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

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Not open for further replies.
D

DTKT

Member
The Frankman said:
Cooler Master Elite 370 Black Mid Tower ATX Case 3X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS ($36.39)

Cooler Master HAF 912 Black Mid Tower ATX Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound ($49.99)

with the Fractal Arc Midi gone (sob) and wanting to nab the Biostar TZ77B ATX LGA1155 I'm thinking the Coolermaster HAF 912 is great value here. Any thoughts?

also no I do not have a sports metaphor to use here.
Click to expand...

http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=58475&vpn=FD-CA-ARC-BL&manufacture=Fractal Design&promoid=1030

Isn't that the one?
 
C

coopolon

Member
Is there really much advantage to be gained by overclocking RAM? It's not like CPU/GPU where you can get some pretty significant benefits is it?
 
M

Mordeccai

Member
kharma45 said:
Yeah it should do, 550w is a good sweet spot imo as power consumption is only ever coming down at the minute, and the XFX PSU is Seasonic made so should be reliable.

It probably varies from monitor to monitor, most will tell you what comes in the box on their product website.
Click to expand...

Another question for you, I see the card needs 2 six pin connectors for the power supply, the XFX I have in cart currently says it has 1x6 pin and 1x6+2 pin. Will this be compatible?

Also says my mobo needs a 24 pin for the supply and the main connector on the PSU is a 20+4 pin. I'm assuming the + means you have the option as using it for a 20 pin and a 24 pin?

edit: So many questions... my video card comes with a DVI-VGA adapter, and my monitor comes with a VGA cable but I want to use the DVI for 1080p quality. Is placing the adapter on the end of the VGA going to give me the same quality as using a DVI-DVI cable?
 
P

PedroPanache

Member
Mordeccai said:
Damn, its the same price on Newegg (210) but come with a free Far Cry 3 voucher. >:[ Oh well.

Anybody think HDD prices will be cheaper on Cyber Monday or is it safe to buy one of those now. I hate buying holiday season because it always seems like there is a sale around the corner!



Oh boy. If you haven't heard of or used Steam before you're in for a treat. Wait until the winter sale usually around Christmas... your wallet will cry even more.
Click to expand...

My hyperbole aside, I've never really used Steam in any proper sense, I had it on my 6 year old PC and used it for one game alone, Football Manager 2012; beyond that, I never browsed the store, barely touched the client and never thought to check out any sales. Today, I've bought 13 games on Steam already, I think I may need help.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Insane Metal said:
Hey guys help me please...

I have the following config:

- Phenom II X4 945
- 4GB DDR 2 800
- HD4890

I'm in a bad situation ($) but I have the opportunity to upgrade one part of my rig, so I'm thinking of buying a GTX660Ti... and in the near future I'll upgrade the rest.

My question is: is it worth?
Click to expand...
7850. If money is tight buy a used 6950.
PedroPanache said:
Well, finally pulled the trigger on my new build, and, a feeling of dread came over me a good 2 hours after the fact when I realised I'd just spent about £700. I should have never opened that damn hi-res PC pictures thread. If this thing doesn't make my eyes burst out of their sockets, then I'll jump, I swear I'll do it.

Thanks for the help, this thread was extremely useful in getting my bearings after completely losing track of PC technology in the last 6 years. Anyway, I hear there's this thing called Steam, and they've been known to do the odd discount sale every now and then, I'm sure there's no harm in checking it out.
Click to expand...
You can't go back now.
Gowans said:
OK so this weekend I'm in with a change of updating my desktop.

I've got £200/250max to spend patching it up.

