Ah, alright. I definitely can't wait too long. I have about six weeks of studio access left before I become a freelance artist; so while a 2-3 month wait could've stretched it with my laptop as a backup; I don't fancy waiting that long.
Will probably look into building a I5, and see if I can get a 5850 on the cheap so I can dump some excess money on 8 gb of ram. Should solve both my painting and gaming needs.
Thanks for the quick answers!
i5-2500(K, if you want to overclock at some point). P67/Z68 chipset for overclocking/upgrade potential, otherwise just go H67. I've found there to be pretty spotty availability on 5850s, but if you can find one in stock for under 200 USD, it'll be a fairly solid buy. Otherwise you'd probably be better off with a 6870.
I can find a 5850 OC for 120 pounds - the 6870 is 190, so yeah, definitely going for the 5850 then.
By the way, I am wondering exactly what happened to my 8800 GT. I left my comp on standby this morning when I went to uni as I normally do. Upon return, I found that my screen was cycling through analog/digital modes (obviously not finding the signal on the card.) Tested the screen and cables on different comps, which lead the to the graphics card being the issue.
Reseated the card; still does the same. Finally went to onboard graphics; and now trying to install/access my Nvidia drivers it states it can't find NVIDIA hardware.
It's a bit of a headscratcher for me really. I inspected the card when I reseated it; but one of the cooling fan screws is stuck so I didn't get a good look at the board. (Aside from the ridiculous amount of thermal paste applied by HP. It's literally smudging onto the PCB.)
I don't have the option of putting it onto a different mobo to see whether it's the PCI-E slot that is damaged or the card itself. Is there any form of troubleshooting I could still do to come to a better conclusion? I'd rather -not- upgrade at the end of the day as I was saving the money for courses now that uni is done.
You could see if you could borrow a card from someone else, then use it to test your PCI-E slot. Do fancy British universities not have enslaved computer science majors that can help you out? By which I mean some sort of Help Desk.
I know that some of the Nvidia cards from that generation had pretty cruddy solder used in their manufacture, and as time goes on some of those cards fail because that catches up with them. You can try to (literally) bake the card, if you do it at the right temp, it'll reflow the solder and could possibly restore full functionality. There are a ton of guides/discussions online regarding that process.
Edit: Never mind on your educational institution's potential IT resources, wasn't paying attention to when you said you were finished.
Thanks for all the answers here guys! Have my build basically set now and a few more questions:
I plan to double screen with my current monitor (Dell 2007 1680x1050) and the new monitor Asus 23" 1920x1080 and is there any reason having two monitors at different resolutions a bad thing?
If not then I'll basically be ready to pull the trigger on it and, as this is the first time building a computer are there any other things that I will need in the way of wires/other accessories?
Oghulk on
0
AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
Thanks for all the answers here guys! Have my build basically set now and a few more questions:
I plan to double screen with my current monitor (Dell 2007 1680x1050) and the new monitor Asus 23" 1920x1080 and is there any reason having two monitors at different resolutions a bad thing?
If not then I'll basically be ready to pull the trigger on it and, as this is the first time building a computer are there any other things that I will need in the way of wires/other accessories?
You shouldn't have any trouble with your monitor setup.
As far as additional stuff for building, basically all you need is a good Philips head screwdriver. If you want to give managing your cables a shot, I'd also pick up some cable ties (zip ties) and a pair of side-cutting pliers.
Hey guys, was looking to building my first rig and was looking to have my setup double-checked before ordering components that would blow up when put together. I just need to know that there are no compatibility issues and that the amount of cooling and wattage are sufficient. Also, if some parts are notoriously unreliable that would be nice to know
If anything is missing (I don't need an OS), let me know.
Thanks in advance!
monkeylord on
PSN: Devymetal
Starcraft 2: Dangerbomb (889)
0
AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
edited May 2011
Do you already have an optical drive?
I don't particularly like the CX series PSUs from Corsair. The wattage ratings aren't taken at realistic temps, so they're inaccurate. It's significantly more expensive, but something like this XFX 650W supply is a better, safer option.
So I've discovered, at a most inopportune financial time that my video card, the 1gb 460 is down to ~$160 (~$140 w/rebate) from $200-210.
Has anyone been following this to know if it's a permanent price drop or just a sale?
Because I'm starting to salivate at the idea of SLIing these at the same time that I have rent in my pocket and knowing if it'll still be that price in a couple weeks would be amazing.
You could see if you could borrow a card from someone else, then use it to test your PCI-E slot. Do fancy British universities not have enslaved computer science majors that can help you out? By which I mean some sort of Help Desk.
I know that some of the Nvidia cards from that generation had pretty cruddy solder used in their manufacture, and as time goes on some of those cards fail because that catches up with them. You can try to (literally) bake the card, if you do it at the right temp, it'll reflow the solder and could possibly restore full functionality. There are a ton of guides/discussions online regarding that process.
Edit: Never mind on your educational institution's potential IT resources, wasn't paying attention to when you said you were finished.
