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[Easy_D]

So I want to upgrade my GPU, I've got an 8800 GT at the moment and I'm looking for a good card at a reasonable price, not a brand new beast or anything but something that would provide me with a noticable boost in performance.

 

[thunker 9000]

This is my Mobo, I have Two 1 gb sticks of DDR2 800.

The mobo supports 4 sticks. Can I go out and buy two more 1 gig sticks bumping me up to 4 gigs of ram? I assume so, but I just want to make sure before I drop the cash. <3

 

[Shogmaster]

This is my Mobo, I have Two 1 gb sticks of DDR2 800.

The mobo supports 4 sticks. Can I go out and buy two more 1 gig sticks bumping me up to 4 gigs of ram? I assume so, but I just want to make sure before I drop the cash. <3

Try to see if you can buy the same brand and model sticks. That would ensure (as long as your mobo is up to it) all 4 slots working with minimal problems.

If finding the same brand and model is difficult, at least make sure it's the same speed and timing, then make sure you pair them in the mobo in the right slots/channels (usually each channel skips a slot).

 

[Pachinko]

Okay gaf, tell me how this looks :

ASUS Maximus III Formula LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $274.99
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail $328.99
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - Retail $192.98( 2 kits for 8 gigs total)
Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC ... - Retail $139.99
SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $180.49
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $149.99
Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM $27.49
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $116.99
hard drive - 65$ for 32mb cache 500gb

This was through newegg.ca , they have some deal that ends today so I thought I"d build up a sample wish list. I unfortunatly don't have any money right now but I kept this as a saved wish list for later reference. Hows it look ?

 

[brain_stew]

Whats holding me back, GAF? Recent games like Borderlands and Dragon Age have not been up to snuff. they look great at times, but in some circumstances it chugs like no other. ):

MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775
Intel Core Duo E6550 2.33Ghz
EVGA 8800 GTS - 1gig
2 x 1 Gb DDR2 800

OC to 3ghz+, get another couple of gigs of RAM and pick up a 5770 and she'll be as good as new.

 

[brain_stew]

Okay gaf, tell me how this looks :

ASUS Maximus III Formula LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $274.99
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail $328.99
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - Retail $192.98( 2 kits for 8 gigs total)
Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC ... - Retail $139.99
SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $180.49
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $149.99
Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM $27.49
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $116.99
hard drive - 65$ for 32mb cache 500gb

This was through newegg.ca , they have some deal that ends today so I thought I"d build up a sample wish list. I unfortunatly don't have any money right now but I kept this as a saved wish list for later reference. Hows it look ?

If its for gaming, then get a cheaper motherboard + CPU and upgrade to a 5850. I know finding stock is a bitch but be patient, its worth it.

 

[mug]

So I want to upgrade my GPU, I've got an 8800 GT at the moment and I'm looking for a good card at a reasonable price, not a brand new beast or anything but something that would provide me with a noticable boost in performance.

Radeon 5k series

 

[Firestorm]

Okay gaf, tell me how this looks :

ASUS Maximus III Formula LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $274.99
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail $328.99
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - Retail $192.98( 2 kits for 8 gigs total)
Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC ... - Retail $139.99
SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $180.49
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $149.99
Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM $27.49
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $116.99
hard drive - 65$ for 32mb cache 500gb

This was through newegg.ca , they have some deal that ends today so I thought I"d build up a sample wish list. I unfortunatly don't have any money right now but I kept this as a saved wish list for later reference. Hows it look ?

Did you already order it?

 

[Nemo]

AMD is still the place to be for budget builds no? Looking to build one again for my mom.

http://www.azerty.nl/0-1184-217561/processor-1-x-amd-athlon-ii.html

AMD Athlon II X2 250, I can't believe this is only 60 bucks. Isn't this basically the same as E4500? Plus it has some more GHz too. Cache seems the same too, unless Advanced Smart Cache means something I don't know about but seems more like marketing talk. Reviews even say it kicks the 8400's ass in some benchmarks. I used the Athlon II 240 in my last budget build and haven't had any complaints from my bro. I've always been Intel only but the E1500 seems pretty crap compared to this.