Thinking about going here http://www.falconcomputers.co.uk/ tomorrow to pick some stuff up.
Click to expand...
Need to know your motherboard model. Use CPU-Z and check. Then need to see the CPU support list if it can support an Athlon II x4 or Phenom II x4.
The Frankman said:
Cooler Master Elite 370 Black Mid Tower ATX Case 3X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS ($36.39)

Cooler Master HAF 912 Black Mid Tower ATX Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound ($49.99)

with the Fractal Arc Midi gone (sob) and wanting to nab the Biostar TZ77B ATX LGA1155 I'm thinking the Coolermaster HAF 912 is great value here. Any thoughts?

also no I do not have a sports metaphor to use here.
Click to expand...
912 is solid.
coopolon said:
Is there really much advantage to be gained by overclocking RAM? It's not like CPU/GPU where you can get some pretty significant benefits is it?
Click to expand...
1-2% in some tasks.
Mordeccai said:
Another question for you, I see the card needs 2 six pin connectors for the power supply, the XFX I have in cart currently says it has 1x6 pin and 1x6+2 pin. Will this be compatible?

Also says my mobo needs a 24 pin for the supply and the main connector on the PSU is a 20+4 pin. I'm assuming the + means you have the option as using it for a 20 pin and a 24 pin?
Click to expand...
Yes and Yes.
 
K

kharma45

Member
Mordeccai said:
Another question for you, I see the card needs 2 six pin connectors for the power supply, the XFX I have in cart currently says it has 1x6 pin and 1x6+2 pin. Will this be compatible?

Also says my mobo needs a 24 pin for the supply and the main connector on the PSU is a 20+4 pin. I'm assuming the + means you have the option as using it for a 20 pin and a 24 pin?
Click to expand...

Yeah the 6+2 pin is compatible, it just has an extra dongle which you don't need to plug in, looks like this
pcie6plus2.jpg
Click to expand...

As for the second part, I am not 100% sure so hopefully someone like Hazaro or mkenyon can chime in, I keep seeing conflicting posts online as to what the craic is for that. Some people are saying you need a $5 adapter, others say you can just batter on.

This article here http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#atxmain20plus4 makes it seem like you can just plug the 20+4 into the 24 slot which is what I thought but some Googling made me doubt that.

I think I'm right in saying older motherboards were 20 pin and that's why it's 20+4 on this PSU so it can support older boards.
 
M

Mordeccai

Member
Many thanks Hazaro and kharma, you guys are making this process much easier haha.

Can anybody chime in on this, edited it in a post earlier. My video card comes with a DVI-VGA adapter, and my monitor comes with a VGA cable but I want to use the DVI for 1080p quality. Is placing the adapter on the end of the VGA going to give me the same quality as using a DVI-DVI cable?
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Lkr said:
how is a gtx 650? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16814127703

will it even run the included assassin's creed 3 well?

graphics card shopping is breaking my balls. why must it be so complicated :(
Click to expand...
Not really.
Haven't you looked at like a ton of cards?
The only ones worth buying are in the OP dude.
6850 for low, 7850 for med/high, 7950 for high right now are best buys
kharma45 said:
Yeah the 6+2 pin is compatible, it just has an extra dongle which you don't need to plug in, looks like this


As for the second part, I am not 100% sure so hopefully someone like Hazaro or mkenyon can chime in, I keep seeing conflicting posts online as to what the craic is for that. Some people are saying you need a $5 adapter, others say you can just batter on.

This article here http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#atxmain20plus4 makes it seem like you can just plug the 20+4 into the 24 slot which is what I thought but some Googling made me doubt that.

I think I'm right in saying older motherboards were 20 pin and that's why it's 20+4 on this PSU so it can support older boards.
Click to expand...
Yes
Mordeccai said:
Many thanks Hazaro and kharma, you guys are making this process much easier haha.

Can anybody chime in on this, edited it in a post earlier. My video card comes with a DVI-VGA adapter, and my monitor comes with a VGA cable but I want to use the DVI for 1080p quality. Is placing the adapter on the end of the VGA going to give me the same quality as using a DVI-DVI cable?
Click to expand...
Nope, but it's not too bad.
Your monitor should have a DVI port if it's recent so just nab a DVI cable when you can.
 
