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[Chris R]

If anyone is looking for an Intel 320 80GB SSD, NewEgg has them on sale today for $70 after rebate. That's the first I've seen an Intel drive for less than $1/GB.

I know the Intel SSDs are reliable (well moreso than the other manufactures) but how is the performance on this one? Doubt another sale like this will come along before I build my Ivy Bridge rig.

 

[Hazaro]

I know the Intel SSDs are reliable (well moreso than the other manufactures) but how is the performance on this one? Doubt another sale like this will come along before I build my Ivy Bridge rig.

Smaller capacity limits the read/write but it's still SSD fast for your OS.

Note that there have been a few cases where the drive can revert to 8MB, thus losing all data. A patch was issued, but it seems like a few people still have it, whether this is the actually bug or a result of something else I don't know.
The % still seems really really small (10x less than Sandforce drive issues, and less than HDD failures). I keep a backup on my HDD of my SSD for my Intel 320. I'd still recommend it, especially at that price.

*On that note I'll be updating the OP list soon with a few non major changes. Other 580, 7950, SSD swap.

 

[chaosblade]

I know the Intel SSDs are reliable (well moreso than the other manufactures) but how is the performance on this one? Doubt another sale like this will come along before I build my Ivy Bridge rig.

Actually I think the 320 is the one that has the 8MB bug? Don't really follow SSDs so it might be a different Intel though.

 

[Hazaro]

Actually I think the 320 is the one that has the 8MB bug? Don't really follow SSDs so it might be a different Intel though.

There was a patch but it affected so few people that I don't know if it is actually the bug or some other things that is causing it to do that because of some other failure.

 

[wwm0nkey]

So SSD, how will it effect my gaming. Seriously question because I am looking into one.

 

[scogoth]

So SSD, how will it effect my gaming. Seriously question because I am looking into one.

In anything but some MMOs almost nothing really. It's for everything else you use a computer for that makes it awesome.

 

[Hawk269]

So SSD, how will it effect my gaming. Seriously question because I am looking into one.

Depends on the game. If it is a game the has alot of streaming from the drive, it would be a benefit. Right now I have Star Wars on it and my load times are half of what they were when I had it on a regular HDD. A good example would be last night. My friend and I were playing and he has my old rig which has a Samsung HDD on it. When we would travel to another planet on his ship and we hit the door to load in the planet, I would be waiting for him to load in. Typically, I would on average be in teh game enviroment 10-15 sec. faster than he would.

I strongly suggest you get the app Steam Mover if you get a SSD. Put Steam on the SSD and then move games that will not benefit too much to a HDD. Right now I have Skyrim, SWTOR and 2 others on my SSD. My other 30 Steam games i used Steam mover to put them on the HDD.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

So SSD, how will it effect my gaming. Seriously question because I am looking into one.

Bye bye load times. In games like Skyrim that use heavy streaming it makes a huge difference.

 

[cilonen]

Depends on the game. If it is a game the has alot of streaming from the drive, it would be a benefit. Right now I have Star Wars on it and my load times are half of what they were when I had it on a regular HDD.

I strongly suggest you get the app Steam Mover if you get a SSD. Put Steam on the SSD and then move games that will not benefit too much to a HDD. Right now I have Skyrim, SWTOR and 2 others on my SSD. My other 30 Steam games i used Steam mover to put them on the HDD.

This is what I plan to do; as a quick question, does this make backing up the 'steamapps' folder more of a chore - i.e. do you have to 'unify' everything back to the SSD before making a backup of 'steamapps' ?

 

[chaosblade]

This is what I plan to do; as a quick question, does this make backing up the 'steamapps' folder more of a chore - i.e. do you have to 'unify' everything back to the SSD before making a backup of 'steamapps' ?

Never tried, but it should work the same since the game is still mapped to location in the steamapps folder, it's just in a different physical location.

 

[dehydratedbabies]

DDR3 Low Voltage I'm not keen on. My gut says to just go for 1.5V because it works. I know 1.35V is 'supported' on SB-E, hadn't seen 1.25V until now. If it works it works, the only hesitation I have about it is that 1.65V was a ceiling for DDR3 voltage for 1155.
The power savings are very minimal (1-5W idle/load) that I would simply get 1.5V until I read up on it.

You can overclock any RAM you have, just depends if its stable or not.

