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[Hazaro]

That's an error with your Nvidia drver isn't it? Try some different video card driver versions and see how you get on.

Yes, but can be caused by other things as well. Also not sure which drivers to update to.

 

[brain_stew]

Yes, but can be caused by other things as well. Also not sure which drivers to update to.

Well if you're not on the latest WHQL set then go with them. If you are, then "downgrade" to the last WHQL set before them, stay away from beta drivers if you want any sort of stability.

 

[Hazaro]

Well if you're not on the latest WHQL set then go with them. If you are, then "downgrade" to the last WHQL set before them, stay away from beta drivers if you want any sort of stability.

Waiting on feedback from Nvidia forums, and a few others :lol

Gonna start up ORTHOS now, hopefully my OC hasn't kicked the bucket.

 

[brain_stew]

Waiting on feedback from Nvidia forums, and a few others :lol

Gonna start up ORTHOS now, hopefully my OC hasn't kicked the bucket.

What volts are you putting through that thing as past 1.4v I've heard stories of 45nm chips degrading over time.

I'd recommend using OCCT, it flags up CPU errors much quicker than Orthos for me.

 

[Pachinko]

So did anyone try and do a build with an i7 yet or does anyone PLAN to do one in the future ? my ole' computer seems to be serving me well enough right now but as I've blathered on in past posts I was going to upgrade it / replace it sometime next year. If I waited until around may would i7 prices have dropped alot ?

 

[brain_stew]

So did anyone try and do a build with an i7 yet or does anyone PLAN to do one in the future ? my ole' computer seems to be serving me well enough right now but as I've blathered on in past posts I was going to upgrade it / replace it sometime next year. If I waited until around may would i7 prices have dropped alot ?

I'd imagine it depends on how big a splash Phenom ii makes. They're looking mighty tasty atm so you might be in luck. If you haven't got mega bucks it might even be a better option as cheap motherboards are available and you can use dirt cheap DDR2 just fine.

 

[DrBaalzamon]

Hey everyone, just put together my first PC in many years and I have a few questions/etc.

I picked up a e8500 at frys along with the crap mobo that came with the deal. I replaced it with a classic intel mobo DG35EC model number. Two sticks of ram in there and an ati 4650 that i got for 60ish dollars from them.

Put the computer together with a few snags but nothing crazy.

My real questions are as such. Tried to run OCCT to stress the cpu etc and it failed saying ' Too Hot! '. Stops at 70ºc Real Temp reports roughly 64-65º at the same time. Im using the stock fan , should i pick up an aftermarket one or double check my thermal arctic silver application? Idle both cores run at 36º according to Real Temp.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[RaoulDuke]

Yeah those things are really annoying and they break easily.

I have heard a few horror stories about these and am about to buy an intel chip for the 1st time. Does getting an aftermarket cooler help with this problem? is it worth it, or should i just suck it up and deal with it?

 

[Open Source]

I have heard a few horror stories about these and am about to buy an intel chip for the 1st time. Does getting an aftermarket cooler help with this problem? is it worth it, or should i just suck it up and deal with it?

I would get an aftermarket cooler, but mostly for the overclocking benefits rather than the ease/safety of installation. I have the Zalman 9700 and am very happy with it.

 

[Hazaro]

What volts are you putting through that thing as past 1.4v I've heard stories of 45nm chips degrading over time.

I'd recommend using OCCT, it flags up CPU errors much quicker than Orthos for me.

Eh, I'm used to just using Small FTT, it already loads more than any normal program.

Voltage is 1.296V loaded. I need 1.4 for 4.0Ghz, not 3.8

I would get an aftermarket cooler, but mostly for the overclocking benefits rather than the ease/safety of installation. I have the Zalman 9700 and am very happy with it.

Not exactly one of the easier ones to install. Stupid screws... I used a 9500 though.

 

[Vieo]

OK. So if I was going to build a new gaming PC this week, should I go with one of the new Intel i7 CPUs or one of the Core 2 Duos?

 

[zoku88]

OK. So if I was going to build a new gaming PC this week, should I go with one of the new Intel i7 CPUs or one of the Core 2 Duos?

Depends on what you want to do with it....

If you actually think you needed a quad core proc, then you should go with i7, if you didn't, then you should go with a Core 2

 

[acura_speed]

Can anyone tell me whether a pcie 1.1 x16 slot is gonna limit a gtx 260 core 216? I remember reading once that the pcie 2.0 slots were still not necessary but not sure if these are reaching the limits of 1.1. Any help would be great, thanks in advance.

