Support NeoGAF

[- J - D -]

Question, guys. I've danced around for a week with the idea of building a new rig, but I'm not sure if I need to yet. I don't like to upgrade incrementally. It's either one big push or none at all. Here is my current (and 3 1/2 year old) build from early '08:

CPU - Q6600 @ 3.0
Radeon 4870 512mb
4gb ddr3

I held off on buying Crysis 2, would like to be able to play it at max or close to and be ready for BF3 and other games. I think that for most console developed multi-platform games my current rig would do fine, though. What do you guys think? Upgrade or wait?

Thanks and love the thread.

 

[Chris R]

Question, guys. I've danced around for a week with the idea of building a new rig, but I'm not sure if I need to yet. I don't like to upgrade incrementally. It's either one big push or none at all. Here is my current (and 3 1/2 year old) build from early '08:

CPU - Q6600 @ 3.0
Radeon 4870 512mb
4gb ddr3

I held off on buying Crysis 2, would like to be able to play it at max or close to and be ready for BF3 and other games. I think that for most console developed multi-platform games my current rig would do fine, though. What do you guys think? Upgrade or wait?

Thanks and love the thread.

I have almost the same rig. I keep telling myself I'm going to wait until Ivy Bridge comes out in ~6 months, but if a killer deal comes out for the 7000/600 series gpus ill be buying one as measure to hold me over.

 

[RS4-]

Question, guys. I've danced around for a week with the idea of building a new rig, but I'm not sure if I need to yet. I don't like to upgrade incrementally. It's either one big push or none at all. Here is my current (and 3 1/2 year old) build from early '08:

CPU - Q6600 @ 3.0
Radeon 4870 512mb
4gb ddr3

I held off on buying Crysis 2, would like to be able to play it at max or close to and be ready for BF3 and other games. I think that for most console developed multi-platform games my current rig would do fine, though. What do you guys think? Upgrade or wait?

Thanks and love the thread.

I had a q6600 running stock for about 4 years + 8800 GT and 2GBs of ram, I did a full upgrade by buying parts over the past 2 months and now I've got a completely new PC.

I started off by upgrading the GPU to a 2GB 6950, then purchased a new case. After that it was just a matter of finding sales and local dealers that were selling the rest of the parts that I needed.

So if you do find a good deal on a GPU now that's something you can look into as that will come with you to the new build.

 

[fin]

Hey I'm back, did some more research, stopped by my local shop. Took what we built here and got the dude at the shop to go through it with me.

Intel i5 2500k
ASUS 1155 P8Z68-V
Coolermaster 700W Silent Pro
EVGA GTX580
Coolermaster HAF 912 Case
WD1002FAEX Black 1TB
Corsair 60GB Force Series SSD SATA3
Corsair Liquid H70 Cooler

From what I can tell this mobo is good for me. I've never set-up RAID and 2 SATA III ports should be enough. One for my SSD and one for the HD.

I'm going to get the Smart Response set-up with the SSD. Has anyone set that up here? Some vids I've seen claim between 3x and 10x performance.

The ram in the build is the RIPJAW F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL. This RAM has very good ratings, but it's red. My motherboard is black and blue. So I tried to look for the equivalent in blue and found F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM.

The only difference I can find between these two sets are the timings.
Red = 9-9-9-24-2N
Blue = 8-8-8-24

I've tried looking up RAM timings. But it's jiberish to me, lower the better right?

I've also found some sexy corsair vengence:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345&cm_re=corsair_vengeance-_-20-145-345-_-Product

With a timing of:
9-9-9-24

I'm thinking the CORSAIR or the RIPJAW Blue set.

So after I get GAFs blessing I'm gonna pull the trigger!

 

[- J - D -]

I have almost the same rig. I keep telling myself I'm going to wait until Ivy Bridge comes out in ~6 months, but if a killer deal comes out for the 7000/600 series gpus ill be buying one as measure to hold me over.

I'm trying to be forward thinking as well.

I had a q6600 running stock for about 4 years + 8800 GT and 2GBs of ram, I did a full upgrade by buying parts over the past 2 months and now I've got a completely new PC.

I started off by upgrading the GPU to a 2GB 6950, then purchased a new case. After that it was just a matter of finding sales and local dealers that were selling the rest of the parts that I needed.

So if you do find a good deal on a GPU now that's something you can look into as that will come with you to the new build.

