Confusatron
Member
Terrific, thanks for the help!Antagon said:
-
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Official 2008 "I Need A New PC" Thread
- Thread starter Kosma
- Start date
Some early Nehalem benchmarks are out:
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3326
It smokes a Core 2 Quad at the same clock speed by up to like 40% on some benchmarks with only about a 10% increase in power consumption. Only about six months away...
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3326
It smokes a Core 2 Quad at the same clock speed by up to like 40% on some benchmarks with only about a 10% increase in power consumption. Only about six months away...
I just got Vista Ultimate 64 but I have one question before I install.
I have one 500GB HD that I have in two partitions - one is a 100GB partition - Which is used for XP along with all programs I install and the second partition is the remainder which I use as my "media" drive and have all my games, movies etc.
My question is how big should I make the partition for Vista 64 on a 500GB HD?
Or should I use up the whole 500GB and then buy a second HD for media purposes
I have one 500GB HD that I have in two partitions - one is a 100GB partition - Which is used for XP along with all programs I install and the second partition is the remainder which I use as my "media" drive and have all my games, movies etc.
My question is how big should I make the partition for Vista 64 on a 500GB HD?
Or should I use up the whole 500GB and then buy a second HD for media purposes
McHuj
Member
Looking for some recommendations for a powersupply and case.
I'm looking to upgrade to something like a e8400 with one of the new ATI 4850/70 or the new NVIDIA's coming out. However, I don't plan on overclocking the system or running SLI.
I would like to get a case that stays cool, but more importantly I'm looking for something that is very quiet and power efficient.
My current rig has about 5 fans in it and you can hear it from the other rooms in the house. I went on the cheap end with this past one.
I'm looking to upgrade to something like a e8400 with one of the new ATI 4850/70 or the new NVIDIA's coming out. However, I don't plan on overclocking the system or running SLI.
I would like to get a case that stays cool, but more importantly I'm looking for something that is very quiet and power efficient.
My current rig has about 5 fans in it and you can hear it from the other rooms in the house. I went on the cheap end with this past one.
McHuj said:
Coolermaster CM 690. I can't recommend this case highly enough. Plenty of space for fans, a big array of connectors on the top (2x USB2, 1x Firewire, Mic, Headphone, ESATA), and looks fantastic.
It is a bit of a dust magnet though. The fans stay pretty clean, but the mesh on the outside tends to pick up quite a bit of dust.
http://www.cluboc.net/reviews/cases/coolermaster/cm690/two.jpg
mambadragon
Banned
McHuj said:
Making your PC quiet is more dependent on the type of fans used more than the number of fans. Get a case that can house 120mm fans (push more air so they can run at low speeds). See Silentpcreview for some low noise fan recommendations, though they don't update that much (but I don't think there's much change in fan technology over the past year or so
). I recommend Yate Loons from Jabtech for value.Hello guys, I already posted this in another thread but people pointed me to here. I'm currently building a new PC and would like some advice. I pretty much maxxed my bank account and these parts are all I can afford right now, but, if you feel one of the parts is going to cause problems or is too weak, and a better part isn't too expensive I will be glad to hear!
CPU - Core 2 Quad Q9300 1333MHz, s775, 6mb
Board - Gigabyte EP35-DS4 s775 1333MHz, Intel P35, DDRII 1066, 2xPCI-E
RAM - DDR II 800MHz - 4x1 GB Kingston HyperX
HDD - Seagate 500GB 7200RPM, 32MB, SATA II
VGA - Gigabyte 8800GTS 512MB GDDR3 DX10 HDTV 2xDVI PCI-E
Sound Card - 7.1 Channel Audio
Power Supply - HEC Zephyr - HEC-650DR-AT 650W Silent 12cm & 8cm fan
The other stuff I'm getting - Logitech keyboard & mouse & DVD Lightscribe recorder by Asus. I will be glad to hear if anyone has experienced any kind of problems with the hardware, or just personal opinions about better parts. Thank you!
P.S The computer is mainly intended for image & video editing, but playing games here and there as well.
P.S2 Thanks to the recommendations from the other thread, I've decided to buy 4GB of RAM instead of two.
