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[Chiggs]

The best bang for the buck without overclocking is the E8400.

Agreed, but as more and more apps start taking advantage of Quad Cores, you might be left out in the cold. Of course, all this depends on how long a user keeps a CPU. If he's like me, he'll just toss it out after a year.

 

[arne]

The best bang for the buck without overclocking is the E8400.

I also specifically asked for a quad-core recommendation because I'll be doing some HD video editing -- which benefits under a quad core setup.


also thanks!

 

[Cheeto]

I realize RAID 1+0 is both slight overkill and complex -- although it is recommended that your run RAID 0 for HD video editing, I just wanted to add fault tolerance as well. What's the toughest challenge I'll be facing? Granted, I know next to nothing about it and I haven't really read up on it. I figured it would be plugging in the HDDs and doing BIOS setting type stuff. eep.

As complex as it may seem, you shouldn't really be intimidated by it. The motherboard's software/firmware will take care of much of the work. When it is all said and done you'll just see a single drive on your OS. Don't worry about studying or anything like that, just make sure that the motherboard you purchase has the capability, and everything you need to know should be laid out for you in the manual for your motherboard. So long as you don't have pre-existing data on the hard drives that you want to keep, you cannot screw it up beyond repair.

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

Agreed, but as more and more apps start taking advantage of Quad Cores, you might be left out in the cold. Of course, all this depends on how long a user keeps a CPU. If he's like me, he'll just toss it out after a year.

By the time that actually happens the Q6600 will be too old too.

 

[Zzoram]

By the time that actually happens the Q6600 will be too old too.

That is basically my train of thought. By the time an E8400 is actually really outdated and gimping performance a lot because of software better utilizing multiple cores, the cheaply available quadcores will be so outdated it won't matter. Besides, I can always overclock my E8400 from 3.0GHz to like 3.8GHz or above, and buy myself a little more time.

The way I see it, I'll be getting an HD4870 soon to match my E8400, and that'll be good for a few years. Since games are still primarily GPU-bound, I might update my GPU in like 2010, and then my CPU/Mobo/RAM by around 2011.

I'll give LGA1366 plenty of time to mature, as well as Intel's new integrated memory controller.

 

[bathala]

well I just bought a Zalman VF1000 for my 4850. Assembled the whole thing and stuck it on 4850 ONLY TO FIND OUT MY MOBO DOESN'T HAVE A 3 PIN PLUG FOR THE FAN.
ARGH!
so now i have to put the stock heatsink from 4850.

where do i get thermal tape to replace the one on 4850?

 

[Zzoram]

well I just bought a Zalman VF1000 for my 4850. Assembled the whole thing and stuck it on 4850 ONLY TO FIND OUT MY MOBO DOESN'T HAVE A 3 PIN PLUG FOR THE FAN.
ARGH!
so now i have to put the stock heatsink from 4850.

where do i get thermal tape to replace the one on 4850?

Any computer enthusiast parts store has thermal paste like Arctic Silver Creamique, which is probably what you will want to use. Just put a tiny amount in the centre, it spreads out a lot and is supposed to be a thin layer.

The amount you apply is supposed to be roughly a grain of cooked rice, but it varies depending on what size the heatsink interface is you're working with.

 

[SRG01]

Holy crap, let's just avoid the whole dual-vs-quad argument. It's like clockwork in this thread. :lol

 

[zoku88]

Hadn't seen it recommended by anyone, only saw the NVidia ones. that and I've heard a lot how NVidia has been in the lead lately graphics wise, but thanks for the tip, I'll check that one out as well:

one of my main concerns is - will these cards be compatible for use with a Dual Monitor setup? Really Important

Thanks!

Well, I couple of months ago, everyone was probably recommending NV ones cuz AMD didn't really have anything to compete. You have to remember to look up info everytime new cards come up (or prices drop)

Uhm, I'm not sure about the dual monitor thing. I'm ASSUMING that they can since it seems dual monitor support is something most high-end cards have, but I wouldn't really know.

