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[Dynamic3]

Probably, unless you're using the stock cooler and there is thermal paste already applied.

Braided cables here.

Do I need to buy SATA or PCI cables for my HDDs and GPU?

 

[Naked Snake]

Do I need thermal compound for my i5-2500K?

Also, where can I buy those braided cable sleeves? On that note, are there any additional cables that I need to assemble the comp or does everything come with the parts?

My boxed i5-2500 had the thermal compound already applied to heatsink. Just press it against the CPU and close the latch.

Edit: Beaten. Yes I used stock cooler.

 

[MacAttack]

a couple or few sata cables are usually included with your mobo. check out the specs/reviews of the board you ordered to see how many you get vs how many you need.

 

[Negator]

Do I need to buy SATA or PCI cables for my HDDs and GPU?

Check what motherboard you're getting and see if it has SATA cables included. If you have more devices than SATA cables, then yes.

GPU won't need a cable other than the ones you need to power the device from your power supply.

 

[mkenyon]

Do I need to buy SATA or PCI cables for my HDDs and GPU?

PCI-E cards plug directly into the motherboard. For power it entirely depends on what your PSU has for it, and what your vid card needs. Either way, you'll either have enough from the PSU but or you can use the adapters supplied with the vid card to get the right plugs.

Motherboards usually come with SATA cables. If you're talking about SATA power cables, your PSU probably has the right plugs for that as well. Just to make sure, what PSU did you buy?

 

[LiquidMetal14]

My boxed i5-2500 had the thermal compound already applied to heatsink. Just press it against the CPU and close the latch.

Edit: Beaten. Yes I used stock cooler.

I'm sure it runs great but I would still advice at least buying some Arctic thermal or the R212 in the OT.

 

[JoeMartin]

So I just got an ASUS ML238H and I've run into a problem. The screen seems intent on letterboxing itself, about 1 inch the whole way around the screen. I've tried all the options both in Catalyst (HD6970) and the monitor itself and I don't seem to be able to fix it.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

So I just got an ASUS ML238H and I've run into a problem. The screen seems intent on letterboxing itself, about 1 inch the whole way around the screen. I've tried all the options both in Catalyst (HD6970) and the monitor itself and I don't seem to be able to fix it.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Did you go into CCC and the "my digital flat panels" tab? There should be an overscan slider in one of them. Unless this is a totally separate issue.

Incase of trouble finding it, it's in scaling options. You have to enable it though.

 

[JoeMartin]

Wow I might actually be stupid. Thank you.

 

[Naked Snake]

I'm sure it runs great but I would still advice at least buying some Arctic thermal or the R212 in the OT.

Even without overlocking? Your advice seems irrational to me.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Even without overlocking? I think your advice is irrational.

Without OC, sure. But even without it I would recommended the small cost of 30USD for one of the best air solutions out there. That's just me though. With turbo it will hit those 3.7mhz speeds a lot and I would want my piece at a solid temp even without an OC. I get the other side of the spectrum though. I'm merely advising to cool your pieces with better parts than stock.

Wow I might actually be stupid. Thank you.

You're welcome

 

[nib95]

You should probably read the previous page regarding the 6950 .

I bought the 2GB version. Because it's not fresh stock, I bought it before AMD change them for one's that can't be BIOS modded lol.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

When will the 1155 motherboards be back?

 

[Dynamic3]

So I just got an ASUS ML238H and I've run into a problem. The screen seems intent on letterboxing itself, about 1 inch the whole way around the screen. I've tried all the options both in Catalyst (HD6970) and the monitor itself and I don't seem to be able to fix it.

Any help would be much appreciated.

How do you like the monitor, I'm considering buying the 21.5" version.

The one thing I noticed is that in the pics on Newegg it looks substantially thicker than in the ASUS website pics. Is this the case?

 

[Dynamic3]

When will the 1155 motherboards be back?

I heard MSI B3 boards would be available this week but who knows.

