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Official 2008 "I Need A New PC" Thread

A

aznpxdd

Member
RoH said:
Thanks Outdoor Miner?

Case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 534
Power Supply - Thermaltake W0106RU 700W
Mobo - ASUS P5Q-E ATX Intel Motherboard (Crossfire compatible)
Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Video Card - ASUS Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3
Hard Drive - Maxtor DiamondMax 21 STM3160815AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive - ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model DRW-2014S1T - OEM
CPU HS - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Business premium -bit32 DVD

This is my build with my changes, what do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Any reason why you are buying such a small HDD other than budget constraints?

I'd suggest the Western Digital 640gb, it uses 2x320gb platters (very fast) and its reliable as well.
 
R

RoH

Member
aznpxdd said:
Any reason why you are buying such a small HDD other than budget constraints?

I'd suggest the Western Digital 640gb, it uses 2x320gb platters (very fast) and its reliable as well.
Click to expand...

Budget constraints and I use my WHS for Media storage, a low end laptop for media conversion, and PS3 for playback.

Other then that hows the build?
 
R

RoH

Member
I guess no news is good news :lol

Edit:
If any one cares; NewEgg has the ASUS Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 back in stock for 162.99 after rebate.
 
S

SRG01

Member
RoH said:
Thanks Outdoor Miner?

Case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 534
Power Supply - Thermaltake W0106RU 700W
Mobo - ASUS P5Q-E ATX Intel Motherboard (Crossfire compatible)
Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Video Card - ASUS Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3
Hard Drive - Maxtor DiamondMax 21 STM3160815AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive - ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model DRW-2014S1T - OEM
CPU HS - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Business premium -bit32 DVD

This is my build with my changes, what do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Are you OCing? Why do you need 700W?
 
M

MaritalWheat

Member
How badly does my Pentium D @ 3.0 Ghz bottlneck my 4850? I got the 4850 to replace my 8600, and my increase in Crysis performance isn't that impressive while CoH I've kept at the same settings since my 8600, otherwise I get shit for frames. Is the CPU that big of a problem?
 
L

Labombadog

Member
MaritalWheat said:
How badly does my Pentium D @ 3.0 Ghz bottlneck my 4850? I got the 4850 to replace my 8600, and my increase in Crysis performance isn't that impressive while CoH I've kept at the same settings since my 8600, otherwise I get shit for frames. Is the CPU that big of a problem?
Click to expand...
Yeah. Its a pretty bad bottleneck. Is there any way you can upgrade?
 
A

armubaba

Member
Hey guys, I've been out of the PC Gaming scene for a WHILE now, but I recently got a new laptop equipped with a 512 MB 8600 GS graphics card. I know it isn't exactly the top of the line, but I'd like to know whether I can play all the important stuff I've missed out on- namely Sins of A Solar Empire, The Witcher, STALKER, Medieval 2, COH, Crysis, etc.

So, will my laptop be able to run these aforementioned games at decent settings?

I've got a 2.4 dual core and 3 gigs of RAM, if that helps.
 
W

Wallach

Member
armubaba said:
Hey guys, I've been out of the PC Gaming scene for a WHILE now, but I recently got a new laptop equipped with a 512 MB 8600 GS graphics card. I know it isn't exactly the top of the line, but I'd like to know whether I can play all the important stuff I've missed out on- namely Sins of A Solar Empire, The Witcher, STALKER, Medieval 2, COH, Crysis, etc.

So, will my laptop be able to run these aforementioned games at decent settings?

I've got a 2.4 dual core and 3 gigs of RAM, if that helps.
Click to expand...

I think you're good to go for at least SoaSE and CoH. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and The Witcher will probably need to be turned down a little but should be fine. As for Crysis, I'm sure you can get it up and running but I don't know what kind of settings you'll be able to pull off.
 
V

VaLiancY

Member
What would you guys recommend for an Intel based mobo? I'm pretty much set in on getting 4870 X2 and an 8400. It's just the mobo I'm having problems on researching on.
 
