PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Arkanna]

The reason I selected that PSU was to semi-future proof the build incase I do crossfire, etc. Mine as well spend the money now. As for the SSD, I just perfer the brand name of Crucial. They've always made good RAM and other memory, I would trust them with a SSD.

Do you use the Z68 SSD cacheing by chance? I've read mixed things about using it.

All good reasons. As far as using Intel SRT (SSD caching), I did not because I picked up two Corsair Force GT SSD's and RAID 0'd them.

[Arkanna]

EDIT: I don't think i'm asking in the right place, so feel free to skip my post

Ahhhhhh I see. Thank you. If I wanted to run BF3 on max settings, what kind of card would I need? I assume my old processor (phenom II X4 940 quadcore 3GHz) isn't the bottleneck, but my GPU is.

Right now I have to settle on low, could do medium but then intensive scene would hurt my FPS.

It would depend on your game's resolution, but a single Radeon HD 6950 should be able to do it.

[bluefan]

Picked up a HX850 Corsair PSU for $129, G-Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4x4GB) PC3-12800 Dual Channel DDR3 for $38.98, LG Blu-ray burner for $39.99 and Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD for $209 on Boxing Day (Canadas black Fridays) yesterday.

Time to replace my ageing Q6600/GTX 460 system.

[xerodok]

G-Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4x4GB) PC3-12800 Dual Channel DDR3 for $38.98.

Where? Online?

[bluefan]

Where? Online?

I lined up at 4am at the store for it. They're selling it online now, but not the door crasher prices.

They're back up to $42 for 2x4GB.

[Fhqwghads]

As a follow-up to what I posted, elsewhere on The Inwertebs others were claiming that with Win7 you can indeed install a new proc/mobo/RAM and not have to re-install windows. I figured it was worth a shot - it's either going to work or it won't, and if it won't no harm done because I'd have to format and re-install anyway. I'm now running my new LGA1366 mobo and Intel i7 960 w/16 gigs of RAM, and I did not have to re-install windows. When I first booted, Win7 displayed an update splash stating it was installing new devices, then after a reboot I was up and running again. Windows gives the proc and memory a 7.5, and everything else is pegged at 7.9. Off to go play some games!

[Hiryo]

Inc Noob content:

So its Christmas and I have some money to spend. It's not enough to completely build a new PC, but I should be able to upgrade key components of my ~5 year old PC. A bit of History, I don't play games on maximum settings, nor do I want to. I can run stuff like League of Legends at 12-15FPS, Dragon Nest at 9-12 FPS, and FFXIV clocked in at 3FPS(lol). The goal is just to make games more consitent, I don't need anything amazing.

Speccy Copy Pasta(from a post I made in 2010):
Vista 32 bit
AMD Athlon 64 x2 4200+
2.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @301MHz
Gateway MCP61SM2MA (socket AM2)
128MB GeForce 6100 nForce 205

x1 Mushkin 4gb DDR2 78.99 (why is this so expensive?)

Graphics:
PNY VCGGT4301XPB GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB (Not sure if compatible)
PNY GeForce GTX 470 1280MB $280 (Pretty sure this is compatible with the motherboard. Mine will suppore PCI Express, this is listed as express 2.0. I may go with a 512MB instead to save money. As I said, I don't need anything extravagant.)

If necessary: AMD Athlon II x2 3.1GHz $62.99(I've been told I may not need this, but I will buy it if I need to.)

Apevia ATX-CW500WP4 $39.99 (pretty sure this is compatible)

I guess this is mainly to play FFXIV, for those who need an objective. Any help would be appreciated as I am a little scared of buying computer parts.

[bluefan]

GPU - GTX 460. Just a better overall card.

CPU - An upgrade is necessary to feed your new GPU. Before you go buy the CPU though, make sure your motherboard will support it. Yes, AM3 chips are backwards compatible with AM2 and AM2+ boards, but that's with a BIOS updates from the manufacturer.

RAM - Go with a pair of 2x2GB sticks instead of a single 4GB. Dual channel doesn't give much of an improvement, but it does it for free just having two sticks.

[Neoex]

looking to get a laptop that i can run 3-4 FFXI no problem, my desktop ATI Radeon card is awesome and can do this no problem, but my question is are the ATI Radeons better on FFXI than the NVIDIA I thought I remember hearing that FFXI plays better with the ATI Radeon chipsets

If the NVIDIA chipsets are equal in performance on FFXI now I can open up my options to more laptops.

Thanks

[Nemesio]

Anyone have a suggestion on relatively cheap Desktop primarily with Starcraft and FF in mind?

