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

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M

MedIC86

Member
Mordeccai said:
I tip my hat to you, sirs, for your responses. I don't feel as if he was trying to rip me off, he genuinely doesn't know much about tech and nor do I as you can all very well tell.

If I went the 600$ route in the OP, what are the chances I'd be able to run TW2 and BF3 this fall? I have a huge list of PC games I want to play, most are older, so its really no issue if I can't run those two. But it would be a plus.
Click to expand...
if you get a 2gb 6950 from the 600$ build in the OP and you unlock it to a 6970 ill be damned if you cant play bf3 and tw2 properly (maybe not with the uber aa etc, but good enough on high with moderate AA)
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
mcrae said:
What are the pros/cons of getting the 2gb or not? What is that extra gb used for?

Also can my psu/motherboard handle those cards?

Thanks for the responses hazaro and exodus
Click to expand...

Yeah your PSU motherboard aren't an issue.

The extra GB will give you some headroom in certain memory heavy games. The Witcher 2 can use around 1GB of space when maxed out. GTA IV can use around 1200MB. 1GB is just fine for most games, but we might be getting to the point where you'll start seeing the benefit of having more memory soon enough. Even Modern Warfare 2 somehow (inexplicably, IMO) uses about 850-900MB of RAM at 1080p.

Normally, I'd say it's not really worth it just for the extra memory, since it's more of a comfort factor. The main draw with the 2GB model is that if you buy a stock version, it has additional shaders that can be unlocked, making it nearly equivalent to the $370 6970.
 
B

B-Dex

Member
OK Guys

I want to build a new gaming PC and I tried to price it myself but I was getting over 1200 bucks not including a monitor or new keyboard and mouse. Although I don't need the monitor keyboard or mouse anyways!

I was gonna go for Z68 mobo and a i5 2500k, was looking at a gtx 560 maybe a 570 ( I vastly prefer Nvidia I always have trouble with ATI.)

NCIX up here does not sell samsung spinpoint drives and I wanna buy it through them because I have no confidence in building it myself haha. So was just gonna spring for a WD 1 or 2 TB caviar black drive and probably an 80GB Intel 320 SSD.

So basically this is what I want:

I play WoW, Starcraft II, Portal 2, probably Old Republic once it hits. I wanna be able to run it silky smooth at 1080p.

I was hoping for under 1k. Would love some input. (my 1200 price was before trying any price matching)
 
B

butts

Member
scy said:
Honestly, I gave up looking for a 16:10 that didn't have a ~$100 premium on it just for the extra 120 pixel space. I picked up an HP 2509b (Glossy TN, 25") panel and I can let you know how it is when it arrives. Or just read a review. The LG W2442PA is a good monitor as well with even less ghosting (practically none) and around the same price ($250-ish) and a review can be found in the prior link as well.

If you want an IPS panel, the HP ZR24W isn't bad from what I gather, though it's basically $150 more than the above two.
Click to expand...

Nice, thanks. I will consider that one as well. Is it 1920x1080 with HDMI and DVI inputs?
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
B-Dex said:
OK Guys

I want to build a new gaming PC and I tried to price it myself but I was getting over 1200 bucks not including a monitor or new keyboard and mouse. Although I don't need the monitor keyboard or mouse anyways!

I was gonna go for Z68 mobo and a i5 2500k, was looking at a gtx 560 maybe a 570 ( I vastly prefer Nvidia I always have trouble with ATI.)

NCIX up here does not sell samsung spinpoint drives and I wanna buy it through them because I have no confidence in building it myself haha. So was just gonna spring for a WD 1 or 2 TB caviar black drive and probably an 80GB Intel 320 SSD.

So basically this is what I want:

I play WoW, Starcraft II, Portal 2, probably Old Republic once it hits. I wanna be able to run it silky smooth at 1080p.

I was hoping for under 1k. Would love some input. (my 1200 price was before trying any price matching)
Click to expand...

Post your current configuration. It will be easier to tweak it from there than giving you a build from scratch.

