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[Kintaro]

GTX 480

<looks at prices>

Goddamn man! =O

Since I would be gaming mostly around 1080p or so, I'm thinking either Radeon 5770 or 5850. Thoughts? Best brand?

 

[Dynamic3]

Is this PSU ample for an i7/470/SSD build? Speaking of which, what is the difference between the four X-25M 80GB SSDs that Newegg has available?

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

Got my Antec 300 today and my Vapor-X5770.

The Antec 300 is not a computer case, it is a work of freaking art.
For $50 this thing is absolutely brilliant. I really had no freaking clue.
How on earth they are selling this case for under $100 let alone $50 is beyond me.

My CPU temps went from 48* idle to 33*.
System temps went from 45* to 30*
Core temps went from 46* down to 27*
These temps were AFTER I raised the voltage and all the fans are on low.

MIND BLOWN!!!

And get this, I have to take it back apart because I forgot to connect one of the fans.:lol

 

[Minsc]

<looks at prices>

Goddamn man! =O

Since I would be gaming mostly around 1080p or so, I'm thinking either Radeon 5770 or 5850. Thoughts? Best brand?

5850 would mean ATi drivers, figured you'd want to stick with nVidia. The Tech Report guide basically trashed the GTX 470 as being generally inferior to the cheaper 5850, so I skipped over that one and recommended you the GTX 480, which would let you stick with nVidia drivers and be a decent improvement.

A 5770 is not an upgrade from a GTX 260, don't even consider that. A 5850 would yield better framerates, but if you don't plan on overclocking, top of the line is where it is at, and that is 5870/480. Brand, doesn't seem to matter too much, just make sure you buy it in a way that if you have a defective card it is simple for you to RMA it. Otherwise, XFX is slightly louder from what I hear, but they re-sell higher if you're looking to only hold on to the card for a year or two.

You could always add a second GTX 260, that'd be the most cost-effective upgrade, but I'm not too found of SLI/XFire myself, lots of issues and more power drain / heat.

 

[filipe]

Got my Antec 300 today and my Vapor-X5770.

The Antec 300 is not a computer case, it is a work of freaking art.
For $50 this thing is absolutely brilliant. I really had no freaking clue.
How on earth they are selling this case for under $100 let alone $50 is beyond me.

My CPU temps went from 48* idle to 33*.
System temps went from 45* to 30*
Core temps went from 46* down to 27*
These temps were AFTER I raised the voltage and all the fans are on low.

MIND BLOWN!!!

And get this, I have to take it back apart because I forgot to connect one of the fans.:lol

Would you say it's roomy? I like the look/price tag.

 

[darkpaladinmfc]

I want to OC my Q6600 to about 3.0 (Or whatever will help me stop dipping into 45fps during Persona 4 battles...). But my temperatures seem way too high for everything, even after cleaning the inside with compressed air. I'm using the stock Q6600 cooler, a stock OCd 8800 Ultra, with a Thermaltake Coolermaster case. My room is pretty hot for England (30ish C), but surely that shouldn't make my temperatures that much higher? Here are my SpeedFan results:

Someone help please , and ignore the minus signs in the temperatures.

 

[Parham]

It says 4096 mb total memory in the BIOS. Or am I looking at the wrong spot?

It sounds like your motherboard doesn't recognize all of the RAM. Are all of your memory sticks the same make and model?

 

[Shalashaska161]

Alright GAF I went ahead and bought a whole new computer a couple days ago. Been saving up for a couple years and I finally got the money to spend on it. The wait for this thing is already killing me, and having the long weekend up here in Canada is just going to make it take even longer to get here. Specs are:

Processor: Intel Core i7 930
Motherboard: Asus P6TD Deluxe X58
Ram: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 6GB DDR3 3x2GB
Video Card: ATI Radeon 5870
Computer Case: Cooler Master Haf 932 Black
Power Supply: Corsair TX750W ATX 12V 60A
CPU Cooling: Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H50
Monitor: Asus VH236H Black 23
Hard drive: Samsung F3 1TB
SSD: Intel X25-M 80GB

The reason for the big power supply is that I'm gonna buy another 5870 when the new ATI line comes out and the price drops a bit. So, did I do good GAF?

