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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

Boonoo said:
It can happen. I have a q6600 that I've clocked up to 3.6, and I have a spread of about 5-7c between 0,1 and 2,3. This spread has persisted across any number of modifications, including lapping the cpu. One set of cores just runs a little hotter.

That's not to say that you didn't mess up the thermal paste, or that your cpu or heatsink is uneven, just that it seems some level of variance is beyond repair, and in my experience nothing to worry too much about.
(it is a pain, though, if cores 0 and 1 were 5c cooler I'd be happy)
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Thanks for the info. I guess as long as the temps don't start hitting 80c+ I'll be okay.
 
Drinking Hatorade said:
I'm sorry, I really don't know anything about Fermi but I will research it real quick since I don't understand what you mean in the bolded.

I appreciate the responses and suggestions.
Click to expand...

The GTX 470 is supposed to be on par to a 5870, and the GTX 480 is supposed to be a bit faster than the 5870.

I thought Fermi was going to be more than just those two cards, but according to Wiki, those are the only two things coming out, so pricing likely wouldn't start at less than $400.

A GTX 260 can be had for $200 at regular price, so you'd be spending $400 to run that setup SLI, which could put you around the price of a GTX 470... just something to think about.

A GTX 470 @ $400 may be a much better purchase than SLI GTX 260s for $400.
 
Ok fellas, it's becoming really close to being final. Here's what I currently have:

i7 860 processor ($230 + tax)
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P ($170 after rebate + tax)
Antec 300 Case ($30 after promo and rebate)
ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 sound card ($12 on clearance)
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V ($70 after promo and rebate)
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 7200RPM Hard Drive w/ Thermaltake BlacX External 2.5/3.5" Serial ATA Hard Drive USB Dock ($77 after combo promo)



I still need some RAM (currently looking at these that Odious Tea suggested) but my current dilemma is the video card. With my current build the temptation is to go for a 5830/5850 if it goes on sale once the fermi cards come out. But will I really need that much computing power right now (I was previously leaning toward the 5770)?

Looking at the next year or two, the games I will probably be playing that are the most graphic extensive are Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Civ 5, Dragon's Age, Dawn of Discovery and Mass Efect 2. Don't really have any interest in FPS style games like Crysis and Modern Warfare (360/PS3 is good enough for those type of games). So would something like a 5770 be sufficient enough for me and then maybe 3 years from now upgrade the GPU when needed?

FYI I will be keeping my current monitor which is an Acer AL2223W (22" WS - 1680 x 1050 - 300 cd/m2 - 800:1 - 5 ms - DVI-D) for a while.
 
fatty said:
Looking at the next year or two, the games I will probably be playing that are the most graphic extensive are Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Civ 5, Dragon's Age, Dawn of Discovery and Mass Efect 2. Don't really have any interest in FPS style games like Crysis and Modern Warfare (360/PS3 is good enough for those type of games). So would something like a 5770 be sufficient enough for me and then maybe 3 years from now upgrade the GPU when needed?

FYI I will be keeping my current monitor which is an Acer AL2223W (22" WS - 1680 x 1050 - 300 cd/m2 - 800:1 - 5 ms - DVI-D) for a while.
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All the games you've listed will run excellent on a 5770. The most demanding one is Dawn of Discovery, and that pulls around 40 maxed according to benches. The rest of those games will all run at over 60 maxed no problem, although Dragon Age has its moments.

Amazing that the 5770 @ $150 outperforms the GTX 260 @ $200 by over 10%. The temperatures and power draw of the 5770 compared to the 260 really add insult to injury. Too bad ATI doesn't have something like 3DVision.
 
richisawesome said:
XFX Radeon 5770.

I know someone on this thread has been having problems with his 5770, but I found mine for a cheap price, and couldn't resist. It's under warranty for a good long while too.
Click to expand...

I have the Sapphire version, runs like a dream. :D
 
My dad asked me for help finding a laptop so in turn I ask GAF. He wants something with speed that's lightweight and his price range is $1000-$1500. Yep, that's it. :lol
 
Violater said:
I have the Sapphire version, runs like a dream. :D
Click to expand...


Just curious, what kind of system are you running alongside that card? On a tight budget and been looking into getting a 5770, specifically a Sapphire one.
 
Minsc said:
All the games you've listed will run excellent on a 5770. The most demanding one is Dawn of Discovery, and that pulls around 40 maxed according to benches. The rest of those games will all run at over 60 maxed no problem, although Dragon Age has its moments.

