Wow, all of a sudden I have 500gb of games installed through Steam.
WD Caviar Black still the go-to for hard drives? I'm running this one from the OP currently. And hey, its $10 off. Howabout that. Ignore this post I guess!
So I have a ASUS P5QPL-AM here, and I am looking to get an Intel Core 2 Quad for it. HAs any one heard of any lemons out there, or is there a 'best fit' for this before I buy? Thanks in advance.
I don't like quoting myself, but I think I got lost in there. Sorry. There are about 50 different compatible processors for this motherboard, and I am wondering if anyone heard anything about a bad apple in the bunch of them, of if I get one I like am I wasting money on marketing bells and whistles or buying something solid and oh god I am so lost after far too many years having not built a computer.
You can't really go wrong with any of the currently available S775 C2Q's.
Your mo'bo' supports the newer 45nm 1333 MHz FSB ones (Yorkfield) and the older Kentsfield's aren't readily available anymore, so you're limited to a choice of 10 or so, all of which increase in speed with increasing price.
What you get depends on how much you have to spend and maybe whether you want to overclock, where results usually vary between models and stepping variants (i'm no expert on what's best for OC'ing though).
I have a Q9550 and i'm very happy with it. It runs rock solid at 3.75GHz OC and stays cool (using a Prolimatech Megahalems cooler - the stock Intel one is fine if you're not overclocking).
Edit: You may need to update your Bios for some CPUs - consult the chart here.
So the 2x dvi/hdmi signal limit is per video card right?
if I throw this video card into my rig soley for the purpose of connecting my TV to my computer, I should be able to have both monitors and a 3rd hdmi display right?
I'm going to build a new computer. Things I might be able to salvage from my current one:
Monitor: Dell 19 inch Ultrasharp. It's sharp and has lasted five years with no dead pixels; I feel no real need for a new one.
Graphics card: nVidia 8800 GT. Not exactly top-of-the-line, but way newer than everything I'm running. I have two old Dell power supplies wired to keep it running right now.
Mouse and DvD burner, maybe? I don't know.
Everything else needs to be replaced, I think. What do you guys suggest? I'd like to spend around $1,000 and get something that will last. I'd like to be able to run games (including stuff like Civ that eats my current 3.0 GHz single-core alive) fairly well and be able to keep that up for a generation or two. I'm looking forward to MechWarrior 5, Civ 5, and of course SC2 and D3. I don't play a lot of really graphically intense games (although MW 5 looks like it might be getting up there), but I am damn tired of only being able to play 1v1s in SC2 and waiting forty seconds or more between turns in Civ.
I've started looking at processors, and everything seems much cheaper (relative to the power available) than I remember it being five years ago. It's sort of a nice surprise.
CycloneRanger on
0
Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Shit, for one grand, you can get a new monitor and bitchin' GPU in addition to the rest of the parts, you'd and still have a couple hundred left over.
Zxerol on
0
Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
I need a card capable of 1080p video output, as cheap as possible, with as little heat/energy consumption as possible.
edit: need to be ati
Any suggestions / clear winners in this category??
If you don't care about gaming performance a 4350 will do you fine, it can handle 1080p without breaking a sweat. I had a 4350 in my media center until I upped it to a 4550 for a slight gaming performance increase.
The great thing about a 4350/4550 is you can get them low profile and passively cooled. Plus they're dirt cheap. You'll still get half decent gaming performance out of them as long as you don't go overboard with the texture settings, resolution etc for the games.
GrimReaper on
PSN | Steam
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
0
Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
edited July 2010
Newegg says my proc has shipped already, and I only placed the order a few hours ago. I suspect it is sitting on a pallet on the loading dock somewhere.
I wish they wouldn't show shipped status until the carrier has picked it up, but since everyone does it that way I am doomed to disappointment.
Just_Bri_Thanks on
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Shit, for one grand, you can get a new monitor and bitchin' GPU in addition to the rest of the parts, you'd and still have a couple hundred left over.
Well, if I can get a great machine for under 1k I'll be happy to keep the savings. I'd like something I won't have to replace for a while, though—I'm comfortable going a little over-the-top on the basics (processor, power supply, etc.).
I'm not going to spend $500 on a processor or anything, though (as much as I'd like six 3.2 GHz cores, I won't be using them enough for it to be worthwhile).
I've been looking at some gaming and other benchmarks at Anandtech (for processors), but there's a lot of data to hack through.
Hmm, not sure if this is the thread for it, but I'll give it a shot.
