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

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Spl1nter

Member
since I am going to be assembling my own computer for the first time I am freaked out about static electricity and shorting out something. Any good tips or guides around?
 
K

kmfdmpig

Member
Spl1nter said:
since I am going to be assembling my own computer for the first time I am freaked out about static electricity and shorting out something. Any good tips or guides around?
Click to expand...

I think just touching metal prior to touching components is a reasonable safeguard (touch the metal side of the case, for example, before touching anything else).
 
D

darkpaladinmfc

Member
MSI 770-C45 AMD 770 AM3 DDR3 Support 8 channel Blu-ray Audio GB LAN ATX Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X3 435 2.9GHz Socket AM3 1.5MB L2 Cache Retail Box Processor
Corsair 4gb (2x2gb) Ddr3 1333mhz Xms3 Memory Kit Cl9 (9-9-9-24)
PowerColor HD 4850 PCS+ Edition 512MB GDDR4 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
Sony AD-5240S 24x DVD±RW DL Internal SATA Black Bare Drive - OEM
Coolermaster Elite 330 Case With Coolermaster eXtreme Power 460W PSU
Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM Caviar Blue

If I buy these what else will I need to build a fully functioning PC, excluding OS, speakers, KB/M, monitor. Would I need for instance, additional fans?
 
MoFuzz

MoFuzz

Member
darkpaladinmfc said:
If I buy these what else will I need to build a fully functioning PC, excluding OS, speakers, KB/M, monitor. Would I need for instance, additional fans?
Click to expand...

That case looks to only come with the one rear fan, you may want to add a second for better air flow, but it's not required persay. Less heat means longer life for your components though.

If you plan on overclocking, an aftermarket CPU heatsink/fan is a must. Even if you don't oc, it'll still run quieter and cooler with it. Especially the stock AMD CPU fan, that thing is pretty damn loud compared to even the stock Intel one.

So neither is required, but both would be good purchases.
 
E

erpg

GAF parliamentarian
D

Dash

Junior Member
Feel the Swift said:
Is this the best solution for 4GB of RAM since these ran out? I'm planning on getting an AMD Phenom II X4 955. Is there some sort of problem with AMD and DDR3 1333 / 1600?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231275

Also found this Corsair one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
Click to expand...

I went for these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...31303&cm_re=4GB_ripjaw-_-20-231-303-_-Product on my build since I plan on overclocking. I think they were just released last month, and seem to have superior features compared to other 2x2 GB DDR3 packs for the same price.
 
F

Firebrand

Member
What's a good but preferrably cheap gaming LCD? HDMI or headphone jack is a bonus but not a requirement. Been looking the a BenQ T2210HD but haven't seen it with my own eyes yet.

EDIT: Also, is LED worth adding a bit extra for?
 
W

Wallach

Member
Feel the Swift said:
Is this the best solution for 4GB of RAM since these ran out? I'm planning on getting an AMD Phenom II X4 955. Is there some sort of problem with AMD and DDR3 1333 / 1600?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231275

Also found this Corsair one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
Click to expand...

Between those two I recommend the Corsair. I have had sort of a mediocre experience with G.Skill chips - some of them are very solid and others had no OC room, and one set was actually DOA. I've not once had any issue with my Corsair chips - that doesn't mean you have 0% chance of getting a bad Corsair chip by any means, but were that my $100 it would be an easy decision.
 
wolfmat

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
kmfdmpig said:
I think just touching metal prior to touching components is a reasonable safeguard (touch the metal side of the case, for example, before touching anything else).
Click to expand...
I usually touch permanently installed radiators since they should be guaranteed to be grounded.
 
S

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
kmfdmpig said:
I think just touching metal prior to touching components is a reasonable safeguard (touch the metal side of the case, for example, before touching anything else).
Click to expand...
I think buying a wrist strap is the way to go. I've never killed a PC with one and I've been inside a computer case dozens of times.

The other thing is to always use the motherboard risers. That is a big one.
 
S

squicken

Member
My current PC is starting to sound like a jet engine. I've gone in and cleaned up the fans (stock fans) and gotten all the dust I can get at, but every 10 minutes or so it just kicks into overdrive.

