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[Enk]

This is my first time building a PC and will be ordering all the parts next week. Just curious if I have everything I need here or if there's any recommendations on what I should replace. I already have the case (Antec 900) and the harddrive (Samsung 2TB). This is primarily for gaming and my budget is around $1300.

 

[The Elite]

So the only change I made was switching to a 500w power supply. Too low?

 

[knitoe]

This is my first time building a PC and will be ordering all the parts next week. Just curious if I have everything I need here or if there's any recommendations on what I should replace. I already have the case (Antec 900) and the harddrive (Samsung 2TB). This is primarily for gaming and my budget is around $1300.

So far, that's <$1000. According to your budget, you still got $300 more to spend. How about getting a SSD for OS and other most daily used programs? 2nd fan for push / pull on 212+ cooler? 8GB ram instead of 6GB and make sure they are rated to run 1.5V?

 

[ExMachina]

This is my first time building a PC and will be ordering all the parts next week. Just curious if I have everything I need here or if there's any recommendations on what I should replace. I already have the case (Antec 900) and the harddrive (Samsung 2TB). This is primarily for gaming and my budget is around $1300.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c296/SamSawyr/PCParts.png

You've got a triple channel RAM kit for a dual channel board. Go for a 2x2gb set instead, since 4gb should be more than enough for gaming.

 

[Hieberrr]

Sorry, Im a computer noob right now, but where do I check which mobo I have? I wanna get a new CPU (currently have E8400 at stock 3.00GHz). I have a stock Dell XPS 420 with a downgraded GPU (from Nvidia 9800 to an HD 5450, because my 9800 burned out). So.. I wanna upgrade my CPU to something the mobo and the PSu can handle.

 

[Naked Snake]

Cross-posting from the laptop thread as this one is more active.

Lengthy background (optional reading, skip to bottom for quick summary): My current computer is a 2006 a Toshiba Satellite laptop (17" TruBrite glossy LCD with 1440x900 resolution, Pentium M 1.86GHz, 1GB DDR2 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce Go 6600 with 128MB DDR, 100GB 5400rpm HDD, Windows XP Pro).

I got it as a desktop replacement and it has served me well for years (don't play PC games and its mainly used for internet browsing), but last year I started seriously getting into digital photography and editing (Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop) and recently it has become obvious to me that my laptop is holding me back and it's time to upgrade.

At first I thought I'd get a cheap, compact laptop that has a fast processor (dual core minimum) and HDMI output. I thought since I have an excellent 1080p HDTV that barely gets any use, I could use it as a monitor for editing photos and save myself from having to buy an expensive desktop replacement laptop (even an entry-level i3 laptop would be a substantial improvement in performance from my current one and should be adequate for my needs).

But then I read about Sandy Bridge AND I learned that my brother is going to the US this week (I live in Jordan), and by comparing local prices with US prices ($650 entry-level i3 laptop Vs. $900 Sandy Bridge laptop)... I realized I would be stupid not to jump on this chance to pay a little more and get a kickass laptop that can serve me well for years longer.

It's unfortunate that the only Sandy Bridge laptops out now are i7 quad cores (perhaps a bit overkill for my needs), and there aren't that many options within my budget. I can't wait a month or two for the i5 and i3 SB laptops because my brother is only in the US for a week. It's my only window of opportunity as there is no way I can afford an SB laptop locally.

Another thing that's making my research difficult is the fact that Intel didn't give SB a unique, search-engine friendly name to query on retail sites. "Sandy Bridge" is almost never listed in the product description and searching for "i7" brings back tons of non-SB laptops.

I found the following models that fall within my budget on Amazon.com:

Toshiba Satellite A665-S5184
i7-2630QM 2.0 GHz
$944.00
Pros:
Price
6GB RAM
Integrated Graphics (I don't really need 3D performance, and I rather have a cooler and cheaper laptop)
12 cell battery; Battery Life: 9+ hours
Blu-ray
Cons:
500GB (5400 RPM)

Acer AS5750-9668
i7-2620QM 2.00 GHz
$883
Pros:
Price
Integrated graphics
Cons:
4 GB RAM
No blu-ray
640 GB (5400 RPM)

ASUS N53SV-A1
i7-2630QM 2.0 GHz
$1,211
Pros:
750GB (7200 RPM)
eSATA
Cons:
Price
4GB RAM
No blu-ray
Unknown:
Nvidia GT540M Graphics with 1GB DDR3 VRAM (how good is this? It would be a con if it can't be disabled to use integrated when needed)

