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On January 07 2012 13:08 skyR wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On January 07 2012 13:02 teamamerica wrote:+ Show Spoiler +So since my friend is going to be building the computer anyway (and any of the benefits related to buying the PC prebuilt don't matter), I was wondering if you could recommend any specific build. I was looking through this thread and saw a build I was thinking of stealing and recommending to my friend. Any thoughts on if it'll work and run new games on high? Here's my 'what I want out of the computer': + Show Spoiler +
What is your budget?
1500
What is your resolution?
2560x1600
What are you using it for?
Run most new games out there on high settings.
What is your upgrade cycle?
2+ years
When do you plan on building it?
As soon as possible
Do you plan on overclocking?
Yes
Do you need an Operating System?
Yes
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
No (Unless it's significantly cheaper to get good performance out of 2GPU configuration vs getting one top end card)
Where are you buying your parts from?
Newegg/Frys
Here's the build I was planning on stealing (and the specifications of the person who requested it). I put some questions in bold. On January 06 2012 04:08 skyR wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2012 03:55 Elegy wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Hello gurus! The last computer I built was in...2006? Back when AMD was worth buying, my AMD 4400+ was a damn fine chip, and 4GB of RAM got that weird gothic girl in my comp sci class all hot and bothered. Now I'm stuck in the past and confused with all these new fancy acronyms and letters and numbers  . + Show Spoiler +What is your budget?
$1500 including a monitor. I can go up or down on the budget, if $50 or $100 up means a significant improvement I"ll go for it, but I'd like to keep it at $1500 including a monitor.
What is your resolution?
1920x1080. I've been on a laptop only for about 2 years so my resolution and screen preferences are atrophied immensely.
What are you using it for?
Gaming, streaming on occasion for friends, and poker
What is your upgrade cycle?
Every 2-3 years
When do you plan on building it?
Ordering parts within 7 days
Do you plan on overclocking?
Moderately. I've always liked bumping up stock speeds, but I'm not an overclocking fanatic
Do you need an Operating System?
No
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
No
Where are you buying your parts from?
Newegg. This totals to $896, you can salvage DVD burner and HDD from your old configuration. If not than you can add http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136236 and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145299 which would add $97 to your total making it $993 Intel Core i5 2500k @ $220 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072Will my friend need to overclock it (not a problem) to run games on high? Or get i7? GSkill RipjawsX 2x4GB 1333Mhz @ $32 (w/ promo code EMCJKKE35, ends 1/11) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426Crucial M4 128gb @ $185 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti @ $210 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401Worth getting the 580/7970 and shelling extra 300? Rather not have 2GPU setup, if that matters. Coolermaster HAF 912 @ $60 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233Asrock P67 Pro3 @ $100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157230Rosewill Capstone 450w @ $60 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182066Worth shelling for corsair?Coolermaster Hyper 212+ @ $29 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065Need to upgrade this if the computer had a better GPU/overclocked CPU?For monitor, either a Dell U2312HM for 1080p: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=320-2807 or a Dell U2412HM for 1920x1200 (on sale atm): http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&sku=320-2676 , both are $299 at the moment. 120Hz monitor is another option. If you play poker than I'd get two Ultrasharps. Keep in mind Nvidia cards can only support two displays so if you want three displays, you'll want an AMD card, the equivalent to a GTX 560 Ti would be a Radeon HD6950 1GB. Don't need monitor so that gives 300 dollars more toward the computer to work with Any thoughts? If you play games at 2560x1600 than yes it's very much worth investing in a Radeon HD7970 which should be available to purchase in a few days. An core i7 is only going to be beneficial if you intend to stream or do professional work such as encoding, editing, etc. Capstone is the best ~500w unit available right now. Corsair doesn't really offer anything that beats it or similar to it in the ~500w range. The closest being would be the Corsair AX650 which is also a very good unit. It's up to you whether you want a Corsair product that offers a seven year warranty (as opposed to five of the Rosewill) and fully modular (means all cables are detachable, as opposed to the Rosewill being not modular at all). It is recommended you overclock since that's what K suffix processors such as the core i5 2500k are for, they're meant to be overclocked since they have an unlocked multiplier. The Coolermaster Hyper 212+ is only for the processor. You don't need something better for thermal performance. You can pay more for better acoustics or just brand / post-sale support.
