So I've been looking at all-in-one desktops for my room, which I would like to be able to do double duty as a tv set with. I've been looking around and theres a deal on the HP touchsmart PC, which looks nice, but I really have no idea if it's any good.
What I want from it:
- I want to do some gaming, really just starcraft II when it comes out.
- The touch features are cool, but I don't need them if theres a comparable set with no touchscreen.
-I want a tv tuner so I can use the set as a dvr/ TV
- I would like to hook my 360 to it.
The reasons I want an all-in-one is because my room is seriously cramped and it looks like it would save me some space. Anyone have opinions on these things?
OK, total budget, $625
I'm building new computer, everything in the case and a keyboard and mouse, no screen.
i have no preference toward any brand.
I'm going to be gaming on it.
My older brother thinks the mobo is overpriced, and Im not sure how well the parts will work together.
Suggestions?
Hey guys, my little brother is trying to build a system. I directed him here because of all the help I got when I was building my system. Since he just registered it seems like there's a pretty hefty delay between when he posts and when it actually shows up, so his post keeps getting swallowed up in the previous discussions.
He's really trying to maximize his budget: his '$70 of slack' doesn't seem to include a monitor (I've since explained the importance of one), nor his lack of income (Get a job you lazy douche). I think he should be able to put together a gaming rig that will allow him to play what's coming out for the next two years on descent settings for about $400. Then again I'm learning too, so I may be way off base here.
Here's what I think he should go for, but of course what the community has to offer will be appreciated.
The Radeon 4650 that he found for $55 bucks ($45 with the rebate) seems like a fantastic deal. There have been no customer reviews though...
I found a sapphire 4670 for $65 bucks though, I wonder if that would be the better return for the money.
His processor seems like a good safe bet, and for $99 too, I don't think he needs to spend the same amount on his MOBO though. I know that a MOBO can go a long way, but I'd imagine that in 2 years or so when he moves to college he'll probably be building a new rig. I also found this CPU + MOBO combo on newegg that has a AMD Phenom II triple core processor.
As for the other stuff, I'm going to make sure he doesn't buy a power supply/case combo, because I've heard that those are usually no bueno. Unless there are some other flaws in his HD, or memory choice (I haven't checked them out actually), I'll give him the go ahead once I hear back from you guys. Thanks again.
That CPU isn't really the best for gaming.
Maybe try the budget build in the OP but put it a 4850 in there? Or a 4670 could be OK.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
So I've been looking at all-in-one desktops for my room, which I would like to be able to do double duty as a tv set with. I've been looking around and theres a deal on the HP touchsmart PC, which looks nice, but I really have no idea if it's any good.
What I want from it:
- I want to do some gaming, really just starcraft II when it comes out.
- The touch features are cool, but I don't need them if theres a comparable set with no touchscreen.
-I want a tv tuner so I can use the set as a dvr/ TV
- I would like to hook my 360 to it.
The reasons I want an all-in-one is because my room is seriously cramped and it looks like it would save me some space. Anyone have opinions on these things?
Seems like a pretty weak laptop as far as gaming on it goes.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
A few quick questions about overclocking the Phenom II X4.
I'm using the motherboard from the "Bang for your buck" build on the first page (M4A78 Plus) and the memory from that same build (G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800) and a better than stock heatsink.
1) What do you think a safe overclock would be for the X4? Right now I'm at 3.4 When it gets up to 3.6 it becomes unstable but I'm still in the 40 degree C range so it's not temp.
2) Could my memory be causing the instability? If so, how would I go about fixing that?
3) Anyone have any experience overclocking with this board? It seems set up to automate the process and it's hard to find where to manually change things like the vcore, etc...
I'm not an experienced overclocker so any help would be appreciated.
OK, total budget, $625
I'm building new computer, everything in the case and a keyboard and mouse, no screen.
i have no preference toward any brand.
I'm going to be gaming on it.
My older brother thinks the mobo is overpriced, and Im not sure how well the parts will work together.
Suggestions?
Hey guys, my little brother is trying to build a system. I directed him here because of all the help I got when I was building my system. Since he just registered it seems like there's a pretty hefty delay between when he posts and when it actually shows up, so his post keeps getting swallowed up in the previous discussions.
He's really trying to maximize his budget: his '$70 of slack' doesn't seem to include a monitor (I've since explained the importance of one), nor his lack of income (Get a job you lazy douche). I think he should be able to put together a gaming rig that will allow him to play what's coming out for the next two years on descent settings for about $400. Then again I'm learning too, so I may be way off base here.