Yeah the GPU is the only component in my rig that I feel really needs to be upgraded. But again, I don't like to upgrade incrementally.

Thanks for the input, guys.

 

[RS4-]

Hey I'm back, did some more research, stopped by my local shop. Took what we built here and got the dude at the shop to go through it with me.

Intel i5 2500k
ASUS 1155 P8Z68-V
Coolermaster 700W Silent Pro
EVGA GTX580
Coolermaster HAF 912 Case
WD1002FAEX Black 1TB
Corsair 60GB Force Series SSD SATA3
Corsair Liquid H70 Cooler

From what I can tell this mobo is good for me. I've never set-up RAID and 2 SATA III ports should be enough. One for my SSD and one for the HD.

I'm going to get the Smart Response set-up with the SSD. Has anyone set that up here? Some vids I've seen claim between 3x and 10x performance.

The ram in the build is the RIPJAW F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL. This RAM has very good ratings, but it's red. My motherboard is black and blue. So I tried to look for the equivalent in blue and found F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM.

The only difference I can find between these two sets are the timings.
Red = 9-9-9-24-2N
Blue = 8-8-8-24

I've tried looking up RAM timings. But it's jiberish to me, lower the better right?

I've also found some sexy corsair vengence:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345&cm_re=corsair_vengeance-_-20-145-345-_-Product

With a timing of:
9-9-9-24

I'm thinking the CORSAIR or the RIPJAW Blue set.

So after I get GAFs blessing I'm gonna pull the trigger!

He didn't give you an option for the p8z68-v pro? I can't remember the exact difference between the regular and pro version other than more SATA ports on the Pro. But if it's only a few dollars, it might be worth spending to get a pro because more sata ports are always a good thing if you end up getting more HDDs or something like a bluray drive to go along with your typical dvd writer.

I've got the blue ripjaws and they're fine, get whatever is cheaper at the time of purchase.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Looking good!

Thanks! The help in this thread has been tremendous and building a PC from scratch is something I would never have done without GAF. Big thanks!

I have the same case for my more recent build. My cable management is pretty good. I was even able put the power cable that is hanging in front of your video card behind the case using an extension.

I'll some pics when I get home from vacation.

Yeah, I'd like to see how you managed all your cables. The power cable kind of sticks out as it's the only chord that is draped across the motherboard and GPU. Did you order an extension from newegg or at a local computer store? Sounds like a great idea.

 

[EatChildren]

Event 41 means that the computer blue screened and restarted for no specific reason.

I was dealing with this sometime ago.

For me, a wireless card was causing the issue as somehow it occurred with every computer installed.

If it happens without overclocking, then it's something else. Check your peripherals and PCI cards.

Might be a driver issue. Usually it is display drivers that give problems.
Reinstall with Driver Sweeper and see if that helps.

Running Memtest overnight won't hurt either.

In addition it could be a voltage swing from idle to load causing it, but I'd check the first two first.

Thanks guys. I did a clean install of my display drivers, but ran into the blue screen again. Tinkered around in the BIOS and realised I had set my memory timings completely wrong. Only a notch up, but I dont recall why I would do this.

I've scaled them back to stock and I'll see how stability goes now. If it blue screens again I have no idea what could be causing the problem.

 

[f0rk]

Having problems with my wired 360 controller. It worked fine on my new PC before it died.

On my old one I install the drivers and my computer blue screens when I plug it in. After restarting I can see it in control panel>devices but it doesn't work. The guide button light comes on when I plug it for just a second. One time the light continuously blinked and it still didn't work but I can't recreate it now. I've tried installing and reinstalling the drivers several times, some with restarts inbetween plugging it back in.
I think it might be a problem with motionjoy drivers I was using before for my DS3. I uninstalled that program but the drivers seem to still run the 360 controller. How do I get rid of them?

For new page, edited a bit.

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

For new page, edited a bit.

True GAFfers browse 100 posts to the page.




And for anyone who may be interested:

I'm slowly piecing together what parts I want in my build. I'll be sure to post here when I have what I think will be my final configuration for second opinions (and to make sure the parts are all compatible.) Probably looking at something similar to the $1000 build in the OP with a GTX 570 and a 64GB SSD (in addition to a regular HDD) as upgrades though.

Also wanted to mention that the video in the OP with Jeff Gerstmann was pretty entertaining and informative.


