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

brain_stew said:
Does any of the helpful PC GAF regulars want free DD copies of Mirror's Edge, Dead Space and Mercenaries 2? One guy has to get the whole bunch (they're tied to the same account, but haven't been downloaded onto any computer yet, I already own them and got them for free, so any takers? Since UK GAFer's can currently buy them for like £3.75 each, I'd prefer it to be someone from outside the UK, as if you're not willing to pay £3.75 for something as awesome as Mirror's Edge you don't deserve my generosity!! :lol :lol

I don't know if I'm regular enough but I'd take Dead Space if it's ok.
 
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
I don't know if I'm regular enough but I'd take Dead Space if it's ok.

You are, but they've all got to go as a set, ideally to someone that doesn't own any of them on PC yet. Does that apply to you?
 

Firestorm

Member
seantos said:
I just ordered a new pc last week from NCIX and I am eagerly awaiting the delivery (which might be another week or two depending on how long it takes to get the radeon 5850 in stock again).

Here is a list of the parts:
Antec CP-850
Intel Core i7 860
Crucial Ballistix 4GB 2X2GB PC3-10600 DDR3-1333 CL6-6-6-20
Intel X25-M 80GB 2.5IN SSD
Gigabyte P55-UD4P ATX LGA1156 P55 Motherboard
XFX Radeon HD 5850
LG 22X SATA DVD Writer
Noctua NH-U12P
Noctua NF-P12-1300 120MM Fan (x5)
Antec P183
PC Assembly and Testing

Total (before tax in CDN) ~$1663

I could have cut some costs on the fans and heatsink, but my last computer sounded like a jet engine and I was eager to avoid that this time while still providing adequate cooling. I was actually really impressed with NCIX and their price matching policy. When I first ordered the best price i could find for the intel ssd was $303 on newegg, but the very next day I found it for $255 thanks to the redflagdeals forums from some website based out of Ontario. I sent in a ticket requesting to price match it and they did so with out question.

Also, as a note for anyone else ordering an SSD for their system, I completely forgot that they are 2.5" drives and you will need a mounting bracket if you want to mount them in your 3.5" or 5.25" drive bays in your case.

I also have an obutto gaming chair on the way, so once I get everything setup I will post some pictures and impressions of everything.
NCIX online vs retail is like night and day.
 
Hey guys,

I have an older system that I'd like to upgrade. I currently have 2 512MB 8800gt PCI-E cards (XFX running in SLI) and would like to know what is the next card (or cards) you'd recommend. Nvidia or ATI, it doesn't really matter.

My specs:

Processor Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600(2.40GHz)
Processor Main Features 64 bit Quad-Core Processor
Cache Per Processor 2 x 4MB L2 Cache
Memory 3GB DDR2 800
Hard Drive 500GB SATA
Optical Drive 1 20X DL DVD+/-RW Drive
Optical Drive 2 16X DVD-ROM
Graphics 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512MB Video Card - running SLI Mode
Audio Realtek ALC883 6-channel CODEC
Ethernet Built-in GB Ethernet LAN
Power Supply 850 Quattro
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium
Motherboard Name ASUS P5N-E SLI Mainboard
CPU Type Core 2 Quad
CPU FSB 1066MHz
CPU Speed Q6600(2.40GHz)
L2 Cache Per CPU 2 x 4MB
CPU Main Features 64 bit Quad-Core Processor
Graphics Interface PCI Express x16

Thanks in advance!
 
Guys,

I basically want to upgrade my comp, so i can play borderlands in all its glory. So it looks and plays amazing.

I found out my computer its

HP Media Center m8530f desktop

which has some good stuff in it, but the video card suuuucks. Geforce 9300GE

I thought sweet, maybe I could get that new ATI radeon 5850 card.

Looks like my power supply sucks too, so id have to upgrade that.

My computer is running a tad bit slow because I have one hard drive and its filled about 95 percent. I want to get a 1tb drive and do a fresh install on the other of vista 64bit.

