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[Computer Build Thread] - The thread is going down! Abandon thread, abandon thread!

AlectharAlecthar Alan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered User regular
Welcome to the Penny Arcade Computer Build Thread!
Visit the Blog!

Welcome to the PC Build Thread, where we don't judge you for spending way too much money on printed circuit boards. Except when we do.

More seriously, the PC build thread exists to provide a resource for PAers who want to build their own computers. We provide advice about component choice, shopping for components, assembling the PC itself, and even a little bit of troubleshooting for new builds, if you're having issues. We also talk about new and interesting components and even dabble in talk about peripherals (mice, keyboards, sometimes speakers and monitors). The thread has a companion blog used to keep a lot of more in-depth informational posts on specific component choices and the like.

The natural question at this point is probably "Why should I build my own computer when I could just have a bunch of underpaid assembly line workers do it for me?" There are a number of answers to that question:
  • Knowledge: Building your own computer is a learning experience. To start with, you'll probably end up doing a lot of research on the current state of consumer computing hardware, along with learning a bit about how various computer components work within a complete system. You'll also gain valuable knowledge about the actual assembly of a PC, something that definitely comes in handy if you find yourself doing family tech support.
  • Quality: PCs from companies like Dell and HP are built cheaply. Sometimes this isn't a huge issue. Intel, for example, doesn't sell a separate "from the junk pile" line of CPUs. Hard drives are generally of fairly consistent quality among manufacturers. However, depending on the PC, you may end up with a fairly anemic, or even cruddy, generic PSU, along with motherboards that are generally pretty limited in their flexibility and feature-set, and don't even get me started on the cases they use. Building your own PC gives you complete control over the quality of the components you use.
  • Flexibility: A prebuilt PC sometimes comes with proprietary components, or in a case with a proprietary form factor with a weird sized PSU. When you build your own PC, you can select the components with an eye towards whatever degree of flexibility or upgrade-ability you deem appropriate. Because retail component design adheres to certain standards, you end up with a more modular system that can be changed more easily.
  • Value: If all you need to do with a computer is browse the internet, consume media, and use productivity software like MS Office, there's admittedly little reason not to buy a pre-built machine. Building your own is usually more expensive than buying a complete system when you're talking about a relatively inexpensive machine. When it comes to a PC with real horsepower, though, manufacturers believe we're willing to pay a serious premium. Building your own Gaming (or Workstation) PC almost always saves you significant amounts of money in addition to the previously mentioned benefits.
If the benefits of building your own PC have convinced you to do so, you should ask yourself some questions. The answers to those questions should be included in your request in this thread, the more information we have about what you want and how much you're willing to pay to get it, the better the advice you'll get.
  • What kind of computer do you need? Maybe it's a standard gaming PC, or maybe you need an HTPC, or a Server, or even a serious Workstation.
  • What's your budget for this project?
  • What needs to be included in that budget? Do you need a monitor, keyboard and mouse to go with it? Are there components that don't need to be included because you're carrying something over from a previous PC?
  • What are your performance needs? For games, what resolution do you game at, and what kind of performance do you want to see there? For professional tasks, what are you doing and what kind of numbers would you like to see?
  • Do you have any partiality towards specific manufacturers, like Intel/AMD, AMD/NVIDIA, or perhaps specific vendors?
  • Do you have any specific needs? That is, are you looking for quiet operation, small form factor, significant upgrade-ability, or other specific features?

It's after you've answered those questions that the real fun begins. Below are some additional resources to help you out. Welcome to PC building!

Where to Buy:

US
There are a number of solid online purchasing options available to US consumers. My personal favorite is Newegg, though there are other options like Tiger Direct, and (of course) Amazon. Brick and mortar buyers can find some components at big box retailers like Best Buy and Fry's, though I've found that prices from online retailers are significantly better than these stores. The exception to that seems to be Microcenter, which often has great deals on processors and motherboards in particular.

Canada
A previous thread recommended strategy is price-matching through NCIX. Newegg also has a Canadian site you can purchase from.

UK
Online retailers in the UK include Ebuyer, which apparently has a wide selection of components, Novatech, which also does custom systems and apparently has some fans in UK PC forums, and dabs.com, a site recommend by our very own Big Isy, who cited their frequent free shipping/free game deals.

