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

B

brain_stew

Member
Janken said:
Thank you, Firestorm and brain_stew.

Now the only problem is the screen. I truly can't afford Dell's U2410 and HP's 2475w, even if it has a lower price, seems to need a calibrator to balance the colors. I can't afford buying an already expensive screen and a calibrator...

IPS screens are expensive, but I am currently on a CRT monitor and I hate how colors and brightness change with LCDs.

What should I do if I don't want to spend more than 350-400 € (make it dollars, most of the time it's 1-1, sadly) on a screen?
Click to expand...

A 26" 1080p HDTV might be an option?
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
Okay, I found out that the linking is called "symbolic link". I should be set from there.

Now, I do have one little conundrum. Steam is one of the slower loading apps on bootup, so I definitely want the application to reside on my SSD, even though I want my games on my 1TB WD Caviar Black.

I'm wondering what would be the best way to go about having this setup? Make the "steamapps" folder a symbolic link? That could work, I assume, but then what if I want a few of the games to actually reside on the C? Would I make a second symbolic link on my D drive, basically making a chain of links? I'm not sure if that works.
 
K

Kipe

Member
Janken said:
That screen is 404,84 euros here! Would you still recommend it?

It's certainly expensive, considering HP's 2475 is an IPS screen and only costs 419!
Click to expand...

I have that monitor and I would recommend it at 166.58 EUR because that's how much I paid for it (in the US). 2209WA is your best option if money is tight and you still want a IPS monitor otherwise you might want to buy a TN and keep your CRT with a dual monitor setup.
 
J

Janken

Member
Kipe said:
I have that monitor and I would recommend it at 166.58 EUR because that's how much I paid for it (in the US). 2209WA is your best option if money is tight and you still want a IPS monitor otherwise you might want to buy a TN and keep your CRT with a dual monitor setup.
Click to expand...
I don't think there is a way to get it for that price. I'm looking for options and the price is still 404,84.
 
J

Janken

Member
brain_stew said:
They can be had for less than £300 in the UK, that's less than a lot of the more high end monitors and you're guaranteed a none-TN panel that way.
Click to expand...
I can always look and try to find something. Could you forward me to any personal recommendation? Then I'll see where prices are at...

Thank you.
 
Manp

Manp

Member
TheExodu5 said:
Yeah looks like it. :lol

I got a working setup. Quite solid, actually.

ssd.jpg
Click to expand...

those are going to melt and make a mess once a bit of heat builds up in your case. never use rubber bands inside a pc.

:)
 
S

shuyin_

Banned
I never posted in this thread, but i always read it. Great tips and advice.

I just want to wish everyone here a happy new year :D
And thanks again for the tips... keep it up PC-GAF
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
TheExodu5 said:
Okay, I found out that the linking is called "symbolic link". I should be set from there.

Now, I do have one little conundrum. Steam is one of the slower loading apps on bootup, so I definitely want the application to reside on my SSD, even though I want my games on my 1TB WD Caviar Black.

I'm wondering what would be the best way to go about having this setup? Make the "steamapps" folder a symbolic link? That could work, I assume, but then what if I want a few of the games to actually reside on the C? Would I make a second symbolic link on my D drive, basically making a chain of links? I'm not sure if that works.
Click to expand...

From articles I've read, there is almost no speed benefit to gaming on a SSD strangely enough. Load times go from like 28 seconds to 27, putting games on a SSD is probably a waste.

I just have my whole steam directory on my WD and it loads up fine, probably because it is the only app I load on a standard HDD. My system tray has about 20 things in it, and they all load in a second or two, and I don't restart, just use sleep, uptime is currently 10 days (stupid must-restart windows updates), so loading steam is not really much of an issue since it's always loaded.

You'll want to make sure you leave 20%+ free on your SSD so it can effectively map the sectors and pro-long it's life better, I have a little over 50% free on mine most of the time.
 