For starters, your Z68 motherboard can be exchanged for a cheaper MSI P67 board.
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
B-Dex said:
OK Guys

I want to build a new gaming PC and I tried to price it myself but I was getting over 1200 bucks not including a monitor or new keyboard and mouse. Although I don't need the monitor keyboard or mouse anyways!

I was gonna go for Z68 mobo and a i5 2500k, was looking at a gtx 560 maybe a 570 ( I vastly prefer Nvidia I always have trouble with ATI.)

NCIX up here does not sell samsung spinpoint drives and I wanna buy it through them because I have no confidence in building it myself haha. So was just gonna spring for a WD 1 or 2 TB caviar black drive and probably an 80GB Intel 320 SSD.

So basically this is what I want:

I play WoW, Starcraft II, Portal 2, probably Old Republic once it hits. I wanna be able to run it silky smooth at 1080p.

I was hoping for under 1k. Would love some input. (my 1200 price was before trying any price matching)
Click to expand...
Well, you're in luck. There is no more ATI! Just AMD and Nvidia :p

Really though, there's more to it than a namechange. They're totally equal nowadays as far as driver support and reliability go. 2 5870s, a 6870, and a GTX465 for me, and they're all awesome.

Basically, stick with what you're planning on, and get a cood cooler. SC2 is fairly proc heavy IIRC, so OC that 2500k and you should be absolutely fine. Portal 2 is source, and WoW is ancient so any modern rig should have no problems getting amazing FPS in those.
 
B

B-Dex

Member
This is what I was thinking:

Case: Tempest Evo (Case isn't set in stone just I hate all the bland looking black boxes everyone gets all the time!)
Mobo: Gigabyte Z68 UD4
CPU: i5 2500k
Vid Card:msi GTX 560ti Twin Frozr
RAM: 8GB (Can probably just get 4GB if 8 is kinda overkill atm)
PSU: Corsair HX750W
HDD: 1TB or 2TB WD Caviar Black
SSD: Intel 320 80GB
DVD/Blu Drive: (Most likely just a dvd one since I don't really need a blu drive in the pc)

Don't need a monitor or kb/m but wouldn't mind getting a new KB anyways.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
mkenyon said:
Well, you're in luck. There is no more ATI! Just AMD and Nvidia :p

Really though, there's more to it than a namechange. They're totally equal nowadays as far as driver support and reliability go. 2 5870s, a 6870, and a GTX465 for me, and they're all awesome.

Basically, stick with what you're planning on, and get a cood cooler. SC2 is fairly proc heavy IIRC, so OC that 2500k and you should be absolutely fine. Portal 2 is source, and WoW is ancient so any modern rig should have no problems getting amazing FPS in those.
Click to expand...

SC2 is very processor heavy (nearly completely single threaded), but even a stock 2500k will chew through it. The previous generation of CPUs had trouble at stock clocks (i5 750 @ 2.66GHz, or AMD X4 955 or 1090T, for example). The 2500k at stock clocks is probably equivalent to roughly an i5 750 @ 3.8-4.0GHz, though, so it is quite capable.

Oh, and when I say "had trouble", I mean 60fps was not a complete lock under regular gameplay (though the i5/i7 were very close). My current 2500k @ 4.8GHz runs SC2 at probably 100-130fps at the lowest, so CPU is no longer an issue.

My 3.0GHz Q8300 ran SC2 at roughly ~40fps on Ultra. It ran just fine on a High, but those Ultra settings bring up the CPU load quite a bit...shaders in particular. I wrote quite a bit on the subject during the beta, as I complained that shaders really shouldn't have an impact on CPU load at all (since shaders are, by definition, GPU operations).
 
M

mcrae

Member
TheExodu5 said:
Yeah your PSU motherboard aren't an issue.

The extra GB will give you some headroom in certain memory heavy games. The Witcher 2 can use around 1GB of space when maxed out. GTA IV can use around 1200MB. 1GB is just fine for most games, but we might be getting to the point where you'll start seeing the benefit of having more memory soon enough. Even Modern Warfare 2 somehow (inexplicably, IMO) uses about 850-900MB of RAM at 1080p.