Australia
Our very own Tef put together a very thorough buying guide for Australians:
Tef wrote:
Online retailers (Australia-wide)
www.pccasegear.com - Based in Melbourne, these guys are as close to an Australian Newegg as you will find. PCcasegear are known for their reliable service and good RMA (returning faulty equipment) policies. They have a somewhat decent range of equipment, for Australia and while generally pretty cheap, there certainly are cheaper options out there. For people in Melbourne, you can also visit their store front and pick up the parts personally.

www.msy.com.au - A cheaper alternative to PCcasegear that is still reasonably reliable. MSY does suffer from a limited range and volume of stock on occasion. As of October 2011, they do not have a delivery system in place (in progress, according to MSY) so you will have to pick up the parts from their brick and mortar shops. Fortunately, they have numerous store fronts around the country, so finding one nearby shouldn't be too hard to do. Be aware that when you're shopping online make sure you set your store location to the store that you'll be picking the parts up from. MSY filter their displayed products based on what shop you've selected and it's very annoying to get to the checkout and realise all your parts are only available in far north Queensland.

Other Australia-based Online Retailers
www.mwave.com.au www.megabuy.com.au www.umart.com.au - These are some other notable budget PC shops. They'll ship anywhere domestically and are usually competitively priced. Do note that they're budget resellers (particularly in the case of megabuy) and their customer support and shipping status/timeframes may not always be as great as what you'll find from MSY/PCcasegear.

International Purchasing
An option exists to purchase parts overseas and ship them in yourself, thus avoiding the mark-up from Aussie vendors. www.priceusa.com.au is the only vendor the writer has experience with and therefore is the only one this writer is prepared to recommend with confidence. There are several caveats associated with international orders, namely that support/returns will be more difficult due to distances and there is a potential for longer lead-times on orders (though this is not always the case). Recommendations for overseas shipping would be that you don't order cases and possibly PSUs from overseas, as the associated hikes in shipping costs make this expensive (it should go without saying that you should do your own research on this point though, as it may be more cost effective depending on where you can buy domestically).

There also exists the option of organising a deal through the PA forums. This will be more difficult as it will require the forumer to takes reception of your goods and then ship them to you themselves. You will need to organise such a deal between yourselves and please be aware that this is an imposition on people and you certainly shouldn't expect people to firstly jump at the chance to help you out and secondly do this for you without some kind of repayment (*cough*steam wish lists*cough*). Moral of the story is that it may be an option for you, but don't count on it. It maybe be worth your while sending an extremely polite and well-written PM to the lovely JWashke (his PA forum handle) as he has mentioned that he MAY be available to help out his poor Australian brethren.

Purchase Support and Services
www.staticice.com.au and www.ausprices.com are two good price comparison sites that you can use to find who's selling what and for how much. The former is probably the highest quality of the two; just make sure you're looking at the Australian version (i.e. .au at the end)

While ostensibly a forum for PC overlockers, forums.overclockers.com.au has a surprisingly good quality sub forum relating to the state of PC part purchasing in Australia. They are a good location for solid advice on retailers (after PA, of course!). The author recommends against the Whirlpool forums, as their wiki isn't really up to date and the quality of posts is, shall we way, subpar. Their wikis and forums sections on networking and all things internet are fantastic, however, and are highly recommended for questions pertaining these matters.

Failing all that, send a mention or a PM towards Tef or chrishallett83, both Australian forumers, who are usually more than happy to offer advice.

Build Thread Component Guides:
Processors and Motherboards
Video Cards
Memory
HDDs and SSDs
PSUs and Cases

Good Online Resources:
Anandtech - A great site with in depth reviews on loads of tech.
Tom's Hardware - Not my favorite site in the world, but their monthly roundups of SSDs, CPUs, and GPUs are useful, and they have some good comparison tools.
[H]ardOCP - Solid PSU reviews, and also some solid motherboard and video card reviews.
jonnyguru - Basically some of the best PSU reviews out there.
Overclock.net - One of my favorite non-PA forums. There's loads and loads of good info here, from optimizing SSDs to overclocking to in-depth information on motherboard VRM setups.

Alecthar on
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Posts

  • mere_immortalmere_immortal So tasty!Registered User regular
    I've been watching a bunch of linustechtips videos while deciding on cases, dude is a good presenter.

