While I really like my Corsair Force 3, I still have load times in BF3. I mean, theyre like half of what they used to be and Im usually one of the first people on the map, but it still feels like loads take a while.
An SSD will obviously only reduce the time required to load stuff stored on the SSD. So I think a lot of the still present load times are caused by either having some of the level data stored server-side, or needing the CPU to do work for things like procedurally generated stuff.
Hey, so, I have a PSU question that's kind of in the legacy hardware territory.
Background:
I've got one of these that I want to throw in an old machine to have a second computer that can run WoW/L4D/whatever old game that my woman and I might want to play together on random occasions. The machine it would be going into is a Frankenstein's monster of old parts and odd ends, with the monster's skeleton being an old Dell case, mobo, and power supply. After doing some research, the motherboard appears to be specifically compatible with the card based on other folks' testing, and it thankfully uses a standard 20 pin instead of some weird proprietary Dell bullshit connector. So I'm looking for an ATX size power supply that supports this card, all molex connectors, no SATA, and I'm typically seeing recs on 450-500 watts.
Problem:
So, I've seen like two power supplies online that had this exact connector position and no hard power switch. And neither were in stock. And I'm guessing that if I do find some in stock, I'm not going to be able to cherry pick a reputable brand. Does anybody know anything about this physical design aspect of power supplies? Is there a resource for identifying units that will fit in the grill? Should I gamble on whatever unit I can find, because this is a bootleg old backup machine? Or should I buy a decent, well-recommended PSU and take the tin snips to that grill? Is that potentially dangerous?
Extra credit:
I need to grab a keyboard and surge protector for this thing. I'm thinking a Logitech K120 or K200 will get the job done for a backup machine, unless anyone knows of any glaring issues with those keyboards. No idea on what I'm looking for in a surge protector. Not expensive, but not a deceptively cheap piece of plastic that's not actually doing anything except splitting the outlet either, I guess.
I'd say go ahead and snip the grille, but do it before you buy anything. If you screw up, you're in the same position you are now, so its not really a loss.
If my current rig is running a Core2Duo E8500 and a Radeon 4890, will I see any benefit if I upgrade the video card to a Radeon 6870? A total system rebuild is not in going to be in the budget for a while, and I'm not sure how much my CPU is bottlenecking me in this case.
If it helps, I'm on an Asus P5Q Pro motherboard and running 4GB of PC2 6400 DDR2.
I had pretty much the same PC before rebuilding in December. I upgraded from a 4850 to 5870 and saw great gains with minor bottle necking. That card should hold you a bit if you get a good deal, I think newegg had it in sale recently too.
OK, it seems like my Samsung F3 is having issues. I'm running it as my main storage/games/whatever drive, and it just seems to have issues. Recently when I've been running Steam games off it, they just freeze. Same goes for a few videos (this may be unrelated, as I think both times playing them in VLC solved that).
Also, if I try to do error-checking (which I'm not sure is even what I want here), it says it has to dismount it, and when I tell it to do so, it appears to do nothing.
If my current rig is running a Core2Duo E8500 and a Radeon 4890, will I see any benefit if I upgrade the video card to a Radeon 6870? A total system rebuild is not in going to be in the budget for a while, and I'm not sure how much my CPU is bottlenecking me in this case.
If it helps, I'm on an Asus P5Q Pro motherboard and running 4GB of PC2 6400 DDR2.
Like Cardboard Delusions, thats super similar to the system I had (E8400 and a 4850, same mobo though) prior to the one Im using now. If youre planning to build a computer in the long term, you could always start by buying a new video card since you can get some use out of that now. I grabbed a GTX 570 and OCd my processor to 3.6Ghz, and while the GPU was definitely bottlenecked by the CPU I still saw a pretty nice performance bump.
How long is Arctic Silver good for, in the tube? I've got a bunch leftover from when I did my computer, but if it's bad by now, I'll order some more.
What I should I be looking at for processors, assuming this is going to be mostly for web browsing and such? Is an i3 worth it, or should I be hitting more like a Celeron or Pentium?
Also, is there anything else I'm missing? I really don't want to show up and not have some vital piece that I need to put their computer together. They already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
Yep. If you can get it out of the tube and it looks like it supposed to, it is fine.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Do we have any idea when the mid-grade Keplers are going to hit? I have the money to do a video card upgrade, but it seems prudent to wait at this point for the 670/660. Even if those cards end up being out of my price range, it should drop the price of the card I am eyeing down (the HD 7870).
