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[·feist·]

I have a 6 gb/s disc drive, SSD, and HDD. Which ones should I plug into my ASUS motherboard using the native ports, and which should I plug into the Marvell controller? (should I even plug into the Marvell controller considering I'll probably need drivers)

Edit: anyone recommend whether to insta the CM Hyper CPU cooler before or after mounting the mobo?

Plug the SSD into the 6Gb/s port, since it should take precedence over a standard ODD or mechanical HDD.

Unless you have a large motherboard cut out, and a lot of room to work with in your case, you're mostly likely better off installing the HSF before the board goes in.

 

[Xirj]

I have a 6 gb/s disc drive, SSD, and HDD. Which ones should I plug into my ASUS motherboard using the native ports, and which should I plug into the Marvell controller? (should I even plug into the Marvell controller considering I'll probably need drivers)

Edit: anyone recommend whether to insta the CM Hyper CPU cooler before or after mounting the mobo?

Which Marvell controller is it? I've been looking into this recently and it seems the Marvell SE9128 controller is crap. Slower than SATA 2 for SSD's and doesn't support TRIM.

 

[NakedCosmonaut]

Hello PC-GAF, your master race intrigues me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I have a tablet PC (Gateway C141-XL) right now that I use for illustration work and was planning on upgrading to a newer one but I also want a gaming PC where obviously a tablet isn't going to cut it. So instead I want to build a desktop and just use a Wacom USB tablet.

Your Current Specs: It's a 2008 Tablet PC, let's just say it's outdated.
Budget: $1000 / USA
Main Use: Gaming, Emulation (PS2/Wii), Photoshop, some SketchUp, general usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback)
Monitor Resolution: I'm at 1920x1080 through an external monitor (backlight on tablet died) so that or better (if possible).
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Mostly Skyrim, also Deus Ex:HR, as well as a handful of Steam sale games (Crysis, Batman:AA, Witcher) that I can't play at the moment. Maybe Witcher 2 assuming I like the first one. Ideally I want to be able to handle anything in the near future.
Are reusing any parts?: Just the monitor (Asus VH236H)
When will you build?: Before the end of May if not sooner.
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe (Not entirely sure what it entails)

So that and the Wacom tablet, hopefully someone here has experience with those.

 

[Krauser Kat]

go with a intous 4 small or medium unless your used to using larger. You should be able to build an i5 2500k 8gig ram 1tb hd something like an 6850 and the 300 hundred dollar tablet all under 1000. Buy the CPU from a microcenter if possible they may still be selling those at a loss.

 

[Saren is Bad]

Which Marvell controller is it? I've been looking into this recently and it seems the Marvell SE9128 controller is crap. Slower than SATA 2 for SSD's and doesn't support TRIM.

Not sure I'll check. Its the one on the P8P67 Pro board.

 

[mkenyon]

Hello PC-GAF, your master race intrigues me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I have a tablet PC (Gateway C141-XL) right now that I use for illustration work and was planning on upgrading to a newer one but I also want a gaming PC where obviously a tablet isn't going to cut it. So instead I want to build a desktop and just use a Wacom USB tablet.

Your Current Specs: It's a 2008 Tablet PC, let's just say it's outdated.
Budget: $1000 / USA
Main Use: Gaming, Emulation (PS2/Wii), Photoshop, some SketchUp, general usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback)
Monitor Resolution: I'm at 1920x1080 through an external monitor (backlight on tablet died) so that or better (if possible).
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Mostly Skyrim, also Deus Ex:HR, as well as a handful of Steam sale games (Crysis, Batman:AA, Witcher) that I can't play at the moment. Maybe Witcher 2 assuming I like the first one. Ideally I want to be able to handle anything in the near future.
Are reusing any parts?: Just the monitor (Asus VH236H)
When will you build?: Before the end of May if not sooner.
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe (Not entirely sure what it entails)

So that and the Wacom tablet, hopefully someone here has experience with those.

You want the $1k build on the front page.

Also, today's deals from Tiger Direct are pretty rockin. Storm Scout for $70, 5850 for $140, some other good stuff.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/WE...m_mmc=email-_-Main-_-WEM2664-_-tigeremail2664

 

[ithorien]

Hello PC-GAF, your master race intrigues me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

(b'.')b

Budget: $1000 / USA
So that and the Wacom tablet, hopefully someone here has experience with those.

