I think you're the ideal candidate for this thread, as I walked in here with absolutely no knowledge of anything and the guys here really helped me out. I'm sure you'll have a solid build by the end of the day and then something perfect for your needs by the end of the week.
You're only looking to game on a single display right? I'm assuming the big one. List out the specs of your current system (be specific about parts if you can) and let us see what you're working with. Is your case salvageable? PSU? Etc. You mentioned the PSU seems to be "wearing out", so I'm assuming it's old, but all the monies that we can save means all the more power you get out of the new rig.
Do you want to / care about over clocking? How heavy of a Photoshop user are you (does your current system feel slow in Photoshop / Illustrator. Do you do a lot of rendering type activities?)
Yeah, for gaming I like just the single display for the game and the other display available for doing whatever else.
The case would be salvageable but I'm planning to continue using it with the old tech not carried over for other experimentation with network shared sorts of things and such. It's a fine case, but a little older now, it does not like holding my SSD drive.
I'm going to say the only things salvageable from the old machine are:
Hard drives: 128 SSD and a Striped Raid drive config using 3 drives.
Video card: nVidia GTX 560 (I wouldn't mind just using this until more monies can be saved up for some monster card as well if deemed the intelligent move)
Peripherals: Keyboard, mouse, wacom, monitors, webcam, all set.
OS: Windows 7 key can just move over to this one, any experimenting on the old machine will be in Linux for the time being.
Edit:: Speakers: I have one of the Logitech 5.1 setups.
I don't care about over clocking really, except for I understand the unlocked Intel processors are pretty easy to do now. The last time I did overclocking I was bringing Pentium 90 up to 120 and nearly frying them haha. So things have changed so maybe I would like to do it now, but again, I'm not looking for that.
My Adobe forrays can get sluggish as my work and hobbies tend to have many layers. Rendering kept to minimum of 2d applications, such as HDR merging and other photo processing whatnot, which I feel like is sluggish on my current setup. I might be just expecting too much from things though. No hours long 3d video rendering in the foreseeable future though.
Ok, Computer Build Thread, mount up. It's time to ride into the great beyond with me.
I have 700 USD, give or take $100 to build my shiny new gaming rig.
Notes to consider, I play everything, including FPS, RTS, processor intense simulators, and yes of course Deeorblo 3. I can salvage my 128 SSD and 2TB raid array from my previous build. I also have any and all peripherals including my Wacom for my photoshopping and illustratoring. Oh yeah, I do that stuff regularly too. I'm set for monitors too, I'd like the machine to push well onto my 2560x1600 30" primary and the 24" 1200p secondary. If necessary and wise from the Computer Build Thread, I can also salvage the recently acquired as upgrade for cheap nVidia GTX 560. Not Ti, but was a nice upgrade for this machine.
My reason for a new machine is probably primarily just that geek need to have something new and shiny, but the old machine at it's core is about 4 years old and the processor, mobo, and power supply all seem to be wearing out before what I would like their time to be. But mostly I just like building computers and generally do it on my own but feel like I make poor decisions for value and most up to date tech.
Am I helpable?
I also got the warning for the 2x4GB Samsung sticks, and I recommend you buy them now before they vanish! I have 16 GB of the stuff and it is fantastic when I'm trying to sling 80 layers in a 5kx30k .PSD. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096
So buy that ram now, before it's too late? Can I get a confirmation on that, because I'm slightly impulsive with online purchasing and am trying to be better. Haha.
You're only looking to game on a single display right? I'm assuming the big one. List out the specs of your current system (be specific about parts if you can) and let us see what you're working with. Is your case salvageable? PSU? Etc. You mentioned the PSU seems to be "wearing out", so I'm assuming it's old, but all the monies that we can save means all the more power you get out of the new rig.
Do you want to / care about over clocking? How heavy of a Photoshop user are you (does your current system feel slow in Photoshop / Illustrator. Do you do a lot of rendering type activities?)
Yeah, for gaming I like just the single display for the game and the other display available for doing whatever else.
The case would be salvageable but I'm planning to continue using it with the old tech not carried over for other experimentation with network shared sorts of things and such. It's a fine case, but a little older now, it does not like holding my SSD drive.
I'm going to say the only things salvageable from the old machine are:
Hard drives: 128 SSD and a Striped Raid drive config using 3 drives.
