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

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C

close to the edge

Member
Hey, I'm currently in the process of building a new PC and I'm not sure which mainboard to pick. My current favorite is the Intel DH67CL because it has USB 3.0, eSATA and isn't too expensive (~85€). Also, Intel's mainboards have served me well in the last few years. I'm planning to get a Core i5 2500k and might overclock it, how does the choice of mainboard affect this?

Also, am I right in the assumption that the OCZ Vertex 3 is currently the best SSD around?
 
Z

ZombieFred

Unconfirmed Member
Anyone got a guide to overclocking the 26k on a Asus p8p67 Pro?
 
I

Izayoi

Banned
TheExodu5 said:
A Cooler Master Hyper 212+ is a must, IMO. It will allow you to do 4.6-5GHz very comfortably, whereas stock cooling will max out closer to 4GHz, and be much louder for it. It's only a $30 investment.

I'd only go higher than that if you're concerned about noise. The DH-14 is designed to be quieter than something like the 212+, so that's where your money's going.

Also, as for the PSU, the Corsair AX850 is just fine for 2x GTX 580. It's a quality PSU that is actually designed to run at max wattage, but really, you won't be maxing it out 99% of the time, even with an overclocked Sandy Bridge CPU and 2x GTX 580.

I'm running an i5 2500K @ 4.8GHz, and 2x GTX 570, and have had zero issues with my AX850.

The GTX 580 have a max TDP limit of 300W...unless that safety feature is removed, they won't consume more than that a piece. And even then, benchmarks have shown that this TDP is only reached in Furmark...in games it tends to be closer to 220-250W. Even at 2x 300W, you have 250W left over for your CPU and peripherals. That is more than enough.

Most of the time, we recommend having a more powerful PSU than needed because a lot of people have cheap $30-50 PSUs that came included with a prebuilt or a case. Often times, these PSUs are not even designed to put out their rated wattage. The Corsair and other quality PSUs, on the other hand, can put out their rated wattage, and then some. What's more? The Corsair is warrantied for 7 years, so you don't even have to worry about stressing it too much. It's a PSU that's built to last and take a heavy load.
Click to expand...
Wow, thanks a ton man. I really appreciate all of the help. 212+ and AX850 it is. Should I bother with adding a fan to the 212+, and if so, what fan would be best?
 
R

Resolution

Member
finally got my pc running. problem is it says it doesn't detect any hard drives before trying to run the bios. it's weird because when it runs the ez mode bios it shows my ssd drive as primary boot. i could swear both my hdd and ssd are both connected properly.
 
I

Izayoi

Banned
Is there any difference between ASUS Sabertooth and Deluxe other than the fact that the Sabertooth is fucking hideous, has only one Ethernet port, and has two additional USB 2.0 ports?
 
B

black_vegeta

Member
Well, I opened my Lian Li/Lancool PC-K62 case just to get a look at it for the first time and upon checking it out a wire going to the AC '97 connector is severed. Another wire looks like it almost is severed, but not all the way. I looks it is connected from the HD Audio connector. Will that be important when making my build? Will I need it?

I really don't want to go through the RMA process, but if I need it, I'll do it.
 
N

n0n44m

Member
black_vegeta said:
Well, I opened my Lian Li/Lancool PC-K62 case just to get a look at it for the first time and upon checking it out a wire going to the AC '97 connector is severed. Another wire looks like it almost is severed, but not all the way. I looks it is connected from the HD Audio connector. Will that be important when making my build? Will I need it?

I really don't want to go through the RMA process, but if I need it, I'll do it.
Click to expand...

meh .. sounds like a 3 min soldering job to fix it =]

you need those if you want to use the sound/headphone/microphone port(s) on your case (personally I never used them and just plugged everything into the soundcard/motherboard on the back)

check all the wires going to the front of the case to be certain no others are damaged; only RMA if you absolutely need those front audio ports and can't (find anyone to) solder them
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
black_vegeta said:
Well, I opened my Lian Li/Lancool PC-K62 case just to get a look at it for the first time and upon checking it out a wire going to the AC '97 connector is severed. Another wire looks like it almost is severed, but not all the way. I looks it is connected from the HD Audio connector. Will that be important when making my build? Will I need it?

I really don't want to go through the RMA process, but if I need it, I'll do it.
Click to expand...
You only need that if you plant to use the front ports for audio/mic.
 
