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[Broadbandito]

No 260?
It uses slightly less power and give you better fps. If you go for the 4870 at least tell me why.

idk. How long do the rebates normally take with newegg or xfx?

 

[MWS Natural]

Anyone have any experience with this monitor? Can you play games at it's native resolution?

 

[brain_stew]

I'm rarely playing twitch games on my PC anymore though. WoW, NWN2, Witcher, Crysis(I use a 360 pad for that), and DoW2 are currently on my system. I want a wireless mostly so I can do some easy couch playing when I feel like hooking the PC to my home theater.

Also, I'll look into the 4890. Worthwhile to go crossfire with my current 4850? Or just do a 4890 solo? I only have a 550w PSU that might need updating as well.

4890 solo. You don't want to be restricted by the "small" (well at least for 1920x1200 anyway) 512MB framebuffer of the 4850. The extra memory and bandwidth of the 4890 really helps at high resolutions.

Anyone have any experience with this monitor? Can you play games at it's native resolution?

I've heard reports that most games support it just fine. Regardless I'd personally stay the hell away from such a funky resolution. Stick with 1080p and save yourself the hassle.

 

[Hazaro]

idk. How long do the rebates normally take with newegg or xfx?

3-8 weeks. More like 4-6.
Rebate would be through XFX.

 

[Minsc]

3-8 weeks. More like 4-6.
Rebate would be through XFX.

I've given up with rebates. Way too many never end up coming at all, and then all those $50-75+ rebates never get back to my pocket. I usually completely ignore rebates now, and just look at the purchase price, rebates have 0% pull in a buying purchase for me.

 

[M.Bluth]

All I could find is Isopropyl 70% will it do the trick?

 

[Broadbandito]

I guess I should have possibly asked this before too. Anyone got any newegg coupons to spare?

 

[Slavik81]

So, my last exam's in 4 days and I'm heading home in a week. I finally am getting a new computer, after having used my laptop with a 1.86GHz Pentium M and GeForce 6800 Go for 4 years. I'll be buying in the next couple days.

Particular concerns:
Cases: I'm thinking of the Antec 1200 in large part because I can be sure I won't run out of space, and because they have a top eSATA port. It's discounted at the moment at $179.99, but still very expensive, so I'm open to suggestions.
Motherboard: I just chose this due to the bundle. I don't know if it's really any good. It has decent reviews.
RAM: Any other suggestions?

The only part I already have is a 1920x1200 monitor. I'm thinking I might go SLI eventually. Oh, and I'm dual-booting Ubutu/Windows Vista (trial) hoping to coast until Windows 7 releases to buy that instead.

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q - OEM
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM
EDIMAX EW-7128G PCI Wireless Card - Retail
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920
EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3
Antec Twelve Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case

 

[Brandon F]

4890 solo. You don't want to be restricted by the "small" (well at least for 1920x1200 anyway) 512MB framebuffer of the 4850. The extra memory and bandwidth of the 4890 really helps at high resolutions.




I've heard reports that most games support it just fine. Regardless I'd personally stay the hell away from such a funky resolution. Stick with 1080p and save yourself the hassle.

Sold, going to order a 4890 this week. Thanks.

 

[rohlfinator]

Particular concerns:
Cases: I'm thinking of the Antec 1200 in large part because I can be sure I won't run out of space, and because they have a top eSATA port. It's discounted at the moment at $179.99, but still very expensive, so I'm open to suggestions.
Motherboard: I just chose this due to the bundle. I don't know if it's really any good. It has decent reviews.
RAM: Any other suggestions?

That motherboard is kinda pricey if you don't need some of the extra features (like dual LAN adapters and 9 SATA ports). The MSI X58 Pro and the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R are both pretty well-reviewed "budget" boards that will probably meet your needs. The Gigabyte board only has 4 memory slots though, so that might be a problem if you want to add more RAM in the future.

 

[Broadbandito]

ok this is what I decided on

and did a complete 180 and did this.

