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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

6970 in the wild. Looks to be about GTX 570 levels.

CcYRd.jpg

mmO8d.jpg
 
Okay, so I've had my new, first-time-build PC for about 10 months now. Looking back, it's been amazing the amount of things I can do now that I couldn't on my old dying laptop.

And just now I realized that I'm doing all of the following at the same time:

1. Ripping a Blu-Ray
2. Encoding a video I made
3. Scanning old family photos
4. Watching a video
5. Editing some audio
6. Streaming video to the living room (my wife's watching TV)

And I could play StarCraft II on the highest settings if I wanted to. It's this weird feeling of having lots of power, even though I'm sure my system isn't the greatest thing ever. It still feels awesome. :)

Thanks again to all the folks on this thread that helped with their opinions and insights.
 
Building my first ever gaming/media PC just after Christmas, and have no idea what I'm doing.

I've assigned four friends to each construct a spec sheet for me to decide from, but have so far only had one submitted.

Can someone who knows what they're doing tell me about these parts and if they work well and are all compatible or w/e? I have no idea what I'm talking about :lol

Antec Nine Hundred Two Tower Gaming Case w Side Window black (no PSU)
$118



Antec ATX TruePower 650W
$129


Intel Core i7 870 Processor LGA1156 2.93GHz 8MB Cache CPU
$312



Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H H55 DDR3 PCI-Ex16 SATAII GLAN mATX
$105


Samsung 22X DVDRW Black SATA (SH-S223C-BL)
$23


Samsung 500G SATA II 7200rpm HD502HJ
$45



G Skill 4G(2x2G) DDR3 1600Mhz PC12800 9-9-9-24(CL9D-4GBNQ
$78



Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
$105



Sapphire HD6870 1G GDDR5 PCIE HDMI DP
$289


Total: $1204
 
Eye Drop said:
Building my first ever gaming/media PC just after Christmas, and have no idea what I'm doing.

I've assigned four friends to each construct a spec sheet for me to decide from, but have so far only had one submitted.

Can someone who knows what they're doing tell me about these parts and if they work well and are all compatible or w/e? I have no idea what I'm talking about :lol

Antec Nine Hundred Two Tower Gaming Case w Side Window black (no PSU)
$118



Antec ATX TruePower 650W
$129


Intel Core i7 870 Processor LGA1156 2.93GHz 8MB Cache CPU
$312



Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H H55 DDR3 PCI-Ex16 SATAII GLAN mATX
$105


Samsung 22X DVDRW Black SATA (SH-S223C-BL)
$23


Samsung 500G SATA II 7200rpm HD502HJ
$45



G Skill 4G(2x2G) DDR3 1600Mhz PC12800 9-9-9-24(CL9D-4GBNQ
$78



Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
$105



Sapphire HD6870 1G GDDR5 PCIE HDMI DP
$289


Total: $1204
If you're going to build just after Christmas, keep in mind Intel's new CPUs Sandy Bridge are being released in early January.
 
Ok, need help building a gaming PC.

Around 800-1000 euro is max.

Any kind soul eager to help?

Got this as an recomendation:

10k.jpg


1000 EURO (sweden is expensive as hell)

And this:

fanboi.jpg
 
I'm having a weird problem. My motherboard has six RAM slots: 3@ 1333mhz and 3@ 1666mhz, but it doesn't boot at all if I put memory in any of the 1666mhz slots, I thought it was a faulty stick of RAM but I've tried every combination using two sticks and it refuses to boot point blank when there's anything in the 1666mhz slots...have you ever heard of this problem?

I even previously sent some 1666 RAM back because I thought it was faulty.
 
I'm looking to build a slightly better machine to handle a few games (tf2, sc2, wow) and my current comp does it well with a c2d 1.8 ghz and 4 gig of 800mhz ram. How does this setup look as far as being a bit better.

I have a case, video card, power supply, and all the other stuff needed. I'm trying to stay in the $300 price range and using some old components so this is all I need. Anything I should look at different/better?