CPU - Core 2 Quad Q9300 1333MHz, s775, 6mb
Board - Gigabyte EP35-DS4 s775 1333MHz, Intel P35, DDRII 1066, 2xPCI-E
RAM - DDR II 800MHz - 4x1 GB Kingston HyperX
HDD - Seagate 500GB 7200RPM, 32MB, SATA II
VGA - Gigabyte 8800GTS 512MB GDDR3 DX10 HDTV 2xDVI PCI-E
Sound Card - 7.1 Channel Audio
Power Supply - HEC Zephyr - HEC-650DR-AT 650W Silent 12cm & 8cm fan
The other stuff I'm getting - Logitech keyboard & mouse & DVD Lightscribe recorder by Asus. I will be glad to hear if anyone has experienced any kind of problems with the hardware, or just personal opinions about better parts. Thank you!
P.S The computer is mainly intended for image & video editing, but playing games here and there as well.
P.S2 Thanks to the recommendations from the other thread, I've decided to buy 4GB of RAM instead of two.
McHuj
Member
njp142 said:Making your PC quiet is more dependent on the type of fans used more than the number of fans. Get a case that can house 120mm fans (push more air so they can run at low speeds). See Silentpcreview for some low noise fan recommendations, though they don't update that much (but I don't think there's much change in fan technology over the past year or so
I did not know about this site. Thanks.
ok gaf i finally brought my video card what do you think
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130357
now heres the whole build
amd x2 5000+ blackedition oced 3.0ghz
2gbs ram
8800gt 512 mb
160 gb hdd
and also would like to know will my pc bottleneck the video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130357
now heres the whole build
amd x2 5000+ blackedition oced 3.0ghz
2gbs ram
8800gt 512 mb
160 gb hdd
and also would like to know will my pc bottleneck the video card
Zzoram said:
Those benchmarks do however focus right on my area of use of the PC, specifically the multimedia benchmarks which look too good to pass up. Looks like I'm going to be holding out until Q4 of this year. Oh well, gives me time to save up money to the Clitique to buy at the same time as the pc for the ultimate artist setup.
Two sound issues:
I just picked up some Creative speakers for my desk. I don't have a ton of room so I went with the Creative GigaWorks T40 because of the built in sub. They sound awesome, but there is some faint popping almost all of the time. Any clue why this would be?
Second, any recommendations for a max $100 sound card? I have no sound card right now.
I just picked up some Creative speakers for my desk. I don't have a ton of room so I went with the Creative GigaWorks T40 because of the built in sub. They sound awesome, but there is some faint popping almost all of the time. Any clue why this would be?
Second, any recommendations for a max $100 sound card? I have no sound card right now.
I have a Q6600 and bought a 8800GT. However I'm getting random reboots, mostly in games. With nvtune, I see that the GPU fan speed is stuck at 30% and never moves up (it's set to automatic) and the GPU gets as hot as 96-97 degrees. Is that normal? I also have a 400W power supply, could that be a problem?
godhandiscen
There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
No, thats way above treshold. Something may be wrong with your videocard fan, also 400W powersupply might be the minimun you can use with that card.thorns said:
Hey guys, just wanted to ask a quick question. Im in search of a good laptop that can run CS:S and TF2/HLF2 well, also i wouldn't mind running higher end games on it. Right now I have a 2006 Macbook Pro with Bootcamp on it, but it has alot of issues with windows. Does anyones know any brands that are worthwhile to look into for laptops under $1500?
TheHeretic
Banned
Askia47 said:
The Dell XPS series has a good reputation, though any laptop with a decent GPU will work.
Can anyone tell me how new games (outside of crysis) run on a x1650 PRO? I need to upgrade but since I'm probably going to move into a new appartement soon I haven't got the money for a new rig yet.
My pc's specs:
Athlon 64 3200+
1 GB DDR2 RAM (533 Mhz)
Geforce 4 Ti 4200 :lol
My pc's specs:
Athlon 64 3200+
1 GB DDR2 RAM (533 Mhz)
Geforce 4 Ti 4200 :lol
GHG said:
That would be nice, but there's quite a difference between paying around 600 Euros for a new right and around 50 for a new graphics card. I don't need a system that maxes out every game there is, I just want to play some more games from the past couple of years (Bioshock, Company of Heroes, Oblivion and some more) and spore. I'm allright with it if I have to play them at 1024x768 at medium settings for now.
