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"I need a New PC!" 2011 Edition of SSD's for everyone! |OT|

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T

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
Anyone know of a good, free animated background/desktop website? Something like interfacelift, but with animated backgrounds.

I found decent free/demo one that should keep my plasma healthy with PC.
 
N

nib95

Banned
Just installed my C300 256GB SSD with a clean install of windows and my word, boots up in like 10 seconds. Unbelievable. Everything just feels generally snappy too. For example, on Windows load, it's done as soon as you see your wallpaper/home page. All drivers etc in play (for me Nvidia display, Huey Pro calibrator etc). Pre-SSD I always had to wait several seconds for everything to kick in and for my calibration settings to be applied. Now I don't even get to see what it looks like pre-calibrated settings.

Next up, testing games performance followed by Premiere Pro (with CUDA) and CS5 (Photoshop, Flash, InDesign etc) load/work/file saving!
 
D

Dreams-Visions

Member
nib95 said:
Just installed my C300 256GB SSD with a clean install of windows and my word, boots up in like 10 seconds. Unbelievable. Everything just feels generally snappy too. For example, on Windows load, it's done as soon as you see your wallpaper/home page. All drivers etc in play (for me Nvidia display, Huey Pro calibrator etc). Pre-SSD I always had to wait several seconds for everything to kick in and for my calibration settings to be applied. Now I don't even get to see what it looks like pre-calibrated settings.

Next up, testing games performance followed by Premiere Pro (with CUDA) and CS5 (Photoshop, Flash, InDesign etc) load/work/file saving!
Click to expand...
haha. another SSD convert.

your life will never be the same again.
 
T

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
nib95 said:
Just installed my C300 256GB SSD with a clean install of windows and my word, boots up in like 10 seconds. Unbelievable. Everything just feels generally snappy too. For example, on Windows load, it's done as soon as you see your wallpaper/home page. All drivers etc in play (for me Nvidia display, Huey Pro calibrator etc). Pre-SSD I always had to wait several seconds for everything to kick in and for my calibration settings to be applied. Now I don't even get to see what it looks like pre-calibrated settings.

Next up, testing games performance followed by Premiere Pro (with CUDA) and CS5 (Photoshop, Flash, InDesign etc) load/work/file saving!
Click to expand...

To be fair, bootup time increased about 5 seconds after completely updating windows and installing a bunch of apps, and pinning common apps to the task bar (I think Windows pre-caches these).

But yeah, fucking awesome. I only have the C300 128 GB. I'm going to buy a second one (probably 256 GB) later this year when that's the mid range one.
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
evil solrac v3.0 said:
disregard that advise on antec cases, they are top of the line and the 900 and 1200 are still highly recommended.
Click to expand...

Hyperbole much? Top of the line would be Lian Li, Corsair, Danger Den, some Silverstones.

Just as a guy who's built a *lot* of cases, Antec has always struck me as bottom-tier. So much plastic crap, I've seen many Antecs break after just a few years. They always have the checklist of stuff an amateur would appreciate; windows, "toolless design", lots of fans, and the like. They've just always come up short where it counts like intelligent cable routing, solid materials, and precise machining. When brought up against their competitors like Coolermaster, some lower-end Lian Li, and Fractal, I just don't ever see the incentive for buying one. I see them more along the lines of NZXT or Rosewill.

I think I was exaggerating a bit as well, which may have prompted your response. They're not utter crap, but more accurately, I think they just never compare to similarly priced cases.

keeblerdrow said:
You make me feel old.
Click to expand...

Seriously, as a 28 year old young man, I had the same sort of flashback when the RoG team were demonstrating their new mobos and UEFI BIOS at PDXLAN!

slidewinder said:
So beyond boot-up, does a system drive SSD often make for noticeably better responsiveness during regular usage? Like by having swap on it do things come back to normal faster after exiting a game that used a lot of memory (causing system .dlls and resident programs to get swapped out) and things like that?
Click to expand...

I was the most curmudgeony bastard when it came to jumping on the SSD bandwagon. I was all about the RAID0 array for a speedy OS, with my fileserver acting as a failsafe for my networked rigs. I made the choice to upgrade my OS drive with a Vertex 2 about 6-8 months ago, and it just blew me away. I got so used to regular usage with the SSD that I've since upgraded my netbook, HTPC, mini-gaming rig, and my new scratch build with the same drive.

