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Official 2008 "I Need A New PC" Thread

R

Ravenn17

Member
Anyone know where I can find a sleek/simple looking case? I saw some Antec's and those look TOO simplistic for my taste. 99% of the other cases I looked at looked like a fucking alien space craft.
 
G

Guled

Member
Whats the difference between the 32 and 64 version of windows. I know that the 64 version lets you reed more then 3.5 ram, but is that it?
 
D

Davidion

Member
Ravenn17 said:
Anyone know where I can find a sleek/simple looking case? I saw some Antec's and those look TOO simplistic for my taste. 99% of the other cases I looked at looked like a fucking alien space craft.
Click to expand...

If you want something simple, try a Lian-Li

I have a NZXT Zero and it's quite nice. There's a little LED action going on in the front but otherwise it keeps the UFO/ricer action to a minimum. It is quite huge, however.

You can also try a cheap Rosewill

Silverstone cases are decent too.

Or if you want to cream your pants...
 
J

Jaagen

Member
zoku88 said:
I don't understand why you need two harddrives. You could just take a 750GB drive and partition it. It might be cheaper than what you're thinking of unless you were thinking of making the HDD that houses your OS super fast or something...

667 MHz is basically the minimum for RAM nowadays and that speed is probably fine.
Click to expand...

Yeah. It's for safety reasons(in case of failure, etc) Also, it's my personal obsession of keeping it seperated:p.

Regarding RAM, how about this. I have 3GB's of 667 RAM in my current gaming PC. What if I replace that with 800MHz RAM(high performance) Or should I just buy new sticks for my living room PC. For graphics, I'm looking into the HD3670 card, witch offers more than enough performance for TF2 at 720p.

Oh, and is the UVD opened for Linux yet?
 
C

Cheeto

Member
Jaagen said:
Yeah. It's for safety reasons(in case of failure, etc) Also, it's my personal obsession of keeping it seperated:p.

Regarding RAM, how about this. I have 3GB's of 667 RAM in my current gaming PC. What if I replace that with 800MHz RAM(high performance) Or should I just buy new sticks for my living room PC. For graphics, I'm looking into the HD3670 card, witch offers more than enough performance for TF2 at 720p.
Click to expand...
In my experience, running 3gb or more of RAM has hindered my performance. I've found that a 2gb pair of decent dual channel memory is better.
 
D

Davidion

Member
Jaagen said:
Yeah. It's for safety reasons(in case of failure, etc) Also, it's my personal obsession of keeping it seperated:p.

Regarding RAM, how about this. I have 3GB's of 667 RAM in my current gaming PC. What if I replace that with 800MHz RAM(high performance) Or should I just buy new sticks for my living room PC. For graphics, I'm looking into the HD3670 card, witch offers more than enough performance for TF2 at 720p.

Oh, and is the UVD opened for Linux yet?
Click to expand...

You mean 3870 right? If so, then that should be fine.

As for your ram, I'd say getting another stick of 667 is fine unless you're all about milking speed. Then again, ram is cheap right now so it's just a matter of value for you.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
oo Kosma oo said:
Thing is, even if you partition it and the HDD dies that wouldn't help you much. Having two drives solves that problem.
Click to expand...
But if one drive fails (at least, for the OS,) you wouldnt be a very happy camper, anyway. I mean, I would hope that most here would back up their stuff.
 
M

mambadragon

Banned
Ravenn17 said:
Anyone know where I can find a sleek/simple looking case? I saw some Antec's and those look TOO simplistic for my taste. 99% of the other cases I looked at looked like a fucking alien space craft.
Click to expand...

I had this problem myself and found Antec to have the best options. Lian Li's also look nice, but they're aluminum and I wanted steel. I went with the Antec Solo and I'm relatively satisfied with how it looks, but it does have blue LEDs which I hate.
 
J

Jaagen

Member
Davidion said:
You mean 3870 right? If so, then that should be fine.

As for your ram, I'd say getting another stick of 667 is fine unless you're all about milking speed. Then again, ram is cheap right now so it's just a matter of value for you.
Click to expand...

I meant the HD3650, wich is the replacement line for the HD2600(so many numbers)

Maybe I'll get some high performance ones for this machine I'm currently on(2GB's enough?) for gaming and graphics design(yeah, I use my main computer for Photoshop with RAW images, so maybe the 3GB's should stay in this machine...I'll see what I decide on)

Also, which CPU do you guys recommend? I'm, like I said, looking into a fully AMD sollution(already have a Core 2 machine) that's upgradeable to the K10 Athlons in the future.
 
A

ag-my001

Member
Does anyone have a link to a good PC building tutorial? The "Insert Card A into Slot B" steps are easy enough, but I'm sure there are people out there (like me) wanting to make sure they don't screw up a step or forget some simple precaution (like don't wear socks on berber carpet, lost a PS2 controller that way).
 
