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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

How much power will I need to run the AMD 630 and a 5770? Will this 400W Corsair PSU do?

Is the 5770 going to let me run at 1080p on one monitor and play flash games on the other monitor (simultaneously?) If I wanted to step up from the 5770, where would I go that is cost effective?
 
Oh yeah! Just bought a HD 5770. What a difference compared to my past HD 3200 IGP and HD 4650! I was quite surprised to hear the fan after a benchmark session :lol. It's my first real performance gaming card :D

NorrenRadd said:
How much power will I need to run the AMD 630 and a 5770? Will this 400W Corsair PSU do?

Is the 5770 going to let me run at 1080p on one monitor and play flash games on the other monitor (simultaneously?) If I wanted to step up from the 5770, where would I go that is cost effective?
My actual specs:

CPU: Athlon II X4 630 @ stock speed (2.8Ghz)
Motherboard: ASUS M3A78-EM
Memory: 3GB DDR2
HDD: Western Digital Green 1TB
Video Card: ASUS EAH5770 1GB

Now, the less elegant parts of my system:

PSU: Generic 400W Power supply bought at a low price
Case: Bland old case from the Pentium II era :lol

So far, the 400W PSU seems to the job.
 
Ugh I still can't decide what I want to do. That just makes me think hey if you aren't sure just follow your original plan and wait for Sandy Bridge. By then we should have at the very least an Ati refresh out by then as well.
 
NorrenRadd said:
How much power will I need to run the AMD 630 and a 5770? Will this 400W Corsair PSU do?

Is the 5770 going to let me run at 1080p on one monitor and play flash games on the other monitor (simultaneously?) If I wanted to step up from the 5770, where would I go that is cost effective?

Don't skimp on your PSU. I'm not saying you have to spend a ton of cash, but there is no reason if your buying your own PSU that it shouldn't be north of 500 these days. For like 60-70 bucks you can get something that's like 600 watts and easily be fine. Granted a lot of times stuff gets overrated, but there is no reason to cut it close with 400 watts with the offerings out there these days.

Also the only step up from your 5770 would be to a 5850. That's the only place to go in terms of up. Some might just suggest a 4890, but that's a sideways move from your 5770 with some pluses and minuses.
 
Latest temp report after Alt Tabbing out of Fallout

Hmonitor Version 4.4.3.5 Pro AC753E53
(Trial)
H/W diagnostics info:
Windows XP Professional Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3, v.3264
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK
Board model: P5Q-PRO
Version: Rev 1.xx
BIOS vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS version: 1306, Release date: 08/20/2008
Chipset: Intel P43/P45
Vendor ID: 82D31043
SouthBridge: 3A168086
SMB port used: 0400
CPU:Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz
CPUId:0-6-7-6
Cores:2
Internal Freq=4037.0 MHz
External Freq=448.56 MHz
Multiplier=9.0
SystemBus Freq=1794.2 MHz QDR
Thermo control configuration:
Full Throttle:100.0%
AMD Low Power mode:Disabled
Win 95/98 Idle Control:Disabled
Device:None Throttle:25.0% Enable at:70.0°C Disable at:65.0°C
Main Sensor: W83627DHG
Monitored data values:
Mainboard=55.0°C (0,Thermistor,0.0°C)
CPU=90.0°C (1,Diode,0.0°C)
Temp3=2.0°C (0,Thermistor,0.0°C)
CPU0 Core=89.0°C (0,CoreTemp,0.0°C)
Chassis=1188 rpm
CPU1=7670 rpm
CPU2=1240 rpm
Power=xxxx rpm
Core=+1.39V
Aux=+3.22V
+3.3V=+3.31V
+5V=+5.16V
+12V=+11.93V
-12V=-xx.xxV
-5V=-x.xxV
VGA device: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
VGA Device ID: 94401002,05021002.00
VGA driver: ATI Radeon WindowsNT Display Driver 6.14.10.7050
Catalyst Version: 10.2
VGA sensor: Catalyst
VGA GPU=80.0°C
VGA Env=xx.x°C
VGA Fan=xxxx rpm (xx%)
VGA Core=+x.xxV
VGA Bus=+x.xxV

CPU is still running around 80-90° :( You think my liquid cooling may be busted? How can I cool this thing?
 
