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[tehbible]

The heatsink is so damn tight it's proving difficult to take off =\ I can't make 2 of the 4 clips unclip... don't know how to take it off now lol

Ok got it, this is what it looks like:

thats way too much thermal paste.

you should be putting a pea size paste on there, if even that.

 

[Prophet Steve]

Is that under Prime95 load? What cooler? ~70C at 1.30V is normal unless you are using a massive cooler, >212+.

Prime95 yes, with a Scythe Mugen 2. but it reaches 75.

 

[RS4-]

Hmm, I think I might sell my Noctua D14 and go for the Silver Arrow even though the difference is only a few degrees and I wouldn't notice any noise difference with all the side panels installed.

 

[Hazaro]

Be sure NOT to get a H67 motherboard. You CANNOT overclock it.

Your power supply seems fine. It could go down to 600W (probably less) but it doesn't hurt to future proof (who knows what future rigs he'll be building.

Also get a gamepad.

Yes its worth spending the $35. You don't play games like Devil May Cry 4 and Darksiders on a mouse and keyboard.

Other than that seems perfect.

Why not just get a wired 360 pad for $30?

thats way too much thermal paste.

you should be putting a pea size paste on there, if even that.

Meh, that's fine. I'm guessing that is stock paste and its not overflowing.

Hmm, I think I might sell my Noctua D14 and go for the Silver Arrow even though the difference is only a few degrees and I wouldn't notice any noise difference with all the side panels installed.

Don't be dumb.

 

[RS4-]

Lol I'm goddamn bored and feel like adding and removing something from my rig. I did make the dumb mistake of not recording the s/n for my mobo because I'm sure it's underneath since it isn't on the top of the SATA ports where Asus usually puts it.

And I have to do the same for my GPU.

 

[rkn]

Hey PC Gaf, what is a good site to read about upcoming graphic cards and what not, rumors, news, speculation, all this PC nonsense has me foaming at the mouth for info.

 

[gatti-man]

Its crazy how much surface area the stock intel cooler misses. Good thing I always chunk stock cpu coolers in the garbage.

 

[Hazaro]

Its crazy how much surface area the stock intel cooler misses. Good thing I always chunk stock cpu coolers in the garbage.

I think the core is still copper so it works pretty well. You'd be surprised how bad contact is for all types of heatsinks.

http://innovationcooling.com/Indepandentuserpressuretest.htm

Hey PC Gaf, what is a good site to read about upcoming graphic cards and what not, rumors, news, speculation, all this PC nonsense has me foaming at the mouth for info.

Anandtech usually has some good insights when they make an article.
If you want rumors semiaccurate and fudzilla post crap.

Usually there is next to 0 information known until 3 days or so before release.

 

[LogicStep]

Good news everyone!

After I don't know how long and my back is killing me, I finally managed to install that "thing" and that damn clamp was hard to screw in but I managed.

It's a thing of beauty but my god is it huge, I can't close my case until I get rid of the window fan. Anyways, computer booted up first try (thank god I remembered where everything was plugged in!) and I checked my temps.

These look much better! That's just in windows as I uploaded the pictures and wrote this post so I guess those count as Idle. I suppose the temps under load will be much better than before too. Thanks to all of you that helped me out step by step looking to see what was wrong. One thing I learned for sure is I'm never using a stock heatsink ever again!

 

[Hazaro]

Still a bit high, but I personally wouldn't reseat it. Bigger coolers aren't worth the effort.

Hopefully it will spread and temps will drop a touch. Post your load temps in a few days.

 

[Horsemama1956]

Good news everyone!

After I don't know how long and my back is killing me, I finally managed to install that "thing" and that damn clamp was hard to screw in but I managed.



It's a thing of beauty but my god is it huge, I can't close my case until I get rid of the window fan. Anyways, computer booted up first try (thank god I remembered where everything was plugged in!) and I checked my temps.


These look much better! That's just in windows as I uploaded the pictures and wrote this post so I guess those count as Idle. I suppose the temps under load will be much better than before too. Thanks to all of you that helped me out step by step looking to see what was wrong. One thing I learned for sure is I'm never using a stock heatsink ever again!

What kind of fans are you running in the case? You may just need better ones. Also if you can get away with removing the bottom HD cage in your case, you'll get a lot more air flowing through which can drop temps substantially. I just use a Cooler Master Elite 310 and after removing the cage, temps dropped 7c across the board.

