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[Zep]

Hazaro, would you happen to have an AIM SN or another? I have a few questions in regards to buying a new PC.

 

[SleazyC]

Okay, well do you have any ideas why the LEDs would only flash once and nothing else would work? I'm a bit concerned since not even the heatsink fan would spin up.

Trying swinging buy a computer shop and picking up a cheaper internal speaker. Should run you from $1-$3 and fits onto your motherboard where you plug in the cases power button. It will emit beeps that you can lookup to tell you if anything is wrong.

Nothing spinning up could be a couple things, my last build had a faulty RAM stick and things would spin up but I wouldn't get any display. After I got a speaker in place I got a beep code that told me the RAM was the cause. Try socketing in one stick of RAM and making sure that you don't have a bad stick. Other than that it could be a ton of other things but I'd start off with RAM.

 

[peppermints]

Well, we got everything else in and hooked up and still no power. We even tried using a different power cable to the wall.

I guess we'll get a different PSU tomorrow and if that doesn't fix it.. something else is majorly wrong.

 

[Soule]

Hey guys, I'm trying my hand at making my first ever computer, don't know too much about it and would appreciate some advice... I fully intended to read the thread when I first clicked but I had no idea that it was anywhere near 100+ pages haha

Anyway as I said before, I don't know that much about putting together a custom computer so I feel a little lost with all these options at my hands and I've kinda roped a few random parts into the computer I'm trying to make. I'm from Australia and using this website to make my computer http://www.umart.com.au/pro/build_computer1.phtml?bid=2 since there weren't really any recommendations specifically for Australia in the OP from what I could tell, but my friend made a computer from there and swears by them

so far it's looking like this:
CPU - AMD Phenom 9650 Quad Core AM2+ 2300MHZ 4MB L2+L3 95W
Extra Cooling - Antec 80mm SmartCool Fan
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P MB, AM3,790X+SB750,5.2GT/s, DDR3
RAM - Corsair TR3X6G1333C9 6GB (3x XMS3 2GB) PC-10600 (1333MHz) XMP DDR3 riple Kit
HDD - Western Digital 500G SATAII 7200rpm HDD (16MB Cache) Enterprise Storage
Graphics Card - Gigabyte GTX275 896M DDR3 PCIE2.0 DSub
Monitor - LG W2242T-BF 22 inch LCD 5ms 8000 : 1 D-Sub DVI-D
DVD - Pioneer DVR-217BK SATA 20x Dual Black OEM
Case - CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Aluminum Bezel Case Silver (no Power supply)
PSU - Antec ATX EarthWatts 500W

All that brings me to around $1,800 well below my budget of $2,300AUD I'd just like a little feedback on how I'm going, what I'm missing (looking to keep my keyboard, modem and speakers) or even if someone else designed a separate computer under $2,300 on the umart website i'd appreciate that too.

 

[zbarron]

Will this power supply be able to handle a GTX 260?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

 

[Diablohead]

So after a solid week with my new system I love it more and more, I fine tuned my TF2 settings to get 75fps (my lcd's max refresh rate) 90% of the time only dipping to the high 50's in 32man servers near water with full reflections on. I setup my 360 again today and it was hard to adjust from such smooth gaming with a high level of filters on to 720p at 30fps, but this new machine should last me oh so long before it chokes below 30fps in most things.

It's amazing what you can make for a low budget now, I may have to build a 2nd setup for the family machine, this thread is gold.

 

[brain_stew]

Will this power supply be able to handle a GTX 260?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

Yes, but you can do better for the money.

 

[brain_stew]

Hey guys, I'm trying my hand at making my first ever computer, don't know too much about it and would appreciate some advice... I fully intended to read the thread when I first clicked but I had no idea that it was anywhere near 100+ pages haha

Anyway as I said before, I don't know that much about putting together a custom computer so I feel a little lost with all these options at my hands and I've kinda roped a few random parts into the computer I'm trying to make. I'm from Australia and using this website to make my computer http://www.umart.com.au/pro/build_computer1.phtml?bid=2 since there weren't really any recommendations specifically for Australia in the OP from what I could tell, but my friend made a computer from there and swears by them

so far it's looking like this:
CPU - AMD Phenom 9650 Quad Core AM2+ 2300MHZ 4MB L2+L3 95W
Extra Cooling - Antec 80mm SmartCool Fan
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P MB, AM3,790X+SB750,5.2GT/s, DDR3
RAM - Corsair TR3X6G1333C9 6GB (3x XMS3 2GB) PC-10600 (1333MHz) XMP DDR3 riple Kit
HDD - Western Digital 500G SATAII 7200rpm HDD (16MB Cache) Enterprise Storage
Graphics Card - Gigabyte GTX275 896M DDR3 PCIE2.0 DSub
Monitor - LG W2242T-BF 22 inch LCD 5ms 8000 : 1 D-Sub DVI-D
DVD - Pioneer DVR-217BK SATA 20x Dual Black OEM
Case - CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Aluminum Bezel Case Silver (no Power supply)
PSU - Antec ATX EarthWatts 500W

All that brings me to around $1,800 well below my budget of $2,300AUD I'd just like a little feedback on how I'm going, what I'm missing (looking to keep my keyboard, modem and speakers) or even if someone else designed a separate computer under $2,300 on the umart website i'd appreciate that too.

