Building a computer? Need advice/suggestions? Come here!

So I'm thinking about building a media PC. Used for everything and anything from photo/video editing, gaming, and school work. I don't have an endless budget but I don't have a tiny one either. I would also like to get into over clocking somewhere down the road.

This is what I've been thinking so far.

Main chit

Case:CM 690II Advanced
CPU: Intel i7-920
Mobo: ASUS P6X58D
HDD:
Memory:
Heatsink:CM V8
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX
Disk Drive:

Misc. Computer Chit


Accessories

Mouse: Razer Mamba
Keyboard:
Monitor:



List to be updated

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Warsaw

That wasn't the case until after 2006. AMD used to always be better than Intel.

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In case you hadn't noticed yet, it's 2010!

@Horns: Get a media center case if you're building a media center... CM 690 II is a mid-tower, and I wouldn't want such a huge case taking up a lot of space near my entertainment center unless I was able to build a cabinet that actually incorporated it into the design...

Actually, this gives me an idea for when we eventually upgrade our home theater with a media PC and 3D capable LCD...

In case you hadn't noticed, he was using past tense!

It's not gonna be a media center, it's gonna be a multi-purpose pc.

it's a nice computer man, but i'd just build a budget computer for 500 bucks that'll coast you for a year or two, and then buy a new computer with some of the 8 & 12 core cpus that are being promised in the latter half of 2010, 11, and 12. Just saying that you can play every single game out there with no lag for basically 500 - 700 dollars.

I suggest a nice cheap HD 4770. It's small, fast, quiet, cool (with tweaks, of course), and it plays most games on high settings. I only bought the HD 5750 Vapor-X because I don't plan to buy another video card for at least 4 years.

Best 24" or bigger monitor for under $400 kgo.

movies etc: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001338 (non- hdmi)
gaming: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236049
best of both worlds: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824005134

e: also that razer mamba is a complete waste of money, razer makes terribly overpriced mice, not to mention it's wireless. I highly recommend getting a g500/g9/g9x. keep in mind that you should also invest in a good mousepad if you are so bent on spending so much for a mouse. QPAD and Steelseries make the best pads. All others are awful (wax paper taped to your desk is better than all others)

The Razer Destructor mouse pad is great as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ganon

best of both worlds: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824005134

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I'd preform gay sex or something along the lines for that thing, looks awesome.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rook

I'd preform gay sex or something along the lines for that thing, looks awesome.

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+1, also the Radeon 4770 isn't worth it, get something from the 5000 series (5670/5770 maybe)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rook

I'd preform gay sex or something along the lines for that thing, looks awesome.

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You're kidding right? that thing looks atrocious. Not to mention it looks like it would fall over at the slightest sign of a draft.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dwood

You're kidding right? that thing looks atrocious. Not to mention it looks like it would fall over at the slightest sign of a draft.

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Da specs not the actual design, although that is still okay.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rook

Da specs not the actual design, although that is still okay.

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Design isnt acceptable at all... the borders are like an inch thick... ewww

Heck, my LCD monitor has borders that are almost an inch thick. The thing is, I don't spend hours staring at the borders!

Now, let me get this straight... an LED display is actually an LCD display with an LED backlight as opposed to fluorescent bulb backlights, except in the case of ones in stadiums where the screen is big enough for LEDs to be used as pixels?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bhamid

+1, also the Radeon 4770 isn't worth it, get something from the 5000 series (5670/5770 maybe)

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The HD 4770 is still worth it for the price. I wasn't aware that the HD 5670 was out. For the same price, you might as well get the HD 5670, but anything newer is absolutely unnecessary.

Since CoolerMaster has decided that New Zealand doesn't need the CM 690 II Adv. till mid March, and I want a new case, I'm thinking about this one: http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/comp...sp?partid=9001 or http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/comp...sp?partid=8556

These are the only two cases I can find within my price range that i'd like (NZ = expensive cases, tiny range). It seems that you need to spend more money to get cases that are simple. Either case would be an upgrade - my current case is worth about $60NZD. It has no ventilation and runs hotter than an oven. Anybody know anything shitty about these cases?