 

[Nelo Ice]

could i get some help plz in making a build?
Basic Desktop Questions
Your Current Specs: hp dv5t laptop
Budget: $1k+USA though id preferably like to spend less
Main Use: Gaming, general usage
Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050 may upgrade later since i have some leeway in the budget
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play:
bulletstorm
crysis 1 and 2
witcher 2
metro 2033
dragon age
Are reusing any parts?nly part i have hasnt been used and ive had it in a box for a few months now anyway its an (Nvidia GTX 460 2GB)
When will you build?: i'll have the money around march 11th so somewhere around that time frame
Will you be overclocking?: Yes,

edit:anyone know where to get a cheap copy of windows 7 and whats a good keyboard?

also only thing i have in mind for the build is an i5 sandy bridge

 

[mkenyon]

Nelo, check out my post on the previous page, that should get you pointed in the right direction. If you wanted to get a little crazy, you could keep the 460, buy two Spinpoint F3s for a RAID0 game drive and an SSD for your OS. Thats what I run on my gaming rig, perfect setup HDD-wise.

 

[Dynamic3]

Nelo, check out my post on the previous page, that should get you pointed in the right direction. If you wanted to get a little crazy, you could keep the 460, buy two Spinpoint F3s for a RAID0 game drive and an SSD for your OS. Thats what I run on my gaming rig, perfect setup HDD-wise.

Any recommendations for a 2TB+ drive for a RAID 1 config strictly for music/vid storage?

I will be storing my OS/apps/games on a 120gb SSD.

 

[Mr_Guillotine]

I'm thinking about building a PC used primarily for gaming and programming soon, how much do you guys think it would cost to run The Witcher 2 and Deus Ex 3 at max when they come out. I'm not planning on purchasing soon but I'd just like a good estimate as to how much I should expect to spend.

 

[teh_pwn]

When will the 1155 motherboards be back?

Late next week, but demand is high so I expect it to be out of stock frequently.

http://www.asus.com/News.aspx?N_ID=cqnNC5pGSATog5Pf

 

[teh_pwn]

I'm thinking about building a PC used primarily for gaming and programming soon, how much do you guys think it would cost to run The Witcher 2 and Deus Ex 3 at max when they come out. I'm not planning on purchasing soon but I'd just like a good estimate as to how much I should expect to spend.

You've got to be more specific. Run at max settings at a high framerate? Probably $1200+ because you'll need 2 GPUs and a good PSU/case.

At 30 fps at medium-high settings? Probably could use one of the builds in the OP for $800-900.

I think I sunk $1500, but I got lots of extras, like SSD for OS, huge capacity RAID for secondary storage, 2 6950s CF, i7 2600, 1kW PSU so it stays quiet at peak load, etc.

I bought the 2GB version. Because it's not fresh stock, I bought it before AMD change them for one's that can't be BIOS modded lol.

Meh, I'm not flashing mine. 10% boost in performance for DX11 only with no change in DX10 games isn't worth the risk of bricking $500 in GPUs.

 

[Mr_Guillotine]

I was thinking High with framerate above 30, I'll probably be buying the parts sometime in the next 2 months or so. I was hoping i could get buy spending maybe 800-900$ but it doesn't look that way, I'm new to all this and was hoping to get into PC gaming seriously.

 

[Nelo Ice]

Nelo, check out my post on the previous page, that should get you pointed in the right direction. If you wanted to get a little crazy, you could keep the 460, buy two Spinpoint F3s for a RAID0 game drive and an SSD for your OS. Thats what I run on my gaming rig, perfect setup HDD-wise.

thanks for the help!

also damn i hope they get the sandy bridge stuff sorted out soon since i need to build my pc asap since my sis needs a laptop and im giving her mine which is why i get to build a new pc

 

[teh_pwn]

I was thinking High with framerate above 30, I'll probably be buying the parts sometime in the next 2 months or so. I was hoping i could get buy spending maybe 800-900$ but it doesn't look that way, I'm new to all this and was hoping to get into PC gaming seriously.

Somewhere inbetween mid and high:
i5 2500 ($220)
P67 mobo ($140)
(2) 6850 Crossfired $(375)
850 Watt PSU ($100)

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU11/238

You could also wait a few months. Probably will have the AMD HD 7000 series released around then. Prices should go down.

 

[Kraftwerk]

Your Current Specs: 2gb ram dual core, old pc ;p

Budget: $1500-$2000 canada- will buy from NCIX

Main Use:Mainy gaming, emulation ( ps2, gamecube) watching vids.

Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050, may upgrade later but not anytime soon.

