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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

Minsc said:
Start by checking out Tech Report's most recent guide and then tweaking to fit your needs!
Click to expand...

Nice, that was helpful!

I plugged it into ncixus (I don't want to build mine, so I'll let them do it, I think that was also your suggestion a couple weeks back)... here's where I'm at at the moment, which seems good to my hardware ignorant brain:

  • NCIX Gaming Bundle Deal AMD Athlon II X4 630 AM3 CPU & ASUS M4A78T-EO DDR3 790GX Motherboard This product can only be exchanged or replaced with the exact same item.In Stock 45527 $255.13 $255.13
    • 1 x ASUS M4A78T-E ATX 790GX Socket AM3 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI HDMI Video Sound GBLAN Motherboard
    • 1 x AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad Core Processor Socket AM3 2.8GHZ 2MB Cache 95W Retail Box
  • OCZ OCZ3G1333LV4GK 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1333 PC3-10666 CL 9-9-9-20 Dual Channel Memory Kit In Stock 42870 $117.64 $117.64
  • XFX Radeon HD 5670 HD567XZNF3 775MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.0GHZ HDMI DVI DP DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card In Stock 51349 $124.99 $124.99
  • Antec NSK4482 ATX Mini Tower Case Silver Black 3X5.25 2X3.5EXT 3X3.5INT 380W PSU Front USB Audio In Stock 46612 $89.99 $89.99
  • Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM In Stock 31000 $88.23 $88.23
  • Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS 22X SATA Black DVD Writer Lightscribe OEM In Stock 42349 $25.48 $25.48
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM In Stock 45271 $105.87 $105.87
  • YOUR TOTAL $807.33

Couple questions that have run through my brain while putting it together:
  • the only way to get the recommended CPU from the build at TR was bundled with this motherboard. Good Mobo? Will it fit in a mini-tower case? I couldn't tell from the product details on there. I've generally liked asus mobos in the past...
  • Onboard sound I guess is the norm now? No need to get a sound card?
  • That Radeon was the recommended video card at TR, and it has HDMI out, so theoretically my PC would now be playable on my comfy couch/tv. Do I need anything else to make that a reality?
  • I assume that CPU is 64bit, so I am getting the right version of windows? Are there even 32 bit processors anymore?
  • Anything jumping out at you guys as being lame/stupid/etc?
 
Minsc said:
Start by checking out Tech Report's most recent guide and then tweaking to fit your needs!
Click to expand...
+
Fill this out:

Budget: Price Range + Country
Main Use: Gaming, Video editing, or just general usage
Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be playing your games at? Are you going to upgrade later?
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Self Explanatory
 
platypotamus said:
Nice, that was helpful!

I plugged it into ncixus (I don't want to build mine, so I'll let them do it, I think that was also your suggestion a couple weeks back)... here's where I'm at at the moment, which seems good to my hardware ignorant brain:

  • NCIX Gaming Bundle Deal AMD Athlon II X4 630 AM3 CPU & ASUS M4A78T-EO DDR3 790GX Motherboard This product can only be exchanged or replaced with the exact same item.In Stock 45527 $255.13 $255.13
    • 1 x ASUS M4A78T-E ATX 790GX Socket AM3 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI HDMI Video Sound GBLAN Motherboard
    • 1 x AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad Core Processor Socket AM3 2.8GHZ 2MB Cache 95W Retail Box
  • OCZ OCZ3G1333LV4GK 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1333 PC3-10666 CL 9-9-9-20 Dual Channel Memory Kit In Stock 42870 $117.64 $117.64
  • XFX Radeon HD 5670 HD567XZNF3 775MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.0GHZ HDMI DVI DP DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card In Stock 51349 $124.99 $124.99
  • Antec NSK4482 ATX Mini Tower Case Silver Black 3X5.25 2X3.5EXT 3X3.5INT 380W PSU Front USB Audio In Stock 46612 $89.99 $89.99
  • Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM In Stock 31000 $88.23 $88.23
  • Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS 22X SATA Black DVD Writer Lightscribe OEM In Stock 42349 $25.48 $25.48
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM In Stock 45271 $105.87 $105.87
  • YOUR TOTAL $807.33

Couple questions that have run through my brain while putting it together:
  • the only way to get the recommended CPU from the build at TR was bundled with this motherboard. Good Mobo? Will it fit in a mini-tower case? I couldn't tell from the product details on there. I've generally liked asus mobos in the past...
  • Onboard sound I guess is the norm now? No need to get a sound card?
  • That Radeon was the recommended video card at TR, and it has HDMI out, so theoretically my PC would now be playable on my comfy couch/tv. Do I need anything else to make that a reality?
  • I assume that CPU is 64bit, so I am getting the right version of windows? Are there even 32 bit processors anymore?
  • Anything jumping out at you guys as being lame/stupid/etc?
Click to expand...
If I were you, I would do a little bit of research about the current state of PC technology before clicking on that "Confirm Purchase" button.
 
Hazaro said:
+
Fill this out:

Budget: Price Range + Country
Main Use: Gaming, Video editing, or just general usage
Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be playing your games at? Are you going to upgrade later?
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Self Explanatory
Click to expand...


