"I need a New PC!" 2011 Thread of reading the OP. Seriously. [Part 2]

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Is there any reason why people recommend me more the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition rather than the 965? The 965 is only 20$ more, is there any difference between the two?
 
BY2K said:
Is there any reason why people recommend me more the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition rather than the 965? The 965 is only 20$ more, is there any difference between the two?
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The 965 is essentially an overclocked 955, meaning they are the exact same processor, but you're paying AMD 20 bucks to overclock it for you. Not worth it when you consider that all you need to do to overclock it is bump up the multiplier, couldn't be any easier.
 
Any real world reason I should get an i7 over an i5?

My PCs been acting like a little bitch lately and so it's upgrade time. I was just pulling stuff from the Tech Report utility player:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...chReport&cm_mmc=OTC-TechReport-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...chReport&cm_mmc=OTC-TechReport-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...chReport&cm_mmc=OTC-TechReport-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA

Can anyone recommend a good heatsink/fan? I'm going to clock the shit out of this thing.
 
Draft said:
Any real world reason I should get an i7 over an i5?

My PCs been acting like a little bitch lately and so it's upgrade time. I was just pulling stuff from the Tech Report utility player:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...chReport&cm_mmc=OTC-TechReport-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...chReport&cm_mmc=OTC-TechReport-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...chReport&cm_mmc=OTC-TechReport-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA

Can anyone recommend a good heatsink/fan? I'm going to clock the shit out of this thing.
Click to expand...
You probably don't need an i7. The only difference is hyperthreading which makes no difference for the majority of applications. I wouldn't recommend it for anything but a work PC that will deal with encoding or something.

Anyway, you could get the oft-recommended Hyper 212+ cooler, it's pretty good. If you want something better the Thermalright Silver Arrow and Noctua NH-D14 seem to be the top of the line air coolers right now.

Edit: That RAM also has a pretty big heatsink. You might consider getting something standard height if you want a big CPU heatsink. Especially if you don't plan to OC the RAM.
 
Your Current Specs: Slummin' with AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3500+ (2.19 GHz) / 1 GB RAM / (don't know the motherboard) / integrated ATI RADEON XPRESS 200
Budget: $500-$600 USA
Main Use: general usage, some Photoshop work (nothing crazy), light gaming
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, if I end up grabbing an ASUS VH236H.
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Portal, StarCraft 2, Oblivion
Are you reusing any parts?: Starting from scratch.
When will you build?: Ideally within a month, but no rush. I can even wait until Black Friday if necessary.
Will you be overclocking?: No.

So I've been stuck with the same PC for around five years and it's showing its age. I have never assembled a PC in my life, but I figured I'd post a humble request for advice before rushing off to search for a deal on another prebuilt desktop.

I need a system that's well suited to multitasking (say, 30+ Firefox tabs + a video player + downloads + stuff like Microsoft Word and Winamp). Gaming is not a priority, but as long as I'm upgrading I might as well go for something that can run the several titles I'm interested in. I also need a new monitor. Bigger is better. Under $250 is preferable.

What do I need to know as a PC-building virgin? Is there a shitload of software I'll need to buy and install to perform basic tasks? Should I even bother?
 
chaosblade said:
You probably don't need an i7. The only difference is hyperthreading which makes no difference for the majority of applications. I wouldn't recommend it for anything but a work PC that will deal with encoding or something.

Anyway, you could get the oft-recommended Hyper 212+ cooler, it's pretty good. If you want something better the Thermalright Silver Arrow and Noctua NH-D14 seem to be the top of the line air coolers right now.

Edit: That RAM also has a pretty big heatsink. You might consider getting something standard height if you want a big CPU heatsink. Especially if you don't plan to OC the RAM.
Click to expand...
Hyper 212 looks good. The i5s run cool, right? I'm not trying to set any Futuremark records, I just want my "free" performance.
 
Is it normal that my GPU (Sapphire 5770) shows that it has 1.7GB (1784MB) of Memory?

I though it had 1GB...
 
Draft said:
Hyper 212 looks good. The i5s run cool, right? I'm not trying to set any Futuremark records, I just want my "free" performance.
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Pretty cool, yeah. 2500k + Hyper 212+ should get you 4GHz pretty easily.

Is the virtual memory the regular RAM or... ?
Click to expand...
Yeah, the standard RAM. Kind of like a pagefile for your GPU.
 
Hey guys,

I've just added in a 2TB Seagate ST2000DL003 Barracuda Green, SATA 6Gb/s, 5900rpm to my set up and while my BIOS is picking it up, when I get into Windows 7, it's not showing.

What do I need to do here?
 
My first attempt at OCing my i5 2500k was an utter failure. I tried a modest OC to 42 (CPU ratio) and the temperature shot up to 80+ within a minute of starting prime95...monitor shut off soon after. :(

I guess I didn't install the cooler correctly...son of a bitch is gonna be a pain to redo.
 