Processor: Intel Core i3 Processor i3-540 3.06GHz 4MB LGA1156 CPU BX80616I3540

Mobo: ASUS LGA 1156/ Intel H55/ DDR3 2133OC- mATX Motherboard P7H55-M Pro

Ram: Corsair 4GB Dual Channel Corsair DDR3 Memory for Intel Core i5 Processors (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)
 
Don't really know if this is the thread for this...

My PC keeps restarting at random intervals. I've read that it could be various things: virus, faulty power supply, registry error, CPU temp, etc. I've pretty much narrowed it down to it either being a registry error or power supply issue.

That being said, are there any good registry fixes I can find online? I looked for some but they all seemed kinda sketchy.
 
Question; if I'm going to be doing a clean install of Windows 7, what's the best way to back up the data that's currently on my Vista-installed machine? If I use the back up utility with Vista, can it just restore the files when the computer has 7 installed?
 
I'm somewhat helping a buddy get a new computer, budget $800-$1000. He wants it to be able to play new games, and watch videos at 1080p. Were not really keen on the whole building thing cause we've never done it before so we've been checking out pre-build computers (no monitor necessary). This is the one I've had my eye on for a bit and it seems pretty nice out of the box:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229199


Whats is your guys opinion on this computer, and do know of one that you would recommend more than this?

Thanks for you help in advance.


EDIT: Here's the specs:

Type:
Gaming

Processor:
Intel Core i5 760(2.80GHz)

Processor Main Features:
64 bit Quad-Core Processor

Memory:
4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333

Hard Drive:
1TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM HDD

Optical Drive 1:
24X DVD±R/±RW Dual Layer Drive

Graphics:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1GB PCI-Express Graphics Card

Audio:
Sound card - Integrated
 
PC GAF, you are my only hope. I've been interested in going PC for awhile now, but the announcement of a new Elder Scrolls was the Camel that broke the straw's back. I'm not interested in playing bad ports, and there are a ton of PC-only and classic games that I would play to play.

Anyways, my first step is to get a general idea of what I can accomplish with my budget. I will have around $700 to put towards building the PC, the monitor and KB/M not included. Maybe it's above my budget, but I am hoping that I can play current releases at an optimal level. I'd like to play the Mass Effects, the Fallouts, the Elder Scrolls etc in 1080p and 60fps. I want there to be a good reason for me to be playing these games on a PC instead of a Playstation. I don't expect a beast of a Rig, I won't be playing Crysis on MAX settings, but I hope to have a competent, future proof PC. Is that possible with my budget?

I hate to lean so heavily on you guys, it's not like I'm paying you or anything, but I'm totally in the dark with this PC business and anyone help is greatly appreciated. Once I get a general idea of what I can do with my budget, I'll probably have to find help & do some reason on what parts I'll need.

Thank you in advance, and wish me luck.
 
If you can wait a month or so, Intel's new processors are coming out in January. Some new AMD cards are coming out this week too, and there may be some price adjustment fallout as a result. If you can't wait, $700 should still get you something pretty sweet. It's definitely a reasonable budget to have.
 
Fredescu said:
If you can wait a month or so, Intel's new processors are coming out in January. Some new AMD cards are coming out this week too, and there may be some price adjustment fallout as a result. If you can't wait, $700 should still get you something pretty sweet. It's definitely a reasonable budget to have.

Thank you kindly. As a matter of fact, late January is when I plan on ordering the parts I need.

I'm axing for Best Buy cards for XMas to cover extra shit like my keyboard, mouse, speakers and monitors but I'll order the actual PC parts in about a month or so. I'm really excited about this, but I gotta figure out what I need first.

I started to really consider this when I realized that I didn't even care about the new freakin DEUS EX since my only option was to play it on PS3. I'm ready to bust out of my cocoon.
 
Is the graphics card in this laptop good enough to run COD4 (and similar, recent FPS games) with a smooth framerate and relatively good settings?

