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

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garath said:
Quick question. Does AHCI provide that much of a benefit for standard SATA hard drives?

My SSD became a *bit* faster because of it, but changing the registry is no real hassle. If your mobo supports it i would do it.
 
How would you guys rate these laptop choices?

Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM , 16 GB DDR3-RAM, NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX560

- 5400 rmp HDD
- kind of a budget brand but gets good reviews

877218_RB_00_FB.EPS_1000.jpg

http://www.conrad.de/ce/de/product/877218/MEDION-ERAZER-X6817-GAMING-156/0413033&ref=list

1200 euro

or

Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM , 8 GB DDR3-RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6990 or Geforce 580

- 7200 rmp HDD
- custom built laptop from online only shop
- HD 6990 / 580 in 15.6" = death?

4914breit.jpg


http://www.one.de/shop/product_info.php?cPath=203&products_id=4914

1400 euro for HD 6990 or 1550 for Geforce 580
 
You want laptop-GAF : http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386622

(I don't recommend buying a gaming laptop, because they are expensive and less powerful than the desktop equivalent. They also suck in terms of battery life. Having said that, I don't consider myself knowledgeable enough about laptop gaming performance to suggest one model over the other. Much more luck is likely to be had at laptop gaf)
 
Got home and turned on my monitor and see alerts in my log:

332b3af.png


Also check out the motherboard listing on the right. What is going on here?


black_vegeta said:
ASUS Suite is ASS!!

Don't believe it!


Well when I get home and first thing I see is an alert triangle(s) in the corner of the screen it's a bit worrisome.
 
squicken said:
If you get SATA 3.0 drive, the only real choice is an Intel 320. The thing is, it's not much cheaper than the 6.0 drives. If you plan on upgrading your motherboard in the next couple years, night as well get a 6.0 drive.

I'd recommend a Crucial M4. More reliable than Sandforce, good random 4k reads, and much cheaper than Intel. Just make sure you get a larger capacity drive ( > 64 ). Big performance hit on smaller sized drives. So:

If SATA 3.0 drive: Intel 320 80GB for $170

If SATA 6.0 drive: Crucial M4 120GB for $220

Thanks for the heads up! Crap...I think I'm just going to upgrade =/
Sticking to OP with the asrock 6Gbps. How does the i5 2500K 3.30GHz compare to a first generation core i7 @ 4Ghz? Considering potential overclocks of the i5.
 
BLU-82 said:
Thanks for the heads up! Crap...I think I'm just going to upgrade =/
Sticking to OP with the asrock 6Gbps. How does the i5 2500K 3.30GHz compare to a first generation core i7 @ 4Ghz? Considering potential overclocks of the i5.

Very favorably. The 2500k @ 4.5ghz (not hard to do) is probably the best video game processor right now.
 
Could someone recommend me a good case with lots of 3.5 HDD space? I really wanted to buy the Fractal Design Define XL, but it seems I waited too long, because newegg lists it as discontinued and they are the only USA supplier I've found. I have a media server with 6 HDD right now, but I would like to expand it over the next few years to include more.
 
LordCanti said:
Very favorably. The 2500k @ 4.5ghz (not hard to do) is probably the best video game processor right now.

Nah, the 2600k is better though the 2500k lags behind by only about 2-3% on average, though the 980x is better than either in some.
 
BLU-82 said:
Thanks for the heads up! Crap...I think I'm just going to upgrade =/
Sticking to OP with the asrock 6Gbps. How does the i5 2500K 3.30GHz compare to a first generation core i7 @ 4Ghz? Considering potential overclocks of the i5.

You can get to 4.2 by adjusting one setting in Windows. It's inefficient, but it is beyond easy. 4.4 is easy but requires a couple tweaks. 4.5 seems to be where you start having to tweak more. I got to 4.6 stable, but it wasn't worth the heat and power draw.

I also own an ASRock P67, but consider an ASUS board if you are going to hard core OC. ASUS reps have a pretty thorough guide at [H]ardforums, and the methodology doesn't really translate to other boards. They also post over there and answer questions.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1578110

adam.chance said:
Could someone recommend me a good case with lots of 3.5 HDD space? I really wanted to buy the Fractal Design Define XL, but it seems I waited too long, because newegg lists it as discontinued and they are the only USA supplier I've found. I have a media server with 6 HDD right now, but I would like to expand it over the next few years to include more.

