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[the_prime_mover]

I just picked up a 6970 to replace my 5850 (which is replacing a 4890 in another pc). I had 7.1 surround with the 5850, but the 6970 won't show any audio profiles except 2-channel. Any ideas? I have tried searching about, but can't seem to find any solutions. I have uninstalled all drivers and loaded the current catalyst drivers, but that did not resolve the problem. I have not changed any other components from the 5850 setup. Thanks in advance for any assistance/direction.

 

[mr stroke]

Thinking about a soundcard vs 5.1 amp for PC Headphones



ASUS soundcard with built in Dolby Headphone

vs
Astro 5.1 Mix Amp

Is one better than the other, will the soundcard provide better audio quality?

 

[Dynamic3]

I figured out how to force AA, but can anyone point me in the right direction for a good how-to regarding OC'ing my 560?

 

[K701]

nm lol

that mixamp needs a dd/dts signal for it to work so you need a soundcard for it anyway afaik

just get that soundcard with bulilt in dolby headphone.

 

[f0rk]

Sometime in the last week my systems performance across all games has dropped very noticeably. I've tried Source games (CSS and TF2), Starcraft 2 and Bad Company 2 and they've all got a lot worse. CSS won't stay capped at 100fps even though I'm using a config and randomly drops to ~60, similar with SC2, and BC2 is now unplayable even when I turned everything from high to low. I haven't done anything to my computer recently and I don't notice it out of games.
I'm using a Q6600, 4890 and 4gb of RAM (32bit windows 7 though :<) all running at stock speeds. Thinking about building a new one sometime this year for BF3.
I feel like I should know this, but what are some general procedures I should go through to "fix" it? Not sure if this is the right thread but whatever.

 

[sk3tch]

nm lol

that mixamp needs a dd/dts signal for it to work so you need a soundcard for it anyway afaik

just get that soundcard with bulilt in dolby headphone.

all it needs is an spdif connection..most mobos built-in audio has that. to experience surround/etc. yes, it requires something send that signal. it works great for every application i've thrown at it.

 

[K701]

all it needs is an spdif connection..most mobos built-in audio has that. to experience surround/etc. yes, it requires something send that signal. it works great for every application i've thrown at it.

Yeah, I meant for it to work in Dolby Headphone mode. It will work in DH with movies with just the mobo spdif out but unless your mobo has DD/DTS encoding (I don't think any do), you need a sound card that encodes the games into DD/DTS to get Dolby Headphone. So he might as well just buy that sound card with built in Dolby Headphone.

 

[sambo]

I'm interested in finally upgrading my hard drive, at the moment I'm considering a velociraptor 600gb for my main boot drive and games. Anyone think I have a better option for space, speed and price point?

 

[TheExodu5]

I'm interested in finally upgrading my hard drive, at the moment I'm considering a velociraptor 600gb for my main boot drive and games. Anyone think I have a better option for space, speed and price point?

10K RPM drives are not worth it by any means nowadays. Get an SSD for your boot drive, and a large capacity HDD for games.

1TB Samsung 7200RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2185&cm_re=samsung_1tb-_-22-152-185-_-Product

That leaves you $185 for an SSD, if you want to match the price of a 600GB Velociraptor.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Right, I'm going to hopefully get a 6950 in the near future. I want to unlock it to 6970 speeds, so I'm just checking that any make will work? There's an XFX one that's dropped to £200 which is ridiculous value, so I think I'll pull the trigger on that.

Edit: This suggests that it doesn't matter which manfucaturer the card has? Awesomeee.

 

[DrForester]

Any thoughts on this SSD?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231379

I've used G.Skill RAM and it's been very good to me, but I notice that they haven't done too many SSDs . Reviews on newegg are good but there aren't a lot of them.

If not this any other recommend larger capacity SSD's under $500?

 

[autobzooty]

Any update on the driver situation with Nvidia and Dragon Age 2? Just installed my GTX 560 Ti today and the latest drivers I downloaded still don't run the game more than 10-20 FPS on DX11.

Any word when Nvidia plans to fix this? Kind of a bummer in the meantime. :\

 

[momolicious]

Is a budget Radeon HD 3650 substantially better than a Radeon 9800 Pro

 

[YuriLowell]

all p67 boards are oos.

