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Advice: The Twice and Future Computer Thread
Posts
This might help..
http://www.insanejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=antiaol
As far as video memory, 512 is plenty really. I've been playing Oblivion at 1920x1200 and it almost never drops below 60fps (but i'm not running AA or HDR). For the price, bumping up to 768mb isn't really worth it I think. On a side note, the processor runs cool, 41C under full load.
If I hide myself wherever I go
Am I ever really there?
So, yeah. Any ideas for places to poke around to educate myself? My knowledge of hardware is lacking, and I'd like it to be better. I could build a computer from it's components, but probably couldn't tell you why this video card is better/worse than that video card, etc.
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-05 - OEM
Item #: N82E16827106073
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$31.99
Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-BA Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-BA Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811166004
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant
$85.99
$75.99
GIGABYTE GV-RX387512H Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
GIGABYTE GV-RX387512H Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814125086
Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
$209.99
ENERMAX FMA II EG565P-VE ATX12V 535W Power Supply
ENERMAX FMA II EG565P-VE ATX12V 535W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817194010
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$5.00 Instant
$99.99
$94.99
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Item #: N82E16835100007
Return Policy: Consumable Items Return Policy
$5.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6850
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6850 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115028
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
-$5.00 Instant
$279.99
$274.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic DVD
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic DVD - Retail
Item #: N82E16832116152
Return Policy: Software Return Policy
$144.99
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835186134
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant
$36.99
$26.99
Intel BOXDX38BT LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX DDR3 Intel Motherboard
CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN3X2048-1333C9
*
Intel BOXDX38BT LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX DDR3 Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813121090
Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
*
CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN3X2048-1333C9 - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145183
karpman: It'll work, though depending on your needs I would home premium oem instead of home basic. Also, if you want to save some cash, the p35 chipset is just as good as the x38 for most people. Also also, the e8400 is just as good if not better than the e6850, and it's cheaper, if you can find it. Mwave has it for $220, or did yesterday.
Homestar: Probably not to most people...the biggest deal is going past 3gb of ram. Probably will be a must next upgrade cycle, but no need to rush on it.
Nevermind, I was victorious
If you have more then 3.5 gig of ram, then yes. 32 bit only uses 3.5 gig I believe.
This is my set up:
19in Samsung LCD
My Book 500gb external HD
Mac pro (4 HDs)
Creative speakers
How can I find a UPS that can handle my system?
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Search feature isn't working for me for some reason at the moment, so forgive me if you've seen this question before. I built a beautiful system about 5 months ago and I really, really love it, but it got all infected with viruses beyond craziness. Anyways, I've backed up my files and I just want to reformat my HDD, but I can't really figure out how to do it. Microsoft just keeps telling me stuff I already know and essentially repeating "You don't need to reformat! Vista is perfect! Everything is perfect! Don't buy Apple!"
Anyways, if anybody knows how to reformat my hard drive in Vista, that would be really awesome. Thanks cats. Peace.
give this a spin
http://www.apcc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm
EDIT:
NM - forgot about good ol Word Perfect
There's advice that usually circulates around advice threads that consists of "Don't use your burner to read discs", but this is in regards to wear and tear of the motor on your DVD-burner just by using it as a DVD-ROM drive.
But this advice only really applies if you have a DVD-ROM drive in your system. Drives wear down through use anyway, so you shouldn't worry about this. DVD-burners are so cheap now-a-days that you can replace them on the cheap.
Like I said, that particular piece of advice is just to lessen the wear and tear of your drives, and spread it out to other devices. In short, don't worry about it, and go ahead and get a DVD-burner for you system. It will be able to do what you want.
MK: DS Code: 528.341.706.032 - Import from Play-Asia PSN: VictorX10
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131142
Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115028
Graphics card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150252
Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170021 - again, don't worry about this one. If it craps out I'll grab a new one, but I'm just under my budget.
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262
DVD drive/burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151155
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811166005
If it all checks out, then I'm ready to order.
XBL: Mega Spooky // 3DS: 3797-6276-7138
the case if fugly but without the PS it looks good otherwise. I would personally go with a mobo that has a P35 chipset but that guy should be fine.
also this might be a better PS for the money:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341012
also i got this case for xmas and its purdy good for 80 bucks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
the PS sit on the bottom so it might be a stretch for a few connections and the front audio jacks and such are on the top. just a suggestion though.
This, but keep in mind for $220 you can have:
amd dual-core proc + pci-e mobo
8600gt
2gb ddr2 800 ram
Show me what you're talking about, I'm interested. A new rig isn't that unrealistic right now. I've had this computer for about 4 years.
XBL: Mega Spooky // 3DS: 3797-6276-7138
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103206
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127286
GA-MA69VM - $60
amd 4200+ 2.2 - $64
corsair 2gb ram - $34 (after $20 mir)
msi 8600gt - $72 (after $20 mir) (free copy of The Witcher included)
Total = $230 + shipping
You'd still need a case, power supply, and hard drive. You'd probably be able to use your old case and hard drive, but a new power supply would be a good idea unless you bought a good one back in the day. So add another $50 or so for that.
If you want to spend a little more, you could get the amd black edition 5000+ for $100 and a decent fan like the AC freezer 64 pro for $20. This will overclock really well if paired with a good oc'ing mobo.
If you want to spend a little more than that, you could upgrade your vid card to a radeon 3850 for $170, or a 256mb 8800gt for $200, or a 512mb 8800gt for $230.
Just know that even that budget system I put together will run any game out today ('cept crysis) on medium to high settings (dx9, no aa, 1280x1024).