Ahhh, top of the page stage fright!


Budget: Wife said "about $800" was ok before OS, so the one above looks like I'm ok.
Main Use: Gaming, no video editing, but game development (mostly Flash, possibly Unity, or level editors).
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200 on a Samsung SyncMaster 2433bw. Unlikely to upgrade anytime very soon, as this one is fairly new.
Games: Civ 5 (not worried), TF2 (can play now), Bad Company 2 (runs like ass on current PC), The Witcher 2 when it comes out. I'm bigger into strategy (mostly turn based) and rpgs than shooters. TF2 and BC2 are probably the only shooters I'll play all year.
 
platypotamus said:
Nice, that was helpful!

I plugged it into ncixus (I don't want to build mine, so I'll let them do it, I think that was also your suggestion a couple weeks back)... here's where I'm at at the moment, which seems good to my hardware ignorant brain:

  • NCIX Gaming Bundle Deal AMD Athlon II X4 630 AM3 CPU & ASUS M4A78T-EO DDR3 790GX Motherboard This product can only be exchanged or replaced with the exact same item.In Stock 45527 $255.13 $255.13
    • 1 x ASUS M4A78T-E ATX 790GX Socket AM3 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI HDMI Video Sound GBLAN Motherboard
    • 1 x AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad Core Processor Socket AM3 2.8GHZ 2MB Cache 95W Retail Box
  • OCZ OCZ3G1333LV4GK 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1333 PC3-10666 CL 9-9-9-20 Dual Channel Memory Kit In Stock 42870 $117.64 $117.64
  • XFX Radeon HD 5670 HD567XZNF3 775MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.0GHZ HDMI DVI DP DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card In Stock 51349 $124.99 $124.99
  • Antec NSK4482 ATX Mini Tower Case Silver Black 3X5.25 2X3.5EXT 3X3.5INT 380W PSU Front USB Audio In Stock 46612 $89.99 $89.99
  • Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM In Stock 31000 $88.23 $88.23
  • Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS 22X SATA Black DVD Writer Lightscribe OEM In Stock 42349 $25.48 $25.48
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM In Stock 45271 $105.87 $105.87
  • YOUR TOTAL $807.33

Couple questions that have run through my brain while putting it together:
  • the only way to get the recommended CPU from the build at TR was bundled with this motherboard. Good Mobo? Will it fit in a mini-tower case? I couldn't tell from the product details on there. I've generally liked asus mobos in the past...
  • Onboard sound I guess is the norm now? No need to get a sound card?
  • That Radeon was the recommended video card at TR, and it has HDMI out, so theoretically my PC would now be playable on my comfy couch/tv. Do I need anything else to make that a reality?
  • I assume that CPU is 64bit, so I am getting the right version of windows? Are there even 32 bit processors anymore?
  • Anything jumping out at you guys as being lame/stupid/etc?
Click to expand...

That is terrible - Dont buy.
 
platypotamus said:
Nice, that was helpful!

I plugged it into ncixus (I don't want to build mine, so I'll let them do it, I think that was also your suggestion a couple weeks back)... here's where I'm at at the moment, which seems good to my hardware ignorant brain:
Click to expand...

Most of it looks pretty good, can't speak on the motherboard though. I usually just end up buying whatever board is popular and fits my specs. You'll want to overclock the athlon but for gaming it'll do you fine. I'd also consider dropped to a single stick of 2GB memory in order to bump the GPU up to a 5770. You can always throw in another 2GB down the road without losing any value/money.

Try looking at this much cheaper motherboard. Stick with the 4GB of memory with the price difference.
 
platypotamus said:
Nice, that was helpful!

I plugged it into ncixus (I don't want to build mine, so I'll let them do it, I think that was also your suggestion a couple weeks back)... here's where I'm at at the moment, which seems good to my hardware ignorant brain:

  • NCIX Gaming Bundle Deal AMD Athlon II X4 630 AM3 CPU & ASUS M4A78T-EO DDR3 790GX Motherboard This product can only be exchanged or replaced with the exact same item.In Stock 45527 $255.13 $255.13
    • 1 x ASUS M4A78T-E ATX 790GX Socket AM3 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI HDMI Video Sound GBLAN Motherboard
    • 1 x AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad Core Processor Socket AM3 2.8GHZ 2MB Cache 95W Retail Box
  • OCZ OCZ3G1333LV4GK 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1333 PC3-10666 CL 9-9-9-20 Dual Channel Memory Kit In Stock 42870 $117.64 $117.64
  • XFX Radeon HD 5670 HD567XZNF3 775MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.0GHZ HDMI DVI DP DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card In Stock 51349 $124.99 $124.99
  • Antec NSK4482 ATX Mini Tower Case Silver Black 3X5.25 2X3.5EXT 3X3.5INT 380W PSU Front USB Audio In Stock 46612 $89.99 $89.99
  • Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM In Stock 31000 $88.23 $88.23
  • Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS 22X SATA Black DVD Writer Lightscribe OEM In Stock 42349 $25.48 $25.48
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM In Stock 45271 $105.87 $105.87
  • YOUR TOTAL $807.33
Click to expand...

