EPTComputer Build Resource Thread - Page 244
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Zezima
United States4 Posts
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Zezima
United States4 Posts
You could (1) upgrade the GPU (probably not worth it since the HD 5850 is a great value at $140 and is powerful enough for current games, and it would be maybe a little much of a stretch on the Earthwatts 380D to get something much more powerful), (2) upgrade various things like RAM/PSU/Case and have money left over, (3) add an SSD, or (4) pocket the extra. Sry for being so nosy, but would it be optimal to upgrade the mobo with that money?, i know little about which MoBos are the best. but if i get a confirmation it would be great, I know 8 gb is a lot and i do not need it, but just having 2 ram slots would not look bright if one was investing for the near (4+ years?, yes i know it seems unreasonable but,,, asian parents are very stingy?) | ||
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Superiorwolf
United States5509 Posts
ASRock H61ICAFE Mobo is incompatible with my 2x4 GB RAM (which just got here, btw!) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157246 How about between these? ASRock H61M/U3S3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (2x240 Pin) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236 $79.99 + shipping BIOSTAR TH67B LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (4x240 Pin) http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.631835 $94.99 - $20 combo deal = $74.99 MSI H61M-P23 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (2x240 Pin) http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-TechBargains&cm_mmc=AFC-TechBargains-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16813130593 $54.99 after MIR And HDMI = ability to put high def on your monitor, correct? Sorry for asking so many questions!!! This is the last one I promise!!! | ||
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Jaso
United States2147 Posts
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
No, not really. It would make more sense to add in an SSD, upgrade the power supply, or just get the amount of RAM you want now. In five years time, you'll be wishing for a better graphics card or processor, not more RAM. Games in five years will not use 8GB of RAM and I can guarantee this so having 16GB of RAM is not going to help improve performance. If you want more RAM, get it now. The prices are as low as you can get (maybe it'll drop to $60 for 8GB in 2 years time). But once DDR4 becomes the standard (~2015), DDR3 prices will go back up again. @Superiorwolf The Asrock H61M US3S3 would be the best option. I'm not sure what you mean by HDMI being able to put HD on your monitor. It's just a type of connection used to connect displays. It's the same as DVI except it also has the ability to carry audio. | ||
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SolvusAnima
United States138 Posts
But I guess that's what this thread's for! To ask for help  .Anyways guys, I'd greatly appreciate it if any of you would be to kind as to help me with my first ever build! My entire life I've been using this shitty laptop that can't run any recent games, so I figured it's time to put some money in a better machine! Again, I have no knowledge on what's good and what's not, so I will leave all those big decisions to those who actually know what they're talking about! + Show Spoiler + What is your budget? $1000, $1150 tops. What is your resolution? Whatever you guys recommend. What are you using it for? Since I've been deprived of gaming, I'd like to be able to run all recent games with as high a quality as my budget allows, as well as streaming! What is your upgrade cycle? 2-3 years. When do you plan on building it? ASAP Do you plan on overclocking? Don't plan to, however, if you guys recommend, will do. Do you need an Operating System? Negative. Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire? Don't even know what this means ^^ Where are you buying your parts from? Newegg. Also have access to frys, but would rather newegg ^^. Notes I am a huge Brood War fan, and I've been playing it since I was 8. I don't plan on stopping any time soon. My friend recently got himself a new computer, however, he is forced to used windowed mode to play broodwar. I really don't want to have this problem :S. My friend told me that some monitors have a feature that allow you to play broodwar such that two black bars appear on the sides of the window without stretching the picture of the game? I'd really like it if my monitor was able to do this ^^. Another thing, and this is aimed towards people who game competitively! I am also planning on buying myself some nice gaming gear to go with the computer. I'm looking for recommendations on: 1.) Keyboard 2.) Mouse (Just a bit of info, if I lay my hand flat and measure from my wrist till the end of my middle finger, it measures up to 8 inches. 3.) Headset! Thank you guys for your help and time! | ||
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Oproer
Netherlands108 Posts
