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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

caliblue15 said:
i hopefully won't be using an LED light.. :lol

The tool-less sounds cool, but I've taken apart computers before so it isn't that big of a hassle. what's the deal with no perpendicular drive bays, that sounds like a given.
Click to expand...

The non perpendicular orientation offers better airflow, supposedly. Antec doesn't like to do perpendicular drive bays. Personally, I can't live without em. Regular drive bays are just a bit of a pain, especially since the cables stick out to the video card, and fitting both HDDs with large video cards can be a pain in the ass.

The 902 LEDs are stuck on, and are somewhat bright, just as a warning. Still a great looking case though.

As for the tool-less design, it's nice, but I usually end up using screws for the hell of it. Really, I just appreciate having HDD brackets, which make installation a lot easier. Hooking up the cables to the HDDs from the back of the case is really easy as well.

Also, buy some zip ties:

ZipTies.jpeg


These cases have little notches in the back of the motherboard tray, which are used to tie down cables. Makes cable management super duper easy.
 
TheExodu5 said:
The non perpendicular orientation offers better airflow, supposedly. Antec doesn't like to do perpendicular drive bays. Personally, I can't live without em. Regular drive bays are just a bit of a pain, especially since the cables stick out to the video card, and fitting both HDDs with large video cards can be a pain in the ass.

The 902 LEDs are stuck on, and are somewhat bright, just as a warning. Still a great looking case though.

As for the tool-less design, it's nice, but I usually end up using screws for the hell of it. Really, I just appreciate having HDD brackets, which make installation a lot easier. Hooking up the cables to the HDDs from the back of the case is really easy as well.
Click to expand...

Anyway to disable them? :lol
 
caliblue15 said:
Anyway to disable them? :lol
Click to expand...

Maybe cut some wires? =\

edit: looks like the top LED has a switch. Only the front LEDs must remain on. That's not a huge deal if the case is on the ground. Main issue is if you have it where you sleep...might light up the room a bit.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Maybe cut some wires? =\

edit: looks like the top LED has a switch. Only the front LEDs must remain on. That's not a huge deal if the case is on the ground. Main issue is if you have it where you sleep...might light up the room a bit.
Click to expand...

Do you suggest hooking everything up, then cabling, or cabling before hooking everything up.

Edit: and the 300 looks like a cluster F*&^
 
caliblue15 said:
Do you suggest hooking everything up, then cabling, or cabling before hooking everything up.
Click to expand...

Hook everything up, then cable.

Just stick the PSU in after you've done everything else. Take the PSU cables, and pass them through the little hole near the bottom, and start hooking things up. Then just tie everything down with zip ties and voila. (that's the tricky part with the 902, since fitting the cables in the back is a little tougher)
 
So, what would be a cheap $25-$50 cooling system to use for my AMD Phenom II X4 925? I know people were talking about some $25 fan on Amazon they said was a good deal, but I am going to assume thats likely not on sale now.

Oh, also, whats size screwdrivers are commonly used to install this stuff, I don't really have a propper tool set and don't want to strip anything by mistake.
Click to expand...
Anyone?

Here is what I went with in the end as a reminder (Also, looks like I saved $120 from their normal prices, $20 more in shipping, plus I get some rebates)

2ro6r12.png


Also, do you know off hand how to kill the LED in that case? It will be about 8 feet away from my bed, I don't need it keeing me up :lol
 
Drkirby said:
Anyone?

Here is what I went with in the end as a reminder (Also, looks like I saved $120 from their normal prices, $20 more in shipping, plus I get some rebates)

2ro6r12.png


Also, do you know off hand how to kill the LED in that case? It will be about 8 feet away from my bed, I don't need it keeing me up :lol
Click to expand...

What happened to all the good deals from last Thursday? :( (motherboard + cpu combo for like $150, Elite 430 for $25, OCZ PSU for $30)

As for the cooling system, get the Cooler Master Hyper 212+.

Le-mo said:
Anybody?
Click to expand...

I'd help if I could. :(

Not sure what's up. What do you mean by "it froze"?
 
TheExodu5 said:
What happened to all the good deals from last Thursday? :(
Click to expand...
Oh, I got them still. My total came to $390 + Free Shipping (And has $55 in rebates). That is what it costs now when I readded it to my cart to take anther picture (Since I never had one with the swaped out case and PSU)
 
Drkirby said:
Oh, I got them still. My total came to $390 + Free Shipping (And has $55 in rebates). That is what it costs now when I readded it to my cart to take anther picture (Since I never had one with the swaped out case and PSU)
Click to expand...