PC GAF, I know this isn't a tech support thread, but I have one quick question that may result in my next post being about PC build options =\

My computer is slowly dying, I'm sure of it. It's from 2005 era and has 2005 parts, AMD 3500, nvidia 6800GT, etc.. Anyway, it is now sometimes just randomly freezing, sometimes won't even boot to the bios, and if it makes it to Windows, it's survival rate thereafter decreases by the hour. My question, could this be the PSU? When I flick the PC on, everything 'runs' as if it's powered, but nothing works really.

I'm going to drive to a friend's house to grab his PSU for testing, but if it's anything else that's problematic, I'm scrapping this thing. Oh to be unemployed and have your desktop die.
 
So I'm using the stock cooler/heatsink supplied with my Q9400. It's relatively quiet while the RPMs hang around 1300 or so except for this slightest "whine/ween" that I cannot fucking unhear!

Someone recommend me a silent cooler/heatsink set please!
 
NorrenRadd said:
How much power will I need to run the AMD 630 and a 5770? Will this 400W Corsair PSU do?

Is the 5770 going to let me run at 1080p on one monitor and play flash games on the other monitor (simultaneously?) If I wanted to step up from the 5770, where would I go that is cost effective?

Yeah you should be fine
 
Brettison said:
Don't skimp on your PSU. I'm not saying you have to spend a ton of cash, but there is no reason if your buying your own PSU that it shouldn't be north of 500 these days. For like 60-70 bucks you can get something that's like 600 watts and easily be fine. Granted a lot of times stuff gets overrated, but there is no reason to cut it close with 400 watts with the offerings out there these days.

Also the only step up from your 5770 would be to a 5850. That's the only place to go in terms of up. Some might just suggest a 4890, but that's a sideways move from your 5770 with some pluses and minuses.


Shambles said:
Yeah you should be fine



What would this 550W PSU get me that the 400 can't? When I last bought a PSU, I bought a big wattage but now the "thing" is to have a single rail or some such stuff. I'd rather save the $25 and not pay for something I don't need. My upgrade plan from this is to buy a new AM3 processor and a better video card.
 
NorrenRadd said:
What would this 550W PSU get me that the 400 can't? When I last bought a PSU, I bought a big wattage but now the "thing" is to have a single rail or some such stuff. I'd rather save the $25 and not pay for something I don't need. My upgrade plan from this is to buy a new AM3 processor and a better video card.

The ability to overclock/overvolt your components without worrying about your system being able to handle it. Rated wattage means little as cheap PSU's won't perform up to that wattage, the amperage on the 12V means a lot as does the brands reputation. Corsair has a great reputation in the PSU market. It would also give you a little headroom if you go to a more power hungry card. The 5770 is pretty efficient, anything in the 5800 cards or whatever fermi turns out to be will have higher power requirements.
 
NorrenRadd said:
What would this 550W PSU get me that the 400 can't? When I last bought a PSU, I bought a big wattage but now the "thing" is to have a single rail or some such stuff. I'd rather save the $25 and not pay for something I don't need. My upgrade plan from this is to buy a new AM3 processor and a better video card.
There's no reason not to. 400W may be alright, but it's really pushing it. A PSU is not the place to cut corners.
 
Odious Tea said:
There's no reason not to. 400W may be alright, but it's really pushing it. A PSU is not the place to cut corners.

Unless he has some crazy RAID going on, or something similar 400W will do him just fine. People are insecure about their PSU loads and overestimate their needs. It might limit his upgrades in the future but if that's all he wants is for the here and now a Corsair 400 will do the job and likely give him the room he might need if he decides to overclock as well. Sure, larger PSU's are nicer, but he really won't make use of it why spend the extra money.

Edit: Looking around hell you could crossfire 2 5770's on a solid Corsair 400W, on at least stock settings anyways.
 
Follow up question regarding capturing HD video. I was at the XBOX forums and a poster there that seemed to have knowledge on this subject said "it's not so much the CPU power of your PC that is the limiting factor when working with HD, and it's not total drive capacity either.

It's the read/write speed that's the bottleneck - for uncompressed 1920x1080 you need to have hard disks that can support over 200MB a second read/write. If you don't have a RAID you're going to struggle to keep up"

My questions are....

1) If thats the case will an IDE and SATA HD work together in a raid setup or will I need to by a pair of hard-drives?
2)If they will work together does it matter which one I set up the OS on?
3) Is raid set-up difficult?