    Steam: mere_immortal - PSN: mere_immortal - XBL: lego pencil - Wii U: mimmortal - 3DS: 1521-7234-1642 - Bordgamegeek: mere_immortal
  • AlectharAlecthar Alan Shore We're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered User regular
    He is. I actually went with the 600T for my current build based on some assembly videos he did with one.

  • PirusuPirusu Pierce Registered User regular
    Ahhhh...the fresh thread smell.

    I'm torn again. It's approaching the time when I wanted to buy my SSD (hooray, birthday gifts to self).

    After the Crimbo rush, the 256gb 840 Pro is no longer available for employee purchase. I gould get a 128gb for $118, the 512 is $411.84 (while nice, it's a bit more than I wanted to spend.)

    Or...the 250gb non-pro 840 is $166, or I could double it for $308.

  • AlectharAlecthar Alan Shore We're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered User regular
    I don't know how big the difference between the two is in real-world terms, but I think it really depends on what you're looking for. TLC NAND (triple level cell) is basically making its retail debut in the standard 840, and it's always an open question as to how any new SSD tech, be it controller or NAND, will fare in the wild.

    That said, 500GB of SSD for $308 is a really good deal. It's a tough call.

  • PirusuPirusu Pierce Registered User regular
    Yeah, that's basically the conclusion I came to. Ah well, more thinking. I'm honestly not tied to Samsung, either, so if it came down to proven performance, I'm fine looking at other drives. Just trying to maximize my dollar.

  • SageinaRageSageinaRage Registered User regular
    I don't know if this is the best place for this question, but it's technically about my next computer I'm building. Basically, should I get a new copy of windows 7 or 8? I won't be upgrading, so that won't factor in. It won't be a touch screen, and I don't really care about the metro interface. It will basically be for a gaming centric machine, and I want to know if there's anything in particular about the two os's that will make them better or worse for this. And also, are all copies of windows 8 the OEM type, where it can only be used on one machine ever? I'd much prefer splurging on one I can transfer if I upgrade again in a couple years.

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  • Atlas in ChainsAtlas in Chains Registered User regular
    Trying to build a gaming machine in the $1000 to $1250 range. I want to be able to use Steam Big Picture on the tv at 1080 and play mmo's on my monitor without hiccups. This is what I got so far.

    Motherboard: http://www.microcenter.com/product/387554/Z77_Extreme4_LGA_1155_Z77_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
    Listed at $125, but drops down to $85 when combined with the cpu.

    Cpu: http://www.microcenter.com/product/388577/Core_i5_3570K_34GHz_LGA_1155_Processor
    $190. I'm tempted to go with the i7 because it's only $230, but I don't think I really need it, and the savings here along with the drop in the motherboard means I have more budget.

    I have a psu from my old build that should get the job done just fine. Bluray drive is coming over as well, so no optical drive needed. Probably gonna reuse the case as well to save some dollars. Also need to see what ram I have, might transfer, might not.

    SSD: http://www.microcenter.com/product/364547/m4_CT256M4SSD2_256GB_SATA_60Gb-s_25_Internal_Solid_State_Drive_(SSD)_with_Marvell_Controller
    Should I go with this and a traditional hard drive for storage, or drop the extra dough and get

    http://www.microcenter.com/product/364548/m4_CT512M4SSD2_512GB_SATA_60Gb-s_25_Internal_Solid_State_Drive_(SSD)_with_Marvell_Controller
    $190 plus cost of hd vs $380.

    I'm totally lost on video cards. I've had bad experiences with amd and I'd prefer to try nvidia, but I can be talked out of that. I think I have some ram sitting around here, but figure I need to pay for that, too. Also, Windows 7 or 8? So, if my psu and ram will get the job done, what card best fits my budget and criteria? If I need to get ram and a psu, can I do that without bumping down the card, or will that break the bank?

  • Day of the BearDay of the Bear The Qun demandsRegistered User regular
    I'd stick with the 256gig ssd in your budget, if you're also going to be including an hdd regardless.

    Also definitely stick with the i5.

    for nvidia right now at 1080p i'd probably recommend a 660ti, or a 670 2gig if the budget works out.

    What is your old PSU?

