EPTOn September 07 2011 01:14 mojachiee wrote:
I don't include the monitor in the budget.
I don't include the monitor in the budget.
Will you be purchasing a new monitor relatively soon (within the next year or so)? Important question.
Computer Build Resource Thread - Page 541
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When using this resource, please read FragKrag's opening post. The Tech Support forum regulars have helped create countless of desktop systems without any compensation. The least you can do is provide all of the information required for them to help you properly. | ||
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FabledIntegral
United States9232 Posts
Will you be purchasing a new monitor relatively soon (within the next year or so)? Important question. | ||
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DONTPANIC
United States340 Posts
MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II Radeon HD 6950 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127588 G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231440 MSI P67A-GD53 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130572 Intel Core i5-2500K w/ windows7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.723046 ZALMAN CNPS5X SZ 92mm Hydraulic CPU Cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118090 Total $834.94 What do you think? | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161388 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125385 edit: okay, 11.4" isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, but longer than average, which won't fit in many cases but should definitely fit in yours edit2: oh wait does the side panel fan interfere with larger coolers? (Regardless, I wouldn't get that Zalman anyway.) Check on that. | ||
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DONTPANIC
United States340 Posts
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JingleHell
United States11308 Posts
More isn't always better, especially on GPU's, where the RAM can't even get utilized due to card clocks. | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/sandy-bridge-ddr3.html http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3 http://techreport.com/articles.x/20377 More memory is only better if you can utilize all the memory... Not much of a difference if any at all for most games at 1080p between 1gb and 2gb. P67 G53 cannot do x16 x16. The only LGA1155 boards that are capable of doing so are the flagship boards such as the UD7: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128499 and Big Bang Marshal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130595 | ||
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Wabbit
United States1028 Posts
On September 07 2011 04:53 DONTPANIC wrote: My thoughts on the RAM were that the voltage and timings are super good? Not worth the $30? I was going 2gig gpu because... ? More is better. 1gig will do I guess. What mobo do you reccomend for 16x16x xfiire? More than 1GB of VRAM is necessary only when playing at resolutions higher than 1080p and/or when using high levels of AA. Memory timings make a minimal impact on performance in games, even less than memory speed. While it's good to get a 1.5V kit as this is recommended for Sandy Bridge, if you browse the last 10 pages of this thread I'm sure you'll find at least one explanation (with benchmarks) about the minimal impacts of memory speed and timings. At best, 1600 MHz C9 memory is the sweet spot, with a very small increase over 1333 MHz memory. Above that, everything is so minimal that you need synthetic benchmarks to show the difference (most games will not benefit). EDIT: And there's the obligatory RAM explanation post that seems to pop up every ~5-10 pages or so :D | ||
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JingleHell
United States11308 Posts
On September 07 2011 05:00 Wabbit wrote: Above that, everything is so minimal that even synthetic benchmarks are often the same. Come on, did you really need to dive headfirst into the shallow end of pure hyperbole for this? Synthetic benchmarks exist to show differences that are hard to measure without them, of course they aren't the same. Even stuff like 3DMark can pick up on tighter timings and faster RAM. | ||
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Wabbit
United States1028 Posts
On September 07 2011 05:03 JingleHell wrote: Come on, did you really need to dive headfirst into the shallow end of pure hyperbole for this? Synthetic benchmarks exist to show differences that are hard to measure without them, of course they aren't the same. Even stuff like 3DMark can pick up on tighter timings and faster RAM. Good point; no need to confuse people, especially when trying to aim for exact measures on a technical forum. I'll edit  | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
I don't feel like digging up all of the HD 6950 comparisons, but in normal usage for most games (check the game settings used) you'll find the difference is within the margin of testing error. Or it's about the same as the difference between new drivers and old between when sites tested HD 6950 2GB models as compared to when they tested HD 6950 1GB models. See below. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_6950_1_GB/22.html | ||
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JingleHell
United States11308 Posts