I need a new mouse. I've been using a Logitech mx610 for about 1.5 years now, and I've come to love it. But the buttons have gotten wonky, and often double-click when I single-click, and don't read long clicks very well (making drag/drop maneuvers tricky).
So! I need some recommendations on a good replacement. My main requirement is a click-style mouse wheel, if you know what I mean. One that has "notches", and not a free-rotating deally-job. I really, REALLY love the volume controls on the mouse and use them all the damn time, but in my research I haven't really found any other mice that feature them, so I'm prepared to part with them.
Advise me, please!
Please help! You're my only hope..
My choices are all sort of random based on reviews and prices and hopefully being semi-futureproof (SLI capable, except for the power supply, the mobo can handle quad core, lots of slots, etc).
It's been a few years since I built a computer - after the last time, having weird conflicts and problems and my mobo blowing up my memory, I swore I'd never do it again. And yet, here I am. A cheapskate who likes getting exactly what I want.
Let me know if there are any changes you'd recommend.
e8400 instead of e6850...faster, more L2 cache, and cheaper (out of stock at newegg right now, but available elsewhere, mwave for one).
You could also double your hard drive capacity with another $20 if you wanted.
That's all I got, looks like a good build to me.
If faith is just a silent tribute, mine is just a desperate act.
Thanks!
I was debating the hard drives - is getting two SATA and doing a Raid 1 config worth it, or is having one nice big drive (and running backup software) about the same?
HD speed hasn't ever really been a concern of mine, whereas backups/security is.
No, but if you have one filled to capacity and it craps out, odds are you'll freak.
If faith is just a silent tribute, mine is just a desperate act.
What I need to do is build a new PC whose sole purpose will be to process very large amounts of data. So graphics is a non-issue; a very cheap optical drive will suffice; and the box will definitely be running Linux (probably Debian or openSUSE) as the primary OS.
My instinct tells me that since intense data analysis is computationally intensive, I want to jump for a quad core or even dual quad core. Is this correct? (I am potentially worried that a Linux distro might not take full advantage of the most modern processors... so am I better off with a dual core?)
My guess is also that I should get a decent, but not necessarily gaming-strength amount of RAM - say 2GB.
For the hard drive, I would eventually like a hardware RAID array to insure against the loss of data, but for the moment a single ordinary high-speed drive will do. 7200rpm is what I should be looking for in terms of speed, right? Or are faster drives widely available now at decent prices?
For anyone who can't take the time to give specific hardware recommendations, I would also truly appreciate being pointed to any particular threads or articles that give a concise overview of the current state of hardware... what are the common features of today's motherboards, what chipsets are now in wide use, what kinds of RAM are available now... etc. If such a resource exists, that is.
As cheap as RAM is, 4 gigs of decent DDR2 isn't bad; it'll set you back 80 bucks or so.
In terms of hard drives---basic SATA 7200 RPMs are still the king. SSDs are developing, and available, but still cost way too much, and non-random seek and write times aren't that hot. 128 gig SSDs are several thousand dollars the last I looked, versus maybe 99 bucks for a 250+ gig HDD. I don't trust RAID for backup; I just use external hard drives for that, so that a real bad failure won't wipe me out (I once had a PSU catch fire and fry EVERYTHING...I'm paranoid now!).
What's the best that I could get with £500 ($1000), preferrably including a Monitor, from a website that ships to the UK?
My HS art collection
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=10438927&WishListTitle=2%2F08+gaming+rig
When I built my first computer I made a lot of mistakes. I picked up a cheap case and a video card with the highest VRAM for the cheapest price. (Geforce FX 5500) ...And it was AGP, because again, motherboards, and cheap. P4 processor, and the list goes on.
So I'm starting over. A new case will be the first piece of my new creation. I'm not entirely sure what to look for, though. I remember that with my old case the USB ports on the front didn't work and the headphone jack disabled the onboard sound - headphones were always plugged in, even though they weren't. Very frustrating.
I'd like to ask you guys to help me find a case. Among other things maybe, but we'll start with the case. I'm looking for something red. Something under $150 I think should cover even the highest end cases. Or $250ish if the power supply is included. It doesn't have to be slick or LED ridden or anything like that. Merely functional. And red. Because I'm picky like that.
Next is the motherboard. Correct me if I'm wrong: I'm looking for three basic things. Processor, Video bus, memory bus. I'll likely spring up to $500 on the processor and another $300 or so on the video card, and I know that PCIe is more powerful than AGP. (How much more? If anyone would like to explain that)
Next on the list, but not necessarily in the system is the processor. Dual core? Intel? What size? There are several sizes based on the amount of connections the processor has with the motherboard - something that I feel I overlooked when I got the 478 pin P4 I put in my old computer.
And the video card. PCIe. But ATI or Nvidia? Or something else?
I can pick ram out myself. Fortunately.
And the hard disk. And the DVD drive. Actually, I'm pretty sure most other things I can handle. Except the monitor.
My old computer has an old NEC Multisync CRT monitor, and it's 100 lbs of worthless. I'd like to find a nice flat panel that would be viable for gaming and video applications. I've noticed that LCD monitors can be rather grainy.
Overall I'm trying to spend $1500 or so. And you guys don't really need to pick shit out for me. Just let me know what I should be looking for. Except the case. Find me a red case, because I command it.
The motherboard is a bit over priced, i would only go with the 780 chipset if you're planning to have 3 cards in SLI but that has its own set of issues. You're probably better off getting an intel x38 chipset or at least the P35. You don't have room for the 120mm fan unless there is something I'm not seeing. Also, I would spend 15 more on the CPU and go with the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400. You won't necessarily need the arctic cooling heatsink or the arctic silver 5; the wolfdales run plenty cool but thats up to you.