• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

Mr Pockets said:
Obviously I had not bought a card in a while, but someone told me to watch out for "Fermi" based NVidia cards depending on what I am using it for.

Or is this an old issue?

I do moderate gaming, and moderate video processing (transcodings treams to PS3, streaming gaming to Xfire/Livestream etc)

I love NVidia cards though...so will do some more research :)
GF104 magically solves all problems that were bad with Fermi. Take a look at any of the glowing reviews of the GTX460 on the net.
Salaadin said:
Doubtful. Looks like it was written for 1st generation drives without TRIM.
"Please note that this guide has been written largely for first and some second generation SSDs that do not support trim or garbage collection." - Author 1 year after article was written.
game-boi said:
Hey guys! Go easy on me since it's my first time posting anywhere near PC-gaf.
We're looking for a machine around $1000 (give or take) that will play most current games well-ish and will last him the next two or three years with upgrades here and there. Any helpful hints/suggestions?
You can get a Dell 7100 with:
x6 1055T, 5870, 4GB, 1TB + 22" 1080p monitor for under $1,240. No monitor is $1,040

That's a good start. I can't help you that much with pre-built unless SlickDeals posts something. :lol
 
Salaadin said:

what they suggest seems to make sense... one thing you should do also would be to disable defrag on the ssd drive but i thing Win7 does that anyway

Hazaro said:
GF104 magically solves all problems that were bad with Fermi. Take a look at any of the glowing reviews of the GTX460 on the net.

it also adds HD Audio codecs bitstream support for the first time on nvidia cards... that alone is huge imho

:)
 
I need some input, I have a e7300@3.2 and I'm looking to upgrade to a quad to better handle the newer games. Is it worth going with a q8300 and OCing it? I really can't afford to swap out my mobo and ram right now and the Q9xxx series is a bit expensive for my taste.

The q8300 is 150$ cnd at the moment, and I can probably sell off my e7300 for $50. Is the jump worth it for the $100? or should I just save up and hold out for new build sometime next year?
 
iam220 said:
I need some input, I have a e7300@3.2 and I'm looking to upgrade to a quad to better handle the newer games. Is it worth going with a q8300 and OCing it? I really can't afford to swap out my mobo and ram right now and the Q9xxx series is a bit expensive for my taste.

The q8300 is 150$ cnd at the moment, and I can probably sell off my e7300 for $50. Is the jump worth it for the $100? or should I just save up and hold out for new build sometime next year?
I'm waiting until something releases that really pushes the need for a quad myself.
 
Salaadin said:

No, not very good. You should leave the page file on the SSD.

Should the pagefile be placed on SSDs?

Yes. Most pagefile operations are small random reads or larger sequential writes, both of which are types of operations that SSDs handle well.

In looking at telemetry data from thousands of traces and focusing on pagefile reads and writes, we find that

* Pagefile.sys reads outnumber pagefile.sys writes by about 40 to 1,
* Pagefile.sys read sizes are typically quite small, with 67% less than or equal to 4 KB, and 88% less than 16 KB.
* Pagefile.sys writes are relatively large, with 62% greater than or equal to 128 KB and 45% being exactly 1 MB in size.

In fact, given typical pagefile reference patterns and the favorable performance characteristics SSDs have on those patterns, there are few files better than the pagefile to place on an SSD.

And that guide says to move it to another drive... :lol

Moving the temp path isn't a bad idea if you have a specific need for it because you get a ton of large file written there.
 
iam220 said:
That's awesome, yeah I'll wait! Thanks.

Do you have the details?

Also i7's are getting a price drop as well if anyone else cares:

core-i7-lineup.jpg


Also if anyone cares Starcraft 2 Benches are up:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/34344-starcraft-ii-gpu-performance-comparison.html

The GTX 460 1GB performs amazingly!
 
iam220 said:
Jul 21 2009?

:lol *scratches head* Yeahhhhhh I just kind of noticed that. My bad!

