So guys, I've been tired of people asking on the general forums if they ought to upgrade their Graphics card, Cpu, Mobo or just get another screen, so I decided to make a thread where people can freely dump their questions about getting new computer related stuff.
But Please make sure that you give us enough info to actually answer your question.
Here is an example of a good post:
[QUOTE=Massive fag]Hey Guyz I wants a new Gfex card but I dont kno wut one, HALP[/QUOTE]
And here is an example of a good post:
[QUOTE=Good User] I've been thinking of getting a new monitor for a whille now, and I have a bit of anxiety about which one I should get, Should I get this: [url]http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HP1740-17-LCD-monitor-with-warranty_W0QQitemZ170459937512QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_comp_monitor?hash=item27b0343ae8[/url]
or this: [url]http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Compucon-17-LCD-Monitor_W0QQitemZ120544063195QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_comp_monitor?hash=item1c10fc6edb?[/url]
Thanks.[/QUOTE]
ASUS Maximus II Formula
Q9550 @ 4.0
4GB DDR2-971
4870 1GB
2x 1TB Seagate 7200.12
620W Corsair PSU
2048x1152 Samsung monitor
Should I upgrade to a 5XXX-series card?
Mobo: Asus M4A78 Plus
CPU: Phenom II X4 925
RAM: Generic mixed 667/533MHZ (See below)
GPU: ATI 5750 1GB
HD: 2x Samsung 500GB in Raid0; 1x Seagate 1TB
PSU: 480w, forgot brand
Is it worth it to upgrade my 6GB of generic 667MHZ RAM (2x2GB, 2x1GB) to 2x2GB OCZ Reaper 1066MHZ RAM and 2x2GB Crosair XMS2 800MHZ RAM for $250?
All are DDR2
Other than getting more stable overclocks, are there any points to this upgrade?
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20828857]ASUS Maximus II Formula
Q9550 @ 4.0
4GB DDR2-971
4870 1GB
2x 1TB Seagate 7200.12
620W Corsair PSU
2048x1152 Samsung monitor
Should I upgrade to a 5XXX-series card?[/QUOTE]
You mean, for example a 5770? It depends on your budget, if your budget is low, go for another 4870, if it is high go for a 5970, or wait for the new nVidia cards to come out.
[QUOTE=B1N4RY!;20828877]Is it worth it to upgrade my 6GB of generic 667MHZ RAM (2x2GB, 2x1GB) to 2x2GB OCZ Reaper 1066MHZ RAM and 2x2GB Crosair XMS2 800MHZ RAM for $250?
All are DDR2
Other than getting more stable overclocks, are there any points to this upgrade?[/QUOTE]
If you mixed RAM speeds, it'd downclock to the slow RAM's speeds.
Also, where the hell does RAM cost $250 for 4x2GB?
If you aren't doing heavy rendering, 4GB is fine for anyone.
[QUOTE=B1N4RY!;20828877]Is it worth it to upgrade my 6GB of generic 667MHZ RAM (2x2GB, 2x1GB) to 2x2GB OCZ Reaper 1066MHZ RAM and 2x2GB Crosair XMS2 800MHZ RAM for $250?
All are DDR2
Other than getting more stable overclocks, are there any points to this upgrade?[/QUOTE]
You mean the last two things together or just one of them? It depends if they're DDR3 or not.
[QUOTE=broo20;20828906]You mean the last two things together or just one of them? It depends if they're DDR3 or not.[/QUOTE]
Second block of text in his post:
"All are DDR2"
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20828887]Also, where the hell does RAM cost $250 for 4x2GB?
[/QUOTE]
It's $250 for buying the TWO kits I was referring to; two 2GB 1066MHZ OCZ Reaper sticks, and two 2GB 800MHZ Crosair XMS2 sticks
[QUOTE=B1N4RY!;20828928]It's $250 for buying the TWO kits I was referring to; two 2GB 1066MHZ OCZ Reaper sticks, and two 2GB 800MHZ Crosair XMS2 sticks[/QUOTE]
That's still 4 sticks of 2GB.
Also, it's not the best idea to mix RAM when overclocking, depending on your overclock, since different latencies/voltages/speeds can come into play.
4GB OCZ Reaper DDR2-1066 $108
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289&Tpk=reaper%201066[/url]
4GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 $100
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145241&cm_re=4gb_xms2_800-_-20-145-241-_-Product[/url]
What do you even need 8GB of RAM for, anyway?
[editline]06:29AM[/editline]
Also, is it just me or has DDR2 been getting more expensive lately? The same RAM I bought for $50 in August is $90 now.
Sort of related to this, just don't think it needs its own thread. I need a cheap wireless receiver for an old desktop I just installed ubuntu on.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20828980]That's still 4 sticks of 2GB.
Also, it's not the best idea to mix RAM when overclocking, depending on your overclock, since different latencies/voltages/speeds can come into play.
