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[FlyinJ]

So I got my new system built (thanks for the recommendations).

It's a Intel Core i5 Quad 750 2.66Ghz with 4 gigs of RAM.

I'm currently running a 512meg 9800 GT on it.

What would be the best Nvidia board to get as an upgrade, for under $250? Not really interested in Radeon... I've had nothing but problems with them in the past.

As far as what I'm looking for as a benchmark:

Crysis Warhead 1680x1050, 2x AA, 8x AS, high settings across the board with some at medium if need be, DX10, 30-60fps steady.

How is this card:

http://www.centralcomputers.com/commerce/catalog/product.jsp?product_id=69932&czuid=1276114515453

 

[TouchMyBox]

So I got my new system built (thanks for the recommendations).

It's a Intel Core i5 Quad 750 2.66Ghz with 4 gigs of RAM.

I'm currently running a 512meg 9800 GT on it.

What would be the best Nvidia board to get as an upgrade, for under $250? Not really interested in Radeon... I've had nothing but problems with them in the past.

As far as what I'm looking for as a benchmark:

Crysis Warhead 1680x1050, 2x AA, 8x AS, high settings across the board with some at medium if need be, DX10, 30-60fps steady.

How is this card:

http://www.centralcomputers.com/commerce/catalog/product.jsp?product_id=69932&czuid=1276114515453

As someone who has avoided ATI like the plague for the last ten years, I can tell you that the Radeon 5xxx series is pretty much the bee's knees. I would recommend the 5850 for you, but if you insist on nvidia (no marketing pun intended) I guess you can go with the upcoming GTX 465 or spend a bit more for the 470 which is probably what you really want.

 

[Mr_Brit]

So I got my new system built (thanks for the recommendations).

It's a Intel Core i5 Quad 750 2.66Ghz with 4 gigs of RAM.

I'm currently running a 512meg 9800 GT on it.

What would be the best Nvidia board to get as an upgrade, for under $250? Not really interested in Radeon... I've had nothing but problems with them in the past.

As far as what I'm looking for as a benchmark:

Crysis Warhead 1680x1050, 2x AA, 8x AS, high settings across the board with some at medium if need be, DX10, 30-60fps steady.

How is this card:

http://www.centralcomputers.com/commerce/catalog/product.jsp?product_id=69932&czuid=1276114515453

Definitely get the 470 but make sure you get one with an aftermarket cooler as they run pretty hot with the stock cooler.

 

[Minsc]

This is how Crysis runs at max settings, medium settings will be a joke, GTX 260 should be perfectly fine... but a GTX 260 will definitely be holding that CPU back a bit, the GTX 480 and ATi 5870 are both about 2x as fast, and a much better fit to the CPU.

This GTX 260 is like $70 cheaper, and it comes with a free game too.

You can sometimes find a ATi 5850 for not much more than that GTX 260, and it'd run games at around/over 50% faster.

 

[JudgeN]

Probably a good place to put this as well considering people buying parts in this thread.

I'm selling my 5850 Sapphire Toxic edition 1GB for $300ish if anyone wants the card PM me for more details.

 

[MoFuzz]

Would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me out with a new build...? Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Budget: $800-$900, in Canada.

Main Use: Gaming

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (Viewsonic VX2260WM 22" -- existing, and planning on using. VGA/HDMI inputs)

Games: Starcraft 2, Diablo 3

Other: DirectX 11 would be nice

CPU: Intel Core i5 750 - $210
Mobo: Gigabyte P55A-UD4P - $180
RAM: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - $115
Case: Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced - $80
PSU: OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W - $33 or Antec Truepower New 550W Modular - $85 (also consider the 650W version for $105)
GPU: XFX Radeon HD 5770 - $160 XFX having the lifetime warranty, otherwise $140 for the Powercolor version of the same.
Optical Drive: Anything you want really, it'll be around $30 anyways.

Add an optional CPU cooler for about $30 if you want a quieter build or if you plan to overclock.

Grand total of $790 - $890 depending on your choice of parts.

FWIW, all the parts are available from NCIX, and I price matched everything using shopbot.ca

 

[FlyinJ]

Definitely get the 470 but make sure you get one with an aftermarket cooler as they run pretty hot with the stock cooler.

I definitely want to get a card that doesn't require an aftermarket cooler.

I'm almost thinking of just keeping the 9800GT I have until prices fall a bit more on a better card...

I'm going from this 9800 GT running on a 3.4ghz P4 to this blazing new processor, so I'm pretty sure I'll be impressed with the framerates I'll be getting in almost everything at this point.

