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[Cheech]

Do you need an operating system?

Everyone is a Linux user nowadays, it seems. :lol

Personally, I'm thankful I had the foresight and pick up a cheap $50 Win 7 upgrade back when Amazon had that crazy preorder deal. It's been sitting collecting dust, because I was 100% sure I was going to pull the trigger on a build at SOME point before Win8.

It was only a year later, not bad!

 

[ChoklitReign]

Do you need an operating system?

Heh, I'm a student so W7 only costs me $30.

 

[theshizzle]

Heh, I'm a student so W7 only costs me $30.

The build looks pretty good to me.
Very solid parts at a good price.
I wouldn't mind using that machine myself.

 

[TheExodu5]

What are safe temps for an i5 760?

I built up a new PC for my cousin, and gave it a mild overclock last night. Getting 3.6GHz with 1.28 volts (I would decrease this, but my cousin lives an hour away, and I don't want his system getting unstable). I am keeping fans very slow in the interest of having a quiet PC, so everything is just spinning at 700rpm.

Worst case scenario, with Prime95 and FurMark running, the CPU gets to about 72-73C.

 

[Mr Nightman]

What are safe temps for an i5 760?

I built up a new PC for my cousin, and gave it a mild overclock last night. Getting 3.6GHz with 1.28 volts (I would decrease this, but my cousin lives an hour away, and I don't want his system getting unstable). I am keeping fans very slow in the interest of having a quiet PC, so everything is just spinning at 700rpm.

Worst case scenario, with Prime95 and FurMark running, the CPU gets to about 72-73C.

Did you even slow the cpu fan down? If yes, just let it run fan speed automatically, most new heatsink/fan setups are decently quiet

 

[Hazaro]

I'll be ordering this a month from now (hope the combos don't change much). Is it good?

Mmhmmm

What are safe temps for an i5 760?

I built up a new PC for my cousin, and gave it a mild overclock last night. Getting 3.6GHz with 1.28 volts (I would decrease this, but my cousin lives an hour away, and I don't want his system getting unstable). I am keeping fans very slow in the interest of having a quiet PC, so everything is just spinning at 700rpm.

Worst case scenario, with Prime95 and FurMark running, the CPU gets to about 72-73C.

Both running? That's fine. Nothing will ever come close to that sort of load.
Usually you'll want under 65C CPU load in general. Not a big deal to have it slightly above.
----

Updated for Q4 2010 (Pre-Sandy Bride / AM3+)

1)Basic Desktop Questions
Budget: Price Range + Country
Main Use: Light Gaming, Gaming, Video editing, 3D work, general usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback)
Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be looking to play your games at? Are you going to upgrade later?
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Self Explanatory

2)General Guide on what to buy
$500-$600 Budget build: http://imgur.com/gdc1C.png
1k build: To be updated

3)15 minute video how-to
http://vimeo.com/5685229
40 minute how-to
http://www.tested.com/news/video-how-to-build-the-best-1500-gaming-pc-step-by-step/152/

4)Prospective laptop buyers please fill this out and ask their forum as well.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...ould-i-buy-form-must-read-before-posting.html
GAF notebook / laptop thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386622

 

[TheExodu5]

Did you even slow the cpu fan down? If yes, just let it run fan speed automatically, most new heatsink/fan setups are decently quiet

Yes I did slow it down. It produces an annoying whine when above 1000rpm with the automatic profile, so I rather keep it low.

Personally, I like having all my fan speeds set manually so they never speed up or slow down. Constant operation is less distracting than variation, IMO.

 

[Mr Nightman]

Yes I did slow it down. It produces an annoying whine when above 1000rpm with the automatic profile, so I rather keep it low.

Personally, I like having all my fan speeds set manually so they never speed up or slow down. Constant operation is less distracting than variation, IMO.

You can always try an after market cooler like the hyper 212+
Runs about 2000rpm, and is quiet as a mouse, and cools my quad very well. But cpus are meant to deal with a lot of heat soo it should be fine, just a suggestion

 

[Shambles]

What are safe temps for an i5 760?

