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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition
- Thread starter Spy
- Start date
Alrighty GAF, I'm finally getting a new laptop after 4 years, and I'm hoping to get something that's capable of running FFXIV decently well, since I probably won't be getting a desktop anytime soon. This is what I was looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115786
It seems weak on the GPU and stronger on the CPU, which I'm hoping will work out to decent performance Any thoughts on how well this might work out?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115786
It seems weak on the GPU and stronger on the CPU, which I'm hoping will work out to decent performance Any thoughts on how well this might work out?
Obligatory get a netbook + build a desktop for gaming post.Nallen said:
You'll get much more out of a netbook and a gaming desktop for the same price than you would a gaming laptop.
You'll pretty much be tethered to an outlet. Most gaming laptops get less than 2hours off a full charge while gaming. It's big and bulky too, so it'll be hard to lug around.
If you build a desktop and get a netbook you'll have a more portable laptop and a better gaming rig.
MidgarBlowedUp
Member
Reallink said:
I use a motion computing LE 1600 armed with Windows 7 and Ultra VNC.
Just Install the UVNC server application on your HTPC then install the UVNC client application on your tablet, laptop, etc. Now, whenever the HTPC is turned on, you just log in through the tablet/laptop and do whatever you want. You get full control of the entire HTPC. If you have wireless-N that's even better and helps to deal with lag. It's the best solution I could find as my HTPC is in another room.
I see no reason why you can't use an old cheap sub $200 tablet with something like Windows XP on it either.
Thnikkaman said:Okay, I'm really worried here and any advice will be greatly appreciated.
My new PC is built and running right now but there is a huge problem: The wired ethernet connection on the motherboard is probably a huge dud and it'll be hard to prove it. Over a standard (?) cable straight into my dorm wall my laptop (tested 30mins ago) achieved 10mbps speed. My lovely new PC? 0.10Mbps.
I've done all the things I can think of:
So what could be the problem? A bad driver through Windows Update or a hardware fault? Christ on a bike, I've been looking forward to this for so long and I only have this weekend to install all my software before I have 15gb of 3g a month.
- Set network to "workspace" not "homespace"
- Disabled ipv6 and QoS
- Set my network card to 100Mbps Half-Duplex
- Gone through my services and culled them
- Deactivated all anti-malware programs (scans show it's clean)
Any ideas will be appreciated. ISP support say it's not on their end so I'll roll back drivers. Otherwise I'll have a paperweight and internets all summer.
Ed: 7 64bit btw. Steam is 64% updated after an hour.
Are you sure you've set your network settings up correctly?
Delete your current network settings and start again.
You can always pick up a pci nic for very little money. Plug that in confiure and
if your still having issues you know for sure its a setting somewhere you've missed.
Caesar III
Member
I don't know if it works like that for a gaming rig. I use it in my tablet pc which I only use for writing, surfing and emailing. I can't say if the adaptive memory is that great if you have your games on this exact same drive as well because this would exchange the cached files every now and then. For me it's perfect because all the programs I use including Windows nearly fit in those 4GB and are fast as hellHazaro said:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1310/8/ this conclusion hits the nail imho.
I read anandtech's review "Seagate's Momentus XT Reviewed, Finally a Good Hybrid HDD"Caesar III said:I don't know if it works like that for a gaming rig. I use it in my tablet pc which I only use for writing, surfing and emailing. I can't say if the adaptive memory is that great if you have your games on this exact same drive as well because this would exchange the cached files every now and then. For me it's perfect because all the programs I use including Windows nearly fit in those 4GB and are fast as hell
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1310/8/ this conclusion hits the nail imho.
Alright, for anyone considering a gaming laptop, stop.
Take it from a guy who's spent the last like 10 pages bombarding them with questions like "Is this setup good?" and "What about this and that and the other thing?" gaming laptops are truly not worth it in the least. I have many a friends who thought they'd need the bare minimum gaming laptop because they just wanted to play that one game... but then they wanted to play a game that came out a year later and left screaming "Fffffffffuuuuuuuu!"
I have gone through SO many test builds, from Intel to AMD, and from nVidia to Radeon, and you are honestly only hurting yourself if you spend that much on a gaming laptop. You are paying a price for something that would have to be tethered during gaming sessions.
