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On January 03 2012 11:46 Wabbit wrote:
No. The Capstone is superior in build quality and performance. It also provides nearly the same max 12V wattage, which is what matters for modern systems (444W vs 480 for that CM PSU). Not to mention it is actually capable of even more, and is higher efficiency, but more wattage is not going to do anything for you. With a 6870 and whatever typical CPU you have you probably won't ever pass 300W under load.
So the Capstone will be sufficient for the HD 6870 gpu and my cpu (i7-2600 3.4ghz) without any complications? I just want to make sure I'm getting the appropriate components, and I noticed that the 6870 said minimum of 500W power supply.
Thanks for any information!
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while were on the topic of monitors, is a 120hz monitor really worth the price and does it look really amazing for gaming?
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5930 Posts
Best way to determine how much you want it is checking it instore and playing a game with fast motion. Some people complain about it when watching movies, for instance, since it has a tendency to introduce the midday drama motion effect. It definitely works but how much you care about it depends on you and no one else.
All LCDs have motion blur and 120hz simply decreases the amount of smearing and ghosting. That's all it really does.
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I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a cpu/mobo and a graphics card to complete my build. I'm lucky and live close to a microcenter, they have a 2500k + $50 off a mobo deal.
Here's their list of applicable motherboards: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/46f4da69#/46f4da69/27
What board would you guys recommend? My case only has usb3 headers, so if the mobo doesn't, I'll have to pick up an adapter. I have no desire to SLI/CFX and will probably mildly OC (I don't want to raise voltage too much, but I like to tinker). I already have 1600 MHz RAM
I'd kinda like a Z68 (I want the option of 3 monitors, but it isn't make or break) and I'll probably be getting a 6870 which could do 3 monitors anyway (with one through DP port, right?). So if there's a good p67, I suppose that's ok.
I've seen the Asrock Z68 pro-3 M and Asus P8Z68-M Pro recommended. They have both; $110 and $130 respectively. However neither has the usb3 header. Is the MSI Z68A-G45 G3 for $140 (-10 MIR) any good? It has a usb3 header, but MSI doesn't seem to be as recommended.
P67 options would be Asus P8P67 R3 (not 3.1) for $145 (-15 MIR) which also has a usb3 header.
+ Show Spoiler [Rest of the build] +
Seasonic s12II 520 W
gskill 1600 MHz
intel 320 series 80 GB ssd
WD Caviar blue 500 GB
some sata cd/dvd burner
xigmatek gaia
rosewill ranger case
+some 6870
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Kaotic: Since it hasn't been mentioned recently, the reason you see lot of generic 'power required estimators' or listings like 500w for the 6870 is because manufacturers a)don't know the rest of your system (maybe you have an old power hog of a CPU overclocked) and b) have to account for shitty power supplies that lie about their true wattage. Those recommendations hedge based on the assumption you might have a power-hungry bulldozer overclocked and have a crap '500W' PSU that can only really deliver 300W or so or some other cluster#($& situation.
But the good folks here recommend quality stuff and you won't have either of those problems if you take their advice and get a quality PSU with a lower advertised wattage. They're good at this. You could dig farther, download an enthusiasts' power estimator from some place like overclock.net, put in your target hardware, and get a result something like:
Required Power: 280W
Recommended supplies:
xxx
yyy
zzz
But the recommended supply above (a capstone if I recall correctly) is good quality power at a reasonable price, so I wouldn't bother.
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anyone know if this dvd drive is any decent?
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244
the others in its series have reviews, but this one does not
Thanks again for any help you guys can give
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On January 03 2012 14:02 Molybdenum wrote:+ Show Spoiler +I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a cpu/mobo and a graphics card to complete my build. I'm lucky and live close to a microcenter, they have a 2500k + $50 off a mobo deal. Here's their list of applicable motherboards: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/46f4da69#/46f4da69/27What board would you guys recommend? My case only has usb3 headers, so if the mobo doesn't, I'll have to pick up an adapter. I have no desire to SLI/CFX and will probably mildly OC (I don't want to raise voltage too much, but I like to tinker). I already have 1600 MHz RAM I'd kinda like a Z68 (I want the option of 3 monitors, but it isn't make or break) and I'll probably be getting a 6870 which could do 3 monitors anyway (with one through DP port, right?). So if there's a good p67, I suppose that's ok. I've seen the Asrock Z68 pro-3 M and Asus P8Z68-M Pro recommended. They have both; $110 and $130 respectively. However neither has the usb3 header. Is the MSI Z68A-G55 G3 for $140 (-10 MIR) any good? It has a usb3 header, but MSI doesn't seem to be as recommended. P67 options would be Asus P8P67 R3 (not 3.1) for $145 (-15 MIR) which also has a usb3 header. + Show Spoiler [Rest of the build] +
Seasonic s12II 520 W
gskill 1600 MHz
intel 320 series 80 GB ssd
WD Caviar blue 500 GB
some sata cd/dvd burner
xigmatek gaia
rosewill ranger case
+some 6870
MSI generally isn't recommended because their offerings are priced on the high side making them unattractive. On Newegg, their Z68 GD55 is priced equivalent to a P8Z68-V. The P8Z68-V has more USB ports, eSATA, an Intel NIC, heatsinks also look to be better, a better PCI-E arrangement and people generally just like ASUS more than MSI.
