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[·feist·]

whoops yeah, my bad on that one. 200mm on a cpu that would be pretty epic.

Now imagine having something like this attached to your CPU:

And people complain about high-end dual tower coolers...

 

[black_vegeta]

Now imagine having something like this attached to your CPU:

And people complain about high-end dual tower coolers...

Looks like an old school car air filter.

 

[Kalnos]

fuck me and impulse upgrades

 

[Stantron]

Room temp?

Also I can't stress how good the The Hyper 212+ is for its price/performance. Amazing heatsink with its only weakness being how loud it gets compared to a NH-D14.

I'm not sure what my room ambient is, but I'd guess around a cool 24C.
I don't doubt the performance of the 212+. My understanding is that the NH-D14 has at least as good thermal performance, if not better, and is quieter, which I prefer. Bang for buck though, 212+ is probably the way to go.

Well just as PhD baller said they could always be lower.

edit : ok now I finally see the power of the noctua, played L4D2 for a while, and I have no idea if it's a cpudemanding or not but after playing some pretty intensive parts of the game I noticed that coretemp showed a maxtemp of only 42C! And that's on that delinquent core no 4 that is always 5-6 C hotter than it's siblings.

Right. Especially if temps are coming in higher than normal and there are things that can be done/fixed to improve the numbers. Speaking as someone new to PC building, I just want to make sure that I'm doing things correctly and optimally. I can see how this comes off as paranoid, lol. Also, good to know I'm not the only one with a delinquent core. Is this normal, or should they usually be the same temp, give or take?

 

[Cday]

Who here has a haf x or a corsair 600t.
im thinking of putting in some 80mm fans near the videocard, so how do i put them there?
Also what cases do people here have.
i love seeing what people do with their cases.
there are these 2 threads i love on overclock and another website of people showing their cases and the work they do with mods, fans and lighting etc.

I have a 600t and left it as is. It has great airflow and a ton of space to do pretty much whatever you want. Plus it doesn't have those juvenile blue leds/windows. The only downside to it is that it's HEAVY and huge and offers no sound dampening. It helps that I have an SSD to run the OS and Apps as the hard drive makes no noise unless in use. The USB ports are on the top, which I think is less than ideal. Also maybe it's just me but I had a hell of a time popping in the IO panel when I switched to this case and again when I upgraded to a p8p67 pro. One nice thing is that it has dust filters over the front 200mm intake fan and on the bottom where the power supply sits. They easily pop/slide out for cleaning.

Overall I like this case a lot more than my old one, which was some Cooler Master Centurion 534 or something. That case had pretty much zero cable management, vibrated sometimes and had a blue LED on the front under the power button that could temporarily blind you if you swiveled the wrong way. Also it had these retention clips for holding the pci cards in place that I believe were spawned straight out of hell. Fuck those things. Some other things that pissed me off over the past 3 years with that case is the tool-less slidey clip thing that Cooler Master used to secure the DVD drives were SHIT and the power supply mount was at the top of the case, which I think is dumb and inconvenient.

The 600t has none of those short comings and was designed with the system builder in mind. So if anyone's putting their parts list together and being a dumbass like I was thinking "hmm, yep, that's a computer case" *buy*. Aesthetics aside, stop and take 10 minutes to make sure you get a case that's at least functional for system building. Beats living 3 years with a piece of shit case.

 

[scogoth]

Now imagine having something like this attached to your CPU:

And people complain about high-end dual tower coolers...

If that weren't so ugly it'd be beautiful. I'd like to see something like that but twice the fin density in copper.

 

[knitoe]

From what I've understand, CPU internal PLL and LLC are meant to make your system more stable when you overclock. I take it your saying that's wrong and it is indeed better to leave it off, correct? Some guides I've read say that LLC is good for avoiding drops in CPU voltage under load, is this incorrect?

CPU Internal PLL is only needed to get pass the "multiplier wall" where no amount of voltage works. Thus, if you are not doing extreme overclocking, 4.8GHz or above, it's not needed.

LLC is suppose to provide a more stable voltage when overclocking. The problem is you could experience voltage spikes while the LLC tries to adjust. Sometimes the spikes could be so fast the your software monitoring programs can't even detect.

