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[Wazzim]

But I rarely RARELY ever play computer games. I just need something I can plug in to replace the Magic Mouse when I do.

Logitech MX518 might be a good option then, it's a great mouse for a great price.
EDIT: nvm, seems like the US price is still a bit steep, it's cheap over here.

PLEASE HELP

I'm having problems with my new PC. I've been out of country for a few weeks and before I left I was have problems with graphic intensive game just freezing. I assumed it was overheating but the temps looks normal. I'm back now and I really want to play Deus Ex but it keeps freezing and crashing after about 15 minutes.

What should I do?

BTW I have a GTX 570 and sandy bridge.

What kind of PSU do you have and did you overclock your 570 or was it factory overclocked?

 

[kagete]

If you're on the latest nvidia 280 drivers then just clean them out and revert to an older version like 270 or 266. My brother and a friend's PC were both borked when Windows automatically updated them.

 

[iSurvivedTheOutage]

Them 280 drivers are iffy.

 

[Alastor]

Hard to say, both of those are fairly incremental upgrades, and wouldn't offer much of a performance boost. I'd say go 2500k, and grab a 7xxx when it comes out.

Thank you, but can you tell me more about the "grab a 7xxx" part? I'm out of the loop in terms of new graphic cards.

Or, if you are up for tweaking and playing with configs, a second 460. This is really only recommended if you are experienced with drivers, profiles, and the like, or think you would enjoy doing that sort of stuff.

Well, it's always an option, and more options cannot hurt. I'm not really sure how much money I'll have for graphic card so I guess I shouldn't be thinking now about specific configs, but the urge is just too strong

 

[Corky]

Them 280 drivers are iffy.

Yes, they suck. Stick to 275.

 

[Chinner]

so i'm pretty sure installing two fans has made little to no affect in cooling my pc. maybe 2-3 degrees cooler when the computer is maxed out. maybe.

 

[n0n44m]

so i'm pretty sure installing two fans has made little to no affect in cooling my pc. maybe 2-3 degrees cooler when everything is running at full sync. maybe.

then you have good airflow and you can turn down the fanspeed without sacrificing much temperature wise

---

280 drivers gave me a crash in BC2 as well ... thought it might had to do with my overclock but went to 27something that was before it and that runs fine ...

first Nvidia driver in years I don't like

 

[mkenyon]

Thank you, but can you tell me more about the "grab a 7xxx" part? I'm out of the loop in terms of new graphic cards.



Well, it's always an option, and more options cannot hurt. I'm not really sure how much money I'll have for graphic card so I guess I shouldn't be thinking now about specific configs, but the urge is just too strong

7xxx would be the new series of AMD coming out within the next 3 months.

*If* (big if) a game has profiles for SLI, then two 460s outperform a 580. If I had a 460 right now, it would be the only viable choice, as the 560/6950 is barely an upgrade, and the 570/6970 is a ton of money for a tiny upgrade. If you're mostly playing AAA games, you can bet your butt there will be SLI profiles for the games, so it's not as big of a risk. I think the 460 situation is probably the only one I'd even suggest an SLI setup on, unless you're doing something ridiculous like dual 580s.

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Maybe this guy? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130684

The only thing I've read in the reviews section of Newegg about this card is that the fan control can be kind of wonky. Of course I don't know how up to date/accurate that information is not having the card myself.

Whenever I get around to my build I'll probably grab a Twin Frozr III. The DirectCU card is massive at 3 slots and either just plain can't be used for SLI or you'd have a very cramped case. Either way, not ideal for two GPUs there. Especially considering I'd probably prefer to SLI as an upgrade first before buying another new single GPU. Cycling 1 high-end GPU, 2 of them SLI after new cards come out, replace with a newer high-end GPU is how I'd prefer to build unless I found myself with excess cash or there was some leap in technology that would alter that cycle.

