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

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I think by all-in-one he meant something prebuilt that would include a monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc. But either way, a prebuilt machine is going to offer a lot less value, even if it's a prebuilt tower.
 
Why anyone would want an all in one PC where if your monitor dies your computer is worthless, or if your computer dies you have to pay for the monitor on your next machine. Don't do it man.
 
Hazaro said:
F4 still recommended. All HDD's should be up in price because of the floods.
64GB SSD = as OS and programs. 128GB = More programs (Mainly a game or two). Up to you.
PSU is fine for 1 6950
RAM isn't going to get cheaper so 16GB is fine. 8GB is already overkill for normal desktop usage.

is 8gb overkill for bf3 gaming?

and that sucks about the price hike (and for Thailand obviously :/).

edit: I was also looking at this for a seconday drive.

Western Digital Caviar Green WD7500AARX 750GB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

also how easy is it to image my primary hdd and transfer to the ssd?
 
Broadbandito said:
is 8gb overkill for bf3 gaming?
8GB is a good buy right now, I wouldn't suggest 4GB on a machine that costs more than $600. It still is overkill, but it is what you should get.
 
Shambles said:
Why anyone would want an all in one PC where if your monitor dies your computer is worthless, or if your computer dies you have to pay for the monitor on your next machine. Don't do it man.

That's not what I mean. I just mean something that includes all the stuff I need. A tower, monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard, OS, etc.
 
OG_Original Gamer said:
I just purchased a 64GB SSD (Crusical) and was wondering, if I were to install this now while I have my current two in RAID 0 would it just show up as a stand alone drive?


Of course lol.

Broadbandito said:
is 8gb overkill for bf3 gaming?

and that sucks about the price hike (and for Thailand obviously :/).

edit: I was also looking at this for a seconday drive.

Western Digital Caviar Green WD7500AARX 750GB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

also how easy is it to image my primary hdd and transfer to the ssd?

If you plan on putting BF 3 on an SSD get 8 gigs so you disable the paging file and the SSD receives less writes.
 
Slayer-33 said:
Of course lol.



If you plan on putting BF 3 on an SSD get 8 gigs so you disable the paging file and the SSD receives less writes.

The answers seems obvious, but I have 320gig HD that I can't seem to access, unless the creation of RAID 0 with the HD installed while not being a part of the RAID array still affected the drives format.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
That's not what I mean. I just mean something that includes all the stuff I need. A tower, monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard, OS, etc.
Ah. Typically the term "all-in-one PC" refers to a style of desktop computer where everything is all built-in together like this:

J4l7Y.jpg


If you just want a bundle that already has everything get a Dell or something like that I guess. Buying stuff like the monitor or mouse separately from the PC is often not recommended as the ones that come with a prebuilt system are often not that great and you don't have a lot of options. Also the majority of PC parts shops will also sell monitors and keyboards, etc. as well so it's not like it'll take a lot of work to get them. But do what you want.
 
PGamer said:
If you just want a bundle that already has everything get a Dell or something like that I guess. Buying stuff like the monitor or mouse separately from the PC is often not recommended as the ones that come with a prebuilt system are often not that great and you don't have a lot of options. Also the majority of PC parts shops will also sell monitors and keyboards, etc. as well so it's not like it'll take a lot of work to get them. But do what you want.

Yeah I got you now. I never even knew all-in-ones really existed in desktop form. Have any recommendations for a prebuilt system that's a good buy? Like I said, all I really want it to run is Blizzard and Valve games.

I went down to the nearest computer retailer and they had a lot of great stuff, but at extremely high prices. Everyone told me not to do it. So I'm open to other recommendations.
 
Just wanted to post an update on my $300 Llano quad-core +GTX 570 build:

Amaaaazing!