And a quick question:

Sound Cards...worth it? I wouldn't want to spend more than about $50 or so on one, but the reviews on cheaper cards on Newegg seem fairly mixed. I'd most likely be wearing a good pair of headphones or have a moderate/low level 2.1 speaker system.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

hey bro's, i was thinking of buying or building a new PC. well, i looked into building one and i just think i'll fuck it up. it's not that it looks hard or that i'm a fucking idiot, but i tried to fix my xbox 360 a few years back and i couldn't do that so why would i expect that i can build a new PC from scratch? plus i have no experience with pc parts and cards and all that crap aside from upgrading my ram and installing a new video card on my old PC last year.

anyways my pc i have now isn't awful, i can play basic games but i usually have to dial down the resolution or details. plus i miss out on some good PC games as a result.

my budget is probably $1000 and i was checking out a few places online and came across ibuypower.com. seems like the prices are reasonable and the computers SOUND good, but i'm not sure what to look for.

i mostly want to play games like bioshock, elder scrolls, etc. and have them looking good while doing it. what do you guys recommend from this site? or is there a better site to get a good gaming pc from? or should i just bite the bullet and try to build my own?

 

[Smokey]

hey bro's, i was thinking of buying or building a new PC. well, i looked into building one and i just think i'll fuck it up. it's not that it looks hard or that i'm a fucking idiot, but i tried to fix my xbox 360 a few years back and i couldn't do that so why would i expect that i can build a new PC from scratch? plus i have no experience with pc parts and cards and all that crap aside from upgrading my ram and installing a new video card on my old PC last year.

anyways my pc i have now isn't awful, i can play basic games but i usually have to dial down the resolution or details. plus i miss out on some good PC games as a result.

my budget is probably $1000 and i was checking out a few places online and came across ibuypower.com. seems like the prices are reasonable and the computers SOUND good, but i'm not sure what to look for.

i mostly want to play games like bioshock, elder scrolls, etc. and have them looking good while doing it. what do you guys recommend from this site? or is there a better site to get a good gaming pc from? or should i just bite the bullet and try to build my own?

I built my own a couple of months ago. I just had youtube open on a laptop and came in here if I had any trouble. Not hard at all. Check out some of the builds in the OP. For $1,000 you can get a very nice machine.

You're not dumb FMT, you can do it on your own. Do it for Alex Smith.

 

[slingsarrows]

Looking to upgrade my hard drive, just have a few questions:

Currently using a 1TB drive as my main, was going to order a 128GB SDD from newegg canada (had the best rating). I know it's pretty small but I only play two games, FFXI and TF2. I'll store all my media on the 1TB drive.

I was looking at upgrading my ram at the same time, currently using 4GB of DDR2 on a 32 bit win 7 install (i know...) but my current motherboard only supports DDR2 and I was looking at DDR3. So now I'm looking at upgrading the mobo and cpu and ram.

My questions are, is the i5-2500k a good CPU upgrade from my current Q9400 775, and is there a noticeable difference between DDR2 ram, and DDR3 ram, if on a Windows 7 64bit install. I'm going to get the SSD anyways, but I haven't decided on the mobo/ram/cpu upgrade yet.

 

[black_vegeta]

Thanks! The help in this thread has been tremendous and building a PC from scratch is something I would never have done without GAF. Big thanks!

Yeah, I'd like to see how you managed all your cables. The power cable kind of sticks out as it's the only chord that is draped across the motherboard and GPU. Did you order an extension from newegg or at a local computer store? Sounds like a great idea.

I picked up the extension cable at Fry's Electronics for like $7.00. I'll be home a few hours and I'll upload some pics some.

 

[slidewinder]

hey bro's, i was thinking of buying or building a new PC. well, i looked into building one and i just think i'll fuck it up. it's not that it looks hard or that i'm a fucking idiot, but i tried to fix my xbox 360 a few years back and i couldn't do that so why would i expect that i can build a new PC from scratch? plus i have no experience with pc parts and cards and all that crap aside from upgrading my ram and installing a new video card on my old PC last year.

None of it's really much harder than upgrading your ram or installing a new video card, just different. It's not hard at all, and there is plenty of help to be found on the internet.

