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

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·feist· said:
This:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=26388661&postcount=8506
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=26388903&postcount=8508
No need to worry about static, as despite its name, this is just a miniaturized compressor. Also, no need to worry about it frosting up, like canned air. You don't have to hold it close for it to be effective, and it's best to keep a slight distance when cleaning frail components. Like TheExodu5 mentioned, you'll want to hold or tape down your fan blades to avoid possible damage. If you're unsure, or that sounds scary in anyway, just watch some usage videos.


I have one of these and it's awesome. Gets dust out of anywhere. Be careful not to block the bottom of it though. Other wise it will get really hot really fast.
 
Getting seriously feed up with two things.

1) God damn w7 keeps asking me if I want to turn off aero ( I pick NO I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING REVERT TO BASIC STOP ASKING ME EVERY TIME I PLAY A GAME ).

2) ......It reverts to basic/turns off aero anyway. Really? Then why even ask me what I want windows? Just go ahead and do whatever you wish.
 
I'm getting close to buying this and I still have a few questions, hope you guys don't mind. Thanks!

upandaway said:
Hey guys.. I was hoping for some advice on a build. Never built/chose a PC before. I'm looking at the OP a lot but it's still a bit stressful to just buy something without posting here.

Anyway, I really wanted to build one myself, but after a bit of searching it seems infinitely more time-efficient and cost-efficient to just buy a premade one (since if I don't, I'll have to import most parts, and the price just blows up).

I can get the following pre-made PC for ~590 bucks:

Power Supply: IN-WIN Power Man 450W
Case: CoolerMaster 370
CPU: i5 2500
Mobo: ASUS P8H61M LX B3
HD: WD 500gb
RAM: 4gb DDR3 1333MHz (and they won't specify whose)
DVD: Standard LG one

And then I can import a GTX460 and put it in, which would be ~190 bucks.
(I want to be able to run Skyrim with above-average settings)

The questions:
1. Am I missing a lot by getting the 2500 instead of 2500k? It doesn't seem like I'll be able to get the K one for a decent price.
I don't know if I need to overclock. I don't know if I need a 212+, either. Will I need it to run 2012 games decently?

2. It seems I can get the Radeon 6850 1GB for ~220 bucks pre-built without needing to import the GTX460, but I have no clue if it's a good deal or not. Anyone?

3. I need to install Win64bit, right?

4. Am I supposed to download all the drivers without looking into it or is there something I should look out for..?

Any help appreciated.
 
Fjordson said:
Ah, okay. Thank you. So with the 560ti and everything else I should be good to go for gaming?
Yup
upandaway said:
I'm getting close to buying this and I still have a few questions, hope you guys don't mind. Thanks!


(I want to be able to run Skyrim with above-average settings)

The questions:
1. Am I missing a lot by getting the 2500 instead of 2500k? It doesn't seem like I'll be able to get the K one for a decent price.
I don't know if I need to overclock. I don't know if I need a 212+, either. Will I need it to run 2012 games decently?

2. It seems I can get the Radeon 6850 1GB for ~220 bucks pre-built without needing to import the GTX460, but I have no clue if it's a good deal or not. Anyone?

3. I need to install Win64bit, right?

4. Am I supposed to download all the drivers without looking into it or is there something I should look out for..?

Any help appreciated.
On that motherboard no
6850 is ok for that price
64 bit Win 7 preferred
Motherboard disc and Win 7 will take care of most everything, just download the latest graphic drivers too.
 
awwyeahgurrl said:
Guys, I'm looking for a mid ranged card for a family member. Nothing too crazy in price or power just something to run 1080p video and play an old game or two. I was thinking along the lines of a HD4670 or GT 240. Any ideas?
Those cards should do especially if they're in the right price range for you.
 
R2D4 said:
I have one of these and it's awesome. Gets dust out of anywhere. Be careful not to block the bottom of it though. Other wise it will get really hot really fast.

I've got one too, and can't recommend it highly enough. I recommend taking everything outdoors, though - the 'dust explosion' is phenomenal.
 
Asking for Opinions on the below combination. Replacing a dieing mother board for a quad core.

I5-2500K
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3
8G (4Gx2) 2133 G.Skill Ripjaws-X

Also tossing up whether to get 2 WD Black 1TB hdd's and run them in raid (mirrored) or to just get a SSD.

