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[demented]

Guys I have a problem with my pc, I think it is a graphic card overheating but here's whats happening and hopefully someone can give me some solution or tips.


My card is ati 4870x2 which runs hot naturally, combine that with very hot weather we're having here, usually ~35-40 until late evening then ~25-30c at night. I had NO problems ever like this until I started playing Guild Wars 2 3 days ago. Basically I play it pretty much whole day and night and what happens is, usually late at night PC would just freeze, monitor goes on standby like PC is off, I hear music playing and if I restart monitor I'll just see cursor from game locked and then I have to restart on button.
Sometimes it will power right on, sometimes it starts making beeping noises.

I don't know what to do to avoid this, hopefully in the fall it won't be affected by weather as much but I don't know, I played some big games before and this never happened. Could it be GW2 problem or just weather+playing 10+ hours?


Oh and fan is at 100% all the time. I control it manually because auto is terrible, stuck at 27% until 70+c then go faster for minute and 27% again.
I have latest drivers, card became legacy few months ago so they don't come out often as before.

 

[RS4-]

What about other games?

 

[Miker]

So I'm kinda torn between the Fractal Arc Midi



and the Fractal Define R4




I'm loving the look of the R4, it is seriously beautiful, but the Arc Midi has better cooling options (sound levels shouldn't be a problem for me) and is a good £20 cheaper (£70 vs £90).

Anyone have any other case recommendation in that price range? Looks aren't the be all and end all, but they do matter. Alternatively, I was also looking at the 400R/500R.

I just upgraded from an Antec 300 to a Define R4 and I love it, although there are a few caveats. First of all, it doesn't have great cooling unless you put in a bunch of fans. It actually runs warmer than my 300, though that's kind to be expected with a door. It's not like it's awful, though. I have two 140mm fans at the front and a 140mm at the back, and I run at 3570K OC'd to 4.4 (from 3.4) and a 7850 OC'd to 1150/1350 (from 860/1200), but even with that overclocking, I don't have any thermal issues.

The case itself is gorgeous, though, and really well thought out with respect to the internals -- stuff like cable management. It's also really quiet, with acoustic foam on some surfaces. It's not silent, but when I'm just browsing and not gaming, it has a barely audible hum. Oh, and I love the circular power LED to death.

Basically, if you're not putting in crazy hot components and you care about noise, get the R4. It is expensive, but nothing else looks this good, and I think you get what you pay for.


Oh, and I have to recommend the 7850 as a great mid-range card for overclocking. I'm running it at 1150 core/1350 memory up from 860/1200 and I'm getting 7870+ performance. With it hitting $190 in some sales recently, an overclocked 7850 is likely the best bang for the buck mid-end card around the $200 price range.

 

[demented]

What about other games?

Never any issues, but haven't been playing any other games for past month, did a lot of dota during summer with zero problems :\
Played Witcher 2 and bf3 before for hours also no issues, so either gw2 is making my card overheat or it's doing it on its own together with weather but I don't know about that hm

 

[The Lamonster]

My G key stopped working on my keyboard. Used canned air, rebooted, replugged USB cord...still not working. Am I screwed or are there more ways to troubleshoot this?

 

[cametall]

The AMD Sleeping Dogs bundle seems to be active on Newegg now for some cards. Jumping on a Sapphire now.

But not offered on the Vapor X ... -_-

EDIT: I was wrong about the Vapor X, it just isn't advertised

 

[Salaadin]

Stop using sleep

Surprised hibernate worked in the first place, it generally despises custom builds and all sorts of motherboards. Once you get to OC'ing, it's a total goner.

Really? I had no idea.

I have an SSD so a full boot isnt that bad anyways. I guess Ill do that.

 

[BolognaSoup]

What are comfortable temperatures for running BF3 on Ultra, 2560x1440 on an i3570k and GTX 670 system with 8GB ram? Nothing overclocked, stock fans. I'm seeing about 60 degrees.

 

[MrBig]

What are comfortable temperatures for running BF3 on Ultra, 2560x1440 on an i3570k and GTX 670 system with 8GB ram? Nothing overclocked, stock fans. I'm seeing about 60 degrees.

