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[Hawk269]

OK I just googled around for a bit, and if the info in this post is correct it should all work fine

apparently when you connect a 4-pin (PWM) fan to a regular 3-pin connection it is always supposed to run at 100%.

It doesn't on my fan controller (runs at lowest speed possible), but that's because it's some advanced digital controller that can operate in both PWM and non-PWM mode (where non-PWM apparently = PWM @ 0%) ... long story short the issue I had should be with my particular controller and not due to PWM fans

so you can safely use the PWM fans on any 3-pin fan connector, and they'll run at maximum speed. If you attach them to your 3-pin non PWM controller, you should indeed be able to successfully lower their speed

Thank you for taking the time to look into this. So it looks like I will be good to go and be able to adjust fan speed as needed then. Yeah!!!! lol

Thanks again!

 

[Acrylic7]

Same thing - GPU means (G)raphics (P)rocessing (U)nit, it tends to get used as shorthand for graphics card

ahh, so which Graphics card should I get?

 

[Zel3]

I currently have a 1080p 24inch samsung monitor. What would be the next big step for me? I was thinking of getting a 27inch 1400p monitor, what would be the best choice? Triple monitors are are also tempting but bezels are a big turn off for me. Hmmm.

 

[clav]

ahh, so which Graphics card should I get?

How much are you willing to spend for one?

 

[MrBig]

ahh, so which Graphics card should I get?

iirc correctly your budget was $400 and you wanted better performance out of Photoshop, no?
560ti - $250 shipped. $25 rebate brings the total to $225.

You'll be able to take advantage of all the advanced gpu features of photoshop like cleanly rendering pixels at any zoom level, canvas rotation, and many other things. You'll also be able to play just about any game at a decent frame rate. Put the rest of the money in the bank, or buy another monitor, because you know you want to.

I currently have a 1080p 24inch samsung monitor. What would be the next big step for me? I was thinking of getting a 27inch 1400p monitor, what would be the best choice? Triple monitors are are also tempting but bezels are a big turn off for me. Hmmm.

One of (or more) of the Korean 27inchers. I'm personally grabbing a Crossover for $418, from DCSamsung, which includes the US power strip and a pivoting stand. Other models are cheaper ($330, $370 is about average), but the Crossover has the best build quality out of the lot.

 

[mhayze]

About to purchase the first thing that can be used for my build, a K90. It's $97 shipped, $77 with MIR. Probably as cheap as it will get so I might as well get it now even though I won't be buying anything else for over a month, since I still can make use of it.
Anyone used this? I don't care about the F keys being domes, I don't make use of them myself.
Might pick up the Fractal R3 for $80 as well, but that depends on some other things.

I previously posted my impressions of the K90 in this thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=34320661&postcount=204 In short, I liked it.

I like some of the Fractal cases, but I don't like the Antec that this one seems to be based on, and older designs with that kind of hinged door. No direct experience, but those kinds of doors usually turn out be flimsy on inexpensive cases, and it doesn't take much to break them, usually. If you live alone and are careful, that may not be much of a concern. If you are looking for inexpensive cases, I also recommend checking out reviews of the BitFenix cases.

ahh, so which Graphics card should I get?

Acrylic7: Looking at your previous posts, you had an i7 CPU, 6GB RAM, a 450W PSU and a $400 budget. Since I don't think you need to upgrade anything else (also keep in mind, Dell PCs use proprietary PSUs in my experience, in case you are considering an upgrade in that area), I would say that you have a $400 budget for a GPU.
Video card recommendations are a bit touchy. Most people bring their personal preferences and years of history into it, sort of like Xbox vs Playstation or Sega vs. Sony. I own both Radeon and Nvidia cards right now and overall for most things you should just buy best bang for the buck, unless you are looking for very specific features that one has over the other such as triple monitor support or 3D gaming. Absent those, I'd say under $400, the HD7870 is the faster card to get (cheapest I see is $350 on newegg), and there are some pretty good deals on the GTX 570 (you can get one for $270 after rebate on newegg). Both these cards will allow you to play with close to max image quality at 1080p on existing and upcoming games.

