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[chaosblade]

Thanks for all the help, guys. I think I'm going to go with the i5, along with the motherboard and the RAM in the 'Enhanced' section of the OP. I'll let you know once it all comes in, as I'll likely need help getting everything installed and functioning properly.

I doubt you'll need any help, it's extremely easy. Are you planning on using the case for your old PC? Might need to make sure the motherboard will fit. Probably need mATX and not a full ATX motherboard.

Thanks for the boot USB/CD tip. Didn't the M4 just hit a huge problem, like everyone's are starting to die off and Crucial is asking users to RMA them for replacement and troubleshooting?

I haven't heard anything about that, I have one and it's been fine.

 

[Shambles]

Pics!

I tighten by turning normally until it can't tighten anymore, then forcefully tighten it another quarter turn. If it's already tightly on you aren't going to see any temp difference most likely.

Big as you feel comfortable on your desk. Pixel density is already pretty small so it's not as much a factor as TVs

While it's not as bad as TVs I think modern monitor pixel density is shit considering how close you sit to the screen. We're getting to the point where mobile devices are streets ahead of monitors in terms of panel quality and DPI even despite the limitations of their small and light form factors.

If you're looking for whatever decent monitor just go to newegg and sort by rating. The samsungs review pretty well. I'm not a big fan of TN panels but they're still a good choice considering the price difference to quality displays.

 

[FoolsRun]

Thanks for the boot USB/CD tip. Didn't the M4 just hit a huge problem, like everyone's are starting to die off and Crucial is asking users to RMA them for replacement and troubleshooting?

According to the crucial forums (and assuming "Crucial_Dude" is an actual employee of the company and not an impersonator), there's a problem with drives after they've been on for 5200 hours. They expect to release a firmware update to fix the problem the week of the 16th.

 

[sn00zer]

Anyone know of a cheap upgrade I could make card wise (currently rocking an 8800gts and would like to give it to a friend), dont want to get a new power supply or anything (500W), just a card and I dont need a beefy one my montior is only 1680*1050 anyway...just looking for a card to play most games at 30 to 60 fps high settings, i dont care to much about IQ dunno if that matters

 

[Branson]

Since I'm saying fuck it and going to get a 580 instead of a 560 ti would a 700w power supply be enough? Also I assume a 2500k wouldn't be a bottleneck...

 

[Corky]

Since I'm saying fuck it and going to get a 580 instead of a 560 ti would a 700w power supply be enough? Also I assume a 2500k wouldn't be a bottleneck...

Correct on both parts.

 

[noire]

the 2nd
Surround sound knowledge

Ahh, got it. Thanks for the lesson!

But what's the GAF opinion on all-in-one PCs?

I'm a graphic designer and loved my iMac when I had it. Switched over to a Macbook Pro and a cinema display to get the best of both worlds and it's been great.

It looks like you can do an HP 220xt or a refurbished iMac for $910 & $1000 respectively. Both have 21.5" screens, i5 2.5ghx, wireless keyboard and mouse, 802.11n. HP has 6GB RAM, iMac has 4, HP has a 2GB radeon 6550A, iMac has a 512MB 6750. Bluetooth in the mac, along with the ability to run OSX if you need it. 1TB in the HP, 500GB in the Mac.

 

[sn00zer]

Also would anyone be willing to part with an nvidia 9800gt or gtx?

 

[JVIDICAN]

If I'm looking into getting another graphics card around the end of the year or early next would I be better off just getting another (hopefully cheaper) HD 6000 series card and using crossfire or investing in a single newer card? :3

 

[FoolsRun]

Anyone know of a cheap upgrade I could make card wise (currently rocking an 8800gts and would like to give it to a friend), dont want to get a new power supply or anything (500W), just a card and I dont need a beefy one my montior is only 1680*1050 anyway...just looking for a card to play most games at 30 to 60 fps high settings, i dont care to much about IQ dunno if that matters

Assuming you have a good-quality PSU, just about anything shy of the highest-end cards (GTX 580 or ATI 5970) should work with what you've got. You can check NVidia's and AMD's web sites to see the maximum power draw for every card to ensure you have enough juice on the 12V rail.

You can use this link from Tom's Hardware to see the relative rankings of different graphics cards. The OP has a number of recommended cards and their prices, assuming you know how much you want to spend.

