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[brain_stew]

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!

50" and plasma make it a no-no for me, that's a pretty oor pixel pitch and its going to be a pain working with such a huge monitor imo. Your actual in game experience between the two rigs will be very-very similar, probably within 5% in many cases, close to none existant if you OC that Phenom as they fly once you start hitting 3.4ghz and the like.

Either rig will basically be palying your console games with better graphics at 1080p with 60fps and a nice amount of AA and AF. So yeah, its a pretty huge leap from them consoles.

 

[brain_stew]

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

Yup, its really an excellent card for the money, the perfect 1080p card.

Have you tried OCing yours yet? I've got nearly a 20% performance boost out of mine over reference clocks, which pretty much puts it above a GTX 280! The perverse thing is that my clocks are actually on the low end of what many have managed with the card.

Download EVGA Precision, to clock it, and use Furmark and ATI Tool to stability test your clocks.

 

[Diablohead]

Yup, its really an excellent card for the money, the perfect 1080p card.

Have you tried OCing yours yet? I've got nearly a 20% performance boost out of mine over reference clocks, which pretty much puts it above a GTX 280! The perverse thing is that my clocks are actually on the low end of what many have managed with the card.

Download EVGA Precision, to clock it, and use Furmark and ATI Tool to stability test your clocks.

I am waiting for the computer to be delivered home from the internet, also I am not going to be home for another 2 or so weeks yet.

I thought about OC but i'm not going to try it straight away, the machine is costing me a lot of money since I am a student so the risk of maybe overcooking the processor or blowing a chip is a nono, 20% boost sounds rather good to do down the road.

My machine has stock/basic chip cooling also, I would need to buy a nicer fan first.

 

[Hazaro]

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 >_<

The 690 is great to work in, it's the mid towers that scare me :lol

I know its probably too late, but the drive screws on the side of the case also work for the motherboard.

If it's tight make sure that the back ports of the motherboard line up and 'click' into place.

@ Slavik81 - The Antec 1200 is just kind of silly imo, so many drivebays :lol

 

[Hazaro]

Thought I'd throw this up for future questions. Too bad Victim is banned :lol

1. # What is this PC going to be built for? What Resolution (1680x1050, 1920x1080(1080p),etc.) will you be playing at?
-What types of tasks/uses you'll be using it for?

2. # What is YOUR budget?
-Select a reasonable price range.

3. # Have YOU performed any research yet?
Have you taken the time to browse through this thread (OR READ THE OP :lol ) and already have an idea of what you want?

4. # Do YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts?
What leftovers will you/do you have laying around that you might be able to use in the new build? they may or may not be worth it. Please be specific... We want brands, models, types/interfaces (IDE/SATA), everything you can provide (Model numbers are the most important factor).
5. # Do YOU plan on overclocking?
Are YOU going to squeeze that extra amount of power out of the build to get your money's worth?

6. # When do you plan to build it? Can you wait?
Do you want to buy your parts NOW as in today or a week? Or can you wait a few weeks and buy over time?

 

[Shinz Kicker]

Thought I'd throw this up for future questions. Too bad Victim is banned :lol

1. # What is this PC going to be built for? What Resolution (1680x1050, 1920x1080(1080p),etc.) will you be playing at?
-What types of tasks/uses you'll be using it for?

2. # What is YOUR budget?
-Select a reasonable price range.

3. # Have YOU performed any research yet?
Have you taken the time to browse through this thread (OR READ THE OP :lol ) and already have an idea of what you want?

4. # Do YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts?
What leftovers will you/do you have laying around that you might be able to use in the new build? they may or may not be worth it. Please be specific... We want brands, models, types/interfaces (IDE/SATA), everything you can provide (Model numbers are the most important factor).
5. # Do YOU plan on overclocking?
Are YOU going to squeeze that extra amount of power out of the build to get your money's worth?

6. # When do you plan to build it? Can you wait?
Do you want to buy your parts NOW as in today or a week? Or can you wait a few weeks and buy over time?

