Building off my last question--could anyone recommend a single card setup that would be a big step up from 8800GT SLI? ATi or Nvidia, either is good, though I guess Nvidia would be slightly more convenient (since I have my program settings all fitted in).
I've thought about SLI or Crossfire, but honestly, it seems like a hassle and an electricity hog as well. And in the end of the day, you can add another one if you really need to.
I was considering getting a pair of GTX 470 in SLI, so my budget is about that, I guess...~$400. As stated before, I play at 1680 x 1050 or 1080p, like anti-aliasing, want the bells and whistles, etc.
Any compatibility issues? What kind of power supply am I going to need for these? Should I look for another mobo/cpu set?
Was thinking of getting this case again, it served me well for a good two years. Of course, the power button fell apart when it died, any better cases for around the same price?
I took my Q8300 from the stock 2.5GHz to 3.0GHz, and it was as easy as setting the frequency (my ASUS mobo did the rest automagically). It's perfectly stable on the stock (Intel) cooler. Someday, if I care, I may buy an aftermarket cooler and push it a little farther...unfortunately this processor has a shit multiplier (7.5x compared to your 9x) so you hit other walls well before you max out the processor.
I'm a fan. 2 of the 3 cards I've owned have been EVGA. My new 460 fits well, runs well and I think one model of EVGAs 460 line is hands down the best performing in the series. It's named something like 460 1gb EE FTW. That may or may not be it.
I also like EVGA as a vendor too. My last build used an EVGA 8800GT, and my encounters with their support was good. They don't offer quite as airtight warranties as they used to, but you can still get cards from them with really good coverage. I didn't go with them for my current build because the difference between buying from them or Gigabyte came down to something like $130, due to a ridiculous sale price I got on a pair of GTX 460s.
Indeed, I think that's one of the reasons I've been inclined to stay with Nvidia, just because I really do like the EVGA brand (no doubt ATi has some excellent brands, but it's been so long, the last one I remember was Asus for the X1900XT).
So, a single EVGA GTX 470 might be a good replacement (should be a significant stand up from both of them), and when I build a new setup, I can keep it on and maybe run SLI.
Any compatibility issues? What kind of power supply am I going to need for these? Should I look for another mobo/cpu set?
Was thinking of getting this case again, it served me well for a good two years. Of course, the power button fell apart when it died, any better cases for around the same price?
I'm good on the video card front, just need to replace every thing else.
Edit-Synthesis, my 5770 there can run Black Ops almost maxed, I imagine 2 will have no trouble with it as it's a crossfire compatible card.
No compatibility issues. For an PSU anything 430W/80+ or better should be adequate.
I think you can trim a bit from that CPU/motherboard combo because (a) the Phenom II X4 840 has no L3 cache, making it a glorified Athlon II X4 and (b) unless you have or want a compatible SATA 6.0GB HDD/SSD, that specific perk isn't mandatory.
If you don't hate Biostar, don't need SATA 6.0GB/s, and don't mind a slightly lower chip clock, this is $38 cheaper.
The Antec 300 is a respectable case...the 300 Illusion is $10 more with fans and LED not in the regular version and Cooler Master makes several fine cases in the $50-$80 range, and Lian-Li is another highly regarded, if slightly pricier manufacturer.
Building off my last question--could anyone recommend a single card setup that would be a big step up from 8800GT? ATi or Nvidia, either is good, though I guess Nvidia would be slightly more convenient (since I have my program settings all fitted in).
I just made this exact same decision and went with a XFX 6870 for $210 ($180 after rebate... as if!) It ended up being a bit smaller (physically) than the 8800GT and has the exact same power needs. I'm extremely happy with the upgrade.
Building off my last question--could anyone recommend a single card setup that would be a big step up from 8800GT? ATi or Nvidia, either is good, though I guess Nvidia would be slightly more convenient (since I have my program settings all fitted in).
I just made this exact same decision and went with a XFX 6870 for $210 ($180 after rebate... as if!) It ended up being a bit smaller (physically) than the 8800GT and has the exact same power needs. I'm extremely happy with the upgrade.
