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[BoloTheGreat]

So here's a few unexciting pics of my Qv2E... it may not look it, but it's got a lot of style in person. The Aerocool panel flips up over the blank bay in the middle, and you have a nice LCD screen with fan control.

The system uses around 115W at idle according to my PSU, my monitor actually uses almost as much (75W or so), so that's pretty impressive.

The computer is absolutely silent. You can barely hear it running with your ear up next to it, even when I'm playing Dragon Age. I have the fans at around 1000 RPM, and can probably drop them even lower, the system gets to around 50C at full load under prime95. I'll probably give overclocking a try down the road, right now I'm still breaking it in.

My PC takes almost the oposite philosophy. Im running a Xilico Windtunnel V2 :lol

It's also literally 3x the size to. If you PC is japan, small efficient and quiet mine is almost certainly american, HUGE and loud.

 

[derder]

Some reviews that I found on a Swedish site of the SP2309W:

Techtree.com India: 4.5/5

+ Great build and style, Connectivity options, USB ports, Overall performance

- Availability

CNET.com: 4/5

+ All-around great performance; high 2,048x1,152-pixel resolution; intuitive, customizable, and unique onscreen display; integrated 2-megapixel Webcam; 360 degree rotation; screen height adjustment; multiple USB ports.

- Backlight bleeding on bottom edge.

Bottom line: With its low price, great performance, and many features, the Dell SP2309W is a sound buy for a 23-inch monitor.

The second thing you linked was the SP2309W, which is very different than the S2309W. I would have to say, if you have the budget and need the resolution, the SP2309W fits the bill.

 

[Gully State]

Is that a 5870 in there?


If you can only do one right now, personally I'd go with the monitor. The higher resolution will help with non-gaming stuff, and you'll still be able to game on it just fine if you lower your settings a bit (or worst case, run at a lower resolution and upscale).

Since you're happy with the 4850's performance right now, upgrading the video card would have little benefit until you got a new monitor, at which point you'll be able to get a better card for your money.

Thanks..I'll look into getting a monitor.

 

[brain_stew]

So here's a few unexciting pics of my Qv2E... it may not look it, but it's got a lot of style in person. The Aerocool panel flips up over the blank bay in the middle, and you have a nice LCD screen with fan control.

The system uses around 115W at idle according to my PSU, my monitor actually uses almost as much (75W or so), so that's pretty impressive.

The computer is absolutely silent. You can barely hear it running with your ear up next to it, even when I'm playing Dragon Age. I have the fans at around 1000 RPM, and can probably drop them even lower, the system gets to around 50C at full load under prime95. I'll probably give overclocking a try down the road, right now I'm still breaking it in.

That's probably the best system on GAF you've got there, what speed have you got the CPU clocked to?


Looks like they did a bang up job with that. Congrats, I know you've been waiting a long time for this system, enjoy it.

 

[brain_stew]

I've got a question....I'm rocking a 4850 right now and am wondering if I should buy a brand new monitor or upgrade my video card... The monitor I'm currently using is a 21 inch 1600x1200 Samsung. I'm leaning more towards getting a 23-24'' 1080p 2ms monitor for around $200 since other than Crysis, my 4850 has been more than capable with anything I throw at it...

If you're happy with performance at 1600x1200, then you'll be happy with performance at 1080, its only like a ~5% increase in pixels.

 

[Animal]

My rig from NCIX shipped out of NCIX last night!

I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Um quick question though ... Anyone have any idea how long it takes for UPS ground shipping to do its thing from Vancouver to Montreal?

 

[Nemo]

After much research I finally came with a nice little gaming budget build for 300 euros.

AMD Athlon II X2 250
MSI 770-C45
Corsair XMS3 DHX 2GB - DDR3 1600MHz
Sapphire RADEON HD 4670
Corsair CX400W

Anyone have any thoughts? I know the AM3/DDR3 might seem too much for that videocard but I kept in mind I would later on upgrade the videocard along with a new PSU. This should run nicely until then plus kinda futureproof I guess.

 

[Hazaro]

After much research I finally came with a nice little gaming budget build for 300 euros.

AMD Athlon II X2 250
MSI 770-C45
Corsair XMS3 DHX 2GB - DDR3 1600MHz
Sapphire RADEON HD 4670
Corsair CX400W

Anyone have any thoughts? I know the AM3/DDR3 might seem too much for that videocard but I kept in mind I would later on upgrade the videocard along with a new PSU. This should run nicely until then plus kinda futureproof I guess.