Overclocked the A6-3650 to 3.5 Ghz (I might be able to hit 4, gotta play around a bit), overclocked the GTX 570 to a conservative 850/2000 with minor voltage adjustment... performance on Battlefield 3 and Witcher 2 are stunning. 60+ FPS nearly the whole time on Ultra settings @ 1080p, with minor dips to 45-50 during super intense battles but I don't even really notice it because it looks so damn smooth 98% of the time.

Really happy with the results I got by spending almost nothing on this rig and re-using some of my old parts.

When Black Friday hits, I highly recommend picking up a Llano CPU + mobo. I got my A6 + really nice MSI mobo for $130 at Frys, so I know Black Friday/Cyber Monday are going to have some fantastic deals.


Slayer-33 said:
Of course lol.



If you plan on putting BF 3 on an SSD get 8 gigs so you disable the paging file and the SSD receives less writes.

Microsoft actually says NOT to disable the paging file even with an SSD. Fact is, you want a paging file on your SSD because SSD's give a huge boost to paging file performance. I just set my paging file to 1024 MB anyways.
 
Slayer-33 said:
If you plan on putting BF 3 on an SSD get 8 gigs so you disable the paging file and the SSD receives less writes.
I just put the page file on an HDD. Shouldn't get used much either way, but it's still there so no issues come up. Just in case.
 
So looking for a new psu for an hp pavillion, with these specs:
athlon x2 4450 2.3Ghz (possible amd athlon 2 x3 in the near future)
4gb ddr2
EVGA 9800gt 512mb ram
250gb 7200 hdd

What psu should I consider that would be cheaply priced, but still be reliable as well as a good performer?
 
Piercedveil said:
Anyone have any experience with a Coolermaster HAF 912? It looks like a really awesome case for the price!
I have it, and love it. Paired with a hyper 212 cpu cooler, it keeps things very cool. Is also very spacious, very easy to build in. Plus the cable management is great too. Really can't beat it for the price
 
Mr Nightman said:
I have it, and love it. Paired with a hyper 212 cpu cooler, it keeps things very cool. Is also very spacious, very easy to build in. Plus the cable management is great too. Really can't beat it for the price

I watched a review and it looks perfect for that price. Might have to pick one up sometime. Thank you.
 
Riddle me this, GAF:

I just got my Intel i7-2600k and installed it. The CPU Fan is incredibly loud. I went into a temp. check program expecting to see my computer at around 60 or some other high number, but all three of my Cores are below 36C, and my Temps are 25-34C.

So I ask the Midnight Society, do I just need a fan that isn't stock? Should I heatsink-up my RAM?
 
Piercedveil said:
Anyone have any experience with a Coolermaster HAF 912? It looks like a really awesome case for the price!

I just bought one, chose it over the Antec 300. So glad I did. AMAZING case for the price. Cable management is a breeze with it.

Make sure to buy 3-4 extra 120mm fans to go with it so you can maximize airflow.
 
HP_Wuvcraft said:
Riddle me this, GAF:

I just got my Intel i7-2600k and installed it. The CPU Fan is incredibly loud. I went into a temp. check program expecting to see my computer at around 60 or some other high number, but all three of my Cores are below 36C, and my Temps are 25-34C.

So I ask the Midnight Society, do I just need a fan that isn't stock? Should I heatsink-up my RAM?

heatsink the RAM? what? why? no!

as for the CPU fan, I assume you are using the stock cooler? It should come with a PWM fan (4 wires), which means you can have the fan speed set dynamically according to temperatures. To do so, go into the bios and look for a settings called "CPU Fan Speed" or something similar. It is usually in the area where you can see all the temperatures (the "PC Health" section of the bios).

Then just use one of the set profiles (usually something like Quiet, Normal, Cool) or make a custom profile and the fan speed should be reduced when your computer is idle and temperatures are low.
 
n0n44m said:
I assume you are using the stock cooler? It should come with a PWM fan (4 wires), which means you can have the fan speed set dynamically according to temperatures. To do so, go into the bios and look for a settings called "CPU Fan Speed" or something similar. It is usually in the area where you can see all the temperatures (the "PC Health" section of the bios).