I built up a new PC for my cousin, and gave it a mild overclock last night. Getting 3.6GHz with 1.28 volts (I would decrease this, but my cousin lives an hour away, and I don't want his system getting unstable). I am keeping fans very slow in the interest of having a quiet PC, so everything is just spinning at 700rpm.

Worst case scenario, with Prime95 and FurMark running, the CPU gets to about 72-73C.

Max Tcase temp is 72.7.

 

[TheExodu5]

You can always try an after market cooler like the hyper 212+
Runs about 2000rpm, and is quiet as a mouse, and cools very well. But cpus are meant to deal with a lot of heat soo it should be fine, just a suggestion

I'm running a Scythe Mugen 2. Beats the pants off a Hyper 212.

Understand I have very high standards when it comes to noise. Any fan at 2000rpm is going to sound like a jet engine to me. I don't even like my Noctua fans in my main rig spinning at above 700rpm. My CPU fan in my main rig keeps my Q8300 @ 3.0GHz under 50C spinning at just 400rpm.

Max Tcase temp is 72.7.

Perfect. Should never even come close to those temps under regular load anyways. Airflow is amazing with the HAF 922.

FYI, this is a rig I built for my cousin. I want to impress him with a quiet rig while I'm at it.

Also, impressions on the Gigabyte 6850: amazing. The custom cooler does its job well. I have it at 40%, and it's completely inaudible. Its sound gets drowned out by 700rpm 200mm fans, which is really damned quiet. It runs at 67C under full load, and around 35C idle, at 850/1100 speeds (mild ~10% overclock).

 

[Shambles]

. Should never even come close to those temps under regular load anyways. Airflow is amazing with the HAF 922.

FYI, this is a rig I built for my cousin. I want to impress him with a quiet rig while I'm at it.

Yeah you should be fine. Your temperature monitoring software is probably reading the Tjunction as well which is higher than the Tcase temperature so even under full synthetic load it's not hitting it's max temp. It is reaching it's limit though.

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

Decided to drop the 5770's I have running in xfire due to heat issues and mainly due to performance problems I'm getting in Maya.

I know the older GTX285/295 cards are guaranteed to work with Maya 2010 and 2011 but are still expensive and are older tech, most Maya users are telling me to just get a GTX460 since it's much cheaper and plays games unlike most quadros. I really didn't want to spend a ton of money an a Quadro and have shit game performance.

SuperBiiz has the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 Amp! for $207.80 shipped after coupon code PUMPKIN10 for the first 2000 users for anyone interested. I picked one up for myself. Yeah Yeah I could have gotten Ass~Blast Enema GTX 460 UberClock with some random game I don't care about for $15 - $25 less but I don't really care.

This card is OC'd from the factory, runs quiet, and is ready to go out of the box.
Fuck It! Bought!

ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 Amp!
# Engine Clock: 810 MHz
# Video Memory: 1GB DDR5
# Memory Clock: 4000 MHz

TechPowerUp Review

 

[TheExodu5]

I'm wondering what case I'm going to go with for my next build. The Cooler Master HAF X seems really damned nice. The HAF 922 is great for the money, but I want something with a sexy black interior and better cable routing as well.

I would consider the Antec P183 if the interior layout didn't suck so much.

edit: Corsair 600T looks really nice as well.

 

[Antiochus]

For those interested in the latest fusion reactor from Nvidia, our Chinese bothans bring good news:

http://www.chiphell.com/thread-133004-1-1.html

GTX 580:

Clocking: 772/1002
3DMark VantageXtreme: 12,700 vs 6970's 12,000
Real world gaming, onlu 15-20% faster than the 480
Will still be faster than the 6970

 

[Antiochus]

More good news from the bothans regarding reactor model#580!

 

[·feist·]

I'm wondering what case I'm going to go with for my next build. The Cooler Master HAF X seems really damned nice. The HAF 922 is great for the money, but I want something with a sexy black interior and better cable routing as well.