Tying the cables up helps as well.

Another thing to check is the little pressure screw on the 212+. You could always crank it a few more times to get better contact, If you can get your finger in there.

 

[LogicStep]

What kind of fans are you running in the case? You may just need better ones. Also if you can get away with removing the bottom HD cage in your case, you'll get a lot more air flowing through which can drop temps substantially. I just use a Cooler Master Elite 310 and after removing the cage, temps dropped 7c across the board.

Tying the cables up helps as well.

Another thing to check is the little pressure screw on the 212+. You could always crank it a few more times to get better contact, If you can get your finger in there.

My case is terrible as far as airflow goes. It has a fan on the back as you can see and one in the front bottom except it's blocked by a bunch of crap plus the front door. That's about it, if anything I think I'll get a new case soon with better airflow. Another thing to consider is that I live in a tropical island where it's hot all the damn time, like super hot. Everyday 90+ degree weather and that affects me too... I think? Oh and the fans are the ones that came with the case.

 

[Mr Nightman]

nice job on that hyper man, I had a hell of a time doing the job, i dont have much strength in my arms with muscular dystrophy, so was pretty taxing, but man did I feel accomplished when I booted up again, went from like 60c idle to about 25c idle(those stock bastards suck haha) had to clock my phenom from default 3ghz to 2 to safely game. That hyper is seriously the best investment i have made

 

[LordCanti]

After I don't know how long and my back is killing me, I finally managed to install that "thing" and that damn clamp was hard to screw in but I managed.

It's a thing of beauty but my god is it huge, I can't close my case until I get rid of the window fan. Anyways, computer booted up first try (thank god I remembered where everything was plugged in!) and I checked my temps.

These look much better! That's just in windows as I uploaded the pictures and wrote this post so I guess those count as Idle. I suppose the temps under load will be much better than before too. Thanks to all of you that helped me out step by step looking to see what was wrong. One thing I learned for sure is I'm never using a stock heatsink ever again!

I wonder if you could get Intel to reimburse you the cost of the cooler, because their cooler was so obviously defective. In a just world you could, anyway.

Either way, I think those temps are as good as it gets for a tropical paradise. You could add better fans, but I'm not sure blowing more hot air through your case (what ambient temperature do you keep your computer room?) would do much to help your temps. In any case, as long as those temps stay under 70c under load in a game, you shouldn't have any stability issues.

Hopefully your temps won't go insane once the side panel is on.

 

[Nekrono]

@zazrx

I think you're good man, haven't been following your issue much but seems like that Hyper 212+ is getting the job done, one thing to remember also is that after a few days the paste will have spread and hopefully everything will be functioning correctly and will knock off a couple degrees off. I bought a 2500k and installed it last thursday and my temps on idle were around 40c now after a week of gaming/regular use they have dropped to around 35c, I'm pretty happy since even though 40c are common temps for that processor I wanted less .

Actually I think I'm gonna go buy a Hyper 212+ tomorrow, what's the word on that cooler and it's temps on a 2500k?

 

[Hazaro]

My case is terrible as far as airflow goes. It has a fan on the back as you can see and one in the front bottom except it's blocked by a bunch of crap plus the front door. That's about it, if anything I think I'll get a new case soon with better airflow. Another thing to consider is that I live in a tropical island where it's hot all the damn time, like super hot. Everyday 90+ degree weather and that affects me too... I think? Oh and the fans are the ones that came with the case.

If you are at 30C room temp, then 45C idle would be expected. 25C, 40C. etc.

@zazrx

I think you're good man, haven't been following your issue much but seems like that Hyper 212+ is getting the job done, one thing to remember also is that after a few days the paste will have spread and hopefully everything will be functioning correctly and will knock off a couple degrees off. I bought a 2500k and installed it last thursday and my temps on idle were around 40c now after a week of gaming/regular use they have dropped to around 35c, I'm pretty happy since even though 40c are common temps for that processor I wanted less .

Actually I think I'm gonna go buy a Hyper 212+ tomorrow, what's the word on that cooler and it's temps on a 2500k?

If you can find it for $30 or $35 that is it's retail price. Newegg had it at $30, $40, $30, and now $50. Other rifle options like the Gaia are perfectly fine as well.