[/QUOTE]
I know, 800MHZ is suffice for my needs. I can only insert one 1066MHZ DIMM in each channel anyways, hence buying a second 800mhz kit instead.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20828980]
4GB OCZ Reaper DDR2-1066 $108
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289&Tpk=reaper%201066[/url]
4GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 $100
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145241&cm_re=4gb_xms2_800-_-20-145-241-_-Product[/url]
What do you even need 8GB of RAM for, anyway?
[/QUOTE]
I need large amounts of RAM for rendering and running multiple virtual machines simultaneously
And I live in Canada; the pricing will be another story.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20828980]Also, is it just me or has DDR2 been getting more expensive lately? The same RAM I bought for $50 in August is $90 now.[/QUOTE]
Yeah I've noticed that too. DDR3 on the other hand, is getting ridiculously cheap now.
Unless you have some kind of god-mobo, mixing 1066 and 800 will just make the mobo downclock all RAM to 800MHz.
[editline]06:53AM[/editline]
If I were you, I'd just get 2 of the Corsair kits.
Alright peeps, I'm upgrading my rig to Intel (AMD's best bang for buck, but you can't deny Intel's got performance), and I need opinions and advice. Current specs:
CPU: AMD Phenom II 940 3.8GHz
Mobo: Foxconn Destroyer
GPU: EVGA GTX280(x2) SLI
RAM: 4x2GB OCZ Reaper 1066
HDD's: 64GB G.SKILL Falcon SSD + 1TB WD Caviar Black
PSU: Kingwin Mach 1 850w
Sound: Asus Xonar D1
Case: NZXT Tempest <(Fuckin hate this thing)
Water cooling: MCP-655>MCR-320>D-TEK FuZion v2>Swiftech Micro-Res>MCP-655
What I'm replacing:
Foxconn Destroyer with an [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188048"]EVGA x58 Classified[/URL]
Adding an [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992005"]NZXT Sentry 2[/URL] fan controller
Replacing the Phenom II with a [URL="http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117213"]Xeon W3520[/URL]
NZXT Tempest with a [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001&Tpk=800d"]Corsair 800D[/URL]
I can't decide on what RAM to get though, so that's where you guys come in. I was debating on either [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231254"]G.Skill Trident[/URL]s or [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145269"]Corsair Dominator-GT[/URL]'s. I've read so many damn reviews and comparisons I really can't decide, but I was leaning towards to Corsairs due to the fact that... Well, Corsair's fuckin awesome. Opinions?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the W3520 just the server version of the i7 920? You'll see a < 10% performance increase moving from a PII 940 to that. Just OC your 940.
Pentium Dual Core E6300 2.8ghz
MSI G31TM-P21
HIS HD 4670 512mb GDDR3
4gb DDR2 800mhz
CoolMax 600watt
160 WD HDD
320 Seagate HDD external
Resolution 1024x768 (42 inch Samsung plasma TV has terrible resolution)
should I get a 5750? or get a Q9300 then eventually get a new gpu?
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20829385]Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the W3520 just the server version of the i7 920? You'll see a < 10% performance increase moving from a PII 940 to that. Just OC your 940.[/QUOTE]
I've hit a wall with my Phenom II, doesn't budge above 3.8GHz. And I've seen performance comparisons between the i7's and Phenom II's; i7's perform better at stock clocks than Phenom II's that've been OCed to around 3.8GHz (I'll try and find the article again). That, and the better mobo and DDR3 RAM should yield much greater overall performance.
Couldn't find the exact article, but I think this gets the message across:
[IMG]http://media.bestofmicro.com/O/5/174533/original/image046.png[/IMG]
We have an entire section dedicated to this, called PC Building. All threads get moved there. As wil lthis one.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20828913]Second block of text in his post:
"All are DDR2"[/QUOTE]
He edited it.
[editline]09:58PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=Wonky;20829076]Sort of related to this, just don't think it needs its own thread. I need a cheap wireless receiver for an old desktop I just installed ubuntu on.[/QUOTE]
Well you're not going to get anything for less than $60 (in Australia) but I recently got a NetGear WN111v2 USB Dongle. It's CD drivers aren't compatible with windows 7/64 bit and I don't know if it works with Ubuntu.
[editline]10:00PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=birkett;20829844]We have an entire section dedicated to this, called PC Building. All threads get moved there. As will this one.[/QUOTE]
Well, it might, but then atleast this crap won't clog up the general forum.
[QUOTE=Supacasey;20829682]I've hit a wall with my Phenom II, doesn't budge above 3.8GHz. And I've seen performance comparisons between the i7's and Phenom II's; i7's perform better at stock clocks than Phenom II's that've been OCed to around 3.8GHz (I'll try and find the article again). That, and the better mobo and DDR3 RAM should yield much greater overall performance.