Please don't beat me. :(

Although, you can safely assume that a price drop on the 775 CPU's should be in line with the i7's. Just wait until late August, if nothing happens then pick up what you can, although I honestly suggest you pick up the Q9xxx series up.
 
Hazaro said:
If anything this shows SC II just wants a 4Ghz CPU.

Once you get to the 1920x1200 with x4aa you can tell that CPU has nothing really to do with the bottleneck.

*That's what they say anyways.
 
:lol

I was reading it and going "hrm .. these drops aren't so hot ... ohhhhh"

Hazaro said:
Also I'd probably pick up a used Quad myself if I was staying on 775.

Does GAF have a hardware trading/selling thread? I know there is one for game trading.. Ah, it has an all in one.
 
Smash88 said:
The GTX 460 1GB performs amazingly!

I prefer this review, out of the recent batch. They do an excellent job of showing how inadequately the game uses the CPU.

They also agree the GTX 460 is an amazing card, offering 1200p gameplay at 60fps w/ non-optimized, forced 4xAA which ATi can't match on any card. If AA ever gets natively supported (and they show examples, which quite honestly are hard to tell apart), performance will be even better.

Smash88 said:
Once you get to the 1920x1200 with x4aa you can tell that CPU has nothing really to do with the bottleneck.

*That's what they say anyways.

sc2-cpu-replay02.jpg


That means the CPU is not working properly in the game's engine.

Edit: Their thoughts on CPU:

At 1920x1200, because the GTX 460 is already hitting a CPU limit, the SLI performance doesn't equate to anything and the extra card is kind of useless..

Keep in mind that CPU limit is being hit while it is only utilizing around 20% of the CPU, pretty embarrassing for a game with a 100M budget.
 
iam220 said:
I need some input, I have a e7300@3.2 and I'm looking to upgrade to a quad to better handle the newer games. Is it worth going with a q8300 and OCing it? I really can't afford to swap out my mobo and ram right now and the Q9xxx series is a bit expensive for my taste.

The q8300 is 150$ cnd at the moment, and I can probably sell off my e7300 for $50. Is the jump worth it for the $100? or should I just save up and hold out for new build sometime next year?

The Q8300 isn't a great clocker (its got a really low multi) and it has a very small amount of L2 cache. A cheap second hand Q6600 or a Q9400 might be better options.

I went the Q6600 route and couldn't be happier.
 
brain_stew said:
The Q8300 isn't a great clocker (its got a really low multi) and it has a very small amount of L2 cache. A cheap second hand Q6600 or a Q9400 might be better options.

I went the Q6600 route and couldn't be happier.

Ah ok, that pretty much kills the Q8300 for me. I'll see if i can find a q9400 for a decent price.
 
PLEASE DON'T PM ME ASKING FOR PC HELP/ADVICE!!! :D

Sorry but its getting to the point where I'm getting as many as half a dozen PC related PMs every day and I've just had to resort to ignoring them all now. Ask your question in here and if I know the answer and have the time I'll try and reply, if not hopefully someone else should. Its the only fair way I can do this, I don't have unlimited free time and I give out my help free and voluntarily.

If I can put together a range of recommended starting points over the next week or so I will, perhaps I'll just do the UK configs as I know Hazaro has been making some decent US related configs and then we can just put them together in a single post.
 
For those of you willing to deal with refurbs:

http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=20

EVGA has some great B-list deals (which is basically their refurbished site).

The motherboards DO come with the I/O plate, but no other accessories. People who have bought through B-List say they look and smell like new mobos.

I'm extremely tempted by the $100 EVGA X58 SLI, only bummed at the lack of SATA3 and USB3. This could be the push into the i7-930 I need. If no, I'd be looking at one of the cheaper new motherboards for the i7-860. Ack, decisions!
 
Impressive StarCraft 2 numbers for the 460. Looks like Nvidia got that card out just in time. There aren't a whole lot of games that inspire large groups of people to upgrade their hardware. StarCraft 2 is definitely one of those games.