Sony VIAO Z-Series laptop
- Intel CoreTM i7-640M, 2.80GHz (4 MB L3 Cache)
- 8 GB 1066MHz DDR3-SDRAM (2 x 4096 MB)
- 256 GB Ultra SATA Flash SSD (4 x 64 GB)
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 1GB
 
Snuggler said:
Thank you kindly. As a matter of fact, late January is when I plan on ordering the parts I need.
Things will change a lot between now and the end of January. Check in to the thread when you're ready to build and go from there. Sites like Tech Report and Anandtech will probably have some good build guides up once all that stuff comes out too.
 
MrSardonic said:
Is the graphics card in this laptop good enough to run COD4 (and similar, recent FPS games) with a smooth framerate and relatively good settings?

Sony VIAO Z-Series laptop
- Intel CoreTM i7-640M, 2.80GHz (4 MB L3 Cache)
- 8 GB 1066MHz DDR3-SDRAM (2 x 4096 MB)
- 256 GB Ultra SATA Flash SSD (4 x 64 GB)
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 1GB
There's a good list of Mobile CPU benchmarks here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

There are quite a few entries for the 330m there. Looks like you might have to knock some games down to low to get 30fps.
 
Hey, a couple questions from a complete n00b:

  • Sound Card -- I plan on composing some tunes on my new computer. Any recommendations for a cheap but competent soundcard? I know most users do not even need a soundcard nowadays... is that also the case for people who like to dick around with fl studio?
  • Card Readers -- Do I need to buy this or will most systems come with integrated usb/sd card readers?
  • Network Card -- They are integrated into the motherboard, right? Any reason to buy one?
  • Compatability -- the following components will work together, right?
    • Intel Core i5 750 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.66GHZ 8MB
    • Gigabyte P55A-UD3 ATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3 2PCI-E 2PCI RAID GBLAN CrossFireX USB3.0 SATA3 Motherboard (GA-P55A-UD3) (sku: 46237)
    • G.SKILL F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL8-8-8-24 Core i5 Memory Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) (sku: 42746)
    • Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD 5770 860MHZ 1Gb 4.8GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E 2XDVI HDMI Display Port Video Card
    • Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM (WD1002FAEX) (sku: 50895)
  • Power Supply -- 520W is more than enough for the above system, right?

Thx!!
 
Any recommendations for a x58 mobo?
Been mostly looking at the Sabertooth. I will be running a i7 970, plan to clock to 4ghz or above. Any recommendations around the $190 range?
Also don't have ram yet, so if you know of a tri channel kit on sale I would be interested.
 
Snuggler said:
PC GAF, you are my only hope. I've been interested in going PC for awhile now, but the announcement of a new Elder Scrolls was the Camel that broke the straw's back. I'm not interested in playing bad ports, and there are a ton of PC-only and classic games that I would play to play.

Anyways, my first step is to get a general idea of what I can accomplish with my budget. I will have around $700 to put towards building the PC, the monitor and KB/M not included. Maybe it's above my budget, but I am hoping that I can play current releases at an optimal level. I'd like to play the Mass Effects, the Fallouts, the Elder Scrolls etc in 1080p and 60fps. I want there to be a good reason for me to be playing these games on a PC instead of a Playstation. I don't expect a beast of a Rig, I won't be playing Crysis on MAX settings, but I hope to have a competent, future proof PC. Is that possible with my budget?

I hate to lean so heavily on you guys, it's not like I'm paying you or anything, but I'm totally in the dark with this PC business and anyone help is greatly appreciated. Once I get a general idea of what I can do with my budget, I'll probably have to find help & do some reason on what parts I'll need.

Thank you in advance, and wish me luck.

If it's really just TES V that's driving you don't buy a new PC until it comes out. Other than that you're waiting to see what Sandy Bridge is when it comes out right away anyways. We really should just lock this thread until SB is released in the next few weeks :lol
 
fanboi said:
Ok, need help building a gaming PC.

Around 800-1000 euro is max.

Any kind soul eager to help?

