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[Conflict NZ]

Is an LED bad for gaming? Also is 5ms response time really noticeable compared to 2? It seems most monitors are 5ms response time.

If you are playing fast paced precision games such as Counter Strike or Call of Duty you might notice a slight delay making it a bit harder it flick shot people. Go with 2ms if you want to play those type of games.

 

[Tom Penny]

Best thing I ever did was upgrade my PC and it cost me under only $400 bucks for ram cpu video card and motherboard. I take back everything bad I ever said about Crysis one. I guess I never enjoyed at a constant great framerate with a nice graphics mod and A.I. mod. Stunning I skimped on a motherboard and it appears I can't really OC my CPU though It doesn't even show that I am in CPU-Z even though I increase the CPU ratio. I have to figure out what to do. If it is showing OC'ed under my computer but not in CPU-Z is it really OC'ed? I'm thinking I have to disable certain options but I don't know what.

 

[nara]

4.5ghz @ 1.26v i5 2500k I'm lovin it (prime95 12hrs)

H60 working marvelously.. high 50s low 60s at 100% load

 

[opticalmace]

bro, unlocking shaders is the same thing as you are still flashing the bios.
I did the same with mine, OC beyond 6970 speed and still works perfectly fine with TW2 at max settings.

Yeah but he meant he didn't flash it with a 6970 bios (probably for voltage issues).

I just unlocked my 6950. What are your GPU/memory frequencies? Mine's still at stock for now.

 

[blackpensnowbird]

hi again guys, i've narrowed it down to three cards now:

raedon hd 5670

msi raedon hd 6670

power color raedon hd6670

i did ask around on tomshardware.com and got some very good responses there. but i am still unsure of which hd6670 is better because on one hand someone told me the fan on the msi branded one is much better but, the msi one is only ddr3 ram while the other is ddr5 ram and i am not sure how much of a difference that makes. while i was there someone also told me that the 6670 and 5670 were basically the same cards and after looking at some comparison graphs they do look extremely close but i am still unsure of this.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Having issues with overclocking my i5 2500k. Could use some insight.

Specs:
i5 2500k
Asrock Pro3 P67
8 GB DDR3
750 W 80+ Certified PSU
MSI 560 Ti Twin Frozr II/OC
CM Hyper 212+

I cannot get to 4.5 Ghz stable in Prime95 blend mode for more than ~4 hours, even with a Vcore as high as 1.320. Temps on all four cores at that Vcore never peak above 70 C. Are there other BIOS settings I missing perhaps? I feel as though I should be stable at that clock with a 1.320 voltage.

Help me GAF, you're my only hope.

 

[opticalmace]

well, my monitor's resolution is 1440 x 900 and my CPU is: AMD Athlon Dual-Core Processor 2.50 GHz. sorry for asking so much but i don't really know much at all about this kind of stuff.

I'm not 100% sure but I can tell you you don't want to go lower than a 5670.

 

[slidewinder]

hi again guys, i've narrowed it down to three cards now:

raedon hd 5670

msi raedon hd 6670

power color raedon hd6670

i did ask around on tomshardware.com and got some very good responses there. but i am still unsure of which hd6670 is better because on one hand someone told me the fan on the msi branded one is much better but, the msi one is only ddr3 ram while the other is ddr5 ram and i am not sure how much of a difference that makes. while i was there someone also told me that the 6670 and 5670 were basically the same cards and after looking at some comparison graphs they do look extremely close but i am still unsure of this.

GDDR5 is roughly twice as fast as DDR3 given the same bus width and memory speed. There are going to be times when a GPU isn't capable of making use of that extra bandwidth very often, but it's mostly going to be good thing to have the GDDR5 part instead of the DDR3 one.

That 5670 (at $60 after rebate) is a much better deal than the 6670 for $100 (which you listed twice). If you're going to spend $100, you should be able to do quite a bit better than a 6670 which, as you say you were told, is in the same ballpark as the 5670 performance-wise. You should be able to get a 5770 for under $100 after rebate, for example, and that'll really crush either of the x670 cards.