 

[bathala]

thermal paste like Arctic Silver Creamique, which is probably what you will want to use.

i have that. so u mean I don't need those pads (thermal tape?) that was on VGA rams?

 

[Althane]

A friend is looking to buy a computer, and since I'm better at the software side, I was wondering if you guys could inform me on this:

# CPU: AMD Athlon™ X2 5000+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
# FAN: AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
# HDD: Single Hard Drive (300GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
# IEEE_CARD: NONE
# MOTHERBOARD: Asus M2N SLI NVIDIA nForce 560 SLI MCP Chipset DDR2/800 SATA RAID PCI-Express MBoard w/GbLAN,IEEE1394,USB2.0,&7.1Audio
# MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard) 2GB (4x512MB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
# NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
# POWERSUPPLY: 600 Watts Power Supplies (Nzxt PP600 Watt Power Supply-SLI Supports)
# SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
# VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)


(how much it should cost, for the most part)

Edit: Oh, yeah, he's getting it for about $500.

 

[Cheeto]

Holy crap, let's just avoid the whole dual-vs-quad argument. It's like clockwork in this thread. :lol

Yep, it is the same argument again. Basically it comes down to personal budget and software preferences, though. If someone uses a lot of multi-threaded apps, and they have a budget to get a quad-core they'll definitely benefit. In the same stroke however, many users can save money and get the same awesome performance out of the cheaper dual cores.

A friend is looking to buy a computer, and since I'm better at the software side, I was wondering if you guys could inform me on this:

# CPU: AMD Athlon™ X2 5000+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
# FAN: AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
# HDD: Single Hard Drive (300GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
# IEEE_CARD: NONE
# MOTHERBOARD: Asus M2N SLI NVIDIA nForce 560 SLI MCP Chipset DDR2/800 SATA RAID PCI-Express MBoard w/GbLAN,IEEE1394,USB2.0,&7.1Audio
# MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard) 2GB (4x512MB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
# NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
# POWERSUPPLY: 600 Watts Power Supplies (Nzxt PP600 Watt Power Supply-SLI Supports)
# SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
# VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)


(how much it should cost, for the most part)

Edit: Oh, yeah, he's getting it for about $500.

When he gets it, he should drop another ~$150-180 into it for a better video card. Other than the video the system looks good for the price. Don't expect to game on that system out of the box.

 

[Althane]

In his words, he wanted to play WoW, Age of Conan, and possibly Crysis on it.

Any advice to give to him?

 

[Cheeto]

In his words, he wanted to play WoW, Age of Conan, and possibly Crysis on it.

Any advice to give to him?

He'll be able to play them all, but AoC and Crysis will have to be low LOW settings, and you might get away with WoW on medium.

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

He'll be able to play them all, but AoC and Crysis will have to be low LOW settings, and you might get away with WoW on medium.

I'm not sure about the CPU he's getting but I had that video card before I upgraded and WOW ran great at 1400x900 full high settings, never went under 50+ fps.

 

[Cheeto]

I'm not sure about the CPU he's getting but I had that video card before I upgraded and WOW ran great at 1400x900 full high settings, never went under 50+ fps.

Not sure about that, my 8800 drops to 30 in cities and such. The CPU should be fine for most games.

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

Not sure about that, my 8800 drops to 30 in cities and such. The CPU should be fine for most games.

I'm at 63fps right now in windowed mode in Shat on my 8800gt highest settings o.o

 

[Althane]

I'll tell him to check and see if he can't get a better CPU or GPU.

He may be able to overclock the CPU though.

 

[Ckid]

Thinking of buying this setup . What do you guys think, im a noob so suggestions/ changes you guys think I should make would be great. Is there anything else that I am missing that i would need?