While I can use my uni's resources till the 4th of July; I think I'd be seriously overestimating them if I were to ask for a graphics card to test with. I mean, our university is of the opinion students shouldn't be allowed to access the internet - when half our stuff happens there.
I literally don't have access to any other video card. I guess I just have to take the plunge and let a vid card upgrade determine whether I am upgrading my entire computer or not.
I don't particularly like the CX series PSUs from Corsair. The wattage ratings aren't taken at realistic temps, so they're inaccurate. It's significantly more expensive, but something like this XFX 650W supply is a better, safer option.
For the optical drive I'll just pick up some old one from my current desktop, should be fine right? Thanks for the heads up for the PSU, going to go for the one suggested.
Also, it seems the motherboard I had in mind just went out of stock and am now between these two boards: ASUS P8P67 EVO ARock P67 Extreme
Both have reviews that praise it and a handful that say they are having reliability issues and the features are the alike. Any particular suggestions?
monkeylord on
PSN: Devymetal
Starcraft 2: Dangerbomb (889)
0
AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
I don't particularly like the CX series PSUs from Corsair. The wattage ratings aren't taken at realistic temps, so they're inaccurate. It's significantly more expensive, but something like this XFX 650W supply is a better, safer option.
For the optical drive I'll just pick up some old one from my current desktop, should be fine right? Thanks for the heads up for the PSU, going to go for the one suggested.
Also, it seems the motherboard I had in mind just went out of stock and am now between these two boards: ASUS P8P67 EVO ARock P67 Extreme
Both have reviews that praise it and a handful that say they are having reliability issues and the features are the alike. Any particular suggestions?
For 10 Canada-land fun-bucks more, I'd go with the EVO. Better built, better board. The Extreme4 is nice, don't get me wrong, but in the States the reason to go with the Extreme4 is that the price premium on the EVO vs. the Extreme4 is like 40-50 USD. With the prices you're looking at, I'd say the build quality alone makes it worth an extra 10 of your crazy fake Queen dollars.
Also, I ignore the vast majority of Newegg reviews. There are a lot of products on Newegg with lower ratings because those who fall victim to statistics and receive DOA electronics are disproportionately more likely to write reviews (1-egg reviews to boot).
Conversely, there are a lot of terrible power supplies that have 4-5 egg reviews because people don't know crap about power supplies.
Does LBA matter for SATA cards if you aren't counting on using their RAID capabilities?
Will a 48-bit LBA dealie be sufficient for connecting 4 2TB hard drives if I use a soft RAID?
48-bit LBA establishes a logical drive size limit of like 144,000 terabytes, so your 8TB array should be just fine. As far as I know, 48-bit LBA predates the first SATA spec, so there really should be no reason for anything with SATA ports not to support 48-bit LBA.
The issues you might run into are more related to BIOS than anything else. You might need to have a separate, smaller boot drive or partition if your BIOS/OS doesn't support booting on a drive larger than 2TB. That's most likely to stem from your BIOS, though, as long as you're running a relatively modern 64-bit OS.
If I didn't fear diving back into the belly of the beast, I'd get an aftermarket cooler for my i5-2400. Temps are way too hot for comfort when gaming. But man, the idea of having to remove that fan again . . . ugh.
So, I contacted the guy that will be building my new machine, and he proposed a couple of changes.
Starting with the motherboard, he raised concerns about the ASRock P67 Extreme4, stating that certain P67 chipset MBs, that one likely included, suffered from a pretty nasty SATA bug. He recommended I instead go with the ASUS P8P67 Pro (Revision 3.0), which he assured me wouldn't have that particular quirk.
Is this something I should be worried about? I googled up a thread where the owner of an ASRock P67 Extreme4 mentions the MB does in fact suffer from that bug. What does it actually entail?
On another note, he offered me a couple of video card options for a pretty nice discounted price, (No, not refurbished.) one of them being the MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II, the other one being the Sapphire 100312SR Radeon HD 6950. (I'm favoring the nVidia card, simply because of the dual-fan cooling.)
Are either of these a good choice? I was ready to go with the PowerColor AX6950, but it's a sizable discount, so unless the disparity in performance and stability is an issue, I'm inclined to accept his offer.
So, I contacted the guy that will be building my new machine, and he proposed a couple of changes.
Starting with the motherboard, he raised concerns about the ASRock P67 Extreme4, stating that certain P67 chipset MBs, that one likely included, suffered from a pretty nasty SATA bug. He recommended I instead go with the ASUS P8P67 Pro (Revision 3.0), which he assured me wouldn't have that particular quirk.
Is this something I should be worried about? I googled up a thread where the owner of an ASRock P67 Extreme4 mentions the MB does in fact suffer from that bug. What does it actually entail?
On another note, he offered me a couple of video card options for a pretty nice discounted price, (No, not refurbished.) one of them being the MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II, the other one being the Sapphire 100312SR Radeon HD 6950. (I'm favoring the nVidia card, simply because of the dual-fan cooling.)
Are either of these a good choice? I was ready to go with the PowerColor AX6950, but it's a sizable discount, so unless the disparity in performance and stability is an issue, I'm inclined to accept his offer.
