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[Pachimari]

That's actually what I guessed the answer would be.

I'll wait with building a whole new PC then, and just replacing my broken HDD with a new HDD this year. Then I can use it for all of my documents meanwhile, it should at least be good enough for that and browsing the internet - standard stuff.

 

[Rand0m TAG]

whats a good 3d mark score? I got x1628.

 

[NIN90]

So my PC has been acting up for a few days now, bringing up the the dreaded "display driver has stopped responding and has recovered" error all the time and I think it's my GPU (560 Ti). I've had this before but I think it went went away when I upgraded to a new mobo, CPU and RAM a few months ago. So the only constant is the GPU.

Soooooo, regular 660 or 660 Ti?

 

[PaulLFC]

My GTX 460 is showing its age and the PC only has 4GB of memory, so I'm trying to decide whether to upgrade or get a new PC entirely. Thinking of just getting a new PC in a few months, saving up and seeing what I can get for the money.

I assume the 680 is a big upgrade over the 660Ti even with the additional cost? Since it came out in March I'm wondering if the 780 will be out by March next year, if so and if it won't be much more expensive than the 680 is currently, I might be best waiting until then.

Also, is an i7 worth the upgrade over an i5? I only have a first-gen (I think) i5 at the moment, the one before Sandy Bridge. According to Wikipedia (I know I know) the next processors are meant to be out March-June next year too, so is waiting for GTX 780 and the next i5/i7 advisable over getting GTX 680 / Ivy Bridge now?

I realise a boost in memory would be needed too, probably to 16GB. All in all it's going to be pretty expensive, but hopefully it should last me a long time if I can stretch to top-range parts rather than mid-range.

So my PC has been acting up for a few days now, bringing up the the dreaded "display driver has stopped responding and has recovered" error all the time and I think it's my GPU (560 Ti). I've had this before but I think it went went away when I upgraded to a new mobo, CPU and RAM a few months ago. So the only constant is the GPU.

Soooooo, regular 660 or 660 Ti?

I've had this error for a while, my card is fine though so it may not be that that's your problem. I noticed it only happened when I had the card plugged into my AV receiver (using a miniHDMI -> HDMI adapter and a HDMI cable). It used to happen at least a couple of times a day, but since I've gone back to a monitor connected via DVI (and coaxial for sound), I haven't seen the error at all. May be worth a change of cable if you have the option to.

 

[kharma45]

So my PC has been acting up for a few days now, bringing up the the dreaded "display driver has stopped responding and has recovered" error all the time and I think it's my GPU (560 Ti). I've had this before but I think it went went away when I upgraded to a new mobo, CPU and RAM a few months ago. So the only constant is the GPU.

Soooooo, regular 660 or 660 Ti?

Does it have to be Nvidia? 7950 is the better buy over those.

My GTX 460 is showing its age and the PC only has 4GB of memory, so I'm trying to decide whether to upgrade or get a new PC entirely. Thinking of just getting a new PC in a few months, saving up and seeing what I can get for the money.

I assume the 680 is a big upgrade over the 660Ti even with the additional cost? Since it came out in March I'm wondering if the 780 will be out by March next year, if so and if it won't be much more expensive than the 680 is currently, I might be best waiting until then.

Also, is an i7 worth the upgrade over an i5? I only have a first-gen (I think) i5 at the moment, the one before Sandy Bridge. According to Wikipedia (I know I know) the next processors are meant to be out March-June next year too, so is waiting for GTX 780 and the next i5/i7 advisable over getting GTX 680 / Ivy Bridge now?

I realise a boost in memory would be needed too, probably to 16GB. All in all it's going to be pretty expensive, but hopefully it should last me a long time if I can stretch to top-range parts rather than mid-range.

No need for the 680, 670 does most of what it can for a lot less. As for the release date on the 7xx series, a Spring release is reasonable to assume.

I'd stick to the i5 unless you're doing a lot of media work that will get the full benefit of the i7. What i5 is it you have, something like a 750 or 760? If so I'd say stick with it until Haswell, a good overclock will see it still be very competitive.

RAM wise doubling up to 8GB will be more than enough unless again you're doing a lot of media work that will utilise it, even 4GB is still enough atm.