If it's more than a couple of months though, I'll probably just pull the trigger. I don't really believe in waiting months on end for new tech.
So this seems as good a place as any to ask, and I didn't feel it warranted a new thread: I'm looking for a new headset.
"3D sound" or not doesn't really matter to me, honestly I feel as if it's a bit of a gimmick. And even if it's not, I doubt I could make much use of it without an appropriate soundcard (I'm dealing with on-board at the moment, but I may be upgrading later on and a decent soundcard might be part of it). Feel free to suggest it anyway if you want, I have little knowledge on this area.
What I'm generally seeking isn't anything really fancy to be honest.
- Price range of up to maybe £60 (I might go for more if it's a small increase for a big increase in quality)
- Solid build quality (I don't intend for it to be banging around, but my last headset started having its foam cups coming off after maybe a few months)
- Good sound (makes me happy when things go DAKKADAKKADAKKA etc.)
- Decent quality mic (so I don't sound like your ears underwater. During a hailstorm)
Any recommendations? Because at the moment, all I'm looking at are these:
Also, is there anything else I'm missing? I really don't want to show up and not have some vital piece that I need to put their computer together. They already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
There will probably be SOMETHING unexpected that you forget. In my case, it was a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter for the SSD. Always something...
0
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Decided to hold off on the video card until the 670 is out, which is supposed to be next month. Grabbed 8 more GB of RAM and a new case (Corsair 500R) instead. My Antec 1200 is really on it's last legs and I've lost important pieces (like the back thumb screws).
Well, I should have build pictures up tonight - finally - and also bought a new chair today which should be here tommorrow. My old chair was giving me significant back pain, and this new one (osgood from staples) was on sale and was pretty comfortable.
It means no new headset or external speakers for a while, but the pain was so bad it was a priority.
Also, is there anything else I'm missing? I really don't want to show up and not have some vital piece that I need to put their computer together. They already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
There will probably be SOMETHING unexpected that you forget. In my case, it was a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter for the SSD. Always something...
Am I gonna need one of those?
This is my case. The SSD and the DVD-RW drive are the only things going into the drive slots. Should be fine, right?
How long is Arctic Silver good for, in the tube? I've got a bunch leftover from when I did my computer, but if it's bad by now, I'll order some more.
What I should I be looking at for processors, assuming this is going to be mostly for web browsing and such? Is an i3 worth it, or should I be hitting more like a Celeron or Pentium?
Also, is there anything else I'm missing? I really don't want to show up and not have some vital piece that I need to put their computer together. They already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
Forgot to mention a Crucial SSD from Buy.com.
0
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Also, is there anything else I'm missing? I really don't want to show up and not have some vital piece that I need to put their computer together. They already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
There will probably be SOMETHING unexpected that you forget. In my case, it was a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter for the SSD. Always something...
Am I gonna need one of those?
This is my case. The SSD and the DVD-RW drive are the only things going into the drive slots. Should be fine, right?
As long as your SSD came with a 3.5" -> 2.5" adapter, or your case supports both 2.5" and 3.5" drives out of the box, you'll be fine.
e: Checking your case on Newegg, it only lists 3.5" and doesn't mention 2.5" compatibility. That said, most SSD's these days come with the little adapter bracket.
How long is Arctic Silver good for, in the tube? I've got a bunch leftover from when I did my computer, but if it's bad by now, I'll order some more.
What I should I be looking at for processors, assuming this is going to be mostly for web browsing and such? Is an i3 worth it, or should I be hitting more like a Celeron or Pentium?
Also, is there anything else I'm missing? I really don't want to show up and not have some vital piece that I need to put their computer together. They already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
Pretty much any HSF that comes stock with whatever CPU you decide to get will have TIM pre-applied. So there's no need for the AS5.
If the optical drive is really old, you probably want to double-check that it's a SATA connection and not an IDE (that's something alot of people overlook when they're planning on reusing an ODD).
You don't have an HDD or SDD listed anywhere. Assuming your parents won't be storing a ton of music, movies, or pictures, I want to suggest something like a 120GB OCZ Agility 3. For a general use computer, an SDD is by far the single most noticeable upgrade you can make. But I know it's also kinda hard to justify the cost for this kind of system.
