Hey guys. Just bought a cheap soundcard yesterday to fix my front panel's electrical interference problems. Asus Xonar DS, and it's surprisingly noticeable with some music too (from VIA onboard). Everything seems good for now, but do any audiophiles know what Asus' GX2.5 audio engine actually does? I know it simulates EAX, but does it affect any other games (because the only EAX game I have is Trine...)?
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Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition
- Thread starter Spy
- Start date
Something I meant to ask at the same time as my mic question.
Every time I start up my computer I get a found new device pop-up asking about drivers for a co-processor, which I guess is in the HD 5670. I let it look for them on the disk and everything but it couldn't find them. Where can I get these? I tried looking on the ATI website, but I probably didn't look in the right place.
Every time I start up my computer I get a found new device pop-up asking about drivers for a co-processor, which I guess is in the HD 5670. I let it look for them on the disk and everything but it couldn't find them. Where can I get these? I tried looking on the ATI website, but I probably didn't look in the right place.
TurtleSnatcher
Member
Yea I know that but benchmarks at least show it is capable of playing games decently. Also no gaming laptop is going to look that sleek and give me the ability to get 6-8 hrs of normal use time in a 4lb package for that cheap while still being able to switch to the better vid card for games when needed. It's pretty damn impressive.Vigilant Walrus said:
Not to mention every place I've read on the Internet has given it outstanding reviews. Notebook review. Laptopmag. Toms Hardware etc.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
With more and more games getting better performance from quad core processors, I have been thinking about upgrading from my Core 2 Duo E8500 to a Core 2 Quad processor, but I am not sure which one I should go for. Somewhere down the line I will do a full new build, but for now I just want a new processor so without changing my motherboard (LGA 775).
Which of the Core 2 Quads should I go for? Any help is appreciated! Also which ones are the best for overclocking without having to invest in additional cooling solutions?
Which of the Core 2 Quads should I go for? Any help is appreciated! Also which ones are the best for overclocking without having to invest in additional cooling solutions?
I can really tell that the highs are a lot more crisp, just listening to my MP3 of this Tron Mix. Bass is the same, as far as I can tell, but the highs really make a difference. Very sharp. Headphones just experienced a huge improvement overall. I used not not notice a difference when setting my sound to "headphones" in TF2, but definitely do with the card. And no crackling or pops when scrolling on web pages anymore! ;PInkwell said:
No word yet on my mic being perfect, I'll have to test that out with friends tonight. Even now, I feel like card was worth the 50 I spent on it, but I was coming from terrible, terrible VIA Vynil onboard.
Hey GAF,
I'm trying to put together a build, and I was hoping you guys could tell me how reasonable this sounds. This is my first attempt at building a PC, and I don't have great knowledge on parts. If you know of any better parts to use in terms of bang-for-buck, or if you think I should rebalance items, let me know.
Purpose of this machine is budget gaming and entertainment with space for expansion in the future. Most use will be web browsing and HD media. I hope to include other items in the future like newer CPU, more RAM, blu-ray reader, GPU upgrade, and maybe also including a small SSD for bootup+key apps in the future.
The parts:
CPU: $108 - AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Heka 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor
- will try unlocking the 4th core.
Mobo: $80 - GIGABYTE GA-770TA-UD3 AM3 AMD 770 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Cooler: $35 - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler
- going to attempt overclocking with the help of this. The mobo doesn't come with its own fan.
RAM: $115 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory
- latency 7-7-7-21
GPU: $160 - XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
HDD: $100 - Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
DVD: $30 - SAMSUNG 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support
Case+PSU: $100 - Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
Total: $728
I'm still considering whether I want to include a small SSD in this build and also decrease the quality of the storage HDD to go along with it.
Anything I can improve GAF? Any of these prices expected to change dramatically within the next month?
I'm trying to put together a build, and I was hoping you guys could tell me how reasonable this sounds. This is my first attempt at building a PC, and I don't have great knowledge on parts. If you know of any better parts to use in terms of bang-for-buck, or if you think I should rebalance items, let me know.