I would love some help on my new computer. It's gonna be used for gaming and work mostly. I play SC2 at the moment but I also want it to run more demanding games like Diablo 3 in the future. I play on 1920*1080 (Y U NO MAKE 1920*1200 ANYMORE?!) Work is mostly InDesign and Video-editting. Maybe an i7 would be better for thart but I'm not sure if it's necessary. I'm working on a 3 year old Core Duo mobile processor now and I think it's time to get something new. Here's what I got so far: Motherboard: Asus Motherboard P8P67 LE B3,s1155, ATX,P67,DDR3,2xPCIe,1394 or Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3 This would be around 110 euro Processor: Intel Processor Core i5-2500K, s1155, 3.30GHz,1333MHz,6MB,BOX 170 euro Graphics: MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC 200 euro RAM: Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 (8 GB) 80 euro I'm not sure about any of it. I don't think it's necessary to overclock but I heard the i5 is really easy to overclock even with the stock cooler to ~3.7 GhZ. I think I'd be a fool not to do that. Do I need a P67 Motherboard or will a H67 do as well? I am not gonna run Crossfire or SLI so that's not a concern. For a graphics card the GTX560 is the best choice around 200 euros if I'm not mistaken and MSI seems a reliable brand. Are there better options? Also RAM looks quite expensive and I know there are cheaper options.. I just want something fast and reliable. I don't have a PSU yet but I reckon a 500W decent brand will do. I have a couple 500Gb disks lying around and I have a 60GB Vertex 1 from back in the day when they were new. Any improvements on this setup? | ||
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UrASofty
Canada772 Posts
how about a gts 210 ? | ||
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Chocobo
United States1108 Posts
On April 30 2011 19:13 UrASofty wrote: how capable are the integrated graphics on the sandy bridges able to play a game like counter strike? how about a gts 210 ? The integrated graphics are probably better than a GTS 210. They could run Counterstrike fine. WoW would be doable, on low settings. It would even run SC2 on the lowest possible settings, there would be some framerate problems going on though. | ||
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Chocobo
United States1108 Posts
On April 30 2011 17:55 Oproer wrote: Here's what I got so far: Motherboard: Asus Motherboard P8P67 LE B3,s1155, ATX,P67,DDR3,2xPCIe,1394 or Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3 This would be around 110 euro Processor: Intel Processor Core i5-2500K, s1155, 3.30GHz,1333MHz,6MB,BOX 170 euro Graphics: MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC 200 euro RAM: Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 (8 GB) 80 euro Use Newegg.com to check the product reviews on everything you order. Yeah, I see the "euro"s mentioned so you can't buy from Newegg... but they have by far (and I mean by faaaaaaaaaaaar) the best product reviews anywhere online. You can find out for absolutely sure whether you're buying a great product, an OK product, or a not-so-great one by checking out their masses of reviews. If 1000 people review something and 960 of them rate it 5 stars, you can be sure it's good. i5 2500k is the best processor released in years imo, so much speed at a reasonable price. GTX 560 is a solid choice... either mobo would be fine, I'm partial to Gigabyte myself. Either P67 or H67 will work... the difference between the two is that one has integrated graphics if you have no video card. If you have a video card, there's no difference. That RAM is very high quality, but also a bit expensive. You can get high quality RAM for less than that, you might want to shop around a little more... but if you're not all that concerned about the price, that is a quality product. | ||
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deconduo
Ireland4122 Posts
On April 30 2011 17:55 Oproer wrote: Hey guys, I would love some help on my new computer. It's gonna be used for gaming and work mostly. I play SC2 at the moment but I also want it to run more demanding games like Diablo 3 in the future. I play on 1920*1080 (Y U NO MAKE 1920*1200 ANYMORE?!) Work is mostly InDesign and Video-editting. Maybe an i7 would be better for thart but I'm not sure if it's necessary. I'm working on a 3 year old Core Duo mobile processor now and I think it's time to get something new. Here's what I got so far: Motherboard: Asus Motherboard P8P67 LE B3,s1155, ATX,P67,DDR3,2xPCIe,1394 or Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3 This would be around 110 euro Processor: Intel Processor Core i5-2500K, s1155, 3.30GHz,1333MHz,6MB,BOX 170 euro Graphics: MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC 200 euro RAM: Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 (8 GB) 80 euro I'm not sure about any of it. I don't think it's necessary to overclock but I heard the i5 is really easy to overclock even with the stock cooler to ~3.7 GhZ. I think I'd be a fool not to do that. Do I need a P67 Motherboard or will a H67 do as well? I am not gonna run Crossfire or SLI so that's not a concern. For a graphics card the GTX560 is the best choice around 200 euros if I'm not mistaken and MSI seems a reliable brand. Are there better options? Also RAM looks quite expensive and I know there are cheaper options.. I just want something fast and reliable. I don't have a PSU yet but I reckon a 500W decent brand will do. I have a couple 500Gb disks lying around and I have a 60GB Vertex 1 from back in the day when they were new. Any improvements on this setup? That all looks good, and you are getting nice prices as well. Where are you ordering from and do they ship to Ireland  I'd recommend getting a decent case like a HAF 912 or something so that you don't run into heat problems when OCing. You should be able to get to 4GHz if you aren't unlucky PSU - I'm not too sure what choice you have, but the XFX Core Pro 550W is a decent budget pick right now in most places. The Antec Earthwatts EA 500W would be a good choice as well. Make sure that you have enough SATA cables for the drives, most motherboards only come with 2. Also make sure you have a DVD drive. | ||
Womwomwom
5930 Posts
