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[opticalmace]

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.

Are all your drivers up to date? When was the last time you reformatted? Sounds like something in software is bogging you down... do you have any other benchmark numbers? (other games, what reoslution/settings/FPS)

What version of CCC do you have? X-fire is enabled, right? And you have the application profiles download?

Before you spend money to update your hardware, you should check that your system is running optimally as it is, as you definitely don't have a slow system.

 

[Shambles]

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.

I can help. There are certain sweeter price points for PC parts but it still helps to have an idea of what price range you are looking to spend at. We can adjust from there if spending a little more gives a noticeable performance improvement. We also need to know what parts you already have such as if you need to buy a monitor, case, PSU, KB/M, OS. I assume buying a CPU/MB/GPU is a given already. What city are you in as well, depending on where you are in Canada you'll have different brick and mortar stores around you. I find it's better to buy at B/M when it's practical as it's a lot easier to return a faulty part.

I'm getting the 0x0000007B error message during Xp installation

"STOP: 0x0000007B (parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4)
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE"

Keeps coming back to the HDD I guess. Sound like either the drive is bad, the SATA cable is bad, the SATA port on the motherboard is bad, or least likely the PSU is faulty. Did you order the HDD online? It's probably easiest to pick up another cheap HDD to test it on and see if it functions properly at this point.

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

Is trying to build it yourself again completely off the table, as the thought of it leaves your rocking back and forth in a corner after the last experience?

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.

You have a high end fucking system, don't worry about that. I'd say try some benchmarks on other games and see if they compare to review scores. Then you know if it's just the game software, or the system/GPU.

 

[Max]

Getting MW2 running on a new pc last year felt so good. Never look back.

 

[JoeBoy101]

Memory Question for the Group:

I got a nForce 780i Motherboard and am looking to do a very needed upgrade from 2G of RAM to 4G. My board will only do DDR2-800 at max, so I've been perusing Newegg for some options and here is what I've found:

Corsair
Adata
Kingston
G.Skill
Crucial

Now, I know for the most part memory is memory, but a big delineator for me is the company with regards to overall quality and support. So, thoughts on these particular options or opinions on the particular companies? Price is ranging from ~$90 with Kingston down to ~$60 with Adata or G.Skill, so price is only a factor in saving a little bit of money. Thanks!

EDIT: Similar to ZZMitch, I got Metro and am unhappy playing at anything under Very High and I'm getting alot of slowdown on High (at 1680X1050, AF16, and AAA). With a Q9850 OCed to 3.0g and a GTX 275, I'm usually killing just about anything so, I'm thinking it has to be that puny 2 gigs of RAM I've got. Been meaning to replace it, but Metro did the public service of moving it to the front burner.

Just doing one bump to see if anyone has a response. Thanks!

 

[lsslave]

I can help. There are certain sweeter price points for PC parts but it still helps to have an idea of what price range you are looking to spend at. We can adjust from there if spending a little more gives a noticeable performance improvement. We also need to know what parts you already have such as if you need to buy a monitor, case, PSU, KB/M, OS. I assume buying a CPU/MB/GPU is a given already. What city are you in as well, depending on where you are in Canada you'll have different brick and mortar stores around you. I find it's better to buy at B/M when it's practical as it's a lot easier to return a faulty part.

There are 2 independent stores locally and a Futureshop / Best Buy. The independent stores aren't exactly shining beacons, both deal with inferior parts (I know this from when I was into computers about a decade ago X.x) and charge far too much for them.

I'd like to look at spending about 1000$ max (less if possible) WITH monitor.

A good sound card that can work well with midi is a great thing for me. I will be using it to fiddle around and do some composition, but I'd also like to use it for gaming.

Basically the most important things are:

Good price
Good lifespan
Can play games (Not worried about Crysis btw!) on high settings and actually enjoy the "pretty" games.

It is a big decision, one that I probably will end up thinking about for a month, but when I end up with 3000+ $ computers it becomes a much easier one, but my lack of knowledge might be making things unfair on the PC side.