Definitely not a great deal.

The video card especially stands out as a bad deal. So does the mobo / CPU combo.

In fact, yeah, all of it is not a great deal. You should really take the time to do a little bit of research before buying and it is highly recommended you put it together yourself.
 
Zefah said:
You should really take the time to do a little bit of research before buying and it is highly recommended you put it together yourself.
Click to expand...

I'm starting to, but I've never had much of a head for hardware, even when I was young and actually cared, and this shit's so overwhelming.

And I'd much rather fork over $50 to ncix to build it for me, as much geek cred as that costs me.

Shambles said:
You'll want to overclock the athlon but for gaming it'll do you fine. I'd also consider dropped to a single stick of 2GB memory in order to bump the GPU up to a 5770. You can always throw in another 2GB down the road without losing any value/money
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea
 
I don't see what is bad about the build besides the GPU which should be a 5770 / GTS 250.
Do any of the programs you use take advantage of nVidia or ATi GPUs? Benefit of an Intel vs AMD in some programs?

Canada prices a bit higher than states. Might want to get an i5 750 if it makes a difference to what you do.

*I wouldn't cut RAM to 2GB since it is relatively cheap + you might be doing level editing stuff.
 
I'm think of picking up a new hard drive. My OS and games/programs are on an old 250 GB Maxtor drive.

I'm either going to pick up a Caviar Green or Black drive. Is the speed difference that much noticable between the two? The green series seems much more cost effective. I bet either would be significantly faster than my current drive.

Also is there an easy way to copy my C drive to the new one without having to do a fresh reinstall of everything?
 
platypotamus said:
Ahhh, top of the page stage fright!


Budget: Wife said "about $800" was ok before OS, so the one above looks like I'm ok.
Main Use: Gaming, no video editing, but game development (mostly Flash, possibly Unity, or level editors).
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200 on a Samsung SyncMaster 2433bw. Unlikely to upgrade anytime very soon, as this one is fairly new.
Games: Civ 5 (not worried), TF2 (can play now), Bad Company 2 (runs like ass on current PC), The Witcher 2 when it comes out. I'm bigger into strategy (mostly turn based) and rpgs than shooters. TF2 and BC2 are probably the only shooters I'll play all year.
Click to expand...

A couple things I always suggest. Try finding video card reviews of games you like, here's bad company 2 on anandtech. Now there's no 5670 there, but it's worse than 5770 or 5750, not sure how much, but you can see from the graph you want a 5770 or higher to hold 30 fps at 1920x1200. Especially with a game like The Witcher 2, you'll really be wishing you had a GTX 470 or one of those expensive fast cards when that comes out! I'm sure a 5770 will perform respectably, but it sounds like they're going all out with the graphics on the PC for it!

That's going to be your weakness, if you had a 720p display, you'd be much better off, but 1920x1200 demands a lot of power (or for you to put up with image scaling from a lower res, ick). The framerate for the BC2 benchmark linked above, well, on the 5770 it doubles if you only had a 1680x1050 display! 35fps at 1200p vs 65fps at 1050p! That's probably a better match for that budget PC, sometimes going higher end on one component and not the rest comes back to bite you!

I think if you want to build a PC to enjoy games on, you need at least a 768MB-1GB 5770 / 4870 / 4890 / GTS 250? in there, whichever you can get for the best price, I'd guess.

I don't know how much of a rush you're in, but keep in mind AMD's 6-core X6 chips are due out next week, and who knows, maybe that will drop prices on CPUs a few bucks.

It's a tight spot, I don't know what to say. I can't tell someone to buy something that doesn't have 3-4GBs of RAM or a GPU lower than a 5770... I figured you'd skip right ahead to the utility player configuration @ the Tech Report!

Onboard sound should be fine! If you get an ATI 4000 or 5000 series card, you should have no problems running a single HDMI cable to your HDTV (especially if it's a 5770) and that one cable will carry the video and audio, it's pretty sweet, I'm making more use of my HDTV now, with my wireless 360 controller.

64-bit is the way to go of course! I'd be shocked if any CPUs are still made that aren't 64-bit. Sometimes I try not to post to much in this thread, because I really only have general advice and I'd hate to take up the replies others might give who have better advice, but you're in the spotlight now it seems! Good luck picking your parts, and don't be afraid to sneak some better things and go over budget a little! ;) Hehe, or maybe not!
 
McHuj said:
I'm think of picking up a new hard drive. My OS and games/programs are on an old 250 GB Maxtor drive.

I'm either going to pick up a Caviar Green or Black drive. Is the speed difference that much noticable between the two? The green series seems much more cost effective. I bet either would be significantly faster than my current drive.

Also is there an easy way to copy my C drive to the new one without having to do a fresh reinstall of everything?
Click to expand...

