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[Yazus]

It's also very possible that one of the next generation of cards will have the 4890's performance (or better) in the 4850's size, so by the time you're ready to upgrade, that might be an option. You'll never be able to use the biggest and baddest card in that case, though -- that's just one of the tradeoffs you'll have to make with a smaller case.

Thank you

I read on the Cooler Master site in the product page that this case hold up 3 80mm fans and 2 120mm fans. Is worth buying 3 80mm Artic Cooling fans and 2 120mm Enermax Blue Led fans? Is the PC going to be noisy as a tornado? I head Yate Loon fans are quiet but sadly I cant find them anywhere

(In any case, the fans doesnt cost much so adding/removing them doesnt make much difference on the total cost)

 

[TheExodu5]

80mms may be noisy, but you should be alright with the 120mms alone. If one of the 80mm goes above the videocard, then you may want to put one as well. The better you cool your video card, the lower you can turn your video card's fan down. The video card fan is the loudest component in a computer. The second loudest would be the CPU cooler.

Generally, the bigger the fan, the more airflow it produces and the slower it needs to spin, so big fans produce less noise. Video card fans are really loud because they're unbelievably small.

 

[bigmit3737]

80mms may be noisy, but you should be alright with the 120mms alone. If one of the 80mm goes above the videocard, then you may want to put one as well. The better you cool your video card, the lower you can turn your video card's fan down. The video card fan is the loudest component in a computer. The second loudest would be the CPU cooler.

Generally, the bigger the fan, the more airflow it produces and the slower it needs to spin, so big fans produce less noise. Video card fans are really loud because they're unbelievably small.

Ahhh. I was wondering why the hell my new computer was a lot quieter and the fans were spinning a lot slower. Old one had 80mm; new ones have 120 mms.

 

[Yazus]

80mms may be noisy, but you should be alright with the 120mms alone. If one of the 80mm goes above the videocard, then you may want to put one as well. The better you cool your video card, the lower you can turn your video card's fan down. The video card fan is the loudest component in a computer. The second loudest would be the CPU cooler.

Generally, the bigger the fan, the more airflow it produces and the slower it needs to spin, so big fans produce less noise. Video card fans are really loud because they're unbelievably small.

Thank you for your clean explanation

Since yes, two of the 80mm fans are next to the Video Card I'm getting only two of 'em to cool the video card as much as possible. Getting also two 120mm fans (one of em is also near the video card IIRC, the case is so small!)

Also I'm getting a Scyte Shuriken as a CPU cooler since its small

 

[BravoSuperStar]

Not sure if it's been posted but AMD/ATI released the catalyst 9.7 driver yesterday:

http://ati.amd.com/products/catalyst/index.html

I believe these are WHQL certified. Just installed them myself, haven't got a chance to try any games.

 

[FromTheFuture]

Not sure if it's been posted but AMD/ATI released the catalyst 9.7 driver yesterday:

http://ati.amd.com/products/catalyst/index.html

I believe these are WHQL certified. Just installed them myself, haven't got a chance to try any games.

OH WOW.. Thanks a lot for pointing this out. I'm getting significant increase in performance increase in a few games I've just tried (Prince of Persia, Anno 1404). I need to see how Crysis Warhead plays... reporting back in a second.

edit. Ok, yeah, why couldn't this come out before i finished all these games?

PoP with +20-25 fps
Crysis Warhead at +10-15 fps

<3 this driver

 

[Firestorm]

Maybe RE5 isn't broken now.

 

[Dynamic3]

I'd be wanting a proper full ATX motherboard if I'm investing that much. Have a look at this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358

or this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128371

Obviously check at a Hackintosh forum to see how compatability with those particular boards is in OSX.

Yeah that's the one I added to my updated build a few posts before yours. Thanks.

 

[Epix]

Got a GTX260 but can't get video through DVI. It works when i boot into safe mode though. Currently I have a a VGA-DVI adapter on the DVI port coming out of the card and it's working with a VGA cable. Driver issue?

 

[brain_stew]

Not sure if it's been posted but AMD/ATI released the catalyst 9.7 driver yesterday:

http://ati.amd.com/products/catalyst/index.html

I believe these are WHQL certified. Just installed them myself, haven't got a chance to try any games.

