EPTComputer Build Resource Thread - Page 882
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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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Sway.746
United States95 Posts
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ensign_lee
United States1178 Posts
On January 13 2012 09:14 bbm wrote: Hey, does anyone have any suggestions for cases that look cool in a sleek, lighter, more audi than knight-rider look? I want to get away from the big black hulking jagged boxy cases that a lot of my friends have. I have recently been oggling the Corsair 600T white, but it's a little outside my price range at £120. But consider it as my ideal case. Obviously I need it to be a decent case (atm mainly looking at mid-size cases, I don't have a long form-factor gfx card, nor do I expect to do any major OCing or water cooling or anything so I don't need anyhting bleeding edge) Budget of about £80 probably, but cheaper is better. Will buy from anywhere that ships to the UK (scan, overclockers, ebuyer etc). For example out of this top of 2011 rundown that I found with a quick google, I especially dislike the looks of the Dark Fleet, the Lanboy Air and HAF x, I like the looks of the scorpio and the colossus venom. V6 black ed isn't bad. The others are neither here nor there imo. I feel not enough weight is given to the aesthetics in a score, probably a lot because it's so subjective, in a lot of discussion, so can't find any decent resources on cases that look awesome. Can anyone help? May I suggest http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146048&Tpk=nzxt lexa blackline? I have one, and I think it looks AMAZING! Main drawback is no back plate for cable control if that's a concern for you. | ||
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MisterFred
United States2033 Posts
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gForce.
United Kingdom345 Posts
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gForce.
United Kingdom345 Posts
On January 14 2012 08:11 Myrmidon wrote: For reference, approximate pricing of equivalent parts: i5-2500k - $210 Tower heatsink with 120mm fan for overclocking - $30 P67 motherboard for overclocking - $100 2 x 4GB DDR3 RAM - $35 1TB 7200rpm hard drive - $120 (used to cost about half before Thailand floods) HD 6850 - $140 Power supply - $45 (the Thermaltake TR2 600W is probably one of the older, poor models not worth its price) HAF 912 - $60 Optical drive - $20 Windows 7 - $100 edit: Does the XFX use the reference PCB or otherwise have the same dimensions and GPU placement for mounting? i.e. is it going to fit? On a side note, they used a Gelid Icy Vision here on an HD 6870...and had to use a fan controller to make it as quiet as the rest of the system (and with low fan speeds, temperatures still were great), but somehow I doubt your system is as quiet as the one below: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1221-page4.html I guess it doesn't use reference PCB, since it's shorter ( actual dimensions > 8.66" x 4.4" x 1.5") than standard HD 6870, and on top of that it uses 2pin fan connector heh, anyway, I'm going to risk it and get Icy Vision since it appears to be shorter than AC Accelero, maybe it will fit somehow. Edit. Actually I realized that I'm a dumbass, since this graphics doesn't use referenced PCB no aftermarket cooler will really fit... well f**k. | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
On January 14 2012 08:45 Sway.746 wrote: How much of a performance increase would I get buying a $1000 desktop in 3 months instead of now? On January 14 2012 08:50 MisterFred wrote: Graphics card might be a touch better. That's about it. Well there should be Ivy Bridge (slated for April release) and also HD 78xx series available then. Both CPU and GPU should be better, though the CPU improvement shouldn't be very significant. I wouldn't expect the GPU to be that much better than what you can get now at current prices. If you want a new computer now and particularly if you currently use something that's 3 years old or more, I wouldn't bother waiting. | ||
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Medrea
10003 Posts
On January 14 2012 08:45 Sway.746 wrote: How much of a performance increase would I get buying a $1000 desktop in 3 months instead of now? Very significant. AMD is in the middle of launching 7xxx which is 28nm process as opposed to the same 40nm technology that we have been using for a long long time now. | ||
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jellytoast
United States7 Posts
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Medrea
10003 Posts
On January 14 2012 11:16 jellytoast wrote: What are the pros/cons to buying certain power supplies? If there is a higher wattage doesn't that mean higher electricity bills? Also, how do I determine the amount of Watts I should buy? I think the first page goes into it a little more in depth. Higher wattage doesnt mean more electricity bills. Thats up to how much the system draws for power and how efficient the PSU is at delivering said power. Always buy quality PSU's, that have the wattage you need, you can ask us for what you need. DO NOT buy strictly watts/dollar. You will be very sorry. | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
On January 14 2012 11:16 jellytoast wrote:+ Show Spoiler + What are the pros/cons to buying certain power supplies? If there is a higher wattage doesn't that mean higher electricity bills? Also, how do I determine the amount of Watts I should buy? This is such a vague question... build quality, efficiency, fan (noise), modularity, warranty length, branding, other features, etc. A power supply is most efficient between 20% and 80% load, 50% being its peak. So getting a higher wattage power supply means you'll be sitting at under 20% load the majority of time or never hitting ~50% so yes this means a higher electric bill. Getting a 1000w power supply does not equate to using that much power constantly fyi. | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