HP Pavilion dv7-4290us
i7-2630QM 2.00GHz
$1,128
Pros:
6GB RAM
1TB (5400RPM)
Blu-ray
Cons:
17.3" screen (I had a 17" laptop for the past 4 years, I wouldn't mind a smaller one now, and I don't want to increase the burden on my brother with a heavier laptop)
Price
No USB 3.0
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6570 graphics with 1024MB GDDR5 with up to 3830MB total (can't be disabled to use integrated Intel graphics)

HP Pavilion dv7t dv7tqe
$1,345
i7-2630QM 2.00GHz
Pros:
8GB RAM
1TB 5400RPM
BLU-RAY WRITER
Cons:
Price
17.3"
Unknown:
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6570 graphics

Lenovo Ideapad Y560p 439722U
i7-2630QM 2.0GHz
$1,024
15.6" screen
6GB RAM
750GB HDD
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6570, 1GB graphics


What do you think? Do you know of other SB models currently on the market that I should look at? The prices seem to vary day by day on Amazon, and the units are also going in and out of stock quickly, which is worrying.

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

Quick Summary:

Need to buy a Sandy Bridge laptop online from USA within 1 week.
Budget: $900 - $1300
Prefer smaller, lighter, cooler units, but would consider a larger one if the LCD is high-quality
Prefer glossy screen over matte
HDMI is a must
Won't be gaming. Prefer integrated graphics, or switchable dedicated.
Battery life not important
Won't be overclocking
HDD size and speed matters
Would like Blu-ray but not a must
Main Use: Adobe Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 (developing and editing RAW photos)

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[acksman]

Went with full Win 7 instead of OEM. Don't want licensing hassles down the line when I change parts.

Also, wondering if I should hold off a few more days on the SSD and see what is announced and if that pushes prices any lower.

Would there be any reason to step up to a Nvidia 580? The 560 seems to be the most bang for buck.

Other than that, the 650W PS should suffice, my electric bill cries.

 

[mrklaw]

Your PSU won't use 650W unless the system asks for it. So your electric bill should be identical with a 500 or 1000W PSU. From what i'm reading/hearing, a 500W should be plenty for a non-SLI setup

 

[ashbash159]

So I'm going to try out MLAA on my 5770 for Dead Space 2 in a minute after it has finished downloading.

Is there anything I should know?

I'm new to this type of thing and only tried out D3DOverrider last week for the first time.

 

[Nabs]

hey acksman:

there's a combo on newegg for your 600t case and a modular corsair psu, it comes out to less money than your current case + psu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.590160

I don't know if its a better buy, maybe someone else can check it out. It's the PSU i'm using, and I like it.

 

[acksman]

hey acksman:

there's a combo on newegg for your 600t case and a modular corsair psu, it comes out to less money than your current case + psu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...SubCategory=58&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1

I don't know if its a better buy, maybe someone else can check it out. It's the PSU i'm using, and I like it.

Thanks I will go back and check it out. When there is a ton of combo deals they are all squished together and it makes my head hurt trying to go through that mess.

 

[acksman]

Your PSU won't use 650W unless the system asks for it. So your electric bill should be identical with a 500 or 1000W PSU. From what i'm reading/hearing, a 500W should be plenty for a non-SLI setup

I have been laptop gaming for the past 5 years. Decided to try a desktop again. When I hook up my electric meter, a typical gaming desktop is chewing up an extra $15 a month in electric bills. Just have to add that cost in with my budget.

 

[Enk]

So far, that's <$1000. According to your budget, you still got $300 more to spend. How about getting a SSD for OS and other most daily used programs? 2nd fan for push / pull on 212+ cooler? 8GB ram instead of 6GB and make sure they are rated to run 1.5V?

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm also including the case and harddrive as part of the price tag (wanted to grab those while they were on sale) as well as the tax. So that's almost hitting my limit. I may hold off on the SSD until later, but an extra fan would be helpful. Thank you.

You've got a triple channel RAM kit for a dual channel board. Go for a 2x2gb set instead, since 4gb should be more than enough for gaming.

hmm, didn't know that. Thanks.

 

[Stink]

This is my first time building a PC and will be ordering all the parts next week. Just curious if I have everything I need here or if there's any recommendations on what I should replace. I already have the case (Antec 900) and the harddrive (Samsung 2TB). This is primarily for gaming and my budget is around $1300.

you may need to buy sata cables.

 

[The Elite]

Your PSU won't use 650W unless the system asks for it. So your electric bill should be identical with a 500 or 1000W PSU. From what i'm reading/hearing, a 500W should be plenty for a non-SLI setup

So I'm safe with the Corsair builder series 500w? I don't plan to do SLI.

