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[CambriaRising]

I fixed my card overheating!

Opened it up and pointed a fan at it. It's only 53 degrees Celsius now, opposed to 123 before.
Temporary solution obviously, until I get my new graphics card in the mail.

Haha, been there before. Just curious, which card did you end up getting?

 

[Crayons]

Haha, been there before. Just curious, which card did you end up getting?

This one

 

[cametall]

I have a Crucial M4 SSD coming in next week so I've been reading/watching guides on installation and optimization.

I keep reading that you should not install SSDs on Marvell SATA ports, how can you tell if/which SATA port on a motherboard is Marvell? I have an ASUS P8Z77-V LX.

It comes with 2 6gbps ports and several more 3gbps ports.

 

[laika09]

I have a Crucial M4 SSD coming in next week so I've been reading/watching guides on installation and optimization.

I keep reading that you should not install SSDs on Marvell SATA ports, how can you tell if/which SATA port on a motherboard is Marvell? I have an ASUS P8Z77-V LX.

It comes with 2 6gbps ports and several more 3gbps ports.

That motherboard appears to have only the Intel chipset SATA (no addon SATA controller), so you should be fine. Just make sure to plug it into a 6Gb/s port (grey).

 

[Virzeth]

I am using the Corsair fans, so they should be controlled. It's not even a slight hum, a bit louder it really sounds like a tornado is about to form at the second setting, third setting just sounds completely freakishly loud. I would like to have it running at the balanced setting at least but right now, I just need to deal with the rattle.

But temps are "Okay", idles a bit high - 38-40 but it keeps doing these spikes to 47 for a split-second, then back down.

About the rattling sound, allow me to jump on the grenade and ask the dumbest question, so others won't have to... the top panel (a dust filter, IIRC) looks kind of loose, are you sure you fixed it in position after taking the picture?

 

[Keyouta]

My friend's asking me about this build he's created:

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/bATC

I think it looks fine, but can anything be improved at a lower price? Or the same build at a lower price?

 

[Sethos]

About the rattling sound, allow me to jump on the grenade and ask the dumbest question, so others won't have to... the top panel (a dust filter, IIRC) looks kind of loose, are you sure you fixed it in position after taking the picture?

Yeah, when you hear a rattle like that you troubleshoot like mad. However this kind of rattle is completely different from lose component vibration or something like that. Plus it's a well-known issue http://www.overclock.net/t/1236923/...e-grinding-pump-fix-official-corsair-response You can hear it coming directly from the cooler head itself.

probably Gentle Typhoon 1150 or 1450 rpm ? Good tradeoff between noise and rpm, and they have pretty much the best pressure characteristics for use on a radiator out there

Noiseblocker PL2 are great as well, and mkenyon likes the Bitfenix Spectre Pro's a lot ... those also come in all white according to the Bitfenix site

The fans are placed on top of it, between the case and the top mesh so you can't even see them, colour doesn't matter. Would just need the best of the best that aren't too noisy but push a ton of air. Not sure how the Noctua fairs

Thinking of picking up two Noctua NF-F12 PWM ?

 

[Cannon Goose]

I'm looking for some kind Australian users to help me with building my first proper PC. I've helped build a PC before and have watched enough how-to videos on the subject so I think I'll be OK when it comes to putting everything together. However, I've never bought my own PC components before, so I'm pretty clueless as to what parts are compatible with one another and what brands I should be looking at.

My budget is $900 Australian and I only know a few things that I need:

1. A 1920x1080 monitor.
2. Nvidia GPU.
3. Five or more USB ports.

Using that knowledge I put together this list from PC Case Gear using common components that I'd read about or heard of before:

I don't even know if these parts will go together... Or are PCs super modular these days and everything works with everything? The total of $1200 is over my budget (there's also $63 shipping on top of that), so I'm wondering what parts I can cut or swap out in order to save money. I have absolutely no idea when it comes to cases and power supplies; the other parts seem fairly straightforward and easy to understand.