I was also planning on getting a new CPU cooler since the stock AMD one sounds like a vacuum cleaner under load. Planning on going with the one Freelancer linked somewhere: http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/comp...sp?partid=9794 But since I have around 5 CM 12cm fans just lying around, i'm not sure if I want to get it without a fan and buy another set of fan clips and slap two fans I already have on it. Does anyone know how good the fan is that comes with it in terms of noise?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timo

Since CoolerMaster has decided that New Zealand doesn't need the CM 690 II Adv. till mid March, and I want a new case, I'm thinking about this one: http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/comp...sp?partid=9001 or http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/comp...sp?partid=8556

These are the only two cases I can find within my price range that i'd like (NZ = expensive cases, tiny range). It seems that you need to spend more money to get cases that are simple. Either case would be an upgrade - my current case is worth about $60NZD. It has no ventilation and runs hotter than an oven. Anybody know anything shitty about these cases?

I was also planning on getting a new CPU cooler since the stock AMD one sounds like a vacuum cleaner under load. Planning on going with the one Freelancer linked somewhere: http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/comp...sp?partid=9794 But since I have around 5 CM 12cm fans just lying around, i'm not sure if I want to get it without a fan and buy another set of fan clips and slap two fans I already have on it. Does anyone know how good the fan is that comes with it in terms of noise?

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Holy fuck shit is expensive down there. How do you guys manage to live with such a ridiculous dollar?

The dollar isn't actually that bad, 1NZD is equiv. to around .73USD. Not bad for 4 million people. The prices are terribly inflated though, probably due to the high shipping cost of getting stuff all the way down here.

hay guiz what should I be looking out for if I wanted to build this spring? I'm primarily looking for mobo, cpu, hard drives, cooling, case and PSU. The rest can just come out of this comp, and I'll fill this one with spare parts for use as a home server. I really need a new mobo because it supports up to ddr2, only 1gb per DIMM (hence the 3.12gb in my specs), the front USB controller was fried by my old PSU, and it can't support any quad cores. It also only has one PCIE slot. I'm looking for hardware that's ready for the future so I can focus further purchases on things like ram and graphics cards only.

Sorry for shitting up this thread, but my mum wants to build a video editing PC on the cheap.

I was thinking:
ATi HD4850 512mb
AMD Phenom II X4 965 (3.4Ghz) 6MB Cache
Generic 2x2GB DDR3 1333MHz
Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450W
MSI 760GM-E51 AMD 760G Socket AM3 microATX Motherboard
Generic Key+Mouse/DVD Drive/mATX case
1 WD 320GB HDD (for OS)
2 WD 808GB HDD (for vidyas)

for a shitty $1500NZD. I've read that Intel's core i5/i7's are really the way to go for video editing, but I figured a quad core amd proc. would be able to keep up, sort of. I am I kidding myself here, or do I really need to go core i5 at the least to get Adobe Premier to not shit itself?

it cuts the time in half. if you really need the power, go for the intel. but that setup is still pretty sweet.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2...-CS4,1404.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timo

Sorry for shitting up this thread, but my mum wants to build a video editing PC on the cheap.

I was thinking:
ATi HD4850 512mb
AMD Phenom II X4 965 (3.4Ghz) 6MB Cache
Generic 2x2GB DDR3 1333MHz
Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450W
MSI 760GM-E51 AMD 760G Socket AM3 microATX Motherboard
Generic Key+Mouse/DVD Drive/mATX case
1 WD 320GB HDD (for OS)
2 WD 808GB HDD (for vidyas)

for a shitty $1500NZD. I've read that Intel's core i5/i7's are really the way to go for video editing, but I figured a quad core amd proc. would be able to keep up, sort of. I am I kidding myself here, or do I really need to go core i5 at the least to get Adobe Premier to not shit itself?

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If you can stretch for the i5 and edit your build around somehow it probably would be the way to go. I'd imagine $1082USD would be enough for that.

@Con what's your price range?