 

[ExMachina]

So I'm safe with the Corsair builder series 500w? I don't plan to do SLI.

Corsair CX series isn't too good, the Seasonic 520w listed in the first post should be perfect for your needs though.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52173&vpn=S12II 520&manufacture=Seasonic Electronics

 

[mrklaw]

potentially final build:
edit: realised I've forgotten a DVD drive, but I'll add that later

three remaining niggles:

1) win7 upgrade will just install without needing XP first right? I have media centre discs if needed, but if its a pain I'll just switch to OEM for the same price

2) PSU is fine right? Corsair not being great is all relative presumably? current price is close enough for me to pretend its £800. bumping up to a seasonic 520 or corsair 550 would take it to £835 which feels like £850. anywhere else you'd compromise to raise the £20 to improve the PSU?

3) Is it worth getting faster RAM? eg 1600. I plan to overclock to maybe 4-4.3GHz if it'll take it, and would pay a bit more for RAM if it will make a difference. edit: actually corsair basic 1600 is about the same price for a 2x2GB kit. I've seen one article that says 1333 can hold back a SB system, and prices are about on par.

 

[Enk]

you may need to buy sata cables.

:-/

Shoot, how would I know if I'm going to need one and which one? Would hate to finally get all this stuff and then find out that I'm missing a cable to get it running.

 

[Anton668]

reposting with more info...

Brothers computer isnt working anymore. Its an old Emachine they got when Vista came out. Said it wasnt powering up yet when I took the side off, the PSU and the CPU fan were running, yet there was no signal to the monitor. Also found about a quarter inch of dust covering everything.

Tax time is around the corner so I have him talked into going the newegg route and building a new computer.

This is mainly for the kids and the most use it will get is facebook games and youtube. The only actual game that gets played in it will be lord of the rings online.

while he was here is just threw together a list of parts quickly to give him some idea. looked kinda like this...

COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-BWN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $39.99
GIGABYTE GA-MA78LMT-S2 AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $64.99
GIGABYTE GV-R557OC-1GI Radeon HD 5570 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card $79.99
COOLER MASTER Elite 460 RS-460-PSAR-J3 460W ATX12V V2.31 Power Supply $29.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT $39.99
AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX245OCGQBOX $59.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $99.99

He had just bought a new HDD not long ago so we can reuse that.

Subtotal: $414.93

what cha think? will it run as is? anything i should change?

 

[Stabby McSter]

I just bought the i5 2500k for $180 at Micro Center, super excited.

Just thought I'd share.

 

[Cetra]

:-/

Shoot, how would I know if I'm going to need one and which one? Would hate to finally get all this stuff and then find out that I'm missing a cable to get it running.

Have no fear I have tonnes of spares if need be. I'd be more than happy to hand em over to ya.

 

[The Elite]

Corsair CX series isn't too good, the Seasonic 520w listed in the first post should be perfect for your needs though.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52173&vpn=S12II 520&manufacture=Seasonic Electronics

Thanks. Also had to grab a wireless network card too. Just realized my new setup has the modem nowhere near my computer. Sucks that I'll have to go wireless.

 

[mrklaw]

Thanks. Also had to grab a wireless network card too. Just realized my new setup has the modem nowhere near my computer. Sucks that I'll have to go wireless.

oh shit, me too. oh well, not expensive.

 

[ExMachina]

:-/

Shoot, how would I know if I'm going to need one and which one? Would hate to finally get all this stuff and then find out that I'm missing a cable to get it running.

My P8P67 Deluxe came with 2 Sata3 cables and 4 Sata6 cables... I imagine the Pro will be similarly packaged. Should be enough for your optical drive and HDD.

 

[n0n44m]

My P8P67 Deluxe came with 2 Sata3 cables and 4 Sata6 cables... I imagine the Pro will be similarly packaged. Should be enough for your optical drive and HDD.

2 Sata3 and 2 Sata6 for the PRO

(I've never bought SATA cables to be honest, went through enough motherboards to have a bunch of 'em I should take care to sort the new sata6 from the older ones though...)

 

[Mr. Hyde]

Thanks. Also had to grab a wireless network card too. Just realized my new setup has the modem nowhere near my computer. Sucks that I'll have to go wireless.

Ugh. I need to get a wireless card, too. My router is upstairs where my main pc will be, but I will be putting this current pc downstairs in a different room. Do you know of a good wireless card? I am stuck on G at the moment due to my U-verse 2Wire router, so I am not sure how strong the connection will be. I guess I might need an usb antenna, too.