Here's what I think he should go for, but of course what the community has to offer will be appreciated.
The Radeon 4650 that he found for $55 bucks ($45 with the rebate) seems like a fantastic deal. There have been no customer reviews though...
I found a sapphire 4670 for $65 bucks though, I wonder if that would be the better return for the money.
His processor seems like a good safe bet, and for $99 too, I don't think he needs to spend the same amount on his MOBO though. I know that a MOBO can go a long way, but I'd imagine that in 2 years or so when he moves to college he'll probably be building a new rig. I also found this CPU + MOBO combo on newegg that has a AMD Phenom II triple core processor.
As for the other stuff, I'm going to make sure he doesn't buy a power supply/case combo, because I've heard that those are usually no bueno. Unless there are some other flaws in his HD, or memory choice (I haven't checked them out actually), I'll give him the go ahead once I hear back from you guys. Thanks again.
Ok, did you guys actually add up the cost of the parts he priced? Because it's more than $400 ($483.44 before shipping) and you really have to watch the shipping costs. I've got a build for you that should cut down on the cost a bit. The Case & power supply are going to be a bit more, shipping on cases can cost around $40 easy. I would suggest just using an old CRT monitor for now. You can find them dirt cheap. Check local pawn shops, I know a few people who managed to get LCDs dirt cheap. Also, do you need speakers?
Ok, did you guys actually add up the cost of the parts he priced? Because it's more than $400 ($483.44 before shipping) and you really have to watch the shipping costs. I've got a build for you that should cut down on the cost a bit. The Case & power supply are going to be a bit more, shipping on cases can cost around $40 easy. I would suggest just using an old CRT monitor for now. You can find them dirt cheap. Check local pawn shops, I know a few people who managed to get LCDs dirt cheap. Also, do you need speakers?
Ok, this is the best I could do without buying trash.
Thanks for the feedback man,
Looking at the graphic card/power supply combo 400W is the minimum for that card. Is this one of the cases where getting the minimum is ok? or will the whole system suffer in a year or so from that?
For the Mobo/CPU combo, the link only takes me to the mobo. Is the card the AMD Phenom IIx4? That combo is $236, and I didn't see it say free shipping with it. Another poster above told me that the processor we picked out before wasn't good for gaming, but I wasn't sure if he meant the Athlon or the Phenom from my post. What makes a processor good for gaming anyway? When I built my computer I just picked what I saw other people posting.
Back to the money issue: $400 is kinda a wag at a goal, it may not be realistic. I was a little confused before: there's a non-gaming computer in the house that he can cannibalize for parts, although the only thing he may be able to use from that is the mouse/keyboard, Monitor, and case. But every little bit helps in this case.
The HD, Memory, and disk drive seem fine, we'll order those tonight. Thanks again.
Thanks a lot, I'm not actually buying a PC, I am getting a replacement via insurance, and I just wanted to be able to quote a better spec machine than they were offering me for the same money.
Seems to have worked, except they want me to have a Geforce 8400GS 512MB.
That's not a great card for gaming is it? I'm waiting on hearing back from them to see if they'll bump it up to an Ati HD4850 1GB.
Well, almost all games use 1 or 2 cores so for gaming on a budget dual core CPUs are the best bet or possibly a triple core CPU for a bit of future proofing. At the same price a quad core will be running at a slower clock rate and thus just be slower for any application that doesn't use all 4 cores.
A good 400W PSU should handle almost any non-high end (GTX 260+, 4870+, 5850+) gpu so you'd even have room to upgrade the 4670 to something much more powerful like a 5770 later.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Thanks a lot, I'm not actually buying a PC, I am getting a replacement via insurance, and I just wanted to be able to quote a better spec machine than they were offering me for the same money.
Seems to have worked, except they want me to have a Geforce 8400GS 512MB.
That's not a great card for gaming is it? I'm waiting on hearing back from them to see if they'll bump it up to an Ati HD4850 1GB.
Yeah a 4850 is a much, much better card. I'm afraid to even look at 8400GS benchmarks. In general anything where the second number is lower than 5 is just totally useless for modern games.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Even if they can't bump me up to a 4850. I can sell the 8400gs for about £20/30, and they are giving me a license for Vista business, which I can probably sell for about the same, and then I'm not far off paying for a GFX card.
