computer shopping cart [Archive] - Premonition

Nessala

06-22-2009, 10:28 AM

Processor - i7 - 920 - $279.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Motherboard ASUS P6T - $195 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131386

RAM - 3 x 2GB - $80 Pick a Brand that you like - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365 (example)

Video Card - GTX 275 - $230 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475 or GTX 280 $230 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130493

OS - Either Windows Vista 64 - $99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 or get Windows 7 Beta for free, but you will have to buy it when it comes out

Case - Antec 900 - $99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021 (Or just pick one you like and run it by us, cases are kind of a personal decision, but some are much easier to work with and far more functional)

Total - Total of $980 including the OS, so under $900 if you go with Windows 7

Xav

06-22-2009, 10:50 AM

I guess I should add something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101343 so the raid doesn't hear beeping for 60 seconds every night

Egepi

06-22-2009, 11:21 AM

Nessala

06-22-2009, 11:27 AM

I Recently ordered parts for my new PC also and its basically really similar

Same processor and amount of memory but I got:

Motherboard : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127403

Case :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

The only difference with the setup Ness posted and mine in that my pc could be setup for SLI if needed. So if you are never panning to do SLI Ness' setup + your power supply should work amazingly. My total came out to 1130 when i just did the same items again but I bought new Hard Drive also.

Yeah, that is actually the Motherboard I have in my system, but Xav said he wasn't interested in SLi, so I figured save $85 there and if he wants to down the road he can get a new MB (odds are it would be better to simply upgrade the video card instead of buying another old one).

Dart and I discussed the video card on IRC, and what it came down to is he is using a 21" monitor, so the 285GTX is overkill, and you can get the 275 or 280 for about $70 less.

No idea what the differences are with the case, I just posted the one I have that I have been happy with, as I noted it is a personal choice. I guess maybe the one you linked is a little bigger?

And regarding the power supply, if he wanted the ability to go SLi or run heavier duty cards, then a bigger one makes sense, but for the components listed his should be sufficient.

dotazeus

06-22-2009, 11:35 AM

Microcenter has the Intel i7 920 for $229.99 + tax (in-store only) which could potentially save you $50 if you have one in your area.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0302727&utm_source=mcol&utm_medium=leader_bnr&utm_campaign=hmpg_intel_i7

Darthn

06-22-2009, 11:36 AM

microcenter is where i got mine

Egepi

06-22-2009, 11:49 AM

Yeah if your not interested in SLI it is The mobo you linked is def the way to go. The case I linked is a HAF case. One of my friends has the said case and I am honestly amazed by the amazing airflow it has over the components. Cases are definitely personal preference so I got my favorite. Though I don't know if the case is bad luck or what but UPS hasn't delivered it for over 4 days now and I have been calling multiple times a day. Very likely they just lost it and I am so making them get me a new 1..

L i g h t n y n

06-22-2009, 12:43 PM

ya i pretty much pre-build a comp at cyberpowerpc.com with all the parts ness listed but i gotta 260 card + 22'' monitor with it, came out to 1400 bucks after shipping and tax. i think it was in the 1150$ range before tax/shipping+monitor

pluged the bitch in, enterd the os key its been a dream comp ever since

Darthn

06-23-2009, 07:11 AM

EMCCASEFS

use that promo key for free shipping on the Antec 900 case. Expires tomorrow.

Xav

06-24-2009, 12:19 AM

spent $1200, got the stuff ness suggested + a 150gb raptor and a power backup. went a bit overboard i guess but eh!

Nessala

09-30-2009, 11:14 AM

Updating this for those who may be interested

Processor - i7 - 920 - $279.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
$200 if you have a Micro Center near you

Motherboard ASUS P6T - $205 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131386
(Price has gone up slightly)

RAM - 3 x 2GB - $105-125 Pick a Brand that you like - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365 (example)
Again prices have gone up slightly

Video Card - ATi 5850 when it comes out VERY soon is going to be the Price/Performance Value king at $260, however if you are willing to spend about $100 more the 5870 is the current king of the hill for around $379.

