However I've got a question regarding the RAM. Currently I've got the low profile version listed as people were concerned the standard version would interfere with the heatsink. However given the recommended builds here lists the standard ram with the same mobo and heatsink is it fair to assume they won't interfere with each other (same as with the Newegg build guide but that's the pro board). If that's the case would I be better going with the standard Vengeance RAM over the LP version?
there's really no difference between the standard and the LP RAM as far as I know. With the 212 it would probably fit the standard, but only in 3 of the 4 slots. So if the price difference isn't significant and you plan on using 4 sticks in the future you might as well go with the low profile version imho
Hey, y'all. I recently upgraded to a 1TB drive (finally!) and some new RAM. I'm looking for some advice on what graphics cards I could/should be looking at upgrading to, or if I should just hold off and build a new PC at some point soon. Mostly, I'm curious about how useful my CPU/mobo still is.
Your Current Specs: AMD Phenom II X4 965 / 8GB DDR3 1333 / GA-770TA-UD3/ Radeon HD 6850 (what I'm most interested in upgrading)
Budget: $200-250? Not entirely sure.
Main Use: Gaming (5), Photoshop (2D drawing and painting) (5)
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080. Nice newer monitor, not interested in changing. I also have a 1600x1200 Wacom Cintiq.
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Battlefield 3 is where I'm interested in seeing the biggest performance increase. I currently run it on Medium at 40-50fps depending on the map.
So yeah. Thanks for any help, just wondering if it's worth buying some better graphics card or waiting to do a full new build.
Phenom II X4 965 should be enough for BF3 (and all other current generation games), especially if you overclock it a little
you'll won't be CPU limited unless you throw in some GTX680/HD7970
just look around for benchmarks a little and see if the price is worth it (can you sell the old card?) ... this is a nice site to easily compare cards
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/539?vs=549
(7850 seems around the $250 mark, ~30% BF3 increase? )
I'm starting to get display driver crashes more and more these days. I've had maybe half a dozen already while playing BioShock 2 (on the flipside, I had none at all while playing Mass Effect 3).
I'm running an HD6850 on Windows Vista 32bit. While playing games the GPU get's to around 77C which I understand is hot but not unsafe.
I've read at certain places it could be a lack of voltage, but I was assured my 580w (I think that's what it is) power supply would be enough for this GPU. Plus, I've had this GPU for over a year now and only started getting seldom display driver crashes last fall.
I'm updating my display drivers as I'm typing this.
with the lack of voltage don't they mean the GPU voltage? If you download software such as MSI afterburner, you can probably adjust the voltage control. Still lack of voltage would only pop up under high stress scenarios. You can download Unigine Heaven Benchmark 3.0 for example and let it run for an hour on max settings. If that doesn't crash, it's probably a software and not hardware related issue
I think i have gotten a crappy i5 2500k. Wont do anything over 4.4ghz with voltage below 1.4v :\. its really annoying cause my friend has a 2550k doing 4.8ghz on 1.35v.
Also my temps are pretty high :S. 70c with a h60. Think I should reseat the heatsink and redo the thermal paste? Keep in mind im using a sonata 3 case, which is bad for airflow
If you're close to 1.4v it's no surprise seeing temps like that with an H60. The case won't help, but 1155 CPUs don't generate that much heat so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Are you sure you have the correct bios settings? Most Asus boards for example offer quite a lot of voltage/phase control options that can make quite a difference.