If my friend was fine playing at 1920 x 1080 any changes you'd make or go with this? Don't need crazy beautiful on high res but want smooth play (medium settings ok, I just talked to my friend actually). 580 or 7970 are pretty pricey, was wondering if there was any other graphics cards I could go.
As it is my build (shamelessly stolen from from you) is:
Processor -
Intel Core i5 2500k @ $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 (overclock it to 4Ghz?)
Ram -
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 @ $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311
GPU -
Ati Radeon 7970 @ $500
SSD -
Crucial M4 128gb @ $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442
HDD -
HITACHI 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB @ $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145299
Case -
Coolermaster HAF 912 @ $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233
Mobo -
Asrock P67 Pro3 @ $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157230
Power Supply -
Rosewill Capstone 450w @ $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182066
Cooler -
Coolermaster Hyper 212+ @ $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
CD/DVD Drive - $18
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136236
Totals to $1300. Think it's ok?
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If one of the important uses of the computer is to play games at 2560x1600 and there's a $1500 budget, the graphics card is the place to spend the budget. That resolution is about 2x the pixels of typical 1920x1080, so running modern games fluently with high fps is no joke, even without max settings.
Everything else in the build is already pretty nice, so it's not like there's huge improvements to be had elsewhere.
I don't think the Hyper 212 EVO is worth $45 considering that's getting out of the budget cooler range. If you're not looking for huge CPU overclocks, I'd take the Xigmatek Gaia at $30, or just the older Hyper 212 Plus probably:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233082
Likewise RAM is about $5 too expensive, but that's not a huge deal.
One possible issue is that the HD 7970s at launch will be really loud (acoustic noise) on load. It's probably worth investing in a higher-end chassis anyway, on that kind of budget. You can get something with better noise-dampening properties and easier and more effective dust filtering. Check out the Antec Solo II (and possibly filling in the front fan slots would be a good idea) or something similar.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129177
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426016
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On January 07 2012 15:43 Myrmidon wrote:If one of the important uses of the computer is to play games at 2560x1600 and there's a $1500 budget, the graphics card is the place to spend the budget. That resolution is about 2x the pixels of typical 1920x1080, so running modern games fluently with high fps is no joke, even without max settings. Everything else in the build is already pretty nice, so it's not like there's huge improvements to be had elsewhere. I don't think the Hyper 212 EVO is worth $45 considering that's getting out of the budget cooler range. If you're not looking for huge CPU overclocks, I'd take the Xigmatek Gaia at $30, or just the older Hyper 212 Plus probably: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233082Likewise RAM is about $5 too expensive, but that's not a huge deal. One possible issue is that the HD 7970s at launch will be really loud (acoustic noise) on load. It's probably worth investing in a higher-end chassis anyway, on that kind of budget. You can get something with better noise-dampening properties and easier and more effective dust filtering. Check out the Antec Solo II (and possibly filling in the front fan slots would be a good idea) or something similar. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129177http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426016
Thanks so much for the tips! However I talked more to my friend and I was wondering if you were to settle for 1920 x 1080 resolution, is a $500 dollar graphics card overkill - can I switch to something like this card, and do you think it's worth the savings? I'm thinking it is if my friend is considering updating his computer with the next two years, and if he doesn't then it's not worth it?
You mention huge CPU overclocks - would I need to overclock the processor to run new games on medium settings on 1920 x 1080 res (I'm honestly clueless if it even matters). Is overclocking to 4 - 4.5 Ghz considered huge?
Lastly I meant to ask - are there any problems with the RAM and motherboard interacting? I read that some RAM requires more voltage then the motherboard can deliver, or normally delivers? Sorry that this sounds super n00b but will this setup have any of these problems. (if they even exist?)
<3 TL computer gurus!
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I'm kind of confused by the screen resolution now. You listed 2560x1600 earlier, which implies that he owns an expensive $1000+, generally 27" or higher monitor with such a large resolution, since you can't run a higher resolution than the monitor supports. Most monitors you buy are 1920x1080, unless you get a really cheap, smaller one. Does he not have a 2560x1600 monitor, or does he want to run a game resolution of 1920x1200 (which is 16 : 10 aspect ratio; 1920x1080 is the more common 16 : 9) and have that stretched to fit the 2560x1600 of the monitor?
For gaming at 1920x1080 or so, I wouldn't go higher than a GTX 560 Ti 448, which should be under $300. That's easily going to handle games out there in high settings.