Video card: nVidia GTX 560 (I wouldn't mind just using this until more monies can be saved up for some monster card as well if deemed the intelligent move)
Peripherals: Keyboard, mouse, wacom, monitors, webcam, all set.
OS: Windows 7 key can just move over to this one, any experimenting on the old machine will be in Linux for the time being.
Edit:: Speakers: I have one of the Logitech 5.1 setups.
I don't care about over clocking really, except for I understand the unlocked Intel processors are pretty easy to do now. The last time I did overclocking I was bringing Pentium 90 up to 120 and nearly frying them haha. So things have changed so maybe I would like to do it now, but again, I'm not looking for that.
My Adobe forrays can get sluggish as my work and hobbies tend to have many layers. Rendering kept to minimum of 2d applications, such as HDR merging and other photo processing whatnot, which I feel like is sluggish on my current setup. I might be just expecting too much from things though. No hours long 3d video rendering in the foreseeable future though.
edit for speakers that I forgot about.
If you want to keep your old system as intact as possible then keeping your 560 is probably the best move. We could probably build you a system that's a screamer for games @ $700, but that'd be based around an i3 and it sounds like you could use the extra processing power since you like to shop pixels etc.
The 2500k is a Sandy Bridge proc, but it overclocks easier. For what you do, an i7 could make sense but not really at the price you want to spend. You could probably make use of 16GB of RAM, but start with 8 and work your way up.
As for a case, that's to your taste. Lots of love for Corsairs around here. The total is $519 shipped + taxed to CA, then a $20 MIR for the PSU -- so I'd say that leaves you a good $80-100 for a case and then some money leftover to save for a GFX card upgrade down the road. I'm assuming you don't need an optical drive. If you do, add $18 for a SATA DVD burner.
My friend wants help building a rig for heavy Maya and Photoshop about 1k budget.
Thinking Asus Z77, i7 and a 7870, We'll sit down and figure out the case, psu and such... should he get 16g of RAM or is 8 enough? Also anyone have a better suggestion for those core parts? Also, I'm suggesting AMD over NVIDIA for the computing power that I've seen the reviews are better than the two newest GTX cards, is this wise?
So buy that ram now, before it's too late? Can I get a confirmation on that, because I'm slightly impulsive with online purchasing and am trying to be better. Haha.
In my opinion, it is the best RAM for the price on the market. I have my 4x4 GB sticks running at 2133 Mhz @ 1.5V. It just came back in stock today so I assume you'll have a decent sized window to work with time wise, but that's the RAM I'd buy given the choice.
If you want to keep your old system as intact as possible then keeping your 560 is probably the best move. We could probably build you a system that's a screamer for games @ $700, but that'd be based around an i3 and it sounds like you could use the extra processing power since you like to shop pixels etc.
The 2500k is a Sandy Bridge proc, but it overclocks easier. For what you do, an i7 could make sense but not really at the price you want to spend. You could probably make use of 16GB of RAM, but start with 8 and work your way up.
As for a case, that's to your taste. Lots of love for Corsairs around here. The total is $519 shipped + taxed to CA, then a $20 MIR for the PSU -- so I'd say that leaves you a good $80-100 for a case and then some money leftover to save for a GFX card upgrade down the road. I'm assuming you don't need an optical drive. If you do, add $18 for a SATA DVD burner.
Thanks for the insights there. The link is just taking me to the wish list area and saying the list is empty.
Forgive me, what is "MIR"?
And, no, I've lived sans internal optical drive in my desktop for many years now. Thank goodness.
0
minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
MIR = Mail In Rebate
Everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty
So, I recently upgraded my video card to a HD 7770 in an attempt to not have to upgrade my 300w power supply in my HP Pavillion M7790e Media Center PC (2.4 ghz dual core AMD processor, 4gb RAM) hoping to turn a couple of games from playable to PS3 quality or so (most notably iRacing and NBA2k12). All went well, but there's virtually no difference in performance given my lame CPU.
I really don't want to spend more than a couple hundred dollars (maybe less if I could find some used parts). In addition to those games, something that can run things like Skyrim (eventually for the mods) or even Diablo III at decent (not great) settings would be nice.
So, I have a few questions.