D

Darkone

Member
I have upgraded my System 8 month ago, i got a MOBO that supports SLI and i have a 8800GT, My questions are:

1) If i will get another 8800GT and have Dual Cards will all recent games support SLI or it must have a Dual GPU card option like i saw in COD4 menu?
2) From what size of Monitor it is worth Getting another Video card to use the SLI option?
I now have a 17 inch monitor wich i plan to upgrade in a few months to 22 or 24.

Thanks
 
beat

beat

Member
My 3.5 year old PC is suffering massive freeze problems. I think I want a new desktop... first off, is there any benefit (or drawback) to getting a 64 bit version of Vista?

A few other questions:

Are there any parts you guys would specifically recommend for an ultra-quiet system? I don't think I need fanless water-cooling, but I definitely put a priority on not having jet engine fan noise either. My current PC has a Sonata case and a bunch of quiet fans. How are stock cooling solutions on Intel Core 2 Duo chips for cooling and noise?

Do modern motherboards still include PATA connectors? I guess I could find an enclosure if not.

I can spend a few extra bucks here and there for convenience or peace of mind - should I bother with a floppy drive? Or is booting from a USB drive/rescue CD good enough?
 
R

RoH

Member
SRG01 said:
Are you OCing? Why do you need 700W?
Click to expand...

With the $50 rebate it costs the same as the 500W i was going to get (on Outdoor Miner list), but the 700W has some fancy modular cable management system. and its all black.
I was almost mad about the E8400 price drop until I remembered I got my own for $169 shipped.
 
M

MaritalWheat

Member
Labombadog said:
Yeah. Its a pretty bad bottleneck. Is there any way you can upgrade?
Click to expand...
Not really at the moment :(
At least I got my 4850 cheap though ($150); I'll probably upgrade around the time Dawn of War 2 comes out.
 
S

SRG01

Member
Does anyone know if the CNet article linked by HardOCP is the full list or is there a more comprehensive one elsewhere? I'm still holding out for a sub-$100 E4xxx so I can OC it. :lol
 
C

Cheeto

Member
MaritalWheat said:
How badly does my Pentium D @ 3.0 Ghz bottlneck my 4850? I got the 4850 to replace my 8600, and my increase in Crysis performance isn't that impressive while CoH I've kept at the same settings since my 8600, otherwise I get shit for frames. Is the CPU that big of a problem?
Click to expand...
Does your motherboard use DDR or DDR2 ram? If it uses DDR, that'd create a large bottleneck too.
 
M

MaritalWheat

Member
Cheeto said:
Does your motherboard use DDR or DDR2 ram? If it uses DDR, that'd create a large bottleneck too.
Click to expand...
DDR2, I've got 2 gigs of it, most my MB can support but I think that does its job fine. So yeah, it looks like my CPU's the downer here :(
Is there a new line of Intel CPU's coming this winter or something? Should I wait for those, or should I just go with something out now? Would an E8400 or a Q6600 still be relevant in 3 years?
 
L

ltse1

Member
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16 GHz
GPU: Sapphire ATI 4850 512MB
Mobo: Asus P5K Deluxe/Wifi
Memory: Corsair 2 X 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM

I did extensive research, but my limited knowledge only let me absorb so much. I want to play Dragon Age, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Spore, Fallout 3 and hopefully Project Offset when it releases. I know I'll be able to run them, but how well do you think this rig will play them (low, medium, high settings)? Overall, I'm paying $718 for it.

Also, my budget is pretty flexible, so feel free to recommend something slightly more expensive if it's worth it.
 
A

aznpxdd

Member
That rig should be able to play all the games you listed fine (as long as its not some crazy resolution). The parts look good, but what are you getting for Case and PSU?
 
P

Pachael

Member
MaritalWheat said:
DDR2, I've got 2 gigs of it, most my MB can support but I think that does its job fine. So yeah, it looks like my CPU's the downer here :(
Is there a new line of Intel CPU's coming this winter or something? Should I wait for those, or should I just go with something out now? Would an E8400 or a Q6600 still be relevant in 3 years?
Click to expand...

