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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

Darkatomz said:
Very nice! Are you a student by any chance? The stock op-amps that come on the STX aren't bad by any means, but there's an easy upgrade you can get for free with an .edu address. Obviously, there are paid op-amp choices too if you'd be interested.
Click to expand...

sadly no but something I will look into in the future.
 
I configured this setup at HP.com...can I get any feedback. Main purpose is running games on it connected to my 60"HDTV. Thanks for any input.


Your HPE300z series


Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor AMD Phenom(TM) X4 965 quad-core processor [3.4GHz, 2MB L2 + 6MB L3 shared, up to 4000MHz] edit
Memory FREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GB edit
Hard drive FREE UPGRADE! 750GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 500GB edit
Graphics card 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5770 [dual-link DVI, HDMI, DP, VGA adapter] edit
Primary optical drive LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive edit
Networking Integrated Ethernet port, No wireless LAN edit
Front Productivity Ports 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio edit
TV & entertainment experience No TV Tuner edit
Sound Card Integrated sound edit
Speakers No speakers edit
Keyboard and Mouse HP deluxe wireless keyboard & wireless mouse edit
Office software Microsoft Office Starter 2010 edit
Security software Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 month edit

Select: Storage devices
Showing 4 of 8 undefined A 64-bit Operating System is required to take full advantage of 4GB memory. A 32-bit Operating System only recognizes up to 3GB memory. Compare printers from this listclose HP v125w 4GB USB Flash Drive more info +$19.99Id : FQ433AA#ABA Price : 19.99 EPP Price : 19.99 MIR : 0.00 IR : 0.00 HP v125w 8GB USB Flash Drive more info +$29.99Id : FQ434AA#ABA Price : 29.99 EPP Price : 29.99 MIR : 0.00 IR : 0.00 HP 8GB SDHC Flash Memory Card more info +$29.99Id : Q6276A Price : 29.99 EPP Price : 29.99 MIR : 0.00 IR : 0.00 HP v125w 16GB USB Flash Drive more info +$49.99Id : NC814AA#ABA Price : 49.99 EPP Price : 49.99 MIR : 0.00 IR : 0.00Previous
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Total: $939.99
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Estimated build date: August 9, 2010
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What's in your PC Save
Components• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit• AMD Phenom(TM) X4 965 quad-core processor [3.4GHz, 2MB L2 + 6MB L3 shared, up to 4000MHz]• FREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GB• FREE UPGRADE! 750GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 500GB• 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5770 [dual-link DVI, HDMI, DP, VGA adapter]• LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive• Integrated Ethernet port, No wireless LAN• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio• No TV Tuner• Integrated sound• No speakers• HP deluxe wireless keyboard & wireless mouse• Microsoft Office Starter 2010• Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 monthAccessoriesPrinters
 
SquirrelNuckle said:
Okay I've been a Mac user for about 4 years and I'm tired of running Wow off of my Macbook. So I was wondering what's a decent PC desktop I can get that can run Wow and Starcraft 2 at almost max settings? I don't want a real super expensive one since most likely I will be only playing two games on it and I don't need a lot of HD space. Can anyone give me some good suggestions?
Click to expand...


AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
GIGABYTE GV-R577UD-1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
MSI 770-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

$668 @ Newegg

It will play WoW and SC2 at max settings and just about any other game on the market at max settings as well. Games that are coded badly like GTA4 and Crysis won't run at max, but they won't run at max on 80 percent of gamers PC's in the first place.

If you have a case and DVD drive you can use, you would be able to save about $70 extra.



You could also do this.

AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor ADX250OCGQBOX
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-768I GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
MSI 770-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

$610 @ Newegg.

What changed is I swapped out the four core CPU for a dual core CPU @ 3.0 GHZ. 99 percent of games don't use more then two cores and what really makes the difference is the clock speed. This little dual core is not only power efficient, but runs at a high clock speed and costs less then half of the Phenom. With the money saved you can step your graphic card up to a brand new GTX 460. Not only will this outperform the system above in games but it costs significantly less money. You also have an Am3 platform so if you do want to pop a Phenom X4 in there you can.The X2 is actually a fairly beefy CPU and is probably the best bang for your buck CPU ever offered. You won't get performance in high end multi-tasking or multicore using applications like you would with an X4 or I5 but for gaming you are better off with the more powerful card then CPU. So long as the CPU does not bottleneck the card, which this one won't.