Thanks.
 
AgentOtaku said:
So I'm using the stock cooler/heatsink supplied with my Q9400. It's relatively quiet while the RPMs hang around 1300 or so except for this slightest "whine/ween" that I cannot fucking unhear!

Someone recommend me a silent cooler/heatsink set please!

noctua nhu12p
 
Junior here. Help appreciated. Gonna just fill out the template....>_>

Budget: $600
Main Use(s): Gaming but also modding with specifically the Source SDK. Internet. Word processing. Music. Other stuff that's fairly superfluous.
Monitor: 24" Dell Ultrasharp. 3000:1 Contrast Ratio. Resolutions up to 1920X1200 but I can totally settle for like 720. Has a VGA and DVI cable (would prefer DVI)
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Source games! HL2, TF2, CSS, e.t.c. I also have a copy of Stalker that I'd like to try out, I'd be fine running it on low settings.

No need to factor in Office software, I know a broseph who can hook me up. I was thinking Windows 7 32bit would be a good OS, but I'm pretty ignorant about it all. Just please don't suggest Vista. It's incompatible with a lot of my software, and I consider myself a pretty casual PC user.
 
Thanks Shambles...yeah I'm still planning to go with the Phenom x4 955 so I think I'll go with the 890GX

So here is the break down so far...

Antec 300 case - $50
890GX Mobo - $150
AMD Phenom II X4 955 - $160
Corsair 550W 80+ - $80
Ripjaws 4GB - $105
Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) - $170

Does this look okay so far? Also, I'm looking for either a 500GB or 1TB HD. Any that are the best? Also, the suggested DVD drive comes with some weird firmware that plays without a disc in the tray. What other DVD would be best? Also, thanks again to everyone in this thread. I hope I'm not asking too much but I want to do this right.
 
I need help with Q9550 temps. I'm not sure if they're running correctly but my temp values for 2 cores don't seem to change even under load. Below are the values.

Load represents about 30 min of BF:BC2

Core 0 - 35C idle 44C Load
Core 1 - 35C idle 44C Load
Core 2 - 53C idle 53C Load
Core 3 - 53C idle 53C Load

My concern is that according to core temp, Core 2 and 3 are getting up to 100% load during the game and yet the temperature doesn't budge one bit. What should I do to make sure those values are indeed correct. I'm afraid that the temp thresholds might not be working as well and if I go above the safe temps, the PC might not properly shut off..
 
I don't know if this thread covers laptops, but:

I'm gearing up to go off to university next year
(just got into Caltech!)
and was looking for a laptop. My basic requirements are:

- Able to decently handle some games
- 3-4 Hours of battery life at least (while surfing the web/writing papers)
- Can run PCSX2 and/or Dolphin relatively well (not necessarily 1080p 60 fps every game omgwut, but decently.)
- <$750
- Fairly durable.

From what I've gathered, I want something with an i5 CPU (for the turbo boost for things like PCSX2) and a low-mid-range graphics card. I've been able to find some occasionally on Newegg and TigerDirect within my budget, but does anyone know of some other sites that are reliable and have deals comparable to the ones just mentioned? Is geeks.com reliable?

Thanks.
 
With all this talk and help needed about buying and building computers, it's a surprise someone hasn't started a company or something to help people do that. Y'know, like hiring an interior designer but for your computer hardware - or something.

If such an organization exists I haven't heard of it.
 
I found out why my core2 quad 6600 (b3) was running much hotter with Zalman 9700. Sure, Zalman 9700 isn't supposedly up to the job for the quad cores - but it's supposedly much better than stock. I was always wondering why. I'm kinda lazy person, so I never really thought of re-seating the HSF.

Then yesterday, when I finally disassembled my unit and saw inside - thermal paste. I put little too little on them - I see some parts were not even making contacts with the cooler.]

So this time, I put little bit more to ensure there's connection. With AC5, Corsair H50 and 5 Akasa 120mm fans running at less than 1k rpm - it's dead dead quiet. I'm so happy with the result. Plus, my Corei7 930 is running around 25c idle, 53-4 on load all across the cores. I am not a believer of breaking-in period of arctic silver 5, and I probably messed up little bit as I was twisting/turning the cooler when I was mounting it - but I'm pretty happy with the result so far.