That PSU is MASSIVE overkill for a general use system. I'm running an i3-2100/560Ti system with a Corsair CX600, so you'll be fine if you go with something like the Corsair CX500.
You can't go wrong with an i3-2100. But Tom's Hardware give the Pentium G630 their "Best Gaming CPU for ~$80" and the G860 their "Best Gaming CPU for ~$100". You can see the benchmark comparison in their "Picking a Sub-$200 Gaming CPU" article. tl;dr: For a web browsing / email checking system, I think you'd be fine with either of them (or really any of the Sandy Bridge Pentiums).
It's funny how as the years go on, our perceived requirements for "web browsing / email computers" creep up and up. I suppose that stuff HAS gotten more demanding. You can now lump 1080p video on Youtube and Netflix into that casual category, and that can be pretty demanding.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Some SSDs will come with a bracket to fit into a 3.5" bay. Others don't.
I've never seen a case that actually has 2.5" bays, though I expect that will change as SSDs become more standard.
The Corsair 500R I just ordered has 3.5" bays, but one of it's listed features is that all those 3.5" bays are 2.5" compatible without an adapter, so it is becoming standard.
The "3.5" bay that can hold 2.5" drives" will be the standard for a while, until 3.5" drives basically aren't available through retail channels anymore.
Im pretty sure even my Antec Sonata II was 2.5" compatible (Im pretty sure the 3.5" tray things had holes for 2.5" drives even though I dont think SSDs were even a thing in 2005).
How long is Arctic Silver good for, in the tube? I've got a bunch leftover from when I did my computer, but if it's bad by now, I'll order some more.
What I should I be looking at for processors, assuming this is going to be mostly for web browsing and such? Is an i3 worth it, or should I be hitting more like a Celeron or Pentium?
Also, is there anything else I'm missing? I really don't want to show up and not have some vital piece that I need to put their computer together. They already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
Pretty much any HSF that comes stock with whatever CPU you decide to get will have TIM pre-applied. So there's no need for the AS5.
If the optical drive is really old, you probably want to double-check that it's a SATA connection and not an IDE (that's something alot of people overlook when they're planning on reusing an ODD).
You don't have an HDD or SDD listed anywhere. Assuming your parents won't be storing a ton of music, movies, or pictures, I want to suggest something like a 120GB OCZ Agility 3. For a general use computer, an SDD is by far the single most noticeable upgrade you can make. But I know it's also kinda hard to justify the cost for this kind of system.
That PSU is MASSIVE overkill for a general use system. I'm running an i3-2100/560Ti system with a Corsair CX600, so you'll be fine if you go with something like the Corsair CX500.
You can't go wrong with an i3-2100. But Tom's Hardware give the Pentium G630 their "Best Gaming CPU for ~$80" and the G860 their "Best Gaming CPU for ~$100". You can see the benchmark comparison in their "Picking a Sub-$200 Gaming CPU" article. tl;dr: For a web browsing / email checking system, I think you'd be fine with either of them (or really any of the Sandy Bridge Pentiums).
Yeah, I picked up a 128GB Crucial SSD that I forgot to mention (I got it from Buy.com instead of NewEgg, so it wasn't in my recent orders). And I recognize that power supply is complete overkill, but it was on sale for, like, $60, and came with a $20 gift card; it's also a huge pain in the ass to fix a blown power supply, so I wanted one that wasn't ever going to be a problem (given that I live 800 miles away from them).
And that article is perfect, thanks for the recommendations!
Any suggestions on a video card? Really, the cheaper the better.
How long is Arctic Silver good for, in the tube? I've got a bunch leftover from when I did my computer, but if it's bad by now, I'll order some more.
What I should I be looking at for processors, assuming this is going to be mostly for web browsing and such? Is an i3 worth it, or should I be hitting more like a Celeron or Pentium?
Also, is there anything else I'm missing? I really don't want to show up and not have some vital piece that I need to put their computer together. They already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
Pretty much any HSF that comes stock with whatever CPU you decide to get will have TIM pre-applied. So there's no need for the AS5.
If the optical drive is really old, you probably want to double-check that it's a SATA connection and not an IDE (that's something alot of people overlook when they're planning on reusing an ODD).