L

Lhadatt

Member
Lhadatt said:
OK, I just got a Core 2 Quad Q6600 ($200 at Micro Center BTW. Not sure how long that deal will go). What are some good motherboards for this thing? I've been looking at the Asus P5K-E. How are Intel's boards? What about the Asus P5N line? Any recommendations welcome.
Click to expand...
So... motherboard recommendations for a Q6600?
 
Vestal

Vestal

Junior Member
Guled said:
Whats the difference between the 32 and 64 version of windows. I know that the 64 version lets you reed more then 3.5 ram, but is that it?
Click to expand...

64bit Windows is faster because it is able to address more memory and faster thanks to the 64bit processor. However there is still a ridiculous amount of work to be done on the Driver front, drivers still suck a big one when it comes to supporting Windows64(XP or Vista). Not only that but applications are LAGGY big behind the curve, and only a handful of apps take advantage of the 64bit architecture(Paint.NET is one of them and its FREE!!!)


I would recommend to stay away from the 64bit OS unless you have more than 4gigs of memory and are ready to work with the Driver woes.
 
A

Antagon

Member
Ravenn17 said:
Anyone know where I can find a sleek/simple looking case? I saw some Antec's and those look TOO simplistic for my taste. 99% of the other cases I looked at looked like a fucking alien space craft.
Click to expand...

Supposedly the Antec P182's are great cases and imo very sleek. Even if they're too simplistic for you you might consider them since they're supposed to be extremely quiet.

antecp182casedr8.jpg


There's also a SE with a mirror finish, but probably hard to find:

1176574201.jpg

:lol

I should be getting one of these myself this week to replace my coolermaster praetorian (The 80mm fans make way too much noise) so I'll be able to post my experience.
 
S

SRG01

Member
Can anyone suggest a decently quiet PSU? All of the PSUs I've had were very audible even underneath my desk. Granted, the CPU fan was quite loud too...
 
S

Smokey

Member
Could $1,200 buy a really good machine?

I used to be into PC gaming but stopped because of the whole upgrade deal but I want to get back in.
 
C

cryptic

Member
Alright Gaf.

I need help building a new PC for either 400 or 500 dollars, for a friend who wants to be able to play a lot of the new games on high spec.

I'm going to look myself for parts, but I would appreciate any mention of sales or what not.

Also, remember, the cheaper the better. Although I don't want to give him a piece of shit.

Thanks for any help.
 
Vestal

Vestal

Junior Member
cryptic said:
Alright Gaf.

I need help building a new PC for either 400 or 500 dollars, for a friend who wants to be able to play a lot of the new games on high spec.

I'm going to look myself for parts, but I would appreciate any mention of sales or what not.

Also, remember, the cheaper the better. Although I don't want to give him a piece of shit.

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Any hardware being reused? (ie Hard Drive, Monitor?)
 
Vestal

Vestal

Junior Member
cryptic said:
A dvd-rom and a monitor.
Click to expand...

Hmm to get new games running at high quality on a rig with a 500 dollar budget might be a bit tough. Off the top of my head Im thinking Core 2 Duo 6750, 2gigs of Value ram, 3850 Vid card. Those would be the primary components then go from there.. Didn't research much just off the top of my head
 
S

Slo

Member
Finally got my parts today! The build when smoothly and I'm formatting my primary partition.

Can't wait for some BioShockage.
 
A

ag-my001

Member
Slo said:
Finally got my parts today! The build when smoothly and I'm formatting my primary partition.

Can't wait for some BioShockage.
Click to expand...
My build today also went smoothly, but whenever Windows tries to start up, the computer restarts. Anyone have a suggestion?
 
S

SRG01

Member
ag-my001 said:
My build today also went smoothly, but whenever Windows tries to start up, the computer restarts. Anyone have a suggestion?
Click to expand...

Driver issue. Boot into safe mode and diagnose.
 
A

ag-my001

Member
I should have mentioned that Safe Mode (or any other selection for the Windows boot) also makes the PC reboot. I've already created a topic on another forum that's more for this kind of thing, so hopefully someone over there can help me out.
 
S

SRG01

Member
ag-my001 said:
I should have mentioned that Safe Mode (or any other selection for the Windows boot) also makes the PC reboot. I've already created a topic on another forum that's more for this kind of thing, so hopefully someone over there can help me out.
Click to expand...

Hmm. It could be a number of things. I wonder if it's a video output issue. Did you try to disconnect your video card?
 
X

xero273

Member
ag-my001 said:
I should have mentioned that Safe Mode (or any other selection for the Windows boot) also makes the PC reboot. I've already created a topic on another forum that's more for this kind of thing, so hopefully someone over there can help me out.
Click to expand...

Can you list specs?
 
Vestal

Vestal

Junior Member
Hmm quick question.. Was this as soon as you were done installing Windows??

I would suggest to run a quick Memtest to check memory.
 
A

ag-my001

Member
Parts installed so far:

Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 mobo
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
2 GB Crucial RAM
MSI 8800GT
80 GB Maxtor Hard Drive

No DVD or Floppy Drives installed yet, and the Hard Drive was taken out of my previous PC, so it already has XP Pro installed.

The computer still restarts when the 8800GT is removed.
 