I would expect to pay less than a new PC since parts will be reused, but I've got about $1000 to spend right now. I don't want to spend all that on a comp, so anything reasonable within that range. Just suggest some stuff and I'll take a look.

recap of things I need:
***future-ready parts, good for further purchases
-case
-PSU
-mobo
-cooling
-cpu
-hard drive(s)

already have:
-graphics card (see specs, also have an 8800gts I could use as a physX card right?)
-sound card
-4gb ram
-OS hard drive
-disk drive (semi-working)

anything else?

Try getting another GPU so you can SLI them. Would be cheaper then just upgrading the card.

What's wrong with the case you have right now?

SLI doesn't really benefit programs that use the GPU for rendering though, so a more powerful single card and a secondary card for PhysX could be better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sdavis117

Try getting another GPU so you can SLI them. Would be cheaper then just upgrading the card.

What's wrong with the case you have right now?

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I want to keep this current comp as a home server once I've stripped it down to bare essentials. Besides, it's not very good for cooling/air flow or cable management.

What's the best video card I can get from 100 - 200 dollars. And I also need a power supply.

Low res gaming 1280 x 720, 1280 x 1024


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150447

I stopped following PC's and their components about 3 years ago.

Here's what I got so far.

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103706

MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128395

HD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231144

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150447

CASE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021

That will do really well at those lower resolutions, I'd say go for it and enjoy :)

With that video card, I'd say get a bigger monitor or save yourself some cash and get an older card. Unless you're buying the card now and saving up for a new monitor. Also, if you do decide to buy that card, forget about it. Buy the Sapphire HD 5750 Vapor-X and overclock it to the same speeds as the regular HD 5770. It works great.

mech, why not go for an am3 only setup with ddr3 memory? ddr3 is similar price to ddr2.

mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128392

ram - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231205

The mobo being $10 cheaper cancels out the ram being $10 more. I have that mobo and it runs stuff fine etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rook

If you can stretch for the i5 and edit your build around somehow it probably would be the way to go. I'd imagine $1082USD would be enough for that.

@Con what's your price range?

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If I can stretch to an i5/i7, would I be able to ditch the GPU? It won't be used to play any games - the GPU is only there so to assist in video editing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timo

If I can stretch to an i5/i7, would I be able to ditch the GPU? It won't be used to play any games - the GPU is only there so to assist in video editing.

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No

e: maybe that GPU in particular

Would a Intel Core i5-660 3.33Ghz 4MB Cache *Dual Core* 2000Mhz Socket LGA1156 CPU whoop that quad core then?

From reading a review on a similarly priced core i5, it's much better for video editing than any AMD proc (~20% faster).

Final spec:

CPU:
Intel Core i5-750 2.66Ghz - $337

HDD:
WD Blue 320GB HDD (OS Drive) - $93
WD Blue 750GB HDD (HD Vid/Backup Drive) x2 - $254

RAM:
Corsair Value Ram 2x2GB DDR3 1333MHz - $188

PSU:
Vantec ION2 500W PSU - $110

GPU:
nVidia GT220 512MB - $109

MOBO:
Intel DP55WB LGA1156 mATX mobo - $196

OTHER:
InWin EM-Series EM019 Mini-Tower - $132
Samsung 22x DVD Writer (SATA) x2 - $122
Logitech Key/Mouse combo - $38
Asus PCI Network adapter - $45

For a whopping grand total of $1624. Not too bad considering the POS I spent $2000 on a few years ago (7600gs, 1gb of 533mhz ram, etc) :|

I've gone for blue WD drives apposed to green because of the faster write speeds (ty jcap), which will speed up the video editing process a bit. WD Black hdds have a bit too much of a price jump for the increased performance. The pretty av. GPU is there by advice from the supplier i'm buying from, as an average GPU > Onboard. The case doesn't look too bad for the price either: http://www.in-win.us/products/pc_cas...ries/EM019.jpg

Going to be buying it tomorrow, is there anything vitally wrong with it?

Can that case hold 3 hard drives?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InnerGoat

Can that case hold 3 hard drives?