Most mid-tower cases support 10 HDDs (if you use the 5.25" bays) these days and decent ones can be had for $75-100. Your tolerance for "enthusiast" cases may be a factor here, and getting a nicer looking one can cost quite a bit
 
adam.chance said:
Could someone recommend me a good case with lots of 3.5 HDD space? I really wanted to buy the Fractal Design Define XL, but it seems I waited too long, because newegg lists it as discontinued and they are the only USA supplier I've found. I have a media server with 6 HDD right now, but I would like to expand it over the next few years to include more.
Lian Li PC-A70 has 10 internal 3.5" slots. NZXT Whisper has 9. Could always get some 5.25 to 3.5" adapters and stick them in a case of your choice to add a ton as well.
 
Man Raid0 is awesome. Opening up Steam is snappy due to the SSD and game load times are more less just as fast as they are on the SSD.

Its the best of both worlds.
 
Flying_Phoenix said:
Man Raid0 is awesome. Opening up Steam is snappy due to the SSD and game load times are more less just as fast as they are on the SSD.

Its the best of both worlds.
I'm glad I convinced you of this. It's totally where it's at for a gaming rig. Also remember, the more HDDs you add, the faster it gets. A buddy of mine still rocks a 9x150gb raptor RAID0 array. As he puts it, "games don't load, they just happen."
 
There will still be a few games that greatly benefit from an SSD, notably games that focus heavily on HDD streaming. MMOs benefit the most, in my experience. WoW on an SSD vs. on HDDs is night and day. Character models in major series take forever to load on an HDD, but they load pretty much instantly on an SSD. In LOTRO, stuttering is reduces by a lot with an SSD.
 
TheExodu5 said:
There will still be a few games that greatly benefit from an SSD, notably games that focus heavily on HDD streaming. MMOs benefit the most, in my experience. WoW on an SSD vs. on HDDs is night and day. Character models in major series take forever to load on an HDD, but they load pretty much instantly on an SSD. In LOTRO, stuttering is reduces by a lot with an SSD.

So SSD for MMOs and massive Openworld games and HDD for everything else?
 
TheExodu5 said:
There will still be a few games that greatly benefit from an SSD, notably games that focus heavily on HDD streaming. MMOs benefit the most, in my experience. WoW on an SSD vs. on HDDs is night and day. Character models in major series take forever to load on an HDD, but they load pretty much instantly on an SSD. In LOTRO, stuttering is reduces by a lot with an SSD.
Even on a good RAID setup? Or are you just comparing to a single HDD?
 
Thanks to mkenyon and squicken for pointing out an obvious alternative. I hate when I get focused in on some idea and fail to see something simple. Maybe I will finally by myself a Lian-Li case and get some adapters.
 
A buddy of mine has expressed interest in buying my current PC (i5-760 + GTX560ti) for $600, so that gave me carte blanche to put together another one.

Parts are all ordered, and I can't wait to finish the build and post up pics. :) Alas, I will have to wait until next week, since the parts are still arriving

NZXT Phantom White/Blue
ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
Core i5 2500K under a CM V6GT
8GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile
ASUS GTX570 1280MB DirectCuII
NZXT Hale90 750W
60GB Corsair SSD (OS)
1TB Spinpoint F3 (everything else)

Waiting for parts is by far the worst part of building. The Phantom arrived earlier this week and I'm already impressed - the fit and finish isn't up to par with the Lancool K63 I'm selling, but the room and features blow it away.
 
mkenyon said:
Even on a good RAID setup? Or are you just comparing to a single HDD?
SSDs are still going to destroyed raid HDDs if the data being load are in random places due to their almost zero seek time.
 
Tallshortman said:
Nah, the 2600k is better though the 2500k lags behind by only about 2-3% on average, though the 980x is better than either in some.

Any of the three processors listed is unlikely to be the bottleneck in a system. Somewhere down the line, yeah, the 2600k may take a bit of a lead (if HT is ever really utilized in games) but I don't think it's worth the extra $100.