If you want to spend a bit more money then you can grab the 1gb 460 version of the card for an extra $30 and upgrade the X2 CPU to either an X3 or an X4 Phenom 945.



Those are two examples of PC's you can build from the ground up on the cheap. The top one for more multi-core heavy operations, which it sounds like you won't be doing. The bottom one for straight gaming.

Once you build your first PC upgrading in the future becomes less expensive. As you save money on the Case, DVD drive, HDD and sometimes the PSU. If you need a monitor, keyboard and mouse as well add them yourself. If you want to still play SC2 and WoW maxed out but want to save even MORE money so you can get a monitor. Replace the 460 with a 5770 in the bottom build.
 
Im looking at the Coolermaster V8 theatsink instead of the Hyper 212+. Is there a good place that can give me direct comparisons of the two?

Theres currently an MIR on newegg for it so itll end up costing me 60.00 - 10.00 MIR which brings its to the same price as the Hyper 212+ on newegg. I just cant find info anywhere on which is the better of the two.
I know I can ebay the Hyper 212+ but itll still run me 40.00+ dollars after shipping so if I can spend another 10 and get free shipping and a better cooler, thats what Ill probably do.

Google searches tell me that it will fit in my Antec 900 just fine so I dont need to worry about that.

Another concern is that FrozenCPU lists the CM V8 as needing an additional bracket for 1156 support. Newegg makes no mention of this at all. The V8 manual doesnt list it as an included item. I cant find a place that sells it. Anyone have any ideas here?

Lastly, Im working on increasing the airflow in my case. The bulk of this is going to be done once I get the HSF since Ill literally have the entire PC in pieces then in order to get to the mobo.
By default, the case comes with the two HDD cages (also containing the fans) on the bottom. I moved them to the top so the air would blow directly to the CPU. I get good airflow in the case but my concern is this mass of wires just hanging around the HDD cages that Im not sure what to do with. Pictures:
http://i32.tinypic.com/s3pvut.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/zk0mwx.jpg

My thinking is that its probably best to have the 2 front intake fans blowing right on the GPU and CPU which is why I moved them up to where they are in the pics. Thats what created all of that empty space on the bottom where I have a bunch of wires tucked (in the green circle).
Then theres hanging wires (yellow circle) that fall directly into the air flow.
I had to work with that massive 24 pin mobo cable that I ran in the pre-cut holes behind the mobo and back out. That saved some space. I also have some of the 4 pin molex cables for the fan ran behind there. The dual 6 pin cables for the GPU are also ran back there.

That leaves me with all of those other cables hanging for the HDD, SSD, and DVD drive. Thats 3 SATA cables and that ribbon cable that also plugs into each (SATA power cable?? Im not sure, excuse my noobness) and the 4 pin molex for the fan. Do you think theres anything more I can do to help the airflow in that upper region? If I put my hand in there, I can feel the air moving and my temps arent terrible (32-36C idle, 65-69C on load with stock HSF) but I feel like I can get them better. Drill some holes and just wire tie them to the side?

I just want to keep this thing as cool as possible once I start overclocking.
 
Blackface said:
Games that are coded badly like GTA4 and Crysis won't run at max, but they won't run at max on 80 percent of gamers PC's in the first place.


AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor
$610 @ Newegg.

What changed is I swapped out the four core CPU for a dual core CPU @ 3.0 GHZ. 99 percent of games don't use more then two cores and what really makes the difference is the clock speed. This little dual core is not only power efficient, but runs at a high clock speed and costs less then half of the Phenom. With the money saved you can step your graphic card up to a brand new GTX 460. Not only will this outperform the system above in games but it costs significantly less money. You also have an Am3 platform so if you do want to pop a Phenom X4 in there you can.The X2 is actually a fairly beefy CPU and is probably the best bang for your buck CPU ever offered. You won't get performance in high end multi-tasking or multicore using applications like you would with an X4 or I5 but for gaming you are better off with the more powerful card then CPU. So long as the CPU does not bottleneck the card, which this one won't.
Click to expand...
Plenty of games bottleneck a dual core CPU and the majority of games coming out in the the rest of 2010 and 2011 will utilise more than 2 threads. Another thing is that the dual core doesn't have an L3 cache and runs at a lower clock speed, plenty of games such as SC2 are heavily cpu limited and this CPU will heavily limit FPS. The Phenom II also OC to 4+GHZ using a cheap cooler such as the 212+ whilst the Athlon will struggle to reach 3.5GHZ at reasonable temps and voltages. The Phenom II will easily last the next two years if OC to 4GHZ whilst you'll definitely need to replace the Athlon II in that timeframe.Whilst you will save a bit of money now your gaming potential in the next two years will be severely bottlenecked by the dual core CPU.

