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[Minsc]

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.

Yea, the passports are a little pricier, but if you catch them on sale, you can find them for pretty cheap. I think I got my 250GB passport for about $90 a few years ago, things were more expensive then, but it was a great buy at the time. I picked up a 500 GB passport from amazon not too long ago for a little over $100, which I use with my WD TV as a media drive.

The 2 TB drive I picked up for a little over $200 iirc, which I use mirrored as a 1TB partition, which stores all my OS backups (acronis), pictures, and game images with plenty of room to spare.

 

[inner-G]

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.

I have the 1.5TB of that HDD, and it's worked out great.

I use a Passport (in FAT32) for my PS3, and it's nice also. If you're going to tote it around a lot, go w/ the Passport, but if you keep it on one PC, get the 3.5" imo. More bang for the buck.

 

[brain_stew]

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.

It'll "run" as in the full visuals will indeed pop up on the screen, it sure as hell won't be playable though. A 4770 can be had for $100 and offers around 10 times the performance. No need to wait.

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.

You need DDR2 memory not DDR3. PC6400 from G-Skill or Corsair will do. 4GB or 8GB, your choice.

500GB drives are slow, go with 640GB ones. WD or Samsung F1s.

That board only has two Sata ports and no RAID support its also a piece of crap, so its not going to accomplish your plans. A Gigabyte P45-UD3P would be a good choice.

Pick up this as well and OC that quad to 3ghz. It'll manage it no bother with that board and any PC6400 RAM. Really simple to do and will give a very nice boost in performance.

This MSI GTX 260 (216) is both cheaper and pre overclocked, so yeah, switch them round.

Th Xonar is an excellent sound card, nothing wrong with that choice.

 

[Nabs]

the i7 920 is $200 @ microcenter (in store only) until the 21st. ($288 @ newegg)

i really need to build a new comp.

 

[TemplaerDude]

so what's the word on the nehalem processors? the gaming performance seems negligible to me, but if money is no object should i be all over these or should i stick to something a little older and cheaper.

 

[brain_stew]

so what's the word on the nehalem processors? the gaming performance seems negligible to me, but if money is no object should i be all over these or should i stick to something a little older and cheaper.

They're a huge step up from everything else on the market. If you've got the money for an i7 rig, that's what you build, its that simple.

The 920 is all you need though, clocks beatifully and still offers outstanding performance at stock, you don't really gain anything from buying one of the pricier models.

 

[TemplaerDude]

awesome! thank you for your response.

 

[timetokill]

Hey,

Going based off the feedback I got, I put together what is hopefully a better system Please let me know, and thanks! I put in a hopefully better power supply, but if the one listed here isn't good, let me know of a good cheap one.. I'm having a tough time finding info for them.

CAS: CoolerMaster Centurion 590 RC-590 Mid-Tower 420W Case
CS_FAN: Extra Case Cooling Fan
POWERSUPPLY: Sigma Shark SP-635W PSU - SLI Ready
CPU: AMD PhenomTII X4 945 Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
FAN: AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
MOTHERBOARD: MSI AMD 790GX-G65 AM3 DDR3 1666+ CrossFire Chipset Mainboard
MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260 CORE 216 896MB 16X PCI Express
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
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer

Price: $923.00

Once again, my plan is to use XP for now until I feel good about going to Win7 (mostly when enough software I need to use is 64-bit and stable) -- and then I'll get probably another 4GB of RAM or something.

If I can get the GTX280 for $60 more, should I get that instead? Or should I keep the 260 and just upgrade when I eventually go for the Core i7 or something similar?




Edit:

My friend is also looking at getting a new system and he'd like your input. His account is BigJB but he's not approved yet :lol So I'm posting his for him:

CASE: CoolerMaster Centurion 590 RC-590 Mid-Tower 420W Case
Extra Case Cooling Fan (2 x Fans)
POWER SUPPLY: Sigma Shark SP-635W PSU - SLI Ready
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366
COOLING FAN : Intel LGA1366 Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink
MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE X58 GA-EX58-UD3R 2 WAY CROSSFIRE/SLI DDR3
MEMORY: 6GB (2GBx3) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX280 1GB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

His main questions are about the motherboard and the CPU and if it's a good combo or not. Thanks!