IS Hightech H487FN1GP Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $179.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 32-bit for System Builders - OEM $99.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail $89.99

MASSCOOL 8WA741 92mm Ball CPU Cooler - Retail $20.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail $54.99

GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $52.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM $54.99

HIS S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Game DVD Gift - Retail

 

[Bebpo]

So while I was banned and didn't have access to this thread for advice I bought all my parts for my new computer I'm building. Now I need a guide/tips what to do next I've built computers before so I generally know how to plug things into each other. But I've never overclocked and I want to overclock my cpu to 4.0ghz and test it and if it's too hot scale it back to 3.6 or 3.4ghz.

Here are the parts that are sitting in my room now waiting to be put together. Please don't make comments like "why did you buy this crappy part!?! You should have bought this!" because it's too late for me to return/change stuff so the parts are what they are. I'm sure I could've bought better stuff, but I don't need it rubbed in my face that I got the wrong things for a new computer. I just need tips on making the best computer for gaming that I can out of these parts I have.

Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137)
Power Supply: OCZ 750W Silencer
Cpu: i7 920
Cpu 3rd party fan: Coolermaster V8 120W cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055&Tpk=v8 cooler)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128362)
Ram: 6 gigs of Corsair Dominator DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Gpu: XFX Geforce 9800GTX+ Black Edition
Hard drive: WD 1tb sata drive for boot drive
Hard drive: WD 640gig drive for 2ndary (already using it in this current computer, moved what I want to keep onto it already)
CD/DVD drive/burner: LG 22x dvd burner w/lightscribe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136153)
OS: Windows XP (yeah I know it won't recognize the ram. That's fine. Ram is for future-proofing as I will upgrade to Windows 7 in 2-3 years)
Keyboard: Wireless Logitech keyboard (old and kinda sucks, might replace)
Mouse: Wireless Logitech trackball mouse (7-10 years old, but my favorite mouse and will keep using it)
Accessories: Wired X360 controller for PC

Now I have the choice to put in my Chaintech $25 soundcard that's in my current computer. But since this gigabyte motherboard has good on-board sound and I do all my gaming/movie watching, aka. sound related stuff through my receiver through SPDF which is on the motherboard (and video on my hdtv using tv-out from the gpu card) I don't see any need to put a sound card in.

So that's what I bought or took from my current computer. I'm planning on using this computer for 2-3 years and then upgrading the video card to the latest hotness & os to Windows 7 and then try to get another 2-3 years out of it for 5-6 years total.

Any advice on where to start for building this and overclocking it would be appreciated. First question I have is: Do I just toss out the giant fan that came with the i7 920 and put the V8 where it would go?

I'm not going to build this for another few days as I'm kind of busy, so I'll listen to whatever help you guys can give before I jump in and do anything stupid

Thanks!

Followup to this:

I decided to start working on putting this together today. The first step was removing the "new" parts from my current computer (my 9800GTX+, my 750W power supply, and my 640gb hard drive) and replacing them with their old counterparts (7600GT, 450w power supply) and make sure the current or soon to be "old" computer is still working. It took a little bit and I managed to break off that plastic piece on the motherboard sticking out of the PCI-E slot that locks your videocard when I took out the 9800GTX+, but it didn't seem to do any damage and the card itself didn't take any damage.

So now that this computer is up and running good (I'll format it to get it fresh once the new computer is working fine). I'm ready to start on the real guy:

Considering it's been about 4 years since I put together a computer I'm a little nervous, especially since I'm dealing with fairly pricey parts. But I think everything will work out ok in the end. I will be reading all the manuals and taking it very slowly.

I think the hardest part for me will be putting the motherboard in the case, putting the cpu on the motherboard, and putting the 3rd party fan on the cpu. Once I have those, the other stuff should be fairly standard since I am used to changing parts out of pcs, just not the motherboard/cpu/fans.

Here I go!

 

[Hazaro]

So, my last exam's in 4 days and I'm heading home in a week. I finally am getting a new computer, after having used my laptop with a 1.86GHz Pentium M and GeForce 6800 Go for 4 years. I'll be buying in the next couple days.

Particular concerns:
Cases: I'm thinking of the Antec 1200 in large part because I can be sure I won't run out of space, and because they have a top eSATA port. It's discounted at the moment at $179.99, but still very expensive, so I'm open to suggestions.