Thanks for the recommendation, but I misspoke...I mean a single card that is a big step up from a 8000GT in SLI (i.e. two cards). It might sound like overkill, but I plan to carry this cards over to my next build whenever that may be (since the 8800GT is from well before DX 11). Can you recommend a GPU a step up from that?
So my sister just messaged me that she's looking for a new laptop and giving her 3 year old one to my parents and my parents said they'd pay for it if I put it on my Best Buy card so I guess for now I'll limit the search to there. After a quick look online with her only requirement being that it's a 15" I thought this might be her best bet.
She sent me a link to one with a weaker i3 and a bigger hard drive saying that one looked cool. Same brand though.
I'm getting really frustrated though because I don't want her to pay for a huge hard drive which she'll never use but I'm stuck using the terrible selection Best Buy has. Also when are the second gen core processors going to start being put in laptops? I might have her wait a bit.
I just ordered an Alienware Aurora with an i7 2600k, 580 GTX, and 8 gigs of ram for $2100. I'm pretty happy with the price considering I don't think I'll have to upgrade this machine for half a decade.
Hmm... sounds like best buy is just trying to get rid of their old stuff before they start stocking up to date models... which wouldn't be a problem if they had some firesale prices going on but nope, full price
Edit-Synthesis, my 5770 there can run Black Ops almost maxed, I imagine 2 will have no trouble with it as it's a crossfire compatible card.
I will keep that in mind. Any single card recommendations?
Nah I don't have the funds to build a brand new top of the line machine every 5 or so years, so middle ground tech is where I browse and have experience with.
Building off my last question--could anyone recommend a single card setup that would be a big step up from 8800GT? ATi or Nvidia, either is good, though I guess Nvidia would be slightly more convenient (since I have my program settings all fitted in).
I just made this exact same decision and went with a XFX 6870 for $210 ($180 after rebate... as if!) It ended up being a bit smaller (physically) than the 8800GT and has the exact same power needs. I'm extremely happy with the upgrade.
Thanks for the recommendation, but I misspoke...I mean a single card that is a big step up from a 8000GT in SLI (i.e. two cards). It might sound like overkill, but I plan to carry this cards over to my next build whenever that may be (since the 8800GT is from well before DX 11). Can you recommend a GPU a step up from that?
I just picked up a gtx460 1gb and it plays everything I can throw at it maxed in 1920x1080 without breaking a sweat. I thought about buying a second one before I actually had it installed but now I realize I don't really need to until much more advanced games come out
I just ordered an Alienware Aurora with an i7 2600k, 580 GTX, and 8 gigs of ram for $2100. I'm pretty happy with the price considering I don't think I'll have to upgrade this machine for half a decade.
I haven't had to upgrade my machine for half a decade and I paid about 50% of that.
I just picked up a gtx460 1gb and it plays everything I can throw at it maxed in 1920x1080 without breaking a sweat. I thought about buying a second one before I actually had it installed but now I realize I don't really need to until much more advanced games come out
I just ordered an Alienware Aurora with an i7 2600k, 580 GTX, and 8 gigs of ram for $2100. I'm pretty happy with the price considering I don't think I'll have to upgrade this machine for half a decade.
I haven't had to upgrade my machine for half a decade and I paid about 50% of that.
I just threw together a random parts list, not allowing for anything in particular, just a general budget-per part (and I'd consider it boutique budget), and came up with $1785.
What does another $400 get you?
I'm not trying to be combative. I understand sometimes people don't want to mess with building their own. But this is the computer build thread! I can't imagine overpaying by that much.
Pirusu on
0
Options
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
I just ordered an Alienware Aurora with an i7 2600k, 580 GTX, and 8 gigs of ram for $2100. I'm pretty happy with the price considering I don't think I'll have to upgrade this machine for half a decade.
I haven't had to upgrade my machine for half a decade and I paid about 50% of that.
I just threw together a random parts list, not allowing for anything in particular, just a general budget-per part (and I'd consider it boutique budget), and came up with $1785.
What does another $400 get you?