Got this as an recomendation:
Both of those are fine, but if you are dropping that much, wait until early Jan as Intel's new CPU's will be out. AMD's 6950 will be out as well competing with the GTX570, and those are what you want at that price.
Ecto311 said:
I'm looking to build a slightly better machine to handle a few games (tf2, sc2, wow) and my current comp does it well with a c2d 1.8 ghz and 4 gig of 800mhz ram. How does this setup look as far as being a bit better.

I have a case, video card, power supply, and all the other stuff needed. I'm trying to stay in the $300 price range and using some old components so this is all I need. Anything I should look at different/better?

Processor: Intel Core i3 Processor i3-540 3.06GHz 4MB LGA1156 CPU BX80616I3540

Mobo: ASUS LGA 1156/ Intel H55/ DDR3 2133OC- mATX Motherboard P7H55-M Pro

Ram: Corsair 4GB Dual Channel Corsair DDR3 Memory for Intel Core i5 Processors (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)
Not cost efficient. Just overclock your E5200 to 2.8Ghz and wait till you can save a bit more.
Also, if you are upgrading you get a quad. No questions asked.
geeko420 said:
I'm somewhat helping a buddy get a new computer, budget $800-$1000. He wants it to be able to play new games, and watch videos at 1080p. Were not really keen on the whole building thing cause we've never done it before so we've been checking out pre-build computers (no monitor necessary). This is the one I've had my eye on for a bit and it seems pretty nice out of the box:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229199
It's pretty well rounded. Could be better for the money (If you do it yourself of course), but it's not bad and very capable.
Snuggler said:
PC GAF, you are my only hope. I've been interested in going PC for awhile now, but the announcement of a new Elder Scrolls was the Camel that broke the straw's back. I'm not interested in playing bad ports, and there are a ton of PC-only and classic games that I would play to play.

Anyways, my first step is to get a general idea of what I can accomplish with my budget. I will have around $700 to put towards building the PC, the monitor and KB/M not included. Maybe it's above my budget, but I am hoping that I can play current releases at an optimal level. I'd like to play the Mass Effects, the Fallouts, the Elder Scrolls etc in 1080p and 60fps.
$700 gets you a 3Ghz Quad core and a GTX 460 / 6850. That is pretty darn capable. Above is no problem.
We will see Sandy Bridge pricing in Jan, so if you can stretch a bit that might be within range as well.
OpinionatedCyborg said:
Hey, a couple questions from a complete n00b:

  • Sound Card -- I plan on composing some tunes on my new computer. Any recommendations for a cheap but competent soundcard? I know most users do not even need a soundcard nowadays... is that also the case for people who like to dick around with fl studio?
  • Card Readers -- Do I need to buy this or will most systems come with integrated usb/sd card readers?
  • Network Card -- They are integrated into the motherboard, right? Any reason to buy one?
  • Compatability -- the following components will work together, right?
    • Intel Core i5 750 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.66GHZ 8MB
    • Gigabyte P55A-UD3 ATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3 2PCI-E 2PCI RAID GBLAN CrossFireX USB3.0 SATA3 Motherboard (GA-P55A-UD3) (sku: 46237)
    • G.SKILL F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL8-8-8-24 Core i5 Memory Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) (sku: 42746)
    • Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD 5770 860MHZ 1Gb 4.8GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E 2XDVI HDMI Display Port Video Card
    • Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM (WD1002FAEX) (sku: 50895)
  • Power Supply -- 520W is more than enough for the above system, right?

Thx!!
Sound Card - ASUS Xonar. If you want EAX you get an X-Fi. The ASUS Xonar DG is $30 ($20 AR) and I just picked it up. It has an amp and is 20x louder than onboard, plus can drive stuff pretty darn well.
Card Readers you buy separately. Either ones that go in floppy drive, DVD drive, or external.
Networks cards aren't worth it.
Parts work together, but the 5770 is replaced by the GTX 460 which is 40% faster at the same price. Some cheaper DDR3 is fine as well (1333) is like $50.
A Corsair or Seasonic (or other good brand) 520W is fine.
Toby said:
Any recommendations for a x58 mobo?
Been mostly looking at the Sabertooth. I will be running a i7 970, plan to clock to 4ghz or above. Any recommendations around the $190 range?
Also don't have ram yet, so if you know of a tri channel kit on sale I would be interested.
If you haven't bought the CPU I'd wait for Sandy Bridge. If you have already, then look at the Gigabyte UD3R. *Well the ASUS is $30 cheaper, so that is fine too. Both good boards.
As for tri channel kits, any G.Skill or Corsair that is on sale at newegg really.
 
