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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

Some help here please, my friend wants to move from 2gig of ram to 4gig of ram.

Current parts.

Motherboard
Asus P5B-E Plus socket 775 Motherboard p965

Ram DDR2
OCZ Platinum Revision 2 XTC 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Series (OCZ2P800R22GK)

Would buying two of these http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...-6400-(800)-240-pins-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-5 work?

He don't care if it ends up running in single channel from his current dual channel, he just wants it to run. I think it will, I just wanted to make sure before ordering the parts, so what say you Gaf experts :D
 
So, in the meantime I've been reading a lot on the net about my "problem".
I keep reading conflicting reports tho. :-?
Can the 5850 work in a dual monitor clone setup, using both DVI and HDMI outputs, one for each monitor, AT DIFFERENT resolutions?
I don't want to run an extended desktop, I need clone/mirrored mode so that I don't have to turn my projector on every time I want to listen to some music.
 
Things aren't looking good for purchasing a new PC soon. Unless I recover from surgery* and work hard on schoolwork I won't be able to build a PC until spring or summer. There will be practically no PC games (I'm interested in) to play on my laptop until then. It's already been one painful year not being able to play Borderlands, Batman, Crysis, COD, The Witcher, etc. What new PC hardware, in budget range, can be expected for next year? Will there be price drops for DX11 GPUs/CPUs?

* Fucking lucky me. I finally start to recover in two of my classes and then I get gallstones. It's going to be at least a week until I can go back to classes. I'm going to drop out of calculus and I've failed 1 test and passed 1 test in each of my other two classes. I've now missed 3 weeks of classes including an important test. I haven't played any fucking games and my life feels so messed up. I just want to take a month or two off after this semester and play games and BE HAPPY.
 
I just want to express my gratitude to all those involved in this thread. This thread alone got me interested in PC gaming again (i haven't play a game on PC for 10 years). I'll post some configs later on tonight after work or tomorrow to see whats best for my situation :D
 
Arsenic said:
I just want to express my gratitude to all those involved in this thread. This thread alone got me interested in PC gaming again (i haven't play a game on PC for 10 years). I'll post some configs later on tonight after work or tomorrow to see whats best for my situation :D
Click to expand...


Seriously, it's one of the most helpful threads on GAF. Everyone's full of great advice.

Oh, and all my stuff is now In Transit to my town! Should be here by tomorrow afternoon!
 
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...


hmm...first attempt at OC'ing didn't go so well. Had reset the CMOS.

Back in for round 2
 
MikeE21286 said:
hmm...first attempt at OC'ing didn't go so well. Had reset the CMOS.

Back in for round 2
Click to expand...
The other components in your build play a major role in how easy or successful of an overclock you will have. Just stick with it and keep trying until you're successful. Brute force overclocks aren't the best route for inexperienced users, so just slowly raise your stock settings and keep trying to go up in minor increments.

If your motherboard is extremely poor at overclocking (like many OEM units) you could always try going with a BSEl/pin/pad shortcut:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=58361

http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/341123-intel-bsel-vid-mod-guide.html

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=132900

Those are just three of the first search results, you can find countless others, including video tutorials.
 
Might it be possible to build a decent gaming PC for around $800? Preferably with a 6850 or 460?

I follow this thread and know I can build just a PC for that amount easily, but that's just about all I have to spend and I don't have a monitor, mouse, keyboard, or anything really and I'm having trouble putting something together that's around $800 after adding in all the accessories.
 
Just upgraded some PC components after reading recent posts in this thread and the 6850/70 thread, everything just got a whole lot faster in everyday use. Not really into benchmarking or anything, so I don't have any numbers to see how much it improved.


My base PC is a 6600 quad core overclocked to 3ghz, 4gb RAM, ABit IP35Pro mobo.

I added...

Sapphire 6870 - pretty significant boost over my 4890 in the couple of games I tried (Civ5 & Far Cry 2 got really noticeable boosts. I need to check out Crysis Warhead.)

128gb Kingston SSD - Boot times are amazing, and Win7 defaulted to hibernating after a time period, so I can just leave it on all the time and I have instant on from my keyboard. Nice stuff.