On January 14 2012 10:59 Medrea wrote: Very significant. AMD is in the middle of launching 7xxx which is 28nm process as opposed to the same 40nm technology that we have been using for a long long time now. But the price will be higher as well, so I wouldn't expect huge price/performance changes until there's a new generation from Nvidia as well. It's not like they're giving us the same size chips in 28nm, at the same cost as the 40nm parts. See HD 7970 pricing. It's a slightly smaller chip than the HD 6970/6950. Granted, a non-trivial part of the price from the HD 7970 graphics card is from the 3GB GDDR5, up 1GB from the HD 6970, but that doesn't explain $200 street price difference. On January 14 2012 11:16 jellytoast wrote: What are the pros/cons to buying certain power supplies? If there is a higher wattage doesn't that mean higher electricity bills? Also, how do I determine the amount of Watts I should buy? If you're asking about what power supply you should get, I think it's best to start out with a better understanding of what it is you're purchasing. A computer power supply is pretty much an electronic circuit that converts AC power from the wall (nominal something like 120V) to various DC voltages computers need (12V is by far the most important, with +5V, +3.3V, and the extremely-rarely used -12V also offered). It's put in a housing, given a fan to cool it, and some wires you use to hook up your computer. Also consider the length of the warranty from the company selling the product. As mentioned in other posts, the power your computer uses depends on what CPU, GPU, and other components you're using, and how hard they're working. That's pretty much independent of the power supply. Then there's additional power used by the power supply in converting the AC power into the DC power the computer uses, which does depend on the power supply. Total amount of power you're billed for is just what the power supply draws from the wall (AC), which will depend mostly on what's inside your computer and how hard it's working, as mentioned above. The power lost (consumed by the power supply) is the reciprocal of the efficiency. If your computer uses 100W, a power supply that's 83% efficient at 100W draw will require 100W / 0.83 = 120.5W AC from the wall, thus wasting 20.5W in the process. Another power supply that's 90% efficient at 100W draw will require 100W / 0.90 = 111.1W AC from the wall, thus wasting 11.1W in the process. The quality of power from the power supply and aspects of the performance including efficiency, how likely it is to malfunction and the likelihood that a malfunction will damage the rest of your computer, etc., will depend on the design of the electronics (including quality of components) and quality of manufacturing. The fan is often the least reliable component in the power supply (most likely to fail first), so keep that in mind too. The wattage rating of the power supply is just how much the manufacturer claims that the unit is good for. Some brands outright lie about the wattage, while others can maybe do what is claimed but not without delivering dirty power that's out of spec, or with some other caveats. Some can supply more power than the manufacturers claim. Thus this is almost entirely worthless in evaluating whether or not to buy a power supply. Pretty much, you want something at a reasonable price, with good electronics and design, built well to last a decent amount of time, with enough cables to conveniently hook up your system, that can comfortably handle the power draw of your system. None of these things you can really determine by looking at product information pages, so either read 3rd-party independent reviews, or ask us. | ||
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Medrea
10003 Posts
In 3 months I will probably end up suggesting a system with a card that is the same cost as a 580 but performs better. I think anyway. I am kinda assuming 7870's will at least give a 580 a run for its money but be cheaper, or a 7950 will be around the same cost as a 580 but better. I think these and Ivy Bridge are pretty big build differences. | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
It really depends on the intended usage and what the current computer is. If you're considering upgrading from Phenom II and HD 5770, I would obviously wait. If you're considering upgrading from Pentium 4 and 6600 GT, I would upgrade immediately and definitely not wait 3 months. | ||
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SoulWager
United States464 Posts
On January 14 2012 11:16 jellytoast wrote: What are the pros/cons to buying certain power supplies? If there is a higher wattage doesn't that mean higher electricity bills? Also, how do I determine the amount of Watts I should buy? When buying a power supply there are 3 considerations, 1 Can it supply as much power as my components reqiure? 2 How efficiently does it convert power? At the current draw I'm likely to see? (don't rely solely on the sticker for this) 3 Will it provide stable power and not cause my computer to fry? For question 1, use this: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp For questions 2 and 3, rely on hardware reviews by people with good test equipment and methodology: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/page/power http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Review_Cat&recatnum=13 http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Components,1/Power-Supplies,6/ http://www.anandtech.com/tag/psu http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/ http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/reviews/psu_power_supplies/ http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/index/18/power-supplies.html http://www.overclock3d.net/content/power_supply http://www.pcper.com/subject/cases-and-cooling http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_PSUs If you're feeling too lazy for actual research, go with something from seasonic or corsair. | ||
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Medrea
10003 Posts
On January 14 2012 12:05 Myrmidon wrote: What's "big" anyway? 15% more performance? A computer isn't only about raw performance, but even along those lines... It really depends on the intended usage and what the current computer is. If you're considering upgrading from Phenom II and HD 5770, I would obviously wait. If you're considering upgrading from Pentium 4 and 6600 GT, I would upgrade immediately and definitely not wait 3 months. 15% better performance for the same money is "significant" yeah (to me). I just took the question at face value though. I'm not sure that i feel that the original system even matters. I just know that I feel that 15 percent is enough to hold off for 3 months, especially if I was tempted to do so anyway. | ||
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YipMan
372 Posts
Should i upgrade the CPU for a few bucks, and if yes, what would you suggest? | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
On January 14 2012 16:32 YipMan wrote: Hey there. I got that very old PC with an Asus am2 vm Motherboard, Athlon II X2 4400+ and a HD 5770. I thought if i would just upgrade the CPU it would still be useful for playing some Sc2. But since the Motherboard is kind of ancient and has a limited FSB, im not sure how much it would really benefit in the end. Should i upgrade the CPU for a few bucks, and if yes, what would you suggest? You don't have an Athlon II. 4400 is a Athlon 64. Upgrading on AM2 would just be a waste of money. If you want a CPU upgrade, you need to get a new motherboard and new memory. The least expensive route would be to get a H61 ($50), a Celeron G530 ($50), and 4GB of memory ($15). This will be a drastic improvemennt over an Athlon 64. When you save up some more money, you'll be able to upgrade to a core i5 which again will be a drastic improvement over the Celeron. | ||
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YipMan
372 Posts
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2/M2AVM/#CPUS There were some AM2+ Phenom II back in the day too, anyway. | ||
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