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Question answered: http://www.in-win.us/products_pccase...6&model_id=210

http://www.in-win.us/products/pc_cas...ack_open_b.jpg

Doesn't look like it. Well, I guess it can if you try fitting it into a 3.5" floppy bay. To be honest, I think Timo needs a bigger case, however if it will end up in a home theater at some point, this should do good.

I figured it'd fit into a 3.5" floppy drive space, considering it's advertised as 3 hidden and one exposed 3.5" bay. Worst comes to worst one drive can just sit in the floppy bay. I doubt she's going to move it around very much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timo

I figured it'd fit into a 3.5" floppy drive space, considering it's advertised as 3 hidden and one exposed 3.5" bay. Worst comes to worst one drive can just sit in the floppy bay.

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Same thing I was thinking. My IDE drive is sitting in a 5.25" bay on my old computer lol. I haven't gone out to get the converter yet.

There's no difference between a 3.5" floppy drive bay and a 3.5" hard drive bay, so there should be no problem.

Building a machine for the first time, but this is actually for a friend. In fear of any Aggys:
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042
Board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131393
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115056
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130514
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227199
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182022
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136098
DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106281
Speakers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836121034
Mouse: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826105026
Keyboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823131131
Monitor: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-7085

Adding up to about $900 (150 over my budget, but fuck it, it's in the name of TF2). If there's anything I did wrong up thar, just lemme know.

Other than that, is there anything else I should be buying? (i.e. thermal whoosit)

cpu cooler
better mouse tbh
better psu
that monitor is overpriced/blows dicks
thermal compound is a must

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ganon

cpu cooler - Only if you want to OC.
better mouse tbh - Depends on what your friend wants.
better psu - Get this.
that monitor is overpriced/blows dicks - Agreed.
thermal compound is a must - Again, only if you want to OC, CPU should come with some.

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My opinions on that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freelancer

There's no difference between a 3.5" floppy drive bay and a 3.5" hard drive bay, so there should be no problem.

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Not necessarily. My old computer's case has 4 3.5" Hard Drive bays and above that is two 3.5" floppy bays. The hard drives don't fit into the floppy spaces. Generally that's an issue with the case itself, which is why it isn't good to assume that they automatically will fit with any case.

Never run into that, you must of had a weird case design.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freelancer

Never run into that, you must of had a weird case design.

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HP does the same thing.

I've worked on three or four HP's and never had the issue...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freelancer

I've worked on three or four HP's and never had the issue...

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forget my last post, i thought you were talking about plague's case.

I've got a chinese 1600dpi mouse I bought on ebay for like 10bucks, it fucking is awesome, want pics?

Ugh, the case arrived but didn't have that detachable hdd cage with it, so I can only fit two hdds at he moment. Where the fuck is it :|

Next time buy Lian-li

lian li four life

Turns out the detachable bay is an "optional accessory" and they're terribly sorry for the mistake on the website. argh. It can only hold one hdd with screws atm as well. :F

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timo

Turns out the detachable bay is an "optional accessory" and they're terribly sorry for the mistake on the website. argh. It can only hold one hdd with screws atm as well. :F

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Holy snap, bro. I seriously feel for you. Only able to use one hard drive? That's just disgusting.

Yeah it's fucking shit. I emailed them asking about it and they offered an external enclosure at a discounted price. So I emailed back asking for a full refund including return postage so I can buy a case from elsewhere. It didn't have screwless bays or a screwless side either. :| The mATX case selection from their website it pretty crap too. :ugh:

Quote:

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I'm on a budget of about 1000 bucks for just the computer. No monitors or speakers. And no, building a custom rig is not a option for me right now.
I've already decided on what processor and ram to get (i7 2.8ghz with 6gb tri channel ram) But I have no fucking clue what graphics card to get.

My current choices are:
http://codebrainshideout.net/inferno...cs%20cardz.PNG

I've heard all the Geforce GTS 200 - 220 - 240 - 260 - 280 are shit so I'm wondering if I go for the ATI cards. I've always loved Geforce cards though so I don't know if I want to jump on the Radeon series.