1tB Samsung HDD - this thing craps all over the speed of my old WD 512Gb drive. Moved all my games across to this, and really surprised by how much better this was.

750 Watt Corsair PSU - PC wouldn't boot with all my new components and my old 520W Corsair PSU. This thing has more power cable options as well.

Pretty happy with all the additions, made a really noticeable improvement.
 
dr3upmushroom said:
Might it be possible to build a decent gaming PC for around $800? Preferably with a 6850 or 460?

I follow this thread and know I can build just a PC for that amount easily, but that's just about all I have to spend and I don't have a monitor, mouse, keyboard, or anything really and I'm having trouble putting something together that's around $800 after adding in all the accessories.
Click to expand...


You don't have a TV that you can hook it up to?
It's going to be pretty hard to build a good rig with $800 if you're wanted a new Monitor.
You could use the $540 build, then add in $60-100 for the OS (depending on if you can get a student discount). Then you could maybe get a small monitor and some cheap keyboard and mice.
 
AceBandage said:
You don't have a TV that you can hook it up to?
It's going to be pretty hard to build a good rig with $800 if you're wanted a new Monitor.
You could use the $540 build, then add in $60-100 for the OS (depending on if you can get a student discount). Then you could maybe get a small monitor and some cheap keyboard and mice.
Click to expand...
No, I'm in college and I live in the dorms, I don't even a TV I could use right now. That build looks alright, maybe that's what I'll do. I realize that it's probably unrealistic with my budget, it just sucks not getting a 6850/ 460 when those are the cards being praised for having the best price/performance right now.
 
syoaran said:
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

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.
Click to expand...
Change RAM to 2x2GB
Dunno how the Hybrid drives works well on a desktop. I think anandtech was impressed by it, but it was not a great desktop replacement. If you could get a 60GB SSD + a standard 500GB/1TB drive that'd be better imo. The HDD read would help FRAPS as well.

Change cooler to Hyper 212 Plus.
FlexMentallo said:
Just upgraded some PC components after reading recent posts in this thread and the 6850/70 thread, everything just got a whole lot faster in everyday use. Not really into benchmarking or anything, so I don't have any numbers to see how much it improved.


My base PC is a 6600 quad core overclocked to 3ghz, 4gb RAM, ABit IP35Pro mobo.

I added...

Sapphire 6870 - pretty significant boost over my 4890 in the couple of games I tried (Civ5 & Far Cry 2 got really noticeable boosts. I need to check out Crysis Warhead.)

128gb Kingston SSD - Boot times are amazing, and Win7 defaulted to hibernating after a time period, so I can just leave it on all the time and I have instant on from my keyboard. Nice stuff.

1tB Samsung HDD - this thing craps all over the speed of my old WD 512Gb drive. Moved all my games across to this, and really surprised by how much better this was.

750 Watt Corsair PSU - PC wouldn't boot with all my new components and my old 520W Corsair PSU. This thing has more power cable options as well.

Pretty happy with all the additions, made a really noticeable improvement.
Click to expand...
All good upgrades :)
I'm sure the SSD makes things stupid fast.
Your computer really should work with a 520W Corsair (It's what I have). Did you triple check all your connections and reset the BIOS, do that twice, hard power on/off?
dr3upmushroom said:
No, I'm in college and I live in the dorms, I don't even a TV I could use right now. That build looks alright, maybe that's what I'll do. I realize that it's probably unrealistic with my budget, it just sucks not getting a 6850/ 460 when those are the cards being praised for having the best price/performance right now.
Click to expand...
Price/Performance the 4870 wins over those 2 cards. It's just that those cards have nearly the same, but are faster. A 4870 rig is a SUPER solid card.

You could stretch to a GTX 460 768MB (maybe). Toss in a multi input monitor (Most are unfortunately 22") for around $150, $20 Logitech KB, $30 MX 518, $30 Windows from College. You are set.
 
Hey guys I have a quick question, I Have my desktop far from my router and it needs a wireless connection. Does ANYONE know of a decent wireless card or a wireless USB stick that gets a good connection? It would be much appreciated, thanks!
 