You don't have an HDD or SDD listed anywhere. Assuming your parents won't be storing a ton of music, movies, or pictures, I want to suggest something like a 120GB OCZ Agility 3. For a general use computer, an SDD is by far the single most noticeable upgrade you can make. But I know it's also kinda hard to justify the cost for this kind of system.
That PSU is MASSIVE overkill for a general use system. I'm running an i3-2100/560Ti system with a Corsair CX600, so you'll be fine if you go with something like the Corsair CX500.
You can't go wrong with an i3-2100. But Tom's Hardware give the Pentium G630 their "Best Gaming CPU for ~$80" and the G860 their "Best Gaming CPU for ~$100". You can see the benchmark comparison in their "Picking a Sub-$200 Gaming CPU" article. tl;dr: For a web browsing / email checking system, I think you'd be fine with either of them (or really any of the Sandy Bridge Pentiums).
Yeah, I picked up a 128GB Crucial SSD that I forgot to mention (I got it from Buy.com instead of NewEgg, so it wasn't in my recent orders). And I recognize that power supply is complete overkill, but it was on sale for, like, $60, and came with a $20 gift card; it's also a huge pain in the ass to fix a blown power supply, so I wanted one that wasn't ever going to be a problem (given that I live 800 miles away from them).
And that article is perfect, thanks for the recommendations!
Any suggestions on a video card? Really, the cheaper the better.
You want to be able to play some games, right? The lowest end card anyone really recommends are the 5770/6770 cards. For $100 (after MIR) you can get this 6770 from XFX with a lifetime warranty. Although if you're desperate to spend less than that for a GPU that will rarely be needed, this HIS 6750 is only $90 and this XFX 5750 (again with a lifetime warranty) is also $90 with a $10 MIR. I'm sure they'll be just fine for alot of less demanding games.
Any suggestions on a video card? Really, the cheaper the better.
You want to be able to play some games, right? The lowest end card anyone really recommends are the 5770/6770 cards. For $100 (after MIR) you can get this 6770 from XFX with a lifetime warranty. Although if you're desperate to spend less than that for a GPU that will rarely be needed, this HIS 6750 is only $90 and this XFX 5750 (again with a lifetime warranty) is also $90 with a $10 MIR. I'm sure they'll be just fine for alot of less demanding games.
I'm gonna use it for gaming so rarely that more than $50 probably isn't worth it; I'm aware that I won't be running ME3 on max settings at that price point. Is it just not worth it, there? Is the ROI such that I'm better off just sticking with the integrated graphics?
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited April 2012
You won't be playing any serious games at all with integrated graphics, at least not with any sense of graphical quality. There are a few games made to play with them, like Torchlight, but anything released in the last two to three years will choke and die on integrated...so yes, the ROI is that big. The 40-50 dollar price difference gets you from "able to run windows and check e-mail" to "able to play many games at medium settings, more high end games may need to be set to low".
The only integrated graphics that breaks this trend is some of the new AMD APU stuff, but even those aren't exactly high end graphics...just better than your average Intel integrated solution.
Any suggestions on a video card? Really, the cheaper the better.
You want to be able to play some games, right? The lowest end card anyone really recommends are the 5770/6770 cards. For $100 (after MIR) you can get this 6770 from XFX with a lifetime warranty. Although if you're desperate to spend less than that for a GPU that will rarely be needed, this HIS 6750 is only $90 and this XFX 5750 (again with a lifetime warranty) is also $90 with a $10 MIR. I'm sure they'll be just fine for alot of less demanding games.
I'm gonna use it for gaming so rarely that more than $50 probably isn't worth it; I'm aware that I won't be running ME3 on max settings at that price point. Is it just not worth it, there? Is the ROI such that I'm better off just sticking with the integrated graphics?
Actually, I played Mass Effect 3 with a GT 240, which I think sells for $30-40 nowadays, and it played just fine.
I've been playing around with OCing my Phenom II 720 BE. I know it's a slightly older chip but maybe some people are familiar with it.
My question is how much potential for longevity cutting is there realistically for small voltage boosts, something like 1.325v (stock) to 1.35-1.40v? Are we talking like 6 months off of 10 years, or what?