Ah gotcha. Added the cooler to my post above.
 
TheExodu5 said:
I'd help if I could. :(

Not sure what's up. What do you mean by "it froze"?
Click to expand...
I inserted the OS into the drive and when it got to "starting windows" it froze. It also isn't detecting my sata harddrive.
 
Le-mo said:
I inserted the OS into the drive and when it got to "starting windows" it froze. It also isn't detecting my sata harddrive.
Click to expand...

You check your BIOS to see if the HDD is listed there at all? Everything hooked up (sata power to the drive)? As for the freezing, is there a chance your CPU is overheating? Check your CPU temps in the BIOS, and see if they're climbing. I've seen a defective stock cooler fail to work properly and cause overheating on a clean build.

I wish I had a better idea than that. Never had something like that happen to me.
 
My case makes that case look tidy. Still, I got it because it was cheap and it has good airflow. I like to window shop nice cases but at the end of the day I know i'm only going to be inside my case rarely and spending the extra money for the better experience isn't really worth it for me.

Le-mo said:
I inserted the OS into the drive and when it got to "starting windows" it froze. It also isn't detecting my sata harddrive.
Click to expand...

My favorite trouble shooting tactic is to take whatever I think is broken, plug it into another machine and see if it's still gonked. Look in your BIOS for something called S.M.A.R.T. and enable it if it's there. Not always, but a lot of times if there is something wrong with your HDD it will come up with an error during boot.
 
TheExodu5 said:
You check your BIOS to see if the HDD is listed there at all? Everything hooked up (sata power to the drive)? As for the freezing, is there a chance your CPU is overheating? Check your CPU temps in the BIOS, and see if they're climbing. I've seen a defective stock cooler fail to work properly and cause overheating on a clean build.

I wish I had a better idea than that. Never had something like that happen to me.
Click to expand...

With my power supply, am I able to run 460's in SLI? (says SLI ready)
 
TheExodu5 said:
You check your BIOS to see if the HDD is listed there at all? Everything hooked up (sata power to the drive)? As for the freezing, is there a chance your CPU is overheating? Check your CPU temps in the BIOS, and see if they're climbing. I've seen a defective stock cooler fail to work properly and cause overheating on a clean build.

I wish I had a better idea than that. Never had something like that happen to me.
Click to expand...
It detected my SATA dvd drive, but not the harddrive. It seems like I could only enter the BIOS with the OS cd in the drive, but now since it freezes in the start up menu I can't even enter the BIOS. Without the OS cd my monitor just flickers.
 
Jin34 said:
Whoa were did you read this?
Click to expand...
Just did a search on the sata3 controller used on my gigabyte p55a-ud4p and trim since I was thinking of bothering to turn it on in the bios and move my drives over to it. I don't have a specific link right now (on my cell phone). It's apparently a pretty commonly used controller, and people were saying testing indicated it didn't properly support trim.
 
Shambles said:
My favorite trouble shooting tactic is to take whatever I think is broken, plug it into another machine and see if it's still gonked. Look in your BIOS for something called S.M.A.R.T. and enable it if it's there. Not always, but a lot of times if there is something wrong with your HDD it will come up with an error during boot.
Click to expand...
I got an error message that said something like "transport failed to sync during boot up
 
Le-mo said:
It detected my SATA dvd drive, but not the harddrive. It seems like I could only enter the BIOS with the OS cd in the drive, but now since it freezes in the start up menu I can't even enter the BIOS. Without the OS cd my monitor just flickers.
Click to expand...

Triple check to make sure everything is plugged in properly. If it still is acting weird start disconnecting pieces until it behaves properly. Use one stick of ram, then try the other stick as a single. Disconnect the optical drive etc... If it's freezing in the BIOS it's not your HDD. Better yet take a pictures of the inside of your case and post it here so we know that everything is plugged in like it should be.

Le-mo said:
I got an error message that said something like "transport failed to sync during boot up
Click to expand...

Was that you trying to plug the HDD into a 2nd machine? You won't be able to boot off of it properly when you throw it in with different hardware but you should be able to read it as a secondary drive fine. Paste the exact error into google and see what the interwebs have to say about it.
 