 

[Minsc]

They're a huge step up from everything else on the market. If you've got the money for an i7 rig, that's what you build, its that simple.

The 920 is all you need though, clocks beatifully and still offers outstanding performance at stock, you don't really gain anything from buying one of the pricier models.

Shouldn't you be able to overclock a 965 higher than you can a 920? Or it doesn't really work like that.

 

[derder]

I ordered two OCZ Vertex 30GB SSDrives today for $238-$20 MIR-10% coupon= $194 shipped.

So If I plan on using the W7beta RC on them, can I just put them in RAID0, install W7 and just keep my current drive as data without any conflicts or reformatting?

Also, how should I store games? I play several different games on steam at a regular rate, requiring much more space than the drives have. How should I install it in such a way that allows me to boot some games from the "storage" drive, and the most frequent from the SSDs?

 

[bigmit3737]

It'll "run" as in the full visuals will indeed pop up on the screen, it sure as hell won't be playable though. A 4770 can be had for $100 and offers around 10 times the performance. No need to wait.





You need DDR2 memory not DDR3. PC6400 from G-Skill or Corsair will do. 4GB or 8GB, your choice.

500GB drives are slow, go with 640GB ones. WD or Samsung F1s.

That board only has two Sata ports and no RAID support its also a piece of crap, so its not going to accomplish your plans. A Gigabyte P45-UD3P would be a good choice.

Pick up this as well and OC that quad to 3ghz. It'll manage it no bother with that board and any PC6400 RAM. Really simple to do and will give a very nice boost in performance.

This MSI GTX 260 (216) is both cheaper and pre overclocked, so yeah, switch them round.

Th Xonar is an excellent sound card, nothing wrong with that choice.

Damn you know your stuff.
I already own that board.

I don't know if I should get a cheap duo that can overclock well, or get the Q6600 and then eventually upgrade to the best p45 when the prices drop.

Nevertheless I should get that Rosewill fan right?

 

[rohlfinator]

Shouldn't you be able to overclock a 965 higher than you can a 920? Or it doesn't really work like that.

In theory you should, but I think in real life the difference tends to be fairly minimal. Once you start increasing voltages, heat increases exponentially (IIRC), so on high overclocks you'll hit the thermal limit at about the same spot. Either way, the difference wouldn't be worth anywhere near ~$700 -- you'd be better off investing that money in better cooling in most cases.

Also, how should I store games? I play several different games on steam at a regular rate, requiring much more space than the drives have. How should I install it in such a way that allows me to boot some games from the "storage" drive, and the most frequent from the SSDs?

Last I heard, Steam only lets you keep your game folder on one drive, so you might be SOL. My roommate ran into that problem last fall, and I don't think they've changed it since then.

 

[brain_stew]

Damn you know your stuff.
I already own that board.

I don't know if I should get a cheap duo that can overclock well, or get the Q6600 and then eventually upgrade to the best p45 when the prices drop.

Nevertheless I should get that Rosewill fan right?

For $20 its a no brainer really, yeah, even if you're running at stock its nice to have. Its a rebrand of the Akasa fan I have in my rig, and it does a wonderful job.

I know you already own that motherboard, but its really bottom of the barrel I'm afraid to say, judging by the sort of rig you're wanting to put together it will likely hold you back. It probably won't clock for shit either. Two SATA ports is a pretty big hurdle, and I'm never going to be a fan of m-ATX boards when they're used for anything other than SFF PCs.

Oh, you don't have the Q6600 already? Hmm, that could change things, since you may be buying a new motherboard anyway, I'd suggest looking into the X3 720 which as many others will testify is just about the best bang for buck gaming CPU out there. (Obviously change your CPU cooler to the AM2+ version of that Rosewill if you do go this route).

