PC Hardware Thread: Now With 100% More Folding!

[perfectimo]

This is my current build.

MOBO: &nbsp Gigabyte GA-EX58 Extreme
CPU: &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp i7 920
GPU: &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp GTX285 XXX
RAM: &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp 3x2GB 1600MHz Corsair Dominator 8-8-8-24
HDD1: &nbsp 500GB 16MB
HDD2: &nbsp 1TB 32MB
HDD3: &nbsp 1TB 32MB
PSU: &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp 1KW Antec TPQ
Case: &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Antec 1200

I think I might add that I am using Windows 7 RC x64 so my problems may be OS related.

Every now and then I get slow seek times on my HDD2 and HDD3 and I can't figure it out. They are 0% fragmented and I have do daily scans so I'm stumped. Any suggestions?

Also, this may be OS related but I am having incredible trouble getting GTA4 to run on any setting above low and having all the setting bars at 25%, is there a hardware issues that I am unaware of? I have the latest W7 NVidia drivers and all but it gets choppy at and above these settings.

I am planning on installing a V10 cooler and want to know if anyone could suggest a better option. I am not talking about a different brand but I am more concerned with the internal sensor which controls the fan, I have heard that it can not be set to always run and instead is activated at a certain heat. Is this an issue/exist at all? If this is an issue then I would like to know the following, has anyone heard of a workaround?

 

[Horticulture]

This is what i have in my current system
[email protected]/P35/4G DDR2/8500GT

What im basically looking for is advice to which component to replace to give me better performance for games such as Fallout 3, GTA4 and other mid to high resource intensive Games.

I dont really like AMD and ATI graphics cards (im a Nvidia man), but will consider such suggestions.

Also if a replacement component anyone can recommend is availble please let me know. I have about 150-250 AUD to spend, and i live in Western Australia. So http://www.netplus.com.au/ and http://www.austin.net.au/ are the two major decent suppliers in this state.

Any help is gratefully recieved =)

It's stretching your budget just a bit, but a Geforce GTX 260+ [http://www.netplus.com.au/products-detail.asp?code=VD5&cat=Graphics%20Card&subcat=PCI-E%20Express%20Video%20Cards&pcode=VDGFGTX260-E8] will do the rest of your components justice. If you decide that's the card you want, but to buy somewhere else, make sure you get the "+" or "216 core" version-it's faster than the standard/192.

A Radeon 4770 [http://www.austin.net.au/ProductList/ProductDetail/tabid/104/ProductCode/GC4770512SA/Default.aspx] is a little easier on your wallet, but still a big upgrade over your 8500.

 

[leeloodallasmultipass]

It's stretching your budget just a bit, but a Geforce GTX 260+ [http://www.netplus.com.au/products-detail.asp?code=VD5&cat=Graphics%20Card&subcat=PCI-E%20Express%20Video%20Cards&pcode=VDGFGTX260-E8] will do the rest of your components justice. If you decide that's the card you want, but to buy somewhere else, make sure you get the "+" or "216 core" version-it's faster than the standard/192.



A Radeon 4770 [http://www.austin.net.au/ProductList/ProductDetail/tabid/104/ProductCode/GC4770512SA/Default.aspx] is a little easier on your wallet, but still a big upgrade over your 8500.

Thanks for the advice, all i have to wait for is Payday now hehe. i will most likely get the Geforce GTX 260+ [http://www.netplus.com.au/products-detail.asp?code=VD5&cat=Graphics%20Card&subcat=PCI-E%20Express%20Video%20Cards&pcode=VDGFGTX260-E8] You think my 550W PSU can handle it?

 

[Horticulture]

This is my current build.

MOBO:   Gigabyte GA-EX58 Extreme
CPU:      i7 920
GPU:      GTX285 XXX
RAM:      3x2GB 1600MHz Corsair Dominator 8-8-8-24
HDD1:   500GB 16MB
HDD2:   1TB 32MB
HDD3:   1TB 32MB
PSU:      1KW Antec TPQ
Case:     Antec 1200

I think I might add that I am using Windows 7 RC x64 so my problems may be OS related.

Every now and then I get slow seek times on my HDD2 and HDD3 and I can't figure it out. They are 0% fragmented and I have do daily scans so I'm stumped. Any suggestions?

Also, this may be OS related but I am having incredible trouble getting GTA4 to run on any setting above low and having all the setting bars at 25%, is there a hardware issues that I am unaware of? I have the latest W7 NVidia drivers and all but it gets choppy at and above these settings.