 

[Ysiadmihi]

Hey guys, quick question.

Say I have Windows 7 installed on HDD A but my "list" of OSs is on HDD B so if I remove B, my computer will not detect my installation on A. Is there some way I can fix this? Thanks.

 

[MiniDitka]

Help!!!!!!!!!!!! I just put my computer together and its not turning on : ( The lights go on in the front of the case but thats it, nothing else seems to be getting power. I'm using an AMD 630 Quad and a Gigabyte MB and I'm thinking that power supply(430 watts) I'm using from my old puter (AMD 4200 Dual Core) might not be enough? I've checked the connectors and everything seems to be hooked up right so I have no idea what could be the problem other than the power supply. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Wallach]

Help!!!!!!!!!!!! I just put my computer together and its not turning on : ( The lights go on in the front of the case but thats it, nothing else seems to be getting power. I'm using an AMD 630 Quad and a Gigabyte MB and I'm thinking that power supply(430 watts) I'm using from my old puter (AMD 4200 Dual Core) might not be enough? I've checked the connectors and everything seems to be hooked up right so I have no idea what could be the problem other than the power supply. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Are there any beeping noises or anything when you boot it up? Any fans spin up?

If the PSU is working then you're missing power somewhere, probably to your mainboard or CPU (people seem to forget the CPU power connector a lot).

 

[MiniDitka]

Are there any beeping noises or anything when you boot it up? Any fans spin up?

If the PUS is working then you're missing power somewhere, probably to your ma inboard or CPU (people seem to forget the CPU power connector a lot).

No beeping noises,fan spinning or anything other than the lights in the front of the case. One thing I noticed was the power connector is 8 pin on the mb and the ones on my ps are 6 and 4 so I just hooked up the 6 pin. I really have no idea what I'm doing :lol

 

[Wallach]

No beeping noises,fan spinning or anything other than the lights in the front of the case. One thing I noticed was the power connector is 8 pin on the mb and the ones on my ps are 6 and 4 so I just hooked up the 6 pin. I really have no idea what I'm doing :lol

That is a problem.

You need to use the 4-pin if you do not have an 8-pin coming off your PSU. Your motherboard manual should tell you which pins (i.e. which "half") to plug the 4-pin into.

You should have a 4-pin that stands by itself and is not connected to the 6-pin or anything else. That is the one you want to use if you do not have an 8-pin CPU power connector.

Edit - Note that while this shouldn't be a problem, it will cause more heat buildup at the connector so you should probably just get a new PSU that has an EPS12v connection.

 

[MiniDitka]

That is a problem.

You need to use the 4-pin if you do not have an 8-pin coming off your PUS. Your motherboard manual should tell you which pins (i.e. which "half") to plug the 4-pin into.

You should have a 4-pin that stands by itself and is not connected to the 6-pin or anything else. That is the one you want to use if you do not have an 8-pin CPU power connector.

Edit - Note that while this shouldn't be a problem, it will cause more heat buildup at the connector so you should probably just get a new PUS that has an Epsom connection.

I'll go give that a try. This is how I have the connectors hooked up.

I didn't see a spot for the power switch in the configuration on my board and my case also didn't come with a speaker hook-up.

g=green w=white r= red b=blue

Edit;Tried the 4 pin and no go : (

 

[Wallach]

Did you change all the instances of "PSU" to "PUS" in my quote? That's fuckin' creepy, why'd you do that?

 

[MiniDitka]

Did you change all the instances of "PSU" to "PUS" in my quote? That's fucking' creepy, why'd you do that?

I didn't touch anything,just hit the quote button and thats all. Actually spell check might have done that and I wasn't paying attention because I'm all distraught at the moment.

Edit: it was spell check. I appreciate you trying to help and theres no way Id act like that.

 

[Wallach]

I didn't touch anything,just hit the quote button and thats all. Actually spell check might have done that and I wasnt paying attention because I'm all distraught at the moment.

:lol

Did you swap the CPU power cable?

 

[MiniDitka]

:Lil

Did you swap the CPU power cable?

If you're talking about the 8 pin yeah I hooked up the 4 pin but nothing happened. This is weird because I've put together 3 other computers and never had any problems.

 

[Wallach]

If you're talking about the 8 pin yeah I hooked up the 4 pin but nothing happened. This is weird because I've put together 3 other computers and never had any problems.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o252/MiniDitka/ns.jpg

Was the manual pretty clear about which pins the 4-pin would have to be seated in for it to work? I'm guessing you've tried it in whatever configurations it would actually seat, though.