There is a shortage in 28nm manufacturing, but once Nvidia releases more mid range and top end parts, prices will fall, but in the meanwhile these are the two I'd be looking at, assuming you want to play recent games @ 1080p.

 

[MrBig]

I previously posted my impressions of the K90 in this thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=34320661&postcount=204

I like some of the Fractal cases, but I don't like the Antec that this one seems to be based on, and older designs with that kind of hinged door. No direct experience, but those kinds of doors usually turn out be flimsy on inexpensive cases, and it doesn't take much to break them, usually. If you live alone and are careful, that may not be much of a concern. If you are looking for inexpensive cases, I also recommend checking out reviews of the BitFenix cases.

Thanks for the impressions. Meant K60. What do you think of it now that you've had it for a while? I plan on just keeping the hand rest in the box, along with the colored keys, which they didn't even include for ESDF. I'm coming from a laptop keyboard.

My main reason for wanting the R3 is the sound deadening, I don't care about the door. I will have no CD drive, and the two fans it comes with will be placed on the side panel and rear, meaning I will never have a reason to open the door. Magnetic lock + not being in a place where it would get accidentally open = not a problem. By all reports, and from all that I have seen the case is otherwise extremely solid and more than worth the money.

 

[Acrylic7]

thanks guys, Big help

 

[ss_lemonade]

I love my new XL2420T , which is also the best reviewed one out there. It is hard on the wallet though, but all the good 120 hz monitors are (although the only ones I found that came close to this one are 27" and thus even more expensive...). I have the Nvidia 3D Vision 2 kit so I can't comment on AMD 3D

People here at my place also recommended the same monitor. Price seems to be in reach if I sell my old monitor. So anyone with experience on 3d with amd hardware (how it compares and stuff, or compatibility)?

 

[mhayze]

Thanks for the impressions. Meant K60. What do you think of it now that you've had it for a while? I plan on just keeping the hand rest in the box, along with the colored keys, which they didn't even include for ESDF. I'm coming from a laptop keyboard.

My main reason for wanting the R3 is the sound deadening, I don't care about the door. I will have no CD drive, and the two fans it comes with will be placed on the side panel and rear, meaning I will never have a reason to open the door. Magnetic lock + not being in a place where it would get accidentally open = not a problem. By all reports, and from all that I have seen the case is otherwise extremely solid and more than worth the money.

Now that I've had it for a while, I've grown quite fond of it. I think it is an excellent gaming keyboard - MX Red keyswitches are great. I bought some inexpensive rubber o-ring dampeners for the main keys to damp the noise, and I love the feel, which was a side-effect. If you're interested I can provide details.

I had another gaming board with macro keys on the left, and found that during heated gaming, I'd press the macros instead of the left-side CTRL key (crouch or walk in many FPS/TPS games), which annoyed me, so I'm glad I got the non-MMO version of this keyboard, despite the lack of backlighting. I'm a touch typist and don't need to look at the keyboard ever. The hand rest and the red keys are sitting in the box unused. I'd almost rather they had provided a red rubberized Esc key, I'd use that

 

[Hazaro]

There was an Antec/Newegg speed building compution to win a 1k gaming PC.

I would have won if they selected me, but I was not called after standing around for 2 hours. #BoycottNeweggAndAntec

 

[Lion Heart]

How can I check my CPU speed, besides the Bios. It says 3.3ghz under system hardware but I have it at 4.2.

 

[irishcow]

How can I check my CPU speed, besides the Bios. It says 3.3ghz under system hardware but I have it at 4.2.

Download CPU-Z. If its a 2500k make sure you are running something like prime95 while you check the speed otherwise it will clock down to 1600mhz.