 

[bill0527]

hey bro's, i was thinking of buying or building a new PC. well, i looked into building one and i just think i'll fuck it up. it's not that it looks hard or that i'm a fucking idiot, but i tried to fix my xbox 360 a few years back and i couldn't do that so why would i expect that i can build a new PC from scratch? plus i have no experience with pc parts and cards and all that crap aside from upgrading my ram and installing a new video card on my old PC last year.

anyways my pc i have now isn't awful, i can play basic games but i usually have to dial down the resolution or details. plus i miss out on some good PC games as a result.

my budget is probably $1000 and i was checking out a few places online and came across ibuypower.com. seems like the prices are reasonable and the computers SOUND good, but i'm not sure what to look for.

i mostly want to play games like bioshock, elder scrolls, etc. and have them looking good while doing it. what do you guys recommend from this site? or is there a better site to get a good gaming pc from? or should i just bite the bullet and try to build my own?

Can you snap LEGO's together in a LEGO playset?

If so, you can build a PC.

(Obviously a tad more complicated than that, but not by much).

Plenty of help out there on the internet with tutorial videos and forums.

You only need 8 pieces to make a good gaming PC.

Motherboard, Processor, RAM, Video Card (GPU), Hard Disk (or SSD), Power Supply, Optical Drive, and an Operating System. And that's it. Maybe a monitor if you aren't reusing one.

Now later on, if you want to get fancy, you can add custom coolers for your CPU and case. Overclock your CPU and GPU, and do all kinds of other stuff, but none of this is necessary to build yourself an awesome gaming PC.

 

[Darklord]

I was looking at the 580 3GB cards but the reviews seems pretty average.

This one says:

We’ve seen countless forum posts of people bitching, whining and complaining that newly released GTX 580 cards don’t come equipped with 3GB of GDDR5. They turned their noses up and uttered “pointless” when MSI introduced their Lightning and Gigabyte first showed the GTX 580 Super Overclock. Both of these sported 1.5GB of memory and they ran circles around the 3GB EVGA card in this review.

Even the MSI GTX 580 Lightning XE 3GB

t seems like the underlying GF110 architecture runs out of gas far before the memory bandwidth limits are reached. In both Metro 2033 and Shogun 2 a 3GB framebuffer did allow for the game to run at ultra high detail settings but the experience was still a slideshow since the overclocked core was pushed well past its rendering capabilities

I dunno if I want to spend that much on cards that get beaten by 1.5gb versions(at least in the evga cards case). :\

Would a 570 or 580 1.5gb be fine for games like Crysis 2 and even the GTA4 mod(for anyone who has played it)?

 

[L00P]

The EVGA GTX 570 I just bought didn't fit in my case because it was too long. I didn't want to return it so I had it fit by cutting the steel frames inside the PC. It worked but it looks like a mess in there

Really should have checked the card's dimensions ><

 

[Kyuuketsu_Night]

Lots of useful advice in this thread! Thanks a lot~ Def interested in bulldozer but I'll have to wait and see how much that's going to be.

I have no idea what computer component pricing is like in Japan, but I agree with you. There is an odd lopsidedness to paying $200 for a mobo, and $130 for a CPU. Assuming that pricing is even remotely similar between the US and Japan, it would be better to get a 2500k, and more along the lines of a $100 mobo (like one of the MSI models) than the current setup listed there.

The PSU Kyuuketsu_Night has picked out is also vastly overpowered. A 550-600w model would be plenty, for less than half the cost (maybe right at half, depending on how insane Japanese pricing is). Unless an SLI setup is planned in the future.

Sata 6.0 GB/s seems useless on a mechanic HDD. SSD's take advantage, but I doubt an HDD is fast enough, and for a storage drive, it hardly matters. Money can't really be saved here, but more capacity could be had for the price.

For games like Crysis 2 and TW2, I would go for a 6950 instead of a 6850.

Other than that, I don't see any problems.

I think it'd actually be cheaper for me to buy all the parts from newegg and have them shipped to Japan... also will be saving because the yen is so strong.

Ha, I see what you mean with the mobo & processor..

 

[Hazaro]

I have the perfect shiny pink/red & purple led set up running through my head, ha!