I considered such laptops until I started looking into just building my own desktop. I set my desktop budget at a decent $1500, which allows me to build something that can run Crysis at close to max settings (you know, that benchmark game). If need be now, I can go out and buy a netbook for >$500 and have portability + gaming for $2000.
That suggestion has already been made above me, and it's the best suggestion that can be made. Do yourself a favour and build a desktop and then buy a netbook.
Take it from a guy who's spent the last like 10 pages bombarding them with questions like "Is this setup good?" and "What about this and that and the other thing?" gaming laptops are truly not worth it in the least. I have many a friends who thought they'd need the bare minimum gaming laptop because they just wanted to play that one game... but then they wanted to play a game that came out a year later and left screaming "Fffffffffuuuuuuuu!"
I have gone through SO many test builds, from Intel to AMD, and from nVidia to Radeon, and you are honestly only hurting yourself if you spend that much on a gaming laptop. You are paying a price for something that would have to be tethered during gaming sessions.
I considered such laptops until I started looking into just building my own desktop. I set my desktop budget at a decent $1500, which allows me to build something that can run Crysis at close to max settings (you know, that benchmark game). If need be now, I can go out and buy a netbook for >$500 and have portability + gaming for $2000.
That suggestion has already been made above me, and it's the best suggestion that can be made. Do yourself a favour and build a desktop and then buy a netbook.
Need some more advice from the glorious PC gaming master race:
A few months back (with some GAF help) I purchased 90% new pc components (i7 920 stable OC @ 3.7 ghz, 6 gig ddr3 etc) but using my old graphics card is really letting the whole thing down (ATI 9600 512 meg :lol ). For example I just got a paltry 1200 on the FFXIV benchmark, and would like to run recent Steam sale purchases like GTA4 on max settings.
So, UK/Euro GAF, what's the best card to buy for up to £250? Or should I wait a few months for a new line of cards/price drop?
A few months back (with some GAF help) I purchased 90% new pc components (i7 920 stable OC @ 3.7 ghz, 6 gig ddr3 etc) but using my old graphics card is really letting the whole thing down (ATI 9600 512 meg :lol ). For example I just got a paltry 1200 on the FFXIV benchmark, and would like to run recent Steam sale purchases like GTA4 on max settings.
So, UK/Euro GAF, what's the best card to buy for up to £250? Or should I wait a few months for a new line of cards/price drop?
Quick question, will this mobo allow me to SLI two 400 series Nvidia cards since the PCIx ports are far enough away from eachother (and the cards are apparently twice as thick as traditional cards)? Also, since both ports will run at x16, will I be maximizing performance?
As this is socket 1366, is the i7-930 significantly faster than the i5-750?
Thanks.
As this is socket 1366, is the i7-930 significantly faster than the i5-750?
Thanks.
Canti said:
Right now there are only really two choices. You can either get a used 4890 for around £100 or you can spring for a 5850 for around £220. My personal choice would be the 4890 if you run under 1080p or the 5850 for 1080p and above. You could also wait for the newest nvidia card which should shake prices up a bit depending on its performance and possibly lower the price of the 5850.
dragonlife
Member
Hey, PC GAF, I was looking at newegg's combos and wondered if any of them were good? This one stood out to me for no reason. Could that play L4D2? That's (and all Valve games) pretty much the only game it has to play flawlessly.
If you guys think you could steer me to better parts/prices, let me know! I'll gladly state my budget/wants, etc, but I was just curious to see if any of the combos were actually good deals. I know nothing about PCs so the help would be appreciated.
If you guys think you could steer me to better parts/prices, let me know! I'll gladly state my budget/wants, etc, but I was just curious to see if any of the combos were actually good deals. I know nothing about PCs so the help would be appreciated.
I want to better my score on FFXIV benchmark. Here's my setup what should I upgrade? :
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz
2GB G.SKILL DDR2 800
XFX HD-485X-ZDFC Radeon HD 4850 1GB
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz
2GB G.SKILL DDR2 800
XFX HD-485X-ZDFC Radeon HD 4850 1GB
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
Felix Lighter
Member
dragonlife29 said:
It doesn't include a graphics card so you would need to add one. It seems like the HD 5770 is the mid-range suggested the most in this thread.