I'd upgrade the GPU to whatever is priced reasonably where you are. 9800GT(if cheap) or a 4830.
PSU should be fine for a while.

A few lemons in newegg reviews on that mobo, might want to look around?

 

[Nemo]

I'd upgrade the GPU to whatever is priced reasonably where you are. 9800GT(if cheap) or a 4830.
PSU should be fine for a while.

A few lemons in newegg reviews on that mobo, might want to look around?

Yeah, it's one of the cheapest AM3 mobos that I know of, I found a 70 ASUS one (this one is 55) but figured it would be fine after reading a review. I would go AM2 if it wouldn't have any effect on the processor but I'm not too knowledgeable about that stuff.

9800GT is unfortunately 30 bucks more and 4830 even more than that, they seem to be rare cards around here which might explain that. I would've gone with a 4850 no doubt but can't even go a few euros above budget, have to tough it out.

 

[brain_stew]

After much research I finally came with a nice little gaming budget build for 300 euros.

AMD Athlon II X2 250
MSI 770-C45
Corsair XMS3 DHX 2GB - DDR3 1600MHz
Sapphire RADEON HD 4670
Corsair CX400W

Anyone have any thoughts? I know the AM3/DDR3 might seem too much for that videocard but I kept in mind I would later on upgrade the videocard along with a new PSU. This should run nicely until then plus kinda futureproof I guess.

I'd take a X3 425 or 435 instead as its a better bet considering 3 cores is the sweet spot for gaming now, should be around the same price. You can make up for the slightly worse dual/single threaded performance by spending 5 minutes clocking to ~3.2ghz which the stock cooler will manage just fine. I'd seriously recommend stepping upto at least a 4770 as well.

DDR3 1333mhz RAM will offer the exact same performance, if you can save money by going with it instead, then go for it.

Yeah, it's one of the cheapest AM3 mobos that I know of, I found a 70 ASUS one (this one is 55) but figured it would be fine after reading a review. I would go AM2 if it wouldn't have any effect on the processor but I'm not too knowledgeable about that stuff.

9800GT is unfortunately 30 bucks more and 4830 even more than that, they seem to be rare cards around here which might explain that. I would've gone with a 4850 no doubt but can't even go a few euros above budget, have to tough it out.

4770 is what you're after, its replaced the 4850.

 

[Sipowicz]

dudes, pretty soon i will have a dual core pentium with 2 gigs of ram and a 4770

is that enough to run modern games at a decent res/framerate? will i need more ram or anything else?

 

[birdchili]

that's a nice piece of work Minsc. i covet its silent-ness. i've scaled back my (previously escalating) silencing plans until i've actually built a functional basic system. (my current system sounds a bit like a jet plane, so pretty-much anything is going to be an improvement. i have, however developed a bit of an aesthetic fascination with aftermarket heatsinks...)

current plan:

case: Antec Solo
power: Antec Signature 650
motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4
memory: 2x2GB DDR3 1333 of something supported by my motherboard (undecided)
cpu: i5 750
video card: ati hd5850
hard drive: Samsung F3 500
monitor: nec ea231wmi

thoughts/comments/obvious problems?

what's my best strategy for acquiring a 5850 in a short timeframe? constant trolling of online sites?

 

[Hazaro]

DDR3 1333mhz RAM will offer the exact same performance, if you can save money by going with it instead, then go for it.

4770 is what you're after, its replaced the 4850.

If money is so tight I'd wait a bit if you could.

The 4830/4850's are mostly gone, but sometimes you can find them for cheaper. Otherwise 4770 is the way to go.

 

[Nemo]

I'd take a X3 425 or 435 instead as its a better bet considering 3 cores is the sweet spot for gaming now, should be around the same price. You can make up for the slightly worse dual/single threaded performance by spending 5 minutes clocking to ~3.2ghz which the stock cooler will manage just fine. I'd seriously recommend stepping upto at least a 4770 as well.

DDR3 1333mhz RAM will offer the exact same performance, if you can save money by going with it instead, then go for it.




4770 is what you're after, its replaced the 4850.

