As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
Options
New Computer/Water Cooling Questions
MuddBudd
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, my big project for this summer/fall is to build myself a new computer. I last built one in 2005-2006ish, and it's lasted me a good long time with proper maintenance and upgrades. However I'm hitting the point where it can't run some of the newer games well (or at all) and my upgrade options are pretty much nil. It's time for a totally new build. I have some questions that I'm hoping forumers could help me out with.
Future-Proofing
So, my last computer got built just a bit before multiple core processors came around and like 6 months before PCI-E graphics cards. Hence it's hit the limit on upgrades since I only have AGP, etc... Is there anything coming up soon (in the next year or so) that will make something I buy this summer rapidly obsolete?
The one thing I have noticed is that I should probably get an AM3+ mobo so I can upgrade to newer CPUs. Speaking of which...
Cores
I am completely uninformed aside from "More cores is probably better". How big is the performance increase between 4 and 6 core machines? 6 and 8 cores? Since I don't plan on overclocking my PC, would I even notice the difference?
Water Cooling
I've decided to upgrade to water cooling this time around, which is new for me, but I think I can do it. My case is an Antec P180, which to use a large radiator will require some mounts or modification of the case, but it's such a good case I really can't justify getting rid of it, I love it too much. I'm already planning to cut open the top and install something like this on it. I figure if I take care of it, that will allow me to use the case for the next several builds.
I do have some water cooling questions though. I currently plan to use it just for the CPU and graphics card (haven't picked a card out yet). Are there any seriously compelling reasons to water cool the onboard chipsets? RAM? Hard Drives?
Video Cards
I know some cards let you chain them together for a performance boost, how noticeable is it? I'm not sure I want to deal with multiple graphics cards.
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
Future-Proofing
So, my last computer got built just a bit before multiple core processors came around and like 6 months before PCI-E graphics cards. Hence it's hit the limit on upgrades since I only have AGP, etc... Is there anything coming up soon (in the next year or so) that will make something I buy this summer rapidly obsolete?
The one thing I have noticed is that I should probably get an AM3+ mobo so I can upgrade to newer CPUs. Speaking of which...
Cores
I am completely uninformed aside from "More cores is probably better". How big is the performance increase between 4 and 6 core machines? 6 and 8 cores? Since I don't plan on overclocking my PC, would I even notice the difference?
Water Cooling
I've decided to upgrade to water cooling this time around, which is new for me, but I think I can do it. My case is an Antec P180, which to use a large radiator will require some mounts or modification of the case, but it's such a good case I really can't justify getting rid of it, I love it too much. I'm already planning to cut open the top and install something like this on it. I figure if I take care of it, that will allow me to use the case for the next several builds.
I do have some water cooling questions though. I currently plan to use it just for the CPU and graphics card (haven't picked a card out yet). Are there any seriously compelling reasons to water cool the onboard chipsets? RAM? Hard Drives?
Video Cards
I know some cards let you chain them together for a performance boost, how noticeable is it? I'm not sure I want to deal with multiple graphics cards.
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
There's no plan, there's no race to be run
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
MuddBudd on
0
Posts
There's a point in computer builds where you're pretty much just throwing money away for a negligible speed increase. What kind of budget do you have?
EDIT: There's an entire stickied computer build thread over in the Technology sub-forum as well.
You might also look at Chaud's latest builds at MMO-Champ. Just scroll down a little. And no, they're not only for WoW.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.