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ

Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-DS3R ATX LGA775 P45 2PCI-E16 2PCI CrossFireX

Ram: G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000

Video Card: Diamond Radeon HD 4870 512MB

Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream 700W

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Gamer Case 900 Atx

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2

Random DVD Writer

Total= $1058.92 cdn +tax

 

[momolicious]

some friend has around 800 to spend on a whole desktop computer with mouse/keyboard and monitor. Any suggestions to get the best bang for buck with this amount of money? thanks

It was a choice between buying this computer build.
http://shop4.frys.com/product/5622691
http://shop4.frys.com/product/5329718

or build by yourself.

is $800 good enough to build a better computer all around with better value than the prebuilt one i linked with the monitor?

Heres a buildyourself build i have right now on newegg



LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS120-04 - OEM
$26.99

Rosewill R6A34-BK 0.8mm SECC 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$44.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$54.99

Hanns·G HW-191APB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
$169.99

EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI
$174.99


Antec earthwatts EA500 500W ATX12V v2.0 Power Supply - Retail
$54.99

OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P800R22GK - Retail
$46.99

ECS GF7050VT-M LGA 775 GeForce7050 / 610i Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$42.99


Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7200 - Retail
$129.99

Logitech 967973-0403 Black PS/2 Standard Deluxe 250 Desktop Mouse Included - OEM
12.99

total with shipping at newegg will be $809

What would you suggest changing due to quality problems? or which parts could be better for a budget PC? Hmm, looks like the graphics card might be priced a little bit too high for this budget, is there any suggestions for cheaper graphics card with a little bit decrease in performance in the 8800GT?

 

[BitchTits]

My main PC *just* died on me. It's a bit of a scramble now to get a new one pronto.

What sort of specs could I get for £500-600? I really would like something I could play recent-ish games on, I'd love to play Oblivion with all the PC mods and stuff running. I'm a little flexible on the price, and I have a monitor, mouse and keyboard already - nothing else can be salvaged from my old PC.

I've never built a PC, I'd rather not tbh, but I've put in PCI cards, memory and secondary hard drives in my PC before, so I'm not too scared of getting under the hood.

I want something competitively priced and delivery has to be SOON! Can any UK GAFers point me in the right direction?


I've quickly had a look at Dell, and this is what I came up with:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Quad Q9300 Processor (2.50GHz, 1333MHz, 6MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 32-bit - English
MONITOR Display Not Included
MEMORY 4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]
HARD DRIVE 500GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 16MB DataBurst™ cache
GRAPHICS CARD 512MB nVidia® GeForce® 8800GT graphics card


£530 Inc. Shipping and VAT

Can I get a better bang for my buck?

 

[bee]

My main PC *just* died on me. It's a bit of a scramble now to get a new one pronto.

What sort of specs could I get for £500-600? I really would like something I could play recent-ish games on, I'd love to play Oblivion with all the PC mods and stuff running. I'm a little flexible on the price, and I have a monitor, mouse and keyboard already - nothing else can be salvaged from my old PC.

I've never built a PC, I'd rather not tbh, but I've put in PCI cards, memory and secondary hard drives in my PC before, so I'm not too scared of getting under the hood.

I want something competitively priced and delivery has to be SOON! Can any UK GAFers point me in the right direction?


I've quickly had a look at Dell, and this is what I came up with:




Can I get a better bang for my buck?

you wanna switch that vista for the 64bit version and swap the 8800 for a 4850 or 4870, otherwise it looks pretty good, but building it from parts would be much better. for £600 you can get pretty much a top of the line system

 

[BitchTits]

Thanks bee. I can't see that Dell offer those upgrades (they're very limited on that, aren't they).

I've heard good things about http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

If I got the Dell specs, with 64 bit Vista and a better graphics card, what sort of motherboard and memory should I go for? (I think I'm all set then).

 

[Cheeto]

I'm at 63fps right now in windowed mode in Shat on my 8800gt highest settings o.o

Still doesn't mean an 8500 will never drop below 50... An 8500 doesn't even out perform a 6800GT, a two generation old card.

 

[bee]

Thanks bee. I can't see that Dell offer those upgrades (they're very limited on that, aren't they).

