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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

So what games do you guys recommend to play on PC? Im on a laptop so I dont have the best specs, but I should be able to play new games decently.

I like RPGS (loved ME1 and 2. Dragons Age not so much), shooters, and a little bit of RTS (last RTS game I played was Warcraft 3 :lol )

My Specs:
HP Envy 14
i5 450 2.4ghz turbo boost @2.66 (Could OC to 3.05GHz if needed)
ATI 5650
4gb Ram.


Im thinking of picking up Bad Company 2 from the EA sale, any others you guys would recommend?
 
asdad123 said:
So what games do you guys recommend to play on PC? Im on a laptop so I dont have the best specs, but I should be able to play new games decently.

I like RPGS (loved ME1 and 2. Dragons Age not so much), shooters, and a little bit of RTS (last RTS game I played was Warcraft 3 :lol )

My Specs:
HP Envy 14
i5 450 2.4ghz turbo boost @2.66 (Could OC to 3.05GHz if needed)
ATI 5650
4gb Ram.


Im thinking of picking up Bad Company 2 from the EA sale, any others you guys would recommend?
Click to expand...

If you get an urge for an RTS, StarCraft 2 is the place to be right now. I run it pretty well with the following laptop:

Core2Duo T7500 @ 2.20GHz
2GB RAM
GeForce 8600M GT

Your setup should dominate.
 
IMACOMPUTA said:
Brainstew, you suggested this card to everyone when it was on sale.
I bought it.
It's a GT 220.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127462
Click to expand...

Yeah but newer PhysX games are starting to become more demanding and the CPU side of things is finally starting to become optimised so a low end PhysX card isn't buying you a big advantage like it used to anymore. Back then, GT 240/GTS350/GTX460 level hardware wasn't available so cheaply either. The GT 220 was great for ATI users to be able to use PhysX effects in stuff like Batman, Mirror's Edge etc. but PhysX has changed a great deal in such a short time since then.

Advice changes over time, I can only make a recommendation based on the evidence available at the time and its always going to be just one voice on the choir. People shouldn't take my opinion as definitive either. I no longer recommend a GT 220 for PhysX, that doesn't mean to say there wasn't a reason to recommend one 6 months ago.
 
asdad123 said:
So what games do you guys recommend to play on PC? Im on a laptop so I dont have the best specs, but I should be able to play new games decently.

I like RPGS (loved ME1 and 2. Dragons Age not so much), shooters, and a little bit of RTS (last RTS game I played was Warcraft 3 :lol )

My Specs:
HP Envy 14
i5 450 2.4ghz turbo boost @2.66 (Could OC to 3.05GHz if needed)
ATI 5650
4gb Ram.


Im thinking of picking up Bad Company 2 from the EA sale, any others you guys would recommend?
Click to expand...

You can play any PC game on that machine quite comfortably so long as you don't expect max settings.
 
brain_stew said:
I no longer recommend a GT 220 for PhysX, that doesn't mean to say there wasn't a reason to recommend one 6 months ago.
Click to expand...

What would you recommend to ATI users now for PhysX

And would you recommend PhysX at all?
 
WEGGLES said:
What would you recommend to ATI users now for PhysX

And would you recommend PhysX at all?
Click to expand...

Depends on how much the end user values its effect in each individual game.

With a GTS 250 available for $70 after rebate that's probably where I'd start off my recommendation, these days:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127495&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-127-495-_-Product

For an Nvidia user with a GTX 470 or 480, then you're probably going to want a GTX 460 768MB as anything less than that can sometimes lead to a negative impact on your framerate since the 470 and 480 already deal with PhysX quite well as it is. They can be had for $180.

If you've got a slower Nvidia card than that then you're probably best off upgrading your primary GPU first, you can always use your current card as a PhysX card or sell it on for some extra cash.
 
TouchMyBox said:
Most cases will provide sufficient spacing between HDDs, are they 7200rpm drives? Since you already have an SSD for an OS drive (i presume) 5400rpm drives would be ideal if you're worried about noise. In my main rig, I've got a corsair h50 to keep my CPU silent, I've got a low end amd770 which is a chipset with a fairly low TDP, I've got a arctic cooling accelero xtreme 5870 to keep my videocard silent, and then for hard drives i've got an SSD for an OS drive, and then two WD green drives for media and games so I don't have to hear any HDD noises (which is by far the most annoying sound in a computer as far as i'm concerned). All of this is hooked up to a corsair TX750W which is almost silent. With my computer on the floor and blocked off by the side of my wooden desk, I can never hear my computer even when playing graphically intense games. :)
Click to expand...