That should be stickied.

 

[Shinz Kicker]

Yup, its really an excellent card for the money, the perfect 1080p card.

Have you tried OCing yours yet? I've got nearly a 20% performance boost out of mine over reference clocks, which pretty much puts it above a GTX 280! The perverse thing is that my clocks are actually on the low end of what many have managed with the card.

Download EVGA Precision, to clock it, and use Furmark and ATI Tool to stability test your clocks.

did you use an aftermarket heatsink/fan

 

[M.Bluth]

HELP!!!

I was removing the Intel heatsink, but one of the mounts (or pins or whatever they're called) is stuck and doesn't turn, so I can't remove the damn thing.
I always hated the installation method in intel heatsinks, and I think it hates me. What's wrong with screws?

here's a picture, sorry for the terrible quality.

 

[Cheeto]

HELP!!!

I was removing the Intel heatsink, but one of the mounts (or pins or whatever they're called) is stuck and doesn't turn, so I can't remove the damn thing.
I always hated the installation method in intel heatsinks, and I think it hates me. What's wrong with screws?

Pinch it with a pair of pliers and push it through.

 

[M.Bluth]

After I posted the reply I went back and tried again and it came out :lol
Guess I panicked for no reason, but I swear I WILL NEVER USE AN INTEL HEATSINK AGAIN, this is the third time that an intel heatsink caused me to panic for no reason.

I removed the thermal paste with no problem, been rubbing the CPU with alcohol just to make sure theres no leftovers.

 

[NinjaFridge]

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.

Well looking past the PSU what kind of card am i looking at. I guess i could upgrade the PSU but would it be worth it. I think the PCI-e slot is x16 1.0, what does that mean for the type of cards i can get?

Thanks for the help.

 

[brain_stew]

did you use an aftermarket heatsink/fan

Well my GTX 260 came with a custom cooler, but the reference design can cope just fine, its a pretty decent cooler all things considered. Have a look over www.overclock.net if you want to see some of the insane OCs this thing can achieve, its got loads of headroom.

Since you can't mess with voltage, there's basically zero risk to it, you most certainly won't be blowing up your chip lol! Heck, since its totally possible to set up your own, more aggressive fan routines with something like Rivatuner, your OCed card can actually be MORE stable that a stock clocked one, as its your choice as to how cool the thing runs, basically.

For reference, the reference design clocks of the GTX 260 are (format is core/shaders/memory):

576/1242/999

My card had a healthy factory overclock of:

625/1348/1100

I run mine at:

702/1440/1160


Its 100% Furmark and ATI Tool stable at those clocks as well and like I say my clocks are actually on the low end of things compared to what others have got out of theirs, insane considering what you pay for one.

And hey, I'm a student as well you know, doesn't stop me from getting a 1ghz OC out of my CPU as well. OCing is perfectly safe and basically free performance so long as you make sure you read up beforehand, GPU OCing in particular is a cake walk.

 

[Cheeto]

Heads up to anyone in the market for DDR3. ZipZoom has a OCZ tri-channel package for $40 after rebates.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009617

 

[Bebpo]

So I'm posting from my newly built PC. Took me all night and I just finished installing windows and my graphic card drivers now, but everything seems working. All my ram/drives/parts are being recognized and no crashing.

I ran into soooooo many hurdles due to shitty hardware from coolermaster. I'm never getting anything from them again. Things like holes in the case not fitting some of the spacers, or terrible instructions for their heatsinks. And then same with Gigabyte thanks to their no-screws-included motherboard @_@ I probably couldn't list the amount of problems I ran into while building my PC on one hand. Took me about 6 hours total and my hands are all cut up now. The only PERMANENT casualty is a stupid case spacer fell on the motherboard and rolled UNDER a gigabyte plated thing and it's impossible to get it out. I will just hope the spacer doesn't cause a mass explosion one day.