 

[BattleMonkey]

My PC is a little 2 years old now, runs things decently but probably longest I've ever had a computer without upgrading it :lol

Now Win7 out and since I would get a new high end GPU and Win7, it might be just better to shell out for a whole new PC.

Some good deals on some nice systems with liquid cooling, never dealt with it before so is it something that can be problematic or need lot of maintenance? Never used a liquid before.

 

[Dead Prince]

IDK. i feel like i installed the CPU cooler wrong. when I cleaned out the dust and applied new thermal paste my fan doesn't kick on real loud when I play Dragon Age or any game. it makes me worried. but then again my PC didn't turn off if it overheated.

 

[Volcynika]

Haven't upgraded my PC in about 5 years, so I think it's about time for a boost!

Have this all ordered to me and ready to go, just have to wait for the 5850 to be in stock (waits impatiently)

-GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
-Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
-OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3OB1600LV4GK - Retail
-Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
-ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler - Retail
-Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM
-Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
-Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail

Should be here tomorrow, guess I'll just have to use my ole 8600 GTS until I can get the 5850.

 

[TheHeretic]

Upgrading from an 8800 isn't neccesary for Borderlands nor Dragon Age, I can max out both. It's a luxury, but if performance is poor in those games you have another bottleneck.

 

[Rufus]

IDK. i feel like i installed the CPU cooler wrong. when I cleaned out the dust and applied new thermal paste my fan doesn't kick on real loud when I play Dragon Age or any game. it makes me worried.

Wasn't that the point?

 

[Amneisac]

So I'm getting back into PC gaming. Here's what I have now:

2 x Intel Xeon 5150 Woodcrest processors: http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL9RU

512mb HD4850

6GB DDR2 800 ECC Fully Buffered Memory

So far I can run Mass Effect and L4D2 demo at 1920x1200 max settings (I know I should have gotten a 1gb video card but I got this one super cheap because I knew I was going to be building a new PC at some point in 2010)

Is there any crazy tech on the near horizon (next 6 months) that would make it worth waiting or should I see what I can snap up on black friday / cyber monday deals?

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Quick question:
I've got a Phenom II X4 940 BE w/ stock CPU cooler. Everest reports my CPU temperature as ranging from 55°C to 60°C (core temperatures at ca. 50°C to 54°C) when running Windows, Firefox, Messenger and foobar2000 (BIOS reports CPU temperature being 20°C when starting up the PC). Is the CPU temperature dangerously high when running Windows etc., or should it be just fine? I've had no problems so far, Windows has been as stable as ever, so it hasn't caused any trouble yet.

Also, should I be able to run Resident Evil 5 with said CPU, 8 GB DDR2 PC6400 RAM and a 1 GB Radeon HD 5770?

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

tell me how this looks GAF, might be for early next year

Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Antec CP-850 850W Continuous Power CPX SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
Sony Optiarc Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1678A

total with shipping : $991.35.
the case and PSU are a combo deal as well as the HDD and OS and the MOBO and RAm also a combo deal, anything i should swipe out thats cheaper and better? or am i good to go?

 

[Funky Papa]

PC-GAF,

I'm in the final stages of building my new PC. Now I only need to pick a new case, but I'm undecided. What do you think about these?

Lian Li PC-B10

Zalman MS1000-HS1

I know they are a bit different in terms of price and maybe purpose, but I can't stand anything else. I've tried to find a plain black case with no external units/ports (actually I'm thinking about dropping the Zalman because I hate exposed DVD drives), and these are the only ones I could find within my size requirements.

 

[Niks]

Ok, finished connecting everything, turned it on and everything seems ok...

Anything I need to change / have a look at in the BIOS?? What is the normal temperature range for a i5 750 with stock cooler?? Thanks!

 

[Hazaro]

PC-GAF,

I'm in the final stages of building my new PC. Now I only need to pick a new case, but I'm undecided. What do you think about these?

Lian Li PC-B10

I think (size permitted) that a ROCKETFISH case from BestBuy will suit your needs.

It's a rebranded Lian-Li (Even has Lian-Li fans in it) and I have one
Exact exterior as the B10 (I think it is actually a PCA-71), but lacks the cross PCIe section or whatever fancy thing they put in it.

