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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. |
On January 21 2012 10:26 Parakelsos wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Do you suggest to buy more DDR2 RAM or just scrap it all and buy a new computer?
I use two monitors one 1600x1200 and the other 1920x1200. Why should I buy a new one? You mean to be able to have two with 1920x1200?
I suggest you scrap it and buy a new configuration. If you really want to band-aid the problem, you can find a 4gb kit on a BST forum for like $40 maybe.
You buy a third one to have more screen estate to play more tables. More monitors = more money = better.
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PCI-E x16 is compatible with PCI-E x16. PCI-E revisions are backwards and forward compatible with very few exceptions.
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DDR3 is DDR3. Your friend isn't very bright.
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or that it will fit but it will run slow? should i get a better mobo or is this fine?
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he says they have different speeds?
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friend : the mother board sez DDR3 1333/1066
and the ram is DDR3 1600
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Memory will run at 1333MHz.
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thanks skyr your the shit
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Hi, going to be putting together a new computer. Your help is appreciated!
What is your budget?
Pretty much as low as possible. If I could get tower cost under $300, I'd be tickled pink, but we'll say a hard cap of $350
What is your resolution?
1680x1050
What are you using it for?
Mostly just casual use. This is my work computer, which for me doesn't mean much more than browsing, word, powerpoint, & adobe reader. I may occasionally play SC2 & LoL on the computer, but (with one exception) none of the budget should be used to increase gaming performance - if it can't play it, it can't play it.
What is your upgrade cycle?
Tough to say. I might not use this computer for awhile, I might use it for a long time. My last computer lasted 5 years. Actually it's working fine, except it has developed a REALLY annoying buzz that I can't get rid of. Actually, last time I went to tinker around the case fan, I nearly broke the computer (stupid DELL custom setups). So I should note that the main purpose of this new computer is to A)work and B) BE QUIET! It's unlikely, I know, but if you know of quieter components (basically PSU/Case/HDD) for close to the same price, let me know.
When do you plan on building it?
I'll probably order the parts tomorrow morning
Do you plan on overclocking?
Out of budget
Do you need an Operating System?
No.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
Out of budget.
Where are you buying your parts from?
Newegg/us.ncix.com
I'd appreciate help finding deals I didn't notice. I checked prices on amazon as well, but they were all non-competitive.
The configuration below is what I put together browsing this evening, becoming ever more sure that this #$&*ing computer and its ever-so-slowly increasing noise levels need to go. I have a bunch of questions in the spoilers, so don't skip them please:
CPU: Pentium G850 ($88)
+ Show Spoiler +http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.813594This is my sole concession to gaming on this computer. There's one benchmark out there that shows the 850 does almost as well as the i3-2100 in SC2, but the g530/g540 does significantly poorer (probably still better than my current athlon x2, but still). So here, at least, I'll put in the extra $25-$30 for gaming performance.
Mobo: ASRock H61M-GE ($62)
+ Show Spoiler +http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.813594I need a DVI hook up on the mobo since I may be using integrated graphics and my monitor is DVI (at least, it didn't seem worth it to get an adapter given small differences in mobo price). There's a biostar for $7 more: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138332I wasn't really sure which mobo to go with. The Asrock seemed to have slightly better connectivity (that honestly, I probably don't need), and Asrock seems to have a better reputation. If anyone has a good reason to pick one or the other, or wants to slap me upside the head and say "Biostar is a perfectly good brand. Morally, you have no choice but to save $7," I'd appreciate it. Edit: Hmmm. Open box biostar mobo for $40 or open box MSI H61M-E33 for $55. Any thoughts there? Open Box Comparison Link
RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 1333mhz 1x4gb ($17)
+ Show Spoiler +
GPU: Intel HD 2000 integrated or ATI x1300 (x1550?)
+ Show Spoiler +I know, I know. But I don't need a video card, so it's not going in the budget. If SC2 is unplayable on HD 2000, I can salvage an ATI x1300 with a massive 256mb of dedicated DDR2 ram. Heh. Anyway, my noise-machine is living proof that the video card can push low graphics SC2 and the card itself is fanless, so the three possible downsides are 1) I can't give away the noise-machine as hand-me-down, 2) it'll be worse than the HD 2000 graphics in some way, 3) it'll blow up or infect modern components with its obsoleteness (not actually worried about that).
DVD burner: Samsung 22x ($6)
+ Show Spoiler +
PSU: Corsair 430CXV2 ($37)
+ Show Spoiler +http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=60345&vpn=CMPSU-430CXV2&manufacture=Corsair&promoid=1130It's cheap and I've seen it recommended here before. I don't care much about efficiency, but of course I don't want something that will blow up my components. I'm assuming this is the cheapest "acceptable" power supply, but since this computer is going to take like no power, if there are other options, I'd love to hear them. Also, if there are other power supplies within a close budget (up to say $15 more) with a significantly better (quieter) fan, I hope you can point me towards them so I can consider them.