Couldn't find the exact article, but I think this gets the message across:
[IMG]http://media.bestofmicro.com/O/5/174533/original/image046.png[/IMG][/QUOTE]
That just takes advantage of the hyper-threaded cores.
[img]http://media.bestofmicro.com/K/4/174388/original/014_3dmark_over.jpg[/img]
[img]http://media.bestofmicro.com/K/2/174386/original/012_pcmark_mem.jpg[/img]
Just picked two benchmarks, but you can see what I said: ~10% performance improvement.
What about actual games, you say?
[img]http://media.bestofmicro.com/K/7/174391/original/017_crisys.jpg[/img]
[img]http://media.bestofmicro.com/K/A/174394/original/020_supreme.jpg[/img]
Why, look at that. Performance increases of less than 10%.
Go for the W3520 if you think you want to spend $800 (mobo, CPU, RAM) for what will amount to a pretty minor performance increase.
Q6600 w/ Zalman extreme 10x @ 2.4GHz
ASUS P5N-E SLi
2 x 2GB PC2-6400 G.Skill
Gainward GTX275
2x 1TB Samsung
1x 500GB Samsung
APEVIA X-Cruiser mid-tower
Should I get another 2x 1TB hard drives?
Should I get a new case for better air flow?
And last; Should I get a new motherboard that'll allow me to OC the Q6600?
You can't mobo your Q6600 at all on that P5N?
Also, only get more HDs if you need them - 2x1TB is a lot of space.
[editline]06:13PM[/editline]
If you wanted a new mobo, I'd get one of the P5Qs or a EP45.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20834658]You can't mobo your Q6600 at all on that P5N?
Also, only get more HDs if you need them - 2x1TB is a lot of space.
[editline]06:13PM[/editline]
If you wanted a new mobo, I'd get one of the P5Qs or a EP45.[/QUOTE]
The P5N-E SLi is known for it's suckage.
The fact that I a month ago bought a new DVD-Writer because the raid controller decided it was dead.
When I swapped in the new drive, my computer was willing to boot again, but not from a burned disk, so for curiosity I swapped in the old drive but connecting it to a different sata port, and it worked.
Before that I had to have a 7 year old 8x IDE CD-ROM writer connected or it wouldn't boot.
Also it reaches a horrible unstable 2.8GHz
Oh yeah, and the idle voltage is 1.35v because the motherboard has decided that's what the CPU needs, not the 1.24v at stock nooo, 0.1 volt more or it won't boot.
Ah, OK.
Go for an EP45-UD3L if you want to be cheap.
$90 w/ shipping on Newegg, $80 after MIR.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20833296]That just takes advantage of the hyper-threaded cores.
~Vantage scores~
Why, look at that. Performance increases of less than 10%.
Go for the W3520 if you think you want to spend $800 (mobo, CPU, RAM) for what will amount to a pretty minor performance increase.[/QUOTE]
I'd really like to see their entire setup, as my 940 isn't getting that kind of performance. And as I said before, the better mobo and higher quality DDR3 RAM will yield better overall performance.
The mobo I have now, the Foxconn Destroyer, is a piece of shit. As is Foxconn's customer support. Did you know the Destroyer's been out for years, but its NB frequency setting STILL doesn't work, severely limiting overclocks? And as for my RAM, it doesn't budge over 400MHz even though it's rated at 1066. I've RMA'd it twice and its been the same each time. So going to a board and CPU that'll let me hit 4.4GHz+ easy, as well as having RAM that'll be able to hit at least 1800MHz, I should see quite a difference.
Is it a $700+ difference, though?
No.
Save your money for something like a car.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20841791]Is it a $700+ difference, though?
No.
Save your money for something like a car.[/QUOTE]
See, to me though, it is... You know how people pour thousands, even dozens of thousands of dollars into cars to trick 'em out, even though they'll most likely never go above 75, maybe 90? That's me with PC's. Just handling new hardware is the best feeling I can think of.
Just get a new mobo and DDR3 RAM.
[editline]01:26AM[/editline]
At least wait for 32nm.
[QUOTE=Makol;20829417]Pentium Dual Core E6300 2.8ghz
MSI G31TM-P21
HIS HD 4670 512mb GDDR3
4gb DDR2 800mhz
CoolMax 600watt
160 WD HDD
320 Seagate HDD external
Resolution 1024x768 (42 inch Samsung plasma TV has terrible resolution)
should I get a 5750? or get a Q9300 then eventually get a new gpu?[/QUOTE]
uh, help?
[QUOTE=Makol;20843063]uh, help?[/QUOTE]
How bout a better dual core and a 5750 but other wise probably the gpu because if you wait longer you can get a much better cpu.
There's no res (1366x768) that works better on your TV? How are you connected to it?
[editline]01:49AM[/editline]
Why does he need a 5750 for 1024x768?
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