I would consider the Antec P183 if the interior layout didn't suck so much.

edit: Corsair 600T looks really nice as well.

The 600T has fairly poor cooling performance, particularly for the money it commands.

I nearly bought a HAF-X when it was on sale for $150, except I don't need a full tower and I'd prefer a more subtly-styled exterior. Still, it has a great mix of performance and features.

 

[TheExodu5]

The 600T has fairly poor cooling performance, particularly for the money it commands.

I nearly bought a HAF-X when it was on sale for $150, except I don't need a full tower and I'd prefer a more subtly-styled exterior. Still, it has a great mix of performance and features.

That's the price you pay for a mid-tower with no side panel cooling.

I have the same issue with the HAF-X. While I do think it looks great, I think I might something a little more subtle, as you say.

 

[Chris R]

Speaking of cases anyone know of a good write up on cases in the 50-150 price range?

 

[TheExodu5]

Speaking of cases anyone know of a good write up on cases in the 50-150 price range?

Write-up? No.

What kind of case are you looking for? Mid or full tower? High air flow or low noise? Do you value a workable interior (HDD trays, tool-less design), a black interior, or does the interior not matter much to you? Want a muted or aggressive look?

If you answer a few of these questions I can help you narrow it down.

 

[TheExodu5]

Back to my own case dilemma...I'm also strongly considering going with the Corsair 700D or 800D. Love the look...and I suppose I could give water cooling a shot one of these days. Air cooling performance probably isn't that great in the case, but I can assume that water cooling performance would be phenomenal for a fully contained system.

 

[Chris R]

Well not a write up but a review that includes several good cases in that price range. I checked the sites I normally go to and none of them had anything close to that (just single case reviews).

 

[TheExodu5]

The standouts in that price range are:

CoolerMaster CM 690 II

CoolerMaster HAF 922

Antec Nine Hundred Two

Antec P183

The CoolerMasters are far easier to work with, IMO. The Antec's might be better looking to your eyes though...and the Antec P183 is the quietest case on the market.

The HAF 922 is my favorite of the bunch. My only real complain is the interior isn't painted black...but hardly a deal breaker for most people. The Antec Nine Hundred Two is probably the best looking case once set up, but it has a lot less workable room than the HAF 922, and there are no HDD mounting brackets...installing HDDs will be impossible without taking out your video card.

edit: what are you looking to do with your case? Are you building it? Do you tend to swap components a lot?

 

[Chris R]

The case isn't for me. My brother will be building a rig and needs one. I'll ask him for the specifics later. He just gave me a price range for the case.

 

[thuway]

We should really update the OP with some new builds.

 

[sestrugen]

will a AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz bottleneck an ATI 6850?

 

[Hazaro]

The case isn't for me. My brother will be building a rig and needs one. I'll ask him for the specifics later. He just gave me a price range for the case.

CM 690 gets my vote for all around solid case.

We should really update the OP with some new builds.

Would be good if he was like, active. Otherwise, see my posts I make.

will a AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz bottleneck an ATI 6850?

Depends. If by bottleneck you mean 'not get the most out of', then yes. But it will still be better than a weaker GPU. With any modern CPU it really shouldn't be an issue since most are quads and you can crank up the res and graphics settings to the the GPU horsepower.
If you are talking about a bottleneck as a CPU limit.

 

[Avyrocky]

I am thinking of buying another 4 gig of RAM for my gaming PC. Will I see any real improvement on performance?

 

[TheExodu5]

CM 690 gets my vote for all around solid case.

I have the CM 690 for my main rig...after building my cousin's rig though, I'd say the HAF 922 is a far better case. Tons more room, airflow with just the stock fans demolishes that of my CM 690 as well. I also feel it's just built better.

If he can spend the extra cash and likes the look of the HAF 922, I'd definitely recommend it over the CM 690.

 

[Hazaro]

I am thinking of buying another 4 gig of RAM for my gaming PC. Will I see any real improvement on performance?