1) I'd like to keep my case, which means I'll need a micro ATX motherboard. Suggestions for budget boards/processors/memory?
3) If I remove the guts (motherboard, processor, etc.) and use my current hard drive, will I have to reinstall Vista 64 bit? How does it work to install a different processor?
4) Given that I'm replacing basically everything but the case, and the hard drive (and the video card I bought, which I could send back if people have another suggestion for around $130 now that power supply isn't limiting stuff) would I be better off just starting fresh on a bigger case that's easier to work on?
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
On the subject of mechanical keyboards, n key rollover sounds great in practice "Hell yeah, I want N keys!"...but it's actually almost meaningless for most people. Six is generally enough, and the twenty of the K90 is more than enough.
I ordered my SSD from Amazon.com four days ago and I took the usual "5-8 business days it shows up whenever the hell it feels like" option for shipping.
Normally this still ships the next day and then it ends up in my hands 3-4 days later.
For some reason, they still haven't shipped the damn thing. So I called Amazon.com and the guy was like "You selected 8 business days, it'll be there in that time frame." But, good old Julius was able to apply the new, lower, $189.99 price to save me 10 bucks.
Still a pain in the ass, because amazon.com has a big warehouse in Edison, NJ so I probably could have driven and picked it up myself already if that's where it was coming from.
I am in the business of saving lives.
0
minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
edited June 2012
Man, if you haven't ponied up for Amazon Prime yet, you're missing out.
Yes, it's $75 a year, but I've saved hundreds in shipping fees.
minor incident on
Everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty
I avoid Prime for the very fact that my Amazon purchase frequency would go way up if I had it...
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
0
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited June 2012
Honestly, you only need to order one or two moderately heavy items to have it basically pay for itself. I got it last year because I ordered a TV that had Prime on it. That one thing alone saved me the cost of Prime.
I got my Prime initially for free for a year as a student, then last year got to re-up it for only $39. Paid for itself many times over, will be renewing again when it comes up in a month whether it's $40 or $80.
If youre a student you should be able to get another couple of free years, or maybe its another couple of years (total of 4) at $39? Regardless, totally worth it, even if its caused me to spend more money on Amazon.
1. For the PSU, is 550W adequate for the future demands of the bigger/better/faster graphics card? Or would a higher W just be frivolous?
2. Is there a reason to get a stand-alone sound card and not use the motherboard built-in?
3. Is there a reason to not just get the least expensive of the Corsair cases on Newegg there. Are they large enough for the bloated video cards?
4. I think that's all for now...
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
edited June 2012
1. 550 watts will cover any single video card for now and the foreseeable future, at least. you may want to jump up to 750 or so if you have serious plans to run two GPUs in SLI/Crossfire. Otherwise, don't worry, it's probably frivolous.
2. For most people, no. I do run a sound card because I'm a bit of a crazy person about audio quality. I like the lower noise on a discrete card, and the card I use has a built in headphone amp for driving high-end 'phones and it supports Dolby Headphone for awesome virtual 7.1 surround mixing to stereo headphones. Unless these things sound VITAL to you, onboard sound is generally very good otherwise. If you're considering a sound card, don't bother with anything cheaper than like $150, because onboard sound will be just as good.
3. Every Corsair case I've ever seen has been solid. Quality builds all around. Even their smaller midtower cases should accommodate at least one bigass video card just fine.
minor incident on
Everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty
1. For the PSU, is 550W adequate for the future demands of the bigger/better/faster graphics card? Or would a higher W just be frivolous?
2. Is there a reason to get a stand-alone sound card and not use the motherboard built-in?
3. Is there a reason to not just get the least expensive of the Corsair cases on Newegg there. Are they large enough for the bloated video cards?
4. I think that's all for now...
1. Yes, unless you want to get crazy and start running 3-way SLI sillines. A reasonably efficient 550 watt PSU should be more than enough, but you can probably get a just-as-nice 650watt on sale if you keep your eyes peeled.
2. Integrated audio has come lightyears since you probably last remember it. Will you get better sound from an $80 sound card? Yes. Will you be able to tell the difference on your Logitech 5.1 system that cost under $200? Nope. Not to talk smack about your Logitech system, some of my favorite multimedia systems are Logitechs -- it's just that the cost does not justify the results, in my opinion, until you really get into the high end of things.