On the case of Crysis and GTA IV, both of these games are leagues ahead of 99% of games out there. Calling Rockstar and Crytek bad coders is just juvenile, at their highest settings these games push out unbelieveable graphics and both have great performance considering their technical feats.
 
As some of you know I'm building a crossfire 5770 vapor-x system. I ran into some money troubles, but I've finally just about got all the parts I need.
The last piece of the puzzle was a new PSU I was going to get a Corsair 750HX, but I went with something a little cheaper built yet still able to pull 80% efficiency and picked up the Antec TruePower TP-750 Blue for $101 shipped. I already have like 5 blue LEDs in my case I may as well have one more.:lol Yes, the 750HX would have been the better buy, but I'm running 2x5770's not 4x4890's.


The odd thing about this budget build is my Mobo only has 1 PCIE2@16x and one PCIE2@4x so who knows if this thing is even going to work.

I'll let you know in about a week.
 
Blackface said:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
GIGABYTE GV-R577UD-1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
MSI 770-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

$668 @ Newegg

It will play WoW and SC2 at max settings and just about any other game on the market at max settings as well. Games that are coded badly like GTA4 and Crysis won't run at max, but they won't run at max on 80 percent of gamers PC's in the first place.

If you have a case and DVD drive you can use, you would be able to save about $70 extra.



You could also do this.

AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor ADX250OCGQBOX
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-768I GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
MSI 770-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

$610 @ Newegg.

What changed is I swapped out the four core CPU for a dual core CPU @ 3.0 GHZ. 99 percent of games don't use more then two cores and what really makes the difference is the clock speed. This little dual core is not only power efficient, but runs at a high clock speed and costs less then half of the Phenom. With the money saved you can step your graphic card up to a brand new GTX 460. Not only will this outperform the system above in games but it costs significantly less money. You also have an Am3 platform so if you do want to pop a Phenom X4 in there you can.The X2 is actually a fairly beefy CPU and is probably the best bang for your buck CPU ever offered. You won't get performance in high end multi-tasking or multicore using applications like you would with an X4 or I5 but for gaming you are better off with the more powerful card then CPU. So long as the CPU does not bottleneck the card, which this one won't.

If you want to spend a bit more money then you can grab the 1gb 460 version of the card for an extra $30 and upgrade the X2 CPU to either an X3 or an X4 Phenom 945.



Those are two examples of PC's you can build from the ground up on the cheap. The top one for more multi-core heavy operations, which it sounds like you won't be doing. The bottom one for straight gaming.

Once you build your first PC upgrading in the future becomes less expensive. As you save money on the Case, DVD drive, HDD and sometimes the PSU. If you need a monitor, keyboard and mouse as well add them yourself. If you want to still play SC2 and WoW maxed out but want to save even MORE money so you can get a monitor. Replace the 460 with a 5770 in the bottom build.
Click to expand...

Awesome thanks so much, so that's everything I need right? I've never built a PC before, but I know a lot about them. Are these things pretty complicated to build from the ground up?
 
Hey guys, with StarCraft 2 and all I'm ready to upgrade my old Nvidia 7900GTX video card to something more current, I don't follow them much so could you guys tell me which cards are the most economical right now aka most bang for your buck, I'm not looking for top of the line or anything but something in the price range of 100-200$CAN would be good start. Also of note it would have to be Nvidia based, as one program I use all the time works flawless with Nvidia and not so well with ATI.

Additionally my rig uses a 750W Power Supply if that has any baring, and an old E6600 Core2Duo Processor, the reason I mention my CPU is that I heard somewhere that there could be bogging down issues of either CPU or GPU when they are so far apart in power, not sure if true.
 
