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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

Hazaro said:
AYsnN.gif
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Aaah looks like I spoke too soon! I installed Windows XP, and the scrolling seems really slow and it won't find the HD audio drivers and won't let me install my gpu drivers? Just says something went wrong and is reverting back and then restarts. WHAT. Hardware problem or old shitty scratched XP problem?
 
Scrolling is slow until it uses your GPU for graphics.

When it auto detects your graphics card, hit cancel, then install 208.25 or whatever the nvidia drivers are now.

audio drivers should be on the driver disc. If they aren't working, nab everything you need the the manufacturers website.
 
Hazaro said:
Scrolling is slow until it uses your GPU for graphics.

When it auto detects your graphics card, hit cancel, then install 208.25 or whatever the nvidia drivers are now.

audio drivers should be on the driver disc. If they aren't working, nab everything you need the the manufacturers website.
Click to expand...

Still hasn't worked. It won't actually recognize the GPU? There's a 460gtx in there, I plugged in 2 of the black 6 pin power things into it...am I missing something here? The audio drivers are still also bugging out.
 
The highest multiplier I have is 14, so in order to overclock my CPU further I had to increase my FSB. I've already jacked it from 200x14 to 250x14 giving me 3.5 GHz at 1.344V. I know that's a bad idea because it messes with the RAM, but I was already topped out at the stock 2.8 GHz otherwise.

1540586.png


EDIT: Wait a minute. This page has a look at my motherboard, and for some reason their BIOS has a multiplier of up to 35.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/985/3/

Should I maybe update my BIOS or something?
 
I think my old shitty version of XP is just NOT HAPPY with this new stuff :lol

It's saying "Hey. There's a GTX 460 in here! Oh but we can't install drivers dude." I'm assuming it's just pure lack of compatibility, and nothing to do with the hardware itself.
 
Rezbit said:
I think my old shitty version of XP is just NOT HAPPY with this new stuff :lol

It's saying "Hey. There's a GTX 460 in here! Oh but we can't install drivers dude." I'm assuming it's just pure lack of compatibility, and nothing to do with the hardware itself.
Click to expand...

I guess if your network card drivers are working you could update windows first and see if that helps at all.
 
Felix Lighter said:
I guess if your network card drivers are working you could update windows first and see if that helps at all.
Click to expand...

:lol I am a dum dum. I forgot you have to install SP3. So I did, and it's all good now. Thanks!
 
scitek said:
The highest multiplier I have is 14, so in order to overclock my CPU further I had to increase my FSB. I've already jacked it from 200x14 to 250x14 giving me 3.5 GHz at 1.344V. I know that's a bad idea because it messes with the RAM, but I was already topped out at the stock 2.8 GHz otherwise.

X4 925 pic

EDIT: Wait a minute. This page has a look at my motherboard, and for some reason their BIOS has a multiplier of up to 35.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/985/3/

Should I maybe update my BIOS or something?
Click to expand...

it's can be a good idea because it overclocks the RAM as well ;)

but you're not gonna increase multipliers above 14 with that CPU , as it is not a BLACK EDITION and thus has its multiplier locked to the stock 14 edit: (you can lower it below 14 ofcourse, which is useful if your motherboard can run high fsb speeds)

250 is already a nice increase in FSB, but if you want to go further and fear that your RAM might hold you back you should select a different RAM divider (for example 4/5 would result in your ram running at its original 200mhz with your current 250 fsb)

trick with AMD is usually to keep your RAM close to stock and see where the CPU limit is at, then try to improve your ram overclocking while running the CPU close to its limit
 
TheExodu5 said:
E6600, i5 750, i5 920....yeah shit these were all awful, awful products for people who bought them at launch.

*snicker*

Mind stating specifics instead of just blanket statements? Yeah early products have a higher chance of having problems. Regardless, Intel's track record is nearly impeccable.

Why wait a year, and pay essentially the same price just on the off chance that there are minor issues with new motherboards? Come on.
Click to expand...
The CPUs themselves are fine, there's never any problem there (with the exception of AMD's first venture into quads I suppose). But with new CPUs come new motherboards and coolers, since they're dependent on it.

It's all about the motherboards to me. There's the ram/clock compatibility in some cases (some early 1366 boards weren't even triple channel IIRC), the bios options when dealing with new chipsets are often problematic or just limiting at the beginning of every new generation, the pin contact problem that exist and STILL exist with the 1366 CPUs and boards (I had this problem myself and just got it fixed a few days ago when I got my RMA'd mobo back), and so on.