Shipping, people plugging stuff in, and tech support. Also it might not get you shipping.
edit: and like chrishallet83 mentions, a fancy UI skin for Windows that will slow things down incrementally every time you open your Start menu or resize a window.
I just ordered an Alienware Aurora with an i7 2600k, 580 GTX, and 8 gigs of ram for $2100. I'm pretty happy with the price considering I don't think I'll have to upgrade this machine for half a decade.
I haven't had to upgrade my machine for half a decade and I paid about 50% of that.
I just threw together a random parts list, not allowing for anything in particular, just a general budget-per part (and I'd consider it boutique budget), and came up with $1785.
What does another $400 get you?
Shipping, people plugging stuff in, and tech support. Also it might not get you shipping.
edit: and like chrishallet83 mentions, a fancy UI skin for Windows that will slow things down incrementally every time you open your Start menu or resize a window.
I was curious, so I went to dell's website to customize an aurora. I came to $1999 without tax, shipping, or anything, but that includes the parts Hank included.
It's only got DDR3 1333 (which isn't terrible, but in the list I compiled I was looking at DDR3 1600), an 875w PSU, made by who-knows-whom, with who-knows-what performance. Doesn't give you a motherboard manufacturer, along with the other crap. The tech support is for a single year, unless you shell out for the other plans, which put you above $2100.
And if you're paying that much, you want this machine to last more than a single year. Can't really replace stuff if it gets broke after the year because it's all bizzare-o Dell OEM stuff.
I just picked up a gtx460 1gb and it plays everything I can throw at it maxed in 1920x1080 without breaking a sweat. I thought about buying a second one before I actually had it installed but now I realize I don't really need to until much more advanced games come out
What processor?
An i5 2500k.
Which probably has a big impact on it. Sorry I didn't see what kind of processor you where working with and how big a difference that would make.
EDIT: also just found out my sister will be buying the laptop with her own money and get reimbursed by our parents. I'm no longer trapped into using Best Buy! Now the search can start for real
I just ordered an Alienware Aurora with an i7 2600k, 580 GTX, and 8 gigs of ram for $2100. I'm pretty happy with the price considering I don't think I'll have to upgrade this machine for half a decade.
I haven't had to upgrade my machine for half a decade and I paid about 50% of that.
I just threw together a random parts list, not allowing for anything in particular, just a general budget-per part (and I'd consider it boutique budget), and came up with $1785.
What does another $400 get you?
Shipping, people plugging stuff in, and tech support. Also it might not get you shipping.
edit: and like chrishallet83 mentions, a fancy UI skin for Windows that will slow things down incrementally every time you open your Start menu or resize a window.
I was curious, so I went to dell's website to customize an aurora. I came to $1999 without tax, shipping, or anything, but that includes the parts Hank included.
It's only got DDR3 1333 (which isn't terrible, but in the list I compiled I was looking at DDR3 1600), an 875w PSU, made by who-knows-whom, with who-knows-what performance. Doesn't give you a motherboard manufacturer, along with the other crap. The tech support is for a single year, unless you shell out for the other plans, which put you above $2100.
And if you're paying that much, you want this machine to last more than a single year. Can't really replace stuff if it gets broke after the year because it's all bizzare-o Dell OEM stuff.
Bleh.
I've had 2 alienwares in the past and the stuff that came with the system never broke, not even 5 years after purchase date. Still ran like a champ, as long as you dust it out.
I just ordered an Alienware Aurora with an i7 2600k, 580 GTX, and 8 gigs of ram for $2100. I'm pretty happy with the price considering I don't think I'll have to upgrade this machine for half a decade.
I haven't had to upgrade my machine for half a decade and I paid about 50% of that.
I just threw together a random parts list, not allowing for anything in particular, just a general budget-per part (and I'd consider it boutique budget), and came up with $1785.
What does another $400 get you?
edit: and like chrishallet83 mentions, a fancy UI skin for Windows that will slow things down incrementally every time you open your Start menu or resize a window.
I just ordered an Alienware Aurora with an i7 2600k, 580 GTX, and 8 gigs of ram for $2100. I'm pretty happy with the price considering I don't think I'll have to upgrade this machine for half a decade.