Purpose of this machine is budget gaming and entertainment with space for expansion in the future. Most use will be web browsing and HD media. I hope to include other items in the future like newer CPU, more RAM, blu-ray reader, GPU upgrade, and maybe also including a small SSD for bootup+key apps in the future.
The parts:
CPU: $108 - AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Heka 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor
- will try unlocking the 4th core.
Mobo: $80 - GIGABYTE GA-770TA-UD3 AM3 AMD 770 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Cooler: $35 - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler
- going to attempt overclocking with the help of this. The mobo doesn't come with its own fan.
RAM: $115 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory
- latency 7-7-7-21
GPU: $160 - XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
HDD: $100 - Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
DVD: $30 - SAMSUNG 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support
Case+PSU: $100 - Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
Total: $728
I'm still considering whether I want to include a small SSD in this build and also decrease the quality of the storage HDD to go along with it.
Anything I can improve GAF? Any of these prices expected to change dramatically within the next month?
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Well, never mind my last post! I was down at a local computer parts shop and found a Q6600 (G0 Stepping) on clearance for $120! I was thinking about going for a Q9550, but I remember brain stew saying that the Q6600 is still a great processor and overclocks really well. Considering I would be paying more than double for a Q9550, I couldn't pass on this deal. I grabbed some Cooler Master Hyper TX3 heat sink as well since I knew I would be overclocking it.
So far I must say I am impressed! I have it overclocked to 3.0ghz right now and I am seeing massive framerate gains in Grand Theft Auto IV (The Lost and the Damned specifically), Metro 2033 and even Crysis! With this Cooler Master heat sink the temperatures are staying nice and low as well. After playing The Lost and the Damned for about 30 minutes, my max temperature was 42c and my idle temperature is around 28c. That's even cooler than my E8500 at stock temps! I might even try overclocking it a bit more, but things are stable right now and I'm getting great performance so I think I will wait a bit.
I'm really glad I moved up to a quad core. Now I should be covered on most games and can hold out a little bit longer before putting together a brand new system together.
Right now my hardware configuration is:
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.0ghz
4GB DDR2 800mhz
Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
So far I must say I am impressed! I have it overclocked to 3.0ghz right now and I am seeing massive framerate gains in Grand Theft Auto IV (The Lost and the Damned specifically), Metro 2033 and even Crysis! With this Cooler Master heat sink the temperatures are staying nice and low as well. After playing The Lost and the Damned for about 30 minutes, my max temperature was 42c and my idle temperature is around 28c. That's even cooler than my E8500 at stock temps! I might even try overclocking it a bit more, but things are stable right now and I'm getting great performance so I think I will wait a bit.
I'm really glad I moved up to a quad core. Now I should be covered on most games and can hold out a little bit longer before putting together a brand new system together.
Right now my hardware configuration is:
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.0ghz
4GB DDR2 800mhz
Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
stealth edit: oops, accidental bump, sorry about that, but I did change the RAM for my description
I've been using Tom's Hardware mostly for alot of my choices. Really nifty site. And thank you to the guy that put up the video of the person building the pc. It encouraged me to start looking into this more.
I've been using Tom's Hardware mostly for alot of my choices. Really nifty site. And thank you to the guy that put up the video of the person building the pc. It encouraged me to start looking into this more.
brain_stew
Member
Zefah said:
High five and welcome to the club!
Been running mine at 3.42ghz for a few months now, see how much further she'll go.
ninjavanish
Member
Just built a new rig. On a scale of 1 (you idiot) to 10 (very wise choices) how did I do?
Intel i5 750 2.66ghz quad core
4gb DDR3 1600
XFX 5770 1gb
ASUS P7P55D-E
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1Tb
600W OCZ power supply
Storm Scout Case
Total was $900 w/o monitor (already have dual screens), keyboard , or mouse. I have it all built just waiting for my power supply to arrive from newegg tomorrow. Once it's here I drop it into my case, make the last connections, then power it up.