So what should i do with this. I have 2 Gigs in my system with 4 more gigs in the mail right now. my current stick is 1333, My new sticks are 1600.

Im on a AM3 motherboard.

6 gigs at 1333 single channel
or
4 gigs at 1600 dual channel?
 
Metalic Sand said:
So what should i do with this. I have 2 Gigs in my system with 4 more gigs in the mail right now. my current stick is 1333, My new sticks are 1600.

Im on a AM3 motherboard.

6 gigs at 1333 single channel
or
4 gigs at 1600 dual channel?
Click to expand...

Cant you put the 4 gigs in dual channel and the 2 gigs in another channel?
 
Metalic Sand said:
I didnt know you could do that if you can.
Click to expand...

I believe the main thing is that you match the pairs in the channels. However I think the entire system runs at the lower ram speed

I could be wrong, but that's how I ran my old computer when I upgraded the ram :lol
 
Shambles said:
Triple check to make sure everything is plugged in properly. If it still is acting weird start disconnecting pieces until it behaves properly. Use one stick of ram, then try the other stick as a single. Disconnect the optical drive etc... If it's freezing in the BIOS it's not your HDD. Better yet take a pictures of the inside of your case and post it here so we know that everything is plugged in like it should be.



Was that you trying to plug the HDD into a 2nd machine? You won't be able to boot off of it properly when you throw it in with different hardware but you should be able to read it as a secondary drive fine. Paste the exact error into google and see what the interwebs have to say about it.
Click to expand...
Looks like the culprit is not enough voltage into my cpu. How do i increase it? It still can't detect my harddrive.
 
Darkatomz said:
Alright... I'm in need of some serious help.

I finished building my new rig (I did a messy wire and booted it to see if it posted, and it did), so I went back and rewired everything all nice. Long story short, this alone took me about 7 hours, even though it wasn't my first time.

About an hour into reinstalling applications and just setting everything up, I realize that my system is only detecting 4gb out of 6gb. So I swap some ram modules around, same thing. I try booting with just a single DIMM at a time, and they all work, as long as they aren't in slot A1.

I dig around, and find out that my problem is supposedly a common problem for x58 boards. WTF? I eventually come to this checklist.
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...1&model=P6X58D+Premium&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

It's doubt it's a poorly fitted cpu cooler. I have a 212+, and I've tried it with and without (only for a few seconds) it on, and both times the system only detects 4gb. If it's a bent cpu pin, then I certainly can't tell from what I saw with a naked eye when reseating it. I doubt that it's ram, for reasons above. It's not Windows (running Win7 Home 64bit). I'm fairly sure that my mounting plate isn't shorting anything in the back. And there's no way to really test if it's the mobo. I'm really, REALLY praying it's not a bad mobo or a mounting plate issue, since I'd have to redo all of my fucking wires, and after ~16 hours of working on this shit today, I really am not in the mood.

When it comes to bios settings (what I think may be the culprit??), it can be a little complicated. I haven't figured it out completely, but the only settings that I've fiddled around with are with ram overclocking (to set to the manufacture's speeds by using the XMP setting, which auto configures the ram), and setting devices to ACHI. Some combination result in the inability to even boot past the bios, and sometime the same thing happens, but with a BSOD. Oh, and trying to boot from a different hard drive with already has Win7 on it results in a BSOD no matter what, even if the primary hd right now works.

I should mention that CPU-Z detects all 6gb of the ram.

The specs that matter:
i7 950
Asus p6x58d-e mobo
Corsair 3x2gb ddr3 1600 8/8/8/24 TR3X6G1600C8D

Somebody please help... I can't take much more of this. If I had known there was going to be this problem, I would have just went with an i5 or waited for SB.
Click to expand...
Just an update to my own situation, I ended up RMA-ing my mobo. NEVER in my life have I had a bad piece of computer or console hardware, so I'm quite pissed. I probably won't get the board back until around Christmas.

And the thing is, I'm still not 100% convinced that the board was the issue to begin with.
 
Le-mo said:
Looks like the culprit is not enough voltage into my cpu. How do i increase it? It still can't detect my harddrive.
Click to expand...

Unless you've been changing overclocking settings it shouldn't be the voltages. Not sure what it is called in your BIOS but shouldn't be too cryptic.
 