Mr_Brit said:
Plenty of games bottleneck a dual core CPU and the majority of games coming out in the the rest of 2010 and 2011 will utilise more than 2 threads. Another thing is that the dual core doesn't have an L3 cache and runs at a lower clock speed, plenty of games such as SC2 are heavily cpu limited and this CPU will heavily limit FPS. The Phenom II also OC to 4+GHZ using a cheap cooler such as the 212+ whilst the Athlon will struggle to reach 3.5GHZ at reasonable temps and voltages. The Phenom II will easily last the next two years if OC to 4GHZ whilst you'll definitely need to replace the Athlon II in that timeframe.Whilst you will save a bit of money now your gaming potential in the next two years will be severely bottlenecked by the dual core CPU.

On the case of Crysis and GTA IV, both of these games are leagues ahead of 99% of games out there. Calling Rockstar and Crytek bad coders is just juvenile, at their highest settings these games push out unbelieveable graphics and both have great performance considering their technical feats.
Click to expand...

Both Crysis and GTA4 are coded like complete and utter dogshit. Saying anything else pretty much makes you look like you have no idea what you are talking about.

When GTA4 came out it was plagued with numerous errors due to the terrible codding. It had missing textures, put un-needed stress on computer hardware, and had a bucket load of junk code being executed that did absolutely nothing. You also had dozens of articles like this one http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3171648 when the game launched. You also had 50 page threads on forums like Hardforum where they dissecting the game and it turned out much of it was just a sloppy coded port to save on development costs.

Crysis was very similar when it came out. People justify how terribly it runs based on how it looks. For the hardware needed, Crysis should run far better. Which is why the modding community went in and fixed a bunch of the broken code and the way the game handles much of textures, shading and filtering. You can download those fan-made patches to improve your game performance to this day. It was not only a poorly coded game but it was badly optimized. Both of those games also do not scale for shit because of lazy coding, even though the engines support extreme scaling.

The fact is making proper code that runs efficiently takes more time and money to develop. Time and money both companies didn't want to invest in their game. When fans can come along and fix a lot of performance issues by creating complex mods the game has a problem.

In terms of him running that dual core CPU. No it won't bottleneck his 460. An E8400 won't bottleneck a 480 at 1080p and that CPU is better. It also costs $60 Vs $160-180 for the more expensive Phenoms. He will get better performance in games using a 460 and the X2 then he would using a 5770 and the X4. This is a fact and one of the basic aspects of building PC's for gaming. He could also step it up to an X4 or an X3 if he wants, but it's not needed for the two games he plays.

In terms of games in the future, PC games are being developed to run on old hardware. Thats how PC gaming makes money now. The days of every game needing a $1000 rig to run well are over. You will have the odd game that does, but most won't. Even Mass Effect 2 can run at 60 FPS @ 1080p on a fucking E8400 and a 9800GTX.

Diablo 3, SC2 and WoW all scale well. Really the only aspect of WoW that is coded terribly is the way they implemented shadows. Which don't even work correctly on a fucking 5970. Blizzard has already said they did a poor job of implementing them and is fixing the issue in Cataclysm.

As of right now and for the next year the X2 will do more then fine. A year from now, IF he does need an X4 they will be around $100 since bulldozer will be on the market. He can then pick up the X4 if he wants or possibly one of AMD's new CPU's. There is NO point in buying a $170 X4 Phenom right now if he wants to play those games at max settings. In the future if he needs it he can buy it and he would still end up paying LESS money then if he bought the system now. Plus he would have the 460 which is much better then the 5770.

I have been building PC's for over a decade. I know how to save money and make great rigs. People said the same shit as you two years ago when the debate was the E8400 Vs the Q6600. Now, two years later in 90 percent of games the E8400 still outperforms it.

That isn't changing. Go talk to someone who develops PC games for a living. The emphasis now and in the future is on low end machines.
 
:lol :lol

I can't believe what my overclock issue has been all these years. Have a 3 year old core2 and despite great temps on the CPU and NB, have always struggled with overclocks. With the arrival of my GTX 460, decided games like SC2 and GTA 4 could use a boost. After playing around and lowering the multiplier and still having problems, I deduced it had to be FSB.