Double-check all of your power connections again to make sure they're seated, I guess. If there are no fans spinning up though your motherboard just isn't getting power.

 

[MiniDitka]

Was the manual pretty clear about which pins the 4-pin would have to be seated in for it to work? I'm guessing you've tried it in whatever configurations it would actually seat, though.

Double-check all of your power connections again to make sure they're seated, I guess. If there are no fans spinning up though your motherboard just isn't getting power.

The pins would only go in one way. No fans spinning or anything else, just the light on the front of the case. I give up : ( BTW, can you tell by the pics if I have everything hooked up correctly?

 

[nextgeneration]

So I ordered my pc through cyberpowerpc and it finally came today. For my cpu, I went with an Intel Core i7 Extreme 975 @ 3.33GHz. I asked them to overclock the cpu, but when I use CPU-Z to verify whether or not the cpu was overclocked, it states the my core speed is 1920 MHz. That doesn't seem right. Can anyone help?

 

[Wallach]

The pins would only go in one way. No fans spinning or anything else, just the light on the front of the case. I give up : ( BTW, can you tell by the pics if I have everything hooked up correctly?

Well the mainboard power connections are in the right spot, obviously. I can't tell about your front panel connections, I'm not sure the wire colors matter but the ends of each connection should be labeled somehow. They don't particularly matter anyway outside of the power and reset switch, maybe double check those and make sure the - and + are aligned correctly.

So I ordered my pc through cyberpowerpc and it finally came today. For my cpu, I went with an Intel Core i7 Extreme 975 @ 3.33GHz. I asked them to overclock the cpu, but when I use CPU-Z to verify whether or not the cpu was overclocked, it states the my core speed is 1920 MHz. That doesn't seem right. Can anyone help?

Your actual CPU clock is going to vary depending on the load unless they turned off all of that functionality in the BIOS. Leave CPU-Z open and open a browser or a media player or something; you should see the clocks change dynamically in accordance to their work load.

 

[elrechazado]

Question for pc savvy gaf: When considering a new build, is there much benefit nowadays to say, 8 gigs of ram vs 4 gigs? Back when I built my current pc, using a 32 bit os there wasn't a ton of benefit to be had from more than 2 gigs of ram. Curious if it's worth going big on ram nowadays with the new quad processors and windows 7 and such.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

So I ordered my pc through cyberpowerpc and it finally came today. For my cpu, I went with an Intel Core i7 Extreme 975 @ 3.33GHz. I asked them to overclock the cpu, but when I use CPU-Z to verify whether or not the cpu was overclocked, it states the my core speed is 1920 MHz. That doesn't seem right. Can anyone help?

that's probably when idle. can you post a screen shot of CPU-Z?
edit: what wallach said.

 

[Wallach]

Question for pc savvy gaf: When considering a new build, is there much benefit nowadays to say, 8 gigs of ram vs 4 gigs? Back when I built my current pc, using a 32 bit os there wasn't a ton of benefit to be had from more than 2 gigs of ram. Curious if it's worth going big on ram nowadays with the new quad processors and windows 7 and such.

Depending on what you're doing it can be hard to use more than 4 GB of memory. Games generally don't get much out of it, but other programs can be memory hungry and will use what's available to them. If you're using one of the i7 CPUs that can take advantage of triple channel you'll want to have 6 GB, and at that point it's hard to justify going beyond that right now unless it's a serious workstation.

Edit - Realistically, I would not go above 4 GB (or 6 GB in triple channel) unless I did a lot of image processing or video editing work.

 

[elrechazado]

Depending on what you're doing it can be hard to use more than 4 GB of memory. Games generally don't get much out of it, but other programs can be memory hungry and will use what's available to them. If you're using one of the i7 CPUs that can take advantage of triple channel you'll want to have 6 GB, and at that point it's hard to justify going beyond that right now unless it's a serious workstation.

Cool, thanks. Probably be a while before I do a build (end of the year or so), but it will surely be a windows 7/intel build so that's good info.

 

[nextgeneration]

Ok, I just tried opening up a bunch of media applications, and I saw the core speed jump up to close to 4000 MHz. I guess that solves my problems.

Thanks, guys. Very much appreciated.

Oh, and this is my very first high end pc. It's so awesome to be able to play games at max everything, with everything running at 60 fps or higher.