What you could do now (PSU depending) is upgrade your 460 to say a 670 and then upgrade the rest when Haswell launches, as if you do indeed have an i5 750 or 760 it'll still be fine for the mean time, I've mine at 3.8GHz and I don't plan to upgrade for a good while yet.

 

[Felix Lighter]

I have a copy of The Witcher 2, steam version, that I'd like to give to someone who just jumped into PC gaming but missed out on the recent Steam Sale.

All I ask is that, if you take it, that you play it at some point.

The first person to quote this post with a picture of your new PC or a list of the components you ordered for your new PC, gets it.

 

[OatmealMu]

For the person that gets the Witcher 2 copy, I suggest avoiding cloud saves. I lost an hour or two last night because of da cloud.

 

[wilflare]

I have a copy of The Witcher 2, steam version, that I'd like to give to someone who just jumped into PC gaming but missed out on the recent Steam Sale.

All I ask is that, if you take it, that you play it at some point.

The first person to quote this post with a picture of your new PC or a list of the components you ordered for your new PC, gets it.

this is really awesome of you too bad my PC is considered old X)

 

[Monroeski]

Anybody have an opinion on some good speakers to buy? After 10 years my Logitech Z-560s have died beyond my preference to deal with them (I've been putting up with some problems for a few years now but it's getting worse). They cost me about $136 when I bought them in 2002 and I wouldn't mind paying something similar for new ones, up to $150 or so (though that's not exactly a hard cap). The Z560s are also 4.1 surround but I would prefer at least 5.1 for a new set.

 

[PaulLFC]

Does it have to be Nvidia? 7950 is the better buy over those.



No need for the 680, 670 does most of what it can for a lot less. As for the release date on the 7xx series, a Spring release is reasonable to assume.

I'd stick to the i5 unless you're doing a lot of media work that will get the full benefit of the i7. What i5 is it you have, something like a 750 or 760? If so I'd say stick with it until Haswell, a good overclock will see it still be very competitive.

RAM wise doubling up to 8GB will be more than enough unless again you're doing a lot of media work that will utilise it, even 4GB is still enough atm.

What you could do now (PSU depending) is upgrade your 460 to say a 670 and then upgrade the rest when Haswell launches, as if you do indeed have an i5 750 or 760 it'll still be fine for the mean time, I've mine at 3.8GHz and I don't plan to upgrade for a good while yet.

Thanks! I'll have a look at prices of the 670 in Janauary if there are any sales, if not I may wait until the new cards and processors are out and upgrade everything at once. I may well stick with an i5 though if the i7 doesn't make much difference, as there's a good £80-£100 difference from a quick non-exhaustive price check. I couldn't overclock the current one I don't think as the cooler is the stock one and presumably wouldn't do a good job if I tried overclocking.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

I have a copy of The Witcher 2, steam version, that I'd like to give to someone who just jumped into PC gaming but missed out on the recent Steam Sale.

All I ask is that, if you take it, that you play it at some point.

The first person to quote this post with a picture of your new PC or a list of the components you ordered for your new PC, gets it.

Hey hey if I'm not too late, my week old PC:

 

[Cipherr]

The lifespan/relevancy of the Hyper 212's just amazes me. Such a great cooler, its been selling for YEARS now across multiple sockets. Hilarious.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Hey hey if I'm not too late, my week old PC:

It's all yours. I'll send you a PM.

 

[mkenyon]

The lifespan/relevancy of the Hyper 212's just amazes me. Such a great cooler, its been selling for YEARS now across multiple sockets. Hilarious.

It is slightly bettered by the Xigmatek Gaia in terms of priceerformance, but that is it. Haz found another cooler that, I shit you not, he picked out entirely by glancing at a picture of it. The Zalman CPNS11X performs on par with stuff like the H100, outperforming the NH-D14 with an MSRP of $50.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118100

 

[Bleether]

I have a copy of The Witcher 2, steam version, that I'd like to give to someone who just jumped into PC gaming but missed out on the recent Steam Sale.

All I ask is that, if you take it, that you play it at some point.

The first person to quote this post with a picture of your new PC or a list of the components you ordered for your new PC, gets it.

I have the MoBo and CPU ordered and other pieces are going to be gifted to me for X-mas .

i currently play on this bad boy. Asus ROG g53-sx... i7, nivida gtx 560, 1tb, 12gb ram.. ect. haha. Thanks!