Amazing that the 5770 @ $150 outperforms the GTX 260 @ $200 by over 10%. The temperatures and power draw of the 5770 compared to the 260 really add insult to injury. Too bad ATI doesn't have something like 3DVision.
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks Minsc. Down the line I might upgrade the monitor, graphics card and add a SSD but I think I'll be good to go for a couple of years.
 
Colkate said:
Just curious, what kind of system are you running alongside that card? On a tight budget and been looking into getting a 5770, specifically a Sapphire one.
Click to expand...

i7920
I spent about 1600, though I mostly do 3d modeling and renderings.
 
Can anyone suggest a really cheap but decent sound card? I'm really about to say fuck it to this Realtek Onboard audio. The Audio crackle, and popping at random is annoying as hell. It's a W7/64 bit issue so there's not much I can do.
 
Hm.

I need advice on CPU temperatures. When idle, mine runs at ~30 degrees, dipping as low as 28, and as high as 32. When stressing the processor (playing on RE5 on max, fallout 3, sega racing, After Effects), it goes anywhere up to 46 degrees - but as far as I know, it's never gone over that.

My graphics card is at a near enough constant 45 degrees celcius, going as high as 52, according to the catalyst control panel. It is a factory overclocked card.

Is this all a good set of temps to be at? I have no idea about this kind of stuff. :lol
 
Minsc said:
The GTX 470 is supposed to be on par to a 5870, and the GTX 480 is supposed to be a bit faster than the 5870.

I thought Fermi was going to be more than just those two cards, but according to Wiki, those are the only two things coming out, so pricing likely wouldn't start at less than $400.

A GTX 260 can be had for $200 at regular price, so you'd be spending $400 to run that setup SLI, which could put you around the price of a GTX 470... just something to think about.

A GTX 470 @ $400 may be a much better purchase than SLI GTX 260s for $400.
Click to expand...

I see what you're saying. Thanks. So either way if i went with dual gtx 260's or gtx 470 what processor do u recommend?
 
richisawesome said:
Hm.

I need advice on CPU temperatures. When idle, mine runs at ~30 degrees, dipping as low as 28, and as high as 32. When stressing the processor (playing on RE5 on max, fallout 3, sega racing, After Effects), it goes anywhere up to 46 degrees - but as far as I know, it's never gone over that.

My graphics card is at a near enough constant 45 degrees celcius, going as high as 52, according to the catalyst control panel. It is a factory overclocked card.

Is this all a good set of temps to be at? I have no idea about this kind of stuff. :lol
Click to expand...

Usually CPUs are good to around 70C at 100% load, some are good even closer to 80C (like i7s), and usually GPUs are fine to be around 90C at load.

Drinking Hatorade said:
I see what you're saying. Thanks. So either way if i went with dual gtx 260's or gtx 470 what processor do u recommend?
Click to expand...

brain_stew knows his CPUs (and everything else) much better than me, but for the intel side, an i5 750 or i7 860 would be more than enough (especially if overclocked). An i7 860 is generally on par with a i7 920, but a bit cheaper to buy all the corresponding components. An AMD Phenon II X4 @3ghz or faster is what you want I think for the AMD side.
 
Minsc said:
Usually CPUs are good to around 70C at 100% load, some are good even closer to 80C (like i7s), and usually GPUs are fine to be around 90C at load.
Click to expand...

Ah, good stuff.

My old dell laptop was reguarly at around 90c. :lol
 
so, i finally got my core i7 rig, TMPGenc only uses ~35 % while encoding, any encoders here that recommend a video encoding app?
 
Had previously overclocked my cpu to 3.6ghz stable on my old cooling, changed my cooling to something better as it always ran a little too hot and ever since then its been unstable even though the temps are a good 10-15c lower. It appears to be unstable at anything but stock. Any ideas?
 
ChoklitReign said:
A Mac?
Click to expand...

Maybe. I'm sure a Macbook 13" would suit him fine in terms of speed and weight, but he has only ever used windows so I'm not sure how well he'll adapt.

Also, random stupid question. What's a good free app to rip dvds you have?
 
I NEED SCISSORS said:
Well, after getting Bad Company 2 today... I don't think i'll be needing that quad core. Overclocking + DICE = :bow: :bow:
Click to expand...

A new PC FPS game that ISN'T making people want to upgrade? I....I...don't know how to feel just now..
 