Nvidia just released a new batch of WHQL drivers the other day as well but they bugger up game profiles, so stay away for now.

I can't be doing without my Nhancer profiles.

 

[brain_stew]

Got a GTX260 but can't get video through DVI. It works when i boot into safe mode though. Currently I have a a VGA-DVI adapter on the DVI port coming out of the card and it's working with a VGA cable. Driver issue?

Try the other port? Try another cable? Try a different monitor? Try a different resolution?

Boot into Windows with the VGA cable attached then setup the second port for a dual monitor output? Switch from VGA to DVI once in Windows?

 

[Xdrive05]

Got a GTX260 but can't get video through DVI. It works when i boot into safe mode though. Currently I have a a VGA-DVI adapter on the DVI port coming out of the card and it's working with a VGA cable. Driver issue?

Be sure you download and install the latest Nvidia drivers for you card/OS pairing. Right now it's up to 190.38 I believe. There have some odd issues with certain aspects of their drivers past 182.50 by some accounts it seems, so if you can't get the 190s to work, try those.

 

[Epix]

Try the other port? Try another cable? Try a different monitor? Try a different resolution?

Boot into Windows with the VGA cable attached then setup the second port for a dual monitor output? Switch from VGA to DVI once in Windows?

I see video over DVI all the way until the Windows login screen appears. Then I get "No Signal" but i can hear the Windows Login chime. Booting in safe mode allowed me to install the drivers off the CD but same thing when the login screen comes up. Switched to VGA and it works fine. Resolution is 1900x1200.

 

[SarBear]

I'm looking for a pretty good boost in performance in my rig. I'm wondering what to invest in so hopefully I can get some feedback.


My config:

Q6600 at 2.4 (is it difficult to overclock?)
4 gigs of 800mhz ram
500 gig HDD
GeForce 8800GTX 768mb
Gigabyte GA P35 DS4 2.0 motherboard


probably a better graphics card, eh?

 

[Zeona]

I see video over DVI all the way until the Windows login screen appears. Then I get "No Signal" but i can hear the Windows Login chime. Booting in safe mode allowed me to install the drivers off the CD but same thing when the login screen comes up. Switched to VGA and it works fine. Resolution is 1900x1200.

sounds like a resolution issue. try 800x600 or 1024x768 and check if you get a picture. then you can check if its a problem with the settings in the driver causing your monitor not to accept the signal at a higher resolution.

 

[Crazymoogle]

I'm looking for a pretty good boost in performance in my rig. I'm wondering what to invest in so hopefully I can get some feedback.


My config:

Q6600 at 2.4 (is it difficult to overclock?)
4 gigs of 800mhz ram
500 gig HDD
GeForce 8800GTX 768mb
Gigabyte GA P35 DS4 2.0 motherboard


probably a better graphics card, eh?

Q6600 might be easy to overclock depending on the board. Otherwise, videocard for improved gaming performance, or an SSD for general windows performance.

 

[SarBear]

Q6600 might be easy to overclock depending on the board. Otherwise, videocard for improved gaming performance, or an SSD for general windows performance.

Well, I've seen a few tutorials based on my exact board and processor, just I'm too chicken to try it out.

What card would you recommend?

 

[mug]

I've decided to finally build a new PC. After settling on the tiny form factor on a budget price.

Lian Li PC-Q7 - ITX
The only ITX boards out there with upgrade capabilities: Zotac 9300 ITX Wifi
Intel E5200
4GB Corsair DDR2
320GB WD
Modular PSU

I'll post pictures after I receive all the parts, should be ready in a few weeks.

 

[Viewtiful Joe]

I have a nice laptop... is an HP dv5-1002nr, very good specs:

16" Monitor
AMD Turion X2
ATI 3200 HD
320 GB
Integrated webcam and mic
3GB of RAM

And a friend wants to buy the laptop... he is giving me $500.

Now, I want to buy a Desktop PC. I miss the big monitor! I really don't take the laptop out of the house, so portability is not an issue. Besides, I'm going to buy a Zune HD, and it will be enough for music, videos and internet on the go.

So, I saw this Dell PC at Wal-Mart. I really don't want to buy the separated parts, because if I sell my laptop (probably tomorrow) I will need the PC almost immediatly.