Darkatomz said:
Just an update to my own situation, I ended up RMA-ing my mobo. NEVER in my life have I had a bad piece of computer or console hardware, so I'm quite pissed. I probably won't get the board back until around Christmas.

And the thing is, I'm still not 100% convinced that the board was the issue to begin with.
Click to expand...


Christ you have the same mobo I picked, the same ram, and the same cpu cooler.


But anyway yeah it was probably the board. All I did was plug them in, set it to XMP profile in bios (which exactly like you said auto configured the ram speed and timings) and of course set it to achi for the ssd and install of windows. You shouldnt have had to manually touch any settings in the bios other than getting the XMP profile loaded. I didnt at least.

And everything is fine, so its either a bad stick of ram or your mobo. Christ that would blow chunks if its your ram and not the board since you already sent it off. Id run LONG 8 hour memtests (while your at work 3 days in a row) on the sticks one by one. One stick at a time since your waiting on the RMA anyhow. Just to make sure.
 
Le-mo said:
Looks like the culprit is not enough voltage into my cpu. How do i increase it? It still can't detect my harddrive.
Click to expand...

Try plugging the SATA harddrive into another SATA slot. The boot order on some of those motherboards can be a little wonky. I had this exact same problem with the computer I built last May.

If it turns out you need more voltage, you will probably need to buy a better PSU (power supply unit). Did you skimp out on the PSU and buy a cheap one?
 
Alright master race; lets say I want a computer that will be good for 4 years (all my purchases are based on 4 years)

That will play all these console games in their much prettier glory.

I am down to a DS at the moment and will probably get a Wii (asked for the red one) to replace my launch one for Christmas since thats what I asked for. Before I go with another console sell me on the idea of a gaming PC please?

Price is a big factor, I am moving soon. I don't know enough about gaming PCs so I just pick the most expensive things and by the time I am done the computers are worth 2-3 grand... and at that point a 300$ PS3 wins by default.

Edit: Also; Canadian. So that might help >.>
 
Know what sucks?

Windows indexing your system with 7.4's and 7.5's and then your SATA hard drive bottlenecks it down to 5.9 rating. :( FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU
 
What is the best processor in terms of performance and value for money? I saw the Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz (Bloomfield) on special offer, I currently have an I7 920 2.66Ghz so I dunno if it'd be better just to keep the one I have? From what I understand, games like Crysis are not dependant on CPU as much as GPU?
 
PumpkinPie said:
What is the best processor in terms of performance and value for money? I saw the Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz (Bloomfield) on special offer, I currently have an I7 920 2.66Ghz so I dunno if it'd be better just to keep the one I have? From what I understand, games like Crysis are not dependant on CPU as much as GPU?
Click to expand...
Definitely not worth upgrading. Your CPU is plenty fast, and you'll be set for a long time/while.

What video card do you have? That is definitely where you would want to put your money.
 
opticalmace said:
Definitely not worth upgrading. Your CPU is plenty fast, and you'll be set for a long time/while.

What video card do you have? That is definitely where you would want to put your money.
Click to expand...

I already have a HD5970 but I have a Dell mobo so BIOS changes and overclocking are blocked. I'm thinking of just buying a decent mobo in order to unlock the potential of my components 'cause my system sucks at the moment. Would you agree with going the mobo option?
 
PumpkinPie said:
I already have a HD5970 but I have a Dell mobo so BIOS changes and overclocking are blocked. I'm thinking of just buying a decent mobo in order to unlock the potential of my components 'cause my system sucks at the moment. Would you agree with going the mobo option?
Click to expand...
Your system sucks? I don't understand. What resolution are you gaming at?
Are you saying your framerates are poor? (I assume we're talking about gaming here...)
 
opticalmace said:
Your system sucks? I don't understand. What resolution are you gaming at?
Are you saying your framerates are poor? (I assume we're talking about gaming here...)
Click to expand...

Well, maybe I'm exaggerating when I say it sucks. I can play Crysis on max settings with good FPS but only at 720p, nothing higher...I just think I'd like to be able to overclock if I wanted to and my current mobo doesn't allow any tweaking at all.
 
lsslave said:
Alright master race; lets say I want a computer that will be good for 4 years (all my purchases are based on 4 years)

That will play all these console games in their much prettier glory.

I am down to a DS at the moment and will probably get a Wii (asked for the red one) to replace my launch one for Christmas since thats what I asked for. Before I go with another console sell me on the idea of a gaming PC please?