The old Phenoms are crap, avoid them, get an Phenom ii X3 720 or X4 940, much, much bettter.

Have a look at the Tech Report builds linked in the OP, and use one of them as a starting point.

You've got some incompatible parts there.

 

[zbarron]

Yes, but you can do better for the money.

Thanks. I ask since I already own that one. I don't want to have to buy a new one. I got it from some Slickdeals deal way back.

 

[brain_stew]

Hey guys, I'm trying my hand at making my first ever computer,

With that kind of budget you can get some excellent componets, this is what I put together for $2000:


AMD Phenom II X4 945 3.0GHZ
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P M/B - AMD 790X/SB750/AM3/AM2+/AM2
G.Skill DDR2 4G(2x2G)PC6400 800Mhz(F2-6400CL4D-4GBHK)
Samsung 1TB SATA II 7200RPM 32M
XFX HD4890 PCI-E 2.0 1GB
Samsung 2333SW 23inch Wide Full HD LCD 5ms High Glossy Black Tilt DVI-D
Pioneer DVR-217BK SATA 20x Dual Black OEM
Antec Nine Hundred Tower Gaming Case with side window Black(No PSU)
Corsair HX-620 ATX Power Supply 120mm fan Dual PCI-E Graphics Card Connector 8 SATA Connectors

 

[Mr. Enigma]

Yes, if you're going AMD, make sure it's a Phenom II. The original Phenoms suck.

 

[peppermints]

Okay guys, quick question. Last night while building a computer I took the heatsink with preapplied thermal grease on it off to ensure that I had the heatsink on there tightly. There is some that is now on the CPU and still some of the preapplied stuff on the bottom of the heatsink. I remember reading somewhere that if you take the heatsink off you should reapply thermal grease.

However, I have yet to power the computer because of a dead PSU. Should I still put some more thermal grease on?

 

[Hazaro]

Okay guys, quick question. Last night while building a computer I took the heatsink with preapplied thermal grease on it off to ensure that I had the heatsink on there tightly. There is some that is now on the CPU and still some of the preapplied stuff on the bottom of the heatsink. I remember reading somewhere that if you take the heatsink off you should reapply thermal grease.

However, I have yet to power the computer because of a dead PSU. Should I still put some more thermal grease on?

If you have more go for it otherwise worry about your power first.

Is your PSU connected directly to a wall socket or not shared much? (.e.g plugged into an extension with 6 other appliances)
Is the back PSU switch in the "I" position?

Zep, just post in the thread and you will get the best feedback

 

[Minsc]

With that kind of budget you can get some excellent componets, this is what I put together for $2000:

Can you really justify spending $2000 on a PC and not getting a Core i7? At that price range, you really shouldn't be going Phenom imo.

 

[derder]

Can you really justify spending $2000 on a PC and not getting a Core i7? At that price range, you really shouldn't be going Phenom imo.

This.

 

[peppermints]

If you have more go for it otherwise worry about your power first.

Is your PSU connected directly to a wall socket or not shared much? (.e.g plugged into an extension with 6 other appliances)
Is the back PSU switch in the "I" position?

Zep, just post in the thread and you will get the best feedback

At first it was in a surge protector but then we switched it to a wall outlet to make sure it wasn't the surge protector. And yeah, it's on the I position. Went ahead and bought another PSU today because not even the PSU fan will come on.

 

[bigmit3737]

Can you really justify spending $2000 on a PC and not getting a Core i7? At that price range, you really shouldn't be going Phenom imo.

Depends on how much his monitor cost.

I am assuming it was very expensive.

 

[brain_stew]

Can you really justify spending $2000 on a PC and not getting a Core i7? At that price range, you really shouldn't be going Phenom imo.

US dollars? o certainly not, but these are Australian prices and a include a 23" full HD monitor. I'd tried to put together a core i7 rig but it was tipping over his budget, even if I sacrificed a few better parts elsewhere. A 3ghz quad core Phenom ii is hardly something to sniff at, it offers more performance than most users would ever need and has great OCing potential to boot.

 

[peppermints]

So a new powersupply didn't work. Still won't turn on at all.

I'm guessing it's one of two things now: A faulty power switch on the case. Or a fried motherboard. I'm not sure how the latter would have happened since we had it elevated properly with the spacers everytime we tried to turn it on..

Any ideas?

 

[brain_stew]

So a new powersupply didn't work. Still won't turn on at all.

I'm guessing it's one of two things now: A faulty power switch on the case. Or a fried motherboard. I'm not sure how the latter would have happened since we had it elevated properly with the spacers everytime we tried to turn it on..