Speed is significantly different. Greens are 5400rpm and much slower, they're great for doing stuff like capturing video, or storing movies/music, or acting as a media or backup drive, but for running demanding apps or an OS, you want a Black, or faster yet, a $90 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3. The Black's come with a 5 year warranty though, which I prefer, but a broken hard drive's a broken hard drive, regardless of warranty, you still need to back your files up!
 
Hazaro said:
I don't see what is bad about the build besides the GPU which should be a 5770 / GTS 250.
Do any of the programs you use take advantage of nVidia or ATi GPUs? Benefit of an Intel vs AMD in some programs?
Click to expand...

IIRC Unreal/Epic takes advantage of nVidia... but I'm not likely to use it enough (or exclusively enough) for that difference to matter much.

Minsc said:
I think if you want to build a PC to enjoy games on, you need at least a 768MB-1GB 5770 / 4870 / 4890 / GTS 250? in there, whichever you can get for the best price, I'd guess.
Click to expand...

Thanks, all that video card stuff was useful. I wish I had a monitor with a more user friendly resolution too. It was the best affordable one when my other one died on me, and I needed a replacement immediately though. Probably stuck with it until my wife's monitor dies, then she can have this one and I can upgrade, but that's years away, probably.

I don't know how much of a rush you're in, but keep in mind AMD's 6-core X6 chips are due out next week, and who knows, maybe that will drop prices on CPUs a few bucks.
Click to expand...

Not in a super huge rush, aside from tax return burning a whole in my pocket :) I was looking at placing the order sometime before memorial day.

It's a tight spot, I don't know what to say. I can't tell someone to buy something that doesn't have 3-4GBs of RAM or a GPU lower than a 5770... I figured you'd skip right ahead to the utility player configuration @ the Tech Report!
Click to expand...

I don't know why I started with the economy model and tweaked up. I should have started with that model and tweaked down... if I even needed to. I think I was scared of wife-wrath :lol

Here's round two (minus the OS, because it makes it look cheaper, which will be useful in wife negotiations :)


  • 1 x Intel Core i5 750 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.66GHZ 8MB Cache Retail Box
  • 1 x XFX Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video CARD-
  • ASUS P7P55D-E LGA1156 P55 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFireX USB3.0 SATA 6GB Motherboard In Stock 48019 $160.77 $160.77
  • Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i5 Dual Channel Memory Kit In Stock 42530 $127.44 $127.44
  • Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan In Stock 24294 $113.72 $113.72
  • Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM In Stock 50895 $98.03 $98.03
  • Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS 22X SATA Black DVD Writer Lightscribe OEM In Stock 42349 $25.48 $25.48
  • YOUR TOTAL $918.60
 
platypotamus said:
I

  • 1 x Intel Core i5 750 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.66GHZ 8MB Cache Retail Box
  • 1 x XFX Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video CARD-
  • ASUS P7P55D-E LGA1156 P55 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFireX USB3.0 SATA 6GB Motherboard In Stock 48019 $160.77 $160.77
  • Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i5 Dual Channel Memory Kit In Stock 42530 $127.44 $127.44
  • Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan In Stock 24294 $113.72 $113.72
  • Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM In Stock 50895 $98.03 $98.03
  • Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS 22X SATA Black DVD Writer Lightscribe OEM In Stock 42349 $25.48 $25.48
  • YOUR TOTAL $918.60
Click to expand...
To me that looks pretty good. As long as you can afford it.

I was about to reply to the previous list and suggest getting the Antec Sonata III, and getting a 5770, then getting the CPU and motherboard seperately, or together in a bundle if it's cheaper.

If you are able to convince the wife you can go 170$ over the limit without OS, then this build looks great to me. I assume you still need to add assembly for 50$? Cause it isn't listed there.

The other list you had was 120$ cheaper with the OS included. I just prefer going the AMD route because right now it offers a better upgrade path in the future with the 6 core cpus they have coming out for am3 sockets. Both are great options though, just depends on how much you are able to spend. For 900 with OS inlcuded and assembly you could get the previous list with the sonata III and 5770.
 
So my audio woes seem to continue. I really don't think I will ever get this PC to sound the way I want to.

I basically realized that the problem was my TV as it probably isn't capable of forwarding more than a 2ch signal to the receiver. It is about 4 years old and there are hardly any audio settings available in the tv settings. I had a similar problem with PS3 when trying to go PS3---HDMI--->TV----optical out--->receiver a long time ago so I narrowed it down to the tv.

So I went to look at sound cards. I ended up just buying a cheap japanese brand from a store. It was PCI-express and had optical outs which is all I thought I needed. The box claimed to support 8channel over the analog ports so I just kind of assumed that it would be capable of supporting 5.1/DTS/etc. over optical. This does not seem to be the case as it is only giving me the option for 2channel. I am now running the connection directly from the sound card to the receiver.

At first I thought it was working as I seemed to be able to get 5.1 options in windows, but after playing with it more it does seem like it is just simulated. It basically sounds like my receiver is spreading a 2channel signal through all the speakers. The only signal that seems to work is PCM, and I lose all sound when trying to set it to DTS. The receiver seems to just be changing the PCM signal into Dolby II output.