 

[Le-mo]

"STOP: 0x0000007B (parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4)
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE"

Keeps coming back to the HDD I guess. Sound like either the drive is bad, the SATA cable is bad, the SATA port on the motherboard is bad, or least likely the PSU is faulty. Did you order the HDD online? It's probably easiest to pick up another cheap HDD to test it on and see if it functions properly at this point.



Is trying to build it yourself again completely off the table, as the thought of it leaves your rocking back and forth in a corner after the last experience?

Its not the cable, I switched it with my dvd drive and that is working fine. At this point I think its either the HDD or a faulty sata port on the mobo

 

[therapist]

Please recommend me some that works #1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intel DP45SG motherboard. Holy shit what a headache.

I ordered 2 x 4gb sticks to find out im retarded and the board only takes 2 gb sticks max. My bad , whatever.

Currently have 2x 1gb OCZ gold ddr3 pc3 1066.
Bought 2x2gb OCZ gold ddr3 pc3 1066 , and THEY DONT FUCKIN WORK.

I get three long beeps indicating base 64k mem failure.

Now voltage between the 2 rams has a .5 difference , ive tried manually changing the mem timings inthe bios , updating the bios, trying 1 stick etc etc.Everything i can think of.

whenever i boot with either of the 2gb sticks in its just three long beeps and i dont even get a display.

How can 2x1gb work when 2x2gb of the same gd ram doesnt?

Im confused and its annoying me i dont knowwhat to order.

Help!

 

[DaBuddaDa]

Please recommend me some that works #1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intel DP45SG motherboard. Holy shit what a headache.

Your motherboard manual will include a list of specific compatible RAM modules. Buy a DDR3 model they list.

 

[Captain Pants]

Is trying to build it yourself again completely off the table, as the thought of it leaves your rocking back and forth in a corner after the last experience?

:lol Definitely. I have the attention span of a goldfish and I get frustrated easily. Couple that with no knowledge of how to build a computer or install an operating system, and I'll happily pay someone else to do it.

 

[therapist]

Your motherboard manual will include a list of specific compatible RAM modules. Buy a DDR3 model they list.

Problem is that the list is extremely short , and why would 2gb of the same ram not work while the 1gb's do ? im just trying to understand this it makes no sense to me.

From the website :

Four 240-pin Double Data Rate 3 (DDR3) SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) connectors with gold-plated contacts.
1333/1066/800 MHz DDR3 SDRAM interface
1.5 V DDR3 SDRAM DIMMs with gold plated contacts, with the option to raise the voltage to support higher performance DDR3 SDRAM DIMMs
Unbuffered, non-registered single- or double-sided DIMMs
Non-ECC DDR3 memory
Serial Presence Detect (SPD) memory only
Up to 4 GB utilizing 512 Mb or 1 Gb technology
Up to 8 GB utilizing 1 Gb or 2 Gb technology

Technically they should work,wtfudge?

 

[Shambles]

There are 2 independent stores locally and a Futureshop / Best Buy. The independent stores aren't exactly shining beacons, both deal with inferior parts (I know this from when I was into computers about a decade ago X.x) and charge far too much for them.

I'd like to look at spending about 1000$ max (less if possible) WITH monitor.

A good sound card that can work well with midi is a great thing for me. I will be using it to fiddle around and do some composition, but I'd also like to use it for gaming.

Basically the most important things are:

Good price
Good lifespan
Can play games (Not worried about Crysis btw!) on high settings and actually enjoy the "pretty" games.

It is a big decision, one that I probably will end up thinking about for a month, but when I end up with 3000+ $ computers it becomes a much easier one, but my lack of knowledge might be making things unfair on the PC side.