A long time ago they went on sale for $50-$70 and I picked some up. :lol

Older pic of my set-up, one of the HDD bays is removable.

 

[thunker 9000]

OC to 3ghz+, get another couple of gigs of RAM and pick up a 5770 and she'll be as good as new.

I'm not 100% sure if my mobo supports PCI Express 2.0. I hope so. If not I think I'll have to get a new board in order to get that 5570 :sadface:

MSI P6N SLI Platinum can anyone confirm or deny?

 

[brain_stew]

I'm not 100% sure if my mobo supports PCI Express 2.0. I hope so. If not I think I'll have to get a new board in order to get that 5570 :sadface:

MSI P6N SLI Platinum can anyone confirm or deny?

PCIe 2.0 GPUs are all BC, its a non issue.

 

[NorrenRadd]

GAF,

I'm looking for a cheap/quality motherboard for my i7 960. I don't need anything really fancy but I don't want a pile of junk that is gonna fail on me.

I'd like it to support PC 1600 RAM and 7.1 audio.


Also, which computer cases are quiet and what can I do to keep the noise down? My current rig is LOUD.

 

[thunker 9000]

PCIe 2.0 GPUs are all BC, its a non issue.

Is there a big benefit to going PCIe 2.0?

I have access to a ASUS P5N-D I could slap in if I wanted.

 

[brain_stew]

Is there a big benefit to going PCIe 2.0?

I have access to a ASUS P5N-D I could slap in if I wanted.

Not with current GPUs, no.

 

[KilledByBill]

Anyone have any thoughts on this HP build I prepared:

I've got a relative who can get me a 10% discount to bring it down to about $900 + tax. A problem with HP is that their GPU selection seems very far behind. I'd want to immediately swap out the GPU and insert a 5770 1GB which everyone in the PC threads has spoken so highly of. I think I would then have to upgrade the PSU since the specs on HPs website indicate it only comes with a 350 watter. Any other pitfalls I'd have to watch out for?

Any help is appreciated and thanks as usual for all the advice in these PC threads. *thumbs up*

 

[brain_stew]

Why don't you just buy a PC that actually meets your specifications rather than one you've got to upgrade to get to where you want?

Just spec up a custom build on NCIX and pay the $50 build fee if you don't wnat to put it together yourself.

 

[TouchMyBox]

PC-GAF,

I'm in the final stages of building my new PC. Now I only need to pick a new case, but I'm undecided. What do you think about these?

I say go with Lian-Li, but I'm incredibly biased. I think all their cases look ace, they all come with neat little bells and whistles too.

 

[Grayman]

I think everyone is using onboard sound now-a-days unless you are doing something specialized that you need that card for. It is a waste of money to get the graphics card if you are going to replace it immediately. You can use AVG instead of Norton.

Pricing would be lower if you assembled yourself.





ok edited this because i thought it was an old post, saw it wasn't, back now.

 

[KilledByBill]

I think everyone is using onboard sound now-a-days unless you are doing something specialized that you need that card for. It is a waste of money to get the graphics card if you are going to replace it immediately. You can use AVG instead of Norton.

Pricing would be lower if you assembled yourself.

Yeah I wasn't too sure about the sound card. I have a few friends of mine who recently bought newer PCs with integrated sound and it wasn't very good. But maybe it's just that they were using garbage throw-in speakers. I've got a Klipsch 2.1 set I would carry over to the new rig.

Along the lines of what you and Brain Stew said I guess I'll have to price everything out carefully. For more of an apples to apples comparison, if you take out the Windows 7 and Office software that shaves about $230.00 off the HP price before discount. Norton is a throw in by HP that I could certainly live without so I attach no value to it.

 

[Pachinko]

Did you already order it?

No, I put it togethor out of curiousity. Serious I actually did. Once I'd picked out all the parts and added the 10% discount I was blown away by the low cost of the system... course I don't have a clue how to build one.

Anyway, I then calculated how much interest visa would make off me over the 2 years I figure it'd currently take to pay it off and determined that number was larger then the discounts so I just stuck it all in a wish list.

I wanted to see any recommended tweaks in here though because I might try to actually buy it at the end of the year (newegg will do something for boxing day right?).