Hard Drive - Either 2x 500GB WD Cavier Black 500's ($69.99)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320
Or 1 1TB WD Cavier Black ($94.99)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
There are a couple models in between, but my personal recommendation is for the WD Cavier Black drives, just based on word of mouth and benchmarks.
I wouldn't recommend RAID'ing them, but 2 HD's has some advantages if you like to keep 2 OS's, or you like to FRAPs or anything like that.

At this point SSD's are still too expensive for most people, and the marginal performance gain from a Velociraptor just isn't worth it IMHO
If you wanted to go with an SSD:
60GB OCZ ($200)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227394
80 GB Intel $269)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167016
120 GB OCZ ($359)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?I
Note - Raptors (10K WD Drives) are $179.99 for 150GB and $229.99 for 300GB, they are a nice improvement over a 7200, but not a massive improvement over a 7200 1 TB especially at 5-10x the price per GB.

OS - Windows 7, no reason to use anything else now

Case - Antec 900 - $99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021 (Or just pick one you like and run it by us, cases are kind of a personal decision, but some are much easier to work with and far more functional)

Total - $950 ($200 CPU + $205 MB + $115 RAM + $260 GPU + $70-100 HD + $100 Case)

Other stuff:

Monitor - Personally I have a 24" Dell Ultrasharp 2408 WFP http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-6272 (Currently $100 off... nice this happens every couple weeks on and off again, never buy a Dell monitor for retail)
For those who don't know these use the same panel as the Apple monitors, it is expensive and probably not worth it in most cases. However, I am a firm believer that bigger is better when it comes to monitors and if your computer can support it there is no reason not to go with a 24" even if you can't afford the uber nice ones.
All of the Dell monitors are generally pretty nice, and they have some lower priced models like ($199-299), that work perfectly fine for 99% of users:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-7345
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-7956
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-1070

Thoughts and comments:
Since last time the i5's have come out as well as the LGA 1156 socket i7's, however, the LGA 1366 still seems to be the stronger platform with a better upgrade path going forward, and the LGA 1156 boards aren't significantly cheaper to the point of making it a good enough deal (especially if you can get one of the $200 i7 920's - Which appear to be on the block to be discontinued).

However, if you wanted to go the i5 route, you can save $50 by getting:

CPU - i5-750: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215
Motherboard - Cheapest 2x PCI-E ASUS 1156 MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131404

However, here in lies the rub, you really want at least 6 GB's of RAM these days for a new system, which for a LGA 1366 system is 3 x 2 GB, however the LGA 1156 systems are dual channel, so you would have to choose between 4 GB's or 8 GB's and even at 8 you aren't going to have the memory bandwidth that a LGA 1366 system has with 6 GB's, and you are still looking at $80 x 2 for the RAM, so all the savings you get back on the cheaper motherboard, you give back on the RAM (+$10), and you end up with a weaker system.

Cordi

09-30-2009, 11:35 AM

Nessala

09-30-2009, 11:39 AM

I'm gonna be building a beast of a system sometime next week. I've got a friend downstate that builds crazy boxes like a sport. I'm Hoping we get the i7 over 4ghz with water. Really went all out this time, gonna find out if two 5870s can deliver :3 Definitely gonna take some pictures, it's gonna be beautiful.

FYI - SLI and CrossFire don't really do much at all for WoW, so there is no need to get 2 5870's if this is for you (if it is for FPS's or just for benchmarking etc. that is a different story). 4 GHz on water doesn't seem out of the question just depends on the silicon/batch/stepping etc that you get. Are you going to be using a 920, one of the new ones or one of the higher base clocked 1366's?

Cordi

09-30-2009, 11:48 AM

Nessala

09-30-2009, 11:55 AM

Yeah I know it won't make all that much difference for WoW, but I've never really had a top of line system, and I certainly would like some added performance for FPS's. The i7 is a 920. I don't have much experience overclocking myself, but this friend I mentioned does this stuff in his sleep. A friend of his got a 920 to 4.4ish, which is just incredible. I don't really expect to get that high, but I think 4 is probably reasonable. We'll have to see.

What size monitor are you looking at running this on?

Honestly I would save the $380 for the second 5870 and put it towards the latest and greatest in 12 months, since nothing out there is going to touch 1 5870 for a while (but the what you can get for $380 in a year will probably outclass 2 5870's - Not to mention CrossFire driver support isn't completely up to speed depending on the game). Anything short of a 30" means you probably aren't going to see much marginal improvement... if you are using a 30" aka resolution greater than 1920 x 1280) then more power to you.