 

[Hazaro]

Can anyone tell me whether a pcie 1.1 x16 slot is gonna limit a gtx 260 core 216? I remember reading once that the pcie 2.0 slots were still not necessary but not sure if these are reaching the limits of 1.1. Any help would be great, thanks in advance.

Not by a long shot.

Also I'd definitely go for Core 2 now just due to the price difference.

In a year or 2 use the money you saved to buy better parts.

 

[Gully State]

If I want to run 2 4850's, will a 600W PSU be enough?

 

[aeolist]

OK. So if I was going to build a new gaming PC this week, should I go with one of the new Intel i7 CPUs or one of the Core 2 Duos?

Core i7 doesn't give a lot of performance over C2D in terms of gaming. Unless you're doing computationally-heavy stuff with this PC (photo/video editing for instance) I'd stick with the C2D.

 

[SapientWolf]

OK. So if I was going to build a new gaming PC this week, should I go with one of the new Intel i7 CPUs or one of the Core 2 Duos?

That depends on how often you upgrade. You could be kicking yourself in a few years if you get a dead end chipset. But if you're going to ride that machine until the wheels fall off (i.e. 4 or more years) it's not going to make a big difference either way. The cost/performance ratio is slightly in favor of Core 2 right now, but that may change in a few months.

 

[acura_speed]

Not by a long shot.

Thanks for the piece of mind Hazaro. Looking forward to my new card.

I ordered it through ebay using microsoft cashback. I should get 30% back. If anyone is interested here is a forum with details.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=1044322

At the moment it's basically 30% cashback on ALL buy it now items on ebay!

edit: Just to clarify it is up to $200 per item and takes 60 days to get the cashback.

 

[Hazaro]

Core i7 doesn't give a lot of performance over C2D in terms of gaming. Unless you're doing computationally-heavy stuff with this PC (photo/video editing for instance) I'd stick with the C2D.

More like none unless you have SLi'd GTX 260's or 4870x2 :[

 

[brain_stew]

If I want to run 2 4850's, will a 600W PSU be enough?

If its a brand name PSU, you'll be fine. What is the model and what output does it have on its 12V rail? I ask because, a quality 350w PSU has proven more useful than a 600w no name many times in the past.

 

[Gully State]

If its a brand name PSU, you'll be fine. What is the model and what output does it have on its 12V rail? I ask because, a quality 350w PSU has proven more useful than a 600w no name many times in the past.

I currently am using the Zalman ZM600-HP 600W

Here are the specs

 

[otake]

So did anyone try and do a build with an i7 yet or does anyone PLAN to do one in the future ? my ole' computer seems to be serving me well enough right now but as I've blathered on in past posts I was going to upgrade it / replace it sometime next year. If I waited until around may would i7 prices have dropped alot ?

No gaming advantage yet. Kind of pointless at this point.

 

[Cheeto]

Waiting on feedback from Nvidia forums, and a few others :lol

Gonna start up ORTHOS now, hopefully my OC hasn't kicked the bucket.

Your motherboard have an Nvidia chipset? It may have something to do with the Nforce drivers.

 

[Javaman]

I'm a couple of hours away from pulling the trigger on buying a new video card. This is going to be going into an older computer running a 3000+ Athlon 64 and is limited to 2Gigs of RAM on a (I think ) Nforce board. I noticed a huge improvement stepping up to a 7600 GT from my onboard ATI x200 (LOLz). Would I notice even more of an improvement with the 9800? or is my CPU holding me back? I'm not looking to run Crysis or any of the newest games, mostly Valve's Source games and games from the past couple of years. I'm heavily leaning on picking up a 9800 GT for around $100 but was wondering if there is a better bang for the buck card out there that I should consider. Thanks!

Edit: Also, assuming prices and features are the same would it be better to go with XFX or EVGA?

 

[zoku88]

I think your CPU might hold you back at that point...

 

[Cheeto]

Tough to say how much you'll gain before hitting the wall put up by your CPU and RAM. Although if you don't gain much from the 9800gt, you can at least already have it for when you want to fully upgrade your PC. You'll only need PSU,CPU,Motherboard, and Ram... good bargain hunting should get you all that for about $200.