 

[KJTB]

Hi PC Gaf, so I'm finally making the jump from console gaming to PC gaming and I've decided that I'm going to build my first gaming PC However, I am almost completely ignorant about computer parts and whatnot, and because of that I want to ask a question or two to anyone who would be willing to help out.

My budget for my computer is $1000-$1400. I plan on using this PC mainly for gaming, internet browsing, and maybe some digital media like watching movies and stuff. I read the OP and checked out the falcon guide... I'm pretty interested in the Exceptional category of the guide. If I'm not mistaken, I can simply buy the parts that fall into the exceptional category and all should be fine, right? I know $1400 might be slightly overkill, but does 1200 sound a little more fair? Is building the computer worth the effort or is it better to just throw in another 100 dollars and buy an all in one pc? I'm not worried about building the computer because I have a friend who does that sort of thing...

Just so I don't get yelled at (lol)...

Basic Desktop Questions:
Your Current Specs: CPU / RAM (DDR2/DDR3) / Motherboard / GPU- N/A. I currently have an 08' macbook pro with coffee water damage that outside of the internet and word processing is pretty much worthless.

Budget: Price Range + Country- $1000-$1400, USA

Main Use: Gaming, Internet browsing, Digital Media

Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be playing your games at? Are you going to upgrade later?- I want to play at 720-1080p.

List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Self Explanatory- TF2, The Witcher 2, Skyrim, DOTA 2, Diablo 3 (I'm mainly building this so I can enjoy future games ).

Are reusing any parts?: List make and model (e.g. Corsair 520HX 520W)- No.

When will you build?: When do you want your computer, do you need it in a week, can you wait a month or two? Currently I have around $750 saved up. I'll probably be able to buy the parts and build within a month.

Will you be overclocking?: Yes, No, Maybe (This means yes)- Probably not.

Thanks for this thread btw. I'm pretty ignorant about a lot of techy stuff and I would be pretty lost if I didn't have this sort of thing as a reference point.

 

[chaosblade]

Hi PC Gaf, so I'm finally making the jump from console gaming to PC gaming and I've decided that I'm going to build my first gaming PC However, I am almost completely ignorant about computer parts and whatnot, and because of that I want to ask a question or two to anyone who would be willing to help out.

My budget for my computer is $1000-$1400. I plan on using this PC mainly for gaming, internet browsing, and maybe some digital media like watching movies and stuff. I read the OP and checked out the falcon guide... I'm pretty interested in the Exceptional category of the guide. If I'm not mistaken, I can simply buy the parts that fall into the exceptional category and all should be fine, right? I know $1400 might be slightly overkill, but does 1200 sound a little more fair? Is building the computer worth the effort or is it better to just throw in another 100 dollars and buy an all in one pc? I'm not worried about building the computer because I have a friend who does that sort of thing...

Building a PC will save you a lot more than $100, especially when you're looking at a high end build around $1000. It's rare for manufacturers to have deals competitive with building, but it does happen.

And I assume you don't actually mean an all-in-one, those are awful for gaming since they use laptop components, usually low end ones at that.

Just so I don't get yelled at (lol)...

Basic Desktop Questions:
Your Current Specs: CPU / RAM (DDR2/DDR3) / Motherboard / GPU- N/A. I currently have an 08' macbook pro with coffee water damage that outside of the internet and word processing is pretty much worthless.

Budget: Price Range + Country- $1000-$1400, USA

Main Use: Gaming, Internet browsing, Digital Media

Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be playing your games at? Are you going to upgrade later?- I want to play at 720-1080p.

List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Self Explanatory- TF2, The Witcher 2, Skyrim, DOTA 2, Diablo 3 (I'm mainly building this so I can enjoy future games ).

Are reusing any parts?: List make and model (e.g. Corsair 520HX 520W)- No.

When will you build?: When do you want your computer, do you need it in a week, can you wait a month or two? Currently I have around $750 saved up. I'll probably be able to buy the parts and build within a month.