Ok so I'll include absolutely every part you might need. 1000$ is still easy to do. I just did a build for 500$ that included the CPU/MB/GPU/RAM/Cooler with a Phenom II X3 (Didn't unlock into an X4 sadly, overclocked to 3.6 easily), a GTX 460 768, and then whatever is respectable for the MB/memory. Including monitor, case, PSU, KB/M, OS with the build will definitely make it cost more but these are items you only ever really need to buy once and will transfer to future builds. Today is the last day of a Memory Express sale that has a 21.5" 1080P BenQ monitor for 99$. As much as I hate the 16:9 ratio monitors out there now it's damn hard to beat it at that price. It should have free ground shipping on it for you too. I think they pulled their last sale down at 10PM MST so it's probably worth you ordering that now and we can figure out parts later. My family has ordered 3 of these so far and while they are obviously just budget LCD monitors they seem as good as your typical 180$ budget LCD monitors.

Crysis is actually quite easy to play on high settings. For most people the game only turns to turd when you turn on the AA, it still looks great without any AA.

:lol Definitely. I have the attention span of a goldfish and I get frustrated easily. Couple that with no knowledge of how to build a computer or install an operating system, and I'll happily pay someone else to do it.

If you happen to live in Canada for 50$ NCIX will assemble a machine for you. I'm not sure what it's like elsewhere. The problem with getting a place to pick parts for you is that they aren't going to be concerned with price as you would yourself. I also find that the smaller shops simply can't operate at the same scale as larger stores and end up having older parts at higher prices because they simply can't afford to do anything else. Depending on how much cash you have you might not really care but you can always get them to help you with a build and post it here before you pull the trigger to see if anything looks crazy.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

Problem is that the list is extremely short , and why would 2gb of the same ram not work while the 1gb's do ? im just trying to understand this it makes no sense to me.

Memory can be very fickle and there isn't a good explanation concerning every module out there. A quick google search shows that others have had compatibility problems with your mobo and OCZ ram in particular. Try something cheap and basic like this or this and they should work fine.

 

[lsslave]

Ok so I'll include absolutely every part you might need. 1000$ is still easy to do. I just did a build for 500$ that included the CPU/MB/GPU/RAM with a Phenom II X3 (Didn't unlock into an X4 sadly, overclocked to 3.6 easily), a GTX 460 768, and then whatever is respectable for the MB/memory. Including monitor, case, PSU, KB/M, OS with the build will definitely make it cost more but these are items you only ever really need to buy once and will transfer to future builds. Today is the last day of a Memory Express sale that has a 21.5" 1080P BenQ monitor for 99$. As much as I hate the 16:9 ratio monitors out there now it's damn hard to beat it at that price. It should have free ground shipping on it for you too. I think they pulled their last sale down at 10PM MST so it's probably worth you ordering that now and we can figure out parts later. My family has ordered 3 of these so far and while they are obviously just budget LCD monitors they seem as good as your typical 180$ budget LCD monitors.

Crysis is actually quite easy to play on high settings. For most people the game only turns to turd when you turn on the AA, it still looks great without any AA.

Alright; I have another quick question then. In regards to OS and everything jacking up the price...

There are going to be some insane package deals come boxing day (Canada's answer to Black Friday) for store-bought computers. Is it better, financially speaking, to start with that and have everything for 500$ start price and then upgrade it?

At that point I think video card is the only thing that is weak (quad core processor, 4G ram, monitor, case, everything for 500$ range) in the entire box (from what I understand most "prebuilt" PCs have shit video cards out of box)

 

[LegoDad]

Alright, changed cases went with
Cooler Master RC-922M-KKN1-GP HAF 922M ATX Mid Tower Case (Black)" Electronics - $89.98

 

[TheExodu5]

Alright, changed cases went with
Cooler Master RC-922M-KKN1-GP HAF 922M ATX Mid Tower Case (Black)" Electronics - $89.98

Good stuff.

Don't forget to buy some zip ties!

 

[Shambles]

Alright; I have another quick question then. In regards to OS and everything jacking up the price...

There are going to be some insane package deals come boxing day (Canada's answer to Black Friday) for store-bought computers. Is it better, financially speaking, to start with that and have everything for 500$ start price and then upgrade it?

