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"I need a New PC!" 2012 Thread. 22nm+28nm, Tri-Gate, and reading the OP. [Part 1]

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H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
FutureZombie said:
PC_Specs.png


Those are my current PC specs. I want to play this game: Guild Wars 2 minimum requirements on high settings if possible. What do I need to upgrade, and what changes can I make between $100-$200 to run this game on high (or medium if that is all I can hope for)?

Is a new graphics card all I need? And if so, can anyone recommend me a card?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure how CPU dependent GW2 is, but you'd be looking at a 6850 or 6870. Important to note is that you may need a new power supply. Do you have the model of your power supply or computer if you bought a pre-made?
6870 is the better card as its more frames for about the same cost, but a 6850 will do quite well. A GTX460 will also be a good choice if you prefer nVidia.

460 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127646
6850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161384
6870 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948
 
F

FutureZombie

Banned
Hazaro said:
I'm not sure how CPU dependent GW2 is, but you'd be looking at a 6850 or 6870. Important to note is that you may need a new power supply. Do you have the model of your power supply or computer if you bought a pre-made?
6870 is the better card as its more frames for about the same cost, but a 6850 will do quite well. A GTX460 will also be a good choice if you prefer nVidia.

460 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127646
6850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161384
6870 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply and good suggestions! My PC is an HP Pvailion Elite HPE-112y.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
FutureZombie said:
Thanks for the quick reply and good suggestions! My PC is an HP Pvailion Elite HPE-112y.
Click to expand...
If you can spare it, this after rebate and $10 coupon is what you should get + any of those cards.
OCZ 600w - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

If not, then an Antec 430w:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371034
and lastly a CX430v2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

If I was picking I'd go with a 6870 and that OCZ.
faceless007 said:
Cool. What TDP should I consider a max when I pick the GPU?
Click to expand...
Anything new under $300 will fit in the TDP you can use.
 
F

FutureZombie

Banned
R

RedSwirl

Junior Member
There's a possibility that I'll need a new wireless network adapter for my desktop. Anything I should know about price and compatibility? The system is a Dell XPS 420.

Also, are there any drivers or anything that can make the Xbox 360 N adapter work on a PC?
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
1. If you have an extra PCI slot, I'd suggest getting one of those over a USB one.
2. Not certain, might have to google-fu that one.
 
R

RedSwirl

Junior Member
mkenyon said:
1. If you have an extra PCI slot, I'd suggest getting one of those over a USB one.
2. Not certain, might have to google-fu that one.
Click to expand...

I was thinking of replacing the one currently using a PCI slot. That's possible right? What do I need to know about fitting it in the case?
 
J

John Rabbit

Banned
having put a 550Ti in my new build in february thinking that the GK104 would be dropping around $300, i'm now wondering what my options are. i was really looking forward to pushing some serious GFX but i'm not really prepared or willing to drop $550 right now.

what are my options? the 550Ti does pretty well (the most demanding things i've played are a heavily modded skyrim and probably witcher 2 and i'm getting 30fps or more with high to ultra settings) but performance could be better. i'd like to stay with nvidia after having disaster after issue with my last radeon and so i can utilize the 550 for physx stuff. should i just SLI another 550ti and wait for better pricing by year's end?

something between $300-400 would be great.
 
Q

Quikies83

Member
Hazaro said:
For the frames a 6870 pushes at 1080 I'd just get the 1GB version for $20 less.
Click to expand...

Okay, right on.

Here's the build so far:

already have:

Coolermaster HAF 912
600W PS

need to buy:

ASrock z68 extreme Gen3 LGA 1155
Radeon HD 6870 1GB
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3ghz
Crucial M4 64GB SATA III SSD
G-skill Ripjaw 4 or 8 GB DDR3
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB 7200 RPM
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 plus
Asus DRW 24x dvd burner

looks like it will be around $840
Can anyone advise or recommend any other parts of this build?
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
RedSwirl said:
I was thinking of replacing the one currently using a PCI slot. That's possible right? What do I need to know about fitting it in the case?
Click to expand...
Uninstall drivers through device manager. Turn off computer, unplug power cord from PSU. Unscrew, then pull it out. Put new one in, screw in. Let windows auto find the driver, which it should do.