I'm estimating to upgrade

-power supply (thermal take 750w) $109
-vid card (radeon 5850) $259
-1 tb hard drive (wester digital) $ 84

so $452???

That really sucks, might be more into november before i can play borderlands.

Do i need to take in account cooling and the case?? This is seriously the quietest computer ever, but if i am able to fit that vid card in the case, im sure things will get hotter. what do you guys think
 
Firestorm said:
Processor is kind of crappy too actually =/ I haven't heard much good about the Phenom series (not Phenom II). Think it would take long to save up for a new build? And don't send that much on the PSU.

One of these is more than enough:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151034


would 500 watts be enought for that card?

I could maybe just downgrade on the video card instead?

is there a vid card that will run borderlands really well? and one that i wouldnt have to upgrade my powersupply?
 

Firestorm

Member
You'll probably have to upgrade your power supply regardless as it's probably a cheap PoS. The listed wattage means less than the quality of the build. Corsair, Antec, and Seasonic all make awesome PSUs. A 500W from one of them will run anything on the market as long as you aren't using Crossfire or SLI.

For borderlands, I can see the new 4770 being enough really and that will have much lower power draw so who knows. Might even work on your current PSU.
 
Firestorm said:
You'll probably have to upgrade your power supply regardless as it's probably a cheap PoS. The listed wattage means less than the quality of the build. Corsair, Antec, and Seasonic all make awesome PSUs. A 500W from one of them will run anything on the market as long as you aren't using Crossfire or SLI.

For borderlands, I can see the new 4770 being enough really and that will have much lower power draw so who knows. Might even work on your current PSU.

did you mean the 5770?


ridley182 I think you have a pretty good setup up there, an after market cooler to OC your cpu to 3.4 or more would be a good start, and maybe replace your ram with 2x2gig sticks running in dual channel if you are running 64bit Vista.

If you do want to get a new card then a ati 5850 would be pretty sweet.
 

Firestorm

Member
Romance Pie said:
did you mean the 5770?


ridley182 I think you have a pretty good setup up there, an after market cooler to OC your cpu to 3.4 or more would be a good start, and maybe replace your ram with 2x2gig sticks running in dual channel if you are running 64bit Vista.

If you do want to get a new card then a ati 5850 would be pretty sweet.
Sorry, yes, 5770.
 
Romance Pie said:
did you mean the 5770?


ridley182 I think you have a pretty good setup up there, an after market cooler to OC your cpu to 3.4 or more would be a good start, and maybe replace your ram with 2x2gig sticks running in dual channel if you are running 64bit Vista.

If you do want to get a new card then a ati 5850 would be pretty sweet.
Awesome, thanks for the help!
 

godhandiscen

There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
Flib said:
I tend to agree, but the reviews for the g35 (which is 7.1) are just so universally strong. I can get the HD-555's for the same price though, so I may look into that. I had a friend in college who had them, and I do love them.


Ohh shit, I forgot to write my miny review of this headset, here it goes:

logitech-g35-1.jpg


Sound: On par with the best quality you can get for the price $120. 7.1 only works only with a couple games, however you can feel it kick in. During a recent playthrough of Crysis the sound direction was more helpful detecting the Korean soldiers than the piece of shit radar. The bass can hurt your ears if you set it right, I can almost feel myself in a Daft Punk concert. If you are looking for a headset that will actually move as a mini subwoofer this is it.

Microphone: Awesome reception, the best I've ever had in any headset. The voice masking features are funny to troll people. It is placed at a great distance from your mouth.

Design: It is a little bit too small. My head is by no means big and the headset fits a little bit too tight even when the sides are expanded. It comes with 3 different head pads, but they all are kind of uncomfortable. As I said, the headset fits really thigh which is sort of a plus when it comes to noise cancelling. You can rest assured you will have total inmersion but you will miss that UPS delivery package way too often. Also, the piece making contact with your ears will make you sweat whcih is kinda gross. A pain to use during summer.