So I have decided to finally step up to Windows 7 so I can take advantage of my 64-bit CPU, my 64-bit board, and the various video editing programs out there now that I have a decent camera. As it is, I'm on XP.
But I'm running low on space hard drive-wise, so I've decided to pick up a 2TB internal. That should keep me in good shape for a while. This would be all good and well if the reviews on newegg for 1.5 and 2 TB drives didn't make me so damn nervous (I'd go off reviews on Amazon, but a lot of those are for smaller sized drives). I know drives probably get worse write ups on average because when something isn't right with them they fail spectacularly. But still, lots of iffy reviews.
So, does anyone have any 2 TB drives that have served them well? Also, is it worth it to get a drive with 64MB buffer or is it okay to stick with 32MB?
Hmm, not sure if this is the thread for it, but I'll give it a shot.
So I have decided to finally step up to Windows 7 so I can take advantage of my 64-bit CPU, my 64-bit board, and the various video editing programs out there now that I have a decent camera. As it is, I'm on XP.
But I'm running low on space hard drive-wise, so I've decided to pick up a 2TB internal. That should keep me in good shape for a while. This would be all good and well if the reviews on newegg for 1.5 and 2 TB drives didn't make me so damn nervous (I'd go off reviews on Amazon, but a lot of those are for smaller sized drives). I know drives probably get worse write ups on average because when something isn't right with them they fail spectacularly. But still, lots of iffy reviews.
So, does anyone have any 2 TB drives that have served them well? Also, is it worth it to get a drive with 64MB buffer or is it okay to stick with 32MB?
I have a WD (green though) and really the only problem I have is when all the disks in my case spin.
I have my SSD for the OS, and four mixed disks EIDE/SATA not including the USB drive I have left over from my laptop days. I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with WesternD/Seagate/Samsung.
Hmm, not sure if this is the thread for it, but I'll give it a shot.
So I have decided to finally step up to Windows 7 so I can take advantage of my 64-bit CPU, my 64-bit board, and the various video editing programs out there now that I have a decent camera. As it is, I'm on XP.
But I'm running low on space hard drive-wise, so I've decided to pick up a 2TB internal. That should keep me in good shape for a while. This would be all good and well if the reviews on newegg for 1.5 and 2 TB drives didn't make me so damn nervous (I'd go off reviews on Amazon, but a lot of those are for smaller sized drives). I know drives probably get worse write ups on average because when something isn't right with them they fail spectacularly. But still, lots of iffy reviews.
So, does anyone have any 2 TB drives that have served them well? Also, is it worth it to get a drive with 64MB buffer or is it okay to stick with 32MB?
I have a WD (green though) and really the only problem I have is when all the disks in my case spin.
I have my SSD for the OS, and four mixed disks EIDE/SATA not including the USB drive I have left over from my laptop days. I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with WesternD/Seagate/Samsung.
On samsung, they're on a roll with hard drives. I've yet to ever have one die on me. Whereas I've had plenty of wd's and seagates die. I mostly buy Samsungs these days for work and home.
GrimReaper on
PSN | Steam
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Hmm, not sure if this is the thread for it, but I'll give it a shot.
So I have decided to finally step up to Windows 7 so I can take advantage of my 64-bit CPU, my 64-bit board, and the various video editing programs out there now that I have a decent camera. As it is, I'm on XP.
But I'm running low on space hard drive-wise, so I've decided to pick up a 2TB internal. That should keep me in good shape for a while. This would be all good and well if the reviews on newegg for 1.5 and 2 TB drives didn't make me so damn nervous (I'd go off reviews on Amazon, but a lot of those are for smaller sized drives). I know drives probably get worse write ups on average because when something isn't right with them they fail spectacularly. But still, lots of iffy reviews.
So, does anyone have any 2 TB drives that have served them well? Also, is it worth it to get a drive with 64MB buffer or is it okay to stick with 32MB?
I have a WD (green though) and really the only problem I have is when all the disks in my case spin.
I have my SSD for the OS, and four mixed disks EIDE/SATA not including the USB drive I have left over from my laptop days. I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with WesternD/Seagate/Samsung.
On samsung, they're on a roll with hard drives. I've yet to ever have one die on me. Whereas I've had plenty of wd's and seagates die. I mostly buy Samsungs these days for work and home.
This is anecdotal, but I've had Samsungs die on me (or, more accurately, I've had two recently be lost to bad sectors and that infernal clicking of doom). So I'd say stick with WD, especially over 1 TB.