Your Current Specs: i3 380M / 4GB (DDR3) / ohgodidonno D: / i3 1GB GDDR3
Budget: $1000 - $1400 ;_; / Japan =x
Main Use: Gaming, Emulation (PS2/Wii), general usage, multitasking...
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Crysis 2, TW2, etc
Are reusing any parts?: Oh God no =(
When will you build?: Christmas 2011 or sometime in early 2012
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe =)

So far... after reading and checking videos on the youtubes I've put this together:

Case: Transparent Clear Acrylic ATX Mid Tower $60 (going to light it up!)
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE 3.4GHz AM3 125W Quad-Core $130
MOBO: MSI 890FXA-GD70 AM3 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD $195
GPU: SAPPHIRE HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support VC $175
PSU: Rosewill LIGHTNING Series 800W ATX12V/EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active-PFC PS $160
RAM: 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) $60
DVD/we DRIVE: LG Blu-ray Drive SATA OEM LightScribe Support $60
SSD: Crucial M4 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal SSD $116
HDD: Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal HD -Bare Drive $60
Monitor: Asus VE248H Black 24" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers $200

Total: $1216

I'm missing fans and such I guess... I think water/liquid coolers are nice but would it be necessary? Also, even though my build is kind of mid-range, any chance of bottlenecking?... I am a total noob.

I don't care toooo much about lots of storage... I chose the HDD because of speed... do you think it's worth it?

Lastly, can I afford to skimp on the mobo or does that seem fine? and could the CPU be better? I mean, I'm not gonna build this for a while and I'm thinking the parts are going to change months down the road anyway. Hmm

1st off you don't want that CPU/Mobo. Or that PSU.
Secondly if you are building in 5-7 months there will be a new CPU launch and a graphics refresh in Q1 2012 from both companies so I suggest you visit then.
The build should be very similar to the OP $1000 build with a possible GPU swap and some reduces prices (hopefully).
HDD speed =/= SATA type. A mechanical drive will not come close to saturating the SATA bandwidth on SATA 2 or SATA 3. The 6gbp/s is only there for compatibility and marketing reasons. The F3 1TB is a much better drive.

Hey I'm back, did some more research, stopped by my local shop. Took what we built here and got the dude at the shop to go through it with me.

Intel i5 2500k
ASUS 1155 P8Z68-V
Coolermaster 700W Silent Pro
EVGA GTX580
Coolermaster HAF 912 Case
WD1002FAEX Black 1TB
Corsair 60GB Force Series SSD SATA3
Corsair Liquid H70 Cooler

From what I can tell this mobo is good for me. I've never set-up RAID and 2 SATA III ports should be enough. One for my SSD and one for the HD.

I'm going to get the Smart Response set-up with the SSD. Has anyone set that up here? Some vids I've seen claim between 3x and 10x performance.

The ram in the build is the RIPJAW F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL. This RAM has very good ratings, but it's red. My motherboard is black and blue. So I tried to look for the equivalent in blue and found F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM.

The only difference I can find between these two sets are the timings.
Red = 9-9-9-24-2N
Blue = 8-8-8-24

I've tried looking up RAM timings. But it's jiberish to me, lower the better right?

I've also found some sexy corsair vengence:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345&cm_re=corsair_vengeance-_-20-145-345-_-Product

With a timing of:
9-9-9-24

I'm thinking the CORSAIR or the RIPJAW Blue set.

So after I get GAFs blessing I'm gonna pull the trigger!

Looks good to me. Lower is better, but only makes a tiny impact.

I would also not use SSD cache since you have a 60GB drive. That's more than enough for all your mostly used programs and OS + a game or two. It works out value-wise if it's a 20GB drive or so. I'm simple and would rather have them separate.
IF you want to use SSD caching I'd get a smaller drive.

For new page, edited a bit.

Drivers for wired 360 controller? I think Win 7 has them by default so it should just be plug and play?
I don't know how, but remove the motioninjoy drivers. Running CCleaner might be good as well.

 

[Kyuuketsu_Night]

1st off you don't want that CPU/Mobo. Or that PSU.
Secondly if you are building in 5-7 months there will be a new CPU launch and a graphics refresh in Q1 2012 from both companies so I suggest you visit then.
The build should be very similar to the OP $1000 build with a possible GPU swap and some reduces prices (hopefully).
HDD speed =/= SATA type. A mechanical drive will not come close to saturating the SATA bandwidth on SATA 2 or SATA 3. The 6gbp/s is only there for compatibility and marketing reasons. The F3 1TB is a much better drive.

