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On September 20 2011 00:06 skyR wrote:
core i5 + 6970 will be better in gaming because the majority of games aren't multi-threaded. core i7 + 6950 will be better in tasks that are multi-threaded such as encoding, editing, and the professional tasks. When games become multi-threaded, you'll be wanting to upgrade because the 2500 or 2600 is so behind in performance and hex cores are only $200. Whether the 2600 will be beneficial in its lifetime depends on when the next-generation consoles are released and what hardware they are based on and when developers will take advantage of that hardware. Thanks for the advice.
So, with my limited knowledge of computer parts I've put together a halfassed build (well, I tried my best  ), but I'm completely lost on cooling, case, PSU and sound card (and motherboard).
Total cost: - 938,84 (All prices are in Euros)
CPU: Intel Processor Core i5-2500, s1155 - 171,98 (or an i7-2600 for 254,98 if I have money to spare)
GPU: Asus Radeon 6970 DCII,2GB - 315,98
RAM: Corsair Memory XMS3 DDR3,1333-8GB KIT - 40,98
SSD: OCZ Technology Solid State Drive Vertex 2 - 120GB - 2.5inch - 136,95
HDD: Samsung Hard Disk Spinpoint EcoGreen F4 - 2TB - 62,98
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD-ROM 16X,SATA - 18,99
Motherboard: Asus P8P67 B3,s1155 - 107,98
Case:
PSU:
Sound Card:
Cooling:
I would really appreciated feedback for what I have and help for the four missing parts. Please use this site for cooling, case here, this for the PSU and here for the soundcard. It's a Dutch site, but I don't think there should be any problems since most of it is in English anyway.
My total budget is about 1200-1300 euros. I already have a monitor. I hope I didn't pick any really stupid things :p
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On September 20 2011 01:54 Thorakh wrote:Show nested quote +On September 20 2011 00:06 skyR wrote:
core i5 + 6970 will be better in gaming because the majority of games aren't multi-threaded. core i7 + 6950 will be better in tasks that are multi-threaded such as encoding, editing, and the professional tasks. When games become multi-threaded, you'll be wanting to upgrade because the 2500 or 2600 is so behind in performance and hex cores are only $200. Whether the 2600 will be beneficial in its lifetime depends on when the next-generation consoles are released and what hardware they are based on and when developers will take advantage of that hardware. Thanks for the advice. So, with my limited knowledge of computer parts I've put together a halfassed build (well, I tried my best ), but I'm completely lost on cooling, case, PSU and sound card (and motherboard). Total cost: - 938,84 (All prices are in Euros) CPU: Intel Processor Core i5-2500, s1155 - 171,98 (or an i7-2600 for 254,98 if I have money to spare) GPU: Asus Radeon 6970 DCII,2GB - 315,98 RAM: Corsair Memory XMS3 DDR3,1333-8GB KIT - 40,98 SSD: OCZ Technology Solid State Drive Vertex 2 - 120GB - 2.5inch - 136,95 HDD: Samsung Hard Disk Spinpoint EcoGreen F4 - 2TB - 62,98 Optical Drive: Samsung DVD-ROM 16X,SATA - 18,99 Motherboard: Asus P8P67 B3,s1155 - 107,98 Case:PSU:Sound Card:Cooling:I would really appreciated feedback for what I have and help for the four missing parts. Please use this site for cooling, case here, this for the PSU and here for the soundcard. It's a Dutch site, but I don't think there should be any problems since most of it is in English anyway. My total budget is about 1200-1300 euros. I already have a monitor. I hope I didn't pick any really stupid things :p
You don't need to spend the extra money on a p67 board since you aren't overclocking. I'd recommend either an i5 2400 or i5 2500 depending on the price difference. If the difference is within 10 Euros, go with the i5 2500, the only difference between the two are the stock speeds and I believe max turbo speed. I have a Vertex 2 and haven't had any issues with it so far but just so you're aware they're known for being a little on the unreliable side, makes me a little nervous having one but it's up to you. You probably don't need a sound card unless you're in the enthusiast category, as the normal sound for most people is nearly indistinguishable. You also can get away with the stock cooler since you aren't overclocking.
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Well, there were some firmware issues at the start with the M4, as with the C300, but those seem to be over. With the recent 009 firmware update, performance of the M4 is no longer slightly worse than the C300 (granted, it was still faster than most people would care about, since the C300 was the best last-gen SSD) in many real-world scenarios. At that budget I would get the M4 over the Vertex 2 for sure. Remember to get an extra SATA cable if you don't have spares and if the motherboard only comes with two.
There may be a better selection and prices at azerty.nl btw.