For the sake of my question assume heat is not an issue, because this thing idles in the teens and barely hits like 26C at load.
I'm not very familiar with OCing on AMD chips, but with a pretty minor volt bump like that an intel chip kept properly cooled shouldn't degrade noticeably faster than stock clocks. I'd tentatively say you should be fine.
Any suggestions on a video card? Really, the cheaper the better.
You want to be able to play some games, right? The lowest end card anyone really recommends are the 5770/6770 cards. For $100 (after MIR) you can get this 6770 from XFX with a lifetime warranty. Although if you're desperate to spend less than that for a GPU that will rarely be needed, this HIS 6750 is only $90 and this XFX 5750 (again with a lifetime warranty) is also $90 with a $10 MIR. I'm sure they'll be just fine for alot of less demanding games.
I'm gonna use it for gaming so rarely that more than $50 probably isn't worth it; I'm aware that I won't be running ME3 on max settings at that price point. Is it just not worth it, there? Is the ROI such that I'm better off just sticking with the integrated graphics?
Actually, I played Mass Effect 3 with a GT 240, which I think sells for $30-40 nowadays, and it played just fine.
They're actually $55-$60 for refurbished units on Newegg. An HD6570 is about equivalent to a GT 240, and you can get one with 2GB of DDR3 for $60 with free shipping and a $10 MIR.
Posts
skyrim/tor/me3 all load super fast though
Background:
I've got one of these that I want to throw in an old machine to have a second computer that can run WoW/L4D/whatever old game that my woman and I might want to play together on random occasions. The machine it would be going into is a Frankenstein's monster of old parts and odd ends, with the monster's skeleton being an old Dell case, mobo, and power supply. After doing some research, the motherboard appears to be specifically compatible with the card based on other folks' testing, and it thankfully uses a standard 20 pin instead of some weird proprietary Dell bullshit connector. So I'm looking for an ATX size power supply that supports this card, all molex connectors, no SATA, and I'm typically seeing recs on 450-500 watts.
Problem:
So, I've seen like two power supplies online that had this exact connector position and no hard power switch. And neither were in stock. And I'm guessing that if I do find some in stock, I'm not going to be able to cherry pick a reputable brand. Does anybody know anything about this physical design aspect of power supplies? Is there a resource for identifying units that will fit in the grill? Should I gamble on whatever unit I can find, because this is a bootleg old backup machine? Or should I buy a decent, well-recommended PSU and take the tin snips to that grill? Is that potentially dangerous?
Extra credit:
I need to grab a keyboard and surge protector for this thing. I'm thinking a Logitech K120 or K200 will get the job done for a backup machine, unless anyone knows of any glaring issues with those keyboards. No idea on what I'm looking for in a surge protector. Not expensive, but not a deceptively cheap piece of plastic that's not actually doing anything except splitting the outlet either, I guess.
If it helps, I'm on an Asus P5Q Pro motherboard and running 4GB of PC2 6400 DDR2.
Also, if I try to do error-checking (which I'm not sure is even what I want here), it says it has to dismount it, and when I tell it to do so, it appears to do nothing.
So, uh, suggestions?
Like Cardboard Delusions, thats super similar to the system I had (E8400 and a 4850, same mobo though) prior to the one Im using now. If youre planning to build a computer in the long term, you could always start by buying a new video card since you can get some use out of that now. I grabbed a GTX 570 and OCd my processor to 3.6Ghz, and while the GPU was definitely bottlenecked by the CPU I still saw a pretty nice performance bump.
BIOSTAR TP67XE (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model
OCZ ZS Series 650W 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
Also got a DVD-RW drive, and a case.
How long is Arctic Silver good for, in the tube? I've got a bunch leftover from when I did my computer, but if it's bad by now, I'll order some more.
What I should I be looking at for processors, assuming this is going to be mostly for web browsing and such? Is an i3 worth it, or should I be hitting more like a Celeron or Pentium?
Also, is there anything else I'm missing? I really don't want to show up and not have some vital piece that I need to put their computer together. They already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
If it's more than a couple of months though, I'll probably just pull the trigger. I don't really believe in waiting months on end for new tech.