Extras: A very convenient MUTE key. A red light that will remind you when the microphone is muted. Three Macro buttons that you can assign to the G35 equalizer functions or to work with other software, however, check this. The Macro keys on the left side only work with a limited set of applications: iTunes, Win Media Player, Winamp, Ventrilo 3.0.5, PowerDVD 8.0, WinDVD 9.0. If you want to use any other application or a different version of these, then you are out of luck.

Issues: Once a month or so, the G35 driver will glitch out and you will have to reinstall it. It is a very simple process, but it can get annoying.

Overall: I love the quality, and I am happy with what I got, however, this headset has its problems. I heard there are much better headsets priced $200+ I haven't tried these yet.

Note: This headset has a funny side effect. After using it for hours I feel as if I had been in a Submarine and my body needed to get back to the regular environment PSI. It is a very weird feeling. It may be annoying sometimes.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
brain_stew said:
Fair enough seems there's no other takers anyway. They're yours, I'll send you a PM with details.

Goddamn. What a sweet deal to miss out on coz I was at class.

Would've been sweet to test out once I'd built my new comp in January... but then I've got Crysis for that.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Since there doesn't seem to be a PC/gaming tech support thread that I could find, I'll just ask this here and maybe make a thread for such questions later on...

So my new rig is devastatingly awesome. I can run everything at the framerates and IQ I'd hoped for or better. There is only one problem... Mirror's Edge. Wtf Mirror's Edge. You ran find on my old PC running vista.

Its performance is actually really good- flawless, actually- but it crashes after just 10 seconds or less when starting any kind of gameplay. What happens is actually similar to Alt-Tabbing or minimizing the window, it switches out of the window but I can still hear sound from the game in the background. I can't switch back to it, however, and have to end the process. I can recreate this at certain points in the game 100% of the time.

The weirdest thing by far is that if I turn ON Nvidia 3D vision Discover (red/blue 3D effects), it lasts a lot longer before crashing, though it still does in under a minute.

Things I have tried:
-Updating drivers/rolling back drivers
-Disabling SLI/PhysX/AA/Vsync/Other resolutions
-Running as Admin/compatibility modes
-Hitting my head against my desk

The one thing that seems plausible is that some background app is interfering with ME and causing it to lose focus every few seconds. But I don't know what it could be. Any ideas? :(
 
Hawkian said:
Since there doesn't seem to be a PC/gaming tech support thread that I could find, I'll just ask this here and maybe make a thread for such questions later on...

So my new rig is devastatingly awesome. I can run everything at the framerates and IQ I'd hoped for or better. There is only one problem... Mirror's Edge. Wtf Mirror's Edge. You ran find on my old PC running vista.

Its performance is actually really good- flawless, actually- but it crashes after just 10 seconds or less when starting any kind of gameplay. What happens is actually similar to Alt-Tabbing or minimizing the window, it switches out of the window but I can still hear sound from the game in the background. I can't switch back to it, however, and have to end the process. I can recreate this at certain points in the game 100% of the time.

The weirdest thing by far is that if I turn ON Nvidia 3D vision Discover (red/blue 3D effects), it lasts a lot longer before crashing, though it still does in under a minute.

Things I have tried:
-Updating drivers/rolling back drivers
-Disabling SLI/PhysX/AA/Vsync/Other resolutions
-Running as Admin/compatibility modes
-Hitting my head against my desk

The one thing that seems plausible is that some background app is interfering with ME and causing it to lose focus every few seconds. But I don't know what it could be. Any ideas? :(

Sounds like a game issue instead of anything hardware. Is it fully patched? From what I'm looking at online apparently there was a crashing problem before but it has been patched. Have you tried reinstalling the game? If you lower the settings, does it last longer/ not crash at all?
 

garath

Member
Hawkian said:
Since there doesn't seem to be a PC/gaming tech support thread that I could find, I'll just ask this here and maybe make a thread for such questions later on...

So my new rig is devastatingly awesome. I can run everything at the framerates and IQ I'd hoped for or better. There is only one problem... Mirror's Edge. Wtf Mirror's Edge. You ran find on my old PC running vista.