In both cases, it's better to have then disable or lowest settings if you don't need to use them. I have them like that with 2600K 4.5GHz@1.27V.

 

[Baller. PhD]

Ok SSD-gaf, I need some pointers. Which programs are and aren't ok to install to the SSD? For keeping the drive snappy that is. I've heard you want to avoid too many writes, but which programs are guilty of that? I currently don't have anything installed besides Win7 and Chrome.

I've got Chrome installed to the data drive because it won't let me change the directory. Is it ok to put the primary browser on the SSD, or should that be avoided to cut down on writes? I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around all this... I understand I want to avoid too many writes, but at the same time if I don't install anything on the SSD then what's the point of having it? I've got 240GB.

 

[Hawk269]

CPU Internal PLL is only needed to get pass the "multiplier wall" where no amount of voltage works. Thus, if you are not doing extreme overclocking, 4.8GHz or above, it's not needed.

LLC is suppose to provide a more stable voltage when overclocking. The problem is you could experience voltage spikes while the LLC tries to adjust. Sometimes the spikes could be so fast the your software monitoring programs can't even detect.

In both cases, it's better to have then disable or lowest settings if you don't need to use them. I have them like that with 2600K 4.5GHz@1.27V.

Knitoe,

Would you mind posting your entire settings from the BIOS utility to achieve your 4.5 OC? I assume you have the ASUS p67 board. I am having a hard time finding a good setting for 4.5, I use the auto oc for a 4.4, but something makes me want a solid 4.5. Appreciate it if you can do this.

 

[riceandbeans]

Just finished up with my new i5 2500K build and I'm ready to RMA the motherfucker already. This is my third computer build to overheat. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.

I've got a Thermaltake Frio on there, a case with a much better airflow, and I'm still getting the exact same temperatures as all my other builds with a max temperature of 65C in a cool room to 70C if things warm up.

Anyone have an idea of what ideal temperatures would be for an i5 with a Frio at stock speed or OC'ed? Somethings not right. If I can't figure it out, I'm just gonna send everything back and buy something pre-built. I like PC gaming, but PC gaming just doesn't like me.

 

[wandering goat]

Ok SSD-gaf, I need some pointers. Which programs are and aren't ok to install to the SSD? For keeping the drive snappy that is. I've heard you want to avoid too many writes, but which programs are guilty of that? I currently don't have anything installed besides Win7 and Chrome.

I've got Chrome installed to the data drive because it won't let me change the directory. Is it ok to put the primary browser on the SSD, or should that be avoided to cut down on writes? I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around all this... I understand I want to avoid too many writes, but at the same time if I don't install anything on the SSD then what's the point of having it? I've got 240GB.

I personally wouldn't worry about treating the SSD any different from a regular drive (aside from no defrag and making sure TRIM's enabled, both of which Windows 7 should automatically set). The usable life-time of SSDs today are pretty damned long.

 

[1-D_FTW]

Just finished up with my new i5 2500K build and I'm ready to RMA the motherfucker already. This is my third computer build to overheat. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.

I've got a Thermaltake Frio on there, a case with a much better airflow, and I'm still getting the exact same temperatures as all my other builds with a max temperature of 65C in a cool room to 70C if things warm up.

Anyone have an idea of what ideal temperatures would be for an i5 with a Frio at stock speed or OC'ed? Somethings not right. If I can't figure it out, I'm just gonna send everything back and buy something pre-built. I like PC gaming, but PC gaming just doesn't like me.

Are you following directions with the thermal paste? I've noticed my MX-1, for example, has different directions depending on CPU make. And you're not supposed to use much. You should be using a thin layer no matter what brand of thermal paste you're using. Too much is just as bad as not enough.

And what do you consider "cool"? If you're in a warm climate and "cool" is a relative term, you're going to have higher temps than somebody running in a cold basement.

 

[clav]

Ok SSD-gaf, I need some pointers. Which programs are and aren't ok to install to the SSD? For keeping the drive snappy that is. I've heard you want to avoid too many writes, but which programs are guilty of that? I currently don't have anything installed besides Win7 and Chrome.