Any ideas?

You sure you've hooked up the pinouts from the power switch to the motherbaord correctly? Them things can be a right bitch to get right some times and will fall off without you noticing. Every lead firmly in every correct slot?


Take out components piece by piece and test in between, this way you can narrow it down to which component is faulty.

 

[Schwowsers]

So a new powersupply didn't work. Still won't turn on at all.

I'm guessing it's one of two things now: A faulty power switch on the case. Or a fried motherboard. I'm not sure how the latter would have happened since we had it elevated properly with the spacers everytime we tried to turn it on..

Any ideas?

Did you connect both power connectors to the mobo? Here's a pic. I've forgotten to plug in the small 4 pin connector before and I think it resulted in a similar problem.

 

[dionysus]

Are we still looking at q4 2009 or q1 2010 for the next generation of cards? I think my current rig of a 8800gt and OCed q6600 has enough juice in it to last till I do a major upgrade for an i7, windows 7 official release, new generation of cards upgrade, and a SSD for OS and games. That is my optimal plan.

But it was my birthday yesterday and the urge to upgrade my computer for my birthday present to myself is strong, so if I have to wait too long I might just have to go for a 260 and a phenom ii quad core.

 

[Soule]

Thanks everyone for the feedback really appreciate it, brain_stew especially for making one for me.

Just quickly would anyone be willing to make an Intel equivalent to the computer brain_stew suggested?

 

[D4Danger]

quick question: what's the Intel equivalent to AMD's Phenom II X3 720?

trying to work out if AMD may be a better purchase at this point.

 

[Waikis]

Are we still looking at q4 2009 or q1 2010 for the next generation of cards? I think my current rig of a 8800gt and OCed q6600 has enough juice in it to last till I do a major upgrade for an i7, windows 7 official release, new generation of cards upgrade, and a SSD for OS and games. That is my optimal plan.

But it was my birthday yesterday and the urge to upgrade my computer for my birthday present to myself is strong, so if I have to wait too long I might just have to go for a 260 and a phenom ii quad core.

Rumour has it that the 58xx series maybe launched on july/august . As for CPU, Intel's next gen sandy bridge (6 cores) will be launched during Q1 2010. Q3 2009 should see the release of dual core CPUs codenamed westmere utilizing 32nm process. Thus , right now is the best time to an i7 quad processor since it wont be replaced anytime soon .

 

[timetokill]

Hey guys,

I have roughly $1K (maybe a little less) to spend on a new computer after saving up for a bit. I got my current PC when Battlefield 2 came out :lol Athlon 64+, GeForce 7800 GTX, 2GB RAM... at the time it was pretty top of the line. Anyway, that was like 3 years ago! I figured it was time to upgrade.

I don't have tons of time to spend putting a PC together so I like to use some of the configurable ones online. I also don't have the most PC expertise ever, so I'd love to know what you think. I was thinking I'd get a motherboard that would allow for DDR3 RAM, but stick with 2GB for now since I'm intending to use XP until maybe Windows 7 officially releases? Or should I use Vista (or the Win7 beta?) I was thinking I'd get some more RAM when the price of DDR3 drops a bit.

Oh, last thing -- I plan to be using it for gaming as well as development -- meaning I use Photoshop CS4 and Maya and Max and so on. It was the main reason I was thinking of going with a quad. I have concerns about the power supply, hopefully it's enough?

CAS: CoolerMaster Centurion 590 RC-590 Mid-Tower 420W Case
CS_FAN: Default case fans
POWER: WIN-500XSPX APEVIA 500W JAVA Power Supply
CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® CoreT 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz 1333FSB 12MB L2 Cache 64-bit
FAN: INTEL LGA775 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
MOTHERBOARD: GigaByte GA-EP45T-UD3P Intel P45 Express CrossFireX Chipset LGA775 FSB1600 DDR3/1600 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio
MEMORY: 2GB (1GBx2) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260 CORE 216 896MB 16X PCI Express (Should I get the GTX 280 with 1GB for $60 more?)
HDD: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
CD: LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers note: only getting these because they're like $10. I have much better speakers already :lol
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse I already have a mouse, but this one is basically free with the computer. anybody have it?
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer
UPS: OPTI-UPS SS1200 AVR Voltage Stabilizer
OS: NONE - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

PRICE: $889.00


Oh, and for final reference, here's the monitor I use for both PC and console gaming: http://www.amazon.com/HP-L2335-display-silver-carbon/dp/B0001MVKO2

Any thoughts? Did I make some really bad choices? I really appreciate the help!

 

[adg1034]

Hey guys,

I have roughly $1K (maybe a little less) to spend on a new computer after saving up for a bit. I got my current PC when Battlefield 2 came out :lol Athlon 64+, GeForce 7800 GTX, 2GB RAM... at the time it was pretty top of the line. Anyway, that was like 3 years ago! I figured it was time to upgrade.