I think a E7200 should be sufficient for the type of gaming you're doing right now (and cheap enough). Check your motherboard to see if the chip's supported - otherwise you might as well buy a new motherboard / wait for Nehalem.
 
E

ElfoMan

Member
Hey, I still haven't ordered my new PC. I think will order the parts tomorrow, could you guys take one last look please and tell me if I have anything wrong or could do better with other pieces.

Here's what I have in mind: click here to view

Thanks.
 
L

larvi

Member
beat said:
My 3.5 year old PC is suffering massive freeze problems. I think I want a new desktop... first off, is there any benefit (or drawback) to getting a 64 bit version of Vista?

A few other questions:

Are there any parts you guys would specifically recommend for an ultra-quiet system? I don't think I need fanless water-cooling, but I definitely put a priority on not having jet engine fan noise either. My current PC has a Sonata case and a bunch of quiet fans. How are stock cooling solutions on Intel Core 2 Duo chips for cooling and noise?

Do modern motherboards still include PATA connectors? I guess I could find an enclosure if not.

I can spend a few extra bucks here and there for convenience or peace of mind - should I bother with a floppy drive? Or is booting from a USB drive/rescue CD good enough?
Click to expand...

My take:
64bit - advantage is you can use more than 4gb physical memory but that isn't going to buy you much right now for gaming. The disadvantage is that you are going to have more compatibility problems right now with games/apps/drivers and probably see a slight performance hit for 32bit apps. If you want to hedge your bets you can always get Vista Ultimate which allows for either a 32bit or 64bit install so you can go with 32 now and upgrade in the future if you want to. Not sure if premium allows this or not

Noise - look for 120mm fans and power suplies with 120mm fans. Other than that you can check the reviews on Newegg and often see comments about noise. But sometimes it's just hit or miss too with components.

Pata - pretty much any decent motherboard will still have at least 2 pata connectors and a lot still have 4 so you should be fine there.

Floppy - I still like to have one, can come in handy for stuff like loading sata drivers, etc. and are cheap enough. The only downside is they can be pretty ugly and ruin the lines of a sleek case.
 
S

SRG01

Member
DyobolikaL. said:
Could anyone link me to a Pc that cost around $400-$500 and is able to play BioShock on full settings?
Click to expand...

What resolution? You can try to find Kosmo's $399 Crysis PC build through the search function.
 
M

MeowMeow

Banned
I finally found a tablet laptop for my budget to hold me over until laptops will have internal blu-ray R-RW as a standard with windows ultimate vista for 64 bit applications (that will be quite some time) but here it is. Can anyone help me find WHERE i can purchase this product? I want this model specifically. Or if you find similar specs in another manufacturer with similar price that would be cool too. One thing it MUST have is *INTERNAL* DVD-R/RW drive.

Model: I beleive its M200
Manufacturer Sku: PPM21U07UEV8
Brand: Toshiba
Product Line: Portege
Operating System: Windows XP Tablet Edition
RAM: 512MB DDR SD RAM
Hard Drive: 60GB
Processor: Pentium M
Processor Speed: 1.7Ghz
Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW+CD-R/RW
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200
Video Ram: 32MB
Internet Connection: 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet
Price Range: $300-$450
Use: Not looking as a gaming thing, just basic internet, sketching, and writing word documents for school.

Here is the product link that i found :
http://www.bizrate.com/laptopcomputers/toshiba-portege-m200-1.7-ghz-pentium-m-laptop--pid337038381/information.html
 
T

Tiduz

Eurogaime
So, im getting a asus HD 4850 next week, i game at 1680x1050 or 1280x1024, is it better to go for 512 MB or 1GIG?

My monitor doesnt go above 1680x1050.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
Tiduz said:
So, im getting a asus HD 4850 next week, i game at 1680x1050 or 1280x1024, is it better to go for 512 MB or 1GIG?

My monitor doesnt go above 1680x1050.
Click to expand...
512MB.