Cooler Master 690 You can see a pic of one right above me.

I've given up with rebates. Way too many never end up coming at all, and then all those $50-75+ rebates never get back to my pocket. I usually completely ignore rebates now, and just look at the purchase price, rebates have 0% pull in a buying purchase for me.

Corsair, eVGA, Verbatim rebates come for me, haven't done others. I heard XFX is good as well.

ok this is what I decided on http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/Callousrecords/pcup.jpg[/MG]

and did a complete 180 and did this.

IS Hightech H487FN1GP Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $179.99[/QUOTE]
Why a new mATX motherboard and HDD now?
Keep the DDR2800 RAM, you won't be using the extra 'speed'
Also I'd upgrade the HDD to a WD 640GB (Faster + more space for just a little more)
And switch the cooler back to the Rosewill, I've installed 2 of them and they run nice.

Good for springing the 550w though :D
[QUOTE=Bebpo]Followup to this:
Considering it's been about 4 years since I put together a computer I'm a little nervous, especially since I'm dealing with fairly pricey parts. But I think everything will work out ok in the end. I will be reading all the manuals and taking it [b]very[/b] slowly.

I think the hardest part for me will be putting the motherboard in the case, putting the cpu on the motherboard, and putting the 3rd party fan on the cpu. Once I have those, the other stuff should be fairly standard since I am used to changing parts out of pcs, just not the motherboard/cpu/fans.

Here I go![/QUOTE]
No worries :)

Put the CPU+HS on first, then mount the motherboard though, much easier.

 

[Kipe]

Well I managed to upgrade my pc with a new mb, video card, cpu, and psu. Thanks for the help with my question earlier about the psu.

Crysis demo played smoothly at the highest settings.

 

[rass]

Ok PC-Gaf...
Im going to buy a PC shortly and would like some opinions. After some extenstive PM'ing with Fredescu (thanks!), he has come up with 2 base options for me:

$156 Motherboard: Asus M4N78 Pro
$225 CPU: X3 Phenom II 720
$67 RAM 4GB DDR2 800 PC6400
$315 Video Card: Gigabyte GTX260
$102 Hard Drive: 640GB WD HDD
$31 DVD-RW: Pioneer 216
$162 Case/PSU: Coolermaster RC690 w/ 460w PSU
$183 OS: OEM MS 64 bit Vista Home Premium
$70 MSY Build and test
---
$1311

$369 Motherboard ASUS P6T
$449 CPU: Core i7 920
$149 RAM 6GB DDR3
$315 Video Card: Gigabyte GTX260
$102 Hard Drive: 640GB WD HDD
$31 DVD-RW: Pioneer 216
$162 Case/PSU: Coolermaster RC690 w/ 460w PSU
$183 OS: OEM MS 64 bit Vista Home Premium
$70 MSY Build and test
-----
$1830

(Prices are in $AU)
The MSY build and test is a must, I have zero confidence in not starting a fire if i try to put it together myself.
I also have to get a copy of Windows, the last PC we had was running Win98

If I go for the core i7 based rig I will probably have to use my tv as a monitor for a month or so (Panasonic Viera 50" 1080p), is that a bad idea? Is it worth the extra money in GAF's collective opinion?
fwiw I havent played PC games since 2002/3, but have been playing the hell out of 360/ps3 lately and it seems like a great step up!

Im flexible on the options, but my Budget is about AU$2000 so it cant get much more expensive.

cheers for any opinions!

 

[Diablohead]

No 260?
It uses slightly less power and give you better fps. If you go for the 4870 at least tell me why.

This graph makes me feel better about buying the 260 instead of the 9800GT, so worth that extra money.

 

[MWS Natural]

Ok PC-Gaf...
Im going to buy a PC shortly and would like some opinions. After some extenstive PM'ing with Fredescu (thanks!), he has come up with 2 base options for me:





(Prices are in $AU)
The MSY build and test is a must, I have zero confidence in not starting a fire if i try to put it together myself.
I also have to get a copy of Windows, the last PC we had was running Win98

If I go for the core i7 based rig I will probably have to use my tv as a monitor for a month or so (Panasonic Viera 50" 1080p), is that a bad idea? Is it worth the extra money in GAF's collective opinion?
fwiw I havent played PC games since 2002/3, but have been playing the hell out of 360/ps3 lately and it seems like a great step up!