Like 3 years ago, I capped out at a FSB of 360 (over 333). This number rang a bell. I remember it well. Problem is, 400 is the highest I've ever tried. Why try higher? (And that was when I lowered the multiplier.) :lol As I was googling around, saw that some of these boards had a FSB blackhole between 360-400. So I upped the FSB to 402 and presto. Stable as can be at stock voltages. The OC is on now.
 
Blackface said:
A year from now, IF he does need an X4 they will be around $100
Click to expand...

They already are less than $100 just ask my Athlon II x4 620 @ 3.2Ghz. I see what your saying however, since I had to OC to get that speed and I have no L3. Plus, Crysis still runs like shit on my system.


Also, today only Superbiz has 15% off with code SCHOOL15
http://www.ewiz.com/query.php?categry=0&s=athlon+II&x=0&y=0

He could pick up a AMD Athlon II X4 Quad-Core Processor 635 (2.9GHz) AM3 for $85.00
 
Quick question.

If I build a new pc, but use my old hard drive, do I have to reformat everything? Or can I just boot up on it and be fine?

I ask because my pc is fried, and all my windows discs are in storage. I dont want to have to dig through all that stuff. I have Vista installed on a HD already.
 
Fuck! I made the mistake of installing ntune. Now every time I go to the nvidia control panel I BSOD due to nvoclk64.sys. I installed drivecleaner and wiped out all the nvidia drivers. I the reinstalled. Same issue. What the fuck do I do? I also accidental clicked used stock settings in the ntune panel before this mess, and now I cant even overclock in precision or afterburner the core speed. Help!
 
The_Inquisitor said:
Fuck! I made the mistake of installing ntune. Now every time I go to the nvidia control panel I BSOD due to nvoclk64.sys. I installed drivecleaner and wiped out all the nvidia drivers. I the reinstalled. Same issue. What the fuck do I do? I also accidental clicked used stock settings in the ntune panel before this mess, and now I cant even overclock in precision or afterburner the core speed. Help!
Click to expand...
Try a system restore to an earlier date.
 
phinious said:
Quick question.

If I build a new pc, but use my old hard drive, do I have to reformat everything? Or can I just boot up on it and be fine?

I ask because my pc is fried, and all my windows discs are in storage. I dont want to have to dig through all that stuff. I have Vista installed on a HD already.
Click to expand...
I'm fairly sure you have to reinstall Windows because the system is designed to recognize that particular hardware you're using to boot.
 
brain_stew said:
That HP machine is shit. If you're going to get a prebuilt machine, then get get an XPS 7100 with a 5870 and 1055T, much better than both of those configs.
Click to expand...

Would be better on telling me why it is shit. From what i can tell the Newegg machine, (I would build it, not prebuilt) is much better than any prebuilt machine from HP or Dell. Just wanted to know the big differences as the cost was about the same, and I didn't have to put it together.
 
SquirrelNuckle said:
Awesome thanks so much, so that's everything I need right? I've never built a PC before, but I know a lot about them. Are these things pretty complicated to build from the ground up?
Click to expand...

Don't buy a dual core CPU, its bad (scratch that, terrible) advice. The only dual cores worth any consideration are the core i3s with hyperthreading, don't even look at any others. 4 hardware threads is a must these days.
 
MidgarBlowedUp said:
Now would be a good time to upgrade to Windows 7. It makes Vista look like Windows 3.1
Click to expand...
Don't. Vista and 7 have identical gaming performance, unless you'rw really annoyed with Vista, spending money on upgrading to 7 isn't worth it.

brain_stew said:
Don't be a dual core CPU, its bad advice. The only dual cores worth any consideration are the core i3s with hyperthreading, don't even look at any others.
Click to expand...
This. All other dual cores are worthless and will heavily bottleneck you in the future.
 
phinious said:
Dang, I was afraid of that. Maybe I should just buy a prebuilt one and just add a video card then;(
Click to expand...

I'd recommend against this, it'll usually mean replacing the PSU and if you can replace a PSU you can build a custom rig, so you're getting yourself locked into limited upgrade options for no good reason.

Either that or buy a Dell XPS 7100 of course.
 
Hawk269 said:
I configured this setup at HP.com...can I get any feedback. Main purpose is running games on it connected to my 60"HDTV. Thanks for any input.