Will you be overclocking?: Yes, No, Maybe (This means yes)- Probably not.

Thanks for this thread btw. I'm pretty ignorant about a lot of techy stuff and I would be pretty lost if I didn't have this sort of thing as a reference point.

Tough to come up with something right now since you're looking at building right around the launch of Bulldozer. Depending on how that performs you could end up with a very different build.

For the price range you're looking at the $1000 build in the OP is the best bet, with a few adjustments.

If you aren't OCing, you can get a cheaper H67 board and a i5 2500 and save a little there. And maybe cut the Hyper 212+, but it would still be nice to have even at stock clocks if you can afford it. If you live near a Microcenter they have good deals on CPUs, and sometimes have CPU+motherboard combos pretty cheap.

You can also back the PSU down to a 600-650W Corsair since you probably aren't going to jump into SLI/CFX. And due to price changes, you can get a 8GB G.Skill RAM kit for about the price of the 4GB in the OP build.

Then pick your case from the $80-$100 section, whichever you prefer. The Corsair Carbide 400r looks great for $100, IMO. I'll be getting a 500r for my upgrade.

 

[darkblade77]

Noticed the sagging triple-slot cards a few pages ago, and that kinda made me worried since my GTX 470 will be in the same boat once I put the aftermarket cooler on it.

Well, I'm not worried about it sagging on its own, more than I'm worried that the stress will damage the motherboard over time since I'll be carrying it back and forth.

I could carry the case on its side, but none of the carrying solutions I've seen so far seem to really support that. None of the bracing solutions I've seen to support heavy cards look like they would hold up from just hauling the thing around(that powerjack device doesn't look like it was made for the case being moved around, and a looped wire would probably do its own sort of damage over time).

I could switch back to one of those HTPC cases that have the motherboard seated horizontally... am I just overthinking this?

Just re-expressing my concerns; this would be a standard EVGA GTX 470 with the Zalman VF3000F installed, in the Fractal Design Define Mini case.

 

[Hawk269]

Yay, SLI'd 580s now.

Setting up triple monitors tonight. Gonna get some iRacing and shift 2 in.

Enjoy man. I have been running 2 SLI'd 580's, each overclocked to 900Mhz and WoW are they f'n fast. So far there has been nothing that causes them to drop below 60fps at 1080p...well one game....Witcher 2 in Ubersampling mode. The best my two little beasts can do in Uber mode in that game is around 52fps, but they are being taxed at around 98% each when doing so.

Deux Ex for example only uses about 40% usage on the GPU's and I am rock solid 60fps with DX11. Same for Crysis 2 in DX11, although usage is around 70% or so. Only game that makes my cards bake is Witcher 2..but that is also in Uber mode.

From what I have read only 2 590's in SLI or 3x580's can run Witcher 2 in Uber at a rock solid 60fps without melting the cards.

But yeah, 2 580's, even vanilla and not overclocked are just beastly...

 

[mkenyon]

Just re-expressing my concerns; this would be a standard EVGA GTX 470 with the Zalman VF3000F installed, in the Fractal Design Define Mini case.

Thats the same cooler on a 5870. Don't worry about it.

 

[darkblade77]

Awesome, thanks.

 

[Marco1]

Hi PC Gaf, so I'm finally making the jump from console gaming to PC gaming and I've decided that I'm going to build my first gaming PC However, I am almost completely ignorant about computer parts and whatnot, and because of that I want to ask a question or two to anyone who would be willing to help out.

My budget for my computer is $1000-$1400. I plan on using this PC mainly for gaming, internet browsing, and maybe some digital media like watching movies and stuff. I read the OP and checked out the falcon guide... I'm pretty interested in the Exceptional category of the guide. If I'm not mistaken, I can simply buy the parts that fall into the exceptional category and all should be fine, right? I know $1400 might be slightly overkill, but does 1200 sound a little more fair? Is building the computer worth the effort or is it better to just throw in another 100 dollars and buy an all in one pc? I'm not worried about building the computer because I have a friend who does that sort of thing...
.