Is an $800 PC, with a beautiful 24" monitor.

Here are the specs:

AMD Phenom 64 X3 Triple-Core 8450 processor
24" S2409W Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor
8GB Shared Memory SDRAM at 800MHz
640GB Hard Drive
ATI Radeon® HD 3200 integrated graphics
DVD /-RW Drive to Read and Write DVDs
19-in-1 Media card Reader
56K PCI Data Fax Modem
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet to connect to high speed broadband internet
Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio
24" Widescreen Monitor
Windows 7 Upgrade

I will be replacing the DVD drive for an LG Bluray drive that I saw the otherday. What do you think about the specs? The only thing that don't convince me is the graphics card, but I usually play on consoles, and just ocasionally on my PC.

Is the system good for the price? Here is the link.

 

[FishSquared]

Viewtful, It's a Dell.

Don't. Do. It.

 

[Viewtiful Joe]

Viewtful, It's a Dell.

Don't. Do. It.

I have never owned a Dell computer to be honest... are the parts very low quality?

 

[Zyzyxxz]

I have never owned a Dell computer to be honest... are the parts very low quality?

they use to pride themselves in customer support but now you need to pay for that great support.

The parts are typically low end, low quality if you buy their bottom-line products, remember you get what you pay for.

I would recommend a Lenovo above a Dell as they have American customer support and better build quality

 

[Viewtiful Joe]

Thanks for the responses. I will check other options then.

I really liked the monitor. 24" is huge, and it has HDMI, so I could play some of my systems directly in the monitor (which is $350), but I guess I should look for other options first.

 

[BravoSuperStar]

I have never owned a Dell computer to be honest... are the parts very low quality?

I would advise against buying that computer.

If you must buy pre-built look at quality locally owned PC shops, you'll get better parts for less money if it's a reputable place.

I really liked the monitor. 24" is huge, and it has HDMI, so I could play some of my systems directly in the monitor (which is $350), but I guess I should look for other options first.

The monitor is not bad at all actually, but you can always buy it stand-alone for way less than $350.

 

[Firestorm]

Considering the monitor is on sale for $230 in Canada right now (where our prices are generally higher), I wouldn't say it's worth $350. Can your friend not wait a few days as you get the parts to make a computer? Seems like an awful lot of cash to blow.

 

[Viewtiful Joe]

Well... I will talk with him tonight. I just started checking Newegg, and I will try to build my own PC.

I'm currently reading the previous comments in this thread, and some of you guys has very nice systems.

 

[Ice Monkey]

i saw a dell desktop at microcenter with an i7 going for i think $700 or $750, sounded like a good deal to me

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

anyone have any issues with the 190 Nvidia drivers?

 

[Ice Monkey]

anyone have any issues with the 190 Nvidia drivers?

nope, except that i have a l246wp and have to manually edit the install configs to make the screen look right, but thats for every driver release

 

[IceMarker]

anyone have any issues with the 190 Nvidia drivers?

None, in fact, While I was on the 180 drivers for some reason the RE5 benchmark program would be a black screen if I had AA on, but ever since I updated RE5 runs fine with AA.

 

[KingJ2002]

interested in getting a new macbook pro


should i get a 15 or 17?

should i wait until the fall? i dont want to be stuck with a core 2 duo if they might roll out new processors for their lineup.

how easy (or cheap) is it to upgrade a macbook?

 

[Chiggs]

OH WOW.. Thanks a lot for pointing this out. I'm getting significant increase in performance increase in a few games I've just tried (Prince of Persia, Anno 1404). I need to see how Crysis Warhead plays... reporting back in a second.

edit. Ok, yeah, why couldn't this come out before i finished all these games?

PoP with +20-25 fps
Crysis Warhead at +10-15 fps

<3 this driver

Oh shit. Grabbing these now.

 

[Firestorm]

Anyone tried out this monitor? Thoughts? I expect to be able to grab it for ~$225. Samsung 23" P2350

interested in getting a new macbook pro


should i get a 15 or 17?

should i wait until the fall? i dont want to be stuck with a core 2 duo if they might roll out new processors for their lineup.

how easy (or cheap) is it to upgrade a macbook?