 

[MrBig]

Now that I've had it for a while, I've grown quite fond of it. I think it is an excellent gaming keyboard - MX Red keyswitches are great. I bought some inexpensive rubber o-ring dampeners for the main keys to damp the noise, and I love the feel, which was a side-effect. If you're interested I can provide details.

I had another gaming board with macro keys on the left, and found that during heated gaming, I'd press the macros instead of the left-side CTRL key (crouch or walk in many FPS/TPS games), which annoyed me, so I'm glad I got the non-MMO version of this keyboard, despite the lack of backlighting. I'm a touch typist and don't need to look at the keyboard ever. The hand rest and the red keys are sitting in the box unused. I'd almost rather they had provided a red rubberized Esc key, I'd use that

How much space is left between the keyboard surface between the 2mm activation? If the 4mm number is the full possible travel distance I can easily get a nice sheet of rubber or foam for cheap and knock out spaces to fit the switches through. I'll see what I think of the noise when I get it though. I've seen a lot of reports of the backlights quickly dying on the K90, and the only macros I use are for Photoshop, which I handle with autohotkey.
I've got it ordered and waiting for processing to complete, so I'll have it before the end of the week.

 

[1-D_FTW]

iirc correctly your budget was $400 and you wanted better performance out of Photoshop, no?
560ti - $250 shipped. $25 rebate brings the total to $225.

You'll be able to take advantage of all the advanced gpu features of photoshop like cleanly rendering pixels at any zoom level, canvas rotation, and many other things. You'll also be able to play just about any game at a decent frame rate. Put the rest of the money in the bank, or buy another monitor, because you know you want to.



One of (or more) of the Korean 27inchers. I'm personally grabbing a Crossover for $418, from DCSamsung, which includes the US power strip and a pivoting stand. Other models are cheaper ($330, $370 is about average), but the Crossover has the best build quality out of the lot.

That's a terrible deal. As a general tip, anyone purchasing a GPU right now should really be checking Slickdeals every morning.

Amazon had the EVGA 560TI 448 cores on sale for 189.99 (after 30 MIR) this morning.

And if you can handle the absurd wattage, they have the GTX 480 for 229.99.

Places are clearing stock for the new mid range Kepler cards that are coming. I'm seeing deals every day (not that I would touch one right now considering you'll be getting similar performance at a lot less wattage as soon as the "mid-range" Kepler starts hitting). It really does pay for anyone buying a mid-range Nvidia card to be camping the Slickdeals website.

 

[Sarcasm]

It would be nice if I could use slickdeals over here in Taiwan =D


When are the new CPUs (intel) coming out? I am about to build a PC.

 

[MrBig]

That's a terrible deal. As a general tip, anyone purchasing a GPU right now should really be checking Slickdeals every morning.

Amazon had the EVGA 560TI 448 cores on sale for 189.99 (after 30 MIR) this morning.

And if you can handle the absurd wattage, they have the GTX 480 for 229.99.

Places are clearing stock for the new mid range Kepler cards that are coming. I'm seeing deals every day (not that I would touch one right now considering you'll be getting similar performance at a lot less wattage as soon as the "mid-range" Kepler starts hitting). It really does pay for anyone buying a mid-range Nvidia card to be camping the Slickdeals website.

You're right, I should have checked slickdeals for him but it slipped my mind. the 448 is available for $215 at Newegg currently (245 shipped with promo code EMCNFNE52 + $30 mail in rebate). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738

 

[-GOUKI-]

Hi guys im a newb at overclocking but dolphin and xenoblade is calling for me.

My cpu is a amd athlon 2 x4 630 at 2.4ghz (i wanna overclock it to 3.2)

and my motherboard is a Gigabyte M68M-S2P

 

[CrankyKong]

Why is the AMD FX 8150 hardly any better than the i5 750?

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/109?vs=434

 

[scogoth]

It would be nice if I could use slickdeals over here in Taiwan =D


When are the new CPUs (intel) coming out? I am about to build a PC.

End of April, though im sure some have fallen off the back of a truck in Vietnam.