 

[hxa155]

I'm new to this kind of thing. So I need some help. What do you guys think about these parts? I'm a little skeptical about the video card because it doesn't have an HDMI port.

--------

EDIT: Should I get this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.403868

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

Ok, I just tried opening up a bunch of media applications, and I saw the core speed jump up to close to 4000 MHz. I guess that solves my problems.

Thanks, guys. Very much appreciated.

Oh, and this is my very first high end pc. It's so awesome to be able to play games at max everything, with everything running at 60 fps or higher.

welcome to our side.

 

[Blizzard]

So I got my new system built (thanks for the recommendations).

It's a Intel Core i5 Quad 750 2.66Ghz with 4 gigs of RAM.

I'm currently running a 512meg 9800 GT on it.

What would be the best Nvidia board to get as an upgrade, for under $250? Not really interested in Radeon... I've had nothing but problems with them in the past.

As far as what I'm looking for as a benchmark:

Crysis Warhead 1680x1050, 2x AA, 8x AS, high settings across the board with some at medium if need be, DX10, 30-60fps steady.

How is this card:

http://www.centralcomputers.com/commerce/catalog/product.jsp?product_id=69932&czuid=1276114515453

If you're okay with some medium settings, the 5850 should be fine. I've been running the original Crysis at 1680x1050 on my 1GB 5850 with 0xAA, 8xAF, edge AA turned on, and very high/high settings. I think it ends up around 30-35 in most places, so I would guess the 5850 might be 30-60 in Warhead on similar settings, especially if any settings go to medium.

If you prefer nVidia than what the other guy said, I guess. I will admit there was a little bit of weirdness trying to get the driver installed even after I uninstalled my previous ATI card.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

I'm new to this kind of thing. So I need some help. What do you guys think about these parts? I'm a little skeptical about the video card because it doesn't have an HDMI port.

--------

EDIT: Should I get this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.403868

what is your budget first off, and what kind of graphic settings are you looking for? i'll assume you want to max out whatever monitor you have? (what kind and what resolution by the way?)

 

[hxa155]

what is your budget first off, and what kind of graphic settings are you looking for? i'll assume you want to max out whatever monitor you have? (what kind and what resolution by the way?)

My budget is around $1000 and I'm planning on using a 22-in 720p HDTV. I could increase the budget to get a new monitor but I haven't used that TV since I got a 42-incher.

EDIT:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236053

This is the monitor that I might get.

 

[MiniDitka]

Well the mainboard power connections are in the right spot, obviously. I can't tell about your front panel connections, I'm not sure the wire colors matter but the ends of each connection should be labeled somehow. They don't particularly matter anyway outside of the power and reset switch, maybe double check those and make sure the - and + are aligned correctly.

After checking the wiring again I had a few hooked up wrong and after re-doing it was able to get my computer to turn on for about 5 secs before powering off and looking in the manual it says that you should have at least 500 watts, so could it be that the 430 watt ps I'm using isn't enough to keep it going?

 

[Wallach]

After checking the wiring again I had a few hooked up wrong and after re-doing it was able to get my computer to turn on for about 5 secs before powering off and looking in the manual it says that you should have at least 500 watts, so could it be that the 430 watt ps I'm using isn't enough to keep it going?

It's possible, especially if it is a lower quality PSU (no offense). One of the bigger spikes in power draw always occurs right when you hit the power switch.

Quite frankly since you should be using an 8-pin EPS12V connector for the CPU, you may want to just invest in a new PSU anyway.

 

[Technosteve]

After checking the wiring again I had a few hooked up wrong and after re-doing it was able to get my computer to turn on for about 5 secs before powering off and looking in the manual it says that you should have at least 500 watts, so could it be that the 430 watt ps I'm using isn't enough to keep it going?

no it should stay on

 

[MiniDitka]

It's possible, especially if it is a lower quality PSU (no offense). One of the bigger spikes in power draw always occurs right when you hit the power switch.

Quite frankly since you should be using an 8-pin EPS12V connector for the CPU, you may want to just invest in a new PSU anyway.

Yeah, I'm gonna pick up a new PSU at tiger direct tomorrow and and hopefully that solves the problem. Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out : )

no it should stay on

I'm sooooooooo lost.

 

[derder]

My budget is around $1000 and I'm planning on using a 22-in 720p HDTV. I could increase the budget to get a new monitor but I haven't used that TV since I got a 42-incher.

EDIT:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236053

This is the monitor that I might get.