Looking for a 22" (Could go up to 24") monitor for a Christmas gift but I am looking for one with a matte finish. A TN panel would be fine but I'm not going to take IPS panels off the list either. As most seem to have glossy finishes now I am looking to see if anyone in this thread has recently bought a display recently similar to what I'm looking for that has been happy with it. Also I am looking for on-monitor USB connectivity.
 
Question for the overclockers. My setup is a 4870 1gb, corsair 750W, e8500 @ 4ghz.

I got a second 4870 for crossfire, and currently have my cpu back at stock 3.16ghz. Can I get my CPU back to 4ghz or will the power draw be too much for the corsair? If it is, would it just shut down or will there be a risk of damaging anything? I want to overclock again but I want to make sure nothing bad will happen here. Even 3.6 would be OK but I'd prefer 3.8 or 4.

Thanks.

in case it matters, other specs: 2 hdds, 1 optical, 2x2gb ram, good heatsink. antec 900.
 
Askia47 said:
Hey guys I have a quick question, I Have my desktop far from my router and it needs a wireless connection. Does ANYONE know of a decent wireless card or a wireless USB stick that gets a good connection? It would be much appreciated, thanks!
Click to expand...

There's a cheap Asus wireless card which I found great. No need to install any extra drivers or anything. Worked out of the box with Windows 7 64-bit.
 
opticalmace said:
Question for the overclockers. My setup is a 4870 1gb, corsair 750W, e8500 @ 4ghz.

I got a second 4870 for crossfire, and currently have my cpu back at stock 3.16ghz. Can I get my CPU back to 4ghz or will the power draw be too much for the corsair? If it is, would it just shut down or will there be a risk of damaging anything? I want to overclock again but I want to make sure nothing bad will happen here. Even 3.6 would be OK but I'd prefer 3.8 or 4.

Thanks.

in case it matters, other specs: 2 hdds, 1 optical, 2x2gb ram, good heatsink. antec 900.
Click to expand...

You have tons of headroom with that PSU. You won't damage anything by being short on power. You'll get unexpected errors and shutdowns. Crank her right back to 4Ghz you'll be fine.

Askia47 said:
Hey guys I have a quick question, I Have my desktop far from my router and it needs a wireless connection. Does ANYONE know of a decent wireless card or a wireless USB stick that gets a good connection? It would be much appreciated, thanks!
Click to expand...

The only advice I can offer is to stick with a card rather than a USB stick. The USB ones I've tried tend to be inferior to the card adapters I've tried but that could also just be my luck. I think your best bet is to head over to newegg and look at the most popular models and go from there.
 
Another day, another 5GHz Sandy Bridge. Shame about the rumored pricing, though...

System Configuration
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
MB: BIOSTAR TP67XE
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400
VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC
HD: CORSAIR CSSD-F40GB2 Raid 0
POWER: Antec TPQ-1200W
Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition
OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit

Intel LGA1155 i7 2600K w/ Biostar P67 achieve 5GHz Air cooling
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=3773334
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/windwithme/835508
 
Wow, well that was quite the disappointing OC'ing endeavor today. For the life of me I could not get a working OC.

If anyone has any experience with either this motherboard or CPU (or them in combination, preferably) could you tell me how it went and where I may be going wrong?

System Info:
CPU = Q6600 (G0 revision)
MOBO =Gigabyte 965P-DS3 (rev1.3)
Heatsink = Rosewill RCX-Z775-EX 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
RAM = 4 x 1GB PC2-6400 DDR2800 5-5-5-18 latency (....so I should be good here in terms of FSB ratings with these OC attempts I have below)
PSU = Corsair HX520W


Settings:
This is what I was trying: (mind you if I [ENABLED] any type of alteration to the FSB I was unable to boot, when I turned the PC on I would get an endless reboot-cycle and would have to to a hard shut-down holding the power button, unplug the power supply, and then reset the CMOS for the PC to boot again)

Disabled: CPUID, C1E, EIST, Virtualization Technology, No-Execute Memory Protect
Set: PCI-e frequency to 100mhz, System Memory Multiplier to 2.0 (for 1:1 FSB and RAM synchronous mode)

Mulitplier = 9x

300 FSB - Stock voltage (1.275)
300 FSB - Stock voltage (1.275)
300 FSB - Stock voltage (1.275) +0.2v DDR2
300 FSB - Stock voltage (1.275) +0.2v MCH
300 FSB - 1.325v
300 FSB - 1.325v +0.2v DDR2
300 FSB - 1.325v +0.2v MCH
 
·feist· said:
Another day, another 5GHz Sandy Bridge. Shame about the rumored pricing, though...