Then just use one of the set profiles (usually something like Quiet, Normal, Cool) or make a custom profile and the fan speed should be reduced when your computer is idle and temperatures are low.

Did this already, set it to Normal. Still loud. I set it to Silent once but then the computer just shut off at random times.

There are a few issues with my computer:
1) Loud fan (UPDDATE: Changing to PWM mode and Silent does nothing save for a few RPMs)
2) Internet comes and goes
3) Shut Down will keep my computer at Shutting Down... until I manually shut it off.

Maybe I just suck at wiring.
 
My GTX470 GPU is doing a sterling job of Battlefield 3 on Ultra settings, but I have overclocked it a little to allow this. I used the wonderful MSI apps to create a custom fan speed graph which works fine, but means that my system is now super noisy once the GPU hits 70 degrees. So Gaf my questions are..

1. My Coolermaster case can take another 2 x 120mm fans on the side panel - would these reduce temps enough to allow me to reduce the 470 fan speed?

2. Am I right in thinking that around 70 degrees is about as hot as I want my GFX card getting?

As I say everything else is fine, it's just that when things hot up the sound gets pretty loud!!

TIA Gafers :)
 
BoobPhysics101 said:
I just bought one, chose it over the Antec 300. So glad I did. AMAZING case for the price. Cable management is a breeze with it.

Make sure to buy 3-4 extra 120mm fans to go with it so you can maximize airflow.
Thank you for not buying an Antec 300, that case either needs to be redesigned, price dropped to around $25, or taken out back and shot. There isn't any compelling reason to get it even over a $30 Asgard II.

Piercedveil said:
Anyone have any experience with a Coolermaster HAF 912? It looks like a really awesome case for the price!
Also check out the Bitfenix Shinobi, I don't know of any other cases in that price range that can compete with those two.

HP_Wuvcraft said:
Riddle me this, GAF:

I just got my Intel i7-2600k and installed it. The CPU Fan is incredibly loud. I went into a temp. check program expecting to see my computer at around 60 or some other high number, but all three of my Cores are below 36C, and my Temps are 25-34C.

So I ask the Midnight Society, do I just need a fan that isn't stock? Should I heatsink-up my RAM?
Brain fart due to the fact the first core is #0 so it only goes up to 3, or do you actually only have 3 cores listed?

Bendz said:
My GTX470 GPU is doing a sterling job of Battlefield 3 on Ultra settings, but I have overclocked it a little to allow this. I used the wonderful MSI apps to create a custom fan speed graph which works fine, but means that my system is now super noisy once the GPU hits 70 degrees. So Gaf my questions are..

1. My Coolermaster case can take another 2 x 120mm fans on the side panel - would these reduce temps enough to allow me to reduce the 470 fan speed?

2. Am I right in thinking that around 70 degrees is about as hot as I want my GFX card getting?

As I say everything else is fine, it's just that when things hot up the sound gets pretty loud!!

TIA Gafers :)
1. Not much, you would probably just see a few C at most, depending on what card you have.

2. High end cards can get hot. Really hot. You're fine up to about 90 or so with that card, as far as I know.
 
1. Not much, you would probably just see a few C at most, depending on what card you have.

2. High end cards can get hot. Really hot. You're fine up to about 90 or so with that card, as far as I know.

This makes me happy! I had adjusted the fan speed due to my temperature paranoia, but I think that even at stock speeds the card runs pretty hot. Thanks for the advice!
 
Morning, GAF. A friend of mine (with approval pending) is on the look for a new monitor. He's searching for a 24" one, and wants to know which would be his best option. He had this one and this one in mind.

If I recall correctly, he has a GTX570. Any advice on what should he be paying attention to (response time, lag, etc) would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
SteelAttack said:
Morning, GAF. A friend of mine (with approval pending) is on the look for a new monitor. He's searching for a 24" one, and wants to know which would be his best option. He had this one and this one in mind.

