lesson of the day: dont buy a $9000 prebuilt computer - General

ITT: We post speccys. Also, I wonder if liquid cooling is worth the dosh compared to a cautiously planned wind tunnel tested super aerodynamic airflow air cooling.

[QUOTE=adam1172;39040591]ITT: We post speccys. Also, I wonder if liquid cooling is worth the dosh compared to a cautiously planned wind tunnel tested super aerodynamic airflow air cooling.[/QUOTE] Possibly, because no matter what you won't be able to rid yourself of those small GPU fans. Their stupidly small dimensions and the fact that they have to push air through really tight spaces likely makes them the biggest source of noise. A set of silent 140mm fans ontop of a large enough radiator wouldn't be.

I bought one from Scan where they built it for me (it was cheaper than buying the parts individually and building it myself) which was fine, so I don't see the problem with buying already built ones, although I don't have water cooling soooo

Nothing wrong with a prebuilt. There's alot to be said for a decent warranty on a piece of mission critical equipment. Being in the UK he's covered by the "Sales of Goods Act", especially within the first 6 months where goods that fail within this period are deemed to have not fulfilled the contract you had with the seller. It's up to the [u]seller[/u] to replace the goods. (So don't let parts shops fob you off and force you to go to the manufacturer if you are in this 6 month period. They legally won't have a leg to stand on, they HAVE to do something about it) Further to this he probably bought it online, so he's also got some extra protection from the Distance Selling Regulations. If you are a business buying computer gear then these consumer rights usually don't apply. This is when buying a prebuilt is a GOOD thing, you can usually get a warranty specifically designed for business use, one that will actually cover you should it fail. One that will have on-site servicing and replacement to minimize downtime.

And I guess I'll post mine too. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/aNPwR.png[/IMG] More temps. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ENkPu.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Nidhogg;39040512]I've been wondering if I should bother getting a new cooler or not. I've been using the same heatsink fan for the past 4 years. It's a great fan and it's taken care of many different CPU's that I've gone through, but I worry that since it's rather aged if I should invest in another one. It was originally built for dual-core CPUs if that matters - it's currently being used on a quad core now. [img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7835823/nid_computer_specs.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] I actually really need to get an oem heatsink and cooler. [img]http://puu.sh/1HFMu[/img] I'm running my CPU at 4.20ghz Thats with most of my fans on medium but this large case does quite a good job venting it all out with just the fans but i need still need better cooling. Oddly enough my GPU has stayed the same despite the fact that i just went from two 560ti's to 1 670.

[QUOTE=Tudd;39035652] For 500 pounds, you could do alot better. (Like a i5 and Ati 7850)[/QUOTE] I can run BF3 at ultra with 40 fps I'm pretty content with what it's at at the moment thanks :v:

[QUOTE=TheTalon;39040266]I got a $100 AZZA Case 320GB HDD HD5750 was just under $200 at the time, they're something like $80 now. If you can find one, I still recommend it for a Just-To-Get-By-For-Now card 700w PSU 4GB DDR3 Kingston RAM 2x2gb DVD R/W + CD R/W AMD Phenom II 955 Quad Core 3.2ghz 2x 120mm fans on the side, Another in the front ASUS M4A78LT-M-LE Motherboard. $65 at the time, about the same now Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. Windows 7 was only a few months old I got this when Bad Company 2 was in Beta. Today, the exact same system on Newegg runs under $600, if the Phenom 955 was still for sale, and not counting an OS Also, the PSU story. Don't go without a surge protector, ever. The Power being cut back on in the house just blew it[/QUOTE] I know that story on power surges all to well. I host monthly LAN Parties, and 3 of my regulars and myself got hit by a power surge at our houses on the same day, frying everything almost. Also HD5750 was never higher then $150 dollars, unless you got a brand card that is ridiculous on the onboard video ram. The thing is back then, you could have built a computer for about $400 easily that would have used that 5750 to the full use.

[QUOTE=Brt5470;39038163] You're thinking of the first Gen i7. He's running second gen SandyBridge-E 3970X, which is a Quad channel 6 core. 8x8.[/QUOTE] All I have in my house are first gen i5s and i7s. I never even got to look at any new ones.