I've heard good things about http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

If I got the Dell specs, with 64 bit Vista and a better graphics card, what sort of motherboard and memory should I go for? (I think I'm all set then).

ive got no idea on any online pc builders sorry as ive never used any of them

what do you mean, buy the dell then swap stuff out? or build it all from parts

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

Still doesn't mean an 8500 will never drop below 50... An 8500 doesn't even out perform a 6800GT, a two generation old card.

The 8500 never did when I had it...Either way Wow relies on the CPU a hell lot more than the video card.

 

[Zzoram]

8500GT is awful, for like $50 more you can get an 8800GT 256mb.

 

[VAIL]

ECS is the worst motherboard manufacturer in existence. There is a reason that thing was so cheap.

Expect your system to die in a matter of months. May as well prepare yourself for horrific warranty support right now.

If it dies I replace it, running swimmingly right now, got it bumped to 2.35 with stock cooling, waiting to get my Zalman heatsink in.

Damn the case is funky looking, but it's solid and the drop down/take out motherboard and side panels are fantastic.

 

[BitchTits]

ive got no idea on any online pc builders sorry as ive never used any of them

what do you mean, buy the dell then swap stuff out? or build it all from parts

Build it from parts.

Going by the Dell specs, I can use those as a guide, I was just wonder what sort of motherboard, memory and power supply I should add, as those are the parts Dell don't really let you alter, so I wasn't too sure about what to go for.

 

[Crovax33]

I am looking into a CrossFire setup.

What is the best intel mobo supporting CrossFire? I do not want DDR3 I just want DDR2.

 

[bee]

Build it from parts.

Going by the Dell specs, I can use those as a guide, I was just wonder what sort of motherboard, memory and power supply I should add, as those are the parts Dell don't really let you alter, so I wasn't too sure about what to go for.

took 5 mins to throw one together maybe something like this as a guide

Antec sonata 3 + 500w psu £75.99
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3 £77.07
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 £119.84
Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz £57.51
ATI HD 4850 £117.49
Western Digital 640gb £57.87
Vista Home Premium 64 bit £58.75

£564.52

I am looking into a CrossFire setup.

What is the best intel mobo supporting CrossFire? I do not want DDR3 I just want DDR2.

one of the x38 based mobo's is what you want, x48 is just a higher speed binned more expensive version, both have 2 x 16x speed pci-e slots for full speed crossfire

 

[Crovax33]

one of the x38 based mobo's is what you want, x48 is just a higher speed binned more expensive version, both have 2 x 16x speed pci-e slots for full speed crossfire

Thanks bee.

 

[momolicious]

whats the next best budget card for your buck under 8800GT? 8800GS?

 

[Crovax33]

whats the next best budget card for your buck under 8800GT? 8800GS?

What is your budget?

 

[BitchTits]

took 5 mins to throw one together maybe something like this as a guide

Antec sonata 3 + 500w psu £75.99
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3 £77.07
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 £119.84
Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz £57.51
ATI HD 4850 £117.49
Western Digital 640gb £57.87
Vista Home Premium 64 bit £58.75

£564.52

Amazing! It's a whole PC for about £120 cheaper than similar I was looking for on Dell.

The ATI HD 4850 is a better GPU than the 8800GT?

I'm going to decide if I want to build or buy, but I'll definately be using this spec. as a guide as closely as possible, thanks very much.

 

[shoplifter]

Haha, I got stupid this week and decided to put 8GB of ram into my new PC. :lol

(yes i'm running vista64 and the mobo supports it)


edit: ok, I have an HD video camera, so it's not a *completely* wacky idea since I'll be dealing with gigantic files on a regular basis

 

[bee]

The ATI HD 4850 is a better GPU than the 8800GT?

yeah

 

[Cheeto]

Haha, I got stupid this week and decided to put 8GB of ram into my new PC. :lol

That reminds me, does anyone know if I install 8GB of ram into my system if I'll still be able to dual boot into 32-bit XP with that much ram? For some reason I remember reading something that said you can't boot with that much ram.

 

[BitchTits]

yeah

Great. I'm all set, thanks for your help again.

 

[Epix]

yeah

What about the 4850 vs 8800GTS 512?