Thanks for the great advice. I really knew nothing about computers 2 days ago and I just wanted to try and put something together on my own. GAF is good

 

[The_Inquisitor]

So my temps have gone up in my Thermaltake A90 due to the Texas summer. I would like to replace my remaining stock fans (minus the big one one top) with something with more airflow. Any suggestions I could order from newegg or amazon?

The replacement fans I have been using are enermax. I probably am going to place one on the other end of my Hyper 212 + (Going to have to move it up a little due to my ram sticking out), the back of my case, and the remaining case fan in the front.

If I did want to replace the top fan too, what would you guys suggest?

I have 3 enermax fans right now, 1 on the cpu cooler, one on the front intake, and one on side door. I don't mind a little more noise for the cooling power they have on my smaller case.

 

[Wallach]

Man, I got a new Lane leather office chair today, and all I have to say is: fuck couches.

 

[RS4-]

So my temps have gone up in my Thermaltake A90 due to the Texas summer. I would like to replace my remaining stock fans (minus the big one one top) with something with more airflow. Any suggestions I could order from newegg or amazon?

The replacement fans I have been using are enermax. I probably am going to place one on the other end of my Hyper 212 + (Going to have to move it up a little due to my ram sticking out), the back of my case, and the remaining case fan in the front.

If I did want to replace the top fan too, what would you guys suggest?

I have 3 enermax fans right now, 1 on the cpu cooler, one on the front intake, and one on side door. I don't mind a little more noise for the cooling power they have on my smaller case.

What size are the case fans that you want to replace? The really good ones are expensive, but you get great airflow and little to no noise without spinning at some awful RPM.

 

[Hazaro]

So my temps have gone up in my Thermaltake A90 due to the Texas summer. I would like to replace my remaining stock fans (minus the big one one top) with something with more airflow. Any suggestions I could order from newegg or amazon?

The replacement fans I have been using are enermax. I probably am going to place one on the other end of my Hyper 212 + (Going to have to move it up a little due to my ram sticking out), the back of my case, and the remaining case fan in the front.

If I did want to replace the top fan too, what would you guys suggest?

I have 3 enermax fans right now, 1 on the cpu cooler, one on the front intake, and one on side door. I don't mind a little more noise for the cooling power they have on my smaller case.

Budget: Cooler Master 3/4 pack or Yate Loons
More expensive: Scythe Kama II's / Noctua

 

[The_Inquisitor]

What size are the case fans that you want to replace? The really good ones are expensive, but you get great airflow and little to no noise without spinning at some awful RPM.

120mm. I've already replace a few with these.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=3#scrollFullInfo

Should I just pick up a few more?

 

[f0rk]

Drivers for wired 360 controller? I think Win 7 has them by default so it should just be plug and play?
I don't know how, but remove the motioninjoy drivers. Running CCleaner might be good as well.

I tried to get rid of motionjoy with CCleaner, but it still BSOD when I plugged the controller in. Now the guide button is flashing at me, and there is a HID-compliant game controller and a Xbox 360 controller for windows in devices. But these both say their drivers are from motionjoy :S. Games don't pick it up.
It worked perfectly on a different machine, might just wait on these pad games till that one gets out the shop and fixed. Think the motherboard on that died now :/

 

[Hazaro]

120mm. I've already replace a few with these.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=3#scrollFullInfo

Should I just pick up a few more?

Those look good to me.

I tried to get rid of motionjoy with CCleaner, but it still BSOD when I plugged the controller in. Now the guide button is flashing at me, and there is a HID-compliant game controller and a Xbox 360 controller for windows in devices. But these both say their drivers are from motionjoy :S. Games don't pick it up.
It worked perfectly on a different machine, might just wait on these pad games till that one gets out the shop and fixed. Think the motherboard on that died now :/

You could always look in the registry for 'motionjoy' or something. I'd suggest trying to find someone that has already done it.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

i'm debating between the $700 OP computer and the $1000. like i said my main games i want to play would be skyrim and bioshocks. would the $700 do? i don't mind to pay the $1k but if the difference isn't really that great then i would save the money.

also, is a dvd drive sufficient? blu ray drives aren't really worth the extra $$?

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

also, is a dvd drive sufficient? blu ray drives aren't really worth the extra $$?

For now, I would stick with a DVD drive. Blu-ray drives are at least about 3x the price of a Blu-ray drive and unless you have the monitor to take advantage of it/plan on watching movies on said monitor/TV, it's not worth it.