I'd go with the Sapphire 6950 2GB, it's a performance improvement over the 560 Ti, and it's actually marginally better than the 1GB card.
The bug your builder refers to affected all Sandy Bridge chipsets, and was the result of a manufacturing defect in the chipset that could cause degradation over time in the part of the chipset that controlled the SATA 3.0Gb/s ports. Since that time all motherboards have been built with the B3 Revision of the chipset, which eliminates that defect. If you look at the Newegg model name for the ASRock board, you'll note that it says "(B3)" next to Extreme4, which is how ASRock designates that it's one of the fixed board models. ASUS does this by indicating that they are "Revision 3.0" boards.
Long story short, your guy is sorta right, but not about that particular model of motherboard. The ASUS Pro is a better motherboard in my opinion, particularly if you care about overclocking, but the Cougar Point SATA bug isn't a legitimate reason to pick it over the Extreme4, as neither motherboard is affected by the bug anymore. If you want to spend the 30 bucks, then it's not a bad buy, but don't do it because you're worried about a now nonexistent defect.
Honestly, though, it seems like it's always the wrong time to buy. When new tech comes out, it's really expensive, so you wait till prices drop, then you feel like you should wait till new tech drops...and so on unto infinity. At some point you just have to pull that trigger.
This is why I usually tell people to invest their money into quality parts that won't go out of date (PSU, Case).
Additionally, what most folks do not seem to be taking into account is that the LGA 2011 socket and corresponding Ivy Bridge processors are probably going to be priced at the enthusiast level like the LGA 1366 and original core i7 processors were.
This means that it will be significantly more expensive to go with the stuff coming out early next year.
Ergo, unless someone has a stiffy for being able to brag about having the "best", the current stuff is far more than enough, especially given the pricing which is amazingly reasonable for what you get.
I mean, I'm on a Core i7 930 overclocked modestly to 3.6 Ghz, and I honestly cannot even touch the surface of maxing out my CPU apart from a torture test. What I do with my computer at its harshest just simply cannot even stress it ... nor can I max my video card out even when on max settings (as long as I leave vsync on ... some games will push 400 fps and use 100% gpu, but that's just retarded).
So ... there is literally almost no conceivable end user reason to even want more than the current Sandy Bridge lineup. There is literally no reason to wait for LGA 2011 and Ivy Bridge unless you're looking to spend $2500 or more and you want to have the best of the best.
what are good temperature ranges for cpus and gpus?
My Core i7 930 (last generation) runs at 22-26 degrees idle (C) water cooled. With full prime95 torture test for 48 hours, the cores nearly instantly jumped to the mid 60's and stayed in the low to mid 60's the entire time. Under normal gaming loads, I see mid 40's temps usually.
My GPU is an EVGA GTX 580 at stock clock speeds and at desktop I run 42-48 degrees, and in games the high 50's. If I max the card out, the temps get to about 65 degrees. I run the fan at 75% in games, and 55% at the desktop.
From what I understand, my temps are a bit on the low side which is exactly what I went for since nothing will wreck your parts quicker than heat.
Darkwyndre on
Playstation Network ID : EasySleeze
0
AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
Honestly, though, it seems like it's always the wrong time to buy. When new tech comes out, it's really expensive, so you wait till prices drop, then you feel like you should wait till new tech drops...and so on unto infinity. At some point you just have to pull that trigger.
This is why I usually tell people to invest their money into quality parts that won't go out of date (PSU, Case).
Additionally, what most folks do not seem to be taking into account is that the LGA 2011 socket and corresponding Ivy Bridge processors are probably going to be priced at the enthusiast level like the LGA 1366 and original core i7 processors were.
This means that it will be significantly more expensive to go with the stuff coming out early next year.
Ergo, unless someone has a stiffy for being able to brag about having the "best", the current stuff is far more than enough, especially given the pricing which is amazingly reasonable for what you get.
I mean, I'm on a Core i7 930 overclocked modestly to 3.6 Ghz, and I honestly cannot even touch the surface of maxing out my CPU apart from a torture test. What I do with my computer at its harshest just simply cannot even stress it ... nor can I max my video card out even when on max settings (as long as I leave vsync on ... some games will push 400 fps and use 100% gpu, but that's just retarded).
So ... there is literally almost no conceivable end user reason to even want more than the current Sandy Bridge lineup. There is literally no reason to wait for LGA 2011 and Ivy Bridge unless you're looking to spend $2500 or more and you want to have the best of the best.
Socket 2011 isn't Ivy Bridge. Socket 2011 is Sandy Bridge-E.
Ivy Bridge is on Socket 1155, with a new chipset (Panther Point).
If I didn't fear diving back into the belly of the beast, I'd get an aftermarket cooler for my i5-2400. Temps are way too hot for comfort when gaming. But man, the idea of having to remove that fan again . . . ugh.
Those screw/push pins, right? Yeah, fuck that. My AMD setup was easy peasy in comparison.
TL DR on
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AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
If I didn't fear diving back into the belly of the beast, I'd get an aftermarket cooler for my i5-2400. Temps are way too hot for comfort when gaming. But man, the idea of having to remove that fan again . . . ugh.