At $140 for a Z68 GD55, it's a good choice.
On January 03 2012 14:23 spscannon wrote:+ Show Spoiler +anyone know if this dvd drive is any decent? SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244the others in its series have reviews, but this one does not Thanks again for any help you guys can give
Who cares? It's a DVD burner.
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On January 03 2012 14:08 MisterFred wrote:
Kaotic: Since it hasn't been mentioned recently, the reason you see lot of generic 'power required estimators' or listings like 500w for the 6870 is because manufacturers a)don't know the rest of your system (maybe you have an old power hog of a CPU overclocked) and b) have to account for shitty power supplies that lie about their true wattage. Those recommendations hedge based on the assumption you might have a power-hungry bulldozer overclocked and have a crap '500W' PSU that can only really deliver 300W or so or some other cluster#($& situation.
But the good folks here recommend quality stuff and you won't have either of those problems if you take their advice and get a quality PSU with a lower advertised wattage. They're good at this. You could dig farther, download an enthusiasts' power estimator from some place like overclock.net, put in your target hardware, and get a result something like:
Required Power: 280W
Recommended supplies:
xxx
yyy
zzz
But the recommended supply above (a capstone if I recall correctly) is good quality power at a reasonable price, so I wouldn't bother.
Thanks for typing all that up.
I like how this line is always prominent: "recommended 500W or greater PSU" but this one is not: the card itself has a "TDP 150W" (about) and the rest of a typical system (without a discrete GPU) draws ~100-150W under load (i7 2600 has a TDP of 95W and doesn't even reach that much in typical situations). "Cover your ass" is always a better/safer strategy than making the important numbers obvious. But can we blame them considering how many trashy PSU's people use, especially because of pre-builts? Just gives us some extra work to explain it to everyone... thankfully, this stuff is easily measurable and proven.
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On January 03 2012 14:35 skyR wrote:Show nested quote +On January 03 2012 14:02 Molybdenum wrote:+ Show Spoiler +I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a cpu/mobo and a graphics card to complete my build. I'm lucky and live close to a microcenter, they have a 2500k + $50 off a mobo deal. Here's their list of applicable motherboards: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/46f4da69#/46f4da69/27What board would you guys recommend? My case only has usb3 headers, so if the mobo doesn't, I'll have to pick up an adapter. I have no desire to SLI/CFX and will probably mildly OC (I don't want to raise voltage too much, but I like to tinker). I already have 1600 MHz RAM I'd kinda like a Z68 (I want the option of 3 monitors, but it isn't make or break) and I'll probably be getting a 6870 which could do 3 monitors anyway (with one through DP port, right?). So if there's a good p67, I suppose that's ok. I've seen the Asrock Z68 pro-3 M and Asus P8Z68-M Pro recommended. They have both; $110 and $130 respectively. However neither has the usb3 header. Is the MSI Z68A-G55 G3 for $140 (-10 MIR) any good? It has a usb3 header, but MSI doesn't seem to be as recommended. P67 options would be Asus P8P67 R3 (not 3.1) for $145 (-15 MIR) which also has a usb3 header. + Show Spoiler [Rest of the build] +
Seasonic s12II 520 W
gskill 1600 MHz
intel 320 series 80 GB ssd
WD Caviar blue 500 GB
some sata cd/dvd burner
xigmatek gaia
rosewill ranger case
+some 6870
MSI generally isn't recommended because their offerings are priced on the high side making them unattractive. On Newegg, their Z68 GD55 is priced equivalent to a P8Z68-V. The P8Z68-V has more USB ports, eSATA, an Intel NIC, heatsinks also look to be better, a better PCI-E arrangement and people generally just like ASUS more than MSI. At $140 for a Z68 GD55, it's a good choice.
Shit, I made a typo. The MSI board is the Z68A-G45 for $140 before MIR, not the -G55 which I wrote (fixing now). Still worth it, or is one of the other options better?
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Ok thanks for clearing all that up, Capstone it is.
As if bugging with you all with that wasn't enough, last question (that I have atm XD) is which type of HD 6870 should I get?
I was originally linked to http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131378, however the reviews for this card seem to be leaning towards negative, whereas I came upon http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948, which has primarily positive reviews. Should I go with the Saphhire or the PowerColor, or some other brand? I'd like to stay around the 150 dollar range.
Just asking because I know that reviews are typically biased towards the negative it seems, so I'd like your guys' opinions as they are, hopefully, unbiased.
Thanks for all the help, much appreciated!
