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Official "I need a new PC!!" 2009 Edition
- Thread starter VictimOfGrief
- Start date
Just be sure not to plug IEEE 1394 ports into your USB connectors and you can pretty much do no wrong.viciouskillersquirrel said:
For things like front USB, you'll have to match up the pin-outs from your case's manual with that from your motherboard's manual.
I doubt he could find a decent graphics card in a $600 laptop.FoxSpirit said:
viciouskillersquirrel
Member
straydog1980 said:
:lol
Holy shit.
:lol
Hey Gaf! Help me decide!
I'm having trouble deciding which video card to get. It's mainly between a GTX 260 or a 4870. Basically I want something around 300 dollars.
Here are some of the options I'm considering:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150330
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143173
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161247
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127400
Also, getting this video card is going to require a newer power supply. What's a good brand/model as I reaaaaally need something reliable and won't crap out on me after a year. I need one at 500w at least, 650w if i get the 260.
Thanks.
I'm having trouble deciding which video card to get. It's mainly between a GTX 260 or a 4870. Basically I want something around 300 dollars.
Here are some of the options I'm considering:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150330
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143173
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161247
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127400
Also, getting this video card is going to require a newer power supply. What's a good brand/model as I reaaaaally need something reliable and won't crap out on me after a year. I need one at 500w at least, 650w if i get the 260.
Thanks.
godhandiscen
There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
Wait for the 4890. Once it arrives, the 280 will hit $300.Adumaha said:
edit: Didn't know you were in Canada. Still, wait for the 4890, the prices will drop as soon as it arrives. Also, The 4870 1GB is cheaper and equal in power to the GTX260.
godhandiscen
There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
End of next month. April at the latest. You will save yourself around $50 or maybe have the option to afford a regular 280 since the prices will drop.Adumaha said:
godhandiscen said:
Hmmm, how much better is the 280 over the 260? I've been putting off getting this video card for too long already. I'm going to get Photoshop cs4, which needs a decent GPU to run certain functions properly and I'd like to be able to use it sooner than later. I'm not too interested in playing games at maximum possibly quality, but I am under the impression that the 260 run modern games well for a good while.
Hazaro said:
I've actually heard the Nvidia cards have been having some problems with CS4.
I think I'm gonna go with a 1 gig 4870
What's the difference between these two that warrants a 50$ difference?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103067
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161247
The only difference I see is memory clock speed, and I thought higher was better?
godhandiscen
There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
They are the same, HIS is just multiplying its memory clock times the badnwidht. Also, Hazaro is right, the GTX260 is better for CS4, I didn't know you were buying mainly for that. The CS4 supports Nvidia acceleration. However, I don't know how it truly works. Also, I would say there is a substantial difference between the 260 and the 280, specially at anything above 1080p (mainly due to memory bandwidht), but we don't know your monitor yet.Adumaha said:
godhandiscen said:
Yes, you're right. I forgot about tthe Nvidia specific acceleration. Looks like the GTX 260 is the better deal. And I would love to wait and get a 280, but I simply can't afford to wait another month or two. Besides I don't think I'll need to run that high a resolution.
My monitor is an HP w2207h for reference:
http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/hp-w2207h-22-monitor/4505-3174_7-32814504.html
Crazymoogle
Member
Adumaha said:
I have that monitor too (well, the pre HDMI version). Love it. The 260 sounds fine for your needs.
Are you running a lot of hard drives? Wondering why you're looking for a 650w (although to be honest, it's not a bad idea either.)
Crazymoogle said:
Yeah it's a great monitor.
I'm only looking for a 650w because this is on sale:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814150330
And it requires a 630w power supply
I ordered 2 of those Vostros 220 posted a while ago. One for my dad and one for a friend.
So I want to add a 4830 like suggested to one of those, but I am not still sure what adapter I need.