On Monday, I will receive my 750W PSU, and I'll see if I can create 4.3ghz OC without compromising too much on the noise level. :D Bad thing is, I have to undo all the power connection and re do the cable management all over again. :( P182 case has great cable manageablity, but installation itself could get pretty messy - as I have to use very little spaces all around - especially on the bottom chamber, that I have to make sure that nothing touches the fan in the middle.

but anyhow, the noise level - I thought it would be around half of what I used to have, but it's really like 1/10th. CPU is on the hardwood floor, and I can't barely make out any noise from it. My last build with 4 Antec Tricools at low setting + Zalman 9700 fan was like jet flying off the case. :D Mission accomplished!

Now I know my wife will have problems with upcoming Filco Majestouch mechanical keyboard sound... ;)
 
lennylightspeed said:
Thanks Shambles...yeah I'm still planning to go with the Phenom x4 955 so I think I'll go with the 890GX

So here is the break down so far...

Antec 300 case - $50
890GX Mobo - $150
AMD Phenom II X4 955 - $160
Corsair 550W 80+ - $80
Ripjaws 4GB - $105
Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) - $170

Does this look okay so far? Also, I'm looking for either a 500GB or 1TB HD. Any that are the best? Also, the suggested DVD drive comes with some weird firmware that plays without a disc in the tray. What other DVD would be best? Also, thanks again to everyone in this thread. I hope I'm not asking too much but I want to do this right.

DVD drives are pretty basic. I'd just go with whatever is rated highest recently on the egg or whatever other site you're browsing, hard to mess up making a DVD drive. Looks like the Lite-Ons are up there. As for HDD your best choice is the Samsung F3 or failing that the WD Caviar Black. I'd recommend a 1TB drive. I don't have a lot of experience with motherboards, that advice is better suited to another but everything else looks good. Recently though I've seen more support for the gigabyte boards than the asus boards. If you're worried about money you could find a much cheaper MB.

RedSwirl said:
With all this talk and help needed about buying and building computers, it's a surprise someone hasn't started a company or something to help people do that. Y'know, like hiring an interior designer but for your computer hardware - or something.

If such an organization exists I haven't heard of it.

That would be like paying someone to drive your new sports car for you. It would take all the fun out of it. :D
 
Question regarding temperatures on my new Q9550: Currently it sits on idle at 55C and increases to just shy of 100C when fully loaded. It's running the stock heatsink with the thermal tape/paste that it comes with out of the box. Should I be worried? If so, would cleaning the thermal tape off and replacing it with Arctic Silver (or something similar) make much of a difference?
 
Shaneus said:
Question regarding temperatures on my new Q9550: Currently it sits on idle at 55C and increases to just shy of 100C when fully loaded. It's running the stock heatsink with the thermal tape/paste that it comes with out of the box. Should I be worried? If so, would cleaning the thermal tape off and replacing it with Arctic Silver (or something similar) make much of a difference?

Mine's idling at 38C and 50C at load so it's definitely running way too hot... I would suggest reseating the HSF..
 
isamu said:
Latest temp report after Alt Tabbing out of Fallout

Hmonitor Version 4.4.3.5 Pro AC753E53
(Trial)
H/W diagnostics info:
Windows XP Professional Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3, v.3264
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK
Board model: P5Q-PRO
Version: Rev 1.xx
BIOS vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS version: 1306, Release date: 08/20/2008
Chipset: Intel P43/P45
Vendor ID: 82D31043
SouthBridge: 3A168086
SMB port used: 0400
CPU:Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz
CPUId:0-6-7-6
Cores:2
Internal Freq=4037.0 MHz
External Freq=448.56 MHz
Multiplier=9.0
SystemBus Freq=1794.2 MHz QDR
Thermo control configuration:
Full Throttle:100.0%
AMD Low Power mode:Disabled
Win 95/98 Idle Control:Disabled
Device:None Throttle:25.0% Enable at:70.0°C Disable at:65.0°C
Main Sensor: W83627DHG
Monitored data values:
Mainboard=55.0°C (0,Thermistor,0.0°C)
CPU=90.0°C (1,Diode,0.0°C)
Temp3=2.0°C (0,Thermistor,0.0°C)
CPU0 Core=89.0°C (0,CoreTemp,0.0°C)
Chassis=1188 rpm
CPU1=7670 rpm
CPU2=1240 rpm
Power=xxxx rpm
Core=+1.39V
Aux=+3.22V
+3.3V=+3.31V
+5V=+5.16V
+12V=+11.93V
-12V=-xx.xxV
-5V=-x.xxV
VGA device: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
VGA Device ID: 94401002,05021002.00
VGA driver: ATI Radeon WindowsNT Display Driver 6.14.10.7050
Catalyst Version: 10.2
VGA sensor: Catalyst
VGA GPU=80.0°C
VGA Env=xx.x°C
VGA Fan=xxxx rpm (xx%)
VGA Core=+x.xxV
VGA Bus=+x.xxV