However, I'm not rich enough to blow tons of money on them for lots of usable space. I still stand firmly behind the 2-3 500GB-1TB WD Black/Spinpoint F3s for a gaming drive. Having every single one of my 70+ games on Steam installed and ready to rock is a wonderous thing.
 
N

nib95

Banned
mkenyon said:
However, I'm not rich enough to blow tons of money on them for lots of usable space. I still stand firmly behind the 2-3 500GB-1TB WD Black/Spinpoint F3s for a gaming drive. Having every single one of my 70+ games on Steam installed and ready to rock is a wonderous thing.
Click to expand...

Does that mean your games still load relatively slow? What do you use the SSD for then besides general apps and Windows?
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
nib95 said:
Does that mean your games still load relatively slow? What do you use the SSD for then besides general apps and Windows?
Click to expand...

No. On my big rig I run 3xSpinpoint F3 1TBs in RAID0 It's just as fast as the SSD but consumes a ton more power, produces a lot more heat, and is far less reliable. That's what I have the fileserver for, though. The SSDs are for just general use. Opening programs and doing random things in them is super fast. Faster than I can give it commands, that's for sure.
 
N

nib95

Banned
mkenyon said:
No. On my big rig I run 3xSpinpoint F3 1TBs in RAID0 It's just as fast as the SSD but consumes a ton more power, produces a lot more heat, and is far less reliable. That's what I have the fileserver for, though. The SSDs are for just general use. Opening programs and doing random things in them is super fast. Faster than I can give it commands, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

Does that mean if just one of the HDD's in your RAID set up die, you technically lose all your data? Also, would you mind explaining how Fileserver works? Thanks.
 
L

Laekon

Member
Is there a way to decide between the 560 GTX and the 6950 1GB? At this point in time it doesn't seem wise to get a 460 GTX for a 1920 x 1080 monitor when these cards are just a little more.
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
nib95 said:
Does that mean if just one of the HDD's in your RAID set up die, you technically lose all your data? Also, would you mind explaining how Fileserver works? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes, that does mean that. It's why I only keep my games on it. The fileserver is an actual computer running a RAID5 array on Linux. It backs up all my data as well as hosts all my media. RAID5 means that you can rebuild the array if any one of the HDDs fail.

If you really want to learn about it, check out this link for a good intro. Otherwise, you could use a NAS for storage, which is a lot easier to do.
 
T

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
Laekon said:
Is there a way to decide between the 560 GTX and the 6950 1GB? At this point in time it doesn't seem wise to get a 460 GTX for a 1920 x 1080 monitor when these cards are just a little more.
Click to expand...

Both 1 GB? Get the 6950. But how much are you saving by getting the 1 GB option? $15?

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html


nib95 said:
Does that mean if just one of the HDD's in your RAID set up die, you technically lose all your data? Also, would you mind explaining how Fileserver works? Thanks.
Click to expand...

You can also use RAID1 and get way reduced risk of file loss. You get a read performance boost too.
 
N

nib95

Banned
mkenyon said:
Yes, that does mean that. It's why I only keep my games on it. The fileserver is an actual computer running a RAID5 array on Linux. It backs up all my data as well as hosts all my media. RAID5 means that you can rebuild the array if any one of the HDDs fail.

If you really want to learn about it, check out this link for a good intro. Otherwise, you could use a NAS for storage, which is a lot easier to do.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks, I'll look in to that. Also, is there any way to do RAID1 with two drives after you've already installed Windows 7?
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Quicksilver4648 said:
So, GAF, I am a long time lurker but only recently signed up. (This is my first post!) I have been following this thread for a while but as a console gamer primarily I haven't paid too much attention to the specifics of new hardware. However, after seeing the Battlefield 3 videos I suddenly feel motivated to make a capable gaming PC. I am currently using a 3 year-old laptop which suits me for 99% of all things (other than games).

Note: I realize BF3 is still under development so specific specs for that title are just guesses and assumptions, nothing more. But, since the going talk is that the BF3 demo was run using a single GTX 580 I assume further optimizations will lower the entry requirement in GPUs.