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Computer Case
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders
OCZ Technology OCZ500MXSP +
Sony Optiarc America Inc AD-7260S-0B
Hightech Information System Ltd. H577FM1GD +
OCZ Technology OCZ3RPR1600C8LV4GK
AMD HDZ965FBGMBOX +
GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4

Total Price shipped: $822.97
I went with your case, Gaf's beloved Spinpoint, with USB 3.0 and sata 6g. You have enough left over to invest in a SSD when the sata 6g versions come out.

 

[Hazaro]

Yeah, I'm gonna pick up a new PSU at tiger direct tomorrow and and hopefully that solves the problem. Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out : )


I'm sooooooooo lost.

500w is the load 'max' potential wattage (more like 380w, but they have to be safe)
On startup, let alone idle it would be drawing less than 150w so it should be no problem unless some part of the PSU is busted.

 

[Kholdstare]

I need some help with my upcoming purchase. I've finally decided to get more involved in PC gaming (I've been using a laptop up until now) and I want to build or buy myself a good first desktop rig. I'm currently stuck between two different computers and I can't seem to make up my mind. I was hoping Gaf would help me choose.

First off I have this prebuilt PC from Gateway.

Futureshop has a deal right now where I could get this for 100$ cheaper than the asking price (1700$ before tax) and it comes with a 23" (I think) monitor and mouse and keyboard. Aside from how simple it is to just buy this and know it works, I can also finance the thing and not worry about paying it off all right away. Which would be pretty nice right now since I have a few other things I want as well.

My major problem with this thing aside from the stupid amount of RAM (16 gigs!?) is how inflexible I hear prebuilt computers are. I don't like the idea that in a few years I have the option to upgrade the video card among other things.



On the other hand I have the option to get a PC custom built online. Since I'm no good with computers I had a friend walk me through the process and help me figure out exactly what I want in a computer. We came up with this:
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout Gaming Case
Enermax MODU82+ 625W SLI 80 Plus Active PFC
Intel Core i5 750 2.66 LGA1156 L3 8MB
GIGABYTE SKT.1156 Intel P55 DDR3 ATX
G.SKILL DDR3-1600 4GB Dual Channel Kit
MSI Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI-E
MSI Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI-E
LG 10x Blu-Ray Reader / DVD-RW SATA w/Lightscribe Black
WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://pccyber.com/?v=Product&i=CF-SCY-SCMG-2100
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Prem 64 Bit

Hopefully I didn't miss anything. Comes to 1418 before tax though I still need to attach a monitor (suggestions are welcome) and the keyboard and mouse. Can't finance this thing and I'm sure the price will end up being sort of similar once I take the extra few items into consideration. It's a more focused machine that is upgradeable in the future at the cost of having to pay this off up front.



What should I do Gaf? Any other recommendations would also be considered.

 

[MiniDitka]

500w is the load 'max' potential wattage (more like 380w, but they have to be safe)
On startup, let alone idle it would be drawing less than 150w so it should be no problem unless some part of the PSU is busted.

It working fine in the computer I'm using at the moment(and has for the past yr) so I think the problem is probably somewhere else. Back to the drawing board : (

 

[nextgeneration]

Ok, here's my setup, guys. Running Intel Core i7 Extreme 975 @ 3.33GHz overclocked to around 4.0 GHz, Radeon 5970, 12 gigs of ram, Win 7 as OS. Yet, on 3 games I've tried so far (Fear 2, Resident Evil 4 benchmark, and Serious Sam HD), I top out at 60 fps on all 3 games. Anyone know what's going on here? With this setup, I should easily be getting over 100 fps, yet I'm topped out at 60 fps. Is there a setting that I need to check or something?

 

[Shambles]

Ok, here's my setup, guys. Running Intel Core i7 Extreme 975 @ 3.33GHz overclocked to around 4.0 GHz, Radeon 5970, 12 gigs of ram, Win 7 as OS. Yet, on 3 games I've tried so far (Fear 2, Resident Evil 4 benchmark, and Serious Sam HD), I top out at 60 fps on all 3 games. Anyone know what's going on here? With this setup, I should easily be getting over 100 fps, yet I'm topped out at 60 fps. Is there a setting that I need to check or something?

Turn off vsync?

If not in the game settings perhaps through the CCC, i'm not sure if you can force it through the card itself.

 

[Wallach]

Ok, here's my setup, guys. Running Intel Core i7 Extreme 975 @ 3.33GHz overclocked to around 4.0 GHz, Radeon 5970, 12 gigs of ram, Win 7 as OS. Yet, on 3 games I've tried so far (Fear 2, Resident Evil 4 benchmark, and Serious Sam HD), I top out at 60 fps on all 3 games. Anyone know what's going on here? With this setup, I should easily be getting over 100 fps, yet I'm topped out at 60 fps. Is there a setting that I need to check or something?