Intel i5 750 2.66ghz quad core
4gb DDR3 1600
XFX 5770 1gb
ASUS P7P55D-E
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1Tb
600W OCZ power supply
Storm Scout Case
Total was $900 w/o monitor (already have dual screens), keyboard , or mouse. I have it all built just waiting for my power supply to arrive from newegg tomorrow. Once it's here I drop it into my case, make the last connections, then power it up.
I built almost the same PC, except I went forthis motherboard, and while the case is quite nice, it is pricey. I probably would have went with a slighty cheaper case and upgraded to a ATI 5850, I have heard those cards are pretty sexy. Also, even with stock cooling, I have overclocked my i5 to over 5ghz, so don't be afraid to push it a little bit. Enjoy the new PC, it is awesome for the price.
And now onto my own foolish newbie question. Would it more benefitial to get two 5870 1gb in SLI, or a single 5970 2gb?
*fake edit, is that Storm Scout the same one www.tested.com used? I thought it was $130, nevermind going with a cheaper case, that thing is a steal :lol
And now onto my own foolish newbie question. Would it more benefitial to get two 5870 1gb in SLI, or a single 5970 2gb?
*fake edit, is that Storm Scout the same one www.tested.com used? I thought it was $130, nevermind going with a cheaper case, that thing is a steal :lol
Are the 58XX cards expected to have any sort of price drop/refresh within the next two to three months? I already have a hypothetical system built out, but I won't have the money to buy it until Juneish. I really want a 5850, but $300 is a hard pill to swallow and I don't want to compromise with a 5770.
I'd like to know what you are playing that needs that but probably Crossfire for more value per dollar in general has been the trend.Weenerz said:
9. Red LEDS are -1.ninjavanish said:
Looks good. I wouldn't skimp on your HDD though. I'd also keep waiting for SSD since you are looking at a budget, but the price of a cheap low capacity SSD appeals to you, go for it then.Mii said:
Swap this F1 for the WD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
Grats on the upgrade, I've been thinking about going quad myself for a while (Deciding Q6600 vs E7200) but I'll probably wait on a new system for that.Zefah said:
G0's easily do 3.4 in their sleep. You can probably undervolt the CPU running at 3.0Ghz.
TouchMyBox
Member
Hazaro said:9. Red LEDS are -1.
I don't know about you bitches, but the blue LEDs that came with my case totally improve my overclocking potential.
I read that Splinter Cell Conviction, will have splitscreen on PC also(local coop, that is)would it be possible to connect two monitor to one card and use that config instead of one monitor splitted? It would be awesome to play with buddies with a 24" each(could use the imac as a monitor 
) playing on PC.
) playing on PC.SundaySounds
Banned
ninjavanish said:
Your components all look solid, but you probably could have done better price-wise. Still an awesome machine. well done. 9/10
My Specs:
-Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
-ASRock X58 Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard59228883
-LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire
-Ati Radeon 5770 PCI-E
-i7 930
Whenever I start my pc it will load up the desktop and then after about 10-15 minutes depending on whether im idle or just loading firefox my pc will crash and the screen will turn black. The no input signal also appears on the screen most of the time. Shortly after this crash my pc will crash quicker and quicker after every restart. It even crashes in the bios when im trying to tweak voltage settings. I have gone through a ton of different diagnostic tests(all temps seem good, gpu, cpu, and mobo) with the voltage and reinserting the cpu and making sure all the connections are in correctly. Can anyone else give me any info on what is causing these crashes?
-Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
-ASRock X58 Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard59228883
-LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire
-Ati Radeon 5770 PCI-E
-i7 930
Whenever I start my pc it will load up the desktop and then after about 10-15 minutes depending on whether im idle or just loading firefox my pc will crash and the screen will turn black. The no input signal also appears on the screen most of the time. Shortly after this crash my pc will crash quicker and quicker after every restart. It even crashes in the bios when im trying to tweak voltage settings. I have gone through a ton of different diagnostic tests(all temps seem good, gpu, cpu, and mobo) with the voltage and reinserting the cpu and making sure all the connections are in correctly. Can anyone else give me any info on what is causing these crashes?