I don't have tons of time to spend putting a PC together so I like to use some of the configurable ones online. I also don't have the most PC expertise ever, so I'd love to know what you think. I was thinking I'd get a motherboard that would allow for DDR3 RAM, but stick with 2GB for now since I'm intending to use XP until maybe Windows 7 officially releases? Or should I use Vista (or the Win7 beta?) I was thinking I'd get some more RAM when the price of DDR3 drops a bit.

Oh, last thing -- I plan to be using it for gaming as well as development -- meaning I use Photoshop CS4 and Maya and Max and so on. It was the main reason I was thinking of going with a quad. I have concerns about the power supply, hopefully it's enough?

CAS: CoolerMaster Centurion 590 RC-590 Mid-Tower 420W Case
CS_FAN: Default case fans
POWER: WIN-500XSPX APEVIA 500W JAVA Power Supply
CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® CoreT 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz 1333FSB 12MB L2 Cache 64-bit
FAN: INTEL LGA775 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
MOTHERBOARD: GigaByte GA-EP45T-UD3P Intel P45 Express CrossFireX Chipset LGA775 FSB1600 DDR3/1600 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio
MEMORY: 2GB (1GBx2) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260 CORE 216 896MB 16X PCI Express (Should I get the GTX 280 with 1GB for $60 more?)
HDD: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
CD: LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers note: only getting these because they're like $10. I have much better speakers already :lol
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse I already have a mouse, but this one is basically free with the computer. anybody have it?
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer
UPS: OPTI-UPS SS1200 AVR Voltage Stabilizer
OS: NONE - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

PRICE: $889.00


Oh, and for final reference, here's the monitor I use for both PC and console gaming: http://www.amazon.com/HP-L2335-display-silver-carbon/dp/B0001MVKO2

Any thoughts? Did I make some really bad choices? I really appreciate the help!

I think it looks pretty good. Very good, actually. I would see about calling the company and specifically requesting that they not ship the things you don't need, i.e. the monstrous speaker set and the mouse: save on shipping, save on clutter. One thing to note on the OS front, though- you can't run an upgrade install from XP to Windows 7. If you decide to run XP, Win7 will only let you do a clean install, whether that's in the form of a complete reformat or installing it on an empty secondary drive.

As for the video card, just about everybody who has one says that the GTX 260 can run just about everything on the market at great framerates, even at 1920x1080 (even Crysis, though you'd have to turn down some of the texture and AA settings... but it still looks great). I think you could safely keep the 260 for now, and put the extra $80 you were thinking about towards another hard drive (assuming you're willing to spend it). $80 would get you a Hitachi 1TB drive. Think about it.

Also, when you're ready to move to Win7, by all means, add in an extra 2 or 4GB of RAM. That's probably the most important upgrade you can make, since it'll have a huge impact on your overall system performance.

Anyway, hope that helps, and good luck.

 

[brain_stew]

Thanks everyone for the feedback really appreciate it, brain_stew especially for making one for me.

Just quickly would anyone be willing to make an Intel equivalent to the computer brain_stew suggested?

Like I say, I tried to put together a core i7 build, but just couldn't do it within your budget. Socket 775 is a dead end platform so, its pointless going that route.

Edit: Scratch that, I've managed it:

Intel Core i7 920 Processor LGA1366 2.66GHz 8MB Cache CPU
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 X58+ICH10R QPI 6.4GT/s DDR3 2000
Geil 6G(3x2G) DDR3 1333 PC10666 CL9
Samsung 1TB SATA II 7200RPM 32M
Sapphire HD4890 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E
Acer X233H 23inch Wide 16:9 Full HD LCD Monitor Black
Pioneer DVR-217BK SATA 20x Dual Black OEM
Antec Three Hundred Tower Gaming Case- Black NO PSU
Corsair HX-620 ATX Power Supply 120mm fan Dual PCI-E Graphics Card Connector 8 SATA Connectors

Its only really the case that's been downgraded, i think this would be worth the extra $300.

Hey guys,

I have roughly $1K (maybe a little less) to spend on a new computer after saving up for a bit. I got my current PC when Battlefield 2 came out :lol Athlon 64+, GeForce 7800 GTX, 2GB RAM... at the time it was pretty top of the line. Anyway, that was like 3 years ago! I figured it was time to upgrade.

I don't have tons of time to spend putting a PC together so I like to use some of the configurable ones online. I also don't have the most PC expertise ever, so I'd love to know what you think. I was thinking I'd get a motherboard that would allow for DDR3 RAM, but stick with 2GB for now since I'm intending to use XP until maybe Windows 7 officially releases? Or should I use Vista (or the Win7 beta?) I was thinking I'd get some more RAM when the price of DDR3 drops a bit.

Oh, last thing -- I plan to be using it for gaming as well as development -- meaning I use Photoshop CS4 and Maya and Max and so on. It was the main reason I was thinking of going with a quad. I have concerns about the power supply, hopefully it's enough?