Basically I have eliminated some of the worse audio bugs, but I am still lacking true directional sound, etc. in games.

So I am thinking the sound card is just too crappy, and am going to buy a proper sound blaster card today.

If that still doesn't work I am tempted to return to PS3 as my main platform again. Sound design in games is one of my favorite things and I really can't put up with this half ass surround anymore. :(
 
What are you using to check for surround sound (Game, DVD etc)? Just cause Windows is set up to deliver 5.1 doesn't mean the source supports it, though I'm guessing you already realize that.
Edit: Also, if sound is that important to you, you probably shouldn't have gotten a "cheap" card from a b&m without doing research first.
 
BudokaiMR2 said:
So my audio woes seem to continue. I really don't think I will ever get this PC to sound the way I want to.

I basically realized that the problem was my TV as it probably isn't capable of forwarding more than a 2ch signal to the receiver. It is about 4 years old and there are hardly any audio settings available in the tv settings. I had a similar problem with PS3 when trying to go PS3---HDMI--->TV----optical out--->receiver a long time ago so I narrowed it down to the tv.

So I went to look at sound cards. I ended up just buying a cheap japanese brand from a store. It was PCI-express and had optical outs which is all I thought I needed. The box claimed to support 8channel over the analog ports so I just kind of assumed that it would be capable of supporting 5.1/DTS/etc. over optical. This does not seem to be the case as it is only giving me the option for 2channel. I am now running the connection directly from the sound card to the receiver.

At first I thought it was working as I seemed to be able to get 5.1 options in windows, but after playing with it more it does seem like it is just simulated. It basically sounds like my receiver is spreading a 2channel signal through all the speakers. The only signal that seems to work is PCM, and I lose all sound when trying to set it to DTS. The receiver seems to just be changing the PCM signal into Dolby II output.

Basically I have eliminated some of the worse audio bugs, but I am still lacking true directional sound, etc. in games.

So I am thinking the sound card is just too crappy, and am going to buy a proper sound blaster card today.

If that still doesn't work I am tempted to return to PS3 as my main platform again. Sound design in games is one of my favorite things and I really can't put up with this half ass surround anymore. :(
Click to expand...

Seems like your mistake is sending audio to the TV in the first place. Audio/video should go to the receiver first, and then send the video only to the TV and let the receiver handle the audio. If your receiver handles HDMI audio it will do it all with the one cable, if not run HDMI to the receiver for video and hook the optical out to the receiver as well for the audio out. Optical won't get you the high resolution audio streams but will still give you your typical 5.1 surround.
 
Quick question regarding putting a new soundcard in my PC. I know I need to uninstall the drivers so do I before installation do I..1) Uninstall drivers on current card, 2) power down, etc. and install new card while removing old card and then 3) install in those steps pretty much? I guess the only real question I have is do I need to completely uninstall the old device also at some point? Thanks!
 
Yeah I realize that my problem was going through the tv, but that was my only option at first because there was no onboard optical out and no HDMI on my receiver.

The cheap sound card was hooked directly to my receiver but still wasn't doing any better than 2 channel.

I bought a Sound blaster X-fi Titanium and am installing it now. According to the guy it is supposed to support 5.1 through optical on vista/xp but not official on win7.

I guess I will find out soon. If this doesn't do the trick then I am just going to give up. I can't deal with having to buy a $200 soundcard or something just so I can put 5.1 out.

Honestly I never expected so much trouble. Anything the 360 can do out of the box I expectede almost any modern PC to have no problem with...
 
GAF, my computer can support 6GB of DDR3 1600 RAM or 12GB of DDR3 1333 RAM (as only 3 of the slots can run at 1600), which option would be the most useful for gaming?
 
PumpkinPie said:
GAF, my computer can support 6GB of DDR3 1600 RAM or 12GB of DDR3 1333 RAM (as only 3 of the slots can run at 1600), which option would be the most useful for gaming?
Click to expand...

I've seen a review a little while back, comparing 2GB of RAM to 4GB in many games (it might have been 3GB to 6GB, but I think it was 2 to 4), and surprisingly, the framerate/performance between the two was ~100% identical.

Anything over 4-6GB is sorta a complete waste, unless you have specialized needs outside of gaming. I sorta regret splurging to 12GBs and wish I stayed at 6GB, there's no difference, other than my memory usage meter stays at around 33% instead of 66%.

But RAM is cheap, so get as much as you can if you're going all out. There's no downside, other than it makes it slightly harder to overclock and you have a better chance of getting a bad stick.

Edit: The second part of your question! Heh, that's what I get for posting so early, but there is extremely little difference between 1600 and 1333 RAM as well, might account for less than .5% better framerate in a game.
 
Minsc said:
I've seen a review a little while back, comparing 2GB of RAM to 4GB in many games (it might have been 3GB to 6GB, but I think it was 2 to 4), and surprisingly, the framerate/performance between the two was ~100% identical.

Anything over 4-6GB is sorta a complete waste, unless you have specialized needs outside of gaming. I sorta regret splurging to 12GBs and wish I stayed at 6GB, there's no difference, other than my memory usage meter stays at around 33% instead of 66%.