Finally, a few questions:

1. Do I need a wifi card or chip in order to have wifi access, or is all of that built into the motherboard?
2. Same question as above but for Bluetooth.
3. I live near an MSY store. Would it be best for me to buy all the parts from them so I don't have to worry about shipping costs?

Thanks!

 

[EternalGamer]

I'm looking for some kind Australian users to help me with building my first proper PC. I've helped build a PC before and have watched enough how-to videos on the subject so I think I'll be OK when it comes to putting everything together. However, I've never bought my own PC components before, so I'm pretty clueless as to what parts are compatible with one another and what brands I should be looking at.

My budget is $900 Australian and I only know a few things that I need:

1. A 1920x1080 monitor.
2. Nvidia GPU.
3. Five or more USB ports.

Using that knowledge I put together this list from PC Case Gear using common components that I'd read about or heard of before:

I don't even know if these parts will go together... Or are PCs super modular these days and everything works with everything? The total of $1200 is over my budget (there's also $63 shipping on top of that), so I'm wondering what parts I can cut or swap out in order to save money. I have absolutely no idea when it comes to cases and power supplies; the other parts seem fairly straightforward and easy to understand.

Finally, a few questions:


3. I live near an MSY store. Would it be best for me to buy all the parts from them so I don't have to worry about shipping costs?

Thanks!

Those parts work fine together. The only thing you'd even have to worried about is making sure the motherboard and the processor was the same socket (1155) which both are.

In terms of cutting corners, if you are on a budget, why are you buying a $150 case? All you need is to make sure you have an ATX case (which almost all are now) and that you don't mind the look. Look at the 210 model listed in the OP for $40 for a good sturdy budget case. You also don't need absolutely a powersupply that high wattage unless you are planning to add a second card later. A good 450watt - 500watt would be fine. Look at the Antec Basq series. In those two areas alone, you could easily cut $125 without sacrificing any performance at all.

Those would be the first things I would consider cutting. In terms of other possible replacements, in terms of motherboards, you can probably find a p67 or a z68 model that would be a bit cheaper too. If you don't plan on overclocking, any 1555 socket motherboard will work. Also if you aren't going to overclock, you could just go with a i5 2400. For a cheaper graphics card model, look at the Geforce 460s.

1. Do I need a wifi card or chip in order to have wifi access, or is all of that built into the motherboard?
2. Same question as above but for Bluetooth.

Some mothebards have these but I don't think this one does. They are pretty premium. You can get cheap USB dongles for both wifi or blutooth to save money. They can be found for around $10 each or you can find internal cards for around $15-$20.

 

[AkIRA_22]

I'm looking for some kind Australian users to help me with building my first proper PC. I've helped build a PC before and have watched enough how-to videos on the subject so I think I'll be OK when it comes to putting everything together. However, I've never bought my own PC components before, so I'm pretty clueless as to what parts are compatible with one another and what brands I should be looking at.

My budget is $900 Australian and I only know a few things that I need:

1. A 1920x1080 monitor.
2. Nvidia GPU.
3. Five or more USB ports.

Using that knowledge I put together this list from PC Case Gear using common components that I'd read about or heard of before:

I don't even know if these parts will go together... Or are PCs super modular these days and everything works with everything? The total of $1200 is over my budget (there's also $63 shipping on top of that), so I'm wondering what parts I can cut or swap out in order to save money. I have absolutely no idea when it comes to cases and power supplies; the other parts seem fairly straightforward and easy to understand.

Finally, a few questions:

1. Do I need a wifi card or chip in order to have wifi access, or is all of that built into the motherboard?
2. Same question as above but for Bluetooth.
3. I live near an MSY store. Would it be best for me to buy all the parts from them so I don't have to worry about shipping costs?

Thanks!

Looking good mate. You could down grade the case and PSU then maybe get some extra change to get a 570 in there to make it a very nice PC.

You will have to buy a WIFI card and BT USB.

As for MSY make sure they have it, call up (if they answer) and get it all on hold, it's always better to pick up.

 

[Sethos]

Cut away some of the bottom mesh for the fans on top of my 600T, to ease flow of air - CPU temps actually dropped 2-3* nice.