I am planning on installing a V10 cooler and want to know if anyone could suggest a better option. I am not talking about a different brand but I am more concerned with the internal sensor which controls the fan, I have heard that it can not be set to always run and instead is activated at a certain heat. Is this an issue/exist at all? If this is an issue then I would like to know the following, has anyone heard of a workaround?

My only guess for hard drives off the top of my head is that they're trying to index or are otherwise active. Try monitoring the activity and noting if they're being accessed when you have lag. Unless they're part of the bad batch of Seagate 7200.12s...

As for GTA4, I can't offer too much help. I have heard that it had performance issues at release, so get the current patches if you don't already have them. I'm not aware of specific hardware issues with GT200 cards, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

For the cooler, you could just connect the fan to a separate fan controller (mobo/add-in) or a molex if you don't mind running it at 100% all the time.

Nice PC, by the way. Hopefully it's treating you well other than the HD and GTA issues.

Thanks for the advice, all i have to wait for is Payday now hehe. i will most likely get the Geforce GTX 260+ [http://www.netplus.com.au/products-detail.asp?code=VD5&cat=Graphics%20Card&subcat=PCI-E%20Express%20Video%20Cards&pcode=VDGFGTX260-E8] You think my 550W PSU can handle it?

It has 2 +12V rails at 16 amps apiece, so it should do alright. Make sure you get a 4-pin molex to 6-pin PCI-express power adapter so that you can fully power it (should cost a couple bucks).

 

[perfectimo]

My only guess for hard drives off the top of my head is that they're trying to index or are otherwise active. Try monitoring the activity and noting if they're being accessed when you have lag. Unless they're part of the bad batch of Seagate 7200.12s...

As for GTA4, I can't offer too much help. I have heard that it had performance issues at release, so get the current patches if you don't already have them. I'm not aware of specific hardware issues with GT200 cards, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

For the cooler, you could just connect the fan to a separate fan controller (mobo/add-in) or a molex if you don't mind running it at 100% all the time.

Nice PC, by the way. Hopefully it's treating you well other than the HD and GTA issues.

Thanks for the ideas, turns out the advanced power management settings in W7 make it so the HDDs turn off after 20 minutes of inactivity.

I think I will go out and buy a legal copy of the game and try that, I was using a friends install for a LAN, he got it from Asia if that is enough information.

I'll try and get a fan controller, that seem like a good idea.

Thanks once again for your help and thank you for the compliment on the rig, this is only the beginning of it's life-cycle.

 

[Oopsie]

Thanks for the ideas, turns out the advanced power management settings in W7 make it so the HDDs turn off after 20 minutes of inactivity.

I think I will go out and buy a legal copy of the game and try that, I was using a friends install for a LAN, he got it from Asia if that is enough information.

I'll try and get a fan controller, that seem like a good idea.

Thanks once again for your help and thank you for the compliment on the rig, this is only the beginning of it's life-cycle.

You can also buy fans with a speed switch on them. Might save you some money.

 

[leeloodallasmultipass]

Thanks for the advice, all i have to wait for is Payday now hehe. i will most likely get the Geforce GTX 260+ [http://www.netplus.com.au/products-detail.asp?code=VD5&cat=Graphics%20Card&subcat=PCI-E%20Express%20Video%20Cards&pcode=VDGFGTX260-E8] You think my 550W PSU can handle it?

It has 2 +12V rails at 16 amps apiece, so it should do alright. Make sure you get a 4-pin molex to 6-pin PCI-express power adapter so that you can fully power it (should cost a couple bucks).

Just ordered it today + 2 adapters. Thanks for all the help mate

 

[Horticulture]

Just ordered it today + 2 adapters. Thanks for all the help mate

Of course, and good luck upgrading. Let us know once you get it up and running.

 

[Horticulture]

Updates.

 

[leeloodallasmultipass]

Just ordered it today + 2 adapters. Thanks for all the help mate

Of course, and good luck upgrading. Let us know once you get it up and running.

Just got it, Plugged it in, Turned out i didnt need the Molex to Sata cables. its just requires 4 seperate 4-pin Molex cables to be plugged in (yes its a beast haha). Seems to be running fine, giving it test now, Playing all my games and seeing the improvements etc.

Thank for all the awesome advice

 

[azadiscool]

Could I use a 500W PSU instead of a 550W one on the midrange build? Because I found two very nice cases with PSUs, and it would save me a lot of hassle (and some money) to just buy one of those cases.

 

[Horticulture]

Budget build now 20% more budget!

Just ordered it today + 2 adapters. Thanks for all the help mate

Of course, and good luck upgrading. Let us know once you get it up and running.