What cooling? I have my 3570k at 4.4ghz 1.145v, DC2 670 at 1280mhz, running at mid 50s and mid 60s, respectively, in BF3 MP 1440p on Ultra with FXAA injector.

 

[legacyzero]

Gun Metal Switch 810 BOUGHT.

Only $750 to go until my rig is complete. Still finalizing a few things though

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

 

[Infinite Justice]

The AMD Sleeping Dogs bundle seems to be active on Newegg now for some cards. Jumping on a Sapphire now.

But not offered on the Vapor X ... -_-

EDIT: I was wrong about the Vapor X, it just isn't advertised

No go for the 7850s yet.

 

[johnsmith]

Getting ready to pull the trigger on this. Reusing an hdd, and bought a graphics card from someone on neogaf. Any suggestions?

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=20031605

 

[mkenyon]

Getting ready to pull the trigger on this. Reusing an hdd, and bought a graphics card from someone on neogaf. Any suggestions?

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=20031605

Swap the cooler for the CM 212+, the PSU for this, and the RAM for this.

If you want the ram because its blue and pretty, get the low profile version of the same stuff.

So all Laptops using SSD's will be destroyed then since they use sleep multiple times a day? I find that hard to believe.

It sucks, but it's true. Hell, there are pages and pages written on modifying your windows settings to minimize the amount of writing that is done to SSDs. Things like disabling the page file, hibernate file, etc etc.

 

[BolognaSoup]

What cooling? I have my 3570k at 4.4ghz 1.145v, DC2 670 at 1280mhz, running at mid 50s and mid 60s, respectively, in BF3 MP 1440p on Ultra with FXAA injector.

Stock cooling/fans.

 

[cackhyena]

If you want the ram because its blue and pretty, get the low profile version of the same stuff.

It sucks, but it's true. Hell, there are pages and pages written on modifying your windows settings to minimize the amount of writing that is done to SSDs. Things like disabling the page file, hibernate file, etc etc.

I got the pretty blue stuff since they were cheap for my build. Something goofy about them? Guess as used to it as I am, I'm swearing off sleep mode now. I've had this SSD for quite a while now though, wonder if the damage is already pretty severe.

mkenyon, I know no one knows for sure what's up with next gen anything, but if you had to take a guess, would you think four core/thread CPUs won't be able to handle next gen games? Just hate to think this brand new 3570k won't last me as long as I'd like.

 

[goodfella]

My WD Green drive sounds like it may be dying. Thinking of buying an F3 1tb for games and iTunes, using my WD for backups and my Videos. My OS is on an M4.

Really hurts to be spending £63.50, but I really don't want to lose my data. Why can't the price just come down already!

 

[RibbedHero]

My WD Green drive sounds like it may be dying. Thinking of buying an F3 1tb for games and iTunes, using my WD for backups and my Videos. My OS is on an M4.

Really hurts to be spending £63.50, but I really don't want to lose my data. Why can't the price just come down already!

Flooding really disturbed the downward pricing trend. In September 2010 I bought an F3 7200rpm 1TB for £36, and now, two years later, the prices are 75% up on that. Normally I'd have expected 2 or 3TB drives going for that price.

 

[goodfella]

Flooding really disturbed the downward pricing trend. In September 2010 I bought an F3 7200rpm 1TB for £36, and now, two years later, the prices are 75% up on that. Normally I'd have expected 2 or 3TB drives going for that price.

The lack of competition can't be helping either. Where's Europe's regulation when you need them?

During the same time, Seagate and WD also bought out three of the other makers. They are being investigated right now for price fixing.

Yeah, makes sense.

 

[mkenyon]

Flooding really disturbed the downward pricing trend. In September 2010 I bought an F3 7200rpm 1TB for £36, and now, two years later, the prices are 75% up on that. Normally I'd have expected 2 or 3TB drives going for that price.

During the same time, Seagate and WD also bought out three of the other makers. They are being investigated right now for price fixing.

