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

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garath said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133394

Well I pulled the trigger. It's ~30% more performance than my GTX 260 according to benchmarks and has dx11 support. So I feel much better about waiting for the next gen. $100 is a low price to bridge the gap till the Q2 range next year.

Plus I can ebay the 260 for an easy $50 (most cards sell in the $70 range to be honest) and make the upgrade super cheap.
Click to expand...

Yep, I pulled the trigger as well! Couldn't really pass it up at that price. I figure after a bit of overclocking, that card will handle almost everything out there right now (at least decently). I can definitely justify that card now, and then a possible upgrade once the next gen of cards comes out.

Getting closer to finishing my build. Just got my PSU today. I've currently got the RAM, PSU, HDD, and now the GPU coming in the mail. So now I'm just waiting on CPU, mobo, and case. Hoping to order all of those by the end of the week. I know I'm going with an i5 2500k, but the mobo and case are up in the air. Gonna see if I can spot any good deals on those three parts over the week, and then just order them.
 
I *hate* keyboard trays. Maybe it comes from playing FPS before the days of Roger Wilco/VoIP in general. Need my mouse hand to be near the keyboard.
 
Reposting on this page...

Ooccoo said:
i need a good PC desk in Canada. I'm looking at something elegant and not too big.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily aimed towards you, but I highly recommend to anyone looking for a PC desk to consider an L shaped desk, like this:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Orion-L-Shaped-Desk/9854981

L-shapedesk.jpg


You can then use the mouse on the right wing of the desk. So much more comfortable than using it on the keyboard try, and you can use your full arm for bigger motion (if you want to). No more carpal tunnel! Also, you can easily fit any sized PC under the right wing. My HAF X with rollers fits under there just fine.

That desk is only $100 at Walmart. Friggin steal. Been using it for 6 years now (though I removed the hutch, since I have a 32 inch screen.

Not terribly elegant, and not terrible well built, but incredibly functional. I want to find a better built desk with a similar design when I get my own place.

My setup, the same desk (though well used, and without the hutch):
tv.jpg


Also, I highly recommend not getting any desk with a raised monitor stand. There's nothing less comfortable in the long run than having your screen higher than it needs to be. You want your screen at head level.
 
mkenyon said:
I *hate* keyboard trays. Maybe it comes from playing FPS before the days of Roger Wilco/VoIP in general. Need my mouse hand to be near the keyboard.
Click to expand...

Well, most people have their mouse beside their keyboard on their keyboard trays...never liked that. Not enough room to manoever.

My main issue with having them on a table like you posted, is that there's no support for your arms. When I'm gaming for 6+ hours, proper arm rest is super important to me. Otherwise, I find my wrists start hurting after an hour or so of heavy usage. Maybe a table that has a larger keyboard + mouse tray that can be level with your chair's arm rests?

I guess it's going to be up to personal taste, but whatever you get, make sure it's comfortable for you. Chose a setup that you can use for hours at a time and feel no strain.
 
mkenyon said:
I *hate* keyboard trays. Maybe it comes from playing FPS before the days of Roger Wilco/VoIP in general. Need my mouse hand to be near the keyboard.
Click to expand...


Couldnt agree more, the only way to play counter strike is with the keyboard and mouse side to side.
 
mkenyon said:
I *hate* keyboard trays. Maybe it comes from playing FPS before the days of Roger Wilco/VoIP in general. Need my mouse hand to be near the keyboard.
Click to expand...

Yep, I'm not a fan of keyboard trays either.
 
Is this a good SSD for game loading, video converting, and animation frame loading?

Septimius said:
That's not really a URL, but I was able to dig it out.

The Plextor PX-M2 has 420/210MB @ 270$ for 128GB

This, Corsair Force Series 120GB has 550/510 @ 220$

Also, personally I've never heard the name Plextor.
Click to expand...

Yeah it was the 256GB one.

Thanks though.
 
Flying_Phoenix said:
Is this a good SSD for game loading, video converting, and animation frame loading?



Yeah it was the 256GB one.

Thanks though.
Click to expand...