Don't bother with the Asus P8P67 LE. Only reason for getting a P67 board is to overclock and that one has a gimped BIOS. Gigabyte's board is OK but doesn't come with UEFI so boot up speeds will be slower. I think the best budget P67 board is the ASRock P67 Pro3 as it has some of the most useful features and probably the cheapest while its at it. So yes, you need a P67 board if you want to overclock. As for i7 vs i5, you'll probably see a difference occasionally with the i7 since you video edit (mainly anything that needs lots of floating point calculation like video format conversion) but using a Sandy Bridge i5 isn't going to be awful since they're stupid fast. Is it worth the cost? Only you can answer that. On stock settings, a HD6950 is better value. When overclocked, the GTX560 is always better, if you can find a really cheap factory overclocked GTX560 I'd probably get that. Something to keep in mind is that the HD6950 has native support for DisplayPort, while the GTX560 does not, and it can also work natively with 4 monitors as once. With memory get the cheapest stuff you can find. They're all more or less the same, the more expensive ones are basically chips that got lucky in the manufacturing process and have been preoverclocked to reflect this. Unfortunately for these companies, memory speeds isn't really all that important anymore outside of benchmarking and basically all motherboards are only guaranteed to work with 1333mhz memory (motherboard companies might say that their board can run 2033mhz memory or something, this is a lie). | ||
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GrundlePinch
United States29 Posts
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $55 @Newegg After I've taken so much out of this thread I thought I would contribute a bit. | ||
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Ganjamaster
Argentina475 Posts
I need to purchase a laptop computer for my father. Below you will find the details and criteria. I havent bought a laptop in years and I have absolutely no clue about the current market so I was hoping you guys could help me out. Thanks in advance! + Show Spoiler + What is your budget? There is no budget limitation, the best option that fits the criteria below. What is your resolution? The highest resolution possible for viewing blue ray/DVDs at optimal settings, nothing more nothing less. What are you using it for? He is going to be using it for work and travel. He wants to use the MS office suite and to watch blu rays and dvds while he is away travelling. Because of this, it has to be as light as possible. The screen size has to be between 15 and 17 inches. What is your upgrade cycle? The upgrade cycle is ridiculously long. My dad has no idea about computers and as such does not invest much time in upgrading it. In consequence, it has to stay "competitive" for as long as possible. When do you plan on building it? ASAP Do you plan on overclocking? Absolutely not. Do you need an Operating System? Windows 7. Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire? No. Where are you buying your parts from? Importer in the U.S., not an issue. | ||
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Womwomwom
5930 Posts
- Has Blu Ray - Doesn't have a completely shit screen that can't benefit from Blu Ray - Comes in 15/17 inch flavours - Doesn't have completely awful build quality ...is the Dell XPS series. You can outfit it with a Blu Ray drive and an actually amazing 1080P screen compared to all the awful crap you find on non-Mac consumer laptops. I cant think of any business class laptops that have Blu Ray options, I know most of them are shifting away from disk media since it means you can cram a battery in that space. Just make sure to use any discounts you might have around. Big university students can get discounts and work might be able to as well. If you are a part with any clubs or memberships, check Dell's website because I know I get 10% or something because I have RACV car insurance. Either way but it from Dell online. | ||
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Oproer
Netherlands108 Posts
Thanks for that tip. I never checked Newegg before since they don't ship to Europe but I didn't know they had such a great reviewer base. Definitely have to check that out more often. @Deconduo I was thinking of getting an Antec Dark Fleet DF30 but the HAF 912 is also pretty cool. I'm not sure yet. I guess I don't need a huge case but I want something that will last for a couple years and won't break after 2 months. For PSU I can get a OCZ StealthXStream II 500W for 40 euros. Doesn't seem like a bad deal and OCZ is a nice brand as far as I know. Their SSD's are solid. ( :D:D:D ) @Womwomwom I'm not really looking for a "budget" motherboard. I'm looking for something "preiswert" as they would say in Germany.. Something worth its price. Do you know of a decent motherboard from a decent manufacturer that would suit my needs? I still don't trust Asrock to be honest.. A MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) would be 140 euros for example. It has a lot of stuff I don't need but if it's better than the Asus or Gigabyte I could get that instead As for the graphics card.. I haven't had positive experiences with the ATI cards since the 9700 Pro. However, I'll check it out and see if it would be faster than the GTX560. | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
