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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

Felix Lighter said:
Ok, ok. You guys win. I actually manage money very well except when it comes to this wacky hobby. $190 seemed like a reasonable price for the boost. I guess when you take into account the headaches of a dual card setup and the few games that would actually take advantage of the extra power, it just doesn't make sense.

Thanks for knocking some sense into me, guys.
Click to expand...


Smart Move. While it was nice to have xfire (dual 5770's) in my rig the heat issues were insane. The cards scaled very well around 90% in quite a few games but, I ended up having to firmware downclock both my cards to make it work and it still made for a fairly noisy and hot gaming rig. I'm much happier with my new single card GTX460 than I ever would have been with an Xfire or SLI setup.
 
I NEED SCISSORS said:
Just stepping in to say that my MX 518 mouse came today and it is so awesome! It improves my PC gaming tenfold - beautifully smooth aiming, perfect ergonomics, extra buttons for COD knifing, and incredible DPI which now makes BioShock 2 playable. Just awesome. Best 'controller' I have ever bought.
Click to expand...

Grats. MX518 is an amazing mouse, and built like a rock.

May I also suggest getting a nice mousepad for your controller?

I personally have been using a fUncpad for the past 7 years. Far better than all the Razer and Steelseries pads I've tried.

http://func-pads.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1
http://func-pads.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=3
 
I NEED SCISSORS said:
Just stepping in to say that my MX 518 mouse came today and it is so awesome! It improves my PC gaming tenfold - beautifully smooth aiming, perfect ergonomics, extra buttons for COD knifing, and incredible DPI which now makes BioShock 2 playable. Just awesome. Best 'controller' I have ever bought.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the family.
 
Guys I have some questions:

1) I think my mobo only has 5 inputs for Fans - does that mean I cant add additional fans, or is it possible to buy some sort of splitter that allows me to use more fans?

2) I've been told to not install any drivers from a CD or questionable programs - without any exception - mobo, gpu, cpu... I download all drivers from their respective websites to avoid incompability?

3) what gives more airflow - a 120mm(1000 rpm) fan or a 140 mm(600 rpm) fan?

4) do you plug a SSD into a Sata port too? so I would wanna put my SSD in one of the sata slots with 6 GB Bandwith instead of those with just 3 GB bandwith speed, for faster performance, or does SSD not care about that?

5)Does it sound good for you guys if airflow works like this: top fan and front fan intake, with side panel exhaust and rear exhaust - Will this give positive airflow?
 
Vigilant Walrus said:
Guys I have some questions:

1) I think my mobo only has 5 inputs for Fans - does that mean I cant add additional fans, or is it possible to buy some sort of splitter that allows me to use more fans?

2) I've been told to not install any drivers from a CD or questionable programs - without any exception - mobo, gpu, cpu... I download all drivers from their respective websites to avoid incompability?

3) what gives more airflow - a 120mm(1000 rpm) fan or a 140 mm(600 rpm) fan?

4) do you plug a SSD into a Sata port too? so I would wanna put my SSD in one of the sata slots with 6 GB Bandwith instead of those with just 3 GB bandwith speed, for faster performance, or does SSD not care about that?

5)Does it sound good for you guys if airflow works like this: top fan and front fan intake, with side panel exhaust and rear exhaust - Will this give positive airflow?
Click to expand...

1) You can hook up other fans directly to the PSU through molex connectors/adapters. I have mine on little fan controllers so I can set the speed.

2) I guess

3) Probably the 120mm at that speed. The 140mm would push more air at similar speeds though, obviously.

4) Give it the 6GBps port. Some of the newer SSD drives, like the Crucial C300, actually require the 6GBps port to get full speed.

5) Intake: front + side. Exhaust: top + rear. This will bring in air over your HDDs and videocard, and push it over your CPU on the way to the exhaust.
 
sestrugen said:
any headset recommendations? There are a lot of options but not sure what to buy
Click to expand...

Do you really need the headset - like to speak? Otherwise I would get a good pair of headphones that sounds nice. Don't buy into all the 5.1 gaming surround sound gmmicks. maybe one or two delivers, but... I've had quite a few now, and it's just not worth it. I think it's better to just get a good pair of headphones, and use the quality tuned music, for games/movies as well. I think it works better than some gaming headset sounding mediocre for games and atrocious for anything else.

check the headphones thread in off topic too!
 