Normally, I'd say it's not really worth it just for the extra memory, since it's more of a comfort factor. The main draw with the 2GB model is that if you buy a stock version, it has additional shaders that can be unlocked, making it nearly equivalent to the $370 6970.
Click to expand...
I love the idea of getting the best bang for my buck so the 6950 is definitely an option. A question though, i was just looking through newegg and clicked one of them, then read a comment that it is a 'non-reference' card and so cant be flashed to 6970.. How does one know which version to buy?
 
V

Van Owen

Banned
mcrae said:
I love the idea of getting the best bang for my buck so the 6950 is definitely an option. A question though, i was just looking through newegg and clicked one of them, then read a comment that it is a 'non-reference' card and so cant be flashed to 6970.. How does one know which version to buy?
Click to expand...
You don't need a reference card to unlock 6970 shaders. I'll dig up a link when I get home. It's just a bit riskier since you don't have the bios switch, but if you have a spare video card around you can restore the bios if something goes wrong.
 
M

mcrae

Member
Van Owen said:
You don't need a reference card to unlock 6970 shaders. I'll dig up a link when I get home. It's just a bit riskier since you don't have the bios switch, but if you have a spare video card around you can restore the bios if something goes wrong.
Click to expand...
Yeah, im out atm too or would be doing a bit more research on my own. Its a hassle from my phone here in the waiting room of the dentist office. Would the extra card need to be amd? All i have are nvidia
 
V

Van Owen

Banned
mcrae said:
Yeah, im out atm too or would be doing a bit more research on my own. Its a hassle from my phone here in the waiting room of the dentist office. Would the extra card need to be amd? All i have are nvidia
Click to expand...
I don't believe so.
 
M

mcrae

Member
after all that it looks like my friend who works for amd in hardware testing and gets to take things home every once in a while has had a 6970 laying around for weeks that hes been intending on giving me. sweet. cheers guys... im sure i'll be back soon lol
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
mcrae said:
after all that it looks like my friend who works for amd in hardware testing and gets to take things home every once in a while has had a 6970 laying around for weeks that hes been intending on giving me. sweet. cheers guys... im sure i'll be back soon lol
Click to expand...
That right there is a true friend.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Any strong counter points to this?
It feels odd to recommend anything other than a 6950 at its price point. Feels so dominating in a lot of areas, but the end use does have to mod it to get the maximum benefit and reference cards are drying up.
Anything above $260 on a GPU feels like a complete waste right now. Espcially considering how high 560Ti's can clock and an unlocked 6950.

Swapped the ASUS P8P67 PRO to a MSI P67A-GD65 since I don't want people messing with sleep and boot issues.

*Newegg just did the 3rd price switch on my parts in 1 hour. I swear someone lurks here and messes with me. The x4 955 is down to $114 now.

AKS7z.jpg

If you want help with a build fill this out AND try making one of your own from the resources in the OP :)

Basic Desktop Questions:
Your Current Specs: CPU / RAM (DDR2/DDR3) / Motherboard / GPU
Budget: Price Range + Country
Main Use: Light Gaming, Gaming, Emulation (PS2/Wii), Video Editing, 3D work, general usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback)
Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be playing your games at? Are you going to upgrade later?
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Self Explanatory
Are reusing any parts?: List make and model (e.g. Corsair 520HX 520W)
When will you build?: When do you want your computer, do you need it in a week, can you wait a month or two?
Will you be overclocking?: Yes, No, Maybe (This means yes)


PRE-BUILT GAF:
The Builds: $600/$700, ~$1,000, $1,500!? – Remember a lot of parts are good and combos do pop up on newegg.com so take advantage of them.

(Click on the links for a wishlist)
The Damn Capable Build $600/$700
The Get A Lot More Build ~$1000
The Spend a Lot More Build: $1,500+ - Add GPU, PSU, SSD to above build. Post in thread with specifics using the template.