I got the pretty blue stuff since they were cheap for my build. Something goofy about them? Guess as used to it as I am, I'm swearing off sleep mode now. I've had this SSD for quite a while now though, wonder if the damage is already pretty severe.

mkenyon, I know no one knows for sure what's up with next gen anything, but if you had to take a guess, would you think four core/thread CPUs won't be able to handle next gen games? Just hate to think this brand new 3570k won't last me as long as I'd like.

I really would love to answer this, but I just don't know enough about programming or how engines interact with silicon to give an educated guess.

 

[cackhyena]

I really hope that isn't the case. Half the reason I built this new rig was to have the ability to game on it for quite a while.

 

[Dipswitch]

Sanity check here - just about to order the last of the parts for my new rig and want to make sure a 650W power supply is going to be sufficient. Final build will look something like this:

Asus P8Z77-? Mobo (Haven't decided final model yet)
HIS IceQ X2 7970
Intel i7 3770 CPU
Crucial M4 256GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Crucial Ballistix 8GB DDR3-1866
Lite-on DVD-RW burner

That look kosher or is the jump to 750W recommended? I don't expect to be running any SLI setup in all likelihood.

 

[RibbedHero]

Sanity check here - just about to order the last of the parts for my new rig and want to make sure a 650W power supply is going to be sufficient. Final build will look something like this:

Asus P8Z77-? Mobo (Haven't decided final model yet)
HIS IceQ X2 7970
Intel i7 3770 CPU
Crucial M4 256GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Crucial Ballistix 8GB DDR3-1866
Lite-on DVD-RW burner

That look kosher or is the jump to 750W recommended? I don't expect to be running any SLI setup in all likelihood.

All good. 650W is plenty.

 

[Dipswitch]

All good. 650W is plenty.

Cheers.

 

[Lonestar]

Checking in with a build, to see if anything needs changing.

CPU
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core $219.99
CPU Cooler
Corsair H40 Liquid $45.99
Motherboard
Biostar TZ77XE3 ATX LGA1155 $129.99
Memory
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 $79.99
Storage
OCZ Agility 3 90GB 2.5" SSD $49.99
Video Card
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB $216.97
Case
BitFenix Shinobi Window (White) ATX Mid Tower $79.98
Power Supply
Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V $136.98

$959.88

Already have an OS, monitor (LCD TV), and plan to use existing HD's/DVD drives, etc.

Never installed a CPU cooler before, and SSD is new to me, figure a 90 GB would do fine for a boot disk, and perhaps a game or 2 (Witcher 2/Planetside/Simcity)

Probably could go down on power supply, think I left in a 750 on a GTX660. Seems like the HD7850 can do with a 500.

 

[Mareg]

Thanks again to Mareg for replying to my previous questions.

Got another one. The case I have is the Cooler Master HAF 922, with fans in the front, top, and back. The bottom panel is vented and is where the PSU is installed. Do I install the PSU with its fan facing the motherboard/graphics card or towards the floor? I see conflicting answers on Google.

I believe the HAF 922 is designed so the PSU should be put at the bottom of the case with its fan intake pointing downward and the fan exaust facing the back of the case. Also, you are in luck since the HAF 922 botom PSU hole should be equiped with a filter. Essentially, that makes your PSU heat management a closed loop with the additionnal advantage of having the air intake filtered. Best of both world. Very good design that should be mendatory in any decent Case.

 

[kharma45]

Checking in with a build, to see if anything needs changing.

CPU
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core $219.99
CPU Cooler
Corsair H40 Liquid $45.99
Motherboard
Biostar TZ77XE3 ATX LGA1155 $129.99
Memory
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 $79.99
Storage
OCZ Agility 3 90GB 2.5" SSD $49.99
Video Card
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB $216.97
Case
BitFenix Shinobi Window (White) ATX Mid Tower $79.98
Power Supply
Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V $136.98

$959.88

Already have an OS, monitor (LCD TV), and plan to use existing HD's/DVD drives, etc.