TheExodu5 said:
1) You can hook up other fans directly to the PSU through molex connectors/adapters. I have mine on little fan controllers so I can set the speed.

2) I guess

3) Probably the 120mm at that speed. The 140mm would push more air at similar speeds though, obviously.

4) Give it the 6GBps port. Some of the newer SSD drives, like the Crucial C300, actually require the 6GBps port to get full speed.

5) Intake: front + side. Exhaust: top + rear. This will bring in air over your HDDs and videocard, and push it over your CPU on the way to the exhaust.
Click to expand...

Ok! Thanks mate:=)
 
I am pondering a switch to quad-core from my current C2D. Looking at the X4 955 or the i5 760.

Thing is, they are very end of line. Is there anything known about the release of the new consumer processors? Will it be worth to wait. I can live with the C2D for a bit longer, but if new CPU's are scheduled for release later next year, I'd rather not wait.
 
I recently upgraded some parts on my pc and am now running an x4 955, 4gb of 1333 ddr3 and a radeon hd4650 1gb. I was quite surprised to see the new medal of honor game's system evaluator suggest 800x600 with all settings at the lowest for me. Sure enough, when I crank the setting up to nearer what I was hoping for (1440x900, medium) it runs like a scabby dog.

Does this kind of performance seem about right to you folks in the know?
 
Dina said:
I am pondering a switch to quad-core from my current C2D. Looking at the X4 955 or the i5 760.

Thing is, they are very end of line. Is there anything known about the release of the new consumer processors? Will it be worth to wait. I can live with the C2D for a bit longer, but if new CPU's are scheduled for release later next year, I'd rather not wait.
Click to expand...

That is up to you, there's always going to be something new along the way. Sandy bridge for Intel and Bulldozer for AMD. Sandy bridge should "replace" the i5 segment, not sure what Bulldozer is aimed at (mid or high end). Both should release in a couple of months.

i5 760 and the phenom 955 are both quality CPUs though, it's definitely an upgrade from a dualcore core2d.


moojito said:
I recently upgraded some parts on my pc and am now running an x4 955, 4gb of 1333 ddr3 and a radeon hd4650 1gb. I was quite surprised to see the new medal of honor game's system evaluator suggest 800x600 with all settings at the lowest for me. Sure enough, when I crank the setting up to nearer what I was hoping for (1440x900, medium) it runs like a scabby dog.

Does this kind of performance seem about right to you folks in the know?
Click to expand...

That GPU is your problem, hate to break it to you but that sounds about right for a 4650.

CPU and RAM are fine.
 
Quick and dirty question:

I have a pretty old computer at this point.
C2D 2.2Ghz dual core
4GB of RAM
Geforce 8800GT 512MB
24" 1080p monitor

If I upgrade the video card to something like a Radeon 6850 (or whatever the best card is in the $150-$200 price range) will I see significant improvements or is my processor just to damn slow at this point? For example, can I ever expect to see BFBC2 or Fallout: NV with max settings 1080p at 30+ FPS? Civilization V is kind of laggy even if I don't turn the settings high.

Upgrading my processor isn't an option at this point. I've explored overclocking and can get my processor to almost 3Ghz but my cooling is a little wonky. I may try to get that working again if you guys think a new video card will work alright in my PC. On the same token, I'm buying a new laptop soon, if you guys think $200 toward a more gaming oriented laptop will be better let me know.
 
moojito said:
I recently upgraded some parts on my pc and am now running an x4 955, 4gb of 1333 ddr3 and a radeon hd4650 1gb. I was quite surprised to see the new medal of honor game's system evaluator suggest 800x600 with all settings at the lowest for me. Sure enough, when I crank the setting up to nearer what I was hoping for (1440x900, medium) it runs like a scabby dog.

Does this kind of performance seem about right to you folks in the know?
Click to expand...
That card uses 64-bit DDR2 memory. It is severely gimped. The 4670 (which uses DDR3) performs almost twice as fast and is only ~$20 more expensive.
 