These are some pictures of the PSU.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2mrehk2.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/1zvzepc.jpg
and a diagram
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/vos220/en/sm/psu.htm#wp1180295
I already have one these, came with a video card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812887001
??
What do I need? Could someone help me? please link me to the one(s) I need.
So I want to add a 4830 like suggested to one of those, but I am not still sure what adapter I need.
These are some pictures of the PSU.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2mrehk2.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/1zvzepc.jpg
and a diagram
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/vos220/en/sm/psu.htm#wp1180295
I already have one these, came with a video card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812887001
??
What do I need? Could someone help me? please link me to the one(s) I need.
brain_stew
Member
ElfoMan said:
The PSU doesn't have a single molex connector? Talk about cheaping out, I've never seen a SINGLE PSU without a molex, that is beyond the levels of just cutting costs and is blatantly anti consumer. Its stuf like this why I'll always build my own PC.
You MAY have to buy a new PSU, if someone can't come up with a solution. It was obviously assumed that the Dell would have at least one molex connector seen as every other PSU for the last decade and a half has had one.
ElfoMan said:
You'll need an adapter like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816038 to convert the SATA power plug to a Molex connector, which you can then use the adapter that came with the graphics card on.
Slavik81 said:
I've got a similar budget, but I'd make some modifications, I think. I already have a harddrive and a mouse, and I want to spend almost no money on a case. So the new total would be around $588, and I might even be able to get vista through a school program, and my family might provide RAM, which would bring that total down to $443
If my budget is 800 bucks, which of these things would be good to upgrade, with the extra money?
Edit: I didn't quote slavik81 exactly, I made my specific modifications in his quote, whoops.
Crazymoogle
Member
ausoff2 said:
Very true. Some motherboards have only 1 (or no) IDE ports on them these days. It's likely you'll be able to use it though...
Adumaha said:
Get a corsair or PC Power and cooling PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011
Both good options. I picked up the PC Power and Cooling one for my GTX260
okay ignore my other posts, i've assembled with what little knowledge I have, a computer I think could be good for me.
Power Source $99.99 ($79.99 with mail in rebate)
Enclosure$24.99
4gb RAM (2 2gb sticks) $47.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz $164.99
Motherboard $134.99 (($114.99 after $20.00 rebate)
GeForce 9800 GTX $169.99 ($139.99 after $30.00 rebate)
Total: $642.94 (572.94 after rebate)
now, I could get this power source, which is much cheaper, but I've heard it said that I shouldn't cheap out on a power supply. I'd love to pay less, though, any thoughts?
And then I have a harddrive already. Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJB 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM Im hoping the ATA thing won't have any issues with my motherboard, and I don't think it will...but will I be able to use the DVD drive I already have, too? I don't want a useless rig because of a harddrive mistake.
Edit: I have around an $800 budget, so seeing a number in the $600's is comforting, but also making me think I could make the machine a little better.
Edit 2: I swapped the motherboard to a real one, not a mini one.
Power Source $99.99 ($79.99 with mail in rebate)
Enclosure$24.99
4gb RAM (2 2gb sticks) $47.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz $164.99
Motherboard $134.99 (($114.99 after $20.00 rebate)
GeForce 9800 GTX $169.99 ($139.99 after $30.00 rebate)
Total: $642.94 (572.94 after rebate)
now, I could get this power source, which is much cheaper, but I've heard it said that I shouldn't cheap out on a power supply. I'd love to pay less, though, any thoughts?
And then I have a harddrive already. Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJB 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM Im hoping the ATA thing won't have any issues with my motherboard, and I don't think it will...but will I be able to use the DVD drive I already have, too? I don't want a useless rig because of a harddrive mistake.
Edit: I have around an $800 budget, so seeing a number in the $600's is comforting, but also making me think I could make the machine a little better.
Edit 2: I swapped the motherboard to a real one, not a mini one.
