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[EphemeralDream]

After you add the video card and upgrade the PSU to handle your new video card, you'll be looking at around what brain_stew's $550 PC would cost. If you can get the OS through your university or something, it would definitely be a better route to build your own.

I looked through the thread a little but couldn't find this build you were talking about. Could someone link me?

 

[Firestorm]

I looked through the thread a little but couldn't find this build you were talking about. Could someone link me?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366177

 

[brain_stew]

A friend and I were about to jump on this for about $428 including tax:

It seems like a good deal and anything is an upgrade at this point (my laptop is almost 7 years old). We'd plan on upping the power supply later and adding a gfx card but then the case is micro atx so will that make things a lot more difficult?

Then don't buy it, simple. Never buy a pre-packaged PC where upgrades are necessary, its a headache waiting to happen.

 

[brain_stew]

Yeah I'm not going for the gfx card just yet. They have some cards that you can throw in but I'd imagine I'd get a better deal online. I figure I can at least play Orange Box which I have lying around even if it's on like low-med settings. The goal here was to spend less than $500 but get something I could work with in the future since I kept dreaming about building a PC but never got off the ground with it.

Then go ahead and do that right now. $500 can buy you a great gaming rig, sans OS.

 

[alternade]

So I think i'm gonna go with this combo that just popped up. Link

1. AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX - Retail

2. MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

3. OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3OB1600LV4GK - Retail

All I need now is a psu, gpu, and case. Suggestions?

 

[Firestorm]

So I think i'm gonna go with this combo that just popped up. Link

1. AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX - Retail

2. MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

3. OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3OB1600LV4GK - Retail

All I need now is a psu, gpu, and case. Suggestions?

5770 + Sonata III w/500W Antec Earthwatts if you're trying to stay on a budget ($280 total)

 

[TheHeretic]

A friend and I were about to jump on this for about $428 including tax:

It seems like a good deal and anything is an upgrade at this point (my laptop is almost 7 years old). We'd plan on upping the power supply later and adding a gfx card but then the case is micro atx so will that make things a lot more difficult?

There's nothing good about that deal, even with the massive discounts.

Brain Stews builds can get you much, much more for less.

 

[MWS Natural]

Can someone recommend me some quiet 60mm fans? The one's I have in the back of my case that light up are getting kinda of noisy and whiney.

 

[brain_stew]

Can someone recommend me some quiet 60mm fans? The one's I have in the back of my case that light up are getting kinda of noisy and whiney.

If Yate Loon or Noctua make 60mm fans, then get them.

 

[LAUGHTREY]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366177

Gah, why didn't someone just link me this in the first place . 400 dollars is right what I'm looking for, saving up a little more for the 500 might even be a good idea.



That looks great, is there anything between june and now to add to that list though?

 

[EphemeralDream]

Waiting to put in a card later (maybe after rebates come back) but I scrounged this up in a few minutes. I don't know much about compatibility but saw the mb/proc combo and I assume that ram would work..

AMD Phenom II X2 550/Gigagbyte GA-M7770T - $145 - 10 MIR
OCZ DDR3 Special Ops 4GB $79
Lite-on 24x DVD Writer - $31
Antec Sonata III 500 $99 - 20 MIR
WD Caviar 500 $70
gigabyte Pci adapter $17
Lite-on kb $7

+ shipping and minus discounts = 453.12
-MIR = 423.12

Thoughts?
Also can I use the student upgrade version of Windows 7 if there was no other OS present? I don't have any XP licenses to spare though.

 

[MWS Natural]

If Yate Loon or Noctua make 60mm fans, then get them.

Hard to find quiet 60mm fans but found these which might work with larger fans.

 

[Pctx]

If not... It will be coming soon.

My next project.....