CPU is still running around 80-90° :( You think my liquid cooling may be busted? How can I cool this thing?


You got a liquid cooling and 90°? Sth. has to be incredibly wrong.

Although I am a bit confused, that fan running 7700rpm (wtf!?), where is that thing?

What kind of liquid cooling are you using and which of your components are you cooling with it (only cpu, also gpu, chipset etc.)?
 
PC GAF, what do you think of this setup?

i4fdxl.jpg


I gave myself a £450 limit (I'll have to go over a bit for case + cpu, but that's okay) and this seemed like a pretty good build for me.

What I'm looking to do:
Get some games running at my native resolution (2048x1152), and try and get some of the newest and more demanding games running well/looking nice in 720/1080p.

I was thinking a 5770 is a good choice as I can always grab another one sometime in the future and crossfire it for extra oomph.

My old PC which I'm selling is using a 3650, so this is a significant upgrade for me. This is also the first PC I'm building from scratch!

So yeah, suggestions for getting a little bit more value for money would be good. :) Also, a cheap case+psu suggestion would also be appreciated!

Thanks.
 
You could see some pretty significant gains by going from 5770 to 5850. I did and I don't regret it one bit. It just depends on how firm your budget it. The 5770 is a perfectly capable and amazing card, considering its price. You should be able to run things at 1080, if you're alright with turning down some settings.
 
5850 is too much for me at the moment. The benchmarks I've seen put a 5770 crossfire up with that performance, so in the future if I have the spare cash, I'll definitely invest in another. :)
 
Went from a phenom 2 3.2ghz to i7 3.7ghz and i can say the speed increase is great. very easy to oc, got to 3.7ghz with just a very very slight voltage increase. probably can reach 4ghz if i have the time.

dow2 benchmark went from 40fps to 60fps!

so i say those planning to upgrade, go straight to i7. those in US, you have great prices for i7 rig, totally worth it. :D
 
longdi said:
Went from a phenom 2 3.2ghz to i7 3.7ghz and i can say the speed increase is great. very easy to oc, got to 3.7ghz with just a very very slight voltage increase. probably can reach 4ghz if i have the time.

dow2 benchmark went from 40fps to 60fps!

so i say those planning to upgrade, go straight to i7. those in US, you have great prices for i7 rig, totally worth it. :D

What model of Phenom did you go from?

In the vast majority of gaming benchmarks the difference between the Phenom (955 and 965 models) and the i7 (920 model) is minimal. Infact the Phenom beats out the i7 in quite a few cases.
 
Changed motherboard a couple days ago as i upgraded to an i7 after my quad died, was running an oem version of windows 7 home premium. Now i need to activate in a few days but ofcourse my old code wont work. Is there a way of buying just an activation key as its already installed or would i need to purchase the whole thing again.
 
Foliorum Viridum said:
PC GAF, what do you think of this setup?

i4fdxl.jpg


I gave myself a £450 limit (I'll have to go over a bit for case + cpu, but that's okay) and this seemed like a pretty good build for me.

What I'm looking to do:
Get some games running at my native resolution (2048x1152), and try and get some of the newest and more demanding games running well/looking nice in 720/1080p.

I was thinking a 5770 is a good choice as I can always grab another one sometime in the future and crossfire it for extra oomph.

My old PC which I'm selling is using a 3650, so this is a significant upgrade for me. This is also the first PC I'm building from scratch!

So yeah, suggestions for getting a little bit more value for money would be good. :) Also, a cheap case+psu suggestion would also be appreciated!

Thanks.