I've got Chrome installed to the data drive because it won't let me change the directory. Is it ok to put the primary browser on the SSD, or should that be avoided to cut down on writes? I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around all this... I understand I want to avoid too many writes, but at the same time if I don't install anything on the SSD then what's the point of having it? I've got 240GB.

What drive is this?

I was told to use the Intel RST drivers for a SSD. Doing this however will not let you upgrade your SSD to a newer firmware.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...roductProduct=Intel®+Rapid+Storage+Technology

Just finished up with my new i5 2500K build and I'm ready to RMA the motherfucker already. This is my third computer build to overheat. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.

I've got a Thermaltake Frio on there, a case with a much better airflow, and I'm still getting the exact same temperatures as all my other builds with a max temperature of 65C in a cool room to 70C if things warm up.

Anyone have an idea of what ideal temperatures would be for an i5 with a Frio at stock speed or OC'ed? Somethings not right. If I can't figure it out, I'm just gonna send everything back and buy something pre-built. I like PC gaming, but PC gaming just doesn't like me.

What thermal paste are you using?

 

[Cat in the Hat]

I installed 64 bit nhancer and it just wont load up. I get the nhancer screen and then nothing. Anyone know what might be up?

BTW Holy damn does Crysis Warhead look good and maxed out everything.

 

[Kenaras]

I built a machine some months ago, using advice from this thread. I experienced a very unusual problem when attempting to power on the system. When I pressed the power button, the power LED and motherboard LEDs would flash for a fraction of a second, then turn off. The system and CPU fans would also power up for a fraction of a second, which essentially resulted in "twitching" more than actually turning. This would repeat once every second. The system would ignore the power button at this point; even holding it in wouldn't power off the system. Turning the power supply itself off was the only way to stop the flashing.

I tried removing everything from the system, both one at a time and all-together. The system still behaved the same. I tried a different motherboard and a different power supply, but there was no change. After I'd given up on it, a few days later it suddenly started working properly. I used the system without any problems for nearly a year.

A few days ago, the same power up problem came back. Has anyone seen this sort of behavior, or know what causes it? I've built numerous computers myself, and checked with friends who work in the system administration/technical support fields - none of them know what to make of it. At this point, my guess is that either the CPU is defective, or that both of the power supplies I've tried are incompatible with my motherboard/CPU.

System specs:
GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit
XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 Video Card
Antec 450W SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply

 

[clav]

I built a machine some months ago, using advice from this thread. I experienced a very unusual problem when attempting to power on the system. When I pressed the power button, the power LED and motherboard LEDs would flash for a fraction of a second, then turn off. The system and CPU fans would also power up for a fraction of a second, which essentially resulted in "twitching" more than actually turning. This would repeat once every second. The system would ignore the power button at this point; even holding it in wouldn't power off the system. Turning the power supply itself off was the only way to stop the flashing.

I tried removing everything from the system, both one at a time and all-together. The system still behaved the same. I tried a different motherboard and a different power supply, but there was no change. After I'd given up on it, a few days later it suddenly started working properly. I used the system without any problems for nearly a year.

A few days ago, the same power up problem came back. Has anyone seen this sort of behavior, or know what causes it? I've built numerous computers myself, and checked with friends who work in the system administration/technical support fields - none of them know what to make of it. At this point, my guess is that either the CPU is defective, or that both of the power supplies I've tried are incompatible with my motherboard/CPU.

System specs:
GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit
XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 Video Card
Antec 450W SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply

Have you tried powering on your system using a flat-head screw driver? Bridge the two power pins together rather than pressing the power button although be very careful with that as you don't want to short out the wrong connections.

If that works out just fine, then it could actually be your case's power button.


--------------

It could also be that you don't have a strong enough power supply.

 

[Baller. PhD]

What drive is this?

I was told to use the Intel RST drivers for a SSD. Doing this however will not let you upgrade your SSD to a newer firmware.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...roductProduct=Intel®+Rapid+Storage+Technology

Vertex 3 240GB

 

[clav]

Vertex 3 240GB

In that case, you use Windows 7 right?