 

[chaosblade]

If I'm looking into getting another graphics card around the end of the year or early next would I be better off just getting another (hopefully cheaper) HD 6000 series card and using crossfire or investing in a single newer card? :3

Depends on how much you're looking to spend, but a single card is always a better option than multiple cards due to the issues involved. Plus you'll need a much more powerful PSU to run two fairly high end 6000 series cards than one 7000 series one.

If you're waiting until early next year, you're probably just better off not even worrying about it until you're about ready to upgrade. The GPU landscape will be completely different then.

 

[ToyMachine228]

So this is what I have in my cart at Newegg. This will be my first PC that I've ordered and built myself so if there are any parts I'm missing that I will need please tell me. Worse thing would be to get it all here go to put it together and be missing something.

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Item #: N82E16827135204

Acer S200HLAbd Black 20" 5ms LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor
Item #: N82E16824009317

ECS NGTX550TI-1GPLI-F1 GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814134130

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817139026

CORSAIR XMS3 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX2GX3M1A1333C9
Item #: N82E16820145331

PS- I got two of the above

ASRock H61M-VS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157241

Intel Pentium G850 Sandy Bridge 2.9GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623G850
Item #: N82E16819116397

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986

There's no mouse and keyboard in there, but besides that, am I missing anything I'll need? Also, if anyone can recommend a cheap yet functional mouse and keyboard for gaming that'd be great. Nothing fancy, just comfortable to use.

 

[JJBro One]

anyone know how to hook up the 360 controller with the transforming dpad to work with pc games?

 

[Owlowiscious]

I'm tired of building computers. Any suggestions of a premade I can just throw a nice video card into and get good results? I'd rather purchase at a brick and mortar, as I live in Hawaii. Unless someplace isn't a dick about shipping prices to Hawaii, that is.

 

[Celcius]

Finally got the replacement side panel for my haf-x today.
(the original had a crack)

 

[Yami]

anyone know how to hook up the 360 controller with the transforming dpad to work with pc games?

360 Wireless Adapter, bro.

 

[Mr. Enigma]

360 Wireless Adapter, bro.

Wireless Adapter 100% will not work on 64-bit editions of Windows 7. It works on the 32-bit version.

 

[Quicksilver4648]

Wireless Adapter 100% will not work on 64-bit editions of Windows 7. It works on the 32-bit version.

Then how have I been using my wireless adapter on my Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit PC?

 

[jwhit28]

Wireless Adapter 100% will not work on 64-bit editions of Windows 7. It works on the 32-bit version.

Since when? I have had one for 2 years I use almost everyday and I use the grey rotating d-pad controller.

 

[theRizzle]

Wireless Adapter 100% will not work on 64-bit editions of Windows 7. It works on the 32-bit version.

Uhhhh, what?

It 100% works with this 100% legit driver.

 

[Piercedveil]

Thinking about upgrading my case to a HAF 912 and getting a new power supply since I don't like having a crappy one that came with my computer (I'll probably get the XFX PRO550 one in the OP.) I'm not really thinking of doing anymore upgrades other than that. Right now my case is just the standard one that comes with pre-built HPs and it's a dust magnet/doesn't have the greatest air-flow. Anyone have the HAF 912 that could comment on the dust filters and air-flow? Looks pretty nice for the price with a lot of great reviews.

Also, can some motherboards only output a certain amount of power or will they all output just as much as needed for the components?

 

[jwhit28]

Thinking about upgrading my case to a HAF 912 and getting a new power supply since I don't like having a crappy one that came with my computer (I'll probably get the XFX PRO550 one in the OP.) I'm not really thinking of doing anymore upgrades other than that. Right now my case is just the standard one that comes with pre-built HPs and it's a dust magnet/doesn't have the greatest air-flow. Anyone have the HAF 912 that could comment on the dust filters and air-flow? Looks pretty nice for the price with a lot of great reviews.

Also, can some motherboards only output a certain amount of power or will they all output just as much as needed for the components?

I love it, great airflow, a lot of room for cable management, can fit any size graphics card and my hyper 212+ cooler, great dust filters, and the front side pops right off with out any wires to detatch so you can clean the filters easily.

My only complaints would be no dust filter for the side panel fan (I made my own though) and no front side USB 3.0, but you really can't do better for $50~.

As for the motherboard, all you have to worry about is the maximum TDP power wise unless you are overclocking, then would want to look at reviews to see how it handles v-droop and the adjustments allowed in the bios.

 

[Stalfos]

Wireless Adapter 100% will not work on 64-bit editions of Windows 7. It works on the 32-bit version.