Switching out the 5770 for a 5850 was my intent but newegg was sold out of the 58 series so I just put in the 57 model as a placeholder.

Anyway, thanks for the advice so far.

 

[brain_stew]

Yeah I wasn't too sure about the sound card. I have a few friends of mine who recently bought newer PCs with integrated sound and it wasn't very good. But maybe it's just that they were using garbage throw-in speakers. I've got a Klipsch 2.1 set I would carry over to the new rig.

Along the lines of what you and Brain Stew said I guess I'll have to price everything out carefully. For more of an apples to apples comparison, if you take out the Windows 7 and Office software that shaves about $230.00 off the HP price before discount. Norton is a throw in by HP that I could certainly live without so I attach no value to it.

That sound card is just a software based solution, its worthless.

 

[KilledByBill]

Okay, ran over to NCIXUS and whipped together a comparable build with the GPU I want. Kind of cobbled together the other parts from GAF recommendations and the Tom's Hardware Fall Guide.

Wasn't too sure about the RAM but it was offered as a special with the purchase of the i5 and Corsair seems to have a good reputation.

EDIT: Any recommendations on whether I should invest in additional cooling capacity? Thanks.

 

[Minsc]

My new mATX PC is on its way:

Case: PCDesign Lab -Qv2E
Mobo: ASUS Rampage II GENE X58 mATX
PSU: CORSAIR 850TX
CPU: Intel Core i7-920
RAM: 6GB G.Skill DDR3-1333
GPU: VisionTek Radeon HD 5870 1GB
HDD1: Intel X25-M 80GB SSD
HDD2: WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200RPM
Cool: Prolimatech Megahalems CPU Cooler
Fans: Scythe S-Flex SFF21F 120mm
Misc: Aerocool FP-01 55-in-1 Card Reader/Controller
Misc: Syba PCI 4+1 Port USB 2.0 Card
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Should have it in time for a nice weekend session of Dragon Age, will be a welcome step up from my 2.2Ghz 3500+ & 1/2 broken 1950 Pro

The PSU is a bit overkill for now, but it was on sale for less than the lower models at the time, and they're like 80%+ efficient anyway. I know some of the components aren't GAF favorites, but I ended up with what I wanted, ultimately. The 920 will overclock admirably even in the SFF case, with the Megahalems cooler; and boy do I have a lot of gaming to catch up with! Glad I got my hands on a 5870, that should run through just about everything for a while.

I don't know why but I always feel I end using like way too many USB ports. At least this will have 10 or so, should do me good.

 

[pestul]

Parts arrived today for my new PC.. now using it fully assembled. It took FOREVER to build from scratch even from a seasoned pro. I guess I wanted to be extremely careful with the massive cooler and wiring etc.

I'm just so glad it booted up right away, because you always have that feeling after spending a few hours that it just won't start. Awesome feeling.

I think I'll give it a little break-in period before I overclock the shit out of it (920 D0 w/Sapphire 5850).

 

[Zaptruder]

Parts arrived today for my new PC.. now using it fully assembled. It took FOREVER to build from scratch even from a seasoned pro. I guess I wanted to be extremely careful with the massive cooler and wiring etc.

I'm just so glad it booted up right away, because you always have that feeling after spending a few hours that it just won't start. Awesome feeling.

I think I'll give it a little break-in period before I overclock the shit out of it (920 D0 w/Sapphire 5850).

I wouldn't consider the PC fully built until it's overclocked and all applications are loaded onto it!

 

[markot]

Whys I7 so hard to overclock >_<?

Feh!

 

[NorrenRadd]

Okay GAF, I've got a potential part combination:

• ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
• Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz LGA 1366 Quad-Core Processor Model AT80601002727AA - OEM
• Patriot Viper 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PVT36G1600LLK
• XFX Ati 5870 (when I can find one)
• Thermaltake W0116RU 750W Complies with ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V version SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS Certified Modular
• COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UB Black /Blue Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
• Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
• XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

I don't plan to overclock the processor but I'd like to boost the MB RAM usage to 1600.

Not really sure what case to go with yet, I just want something cheap and quiet and I didn't see anything from Lian-Li that excited me.