I'm installing XP SP3 now. But here's my HWMonitor temps atm:

Are the i7 numbers ok? I kinda expected it to be lower like 30C since I have a HUGE REFRIGERATOR heatsink on top of it with the fan set to max.

After I run some benchmarks with this system stock (3dmark/Crysis) I'll attempt to overclock the cpu from 2.67ghz -> 4ghz. Is there a guide to how to do this somewhere? I've never overclocked before.

 

[Bebpo]

So I followed an i920 overclocking review that was using a gigabyte x58 motherboard like mine and did exactly what they did:

-turbo mode disabled
-core voltage 1.25->1.35
-QPI voltage 1.15 (in my case it was default at 1.20) -> 1.18
-BHLK frequency 130 -> 190 (3.86mhz)
-memory frequency multiplier down to 6.0 to get it close to 1066mhz

The result is my cores are about 10C hotter than at non-overclock, so around 40s not doing anything and 60s under heavy load.

But tbh I don't notice any difference in performance between 2.67ghz and 3.86ghz. I ran Crysis benchmarks and yeah I gained like 3fps, but 3fps is not really worth caring about. What is the main advantage of overclocking to a high ghz again?

 

[Crazymoogle]

But tbh I don't notice any difference in performance between 2.67ghz and 3.86ghz. I ran Crysis benchmarks and yeah I gained like 3fps, but 3fps is not really worth caring about. What is the main advantage of overclocking to a high ghz again?

If you're not noticing a difference when the system is stressed, then there's really no point, as your video card is carrying a lot of the load. I guess if you were doing CPU bound transcoding/encoding/decoding, maybe...

 

[Bebpo]

Well I just tested 3dmark06 and I went from

16192
to
18244

Which I guess is a decent improvement.

Regarding overclocking, if my temps aren't going crazy high and my system isn't crashing, I shouldn't be worried about anything right?

 

[Crazymoogle]

Regarding overclocking, if my temps aren't going crazy high and my system isn't crashing, I shouldn't be worried about anything right?

Probably. I mean, the reason why people run those stress-tester benchmarks is because if they crash in a reasonable amount of time, you know why. Your OC could be fine, or it could be fine for only 2 hour spurts of Crysis, yet be fine indefinitely for Office.

 

[MWS Natural]

Well I just tested 3dmark06 and I went from

16192
to
18244

Which I guess is a decent improvement.

Regarding overclocking, if my temps aren't going crazy high and my system isn't crashing, I shouldn't be worried about anything right?

Pass OCCT for 1hr and/or Prime 95 for 24hrs then your stable.

 

[brain_stew]

Well I just tested 3dmark06 and I went from

16192
to
18244

Which I guess is a decent improvement.

Regarding overclocking, if my temps aren't going crazy high and my system isn't crashing, I shouldn't be worried about anything right?

Make sure its stable in both of OCCTs CPU tests for several hours first.

Whilst its been used for years, Prime95 is a really outdated stress test nowadays, other programs will fetch up errors much faster than Prime ever has.

 

[godhandiscen]

So I'm posting from my newly built PC. Took me all night and I just finished installing windows and my graphic card drivers now, but everything seems working. All my ram/drives/parts are being recognized and no crashing.

I ran into soooooo many hurdles due to shitty hardware from coolermaster. I'm never getting anything from them again. Things like holes in the case not fitting some of the spacers, or terrible instructions for their heatsinks. And then same with Gigabyte thanks to their no-screws-included motherboard @_@ I probably couldn't list the amount of problems I ran into while building my PC on one hand. Took me about 6 hours total and my hands are all cut up now. The only PERMANENT casualty is a stupid case spacer fell on the motherboard and rolled UNDER a gigabyte plated thing and it's impossible to get it out. I will just hope the spacer doesn't cause a mass explosion one day.

I'm installing XP SP3 now. But here's my HWMonitor temps atm:

Are the i7 numbers ok? I kinda expected it to be lower like 30C since I have a HUGE REFRIGERATOR heatsink on top of it with the fan set to max.