For those interested, check the guys out here: http://www.lan-gear.com/index.php

 

[skrew]

Newegg has Cooler Master Storm Scout ATX Mid Tower Computer Case + OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W Power Supply for $130 - $13 (Bing Cashback) - $65 (MIR) = $52

 

[JakOfTheShadows]

I've been a little busy with moving and the holiday so this post is about 3 weeks late. I wanted to share my new PC build though. It was my first build from scratch, but everything went well for the most part. I wanted a different/smaller case and the Lian LI I picked out has been perfect. It just barely fit the 5870 and I had to actually install the CPU Cooler while the motherboard was in the case as it was just a bit too tall to slide the motherboard in with it installed. I got the OS free through my MSDN subscription from work and I'm using an old keyboard and mouse currently, but everything else I bought on Newegg. I have to say I am more than happy with the build and everything has been running like a dream so far.

CASE: LIAN LI PC-V351B

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD4

CPU: Intel Core i5-750

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B 92mm SSO CPU Cooler

Video Card: ASUS 5870

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM

Monitor: ASUS VW246H Black 24" 2ms

Optical Drive: DVD BURN SONY-NEC|AD-7241S-0B

Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 200 watts RMS 2.1 Speaker System

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit



(Sorry for the bad pictures but I had to use my camera phone as I haven't unpacked my digital camera yet.)

EDIT - Added some links to Newegg for the parts in case someone was interested.

 

[markot]

Thats a weird case >_< Why is the dvd thingy on the side?!

 

[JakOfTheShadows]

Thats a weird case >_< Why is the dvd thingy on the side?!

They put them on the sides (along with the external USB and other hookups), so the front would be simple and clean I believe. There are 2 spots for optical drives on each side, and I just filled the top one on the right because of where it currently sits on my desk. Part of the reason I got the case is since it has such a clean design it would look ok in the family room by the TV if I ever want to turn it into a home theater PC. Right now it fine being my gaming rig though.

After this build with all the recent Steam sales I have been picking up way too many PC games to play. AT least I have a good backlog to go through now.

 

[Borman]

So what motherboards should I start looking at in regards to an AMD machine that should accept the future processors coming out? Looking for a solid performer for the processor, but like I said, more interested in the other stuff coming out.

 

[Dash]

Anyone know if this RAM is any good? It doesn't have nearly as many reviews as some of the others, so I'm guessing it just came out. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

I also decided on this PSU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017, thoughts?

 

[See]

dont know if this has been a million times before so here goes:

Whats the best way to apply thermal compound on a Phenom II prosessor?

So far, I am leaning towards the blob in the middle and let the heat sink do the rest method?

So what motherboards should I start looking at in regards to an AMD machine that should accept the future processors coming out? Looking for a solid performer for the processor, but like I said, more interested in the other stuff coming out.

790gx or a 790fx will do the trick, they natively support AM3 processors up to 145w I think and support DDR3 ram up 1600mhz with overclocking.

 

[birdchili]

3 random questions:

what's louder: stock hd5850, or stock i5 750 coolers?

is it worthwhile to create a small os partition to keep your frequently accessed os files together on your drive, or is it more trouble than it's worth?

can i set different windows apps to output to different audio devices? i'd like to be able to stream music to the stereo while playing a game with audio on different speakers - possible? or ridiculously annoying?

 

[Terrifyer]

3 random questions:

what's louder: stock hd5850, or stock i5 750 coolers?

is it worthwhile to create a small os partition to keep your frequently accessed os files together on your drive, or is it more trouble than it's worth?

can i set different windows apps to output to different audio devices? i'd like to be able to stream music to the stereo while playing a game with audio on different speakers - possible? or ridiculously annoying?

To answer that last question, it's application controlled. You can only set up one default audio playback device in windows, but most media playback programs (just checked in windows media player, for example) allow you to use a non-default playback device...allowing you to do what you described.

 

[Pachinko]

Okay, I just popped over to NCIX. The following is 1400 $ canadian right now. What should I change , your suggestions will pretty well leave me with the system I"ll be buying soon. As the PC configurater is a giant search engine for adding specific parts, if there's some hard drive or motherboard I should grab I need the make and exact model number. Those are the only 2 things I'd probably change with this pc just looking at it but who knows. I'd rather not use another AC97 based sound solution as the one on my current pc doesn't have ANY recorder volume.. if someone could tell me whether they fixed that issue I'd be less hesitant.