Im flexible on the options, but my Budget is about AU$2000 so it cant get much more expensive.

cheers for any opinions!

If you are going to use your HDTV as a monitor you should get an ATI card to pass the audio/video on one cable.

 

[Fredescu]

$156 Motherboard: Asus M4N78 Pro
$225 CPU: X3 Phenom II 720
$67 RAM 4GB DDR2 800 PC6400
$315 Video Card: Gigabyte GTX260
$102 Hard Drive: 640GB WD HDD
$31 DVD-RW: Pioneer 216
$162 Case/PSU: Coolermaster RC690 w/ 460w PSU
$183 OS: OEM MS 64 bit Vista Home Premium
$70 MSY Build and test
---
$1311

Anyone have any opinions as to whether going DDR3 would be worth it for this build? Are there any good direct comparisions on the web? I know it might be nice for future upgrades, but it would cost more to upgrade the motherboard and RAM than it would to go to an PII X4 940 which I'm sure would provide a better performance increase.

I was thinking that it might be worth spending $85 on a decent CPU HSF, like the Noctua NH-U12P, to assist with overclocking.

 

[Hazaro]

Well I managed to upgrade my pc with a new mb, video card, cpu, and psu. Thanks for the help with my question earlier about the psu.

Crysis demo played smoothly at the highest settings.

This graph makes me feel better about buying the 260 instead of the 9800GT, so worth that extra money.

Custom configs next, boost your FPS by quite a bit too

Ok PC-Gaf...
Im going to buy a PC shortly and would like some opinions. After some extenstive PM'ing with Fredescu (thanks!), he has come up with 2 base options for me:

If I go for the core i7 based rig I will probably have to use my tv as a monitor for a month or so (Panasonic Viera 50" 1080p), is that a bad idea? Is it worth the extra money in GAF's collective opinion?
fwiw I havent played PC games since 2002/3, but have been playing the hell out of 360/ps3 lately and it seems like a great step up!

Im flexible on the options, but my Budget is about AU$2000 so it cant get much more expensive.

Running on your TV is fine.
Certain cards with HDMI out can do sound through HDMI also. Moot if you are going to use headphones or have some other set-up or going to get a monitor later.

i7 builds looks great for a while, esp since you haven't touched your PC in forever.
Maybe check if you can get a brand name PSU since you aren't going to be fiddling with it. I wouldn't worry about it though.

Not many PSU's come in 460w (Probably is a Cooler Master 460w which is ok)

Anyone have any opinions as to whether going DDR3 would be worth it for this build? Are there any good direct comparisions on the web? I know it might be nice for future upgrades, but it would cost more to upgrade the motherboard and RAM than it would to go to an PII X4 940 which I'm sure would provide a better performance increase.

I was thinking that it might be worth spending $85 on a decent CPU HSF, like the Noctua NH-U12P, to assist with overclocking.

Doesn't sound like he is interested in any of that.
DDR3 improvements are almost non-existent, 1-3% about. I don't think that mobo can even use DDR3.

 

[Fredescu]

DDR3 improvements are almost non-existent, 1-3% about. I don't think that mobo can even use DDR3.

No that mobo can't, which is why I said upgrading the motherboard would be included in the cost of it. Definitely not worth it by the sounds.

Maybe check if you can get a brand name PSU since you aren't going to be fiddling with it. I wouldn't worry about it though.

Not many PSU's come in 460w (Probably is a Cooler Master 460w which is ok)

Yeah it's a CM bundled PSU. This vendor doesn't seem to sell the 690 without a power supply. A Seasonic M12 500w at about $125 is probably the best option from them.

 

[papercut]

I'm looking for a decently powerful video card that doesn't sound like a jet engine when trying to stay cool. So far all I've come across is Sapphire's 4870 Toxic but I was wondering if there are less expensive alternatives out there. I'm planning on sticking it in a Lian Li PC-65B btw. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Hazaro]

I'm looking for a decently powerful video card that doesn't sound like a jet engine when trying to stay cool. So far all I've come across is Sapphire's 4870 Toxic but I was wondering if there are less expensive alternatives out there. I'm planning on sticking it in a Lian Li PC-65B btw. Thanks for any suggestions!