The Damn Capable Build: $600/$700 - AMD x4 955BE, 4GB DDR3, 500GB or 1TB HDD, GTX560 Ti 1GB, $40-$60 case, Corsair CX430W, MSI 870-G45 motherboard, DVD Burner. < Click for wishlist
P4DBo.png



The Get a Lot More Build: $900/$1000 – Intel 2500K, 4GB DDR3, 2TB HDD, GTX570, $60-$80 case, Corsair 750W, MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard, DVD Burner. < Click for wishlist
cTSx8.png
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
Cav Blues scare me, but if you're going for budget its fine. We run cav blues in our office, and I replace at least one of them every couples months or so. No big deal if you've got a nice server or backup. Other than that, looks good. *edit* 750W might be overkill on the second build.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
mkenyon said:
Cav Blues scare me, but if you're going for budget its fine. We run cav blues in our office, and I replace at least one of them every couples months or so. No big deal if you've got a nice server or backup. Other than that, looks good. *edit* 750W might be overkill on the second build.
Click to expand...
Well if newegg had 500GB F3 in stock I would have that.
It is all just a guessing game on reliability, I don't see too many bad HDD's in the shop I work at, and the ones I do seem to all be around the same. Anecdotal, but eh.

750W is there for SLi/xFire ability. The 750w V2 is a fantastic buy at that price.
Maybe I should split the 1k build into a single/dual card config? I sort of feel that dropping that much, you should have a good upgrade path though.

e.g. if you have a single card setup to save money (Say 500W, C43 board).
Then you need to buy a new mobo and PSU. That $80 you saved now gives you no options.
With GPU refresh at the end of this year I'd suspect a new $200 king that scales ridiculously well. That would be a good possible upgrade option for example.
 
O

opticalmace

Member
I think you should really have the 1TB F3 in the $600 build. 500GB is just not that big and it would be silly for anyone building (in my humble opinion) to get a 500GB blue instead of the 1TB F3 for $20 more if they're not using an SSD.

edit: I know the pricing makes it tight.
 
C

Cory_t_

Member
Is there a consensus on silent 120mm case fans? I bought coolermasters with blue LEDs thinking it might look cool but it sounds like a jet engine is parked in my living room. lol
 
Z

Zimbardo

Member
just curious, and i know that no one really can tell for sure ...but ...

do you think that this PC will be able to run Battlefield 3 @ 1080p and max detail at 60fps vsync'd?

i5 760 @ 3.8ghz
8gig 1600mhz ram
2 gtx470 in SLI

?

again, i know it's hard to say, but what do you think the chances are to my above question?
 
O

opticalmace

Member
Zimbardo said:
just curious, and i know that no one really can tell for sure ...but ...

do you think that this PC will be able to run Battlefield 3 @ 1080p and max detail at 60fps vsync'd?

i5 760 @ 3.8ghz
8gig 1600mhz ram
2 gtx470 in SLI

?

again, i know it's hard to say, but what do you think the chances are to my above question?
Click to expand...
Yeah most likely. I assume when you say max detail you don't mean max AA.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Cory_t_ said:
Is there a consensus on silent 120mm case fans? I bought coolermasters with blue LEDs thinking it might look cool but it sounds like a jet engine is parked in my living room. lol
Click to expand...
Scythe Kama II 900rpm
Have two and they are amazing.
Syphon Filter said:
Which psu should i get from these two:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139015&Tpk=ax 850

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011
Click to expand...
HX is more than enough. AX is almost needlessly better. Your pick. Both already solid PSU's.
 
K

Kevin

Member
So I have the following specs:

Intel Core i7 980x
6gb ram
Geforce GTX 590 with latest drivers
Windows 7 64-Bit
Latest Directx 11 updates
Monitor Res: 1080p

In Steam I have games like Far Cry 2, Assassin's Cred 2 and Tom Clancy's HAWX 2 and probably others that simply will not load. You click on the game, it brings up a black box and quickly closes. For AC2, it brings up the launcher, finds the internet ok but when you click play, quickly you see a white box in the upper left hand corner of the screen and then it goes back to the desktop. I have even verified the Steam cache for these games.