They're 7200. I can stand noise, it's just that I don't want it to sound too much. We'll see when I boot it up next week when I get my graphics card. My Macbook I'm using now sounds quite a lot when the fan kicks in.

And guess what? I'm too fast for my own good. Forgot to put that metal thing in place in front of all the I/O ports at the back. So I'll have to remove the motherboard tomorrow and do that. :lol
 
Anticitizen One said:
Is it possible to buy a PC with an Intel i7 and Nvidia GTX 480 card for under $1,000? because thats what im looking for right now
Click to expand...

That would be tricky. You'd have to find some excellent deals. Typically, an i7 + 1366 mouthboard + gtx 480 is close to $1000 before you even buy anything else.
 
Boonoo said:
and here's what we're looking at ordering

with a Coolmaster Hyper 212 from amazon.

Any glaring mistakes? I'm most hesitant about the Motherboard as I'm not quite up to date on all the usb3/sata3 stuff.
Click to expand...
You can get away with a Corsair 400 or 450w if he'll be running one card. Save you $40.
550W if he feels iffy about it and won't change.
A 5770 to something like a 460 will consume less than 450w fine.
Anticitizen One said:
Is it possible to buy a PC with an Intel i7 and Nvidia GTX 480 card for under $1,000? because thats what im looking for right now
Click to expand...
Nope. An i5 and 460 you can do easily however.
 
Anticitizen One said:
Would I be able to play SC II and Crysis at max settings?
Click to expand...
Max settings on SC II make very very little difference and aren't optimized that well. I run High and it looks the same, but gives me a ton more frames when you have giant army fights happening.
Same goes for Crysis actually, but there are custom configs for that.

Since SC II doesn't have AA enabled in settings yet (have to force it, and you lose 1/2 your frames) 'Max' is very very easy to run. Just need a zippy CPU.

Depends what you think of max settings since I prefer playing with AA off (to leave foliage AA on) instead of something like 4xAA. 60FPS is not what you'll be getting, but a nice 30-45 is possible with a good config on a 460 for sure.

For both games you'll want your CPU overclocked to 3.7Ghz +

i5/i7 is not a big difference and 460 -> 480 the scaling goes iffy for the price.
 
Hazaro said:
Max settings on SC II make very very little difference and aren't optimized that well. I run High and it looks the same, but gives me a ton more frames when you have giant army fights happening.
Same goes for Crysis actually, but there are custom configs for that.

Since SC II doesn't have AA enabled in settings yet (have to force it, and you lose 1/2 your frames) 'Max' is very very easy to run. Just need a zippy CPU.

Depends what you think of max settings since I prefer playing with AA off (to leave foliage AA on) instead of something like 4xAA. 60FPS is not what you'll be getting, but a nice 30-45 is possible with a good config on a 460 for sure.

For both games you'll want your CPU overclocked to 3.7Ghz +

i5/i7 is not a big difference and 460 -> 480 the scaling goes iffy for the price.
Click to expand...


I heard something about a single SC2 setting that actually kills performance. Something about shadows I believe but I'm not sure.
 
Felix Lighter said:
I heard something about a single SC2 setting that actually kills performance. Something about shadows I believe but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...
It has to be Shaders or Shadows on Ultra for sure.

I believe it's the one that enables TRUE HDR. The problem is on maps like FASTEST with 50 stacked minerals I think it dies trying to calculate the lighting the the goddam minerals :lol
I would get 0-3 FPS looking at my base. I turned it down and it shot right back up to 45
 
Hazaro said:
It has to be Shaders or Shadows on Ultra for sure.

I believe it's the one that enables TRUE HDR. The problem is on maps like FASTEST with 50 stacked minerals I think it dies trying to calculate the lighting the the goddam minerals :lol
I would get 0-3 FPS looking at my base. I turned it down and it shot right back up to 45
Click to expand...

I should check that out. I've been running everything on Ultra and I've been happy with the performance but I haven't messed around with many custom maps.
 
A GTX 470 would be a nice compromise for a $1k rig. They can be had for less than $300 and are a noticeable leap above a GTX 460, come with more VRAM as well, which Crysis will appreciate.

An OCed i5-750 or 760 is much faster in games than even a stock i7-950, so that's the route I'd take for a performance rig under a $1000.
 
brain_stew said:
A GTX 470 would be a nice compromise for a $1k rig. They can be had for less than $300 and are a noticeable leap above a GTX 460, come with more VRAM as well, which Crysis will appreciate.