I'm hoping to order from NCIXUS so they can put it together for me, but the availability of the 5870 might put that in to jeopardy.

 

[MWS Natural]

My new mATX PC is on its way:



Should have it in time for a nice weekend session of Dragon Age, will be a welcome step up from my 2.2Ghz 3500+ & 1/2 broken 1950 Pro

The PSU is a bit overkill for now, but it was on sale for less than the lower models at the time, and they're like 80%+ efficient anyway. I know some of the components aren't GAF favorites, but I ended up with what I wanted, ultimately. The 920 will overclock admirably even in the SFF case, with the Megahalems cooler; and boy do I have a lot of gaming to catch up with! Glad I got my hands on a 5870, that should run through just about everything for a while.

I don't know why but I always feel I end using like way too many USB ports. At least this will have 10 or so, should do me good.

Nice...are they putting together for you or did you just buy the case?

 

[GreenBikerDude]

I just finish building my Mid-Budget Unit:

AMD Phenom II X2 545 3.0Ghz
GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P
HIS Radeon HD 5770
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3
Western Digital 160GB Hard Drive
Sony DVD+RW SATA Drive
Rosewill Green Series RG430-2 430W
NZXT Beta Mid-Tower Case
Logitech Pro 2000 Wireless Keyboard

Later down the road I'm going to upgrade my powerbox to 500watts and unlock the other two cores on the cpu.

 

[Firestorm]

No, I put it togethor out of curiousity. Serious I actually did. Once I'd picked out all the parts and added the 10% discount I was blown away by the low cost of the system... course I don't have a clue how to build one.

Anyway, I then calculated how much interest visa would make off me over the 2 years I figure it'd currently take to pay it off and determined that number was larger then the discounts so I just stuck it all in a wish list.

I wanted to see any recommended tweaks in here though because I might try to actually buy it at the end of the year (newegg will do something for boxing day right?).

Switching out the 5770 for a 5850 was my intent but newegg was sold out of the 58 series so I just put in the 57 model as a placeholder.

Anyway, thanks for the advice so far.

Well, when you do it remember to use PriceCanada and ShopBot to see what the cheapest prices are. It is very rarely a good deal to order everything from NewEgg in Canada. The defacto computer store in Canada is NCIX, mostly due to their price match policy. You also only get charged GST if you live outside BC (PST + GST if in BC).

 

[ElectricThunder]

I greatly need GAF's input on wrangling up a New, Modern Desktop PC. Plan is to order the bits from Newegg and have it ship in time for the Winter break to start school wise so my good friend will then have time to assemble it proper (he's done this before and all with no issues) before his teaching gig would start up again.

NOTHING can be salvaged from my current old PC...so this is a full tilt affair. Theoretical budget is $2000, but I really NEED to come as far under that as possible without runnign a risk of screwing myself over somehow. I've gone off the deep end somewhat in a nigh Quixotic fashion and am planning on starting up my own one-man game development, home based entity---so this is to be my effective workhorse of sorts. That said, STABILITY is of key value to me so things like overclocking and such are not really what I'm about. Considering this is my last bit of saved money from my last job, what money not spent on hardware is then in the software pool should it come down to some of the non free software out there just being too damn useful in a timely perspective to not get...and then in the startup fees and such pool from there.

Here's what I know I'm going to want so far, while the rest and particulars I'm unsure of.

-Dual monitors for a productivity boost as I need all the tricks I can muster. Would be nice if, in theory, could function as an HDTV equivalent for some manner of HD console somewhere in the future.
-Win 7 64...Ultimate I presume.
-In turn, 8 GB good RAM to make the most of finally having access to 64
-Webcam of some sort, good/accurate Mouse, nice Microphone with a stand, keyboard that works/possibly glows. I haven't used a printer in years so probably not important
-Ability to burn DVDS to back things up at long last. I also have one of those WD My Book 750 GB external dealies, but still.
-Ability to make use of SD cards strikes me as potentially useful.
-Will play nice with my Cable internet

Otherwise on it, I've missed out quite a lot videogame wise these past several years so it'd be nice to be caught up and capable for some years to come now---not about maxing things/playing Crysis just running as intended. Likewise, I have interests in projects that would entail messing about with Saturn, Dreamcast, PS2/PSP, and Wii emulation so it would also be good if the power of the machine would allow me to again comfortably explore those avenues.