Does your budget include the tablet? If so, Intuos 4 medium + $600 build from OP and you're at budget.

 

[DeadRockstar]

I agree with the Intuos 4 suggestions. I've used most Wacom products over the years and currently own an Intuos 4 and Cintiq 21UX. The Intuos 4 gets the most usage by far. It was a worthy upgrade over the 3 I was using before as well. Well worth it if your budget allows.

 

[Krauser Kat]

So, my uncles family computer ate shit. So i get to gut it and build them a new one in the same case for 300 dollars, im trying to include using a legit copy of windows 7 (hopefully EDU version for cheapness otherwise i will eat the extra cost. I was wondering if it was really worth it for a family that does not game to even go quad and if i go quad got athlon II or Phenom II
3 Possible CPUS to choose from
3.2 Dual 555 Phenom II X2 89$
3.2 Quad 640 Athlon II x4 99$
2.8 Quad 925 Phenom II X4 115$

Here is what i got now
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM $20.99

hec Orion XPOWER585 585W ATX12V 2.01 Power Supply - OEM $24.99

Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996586 $39.99

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX
BIOSTAR N68S3+ AM3 NVIDIA MCP68S Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $123.99

Subtotal: $209.96

 

[NakedCosmonaut]

All right, the Intuos 4 medium (thanks for that especially) along with the $1000 build seems to be what I'm looking for though a few of those items seem to be out of stock.

 

[Kenka]

For anyone planning on building a new PC right now, I'd suggest you buy a 1155 socket P8P67 mobo and a i3-2100. Then upgrade sometimes in 2012 with an mid-range Ivy Bridge 8-cores CPU.

Otherwise, wait for either Bulldozer or Intel's 1155 next chipsets.

 

[TheExodu5]

So, my uncles family computer ate shit. So i get to gut it and build them a new one in the same case for 300 dollars, im trying to include using a legit copy of windows 7 (hopefully EDU version for cheapness otherwise i will eat the extra cost. I was wondering if it was really worth it for a family that does not game to even go quad and if i go quad got athlon II or Phenom II
3 Possible CPUS to choose from
3.2 Dual 555 Phenom II X2 89$
3.2 Quad 640 Athlon II x4 99$
2.8 Quad 925 Phenom II X4 115$

Here is what i got now
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM $20.99

hec Orion XPOWER585 585W ATX12V 2.01 Power Supply - OEM $24.99

Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996586 $39.99

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX
BIOSTAR N68S3+ AM3 NVIDIA MCP68S Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $123.99

Subtotal: $209.96

The Quad is $10 more. Definitely worth it. For general PC use and multitasking, quad is good.

For anyone planning on building a new PC right now, I'd suggest you buy a 1155 socket P8P67 mobo and a i3-2100. Then upgrade sometimes in 2012 with an mid-range Ivy Bridge 8-cores CPU.

Otherwise, wait for either Bulldozer or Intel's 1155 next chipsets.

That's kind of silly...you should just go with the 2500k. Don't go with dual-core CPU in this day and age.

edit: if you're on a tight budget it might make a bit of sense, but you're still going to have to go with a P67 motherboard to get the most out of your eventual unlocked quad/octocore CPU.

If you're building the system for specific games and mind and are on a budget, you could look at the 2100. It would be a great CPU for a game like Starcraft 2. However, go to a game like Bad Company 2, and it would be terrible.

 

[ithorien]

All right, the Intuos 4 medium (thanks for that especially) along with the $1000 build seems to be what I'm looking for though a few of those items seem to be out of stock.

Stagger purchase, or wait it out. During the crazy G.Skill/C300 sale, both items went OOS and then came back promptly after a couple of days, still on sale. They shouldn't be OOS long.

 

[Kenka]

That's kind of silly...you should just go with the 2500k. Don't go with dual-core CPU in this day and age.

edit: if you're on a tight budget it might make a bit of sense, but you're still going to have to go with a P67 motherboard to get the most out of your eventual unlocked quad/octocore CPU.

Correct. But I think it's just more interesting to go low-profile with Ivy Bridge and then mid-range with Sandy Bridge. It should cost you a little more than a 2600k at the end overall but your computer would hold longer.