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Quote:

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That will work unless I end up with the HP. Personally I'm thinking the XPS 8100 will be my best bet.

With a Intel® Core™ i7-860 processor(8MB Cache, 2.80GHz) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 it comes out to about 1,100 dollars.

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Need more feedbackzzzzzz.

Out of curiosity, what is the concern about building the machine yourself?

If you were that pressed to buy prebuilt, I guess the 5770 would be acceptable with DX11 and all.

Don't buy HP, for the love of Christ. I, to this day, have not personally witnessed any HP product that has lasted an entire year.

Parents don't want me buying everything and putting it together myself.

They basically said it's too "risky". Even though I've rebuilt plenty of computers and consoles in my day.

Additionally I'm lazy and can't be bothered to do it myself.

:-3

I don't get people that would rather spend hundreds of dollars more because they're "lazy". It takes all of 45 minutes to build a computer if you know what you're doing... :raise:

Sorry to hijack Inferno's subthread, but he reminded me:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by flibitijibibo

Building a machine for the first time, but this is actually for a friend. In fear of any Aggys:
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042
Board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131393
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115056
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130514
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227199
PSU Updated: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136098
DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106281
Speakers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836121034
Mouse: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826105026
Keyboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823131131
No monitor anymore. Turns out he already has one.

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So it now adds up to $755, which is just barely over the budget (fuck it, I'll pay the $5). My only question left is the thermal compound. Ganon says it's necessary, Freelancer says it's only necessary for overclocking. I know for a fact that he can barely find the BIOS on his own, so overclocking wasn't even something I considered when searching for parts. Can I get any other opinions on it? +rep for anyone who can shed some light on it.

Alright so I just read that dell under clocks there GPU's

Fuck them.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/
Is cyberpower legit? I've heard mixed things about them.

And BTW Failancer. I can't build my own. My parents won't let me and they are paying for it so w/e.

Learn to read.

Like I said, unless I'm wrong I'm 99% sure all processors come with some thermal paste and it's usually already applied to the HSF unit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inferno

Alright so I just read that dell under clocks there GPU's

Fuck them.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/
Is cyberpower legit? I've heard mixed things about them.

And BTW Failancer. I can't build my own. My parents won't let me and they are paying for it so w/e.

Learn to read.

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What? Where did you hear that?
#1: That'd take an unnecessary amount of effort on their part,
#2: Couldn't you bring it back to stock clocks on your own? It would take as little effort as it does to buy such a prebuilt machine anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by flibitijibibo

What? Where did you hear that?
#1: That'd take an unnecessary amount of effort on their part,
#2: Couldn't you bring it back to stock clocks on your own? It would take as little effort as it does to buy such a prebuilt machine anyway.

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http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/...y-underclocked
Here and a few other places on the dell forum.

Dell locks the BIOs anyways.

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-940 2.93 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366 [+146]
• HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [-35])
• MOTHERBOARD: Asus P6T SE Intel X58 Chipset CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA
• MEMORY: 6GB (2GBx3) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Module (Corsair or Major Brand)
• SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
• VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260 CORE 216 896MB 16X PCI Express [+89] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

For 1200 dollars on cyberpowerpc...
They seem legit and they have a decent rating. I'm still not sure if I trust them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by flibitijibibo

Sorry to hijack Inferno's subthread, but he reminded me:

So it now adds up to $755, which is just barely over the budget (fuck it, I'll pay the $5). My only question left is the thermal compound. Ganon says it's necessary, Freelancer says it's only necessary for overclocking. I know for a fact that he can barely find the BIOS on his own, so overclocking wasn't even something I considered when searching for parts. Can I get any other opinions on it? +rep for anyone who can shed some light on it.