*edit per post above*
Read your motherboard manual, confirm if it's in a PCI or PCI-E slot. ASUS ones work just fine, but others probably do too.
Rabbitwork said:
having put a 550Ti in my new build in february thinking that the GK104 would be dropping around $300, i'm now wondering what my options are. i was really looking forward to pushing some serious GFX but i'm not really prepared or willing to drop $550 right now.

what are my options? the 550Ti does pretty well (the most demanding things i've played are a heavily modded skyrim and probably witcher 2 and i'm getting 30fps or more with high to ultra settings) but performance could be better. i'd like to stay with nvidia after having disaster after issue with my last radeon and so i can utilize the 550 for physx stuff. should i just SLI another 550ti and wait for better pricing by year's end?

something between $300-400 would be great.
Click to expand...
570 is a great card, 580 might be in that price range once the 680 hits. I've already seen a few go for $400, $350 is certainly not out of the question in the next few weeks. SLI is a bad idea.

Do some inner soul searching as well on the physx thing and make sure it's something you actually care about rather than an ad hoc justification of going green. It sucks you had issues with your last card, but that's just how hardware goes. Don't let your bad experience cloud your judgement too much. Lots of issues on both sides, lots of success on both sides too.

Quikies83 said:
Meaning that the MB may be overkill for the system?

Ridiculous board for $119, IMO.
Click to expand...
The savings comes at the cost of reduced QC and a sluggish RMA process.
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
Quikies83 said:
Meaning that the MB may be overkill for the system?

Ridiculous board for $119, IMO.
Click to expand...

Heck no! Just that it's a great board. I'm using it with a 2120 right now. It just surprised me with how nice it is. And the fact the audio and Ethernet blows the doors off my old defective Gigabyte P35 board is just the icing on the cake.
 
J

John Rabbit

Banned
mkenyon said:
[videocard stuff]
Click to expand...
thanks a lot for your input.

the physx thing was mostly an added benefit of going lower in power on the videocard in anticipation of the kepler cards. it's not something i'm married to whatsoever. i can put it my older system and replace the aging 4850 in there.

radeon is only still not totally out of my view because they have cards right around my price-point. i guess i should at least wait to see what shakes out by month's end with the kepler stuff.
 
G

GoingGreen

Banned
Hey GAF

I had the Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2 GB DDR5 Graphics card picked out, but it's currently out of stock on Amazon as well as a ton of other cards.

I'm looking for a midrange card, any other suggestions?


I checked the OP, looks like the 7850 is replacing the 6950, but I don't see it for sale anywhere?
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
That's what I get for buying 1333Mhz RAM that was cheaper. I lose 300 fake epeen points.
Despite this I have two of the fastest stock 6950's on air IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Well, one now.
 
T

TricksterLoki

Member
Cant wait for my summer job to start. Going to upgrade my CPU and GPU. My question is should I go for a GTX 570 or a GTX 560ti 448 core? I have heard that the 560 is almost on par with the 570, so would it be worth it to spend a bit more to get the 570?
 
S

sikkinixx

Member
GAF,

I just got my fancy new SSD in the mail. My old HDD is dying. How do I clone my drive in the best way? I just did a fresh install in January, I don't wanna do it all again.
 
MisterNoisy

MisterNoisy

Member
Quikies83 said:
Okay, right on.

Here's the build so far:

already have:

Coolermaster HAF 912
600W PS

need to buy:

ASrock z68 extreme Gen3 LGA 1155
Radeon HD 6870 1GB
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3ghz
Crucial M4 64GB SATA III SSD
G-skill Ripjaw 4 or 8 GB DDR3
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB 7200 RPM
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 plus
Asus DRW 24x dvd burner

looks like it will be around $840
Can anyone advise or recommend any other parts of this build?
Click to expand...

Add fans and a controller? The HAF912 comes with 2 120mm units (front and rear), but has points for many more. 2x more 120mm top and 1 more for the front - another for the side panel wouldn't hurt either. I admit to being a little crazy when it comes to fans - more is better IMO, noise be damned.

Looks good, tho - I've had good luck with my AsRock board (Z68 Extreme4 Gen3), but others haven't been as fortunate.
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
MisterNoisy said:
Add fans and a controller? The HAF912 comes with 2 120mm units (front and rear), but has points for many more. 2x more 120mm top and 1 more for the front - another for the side panel wouldn't hurt either. I admit to being a little crazy when it comes to fans - more is better IMO, noise be damned.

Looks good, tho - I've had good luck with my AsRock board (Z68 Extreme4 Gen3), but others haven't been as fortunate.
Click to expand...

I dialed it back to one extra on top and the side panel. Cut the noise level way down and is still cooling as low as the ambiant temps will allow.
 
B

BoobPhysics101

Banned
MisterNoisy said:
Add fans and a controller? The HAF912 comes with 2 120mm units (front and rear), but has points for many more. 2x more 120mm top and 1 more for the front - another for the side panel wouldn't hurt either. I admit to being a little crazy when it comes to fans - more is better IMO, noise be damned.