A

Akai__

Member
I need your help guys. My SATA2 HDD isn't working properly anymore and I want to upgrade to a SSD now.

My system specs are the following:

i7 860 @2.8 Ghz
ATI Radeon HD 5570
4 GB DDR3 RAM
1TB SATA2 HDD (not working properly)

Not a custom build PC. It's from Microstar.
I didn't care about, how good my PC is, because I'm playing mainly on my Xbox 360, that's why it isn't custom build, but this will most likely change, after christmas.

Will I have problems with those specs? Do you need more information?

Basically, it would be pretty nice, to have a faster HDD, since I'm capturing clips from my Xbox 360 with a Capture Card. However, I could easily record 30 minutes and the video would be just fine, but now, I can't even capture 5 minutes, without the video beginning to be asynchron.

I don't know, why my read/write speed dropped, but I had a power loss, when I was updating my PC a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't notice any performance decreases, since then...

Let's say my budget is 150€. Which one should I get?

Thanks in advance. :)

Ps: Holy shit at some custom build PC's in this thread.
 
A

Alucrid

Banned
so my laptop needs a 7mm ssd for it to fit, what are my options in that size range?

do i need spacers for it to fit? (lenovo x220i)
 
K

kharma45

Member
Lkr said:
I've looked at so much shit that my head is starting to hurt :\
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125419

probably going to get this although the reviews do concern me a bit
Click to expand...

I always thought the Gigabyte one was one of the better ones :\ It'd be my choice alongside the two MSI ones (I've the TF3 one) and the Sapphire variant.

Amazon are also doing the 7870 for $195 after rebate, but doesn't mention any free games.
 
L

Lkr

Member
kharma45 said:
I always thought the Gigabyte one was one of the better ones :\ It'd be my choice alongside the two MSI ones (I've the TF3 one) and the Sapphire variant.

Amazon are also doing the 7870 for $195 after rebate, but doesn't mention any free games.
Click to expand...
i'd honestly rather just save some money. i know gigabyte is a good brand, so i'm not worried as i know their CS is top notch.

which hyper 212 do i want btw? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&N=-1&isNodeId=1&Description=hyper+212x=0&y=0

edit: after a quick google search i'll just go with the plus. almost ready to checkout i think. i want to get this stuff ordered before something else sells out
 
K

kharma45

Member
The Frankman said:
Color the only real diffference between the Corsair Vengeance Blue CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit and the CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9 ?

Both roughly $39.99 and SDRAM DDR3 1600, I was planning on buying the Blue one from NCIX so I can get Free combined shipping when I also get my case.
Click to expand...

Out of the two get the low profile stuff, no need for such massive heat spreaders.

This is the RAM I'd go for though at the minute

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00592002W/?tag=neogaf0e-20
 
D

DarkLegion

Member
Hey, I got a quick question. I'm building a computer and I ordered this card that I was able to get for cheaper and I also ordered an Antec VP-450 which only has 1 6 pin connector. The card has slots for 2 6 pin connectors. Am I screwed or can I run this thing on one 6 pin connector?
 
A

ant_

not characteristic of ants at all
Hey guys, my brother has an ATI Radeon HD 5670 and sometimes he'll be on the internet watching a video and it will randomly cause green checkerboard pattern to be on his screen. The audio will remain but the video just craps out. What could this be?
 
J

Jharp

Member
Hmmm, having two odd problems with my new PC, though I'm assuming neither are hardware related, but they're problems I've never experienced before. Each problem is unique to one program (iTunes and Steam), so I don't know if they're related, but it seems they may be.

In iTunes, my selected song/podcast/etc will randomly switch to another in the list, and the one it switches to is always the same. For instance, in my podcasts list it's RebelFM every time. Can get very, VERY annoying when I'm trying to navigate a list of songs and it randomly switches to one several hundred songs away, forcing me to lose my place, and completely rendering me unable to navigate the list, because it will keep selecting the file whenever I select another.

