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Official "I need a new PC!!" 2009 Edition

A

AndyD

aka andydumi
Hows this for a new rig?

One monitor at 1920x1080 only. Some gaming, some video encoding, otherwise standard home use. I dont need latest and greatest, but I want it to last a couple years and be upgradeable if possible.

$270 combo - AMD Phenom II X4 940 + Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P mobo
$240 combo - Antec EA650 650w PSU + EVGA Geforce GTX 260
$112.50 combo - WD caviar black 640gb 32mb cache HD + ocz fatal1ty 4GB ram

All from Newegg. Have a case, DVD drive... the above is all I need new.


Also, a second question, I am combining two older PCs into one.

I will keep one as a media server in the closet/garage, the other parts I will give to a friend. I am looking for best speed/performance. Which do you guys think would work best to host files internally in the house and stream video to a PS3 and other house PCs, laptops? I guess it may need to do encoding of some videos for the PS3.

One is a P4 3ghz with a couple gb of ram and built in video card. The other is a AMD64 3200 with a couple gb of ram and an ati x850xt. I guess I can combine them into 4 gb of ram in the one I keep.

It will likely live in the garage with a monitor just for the times I want to play some music while I work on stuff in there. Otherwise it will just be a basic server I remote desktop into.

Should I run vista or xp on the server? Right now I use the AMD64 with vista and it works great at all the media serving tasks the server will perform.
 
X

xxjuicesxx

Member
I just used my friends G5 and saw the speed button changes and decided I need this mouse, Should I go with the G5 or the G9 whats the major differences, have you used both? which one do you like better, can I get a good deal anywhere?

I appreciate any response quickly, about to purchase.
 
C

Crazymoogle

Member
xxjuicesxx said:
I just used my friends G5 and saw the speed button changes and decided I need this mouse, Should I go with the G5 or the G9 whats the major differences, have you used both? which one do you like better, can I get a good deal anywhere?

I appreciate any response quickly, about to purchase.
Click to expand...

I use the G5 exclusively. Love it. The G9x chassis scares me a little in terms of how comfortable it might be, so all I can say is that the G5 has a proven, comfortable fit and it often retails for half the price of the G9x.

Buy it.
 
X

xxjuicesxx

Member
Crazymoogle said:
I use the G5 exclusively. Love it. The G9x chassis scares me a little in terms of how comfortable it might be, so all I can say is that the G5 has a proven, comfortable fit and it often retails for half the price of the G9x.

Buy it.
Click to expand...

Im going to buy one in the next couple minutes. I really just would like to hear from someone who has tried both and a personal experience of whats better and why...

Otherwise yea Ill just buy the g6 at 45 bucks on amazon.
 
C

Crazymoogle

Member
xxjuicesxx said:
Im going to buy one in the next couple minutes. I really just would like to hear from someone who has tried both and a personal experience of whats better and why...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I haven't tried the G9x. I know Maximum PC bagged on the first version, but loves the second, and that the sculpt has me super-doubtful about the whole thing, but little counts until you try it out. I just see that CDN retail is $100 for the G9x versus usually 50-60 for the G5, and my mind is made up for me. ;)
 
D

DeadTrees

Member
AndyD said:
Also, a second question, I am combining two older PCs into one.

I will keep one as a media server in the closet/garage, the other parts I will give to a friend. I am looking for best speed/performance. Which do you guys think would work best to host files internally in the house and stream video to a PS3 and other house PCs, laptops? I guess it may need to do encoding of some videos for the PS3.

One is a P4 3ghz with a couple gb of ram and built in video card. The other is a AMD64 3200 with a couple gb of ram and an ati x850xt.
Click to expand...
Assuming that heat and power consumption don't matter to you, and assuming that the AMD processor is single-core, the P4 would be the better choice.
 
D

dazzgc

Banned
guys, i want to OC my 285 gtx but in rivatuner under the "driver settings" (where ive always OC'd my nvidia cards from) it says "no supported drivers detected for this display driver"


any ideas? or any alternate ways i can OC my card?
 
B

BigJonsson

Member
brain_stew said:
You should be fine, my PSU (even though its rated at 520w) has two 15a 12V rails and it handles a heavily overclocked GTX 260 (216), 3.5ghz E5200, 4 RAM sticks, 3 fans, 2 HDDs and a BD drive just fine.
Click to expand...


Cool

I should just reuse the PSU, Case, old hard drive + new hard drive, DVD burner, floppy drive and replace the mobo, ram, CPU and video card......