Never installed a CPU cooler before, and SSD is new to me, figure a 90 GB would do fine for a boot disk, and perhaps a game or 2 (Witcher 2/Planetside/Simcity)

Probably could go down on power supply, think I left in a 750 on a GTX660. Seems like the HD7850 can do with a 500.

Yeah take the PSU down and save yourself some money, 600W would be more than plenty.

 

[Lonestar]

I set the RAM limit at DDR3-1600. That motherboard goes up into the 2000's. Any reason to go above 1600?

Yeah take the PSU down and save yourself some money, 600W would be more than plenty.

Would a Antec HCG-620M ($69 and Modular) do alright, or should I not bother with Modular?

 

[Gav47]

I'm selling my GTX 470s what would be a fair price for them?

They're Sparkle cards with non ref coolers.

 

[Mareg]

What's the difference in the 212 regular Evo and Plus and the bracket versions?

The Evo is the new Plus. Get the Evo. Don't know what the Bracket version is. The Evo comes with a mounting kit that fits basically every socket.

 

[Cannon Goose]

Are there any downsides to using hybrid sleep in Windows 7 if I just have a regular hard drive?

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Currently this is what I'm looking at:

-NZXT Source 210 Elite White Steel with painted interior ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ Black Front Trim
-Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
-XFX HD-687A-ZHFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
-Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply
-CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
-ASRock Z77 Pro4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
-Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000
OR- AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
-ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Looking at around $632 without shipping.

Good to go or is there anything I should consider picking up or upgrading? I'm so far behind on PC tech that I don't know which way is up anymore.

Slightly unrelated but if I got the cash to throw around what's a good pick for a capture card? Mostly interested in streaming at a decent quality, uploading youtube videos, that sort of thing.

 

[Hazaro]

Currently this is what I'm looking at:

-NZXT Source 210 Elite White Steel with painted interior ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ Black Front Trim
-Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
-XFX HD-687A-ZHFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
-Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply
-CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
-ASRock Z77 Pro4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
-Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000
OR- AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
-ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Looking at around $632 without shipping.

Good to go or is there anything I should consider picking up or upgrading? I'm so far behind on PC tech that I don't know which way is up anymore.

Swap the Blue for a Seagate or Samsung. 2120 will do you nicely on a budget rig. If you can stretch to a 2320 (or used 2500K) it'll help a lot.

 

[Jex]

Firstly I'd like to say thank you to Hazaro for creating this thread. This is my first time sourcing/building a PC so I'm looking for a little bit of help before I make any serious commitments.

Country: UK
Budget £500 (Slightly flexible on this but I'm trying to keep to budget)
Primary Use: Gaming
Overclock: Yes, Probably
Current Monitor: 1920X1200
Time Frame: Any

I've only really looked at the Eurogamer Digital Foundry Article on building a budget PC so this stuff may be out date. Well, as it's been a while since then I am sure it is.


CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 6870
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-VS
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x 4GB RAM
Hard Drive: 500GB Seagate Spinpoint F3
Power Supply: Corsair CX600 V2
Case Casecom: MA-1199 mATX
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB DVD Rewriter

I look forward to being corrected on everything! The last PC I got was in 2005 and it was an off the shelf model so it's been a long time.

 

[Felix Lighter]

I've been considering purchasing a second SSD for applications. I currently have Windows installed on a 120 GB SSD I installed years ago but I'd like to a have another nice chunk of fast storage for games and other applications.

2 things, first of all, this wouldn't be a stupid waste of money would it? Second, the current SSD I have Windows installed on is a OCZ Agility 2 120 GB and I'm sure any new SSD I would buy today would be considerably better. I'd rather not reinstall Windows, unless I would see very significant OS performance increases. If the difference would be negligible, then I'd rather just add the new SSD as an additional drive for applications and leave my windows installation alone.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Swap the Blue for a Seagate or Samsung. 2120 will do you nicely on a budget rig. If you can stretch to a 2320 (or used 2500K) it'll help a lot.

Done and done.

I haven't owned a PC with even a 3D card for close to a decade so this will be a significant jump for me.