Xav

09-30-2009, 11:57 AM

Thank you, cool stuff.

Cordi

09-30-2009, 12:10 PM

What size monitor are you looking at running this on?

Honestly I would save the $380 for the second 5870 and put it towards the latest and greatest in 12 months, since nothing out there is going to touch 1 5870 for a while (but the what you can get for $380 in a year will probably outclass 2 5870's - Not to mention CrossFire driver support isn't completely up to speed depending on the game). Anything short of a 30" means you probably aren't going to see much marginal improvement... if you are using a 30" aka resolution greater than 1920 x 1280) then more power to you.

For me its an assurance issue. I have two monitors, both 1920x1080. I realize the performance gain I'll see from one to two 5870 on monitors this size will be small. I'd rather just not have to worry about it though. I want to be able to max out any game thrown at me (minus that sob Crysis), and not be bothered over fps or quality issues. I don't plan on adding anything performance related to the system for quite a while, so I want to make sure it's solid. I'll probly get an i9 when the prices come down after a year or w/e, but thats about it. I'm aware I'm not being completely efficient or economical, and I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine with what I'm getting.

Nessala

09-30-2009, 12:29 PM

For me its an assurance issue. I have two monitors, both 1920x1080. I realize the performance gain I'll see from one to two 5870 on monitors this size will be small. I'd rather just not have to worry about it though. I want to be able to max out any game thrown at me (minus that sob Crysis), and not be bothered over fps or quality issues. I don't plan on adding anything performance related to the system for quite a while, so I want to make sure it's solid. I'll probly get an i9 when the prices come down after a year or w/e, but thats about it. I'm aware I'm not being completely efficient or economical, and I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine with what I'm getting.

Let us know how it turns out. I am probably not going to get a 5780 until Christmas for fear of my wife/family giving me shit if they don't have anything to get me (Christmas = yearly computer refresh now, since it is easy to list out stuff and wife, parents, in-laws, siblings all chip in etc... wonderful system and I don't have to worry about getting clothes I will never wear or shit I will never use).

Darthn

09-30-2009, 01:08 PM

i got mine to 4.2 first go. i'm fairly cool and not using a lot of volts. i thought about going higher but have been lazy to try. I might plung into the 5870's but waiting for more on eyefinity and benchmarks. I need to get all 3 new monitors probably cause i don't want to mix/match monitors AND i need to get one that has a DisplayPort plug. Can't use HDMI & 2 x DVI to do it. Has to be 2xDVI & the 1 DisplayPort. (Ness' monitor has it btw).

Smoken

10-01-2009, 02:25 PM

Shit looks fucking sweet, but man, upgrading every so often hurts the bank...

I want to upgrade, but then so much new technology platforms coming soon and within the next year like PCI-E 3.0!

Nessala

10-01-2009, 02:52 PM

Shit looks fucking sweet, but man, upgrading every so often hurts the bank...

I want to upgrade, but then so much new technology platforms coming soon and within the next year like PCI-E 3.0!

There is always something newer and better coming out in 6 months or 12 months or 10 years... doesn't do you any good today, and in 12 months you can get the thing that comes out in 6 months for half of what it sold for at first. My recommendation is just always go with the best value at the time, and plan to upgrade regularly... you can buy a top of the line system every x months (depending on your budget) or you can buy a slightly lower end but still awesome system and upgrade it every x/2 or x/3 months and you will have better average performance over the life the the system.

L i g h t n y n

10-01-2009, 05:15 PM

fuck that i upgrade every 3-4 years.

Nessala

10-01-2009, 06:11 PM

fuck that i upgrade every 3-4 years.

^^ Case in point

Pinch

12-25-2009, 11:53 AM

bump

getting some stuff this week since I apparently stumbled upon a ton of christmas money

plz rate.
cpu - i7 920 - http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22588%28ME%29.aspx
mobo - evga x58 - http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX24728%28ME%29.aspx
ram - patriot 6gb ddr3 1600 - http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX23716%28ME%29.aspx
cooling - zalman cnps9900 - http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22921%28ME%29.aspx

if there's anything less costly and just as good on newegg let me know, but after credit card fees, getting stuff locally is cheaper for me.