List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play:
Crysis 2
Witcher 2
Dragon age origins 2
Skyrim

Are reusing any parts?:No

When will you build?: In a month

Will you be overclocking?: Maybe, not really sure what it is ;p

 

[Mr_Guillotine]

Somewhere inbetween mid and high:
i5 2500 ($220)
P67 mobo ($140)
(2) 6850 Crossfired $(375)
850 Watt PSU ($100)

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU11/238

You could also wait a few months. Probably will have the AMD HD 7000 series released around then. Prices should go down.

Thanks for the help, I'll probably be back in here for advice again when I finally decide on what I'm gonna do. Appreciate the help.

 

[teh_pwn]

Your Current Specs: 2gb ram dual core, old pc ;p

Budget: $1500-$2000 canada- will buy from NCIX

Main Use:Mainy gaming, emulation ( ps2, gamecube) watching vids.

Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050, may upgrade later but not anytime soon.

List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play:
Crysis 2
Witcher 2
Dragon age origins 2
Skyrim

Are reusing any parts?:No

When will you build?: In a month

Will you be overclocking?: Maybe, not really sure what it is ;p

I'd recommend a new monitor, or using your PC with a good HD TV. With your kind of budget and games, you're going to get way more bang with a higher resolution monitor and 2 GPUs. The i7 2600 is $300. You cannot get any more gaming performance than that, so focus money on GPU, power, and a SSD.

Here's what I'm planning:
i7 2600
P67 Motherboard
(2) 6950 Crossfired
1kW PSU
8-16 GB RAM
128 GB Crucial C300 SSD (OS)
(2) 1 TB WD HDD RAID1 (storage, less intensive games before I get a second SSD)
Corsair 600T case

 

[knitoe]

Spend a little more and the unlocked 2500K / 2600K and not the locked 2500 / 2600.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Spend a little more and the unlocked 2500K / 2600K and not the locked 2500 / 2600.

I think he meant that as he had the P67 listed instead of the H67. Either way, blistering speeds await.

 

[Datwheezy]

Just moved my tower from on top of my desk down to the cabinet area below. I was a bit worried about the air flow down there, even with the door open. I can feel warm air coming from down there, so decided to run speed fan. Are these temps within a decent range (I was playing Mass Effect 2 for about an hour prior to taking the screenshot)?

Athlon II X3 425
8GB ram
Radeon 4770

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Just moved my tower from on top of my desk down to the cabinet area below. I was a bit worried about the air flow down there, even with the door open. I can feel warm air coming from down there, so decided to run speed fan. Are these temps within a decent range (I was playing Mass Effect 2 for about an hour prior to taking the screenshot)?

Athlon II X3 425
8GB ram
Radeon 4770

I recall someone saying that the temps that Speedfan displays are lower so your 50C might be more like 65C. Not entirely sure. Let me grab a screen of mine for comparison.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I recall someone saying that the temps that Speedfan displays are lower so your 50C might be more like 65C. Not entirely sure. Let me grab a screen of mine for comparison.

I don't know if it's because the program is outdated but I see less info than me with my P67 build. The temps are what I wanted to show anyways.

 

[sarcastor]

Can you run 3007wfp and 2x2007fp with one card?

I'm currently rocking a 8800GT PCI-e and a 8400GS on PCI. PCI is really really slow and i am sooo regretting not getting a SLI-capable motherboard. So is it is possible to buy one video card that can power all three? I don't need anything fancy, just maybe run starcraft2 (and battlefield 3) on at least monitor.

There's the HD 5770 Flex, but supposedly that doesn't work if your monitors are rotated landscape. Any suggestions? and yes i am showing off my new monitor

 

[BuddhaRockstar]

So my girlfriend just got this-

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7277057&Sku=B69-0321

She just needed a cheap setup for basic computing and such, and I wanted to get her a low/mid end GPU so she could play games like Portal 2, TF2, and WoW. The thing only comes with a (rather cheap looking) 450W power supply and apparently it doesn't have a 6 pin video card plug. GPU wise I'm thinking a 5670 would be a solid card, as it's about the best you can get that doesn't have to be plugged into the power supply. I'm also looking at the 5770 and it appears to come with adapters than can convert two 4 pin plugs to a 6 pin. Are both these cards pretty solid choices for medium settings on a 1440x900 monitor?