After I run some benchmarks with this system stock (3dmark/Crysis) I'll attempt to overclock the cpu from 2.67ghz -> 4ghz. Is there a guide to how to do this somewhere? I've never overclocked before.

Those are my temp after I OC'd my 940 to 3.7GHz.I would say you are ok, you should worry about your temps during stress testing.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

After I posted the reply I went back and tried again and it came out :lol
Guess I panicked for no reason, but I swear I WILL NEVER USE AN INTEL HEATSINK AGAIN, this is the third time that an intel heatsink caused me to panic for no reason.

I removed the thermal paste with no problem, been rubbing the CPU with alcohol just to make sure theres no leftovers.

The LGA 775 heatsinks are so easy to work with! I wish more heatsinks were made to get on that easily.

I'm looking at you AMD 939/AM2 HSF!!!!! Screw you and your ultra secure design!

 

[Hazaro]

So I followed an i920 overclocking review that was using a gigabyte x58 motherboard like mine and did exactly what they did:

-turbo mode disabled
-core voltage 1.25->1.35
-QPI voltage 1.15 (in my case it was default at 1.20) -> 1.18
-BHLK frequency 130 -> 190 (3.86mhz)
-memory frequency multiplier down to 6.0 to get it close to 1066mhz

The result is my cores are about 10C hotter than at non-overclock, so around 40s not doing anything and 60s under heavy load.

But tbh I don't notice any difference in performance between 2.67ghz and 3.86ghz. I ran Crysis benchmarks and yeah I gained like 3fps, but 3fps is not really worth caring about. What is the main advantage of overclocking to a high ghz again?

Sounds fine to me.
A faster CPU can raise your minimums and average FPS by a bit, but more to the point is that it'll do video encoding, etc faster.
If the CPU wasn't fast enough in the first place then overclocking would let your graphics perform better, but at stock it's fast enough. If you added another card in you'd see the extra gain from overclocking.

 

[Bebpo]

Those are my temp after I OC'd my 940 to 3.7GHz.I would say you are ok, you should worry about your temps during stress testing.

Those were my numbers during pre-OC

At 3.86ghz OCCT is telling me everything is stable but my heavy load temps are mid 70s (never hitting 80 though). I read that under 80 is safe, but I dunno it just feels scary seeing the cpu at 75C.

I think I might drop back down to 3.8ghz which is about 68C under a heavy load.

4.0ghz just does not work on my setup. I've tried various guides and the system boots, but under stress it resets.


At least my harder drives are cooler on this computer than my old one! They used to be ~40C and now they're ~30C

My GPU still runs pretty hot on the default. It maxes at around 67C+. But then it's an overclocked model (I didn't overclock it, it's how the XFX Black Edition comes) running at 800mhz so I guess that's why.

 

[yacobod]

So I followed an i920 overclocking review that was using a gigabyte x58 motherboard like mine and did exactly what they did:

-turbo mode disabled
-core voltage 1.25->1.35
-QPI voltage 1.15 (in my case it was default at 1.20) -> 1.18
-BHLK frequency 130 -> 190 (3.86mhz)
-memory frequency multiplier down to 6.0 to get it close to 1066mhz

The result is my cores are about 10C hotter than at non-overclock, so around 40s not doing anything and 60s under heavy load.

i put a system similar to yours 2-3 weeks ago, i have mine OC'd to 3.8 as well, i have close to the same temps as well

 

[Kintaro]

My GTX260 arrived. To my surprise, it included two free games in addition to the free controller. Farcry 2 and Mirror's Edge! =O

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

My GTX260 arrived. To my surprise, it included two free games in addition to the free controller. Farcry 2 and Mirror's Edge! =O

Nice!

 

[godhandiscen]

Those were my numbers during pre-OC

At 3.86ghz OCCT is telling me everything is stable but my heavy load temps are mid 70s (never hitting 80 though). I read that under 80 is safe, but I dunno it just feels scary seeing the cpu at 75C.