MadraptorMan said:
My first attempt at OCing my i5 2500k was an utter failure. I tried a modest OC to 42 (CPU ratio) and the temperature shot up to 80+ within a minute of starting prime95...monitor shut off soon after. :(

I guess I didn't install the cooler correctly...son of a bitch is gonna be a pain to redo.
Click to expand...

I fear this.
 
LabouredSubterfuge said:
Hey guys,

I've just added in a 2TB Seagate ST2000DL003 Barracuda Green, SATA 6Gb/s, 5900rpm to my set up and while my BIOS is picking it up, when I get into Windows 7, it's not showing.

What do I need to do here?
Click to expand...
You need to format it first. Just type disc management in the Win7 search bar and it should be the first option, and create a partition.
 
LabouredSubterfuge said:
It's not showing up in disk management though. Only my SSD is.
Click to expand...

You need drivers. Uhh, you can google around for it. I'll try to find the link

edit - or it was bios update. I can't remember
 
Bungieware said:
Need help on my build. Main focus is to play BF3 and Skyrim on medium to high, but not to spend half my budget on a GTX 580. The prices I'm quoting are from ebuyer.com (UK). I'm a bit uneducated when it comes to this sort of thing, but I scanned the thread and other forums to look at what parts were considered the best in their price range. If you see anything that looks unnecessary, poor value for money, better price elsewhere or poor quality, please please please let me know:

HD: Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache £40.98
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor £163.29
Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Socket 775, 1156,1155 AM2, 1366, AM3 Processor Cooler £26.36
Case: Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl Case £75.98
GPU: MSI GTX 560Ti TWIN FROZR II 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI Out PCI-E Graphics Card £193.47 (was told MSI or ASUS DirectCU II were considered the best out of these, but MSI runs coolest)
RAM: ? (At least 2x 2GB)
Motherboard: ? (Something good that goes best with the above)
PSU: ? (according to you guys I need 500W)
DVD: (something good that goes best with the above)
Click to expand...

Sorry to keep bringing it up, but I could really do with some help on this... especially the MB.
 
RS4- said:
You need drivers. Uhh, you can google around for it. I'll try to find the link
Click to expand...
He shouldn't need any drivers unless his mobo can't read SATA2 natively.

actually sata2 should be backwards compatible. Speaking of which, sata2 is kind of a waste with anything but SSDs :|
 
Gvaz said:
He shouldn't need any drivers unless his mobo can't read SATA2 natively.
Click to expand...

It's actually a SATAIII HDD. But it's plugged into the relevant port on the mobo. It also has power too. I find it odd that the BIOS picks it up but not Windows.
 
LabouredSubterfuge said:
It's actually a SATAIII HDD. But it's plugged into the relevant port on the mobo. It also has power too. I find it odd that the BIOS picks it up but not Windows.
Click to expand...

Is this a new build? What's your mobo?

On my last pc, I didn't update bios in years and when I added my 2TB drive, only 1GB appeared. I couldn't remedy that unless I updated my bios.

Not exactly the same situation but it might help.

pirata said:
Would y'all recommend that I get this monitor for my future PC? Or can I get a better deal for a 1080p monitor?
Click to expand...

how much do you want to spend? Gaming only? Gaming and photo work? Photo work only?
 
Gvaz said:
Yeah oops, typo.

It sounds like you need drivers then. Did you try rescanning while in device manager?
Click to expand...

Okay, it actually shows up in device manager. But when I try to update drivers it says the ones I have are fine.

EDIT: AHHH okay, got it, I was being retarded, it was coming up in disk management and I just wasn't seeing it. Cheers guys!!!
 
RS4- said:
how much do you want to spend? Gaming only? Gaming and photo work? Photo work only?
Click to expand...

Well, I definitely want to play games. Is there a better bang-for-buck value for going with something else?
 
pirata said:
Well, I definitely want to play games. Is there a better bang-for-buck value for going with something else?
Click to expand...
I have that monitor, although I'm loaning it to my brother right now. It's pretty nice for the price. Was really bright/vivid when I first used it though, so you will probably want to consider doing at least a quick calibration.
 
Is there a big enough performance difference between 1333 and 1600 ddr3 ram to justify the additional 30 dollars? Can't I just overclock a 1333 to a 1600?
 
Misanthropy said:
Is there a big enough performance difference between 1333 and 1600 ddr3 ram to justify the additional 30 dollars? Can't I just overclock a 1333 to a 1600?
Click to expand...
There's a small difference, but definitely not $30 worth. I don't know much about OCing RAM though. In general RAM speed has a very minimal impact on performance. (1-2 FPS)
 
Misanthropy said:
Is there a big enough performance difference between 1333 and 1600 ddr3 ram to justify the additional 30 dollars? Can't I just overclock a 1333 to a 1600?
Click to expand...
I would focus on the quality of the RAM rather than the speed. G.Skill has great RAM sticks and are usually pretty cheap. Hazaro usually recommends these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231417

I have no experience with those, but I've had G.skill sticks in my board for over a year with no issues.
 
pirata said:
Well, I definitely want to play games. Is there a better bang-for-buck value for going with something else?
Click to expand...