 

[Datwheezy]

So my girlfriend just got this-

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7277057&Sku=B69-0321

She just needed a cheap setup for basic computing and such, and I wanted to get her a low/mid end GPU so she could play games like Portal 2, TF2, and WoW. The thing only comes with a (rather cheap looking) 450W power supply and apparently it doesn't have a 6 pin video card plug. GPU wise I'm thinking a 5670 would be a solid card, as it's about the best you can get that doesn't have to be plugged into the power supply. I'm also looking at the 5770 and it appears to come with adapters than can convert two 4 pin plugs to a 6 pin. Are both these cards pretty solid choices for medium settings on a 1440x900 monitor?

I run a 4770 and can basically max out everything but AA in Portal and TF2, and remember having decently high settings in wow. This was at 1920x1080.

Edit: also triple buffering through D3DOverrider turned on

 

[MisterAnderson]

I don't believe my question from the last page had been answered. Do you think that when the 590 and the 6990 are released, that the 6950 and/or gtx 560 might get a price cut? I'm still trying to decide if I should upgrade my 4890 and bite on buying dual 6950's before the $30 rebate deal on newegg expires on the 28th...

 

[Nekrono]

So my girlfriend just got this-

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7277057&Sku=B69-0321

She just needed a cheap setup for basic computing and such, and I wanted to get her a low/mid end GPU so she could play games like Portal 2, TF2, and WoW. The thing only comes with a (rather cheap looking) 450W power supply and apparently it doesn't have a 6 pin video card plug. GPU wise I'm thinking a 5670 would be a solid card, as it's about the best you can get that doesn't have to be plugged into the power supply. I'm also looking at the 5770 and it appears to come with adapters than can convert two 4 pin plugs to a 6 pin. Are both these cards pretty solid choices for medium settings on a 1440x900 monitor?

I'd say you're pretty good according to this video, he's running WoW at 1080p with pretty good framerate, he's in a major city too, go for it man, that card is really cheap too.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

Can you run 3007wfp and 2x2007fp with one card?

I'm currently rocking a 8800GT PCI-e and a 8400GS on PCI. PCI is really really slow and i am sooo regretting not getting a SLI-capable motherboard. So is it is possible to buy one video card that can power all three? I don't need anything fancy, just maybe run starcraft2 (and battlefield 3) on at least monitor.

There's the HD 5770 Flex, but supposedly that doesn't work if your monitors are rotated landscape. Any suggestions? and yes i am showing off my new monitor

I would guess a GTX 570 or GTX 580.

 

[filipe]

Can you run 3007wfp and 2x2007fp with one card?

I'm currently rocking a 8800GT PCI-e and a 8400GS on PCI. PCI is really really slow and i am sooo regretting not getting a SLI-capable motherboard. So is it is possible to buy one video card that can power all three? I don't need anything fancy, just maybe run starcraft2 (and battlefield 3) on at least monitor.

There's the HD 5770 Flex, but supposedly that doesn't work if your monitors are rotated landscape. Any suggestions? and yes i am showing off my new monitor

I think this has been a common feature for many ATI cards for a long while now. My 5870 has 2 DIVs and an HDMI and I'm pretty sure it can run 3 together, but can't confirm for sure.

 

[mkenyon]

I don't believe my question from the last page had been answered. Do you think that when the 590 and the 6990 are released, that the 6950 and/or gtx 560 might get a price cut? I'm still trying to decide if I should upgrade my 4890 and bite on buying dual 6950's before the $30 rebate deal on newegg expires on the 28th...

Prices will always go down. Might be then, might be shorty after. Even if someone tells you "yes", its speculation. Gotta draw the line in the sand somewhere.

 

[BuddhaRockstar]

I'd say you're pretty good according to this video, he's running WoW at 1080p with pretty good framerate, he's in a major city too, go for it man, that card is really cheap too.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll wait for her to get the computer and take a look at the PSU, if I think it can handle a 5770 I'll go for that since it's only $25 more and it should perform decently on games coming out this year as well.

 

[MisterAnderson]

Eyefinity setup with 2 rotated monitors

What monitors are those?

 

[InertiaXr]

I'm getting a lot more noise from my spinpoint F3 than I think I should. I want to run some tests or whatever and figure out if it's just my case causing the sound or the drive is bad etc but I'm not entirely sure WHAT to check for on HDDs...