Will you be using it on your desk only or will you be taking it with you to class or wherever you need? If you will be moving it, go with the 15" one. You can replace the HDD and RAM with regular laptop HDDs and RAM. Do not use their expensive upgrades for those two parts. Nothing else can be upgraded.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

i saw a dell desktop at microcenter with an i7 going for i think $700 or $750, sounded like a good deal to me

I got one at Dell.com for $570.

with a 4850.

not THAT was a deal. and the machine has performed wonderfully.

only addition was 6GB of additional ram, giving me a total of 9GB.

<3 the extra ram. everything opens with blazing speed.

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

Just ordered my new motherboard from newegg.

Finished installation!

Everything went smooth.

Removing old motherboard:

Taking off Cooler Master V10:

Setting up new motherboard:

4890 installed:

Lights:

 

[brain_stew]

I'm looking for a pretty good boost in performance in my rig. I'm wondering what to invest in so hopefully I can get some feedback.


My config:

Q6600 at 2.4 (is it difficult to overclock?)
4 gigs of 800mhz ram
500 gig HDD
GeForce 8800GTX 768mb
Gigabyte GA P35 DS4 2.0 motherboard


probably a better graphics card, eh?

The Q6600 is one of the best clockers around. 3ghz should be a piece of cake and many have got as much as 3.6ghz. Your motherboard is a proven clocker as well. I'd recommend picking up this to aid your OCing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004

And then, pick up this GPU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121311

or perhaps, this if you want to stick with Nvidia:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150387

anyone have any issues with the 190 Nvidia drivers?

Game specific profiles are completely buggered. Makes them worthless for me.

stuff

Its pretty fucking terrible really, processer is trash, no dedicated GPU, the only high point is the included monitor. You really ought to look into building your own PC, you could demolish that spec for the money. Have real, useful upgradable parts, a superfast quadcore, and a top of the line GPU and nice 23" 1080p monitor all in for $800.

Heck, the case is tiny with no way to add a standard ATX PSU or full size GPU, which means you're SOL if you want any meaningful upgrades, to get it to play games or do anything else. Basically, stay far away.

If you must buy a Dell, then look at their outlet store, some decent bargains there.

 

[ZoddGutts]

Maybe RE5 isn't broken now.

It actually ran worse for me. :lol

All Max with Motion on 9.6 catalyst:

All Max with Motion on 9.7 catalyst:

Same framerate for area 3 but worse for other areas. :lol

Dammit ATI fix this shit.

 

[Mr. Spinnington]

Thanks again, does this look better:

CPU: Intel Q9550 Quad 2.83GHz $219.99
MB/PSU: Gigabyte 775/OCZ 750W $209.98 - $30 MIR - $20 MIR = $159.98
GPU: EVGA GTX 275 896MB $239.99 - $20 MIR = $219.99
RAM: OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 $45.99 - $10 MIR = $35.99
Case: Antec Three Hundred $59.99
HD: WD Black 640GB $74.99
CD: Samsung 22x $26.99

Total = $877.92 - $80 MIR = $797.92

With the netbook + RAM, keyboard, and monitor I am looking at 1366.89. What is the best way to value my MacBook Pro aside from watching eBay?

Edit: updated to reflect CD drive from below.

I plan to get a GTX 275 and hope for the best =P
http://www.insanelymac.com has great resources

I'm sure the 275 will be easily installable sometime in the future.

really interested to hear what sort of success these builds have in the coming weeks as my pc has been delayed by a month or so

 

[Psychotext]

Anyone got an idea of what's coming in the world of graphics cards / when? I've recently started using my PC with my TV and I've realised that I need a little more grunt for 1920 x 1080.

Possibly not looking at getting one of the new cards when they come out (unless they're particularly special), but they usually herald significant price drops on the existing top end cards.

 

[brain_stew]

Anyone got an idea of what's coming in the world of graphics cards / when? I've recently started using my PC with my TV and I've realised that I need a little more grunt for 1920 x 1080.

Possibly not looking at getting one of the new cards when they come out (unless they're particularly special), but they usually herald significant price drops on the existing top end cards.

ATI's DX11 cards should be out by the end of the year, Nvidia's plans are littme more unclear.