Toby said:
Any recommendations for a x58 mobo?
Been mostly looking at the Sabertooth. I will be running a i7 970, plan to clock to 4ghz or above. Any recommendations around the $190 range?
Also don't have ram yet, so if you know of a tri channel kit on sale I would be interested.

i have an i7-970 and and a sabertooth and it's a 4ghz. I also have the XMP Kingston 1600mhz 2gb triple channel kit timings of 9-9-9-27.
 
avatar_191.jpeg


So, after have already given up on my cpu, I decided to redo all the process: removing the heatsink, the thermal paste and then put it all back in (including the thermal paste). And I made damn sure that the screws were properly pushed (thank Hazaro!)... and it worked.

I don't know what was causing it, but I guess it's over now.

Thanks Hazaro, Felix Lighter, koji, Shambles and Clevinger for the really useful help!

Btw, I'm running Real Temp and I'm getting 43ºC idle. I think I'll buy a Hyper 212.

I also ran a 3dmark06 test and I got these results:http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15151705. Is it good?

Thanks!
 
I'm looking to build a new system that will last 2-3 years, one with a quad core processor (Intel). It will be for games, design work, and watching movies occasionally.

So I have two questions:

1. Will I notice a large difference making the price jump from 2.8 to 2.93 (and should I go i5 or i7?)

2. I see the GTX 570 is the new Nvidia hotness. Is it worthwhile, or is there another card that's in the realm without killing my wallet as much?


Thanks!
 
Yeah it just is that it needs to be properly secured. Most heatsinks put 30-50 psi on the CPU.
If you do get a 212 I would hope you overclock! Under 3Ghz on an i7 is a shame.
frogg609 said:
I'm looking to build a new system that will last 2-3 years, one with a quad core processor (Intel). It will be for games, design work, and watching movies occasionally.

So I have two questions:
1. Will I notice a large difference making the price jump from 2.8 to 2.93 (and should I go i5 or i7?)
2. I see the GTX 570 is the new Nvidia hotness. Is it worthwhile, or is there another card that's in the realm without killing my wallet as much?

Thanks!
1) No. i5. But New CPUs and Sockets come out Jan, so get that instead.
2) It's a well priced card. Under that is the $150/$200 GTX460 / 6850. There will likely be a launch of a GTX 560 soon as well to fill in that last $250 price point with something actually worth while.
 
Shambles said:
If it's really just TES V that's driving you don't buy a new PC until it comes out. Other than that you're waiting to see what Sandy Bridge is when it comes out right away anyways. We really should just lock this thread until SB is released in the next few weeks :lol

well, it's not just TES V, it's a big one but there are ton of games that I'm interested in playing as well

most have already been released

I'll wait for details on this Sandy Bridge, though
 
Hazaro said:
Thanks!

Also, I am perusing some of the online deals. Is the following a decent deal?

Intel® CoreTM i7 860 (2.8GHz/8MB cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
8GB3 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
1000GB4 SATA hard drive (7200RPM)
ST2320L 23-inch Full HD Widescreen Monitor
16X DVD+/-RW Drive


999.99 @ dell.ca. Or you can get an i5 750 with blu ray for the same price.

It comes with a lousy graphics card but allows upgrading to a Radeon 5700 for 200 bux. Shipping is free. Plus, I get 50 dollars cash back with paypal. So, minus tax, it would be around 1150. I am not into heavy video editing or graphic rendering, I think this is a bit overkill for me. And no option of getting a soundcard with it, atho I can always add that later. But I like the idea of getting all the components from one place, and it saves me the time hunting around for a new monitor.