 

[mkenyon]

Hazaro, if you could check out the CM booth that would be awesome. Wondering if they have that new keyboard and watercooling system there. If Carter is working tell him Curious G, Kudos, and Mikey say hi.

Hi guys im a newb at overclocking but dolphin and xenoblade is calling for me.

My cpu is a amd athlon 2 x4 630 at 2.4ghz (i wanna overclock it to 3.2)

and my motherboard is a Gigabyte M68M-S2P

Look for some AM3 overclocking guides. There might be a link to one in the "Race Your PC" thread. It's fairly complex, not something that can be done through a thread. Going to take you the better part of an afternoon to get a solid OC. You have an aftermarket cooler at least?

Why is the AMD FX 8150 hardly any better than the i5 750?

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/109?vs=434

Because they bet big on applications being able to take advantage of 6-8 cores by the time of release. Lots of other issues too, but that seems to stick out to me as a biggie. Does pretty well in rendering/encoding.

 

[BabeSlayer]

Alright guys my computer decided to die....a long slow and violent death. So I am rebuilding...wife signed off finally

I'll post up what I'm looking at doing, would love suggestions, criticism, other options I might not have thought of...etc

this is what i'm thinking for the box: NZXT Phantom

I was gonna hold off to rebuild until windows 8, but since the computer died I am thinking windows 7 64bit

I'm thinking the GeForce GTX 560Ti (I would eventually like to SLI, I guess the 560 doesn't support 3 monitors though so i'm open to suggests to one's that would)

I'm eyeing the Intel Core i7 3930K Hexa Core Processor (but I honestly don't think I need that much)

As for motherboard I have no idea..been out of the game way too long. please give me some suggestions I want to SLI obviously eventually and I want to pack this sucker full of ram

 

[scogoth]

For the more hardcore among us Lucid has created another piece of cool GPU virtualization madness.

Anandtech has an overview of it in their Z77 mobo reviews. I got a feeling a lot of people will be asking questions about it so I'm going to disclaimer this for everyone buying motherboards in the future.

If your motherboard supports Lucid MVP and you do not understand what it does, DO NOT ENABLE IT IF YOUR MINIMUM FPS IS LOWER THAN YOUR SCREENS REFRESH RATE

Basically it's a virtual v-sync similar to nvidias adaptive vsync but goes one step further by keeping input responses at full fps speeds while the frame buffer only displays at the refresh rate. Also it removes unnecessary frames from rendering increasing input fps for responsiveness.

 

[clav]

Anyone look at Plextor SSDs, specifically the Plextor M3 series?

They use Marvell-based controllers, so they are not SandForce.

Wonder what's GAF's take on it aside from the usual Samsung 830 and Crucial M4 recommendations.

I'm always looking to expand knowledge as the SSD market continues to grow.

 

[longdi]

For those who are looking for a SSD upgrade, i say hold your horses, from what i seen, Intel is going to price their new 330 series very aggressively. They are using SF controller with Sata 3.0 speed and Intel 5 years reliability, enough to relegate all old Sata 2.0 SSD obsolete. The new 330 pricing will also have a knockdown effect on their own 520 series and of coz other SSD! Coming soon!

Now i know why Crucial is dumping their m4 last months! lol!

 

[BoobPhysics101]

For the more hardcore among us Lucid has created another piece of cool GPU virtualization madness.

Anandtech has an overview of it in their Z77 mobo reviews. I got a feeling a lot of people will be asking questions about it so I'm going to disclaimer this for everyone buying motherboards in the future.

If your motherboard supports Lucid MVP and you do not understand what it does, DO NOT ENABLE IT IF YOUR MINIMUM FPS IS LOWER THAN YOUR SCREENS REFRESH RATE

Basically it's a virtual v-sync similar to nvidias adaptive vsync but goes one step further by keeping input responses at full fps speeds while the frame buffer only displays at the refresh rate. Also it removes unnecessary frames from rendering increasing input fps for responsiveness.