[QUOTE=Dead Madman;39042326]I can run BF3 at ultra with 40 fps I'm pretty content with what it's at at the moment thanks :v:[/QUOTE] Well, the next time you need a new PC at least take building it into consideration. I had just built my own PC for the very first time and all I had done was watch other people do it and watch newegg and teksyndicate put their PC's together and I had it down. The only boring part about it it installing windows but it only takes about 20 minutes anyway.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ERqov.png[/IMG] Guess I'll post mine as well

Also, while I think CyberPower is a terrible brand, don't use it to say, WC'ing is bad. It's fine, you just have to be sure you take your steps in line. The tube was cut badly, and didn't fit right. Otherwise the system probably would have been fine for years. Besides they make non-conductive fluid, it doesn't work as good as distilled water + additives, but it is a good safegaurd. Also, different fittings are safer than others. As others have mentioned in here, there are automatic safeguards you can setup and depending on the loop you can have the power cut the moment a pressure change happens. Watercooling is about heat capacity or moving a loads of heat. It's not about making a CPU really cold. It's about keeping a super fucking hot CPU decently under control. So if you have an average computer, you gain nothing from watercooling unless you have lots of heat to be pulled out. [QUOTE=don818;39043148]All I have in my house are first gen i5s and i7s. I never even got to look at any new ones.[/QUOTE] Just info, First gen was triple channel. Second gen, Sandy Bridge is dual channel, but the Sandy Bridge E on the 2011 socket is quad channel with up to 6 cores. Third gen Core i series is Ivy Bridge, which is still dual channel with I think 20 PCIe lanes. No info on Ivy-E, but we in the Hardware section are excited for it if it comes.

[QUOTE=adam1172;39040591]ITT: We post speccys. Also, I wonder if liquid cooling is worth the dosh compared to a cautiously planned wind tunnel tested super aerodynamic airflow air cooling.[/QUOTE] Liquid cooling is almost never worth the dosh, unless you are only in it to see how far you can push it. The difference between 20c and 40c to a computer is negligible if you are going to HW refresh every 3 years, any aftermarket HDT cooler should suffice for 90% of PC gamers

Here's mine [IMG]http://filesmelt.com/dl/PC2.PNG[/IMG] $800 for mine ( excluding the HDD's ) and if I had've gotten a cheaper motherboard and a $50 case instead of a $120 case, I would've had enough for a 7850. The 9800 GT was also free and going to be replaced with a 670 within a week or two. [editline]31st December 2012[/editline] CPU is also at 4.2ghz

[QUOTE=mysteryman;39040091]I never got the full point of having a "gaming" laptop. Gaming Laptop is an oxymoron. Yes you can get a high powered laptop (which is still something i doubt most people who have them, myself included, actually need or will use to its full potential), but even then it's just frivolous. Yeah sure for mobility it's quite practical like when im home from school on the weekends to work and i have my laptop with me to play borderlands 2 on, but you shouldn't get a high powered laptop to render videos and such, you should have a desktop for that.[/QUOTE] Honestly sometimes I wish I had a laptop Fact of the matter is moving your desktop to the living room for games/movies with your bf or friends can be cumbersome. Moving it to your friends house doubly so. It takes a minimum of 10-15 minutes to disconnect everything, pack up all your cables/cords, and move them all out to the car, and the same amount of time to set it up again. Thats a total 40min-1hr to take your PC to someone else house for some gaming fun or whatever and bringing it back again. Plus working on stuff like level design, project work, etc that can only really be done on a PC is so much nicer when you can just pack up and work on it somewhere else for a new change of scenery or seatery instead of being always forced to work on such tasks at your desk in your room. A laptop gets around all those things. It's as easy as putting it in a bag and just going to where you want to set up your PC at. I used to think gaming laptops were stupid as well, but damn. When you treat them like ultra-portable desktop PC's they are great for that. I'd love to just be able to set up a laptop in my living room for games on a whim, or be able to easily take it to someone else house without having to deal with the set up process. Or I'd love to work on my modding/design projects in my living room, around my apartment, or even at the local coffee shop for a change of scenery. You can't really do that with a PC easily. Plus having a laptop is basically like having a cheap UPS - you don't lose what you are doing/working on when the power goes out because of the battery. Still, i'd miss the affordability and upgradability of PC so I don't think I'd ever be able to switch to a gaming laptop. I think if I could have my cake and eat it too I'd like to get a true PC, that is built like a laptop. I.E. its every way upgradeable and cheap as a PC but has a screen built into it and all that jazz so it just works like a laptop with the fact that it has a battery (that'd maybe last only 30 min, for when power goes out), a screen, no real cables to work with etc. It'd be like a rectangular box, that has a fold out keyboard or something, and behind the screen is all the components. It'd probably look way to goofy to take it in public but it'd still be hell of a lot easier to move around my apartment, to other people's homes, etc.