Thanks man, do games actually use more than 2 cores these days? I always thought it was just dual, or quad in some strategy games and developers weren't planning on using any more that that for a long while

4770 seems to be 20 bucks more, I can cut down the RAM with 15 bucks as you said and get the following instead

Corsair - Memory - 2 GB - DIMM 240-pins - DDR3 - 1333 MHz - CL9 - 1.5 V - not buffered

Good choice? This would make me go 5 over the budget and get the 4770, PSU would take it fine I presume, yeah I could do that.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Seems like the 4770 is getting a lot of love here.. Should I get a 4770 or a 5770?

 

[DietRob]

citizenkane.gif

That is great Minsc. What a beautiful build.

 

[brain_stew]

Thanks man, do games actually use more than 2 cores these days? I always thought it was just dual, or quad in some strategy games and developers weren't planning on using any more that that for a long while

4770 seems to be 20 bucks more, I can cut down the RAM with 15 bucks as you said and get the following instead

Corsair - Memory - 2 GB - DIMM 240-pins - DDR3 - 1333 MHz - CL9 - 1.5 V - not buffered

Good choice? This would make me go 5 over the budget and get the 4770, PSU would take it fine I presume, yeah I could do that.

Yes, three cores is the current sweet spot, not 2, not 4, thanks in large part to the 360.

That's an excellent change, but you need 4GB of RAM for a modern system. Definitely get the 4770 either way, its a good 50%+ upgrade. I suppose you could get away with buying the single DIMM now, but be sure to add the second as a matter of priority.

PSU is more than sufficient. If you want to save some cash a CoolerMaster Extreme Power Plus 460w is a super cheap PSU but still half decent. Its not as good as that Corsair unit but its fine either way, should leav enough money in your budget for both a 4770 and 4 gigs of RAM if you can find one locally. Coolermaster sometimes bundle it with their 330 line of cases which is a great combo deal for those on a budget.

Seems like the 4770 is getting a lot of love here.. Should I get a 4770 or a 5770?

Well if you've got the cash for it the 5770 is definitely the better card, has a lower idle power draw and DX11 support, so its definitely worth the extra cash. On a tighter budget the 4770 is a great card still.

 

[Nemo]

Yes, three cores is the current sweet spot, not 2, not 4, thanks in large part to the 360.

That's an excellent change, but you need 4GB of RAM for a modern system. Definitely get the 4770 either way, its a good 50%+ upgrade. I suppose you could get away with buying the single DIMM now, but be sure to add the second as a matter of priority.

PSU is more than sufficient. If you want to save some cash a CoolerMaster Extreme Power Plus 460w is a super cheap PSU but still half decent. Its not as good as that Corsair unit but its fine either way, should leav enough money in your budget for both a 4770 and 4 gigs of RAM if you can find one locally. Coolermaster sometimes bundle it with their 330 line of cases which is a great combo deal for those on a budget.

The CM is actually a bit more expensive than the Corsair, and I have a spare 330 case lying here anyway which is what I was gonna install it in.

Yeah, the 4GB is a bit of a downer but shit, this PC is practically as good as my E8400/4850 PC already. The other 2GB will probably go in there by the end of the year, so no biggie about that.

Oh, and the AMD Athlon II X3 425 seems to be just 3 euros more, I'm guessing I'd be a fool to pass that up since OCing works fine as you say.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Well if you've got the cash for it the 5770 is definitely the better card, has a lower idle power draw and DX11 support, so its definitely worth the extra cash. On a tighter budget the 4770 is a great card still.

Ah, thanks. Got an order placed for a 5770, but it's still open, so I was just wondering if I should get a 4770 instead.

 

[brain_stew]

The CM is actually a bit more expensive than the Corsair, and I have a spare 330 case lying here anyway which is what I was gonna install it in.

Yeah, the 4GB is a bit of a downer but shit, this PC is practically as good as my E8400/4850 PC already. The other 2GB will probably go in there by the end of the year, so no biggie about that.

Oh, and the AMD Athlon II X3 425 seems to be just 3 euros more, I'm guessing I'd be a fool to pass that up since OCing works fine as you say.[/QUOTE]

Yes, its basically an extra core for free. Should be able to get to 3.2ghz on stock volts and cooling. You always have the option to push it further in future as well. In an increasing amount of games it'll actually perform better than your other rig, GTA4 and Dragon Age for sure, so long as the RAM doesn't become a bottleneck.

Plus, you've got insane upgrade options, as AMD's new architecture in 2011 (Bulldozer) will be using the AM3 platform and that's an 8 core/ 16 thread chip. So long as MSI provide a BIOS upgrade (which they should), you're set for a long, long time with that machine.