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Right now where i live i can have the M4 128gb isn't it ? for 170 euros, was wondering if it was a good deal as i'd really like to have an SSD
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Thanks a lot for all of your help, my build looks like this now:
Total cost: - 983,82 (All prices are in Euros)
CPU: Intel Processor Core i5-2500, s1155 - 171,98 (or an i7-2600 for 254,98 if I have money to spare (and feel like wasting it))
GPU: Asus Radeon 6970 DCII,2GB - 315,98
RAM: Corsair Memory XMS3 DDR3,1333-8GB KIT - 40,98
SSD: Crucial Solid State Drive m4 - 128GB - 2.5inch - 163,98
HDD: Samsung Hard Disk Spinpoint EcoGreen F4 - 2TB - 62,98
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD-ROM 16X,SATA - 18,99
Motherboard: Asus P8H67 B3,s1155 - 107,98
PSU: Corsair CX 500WATT V2 - 53,98
Case: ? - <=70,00
That case has shitty availability at this retailer, sadly. Cases aren't that important, are they? I'll just pick an available one at the store.
As the total cost is 983,82, I still have plenty of money to spare for a copy of Windows 7 and any other component I forgot or want.
The motherboard has integrated sound so you don't need a discrete card for it unless you know why you would need / want one. Ah, okay.
You also can get away with the stock cooler since you aren't overclocking. Stock cooling? I was under the impression that fans and other cooling should be bought seperately.
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The processor comes with its own heatsink and the cases come with their own fans as well. All of this perfectly adequate for someone who is not overclocking.
A case is just a case, just pick whichever one that appeals to you and is lengthy enough to accommodate the 6970 though this shouldn't be a problem for most cases.
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On September 19 2011 23:22 MisterFred wrote:Show nested quote +On September 19 2011 16:30 jacosajh wrote:On September 19 2011 16:26 nam nam wrote:On September 19 2011 16:08 jacosajh wrote:
@Myrm
Hadn't paid attention to SandForce issues. I've perused through some complaints but didn't look into it enough that when an OCZ Solid 3 went on Shell Shocker, I jumped on it. So far so good though. I really should've looked into it though because reading after-the-fact is making me really worried -_-
I was actually looking at Anand's twitter back-and-forth with some people and on person was saying they had to re-install Windows every other week or so. WTF?
Yeah I think many have done the same. I know a friend that bought like 4 of them without a clue of the issues. I didn't have the heart to tell him.  I think it was worse in the beginning though so a lot of the threads that come up when you google might be outdated. The Anand twitter messages, especially with OCZ folk coming to his office to do some testing was fairly recent. So, it's apparently still an issue. I stopped reading into it because I didn't want to get upset over nothing. If it really is an issue, I guess I'll just RMA or flat-out get a return. From what I've read, the Sandforce controller produces sudden, mysterious BSODs for some users in some configurations. Crashes that seem basically random and are hard to reproduce (no obvious trigger you can avoid). On the other hand, this seems to be based at least in part on what other parts are in your computer (could mean return better than RMA). Some people have no problems, and continue to have no problems (doesn't seem to be the drive degrading), so if you're not getting inexplicable BSODs, you should be in the majority that have no problems. This is just the jist of what I've heard tech writers explain though. And yeah, firmware updates seem to have reduced but not eliminated the problem.
Yeah, that's why I wasn't really worried about it. Haven't gotten any BSODs yet. Just that one twitter from Anand saying he had to reinstall Windows every other week. Just kind of dread having to do that if it happens. I guess I won't worry about it for now.
I have noticed some weird stuff. Like how long it takes my computer to start up from sleep now. I'm talking like 2-3x longer than when using a 7200RPM HDD. I just resorted to shutting down completely because it starts up much faster that way. I previously used sleep, obviously, cause it was faster to start-up from sleep. I don't know if this is just a Windows settings cause I have some other issues on Windows as well. For example, some of my icons are missing (i.e. Skype, LoL, SC2) and just showing the default icon place-holder. Just a few of the many little things... haven't really looked into it yet cause I have no time, but I guess we'll see.
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Did you leave your HDD alone, unplugged while you installed windows, and then plug it back in?
I had some weird indexing issues when I installed my SSD.
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On September 20 2011 02:53 Thorakh wrote:
CPU: Intel Processor Core i5-2500, s1155 - 171,98 (or an i7-2600 for 254,98 if I have money to spare (and feel like wasting it))
I don't agree with this because the difference between an i5 2500 and an i7 2600 are, the vast majority of the time, not noticeable for any current games - and will most likely not be noticeable for their reasonable lifetime.
You're better off saving the 80 euros and spending it on something else that is much more noticeable (a nice headset, a mechanical keyboard, some decent speakers) - or just saving the money and upgrading the CPU to another one (hopefully Ivy Bridge stays on LGA 1155) a few years from now for an actually noticeable difference.