At that point I think video card is the only thing that is weak (quad core processor, 4G ram, monitor, case, everything for 500$ range) in the entire box (from what I understand most "prebuilt" PCs have shit video cards out of box)

I very much dislike store bought computers. Even the very rare time where their value comes anywhere near the value you get from building it yourself, they still are the worse choice as they severly limit your ability to upgrade those parts (Often you can't re-use anything), and come with an OS full of garbage installed without any OS disk than you can do a clean install with. You'll see a little bit better pricing on Boxing day but nothing too crazy as the growth of online retailers seems to keeps a fairly constant pressure on price it doesn't have much room to go down for the holidays. Had I ordered my parts during black friday this weekend I might have saved 50$, but if I priced it out it might have increased my shipping costs as well. I'd guess that the advancement in technology, even within a month could have more affect on price/performance than the sales themselves. Intels new CPUs 'Sandy Bridge' are going to release Jan. 5 but Intel usually has the more expensive but better performance chips compared to AMDs cheaper but a little slower chips so you might not care about Intel anyways. When it comes to day to day use and gaming the difference from the CPU is negligable. You'd only really care if you're frequently doing CPU bound tasks like video transcoding.

If you're looking at a Dell the case will probably be non-standard and when you get a new machine you'll have to buy another case, the PSU will be shit quality, the motherboard won't let you overclock at all, and while it comes with an OS you don't get an install disk without all the bloatware that they put on the machine. Also I realy don't like their monitors and have had lots of problems with them (although I'm probably in the minority here, from what I hear I think most people's Dell monitors that come with machines last decently long).

 

[therapist]

Memory can be very fickle and there isn't a good explanation concerning every module out there. A quick google search shows that others have had compatibility problems with your mobo and OCZ ram in particular. Try something cheap and basic like this or this and they should work fine.

I know i saw that too , its just i had ocz in there for 2years i didnt think it would be a problem.
Il order something with a lower timing and voltage to be sure , thanks!

Gonna order this i think : http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=42744&vpn=F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH&manufacture=G.Skill

Apparently my board oesnt like 10666 ram , only 10600 , maks no sense considering ive bee running on 10666 for 2 years...LOL this is retarded

 

[theRizzle]

Anyone here running or know much about GeForce 450's?

I want to get my kid brother a video card for Christmas so he can be introduced to the joys of PC gaming. I'm just wondering if a GeForce 450 or a Radeon 5750 would be better bang for my buck.

He will definitely not be playing cutting-edge games like Crysis or Metro 2033, and since he has no PC gaming experience outside of a bit of Warcraft 3, will most likely not need to play anything on the highest settings.

 

[Drkirby]

How can I look up which of my items had mail in rebates again?

 

[Vinterbird]

Where's the place to order if you live in mainland Europe/Scandinavia. And what type of money pile(in pound sterling) am I looking at in terms of creating a media center sized gaming machine on a budget?

 

[TheExodu5]

Anyone here running or know much about GeForce 450's?

I want to get my kid brother a video card for Christmas so he can be introduced to the joys of PC gaming. I'm just wondering if a GeForce 450 or a Radeon 5750 would be better bang for my buck.

He will definitely not be playing cutting-edge games like Crysis or Metro 2033, and since he has no PC gaming experience outside of a bit of Warcraft 3, will most likely not need to play anything on the highest settings.

Just look up benchmarks and compare it to the GTX 460. If it's half as powerful, then it should be good.

 

[TouchMyBox]

Good stuff.

Don't forget to buy some zip ties!

Zip ties are too much of a hassle if you're the type of guy who likes to change stuff around frequently. I just use those little plastic covered wire things that most cables you buy come wrapped in.

Anyone here running or know much about GeForce 450's?

I want to get my kid brother a video card for Christmas so he can be introduced to the joys of PC gaming. I'm just wondering if a GeForce 450 or a Radeon 5750 would be better bang for my buck.

He will definitely not be playing cutting-edge games like Crysis or Metro 2033, and since he has no PC gaming experience outside of a bit of Warcraft 3, will most likely not need to play anything on the highest settings.