If the RAM isn't on ASRock's supported memory list does that mean it definitely won't work with my motherboard? Or do they just list what will definitely work, and other RAM may or may not work? I chose that RAM because it is on the list and is low profile, but the only other 8GB G.Skill RAM on the list isn't low profile. The 1.25V RAM is very well reviewed on Newegg, but if I go with the 1.5V non-low profile will I potentially have a problem fitting it in this case with the Cooler Master Hyper 212+?

Also: That case, the K58W, doesn't list how long of a video card it will fit. The K59W does list that it'll fit up to 16.25" long cards and the case is only about one inch longer than the K58W. Am I right in assuming that the K58W will probably fit a 3GB 580 (10.5") or whatever Kepler card (they probably won't be longer than 11-12", right?) without a problem?

 

[scogoth]

If the RAM isn't on ASRock's supported memory list does that mean it definitely won't work with my motherboard? Or do they just list what will definitely work, and other RAM may or may not work? I chose that RAM because it is on the list and is low profile, but the only other 8GB G.Skill RAM on the list isn't low profile. The 1.25V RAM is very well reviewed on Newegg, but if I go with the 1.5V non-low profile will I potentially have a problem fitting it in this case with the Cooler Master Hyper 212+?

Also: That case, the K58W, doesn't list how long of a video card it will fit. The K59W does list that it'll fit up to 16.25" long cards and the case is only about one inch longer than the K58W. Am I right in assuming that the K58W will probably fit a 3GB 580 (10.5") or whatever Kepler card (they probably won't be longer than 11-12", right?) without a problem?

It may or may not work. Most likely it will work.

 

[chaosblade]

If the RAM isn't on ASRock's supported memory list does that mean it definitely won't work with my motherboard? Or do they just list what will definitely work, and other RAM may or may not work? I chose that RAM because it is on the list and is low profile, but the only other 8GB G.Skill RAM on the list isn't low profile. The 1.25V RAM is very well reviewed on Newegg, but if I go with the 1.5V non-low profile will I potentially have a problem fitting it in this case with the Cooler Master Hyper 212+?

Also: That case, the K58W, doesn't list how long of a video card it will fit. The K59W does list that it'll fit up to 16.25" long cards and the case is only about one inch longer than the K58W. Am I right in assuming that the K58W will probably fit a 3GB 580 (10.5") or whatever Kepler card (they probably won't be longer than 11-12", right?) without a problem?

RAM is pretty standard, I've never bothered checking motherboard compatibility and never had a problem other than a straight DOA stick (once). As long as it's DDR3 and dual channel, it should work. Not sure about the different voltages, but 1.5v is basically standard and will work for sure.

 

[John Rabbit]

so, i'm about ready (once my tax return gets here) to pull the trigger on a build. i'm not shooting for the moon but i want to get into PC gaming and be set for at least 2-3 years before i have to start upgrading.

that said, here's what i'm looking at for my build. as to why i'm buying a 460, i plan to upgrade to one of the newer NVIDIA cards later this year and then use the 460 for physX so i know that in terms of what i have here its definitely an area for improvement. basically what i'm looking for is for anyone to identify where i can probably push the build a little farther for not much cost increase and/or if i'm paying too much for anything. any input is greatly appreciated. i followed the guides in the OP fairly closely (and then deviated as costs, other decisions came into play) so hopefully i haven't overlooked something.

just as an overview this will be a gaming/video/graphics production PC. my current build handles most of my design work (sans large format) and most games at reasonable to lower settings so the biggest area of improvement will come in the form of being able to edit HD video and playing games at ultra/max settings. i went for the 2500K because i would like to get into overclocking a little bit.

quoting this so maybe someone would look it over. probably going to be buying this sometime next week and just want to get any last minute input. thanks in advance!

 

[Hazaro]

quoting this so maybe someone would look it over. probably going to be buying this sometime next week and just want to get any last minute input. thanks in advance!

Get a Samsung F3 1TB. WD Blue's are more budget minded
M4 or Samsung 830 for the SSD. No Sandisk firmware updates on a Sandforce drive? It's cheap but stay away.

Also the non modular version of the 620 is massively on sale for just $60:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=17-151-096

 

[CSampson]

Did some OC today. Pretty happy with results now that I'm stable.

Quick Q: When is it time to upgrade your cpu? Currently running Athlon II X4 635 OC'd @ 3.3ghz. I see some nice core i7 cpus out there which pique my interest so basically I need someone to tell me not to spend more money .