Good/bad deal?
 
For $1200 I'd highly recommend you build your own. Do you even need all that power?


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

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

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

4)Prospective laptop buyers please fill this out and ask their forum as well.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...ould-i-buy-form-must-read-before-posting.html
GAF notebook / laptop thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386622
 
Hazaro said:
If you haven't bought the CPU I'd wait for Sandy Bridge. If you have already, then look at the Gigabyte UD3R. *Well the ASUS is $30 cheaper, so that is fine too. Both good boards.
As for tri channel kits, any G.Skill or Corsair that is on sale at newegg really.
Im sure you're advice was assuming I paid retail. I only paid $250 so I think it was a good deal.
caliblue15 said:
i have an i7-970 and and a sabertooth and it's a 4ghz. I also have the XMP Kingston 1600mhz 2gb triple channel kit timings of 9-9-9-27.
Did you try any higher than that? or was that your max? Was hoping for ~4.2 TBH.
Think I will end up with the sabertooth. Just need to wait for a sale.
 
Toby said:
Im sure you're advice was assuming I paid retail. I only paid $250 so I think it was a good deal.

Did you try any higher than that? or was that your max? Was hoping for ~4.2 TBH.
Think I will end up with the sabertooth. Just need to wait for a sale.

I could go higher, but i haven't tried, i might try after finals, also going to up my GPU a little as well. My BCLK is at 177, if i up it to 182 it's 4.2 ghz, but my voltage goes up pretty quick to make it stable, but each processor is different. Though I wish my BCLK was at 200 instead.
 
Toby said:
Im sure you're advice was assuming I paid retail. I only paid $250 so I think it was a good deal.

Did you try any higher than that? or was that your max? Was hoping for ~4.2 TBH.
Think I will end up with the sabertooth. Just need to wait for a sale.
Just that buying an i7 now when Sandy Bride comes out in Jan seems iffy. It's a good chip for sure, but the socket won't be updated.
The ASUS is $190 with $10 coupon making it $180 atm.

4.2 is what I would aim for. Shouldn't be a problem.
 
Hazaro said:
Just that buying an i7 now when Sandy Bride comes out in Jan seems iffy. It's a good chip for sure, but the socket won't be updated.
The ASUS is $190 with $10 coupon making it $180 atm.

4.2 is what I would aim for. Shouldn't be a problem.
I see its 190 after a $10 coupon at newegg. Was there another coupon to use, or did you see that someplace else?
caliblue15 said:
I could go higher, but i haven't tried, i might try after finals, also going to up my GPU a little as well. My BCLK is at 177, if i up it to 182 it's 4.2 ghz, but my voltage goes up pretty quick to make it stable, but each processor is different. Though I wish my BCLK was at 200 instead.
Lol, been with AMD for a long time. Not sure what BCLK (baseclock?) is. Sure will find out before I fuck around with it though. Good luck on finals, got mine this week and I sure am stressing.
 
Hazaro said:
For $1200 I'd highly recommend you build your own. Do you even need all that power?
Probably not. But when I've priced out the recommended gaming rigs from this thread, I end up around 900 bucks pre-monitor. I figure + 200 for a nice monitor, and I will end up near 1150 anyway.

Budget: 1,000. I've only set the budget at 1k because I think that is a reasonable number. If I go over a bit, fine. If I'm under, great.
Main Use: This will be my everything desktop. I use a netbook and a laptop mostly for general use so this desktop will likely be general use -> sound editing -> light gaming -> light video editing.
Monitor Resolution: uhm. I dunno. I'd like to watch HD content. I don't need all of my games to be in super high res. I need a new monitor, though.
List SPECIFIC games Shogun II: Total War, Team Fortress, Portal II, Sim City 4. I haven't been much into PC games in the past. I usually find a game, get horribly addicted, and then wait 8 - 9 months before playing another -- PC games tend to be that good. I need a new desktop to play newer games.