Just got it, Plugged it in, Turned out i didnt need the Molex to Sata cables. its just requires 4 seperate 4-pin Molex cables to be plugged in (yes its a beast haha). Seems to be running fine, giving it test now, Playing all my games and seeing the improvements etc.

Thank for all the awesome advice

Great to hear, have fun with it.

Could I use a 500W PSU instead of a 550W one on the midrange build? Because I found two very nice cases with PSUs, and it would save me a lot of hassle (and some money) to just buy one of those cases.

Probably. The wattage isn't an issue (I have a friend running that card on a 400W Corsair, not that I recommend doing that), but not all PSUs are made equal. Some supplies give more power on the +12V rails (which power most components) than others at the same wattage rating, some are more efficient, some more reliable. Power supplies that come with cases tend to be of dubious quality, but there are exceptions (Antec and Lian Li come to mind). What cases are you looking at, specifically?

 

[Lord Krunk]

Hey Horticulture, I'm just about to get my new PC, ordering the parts in next week.

Thing is, prices over here seemed to go down somewhat reently which leaves me with $65 to chuck around.

Here are the parts you recommended for me in Page 2, with the new prices slapped on:

CPU: Intel e7400: $172

Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel UD3R: $185
GPU: Powercolor 4870 1 gb $264

RAM: G. Skill or Kingston 800: 4gb $74

Case: Antec 300 $107

PSU: Seasonic 550+ $125

HDD: Seagate 500gb $79
DVD: Any SATA (I like Lite-On) $28

Total: $1034

Just wondering, with a budget of $1100, this gives me leg room to upgrade something. What should I do with the $65?

{Note: Here's [msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf] where I'm getting my parts from)

 

[oliveira8]

Hey Horticulture, I'm just about to get my new PC, ordering the parts in next week.

Thing is, prices over here seemed to go down somewhat reently which leaves me with $65 to chuck around.

Here are the parts you recommended for me in Page 2, with the new prices slapped on:

CPU: Intel e7400: $172

Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel UD3R: $185
GPU: Powercolor 4870 1 gb $264

RAM: G. Skill or Kingston 800: 4gb $74

Case: Antec 300 $107

PSU: Seasonic 550+ $125

HDD: Seagate 500gb $79
DVD: Any SATA (I like Lite-On) $28

Total: $1034

Just wondering, with a budget of $1100, this gives me leg room to upgrade something. What should I do with the $65?

{Note: Here's [msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf] where I'm getting my parts from)

A good gaming mouse? Or a game?

 

[Throbbi]

Hey there Horticulture

This is a great thread and certainly gave me stuff to think about when planning my recent build. My budget, regrettably, was exceptionally low due to the wonderful state of the UK's economy and redundancy a few months ago. However it was my birthday leaving me with a whopping £250 (not sure what this translates to in euro's or USD) so i went out of my way to find offers, deals and anythinf else giving morer bang per buck. This is what i came up with.

PSU: TaurusX 530W - Retained from previous PC as it is capable of powering the planned card. Cost £0

HDD: 1x 160GB Seagate Barracuda, 1x 500GB Seagate Barracuda - Both retained from previous PC, there are much beer HDD's out there but these are still reletively fast.
Cost £0

RAM: 4x1GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 - Again retained, also much faster available but this is hugely reliable and Corsairs lifetime warranty is one of the best.
Cost £0

Optical: Standard Samsung(I think) retained. These are very cheap unless going for Blu-Ray anyway so cost would be negligable.
Cost:£0

Case: Thermaltake M5(non-sidewindow model). After shopping around i found this on www.Aria.co.uk. It appears to be a lightly older model but the cooling and space is awesome for the price. Upto 4x140mm fans,1x120mm an 1x70mm behind the motheboard so teh CPU is getting cooling from underneath aswell. Not sure how useful this is but it seems help. Cost £43

CPU: AMD Athlon 7750 Black Edition(socket AM2+). My budget would in no way stretch to a quad or a higher Intel dual core so this was easily the best option. Also being AM2+ it meant the motherboard i needed to buy would allow for upgrading to a Phenom at a later date, always think ahead. Cost £45

Motherboard: Asus M3N-H. Not the best board around by any means but it has fully in depth and customisable BIOS settings should i wish to push for more perfomance with overclocks and also has a great price.
Cost £50

GPU: Powercolor Radeon HD4770 512mb. I had originally intended to go for either a 4850 or a 9600GSO but i saw a review of this brand new range fom ATi and was amazed. Even on fairly demanding tiles like COD4,Fallout 3 and Crysis these cards will out-perform 4850's, 9600's and 9800's and is much much cheaper. I couldn't believe it to be true but went with it anyway. I was not disappointed. This card will run Fallout 3 with no drop in FPS on very high settings even when i'm messing with console commands and spanwing 30 Super Mutannt Behemoths on the spot and going nuts with the Experimental MIRV.
Cost £90

There you go. A 1 TeraFLOP gaming rig (give or take 15-20 GFLOPS) for under £250(retained parts aside) Capable of running Crysis on high and it eats MMO's for breakfast (LotRO PvP with upwards of 50 players on very high setting with a minimum FPS of 40 anyone). I was lucky to find some parts on offer (CPU,Case) but if you hunt you can find them.