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  • Atlas in ChainsAtlas in Chains Registered User regular
    I'd stick with the 256gig ssd in your budget, if you're also going to be including an hdd regardless.
    With the larger solid state, I'd just skip the hdd altogether. 512 isn't a ton of space, but it's more than enough for a start.
    Also definitely stick with the i5.
    Definitely leaning that way with the extra discount.
    for nvidia right now at 1080p i'd probably recommend a 660ti, or a 670 2gig if the budget works out.
    That's what I've been looking at and I can't for the life of me make a decision. Do I need the 670 if I want to go over 1080p on my monitor?
    What is your old PSU?
    I won't know for sure until I get it out of the machine I'm currently using, but if memory serves, it's a 750w.

  • abotkinabotkin Registered User regular
    I've decided to bite the bullet and build myself a new computer. I've been wanting an upgrade, and a new computer will allow my wife to use this current one instead of stealing my computer (or so I hope). Anywho, could you fine people look over my prospective build and let me know what you think? I mostly use my computer to game at 1200p, but I'm considering getting a 1440p monitor in the near future. Is there anything you'd recommend I change, is any of this overkill, are there any conflicts you see, etc?

    CPU : Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz
    MB : GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H
    RAM : G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
    GPU : GIGABYTE GV-R797OC-3GD Radeon HD 7970 3GB
    SSD : SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB
    PSU : SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
    Case : Fractal Design Define R4
    DVD : ASUS 24X DVD Burner


    steam_sig.png
    3DS: 0963-0539-4405
  • acidlacedpenguinacidlacedpenguin Institutionalized Safe in jail.Registered User regular
    So, particularly messy power outage today and suddenly my PC starts to bluescreen every once in awhile (immediately after booting the first time, during playback of a 1080p video. Did part of my ram get cooked or what? Looks like its a memory error in the bluescreen but it only lasts for like 3 seconds.
    It's win7 64 if that means anything.

    GT: Acidboogie PSNid: AcidLacedPenguiN
  • Mei HikariMei Hikari Registered User regular
    This utility will give you more info on the crash: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

  • acidlacedpenguinacidlacedpenguin Institutionalized Safe in jail.Registered User regular
    cool. Though apparently it hasn't been doing memory dumps because I'm not using a paging file :(

    GT: Acidboogie PSNid: AcidLacedPenguiN
  • HamurabiHamurabi MiamiRegistered User regular
    edited January 2013
    btw, how do I turn off my page file? I feel like 16GB of RAM (fuck you Windows 7) is enough to not require one, right? I mean, the page file is on an SSD, but even still.

    EDIT: Actually, this guy seems to be suggesting I don't turn off my pagefile.

    Hamurabi on
  • acidlacedpenguinacidlacedpenguin Institutionalized Safe in jail.Registered User regular
    that was my logic too. If I ever hit the point where paging would be necessary I could just close a couple million firefox tabs and close a couple of my tens of instances of the same game.

    control panel->system->advanced system settings->performance settings->advanced->Virtual memory change

    now I feel like getting a boatload of ram, making a ram disk, and paging to that because opulence I has it.

    GT: Acidboogie PSNid: AcidLacedPenguiN
  • FoomyFoomy Registered User regular
    Disabling or adjusting, or moving your pagefile is just something people shouldn't do anymore, win7/win8 use it much better then older versions did, and faster/larger drives/ram just mean you won't really be seeing any benefit from messing with it, while at the same time increase your chances of system instability.

    Better to just let windows auto handle the sizing. and if you don't have a ssd, then put it on a separate hdd.

    Steam Profile: FoomyFooms
  • acidlacedpenguinacidlacedpenguin Institutionalized Safe in jail.Registered User regular
    can you elaborate on how it increases the chances of system instability?

    GT: Acidboogie PSNid: AcidLacedPenguiN
  • lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    So I'm thinking I need a new storage drive. 2TB should be enough so I better go with 3GB to leave some room.

    Is something like this worth the extra money over a WD or Seagate or whatever?

    I hate buying hard drives because reliability is so important but it's impossible to get anything more than anecdotes.

    steam_sig.png
    (Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
  • FoomyFoomy Registered User regular
    Windows on the most core level always expects there to be at least a little page file, and some programs also expect it to be there, so if you ever get to a situation where something tries to write to it, by either running up against the limit of your physical ram, or some old program expecting it to be there, you just crash hard.

    The page file is also used for more then just ram, windows also uses it to cache files, and SuperFetch in win7 which store your most used applications.