Your HPE300z series


Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor AMD Phenom(TM) X4 965 quad-core processor [3.4GHz, 2MB L2 + 6MB L3 shared, up to 4000MHz] edit
Memory FREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GB edit
Hard drive FREE UPGRADE! 750GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 500GB edit
Graphics card 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5770 [dual-link DVI, HDMI, DP, VGA adapter] edit
Primary optical drive LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive edit
Networking Integrated Ethernet port, No wireless LAN edit
Front Productivity Ports 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio edit
TV & entertainment experience No TV Tuner edit
Sound Card Integrated sound edit
Speakers No speakers edit
Keyboard and Mouse HP deluxe wireless keyboard & wireless mouse edit
Office software Microsoft Office Starter 2010 edit
Security software Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 month edit

Select: Storage devices
Showing 4 of 8 undefined A 64-bit Operating System is required to take full advantage of 4GB memory. A 32-bit Operating System only recognizes up to 3GB memory. Compare printers from this listclose HP v125w 4GB USB Flash Drive more info +$19.99Id : FQ433AA#ABA Price : 19.99 EPP Price : 19.99 MIR : 0.00 IR : 0.00 HP v125w 8GB USB Flash Drive more info +$29.99Id : FQ434AA#ABA Price : 29.99 EPP Price : 29.99 MIR : 0.00 IR : 0.00 HP 8GB SDHC Flash Memory Card more info +$29.99Id : Q6276A Price : 29.99 EPP Price : 29.99 MIR : 0.00 IR : 0.00 HP v125w 16GB USB Flash Drive more info +$49.99Id : NC814AA#ABA Price : 49.99 EPP Price : 49.99 MIR : 0.00 IR : 0.00Previous
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Next
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Your running total

Price $1,069.99*
Instant rebate -$130.00
Mail-in rebate -$0.00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total: $939.99
You saved 12.1%

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No payments, plus no interest for 6 months, if paid in full
with Bill Me Later subject to credit approval
Estimated build date: August 9, 2010
» Need a PC sooner?
Monitors, printers and accessories are in stock and will ship within two business days.

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Components• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit• AMD Phenom(TM) X4 965 quad-core processor [3.4GHz, 2MB L2 + 6MB L3 shared, up to 4000MHz]• FREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GB• FREE UPGRADE! 750GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 500GB• 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5770 [dual-link DVI, HDMI, DP, VGA adapter]• LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive• Integrated Ethernet port, No wireless LAN• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio• No TV Tuner• Integrated sound• No speakers• HP deluxe wireless keyboard & wireless mouse• Microsoft Office Starter 2010• Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 monthAccessoriesPrinters
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Get a Dell XPS 7100 W/ A 5870 and hexacore CPU, it rapes that (and any other) prebuilt gaming rig.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...wds4&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=studio-xps-7100

No, I don't work for Dell. Yes I will continue to recommend this machine to absolutely anyone considering spending ~$800+ on a prebuilt machine, nothing else comes close to offering the same value.
 
Mr_Brit said:
Don't. Vista and 7 have identical gaming performance, unless your really annoyed with Vista spending money on upgrading to 7 isn't worth it.
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Gaming aside, Windows 7 is just a much better OS from a user standpoint. I love it and I've used DOS, Win 3.1, Linux, Mac, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 is king of them all. It's just a joy to use and overall it is faster than Vista. I don't have crashes, quirks, or any other kind of vomit inducing problems I had with Vista or XP.

Oh, my copy was free.. Windows 7 x64 Signature Edition.

But yeah, I guess you are right although going from XP to Vista is the worst Idea anyone could ever have.
 
brain_stew said:
I'd recommend against this, it'll usually mean replacing the PSU and if you can replace a PSU you can build a custom rig, so you're getting yourself locked into limited upgrade options for no good reason.

Either that or buy a Dell XPS 7100 of course.
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Hmm, I guess I will have to think about it. Gamming PCs are so expensive... All this so I can get my ass handed to me in SC2;P
 
caliblue15 said:
Would be better on telling me why it is shit. From what i can tell the Newegg machine, (I would build it, not prebuilt) is much better than any prebuilt machine from HP or Dell. Just wanted to know the big differences as the cost was about the same, and I didn't have to put it together.
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The Studio XPS 7100 will give you about 4-5x the framerate in games fr the same price. You'll also get wireless N and a BD drive thrown in "for free." Can't really make it any clearer than that.