 

[Vaporak]

I'm a couple of hours away from pulling the trigger on buying a new video card. This is going to be going into an older computer running a 3000+ Athlon 64 and is limited to 2Gigs of RAM on a (I think ) Nforce board. I noticed a huge improvement stepping up to a 7600 GT from my onboard ATI x200 (LOLz). Would I notice even more of an improvement with the 9800? or is my CPU holding me back? I'm not looking to run Crysis or any of the newest games, mostly Valve's Source games and games from the past couple of years. I'm heavily leaning on picking up a 9800 GT for around $100 but was wondering if there is a better bang for the buck card out there that I should consider. Thanks!

Edit: Also, assuming prices and features are the same would it be better to go with XFX or EVGA?

Don't do it. The 9600GT's are only a little bit slower than the 8800GT/9800GT's, and the difference will only be smaller with an old CPU/RAM combo.

 

[brain_stew]

I currently am using the Zalman ZM600-HP 600W

That'll be absolutely fine, you'll come no where near to overloading it.

 

[brain_stew]

I'm a couple of hours away from pulling the trigger on buying a new video card. This is going to be going into an older computer running a 3000+ Athlon 64 and is limited to 2Gigs of RAM on a (I think ) Nforce board. I noticed a huge improvement stepping up to a 7600 GT from my onboard ATI x200 (LOLz). Would I notice even more of an improvement with the 9800? or is my CPU holding me back? I'm not looking to run Crysis or any of the newest games, mostly Valve's Source games and games from the past couple of years. I'm heavily leaning on picking up a 9800 GT for around $100 but was wondering if there is a better bang for the buck card out there that I should consider. Thanks!

Edit: Also, assuming prices and features are the same would it be better to go with XFX or EVGA?

I'd stick with what you have, unless you can find a cheap dual core for your rig it won't be worth it really as the CPU will be a massive bottleneck. A 7600GT is more than enough for Source games anyway.

As others have said, if you have a full upgrade within your sights in the next 6 months or so, then it might be worth it, otherwise I wouldn't bother. Also, the ATI 4830 is the same price as the 9800GT and according to most benchmarks it outperforms it, so that'd be the card to go for imo.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Is there a consensus on what the best top-mid-end single video card is?

Considering price value, would the Radeon 4870 1gb model be better or worse than a GeForce GTX 260 216SP? Which one is generally cheaper?

I am planning on going with an Intel e8500 or e8600. Are the additional 170mhz of the e8600 or so worth the extra ~ $100 that it costs compared to the e8500? Also, what is a good, reliable, yet affordable motherboard that would work well with these processors?

Finally, I plan on running Windows XP and eventually upgrading to Vista Ultimate or a future Windows operating system. What is a good amount of ram to go with? I plan to go with at leat 2gb, but would it be worth it to run 3gb or even 4gb? If someone could link me to some good, fast ram that doesn't cost too much, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, if when I do decide to upgrade to Vista, should I go with the 64bit version or the standard 32bit version?

Any help, advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated! I plan to go out and buy everything around Christmas time. I live in Japan, but hardware prices at DIY shops in Akihabara tend to be fairly similar to what they cost on decently priced U.S. websites, so any links would help as a reference.

 

[zoku88]

For your RAM thing, you should really get no less than 4GB. Any RAM will do and any RAM will be cheap, pretty much.

Just get some random DDR2 800 kit.

 

[Hazaro]

Just save your money and get an E8400. The performance difference is extremely negligible.
Get 4GB of RAM since it is so cheap.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

It looks like the e8400 and the e8500 are nearly the same price. Is the difference really so negligible that I shouldn't pay an extra $15 - $20 for the e8500?

Thanks for the advice on the RAM. I will go with 4gb, then. I have been building my own PCs for quite a long time now, but I have never really paid much attention to RAM timings. Is this something that I should really be paying attention to? If so, how do I look for it?

 

[godhandiscen]

That's an error with your Nvidia drver isn't it? Try some different video card driver versions and see how you get on.




Well, yeah, but its $40 less so if you can't stretch to the 216 version its still a heck of a deal. The difference shouldn't be too great either, the rest of the card is the same and the original is hardly lacking in shader performance anyway.

As for ASRock I've heard some very dodgy things in the past. Considering ASUS and Gigabyte boards can be had for very reasonable prices and are so damn good, I wouldn't look anywhere else personally.



What's that going off the specs or personal experience? If its the specs then i wouldn't worry too much as maufacturer rated contrast ratios are wholly worthless and tell you very little about the PQ.

I have a dual setup, 2x22". One of them is an Acer with similar specs, and the other is a Samsung. The difference is obvious when side to side, but when I used to only have the Acer, I wouldn't complain.