System Configuration
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
MB: BIOSTAR TP67XE
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400
VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC
HD: CORSAIR CSSD-F40GB2 Raid 0
POWER: Antec TPQ-1200W
Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition
OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit

Intel LGA1155 i7 2600K w/ Biostar P67 achieve 5GHz Air cooling
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=3773334
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/windwithme/835508
Click to expand...
That chip is using double the power and those speeds. Doubt its stable and 1.45V is bound to hammer that poor process.
Sorta hoping for better. If the low end Sandy Bridge unlock isn't so cheap, it might be worth getting an i5 for myself :/
MikeE21286 said:
Wow, well that was quite the disappointing OC'ing endeavor today. For the life of me I could not get a working OC.

If anyone has any experience with either this motherboard or CPU (or them in combination, preferably) could you tell me how it went and where I may be going wrong?

System Info:
CPU = Q6600 (G0 revision)
MOBO =Gigabyte 965P-DS3 (rev1.3)
Heatsink = Rosewill RCX-Z775-EX 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
RAM = 4 x 1GB PC2-6400 DDR2800 5-5-5-18 latency (....so I should be good here in terms of FSB ratings with these OC attempts I have below)
PSU = Corsair HX520W


Settings:
This is what I was trying: (mind you if I [ENABLED] any type of alteration to the FSB I was unable to boot, when I turned the PC on I would get an endless reboot-cycle and would have to to a hard shut-down holding the power button, unplug the power supply, and then reset the CMOS for the PC to boot again)

Disabled: CPUID, C1E, EIST, Virtualization Technology, No-Execute Memory Protect
Set: PCI-e frequency to 100mhz, System Memory Multiplier to 2.0 (for 1:1 FSB and RAM synchronous mode)

Mulitplier = 9x

300 FSB - Stock voltage (1.275)
300 FSB - Stock voltage (1.275)
300 FSB - Stock voltage (1.275) +0.2v DDR2
300 FSB - Stock voltage (1.275) +0.2v MCH
300 FSB - 1.325v
300 FSB - 1.325v +0.2v DDR2
300 FSB - 1.325v +0.2v MCH
Click to expand...
That CPU and mobo setup is super common.

4x1GB puts a bit of strain on your mobo. Keep that MCH +.2V on there.
Most mobos default to 1.8V for RAM. If you RAM is rated at 2.0 to 2.2 I'd but it at +0.3V.

A setting of 1.325V in the BIOS will probably be around 1.28V in Windows. Might want to set that at 1.35V and see where that gets you.

Regarding the not booting problem... it could be a FSB 'hole' have you tried 270MHz or 333Mhz for example?

It really shouldn't be not booting at all. Voltages are probably not the problem. If you can't boot at any other FSB's give the MCH (NB) another kick and see if that helps.
 
·feist· said:
Another day, another 5GHz Sandy Bridge. Shame about the rumored pricing, though...

System Configuration
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
MB: BIOSTAR TP67XE
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400
VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC
HD: CORSAIR CSSD-F40GB2 Raid 0
POWER: Antec TPQ-1200W
Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition
OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit

Intel LGA1155 i7 2600K w/ Biostar P67 achieve 5GHz Air cooling
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=3773334
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/windwithme/835508
Click to expand...

What's the rumored pricing?

@Mike: The Q6600 is Brain Stew's cpu so you should get some good help there.

Edit: quick googling I found a price of over $500, how about no Intel. Wonder what the i5k will cost.
 
Hazaro said:
That CPU and mobo setup is super common.

4x1GB puts a bit of strain on your mobo. Keep that MCH +.2V on there.
Most mobos default to 1.8V for RAM. If you RAM is rated at 2.0 to 2.2 I'd but it at +0.3V.

A setting of 1.325V in the BIOS will probably be around 1.28V in Windows. Might want to set that at 1.35V and see where that gets you.

Regarding the not booting problem... it could be a FSB 'hole' have you tried 270MHz or 333Mhz for example?