 

[filipe]

Alright GAF I went ahead and bought a whole new computer a couple days ago. Been saving up for a couple years and I finally got the money to spend on it. The wait for this thing is already killing me, and having the long weekend up here in Canada is just going to make it take even longer to get here. Specs are:

Processor: Intel Core i7 930
Motherboard: Asus P6TD Deluxe X58
Ram: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 6GB DDR3 3x2GB
Video Card: ATI Radeon 5870
Computer Case: Cooler Master Haf 932 Black
Power Supply: Corsair TX750W ATX 12V 60A
CPU Cooling: Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H50
Monitor: Asus VH236H Black 23
Hard drive: Samsung F3 1TB
SSD: Intel X25-M 80GB

The reason for the big power supply is that I'm gonna buy another 5870 when the new ATI line comes out and the price drops a bit. So, did I do good GAF?

Mine slipping the price on that? Minus the monitor, SSD and 5870. Just curios, want to compare to mine.

 

[Kintaro]

5850 would mean ATi drivers, figured you'd want to stick with nVidia. The Tech Report guide basically trashed the GTX 470 as being generally inferior to the cheaper 5850, so I skipped over that one and recommended you the GTX 480, which would let you stick with nVidia drivers and be a decent improvement.

A 5770 is not an upgrade from a GTX 260, don't even consider that. A 5850 would yield better framerates, but if you don't plan on overclocking, top of the line is where it is at, and that is 5870/480.

I see where you were coming from now.

Hmmm...

 

[SuperSonic1305]

It sounds like your motherboard doesn't recognize all of the RAM. Are all of your memory sticks the same make and model?

Yes. I got 3x2 gig sticks.

 

[Complex Shadow]

hey gaf i hate to be bothersome but one of my friends has a problem with his desktop (which he made like a year ago)

so far we have narrowed it down to two problems:
-his PSU
~or~
-his Video card

symptoms:
- crashes for random games (e.g split second, lead and gold, and Flotilla (windowed))
-> some games crash after 20 mins of flawless game play or escape to menu(e.g TF2, bioshock 2)
- works fine for other games (e.g Crysis warhead, and portal)
- right before a game crashes the pixels will go jagged, turn into large squares and the computer will reboot.

specs:
Ati Radeon 4870
PSU: crosair 450W
core 2 duo
3 gb ram

i WAS 99% sure its his PSU, but i would love a second opinion. please help!

selfish bump =(
someone told me it could be faulty video card (something something vram)

please help my friend

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

Would you say it's roomy? I like the look/price tag.

Absolutely! You won't regret buying this case.

Now, if I could figure out what the deal is wrong with my 5770 I'd be in business. For some reason I can't seem to run anything. FF Benchmark crashes, ATI demos crash too. I have the latest DirectX and the latest Catalyst.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Is it worth getting the Illusion 300 case over the plain old 300 case? It looks like the illusion has two extra fans.

 

[Dynamic3]

'Is this PSU ample for an *overclocked i7/470/SSD build? Speaking of which, what is the difference between the four X-25M 80GB SSDs that Newegg has available?'

I hate to quote myself, but can someone please help me with this. I'm trying to make a decision before the deals end tonight.

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

Is it worth getting the Illusion 300 case over the plain old 300 case? It looks like the illusion has two extra fans.

Mine has 4 fans all with blue LED's. 1 at the back for exhaust, 1 at the back on top of the case, and 2 in the front. I think all of them are 120mm except the top fan which is 140mm. There are 3 manual fan controllers. I think one for the two in front, and 1 for each of the back fans. There is also a washable filter for the fans in front. Case is very big inside and easy to install things in with plenty of room for cable management. Really nice design, and very easy to take apart and put back together.

My only real gripe would be the HDD mounting but, it wasn't really an issue for me.
It just feels strange seeing half of the HDD showing inside the case.

Also, there isn't any anti-vibration for anything so if you plan on taking the PC to lan parties you might want to consider a different case.

Here is a review of the regular 300 to give you an idea.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/586/1

 

[Felix Lighter]

I asked this before but I didn't get an answer. I found that my 5850 remains stable at 880/1190 at stock voltage. Is it normal to keep your GPU at stock speeds normally and only overclock it when your playing say, Crysis? That's how I've been handling it because the vast majority of the games I own run at a solid 60 fps with max settings at stock speeds; it doesn't seem necessary to bump it up. I was just curious if setting and resetting the clock speeds from time to time was a bad idea. Flashing the bios makes me nervous.

 

[Parham]

Yes. I got 3x2 gig sticks.