 

[Kadey]

Apparently the 8800 GT is getting a slight upgrade in terms of marketing. A 9800GT is supposed to come out. It's basically the 8800GT with tri-sli support. Actual specs to be determined.

 

[bee]

What about the 4850 vs 8800GTS 512?

4850 is faster

 

[zoku88]

What about the 4850 vs 8800GTS 512?

Any non-SLI 8800xx card will lose to the 4850...

 

[arne]

How's this for a monitor (for gaming and general PC use + video editing)?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001273

 

[Esperado]

Got my new computer up and running.

Gigabyte EP35-DS3L motherboard
Intel E2180 Processor w/ Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Patriot EE 2GB DDR26400 RAM
Gigabyte 8800 gt 256mb
Western Digital 400GB Hard Drive
Cooling Master 690 Case

Now all I think I need to do is get a fan controller (those 120mm fans are loud) and find a way to get rid of the Rosewill Z775-SL that I ordered. Ending up going with the Freezer 7 Pro because I was able to find it locally for about 24+tax. I read everyone's comments saying not to get the 256MB version of the 8800gt, but since I'm running at 1360x768 resolution I don't think I would see much difference. Honestly, I'm just happy that I can run Half Life 2 at max without slowdowns.

I've been doing some overclocking, but for some reason my VCore doesn't ever seem to rise in CPU-Z even though I'm setting it higher in the bios. It goes down to about 1.264/1.280 when I'm stress testing and the highest OC I can get at that VCore is about 290x100. At 300x10 the OS starts, but after about 10 minutes of stress testing, the computer just restarts. I try to set the VCore higher, but it stays the same in CPU-Z. I'm not sure what the problem is here. Temps are at about 25/42. (idle/load) in the Intel Thermal Analysis Tool and 22/46 in Coretemp. Not sure which is more reliable.

Last of all, what are some games that I've missed? I've pretty much stayed out of PC gaming since the release of Half Life 2, which I got free with a Radeon 9600 xt (those were the days). I'm going for a HL2 + EP1 + EP2 run right now.

 

[BitchTits]

Well, I think I'm going to go for building my PC.

Do any more experienced PC builders have any tips on big do's and don'ts? The biggest things I'm worried about are fitting the motherboard and CPU correctly.

 

[zoku88]

Well, I think I'm going to go for building my PC.

Do any more experienced PC builders have any tips on big do's and don'ts? The biggest things I'm worried about are fitting the motherboard and CPU correctly.

Is a don't: Don't skimp on the PSU. By that, I mean don't just get some random cheap PSU. You want one that you know will work.

 

[sevenchaos]

I know this is kind of off topic but I can't seem to find the PC games thread. Where people posted all the newer and older games that people should play. Somebody have a link?

 

[bee]

Well, I think I'm going to go for building my PC.

Do any more experienced PC builders have any tips on big do's and don'ts? The biggest things I'm worried about are fitting the motherboard and CPU correctly.

no real tips, just take your time, read the instructions and dont be afraid to use lots of force at times

regarding the mobo and cpu, the mobo you simply fit the i/o shield plate into the case at the back then hand screw 6-9 standoffs into the mobo tray, place the mobo on top then screw in 6-9 screws securing it in place, sounds easy? it is

the cpu will only go in 1 way so you cant get it wrong, its simply a matter of lifting a lever aligning the notches in the cpu correctly so it fits then putting the lever back down

absolutely nothing to worry about with any of it, im sure once your done and its up and running you'll be amazed how easy it was and why you ever bothered worrying about it

 

[BitchTits]

no real tips, just take your time, read the instructions and dont be afraid to use lots of force at times

regarding the mobo and cpu, the mobo you simply fit the i/o shield plate into the case at the back then hand screw 6-9 standoffs into the mobo tray, place the mobo on top then screw in 6-9 screws securing it in place, sounds easy? it is

I was reading a guide that said not to let the mobo touch the PC case, the i/o shield plate prevents this?

I'm kinda excited actually