Our new Indie Games subforum is now open for business in G&T. Go and check it out, you might land a code for a free game. If you're developing an indie game and want to post about it,
follow these directions. If you don't, he'll break your legs! Hahaha! Seriously though.
Our rules have been updated and given
their own forum. Go and look at them! They are nice, and there may be new ones that you didn't know about! Hooray for rules! Hooray for The System! Hooray for Conforming!
[Computer Build Thread] - Did you remember to plug in the CPU power cable?
Posts
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V LX ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222AB DVD/CD Writer
Monitor: Acer S231HLbid 23.0" Monitor ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1002.91
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-04 16:18 EDT-0400)
Ignore the prices, these were all bought months ago.
So, if you were going to put $50 or more into this machine, how would you go about it? I know a CPU cooler would be nice, but the video card would be the bottleneck for anything I can imagine doing with the computer anyway, and the motherboard probably isn't a great one for high overclocks. I've never used a second monitor, but lots of people find that very useful. A second video card would likely be overkill for a while (not sure what I'm going to be playing after Diablo 3... if anything) and again the motherboard would limit the effectiveness of that plan.
What would you do?
Neal Stephenson
Id spend it on a better motherboard since the LX boards are a total pain in the ass to overclock on. Id go with the Asus P8Z68-v or whatever the AsRock equivalent is.
Man, if I had known about that two days ago...
Ed & Larry : "Doesn't matter."
I recently was gifted a thing in Steam. If it was from you, thank you very much!
Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition i7-3960X 3.3GHz 15MB LGA2011 CPU
ASUS P9 Series LGA2011 motherboard
24GB DDR3-1600Mhz Memory (up to 32GB)
600 GB/10KRPM/32MCache SATA Hard Drive
1TB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive for Storage
Nvidia Quadro 2000 1GB PCI-EXP with Dual Monitor Support
(Driver certified for AutoCAD)
Gigabit Network & 8x USB 2 & 4x USB3 & 1x IEEE 1394a
8-channel HD Audio with S/PDIF out
DVD+/-RW Combo Drive with Nero Software
Super Quiet ATX Mid Tower & 750W Power Supply
Logitech Keyboard and Optical Mouse
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
The question is, what are the performance gains between an i5 & i7? I see most of you guys are rocking OC'd i5 2500k's.
What changes would you make to the above?
Autodesk Navisworks Manage
Autodesk Quantity Take Off
Yes they do use hyperthreading when rendering video.
More thanks to come when the build is complete, but thanks team. You know why.
You know you wanna
ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77
Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz
2 x G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR
SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128D/AM 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Desktop Upgrade Kit
Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-750 750W Power Supply
Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Now I'm just waiting for 680s to be stocked so I can complete my build. Until then, I think I can manage with integrated graphics.
http://incindium.padev.net/parts1.jpg
To bad the one part I'm missing now is the motherboard. If I'm lucky it might come tomorrow although it's scheduled for Monday.
The Fractal Design Arc Midi is a really sweet case. It looks like its going to make it a breeze putting this build together.
Edit:
It looked fine on my iPad in spoiler tag. But I changed to just a link cause I have a soft spot for kittens.
Diablo 3 Profile
Also, god kills a kitten.
Ed & Larry : "Doesn't matter."
I recently was gifted a thing in Steam. If it was from you, thank you very much!
Hey guys. I took Alecthar's advice and went with the asrock mobo and i5-2300. I've breadboarded the thing and everything appears to be running smoothly, all fans going nicely. Question: my understanding of monitor connections is that VGA is older and analog and DVI-D is newer and all-digital. My monitor came with both sets of cables, and I don't know what to plug in- one or both?
Also if I was to switch up to a 7870 what would be the nvidia equivalent?
I figure I'll install the 560ti and the other 8megs of Ram later after I have Windows running.