Plextor is known more for DVD/Blu-Ray drives than anything else. I'm not sure I'd trust an SSD from them, even though it is cheaper than any SSD at that size.
 
scogoth said:
Theres a reason none of the mobos have PATA anymore. Any particular reason your not getting a SATA drive? The amount you could have saved on getting a cheaper board would have bought you a good sized HDD, which would be much faster and without a fat cable messing up airflow.
Click to expand...

Well, I would need to buy a new DVD/BD drive and would lost the ability to read data out of older PATA HDDs, of which I still have two.

And I like my options. My present PC even has a floppy drive in it. :)
 
Flying_Phoenix said:
Is this a good SSD for game loading, video converting, and animation frame loading?



Yeah it was the 256GB one.

Thanks though.
Click to expand...

Seems to be using the same controller as the Crucial C300, which means it's good, but may or may not have issues, depending on the firmware. There isn't really enough data out there to judge.

I'm really not sure which SSD is safe to recommend at this point, from a reliability standpoint. I'd still lean towards the Intel 320 series, despite the data loss issue that was reported. The data loss issue only happened when they powered/shutdown the SSD many times in a row (many hundred times, IIRC)...which didn't exactly seem relevant to me. I haven't really seen any consumer data giving credit to the data loss issue.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Seems to be using the same controller as the Crucial C300, which means it's good, but may or may not have issues, depending on the firmware.

I'm really not sure which SSD is safe to recommend at this point, from a reliability standpoint.
Click to expand...

I've recommended Crucial M4's to a couple of people. Hopefully no huge issues are going to pop up with those, like they did with the Intel's.
 
Flying_Phoenix said:
Is this a good SSD for game loading, video converting, and animation frame loading?



Yeah it was the 256GB one.

Thanks though.
Click to expand...

Hmm, yeah. Then it's 375$ vs 440$, so then it's cheaper. But the Corsair is still more known, thusly a bit of a safer bet when it comes to SSD, and it also has better read/write.

If you read reviews wherein people say they're reliable and that the name is worth buying, then it's definitely a good contender.
 
LordCanti said:
I've recommended Crucial M4's to a couple of people. Hopefully no huge issues are going to pop up with those, like they did with the Intel's.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the M4 seems fine so far, true.

As for the Intel issue, was it really an issue? I clarified my post above...IIRC it was only an issue in a controlled test environment, where the drive was powered/shutdown hundreds of times in a row to cause data loss.

And again, for SSDs, reliably > everything else.

Seriously. My OCZ Vertex 3 has been just fine so far, but the performance difference between it and my old Intel X25-M is not all that noticeable in real world usage.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Yeah, the M4 seems fine so far, true.

As for the Intel issue, was it really an issue? I clarified my post above...IIRC it was only an issue in a controlled test environment, where the drive was powered/shutdown hundreds of times in a row to cause data loss.
Click to expand...

I thought Intel came out and said that it was a problem that had been seen in the wild? The 8mb bug that is.
 
So with the new cards coming out soon, I'm left a bit perplexed regarding getting a new card or not. I've been looking into the high-mid range, and I've found the HAWK mega-clocked GTX 560Ti to be a great buy, seen how the extra clock makes it damn near a GTX 570, which comes in at a rather much higher price.

Then again, there's also the 6950 that can be soft-modded to 6970, around the same price. I am equally torn between those two cards that I am between getting a card now and waiting for the next gen of cards. But then I'm thinking that there usually can be some teething problems with a new gen, and that it would be desirable to wait for the second set of cards with the 28mm tech.

Is anyone able to input on this for me? It seems that the info I've read about the Keplar's performance is a lot of misquoted sayings of "four times the performance", which I think was "four time the performance per watt for double percision", initially. So how much more powerful is it going to be in gaming terms? Will I need it? I'll be gaming at 1980x1200 - and while I am not dying to play Skyrim, it sort of has to be done if I have a gfx card during the fall (ie, don't wait for the next line of cards). There's also Witcher 2 and Shogun 2 that I know I'll also be getting, so I guess it's a matter of being able to play those games at max with 1980x1200.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Seems to be using the same controller as the Crucial C300, which means it's good, but may or may not have issues, depending on the firmware. There isn't really enough data out there to judge.