 

[Hazaro]

Did some OC today. Pretty happy with results now that I'm stable.

Quick Q: When is it time to upgrade your cpu? Currently running Athlon II X4 635 OC'd @ 3.3ghz. I see some nice core i7 cpus out there which pique my interest so basically I need someone to tell me not to spend more money .

3.3 quad does very well in all games except a select RTS's and some CPU demanding games.
Most of the time you'll be GPU limited depending on your resolution.

 

[vertopci]

So started running into an issue with my comp today CPU is Q9550 and GPU is MSI 570 Lightning.

The computer will just randomly reboot itself while playing a game. I checked temps on both CPU and GPU and they are fine. I then ran prime95 and everything is fine there too. Furmark is a different story. Using 800x600 res, furmark runs fine. Bump up the res and furmark runs for about a second, then the computer reboots itself :/ However using the built in variant of Furmark in MSI kombustor, it works fine even at 1080p.

Anyone got any idea what the heck could be wrong? Hoping its an issue with the PSU as that would be an easy fix...

 

[finley83]

Thanks for this thread, I've been putting off building a new PC for years now and it's finally spurred me on to doing something about it!

Now I need to save up for a few months...

 

[Hazaro]

So started running into an issue with my comp today CPU is Q9550 and GPU is MSI 570 Lightning.

The computer will just randomly reboot itself while playing a game. I checked temps on both CPU and GPU and they are fine. I then ran prime95 and everything is fine there too. Furmark is a different story. Using 800x600 res, furmark runs fine. Bump up the res and furmark runs for about a second, then the computer reboots itself :/ However using the built in variant of Furmark in MSI kombustor, it works fine even at 1080p.

Anyone got any idea what the heck could be wrong? Hoping its an issue with the PSU as that would be an easy fix...

Model of PSU?

 

[vertopci]

Model of PSU?

Silverstone Strider ST75F. 750W. It's the oldest part in my build right now, around 5 years or so.

 

[CSampson]

3.3 quad does very well in all games except a select RTS's and some CPU demanding games.
Most of the time you'll be GPU limited depending on your resolution.

Ah ok. Well I did just recently get that 6950 so I will sit pat for awhile . Thank you sir. You have helped me (and I'm sure many others) right from the start. I actually used these threads to buy and put together my PC almost 2 years ago. Been happy times ever since .

 

[Hazaro]

Silverstone Strider ST75F. 750W. It's the oldest part in my build right now, around 5 years or so.

Should probably still be truckin fine. Yay troubleshooting!

 

[vertopci]

Should probably still be truckin fine. Yay troubleshooting!

What else could be wrong then? D:

 

[Hazaro]

What else could be wrong then? D:

Could still be the PSU. Or mobo. GPU possibly but low chance.

Try running OCCT GPU memory checker.

Also shut off the PC and plug unplug all your power cables see if that helps.

 

[vertopci]

Could still be the PSU. Or mobo. GPU possibly but low chance.

Try running OCCT GPU memory checker.

Also shut off the PC and plug unplug all your power cables see if that helps.

Never heard of that program, I'll give it a try.

 

[John Rabbit]

Get a Samsung F3 1TB. WD Blue's are more budget minded
M4 or Samsung 830 for the SSD. No Sandisk firmware updates on a Sandforce drive? It's cheap but stay away.

Also the non modular version of the 620 is massively on sale for just $60:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=17-151-096

thanks for the looking out on the PSU. is 620 enough if i plan on upgrading to the newer Kepler cards (i know specs are hazy ATM) and keeping the 460? or should i go higher?

 

[Wolf Akela]

(double post)

 

[Wolf Akela]

thanks for the looking out on the PSU. is 620 enough if i plan on upgrading to the newer Kepler cards (i know specs are hazy ATM) and keeping the 460? or should i go higher?

Pretty huge gamble there. A system with a GTX 580 eats about 480W while the 1GB GTX 460 has a TDP of 150w. I'd personally look at 700w just to play safe. There's no telling how much more or less a flagship Kepler card would consume.

 

[Guri]

What would be the ideal PC to run heavy games like The Witcher 2 at 60 fps with everything maxed out? I'm not interested in Battlefield 3, but I'm sure with Metro 2034 and others that will still be launched. Any ideas?

By the way, if that's important, I don't want 3D.

 

[Wolf Akela]

What would be the ideal PC to run heavy games like The Witcher 2 at 60 fps with everything maxed out?