F

Façade

Neo Member
Basically, I would like to put together a PC for around £850 at most. In that I would like to have a 5850 gpu and an i5 processor, as well as 6gb of ram and a 23" 1080p monitor. So I kinda know what I want but I'm confused by all the different types of motherboards, psu's and which brand names + websites to buy from. So any advice and attempts to put together a rig for me would be greatly appreciated :)
 
M

MotherFan

Member
Minsc said:
From articles I've read, there is almost no speed benefit to gaming on a SSD strangely enough. Load times go from like 28 seconds to 27, putting games on a SSD is probably a waste.

I just have my whole steam directory on my WD and it loads up fine, probably because it is the only app I load on a standard HDD. My system tray has about 20 things in it, and they all load in a second or two, and I don't restart, just use sleep, uptime is currently 10 days (stupid must-restart windows updates), so loading steam is not really much of an issue since it's always loaded.

You'll want to make sure you leave 20%+ free on your SSD so it can effectively map the sectors and pro-long it's life better, I have a little over 50% free on mine most of the time.
Click to expand...

Think in most games when you load a new area most stuff you need goes into ram assuming you have enough. If you don't then it uses the page file and maybe the SSD will improve those loads though having the ram would be better. The only games I think that would have a benefit from this type of drive is maybe Oblivion and Fallout type games which have the giant open world.

I'm interested in picking one up as an OS drive and what I typed above is my understanding of how it would affect games but I am not going to claim any type of authority on the issue. If someone else knows more on that issue, I am interested to hear cause I am curious as well.
 
T

TouchMyBox

Member
TheExodu5 said:
Okay, I found out that the linking is called "symbolic link". I should be set from there.

Now, I do have one little conundrum. Steam is one of the slower loading apps on bootup, so I definitely want the application to reside on my SSD, even though I want my games on my 1TB WD Caviar Black.

I'm wondering what would be the best way to go about having this setup? Make the "steamapps" folder a symbolic link? That could work, I assume, but then what if I want a few of the games to actually reside on the C? Would I make a second symbolic link on my D drive, basically making a chain of links? I'm not sure if that works.
Click to expand...

This is what I did with my SSD. I have everything installed on my SSD, and my steamapps folder resides on my HDD. i ran the command mklink /J D:\steamapps C:\directoriestomysteamfolder\steamapps and it works beautifully. I even put the main TF2 cache files on my SSD and then made simple shortcuts to it onto the steamapps folder on my HDD. Works great.

In case you were wondering, putting TF2 on the SSD shaved off about 1/3 of the loading time for that game, though tf2 is notorious for long load times, and i don't exactly have the fasted HDD ever made in my SSD machine.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Hmm, so early word is that the Mobility 5800 series will actually be based on the desktop's 5700 series. So the Mobility 5870 is looking at 800SP, 128-bit and GDDR5, clocks are unreleased atm.

This is... disappointing.
 
R

rollingstart

Banned
Linkzg said:
I've been going back and forth deciding what to do with my PC. I think now I'm settled on just upgrading it as is before building a new one, but I have a few questions

Am I right in assuming I should get a quad core cpu now? there are no issues with going quad instead of dual, right? I care just as much to play older games as I do more recent ones.

If I get a new hard drive dedicated for gaming, do I need to install anything on that hard drive (windows 7?) or can I have my OS on my main hard drive, then run all my games off the second, faster one.

Are SSDs worth the upgrade? I checked and I have about 60 gigs of games installed right now, and I plan to install more. IF it's not a viable option, what is another good fast hard drive? would it even make much of a difference?
Click to expand...

anyone know? please?
 
S

samven582

Member
I started to built a new pc but I never finished. I have q9950, 640gb harddrive and 4 gb ddr2. What do guys recommend for a motherboard, powersupply, videocard, and case?
 