Grinchy

Grinchy

Banned
Before upgrading my bios, my RAM needed 2.0v to boot windows. After upgrading, it only needs 1.9v. Before upgrading, I could not even get my CPU OC'd to 2.75 GHz (from 2.5) without adding tons of voltage all over the place. After upgrading, I am up to 2.7GHz at stock voltage settings and it appears as though it just may be stable already. Why did I wait so long to upgrade my bios....
 
I

Izayoi

Banned
Here's my final build.

TqIq2.png


Any glaring errors I should fix before pulling the trigger?
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
It looks okay, I only have a few things to say:

I don't trust OCZ. I just don't. They have a terrible reputation and have ever since their founding. I've always steered clear of their SSDs because of the horror stories which surround every product they have ever sold but especially their SSDs. There is no doubt that Vertex 3 is by far the fastest SSD ever made, but the reliability of their SSDs is a giant question mark. It's your data, and if you value raw performance more than stability and reliability, then go for it. Otherwise I would get an Intel, Crucial, or Corsair SSD. They'll be slower, but also cost less and have companies with a good reputation standing behind them.

I thought you were going to get the Asus DirectCU II version of GTX 580. Trying to save some cash by buying the eVGA? eVGA offers a lifetime warranty which is nice, but remember that if you're thinking about custom cooling anyways, you might as well get an OEM-included one like the DirectCU II or the MSI Twin Frozr II and save yourself a headache down the road. Remember that the DirectCU II is a 3-slot cooler, the Twin Frozr II is only 2 slots, so depending on the arrangement of the PCI-e slots on the Asus P8P67 Deluxe, you may only be able to get a 2-slot cooler if you're planning for SLI later on. The stock cooler is always 2 slots.
 
I

Izayoi

Banned
Sanjay said:
Looks like a great PC in the making but better to get ram with out the emo heatsink.
Click to expand...
The only other options with 1.5V, 8-8-8-24, @ 1600 for $100 are the G.SKILL Ripjaws. I'm not fond of the heatsinks myself, but it's not like I won't have room for them. Is there anything else you could suggest?
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
Izayoi said:
The only other options with 1.5V, 8-8-8-24, @ 1600 for $100 are the G.SKILL Ripjaws. I'm not fond of the heatsinks myself, but it's not like I won't have room for them. Is there anything else you could suggest?
Click to expand...

I use Gskill memory in both my PCs, it works great. Don't listen to him, he's just jealous of your massive throbbing erect heatsinks. Corsairs are great memory and the price is fine for what you're getting.
 
A

Arsenic

Member
I'm building a rig for a friend of mine who's main use will be for music apps (producing tracks, etc). Just want to post the parts to see if anyone notices any bad matchups/better deals?

Also, don't mind the video card, he will not be using the rig for gaming purposes at all, but i thought I'd throw a simple one in there just incase..and for HDMI connection. Any better ideas?

LG CD/DVD Burner Black $20
SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA $65
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" $65
Crucial RealSSD C300 2.5" 64GB SATA III $145
ASUS E Radeon HD 6570 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready $80 ~ Should I?
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Cert $80 + $15MIR
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) $85
ComboCorsair Graphite Series 600T Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case + Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit $275
ComboIntel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor + ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel $390 ~ MoBo too much? He won't SLI but may overclock in future
ASUS PCE-N13 PCI Express Wireless Adapter $20
Logitech Cordless Desktop EX 100 Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard and Mouse $30

Total - $1283.57
 
I

Izayoi

Banned
Unknown Soldier said:
It looks okay, I only have a few things to say:

I don't trust OCZ. I just don't. They have a terrible reputation and have ever since their founding. I've always steered clear of their SSDs because of the horror stories which surround every product they have ever sold but especially their SSDs. There is no doubt that Vertex 3 is by far the fastest SSD ever made, but the reliability of their SSDs is a giant question mark. It's your data, and if you value raw performance more than stability and reliability, then go for it. Otherwise I would get an Intel, Crucial, or Corsair SSD. They'll be slower, but also cost less and have companies with a good reputation standing behind them.