I suppose this is the thread. I'm building a new computer just for Starcraft (preferably 30 fps on Very High settings) and WoW Cataclysm (if possible 60 fps performance or close). It'd be nice if the processor was a bit future proof (or at least the MoBo) but I don't plan on running anything else on it. I'm on a tight budget (500$ tops). I already got HD and Monitor.
Monkey Ball WarriorA collection of mediocre hatsSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
My 320g samsung started popping bad sectors a few years ago. But then it stopped, that was a year ago or so. It seems to be fine now, there were enough spare sectors that the built in remapper or whatever handled it, but it was a bit scary for a while.
I continue to eye it with suspicion, and while my Vista install is still on it, I store most of my data on my Hitachi 1TB now.
I originally got the samsung because it was quiet, and it is. Virtually silent.
The Hitachi, on the other hand, sounds like a jet plane taking off.
Here, if you like, is the smart status on my Samsung:
smartctl 5.39.1 2010-01-28 r3054 [i486-slackware-linux-gnu] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-10 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: SAMSUNG SpinPoint F1 DT series
Device Model: SAMSUNG HD322HJ
Serial Number: S17AJDWQ522203
Firmware Version: 1AC01112
User Capacity: 320,072,933,376 bytes
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 8
ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 3b
Local Time is: Sat Jul 24 14:41:55 2010 UTC
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: (3888) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 66) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 8) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x003f) SCT Status supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.
SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000f 099 071 051 Pre-fail Always - 1174
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0007 094 094 011 Pre-fail Always - 2850
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 1367
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 100 100 051 Pre-fail Always - 0
8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0025 100 100 015 Pre-fail Offline - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 097 097 000 Old_age Always - 14507
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0033 100 100 051 Pre-fail Always - 0
11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 489
13 Read_Soft_Error_Rate 0x000e 099 073 000 Old_age Always - 1065
183 Runtime_Bad_Block 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
184 End-to-End_Error 0x0033 100 100 099 Pre-fail Always - 0
187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 3203
188 Command_Timeout 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 071 061 000 Old_age Always - 29 (Lifetime Min/Max 14/30)
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 069 057 000 Old_age Always - 31 (Lifetime Min/Max 14/32)
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x001a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 9158197
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 86
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0030 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
201 Soft_Read_Error_Rate 0x000a 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 18
SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 0
Warning: ATA Specification requires self-test log structure revision number = 1
No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]
Note: selective self-test log revision number (0) not 1 implies that no selective self-test has ever been run
SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 0
Note: revision number not 1 implies that no selective self-test has ever been run
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.
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
I decided to go with the Samsung EcoGreen F3 HD203WI because the price is good, the review numbers are a lot more encouraging than pretty much all of the 7200RPM drives that size, and it's supposed to be fairly quiet.
Now I just need to save up my pennies so I can get an SSD boot drive. Sweet, sweet quickness.
I decided to go with the Samsung EcoGreen F3 HD203WI because the price is good, the review numbers are a lot more encouraging than pretty much all of the 7200RPM drives that size, and it's supposed to be fairly quiet.
Now I just need to save up my pennies so I can get an SSD boot drive. Sweet, sweet quickness.
This is the exact same hard drive that's part of my HTPC. I only recently bought that, it was to replace and add to the 1.5TB drive that's already in the HTPC.
EDIT: IIRC, I own three samsung hard drives. First one is 1TB which is in my desktop pc, it's been in there for a fair while now, the second is the 1.5TB drive which is in the HTPC which i've had for I guess a year now and the third is the 2TB drive which I bought a few weeks back.
GrimReaper on
PSN | Steam
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
I'm looking for a desktop that's mainly to be used as an HTPC with occasional gaming (if I can play Starcraft II on medium settings, I'll be quite content). I've checked PassMark benchmarks to try to find a CPU & video card with good value for the money, but I really don't understand motherboards at all. I've seen motherboards from the same company with seemingly no difference in specs aside from the name with a $30 difference in price, and I've seen some with seemingly superior specs go for the same price as inferior ones. I'm also confused about ATI Crossfire. Does it really help? Can I use an independent (Radeon 5570) and onboard (4290) together? What if I buy two cheap independent ones? How do I calculate the relative performance compared to a single high-end card?
Finally, what about differences between generations? I can get an HD 4850 for the same price as the 5570, and it has twice the PassMark score. Why would I want to buy a low-performance 5000 series card over a high-performance 4000 series one?