It could be that one of the sticks are faulty. Try putting in only one 2GB stick at a time and rotate between the three to see if all of them are working properly. Make sure that you are only using one stick each time you check.

 

[BigBlackGamer]

I'm building my cousins comp and I can give him my old PSU. 600 Watt PSU enough for 5870?

 

[demosthenes]

Shit.

Just ran the FFXIV benchmark and it looks like I have to upgrade my PC before I wanted to (November). Guess I need to start researching LOL

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

I'm building my cousins comp and I can give him my old PSU. 600 Watt PSU enough for 5870?

Possibly, what's the amperage on the 12v+ rails?

Mine has 4 fans all with blue LED's. 1 at the back for exhaust, 1 at the back on top of the case, and 2 in the front. I think all of them are 120mm except the top fan which is 140mm. There are 3 manual fan controllers. I think one for the two in front, and 1 for each of the back fans. There is also a washable filter for the fans in front. Case is very big inside and easy to install things in with plenty of room for cable management. Really nice design, and very easy to take apart and put back together.

My only real gripe would be the HDD mounting but, it wasn't really an issue for me.
It just feels strange seeing half of the HDD showing inside the case.

Also, there isn't any anti-vibration for anything so if you plan on taking the PC to lan parties you might want to consider a different case.

Here is a review of the regular 300 to give you an idea.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/586/1

So yours is the plain 300? And it has fans mounted on the two front fan mounts? The description only says the illusion has those.

 

[Minsc]

'Is this PSU ample for an *overclocked i7/470/SSD build? Speaking of which, what is the difference between the four X-25M 80GB SSDs that Newegg has available?'

I hate to quote myself, but can someone please help me with this. I'm trying to make a decision before the deals end tonight.

Should be plenty. According to anandtech full system load (on an overclocked 920 to 3.3GHz) is a tad over 400W. The GTX 480 is a bit under 500W, so it's a bit more power hungry, but that PSU should be fine for either one. Cooler Master is a good brand too, from what I've read.

As for the X-25, perhaps this will help. They're all G2 models that support TRIM, so you're covered there. You should be fine with whatever is the cheapest, so long as it has a warranty. A SSD is fast, plain and simple!

 

[Nabs]

Absolutely! You won't regret buying this case.

Now, if I could figure out what the deal is wrong with my 5770 I'd be in business. For some reason I can't seem to run anything. FF Benchmark crashes, ATI demos crash too. I have the latest DirectX and the latest Catalyst.

try using driver sweeper in safe mode to wipe your system clean of all ati drivers, and try a fresh install.

 

[BigBlackGamer]

Possibly, what's the amperage on the 12v+ rails?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

this is it right here.

 

[Dynamic3]

Should be plenty. According to anandtech full system load (on an overclocked 920 to 3.3GHz) is a tad over 400W. The GTX 480 is a bit under 500W, so it's a bit more power hungry, but that PSU should be fine for either one. Cooler Master is a good brand too, from what I've read.

As for the X-25, perhaps this will help. They're all G2 models that support TRIM, so you're covered there. You should be fine with whatever is the cheapest, so long as it has a warranty. A SSD is fast, plain and simple!

Thanks so much!

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

And it's that time of the year again! Me and my brother preordered Starcraft 2 and since this PC ain't big enough for both of us, I need a new one.

Few things to be aware of:

1. I live in Canada. Fuck Yeah!
2. $500 ($600 if I have no other choice but will try to keep it $500) PC excluding mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers and all the other peripherals.
3. Tomorrow is Canada Day, so that means stores will have awesome deals (yet all local stores are closed!).

Any Canadian-GAF have an advice for me on what to get or what they own? I will start looking at this thread page by page to see what suits my need.

Newegg now ships to Canada and uses paypal so that'll work as an awesome source for me. I don't mind stores like Tigerdirect either since it's a couple of blocks from my home. Any other source is welcome!

 

[Hazaro]

THANKS!
For the GPU, are there particular compatibility issues with that MoBO? Or he can go for something like a Nvidia GTX260..

It has a PCI-E so you are good to go. Just need to make sure the PSU is semi decent.
A 5770 would be a good buy for the lower power draw and price.

5850 would mean ATi drivers, figured you'd want to stick with nVidia. The Tech Report guide basically trashed the GTX 470 as being generally inferior to the cheaper 5850, so I skipped over that one and recommended you the GTX 480, which would let you stick with nVidia drivers and be a decent improvement.