If you're spending that much then build your own.
The advantage of building is the excellent warranties that come with parts.
EVGA: Lifetime, Corsair: 7 years etc.
If one part fails you troubleshoot, take it out and only RMA that part.
Troubleshooting will be easier as you will be more confident taking the side off and having a look instead of boxing it up to take it down to the store just for the assistant to realise the GPU only needs re-seated.
Just make sure you research what you're buying to avoid any incompatibilities.
And also ENJOY building the PC, some people look at it as something they can't accomplish when it's really just screwing a few things down and plugging them into the different slots. If it doesn't look like it's meant to go there then chances are it isn't.
A core i7 2500k with GTX580 and a 1920x1080 monitor will be fine.
Keep it simple.

 

[Tea and Toast]

Fractal R3 is still what I'd recommend for most people when they ask for a nice understated case.

Well I bought the R3 in titanium grey. If it's rubbish, i'll blame you.

 

[Chris R]

Thats the same cooler on a 5870. Don't worry about it.

Damn that case is CLEAN!

What PSU is that? I'd love to have cables that looked that good.

 

[Nekrono]

[/IMG]http://i.imgur.com/hIla7.jpg[/IMG]

Thats the same cooler on a 5870. Don't worry about it.

What case is that? I always forget.

 

[bs000]

What case is that? I always forget.

Looks like a Corsair 600T white edition. I think. Maybe.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Where does the Corsair 650D stack up in the "keeping my stuff cool" category. The room my new PC will go in tends to get warm unless I turn on the ceiling fan + AC (which is pretty much all the time anyway)

 

[Bebpo]

1) What's the best 580 for performance/keeping cool. My room is HOT in the summer and my cpu cooler is not that great. With my 9800GTX+ overclocked edition it runs at like 70C idle and 92C max and sometimes when it goes above that the computer crashes. Would like a 580 that runs cooler.

2) With new cards coming in October is it smart to just wait 2 months and see if the 580 drops in price when the next power cards hit? I could wait, though if it's going to be like $50 drop or something I might as well buy now and start enjoying 60fps.

 

[OatmealMu]

My hard drive was making unusual chugging sounds, so I decided to RMA it (again). I created a 120GB system partition for Windows 7. With all these Steam sales, 120GB seems small all of a sudden. If I created a system image from the 120GB partition, would there be any issues using System Restore on larger partition with the new hard drive?

 

[mkenyon]

What case is that? I always forget.

Damn that case is CLEAN!

What PSU is that? I'd love to have cables that looked that good.

Thank you, its a 600T White Edition. The PSU is a Seasonic X750, but the cables are a custom job by psychosleeves.

 

[statham]

have a 460 GTX overclocked, can play most games in high, any reason to upgrade or do I wait till next year?

 

[mkenyon]

have a 460 GTX overclocked, can play most games in high, any reason to upgrade or do I wait till next year?

Wait till the next gen. The next AMD cards should be out in a few months.

 

[Jomjom]

Haven't built my own PC in about 9 years, but I'm looking to build one in the near future. My last build had water cooling, but back then it was a bit scary as far as leaks go. Has water cooling tech improved any, where it's safer?

 

[mkenyon]

Haven't built my own PC in about 9 years, but I'm looking to build one in the near future. My last build had water cooling, but back then it was a bit scary as far as leaks go. Has water cooling tech improved any, where it's safer?

Yep. They even have premade kits like the XSPC Rasa Kit. Pretty easy peasy nowadays.

 

[n0n44m]

Haven't built my own PC in about 9 years, but I'm looking to build one in the near future. My last build had water cooling, but back then it was a bit scary as far as leaks go. Has water cooling tech improved any, where it's safer?

don't remember they had compression fittings back then those certainly help .... mine hasn't leaked yet anyway and no reason to assume it will =]

also there's the Corsair H100 which is an all-in-one system if you're just looking to get the CPU cooled, although I'd replace the fans on those.