1 x 1 Year Parts & 1 Year Labour Limited Warranty On System Components - Click for Details
1 x PC Assembly and Testing with 1 Year Limited NCIX System Warranty (PRE-CONFIG WIN. OS If Purchased)
1 x Please Use The Onboard Network Ethernet Card Integrated On My Motherboard
1 x Please Use The Onboard Sound Card Integrated On My Motherboard
1 x Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22X DVD+-RW SATA DVD Writer Black OEM
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA2 3.5IN 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive OEM *3YR MFR Warranty*
1 x Microsoft Office Ready 2007 SP1 60 Day Trial - Free with New NCIX or Nx Fusion PC Purchase
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
1 x Seasonic SS-650HT 650W EPS12V 20/24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 80PLUS 6PIN PCI-E 120MM Fan OEM
1 x Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Gamer Case 900 ATX 9 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 1394 Audio
1 x Gigabyte Radeon HD 5850 725MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.0GHZ 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card
1 x G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 Core I5 1.65V Memory Kit
1 x MSI P55-CD53 ATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3 PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA GBLAN DrMOS OC Genie Motherboard
1 x Please Use The Heatsink Included with My CPU -NOT Available with OEM Processors
1 x Intel Core i7 860 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.8GHZ Hyperthreading 8MB Cache Retail Box

 

[Dash]

Okay, I just popped over to NCIX. The following is 1400 $ canadian right now. What should I change , your suggestions will pretty well leave me with the system I"ll be buying soon. As the PC configurater is a giant search engine for adding specific parts, if there's some hard drive or motherboard I should grab I need the make and exact model number. Those are the only 2 things I'd probably change with this pc just looking at it but who knows. I'd rather not use another AC97 based sound solution as the one on my current pc doesn't have ANY recorder volume.. if someone could tell me whether they fixed that issue I'd be less hesitant.

1 x 1 Year Parts & 1 Year Labour Limited Warranty On System Components - Click for Details
1 x PC Assembly and Testing with 1 Year Limited NCIX System Warranty (PRE-CONFIG WIN. OS If Purchased)
1 x Please Use The Onboard Network Ethernet Card Integrated On My Motherboard
1 x Please Use The Onboard Sound Card Integrated On My Motherboard
1 x Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22X DVD+-RW SATA DVD Writer Black OEM
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA2 3.5IN 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive OEM *3YR MFR Warranty*
1 x Microsoft Office Ready 2007 SP1 60 Day Trial - Free with New NCIX or Nx Fusion PC Purchase
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
1 x Seasonic SS-650HT 650W EPS12V 20/24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 80PLUS 6PIN PCI-E 120MM Fan OEM
1 x Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Gamer Case 900 ATX 9 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 1394 Audio
1 x Gigabyte Radeon HD 5850 725MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.0GHZ 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card
1 x G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 Core I5 1.65V Memory Kit
1 x MSI P55-CD53 ATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3 PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA GBLAN DrMOS OC Genie Motherboard
1 x Please Use The Heatsink Included with My CPU -NOT Available with OEM Processors
1 x Intel Core i7 860 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.8GHZ Hyperthreading 8MB Cache Retail Box

I'd replace the i7 for an i5 myself, that could save you a cool $100.00.

So anybody on the RAM I posted? I think the sale ends in one hour :/

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

I got my Q9550 up and running last night to good results. If anyone still has a legacy 775 mobo and don't want to upgrade everything this is a good chip to go with. I did some research on the Q9400 and Q9550. I was able to find the Q9550 within about 40 dollars of the Q9400. If you can find the Q9550 within around 50 bucks of the Q9400 I would go that route. The 9550 has a slightly higher multiplier (8.5 versus 8), so overclocking possibility is higher by default. Plus the Q9550 chip in general is a higher binned chip than the Q9400 so you have better overclocking ability. It does have twice the cache too (12mb versus 6mb), which does make a slight difference in games. But the better overclocking ability is the real difference maker. You can see some of my surprising results below. Looking at pure price to performance, the Q9550 is the best quad core to get. Although this might be changing as the Q9550 price keeps going up. But if you are looking for more of a budget chip, the Q9400 would be a good choice and not that far behind. At this point I would skip the Q8400 as the difference between that and the Q9400 is minimal.