That would save a good chunk of change
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
TheExodu5 said:
The main reason I'm considering the Enermax right now is because it's the only one suitable for an SLI setup. I'd go with it...I'm just not sure what those periphal ports are used for, and it has 4 less.

edit: are peripheral connectors the ones used for IDE drives? If so, I'm guessing 6x is more than enough. What else might I need them for?

edit2: specification wise, the advantage of the Enermax is it has better efficiency (88% max as opposed to 84% max). The advantage of the Corsair is that it's rated at 50C instead of 40C for the Enermax.
Click to expand...

The Corsair's suited pretty well for SLI, it's got plenty of juice for most cards, you can get closer 750W out of it according to this, and there's this thread where someone hooked up a 8800 GTX SLI to it. I guess you're right though, if you're going to SLI very demanding cards, it may not cut it. Hmmm.

There's always the 1000W HX, but that's probably overkill, and unnecessarily expensive. You're other option may be better after all :)
 
B

brain_stew

Member
dazzgc said:
guys, i want to OC my 285 gtx but in rivatuner under the "driver settings" (where ive always OC'd my nvidia cards from) it says "no supported drivers detected for this display driver"


any ideas? or any alternate ways i can OC my card?
Click to expand...

Try EVGA Precision Tool instead.


BigJonsson said:
Cool

I should just reuse the PSU, Case, old hard drive + new hard drive, DVD burner, floppy drive and replace the mobo, ram, CPU and video card......

That would save a good chunk of change
Click to expand...

HDD speeds have moved on a great deal in recent years. Adding a 640GB WD drive may not be a bad move.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
dazzgc said:
is it worth looking into SSD yet?
Click to expand...
It is if you have the cash. I'm still waiting though.

Also I bought the Samsung monitor.
You know you have the upgrade bug bad when you impulse buy monitors over the internet. :lol
 
B

brain_stew

Member
Hazaro said:
It is if you have the cash. I'm still waiting though.

Also I bought the Samsung monitor.
You know you have the upgrade bug bad when you impulse buy monitors over the internet. :lol
Click to expand...

Haha, nice. :lol :lol

Welcome to the 1080p fold, its better here.
 
M

MWS Natural

Member
Hazaro said:
It is if you have the cash. I'm still waiting though.

Also I bought the Samsung monitor.
You know you have the upgrade bug bad when you impulse buy monitors over the internet. :lol
Click to expand...
:lol Good job! It's really a awesome deal! That's why I check slickdeals and Ben's Bargains everyday.

I'm currently looking for a comfortable table that I can do some living room gaming on when I choose to. I am using a fold out table I use when eating currently but it is a bit too high and uncomfortable. I need something wide that can fit a mouse + keyboard that's adjustable so I don't have to lean forward when using it on the couch.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
MWS when I look at what you've just managed to get for less than $400 it really boggles the mind. If you were buying a 1080p monitor and a GPU to power it just one year ago, it'd be impossible to do it for under $1000. yet you've managed it comfortably under $400!! Enjoy and be sure to post back your impressions!

At least the recession is good for something. :lol
 
B

BigJonsson

Member
brain_stew said:
Try EVGA Precision Tool instead.




HDD speeds have moved on a great deal in recent years. Adding a 640GB WD drive may not be a bad move.
Click to expand...


Definitely getting a new HDD as I only have 200 gigs right now..........reusing the case, PSU, DVD drive saves 150ish dollars
 
B

brain_stew

Member
BigJonsson said:
Definitely getting a new HDD as I only have 200 gigs right now..........reusing the case, PSU, DVD drive saves 150ish dollars
Click to expand...

Sounds good, have a look at the Samsung F1 1TB drives, I'm a huge fan, very quick and very cheap.

Novatech have got some awesome deals for UK GAFers, they're just about my favourite PC etailer atm, service is excellent as is pricing.

090522_15.jpg
090522_18.jpg
090522_16.jpg
090522_12.jpg

090522_24.jpg
090522_13.jpg
090522_19.jpg


http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/home.html

I thought getting a GTX 260 for £150 a month ago was a bargain, you can get a 4890 for just an extra £10 now! :lol

£240 for a 4870X2, ridiculous.

Some of these are for this weekend only, so be quick.

Edit: XFX 4830 for £69 delivered. Damn, that's a heck of a deal for someone on a budget, its the perfect 720p gaming card.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
brain_stew said:
Haha, nice. :lol :lol

Welcome to the 1080p fold, its better here.
Click to expand...
I wanted 1920x1200, since I have been on 1600x1200 prior and I like the extra space, but at least my GTX 260 doesn't have to work as hard (Giving me about 10% more FPS) and my 360/PS3 will look better with it than my 1680x1050 monitor.