Any recomendations on SSD brands (outside of Intel that is, i already have one mortgage)?
 
MisterNoisy said:
I've got one too, and can't recommend it highly enough. I recommend taking everything outdoors, though - the 'dust explosion' is phenomenal.


Oh yes definitely take the PC outside to clean it out. You will be surprised at the crap that blows out of it.
 
giri said:
Asking for Opinions on the below combination. Replacing a dieing mother board for a quad core.

I5-2500K
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3
8G (4Gx2) 2133 G.Skill Ripjaws-X

Also tossing up whether to get 2 WD Black 1TB hdd's and run them in raid (mirrored) or to just get a SSD.

Any recomendations on SSD brands (outside of Intel that is, i already have one mortgage)?

OCZ and Crucial are good brands I suppose. I'm a fan of AData.
 
EphemeralDream said:
Looking to upgrade my video card sometime soonish (have a 4670 right now). Should I expect good deals around the holidays or am I wasting my time? I see a few good deals right now.

Cyber Monday is so close. You should hold on to your money.
 
MC RaZaR said:
OCZ and Crucial are good brands I suppose. I'm a fan of AData.
I've been looking and thinking i'll get the

120GB OCZ Agility 3 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s SSD Drive

I'm assuming this will work with the Intel® Smart Response Technology stuff, it sounds like it's just an option in the BIOS to turn that on, when you have any SSD connected. Can someone confirm that?
 
giri said:
I've been looking and thinking i'll get the

120GB OCZ Agility 3 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s SSD Drive

I'm assuming this will work with the Intel® Smart Response Technology stuff, it sounds like it's just an option in the BIOS to turn that on, when you have any SSD connected. Can someone confirm that?

Here's a guide I found. A Gigabyte Ultra-Durable Z68 board is used, so the BIOS should be similiar to yours.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Intel-Smart-Response-Technology-Explained/1292
 
giri said:
Asking for Opinions on the below combination. Replacing a dieing mother board for a quad core.

I5-2500K
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3
8G (4Gx2) 2133 G.Skill Ripjaws-X

Also tossing up whether to get 2 WD Black 1TB hdd's and run them in raid (mirrored) or to just get a SSD.

Any recomendations on SSD brands (outside of Intel that is, i already have one mortgage)?
SSD + HDD
EphemeralDream said:
Looking to upgrade my video card sometime soonish (have a 4670 right now). Should I expect good deals around the holidays or am I wasting my time? I see a few good deals right now.

MSI R6870 Twin Frozr II for 159 + Dirt 3

XFX HD-687A-ZHFC for 159 + Dirt 3

PowerColor AX6870 1GB for 146

SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 for 149

Also I have a 500W Antec EarthWatts right now. That's fine if my proc. is a Phenom II X4?
Fine
MC RaZaR said:
OCZ and Crucial are good brands I suppose. I'm a fan of AData.
I wouldn't call OCZ a good SSD brand. Only Intel and Crucial for me right now. Most SSDs just use Sandforce at the moment anyway with 25nm.

I'm not an expert on SSDs, but I can comfortably recommend the Intel 320 and the Crucial M4.
 
Hazaro said:
SSD + HDD

Fine

I wouldn't call OCZ a good SSD brand. Only Intel and Crucial for me right now. Most SSDs just use Sandforce at the moment anyway with 25nm.

I'm not an expert on SSDs, but I can comfortably recommend the Intel 320 and the Crucial M4.
I'm no expert either, but i do know that Crucial and Intel are an extra $80 - $100 for the 120GB equivalent in OCZ/ Others.


Oh i get the SRT stuff now. It solely uses the SSD as a cache for the HDD. I thought it could just use a portion (say 20GB) and the rest of the SSD could be used as a normal drive. But it uses the entire drive. It doesn't even show up as a drive letter at all, rather is just seemlessley used instead. And depending on which mode you set SRT too, the SSD dieing, could cause data loss.
 
My Gigabyte support experience has been terrible (trying to get my faulty motherboard replaced). I fill out a swap request form for my board (SATA 2 P67 issue), and they never get back to me...twice. I call tonight, and they can't find my RMA numbers. I tell them to create a new RMA and they say I have to create a new one on their website and call in after 12 hours to see if they can find it. Terrible.

I'm tempted to just buy EVGA next time. I have no experience with their motherboards, but at least their support was pleasant to deal with.

