Metalic Sand]

So if i have around $50 for a cooler the Hyper 212+ is still a top choice? Ordering it today. Just wanted some last minute input.

 

[Corky]

So if i have around $50 for a cooler the Hyper 212+ is still a top choice? Ordering it today. Just wanted some last minute input.

no doubt

 

[ghst]

Is this worth the money, UK-GAF??




Evolution 550

£549 (£467 ex vat)

Processor
Intel® Core™ i3 550 Dual Core Procerssor (3.20GHz, 4MB Cache) - LGA1156

Software - Microsoft OS
Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium pre-installed

Case
Thermaltake V4 Black Edition Gaming Chassis

Mainboard
ASUS P7P55 LX Mainboard - Intel Core™ i - LGA 1156 / ATX

Memory
4GB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM - (2x2GB)

Hard Drive
1TB Samsung F3 SATA 7200rpm 32MB Cache Hard Drive

Graphics Card
1024MB NVIDIA Geforce GT430 Graphics Accelerator - DX11

Optical Drive
22x SATA Dual Layer DVD-Rewritable Super Format ±R/±RW/RAM

Sound Card
7.1 High Definition onboard sound card - for 8 Channel Cinema sound

Free 3 Years Gold Warranty - inc 3 Months Free Collect & Return

Power Supply Unit
550W HEC Desktop Power Supply

USB Ports
12 USB ports (6 ports at mid-board, 6 ports at back panel) - P7H55-M

nope. for £550 you should be looking be looking for something with an i5/gtx 460 at this point.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Protip: LED monitors suck.

Edge lit LED monitors suck. Local dimming and RGB LED monitors are great.

 

[Yasser]

so after splurging on steam, i now want a new graphics card and more or less had decided on the nvidia 460gtx off amazon.co.uk. however i saw an ati 6850 for £132.40 and was wondering if this card is any good? here're links to the ati and nvidia cards respectively:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...-960-stream-processors-dp-dvi-d-dl-dvi-i-hdmi and http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003VNBX9A/

any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[n0n44m]

So if i have around $50 for a cooler the Hyper 212+ is still a top choice? Ordering it today. Just wanted some last minute input.

Scythe Mugen 2 rev B has *marginally* better performance but installing it without 4 pair of hands can be quite though ( I did it though )

doubt it'll matter in terms of overclocking performance and the Hyper comes with a second pair of fanclips afaik so it's a great choice as well

 

[Metalic Sand]

Does it matter at all if you dont pair up the fans. Like say one side of the heatsink has a much faster fan?

 

[pje122]

Can someone please comment on this build? Thank you.

The build is for the following:
Budget: $500-600 USD
Main Use: Gaming, Blu-Ray Playing
Monitor Resolution: 1024x768, using a 42" Plasma TV, he sits 8 feet away (I asked him if he wanted to use a higher resolution, he said no, 1024x768 was fine)
SPECIFIC games: NFS:Hot Pursuit, Black Ops, The Witcher 2, New Vegas

 

[Metalic Sand]

What is the build for? If you plan to play games you really need to go Quad core.

Something like this atleast, $10 more well spent.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871

 

[pje122]

What is the build for? If you plan to play games you really need to go Quad core.

Something like this atleast, $10 more well spent.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871

Apparently in the BIOS you can unlock it and make it a QUAD-core... (I'm talking about the one I posted in the build list)

 

[Metalic Sand]

Apparently in the BIOS you can unlock it and make it a QUAD-core... (I'm talking about the one I posted in the build list)

GL with that. Chances are not good for unlocking a Dual to Quad especially buying now. I don't think the chances were ever that high for that anyways.

 

[pje122]

GL with that. Chances are not good for unlocking a Dual to Quad especially buying now.

OK, cool. Thanks for your help, we'll go with the one you suggested.
Any other feedback?

 

[Hazaro]

should i trade my 512mb 4870 + 30$ for a friends 768mb GTX460?

Sounds good to me.

So I picked up a GTX 460 1GB, but I'm not getting any performance gain whatsoever over my 8800GTS 512MB. I was planning on upgrading my mobo, CPU and RAM sometime next year, but I thought I would get a new GPU for now since I thought it would give me a nice boost. Apparently not. :/

Here's my current setup:
GA-P35-DS3
C2D 6750 @ 2.66 GHz
4GB DDR2 RAM
Corsair 550W

I didn't expect it to be such a bottleneck that I wouldn't see any gains at all. Now I'm considering just returning the card and waiting until I can afford to upgrade everything.

Clock your CPU a tad higher. Even if you don't see any improvement gain you can turn on a ton more settings without harming your fps.

Been tracking this thread for some time, I would LOVE to say I can spend the time to build from scratch but I just know I wouldn't have the time to put to it.