There's board design too (placement, cooling, features, etc), but that's just an engineering/design problem that exists every time new mobos are made anyways. PCs also have generational features that not too many other products have: backwards compatibility. With new sockets, you generally can't dump your old CPU in there and expect it to work. But this problem comes with the freedom of flexibility, so whether you see it as a cost or benefit is up to you.



On another note, I should get a chance to show pics and specs of my new rig this weekend, provided I find the time to do a write up and test some games out to see how it does.
 
Bah, a pin in the CPU socket of my motherboard burned out yesterday. I still don't understand how it happened... I've got a pretty good OC but it was completely stable as far as I know (24+ hours of various Prime95 tests). Is keeping minimum voltages to reduce heat not advisable anymore or something?
I thought it was awfully convenient how it supposedly happened to burn out right when I was swapping out my 5850 for my new 6970, though. I thought it was my PSU for a while, but there's no way 750w isn't enough to power a single video card system... and then I saw the burnt pin.

Sigh. Here's hoping ASUS aren't assholes about this.
 
n0n44m said:
it's can be a good idea because it overclocks the RAM as well ;)

but you're not gonna increase multipliers above 14 with that CPU , as it is not a BLACK EDITION and thus has its multiplier locked to the stock 14 edit: (you can lower it below 14 ofcourse, which is useful if your motherboard can run high fsb speeds)

250 is already a nice increase in FSB, but if you want to go further and fear that your RAM might hold you back you should select a different RAM divider (for example 4/5 would result in your ram running at its original 200mhz with your current 250 fsb)

trick with AMD is usually to keep your RAM close to stock and see where the CPU limit is at, then try to improve your ram overclocking while running the CPU close to its limit
Click to expand...

The RAM has weird multipliers, like 5.33. The way I have it set up now, the FSB is 250, but the 5.33 multiplier lets me keep the RAM at 1332 MHz so it's stable. I tried setting it to 1666 MHz, but it was unstable (that was at stock voltage, though, since I don't know what's unacceptable voltage for RAM). Is it okay if the RAM isn't exactly 1033/1333/1600? If I up the FSB anymore I get weird speeds like 1485 MHz and whatnot. Also, how do I know when I should up the voltage on something? I get a post error with anything past I think 265 MHz with the FSB.
 
gts9E.jpg


Long overdue since my last build was a P4 3Ghz. Last attempt at PC gaming was a 9800 Pro with an Athlon XP2500. Hope I'm more interested in PC games this time around :D
 
Beatbox said:
http://i.imgur.com/gts9E.jpg[/IMG

Long overdue since my last build was a P4 3Ghz. Last attempt at PC gaming was a 9800 Pro with an Athlon XP2500. Hope I'm more interested in PC games this time around :D[/QUOTE]

welcome friend
Click to expand...
 
PC bros

I was in this thread a lot over the summer, and now that I finished my last semester of college I will for sure be in here a lot more. I wanted to build a PC in the summer, but decided to wait for Crysis 2 to hit (one of my most anticipated games). Crysis 2 hits in March and I plan to get the best comp possible at the time. With that I've got a few questions

1. Looking at Sandy Bridge, I know they're supposed to hit around mid January. I've been seeing some insane speeds (5ghz?!) and I'm curious about a unlocked multiplier actually does? Why would one go for a K model SB over a regular model? On that topic what does the voltage increase/decrease do?

2. Would it be a waste to get a 6 core i7? I read that Intel is releasing another 6 core in January.

Sorry for nooby type questions, just curious about some of this stuff as I try and get back into deciding what I want to do.
 
After a long time ago of using thread to build my PC, I'm back with some more questions.

I'm currently getting some warnings (happened to me 3 times in the last couple of months) on Windows 7 that it wants to initiate a back-up since it is detecting errors on my hard drive (Samsung F3 1TB). Called Samsung and the guy was nice and recommended sending it in so I'm going to register and do it this weekend.

Bought a new Samsung F3 from Microcenter (need to get my SC2 fix while I wait) and I'm going to reinstall Windows 7 on the new drive and when I receive the replacement later, use that as a secondary drive. Now to the questions:

-Has anyone else encountered this problem where Windows 7 wants to start the backup process due to problems with the HDD?

-Do I need to deactivate Windows 7 on the old drive and reactivate it on the new drive or can I just install it on the new drive since it uses the same motherboard, etc.?

Thanks!
 