I thought you were going to get the Asus DirectCU II version of GTX 580. Trying to save some cash by buying the eVGA? eVGA offers a lifetime warranty which is nice, but remember that if you're thinking about custom cooling anyways, you might as well get an OEM-included one like the DirectCU II or the MSI Twin Frozr II and save yourself a headache down the road. Remember that the DirectCU II is a 3-slot cooler, the Twin Frozr II is only 2 slots, so depending on the arrangement of the PCI-e slots on the Asus P8P67 Deluxe, you may only be able to get a 2-slot cooler if you're planning for SLI later on. The stock cooler is always 2 slots.
Click to expand...
The only things I'm going to have on my SSD are Windows 7 and a handful of games. I couldn't care less about the reliability. I've never had a problem with any of OCZ's products in the past either. Maybe I'm just lucky (have never had a Seagate fail on me, but my WDs love to shit out). This is what speaks to me:

37444.png


As for video cards, I refuse to buy anything without a lifetime warranty - which means either XFX or eVGA. Almost every other major video card manufacturer has given me the pleasure of at least one GPU failure. I'm done with that shit. I've never had an XFX or eVGA card die on me, and the lifetime warranty just sweetens the deal. If having a non-stock cooler is just that desperately important then I'll reconsider, but I'm incredibly leery of non-lifetime stuff.

Unknown Soldier said:
I use Gskill memory in both my PCs, it works great. Don't listen to him, he's just jealous of your massive throbbing erect heatsinks. Corsairs are great memory and the price is fine for what you're getting.
Click to expand...
I'm currently running G.SKILL as well, but it has zero wiggle room and is pretty much locked into stock timings. It's solid but I would like at least a little freedom, which is apparently what the Corsairs give.
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
Izayoi said:
As for video cards, I refuse to buy anything without a lifetime warranty - which means either XFX or eVGA. Almost every other major video card manufacturer has given me the pleasure of at least one GPU failure. I'm done with that shit. I've never had an XFX or eVGA card die on me, and the lifetime warranty just sweetens the deal. If having a non-stock cooler is just that desperately important then I'll reconsider, but I'm incredibly leery of non-lifetime stuff.
Click to expand...

Both Asus and MSI have 3-year warranties on their cards. Are you actually going to use it longer than 3 years? No? Then lifetime warranty is irrelevant in a world where useful life of a videocard is way less than a lifetime.
 
I

Izayoi

Banned
Unknown Soldier said:
Both Asus and MSI have 3-year warranties on their cards. Are you actually going to use it longer than 3 years? No? Then lifetime warranty is irrelevant in a world where useful life of a videocard is way less than a lifetime.
Click to expand...
I keep them around for use in other machines. Constantly re-buying cards for older machines gets tedious, to say the least.

Also the thought of a three-slot card scares me. The Deluxe has room for it, but it seems like two of them would be an awfully uncomfortable fit.
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
Izayoi said:
The only things I'm going to have on my SSD are Windows 7 and a handful of games. I couldn't care less about the reliability. I've never had a problem with any of OCZ's products in the past either. Maybe I'm just lucky (have never had a Seagate fail on me, but my WDs love to shit out). This is what speaks to me:

37444.png
Click to expand...

So why not get a Crucial M4 then? Do you know how fast SSDs are? The difference between the top SSD compared to the bottom SSD on that chart might be like 1-2 seconds of loading time in your games. I mean, look at the fastest mechanical hard drive, provided there for you to laugh at. The poor WD VelociRapture 600GB is getting killed by every SSD on the list. I would buy the SSD with the better reputation, but that's just me. Get the Vertex 3, just don't suddenly disappear from Tera for 2 weeks because your SSD self-destructed and you have to wait for OCZ's legendary customer service to decide your drive is worthy of an RMA and then get it done.
 
Z

Zeliard

Member
Unknown Soldier said:
So why not get a Crucial M4 then? Do you know how fast SSDs are? The difference between the top SSD compared to the bottom SSD on that chart might be like 1-2 seconds of loading time in your games. I mean, look at the fastest mechanical hard drive, provided there for you to laugh at. The poor WD VelociRapture 600GB is getting killed by every SSD on the list. I would buy the SSD with the better reputation, but that's just me. Get the Vertex 3, just don't suddenly disappear from Tera for 2 weeks because your SSD self-destructed and you have to wait for OCZ's legendary customer service to decide your drive is worthy of an RMA and then get it done.
Click to expand...

Haha :p
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
Izayoi said:
I keep them around for use in other machines. Constantly re-buying cards for older machines gets tedious, to say the least.

Also the thought of a three-slot card scares me. The Deluxe has room for it, but it seems like two of them would be an awfully uncomfortable fit.
Click to expand...