I haven't had to upgrade my machine for half a decade and I paid about 50% of that.
I just threw together a random parts list, not allowing for anything in particular, just a general budget-per part (and I'd consider it boutique budget), and came up with $1785.
What does another $400 get you?
edit: and like chrishallet83 mentions, a fancy UI skin for Windows that will slow things down incrementally every time you open your Start menu or resize a window.
What? Pretty sure you can disable this.
He asked about what the $400 gets, not about what can and can't be turned off.
TychoCelchuuu on
0
Options
HardtargetThere Are Four LightsVancouverRegistered Userregular
edited March 2011
oh thank christ, my replacement Asus P8P67 PRO arrived today. This weekend I'll swap the mobos and finally 2 months later my Sandy Bridge blazing computer will be both complete AND have no issues Intel needs to launch a 2 billion dollar recall about.
swapping mobos is such a hassle though
edit - boggles my mind that anybody would ever buy a alienware system instead of just building it yourself
Thanks for the recommendation, but I misspoke...I mean a single card that is a big step up from a 8000GT in SLI (i.e. two cards). It might sound like overkill, but I plan to carry this cards over to my next build whenever that may be (since the 8800GT is from well before DX 11). Can you recommend a GPU a step up from that?
According to the research I did before plopping down the money, a 6870 is pretty close to double the framerate from a single 8800GT. I don't know how a SLI'd pair of 8800GT cards compare to a single card, but you probably do and can extrapolate from there.
If you really must spend all of that extra mon-ay, you could buy a GTX 570 or a HD 6970 both of which are pretty damn fast. I have no personal experience with either of these cards, but I think you'd have a lot of trouble beating either of them in terms of raw GPU power without resorting to a SLI solution.
As the P67 mainboards are starting to trickle back into the retail channel, I'm left with a quandry with regards to processor cooling. My planned build (most of which is already purchased):
Intel i5-2500K "Sandy Beach" CPU
ASUS P8P67 Pro mainboard
My question comes with regard to overclocking the i5-2500K. Obviously the stock Intel cooler will work peachy if I don't plan on overclocking, but if I wasn't at least thinking about overclocking, I would just get the "locked" non-K version and save $10. Anyone have recommendations (or know of any web resources) for CPU cooling a sandy bridge CPU for light overclocking? I'm more concerned about physical space constraints than wringing every possible watt out of this thing.
Stupid on
0
Options
HardtargetThere Are Four LightsVancouverRegistered Userregular
edited March 2011
get the k, stick withe the normal cooler, don't overclock,
in a year get a fancier coolers and overclock
also don't be a baby, get a i7-2600k, come on!
edit - also just as an fyi all coolers from previous core systems fit on the sandybridge motherboards by design even though it's a new socket so anything that reviewed well before will still work
Building off my last question--could anyone recommend a single card setup that would be a big step up from 8800GT? ATi or Nvidia, either is good, though I guess Nvidia would be slightly more convenient (since I have my program settings all fitted in).
I just made this exact same decision and went with a XFX 6870 for $210 ($180 after rebate... as if!) It ended up being a bit smaller (physically) than the 8800GT and has the exact same power needs. I'm extremely happy with the upgrade.
Thanks for the recommendation, but I misspoke...I mean a single card that is a big step up from a 8000GT in SLI (i.e. two cards). It might sound like overkill, but I plan to carry this cards over to my next build whenever that may be (since the 8800GT is from well before DX 11). Can you recommend a GPU a step up from that?
I just picked up a gtx460 1gb and it plays everything I can throw at it maxed in 1920x1080 without breaking a sweat. I thought about buying a second one before I actually had it installed but now I realize I don't really need to until much more advanced games come out
I'm thinking of the same thing, either for a GTX 460 or GTX 470. Installing another one in would be fairly easy.
On the other hand, SLI support can be kind of iffy. Most games that would actually need that power do take advantage of Crossfire/SLI though, we're no longer at the point of piss-poor SLI support.