I'm tempted to just go buy a new motherboard tomorrow and forget about my RMA.

edit: why does Asus use the inferior Realtek 892 on their Pro boards? Damn. I really like the 889...Deluxe is way too much, though.

I guess I can try toughing out the week without a properly working PC.
 
Dumb question about fans. I just replaced my motherboard and cooler and since I'm already taking everything apart, I'm looking at my fan setup. I'm wondering which way top fans should be blowing. I found people saying blowing out is stupid, and other saying that blowing in is stupid.

I've got two on top, right next to each other, which is probably unnecessary but I don't know where else to put another fan.
 
Got my computer all put together and running fine. The audio out of the built in realtek 889 is surprisingly nice. I love this thread so much, never thought I'd be able to put together a pc with no major problems and do it so cheaply.
 
Schmattakopf said:
Dumb question about fans. I just replaced my motherboard and cooler and since I'm already taking everything apart, I'm looking at my fan setup. I'm wondering which way top fans should be blowing. I found people saying blowing out is stupid, and other saying that blowing in is stupid.

I've got two on top, right next to each other, which is probably unnecessary but I don't know where else to put another fan.

From my experience, top fans are usually exhaust; do you have a front and/or side intake fan?
 
abusori said:
From my experience, top fans are usually exhaust; do you have a front and/or side intake fan?
I have the two 140mm fans on top, then I have one intake in the front, one intake on the side (by the GPU) and 120mm exhaust in the back. There is another 140mm spot on the side above the one I'm using, but a fan there would physically interfere with the CPU cooler. There's a spot on the other side, one by the hard drive bay, and two on the bottom, but all smaller than 140mm.
 
Schmattakopf said:
I have the two 140mm fans on top, then I have one intake in the front, one intake on the side (by the GPU) and 120mm exhaust in the back. There is another 140mm spot on the side above the one I'm using, but a fan there would physically interfere with the CPU cooler. There's a spot on the other side, one by the hard drive bay, and two on the bottom, but all smaller than 140mm.

Ah, that's pretty similar to mine except my fans are huge. I've got the top one on exhaust, and I'd recommend you do the same. Air goes in the side and front, then goes out the top and back. Works pretty well for me and I've got dual 6950 toxics both overclocked pretty high.
 
abusori said:
Ah, that's pretty similar to mine except my fans are huge. I've got the top one on exhaust, and I'd recommend you do the same. Air goes in the side and front, then goes out the top and back. Works pretty well for me and I've got dual 6950 toxics both overclocked pretty high.
Alright, thanks. They're already on exhaust because I figured they should be going with the heat. But when I searched around, there were some recommendations to have intake toward the CPU.
 
My PC got 7 BDODs last night. Using blue screen viewer it says my kernel is causing is. About half the BSODs are memory management errors but some of other errors are pool header( or something like that) and system services but for each type of error it says it's cause by the kernal driver.

Last night I ran CPU-Z and went to the memory tabs and everything was blank then about 30 seconds later I got a BSOD. When my PC finished booting up and i went back into CPU-Z my memory was showing up and my PC didnt BSOD. Which is making me think it's my ram causing this.

I took out all but one stick and played Battlefield 3(which used like 98% of the 2 gigs) and I did this for each stick and wasn't able for force a crash with any of them.

So should I keep testing to make sure it's my ram and not something else or should I just buy new ram(you can get 16gigs for around $80 now)?
 
Can you buy RAM somewhere where there's a return policy? It's probably a pretty safe bet (blue screens usually indicate memory/cpu/driver issues). If the RAM doesn't end up being the issue, at least you could return it.
 
Mr_eX said:
My PC got 7 BDODs last night. Using blue screen viewer it says my kernel is causing is. About half the BSODs are memory management errors but some of other errors are pool header( or something like that) and system services but for each type of error it says it's cause by the kernal driver.

Last night I ran CPU-Z and went to the memory tabs and everything was blank then about 30 seconds later I got a BSOD. When my PC finished booting up and i went back into CPU-Z my memory was showing up and my PC didnt BSOD. Which is making me think it's my ram causing this.

I took out all but one stick and played Battlefield 3(which used like 98% of the 2 gigs) and I did this for each stick and wasn't able for force a crash with any of them.

So should I keep testing to make sure it's my ram and not something else or should I just buy new ram(you can get 16gigs for around $80 now)?