CAS: CoolerMaster Centurion 590 RC-590 Mid-Tower 420W Case
CS_FAN: Default case fans
POWER: WIN-500XSPX APEVIA 500W JAVA Power Supply
CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® CoreT 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz 1333FSB 12MB L2 Cache 64-bit
FAN: INTEL LGA775 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
MOTHERBOARD: GigaByte GA-EP45T-UD3P Intel P45 Express CrossFireX Chipset LGA775 FSB1600 DDR3/1600 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio
MEMORY: 2GB (1GBx2) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260 CORE 216 896MB 16X PCI Express (Should I get the GTX 280 with 1GB for $60 more?)
HDD: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
CD: LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers note: only getting these because they're like $10. I have much better speakers already :lol
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse I already have a mouse, but this one is basically free with the computer. anybody have it?
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer
UPS: OPTI-UPS SS1200 AVR Voltage Stabilizer
OS: NONE - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

PRICE: $889.00


Oh, and for final reference, here's the monitor I use for both PC and console gaming: http://www.amazon.com/HP-L2335-display-silver-carbon/dp/B0001MVKO2

Any thoughts? Did I make some really bad choices? I really appreciate the help!

You'd be better off with a Phenom ii 940 build if you ask me. Similar performance but some upgrade options in the future.

If you do go with this build, then just get a bog standard DDR2 P45 motherbaord and 4GB of DDR2. DDR3 offers no performance advantage on a socket 775 build and since you have no upgrade options on the platform AND you'd want triple channel RAM if you did upgrade the motherboard its pretty much useless in the future as well. 2GB RAM doesn't cut it anymore either. I'd look at adding a more reliable PSU as well.

 

[timetokill]

I think it looks pretty good. Very good, actually. I would see about calling the company and specifically requesting that they not ship the things you don't need, i.e. the monstrous speaker set and the mouse: save on shipping, save on clutter. One thing to note on the OS front, though- you can't run an upgrade install from XP to Windows 7. If you decide to run XP, Win7 will only let you do a clean install, whether that's in the form of a complete reformat or installing it on an empty secondary drive.

As for the video card, just about everybody who has one says that the GTX 260 can run just about everything on the market at great framerates, even at 1920x1080 (even Crysis, though you'd have to turn down some of the texture and AA settings... but it still looks great). I think you could safely keep the 260 for now, and put the extra $80 you were thinking about towards another hard drive (assuming you're willing to spend it). $80 would get you a Hitachi 1TB drive. Think about it.

Also, when you're ready to move to Win7, by all means, add in an extra 2 or 4GB of RAM. That's probably the most important upgrade you can make, since it'll have a huge impact on your overall system performance.

Anyway, hope that helps, and good luck.

Oh, I should have mentioned, the place assembling it is driving distance for me. I've ordered with them before and just picked it up in person, saving shipping costs!

The 1TB drive looks pretty great... I'm thinking that I might get that when I'm ready to move to Win7 (I'm hoping a few more things become compatible first...) and then I'll just install Win7 on a clean 1TB drive As far as RAM, with the build I posted maybe the DDR2 at 4GB is a better option? I'm going to say the same thing to brain_stew, but I thought that a XP machine couldn't even really deal with 4GB RAM (because the 4GB limit also applies to video memory, etc.?)

You'd be better off with a Phenom ii 940 build if you ask me. Similar performance but some upgrade options in the future.

If you do go with this build, then just get a bog standard DDR2 P45 motherbaord and 4GB of DDR2. DDR3 offers no performance advantage on a socket 775 build and since you have no upgrade options on the platform AND you'd want triple channel RAM if you did upgrade the motherboard its pretty much useless in the future as well. 2GB RAM doesn't cut it anymore either. I'd look at adding a more reliable PSU as well.

I don't know much about the AMD boards these days, but looking around now, they look pretty good for their price. Your comments on upgrade options are really important to me... my current rig is really not upgradeable to current standards which is why I'm pretty much getting an entirely new system (since I'd have to anyway). Personally I was trying to make sure I could get DDR3 RAM so that I'd have some to use when I upgrade to something like a Core i7 or something in the future, but if it's not going to be used in the meantime then obviously that doesn't make sense. What upgrade features in particular are you talking about?

If I went with a AMD Phenom™II X4 945 Quad-Core CPU, would it be able to use DDR3 RAM for now so that I could switch the ram to a new system easily?

Also... can a system use both DDR3 and DDR2 ram simultaneously? In other words, could I get 2GB DDR3 and 1-2 GB DDR2 and have it work effectively, so that I could upgrade to 8GB DDR3 when I get Win7 and the price comes down on DDR3 a bit? I'm also trying to get a motherboard now that will work with both the system I'm building now and a higher-end CPU down the line.

And as far as 4GB of RAM go, if I'm sticking with XP for now, isn't that a bit of a waste? I thought XP couldn't handle 4GB of RAM really efficiently.