Hee hee, just look at how my cards are stacked, a card with Thermalright Shaman (a 3.5 slots cooler!) on top of the MSI Twin Frozr II card. They are packed in there like sardines, but they do fit and it does work that way. :3

Also, I don't use my old fire-breather gaming cards for my other PCs. I actually purposely didn't use my 8800GTX or GTX 260 in my media center PC, because (1) that's overkill (2) those cards are too loud for a media center PC and (3) my older cards didn't have a mini-HDMI output which I needed. I ended up buying an MSI GTS 450 Cyclone for it instead. So I wouldn't buy a videocard with plans to re-use it someday for another purpose, because the fire-breathing gaming cards are only really useful for high-end gaming, and once you've replaced your PC gaming master race card with another one, it's usefulness for other applications is severely limited. It's like buying a Porsche and planning to use it as a family transport car later on when you replace the Porsche with a Lamborghini. It doesn't work, the Porsche is only good for one thing, which is going fast, you won't be bringing your family to the soccer game with it.
 
I

Izayoi

Banned
Arsenic said:
Have you checked for combo deals? I think you have room to save a lot more cash
Click to expand...
Well, I didn't even think about that. Saved 20 bucks and got a better GPU/PSU. Thanks a ton.

Unknown Soldier said:
you won't be bringing your family to the soccer game with it.
Click to expand...
The hell I wouldn't. I would fucking strap them on top of the car if I had to. The Crucial m4 that I would be looking at is currently out of stock, and it won't be in for another week, so fuck that.

Okay, here's my final final (?) build.

rJeqb.png
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
Nice, you found some combo deals. I've never used Cooler Master PSUs so I don't know what kind of reputation they have.

The ETAs on the Crucial M4s looks like 5/27, so yeah next week. Oh well. I would have waited the week, just buy the other stuff now and wait a week for the SSD. But I guess being a much older person than you, I've shed some of the impatience of youth. :3
 
I

Izayoi

Banned
Unknown Soldier said:
Nice, you found some combo deals. I've never used Cooler Master PSUs so I don't know what kind of reputation they have.

The ETAs on the Crucial M4s looks like 5/27, so yeah next week. Oh well. I would have waited the week, just buy the other stuff now and wait a week for the SSD. But I guess being a much older person than you, I've shed some of the impatience of youth. :3
Click to expand...
The Cooler Master stuff has awesome reviews (even better than Crucial), so I figured why not. It's 1200W and I'm basically getting it for only $10 more than the 850W Crucial. Can't complain about that.

Also, waiting is for losers (plus this all has to be a single purchase).
 
Grinchy

Grinchy

Banned
When you guys test your overclock with prime95, do you only do it when you're not using your PC? I seem to find arguments for both sides.
 
Y

YianGaruga

Banned
I have been thinking of buying a gaming PC for a few months now buy I'm on a very tight budget. I've build a big Steam backlog over the Christmas sale and can't play it, which is depressing.

What's the minimum amount I'd have to spend on a PC (without monitor) if I want current games to run at 1080p with ~high settings?

I'm from Germany, and I have no idea how the prices from this thread translate into €, but I'd guess it's pretty much 1$=1€?
 
B

balladofwindfishes

Member
So I have a 500-600 dollar budget and want the best computer I can get for that money that will play modern games on at least medium-high settings

1. I don't need a monitor (I have about a dozen CRT monitors of various sizes laying around)
2. I may not need a case (I have an ancient 2001 era HP case I may be able to re-purpose)
3. Don't need an OS (I have a Win 7 Student license)

So far someone else built me this one, but I'm not entirely convinced
http://i.imgur.com/Sqh5w.png

It's a little bit on the upper end of my budget

Anyone have a New Egg cart for me?
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
Izayoi said:
The Cooler Master stuff has awesome reviews (even better than Crucial), so I figured why not. It's 1200W and I'm basically getting it for only $10 more than the 850W Crucial. Can't complain about that.

Also, waiting is for losers (plus this all has to be a single purchase).
Click to expand...

Hurry and get this thing built, there hasn't been a single solitary person on Tera for the past 3 days or so. I've been logging in, seeing there's nobody on, and logging off to watch anime instead. :|
 
C

ColonelColon

Member
balladofwindfishes said:
So I have a 500-600 dollar budget and want the best computer I can get for that money that will play modern games on at least medium-high settings

1. I don't need a monitor (I have about a dozen CRT monitors of various sizes laying around)
2. I may not need a case (I have an ancient 2001 era HP case I may be able to re-purpose)
3. Don't need an OS (I have a Win 7 Student license)

So far someone else built me this one, but I'm not entirely convinced
http://i.imgur.com/Sqh5w.png

It's a little bit on the upper end of my budget

Anyone have a New Egg cart for me?
Click to expand...