I'm really not sure which SSD is safe to recommend at this point, from a reliability standpoint. I'd still lean towards the Intel 320 series, despite the data loss issue that was reported. The data loss issue only happened when they powered/shutdown the SSD many times in a row (many hundred times, IIRC)...which didn't exactly seem relevant to me. I haven't really seen any consumer data giving credit to the data loss issue.
Click to expand...


The product reviews seem good. Should I get the Crucial M4 instead? Is that faster?
 
LordCanti said:
I thought Intel came out and said that it was a problem that had been seen in the wild? The 8mb bug that is.
Click to expand...

The source for the 8mb issue reports:
http://communities.intel.com/thread/22227?tstart=0

Looks like it's a legitimate concern, then. Chance of losing the data on a drive during a power failure. Hopefully they come out with a fix soon. Until then, the Intel 320 should be avoided, in that case.

Crucial M4 (and Intel 510, I think) is now the only safe bet!

Flying_Phoenix said:
The product reviews seem good. Should I get the Crucial M4 instead? Is that faster?
Click to expand...

It was one of the faster drives...shouldn't be far off from that Plextor though. Like I said, though, the speed differences won't mean much in real world usage.

The Plextor could be fine...but it simply doesn't have many reviews to go on. It's up to you whether or not you want to chance it.

Personally, as long as they have a warranty to back things up, I'm not too bothered by reliability concerns. I use my SSD for unimportant data (OS, games), so it's not a major loss if something goes wrong...it's just a PITA. But, if I had to make a decision, I'd still go with the safest route, rather than the best performing one.
 
TheExodu5 said:
The source for the 8mb issue reports:
http://communities.intel.com/thread/22227?tstart=0

Looks like it's a legitimate concern, then. Chance of losing the data on a drive during a power failure. Hopefully they come out with a fix soon. Until then, the Intel 320 should be avoided, in that case.

Crucial M4 (and Intel 510, I think) is now the only safe bet!



It was one of the faster drives...shouldn't be far off from that Plextor though. Like I said, though, the speed differences won't mean much in real world usage.

The Plextor could be fine...but it simply doesn't have many reviews to go on. It's up to you whether or not you want to chance it.

Personally, as long as they have a warranty to back things up, I'm not too bothered by reliability concerns. I use my SSD for unimportant data (OS, games), so it's not a major loss if something goes wrong...it's just a PITA. But, if I had to make a decision, I'd still go with the safest route, rather than the best performing one.
Click to expand...

Any reason to opt for crucial m4 over a vertex 3?
 
I'm feeling a little uneasy. I got all my parts and found some time to put everything together yesterday. In about 3 hours I plugged in the power, hooked up the HDMI to my receiver, booted the machine and Windows started installing. After Windows finished installing I managed to update my BIOS, get my network card drivers working and update Windows 7 so my TV is better supported.

So everything is working, no problems whatsoever. I still need to install my video card tonight and get my Bluetooth accessories working but everything looks good.

Was it really that easy?
 
MisterNoisy said:
If you use a DVI-HDMI dongle and a standard HDMI cable, you should be able to get sound through your card's DVI out - that's the setup I'm using now in my living room/LAN PC.
Click to expand...
I need sound to come out optically. Or ill have to buy an HDMI reciever.
 
Dupy said:
I'm feeling a little uneasy. I got all my parts and found some time to put everything together yesterday. In about 3 hours I plugged in the power, hooked up the HDMI to my receiver, booted the machine and Windows started installing. After Windows finished installing I managed to update my BIOS, get my network card drivers working and update Windows 7 so my TV is better supported.

So everything is working, no problems whatsoever. I still need to install my video card tonight and get my Bluetooth accessories working but everything looks good.