LocoMrPollock
Banned
dread9 said:
Sounds like you might have a stick of bad ram. Try booting with one stick at a time.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Hazaro said:
I haven't messed with voltage settings at all. I've just left them on Auto in the BIOS. I think I'll try experimenting tonight to get it stable at 3.4ghz. I am always just afraid of damaging the hardware when messing around with voltages.
I'd be much more worried if it was on AUTO because it overcompensates like MAD.Zefah said:
Slap it on 1.35V and work your way down from there. (Probably 1.325V, maybe 1.30V, or even lower if you are really lucky). (Load voltages, check with CPU-Z while running stress test)
*dread sounds like a power issue somewhere :/
Doubt this could be the case but are your voltage readings (3.3V , 5V 12V, way off in BIOS?). Obviously it's just a little thing because it's not under much load but if it is super off you might figure something out early.
Does running something power intensive like a game make it crash faster?
Iron_Scimitar
Banned
Hey folks, yeah im in the process of building my 2nd PC. The current rig I have is as follows
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ @ 2.4ghz
4gb RAM
evga GeForce 7800 GT
Lanparty UT NF4 series
Here's what I chose
Antec P183
MSI P55-GD55 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA 01G-P3-1158-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
I also chose a TB drive from Samsung that got good reviews. I wont be playing games on it, but i want to make it capable for editing videos. Thoughts? Any component that I can switch out for something cheaper/more reliable? Any other peripherals I should consider getting?
Thanks
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ @ 2.4ghz
4gb RAM
evga GeForce 7800 GT
Lanparty UT NF4 series
Here's what I chose
Antec P183
MSI P55-GD55 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA 01G-P3-1158-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
I also chose a TB drive from Samsung that got good reviews. I wont be playing games on it, but i want to make it capable for editing videos. Thoughts? Any component that I can switch out for something cheaper/more reliable? Any other peripherals I should consider getting?
Thanks
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Iron_Scimitar said:
Why the GTS 250? Isn't the Radeon HD 5770 pretty much a hands-down better card for about the same price?
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Hazaro said:
Well shit. I guess I learn something new every day. I had no idea that AUTO overcompensates. I'll start fiddling around with it tonight.
Iron_Scimitar
Banned
Zefah said:
I dunno, never looked into it. I'll take a look now. What would you suggest?
brain_stew said:High five and welcome to the club!
Been running mine at 3.42ghz for a few months now, see how much further she'll go.
My bro-in-law has a Q6700 liquid cooled that he put together himself a while back. He's still running it at stock speeds and I've been trying to convince him to overclock it. How high do you think he could go?
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Iron_Scimitar said:
Radeon HD 5850 if you can spend $300ish. You won't have any problems running, well, pretty much anything with a nice quad core and a 5850 even at high resolutions.
For the more mid-range cards I thought the 5770 was the best, but I may be mistaken. Isn't it pretty much just a repackaged 4870 with DX11 support and less power consumption?
ninjavanish
Member
Hazaro said:9. Red LEDS are -1.
BUT, there is an on/off switch for the LEDs (they will be permanently off)!
Dead Prince
Banned
how much of a jump if i'm going from 512MB to 1GB in terms of Graphics card? Right now i have a 4770 card.