[QUOTE=Daniel M;39034825]Just a friendly reminder to use fanless heatsinks. They may be expensive but if you want the quietness of liquid cooling but without the risk, use that. Also why the fuck didn't they use non-conductive liquid? Also I would think that the BANG would be from the lack of cooling on the processor, not the actual liquid.[/QUOTE] Liquid cooling isn't used because of noise, it's used because it's more effective at reducing temperatures in a not-so-standard application, usually overclocking. I own a [url=http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1160410&p=38935593&viewfull=1#post38935593]closed-loop Corsair water cooling system[/url] and it works amazingly.

It seems like he has a bunch of useless shit in that computer.

I was reminiscing how much little RAM i need compared to him, halfway before panning to the other 32GB and my eyes popped out of their sockets.

[QUOTE=Amiga OS;39040229]Dem temps.[/QUOTE] Pfft, please. That's nothing. My old desktop's CPU (Intel Q6600) idled at 79*C. [b]Idled[/b]. And that's with five large fans in the case at full power - we had to cut a hole in the case for the last fan. And a big-ass heat-sink on the processor. It burns through its thermal paste (Arctic Silver) in about two months. As in, we take the heat-sink off to check and there is no thermal paste left. The contacting plates are spotless. Strangely enough, even though Metro 2033 would kick it up to 86*C, it would never stutter or crash, even after playing for hours. Minecraft would slaughter it inside of 10 minutes, though. Crash reboots like no tomorrow.

[QUOTE=Daemon;39044044]I was reminiscing how much little RAM i need compared to him, halfway before panning to the other 32GB and my eyes popped out of their sockets.[/QUOTE] I have another 32 on the way, waiting for 16GB Reg ECC to drop in prices a bit before I go for them. Before you all ask I do VMware work

[QUOTE=Dead Madman;39042326]I can run BF3 at ultra with 40 fps I'm pretty content with what it's at at the moment thanks :v:[/QUOTE] I just bought the same video card you have, Radeon 7700 2gb. I can play far cry 3 on high with 50 fps.

After reading this thread, i've come to a decision about buying computer parts. I always ignored the warranty registration, but since my computer died recently, i really should start doing it. It died out of warranty anyways though, this is my second year of having it.

[QUOTE=Amiga OS;39045217]Holy shit, I've never had an AMD chip even remotely approach those temps.[/QUOTE] After my PSU exploded a couple times my old X2 idles near 80 easy

I go as far as to stick with suppliers and brands of parts with decent warranty and repair procedures. Corsair and Antec are awful for this, we had 2 power supplies go up in smoke within 8 months. Long enough to be out of the seller's hands but short enough to be the manufacturers problem. They wanted them sending to an address in Europe at OUR cost. We have a business contract with parcelforce and the cheapest we could send them was around £20. And no they don't refund the shipping even if it is a manufacturing fault. This was further compounded by the fact that eBuyer are awful and they will try to worm their way out of facilitating replacement. Go on, read their T&Cs. I dare you. It borders on breaching consumer rights law. Asus are the complete opposite, they sent UPS round at their cost to pick my tablet up and they only charge you the postage if it is deemed to be customer damage. I'll continue to buy prebuilts for business use. There's not enough time to be messing around sending and replacing parts. Let someone else worry about it.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/TCuUo.png[/img] not bad

[QUOTE=Gmod4ever;39044381]Pfft, please. That's nothing. My old desktop's CPU (Intel Q6600) idled at 79*C. [b]Idled[/b]. And that's with five large fans in the case at full power - we had to cut a hole in the case for the last fan. And a big-ass heat-sink on the processor. It burns through its thermal paste (Arctic Silver) in about two months. As in, we take the heat-sink off to check and there is no thermal paste left. The contacting plates are spotless. Strangely enough, even though Metro 2033 would kick it up to 86*C, it would never stutter or crash, even after playing for hours. Minecraft would slaughter it inside of 10 minutes, though. Crash reboots like no tomorrow.[/QUOTE] Mine idles at around that temp and it's never caused any major issues or eats up the thermal paste. The performance doesn't even suffer.

My graphics card runs at 90 degrees.

[QUOTE=Jookia;39050175]My graphics card runs at 90 degrees.[/QUOTE] Celsius or Fahrenheit? Because if fahrenheit, that's great. If celcius, that's not good.

[QUOTE=mysteryman;39050268]Celsius or Fahrenheit? Because if fahrenheit, that's great. If celcius, that's not good.[/QUOTE] Celcius.

Am I late for the Speccy party [IMG]http://puu.sh/1I0jr[/IMG]