I've suspected for years that my 2.2 Ghz Phenom quad-core was bottlenecking my game performance hard, and I've finally been able to confirm it. My terrible framerate problems with modern games has been finally solved.
So this is my build I think I am ready to pull the trigger on after work today
Mobo: MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core
CPU Cooler: ZALMAN 9500A-LED 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
SSD : OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD3-2VTX120G 3.5" 120GB SATA II
HDD : Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5
Video Card: MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
Disc: SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Full
Speakers: Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 Speakers
Only thing I am keeping from my current build is a Razer keyboard and a Logitech G9 mouse. So eh?
The mobo is there cause thats all thats on Newegg right now...
Well stuff came in a couple hours ago and I dug right in....its been 3 hours and I am just barely done putting everything in. Fucking huge ass CPU fan I bought is a pain in the ass to maneuver around!
The case is great to work compared in to all the others I have ever worked on and it all looks so beautiful. Everything powered up fine on my test so next is to connect monitor and input to begin Win 7 install.
Oh and the speakers I ordered well I got fucked some how. There are some opened Logitech speakers in this big box but no subwoofer. Just three GIANT industrial clamps in a bag. Some quick research says that they are for mounting stop lights. WTF?
I've suspected for years that my 2.2 Ghz Phenom quad-core was bottlenecking my game performance hard, and I've finally been able to confirm it. My terrible framerate problems with modern games has been finally solved.
I know you can't directly compare AMD and Intel, but that does not really inspire hope for my 3.0 quad core Q9650. Maybe when I get a new PSU, I'll actually be able to overclock it. Or not.
Synthesis on
0
Options
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Well stuff came in a couple hours ago and I dug right in....its been 3 hours and I am just barely done putting everything in. Fucking huge ass CPU fan I bought is a pain in the ass to maneuver around!
The case is great to work compared in to all the others I have ever worked on and it all looks so beautiful. Everything powered up fine on my test so next is to connect monitor and input to begin Win 7 install.
Oh and the speakers I ordered well I got fucked some how. There are some opened Logitech speakers in this big box but no subwoofer. Just three GIANT industrial clamps in a bag. Some quick research says that they are for mounting stop lights. WTF?
I've suspected for years that my 2.2 Ghz Phenom quad-core was bottlenecking my game performance hard, and I've finally been able to confirm it. My terrible framerate problems with modern games has been finally solved.
I know you can't directly compare AMD and Intel, but that does not really inspire hope for my 3.0 quad core Q9650. Maybe when I get a new PSU, I'll actually be able to overclock it. Or not.
Well I went from a Phenom 2.2 quad core to a Phenom II 3.4 quad core. Same vid card, same amount of RAM(though DDR3 from DDR2). 2.2 was just too low, I think. In Crysis, for example, I went from having framerate problems on low/medium settings to maxing it out at a smooth framerate. I knew I would see an improvement but not one so massive. I was soooooo bottlenecked. Basically every game was running below what they should have been running, and that problem has been eradicated. I'm so happy I shelled out the money for the upgrade.
Well stuff came in a couple hours ago and I dug right in....its been 3 hours and I am just barely done putting everything in. Fucking huge ass CPU fan I bought is a pain in the ass to maneuver around!
The case is great to work compared in to all the others I have ever worked on and it all looks so beautiful. Everything powered up fine on my test so next is to connect monitor and input to begin Win 7 install.
Oh and the speakers I ordered well I got fucked some how. There are some opened Logitech speakers in this big box but no subwoofer. Just three GIANT industrial clamps in a bag. Some quick research says that they are for mounting stop lights. WTF?
Ha ha what in the hell?
Yeah I can't tell what happened. Did I get an open box item and the Newegg conveyor dropped some random stuff inside? Did the box bust open and the UPS guy just stuffed the closest things inside? I have heard of people getting "new" 360s or Wii's but when they open it there is an actual brick inside cause some guy stole the console during shipping and pulled a Indy.
These things are huge, heavy and brand new in their bags. I mean it just a large cardboard box with the 5 speakers inside along with a manual and then the clamps.