I was thinking of 4.7 or 4.8 GHz or higher as huge and generally not realistic for long-term use. An i5-2500k at the default 3.3 GHz is already going to be plenty for running the majority of games out there, and it should be good for most titles in the next few years too.
RAM is like most digital logic ICs such as CPUs or GPUs or many controller chips in terms of voltage--the manufacturer will say it's supposed to run at a certain amount, but it's not an exact figure. It's more likely to make your system crash by producing garbage with a lower voltage than specified, and it's more likely to fry or be damaged with higher than specified voltage. With DDR3 RAM you'll usually see 1.5V or 1.65V nominal (or lower), and motherboards can handle either. For Sandy Bridge systems, you're supposed to run 1.5V for the sake of the memory controller (again, values needn't be exact), so that's recommended. Generally pretty much any RAM of the correct type will work; if you're paranoid, the motherboard manufacturers test a good deal of RAM models to ensure that their motherboards are compatible with stuff out there. Check the motherboard manufacturer's website for the list of models they tested to be working with their motherboards; most everything else should work too, but they're not making any guarantees.
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Radeon HD7970 is going to be around $700 thanks to limited supply and retailer price gouging new products so plan accordingly if you plan on getting one on launch week.
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On January 08 2012 04:13 Myrmidon wrote:
edit: nm solved lol
im such a noob...
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Hey guys, I am not the most tech saavy guy so I figured I would ask those with more knowledge then I.
Edit*
Here are the Specifications:
Monitor: DELL UltraSharp U2312HM 23" Monitor, 23.0 Inch VIS, Widescreen, VGA/ DVI/ DP
Operating Systems: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Form Factor: Mid-Tower
Bays: (External) 4 - 5.25" Drive Bays; 2 - 3.5" Drive Bays
Internal Bays: 4 - 3.5" Drive Bays
Available 3.5" Drive Bays: 5
Available 5.25" Drive Bays: 3
Colors: Black
PCI Slots (Total): 1
PCI Slots (Available): 1
PCI Express X1 Slots (Total): 1
PCI Express X1 Slots (Available): 1
PCI Express X16 Slots (Total): 1
PCI Express X16 Slots (Available): 1
PS/2 Connectors: 1 - Keyboard / Mouse Combo
USB Ports: 6
LAN Ports: 1
VGA Ports: 1
Motherboard: Intel BLKDH61WWB3 1155 CVDO X16 2D3 M8 GL MATX Motherboard
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Class: Core i5 Unlocked - Quad-Core
Processor Number: 2500K
Processor Speed: 3.30GHz
Processor Interface Socket 1155
Memory Type: Dual Channel DDR3
Total Memory: 8GB
Memory Speed: DDR3 1600Mhz
Hard Drives Included: 1
Hard Drive Capacity: 1TB
Hard Drive Speed: 7200 RPM
Optical Drive Type: DVD±RW Dual Layer
Audio Chipset: Intel High-Definition Audio
Audio Channels: 6
Video Graphics: GeForce GTX550 T1 1GD5X16 2dvi mhdmi
LAN Data Transfer Rate: 10/100/1000Mbps (Gigabit)
Power: Coolmax 600 Watt ATX 12v EPS PSU
Height: 18.5"
Width: 8.5"
Depth: 20.1"
Warranty: 1 Year Labor and Parts
I'm looking for a computer that can play Starcraft 2 with no screen lag so here are my questions...
Even though I'll be running sc 2 on low what setting do you think I can play this at?
Will I be able to play with no screen lag when half a billion zerglings are surrounding my army? exageration i know but it feels like half a billion xD
Would I be able to stream with this build?
I'm paying a little less then a thousand bucks for this so I know it won't be the strongest gaming pc out there but will it get the job done? I don't need it to be future proof I can always add to it when I can afford it but as it stands how does it fair?
Let me know what you think and what you think needs improved.
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That's not a bad price if you need all those things because of the monitor and OS costs (like $340 by themselves), but you would probably want to replace the CoolMax ASAP. If the power supply were actually trustworthy, it would be a good deal assuming that you don't actually want better graphics performance (and if the motherboard is a P67 or Z68). At worst, it's not terrible.
It would play on high with no problem, maybe ultra if you have tolerance for lower fps, since the GTX 550 Ti is kind of borderline and generally not that great of an option. If your upload speed is sufficient, it should be ready for a good high-quality stream around 540p or 720p, depending on settings and what motherboard they give you.