 

[The Elite]

Ugh. I need to get a wireless card, too. My router is upstairs where my main pc will be, but I will be putting this current pc downstairs in a different room. Do you know of a good wireless card? I am stuck on G at the moment due to my U-verse 2Wire router, so I am not sure how strong the connection will be. I guess I might need an usb antenna, too.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=41177

I just grabbed the cheapest one.

 

[EphemeralDream]

Alright GAF I'm in full-panic mode.

I installed an aftermarket cooler for the first time today (I built the PC itself over a year ago). The assembly went pretty well and I was ready to power back on. When I power on, the keyboard lights up and and I believe the Power LED goes on when I push the power button but nothing else is working including the fan directly hooked up to the PSU. No beep sequences either. Thoughts?

 

[Jak140]

1) win7 upgrade will just install without needing XP first right? I have media centre discs if needed, but if its a pain I'll just switch to OEM for the same price

Yep. I got the family pack and used this guide:

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media.aspx

Had to do the reg edit, but it was pretty painless. Just remember to just hit next when the serial entry screen comes up after install. Wait until you're in windows to enter the key.

 

[Jak140]

Alright GAF I'm in full-panic mode.

I installed an aftermarket cooler for the first time today (I built the PC itself over a year ago). The assembly went pretty well and I was ready to power back on. When I power on, the keyboard lights up and and I believe the Power LED goes on when I push the power button but nothing else is working including the fan directly hooked up to the PSU. No beep sequences either. Thoughts?

Make sure both power cables are firmly inserted into the motherboard. Then check all other power connections. I forgot to insert one of the two power cables when I first set mine up and had the same issue.

 

[CrankyJay]

I just bought the i5 2500k for $180 at Micro Center, super excited.

Just thought I'd share.

OMG...I'm so pissed I don't have a MicroCenter here in Buffalo. What an awesome price. Fuck.

 

[antonz]

OMG...I'm so pissed I don't have a MicroCenter here in Buffalo. What an awesome price. Fuck.

Yeah annoys the fuck out of me too :/ At that price id jump in a heartbeat and blow my do not touch funds to make a new pc

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It doesn't work like that. You need two or more identical cards. When the tech came out it was recommended to stick with the same brand, but you can now use any brand you want as long as the specs are the same. I think if you get a slightly higer clocked 470 it down clocks to the lowest value of the other card.

Honestly, two 470's is gonna be great for performance, but the heat, and power consumption is off the charts. Make sure you got the power to even run them.

Damn. Ok, well 470s are supercheap now compared to before. I'm getting a Corsair TX series 950W PSU to run them, so power won't be an issue. However the Thermalright Shaman gratuitously blocks the SLI connectors and I'm going to have to figure how to work around that before I pull the trigger on a second 470 since I want to put Shamans on both of the cards in SLI. Yes, my motherboard has 2 PCI-e slots which are far enough apart, I use the Gigabyte X58A-UD3R and it has 3 PCI-e slots and when I populate the top and bottom ones I can fit a Shaman in between, but I can't find an SLI bridge connector long enough! I'm amazed nobody sells super-long SLI bridge connectors for this sort of thing!

 

[EphemeralDream]

Make sure both power cables are firmly inserted into the motherboard. Then check all other power connections. I forgot to insert one of the two power cables when I first set mine up and had the same issue.

I checked both and they're in as far as I can get them. Still the same thing

 

[Phatcorns]

Hi guys, so we have a Asus M4A89GTD Pro motherboard and we're having an issue where the computer will randomly restart. I think that the issue is the ram that we're using, Corsiar Vengeance DDR3 4GB CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9.

As far as I can tell, you can't use 1600 Mhz ram with this motherboard, but from my limited google skills, it says as long as you set the ram timings manually, you'll be ok. But I have never done that before so I don't know the details of that process.

There are other possible issues that could be causing it, including the solid state hard drive we are booting from. But just from first impressions, would improper ram cause random restarts?

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

I just bought the i5 2500k for $180 at Micro Center, super excited.

Just thought I'd share.

Is that worth buying right now if I won't be actually building until May? Even after tax, that's still a good $20-25 savings compared to Amazon or Newegg

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

Um, I'm trying to build a budget Hackintosh so I thought I'd post in this thread. It's mainly for school, just for editing some 5 to 10 minute short films.

I can't use a G5 as the new Mac software only supports the Intel CPU.

I'll just be using Final Cut Pro Suite mainly 480p and, some 720p.

Budget is $300 - $400

Here is what I came up with so far.

This part isn't ordered yet.

+$12.30 for shipping

I already have a DVD drive and my other computer has firewire, is networked and, my Lacie portable has USB and firewire. Regardless, I can probably find a LaCie 400 TI chipest card for $15 on amazon or somewhere if I do end up needing it.