As a few others have already said, you are wrong. I use a wireless 360 controller with adapter on 64-bit Windows 7.

 

[Yoshichan]

Would a 650W SPU be able to handle the 560ti?

 

[Prelithe]

Would a 650W SPU be able to handle the 560ti?

I have a 520W Seasonic and it runs it fine, although 600 is fine (future proofing or whatever).

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

I just decided to install HW Monitor to see get another opinion of how my PC was running.

Looking at the figures for the CPU temp when I set it up, I almost spat out my tea when it said the CPU was running at 128C. Looking down, though, the program said the CPU's 4 cores were running in the 20s to 30s.

Could this mean I have a busted sensor on the motherboard? I've had my PC lock up a few times over the last week or so, but curiously it's always been on the desktop, never when it's doing anything intensive.

In any case, I'll probably crack her open tomorrow, just because I haven't done it in 3-4 months, to make sure there isn't any dust/dirt/monster/alien infestations in there.

 

[Hawk269]

My ASUS mother board P67Pro comes with blutooth, but the signal does not reach very far. Does anyone know of a way to increase the range of the blutooth signal? Main reason is that I want to use a blutooth headset and I game on my sofa on my big screen and the signal strength is too low to make the connection to the headset.

Thanks for anyone that can help.

 

[Barrett2]

I'm ready to get a gaming PC. I recently bought a nice monitor and external Mac keyboard and magic mouse for my MacBook, figure I might as well get something play games on. Questions:

- Can I use the Mac keyboard and/or wireless 'Magic Mouse' on a PC?
- I would like to play new PC games on medium to above medium settings, but nothing crazy. Any recommendations on a cheap rig I could buy to fit that?

Thanks!

 

[BoobPhysics101]

I just decided to install HW Monitor to see get another opinion of how my PC was running.

Looking at the figures for the CPU temp when I set it up, I almost spat out my tea when it said the CPU was running at 128C. Looking down, though, the program said the CPU's 4 cores were running in the 20s to 30s.

Could this mean I have a busted sensor on the motherboard? I've had my PC lock up a few times over the last week or so, but curiously it's always been on the desktop, never when it's doing anything intensive.

In any case, I'll probably crack her open tomorrow, just because I haven't done it in 3-4 months, to make sure there isn't any dust/dirt/monster/alien infestations in there.

Mine does the same thing. It's a false reading. Look at the core temps. My 2500k runs as low as 19c at idle according to core temps, which I can confirm by measuring myself.

 

[Ifrit]

Any recommendations for some good default CCC settings for my Radeon HD 5770?

 

[Birkz]

My ASUS mother board P67Pro comes with blutooth, but the signal does not reach very far. Does anyone know of a way to increase the range of the blutooth signal? Main reason is that I want to use a blutooth headset and I game on my sofa on my big screen and the signal strength is too low to make the connection to the headset.

Thanks for anyone that can help.

I'm in a similar situation with the same motherboard and what I do is keep the bluetooth headset close to the computer so it has good signal and I use my headphones for the audio. The bluetooth headset seems to have no problem picking up my speech from a distance and it's just a regular sony ericsson bluetooth headset.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

So this is what I have in my cart at Newegg. This will be my first PC that I've ordered and built myself so if there are any parts I'm missing that I will need please tell me. Worse thing would be to get it all here go to put it together and be missing something.

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Item #: N82E16827135204

Acer S200HLAbd Black 20" 5ms LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor
Item #: N82E16824009317

ECS NGTX550TI-1GPLI-F1 GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814134130

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817139026

CORSAIR XMS3 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX2GX3M1A1333C9
Item #: N82E16820145331

PS- I got two of the above

ASRock H61M-VS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157241

Intel Pentium G850 Sandy Bridge 2.9GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623G850
Item #: N82E16819116397

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986

There's no mouse and keyboard in there, but besides that, am I missing anything I'll need? Also, if anyone can recommend a cheap yet functional mouse and keyboard for gaming that'd be great. Nothing fancy, just comfortable to use.

Get a Radeon 6850 or 6870 instead of the 550 Ti.

 

[ToyMachine228]

Get a Radeon 6850 or 6870 instead of the 550 Ti.

I just went with the budget build stuff. I could change it before I finalize it. That said, is there anything I'm missing? Anything that I'll need that's not in there? I'm literally starting with nothing.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

I just went with the budget build stuff. I could change it before I finalize it. That said, is there anything I'm missing? Anything that I'll need that's not in there? I'm literally starting with nothing.