Shame the Samsung doesn't have HDMI or speakers
 
L

lowlylowlycook

Member
brain_stew said:
Sounds good, have a look at the Samsung F1 1TB drives, I'm a huge fan, very quick and very cheap.

Novatech have got some awesome deals for UK GAFers, they're just about my favourite PC etailer atm, service is excellent as is pricing.
Click to expand...

What are their house brand GPUs, etc. like? Obviously they are just rebranded from some other manufacturer but do they have a good reputation overall?
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
lowlylowlycook said:
What are their house brand GPUs, etc. like? Obviously they are just rebranded from some other manufacturer but do they have a good reputation overall?
Click to expand...
All reference cards are produced from the same place or two. Other than that a cooler or sticker makes the difference along with warranties and bundles.

As for the fact that theirs COULD be returns with a different sticker I have no idea :lol
 
B

brain_stew

Member
lowlylowlycook said:
What are their house brand GPUs, etc. like? Obviously they are just rebranded from some other manufacturer but do they have a good reputation overall?
Click to expand...

I've bought one and it was fine, got a Palit branded card, and I think Palit supply most of the Novatech branded cards. Palit and Gainward are the same company and Gainward's reputation is top notch, so nothing to worry about really.

Everything I've ordered from them has came next day with the free delivery option, can't ask for more than that really. The prices on some of those card are crazy.
 
L

lowlylowlycook

Member
Hazaro said:
All reference cards are produced from the same place or two. Other than that a cooler or sticker makes the difference along with warranties and bundles.

As for the fact that theirs COULD be returns with a different sticker I have no idea :lol
Click to expand...

Would you buy a Novatech power supply? Or would that be pushing it?
 
D

dazzgc

Banned
just got a sick boost from OCing my 285, gta4 stays at 60fps most of the time now :D


warhead also rarely drops under 40fps now, unless shit gets reaaaallyyy messy
 
bee

bee

Member
amusing to see the q9550 still at £200 even now, got a brand new E0 stepping one at the start of last december for £160
 
B

brain_stew

Member
bee said:
amusing to see the q9550 still at £200 even now, got a brand new E0 stepping one at the start of last december for £160
Click to expand...

Well its pretty much the one and only significant and reasonably price CPU upgrade for folks on socket 775, so the demand for it is remaining high. I wish it would fall to where its performance actually places it, as without that it means I'll have to jump ship to a new socket if I want to upgrade my CPU.
 
C

Chris R

Member
MWS Natural said:
Amazing deal over at Dell for a Samsung 23inch 1080p monitor for $153. I have it in my cart right now deciding if I should pull the trigger or wait on the 27inch LG... Ugh! I can't decide! Anyone think the extra 4inches is worth the $200 more? 23inches just seems so small =/ Surfing the internet on the Kuro isn't the most comfortable thing in the world so I don't want to be doing this for any long period of time lol.
Click to expand...
Wish I would have seen this, but the shipping would probably kill it for me (shipping to Alaska is always stupid expensive). Instead I went out and got the next in line of the LG 23" models (W2361VG) from Bestbuy (had 200$ in gift cards there). So far its working out nice. Going to reformat my PC over the weekend and try some TF2 at 1920x1080 :D Only thing that stinks about this monitor was the lack of included DVI cable so I'm still using VGA, and the fact that there is basically NO documentation in the box.
 
M

MWS Natural

Member
Metalic Sand said:
Is there some sort of coupon because mine says $179.99 when i click to see the special sale price.
Click to expand...


Sorry I missed this post. Apply coupon code P1$6CFNN71F29L for 15% off, making it $152.

brain_stew said:
MWS when I look at what you've just managed to get for less than $400 it really boggles the mind. If you were buying a 1080p monitor and a GPU to power it just one year ago, it'd be impossible to do it for under $1000. yet you've managed it comfortably under $400!! Enjoy and be sure to post back your impressions!

At least the recession is good for something. :lol
Click to expand...


I know $350 After rebate! The recession is awesome as long as you have a job :D
 
A

AndyD

aka andydumi
Hazaro said:
It is if you have the cash. I'm still waiting though.

Also I bought the Samsung monitor.
You know you have the upgrade bug bad when you impulse buy monitors over the internet. :lol
Click to expand...
LOL, my above new rig questions will also run on this monitor. It came in the mail this morning. I feel like I cheated someone, its beautiful and dirt cheap.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
AndyD said:
How would one of those be vs a 260 with 896 mb?
Click to expand...

At 1080p? Not great, it just doesn't have the bandwidth to make use of much of that extra memory.

A GTX 260 (216) or 4890 1GB are the two GPUs you should be deciding between.


dionysus said:
4850 is about the same as a 8800GT right?
Click to expand...