At launch this was true, but the GTX 470 is a faster card than the 5850 and now for only $20-$30 more I would not say that is it trash at all.
Sure it uses 60 more watts but the card itself is fine. :lol

I asked this before but I didn't get an answer. I found that my 5850 remains stable at 880/1190 at stock voltage. Is it normal to keep your GPU at stock speeds normally and only overclock it when your playing say, Crysis? That's how I've been handling it because the vast majority of the games I own run at a solid 60 fps with max settings at stock speeds; it doesn't seem necessary to bump it up. I was just curious if setting and resetting the clock speeds from time to time was a bad idea. Flashing the bios makes me nervous.

GPU overclocking is software based unlike CPU overclocking. It is possible to flash the GPU to change the default clocks, but you need a special program.
Stuff like ATi Overdrive / Rivatuner is software so I wouldn't worry about it.
Additionally most GPU's support an idle 2D mode so I would personally just leave your overclock where it is.

1. I live in Canada. Fuck Yeah!
2. $500 ($600 if I have no other choice but will try to keep it $500) PC excluding mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers and all the other peripherals.
3. Tomorrow is Canada Day, so that means stores will have awesome deals (yet all local stores are closed!).

http://techreport.com/articles.x/19159/2

Swap in a 5770, a samsung 1TB drive, get 4GB of G.Skill/Corsair RAM, and get an Antec Case/PSU to cut back those price increases a little bit.

I'd look at NCIX tomorrow/today? and see if some deals are going on there.

The second has faster speed and costs $10 more. I really don't know enough about RAM to know if it makes a difference (1600 vs 1333).

Also, about the motherboard, I'm looking at this one:
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P
as I've heard good things about it but this one:
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3
is about $50 cheaper. I don't know enough to understand what warrants the price difference. From the product pages of each the 4P has eSATAII, 2 additional 3 GB/s SATA, IEEE 1394, and Smart TPM. None of that means anything to me and what I could find in my own research didn't help much. I'd like to be able to hold onto the motherboard for quite a while but is it worth it? Any additional help is appreciated.

1333 vs 1600 is negligible difference in real world performance. If you are overclocking an i5/i7 I'd suggest getting 1600 memory. Otherwise 1333 is fine.

The main difference is the more expensive model has x8 on the extra PCI-E lane so it will not hinder a dual GPU setup as much as x4 would.

Yes. I got 3x2 gig sticks.

Make sure the RAM is seated properly (take it out and put it back), and if it doesn't show then, swap them into the second slot.
If it is still 4GB test each stick manually and see which one is bad.
If all of them work then run memtest86+ from a CD on each to see which errors.

Also make sure the RAM is running at the rated voltage and timing (e.g. 8-8-8-24). This might be under advanced options.

I have a 24" monitor and want to game at 1920x1200 with eye-candy. From what I've read, for that resolution, the 5850 is the sweet spot, but is there a refresh on the horizon that will push that price down sub-$250?

Not for a while

 

[Hazaro]

*Reposting*
1)Basic Desktop Questions

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? Do you already have a monitor?
List SPECIFIC games (or programs) that you MUST be able to play/use: Self Explanatory

2)General Guide on what to buy (Summer)
Tech Report Builders Guide!
A very good basic guide that has been updated for Summer. Has alternative options and many price points.


3) 15 minute video how-to
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/video_how_build_pc_ever_step_explained
40 minute how-to
http://www.tested.com/news/video-how-to-build-the-best-1500-gaming-pc-step-by-step/152/

If someone has a better short video please share.

4) Prospective laptop buyers please fill this out (and maybe even ask their forum):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...ould-i-buy-form-must-read-before-posting.html

 

[·feist·]

Got my Antec 300 today and my Vapor-X5770.

The Antec 300 is not a computer case, it is a work of freaking art.
For $50 this thing is absolutely brilliant. I really had no freaking clue.
How on earth they are selling this case for under $100 let alone $50 is beyond me.

My CPU temps went from 48* idle to 33*.
System temps went from 45* to 30*
Core temps went from 46* down to 27*
These temps were AFTER I raised the voltage and all the fans are on low.

MIND BLOWN!!!

And get this, I have to take it back apart because I forgot to connect one of the fans.:lol

Congrats, particularly on the low temps. The 300 in getting on in age, but all Antec needs to do is to continue to lower the price and it will live forever. As an overall proposition, it really is hard to beat at its current price-point. I'll still probably end up buying one myself at some point just to have an extra case lying around.