I appreciate all of the advice. I know shit about computers... last time I went through this hassle was when I put together a PC for the rents a couple years ago. I have to re-learn all this stuff every time.
 
Toby said:
I see its 190 after a $10 coupon at newegg. Was there another coupon to use, or did you see that someplace else?
Whoops, no you are right.
OpinionatedCyborg said:
Probably not. But when I've priced out the recommended gaming rigs from this thread, I end up around 900 bucks pre-monitor. I figure + 200 for a nice monitor, and I will end up near 1150 anyway.

Budget: 1,000. I've only set the budget at 1k because I think that is a reasonable number. If I go over a bit, fine. If I'm under, great.
Main Use: This will be my everything desktop. I use a netbook and a laptop mostly for general use so this desktop will likely be general use -> sound editing -> light gaming -> light video editing.
Monitor Resolution: uhm. I dunno. I'd like to watch HD content. I don't need all of my games to be in super high res. I need a new monitor, though.
List SPECIFIC games Shogun II: Total War, Team Fortress, Portal II, Sim City 4. I haven't been much into PC games in the past. I usually find a game, get horribly addicted, and then wait 8 - 9 months before playing another -- PC games tend to be that good. I need a new desktop to play newer games.

I appreciate all of the advice. I know shit about computers... last time I went through this hassle was when I put together a PC for the rents a couple years ago. I have to re-learn all this stuff every time.
Doesn't seem too demanding. You could go for the budget rig and get a GTX 460 and most likely be set.
If you'd like a computer that should last longer, getting a Sandy Bridge based computer in early January would fall in your budget a bit under 1k.
 
Hazaro said:
Whoops, no you are right.

Doesn't seem too demanding. You could go for the budget rig and get a GTX 460 and most likely be set.
If you'd like a computer that should last longer, getting a Sandy Bridge based computer in early January would fall in your budget a bit under 1k.
Everywhere I look, the GTX 460 (both 1GB and 768Mb) are more expensive than the 5770. 250/200 bucks for the GTX vs 170 bucks for the Radeon on ncix.com. Am I just looking in the wrong places or do I have my models mixed up? Hazaro said these models are basically the same price, but the GTX is 40% faster.

I just checked newegg.ca. Seems to have mail-in rebates for nearly everything. Appears a lot cheaper (although I have to factor in shipping costs)...

edit: is there any reason the i5 760 should be cheaper than the 750?
 
OpinionatedCyborg said:
Everywhere I look, the GTX 460 (both 1GB and 768Mb) are more expensive than the 5770. 250/200 bucks for the GTX vs 170 bucks for the Radeon on ncix.com. Am I just looking in the wrong places or do I have my models mixed up? Hazaro said these models are basically the same price, but the GTX is 40% faster.

I just checked newegg.ca. Seems to have mail-in rebates for nearly everything. Appears a lot cheaper (although I have to factor in shipping costs)...

edit: is there any reason the i5 760 should be cheaper than the 750?
750 not made anymore.
Canada means not same prices for you :'[
 
Hazaro said:
Not cost efficient. Just overclock your E5200 to 2.8Ghz and wait till you can save a bit more.
Also, if you are upgrading you get a quad. No questions asked.

I want to use the other components in a htpc. I'm also not real comfortable over clocking aside from the asus preset bump to 1.98.

If the parts I posted work well together I should be good to go with a bit of an upgrade.. right?
 
Ecto311 said:
I want to use the other components in a htpc. I'm also not real comfortable over clocking aside from the asus preset bump to 1.98.

If the parts I posted work well together I should be good to go with a bit of an upgrade.. right?
The parts will work fine and you'll see a boost, but you are spending $300 on something that you can significantly improve for a little bit of your time.

I can't tell anyone today to get a dual core, so if you go intel your next choice is i5, but then Sandy Bridge is coming out <Jan 11th and pricing looks to be the same (along with being slightly faster, use less power, turbo mode).