I just realized that the microcenter sale ended. Guess I'll wait till next time.
 
Had a little project tonight, installed a Aerocool 1,000 touch fancontroller along with another scythe fan. In retrospect i probably should have bough two more scythe fans because they are way more silent compared to the stock R3 fans. Got my two intakes running at 800rpm, side panel 400rpm, and exhuast at 800rpm. The touch controller looks really nice, it doesnt contrast with the case like in the picture.

IMG_1909.jpg
 
Question.

I use my ATH-M50's to listen to audio on my computer. Would adding an audio card dramatically improve my audio quality versus the onboard on my p8p67?
 
LordCanti said:
You want laptop-GAF : http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386622

(I don't recommend buying a gaming laptop, because they are expensive and less powerful than the desktop equivalent. They also suck in terms of battery life. Having said that, I don't consider myself knowledgeable enough about laptop gaming performance to suggest one model over the other. Much more luck is likely to be had at laptop gaf)

I just wish laptop and gpu manufacturers would stopwith the bollox naming conventions for their mobile gpus.

It's physically impossible to fit and cool a gpu with the die size/amount of transistors of a gtx 560 , let alone a 580 or 6990, in a laptop enclosure.

Calling something with the performance of a hd 6750 a 6990 does not a 6990 make.

I'm with you btw, quoted poster should just buy a multimedia laptop with good battery life and buy a gaming pc from the 800+ dollars left over...

Smokey said:
Got home and turned on my monitor and see alerts in my log:

332b3af.png


Also check out the motherboard listing on the right. What is going on here?


Well when I get home and first thing I see is an alert triangle(s) in the corner of the screen it's a bit worrisome.
-60 degrees, your mobo is going to freeze, oh noes.

It's just a faulty reading, ignore it (and uninstall that pos)
 
Okay, GAF, I just built my pc, the first one I ever built, and it doesn't work.

At first, I got no picture at all, and no beeps. The motherboard (asrock extreme4) gave the error code 45 on it's handy little debug LED thing. This seems to be an error related to memory.

So I thought, okay, maybe one or both of the sticks of RAM is faulty. But it looks otherwise, because as long as I have either stick (and only one) in one of the right hand slots, I can boot and see the bios (haven't tried getting any further yet). It's just that if anything at all goes into the corresponding slot on the left, it doesn't work.

So what's going on here, is the mobo faulty, or something else?
 
flowsnake said:
Okay, GAF, I just built my pc, the first one I ever built, and it doesn't work.

At first, I got no picture at all, and no beeps. The motherboard (asrock extreme4) gave the error code 45 on it's handy little debug LED thing. This seems to be an error related to memory.

So I thought, okay, maybe one or both of the sticks of RAM is faulty. But it looks otherwise, because as long as I have either stick (and only one) in one of the right hand slots, I can boot and see the bios (haven't tried getting any further yet). It's just that if anything at all goes into the corresponding slot on the left, it doesn't work.

So what's going on here, is the mobo faulty, or something else?
If you have 4 slots, try the other two. Also, are they part of a dual channel set?
 
They are dual channel. I've tried other configurations that include the other two slots and they give the same error. I think the only thing I haven't tried is mixing the two types of slots...
 
The_Inquisitor said:
Question.

I use my ATH-M50's to listen to audio on my computer. Would adding an audio card dramatically improve my audio quality versus the onboard on my p8p67?

I use Goldring DR150's to listen to the majority of audio on my computer. I bought an Asus Xonar DG sound card to go with them and there was definitely a difference between that and the on board sound on my motherboard (socket 1156 board). This card has a headphone amp built in so it's likely some of the difference could be attributed to that.

Also have a stereo hooked up to my PC and couldn't notice much of a difference between the sound card and on board for that though.
 
I'm really bad at troubleshooting, but I'm sure someone else here can help you out. I haven't the slightest clue what could be wrong, other than the set being faulty or your Mobo not being configured properly.
 
flowsnake said:
Okay, GAF, I just built my pc, the first one I ever built, and it doesn't work.