Don't bother to do anything. Just be sure your drive is in AHCI mode so Windows 7 can do TRIM.

 

[ithorien]

I installed 64 bit nhancer and it just wont load up. I get the nhancer screen and then nothing. Anyone know what might be up?

BTW Holy damn does Crysis Warhead look good and maxed out everything.

Google nHancer, and you'll quickly find that it's no longer supported, which means no support on newer drivers.

 

[Cat in the Hat]

Google nHancer, and you'll quickly find that it's no longer supported, which means no support on newer drivers.

Yeah just got done with that. That's a shame, are there any alternatives? I saw Nvidia inspector but it looked more like a overclocking tool.

 

[Varna]

Going from a 460GTX to a 580GTX... worth it? I've been looking at the 590 as well, but that shit is expensive and never in stock... what to do...

 

[Baller. PhD]

In that case, you use Windows 7 right?

Don't bother to do anything. Just be sure your drive is in AHCI mode so Windows 7 can do TRIM.

Okie dokie. I changed my pagefile size (1 gig) and disabled superfetch for everything but boot. I also disabled write caching. I think that should be good. I'm going to treat the SSD like a real hard drive from now on.

I just wish I could install Chrome to it. I followed the steps on the OCN thread to change my "Users" folder over to the data drive, and since Chrome doesn't give you an option to select your install location it automatically goes there. I guess I could use a symbolic link but I've never done that before, I'll look into it.

 

[Dosia]

Is it simple to hook up subs with an amp to a modern mobo? The asus mobo has a Realtek ALC892 on it so is it as simple as connecting and RCA from the sub out to the line in on the amp?

 

[cartman414]

All right. I was thinking going along this route as well.



Alternatively, he could do what you suggested in bold. I doubt he would want to upgrade in an year, and I'm advising him not to spend so much on a computer when he really doesn't appreciate it in the first place. He doesn't finish his PC games and uses his build more as a status symbol, kind of like a car. Also, with a motherboard upgrade, that would involve me or his friend to do it as he didn't build his PC, and we don't want to do that if it involves using the same chipset.

I think at this point I'll go along the Intel 320 route.

Thanks for your feedback guys.

Jumping in a little late, but at this point, he would only need to wait mere months for Sandy Bridge-E, which just may have its 2nd fastest 6-core, fully unlocked to boot, going for $500-600, if that's what he really wants.

I hear they're going to show off some of the LGA2011 boards, which, it turns out, will have PCIe 3.0, up to 40 lanes.

 

[Kenaras]

Have you tried powering on your system using a flat-head screw driver? Bridge the two power pins together rather than pressing the power button although be very careful with that as you don't want to short out the wrong connections.

If that works out just fine, then it could actually be your case's power button.


--------------

It could also be that you don't have a strong enough power supply.

Thanks for the suggestion, I just tried it out. Results in the same behavior as pressing the power button, so that eliminates the case wiring.

I contacted Intel and got an RMA for returning the CPU. When the new CPU arrives, I'll be able to tell conclusively whether it's the culprit. If not, it has to be the power supply.

 

[Baller. PhD]

Damn, yours smokes mine. I wonder why that is?

 

[riceandbeans]

What thermal paste are you using?

Stock paste that came with the Frio. There's no specific label like MX-1 or TG-2, it just says Thermaltake. I put it on differently than the Thermaltake directions by putting a dab in the middle, but when I had to reseat the heatsink, it looked like it spread fine.

 

[Hazaro]

Damn, yours smokes mine. I wonder why that is?

I'd take the access time anyday.

 

[momolicious]

For anyone who needs memory, Newegg's current Shell Shocker:

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series DDR3 1600 4GB (2 x 2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-20-231-277-_-05022011

Was: $49.99
Today:$39.99

The second round fan is actually 140mm with 120mm mounting points.


Nice. Hope you used the sinks that came with it (or the stock sinks if they fit along with the AC).

Is the G.skill better than the one posted in the 1000 dollar build in OP?

 

[ithorien]

Yeah just got done with that. That's a shame, are there any alternatives? I saw Nvidia inspector but it looked more like a overclocking tool.