 

[blackpensnowbird]

I'm not 100% sure but I can tell you you don't want to go lower than a 5670.

okay, thanks. but out of the three i posted was the person who said the 5670 was almost exactly the same as the 6670 correct in saying so? and if i were to go with the 6670 should i pick the one with the better fan system or the one with the ddr5 ram?

edit: thanks slidewinder for answering my question about ram and about the comparison between the 6670 and 5670. so now i think i should ask you, would the 5770 draw as little power as the 6670/5670 because my psu is only 300W, and do you think the 5670 would be suitable for Starcraft II since you say it's very close to the 6670.

 

[knitoe]

Having issues with overclocking my i5 2500k. Could use some insight.

Specs:
i5 2500k
Asrock Pro3 P67
8 GB DDR3
750 W 80+ Certified PSU
MSI 560 Ti Twin Frozr II/OC
CM Hyper 212+

I cannot get to 4.5 Ghz stable in Prime95 blend mode for more than ~4 hours, even with a Vcore as high as 1.320. Temps on all four cores at that Vcore never peak above 70 C. Are there other BIOS settings I missing perhaps? I feel as though I should be stable at that clock with a 1.320 voltage.

Help me GAF, you're my only hope.

Run Prime95 with small FFT to test CPU overclocking. Blend also test ram which could cause other issues. If you want to test ram, run memtest.

 

[slidewinder]

edit: thanks slidewinder for answering my question about ram and about the comparison between the 6670 and 5670. so now i think i should ask you, would the 5770 draw as little power as the 6670/5670 because my psu is only 300W, and do you think the 5670 would be suitable for Starcraft II since you say it's very close to the 6670.

Ohhhh, shit. Yeah, the 5770 will draw quite a bit more power, and might be too much for that PSU. And yeah, the 5670 will give you good playable framerates in SC2. I'd say that's your best bet if you want to stick with that PSU for now.

 

[bill0527]

When in doubt, use the power supply calculator here:

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

 

[blackpensnowbird]

Ohhhh, shit. Yeah, the 5770 will draw quite a bit more power, and might be too much for that PSU. And yeah, the 5670 will give you good playable framerates in SC2. I'd say that's your best bet if you want to stick with that PSU for now.

alright, one last thing, sorry if i'm being a pest but could you tell me which one 5670 you think is better the msi version or the sapphire version . i noticed that the msi one has two fans but for all i know that doesn't make a difference at all. one more thing i want to ask is if i was really missing out on anything going with the 5670 vs the 6670 since they're very close. lol, sorry if i'm asking so much i just wanna be sure since i've never done something like this, thanks for all your help again.

 

[DumbNameD]

If anyone doesn't mind mail-in rebates, Tigerdirect has one stick of 4GB Corsair DDR3 1600MHz RAM for $53 - $20MIR = $33. Limit 2 rebates per household should mean 8GB of RAM for $66 plus whatever shipping is. Expires at the end of June.
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=3018017

It seems like every other day, my build budget is increasing. As of this moment, it's exactly $2000. Now, the build includes all the usual parts, plus a monitor, sound card, headset, ssd, 5.1 speakers, and a wireless network adapter.

The build I have right now, is a little over $1900 and I feel really uncomfortable with what I picked out and thought I could get the thread's input/approval.

Any reason you have DDR2 RAM [2 x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800] in your build?

 

[slidewinder]

alright, one last thing, sorry if i'm being a pest but could you tell me which one 5670 you think is better the msi version or the sapphire version . i noticed that the msi one has two fans but for all i know that doesn't make a difference at all. one more thing i want to ask is if i was really missing out on anything going with the 5670 vs the 6670 since they're very close. lol, sorry if i'm asking so much i just wanna be sure since i've never done something like this, thanks for all your help again.

Fans shouldn't even really matter much on these cards because they are so low-heat to begin with. That being said, that MSI is even cheaper after rebate and shipping than the Sapphire you originally posted, so I'd go with that if you don't mind paying the little extra up-front and waiting on the rebate. $47 AR + $7 shipping, that should be a pretty nice card for $54 all told.

They're both GDDR5 so you're fine there.

