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"I need a New PC!" 2012 Thread. Ivy, SSDs, and reading the OP. [Part 2]

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L

Lkr

Member
Sportbilly said:
OK, thanks. The main problem is that I'm not sure I'm seeing the expected boost. I know my processor isn't really up to scratch, but I'm getting very similar frame rates in various games to what I was getting before- e.g. 25-30 fps at 1920x1080 in Skyrim at low settings, 35-40 in Deus Ex at medium, < 25 fps in Witcher 2 at low during the initial camp scenes.

I can't access the Catalyst Control Center to check settings- it just won't run, and I can't benchmark with 3D Mark- again it just doesn't start. DxDiag doesn't report any problems with the install itself, and the card appears to be running and powering up with no problem.

I just wondered if anyone had any suggestions, or is my processor really holding everything back so much that going from an 8800GT to a HD 7850 has a pretty negligible effect?
Click to expand...
Some of your issues are weird. I'd use driver sweeper to remove all traces of amd and nvidia drivers and install the latest amd beta drivers.
As for performance, it sounds like your CPU is really holding you back in your games.
 
M

Miker

Member
Okay, so I have an old PC that stopped working because UPS banged it up while shipping it to my house. I did some troubleshooting over the summer, and I'm pretty sure it's a motherboard problem. I want to order a new motherboard, but the problem is that it's a Core 2 Duo, and the RAM (which should still be fine) is DDR2.

Checking Newegg, it seems like LGA 775 socket motherboards that take DDR2 are either discontinued and the one or two that remain have horrible reviews. Any advice on what I should do? I have no interest in replacing more than just the motherboard, because this computer will be primarily used by my parents after I fix it.
 
K

kharma45

Member
Miker said:
Okay, so I have an old PC that stopped working because UPS banged it up while shipping it to my house. I did some troubleshooting over the summer, and I'm pretty sure it's a motherboard problem. I want to order a new motherboard, but the problem is that it's a Core 2 Duo, and the RAM (which should still be fine) is DDR2.

Checking Newegg, it seems like LGA 775 socket motherboards that take DDR2 are either discontinued and the one or two that remain have horrible reviews. Any advice on what I should do? I have no interest in replacing more than just the motherboard, because this computer will be primarily used by my parents after I fix it.
Click to expand...

Check places like eBay maybe?
 
K

kharma45

Member
Miker said:
Hmm, I didn't think of that. I'm just not too keen on the idea of buying used PC components, especially a motherboard. Although I guess there are some sellers that sell new stuff.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's one of the few places I can think of you might find stock for that socket, unless some local retail stores might have ones left over they never managed to shift.
 
S

Shambles

Member
2San said:
It's just pic I quickly googled for how the PSU should look like. :p
Click to expand...

Well it partially depends on the case. If it has an intake slot for the PSU the PSU should be flipped over. The fan on the CPU is on the wrong side. And there are 3 dimms in there which is less than ideal in a dual channel system.
Gowans said:
Guys a 16 year old kid of one of my work friends is after a PC to get into PC gaming.

He has £500 for the PC and <£200 for the monitor.

Our local indy computer shop has come ready built ones and she's keen on going there

http://www.falconcomputers.co.uk/

Whats the best bundle? or is there some online solutions? Also a good monitor recommendation?
Click to expand...

Take him under your wing and show him how to build one. Give a man a fish vs. teach a man to fish and all that.
 
T

t-ramp

Member
Miker said:
Okay, so I have an old PC that stopped working because UPS banged it up while shipping it to my house. I did some troubleshooting over the summer, and I'm pretty sure it's a motherboard problem. I want to order a new motherboard, but the problem is that it's a Core 2 Duo, and the RAM (which should still be fine) is DDR2.

Checking Newegg, it seems like LGA 775 socket motherboards that take DDR2 are either discontinued and the one or two that remain have horrible reviews. Any advice on what I should do? I have no interest in replacing more than just the motherboard, because this computer will be primarily used by my parents after I fix it.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure how the prices compare, but Geeks.com has some refurbished boards that might work.
 
2

2San

Member
Shambles said:
Well it partially depends on the case. If it has an intake slot for the PSU the PSU should be flipped over. The fan on the CPU is on the wrong side. And there are 3 dimms in there which is less than ideal in a dual channel system.
Click to expand...
I know.
 