Wishez

12-25-2009, 01:27 PM

looked into the board, people seem to have mixed reviews and even problems with it. i know its a less costly board but look around for say a different manufacturer with the same chipset for something more reliable perhaps?

Darthn

12-25-2009, 05:48 PM

can try an asus board, i don't remember the cheaper version of the x58 off the top of my head. I'd say go Rampage II Extreme but that is an expensive board.

Xav

12-25-2009, 06:17 PM

i like how i paid $279.99 for the processor you're about to pay $319.99 for
and $99 for ram just as good

:coolface:

oh wait are those showing fucking canadian prices
fucking canucks

Surlybeve

12-25-2009, 06:58 PM

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX24797%28ME%29.aspx

looks like the zalman extremes are on sale, this is the one i bought

Pinch

12-25-2009, 09:57 PM

are asus boards as supportive as evga towards overclocking?

i like how i paid $279.99 for the processor you're about to pay $319.99 for
and $99 for ram just as good

:coolface:

oh wait are those showing fucking canadian prices
fucking canucks

:coolface:

Esdras

12-26-2009, 12:27 AM

are asus boards as supportive as evga towards overclocking?

No, but they're the best alternative. I'd stick with EVGA if you've got the cash, prolly get the 758 over the 757 unless you're trying to fit this into a mini tower or small mid size tower.

Also, you can gettem' both cheaper on NewEgg.

757:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049

758:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039

Pinch

12-26-2009, 12:31 AM

Also, you can gettem' both cheaper on NewEgg.

change the .com to .ca and watch what happens

Darthn

12-26-2009, 08:37 AM

asus boards aren't as good for overclocking? is he on crack? I think the P6T has achieved a lot towards overclocking and the R2E is built especially towards overclockers. Now boarding for the EVGA bandwagon, board here | _ |

Go for the P6T series of Asus. You will achieve a nice overclock with it fairly easily... trust me. Don't need to go and drop a ton of cash when you don't need things like 3x-SLI.

Esdras

12-26-2009, 09:00 AM

asus boards aren't as good for overclocking? is he on crack?

Not on crack, not me. I don't claim ASUS boards aren't as good, only that the brand isn't as supportive. EVGA has long been synonymous with motherboard overclocking, they were the first to openly encourage it in their mainstream product line.

EVGA is the classier option, in my opinion. It has the edge on certain things, all though to be honest you'll be absolutely fine with either motherboard. If you already own an EVGA video card, go with the 75x. Otherwise, weigh the pros and cons. Both boards will run you roughly the same amount of money.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Productcompare.aspx?CompareItemList=N82E1681313135 9,N82E16813188049

Darthn

12-26-2009, 11:38 AM

from personal experience and being a long time overclocker, evga has never yielded me that good of results. from all the overclockers I know of and have dealt with, for i7 they choose an asus board for maximum potential overclock. Most have the R2E, others have the P6 series very few and far between run EVGA and others (Gigabyte, MSI, etc). Tend to think when it comes to overclocking a PC, I have a bit of knowledge of the howto push your system to the max considering i'm @ 4.5ghz atm with my 920.

Surlybeve

12-26-2009, 12:10 PM

nerds

Pinch

12-26-2009, 07:24 PM

so my optical drive is IDE (i didn't remember) and the motherboard doesn't have an IDE connection so I have to go get a SATA optical drive now I guess

whoops

ps: the only game i could play was torchlight but it fixed the video stuttering problem I had so I imagine everything will fine in every other game.
double ps: i haven't even overclocked it and my performance has increased substantially :b

Pinch

12-26-2009, 11:12 PM

45 min prime95 test, ~60c temps, no crashes

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=908540

I bought the stuff I listed (except I got the fan surly posted which required me to bend my case to fit it in HOLY SHIT is it big).

woo

Kmarticus

12-26-2009, 11:44 PM

Can you teach me how to overclock my Pentium 4

Darthn

12-27-2009, 07:46 AM

Can you teach me how to overclock my Pentium 4

push 2 42 times in under 10s

Kmarticus

12-27-2009, 01:11 PM

I just like to think of tanking Heroic Anub adds with 4 fps as "fun"

Vallkor

12-28-2009, 06:27 AM

I just like to think of tanking Heroic Anub adds

Words cannot describe how bad I feel for your guild.