Honestly, I stopped looking. Nvidia inspector has the functions, they're just not as easy as they were in nHancer. I only bother with D3DO nowadays, for forced triple buffer/vsync.

 

[Grayman]

hey all,
Mother is looking at laptops and I do not know much about the issues particular to that. i3, i5, i7, amd. Will the higher end processors destroy battery life? If she has the laptop for 5 years should she go for a quad core now?

I think she would not notice the difference between a 500 dollar laptop and a 1000 one with the same screen size but am not sure.

 

[Ronix]

I built a machine some months ago, using advice from this thread. I experienced a very unusual problem when attempting to power on the system. When I pressed the power button, the power LED and motherboard LEDs would flash for a fraction of a second, then turn off. The system and CPU fans would also power up for a fraction of a second, which essentially resulted in "twitching" more than actually turning. This would repeat once every second. The system would ignore the power button at this point; even holding it in wouldn't power off the system. Turning the power supply itself off was the only way to stop the flashing.

I tried removing everything from the system, both one at a time and all-together. The system still behaved the same. I tried a different motherboard and a different power supply, but there was no change. After I'd given up on it, a few days later it suddenly started working properly. I used the system without any problems for nearly a year.

A few days ago, the same power up problem came back. Has anyone seen this sort of behavior, or know what causes it? I've built numerous computers myself, and checked with friends who work in the system administration/technical support fields - none of them know what to make of it. At this point, my guess is that either the CPU is defective, or that both of the power supplies I've tried are incompatible with my motherboard/CPU.

System specs:
GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit
XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 Video Card
Antec 450W SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply

Hate to say it Kenaras, but I don't think it's the CPU, I have every right to believe it's a bad motherboard. I had the same thing happen on a Gigabyte P55-UD3 where it would just loop on and off for continuously until the power supply was turned off. A new motherboard solved everythng. If you read into it, it seems like a problem with some Gigabyte boards.

 

[·feist·]

New, Extensive Details of Intel's "Ivy Bridge"
http://www.computerbase.de/news/har...ue-umfangreiche-details-zu-intels-ivy-bridge/

Intel 2012 Platform Block Diagram

Intel Ivy Bridge Processor Overview

Intel USB 3.0 on Panther Point

Intel Ivy Bridge Graphics Highlights

Intel 2012 Processor Graphics Architecture

Intel Huron River & Intel Chief River

Intel Turbo Boost Technology Evolution

Intel 2012 Platform Technologies

Intel Platform Summary

 

[·feist·]

Is the G.skill better than the one posted in the 1000 dollar build in OP?

There's essentially zero performance difference between the two. Though for roughly the same price, you may want to opt for these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231274&Tpk=F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL

over these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190

but the taller heat spreader isn't a big deal, particularly if you're running the ram at stock speeds and volts.

 

[clav]

hey all,
Mother is looking at laptops and I do not know much about the issues particular to that. i3, i5, i7, amd. Will the higher end processors destroy battery life? If she has the laptop for 5 years should she go for a quad core now?

I think she would not notice the difference between a 500 dollar laptop and a 1000 one with the same screen size but am not sure.

Yes the i7 destroys battery life. Also, a dedicated graphics card + large screen are battery life suckers.

If she does video/photo editing or intense programming compiling, then yes, she would need a quad core.

If she just uses a computer to check e-mail, watch youtube, and other basic tasks, an i3 will suit just fine.

What are her priorities for her laptop? If she needs power, then she will need to sacrifice battery life.

 

[mrklaw]

35W TDP are still all 2-core? Thought they'd be able to have some quad cores in there. chances of the low end MBP getting a quad core?

 

[mrklaw]

hey all,
Mother is looking at laptops and I do not know much about the issues particular to that. i3, i5, i7, amd. Will the higher end processors destroy battery life? If she has the laptop for 5 years should she go for a quad core now?