 

[opticalmace]

Is a budget Radeon HD 3650 substantially better than a Radeon 9800 Pro

Here's Tom's chart: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-graphics-card-geforce-gtx-590-radeon-hd-6990,2879-7.html
The 3650 is a few tiers above the 9800 Pro but I don't know what that really means in performance. Probably slow as crap.

How budget are we talking here? I have to assume there's something better out there for your dollar.

Edit: -----
Actually Tom's says this is your best budget bet: 5570 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=5570&x=0&y=0

 

[TheExodu5]

Is a budget Radeon HD 3650 substantially better than a Radeon 9800 Pro

That takes me back.

 

[Vaporak]

So my monitor seems to have started breaking, turns itself off at seemingly random intervals. Anyone have some recommendations for a replacement monitor for my gaming PC?

 

[opticalmace]

So my monitor seems to have started breaking, turns itself off at seemingly random intervals. Anyone have some recommendations for a replacement monitor for my gaming PC?

You may wish to specify your budget and/or size requirements.

 

[MikeE21286]

That takes me back.

my first PC card...Used to love rocking Warcraft III on it

 

[Aselith]

Oh yeah for sure! I didn't see those cause I just went straight to 1366 slot CPU's. I assumed the higher slot number would be the latest and knew that i7's were the lastest Intel gen so I didn't think I was missing anything. I'm sure he'll be happy to upgrade to the 2600k though. Guess I need to pay more attention to component news.

Edit: Wait, those are i5's...am I missing out on anything going with an i5 over the i7 chip? They're a little speedier obviously but are there any major improvements going to i7's?

Edit2: Oh, no I misread. So, the 2600k is an i7 and the 2500k is an i5. And it doesn't look like that 2500 supports hyperthreading so the 2600k it is.

I saw the note about the defective 1155 boards in the OP. Are Rev 3.0 boards the B3 revision or is that the defective revision? Any good and available B3 boards?

 

[Ajemsuhgao]

So I have two questions for anyone who might be willing to help me out here:

1. Is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130596

a good card for the price?

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB 256-bit for $199($189, after $10 MIR, and free shipping).

and

2.If ever I decided I wanted to buy two of those for whatever reason, what would be the recommended wattage of PSU? At the moment I could just be crazy and jump on a 1000W PSU that's only $100:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702021

I don't mind spending $100 on overkill if that's what it'd end up being. I really don't care about modular power supplies right now, and if something that will just be passing will run me $80+, I'd rather just spend the extra money to be safe.


I'm currently in the process of upgrading my entire PC, and since one of the fans on my power supply has just stopped working after ~6 years, I figure I might as well get a new one anyway.

 

[Hazaro]

Time to have some fun. Thank God for Frys new "Anywhere price matching" policy. Saved me an hour drive to Microcenter.

Wow really? I might have to try it at the Fry's 'near' me.
10% sales tax is no fun though.

Also that Zalman cooler is terrible for the money and it will cut you.

I saw the note about the defective 1155 boards in the OP. Are Rev 3.0 boards the B3 revision or is that the defective revision? Any good and available B3 boards?

B3 are the new fixed SATA 3 boards. Just about ever P67 board is good. Problem now is finding them in stock.

So I have two questions for anyone who might be willing to help me out here:

1. Is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130596

a good card for the price?

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB 256-bit for $199($189, after $10 MIR, and free shipping).

and

2.If ever I decided I wanted to buy two of those for whatever reason, what would be the recommended wattage of PSU? At the moment I could just be crazy and jump on a 1000W PSU that's only $100:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702021

I don't mind spending $100 on overkill if that's what it'd end up being. I really don't care about modular power supplies right now, and if something that will just be passing will run me $80+, I'd rather just spend the extra money to be safe.


I'm currently in the process of upgrading my entire PC, and since one of the fans on my power supply has just stopped working after ~6 years, I figure I might as well get a new one anyway.