Anyways installed Win 7 which was super quick but I don't have a ready connection for the new PC yet. Gonna have a great time reconfiguring this thing tomorrow.
So funny story. I opened my old case to pull out the hard drive so I can transfer the goods to my new drive over SATA. Something looks really odd with the CPU heatsink and thats because its not even remotely connected to CPU at all. It was just hanging there by two bottom push pins so the CPU was just there naked. The top right push pin was plastic that was bent badly so it never went in apparently when I applied it. I took it off and the thermal paste is a nice shade of dark brown. This is on a Core2Duo e8400.
I haven't had any issues with the PC and its on constantly. I built it in OCT '08 with one RAM up grade a year later and it looked fine then I would think. How fucked up could the CPU be?
HardtargetThere Are Four LightsVancouverRegistered Userregular
edited March 2011
what tycho said. Core 2s are pretty good about downclocking if the sense they are getting to how so y ou might have lucked out Hyper.
Also I'm still dreading swapping mobos this weekend. i don't really feel like buying thermal paste but i'll have to crack the current lock, to take off the cpu cooler and then the chip, put it into the new mobo, and then put the cooler back on, and doing that never really gives you as agood a connection if you had never cracked the seal between the two.
should i just man up and buy thermal paste or do you guys think I'll be ok? I mean i know i'll be ok but long run I guess. (althogh I suppose it won't matter because the sandybridge will jsut downclock if it gets hot but then it'll be slower and oh god UGUGH)
Hardtarget on
0
Options
AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
what tycho said. Core 2s are pretty good about downclocking if the sense they are getting to how so y ou might have lucked out Hyper.
Also I'm still dreading swapping mobos this weekend. i don't really feel like buying thermal paste but i'll have to crack the current lock, to take off the cpu cooler and then the chip, put it into the new mobo, and then put the cooler back on, and doing that never really gives you as agood a connection if you had never cracked the seal between the two.
should i just man up and buy thermal paste or do you guys think I'll be ok? I mean i know i'll be ok but long run I guess. (althogh I suppose it won't matter because the sandybridge will jsut downclock if it gets hot but then it'll be slower and oh god UGUGH)
Yeah, man up. Get your self some cleaning supplies (lint free cloth of some kind, coffee filters work fine, and some Isopropyl alcohol are what I usually use) and put a new bit of compound on. It'll pay off in the end.
Posts
I've thought about SLI or Crossfire, but honestly, it seems like a hassle and an electricity hog as well. And in the end of the day, you can add another one if you really need to.
I was considering getting a pair of GTX 470 in SLI, so my budget is about that, I guess...~$400. As stated before, I play at 1680 x 1050 or 1080p, like anti-aliasing, want the bells and whistles, etc.
Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
And I was looking at this combo pack here
AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDX840WFGMBOX w/ GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-UD2H AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Any compatibility issues? What kind of power supply am I going to need for these? Should I look for another mobo/cpu set?
Was thinking of getting this case again, it served me well for a good two years. Of course, the power button fell apart when it died, any better cases for around the same price?
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
I'm good on the video card front, just need to replace every thing else.
Edit-Synthesis, my 5770 there can run Black Ops almost maxed, I imagine 2 will have no trouble with it as it's a crossfire compatible card.
Handmade Jewelry by me on EtsyGames for sale
Me on Twitch!
I've noticed ASUS motherboards tend to do that. Meanwhile, my EVGA is not quite as helpful. Speaking of which...
Indeed, I think that's one of the reasons I've been inclined to stay with Nvidia, just because I really do like the EVGA brand (no doubt ATi has some excellent brands, but it's been so long, the last one I remember was Asus for the X1900XT).
So, a single EVGA GTX 470 might be a good replacement (should be a significant stand up from both of them), and when I build a new setup, I can keep it on and maybe run SLI.
No compatibility issues. For an PSU anything 430W/80+ or better should be adequate.
I think you can trim a bit from that CPU/motherboard combo because (a) the Phenom II X4 840 has no L3 cache, making it a glorified Athlon II X4 and (b) unless you have or want a compatible SATA 6.0GB HDD/SSD, that specific perk isn't mandatory.