Vigilant Walrus said:
Do you really need the headset - like to speak? Otherwise I would get a good pair of headphones that sounds nice. Don't buy into all the 5.1 gaming surround sound gmmicks. maybe one or two delivers, but... I've had quite a few now, and it's just not worth it. I think it's better to just get a good pair of headphones, and use the quality tuned music, for games/movies as well. I think it works better than some gaming headset sounding mediocre for games and atrocious for anything else.

check the headphones thread in off topic too!
Click to expand...

well I was considering going headphone + microphone but I am not sure how far the quality of my voice will get distorted. I am getting back into some online gaming so I figured voice communications were to be expected.
 
sestrugen said:
well I was considering going headphone + microphone but I am not sure how far the quality of my voice will get distorted. I am getting back into some online gaming so I figured voice communications were to be expected.
Click to expand...
Going with what Vigalent Walrus said it's definitely a better idea to get a headphone + mic instead of a headset if you care about audio quality. You can get some nice cans on an all-in-one but you're more than likely going to be stuck with a subpar built in microphone or vice-versa... that or spend an exhorbanent amount of money you don't otherwise need to.

Too be honest, the best mic I've ever had for gaming and still have is a $20 Logitech desk top microphone. It's pics up sound better and clearer than any headset I've used and better than the clip on mics I've used (which is what people recommended when I bought my nice expensive headphones) I use it for Skype to and everyone comments on how clear I come through. Drawback is obviously the size, having to use an extra USB port, and the fact that it picks up the whole room's sound. If you sit at a desk though and don't game in a super noisy environment you're better than golden. Plus you can pair it with any of the best headphones on the market.
 
Houston3000 said:
Quick and dirty question:

I have a pretty old computer at this point.
C2D 2.2Ghz dual core
4GB of RAM
Geforce 8800GT 512MB
24" 1080p monitor

If I upgrade the video card to something like a Radeon 6850 (or whatever the best card is in the $150-$200 price range) will I see significant improvements or is my processor just to damn slow at this point? For example, can I ever expect to see BFBC2 or Fallout: NV with max settings 1080p at 30+ FPS? Civilization V is kind of laggy even if I don't turn the settings high.

Upgrading my processor isn't an option at this point. I've explored overclocking and can get my processor to almost 3Ghz but my cooling is a little wonky. I may try to get that working again if you guys think a new video card will work alright in my PC. On the same token, I'm buying a new laptop soon, if you guys think $200 toward a more gaming oriented laptop will be better let me know.
Click to expand...

I find it's better to run Civ5 on DX9. Runs less like dog turd and seems less buggy too, might help you as well.

Yeah, your CPU is going to be holding you back. Overclocking would definitely help a lot but your system is around that "time to upgrade" age. Another option would be to find a used C2Q like the Q6600 or Q9550 and overclock that. As far as the laptop goes you're at the point where it would be better to either commit to leaving the desktop behind and going straight laptop, or going with a cheapo laptop and keeping your desktop your main gaming rig. I always suggest the latter. Recently I've seen a decent i3 MSI laptop on sale at Walmart for as low as 400$. If you can find a smiliar sale you don't need to spend anymore on a laptop that is just for day to day computing.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Grats. MX518 is an amazing mouse, and built like a rock.

May I also suggest getting a nice mousepad for your controller?

I personally have been using a fUncpad for the past 7 years. Far better than all the Razer and Steelseries pads I've tried.

http://func-pads.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1
http://func-pads.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=3
Click to expand...

Yes, I might look into a better mat. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm on a fairly cheap 'grainy plastic' style mouse mat now, so i'm going to consider switching to some sort of fabric.


To the above: the MX 518 is cheapest on Play.com.
 
Prost said:
What do you guys think of the premade builds on Newegg?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...37&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20


I was looking at: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227283 in particular
Click to expand...


That PC has a HD5670 in it, which.. is crap. Aside that you don't what HDD is in this thing (it's 1TB, that's all), same goes for the PSU (700W, but nothing else - there are TONS of horrible PSUs on the market), the mainboard (770 chipset, that's all). And these guys actually don't seem to know what kind of mainboard they are using because the front eSATA port is "based on motherboard availability" :lol

Short: forget about that PC, you can do better for $750.
 
Has anyone got a link to a good guide to overclocking? Preferably one designed for idiots like me.

I have an i7 950 and want to get it to at least 3.8Ghz or 4Ghz.
 