Depends on what the price is. Just from occasional glances here, I find GTS 450s for $109 after rebate and 5770s for around $119 after rebate. At these prices, the 5770 is clearly the best purchase as it beats the 450 significantly in many cases. Realistically though, either the 450, 5750 or the 5770 will do him justice, just don't skimp out and get a 512MB version.

 

[LegoDad]

Zip ties are too much of a hassle if you're the type of guy who likes to change stuff around frequently. I just use those little plastic covered wire things that most cables you buy come wrapped in.

Why would you change your stuff around all the time?

 

[Shambles]

Why would you change your stuff around all the time?

The real shock is how he forgot what twist ties are called!

Add 200$ for the OS and that monitor.

This is the sort of thing you would be looking at just off the top of my head. I just pulled stuff on newegg.ca into my cart. This is without any price matching or tweaking, this does not include any shipping charges which might be incurred. You might like a different case, you could find a case with a PSU included which won't be as powerful but could be cheaper. You might prefer the 6850 over the GTX 460, you might not like the KB/M etc... But this should give you an idea of the type of parts you'd be looking at in that price rage for 830$ish. Buying online you'd also be looking at NCIX.com, Memory express, and there are stores like tiger direct, pc cyber, canada computers but they aren't usually compelling and i've never ordered from them myself.

 

[lsslave]

I very much dislike store bought computers. Even the very rare time where their value comes anywhere near the value you get from building it yourself, they still are the worse choice as they severly limit your ability to upgrade those parts (Often you can't re-use anything), and come with an OS full of garbage installed without any OS disk than you can do a clean install with. You'll see a little bit better pricing on Boxing day but nothing too crazy as the growth of online retailers seems to keeps a fairly constant pressure on price it doesn't have much room to go down for the holidays. Had I ordered my parts during black friday this weekend I might have saved 50$, but if I priced it out it might have increased my shipping costs as well. I'd guess that the advancement in technology, even within a month could have more affect on price/performance than the sales themselves. Intels new CPUs 'Sandy Bridge' are going to release Jan. 5 but Intel usually has the more expensive but better performance chips compared to AMDs cheaper but a little slower chips so you might not care about Intel anyways. When it comes to day to day use and gaming the difference from the CPU is negligable. You'd only really care if you're frequently doing CPU bound tasks like video transcoding.

If you're looking at a Dell the case will probably be non-standard and when you get a new machine you'll have to buy another case, the PSU will be shit quality, the motherboard won't let you overclock at all, and while it comes with an OS you don't get an install disk without all the bloatware that they put on the machine. Also I realy don't like their monitors and have had lots of problems with them (although I'm probably in the minority here, from what I hear I think most people's Dell monitors that come with machines last decently long).

Alright, in that case what specs should I look at? I'll attempt to build a computer (Also; what parts do I need for sure? How much ram? etc.)

 

[Salaadin]

The real shock is how he forgot what twist ties are called!

Twist ties? Theyre for bread not PCs. :lol

 

[LittleJohnny]

Its not the cable, I switched it with my dvd drive and that is working fine. At this point I think its either the HDD or a faulty sata port on the mobo

Try this: Enter the BIOS, go to SATA and Disable AHCI. Let me know if that works.

 

[Shambles]

Alright, in that case what specs should I look at? I'll attempt to build a computer (Also; what parts do I need for sure? How much ram? etc.)

Just to make sure you don't miss it I put up a makeshift build above your post. If you know someone with an old case/PSU laying around it really helps to bring costs down as well. Up here in Canada unless you happen to live in areas that have an NCIX or MemEx brick and mortar store you pretty much have to order online. MemEx is mostly in Alberta, NCIX I think is mostly in BC and Ontario has those other Canada computer type stores I believe.

