PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Reality]

Hope this is the place to ask...
My buddy's looking to build a new pc, and was curious about new PC cases. Anyone got some sites he could look at for cases?

what's his budget? does he want a full tower or something smaller?

really nice affordable full tower case is the NZXT Switch 810, it comes in Gloss White, Gloss Black, Gunmetal Grey, and Matte Black

amazing ITX case is the Bitfenix Prodigy, check out what this guy did with one:

[Jojimbo]

http://pcpartpicker.com/ has a list of cases and prices + stores to buy them from. Corsair/NZXT/Fractal Design/Bitfenix all make some good cases (there are others of course, but these seem to be the most common)

[Makwa]

Thanks. He only knew of a few sites to look so I told him I'd ask around.

[Jojimbo]

Delidded and lapped my i5 3570k today, replaced stock TIM with Liquid Pro, roughly -15c cooler now.

Screenshots
De-Lidded
Lapping

Started with 4.4Ghz 1.185v, then with Liquid Pro I tried 4.6GHz 1.230v and 4.8GHz 1.300v (needs 1.315-1.330 to be completely stable I think). Using 4.6GHz atm, I want my waterblock now so I can try 5+ ;; half the important stuff I want is out of stock everywhere in the UK.

[Jojimbo]

EDIT:: Double x.x

[Caiyuo]

That's awesome, didn't even know that was a thing!

e: just caught this on reddit, too lol

[Adajer]

might be a stupid question but, was it necessary to take the lid of to lap it?

[Jojimbo]

With my current Hyper 212 I doubt it makes a difference but I'm planning on using Liquid Pro with my waterblock when I get it and as that prefers a flat surface I'm hoping it does something there. Plus delidding voids warranty anyway so I thought why not.

[Druin]

Hey there guys! Im interested in upgrading my computer's processor and graphics card, but unfortunately I am not sure what the com is compatible with. So I figured Id ask you all. These are my current specs:
Giga-Byte GA-EP45-UD3P (rev. 1.0) Motherboard.
ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @3.00 GHz
4GB of memory

Any help and suggestions u guys could give would be awesome. Thanks a ton!

[Reality]

well that CPU is almost as good as it gets for that motherboard, you could upgrade it to a Q9650 if you can find one at a reasonable price (~80-100 USD probably, used. not worth the price brand new)
graphics card, well you could put any PCI-E card in there, the most money I'd spend on a GPU for a Core 2 system is probably $150-180, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127615

the e8400 is a good chip though, you could overclock that to 4.0ghz easily with a decent CPU cooler

[Druin]

What if i were to upgrade the motherboard as well? I can't seem to run Borderlands 2 on high effectively and Id like to play FFXIV on good settings as well.

[Reality]

what's your budget

[Jojimbo]

I wouldn't spend $197 on a 560Ti even if it was 448 core edition, HD 7850 are as fast at stock and overclock significantly higher plus are newer and use less power. This Sapphire HD 7850 is the same price after rebates but with free P&P. This HIS IceQ HD7870 is amazing value if it comes back in stock at that price ($200 and includes a game, but out of stock x.x)

[Druin]

My budget is around $400-500ish

[Jojimbo]

Upgrading CPU/MB and GPU would put it to about $580 unless you were to get a budget CPU/MB. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/iZ0q

[Adajer]

i3 $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116775

motherboard
Asrock $85 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157304
MSI (low ratings) 89-15= $74 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130653

GPU
660 $230-240
7850 ~200

8gb of ram $30-$40

Hyper 212 ~$30

Its doable as long as you dont mind going i3

[Druin]

I'm really sorry I'm not more help lol. When it comes to building coms I don't know a whole lot. I'm just lookin for a good and affordable upgrade. From what I know i3s run well right? Just lookin for high settings on some games and tryin to learn this stuff. Thanks again guys I appreciate the help a ton

[hey]

Should be fine. You don't really need a great cpu for gaming. If you could afford it, a 3570k would be an excellent upgrade, but if not, an i3 isn't going to kill you. It won't matter at all for many games anyway.

[Druin]

i3 $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116775

motherboard
Asrock $85 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157304
MSI (low ratings) 89-15= $74 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130653

GPU
660 $230-240
7850 ~200

8gb of ram $30-$40

Hyper 212 ~$30

Its doable as long as you dont mind going i3

So these parts will all work together? Is there some guide lol cause id really like to learn this stuff ha! Also how hard would it be to install in my com and setup myself? Id like to do the upgrading myself without having someone else do it for me.

edit: oh and does it matter which specific memory I get?

[hey]

So these parts will all work together?

Yes.

Is there some guide lol cause id really like to learn this stuff ha!

For what specifically? Picking parts? Not really.

Also how hard would it be to install in my com and setup myself?

Can you handle ? It's really not much harder than that. You'll probably want to check your motherboard manual to see which pins you connect all of your front panel stuff to, but otherwise even if you've never done it before, you should be able to figure everything out. Everything is either labeled on the motherboard, or there's only one possible option to connect things to (and probably still labeled anyway).

edit: oh and does it matter which specific memory I get?

As far as compatibility goes, anything that says ddr3 will work. The performance difference between the worst and best ram isn't really that significant, so if you want to just get the cheapest ram you can find, i wouldn't feel too bad about it.