If you are using more than 4GB yes. Otherwise 0.
You'd know if you are using more than 4GB too as everything would slow to a crawl.

You can open task manager to see how much you are using. You can also have more to help your OS pre-cache programs, but with 4 you really should be fine. Certainly not worth the $70 to upgrade imo.

I have the CM 690 for my main rig...after building my cousin's rig though, I'd say the HAF 922 is a far better case. Tons more room, airflow with just the stock fans demolishes that of my CM 690 as well. I also feel it's just built better.

If he can spend the extra cash and likes the look of the HAF 922, I'd definitely recommend it over the CM 690.

Huh, I thought the 922 was the $130 one, but that's the 932 isn't it?
The HAF 912/922/932 are all also good cases, I just have personal experience with the 690, which used to be $60 for the non Advanced version.

 

[TheExodu5]

Huh, I thought the 922 was the $130 one, but that's the 932 isn't it?
The HAF 912/922/932 are all also good cases, I just have personal experience with the 690, which used to be $60 for the non Advanced version.

The HAF 922 is like $90. Tremendous value. I can say I'm real impressed, and am somewhat jealous of my cousin.

edit: I see it's only $10 more than the CM 690 on NewEgg. Easy decision.

I am happy with my CM 690 though. Great case.

 

[·feist·]

Speaking of cases anyone know of a good write up on cases in the 50-150 price range?

The standouts in that price range are:

To the above, I'd add these options (about $100 or less):

Lian Li Lancool PC-K62

Lian Li PC-7FN

Fractal Design Define R3

 

[·feist·]

That's the price you pay for a mid-tower with no side panel cooling.

I have the same issue with the HAF-X. While I do think it looks great, I think I might something a little more subtle, as you say.

Not necessarily. I sealed off the fan vents in the bottom of my case as well as the side panel, forcing all of the air to flow in one direction with nice positive pressure.

Back to my own case dilemma...I'm also strongly considering going with the Corsair 700D or 800D. Love the look...and I suppose I could give water cooling a shot one of these days. Air cooling performance probably isn't that great in the case, but I can assume that water cooling performance would be phenomenal for a fully contained system.

The 700/800D just about call for water-cooling or modding in order to get the best out of them.

Have you looked at the Silverstone FT02 (the revised version with the AP181 fans)?

If you need more space the upcoming TJ11 should be amazing.

Of course, it will almost certainly come in at ~$300-350. Here are some more photos of the prototype. It's rough because it's unfinished and there is plastic/steel in place of aluminum on the retail version.

TJ11 56k Warning
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=123722

For half that price, or about $155, you should take a good look at the Fractal Design Define XL. Clean styling, spacious, nice features, and lots of modding potential. If shipping from Canada (NCIX) weren't so high, I'd likely own at least one of Fractal's cases by now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUZbDiwXYJo
http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=2&prod=54

 

[MrBelmontvedere]

Back to my own case dilemma...I'm also strongly considering going with the Corsair 700D or 800D. Love the look...and I suppose I could give water cooling a shot one of these days. Air cooling performance probably isn't that great in the case, but I can assume that water cooling performance would be phenomenal for a fully contained system.

I have an 800D with air cooling and performance is pretty good. CPU idle temps are 29-34c, load in Fallout:NV is about 55c.. just use the rear exhaust as an intake blowing on the CPU heatsink and install the three top fans as exhaust.

 

[Sinatar]

I'm running the Antec 900 II case and I'm running 32 degrees celsius case temp when under load with air cooling.

 

[TheExodu5]

Not necessarily. I sealed off the fan vents in the bottom of my case as well as the side panel, forcing all of the air to flow in one direction with nice positive pressure.

The 700/800D just about call for water-cooling or modding in order to get the best out of them.

Have you looked at the Silverstone FT02 (the revised version with the AP181 fans)?

If you need more space the upcoming TJ11 should be amazing.