 

[blackpensnowbird]

Fans shouldn't even really matter much on these cards because they are so low-heat to begin with. That being said, that MSI is even cheaper after rebate and shipping than the Sapphire you originally posted, so I'd go with that if you don't mind paying the little extra up-front and waiting on the rebate. $47 AR + $7 shipping, that should be a pretty nice card for $54 all told.

They're both GDDR5 so you're fine there.

okay, last question, i promise! terribly sorry for so many questions. well okay here it is, i see there are also versions of the 5670 with 1gb of memory while the ones i listed only have 512 mb so, should i go for one with more memory or is 512 mb fine. thanks again and i'm real sorry for asking you so much.

 

[man/man]

Hey thanks for answering my i3 queries guys, but I have one more derp dee derp question for you. I plan on hooking my rig to a 19" Samsung TV that outputs 1366 x 768. Is there a ceiling for how much utility I can get out of a graphics card when I'm working with a limited resolution? For instance, would I be wasting my money buying a $200 dollar card if I'll never really maximize its potential?

 

[slidewinder]

okay, last question, i promise! terribly sorry for so many questions. well okay here it is, i see there are also versions of the 5670 with 1gb of memory while the ones i listed only have 512 mb so, should i go for one with more memory or is 512 mb fine. thanks again and i'm real sorry for asking you so much.

512 MB will be fine at 1440x900. The cheapest 1 GB cards are all DDR3, too, (like this one), which you don't want.

You will be well-served by one of those cheaper 512 MB GDDR5 5670s for now and putting aside any other spare money toward a more serious upgrade (including PSU) or full build down the road.

 

[blackpensnowbird]

512 MB will be fine at 1440x900. The cheapest 1 GB cards are all DDR3, too, (like this one), which you don't want.

okay, dude i honestly can not thank you enough. sometime tomorrow i hope to order the msi 5670 tomorrow thanks to your advice. just want to thank you a second time because you've answered every question i've had and have helped me come to a decision.

 

[Hazaro]

It seems like every other day, my build budget is increasing. As of this moment, it's exactly $2000. Now, the build includes all the usual parts, plus a monitor, sound card, headset, ssd, 5.1 speakers, and a wireless network adapter.

The build I have right now, is a little over $1900 and I feel really uncomfortable with what I picked out and thought I could get the thread's input/approval.

Sub in this evga (for warranty): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613
...or the 3 slot ASUS 570
Sub in ASUS Xonar DG
Sub in 750w v2
I don't like USB wifi, but I have no basis for this.
I don't think those Trittons are that great, check head-fi.org , Most surround headsets are crap.
You can't spend $110 on your monitor. I won't let you. Get a 22 or 23" unless you are space constrained. At the very least get 1920x1080.
You have DDR2. Your system runs on DDR3. Get a 2x2GB kit of 1.5V DDR3 for $43.
2TB drive get a Samsung F4 2TB.

Hey thanks for answering my i3 queries guys, but I have one more derp dee derp question for you. I plan on hooking my rig to a 19" Samsung TV that outputs 1366 x 768. Is there a ceiling for how much utility I can get out of a graphics card when I'm working with a limited resolution? For instance, would I be wasting my money buying a $200 dollar card if I'll never really maximize its potential?

Say you get a $190 GTX 560Ti and play at that resolution.

Benefits:
Your minimum frame rate will be higher
You can throw on more AA, more AF, better shadows, textures, even super sampling

Although a 460 will be very solid at that resolution.

 

[man/man]

Say you get a $190 GTX 560Ti and play at that resolution.

Benefits:
Your minimum frame rate will be higher
You can throw on more AA, more AF, better shadows, textures, even super sampling

Although a 460 will be very solid at that resolution.

Bitchin', thanks.

 

[Eric WK]

Okay, GAF. I'm probably going to pull the trigger by Monday and I don't entirely know what I'm doing. What do you think?

Have I fucked anything up? Will anything prevent me from OCing if I choose to in the future? Should 850w be enough if I decide to SLI in a year or two?

EDIT: Hard Drive got lost in the screen grabs. 1TB WD Caviar Black.

 

[Mully]

If anyone doesn't mind mail-in rebates, Tigerdirect has one stick of 4GB Corsair DDR3 1600MHz RAM for $53 - $20MIR = $33. Limit 2 rebates per household should mean 8GB of RAM for $66 plus whatever shipping is. Expires at the end of June.
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=3018017


Any reason you have DDR2 RAM [2 x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800] in your build?