Twist ties? Theyre for bread not PCs. :lol

What we need is for someone to do cable management with these:

 

[Le-mo]

I think I may finally found the solution to my problem. Apparently Windows XP doesn't have SATA drivers which is why it couldn't detect my SATA harddrive during setup. The solution is, apprently, to livestream the sata drivers into the xp cd burn it to another cd then pop that cd into my computer. Waiting for my brother to get some blank cd's to try this out.

 

[TheExodu5]

Zip ties are too much of a hassle if you're the type of guy who likes to change stuff around frequently. I just use those little plastic covered wire things that most cables you buy come wrapped in.

You need like 2 zip ties to keep your unused cables tied up. Want to add a second GPU? Just cut the 2 zip ties and free the PCI-E power connectors, and tie up the rest with 2 more zip ties. They're far easier to use than twist ties, and you'll keep things a lot tidier. You can buy a box of like 100 zip ties for less than $5.

If you have a modular PSU it's even easier.

The great thing about the HAF 922 he ordered is that there's a ton of space in behind the motherboard tray, compared to most cases. You barely need to keep things tidy there. Just tie everything down in a clump and you're probably okay.

 

[Metalic Sand]

Cant find dust filter stuff anywhere to buy. Just big plastic filters that will impede alot of airflow going by reviews. I just want the mesh! Not the dust blocking mesh with plastic parts



Edit: Here is what im talking about http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...8&cm_re=PC_dust_filter-_-11-995-048-_-Product

Seems to not be worth the trouble with all the plastic there.

 

[Ashhong]

You know, if you have an OS only SSD and then put everything else on a SATA HDD, doesn't that get frustrating? As you're using the PC some things will go super fast, and then some things will feel like ages in comparison :lol

 

[.nimrod]

Good stuff.

Don't forget to buy some zip ties!

Doesn't the 922 already come with zip ties?


Oh and since i'm getting the same case, should i have the fan of the Mugen 2 blow towards the rear fan like in this picture or should it blow towards the big fan above?

 

[TheExodu5]

Doesn't the 922 already come with zip ties?


Oh and since i'm getting the same case, should i have the fan of the Mugen 2 blow towards the rear fan like in this picture or should it blow towards the big fan above?

I'm not sure, to be honest. If I had the case, I might be tempted to have it blowing up to, and have the rear exhaust as an intake. That would definitely give the case positive pressure and I think it would improve the airflow going around the CPU.

I'm just guessing, but I think it could be a decent setup. Only way to know for sure is to test. Really though, the case has such insane airflow that it likely won't really matter.

 

[Le-mo]

I have a question, if I were to add another video card onto my mobo then I would have 4 total video outputs, 2 fon each video card. Would it matter which one I connect to my monitor?

 

[Ashhong]

I have a question, if I were to add another video card onto my mobo then I would have 4 total video outputs, 2 fon each video card. Would it matter which one I connect to my monitor?

I think you would have to pick one and disable the monitor out for the other no? When I had integrated, I had to disable that in order to get my GPU to work, and vise versa.

 

[Le-mo]

I think you would have to pick one and disable the monitor out for the other no? When I had integrated, I had to disable that in order to get my GPU to work, and vise versa.

What do you mean by disable?

 

[LegoDad]

What do you mean by disable?

he had to disable (turn off) the GPU that alot of boards come shipped with now, to use his external GPU.

 

[G0DLIKE]

Just about to order a new PC, primarily for gaming.

- ASUS P6X58D-E Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
- Intel Core i7 950 3.06 GHz Processor Socket 1366 (8MB L3 Cache)
- Corsair XMS 6GB (2 X 2GB) PC-12800 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
- Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ 32MB 1TB SATA Hard Drive
- Benq 24x Speed Plus DVD Writer
- Fractal Design Define R2 Computer Case Black
- Cooler Master GX 750W PSU SLI Ready Single +12V Rail 60A

I've got a EVGA GTX 580 on the way. Will this PC run OK?
What would you change? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[FoxSpirit]

So let's say I like to play games with mediocre garphic prowess like Trine or Starcraft 2. Let's say I also like FullScene SuperSampling. Let's say I use either 1680x1050 or 1080p.