This GTX460 1GB is on sale for $165 before rebate: Pretty nice deal.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127551

That 1000w is crap. You only need like 650W for SLI 460's.
I'd get the Corsait V2 750W for $110 after rebate. It will last you a looooooong time.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

 

[AwesomeSauce]

Hey guys is a gtx 260 for 84$ a good deal? I don't care about the new dx11 much and i am basically upgrading from an old PC which is a P4 3.0ghz and a ati 2600 pro lol.

The PC i am upgrading is basically an old e4400 core2duo with 2 gigs of ram i got for free. The upgrades i am getting are a new Mobo since the one i have on it only supports pcie x4 and a GPU.

I just want to be able to play games, edit video, and watch videos in HD lol.

 

[TheExodu5]

Yeah that's a good deal for a GTX 260.

 

[AwesomeSauce]

Yeah that's a good deal for a GTX 260.

Thanks for the quick response. I went with Nvidia since the last computers i've built and used all have been ATI/AMD. I haven't had an Nvidia card since the geforce 2 and geforce 4 ti4200.

 

[Ajemsuhgao]

This GTX460 1GB is on sale for $165 before rebate: Pretty nice deal.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127551

That 1000w is crap. You only need like 650W for SLI 460's.
I'd get the Corsait V2 750W for $110 after rebate. It will last you a looooooong time.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

I was actually looking at that Corsair PSU earlier. Had the tab still open before I posted here asking how much power I'd need to run 2 460's. I'll definitely be getting that over the BFG Tech 1000W. Thanks.

And as for the video card..really good price, but I probably won't end up getting the card before the end of this month anyway. So the MIR won't do me any good, and the normal $30 difference between the two isn't enough to make me want to go with that card. It's a brand loyalty thing. I've had EVGA cards in the past that have lasted me a longgg time, and MSI mobos that have crapped out on me in a very short time. Plus it's red, and my color OCD will not allow me to have a red card in my blue-dominant case. I'm already considering returning the RAM I just bought because it's red, and picking up some black corsair sticks.

 

[Hazaro]

I was actually looking at that Corsair PSU earlier. Had the tab still open before I posted here asking how much power I'd need to run 2 460's. I'll definitely be getting that over the BFG Tech 1000W. Thanks.

And as for the video card..really good price, but I probably won't end up getting the card before the end of this month anyway. So the MIR won't do me any good, and the normal $30 difference between the two isn't enough to make me want to go with that card. It's a brand loyalty thing. I've had EVGA cards in the past that have lasted me a longgg time, and MSI mobos that have crapped out on me in a very short time. Plus it's red, and my color OCD will not allow me to have a red card in my blue-dominant case. I'm already considering returning the RAM I just bought because it's red, and picking up some black corsair sticks.

Yeah $200 isn't so bad for the super super clocked with 3yr warranty.

 

[·feist·]

So, nearly two weeks after Asus' GTX 590 popped up on a Euro retailer (and was quickly taken down), it's showed up again.

Asus GeForce GTX 590 ENGTX590/3DIS/3GD5
http://www.dustinhome.se/pd_5010585924.aspx

7,395 Kr = ~$1,180 US

Same model, new listing:

Asus GeForce GTX 590 ENGTX590/3DIS/3GD5
http://www.expc.ca/i-17979-ASUS_ENGTX590_3DIS_3GD5.html

$799.99 CA

And the MSI GTX 590, which is supposedly able to hit a 38% overclock, bringing it from 607MHz to 840MHz. Looks to be reference, so if that's true, it would apply to other cards as well (~30% OCs).

MSI GeForce GTX 590 N590GTX-P3D3GD5

http://event.msi.com/vga/N590GTX
http://cdn2.techbang.com.tw/posts/5...the-fastest-graphics-card-msi-n590gtx-p3d3gd5

 

[Unknown Soldier]

MSI should invent a new custom cooling solution for the GTX 590. It could have 3 fans on it and be called the Tri-Frozr. Make it happen, MSI!

 

[JWong]

MSI should invent a new custom cooling solution for the GTX 590. It could have 3 fans on it and be called the Tri-Frozr. Make it happen, MSI!

Will it meow?

 

[Kenka]

Tom's hardware chart is interesting. Basically, it would be well worth it to upgrade from a 9800GT 512Mo to a Mobility Radeon 5870.