I regularly check my RAM with Memtest 86+. Anytime I had PC issues and suspected the RAM, this would show me errors confirm that it needed to be replaced.
 
Mr_eX said:
My PC got 7 BDODs last night. Using blue screen viewer it says my kernel is causing is. About half the BSODs are memory management errors but some of other errors are pool header( or something like that) and system services but for each type of error it says it's cause by the kernal driver.

Last night I ran CPU-Z and went to the memory tabs and everything was blank then about 30 seconds later I got a BSOD. When my PC finished booting up and i went back into CPU-Z my memory was showing up and my PC didnt BSOD. Which is making me think it's my ram causing this.

I took out all but one stick and played Battlefield 3(which used like 98% of the 2 gigs) and I did this for each stick and wasn't able for force a crash with any of them.

So should I keep testing to make sure it's my ram and not something else or should I just buy new ram(you can get 16gigs for around $80 now)?

Download MemTest here and make a bootable USB from it. If you want to tell if you have bad memory run this for several hours and let it run through a bunch of passes. Usually best to start it up before you go to sleep and see if there are any errors in the morning.

Edit: Beaten like a lazy donkey :(
 
My OCZ ram is said to be 1600mhz, but it would make my system show a BSOD everytime I run at those frequencies. BSOD error showed something like MEMORY_MANAGEMENT.

That was until i upped the voltages to 1,65V instead of 1,5V in the BIOS. Works fine for now.
 
Ok so my brother has my old PC and wants to play battlefield 3 and other newer games on it (skyrim, guild wars2)and run it at 1680x1050 at 60fps. Right now it can play battlefield on low but definitely is not smooth and kind of sucks.

Anyway, i'm wondering if this build is salvageable with some upgrades or should I tell him to let me build him another one. I personally think it might still be salvageable with maybe a gpu/ram/psu/overclock upgrades but i'd like others opinions please. Will the motherboard take newer video cards and memory without problems. Is anything able to be overclocked easily? Thanks!



Right now the PC is: (from my old newegg order history)


Case: Antec Sonata Elite Black

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard

GPU: HIS H489F1GP Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

PSU: Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ940XCGIBOX

Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPQ

Monitor: Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor

Drives: Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM

HDD: 2 x Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s in a RAID 0 Configuration
 
I started messing around with my 2500k and I overclocked using Turbo Boost, but it doesn't have settings for changing the voltage, just the wattage and ampere limits. I set the "Turbo Ratio" for one/two cores to 45 (4.5GHz), lower for three/four cores, I changed the watt limit to 120 from 95, and I didn't touch the amp limit (which is 97). It's running fine, stress tests are good, but I'm wondering how I should increase the watts/amps if I want to go higher, and also if this is an effective way to overclock.
 
Babalu. said:
Ok so my brother has my old PC and wants to play battlefield 3 and other newer games on it (skyrim, guild wars2)and run it at 1680x1050 at 60fps. Right now it can play battlefield on low but definitely is not smooth and kind of sucks.

Anyway, i'm wondering if this build is salvageable with some upgrades or should I tell him to let me build him another one. I personally think it might still be salvageable with maybe a gpu/ram/psu/overclock upgrades but i'd like others opinions please. Will the motherboard take newer video cards and memory without problems. Is anything able to be overclocked easily? Thanks!
Wouldn't upgrade the RAM, DDR2 is dead, expensive (relative to DDR3) and not worth investing in.

Get a CPU cooler and overclock the CPU - it's black edition, so it should be really easy due to the unlocked multiplier. Temps in a Sonata are going to be a pain though, so you might not get much out of it.

And get a new GPU, that CPU shouldn't limit you much, but if you don't plan to upgrade it in the near future (new motherboard+CPU+RAM) then don't spend too much on it. 560 Ti maybe, but that's a lot to invest in a PC without much of a future.
 
Salaadin said:
I regularly check my RAM with Memtest 86+. Anytime I had PC issues and suspected the RAM, this would show me errors confirm that it needed to be replaced.
Already did that, 0 errors.

I feel kind of stupid right now though. I just assumed my cas latency was suppose to be 9-9-9-24 but I just looked up my ram and it's suppose to be 8-8-8-24. When I get home I'll manually set it to that in the bios. What are the odds of this solving my issues?
 
Mr_eX said:
Already did that, 0 errors.