I do know that Far Cry 2 worked prior on my Geforce 480gtx with the rest of the specs being the same. All three of these games are suppose to be fully working on the GTX 590.

Does anyone have any ideas what may be causing these games not to load? Any help would be very much appreciated.
 
B

black_vegeta

Member
opticalmace said:
I could go for the HX. Has a lot more reviews and it has a higher rating (apparently some people got the AX850 DOA), also it's cheaper and has cheaper shipping.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I got the AX. Didn't know they had an HX version as well. Hopefully mine won't be DOA or give me problems.
 
O

opticalmace

Member
black_vegeta said:
Hmmm, I got the HX. Didn't know they had an AX version as well. Hopefully mine won't be DOA or give me problems.
Click to expand...
The first one you linked was the AX850, the second was the HX. In the reviews it was the AX that had some DOA comments.

HX is the right decision IMO.
 
B

black_vegeta

Member
opticalmace said:
The first one you linked was the AX850, the second was the HX. In the reviews it was the AX that had some DOA comments.

HX is the right decision IMO.
Click to expand...

My bad, I meant I have an AX. I corrected my post above.

Hoping for the best.
 
A

astroturfing

Member
HALP

ok, i'm a bit of a chump with PCs so don't kill me please. but i want to know how exactly do can i do the comfy couch thing... i'm here ready to go, got my 360 controller and my desktop view is shared with the TV.

what now? i want to try out Metro 2033 first since it at least supports the controller. is it automatic? at what point do i plug in the controller, before launching the game?

and do i just drag Steam on to the TV screen's side and launch the game from there and that's it..? i have to use a different resolution on my monitor than on my TV, can that be a problem? because i don't think the game recognizes that it's being viewed through my TV so it will try to output the resolution i have on set on my monitor right..?

man i'm confused and feel dumb.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
opticalmace said:
I could go for the HX. Has a lot more reviews and it has a higher rating (apparently some people got the AX850 DOA), also it's cheaper and has cheaper shipping.
Click to expand...
The HX has more reviews since it is older.
Specwise the AX is better, but some have a whining issue or gotten a DOA.

The HX is already overkill for most.
snack said:
Can a MSI P67A-C43 with a 212+ take a 2500k to 4.4ghz easily?
Click to expand...
Yes
 
B

blanky

Member
With an i5 2500K (will probably not be overclocked, not sure), 300gb SSD, 580GTX, would the Seasonic X660 be more than sufficient, with enough room to breathe (overclock etc)? I can get an AX750 for less money, but if the Seasonic is better then I'd take that.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
blanky said:
With an i5 2500K (will probably not be overclocked, not sure), 300gb SSD, 580GTX, would the Seasonic X660 be more than sufficient, with enough room to breathe (overclock etc)? I can get an AX750 for less money, but if the Seasonic is better then I'd take that.
Click to expand...
X650 is componently better, but the AX and X PSUs are based on the same Seasonic platform anyway. It's just 1 or 2 small parts that are exchanged. If you can get an AX750 for cheaper (before rebate) go for that. Corsair warranty is better by 2 years (7 vs 5).
snack said:
What would you guys consider to be a downside for the MSI P67A-C43 mobo? Is no xfire/sli pretty much it?
Click to expand...
Main downside is 1 PCI-E lane.
Doesn't have a ton of extra's like more USB 3.0 or extra power regs. It's a solid basic board.
 
C

cartman414

Member
Just wondering what you guys thought of the following idea:

I'm considering getting an iMac as soon as Apple rolls out their B2S special, and then building a new PC once Ivy Bridge rolls out next year, using the iMac as a monitor.

BTW, as far as mobos go, IIRC it's the ASUS P8Z68 Pro that you want. Easy and wicked fast overclocking according to one of the reviews.
 
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