Looks good, tho - I've had good luck with my AsRock board (Z68 Extreme4 Gen3), but others haven't been as fortunate.
Click to expand...

Not true at all. More is not better - a few well placed fans are far more efficient than a ton of haphazardly placed fans.

On my HAF 912, I have two 120mm fans in the front to suck air in, two on the top to vent out + one on the rear to vent out. I upgraded the fans to 1800 RPM Scythe Kaze Jyuni fans... made a huge difference with a fan controller (Sentry Mesh): I run all of the fans at 40% and they produce very little noise yet flow tons of air. I never really need to even turn them up with the fan controller.

So do your homework and configure your fans correctly.


Coldsnap said:
Anyone have television recommendations for a HTPC that will be used for movies and mainly video games? $400-700 range.
Click to expand...

I use the 2010 LD450 version of this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OOQ8CW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Utterly fantastic. S-IPS panel, 4:4:4 chroma subsampling support, plenty of inputs, TONS of tweaking ability, VERY low input lag for an LCD HDTV (16 ms), 4 ms response time... pretty much one of the best LCD's you can use for gaming + as a monitor... you'd have to spend 2x as much to get anything better.
 
C

Coldsnap

Member
BoobPhysics101 said:
Not true at all. More is not better - a few well placed fans are far more efficient than a ton of haphazardly placed fans.

On my HAF 912, I have two 120mm fans in the front to suck air in, two on the top to vent out + one on the rear to vent out. I upgraded the fans to 1800 RPM Scythe Kaze Jyuni fans... made a huge difference with a fan controller (Sentry Mesh): I run all of the fans at 40% and they produce very little noise yet flow tons of air. I never really need to even turn them up with the fan controller.

So do your homework and configure your fans correctly.




I use the 2010 LD450 version of this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OOQ8CW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Utterly fantastic. S-IPS panel, 4:4:4 chroma subsampling support, plenty of inputs, TONS of tweaking ability, VERY low input lag for an LCD HDTV (16 ms), 4 ms response time... pretty much one of the best LCD's you can use for gaming + as a monitor... you'd have to spend 2x as much to get anything better.
Click to expand...

Ah, okay. That seems to be the one everyone is recomending. I think I'm going to get the 2012 model because so far it looks to not be a panel lottery for IPS.
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
Yeah. When I was contemplating that route, that LG model was the run-away leader as best LCD for PC.

EDIT: Although it should be noted, you get into the rock-paper-scissors soup of issues when looking at HDTVs. Although they pass 4:4:4 and have low input lag, just like the other low end LCDs that have acceptable input lag, these sets only have motion resolution of 300 lines. This is the reason I gave up on this route. Either you accepted 300 lines of motion resolution, or you were stuck with unacceptable input lag.
 
P

ParityBit

Member
Coldsnap said:
Ah, okay. That seems to be the one everyone is recomending. I think I'm going to get the 2012 model because so far it looks to not be a panel lottery for IPS.
Click to expand...


So would it be better to get something like that, or an actual monitor for mainly a gaming rig?

Side comment: <blog>Man I am so out of the PC world it's not even funny. It's almost daunting starting over again</blog>
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
ParityBit said:
So would it be better to get something like that, or an actual monitor for mainly a gaming rig?

Side comment: <blog>Man I am so out of the PC world it's not even funny. It's almost daunting starting over again</blog>
Click to expand...

Depends on much you want size. They're unbeatable for the price/inch ratio. Motion resolution is pretty awful at only 300 lines of resolution.

If input lag/motion resolution are your priorities, you're better off getting a good, fast TN monitor or, if money isn't an issue, a 120hz TN monitor.
 
C

Coldsnap

Member
1-D_FTW said:
Yeah. When I was contemplating that route, that LG model was the run-away leader as best LCD for PC.

EDIT: Although it should be noted, you get into the rock-paper-scissors soup of issues when looking at HDTVs. Although they pass 4:4:4 and have low input lag, just like the other low end LCDs that have acceptable input lag, these sets only have motion resolution of 300 lines. This is the reason I gave up on this route. Either you accepted 300 lines of motion resolution, or you were stuck with unacceptable input lag.
Click to expand...

What exactly is 300 lines of motion resolution? I can handle some input lag, right now I'm using a 55" Panasonic S2 Plasma for my HTPC computer and I like it. It's just that I'm moving and it's too big to take with me.
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
Coldsnap said:
What exactly is 300 lines of motion resolution? I can handle some input lag, right now I'm using a 55" Panasonic S2 Plasma for my HTPC computer and I like it. It's just that I'm moving and it's too big to take with me.
Click to expand...

http://hdguru.com/will-you-see-all-...008-model-test-results-hd-guru-exclusive/287/

There's an article which covers quite a bit on it.