Is it worth getting the Illusion 300 case over the plain old 300 case? It looks like the illusion has two extra fans.

If you aren't in a rush to buy, Newegg seems to have the Illusion on sale for $50 every so often. Shouldn't be long before its marked down again.

 

[·feist·]

I didn't see the minus sign . I'll check on CoreTemp in just a sec, and see what it gives me.

EDIT:

Basically what SpeedFan said, but without the minus sign :lol.

Someone help please , and ignore the minus signs in the temperatures.

Assuming that your readings are more or less correct, that's fairly high for a stock, low load Q6600 even with warm ambient temps. Are you completely certain that the HSF is properly seated? I believe you have the Intel unit that came with the chip so that would mean dealing with pushpins that can be tricky if worn or not clipped in correctly. Do you have an extra HSF that you can swap in to test with? I'm always surprised by how many enthusiasts use the stock Intel/AMD fans when they have a quad and heat pumping discreet graphics. You can easily find solid performing 120mm HSFs for $20-25. I'd think a decent 92mm HSF should be the bare minimum.

I don't recall if you specified which GPU you had, but 84c is also up there temp wise for a card that isn't being stressed. Do you have a snake pit of wiring, or a case with poor airflow? Perhaps one or more of your fans is on its way out, or could something be obstructing your vents?

 

[vazel]

Someone help please , and ignore the minus signs in the temperatures.

Be sure your case exhaust fan is still working. My components heated up like crazy when my exhaust fan stopped working. I was surprised at the effect one failed exhaust fan had, when I opened up my case it was like an oven in there.

 

[Slayer-33]

He's not kidding, the 300 is fucking awesome.. I finished my build but couldn't test it yet, I'll do it when I get home later. Anyway, I made a fucking wiring mess with a modular psu no less lol (bottom area near sata F3 hdds, clusterfuck of wires).. I need to rewire/reroute most of the connectors.


I have a Q though I could only plug in one of the 4+4 12v connectors onto the mobo, will it be enough pow for the 1055t? I got the psu and mobo listed a few pages back. I only plan to OC the proc to 3.5GHz at most and nothing over that on the stock cooler if it's quiet and cool enough (applied AS 5 to HSF) also I connected the 20+4 power pin to mobo (so that's the 20+4 full 24pins, and half 4+4 12v CPU connector on the upper left side of the mobo) it's my first time building a CPU that requires the extra power connector I hope it's more than enough.

 

[Minsc]

At launch this was true, but the GTX 470 is a faster card than the 5850 and now for only $20-$30 more I would not say that is it trash at all.
Sure it uses 60 more watts but the card itself is fine. :lol

Reviewing it again, and it seems like you're right, this is what they had to say in the Summer Guide:

As we saw in our testing, Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 470 fails to outpace the Radeon HD 5850 substantially in real-world games, actually falling behind it in many cases. That's not terribly enticing for a card with not only a higher price tag, but also higher noise levels, higher temperatures, and higher power draw.

These shortcomings don't warrant shunning Nvidia entirely for another edition of the guide, though. Newer Radeons have been dogged by supply problems, so we're happy to have a DX11-capable alternative to recommend. Plus, some folks may find value in this card despite its handicaps. For one, the GF100 GPU has formidable geometry processing capabilities that may become an advantage in future games. We also suspect the GF100 has great GPU computing performance, which could come in handy if OpenCL-enabled consumer applications start flooding the market. On top of that, the GeForce has PhysX and 3D Vision—two features that lack alternatives on the AMD side right now. (To its credit, our Radeon HD 5850 can drive one more monitor than the GeForce.)

We've included this Asus variant of the GTX 470 as a provisional recommendation, because Asus offers three years of warranty coverage regardless of whether the user registers or not—almost better than some of the lifetime deals we've seen, which often fall back to one year if you forget to sign up.

They actually do sorta recommend it, and like you say, things are better now too. For $325 as opposed to $470 (GTX 480), it does help get you an upgrade from the GTX 260 for a bit less money.

 

[Mr_Brit]

All you people asking about PSUs need to know one thing. Any system with any single graphics card except the GTX480 will run with ample wattage left over on a good branded (Corsair, Antec, Seasonic) 550W PSU. If you're plannig on getting a GTX 480 ramp it up to a 650W.