Oddly enough, I want to use this opportunity to go to a smaller form factor case. If I go with a smaller case, do they have room for a larger (and quieter) fan? I've got a video card and HDDs that I will re-purpose, but everything else would be new. What should I be looking for?
 
S

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
squicken said:
My current PC is starting to sound like a jet engine. I've gone in and cleaned up the fans (stock fans) and gotten all the dust I can get at, but every 10 minutes or so it just kicks into overdrive.

Oddly enough, I want to use this opportunity to go to a smaller form factor case. If I go with a smaller case, do they have room for a larger (and quieter) fan? I've got a video card and HDDs that I will re-purpose, but everything else would be new. What should I be looking for?
Click to expand...
I've had this issue before. Speedfan will solve your sound issues but the root cause could be heat. The other possibility is a malfunctioning temp sensor.
 
S

squicken

Member
SapientWolf said:
I've had this issue before. Speedfan will solve your sound issues but the root cause could be heat. The other possibility is a malfunctioning temp sensor.
Click to expand...

I think it's heat. Putting my hand near the vents, it feels really warm. I think I want to replace things now before it just dies.
 
T

TouchMyBox

Member
darkpaladinmfc said:
MSI 770-C45 AMD 770 AM3 DDR3 Support 8 channel Blu-ray Audio GB LAN ATX Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X3 435 2.9GHz Socket AM3 1.5MB L2 Cache Retail Box Processor
Corsair 4gb (2x2gb) Ddr3 1333mhz Xms3 Memory Kit Cl9 (9-9-9-24)
PowerColor HD 4850 PCS+ Edition 512MB GDDR4 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
Sony AD-5240S 24x DVD±RW DL Internal SATA Black Bare Drive - OEM
Coolermaster Elite 330 Case With Coolermaster eXtreme Power 460W PSU
Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM Caviar Blue

If I buy these what else will I need to build a fully functioning PC, excluding OS, speakers, KB/M, monitor. Would I need for instance, additional fans?
Click to expand...

Here's a link to some weird korean site with the motherboard BIOS which you'll need to unlock that 4th core should you settle on that motherboard. (it's 7599155.zip) http://biosforum.kr/bbs/zboard.php?id=board11&page=4&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=4275

The x3 435 runs very cool even when overclocking a bit, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about investing in cooling.
 
JRW

JRW

Member
Finally got my upgrade all setup, i7 920 / 6GB Corsair DDR3 1600 (3x 2GB triple channel kit) / EVGA GTX 260 Superclocked edition / Gigabyte EX58-UD3R / Win 7 Ultimate 64bit, Oh man Its sickening how quick and responsive everything is now vs. my previous AMD X2 4800+ / 2GB PC3200 And games run amazing :D

I have everything @ stock speed but looks like overclocking this CPU should be easy.

One concern is the main HD im using, its an older 500GB WD SATA drive and my Windows experiance index is at a 5.7 because of it, Is that about average for an SATA drive?

win7_64bit_i7_920_stock.jpg
 
C

chuckddd

Fear of a GAF Planet
JRW said:
One concern is the main HD im using, its an older 500GB WD SATA drive and my Windows experiance index is at a 5.7 because of it, Is that about average for an SATA drive?
Click to expand...

I just finished building my new pc and with a new Caviar Black, I have a 5.9. I don't think you can get that up into the 7's without an SSD. I'd imagine a Velociraptor drive would be low 6's.
 
R

Red

Member
chuckddd said:
I just finished building my new pc and with a new Caviar Black, I have a 5.9. I don't think you can get that up into the 7's without an SSD. I'd imagine a Velociraptor drive would be low 6's.
Click to expand...
Yeah, 5.9 is the highest I've ever seen with an HDD (haven't seeen a Velociraptor tested).

My 2nd gen X-25 M gets a 7.2 and is my lowest rating.

Actually, I just realized my score is probably being brought down by my 1TB Caviar Black. Never tested the SSD by itself.
 