GHG said:
I don't know about that.. he has DDR2 ram, so the actual system isn't that old, it's just the graphics card that needs binning. I can only assume he has some kind of hybrid board though as the ti4200 is obviously AGP. If it's a VIA chipset board, it isn't gonna work with an 8800GT. If he doesn't want to upgrade the board (and consequently the chip as well) maybe he could consider an ATI 3850? They are going cheap these days.
bah so i brought the 8800 gt , the one on the link below and the fucking bugger didnt want to fit in my case-_- blocked my freaking sata ports now i have to rma it. now how can i make sure the next card i get fits into the case?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130357
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130357
brain_stew
Member
Antagon said:
Honestly I'd have to echo GHG's advice but if you just want a quick stop gap I'd go for something with a little more oomph than an X1650. Trawling Ebay would be a good idea, a second hand 7900GT or X1950 Pro would be a very nice upgrade and shouldn't cost very much. Something like a GDDR3 3650 might be OK for a new card, on the low end the 7600GT would be my choice.
Trying to overclock your CPU and perhaps adding an extra GB of RAM should help as well. You could always stick in a cheap X2 (e.g. the X2 3800 goes for peanuts nowadays) and overclock it as many games are starting to require a dual core processor now. Of course, ploughing more and more money into an aging rig may not be the best idea.
All the 8800GT's are built off the same reference board so they should be all the just about the same size. IF you want to go with an 8800GT you'll probably need a new case. I know newegg lists dimensions on their website and other sites should as well so you could also measure the size and see how much room you have to work with.tribal24 said:
Spiderjericho
Member
What kind of cable management are you using in your case? I have a PC Power and Cooling 750 watt power supply, and the enormity and amount of cables makes it unwiedly. I have two-inch zip ties. I think if the power supply could of been inserted on the top of the case or there was a large space to routechedabob said:
I'm going to buy a PC today. I want to stay around $1200, and I'd really just like to go somewhere and buy one (circuit city, costco, etc.). Please recommend me something awesome, as I am pretty incompetent about PC specs, plus I'm leaving with the wife in about 10 minutes for costco. Please help! I just got the ok to spend money, so it's pretty much burning a hole in my pocket at this point.
DarkAngelYuna
Banned
Not going to happen in a local store for that price.Vik_Vaughn said:
sevenchaos
Banned
I have basically the same specs as you. Same amount of ram and same cpu. I got a 8800gt and it breathed new life into my pc. I love it. Can run everything I throw at it maxed out except for Crysis (set things med to high).Antagon said:
Hey guys, what company is good one to select from in terms of configuring your own pc barebones pc and they put it together for you. Yes I know it's cheaper to order the individual components and build the computer myself, but I'm short on time, especially dealing the time when problems arise, so I'd rather just build a machine to my specs and have them build it and test it. I was looking at cyberpower pc's, but I was wondering if you guys had any better suggestions. Thanks,
Vik_Vaughn said:
Best Buy carries the Dell XPS 420 for $900. But you might do better buying that stuff online even if you don't want to bother with building your own. If you still didn't make a decision and want to look into it, remember that you're going to have to supply the awesome GPU on your own, since it comes with only a Radeon 2600XT from Best Buy. And if you'd consider a Dell, maybe the XPS 630i might get your interest if you look at www.dell.com online.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...=product&tab=2&id=1205026863692#productdetail
PhlegmMaster
Banned
thorns said:
That's a common problem with the 8800GT. With old versions of the bios, the fan never goes above 30%, as you've noticed. To fix it, either download the latest bios (be careful to download the right version) or set the speed manually at something higher than 50% with RivaTuner or something.
I bought a gateway fx desktop for just over $1000. It's got an intel Q9300, 4 gigs ram, 8800gt, and 640GB HDD. This is the first gaming machine I have ever owned, and so far it is glorious.
I downloaded a bunch of demos. Crysis looks great, I just didn't find it all that fun. I had played through COD4 on 360, and just now played the PC demo. It's like I'm playing a completely different game. It looks fantastic, and mouse/keyboard control is so much more accurate than a controller.
It's nice to be able to crank all the settings to max and just have everything run great. I know I probably could have saved money ordering online or building my own, but at least I got what I wanted, and can finally participate in PC gaming.
I downloaded a bunch of demos. Crysis looks great, I just didn't find it all that fun. I had played through COD4 on 360, and just now played the PC demo. It's like I'm playing a completely different game. It looks fantastic, and mouse/keyboard control is so much more accurate than a controller.
It's nice to be able to crank all the settings to max and just have everything run great. I know I probably could have saved money ordering online or building my own, but at least I got what I wanted, and can finally participate in PC gaming.
Spiderjericho
Member
Vik_Vaughn said:I bought a gateway fx desktop for just over $1000. It's got an intel Q9300, 4 gigs ram, 8800gt, and 640GB HDD. This is the first gaming machine I have ever owned, and so far it is glorious.