Nothing. Ubersampling makes the even the most extravagant PCs cry.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

What would be the ideal PC to run heavy games like The Witcher 2 at 60 fps with everything maxed out? I'm not interested in Battlefield 3, but I'm sure with Metro 2034 and others that will still be launched. Any ideas?

By the way, if that's important, I don't want 3D.

7970/7950 OC'd with a 4.5+ Ghz 2500k. Witcher 2 loves high-powered CPU's and GPU's.

 

[Guri]

Nothing. Ubersampling makes the even the most extravagant PCs cry.

Yeah, I thought about that.

Is AMD better than nVidia now? What about motherboard and RAM?

 

[LegoDad]

Have a quick question for some knowledgeable PC guys, that I can't seem to find the answer for.

Is there a program that checks for sector errors and bad hard drives, that will work on a non-partioned drive? All unallocated space, no drive letter, I just want to test the drive. Thanks.


Edit: I knew as soon as I posted I would find one. Just an FYI for others that run into same problem, you can go to manufacturers website, and they have HDD sector reading programs that will work on an unallocated drive.

Edit2: Only seems to find them, not actually fix them... Any 3rd party that would read unallocated and fix the drive?

 

[Wolf Akela]

I thought bad sectors were pretty much physical damage? I had a very old drive where bad sectors just kept growing so I had to get it replaced.

Is AMD better than nVidia now?

AMD cards are generally slightly better in terms of price/performance ratio. If you're in the market for top end single cards, 79xx are pretty much better in every way compared to 580. Up to you if PhysX and Stereo 3D matters.

What about motherboard and RAM?

Motherboard... go take your pick that isn't Biostar. People usually go with Asus, AsRock and Gigabyte here.

RAM... get the cheapest compatible one from the brand you trust (like GSkill). Brand only matters just for the RMA.

 

[clav]

Thinking of purchasing a third party cooler for my current card (9800 GT ECO edition; does not use PCI-E power connector) although I wonder if it's just worth it to buy a new card with a better power supply.

My only option is the Zalman VF900-CU since my case is small, and any new more powerful card would require a better power supply; thus I would need to upgrade as well.

Idles 63 degrees with 50% fan. No dust. 70-80 degrees with 100% fan during gaming.

Leaning towards the aftermarket fan option.

The only problems with my current build are the graphics card temperatures and no SSD.

 

[I_Am_CC]

but if I go with the 1.5V non-low profile will I potentially have a problem fitting it in this case with the Cooler Master Hyper 212+?

I just built my new PC a few weeks ago and have the ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3, 212+ and some G.Skill Ram. The 212+ will fit, just barely anyway. At least if you plan to orient it vertically.

 

[D-Pad]

Hello! Again, thanks for the help earlier. As I mentioned before I'm finally going to build my first gaming rig. I want something that can run games like Skyrim and Kingdom of Amalar.

Basic Desktop Questions:

• Your Current Specs: HP DV7-3067nr Entertainment Notebook
• Budget: $1000.00-1500.00
• Main Use: Gaming [5], programming [5], microsoft office[5], photoshop (illustration) [5], music composition [5], game design [5], internet[5]
• Monitor Resolution: Well I have a Samsung TV/Monitor that displays up to 1920 x 1080, but I don't mind lower res... Plan on getting another one sometime down the line, most likely the same model.
• List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Skyrim, Kingdoms of Armalur Reckoning, RollerCoaster Tycoon 1, 2, 3;
• Are reusing any parts?: No
• When will you build?: By end of May
• Will you be overclocking?: I don't know...

Here's what I made using the excellent build:

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($184.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($167.27 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB Video Card ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White/Red) ATX Full Tower Case ($135.15 @ CompUSA) <--- This must stay. I need that case. (btw, it's cheaper on amazon)
Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V Power Supply ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($27.97 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1154.31
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-02-02 00:41 EST-0500)

I'm going to order the case soon, and the processor while it's on sale. After your input, of course.

 

[Soi-Fong]

Man already really wanna upgrade from the 5970 to the 7970! lol

Think I might wait though till the 680/780.. *_*

 

[Reg]

Does anybody know if the coil whine issues have been fixed with the Seasonic X760/X660 series? I've read people have had issues with the previous versions, X750/X650.

 

[scitek]

I'll be looking to upgrade my current motherboard/CPU in the next couple of weeks and was wondering if you guys might make some recommendations.