The 5570 is a God awful GPU for gaming, its aimed at the HTPC market.
 
brain_stew said:
Get a Dell XPS 7100 W/ A 5870 and hexacore CPU, it rapes that (and any other) prebuilt gaming rig.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...wds4&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=studio-xps-7100

No, I don't work for Dell. Yes I will continue to recommend this machine to absolutely anyone considering spending ~$800+ on a prebuilt machine, nothing else comes close to offering the same value.
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I dunno. If comparable Intels are thought to generally outperform their AMD counterparts, I like this rig better.

http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668627.php
 
brain_stew said:
Get a Dell XPS 7100 W/ A 5870 and hexacore CPU, it rapes that (and any other) prebuilt gaming rig.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...wds4&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=studio-xps-7100

No, I don't work for Dell. Yes I will continue to recommend this machine to absolutely anyone considering spending ~$800+ on a prebuilt machine, nothing else comes close to offering the same value.
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What are the benefits of the 5870 over the 5770, and do you really need more than 4gb of DDR3 ram?
 
brain_stew said:
Just use EVGA Precision, its much easier for a beginner. Get it at Guru 3D.
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Already have it. Core clock is blanked out on it. I can control shader clock and memory clock. I am currently at 1430/1800 respectively. What would be a safe amount to go over. If so, what program do I use to stress test? The fur program in OP hasn't been updated in a long time.
 
I'd rather have 4 superior cores to 6 inferior.

And for the record, that Dell deal is amazing. I thought about it for quite awhile but after reading all I could stand, I leaned toward to Gateway.
 
Gouty said:
I dunno. If comparable Intels are thought to generally outperform their AMD counterparts, I like this rig better.

http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668627.php
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Slower GPU (that's worth over $100 less)
More expensive
CPU is a wash
No BD drive
No wireless N
No review from Anandtech giving it the thumbs up (important for prebuilt rigs considering there's some duff ones out there)
8GB vs. 6GB isn't going to make any differnce in anything other than niche apps, and even then, only in edge cases where the 6 dedicated cores may give the win to the Dell anyway.
1 year less warranty


Nope, don't look comparable to me.
 
Ugh the wait for GF104 to hit the laptop/notebook market is going to be unbearable. I'm so ready for a new machine.
 
Gouty said:
I'd rather have 4 superior cores to 6 inferior.

And for the record, that Dell deal is amazing. I thought about it for quite awhile but after reading all I could stand, I leaned toward to Gateway.
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I'm not a huge fan of Dell though, and don't know if I wanna drop 1,500 on a computer. Wanted a good rig for around $1,000, that could last a long time.

How are intel's cores superior to AMD?
 
Minsc said:
The 5870 is like 2x as fast.
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While it is literally 2x the GPU it doesn't quite net you twice the performance but there's a huge performance gap between them nonetheless. Its a $160 GPU vs. $400 GPU, oh and the Dell has a better PSU as well (which the 5870 necessitates).
 
Instead of posting a new topic, I probably should just post it in here.

I have a couple questions about cleaning.

1) Is it true that you can use rubbing alcohol to clean your LCD monitor?

2) What is the best device to clean the dust out of your computer case/fans? I hear mini vacuums are good, but I can't find any good ones on amazon or frys online.
 
caliblue15 said:
I'm not a huge fan of Dell though, and don't know if I wanna drop 1,500 on a computer. Wanted a good rig for around $1,000, that could last a long time.

How are intel's cores superior to AMD?
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Its not $1500...........

Take company biases out of it unless you want to dick yourself over. No other prebuilt rig around $1000 is worth considering and you'll only get a worse deal elsewhere. I can't make it any plainer than that
 
brain_stew said:
While it is literally 2x the GPU it doesn't quite net you twice the performance but there's a huge performance gap between them nonetheless. Its a $160 GPU vs. $400 GPU, oh and the Dell has a better PSU as well (which the 5870 necessitates).
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It's a great rig, but almost $1600 with monitor is alot of money. Wonder if I built it myself if I would save anything at all.