If I recall correctly, he has a GTX570. Any advice on what should he be paying attention to (response time, lag, etc) would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I have the asus LED. best monitor I have ever owned. hands down.
 
I have been using my new PC to test out games lately, and while everything ran perfectly the first two days, lately every modern game has been freezing after a minute or so of playing.

I'm not sure what is going on since none of these games that are freezing are games my computer should have trouble playing (Oblivion, Dungeon Siege 3).

It works fine with older games (Dungeon Siege 1, GTA2, etc.), but the computer has been freezing for every newish game.

It might be because I changed the clock speeds and stuff, so I'll set those back to default and see what happens.
 
Dr.Acula said:
I've got a gigabyte mobo, GA-P55A-UD3, and it has a Marvell SATA3 controller on board. My Q is, I've got to upgrade my SSD, and can I use my on board controller, or should I get a card?

Okay follow-up Q. I was looking around and saw one of those SSD cards (OCZSSDPX-1RVD0230), and they're not much different in price than the sata version. So how does that play with my mobo? I've got a 16x slot and a 4 x slot. As I understand, the drive should go in the 16 slot, but if I have a gfx card in the 4, does that make both slots run at 4?

And the above Q still stands.
 
Anyone recommend a vendor to build a top of the line gaming PC? I just don't have the time to sit there and build a PC from scratch after ordering from new-egg. The vendors I know about are IBUYPOWER and ALIENWARE. I know I'm paying a premium for assembly but that doesn't concern me.
 
Mr Nightman said:
I have it, and love it. Paired with a hyper 212 cpu cooler, it keeps things very cool. Is also very spacious, very easy to build in. Plus the cable management is great too. Really can't beat it for the price

I have the same setup, it's great. I love the look of it, too!
 
hey almighty gaf,

upgrading my athlon 3800 x2 (1st gen! been holding out for a long time cause i really had no reason to upgrade) since ive gotten a camera and have been trying to edit raws, and its just not happening.

was planning on getting an i5-2500k, unless you guys can convince me of the i7-2600k. Mainly just music listening browsing, and photoshop/lightroom will be probably the most intense thing i do. possibly some gaming, but i dont really care and its not the focus.

Any reason to spend the extra 100 on the i7? new build will have 8gb ram.
 
ACE 1991 said:
I have the same setup, it's great. I love the look of it, too!
nothing better than having friends see it and just say, "is that a computer?" looks soo outrageous specially with my scythe fan controller, lol
 
fat pat said:
hey almighty gaf,

upgrading my athlon 3800 x2 (1st gen! been holding out for a long time cause i really had no reason to upgrade) since ive gotten a camera and have been trying to edit raws, and its just not happening.

was planning on getting an i5-2500k, unless you guys can convince me of the i7-2600k. Mainly just music listening browsing, and photoshop/lightroom will be probably the most intense thing i do. possibly some gaming, but i dont really care and its not the focus.

Any reason to spend the extra 100 on the i7? new build will have 8gb ram.
Depending on how complicated the work is you do with Photoshop/Lightroom, you'll likely see no benefit going to the i7.
 
I think my VC is crapping out. I get resets and get display drivers rest and fixed, can't watch a youtube video or play a game with out it resetting. I've uninstalled the drivers twice too, and still the same shit.

It's a GTX 580 SC VC from EVGA, so I have warranty still, but I hate RMAing things.
 
Was wondering what thebdifference between a i5 2500k and a i7 800 would be when it comes to running games. My current rig has an i7 and im intending to build a new one, but im not sure if my performance in games woild take any sort of dip due to the cpus.
 