I think she would not notice the difference between a 500 dollar laptop and a 1000 one with the same screen size but am not sure.

get her pretty much any of the core i3/5 laptops. 4GB ram is good. Sandy bridge isn't a massive jump for laptops over the previous i3/i5, other than the quad core i7 which is a monster. Unless she'll be doing heavy work with it, she'll be fine with either. i think the sandy bridge i3-2310m is even a little slower than the older i3-380m

If her budget allows I'd be tempted to get a previous gen i5 which should have a bit more grunt, but should be competitively priced as sandy bridge models come out.

graphics I'm assuming not to worry about? Budget ones will all be integrated graphics. Sandy bridge (four digit CPU numbers) have the newer more powerful Intel HD but if she isn't gaming then the previous one is just fine

 

[knitoe]

Knitoe,

Would you mind posting your entire settings from the BIOS utility to achieve your 4.5 OC? I assume you have the ASUS p67 board. I am having a hard time finding a good setting for 4.5, I use the auto oc for a 4.4, but something makes me want a solid 4.5. Appreciate it if you can do this.

Asus P8P67 Deluxe:

AI Overclocker Tuner: Manual
BCLK: 100
Turbo Ratio: By All Cores
By All Cores (Can Adjust in OS): 45
Internal PLL: Disable
Memory Frequency: DDR3-1600MHz
EPU Power Savings Mode: Auto
Load-Line Calibration: Regular
VRM Frequency: Manual
VRM Fixed: 300
Phase Control: Standard
Duty Control: T. Probe
CPU Voltage: Offset Mode
Offset Mode Sign: +
CPU Offset Voltage: 0.050
DRAM Voltage: 1.50000
VCCSA Voltage: Auto
VCCIO Voltage: Auto
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.70000
PCH Voltage: Auto
All DRAM DATA/CTRL: Auto
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disable

 

[Corky]

AI Overclocker Tuner: Manual
BCLK: 100
Turbo Ratio: By All Cores
By All Cores (Can Adjust in OS): 45
Internal PLL: Disable
Memory Frequency: DDR3-1600MHz
EPU Power Savings Mode: Auto
Load-Line Calibration: Regular
VRM Frequency: Manual
VRM Fixed: 300
Phase Control: Standard
Duty Control: T. Probe
CPU Voltage: Offset Mode
Offset Mode Sign: +
CPU Offset Voltage: 0.050
DRAM Voltage: 1.50000
VCCSA Voltage: Auto
VCCIO Voltage: Auto
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.70000
PCH Voltage: Auto
All DRAM DATA/CTRL: Auto
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disable

For what it's worth hawk I have the same OC and pretty much the exact same settings except my vrm fixed is 350 instead of 300 and I believe I left cpu pll voltage to auto, phase control and duty control both set to extreme for me.

 

[Grayman]

Yes the i7 destroys battery life. Also, a dedicated graphics card + large screen are battery life suckers.

If she does video/photo editing or intense programming compiling, then yes, she would need a quad core.

If she just uses a computer to check e-mail, watch youtube, and other basic tasks, an i3 will suit just fine.

What are her priorities for her laptop? If she needs power, then she will need to sacrifice battery life.

get her pretty much any of the core i3/5 laptops. 4GB ram is good. Sandy bridge isn't a massive jump for laptops over the previous i3/i5, other than the quad core i7 which is a monster. Unless she'll be doing heavy work with it, she'll be fine with either. i think the sandy bridge i3-2310m is even a little slower than the older i3-380m

If her budget allows I'd be tempted to get a previous gen i5 which should have a bit more grunt, but should be competitively priced as sandy bridge models come out.

graphics I'm assuming not to worry about? Budget ones will all be integrated graphics. Sandy bridge (four digit CPU numbers) have the newer more powerful Intel HD but if she isn't gaming then the previous one is just fine

She does some photo editing but mostly just email and websites otherwise. She wants to be able to watch a dvd. She would use it while plugged in 99% of the time but does not want a desktop. Graphics on the two she was looking at were between a 128mb intel card(no other info) and a 1gb ATI something or other 54xx i think.

Any i3/i5 at all though will be fine with windows7/web/youtube though?

I ended up here because she kept asking me to compare different laptops because i went to newegg for her after she went to the local computer shop. One was a quad core amd but only 1.8 ghz even and i am getting into territory where i just don't know.