Frankfurter said:
That PC has a HD5670 in it, which.. is crap. Aside that you don't what HDD is in this thing (it's 1TB, that's all), same goes for the PSU (700W, but nothing else - there are TONS of horrible PSUs on the market), the mainboard (770 chipset, that's all). And these guys actually don't seem to know what kind of mainboard they are using because the front eSATA port is "based on motherboard availability" :lol

Short: forget about that PC, you can do better for $750.
Click to expand...

Hmm, yeah, I figured that the parts would probably be sub-par.

I'm now looking at something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.549053

I want to re-use my own case, psu and dvd though.

Do you think a 500 watt psu would be enough to support AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor and GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB video card? Maybe it's not such a good idea to skimp on the PSU.
 
I NEED SCISSORS said:
Yes, I might look into a better mat. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm on a fairly cheap 'grainy plastic' style mouse mat now, so i'm going to consider switching to some sort of fabric.
Click to expand...

The pads I quoted are plastic, which I personally prefer since teflon feet just glide smoother on it. If you want fabric, I think you can check out Steelseries and Razer, as they both make fabric pads.
 
Ive got an AMD AM3 motherboard and i am looking to replace my x3 435. Just not happy with the performance in CPU intensive activities/games. Seems like the main choices are the x4 965 or and x6. Im not really in a hurry so should I wait for a price drop,if ones relatively soon (looking to purchase november-december if I shouldnt hold off), or is there any new tech coming out I should hold off for?

Im a bit less partial to the x6 as the price range ($250 CAD) is a bit high for my taste.
 
Woot. Got my ram today and now I'm all beefed up.

AMD 955 Black Edition at 3.9 ghz running at 31 C idle
8 Gb DDR3 RAM
Geforce GTX 460 1 Gb OC'd to 915 core clock / 1830 shader clock / 2000 memory clock running at 28 C idle
64 Gb SSD for my primary drive with a 1 Tb SATA3 internal for storage.

I think I'm set for a while.
 
Smo21 said:
1)Basic Desktop Questions
Budget: $1500-$1600 + Canada
Main Use: Gaming, Programming, Video editing
Monitor Resolution: Prolly 1920 x 1080. Im planning on getting a new monitor also so this could change
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Civ V, most new games coming out within the next couple years really.

I'm in my first year learning computer programing right now and am in need of a new pc. I am mostly going to use it for programming and gaming but I will sometimes do some video editing as well. I dont know to much about building a comp so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Hazaro said:
Need it now or can you wait a few months? Do you know if any programs you use will take advantage of Hyper Threading?
Click to expand...
Smo21 said:
I think i can wait a lil bit longer. I believe Protool and a couple editing programs in use support it. Could be wrong tho. I quite new to programming.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Not trying to be a bitch or anything but when should I wait till?
 
I'm about to press the purchase button on this setup:

2drtc01.jpg


Any final comments or advice would be very appreciated :D
 
Smo21 said:
Not trying to be a bitch or anything but when should I wait till?
Click to expand...
March-ish? :lol
Prost said:
I'm about to press the purchase button on this setup:

http://i55.tinypic.com/2drtc01.jpg

Any final comments or advice would be very appreciated :D
Click to expand...
Swap the PSU to something else. The Corsair 550W has a nice rebate on it right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

Other than that looks real nice. Did you look at either a HAF912 or Antec 300 as an alternate case?
 
what's the word on new/upcoming CPUs?

Is something new and vastly upgraded from the current stuff coming out in the near future? I'm looking to upgrade from my Q6600 that's about 3 years old now and want to jump in at the right time.
 
DeathNote said:
Looking for a 75 foot Ethernet cable on amazon.com for prime.

What's the difference between cat5e and 6?

5e: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X5PKO0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

6: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V1O1JE/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Click to expand...
Cat5e runs at 100MHz and is capable of 1000Base-T "Gigabit" ethernet.
Cat6 runs at 250MHz and is capable of 10GBase-T "10 Gigabit" ethernet. Cat6 IS BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE with cat5e, using the same 8P8C (8 position, 8 connector) "RJ-45" terminal. It also is less subject to signal attenuation and NEXT (near end cross talk). You shouldn't have to worry about those at a length of 75 feet, but the closer you get to the maximum theoretical length of 100m/330ft, this is an advantage over cat5e.

For the few extra dollars, it MIGHT be worth it to "future proof" your cable run. If/when you upgrade equipment such as routers/access points/network interface cards to devices that are cat6, you'll already have the cable in place to take advantage of the speeds (assuming devices will).
 