Temps should be ~55-60 load on a good overclock. 4.4Ghz / 1.3V or so

 

[Nekrono]

If you can find it for $30 or $35 that is it's retail price. Newegg had it at $30, $40, $30, and now $50. Other rifle options like the Gaia are perfectly fine as well.

Temps should be ~55-60 load on a good overclock. 4.4Ghz / 1.3V or so

Cool, I'm getting it from a local PC shop where I live, it's retail price is $35 but tomorrow they're having a sale on all CM products so I'm hoping for $30 or maybe $25.

Also those temps seem pretty good, that's usually what I'm getting while playing on stock clocks and the Intel fan. I don't plan on overclocking for the time being so I guess I could(hopefully) expect lower temps.

 

[iSurvivedTheOutage]

I just wanted to say that this thread really defines NeoGAF. Thanks Hazaro. When I get my build running I will bless this thread with well deserved PC picture bliss.

 

[LogicStep]

Temps here are about 90-95F (32-35C) around this time so I guess my CPU temps are right where they should be?

nice job on that hyper man, I had a hell of a time doing the job, i dont have much strength in my arms with muscular dystrophy, so was pretty taxing, but man did I feel accomplished when I booted up again, went from like 60c idle to about 25c idle(those stock bastards suck haha) had to clock my phenom from default 3ghz to 2 to safely game. That hyper is seriously the best investment i have made

BTW thanks man! Yeah they were really hard to do for me so i dropped my screwdriver and went and got a battery powered one and it made things much easier although still a little tricky. Feels good man!

 

[rkn]

Anandtech usually has some good insights when they make an article.
If you want rumors semiaccurate and fudzilla post crap.

Sweet.

Usually there is next to 0 information known until 3 days or so before release.

Aww shucks.

 

[Zapages]

Well my computer's processor overheated and died. :*(

I need to buy a new computer and I don't want to build it as I will break it.

Well, after working with it all day. I got the PC to working again. Somehow there was a lot of dust inside the power supply that was causing the computer not run at all (over heat)

I got the parts and everything went really well. The only bad part now is that old bad hard drive has to be connected to get the new windows 7 on the new hard drive to run. If I disconnect the old hard drive and just allow the new hard drive to be connected to the motherboard/power supply it does not work. I think it has to do with the boot sector thinking of the new hard drive as a subsidiary of the old bad hard drive. Very weird though. :\

Any ideas to fix this?

 

[darthbob]

Well, after working with it all day. I got the PC to working again. Somehow there was a lot of dust inside the power supply that was causing the computer not run at all (over heat)

I got the parts and everything went really well. The only bad part now is that old bad hard drive has to be connected to get the new windows 7 on the new hard drive to run. If I disconnect the old hard drive and just allow the new hard drive to be connected to the motherboard/power supply it does not work. I think it has to do with the boot sector thinking of the new hard drive as a subsidiary of the old bad hard drive. Very weird though. :\

Any ideas to fix this?

Boot into recovery mode (fdisk) or make a bootable flash drive with an OS on it to format the disks.

 

[Darkman M]

So i overclclocked my 2600k to 4.5ghz, but it seems to only be stable at 1.38 voltage, is that voltage to high?

 

[Hazaro]

I just wanted to say that this thread really defines NeoGAF. Thanks Hazaro. When I get my build running I will bless this thread with well deserved PC picture bliss.

I do try to be helpful. I'm glad it's in a more public place like NeoGAF so it can help some others.

Sweet.
Aww shucks.

Well architecture stuff can be leaked a bit more, but then you speculate their power usage, the clocks, bandwidth, how big the die is, etc. So you don't really know anything.

So i overclclocked my 2600k to 4.5ghz, but it seems to only be stable at 1.38 voltage, is that voltage to high?

To me, yes. Try 4.3 or 4.4 and see if you can't get that with 1.3V or so. There can be a big jump to 4.4 or 4.5 on some chips.

 

[Darkman M]

To me, yes. Try 4.3 or 4.4 and see if you can't get that with 1.3V or so. There can be a big jump to 4.4 or 4.5 on some chips.

I just tried 4.4 @ 1.3 and it crashed in prime really fast, now im running prime with the cpu at 4.3 voltage 1.3 and it's still going hope this is the sweet spot, thanks.

 

[Veins]

Yeah I've just kept my 2500k at 4.3, like Hazaro said, it looked like requiring a big jump afer that.