It really shouldn't be not booting at all. Voltages are probably not the problem. If you can't boot at any other FSB's give the MCH (NB) another kick and see if that helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the input. I'm gonna try and play around with it some more either tomorrow or Tuesday and see if I can get something working. The funny thing is that I waited to get the G0 revision, specifically because it was able to be OCed much better than the B3, and now it's giving me trouble :lol
 
MikeE21286 said:
Thanks a lot for the input. I'm gonna try and play around with it some more either tomorrow or Tuesday and see if I can get something working. The funny thing is that I waited to get the G0 revision, specifically because it was able to be OCed much better than the B3, and now it's giving me trouble :lol
Click to expand...
Did you see my response to your other OC post? http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24377941&postcount=17461

In addition to what Hazaro mentioned, try these links:

http://www.google.com/search?&hl=de&source=hp&q=GA-965P-DS3+q6600&btnG=Google-Suche
 
Your computer really should work with a 520W Corsair (It's what I have). Did you triple check all your connections and reset the BIOS, do that twice, hard power on/off?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I tried a bunch of different setups over a couple of days, tried using different SATA ports on the mobo, but as soon as I went for >2 out of the 4 SATA devices sucking power it would get really flakey when booting, about half the time it would hang on Verifying DMI Pool. It would also crap out when trying to save BIOS changes. Go back to any 2 SATA devices and it would be fine again.

I thought I had maybe killed the BIOS battery, but I did some internet searches and found a bunch of posts of people saying its a power issue. Sure enough, new PSU, all 4 SATA devices plugged in and it has been working fine from the first bootup.
 
FlexMentallo said:
Yeah, I tried a bunch of different setups over a couple of days, tried using different SATA ports on the mobo, but as soon as I went for >2 out of the 4 SATA devices sucking power it would get really flakey when booting, about half the time it would hang on Verifying DMI Pool. It would also crap out when trying to save BIOS changes. Go back to any 2 SATA devices and it would be fine again.

I thought I had maybe killed the BIOS battery, but I did some internet searches and found a bunch of posts of people saying its a power issue. Sure enough, new PSU, all 4 SATA devices plugged in and it has been working fine from the first bootup.
Click to expand...
Sucks. Probably a PSU issue, but not a wattage one.
Did you RMA with Corsair? They have a 5 year warranty.
 
·feist· said:
Another day, another 5GHz Sandy Bridge. Shame about the rumored pricing, though...

System Configuration
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
MB: BIOSTAR TP67XE
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400
VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC
HD: CORSAIR CSSD-F40GB2 Raid 0
POWER: Antec TPQ-1200W
Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition
OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit

Intel LGA1155 i7 2600K w/ Biostar P67 achieve 5GHz Air cooling
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=3773334
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/windwithme/835508
Click to expand...


$500? I thought the midrange was coming first. 350 - 400 dollars or bust. That kind of makes me glad I didnt wait. Improved IPC or not, thats a lot of money. I was expecting lower. And arent these supposed to be 4 channel for the ram? Id also like to know if they are going to be 1.65v max for the ram again.
 
Quad-channel was never in the plans for 1155. Keep in mind, the standard version of these chips will costs less. Do you guys remember how much the Q6600 cost when it was released?


Jin34 said:
What's the rumored pricing?

@Mike: The Q6600 is Brain Stew's cpu so you should get some good help there.

Edit: quick googling I found a price of over $500, how about no Intel. Wonder what the i5k will cost.
Click to expand...
Hazaro said:
That chip is using double the power and those speeds. Doubt its stable and 1.45V is bound to hammer that poor process.
Sorta hoping for better. If the low end Sandy Bridge unlock isn't so cheap, it might be worth getting an i5 for myself :/
Click to expand...
Well, there's always the 2300K, guys. 4.2GHz on low volts or ~4.6GHz with a bump isn't bad at all. Supposedly faster than a 4.9GHz Gulftown in some areas.

It'll be nice to have final pricing on the entire line, so people can either move on to SB, or just opt for an AM3/1156/1366 build for now.
 