Keep up the great thread and good luck to anyone building a new rig on a budget.

P.S. I read a post mentioning Powercolor's poor coolers (a card caught fire i believe :S wow) during their early years. Well as it stand this card is perfoming brilliantly and the cooling is excellent so even when i'm really pushing it hard but i will add any 'mishaps' if they happen but so far if i was to complain about anything its that the Catalyst interface to use the HMDI with my TV is extremely cumbersome. the video is easy to set up, the sound is a pain and definately needs some contol within Catalyst itself.

 

[Throbbi]

Oliveira for a good gaming mouse anything by Razer is a good bet in my opinion. Currently using a Copperhead and cannot find fault but someone with very large hands might. Also Logitech are pumping out some great peripherals almost constantly

 

[azadiscool]

Budget build now 20% more budget!

Just ordered it today + 2 adapters. Thanks for all the help mate

Of course, and good luck upgrading. Let us know once you get it up and running.

Just got it, Plugged it in, Turned out i didnt need the Molex to Sata cables. its just requires 4 seperate 4-pin Molex cables to be plugged in (yes its a beast haha). Seems to be running fine, giving it test now, Playing all my games and seeing the improvements etc.

Thank for all the awesome advice

Great to hear, have fun with it.

Could I use a 500W PSU instead of a 550W one on the midrange build? Because I found two very nice cases with PSUs, and it would save me a lot of hassle (and some money) to just buy one of those cases.

Probably. The wattage isn't an issue (I have a friend running that card on a 400W Corsair, not that I recommend doing that), but not all PSUs are made equal. Some supplies give more power on the +12V rails (which power most components) than others at the same wattage rating, some are more efficient, some more reliable. Power supplies that come with cases tend to be of dubious quality, but there are exceptions (Antec and Lian Li come to mind). What cases are you looking at, specifically?

This, [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811226012] this, [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144222] or this. [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147118]

Thanks

 

[Lord Krunk]

snip

A good gaming mouse? Or a game?

I'm eying the Logitech G5 (one of my favourite mice ever), so that doesn't seem like a bad idea.

 

[szs0061]

i have a budget of approx. 1000 usd(i already have peripherals) what would the escapist suggest i buy?

 

[Horticulture]

Hey there Horticulture
*snip*
Athlon 7750
Radeon 4770
4GB Corsair DDR2
Thermaltake M5
Taurus 530W PSU
2xHDD
Samsung DVD

Keep up the great thread and good luck to anyone building a new rig on a budget.

Seems like a great build at that price. Never heard of Taurus PSUs, but then again, it shouldn't be running too hard with a 4770.

Hey Horticulture, I'm just about to get my new PC, ordering the parts in next week.

Thing is, prices over here seemed to go down somewhat reently which leaves me with $65 to chuck around.

Just wondering, with a budget of $1100, this gives me leg room to upgrade something. What should I do with the $65?

{Note: Here's [msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf] where I'm getting my parts from)

I'll third the mouse suggestion, unless you can afford an upgrade to an e8400 CPU.

This, [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811226012] this, [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144222] or this. [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147118]

Thanks

Of those, the Rosewill [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147118] looks like it has the best PSU. It's got 37 amps on the +12V rails, enough for the mid-range components. The little I've heard about Rosewill PSUs has also been positive.

i have a budget of approx. 1000 usd(i already have peripherals) what would the escapist suggest i buy?

If it were me, I'd go for:

CPU+Cooler: Core i7 920+Vigor Monsoon [http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.186398]: $320
MoBo: Foxconn Renaissance [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186161]: $240(-50)
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 4890 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102830]: $230-20
RAM:6GB OCZ DDR3-1600 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365]: $100(-20)
HDD: WD Caviar Black [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319]: $75
Optical: Lite-On DVD-r [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106287]: $20
Case:<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021>Antec 900:$100
PSU:BFG LS-550 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702008] :$80(-20)

Which comes to $1170 before the rebates ($110). If you prefer to stick tightly to your budget, swap for an AMD system with this RAM [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674].