X

xero273

Member
ag-my001 said:
Parts installed so far:

Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 mobo
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
2 GB Crucial RAM
MSI 8800GT
80 GB Maxtor Hard Drive

No DVD or Floppy Drives installed yet, and the Hard Drive was taken out of my previous PC, so it already has XP Pro installed.

The computer still restarts when the 8800GT is removed.
Click to expand...

PSU brand? watts? amps on 12v?

So you are reusing HD from old PC that already had XP installed?
 
Vestal

Vestal

Junior Member
the Hard Drive was taken out of my previous PC, so it already has XP Pro installed.
Click to expand...

The problem right there.. You have to reinstall Windows, you can't just switch the hard drive with OS from 1 hardware configuration to another and see it work, it doesn't work that way.
 
S

SRG01

Member
Try a dry run with only the memory and CPU seated, and everything else disconnected. If that works, add each component back one at a time.

Vestal said:
The problem right there.. You have to reinstall Windows, you can't just switch the hard drive with OS from 1 hardware configuration to another and see it work, it doesn't work that way.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize that caused system restarts.....?
 
Vestal

Vestal

Junior Member
SRG01 said:
I didn't realize that caused system restarts.....?
Click to expand...

Yes it does.. Basically the problem lies with the basic drivers that windows installs on installation it kinda builds the foundation for windows to talk with the motherboard, this is mostly a very abstract way to look at it, but basically you can get away with switching the hard drive with the OS between two machines under the same chipset, but once you switch between different chipsets it almost always results in the problem he is experiencing.
 
M

MeowMeow

Banned
Well, im looking for a laptop for multifunctions,...mostly for my graphic art stuff and high definition... i want the kind of laptop where you can draw on the screen or write on it, and i also want it to play high definition stuff... i dont think im going to laptop know but what do you think about this?

4 GIG OF RAM
1 GIG GPU graphic card
HIGH DEFINTION compatible full 1080p
Blu-Ray Disk Recordable/Rewritable Drive
WiFi Internet (highest speed)
Built in Webcam and sound
Touch Screen and tilt pad (where you can tilt the screen to show something as oppose to turning the whole laptop)
Windows Vista Ultra (The best Version of Windows Vista i think thats whats its called)
64 Bit Applications

As for the CPU, isnt intel comming out with new line of chips? I dont think its Quad core, i think its something else....

Also, what about PPU (physics processing unit). Isnt physics very important now to play awesome heavy graphic games? I want to get 1, but i dunno if games fully use it.

But what do you guys think? Im guessing that laptop is gonna be $2000 now, but will it be lower in the future? Plus Blu-Ray disk drives should be higher in speed as oppose to just double speed.
 
A

ag-my001

Member
Vestal said:
Yes it does.. Basically the problem lies with the basic drivers that windows installs on installation it kinda builds the foundation for windows to talk with the motherboard, this is mostly a very abstract way to look at it, but basically you can get away with switching the hard drive with the OS between two machines under the same chipset, but once you switch between different chipsets it almost always results in the problem he is experiencing.
Click to expand...
I'll try doing the reinstall tomorrow. The DVD was an OEM model, so I've got to go grab the cables for it somewhere. The old PC was basically a glorified DVD player, and I don't feel like switching components around that aren't going to stay in the new one.
 
C

Cheeto

Member
ag-my001 said:
I'll try doing the reinstall tomorrow. The DVD was an OEM model, so I've got to go grab the cables for it somewhere. The old PC was basically a glorified DVD player, and I don't feel like switching components around that aren't going to stay in the new one.
Click to expand...
You can get any with doing a Repair sometimes...I emphasize sometimes.
 
Vestal

Vestal

Junior Member
ag-my001 said:
I'll try doing the reinstall tomorrow. The DVD was an OEM model, so I've got to go grab the cables for it somewhere. The old PC was basically a glorified DVD player, and I don't feel like switching components around that aren't going to stay in the new one.
Click to expand...

Hmm I just hope you have an actual Windows CD and not a Restore CD....

Besides a clean Install is always a good thing. I wipe my computer every 2-3 months. Then again I mostly just use an Optimized Ghost Image of the OS drive to "reinstall".
 
A

ag-my001

Member
That's the nice thing about attending a large university: you get cheap licenses for everything. Before I leave in December I'll be sure to pick a Vista Ultimate and Office Vista disk for $20 each. I know they can be had for cheaper, but if people actually paid for them, then maybe, just maybe, MS would let up on their DRM.




A man can dream...

Edit: Vestal nailed it. Found out I did have the proper DVD cables, so I loaded that in and reinstalled Windows. Everything looks good so far, though the 8800GT is still out of the box.
 
O

Oldschoolgamer

The physical form of blasphemy
Smokey Bones said:
Could $1,200 buy a really good machine?

I used to be into PC gaming but stopped because of the whole upgrade deal but I want to get back in.
Click to expand...

Yes. I'm spending around that much and getting quality parts. To be totally honest, the only reason I'm spending that much is because of the need for a tuner card, monitor, and OS.
 
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