 

[Cannon Goose]

What's the consensus on AMD motherboards and CPUs? MSY doesn't have many Intel CPUs in stock but they had AMD stuff.

How's this build?

 

[Baconsaurus Rex]

Posted earlier in this thread because I'm looking to upgrade my pc. Here are my specs: AMD Athlon(tm) II X3 425 Processor / 2x2GB DDR3 / ASUS M4N78 PRO Motherboard / Club 3D GTS250 GPU / MS-Tech 750W ATX PSU.
I've already composed a plan for this upgrade. I'm in the market for a new GPU, 8GB DDR5 RAM, CPU and Motherboard.

I'm planning to do my upgrade in two steps: RAM and GPU pretty soon and the CPU and mobo one or two months later for obvious money related reasons. I know that it means that I have to take apart my whole pc in a few months to install the new motherboard but I don't mind. If there are any other downsides doing it this way, please say so.

My budget for a GPU is slightly under €300. I'd prefer sticking with nVidia but I'm open for AMD cards as well. I've set my eyes upon the GTX570 but I'm not seeing it in the prebuild pc's in the OP so that leaves me a little worried. I've also looked at the GTX 560 448 but that one simply won't fit in my case. Any other recommendations are always welcome! I'm also a little worried about power connectors. Looking inside my case right now and there are lots of unused powercables with different connectors. How do I know which one's going to power my GPU? Is it simply the same one and will it only be a matter of switching my cards?

Lastly my PC is running 32-bit as of now and I'd like to convert my Windows 7 to 64-bit. I've looked into my system settings and it is able to run 64-bit so hardware won't a problem. My worry is software incompatibilities. What should I expect to do? Am I supposed to copy my whole C drive onto an external harddrive or just the programs folder? Besides backing up my data all I need to do is insert my Windows 7 disc and make a clean Windows 7 64-bit install right?

Thanks in advance!

 

[kharma45]

What's the consensus on AMD motherboards and CPUs? MSY doesn't have many Intel CPUs in stock but they had AMD stuff.

How's this build?

I'm sure I'll be correct if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure, at least as far as gaming goes, even the Phenom II X4 is better than that Bulldozer CPU.

My budget for a GPU is slightly under €300. I'd prefer sticking with nVidia but I'm open for AMD cards as well. I've set my eyes upon the GTX570 but I'm not seeing it in the prebuild pc's in the OP so that leaves me a little worried. I've also looked at the GTX 560 448 but that one simply won't fit in my case. Any other recommendations are always welcome! I'm also a little worried about power connectors. Looking inside my case right now and there are lots of unused powercables with different connectors. How do I know which one's going to power my GPU? Is it simply the same one and will it only be a matter of switching my cards?

Thanks in advance!

Take a look at the 7850 for an AMD option, it's my choice for a midrange card (although mine has shite itself at the minute).

 

[JaseC]

I remember reading a while back that some people were encountering stability/reliability issues with the ASUS 670 DCU2 TOPs due to the cards not being sufficiently tested at their factory-overclocked settings. What's the situation now? Are the cards safe to buy?

 

[EternalGamer]

What's the consensus on AMD motherboards and CPUs? MSY doesn't have many Intel CPUs in stock but they had AMD stuff.

How's this build?

The consensus is that AMD is several generations behind and that even a dual core current gen Intel beats a quad or six core AMD in most games.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

The one thing to recommend AMD is to save money if you already have an AMD motherboard since their new processors are more backwards compatible friendly. If yoU are buying a new motherboard and processor right now you should strongly consider Intel or wait for the next iteration of AMD.

 

[Cannon Goose]

Alright, I will stick with Intel. I think I've nearly settled on a build but I have one last question:

Besides mATX being more compact, are there any other differences between that and regular ATX motherboards?

 

[MrBig]

I remember reading a while back that some people were encountering stability/reliability issues with the ASUS 670 DCU2 TOPs due to the cards not being sufficiently tested at their factory-overclocked settings. What's the situation now? Are the cards safe to buy?