For TF2 and SC II the dual core boost will be useful, but with so many more programs using 4 cores it's not worth the investment in a dead socket imo. Same goes for AM3 as AM3+ comes out in April and is not backwards compatibly either.

So... try to overclock. If you don't want to, you might as well put in a E8400/E8500 as the speeds aren't that off from an i3. Best budget option to to drop in a Q6600 / Q8___ and clock that to 3Ghz or so.

That's a bit jumbled, so ask if you any questions.
 
Toby said:
I see its 190 after a $10 coupon at newegg. Was there another coupon to use, or did you see that someplace else?

Lol, been with AMD for a long time. Not sure what BCLK (baseclock?) is. Sure will find out before I fuck around with it though. Good luck on finals, got mine this week and I sure am stressing.

BCLK is like the FSB, i just started on intel as well, built my first computer couple weeks ago. Lots of learning to do, i just couldn't wait and did it before finals.. :lol
 
GAF helped immensely with building my new gaming PC last year, but now I'm looking for some advice on putting together a budget home PC for my folks.

I'm thinking something with a decent i5, but outside of that I'm open to suggestions. My Dad will be the primary user, and he'll probably be using it mainly for:
  • Web browsing / email
  • Photo editing (amateur photographer with a digi SLR)
  • Word processing and some basic DTP work
  • Poss. some lower-end gaming

I'm thinking a decent quad core, plenty of reasonably fast RAM, a large, fast-ish HDD, reasonably-sized widescreen monitor etc. He doesn't have an existing desktop to cannibalise parts from, so it'll be a full build.

He was swithering between a new laptop and this, so his budget is probably somewhere around £700-800 all in.
 
Dear GAF,

please help me with the following decision, Do I buy :

GTX 480 at 340 Euros

or

GTX 580 at 400 euros.

or

AMD 5970 at 400

I'm leaning towards the 580, right now. But any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
confused said:
Dear GAF,

please help me with the following decision, Do I buy :

GTX 480 at 340 Euros

or

GTX 580 at 400 euros.

or

AMD 5970 at 400

I'm leaning towards the 580, right now. But any input would be greatly appreciated.
Between the three I would also say 580. (I'm not familiar with the prices though.)
 
Cosmonaut X said:
GAF helped immensely with building my new gaming PC last year, but now I'm looking for some advice on putting together a budget home PC for my folks.

I'm thinking something with a decent i5, but outside of that I'm open to suggestions. My Dad will be the primary user, and he'll probably be using it mainly for:
  • Web browsing / email
  • Photo editing (amateur photographer with a digi SLR)
  • Word processing and some basic DTP work
  • Poss. some lower-end gaming

I'm thinking a decent quad core, plenty of reasonably fast RAM, a large, fast-ish HDD, reasonably-sized widescreen monitor etc. He doesn't have an existing desktop to cannibalise parts from, so it'll be a full build.

He was swithering between a new laptop and this, so his budget is probably somewhere around £700-800 all in.

Usually people go with the easier (generally the more expensive) approach and go out to buy a PC itself. I agree with the Core i5 though, it's probably a good idea to get a 760, a more upgraded version of the 750. The Motherboard and RAM shouldn't be too hard; a reasonable P55 with 4Gb of DRR3 RAM. I recently got a 1900 x 1400 screen for a near $300, but by the looks of the uses for it, you should should get away with something much smaller for much less money. You're going to have to worry about other things, like a case, power supply and accessories.
I'm not familiar with UK Prices, someone else probably is on here, but good luck!
 
So I have recently built a new PC and I'm just wondering what game is best to use to "test" how good your PC is.

Crysis was the best one to test it from what I last heard, but I was wondering if there was anything more demanding?

Thanks in advance,
 
Jordan91 said:
So I have recently built a new PC and I'm just wondering what game is best to use to "test" how good your PC is.

Crysis was the best one to test it from what I last heard, but I was wondering if there was anything more demanding?

Thanks in advance,
Metro 2033 is supposed to be very demanding. I have not tried it myself.
 
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