So I'm hoping if anyone has had feedback experience from a custom builder?

http://www.velocitymicro.com
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com
http://www.buydirectpc.com/

I'm looking to replace my 4 year old PC, its on its last legs but I've put aside up to $2000 for a new desktop.

Its main use would be for work and some gaming (Starcraft II on High to Ultra settings would be nice). So high end processor, around 6gb 1600 RAM, SSD for main HDD and 1TB HDD for anything not application related.

Just wanted to see real feedback from someone who used a custom builder.

If you are spending $2,000 I'd build it :lol
You only need $1,400 tops. Intel 2600K, P67 mobo, GTX 560/570/6950, 8GB, etc.

But, wait until those stores stock Sandy Bridge (January) before you buy. Also Intel and Sandforce next gen SSD's are out about that time (though a bit after SB comes out).

so after splurging on steam, i now want a new graphics card and more or less had decided on the nvidia 460gtx off amazon.co.uk. however i saw an ati 6850 for £132.40 and was wondering if this card is any good? here're links to the ati and nvidia cards respectively:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...-960-stream-processors-dp-dvi-d-dl-dvi-i-hdmi and http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003VNBX9A/

any advice is greatly appreciated

Since you are across the Atlantic, most AMD cards are better value. Go for it.

Does it matter at all if you dont pair up the fans. Like say one side of the heatsink has a much faster fan?

They can resonate funny, but that's about it. Most heatsinks will offer enough airflow resistance that it shouldn't be a problem... I think. I've always ran paired on mine.
I'd put the stronger one in front.

Can someone please comment on this build? Thank you.

The build is for the following:
Budget: $500-600 USD
Main Use: Gaming, Blu-Ray Playing
Monitor Resolution: 1024x768, using a 42" Plasma TV, he sits 8 feet away (I asked him if he wanted to use a higher resolution, he said no, 1024x768 was fine)
SPECIFIC games: NFS:Hot Pursuit, Black Ops, The Witcher 2, New Vegas

You need a quad core
You need a PSU
I'd upgrade to a GTX 460 absolutely.
Get a 1TB Samsung F3 instead.

Something similar to this (You can go cheaper on the mobo by far, 770 is fine, you can buy USB 3.0 PCI cards for like $10 if you want it): http://i.imgur.com/gdc1C.png
Ignore the RAM price, stuff has dropped a lot. Try to find any combos as well.

 

[pje122]

We already have a PSU. An Antec 450W one. Do you think that would be enough?

 

[prodystopian]

Lots of advice

Any thoughts on this:

Ok PC GAF, I just got my newegg gift card for $25 and I'm thinking about getting the Sapphire card while the instant rebate is good. If I don't buy it, I'll probably be getting a new card in the next month or two. I'm upgrading from a 8800GTS 512mb, will be playing at 1920x1200 and would prefer to stay around or under $200.

Talk me into or out of this deal.

 

[Metalic Sand]

Ordered the Hyper 212 from amazon since it was cheaper there and while i was waiting on a reply from this thread they raised it $3. Fucking amazon :lol. I still bought it.

 

[Hazaro]

If it is a smart power I'd suggest you pick up a new one.
No real good budget PSU's anymore. The wattage is fine, but it is older and since this seems to be for someone else, the less problems down the line, the better.

Corsair 400w and 450w. Most likely it'll be much easier to find the 450w. The 430w is not as good.

Any thoughts on this:

Oh yeah, that's a pretty nice deal. I meant to reply, but then started thinking to myself and closed the tab. While it is a damn nice deal I wonder if waiting on the GTX 560 (for myself) wouldn't be better. You certainly can't really go wrong with that card, just for me I might want something a tad faster while I wait for the next 'leap' in GPUs.
Since you are staying under $200 you can't really beat that price.

Ordered the Hyper 212 from amazon since it was cheaper there and while i was waiting on a reply from this thread they raised it $3. Fucking amazon :lol. I still bought it.

If you really care you can e-mail them and they'll probably give you $3 back

 

[prodystopian]

Oh yeah, that's a pretty nice deal. I meant to reply, but then started thinking to myself and closed the tab. While it is a damn nice deal I wonder if waiting on the GTX 560 (for myself) wouldn't be better. You certainly can't really go wrong with that card, just for me I might want something a tad faster while I wait for the next 'leap' in GPUs.
Since you are staying under $200 you can't really beat that price.

Haha those are my thoughts exactly and why I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Thanks.

 

[Hazaro]

Haha those are my thoughts exactly and why I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Thanks.

If you have $180 to spend now, get it. If you have $250 to spend later, wait.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Never mind. I'd hate to push you in the wrong direction.

 

[vocab]

Reformatted, and decided to not install CCC, and use Radeon Pro instead. One problem, can't find desktop color options. Any suggestions? I can't use default gamma settings, it's way too bright and gives the burnout look.

Not sure if we do peripherals/etc questions here, but I'm in monitor hell.