They put out a bios revision that downs the max boost by about 40 mhz iirc. They were never not safe to buy, kepler was just letting itself boost too high for what some chips could handle, so the solution was just to down the clocks across the board, as the people getting unstable stock OCs had to do.

 

[gragy10]

Could do with a bit of help on a problem I've traced to my Athlon X4 965 BE.
Under load (in game with AC2, F1 2011 & Project Cars plus in Prime 95) my multiplier is getting periodically throttled from 17x (stock setting) down to 4x about once every 60-90 seconds.
All bios is at stock settings and I've tried turning Cool & Quiet off and on again, but to no avail.
Core temperatures are averaging 50C, peaking under 100% load at 55C which is well within tolerance.
Any idea's what might be causing this and how to fix it because it's driving me nuts (not to mention making any modern game unplayable)

 

[JaseC]

They put out a bios revision that downs the max boost by about 40 mhz iirc. They were never not safe to buy, kepler was just letting itself boost too high for what some chips could handle, so the solution was just to down the clocks across the board, as the people getting unstable stock OCs had to do.

Alrighty. Cheers.

 

[TP17]

Hi guys completed my first ever build on Friday and it all seems to work fine (I've been away friday night until now so haven't played around with it too much yet, definitely need to do some cable management, it's a right mess atm haha). I was just worried about temperatures etc. so would like to check them, I know in the OP there are some utilities recommended but as someone who has never done this before wondered which ones some of you use after completing a build to check everything is working fine and not overheating? Thanks

 

[xero273]

So I decided I want the M4. I see 2 and i read the difference was for $10 more I can get the 2.5 to 3.5 bracket

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-148-526

I assume both those drives are the same and I need the bracket?

 

[Ocho]

I'm looking to buy a fan controller for the 5 fans I'll have in my case. Any recommendations? The cheaper the better.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

I need to get a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM. How often does the price drop below $99.99 and where should I look? I'm monitoring Newegg, and I'm sure they'll discount it sooner or later, but maybe someone knows where else I might find a bargain?

 

[Ceebs]

I need to get a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM. How often does the price drop below $99.99 and where should I look? I'm monitoring Newegg, and I'm sure they'll discount it sooner or later, but maybe someone knows where else I might find a bargain?

Have any friends that are in school that have access to MSDNAA ( Think this is what it is called). If you do, then you can get a free copy.

 

[Cindres]

Trying to put together a sub £750 build in the hopes I'll be able to get it for my 21st in September. So far I have picked out:

MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 Motherboard
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz - OEM
Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler
Antec VP550P 550W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply
PowerColor HD 7850 PCS+ Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache WD10EALX - OEM
BitFenix Shinobi "Core" USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - Black
Samsung SH-S222BB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter

How does this look? The GPU's on a week only offer for -£10 so when it comes to it the total cost of this would be £761.90

 

[CatPee]

Alright, I will stick with Intel. I think I've nearly settled on a build but I have one last question:

Besides mATX being more compact, are there any other differences between that and regular ATX motherboards?

Less slots is about it, really.

And do look into getting a 7850. It's a better and cheaper choice than a 570 currently.

 

[Flunkie]

I'm so pumped. HDD gets here on Monday, GPU, PSU, and CPU on Tuesday, and everything else on Wednesday. Kinda wish it was the other way around but I'm just so excited to get started building.

 

[kharma45]

Trying to put together a sub £750 build in the hopes I'll be able to get it for my 21st in September. So far I have picked out:

MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 Motherboard
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz - OEM
Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler
Antec VP550P 550W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply
PowerColor HD 7850 PCS+ Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache WD10EALX - OEM
BitFenix Shinobi "Core" USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - Black
Samsung SH-S222BB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter

How does this look? The GPU's on a week only offer for -£10 so when it comes to it the total cost of this would be £761.90

Avoid PowerColor like the plague, their RMA service is terrible from what I've read.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-295-SP

Get the Sapphire one and just OC it yourself. Their RMA service isn't the best either but it's a hell of a lot better than PowerColor.