 

[Chesskid1]

whoa i just checked my email and i have -$10 off anything on newegg

it was to my old email i don't use anymore (hotmail) while i use (gmail), but i still check it once in a while.

i tried to use it on my current newegg account (registered to gmail) and it said NO!, this can only be used on that old email address since that email addy hasn't ordered anything in a while (duh, cause i changed that newegg account to gmail)

I then changed the email associated with my newegg account to my hotmail and bam the $10 coupon worked.

do you guys think it will go through if i order anything?

also, i have an AMD Phenom II Quadcore 3.0ghz, and a 4870 1GB. Any good cards around $100-$150 and will it be worth the upgrade? I like ATI and XFX. thanks guys

i'll save questions for power supply, will it fit my case, running temps etc after i figure out which card i want

 

[mandiller]

Okay here are some pictures of my new build. This is the first computer I've assembled myself so it was quite a learning curve and took a while, but it was a nice learning experience. The cables ended up being a lot messier than I had originally wanted them to be, but I couldn't seem to route everything behind the motherboard, things didn't reach as far as they needed or bend as much as I'd like.

Anywho this is the build thanks to the help I've gotten from you guys in this thread:

Fractal R3 black pearl case
i5 2500k
ASUS P8P67 Pro B3
Leadtek GTX 570
Crucial M4 128GB SSD
Samsung F3 1TB HDD x2
Thermaltake Toughpower XT 875W
Hyper 212 Plus cpu cooler
Extra case fan (140mm)

The result: A lovely and quiet gaming beast. It currently runs at about 31 degrees Celsius while idling and about 40 degrees when gaming.

I'm now going to try some overclocking. If I understand correctly, if I want to get my cpu to run at 4.4Ghz, I should change the multipler to 44 in the bios. And if I want to go higher than that I should up the voltage? Is that pretty much the gist?

 

[Tallshortman]

6770 is $130 right now with some manufacturers giving $20 rebates. This is what I'm currently using and runs Witcher 2 on mostly ultra on 1080p at 30-40 avg. FPS.

6790 is also a good deal at $150 with some $20 rebates out there.

I've also read that the GTX 460 is a good midrange card for $160-$180ish with a few manufacturers giving $20-$30 rebates..

 

[LogicStep]

Okay here are some pictures of my new build. This is the first computer I've assembled myself so it was quite a learning curve and took a while, but it was a nice learning experience. The cables ended up being a lot messier than I had originally wanted them to be, but I couldn't seem to route everything behind the motherboard, things didn't reach as far as they needed or bend as much as I'd like.

Anywho this is the build thanks to the help I've gotten from you guys in this thread:

Fractal R3 black pearl case
i5 2500k
ASUS P8P67 Pro B3
Leadtek GTX 570
Crucial M4 128GB SSD
Samsung F3 1TB HDD x2
Thermaltake Toughpower XT 875W
Hyper 212 Plus cpu cooler
Extra case fan (140mm)

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

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ktIT4.jpg[IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/7KwXY.jpg[IMG]

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

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

The result: A lovely and quiet gaming beast. It currently runs at about 31 degrees Celsius while idling and about 40 degrees when gaming. [img]http://i.imgur.com/3AQmK.gif

I'm now going to try some overclocking. If I understand correctly, if I want to get my cpu to run at 4.4Ghz, I should change the multipler to 44 in the bios. And if I want to go higher than that I should up the voltage? Is that pretty much the gist?

Man I really like your case! Seems to have good airflow, did it come with all of those fans? How many in total?

 

[mandiller]

Man I really like your case! Seems to have good airflow, did it come with all of those fans? How many in total?

It comes with one fan in the front and one fan at the back. I decided to buy a 140mm fan to put in the top and that seems to be working nicely. So one fan on the front to suck in air and two to push it out.

It seems to be running pretty cool and the case is really nice and quiet. The sound dampening material that lines the case seems to be doing it's job and the case comes with a 3 fan speed controller that you can attach at the back of the case. So if I need to leave my computer on overnight to download something I can twist the dial and turn it down low and I probably wouldn't hear a thing. Well recommended.

 

[Hazaro]

I'm now going to try some overclocking. If I understand correctly, if I want to get my cpu to run at 4.4Ghz, I should change the multipler to 44 in the bios. And if I want to go higher than that I should up the voltage? Is that pretty much the gist?

A good guide is in the OP.