The problem with socket 775 is that the current released CPUs are as good as you're going to get. On a budget a E5200 plus a healthy OC (which is what I use as it ahppens) can still make sense but them you might as well go for an X3 720 considering what you get for the small bump in price.

 

[Minsc]

I ordered two OCZ Vertex 30GB SSDrives today for $238-$20 MIR-10% coupon= $194 shipped.

So If I plan on using the W7beta RC on them, can I just put them in RAID0, install W7 and just keep my current drive as data without any conflicts or reformatting?

That's how it is supposed to work on paper anyway. One other person (forgot who) here has the Vertex working in Windows 7 right now, so it definitely works. RAID0 would be done by your motherboard, so hopefully you have no problems!

Be sure to check the firmware too, probably best to do before you go through the trouble of installing Windows 7 in case you have to wipe the drives to upgrade the firmware. The latest firmware for both OCZ & Intel fixes just about all the problems the two drives had.

Also, how should I store games? I play several different games on steam at a regular rate, requiring much more space than the drives have. How should I install it in such a way that allows me to boot some games from the "storage" drive, and the most frequent from the SSDs

With only 60 gigs you might be a little pressed for space, ideally Windows 7 + apps would eat up around 20 gigs, leaving you 40 or so.

It's an old frame of mind, but I can't help but to think you'd never really want the free space to drop below 10% or so, so you have ~30 gigs for your 3-4 most played games, which of course you can cycle through.

I believe you're SOL with Steam unfortunately, since it doesn't let you choose what games are stored where. All your steam games need to go on the same drive, so you probably can't use your SSDs with Steam at all, until larger, cheaper ones are out.

Edit: Just an idea, but maybe you can just keep multiple Steam directories, one on your larger drive with all your games installed, and then another with just 3 or 4, on the SSD. Since Steam doesn't actually need to be installed, you might be able to have it in multiple places to spread your games on to different drives.

 

[brain_stew]

Stuff

You're paying for a case that includes a PSU that you're not going to use, probably some money to be saved by buying a case with no PSU at all.

I can't say the GTX 280 is particularly good value. If you want something above and beyond a GTX 260 then the 4890 is the smart buyer's choice imo. Better bang for buck.

"Sigma Shark?" Not heard of that brand before, I'd do some research into their PSUs before going ahead with that, or just pick up a nice Seasonic, Corsair, PC power & Cooling or Thermaltake model instead.


Again 320GB, 640GB and 1TB HDDs are the ones to go for, due to the high platter density.

 

[MWS Natural]

It'll "run" as in the full visuals will indeed pop up on the screen, it sure as hell won't be playable though. A 4770 can be had for $100 and offers around 10 times the performance. No need to wait.

Hmm...seemed fine to me. I got around 20-25fps on medium settings, I guess being a console gamer it didn't bother me much. I have been looking seriously at the 4770 but was going to see how much the 1GB version would cost.

 

[brain_stew]

Hmm...seemed fine to me. I got around 20-25fps on medium settings, I guess being a console gamer it didn't bother me much. I have been looking seriously at the 4770 but was going to see how much the 1GB version would cost.

1GB is pointless, the card simply doesn't have the bandwidth to utilise the extra memory. If you want something above and beyond the 4770 then go with a GTX 260 (216). It actually has the bandwidth and raw horsepower to make use of more than 512MB of RAM.

Well, if you're impressed with what you get on integrated graphics, you're going to be stunned what even a cheap $100 card can do.

What resolution were you playing at btw? I've got to be honest, the latest generation of integrated graphics have actually impressed me somewhat, my housemate's Macbook with a 9400M is surprisingly capable. It seems bizarre that integrated graphics have almost caught upto the current consoles but I guess that's progress for you.

Hopefully Intel can get a cut down version of LRB integrated into their chipsets / CPU package, so that they can compete in the realm of integrated graphics. They're the only ones letting the side down really.

 

[Hazaro]

Hmm...seemed fine to me. I got around 20-25fps on medium settings, I guess being a console gamer it didn't bother me much. I have been looking seriously at the 4770 but was going to see how much the 1GB version would cost.