Ok, did you guys actually add up the cost of the parts he priced? Because it's more than $400 ($483.44 before shipping) and you really have to watch the shipping costs. I've got a build for you that should cut down on the cost a bit. The Case & power supply are going to be a bit more, shipping on cases can cost around $40 easy. I would suggest just using an old CRT monitor for now. You can find them dirt cheap. Check local pawn shops, I know a few people who managed to get LCDs dirt cheap. Also, do you need speakers?
Ok, this is the best I could do without buying trash.
Thanks for the feedback man,
Looking at the graphic card/power supply combo 400W is the minimum for that card. Is this one of the cases where getting the minimum is ok? or will the whole system suffer in a year or so from that?
For the Mobo/CPU combo, the link only takes me to the mobo. Is the card the AMD Phenom IIx4? That combo is $236, and I didn't see it say free shipping with it. Another poster above told me that the processor we picked out before wasn't good for gaming, but I wasn't sure if he meant the Athlon or the Phenom from my post. What makes a processor good for gaming anyway? When I built my computer I just picked what I saw other people posting.
Back to the money issue: $400 is kinda a wag at a goal, it may not be realistic. I was a little confused before: there's a non-gaming computer in the house that he can cannibalize for parts, although the only thing he may be able to use from that is the mouse/keyboard, Monitor, and case. But every little bit helps in this case.
The HD, Memory, and disk drive seem fine, we'll order those tonight. Thanks again.
The power supply that comes with that sigma case from the original post is awful. It has a single 22a 12v rail (~240watts) that is really insufficient considering the original suggested cpu has a load power draw of nearly half that. That isn't including draw from the video card, hdds, fans, etc... I would definitely go with the new suggestions for case and psu. It might cost a bit more but it is worth it. I might even go with a slightly better psu should you decide to upgrade the video down the line. Newer cards are becoming more efficient again, but they are still power hungry compared to budget cards.
I'm looking at potentially buying a computer from a friend:
750-watt power supply
Athlon 64 X2 dual-core 6000+
2 gigs of RAM
Geforce 8600 GT
It's an ASUS motherboard, he's not sure what the RAM limit is, but it supports quad-core AMD processors. What's a good price for something like that?
Out of curiousity, what would this build run? Like, could it handle Crysis? What about Borderlands? Dragon Age?
How much tweaking would it need to run recent games?
Thanatos: The nice thing about that computer is you can upgrade things easily due to the big PSU. The CPU isn't exactly state of the art but it isn't terrible and most games don't stress the CPU much anyway. You could spend a bit more than $100 on a video card upgrade and you could be playing most games at 1080p.
Would I be better off spending my money on a video card upgrade than a RAM upgrade? It seems like bumping it to 4GB of RAM would be the priority (to me, anyway).
I'm guessing I should definitely get a 64-bit version of Windows 7 to go with it, in any case, because I'm definitely going to want to bump the RAM to there and beyond, right?
Seems about the same as what I've been looking at. Same mobo and CPU. Different case, but comparable. Same brand HD, but 1.5TB instead of 1TB (and actually, right now they're the same price on Newegg). The PSU is more than I need (730W) and about $30 more considering MIR. Same RAM, just different brand, and $13 more expensive. Still, that's total $43 additional expense vs. $71 savings.
T'is also the season where I can justify spending a ton of cash on getting a new computer. Now I don't usually follow though on this because I'm an utter scrooge, but this Christmas is different because I picked up a copy of 'Jade Empire' a while back and basically got told by my system to sod off. So... new computer time.
Now this set seems like pretty much what I want. Triple Core, 4Gb RAM and a nice graphics card. What I want to know is would this system last me at least a couple of years before I have to think about upgrading anything on it?
Well, almost all games use 1 or 2 cores so for gaming on a budget dual core CPUs are the best bet or possibly a triple core CPU for a bit of future proofing. At the same price a quad core will be running at a slower clock rate and thus just be slower for any application that doesn't use all 4 cores.
The Phenom II Black Edition CPUs have unlocked multipliers, so they make for good overclocking.
You can bump a 965 up to 4Gig with out any difficulty.
I've been beating the Intel drum for a while, but recently AMD has caught my eye in terms of over all value.
Hiravaxis on
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dresdenphileWatch out for snakes!Registered Userregular
I'm replacing a 5 year old machine, and the components below are my first attempt at building a machine for myself. I will have assistance in the actual physical building of the machine, but does everything jive here, in terms of compatibility? I want my system to be able to play some games, but I don't need it to be bleeding edge. I'm trying to stay under $700, which this build seems to be as of right now.