I'm configuring a custom build PC at avadirect.com, and I have a few questions that maybe someone here can answer. Here are the specs I have so far:

Case: COMPUCASE (HEC), 6C28B Black Mid-Tower Case, No PSU, ATX
Power Supply:
HEC, X-Power 585 Power Supply, 585 W, 24-pin ATX12V, Dual 80 MM Fans, Retail
Motherboard: ASUS, M3A78-CM, AM2+, AMD 780V, DDR2 1066 8 GB /4, PCIe x16, SATA 3 Gb/s RAID 10 /6 VGA + DVI, HDA, GbLAN, mATX, Retail
Processor: AMD, Phenom X4 Quad-Core 9650, 2.3 GHZ, AM2+, HT 3600MHz, 4x 512KB L2 + 2MB L3 Cache, 95W, 65nm, Retail
Thermal Compound: standard
Memory: CORSAIR, 4GB (2 x 2GB) XMS2 DHX PC2-6400 DDR2 800 MHz CL5 (5-5-5-18) 1.8V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
PCIe x16 Video Card: SAPPHIRE, Radeon HD 5670 775MHz, 512 MB DDR5 4000 MHz, PCIe x16, VGA+DVI, HDMI, Retail
SATA Hard Drive: SEAGATE, 250 GB Barracuda 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb,s, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache
DVD drive: LITE-ON, iHDP118 Black 18x48x DVD-ROM Drive, IDE, OEM
Sound Card: CREATIVE, Sound Blaster Audigy SE, 7.1 Channels 24-bit, 96 KHz, PCI, OEM

I don't exactly have cash falling out of my ass, so I'm trying to be as frugal as possible in picking components. From what I understand, a 585 watt power supply should more than suffice with these parts. Judging by benchmarks at anandtech, tomshardware, and other PC hardware sites, I think that the video card, processor, and motherboard will be capable enough in playing modern games at 720p at a stable framerate of at least 30 FPS with some amount of anti-aliasing (correct me if I'm wrong here). I don't have exceptionally high expectations, having used the same Gateway budget PC from 2001 that can't even run Halo:CE (totally serious) for 10 years. Obviously, even these specs, which might seem modest to some of you, would be an enormous upgrade for me. However, I still have a few questions.

1) Are there any other ways I could cut costs, considering the settings I've described?
2) Does it matter at all if the power supply far exceeds the power required by the components? I could get a lower wattage power supply, but it seems that it would apparently cost more than the power supply I've tentatively chosen. This question probably seems ridiculous, but I'm honestly not certain if power supplies only use as much energy as necessary to power the connected appliance. If they also expend any remaining energy that isn't used, that would be a terrible waste.
3) Will I be able to use the PCS2 and Dolphin Emulators (only for games I legally own, just thought I should mention that, please don't ban me)? More importantly, will I be able to run older games like System Shock 2, Half-Life, Monkey Island 2, Fate of Atlantis, Deus Ex, etc?
4) What sort of cooling fan will this set up need?
 
Boonoo said:
This sounds a lot like what was happening to me when I forgot to screw my heat sink on properly--it was maybe half a cm away from the cpu. It would boot up, overheat in a couple of seconds then shut off.
Before you mess around with your psu be sure you check that out.
Click to expand...

I tried this, and it seemed that my CPU heatsink wasn't seated right. It still failed to stay powered on though, only conclusion for me is definitely the PSU.

Tempted to just order another one off of Newegg at this point.

Any recommendations for a cheap but reliable PSU? I have about 130 dollars to spend

Computer Specs

CPU
GPU
Case

and I have a P55 Gigabyte MB, link isn't on Newegg for some reason
 
BravoSuperStar said:
A new PC FPS game that ISN'T making people want to upgrade? I....I...don't know how to feel just now..
Click to expand...
:lol

I really wanted a quad core if it meant getting 50-60fps in BFBC2, but I already got that so... may as well pocket the money for beer and hookers.
 
Alucrid said:
My dad asked me for help finding a laptop so in turn I ask GAF. He wants something with speed that's lightweight and his price range is $1000-$1500. Yep, that's it. :lol
Click to expand...
How much speed, and what size?
 
I'm moving to Ireland next month and I can't take my desktop with me. Ireland seems to be devoid of good PC shops as far as I can see. Does anyone know any solutions?