KungFucius

KungFucius

King Snowflake
Setsuna said:
I think ive got it

CPU: Intel core i5 3570

GPU: Msi geforce gtx 660ti 2gb

Memory: Corsair vengeace 8 GB 2x4GB ddr3 1600 memory (not to sure about this one dont know if i should lower it to xms)

Case: NZXT phantom 410 Black

Motherboard: Gigabyte Ga z77x ud5h

Power Supply: kingwin lazer platinum 550w 80 plus platinum(modular)

What i'm concerned about is Memory and motherboard. Which i believe is to much
Click to expand...

What is the purpose of this machine? Is it gaming only or will you do anything else? What do you plan to do for storage? Single SSD +big HDD?

You can never have too much ram. Just buy whatever name brand, mid-high end stuff is on sale on Newegg or if you are near one, Fry's. Compare a couple for speeds, read the reviews and just buy it. Ram is dirt cheap nowadays. I would buy 16 just becaue

The motherboard is overkill unless you want to do some crazy RAID + storage setup. The UD3H has fewer 6GB/s SAta but also costs about 35 less for a very similar feature set. I'd trade down on the board and up on the GPU, ram to 16GB, or just keep it. I like Gigabyte myself but for some reason I recently bought an MSI board ( which I am returning because I lost the rebate slip and fucking Fry's wont print me a new one - Good board though but thhe 180 dollar one was definately overkill for my rig) and then I chose an Asrock Extreme 6 for both price and the fact that it included a front USB 3 header. I am a sucker for free shipping. - Oh that's why I bought MSI. Fry's doesn't carry the higher end Gigabytes.


Also make sure you get the 3570 K version of the processor! These are the unlocked ones
 
B

Bleether

Banned
Sportbilly said:
OK, thanks. The main problem is that I'm not sure I'm seeing the expected boost. I know my processor isn't really up to scratch, but I'm getting very similar frame rates in various games to what I was getting before- e.g. 25-30 fps at 1920x1080 in Skyrim at low settings, 35-40 in Deus Ex at medium, < 25 fps in Witcher 2 at low during the initial camp scenes.

I can't access the Catalyst Control Center to check settings- it just won't run, and I can't benchmark with 3D Mark- again it just doesn't start. DxDiag doesn't report any problems with the install itself, and the card appears to be running and powering up with no problem.

I just wondered if anyone had any suggestions, or is my processor really holding everything back so much that going from an 8800GT to a HD 7850 has a pretty negligible effect?
Click to expand...

There is something definitely wrong there. I am running all of those games 1080p in virtually the highest settings on my gaming laptop with an average of 30fps. During the camp scenes in the Witcher 2 i average 29-35 fps on high with ssao disabled. My video card is a lousy 128bit 560m, so your computer should be getting way better results than that especially if your running them on low and medium setting.
 
D

DTKT

Member
Bleether said:
There is something definitely wrong there. I am running all of those games 1080p in virtually the highest settings on my gaming laptop with an average of 30fps. During the camp scenes in the Witcher 2 i average 29-35 fps on high with ssao disabled. My video card is a lousy 128bit 560m, so your computer should be getting way better results than that especially if your running them on low and medium setting.
Click to expand...

iwannaseethereceipts.gif

Those kind of frame rates are not possible on a laptop with a 560m. You are not running Witcher 2 at 1920.1080 with everything on high and getting 30FPS.
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
NoRéN;45320016 said:
Oh, come on Newegg! Why you gotta do this to me after I finish my build!?!?!?!
Click to expand...

They did the same thing to me, brought Win 8 for $100. Next day, emailed me a coupon for 20% off Win 8 software lol. I contacted their customer service, and was given a $20 gc. You should do the same, see what they do for you.
 
N

NoRéN

Member
GK86 said:
They did the same thing to me, brought Win 8 for $100. Next day, emailed me a coupon for 20% off Win 8 software lol. I contacted their customer service, and was given a $20 gc. You should do the same, see what they do for you.
Click to expand...

That's awesome of them.

I'm just mad because I settled for the Asus P8H61 when I could have waited and gotten this deal instead. Oh well, still have with my build.
 
T

Ty4on

Member
Gowans said:
Guys a 16 year old kid of one of my work friends is after a PC to get into PC gaming.

He has £500 for the PC and <£200 for the monitor.

Our local indy computer shop has come ready built ones and she's keen on going there

http://www.falconcomputers.co.uk/

Whats the best bundle? or is there some online solutions? Also a good monitor recommendation?
Click to expand...

Some of those have worse GPUs than integrated...