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On January 03 2012 14:45 Molybdenum wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On January 03 2012 14:35 skyR wrote:Show nested quote +On January 03 2012 14:02 Molybdenum wrote:+ Show Spoiler +I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a cpu/mobo and a graphics card to complete my build. I'm lucky and live close to a microcenter, they have a 2500k + $50 off a mobo deal. Here's their list of applicable motherboards: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/46f4da69#/46f4da69/27What board would you guys recommend? My case only has usb3 headers, so if the mobo doesn't, I'll have to pick up an adapter. I have no desire to SLI/CFX and will probably mildly OC (I don't want to raise voltage too much, but I like to tinker). I already have 1600 MHz RAM I'd kinda like a Z68 (I want the option of 3 monitors, but it isn't make or break) and I'll probably be getting a 6870 which could do 3 monitors anyway (with one through DP port, right?). So if there's a good p67, I suppose that's ok. I've seen the Asrock Z68 pro-3 M and Asus P8Z68-M Pro recommended. They have both; $110 and $130 respectively. However neither has the usb3 header. Is the MSI Z68A-G55 G3 for $140 (-10 MIR) any good? It has a usb3 header, but MSI doesn't seem to be as recommended. P67 options would be Asus P8P67 R3 (not 3.1) for $145 (-15 MIR) which also has a usb3 header. + Show Spoiler [Rest of the build] +
Seasonic s12II 520 W
gskill 1600 MHz
intel 320 series 80 GB ssd
WD Caviar blue 500 GB
some sata cd/dvd burner
xigmatek gaia
rosewill ranger case
+some 6870
MSI generally isn't recommended because their offerings are priced on the high side making them unattractive. On Newegg, their Z68 GD55 is priced equivalent to a P8Z68-V. The P8Z68-V has more USB ports, eSATA, an Intel NIC, heatsinks also look to be better, a better PCI-E arrangement and people generally just like ASUS more than MSI. At $140 for a Z68 GD55, it's a good choice. Shit, I made a typo. The MSI board is the Z68A-G45 for $140 before MIR, not the -G55 which I wrote (fixing now). Still worth it, or is one of the other options better?
Z68A-G45 for $140 would be overpriced since Newegg has it for $130 but if you want a Z68 board than there isn't much options at Microcenter. The ASUS P8Z68-M Pro would be comparable at $130 but that's also overpriced >.> I would just get the P8P67 for $145.
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Allright thanks a lot, I just wasn't sure if there was some difference between the manufacturers that actually made the price difference worth it or not.
Thanks for everyones help, really appreciate it!
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uh out of curiosity
with a h61 and i5 2400, I won't be able to overclock at all correct? Not even to like 3.4 ghz?
Thanks for any help you guys can give, (wasn't able to get the motherboard i wanted, so just stuck with the 2400) and am just curious
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The multiplier is locked on H61 so no you can't overclock.
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Can someone explain to me exactly what the voltages section means on HWMonitor. Everywhere I read they say "you cant see voltages through software, must use specialized multimeter" so I never realized that you could actually get a (unreliable/inaccurate) reading on your voltages.
So I think I get some of it, and I think the idea you have to be -.25 to +.25 v in range of the 3.3/5/12 but I don't understand what -12 is, what VIN1 is, what +5VCCH or VBAT is. Anyways this is what my HW Monitor says:
Voltage/Current/Min/Max (- means same V as previous)
VIN1 1.14/-/-
+3.3V 3.3/3.28/3.3
+5V 4.89/4.89/4.92
+12V 12.03/11.97/12.03
-12V -6.46/*/*
-5V -4.8/*/*
+5 VCCH 4.81/*/*
VBAT 3.33/*/*
I was just wondering, as I was thinking about replacing some PC parts and my PSU is somewhere on the limit. I mean with my current setup, it's perfectly safe, and I'm sure I'd be fine if I up'd my GPU/CPU, but know I don't have the headroom for SLI (no that I'd want to).
Antec Earthwatts 430, althon ii unlock/oc 3.415 from 3.2 stock, 1.472 voltage from 1.4, gtx 460 768mb, 6 fans + lcd controller.
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You want to be within 5%.
VCCH provides power to the motherboard. VBAT is for CMOS. -12v and -5v are useless.
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"Specialized multimeter" is quite the oxymoron there, particularly if you're talking about the cheesy Chinese low-grade crap (which are still pretty useful). No way you're stressing the Earthwatts to its limit with those kinds of parts though. It's not like you're even going to top 400W if you upped the overclocks a lot more and ran prime95 + FurMark, which is kind of a dumb scenario anyway.
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Not really to sure about monitors, but I've seen this one recommended a few times, it's on sale (today only) on 1saleaday.com.
http://1saleaday.com/wireless/?CID=173477&AFID=178621
Dell UltraSharp 24'' U2412M for $264 after shipping. Cheapest alternative I've found is $329 on the Dell website.
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It's a hot deal if you're interested in a monitor.
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EPT