An OCed i5-750 or 760 is much faster in games than even a stock i7-950, so that's the route I'd take for a performance rig under a $1000.
Click to expand...


thank you for saying this, makes me feel so happy i choose to do that.
i have a i5 760 now and a 470 and a noctua cooler so i can overclock it to 4.0ghz
if i feel i need more power ( when crysis 2 comes out ) im just gonna get a second 470 real cheap.
they are selling for like 200 euro now, as much as a 460
 
Uhh Gaf, I need help.

I finished my very fisrt build yesterday. Everything worked fine, and I used it for about an hour. I opened it up today to manage some of the cables (unplugged and replugged a few things)

I tried to turn it on and it won't. The second time I switched it on, a saw a small blue spark in the PSU. Am I screwed??
 
brain_stew said:
Depends on how much the end user values its effect in each individual game.

With a GTS 250 available for $70 after rebate that's probably where I'd start off my recommendation, these days:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127495&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-127-495-_-Product

For an Nvidia user with a GTX 470 or 480, then you're probably going to want a GTX 460 768MB as anything less than that can sometimes lead to a negative impact on your framerate since the 470 and 480 already deal with PhysX quite well as it is. They can be had for $180.

If you've got a slower Nvidia card than that then you're probably best off upgrading your primary GPU first, you can always use your current card as a PhysX card or sell it on for some extra cash.
Click to expand...



I was planning on buying a GTX 480 and using a GTX 260 as my PhysX. are you saying that isn't a good idea?
 
I remember people talking about the Fractal Design and a weird smell. But I kinda like the smell. :lol

I have some problems with this I/O shield and my Asus motherboard. Seems like a bunch of other people have the same problem - like if you check the comments here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9lfou1NJ1Y

Any suggestions? Should I just skip this and dust of the computer every other week or what should I do?
 
evil solrac v3.0 said:
I was planning on buying a GTX 480 and using a GTX 260 as my PhysX. are you saying that isn't a good idea?
Click to expand...

If you mean you're planning on buying a seperate 260 just for phyx that's not very good use of your money. But if you mean you're upgrading to a 480 and already have a 260 you might as well throw it in there as a phyx device, that is a good idea.
 
Since I'm exploring both the laptop world and the stationary world, I figured I'd ask for some opinions. This is my budget build now (sorry for the Swedish links, but they still show the relevant specs):


What do you guys think about these components? Have I missed any incompatibilities or so? Is something missing? I have an Antec P180 case now with old-ish hardware, and I fucking hate this case since it barely has any space in it. :lol Any suggestions are welcome!

(PS: I have a DVD burner, a Corsair 750W modular PSU, a X-Fi Fatal1ty soundcard, and all the peripherals already)

(PS2: Can the blue LED's in that Antec case be switched off?)

(PS3: Will my PSU be enough for the above components? What if I go 8GB DDR3 RAM?)
 
BeeDog said:
Since I'm exploring both the laptop world and the stationary world, I figured I'd ask for some opinions. This is my budget build now (sorry for the Swedish links, but they still show the relevant specs):


What do you guys think about these components? Have I missed any incompatibilities or so? Is something missing? I have an Antec P180 case now with old-ish hardware, and I fucking hate this case since it barely has any space in it. :lol Any suggestions are welcome!

(PS: I have a DVD burner, an X-Fi Fatal1ty soundcard, and all the peripherals already)
Click to expand...

Ser bra ut. If you dare to trust me. But, that chassi? A bit expensive, but if you're after something that looks like that - it might be the right choice. Antec is supposed to be good. I bought the Fractal Design R2 (I think R3 is out now) and it seems to be really good.
 
Midas said:
Ser bra ut. If you dare to trust me. But, that chassi? A bit expensive, but if you're after something that looks like that - it might be the right choice. Antec is supposed to be good. I bought the Fractal Design R2 (I think R3 is out now) and it seems to be really good.
Click to expand...

I just need a case that has a lot of SPACE. As said, I'm sick of the P180 (because I'm not handy when it comes to the cables), so any big tower case with lots of room to maneuver would be perfect. Suggestions are appreciated.
 
Shambles said:
If you mean you're planning on buying a seperate 260 just for phyx that's not very good use of your money. But if you mean you're upgrading to a 480 and already have a 260 you might as well throw it in there as a phyx device, that is a good idea.
Click to expand...


yeah, I already own two 260s for SLi, but i was thinking of just getting the one really good card (equal performance right?) and using one of the others as a Phys X. although my main concern is heat and later down the line if i want to SLi again would be power. (I've got a corsair 850 watt)
 
BeeDog said:
I just need a case that has a lot of SPACE. As said, I'm sick of the P180 (because I'm not handy when it comes to the cables), so any big tower case with lots of room to maneuver would be perfect. Suggestions are appreciated.
Click to expand...