Also, it's something you can always upgrade to later - it's not like software is shipping on Blu-ray discs now, so if you decide you want it one, you can easily install it in the future - prices are sure to go down slightly as well.

 

[f0rk]

i'm debating between the $700 OP computer and the $1000. like i said my main games i want to play would be skyrim and bioshocks. would the $700 do? i don't mind to pay the $1k but if the difference isn't really that great then i would save the money.

For the future I'd say go for the $1000 but get a 560Ti instead of the 570. Not that big of a loss in power and easiest part to upgrade in the future.

 

[Hazaro]

i'm debating between the $700 OP computer and the $1000. like i said my main games i want to play would be skyrim and bioshocks. would the $700 do? i don't mind to pay the $1k but if the difference isn't really that great then i would save the money.

also, is a dvd drive sufficient? blu ray drives aren't really worth the extra $$?

If you can spend the 1k it's the way to go.

Possibility of 2 cards down the line, overclocking, solid quad, overall better parts.
IF you don't want to drop money on a 570, the 560 Ti or 6950 are great choices.

 

[Sketch_Turntable]

Want to build a new PC, but don't really need it until Nov/Dec. Will prices drop much between now and then or should i just go ahead and start?

 

[I H8 Memes]

One last dumb question for the day. I showed my gf the cases that were within our budget and she didnt like any of them. She wants me to re-use the case from an HP Pavilion a230n if I can. Personally I think the case is ugly and would rather have a plain case then an ugly one but it's not going to be my pc..

I remember years ago they would put the mounting patterns for the motherboard screws different on pre-built PC's then they were on normal PC's. Anybody know if that is still the case or can I use this case. Also, I'm assuming that any mid-ATX style PSU will work with the case right?

It is a mid ATX case size but I'm not confident that a modern mid ATX mobo will mount in it correctly. Tried Google and couldnt find anything about this other than people putting in a replacement mobo of the same type.

Want to build a new PC, but don't really need it until Nov/Dec. Will prices drop much between now and then or should i just go ahead and start?

Prices are always dropping.

 

[Hazaro]

Want to build a new PC, but don't really need it until Nov/Dec. Will prices drop much between now and then or should i just go ahead and start?

Is it worth it to you to save $30 by buying in 5 months?

 

[teh_pwn]

Want to build a new PC, but don't really need it until Nov/Dec. Will prices drop much between now and then or should i just go ahead and start?

Wait. There will probably be new AMD video cards and faster/larger/cheaper SSD, which will give both the option of a considerably faster GPU or a decent price cut on today's GPU. Perhaps AMD Bulldozer, or at least matured sandy bridge chipsets that are easier to spot the more reliable brands.

 

[teh_pwn]

i'm debating between the $700 OP computer and the $1000. like i said my main games i want to play would be skyrim and bioshocks. would the $700 do? i don't mind to pay the $1k but if the difference isn't really that great then i would save the money.

also, is a dvd drive sufficient? blu ray drives aren't really worth the extra $$?

DVD drive is sufficient. I got a blu ray player with the idea of having an HTPC do everything, but the compatibility isn't 100% and the software doesn't buffer well. PS3 is still the best blu-ray player that I've used. I surgically removed the PS3 remote's stop button to make it tolerable (because it exits everything and it's between play and pause and it's massive).

 

[Hazaro]

Wait. There will probably be new AMD video cards and faster/larger/cheaper SSD, which will give both the option of a considerably faster GPU or a decent price cut on today's GPU. Perhaps AMD Bulldozer, or at least matured sandy bridge chipsets that are easier to spot the more reliable brands.

New GPUs probably 2012. Bulldozer should be out in a month or so.
New 1155 chips 2012 also.

So Nov/Dec not really. Plus you can always upgrade if you get OP build.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

Uggh, The Windows 7 Student Edition I got was only an upgrade (I forgot), which kind of sucks. Apparently if I have some old copy of Vista though, I can then upgrade it to Windows 7, but I don't know if that's worth the effort. With NCIXUS doing my computer build if I just get an OS from them at least they can fully test the system out first.

Still I'd prefer not to have to buy a copy of Windows again (especially since I think I have a full version of Vista or was it XP laying around), even if I do lose them doing all the full testing of the software.