Anyway, it is just my theory. And yeah, I went budget and prayed so that Ivy Bridge would also use the 1155 socket. And it does, I am glad. I know, this sounds uncommon. I defend my choice though.

 

[mkenyon]

I'm glad that works for you, but the thought that someone will need something more than the 2500 in the next two years seems preposterous to me. Especially considering in reality, an AM3 Quad Core is still plenty of power for any game.

 

[SaintR]

Hey fellow 6950 owners. I have a few questions if you guys don't mind discussing (I apologize if you guys have already gone through this). I've been experimenting with unlocking and OCing my card:
First, I flashed to 6970 bios through winflash which went well, however, I noticed some tearing and macroblocking(macro during a dark scene in a video). OCed it a bit an got good temps

Second, flashed to 6950 modded bios with unlocked shaders, no tearing or macroblcoking, however temps were higher while OCing which I found strange. Also I had a bit better performance on the 6970 bios.

Any suggestions...I have the 1k build in OP but I have 8gb of ram.
Thanks in advance guys and sorry for the long write up

 

[TheExodu5]

Yeah, unless you're doing non gaming related multithreaded tasks, I'm not convinced Ivy Bridge is going to be an improvement for anyone currently on a 2500k/2600k. It won't be faster core-for-core...it will just have more cores. I doubt it will really show its use in gaming for at least a few years...and by that time there will no doubt be faster CPUs out there.

I don't think IvyBridge or Bulldozer are going to be good buys for gaming PCs. Just an educated guess.

 

[Trojita]

Finally purchased all of the parts for my upgrade.

Previous System
Q9450 2.66GHz
Stock Intel Cooler
DFI Lanparty X38
4GB RAM
4870 512 MB
1TB Hard Drive

Upgraded System
Q9450 2.66GHz Overlocked to 3.XXGHz
XigmaTek Dark Knight
DFI Lanparty X38
4GB RAM
6950 2GB flashed to 6970
128 GB Crucial C300 SSD
1.5TB Hard Drive

I hope I notice a difference from this upgrade!

 

[ithorien]

128 GB Crucial C300 SSD

I hope I notice a difference from this upgrade!

Yup.

 

[mkenyon]

That's a pretty significant upgrade. Hope you enjoy!

 

[vexvegaz]

Im really not happy with this msi p67a gd65 board. Its a great board but its overclocking features is not exactly what i was looking for.

should i go ahead and pick up a asus pro/deluxe? or wait for the z series chipsets?

 

[scogoth]

Im really not happy with this msi p67a gd65 board. Its a great board but its overclocking features is not exactly what i was looking for.

should i go ahead and pick up a asus pro/deluxe? or wait for the z series chipsets?

Pro is fine, Deluxe gets you about a 1% better oc. Wait for z boards only if you encode lots of videos and want to use the quick sync feature with Nvidia synergy or Virtu.

 

[Shubit]

It´s very similar to mine

The motherboard listed here won't fit into the chosen case (ATX vs mATX) nor will the optical drive. FT03 requires a slot loading slimline optical drive

 

[MrBelmontvedere]

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/new...-2q-20112c-20nm-in-2012-and-14nm-in-2014.aspx

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=4830417&postcount=81

 

[catapult37]

It occurred to me that while all my wireless devices at home are 802.11g/n, I've been sitting on my ancient 2wire DSL modem (802.11b) for like 7 years. Can anyone recommend a good, not-too-expensive wireless-n replacement?

And is it worth it? I'm hoping this'll improve my hulu/netflix experience, though honestly it is already pretty good. I get occasional stuttering that is probably as much to do with cpu/ram on the laptop I'm using. I don't do a ton of downloading large files except for steam games.

 

[Trojita]

I ordered the Crucial C300 for $200 plus like $5 for a SATA Cable, but my Coworker friends seem to be pressuring on buying the Intel 510 for $242.99 after using a coupon. The Intel I think comes with a SATA cable and an enclosure.

I wasn't really planning on using an enclosure with my C300 anyway since I heard it's not needed. Would the Intel be really worth the extra money or should I be happy with the C300, and use the money I save to put toward another SSD that I may buy in a year or two that may be even bigger and faster while being cheaper?