If you don't hate Biostar, don't need SATA 6.0GB/s, and don't mind a slightly lower chip clock, this is $38 cheaper.
The Antec 300 is a respectable case...the 300 Illusion is $10 more with fans and LED not in the regular version and Cooler Master makes several fine cases in the $50-$80 range, and Lian-Li is another highly regarded, if slightly pricier manufacturer.
I will keep that in mind. Any single card recommendations?
I just made this exact same decision and went with a XFX 6870 for $210 ($180 after rebate... as if!) It ended up being a bit smaller (physically) than the 8800GT and has the exact same power needs. I'm extremely happy with the upgrade.
Thanks for the recommendation, but I misspoke...I mean a single card that is a big step up from a 8000GT in SLI (i.e. two cards). It might sound like overkill, but I plan to carry this cards over to my next build whenever that may be (since the 8800GT is from well before DX 11). Can you recommend a GPU a step up from that?
Best Buy
She sent me a link to one with a weaker i3 and a bigger hard drive saying that one looked cool. Same brand though.
I'm getting really frustrated though because I don't want her to pay for a huge hard drive which she'll never use but I'm stuck using the terrible selection Best Buy has. Also when are the second gen core processors going to start being put in laptops? I might have her wait a bit.
Nah I don't have the funds to build a brand new top of the line machine every 5 or so years, so middle ground tech is where I browse and have experience with.
Handmade Jewelry by me on EtsyGames for sale
Me on Twitch!
I just picked up a gtx460 1gb and it plays everything I can throw at it maxed in 1920x1080 without breaking a sweat. I thought about buying a second one before I actually had it installed but now I realize I don't really need to until much more advanced games come out
I haven't had to upgrade my machine for half a decade and I paid about 50% of that.
What processor?
What does another $400 get you?
I'm not trying to be combative. I understand sometimes people don't want to mess with building their own. But this is the computer build thread! I can't imagine overpaying by that much.
Shipping, people plugging stuff in, and tech support. Also it might not get you shipping.
edit: and like chrishallet83 mentions, a fancy UI skin for Windows that will slow things down incrementally every time you open your Start menu or resize a window.
I was curious, so I went to dell's website to customize an aurora. I came to $1999 without tax, shipping, or anything, but that includes the parts Hank included.
It's only got DDR3 1333 (which isn't terrible, but in the list I compiled I was looking at DDR3 1600), an 875w PSU, made by who-knows-whom, with who-knows-what performance. Doesn't give you a motherboard manufacturer, along with the other crap. The tech support is for a single year, unless you shell out for the other plans, which put you above $2100.
And if you're paying that much, you want this machine to last more than a single year. Can't really replace stuff if it gets broke after the year because it's all bizzare-o Dell OEM stuff.
Bleh.
An i5 2500k.
Which probably has a big impact on it. Sorry I didn't see what kind of processor you where working with and how big a difference that would make.
EDIT: also just found out my sister will be buying the laptop with her own money and get reimbursed by our parents. I'm no longer trapped into using Best Buy! Now the search can start for real
I've had 2 alienwares in the past and the stuff that came with the system never broke, not even 5 years after purchase date. Still ran like a champ, as long as you dust it out.
What? Pretty sure you can disable this.
He asked about what the $400 gets, not about what can and can't be turned off.
swapping mobos is such a hassle though
edit - boggles my mind that anybody would ever buy a alienware system instead of just building it yourself
According to the research I did before plopping down the money, a 6870 is pretty close to double the framerate from a single 8800GT. I don't know how a SLI'd pair of 8800GT cards compare to a single card, but you probably do and can extrapolate from there.
If you really must spend all of that extra mon-ay, you could buy a GTX 570 or a HD 6970 both of which are pretty damn fast. I have no personal experience with either of these cards, but I think you'd have a lot of trouble beating either of them in terms of raw GPU power without resorting to a SLI solution.