Diablo 3 Profile
gtx 570 and 7870 are close, 7870 has a slight edge:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=518
So I have this case: http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/graphite-series-pc-case/special-edition-white-graphite-series-600t-mid-tower-case.html
I'm getting an Intel i2500k and I'm going to get 8-16 gigs of RAM. I was wondering what Motherboard I should get and why. I have never gotten around to over clocking and such. Don't really care to. But I want tons of RAM and a good board. Also, one that fits in my case.
Edit: Also I have the ugliest fans in history, 2x TY-140 on the heatsink and 3 NF-P14s in the case. I love it.
At the moment my parts list has me spending 70 quid on an OEM version because my current stuff is 32.
Even if you can't you could still snag one and just do the install windows then reinstall as an upgrade thing, since you'd be upgrading from a previous version of windows that should be legit within the windows TOS.
Fry's price matches and they're down the street in case I get a bad board/memory/card.
Also I thinking of going with the Asus P8Z77V Pro and a HD 7870 to go with my i5-2500k.
Good idea, bad idea?
Anyone got an recommends for a monitor? I don't play at huge resolutions so 1680 x 1050 native would be perfect.
Also need a optical drive.
Oh and Windows 7 OEM or Retail? I'm worried if the motherboard goes bad I'm SOL.
Any help would be awesome.
Other parts of build:
120 GB Intel SSD
Corsair 650 Watt Power Supply
Corsair 600T
7870 may be overkill if you want to stay at 1680x1050, but it'll definitely last ya for a long time at that res.
I'm not very familiar with lower res panels anymore, I figure pick one in a size you like and it'll be fine if you don't want crazy resolutions out of it.
For a single card and a 2500k you can drop your PSU down to something in the 450-500watt range and be just fine as well. Antec neo eco 520 is a solid pick for that kinda build
Processor 7.7
Graphics
5.96.5Gaming Graphics
5.46.5My Samsung 830 SSD gave
Primary Hard Drive 7.9
The stock Samsung 30nm low voltage RAM gave
Memory 7.7
Edit: Was wondering about the graphics scores so I ran it again and the results were more in line. Not sure what the deal with the first run was.
Diablo 3 Profile
My biggest questions are really about that dual video card setup that many people use. I have a Dell E248WFP as my primary monitor and an LG L1720P as a secondary, currently running off of both ports in a GeForce GTX 550 Ti.
I plan to eventually replace the LG, as it has developed a yellow line down the left side about an inch out. That is really low priority for me though, as it only really ever displays a web browser while I have games going on the Dell. Once I do replace it though, the Dell may very well become my secondary and some new and possibly larger monitor will be primary.
Once I replace the mobo (and proc) I would like to run on my current hardware and perhaps add to it to reduce demand on my current card (and also to make my rig more awesome), if such a thing works the way it does in my head. This is totally not a sure thing though.
Does anyone have any advice on a purchase for me? I would like to commit to the new mobo in the next month.
Ed & Larry : "Doesn't matter."
I recently was gifted a thing in Steam. If it was from you, thank you very much!
Ordering online will save you a bit with sales tax on top of better prices. The downside is its a pain if you get a faulty component.
Diablo 3 Profile
Ed & Larry : "Doesn't matter."
I recently was gifted a thing in Steam. If it was from you, thank you very much!
Case: Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
Processor: AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor HDX545WFGIBOX
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
DVD Drive: LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 LightScribe Support - OEM
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
RAM: OCZ Blade Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model OCZ2B800C54GK
As for price, I'm not sure what's considered high/low for upgrading...so let's say <$500 for now.
EDIT: Oh dur, PSU. Let's see if I can find that.
PSU: EA-500 500W PSU...I think. It's built in with the case.
Processor upgrade because the older dual cores can end up being the bottleneck depending on what you're playing, and PIIX4s aren't too expensive anymore. $350 or so.
GPU should be plenty for anything out now at 1200p or lower resolutions.
Totals up to a little under $500. You could definitely just grab the GPU and see if your performance is still hampered before deciding to pull the trigger on more CPU, but I can tell you already that some games will in fact be bottlenecked on that dualcore
2 of the 3 on Newegg are the same chip, but the more expensive one comes with a fan/heatsink. The 610e is a low energy chip I believe.