I don't PC game alot, but starting to get back into it a little, looking at you Starcraft 2 and Battlefield 3. Didn't think I'd need to bite for the 5870 yet.

And the Dell machine is great, but I'm not ordering it before August 5th so it doesn't do much for me.
 
I’ll concede the better GPU, no doubt about it. The bluray drive means nothing to me unless I can write. Same for the wireless N, I’m hard wired. The sticking point for me are the processors. 6 cores from anyone doesn’t mean much as games barely utilize 4. And exactly how much bullshit do you have to run simultaneously for 6 cores to be an advantage? 4 is more than enough, and benchmarks have shown that the intels generally outperform the AMD’s with similar specs. Again, the Dell is great, I just prefer the Gateway but if someone found some value in the blu drive and wireless N then yeah, by all means its an awesome computer.
 
Ok, bumped my fan speed to 60%. Set my shader to 1550 and memory to 2000 and didn't see any artifacts in ATITOOL. I was seeing some color splotches in SCII, so hopefully this helps. Idling @ 34C
 
DenogginizerOS said:
So, I cancelled the order I had with EVGA for the EE GTX 460 due to the concern people have raised over the noise. However, in talking with EVGA, they insist that these reports are more rumor than fact. Has anyone here received an EE and found the noise to be excessive to the point it being a dealbreaker? I can get this card with a coupon for $199 with free 3-day shipping and I am looking at about a 20% gain over my GTX 260 that is slightly overclocked.
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Well the EE makes your case cooler, but the GPU runs hotter.
There's a short review at hardwarecanucks on the EE version.
1-D_FTW said:
It's got plenty of power. The main benefit to having the two PCI-E plugs is you know they're on separate rails.
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Nope. Almost all PSU's are single rail regardless if they advertise themselves as double rail.
Midas said:
Thanks guys. Seems like stuff like that might actually be included in the box of the graphics card. At least in the video I watched on Youtube.

Maybe I should just exchange it to a 550W? It's only 15 EUR more.

Edit: When did graphics card start to require more power than the PCI-E/AGP port can provide?
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The 450 is excellent and the 2x molex to 6 pin should come with your GPU in most cases.
Also a looooong time ago. PCI-E is only 75W iirc.
Midas said:
Someone said that I should get Scythe Mugen 2 for my CPU. What do you guys think? Always good with second opinions!
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It was probably me and it's very good from what I read.
Gouty said:
I’ll concede the better GPU, no doubt about it. The bluray drive means nothing to me unless I can write. Same for the wireless N, I’m hard wired. The sticking point for me are the processors. 6 cores from anyone doesn’t mean much as games barely utilize 4. And exactly how much bullshit do you have to run simultaneously for 6 cores to be an advantage? 4 is more than enough, and benchmarks have shown that the intels generally outperform the AMD’s with similar specs. Again, the Dell is great, I just prefer the Gateway but if someone found some value in the blu drive and wireless N then yeah, by all means its an awesome computer.
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If you are picky about your own parts and don't want to get shafted on prices you can build it yourself! :D
 
caliblue15 said:
It's a great rig, but almost $1600 with monitor is alot of money. Wonder if I built it myself if I would save anything at all.
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You wouldn't, I've tried. Use your HDTV as your monitor dude, fuck using tiny TN panels.
 
brain_stew said:
You wouldn't, I've tried.
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Ok at $1,050 it was nice, but with the launch of the GTX460 and some decent combo deals, that Dell is not worth $400 more than this rig.

Does everyone need a BR or Wireless N? No. If they needed it you can add it. A BR read drive is $80 now. 1TB can be added for $20. 8GB can be added for $95.

*Goddamit why do I always post on the bottom.

SY7cc.jpg
 
Hazaro said:
Ok at $1,050 it was nice, but with the launch of the GTX460 and some decent combo deals, that Dell is not worth $400 more than this rig.

Does everyone need a BR or Wireless N? No. If they needed it you can add it. A BR read drive is $80 now. 1TB can be added for $20. 8GB can be added for $95.

*Goddamit why do I always post on the bottom.

lovelypicture
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And you only have the quad-core not the six-core processor.

What's the diff betwen the GTX460 and the 5870?

What do I gain with 8gb of ram over 4gb?
 
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