 

[vexvegaz]

Pro is fine, Deluxe gets you about a 1% better oc. Wait for z boards only if you encode lots of videos and want to use the quick sync feature with Nvidia synergy or Virtu.

having considered what you said, I think it would be in my best interest to sstick to this msi board for now and spend the funds towards another gtx 570. who knows, maybe msi will release a newer bios with the features im looking for. if by june/july no update on the bios, i'll go ahead and pick up a asus board that may end up being a lil cheaper by then.

 

[scogoth]

I ordered the Crucial C300 for $200 plus like $5 for a SATA Cable, but my Coworker friends seem to be pressuring on buying the Intel 510 for $242.99 after using a coupon. The Intel I think comes with a SATA cable and an enclosure.

I wasn't really planning on using an enclosure with my C300 anyway since I heard it's not needed. Would the Intel be really worth the extra money or should I be happy with the C300, and use the money I save to put toward another SSD that I may buy in a year or two that may be even bigger and faster while being cheaper?

Enclosure on a ssd? Thats extremely wastefull. SSDs should be a system drive not external. Do you have 6gbps SATA? 510 only good if you have 6gbps sata.

 

[Trojita]

Enclosure on a ssd? Thats extremely wastefull. SSDs should be a system drive not external. Do you have 6gbps SATA? 510 only good if you have 6gbps sata.

It would be an internal enclosure. To house the SSD in the 3.5" bays. I heard a lot of people just let them dangle though.

 

[scogoth]

having considered what you said, I think it would be in my best interest to sstick to this msi board for now and spend the funds towards another gtx 570. who knows, maybe msi will release a newer bios with the features im looking for. if by june/july no update on the bios, i'll go ahead and pick up a asus board that may end up being a lil cheaper by then.

What features are you looking for? Is it only overclocking cause I know the way they did the firewire/USB3/PCIe 1x lanes was wonky if you used the 8x 4x 4x for the 3 full length PCIe lanes.

 

[scogoth]

It would be an internal enclosure. To house the SSD in the 3.5" bays. I heard a lot of people just let them dangle though.

Oh an adapter bracket. Yeah those are good but it costs like $3 to get one. Its just a piece of metal.

Also on another note buy a 480GB Vertex 3 on Newegg and get a 60GB Vertex FREE. Thats right buy one ssd and they give you another smaller and slower one free!

 

[NakedCosmonaut]

Actually there is one other thing I need, an uninterrupted power source, that's a must for not losing work in an emergency. Anybody have any experience with those?

 

[vexvegaz]

What features are you looking for? Is it only overclocking cause I know the way they did the firewire/USB3/PCIe 1x lanes was wonky if you used the 8x 4x 4x for the 3 full length PCIe lanes.

outside of a missing vcore offset setting and the extreme vcore it produces when set to auto, nothing really in particular. just looking through the options asus bios offers got me envious. to provide a a tiny bit of history, i came from a dfi lanparty UT board. so seeing this lack of features from a oc'er point of view can be a bit disappointing.

as far as firewire or usb3 is concerned, not really an issue for me. i have no use for firewire and i dont have anything that use usb3.

 

[scogoth]

Actually there is one other thing I need, an uninterrupted power source, that's a must for not losing work in an emergency. Anybody have any experience with those?

Used several APC UPSs for mostly home theatre equipment and server racks. Excellent products and service and they have a nice calculator feature to determine what you need based on power draw and run time.

 

[Cat in the Hat]

For those with the ASUS pro MB. When you set your SSD as your first hard drive. How did you get your computer to detect your regular hard drive?

I have this strange thing where I know it's plugged in because SpeedFan detects the HDD but my computer doesn't niether in the BIOS or when its booted.

As a side note the 320 Intel SSD is damn fast it's amazing.

 

[rc213]

For those with the ASUS pro MB. When you set your SSD as your first hard drive. How did you get your computer to detect your regular hard drive?

I have this strange thing where I know it's plugged in because SpeedFan detects the HDD but my computer doesn't niether in the BIOS or when its booted.

As a side note the 320 Intel SSD is damn fast it's amazing.

Is the regular drive formatted or new?

 

[knitoe]

For those with the ASUS pro MB. When you set your SSD as your first hard drive. How did you get your computer to detect your regular hard drive?