 

[Vaporak]

I've got a couple of questions;

1)this power supply is rated EPS12V but doesn't say and ATX power standards from what I can tell. It seems to have all the connections required for a modern computer, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't buying something that wouldn't be compatible.

2) I hear the GTX260's are very big cards, is there any problem fitting them or the 4870's into ATX mid tower cases?

 

[brain_stew]

It looks like the e8400 and the e8500 are nearly the same price. Is the difference really so negligible that I shouldn't pay an extra $15 - $20 for the e8500?

Thanks for the advice on the RAM. I will go with 4gb, then. I have been building my own PCs for quite a long time now, but I have never really paid much attention to RAM timings. Is this something that I should really be paying attention to? If so, how do I look for it?

Since the price gap is so small, then it doesn't hurt to go with the faster CPU. As regards to videocard, the EVGA GTX 260 (216) on Newegg atm is such incredible value, so that'd be my choice without a shadow of doubt.

I wouldn't wory about RAM timings really, the peformance benefits are really very small. However RAM with tight timings often has more OCing headroom so that is part of their appeal for some people. Just go with a decent branded 4GB PC6400 set and you'll be set without paying very much at all. I'd say the G Skill stuff for $40 is the best value available atm. If tighter timings appeal than for an extra $10 the G Skill PI kit looks quite good.

 

[Hazaro]

I've got a couple of questions;

1)this power supply is rated EPS12V but doesn't say and ATX power standards from what I can tell. It seems to have all the connections required for a modern computer, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't buying something that wouldn't be compatible.

2) I hear the GTX260's are very big cards, is there any problem fitting them or the 4870's into ATX mid tower cases?

That PSU is fine, a very good unit at that.
Measure it, the cards are 10 inches long :lol (Measure from the back of the PCI bracket of the case)
Aside from that just google the case you want + GTX 260

 

[LordK]

I
2) I hear the GTX260's are very big cards, is there any problem fitting them or the 4870's into ATX mid tower cases?

They are big. But I think people over exaggerate the size when they talk about it. I have a mid tower case and it fit. I had to move my hard drives out of the way though. Also, it might get in the way of other things depending how your motherboard is laid out. For example, the end of the card is really close to my sata ports which makes it VERY hard for my hands to plug any sata cables in there.

 

[Hazaro]

They are big. But I think people over exaggerate the size when they talk about it. I have a mid tower case and it fit. I had to move my hard drives out of the way though. Also, it might get in the way of other things depending how your motherboard is laid out. For example, the end of the card is really close to my sata ports which makes it VERY hard for my hands to plug any sata cables in there.

I had a 7900GS, then a 8800GT single slot.

This thing is MASSIVE.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Got my G0 Q6600 stable @ 3.4 now. Thing is so f'ning fast.

 

[jas0]

Thoughts on this loadout for the price from AVAdirect?

+ GAMING PC, Smart G31 Gaming System $1090.69

# INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core (SLACR G0 stepping), 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB (2 x 4MB) L2 Cache, 65nm, 95W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail

# ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail

# ASUS, P5KPL-CM, LGA775, Intel G31, 1600MHz (O.C.) FSB, DDR2-1066 (O.C.) 4GB /2, PCIe x16, SATA 3Gb/s /4, VGA, HDA, GbLAN, mATX, Retail

# KINGSTON, 4GB (2 x 2GB) HyperX PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15) SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC

# SAPPHIRE, Radeon™ HD 4850 625MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1986MHz, PCIe x16 CrossFire, DVI /2, HDTV-Out, Retail

# WESTERN DIGITAL, 500GB WD Caviar® SE16 (WD5000AAKS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache

# SABRENT, CRW-UINB Black 65-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB

# SAMSUNG, Super-WriteMaster™ SH-S223 Black 22x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ LightScribe, SATA, w/ Software, OEM

# NZXT, Alpha Black Mid-Tower Case w/ Window, ATX, No PSU, Steel

# NSPIRE, NSP-650V22BF14PF Modular Power Supply, 650W, 24-pin ATX12V 2.2, 140mm Ball Bearing Fan, Retail

# MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM

# WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, Life-Time Labor Warranty)


I'm looking to run Left 4 Dead (and The Orange Box) on max settings at 1920x1080. Right now I'm playing Left 4 Dead on a laptop with an ATI x1600 256 MB / Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33Ghz / 3GB of RAM / XP.