@Mike

Try resetting the BIOS and keep everything on stock settings except raise the FSB to 333 to start. I've yet to see a Q6600 myself that wouldn't overclock to 3Ghz without having to change anything but the FSB. I found the OC hole on my chip was around 3.1Ghz. After getting past that it did require some voltage increases over 3.2. The max voltage on the chip is 1.5. Might be worth starting near the max voltage, getting the overclock you want and once it's stable start reducing voltage as far as you can before it becomes unstable again. I'd have to check but I think i'm running at 1.43V right now.

FlexMentallo said:
Yeah, I tried a bunch of different setups over a couple of days, tried using different SATA ports on the mobo, but as soon as I went for >2 out of the 4 SATA devices sucking power it would get really flakey when booting, about half the time it would hang on Verifying DMI Pool. It would also crap out when trying to save BIOS changes. Go back to any 2 SATA devices and it would be fine again.

I thought I had maybe killed the BIOS battery, but I did some internet searches and found a bunch of posts of people saying its a power issue. Sure enough, new PSU, all 4 SATA devices plugged in and it has been working fine from the first bootup.
Click to expand...

Yeah, your PSU was broken. I have the same PSU, running my Q6600 at 3.4Ghz with an overclocked 4870 and several hard drives without any problems.
 
So... GTX 460 vs AMD 6870, is the latter worth the higher price point? Any other cards I should be looking at?

What price range is the 69xx series expected to be in?
 
StateofMind said:
A little off-topic, but do most games lend themselves easily to controller (as in a game pad) input?
Click to expand...
It can vary a bit from game to game, but most console ports tend to work almost effortlessly with a Xbox 360 controller. That's been my experience.
 
Upgrade age.

I'm doing a small upgrade to my desktop. I want to convert it into a rack-mount server to assist me in studying for my IT certifications (M$, VMware and Cisco).

Currently my desktop has:

CM 690 (OG model)
Intel Q6600
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro (v 1)
750GB Seagate HD
ATI 4890
Xifi Sound Card (I think it was one of the original Fatalities)
6GB DDR2
PC Power And Cooling 750GB Power Supply

What I'm looking at is swapping the video card, power supply and case for

iStarUSA D-300-PFS Black Steel 3U Rackmount Server Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811165083

EVGA 01G-P3-1430-LR GeForce GT 430
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130579

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022


What I wanted to know is does anyone think the current cooler will fit in the case and if the GT430 is a decent card (not for gaming, I just want to display and push a signal to the monitor and not have a lot of noise and run hot).
 
I'm thinking about putting together a ridiculously powerful HTPC with the Antec Remote Max case, which can fit even the biggest graphics card.

I've been out of the loop for a little bit, but how are the AMD processors nowadays? Doubt they're as good as the Cores, but how about bang for buck?
 
TouchMyBox said:
I'd keep the CPU and throw away everything else?

If you're spending $900 on a computer, you can have someone build you a custom-built machine that's much much better than that.
Click to expand...

When I'm trying to have someone buy it as a gift though, I'd rather have it pre-packaged. I don't really game, just want a fast computer, that will handle pretty much everything, and if I want to game, civilization 5, and starcraft 2 would probably be the best games I would be playing.
 
caliblue15 said:
When I'm trying to have someone buy it as a gift though, I'd rather have it pre-packaged. I don't really game, just want a fast computer, that will handle pretty much everything, and if I want to game, civilization 5, and starcraft 2 would probably be the best games I would be playing.
Click to expand...

If you're getting something pre-built for SC2, make sure it at least has an i5 750/760 and a 5770. Don't go AMD for SC2, unless you're overclocking.

This is really the only acceptable configuration on the HP site:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/rts_desktop/rts_desktop/1/storefronts/BM428AA%23ABA

And that's pretty bad value.

Something like this is way better:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...227282&cm_re=ibuypower-_-83-227-282-_-Product
 
Just finished building, installing Windws 7 (64) and updating drivers!
Loving this machine so far, very fast.
Just gonna download a few games to test her out.
Thanks again to everyone that helped out!

Now I just need to get in and up clock my RAM and GPU.
 
TheExodu5 said:
If you're getting something pre-built for SC2, make sure it at least has an i5 750/760 and a 5770. Don't go AMD for SC2, unless you're overclocking.