Stupidity, a week ago I had no idea how to build a PC. I'm slowly gathering all the necessary information.

 

[Futurevoid]

I finally ordered my parts today. Thanks again for the help! I ended up changing a few things including going with a single GTX 580 and upgrading to the Corsair Obsidian.

Corsair Obsidian 800D
Intel 2500k Quad Core 3.3ghz Sandy Bridge CPU
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
EVGA GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0
Western Digital Caviar 1TB, 7200RPM 64MB Cache HDD
Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) 120GB SSD Drive
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W Power Supply

 

[Smokey]

I finally ordered my parts today. Thanks again for the help! I ended up changing a few things including going with a single GTX 580 and upgrading to the Corsair Obsidian.

Corsair Obsidian 800D
Intel 2500k Quad Core 3.3ghz Sandy Bridge CPU
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
EVGA GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0
Western Digital Caviar 1TB, 7200RPM 64MB Cache HDD
Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) 120GB SSD Drive
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W Power Supply

noice

 

[Hazaro]

Okay, GAF. I'm probably going to pull the trigger by Monday and I don't entirely know what I'm doing. What do you think?

Have I fucked anything up? Will anything prevent me from OCing if I choose to in the future? Should 850w be enough if I decide to SLI in a year or two?

EDIT: Hard Drive got lost in the screen grabs. 1TB WD Caviar Black.

Maybe if you got an AX850w, but it is reccomended that you get an HX1000w or a silent pro 1000w/1200w for the same price. They suck up a ton of power and you have to make sure the PSU can handle those peak loads.

Personally on the 580 I'd get an eVGA or ASUS 3 slotter

 

[Mully]

Sub in this evga (for warranty): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613
...or the 3 slot ASUS 570
Sub in ASUS Xonar DG
Sub in 750w v2
I don't like USB wifi, but I have no basis for this.
I don't think those Trittons are that great, check head-fi.org , Most surround headsets are crap.
You can't spend $110 on your monitor. I won't let you. Get a 22 or 23" unless you are space constrained. At the very least get 1920x1080.
You have DDR2. Your system runs on DDR3. Get a 2x2GB kit of 1.5V DDR3 for $43.
2TB drive get a Samsung F4 2TB.

Just finished reconfiguring my entire build based on your evaluation. I feel much more comfortable with this build. Any more recommendations?

 

[opticalmace]

Just finished reconfiguring my entire build based on your evaluation. I feel much more comfortable with this build. Any more recommendations?

You still have the 750TX V1, you want this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Also most of the time people just use onboard audio I'm pretty sure?

edit: And I would get 8GB of RAM personally (probably this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426). As well as a cheaper headset (but YMMV).

 

[Eric WK]

Maybe if you got an AX850w, but it is reccomended that you get an HX1000w or a silent pro 1000w/1200w for the same price. They suck up a ton of power and you have to make sure the PSU can handle those peak loads.

Personally on the 580 I'd get an eVGA or ASUS 3 slotter

Thanks for the PSU recommendations. I'll look into my options there.

I was just talking to Tokubetsu about the build and one of the first things he said was to go EVGA for the 580, as well. Unfortunately, a big reason I'm able to get the 580 right now is because I'll be using a Best Buy credit card for most of the components. Right now they only have the PNY 580 for some reason (they have EVGA for most of the other NVIDIA cards, though). I guess I'm wondering how important you think the manufacturer is? Would you steer me away from PNY enough to go with an EVGA 570 for now and maybe SLI those in the future?

My primary goals are 1920x1080, high settings for Battlefield 3, The Witcher 2, Guild Wars 2 and future Blizzard games.

Thanks for the help. Really appreciate it.

 

[black_vegeta]

I finally ordered my parts today. Thanks again for the help! I ended up changing a few things including going with a single GTX 580 and upgrading to the Corsair Obsidian.