There was already a thread on this. You can use it already, I've tried it. Didn't really seem to work. I'll have to give it a shot I guess.

 

[clav]

For those who are looking for a SSD upgrade, i say hold your horses, from what i seen, Intel is going to price their new 330 series very aggressively. They are using SF controller with Sata 3.0 speed and Intel 5 years reliability, enough to relegate all old Sata 2.0 SSD obsolete. The new 330 pricing will also have a knockdown effect on their own 520 series and of coz other SSD!

Yeah, I said that a few pages ago. It's Sandforce though, and the fact that some people are having trouble with their Intel 520 drives despite Intel tested its own proprietary firmware for over an year is not a good sign at all.

Speculators say the Intel 330 will be a Intel 520 drive that brings back RAISE, a SandForce ability to revive NAND, and uses cheaper memory. However, the Intel 520 axed that feature for speed, so it's a bit perplexing what Intel is doing here. The Intel 320 uses a feature similar to RAISE, but it's not a SandForce controller.

In other words, are buyers in for the latest Intel drives just buying rebadged SandForce drives and paying the premium for the name? It'll be a tough sell considering for people who have used alternative drives with non-SF controllers just fine.

Why not buy a Patriot Pyro SE drive if you want a SF drive with synchronous NAND and decent support?

Now i know why Crucial is dumping their m4 last months! lol!

*facepalm*

 

[longdi]

Are the 520 that problematic, seems fine to me? I have the 320 and never got affected by the 8mb bug. I also dont think any company support can get any more decent than Intel's. It is still good Intel is bringing SSD to the maintream.

 

[clav]

Are the 520 that problematic, seems fine to me? I have the 320 and never got affected by the 8mb bug. I also dont think any company support can get any more decent than Intel's. It is still good Intel is bringing SSD to the maintream.

If the complaints on the Intel forums are true and elsewhere, I would say there's something wrong.

As for support, I heard Patriot's is not too bad as they've reportedly been updating their SSD firmwares on a constant basis, and I really haven't had a problems with the RMA process with many computer component companies.

Yeah, competition is always good, and I'm eager to see the day when SSDs hit sweet prices.

I just like to scrutinize everything before I make a purchase.

I'm skeptical what the Intel 330 will bring considering the current prices of SF drives are in the same range.

 

[Tess3ract]

Some exclusive deals going on 6-15 for rosewill!

15% off Hive power supplies: RWPAXEAST1
20$ off rk-9000 mech keyboard: RWPAXEAST2

 

[Ilias78]

Some pretty nice new Ivy Bridge motherboards over here mates:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5728/...view-asrock-asus-gigabyte-msi-ecs-and-biostar

 

[LordAlu]

Alright guys my computer decided to die....a long slow and violent death. So I am rebuilding...wife signed off finally

I'll post up what I'm looking at doing, would love suggestions, criticism, other options I might not have thought of...etc

this is what i'm thinking for the box: NZXT Phantom

I was gonna hold off to rebuild until windows 8, but since the computer died I am thinking windows 7 64bit

I'm thinking the GeForce GTX 560Ti (I would eventually like to SLI, I guess the 560 doesn't support 3 monitors though so i'm open to suggests to one's that would)

I'm eyeing the Intel Core i7 3930K Hexa Core Processor (but I honestly don't think I need that much)

As for motherboard I have no idea..been out of the game way too long. please give me some suggestions I want to SLI obviously eventually and I want to pack this sucker full of ram

Looking at all this, the NZXT Phantom is a fine case and Windows 7 64bit is exactly what you want. If you can hang on just a little longer the mid-range Kepler GTX 6 series cards will be a much better buy. Also, do you really need the i7 3930K? An i7 2600K or i5 2500k will do plenty when overclocked.
For motherboards just check the list in the OP, there's some really nice ones in there like Asus P8Z68 PRO/GEN3.