In Steam, my chat window will automatically enter qqqqqqqqqqqqqq. It seems to occur with the same seemingly random, but still rather high frequency as the iTunes issue. My desk setup and keyboard/mouse are the exact same I used on my old PC, and I never experienced either issue. I've yet to switch out my mouse or keyboard to see if it still occurs, which I suppose I'll do soon enough if it persists and I'm unable to figure out a remedy, but do you guys have any idea what might be occurring?

Edit: as far as I can tell, the "qqqqqqqqqqqqqq" issue occurs in no other text entry window/program.
 
The English Conquistador

The English Conquistador

Member
Hey guys! I'm looking to gradually upgrade some parts of my PC and wanted to start by getting more ram. I have 4gb at the mo, and I'm thinking of getting 12 instead since it'd help with quite a few of the more demanding games I've been playing as of late. Not drastically, but I know it'll be better than just having the 4gb.

Would 12 be pretty future proof, or should I go mental and get 16?

Thanks!
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
Many thanks to Kharma for helping out so much. You rock.
The English Conquistador said:
Hey guys! I'm looking to gradually upgrade some parts of my PC and wanted to start by getting more ram. I have 4gb at the mo, and I'm thinking of getting 12 instead since it'd help with quite a few of the more demanding games I've been playing as of late. Not drastically, but I know it'll be better than just having the 4gb.

Would 12 be pretty future proof, or should I go mental and get 16?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
No game uses more than 4. What kind of mono/chip set do you have that would have you looking at 12?

8 is extremely generous and should last much longer than any processor/mono.
K2Valor said:
Hey guys, my brother has an ATI Radeon HD 5670 and sometimes he'll be on the internet watching a video and it will randomly cause green checkerboard pattern to be on his screen. The audio will remain but the video just craps out. What could this be?
Click to expand...
It is dying.
 
M

Mandoric

Banned
Getting close to narrowing things down, just need tips on a motherboard.

CPU: 3770K; I understand that it offers poor gaming price-performance but I also do significant amounts of video work.

Budget: $100-$130 for the board right now; winter/spring/next GPU price-performance break further upgrades planned, so unbalanced spec is not necessarily an issue. US online retailers, Best Buy, or Micro Center are basically my convenient options; sadly I don't have a local Fry's. The CPU is probably coming from Micro Center, so a combo deal would be great.

Games I play: X264 10Bit Time Trial Championship Edition, Source engine, FFXIV but we don't know what 2.0 will want, assorted casual/older stuff that runs acceptably even now.

Hardware sitting on my workbench/on my desk/on a UPS truck:
1080p, 60hz, 2d monitor
Reference AMD 5770
Corsair VX450W PSU
2TB Barracuda - hasn't come yet, so I don't know how I did in the plant/sub-model lottery
Newegg's cheapo G-Skill 16GB DDR3-1600
Fractal Arc Midi case
May or may not even bother yanking my DVD-ROM out

Planned spring updates:
PSU - VX450 comes back out, gets crammed back into my current box for use as a HTPC/segmented encoding slave
Cooling - see if I can push it a little.
GPU - 7850/7870 or comparable power consumption and performance
RAM - up to 32GB and/or better performance, depending on usage patterns; I regularly bump up against my current 8GB in daily use.
SSD - May or may not even bother, I rarely reboot and mostly play multiplayer games where I wait on the slowest player's load time or MMOs with limited and safe zoning.

Non-planned updates:
Heavy overclocking - neither radiators nor high-performance fans are an option, so an overclocker's dream board isn't necessary.
3+ fast internal drives - Not particularly hungry for fast local access.
High-performance GPU - Will be either CPU-bound or monitor-bound for most tasks.
SLI - I'll cross that bridge in terms of board support when I come to it, especially as I'm not interested in committing to either brand right now.
Loads of cards in general - it may, may someday get a tuner card, that's about it.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Any of the $100-$140 boards in the OP you can find at microcenter
DarkLegion said:
Hey, I got a quick question. I'm building a computer and I ordered this card that I was able to get for cheaper and I also ordered an Antec VP-450 which only has 1 6 pin connector. The card has slots for 2 6 pin connectors. Am I screwed or can I run this thing on one 6 pin connector?
Click to expand...
SE means Shit Edition (Or Slow). Return it and get a 7850 for cheap AR if you can afford it, or get a 6870. Otherwise I hope it was really cheap!