Was it really that easy?
Click to expand...

yes
 
Dupy said:
I'm feeling a little uneasy. I got all my parts and found some time to put everything together yesterday. In about 3 hours I plugged in the power, hooked up the HDMI to my receiver, booted the machine and Windows started installing. After Windows finished installing I managed to update my BIOS, get my network card drivers working and update Windows 7 so my TV is better supported.

So everything is working, no problems whatsoever. I still need to install my video card tonight and get my Bluetooth accessories working but everything looks good.

Was it really that easy?
Click to expand...
Yup. *high five*
 
Dupy said:
I'm feeling a little uneasy. I got all my parts and found some time to put everything together yesterday. In about 3 hours I plugged in the power, hooked up the HDMI to my receiver, booted the machine and Windows started installing. After Windows finished installing I managed to update my BIOS, get my network card drivers working and update Windows 7 so my TV is better supported.

So everything is working, no problems whatsoever. I still need to install my video card tonight and get my Bluetooth accessories working but everything looks good.

Was it really that easy?
Click to expand...

To counter this, as to show that its a "it depends" situation:

been building my new rig for almost a month now, spent close to $1000. Since the beggining i was getting an annoying high pitched noise that i reported here, since then i changed the PSU two times and its still making noise, PSU noise i thought, since it also does it when its turned off (as in coil whine). I would blame my power socket or so if it wasnt for the fact that my old generic PSU wasnt making this noise. The second PSU i tried after the generic one was a thermaltake that only did the noise when the PC was on, but now this new Antec one does the noise as coil whine when the PC is turned off, and i mean REALLY loud coil whine.

Now with this new one im also getting loud strange noises from my headphones, all sounds similar to high frequency whines that a dog would hear, only i can, and its really, really loud and annoying.

I also changed the case since then, noise persists etc. Driving me fucking INSANE

Disabled all power saving settings in BIOS, nothing changes.

Ive built more PCs more than once before and never ran into trouble like this, but this is my most expensive one and ive already wasted money because of this, shit's making me real sad tbh :/ gonna send it to where i bought the mobo tomorrow and leave it there for a day for their tech guy to check it out (guess he can try using other components etc), ignoring the fact that i hate other people touching my computer, but i really dont know what else to do.
 
Clydefrog said:
oh my god - that doesn't suck having such a gigantic monitor so close to you? are you turning your head a lot?
Click to expand...

I pull out my keyboard tray more than it shows there. My head is about 3' away from my TV. It's the absolute perfect size, IMO. No need to turn my head at all, and it occupies just the right amount of my field of vision. I'm just far enough away that I don't see the pixel composition of the TV. It feels like I'm gaming on a movie screen. Once you get used to it, you can't go back. It's also much more relaxing for web browsing, since I can sit so far away from it and see so well.
 
Corky said:
Any reason to opt for crucial m4 over a vertex 3?
Click to expand...

Flying_Phoenix said:
OCZ's shit reliability?
Click to expand...

Yup, pretty much that. Like I said, my Vertex 3 has been just fine, but OCZ has not redeemed themselves with the Vertex 3. It's still had issues, and the company still employs some shady practices.
 
I've got an aging Core 2 Duo (E8500) with 4GB DDR2 and a GTX285 on a Windows 7 setup.

Can I do any cheap but noticable CPU upgrade that will help with games like Crysis 2 and The Witcher 2?

It really seems to me that my CPU is the biggest bottleneck. My motherboard is a P5Q Asus that says it supports Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme.

P45 Express chipset, socket 775, I guess.

I was googling and saw people mention that a Q9650 Core 2 Quad outperforms i5 processors but it seems too expensive and rare for an older model...

What about the q9550? Would that be substantially better?

Something around 100-150 euros would be ideal, if it offered a good difference, until I can build a full new rig, which will probably take me quite a while...

Edit: shit, I see my E8500 going for higher than that budget. Amazon.de sells the Q9550 for like 190 Euros, I don't see it cheaper anywhere is that a good deal?

Why don't CPU prices drop more. Who the hell (besides me) is going to buy these old models...
 
So I have a i5 2400. I found a setting in BIOS that says "Turbo mode" or boost or something. It says enabled, but my clock is still at stock 3.1 GHz, not the Turbo 3.4 GHz. Is there any way to crank that up seen how the BIOS thing has seemingly failed?
 