Anyway, here's what I'm currently considering:
cpu $87.50 phenom II x2 555
vid $93.44 ATI Radeon 5570
mem $50.00 2x1GB DDR3-1333
power $31.25
case $28.13
mb $84.38 Gigabyte 770t-ud3
hd $43.13 WD 500mb
dvd $- external, owned
TOTAL $417.81 (inc. tax)
Finally, what about differences between generations? I can get an HD 4850 for the same price as the 5570, and it has twice the PassMark score. Why would I want to buy a low-performance 5000 series card over a high-performance 4000 series one?
Probably the biggest difference is that the 5570 is Direct X 11 compatible, while the 4850 is DX10. Depends on how long you plan on keeping that particular build, and if you care about DX11.
Can anyone recommend a nice big case that doesn't look like something you'd use at a rave party? I'd like to avoid all those damn LEDs that seem to be stuck all over my brother's case. Fans are fine (actually, fans are great since I'll probably be dissipating quite a few watts in there), but I'd prefer something that looks like a metal box to one of those flashy cases.
CycloneRanger on
0
RhalloTonnyOf the BrownlandsRegistered Userregular
Can anyone recommend a nice big case that doesn't look like something you'd use at a rave party? I'd like to avoid all those damn LEDs that seem to be stuck all over my brother's case. Fans are fine (actually, fans are great since I'll probably be dissipating quite a few watts in there), but I'd prefer something that looks like a metal box to one of those flashy cases.
I know what you mean- when I built my last tower, the last thing I wanted in my room was a gaudy "mod" case with glowing windows and some kind of radiation decal on the front.
I went with one that's almost exactly like this (the one I bought isn't offered anymore). Now, Lian-Li's have a reputation for being overpriced, and I agree, but I have to admit it's the best tower case I've used. Everything is clean cut, spaced properly, and the ones I've used don't have any mystery problems that you find out only when you're able to open the package and look inside. Also, it's just a nice, plain black box that doesn't draw attention to itself.
Whether or not you're willing to pay more, a quick glance shows newegg has a variety of black box cases for cheaper.
I have a Silverstone Fortress FT02 and I would recommend it highly.
It's pretty simple looking, has excellent cooling, is easy to build in, very sturdy and is quite quiet. It is rather expensive though - I think I paid about £170.
Next question, for those of you who aren't annoyed enough already:
If, hypothetically, I wanted to spend $300 on a processor (which I have not decided), what is the difference between the i7 930 and the i7 870? The 870 has a somewhat higher clock speed and a considerably lower power consumption—but I'm having a hard time finding performance metrics where I can draw a direct comparison between the two. The benchmarks I've been able to find on Anandtech and Tomshardware seem to include either one or the other but not both.
I'm trying to baseline two systems for comparison—one with the i5 750 and one with the next step up—but I want to figure out whether the i7 870 or the i7 930 better represents that "next step", since they're the same price on Newegg.
They are basically the same processor with a few minor differences related to architecture.
The 870 is a Lynnfield LGA1156 CPU, one of the better ones actually. It has a slightly higher clock speed and more transistors onboard so you get a few more points on your benchmark software.
The 930 is a Bloomfield LGA1366 CPU which I would probably qualify as more of a next step because you get the benefits of the newer architecture. Its slightly slower than the 870 but it runs at a lower temperature and the same motherboard will support 6 core processors, better performance on multi gpu and triple channel memory setups.
Basically if you always upgrade cpu & motherboard together and you don't care about high performance out of multiple video cards or triple channel RAM then go with the 870. The 930 is only "next step" because of the mobo.
Finally, what about differences between generations? I can get an HD 4850 for the same price as the 5570, and it has twice the PassMark score. Why would I want to buy a low-performance 5000 series card over a high-performance 4000 series one?
How does that look?
I am going to suggest that you go with a 4850 vs a 5570. It may be a bit hotter and use more energy, but it is still a great card for the price and will last longer before you would need to start changing the settings to get a reasonable fps.
If you are looking at an i7 870 then I would guess that you are interested in a high end mid-range board which these days usually cost around $160ish. Basically anything that fits an LGA 1156 socket will work, though.
I built one this past week for a friend of mine and ended up using a GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3P. So far no problems.
Research the specs some to see if you need any other features like USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s, DDR3, or dual PCI-E x16 slots. This can boost or drop the price as needed.
If you are looking at an i7 870 then I would guess that you are interested in a high end mid-range board which these days usually cost around $160ish. Basically anything that fits an LGA 1156 socket will work, though.
I built one this past week for a friend of mine and ended up using a GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3P. So far no problems.
Research the specs some to see if you need any other features like USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s, DDR3, or dual PCI-E x16 slots. This can boost or drop the price as needed.