 

[Cipherr]

I'm getting a lot more noise from my spinpoint F3 than I think I should. I want to run some tests or whatever and figure out if it's just my case causing the sound or the drive is bad etc but I'm not entirely sure WHAT to check for on HDDs...

I have a 1TB spinpointf3 (Need to grab a 3TB from somewhere as Im filling it so damn quickly) and it only seems to make noise when it spins up. Makes a little ziiiiip laser esque sound when its accessed for the first time in a long while. After that its dead silent.


Dead silent. You shouldnt hear it outside of that.

 

[Kraftwerk]

hello again :0

So i went over to ncix.com to build a pc, but i am getting really confused. There is so many versions of each component that my head is about to explode. I am VERY new to pc building and components.

so can anyone help me out here? If anyone has 5 minutes to custom build a pc for me I would really appreciate it.

http://pc.ncix.com/pcbuilder/

here is my original post.

Your Current Specs: 2gb ram dual core, old pc ;p

Budget: $1500-$2000 canada- will buy from NCIX

Main Use:Mainy gaming, emulation ( ps2, gamecube) watching vids.

Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050, may upgrade later but not anytime soon.

List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play:
Crysis 2
Witcher 2
Dragon age origins 2
Skyrim

Are reusing any parts?:No

When will you build?: In a month

Will you be overclocking?: Maybe, not really sure what it is ;p

 

[iNvid02]

anyone else setup sli recently? i just got another 570 but there is no sli option in nvidia control panel. both cards are being recognized in device manager but no enable sli, only choose physX.

this is what i've already done
- update drivers / roll back drivers
- switch pci slots for cards
- attatch sli bridge both ways
- updated the bios
- dont have realtek lan so no issue there

 

[Kenka]

For hell's sake.

I went too enthusiastic in an auction and raised a 5780 Vapor-X 1 GB to 200 swiss bucks.

How stupid am I GAF ?

edit :

Spoiler

there is no guarantee 0_o

 

[Tony Redgrave]

Hey guys, I'm on the verge to get a new PC and I'm assembled these components, it's mostly for gaming so tell me what do you think, and also if you would change something/you think another component would do better globally.

-GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 ti 1GB DDR5 (thinking about 570 but I don't know if there's much of a difference, thoughts?

-CPU: Intel core i5 3.33GHz

-PSU: Corsair TX750 750W

-MOBO: Asus P8P67-M PRO

-RAM: Kingston Value RAM 4GB DDR3

-HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB

-VENT: Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus CPU Cooler Heatsink

-OD: LG GH22NP20 22x Internal IDE DVD +/-RW

I'm working in a budget of around 1000$.
Also, I'm still thinking about what case to get, any recommendations?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Sniper McBlaze]

I'm so disappointed in how my computer building is going. Two weeks ago I got my computer. Try to hook it up for a few days of trying EVERYTHING to get it to work. I finally found the problem which was a faulty PSU and sent it back to the store. A week later I finally got a new PSU back and I was so excited to finally be able to play, but now instead of the PSU not working I get no fucking sound on the motherboards built-in sound card! And the SSD isn't working either.

I'm an inch way from throwing my 3000$ rig in a big fire.

Now I have to send the motherboard and the SSD back to the store AGAIN and hope they find out what is wrong. I guess I'll have to wait a couple of weeks more to use the computer.

I almost regret buying a computer. :/

 

[TheExodu5]

I'm so disappointed in how my computer building is going. Two weeks ago I got my computer. Try to hook it up for a few days of trying EVERYTHING to get it to work. I finally found the problem which was a faulty PSU and sent it back to the store. A week later I finally got a new PSU back and I was so excited to finally be able to play, but now instead of the PSU not working I get no fucking sound on the motherboards built-in sound card! And the SSD isn't working either.

I'm an inch way from throwing my 3000$ rig in a big fire.

Now I have to send the motherboard and the SSD back to the store AGAIN and hope they find out what is wrong. I guess I'll have to wait a couple of weeks more to use the computer.

I almost regret buying a computer. :/

It happens. Some people seem to be very unlucky. I haven't gotten a faulty component yet.

Are you sure you're not just missing the motherboard's sound drivers? And how come the SSD isn't working?