I don't think you would ever see that much benefit in the 1GB model since I believe the 4850 can't really take advantage of the extra memory very well because of the memory interface (256 bit)
 
R

RoH

Member
ltse1 said:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16 GHz
GPU: Sapphire ATI 4850 512MB
Mobo: Asus P5K Deluxe/Wifi
Memory: Corsair 2 X 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM

I did extensive research, but my limited knowledge only let me absorb so much. I want to play Dragon Age, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Spore, Fallout 3 and hopefully Project Offset when it releases. I know I'll be able to run them, but how well do you think this rig will play them (low, medium, high settings)? Overall, I'm paying $718 for it.

Also, my budget is pretty flexible, so feel free to recommend something slightly more expensive if it's worth it.
Click to expand...

As I understand it the 4850's run hot, I personally picked the Asus 4850 because you can easily adjust the stock fan speed.

VictimOfGrief said:
You can adjust the fan speed of all 4800 cards with a profile or .xml trick.
Click to expand...

I heard you can do that, but personally I'm going to use the app that comes with the Asus card as its just to easy.
 
T

Tiduz

Eurogaime
zoku88 said:
512MB.

I don't think you would ever see that much benefit in the 1GB model since I believe the 4850 can't really take advantage of the extra memory very well because of the memory interface (256 bit)
Click to expand...

Thank you :)
 
G

GameGamer

Member
I've been wondering about the "for System Builders" version of Vista.

Do you have to be a licensed reseller to install that? Or can anyone install it?

It seems System Builders versions can only be on one machine. At what point does the machine change? When you upgrade the motherboard and CPU? I can't imagine you can continue to swap out parts forever on that System Builders copy?
 
C

Cheeto

Member
GameGamer said:
I've been wondering about the "for System Builders" version of Vista.

Do you have to be a licensed reseller to install that? Or can anyone install it?

It seems System Builders versions can only be on one machine. At what point does the machine change? When you upgrade the motherboard and CPU? I can't imagine you can continue to swap out parts forever on that System Builders copy?
Click to expand...
If I remember correctly, they activate per-motherboard.
 
N

No6

Member
GameGamer said:
I've been wondering about the "for System Builders" version of Vista.

Do you have to be a licensed reseller to install that? Or can anyone install it?
Click to expand...
Anyone can, but my understanding is that you lose the ability to call MS for support help.

It seems System Builders versions can only be on one machine. At what point does the machine change? When you upgrade the motherboard and CPU? I can't imagine you can continue to swap out parts forever on that System Builders copy?
Click to expand...
Supposedly MB but apparently MS has not yet enforced this.
 
C

Cheeto

Member
No6 said:
Supposedly MB but apparently MS has not yet enforced this.
Click to expand...
I'd check on that. I know MS didn't enforce this much with XP, but I've heard that it has changed with Vista. You used to be able to call customer support and get them to give you a activation key with XP, but they've locked down Vista keys from what I hear.
 
Chiggs

Chiggs

Gold Member
Cheeto said:
I'd check on that. I know MS didn't enforce this much with XP, but I've heard that it has changed with Vista. You used to be able to call customer support and get them to give you a activation key with XP, but they've locked down Vista keys from what I hear.
Click to expand...


I have a retail copy of Vista Home Premium that I've used since early 2007. I've had 3 different mobos since then and two new CPU's.
 
G

GameGamer

Member
Cheeto said:
I'd check on that. I know MS didn't enforce this much with XP, but I've heard that it has changed with Vista. You used to be able to call customer support and get them to give you a activation key with XP, but they've locked down Vista keys from what I hear.
Click to expand...


So System Builders Vista Ultimate is around $190.
Retail version around $265.

So for $75 more I can forever upgrade my computer, change motherboards/CPUs, etc.

Anyone have a link regarding actual experiences with this issue?
 
C

Cheeto

Member
Chiggs said:
I have a retail copy of Vista Home Premium that I've used since early 2007. I've had 3 different mobos since then and two new CPU's.
Click to expand...
Yeah, retail copies can be used on multiple machines. OEM or System Builder licenses are for one machine and that machine only.
 
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