But RAM is cheap, so get as much as you can if you're going all out. There's no downside, other than it makes it slightly harder to overclock and you have a better chance of getting a bad stick.

Edit: The second part of your question! Heh, that's what I get for posting so early, but there is extremely little difference between 1600 and 1333 RAM as well, might account for less than .5% better framerate in a game.
Click to expand...

I'll just take the other 6GB back for a refund then, I bought it because it was on special offer and I thought I could kill Crysis with 12GB :lol still, the 6GB that I'm going to keep will come in handy. Thanks for that!
 
PumpkinPie said:
I'll just take the other 6GB back for a refund then, I bought it because it was on special offer and I thought I could kill Crysis with 12GB :lol still, the 6GB that I'm going to keep will come in handy. Thanks for that!
Click to expand...

Damn, I was trying to find the review, and found a different one instead. Sucks to be wrong, but at least I'm wrong very quickly!

If I can find the original review I'll link it later, but for now, at least you can know you'll be getting some improvement going up to 6GB, and I apologize for claiming otherwise just a few minutes ago!

Edit: Here's a good review of memory timings, at least I was right about that! Very little difference between even 1066 and 1600. Also consider those gaming benches are heavily skewed, since they're extremely low-res and low-quality settings, which will put more load to the CPU, which will cause more drastic changes. As you become more GPU limited, you should see even less difference than what those charts show.

Edit 2: I wish I could find that original testing site I'm thinking of, but it should be noted that the above review about 3GB vs 6GB from tom's is done by corsair, so i was reading around a little and it does get slammed a few times for being a bit non-practical. Here's two other reviews showing my original belief of being minimal difference. I'm sure in games like GTAIV and Metro you'd see some difference, it's just hard to find good reviews.
 
Minsc said:
Speed is significantly different. Greens are 5400rpm and much slower, they're great for doing stuff like capturing video, or storing movies/music, or acting as a media or backup drive, but for running demanding apps or an OS, you want a Black, or faster yet, a $90 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3. The Black's come with a 5 year warranty though, which I prefer, but a broken hard drive's a broken hard drive, regardless of warranty, you still need to back your files up!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I hadn't considered a Samsung. I'll check it out.
 
BudokaiMR2 said:
Yeah I realize that my problem was going through the tv, but that was my only option at first because there was no onboard optical out and no HDMI on my receiver.

The cheap sound card was hooked directly to my receiver but still wasn't doing any better than 2 channel.

I bought a Sound blaster X-fi Titanium and am installing it now. According to the guy it is supposed to support 5.1 through optical on vista/xp but not official on win7.

I guess I will find out soon. If this doesn't do the trick then I am just going to give up. I can't deal with having to buy a $200 soundcard or something just so I can put 5.1 out.

Honestly I never expected so much trouble. Anything the 360 can do out of the box I expectede almost any modern PC to have no problem with...
Click to expand...

What motherboard do you have? Most motherboard will either have an optical out or a digital coaxial out. I've never experienced any problems with hooking up audio to external devices so I've never taken that close of a look.
 
Well after much fiddling around last night I finally got my Q6600 to run at 3.6ghz, and wow, the performance increase is quite huge over 3.0ghz in GTAIV and Crysis (and probably other games, too!) Unfortunately I had to set the VCore at 1.44 to get it to run properly and as a result the idle temps are around 38 - 42c with load temps being in the high 50s. Obviously these are not ideal temperatures, but considering the processor is being overclocked by 50% (1.2ghz), I think they are reasonable.

I haven't had any stability issues yet, but I only played GTAIV: The Lost and the Damned for about an hour and Crysis for about 30 minutes.

I'm still a bit in awe at some of the huge performance gains I am seeing in certain games compared to my old Core 2 Duo E8500 @ 3.8ghz. I only wish I upgraded to a quad core sooner.
 
Zefah said:
Well after much fiddling around last night I finally got my Q6600 to run at 3.6ghz, and wow, the performance increase is quite huge over 3.0ghz in GTAIV and Crysis (and probably other games, too!) Unfortunately I had to set the VCore at 1.44 to get it to run properly and as a result the idle temps are around 38 - 42c with load temps being in the high 50s. Obviously these are not ideal temperatures, but considering the processor is being overclocked by 50% (1.2ghz), I think they are reasonable.

I haven't had any stability issues yet, but I only played GTAIV: The Lost and the Damned for about an hour and Crysis for about 30 minutes.

I'm still a bit in awe at some of the huge performance gains I am seeing in certain games compared to my old Core 2 Duo E8500 @ 3.8ghz. I only wish I upgraded to a quad core sooner.
Click to expand...

That's not high for an OCed Q6600. Not at all, its well within spec.
 
Somnia said:
Quick question regarding putting a new soundcard in my PC. I know I need to uninstall the drivers so do I before installation do I..1) Uninstall drivers on current card, 2) power down, etc. and install new card while removing old card and then 3) install in those steps pretty much? I guess the only real question I have is do I need to completely uninstall the old device also at some point? Thanks!
Click to expand...