Those screw/push pins, right? Yeah, fuck that. My AMD setup was easy peasy in comparison.
Sure, as long as your cooler doesn't require a backplate. And/or you're cool with vertical rather than horizontal airflow.
The stock cooler mounting is easier on AMD, but aftermarket options are generally easier/more versatile on Intel sockets.
Honestly, though, it seems like it's always the wrong time to buy. When new tech comes out, it's really expensive, so you wait till prices drop, then you feel like you should wait till new tech drops...and so on unto infinity. At some point you just have to pull that trigger.
This is why I usually tell people to invest their money into quality parts that won't go out of date (PSU, Case).
Additionally, what most folks do not seem to be taking into account is that the LGA 2011 socket and corresponding Ivy Bridge processors are probably going to be priced at the enthusiast level like the LGA 1366 and original core i7 processors were.
This means that it will be significantly more expensive to go with the stuff coming out early next year.
Ergo, unless someone has a stiffy for being able to brag about having the "best", the current stuff is far more than enough, especially given the pricing which is amazingly reasonable for what you get.
I mean, I'm on a Core i7 930 overclocked modestly to 3.6 Ghz, and I honestly cannot even touch the surface of maxing out my CPU apart from a torture test. What I do with my computer at its harshest just simply cannot even stress it ... nor can I max my video card out even when on max settings (as long as I leave vsync on ... some games will push 400 fps and use 100% gpu, but that's just retarded).
So ... there is literally almost no conceivable end user reason to even want more than the current Sandy Bridge lineup. There is literally no reason to wait for LGA 2011 and Ivy Bridge unless you're looking to spend $2500 or more and you want to have the best of the best.
Socket 2011 isn't Ivy Bridge. Socket 2011 is Sandy Bridge-E.
Ivy Bridge is on Socket 1155, with a new chipset (Panther Point).
I misunderstood the naming then. I was under the impression that they were calling the enthusiast chips "Ivy Bridge" and putting them on the 2011 socket, similar to how i3/i5 were on 1156 and i7 was on 1366.
So ... will the SB-E line make use of the tri-gate transistors or no?
And this brings me to ask ... what precisely is Ivy Bridge then?
Darkwyndre on
Playstation Network ID : EasySleeze
0
AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
Honestly, though, it seems like it's always the wrong time to buy. When new tech comes out, it's really expensive, so you wait till prices drop, then you feel like you should wait till new tech drops...and so on unto infinity. At some point you just have to pull that trigger.
This is why I usually tell people to invest their money into quality parts that won't go out of date (PSU, Case).
Additionally, what most folks do not seem to be taking into account is that the LGA 2011 socket and corresponding Ivy Bridge processors are probably going to be priced at the enthusiast level like the LGA 1366 and original core i7 processors were.
This means that it will be significantly more expensive to go with the stuff coming out early next year.
Ergo, unless someone has a stiffy for being able to brag about having the "best", the current stuff is far more than enough, especially given the pricing which is amazingly reasonable for what you get.
I mean, I'm on a Core i7 930 overclocked modestly to 3.6 Ghz, and I honestly cannot even touch the surface of maxing out my CPU apart from a torture test. What I do with my computer at its harshest just simply cannot even stress it ... nor can I max my video card out even when on max settings (as long as I leave vsync on ... some games will push 400 fps and use 100% gpu, but that's just retarded).
So ... there is literally almost no conceivable end user reason to even want more than the current Sandy Bridge lineup. There is literally no reason to wait for LGA 2011 and Ivy Bridge unless you're looking to spend $2500 or more and you want to have the best of the best.
Socket 2011 isn't Ivy Bridge. Socket 2011 is Sandy Bridge-E.
Ivy Bridge is on Socket 1155, with a new chipset (Panther Point).
I misunderstood the naming then. I was under the impression that they were calling the enthusiast chips "Ivy Bridge" and putting them on the 2011 socket, similar to how i3/i5 were on 1156 and i7 was on 1366.
So ... will the SB-E line make use of the tri-gate transistors or no?
And this brings me to ask ... what precisely is Ivy Bridge then?
SB-E doesn't use the 22nm tri-gate process.
Ivy Bridge will be a new series of procs on the 1155 Socket that do use the 22nm tri-gate process, and their release will coincide with a new chipset for the 1155 Socket called Panther Point (P67/H67 was Cougar Point). All of that is 2012, though.
Honestly, though, it seems like it's always the wrong time to buy. When new tech comes out, it's really expensive, so you wait till prices drop, then you feel like you should wait till new tech drops...and so on unto infinity. At some point you just have to pull that trigger.
This is why I usually tell people to invest their money into quality parts that won't go out of date (PSU, Case).
Additionally, what most folks do not seem to be taking into account is that the LGA 2011 socket and corresponding Ivy Bridge processors are probably going to be priced at the enthusiast level like the LGA 1366 and original core i7 processors were.
This means that it will be significantly more expensive to go with the stuff coming out early next year.