It would be nice if the game wasn't so dependent on CPU clock speed though. I'm surprised Blizzard is satisfied with that. If the game took better advantage of multiple cores, it would run great on so many more machines. I just don't get it. It seems like they spent a lot of time getting the game to run well on modest graphics cards but completely ignored how inefficient the game was running CPU wise.
 
projekt84 said:
you serious?

Yup!

Felix Lighter said:
Impressive StarCraft 2 numbers for the 460. Looks like Nvidia got that card out just in time. There aren't a whole lot of games that inspire large groups of people to upgrade their hardware. StarCraft 2 is definitely one of those games.

It would be nice if the game wasn't so dependent on CPU clock speed though. I'm surprised Blizzard is satisfied with that. If the game took better advantage of multiple cores, it would run great on so many more machines. I just don't get it. It seems like they spent a lot of time getting the game to run well on modest graphics cards but completely ignored how inefficient the game was running CPU wise.

They seem to be avoiding to rely on multiple cores to make the game run better on single core machines, which is why it doesn't even benefit tremendously for dual cores.

They do say they plan for the minimum/required specs to change over the course of the expansions, so some sort of re-do of the engine to make it more core-aware isn't out of the question tied in to the release of an expansion, perhaps the final expansion will be really ambitious with a huge graphical overhaul, also allowing for AA! :)

Mad_Ban said:
GAF,

2x 1.8GB GTX260 or a 5870?

I'd go for a 1GB GTX 460 now and a second later when you can scrap up the extra $50-100 or so it runs over those choices (if you even find you still need to).
 
brain_stew said:
The Q8300 isn't a great clocker (its got a really low multi) and it has a very small amount of L2 cache. A cheap second hand Q6600 or a Q9400 might be better options.

I went the Q6600 route and couldn't be happier.
I went the Q9400 way, and while the my PC as a whole refuses to overclock my CPU past 3.6Ghz (The CPU can do at least 3.8ghz, the rest of the PC, GPU/some of my RAM...not a hope) it is most certainly nippy at that frequency. It's not too warm either, even with my modest cooling (A Zalman CNPS 9500A).

That said you can't go wrong either way, just stick a semi decent cooler in there and as long as you have a decent motherboard, overclocking the C2Qs is a breeze. When I bought the Q9400 I had a cheapo Gigabyte board based off a Intel G31 chipset, ok for a Dual Core, but wouldn't play ball at all with my Q9400. When I bought my current board, a Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3P (£50 B Grade from Overclockers.co.uk) my overclocking potential was realised.
 
Felix Lighter said:
Impressive StarCraft 2 numbers for the 460. Looks like Nvidia got that card out just in time. There aren't a whole lot of games that inspire large groups of people to upgrade their hardware. StarCraft 2 is definitely one of those games.

It would be nice if the game wasn't so dependent on CPU clock speed though. I'm surprised Blizzard is satisfied with that. If the game took better advantage of multiple cores, it would run great on so many more machines. I just don't get it. It seems like they spent a lot of time getting the game to run well on modest graphics cards but completely ignored how inefficient the game was running CPU wise.

I'm playing the beta on a e8400 and a 4850, getting around 50fps on almost entirely ultra settings. I've never OC'd anything, but would OC'ing my e8400 be the best course of action to get those frames to 60? What kind of cooler would I need to do that? Still rocking the stock cooler.
 
BuddhaRockstar said:
I'm playing the beta on a e8400 and a 4850, getting around 50fps on almost entirely ultra settings. I've never OC'd anything, but would OC'ing my e8400 be the best course of action to get those frames to 60? What kind of cooler would I need to do that? Still rocking the stock cooler.

Yes, absolutely. Get a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ and aim for 4ghz.
 
brain_stew said:
Yes, absolutely. Get a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ and aim for 4ghz.

Seriously.

That was what I had my e8400 at 24/7 stable. I even hit 4.2ghz with more voltage, but obviously on air, not a good idea.
 
2 quick questions just for opinions.
1. 3.0 Gb/s HDD --> 6.0 Gb/s HDD, worth +$20?
2. ATI HD 5770 --> GTX 460, worth +$40?