I'm not as up on things as some of GAF's resident PC experts, but I think you could get more bang for your buck. For instance, that CPU is a dual core processor and one of the benefits of that particular processor is it can be overclocked more easily. If you aren't planning on over clocking the CPU, or even if you are, I would think you could probably get more out of a similarly priced six core AMD processor or an i5 750 quad core.
spazzfish said:
Hi Spazzfish and Hazaro! I'm happy to say that thanks to your advice, a USB NIC that I bought for the princely sum of £8 has restored my connection to full 8mbps! It's a no-name job, but it works very well and I've got quite a few games down from Steam already.
Shadowhaxor
Member
AkIRA_22 said:
Yeah, a few people did this a couple of years ago. There's a few how-to's on the net to do this. And there there's the Lian-Li V600 and the Lian-Li V1000.
I dropped in to say that I purchased my system last night and stayed under my $800 budget (with mail-in rebates). Should be pretty awesome.
The Hitatchi drive was on sale and had a promotion code. I spent a little more than I should on the graphics card, but it still didn't break my budget. I will be getting a SSD at Christmas to run my OS anyway.
All I need is a third party CPU cooler and a monitor, and I will be all set.
Thanks again PC GAF.
The Hitatchi drive was on sale and had a promotion code. I spent a little more than I should on the graphics card, but it still didn't break my budget. I will be getting a SSD at Christmas to run my OS anyway.
All I need is a third party CPU cooler and a monitor, and I will be all set.
Thanks again PC GAF.
nickrempe said:I dropped in to say that I purchased my system last night and stayed under my $800 budget (with mail-in rebates). Should be pretty awesome.
The Hitatchi drive was on sale and had a promotion code. I spent a little more than I should on the graphics card, but it still didn't break my budget. I will be getting a SSD at Christmas to run my OS anyway.
All I need is a third party CPU cooler and a monitor, and I will be all set.
Thanks again PC GAF.
Are you planning on overclocking anything at all, or adding any other power-hungry components? 450W is the bare minimum standard to running a 5770.
Baloonatic
Member
I was thinking of getting a 5850 or 5870, but is there any point without upgrading my E8400?
Erebus
Member
I have a feeling no one will reply to me in the other thread so,
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=22218452&postcount=10
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=22218452&postcount=10
Felix Lighter
Member
DarkUSS said:
I have the PX2370 and I've been very happy with it. It's a slightly different model but they mention in the review that it handles movie playback better than the XL2370, which might be important if you're connecting a PS3.
Here's the CNET review: http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/samsung-px2370/4505-3174_7-34048108.html?tag=also
JRW
Member
Felix Lighter said:
I have the PX a well its a nice overall LCD, It has very accurate colors out of the box which isnt very common.
I normally have my PS3 connected to a Plasma but I hooked it up to the PX2370 (hdmi) for a day and it actually performed very well minus slightly weaker black levels vs. the Plasma.
PX2370 / PS3
MoreCraiger
Neo Member
Well guys, this is my first build, let me know what you think! I'll mainly be playing StarCraft 2, Diablo 3 when it come outs, and some of the bigger PC games out there (BC2, MW2, Bioshock 2, Fallout 3, Dragon Age: Origins, etc.) I'm trying to keep it cheaper, and since I'm not super picky on the visual quality of the games I'll be playing (equivalent or better than console counterparts), coupled with my 42" 1024x768 plasma, I didn't figure I'd need a quad-core or a higher-end GPU. You can pretty much ignore the prices since I'm Canadian, thus unable to shop from the popular American retailers. The maxxxxx I would spend is probably $1000 after shipping + taxes, but I don't think I'd need a $1000 build given my requirements. Anywho, criticism welcome!
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Dual Core Processor Socket AM3 3.0GHZ 2MB Cache 60W Retail Box
Usually ships in 1-2 business days.
In Stock 39336 $75.33 $75.33
ASUS M4A785-M mATX AM3/AM2+ 785G DDR2 PCI-E16 PCI-E 2XPCI SATA RAID Video Sound GBLAN Motherboard
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Samsung SH-S223C 22X DVD Writer SATA Black OEM
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NCIX.com SURPRISE SPECIALS!
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Western Digital WD10EARS Caviar Green 1TB SATA 64MB Cache 3.5IN Hard Drive OEM
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Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case 300 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB & Audio
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Limit to 2 per customer.