I mean, relevance in benchmarks is key. If someone came in here saying "Look, according to my furmark run, a first gen phenom is just as good as an i5 2400!" we would shred them for ridiculous benchmarking practices, right? Who cares if my CPU doesn't affect my GPU results in a pure GPU benchmark? Who cares if memory doesn't make a difference in an HDD benchmark? | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
File compression/decompression, Cinebench, etc. that work with large data sets and must be passing some nontrivial stuff through memory seem like they might benefit significantly from faster memory, but they don't. It's not like expecting the GPU to matter for an isolated USB subsystem test. Anyway, it's better to be more precise here as you pointed out, and it's all sorted out now. | ||
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JingleHell
United States11308 Posts
I know I feel like a moron when I manage to do it. Hmm, maybe my self-deprecating streak combined with my ego is why I jump so fast... since I feel like a moron when I screw up, and I'm the greatest ever born, other people should feel like morons when they screw up... Something to consider. | ||
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galtdunn
United States977 Posts
On September 06 2011 04:05 galtdunn wrote:So the graphics card that comes with the Acer Predator won't be able to run good graphics on a good resolution. Got it. My main concern I guess is if something goes wrong with my computer, and I can't send it in to get it fixed because it's not under warranty. Do people gave this problem a lot? Also, how am I suppose to know which part work with other parts? That list skyR gave me for example, I have no idea if those parts are compatible with each other. Is there a way to verify that? Also, how do I know if I'm missing a piece or not? Should I just trust anyone who posts in this thread? And thanks skyR for helping me, much appreciated On September 06 2011 04:38 skyR wrote: Every part comes with a warranty of some sort. For example, the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB harddrive, Intel Core i5 2400 processor, and Corsair CX430 V2 power supply all come with a three year warranty while the XFX Radeon HD6850 graphics card comes with a lifetime warranty upon registration (register on their website with your serial number within 30 days of purchase) and the GSkill memory comes with a lifetime warranty. If something breaks than you just contact the manufacturer of the part and send it in for it to be repaired or to get a new one. Warranties of individual components are much better than the one year warranty you receive from a prebuilt computer. The post-sale support of the manufacturers are also much better than what you would receive at Best Buy or Acer. You would just have to troubleshoot the problem yourself with the help of google. There's not much to component compatibility these days. All modern graphics cards you're looking at on Newegg are PCI-E x16 which work in all modern motherboards for the modern processors (since they all come with PCI-E x16). PCI-E 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, etc are all backwards and forward compatible. DDR3 memory is DDR3 memory. Clock speed doesn't matter. Case is case. A cardboard box would work. Power supply is power supply, all the cables will be there. If there isn't enough, you'll just need an adapter. A quality ~400w unit is more than enough to power such a configuration (a core i5 2400 uses around 55w and a 6850 uses around 100w, both under load). Not all power supplies are of equal quality and some are extremely bad so it might be hard for a novice to determine this... though it's not hard just by looking at the pricing. Processor goes into one socket and one socket only (not talking about AMD, you don't want AMD currently anyways since their processors just suck in comparison to those of Intels). If it says LGA1155, the motherboard must be LGA1155. The components that make up a computer is the motherboard, memory, processor, graphics card, harddrive, and power supply. Everything else (including the case and dvd-drive) is optional. The motherboard has integrated sound and ethernet (if you want wireless, you'll need to buy something else) so you don't have to worry about that stuff. It's not a good idea to trust anyone who posts in online communities. It's best to use your own judgement and do some research yourself, I would advise staying away from tomshardware since it's website is awful and it's community isn't that great either. You don't have any reason to trust me either so take everything I say with a grain of salt (= You can dig through my post history if you really want, many people have been satisfied with the configurations I've provided. So most everything I can buy on Newegg is compatible with what it needs to be compatible with? And parts manufacturer's warranties are generally better than that of the warranty on a pre-built computer. Assuming there isn't anything else I need to know, which i'm sure there will be later on..., thanks skyR. | ||
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Munk-E
United States672 Posts
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/17MY Part price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/17MY/by_merchant CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($111.99 @ Amazon) Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($117.86 @ Newegg) Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg) Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg) Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card ($167.55 @ Newegg) Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($57.99 @ SuperBiiz) Power Supply: OCZ 700W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg) Total: $608.36 (Prices include shipping and discounts when available.) (Generated 2011-09-06 18:08 EDT-0400) What do you think? Can it be improved on? | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