At stock speeds on my Q9550 and GTX 260 I am now getting over 60fps in L4D2 with CX16 AA and 16AF with everything at max settings @ 1080p. Using Fraps my experience has been in the 100s with some action, and then into the mid 60s when everything goes crazy, which is awesome. Dragon Age has had a good boost too. The parts that would drop in the mid teens now holds in the low 40s, with most of the game well over 60fps now.

I did end up doing some overclocking (no games test yet) on the CPU and was able to easily hit 3.4 ghz with it (400 X 8.5). I will be able to go higher but I don't know if I'm going to push it. I'm pretty happy with the performance at stock speed and now I'll have a bigger boost. Overclocking the chip means running hotter, and my current temps are decent. I'm using the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2.0 cooler on it, and it is working ok. It has a bracket that screws into it and I had to slightly resposition the heatsink/fan so I thought I might have to clean it off and the chip to reapply some thermal paste, but temps are alright. I think the way this mounts is more stable than the Rev 1.0 model, but it is somewhat more of a pain to mount. I idle in the lower to mid 30s, and under heavy load goes into the mid 60s. I'm using Intel Burn Test for the heavy load which does maximise all 4 cores at 100 percent. The chip is rated up to 71.4C so I'm good there. These are worst case scenerios too, when I was playing L4D2 and Far Cry 2 (stock settings) my temps were only hitting the mid 40s on all of the cores. So the Arctic 7 Freezer Pro still works great as a budget cooler, but if you want to do crazy overclocks you might want a little more. I've been able to undervolt the chip too on my overclock while keeping things stable, so that is helping to keep the heat down as well. Somewhat strange going from a dual core I had to overvolt to hit 2.9 ghz to a quad core I can undervolt and hit 3.4 ghz stable, but I'll take it! You were a warrior e2160, but it is time for a new chip to shine!

Now it will be time to stretch my GTX 260 now that I have the CPU which can handle it.

I installed the Arctic Freezer 64 Pro in my machine last night and while my overclock is still topping out at 3.25GHz from 2.6GHz but, I am now far more stable and at stock voltage. With stock cooling prime95 was making my quad core hit over 70c and now with the new cooler I never go over 55c and idle at about 35c. I'd say it made a good 15-20c reduction. I'm also having no problem with my HTLink & NB frequency at 2250 and ram at 833MHz up from 667MHz.

My Arctic Cooled Radeon Saphire 4770 is @ 925/850 up from 750/800 and runs stable at 76c max load when running FurMarks stability test. I used MSI's Afterburner program for overclocking.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

I'd replace the i7 for an i5 myself, that could save you a cool $100.00.

So anybody on the RAM I posted? I think the sale ends in one hour :/

As long as it's a decent price and the kind your motherboard needs you should be fine. As far as a brand goes, I've never had trouble with G-Skill ram.

 

[Pikelet]

Anyone seeing anything wrong with this build? Prices are in $AU

 

[ninjavanish]

Which of these 2 cpus would give me the most bang for games:

Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz
Core2Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz

I'm also concerned about overall cpu+mobo+ram costs for the intel/amd options above. What do you guys suggest for mobo+ram combos for each cpu? I'm hoping to get the most out of my $300 budgeted for cpu+mobo+ram. I'm only going to run a single gpu so I don't need boards with sli/crossfire.

Also, if my budget is unrealistic given these cpus what others would you guys suggest? If not, how much do you think my budget should be to keep these cpus and make a good build.

 

[brain_stew]

Waiting to put in a card later (maybe after rebates come back) but I scrounged this up in a few minutes. I don't know much about compatibility but saw the mb/proc combo and I assume that ram would work..