I'll post a new setup soon, I'm currently doing a little more research into the AMD stuff now. Thanks so much for answering my questions!

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

I'm starting to have a problem with my PC. All of a sudden my video cards are running pretty hot. I had an old version of speedfan it said it was 50-60C but now with the new speedfan it's says 80-85C when I'm just doing stuff on my desktop and last day or two since upgrading to windows 7 it crashes a minute or so into playing a game. Is there a reason they are running to hot or do I have to try and fit another fan into my cramped case or how can I fix this?

 

[bogg]

I'm starting to have a problem with my PC. All of a sudden my video cards are running pretty hot. I had an old version of speedfan it said it was 50-60C but now with the new speedfan it's says 80-85C when I'm just doing stuff on my desktop and last day or two since upgrading to windows 7 it crashes a minute or so into playing a game. Is there a reason they are running to hot or do I have to try and fit another fan into my cramped case or how can I fix this?

What video card are you using? Do you have an option of manually controlling it's fan?

 

[Gully State]

I'm starting to have a problem with my PC. All of a sudden my video cards are running pretty hot. I had an old version of speedfan it said it was 50-60C but now with the new speedfan it's says 80-85C when I'm just doing stuff on my desktop and last day or two since upgrading to windows 7 it crashes a minute or so into playing a game. Is there a reason they are running to hot or do I have to try and fit another fan into my cramped case or how can I fix this?

Sounds like a heat issue or your fan RPM changed. IE, when I reinstalled catalyst, my videocard defaulted back to 20% fan speed (I had it previously set to 50%). I would first go through and do a thorough cleaning of your case and all the fans/heatsinks including the ones on your GPU. And yes a dusty case can affect your temperatures that dramatically.

 

[brain_stew]

Oh, I should have mentioned, the place assembling it is driving distance for me. I've ordered with them before and just picked it up in person, saving shipping costs!

The 1TB drive looks pretty great... I'm thinking that I might get that when I'm ready to move to Win7 (I'm hoping a few more things become compatible first...) and then I'll just install Win7 on a clean 1TB drive As far as RAM, with the build I posted maybe the DDR2 at 4GB is a better option? I'm going to say the same thing to brain_stew, but I thought that a XP machine couldn't even really deal with 4GB RAM (because the 4GB limit also applies to video memory, etc.?)





I don't know much about the AMD boards these days, but looking around now, they look pretty good for their price. Your comments on upgrade options are really important to me... my current rig is really not upgradeable to current standards which is why I'm pretty much getting an entirely new system (since I'd have to anyway). Personally I was trying to make sure I could get DDR3 RAM so that I'd have some to use when I upgrade to something like a Core i7 or something in the future, but if it's not going to be used in the meantime then obviously that doesn't make sense. What upgrade features in particular are you talking about?

If I went with a AMD Phenom™II X4 945 Quad-Core CPU, would it be able to use DDR3 RAM for now so that I could switch the ram to a new system easily?

Also... can a system use both DDR3 and DDR2 ram simultaneously? In other words, could I get 2GB DDR3 and 1-2 GB DDR2 and have it work effectively, so that I could upgrade to 8GB DDR3 when I get Win7 and the price comes down on DDR3 a bit? I'm also trying to get a motherboard now that will work with both the system I'm building now and a higher-end CPU down the line.

And as far as 4GB of RAM go, if I'm sticking with XP for now, isn't that a bit of a waste? I thought XP couldn't handle 4GB of RAM really efficiently.

I'll post a new setup soon, I'm currently doing a little more research into the AMD stuff now. Thanks so much for answering my questions!

If you get an AM3 board with DDR3 support then you're really sorted in terms of upgrade options. AMD's new generation of CPUs will run on the platform, you'll have plenty of future options compared to basically none with socket 775. As always, if you can afford a core i7 rig, then by all means go that route, but if not AM2+/AM3 is a better place to be than socket 775, and this is coming from someone using a socket 775 board at that.

DDR3 Phenom iis are dual channel, so you'll want two RAM sticks, by going with 2x1GB you're really restricting your upgrade options and more than that, damaging real world performance in the short term. XP will use between 3-3.5GB of your RAM and even that is a huge stepup from 2GB which just doesn't cut it these days. 4GB of excellent DDR3 memory can be ahd for as little as $60 so why cutback here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231180

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227287

Are great options.

The AM3 X4 945 is excellent value if you ask me as is the x3 720.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Sounds like a heat issue or your fan RPM changed. IE, when I reinstalled catalyst, my videocard defaulted back to 20% fan speed (I had it previously set to 50%). I would first go through and do a thorough cleaning of your case and all the fans/heatsinks including the ones on your GPU. And yes a dusty case can affect your temperatures that dramatically.

I blew it out 2 months ago so it's not too dusty. I'm using two 8800GTs in SLI. Does Nvidia have an option to manually adjust the fan?