On September 07 2011 07:13 Munk-E wrote:+ Show Spoiler + This is the build I'm using for my first time building a computer. Before I buy it, I would like TL's opinion on it. Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/17MY Part price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/17MY/by_merchant CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($111.99 @ Amazon) Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($117.86 @ Newegg) Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg) Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Newegg) Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card ($167.55 @ Newegg) Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($57.99 @ SuperBiiz) Power Supply: OCZ 700W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg) Total: $608.36 (Prices include shipping and discounts when available.) (Generated 2011-09-06 18:08 EDT-0400) What do you think? Can it be improved on? We can't tell you whether it can be improved upon if you don't tell us what your goals are for your configuration but since you're posting on TL, I'm assuming it's for Starcraft II and gaming. It's a poorly optimized build if so. Power supply is overkill. Get a higher quality one of lower wattage such as a Seasonic S12II 520, XFX Core Edition 450 (not V2), Antec High Current Gamer 520 or Antec Neo Eco 520. ~500w provides more than enough power for this configuration and even has the possibility of CrossfireX 6870s. 1600MHz memory is a waste of money when you're on such a tight budget. You're literally paying a a premium for 1 FPS instead of paying a premium for a better graphics card or processor that will provide a greater gain. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/sandy-bridge-ddr3.html http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3 http://techreport.com/articles.x/20377 A second generation Phenom is garbage. Why build now with a second generation Phenom in an AM3+ socket when Bulldozer is so close to release? Either wait or just build an Intel configuration which is clearly superior to that of AMD and will likely remain so even with Bulldozer's release. | ||
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MrEko
Canada37 Posts
You mentioned i could get a cheaper graphics card if i don't plan on upgrading my monitor to 1080. could you point me in the right direction of cheaper cards that would be ok on 1600x900 in case i do an upgrade my monitor. edit: Thank you very much skyR and Myrmidon | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
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Munk-E
United States672 Posts
On September 07 2011 07:55 skyR wrote: We can't tell you whether it can be improved upon if you don't tell us what your goals are for your configuration but since you're posting on TL, I'm assuming it's for Starcraft II and gaming. It's a poorly optimized build if so. Power supply is overkill. Get a higher quality one of lower wattage such as a Seasonic S12II 520, XFX Core Edition 450 (not V2), Antec High Current Gamer 520 or Antec Neo Eco 520. ~500w provides more than enough power for this configuration and even has the possibility of CrossfireX 6870s. 1600MHz memory is a waste of money when you're on such a tight budget. You're literally paying a a premium for 1 FPS instead of paying a premium for a better graphics card or processor that will provide a greater gain. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/sandy-bridge-ddr3.html http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3 http://techreport.com/articles.x/20377 A second generation Phenom is garbage. Why build now with a second generation Phenom in an AM3+ socket when Bulldozer is so close to release? Either wait or just build an Intel configuration which is clearly superior to that of AMD and will likely remain so even with Bulldozer's release. Hi! Thanks for the reply! If you don't mind, I have a few questions. (I am a noob). I got this build from a post on reddit which I then talked to other people on reddit who helped tweak it. They said that the 550 w PSU I originally had wasn't powerful enough, and I should get a more powerful one for potential future upgrades. Do you think this PSU is worth it in this reguard becaus it's not much more expensive than the ones you suggested? (also a friend told me I should stick with a modular design for my first time, but I'm not sure how necesarry this is.) Some people on reddit were Also saying that my ram was unnecessarily high end, but others said it wasn't that expensive in the first place. I might downgrade the ram though. As for the graphics card, they immidiatelh all told me to get a 6870. Is it necessary to get a better one? Because the general consensus seemed to be this card is optimal. What is wrong with the CPU? It seems to do well in performance tests. Do you just think bulldozer will be better, or what? If you think I should get an intel, which one do you think I should get? Thanks for the advice btw! | ||
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epikAnglory
United States1120 Posts
Benefits of waiting for Bulldozer: Current Phenom II processors' price will drop. 40-70% chance that Sandy Bridge prices will drop. (Intel Core Second Generation) You get better processors with the same/a little more money. | ||
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