 

[Edvardelis]

Z77 boards are out and in stock.

Hmm...

ASUS Z77 Pro or Deluxe...

(No processors for a while yet, oddly)

 

[Sethos]

I want the Sabertooth Z77 in my life. But yeah, now we just need the CPUs ...

 

[Mystery]

Excuse the crappy cable management. This is temporary to get the fans plugged in until my 12-fan controller comes in this week. Also waiting on my 3x GTX 680s, waterblocks, and backplates. Going to put another 120mm fan in the front top spot, and 4 80mm fans in the back spots. After my video cards get here, I'll attach the side panels.

 

[Madridy]

^ Holy Shit!

 

[Xisiqomelir]

*sexy images*

Temp readings, please!

Excellent setup.

 

[Mystery]

Max CPU temps were after a 10 minute Prime stress test. I'll probably lower my vcore, as I'm at 1.5 right now, which isn't really necessary for 4.6 Ghz. GPUs idle at about 30c, load at about 41C. Not bad for GTX 480s at 790/1900.

 

[Mr Swine]

Seems that the I5 3570k are coming out next week according to some poeple at anandtech. Any word on it?

 

[Pratfall]

Is anyone utilizing SRT with a SATA 3 Gb/s drive as the cache? How well does it work? I want to rebuild my system around Ivy Bridge this summer and would like to reuse my 80GB Vertex 2 in combination with a 1TB drive to get faster loading on my Steam library.

 

[Lanbeast]

Hey guys.

Need your help one more time. Going through with building the PC for my elderly Aunt and Uncle and I'd like to order the parts today since Newegg has promotions for 10-15% off everything.

This is what I've got:

One of the monitors will be taken out once I talk to them about whether they wanted 23" or 24" since I forget. Their uses will be basic and with no gaming other than web apps, etc. Most use will be scanning photos and organizing them, browsing the web, and typing up some documents.

Am I going overboard with this build or is there anything you would add/remove?

 

[LordAlu]

Hey guys.

Need your help one more time. Going through with building the PC for my elderly Aunt and Uncle and I'd like to order the parts today since Newegg has promotions for 10-15% off everything.

This is what I've got:

http://i.imgur.com/p2ixV.png

One of the monitors will be taken out once I talk to them about whether they wanted 23" or 24" since I forget. Their uses will be basic and with no gaming other than web apps, etc. Most use will be scanning photos and organizing them, browsing the web, and typing up some documents.

Am I going overboard with this build or is there anything you would add/remove?

Maybe a DVD drive for Windows install or so they can put their music on the computer? Also what is the 4GB MicroSD Card in there for?

 

[Lanbeast]

Maybe a DVD drive for Windows install or so they can put their music on the computer? Also what is the 4GB MicroSD Card in there for?

Sorry, I should have said that I have an extra drive laying around that I'm going to put in for them. The MicroSD comes free with Win7.

 

[1-D_FTW]

Hey guys.

Need your help one more time. Going through with building the PC for my elderly Aunt and Uncle and I'd like to order the parts today since Newegg has promotions for 10-15% off everything.

This is what I've got:

One of the monitors will be taken out once I talk to them about whether they wanted 23" or 24" since I forget. Their uses will be basic and with no gaming other than web apps, etc. Most use will be scanning photos and organizing them, browsing the web, and typing up some documents.

Am I going overboard with this build or is there anything you would add/remove?

I really don't know why you're bothering to go this route. Those are the type of people pre-made PCs are built for.

http://weeklyad.staples.com/Staples...oncode=Staples-120408&listingid=0&sneakpeek=N

Staples has an i3 2120 (better than the above) with 8GB Ram and 1TB Hard Drive for 449.99.

http://weeklyad.staples.com/Staples...oncode=Staples-120408&listingid=0&sneakpeek=N

They have the AMD A6-3600 with 6 GB RAM for 379.99.

I'm not a big fan of Dell and the phone home crap they install/gum up the system with, so I'd prefer the AMD over the i3 at staples.