Your Current Specs: HP dv2550se laptop with Core 2 Duo @ 1.50 GHz, 3 GB DDR2 RAM, and integrated graphics.
Budget: <$1000, located in the US
Main Use: Gaming, some emulation, HD video capturing/editing
Monitor Resolution: 1080p 21" monitor (this wont be upgraded)
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Dolphin emulation for the Wii/GCN, Battlefield: BC2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Crysis, TF2, and Minecraft (lol)
Are reusing any parts?: Nope
When will you build?: Sometime in April, possibly as late as May. I am in no real rush.
Will you be overclocking?: I want to say no, but I most likely will.

I have already done some research of parts and I would really appreciate it if you could give some input/suggestions. I think all of my pieces should work together but since I have never made a PC before I just want to play it safe.

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 II - $60
MB: Asus P8P67 Pro - $180?
CPU: Intel i5-2500k - $230
GPU: GIGABYTE GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti - $250
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) - $85
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 500 GB 7200 RPM - $60
Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST - $19
PSU: CORSAIR TX750 V2 750W - $120

Total: $1,004 in Newegg prices. I have an Amazon Prime account so I would probably get a number of items from them since I get free two-day shipping.

A couple of thing I want to point out:
1) CPU - I will probably overclock it to 4GHz and nothing more.
2) GPU - I am unsure if I should get something much cheaper and weaker and wait till BF3 and upgrade to the new hotness. Or, should I get the GTX 560 Ti now, playing current games very well, and just hope that BF3 doesn't have specs that are through the roof. And if they are I would need to get another GTX 560 Ti and use it though SLI.
3) RAM: I jumped back and forth a thousand times searching for the best RAM per dollar. I ended up just picking these because Newegg has "Designed Specifically for Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs, H67 and P67 Platforms" in the description.
4) HDD - I really, really wanted to get an SSD but they are just way too expensive. I was even going to try and sneak in a 40GB SSD just for the OS but ended up cutting it due to budget reason. And I don't need a 1TB internal drive because I have an external one right now.
5) PSU: I know 750W is overkill for those specs I listed but I just wanted to make sure I had enough for another GTX 560 Ti if I did go the SLI route and when I overclock the CPU to 4GHz.

I would really appreciate it if anyone could comment if the hardware I picked out would work without issue. Any suggestions or comments are appreciated. Like I said, this would be my first build so I want to make sure I do it right. I have already learned a lot about hardware over the past few weeks.
Click to expand...
Looks like you've done your homework.
I'd still get a 1TB drive since it's $55 right now (1TB Samsung F3).
Swap out the CM Cent 5. There are much much better cases out there for the same price now.
Just add a CM 212+ and you are all set.
 
L

LaserBuddha

Member
Laekon said:
Is there a way to decide between the 560 GTX and the 6950 1GB? At this point in time it doesn't seem wise to get a 460 GTX for a 1920 x 1080 monitor when these cards are just a little more.
Click to expand...

Not commenting on the 560 GTX itself, but you should be comparing it to the 6970 instead.

Why? Because if you buy the 6950 2GB, you can easily load the 6970's bios onto it and have a fully functional stock 6970. I used an automated tool that did it in 2 seconds for me.

So if we use Anandtech's bench database to compare the two, you'll see that the results are mixed, thanks to the affinity certain tests/engines have for Nividia. Aside from those, the 6970 seems to win out, particularly at high resolutions thanks to the extra ram.

I believe that the extra ram is going to make a difference in future PC games, and not just when using ultra-high resolutions, but I'll leave that to the better informed posters. But personally, right now I'd go with something with 2GB of vram for "future proofing".
 
Ecto311

Ecto311

Member
MikeE21286 said:
I bought my ASUS Pro board at microcenter...if I go there will they just replace the board for me and give me a B3 version? That's all I really want...
Click to expand...

I don't know for sure but its worth a call. Our original SB board died completely so we returned it a while ago and went with better shit this time.
 
L

LegoDad

Member
Another reason to get a SSD.

harddrive.png


Or this..................

ssdof.png
 
A

ASilva

Neo Member
So, after being a console gamer for the past years (i only own a macbook pro) i've decided to return to PC Gaming. I've been researching alot for the past few weeks and came up with this setup:

Monitor: Samsung XL2370
Case: CM 690 II
Processor: intel i5 2500k
Cooler: CM Hyper 212+
Memory: GSkill 4+4Gb Ripjaw X 1600Mhz (CL7)
GPU: EVGA GTX570
HDD: Samsung F3 1Tb
Drive: Samsung SH-S223
PSU: Corsair TX-750 / HX-750

As for the motherboard i'm waiting for one of the new revised ASUS Sandy Bridge boards.