So..still wondering if someone could possibly let me know. I know the first part (got that answered for me), but do I need to uninstall the device at some point also?
 
gts 250 problem:
i get 65c max on load playing nba 2k10, however it artifacts and crashes sometimes. this is not a hot temp, so is it just too high of an OC for the card to handle?
 
Dipper145 said:
The other list you had was 120$ cheaper with the OS included. I just prefer going the AMD route because right now it offers a better upgrade path in the future with the 6 core cpus they have coming out for am3 sockets. Both are great options though, just depends on how much you are able to spend. For 900 with OS inlcuded and assembly you could get the previous list with the sonata III and 5770.
Click to expand...

Well, the way I see it, the piece of the puzzle I like to upgrade the least is the CPU itself. I generally try to splurge on that, and upgrade the other bits later. With the wife/budget considerations, there's a limit to the splurge of course, but I'd like to future proof the CPU as best as I can.

My current rig I've had for about oh... 5 years? CPU never upgraded (early-ish dual core), but RAM added and new video card, and extra hard drive (plus heat sinks when I moved to vegas and the damn thing kept over heating).

My goal here is pretty much to get a nice quad core CPU that'll last me the duration, and upgrade the other bits as necessary.

(Honestly, aside from BC2, my current rig has never had problems with anything I want to play, though I can't use max settings on some things, of course. It's my wife's PC that is the clunker, so she gets this one now, and I get to benefit).
 
A couple days ago I had a weird issue with my PC. I was in the middle of typing a Word document when I got a weird error message (something like "memory could not be read") and the computer immediately shut down without warning. I needed to use a restore point to get the computer up and running again. When I had everything reconfigured, I found that my Windows experience index had dropped from a 7.7 to a 5.9, my SSD being the lowest number. I know the WEI doesn't count for much, but I'm wondering if any of you know why it may have changed (i've re-run the assessment several times and received the same results). My BIOS settings are all the same as they were before (AHCI config for drives) and I haven't noticed any decline in performance. I'm using an intel X-25 M 80GB as my boot drive. I haven't seen any other issues since the initial crash besides this WEI weirdness.
 
Frankfurter said:
Have you checked the performance of the SSD with Crystal Disk Mark or AS SSD Benchmark?
Click to expand...
6r3bk9.jpg


I assume those are normal? Never benchmarked it before the crash, but I haven't noticed any change in responsiveness.
 
My GPU just shit the bed and I have a few questions.

It kept getting these "display driver <something> has stopped working blah blah" then the error kept popping up over and over again. Now it wont boot up with the GPU in unless I am in safe mode. I've tried uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling them. Still fails to boot up. Oh and it's definitely the GPU. I tested it on my friend's system (Windows 7) and does the same exact things.

Now my questions: I overclocked it when I got it in November just playing around (it came with the OCing software btw) but didn't flash the bios (does that matter?) and have a fresh install of Vista now. Am I fucked if I try to get it replaced.?

Galaxy Nvidia 9800GT low power
 
My laptop that I used for gaming just died after only 2 years=( While windows is loading the screen turns to a solid color and just stays that way....

So I've decided to get a video card for my PC, but I dunno what to get. It has an athlon 5200 dual core processor. The thing is like 3 years old though and it uses a PCIe 16 card slot I think. All the new cards are PCIe 2.0 or 2.1. Anyone know if these cards will work in my older PC?

Id like to be able to play Crysis, it chugged on low settings on my laptop so I never beat it.
 
Took the plunge and built a new rig afew weeks ago.

Here's the parts list:
core i3 530 with coolermaster hyper 212+ to cool it
asus p7h55
sapphire 5770 vapor-x
4 gb of gskill-1600 ddr3
500 gb seagate barracuda.12
500w coolermaster psu
windows 7 ultimate
thermaltake wingrs 301 case

All together i spent around 34000 philippine peso which equals 750-800 dollars. Parts are slightly more expensive (around 10-15% more) here in the Philippines compared to the US.

My last rig was running a pentium e5200+4850, and the speed difference is quite noticeable. e5200 was running at 3.5 ghz, got my i3 running at 4.0 ghz. Dawn of War 2 and PCSX2 (FF XII looks sooooo good) run alot smoother now, even with added AA. I'll run a 3dmark06 eventually to get a percentage on how much faster it really is. Not only is it faster, it runs cooler and MUCH QUIETER than my old setup. That reference 4850 sounded like a leaf blower at fan speeds greater than 70%. The new vapor-x 5770 is barely audible at 100% fan speed.

The only negatives are I feel as though I got a mediocre i3. It needs way more voltage than most people to reach 4.0, and I can't really break 4.0 without pushing over 1.4 v on it, which I don't want to do for a 24/7 overclock. Hopefully its my motherboard holding me back, and things open up with newer bios. I updated the bios yesterday which enabled me to slightly dial back the voltage to get 4.0 stable, and the temps are noticably down from stress testing a few weeks ago.

Anyways, to anyone on the fence about a core i3, I recommend them, just make sure you get a better oc'ing board like gigabyte ud series or msi gd series or biostar to unlock their full potential...
 