D

Deus Ex Machina

Member
Crunched said:
Yeah, 5.9 is the highest I've ever seen with an HDD (haven't seeen a Velociraptor tested).

My 2nd gen X-25 M gets a 7.2 and is my lowest rating.

Actually, I just realized my score is probably being brought down by my 1TB Caviar Black. Never tested the SSD by itself.
Click to expand...
I have a 300GB Velociraptor.

379610833.jpg
 
R

Red

Member
Weird that a 7200 RPM drive gets the same rating as a 10000 RPM drive. Hm.

I don't take the Windows Experience Index as a thorough test, anyway, but that's pretty strange to me.
 
B

bigswords

Member
Ronok said:
I'm about to go through with buying parts for a major upgrade to my PC and wondered what peopled thought.

Intel i5 750 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172755

ASUS P7P55D LE - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174674

ASUS HD 5770 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/180386

Geil Ultra Series 2x2GB PC3-17000 2133MHz dual channel - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-083-GL


Anything people would change before I hit buy?
Click to expand...

For Ram is kingston or Cosair available? these are more "branded" it's my opinion of course. If you can squeeze a few dollars more try to get a i7 cpu those things are monsters.

Ohh i'm not sure on your PSU and casing, are those covered?
 
R

Ronok

Member
The PSU and Case are fine, I'll be using what I already have now. :)

I would jump on the i7 if I could afford it, but I'm already spending over £400 as it is. :p Originally I only intended to get a new graphics card. :lol

The ram is of course the part I'm not so sure about. It's been suggested to me so I'm considering it though. I was actually hoping that maybe someone had used some experience with this ram. lol
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
bigswords said:
hows the power consumption of a 4870 vs a 5870?

unfortunately I'm using a Dell 435T with a 475 watt and so far no issues with a 4870. Just wondering is it worth the upgrade?

Ah I found this article, should be safe I guess...

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5870-review-test/13
Click to expand...

Well, the idle temperature of the 5870 is roughly 1/2 that of the 4870, so it will keep your case cooler, and the power usage at idle is also a ton less. I wouldn't upgrade if you were happy with the performance of your current card though, unless you were having other issues with heat... you never know what's down the road if you could only have waited, maybe some huge price drop or more new cards.
 
R

RubberJohnny

Banned
I've got a Dell Dimension 5150, and am looking to squeeze a few improvements out of it to extend it's lifetime a bit. Obviously, I know they're not very upgradeable and I'm not looking for anything cutting edge, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I'm looking for a processor.

I've got DM501 motherboard with an 800 MHz bus, a 630 CPU and a i945G chipset. It seems like some of the Dual and Quad Cores plug into the LGA775 socket and this looks like the best I could get, but I thought I might be limited by the bus speed down to a E4600 or less

Anyone got any ideas? I pulled those stats off of EVEREST and discussion from a random forum thread, so I'm actually pretty clueless about this stuff.
 
V

Vallarfax

Formerly 'GMUNYIFan'
So I've put together all the pieces that I want for my new computer build, but the video card is the part where I'm hazy. I have 3 different cards in my cart right now. If someone could give me some help on choosing one that would be my best bet for current gen and future gaming I would really appreciate it. My choices are:

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail

MSI R5750-PM2D1G Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail

Palit NE3X262SFHD94 GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail

nVidia or ati? If ati 4870 or 5750? This card is going to be coupled with an Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail so will this affect the choice? Any help is very much appreciated.
 
C

crimsonheadGCN

Banned
Alright, my friend wants to buy a new computer but he doesn't want to build it himself. He said that the most he'll be willing to do is buy a prebuilt one and just replace the videocard/psu. Anyone have a suggestion on what prebuilt computer for under $700 I should show him?

I already have an idea on what PSU/Videocard that I want to show him. He just wants to play WoW and CSS on max plus be able to run any future games decently.

Edit: BTW, have they started phasing out the HD4800 series? Looking at Newegg right now and there aren't that many available.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
Core i9 renamed to Core i7-980X Extreme Edition, for all you living on the edge of technology people with 1366 boards, you'll likely be able to purchase the first 6-core 12-threaded CPU as early as March 2010 instead of June (can't wait to see the price tag).