3. What is the cheapest Corsair case? Or rather, what were you thinking?
And from the sounds of it, I am not willing to pay the premium for upgraded speakers and sound card to make enough of a difference, so yeah, I'll stay with the on-board and my good ol' Logitechs.
The $80+10shipping one on Newegg here or the $100+free shipping here.
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Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
Only real reason to need 20 key rollover is if you are face rolling your keyboard.
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
And from the sounds of it, I am not willing to pay the premium for upgraded speakers and sound card to make enough of a difference, so yeah, I'll stay with the on-board and my good ol' Logitechs.
The $80+10shipping one on Newegg here or the $100+free shipping here.
The Carbide series gets a lot of love here, there's no reason that I know of why you wouldn't be totally happy with either of those cases.
But you should really shop around a bit. Cases are the outward physical expression of your rig and there are a lot of great choices in the under $100 price range. Here are some recs that I stole mostly from TheCanMan:
Edit: Also, man, no CM 690 II love in this thread. Best case of all cases if you're looking for a mid tower. Most corsair midtowers are xbox huge.
I saw one of those in a Microcenter recently and it actually stopped me in my tracks. Really like how that case looks. Should totally be on the candidate list.
1. 550 watts will cover any single video card for now and the foreseeable future, at least. you may want to jump up to 750 or so if you have serious plans to run two GPUs in SLI/Crossfire. Otherwise, don't worry, it's probably frivolous.
Honestly I'd jump up to a 650-750w PSU just to be able to cover any future graphic card needs as well as to make sure your covered from any overrating the PSU has.
Also is he anywhere near a microcenter? Because they've got 3570k's for like $183 right now.
1. 550 watts will cover any single video card for now and the foreseeable future, at least. you may want to jump up to 750 or so if you have serious plans to run two GPUs in SLI/Crossfire. Otherwise, don't worry, it's probably frivolous.
Honestly I'd jump up to a 650-750w PSU just to be able to cover any future graphic card needs as well as to make sure your covered from any overrating the PSU has.
Also is he anywhere near a microcenter? Because they've got 3570k's for like $183 right now.
Denver is closest for me. But that's a 2+hour drive one-way. So unless I can time a visit to some friends as well, it's probably not cost effective, unfortunately.
1. 550 watts will cover any single video card for now and the foreseeable future, at least. you may want to jump up to 750 or so if you have serious plans to run two GPUs in SLI/Crossfire. Otherwise, don't worry, it's probably frivolous.
Honestly I'd jump up to a 650-750w PSU just to be able to cover any future graphic card needs as well as to make sure your covered from any overrating the PSU has.
Also is he anywhere near a microcenter? Because they've got 3570k's for like $183 right now.
Denver is closest for me. But that's a 2+hour drive one-way. So unless I can time a visit to some friends as well, it's probably not cost effective, unfortunately.
Ah well then your in the same boat I'm in, stare longly at the MicroCenter cocktease flyers.
I'll toss together a build later tonight, but its going to be somewhat similar to whats already been suggested with a few small changes.
iRevert on
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
Did some shopping today. Picked up a second GTX 670. Because, hey, when you're crazy, you might as well be full-crazy.
Also grabbed an ITX motherboard. Hopefully by the time that BitFenix Prodigy is available to order, I'll have all my parts together. So far I've got the motherboard, 8 gigs of RAM, a 2tb hard drive, a spare optical drive, and I'll probably put in either a 6950 or a 560 that I have laying around. I just need to pick up a PSU, a CPU (probably one of Microcenter's cheapass i5 deals), and a small SSD.
Everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty
Did some shopping today. Picked up a second GTX 670. Because, hey, when you're crazy, you might as well be full-crazy.
Also grabbed an ITX motherboard. Hopefully by the time that BitFenix Prodigy is available to order, I'll have all my parts together. So far I've got the motherboard, 8 gigs of RAM, a 2tb hard drive, a spare optical drive, and I'll probably put in either a 6950 or a 560 that I have laying around. I just need to pick up a PSU, a CPU (probably one of Microcenter's cheapass i5 deals), and a small SSD.