Ivy Bridge Pentium (G2120) or i3 (32XX) with a decent clock rate (3ghz+), H77 mobo and with a 7850. What you/she could do is get a Cooler Master Elite 120 or Silverstone SG05/SG06 (includes a 300-450W PSU, both should be enough) and laugh at the less powerful systems for sale there that are more than twice as big.
Dinzy said:
You can never have too much ram. Just buy whatever name brand, mid-high end stuff is on sale on Newegg or if you are near one, Fry's. Compare a couple for speeds, read the reviews and just buy it. Ram is dirt cheap nowadays. I would buy 16 just becaue
Click to expand...

8GB and a 7950 or 16GB and a 7870? RAM is cheap, but burning a ten dollar bill is technically also cheap. If you don't need it why buy it?
 
N

NoRéN

Member
So, with my build up and running I now have some new questions for all the PC veterans in here.

How often do you upgrade?
-Motherboards: should they be upgraded? Will there be any issues to worry about(ex. OS install, etc)
-CPU: upgrade as well? 9I have the i3 so I can only go up from here.0
-RAM: 8gb, am I set for the foreseeable future?
-Video card: also, can only go up from here. No problems with getting something better in a few months?
 
M

Momentary

Banned
I checked the OP for a Sleeving guide and didn't see one. So I was wondering if there are some decent guides to sleeving cables out there? I found one guide on youtube and another on an enthusiast website, but they don't seem very well put together.
 
T

Ty4on

Member
NoRéN;45323489 said:
-CPU: upgrade as well? 9I have the i3 so I can only go up from here.0
Click to expand...

Don't feel so bad about having an i3. If yours is a Sandy/Ivy Bridge then look at the 990X.
It's a 1000$ beast from Febuary 2011 and got 1.2 in a single Cinebench 11.5 thread. The i3 3220 got 1.34. In many games the i3 will do better than a stock 990X :p
Also note that Intel can be assholes with naming. Tons of i7s in laptops are actually dual cores with hyperthreading, like your i3 and all i5s are dual cores with hyperthreading. The cores themselves have identical architecture.

For those other questions I'm not a good person to ask, the computer I'm building now will replace my 08 computer. Before that I had a computer without even AGP...
 
N

NoRéN

Member
Ty4on said:
Don't feel so bad about having an i3. If yours is a Sandy/Ivy Bridge then look at the 990X.
It's a 1000$ beast from Febuary 2011 and got 1.2 in a single Cinebench 11.5 thread. The i3 3220 got 1.34. In many games the i3 will do better than a stock 990X :p

Also note that Intel can be assholes with naming. Tons of i7s in laptops are actually dual cores with hyperthreading, like your i3 and all i5s are dual cores with hyperthreading. The cores themselves have identical architecture.
Click to expand...

Good to know. Now I don't feel so bad.

How about everything else, am i good?

Video card i definitely want to upgrade to at least the 560ti in the coming months. That's shouldn't be a problem, right?
 
fatty

fatty

Member
Fan questions!

lWeM5l.jpg


I have the same case as shown above (picture is from mkenyon's cable management guide). There are the three fans total, two fans on each side and a fan on the top that is not shown. Motherboard has power slots for two fans and also came with something similar to this:
i72wn.jpg


Should I connect all three fans, if so, how? Which fan should be controlled by the manual controller, unless I turn it off it seems like it will always be on? Instead of using the controller kit is there any way that the third fan can also be controlled by the motherboard? If there are any places where I can learn more about fan control, please post them. Thanks again for the help.

HarryDemeanor said:
You want to place the PSU with the fan towards the bottom of the case. The PSU should be fine because of the legs of the case giving it enough room to breathe. It also depends on where you're putting the PC as if you have carpet you'd want to face it pointing up.
Click to expand...

Thank you, you pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. I mounted it placing the fan downwards since the case won't be on carpet.
 
G

garath

Member
Pandoracell said:
What do you guys think about this card as an upgrade from a GTX 460 1GB?
Click to expand...

I just upgraded my 460 to a 660ti. It is a 100% improvement in benchmarks. Great upgrade.

I'd lean toward MSI or ASUS brands though. Their cooling solution is much better than EVGA. The ASUS I have is near silent and the temps are really low.
 