Any suggestions on the setup?
I'm planing on OC the processor to at least 4Ghz and probably more depending on the results i get with that cooler.
The difference in price between the TX-750 and HX-750 is not that much so i will probably go for the HX for the convenience.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
I think I need to replace my 4 year old harddrive soon because it's constantly accessing and making noise.

I'm pretty sure it's not malware or a virus since scans with Spybot, SuperAntiSpyware and MalwareBytes all came back negative. And I've tried all the usual advice like disabling Indexing Service.
 
K

knitoe

Member
ASilva said:
So, after being a console gamer for the past years (i only own a macbook pro) i've decided to return to PC Gaming. I've been researching alot for the past few weeks and came up with this setup:

Monitor: Samsung XL2370
Case: CM 690 II
Processor: intel i5 2500k
Cooler: CM Hyper 212+
Memory: GSkill 4+4Gb Ripjaw X 1600Mhz (CL7)
GPU: EVGA GTX570
HDD: Samsung F3 1Tb
Drive: Samsung SH-S223
PSU: Corsair TX-750 / HX-750

As for the motherboard i'm waiting for one of the new revised ASUS Sandy Bridge boards.

Any suggestions on the setup?
I'm planing on OC the processor to at least 4Ghz and probably more depending on the results i get with that cooler.
The difference in price between the TX-750 and HX-750 is not that much so i will probably go for the HX for the convenience.
Click to expand...
Personally, for the price you are looking at, I would go with IPS panel monitor instead, like Dell UltraSharp U2311H. IPS monitors are fine for gaming, and once you get one, you'll never go back to anything else.

Edit: Make sure the ram runs at 1.5V. Some people experience problems running ram voltage above that on sandy bridge MBs.
 
X

xero273

Member
I did some research on this, but want to see if this is the correct answer. I bought Win7 Ultimate from my school. They only have the 32 bit edition. I read the key for the 32bit edition also works for the 64bit edition. I already installed the 32bit edition and activated. I want to reinstall and use the 64bit edition. Would the key still work even though I had already activated under the 32bit Win7?

Thanks.
 
BrettWeir

BrettWeir

Member
JWong said:
Man, I just saw a slew of new Asus LG1155 mobos on listing. This is gonna make choices a lot harder.
Click to expand...
Where? I'm waiting to see Asus and Gigabytes offerings instead of just pulling the trigger right away on the MSI out.
 
D

Dynamic3

Member
The rest of my parts get here on Tues., I'm so excited! Two questions though:

How hard will it be to swap my boot drive (from a Vertex 2 that I ordered, to a Vertex 3 when it comes out)? I assume the BIOS settings will remain the same, so is it anything beyond a reinstall of the OS and apps?

During the 40m how-to video in the op, he went too fast when listing the initial BIOS settings (like ACHI), is there a text guide for what settings I should use? Especially if I want to minimize boot time.
 
A

ASilva

Neo Member
knitoe said:
Personally, for the price you are looking at, I would go with IPS panel monitor instead, like Dell UltraSharp U2311H. IPS monitors are fine for gaming, and once you get one, you'll never go back to anything else.

Edit: Make sure the ram runs at 1.5V. Some people experience problems running ram voltage above that on sandy bridge MBs.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. The Dell U2311H is even cheaper than the XL2370 but it isn't LED and has 8ms response time (against the 2ms of the XL2370). Isn't that bad?
Also, the Dell only has 1 DVI connection and i would really like to have DVI and HDMI (already have a mini displayport > HDMI connector for my macbook pro)

But anyway, if the Dell is better i will go for it


As for the RAM, it runs at 1.6V :/
If that is really a problem should i go for:

GSKILL KIT 8GB DDR3 1333MHZ RIPJAW X (CL7) (MEMORY TIMINGS 7-7-7-21-2N)

or

GSKILL KIT 8GB DDR3 1600MHZ RIPJAW (CL9) (MEMORY TIMINGS 9-9-9-24-2N)

These run both at 1.5V


EDIT: So i went to the G-Skill website and they say that the 1.6V memories are designed for the P67 Sandy Bridge platform. These are the ones i was thinking of buying
 
R

Revengeance

Member
Hey guys, I'm looking for a laptop recommendation, here are my requirements:

- sub $1,200
- can play lots of games (although honestly, it'll really mostly be used as a portable Starcraft 2 machine)
- less than 15 inches
- not super ugly, since it will be used for work occasionally as well

Right now I'm looking at HP Envy and Dell XPS. Which gets the gaf seal of approval, and are there any others I might be overlooking?
 