AMD Phenom II X2 550/Gigagbyte GA-M7770T - $145 - 10 MIR
OCZ DDR3 Special Ops 4GB $79
Lite-on 24x DVD Writer - $31
Antec Sonata III 500 $99 - 20 MIR
WD Caviar 500 $70
gigabyte Pci adapter $17
Lite-on kb $7

+ shipping and minus discounts = 453.12
-MIR = 423.12

Thoughts?
Also can I use the student upgrade version of Windows 7 if there was no other OS present? I don't have any XP licenses to spare though.

Get a triple/quad core, even if it means dropping down to an Athlon ii to stay in budget you can always make up the difference through OCing if you're unhappy with the dual/single threaded performance.

 

[brain_stew]

Anyone seeing anything wrong with this build? Prices are in $AU

Yeah, that Caviar Green is too slow for an OS drive, fine for a media drive, but it'll be a big bottleneck if used for your OS and programs.

 

[brain_stew]

Which of these 2 cpus would give me the most bang for games:

Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz
Core2Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz

I'm also concerned about overall cpu+mobo+ram costs for the intel/amd options above. What do you guys suggest for mobo+ram combos for each cpu? I'm hoping to get the most out of my $300 budgeted for cpu+mobo+ram. I'm only going to run a single gpu so I don't need boards with sli/crossfire.

Also, if my budget is unrealistic given these cpus what others would you guys suggest? If not, how much do you think my budget should be to keep these cpus and make a good build.

x3 720, no contest, even if it wasn't so clear cut, you really want to stay as far away from LGA775 as you can. AM3 + DDR3 is a much better low end platform with great upgrade options.

 

[Minsc]

3 random questions:

what's louder: stock hd5850, or stock i5 750 coolers?

is it worthwhile to create a small os partition to keep your frequently accessed os files together on your drive, or is it more trouble than it's worth?

can i set different windows apps to output to different audio devices? i'd like to be able to stream music to the stereo while playing a game with audio on different speakers - possible? or ridiculously annoying?

I can't speak for sure for the 5850 (check a few reviews, they all have a power/noise section at the end), but if it's anything like the 5870 it's almost completely silent. I believe it isn't quite as quiet, but it should still be barely audible going by my 5870.

Having a separate partition / (preferably) drive for your OS + apps is the only way to go if you want to be able to backup and restore your computer if your HDD fails.

Well, I mean you could selectively not backup the 100s of GBs of games you might have installed, because who wants their backup to take up 100s of GBs more than necessary (especially when a proper Windows 7 + Office + dozen apps should only be around 10-15 gigs), but once you start leaving folders and files out of your backups things can quickly get messy when recovering the system.

Best to just image the entire drive and not have to worry about anything.

 

[brain_stew]

Anyone know if this RAM is any good? It doesn't have nearly as many reviews as some of the others, so I'm guessing it just came out. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

I also decided on this PSU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017, thoughts?

G.Skill are a top quality brand with a great return policy, no problems there.

PSU is a great deal, you'll wonder how you coped without a modular PSU in the past.

 

[ninjavanish]

x3 720, no contest, even if it wasn't so clear cut, you really want to stay as far away from LGA775 as you can. AM3 + DDR3 is a much better low end platform with great upgrade options.

Thanks for making that decision easy. What's a good AMD mobo for a decent price?

 

[infinityBCRT]

I've been a little busy with moving and the holiday so this post is about 3 weeks late. I wanted to share my new PC build though. It was my first build from scratch, but everything went well for the most part. I wanted a different/smaller case and the Lian LI I picked out has been perfect. It just barely fit the 5870 and I had to actually install the CPU Cooler while the motherboard was in the case as it was just a bit too tall to slide the motherboard in with it installed. I got the OS free through my MSDN subscription from work and I'm using an old keyboard and mouse currently, but everything else I bought on Newegg. I have to say I am more than happy with the build and everything has been running like a dream so far.

CASE: LIAN LI PC-V351B

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD4

CPU: Intel Core i5-750

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B 92mm SSO CPU Cooler

Video Card: ASUS 5870

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM

Monitor: ASUS VW246H Black 24" 2ms

Optical Drive: DVD BURN SONY-NEC|AD-7241S-0B

Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 200 watts RMS 2.1 Speaker System

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit



(Sorry for the bad pictures but I had to use my camera phone as I haven't unpacked my digital camera yet.)