Its performance is actually really good- flawless, actually- but it crashes after just 10 seconds or less when starting any kind of gameplay. What happens is actually similar to Alt-Tabbing or minimizing the window, it switches out of the window but I can still hear sound from the game in the background. I can't switch back to it, however, and have to end the process. I can recreate this at certain points in the game 100% of the time.

The weirdest thing by far is that if I turn ON Nvidia 3D vision Discover (red/blue 3D effects), it lasts a lot longer before crashing, though it still does in under a minute.

Things I have tried:
-Updating drivers/rolling back drivers
-Disabling SLI/PhysX/AA/Vsync/Other resolutions
-Running as Admin/compatibility modes
-Hitting my head against my desk

The one thing that seems plausible is that some background app is interfering with ME and causing it to lose focus every few seconds. But I don't know what it could be. Any ideas? :(

Can you run the game in windowed mode? There may be some sort of background process interfering with it that pops up an error message you can't see. This happened to me with another game.

Update DirectX?

Lastly try closing off all the background processes (including logitech stuff if you have any etc) before going into the game. If it works then reboot and start closing them off one by one until you find the issue. I had something similar which turned into Logitech's endpoint software causing a conflict.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
I have reinstalled the game, forgot to mention that, and tried patched and unpatched. tried updating directx and just using the one included.

I had tried forcing windowed mode, I don't think the game has any option for it natively- but unsurprisingly with 3Danalyze the game still crashed the same way, didn't even realize it was in windowed mode.

The logitech stuff is interesting. I am using the G11 keyboard, but don't think there's anyt running for it in the background. Hmm...
 
So. I have a 4850 and have found my end user experience to be less than ideal. My friend with an 8800 has WAY less problems than I. I'm aware that ATI drivers have never been amazing. I also keep hearing people raving about this NHancer thing. So, the question is simple, is it going to remove a lot of hassle from my experience if I just switch to an nvidia card?
 

dionysus

Yaldog
A Twisty Fluken said:
So. I have a 4850 and have found my end user experience to be less than ideal. My friend with an 8800 has WAY less problems than I. I'm aware that ATI drivers have never been amazing. I also keep hearing people raving about this NHancer thing. So, the question is simple, is it going to remove a lot of hassle from my experience if I just switch to an nvidia card?

I am on a 4890 with Win 7 64 and really haven't had any issues. Should be basically the same drivers as a 4850. Might be something other than ATI drivers causing your problems.
 

LQX

Member
lowlylowlycook said:
So I'm tempted to bite on this combo featured on slickdeals.

Anyone have an opinion about that case?
The case doesn't look that good to me in comparison to other cases you can get for around the same price like a Lian Li. Also is the SSD really worth it for you when you can get a just as functional 1TB hard drive?


If you are going for a combo I would consider this instead where you at least get a good PSU and 1TB hard drive for $50 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.273738
 

seantos

Neo Member
That is a great price for the SSD, so much so that the case is basically thrown in for free. So if you already have a ton of external storage like a NAS or a Drobo or something and your are just using the SSD as your OS and application drive I would say its not a bad deal. If you don't have a lot of other hard drive space though I would agree with LQX.
 
LQX said:
The case doesn't look that good to me in comparison to other cases you can get for around the same price like a Lian Li. Also is the SSD really worth it for you when you can get a just as functional 1TB hard drive?


If you are going for a combo I would consider this instead where you at least get a good PSU and 1TB hard drive for $50 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.273738

Well a platter drive is not nearly as fast as an SSD and I already have a PCP&C 750W PSU. But thanks.

I'd be sold 100% if the drive bay came out in two parts so that it would be easy to fit oversized video cards.
 

FreezeSSC

Member
A Twisty Fluken said:
So. I have a 4850 and have found my end user experience to be less than ideal. My friend with an 8800 has WAY less problems than I. I'm aware that ATI drivers have never been amazing. I also keep hearing people raving about this NHancer thing. So, the question is simple, is it going to remove a lot of hassle from my experience if I just switch to an nvidia card?

i also have a 4850 on windows7 and i also experience weird problems that i have to just chalk up to driver error, but with the news that nvidia might now pursue the mid-high end graphics market anymore i think you're better off either waiting or buying a 5850.
 