Ergo, unless someone has a stiffy for being able to brag about having the "best", the current stuff is far more than enough, especially given the pricing which is amazingly reasonable for what you get.
I mean, I'm on a Core i7 930 overclocked modestly to 3.6 Ghz, and I honestly cannot even touch the surface of maxing out my CPU apart from a torture test. What I do with my computer at its harshest just simply cannot even stress it ... nor can I max my video card out even when on max settings (as long as I leave vsync on ... some games will push 400 fps and use 100% gpu, but that's just retarded).
So ... there is literally almost no conceivable end user reason to even want more than the current Sandy Bridge lineup. There is literally no reason to wait for LGA 2011 and Ivy Bridge unless you're looking to spend $2500 or more and you want to have the best of the best.
Socket 2011 isn't Ivy Bridge. Socket 2011 is Sandy Bridge-E.
Ivy Bridge is on Socket 1155, with a new chipset (Panther Point).
I misunderstood the naming then. I was under the impression that they were calling the enthusiast chips "Ivy Bridge" and putting them on the 2011 socket, similar to how i3/i5 were on 1156 and i7 was on 1366.
So ... will the SB-E line make use of the tri-gate transistors or no?
And this brings me to ask ... what precisely is Ivy Bridge then?
SB-E doesn't use the 22nm tri-gate process.
Ivy Bridge will be a new series of procs on the 1155 Socket that do use the 22nm tri-gate process, and their release will coincide with a new chipset for the 1155 Socket called Panther Point (P67/H67 was Cougar Point). All of that is 2012, though.
That's a pretty fast dev cycle. Holy tamole batman.
I haven't had a PC in 15 years and I wanna get one fer gamin'. I can't build my own so it was suggested in my other thread to come here and ask for someone near me to build the thing for me for beer/bideogaems/blowjobs.
I'm using it strictly for gaming, I have about 800$ to spend. I want 8GB of RAM, 1TB of hard space, an i7 and a good Geforce card. I'm in Minneapolis, Minnesota for nearness figurin'.
Ok.... GO.
Magic Pink on
0
AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
I like Spinpoints over Hitachi drives, but your call.
Keep in mind that to set up a push/pull on the H60 you'll likely need some additional screws that don't come with the kit, and I'd recommend some better fans than the Cooler Master R4s you're looking at. High Speed Yates are a solid budget option.
I haven't had a PC in 15 years and I wanna get one fer gamin'. I can't build my own so it was suggested in my other thread to come here and ask for someone near me to build the thing for me for beer/bideogaems/blowjobs.
I'm using it strictly for gaming, I have about 800$ to spend. I want 8GB of RAM, 1TB of hard space, an i7 and a good Geforce card. I'm in Minneapolis, Minnesota for nearness figurin'.
Ok.... GO.
I'm nowhere near MN but just a suggestion, for a gaming rig you'd be wasting money on an i7. Go with an i5 2500k and spend the savings on a better GPU.
Do you need an OS? Because with that budget it'll make a significant difference in the build recommendation.
I haven't had a PC in 15 years and I wanna get one fer gamin'. I can't build my own so it was suggested in my other thread to come here and ask for someone near me to build the thing for me for beer/bideogaems/blowjobs.
I'm using it strictly for gaming, I have about 800$ to spend. I want 8GB of RAM, 1TB of hard space, an i7 and a good Geforce card. I'm in Minneapolis, Minnesota for nearness figurin'.
Ok.... GO.
I'm nowhere near MN but just a suggestion, for a gaming rig you'd be wasting money on an i7. Go with an i5 2500k and spend the savings on a better GPU.
Do you need an OS? Because with that budget it'll make a significant difference in the build recommendation.
Oh, fuck, yeah, I will. Forgot about that. What's a GPU again?
I haven't had a PC in 15 years and I wanna get one fer gamin'. I can't build my own so it was suggested in my other thread to come here and ask for someone near me to build the thing for me for beer/bideogaems/blowjobs.
I'm using it strictly for gaming, I have about 800$ to spend. I want 8GB of RAM, 1TB of hard space, an i7 and a good Geforce card. I'm in Minneapolis, Minnesota for nearness figurin'.
Ok.... GO.
I'm nowhere near MN but just a suggestion, for a gaming rig you'd be wasting money on an i7. Go with an i5 2500k and spend the savings on a better GPU.
Do you need an OS? Because with that budget it'll make a significant difference in the build recommendation.
Oh, fuck, yeah, I will. Forgot about that. What's a GPU again?
My concern is I'm hoping to make this thing last 15 years (not likely) so I would want to get as best as I can. Thus the i7, which is a pain to upgrade, rather then a good video card which I can upgrade easily as the better cards get cheaper.
My concern is I'm hoping to make this thing last 15 years (not likely) so I would want to get as best as I can. Thus the i7, which is a pain to upgrade, rather then a good video card which I can upgrade easily as the better cards get cheaper.
You're serious about the 15 years? Abandon all hope.
Since my computer broke down and I am waiting for the new tech when ever it comes out
I was curious is this any good
I cannot give links as this computer freaks out if I open two different windows to go online
Amd Phenom II x6 1090t
As05 Crosshair IV Am3 amd 890 fx
I have all the other parts
Is it?