I feel kind of stupid right now though. I just assumed my cas latency was suppose to be 9-9-9-24 but I just looked up my ram and it's suppose to be 8-8-8-24. When I get home I'll manually set it to that in the bios. What are the odds of this solving my issues?
Pretty low, 8-8-8-24 will be more intensive than 9-9-9-24. It's latency, so lower is better, but if you're not stable now that probably won't do you any good.
 
Schmattakopf said:
I started messing around with my 2500k and I overclocked using Turbo Boost, but it doesn't have settings for changing the voltage, just the wattage and ampere limits. I set the "Turbo Ratio" for one/two cores to 45 (4.5GHz), lower for three/four cores, I changed the watt limit to 120 from 95, and I didn't touch the amp limit (which is 97). It's running fine, stress tests are good, but I'm wondering how I should increase the watts/amps if I want to go higher, and also if this is an effective way to overclock.
Something went wrong. OCCT shows my Vcore at 1.42, while CPUz/HWMonitor show it at 1.07, both under stress and idle. But I set it to 120 watts and 97 amps; it shouldn't be able to go over 1.24.
 
chaosblade said:
Pretty low, 8-8-8-24 will be more intensive than 9-9-9-24. It's latency, so lower is better, but if you're not stable now that probably won't do you any good.
I'll try increasing my voltage to 1.65 like SuperN suggested too but I really don't know what else to try.
 
i2500k @4.6
4gig ram
2 650gb HDD
1 80GB SSD
1 4890 1gb

750W power supply.

Can i get another 4890 on the cheap and crossfire that shit for better BF3 performance with my current power supply.
 
Schmattakopf said:
Something went wrong. OCCT shows my Vcore at 1.42, while CPUz/HWMonitor show it at 1.07, both under stress and idle. But I set it to 120 watts and 97 amps; it shouldn't be able to go over 1.24.
What MB do you have?
 
Krauser Kat said:
i2500k @4.6
4gig ram
2 650gb HDD
1 80GB SSD
1 4890 1gb

750W power supply.

Can i get another 4890 on the cheap and crossfire that shit for better BF3 performance with my current power supply.

Not worth the heat, power draw and xfire issues.

Sell your 4890 and buy a 6950.
 
knitoe said:
What MB do you have?
Gigabyte P67 UD3.

I'm confused. I just reset everything, then set the Vcore to 1.2V. OCCT still reads 1.42V. CPUz/HWMonitor both say the CPU Vcore is 1.07V, although HWMonitor has a separate value just called "CPU" which is 1.20V...
 
Schmattakopf said:
Gigabyte P67 UD3.

I'm confused. I just reset everything, then set the Vcore to 1.2V. OCCT still reads 1.42V. CPUz/HWMonitor both say the CPU Vcore is 1.07V, although HWMonitor has a separate value just called "CPU" which is 1.20V...
In HWMonitor, you need to look at CPU VCore numbers. Run Prime95 and see what max number is. And, why don't you just overclock all the cores to 4.5GHz instead of using turbo on some cores? Also, use Offset instead of manually entering a CPU voltage. This way, the CPU voltage will drop during idle and increase during load.
 
knitoe said:
In HWMonitor, you need to look at CPU VCore numbers. Run Prime95 and see what max number is. And, why don't you just overclock all the cores to 4.5GHz instead of using turbo on some cores? Also, use Offset instead of manually entering a CPU voltage. This way, the CPU voltage will drop during idle and increase during load.
I was looking at "CPU Vcore" in HWMonitor. It said 1.07V like CPUz, but there was that other value that said 1.2V (which was confusing because that's what I set the Vcore to).

Is "Dynamic Vcore" the same thing as offset?
 
Schmattakopf said:
I was looking at "CPU Vcore" in HWMonitor. It said 1.07V like CPUz, but there was that other value that said 1.2V (which was confusing because that's what I set the Vcore to).

Is "Dynamic Vcore" the same thing as offset?
I don't have a Gigabyte MB so I wouldn't be able to tell you. Google. I am sure there is a overclocking guide for that MB out there.
 
knitoe said:
I don't have a Gigabyte MB so I wouldn't be able to tell you. Google. I am sure there is a overclocking guide for that MB out there.
Yes, there are a few. They actually mostly suggest overclocking with Turbo Boost and none of them talk about offset. But I'm not really having trouble overclocking; I'm having trouble with programs reading my voltage wrong. Only that one value in HWMonitor ("CPU") is correct.
 
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