*I picked the GA-G41M-ES2L as many people have listed it working with no problems with the latest Snow Leopard and, it allows for 8GB of ram if I ever decide to upgrade.

*The GT240 GPU is also reported to work with no issues right out of the box but, I'm still a little unsure if I need to flash it or not. I also need a 512MB card to run everything in Final Cut optimally.

* The E5400 was dirt cheap, is easily overclocked to 3Ghz and beyond on stock cooling and, has 2MB cache.

* The Cooler Master Elite 330 was on sale with only $10 shipping so I had to jump on it. For those that don't know it's a Tool Free case.

So this setup gives me a Poor Mans Hackintosh for $391.21
If I buy the firewire and a DVD drive I'm still only looking at about $425 for everything plus the cost of Snow Leopard which I got for $19.00. Which all together would put me about $45 over budget but, I never factor in little things like that when I'm building a computer.


I'm sure I could do better but, I need to buy components that I know are going to have the best chance at working with the Mac OS.

suggestions are welcome.

 

[EphemeralDream]

I checked both and they're in as far as I can get them. Still the same thing

Nevermind Jak140, the PC is powering on fine now. I disconnected a few things and then reconnected them and voila. The ATX 12 cable must be really, really stubborn.

 

[Mairu]

Helping a friend build a new desktop!

Here's what I've got so far for him:

May get a SSD but haven't asked him about that since I know the new SSDs are coming shortly

 

[longdi]

http://www.guru3d.com/news/asus-to-increase-motherboard-prices-by-515-percent/

motherboard prices going up soon, those on the fence want to act fast! sure it is only $20-40 more but the feeling is not good.

 

[keeblerdrow]

stuff

You're overkill on the PSU. He doesn't need 750W with one card. Look for something at 550W at half the price. Also, don't know what he'll be doing, but if he's gaming and has a browser open, he won't need any more than 4GB of RAM. That's another part you can reduce down to half the price.

 

[drkOne]

Would a Corsair CX600 PSU be enough for a ATI 5850 and a i5 750?

 

[Wallach]

Would a Corsair CX600 PSU be enough for a ATI 5850 and a i5 750?

For sure.

 

[drkOne]

For sure.

Alright, thanks.
I currently had a OCZ MX700, which I just had to send to warranty. Guess I'll just buy the Corsair and sell the OCZ once I get it back, should be able to make a tenner or so and avoid waiting.

 

[markot]

When are we gonna start seeing sandy bridge laptops take over?

 

[Chiggs]

When are we gonna start seeing sandy bridge laptops take over?

I saw a beautiful Samsung notebook with a Sandy Bridge I5 at Best Buy tonight. Around $1200.00 and just outstanding in every way. Goddamn, those Samsung QX series are some of the best looking laptops on the market. I think they easily rival the Macbooks when it comes to looks.

 

[XenoRaven]

I finally did it guys. Here's the final build. Feel free to tell me where I went wrong/right.

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570
ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution LGA 1155 Intel P67
CORSAIR DOMINATOR GT 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000
OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB
Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/
Rosewill ARMOR Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W Continuous@40°C
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
ASUS VE247H Black 23.6" 2ms Full HD HDMI LED

I'm getting some extra money next month so I'm probably going to add another 570. Thinking about a second set of RAM too to bring it up to 16 GB. Though I'm not entirely sure I'll need it.

One big question I have is my RAM came with a fan, but it doesn't really fit next to the giant CPU cooler. Now, the CPU fan is literally right next to the RAM, so I'm not sure I need the extra fan. I'm going to assume it's going to be fine unless someone here tells me otherwise.

Now that I have this thing put together, I need to know how to make Mass Effect 2 look like this: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25191015&postcount=6

 

[Naked Snake]

I saw a beautiful Samsung notebook with a Sandy Bridge I5 at Best Buy tonight. Around $1200.00 and just outstanding in every way. Goddamn, those Samsung QX series are some of the best looking laptops on the market. I think they easily rival the Macbooks when it comes to looks.

Sandy Bridge i5 laptop?? I thought those won't be out until February. I'll see if I can find it on bestbuy.com

 

[Chiggs]

Sandy Bridge i5 laptop?? I thought those won't be out until February. I'll see if I can find it on bestbuy.com

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...hite/1814048.p?id=1218293981356&skuId=1814048

Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM processor

 

[whatsinaname]

Just a question. Do most people here OC their CPUs? I see a lot of aftermarket coolers in the builds being suggested/bought. Are they necessary if you don't OC?