Please help me fill in the many remaining blanks GAF! I'll compile the notions here and then see how things look between what GAF reckons and my friend reckons. If some crazy good deal for the monitors or some such less involved part shows up before the general ordering timeframe, please post/PM me so I can take care of said component early since I'd like to think some deals may avail themselves with Black Friday and all coming.

I'm expecting a brave new world from my old fat monitor Dell Dimension 4600 and GeForce FX 5200 with an 80GB hard drive. :lol

Again, I thank you all for what help and input able to be offered to good effect.

Edit: I'm in the US!

 

[Minsc]

Nice...are they putting together for you or did you just buy the case?

Whole thing is coming as a package, all the parts have already been acquired and undergone multiple tests, so if all goes well, I just need to unpack and plug it in!

 

[AshMcCool]

So I want to upgrade my GPU, I've got an 8800 GT at the moment and I'm looking for a good card at a reasonable price, not a brand new beast or anything but something that would provide me with a noticable boost in performance.

Define "resonable". How much do you planning to spend?

 

[Bluemercury]

So i bought a i7920, XFX HD5870, 6GB Corsair xms3 c7, noctua cooler, asus P6TD Deluxe with a antec 900 case. So i installed cod4 in this thing and after going to multiplay i noticed the game stuttered like every 5 seconds, so after messing around i found punkbuster was actually the cause of these hipcups or stutterings. I hope mw2 doesnt use punkbuster. Removing punkbuster made the game run like butter with everything maxed out at full hd resolution. I also tested lef4dead 2 demo which curiously also has some form of stutter but it doesnt have anything to do with settings, it seems that if one zombie appears in the screen it will stuter, but its lightning fast stutter because it only happens if im walking at the same time. This doesnt happen in left4dead 1 though which runs preety good. So im still testing the computer but i can see the vga improving a lot with new drivers. Oh i overclocked the cpu to 4ghz. I think it might go to 4.2ghz without much hussle.

 

[MWS Natural]

Whole thing is coming as a package, all the parts have already been acquired and undergone multiple tests, so if all goes well, I just need to unpack and plug it in!

Damn that must have cost a pretty penny, they aren't cheap. Look forward to seeing the pics!

 

[kagete]

Hi, now I need help buying a large-ish monitor (22-25?) that I will hook up to my laptop to.

I will be connecting to it via HDMI since that's what my Vaio has and I don't want any weird resolution issues (like having to set Windows 7 to a weird 1298 something resolution when connecting it to an oldish 32" 720P TV). I may use this with my 360 just in case as well.

I play games and do word processing a lot and would like minimal lag. I hate having to hunt for my mouse cursor on a slow LCD

I prefer shopping over newegg or Amazon but if there's a deal at bestbuy i wouldn't mind driving over. Also, should I wait till Black Friday?

I've been looking at the top-rated lcds on newegg and I don't know if Asus is a great brand for LCDs.

Is this a good option: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6048&cm_re=2ms_monitor-_-24-236-048-_-Product

what about an LG? Acer?

 

[Metalic Sand]

So my motherboard only supports crossfire. If i buy another nvidia card down the line and use my old one as a Physics card would that work or is that considered SLI?

 

[thunker 9000]

I also tested lef4dead 2 demo which curiously also has some form of stutter but it doesnt have anything to do with settings, it seems that if one zombie appears in the screen it will stuter, but its lightning fast stutter because it only happens if im walking at the same time. This doesnt happen in left4dead 1 though which runs preety good. So im still testing the computer but i can see the vga improving a lot with new drivers. Oh i overclocked the cpu to 4ghz. I think it might go to 4.2ghz without much hussle.

Turn off Multi-Core rendering. That will fix the L4D2 frame rate issue. I had the same problem.

 

[markot]

So my motherboard only supports crossfire. If i buy another nvidia card down the line and use my old one as a Physics card would that work or is that considered SLI?

Nah, you have to set em up in SLI and use the plug and crap for it to be SLI.