Case: Bit Fenix Merc Alpha ($40)
+ Show Spoiler +
HDD: Recertified Barracuda 500gb ($70):
+ Show Spoiler +http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148495This is another item where I could definitely use advice. If I buy a new HDD the three basic options are the recertified from newegg for $70, the same HDD not recertified from NCIX for $80, or a Hitachi 500gb from newegg for $76: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145299Alternatively, I could try and salvage my 160GB IDE 7200rpm hard drive from my old computer. I'm not really sure exactly what I'd need for that. I'd appreciate comments on whether the newer hard drives are better in some way, or if there's any reason to mistrust recertified (currently assuming no)
Total of currently selected components: $322
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I thought the HD 2000 can't play SC2 acceptably but the X1300 should be worse. I checked 3DMark 05 and 06 results for mobility X1350, which is similarly-clocked to X1300 and looks like the same chip, and they're awful, way worse than HD 2000. I had a mobility X1400 a long time ago, and it really really sucks compared to anything these days. Maybe you consider low frame rates acceptable, or I'm just wrong here.
I'd pay $6 more for the non-recertified Hitachi hard drive.
Apparently Core 1000's front intake fan is kinda loud. It definitely has a direct path to the user, anyhow, so that's not too surprising. I'd consider an Antec P180 mini for $55 a long-term investment. I'm sure you could leave the top fan off for this kind of low-power config. But it has proper hard drive mounting (hard drives mounted directly to a thin structure like on a cheap case is just asking for vibrations), noise-dampening lining, and much thicker construction than your budget cases.
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=51309&promoid=1130
CX430 V2 apparently has a high incidence of coil whine. Also it has a sleeve-bearing fan that may start to misbehave over time. I'm not sure of what bearing it uses, but the Rosewill Green Series 430W is supposed to be the cheapest quiet power supply in NA. Build quality is comparable or slightly better than Corsair CX V2, with slightly worse performance (but who cares about performance for this build, at that power draw?).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182202
Biostar sounds okay to me. I think this is my only suggestion that reduces cost, sorry. 
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On January 21 2012 14:13 Myrmidon wrote:+ Show Spoiler +I thought the HD 2000 can't play SC2 acceptably but the X1300 should be worse. I checked 3DMark 05 and 06 results for mobility X1350, which is similarly-clocked to X1300 and looks like the same chip, and they're awful, way worse than HD 2000. I had a mobility X1400 a long time ago, and it really really sucks compared to anything these days. Maybe you consider low frame rates acceptable, or I'm just wrong here. I'd pay $6 more for the non-recertified Hitachi hard drive. Apparently Core 1000's front intake fan is kinda loud. It definitely has a direct path to the user, anyhow, so that's not too surprising. I'd consider an Antec P180 mini for $55 a long-term investment. I'm sure you could leave the top fan off for this kind of low-power config. But it has proper hard drive mounting (hard drives mounted directly to a thin structure like on a cheap case is just asking for vibrations), noise-dampening lining, and much thicker construction than your budget cases. http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=51309&promoid=1130CX430 V2 apparently has a high incidence of coil whine. Also it has a sleeve-bearing fan that may start to misbehave over time. I'm not sure of what bearing it uses, but the Rosewill Green Series 430W is supposed to be the cheapest quiet power supply in NA. Build quality is comparable or slightly better than Corsair CX V2, with slightly worse performance (but who cares about performance for this build, at that power draw?). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182202Biostar sounds okay to me. I think this is my only suggestion that reduces cost, sorry.
Those both look like great substitutions! Thank you. And yeah, I've always been very tolerant of low FPS. Basically 20 FPS and above feels very playable to me. (Although I will notice some choppiness below 30 FPS in an RPG/Wow type of game when I actually pay attention to a large character model's movements swinging a sword or something.) It's only when large army sizes causes FPS to drop lower that I feel I can't micro effectively. I've always felt limited by CPU in SC2.
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What about the low-end SeaSonic PSU's with double-ball bearing fans, 80+ bronze:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151085
Doesn't come with a power cable but you can use the old PC's right?
EDIT: I also think dual-channel is worth $2. It was around 10% (maybe even more) performance gain over single, in this one review I read a while ago.. on Sandy Bridge too IIRC
EDIT #2: I think you may be underestimating how quiet even the Merc Alpha would be under low load conditions, save for the HDD. The stock intel CPU cooler can be run as low as 25% and you can set ramp-up temps to like 50*C and never hear it under most circumstances (at least, this is how it worked with my mobo, not sure if all mobo's can control things the same).
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The OEM SeaSonic stuff have short cables I think (and you can see this in the pictures), not good for bottom-mounted PSU configurations. If you were to go this route the 12cm fan version is probably better though. P180 mini is about as big as a small ATX case even though it only holds microATX.
Yeah I'm not sure by how much, but dual channel should be non-trivially helpful in some situations. I guess if you need to upgrade 2 x 2GB later, you can always just swap them for 2 x 4GB...seems stupid but it's not like it costs that much anyway.
edit: the case suggestion was mostly about the hard drive mounting TBH. It's not like there's a lot of other noise to dampen.
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5930 Posts
I wouldn't be too worried about PSU noise in the Antec Performance One series, or at least the old ones. The bottom PSU compartment is very good at blocking PSU noise quite close to completely. The bigger problem, in all honesty, is the huge hole at the top.
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Good morning, and thanks also to Wabbit and Womwomwom. I guess I'll flip a coin between the just getting the P180 or getting merc alpha and rigging suspension for the HDD (or I'll decide on looks). I'm not actually that fanatic when it comes to noise - it's just on top of my mind because the current computer finally got to a point where it's really bugging me.
Thanks also for answering my question io dual-channel RAM. I thought I'd read something of the sort, but didn't know if it applied to Sandy Bridge as well or something. Also double-checked the Biostar BIOS - it does have proper CPU fan control settings (this dell does not...), although the Biostar cannot connect any other fans.
Looks like I'm set.
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EPT