Any card + Accelerso S1 cooler.

No that mobo can't, which is why I said upgrading the motherboard would be included in the cost of it. Definitely not worth it by the sounds.

Yeah it's a CM bundled PSU. This vendor doesn't seem to sell the 690 without a power supply. A Seasonic M12 500w at about $125 is probably the best option from them.

Missed the mobo part, but yeah it's not worth it.

The CM PSU is good, but for longer term reliability I think something else would be better.
How can you even navigate their site? :lol It's the worst vendor page I have ever seen :lol

 

[Broadbandito]

Why a new mATX motherboard and HDD now?
Keep the DDR2800 RAM, you won't be using the extra 'speed'
Also I'd upgrade the HDD to a WD 640GB (Faster + more space for just a little more)
And switch the cooler back to the Rosewill, I've installed 2 of them and they run nice.

Good for springing the 550w though

I did the new mobo cause my old mobo only has maximum ram of 2 gb. So this will take care of that, is cheap enough and with high ratings behind it. I only got the the 250 gb cause thats all I need. I am going to have both hdds in. The ram was only 10 bucks more. and Yea I am happy with the 550w decision.

Will have this tomorrow or day after (kinda splurged) :lol

 

[Diablohead]

Oh just one more question before I order Vista Red. If I buy it as a student (so I get my discount) does it allow me to be valid for a free Win7 upgrade later this year? or do I need some kind of full price retail key/version? I'm a bit rusty on the 7 upgrade deal, maybe I am getting it wrong.

It would mean I can move onto vista 64, let me use all 4gig of ram and give me free access to windows 7 when it is out, all for £41.

 

[Fredescu]

The CM PSU is good, but for longer term reliability I think something else would be better.
How can you even navigate their site? :lol It's the worst vendor page I have ever seen :lol

Yeah, it's horrible. Unfortunately they have consistently the best prices in Aus. Go straight to the PDF http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

Edit: It's so horrible in fact that someone not even affiliated with them took their own time to rewrite the whole site with up to date prices: http://msy.arpatubes.net/

 

[papercut]

Any card + Accelerso S1 cooler.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'd like to avoid playing around with the card and it's cooling system if possible. I was thinking more along the lines of quiet stock fans/heatsinks, like the Toxic.

 

[rohlfinator]

If I go for the core i7 based rig I will probably have to use my tv as a monitor for a month or so (Panasonic Viera 50" 1080p), is that a bad idea? Is it worth the extra money in GAF's collective opinion?

Are you going to be doing any other processor-intensive stuff (like audio/video editing), or is gaming going to be your heaviest workload? The gains in modern games are pretty trivial... personally I don't think the i7 is worth the extra $500 unless you need it for other tasks.

Anyone have any opinions as to whether going DDR3 would be worth it for this build? Are there any good direct comparisions on the web? I know it might be nice for future upgrades, but it would cost more to upgrade the motherboard and RAM than it would to go to an PII X4 940 which I'm sure would provide a better performance increase.

http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/16382/1

There's almost zero benefit for games, and pretty minor differences elsewhere.

Oh just one more question before I order Vista Red. If I buy it as a student (so I get my discount) does it allow me to be valid for a free Win7 upgrade later this year? or do I need some kind of full price retail key/version? I'm a bit rusty on the 7 upgrade deal, maybe I am getting it wrong.

AFAIK, the free upgrade deal only applies if you get the OS as part of a new computer purchase.

 

[Hazaro]

Yeah, it's horrible. Unfortunately they have consistently the best prices in Aus. Go straight to the PDF http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

Edit: It's so horrible in fact that someone not even affiliated with them took their own time to rewrite the whole site with up to date prices: http://msy.arpatubes.net/

:lol Thanks for that.
Seasonic 500w looks great for it.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'd like to avoid playing around with the card and it's cooling system if possible. I was thinking more along the lines of quiet stock fans/heatsinks, like the Toxic.