Is there any reasonable solution to this yet? I know a card like the 5870 will do it reasonably well but anything else? And do I really want 2GB of VRAM for that or would anything less do?

Many thanks.

 

[Hazaro]

Just about to order a new PC, primarily for gaming.

- ASUS P6X58D-E Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
- Intel Core i7 950 3.06 GHz Processor Socket 1366 (8MB L3 Cache)
- Corsair XMS 6GB (2 X 2GB) PC-12800 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
- Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ 32MB 1TB SATA Hard Drive
- Benq 24x Speed Plus DVD Writer
- Fractal Design Define R2 Computer Case Black
- Cooler Master GX 750W PSU SLI Ready Single +12V Rail 60A

I've got a EVGA GTX 580 on the way. Will this PC run OK?
What would you change? Any advice would be appreciated.

1) Do you need i7 over i5?
2) Will you overclock?
3) Swap the PSU for a Corsair
4) AMD's 69__ card will come out this month to compete with the GTX 580. You might want to wait for that.
5) Intel's Sandy Bridge will be launching early January as well (New Socket)

 

[evlcookie]

You know, if you have an OS only SSD and then put everything else on a SATA HDD, doesn't that get frustrating? As you're using the PC some things will go super fast, and then some things will feel like ages in comparison :lol

No. Not really.

I have the OS on my SSD but the actual user folder on a standard hard drive to reduce writes to the SSD. I don't notice any major speed difference. The only stuff that really uses the user folder is say web browser cache, windows log files etc. Nothing that requires the speed of a SSD.

I remember playing crysis off the SSD when i first got it. The speed difference was nice but not amazing, the same went for WoW. I'm sure there are some apps and games that will really benefit from it, But i honestly just find it nice to use for windows. Boot times are so good, the auto start apps are there within an instant and it's always speedy.

I would find it hard to go back to an OS drive that wasn't SSD based.

 

[Ashhong]

How does that work? This has gotten me interested in getting an OS SSD. How do you set your User folder to a completely different drive? Do you install things like Microsoft Office or Photoshop onto the SSD? Not sure what the "auto-start" programs you speak of is

 

[G0DLIKE]

1) Do you need i7 over i5?
2) Will you overclock?
3) Swap the PSU for a Corsair
4) AMD's 69__ card will come out this month to compete with the GTX 580. You might want to wait for that.
5) Intel's Sandy Bridge will be launching early January as well (New Socket)

1) Probably not
2) Eventually, yes
3) No trouble, any particular reason?
4) Already ordered the GTX 580.
5) I'll probably upgrade late next year. I'm hoping these Sandy Bridge processors are gonna be ridiculously expensive for a while ;D

Thanks Hazaro!

 

[TheExodu5]

Just about to order a new PC, primarily for gaming.

- ASUS P6X58D-E Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
- Intel Core i7 950 3.06 GHz Processor Socket 1366 (8MB L3 Cache)
- Corsair XMS 6GB (2 X 2GB) PC-12800 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
- Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ 32MB 1TB SATA Hard Drive
- Benq 24x Speed Plus DVD Writer
- Fractal Design Define R2 Computer Case Black
- Cooler Master GX 750W PSU SLI Ready Single +12V Rail 60A

I've got a EVGA GTX 580 on the way. Will this PC run OK?
What would you change? Any advice would be appreciated.

First off: it will run way more than OK. That is a seriously fast computer. Best single GPU video card on the market at the moment.

Few questions: do you have a set budget? I mean, that's basically almost the same computer I would build, but that's given the fact that I don't really care what I spend on my machine. If you want to save some money, you can go down to an i5 760 if you want to. Also, only get the 950 over the 930 if it's roughly the same price, as both can be overclocked.

First off, since you want the Fractal case, I'm going to guess you're ordering off NCIX? Make sure you get that Corsair RAM while it's still on sale. Great deal.