Not a fan of the x4 965 personally. Save yourself some cash and get a 955 instead, if you need the extra <5% boost then spend 5 minutes in the BIOS and OC to 965 levels. Both chips should clock to the same levels anyway.

I'd have a look at the 4890 at overclockers.co.uk as that resolution is going to be tough on a 5770. Can't say I'd recommend crossfire, especially as an upgrade path.
 
Shambles said:
Unless he has some crazy RAID going on, or something similar 400W will do him just fine. People are insecure about their PSU loads and overestimate their needs. It might limit his upgrades in the future but if that's all he wants is for the here and now a Corsair 400 will do the job and likely give him the room he might need if he decides to overclock as well. Sure, larger PSU's are nicer, but he really won't make use of it why spend the extra money.

Edit: Looking around hell you could crossfire 2 5770's on a solid Corsair 400W, on at least stock settings anyways.


I'm trying to save money anywhere I can. My current PSU is this an Antec True 550, bought ~ 3-4 years ago I think?

PSU_004.jpg


Will this run my AMD 630, 5770, several sata HDs ?
 
Hi GAF, need monitor advice.

I'm looking for a 1080p 24 inch monitor to go with my new pc - mainly for gaming and websurfing, maybe a couple of dvds now and then.

So far I'm torn between the Samsung 2494 HS and the Benq 2420 HD. According to what I've read the Samsung boasts better picture quality and a much better warranty (and I'm partial to Samsungs in general) but no 1:1 pixel mapping, while the Benq has 1:1 pixel mapping but an inferior warranty and no HDMI.

Samsung 23.6'' 2494HS Wide Format TFT Monitor
- Maximum Resolution 1920 x 1080
- 5ms Response Time
- 300cd/m2 Brightness
- 50,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
- 170/160 Viewing Angle
- Input Connectors: 15pin D-sub, DVI-D, HDMI,
- 6W (3W x 2) Speakers
- Muliti Screen S/W
- MagicBright
- MagicColor
- Color Effect
- Off Timer
- AV Mode
- MagicTune
- Customized Key
- 1080P Full HD
- DVI with HDCP
- Windows Vista Premium Certified,
- Simple Stand, Tilt/Swivel

Benq 2420 HD
Display 24.0"W
Product Color Glossy Black
Resolution(max.) 1920x1080
Pixel Pitch (mm) 0.276
Brightness (typ) 300 cd/&#13217;
Contrast Ratio 1000:1 (DCR 40000:1)
Response Time 5ms/2ms(GTG)
Display Area(mm) 531.36x298.89 (mm)
High Adjustment (mm) 16.7 million
Viewing Angle 170/160 (L/R;U/D) (CR>=10)
Input Connector D-sub / DVI-D/ HDMI 1.3 / Headphone Jack
Horizontal Frequency 20 - 83 (KHz)
Vertical Frequency 50 - 76 (Hz)
Video Bandwidth 210 (MHz)
K locker Reddish / Normal/ Bluish /user mode
Power Consumption(On mode) 49W(max)
(Power saving mode : <1W)
Power Supply(90~264AC) Built-in
Aspec Ratio Senseye+Photo
HDCP Support
AMA : Yes
OSD Language : 17 languages
VESA Wall Mounting : 100 x 100 mm
Color Temperature Tilt -5/20 (down/up)
Dimensions CTN Dimensions: 482x636x133 (HxWxD mm)
Dimensions: 412.6x570x183.9 (HxWxD mm)
Dimensions with Wall Mount: 348.42x570x63.26 (HxWxD mm)
Weight (kg) Net Weight (kg) :4.9
Gross Weight (kg) :6.5


It comes down to better warranty/picture quality/Samsung bias vs 1:1 pixel mapping - which would you choose? Alternatively, is there a better option out there under AUS$300 (roughly US$270)?

PS: Must be available in Australia

cheers
 
Hey guys, whats going ? Ok I need a new PC and I should be able to play Diablo III, SC2, Stalker and Crysis (Warhead and First game) All at decent or maxed FPS. My budget is $500 to $700. Where do I start ? Thanks.
 
NorrenRadd said:
I'm trying to save money anywhere I can. My current PSU is this an Antec True 550, bought ~ 3-4 years ago I think?