I downloaded a bunch of demos. Crysis looks great, I just didn't find it all that fun. I had played through COD4 on 360, and just now played the PC demo. It's like I'm playing a completely different game. It looks fantastic, and mouse/keyboard control is so much more accurate than a controller.
It's nice to be able to crank all the settings to max and just have everything run great. I know I probably could have saved money ordering online or building my own, but at least I got what I wanted, and can finally participate in PC gaming.
That is a pretty good price. I don't know the whole configuration but it's very competitive to the computer I put together and spent more than $1,500 (8800 GT, Q6600, 750 GB HD, Xifi Fatality, 20XDVDRW, 750 watt power supply, Coolermaster 690 case, 2GB ram). Yogi Bear you should consider shopping around at Gateway, Dell or Best Buy (and consider cyberpower and Ibuypower as secondary options).
Late edit, check this out...this is the configuration Vik Vaugh purchased. It's pretty sweet for the price (almost makes me feel guilty for spending what I did on mine). The only thing it's missing is a dedicated sound card and gigabit ethernet (and if you care about wireless or tv tuner it doesn't have those):
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...=product&tab=1&id=1204331806567#productdetail
Yogi_bear said:
www.ibuypower.com seems to be a great deal if you don't want to assemble it yourself. They basically let you choose every component like you would if you were just buying parts off of Newegg and assemble it for you. They'll also provide you with a full system warranty, which you won't get by building a system on your own.
Spiderjericho
Member
I went to the site and tried to configure a system with the same specs as the Best Buy Gateway FX system and it was several hundred dollars more expensive.Moray said:
Yogi Bear, definitely get the Gateway if you want something good, cheap and already built. The only caveat might be the warranty.
I recently bought an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB) and am happy with my purchase. It runs four process at once faster than either of my old computer could run a single process.
I was going to do this
http://www.jonlee.ca/how-to-build-an-affordable-quad-core-desktop-for-500/
But ended up going with
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DDCWDB3&s=dhs
The whole PC (minus the monitor) cost me a little over $500. I could have done it for less, but I wanted a better graphics card, more/faster memory, Windows Vista, and didn't have time to build my own. I also had a $300 coupon.
I was going to do this
http://www.jonlee.ca/how-to-build-an-affordable-quad-core-desktop-for-500/
But ended up going with
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DDCWDB3&s=dhs
The whole PC (minus the monitor) cost me a little over $500. I could have done it for less, but I wanted a better graphics card, more/faster memory, Windows Vista, and didn't have time to build my own. I also had a $300 coupon.
Confusatron
Member
I just placed my order with Newegg for the following:
Intel C2D E8400 - $190
EVGA Geforce 8800GT 512MB (OC'd at 650MHz) - $180
G.Skill 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 - $45
Seagate 500GB HD Sata3 7200rpm 16MB cache - $80
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L LGA775 MB - $90
Antec NeoPower 550W PSU - $90
Total: $675
I'm moving up from this:
Athlon 64 4000 San Diego
Geforce 7900 GT 256MB
2GB Ram
My case, dvd drive, and 300GB HD will be making the move to the new PC. I'm also making the jump from WinXP to Vista Home Premium with SP1 (32bit).
What do you guys think? Did I make the right move?
Intel C2D E8400 - $190
EVGA Geforce 8800GT 512MB (OC'd at 650MHz) - $180
G.Skill 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 - $45
Seagate 500GB HD Sata3 7200rpm 16MB cache - $80
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L LGA775 MB - $90
Antec NeoPower 550W PSU - $90
Total: $675
I'm moving up from this:
Athlon 64 4000 San Diego
Geforce 7900 GT 256MB
2GB Ram
My case, dvd drive, and 300GB HD will be making the move to the new PC. I'm also making the jump from WinXP to Vista Home Premium with SP1 (32bit).
What do you guys think? Did I make the right move?
I'm back again and want you to tell me what you think of this final (really) build.
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K10B Black Aluminum/ SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112155
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3500320NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148294
ASUS P5Q Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131297
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
[x2] CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145194
XFX PVT98FYDBU GeForce 9800 GTX Black Edition 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150297
Total: $1,500
The only upgrade I'd do in the future would be removing the E8400 for the E8600 then build my little brother a computer with the E8400.
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K10B Black Aluminum/ SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112155
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3500320NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148294
ASUS P5Q Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131297
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
[x2] CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145194
XFX PVT98FYDBU GeForce 9800 GTX Black Edition 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150297
Total: $1,500
The only upgrade I'd do in the future would be removing the E8400 for the E8600 then build my little brother a computer with the E8400.