I know this is probably pretty subjective based on needs, but I thought I'd just throw it out there and see what people think. A why would be great with any responses.
 
brain_stew said:
Yes, absolutely. Get a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ and aim for 4ghz.

Thanks, just ordered one. You really are the most helpful person on these forums and I find it amazing you don't have a tag yet (although that could be a good thing).
 
sharkmuncher said:
2 quick questions just for opinions.
1. 3.0 Gb/s HDD --> 6.0 Gb/s HDD, worth +$20?
2. ATI HD 5770 --> GTX 460, worth +$40?

I know this is probably pretty subjective based on needs, but I thought I'd just throw it out there and see what people think. A why would be great with any responses.

I think that the HDD one isn't really justifiable, however, the GPU upgrade certainly is, if you're planning to get the 1GB model.
 
When putting cards into SLI, do they need to be from the same manufacturer? I have an HIS HD5770, and am wondering if an HD5770 made by another company would work for SLI?
 
BuddhaRockstar said:
Thanks, just ordered one. You really are the most helpful person on these forums and I find it amazing you don't have a tag yet (although that could be a good thing).

Oh, don't worry, its definitely a good thing! :lol
 
LaneDS said:
When putting cards into SLI, do they need to be from the same manufacturer? I have an HIS HD5770, and am wondering if an HD5770 made by another company would work for SLI?

Well, Crossfire you mean, but no, they don't need to be from the same manufacturer.
 
LaneDS said:
When putting cards into SLI, do they need to be from the same manufacturer? I have an HIS HD5770, and am wondering if an HD5770 made by another company would work for SLI?

No, but you do want to make sure that your board runs your second PCIeX16 slot at at least x8 speed or its not worth bothering with. Also, SLI is an Nvidia thing, Crossfire is AMD's solution and it doesn't work too great all things considered.
 
sharkmuncher said:
2 quick questions just for opinions.
1. 3.0 Gb/s HDD --> 6.0 Gb/s HDD, worth +$20?
2. ATI HD 5770 --> GTX 460, worth +$40?

I know this is probably pretty subjective based on needs, but I thought I'd just throw it out there and see what people think. A why would be great with any responses.

1. Get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 or WD Black for a gaming/system drive. Get a WD Green for media storage, or a WD passport or 2TB mirror for external storage.

2. $40 for 30% improvement in framerate, you tell me. That's before overclocking which can put you to 50% faster framerates. The 5770 you're looking at is overpriced, get the GTX 460.
 
Ah got it. Sorry for the confusion and thanks you both for advice. Still just a consideration at this point, going to buy a hard drive now and hopefully not have to replace much more than that.
 
Minsc said:
2. $40 for 30% improvement in framerate, you tell me. That's before overclocking which can put you to 50% faster framerates. The 5770 you're looking at is overpriced, get the GTX 460.
Are you pulling my leg? I was going to build a Radeon 5770/Athlon X4 635 system and now you're telling me it sucks? Once again the $600 gaming computer is no more.
 
ChoklitReign said:
Are you pulling my leg? I was going to build a Radeon 5770/Athlon X4 635 system and now you're telling me it sucks? Once again the $600 gaming computer is no more.

It doesn't "suck" its just the GTX 460 is worth the extra cash if you can afford it. If not the 5770 still isn't terrible value either.
 
brain_stew said:
No, but you do want to make sure that your board runs your second PCIeX16 slot at at least x8 speed or its not worth bothering with. Also, SLI is an Nvidia thing, Crossfire is AMD's solution and it doesn't work too great all things considered.


You mean in general or just AMD's solution?

Personally, other than being extremely CPU bottlenecked when going Crossfire, I haven't had any issues other than a couple Capcom games (RE5 and SFIV).

From what I understand though, SLI is signifcantly more optimized than XFire, offering about 90% efficiency versus around 70% with ATI. It's why I tried to sel my 5970 and get two 460's.
 
Top Bottom