Man, watching you put together this thing is totally going to end with me spending way too much money on a 2nd small computer. I had grand designs for buying a cheap case and putting my old E8400/560 Ti in it, but now I'm thinking of going full hog i5/670 yet again.
0
minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
Did some shopping today. Picked up a second GTX 670. Because, hey, when you're crazy, you might as well be full-crazy.
Also grabbed an ITX motherboard. Hopefully by the time that BitFenix Prodigy is available to order, I'll have all my parts together. So far I've got the motherboard, 8 gigs of RAM, a 2tb hard drive, a spare optical drive, and I'll probably put in either a 6950 or a 560 that I have laying around. I just need to pick up a PSU, a CPU (probably one of Microcenter's cheapass i5 deals), and a small SSD.
Man, watching you put together this thing is totally going to end with me spending way too much money on a 2nd small computer. I had grand designs for buying a cheap case and putting my old E8400/560 Ti in it, but now I'm thinking of going full hog i5/670 yet again.
It's going to be so much fun to put this thing together. I can't wait. Looking forward to gaming on a 46" screen, too. With better-than-console graphics, that is.
Everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty
Did some shopping today. Picked up a second GTX 670. Because, hey, when you're crazy, you might as well be full-crazy.
Also grabbed an ITX motherboard. Hopefully by the time that BitFenix Prodigy is available to order, I'll have all my parts together. So far I've got the motherboard, 8 gigs of RAM, a 2tb hard drive, a spare optical drive, and I'll probably put in either a 6950 or a 560 that I have laying around. I just need to pick up a PSU, a CPU (probably one of Microcenter's cheapass i5 deals), and a small SSD.
Man, watching you put together this thing is totally going to end with me spending way too much money on a 2nd small computer. I had grand designs for buying a cheap case and putting my old E8400/560 Ti in it, but now I'm thinking of going full hog i5/670 yet again.
It's going to be so much fun to put this thing together. I can't wait. Looking forward to gaming on a 46" screen, too. With better-than-console graphics, that is.
You have problems. You're on the Diablo loot-treadmill of PC-building experiences. I feel like we should have some kind of intervention.
I guess I should go through my Steam games. There's only a limited number of games I can think of on there I'd even being willing to play on a game-pad, but if I find enough, or get a real desire to get my emulator on, maybe I'll have to put together a badder HTPC then I was first planning on.
As for the Prodigy, as interesting as it is, Anandtech reviewed it and noted that it can be kind of a pain in the ass to build in, and that you have to be very careful about the PSU you use, because if it's more than 140mm long (I believe that's the number they mentioned) and modular, you may or may not be able to get it to fit in the allotted area.
Posts
Yeah, for gaming I like just the single display for the game and the other display available for doing whatever else.
The case would be salvageable but I'm planning to continue using it with the old tech not carried over for other experimentation with network shared sorts of things and such. It's a fine case, but a little older now, it does not like holding my SSD drive.
I'm going to say the only things salvageable from the old machine are:
Hard drives: 128 SSD and a Striped Raid drive config using 3 drives.
Video card: nVidia GTX 560 (I wouldn't mind just using this until more monies can be saved up for some monster card as well if deemed the intelligent move)
Peripherals: Keyboard, mouse, wacom, monitors, webcam, all set.
OS: Windows 7 key can just move over to this one, any experimenting on the old machine will be in Linux for the time being.
Edit:: Speakers: I have one of the Logitech 5.1 setups.
I don't care about over clocking really, except for I understand the unlocked Intel processors are pretty easy to do now. The last time I did overclocking I was bringing Pentium 90 up to 120 and nearly frying them haha. So things have changed so maybe I would like to do it now, but again, I'm not looking for that.
My Adobe forrays can get sluggish as my work and hobbies tend to have many layers. Rendering kept to minimum of 2d applications, such as HDR merging and other photo processing whatnot, which I feel like is sluggish on my current setup. I might be just expecting too much from things though. No hours long 3d video rendering in the foreseeable future though.
edit for speakers that I forgot about.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
I also got the warning for the 2x4GB Samsung sticks, and I recommend you buy them now before they vanish! I have 16 GB of the stuff and it is fantastic when I'm trying to sling 80 layers in a 5kx30k .PSD. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096
If you want to keep your old system as intact as possible then keeping your 560 is probably the best move. We could probably build you a system that's a screamer for games @ $700, but that'd be based around an i3 and it sounds like you could use the extra processing power since you like to shop pixels etc.