I'm not expecting any tremendous gains over what we have now, hardly any games use 4 cores, let alone 6... but I'm sure there will be benches with it pulling the best scores to date never-the-less.
 
D

dionysus

Yaldog
I've got a strange issue. So, after I opened my case up to install my SSD, new CPU fan, and the motherboard speaker, my computer pretty much always fails to start up the first time. The fans turn on and what not but nothing outputs to video. Then I cycle the power one time and it starts up fine. I also OCed the i7 920 to 3.9 GHz and a cpu voltage of 1.3.

I have seen this problem with circuit board design, normally you have capacitors drawing too much inrush current and setting on-board power supplies into a power cycle mode. You cycle power, and the caps are sufficiently charged to not overload the power supply. But this explanation doesn't really fit for what I know of motherboard design.

Even weirder, the problem even occurs after a hibernate. But after I cycle the power it starts right up as if I never turned the computer off, ie it works like a normal recovery from hibernate. Making me believe that my cpu never got powered up.

I also lowed my QPI speed to the lowest setting and dropped my PCI Express clock to 100 MHz.
 
W

Wallach

Member
dionysus said:
I've got a strange issue. So, after I opened my case up to install my SSD, new CPU fan, and the motherboard speaker, my computer pretty much always fails to start up the first time. The fans turn on and what not but nothing outputs to video. Then I cycle the power one time and it starts up fine. I also OCed the i7 920 to 3.9 GHz and a cpu voltage of 1.3.

I have seen this problem with circuit board design, normally you have capacitors drawing too much inrush current and setting on-board power supplies into a power cycle mode. You cycle power, and the caps are sufficiently charged to not overload the power supply. But this explanation doesn't really fit for what I know of motherboard design.

Even weirder, the problem even occurs after a hibernate. But after I cycle the power it starts right up as if I never turned the computer off, ie it works like a normal recovery from hibernate. Making me believe that my cpu never got powered up.
Click to expand...

You may want to reset the CMOS after adding the SSD. Either that or adding the SSD/fan has put enough strain on your power supply that it doesn't quite get over the initial draw.
 
T

TouchMyBox

Member
GMUNYIFan said:
nVidia or ati? If ati 4870 or 5750?
Click to expand...

ATI is the more compelling company to me personally at the moment, not that there's anything inherently wrong with going an nvidia route, but don't expect the most bang for your buck and be prepared for a lesser feature-set. the 5750 isn't really comparable to the 4870. the 5770 is the replacement for the 4870. A 5770 is a 4870 with directx 11, much lower power consumption, but at the cost of a reduction in memory bandwidth. They do overclock nicely though to make up for this small reduction in performance.

I'd go with the 5770 (as i just ordered one myself :D) but if you're looking to maximize performance for your gaming dollar, a good 4870 can be found on sale for a much more attractive price.
 
D

dionysus

Yaldog
Wallach said:
You may want to reset the CMOS after adding the SSD. Either that or adding the SSD/fan has put enough strain on your power supply that it doesn't quite get over the initial draw.
Click to expand...

I'll try the CMOS after work. I have a Corsair 620W power supply powering two HDDs, 1 SSD, a 4890, fans, i7, and dvd drive. That should be plenty of power I think.
 
W

Wallach

Member
dionysus said:
I'll try the CMOS after work. I have a Corsair 620W power supply powering two HDDs, 1 SSD, a 4890, fans, i7, and dvd drive. That should be plenty of power I think.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wouldn't think that would be a problem then. I'd probably double-check plugs when clearing your CMOS just to be sure.
 
V

Vallarfax

Formerly 'GMUNYIFan'
TouchMyBox said:
ATI is the more compelling company to me personally at the moment, not that there's anything inherently wrong with going an nvidia route, but don't expect the most bang for your buck and be prepared for a lesser feature-set. the 5750 isn't really comparable to the 4870. the 5770 is the replacement for the 4870. A 5770 is a 4870 with directx 11, much lower power consumption, but at the cost of a reduction in memory bandwidth. They do overclock nicely though to make up for this small reduction in performance.