 

[Gully State]

I blew it out 2 months ago so it's not too dusty. I'm using two 8800GTs in SLI. Does Nvidia have an option to manually adjust the fan?

Did you take out your GPU and actually blow dust out of the GPU's HSF?

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Did you take out your GPU and actually blow dust out of the GPU's HSF?

Not specifically not but I take my time blowing it out. I can blow them out separately monday when I go to work though.

 

[Hazaro]

I blew it out 2 months ago so it's not too dusty. I'm using two 8800GTs in SLI. Does Nvidia have an option to manually adjust the fan?

Download Rivatuner and check the fan speed, I had my old 8800GT set to 60%, early revisions of the 8800GT cooler were defaulted to 20% PERIOD and were hitting 90C load ish for many.

 

[tahrikmili]

Just updated my mainboard from a Biostar TA690G to a Biostar TA780G-M2+ today (I hate upgrading mainboards..) and I'm really happy with it. In hindsight maybe I should've gone for an AMD 790 board but I really didn't want to spend extra. I got this for $66 and I'm very happy with it.

I'm currently running my Brisbane Athlon 64 X2 5400+ on it with a minor overclock to 214MHz FSB (3.0GHz). It steadies at around 42-43C in the BIOS (60-70% load AFAIK) and at 26-27C on desktop with Cool 'n Quiet enabled. I'm using the stock cooler. Are these temperatures fine?

I'll now be waiting for the Phenom II X3 720 to hit a <$100 price point so that I can order it.

Also, I used a tube of ancient Arctic Silver 3 I had lying around to install the CPU and HSF (I remembered to store it upside down) and it worked fine. But it finally ran out after years of glorious service so I need a new paste. What should I get? Arctic Silver 5? Arctic Ceramique? Something else?

 

[Hazaro]

Also, I used a tube of ancient Arctic Silver 3 I had lying around to install the CPU and HSF (I remembered to store it upside down) and it worked fine. But it finally ran out after years of glorious service so I need a new paste. What should I get? Arctic Silver 5? Arctic Ceramique? Something else?

ICD7 for the best or AS5 / Ceramqiue or MX-2 if you like, they are all about the same.

Temps are fine

 

[brain_stew]

I blew it out 2 months ago so it's not too dusty. I'm using two 8800GTs in SLI. Does Nvidia have an option to manually adjust the fan?

Riva Tuner. You can also use it to monitor temperatures accross multiple GPU components.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Download Rivatuner and check the fan speed, I had my old 8800GT set to 60%, early revisions of the 8800GT cooler were defaulted to 20% PERIOD and were hitting 90C load ish for many.

Setting it to 60% it yields low to mid 60C idling... What is a good idling temp for two in SLI?

 

[brain_stew]

Setting it to 60% it yields low to mid 60C idling... What is a good idling temp for two in SLI?

Idle temperatures don't really tell you all that much, they're nothing more than an indicator of how hot they may get under load. The actual figure itself is pretty useless.

Just run Crysis Vantage or Furmark with Rivatuner monitoring the GPU temperature in the background and see what you peak at.

 

[Soule]

Like I say, I tried to put together a core i7 build, but just couldn't do it within your budget. Socket 775 is a dead end platform so, its pointless going that route.

Edit: Scratch that, I've managed it:

Intel Core i7 920 Processor LGA1366 2.66GHz 8MB Cache CPU
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 X58+ICH10R QPI 6.4GT/s DDR3 2000
Geil 6G(3x2G) DDR3 1333 PC10666 CL9
Samsung 1TB SATA II 7200RPM 32M
Sapphire HD4890 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E
Acer X233H 23inch Wide 16:9 Full HD LCD Monitor Black
Pioneer DVR-217BK SATA 20x Dual Black OEM
Antec Three Hundred Tower Gaming Case- Black NO PSU
Corsair HX-620 ATX Power Supply 120mm fan Dual PCI-E Graphics Card Connector 8 SATA Connectors

Its only really the case that's been downgraded, i think this would be worth the extra $300.

Thanks so much brain_stew really appreciate your time. I've been chatting with my mates and I think this is what I'll ordering, can't wait it'll be a glorious step up from my current setup.

 

[MWS Natural]

Just updated my mainboard from a Biostar TA690G to a Biostar TA780G-M2+ today (I hate upgrading mainboards..) and I'm really happy with it. In hindsight maybe I should've gone for an AMD 790 board but I really didn't want to spend extra. I got this for $66 and I'm very happy with it.

I'm currently running my Brisbane Athlon 64 X2 5400+ on it with a minor overclock to 214MHz FSB (3.0GHz). It steadies at around 42-43C in the BIOS (60-70% load AFAIK) and at 26-27C on desktop with Cool 'n Quiet enabled. I'm using the stock cooler. Are these temperatures fine?

I'll now be waiting for the Phenom II X3 720 to hit a <$100 price point so that I can order it.