And yes, cards come with adapters.
K2Valor said:
Hey guys, my brother has an ATI Radeon HD 5670 and sometimes he'll be on the internet watching a video and it will randomly cause green checkerboard pattern to be on his screen. The audio will remain but the video just craps out. What could this be?
Click to expand...
It's dying.
Jharp said:
Hmmm, having two odd problems with my new PC, though I'm assuming neither are hardware related, but they're problems I've never experienced before. Each problem is unique to one program (iTunes and Steam), so I don't know if they're related, but it seems they may be.

In iTunes, my selected song/podcast/etc will randomly switch to another in the list, and the one it switches to is always the same. For instance, in my podcasts list it's RebelFM every time. Can get very, VERY annoying when I'm trying to navigate a list of songs and it randomly switches to one several hundred songs away, forcing me to lose my place, and completely rendering me unable to navigate the list, because it will keep selecting the file whenever I select another.

In Steam, my chat window will automatically enter qqqqqqqqqqqqqq. It seems to occur with the same seemingly random, but still rather high frequency as the iTunes issue. My desk setup and keyboard/mouse are the exact same I used on my old PC, and I never experienced either issue. I've yet to switch out my mouse or keyboard to see if it still occurs, which I suppose I'll do soon enough if it persists and I'm unable to figure out a remedy, but do you guys have any idea what might be occurring?

Edit: as far as I can tell, the "qqqqqqqqqqqqqq" issue occurs in no other text entry window/program.
Click to expand...
Opt out of Steam beta. It's an issue.What are you looking for?
The English Conquistador said:
Hey guys! I'm looking to gradually upgrade some parts of my PC and wanted to start by getting more ram. I have 4gb at the mo, and I'm thinking of getting 12 instead since it'd help with quite a few of the more demanding games I've been playing as of late. Not drastically, but I know it'll be better than just having the 4gb.

Would 12 be pretty future proof, or should I go mental and get 16?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
8 is fine for now.
 
C

conman

Member
conman said:
Case: HAF 912
Mobo: Biostar TZ77B
CPU: i5 3570K
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD7870
RAM: G. Skill Ripjaw (2x4GB) DDR3 1600
PSU: Antec BP550
Heatsink: Cooler Master Hyper 212

Reusing: 4-year-old WD750GB HDD (still waiting on better HDD prices)
Click to expand...
Bit the bullet on this build. Could have waited through the weekend, I suppose, but I was happy with the price.

This will be my first time attempting to OC. I may have some questions when the time comes.
 
C

Cannon Goose

Member
Cannon Goose said:
Is Aero weirdly laggy for anyone else running two monitors? Minimising windows and moving things around the desktop is kinda chuggy.

Edit: Wait, the aero animations are only laggy if a video is playing on the other monitor. But still, surely that shouldn't be happening anyway, right?

Edit again: Now it's all smooth while video is playing... Oh well, I'm happy.
Click to expand...

On this again, seems that there's no UI lag or video lag if I turn off transparent windows. If I have transparency on then videos will lag as I scroll pages on the other monitor and basic UI stuff will play at what looks like half the frame rate.

Is this just a thing that happens with dual monitors? I don't remember there being this performance issue with my old second monitor (a 5:4 1280x1024 LG Flatron). Not that I really liked transparency all that much anyway, but now I'm curious. Both monitors are 1080p 60Hz running in extended mode and I'm using a 560Ti DCUII 1GB. One monitor is using a DVI-D cable, the other is using a VGA cable with a DVI-VGA adapter.
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
Mandoric said:
Getting close to narrowing things down, just need tips on a motherboard.

