PC Discussion Thread

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[John-117]

Don't make HT your buying point. HT can be disabled in the BIOS. 

[GhosTagE]

haha true. what do you think would be best for me though? If HT doesn't really effect games, and I don't do extensive video editting and stuff.. it would probably be wise for me to grab an i5 instead of an i7 right?

[John-117]

The great thing about i5s compared to i7s is that the i5 chipset actually has more capabilities, go figure. Actually, I should not be compraing strictly i5s to i7s - it's really the socket edition we should be comparing. The 1156-pin is the newer of the sockets. There are some Core i7s which have the newer (lesser) pin count, such as the one I have. But I think all Core i5s are 1156 by default.

Yes, the Core i5s have great O/C potential and generate less heat than most Core i7s. Really, the only reason someone would buy an i7, IMO, would be to set records or just go ballz to the wall with O/C. But an i5 is already quad core, still has excellent tweakablity, the chipsets associated with i5s (P55) are just as good if not better than the P58s, and they draw less power and generate less heat.

i5 (or any quad core 1156-pin) is the way to go unless you've got money to burn.

[S1lv3r_W0lf]

Anyone have a uh...better graphics card than this: ( 256MB GeForce 7025 / nForce 630a ) they could sell me? >_> And yes, I know...it sucks a lot. 

I've getting into PC gaming recently, and would love to play games like L4D and other present games, but I don't have the money to pay $300-500 or whatever for a graphics card. 

[GhosTagE]

Thanks for that John, I think I'll get an i5 haha I was really looking at an unlocked i7 but then I started doing a little research and it's like wow. why.. xD
BTW.. I highly recommend the Corsair H50 haha. I'm only doing one fan and not push/pull because a) i can't connect any more fans and b) there's not enough room, but it's very efficient and silent :p

I would suggest something like an XFX GTS 250.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150357&cm_re=xfx_gts_250-_-14-150-357-_-Product
I got 2 of these right now, and I'm not really aiming for anything with extremely high ram because I don't run things on like 2560xwhatever.. I'm only playing on 1680x1050 haha so I don't really need it. I can easily run l4d2 on max settings so it should be good for you, unless you're trying to you know.. go for max settings in every new game you're trying to play! Or just grab a 9800gtx, I believe they're the same card, only the gts250 is smaller and has lower power consumption I think.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339&cm_re=9800gtx-_-14-130-339-_-Product

Looks about the same specs to me right now.

[GhosTagE]

BUMPP
As you guys probably know I've upgraded my stuff. So let's have a look at where I'm at



I'm pretty sure I can clock this cpu higher, but I don't have the cooling haha anything above this would be like 80s and near 90s and I didn't really want to do that.

Pretty sure it's stable. Ran with OCCT 1 hour CPU test, ran memtest, and played a game of l4d2 to be sure because for whatever reason if it's unstable it crashes pretty fast in that game haha so that's my backup test. I'm too deprived of my computer right now to go for full time with prime95, but we will see haha

Specs:
eVGA P55 FTW SLI Mobo
Corsair H50 cooler Push/Pull
Intel i5 750 OCed at 4.0
Mushkin 4GB DDR3 Ram Part Number 996744 8-8-8-24
Coolermaster 750W
XFX GTS 250 512mb in SLi
1TB WD HDD
Windows 7 x64 HP

bclck: 200
multi: 20
VTT: 1.25
VCORE: 1.2175 without vdroop
ram: 1.66

[mmeadwolfe]

Slimed down you image as it kinda made the template explode O_o Stupid template.

Nice looking rig, it sure does beat mine which is coming up on its 5th birthday soon... time for an update ...

Sounds like a good idea to hold off on OC the cpu, IIRC 50C is really the max you want your ambient temp at idle. Computers bursting into flame = not cool.

[GhosTagE]

agreed :p but those temps are at mid day when it's blazing hot out haha
So far I saw a little bit of problems in stability, but increasing dram voltage and vcore did not help too much. Instead I put frame caps in games and turned vsync on in some situations where you cant (l4d2) and it's been much better now.

[Totemo Oishi]

Mineral Oil Immersion cooling. Set the case on top of a couple of cold plates. Heating issues solved.

I'm looking at slapping a Radeon HD 5770 in my machine because it'll work with my power supply and it's cheap for the amount of horsepower you get (it typically works better than a GTX 465, according to the tests I've read). My current setup is:

Name/ Designation:
CPU: 2.6GHz AMD Phenom II X4
Motherboard: MSI 790FX-GD70
RAM: 1800MHz Kingston Hyper-X DDR3
Video Card: BFG 7900GS 256MB DDR3 RAM
Hard Drives: Seagate 320GB and 2TB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gbps 32MB Cache
Disc Drive: Samsung 48x DVD Reader/Writer
Power Supply: Ultra 600 Watt Modular
Case: ThermalTake Armor w/ 250mm side panel fan
Cooling: Zalman CNPS9900ALED 120mm fan
Monitor: 1440x900 19" e-Machines monitor

Soon, I'm hoping to upgrade to a Radeon HD 5770, and then I can run the video through my new Sony 46" EX700, and the sound to an Onkyo system I've been eyeballing for some time now. Hopefully this will happen soon. I'm sick of running off of this old-balls video card.

[GhosTagE]

haha I'm planning to (in the future, not soon haha) buy a 1GB 460. I can pawn off one of my 250s or I can give it to my mom or something and keep one for PhysX. Should be good to go

That's the Thermaltake A90 right? I thought about getting that case, it looked cool. How is it?

One of my friends will be building a computer soon (he somehow is managing to sell his crappy old computer for $1000.)
I'm going to help him build it and I believe we're gonna be using this case:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208036
It's gonna be fun on the bun. This case looks amazing on video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL3wY708NqM I wish I had gotten this case lol it looks craaazy. Oh well, I am very satisfied with mine as well mine was cheaper too because of sale.

[Totemo Oishi]

The reason I'm getting the 5770 is because it's actually been rated above the GTX 460 on a fairly consistent basis and it's $100 cheaper. Plus, it runs on less power. I've heard of people running it off of a 450-watt power supply with no trouble. I'll probably get a new PSU sooner or later and then slap a second 5770 in there. I figure I might spring for a really high-end sound card if I find the sound quality coming out of the onboard high-def audio card to be lacking once I hook it up to a 7.1 surround system. I'm looking at this Onkyo setup right here. Probably gonna be a Christmas present for myself. I love having a real job.

I was looking at this case for a $2000 build I just did for a friend. Not too flashy but it's well-built and has a lot of features. The Cooler Master HAF-932 is a really good case as well. I used that for another friend last summer, and had nothing but good things to say about it. I have this case, and it is a tank. It weighs 45 pounds empty, and it is TOUGH. I haven't felt warm air exiting it for a while now. Always cool. It's not particularly suited for LAN parties, as it's big, heavy, and doesn't really have any really good gripping points, but if you're not planning on moving it, this is a killer case.

I'll probably upgrade the CPU and motherboard in two or three years. AMD and Intel both have 6-core chips out now, so I can't help but figure they'll have 8 or 10-core models out in another 2 or 3 years.