I'd definitely buy a Radeon 6870 rather than that GTX 460.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0506&cm_re=radeon_6870-_-14-150-506-_-Product
 
B

balladofwindfishes

Member
I

Izayoi

Banned
Unknown Soldier said:
Hurry and get this thing built, there hasn't been a single solitary person on Tera for the past 3 days or so. I've been logging in, seeing there's nobody on, and logging off to watch anime instead. :|
Click to expand...
Speaking of :|

8noHS.png


okay.jpg

Tried three times now. Contacting customer service.
 
P

peppermints

Member
Having problems with my CPU getting too hot. I installed Windows 7 updates today, left the room, came back and the computer had rebooted to finish installing them and was stuck in a BIOS screen saying that the CPU temperature was too high. Well I go into the BIOS to take a look and see what the temperature is, and it's at 87C. Obviously way too high for just installing updates.

It's an i5 2500k and I haven't overclocked it at all. Any idea what could be the cause? Would just applying new thermal paste help? Or should I try and get the temperature down and roll back the update to see if that helps? It is getting warmer where I live and the AC has been off and on intermittently but I doubt that would cause it to jump that high when it's just idling.

For reference, I played Rift for about 4 hours last night with no problems. Probably not the most CPU intensive game out there, but if it didn't overheat then why would it now?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :(
 
T

Tiduz

Eurogaime
are there any rumors on new ati cards? i have a i7 930 with a 4850 but can wait a bit, wanna get a 6950 but if newer cards come soon ill wait for pricedrop or newer card
 
K

knitoe

Member
peppermints said:
Having problems with my CPU getting too hot. I installed Windows 7 updates today, left the room, came back and the computer had rebooted to finish installing them and was stuck in a BIOS screen saying that the CPU temperature was too high. Well I go into the BIOS to take a look and see what the temperature is, and it's at 87C. Obviously way too high for just installing updates.

It's an i5 2500k and I haven't overclocked it at all. Any idea what could be the cause? Would just applying new thermal paste help? Or should I try and get the temperature down and roll back the update to see if that helps? It is getting warmer where I live and the AC has been off and on intermittently but I doubt that would cause it to jump that high when it's just idling.

For reference, I played Rift for about 4 hours last night with no problems. Probably not the most CPU intensive game out there, but if it didn't overheat then why would it now?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :(
Click to expand...
There's something seriously wrong if you are seeing 87C in the bios. What cpu cooler? Open the case and make sure the CPU fan is spinning. If yes, you may not have install the cooler correctly. Redo it.
 
P

peppermints

Member
knitoe said:
There's something seriously wrong if you are seeing 87C in the bios. What cpu cooler? Open the case and make sure the CPU fan is spinning. If yes, you may not have install the cooler correctly. Redo it.
Click to expand...

It's the stock cooler. I can see through the window that the fan is spinning, but I'll open it up and see if it's installed correctly. I've had the computer since February, would be odd if it just now became an issue. Now that I think about it, I did move the case around while cleaning the room up today. Is it possible that it became dislodged in that process?
 
K

knitoe

Member
peppermints said:
It's the stock cooler. I can see through the window that the fan is spinning, but I'll open it up and see if it's installed correctly. I've had the computer since February, would be odd if it just now became an issue. Now that I think about it, I did move the case around while cleaning the room up today. Is it possible that it became dislodged in that process?
Click to expand...
If the CPU fan is spinning normal, most likely the cooler is not making tight contact with the CPU anymore.
 
P

peppermints

Member
And the procedure to fix that would be to just ensure that the cooler is installed properly, right? I just che cked and two of the fasteners were loose. I snapped them back into place hopefully that does the trick.
 
I

Izayoi

Banned
alr1ghtstart said:
2.2GHz quad core or 3.0 GHz dual core. Which is better for gaming?
Click to expand...
2.2GHz quad core overclocked to 3.0GHz.

Tiduz said:
are there any rumors on new ati cards? i have a i7 930 with a 4850 but can wait a bit, wanna get a 6950 but if newer cards come soon ill wait for pricedrop or newer card
Click to expand...
Well, both AMD and nVidia released their new dual-GPU solutions (the GTX 590 and Radeon 6990). It's likely another six months or so until we see their new DX11.1 cards.
 
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