Get a 4830 as they are actually in stock and cheaper, or you can wait until the next batch of 4770's come out.

$70 AR + a game is fantastic
I mean, don't degrade yourself to sub 60 fps and medium, that's sad man :[

*The Shark PSU is fine, but see if you can't find any other substitute that's not much more expensive
**GTX 280 is not worth it imo

 

[Minsc]

At least the 4770 has a decent chance of playing Starcraft 2 at medium/high settings at 30+ fps. Do it for the zerg! All 800 of them!

 

[brain_stew]

Get a 4830 as they are actually in stock and cheaper, or you can wait until the next batch of 4770's come out.

$70 AR + a game is fantastic

Wow, they're that cheap now? That, that's just insane, PC gaming is so affordable right now. For anyone who has bought a PC in the last 2/3 years, it is going to be significantly cheaper than console gaming, and you'll get much better graphics thrown in for good measure. Add a $70 GPU to your 2GB dual core box and you're good to go, cheaper games and all.

ATI's recent resurgence sure has shook up the graphics market, its so consumer friendly right now, never a better time to jump in.

 

[Hazaro]

Wow, they're that cheap now? That, that's just insane, PC gaming is so affordable right now. For anyone who has bought a PC in the last 2/3 years, it is going to be significantly cheaper than console gaming, and you'll get much better graphics thrown in for good measure.

ATI's recent resurgence sure has shook up the graphics market, its so consumer friendly right now, never a better time to jump in.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127420

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw the 4830 lowered soon by a bit.

Too bad all the 4770's are pretty much out of stock, prices probably going to stay up there a bit.

 

[Gully State]

Wow, they're that cheap now? That, that's just insane, PC gaming is so affordable right now. For anyone who has bought a PC in the last 2/3 years, it is going to be significantly cheaper than console gaming, and you'll get much better graphics thrown in for good measure.

ATI's recent resurgence sure has shook up the graphics market, its so consumer friendly right now, never a better time to jump in.

I think developers going multiplatform with PS360PC has also contributed to PC gaming become a lot cheaper also since the 360 has the same architecture as a PC. Here's hoping MS doesn't catch on and start forcing developers to go console exclusive only.

 

[brain_stew]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127420

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw the 4830 lowered soon by a bit.

Too bad all the 4770's are pretty much out of stock, prices probably going to stay up there a bit.

I've heard rumblings about TMSC's 40nm process not being upto scratch, the lack of 4770 stock, doesn't do much to dampen them rumours. I hope the kinks are figured out quickly because both Nvidia and ATI are going to be relying upon it a hell of a lot by the end of the year.

 

[Hazaro]

Crazy good deal on a crazy good PSU

PCP&P 750w for $70 AR
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10005611

 

[MWS Natural]

1GB is pointless, the card simply doesn't have the bandwidth to utilise the extra memory. If you want something above and beyond the 4770 then go with a GTX 260 (216). It actually has the bandwidth and raw horsepower to make use of more than 512MB of RAM.

Well, if you're impressed with what you get on integrated graphics, you're going to be stunned what even a cheap $100 card can do.

What resolution were you playing at btw? I've got to be honest, the latest generation of integrated graphics have actually impressed me somewhat, my housemate's Macbook with a 9400M is surprisingly capable. It seems bizarre that integrated graphics have almost caught upto the current consoles but I guess that's progress for you.

Hopefully Intel can get a cut down version of LRB integrated into their chipsets / CPU package, so that they can compete in the realm of integrated graphics. They're the only ones letting the side down really.

Brain_stew delivers yet again, I did not realize this. I want to go Nvidia soooo badly but I can't because of my HDMI situation. Honestly I don't even know if I would be able to display have DVI out to my monitor and HDMI out to my Kuro. This is the only card I have seen DVI and HDMI out on.

I ordered two OCZ Vertex 30GB SSDrives today for $238-$20 MIR-10% coupon= $194 shipped.

So If I plan on using the W7beta RC on them, can I just put them in RAID0, install W7 and just keep my current drive as data without any conflicts or reformatting?