Can you upgrade the PSU to maybe the Antec 550 BP?

Good stuff too. Also, you'll want a Core i3-2100 at the very least, methinks.

What is your budget, anyways?

 

[Hazaro]

I just went with the budget build stuff. I could change it before I finalize it. That said, is there anything I'm missing? Anything that I'll need that's not in there? I'm literally starting with nothing.

A budget and how flexible you are will help. There are decently large jumps in performance at those pricings which are hard to communicate. For example the 550ti is a good card, but a 6870 is a much better card for not so much more (compared to build cost). Likewise the i3 2100 with 2cores and 4threads is a very worthwhile investment if you can pick one up.

Can you upgrade the PSU to maybe the Antec 550 BP?

Good stuff too. Also, you'll want a Core i3-2100 at the very least, methinks.

What is your budget, anyways?

Going with those sparse parts it's probably not very high. BP550 is $70. I'd say go for the XFX for $55 AR if possible. The CX430w will do ok depending how locked into a budget Toy is.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

A budget and how flexible you are will help. There are decently large jumps in performance at those pricings which are hard to communicate. For example the 550ti is a good card, but a 6870 is a much better card for not so much more (compared to build cost). Likewise the i3 2100 with 2cores and 4threads is a very worthwhile investment if you can pick one up.

Going with those sparse parts it's probably not very high. BP550 is $70. I'd say go for the XFX for $55 AR if possible. The CX430w will do ok depending how locked into a budget Toy is.

Dang, BP550 went up that much? It was $50 when I was looking at it. Ouch.

 

[Hazaro]

It has been on sale for $60 or $65 a lot recently, but now it is $70 (on sale) from $80. Absurd.

 

[Piercedveil]

I love it, great airflow, a lot of room for cable management, can fit any size graphics card and my hyper 212+ cooler, great dust filters, and the front side pops right off with out any wires to detatch so you can clean the filters easily.

My only complaints would be no dust filter for the side panel fan (I made my own though) and no front side USB 3.0, but you really can't do better for $50~.

As for the motherboard, all you have to worry about is the maximum TDP power wise unless you are overclocking, then would want to look at reviews to see how it handles v-droop and the adjustments allowed in the bios.

Great, thank you!

 

[Corran Horn]

Got my 120gb intel SSD, Hyper 212 Evo, and 16GB of Gskill ram put together in my new case with all my older stuff.

Cant wait to test this out more.

Thanks for the help haz

---
Is there a way to make sure everything defaults to my 2nd hdd for installs/downloads since my SSD drive is too small to handle too much?

Also my case came with a usb 3 plug for the front but my motherboard doesnt have a connection for it. What should I look for adapter wise to get this connection internally?

 

[Yoshichan]

edit 2: Now my GPU is constantly at 65... this is bad, isn't it?

Green = GPU
Red = CPU

Good or bad if that's how the temperature is when playing WoW?


edit:
PSU - 650W Corsair
GPU - Geforce GTX 275
CPU - i5 @ 2.67 GHz


edit 3:
I'm also going to buy a new "box" because my current one sucks. Is the Antec 300 any good?

I want to buy additional fans for it. Does any kind of fan work?

edit 4: 80 Celsius in heavy raid fights

 

[Petrie]

edit 3:
I'm also going to buy a new "box" because my current one sucks. Is the Antec 300 any good?

I want to buy additional fans for it. Does any kind of fan work?

edit 4: 80 Celsius in heavy raid fights

That box served me well for years. Great airflow and a great case for the price. I got it for $35 with rebates back when.

 

[Yoshichan]

That box served me well for years. Great airflow and a great case for the price. I got it for $35 with rebates back when.

Can't seem to find it (Swedish stores) unless it's called "Antec 300 Mini ITX"? The word "Mini" worries me, I don't want to end up buying a mini box or something ._.

 

[Hazaro]

gpu temps are fine

Got my 120gb intel SSD, Hyper 212 Evo, and 16GB of Gskill ram put together in my new case with all my older stuff.

Cant wait to test this out more.

Thanks for the help haz

---
Is there a way to make sure everything defaults to my 2nd hdd for installs/downloads since my SSD drive is too small to handle too much?

Also my case came with a usb 3 plug for the front but my motherboard doesnt have a connection for it. What should I look for adapter wise to get this connection internally?