 

[markot]

Um. How can you tell how much power your computer/psu is using >.>?

 

[Hazaro]

Um. How can you tell how much power your computer/psu is using >.>?

Check reviews / use a good online calculator / post your specs here.

You can also buy a Kill-A-Watt and measure.

In general a recent PC with 1 GPU will idle ~120-150w and load at ~280-350w
*Also how efficient your power supply matters as well. Your computer will use more watts to convert what it needs and thus use more power.

 

[Ysiadmihi]

Hey guys, I just recently sold my laptop and want to get one with better gaming performance. It had a 4500M in it which I figured would be enough to play something like Street Fighter 4 or Civ 4 on the go but having to run them at the lowest res with the lowest settings and still get a barely playable framerate was really starting to bug me.

So anyway I'm looking for recommendations on a new laptop. It doesn't have to be very fast since I have a good gaming PC, but I'd like to be able to do some light gaming on the go. Integrated graphics don't bother me (I've seen an HD3200 running stuff like Aion and SF4 very well). Not looking to spend more than $550 or so though. Any suggestions?

 

[Minsc]

Thanks. Would there be much difference in performance between a 5770 and a 5850? Am I going to miss out on much by getting a 5770 or should I only consider a 5850/5870?

This review's for you. You can see it performs on average 25-50% better, you really get the most out of the 5850 at 1080p+ with AA.

Hey Minsc how much did you wind up spending on your rig? Was it that much more to make it quiet?

I mentioned it earlier, I ended up spending a little over 2K, but a lot of that just has to do with bad timing/expensive components. The case ($260), GPU ($400+ due to rarity of 5850s I got a 5870 instead) and SSD ($260) were almost 1K alone.

Making it quiet would attribute mainly to the GPU and scythe s-flex fans which are only 28db (maybe even less at under 1600RPM - mine are running around 1000RPM and are near-silent unless you're within a foot from the case). The SSD also helps a small bit (significantly quieter than my other drive, a WD Black) . In one review, the 5870 is said to be one of the quietest, loudest GPUs made, which now sorta makes sense (since it's very quiet). I guess once the fans on the 5870 crank up to 100% it's extremely loud, but at full load it's said they don't pass ~30%, so it's a quiet card.

So making it quiet really is mostly just a matter of getting quiet fans for your box ($20x3 for the scythes), and getting a quiet GPU (which luckily the 5870 is... especially at idle). Being able to control the fans directly with the Aerocool panel is neat for now too, the novelty may wear off eventually, but at least it also shows a really rough temperature on the display as well.

Maybe the case itself helps too, I'm not really sure. My last mid-tower case was much noisier, but that's probably normal, as it was also 5+ years old, and I only replaced maybe a single fan. As they age, I'm sure they get noisier.

Actually, my LCD monitor's louder than my PC, I just turned off my screen and it got significantly quieter, which is a little bizarre right now.

That's probably the best system on GAF you've got there, what speed have you got the CPU clocked to?


Looks like they did a bang up job with that. Congrats, I know you've been waiting a long time for this system, enjoy it.

Thanks, though you'll probably want to block me after you hear it's just running at stock - 2.66ghz, so it's far from the best system :lol . The SSD does very little for gaming (even if you do load games on one, tests have shown very little improvement for load times, for some reason only windows apps benefit tremendously), the clock speed is low compared to someone else who's overclocked to ~4ghz, and the 5870 isn't crossfired, but hey, it's not a slow system by any means. I'm more than happy with the performance for now, if I need to, I know I can overclock it pretty far in the future, as it's only hitting around 50C at full load, giving me about a good 20C to play with... which is more than I expected.

 

[brain_stew]

Thanks, though you'll probably want to block me after you hear it's just running at stock - 2.66ghz, so it's far from the best system :lol . The SSD does very little for gaming (even if you do load games on one, tests have shown very little improvement for load times, for some reason only windows apps benefit tremendously), the clock speed is low compared to someone else who's overclocked to ~4ghz, and the 5870 isn't crossfired, but hey, it's not a slow system by any means. I'm more than happy with the performance for now, if I need to, I know I can overclock it pretty far in the future, as it's only hitting around 50C at full load, giving me about a good 20C to play with... which is more than I expected.

Oh come on, that things just begging to be OCed with that huge ass Megahalem fan stuck on top of it. You've got to have the urge to at least try OCing it surely! :lol

Don't you want to know what she can do?