Yazus

Member
Hi all, I am currently on an old machine:
A 360W very shitty psu, a 8400GS Nvidia, and a Core2Duo E4500 @ 2.2Ghz

Now, It came with Vista 32x but I hated it and switched back to XP. Now its time for a reformat, since this PC went trough so much shit you can't even think.

Would you raccomend me to install the 32x RTM, since in December I'll be buying a new PC (so getting ready to Win7 before the big upgrade?)

Or you think for this PC should be better reinstalling original XP?

(PS: a Phenom IIx3 720 + 4850 512mb+ Gygabyte AM3 ready mobo + 4GB ram for 400$ are good for a new PC in december?)
 

inner-G

Banned
What's the GAF-pinion?

Now:
AMD 64X2 5400+ / 4GB DDR2 / 9800GT 1GB

Thinking of switching out the mobo/CPU/RAM to:

MSI 790fx g70 / Phenom II X4 965 (3.4gHz, 6MB) / 8GB OCZ DDR3
(~$700)

I've heard that the i7/i5's don't overclock very well. I really want it for pcsx2, and clock speed really helps there. I figure I can air cool the 965 @ ~4ghz, and the board lets you overclock on the fly without resetting, and has 2 bios chips. Is this a good way to go, or will the 1156 route be more 'future proof'?
 
The i5 overclocks great, but the heatsink choices are kind of limited as of the moment.

also, anyone have experience with the senn. pc151 headset? i need a new one
 
Does the thermal paste that comes with cpu coolers suck that bad? I have that and artic silver 5, is there that much of a difference. The company is zerotherm for the other paste.
 

inner-G

Banned
SuperAwesome said:
The i5 overclocks great, but the heatsink choices are kind of limited as of the moment.
Is it easy to get it up to 4ghz without water though?

I'm just guessing that since they are ~2.66ghz and the 965 is 3.4, that the AMDs will be easier to clock higher.
 

Niks

Member
Ok guys heres the deal...

I live in South America, so I have been planning on buying the parts in the US and have them shipped to my country to assemble it myself....

Is this a sound idea? Or should I stick with (Dell)(so expensive).
I mean, take into account warranties, risk of getting defective parts, etc...
 
Wow, watching youtube videos of how to install thermal paste showed me how colossally I fucked up my intel heatsink and why my computer was running hot. I also found out I may have crushed my cpu temp sensor for my case. If it still works where do I attach it exactly? Just somewhere on the heatsink?
 

Firestorm

Member
Niks said:
Ok guys heres the deal...

I live in South America, so I have been planning on buying the parts in the US and have them shipped to my country to assemble it myself....

Is this a sound idea? Or should I stick with (Dell)(so expensive).
I mean, take into account warranties, risk of getting defective parts, etc...
Aren't tariffs horribly expensive? How are you getting them shipped?

This is something actually a lot of people outside the US can look at.
http://www.gamesforcanada.com

Using the Direct Request form, you can order just about any Newegg item to be shipped to him and then you. He charges a $2 fee for the first item and $1 for each additional item. I know it says games for canada but he does everything to any country really. Although heavy items like cases will probably be a tad expensive to ship.
 

Yazus

Member
Is this build ok?

1x Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB € 49,99
1x Cooler Master Case Elite 360 € 32,99
1x Corsair Dimm XMS3 2x2GB 1333Mhz CL9 € 84,99
1x Samsung 22x SATA € 18,99
1x MSI Motherboard 770-C45 socket AM3 chipset AMD 770G ATX € 64,99
1x AMD Phenom II X4 810 2,66 Ghz Socket AM3 119,99€
1x OCZ Alimentatore 500 Watt StealthXStream Gamers € 66,99
1x ZALMAN Zalman Fan ZM-F3 - 120 mm € 27,99

Total : € 447,52

I own a HD4850 512MB and play mostly WoW/CoD4 and soon CoD6. I do lesser audio editing at maximum. No video encoding etc. I'd like this pc to last long.. I play with a small monitor so a better video card wouldn't be necessary I think. Also I already own it so buying another one would be a nonsense.