 

[Felix Lighter]

GPU overclocking is software based unlike CPU overclocking. It is possible to flash the GPU to change the default clocks, but you need a special program.
Stuff like ATi Overdrive / Rivatuner is software so I wouldn't worry about it.
Additionally most GPU's support an idle 2D mode so I would personally just leave your overclock where it is.

Ok, cool. Thanks for the peace of mind.

 

[Ezahn]

Question time: I'm mostly a Mac user, but a while ago I built a gaming pc that I like to use for my pc-gaming needs.

It's:
- e8400 3.0
- nvidia 8800 GT 512
- 4 gb ram
- asus P5K VM (i think...)

I'm thinking about an upgrade: what could it be?
I'm gaming on an oldie HP w19 monitor, at 1400x900, but could change this in the future...
Any good advice, good sirs?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Hazaro]

Question time: I'm mostly a Mac user, but a while ago I built a gaming pc that I like to use for my pc-gaming needs.

It's:
- e8400 3.0
- nvidia 8800 GT 512
- 4 gb ram
- asus P5K VM (i think...)

I'm thinking about an upgrade: what could it be?
I'm gaming on an oldie HP w19 monitor, at 1400x900, but could change this in the future...
Any good advice, good sirs?

Thank you in advance!

Just drop in a new graphics card and possibly overclock a little bit.
The E8400 is the Core 2 Duo consumer sweetheart so 3.8Ghz should be easy for it. Just drop in a $30 aftermarket rifle style cooler (Xigmatek usually has theirs at $30).

GPU wise it depends but the 5770 is a fine choice to upgrade to now. I'd suggest the XFX brand as well. If you are looking more towards the future a 5850 or GTX 470 is also a possible upgrade. Your PSU should power a 5770 fine, but you might want to make sure if you get a 5850 or GTX470.

Monitor wise you could hook up your PC to your mac right?

 

[Mr_Brit]

Question time: I'm mostly a Mac user, but a while ago I built a gaming pc that I like to use for my pc-gaming needs.

It's:
- e8400 3.0
- nvidia 8800 GT 512
- 4 gb ram
- asus P5K VM (i think...)

I'm thinking about an upgrade: what could it be?
I'm gaming on an oldie HP w19 monitor, at 1400x900, but could change this in the future...
Any good advice, good sirs?

Thank you in advance!

Drop in a 4870 or 4890 or if you can stretch to it a 5850. As for your CPU just overclock it as far as you can go. The rest of your setup is more than adequate for the time being and you sohuldn't need to upgrade for quite a while.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Is there anyway to buy a single DIMM of this memory?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

I already have 2 and my system is running great in dual channel mode but I'm very curious of the performance boost I would get with triple channel. My motherboard manual tells me that it would run in triple channel mode if I have 4 DIMMS but I don't know if I want to put $110. I guess I shouldn't have skimped to begin with and I should have just bought the triple channel kit.

 

[Hazaro]

I already have 2 and my system is running great in dual channel mode but I'm very curious of the performance boost I would get with triple channel.

Zippo

Spoiler

See discussion a page or so back about it

 

[Shambles]

All you people asking about PSUs need to know one thing. Any system with any single graphics card except the GTX480 will run with ample wattage left over on a good branded (Corsair, Antec, Seasonic) 550W PSU. If you're plannig on getting a GTX 480 ramp it up to a 650W.

Amen. Hell, if you're only picking up something like a 5770 a quality 400W unit is more than enough. You don't need a 750W PSU for a 5870 either unless you plan on crossfiring it very soon. Buying a larger PSU to have a lot of headroom 'just in case' almost always ends up just being a waste of money. People usually tend to buy the dual cards right off the bat, or not at all, despite what they tell themselves.

General Guide on what to buy (Summer)
Tech Report Builders Guide!
A very good basic guide that has been updated for Summer. Has alternative options and many price points.

Good to see the new one out. Also for those looking don't forget to check out the PCPer.com hardware leaderboard as well for several build examples.

 

[demosthenes]

My predicament. I wanted to buy parts around Black Friday hoping I could upgrade my whole PC then (aka build from scratch).

FFXIV comes out the 22nd of September and I received an abysmal score on the benchmark.

IMG: http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab145/mpmaley0/ffxiv.png

If I were to upgrade my video card only for now do you think that would be enough to get my by for 2 months? Someone in the other thread suggested overclocking the CPU, something I've never done before.