I think I might drop back down to 3.8ghz which is about 68C under a heavy load.

4.0ghz just does not work on my setup. I've tried various guides and the system boots, but under stress it resets.


At least my harder drives are cooler on this computer than my old one! They used to be ~40C and now they're ~30C

My GPU still runs pretty hot on the default. It maxes at around 67C+. But then it's an overclocked model (I didn't overclock it, it's how the XFX Black Edition comes) running at 800mhz so I guess that's why.

Chill, anything beyond 3.6 with the i7 is pointless. I would argue that you start seeing diminishing returns past 3.3. Also, those temperatures are fine. The chip is supposed to get that hot under 100% load.

 

[_Angelus_]

Was wondering whats the best way to go here. I'm trying to hook up an ATI 4870 (DVI output) to an HDTV 30 inch set with HDMI inputs(displays up to 1080i)

I've heard there are two ways.

1.) Use the DVI>HDMI adapter that came bundled with the card.
or
2.) Buy a DVI>HDMI 10 or 15 foot cable(that's the length I want to buy btw)

Which one is best,by that I mean which set up would supply both audio and video through its connection? I think that DVI needs an adapter in order to carry audio over to HDMI,right? My tv set doesn't do digital audio,I only have basic audio inputs on the rear of the set. So for sound and video option 1 is best then?


Here is one thing that totally throws me off though. I went to Sapphire's site and they mention that the DVI output on the 4870 is DVI-I?
You can read it here.
http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=278&grp=3

# I/O Output: Dual DL-DVI-I+HDTV
# Core Clock: 780 MHz
# Memory Clock: 1000 MHz, 4.0Gbps
# PCI Express 2.0 x16 bus interface
# 1024MB /256bit GDDR5 memory interface
# Dual Slot Active Cooler
# HDMI compliant via dongle
# 7.1 Audio Channel Support
# Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 support
# Shader Model 4.1 support

From what I've seen you simply can't buy a DVI-I>HDMI cable online...they're all DVI-D>HMDI.

If I do decide to go with a option #2 might I run into compatibility problems since the 4870 does DVI-I? See,option 2 sounds sexier since my PC is some 10 feet away from my tv,even if I can't carry over sound through this connection I could just use my PC speakers for audio,right?

Sorry that this all sounds confusing.:lol

 

[brain_stew]

My GTX260 arrived. To my surprise, it included two free games in addition to the free controller. Farcry 2 and Mirror's Edge! =O

Mirror's Edge is the perfect game to show off that nice new GTX 260.

Came with my card as well. What controller did it come with?

The adapter is the only way to get HDMI audio from ATI cards. Make sure you are outputting at your TVs native resolution as well, likely 1360x768 if it can't do 1080p. If this isn't supported over HDMI then VGA is the way to go.

 

[papercut]

I'm trying to put something together, and this is what I've come up with:

Phenom X4 940
GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-UD4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Lian Li PC-65B
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB
Video Card TBD but likely to be a 1GB 4870

Power Supplies:
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W ATX12V / EPS12V $55 AR
vs
BFG Tech LS SERIES LS-550 550W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.8 $60 AR

The BFG was singled out by Anandtech for good price/performance. I was thinking of going for the bigger OCZ model to somewhat better future-proof the system. This is about the most that I'm willing to pay for a power supply. Is this a good idea or is 550W enough to power future single-card solutions?

How does the rest of the system look? I've never overclocked before but I'm not against it if the system starts to get sluggish at some point. Thanks for any help!

 

[_Angelus_]

Mirror's Edge is the perfect game to show off that nice new GTX 260.

Came with my card as well. What controller did it come with?

The adapter is the only way to get HDMI audio from ATI cards. Make sure you are outputting at your TVs native resolution as well, likely 1360x768 if it can't do 1080p. If this isn't supported over HDMI then VGA is the way to go.