EDIT - Added some links to Newegg for the parts in case someone was interested.

And your RAM is posting as 4gb? I literally put together that exact same mobo/cpu/ram combo on the weekend and it was only posting as 2gb and in Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit it would say 4.00 GB (2.00 GB usable). I had to swap out the gskill 1300's (8-8-8-24) for kingston 1600's (8-8-8-24 I believe) to get the mobo to recognize all 4 gigs. I've read that other people have had problems with gskills and to a lesser extent corsairs on this mobo too.

Even though the price is great, the GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD4 seems like it does have some compatibility issues with RAM, even with RAM that shows up on their memory compatibility chart.

There is one feature that I do like about the P55M-UD4 though, it has the ability for SPDIF IN, all you need to get is the SPDIF IN bracket. I only found one brick and mortar store in all of the Toronto area which carried the bracket though. I don't know why they didn't bundle it with the mobo because its a great feature.

 

[infinityBCRT]

x3 720, no contest, even if it wasn't so clear cut, you really want to stay as far away from LGA775 as you can. AM3 + DDR3 is a much better low end platform with great upgrade options.

I don't know what the price difference is between the AM3+DDR3 and the i5 platform but it just seemed to me that the i5 right now is the best bang for your buck and you probably won't have to worry about upgrade options since that CPU will last a while. I mean I had my core 2 duo for 2 and a half years (before the mobo crapped out on me this weekend) and I really had no need to upgrade the CPU.

Then again, most of my gaming does happen on the 360/PS3. Force Unleashed is an exception to that rule. I'm not sure what the bottleneck on that game is (I only have a 384mb BFG 8800 GTS OC2 and I'm running the game in high quality at 1650x1080), but the first level ran slow as hell on my old PC (would be in slow motion). Its better with the i5 but there are still some areas where the FPS dips. But the rest of the game flies at 60 FPS thus far.

 

[birdchili]

I can't speak for sure for the 5850 (check a few reviews, they all have a power/noise section at the end), but if it's anything like the 5870 it's almost completely silent. I believe it isn't quite as quiet, but it should still be barely audible going by my 5870.

sound levels are so subjective... someone will complain bitterly about noise of a device that others claim is completely inaudible. anecdotally, the 5850 is quite quiet as long as your fan doesn't spin up past 35% or so... the 5870 is *quieter*? better fan?

i'm contemplating putting an aftermarket cooler on my i5, largely to silence it, but the 5850 doesn't have any really good quiet cooling options yet, so it's possibly a bit pointless quieting the cpu fan if my gfx card is the loudest anyway.

Having a separate partition / (preferably) drive for your OS + apps is the only way to go if you want to be able to backup and restore your computer if your HDD fails.

i've been spoiled by a complete lack of hard drive failures at home. this is a good point. thanks.

 

[brain_stew]

I don't know what the price difference is between the AM3+DDR3 and the i5 platform but it just seemed to me that the i5 right now is the best bang for your buck and you probably won't have to worry about upgrade options since that CPU will last a while. I mean I had my core 2 duo for 2 and a half years (before the mobo crapped out on me this weekend) and I really had no need to upgrade the CPU. .

Its a major step up in price (you'll be as much as doubling your motherboard + CPU cost), so the performance of i5 CPUs is irrelevant, its for a different market. An X3 720 is still a very capable CPU, more than enough for most, and its a great OCer to boot.

 

[state_vector_collapse]

Hi, was looking for recommendations for some pc parts please. I'm in the U.K so anyone from here as well would be great - with regards a better idea of pricing.

Looking for graphics card, processor and ram. It is actually for my cousin and they have an Asus P5N-SLi motherboard (not sure if that would need to be replaced?) and the power supply should be up to the job I think (It is an Antec 550w I believe)

Their budget is around £350-400 for the above 3 items. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[brain_stew]

Hi, was looking for recommendations for some pc parts please. I'm in the U.K so anyone from here as well would be great - with regards a better idea of pricing.