(The case and the fan cannot be changed. Due to space issues, the only horizontal ATX case is the Elite 360. And since it comes with no fans, I have to buy one... at least a 120mm one)
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
Ok my build is officially complete (paid for) just waiting on the shipping of 750w OCZ PSU, and JUST ordered an ASUS Radeon HD 5850.

All in just shy of 800 bucks for this build.

ASUS p5q pro mobo - $91.99
q6700 processor OC'd to 3.0 ghz - $224.00
6gb DDR2 RAM $59.99
OCZ 750 GamerX PSU - $69.99
ASUS HD 5850 - $259.99
Cooler Master Elite case - 59.99

This build has been a long time in the making (about 6 months). Originally I got the CPU bundled with a intel board. I realized the intel board was shit and upgraded that. Took the Ram from 2gb to 6gb. Had an old coolermaster 400w psu upped that. The old vid card was 9600 gt. And this all used to be sitting in a very old full tower.

I can't wait to get the last 2 parts.
Feels good man...... feels good. :D :D :D
 
I'm planning on buying windows 7 soon, and was wondering if I should run 64 bit or 32 bit, but I don't really understand how it works, could someone tell me what version I should use.

My specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.0GHz)
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory
Corsair 620W HX Modular PSU
ASUS P5Q SE iP45 ATX Motherboard
PowerColor Ati HD 4870 1GB GDDR5
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
Liquid Helium said:
I'm planning on buying windows 7 soon, and was wondering if I should run 64 bit or 32 bit, but I don't really understand how it works, could someone tell me what version I should use.

Basically my understanding is if you want to run more than 4gb of RAM then you have to go with 64 bit. 32 bit OS's only recognize up to 4gb.
 

seantos

Neo Member
Actually for 32bit windows its 4Gb of total system memory including your video card memory and any potential offset in the memory location. So if you have a video card with 1Gb on it you are looking at a max of 3Gb of usable ram.

64bit should be the default version now and you should only be looking at 32bit if there is a specific program that won't run under 64.
 
seantos said:
Actually for 32bit windows its 4Gb of total system memory including your video card memory and any potential offset in the memory location. So if you have a video card with 1Gb on it you are looking at a max of 3Gb of usable ram.

64bit should be the default version now and you should only be looking at 32bit if there is a specific program that won't run under 64.
Ah, thanks, I'll run 64 bit then.
 

Bananakin

Member
So I live in Canada, and I'm looking to buy a computer online. I'd like to customize it, but I'd rather not do the assembly. It seems from the op that ncix is my best bet for this. Have any canucks around here had any dealings with them, and if so, would you recommend them?
 

IcedTea

Member
Bananakin said:
So I live in Canada, and I'm looking to buy a computer online. I'd like to customize it, but I'd rather not do the assembly. It seems from the op that ncix is my best bet for this. Have any canucks around here had any dealings with them, and if so, would you recommend them?
Highly. Always had top notch service from them, and they're amazing at price matching. I saved over 250 dollars on my last order from them just by spending a few mins looking up cheaper prices at sites like http://shopbot.ca.
 

Firestorm

Member
Bananakin said:
So I live in Canada, and I'm looking to buy a computer online. I'd like to customize it, but I'd rather not do the assembly. It seems from the op that ncix is my best bet for this. Have any canucks around here had any dealings with them, and if so, would you recommend them?
That's how I made my computer. Good build quality.

2e5m91e.jpg


Check out the thread here: http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/ncix-custom-built-computers-700-1000-gaming-computers-760568/

After a few pages people stop being whiny bitches.

NCIX is Canada's equivalent of Newegg really. Their online staff are helpful and customer service is good. Their in-store staff is pretty bad.
 
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