I have this strange thing where I know it's plugged in because SpeedFan detects the HDD but my computer doesn't niether in the BIOS or when its booted.

As a side note the 320 Intel SSD is damn fast it's amazing.

Are you sure bios doesn't see them? Did you check under advanced mode? If bios doesn't see them, no way anything can see them, including speedfan. You probably just have to activate and format them through Windows disk manager. And, unless speedfan has recently been updated, not compatible with sandy bridge.

 

[ithorien]

For those with the ASUS pro MB. When you set your SSD as your first hard drive. How did you get your computer to detect your regular hard drive?

I have this strange thing where I know it's plugged in because SpeedFan detects the HDD but my computer doesn't niether in the BIOS or when its booted.

As a side note the 320 Intel SSD is damn fast it's amazing.

They all just show up in BIOS for me. The Intel controller's set to AHCI, SSD is on the 6gb, two HDD drives are on the 3gb.

 

[Piano]

That is perfectly fine, I just completed a new build with a X4 955 with a stock fan and my temps are ranging from 40C to 50C, bearing in mind where I live is having some unusually hot weather for April it isn't too bad at all. The X4 processors just seem to run at high temps.

The difference is that I'm running a huge aftermarket cooler - so it should be cooler than the stock fan setup, right? I guess I might've flubbed the installation, it was my first time.

I'll monitor the temp under load before I make a decision.

 

[Cday]

For those with the ASUS pro MB. When you set your SSD as your first hard drive. How did you get your computer to detect your regular hard drive?

I have this strange thing where I know it's plugged in because SpeedFan detects the HDD but my computer doesn't niether in the BIOS or when its booted.

Do you have it plugged into one of the 3GB ports with a 3GB cable? If it's a samsung spinpoint they're known to have problems with p67 boards and this can be fixed through a firmware update to the hard drive.

 

[Cat in the Hat]

Do you have it plugged into one of the 3GB ports with a 3GB cable? If it's a samsung spinpoint they're known to have problems with p67 boards and this can be fixed through a firmware update to the hard drive.

oh that must be it. Ill try to download that.

"3. Booting the system to DOS mode by bootable media.(which with this F/W flash program)."

How the hell do you do this? this is step 3 in the patch instructions

 

[SaintR]

I don't want to cut and paste because then I just sound annoying but any advice on the unlocking and OCing a 6950? I had long post before but I'll just ask to see if anyone has any advice/discuss it

 

[knitoe]

I don't want to cut and paste because then I just sound annoying but any advice on the unlocking and OCing a 6950? I had long post before but I'll just ask to see if anyone has any advice/discuss it

To unlock shader only using your card's bios:

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1967l/ati_winflash_2.0.1.14.zip
http://www.techpowerup.com/wizzard/Mod_BIOS_HD_6950.zip

1)Download/Extract to your HDD mod batch files.
2)Using Winflash, save your stock BIOS as original.bin in the same folder where you extracted the above file.
3)Double click the run.bat file... it will take that bios file and mod it to only unlock the shaders. That way you can keep the card as a 6950 and only unlock the shaders.
4)Use Winflash to flash your card with mod bios from #3.
5)Use whatever program you want to O/C the card, like Catalyst Control Center.

 

[Cat in the Hat]

Are you sure bios doesn't see them? Did you check under advanced mode? If bios doesn't see them, no way anything can see them, including speedfan. You probably just have to activate and format them through Windows disk manager. And, unless speedfan has recently been updated, not compatible with sandy bridge.

Thank you for the help. I looked in the disk management on W7 and found it. Just did a format and was good to go!

 

[ZZMitch]

I am switching from an nvidia to an ati card (460 to 6950)... is there anything special I have to do, besides the normal safe mode -> driver sweeper -> new drivers steps?