I'd suggest trying offset method overclocking if you have some spare time.

Otherwise simply locking voltage to ~1.30V and trying 4.2,4.3,4.4 etc will work fine.

 

[mandiller]

A good guide is in the OP.

I'd suggest trying offset method overclocking if you have some spare time.

Otherwise simply locking voltage to ~1.30V and trying 4.2,4.3,4.4 etc will work fine.

I took a look at the guide but when I was in my bios there was an Overclock auto tune option. I wasn't sure what it'd do but I clicked it and it rebooted and changed a bunch of values. I only wanted to have a look at it rather than actually use it, but oh well. It upped my RAM and also CPU. It was running at 4.3Ghz but with 103BLK. I heard it's best to keep that at 100 though so I went back in an put it back to 100 and the multiplier to 40, so I'm now running at 4.0Ghz which is plenty fast I think. The voltage is variable though. It jumps around a bit from 0.952 when it's only running at 1.6ghz, to about 1.27 when its on full load.

I ran Prime95 for about half a hour and it all seemed perfectly stable and I was getting temperatures of between 50-60 degrees Celsius. I think I'll leave it there.

 

[Darklord]

How do I check if a video card can fit in my case? Is it simply measuring both or what? I have a Cooler Master CM690 and want to put in a GeForce GTX 570 DirectCU II which is a triple slot card.

 

[Hazaro]

I took a look at the guide but when I was in my bios there was an Overclock auto tune option. I wasn't sure what it'd do but I clicked it and it rebooted and changed a bunch of values. I only wanted to have a look at it rather than actually use it, but oh well. It upped my RAM and also CPU. It was running at 4.3Ghz but with 103BLK. I heard it's best to keep that at 100 though so I went back in an put it back to 100 and the multiplier to 40, so I'm now running at 4.0Ghz which is plenty fast I think. The voltage is variable though. It jumps around a bit from 0.952 when it's only running at 1.6ghz, to about 1.27 when its on full load.

I ran Prime95 for about half a hour and it all seemed perfectly stable and I was getting temperatures of between 50-60 degrees Celsius. I think I'll leave it there.

Lock BLCK to 100. That's a pretty solid default OC. Sometimes they can be too agressive on clocks and voltage though. IT really really depends.

How do I check if a video card can fit in my case? Is it simply measuring both or what? I have a Cooler Master CM690 and want to put in a GeForce GTX 570 DirectCU II which is a triple slot card.

You are fine. Most cards are under 11" or 10.5" which is the limit on most cases.
Usually a simple '(my case) + (videocard)' will clarify it. Otherwise yes, measurement.

 

[ScepticMatt]

Does anyone know if it is possible to increase the maximum clock values in MSI Afterburner?

I have a ATI FireGLV5700. It's based on a 3650M, but clocks higher. I currently use Techpowerup's GPU tool for OC, but I'd prefer the UI from Afterburner.
M defaults @ 600/400, FireGL defaults @ 600/700, stable OC @ 785/975

 

[Zapages]

Boot into recovery mode (fdisk) or make a bootable flash drive with an OS on it to format the disks.

So I have to format both hard drives again. :*( I don't think my motherboard allows a bootable flash drive option in the bios.

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

Zotac 560 for 169.99 on newegg

I'm looking to upgrade from my 5850..

Could anyone show me something good that has a good price/noticeable difference ratio?

 

[scogoth]

Zotac 560 for 169.99 on newegg

I'm looking to upgrade from my 5850..

Could anyone show me something good that has a good price/noticeable difference ratio?

Not a worthwhile upgrade, 560 is only marginally better. You'll want to go 560 Ti or 570

 

[Chesskid1]

newegg has a pretty nice combo.

if you buy a certain video you get shogun 2 total war steam code.

and some video card manufacturer's are giving dirt 3 free when you register your card.

so you can get a 6850 (some 6870s/other models qualify too i think)

$174.99 + $20 rebate + $20(?) dirt3 + $20(?) shogun 2 = $115

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150515

edit:

this one is $10 cheaper so $105

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150505

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

Not a worthwhile upgrade, 560 is only marginally better. You'll want to go 560 Ti or 570

Is it worthwhile to get a 2gb version of either of these cards?

 

[scogoth]

Is it worthwhile to get a 2gb version of either of these cards?