[Lunato]

What settings are you aiming to run both at? And which FF? FF11 or 14?

[Nemesio]

11! And I would like to run them both at a decent setting. A barebones deal would be ok too... Would be a nice learning experience.

[Buffy]

looking to get a laptop that i can run 3-4 FFXI no problem, my desktop ATI Radeon card is awesome and can do this no problem, but my question is are the ATI Radeons better on FFXI than the NVIDIA I thought I remember hearing that FFXI plays better with the ATI Radeon chipsets

If the NVIDIA chipsets are equal in performance on FFXI now I can open up my options to more laptops.

Thanks

I have a Toshiba Laptop from 3 years ago, dual core, 3 GB Ram, that runs two instances of FFXI easily. I can't praise Toshiba Satellite highly enough, this thing has been a complete tank for me.

The same laptop but newer would be able to run 3-4 I would imagine with little problem other then heat. My laptop gets quite warm.

[Zanz L. Barre The 3rd]

If I could get a PC build suggestion for around 500 bucks, I would be super grateful. Sorry if I've missed any posts with answers to similar questions.

[Headspace]

As instated in another thread, my laptop is almost 5 years old now and it runs fine except that a ram slot just went bad so I feel I need to get a new one soon.

I'm looking for a laptop that is semi affordable. I want to game on it (run skyrim on settings that are aesthetically pleasing while maintaining good frame rates). It doesn't have to be great.

I'm kinda spoiled. My dell was one of the best as far as laptops went 5 years ago and I'd like to get a decently powerful laptop but don't have the 1600 to spend on a new one.

What's the best I could do for under 7-800?

[Isiolia]

If I could get a PC build suggestion for around 500 bucks, I would be super grateful. Sorry if I've missed any posts with answers to similar questions.

Some variation on this http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ming,3097.html with skimping (cut the CPU down to an i3 and the GPU to a 6850 or 6770 maybe) - or stretch your budget a little more. 'course, still no OS license there. If you're not gaming, or if all you'll be doing is FFXI or something, you could drop the discrete GPU (at least initially) and have little trouble coming in at your budget.

[TacoTaru]

Bought a few fans for the side of my case, but I'm lacking a fan control. For the time being their all going to be connected via molex so my room is probably going to sound like a wind tunnel. Is there a specific fan control that's better than other/worth using or just go with the highest rated one on Newegg and call it a day? Would need at least control for 4.

[Hiryo]

Spoiler: show

Inc Noob content:

So its Christmas and I have some money to spend. It's not enough to completely build a new PC, but I should be able to upgrade key components of my ~5 year old PC. A bit of History, I don't play games on maximum settings, nor do I want to. I can run stuff like League of Legends at 12-15FPS, Dragon Nest at 9-12 FPS, and FFXIV clocked in at 3FPS(lol). The goal is just to make games more consitent, I don't need anything amazing.

Speccy Copy Pasta(from a post I made in 2010):
Vista 32 bit
AMD Athlon 64 x2 4200+
2.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @301MHz
Gateway MCP61SM2MA (socket AM2)
128MB GeForce 6100 nForce 205

x1 Mushkin 4gb DDR2 78.99 (why is this so expensive?)

Graphics:
PNY VCGGT4301XPB GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB (Not sure if compatible)
PNY GeForce GTX 470 1280MB $280 (Pretty sure this is compatible with the motherboard. Mine will suppore PCI Express, this is listed as express 2.0. I may go with a 512MB instead to save money. As I said, I don't need anything extravagant.)

If necessary: AMD Athlon II x2 3.1GHz $62.99(I've been told I may not need this, but I will buy it if I need to.)

Apevia ATX-CW500WP4 $39.99 (pretty sure this is compatible)

I guess this is mainly to play FFXIV, for those who need an objective. Any help would be appreciated as I am a little scared of buying computer parts.

I ended up getting an EVGA GTX460 and a Corsair TX650 to add on to my 5 year old computer. Seems to be working well, cost about $230 total.

[Kiehl]

Bought a few fans for the side of my case, but I'm lacking a fan control. For the time being their all going to be connected via molex so my room is probably going to sound like a wind tunnel. Is there a specific fan control that's better than other/worth using or just go with the highest rated one on Newegg and call it a day? Would need at least control for 4.

This is the one I got. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811998808
Works fine. Knobs extend just a hair too far for my case to close 100%. Reviews that state the plastic connectors on the back are weak are from people with huge monkey hands that don't know how to use a correct amount of force. Also came with a bunch of extensions and connectors.

[Kiehl]

Edit: Double post