I'd like to play Dolphin better, so something good with OC'ing would be nice, and I'd like the option of using a Crossfire setup or a dedicated Physx card in the future should I want to do either at some point. I currently have a Radeon 6950 w/unlocked shaders running at 6970 clock speeds, so I'm good there, I think.

 

[Hazaro]

thanks for the looking out on the PSU. is 620 enough if i plan on upgrading to the newer Kepler cards (i know specs are hazy ATM) and keeping the 460? or should i go higher?

Pretty huge gamble there. A system with a GTX 580 eats about 480W while the 1GB GTX 460 has a TDP of 150w. I'd personally look at 700w just to play safe. There's no telling how much more or less a flagship Kepler card would consume.

Single card you'd be great, along with a 460 and a high end card, not sure. TDP on the higher end should be lower, but we don't know. I'd just resell the 460.

Have a quick question for some knowledgeable PC guys, that I can't seem to find the answer for.

Is there a program that checks for sector errors and bad hard drives, that will work on a non-partioned drive? All unallocated space, no drive letter, I just want to test the drive. Thanks.


Edit: I knew as soon as I posted I would find one. Just an FYI for others that run into same problem, you can go to manufacturers website, and they have HDD sector reading programs that will work on an unallocated drive.

Edit2: Only seems to find them, not actually fix them... Any 3rd party that would read unallocated and fix the drive?

Spinrite?

Thinking of purchasing a third party cooler for my current card (9800 GT ECO edition; does not use PCI-E power connector) although I wonder if it's just worth it to buy a new card with a better power supply.

My only option is the Zalman VF900-CU since my case is small, and any new more powerful card would require a better power supply; thus I would need to upgrade as well.

Idles 63 degrees with 50% fan. No dust. 70-80 degrees with 100% fan during gaming.

Leaning towards the aftermarket fan option.

The only problems with my current build are the graphics card temperatures and no SSD.

Hmmmm. Can you remove the top cover of GPU and point a fan at it?

I just built my new PC a few weeks ago and have the ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3, 212+ and some G.Skill Ram. The 212+ will fit, just barely anyway. At least if you plan to orient it vertically.

Great to see

Hello! Again, thanks for the help earlier. As I mentioned before I'm finally going to build my first gaming rig. I want something that can run games like Skyrim and Kingdom of Amalar.

Basic Desktop Questions:

• Your Current Specs: HP DV7-3067nr Entertainment Notebook
• Budget: $1000.00-1500.00
• Main Use: Gaming [5], programming [5], microsoft office[5], photoshop (illustration) [5], music composition [5], game design [5], internet[5]
• Monitor Resolution: Well I have a Samsung TV/Monitor that displays up to 1920 x 1080, but I don't mind lower res... Plan on getting another one sometime down the line, most likely the same model.
• List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Skyrim, Kingdoms of Armalur Reckoning, RollerCoaster Tycoon 1, 2, 3;
• Are reusing any parts?: No
• When will you build?: By end of May
• Will you be overclocking?: I don't know...

Here's what I made using the excellent build:

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($184.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($167.27 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB Video Card ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White/Red) ATX Full Tower Case ($135.15 @ CompUSA) <--- This must stay. I need that case. (btw, it's cheaper on amazon)
Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V Power Supply ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($27.97 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1154.31
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-02-02 00:41 EST-0500)

I'm going to order the case soon, and the processor while it's on sale. After your input, of course.

560Ti core 448 at minimum or HD6950 2GB. I'd get the Seasonic I posted on sale 620W (not modular) for $60.

Does anybody know if the coil whine issues have been fixed with the Seasonic X760/X660 series? I've read people have had issues with the previous versions, X750/X650.

I'm not sure, I forget what changed honestly.

 

[demigod]

Got rid of my lovely MSI 580 Extreme Lightning and getting a MSI 7970 instead. I hate the reference coolers, what's a good gpu cooler I can slap on it and is it easy to install?

 

[Hazaro]

I'm not sure of compatibility, but the Arctic Coolers are real nice imo

I'll be looking to upgrade my current motherboard/CPU in the next couple of weeks and was wondering if you guys might make some recommendations.

I'd like to play Dolphin better, so something good with OC'ing would be nice, and I'd like the option of using a Crossfire setup or a dedicated Physx card in the future should I want to do either at some point. I currently have a Radeon 6950 w/unlocked shaders running at 6970 clock speeds, so I'm good there, I think.