B

brain_stew

Member
Façade said:
Basically, I would like to put together a PC for around £850 at most. In that I would like to have a 5850 gpu and an i5 processor, as well as 6gb of ram and a 23" 1080p monitor. So I kinda know what I want but I'm confused by all the different types of motherboards, psu's and which brand names + websites to buy from. So any advice and attempts to put together a rig for me would be greatly appreciated :)
Click to expand...

Buy from either Ebuyer or Novatech.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
Manp said:
those are going to melt and make a mess once a bit of heat builds up in your case. never use rubber bands inside a pc.

:)
Click to expand...

PC's been running for the past 12 hours, so I just checked, and the disc and bands are very cool to the touch. I do have a case fan blowing straight on my HDDs, and my SSD is only beside my Western Digital Caviar Green, which also runs very cool.
 
B

BuddhaRockstar

Member
Since I need to stop hijacking the Steam thread-

I need a new cooler for my ASUS 4850. So far the stock fan has served me well, albeit a bit loudly, with older games but it runs too hot for my liking with the newer stuff. Just wondering if anyone with a 4850 had any recommendations.

I've seen the ACCELS1 Rev. 2 mentioned a quite a bit, but the Newegg reviews having to modify and cut it to fit, which I'd rather not be hassled with. Would this Zalman be a better bet? I've had no experience installing an after-market cooler but I'm not too worried, just want to find the best bang for my buck in terms of cooling and quietness.
 
B

BravoSuperStar

Member
I didn't use "mklink" on the steamapps folder itself, I like to pick and choose exactly whats on the 80gb SSD and what's on my 1tb samsung. I install the game, then I move it from the "common" folder to my directory on the 1tb drive and make the link. It does take up more space since a lot of games put files in the "steamapps" folder, but I can also have source files, TF2's etc on the SSD. It does help loading in TF2 more than just shaving off a couple seconds, I used to be 5-6th in after a map change, now I'm usually 1st or 2nd in. Also tried it with Crysis and it did cut down on the initial level loading in that game as well.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
Well I'm going to try a chain of links. I've got over 100 games, so making individual links is out of the question at the moment. I may have to make individual links for cached games at the very worst if I use a 2 link chain.

The only other possibility is having some sort of link that points to two directories. I'm not sure if that's possible or not.
 
B

BravoSuperStar

Member
Linkzg said:
anyone know? please?
Click to expand...

Yes go with Quad core. No reason not to at this point.

Yes you can have games on a separate hard drive, but if you've already installed steam and want your steam games on the 2nd hdd you will either have to reinstall it to that drive, or use the mklink command being discussed.

If gaming is why you want an SSD, it's not worth it for that alone. To be able to install 60+gb of games you would need at least a 120gb drive so be prepared to pay upwards of $400 for a decent drive.

TheExodu5 said:
Well I'm going to try a chain of links. I've got over 100 games, so making individual links is out of the question at the moment. I may have to make individual links for cached games at the very worst if I use a 2 link chain.

The only other possibility is having some sort of link that points to two directories. I'm not sure if that's possible or not.
Click to expand...


Yeah it would be a pain to do it my way on 100+ games. If you do it with like 10 games at a time it's not so bad, you can keep the CMD window open and just keep pasting the new game directory into the command.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
SuperEnemyCrab said:
Yes go with Quad core. No reason not to at this point.

Yes you can have games on a separate hard drive, but if you've already installed steam and want your steam games on the 2nd hdd you will either have to reinstall it to that drive, or use the mklink command being discussed.

If gaming is why you want an SSD, it's not worth it for that alone. To be able to install 60+gb of games you would need at least a 120gb drive so be prepared to pay upwards of $400 for a decent drive.




Yeah it would be a pain to do it my way on 100+ games. If you do it with like 10 games at a time it's not so bad, you can keep the CMD window open and just keep pasting the new game directory into the command.
Click to expand...

You could also just copy your steam folder over to the new drive, no need to "install" anything really.
 