Iron_Scimitar
Banned
Zefah said:
Im not sinking $300 into a card. The price ranges of the 5770 fit for me.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447
This one looks interesting spec wise.
how are you overclocking that board? i have 6gigs of 1066 RAM on that and have been able to push the FSB up to 430mhz. real stable, and is very compatible for the hackintosh scene, though your video card will prevent a lot of functionality.Zefah said:
drhankmccoyphd
Member
I posted in the dolphin thread but I'll ask here as well. I built a budget gaming PC in February and while I'm pretty satisfied with it I feel like I'm lacking in CPU power. I'm running a Athlon II X3 @ 3.3GHz with a 5770 and 4GB of RAM. One of my main uses is the dolphin emulator which is mostly playable, but not full speed. I also play a ton of GTA 4 and most likely Crysis 2 when it comes out. Should I consider grabbing the Phenom II 1090T when it hits a decent price-point, say, ~$250? Or should I try and nab a X4 955 BE if they drop a little? I feel like the six-core would net more of a boost in my gaming. Thoughts?
Quoting myself to say, a huge thanks to pcgaf and everyone in this thread who's helpful to those of us wanting to get back to pc gaming. I went from having no idea what was up with current pc gaming to feeling super confident building a pc mostly just from reading the thread and asking a few questions here and there. I built my pc on Friday and could not be happier with it.
Yep. So thanks pcgaf.
Yep. So thanks pcgaf.
diederich said:
mikespit1200 said:
If you wanted a quad core you should have gone for the Intel i series as MHz for MHz they walk all over the Phenom II series. Even the newer hexa core Phenom's perform exatcly the same as the older ones as they use the same architecture, only advantage is that they offer two more cores which mainly don't make a difference as hardly anything uses them especially not games where you wouldn't really notice a difference, even the i7 920 beats the new haxa core Phenom's in most cases. If you don't want to switch over to Intel get a Phenom II 965 otherwise sell your motherboard and CPU and pick up an i5/i7.
ninjavanish
Member
Cheeto said:
Yeah, true tool-less case designs are a must for me now. I recently built my brothers rig using the same coolermaster storm scout case and it was such a breeze compared to the antec cases I'd used in the past. I am never going back.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
scorcho said:
I have 4gigs of 800 RAM, but I have been considering moving up to higher speed RAM. I wonder if I would get any tangible benefit from doing so...
All I did was go into the BIOS settings and change the FSB to 333mhz and the multiplier to 9x. I am going to go in later tonight and fiddle around to see how high I can go.
redspeed said:
Wow. 3.8ghz on air cooling is damn impressive. Especially considering that the stock speed is 2.4ghz. I'm really glad I found this processor for so cheap.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Mr_Brit said:
I wasn't aware that it was slower than the 4870. I guess the only reason to get a 5770 would be for DX11 and for less power consumption, but you probably won't be doing a whole lot of high-end DX11 gaming with that card anyway.
I also didn't realize that 4890s are now around $200 or less. For that price, the 4890 would be an absolute steal.
Zefah said:
I have 4 sticks of 2gb 800 RAM and using 8gb total you can turn the page file off safety. I also use a SSD as a boot drive so the system is really responsive when loading and opening into windows and using programs installed to it.
Heres my 3Dmark06 and Vantage scores as reference
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=13648089
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dmv=2068723
Iron_Scimitar
Banned
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130514
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447
Im stuck on these to cards. At first I thought I wouldnt be gaming on my new rig until I remembered about Diablo 3. :lol I should go for the DX11 card, right?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447
Im stuck on these to cards. At first I thought I wouldnt be gaming on my new rig until I remembered about Diablo 3. :lol I should go for the DX11 card, right?
brain_stew
Member
DMPrince said:
Depends on the game but with a card like that its not going to make much difference. Just make sure your nexct GPU has more RAM.
brain_stew
Member
mikespit1200 said:
Dolphin doesn't use more than two cores effectively, so no it won't make much of a difference. All you can really do is try and up your current OC. If emulation was a priority you should have really went with an Intel build, something like an i3 would have been a good fit.
brain_stew
Member
Ebuyer are selling a 2TB Samsung F3 for £88 delivered. My student loan just cam in today as well, So tempted, HD video eats through HDD space like no ones business and I'd like to back up all my HD -DVD discs so that I don't have to use that format anymore. Decisions, decisions.