Question,

Was playing demigod and got small black squares during gameplay, it crashed and when it recover the computer said "Display driver reset itself". Its only happened in demigod and Neverwinter Nights 2, my 5850 OC to 1000/1150.

So I thought the card might be going bad so I ran furmark for 8 hours without a crash but when I came back I noticed the Amp monitor was spiking from 1.8A up to normal 38-40A (it eventually stop spike though but it took 5 minutes or so), is it possible that my 550w PSU doesn't have enough juice and hats why those 2 games are crashing? Its odd cause Ive only had crashes in those 2 games, I can play crysis for hours and not have any problems. Full system specs below

i7 390 @ 4Ghz (1.3v CPU, everything else Auto)
ASUS P6X58D Premium motherboard
2 hard drives
4 Case fans
DVD burner
5850 @ 1000/1150 60C temp on load
550w Agtec true watt PSU
 
Hey guys, i'm having a problem with my video card, but i'm not positive if it is.

When i go to play a game, 75% of the time my screen freezes with artifacts on the screen and my computer just crashes. The artifacts stay on my screen and my computer is not responsive, so i'm forced to restart.

I've been looking at the temps, and it seems to only happen when the temps get up to 75c+, but it happened once or twice at around 67ish.


Anyway, i turned the fans up on the graphics card and it seems to have stopped it, but only on less graphics intensive games, such as WoW.

Does this seem to be a graphics card problem, or is it the PSU? Maybe the graphics card is taking too much power up with the more graphical intensive games, and the PSU is bad and can't handle it.
 
I know this is a long shot but if anyone lives near a frys and could possibly pick me up one of those core i7+ 930 combo deals, Ill make it worth your time.

DAMN YOU VIRGINIA AND YOUR NO FRYS.
 
Calantus said:
Hey guys, i'm having a problem with my video card, but i'm not positive if it is.

When i go to play a game, 75% of the time my screen freezes with artifacts on the screen and my computer just crashes. The artifacts stay on my screen and my computer is not responsive, so i'm forced to restart.

I've been looking at the temps, and it seems to only happen when the temps get up to 75c+, but it happened once or twice at around 67ish.


Anyway, i turned the fans up on the graphics card and it seems to have stopped it, but only on less graphics intensive games, such as WoW.

Does this seem to be a graphics card problem, or is it the PSU? Maybe the graphics card is taking too much power up with the more graphical intensive games, and the PSU is bad and can't handle it.
Click to expand...
Sounds like an overheating issue to me.
 
500_build.png


Is 2 GB of RAM good enough for gaming? It's too expensive nowadays so it's either 4 GB of RAM or a powerful graphics card - I can't afford both. I'd like to keep the cost under $550 after rebates so I can afford an OS, and SD card reader, thermal paste, and maybe speakers.
 
ChoklitReign said:
Is 2 GB of RAM good enough for gaming? It's too expensive nowadays so it's either 4 GB of RAM or a powerful graphics card - I can't afford both. I'd like to keep the cost under $550 after rebates so I can afford an OS, and SD card reader, thermal paste, and maybe speakers.
Click to expand...

You can always pick up more RAM later. 2GB is going to hurt you in the short run, but it will be a lot cheaper to just pick up 2 GB more later on than it would be to replace the video card.
 
I'll say make it 4GB of ram since Windows Vista and 7 take up a little over 1GB of ram, which frankly would leave less than a gig for gaming. 6GB is perfect, but 4GB is recommended for a tight budget.
 
Well sound woes are cleared up.

It took an expensive soundblaster card, but it really seems like a lot of the lower range of cards can't handle Dolby/5.1 passthrough over optical.

The one I got has an option called Dolby live and it sends the proper signal. Things sound great again. Games like Metro 2033 are a LOT more fun with the proper atmosphere going again.

It's too bad I had to go through this, because I could have spent the cash upgrading my 4870, but I will survive.
 
Sooo, I just spent $2570 total on an Alienware m15x laptop.
Am I totally crazy? (got 10% off)

Alienware M15x - Alienware M15x, Cosmic Black, Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Unit Price: $2,603.00
Quantity: 1
Total Price: $2,603.00

-- Base System Color --
-- Alienware M15x, Cosmic Black
-----------------------
-- Processor --
-- Intel® Core™ i7-820QM Quad Core Processor 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
-----------------------
-- Memory --
-- 6GB DDR3 at 1333MHz
-----------------------
-- LCD Display --
-- 15.6-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 (1080p) WLED
-----------------------
-- Video Card --
-- 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M
-----------------------
-- Hard Drive --
-- 250GB SATAII 7,200RPM
-----------------------
-- Operating System --
-- Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
-----------------------
-- Optical Drives --
-- Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
-----------------------
-- Sound --
-- Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
-----------------------
-- Wireless --
-- Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
---------------------
-- Office Productivity Software --
-- Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 - English
-----------------------
-- Primary Battery --
-- Primary - 6-cell (56Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery
-----------------------
-- Factory Installed Games --
-- Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
 
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