 

[brain_stew]

Hey guys, I just recently sold my laptop and want to get one with better gaming performance. It had a 4500M in it which I figured would be enough to play something like Street Fighter 4 or Civ 4 on the go but having to run them at the lowest res with the lowest settings and still get a barely playable framerate was really starting to bug me.

So anyway I'm looking for recommendations on a new laptop. It doesn't have to be very fast since I have a good gaming PC, but I'd like to be able to do some light gaming on the go. Integrated graphics don't bother me (I've seen an HD3200 running stuff like Aion and SF4 very well). Not looking to spend more than $550 or so though. Any suggestions?

If you want to game, you want a 4650 or GT 130m at a minimum imo. The mobility 3200 is not in anyway a gaming chip, its better than Intel crap, sure, but that doesn't really count for much. SFIV is a game where you need a constant 60fps and you're just never going to do that at any resolution with a 3200, and no, turning off the background completely is hardlya solution. Dunno if it can be done in budget, low end notebooks are just horrible gaming machines, tbh.

A quick look on Newegg and $650 after rebate is absolute best you can do, even then its not a machine I'd really recommend, you need to be spending around $750 for something worthwile. Anything below these thresholds is going to pack really horrible gaming capabilities:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152126

Maybe look for a refurbished machine on Ebay?

 

[Nobby]

You gotta atleast do a stock voltage oc on that 920! I am running mine on stock voltage oc'd to 3.0ghz even though I got a water cooler that should be able to handle 4ghz. Just figured I'll oc more later so I feel like I get a speed boost later on.

edit - forgot to say I am seriously loving that case. Trying to convince my brother to get it right now. :lol

 

[Satanyoka]

What I'm currently trying to build. (newbie)
Case: ThermalTake M9 Midi-Tower Case - 430W PSU
Motherboard: GA-EP43-US3L Motherboard
CPU: Core 2 Quad Q9550 (2.83GHz) - LGA775, 12MB Cache, 1333FSB
RAM: 4096MB (2 x 2048MB) PC2-5300 667Mhz DDR2 RAM (Dual Channel)
HDD: 1000GB 7200rpm Serial ATA-II-300 HDD
VideoCard: Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 - 1GB DDR3
Any suggestion for improvement would be greatly appreciated.

 

[brain_stew]

What I'm currently trying to build. (newbie)
Case: ThermalTake M9 Midi-Tower Case - 430W PSU
Motherboard: GA-EP43-US3L Motherboard
CPU: Core 2 Quad Q9550 (2.83GHz) - LGA775, 12MB Cache, 1333FSB
RAM: 4096MB (2 x 2048MB) PC2-5300 667Mhz DDR2 RAM (Dual Channel)
HDD: 1000GB 7200rpm Serial ATA-II-300 HDD
VideoCard: Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 - 1GB DDR3
Any suggestion for improvement would be greatly appreciated.

Don NOT buy a socket 775 rig, terrible, terrible use of funds.

 

[Satanyoka]

Don NOT buy a socket 775 rig, terrible, terrible use of funds.

Ugh I'm terribly embarrassed. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
First time building a PC and I'm doing as much research as I can.

 

[markot]

Most seem to be going for i5's these days.

 

[Satanyoka]

Soooooo I should go with the i5 or i7?
Base:
Case: Antec Three Hundred Midi-Tower Gaming Case, Black - No PSU
Power Supply: Seasonic S12+ 550 watt Super high efficiency: 88% with EPS 12v
Motherboard: Ggabyte GA-P55-UD4 Motherboard
LGA1156, Intel P55, 4x DDR3 2000, 2x PCI-Ex16, 10x SATAII, RAID, GigLAN, 8Chl, SLI & Crossfire, Heatpipe, ATX
CPUs | Processor: Core i5 750 Quad Core (2.66GHz) - LGA1156 8MB Cache
Memory - RAM: 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz DDR3 RAM - 9-9-9-24
Hard Drives - Internal: 500GB 7200rpm Serial ATA-II-300 HDD
CD/DVD: 22x DVD+-RW Dual Layer DVD Burner
Video Card: ASUS Radeon HD 4830 - 512MB DDR3
256-bit, 2x DVI, HDTV, HDCP - PCI-Ex16 v2.0 (575MHz, 2.0GHz)

 

[brain_stew]

Soooooo I should go with the i5 or i7?