My budget is damn tight, just as it was in 2008 when I built my 399 rig. So far I'm considering buying a console (PS3 299 euro) plus a tv (300/400 euro). But I wouldnt mind building a cheapo rig again. If only I knew some decent online shops from where I could order parts in Ireland.
 
Okay, I've been poking around and pricing and I'm looking at the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 955
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3
Sapphire Radeon Vapor-X HD 5770
G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
Samsung F3 1TB HDD
Samsung DVD-W
Antec 300 Case
Corsair 650 PSU

This is going to cost me roughly $820 total. Is there any reason to upgrade to 965 at all? Or what would be my benefit to go to a Radeon 5850?
 
So I went to my local Micro Center and bought a 600W PSU, plugged everything in and started up the PC. Get's to my desktop, loads windows up fine, then bam same thing. Computer just completely loses power.

Edit: Got into the Bios and monitored Temps, CPU is crazy high. Probably shutting down because of the ridiculously high temperature, going to have to clean off Thermal Paste and replace it, check heatsinks etc. Probably going to get a different Heatsink, the one I have now is busted.
 
Thanks brain stew for the help. I still have a few questions on my build though. First, which mobo of these two is a better choice? Does it matter?

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402&cm

ASRock M3A785GXH/128M AM3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157167

Would it be worth an extra $60 to go from Athlon ii X4 630 to Phenom II X4 955? A jump from 2.8 to 3.2 sounds good, but I wanted to check opinions here. Also, I've read some bad review of the Antec Sonata case and PSU combo. Is this just the vocal minority? Does anyone with that combo have some first hand experience with it? Finally, are there any combos or deals going on right now I should know of? Thanks for all the help.
 
Hey

Looking to build a gaming rig for under $1K USD (already have a Monitor) and want to be able to play pretty games at a pretty framerate.

What are good CPU, Mobos, and GPUs for my needs?
 
Gattsu25 said:
Hey

Looking to build a gaming rig for under $1K USD (already have a Monitor) and want to be able to play pretty games at a pretty framerate.

What are good CPU, Mobos, and GPUs for my needs?
Click to expand...
i5/i7. Look/research for a motherboard that fits your needs. 5850 should do for GPU. Feel free to go higher, or wait to see what happens with Fermi. Make sure you have enough wattage and enough room in your case. Video cards be long.
 
Stupid question. After overclocking my i5 how come under CPU-Z it doesn't show the core speed and voltage throttling like before it was overclocked? Is this normal? Is there a way to get the speed down or voltage down when it's basically just idling? I kinda want to get my temps lower.
 
Well, crap. =/ I got in all of my PC parts and come to find out that I need a new power supply in order to even get this motherboard turned on. I have a 450W and it requires at least a 500W supply (according to the directions).

I am bummed. Guess I'll pick one up tomorrow.
 
So, I completed my upgrade last night and all went well. Was easy replacing the Motherboard, RAM and CPU slotted in nicely as well.

The only hitch was the GPU upgrade. I had issues with the 5770 on Windows 7. All sorts of wierd things were going on even with the latest drivers. So I'm sending that back and got a Gigabyte GTX 260 super overclocked edition instead (it's just a bit faster than the GTX 275). Feels good to be back with Nvidia and away from ATI with their crappy drivers. That slotted into my case nicely, drivers loaded fine and holy shit does this thing fly. Its a HUGE jump over my old 4770 and its faster than the 5770 was ever going to be, so yeh, its worked out nicely. Only thing is I don't get DX11, but its not a major difference for now and will probably keep this until the end of the year when I'll get a DX11 Nvidia card once the dust settles. Pro's are that I get physx and fancy water in Just Cause 2, oh and its quicker. Think I've closed the door on ATI for good now TBH.

Just for reference this is my upgrade:

MSI Kvgm-v -----> Gigabyte 790XTA-UD4
AMD X2 6000+ ----> X4 Phenom 965
2GB DDR2 667mhz ---> 4GB DDR3 1600mhz
Sapphire ATI 4770 ---> Gigabyte GTX 260 Super Overclock Edition

All in all I've gone from getting about 30 fps in GTA IV without all settings even being maxed at 720p to 60fps in the benchmark with everything maxed out (apart from one slider that doesn't allow me to move up higher for some reason) at a res of 1440x900.