Here's my take on a start: https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=19528132
The 2500k is a Sandy Bridge proc, but it overclocks easier. For what you do, an i7 could make sense but not really at the price you want to spend. You could probably make use of 16GB of RAM, but start with 8 and work your way up.
As for a case, that's to your taste. Lots of love for Corsairs around here. The total is $519 shipped + taxed to CA, then a $20 MIR for the PSU -- so I'd say that leaves you a good $80-100 for a case and then some money leftover to save for a GFX card upgrade down the road. I'm assuming you don't need an optical drive. If you do, add $18 for a SATA DVD burner.
Thinking Asus Z77, i7 and a 7870, We'll sit down and figure out the case, psu and such... should he get 16g of RAM or is 8 enough? Also anyone have a better suggestion for those core parts? Also, I'm suggesting AMD over NVIDIA for the computing power that I've seen the reviews are better than the two newest GTX cards, is this wise?
In my opinion, it is the best RAM for the price on the market. I have my 4x4 GB sticks running at 2133 Mhz @ 1.5V. It just came back in stock today so I assume you'll have a decent sized window to work with time wise, but that's the RAM I'd buy given the choice.
Thanks for the insights there. The link is just taking me to the wish list area and saying the list is empty.
Forgive me, what is "MIR"?
And, no, I've lived sans internal optical drive in my desktop for many years now. Thank goodness.
I really don't want to spend more than a couple hundred dollars (maybe less if I could find some used parts). In addition to those games, something that can run things like Skyrim (eventually for the mods) or even Diablo III at decent (not great) settings would be nice.
So, I have a few questions.
1) I'd like to keep my case, which means I'll need a micro ATX motherboard. Suggestions for budget boards/processors/memory?
2) Power supply. I'm looking at a http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-ModXStream-Modular-Performance-compatible/dp/B001EYV690/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1339011126&sr=1-2 but I'm wondering with this mid-tower case will that work??
3) If I remove the guts (motherboard, processor, etc.) and use my current hard drive, will I have to reinstall Vista 64 bit? How does it work to install a different processor?
4) Given that I'm replacing basically everything but the case, and the hard drive (and the video card I bought, which I could send back if people have another suggestion for around $130 now that power supply isn't limiting stuff) would I be better off just starting fresh on a bigger case that's easier to work on?
Here is the spec sheet for my current comp. http://h10010.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&destPage=document&desc=SeeAlso&docname=c01047373
Normally this still ships the next day and then it ends up in my hands 3-4 days later.
For some reason, they still haven't shipped the damn thing. So I called Amazon.com and the guy was like "You selected 8 business days, it'll be there in that time frame." But, good old Julius was able to apply the new, lower, $189.99 price to save me 10 bucks.
Still a pain in the ass, because amazon.com has a big warehouse in Edison, NJ so I probably could have driven and picked it up myself already if that's where it was coming from.
Yes, it's $75 a year, but I've saved hundreds in shipping fees.
I am thinking about re-establishing it with my bachelor's edu address
It's $79 a year, just to be picky...and still worth every penny. Mine just re-upped yesterday in fact.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
Thanks. So here's a couple questions.
1. For the PSU, is 550W adequate for the future demands of the bigger/better/faster graphics card? Or would a higher W just be frivolous?
2. Is there a reason to get a stand-alone sound card and not use the motherboard built-in?
3. Is there a reason to not just get the least expensive of the Corsair cases on Newegg there. Are they large enough for the bloated video cards?
4. I think that's all for now...
2. For most people, no. I do run a sound card because I'm a bit of a crazy person about audio quality. I like the lower noise on a discrete card, and the card I use has a built in headphone amp for driving high-end 'phones and it supports Dolby Headphone for awesome virtual 7.1 surround mixing to stereo headphones. Unless these things sound VITAL to you, onboard sound is generally very good otherwise. If you're considering a sound card, don't bother with anything cheaper than like $150, because onboard sound will be just as good.
3. Every Corsair case I've ever seen has been solid. Quality builds all around. Even their smaller midtower cases should accommodate at least one bigass video card just fine.