MSI's 7850 is the same price with Novatech

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...hicscards/amdhd7850series/r7850tf-2gd5oc.html

Also, any reason why you're solely buying from OCUK? You can save some money by shopping around a bit, you could get a DVD drive for £11 for example.

Oh and one other thing, the retail 3570K is cheaper and comes with a better warranty

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-404-IN

Your HDD also seems overpriced compared to say this, although it is a bit slower I think this one

http://www.ebuyer.com/237908-samsun...tb-hard-drive-sata-5400rpm-32mb-cache-hd204ui

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Have any friends that are in school that have access to MSDNAA ( Think this is what it is called). If you do, then you can get a free copy.

My wife is a post-doc at a University, so that should work. Will the copy ever expire or is it just like any Windows installer?

edit: wait, it looks like it's only for people in engineering/comp-sci related fields.

 

[Hazaro]

Could do with a bit of help on a problem I've traced to my Athlon X4 965 BE.
Under load (in game with AC2, F1 2011 & Project Cars plus in Prime 95) my multiplier is getting periodically throttled from 17x (stock setting) down to 4x about once every 60-90 seconds.
All bios is at stock settings and I've tried turning Cool & Quiet off and on again, but to no avail.
Core temperatures are averaging 50C, peaking under 100% load at 55C which is well within tolerance.
Any idea's what might be causing this and how to fix it because it's driving me nuts (not to mention making any modern game unplayable)

Any other power or multi settings you can turn off? I know Intel has boost, C1E, C3, C6 for example.

Hi guys completed my first ever build on Friday and it all seems to work fine (I've been away friday night until now so haven't played around with it too much yet, definitely need to do some cable management, it's a right mess atm haha). I was just worried about temperatures etc. so would like to check them, I know in the OP there are some utilities recommended but as someone who has never done this before wondered which ones some of you use after completing a build to check everything is working fine and not overheating? Thanks

CPU under 60C load, GPU under 85C load.
Util's in OP.

If your computer doesn't turn off or get super slow it's probably fine

So I decided I want the M4. I see 2 and i read the difference was for $10 more I can get the 2.5 to 3.5 bracket

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-148-526

I assume both those drives are the same and I need the bracket?

Don't need the bracket, since it has no moving parts you can put or secure it anywhere. Lots of people just use double sided tape or sit it in a bay.

Mine's in a bracket though.

 

[LordAlu]

Trying to put together a sub £750 build in the hopes I'll be able to get it for my 21st in September. So far I have picked out:

MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 Motherboard
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz - OEM
Corsair Vengeance Blue Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler
Antec VP550P 550W '80 Plus' Continuous Power Supply
PowerColor HD 7850 PCS+ Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache WD10EALX - OEM
BitFenix Shinobi "Core" USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - Black
Samsung SH-S222BB/RSMS 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter

How does this look? The GPU's on a week only offer for -£10 so when it comes to it the total cost of this would be £761.90

Here's a similar similar build with the MSI 7850 in it, a better quality hard drive and low profile RAM, sourced from various places for £702

http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/bDtp

 

[Ceebs]

My wife is a post-doc at a University, so that should work. Will the copy ever expire or is it just like any Windows installer?

They give you a CD key. I have been using mine since Windows 7 first came out.

 

[Cindres]

Avoid PowerColor like the plague, their RMA service is terrible from what I've read.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-295-SP

Get the Sapphire one and just OC it yourself. Their RMA service isn't the best either but it's a hell of a lot better than PowerColor.

MSI's 7850 is the same price with Novatech

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...hicscards/amdhd7850series/r7850tf-2gd5oc.html

Also, any reason why you're solely buying from OCUK? You can save some money by shopping around a bit, you could get a DVD drive for £11 for example.

Oh and one other thing, the retail 3570K is cheaper and comes with a better warranty

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-404-IN

Your HDD also seems overpriced compared to say this, although it is a bit slower I think this one

http://www.ebuyer.com/237908-samsun...tb-hard-drive-sata-5400rpm-32mb-cache-hd204ui

Here's a similar similar build with the MSI 7850 in it, a better quality hard drive and low profile RAM, sourced from various places for £702

http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/bDtp

I shall definitely take this into consideration. However won't the price end up ramping up due to postage fees?