Damn...I still need a new desk & chair. No idea where to go for that stuff and it seems like Amazon sells nothing but crap.

 

[Lonestar]

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H40 Liquid CPU Cooler ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Biostar TZ77XE3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Agility 3 90GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($216.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill Future ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 600W ATX12V Power Supply ($46.98 @ NCIX US)
Total: $794.89

Changed up the power supply, and thinking about this case instead of the prementioned Bitfenix Shinobi. Promo code down to $40, but is about 1/2" thinner in width and 1" shorter.

Country: US
Budget $1000
Primary Use: Gaming
Overclock: Doesn't matter to me
Current Monitor: 1600X1200 (I believe)
Time Frame: Any, but promo codes within a week.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

I have a question about external hard drives, (which I posted in another thread, but that was just not a right place to get an answer)



I need a 7200rpm usb 3.0 external hard drive for video editing.

I was looking for something with a speed around 100 mbps, so I found this video of a Seagate Slim 500GB USB 3.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow57PKxzaR4

however, on there he links to Amazon.co.uk where the drive costs £89.45, but doesn't specify the model.

There is a 320GB version that i'm sure is 7200rpm, but in Amazon.com there are two 500GB variants, and it's not clear if these are 7200rpm. An older STBE500100 and a newer STCD500100.

At the moment I believe that the STBE500100 is not 7200rpm despite what amazon says.



Now my questions are:

1) Is there anyone there with an STCD500100 who can confirm whether this one is 7200rpm or not?

2) Is the STCD500100 the one in the Youtube video and Amazon.co.uk?

or

3)Should I just buy the 320GB version, or a Hitachi GST Touro Mobile Pro 500GB instead?

 

[Finnish the Fox]

Hey, guys. I'm installing a noctua c12p-se14, the instruction says to set up the fan so the air blows towards the cpu. It seems a bit counterintuitive, I can see the merit of blowing in air towards the cpu I just want to make sure I read it right / it's not a typo. pics of the cooler below.

Edit: Looks like blowing in towards the cpu is the way it was designed. Anyone know what would happen if I set it up to blow out? If I set it up to blow away from the cpu it would push the air towards the the back fans which would blow the air out. blowing the air towards the cpu will have the air just sloshing around in my case.

 

[·feist·]

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H40 Liquid CPU Cooler ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Biostar TZ77XE3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Agility 3 90GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($216.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill Future ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 600W ATX12V Power Supply ($46.98 @ NCIX US)
Total: $794.89

Changed up the power supply, and thinking about this case instead of the prementioned Bitfenix Shinobi. Promo code down to $40, but is about 1/2" thinner in width and 1" shorter.

Country: US
Budget $1000
Primary Use: Gaming
Overclock: Doesn't matter to me
Current Monitor: 1600X1200 (I believe)
Time Frame: Any, but promo codes within a week.

Check OP for more reliable, and better quality SSD options. Current prices for both are actually ~$75 for 64GB, and ~$100 for 128GB, with Samsung being higher priced (though better overall).

$50 HAF 912.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/343331/HAF912_Mid_Tower_ATX_Computer_Case#
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZM7YTA/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=haf 912

Better build quality, features, cable mgmt, cooling flexibility. Unpainted interior trade-off for much better case. Also check OP case recommendation section for similarly priced $40-60 options. DO NOT PAY $80 for a Shinobi.

H40 still isn't a good buy at $46. Nearly any air cooler in that price range will perform better with less noise. Such as these: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=31916702&postcount=15819 The Cooler Master Hyper T4 is now on sale, as well.

If you want to stay with sealed liquid, around that price: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=59537&vpn=KUHLER H20620&manufacture=Antec&promoid=1088

Antec 620 > Corsair H60 ≥ H50 > H40.

I have a question about external hard drives, (which I posted in another thread, but that was just not a right place to get an answer)



I need a 7200rpm usb 3.0 external hard drive for video editing.

I was looking for something with a speed around 100 mbps, so I found this video of a Seagate Slim 500GB USB 3.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow57PKxzaR4

however, on there he links to Amazon.co.uk where the drive costs £89.45, but doesn't specify the model.