Corsair Obsidian 800D
Intel 2500k Quad Core 3.3ghz Sandy Bridge CPU
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
EVGA GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0
Western Digital Caviar 1TB, 7200RPM 64MB Cache HDD
Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) 120GB SSD Drive
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W Power Supply

I would have went with a ASUS or MSI 580 for better cooling, but nice build.

 

[Mully]

You still have the 750TX V1, you want this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Also most of the time people just use onboard audio I'm pretty sure?

edit: And I would get 8GB of RAM personally, 2x4gb. As well as a cheaper headset (but YMMV).

Yeah that's what I actually did right before I read your response. That's a really good idea. How much of a difference is there between on-board audio and a sound-card?

 

[opticalmace]

Yeah that's what I actually did right before I read your response. That's a really good idea. How much of a difference is there between on-board audio and a sound-card?

With a cheap card, probably very little. I would just skip the audio card for now and once your system is built if you don't like how your speakers sound then maybe think about it.

I've been pleased with onboard audio for many years now.

 

[AwesomeSauce]

I just exchanged my 3 month old Razer Deathadder for a Mionix Naos 5000 that they got on sale for like 50$ and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a nice, slick, and cheap gaming mouse pad.

 

[Mully]

With a cheap card, probably very little. I would just skip the audio card for now and once your system is built if you don't like how your speakers sound then maybe think about it.

I've been pleased with onboard audio for many years now.

Thanks, that'll definitely save me a few bucks.

 

[Hazaro]

You still have the 750TX V1, you want this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Also most of the time people just use onboard audio I'm pretty sure?

edit: And I would get 8GB of RAM personally (probably this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426). As well as a cheaper headset (but YMMV).

Looks good now.
I kept in the 4GB since it seemed like he was trying to save in some areas.

I think you can put off the headset purchase until you do some extra research on the headphone thread on GAF + head-fi for what you use it for.

A good gaming recomendation I heard is the ATH-AD700's (which I use) but they don't emphasize bass much at all (I feel).
I have a Xonar DG as well, but the onboard audio on my P67 board is pretty solid as well.

Thanks for the PSU recommendations. I'll look into my options there.

I was just talking to Tokubetsu about the build and one of the first things he said was to go EVGA for the 580, as well. Unfortunately, a big reason I'm able to get the 580 right now is because I'll be using a Best Buy credit card for most of the components. Right now they only have the PNY 580 for some reason (they have EVGA for most of the other NVIDIA cards, though). I guess I'm wondering how important you think the manufacturer is? Would you steer me away from PNY enough to go with an EVGA 570 for now and maybe SLI those in the future?

My primary goals are 1920x1080, high settings for Battlefield 3, The Witcher 2, Guild Wars 2 and future Blizzard games.

Thanks for the help. Really appreciate it.

I had a PNY 260 for a long time and had no issues. The issues come when the card actually has problems. PNY seems to have ok warranty service last I checked, but if I was dropping $400 I'd personally want a better company. That's all. Card is fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171056

 

[RumblingRosco]

Run Prime95 with small FFT to test CPU overclocking. Blend also test ram which could cause other issues. If you want to test ram, run memtest.

Oh fuck me.

Thanks. Will run that tonight.

 

[ColonialRaptor]

Just wondering if anyone with an AMD setup (especially someone with a Crossfire setup) has done this.

So, you have a third card in your system, perhaps on an PCIe x4 lane for PHYSX only.

Is it worth doing this? Are there enough games that use PHYSX that can benefit from this? As far as I have seen, there aren't - it seems to me that PHYSX is a well under used technology - perhaps because AMD doesn't have a similar technology therefore by implementing it, developers are cutting out half of the user base.

The thing that drew it's attention to me is the Alice Madness Returns game. It appears to make MASSIVE use of PHYSX and I wanted to buy that game, but unfortunately I love having my graphics the best they can possibly be and I'm not really keen in not getting the full experience out of a game... it's part of the reason I've invested so much in my PC as it is.

So, those of you who have done this, what cards are you using for your PHYSX card? Can you just use any old card or is the more powerful the card the better?

If I was going to go ahead and do something like this would a GT520 be suitable? Is that card powerful enough? Or is that overkill? What about a cheaper 8400GS or GT210?

Cheers pals!