Price is a big factor, I am moving soon. I don't know enough about gaming PCs so I just pick the most expensive things and by the time I am done the computers are worth 2-3 grand... and at that point a 300$ PS3 wins by default.

Edit: Also; Canadian. So that might help >.>
Click to expand...

I'm bumping my post. I know nothing about gaming PCs so I legitimately need someone to help me, even if through the websites listed, how to get a powerful PC going without costing me thousands of dollars.

I want to be able to play WRPGs like Two Worlds 2 and Witcher 2 in their highest level. If I go PC its for the better graphics over a console but I just can't spend as much money as my random guesses are going to cost me so I seriously need advice on what to look for.
 
PatzCU said:
Try plugging the SATA harddrive into another SATA slot. The boot order on some of those motherboards can be a little wonky. I had this exact same problem with the computer I built last May.

If it turns out you need more voltage, you will probably need to buy a better PSU (power supply unit). Did you skimp out on the PSU and buy a cheap one?
Click to expand...
I have a 650W OCZ PSU. The problem seems to have disppeared, but during the OS installation my damn computer still can't detect my harddrive.
 
SUPARSTARX said:
Know what sucks?

Windows indexing your system with 7.4's and 7.5's and then your SATA hard drive bottlenecks it down to 5.9 rating. :( FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Click to expand...

Its completely fair. Honestly, a nice SSD makes general computer usage so much faster and responsive its unreal.
 
Drkirby said:
This one, right?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002G1YPH0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

And do you see a better optoin then this for a Card Reader?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EWJYYW/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Click to expand...

Just a suggestion on the card reader but you might want to just get an external one. That ways, youll have something portable that you can bring with you if you ever need to. I ordered THIS ONE early in the year and havent been dissapointed yet. It doesnt have as much support as your internal one but maybe you dont have the need for all that.


TheExodu5 said:
Its completely fair. Honestly, a nice SSD makes general computer usage so much faster and responsive its unreal.
Click to expand...

Yeah. My brother is looking to build early next year and Im going to try and convince him to go with an SSD even though he wants to keep it on the cheaper side. Even if he just gets a small OS only drive, its worth it. Hed appreciate the speed in the long run.

I have a hard time using PCs without SSDs now. My laptop is slow. My work PC is slow. I hate them :(
 
I will preface this by saying that I am an idiot when it comes to hardware. I will not be offended if anyone talks to me like I'm a child or like I have a learning disability.

I've got 4GB of DDR2 RAM from almost two years ago, as well as an 8800GT 512MB. I've never used either of them. I started to build a computer and it didn't pan out for all sorts of reasons. I guess I'm wondering if I should even bother using these parts if I wanted to build a new computer. I know that the 8800GT is dated, but if saving money is my main concern, is it good enough for now?

I'm considering going to my local computer store and having them build me a computer. I'm not competent enough to build one on my own, and I don't really want to spend more than $600.00.
 
Captain Pants said:
I will preface this by saying that I am an idiot when it comes to hardware. I will not be offended if anyone talks to me like I'm a child or like I have a learning disability.

I've got 4GB of DDR2 RAM from almost two years ago, as well as an 8800GT 512MB. I've never used either of them. I started to build a computer and it didn't pan out for all sorts of reasons. I guess I'm wondering if I should even bother using these parts if I wanted to build a new computer. I know that the 8800GT is dated, but if saving money is my main concern, is it good enough for now?

I'm considering going to my local computer store and having them build me a computer. I'm not competent enough to build one on my own, and I don't really want to spend more than $600.00.
Click to expand...

The 8800GT, sure, but not the 4GB DDR2. It'll cost you $50 to get 4GB DDR3, and at least you won't be stuck with a completely outdated board.

Just have them build something with maybe an AMD Athlon 640, an OCZ PSU, and a cheapish case like the Antec 300 or Cooler Master Elite 335 or 430. You shouldn't be paying more than $400-500.
 
TheExodu5 said:
The 8800GT, sure, but not the 4GB DDR2. It'll cost you $50 to get 4GB DDR3, and at least you won't be stuck with a completely outdated board.

Just have them build something with maybe an AMD Athlon 640, an OCZ PSU, and a cheapish case like the Antec 300 or Cooler Master Elite 335 or 430. You shouldn't be paying more than $400-500.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm hoping to make a trip up to the store here in a bit to get the ball rolling.
 
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