 

[mrklaw]

personally I'd go with intel integrated graphics. I think they have acceleration for video anyway to reduce CPU usage. Something like an ATI5470 is a cheap dedicated card, but then that'll use up battery (and be crap at games anyway) so if you don't need it, don't spec it. edit: although if she uses something like CS4, it might be slightly accelerated by a dedicated GPU for some heavy tasks. edge case though.

you don't need a quad core for photo editing, a good dual core is fine. get an i5-480M (or 560M if you find one at a good price).

consider a good quality screen - or think about hooking up to an external monitor if you do a lot of photo editing, although if its just casual family stuff don't bother. And maybe look for (or budget to upgrade to) a 7200rpm hard drive which should be a little faster.

edit: most laptop screens won't be great for serious editing, but the Dell XPS with screen update (B+RGLED 1920x1080) would be an option.

 

[cartman414]

Very interesting. I wonder what the top end of the Ivy Bridge will be, and whether this time out Hyper Threading will be a bit more commonly implemented across the quad cores. Guess we'll hear a bit more in the coming months.

 

[Grayman]

personally I'd go with intel integrated graphics. I think they have acceleration for video anyway to reduce CPU usage. Something like an ATI5470 is a cheap dedicated card, but then that'll use up battery (and be crap at games anyway) so if you don't need it, don't spec it. edit: although if she uses something like CS4, it might be slightly accelerated by a dedicated GPU for some heavy tasks. edge case though.

you don't need a quad core for photo editing, a good dual core is fine. get an i5-480M (or 560M if you find one at a good price).

consider a good quality screen - or think about hooking up to an external monitor if you do a lot of photo editing, although if its just casual family stuff don't bother. And maybe look for (or budget to upgrade to) a 7200rpm hard drive which should be a little faster.

edit: most laptop screens won't be great for serious editing, but the Dell XPS with screen update (B+RGLED 1920x1080) would be an option.

I did point that out about the hard drive. Thanks for the video card tip, intel's stuff is fine with aero? That laptop waas from the store and it just says intel video, no model or anything. I should be good to help her out now that i know about the processor and that intel is ok.

 

[Vitani]

A (hopefully) quick question for you clever computer people; is there anything special I should do/buy when building a new PC (two infact) if the room I intend to game in is hot? It gets the sun all day long and is already home to a computer that kicks out enough heat that in the winter we don't need the heating on in that room. On a sunny day, with the curtains closed it can easily reach about 30°c, even with the external windows and internal door open.

 

[Grayman]

A (hopefully) quick question for you clever computer people; is there anything special I should do/buy when building a new PC (two infact) if the room I intend to game in is hot? It gets the sun all day long and is already home to a computer that kicks out enough heat that in the winter we don't need the heating on in that room. On a sunny day, with the curtains closed it can easily reach about 30°c, even with the external windows and internal door open.

mine had no problems at 30c. i did have intermittent heat problems but i had them in winter more.

i had a cpu cooler and a regular ole video card fan. i think most people here usually suggest throwing a cooler on your cpu either way.

 

[Wolf Akela]

30c is cold. It's summer right now and I see my CPU go up to 72c with my GPU going 50c.

 

[Corky]

30c is cold.
.

Do you live in a volcano?

I we can get 15c+ during the summers in sweden we can call it a hot summer >_<

 

[Hazaro]

A (hopefully) quick question for you clever computer people; is there anything special I should do/buy when building a new PC (two infact) if the room I intend to game in is hot? It gets the sun all day long and is already home to a computer that kicks out enough heat that in the winter we don't need the heating on in that room. On a sunny day, with the curtains closed it can easily reach about 30°c, even with the external windows and internal door open.

Low power, speedstep, power saving, undervolting.
You can get a fantastic amount of performance for much less wattage (and, in turn, heat).
Ambient temp typcially add 1C per 1C.

So if people normally idle at 35C in a 20C room, you will have 45C idle at 30C.

 

[Rufus]

Do you live in a volcano?

Actually, where he lives there's a good chance he lives right next to one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_volcanoes_in_the_Philippines

 

[Corky]

Oh snap, my superpowers are getting the best of me.
Joking aside, I'm envious of people saying that " 30c " is cold