As the P67 mainboards are starting to trickle back into the retail channel, I'm left with a quandry with regards to processor cooling. My planned build (most of which is already purchased):
Intel i5-2500K "Sandy Beach" CPU
ASUS P8P67 Pro mainboard
2x2GB PC3-1600
XFX HD 6870
128GB Crucial C300 SSD
Antec 300 Case
Corsair 650TX power supply
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
My question comes with regard to overclocking the i5-2500K. Obviously the stock Intel cooler will work peachy if I don't plan on overclocking, but if I wasn't at least thinking about overclocking, I would just get the "locked" non-K version and save $10. Anyone have recommendations (or know of any web resources) for CPU cooling a sandy bridge CPU for light overclocking? I'm more concerned about physical space constraints than wringing every possible watt out of this thing.
in a year get a fancier coolers and overclock
also don't be a baby, get a i7-2600k, come on!
edit - also just as an fyi all coolers from previous core systems fit on the sandybridge motherboards by design even though it's a new socket so anything that reviewed well before will still work
I'm thinking of the same thing, either for a GTX 460 or GTX 470. Installing another one in would be fairly easy.
On the other hand, SLI support can be kind of iffy. Most games that would actually need that power do take advantage of Crossfire/SLI though, we're no longer at the point of piss-poor SLI support.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
Well stuff came in a couple hours ago and I dug right in....its been 3 hours and I am just barely done putting everything in. Fucking huge ass CPU fan I bought is a pain in the ass to maneuver around!
The case is great to work compared in to all the others I have ever worked on and it all looks so beautiful. Everything powered up fine on my test so next is to connect monitor and input to begin Win 7 install.
Oh and the speakers I ordered well I got fucked some how. There are some opened Logitech speakers in this big box but no subwoofer. Just three GIANT industrial clamps in a bag. Some quick research says that they are for mounting stop lights. WTF?
I know you can't directly compare AMD and Intel, but that does not really inspire hope for my 3.0 quad core Q9650. Maybe when I get a new PSU, I'll actually be able to overclock it. Or not.
Ha ha what in the hell?
Well I went from a Phenom 2.2 quad core to a Phenom II 3.4 quad core. Same vid card, same amount of RAM(though DDR3 from DDR2). 2.2 was just too low, I think. In Crysis, for example, I went from having framerate problems on low/medium settings to maxing it out at a smooth framerate. I knew I would see an improvement but not one so massive. I was soooooo bottlenecked. Basically every game was running below what they should have been running, and that problem has been eradicated. I'm so happy I shelled out the money for the upgrade.
As an aside: Oh god, Crysis maxed out is eye sex.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
Yeah I can't tell what happened. Did I get an open box item and the Newegg conveyor dropped some random stuff inside? Did the box bust open and the UPS guy just stuffed the closest things inside? I have heard of people getting "new" 360s or Wii's but when they open it there is an actual brick inside cause some guy stole the console during shipping and pulled a Indy.
These things are huge, heavy and brand new in their bags. I mean it just a large cardboard box with the 5 speakers inside along with a manual and then the clamps.
Anyways installed Win 7 which was super quick but I don't have a ready connection for the new PC yet. Gonna have a great time reconfiguring this thing tomorrow.
These are the clamps exactly in the pics. Not my Craigslist obviously.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
I haven't had any issues with the PC and its on constantly. I built it in OCT '08 with one RAM up grade a year later and it looked fine then I would think. How fucked up could the CPU be?
Also I'm still dreading swapping mobos this weekend. i don't really feel like buying thermal paste but i'll have to crack the current lock, to take off the cpu cooler and then the chip, put it into the new mobo, and then put the cooler back on, and doing that never really gives you as agood a connection if you had never cracked the seal between the two.
should i just man up and buy thermal paste or do you guys think I'll be ok? I mean i know i'll be ok but long run I guess. (althogh I suppose it won't matter because the sandybridge will jsut downclock if it gets hot but then it'll be slower and oh god UGUGH)
Yeah, man up. Get your self some cleaning supplies (lint free cloth of some kind, coffee filters work fine, and some Isopropyl alcohol are what I usually use) and put a new bit of compound on. It'll pay off in the end.
Battle.net