Looking for graphics card, processor and ram. It is actually for my cousin and they have an Asus P5N-SLi motherboard (not sure if that would need to be replaced?) and the power supply should be up to the job I think (It is an Antec 550w I believe)

Their budget is around £350-400 for the above 3 items. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

Hmm, Ideally he'd move away from socket 775 (especially an Nvidia socket 775 board!), to take advantage of better CPU pricing, so I'll give you two potential options (one will ditch the motherboard, the other won't. First off though, how much of a gamer is he? What about the case, any potential issues with a large GPU there? What other tasks does he plan to use the PC for, heavily into 3D modelling or encoding for instance?

Edit: For £367 delivered:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/175978

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166785

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141515

 

[state_vector_collapse]

Hmm, Ideally he'd move away from socket 775 (especially an Nvidia socket 775 board!), to take advantage of better CPU pricing, so I'll give you two potential options (one will ditch the motherboard, the other won't. First off though, how much of a gamer is he? What about the case, any potential issues with a large GPU there? What other tasks does he plan to use the PC for, heavily into 3D modelling or encoding for instance?

Moving away from that motherboard wouldn't be a problem really (and the budget could be increased to allow that)

Gaming is primarily what it would be used for. At the moment the case is an Antec Sonata III. He has an 8800GT and Intel E2180 - but it has always given problems with games. Crashing etc and tried all sorts to get it working stable, but to no decent effect. So figured it was time to upgrade.

 

[brain_stew]

Moving away from that motherboard wouldn't be a problem really (and the budget could be increased to allow that)

Gaming is primarily what it would be used for. At the moment the case is an Antec Sonata III. He has an 8800GT and Intel E2180 - but it has always given problems with games. Crashing etc and tried all sorts to get it working stable, but to no decent effect. So figured it was time to upgrade.

Uhm, it'd be an idea to find out what was the problem component first before junking it all. It could very well be the motherboard that is at fault (in fact it wouldn't surprise me one bit considering how bad Nvidia chipsets tend to be), and yet he may be keeping that.

 

[cory]

I need a new case- microATX mini tower. Any suggestions?

 

[SundaySounds]

I need a new case- microATX mini tower. Any suggestions?

Are you sure you want a mini tower? Do you plan on doing any real gaming? Most higher end cards aren't going to fit.

 

[cory]

Are you sure you want a mini tower? Do you plan on doing any real gaming? Most higher end cards aren't going to fit.

I can fit a 4870 in my current one, I think it's a mini tower, it's the height of the microATX board and the PSU.

 

[state_vector_collapse]

Uhm, it'd be an idea to find out what was the problem component first before junking it all. It could very well be the motherboard that is at fault (in fact it wouldn't surprise me one bit considering how bad Nvidia chipsets tend to be), and yet he may be keeping that.

Honestly, if there are better out there, then the motherboard can go. I personally feel buying a mobo with the other bits, is the better idea.

I think if he bought a mobo/graphics combination that is known to work together ok, then that a may be the better option. the budget can be stretched for it no worries.

Thanks for your input so far by the way.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

just got these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043&cm_re=antec_1200-_-11-129-043-_-Product

and this power supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

with the mail-in-rebates i get back $55 dollars. pretty nice deal i think.

 

[Borman]

790gx or a 790fx will do the trick, they natively support AM3 processors up to 145w I think and support DDR3 ram up 1600mhz with overclocking.

Great, and that should support the processors coming out in the future? Any preferred brand nowadays? Its been years since Ive even considered building a PC

 

[Bebpo]

I just got my Asus 23" monitor. It's really big! coming from a 17" 4:3

Couple of questions:

1. What should I use to calibrate it? It seems kinda "light"

2. What settings should I change in Firefox to make web browsing readable. This is very difficult to read (GAF) right now with the super wide 16:9 aspect. Can I tell Firefox to make it 4:3 and just have pretty borders or something? Or do 2 pages at once?

 

[BravoSuperStar]

Hold down ctrl, then mouse wheel up.