EPT[H] Buying a Good Computer - Page 2
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NeVeR
1352 Posts
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FragKrag
United States11554 Posts
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NeVeR
1352 Posts
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udgnim
United States8024 Posts
On February 21 2010 07:53 NeVeR wrote: Alright, I just ordered all my computer parts from newegg.com, but still trying to decide on a new monitor (apparently 4:3 monitors suck for SC2). How difficult do you think it will be for me to assemble everything, considering that I have absolutely no experience whatsoever? Do all the parts come with assembly instructions? I'm wondering if I should perhaps pay someone else with experience to do it for me, since I really don't want to screw this up... not very hard just need to know where to plug which PSU connectors plug into the motherboard, optical drives, and hard drives and where to plug the front panel, fan, and power connectors into the motherboard (this should all be available in a manual or obvious by looking at what matches). the larger stuff like PSU, video cards, hard drives, DVD drives, fans, etc should be fairly straightforward to screw in. I suggest installing the CPU and heatsink fan on the motherboard outside the case first. either read the manual or look up a guide online for the best way to apply thermal grease for your specific CPU. a very common mistake for first time builders is to apply too much thermal grease which results in poor heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink. you might have some difficulty getting some screws into the motherboard standoff due to lack of space. it's not absolutely critical to get a screw into every available standoff but make sure there is enough support (especially with a heavy third party heatsink fan). building a computer might seem like an intimidating task, but it's really not. the most danger imo is static discharge. make sure to always ground yourself by touching the case and perform the assembly in a low static environment (ie not on the carpet). | ||
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NeVeR
1352 Posts
On February 21 2010 10:01 udgnim wrote: I suggest installing the CPU and heatsink fan on the motherboard outside the case first. either read the manual or look up a guide online for the best way to apply thermal grease for your specific CPU. a very common mistake for first time builders is to apply too much thermal grease which results in poor heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink. Thanks a lot for the reply. I was worried about overheating and was unsure of how many fans to buy, so I just got a really nice case with four big fans on each side: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160 Do you think I still need to install a heatsink fan on the motherboard, or will this case alone provide sufficient cooling to the CPU? | ||
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mahnini
United States6862 Posts
cpu should come with one so it shouldn't be a problem | ||
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udgnim
United States8024 Posts
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NeVeR
1352 Posts
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Jonoman92
United States9104 Posts
On February 23 2010 12:10 NeVeR wrote: How easy is it to install Windows 7 on a blank hard-drive? The instructions in my Windows 7 package only talk about upgrading from XP or Vista... It's pretty easy. I just did it on my computer and took an hour maybe, most of it was just waiting while the stuff was loading though. edit: Damn a quad core that is 3.4GHz for $180 sounds amazing. My core 2 duo is 3.19GHz I think and it was only $20 cheaper. | ||
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FragKrag
United States11554 Posts
what matters is real time performance! | ||
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NeVeR
1352 Posts
WOOHOO :D | ||
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udgnim
United States8024 Posts
On February 23 2010 12:10 NeVeR wrote: How easy is it to install Windows 7 on a blank hard-drive? The instructions in my Windows 7 package only talk about upgrading from XP or Vista... should be pretty easy turn on PC, insert CD/DVD, follow instructions you might need to change your motherboard's BIOS settings to have the disc drive as a booting device. also, recommend creating 2 partitions on your hard drive. one is for Windows 7 (30GB sized partition seems to be a popular number to choose) and the other is for everything else. the reason why you want to do this is if you ever need or want to reinstall Windows 7, only the Windows 7 partition will be affected. hard drive formatting & partitioning will be asked during the beginning sequence of the Windows 7 install. edit: this is probably stupidly obvious, but do not turn off or reset your computer while Windows 7 is installing. if your install seems to be stuck (no change in screen or progress bar), to be extremely safe, I would wait an hour before resetting the PC. try to look up online what might be causing this issue while you wait. | ||
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Redshirt
434 Posts
On February 18 2010 18:42 FragKrag wrote: A decent 790X chipset motherboard will carry you a long time, and a decent Corsair/Antec/Thermaltake/Cooler Master PSU will provide reliable performance as well. I suggest getting a PSU that is 80 PLUS certified, because they will generally provide more reliable power, and are always more energy efficient. The company logo means little when it comes to PSUs, the OEM is the important thing. What you're looking for are the actual manufacturers of your PSU. Seasonic and PC Power & Cooling generally make the best PSUs. Not surprisingly, a lot of Antec and Corsair mainstream units are actually Seasonics and thus the reason why they're good. If you're not going anything crazy like SLI/Crossfire, a 500w 80+ PSU is more than enough to power your rig. Thermaltake/Cooler Master are generally pretty mediocre but you can't really go wrong with Corsairs/Antecs/Seasonics. | ||
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ruXxar
Norway5669 Posts
On February 19 2010 04:04 FragKrag wrote: You realize that in both of those reviews they test small resolutions where both processors run the games flawlessly right? The human eye can't see the difference between 100 FPS and 120 FPS. anyways currently the Phenom II 720 is hard to find in stock. Newegg sells them OEM, but then you need to buy a new hsf. Then why recommend one of the worst cards in the 5XXX lineup? This is incorrect. http://amo.net/NT/02-21-01FPS.html | ||
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FragKrag
United States11554 Posts
On March 01 2010 19:31 Redshirt wrote: The company logo means little when it comes to PSUs, the OEM is the important thing. What you're looking for are the actual manufacturers of your PSU. Seasonic and PC Power & Cooling generally make the best PSUs. Not surprisingly, a lot of Antec and Corsair mainstream units are actually Seasonics and thus the reason why they're good. If you're not going anything crazy like SLI/Crossfire, a 500w 80+ PSU is more than enough to power your rig. Thermaltake/Cooler Master are generally pretty mediocre but you can't really go wrong with Corsairs/Antecs/Seasonics. Oh I wasn't aware of that o_O wasn't PC Power & Cooling bought by OCZ? OCZ power supplies are pretty bad :/ haha that's also interesting that the human eye can see more than 200fps. I never knew anyone could distinguish past 100FPS o_o. | ||
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Redshirt
434 Posts
On March 02 2010 00:59 FragKrag wrote: Oh I wasn't aware of that o_O wasn't PC Power & Cooling bought by OCZ? OCZ power supplies are pretty bad :/ Even if OCZ bought out PC Power and Cooling, for whatever reason the lower end models (not their 1000W beast which is awesome if noisy as fuck) are still re-branded Fortron Source products. | ||
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