If I pass on using the adapter,no sound,ok I get that. Let's say I go with the DVI>HDMI cable set up instead. Can't I just turn on my PC speakers for audio to make up for the lack of audio? I mean the PC and tv set are rather close to one another,some 10 feet apart.

I dunno what the native resolution is on my set,it does both 720P and 1080i. I'm thinking its 720P while it upscales to 1080i when needed.

 

[Kintaro]

Mirror's Edge is the perfect game to show off that nice new GTX 260.

Came with my card as well. What controller did it come with?

Son of a bastard! I overlooked a critical part of my set up. My power supply. It's only 450w and this thing looks like it requires at least a 500w supply. Ugghh...any suggestions for a power supply that won't break the bank?

This was the controller.

 

[brain_stew]

Son of a bastard! I overlooked a critical part of my set up. My power supply. It's only 450w and this thing looks like it requires at least a 500w supply. Ugghh...any suggestions for a power supply that won't break the bank?

This was the controller.

If its a decent 450W PSU it'll run it just fine, your system won't come close to drawing that "500w" figure. What's your PSU model? What does it say it can deliver on the 12V rail (it'll say on the side of it)?

If I pass on using the adapter,no sound,ok I get that. Let's say I go with the DVI>HDMI cable set up instead. Can't I just turn on my PC speakers for audio to make up for the lack of audio? I mean the PC and tv set are rather close to one another,some 10 feet apart.

I dunno what the native resolution is on my set,it does both 720P and 1080i. I'm thinking its 720P while it upscales to 1080i when needed.

It'll be 1366x768, like nigh on every "720p" LCD.

Why would you pass on using the adapter anyway, I'm struggling to understand what you'd gain from bypassing it? Of course you can use your PC speakers for audio, just connect them upto your motherboards audio out like you always would but even then you still might as well have the option of HDMI audio. Its the way the card was designed to be hooked upto a HDMI device so why cause problems for yourself by using any other method?

If your set doesn't support 1360x768 over HDMI, be sure to test it on every HDMI slot, then if not, VGA is the route you want to go, as IQ will take a major hit if you're not 1:1 mapping, text in particular will be much less readable.

 

[Kintaro]

If its a decent 450W PSU it'll run it just fine, your system won't come close to drawing that "500w" figure. What's your PSU model? What does it say it can deliver on the 12V rail (it'll say on the side of it)?

Looks like...

Nspire PSF450S-20

On the side, it says
+12v1 15.0A
+ 12v2 16.0A
- 12v 0.3A

Not sure whicn you mean.

 

[Grayman]

6. # When do you plan to build it? Can you wait?
Do you want to buy your parts NOW as in today or a week? Or can you wait a few weeks and buy over time?

What are typical benefits of buying over time? I am assuming sales

 

[brain_stew]

Looks like...

Nspire PSF450S-20

On the side, it says
+12v1 15.0A
+ 12v2 16.0A
- 12v 0.3A

Not sure whicn you mean.

That'll should fine, enjoy your new GPU.

 

[Kintaro]

That'll should fine, enjoy your new GPU.

Wooo...time to try to figure out how to connect this stuff cleanly. :lol

 

[godhandiscen]

I'm trying to put something together, and this is what I've come up with:

Phenom X4 940
GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-UD4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Lian Li PC-65B
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB
Video Card TBD but likely to be a 1GB 4870

Power Supplies:
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W ATX12V / EPS12V $55 AR
vs
BFG Tech LS SERIES LS-550 550W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.8 $60 AR

The BFG was singled out by Anandtech for good price/performance. I was thinking of going for the bigger OCZ model to somewhat better future-proof the system. This is about the most that I'm willing to pay for a power supply. Is this a good idea or is 550W enough to power future single-card solutions?

How does the rest of the system look? I've never overclocked before but I'm not against it if the system starts to get sluggish at some point. Thanks for any help!

If you want to venture with OC'ing, I would recommend you to get an aftermarket cooler.