I'm actually thinking of going with this 5770 now. However, if you look at the specs on the card, it asks for a higher PSU than what my case has.
Will that be enough for this build, since the PSU is labeled at 80+ certified? For the most part, I'm not a HUGE gamer, but I do want the games I plan on playing in the near future (Torclight, Diablo III, KOTOR MMO) to look good.
My finger has been hovering over the checkout button most of the day...
I'm replacing a 5 year old machine, and the components below are my first attempt at building a machine for myself. I will have assistance in the actual physical building of the machine, but does everything jive here, in terms of compatibility? I want my system to be able to play some games, but I don't need it to be bleeding edge. I'm trying to stay under $700, which this build seems to be as of right now.
I'm actually thinking of going with this 5770 now. However, if you look at the specs on the card, it asks for a higher PSU than what my case has.
Will that be enough for this build, since the PSU is labeled at 80+ certified? For the most part, I'm not a HUGE gamer, but I do want the games I plan on playing in the near future (Torclight, Diablo III, KOTOR MMO) to look good.
My finger has been hovering over the checkout button most of the day...
Well I haven't done the math but Techreport used to recommend the 4850 and that case + PSU. The 5770 uses a bit less power than that so you should be fine.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
So this is kind of frustrating... all my parts came in today and as I'm going to put my mobo in my case it doesn't seem to have enough risers/standoffs... does anyone know where I can buy some? I'm 2 short. It also doesn't include any screws...
Edit: Nevermind... apparently the box of screws and whatnot got wedged way underneath something so I didn't see it... just panic alarm!
Seems about the same as what I've been looking at. Same mobo and CPU. Different case, but comparable. Same brand HD, but 1.5TB instead of 1TB (and actually, right now they're the same price on Newegg). The PSU is more than I need (730W) and about $30 more considering MIR. Same RAM, just different brand, and $13 more expensive. Still, that's total $43 additional expense vs. $71 savings.
I know nothing about that power supply manufacturer, but other than that it seems fine. One thing you should keep in mind is that it comes with the Caviar Green hard drive which uses less power, but is also slower than the Caviar Black (buts its really not that big of deal esp. if you are getting a SSD).
I wish Powercolor would stop wasting 5870s by putting waterblocks on them and throwing them at Newegg for $500.
Anyone doing watercooling probably has their own blocks anyway and the other 98% of the market wants a fan, dickheads. Give me my 5870.
On an unrelated note I got my case in yesterday, now waiting on the other shipment with the rest of my parts. UPS is dumb though and though it arrived in-state 7 hours ago they're probably going to ship it out of state and then back into state rather than just right to my nearest hub so I could get it today. Monday, monday, monday..
So I built this computer today, so far everything seems good. Using the older bios I couldn't unlock another core but with the 'unleashed' mode I got one unlocked. I'm typing this with prime95 running in the background for a few minutes now, the other core gave me graphical glitches immediately upon booting. CPU holding steady at 57c, mb at 42c with all the fans on low and it's barely audible. The loudest fan is the stock cpu cooler, which I plan on replacing. Even with the fans turned up it's an acceptable noise, my wife's computer has a really annoying pitch to it even though it isn't very loud(iMac), can't wait to replace that one and then my office space will be enjoyable to work in again.
This computer can run notepad at full 2560x1600 res with all the options turned up, which is nice I've been used to having to use low resolutions on my big screen which is annoying.
I wish Powercolor would stop wasting 5870s by putting waterblocks on them and throwing them at Newegg for $500.
Anyone doing watercooling probably has their own blocks anyway and the other 98% of the market wants a fan, dickheads. Give me my 5870.
On an unrelated note I got my case in yesterday, now waiting on the other shipment with the rest of my parts. UPS is dumb though and though it arrived in-state 7 hours ago they're probably going to ship it out of state and then back into state rather than just right to my nearest hub so I could get it today. Monday, monday, monday..
On a similar note ... I'm looking to make a new computer within the next three months, buying all the parts over that period of time.
What I'm particularly concerned about is the GPU; I'd like a DX11 card with 1GB of RAM (I suppose it'll be DDR5 RAM if it's a DX11 card) and a 512-bit memory interface, as I've found the memory interface helps quite a bit with my experience in other past buys (a decrepit ATI X300, a now old Radeon X1800, and a getting older nVidia 8800 GTS).
I haven't bought anything since the 8800 GTS, and I believe it has a 512-bit interface, and still runs nicely; however, what I'm wondering is if I really need that memory interface to be higher than 256-bit when the card has so much RAM in it already. Also, if the larger interface does genuinely help, is there any possible way of getting a DX11 card with 1GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512-bit memory interface for about $200? Do they even exist? I've found cards like these through lurking here, but they're not up to my [quite possibly] misconceived standards (and one is even deactivated now ): Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 GIGABYTE GV-R487D5-1GD Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
I appreciate the help you guys have already given me, also, so thanks for that!
On a similar note ... I'm looking to make a new computer within the next three months, buying all the parts over that period of time.
What I'm particularly concerned about is the GPU; I'd like a DX11 card with 1GB of RAM (I suppose it'll be DDR5 RAM if it's a DX11 card) and a 512-bit memory interface, as I've found the memory interface helps quite a bit with my experience in other past buys (a decrepit ATI X300, a now old Radeon X1800, and a getting older nVidia 8800 GTS).
I haven't bought anything since the 8800 GTS, and I believe it has a 512-bit interface, and still runs nicely; however, what I'm wondering is if I really need that memory interface to be higher than 256-bit when the card has so much RAM in it already. Also, if the larger interface does genuinely help, is there any possible way of getting a DX11 card with 1GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512-bit memory interface for about $200? Do they even exist? I've found cards like these through lurking here, but they're not up to my [quite possibly] misconceived standards (and one is even deactivated now ): Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 GIGABYTE GV-R487D5-1GD Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
I appreciate the help you guys have already given me, also, so thanks for that!
The 8800 GTS does not have a 512-bit interface, according to nVidia's site it has a 320-bit. Right now DX11 cards come in 256bit & 128bit flavors. The 256bit 5800 series are very hard to get right now and the price just jumpped because of that. The 5770 is both DX11 & 128bit, it's comparable to a 256bit DX10.1 4870.
If you want performance a 5770 should hold you over for at least a year for gaming and you can OC it with MSI Afterburner. 5770s work very well when crossfired together and match the single higher end cards well.
Even if they can't bump me up to a 4850. I can sell the 8400gs for about £20/30, and they are giving me a license for Vista business, which I can probably sell for about the same, and then I'm not far off paying for a GFX card.
Thanks a lot.
Yay, managed to get them to bump me up to a 4850, in part by quoting the spec you suggested at them.
My Mum is picking the computer up for me today (they are based right near where she lives) and I will have it by the weekend. Thanks a lot.
Finally going to be able to play Zeno Clash, Stalker, and a whole bunch of other games I've really been wanting to play.
So I built this computer today, so far everything seems good. Using the older bios I couldn't unlock another core but with the 'unleashed' mode I got one unlocked. I'm typing this with prime95 running in the background for a few minutes now, the other core gave me graphical glitches immediately upon booting. CPU holding steady at 57c, mb at 42c with all the fans on low and it's barely audible. The loudest fan is the stock cpu cooler, which I plan on replacing. Even with the fans turned up it's an acceptable noise, my wife's computer has a really annoying pitch to it even though it isn't very loud(iMac), can't wait to replace that one and then my office space will be enjoyable to work in again.
So you have 3 cores running?
This computer can run notepad at full 2560x1600 res with all the options turned up, which is nice I've been used to having to use low resolutions on my big screen which is annoying.
Heh, I need a new title. Thanks!
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Yes, and it is pretty standard with cpus and video cards. The yields from wafers is atrocious (40-60%) so manufacturers use as many as they can. Any that won't perform to spec are feature locked and sold as lower end components.
stigweard on
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited November 2009
Right, I knew that about yields, I just never really put two and two together that the X2's were actually X3's that didn't make the cut.
e: One thing to note, Core 2's are not like this for anyone curious. Core 2 Duo's are not Core 2 Quad's that didn't make the cut, as Core 2 Quad's are actually two Core 2 Duo's set side by side on the die, they aren't golden bridged like AMD X4's or Core i7s.
SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
edited November 2009
I sent my ASUS 5770 back to Newegg on Wednesday after having the display driver crash on me over 30 times in a week. I'm really hoping that was the problem. I tested the PC by leaving it on overnight with an old X1650 installed and it never crashed.
Unfortunately, the 5770 won't be arriving at newegg until Wednesday, and it looks like that particular card is deactivated again. I'm guessing they can substitute a different card if the original one is no longer available.
I was really reluctant to send it back because it was really nice when it worked. It didn't even crash in the middle of a game until the day before I shipped it back.
What's the deal with running Physx with just an Ati card. Possible?
Yes, it just won't use the GPU to do it's physics calculations like it would on an NVidia card. It will do everything in software (aka on your CPU).
And does that cause much of a performance hit?
Depends on how good your CPU is. If you have a 2/3/4 core CPU, and it's running at a reasonable clock rate and is reasonably modern (aka is an efficient pipeline CPU, not like a Pentium 4) it should be fine. PhysX will take advantage of a multi-core system, whether you have an NVida GPU or not.
I think the only games that will lag that much behind are ones designed with to be a demo of the chips capabilities, everything else is designed to work just fine without, usually they just have less physics enabled 'fluff' on scene.
X2, X3 and X4s are all the same chip, apparently there was an entire batch of x2s that worked just fine with all four cores, they just disabled two cores to fill stock or something, that's rare now though.
What's the deal with running Physx with just an Ati card. Possible?
Yes, it just won't use the GPU to do it's physics calculations like it would on an NVidia card. It will do everything in software (aka on your CPU).
And does that cause much of a performance hit?
It depends heavily on the game as well. Shattered Horizons uses Physx but not with hardware optimizations so there is no difference between cards. In a game like Mirror's edge, it is used sparingly but you will see a huge hit in performance in scenes that use it heavily (like breaking glass). I dropped from 50 fps to ~10 on a c2q 9550 with an 8800gt when I ran it in software mode.That might not tell the wohle story though since the game needed a dll deleted for hardware mode to work.
edit: As mentioned above, most Hardware Physx stuff isn't game breaking to prevent losing ~33 percent of the gaming market. People would shit if they bought the latest game and couldn't play it. It's usually stuff like fog effects, glass effects, extra particle effects in explosions, and plastic / flags, etc... that don't really affect the game play.
Posts
The set in question:
HP TouchSmart IQ800t
What I want from it:
- I want to do some gaming, really just starcraft II when it comes out.
- The touch features are cool, but I don't need them if theres a comparable set with no touchscreen.
-I want a tv tuner so I can use the set as a dvr/ TV
- I would like to hook my 360 to it.
The reasons I want an all-in-one is because my room is seriously cramped and it looks like it would save me some space. Anyone have opinions on these things?
That CPU isn't really the best for gaming.
Maybe try the budget build in the OP but put it a 4850 in there? Or a 4670 could be OK.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Seems like a pretty weak laptop as far as gaming on it goes.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
heh
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I'm using the motherboard from the "Bang for your buck" build on the first page (M4A78 Plus) and the memory from that same build (G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800) and a better than stock heatsink.
1) What do you think a safe overclock would be for the X4? Right now I'm at 3.4 When it gets up to 3.6 it becomes unstable but I'm still in the 40 degree C range so it's not temp.
2) Could my memory be causing the instability? If so, how would I go about fixing that?
3) Anyone have any experience overclocking with this board? It seems set up to automate the process and it's hard to find where to manually change things like the vcore, etc...
I'm not an experienced overclocker so any help would be appreciated.
Ok, did you guys actually add up the cost of the parts he priced? Because it's more than $400 ($483.44 before shipping) and you really have to watch the shipping costs. I've got a build for you that should cut down on the cost a bit. The Case & power supply are going to be a bit more, shipping on cases can cost around $40 easy. I would suggest just using an old CRT monitor for now. You can find them dirt cheap. Check local pawn shops, I know a few people who managed to get LCDs dirt cheap. Also, do you need speakers?
Disc Drive (same): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074 (free shipping better performance)
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184 (Same price, great specs, lower voltage, this has free shipping)
Keyboard & Mouse Como: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109075
Power Supply Video Card combo http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.292676 (Free shipping on both & great video card brand)
CPU & Mobo Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.294412 <- Fixed (free shipping on both)
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129070 (You're not going to find a better deal.)
Ok, this is the best I could do without buying trash.
Thanks for the feedback man,
Looking at the graphic card/power supply combo 400W is the minimum for that card. Is this one of the cases where getting the minimum is ok? or will the whole system suffer in a year or so from that?
For the Mobo/CPU combo, the link only takes me to the mobo. Is the card the AMD Phenom IIx4? That combo is $236, and I didn't see it say free shipping with it. Another poster above told me that the processor we picked out before wasn't good for gaming, but I wasn't sure if he meant the Athlon or the Phenom from my post. What makes a processor good for gaming anyway? When I built my computer I just picked what I saw other people posting.
Back to the money issue: $400 is kinda a wag at a goal, it may not be realistic. I was a little confused before: there's a non-gaming computer in the house that he can cannibalize for parts, although the only thing he may be able to use from that is the mouse/keyboard, Monitor, and case. But every little bit helps in this case.
The HD, Memory, and disk drive seem fine, we'll order those tonight. Thanks again.
Seems to have worked, except they want me to have a Geforce 8400GS 512MB.
That's not a great card for gaming is it? I'm waiting on hearing back from them to see if they'll bump it up to an Ati HD4850 1GB.
A good 400W PSU should handle almost any non-high end (GTX 260+, 4870+, 5850+) gpu so you'd even have room to upgrade the 4670 to something much more powerful like a 5770 later.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Yeah a 4850 is a much, much better card. I'm afraid to even look at 8400GS benchmarks. In general anything where the second number is lower than 5 is just totally useless for modern games.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Even if they can't bump me up to a 4850. I can sell the 8400gs for about £20/30, and they are giving me a license for Vista business, which I can probably sell for about the same, and then I'm not far off paying for a GFX card.
Thanks a lot.
The power supply that comes with that sigma case from the original post is awful. It has a single 22a 12v rail (~240watts) that is really insufficient considering the original suggested cpu has a load power draw of nearly half that. That isn't including draw from the video card, hdds, fans, etc... I would definitely go with the new suggestions for case and psu. It might cost a bit more but it is worth it. I might even go with a slightly better psu should you decide to upgrade the video down the line. Newer cards are becoming more efficient again, but they are still power hungry compared to budget cards.
I'm guessing I should definitely get a 64-bit version of Windows 7 to go with it, in any case, because I'm definitely going to want to bump the RAM to there and beyond, right?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.293841
1. Raidmax ATX-798WB:$69.99
2. GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2:$104.99
3. Raidmax RX-730SS:$69.98
4. Intel BX80605I5750:$199.99
5. Corsair (XMS Series) CMX4GX3M2A1600C9:$91.99
6. Western Digital WD15EADS:$109.99
* Combined Total:$646.93
* Combo Discounts:-$70.94
* Combo Price:$575.99
Seems about the same as what I've been looking at. Same mobo and CPU. Different case, but comparable. Same brand HD, but 1.5TB instead of 1TB (and actually, right now they're the same price on Newegg). The PSU is more than I need (730W) and about $30 more considering MIR. Same RAM, just different brand, and $13 more expensive. Still, that's total $43 additional expense vs. $71 savings.
T'is the season to be jolly :whistle:
T'is also the season where I can justify spending a ton of cash on getting a new computer. Now I don't usually follow though on this because I'm an utter scrooge, but this Christmas is different because I picked up a copy of 'Jade Empire' a while back and basically got told by my system to sod off. So... new computer time.
Now this set seems like pretty much what I want. Triple Core, 4Gb RAM and a nice graphics card. What I want to know is would this system last me at least a couple of years before I have to think about upgrading anything on it?
The Phenom II Black Edition CPUs have unlocked multipliers, so they make for good overclocking.
You can bump a 965 up to 4Gig with out any difficulty.
I've been beating the Intel drum for a while, but recently AMD has caught my eye in terms of over all value.
I'm actually thinking of going with this 5770 now. However, if you look at the specs on the card, it asks for a higher PSU than what my case has.
Will that be enough for this build, since the PSU is labeled at 80+ certified? For the most part, I'm not a HUGE gamer, but I do want the games I plan on playing in the near future (Torclight, Diablo III, KOTOR MMO) to look good.
My finger has been hovering over the checkout button most of the day...
Well I haven't done the math but Techreport used to recommend the 4850 and that case + PSU. The 5770 uses a bit less power than that so you should be fine.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Edit: Nevermind... apparently the box of screws and whatnot got wedged way underneath something so I didn't see it... just panic alarm!
I know nothing about that power supply manufacturer, but other than that it seems fine. One thing you should keep in mind is that it comes with the Caviar Green hard drive which uses less power, but is also slower than the Caviar Black (buts its really not that big of deal esp. if you are getting a SSD).
Also, blue lights on the power supply FTL.
Anyone doing watercooling probably has their own blocks anyway and the other 98% of the market wants a fan, dickheads. Give me my 5870.