B

BravoSuperStar

Member
Minsc said:
You could also just copy your steam folder over to the new drive, no need to "install" anything really.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah thats what I meant. Reinstall the steam client so from that point on it uses the new drive and just copy the steamapps folder over.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
Minsc said:
You could also just copy your steam folder over to the new drive, no need to "install" anything really.
Click to expand...

Well the main problem is I want the executables for Steam on the C drive, but the games on the D drive. This seems to work out.

I have a symbolic link pointing from C:\Games\Steam\steamapps -> D:\steamapps
I also just put FFXI on the C drive. I have a symbolic link pointing from D:\steamapps\common\ffxi -> C:\Games\steamapps\common\ffxi

So I have a chained symbolic link. Seems to be working so far.
 
R

rollingstart

Banned
SuperEnemyCrab said:
Yes go with Quad core. No reason not to at this point.

Yes you can have games on a separate hard drive, but if you've already installed steam and want your steam games on the 2nd hdd you will either have to reinstall it to that drive, or use the mklink command being discussed.

If gaming is why you want an SSD, it's not worth it for that alone. To be able to install 60+gb of games you would need at least a 120gb drive so be prepared to pay upwards of $400 for a decent drive.
Click to expand...

thank you
 
C

Cruceh

Banned
Question!

I upgraded from my 19" 1440x900 and I recently bought a 23" 1920x1080 monitor. Problem is I only have an HD4770. It ran mostly everything fine on high settings, but will the substantial upgrade in resolution make it not worth it?
 
N

nextgeneration

Member
TheExodu5 said:
Shit. This SSD rocks. :D

iTunes has gone from bloatware to faster than notepad.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can't wait to get my new pc with an ssd in 2010. It'll be like going from dial up to cable/dsl. :lol Did you get Intel's ssd?
 
H

Heidalloon

Member
The PC I had assembled by NCIX came today. Unfortunately, something's wrong. My monitor (Samsung T240) can't detect a signal from either my DVI or HDMI cables. I also tried it on a small 17" TV through HDMI and had the same problem. My video card (HD 5870) seems to be working from what I can tell by looking inside the case, so I'm not sure what the problem is.

Any ideas?
 
D

Darkatomz

Member
Heidalloon said:
The PC I had assembled by NCIX came today. Unfortunately, something's wrong. My monitor (Samsung T240) can't detect a signal from either my DVI or HDMI cables. I also tried it on a small 17" TV through HDMI and had the same problem. My video card (HD 5870) seems to be working from what I can tell by looking inside the case, so I'm not sure what the problem is.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Kind of a stupid question, but have you selected the right input display? It's not often monitors are completely DOA. I own the T240HD myself.
 
M

Metalic Sand

who is Emo-Beas?
Ive heard phenom 2's currently dont support 3 Sticks of 2Gigs DDR3 above 1033 Ghz...

Newer phenom 2's coming out or just came out have it fixed supposively.

Anyone else hear this? I ask because i have a older phenom 2. Not sure if a BIOS update fixed it or its just a problem with few people.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
Heidalloon said:
The PC I had assembled by NCIX came today. Unfortunately, something's wrong. My monitor (Samsung T240) can't detect a signal from either my DVI or HDMI cables. I also tried it on a small 17" TV through HDMI and had the same problem. My video card (HD 5870) seems to be working from what I can tell by looking inside the case, so I'm not sure what the problem is.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Did you try both ports on the back of the video card? It should do both in the POST screen...but you never know.
 
D

Darkatomz

Member
If your mobo has onboard video, try that. If not, try using VGA. The monitor turns on, and you can get to the monitor's control panel, right?
 
H

Heidalloon

Member
Darkatomz said:
If your mobo has onboard video, try that. If not, try using VGA. The monitor turns on, and you can get to the monitor's control panel, right?
Click to expand...
I don't think my motherboard has onboard video (Gigabyte EX58-UDR3). At least, I don't see anything on the back of my PC. I also don't see a VGA input.
 