You sure it doesn't have one?
If not you can always buy a USB 3.0 card, one with an internal adapter.

 

[Yoshichan]

gpu temps are fine

Experimenting with 25man raids... peaking at 83, averaging 75... still fine?

My main problem right now, everytime something hectic happens in-game (can be in SC2, WoW or whatever), my screen goes black and I get the message: “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered". I've literally tried everything for 12 hours now and nothing's been working. I re-installed new drivers. I installed older drivers. I took the GPU out and cleaned it. What more can I do? Can it actually be something wrong with my VGA cables (connected to a DVI-converter)? I even tried plugging it in the other DVI-socket and it still doesn't work. I read that some people had the same problem and not even formating the computer would solve it. What more can I possibly do?

edit: in the following thread:

http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-cards/42242-display-driver-stopped-responding-has-recovered.html

The guy had the same problems and it got solved by plugging in VGA-cables instead of DVI ones... but I only have DVI-sockets in my GPU ._. (again, using a VGA-DVI-converter).

 

[Zyzyxxz]

I'm also going to buy a new "box" because my current one sucks. Is the Antec 300 any good?

edit 4: 80 Celsius in heavy raid fights

It's ok if you get it for $50 or less, I have one but I'm upgrading to a Fractal Midi:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352007&Tpk=fractal midi

Here's why, this is a case you can probably keep using forever because it has so many options if you want to watercool, cable management, removable hard drive cages, and rear access to the CPU stuff that the Antec 300 does not have. This have fan vents everywhere and mesh filters everywhere which beats the Antec 300.

If you do decide to go with the Antec the nice thing about it is the fans that come with it have a fan controllers with 3 settings for low, mid, high except they are short and you can't have them easily accessible outside the computer case. It only comes with one front fan and no side fan I believe, I had to buy two more fans to fill up the empty spaces.

Honestly I would spend a little more for the Fractal if I had known when I built my computer then but I'm just going to upgrade now and use the Antec 300 for an HTPC setup. It's a great case for the money but if you can spring a bit more go for the Fractal at least.

 

[Corran Horn]

gpu temps are fine

You sure it doesn't have one?
If not you can always buy a USB 3.0 card, one with an internal adapter.

Its a 2 year old mobo. I didnt see anywhere with one

 

[Yoshichan]

text

Thanks a bunch for the help. So the Antec truly does come with 3 fans?

http://www.webhallen.com/hardvara/101922-antec_isk_300-65-svart

This one then?

 

[TheExodu5]

The case you just posted is a mini ITX case...you won't be putting a gaming PC in a case that small...especially considering it has a 65W PSU. It's meant for Atom and Fusion boards.

Also, don't bother with the Antec 300. Outdated and overpriced.

Here are a few good cases to consider:

Cooler Master HAF 912 or 922
Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
Fractal Arc Midi or Arc Mini (micro ATX) or Define R3
Corsair 400R

The cheapest of the bunch is the 912, which is about the same price as the 300.

edit: just checked the prices on your site...the Fractal cases are cheap compared to the rest. I'd strongly consider the Arc Midi or Arc Mini if I were you. Keep in mind the Arc Mini requires a micro ATX motherboard, and won't fit standard ATX. It's a smaller and more portable version of the Midi.

 

[Yoshichan]

The case you just posted is a mini ITX case...you won't be putting a gaming PC in a case that small...especially considering it has a 65W PSU. It's meant for Atom and Fusion boards.

Yeah that's what I thought... the weird thing is that I can't find the "big" Antec in any Swedish online shop. Is it that old that no one wants to buy it?

Also, don't bother with the Antec 300. Outdated and overpriced.

The reason I really want to buy the Antec 300 is because it apparently comes with three fans which is exactly what I need... isn't that also the reason why it's "overpriced"? How much is overpriced anyway? I can't find it anywhere.

 

[TheExodu5]

The Arc Midi has 3 fans (bigger 140mm fans at that). Why do you care about it having 3 fans? All of the cases I posted have better airflow than the 300. They're also much easier to build with and are more maintainable.

The Antec 300 is overpriced because it's an old case and doesn't have features that are expected of better cases today. No tool-less option, little space to work with, no removable HDD cages, no removable HDD trays, no dust filters, no cable management options.

I would only recommend it if you can get it sub $40.

Just so you can see the difference, here's the interior of the Arc Midi:

Antec 300: