What are the thoughts for what will be best for running an ESXi server at home? Probably running maybe 1 main debian server which will only be serving media and maybe burning, a virtual router/firewall combo and a testing machine (for different distros and so forth), occasionally a windows box.
I'm wondering whether clockspeed, cache, triple channel RAM or vpd (the only virtualisation specific feature I can tell is missing in i5 cores) is going to give me the greatest benefit for what I'll be doing? I'm not too worried about getting things like zipping or ripping or hashing done super quickly, only whatever will make locking other machines out of processor time least likely (which is of course largely handled by the virtualisation server).
EDIT: Of course, the other thing is I am hoping to go for lower noise and power consumption - I'm consolidating a couple of other machines which are rather loud and generate a fair bit of heat. Low heat generation would be great.
I'm putting together a gaming system for a friend. He needed a full system (as in keyboard, monitor, etc.), and he needed it to last for as long as possible, so we had to choose carefully. We did skimp a bit on the graphics card but only because it gives such great performance for such a low price and he's willing to upgrade that part later. Looking for people's reactions to this setup?
The stock heatsink/fan on my 860 sucked. Software reported temps up to 85-90 C under load, even after reinstalling with Arctic Silver (and of course, making sure the thing was on right!).
I switched to one of these. It's bulky (looks completely ridiculous on my mini ITX board) but it does the job. Temps now idle at about 30 C and top out around 45-50.
Thanks for that, RSP, will keep an eye out on temperatures when I get it up and running. I'll let you know how it goes.
Rohan on
...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.
I would definitely recommend getting a third party cooler for i7 860 processors. I have one and I know of someone else who has one too. Neither of us were comfortable with 80+ C load temperatures.
Adds up enough in price/effort that I think going with the i5 750 might've been a better idea.
Zell on
0
Monkey Ball WarriorA collection of mediocre hatsSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
So I bought Mass Effect off steam yesterday for $5. It has a unique ability to crash my graphics card: The screen suddenly gets garbled patterns on it, and eventually my monitor just turns off, but the music still plays in the background, and numlock still toggles. I end up having to do a hard reboot anyway.
I suspect my 8800gt is overheating. I bought it used off ebay with some aftermarket heatsink installed. I could try buying another heatsink, or putting a more powerful fan on it, but this feels like wasting my time. I mean, this is a pretty old card! But, when it was working, it seems to play mass effect with everything but textures turned up (and textures only one notch down) at 1680x1050.
My question is, what is the cheapest semi-modern card that is better than a 8800gt? I only have the one PCI-E power plug, no ridiculous monstrosities!
Monkey Ball Warrior on
"I resent the entire notion of a body as an ante and then raise you a generalized dissatisfaction with physicality itself" -- Tycho
0
AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
What I expect:
Run games smoothly on my 42" 720p LCD TV.
No need for major upgrades for at least 3 years.
Use it as Blue Ray player.
Don't buy three sticks of RAM for that socket, the 1156 socket only supports dual channel, get a 2x2GB kit. I've never heard of that PSU vendor, so I'd be wary of purchasing that PSU. Corsair makes a line of PSUs that are really good, chances are you can find something solid in your price range from them. Buy a 1TB drive, the bang for buck ratio is higher than a 750GB drive. A WD Caviar Black or Samsung Spinpoint F3 would be my recommendation.
The 860 is, in my opinion, overpriced and unnecessary. The only advantage it really offers over the significantly less expensive i5-750 is Hyper-Threading, which isn't a huge deal.
If your TV is 720p, then the resolution should be, at maximum, 1366 x 768, right? The 5850 is overkill for a resolution like that. Get a 5770 unless you see yourself upgrading to a 1080p screen in the next 3 years.
So I bought Mass Effect off steam yesterday for $5. It has a unique ability to crash my graphics card: The screen suddenly gets garbled patterns on it, and eventually my monitor just turns off, but the music still plays in the background, and numlock still toggles. I end up having to do a hard reboot anyway.
I suspect my 8800gt is overheating. I bought it used off ebay with some aftermarket heatsink installed. I could try buying another heatsink, or putting a more powerful fan on it, but this feels like wasting my time. I mean, this is a pretty old card! But, when it was working, it seems to play mass effect with everything but textures turned up (and textures only one notch down) at 1680x1050.
My question is, what is the cheapest semi-modern card that is better than a 8800gt? I only have the one PCI-E power plug, no ridiculous monstrosities!
So I bought Mass Effect off steam yesterday for $5. It has a unique ability to crash my graphics card: The screen suddenly gets garbled patterns on it, and eventually my monitor just turns off, but the music still plays in the background, and numlock still toggles. I end up having to do a hard reboot anyway.
I suspect my 8800gt is overheating. I bought it used off ebay with some aftermarket heatsink installed. I could try buying another heatsink, or putting a more powerful fan on it, but this feels like wasting my time. I mean, this is a pretty old card! But, when it was working, it seems to play mass effect with everything but textures turned up (and textures only one notch down) at 1680x1050.
My question is, what is the cheapest semi-modern card that is better than a 8800gt? I only have the one PCI-E power plug, no ridiculous monstrosities!
ATI 5770.
that happens to me on my ati5770. i think its a bug with mass effect.
mts on
0
Niceguyeddie616All you feed me is PUFFINS!I need NOURISHMENT!Registered Userregular
edited June 2010
Ok, so I've never built my own machine before, but this crappy little HP laptop is about to die on me pretty soon and I'm simply sick of dealing with pre-built machines. However, I don't know the first thing about building my own PC, and a friend has offered to help, so I need this thread to point me in the right direction.
I'm mainly looking for a computer that can handle HD video easily and can also function as a Blu-ray player. I'm not a huge computer gamer, but I may end up installing stuff on the level of Cave Story and Telltale adventure games. I also want to be able to use stuff like Photoshop and Premiere on this setup in order to make videos.
My budget is about $800, I'm willing to go a little over this but I don't want to exceed $1,000 if necessary. Except for a monitor and speakers, I'm set on most other stuff that isn't the tower. I'm told by my friend that this is in fact doable, and at worst a decent quality monitor might set me back on my budget.
What I expect:
Run games smoothly on my 42" 720p LCD TV.
No need for major upgrades for at least 3 years.
Use it as Blue Ray player.
Don't buy three sticks of RAM for that socket, the 1156 socket only supports dual channel, get a 2x2GB kit. I've never heard of that PSU vendor, so I'd be wary of purchasing that PSU. Corsair makes a line of PSUs that are really good, chances are you can find something solid in your price range from them. Buy a 1TB drive, the bang for buck ratio is higher than a 750GB drive. A WD Caviar Black or Samsung Spinpoint F3 would be my recommendation.
The 860 is, in my opinion, overpriced and unnecessary. The only advantage it really offers over the significantly less expensive i5-750 is Hyper-Threading, which isn't a huge deal.
If your TV is 720p, then the resolution should be, at maximum, 1366 x 768, right? The 5850 is overkill for a resolution like that. Get a 5770 unless you see yourself upgrading to a 1080p screen in the next 3 years.
Well the thing is the I5-750 @2,66 GHz is 200 (€uro)bucks and the I7-860 @2,80 GHz is 250. So I guess the I7 is more bang for my buck.
I'm about to pull the trigger on this, hoping anyone might have some last-minute input for me that would either verify that I'm making some right choices or point out ways to improve things. I'm aiming for a particularly high end machine that'll be able to do Eyefinity. I am also looking at buying 3 new monitors for this purpose.
I'm buying almost all of this through Amazon because Newegg charges me like $250+ for tax and shipping, whereas Amazon does not.
The total for all of the above rings up at $1656.23 with shipping and tax and everything.
Defending my choices thusfar:
The 5970's the most expensive part in the machine. I could have gone with the 5870 instead, and saved a little, but this link demonstrated that the 5970 had a fair bit more horsepower behind it, and I'm not one of those people who does incremental upgrades to their computer - I want something that'll hold me for a couple years. I don't know if a pair of Crossfire'd 5870's would be a viable alternative, because I don't think Eyefinity works in Crossfire at the moment.
The i7 930 processor is something I already have. I got it through an intel deal for $180, so I'm happy with it.
The PSU could be $20 cheaper for the non-modular version, but since this'll be the first computer I'm putting together myself, I wanted to make my life easier. I'm hoping 850W will be enough to last me into the future.
I am ALSO looking at getting the following for an Eyefinity setup:
3 24" monitors - I am having trouble picking between the ASUS VW246H and the DELL ST2410. They look comparable. Both have DVI/HDMI, both are 1920x1080. The contrast ratio and response time are a little different, but I don't know how significant that is. The Dell is cheaper, but only barely - after tax, it comes to 203.29, whereas the ASUS is 219. I think the ASUS might have a thinner bevel on the sides, which might be good since I'm putting the three of them next to each other on my desk, and the thinner the bevel, the better.
So in Mass Effect 2, my 4890 runs pretty hot. Sometimes the drivers, for no reason, decide to slow down the fan speed briefly. Then the card slows down in order to prevent overheating, and the framerate nosedives for several seconds until the fan spins back up again. (Catalyst 10.4)
First of all: What the fuck, who does ATI have writing their drivers, monkeys?
Second: Is there some utility I can use to fix the fan speed while I'm playing the game?
Third: I just installed Catalyst 10.6, maybe that will change something
My PC just tanked and I'm looking at a new one now, should I stick with XP or is Windows 7 decent for gaming? I'm temped by the Directx 11 stuff but I've always used XP. How does 7 compare for gaming?
Have this 1GB Seagate External drive
And am about to buy a friends pc with a 250GB drive in it. Not sure how good it is.
I've just seen a Samsung F3 Spinpoint, which I've often seen people recommend, for £47.
Would you say it's worth buying, or overkill considering what I already have?
My PC just tanked and I'm looking at a new one now, should I stick with XP or is Windows 7 decent for gaming? I'm temped by the Directx 11 stuff but I've always used XP. How does 7 compare for gaming?
Just Cause 2 won't run on WinXP, newer games are really taking an advantage of DX10 and 64bit processors. I haven't noticed performance drops since I switched to Win7.
I need to build an office computer for a relative. That is: No video games, very little to no heavy processing, no video editing. Just word processing and email.
I'd like to make it quite silent, if at all possible, but that's not a huge issue.
Since I haven't built a computer in a while, and when I do look into these things, it's with my own needs in mind (i.e. Games), I don't know what's good for a low-powered computer.
Any recommendations?
Centipeed, the thread experts (who are strangely MIA. World Cup Fever?) have said in the past that below a certain threshold of performance it makes more cost sense to buy a prebuilt and de-bloatware it.
Otherwise, you might say what your budget is and what you do and don't need (Operating system? Monitor?)
I would guess you could get away with an inexpensive AMD processor, onboard video (?), and 2GB of RAM, which should bring down the cost substantially. Something like this combo but with a non-sketchy power supply, less RAM, and probably a smaller hard drive and better case at the same cost.
I need to build an office computer for a relative. That is: No video games, very little to no heavy processing, no video editing. Just word processing and email.
I'd like to make it quite silent, if at all possible, but that's not a huge issue.
Since I haven't built a computer in a while, and when I do look into these things, it's with my own needs in mind (i.e. Games), I don't know what's good for a low-powered computer.
Any recommendations?
Centipeed, the thread experts (who are strangely MIA. World Cup Fever?) have said in the past that below a certain threshold of performance it makes more cost sense to buy a prebuilt and de-bloatware it.
Otherwise, you might say what your budget is and what you do and don't need (Operating system? Monitor?)
I would guess you could get away with an inexpensive AMD processor, onboard video (?), and 2GB of RAM, which should bring down the cost substantially. Something like this combo but with a non-sketchy power supply, less RAM, and probably a smaller hard drive and better case at the same cost.
After having discussed it with my relative some more, it seems like a netbook might be better for his needs.
So I won't need a sample build any more, really. I'll edit my original post.
So I bought Mass Effect off steam yesterday for $5. It has a unique ability to crash my graphics card: The screen suddenly gets garbled patterns on it, and eventually my monitor just turns off, but the music still plays in the background, and numlock still toggles. I end up having to do a hard reboot anyway.
I suspect my 8800gt is overheating. I bought it used off ebay with some aftermarket heatsink installed. I could try buying another heatsink, or putting a more powerful fan on it, but this feels like wasting my time. I mean, this is a pretty old card! But, when it was working, it seems to play mass effect with everything but textures turned up (and textures only one notch down) at 1680x1050.
My question is, what is the cheapest semi-modern card that is better than a 8800gt? I only have the one PCI-E power plug, no ridiculous monstrosities!
ATI 5770.
that happens to me on my ati5770. i think its a bug with mass effect.
I am running a 5870. I have had numerous crashes. There does not seem to be much rhyme and reason, and they manifest themselves in different ways. Occasionally it has frozen, requiring an alt-tab to task manager. Sometimes it quits itself out to the Windows 7 dialog that says something like "program failed checking for solution to problem." Other times it quits out to a Mass Effect error dialog involving either GPU or memory (though I suspect the memory crash is related to GPU). This has happened has early has 10 minutes in but generally I don't crash more than once an hour.
Additionally, I had my first graphics flaw yesterday. Shepherd (in a cutscene) was artifacting. The funny thing is the artifact almost manifests itself as a partial blue shield texture on him, except that small bits and pieces of him were missing. It was during:
when you finally first face off against Saren right before you lose Ashley.
Annoying, but the game is still awesome. I haven't updated drivers since installing in Feb so that might be part of the problem.
I am running a 5870. I have had numerous crashes. There does not seem to be much rhyme and reason, and they manifest themselves in different ways. Occasionally it has frozen, requiring an alt-tab to task manager. Sometimes it quits itself out to the Windows 7 dialog that says something like "program failed checking for solution to problem." Other times it quits out to a Mass Effect error dialog involving either GPU or memory (though I suspect the memory crash is related to GPU). This has happened has early has 10 minutes in but generally I don't crash more than once an hour.
Additionally, I had my first graphics flaw yesterday. Shepherd (in a cutscene) was artifacting. The funny thing is the artifact almost manifests itself as a partial blue shield texture on him, except that small bits and pieces of him were missing. It was during:
when you finally first face off against Saren right before you lose Ashley.
Annoying, but the game is still awesome. I haven't updated drivers since installing in Feb so that might be part of the problem.
Yeh that's what has me upset the most. When it works, it's one of the best $5 games I've played in a while. When it works...
Basically I can probably safely spend that money on a new CPU as was my original plan. This 8800gt has some damn legs on it. I mean, I bought it used 2 years ago for $100 and it's still running new-ish games really well, and I'd have to spend $100+ to improve upon it, it seems.
Monkey Ball Warrior on
"I resent the entire notion of a body as an ante and then raise you a generalized dissatisfaction with physicality itself" -- Tycho
My PC just tanked and I'm looking at a new one now, should I stick with XP or is Windows 7 decent for gaming? I'm temped by the Directx 11 stuff but I've always used XP. How does 7 compare for gaming?
Windows 7 is first Windows I can actually claim to like and XP is becoming obsolete anyway. The performance drop from Vista hasn't been real for years now. Windows 7 is extremely stable (at least with my ATI card, 90% of games will let me alt-tab without dire consequences), and I cannot complain about game performance.
This 8800gt has some damn legs on it. I mean, I bought it used 2 years ago for $100 and it's still running new-ish games really well, and I'd have to spend $100+ to improve upon it, it seems.
I love my 8800GT so much I just bought a second one off Ebay so I can SLI those suckers and get some insane gaming performance. I realize that this is pure overkill, as the 8800GT still plays most new games at high details with good frame rates. In short I my 8800GT!
And Win7 so far has been a blast. It probably helps that I'm running it off an SSD, but it screams along, never crashing, and I can alt tab out of anything. I'm actually using the default desktop themes, because they're that good.
So a friend of mine is planning on getting back into the computer gaming scene thanks to Starcraft 2. He's looking to spend around $900-$1000 for both a monitor (maybe something like this [URL="So a friend of mine is planning on getting back into the computer gaming scene thanks to Starcraft 2. He's looking to spend around $900-$1000 for both a monitor (maybe something like this) and the desktop.
Any suggestions for the best parts for the money with the remaining $850 or so?
Are crashes common with the 5870? That's the GPU I was thinking of getting.
edit: may aswell post the entire thing, tell me if i've made any bad choices
CPU Intel® Core™i7-860 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) Mobo ASUS® P7H57D-V EVO: FULL ATX, TRUE USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s RAM 8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (4 X 2GB) GPU 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5870 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11 HD 1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm) PSU CORSAIR 850W PSU (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET Sound Card Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
So in Mass Effect 2, my 4890 runs pretty hot. Sometimes the drivers, for no reason, decide to slow down the fan speed briefly. Then the card slows down in order to prevent overheating, and the framerate nosedives for several seconds until the fan spins back up again. (Catalyst 10.4)
First of all: What the fuck, who does ATI have writing their drivers, monkeys?
Second: Is there some utility I can use to fix the fan speed while I'm playing the game?
Third: I just installed Catalyst 10.6, maybe that will change something
I assume since you installed the new driver you haven't been having the issue, but there is a fan control option in Catalyst. I'm not on my desktop at the moment so I can't remember how to go about it exactly, but it's the last option in the drop-down menu, and you have to click on the lock icon in order to unlock the overclocking abilities. At the bottom of the window is the fan control option.
I just have my 4870 constantly set to 39%, it runs cool enough and is quiet enough.
Rohan on
...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.
Also, if anyone is building an e-peen i5/i7 build w/ 8 GB memory and a crossfired video cards, this combo is a pretty deep discount on RAM and mobo.
In other news my HP 2509m arrived, and it is fucking glorious. It's shiny, and I imagine catching surprise sight of myself now and then is going to take a little getting used to. Worth it, though. I've been tearing up Mass Effect 2 and Borderlands at max settings at 1920 x 1080. Next up - get a splitter to hook up the 4th fan in my case, finally decide whether she will live above or below the desk, and maybe take a crack at hooking my old (matte) Acer 22" as a second monitor. Living the dream!
Here is my first build. Can you guys critique it for me?
Power supply- Dynapower 650W
Video card- XFX HD Radeon 8550 1 GB
Memory- G.Skill Ripjaw series 6 GB
Proccessor- i5-660 3.33 GHz Dual Core.
Hard Drive, Case, and Motheboard are from the power build in the OP.
This is going to be used for gaming.
If you are somewhere where you can order from NewEgg, the Corsair 650W is on sale right now with promo code EMCYTNR46 for $80 ($15 cheaper than the Dynapwer), and then an additional $20 back in MIR. Oh, and has free shipping.
Did you pick the 660 over the 750 for a reason? They are the same price. I don't actually know the difference between the 660 and 750 other than, oooh bigger number, but Tom's Hardware puts the 750 one notch higher on its gaming CPU hierarchy chart than the 660 and recommends the 750 at the $200 price point. Plus it's in the OP build.
Here is my first build. Can you guys critique it for me?
Power supply- Dynapower 650W
Video card- XFX HD Radeon 8550 1 GB
Memory- G.Skill Ripjaw series 6 GB
Proccessor- i5-660 3.33 GHz Dual Core.
Hard Drive, Case, and Motheboard are from the power build in the OP.
This is going to be used for gaming.
If you are somewhere where you can order from NewEgg, the Corsair 650W is on sale right now with promo code EMCYTNR46 for $80 ($15 cheaper than the Dynapwer), and then an additional $20 back in MIR. Oh, and has free shipping.
Did you pick the 660 over the 750 for a reason? They are the same price. I don't actually know the difference between the 660 and 750 other than, oooh bigger number, but Tom's Hardware puts the 750 one notch higher on its gaming CPU hierarchy chart than the 660 and recommends the 750 at the $200 price point. Plus it's in the OP build.
Thanks for the help. I didn't pick the 660 over the 750 for any specific reason. I am going to change the power supply and the processor.
Edit- Is that going to be enough power for the system?
Here is my first build. Can you guys critique it for me?
Power supply- Dynapower 650W
Video card- XFX HD Radeon 8550 1 GB
Memory- G.Skill Ripjaw series 6 GB
Proccessor- i5-660 3.33 GHz Dual Core.
Hard Drive, Case, and Motheboard are from the power build in the OP.
This is going to be used for gaming.
If you are somewhere where you can order from NewEgg, the Corsair 650W is on sale right now with promo code EMCYTNR46 for $80 ($15 cheaper than the Dynapwer), and then an additional $20 back in MIR. Oh, and has free shipping.
Did you pick the 660 over the 750 for a reason? They are the same price. I don't actually know the difference between the 660 and 750 other than, oooh bigger number, but Tom's Hardware puts the 750 one notch higher on its gaming CPU hierarchy chart than the 660 and recommends the 750 at the $200 price point. Plus it's in the OP build.
Thanks for the help. I didn't pick the 660 over the 750 for any specific reason. I am going to change the power supply and the processor.
Edit- Is that going to be enough power for the system?
Absolutely. The OP build has the same parts and a 520W PSU.
What resolution will you be playing things at? You're looking at a ton of firepower for a gaming rig.
Here is my first build. Can you guys critique it for me?
Power supply- Dynapower 650W
Video card- XFX HD Radeon 8550 1 GB
Memory- G.Skill Ripjaw series 6 GB
Proccessor- i5-660 3.33 GHz Dual Core.
Hard Drive, Case, and Motheboard are from the power build in the OP.
This is going to be used for gaming.
If you are somewhere where you can order from NewEgg, the Corsair 650W is on sale right now with promo code EMCYTNR46 for $80 ($15 cheaper than the Dynapwer), and then an additional $20 back in MIR. Oh, and has free shipping.
Did you pick the 660 over the 750 for a reason? They are the same price. I don't actually know the difference between the 660 and 750 other than, oooh bigger number, but Tom's Hardware puts the 750 one notch higher on its gaming CPU hierarchy chart than the 660 and recommends the 750 at the $200 price point. Plus it's in the OP build.
Thanks for the help. I didn't pick the 660 over the 750 for any specific reason. I am going to change the power supply and the processor.
Edit- Is that going to be enough power for the system?
Absolutely. The OP build has the same parts and a 520W PSU.
What resolution will you be playing things at? You're looking at a ton of firepower for a gaming rig.
It going to be plugged into my 32 inch LCD 1080p TV. So I am going to try and max it out. I also want it to last awhile.
BathTubb on
Steam-BathTubb Xbox Live - Bathtubb
0
Niceguyeddie616All you feed me is PUFFINS!I need NOURISHMENT!Registered Userregular
edited June 2010
Hello again thread, first time PC builder here, looking to build something between $800-1000 that can handle HD video, editing, and some gaming. I picked out more parts, and this is what I have so far, I'm just missing a monitor, wifi card, and speakers.
CPU Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80616I3540
Video card SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
RAM CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9
HD SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Blu Ray Drive LG UH10LS20 Blu-ray Disc Combo Internal SATA 10x SuperMulti Blue LightScribe
Case and Power Supply Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 1-pack for System Builders - OEM
Total cost: $934.32
Is there anyway I can go cheaper without sacrificing performance? Is this system not powerful enough for what I want to do with it? Please give me some advice thread!
Here is my first build. Can you guys critique it for me?
Power supply- Dynapower 650W
Video card- XFX HD Radeon 8550 1 GB
Memory- G.Skill Ripjaw series 6 GB
Proccessor- i5-660 3.33 GHz Dual Core.
Hard Drive, Case, and Motheboard are from the power build in the OP.
This is going to be used for gaming.
If you are somewhere where you can order from NewEgg, the Corsair 650W is on sale right now with promo code EMCYTNR46 for $80 ($15 cheaper than the Dynapwer), and then an additional $20 back in MIR. Oh, and has free shipping.
Did you pick the 660 over the 750 for a reason? They are the same price. I don't actually know the difference between the 660 and 750 other than, oooh bigger number, but Tom's Hardware puts the 750 one notch higher on its gaming CPU hierarchy chart than the 660 and recommends the 750 at the $200 price point. Plus it's in the OP build.
Thanks for the help. I didn't pick the 660 over the 750 for any specific reason. I am going to change the power supply and the processor.
Edit- Is that going to be enough power for the system?
Absolutely. The OP build has the same parts and a 520W PSU.
What resolution will you be playing things at? You're looking at a ton of firepower for a gaming rig.
It going to be plugged into my 32 inch LCD 1080p TV. So I am going to try and max it out. I also want it to last awhile.
You may be able to save by going with a 2x2GB memory setup. Since you're going i5 instead of i7 there's not really a reason to get 6GB, you'll never see games use that in the next three or four years.
Niceguyeddie616, is that 32 bit version of Win 7 supposed to be 64 bit? If not, I think the 32 bit OS's max out at 3 GB RAM. So that extra gig would be unused.
Posts
INTEL CORE i7 860 2.80Ghz 8meg CACHE (~360 AU)
vs
INTEL CORE i5 670 3.46Ghz 4meg CACHE (~350 AU)
vs
INTEL CORE i5 750 2.66Ghz 8meg CACHE (~250 AU)
What are the thoughts for what will be best for running an ESXi server at home? Probably running maybe 1 main debian server which will only be serving media and maybe burning, a virtual router/firewall combo and a testing machine (for different distros and so forth), occasionally a windows box.
I'm wondering whether clockspeed, cache, triple channel RAM or vpd (the only virtualisation specific feature I can tell is missing in i5 cores) is going to give me the greatest benefit for what I'll be doing? I'm not too worried about getting things like zipping or ripping or hashing done super quickly, only whatever will make locking other machines out of processor time least likely (which is of course largely handled by the virtualisation server).
EDIT: Of course, the other thing is I am hoping to go for lower noise and power consumption - I'm consolidating a couple of other machines which are rather loud and generate a fair bit of heat. Low heat generation would be great.
Thanks for that, RSP, will keep an eye out on temperatures when I get it up and running. I'll let you know how it goes.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
So here is my setup so far:
Video Card Sapphire HD5850
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-860 Processor @2.8 GHz boxed
PSU be quiet! Straight Power E7 550W
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3
Hard Drive Seagate ST3750528AS 750 GB
RAM 3x G.Skill DIMM 2 GB DDR3-1333
Case Enermax ECA3162 Phoenix Neo
Mouse Logitech Cordless MX620
Keyboard KeySonic KSK-5200 RFM
Blue Ray Drive LG CH08NS10
What I expect:
Run games smoothly on my 42" 720p LCD TV.
No need for major upgrades for at least 3 years.
Use it as Blue Ray player.
Adds up enough in price/effort that I think going with the i5 750 might've been a better idea.
I suspect my 8800gt is overheating. I bought it used off ebay with some aftermarket heatsink installed. I could try buying another heatsink, or putting a more powerful fan on it, but this feels like wasting my time. I mean, this is a pretty old card! But, when it was working, it seems to play mass effect with everything but textures turned up (and textures only one notch down) at 1680x1050.
My question is, what is the cheapest semi-modern card that is better than a 8800gt? I only have the one PCI-E power plug, no ridiculous monstrosities!
Don't buy three sticks of RAM for that socket, the 1156 socket only supports dual channel, get a 2x2GB kit. I've never heard of that PSU vendor, so I'd be wary of purchasing that PSU. Corsair makes a line of PSUs that are really good, chances are you can find something solid in your price range from them. Buy a 1TB drive, the bang for buck ratio is higher than a 750GB drive. A WD Caviar Black or Samsung Spinpoint F3 would be my recommendation.
The 860 is, in my opinion, overpriced and unnecessary. The only advantage it really offers over the significantly less expensive i5-750 is Hyper-Threading, which isn't a huge deal.
If your TV is 720p, then the resolution should be, at maximum, 1366 x 768, right? The 5850 is overkill for a resolution like that. Get a 5770 unless you see yourself upgrading to a 1080p screen in the next 3 years.
Battle.net
ATI 5770.
Battle.net
that happens to me on my ati5770. i think its a bug with mass effect.
I'm mainly looking for a computer that can handle HD video easily and can also function as a Blu-ray player. I'm not a huge computer gamer, but I may end up installing stuff on the level of Cave Story and Telltale adventure games. I also want to be able to use stuff like Photoshop and Premiere on this setup in order to make videos.
My budget is about $800, I'm willing to go a little over this but I don't want to exceed $1,000 if necessary. Except for a monitor and speakers, I'm set on most other stuff that isn't the tower. I'm told by my friend that this is in fact doable, and at worst a decent quality monitor might set me back on my budget.
So far, I've got my eyes on this processor, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115219 , but if it's possible to go cheaper, I'm open to suggestions. Can anyone tell me if my budget is doable and maybe suggest some good parts?
Hitachi Deskstar 1TB drive & free Roseill USB Enclosure for $60
OCZ StealthXStream 600W Power Supply -- $20 off with promo code EMCYTZT27 -- for $50, $25 after MIR
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case for $40, $30 after MIR
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
Well the thing is the I5-750 @2,66 GHz is 200 (€uro)bucks and the I7-860 @2,80 GHz is 250. So I guess the I7 is more bang for my buck.
Downgrades:
2x G.Skill DIMM 2 GB DDR3-1333
Sapphire HD5770
Upgrades:
Corsair CMPSU-650TX (PSU)
Western Digital WD1001FALS 1 TB (Harddrive)
Scythe Kabuto SCKBT-1000 (CPU Cooler)
Totalcost about €1.200,-
Also:
Are 4 gig RAM enough or should I get another 4 gig for ~100€?
I'm buying almost all of this through Amazon because Newegg charges me like $250+ for tax and shipping, whereas Amazon does not.
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 (Hemlock) - $700
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz - got it already for $180.
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850-Watt HX Professional Series (Modular) - $170
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 - $210
RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM - $175
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM - $23, then tax and shipping
Optical Drive: ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW $80, then tax and shipping
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 - $140
The total for all of the above rings up at $1656.23 with shipping and tax and everything.
Defending my choices thusfar:
The 5970's the most expensive part in the machine. I could have gone with the 5870 instead, and saved a little, but this link demonstrated that the 5970 had a fair bit more horsepower behind it, and I'm not one of those people who does incremental upgrades to their computer - I want something that'll hold me for a couple years. I don't know if a pair of Crossfire'd 5870's would be a viable alternative, because I don't think Eyefinity works in Crossfire at the moment.
The i7 930 processor is something I already have. I got it through an intel deal for $180, so I'm happy with it.
The PSU could be $20 cheaper for the non-modular version, but since this'll be the first computer I'm putting together myself, I wanted to make my life easier. I'm hoping 850W will be enough to last me into the future.
I am ALSO looking at getting the following for an Eyefinity setup:
3 24" monitors - I am having trouble picking between the ASUS VW246H and the DELL ST2410. They look comparable. Both have DVI/HDMI, both are 1920x1080. The contrast ratio and response time are a little different, but I don't know how significant that is. The Dell is cheaper, but only barely - after tax, it comes to 203.29, whereas the ASUS is 219. I think the ASUS might have a thinner bevel on the sides, which might be good since I'm putting the three of them next to each other on my desk, and the thinner the bevel, the better.
What do you guys think?
First of all: What the fuck, who does ATI have writing their drivers, monkeys?
Second: Is there some utility I can use to fix the fan speed while I'm playing the game?
Third: I just installed Catalyst 10.6, maybe that will change something
Plenty of deals today, including the popular ASUS 23.6" LCD monitor, 1TB Samsung Spinpoint HD and Antec 300 Illusion.
EDIT: And no sooner do I post that A-DATA RAM than CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 appears on the home page Product Spotlight for $90 free shippping minus another $10 back in MIR. Good gravy.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
And am about to buy a friends pc with a 250GB drive in it. Not sure how good it is.
I've just seen a Samsung F3 Spinpoint, which I've often seen people recommend, for £47.
Would you say it's worth buying, or overkill considering what I already have?
Just Cause 2 won't run on WinXP, newer games are really taking an advantage of DX10 and 64bit processors. I haven't noticed performance drops since I switched to Win7.
Centipeed, the thread experts (who are strangely MIA. World Cup Fever?) have said in the past that below a certain threshold of performance it makes more cost sense to buy a prebuilt and de-bloatware it.
Otherwise, you might say what your budget is and what you do and don't need (Operating system? Monitor?)
I would guess you could get away with an inexpensive AMD processor, onboard video (?), and 2GB of RAM, which should bring down the cost substantially. Something like this combo but with a non-sketchy power supply, less RAM, and probably a smaller hard drive and better case at the same cost.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
After having discussed it with my relative some more, it seems like a netbook might be better for his needs.
So I won't need a sample build any more, really. I'll edit my original post.
I am running a 5870. I have had numerous crashes. There does not seem to be much rhyme and reason, and they manifest themselves in different ways. Occasionally it has frozen, requiring an alt-tab to task manager. Sometimes it quits itself out to the Windows 7 dialog that says something like "program failed checking for solution to problem." Other times it quits out to a Mass Effect error dialog involving either GPU or memory (though I suspect the memory crash is related to GPU). This has happened has early has 10 minutes in but generally I don't crash more than once an hour.
Additionally, I had my first graphics flaw yesterday. Shepherd (in a cutscene) was artifacting. The funny thing is the artifact almost manifests itself as a partial blue shield texture on him, except that small bits and pieces of him were missing. It was during:
Annoying, but the game is still awesome. I haven't updated drivers since installing in Feb so that might be part of the problem.
PSN: TheScrublet
Yeh that's what has me upset the most. When it works, it's one of the best $5 games I've played in a while. When it works...
Basically I can probably safely spend that money on a new CPU as was my original plan. This 8800gt has some damn legs on it. I mean, I bought it used 2 years ago for $100 and it's still running new-ish games really well, and I'd have to spend $100+ to improve upon it, it seems.
I've never used a lanbox myself, but there are some pretty light mid-tower cases out there. Just stay away from steel I guess.
Windows 7 is first Windows I can actually claim to like and XP is becoming obsolete anyway. The performance drop from Vista hasn't been real for years now. Windows 7 is extremely stable (at least with my ATI card, 90% of games will let me alt-tab without dire consequences), and I cannot complain about game performance.
I love my 8800GT so much I just bought a second one off Ebay so I can SLI those suckers and get some insane gaming performance. I realize that this is pure overkill, as the 8800GT still plays most new games at high details with good frame rates. In short I
And Win7 so far has been a blast. It probably helps that I'm running it off an SSD, but it screams along, never crashing, and I can alt tab out of anything. I'm actually using the default desktop themes, because they're that good.
Any suggestions for the best parts for the money with the remaining $850 or so?
360 : ThePmoney
Battle.net: Pmoney.thereal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.391749
Seems like a decent price and although it doesn't include a 3d card, that works for me since I already have one that should do fine for while longer.
edit: may aswell post the entire thing, tell me if i've made any bad choices
CPU Intel® Core™i7-860 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache)
Mobo ASUS® P7H57D-V EVO: FULL ATX, TRUE USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s
RAM 8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (4 X 2GB)
GPU 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5870 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
HD 1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
PSU CORSAIR 850W PSU (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET
Sound Card Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE
OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
I assume since you installed the new driver you haven't been having the issue, but there is a fan control option in Catalyst. I'm not on my desktop at the moment so I can't remember how to go about it exactly, but it's the last option in the drop-down menu, and you have to click on the lock icon in order to unlock the overclocking abilities. At the bottom of the window is the fan control option.
I just have my 4870 constantly set to 39%, it runs cool enough and is quiet enough.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
Also, if anyone is building an e-peen i5/i7 build w/ 8 GB memory and a crossfired video cards, this combo is a pretty deep discount on RAM and mobo.
In other news my HP 2509m arrived, and it is fucking glorious. It's shiny, and I imagine catching surprise sight of myself now and then is going to take a little getting used to. Worth it, though. I've been tearing up Mass Effect 2 and Borderlands at max settings at 1920 x 1080. Next up - get a splitter to hook up the 4th fan in my case, finally decide whether she will live above or below the desk, and maybe take a crack at hooking my old (matte) Acer 22" as a second monitor. Living the dream!
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
Power supply- Dynapower 650W
Video card- XFX HD Radeon 8550 1 GB
Memory- G.Skill Ripjaw series 6 GB
Proccessor- i5-660 3.33 GHz Dual Core.
Hard Drive, Case, and Motheboard are from the power build in the OP.
This is going to be used for gaming.
If you are somewhere where you can order from NewEgg, the Corsair 650W is on sale right now with promo code EMCYTNR46 for $80 ($15 cheaper than the Dynapwer), and then an additional $20 back in MIR. Oh, and has free shipping.
Did you pick the 660 over the 750 for a reason? They are the same price. I don't actually know the difference between the 660 and 750 other than, oooh bigger number, but Tom's Hardware puts the 750 one notch higher on its gaming CPU hierarchy chart than the 660 and recommends the 750 at the $200 price point. Plus it's in the OP build.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
Thanks for the help. I didn't pick the 660 over the 750 for any specific reason. I am going to change the power supply and the processor.
Edit- Is that going to be enough power for the system?
Absolutely. The OP build has the same parts and a 520W PSU.
What resolution will you be playing things at? You're looking at a ton of firepower for a gaming rig.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
It going to be plugged into my 32 inch LCD 1080p TV. So I am going to try and max it out. I also want it to last awhile.
CPU Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80616I3540
Motherboard MSI H55M-ED55 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Video card SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
RAM CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9
HD SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Blu Ray Drive LG UH10LS20 Blu-ray Disc Combo Internal SATA 10x SuperMulti Blue LightScribe
Case and Power Supply Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 1-pack for System Builders - OEM
Total cost: $934.32
Is there anyway I can go cheaper without sacrificing performance? Is this system not powerful enough for what I want to do with it? Please give me some advice thread!
You may be able to save by going with a 2x2GB memory setup. Since you're going i5 instead of i7 there's not really a reason to get 6GB, you'll never see games use that in the next three or four years.
PSN: TheScrublet
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2