No, its a good ~30% or so leap above. I've used both and the 4850 really pulls ahead when you're using AA.
 
T

TouchMyBox

Member
Okay, I figured I would turn here to see if anyone knows what the hell is happening with my computer. Windows Vista x64 for some reason LOOOOVES to constantly use my HDD, even when i've disabled all the services which use the HDD like superfetch. Now, not only is this annoying, but I figure it contributes to slowly taking over my entire hard drive with crap. A month ago, windows was reporting 500GB free on my 750GB HDD, now all i've installed since was CoD:WaW, and now it reports 390GB free. So can I tell windows that I don't want it putting shit on my HDD, or do I just install windows 7 (which is something I really don't want to do until the release version comes out) and see if that is any better?

Here is a screencap of it in my defrag, memes and all.

Untitled-1.jpg
 
A

AndyD

aka andydumi
TouchMyBox said:
Okay, I figured I would turn here to see if anyone knows what the hell is happening with my computer. Windows Vista x64 for some reason LOOOOVES to constantly use my HDD, even when i've disabled all the services which use the HDD like superfetch. Now, not only is this annoying, but I figure it contributes to slowly taking over my entire hard drive with crap. A month ago, windows was reporting 500GB free on my 750GB HDD, now all i've installed since was CoD:WaW, and now it reports 390GB free. So can I tell windows that I don't want it putting shit on my HDD, or do I just install windows 7 (which is something I really don't want to do until the release version comes out) and see if that is any better?

Here is a screencap of it in my defrag, memes and all.

giant picture.jpg
Click to expand...

Hmm, black boxes, never seen those on my Vista install. Run a good drive analyzer and see if the drive is maybe dying. Also a good ccleaner run will clear up junk and temp files.
 
D

Darklord

Banned
I have a problem with my new PC. It doesn't seem to pick up my external HDD. I tried it on another PC and it worked but it seems the new only can only pick it up 2/3 times. I've tried 3 USB ports and none work tonight. I really need some info off it too. What the hells going on? :(

Edit: Finally started to work. I still want to find out why it doesn't half the time. :|
 
B

bishopcruz

Member
Ok, there are some sick deals on a MSI P35 Neo-F motherboard. Does anyone know anything about this one? It's pretty barebones, but I have heard decent things about the line, and and am working on a pretty tight budget.

Also, I read somewhere that the Radeon HD 4770 is better than the 4850? Is that in any way true?

Edit: Also, what would be better a HD 4870 w/ 512 or a 4850 w/ 1GB? The 4870 is about $30 more.
 
T

TouchMyBox

Member
bishopcruz said:
Also, I read somewhere that the Radeon HD 4770 is better than the 4850? Is that in any way true?
Click to expand...

The 4770's MSRP is lower than the 4850, yet the 4770 can be easily overclocked to outperform a stock 4850 and still consume less power than a 4850.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
brain_stew said:
The Corsair can handle dual video card just fine. You'd have to use the molex adapter supplied with your cards but its not a huge issue, though the Enermax does have a more elegant solution.

I'd recommend the Corsair simply because I know of many gamers that are very ahppy with it, though I doubt you'd be disappointed with either one.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I went with the Enermax. Something about that gunmetal finish was just too sexy to pass up. :D It also has incredible efficiency.

edit: also, I got it for $30 less than the Corsair, so it was a pretty easy decision.
 
G

Grayman

Member
Darklord said:
I have a problem with my new PC. It doesn't seem to pick up my external HDD. I tried it on another PC and it worked but it seems the new only can only pick it up 2/3 times. I've tried 3 USB ports and none work tonight. I really need some info off it too. What the hells going on? :(

Edit: Finally started to work. I still want to find out why it doesn't half the time. :|
Click to expand...
That happened with one I borrowed except i haven't been able to get it to recognize again on anything.
 
M

Metalic Sand

who is Emo-Beas?
TouchMyBox said:
The 4770's MSRP is lower than the 4850, yet the 4770 can be easily overclocked to outperform a stock 4850 and still consume less power than a 4850.
Click to expand...

Wouldnt a crossfire 4850 1GB (2GB crossfired) outperform at higher res though?
 
B

bishopcruz

Member
It was done via an edit, but again just wondering whether a 1GB 4850 or a 512 4870 would be best.

Also, where is the cheapest place to get a copy of Vista online?
 
G

Grayman

Member
bishopcruz said:
It was done via an edit, but again just wondering whether a 1GB 4850 or a 512 4870 would be best.

Also, where is the cheapest place to get a copy of Vista online?
Click to expand...
Why not use windows 7 for free?
 
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