 

[momolicious]

Your Current Specs: Athlon Dual Core 3800+, NVIDIA 8800GT, 2gb ram
Budget: around $900 , US
Main Use: GAMING, general usage
Monitor Resolution: 1080P only
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Witcher 2, Skyrim, Battlefield 3 all on high and FPS well more than 30.
Are reusing any parts?: Nope
When will you build?: Within a Month
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe

Im thinking of doing a Intel 2500k build, so far:

2500k (Microcenter is cheapest I think)
Asus P8P67
Corsair PSU? (would 600-650 be good enough? not doing any dual GPUs)
NVIDIA GTX 460 (Powerful enough for 1080p high with great fps?)
G.Skill 4GB ram
samsung f3 1tb (fast and good drive for the price?)
CM Hyper 212+ (the paste it comes with is good enough right?)
DVD burner (some decent one)

 

[SaintR]

To unlock shader only using your card's bios:

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1967l/ati_winflash_2.0.1.14.zip
http://www.techpowerup.com/wizzard/Mod_BIOS_HD_6950.zip

1)Download/Extract to your HDD mod batch files.
2)Using Winflash, save your stock BIOS as original.bin in the same folder where you extracted the above file.
3)Double click the run.bat file... it will take that bios file and mod it to only unlock the shaders. That way you can keep the card as a 6950 and only unlock the shaders.
4)Use Winflash to flash your card with mod bios from #3.
5)Use whatever program you want to O/C the card, like Catalyst Control Center.

Thanks for the response...I did just that but was wondering why I would have higher temps on 6950 unlocked shaders as opposed to lower temps with 6970 bios. In addition a bit better performance on the 6970 bios abeit some tearing and macroblocking(which is really whats bugging me).
It's cool if you don't want to further discuss cause I was doing some research and the 6950-6970 debate has been discussed heavily. Perhaps my situation is unique to my card.

 

[Whopper]

Ok GAF... tomorrow is the big day; all my parts get delivered and I am going to try my hand at building my first PC. I've watched the videos in the OP, and I think I am relatively ready... the long video has many of the same parts as I do. Anyway, is there anything specific I can do before I get started to help me through the process? Any tools other than a screwdriver and some rubber gloves? Have any tips on installing the thermal compound (Arctic Silver) when putting on my 212+? I'm a little paranoid and I can't seem to find any visual help. Also, how should I orient my fan on the 212+? Towards the back of the case (Fractal R3), right? And it should pull the air away from the heat pipes and towards the case fan which will be blowing it out of the case, right? I'm sure there will be more questions a I'm doing this but these are at the top of my head.

Thanks again, this thread is an incredible resource!

 

[scogoth]

Your Current Specs: Athlon Dual Core 3800+, NVIDIA 8800GT, 2gb ram
Budget: around $900 , US
Main Use: GAMING, general usage
Monitor Resolution: 1080P only
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Witcher 2, Skyrim, Battlefield 3 all on high and FPS well more than 30.
Are reusing any parts?: Nope
When will you build?: Within a Month
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe

Im thinking of doing a Intel 2500k build, so far:

2500k (Microcenter is cheapest I think)
Asus P8P67
Corsair PSU? (would 600-650 be good enough? not doing any dual GPUs)
NVIDIA GTX 460 (Powerful enough for 1080p high with great fps?)
G.Skill 4GB ram
samsung f3 1tb (fast and good drive for the price?)
CM Hyper 212+ (the paste it comes with is good enough right?)
DVD burner (some decent one)

460 might be on the low side of BF3 on high but we have not real way of knowing right now. They demo vids were at high at 1080p on a GTX580 so thats the only benchmark to go by.

 

[scogoth]

Ok GAF... tomorrow is the big day; all my parts get delivered and I am going to try my hand at building my first PC. I've watched the videos in the OP, and I think I am relatively ready... the long video has many of the same parts as I do. Anyway, is there anything specific I can do before I get started to help me through the process? Any tools other than a screwdriver and some rubber gloves? Have any tips on installing the thermal compound (Arctic Silver) when putting on my 212+? I'm a little paranoid and I can't seem to find any visual help. Also, how should I orient my fan on the 212+? Towards the back of the case (Fractal R3), right? And it should pull the air away from the heat pipes and towards the case fan which will be blowing it out of the case, right? I'm sure there will be more questions a I'm doing this but these are at the top of my head.

Thanks again, this thread is an incredible resource!

Screwdriver thats all you need. Mount it so the fan pushes air through the heatsink toward the back of the case. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffK7L0Qj13Q Theres a cheesy video to show you how pastes spread. Not all those methods are the correct way but it gives you a visual of the spreading. Use the pea or line method and you can prep the heatsink by scraping a thin film paste across the heatsink, this should be outlined in the Hyper212 manual.