I am getting ready to jump back into PC gaming and have put this in "my cart" at NCIX. Looking for any recommendation on changes or additions. It's been a while since I have built a computer so I can use any suggestions you might have. :D

-Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case 300 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB $53.99
-OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables 135mm Fan 80PLUS Power Supply $79.99
-ASUS P7P55D-E LX LGA1156 P55 ATX DDR3 1PCI-E16 4PCI-E1 2PCI USB3.0 SATA 6GB Sound GBLAN Motherboard $137.30
-Intel Core i5 760 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.8GHZ 8MB Cache Retail Box $199.99
-G.SKILL F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL Ripjaws 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1333 CL9-9-9-24 240PIN DIMM Memory $95.30
-MSI GeForce GTX 460 Hawk Talon Attack 810MHZ 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI Mini-HDMI DX11 PCI-E Video Card $229.99
1 x FREE StarCraft II Free Trial Coupon for Digital Download *NVIDIA Promo Only*
1 x FREE Just Cause 2 (PC Game) Coupon for Digital Download *NVIDIA Promo Only*
1 x FREE Metro 2033 Free PC Game Coupon for Digital Download *MSI Promo Only*
1 x FREE Ubisoft Tom CLANCY''''S H.A.W.X 2 (PC Game) Coupon for Digital Download
-Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM $85.99
-Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS 22X SATA Black DVD Writer Lightscribe OEM $21.99
-Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H50 High Performance CPU Cooler System LGA775 LGA1366 LGA1156 AM2 AM3 $64.99
-Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000 Bluetrack Keyboard and Mouse Combo USB $57.99
-Coolermaster R4-L2R-20AC 120MM Blue LED Case Fan 2000RPM 69CFM 19DBA 3/4 Pin $35.96 (for 4)
-BenQ E2420HD 24IN 16:9 Widescreen Black LCD Monitor 2MS 50000:1 1920X1080 2XHDMI DVI *IR-$60* $199.99
Express Coverage - with "ZERO Dead PIXEL" Exchange $10.00

The whole thing is going to cost me about $1,370 with Window 7 (not including GST, Shipping or Insurance)
 
Also, I've been very picky about installing things on this new computer since I want it to be as fast as possible with minimal things running in the background. Right now I just have SC2 and Steam, I also have just IE since Chrome keeps checking every few minutes to see if you are on the internet.

Are there any alternatives I can use to watch youtube videos? I don't want to install Flash or Java since I tire of their bloated software with the constant updates.

So far I've been using this computer pretty much just for gaming since I have another right next to it connected to the same monitor that I have all of my other programs on, but I'd like to take advantage of using the HDMI out from this new one to watch stuff on my TV.
 
Beatbox said:
http://i.imgur.com/gts9E.jpg

Long overdue since my last build was a P4 3Ghz. Last attempt at PC gaming was a 9800 Pro with an Athlon XP2500. Hope I'm more interested in PC games this time around :D
Click to expand...

you picked some great parts. you're in for a treat. get ready for the steam xmas sale :D
 
TheKurgan said:
I am getting ready to jump back into PC gaming and have put this in "my cart" at NCIX. Looking for any recommendation on changes or additions. It's been a while since I have built a computer so I can use any suggestions you might have. :D

-Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case 300 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB $53.99
Click to expand...

Newegg has the Antec 300 currently on sale for $44.99 after $20 MIR and promo code 'EMCZNZV99'. Note that I think the code is only for the weekend.
 
Beatbox said:
Last attempt at PC gaming was a 9800 Pro with an Athlon XP2500. Hope I'm more interested in PC games this time around :D
Click to expand...
OMG, that was the same setup I had back in 2004. GPU died a year and a half later and I took a break from PC games for about 4 years.

It was like crawling back to your old girlfriend that you broke up with. I'll never leave again. :lol
 
Beatbox said:
gts9E.jpg


Long overdue since my last build was a P4 3Ghz. Last attempt at PC gaming was a 9800 Pro with an Athlon XP2500. Hope I'm more interested in PC games this time around :D
Click to expand...

Everything looks great, except the RAM, it's a shame you skimped on the RAM.

Oh well... Welcome to the MASTER RACE! :D
 
TheKurgan said:
I am getting ready to jump back into PC gaming and have put this in "my cart" at NCIX. Looking for any recommendation on changes or additions. It's been a while since I have built a computer so I can use any suggestions you might have. :D

-G.SKILL F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL Ripjaws 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1333 CL9-9-9-24 240PIN DIMM Memory $95.30
-MSI GeForce GTX 460 Hawk Talon Attack 810MHZ 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI Mini-HDMI DX11 PCI-E Video Card $229.99

The whole thing is going to cost me about $1,370 with Window 7 (not including GST, Shipping or Insurance)
Click to expand...

Sure you need those 8 gigs? Its not a big deal, but you could drop to 4, and upgrade to DDR3-1600.