What's it for?

On a budget an AM3 rig is great value with really good upgrade options but if you've the cash for it nothing an touch the performance of the i5/i7 range.

 

[markot]

I5 seems to be the more affordable consumer one, I7 is high end and server.

But I would get more ram if I were you, 4gb at least.

 

[Satanyoka]

What's it for?

On a budget an AM3 rig is great value with really good upgrade options but if you've the cash for it nothing an touch the performance of the i5/i7 range.

Games and running 3Ds Max etc. It's not too expensive down under for the i5. Around low-mid 1k. Minus monitor...and keybord...and mouse. But those are pretty cheap too.
Don't have to many expenses but it will take me more than a month to raise the funds , But it will be well worth it.
I didn't even realise I chose a socket 775, thanks for pointing out my stupidity. :lol

I5 seems to be the more affordable consumer one, I7 is high end and server.

But I would get more ram if I were you, 4gb at least.

Definetely, that was the prebuilt model only. Plan to educate myself further.

 

[kitch9]

Ugh I'm terribly embarrassed. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
First time building a PC and I'm doing as much research as I can.

4GB ram. consider a ATI 5750 at least over the 4850. ATI reckon a 20% speed boost on the 5*** series will happen when the cat 9.12's are out.

As someone said socket 775 is going the way of the dodo, so fugedabowdit.

 

[Satanyoka]

4GB ram. consider a ATI 5750 at least over the 4850. ATI reckon a 20% speed boost on the 5*** series will happen when the cat 9.12's are out.

As someone said socket 775 is going the way of the dodo, so fugedabowdit.

If I go up to 8GB ram, would W7 64 bit(And Above machine) be able to utilise it or should I stick with just 4GB?
Also Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 - 1GB DDR5 or Gigabyte Radeon HD 5770 - 1GB DDR5

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I'm looking to upgrade my GTX9800+ to something that will run most of today's games at 60FPS at 1680x1050 on my Q6600 (@2.4GHz).

Is there anything within a reasonable price-range that will achieve this? I'm willing to accept a nice solid 30 if it means a nicer price.

 

[Dennis]

If I go up to 8GB ram, would W7 64 bit(And Above machine) be able to utilise it or should I stick with just 4GB?
Also Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 - 1GB DDR5 or Gigabyte Radeon HD 5770 - 1GB DDR5

Sure it will - but wheter or not you are going to feel that extra ram depends on what and how many programs you will be running.

4GB is the absolute minimum amount of ram for a new machine now I feel.

Edit: oh I see you plan on running 3ds Max - get all the ram you can afford!

 

[kitch9]

If I go up to 8GB ram, would W7 64 bit(And Above machine) be able to utilise it or should I stick with just 4GB?
Also Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 - 1GB DDR5 or Gigabyte Radeon HD 5770 - 1GB DDR5

IF you are video editing maybe, but if you are playing games and reading e-mails then I doubt you'll ever completely fill 4GB so stick with that.

64bit OS is a must of course.

5770 all the way by a mile.

 

[wenis]

Tell me I did good:

Scythe SCKTN-3000 92mm Sleeve "KATANA3" 3Heat Pipes CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835185096

Seagate Barracuda LP ST31000520AS 1TB 5900 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148411

ASRock X58 Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813157163

NZXT ZERO 2 Crafted Series CS-NT-ZERO-2 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811146054

SAMSUNG 2343BWX High Glossy Black 23" 5ms 16:9 Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Item #: N82E16824001317

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115202

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
Item #: N82E16827118030

Rosewill RFA-120-K 120mm Case Fan - Retail
Item #: N82E16835200048

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231225

Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G1 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - OEM
Item #: N82E16820167005

RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS 730W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Modular LED Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817152036

OPTI-UPS SS1200BLK Voltage Stabilizer - Retail
Item #: N82E16842107125

EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130475

Nippon Labs Premium 1M (3.28 ft.) SATA Cable with 1 Right Angle Connector for SATA I and SATA II Hard Drive Model SATA-1MR - Retail
Item #: N82E16812816031

All came from recommendations from my friend at school (We're both modeling/environment/prop design students).

 

[Funky Papa]

Isn't i7 a bit of an overkill even for hardcore gaming? I've seen plenty of PC nuts more than pleased with the cheaper i5.