Space for what? To making it easier to work with or just more bays for hard drives? The Fractal Design has room for 9 hard drives if you only have one optical drive and don't use any fan controllers in the form of 5,25" and such things. And the cable management system is pretty good too.
 
So, I managed to get the Asus I/O shield in place without hassle. I gotta ask about fans, there are two fans in the case which I'll use, but they are 3-pin and on the motherborder the "things" for the fans are four? Do I need some kind of converter or will it work anyway?

Actually, when I look more careful, CHA_FAN1 is four pin, CHA_FAN2 is three, PWR_FAN is three and CPU_FAN, which of coursed is occupied already, is four.

Can I use this PWR_FAN for a chassi fan perhaps?
 
Midas said:
Space for what? To making it easier to work with or just more bays for hard drives? The Fractal Design has room for 9 hard drives if you only have one optical drive and don't use any fan controllers in the form of 5,25" and such things. And the cable management system is pretty good too.
Click to expand...

No, not space for HDD's, just room to work with. I find the P180 infuriatingly hard in this sense; the separator between the lower part of the case and the upper part forces cables to pass right above many mobo connectors, and I don't want this hassle.
 
BeeDog said:
No, not space for HDD's, just room to work with. I find the P180 infuriatingly hard in this sense; the separator between the lower part of the case and the upper part forces cables to pass right above many mobo connectors, and I don't want this hassle.
Click to expand...

That's a problem you don't get with the Fractal Design since you hide the cables behind the motherboard. :)

2myrcwp.jpg
 
I read up on the Fractal Design Desire R3, and it is actually an extremely appealing case. I've switched from the Twelve Hundred to this one, saving around 100€. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
BeeDog said:
I read up on the Fractal Design Desire R3, and it is actually an extremely appealing case. I've switched from the Twelve Hundred to this one, saving around 100€. Thanks for the suggestion!
Click to expand...

I bought my R2 like two weeks before R3 came out. :lol

But it doesn't seem like it's a huge difference, "bug fixes" and such + a reset button.
 
Help, Gaf. I'm building a PC for the first time and need a bit of guidance.

Here's what I've bought have so far:
Antec 300 Case
XFX HD 5850
Seagate 1TB
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 Motherboard

I'll be adding 4GB of ram and a AMD Phenom II X6 1055T to this list sometime next week. What psu would be the best fit? The newegg psu calculator is telling me that 516W is enough. Also, what's the best mouse/keyboard combo under $100?
 
final build

ordering tonight

Any thoughts? Should i even buy a heatsink or keep stock. I dont plan on Overclocking, i just plan on gaming
ZPf4P.jpg
 
Just want an opinion. So Microcenter has put up the 950 for $250 in store, while the 930 remains at $200. I know that the 950 is obviously clocked higher and has a 24x multiplier as opposed to the 22x that the 930 has.

Which is the better buy?
 
Finally got around to cleaning up the wiring in my Raidmax Smilodon case (my first build). I think I did pretty well for a case with absolutely zero built-in cable management :lol I'll be replacing all the stock fans (they are crap) and installing a water cooler sometime this month, will post again when I put those in.

-removed the front door because it was useless and blocked airflow
-removed the lower HDD cage because it took up space and I'm only using one HDD anyway
-I can no longer open the motherboard panel without unplugging everything first, but I think it was worth it

D8Hk2.jpg
 
Darkatomz said:
Just want an opinion. So Microcenter has put up the 950 for $250 in store, while the 930 remains at $200. I know that the 950 is obviously clocked higher and has a 24x multiplier as opposed to the 22x that the 930 has.

Which is the better buy?
Click to expand...
I knew they were going to do that.
Figured the best case scenario, it would be priced at $230 with the 930 holding steady.

If you're set on only buying one of those two CPU options, I'd go with the 930 and save $50. There really isn't much between them, stock or overclocked.
 
Midas said:
So, I managed to get the Asus I/O shield in place without hassle. I gotta ask about fans, there are two fans in the case which I'll use, but they are 3-pin and on the motherborder the "things" for the fans are four? Do I need some kind of converter or will it work anyway?

Actually, when I look more careful, CHA_FAN1 is four pin, CHA_FAN2 is three, PWR_FAN is three and CPU_FAN, which of coursed is occupied already, is four.

Can I use this PWR_FAN for a chassi fan perhaps?
Click to expand...
Outside of it maybe posing a minor problem on some boards if you're using automatic temperature control for the fans, you'd be fine. It really doesn't matter which header you use and whether the header or fan are 3- or 4-pin. You'll lose fan speed control options in some cases, but with fans that have a good noise/performance balance, it isn't an issue.
 