 

[scogoth]

I have the MoBo and CPU ordered and other pieces are going to be gifted to me for X-mas .

i currently play on this bad boy. Asus ROG g53-sx... i7, nivida gtx 560, 1tb, 12gb ram.. ect. haha. Thanks!

Wrap that in a quote man

 

[Data West]

Not games related, but my laptop's running extra slow. Like, when I minimize a window it takes 3-4 seconds to do so. It takes like 2 seconds for a prompt to show up, etc.

I watched my cpu usage on my task manager and there's nothing out of the ordinary going on there.

 

[Mordeccai]

I'm reading up on ram voltages and am still unsure about the whole 1.65v vs 1.5v ram. It looks like certain CPU's only play nice with a range of voltages for rams? I just ordered some 1.65 V ram and it shipped, was hoping for an answer earlier before the order shipped but now its on its way. Its possible for me to undervolt the ram through the bios, correct?

 

[RumblingRosco]

I'm reading up on ram voltages and am still unsure about the whole 1.65v vs 1.5v ram. It looks like certain CPU's only play nice with a range of voltages for rams? I just ordered some 1.65 V ram and it shipped, was hoping for an answer earlier before the order shipped but now its on its way. Its possible for me to undervolt the ram through the bios, correct?

It can be undervolted, but doing so would probably make it unstable and give you errors/crashing problems if you leave it at its stock speeds... you'd have to increase the timings and decrease the clock speed (say, if it is at 1600 MHz now, it might only be stable at 1333 MHz). I am by no means an expert in all of that stuff though, but I think that's a lot more work than it's worth.

 

[opticalmace]

So I have a 120GB SSD. I have two OSes on it, so there's not a lot of space for either. It's also only SATAII.

If I got a new SSD, is it feasible to have one OS on each (Win8 and Ubuntu)? Any reason why this wouldn't work? Thanks.

 

[mattiewheels]

I'm curious, if I have no plans to overclock and it has enough expansion ports and inputs for my desires, is there a real drawback to getting a cheapo basic level Gigabyte motherboard for my new processor? My PSU is 600v too, if that matters.

 

[scogoth]

So I have a 120GB SSD. I have two OSes on it, so there's not a lot of space for either. It's also only SATAII.

If I got a new SSD, is it feasible to have one OS on each (Win8 and Ubuntu)? Any reason why this wouldn't work? Thanks.

Yeah it would work but you might have to switch your BIOS boot order around to change OSs

 

[opticalmace]

Yeah it would work but you might have to switch your BIOS boot order around to change OSs

Hm, can't Grub handle that if I boot to the drive on which it's installed?

 

[scogoth]

Hm, can't Grub handle that if I boot to the drive on which it's installed?

It should, I've never used GRUB with two drives

 

[Canis lupus]

I wanna instal my newly bought SSD in my htpc, is there something I need to know? I have 3 3,5" HDD bays and the SSD is 2,5", I don't wanna waste a hdd bay for it, can I just stick the SSD on one of the sides in my rig?

 

[RumblingRosco]

I wanna instal my newly bought SSD in my htpc, is there something I need to know? I have 3 3,5" HDD bays and the SSD is 2,5", I don't wanna waste a hdd bay for it, can I just stick the SSD on one of the sides in my rig?

Just tape it down anywhere. I wouldn't attach it to anything that generates heat (like your power supply), but any spot on the bottom or side of your case is good. Whatever is best in regards to cable positioning.

 

[EternalGamer]

What is the difference between an H77 and a Z77 motherboard? Are they essentially the same?

 

[HarryDemeanor]

What is the difference between an H77 and a Z77 motherboard? Are they essentially the same?

An H77 board can't overclock. I think there's more differences but that's all I know.

 

[SnakeswithLasers]

Is there any way to use a desktop as a 'laptop'?

I'm thinking about building a new PC to use as a media center/gaming station on my TV; however, some games aren't going to work on the TV as ideally (grand strategy comes to mind) and my partner isn't too excited about me dominating the TV all of the time.

Is there a way to do video out to another device without moving everything? Or... remote desktop? I'm just not sure if this is doable.

 

[Canis lupus]

Just tape it down anywhere. I wouldn't attach it to anything that generates heat (like your power supply), but any spot on the bottom or side of your case is good. Whatever is best in regards to cable positioning.