1. Yes, unless you want to get crazy and start running 3-way SLI sillines. A reasonably efficient 550 watt PSU should be more than enough, but you can probably get a just-as-nice 650watt on sale if you keep your eyes peeled.
2. Integrated audio has come lightyears since you probably last remember it. Will you get better sound from an $80 sound card? Yes. Will you be able to tell the difference on your Logitech 5.1 system that cost under $200? Nope. Not to talk smack about your Logitech system, some of my favorite multimedia systems are Logitechs -- it's just that the cost does not justify the results, in my opinion, until you really get into the high end of things.
3. What is the cheapest Corsair case? Or rather, what were you thinking?
4. Keep 'em coming.
And from the sounds of it, I am not willing to pay the premium for upgraded speakers and sound card to make enough of a difference, so yeah, I'll stay with the on-board and my good ol' Logitechs.
The $80+10shipping one on Newegg here or the $100+free shipping here.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
The Carbide series gets a lot of love here, there's no reason that I know of why you wouldn't be totally happy with either of those cases.
But you should really shop around a bit. Cases are the outward physical expression of your rig and there are a lot of great choices in the under $100 price range. Here are some recs that I stole mostly from TheCanMan:
Nicer range (like the 300R):
Fractal Design Core 3000 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352010
NZXT Crafted Series Tempest 410 Elite - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146080&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Cases (Computer Cases - ATX Form)-_-NZXT-_-11146080&AID=10440897&PID=3938566&SID=
The cheapies:
Zalman Z9 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235027
NZXT Source 210 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146075&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Cases (Computer Cases - ATX Form)-_-NZXT-_-11146075&AID=10440897&PID=3938566&SID=
Antec Three Hundred - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 (WARNING: there is a little bit of hate for the 300 on this thread, but it's very popular)
Thermaltake V3 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094
Rosewill Challenger - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
However, if you don't care and just want a nice case you can't go wrong with the 300R.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
My black widow has like, 2 key rollover outside of the WASD box and it has never once mattered. Anything over 6 is basically pointless.
Edit: Also, man, no CM 690 II love in this thread. Best case of all cases if you're looking for a mid tower. Most corsair midtowers are xbox huge.
I saw one of those in a Microcenter recently and it actually stopped me in my tracks. Really like how that case looks. Should totally be on the candidate list.
Honestly I'd jump up to a 650-750w PSU just to be able to cover any future graphic card needs as well as to make sure your covered from any overrating the PSU has.
Also is he anywhere near a microcenter? Because they've got 3570k's for like $183 right now.
Denver is closest for me. But that's a 2+hour drive one-way. So unless I can time a visit to some friends as well, it's probably not cost effective, unfortunately.
Ah well then your in the same boat I'm in, stare longly at the MicroCenter cocktease flyers.
I'll toss together a build later tonight, but its going to be somewhat similar to whats already been suggested with a few small changes.
Also grabbed an ITX motherboard. Hopefully by the time that BitFenix Prodigy is available to order, I'll have all my parts together. So far I've got the motherboard, 8 gigs of RAM, a 2tb hard drive, a spare optical drive, and I'll probably put in either a 6950 or a 560 that I have laying around. I just need to pick up a PSU, a CPU (probably one of Microcenter's cheapass i5 deals), and a small SSD.
Man, watching you put together this thing is totally going to end with me spending way too much money on a 2nd small computer. I had grand designs for buying a cheap case and putting my old E8400/560 Ti in it, but now I'm thinking of going full hog i5/670 yet again.
It's going to be so much fun to put this thing together. I can't wait. Looking forward to gaming on a 46" screen, too. With better-than-console graphics, that is.
You have problems. You're on the Diablo loot-treadmill of PC-building experiences. I feel like we should have some kind of intervention.
I guess I should go through my Steam games. There's only a limited number of games I can think of on there I'd even being willing to play on a game-pad, but if I find enough, or get a real desire to get my emulator on, maybe I'll have to put together a badder HTPC then I was first planning on.
As for the Prodigy, as interesting as it is, Anandtech reviewed it and noted that it can be kind of a pain in the ass to build in, and that you have to be very careful about the PSU you use, because if it's more than 140mm long (I believe that's the number they mentioned) and modular, you may or may not be able to get it to fit in the allotted area.
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