 

[Minsc]

Compared to the growth in those single core years, 2008 > 2011 looks absolutely amazing for PCs, things are going to be getting so damn fast, the bar graphs won't even be able to keep up.

I wonder where the fun will stop? Do we have in benefit in seeing 100 cores? 100,000 cores? 100,000,000 cores?

Edit: Just kind of annoying to see a quad core system looking to be rather obsolete compared to the 8/12 core system in under 2 years, but I guess that's the never-ending cycle, and half the fun.

 

[godhandiscen]

Compared to the growth in those single core years, 2008 > 2011 looks absolutely amazing for PCs, things are going to be getting so damn fast, the bar graphs won't even be able to keep up.

I wonder where the fun will stop? Do we have in benefit in seeing 100 cores? 100,000 cores? 100,000,000 cores?

Complexity of the graphical algorithms and AI increases exponentially, so it will always be "just enough".

 

[Minsc]

Complexity of the graphical algorithms and AI increases exponentially, so it will always be "just enough".

That graph makes 2009 look like a shitty time to buy a PC though, I wonder if the X58 architecture will support 12 & 16 core processors?

I really don't think AI quality has improved in any sort of relative fashion with graphics or cpu power.

 

[godhandiscen]

That graph makes 2009 look like a shitty time to buy a PC though, I wonder if the X58 architecture will support 12 & 16 core processors?

I really don't think AI quality has improved in any sort of relative fashion with graphics or cpu power.

That is a graph for the AMD architectures. From benchmarks, the i7 after OC is on par with their 2010 target, considering the Phenom II is their 2k8 architecture. Also, remember that Benchmarks are extremely optimistic.

Review of the Foxconn Bloodrage: GARBAGE!

 

[SapientWolf]

That graph makes 2009 look like a shitty time to buy a PC though, I wonder if the X58 architecture will support 12 & 16 core processors?

I really don't think AI quality has improved in any sort of relative fashion with graphics or cpu power.

I don't think games are parallelizable enough to scale to all those cores. Those are some pretty graphs though.

You are right about game AI. The time and effort required for good AI is more of a limitation than the hardware.

 

[Fredescu]

What's the next game that will really tax the current hardware anyway? Crysis is a year and a half old.

 

[Burger]

Alright, built my PC last night and it's all good.

I thought my motherboard did discrete 5.1 sound, turns out it doesn't.

What is a fairly priced soundcard that can do realtime 5.1 discrete Dolby Digital (like a Xbox 360). I also don't want to pay more than a 360 would cost either.

And I definitely don't want anything with this cocks logo on it:

 

[yacobod]

asus xonar dx is what i have, can grab one for 80-90

 

[Hazaro]

What are typical benefits of buying over time? I am assuming sales

Sales, upcoming hardware, price drops.

Crysis 2 will be the next game to tax us
Hopefully. If they concentrate on gameplay even more that's fine too.

As for sound the Xonar is a nice choice.

If you need cheaper than $80 it gets iffy. Try head-fi.org
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/

 

[Haeleos]

I have a little over $400 to spend on a barebones computer. I'm going to be bringing over parts from my old comp into this one (like the hard drive/sound card)... All I need is a CPU, motherboard, case/PSU, RAM, and video card to fit under this $400ish budget.

I've been using http://pc.ncix.com/pcbuilder/index.php to build something, but I am totally clueless as to what motherboard/CPU/RAM to get. Any help would be appreciated.

I can see better prices for a video card elsewhere and I'm comfortable with installing that myself so. I'm looking at spending around $130 on the video card, so I'm looking at about $300 for the mobo/CPU/RAM combo. Need at least 2GB of RAM, but I'm confused as to which brand to get and what all the other numbers mean.

 

[Kintaro]

That'll should fine, enjoy your new GPU.

Well, got this bad boy installed. Had to basicallly reconfigure everything in the case to get it to fit, but it looks much better now. Now to load up a game.