 

[Binabik15]

I ordered a i5 750, XFX 5850, 4 gb rig yesterday, now the waiting game starts:lol

Now I just need a decent (wireless) mouse and keyboard, order yate loons from another store and wait for christmas for a better cpu cooler.

Still don´t know where I´d put it, though, my current entertainment area looks like that.

If I move the subwoofer further to the left and place it below the PS3 games on the right side there´d be 75 cm and almost 7 cm thick plywood between the pc and the sub. That´d be more space than between PS3 and xbox360 and the sub and they are perfectly fine.

It´d be nice if I could put it there without frying the damn thing, because it´d be in front of my couch and I could play with a (long cabled) usb mouse instead of wireless.

But I might just place it besides the left cabinet to be safe (would be unconveniant, though).

 

[Satanyoka]

Isn't i7 a bit of an overkill even for hardcore gaming? I've seen plenty of PC nuts more than pleased with the cheaper i5.

I'm gonna stick with the i5 for now and upgrade later. Thanks guys.

 

[Septimus]

Apex Allied AL-D500EXP 500W Power Supply 20/24PIN ATX 12V 120MM Fan Retail
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In Stock 45267 $48.99 $48.99
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The Price Match you submitted has a difference of 20% or more. This may be because the price you are trying to match is in US dollars. We will review the Price Match and let you know if it's valid. Please read our Price Match terms & conditions for details.
$36.96 $36.96

Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 ATX AM2+/AM3 AMD770 PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 RAID 1394 HD Sound GBLAN Motherboard
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In Stock 35762 $83.50 $83.50

AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Triple Core Processor AM3 2.8GHZ 7.5MB Cache 95W 45NM Retail Box
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OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-18 DDR2 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
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Seagate SV35.5 500GB 3.5IN SATA 16MB Cache Surveillance Hard Drive OEM
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Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
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Azza Orion 201 BLACK/SILVER ATX Mid Tower Case 4X5.25 2X3.5 5X3.5INT 120MM LED Fans W *IR-$12*
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PC Assembly and Testing with 1 Year Limited NCIX System Warranty (PRE-CONFIG WIN. OS If Purchased)
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Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22X DVD+-RW SATA DVD Writer Black OEM
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Powercolor Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card
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Are all these parts compatible? I have a feeling they will say FU at the RAM price match, though.

 

[teiresias]

I've gone completely Mac in my computing, but I'm getting the itch to build a new PC, however, I'm thinking of making this one specialized, in that it will be pretty much all gaming and streaming duties (HTPC lite I suppose), and hence be hooked up to my Pioneer Kuro 5020 rather than an actual computer monitor?

Has anyone done anything like this? What's the best thing to look for in a graphics card in terms of getting a good dot-to-dot pixel mapping when going to a plasma TV on something like this rather than a monitor? Gonna look through this topic too for form factor stuff, wondering whether to go micro ATX or not.

 

[brain_stew]

I've gone completely Mac in my computing, but I'm getting the itch to build a new PC, however, I'm thinking of making this one specialized, in that it will be pretty much all gaming and streaming duties (HTPC lite I suppose), and hence be hooked up to my Pioneer Kuro 5020 rather than an actual computer monitor?

Has anyone done anything like this? What's the best thing to look for in a graphics card in terms of getting a good dot-to-dot pixel mapping when going to a plasma TV on something like this rather than a monitor? Gonna look through this topic too for form factor stuff, wondering whether to go micro ATX or not.

Its your TV that needs to support 1:1 pixel mapping not the card. They'll all output at your screen's native 1080p resolution just fine.

I'd vote yes on the M-ATX angle, Get a shuttle case, a 785G motherboard a Phenom/Athlon ii X3, 4GB DRR3 and a 4890, 1080p gaming on the cheap.

 

[SundaySounds]

Are all these parts compatible? I have a feeling they will say FU at the RAM price match, though.

I think they should all play nice together, but are you sure you want DDR2 ram? if you're starting from scratch, just get a MoBo with DDR3 support.

Also, newegg has that processor for 120, free shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...103649&Tpk=AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition

and tbh, you could get a quad core for that price.

 

[brain_stew]

I think they should all play nice together, but are you sure you want DDR2 ram? if you're starting from scratch, just get a MoBo with DDR3 support.

Agree with this. get the AM3 DDR3 version of that motherboard, it'll leave you with much better upgrade options.

 

[SundaySounds]

Okay, so I've done a bit of upgrading to my original plan. what do you guys think?