Crazymoogle
Member
MicroATX board? Weird. Anyway, it has one IDE channel so you can hook up a max of two devices there, which sounds like will be your old DVD drive and your 320GB hard drive. I'm guessing performance will suffer whenever you need to access both but it's been awhile since I've had to deal with IDE device chains.
MWS Natural
Member
Wow..cpusolutions really has some decent prices and they will put it together for you for $25; free shipping is always as bonus as well.
Linkup said:
My "old" (1.5 yrs) Viewsonic 20" Widescreen crapped out on my 2 days ago so I've been frantically trying to find a new display to buy. What I've found is 22" is the new 20". The 22"s are all pretty cheap with maybe a $10 premium over the 20". I did some decent research, but keep in mind I did this all in about a day and a half. I settled with this display http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001254.
$189 shipped for a 22" Samsung monitor with an adjustable stand is pretty sweet. Pretty much any LCD monitor created in the last 2 years has a 5ms response time which is MORE than enough for your standard gamer. You will find a lot of the higher priced monitors bragging of 2ms response. Let's be honest, you will never really be able to tell the difference with your naked eye.
Also, the more you start poking around researching displays on forums, the sooner you will find that there are endless amounts of arguements. I have found that Newegg reviews are a good way to tell if a monitor is great. If it has a 5 star rating with plenty of reviews, chances are it's a good monitor.
Good luck.
evil solrac v3.0
Member
is it guaranteed that the GTX280 and/or GTX 285/295 will drop in price by this summer? say maybe august (my birthday?)
ElfoMan said:
from what little i read, the various sites say the 4830/50 need 400w from the PSU and the vostro one is only 300w. does anybody think this is a big deal? if not im not upgrading my PSU either...looking to get a 512mb 4850.
also, does anybody have this external harddrive?
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/PopupProductDetail.aspx?sku=A1319014
i can get it for 50 bucks but mostly want it so i can take it out and put it in my PC. im not sure if this is doable though, theres no specs on it. like is it SATA? IDE? can i even open it up?
OK - my PC crapped out so I'm hoping to buy a laptop. I don't really know anything about laptops so I'm hoping someone here may have done some shopping recently.
* I'm buying from Dell, since I already have a line of credit.
* My budget is about $1200.00.
* I'm not looking for amazing graphics, but want to be able to play games like Sacred 2 (and eventually Diablo 3), but don't mind low graphics settings.
That's about it, everything else we do on the PC at home is really basic, e-mail, internet access, media server, and some word processing.
Thanks for any feedback, if I didn't specify something important just say so. I'm assuming I need to buy a mouse for gaming, if I need anything else just point that out.
* I'm buying from Dell, since I already have a line of credit.
* My budget is about $1200.00.
* I'm not looking for amazing graphics, but want to be able to play games like Sacred 2 (and eventually Diablo 3), but don't mind low graphics settings.
That's about it, everything else we do on the PC at home is really basic, e-mail, internet access, media server, and some word processing.
Thanks for any feedback, if I didn't specify something important just say so. I'm assuming I need to buy a mouse for gaming, if I need anything else just point that out.
Minsc
Gold Member
johnyqd said:
Get the longest warranty you can with your laptop, that's the most important thing. Don't own a laptop with a warranty for less than you plan on using it, laptops are incredibly more likely to crap out, and it's not uncommon to have yours break once a year. That's my experience anyway. Free shipping and free repairs are irreplaceable for laptops to me.
Timekiller
Member
Thanks for the hint Haz,
i'll start a research for the pieces, let0s see how it goes.
i'll start a research for the pieces, let0s see how it goes.
Timekiller
Member
Hazaro said:
Made a research on some websites, and some pieces are difficult to find here.Like The
MoBo, everyone seems to sell mostly ASUS stuff.