Any suggestions on what I should do (as not getting Windows 7 again saves a ton of money)? Are copies (legit new) of XP or Vista now dirt cheap?

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

Any experts here at multi-monitor setups for Nvidia cards?

I'm always switching mine for different uses but, it's way to cumbersome to do all the time. For instance, if I want to play a game on my TV then I need to switch the display and sound to my TV which is HDMI. When I do this everything is fine however, when I switch back to my 2x computer monitors I lose all my calibrations, resolutions are wrong, and rotation is back to normal. Can you not setup a profile of somesort that will handle all this for me?

So if I want to game on the TV I press Profile A, if I want to game on the one monitor I just switch to profile B (and it remembers the preferred resolution). Then If I want to do graphics work I switch to profile C (where it also remembers the resolution of both screens, and the calibration and rotation of the 2nd display).

So far I'm having to use both the Nvidia control panel and the Windows control panel to set everything back. I even have to recalibrate the 2nd display. It's just that it's annoying and the year 2011.

 

[Mr Nightman]

Uggh, The Windows 7 Student Edition I got was only an upgrade (I forgot), which kind of sucks. Apparently if I have some old copy of Vista though, I can then upgrade it to Windows 7, but I don't know if that's worth the effort. With NCIXUS doing my computer build if I just get an OS from them at least they can fully test the system out first.

Still I'd prefer not to have to buy a copy of Windows again (especially since I think I have a full version of Vista or was it XP laying around), even if I do lose them doing all the full testing of the software.

Any suggestions on what I should do (as not getting Windows 7 again saves a ton of money)? Are copies (legit new) of XP or Vista now dirt cheap?

just install the upgrade, but dont enter the product key, then reinstall over the un activated windows and use your key

 

[Wallach]

just install the upgrade, but dont enter the product key, then reinstall over the un activated windows and use your key

Yeah, this should work fine.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

thanks for the tips friends. bought all the stuff for the $1000 rig but i changed the gfx card to geforce 560. hopefully i can put it all together.

any recommendations on good wireless keyboards/mouse?

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

just install the upgrade, but dont enter the product key, then reinstall over the un activated windows and use your key

Yeah, this should work fine.

Really? That's awesome. Thank you so much! You just saved me about a 100 bucks! I didn't think I'd be able to install this on a brand new computer (with nothing on the hard drive) without some other version.

I guess the ability to have the system drivers installed and configed isn't really worth 100 bucks.

 

[RukusProvider]

2 questions:

1. My PSU died after a power outage. What's a good silent PSU? In Nov, I'll be overhauling by current PC completely but like a powerful PSU that I can use again later. In Nov, the goal will be get the best single gpu card to run BF3 and Skyrim.

2. My faithful old Netgear just can't handle it anymore so I need a new Wireless routers. Is there a good site that does Wireless router reviews? I'm looking for a Dual Band N. Performance is my main goal.

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

just install the upgrade, but dont enter the product key, then reinstall over the un activated windows and use your key

If this actually works, it's genius! Will only have to spend $30 on a copy of Windows (student discount) vs. having to buy an old XP or Vista or pay for the full version of 7 when I build my rig. Sadly I don't have any spares of any of those laying around.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

If this actually works, it's genius! Will only have to spend $30 on a copy of Windows (student discount) vs. having to buy an old XP or Vista or pay for the full version of 7 when I build my rig. Sadly I don't have any spares of any of those laying around.

Yeah, I'm kind of surprised that it even works. It seems like the type of thing Microsoft would never allow.

 

[nitric0]

How much better are the Phenom II X4's compared to the Athlon II X4's?

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

If this actually works, it's genius! Will only have to spend $30 on a copy of Windows (student discount) vs. having to buy an old XP or Vista or pay for the full version of 7 when I build my rig. Sadly I don't have any spares of any of those laying around.

I used the student discount version on a friends computer and didn't need to do anything but install it with a custom install on a new partition.

You can even create a universal windows 7 install disk from your copy that allows you to install all the different versions provided you have the license for the specific one you are installing. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/85813-windows-7-universal-installation-disc-create.html It's nice if your like me and have multiple computers with different versions to worry about.

 

[Smokey]

thanks for the tips friends. bought all the stuff for the $1000 rig but i changed the gfx card to geforce 560. hopefully i can put it all together.

any recommendations on good wireless keyboards/mouse?

Welcome...to the good life.