This pretty much, Gigabytes UD (ultra durable) series are the best motherboards out there at the moment. Gigabyte have really gone out of their way to make very reliable motherboards and actually inform people which of their motherboards are the better ones by the UD moniker.
GrimReaper on
PSN | Steam
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
0
WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Can I put off buying a DX11 capable graphics card until next year? The recent games that I'm eyeing aren't that many... maybe Starcraft 2, Dragon Age, the next Diablo next year. I have enough of a backlog right now to survive a year or so.
Can I put off buying a DX11 capable graphics card until next year? The recent games that I'm eyeing aren't that many... maybe Starcraft 2, Dragon Age, the next Diablo next year. I have enough of a backlog right now to survive a year or so.
The list of DX11 games is pretty short. Upcoming Civ 5 is probably the most notable game for me on that list, but DX11 support doesn't necessarily mean DX11 required, does it?
Looking to buy a new processor. I currently have an AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core 4600+
When buying a new one, the thing to check is the socket, right? As long as its the same, the new processor will fit?
Or is there more to know?
Im looking to spend as little as possible to make TF2 run better. I have an 8800gt, and the game used to run great, but with all the patches valve seems to have let optimization slip. Even after reformatting, im only getting about 20-40 FPS, sometimes worse on some maps, on low settings. Even with a custom super low FPS config im not doing great.
having 0 knowledge of current hardware standards and having done no research, having last looked at computer hardware 6 years ago (or whenever AMD 64 3000+'s and nvidia 6800GTs were a thing) because since then i've just been using my macbook for college...
say i just slapped this together right now having done NO research whatsoever
what is this? is it overkill in someplaces and underkill in others? what am I missing other than a wireless card and maybe an extra fan? http://dl.dropbox.com/u/152577/Wish%20List.html
Looking to buy a new processor. I currently have an AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core 4600+
When buying a new one, the thing to check is the socket, right? As long as its the same, the new processor will fit?
Or is there more to know?
Im looking to spend as little as possible to make TF2 run better. I have an 8800gt, and the game used to run great, but with all the patches valve seems to have let optimization slip. Even after reformatting, im only getting about 20-40 FPS, sometimes worse on some maps, on low settings. Even with a custom super low FPS config im not doing great.
Well, AMD AM3 processors are backwards compatible. They'll work in socket AM2+ and AM3 as they have an onboard DDR2 and DDR3 memory controller. (make sure to update to the latest bios though)
I've got a AMD X2 240e (an AM3 processor) in an AM2+ motherboard in my HTPC.
I was in a similarish situation to you, my previous pc had an AMD X2 4800+ (socket 939) with 2GB of mem. I upped it to a AMD X2 555 black edition which I've unlocked to a quad core..
Essentially i've got a 3.2GHz quad core AMD processor for half the price.
Oh note though, you cannot use AM2 processors in AM3 motherboards.
GrimReaper on
PSN | Steam
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Looking to buy a new processor. I currently have an AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core 4600+
When buying a new one, the thing to check is the socket, right? As long as its the same, the new processor will fit?
Or is there more to know?
Im looking to spend as little as possible to make TF2 run better. I have an 8800gt, and the game used to run great, but with all the patches valve seems to have let optimization slip. Even after reformatting, im only getting about 20-40 FPS, sometimes worse on some maps, on low settings. Even with a custom super low FPS config im not doing great.
Well, AMD AM3 processors are backwards compatible. They'll work in socket AM2+ and AM3 as they have an onboard DDR2 and DDR3 memory controller. (make sure to update to the latest bios though)
I've got a AMD X2 240e (an AM3 processor) in an AM2+ motherboard in my HTPC.
I was in a similarish situation to you, my previous pc had an AMD X2 4800+ (socket 939) with 2GB of mem. I upped it to a AMD X2 555 black edition which I've unlocked to a quad core..
Essentially i've got a 3.2GHz quad core AMD processor for half the price.
Oh note though, you cannot use AM2 processors in AM3 motherboards.
That's awesome, I had no idea I could get an AM3 processor into my AM2+ mobo.
Looking to buy a new processor. I currently have an AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core 4600+
When buying a new one, the thing to check is the socket, right? As long as its the same, the new processor will fit?
Or is there more to know?
Im looking to spend as little as possible to make TF2 run better. I have an 8800gt, and the game used to run great, but with all the patches valve seems to have let optimization slip. Even after reformatting, im only getting about 20-40 FPS, sometimes worse on some maps, on low settings. Even with a custom super low FPS config im not doing great.