Probably best to ask there.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=19

Are you going to be doing any other processor-intensive stuff (like audio/video editing), or is gaming going to be your heaviest workload? The gains in modern games are pretty trivial... personally I don't think the i7 is worth the extra $500 unless you need it for other tasks.

If he's not going to touch it for 5 years I think it's worth it in the long run, extra $350 USD isn't that bad.

 

[Diablohead]

AFAIK, the free upgrade deal only applies if you get the OS as part of a new computer purchase.

Seems so looking at google for a bit, I will just stay with XP for now then.

 

[Bebpo]

Help I'm stuck!

I installed the i7 cpu on the motherboard, and I assembled the V8 cooler master cpu fan and put thermal compound on the cpu and placed the fan on and the screws are aligned (but I can't screw them in right now because the stupid coolmaster is so big it blocks a full-size screw drive from getting to the screws on the motherboard).

But it wants me to put THIS on the bottom of the motherboard and tighten the screws from the bottom.

How the hell do I put something on the bottom of this motherboard, especially now that I have this giant fan attached on top. This thing is huge and heavy. Am I supposed to put the entire motherboard resting upside down on top of the V8? Seems really iffy.

 

[Zombie James]

You were supposed to put the motherboard back plate on before mounting the heatsink.

Hey, do any of you have weird temperature differences between your cores? I find that one of my cores (dual-core E5200) is consistently 2 or 3 degrees hotter than the other one.

 

[Bebpo]

No, it said to put it on last in the instruction manual. Plus you wouldn't be able to put it on until the cpu fan was on and the screws were going through the motherboard because the only thing keeping the back plate on is those screws going through the motherboard from the cpu fan.

 

[Zombie James]

No, it said to put it on last in the instruction manual. Plus you wouldn't be able to put it on until the cpu fan was on and the screw were going through the motherboard because the only thing keeping the back plate on is those screws going through the motherboard from the cpu fan.

Hmm, that's odd. Can't say i've come across that before, then.

 

[Bebpo]

My main problem right now is figuring out how to screw the heatsink screws through the motherboard. I need them tight and sticking out the back to mount that back plate and to keep the damn thing in.

BUT the stupid heatsink is so HUGE it's impossible to use a screwdriver head on and I can't really do it with my fingernails. I'm beginning to regret buying this heatsink instead of just using the stock i7 one.

 

[Bebpo]

Googling it someone else had this exact same problem:

http://www.overclockingwiki.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4321

WTF do I do. The V8 is pretty stuck to the cpu already due to the thermal compound.

 

[Burger]

No, it said to put it on last in the instruction manual. Plus you wouldn't be able to put it on until the cpu fan was on and the screws were going through the motherboard because the only thing keeping the back plate on is those screws going through the motherboard from the cpu fan.

Use one hand to hold one side of the underside of the motherboard/backplate with the other end on the edge of a table/bench, so your second hand can work a screwdriver ?

 

[Bebpo]

Wow, I found the answer on coolermaster's forums. You have to screw the screws in COUNTER-CLOCKWISE. But they don't tell you that ANYWHERE.

 

[NinjaFridge]

Just bough a new HP Pavilion A6744UK and was wondering about graphics cards. I didn't get it to be a gaming machine so i'm not expecting much but something would be good and would be an improvement over the intel integrated.

Is there a program i can download that will tell me all i need to know with regards to the mobo etc?

 

[Diablohead]

News on my windows adventures, my uni have given me a key for XP pro 64bit, so i'm all good for that 4gig of ram I have, just need to burn their ISO onto a cd before I head home in a few weeks time.

happy

 

[Bebpo]

Finally have the motherboard/cpu/heatsink combo done.

Moving onto the case.

 

[Bebpo]

Now I am running into the problem of nothing came with screws.

How does the motherboard not come with screws to screw it into the case and how does the case not come with screws to do the same? Nothing came with screws except for the heatsink.

Videocard = no screws included
Dvd burner = no screws included
Motherboard = no screws included
Case = no screws included
Power Supply = no screws included
Hard drive = no screws included

Uh, I need to go find some screws in the garage now

 

[Boonoo]

That seems pretty strange. I'm almost certain that my case, power supply, and motherboard all came with screws. My motherboard screws had fun, red paper washers.