K

knitoe

Member
ASilva said:
Thanks for the input. The Dell U2311H is even cheaper than the XL2370 but it isn't LED and has 8ms response time (against the 2ms of the XL2370). Isn't that bad?
Also, the Dell only has 1 DVI connection and i would really like to have DVI and HDMI (already have a mini displayport > HDMI connector for my macbook pro)

But anyway, if the Dell is better i will go for it


As for the RAM, it runs at 1.6V :/
If that is really a problem should i go for:

GSKILL KIT 8GB DDR3 1333MHZ RIPJAW X (CL7) (MEMORY TIMINGS 7-7-7-21-2N)

or

GSKILL KIT 8GB DDR3 1333MHZ RIPJAW X (CL7) (MEMORY TIMINGS 9-9-9-24-2N)

These run both at 1.5V
Click to expand...
If you don't care about image quality and all you do is gaming, the TN (2ms) monitor will be the better option, but all purpose, IPS panels are much better. I game fine on IPS monitor.

Go for 1.5V ram. Ram timing doesn't make much a difference anymore. You only really notice it in benchmarks. If price is similar, go for faster timing. Otherwise, take cheaper one.
 
A

ASilva

Neo Member
Thanks again, I didn't copy the ram specifications correctly on the last post (edited now) so, for roughly the same price should i go with 1600Mhz CL9 or 1333Mhz CL7?
 
iNvid02

iNvid02

Member
Revengeance said:
Hey guys, I'm looking for a laptop recommendation, here are my requirements:

- sub $1,200
- can play lots of games (although honestly, it'll really mostly be used as a portable Starcraft 2 machine)
- less than 15 inches
- not super ugly, since it will be used for work occasionally as well

Right now I'm looking at HP Envy and Dell XPS. Which gets the gaf seal of approval, and are there any others I might be overlooking?
Click to expand...

macbook pro 13" - $1199
 
Mattdaddy

Mattdaddy

Gold Member
What's up guys, I need a recommendation on a new gpu from some seasoned vets.

I'm currently rocking a 5770. I thought I would upgrade to a 6870, but after some research it looks like the 5870 is actually more powerful? I'm not savy on the naming schemes so this confused the hell out of me. The more I read the more confused I get. I've read the 5870 has more pure power but the 6870 has better power effeciency and other features.

Power supply is a concern as I have a Raidmax 630watt, which I also read the wattage on the box doesn't mean jack and that psu is really closer to 500w... basically I'm confused as hell.

I just want to replace my 5770 with something that will be able to tackle Witcher 2 and BF3. I don't need to set the benchmarks on fire, I just want it to be smooth and look decent. I'm not against nvidia cards either, I'm just not familiar. I'd like to spend around $225 max, no crossfire or SLI as I'm pretty noobish and I would break something.

Total specs:
Phenom II X4 955
8GB GSkill DDR3
Windows 7 64
630w Raidmaxx (is this sufficient for an upgrade?)
Generally game at 1920 x 1080

Thanks in advance!!
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
Yeah, they f'd up the naming schemes for the 6xxx series. Basically 57xx=68xx, 58xx=69xx, if you want to compare the high end of each series to each other. 6950 2GB is the fav right now because you can flash it to a 6970.
 
I

itxaka

Defeatist
come on C400, hurry the fuck up. Did you guys heard any news about them? They were supposed to start being available around now. :(
 
C

ChRoNiTe

Member
Kenka said:
It looks fine but isn't it a bit expensive ?
Click to expand...

Yes the price is kind of high, but I've got my tax refund burning a hole in my pocket. I was originally looking at a 600t, but it was too wide to fit in my desk. This model is slimmer and offers more features, but is more expensive so it really doesn't bother me too much. Can't wait to transfer all my parts when it arrives!
 
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