Pretty much what you expect. For static images (i.e. desktop or web browsing), 1920*1080 isn't an issue. But for moving images, the lower the motion resolution drops, the blurrier the image is going to appear.
 
Q

quaere

Member
Anyone want to take a guess at what the bottleneck is in my system?

Radeon 6770/Phenom II X4 840 (3.2Ghz)/4GB.

Mass Effect 3 slows down at times at 1280x720 =(
 
MisterNoisy

MisterNoisy

Member
BoobPhysics101 said:
Not true at all. More is not better - a few well placed fans are far more efficient than a ton of haphazardly placed fans.

On my HAF 912, I have two 120mm fans in the front to suck air in, two on the top to vent out + one on the rear to vent out. I upgraded the fans to 1800 RPM Scythe Kaze Jyuni fans... made a huge difference with a fan controller (Sentry Mesh): I run all of the fans at 40% and they produce very little noise yet flow tons of air. I never really need to even turn them up with the fan controller.

So do your homework and configure your fans correctly.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that save for the side intake (useful if you have a hot-running video card), that's what I suggested, but no matter.

That said, I admit to being something of an edge case when it comes to fans - as long as they follow the 'in from front and side and out through top and back' layout, you're hardly going to break anything by adding more air, IMO. It helps that it's very easy for me to tune out fan noise and as a result, I don't worry about fan noise that much.
 
C

Coldsnap

Member
1-D_FTW said:
http://hdguru.com/will-you-see-all-...008-model-test-results-hd-guru-exclusive/287/

There's an article which covers quite a bit on it.

Pretty much what you expect. For static images (i.e. desktop or web browsing), 1920*1080 isn't an issue. But for moving images, the lower the motion resolution drops, the blurrier the image is going to appear.
Click to expand...

damn, so what I can surmise is that the LG has some serious motion blur. BUT that pretty much comes with the territory of gaming on a LCD TV instead of a monitor.
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
quaere said:
Anyone want to take a guess at what the bottleneck is in my system?

Radeon 6770/Phenom II X4 840 (3.2Ghz)/4GB.

Mass Effect 3 slows down at times at 1280x720 =(
Click to expand...
During explosions, smoke, or fire by chance?

If so, there's a major issue being found in the Unreal Engine right now. There's not enough testing to see what hardware it's actually related to as people from both AMD/NVIDIA AMD/Intel are having the issue.

http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/248596-factors-confirmed-to-cause-frame-drops/

http://www.ngohq.com/graphic-cards/20181-smokes-in-games-low-fps.html

http://www.bluehellproductions.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=25006

One of my teammates has this issue in T:A and APB. We're digging through everything possible to find out what the cause is exactly.
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
Coldsnap said:
damn, so what I can surmise is that the LG has some serious motion blur. BUT that pretty much comes with the territory of gaming on a LCD TV instead of a monitor.
Click to expand...

There are plenty of current LCD HDTVs that have high motion resolution. Unfortunately, they're obtaining it with lots of image processing. So that's why LCD tends to have much higher input lag than plasma. Processing = lag.

Like I said earlier, it's rock-paper-scissors. All current tech has some serious drawbacks and you just have to decide what you want to prioritize and what drawbacks you can live with.
 
X

Xyber

Member
A few days ago I decided that I couldn't take the damn noise the pump in my Antec H2O 602 was making anymore and bought a Noctua NH-D14 instead. I fucking love that thing! It's completely quiet and my temps have never been this low before. I can really recommend this cooler.

And it looks so good in there. :D
jAFfF5GMiSnHy.JPG
 
Q

quaere

Member
mkenyon said:
During explosions, smoke, or fire by chance?

If so, there's a major issue being found in the Unreal Engine right now. There's not enough testing to see what hardware it's actually related to as people from both AMD/NVIDIA AMD/Intel are having the issue.

One of my teammates has this issue in T:A and APB. We're digging through everything possible to find out what the cause is exactly.
Click to expand...
Thanks, maybe I'll hold on to my current hardware then.
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
Depends on use. For games, the 965. Even then though, you will want to overclock it quite a bit to get your money's worth. I'd really advise against a socket AM3 -> AM3 upgrade. You don't really gain very much going from the lower chips to the better chips in games. Going to socket 1155 intel is going to be well worth the extra cost.

Out of curiosity, what are you upgrading from?
 
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