Only one thing concerns me a bit. My Phenom 965 BE is idling at 36-37 degrees Celcius which after researching a bit is totally normal and at load its in the mid 50's which I've read is fine as well. The problem is though, THE FAN. Its fucking loud. Like Harrier Jet loud. I thought my PC was about to freaking take off as I was running arond causing chaos in the JC2 demo. Anything I can do to sort that out. I don't know if changing the fan settings would be a good idea because they're set like that for a reason. Thinking about maybe going the aftermarket cooler route. Can anyone recommend a good but inexpensive aftermaket cooler for an AM3 socket?

TLDR version: Upgrade went fine, ATI suck, need an aftermarket cooler recommendation for an AM3 socket CPU.
 
I don't know if there's a better thread for this. I have my new PC built. The problem is my cpu (i5 750) temperature seems to be a bit high. It seems like the standard idle temperature with stock cooling has the cores between 30 and 35C. My cores range from 37 to 45C at idle. I have the stock cooler, but I'm using some arctic silver. I know there's a curing period for the arctic silver, but how much will it change the temperature? I was thinking about doing an OC to 3 or even 3.5 ghz, but now I'm a little apprehensive.

I may just leave everything at stock settings for now and buy some like the Cooler Master 212 later down the line. It seems pretty decent for the price.
 
Gattsu25 said:
Hey

Looking to build a gaming rig for under $1K USD (already have a Monitor) and want to be able to play pretty games at a pretty framerate.

What are good CPU, Mobos, and GPUs for my needs?
Click to expand...

Antec 300 ($50 at Amazon)
i7 860 ($230 at Microcenter, in store only)
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P ($170 after rebate at Microcenter, in store only)
XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 ($318 at Newegg)
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V ($70 at Newegg after promo and rebate)
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 7200RPM Hard Drive ($90 at Newegg)
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ($105 at Newegg)

Total ~$1033
 
Kosma said:
I'm moving to Ireland next month and I can't take my desktop with me. Ireland seems to be devoid of good PC shops as far as I can see. Does anyone know any solutions?

My budget is damn tight, just as it was in 2008 when I built my 399 rig. So far I'm considering buying a console (PS3 299 euro) plus a tv (300/400 euro). But I wouldnt mind building a cheapo rig again. If only I knew some decent online shops from where I could order parts in Ireland.
Click to expand...

Pixmania ship to Ireland I think.

www.pixmania.com

I've ordered from them before in the UK and it went fine. Shipping was a bit on the slow side (what do you expect with economy delivery and they source a lot of thir parts from warehouses on the continent as well) but it went fine. You should be able to find everything you need in their PC component section. Good prices and lots of choice.
 
So although it may not fit the topic completely I hope you guys might be able and willing to help me out. I'm trying to decide on a new router and i want it to have both wifi 802.11n, gigabit ethernet and be dd-wrt compatible (maybe tomato but I don't know). Further than that I would like it to have usb ports so I can set up printer and file sharing through dd-wrt. I've almost decided on the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH which almost fulfill all my requirements - except it hasn't got the final n specification but draft 2.0.

Now my question is - will i be missing out on anything by buying a router with draft 2.0 opposed to the final spec?
 
ssd owners: how is this performance for a postville 80gb? (newest firmware)

35irnrc.jpg
 
captain wow said:
You will get very limited overclocking from ccc but itl go a good couple hundred hz over stock if you dont mind using Msi afterburner or something similar and having the fan on 60-70%. Didnt you have a 5770 before? I made the exact same upgrade, very nice improvement.
Click to expand...
Yeah. I ended up coming into some extra money with the tax refund and figured "What the hell?" I was using MSI Afterburner before to get the 5770 to 960/1320; looks like I'll be getting some crazy performance if I can get it the core to 1ghz. What's your memory currently clocked at?

It was either that or get another 5770 and Crossfire them, but then remembered possible compatibility headaches. Newegg graciously let me return without restocking fee. They've been really good about it.
 
Is the 5870 worth it? Or should I get the 5850 cus its a £100 less than the 5870.

Take in mind ill only be using the PC for games and no encoding or rendering will be done.
 
Avyrocky said:
Is the 5870 worth it? Or should I get the 5850 cus its a £100 less than the 5870.

Take in mind ill only be using the PC for games and no encoding or rendering will be done.
Click to expand...
Check benchmarks and see if the extra £100 is worth it to you.
 
You can OC the 5850 to 5870 levels in most cases. The 5870 is a pointless buy at the moment due to its relative price point.
 
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