I think my GPU just ate it. I have one of those super loud XFX HD Radeon 6850s and it has sounded like a jet engine for the last couple of days (even with me using MSI afterburner to turn it down to 33%), now all of a sudden I cant hear anything. Is my fan dead, or is there a way I can revive it? My temps are 56C at idle. I was playing Costume Quest for a few minutes and it was up to 64C.
 
bigace33 said:
I think my GPU just ate it. I have one of those super loud XFX HD Radeon 6850s and it has sounded like a jet engine for the last couple of days (even with me using MSI afterburner to turn it down to 33%), now all of a sudden I cant hear anything. Is my fan dead, or is there a way I can revive it? My temps are 56C at idle. I was playing Costume Quest for a few minutes and it was up to 64C.

I don't know, man. I have the same exact GPU by the same exact manufacturer and no problems here. That's worrisome, however.
 
MrOogieBoogie said:
I don't know, man. I have the same exact GPU by the same exact manufacturer and no problems here. That's worrisome, however.
I've had this thing for like 3 months. It was loud out of the box because the fan is automatically set to idle at 70% speed. I managed to turn that down and reduce the incredible noise. I love the performance of the card but I cant hear anythin spinning at all so I'm pretty sure the fan has concked out. Now I'm hoping I can send it back and maybe get a different brand, but I don't know if Tigerdirect will do that. They may force me to get this crappy XFX brand again.
 
Does anyone know if the U.K Nvidia promotion has ended? Am just about to pick up a 560ti and was really looking forward to my free code but can't find it on any of the sites now.. :(
 
fat pat said:
hey almighty gaf,

upgrading my athlon 3800 x2 (1st gen! been holding out for a long time cause i really had no reason to upgrade) since ive gotten a camera and have been trying to edit raws, and its just not happening.

was planning on getting an i5-2500k, unless you guys can convince me of the i7-2600k. Mainly just music listening browsing, and photoshop/lightroom will be probably the most intense thing i do. possibly some gaming, but i dont really care and its not the focus.

Any reason to spend the extra 100 on the i7? new build will have 8gb ram.

The 2500K will be enough for your needs. I don't think it is worth the extra 100 to get the 2600K.
 
Would it be possible to load steam & games onto an external USB HDD and play them on different computers? Would there be registry issues? If so, is there an easy workaround?

Specifically:
Steam + misc games.
Heroes of Newerth
Rift
Battlefield 3
 
Are aftermarket GPU coolers an existent market like aftermarket CPU coolers? I want to push my reference 6950 more and I want a better air cooler if it'll let me push it further before reaching thermal peak.
 
Niblet said:
Are aftermarket GPU coolers an existent market like aftermarket CPU coolers? I want to push my reference 6950 more and I want a better air cooler if it'll let me push it further before reaching thermal peak.
Depending on how far you want to push it the temps should be fine on a stock cooler, really the concern for most people is the noise the fans run at.
You can set a pretty nice fan control setting based on temperature in MSI Afterburner so it is not a deal at idle, but some folks like their fan speed to be under 50,60,65% while under load. Sub 85C is fine. Sub 90C is ok.
A 6950 should be able to do 900Mhz fine, 950 is great, above 950 is overvolted and unlocked the CCC limit. Or was 900 the limit?
None of those clocks are a problem with a good stock heatsink and almost all 6950's have good coolers. higher end GPUs today almost all have decent coolers on them sans like a reference 6950 or 6970 that is 11" long and has a small fan on one end of it.

To answer your question yes they exist and they are expensive and large.
A decently priced successor to the Accelero S1 would be very welcome.

I've run my 6950's at 984Mhz on the POWERCOLOR heatsink.
 
Neckbeard said:
Would it be possible to load steam & games onto an external USB HDD and play them on different computers? Would there be registry issues? If so, is there an easy workaround?

Specifically:
Steam + misc games.
Heroes of Newerth
Rift
Battlefield 3
Probably not as easily as you'd like with Steam, but it's possible.

You could put the steamapps folder on the HDD, and then copy over the necessary files (game directory+gcf file) to the Steam installation on the other PC. Then you just log in and in your library the game should have a status of "download paused." Resume download or verify cache integrity and it will activate the game so you can play it.

Don't know about the others.
 
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