 

[Kyaw]

GT520 is fine. 8800gt is also very good for dedicated Physx card.
If you have enough money, get it for sure. It should be fine on the x4 lane too.

 

[Hazaro]

Having issues with overclocking my i5 2500k. Could use some insight.

I cannot get to 4.5 Ghz stable in Prime95 blend mode for more than ~4 hours, even with a Vcore as high as 1.320. Temps on all four cores at that Vcore never peak above 70 C. Are there other BIOS settings I missing perhaps? I feel as though I should be stable at that clock with a 1.320 voltage.

Help me GAF, you're my only hope.

What? That's not that high at all. If it's stable in blend for that long just bump it down to 4.4Ghz and you should be ok. You might need to bump up PLL voltage, but it is doubtful.
You can't expect every chip to be solid at 1.3 / 4.5
I had an E7200 that I ran at 3.8Ghz and a friend's who would NOT BUDGE past 3.0
Seriously. No amount of voltage, FSB, multi, NB/SB voltage, or skipping of FSB holes would do anything.


Blend is generally a good measure, Small FTT is more stress on the CPU so that should just cause it to fail faster (unless it is a memory issue).

 

[n0n44m]

Run Prime95 with small FFT to test CPU overclocking. Blend also test ram which could cause other issues. If you want to test ram, run memtest.

hmm I'm starting to prefer blend with Sandy Bridge ...

Small FFT = maximum heat, but LinX/IBT do that better ...

because Blend tests the RAM as well, it also stresses the IMC (internal memory controller?) of the cpu a lot more, and these seem to have quite the effect on stability in a lot of cases

when Blend testing, do select Blend first, then click Custom and adjust memory size to your total memory minus 1 gig for OS

 

[Coldsnap]

Got a speakers question;
a friend of mine offered me his Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX speakers (click for link). I currently have the JBL Creatures, would it be a worth while upgrade?

 

[Kyaw]

How much for?

 

[Coldsnap]

For free

 

[Kyaw]

DO IT!

 

[Coldsnap]

okay, thanks!

 

[subversus]

this motherboard is recommended in OT - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229&Tpk=asrock p67 extreme4

this one also looks tasty - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131702&Tpk=ASUS SABERTOOTH P67

but I heard there were some shenanigans with Sandy Bridge motherboards. Is this model is ok?

Also I want to buy SSD, which one should I buy? Again there are some good SSDs listed in OT and there's also a warning about blue screens they cause.

And another question. I'm Intel noob so does i-2500 has this graphic core which Sandy Bridge is supposed to have?

 

[nib95]

Recently started getting back in to gaming in general, and decided to start PC first. Man am I impressed with the results. Finished Crysis 2, and now on to The Witcher 2. Both phenomenal show pieces that run shockingly well on my hardware.

Still looking forward to upgrading for some reason. Especially my processor. Feels like I've had this i7 920 (OC'd to 3.9ghz) for donkeys now. GTX 570 SC is still going like a beast though.

 

[chaosblade]

Recently started getting back in to gaming in general, and decided to start PC first. Man am I impressed with the results. Finished Crysis 2, and now on to The Witcher 2. Both phenomenal show pieces that run shockingly well on my hardware.

Still looking forward to upgrading for some reason. Especially my processor. Feels like I've had this i7 920 (OC'd to 3.9ghz) for donkeys now. GTX 570 SC is still going like a beast though.

A good CPU will last you a long time these days. That 920 will last you another couple years at least.

And another question. I'm Intel noob so does i-2500 has this graphic core which Sandy Bridge is supposed to have?

Yes, all the Sandy Bridge CPUs have an integrated GPU. Not sure if you'll want to bother with it though, it's not going to be good for gaming or anything.

 

[Liberty4all]

Question about vid cards:

In the build I bought I picked the Asus gtx560 ti clocked at 830

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=58457&vpn=ENGTX560 Ti DCII/2DI/1GD5&manufacture=ASUS


I just noticed however the msi is the same price but it is clocked at 880: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=58303&vpn=N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC&manufacture=MSI/MicroStar


Any difference between brands? I should get the faster card right?

 

[Kyaw]

Yup, go for the Twin Frozr II version.
It is better and only $3 or so more expensive.