"3D sound" or not doesn't really matter to me, honestly I feel as if it's a bit of a gimmick. And even if it's not, I doubt I could make much use of it without an appropriate soundcard (I'm dealing with on-board at the moment, but I may be upgrading later on and a decent soundcard might be part of it). Feel free to suggest it anyway if you want, I have little knowledge on this area.
What I'm generally seeking isn't anything really fancy to be honest.
- Price range of up to maybe £60 (I might go for more if it's a small increase for a big increase in quality)
- Solid build quality (I don't intend for it to be banging around, but my last headset started having its foam cups coming off after maybe a few months)
- Good sound (makes me happy when things go DAKKADAKKADAKKA etc.)
- Decent quality mic (so I don't sound like your ears underwater. During a hailstorm)
Any recommendations? Because at the moment, all I'm looking at are these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Labs-70GH012000004-Blaster-Headset/dp/B00432SY4K/
And that's because they were part of the PCGamer reasonably priced "rig" they're building.
There will probably be SOMETHING unexpected that you forget. In my case, it was a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter for the SSD. Always something...
It means no new headset or external speakers for a while, but the pain was so bad it was a priority.
Prioritizing health over new toys, who even does that
(i desperately need a new chair)
This is my case. The SSD and the DVD-RW drive are the only things going into the drive slots. Should be fine, right?
As long as your SSD came with a 3.5" -> 2.5" adapter, or your case supports both 2.5" and 3.5" drives out of the box, you'll be fine.
e: Checking your case on Newegg, it only lists 3.5" and doesn't mention 2.5" compatibility. That said, most SSD's these days come with the little adapter bracket.
I've never seen a case that actually has 2.5" bays, though I expect that will change as SSDs become more standard.
Pretty much any HSF that comes stock with whatever CPU you decide to get will have TIM pre-applied. So there's no need for the AS5.
If the optical drive is really old, you probably want to double-check that it's a SATA connection and not an IDE (that's something alot of people overlook when they're planning on reusing an ODD).
You don't have an HDD or SDD listed anywhere. Assuming your parents won't be storing a ton of music, movies, or pictures, I want to suggest something like a 120GB OCZ Agility 3. For a general use computer, an SDD is by far the single most noticeable upgrade you can make. But I know it's also kinda hard to justify the cost for this kind of system.
That PSU is MASSIVE overkill for a general use system. I'm running an i3-2100/560Ti system with a Corsair CX600, so you'll be fine if you go with something like the Corsair CX500.
You can't go wrong with an i3-2100. But Tom's Hardware give the Pentium G630 their "Best Gaming CPU for ~$80" and the G860 their "Best Gaming CPU for ~$100". You can see the benchmark comparison in their "Picking a Sub-$200 Gaming CPU" article. tl;dr: For a web browsing / email checking system, I think you'd be fine with either of them (or really any of the Sandy Bridge Pentiums).
The Corsair 500R I just ordered has 3.5" bays, but one of it's listed features is that all those 3.5" bays are 2.5" compatible without an adapter, so it is becoming standard.
The "3.5" bay that can hold 2.5" drives" will be the standard for a while, until 3.5" drives basically aren't available through retail channels anymore.
And that article is perfect, thanks for the recommendations!
Any suggestions on a video card? Really, the cheaper the better.
You want to be able to play some games, right? The lowest end card anyone really recommends are the 5770/6770 cards. For $100 (after MIR) you can get this 6770 from XFX with a lifetime warranty. Although if you're desperate to spend less than that for a GPU that will rarely be needed, this HIS 6750 is only $90 and this XFX 5750 (again with a lifetime warranty) is also $90 with a $10 MIR. I'm sure they'll be just fine for alot of less demanding games.
The only integrated graphics that breaks this trend is some of the new AMD APU stuff, but even those aren't exactly high end graphics...just better than your average Intel integrated solution.
Actually, I played Mass Effect 3 with a GT 240, which I think sells for $30-40 nowadays, and it played just fine.
My question is how much potential for longevity cutting is there realistically for small voltage boosts, something like 1.325v (stock) to 1.35-1.40v? Are we talking like 6 months off of 10 years, or what?
For the sake of my question assume heat is not an issue, because this thing idles in the teens and barely hits like 26C at load.
They're actually $55-$60 for refurbished units on Newegg. An HD6570 is about equivalent to a GT 240, and you can get one with 2GB of DDR3 for $60 with free shipping and a $10 MIR.