Also, the 460 is good, but another $30 gets you the 470. Also given the recent drops of the 500's and the 6900's, you might see a price break too. And, come to think about, with Sandy Bridge dropping in early January, that i5 760 is going to drop in price. That will give you the option of replacing out for brand new CPU and Mobo when they are out for little change of price (based on rumored pricing) or sticking with the older tech you got in there and grabbing the savings.

In short, if you are planning on building with Intel in the near future, try to wait until after SB drops.
 
So how do i force supersampling with my GTX580? Is it even possible?

I already created a new profile with nvidia Inspector 1.9.4, set the mode to "Override any application setting", the Antialiasing Setting to "2x2 [2x2 Supersampling (D3D only)]" and loaded that profile in the nvidia control panel, but there's still jaggies everywhere.
 
JoeBoy101 said:
Sure you need those 8 gigs? Its not a big deal, but you could drop to 4, and upgrade to DDR3-1600.

Also, the 460 is good, but another $30 gets you the 470. Also given the recent drops of the 500's and the 6900's, you might see a price break too. And, come to think about, with Sandy Bridge dropping in early January, that i5 760 is going to drop in price. That will give you the option of replacing out for brand new CPU and Mobo when they are out for little change of price (based on rumored pricing) or sticking with the older tech you got in there and grabbing the savings.

In short, if you are planning on building with Intel in the near future, try to wait until after SB drops.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on "Sandy Bridge" I had no idea Intel was changing sockets/chipset again. I am in no real hurry but would like to buy an new PC in the next couple of months.

Is 4GB enough? I am not a power user but I have seen some Dell builds with like 9-12GB

What is the Video card sweetspot right now? Best value/performace balance. I don't need top of the line but I want to be able to game at high settings in 1080p.

Thanks.
 
Thanks guys. I think I did pretty good budget wise.

Sonata III - $50 AR
EVGA FTW - Free from EVGA scavenger hunt contest
i5-760 - $180
Gigabyte 460 - $200 AR
A-Data RAM - $55
Lite On - $25
Nexus Fans x 2 - $20
Hyper 212 - $25
Windows 7 Builders - $55 (Amazon had it cheap for a few hours around BF)
Samsung F3 500GB - $50
Samsung F4 2TB - $70
Logitech MX518 - $27 AR
Artic Silver - $10
-------------------
total - $767

The free MB helped but it should be great for the money spent.
 
MoFuzz said:
OMG, that was the same setup I had back in 2004. GPU died a year and a half later and I took a break from PC games for about 4 years.

It was like crawling back to your old girlfriend that you broke up with. I'll never leave again. :lol
Click to expand...

Nice. My 9800 Pro is still going stong - althought it hasn't seen any real 3D action in 6 years. Thought it was dying on me a few months ago running Zune software - got all sorts of random glitches but after a good cleaning it was back to normal. The last games I played were Half Life 2, FarCry, Battlefield 1942 and Tron 2.0 - looks like I have a lot of catching up to do.
 
Beatbox said:
Nice. My 9800 Pro is still going stong - althought it hasn't seen any real 3D action in 6 years. Thought it was dying on me a few months ago running Zune software - got all sorts of random glitches but after a good cleaning it was back to normal. The last games I played were Half Life 2, FarCry, Battlefield 1942 and Tron 2.0 - looks like I have a lot of catching up to do.
Click to expand...
Far Cry ran like a pig on that setup. I only had 512 MB of RAM too, so load times were minutes, not seconds.

I remember being pretty pleased with Half Life 2 running at 1280x1024 with medium/low settings, no AA and Trilinear filtering. Funny to think that something as small as ION netbooks have roughly the same power nowadays!
 
Smokey said:
PC bros

I was in this thread a lot over the summer, and now that I finished my last semester of college I will for sure be in here a lot more. I wanted to build a PC in the summer, but decided to wait for Crysis 2 to hit (one of my most anticipated games). Crysis 2 hits in March and I plan to get the best comp possible at the time. With that I've got a few questions

1. Looking at Sandy Bridge, I know they're supposed to hit around mid January. I've been seeing some insane speeds (5ghz?!) and I'm curious about a unlocked multiplier actually does? Why would one go for a K model SB over a regular model? On that topic what does the voltage increase/decrease do?

2. Would it be a waste to get a 6 core i7? I read that Intel is releasing another 6 core in January.

Sorry for nooby type questions, just curious about some of this stuff as I try and get back into deciding what I want to do.
Click to expand...
Well if you don't have a "K" model, you can't overclock.
The enthusiast socket is 2011, that' will have the 6/8 cores, but I would think Intel would throw some kind of bone to 1155 and we'd get a decent 6/8core in a year when they refresh. Or they could make new sockets and screw everyone over, I don't know.
Smash88 said:
Everything looks great, except the RAM, it's a shame you skimped on the RAM.