ANyway: my budget can handle something higher that that, what if we make it high, but still not end of the line? (i mean end of the line purchases in technology are useless by definition to me)
ps. no video card or LCD, i have some old parts and will deal with an upgrade on those later
XPS M1530. Add the 8600M GT, and you're at $1049. Then I'd spend $50 on the 1440x900 screen, +$40 on the 9-cell battery, and go with the 250GB 7200RPM HDD.johnyqd said:
Total so far: $1139
Or just go with the default config on the XPS Studio 16.
Timekiller
Member
Timekiller said:Made a research on some websites, and some pieces are difficult to find here.Like The
MoBo, everyone seems to sell mostly ASUS stuff.
ANyway: my budget can handle something higher that that, what if we make it high, but still not end of the line? (i mean end of the line purchases in technology are useless by definition to me)
ps. no video card or LCD, i have some old parts and will deal with an upgrade on those later
EDIT
Ok, after some more research and reading benchmarks, i came up with more precise qeustions, and doubts:
- Should i go for AMD or Intel
- If AMD (cheaper), for an AM2 or AM3
if AM3,
how about a
Phenom II X4 810 AM3? Good or Bad choiche compared to the Phenom II X4 940BE AM2?
- If Intel, how about
Mobo Gigabyte GA-EX58-DS4
CPU Intel Core i7 920
Mem Corsair XMS3 6 GB (3 x 2 GB) DDR3-1600
Hard disk Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB 7,200 RPM
Power PC Power and Cooling 750 W
--------
Umm...and actually, it's still better to go for a dual core instead of a quad? Won't it get old in much less time then the quad?
(excuse my noobness)
(hey thanks to all for any help\hint)
http://arstechnica.com/news/2009/02/sector-remap-fragmentation-slowing-intel-x25-m-ssds.ars
Here's an article on the performance of the X-25 E intel SSD over time. It seems as though it's algorithms for making sure that the drive doesn't wear down actually do the opposite.
Here's an article on the performance of the X-25 E intel SSD over time. It seems as though it's algorithms for making sure that the drive doesn't wear down actually do the opposite.
VictimOfGrief
Banned
Yup--- Only way to restore is to low level format the bitch.zoku88 said:
These are going to drop in price fast if Intel can't fix it.
Minsc
Gold Member
VictimOfGrief said:
Yeah, that's gotta embarrass the hell out of Intel right now, fastest drive on the market turns in to the slowest drive on the market the more you use it and de-fragmenting only slows it down further.. Hopefully we see them figure out a way to fix it, a firmware update perhaps? If not, there's always the next model I suppose.
VictimOfGrief
Banned
Minsc said:
Well in reading about it even the X-25E is plagued with the same issue. Apparently it's going to have to either be a firmware update for the older drives to update the algorithm for how it allocates file fragments, or they can kiss their dreams of cashing in on the SSD market good buy.
Victim's Thoughts/Opinions for this:
For the laymen, Intel has their own proprietary low level file table that constantly is moving files around on the drive space of which over time, has a harder time accessing those fragmented files as FAST as it were if you had just formated it. It sounds like other SSD makers have something similar to this (so this isn't just an Intel problem per se.... it's an SSD problem period.) but isn't as "good" as Intel's.
In this economy, this really is not going to help the adoption rate of Solid State for quite some time.
found this deal, how good is it? seems pretty good to me
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...lickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16814121290
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...lickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16814121290
How devastating is this seagate firmware issue? I am having a fucking hell of a time trying to fix this. I have three computers and not one of them seems to have this "common" software to burn iso cd images to a cd. So I am trying to get trial versions of this Nero software and it keeps failing and when it actually is downloading it goes at 15.5kb/s.
I will probably never buy another seagate product after this fucking convoluted process to fix the issue.
I will probably never buy another seagate product after this fucking convoluted process to fix the issue.
Looks quite good to me, although I've only been watching the 4870 on Newegg.ca so my perspective may be skewed.Ashhong said:
Anyways, you can snag the combo with Stalker.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.160422
Admittedly, Stalker isn't worth much, but I've heard good things about it.