F

Firestorm

Member
Heidalloon said:
I don't think my motherboard has onboard video (Gigabyte EX58-UDR3). At least, I don't see anything on the back of my PC. I also don't see a VGA input.
Click to expand...
Did the video card come loose during shipping or something? NCIX is supposed to test the computer before shipping so it must have worked at some point. Try pushing it in a bit.
 
Wark

Wark

Member
TheHeretic said:
Just noticed no-one replied to this so here's my recommendation. Firstly, do you want to over clock your CPU? The main sticking point is an AMD or Intel processor. I'm biased towards AMD's because the 1156 architecture is entirely unclear whilst AM3 is here to stay. As a rule though you never build for upgradability, just what works here and now, so here it is.

CPU - Intel i5 750 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215&cm_re=i5_750-_-19-115-215-_-Product - $200

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=1156_motherboard-_-13-128-412-_-Product - $135

RAM - G.Skill 4GB DDR3 12800 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=ddr3_dual_channel_4gb-_-20-231-193-_-Product - $96

Case - Coolermaster 690 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...137&cm_re=coolermaster-_-11-119-137-_-Product - $70

PSU - Corsair VX550 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9004&cm_re=corsair_psu-_-17-139-004-_-Product - $86

HDD - Western Digital 1TB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...re=western_digital_1tb-_-22-136-284-_-Product - $100

DVD - Sony Optiarc Black 24X - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=dvd_burnter_internal-_-27-118-030-_-Product - $32

GPU - Sapphire 5850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4102857&cm_re=ati_5850-_-14-102-857-_-Product - $310

OR

GPU - XFX 5770 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447&cm_re=5770-_-14-150-447-_-Product - $180

Total Cost: $1029 or $899

And thats about as much as i'd spend on a computer. All the best parts money can buy, as good performance as you are going to get without going into sloppy and annoying dual GPU setups. If your monitor has a resolution of 1680x1050 or less I would consider downgrading the GPU to a 5770 and save $130, as that GPU is really only going to get a workout at full HD resolutions and above. The 5850 is a huge bastard and i've read it fits into that case but you might want to read into it.
Click to expand...

I'm probably going to build a PC pretty soon and I'm going to use this as a template. Anything I should switch out? I'll spend as much money as I have to to make it the best thing possibly out.
 
F

Firestorm

Member
Not really but definitely go with the 5850. It all depends on your budget. You could take the motherboard up to the P55A-UD4P and a larger power supply if you think you want to crossfire in the future.
 
C

Caj814

Member
New PC will be complete by Monday and is there anything I need to be aware of with transferring my old internal HDDs over?I already backed up the most important files to my external so that's out the way.Should I worry about any data loss once the transfer is complete?
 
C

chuckddd

Fear of a GAF Planet
Caj814 said:
New PC will be complete by Monday and is there anything I need to be aware of with transferring my old internal HDDs over?I already backed up the most important files to my external so that's out the way.Should I worry about any data loss once the transfer is complete?
Click to expand...

Just make sure you install the o/s on the correct partition and you'll be fine. Windows 7 did some funky things with the drive lettering, so one of the first things I did was go in and change them all.
 
C

Caj814

Member
chuckddd said:
Just make sure you install the o/s on the correct partition and you'll be fine. Windows 7 did some funky things with the drive lettering, so one of the first things I did was go in and change them all.
Click to expand...
I guess I shouldn't have a problem then since I got a brand new HDD coming in with my PC parts as a deal.I'm using that as the primary drive for the OS.
 
Wark

Wark

Member
Firestorm said:
Not really but definitely go with the 5850. It all depends on your budget. You could take the motherboard up to the P55A-UD4P and a larger power supply if you think you want to crossfire in the future.
Click to expand...

Alright noted. Thanks for the suggestion, man. Do you have any suggestions on the case or is that case good? I was thinking about either that one or this one.

Also, I'm torn between the Microsoft Sidewinder X8 and the Logitech G500 mice.

I'm all ears, guys.
 
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