Of course, it will almost certainly come in at ~$300-350. Here are some more photos of the prototype. It's rough because it's unfinished and there is plastic/steel in place of aluminum on the retail version.

TJ11 56k Warning
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=123722

For half that price, or about $155, you should take a good look at the Fractal Design Define XL. Clean styling, spacious, nice features, and lots of modding potential. If shipping from Canada (NCIX) weren't so high, I'd likely own at least one of Fractal's cases by now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUZbDiwXYJo
http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=2&prod=54

Not a fan of the 90 degree rotated Silverstones. After seeing some reviews, HDDs + large video cards don't play very nicely in those setups. I need the HDDs going into the side of the case, not going towards the front...I'm avoiding the Antec P183 for that reason alone.

I saw the Fractal Design Define XL today...I was extremely interested. I've heard that the materials are pretty flimsy compared to the Antec P183 though, so I'm not sure. Maybe it's an exaggeration. It's definitely in my list of possible cases. On the bright side, I'm in Canada.

 

[toastyToast]

Probably not related to actually building but I was wondering would it be worth overclocking my Q6600 another 200MHz to 3.4GHz from 3.2? I've got it stable at 1.4V.

From what I understand 1.5V+ is a no go. Currently it tops out at around 60C after a few hours of Prime95 testing.

 

[Hazaro]

Probably not related to actually building but I was wondering would it be worth overclocking my Q6600 another 200MHz to 3.4GHz from 3.2? I've got it stable at 1.4V.

Not really.
My chip is at the point where if I want 0.2Mhz I need another 0.1V and it isn't worth it imo.

 

[Jin34]

The HAF 922 is like $90. Tremendous value. I can say I'm real impressed, and am somewhat jealous of my cousin.

edit: I see it's only $10 more than the CM 690 on NewEgg. Easy decision.

I am happy with my CM 690 though. Great case.

How does the HAF look when fully set up and can you turn off the lights? It just looks so tacky and teenager-ish, it's why I always overlook it.

 

[Hazaro]

How does the HAF look when fully set up and can you turn off the lights? It just looks so tacky and teenager-ish, it's why I always overlook it.

I think both the CM 690 and the HAF series have a switch for the fan LED's

 

[Jin34]

I think both the CM 690 and the HAF series have a switch for the fan LED's

I'm looking at it on Newegg and wow it seems like a case of the promotional materials used to make it stand out made me not like it, they exaggerated the way the case looks on the box.

Edit: Does the HAF come with dust filters for all the perforations it has? Didn't seem like it for the side panel.

 

[Clevinger]

I think both the CM 690 and the HAF series have a switch for the fan LED's

And if not, I think you can cut the LED wire on the lighted fan(s).

 

[ashbash159]

I am a relatively new PC gamer (since July 2010) but a am just wondering about he benefits and cautions of overclocking? Is it with the CPU or GPU? I don't know anything about it and don't know even if it is worth doing so. Most if not all my games run at full settings & 60 fps @ 1080p (I think dirt2 is the only game that runs sub at 45 fps), however I don't have Crysis to test my computer to the max. Thanks for any help in advance. Ask if you would like specs.

 

[Sinatar]

I am a relatively new PC gamer (since July 2010) but a am just wondering about he benefits and cautions of overclocking? Is it with the CPU or GPU? I don't know anything about it and don't know even if it is worth doing so. Most if not all my games run at full settings & 60 fps @ 1080p (I think dirt2 is the only game that runs sub at 45 fps), however I don't have Crysis to test my computer to the max. Thanks for any help in advance. Ask if you would like specs.

If you don't even know what overclocking is and think that turning to GAF for advice on the subject is a good idea then I can say with absolute certainty that you should not overclock anything ever. Just pretend it doesn't exist.

 

[Clevinger]

I am a relatively new PC gamer (since July 2010) but a am just wondering about he benefits and cautions of overclocking? Is it with the CPU or GPU? I don't know anything about it and don't know even if it is worth doing so. Most if not all my games run at full settings & 60 fps @ 1080p (I think dirt2 is the only game that runs sub at 45 fps), however I don't have Crysis to test my computer to the max. Thanks for any help in advance. Ask if you would like specs.