SalsaShark said:
To counter this, as to show that its a "it depends" situation:

been building my new rig for almost a month now, spent close to $1000. Since the beggining i was getting an annoying high pitched noise that i reported here, since then i changed the PSU two times and its still making noise, PSU noise i thought, since it also does it when its turned off (as in coil whine). I would blame my power socket or so if it wasnt for the fact that my old generic PSU wasnt making this noise. The second PSU i tried after the generic one was a thermaltake that only did the noise when the PC was on, but now this new Antec one does the noise as coil whine when the PC is turned off, and i mean REALLY loud coil whine.

Now with this new one im also getting loud strange noises from my headphones, all sounds similar to high frequency whines that a dog would hear, only i can, and its really, really loud and annoying.

I also changed the case since then, noise persists etc. Driving me fucking INSANE

Disabled all power saving settings in BIOS, nothing changes.

Ive built more PCs more than once before and never ran into trouble like this, but this is my most expensive one and ive already wasted money because of this, shit's making me real sad tbh :/ gonna send it to where i bought the mobo tomorrow and leave it there for a day for their tech guy to check it out (guess he can try using other components etc), ignoring the fact that i hate other people touching my computer, but i really dont know what else to do.
Click to expand...

You're losing it :(
 
Septimius said:
So I have a i5 2400. I found a setting in BIOS that says "Turbo mode" or boost or something. It says enabled, but my clock is still at stock 3.1 GHz, not the Turbo 3.4 GHz. Is there any way to crank that up seen how the BIOS thing has seemingly failed?
Click to expand...

The Turbo Boost is only triggered when the system is under load, and the amount of 'boost' will vary based on how many cores are being taxed - the CPU is basically 'self-overclocking' to limits set by Intel, and the 3.4GHz speed is only really attainable when a single core is running full bore. You won't see it in the BIOS, since the system isn't under load.
 
Hello;

I'm ready to add a second GTX580 to my system, but before i proceed with my order i want to make sure that my current PSU will be enough for a Sli setup even if i OC my CPU (which i'm planning to do/ i5 2500K)

This is what i have now:
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 910W SLI Certified ATX Power Supply 80 Plus Silver
http://www.pcpower.com/products/description/Silencer_910W/index.html
Manufacturer states that the PSU is "NVIDIA SLI Certified (Up To 2 x GTX580)", but i have a feeling that it might be a close call - pushing the PSU to max.

Suggestions?

img1739ck.jpg
 
mtommy said:
Hello;

I'm ready to add a second GTX580 to my system, but before i proceed with my order i want to make sure that my current PSU will be enough for a Sli setup even if i OC my CPU (which i'm planning to do/ i5 2500K)

This is what i have now:
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 910W SLI Certified ATX Power Supply 80 Plus Silver
http://www.pcpower.com/products/description/Silencer_910W/index.html
Manufacturer states that the PSU is "NVIDIA SLI Certified (Up To 2 x GTX580)", but i have a feeling that it might be a close call - pushing the PSU to max.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

It'll be fine. Go for it.
 
Jtrizzy said:
So do I need to buy a soundcard to output via optical if my msi 580 only has a mini hdmi?
Click to expand...
Maybe there is a backstory to this question, but sound is output through the mobo generally. You can do undecoded audio out with newer GPUs, but that's only if you're putting out to a receiver/TV.
 
mkenyon said:
Maybe there is a backstory to this question, but sound is output through the mobo generally. You can do undecoded audio out with newer GPUs, but that's only if you're putting out to a receiver/TV.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response. I thought it came from the GPU...anyway, what mobo would people recommend to go with an msi 580 and a 2600k? I just bought those, and am going to order a mobo and an intel ssd next,
 
Jtrizzy said:
Thanks for the response. I thought it came from the GPU...anyway, what mobo would people recommend to go with an msi 580 and a 2600k? I just bought those, and am going to order a mobo and an intel ssd next,
Click to expand...
OP.
 
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