Fec

12-28-2009, 12:52 PM

herlp, need replacement for http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131386 it's out of stock :-p

Darthn

12-28-2009, 01:31 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131352&cm_re=rampage_ii_extreme-_-13-131-352-_-Product

:biggrin:

can just buy that board from ZipZoomFly
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010451&prodlist=celebros

i bought some of my parts from them when Newegg is out of stock.

Shifft

06-03-2010, 08:50 PM

Bump so I can find this more easily. Also anyone who knows a lot about hardware feel free to suggest things :O

06-03-2010, 09:24 PM

oh, i'm not looking to buy for a while yet but does anyone know anything about SSDs?

Vallkor

06-03-2010, 09:31 PM

oh, i'm not looking to buy for a while yet but does anyone know anything about SSDs?

Ask Pinch.

Melar

06-03-2010, 09:42 PM

i7 + either 5770 or 5870 is still the best value

Pinch

06-03-2010, 09:45 PM

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167016

what I got

still on sale, working good so far.

Shifft

06-03-2010, 10:47 PM

Nessala

06-04-2010, 08:48 AM

oh, i'm not looking to buy for a while yet but does anyone know anything about SSDs?

Intel (G2) or OCZ Vertex, pick the one that matches what you want to spend they are fairly lockstep in price and both are great. Other brands have horrible controllers and might not even improve performance.

Kmarticus

06-05-2010, 01:07 AM

OCZ vertex 120g died on me after 2 months.

Cordi

06-05-2010, 08:19 AM

OCZ vertex 120g died on me after 2 months.

Yeah I have a 120gb OCZ Agility, and it didn't last must longer. Started getting serious corruption issues. Gotta RMA it one of these days, but I don't really expect a new one to be much different. Sure was incredible while it lasted, though.

Melar

06-06-2010, 12:57 AM

My first gen x25-m is still going strong more than a year later. No degradation.

Nessala

06-06-2010, 12:51 PM

So far I was thinking:

i5 750 - http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?item_id=025781 - I've read several articles saying that it performs as well as the i7 920 recommended earlier and it's cheaper.

ASUS P6T SE motherboard - http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?item_id=024899

2x 640gb WD hard drives - http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?item_id=030967

Get an i7, you get significantly more memory bandwidth and you will be able to use it for the 6 core chips if you want to upgrade in the future (same socket). i5 is dual channel, i7 is triple channel, so you can get 6 GB of RAM, where the i5 you have to get 4 or 8, and 4 can be too little depending on what you are doing, where 6 is plenty for anything.

Also, don't Raid 0 7200 RPM HD's, if you want more speed get an Intel SSD or a Raptor, Raid 0 is just begging for failure with no way to recover (either drive dies... they both die).

My first gen x25-m is still going strong more than a year later. No degradation.

Yeah, my G2 is still fine and haven't had any issues with it, got it several months back.

Shifft

06-06-2010, 12:54 PM

Yeah I might just get an Alienware pre-built one from Dell since my dad said he can probably get me a huge (30-50%) discount on it through his company.

Edit: Was also planning on RAID-1 not RAID-0, I've had hard drive failures in the past where mirrored drives saved my ass so I like that configuration.

Kmarticus

06-10-2010, 02:04 AM

My RMA from OCZ apparently ships all the way from Taoyuan City, TW. fml

Linistroni

06-16-2010, 10:59 PM

XFX Radeon HD 5870 HD587XZNFV 1GB GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI DP DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card W/ Avp Game
Intel X25-M 80GB 34NM Postville 2.5IN SSD SATA Solid State Disk Flash Drive
Corsair XMS3 TW3X4G1333C9DHX 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL 9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit - 8GB total

Should have it by Friday/Monday at the latest mmm

Inahk

06-17-2010, 02:50 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010&Tpk=Corsair%20H50

I highly recommend this to anyone building a new computer. Its only slightly more complicated to install than a heatsink and gives cooling close to a real water cooling loop. My I7 cores are currently at 35/32/36/31c, and the highest I've ever see them go is about 40-42 after it having been on for a couple of days, and this is during summer.

dotazeus

06-18-2010, 01:23 PM

Malakai

06-18-2010, 03:55 PM

DOTABOMB!