(wouldn't even recommend a custom watercooling system if you're not doing the graphics card personally, as that gives the most heat and noise whereas a decent air heatsink can easily cool a 2600K).

1) What's the best 580 for performance/keeping cool. My room is HOT in the summer and my cpu cooler is not that great. With my 9800GTX+ overclocked edition it runs at like 70C idle and 92C max and sometimes when it goes above that the computer crashes. Would like a 580 that runs cooler.

2) With new cards coming in October is it smart to just wait 2 months and see if the 580 drops in price when the next power cards hit? I could wait, though if it's going to be like $50 drop or something I might as well buy now and start enjoying 60fps.

1) anything with a custom heatsink usually. The Asus 3slot ones are pretty good I guess, MSI also has some decent models. but the stock cooler isn't that bad apparently (compared to older cards at least) and remember that decent airflow in the case is always needed with a card like the 580

2) Hard to say at the moment really ... if AMD manages to push their newest high end cards out in stores early, Nvidia may feel they need to drop the price. If AMD takes until end of the year to get them in stores, or if they launch the mid-range cards first, then they won't obviously.

 

[squicken]

Where does the Corsair 650D stack up in the "keeping my stuff cool" category. The room my new PC will go in tends to get warm unless I turn on the ceiling fan + AC (which is pretty much all the time anyway)

It's not the best case for (air) cooling. Supposedly they are coming out with a side panel with a mesh opening for a fan, but that will be another $20 on top of a $170 for the case.

They went for aesthetics as their primary design goal. If you are willing to mod the case a little (or use water cooling), it works great.

 

[TheExodu5]

Side panel cooling is really only necessary with a dual-GPU setup, IMO.

 

[iSurvivedTheOutage]

Sooo...just found out that this is different from this. I know what year thinking...how? Well the amazon is the KR model which only carries 3 year warranty, while the one from the EVGA site is the AR model which carry the lifetime warranty. Can anyone differentiate any other differences? lol I guess you really are paying for the warranty =/

 

[TheExodu5]

Sooo...just found out that this is different from this. I know what year thinking...how? Well the amazon is the KR model which only carries 3 year warranty, while the one from the EVGA site is the AR model which carry the lifetime warranty. Can anyone differentiate any other differences? lol I guess you really are paying for the warranty =/

In 3 years, you'll probably be wanting a GPU upgrade anyways.

I don't really think paying for a GPU warranty is worth it.

 

[Gvaz]

Where can I get long SATA cables? The ones that come with hard drives are so short.

 

[iSurvivedTheOutage]

In 3 years, you'll probably be wanting a GPU upgrade anyways.

I don't really think paying for a GPU warranty is worth it.

Point taken.

 

[Mr Nightman]

Where can I get long SATA cables? The ones that come with hard drives are so short.

here you go

 

[Chiggs]

Anybody have any experience with XFX? I'm currently going through an ordeal with them over a brand new video card, and my perception of the company is in the sewers right now. They're pretty miserable from a QA and customer service standpoint.

 

[Eusis]

In 3 years, you'll probably be wanting a GPU upgrade anyways.

I don't really think paying for a GPU warranty is worth it.

Even if you don't want an upgrade then, I wouldn't be surprised if a more powerful video card (or at least one with more ram) cost sub $100. I did fine with an 9800GT until I got my hand down 4870 (and that would be enough to keep me content had it not been for the ram and the Witcher 2), and that's going for $60 last I checked. It'd still get pretty good performance from quite a few games too, it's only really started to show its age with games like Just Cause 2 and, well, the Witcher 2.

Anybody have any experience with XFX? I'm currently going through an ordeal with them over a brand new video card, and my perception of the company is in the sewers right now. They're pretty miserable from a QA and customer service standpoint.