Also, I used a tube of ancient Arctic Silver 3 I had lying around to install the CPU and HSF (I remembered to store it upside down) and it worked fine. But it finally ran out after years of glorious service so I need a new paste. What should I get? Arctic Silver 5? Arctic Ceramique? Something else?

I have the BIOSTAR TA790GX XE and I was shocked that I am able to run Crysis and most games at 720p with onboard video only. Went through about 10 different games in Can you run it? and surprisingly I was able to play all of them. Going to be able to hold off until the new cards come out or I catch an amazing deal on a single GPU card.

 

[tahrikmili]

I have the BIOSTAR TA790GX XE and I was shocked that I am able to run Crysis and most games at 720p with onboard video only. Went through about 10 different games in Can you run it? and surprisingly I was able to play all of them. Going to be able to hold off until the new cards come out or I catch an amazing deal on a single GPU card.

Running Crysis 720p on an HD3300 sounds extremely unlikely? I am using a Powercolor Radeon HD3850 PCS with this board and it's giving me very good framerates but I think I'll sell it and lay low for a while, waiting for the HD5000 series to launch so I can grab a 4830 or something similar for very cheap.

Speaking of which, what's the CHEAPEST I can get a 4830 and/or a 4850 without mail-in rebates these days? 4770s are hard to find and already went up to $110 I wish I could find a $99 4770 in stock.

EDIT: I found a $99 4850 in stock: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770R

Even better. Ordering now. (Note: It's an Open Box Barebones item, you won't get any contents excep the card itself so beware.)

 

[Leonsito]

Uhmm... a box arrived...

A wild Noctua appears !

And a new PSU !

Holy fuck at this sexy beast.

 

[Hugbot]

So here's the deal! I've had the same computer(laptop) for going on 6 years and now I can't play the new games. But I love games! So naturally I'm gonna build myself a computer, and, having not built one since I was in high school, am completely lost. So here's what I'm looking at/have:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (Already own)
Motherboard: ECS P4M900T-M (This is a part I got as a gift, and am not above replacing it if needed)
Graphics: MSI N260GTX-T2D896 OC GeForce GTX 260 896MB - $180
Sound: ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels - $90
Memory: 4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1600[I will bump this up to 6GB if I get a Motherboard that can handle it] -$65-100
Optical Drive: LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray/HDDVD player//DVD Burner -$110
Hard Drive(s): 2x 500g SATAs, probably set up in Raid-1.(already own)

I still need a PSU and an enclosure, and have straight up no idea what I am looking at/for. I'm also looking for suggestions to beef it up a bit and still keep some semblance of a budget. I am looking to spend ~800 to finish it up, not including the monitor/speakers. I'm willing to go a bit over budget for quality, but not just for the sake of going over. It's ideally a setup to make games look pretty and run smoothly, and as a multimedia center for the bedroom(so a monitor I could hook a system into would be rad, as long as I didn't have to switch cables every time i switched from internet to the game. I know next to nothing about fancy monitors though, as I've used a laptop for 6 years).

For Clarity: The computer itself is the multimedia center. There would just also be a 360 in the bedroom if I didn't have to justify buying a TV to put in there.

 

[Sir Hamish]

had a couple of questions in regards to hardware and thought it better to stick them in here instead of creating a new thread

1. i was looking at getting an external HD. doesnt need to be a huge one, was thinking about this Western Digital one but i heard they were a bit crap http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136212#

2. also speaker systems. Any recomendations? i just need two speakers and a bass whoofer thingie ... was thinking about these http://www.ebuyer.com/product/94471.

 

[Minsc]

had a couple of questions in regards to hardware and thought it better to stick them in here instead of creating a new thread

1. i was looking at getting an external HD. doesnt need to be a huge one, was thinking about this Western Digital one but i heard they were a bit crap http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136212#

If it doesn't need to be really fast, I'd go with a passport over that, the 4(or 5?)00 GB passport has a much smaller footprint. I like not having all those dumb bricks and cables, the passport doesn't even use a power cable. I have a few of the passports, and just one of larger 2 TB drives to backup all my stuff to. I much prefer the passports. I've had a ten or so WD drives over the years, and only one went bad before I replaced it, so that's pretty good.

Otherwise I'd say just make sure it's one of the newer WD caviar ii green drives, those stay cooler, and I think usually come with a 3 year warranty.

 

[Sir Hamish]

If it doesn't need to be really fast, I'd go with a passport over that, the 4(or 5?)00 GB passport has a much smaller footprint. I like not having all those dumb bricks and cables, the passport doesn't even use a power cable. I have a few of the passports, and just one of larger 2 TB drives to backup all my stuff to. I much prefer the passports. I've had a ten or so WD drives over the years, and only one went bad before I replaced it, so that's pretty good.

Otherwise I'd say just make sure it's one of the newer WD caviar ii green drives, those stay cooler, and I think usually come with a 3 year warranty.

i liked the look of the passports but they are a lot more expensive for the same capacity. what do you use your external HD for? I mainly wanted one to keep files on for when i re-install the operating system.