PSU_004.jpg


Will this run my AMD 630, 5770, several sata HDs ?
Yes. I'm running this spec with a single HDD and a 400W PSU.
 
brain_stew said:
Not a fan of the x4 965 personally. Save yourself some cash and get a 955 instead, if you need the extra <5% boost then spend 5 minutes in the BIOS and OC to 965 levels. Both chips should clock to the same levels anyway.

I'd have a look at the 4890 at overclockers.co.uk as that resolution is going to be tough on a 5770. Can't say I'd recommend crossfire, especially as an upgrade path.
Think I'll go with the 955 after some reasearch. Thanks. :)

What's wrong with my crossfire idea? It gets the same performance as the 58xx series, which seems like a nice little boost in a few months when I could probably get another 5770 for a bit cheaper.
 
brain_stew said:
Any modern GPU (including all modern integrated solutions from ATI/AMD/Nvidia) will manage to do that with even a lowly single core CPU just fine. Just make sure you're using a program that supports DXVA (i.e. use MPC-HC).

A 785G board plus an Athlon ii X2 would seem like a good pick, don't think you can get much cheaper than that, and you'll be able to use a HDMI cable to handle both video and audio.


Heck, just add a 5450 to your current setup and that'd probably suffice even if the rest of the thing is a hunk 'a junk.

thanks for this, cheapest options I found for the motherboard is the following

video is ATI Radeon HD 4200

http://azerty.nl/producten/product_...aid-gigabit-ethernet-video-high-definiti.html

would this be sufficient? HDMI out is present on the Mobo
 
Foliorum Viridum said:
Think I'll go with the 955 after some reasearch. Thanks. :)

What's wrong with my crossfire idea? It gets the same performance as the 58xx series, which seems like a nice little boost in a few months when I could probably get another 5770 for a bit cheaper.
Because Crossfire scalability will vary from game to game. Some games may not even use it.
 
Ok this is a tech question. If anyone can help then thanks:)
I'm aware that if you crossfire two separate cards that you cannot use D3Doverrider to force triple buffering.
What i'm curious to know is if you have one single card with two gpus, such as gtx295 or 5970 would you still be hampered by not being able to use D3Doverrider?
 
Alright, got my new rig up and running.

i7 930
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R mobo
6gb ram in triple channel
ATI 5870

Performance has been absolutely fantastic. Solved every problem I've had with any PC games in the past year or so.

The only issue now is dealing with Microsoft. My RETAIL COPY of Windows 7 won't allow me to activate a second time. The system on which I first installed Win 7 has been disassembled.

Activation is the one thing that has given me a difficult time with Win 7.
 
dark10x said:
The only issue now is dealing with Microsoft. My RETAIL COPY of Windows 7 won't allow me to activate a second time. The system on which I first installed Win 7 has been disassembled.

Activation is the one thing that has given me a difficult time with Win 7.

That happened to me in Dec after I built my i5 rig, there's an automated phone service which sorted it out for me.
 
Foliorum Viridum said:
Think I'll go with the 955 after some reasearch. Thanks. :)

What's wrong with my crossfire idea? It gets the same performance as the 58xx series, which seems like a nice little boost in a few months when I could probably get another 5770 for a bit cheaper.

You can't compare crossfire results to single GPU results. You've got to factor in microstutter (meaning any framerate you get will "feel" much less than it is), increased input latency, the fact that many games flat out won't work with it for several weeks after launch, if ever, potential issues with a smaller framebuffer and then there's all the extra unnecessary heat and power.
 
catfish said:
thanks for this, cheapest options I found for the motherboard is the following

video is ATI Radeon HD 4200

http://azerty.nl/producten/product_...aid-gigabit-ethernet-video-high-definiti.html

would this be sufficient? HDMI out is present on the Mobo

I just picked up a 785gt MB with the Dell I recently bought (Also had an Athlon 2 x4 630) and the 4200 is extremely slow for 3d stuff. Once I slapped in a 9800GT my frame rate quadrupled in 1080p. If you're only doing limited 3d stuff though it should be fine.
 
envybianchi said:
Although Ars system guide is from October 2009, I think it is still worth mentioning. If it hasn't been linked yet, I hope it will give others some more fantastic ideas. I personally love the God Box but probably won't happen for me.
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/guides/2009/10/ars-system-guide-october-2009-edition.ars

PCPer also keeps an up to date system building page. I believe MaximumPC also creates builds every so often, but is not updated as regularily.
 
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