 

[Fredescu]

The case really should come with that. Are you sure there's not a packet of them hiding inside the case somewhere?

Edit: Some guy on Newegg said this: "I think a few people said it didn't come with any screws. It's funny, because I caught myself thinking the same thing. On the 5 1/4" drive bays they placed all the screws into the metal of the case. There are more than enough there to handle the mounting of your components. The case itself comes with 12 brass motherboard standoffs if you needed to know that as well."

 

[Fredescu]

Just bough a new HP Pavilion A6744UK and was wondering about graphics cards. I didn't get it to be a gaming machine so i'm not expecting much but something would be good and would be an improvement over the intel integrated.

Is there a program i can download that will tell me all i need to know with regards to the mobo etc?

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...16&lc=en&dlc=cs&cc=cz&product=3878965&lang=cs

The motherboard appears to have a PCI-e slot, so you should be ok there. You're going to be limited by your 300w power supply though. I don't know much about the lower end cards though, perhaps someone else can suggest something with lower power usage.

 

[Brandon F]

Yea, last case I bought, the baggie of screws were taped in a weird hidden location deep inside the case. Kinda stumbled on it accidentally before I had to screw anything down, but take a close look across every inch of your case and you should see something.

 

[Bebpo]

I found the spacers on the case and put them in and omg the motherboard is the tightest and hardest fit I've ever had for a motherboard in a case. I almost feel like the case is too small for the motherboard. It's scary tight.

But yeah, I can't find any screws that came with the motherboard so I can't screw in the motherboard >_<

 

[rass]

wow, you guys are quick haha. well..

If you are going to use your HDTV as a monitor you should get an ATI card to pass the audio/video on one cable.

what is the ATI equivalent of the 260? And would it be a compromise? I'd rather have to run a separate audio cable than sacrifice video capabilities

Running on your TV is fine.
Certain cards with HDMI out can do sound through HDMI also. Moot if you are going to use headphones or have some other set-up or going to get a monitor later.
i7 builds looks great for a while, esp since you haven't touched your PC in forever.
Maybe check if you can get a brand name PSU since you aren't going to be fiddling with it. I wouldn't worry about it though.
Not many PSU's come in 460w (Probably is a Cooler Master 460w which is ok)

yep the PSU is bundled -- is there a 260 card with HDMI?
I havent touched my pc since I started to study graphic design and switched to mac

Are you going to be doing any other processor-intensive stuff (like audio/video editing), or is gaming going to be your heaviest workload? The gains in modern games are pretty trivial... personally I don't think the i7 is worth the extra $500 unless you need it for other tasks.

I am considering selling off my MBP and using this as my new home workstation, I do a lot of large file manipulation (photoshop and indesign mostly) and am starting to move into motion graphics. I'd rather have power to burn.

 

[Fredescu]

The ATi 4870 1GB is roughly equivalent in price and performance to the GTX260. MSY have a Powercolor one for $307 or an Asus one for $355. I have the latter card actually and it's does the job fairly well. Most high end cards don't have a HDMI port, but usually come with a DVI to HDMI converter. The ASUS 4870 I got came with one.

 

[Boonoo]

You were supposed to put the motherboard back plate on before mounting the heatsink.

Hey, do any of you have weird temperature differences between your cores? I find that one of my cores (dual-core E5200) is consistently 2 or 3 degrees hotter than the other one.

Yeah, it's pretty normal.
Not all cores are created equal, and cpus are rarely flat, so you get variation from the get-go and then uneven cooling to boot.
My cores 2 and 3 are a good 5c cooler than cores 0 and 1 even though I've lapped my cpu.

 

[Slavik81]

Cooler Master 690 You can see a pic of one right above me.

Ooooo... Nice.
And $80 cheaper. And it looks roughly equivalent.
If the price gap weren't so huge, it would be a tougher decision, but the Antec marketing buzzword surcharge is a little hefty.

Thanks. I think I'd been pointed to it long ago, but I'd totally forgotten about it.