Prost said:
I like the other cases you mentioned, but I'm really trying to keep the budget tight! Might swap for that PSU though, thanks for the response!
Click to expand...
PSU swap is mandatory :p
The TT isn't a great PSU.
The OCZ is another option. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

Better case for $10 more I'd say is way way worth it as well.
MikeE21286 said:
what's the word on new/upcoming CPUs?

Is something new and vastly upgraded from the current stuff coming out in the near future? I'm looking to upgrade from my Q6600 that's about 3 years old now and want to jump in at the right time.
Click to expand...
Can you overclock or pad mod your Q6600? A solid quad should be lasting you fine.
Smo21 said:
Oh lordy... I guess I was in a bit of a rush cuz I have the money now. What exactly am i waiting for tho? Lower prices or new stuff?
Click to expand...
Should be new stuff to replace the i5 line. Slightly better in about everyway. New socket.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3871/the-sandy-bridge-preview-three-wins-in-a-row

And then of course we have AMD's AM3+ offerings, but things have been hush hush with them.
 
Hazaro said:
.

Can you overclock or pad mod your Q6600? A solid quad should be lasting you fine.

Should be new stuff to replace the i5 line. Slightly better in about everyway. New socket.
Click to expand...

See I've never done this before, so I have no idea if I can or can't. I'm mostly worried about stability and heat issues with overclocking it. I only have a stock heatsink on it.
 
MikeE21286 said:
See I've never done this before, so I have no idea if I can or can't. I'm mostly worried about stability and heat issues with overclocking it. I only have a stock heatsink on it.
Click to expand...
If your motherboard can overclock it is common to reach 3.0Ghz on stock voltage (voltage being the main thing that contributes to degradation and heat).
I suggest you look into that :)

To your main question, nothing is far and beyond a solid quad core. Which is kind of sad really.
 
Hazaro said:
If your motherboard can overclock it is common to reach 3.0Ghz on stock voltage (voltage being the main thing that contributes to degradation and heat).
I suggest you look into that :)

To your main question, nothing is far and beyond a solid quad core. Which is kind of sad really.
Click to expand...

great. thanks
 
Mr Nightman said:
http://ii.alatest.com/product/600x400/3/5/Corsair-CMPSU-550VX-550-Watt-VX-Series-80-Plus-Certified-Power-Supply-compatible-0.jpg

Would you think this psu would be good enough for a phenom 2 x4 945 (95watt), and a gtx 460? Also have a couple case fans, and a couple hdd's, with one dvd drive.
Click to expand...


Yeah should power that no problem.
 
Mr Nightman said:
Corsair-CMPSU-550VX-550-Watt-VX-Series-80-Plus-Certified-Power-Supply-compatible-0.jpg


Would you think this psu would be good enough for a phenom 2 x4 945 (95watt), and a gtx 460? Also have a couple case fans, and a couple hdd's, with one dvd drive.
Click to expand...
Absolutely.
You have a decent amount of headroom as well.
 
Tech related question:
I have my HD5850 connected via hdmi to a video projector.
Now, when I listen to music, or do some things I don't wanna to switch on the whole cinema room and my case VDF display isn'it enough for some apps.
If I use the DVI out to connect it to an external monitor in MIRROR mode (no eyefinity stuff or extended desktop), am I going to suffer an impact on performances when I play games? Would I be forced to always switch to a CCC profile so that I only have 1 video output to get the same performances I'm getting now?

Thanks!
 
So thanks to some feedback here and some research - I've come to this PC build and hoping to get some final feedback before I order next week.

Objective is to get a rig that can run high end gaming well, but also record well using fraps and give me decent speeds when using applications like Adobe's creative suite. Budget is £680

Sapphire ati 6870
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-252-SP
Core i5 760 (will OC to 3.4)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-339-IN
Asus P7P55D-E mobo
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-389-AS
Kingston 6GB PC12800 RAM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-091-KS
Seegate Momentus XT 500gb
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-233-SE
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme CPU Cooler
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-041-ZA

I already own a corsair 600w power supply and an antec p182 case. Got an Astro external amp/headset at the moment as my sound solution, but will probably invest in an asus soundcard in the future.

Feedback would be greatly appreciated.
 
i think you'll need to change your ram to something that's supported by your board. get dual channel instead of triple channel.
 
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