On an unrelated note I got my case in yesterday, now waiting on the other shipment with the rest of my parts. UPS is dumb though and though it arrived in-state 7 hours ago they're probably going to ship it out of state and then back into state rather than just right to my nearest hub so I could get it today. Monday, monday, monday..
This computer can run notepad at full 2560x1600 res with all the options turned up, which is nice I've been used to having to use low resolutions on my big screen which is annoying.
What I'm particularly concerned about is the GPU; I'd like a DX11 card with 1GB of RAM (I suppose it'll be DDR5 RAM if it's a DX11 card) and a 512-bit memory interface, as I've found the memory interface helps quite a bit with my experience in other past buys (a decrepit ATI X300, a now old Radeon X1800, and a getting older nVidia 8800 GTS).
I haven't bought anything since the 8800 GTS, and I believe it has a 512-bit interface, and still runs nicely; however, what I'm wondering is if I really need that memory interface to be higher than 256-bit when the card has so much RAM in it already. Also, if the larger interface does genuinely help, is there any possible way of getting a DX11 card with 1GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512-bit memory interface for about $200? Do they even exist? I've found cards like these through lurking here, but they're not up to my [quite possibly] misconceived standards (and one is even deactivated now
Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
GIGABYTE GV-R487D5-1GD Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
I appreciate the help you guys have already given me, also, so thanks for that!
I realize my Power Level is still small yet.
The 8800 GTS does not have a 512-bit interface, according to nVidia's site it has a 320-bit. Right now DX11 cards come in 256bit & 128bit flavors. The 256bit 5800 series are very hard to get right now and the price just jumpped because of that. The 5770 is both DX11 & 128bit, it's comparable to a 256bit DX10.1 4870.
If you want performance a 5770 should hold you over for at least a year for gaming and you can OC it with MSI Afterburner. 5770s work very well when crossfired together and match the single higher end cards well.
Yay, managed to get them to bump me up to a 4850, in part by quoting the spec you suggested at them.
My Mum is picking the computer up for me today (they are based right near where she lives) and I will have it by the weekend. Thanks a lot.
Finally going to be able to play Zeno Clash, Stalker, and a whole bunch of other games I've really been wanting to play.
Heh, I need a new title. Thanks!
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
You can get a premade Dell for even cheaper. Giz gave them decent reviews, handle 1080p well.
Dell
Add 60 if you want dual core
Add 100 for blu-ray
Yeah, so far so good, was running all night and no errors! I'm super stoked on this computer, work and gaming are so much nicer now.
e: One thing to note, Core 2's are not like this for anyone curious. Core 2 Duo's are not Core 2 Quad's that didn't make the cut, as Core 2 Quad's are actually two Core 2 Duo's set side by side on the die, they aren't golden bridged like AMD X4's or Core i7s.
Unfortunately, the 5770 won't be arriving at newegg until Wednesday, and it looks like that particular card is deactivated again. I'm guessing they can substitute a different card if the original one is no longer available.
I was really reluctant to send it back because it was really nice when it worked. It didn't even crash in the middle of a game until the day before I shipped it back.
My Backloggery
Yes, it just won't use the GPU to do it's physics calculations like it would on an NVidia card. It will do everything in software (aka on your CPU).
And does that cause much of a performance hit?
Depends on how good your CPU is. If you have a 2/3/4 core CPU, and it's running at a reasonable clock rate and is reasonably modern (aka is an efficient pipeline CPU, not like a Pentium 4) it should be fine. PhysX will take advantage of a multi-core system, whether you have an NVida GPU or not.
X2, X3 and X4s are all the same chip, apparently there was an entire batch of x2s that worked just fine with all four cores, they just disabled two cores to fill stock or something, that's rare now though.
It depends heavily on the game as well. Shattered Horizons uses Physx but not with hardware optimizations so there is no difference between cards. In a game like Mirror's edge, it is used sparingly but you will see a huge hit in performance in scenes that use it heavily (like breaking glass). I dropped from 50 fps to ~10 on a c2q 9550 with an 8800gt when I ran it in software mode.That might not tell the wohle story though since the game needed a dll deleted for hardware mode to work.
edit: As mentioned above, most Hardware Physx stuff isn't game breaking to prevent losing ~33 percent of the gaming market. People would shit if they bought the latest game and couldn't play it. It's usually stuff like fog effects, glass effects, extra particle effects in explosions, and plastic / flags, etc... that don't really affect the game play.