I ended up buying an Asus VE248H LED LCD, and it's absolute shit. I spent a week trying to adjust it/myself, to no avail. Not sure if it's a dud, but it has terrible ghosting.

That sounds horrible. I bought a VW246H just because there was no ghosting.

 

[TheExodu5]

Edge lit LED monitors suck. Local dimming and RGB LED monitors are great.

What such monitors are out there? I've only run across edge lit monitors.

 

[Pimpbaa]

What such monitors are out there? I've only run across edge lit monitors.

A google search for rgb led monitor will lead you to some. Dell makes some and puts them some of their laptops (alienware laptops in particular). Couldn't find no local dimming monitors, guess that's limited to just TVs.

 

[hyelife]

Hi
I need some help choosing out a laptop for me. I have narrowed my search down to these 2. If you guys have other suggestions please let me know. Also I'm looking for bigger screens and don't care for portability that much.

Acer AS8943G-9429 18.4-Inch = $1,449.99

• 18.4-inch CineCrystal LED-backlit widescreen display (1080p)
• 1.73 GHz Intel Core i7-740QM processor
• 500 GB SATA hard drive (5400rpm)
• 8 GB of installed DDR3 RAM(1066 mhz)
• ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 graphics

Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q896 18.4-Inch = $1,399.99

• 18.4" diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD display (1080p)
• 1.73 GHz Intel Core i7-740QM processor
• 500 GB SATA hard drive (7200rpm)
• 4 GB of installed DDR3 RAM(1066 mhz)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M

 

[Smash88]

Ugh this is terrible. I was vacuuming my room, and noticed a huge amount of dust inside the computer (while it was turned off), vacuumed around everything and I think I moved my video card. I went to start it up, it froze. Tryed reseating my RAM, CMOS, Video Card, got into windows, but after a few seconds it BSODed. Tryed SAFEMODE, BSOD. Went back and reseated my RAM, and Video Card, now I can get into safe mode and with networking as well.

I left to do something for 20 minutes, came back, figured I should try using my old 8800GT to rule out that my video card is the problem. It wouldn't boot up, probably because I didn't reset my BIOS to default. So I went to do that, by putting my GTX470 back in. I was like let me give this one last shot, got into SAFE MODE. So far so good, restarted the computer, then immediately went to the BIOS to raise my VCORE and RAM voltage, figuring it might be a voltage issue, I've had a long issue with my GTX470. Anyways, got into windows and it booted no problem, like nothing changed, I was dumbfounded. Anyone have an idea as to what happened? From what I've been reading of the BSOD's and from what I have done, it seems that me accidentally moving the video card cause it to mess up the bus or connectors, had to do it a couple of times to fix it. I really fucking hate the GTX470, next time I get a new video card I will wait and I will probably go ATI, I'm having such large amounts of trouble with there new cards. My old 8800GT after 5 years is still ROCK SOLID.

Anyways, my question was does anyone have any idea as to what caused it, and how this is all magically fixed? Could it potentially be bad RAM? Raising the VCORE and RAM Voltage, might have done something, and I'm too scared to experiment, I'm just happy it's working. Or maybe when I was vacuuming I might have cause a problem with the hard drive? The BSOD's are all about IRQ (which is memory controllers) and Windows Kernel, seems I did something by moving my video card (which definitely seems to be the cause). Anyways, I'm just glad it's fixed.

Here are the BSOD errors in case anyone has any ideas: 0x0000007e - Bug Check String: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED; 0x0000000a IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL; 0x0000003b - SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION.

I definitely must of moved something while I vacuumed to have my windows go insane.

 

[godhandiscen]

If you have $180 to spend now, get it. If you have $250 to spend later, wait.

Hazaro do you want to buy my EVGA GTX295 @ $100 + S&H? I just got my GTX 580. The 295 will certainly last you until the next gen of cards.

 

[Fredescu]

Anyways, my question was does anyone have any idea as to what caused it, and how this is all magically fixed?

Vacuum cleaners generate a lot of static electricity. There is an excellent chance you've fried a component or two. Never use a vacuum cleaner on the inside of a PC.

 

[Corleth the Fey]

Vacuum cleaners generate a lot of static electricity. There is an excellent chance you've fried a component or two. Never use a vacuum cleaner on the inside of a PC.

This times a million.

 

[Smash88]

Vacuum cleaners generate a lot of static electricity. There is an excellent chance you've fried a component or two. Never use a vacuum cleaner on the inside of a PC.

I know, I highly doubt I fried anything if I'm on my computer and everything works like nothing happened. If I fried a component I think I would've seen it by now.

 

[pje122]

OK, here is the revised build. Thanks for your previous feedback. Please let me know if this looks cool.

FYI, the PSU is pre-existing; we are not buying that new.

 

[Metalic Sand]

What about the outside of a PC? Ive vacuumed near the case before tons of times.