At first, I got no picture at all, and no beeps. The motherboard (asrock extreme4) gave the error code 45 on it's handy little debug LED thing. This seems to be an error related to memory.

So I thought, okay, maybe one or both of the sticks of RAM is faulty. But it looks otherwise, because as long as I have either stick (and only one) in one of the right hand slots, I can boot and see the bios (haven't tried getting any further yet). It's just that if anything at all goes into the corresponding slot on the left, it doesn't work.

So what's going on here, is the mobo faulty, or something else?
Maybe you have to fiddle with the speeds? My mobo would not boot pass the bios without adjusting timmings and voltage.

Google your ram to see if it has problems at certain settings.
 
SneakyStephan said:
I just wish laptop and gpu manufacturers would stopwith the bollox naming conventions for their mobile gpus.

It's physically impossible to fit and cool a gpu with the die size/amount of transistors of a gtx 560 , let alone a 580 or 6990, in a laptop enclosure.

Calling something with the performance of a hd 6750 a 6990 does not a 6990 make.

I'm with you btw, quoted poster should just buy a multimedia laptop with good battery life and buy a gaming pc from the 800+ dollars left over...


-60 degrees, your mobo is going to freeze, oh noes.

It's just a faulty reading, ignore it (and uninstall that pos)

I lol'd at that too. The PSU reading concerned me though. Good to hear that it's the software.
 
LQX said:
Maybe you have to fiddle with the speeds? My mobo would not boot pass the bios without adjusting timmings and voltage.

Google your ram to see if it has problems at certain settings.

Are we talking about the same thing though? I can't even get to the bios when I have the ram all installed. Is there a way to alter those things in this case?

My memory is G.Skill Ripjaws-X 4GB for the record.
 
With the help of this thread I built a gaming PC earlier this year:

i5 2500k
P67-UD3P
EVGA GTX460 1GB Superclocked EE
4GB DDR3 SDRAM
SeaSonic S12II 520w PSU

Anyway, I'm really happy with how it performs but I'm thinking about throwing a little cash at it with some more demanding games on the horizon. What might be my best bet if I were to spend $200 or so?

Besides some more RAM the obvious answer would probably be another 460 for SLI, right? But would the 520w PSU be a limiting factor preventing that?

And if so, would it make any sense to get something like a 560 for the primary card and then assign the 460 to PhysX?
 
The Nature Roy said:
With the help of this thread I built a gaming PC earlier this year:

i5 2500k
P67-UD3P
EVGA GTX460 1GB Superclocked EE
4GB DDR3 SDRAM
SeaSonic S12II 520w PSU

Anyway, I'm really happy with how it performs but I'm thinking about throwing a little cash at it with some more demanding games on the horizon. What might be my best bet if I were to spend $200 or so?

Besides some more RAM the obvious answer would probably be another 460 for SLI, right? But would the 520w PSU be a limiting factor preventing that?

And if so, would it make any sense to get something like a 560 for the primary card and then assign the 460 to PhysX?

The 520w would prevent SLI, as well as using the second card for PhysX most likely (I've never actually looked at power draw for a second card used for PhysX, but I doubt it would work).

Your best option for $200? Sell the 460, and buy a GTX 560 ti. Otherwise, you're going to have to put money into a better PSU for SLI.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the 560 (non TI) is basically a higher clocked 460. Not worth the money, according to the general consensus I've seen here.
 
LordCanti said:
The 520w would prevent SLI, as well as using the second card for PhysX most likely (I've never actually looked at power draw for a second card used for PhysX, but I doubt it would work).

Your best option for $200? Sell the 460, and buy a GTX 560 ti. Otherwise, you're going to have to put money into a better PSU for SLI.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the 560 (non TI) is basically a higher clocked 460. Not worth the money, according to the general consensus I've seen here.

Is it worthwhile to pair a 460 with a 570 and use the 460 for PhysX? I've got plenty of room and spare power. Will the 460 shut down when not in use?
 
The Nature Roy said:
With the help of this thread I built a gaming PC earlier this year:

i5 2500k
P67-UD3P
EVGA GTX460 1GB Superclocked EE
4GB DDR3 SDRAM
SeaSonic S12II 520w PSU

Anyway, I'm really happy with how it performs but I'm thinking about throwing a little cash at it with some more demanding games on the horizon. What might be my best bet if I were to spend $200 or so?