I personally regret buying cheap TN panels when I could have waited and saved my money and gotten a decent IPS panel for a little bit more on sale.
 
pirata said:
Well, I definitely want to play games. Is there a better bang-for-buck value for going with something else?
Click to expand...

Yeah for the price, that's fine; it's responsive and moderately cheap and also does hdmi. Don't expect much from the speakers though.

But yeah it's a TN panel, like most cheap LCDs are.

That Asus does not do anything fancy like portrait mode though.

If you want a fast IPS monitor, you'll have to spend 300 and up for the Dell models.
 
For the new page:
CarbonatedFalcon said:
What's the deal with sound cards compared to onboard sound? Is a $30 sound card going to improve the sound quality much on a ~$200 mobo? What about a ~$75 card? Would I need a certain quality of headphones/speakers to take advantage of one? The benefits seem much more intangible to gauge compared to other components. It definitely seems like the kind of thing you could add on later though with relative ease as a relatively cheap upgrade.
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I would also be interested in this.
 
luffeN said:
For the new page:

I would also be interested in this.
Click to expand...

Have any friends with relatively good speakers/headphones and a sound card? If so, borrow or give them a listen.

If you're using shit speakers or something like ipod headphones, you probably won't notice much or any difference between onboard and dedicated sound card.

For budget sound cards, there's always the Asus Xonar DG. You can find them between $15 and $30.
 
luffeN said:
For the new page:

I would also be interested in this.
Click to expand...
The most noteworthy benefits of a sound card will be that you have a dedicated sound processor (so your CPU isn't using up cycles on it) and they generally offer higher volume.

Sound quality won't matter unless you're using some pretty high end equipment with it.
 
chaosblade said:
The most noteworthy benefits of a sound card will be that you have a dedicated sound processor (so your CPU isn't using up cycles on it) and they generally offer higher volume.

Sound quality won't matter unless you're using some pretty high end equipment with it.
Click to expand...

RS4- said:
Have any friends with relatively good speakers/headphones and a sound card? If so, borrow or give them a listen.

If you're using shit speakers or something like ipod headphones, you probably won't notice much or any difference between onboard and dedicated sound card.

For budget sound cards, there's always the Asus Xonar DG. You can find them between $15 and $30.
Click to expand...

If I go with a sound card then I will also buy Sennheiser HD 558 or Audio Technica A700 headphones. I still have an Audigy 2 NX external sound card (pretty old) but compared to my Asus P5Q motherboard sound it's so much better. Currently using Icemat Siberia v2 headphones. I will buy a new pc with an MSI P67A-GD65, P67 (B3) mobo. What should I do xD
 
chaosblade said:
The most noteworthy benefits of a sound card will be that you have a dedicated sound processor (so your CPU isn't using up cycles on it) and they generally offer higher volume.

Sound quality won't matter unless you're using some pretty high end equipment with it.
Click to expand...
These days, cpu are so powerful that it barely makes any difference. But, I did recently switch from onboard to a X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty. Even with crappy 5.1 speakers, I do notice better sound. Is it worth the $75 upgrade. Not really. More of a luxury item.
 
luffeN said:
If I go with a sound card then I will also buy Sennheiser HD 558 or Audio Technica A700 headphones. I still have an Audigy 2 NX external sound card (pretty old) but compared to my Asus P5Q motherboard sound it's so much better. Currently using Icemat Siberia v2 headphones. I will buy a new pc with an MSI P67A-GD65, P67 (B3) mobo. What should I do xD
Click to expand...
Probably enough to notice a difference. I don't have a sound card, but I can tell a between the sound quality when I run it through my receiver versus using the built in 3.5mm jack. Using HD555.

You might consider a cheap soundcard.
 
chaosblade said:
Probably enough to notice a difference. I don't have a sound card, but I can tell a between the sound quality when I run it through my receiver versus using the built in 3.5mm jack. Using HD555.

You might consider a cheap soundcard.
Click to expand...
Okey thx :) I will probably go with this one then: ASUS Xonar DX 7.1
 
I think I might get the GTX570 instead of the 560ti. Perhaps I can make up part of the difference by selling my 4890 and some other things lying around.
 
Thanks for finally addressing sound cards guys! It's probably something that should be mentioned in the OP. I'll probably pass on one at build time to save some money (when your intended PC build is ~$1000-$1200 and you're trying to stay in budget every bit helps!) and grab one down the line when I have some spare cash, maybe during the holidays, especially if there is a sale.

Was probably looking at HT|Omega Striker or this Creative one. Would definitely be staying under $100 when the time comes, though if the difference between a $30 card and a $75 card is insignificant, I would pocket the extra cash and go with a cheaper one.
 
DeadTrees said:
The i5-2500k is $149 at Fry's.

In-store only, today only.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for posting this! Perfect timing for me as I'm building a budget PC for college gaming. Was gonna go with an i3, but I can't pass this deal up.

Edit: I'm hearing that they are sold out ; n;
 
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