If it weren't for their reputation I would've gladly snapped up that cheap 6950 of theirs and handed the Deus Ex code to my brother.

 

[jett]

Is a 560ti still decent?

 

[Gvaz]

here you go

Lol six foot, jesus.

 

[squicken]

Where can I get long SATA cables? The ones that come with hard drives are so short.

Be careful on long cable runs for SATA, especially if you are using a SATA III drive.

Side panel cooling is really only necessary with a dual-GPU setup, IMO.

I tend to agree that it's not worth the extra noise and dust, but the case really does run hotter than most. And the choice they made for the front fan means the case lacks good intake. You can work around it, but it's an annoyance for such an expensive case.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Is a 560ti still decent?

The 570, 580, 590, and AMD equivalents are more powerful cards. The 480 might be better too come to think of it.

Besides that, no single-card solution beats it. It's an absolute beast for the price.

 

[IrishNinja]

ok, so, it took a while, but now with a solid aftermarket cooler, my SFF well under control. following specs:

i5-760 @ 2.8ghz
ATI 6870
4GB DDR3
Gigabyte H55N-USB3

to these temps:

OCCT test of 1 hour got it to 70c at full load

right now, realteamp says its at 51-55c, but running at 3.2mhz, between 30-50% load. it's got good flow, but ive got to get it to a more open-aired place here at work.

thing is, i want to OC it to about 3.5+ (if possible & stable) for Dolphin use. the first thing i was told to do (have not yet) is to go into my BIOS and disable C1E/EIST/intel speedstep to lock my CPU in at its highest multiplier, then run another temp check. once this is done, how do i go about OCing exactly? i thought it was adjusting the voltage within the BIOS, but some ive seen online did so without this. i'm going to keep looking for a good guide on my CPU/mobo combo, just wondering if anyone had more ideas regarding this.

starting from here and seeing where it goes...

 

[Dries]

I'm wondering if adding a extra hard drive (1 TB) will increase my gaming performance. Then I'll install all my games on that separate drive. I'm not interested in windows booting up faster or anything, I'm just talking about gaming performance here. Is it worth it, GAF? Specs:

i5 2500K 3.3 Ghz
8 GIG RAM
Radeon 6970
Currently now only 1 TB hard drive.

 

[Open Source]

I'm wondering if adding a extra hard drive (1 TB) will increase my gaming performance. Then I'll install all my games on that separate drive. I'm not interested in windows booting up faster or anything, I'm just talking about gaming performance here. Is it worth it, GAF? Specs:

i5 2500K 3.3 Ghz
8 GIG RAM
Radeon 6970
Currently now only 1 TB hard drive.

It won't improve performance unless both the game you are playing and other programs are both accessing the drive frequently during play time, or you're extremely low on RAM, which you aren't.

 

[IrishNinja]

hey, sorry for the quick bump, was just going through the mobo software:

any chance this'd solve my problems? 3.36 isnt exactly what i want, and i know this isn't optimized, just curious.

*edit ah theres a lot more here in the settings, maybe doing it from this panel is better.

 

[Hazaro]

Doesn't even list voltage.
Don't touch it. Do it manually.

 

[IrishNinja]

it does under "advanced" and "voltage", at least - still no good?

if not: how to go about manually? appreciate the help, Haz.

 

[Hazaro]

Ah. I'd still do everything manually in the BIOS.

There are many overclocking guide for the 750's. Just google 750 + mobo name.

If those settings at 1.25V and 3.5Ghz are good, that's not a bad place to start.
RAM should be 1.65V most likely

 

[LordCanti]

it does under "advanced" and "voltage", at least - still no good?

if not: how to go about manually? appreciate the help, Haz.

That software is garbage. I once had to boot into safe mode to uninstall it, because it would boot with Windows, set my processor to an OC it wasn't stable in, and crash my computer.

I definitely suggest not using it, unless it has gotten much better.