The computer I am using right now is over 10 years old and was last used before the other one blew up over 5 years ago
Is the amd cpu any good? the same for the mother board?
Brainleech on
0
AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
Since my computer broke down and I am waiting for the new tech when ever it comes out
I was curious is this any good
I cannot give links as this computer freaks out if I open two different windows to go online
Amd Phenom II x6 1090t
As05 Crosshair IV Am3 amd 890 fx
I have all the other parts
Is it?
The computer I am using right now is over 10 years old and was last used before the other one blew up over 5 years ago
Is the amd cpu any good? the same for the mother board?
Those are fine parts, but for that kind of money I would go with the i5-2400. Something like this combo should be fine, as long as you're only running a single GPU, and it should run you less than the Phenom and Crosshair would together.
eddizhereScrubber Than A SpongeScrubtown, USARegistered Userregular
edited May 2011
So I'm looking to build a new computer by the end of the summer and I've never built a computer before. I will need a new monitor and Windows 7 and I'm looking to keep it in the $750 range. I want to use it primarily for gaming, but I would be interested in using it on video recording/encoding type stuff as well.
I've never had a really powerful gaming rig of any kind so I won't be disappointed when I can't run some games at the highest settings. I'd mostly like to be able to run SC2 (and D3 when it comes out) on high settings without my computer stuttering. Would any of the builds currently in the thread suit my needs and fit my budget?
eddizhere on
League of Legends: Plutoniumwombat
Smite: Plutoniumwombat
Intel Core i5-2400 processor(6MB Cache, 3.1GHz)
6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
Dell 21.5 Inch Wide, ST2220LB
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5
1TB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
I'm making up a system to replace my ancient XP PC, and just wanted to get some opinions on the spec because I'm so out of touch on what makes a good system. I'm just looking to use it for watching and streaming HD video, regular internet and email, and some gaming. I'm not looking to play Skyrim on max settings or anything, I do all my new gaming on the consoles. I'd just be playing older stuff, like Far Cry, or Jedi Outcast. I want to try a few more recent things I've missed over the years a little more intensive than that, but nothing right up to date. Anyway, I just want to make sure I'm not building something that's going to slow down like crazy whenever I do anything.
AMD Athlon II X3 Triple-Core (445) 3.1GHz Processor
4GB Corsair Desktop 1333MHz DDR3 Memory Kit
Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3 Motherboard
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler
1TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 3.5" Hard Disk Drive
Galaxy III Black Case
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB Graphics Card
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Posts
You could see if you could borrow a card from someone else, then use it to test your PCI-E slot. Do fancy British universities not have enslaved computer science majors that can help you out? By which I mean some sort of Help Desk.
I know that some of the Nvidia cards from that generation had pretty cruddy solder used in their manufacture, and as time goes on some of those cards fail because that catches up with them. You can try to (literally) bake the card, if you do it at the right temp, it'll reflow the solder and could possibly restore full functionality. There are a ton of guides/discussions online regarding that process.
Edit: Never mind on your educational institution's potential IT resources, wasn't paying attention to when you said you were finished.
Battle.net
I plan to double screen with my current monitor (Dell 2007 1680x1050) and the new monitor Asus 23" 1920x1080 and is there any reason having two monitors at different resolutions a bad thing?
If not then I'll basically be ready to pull the trigger on it and, as this is the first time building a computer are there any other things that I will need in the way of wires/other accessories?
You shouldn't have any trouble with your monitor setup.
As far as additional stuff for building, basically all you need is a good Philips head screwdriver. If you want to give managing your cables a shot, I'd also pick up some cable ties (zip ties) and a pair of side-cutting pliers.
Battle.net
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced
CPU: I5 2500k
GPU: PowerColor HD 6850
RAM: Mushkin 4GB 1600Mhz
PSU: Corsair CX600 600W
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB
Motherboard: MSI P67
If anything is missing (I don't need an OS), let me know.
Thanks in advance!
Starcraft 2: Dangerbomb (889)
I don't particularly like the CX series PSUs from Corsair. The wattage ratings aren't taken at realistic temps, so they're inaccurate. It's significantly more expensive, but something like this XFX 650W supply is a better, safer option.
Battle.net
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912
GPU: PowerColor HD 6950 1 Gig
Motherboard: ASRock P67
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k 3.3 GHZ
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB
Optical Drive: LG Black DVD+-RWR
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast 650W
HD: Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB
Has anyone been following this to know if it's a permanent price drop or just a sale?
Because I'm starting to salivate at the idea of SLIing these at the same time that I have rent in my pocket and knowing if it'll still be that price in a couple weeks would be amazing.
for reference
While I can use my uni's resources till the 4th of July; I think I'd be seriously overestimating them if I were to ask for a graphics card to test with. I mean, our university is of the opinion students shouldn't be allowed to access the internet - when half our stuff happens there.
I literally don't have access to any other video card. I guess I just have to take the plunge and let a vid card upgrade determine whether I am upgrading my entire computer or not.
For the optical drive I'll just pick up some old one from my current desktop, should be fine right? Thanks for the heads up for the PSU, going to go for the one suggested.
Also, it seems the motherboard I had in mind just went out of stock and am now between these two boards:
ASUS P8P67 EVO
ARock P67 Extreme
Both have reviews that praise it and a handful that say they are having reliability issues and the features are the alike. Any particular suggestions?
Starcraft 2: Dangerbomb (889)
For 10 Canada-land fun-bucks more, I'd go with the EVO. Better built, better board. The Extreme4 is nice, don't get me wrong, but in the States the reason to go with the Extreme4 is that the price premium on the EVO vs. the Extreme4 is like 40-50 USD. With the prices you're looking at, I'd say the build quality alone makes it worth an extra 10 of your crazy fake Queen dollars.
Also, I ignore the vast majority of Newegg reviews. There are a lot of products on Newegg with lower ratings because those who fall victim to statistics and receive DOA electronics are disproportionately more likely to write reviews (1-egg reviews to boot).
Conversely, there are a lot of terrible power supplies that have 4-5 egg reviews because people don't know crap about power supplies.
Battle.net
free shipping got switched to the white case, so that's what I'm getting
whoops!
stopped by microcenter for the first time yesterday, picked up my 2500k and hyper 212+
felt like a king when i waltzed past the retail line filled with 50+ people to the internet order line (completely empty)
in and out in two minutes
gonna start building this thing on the weekend when the rest of the parts get here
Will a 48-bit LBA dealie be sufficient for connecting 4 2TB hard drives if I use a soft RAID?
48-bit LBA establishes a logical drive size limit of like 144,000 terabytes, so your 8TB array should be just fine. As far as I know, 48-bit LBA predates the first SATA spec, so there really should be no reason for anything with SATA ports not to support 48-bit LBA.
The issues you might run into are more related to BIOS than anything else. You might need to have a separate, smaller boot drive or partition if your BIOS/OS doesn't support booting on a drive larger than 2TB. That's most likely to stem from your BIOS, though, as long as you're running a relatively modern 64-bit OS.
Battle.net
Starting with the motherboard, he raised concerns about the ASRock P67 Extreme4, stating that certain P67 chipset MBs, that one likely included, suffered from a pretty nasty SATA bug. He recommended I instead go with the ASUS P8P67 Pro (Revision 3.0), which he assured me wouldn't have that particular quirk.
Is this something I should be worried about? I googled up a thread where the owner of an ASRock P67 Extreme4 mentions the MB does in fact suffer from that bug. What does it actually entail?
On another note, he offered me a couple of video card options for a pretty nice discounted price, (No, not refurbished.) one of them being the MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II, the other one being the Sapphire 100312SR Radeon HD 6950. (I'm favoring the nVidia card, simply because of the dual-fan cooling.)
Are either of these a good choice? I was ready to go with the PowerColor AX6950, but it's a sizable discount, so unless the disparity in performance and stability is an issue, I'm inclined to accept his offer.
I'd go with the Sapphire 6950 2GB, it's a performance improvement over the 560 Ti, and it's actually marginally better than the 1GB card.
The bug your builder refers to affected all Sandy Bridge chipsets, and was the result of a manufacturing defect in the chipset that could cause degradation over time in the part of the chipset that controlled the SATA 3.0Gb/s ports. Since that time all motherboards have been built with the B3 Revision of the chipset, which eliminates that defect. If you look at the Newegg model name for the ASRock board, you'll note that it says "(B3)" next to Extreme4, which is how ASRock designates that it's one of the fixed board models. ASUS does this by indicating that they are "Revision 3.0" boards.
Long story short, your guy is sorta right, but not about that particular model of motherboard. The ASUS Pro is a better motherboard in my opinion, particularly if you care about overclocking, but the Cougar Point SATA bug isn't a legitimate reason to pick it over the Extreme4, as neither motherboard is affected by the bug anymore. If you want to spend the 30 bucks, then it's not a bad buy, but don't do it because you're worried about a now nonexistent defect.
Depends on clockspeed and ambient temp.
Battle.net
This is why I usually tell people to invest their money into quality parts that won't go out of date (PSU, Case).
Additionally, what most folks do not seem to be taking into account is that the LGA 2011 socket and corresponding Ivy Bridge processors are probably going to be priced at the enthusiast level like the LGA 1366 and original core i7 processors were.
This means that it will be significantly more expensive to go with the stuff coming out early next year.
Ergo, unless someone has a stiffy for being able to brag about having the "best", the current stuff is far more than enough, especially given the pricing which is amazingly reasonable for what you get.
I mean, I'm on a Core i7 930 overclocked modestly to 3.6 Ghz, and I honestly cannot even touch the surface of maxing out my CPU apart from a torture test. What I do with my computer at its harshest just simply cannot even stress it ... nor can I max my video card out even when on max settings (as long as I leave vsync on ... some games will push 400 fps and use 100% gpu, but that's just retarded).