I know one disadvantage of this pre-build is that I may not be able to control system noise as well. So I'll strongly consider building it myself.

I didn't want to jump on Vista, but if it's the only way to use the full potential of the hardware in Windows gaming, so be it. (XP Pro SP3 being stuck with 3GB RAM limit / 32 bit etc.)

Are ATI drivers for Linux distributions still a problem?

 

[ghst]

Thoughts on this loadout for the price from AVAdirect?

+ GAMING PC, Smart G31 Gaming System $1090.69

# INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core (SLACR G0 stepping), 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB (2 x 4MB) L2 Cache, 65nm, 95W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail

# ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail

# ASUS, P5KPL-CM, LGA775, Intel G31, 1600MHz (O.C.) FSB, DDR2-1066 (O.C.) 4GB /2, PCIe x16, SATA 3Gb/s /4, VGA, HDA, GbLAN, mATX, Retail

# KINGSTON, 4GB (2 x 2GB) HyperX PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15) SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC

# SAPPHIRE, Radeon™ HD 4850 625MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1986MHz, PCIe x16 CrossFire, DVI /2, HDTV-Out, Retail

# WESTERN DIGITAL, 500GB WD Caviar® SE16 (WD5000AAKS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache

# SABRENT, CRW-UINB Black 65-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB

# SAMSUNG, Super-WriteMaster™ SH-S223 Black 22x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ LightScribe, SATA, w/ Software, OEM

# NZXT, Alpha Black Mid-Tower Case w/ Window, ATX, No PSU, Steel

# NSPIRE, NSP-650V22BF14PF Modular Power Supply, 650W, 24-pin ATX12V 2.2, 140mm Ball Bearing Fan, Retail

# MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM

# WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, Life-Time Labor Warranty)


I'm looking to run Left 4 Dead (and The Orange Box) on max settings at 1920x1080. Right now I'm playing Left 4 Dead on a laptop with an ATI x1600 256 MB / Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33Ghz / 3GB of RAM / XP.

I know one disadvantage of this pre-build is that I may not be able to control system noise as well. So I'll strongly consider building it myself.

I didn't want to jump on Vista, but if it's the only way to use the full potential of the hardware in Windows gaming, so be it. (XP Pro SP3 being stuck with 3GB RAM limit / 32 bit etc.)

Are ATI drivers for Linux distributions still a problem?

woah there....you're kinda getting stiffed on the price. i'm not too familiar with us prices right now, but i'm sure people round here can help you put together a superior rig for fewer $$$.

i'd suggest starting this THIS card and THIS processor, and that's the two most expensive components covered for $370 (with a superior graphics card to the one you list).

 

[jas0]

woah there....you're kinda getting stiffed on the price. i'm not too familiar with us prices right now, but i'm sure people round here can help you put together a superior rig for fewer $$$.

i'd suggest starting this THIS card and THIS processor, and that's the two most expensive components covered for $370 (with a superior graphics card to the one you list).

Thanks for the suggestions. Off to newegg.

 

[DrBaalzamon]

Hey everyone, I have a question. I have an Intel DG35EC currently. Which board would provide me with better bang for my buck? Im not entirely familiar with any other mobo's and i just snagged an intel one because i knew it would work with the intel processor

Any recommendations near the pricepoint , below or slightly higher would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[rc213]

EVGA 9600GSO Dual Slot PCIe 256-bit DDR3 Dual DVI/S-Video

or

Visiontek ATI Radeon HD 3850 256MB PCIe Single Slot Cooler

Couple dollars apart, Both used.

 

[Javaman]

Thanks for the advice guys. I had ordered the 9800 GT just before the replies trickled in though. :lol It'll probably last me a couple of years worth of upgrades since I generally stay behind a generation or two. Ol' Sprokie lives on!

 

[Chiggs]

Today I got to play around with a Core i7 and a 4870x2. Honestly, I'm not that impressed. Its real world gaming performance didn't seem all that great in comparison to my oc'd Q6600.

 

[zoku88]

Today I got to play around with a Core i7 and a 4870x2. Honestly, I'm not that impressed. Its real world gaming performance didn't seem all that great in comparison to my oc'd Q6600.

Uh, what were you expecting?

 

[Hazaro]

Uh, what were you expecting?

This.

Now if they had 3 4870x2's and dual 2560x1600 then you might be impressed.

 

[Shinz Kicker]

do i need windows ultimate to have a decent 64 bit comp, or can i get by with a 64bit vista basic, or should i just put on an eyepatch.