EDIT: Most of these places do in fact offer free postage it would appear Nevermind.
Was just using OCuk as a place I could more easily pick the build for starters before shopping around later anyway, I think that build LordAlu posted is probably what I'm gonna stick with for now

EDIT 2: Got the price over all the websites including postage and whatever, where postage would be cheapest. Total cost: £728.78. Sweet

 

[kharma45]

I shall definitely take this into consideration. However won't the price end up ramping up due to postage fees?

Most places offer free delivery if you're on the mainland UK.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

They give you a CD key. I have been using mine since Windows 7 first came out.

Cool, I'll give it a shot.

 

[kharma45]

I'll take it if my 7850 isn't even showing the BIOS now that's a bad sign?

Stuck in another GPU and it boots fine so it seems to be a problem with my 7850 :\

 

[Arsin]

So I bought a 7870 right when they launched. It has been running great, doing just about everything I could want. However the more I read about the 680 the more I am curious if I should have waited for that card instead. What does PC Gaf think? I like to game with settings maxed on a 1920x1200 rez.

 

[kharma45]

So I bought a 7870 right when they launched. It has been running great, doing just about everything I could want. However the more I read about the 680 the more I am curious if I should have waited for that card instead. What does PC Gaf think? I like to game with settings maxed on a 1920x1200 rez.

670 is a better card than the 680 imo, little less powerful but a lot, lot cheaper. It's the sweetspot for high end cards and the 7850 is the same for mid-range.

If you want outright power and a little more future proofing there might be the argument to change, it all depends on what you could get for your card if you off-loaded it.

The 7870 is still a good card, and like all the 78xx/79xx series it OCs very well.

 

[Arsin]

670 is a better card than the 680 imo, little less powerful but a lot, lot cheaper. It's the sweetspot for high end cards and the 7850 is the same for mid-range.

If you want outright power and a little more future proofing there might be the argument to change, it all depends on what you could get for your card if you off-loaded it.

The 7870 is still a good card, and like all the 78xx/79xx series it OCs very well.

Looking at some of the new vids for Borderlands 2 with some of that sweet Physx stuffs is making me think it might not be a bad idea to move over to the 6xx cards. So the 670 is the better option for the price? More bang of the buck?

 

[kharma45]

Looking at some of the new vids for Borderlands 2 with some of that sweet Physx stuffs is making me think it might not be a bad idea to move over to the 6xx cards. So the 670 is the better option for the price? More bang of the buck?

Physx is quite nice, but there's not that many games that support it still, plus I think you still can rig a cheap nVidia GPU to do Physx alongside an AMD one.

But yeah, the 670 would be my choice. Here's an Anandbench comparison of the two, and since I don't know where you're from you can compare the prices between your two yourself usually at least £100 over in the UK for us

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/598?vs=555

The 670 is much better bang for buck and overclocks well from what I remember reading of it.

 

[AB12]

If any one is interested XFX Black Edition 7970 for $410

 

[EternalGamer]

If any one is interested XFX Black Edition 7970 for $410

This was a just a test to see if I would do something crazy like order a $400 graphics card on impulse, wasn't it?

Well it didn't work, so ha!

It almost did though. That card was like $100 more a month ago. It was $600 in January. I spent about 5 minutes seriously thinking about it then I realized how absurd it would be because my dual 6870 can already run every single game I've thrown at them on max setting at or above 60fps.

 

[Flunkie]

Just wanted to give a huge thanks to mkenyon again. This showed up on Friday and couldn't be more grateful!

 

[AB12]

This was a just a test to see if I would do something crazy like order a $400 graphics card on impulse, wasn't it?

Well it didn't work, so ha!

It almost did though. That card was like $100 more a month ago. It was $600 in January. I spent about 5 minutes seriously thinking about it then I realized how absurd it would be because my dual 6870 can already run every single game I've thrown at them on max setting at or above 60fps.