Yeah thats what I was planning, might post a pic of the inner case, I hope I have the right cables to connect the SSD.

 

[BlackJace]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609

Is this a good upgrade for someone coming from an HD6850?

If not, any recommendations?

 

[NervousXtian]

Is there any way to use a desktop as a 'laptop'?

I'm thinking about building a new PC to use as a media center/gaming station on my TV; however, some games aren't going to work on the TV as ideally (grand strategy comes to mind) and my partner isn't too excited about me dominating the TV all of the time.

Is there a way to do video out to another device without moving everything? Or... remote desktop? I'm just not sure if this is doable.

If it's HDMI you can run a cable over to your desk, and if you use a good quality wireless mouse/keyboard you can make it work.

There's ways to run HDMI longer distances without signal lose, but really it depends on how far you want to run.. plus do you own your house, or rent.. because changes how you got about running cables.

I plan on putting my new PC by the TV and being able to run it off the TV, and then run it through the floor to the desk some 30 feet to the other side of the room.

They also make wireless HDMI transmitters.. but not sure how good they work.. but this one is sort of inexpensive for what it does.

 

[mkenyon]

Think I have most of my test bench selected. Going to be on a customized TripT bench. Lab ZFZ will be on the side rad grills.

Gigabyte Z77-UP7

RoG Matrix 7970

Heatsink will be both a Megahalems Black

and for testing rads, as well as really high OC's, an EK Supremacy

Processor is a 3570K, RAM is the Samsung 30nm.

Look good?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609

Is this a good upgrade for someone coming from an HD6850?

If not, any recommendations?

6850 -> 7850 isn't a huge upgrade by any means. I'd either spend more or wait for next gen if money is tight. Avoid the XFX Double D coolers, they're not good.

 

[Exuro]

How hard is it to replace a gpu cooler? My little brother has a HIS 6850 and the fan just buzzes like crazy.

 

[mkenyon]

How hard is it to replace a gpu cooler? My little brother has a HIS 6850 and the fan just buzzes like crazy.

It's pretty much the same thing as a CPU cooler with more screws. Think of the PCB as a motherboard, and the GPU as the CPU.

You might have to look into some heatsinks for the VRAM, which stick on with some thermal tape. Let that stuff cure for at least a day or they *will* drop off.

 

[scogoth]

It's pretty much the same thing as a CPU cooler with more screws. Think of the PCB as a motherboard, and the GPU as the CPU.

You might have to look into some heatsinks for the VRAM, which stick on with some thermal tape. Let that stuff cure for at least a day or they *will* drop off.

Learned that the hard way =(

 

[Ambitious]

I thought about buying a PC for myself for Christmas. The problem is, I was never ever interested in hardware in the slightest. I have absolutely no clue. I've always used notebooks and hardly played games on them, I preferred consoles.

So.. what about the Excellent build in the OP? Would I be able to play, for instance, The Witcher 2 in 1080p with maximum settings?

My budget (1000€/1300$) would allow even the Enthusiast one, but I also need either headphones or a surround sound system. I've got a 1080p monitor, but maybe I'll get one with 1440p later. Not in the near future, though.

The primary purpose would be gaming. Maybe I'd also use it as a media center, but a jailbroken AppleTV, a Mac mini or any other HTPC seems to be the better option. I'd like to be table to play older games like TW2 or GTA4 with Best/Ultra settings and recent releases at least with Very Good settings.

Of course I'll do research by myself, but I'm hoping to receive some basic guidance here. Gonna skim through the thread and read some links from the OP now.

 

[kharma45]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609

Is this a good upgrade for someone coming from an HD6850?

If not, any recommendations?

Don't get an XFX branded one, go MSI, Gigabyte or Sapphire.

MSI TF3 card is $195 on Newgg atm, performance wise you're looking at this big a jump http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/539?vs=549

7850 also generally overclocks very, very well with sizeable gains to be made.

Thanks! I'll have a look at prices of the 670 in Janauary if there are any sales, if not I may wait until the new cards and processors are out and upgrade everything at once. I may well stick with an i5 though if the i7 doesn't make much difference, as there's a good £80-£100 difference from a quick non-exhaustive price check. I couldn't overclock the current one I don't think as the cooler is the stock one and presumably wouldn't do a good job if I tried overclocking.