CPU: 3770K; I understand that it offers poor gaming price-performance but I also do significant amounts of video work.

Budget: $100-$130 for the board right now; winter/spring/next GPU price-performance break further upgrades planned, so unbalanced spec is not necessarily an issue. US online retailers, Best Buy, or Micro Center are basically my convenient options; sadly I don't have a local Fry's. The CPU is probably coming from Micro Center, so a combo deal would be great.

Games I play: X264 10Bit Time Trial Championship Edition, Source engine, FFXIV but we don't know what 2.0 will want, assorted casual/older stuff that runs acceptably even now.

Hardware sitting on my workbench/on my desk/on a UPS truck:
1080p, 60hz, 2d monitor
Reference AMD 5770
Corsair VX450W PSU
2TB Barracuda - hasn't come yet, so I don't know how I did in the plant/sub-model lottery
Newegg's cheapo G-Skill 16GB DDR3-1600
Fractal Arc Midi case
May or may not even bother yanking my DVD-ROM out

Planned spring updates:
PSU - VX450 comes back out, gets crammed back into my current box for use as a HTPC/segmented encoding slave
Cooling - see if I can push it a little.
GPU - 7850/7870 or comparable power consumption and performance
RAM - up to 32GB and/or better performance, depending on usage patterns; I regularly bump up against my current 8GB in daily use.
SSD - May or may not even bother, I rarely reboot and mostly play multiplayer games where I wait on the slowest player's load time or MMOs with limited and safe zoning.

Non-planned updates:
Heavy overclocking - neither radiators nor high-performance fans are an option, so an overclocker's dream board isn't necessary.
3+ fast internal drives - Not particularly hungry for fast local access.
High-performance GPU - Will be either CPU-bound or monitor-bound for most tasks.
SLI - I'll cross that bridge in terms of board support when I come to it, especially as I'm not interested in committing to either brand right now.
Loads of cards in general - it may, may someday get a tuner card, that's about it.
Click to expand...
Any one of the boards in the OP in that price range will do great.
JayDub said:
Anyone?
Click to expand...
Demciflex filters are the best. Nylon pantyhose works really great too, no bullshit.
 
D

DSix

Banned
Would an i5-3470 and a cheap Asus P8h61-M motherboard go well together (without any issues or performance limitations)?

I want to upgrade my CPU, but I don't really give a damn about the motherboard as long as it works good, I don't want to pay a lot for options I'll never use (I don't OC).
 
M

mkenyon

Banned
OC'ing is half the reason to go with sandy/ivy. Two values in bios nets you 20-30% linear performance.

XSJv2.png


It's not the scary thing it used to be. If you are still dead set on not doing it, get an H77.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
conman said:
Bit the bullet on this build. Could have waited through the weekend, I suppose, but I was happy with the price.

This will be my first time attempting to OC. I may have some questions when the time comes.
Click to expand...
Looks good. Enjoy!
DSix said:
Would an i5-3470 and a cheap Asus P8h61-M motherboard go well together (without any issues or performance limitations)?

I want to upgrade my CPU, but I don't really give a damn about the motherboard as long as it works good, I don't want to pay a lot for options I'll never use (I don't OC).
Click to expand...
Cheap mobo is more than just features. Also quality testing, build quality, VRMs, etc.

Better quality on the $100 boards over $60-70 boards I feel, then the $140 boards another notch up on those. As for working fine, yeah it should be ok. Running stock is a pretty low load.
 
M

Mr. Wonderful

Member
mkenyon said:
OC'ing is half the reason to go with sandy/ivy. Two values in bios nets you 20-30% linear performance.

XSJv2.png


It's not the scary thing it used to be. If you are still dead set on not doing it, get an H77.
Click to expand...

Any guide as to how to do this? Also, what can I expect to get with a 3570K on the stock heatsink safely?
 
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