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Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
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OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables 135mm Fan Active PFC Power Supply
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Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E 2XDVI HDMI Display Port Lite Video Card V2
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G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit
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AMD Athlon II X2 250 Dual Core Processor Socket AM3 3.0GHZ 2MB Cache 60W Retail Box
Usually ships in 1-2 business days.
In Stock 39336 $75.33 $75.33
ASUS M4A785-M mATX AM3/AM2+ 785G DDR2 PCI-E16 PCI-E 2XPCI SATA RAID Video Sound GBLAN Motherboard
Usually ships in 1-2 business days.
In Stock 43357 $89.99 $89.99
Samsung SH-S223C 22X DVD Writer SATA Black OEM
Usually ships in 1-2 business days.
NCIX.com SURPRISE SPECIALS!
In Stock 46792 $18.99 $18.99
Western Digital WD10EARS Caviar Green 1TB SATA 64MB Cache 3.5IN Hard Drive OEM
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In Stock 48186 $59.99 $59.99
Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case 300 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB & Audio
Usually ships in 1-2 business days.
Limit to 2 per customer.
In Stock 29812 $49.99 $49.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
Usually ships in 1-2 business days.
In Stock 45271 $105.99 $105.99
OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables 135mm Fan Active PFC Power Supply
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Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E 2XDVI HDMI Display Port Lite Video Card V2
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G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit
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In Stock 42744 $106.99 $106.99
Erebus
Member
Hmm, it seems tje PX is a slightly newer model and has some extra "Magic" features but CNET's review mentions that it also has a dimmer maximum brightness level than the XL2370. Specifically, the peak brightness of the PX2370 was recorded as 246 cd/m2 whereas the XL2370s brightness was recorded as 344 cd/m2 and contrast ratios were 948:1 and 1008:1, respectively.Felix Lighter said:
Now I'm torn even more. :lol
autobzooty
Member
I posted in this thread a while ago with aspirations of overclocking, but due to a number of setbacks, I never actually got started on it. But I'm back again with all new hardware that I'm confident is properly installed this time! :lol
So can someone tell me what I need to do to overclock my machine to at least 3.8 GHz? Here's what I have:
CPU - Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67 GHz
RAM - Three 2 GB sticks from Super Talent (6 gigs total)
Motherboard - ASUS P6X58D Premium
Heatsink/fan - This guy: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QFCVE6/?tag=neogaf0e-20
My friend helped me install the new heatsink and I've gotta say, it performs beautifully. My machine used to idle at aroudn 50-60 degrees C, and it went up to a deadly 100 degrees C when I ran Prime 95, which was quite frightening. Now though, my machine idles at less than 40 degreees, and never went passed 65 when running Prime95 for an extended period of time. So I think I'm ready to overclock now, right?
My only concern is that I can't find anything in my motherboard's BIOS that would automatically shut the machine off if it gets too hot. Afterall, the thing got up to 100 degrees after a somewhat shoddy build from Fry's, and no action was taken by my machine. Does my board have an option for this? And if not, is there any way to achieve this some other way? I wanna make this as risk-free as possible after all the trouble I've had in the past....
Any help at all would be much appreciated!
So can someone tell me what I need to do to overclock my machine to at least 3.8 GHz? Here's what I have:
CPU - Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67 GHz
RAM - Three 2 GB sticks from Super Talent (6 gigs total)
Motherboard - ASUS P6X58D Premium
Heatsink/fan - This guy: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QFCVE6/?tag=neogaf0e-20
My friend helped me install the new heatsink and I've gotta say, it performs beautifully. My machine used to idle at aroudn 50-60 degrees C, and it went up to a deadly 100 degrees C when I ran Prime 95, which was quite frightening. Now though, my machine idles at less than 40 degreees, and never went passed 65 when running Prime95 for an extended period of time. So I think I'm ready to overclock now, right?
My only concern is that I can't find anything in my motherboard's BIOS that would automatically shut the machine off if it gets too hot. Afterall, the thing got up to 100 degrees after a somewhat shoddy build from Fry's, and no action was taken by my machine. Does my board have an option for this? And if not, is there any way to achieve this some other way? I wanna make this as risk-free as possible after all the trouble I've had in the past....
Any help at all would be much appreciated!
llaannccee
Member
autobzooty said:
If a cpu overclock is unstable you normally get a blue screen of death within the first 5 min. Take that as a sign you need to scale it back a couple of hundred mhz.