    There really isn't anything to gain from disabling the pagefile, even if you do have a lot of ram. if you have oodles of ram then you just won't be using it very much. Just let windows deal with, it does it well.

    Steam Profile: FoomyFooms
  • FoomyFoomy Registered User regular
    So I'm thinking I need a new storage drive. 2TB should be enough so I better go with 3GB to leave some room.

    Is something like this worth the extra money over a WD or Seagate or whatever?

    I hate buying hard drives because reliability is so important but it's impossible to get anything more than anecdotes.

    Anecdotes are all the really exists, only 3 companies left in the world that make HDD, Seagate, WD, and Toshiba. And by what i've heard the internals they use are all very very similar. So your always going to have a certain % of drives that fail early, and the only people who bother to tell stories or complain are the ones who get those drives.

    But if you want some more anecdotal bias, I hear good things about the WD Red drives for storage.

    Steam Profile: FoomyFooms
  • ultimakayultimakay Registered User regular
    I finally have all the components barring a PSU for my first computer build. I do have a question about an SSD, budget constraints not withstanding.

    Due to my morning routine I don't need my PC to boot fast and when I am not playing games I tend to just browse the web or stream movies/tv shows. Do I really need an SSD? I don't like playing the data shuffle and having to move things around or uninstall/re-install games. If I was planning on having my games be stored on a 3TB HDD anyway would I really see any real benefit using an SSD?

    I guess part two with that, if I decided to add one in later, what is the easiest way to get my OS onto it and acting like the primary drive?

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  • HamurabiHamurabi MiamiRegistered User regular
    Having your OS on a relatively small (64 - 128GB) SSD, and all your games on an HDD, is definitely an option. The difference in bootup and everyday operation (opening applications, transferring files, etc.) is noticeable.

  • Day of the BearDay of the Bear The Qun demandsRegistered User regular
    I personally notice opening browser, saving files and other basic tasks to be a bit snappier overall and most importantly way more consistent in speed on an ssd.

    if your net connection is slow browsing will always be hamstrung though.

    m6eoUgQ.jpg
  • HamurabiHamurabi MiamiRegistered User regular
    But DotB, everyone knows buying a Killer NIC will make your Internet go faster.

  • KingofMadCowsKingofMadCows Registered User regular
    Bigger hard drives tend have have higher failure rates.

    Also, don't forget to take taxes and shipping into account. I save more when I buy from Tigerdirect even though Newegg tends to have better deals because I don't have to pay taxes when buying from Tigerdirect and they have more items with free shipping.

    Oh and Amazon has really good customer service, better than Newegg. It's easier to return things to Amazon than Newegg.

  • Day of the BearDay of the Bear The Qun demandsRegistered User regular
    if potential drive failure and subsequent data loss is a concern there is one right answer.

    back up your data

    m6eoUgQ.jpg
  • HamurabiHamurabi MiamiRegistered User regular
    I have 4 HDDs (2x 1TB, 2x 3TB), and 256GB and 128GB SSDs in my desktop and laptop, respectively. I'd hate to have to come up with a way to back up all of my data, though I think Google Drive has some reasonable pricing.

  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    well my mom finally decided to let me build her a new computer.

    went with

    A8-5600K
    ASRock FM2A75 Pro4 FM2 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard, originally wanted teh micro-atx version which ws cheaper, but also sold out everywhere
    1TB Spinpoint F3
    CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
    BitFenix Merc Beta Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
    CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

    and then grabbed her a new 21.5" asus monitor.

    camo_sig.png
  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    I used to buy hard drives based on their warranties: the logic being they must be producing to a lower defect rate (I never bought cheap maxtors due to the 1 yr warranty, pre-consolidation). However HDD manufacturers have been shortening their warranties and buying a Caviar Black carries a significant premium.

    I do offsite backup now so I don't really look at warranty anymore.

  • rndmherorndmhero Registered User regular
    My current setup has 6GB RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145222). I got a few Newegg gift cards for Christmas, and I've been playing around with what I want to drop in.

    I primarily use my machine for gaming; it's certainly the most taxing load it's ever under. Is there an advantage to going over 6 gb of memory? It would be so cheap to drop another 6 gb in there, but I'm unclear how many games would even access that much.