Also, how should I store games? I play several different games on steam at a regular rate, requiring much more space than the drives have. How should I install it in such a way that allows me to boot some games from the "storage" drive, and the most frequent from the SSDs?

I seen that deal earlier. Vertex drives are awesome from all of the reviews I have read. Hopefully the larger SSD's will be affordable the time Windows 7 releases.

 

[brain_stew]

Brain_stew delivers yet again, I did not realize this. I want to go Nvidia soooo badly but I can't because of my HDMI situation. Honestly I don't even know if I would be able to display have DVI out to my monitor and HDMI out to my Kuro. This is the only card I have seen DVI and HDMI out on.



I seen that deal earlier. Vertex drives are awesome from all of the reviews I have read. Hopefully the larger SSD's will be affordable the time Windows 7 releases.

Um, you do realise DVI and HDMI are electronically identical right? The only difference is HDMI can carry sound, but DVI can't. Nvidia cards include an internal wire that connects to your sound card so that you can get sound through the provided DVI-HDMI dongle.

ATI cards have an integrated 7.1 audio codec that can be accessed by using the included DVI-HDMI adapter. No need to restrict with native HDMI out, the adpater achieves the same end result.

Using HDMI to one display and DVI to another is a pretty standard setup tbh. What's your speaker situation?

You're hooking up to a Kuro, does that mean 1080p output then? If so, spending extra to get the GTX 260 makes a lot of sense, its a great 1080p card, I had a 4850 before (very similar performance to a 4770) and performance really started to drop off a cliff at 1080p, considering the 4770 is even more bandwidth starved, it just isn't designed for 1080p in my book. Having twice the RAM and about 2.5x the bandwidth can make a rather large difference.

 

[Sleeker]

I am installing the GTX 260, but I'm not sure what to do with the 6-pin PCI Express power connectors.

There are two sockets for them, allowing up to 4 connections to the PSU.
Is it necessary to use both or just one?

 

[MWS Natural]

Um, you do realise DVI and HDMI are electronically identical right? The only difference is HDMI can carry sound, but DVI can't. Nvidia cards include an internal wire that connects to your sound card so that you can get sound through the provided DVI-HDMI dongle.

ATI cards have an integrated 7.1 audio codec that can be accessed by using the included DVI-HDMI adapter. No need to restrict with native HDMI out, the adpater achieves the same end result.

Using HDMI to one display and DVI to another is a pretty standard setup tbh. What's your speaker situation?

You're hooking up to a Kuro, does that mean 1080p output then? If so, spending extra to get the GTX 260 makes a lot of sense, its a great 1080p card, I had a 4850 before (very similar performance to a 4770) and performance really started to drop off a cliff at 1080p, considering the 4770 is even more bandwidth starved, it just isn't designed for 1080p in my book. Having twice the RAM and about 2.5x the bandwidth can make a rather large difference.

I have my PC on my office desk which is about 25ft away from living room Kuro. I want DVI for the PC monitor and then HDMI carrying audio/video to my AVR to play through my surround sound setup which I have one cable from the AVR to the Kuro.

 

[timetokill]

Crazy good deal on a crazy good PSU

PCP&P 750w for $70 AR
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10005611

Awesome, I'm going to get that and skip on the sigma shark. They're both the same price after mail-in rebate, so nice

 

[timetokill]

Okay, so here's what I'm looking at for my final build. Any last suggestions? I'm feeling pretty good about it overall.

CAS: CoolerMaster Centurion 590 RC-590 Mid-Tower 420W Case, w/ 1 Extra Case Cooling Fan
POWERSUPPLY: PC Power and Cooling S75QB Silencer 750W Quad Power Supply
CPU: AMD PhenomTII X4 945 Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
FAN: AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
MOTHERBOARD: MSI AMD 790GX-G65 AM3 DDR3 1666+ CrossFire Chipset Mainboard
MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Dominator)
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260 CORE 216 896MB 16X PCI Express
HDD: 320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM


Thanks guys, I appreciate it a TON. I feel a lot better getting this advice.