There is a 320GB version that i'm sure is 7200rpm, but in Amazon.com there are two 500GB variants, and it's not clear if these are 7200rpm. An older STBE500100 and a newer STCD500100.

At the moment I believe that the STBE500100 is not 7200rpm despite what amazon says.



Now my questions are:

1) Is there anyone there with an STCD500100 who can confirm whether this one is 7200rpm or not?

2) Is the STCD500100 the one in the Youtube video and Amazon.co.uk?

or

3)Should I just buy the 320GB version, or a Hitachi GST Touro Mobile Pro 500GB instead?

The STBE500100 and STCD500100 are both 7200rpm.

http://www.seagate.com/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/performance/goflex-slim/
http://www.seagate.com/files/www-co.../en-us/docs/storage-solutions-guide-en-us.pdf

Hey, guys. I'm installing a noctua c12p-se14, the instruction says to set up the fan so the air blows towards the cpu. It seems a bit counterintuitive, I can see the merit of blowing in air towards the cpu I just want to make sure I read it right / it's not a typo. pics of the cooler below.

Edit: Looks like blowing in towards the cpu is the way it was designed. Anyone know what would happen if I set it up to blow out? If I set it up to blow away from the cpu it would push the air towards the the back fans which would blow the air out. blowing the air towards the cpu will have the air just sloshing around in my case.
http://www.dvhardware.net/news/noctua_nh_c12p_se14.jpg
http://bluecouch.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/DSC01242.jpg

Less efficient in pull so temps would rise a bit. High-end C-Type HSFs in a normal size case (that can easily fit a better tower-style HSF) are not the best combination. With C-Type in a standard size ATX, you generally want at least one top exhaust, and one rear exhaust.

 

[knitoe]

I really hope that isn't the case. Half the reason I built this new rig was to have the ability to game on it for quite a while.

If what I read are true, you could write GBs of data each day and it would still last ~5 years. Download SSD Life and see it's current life status.

www.ssd-life.com

 

[Lonestar]

Alright, I changed to a 64 GB Crucial, and I changed the case.

I'm not planning on overclocking the thing, and I've never installed a cooler before, suggestions?

 

[·feist·]

Depends on the cooler you chose. Before installing, be certain to remove the plastic covering the cooler's contact base, and apply TIM (if the cooler doesn't have it already applied). For specific coolers, try manual & YouTube.

 

[MrBig]

Firstly I'd like to say thank you to Hazaro for creating this thread. This is my first time sourcing/building a PC so I'm looking for a little bit of help before I make any serious commitments.

Country: UK
Budget £500 (Slightly flexible on this but I'm trying to keep to budget)
Primary Use: Gaming
Overclock: Yes, Probably
Current Monitor: 1920X1200
Time Frame: Any

I've only really looked at the Eurogamer Digital Foundry Article on building a budget PC so this stuff may be out date. Well, as it's been a while since then I am sure it is.


CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 6870
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-VS
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x 4GB RAM
Hard Drive: 500GB Seagate Spinpoint F3
Power Supply: Corsair CX600 V2
Case Casecom: MA-1199 mATX
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB DVD Rewriter

I look forward to being corrected on everything! The last PC I got was in 2005 and it was an off the shelf model so it's been a long time.

Switch mobo to an ASrock Pro4-M for OC support and so that you won't have to flash the bios to support the 3570k. PSU to an Antec 550 to save a few bucks and it has modular cables. Get the samsung RAM if possible. And I'm sure you can find a better case than that cheap glossy plastic thing. Don't get an optical drive unless you actually need one and can't take one out of an old tower. It'd also be helpful to list prices and the store you're ordering from to see what is available.

 

[The Lamonster]

Anybody use the Max Keyboard Nighthawk X8 or X9?

It is looking like the best backlit mechanical keyboard on the market.

 

[kharma45]

Firstly I'd like to say thank you to Hazaro for creating this thread. This is my first time sourcing/building a PC so I'm looking for a little bit of help before I make any serious commitments.