You're capped at 60 FPS because VSync is on. If you turn VSync off, your frames will go much higher but you'll get screen tearing. You won't really see a difference in framerates above 60 anyway, but you'll definitely see the screen tearing, so leave it on.

 

[nextgeneration]

You're capped at 60 FPS because VSync is on. If you turn VSync off, your frames will go much higher but you'll get screen tearing. You won't really see a difference in framerates above 60 anyway, but you'll definitely see the screen tearing, so leave it on.

Thank you!

 

[Siyou]

Alright, I don't know anything about computers really.. However I just got a new game for PC and there's no way my current laptop can handle it. I'm thinking on getting a PC, but I'll be moving to China in august (there currently, but will be home for July-August). So GAF if you had $300-$500? would you recommend a laptop or a desktop given the current situation I have? I'm leaning more towards a PC as I would also like to turn it into an entertainment center later as well. I'm not looking at monitors as I will get one in China and I'm concerned about that getting ruined. The rest however I'm positive I can make it safe with the right precautions.

So GAF I need your wisdom on the matter, gaming PC or gaming Laptop, and what would the specs be in the price range of $300-500?

 

[Arsin]

Hey GAF I saw this card was on sale

XFX 5850

What do you guys think? Good deal or other cards that are better?

 

[Mr_Brit]

Alright, I don't know anything about computers really.. However I just got a new game for PC and there's no way my current laptop can handle it. I'm thinking on getting a PC, but I'll be moving to China in august (there currently, but will be home for July-August). So GAF if you had $300-$500? would you recommend a laptop or a desktop given the current situation I have? I'm leaning more towards a PC as I would also like to turn it into an entertainment center later as well. I'm not looking at monitors as I will get one in China and I'm concerned about that getting ruined. The rest however I'm positive I can make it safe with the right precautions.

So GAF I need your wisdom on the matter, gaming PC or gaming Laptop, and what would the specs be in the price range of $300-500?

Practically impossible to get a gaming laptop for your budget so it will have to be a gaming PC.

 

[nextgeneration]

For the people who have ssd's and are using windows 7, how long does it take to fully boot up windows? Mine takes about 40 seconds, which seems very slow for an ssd. Any one have tips to make win 7 boot up faster?

 

[vazel]

Hey GAF I saw this card was on sale

XFX 5850

What do you guys think? Good deal or other cards that are better?

Not too sure about that fan. Looks like it could be loud, I'd read around about it. Also I've had bad experience with XFX's customer support. I had trouble with random crashes with their 4850 card even after an RMA and they started giving me attitude like I was a dumbass and was doing something wrong. I had to buy a gts250 as a replacement and the crashes stopped.

 

[Red]

nextgeneration: my Intel X25-M boots Windows in less than 20 seconds between POST and log in. What SSD are you using?

I posted a little while ago I was having trouble running a 4GHz overclock on my PC w/ an i7 920. Prime95 didn't cause any problems, but the computer would freeze after a few hours of idling. I've played around a little more with my settings and found that the computer is stable over days if the RAM is knocked down to its slowest possible speed (to 1146MHz from 1528). Since my PC is stable with these current settings, and without altering the 4GHz clock speed on my CPU, I'm assuming the freezing was an isolated memory issue. I tried setting my memory at 1600MHz via X.M.P. settings (RAM is Corsair Dominator 1600), but Windows froze on boot, with a jagged green line across the middle of my screen and a terribly loud screeching sound. I double checked my BIOS settings and saw my dRAM voltage had been set at 1.66. Normally I have it at 1.64, and my BIOS automatically knocks it up to 1.66 if I try inputting 1.65. Brought down the voltage and the system still froze, but without the drama (no beep or artifacts).

Anyone here know what could be the root of the problem (RAM, motherboard [P6T deluxe], CPU)? Why would my system be freezing at idle due to RAM issues? I'd assume if there was a problem with my RAM, it would always be apparent, not only when I'm nearing its rated speed.

 

[nextgeneration]

nextgeneration: my Intel X25-M boots Windows in less than 20 seconds between POST and log in. What SSD are you using?

I have the 160GB INTEL X25-M. Wow, less than 20 seconds is more like it! That's what I was expecting from mine, but I have no idea why it's taking so long! Anyone have any tips?