Alright, so you want a GTX 580. Top of the line card right now. You may or may not want to consider something other than the Fractal Define R2. I mean, it looks like a nice case, but I'm not sure if the sound dampening factor might be counteracted by the fact that airflow will be a little low for that setup. I'm not saying it won't do, just that you might want to evaluate exactly why you chose that case, and make sure it's still a good fit.

Otherwise, if you're spending that much cash, I would suggest you get an SSD. Even if it's just a small 60GB OS drive, you'll see a huge increase in speed and responsiveness in Windows. If you have to drop the CPU to an i5 760 to justify the expense, do so.

Lastly, you're going to want to overclock that CPU. Get yourself a nice aftermarket CPU cooler. A well recommended one is the Cooler Master Hyper 212+. Cheap, and very effective.

Otherwise, everything looks great.

 

[Hazaro]

1) Probably not
2) Eventually, yes
3) No trouble, any particular reason?
4) Already ordered the GTX 580.
5) I'll probably upgrade late next year. I'm hoping these Sandy Bridge processors are gonna be ridiculously expensive for a while ;D

Thanks Hazaro!

If you don't need to spend the extra money I wouldn't. Get an i5 an clock it to 4Ghz. Have you be set for quite a while. Save a tad on memory/mobo/CPU. Performance is just too similar for most, especially if you are overclocking.

Corsair is better. Don't skimp on that power supply! If the 750W is too expensive, then a 650W is also good. XFX 750W is decent for the price (if its cheaper).

Sandy Bridge doesn't look like it'll be much more expensive than the current line up. Board prices to be decided. If you refresh on Intel's refresh that should be ok, but it probably won't be a big jump (unless they switch off the Core architecture).

 

[LegoDad]

I'm not sure, to be honest. If I had the case, I might be tempted to have it blowing up to, and have the rear exhaust as an intake. That would definitely give the case positive pressure and I think it would improve the airflow going around the CPU.

I'm just guessing, but I think it could be a decent setup. Only way to know for sure is to test. Really though, the case has such insane airflow that it likely won't really matter.

Pretty sure the 922 comes with zip ties already.

 

[snack]

Pretty sure the 922 comes with zip ties already.

They do? I don't recall getting any when I opened my 922 box.

 

[evlcookie]

How does that work? This has gotten me interested in getting an OS SSD. How do you set your User folder to a completely different drive? Do you install things like Microsoft Office or Photoshop onto the SSD? Not sure what the "auto-start" programs you speak of is

Auto start i just mean the usual apps that need to load after windows boots. You may have non or you may have lots, depends on how you use your OS.

For the user folder you can move it after you install windows. Boot from the windows dvd and enter command prompt mode and throw in some commands. I can't remember them but they are in my evernote so if you do need them let me know.

You can install whatever you want on the ssd to be honest. It all depends on how you wish to use it. Mine was an older SSD with a different controller, if you pickup the intel or sandforce based controllers you might not have to move the user folder since the write amplification should be very very low, especially on the sandforce drives. You can monitor it though for the most part via drive life. If you notice it's dropped 4% in a few weeks then it might be worth moving the user folder, if it hasn't dropped in a month then there's no need to move the user folder.

 

[G0DLIKE]

Corsair is better. Don't skimp on that power supply!

Done, swapped with a Corsair TX-750W ATX PSU.

Otherwise, if you're spending that much cash, I would suggest you get an SSD. Even if it's just a small 60GB OS drive, you'll see a huge increase in speed and responsiveness in Windows.

I was on the fence about this. Decided on an OCZ Vertex 60G 2.5" SSD.

I just ordered.

- ASUS P6X58D-E Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
- Corsair XMS 6GB (2 X 2GB) PC-12800 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
- Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ 32MB 1TB SATA Hard Drive
- OCZ Vertex 60G 2.5" SSD
- Benq 24x Speed Plus DVD Writer
- Fractal Design Define R2 Computer Case Black
- Corsair TX-750W ATX PSU

I'll look into some cooling options for the case

Thanks for the help Hazaro and TheExodu5! I appreciate it.