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The stock thermal paste they stick on it should be fine. The stock intel cooler I got with my mum's core i5 came with thermal paste on the bottom of the heatsink. All of the AMD processors i've bought have too. If it comes with a heatsink, it should come with thermal paste.

e: It'd be retarded if the thermal paste that's already applied to the heatsink wasn't good enough. After market paste will be better, but that doesn't mean that the stuff that'll come with it won't work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inferno

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-940 2.93 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366 [+146]
• HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [-35])
• MOTHERBOARD: Asus P6T SE Intel X58 Chipset CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA
• MEMORY: 6GB (2GBx3) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Module (Corsair or Major Brand)
• SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
• VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260 CORE 216 896MB 16X PCI Express [+89] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

For 1200 dollars on cyberpowerpc...
They seem legit and they have a decent rating. I'm still not sure if I trust them.

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They use refurbished parts. Fuck them as well.

I hate shopping for computers.

Show your parents this thread/that info.

You win.

IDGI. They would probably get mad at me for cursing on the internet. Then they would say "buy the cheap one" and leave.

edit-

TBH I don't think it's possible to get a good computer for less than 1250 dollars.

That also describes Pegasus...whose deck I used to play, albeit with some seriously overpowered and downright nasty modifications.

Where did you read that CyberPower uses refurbished parts in their computers?

Toms hardware. And apparently in there terms of service they put "new or mostly new parts" or something. Which basically means they use refurbished parts.

I've also read a ton of nasty reviews about them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inferno

TBH I don't think it's possible to get a good computer for less than 1250 dollars.

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Lets not start on this again. It's quite the opposite.

Trust Me.

It depends on your definition of good. imo you can build an amazing computer for 1250USD, even if you're buying with NZ's inflated prices.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inferno

Parents don't want me buying everything and putting it together myself.

They basically said it's too "risky". Even though I've rebuilt plenty of computers and consoles in my day.

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Grow some balls and stand up to your parents' illogical decisions. They are uninformed. You make it your duty to show them legit websites that explain the advantages of building your own PC and the disadvantages of buying a pre-configured/customized PC from a website. You must present it to them with bias leaning towards user built PCs, but it's for the good cause. Something to really press upon them is that you building it will save them hundreds of dollars.

Christ man, you've already built other PCs and consoles, or so you say. If you have before, what reason do they have to doubt your ability?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freelancer

Oh and who the fuck is seto kaiba?

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Yu-Gi-Oh has no place on this website. Drop it there.

@ Infeno
If your looking to buy a gaming PC cheap, might I suggest going here:
http://www.digitalstormonline.com/

Configure in your budget ( Not sure how much you have I'm assuming
around $1,200.)
Very high quality service and a 3 year minimum parts/labor warranty.

And it's legit, new parts not refurbished.

If you're not gonna build (you should) use this site:

http://www.ibuypower.com/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rook

If you're not gonna build (you should) use this site:

http://www.ibuypower.com/

---

I heard a lot of shit about them having terrible service.

@HoboJoe.

Lol those are more overpriced than dell. Seriously.

edit-

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timo

It depends on your definition of good. imo you can build an amazing computer for 1250USD, even if you're buying with NZ's inflated prices.

---

Crysis at maximum settings 2x AA and trilinear filtering at about 30fps.

Which what I really WANT is a I7 900 series at 3.0ghz with a Nvidia Geforce GTX 240 and 3 gigs tri channel ram.

But that adds up to about 1400 dollars.

At what resolution?

Ehhhhh like 1024 x 900something but preferably 1600x1200.

Also. I already run MW2 at max settings but I want to be able to record video in MW2 while running it at max settings (no AA) at around 60fps. I'm thinking of making a throwing knife video.

edit-

Oh and my biggest concern is being able to run PCSX2 at a decent framerate (PS2 Emulation).

edit 2-

Oh and of course I want to be able to work in UDK and UE3 more efficiently. I spend a lot of time waiting on things to load/process as it is.