Sore

08-01-2010, 04:52 PM

So - im planning on upgrading my system again. Dart helped me last time, and I think I can keep some of the same parts that I have still to try and save some money. Im planning on playing FFXIV when it comes out, and running the Benchmark Test on my current computer only got me like 2300 out of 8000 - so I figure now is a good time to upgrade (over 2 years old, so its had a good run).

Here is what I was looking at for the upgrades:

Intel Core i7-875K Lynnfield 2.93GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Unlocked Desktop Processor BX80605I7875K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116368

Western Digital AV-GP WD10EVDS 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal AV Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136496

EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130549

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055

EVGA E760 CLASSIFIED "Overclocker's Pick" 3-Way SLI + PhysX 1366 Intel X58 EATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188048

Patriot Viper II Sector 7 Edition 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PV7312G1600ELK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220499

----------------------------------------------------------------------
This was a recommended set up from a friend, but im slightly concerned about the Motherboard/Ram. Its a combo pack on Newegg, and they are sometimes hitt and miss on having good combos.

The stuff I plan on reusing from my previous set-up is:

Western Digital Caviar SE 16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.0Gb/s
(extra HD, no real reason to get rid of this)

SAMSUNG SH-S203N 20X SATA DVD Burner Black Drive Bulk

Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Full Tower Case w/25cm Fan Side Panel (Black) Retail

XFX GX260NADFF GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
(figure I could SLI them)

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

--------------------------------------------------------------------

So - what do people think? Total cost of the new parts on Newegg is about $1689.00 - which is good, because my budget is about $2000.00 max.

Im also a little concerned with building my system again from scratch. It seems that you can find a lot of this stuff prebuilt for pretty much the same price, and there is no risk of me messing something up while building it. I have only ever built a computer once, and I know while some think its "super easy", I have 0 background in doing that kinda stuff. So, it make me nervous. So if anyone has any suggestions on any pre-built models as well, I would like that also.

Thanks guys!

Sore

Xav

08-01-2010, 06:15 PM

You don't have a CPU listed yet you have a new graphics card listed, as well as saying you plan to reuse your old one. wat

Sore

08-01-2010, 06:22 PM

You don't have a CPU listed yet you have a new graphics card listed, as well as saying you plan to reuse your old one. wat

Good point - dunno how I missed the CPU. But I added it.

As for the Video Card - I figured I could get the new card and still be able to use my old one also. The card I have now is SLI and so would the new one. I would obviously use the newer card as my "main" one. I guess I just figured they were compatible with each other, if not I suppose I could get 2x the new card.

Pinch

08-01-2010, 06:56 PM

SLI only works if its two (or more) of the same card. However, with nvidia, you can keep your old card in your system and make it a dedicated physx card (for games that support physx).

Sore

08-01-2010, 07:08 PM

SLI only works if its two (or more) of the same card. However, with nvidia, you can keep your old card in your system and make it a dedicated physx card (for games that support physx).

Ah I see...well no SLI then for that. But I guess I can still use it (its not that bad of a card). I may get 2x of that new card though for the SLI, since FFXIV supports that.

Nessala

08-01-2010, 10:59 PM

Intel Core i7-875K Lynnfield 2.93GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Unlocked Desktop Processor BX80605I7875K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116368

EVGA E760 CLASSIFIED "Overclocker's Pick" 3-Way SLI + PhysX 1366 Intel X58 EATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188048

You have a "cheap" i7 with an real i7 motherboard. Aka there are two different sockets when it comes to i7's, you have the 1366 which is the good one, that supports the new 6 core processors, and is triple channel for RAM, and you have the cheap one that is mainly designed for the i5's the 1156, that is only dual channel. There are some other differences as well, but there really isn't a good reason to get an 1156, because you really want at least 6GB's of RAM, and the 1156 would require you to go to 8GB's, because it is dual channel. So the minor amount you save by getting an 1156 Motherboard and Processor is lost because you have to buy more RAM, and you end up with a weaker system overall for the same price.

So you need to pick a 1366 socket i7, and I would strongly recommend an ASUS motherboard, nothing wrong with EVGA, ASUS is just better and generally about the same price.