K

knitoe

Member
fatty said:
Fan questions!

lWeM5l.jpg


I have the same case as shown above (picture is from mkenyon's cable management guide). There are the three fans total, two fans on each side and a fan on the top that is not shown. Motherboard has power slots for two fans and also came with something similar to this:
i72wn.jpg


Should I connect all three fans, if so, how? Which fan should be controlled by the manual controller, unless I turn it off it seems like it will always be on? Instead of using the controller kit is there any way that the third fan can also be controlled by the motherboard? If there are any places where I can learn more about fan control, please post them. Thanks again for the help.



Thank you, you pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. I mounted it placing the fan downwards since the case won't be on carpet.
Click to expand...

All fans connect to the controller should run at the same speed depending how far you turn the dial. And, with that controller, they would always be spinning. If you want the MB to control the fan, connect the fan to the MB fan connector.

And, if the PSU is at the bottom, it should really always be pointing down. Getting fresh cool air is best for keeping the PSU performing at top shape and help it last longer. Even if your case is on carpet, you can just put something down, like a piece of cardboard, to make the surface flat.
 
D

Darkone

Member
Ok, so i am playing Borderldans 2 & Darksiders 2 when suddenly my pc shuts down by itself and restarts, it happens 3 times today and it take 15 to 30 minutes of game time for it to shut down.

My PSU is a few years old (Thermal Tech 600W) and i recently upgraded to GTX670 if this info helps.

Thanks for the repliers.
 
G

Gowans

Member
Gowans said:
Guys a 16 year old kid of one of my work friends is after a PC to get into PC gaming.

He has £500 for the PC and <£200 for the monitor.

Our local indy computer shop has come ready built ones and she's keen on going there

http://www.falconcomputers.co.uk/

Whats the best bundle? or is there some online solutions? Also a good monitor recommendation?
Click to expand...

Shambles said:
Take him under your wing and show him how to build one. Give a man a fish vs. teach a man to fish and all that.
Click to expand...

Ty4on said:
Some of those have worse GPUs than integrated...

Ivy Bridge Pentium (G2120) or i3 (32XX) with a decent clock rate (3ghz+), H77 mobo and with a 7850. What you/she could do is get a Cooler Master Elite 120 or Silverstone SG05/SG06 (includes a 300-450W PSU, both should be enough) and laugh at the less powerful systems for sale there that are more than twice as big.
Click to expand...


She want something she can just take back if she has any issues I think.

Any ideas guys, should I point her to a UK Online store???

I was hoping to have a £500 desktop and sub £200 monitor to email her for tomorrow.
 
Sanic

Sanic

Member
garath said:
I just upgraded my 460 to a 660ti. It is a 100% improvement in benchmarks. Great upgrade.

I'd lean toward MSI or ASUS brands though. Their cooling solution is much better than EVGA. The ASUS I have is near silent and the temps are really low.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks.

Any other card out right now that's a better value for money, or one that's a little more I should get instead?
 
S

Stubo

Member
Gowans said:
She want something she can just take back if she has any issues I think.

Any ideas guys, should I point her to a UK Online store???

I was hoping to have a £500 desktop and sub £200 monitor to email her for tomorrow.
Click to expand...
£619 PC

...plus a ~£100 monitor? I know it's out of budget, but compared to other prebuilt offerings this seems very good. Perhaps someone will know of some secret bargain locations.

Edit: Or this for, um, different case, GPU, aftermarket CPU cooler (Similarly priced 'gaming pc' offering)
 
G

garath

Member
Pandoracell said:
Cool, thanks.

Any other card out right now that's a better value for money, or one that's a little more I should get instead?
Click to expand...

A lot of guys will say the 7950 is a better value for the money because of the extra gig of memory for future proofing. It was a toss up to me. Benches were pretty even across the board and I've always had good luck with Nvidia cards and I got a good price (255 after rebate).
 
T

Tenck

Member
so it looks like my intel integrated graphics is taking priority in some games. Basically prioritizing it instead of my 640 card with some games. I've been able to play lots of games just fine, but then I get to ones that will not read my card. Can anyone help me out?

And going into the Nvidia options isn't helping since it says I don't have display attached to my GPU.
 
S

scogoth

Member
garath said:
A lot of guys will say the 7950 is a better value for the money because of the extra gig of memory for future proofing. It was a toss up to me. Benches were pretty even across the board and I've always had good luck with Nvidia cards and I got a good price (255 after rebate).
Click to expand...

Yeah 2xMSAA on 5760x1080 in BF3, 1500MB mem usage. 3GB not needed.
 