Well, AMD AM3 processors are backwards compatible. They'll work in socket AM2+ and AM3 as they have an onboard DDR2 and DDR3 memory controller. (make sure to update to the latest bios though)
I've got a AMD X2 240e (an AM3 processor) in an AM2+ motherboard in my HTPC.
I was in a similarish situation to you, my previous pc had an AMD X2 4800+ (socket 939) with 2GB of mem. I upped it to a AMD X2 555 black edition which I've unlocked to a quad core..
Essentially i've got a 3.2GHz quad core AMD processor for half the price.
Oh note though, you cannot use AM2 processors in AM3 motherboards.
That's awesome, I had no idea I could get an AM3 processor into my AM2+ mobo.
Make sure to update your bios before you do though, as it'll likely include microcode updates etc for the newer AM3 processors.
GrimReaper on
PSN | Steam
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Posts
So you've had good luck, Still does not mean you should go with disreputable brands.
Personally, Its not worth the 30 dollars you'd save getting a shit PSU over a quality one when it comes to protecting a very large investment.
WD Caviar Black still the go-to for hard drives? I'm running this one from the OP currently. And hey, its $10 off. Howabout that. Ignore this post I guess!
You can't really go wrong with any of the currently available S775 C2Q's.
Your mo'bo' supports the newer 45nm 1333 MHz FSB ones (Yorkfield) and the older Kentsfield's aren't readily available anymore, so you're limited to a choice of 10 or so, all of which increase in speed with increasing price.
What you get depends on how much you have to spend and maybe whether you want to overclock, where results usually vary between models and stepping variants (i'm no expert on what's best for OC'ing though).
I have a Q9550 and i'm very happy with it. It runs rock solid at 3.75GHz OC and stays cool (using a Prolimatech Megahalems cooler - the stock Intel one is fine if you're not overclocking).
Edit: You may need to update your Bios for some CPUs - consult the chart here.
if I throw this video card into my rig soley for the purpose of connecting my TV to my computer, I should be able to have both monitors and a 3rd hdmi display right?
Monitor: Dell 19 inch Ultrasharp. It's sharp and has lasted five years with no dead pixels; I feel no real need for a new one.
Graphics card: nVidia 8800 GT. Not exactly top-of-the-line, but way newer than everything I'm running. I have two old Dell power supplies wired to keep it running right now.
Mouse and DvD burner, maybe? I don't know.
Everything else needs to be replaced, I think. What do you guys suggest? I'd like to spend around $1,000 and get something that will last. I'd like to be able to run games (including stuff like Civ that eats my current 3.0 GHz single-core alive) fairly well and be able to keep that up for a generation or two. I'm looking forward to MechWarrior 5, Civ 5, and of course SC2 and D3. I don't play a lot of really graphically intense games (although MW 5 looks like it might be getting up there), but I am damn tired of only being able to play 1v1s in SC2 and waiting forty seconds or more between turns in Civ.
I've started looking at processors, and everything seems much cheaper (relative to the power available) than I remember it being five years ago. It's sort of a nice surprise.
Thanks
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
If you don't care about gaming performance a 4350 will do you fine, it can handle 1080p without breaking a sweat. I had a 4350 in my media center until I upped it to a 4550 for a slight gaming performance increase.
The great thing about a 4350/4550 is you can get them low profile and passively cooled. Plus they're dirt cheap. You'll still get half decent gaming performance out of them as long as you don't go overboard with the texture settings, resolution etc for the games.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
I wish they wouldn't show shipped status until the carrier has picked it up, but since everyone does it that way I am doomed to disappointment.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
I'm not going to spend $500 on a processor or anything, though (as much as I'd like six 3.2 GHz cores, I won't be using them enough for it to be worthwhile).
I've been looking at some gaming and other benchmarks at Anandtech (for processors), but there's a lot of data to hack through.
So I have decided to finally step up to Windows 7 so I can take advantage of my 64-bit CPU, my 64-bit board, and the various video editing programs out there now that I have a decent camera. As it is, I'm on XP.
But I'm running low on space hard drive-wise, so I've decided to pick up a 2TB internal. That should keep me in good shape for a while. This would be all good and well if the reviews on newegg for 1.5 and 2 TB drives didn't make me so damn nervous (I'd go off reviews on Amazon, but a lot of those are for smaller sized drives). I know drives probably get worse write ups on average because when something isn't right with them they fail spectacularly. But still, lots of iffy reviews.
So, does anyone have any 2 TB drives that have served them well? Also, is it worth it to get a drive with 64MB buffer or is it okay to stick with 32MB?
I have a WD (green though) and really the only problem I have is when all the disks in my case spin.