If the Mobility Radeon 5870 plays all upcoming games at mid-resolution, then it would pretty much be bang for your buck.

 

[SUPARSTARX]

Poop! I want an SSD but I'd have to get a new PSU since my current one has no extra connectors left/available.

Also, I want to SLI my system. Current I have one of the GTX460's that are slightly OC'd by MSI.

But I don't have a display that goes over 1920x1080 to really make great use of it.

 

[Hazaro]

Poop! I want an SSD but I'd have to get a new PSU since my current one has no extra connectors left/available.

Also, I want to SLI my system. Current I have one of the GTX460's that are slightly OC'd by MSI.

But I don't have a display that goes over 1920x1080 to really make great use of it.

Buy a splitter for $2.
SLi 460's are great for 1080p

 

[Kenka]

I've read through the review of the GT 550Ti made by Anandtech and it seems clear that at this price, the GT 550 Ti has nothing to offer, which is a bit underwhelming

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4221/nvidias-gtx-550-ti-coming-up-short-at-150/17

 

[Naked Snake]

ASUS has released the ML239H, an affordable IPS LED monitor using the same LG panel recently used in similarily priced offerings from other brands

$230 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236122

Can't find any reviews yet. ASUS usually make fine monitors, right?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

ASUS has released the ML239H, an affordable IPS LED monitor using the same LG panel recently used in similarily priced offerings from other brands

$230 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236122

Can't find any reviews yet. ASUS usually make fine monitors, right?

Quality of any display in this day and age is determined not by the logo on front but by the technology inside and the manufacturer of the panel and the associated electronics, most importantly the scaler chip. None of which are made by Asus. All Asus does is assemble the parts they source from other companies into what we call a monitor.

If it's an LED-backlit IPS display it has the first criteria down. If it's an LG panel, it probably has the second criteria down, since LG is currently the world's 2nd largest manufacturer of LCD panels and the world's 2nd largest manufacturer of LCD HDTVs (#1 in both categories is Samsung). LG's TN panels range from bad to horrible, but the IPS panels they use in their LCD HDTVs are just fine. So now it comes down to the fancy chips inside, if the scaler chip is decent and has minimal input lag and good quality scaling of non-native resolution sources, then the monitor is probably pretty decent. I don't know what the warranty is these days on Asus products in Canadia, though. I would hope it's longer than 1 year.

 

[pseudocaesar]

What DX11 graphics card should I get? This is about the price range I am looking at (~$400AUD)

GTX 570 1280MB
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1177&products_id=16671

GTX 480 1536MB
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1066&products_id=16065

HD 6970 2GB
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1178&products_id=16893

 

[Corky]

That takes me back.

9800 XT here baybe, god I loved that card.

Also 7500 sek for the 590? Not sure if want. Rather get the 6990 for 5900 instead. Meanwhile I'm eagerly awaiting the benchs between those cards.

 

[mrklaw]

Thinking about a soundcard vs 5.1 amp for PC Headphones



ASUS soundcard with built in Dolby Headphone

vs
Astro 5.1 Mix Amp

Is one better than the other, will the soundcard provide better audio quality?

Go for the Xonar card. The Astro mixamp will not give you true positional audio over headphones - the best it can do on its own is two channel audio processed using dolby prologic. The only way it can provide you with surround sound over headphones, is to be fed a surround sound signal over optical out.

But you have optical out on your motherboard right? Yes, but I bet you it doesn't actually support 5.1 for games, only movies and anything already coded in 5.1 - it just passes it out.

To get dolby surround in games, you need dolby digital live, which takes the 5.1 multichannel audio from your game and mixes it to DD5.1 to be sent over optical. Astro mixamp won't do that, your onboard audio almost certainly won't either. The Xonar will

Something cheap like the xonar DG will give you 5.1 audio for games over the optical *and* dolby headphone output.


That info took me days to dig out. seems with all the tech improvements on PCs, audio is still a bit of a dark art.

 

[reptilescorpio]

To get dolby surround in games, you need dolby digital live, which takes the 5.1 multichannel audio from your game and mixes it to DD5.1 to be sent over optical. Astro mixamp won't do that, your onboard audio almost certainly won't either. The Xonar will
Something cheap like the xonar DG will give you 5.1 audio for games over the optical *and* dolby headphone output.
That info took me days to dig out. seems with all the tech improvements on PCs, audio is still a bit of a dark art.