 

[brain_stew]

I have my PC on my office desk which is about 25ft away from living room Kuro. I want DVI for the PC monitor and then HDMI carrying audio/video to my AVR to play through my surround sound setup which I have one cable from the AVR to the Kuro.

Right well, you're probably better off with an ATI card, you can then use its built in audio codec to send 5.1 LPCM to your receiver. Nvidia's solution wouldn't really work as you won't get multichannel audio ingame without something that supports DD Live and even then its far from the perfect solution.

So basically ATI is the way to go but you don't need a card with a native HDMI port, the included adapter will work just fine. If you're playing at 1080p then a 4870 1GB or 4890 1GB would be my recommendation. Something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150352

That's reference design so you know HDMI audio will be implemnted perfectly and $170 for a card with a lifetime warranty from a top brand like XFX is a pretty nice deal if you ask me.

However, for $30, this would be a very nice investment, again reference design so you're fine on the audio front:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161276

Awesome, I'm going to get that and skip on the sigma shark. They're both the same price after mail-in rebate, so nice

Very smart move, that thing is a beast and will last you many upgrade cycles.

Tri SLI GTX 280s would be more than possible on something like that. So yeah, its safe to say it'll manage anything you throw at it.

That's looking a pretty damn sexy build now timetokill, I'm sure you'll be thrilled with the performance. Be sure to post once you get it put together to let us know how well it fares.

In terms of games to really showcase the potential of that thing Crysis, Mirror's Edge, Empire: Total War and Lost Planet should give you a very nice visual feast.

 

[Hazaro]

So basically ATI is the way to go but you don't need a card with a native HDMI port, the included adapter will work just fine. If you're playing at 1080p then a 4870 1GB or 4890 1GB would be my recommendation. Something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150352

That's reference design so you know HDMI audio will be implemnted perfectly and $170 for a card with a lifetime warranty from a top brand like XFX is a pretty nice deal if you ask me.


Tri SLI GTX 280s would be more than possible on something like that. So yeah, its safe to say it'll manage anything you throw at it.

I'd personally go for the XFX card due to warranty and their company. Resale value is also better due to a double lifetime transferable warranty.

The PSU is good, but I wouldn't run 3 GTX 280's on it :lol

 

[brain_stew]

I'd personally go for the XFX card due to warranty and their company. Resale value is also better due to a double lifetime transferable warranty.

The PSU is good, but I wouldn't run 3 GTX 280's on it :lol

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/553/9

It can deliver 80% efficiency whilst drawing over 800w, so yeah, three GTX 280s is probably well within its capabilities, dual GTX 280s most certainly.

That thing costs over £110 here in the UK, you're paying just over a third of what we're expected to pay! Great deal.

 

[Gully State]

I got some advice about a week ago regarding the Arctic Cooler Accelero S1 Rev2 video card HSF and just wanted to post some results. Prior to getting the card, my stock Visiontek 4850 was idling at 55C @50% fan speed and under full load, it was peaking at 100C.

After installation of videocard cooler alone with no fan (I'm attaching a 120mm fan once I get the proper ties)

Idle

Load

The card peaked at around 55C.

While I'm thoroughly impressed with the cooler, I can't help but wonder what a shoddy job ATI (or visiontek) did with the default cooling system.

 

[brain_stew]

That's just insane for a passive cooler, tried running Furmark to see if it still keeps cool whilst getting the most major of workouts? If it stays under 80C during that I don't see any reason to even add a fan, just enjoy the silence.

 

[Sleeker]

I am installing the GTX 260, but I'm not sure what to do with the 6-pin PCI Express power connectors.

There are two sockets for them, allowing up to 4 connections to the PSU.
Is it necessary to use both or just one?

quick!

 

[Gully State]

That's just insane for a passive cooler, tried running Furmark to see if it still keeps cool whilst getting the most major of workouts? If it stays under 80C during that I don't see any reason to even add a fan, just enjoy the silence.

does furmark run with vista 64? The website only gives xp/vista 32 as options.