I have my SSD for the OS, and four mixed disks EIDE/SATA not including the USB drive I have left over from my laptop days. I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with WesternD/Seagate/Samsung.
On samsung, they're on a roll with hard drives. I've yet to ever have one die on me. Whereas I've had plenty of wd's and seagates die. I mostly buy Samsungs these days for work and home.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
This is anecdotal, but I've had Samsungs die on me (or, more accurately, I've had two recently be lost to bad sectors and that infernal clicking of doom). So I'd say stick with WD, especially over 1 TB.
Any suggestions?
I continue to eye it with suspicion, and while my Vista install is still on it, I store most of my data on my Hitachi 1TB now.
I originally got the samsung because it was quiet, and it is. Virtually silent.
The Hitachi, on the other hand, sounds like a jet plane taking off.
Here, if you like, is the smart status on my Samsung:
smartctl 5.39.1 2010-01-28 r3054 [i486-slackware-linux-gnu] (local build) Copyright (C) 2002-10 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net === START OF INFORMATION SECTION === Model Family: SAMSUNG SpinPoint F1 DT series Device Model: SAMSUNG HD322HJ Serial Number: S17AJDWQ522203 Firmware Version: 1AC01112 User Capacity: 320,072,933,376 bytes Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show] ATA Version is: 8 ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 3b Local Time is: Sat Jul 24 14:41:55 2010 UTC SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability. SMART support is: Enabled === START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION === SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED General SMART Values: Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity was never started. Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled. Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed without error or no self-test has ever been run. Total time to complete Offline data collection: (3888) seconds. Offline data collection capabilities: (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate. Auto Offline data collection on/off support. Suspend Offline collection upon new command. Offline surface scan supported. Self-test supported. Conveyance Self-test supported. Selective Self-test supported. SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering power-saving mode. Supports SMART auto save timer. Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported. General Purpose Logging supported. Short self-test routine recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes. Extended self-test routine recommended polling time: ( 66) minutes. Conveyance self-test routine recommended polling time: ( 8) minutes. SCT capabilities: (0x003f) SCT Status supported. SCT Feature Control supported. SCT Data Table supported. SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16 Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000f 099 071 051 Pre-fail Always - 1174 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0007 094 094 011 Pre-fail Always - 2850 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 1367 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 100 100 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0025 100 100 015 Pre-fail Offline - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 097 097 000 Old_age Always - 14507 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0033 100 100 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 489 13 Read_Soft_Error_Rate 0x000e 099 073 000 Old_age Always - 1065 183 Runtime_Bad_Block 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 184 End-to-End_Error 0x0033 100 100 099 Pre-fail Always - 0 187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 3203 188 Command_Timeout 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 071 061 000 Old_age Always - 29 (Lifetime Min/Max 14/30) 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 069 057 000 Old_age Always - 31 (Lifetime Min/Max 14/32) 195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x001a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 9158197 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 86 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0030 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 201 Soft_Read_Error_Rate 0x000a 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 18 SMART Error Log Version: 1 No Errors Logged SMART Self-test log structure revision number 0 Warning: ATA Specification requires self-test log structure revision number = 1 No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t] Note: selective self-test log revision number (0) not 1 implies that no selective self-test has ever been run SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 0 Note: revision number not 1 implies that no selective self-test has ever been run SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS 1 0 0 Not_testing 2 0 0 Not_testing 3 0 0 Not_testing 4 0 0 Not_testing 5 0 0 Not_testing Selective self-test flags (0x0): After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk. If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.Now I just need to save up my pennies so I can get an SSD boot drive. Sweet, sweet quickness.
This is the exact same hard drive that's part of my HTPC. I only recently bought that, it was to replace and add to the 1.5TB drive that's already in the HTPC.
EDIT: IIRC, I own three samsung hard drives. First one is 1TB which is in my desktop pc, it's been in there for a fair while now, the second is the 1.5TB drive which is in the HTPC which i've had for I guess a year now and the third is the 2TB drive which I bought a few weeks back.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
Finally, what about differences between generations? I can get an HD 4850 for the same price as the 5570, and it has twice the PassMark score. Why would I want to buy a low-performance 5000 series card over a high-performance 4000 series one?
Anyway, here's what I'm currently considering:
How does that look?
Probably the biggest difference is that the 5570 is Direct X 11 compatible, while the 4850 is DX10. Depends on how long you plan on keeping that particular build, and if you care about DX11.
Robots Will Be Our Superiors (Blog)
http://michaelhermes.com
I know what you mean- when I built my last tower, the last thing I wanted in my room was a gaudy "mod" case with glowing windows and some kind of radiation decal on the front.