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On September 20 2011 03:47 jacosajh wrote:Show nested quote +On September 19 2011 23:22 MisterFred wrote:On September 19 2011 16:30 jacosajh wrote:On September 19 2011 16:26 nam nam wrote:On September 19 2011 16:08 jacosajh wrote:
@Myrm
Hadn't paid attention to SandForce issues. I've perused through some complaints but didn't look into it enough that when an OCZ Solid 3 went on Shell Shocker, I jumped on it. So far so good though. I really should've looked into it though because reading after-the-fact is making me really worried -_-
I was actually looking at Anand's twitter back-and-forth with some people and on person was saying they had to re-install Windows every other week or so. WTF?
Yeah I think many have done the same. I know a friend that bought like 4 of them without a clue of the issues. I didn't have the heart to tell him. I think it was worse in the beginning though so a lot of the threads that come up when you google might be outdated. The Anand twitter messages, especially with OCZ folk coming to his office to do some testing was fairly recent. So, it's apparently still an issue. I stopped reading into it because I didn't want to get upset over nothing. If it really is an issue, I guess I'll just RMA or flat-out get a return. From what I've read, the Sandforce controller produces sudden, mysterious BSODs for some users in some configurations. Crashes that seem basically random and are hard to reproduce (no obvious trigger you can avoid). On the other hand, this seems to be based at least in part on what other parts are in your computer (could mean return better than RMA). Some people have no problems, and continue to have no problems (doesn't seem to be the drive degrading), so if you're not getting inexplicable BSODs, you should be in the majority that have no problems. This is just the jist of what I've heard tech writers explain though. And yeah, firmware updates seem to have reduced but not eliminated the problem. Yeah, that's why I wasn't really worried about it. Haven't gotten any BSODs yet. Just that one twitter from Anand saying he had to reinstall Windows every other week. Just kind of dread having to do that if it happens. I guess I won't worry about it for now. I have noticed some weird stuff. Like how long it takes my computer to start up from sleep now. I'm talking like 2-3x longer than when using a 7200RPM HDD. I just resorted to shutting down completely because it starts up much faster that way. I previously used sleep, obviously, cause it was faster to start-up from sleep. I don't know if this is just a Windows settings cause I have some other issues on Windows as well. For example, some of my icons are missing (i.e. Skype, LoL, SC2) and just showing the default icon place-holder. Just a few of the many little things... haven't really looked into it yet cause I have no time, but I guess we'll see.
If you are overclocking it might have something to do with it. I think it's the PLL overvoltage setting if I remember correctly that can effect sleep function. On asus boards at least you can try disable it. Not 100 % sure though.
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I just found an older computer, an emachines w4885. I don't have anything like a manual or anything on it, so if someone more knowledgable can point me in the direction of upgrading ram and a video card that is compatible with it and will play sc2 i'd be very thankful. Preferably cheaper things. I believe the processor is 2.80GHz so i think that meets the lower end requirements for sc2. Thanks in advance
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@Shizzabamman
If google is right, that eMachines has a P4 + 512MB RAM. SC2 at any reasonable performance is out of question. Sorry.
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On September 20 2011 06:52 Shizzabamman wrote:
I just found an older computer, an emachines w4885. I don't have anything like a manual or anything on it, so if someone more knowledgable can point me in the direction of upgrading ram and a video card that is compatible with it and will play sc2 i'd be very thankful. Preferably cheaper things. I believe the processor is 2.80GHz so i think that meets the lower end requirements for sc2. Thanks in advance
You'd be better off starting from scratch I believe.
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Unfortunately moneys tight right now, and I was hoping by putting in 1-2gbs ram and upgrading the video card I could at least hit the minimum requirements.
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On September 20 2011 07:28 Shizzabamman wrote:
Unfortunately moneys tight right now, and I was hoping by putting in 1-2gbs ram and upgrading the video card I could at least hit the minimum requirements.
No, it wouldn't unfortunately. I believe that rig takes DDR RAM, not DDR3 (which is the lowest cost/best) or even DDR2 (outdated but would still work). Nor does the motherboard have a PCI express x16 slot for a graphics card. Nor would the PSU be able to have the correct cables.
Basically nothing is salvagable from that rig, I believe.
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Tried swapping my installation to my main hard drive and there was 0 change in performance.
Got any other ideas? I really want to know what's preventing me from playing windowed SC2 well so I can fix it, but I don't wanna dump money without knowing what's wrong.
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What's the most reliable (and in your opinion, best) brand of monitors?
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If you're cool with like single-digit fps when interesting stuff happens, you could spend say $20 on 1GB DDR RAM and hopefully like less than $60 on an AGP (note: AGP graphics cards are long outdated and hard to find now, and thus way more expensive than their performance) HD 4350 or similar. Those parts probably aren't worth investing money into unless your goal is to spend $100 to see a slideshow of SC2. Well, in some parts of the game it will look okay on lowest settings.
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EPT