 

[brain_stew]

does furmark run with vista 64? The website only gives xp/vista 32 as options.

Yes ofcourse.

 

[brain_stew]

quick!

Yes you need to occupy both slots, ideally with 6 pin connectors ran directly from your PSU. You might get away with using dual molex to 6pin for one slot but if your PSU doesn't have a single PCIe 6 pin cable then its very unlikely that its going to handle a GTX 260.

Those adapters are only a last resort really.

 

[MWS Natural]

Right well, you're probably better off with an ATI card, you can then use its built in audio codec to send 5.1 LPCM to your receiver. Nvidia's solution wouldn't really work as you won't get multichannel audio ingame without something that supports DD Live and even then its far from the perfect solution.

So basically ATI is the way to go but you don't need a card with a native HDMI port, the included adapter will work just fine. If you're playing at 1080p then a 4870 1GB or 4890 1GB would be my recommendation. Something like this:

I'd personally go for the XFX card due to warranty and their company. Resale value is also better due to a double lifetime transferable warranty.

The PSU is good, but I wouldn't run 3 GTX 280's on it :lol

Ok so all I would need would be one DVI cable going to the monitor and one DVI to HDMI cable running to the Kuro correct?

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Do you guys think it's worth me getting a BRD drive for watching movies on my 22" monitor?

 

[brain_stew]

Ok so all I would need would be one DVI cable going to the monitor and one DVI to HDMI cable running to the Kuro correct?

Not quite. You'd want one DVI to the monitor, then a HDMI cable from the included adapter to the receiver. Its important you use the adapter and not a DVI-HDMI cable or you won't get HDMI audio.

 

[brain_stew]

Do you guys think it's worth me getting a BRD drive for watching movies on my 22" monitor?

Is it 1080p? Blu rays and HD-DVDs look unbelievably good on my 23" 1080p screen and the price of the drives has really tumbled lately. If you're buying a new drive anyway, you might as well get one that is BD capable.

 

[Gully State]

Yes ofcourse.

What type of test should I run with furmark? Straight up benchmark or stability?

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Is it 1080p? Blu rays and HD-DVDs look unbelievably good on my 23" 1080p screen and the price of the drives has really tumbled lately. If you're buying a new drive anyway, you might as well get one that is BD capable.

1080p, yes. I think I can get a BRD drive for ~$150AUD or so.

 

[Gully State]

Furmark Stability Test...Performance is horrible but the temperature is definitely low...

 

[timetokill]

Thanks again guys, got my order The rig listed above for about $900 after tax Feeling pretty good about it.

 

[MWS Natural]

Not quite. You'd want one DVI to the monitor, then a HDMI cable from the included adapter to the receiver. Its important you use the adapter and not a DVI-HDMI cable or you won't get HDMI audio.

lol...so confused now. I guess I will see when I get the card. I just need to know what additional cables I had to buy because I need a 30ft cable to run to the Kuro.

 

[brain_stew]

lol...so confused now. I guess I will see when I get the card. I just need to know what additional cables I had to buy because I need a 30ft cable to run to the Kuro.

30ft HDMI, normal sized DVI.

Oh, and Furmark is suppose to give you crappy performance, that's kind of the point.

 

[Hazaro]

I got some advice about a week ago regarding the Arctic Cooler Accelero S1 Rev2 video card HSF and just wanted to post some results. Prior to getting the card, my stock Visiontek 4850 was idling at 55C @50% fan speed and under full load, it was peaking at 100C.

After installation of videocard cooler alone with no fan (I'm attaching a 120mm fan once I get the proper ties)

The card peaked at around 55C.

While I'm thoroughly impressed with the cooler, I can't help but wonder what a shoddy job ATI (or visiontek) did with the default cooling system.

Hands down best cooler

lol...so confused now. I guess I will see when I get the card. I just need to know what additional cables I had to buy because I need a 30ft cable to run to the Kuro.

Instead of a DVI to HDMI cable you want to use the adapter and an HDMI cable I believe.