Lol no, I wouldn't buy it either. It is just a deal for people who are interested. As you said this card launched at $600 and for about $200 less now, not a bad deal.

 

[surly]

I'm planning to do my upgrade in two steps: RAM and GPU pretty soon and the CPU and mobo one or two months later for obvious money related reasons. I know that it means that I have to take apart my whole pc in a few months to install the new motherboard but I don't mind. If there are any other downsides doing it this way, please say so.

The main downside of this is that you are presumably wanting to up your RAM so you can switch to the 64 bit version of Windows, but swapping out the motherboard will mean you have to reinstall Windows again. Also, make sure you don't have an OEM version of Windows as it's tied to the MOBO that's already in your machine.

Assuming the OEM thing is not an issue, I would do the motherboard upgrade first, then do the fresh install of Windows 7 64 bit and get everything back up and running. When you have some more spare cash, drop in the new RAM, then when you can afford it, add the new GPU.

Lastly my PC is running 32-bit as of now and I'd like to convert my Windows 7 to 64-bit. I've looked into my system settings and it is able to run 64-bit so hardware won't a problem. My worry is software incompatibilities. What should I expect to do? Am I supposed to copy my whole C drive onto an external harddrive or just the programs folder? Besides backing up my data all I need to do is insert my Windows 7 disc and make a clean Windows 7 64-bit install right?

Unfortunately it is not that simple. You are going to have to reinstall your software as there is no way to back it up and then restore it to the new machine.

Aside from some security software such as firewalls and anti-virus programs, you shouldn't run into any compatibility issues when running 32 bit software on the 64 bit version of Windows 7.

What I would do is this: -

1. Download the installers for any software and drivers you want to reinstall and make sure you have any license keys to hand.

2. Backup your personal data.

3. Backup other important data, such as email settings, emails themselves, contacts, browser bookmarks and so on.

4. Download the correct version of Windows with SP1 already integrated. So if you're running the 32 bit version of Home Premium now, for example, download the 64 bit version of Home Premium with SP1 integrated. You can download it from Digital River (just Google for "windows 7 SP1 digital river" and you'll find direct links) and as long as you have a legit license for Windows, it's fine to do this. Doing this saves you time, as you only have to install Windows updates released post-SP1 once you've installed Windows. It also saves you some disc space, as if you install SP1 after installing Windows, it creates an uninstall folder for it that takes up several hundred MB of space.

Then you can do a fresh install, run Windows Update to grab all of the post-SP1 updates, then you can reinstall your stuff and restore your backed up data.

That's how I would do it anyway.

 

[Baconsaurus Rex]

Thanks! I've bookmarked your post for future use. My masterplan is ruined however, as I have an OEM version. Looks like this upgrade is going to be a little pricier than expected.

 

[mkenyon]

I've reused OEM versions countless times.

 

[surly]

I've reused OEM versions countless times.

That may be so, but: -

Q. Can a PC with an OEM Windows operating system have its motherboard upgraded and keep the same license? What if it was replaced because it was defective?

A. Generally, an end user can upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on a computer—except the motherboard—and still retain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created. Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred to the new computer, and the license of new operating system software is required. If the motherboard is replaced because it is defective, you do not need to acquire a new operating system license for the PC as long as the replacement motherboard is the same make/model or the same manufacturer's replacement/equivalent, as defined by the manufacturer's warranty.

http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/pages/licensing_faq.aspx#fbid=NOKgNRr1eA9?faq1

 

[EternalGamer]

Thanks! I've bookmarked your post for future use. My masterplan is ruined however, as I have an OEM version. Looks like this upgrade is going to be a little pricier than expected.

Just use Magic Jelly Bean to find your Windows Product key (assuming that you just have some manufacturer software disc of some sort) and then download the 64bit as suggested above and put in that key when it asks at the end of installation.


Personally, I'd upgrade your GPU first since that will give you a significant performance boost now and it is the easiest upgrade and easy to move over to a new motherboard later.

Also you don't want to upgrade your RAM until you get a new motherboard because your current motherboard only supports DDR2 RAM and the new one will support DDR3.