Ballistic Gaming PC Desktop 375796 - $1,502.00 Configuration



Case: Cooler Master CM Storm Scout
Internal Lighting: Accent Lighting (Blue)
LED Fans: Standard Chassis Fans
Fan Controller: - None
Processor (CPU): Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 Micro Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Mushkin Enhanced Silverline Performance Series
Power Supply: 750W Ballistic Approved (Silent and 80 Plus Certified)
Video Card(s): 1x ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
Hard Drive Storage Set 1: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM)
Hard Drive Storage Set 2: - None
Dedicated Sound Card: Motherboard Audio
CD Optical Drive 1: DVDR/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x)
CD Optical Drive 2: - None
Internal Card Reader: - None
Wireless Connectivity: Motherboard Network Port(s)
CPU Overclocking: FREE: CPU Extreme Overclock Performance Boost Package 20% or More ($90 Value!)
Video Card(s) Overclocking: FREE: GPU Extreme Overclock Performance Boost Package ($40 Value!)
CPU Cooling:Cooler Master V8 (i7 Compatible ONLY)
Install Operating System: - None, I will be responsible for software support
Install Office Suite: - None
Include Game: - None
Display: - None
Gaming Keyboard: - None
Gaming Mouse: - None
Speakers: - None
Surge Protection: - None
External Storage: - None
3 Year Premimer Warranty: 3 Year Limited Warranty with Life-Time U.S. Based Support
Reliable Quality Product: Complete System Test (72-Hour: Processor, Memory, Video Card(s), Hard Drive, Power Supply Test)
Hassle-Free Return Policy: 30 Day Hassle-Free Money Back Guarantee
Shipping Abuse Protection 1: FREE: Internal Secure-Fit Foam (Prevents Loose Components From Shipping Abuse) ($19 Value!)
Shipping Abuse Protection 2: FREE: Safe Transit Box (Suspends PC in Mid-Air With Shipping Inpact Abosrbing Film) ($50 Value!)


I also talked to a person on the websites chat. They knew what the fuck I was talking about and seemed pretty legit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rook

If you're not gonna build (you should) use this site:

http://www.ibuypower.com/

---

i bought one of these and it turns out it was a rebranded e-machines... it sucks... do NOT recommend

Honestly, while I might buy a laptop from a boutique shop, I can't say that I'd ever buy a desktop from one. If I had to buy a pre-built, I'd go with a big name company because at least I know what I'm getting, even if it is shit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inferno

Ballistic Gaming PC Desktop 375796 - $1,502.00 Configuration



Case: Cooler Master CM Storm Scout
Internal Lighting: Accent Lighting (Blue)
LED Fans: Standard Chassis Fans
Fan Controller: - None
Processor (CPU): Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 Micro Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Mushkin Enhanced Silverline Performance Series
Power Supply: 750W Ballistic Approved (Silent and 80 Plus Certified)
Video Card(s): 1x ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
Hard Drive Storage Set 1: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM)
Hard Drive Storage Set 2: - None
Dedicated Sound Card: Motherboard Audio
CD Optical Drive 1: DVDR/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x)
CD Optical Drive 2: - None
Internal Card Reader: - None
Wireless Connectivity: Motherboard Network Port(s)
CPU Overclocking: FREE: CPU Extreme Overclock Performance Boost Package 20% or More ($90 Value!)
Video Card(s) Overclocking: FREE: GPU Extreme Overclock Performance Boost Package ($40 Value!)
CPU Cooling:Cooler Master V8 (i7 Compatible ONLY)
Install Operating System: - None, I will be responsible for software support
Install Office Suite: - None
Include Game: - None
Display: - None
Gaming Keyboard: - None
Gaming Mouse: - None
Speakers: - None
Surge Protection: - None
External Storage: - None
3 Year Premimer Warranty: 3 Year Limited Warranty with Life-Time U.S. Based Support
Reliable Quality Product: Complete System Test (72-Hour: Processor, Memory, Video Card(s), Hard Drive, Power Supply Test)
Hassle-Free Return Policy: 30 Day Hassle-Free Money Back Guarantee
Shipping Abuse Protection 1: FREE: Internal Secure-Fit Foam (Prevents Loose Components From Shipping Abuse) ($19 Value!)
Shipping Abuse Protection 2: FREE: Safe Transit Box (Suspends PC in Mid-Air With Shipping Inpact Abosrbing Film) ($50 Value!)