I'd go with the 5770 (as i just ordered one myself :D) but if you're looking to maximize performance for your gaming dollar, a good 4870 can be found on sale for a much more attractive price.
Click to expand...

Thank you sooo so much that helped a ton. I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and put the order in tonight. Has anyone ever opened a newegg line of credit? I believe they have no payments/no interest for 6 months and I could easily have it paid off before that deadline hit.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
Minsc said:
Core i9 renamed to Core i7-980X Extreme Edition, for all you living on the edge of technology people with 1366 boards, you'll likely be able to purchase the first 6-core 12-threaded CPU as early as March 2010 instead of June (can't wait to see the price tag).
.
Click to expand...

Extreme edition CPUs usually mean a $1000 pricetag, and I can't say I'm at all surprised, these chips were always going to be out of the reach of the average gamer.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
brain_stew said:
Extreme edition CPUs usually mean a $1000 pricetag, and I can't say I'm at all surprised, these chips were always going to be out of the reach of the average gamer.
Click to expand...

Yea, after I posted I realized the article did indicate it was going to be ~$999 at launch, which is as much as a confirmation to the out of reach of a normal person as we've ever gotten, and it will probably be just that, prices don't seem to deviate on these types of CPUs much. Benches will be fun to see, even if it is a $1,000 CPU.
 
L

Lkr

Member
Right now I'm running my Phenom II X3 720 BE at stock voltage and clocks. My Bios is actually set to auto for voltage. i'm not sure what to push it to :s
 
R

rohlfinator

Member
Minsc said:
Core i9 renamed to Core i7-980X Extreme Edition, for all you living on the edge of technology people with 1366 boards, you'll likely be able to purchase the first 6-core 12-threaded CPU as early as March 2010 instead of June (can't wait to see the price tag).

I'm not expecting any tremendous gains over what we have now, hardly any games use 4 cores, let alone 6... but I'm sure there will be benches with it pulling the best scores to date never-the-less.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it seems like most multithreaded games right now stop seeing much gain after 3 cores, so I don't expect this thing to perform much beyond the current high-end i7s. Still should be fun to watch, though.

I'll have to go check out the Newegg user reviews for it in a few months -- the reviews for the high-end processors are always good for a laugh due to a lot of the reviewers resorting to massive hyperbole to justify their $1k purchase.
 
S

SundaySounds

Banned
Hey, I've got a driver question. I have a belkin wireless PCI card in my 32bit machine, and I plan on transferring it over to my new 64 bit machine. Do I need a special 64 bit driver, or does it not matter?
 
V

Vallarfax

Formerly 'GMUNYIFan'
One last question before I put the order in for my new machine. I've noticed that people are referring to some of the i7 processors as high-end i7. I'm looking to put Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail into my new machine....would it be better to use an Intel Core i5-750 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail over the i7? Is my i7 one of the lower end processors? This machine will hopefully last me the next 3 years and I want to be sure I'm putting the right pieces in there.
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
SundaySounds said:
Hey, I've got a driver question. I have a belkin wireless PCI card in my 32bit machine, and I plan on transferring it over to my new 64 bit machine. Do I need a special 64 bit driver, or does it not matter?
Click to expand...

Yes, you need a 64-bit driver. But don't fret, both Vista and Win 7 have quite a lot of built-in drivers :)
 
F

Firestorm

Member
GMUNYIFan said:
One last question before I put the order in for my new machine. I've noticed that people are referring to some of the i7 processors as high-end i7. I'm looking to put Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail into my new machine....would it be better to use an Intel Core i5-750 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail over the i7? Is my i7 one of the lower end processors? This machine will hopefully last me the next 3 years and I want to be sure I'm putting the right pieces in there.
Click to expand...
The i7-860 is better than the i5-750. I'd only really buy the i7-860 if you're planning on doing frequent photo editting, video editting, or 3D modelling. Otherwise the i5-750 will be fine for your needs.
 
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