I went with one that's almost exactly like this (the one I bought isn't offered anymore). Now, Lian-Li's have a reputation for being overpriced, and I agree, but I have to admit it's the best tower case I've used. Everything is clean cut, spaced properly, and the ones I've used don't have any mystery problems that you find out only when you're able to open the package and look inside. Also, it's just a nice, plain black box that doesn't draw attention to itself.
Whether or not you're willing to pay more, a quick glance shows newegg has a variety of black box cases for cheaper.
It's pretty simple looking, has excellent cooling, is easy to build in, very sturdy and is quite quiet. It is rather expensive though - I think I paid about £170.
A good, cheaper alternative is this Lian Li.
Next question, for those of you who aren't annoyed enough already:
If, hypothetically, I wanted to spend $300 on a processor (which I have not decided), what is the difference between the i7 930 and the i7 870? The 870 has a somewhat higher clock speed and a considerably lower power consumption—but I'm having a hard time finding performance metrics where I can draw a direct comparison between the two. The benchmarks I've been able to find on Anandtech and Tomshardware seem to include either one or the other but not both.
I'm trying to baseline two systems for comparison—one with the i5 750 and one with the next step up—but I want to figure out whether the i7 870 or the i7 930 better represents that "next step", since they're the same price on Newegg.
The 870 is a Lynnfield LGA1156 CPU, one of the better ones actually. It has a slightly higher clock speed and more transistors onboard so you get a few more points on your benchmark software.
The 930 is a Bloomfield LGA1366 CPU which I would probably qualify as more of a next step because you get the benefits of the newer architecture. Its slightly slower than the 870 but it runs at a lower temperature and the same motherboard will support 6 core processors, better performance on multi gpu and triple channel memory setups.
Basically if you always upgrade cpu & motherboard together and you don't care about high performance out of multiple video cards or triple channel RAM then go with the 870. The 930 is only "next step" because of the mobo.
I am going to suggest that you go with a 4850 vs a 5570. It may be a bit hotter and use more energy, but it is still a great card for the price and will last longer before you would need to start changing the settings to get a reasonable fps.
I built one this past week for a friend of mine and ended up using a GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3P. So far no problems.
Research the specs some to see if you need any other features like USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s, DDR3, or dual PCI-E x16 slots. This can boost or drop the price as needed.
This pretty much, Gigabytes UD (ultra durable) series are the best motherboards out there at the moment. Gigabyte have really gone out of their way to make very reliable motherboards and actually inform people which of their motherboards are the better ones by the UD moniker.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
The list of DX11 games is pretty short. Upcoming Civ 5 is probably the most notable game for me on that list, but DX11 support doesn't necessarily mean DX11 required, does it?
Robots Will Be Our Superiors (Blog)
http://michaelhermes.com
When buying a new one, the thing to check is the socket, right? As long as its the same, the new processor will fit?
Or is there more to know?
Im looking to spend as little as possible to make TF2 run better. I have an 8800gt, and the game used to run great, but with all the patches valve seems to have let optimization slip. Even after reformatting, im only getting about 20-40 FPS, sometimes worse on some maps, on low settings. Even with a custom super low FPS config im not doing great.
say i just slapped this together right now having done NO research whatsoever
what is this? is it overkill in someplaces and underkill in others? what am I missing other than a wireless card and maybe an extra fan?
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/152577/Wish%20List.html
aka what things am i missing or doing wrong
Well, AMD AM3 processors are backwards compatible. They'll work in socket AM2+ and AM3 as they have an onboard DDR2 and DDR3 memory controller. (make sure to update to the latest bios though)
I've got a AMD X2 240e (an AM3 processor) in an AM2+ motherboard in my HTPC.
I was in a similarish situation to you, my previous pc had an AMD X2 4800+ (socket 939) with 2GB of mem. I upped it to a AMD X2 555 black edition which I've unlocked to a quad core..
Essentially i've got a 3.2GHz quad core AMD processor for half the price.
Oh note though, you cannot use AM2 processors in AM3 motherboards.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
That's awesome, I had no idea I could get an AM3 processor into my AM2+ mobo.
Robots Will Be Our Superiors (Blog)
http://michaelhermes.com
Make sure to update your bios before you do though, as it'll likely include microcode updates etc for the newer AM3 processors.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
if i can get i7-930 for 200 bucks
should i do that instead
I keep getting BSOD in windows 7.. SC2 crashes and texture problems.. Now I am sitting on desktop with specs all over the place..