Yeah I'd just go for an i5 and then OC it with a third party cooler. That's something you could do now actually, your current i5 could be OC'd with a good cooler and you could just use it again on a new build.

 

[Bleether]

Think I have most of my test bench selected. Going to be on a customized TripT bench. Lab ZFZ will be on the side rad grills.



Gigabyte Z77-UP7



RoG Matrix 7970



Heatsink will be both a Megahalems Black



and for testing rads, as well as really high OC's, an EK Supremacy



Processor is a 3570K, RAM is the Samsung 30nm.

Look good?

This is look very sexy!

Are you going to create a new thread for your bench testing beast? I would definitely subscribe to that.

 

[BlackJace]

Don't get an XFX branded one, go MSI, Gigabyte or Sapphire.

MSI TF3 card is $195 on Newgg atm, performance wise you're looking at this big a jump http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/539?vs=549

7850 also generally overclocks very, very well with sizeable gains to be made.



Yeah I'd just go for an i5 and then OC it with a third party cooler. That's something you could do now actually, your current i5 could be OC'd with a good cooler and you could just use it again on a new build.

Thanks.

 

[Lkr]

speaking of gpu cooling, is an aftermarket cooler usually a good investment? i have a powercolor hd 7850 and just wondering if that cooler is worth replacing

 

[bumclot]

First build, any help would be appreciated:

I completed an external build and everything was functional. I then put it in a case and everything still works. However, if I plug in either of the 2 120mm fans that came with the case, the PC will not power on, either using the power button or using a screwdriver to short it. Each case fan came with both a male and female molex, plus a 3-pin plug. Both the 3-pin fan outlets on my mobo are already taken so I hooked the female molex to a male molex cable that came with my PSU and used the 4-pin plug that is on the PSU cable to plug into my mobo. Any ideas where I went wrong? And will I kill my PC if I try to run it with just a CPU fan and the two very small accessory fans that came with the mobo for the time being? An AC3 code came with my GPU and I want to redeem it before the offer expires.

NZXT Source 210 Elite case
ASUS Sabertooth z77
Intel i7 3770
16gb Corsair Vengeance
3gb EVGA Nvidia 660ti
120gb Kingston HyperX 3k SSD
2tb Seagate Barracuda HDD
Rosewill HIVE-650 650w 80+ Bronze
NZXT Respire T40 CPU cooling fan

 

[mkenyon]

This is look very sexy!

Are you going to create a new thread for your bench testing beast? I would definitely subscribe to that.

www.labzfz.com, www.teamzfz.com

 

[Akai__]

Someone please describe in short, what bench testing means.

Also, my Samsung 830 SSD should arrive tommorow.

 

[zychi]

what's the difference between the MSI, EVGA and gigabyte versions of the GTX 660? I honestly don't understand why the prices are different. Is it just the clock speeds? Is there a preferable brand?

 

[Lkr]

ok i know the double d xfx cards are hated in here, but stay with me here. would you rather have that(this one in particular http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-150-609) or this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131473

 

[Trojita]

Are most motherboards getting rid of PCI altogether? People are saying that most motherboards now don't even have them, but I think the motherboard I ordered does. This is in regards to whether to get a PCI-E or PCI Soundcard.

Also is the network adapter that big of a deal? I had realtek in my current rig and my new motherboard comes with it. But people are saying to use Intel?

 

[Lkr]

Are most motherboards getting rid of PCI altogether? People are saying that most motherboards now don't even have them, but I think the motherboard I ordered does. This is in regards to whether to get a PCI-E or PCI Soundcard.

Also is the network adapter that big of a deal? I had realtek in my current rig and my new motherboard comes with it. But people are saying to use Intel?

most people just use whatever comes onboard. i doubt it makes much of a difference

 

[Iacobellis]

What's the general consensus on ASUS monitors? I don't play games much, but do want a new display for under $200. I was thinking the VS229H-P would suit my needs, especially since it is an IPS panel.

 

[kharma45]

ok i know the double d xfx cards are hated in here, but stay with me here. would you rather have that(this one in particular http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-150-609) or this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131473

For the sake of $20 get an MSI TF3 or something like that, better cooler and a better reliability reputation.