 

[Hazaro]

My predicament. I wanted to buy parts around Black Friday hoping I could upgrade my whole PC then (aka build from scratch).

FFXIV comes out the 22nd of September and I received an abysmal score on the benchmark.

IMG: http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab145/mpmaley0/ffxiv.png

If I were to upgrade my video card only for now do you think that would be enough to get my by for 2 months? Someone in the other thread suggested overclocking the CPU, something I've never done before.

I couldn't tell you unless I have more benchmarks. MMOs are typically more CPU based than GPU (to help sales), so overclocking would certainly help. It is also easy provided you follow a guide or steps. Your CPU is rather dated so it might not help that much. Instead of a score perhaps there is an FPS you can tell me?

You should probably try overclocking to see how much it helps first. You can always buy later.

 

[Ezahn]

Just drop in a new graphics card and possibly overclock a little bit.
The E8400 is the Core 2 Duo consumer sweetheart so 3.8Ghz should be easy for it. Just drop in a $30 aftermarket rifle style cooler (Xigmatek usually has theirs at $30).

GPU wise it depends but the 5770 is a fine choice to upgrade to now. I'd suggest the XFX brand as well. If you are looking more towards the future a 5850 or GTX 470 is also a possible upgrade. Your PSU should power a 5770 fine, but you might want to make sure if you get a 5850 or GTX470.

Monitor wise you could hook up your PC to your mac right?

Tnx so much for the help, Hazaro.
I don't have a clue on how to overclock (via the BIOS?) but I'll try to explore.
5770 is safe up to what resolution?
I'm really thinking of changing the monitor because no, I cannot hook up the PC to my Mac cause they are two laptops and, btw, Apple started inserting a video-IN (only minidisplay) in their iMac only now with the 27''...

 

[Mr_Brit]

My predicament. I wanted to buy parts around Black Friday hoping I could upgrade my whole PC then (aka build from scratch).

FFXIV comes out the 22nd of September and I received an abysmal score on the benchmark.

IMG: http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab145/mpmaley0/ffxiv.png

If I were to upgrade my video card only for now do you think that would be enough to get my by for 2 months? Someone in the other thread suggested overclocking the CPU, something I've never done before.

You could try overclocking but TBH it's about time to completely replace that system as it is all out of date.

 

[Ezahn]

Drop in a 4870 or 4890 or if you can stretch to it a 5850. As for your CPU just overclock it as far as you can go. The rest of your setup is more than adequate for the time being and you sohuldn't need to upgrade for quite a while.

Tnx Mr Brit. I'll explore the italian prices of those graphic cards (what about the 5770 Hazaro suggested?).
I suppose while I keep on playing at 1400x900 I will not have too many problems (well, it depends... games are not born equal... ^^).

 

[Mr_Brit]

Tnx Mr Brit. I'll explore the italian prices of those graphic cards (what about the 5770 Hazaro suggested?).
I suppose while I keep on playing at 1400x900 I will not have too many problems (well, it depends... games are not born equal... ^^).

Depending on the price(I'm not too sure how GPU prices in Italy are) the 4890 would be a much better choice than the 5770. It is around 30% faster and is essential if you're playing above 720p resolution with high detail. At your res I'd definetely pick up the 4890 and it should last you for a good while yet and allow you to play every single game maxed out.

 

[WEGGLES]

I was going to get a ATI Radeon 5850, but I just got the new NCIX newsletter. They have a Gigabyte Geforce GTX 280 for $219 Canadian.

Should I get that instead?

 

[demosthenes]

I couldn't tell you unless I have more benchmarks. MMOs are typically more CPU based than GPU (to help sales), so overclocking would certainly help. It is also easy provided you follow a guide or steps. Your CPU is rather dated so it might not help that much. Instead of a score perhaps there is an FPS you can tell me?

You should probably try overclocking to see how much it helps first. You can always buy later.

I hate admitting that I'm noobish when it comes to PC things but I can't help it...like right now.

I started the benchmark and it had a graph in the lower left running and it just went really, I didn't see an indication of FPS unless it was the graph w/ just no number.

For overclocking guides, are they CPU/MOBO specific?

 

[demosthenes]

You could try overclocking but TBH it's about time to completely replace that system as it is all out of date.

I've never bought PC parts on Black Friday, but was hoping to this year, is there substantial savings online of in b&m?