So ... there is literally almost no conceivable end user reason to even want more than the current Sandy Bridge lineup. There is literally no reason to wait for LGA 2011 and Ivy Bridge unless you're looking to spend $2500 or more and you want to have the best of the best.
My Core i7 930 (last generation) runs at 22-26 degrees idle (C) water cooled. With full prime95 torture test for 48 hours, the cores nearly instantly jumped to the mid 60's and stayed in the low to mid 60's the entire time. Under normal gaming loads, I see mid 40's temps usually.
My GPU is an EVGA GTX 580 at stock clock speeds and at desktop I run 42-48 degrees, and in games the high 50's. If I max the card out, the temps get to about 65 degrees. I run the fan at 75% in games, and 55% at the desktop.
From what I understand, my temps are a bit on the low side which is exactly what I went for since nothing will wreck your parts quicker than heat.
Socket 2011 isn't Ivy Bridge. Socket 2011 is Sandy Bridge-E.
Ivy Bridge is on Socket 1155, with a new chipset (Panther Point).
Battle.net
Those screw/push pins, right? Yeah, fuck that. My AMD setup was easy peasy in comparison.
Sure, as long as your cooler doesn't require a backplate. And/or you're cool with vertical rather than horizontal airflow.
The stock cooler mounting is easier on AMD, but aftermarket options are generally easier/more versatile on Intel sockets.
Battle.net
I misunderstood the naming then. I was under the impression that they were calling the enthusiast chips "Ivy Bridge" and putting them on the 2011 socket, similar to how i3/i5 were on 1156 and i7 was on 1366.
So ... will the SB-E line make use of the tri-gate transistors or no?
And this brings me to ask ... what precisely is Ivy Bridge then?
SB-E doesn't use the 22nm tri-gate process.
Ivy Bridge will be a new series of procs on the 1155 Socket that do use the 22nm tri-gate process, and their release will coincide with a new chipset for the 1155 Socket called Panther Point (P67/H67 was Cougar Point). All of that is 2012, though.
Battle.net
That's a pretty fast dev cycle. Holy tamole batman.
$22-ASUS dvd drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
$180-Corsair 600T SE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139005
$60-Hitachi 1TB HD (thinking about switching this for a spinpoint F3)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145304
$90-ASUS Xonar sound card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132007
$160-Seasonic X750 PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087
$95-Corsair Vengeance 8GB RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345
$210-ASUS-P8Z68-V PRO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730
$24-2X Coolermaster 120mm fans 2-pack
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103022
$70-Corsair H60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015
$160-Crucial M4 64GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148447
$815-Intel i7 2600K and EVGA GTX 580
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.641851
comes to $2005 with shipping, $1940 with rebates
I was curious is this any good
I cannot give links as this computer freaks out if I open two different windows to go online
Amd Phenom II x6 1090t
As05 Crosshair IV Am3 amd 890 fx
I have all the other parts
I haven't had a PC in 15 years and I wanna get one fer gamin'. I can't build my own so it was suggested in my other thread to come here and ask for someone near me to build the thing for me for beer/bideogaems/blowjobs.
I'm using it strictly for gaming, I have about 800$ to spend. I want 8GB of RAM, 1TB of hard space, an i7 and a good Geforce card. I'm in Minneapolis, Minnesota for nearness figurin'.
Ok.... GO.
I like Spinpoints over Hitachi drives, but your call.
Keep in mind that to set up a push/pull on the H60 you'll likely need some additional screws that don't come with the kit, and I'd recommend some better fans than the Cooler Master R4s you're looking at. High Speed Yates are a solid budget option.
Battle.net
I'm nowhere near MN but just a suggestion, for a gaming rig you'd be wasting money on an i7. Go with an i5 2500k and spend the savings on a better GPU.
Do you need an OS? Because with that budget it'll make a significant difference in the build recommendation.
Oh, fuck, yeah, I will. Forgot about that. What's a GPU again?
Graphics Processing Unit; your video card.
You're serious about the 15 years? Abandon all hope.
Five years? Now, I think that's doable.
Is it?
The computer I am using right now is over 10 years old and was last used before the other one blew up over 5 years ago
Is the amd cpu any good? the same for the mother board?
Those are fine parts, but for that kind of money I would go with the i5-2400. Something like this combo should be fine, as long as you're only running a single GPU, and it should run you less than the Phenom and Crosshair would together.
Battle.net
I've never had a really powerful gaming rig of any kind so I won't be disappointed when I can't run some games at the highest settings. I'd mostly like to be able to run SC2 (and D3 when it comes out) on high settings without my computer stuttering. Would any of the builds currently in the thread suit my needs and fit my budget?
Smite: Plutoniumwombat
6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
Dell 21.5 Inch Wide, ST2220LB
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5
1TB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
For 970$. Worked out to just over 1000 after tax.
AMD Athlon II X3 Triple-Core (445) 3.1GHz Processor
4GB Corsair Desktop 1333MHz DDR3 Memory Kit
Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3 Motherboard
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler
1TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 3.5" Hard Disk Drive
Galaxy III Black Case
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB Graphics Card
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Let me know what you think please.