I also talked to a person on the websites chat. They knew what the fuck I was talking about and seemed pretty legit.

---

The price seems expensive for what you're getting. And it's the box alone with nothing else. The hard drive is seriously lacking. 500GB? With the amount of money you'd spend, you should at least have a 1TB drive.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Amit

The price seems expensive for what you're getting. And it's the box alone with nothing else. The hard drive is seriously lacking. 500GB? With the amount of money you'd spend, you should at least have a 1TB drive.

---

Why the fuck would I need a terabyte? When I get it I will have the 500gb drive (which is already a shit ton of memory) and a 250gb backup drive. Also this is still cheaper than buying a dell or HP.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Inferno

Why the fuck would I need a terabyte? When I get it I will have the 500gb drive (which is already a shit ton of memory) and a 250gb backup drive. Also this is still cheaper than buying a dell or HP.

---

Just saying, it fills up fast. Didn't know you had the 250GB drive either, PC profile specs are down. The last sentence surprises me, but I don't doubt it.

I've filled up my 640 GB hard drive (actual 596 GB) pretty fast in 4 months, I'm down to 156 GB left. My girl cartoons only take up 140 GB , so that's still 300 GB filled from games and programs. Trust me, get a 1 TB hard drive. That's going to be my next investment actually, after an HD 5850.

sounds like inferno is the kind of person who would make good use of a 1 tb external down the road

>_>

I really don't need much space to work on.

Me neither...I use roughly 150GB with all music, movies, pictures, programs even backups included >.>

Yeah. Having less space forces you to organize better and be more efficient anyways. I like that.

Got a new puter.

my old one got struck by lightning.
Yeah dont trust surge protectors, because they are useless pieces of shit!

2.8 I7 Quad core (it's the old chipset but who cares)
4 gb dual channel ram and a
new motherboard to make use of it. (just one of the p55 ones)
and 700 OCZ power supply.

Looking at getting a 5850 to replace my 8800GTX down the track but as it is i already play all my favourite games (tf2 l4d UT3) on max settings anyway so not looking at one now, plus i wanna see what nvidia do.
Being my second time around upgrading i've decided to pretty well stick to mid range shit, Upgrading and getting new mo boards with the intel chip for example sounds like a good idea, but when it costs about an extra 400 bucks for the new motherboard and more expensive processor it just aint worth it.
90% of the time when it comes to upgrades you'll do over hauls anyway.
so you'll get a new CPU thats bigger and more powerful but requires a new motherboard to run it, so while your doing that you may as well take advantage of the new tech increase's with ram.
and if ya do this say once every 2 years you'll have unmatching chipsets and sockets anyway.

Foudn that out with my quad.
didnt really need the quad but i got it on the illusion that if i wanted to upgrade later on i'd already have a computer mother board that supported it, 2 years later i7's are coming out with completely different sockets and we are looking at 6-8 cores very soon.

It's beign built and it's driving me fuckign crazy, been 3 weeks already since my computer died but theres always little problems that keep slowing us down.
The new Motherboard was dead on arrival which sucked massive dick but unless theres something major i should have it next weekened.

woop.

Any sound card on that machine? Or was that for a friend's? (Just curious, what with the guitar stuff and all)

yeah but it's coming later.

it'll be an elite pro

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by flibitijibibo

Any sound card on that machine? Or was that for a friend's? (Just curious, what with the guitar stuff and all)

---

you're going to love this one: sound cards can suck my ballz

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rook

you're going to love this one: sound cards can suck my ballz

---

Every rig I've ever owned.

Integrated sound.

In short. IAWTP.

He needed it for his guitar/bass/band. Elite Pro console, etc.

So do any of you guys know anything about www.ballisticgamingpc.com ?

They seem legit to me and my parents say there going to order tomorrow.

yes they're legit, and they have reasonably priced (20% - 25%) retail gaming computers. it'd be cheaper if you built it yourself, but your parents are psycho.

I was looking around and apparently ATI 5 series cards can do something with Dolby True HD or something through their HDMI, so does that make it a sound card or does it still use the integrated decoder?