SelfCon said:
Help, Gaf. I'm building a PC for the first time and need a bit of guidance.

Here's what I've bought have so far:
Antec 300 Case
XFX HD 5850
Seagate 1TB
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 Motherboard

I'll be adding 4GB of ram and a AMD Phenom II X6 1055T to this list sometime next week. What psu would be the best fit? The newegg psu calculator is telling me that 516W is enough. Also, what's the best mouse/keyboard combo under $100?
Click to expand...
If possible try to holdout or grab the 95W somewhere of the 1055T. Dunno if it will be out in a week though.

A Corsair 450/550W is fine for a single GPU rig.
dorkimoe said:
final build

ordering tonight

Any thoughts? Should i even buy a heatsink or keep stock. I dont plan on Overclocking, i just plan on gaming
ZPf4P.jpg
Click to expand...
Get an i5-750/760 to save money, get 4GB to save money.
Pick a HS from the bottom of this list ( http://i.imgur.com/A55hA.jpg )
GTX 460 better value at that pricepoint. 1GB version for $230.
 
evil solrac v3.0 said:
yeah, I already own two 260s for SLi, but i was thinking of just getting the one really good card (equal performance right?) and using one of the others as a Phys X. although my main concern is heat and later down the line if i want to SLi again would be power. (I've got a corsair 850 watt)
Click to expand...

Dual 480's will only use around 600W under full load. Your 850 will be fine. I'd be tempted just to sell both 260's now while they are worth more money. I would assume that even with phyx on the 480 would max just about anything unless your rocking some multi monitor setup.
 
·feist· said:
Outside of it maybe posing a minor problem on some boards if you're using automatic temperature control for the fans, you'd be fine. It really doesn't matter which header you use and whether the header or fan are 3- or 4-pin. You'll lose fan speed control options in some cases, but with fans that have a good noise/performance balance, it isn't an issue.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I used one of the "ports" with three pins marked as CHA_FAN and then the PWR_FAN with three pins.

Hmm another question. Memory. Do I need to play around with the settings or will it work by itself? I mean, I've seen weird number sequences for RAM - which I have no idea what it is. This week will be a long wait for my graphics card.
 
So, what do you guys recommend for someone who doesn't want to build their own PC. I am just generally really bad with this kind of stuff.

I don't need a Crysis at max rig, but more of a general Gamig rig, mainly MMOs.
 
dorkimoe said:
Any thoughts? Should i even buy a heatsink or keep stock. I dont plan on Overclocking, i just plan on gaming
Click to expand...

TBH I think going with an Intel and not overclocking is kind of silly. You can get a ridiculous amount of performance for no cost out of the i5/i7.
 
Midas said:
Thanks. I used one of the "ports" with three pins marked as CHA_FAN and then the PWR_FAN with three pins.

Hmm another question. Memory. Do I need to play around with the settings or will it work by itself? I mean, I've seen weird number sequences for RAM - which I have no idea what it is. This week will be a long wait for my graphics card.
Click to expand...
Even if you don't plan on overclocking, it's always good to go into the bios and have a look around. Obviously, you want to familiarize yourself with certain settings before making changes. You can always look online for guides on your motherboard and other components that can help you optimize your build.

Your motherboard may try to throttle back your components' speed in order to save on power. I've changed my CPU and RAM settings to manual. You can tighten your RAM timings if you like (or just set them to your preferred/optimal sequence) and people sometimes need to loosen theirs, when overclocking, in order to maintain stability.
 
NEED HELP

Hey Guys my GF just built a new PC with these specs

AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz (with 4th core unlocked)
785GTM-E45 Motherboard
x1900 radeon
2 gigs of ddr2 533(should have been 667 but cheap ass dell put 533 in fro old pc and labeled it as 667)

We finished the pc last night and the CPU running idle was from 35-56% and the ram was running idle at 500.

Could the reason for this be the ram has gone bad ?? or since it was the wrong kinda ram (box says its supports 667/800/1066) its having a negative effect on the processor. could reinstalling windows help ??

If anyone could help me figure out whats wrong it would be appreciated buy me and my gf.
 
PC oracle can you give me your opinion on this setup?

Intel Core i5 - 760
Board Asus P7H55-M
6GB DDR3 1333 MHZ
HDD 1TB
ASUS GTX 470

I'm getting an already built one, I know that I would be better off building the rig myself but I really don't have the time to give to a project like this.
 
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