S

scogoth

Member
Tenck said:
so it looks like my intel integrated graphics is taking priority in some games. Basically prioritizing it instead of my 640 card with some games. I've been able to play lots of games just fine, but then I get to ones that will not read my card. Can anyone help me out?

And going into the Nvidia options isn't helping since it says I don't have display attached to my GPU.
Click to expand...

Yes it needs to be connected to your nvidia GPU not your motherboard connections unless you have Virtu on your motherboard and its setup.
 
C

Cannon Goose

Member
Windows is being dumb again.

I've got a theme set up to randomly switch wallpapers every hour from a folder of about 150 pictures. This works great most of the time but every now and then I'll notice that the background has not changed for quite some time. When I check the themes I see this

iXWBGs7G212Pe.jpg


Windows has just made it's own new theme with one wallpaper in it and has selected it by itself. Why's it doing this?
 
T

Tenck

Member
Oh god I just figured it out. This is what I get for using a laptop for so long. Connected HDMI directly to GPU instead of just regular HDMI port lol.
 
D

derder

Member
Cannon Goose said:
Windows is being dumb again.

I've got a theme set up to randomly switch wallpapers every hour from a folder of about 150 pictures. This works great most of the time but every now and then I'll notice that the background has not changed for quite some time. When I check the themes I see this

iXWBGs7G212Pe.jpg


Windows has just made it's own new theme with one wallpaper in it and has selected it by itself. Why's it doing this?
Click to expand...
That's not really relevant to this thread but I would try to figure out exactly what you can do to provoke it.
 
D

DTKT

Member
Refreshment.01 said:
Hey DTKT, can you game with that thing? 30 bucks a bit steep. Why did you went for this device?
Click to expand...

It's main purpose was to be compatible with Backtrack, Nmap, Wireshark and a few other networking programs.

For gaming, it's been okay so far. Just keep in mind that wi-fi is hardly the ideal way to game. Your experience depends on the distance between the router and your computer, how busy the channels are and just plain interference from other devices. It's a pain in the ass most of the time.

There are probably cheaper options around, but I really can't speak to how well they work.
 
N

NoRéN

Member
Ugh! I can't believe this shit! It looks like my pc-build adventure was short lived.

Earlier I ran speedfan and it said the cpu temp was around 90 degrees.
I was like "WTF!" so i turned off the PC and left it alone for a while.

Later I decided to reapply thermal paste. Removed the heatsink and whatnot, cleaned with alcohol and reapplied the thermal paste.

Once everything was done i go to boot. Everything seems to turn on but no video. Once again I thought maybe it was the video card. I removed it and plugged the monitor directly to the mobo output. Still no video.

What could it be?

I don't think it's the monitor as I am using it now on another pc.
 
D

DTKT

Member
NoRéN;45329581 said:
Ugh! I can't believe this shit! It looks like my pc-build adventure was short lived.

Earlier I ran speedfan and it said the cpu temp was around 90 degrees.
I was like "WTF!" so i turned off the PC and left it alone for a while.

Later I decided to reapply thermal paste. Removed the heatsink and whatnot, cleaned with alcohol and reapplied the thermal paste.

Once everything was done i go to boot. Everything seems to turn on but no video. Once again I thought maybe it was the video card. I removed it and plugged the monitor directly to the mobo output. Still no video.

What could it be?

I don't think it's the monitor as I am using it now on another pc.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about that 90C? That's really damn got for a CPU running at idle with a fan and the passive cooling for the heat block.

As for your current issue, check if the thermal paste spilled over.
 
N

NoRéN

Member
DTKT said:
Are you sure about that 90C? That's really damn got for a CPU running at idle with a fan and the passive cooling for the heath block.

As for your current issue, check if the thermal paste spilled over.
Click to expand...

That's what i was thinking but I freaked.
I forgot to add, as I was about to turn off the PC, windows 7 popped up an alert that the cpu was overheating.

As for the second part, I'll do that right now. Thank you.
 
Sanic

Sanic

Member
garath said:
A lot of guys will say the 7950 is a better value for the money because of the extra gig of memory for future proofing. It was a toss up to me. Benches were pretty even across the board and I've always had good luck with Nvidia cards and I got a good price (255 after rebate).
Click to expand...

scogoth said:
Yeah 2xMSAA on 5760x1080 in BF3, 1500MB mem usage. 3GB not needed.
Click to expand...

Thanks again guys. Would prefer to stick with nvidia due to the driver situation, so i'll pick up the 660ti.
 
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