Telosfortelos
Advocate for the People
This isn't true. A 450w PSU from a decent brand is more than sufficient for that setup, even with some overclocking. Anything more would be a waste, unless you were getting something from an unreliable off-brand, and that would be an entirely different problem.Mystery said:
Nallen said:
Get the MSI E7405 Gaming laptop at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003OAEMVQ/?tag=neogaf0e-20
It has the best laptop gaming graphics card: Ati Radeon 5870 1GB GDDR5, Intel Core i5-430M 2.26Hz Processor, 17 Inch screen, 4 speakers + subwoofer and MSI's 3 Year limited warranty.
Also if you get it from amazon.com you get free shipping and no tax!
For the full system specs go to http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?cid=6&id=220
JRW
Member
DarkUSS said:
Yea I had originally wanted the XL but I couldnt find it anywhere in town, all they had was the PX, The XL was discontinued which I wasn't aware of at the time. (Replaced by the PX).
I run the PX2370 with the MagicLux sensor on medium sensitivity which automatically adjusts backlight brightness (depending on room lighting), Ive never found the PX to be "to dark" in fact its capable of frying my eyeballs if I were to run it at max brightness.
Ok, Pc-GAF, time to catch up. After 3 years of mediocre laptop gaming, I´m going back to the real deal. I´m looking into a new system at the time and figured I want to stay at 600 EUR. Seems harder than I imagined though.
This is what I have in mind right now:
What do I have to change? Any suggestions?
Does anyone here has a recommendation for a good German shop? I think it will be quite expensive if I have to pay the shipping cost from UK.
This is what I have in mind right now:
- GPU: 270 Radeon 5850
- Gehäuse/Case: 30 xigmatek asgard
- Netzteil/Power Supply: 42 be quiet pure power
- Speicher/Memory: 100 not sure which one and how much
- Mainboard: 55 AMD: MSI 770-C45
- CPU: 130 AMD Phenom II X4 945 95W (C3)
What do I have to change? Any suggestions?
Does anyone here has a recommendation for a good German shop? I think it will be quite expensive if I have to pay the shipping cost from UK.
Telosfortelos said:
Oh, really?
A 450W PSU will run that system, but in the even that he upgrades his GPU, or decides to overclock his CPU, or adds any other power-hungry components, he could run into issues. I personally like to allow a certain amount of overhead when building my PCs, and I was trying to share that with him.
Please. PSUs have the worst reputation in the industry. As long as you have a decent branded(Corsair, Seasonic) PSU with at least 550W you can run any single GPU system with a ton of hard drives and a power hungry OC CPU with tons of room to spare.
To the guy with a 5770 a good branded 450W PSU will be more than enough for several hardrives and a heavily OC CPU and GPU.
To the guy with a 5770 a good branded 450W PSU will be more than enough for several hardrives and a heavily OC CPU and GPU.
Telosfortelos
Advocate for the People
What the poster above me said.Mystery said:
Manufactures are going to overestimate need pretty heavily there because a) they can't know what the rest of the system is, and b) there are plenty of unreliable PSU manufacturers. The 5770 and i5 require relatively low power. You'll get a more reasonable wattage requirement if you use a PSU calculator from newegg or elsewhere. Bottom line is, the 450 power supply is more than enough for that system, even overclocked.
Felix Lighter
Member
DarkUSS said:
I keep my display at 60% brightness, so I wouldn't imagine that the maximum brightness would be a problem. I tried using the MagicLux that JRW mentioned but it's too bright for my tastes.
Ok so I am thinking of building a custom gaming PC for the first time, but I really don't know where to start. I think I know what I need but need some help finding parts to make a high-end gaming PC on a budget of about $1000. Am I in for a difficult and tedious process or what, GAF?
Ryoma-Echizen
Member
xyla said:
Well choosed components for the price. One change can be the OCZ Modstream 500w.
BioHazard
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8Ghz
Asus M4A89GTD PRO
G.Skill Ripjwas DDR3 1600 2x2GB
Corsair VX550
Sapphire HD5850 1GB
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA3
LG GH22NS50 (burner)
Coolermaster Storm Scout (case)
Coolermasrer Hyper 212+ (heatsink)