Not at 1080p. If you want 2GB go 6950 and unlock it =)
I'm not an AMD guy so not sure what the status of unlocking them right now is

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

Not at 1080p. If you want 2GB go 6950 and unlock it =)
I'm not an AMD guy so not sure what the status of unlocking them right now is

But if im to say, play gta IV and supersample?

 

[RS4-]

But if im to say, play gta IV and supersample?

Without mods I think I got 60+ fps without some of those mods you see in the GTAIV thread.

Also depends on the patch you use.

 

[Smokey]

Okay here are some pictures of my new build. This is the first computer I've assembled myself so it was quite a learning curve and took a while, but it was a nice learning experience. The cables ended up being a lot messier than I had originally wanted them to be, but I couldn't seem to route everything behind the motherboard, things didn't reach as far as they needed or bend as much as I'd like.

Anywho this is the build thanks to the help I've gotten from you guys in this thread:

Fractal R3 black pearl case
i5 2500k
ASUS P8P67 Pro B3
Leadtek GTX 570
Crucial M4 128GB SSD
Samsung F3 1TB HDD x2
Thermaltake Toughpower XT 875W
Hyper 212 Plus cpu cooler
Extra case fan (140mm)


The result: A lovely and quiet gaming beast. It currently runs at about 31 degrees Celsius while idling and about 40 degrees when gaming.

I'm now going to try some overclocking. If I understand correctly, if I want to get my cpu to run at 4.4Ghz, I should change the multipler to 44 in the bios. And if I want to go higher than that I should up the voltage? Is that pretty much the gist?

Congrats! Sweet build and nice temps!

Also some more info on Nvidia's next GPU's from the PS4/X720 thread:

Kepler has moved from late 2011 to early 2012 and Maxwell has moved from 2013 to 2014: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110707PD211.html



So chanced of Maxwell powering PS4 are less, unless Sony plans to launch in 2014.


more sources: http://tech2.in.com/news/graphics-cards/nvidia’s-28nm-kepler-gpu-delayed-till-2012/229542

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/poor_yields_push_fermi_successor_q1_2012

http://lenzfire.com/2011/07/nvidia-kepler-2012-and-maxwell-2014-release-date-official-2/


new roadmap:

 

[Fair Trial]

Is it even possible for a 2500k to full load at 40 degrees?

I doubt.

 

[n0n44m]

Is it even possible for a 2500k to full load at 40 degrees?

I doubt.

gaming is hardly full load, so at stock that is not impossible (in a cold room)

 

[Fair Trial]

gaming is hardly full load, so at stock that is not impossible (in a cold room)

When i play with Crysis 2 my 2500k gets hotter than in Prime95, probably due to hot air coming up from the gpu.

 

[Dirtyshubb]

Recently i have been thinking about getting round to replacing our current (and old) PC.

I have had a go at putting something together myself but to be honest i dont know a lot when it comes to parts and so i could have picked stuff that arent compatible so if someone could give me some advice on this set up that would be great help.

Now i probably wouldn't be getting parts till around Christmas time so obviously there may be better options by then.

Now all i really need this for is general use but i would like to be able to stream 1080p vids with ease to PS3 as i cant seem to handle them at the moment other than sd files, plus i would need it for converting/muxing at a fast rate as currently it can be slow on occasions.
Also doing several things at once would be of big benefit too as i often find myself juggling video stuff whit other things.

If everything that i need could be done at a cheaper rate or if this set up is overkill, any suggestions for that would also be a great help, thanks.

 

[Tallshortman]

Recently i have been thinking about getting round to replacing our current (and old) PC.

I have had a go at putting something together myself but to be honest i dont know a lot when it comes to parts and so i could have picked stuff that arent compatible so if someone could give me some advice on this set up that would be great help.

Now i probably wouldn't be getting parts till around Christmas time so obviously there may be better options by then.

Now all i really need this for is general use but i would like to be able to stream 1080p vids with ease to PS3 as i cant seem to handle them at the moment other than sd files, plus i would need it for converting/muxing at a fast rate as currently it can be slow on occasions.
Also doing several things at once would be of big benefit too as i often find myself juggling video stuff whit other things.

If everything that i need could be done at a cheaper rate or if this set up is overkill, any suggestions for that would also be a great help, thanks.

If you're satisfied with waiting until christmas you should definitely wait to take a look at the bulldozer CPU's from AMD instead of springing for that phenom II. They should be out by late Q3 I think.