Oh well... Welcome to the MASTER RACE! :D
Click to expand...
4GB of A-Data is fine, wouldn't call that skimping. DDR3 prices will probably be their lowest Jan/Feb, but they are already really low now.
 
Just want to say that I recently got in a great deal on an Intel SSD 128 GB from newegg. I'm not posting to brag, just saying if you are dropping $100 on a conventional HD you should seriously consider going with an SSD for around $200. The amount of performance increase is substancial in my opinion. It isn't 100% applicable to pure gaming, but it does increase the speed of pretty much any action.
 
52club said:
Just want to say that I recently got in a great deal on an Intel SSD 128 GB from newegg. I'm not posting to brag, just saying if you are dropping $100 on a conventional HD you should seriously consider going with an SSD for around $200. The amount of performance increase is substancial in my opinion. It isn't 100% applicable to pure gaming, but it does increase the speed of pretty much any action.
Click to expand...
Intel and Sandforce's new stuff should be dropping Q1 2011. It's a great time to jump ship for EVERYONE imo.
 
SuperSonic1305 said:
I want to try overclocking my i7 930. Anyone have a guide for noobs?
Click to expand...

This post helped me the most. There is a lot there and there may be some Asus specific terminology but the instructions are pretty good and he does a good job of describing all the settings you should be dealing with.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?board_id=1&model=P6T+Deluxe&id=20081220191040237&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

There are a ton of other great guides out there if this one is not for you.
 
WyndhamPrice said:
Hey Master Race,

Looks like I get to build a desktop thanks to Christmas, how's this look?

I'm basing this off of the handy bargain build linked in the thread but I've upgraded where I thought it was appropriate:

Sapphire Radeon HD 6850
AMD Phenom II x4 970BE
4GB (2 x 2GB) Ram
730W Power Supply + 1TB Hard drive combo

Comes out to 685 with the case before taxes and shipping.

\Anything I should change? Will I be blazing (at a cost-efficient level)?
Click to expand...
Motherboard? I would go for a different PSU personally. Corsair, Seasonic, Antec, PP&C, something like that.
 
I bought this, biatches!

red9223.jpg


I've removed the hard drive rack so there is fucking enormous air flow from the front 200mm fan. I'm using a Lian Li EX 33B1 caddy to mount the hard drives in the spare CD bays:

lian-li-ex-33b1-p-black-aluminum-internal-meshed-hdd-cage-frch-laex33bp.jpg


^This beast has a fan built in so it keeps the drives cool too. It takes up 3 bays and then I have my Blu-Ray RW and memory card reader to fill the front up nicely!


BTW, does anyone have any experience with the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R mobo, or even the UD5 or UD7 for that matter?
 
.nimrod said:
So how do i force supersampling with my GTX580? Is it even possible?

I already created a new profile with nvidia Inspector 1.9.4, set the mode to "Override any application setting", the Antialiasing Setting to "2x2 [2x2 Supersampling (D3D only)]" and loaded that profile in the nvidia control panel, but there's still jaggies everywhere.
Click to expand...
You are using the profile for the game you want to supersample right? Works just fine for me.
 
WyndhamPrice said:
Oops, completely forgot to list the mobo it. Post has been edited. I will look at another PSU.

How's this one look? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.567295
Click to expand...
The PSU is excellent (I use it myself), but that HDD is poor compared to your first choice.

This would be a good combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.569066

This is also an excellent PSU at a lower price point: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094
 
WyndhamPrice said:
Hey Master Race,

Looks like I get to build a desktop thanks to Christmas, how's this look?

I'm basing this off of the handy bargain build linked in the thread but I've upgraded where I thought it was appropriate:

Sapphire Radeon HD 6850
AMD Phenom II x4 970BE
4GB (2 x 2GB) Ram
730W Power Supply + 1TB Hard drive combo
ASUS M4A8TD/USB3

Comes out to 685 with the case before taxes and shipping.

\Anything I should change? Will I be blazing (at a cost-efficient level)?
Click to expand...
I'd wait 4 weeks and jump on the Sandy Bridge ship. It'll cost you $50, but you'll get a lot more out of it.
 
PumpkinPie said:
Are the Sandy Bridge chips going to be mega expensive? Do you think they will reduce the price of the current i7 processors?
Click to expand...
No and no.
2500K is 3.3Ghz + 3.7Ghz Turbo = $220
low end P67 motherboards = $130/$140
 
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