  • FoomyFoomy Registered User regular
    Hamurabi wrote: »
    I have 4 HDDs (2x 1TB, 2x 3TB), and 256GB and 128GB SSDs in my desktop and laptop, respectively. I'd hate to have to come up with a way to back up all of my data, though I think Google Drive has some reasonable pricing.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822108077
    and 4 of these: http://www.amazon.com/WD-Red-NAS-Hard-Drive/dp/B008JJLW4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358735062&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+red

    or cloud storage works well if you have a decent upload speed and no data caps.

    Steam Profile: FoomyFooms
  • Day of the BearDay of the Bear The Qun demandsRegistered User regular
    rndmhero wrote: »
    My current setup has 6GB RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145222). I got a few Newegg gift cards for Christmas, and I've been playing around with what I want to drop in.

    I primarily use my machine for gaming; it's certainly the most taxing load it's ever under. Is there an advantage to going over 6 gb of memory? It would be so cheap to drop another 6 gb in there, but I'm unclear how many games would even access that much.


    6gigs is plenty of memory for gaming, even if you run other things simultaneously.

    m6eoUgQ.jpg
  • TaranisTaranis Registered User regular
    On the subject of SSDs: in the process of figuring out intel rapid start and installing drivers for my new mobo and i7 I seem to have done something to computer that has more than doubled start up and shut down times. It not only takes longer for windows to load, but it also takes longer for it to login. My old CPU and mobo, with the same system SSD, loaded windows faster, and my system with the current hardware even booted faster before I installed any drivers.

    Are there any regristry or system settings that could've been altered when installing new drivers that I should check? I've already checked for redundant drivers and old conflicting software and I've come up short.

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  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    Getting Rapid Start Tech working can be an utter pain in the ass. You've created the hibernation partition and installed the RST manager?

  • TaranisTaranis Registered User regular
    Djeet wrote: »
    Getting Rapid Start Tech working can be an utter pain in the ass. You've created the hibernation partition and installed the RST manager?

    Nah I gave up once I found out that it required a 16gb partition on my system. It's not currently worth the space on my SSD. But if I can't get my boot/shutdown times back to where they used to be, I might start back down that path.

    I almost feel kind of petty about the whole thing since I can still boot and login to windows in under 30 seconds which is pretty good, but damn it was nice to be able to load up firefox in a little over 10 seconds after pressing the power button.

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  • HamurabiHamurabi MiamiRegistered User regular
    My new installation went from normal startup (~10-15 seconds from hitting the power button to browsing) to just kinda hanging for a good 20-25 seconds with no disk activity at the Windows loading screen, back to a speedy startup. The only thing that changed was installing some Windows updates.

  • TaranisTaranis Registered User regular
    edited January 2013
    I've already got every windows update available. I think I somehow lost the current current version of my ahci sata driver. The one installed right now looks like a generic microsoft version and it's from 2006.

    Reinstalled the right driver, but it fixed nothing. No idea what's causing the slow startup at this point. I think I might just reformat my system partition.

    Taranis on
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  • IncindiumIncindium Registered User regular
    edited January 2013
    So I setup a 27" iMac for my wife yesterday... Sweet Jesus the display on the new iMacs is incredible. I know those IPS panels are already nice but that new process to bond the display to the glass and the glare reduction that was added seems to really make it something else.

    I'd be interested in the opinion though of one of you guys that are currently using an IPS display though. If you get a chance check out one new 27" iMacs. At some point the changes should make it into the Cinema display I'd expect.

    I've got display envy now though... the old DLP TV that I run my PC into is looking pretty shabby.

    Incindium on
    steam_sig.png
    Nintendo ID: Incindium
    PSN: IncindiumX
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    So another revision (they asked for a sturdy case and powerful processor/video card for imaging). I can't imagine they even need this much but they felt like the $500 computer I did last time was too inadequate for their needs, and they wanted an i7 because the hospital that gives out the xray images recommends it, so I did the xeon to save costs there.

    http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yMwh

    Hell son it's still not even a grand which is where they wanted to see it, but I don't think I really need to do much more. I like the corsair PSU and cases so I'll stick with those. Any recommendations to trim it up/down? I think the biggest bottleneck for xray images would be the GPU not the processor like the hospital is recommending... but I guess if you buy prebuilt PCs getting an i7 means you tend to get better onboard video?

    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    Seems like you would want to build it like a photo build. eg the capacity to power through multiple images. It seems like those sort of things need more processing power with hyperthreading more than gpu power

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