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Hey guys im looking for a new power supply for my computer the one i have is 520 watts everything works fine but i have 3 unused fans in my case that i cannot use because if connect them the computer wont turn on. It will turn on for like 3 secs and shut down. Im guessing its my Power supply
my specs are
motherboard H61M/U3S3
vid card : GTX 460 Superclocked
Processor: i5 2400
my budget is 100
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Fans don't use much power at all, maybe a few watts each depending on the model, higher when starting up but still not much. That really shouldn't make a difference to the power supply, to make it not turn on.
It's more likely that one or more of the fans is defective or the wiring is bad, creating a short, than the power supply somehow not being able to sustain the load. Startup power draw with three fans extra is a lot lower than power draw in a game, not to mention full load draw (which would be well under 520W).
Which 520W model is it? Most 520W power supplies you can buy tend to be decent Seasonic-manufactured models.
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On January 08 2012 05:27 Myrmidon wrote:
Fans don't use much power at all, maybe a few watts each depending on the model, higher when starting up but still not much. That really shouldn't make a difference to the power supply, to make it not turn on.
It's more likely that one or more of the fans is defective or the wiring is bad, creating a short, than the power supply somehow not being able to sustain the load. Startup power draw with three fans extra is a lot lower than power draw in a game, not to mention full load draw (which would be well under 520W).
Which 520W model is it? Most 520W power supplies you can buy tend to be decent Seasonic-manufactured models.
its a Seasonic M12II maybe ill try 2 instead of 3
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On January 08 2012 05:29 bubO wrote:Show nested quote +On January 08 2012 05:27 Myrmidon wrote:
Fans don't use much power at all, maybe a few watts each depending on the model, higher when starting up but still not much. That really shouldn't make a difference to the power supply, to make it not turn on.
It's more likely that one or more of the fans is defective or the wiring is bad, creating a short, than the power supply somehow not being able to sustain the load. Startup power draw with three fans extra is a lot lower than power draw in a game, not to mention full load draw (which would be well under 520W).
Which 520W model is it? Most 520W power supplies you can buy tend to be decent Seasonic-manufactured models. its a Seasonic M12II maybe ill try 2 instead of 3
Its about finding which one(s) of the fans is defective. Not how many.
Your system would have a hard time drawing 300W, let alone 520W.
Your PSU can power your computer, plus another computer of the same specs, at the same time.
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On January 08 2012 05:32 Medrea wrote:Show nested quote +On January 08 2012 05:29 bubO wrote:On January 08 2012 05:27 Myrmidon wrote:
Fans don't use much power at all, maybe a few watts each depending on the model, higher when starting up but still not much. That really shouldn't make a difference to the power supply, to make it not turn on.
It's more likely that one or more of the fans is defective or the wiring is bad, creating a short, than the power supply somehow not being able to sustain the load. Startup power draw with three fans extra is a lot lower than power draw in a game, not to mention full load draw (which would be well under 520W).
Which 520W model is it? Most 520W power supplies you can buy tend to be decent Seasonic-manufactured models. its a Seasonic M12II maybe ill try 2 instead of 3 Its about finding which one(s) of the fans is defective. Not how many. Your system would have a hard time drawing 300W, let alone 520W. Your PSU can power your computer, plus another computer of the same specs, at the same time.
Alright then thanks guess i wont have to buy one at all lol ill work on it
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So I recently got a Seagate Barracuda 1.5 TB HDD from my friend (meaning used), and I plug it in and it doesn't show up anywhere. I get to windows with and windows installs the drivers for it automatically. I restart and I still don't see it in My Computer. However, it does show up in Device Manager. I go to install a fresh copy of windows and when I get to the setup screen, it says the drive is only 3.9 GB. The option to reformat is greyed out. My friend said he reformatted it before he shipped it to me and that it was working to full capacity. Any ideas?
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You probably need to format it and assign it a letter in disk management.
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Run diskmgmt.msc and see what it says (and assign it a drive letter there, if that's what you haven't done).
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@hoodlum: An H61 motherboard can't overclock (which is what you edited in), that makes it a bad choice for a 2500k and for streaming. The i5-2500k processor is, however, pretty much the best cpu you can get for gaming without paying through the nose for only a tiny gain.
Also, even though it can probably manage SC2 ok, a 550Ti will not manage graphically demanding modern games well.
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So I get to this screen
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/V9ffF.png)
and then click OK on MBT, and then it comes up with the error
"The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error."
I hope this drive isn't busted. Next step?
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EPT