This is really the only acceptable configuration on the HP site:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/rts_desktop/rts_desktop/1/storefronts/BM428AA%23ABA

And that's pretty bad value.

Something like this is way better:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...227282&cm_re=ibuypower-_-83-227-282-_-Product
Click to expand...

Awesome, didn't know Newegg had prebuilt machines. Why is AMD so bad for SC2, especially a 6 core AMD, which I can switch to newer motherboards a couple of years from now. I know I at least want an i7 or the Phenom x6, and I'm leaning towards the Phenom because it is much much cheaper for a 6 core CPU.

Think this is a decent deal for prebuilt? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227294
 
Thanks for all the replies on the OC

I was able to get a stable OC (yay!).

Settings
Voltage: 1.4v
FSB: 311mhz (x9 = 2.8ghz)
MCB: +.3v
RAM +.2v

Ran Prime95 and had no errors

SpeedFan temps idle at about 45-47C

I'm hoping I can lower the voltage (or at least get a higher FSB frequency at 1.4v) so I'm going to mess around with it. Maybe even lower the MCB also.....test and learn
 
caliblue15 said:
Why is AMD so bad for SC2, especially a 6 core AMD, which I can switch to newer motherboards a couple of years from now.
Click to expand...
I'm curious as to why an AMD would be bad for SC2 as well. And while on the subject, is there a SC2 benchmarker or something so that I could see how it would perform on my AMD machine? I was considering a purchase during a "hopeful Blizzard holiday sale".

Edit: Ok, what I'm needing is an SC2 "guest pass" (what would I do without Google). Have to hit up a buddy of mine tomorrow that has the game to see if he's given his away yet. I'm suddenly very interested to see how it would run on my PC...
 
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku! said:
I'm looking to upgrade my processor and graphics card for 300 or under total. What is the best possible combination (AMD motherboard)?
Click to expand...
x4 640 + 6850 for gaming value.
Spiderjericho said:
Upgrade age.

What I wanted to know is does anyone think the current cooler will fit in the case and if the GT430 is a decent card (not for gaming, I just want to display and push a signal to the monitor and not have a lot of noise and run hot).
Click to expand...
Don't think that cooler will fit. Servers are meant to be small and reliable. You can measure yourself.

I'd also get a different PSU. Maybe a Sparkle or a 450W Corsair (400W is not built as good, but still good).
Chiggs said:
I'm thinking about putting together a ridiculously powerful HTPC with the Antec Remote Max case, which can fit even the biggest graphics card.

I've been out of the loop for a little bit, but how are the AMD processors nowadays? Doubt they're as good as the Cores, but how about bang for buck?
Click to expand...
If you are buying I'd look at the x4 640. Maybe x4 955/965.
3Ghz quad for $99 is a steal.
caliblue15 said:
Awesome, didn't know Newegg had prebuilt machines. Why is AMD so bad for SC2, especially a 6 core AMD, which I can switch to newer motherboards a couple of years from now. I know I at least want an i7 or the Phenom x6, and I'm leaning towards the Phenom because it is much much cheaper for a 6 core CPU.

Think this is a decent deal for prebuilt? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227294
Click to expand...
AMD is slower. SC II is heavily reliant on single core speed.
New sockets for both Intel and AMD coming early next year.
MikeE21286 said:
Thanks for all the replies on the OC

I was able to get a stable OC (yay!).

Settings
Voltage: 1.4v
FSB: 311mhz (x9 = 2.8ghz)
MCB: +.3v
RAM +.2v

Ran Prime95 and had no errors

SpeedFan temps idle at about 45-47C

I'm hoping I can lower the voltage (or at least get a higher FSB frequency at 1.4v) so I'm going to mess around with it. Maybe even lower the MCB also.....test and learn
Click to expand...
What are your load temps?
Did you find out what the issue was with your OC?
 
Hazaro said:
Don't think that cooler will fit. Servers are meant to be small and reliable. You can measure yourself.

I'd also get a different PSU. Maybe a Sparkle or a 450W Corsair (400W is not built as good, but still good).
Click to expand...

What cooler do you think would fit in there? Or is it just best to use the standard cooler?

And I'll take a look at the power supply.

Thanks.
 
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