Country: UK
Budget £500 (Slightly flexible on this but I'm trying to keep to budget)
Primary Use: Gaming
Overclock: Yes, Probably
Current Monitor: 1920X1200
Time Frame: Any

I've only really looked at the Eurogamer Digital Foundry Article on building a budget PC so this stuff may be out date. Well, as it's been a while since then I am sure it is.


CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 6870
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-VS
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x 4GB RAM
Hard Drive: 500GB Seagate Spinpoint F3
Power Supply: Corsair CX600 V2
Case Casecom: MA-1199 mATX
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB DVD Rewriter

I look forward to being corrected on everything! The last PC I got was in 2005 and it was an off the shelf model so it's been a long time.

That Digital Foundry article is a bit out of date now as most of the prices have risen.

I did this quick build at £529.86 delivered which sources parts from both Amazon and eBuyer.

Intel Core i5 2500K from Amazon for £164.98. Works out at £10 cheaper than a 3570K.

Sapphire 6870 for £127.89 from Amazon. You could change to a 6850 which would get you down to almost £500.

4GB Corsair Low Profile RAM, 19.70 from Amazon.

Samsung F3 £63.40 from Amazon

600W Corsair PSU £53.43 from Amazon

Casecom 6788 case from eBuyer. £32.99.

Samsung DVD writer from Ebuyer for £12.99.

ASUS Z77 motherboard from Amazon for £87.47

It's just an idea for a direction you could take that build. Money can be saved with a cheaper GPU like a 6850 and a cheaper motherboard.

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H40 Liquid CPU Cooler ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Biostar TZ77XE3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Agility 3 90GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($216.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill Future ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 600W ATX12V Power Supply ($46.98 @ NCIX US)
Total: $794.89

Changed up the power supply, and thinking about this case instead of the prementioned Bitfenix Shinobi. Promo code down to $40, but is about 1/2" thinner in width and 1" shorter.

Country: US
Budget $1000
Primary Use: Gaming
Overclock: Doesn't matter to me
Current Monitor: 1600X1200 (I believe)
Time Frame: Any, but promo codes within a week.

That case, take a look at the Rosewill Challenger too, it's another good one but is cheap.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

Just ordered the Galaxy GTX 670 2GB version off Amazon (379.99); hoping I made the right choice with that model, but I believe it was linked in a thread here very recently. I've heard good things about that brand, but they are new to me. Did I make a bad choice?

I have the beta drivers from yesterday, and Galaxy's XtremeTunerPlus downloaded for the very second my package arrives tomorrow. I'm quite excited. Is there any other programs that would be useful for me to have as a member of the green party now?

 

[MrBig]

I have the beta drivers from yesterday, and Galaxy's XtremeTunerPlus downloaded for the very second my package arrives tomorrow. I'm quite excited. Is there any other programs that would be useful for me to have as a member of the green party now?

Use MSI Afterburner or Evga PrecisionX for OC/monitoring instead of Galaxy's thing, as they're standard and both based on Riva.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

Use MSI Afterburner or Evga PrecisionX for OC/monitoring instead of Galaxy's thing, as they're standard and both based on Riva.

OK fair enough; I didn't realize that. Either one? I seem to see more people talk about Afterburner so I'll go with that.

I'm quite excited, haven't had an nVidia card since my GeForce 4 I believe.

 

[Trojita]

Can anyone recommend a good USB 3.0 External Enclosure for a 2.5 Hard Drive? I've been looking for one but they all seem to have mixed reviews.

 

[cartman414]

Sanity check here - just about to order the last of the parts for my new rig and want to make sure a 650W power supply is going to be sufficient. Final build will look something like this:

Asus P8Z77-? Mobo (Haven't decided final model yet)
HIS IceQ X2 7970
Intel i7 3770 CPU
Crucial M4 256GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Crucial Ballistix 8GB DDR3-1866
Lite-on DVD-RW burner

That look kosher or is the jump to 750W recommended? I don't expect to be running any SLI setup in all likelihood.

Why not a 3770k?