So the DG also does DDL like the DX? You are correct in that all this audio stuff is hard to figure out. I just want surround sound through headphones for my games!

 

[Unknown Soldier]

So the DG also does DDL like the DX? You are correct in that all this audio stuff is hard to figure out. I just want surround sound through headphones for my games!

The Asus Xonar DG is probably the cheapest and easiest course for you to take if you want the realtime Dolby Headphone encoding for virtual surround sound from ordinary 2-channel headphones. You could buy a pair of Logitech G35 USB headphones if you didn't care about what headphones you used, but if you want to use a pair of headphones that you like, that's a good way to go.

I wouldn't suggest spending any more than $30 ($20 after MIR) for a PC soundcard in this day and age. Not when video cards are all including mini-HDMI outputs, and some motherboards are including HDMI outputs too. Any video card or motherboard with HDMI output can stream uncompressed multichannel LPCM to an outboard receiver, which bypasses the need entirely for Dolby Digital Live encoding for output over the older optical/coaxial digital connections.

 

[Kenka]

Could anyone update the OP with a guide to the best monitors around that will spare your wallet ? It's kinda missing, and I would like to select a monitor that would last several builds. Any suggestion ?

 

[Corky]

Could anyone update the OP with a guide to the best monitors around that will spare your wallet ? It's kinda missing, and I would like to select a monitor that would last several builds. Any suggestion ?

depens on your budget and all.

But, I'm gonna go and plug my own screen since I'm extremely happy with it and it's the Dell U2311h display.

A very affordable largescreen monitor, IPS panel and all that.

 

[JaseC]

HD 6970 2GB
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1178&products_id=16893

2GB 6950s can still be flashed to a 6970, right? If so, you can save yourself a few bucks.

 

[rossonero]

But, I'm gonna go and plug my own screen since I'm extremely happy with it and it's the Dell U2311h display.

A very affordable largescreen monitor, IPS panel and all that.

I was actually thinking about getting that one this week. How is the panel uniformity and the backbleed?

 

[Corky]

I was actually thinking about getting that one this week. How is the panel uniformity and the backbleed?

well reviews state that there might be some backbleed, but I don't know if I got lucky but the backbleed on my monitor is pretty much minimal.

edit : and as for panel uniformity, I have not bumped into any color/hue irregularities, though I've read on certain forums that it's not out of the ordinary.

 

[Kenka]

depens on your budget and all.

But, I'm gonna go and plug my own screen since I'm extremely happy with it and it's the Dell U2311h display.

A very affordable largescreen monitor, IPS panel and all that.

Well, it doesn't seem to have an HDMI output, and to be honest my budget is probably half of that, or better said, 200 $. I know, I may be asking for much but I am sadly totally uneducated about screens and their pros and cons.

 

[rossonero]

well reviews state that there might be some backbleed, but I don't know if I got lucky but the backbleed on my monitor is pretty much minimal.

edit : and as for panel uniformity, I have not bumped into any color/hue irregularities, though I've read on certain forums that it's not out of the ordinary.

Even despite the problems it does seem like good bang for the buck, but I'll probably hang on to the CRT until fall.

 

[lilltias]

So the DG also does DDL like the DX? You are correct in that all this audio stuff is hard to figure out. I just want surround sound through headphones for my games!

I learned the hard way that you need DDL to get true surround for games on the mix amp. Fortunately, I will get a refund for my mobo thanks to the Intel sandy bridge screw up so I can buy the Gigabyte ud4; it supports DDL over the optical spdif

 

[Kenka]

Well, it doesn't seem to have an HDMI output, and to be honest my budget is probably half of that, or better said, 200 $. I know, I may be asking for much but I am sadly totally uneducated about screens and their pros and cons.

And yeah, in addition, would it be possible to have a case guide as well ? I've lusted over the Cooler Master 690 II Advanced and hope it can last ten years or so. But it has watercooling features that are a bit overkill and not exactly worth the money since I won't use watercooling artifacts at all.