Still, you can get a 4870 1GB for $150 with a double lifetime warranty and two free games and it'll lap up 1080p no problem, don't really see any reason to wait. The 4870 1GB was around $350 less than a year ago.

 

[Psychotext]

4870s are good then?

 

[brain_stew]

4870s are good then?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150394

Absolutely, you'll even get a steady 30fps from Crysis at 1080p with one with better than very high settings if you use a custom config. Its rougly 30-35% or so slower than the fastest single GPU card money can buy atm, so its pretty damn high end despite its traditionally low end pricetag.

Multiplatform games should generally run 1080p/60fps no bother with max settings and some aa/af providing you have a half decent (or OCed low end) dual core and 2GB+ RAM.

If you've a $200 budget then this thing is a tank:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121311

 

[Psychotext]

Thanks. I'll keep it in mind.

 

[brain_stew]

For those that aren't bothered about being on the absolute bleeding edge but want great performance and a really quiet and cool running card for peanuts, HIS' excellent ICEQ4 4850 can be had for as little as $80 after rebate, now. That's some serious bang for buck right there, probably the single best GPU deal around atm imo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161244

A 4850 will give the vast majority of gamers more than enough performance for their needs, its an excellent card for anyone playing at 1680x1050 or below.

 

[MWS Natural]

A good friend of mine wants me to build him a quiet PC that can stream/transode HD movie files, he isn't interested in games at all. I should be able to get by with a PIIx4, 790GX mobo and no video card for that right?

 

[brain_stew]

A good friend of mine wants me to build him a quiet PC that can stream/transode HD movie files, he isn't interested in games at all. I should be able to get by with a PIIx4, 790GX mobo and no video card for that right?

Absolutely, the integrated GPU in the 790GX chipset fully supports hardware decoding if you're using a codec that supports DVXA. Its the chipset of choice for HTPC enthusiasts, decent boards should have HDMI out with full audio support as well.

Probably don't need such a high end CPU either, depends on how much encoding he's doing realy.

Edit: Come to think of it, if he wants something small I'd look into Zotac's ITX board with an integrated 9300 and wifi. Tech report used it in their swiss army knife PC, heck the case they used may be a pretty nice fit, its pretty cheap and comes with a nice PSU as well. Its still got a PCIe x16 slot so he can make it game capable in the future if he ever wants to, and it'll support an Intel Quad or cheap as chips Pentium dual core, just fine.

 

[K.Jack]

It actually ran worse for me. :lol

All Max with Motion on 9.6 catalyst:

All Max with Motion on 9.7 catalyst:

Same framerate for area 3 but worse for other areas. :lol

Dammit ATI fix this shit.

And with this, I again must wonder whether recommending ATi cards to the masses is the wisest decision.

 

[ZoddGutts]

I've gotten good benchmarks for Capcoms previous Frameworks engine games DMC4 and SF4 All Max settings but here for RE5 in area 3 it really gets screwed up. Seems like something is up code wise for that area that affects ATI cards. Other than that I've been satisfied with my 4870 Toxic edtion card, I get solid low 30 fps on Crysis Warhead everything maxed.

 

[brain_stew]

I've gotten good benchmarks for Capcoms previous Frameworks engine games DMC4 and SF4 All Max settings but here for RE5 in area 3 it really gets screwed up. Seems like something is up code wise for that area that affects ATI cards. Other than that I've been satisfied with my 4870 Toxic edtion card, I get solid low 30 fps on Crysis Warhead everything maxed.

It only happens if you're using DX10 mode and aa, knock off the aa or use DX9 mode and you should be fine. Its clearly a bug in the benchmark and now that its well reported before the game's release, I'm sure it'll be fixed up before the game actualy hits.

 

[Epix]

I see video over DVI all the way until the Windows login screen appears. Then I get "No Signal" but i can hear the Windows Login chime. Booting in safe mode allowed me to install the drivers off the CD but same thing when the login screen comes up. Switched to VGA and it works fine. Resolution is 1900x1200.

Quick followup:

I got the video to come through the DVI but under the video card settings i can only go to a max of 1024x768 resolution (my screen is native 1920x1200). I can get 1920x1200 to show up as an option when i move back over to VGA. Any ideas?