Besides some more RAM the obvious answer would probably be another 460 for SLI, right? But would the 520w PSU be a limiting factor preventing that?

And if so, would it make any sense to get something like a 560 for the primary card and then assign the 460 to PhysX?

Agree with LordCanti. 460 is too powerful to waste as physx card and your PSU will likely not hold after intense usage. Sell your 460 and get a 6950, 560 Ti, or 570.
 
squicken said:
Is it worthwhile to pair a 460 with a 570 and use the 460 for PhysX? I've got plenty of room and spare power. Will the 460 shut down when not in use?

I would sell the 460. I don't have any data, but anecdotally, I've heard that much older cards than the 460 will work fine as a PhysX card in the second PCI-E slot. A 460 would be kind of overkill.

As for whether or not it would shut down, I would imagine so. Whether that means it would shut down fully (and produce no heat) or shut down part of the way (still producing heat), I'm not sure.
 
squicken said:
Is it worthwhile to pair a 460 with a 570 and use the 460 for PhysX? I've got plenty of room and spare power. Will the 460 shut down when not in use?

570/580 do a good enough job on their own with Phsyx to where a 2nd card isn't necessary.
 
squicken said:
Is it worthwhile to pair a 460 with a 570 and use the 460 for PhysX? I've got plenty of room and spare power. Will the 460 shut down when not in use?


If you got a 570 it would do everything physx included just swimmingly. I wouldn't really see a need for a dedicated physx card wih that caliber graphics card.
 
LordCanti said:
1 and 2. You can install the OS on it, and use it for steam games. No loss in performance will be seen, though you shouldn't fill the SSD to the brim (just like you wouldn't fill an HDD).

Yes 160gb should be enough for the OS and a bunch of games (most games are no bigger than 4-5gb. Some go up to 10, so you can imagine that you might fit ten or so games comfortably).

The drive will have pre-allocated space for garbage collection. You shouldn't need to save a huge chunk of space.
Thanks for the reply man.
 
Guess I'll leave it out, though I've always wondered about the used gfx card market. I sure as hell wouldn't buy one. Who knows what they did to their card?
 
mkenyon said:
Even on a good RAID setup? Or are you just comparing to a single HDD?

Compared to a single HDD...but the differences are major here, since I guess the streaming is essentially semi-random data. I'm talking about hundreds of player characters loading in 1-2 seconds on the SSD, and 10 seconds on the HDD. That pretty much implies a random data scenario, given those kinds of gains. For most games loading though, RAID 0 would be just as good.
 
Ravenn17 said:
I'm going to buy new computer parts soon and a power supply will be one of them. I currently only have one graphics card (460 GTX), and I plan to stick with it until next year. I want to make sure my parts last for at least 3 years, and that means leaving the option open for SLI. Would this be sufficient enough for two 1GB 460's, and a quad core processor?

"This"? I think you forgot the link.

EDIT: Ah. According to the product info, that PSU only has a single 12V rail. I am fairly confident it will not work for SLI.

EDIT2: You know what, ignore my advice. Pretty sure I don't know what I'm talking about.
 
the system i built is running fine, but just wondering how much should i install on the HDD? Like I remember with my old comp i installed like 200 gb worth of games and I bet it slowed my HDD...
 
Soka said:
"This"? I think you forgot the link.

EDIT: Ah. According to the product info, that PSU only has a single 12V rail. I am fairly confident it will not work for SLI.

From the linked page:

NVIDIA SLI CERTIFIED
Featuring two 6+2-pin PCI-E power connectors, the Corsair CMPSU-650TX power supply has gone through a series of rigorous NVIDIA SLI certification tests for maximum system stability when building NVIDIA SLI PCs

It'll work for two 460's.

Edit: I should mention that I'm not sure two 460's is a "three year solution". Generally speaking, if you aren't going to SLI to start with, it's better to just buy the best single video card you can afford. Things constantly get cheaper, and in three years, a dual 460 setup is going to be pokey.
 
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