2500K and mobo of your price bracket.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Your Current Specs: Laptop died on me so nothing, using work laptop presently
Budget: ~$1500 and this is excluding monitor/OS/accessories, just what is in the case & USA
Main Use: Gaming - 5, Emulation (PS2/Wii) - 5, general usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) - 5, Music Composition - 5
Monitor Resolution: 1080p and I will buy a new monitor
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Crysis, Battlefield 3 and Trackmania 2
Are reusing any parts?:Totally new, coming from laptop
When will you build?: Two weeks
Will you be overclocking?: No

Will need some help in choose a case too. Thanks in advance.

 

[Kerrinck]

Hopefully this is the right thread for this.
Left my pc on yesterday downloading some games on steam and this morning my main hdd has gone from 321 gigs to empty. I just cleared 30 gigs and a few minutes later it went back to 0.
Any solution to this other than a full format?

 

[Hazaro]

Your Current Specs: Laptop died on me so nothing, using work laptop presently
Budget: ~$1500 and this is excluding monitor/OS/accessories, just what is in the case & USA
Main Use: Gaming - 5, Emulation (PS2/Wii) - 5, general usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) - 5, Music Composition - 5
Monitor Resolution: 1080p and I will buy a new monitor
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Crysis, Battlefield 3 and Trackmania 2
Are reusing any parts?:Totally new, coming from laptop
When will you build?: Two weeks
Will you be overclocking?: No

Will need some help in choose a case too. Thanks in advance.

Excellent build with an SSD, sound card, and I'd get the Seasonic 620w on sale for $60 right now.
Lot of cases in the OP.

Hopefully this is the right thread for this.
Left my pc on yesterday downloading some games on steam and this morning my main hdd has gone from 321 gigs to empty. I just cleared 30 gigs and a few minutes later it went back to 0.
Any solution to this other than a full format?

Elaborate more?

 

[·feist·]

More on the prototype BitFenix Prodigy mITX case being shown at IT Partners 2012.

L-R: BitFenix Shinobi XL, Raider, Ghost (prototype), Prodigy (prototype)

[ITP2012] BitFenix: A case for Mini ITX Gamer
http://www.cowcotland.com/news/3007...boitier-mini-itx-pour-le-gamer-tres-miam.html

IT Partners 2012: Boîtier BitFenix Prodigy (mini ITX)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYEOrZk_Y34

Did you ever want a mini-itx chassis that fits a 240mm radiator on top, long VGA cards up to 33cm and CPU coolers up to a height of 18cm?

If so, I may have something for your very soon!

If you like compact housings, but especially the look of the Mac Pro, the BitFenix Prodigy is made for you. The Mini ITX format, this package also has flexible, unbreakable handle according to CaseKing that the charge on its stand.

VGA clearance: 32-33cm
CPU Cooler clearance: 18cm
supports 240mm radiator in top or front

edit:

Additional Prodigy media. According to BitFenix, this is the only Prodigy prototype they currently have, things may change a bit, and there will be more media coming soon (including in English).

 

[·feist·]

Carrying forward:

Your Current Specs: Laptop died on me so nothing, using work laptop presently
Budget: ~$1500 and this is excluding monitor/OS/accessories, just what is in the case & USA
Main Use: Gaming - 5, Emulation (PS2/Wii) - 5, general usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback) - 5, Music Composition - 5
Monitor Resolution: 1080p and I will buy a new monitor
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Crysis, Battlefield 3 and Trackmania 2
Are reusing any parts?:Totally new, coming from laptop
When will you build?: Two weeks
Will you be overclocking?: No

Will need some help in choose a case too. Thanks in advance.

Excellent build with an SSD, sound card, and I'd get the Seasonic 620w on sale for $60 right now.
Lot of cases in the OP.

Hopefully this is the right thread for this.
Left my pc on yesterday downloading some games on steam and this morning my main hdd has gone from 321 gigs to empty. I just cleared 30 gigs and a few minutes later it went back to 0.
Any solution to this other than a full format?

Elaborate more?

 

[Kerrinck]

Sorry, should have been more specific.
When I went to sleep yesterday, my main hdd had 321 gigs free. I left it on like always and this morning it gave me a message saying that I had no space left, it was completely empty. Only thing I left downloading yesterday was deus ex on steam, which only requires around 9 gigs.
Deleted around 20 gigs just to test the hdd but a few minutes later I went to check and it was completely empty again.
Already ran an anti virus and tried to defrag it but still no solution.