But OFFICE MAX has a nice i3/8GB/1TB for 479.99:

http://www.officemax.com/technology/computers/desktop-computers/product-prod3810168

Or my favorite (got the link from google shopping since Best Buy is down for maintenance today):

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway...&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=3152445

It's an i3 2120/6GB/1TB Gateway for 449.99. I know somebody with that. It's got a really slick, glossy case. And there's zero bloatware running in the background gumming things up.

Honestly, it's just not worth it IMO. You can not only save them money going the pre-purchased route, but they'll be no hassle on your end. You won't have to worry about trouble shooting any defective parts.

 

[Lanbeast]

I was under the impression that the parts they usually put in those are lower quality and you generally only get a year warranty instead of the 1-3 year warranties you get on parts.

Plus, after monitor the prices are pretty similar or even higher.

 

[1-D_FTW]

I was under the impression that the parts they usually put in those are lower quality and you generally only get a year warranty instead of the 1-3 year warranties you get on parts.

They're budget parts, but that motherboard you've listed isn't exactly top tier either.

Stock power supplies suck for gaming, but that Best Buy i3 I listed idles at 30 watts. Didn't check that system under load, but I doubt it even breaks 100 watts. So it doesn't matter IMO. If you're not stressing it, it shouldn't be an issue for many years. Hard drives come from the usual suspects. Memory is going to be budget, but again, considering it's a low wattage/usage system, it should last years with zero issues.

As for the 1 vs 3 year warranty. I'm kind of under the belief that if things have defects, they're going to show themselves in the first year anyways. If you make it past then, years 2 - 3 aren't likely to be issues on those components anyways.

Personally, I always build my own because they're gaming systems. But I don't build PCs for people who want what you want. I look through the Sunday ads and point them where to go. I think it saves both people (them money, me the hassle).

 

[LordAlu]

Sorry, I should have said that I have an extra drive laying around that I'm going to put in for them. The MicroSD comes free with Win7.

Ahh, okay

 

[Lanbeast]

You make a lot of good points. I guess I wasn't really looking at it as a hassle because I've been in the mood to build my own but decided to wait until next year, so this would stave off the craving until then.

I just want to make sure this will last for them since they're pretty old and don't have any plans to buy another one. My parents always buy theirs pre-made at stores and they never run as well as I expect them too. /shrug.

 

[1-D_FTW]

You make a lot of good points. I guess I wasn't really looking at it as a hassle because I've been in the mood to build my own but decided to wait until next year, so this would stave off the craving until then.

I just want to make sure this will last for them since they're pretty old and don't have any plans to buy another one. My parents always buy theirs pre-made at stores and they never run as well as I expect them too. /shrug.

I'm just providing one view-point. You don't have to listen to it.

And I'll agree putting a PC together is easy and hassle-free. Assuming you don't get any defective parts. And have to trouble shoot.

As for pre-mades, Dells are absolute POS. The proprietary software they put in is HORRIBLE and does impact performance significantly.

Traditionally I've found HP to be fairly clean systems that run as they should. And that i3 Gateway from Best Buy I was pleasantly surprised with. I wouldn't judge all brands as equal, because they're most definitely not.

 

[Lanbeast]

I'm just providing one view-point. You don't have to listen to it.

And I'll agree putting a PC together is easy and hassle-free. Assuming you don't get any defective parts. And have to trouble shoot.

As for pre-mades, Dells are absolute POS. The proprietary software they put in is HORRIBLE and does impact performance significantly.

Traditionally I've found HP to be fairly clean systems that run as they should. And that i3 Gateway from Best Buy I was pleasantly surprised with. I wouldn't judge all brands as equal, because they're most definitely not.

I can't remember what brand they bought, but I'll keep that in mind. Thanks a bunch for your time, dude!

If anyone else wants to weigh in I'm all ears. Probably gonna decide by tonight some time if I'll order these parts or hold off for something else.