If you're happy with your computer's performance, don't worry about it.

 

[ashbash159]

If you don't even know what overclocking is and think that turning to GAF for advice on the subject is a good idea then I can say with absolute certainty that you should not overclock anything ever. Just pretend it doesn't exist.

I know what it is generally. Just don't know anything apart from the basics of you either turn up the clock speed in the BIOS for the CPU or GPU (don't know) and makes components hotter so you need better cooling.

Won't think I'll try anyway since i dont see it's necessity.

EDIT: all I'm really asking for is for more specific advice of when people should do it, and how to do it, so I know in the future what it is all about so that if I ever want to do it I can.

 

[·feist·]

Not a fan of the 90 degree rotated Silverstones. After seeing some reviews, HDDs + large video cards don't play very nicely in those setups. I need the HDDs going into the side of the case, not going towards the front...I'm avoiding the Antec P183 for that reason alone.

I'd almost never use a card the size of a 5970 so the length wouldn't be a problem for me. Besides, the TJ11 has more space on all sides of the motherboard plate than the previous 90° cases. The HDD airflow doesn't seem to be any worse than other side-mounted HDD cage set-ups (like a CM690), though most side-mounts still trail behind high airflow, standard front-back HDD mount cases (like the Antec 900). The FT02 and new RV03's sideways HDD rack orientation is one of the few things I don't care for in those cases. The TJ11 takes care of that, and has dedicated intake/exhaust for the bottom portion of the case.

I saw the Fractal Design Define XL today...I was extremely interested. I've heard that the materials are pretty flimsy compared to the Antec P183 though, so I'm not sure. Maybe it's an exaggeration. It's definitely in my list of possible cases. On the bright side, I'm in Canada.

You should smuggle one across the boarder for me.

The Performance One line has some of the best cases in their respective classes. Most of the complaints I've heard of the Defines stem from the sound dampening material and/or how it's affixed to the panels. From what I can tell, Fractal has continued to address some of the concerns. Aesthetically, I prefer the Defines to the Performance Ones so I'm still hoping that they get U.S. distributors so that I can get some hands on with them.

 

[Hazaro]

I know what it is generally. Just don't know anything apart from the basics of you either turn up the clock speed in the BIOS for the CPU or GPU (don't know) and makes components hotter so you need better cooling.

Won't think I'll try anyway since i dont see it's necessity.

EDIT: all I'm really asking for is for more specific advice of when people should do it, and how to do it, so I know in the future what it is all about so that if I ever want to do it I can.

If you want more performance you should go for it. GPU overclocking is piss easy and something everyone should do. CPU a bit harder.

Google the internet for guides on your specific chip, possibly CPU+mobo combination.
GPU just find out what others run their's at and slowly work your way up using stuff in the OP to test. Rivatuner/kombustor/furmark etc.

 

[Darkatomz]

I'm looking at it on Newegg and wow it seems like a case of the promotional materials used to make it stand out made me not like it, they exaggerated the way the case looks on the box.

Edit: Does the HAF come with dust filters for all the perforations it has? Didn't seem like it for the side panel.

It doesn't. I was going to go with a HAF, but I opted for the Antec 1200 just because of that.

 

[WEGGLES]

For an email and internet type machine, is $40 enough to spend on a video card?

I'm looking for something that wouldn't need to be upgraded for a while for a PC for my mom. No idea what to look for in a low end card. (I'm assuming all I'd need is a low end card.)

 

[TheExodu5]

How does the HAF look when fully set up and can you turn off the lights? It just looks so tacky and teenager-ish, it's why I always overlook it.

The HAF has a button for the LED. The LED is extremely muted though and is actually quite subtle. Very nice effect.

My CM 690 has no switch for the LED, but it's also pretty subtle, so it hasn't bothered me at all.