The below configuration comes to a total of $766 before mail in rebates. I'm not sure if your budget includes a monitor and the other peripherals so I left room for these. If your budget exludes this, some improvements could be made to the configuration such as adding in an SSD for faster load times, adding in an heatsink and upgrading to a Core i5 2500k / P67 for overclocking purposes, improving the graphics card & power supply for better performance. But the below configuration will be able to allow you to stream smoothly and handle all the latest games on high settings for the next two to three years. Intel Core i5 2400 @ $190 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074 Asrock H61M/US3S3 @ $80 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236 ASUS GTX 560 Direct Cu II @ $235 ($225 after mail in rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121424 GSkill Sniper 2x4GB 1600MHz @ $70 (sale price) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416 + Show Spoiler + If the above sale ends, get this for $80: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422 XFX Core Edition Pro 450w @ $55 ($45 after mail in rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207012 Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB @ $55 (sale price, regular price is $65) Coolermaster HAF 912 @ $60 ($50 after mail in rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233 DVD Drive @ $21 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 A good keyboard would be a Leopold Tenkeyless for $110: http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=special&filter=spacesaver Good headsets would include most if not all of Sennheiser headsets. The Corsair HS1 for $100 ($90 after mail in rebate) is also good I've heard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826816001 It sounds like you also require a monitor? In this case, you probably want an 22 - 24" monitor with a resolution of 1920x1080 (16 : 9 aspect ratio). What you want (black bars on the side) is called letterboxing. Most modern monitors should be capable of doing this if you select it within their options menu. The graphic card drivers are also capable of doing this (if your monitor can't). | ||
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Womwomwom
5930 Posts
Budget doesn't mean terrible, I should have worded it better. What I meant is that Asrock make good value boards. Motherboard selection is a difficult one because honestly just because they've slapped an Asus or Gigabyte sticker on the board doesn't mean its actually better than, say, an MSI or Asrock (chances are, they're not). A great example is the Gigabyte X58A UD3R (a $220 AUD board) where it couldn't software RAID without having a BSOD, often had to turn off power saving features to prevent capacitor noise, and certain BIOS issues with the SATA ports. That's the only point Newegg reviews exist. Positive reviews are the most useless thing on that website because if nothing went wrong they'll just vote A++++ BEST ITEM EVER. The important ones to watch are the one egg ratings because if a significant number of people are complaining about the same problem (coil whine on, say, the Corsair AX1200 power supply), you know there is actually a design issue with the product instead of a few people getting dead on arrival products. | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
Asrock is a sister company of ASUS. If you don't trust Asrock than I guess you don't trust ASUS? This leaves you down to Gigabyte and MSI. What are you specifically looking for in a motherboard. The only thing that the MSI P67 GD65 has over other boards is SLI capabilities. I would not be doing SLI GTX 560 or CrossfireX Radeon 6950 with an overclocked processor on a 500w unit. IIRC, the Gigabyte P67 UD3 (around same price as Asrock P67 Pro3) has the same amount of connectivity as the MSI GD65. | ||
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SolvusAnima
United States138 Posts
On May 01 2011 01:42 skyR wrote: @SolvusAnima The below configuration comes to a total of $766 before mail in rebates. I'm not sure if your budget includes a monitor and the other peripherals so I left room for these. If your budget exludes this, some improvements could be made to the configuration such as adding in an SSD for faster load times, adding in an heatsink and upgrading to a Core i5 2500k / P67 for overclocking purposes, improving the graphics card & power supply for better performance. But the below configuration will be able to allow you to stream smoothly and handle all the latest games on high settings for the next two to three years. Intel Core i5 2400 @ $190 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074 Asrock H61M/US3S3 @ $80 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236 ASUS GTX 560 Direct Cu II @ $235 ($225 after mail in rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121424 GSkill Sniper 2x4GB 1600MHz @ $70 (sale price) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416 + Show Spoiler + If the above sale ends, get this for $80: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422 XFX Core Edition Pro 450w @ $55 ($45 after mail in rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207012 Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB @ $55 (sale price, regular price is $65) Coolermaster HAF 912 @ $60 ($50 after mail in rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233 DVD Drive @ $21 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 A good keyboard would be a Leopold Tenkeyless for $110: http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=special&filter=spacesaver Good headsets would include most if not all of Sennheiser headsets. The Corsair HS1 for $100 ($90 after mail in rebate) is also good I've heard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826816001 It sounds like you also require a monitor? In this case, you probably want an 22 - 24" monitor with a resolution of 1920x1080 (16 : 9 aspect ratio). What you want (black bars on the side) is called letterboxing. Most modern monitors should be capable of doing this if you select it within their options menu. The graphic card drivers are also capable of doing this (if your monitor can't). Thank you for the amazingly fast reply. To answer your question, the peripherals weren't included in the budget. Sorry for the confusion, I should've specified a bit further. What are these improvements that could be made if my budget doesn't include peripherals ^^? Thanks in advance, I really appreciate the time you take to answer my questions :D | ||
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