Patriot Viper II Sector 7 Edition 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PV7312G1600ELK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220499

You really only need 6GB's, so you can save a couple hundred bucks there, 4GB Sticks are still really expensive, and nothing uses more than 6 currently, even with a ton of other stuff open.

Also, stick with one graphics card. Get a great one, generally one step down from top of the line is your best bet. SLI/Crossfire isn't worth it unless you are a benchmark whore, most games aren't optimized for it, or the drivers don't support it etc. You would be FAR better off taking the money you save on the RAM and from not getting a second graphics card, and using it to get a SSD, which is the single biggest upgrade you can make to any system.

Surlybeve

08-02-2010, 01:38 AM

Also, stick with one graphics card. Get a great one, generally one step down from top of the line is your best bet. SLI/Crossfire isn't worth it unless you are a benchmark whore, most games aren't optimized for it, or the drivers don't support it etc.

FUCK SLI

Sore

08-02-2010, 03:44 AM

You have a "cheap" i7 with an real i7 motherboard. Aka there are two different sockets when it comes to i7's, you have the 1366 which is the good one, that supports the new 6 core processors, and is triple channel for RAM, and you have the cheap one that is mainly designed for the i5's the 1156, that is only dual channel. There are some other differences as well, but there really isn't a good reason to get an 1156, because you really want at least 6GB's of RAM, and the 1156 would require you to go to 8GB's, because it is dual channel. So the minor amount you save by getting an 1156 Motherboard and Processor is lost because you have to buy more RAM, and you end up with a weaker system overall for the same price.

So you need to pick a 1366 socket i7, and I would strongly recommend an ASUS motherboard, nothing wrong with EVGA, ASUS is just better and generally about the same price.

You really only need 6GB's, so you can save a couple hundred bucks there, 4GB Sticks are still really expensive, and nothing uses more than 6 currently, even with a ton of other stuff open.

Also, stick with one graphics card. Get a great one, generally one step down from top of the line is your best bet. SLI/Crossfire isn't worth it unless you are a benchmark whore, most games aren't optimized for it, or the drivers don't support it etc. You would be FAR better off taking the money you save on the RAM and from not getting a second graphics card, and using it to get a SSD, which is the single biggest upgrade you can make to any system.

Ok...how about these instead:

Intel® Core™ i7 980X Processor Extreme Edition (6x 3.33GHz/12MB L3 Cache)

ASUS Rampage III Extreme w/ 4x PCI-E 2.0 x16 USB 3.0, S-ATA 3.0 RAID

1x ATI Radeon HD 5870 - 2GB - ASUS ROG MATRIX Design
or
1x EVGA 015-P3-1482-AR GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5

(Radeon vs. Nvidia :sherlock9xx:)

As for the RAM, that seems easy to cut back on. The only reason why it was 12GB was because it was in that "bundle" thing. To be fair, I would rather be over the top than under - so that it gives the system a longer lifespan.

So for the RAM, I could do:

G.SKILL Trident 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000)

Hows that lookin?

Thanks for the help ^^

Nessala

08-02-2010, 07:50 AM

Intel® Core™ i7 980X Processor Extreme Edition (6x 3.33GHz/12MB L3 Cache)

ASUS Rampage III Extreme w/ 4x PCI-E 2.0 x16 USB 3.0, S-ATA 3.0 RAID

1x ATI Radeon HD 5870 - 2GB - ASUS ROG MATRIX Design
or
1x EVGA 015-P3-1482-AR GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5

If you just want to throw money at a system... sure, that is pretty much top of the line. However, it is sort of a waste of money IMHO. Nothing other than Video editing programs can use a 6 core processor currently. I think most people here would recommend getting a 930 for almost 1/4th the price and overclocking it. 6 cores is the way of the future, and you want a motherboard that will support it, but they just hit the market it April/May, so they are still hugely expensive. In a year you will be able to pick one up for half of that, that will be just as fast. If you have the money and want to gold plate it, go for it, otherwise, go with the 930 and OC it to close to 4GHz.

See this review on the ASUS 5870: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/05/20/asus_rog_matrix_5870_platinum_video_card_review/10
Basically you are paying a premium that you don't need to.

If you really want a nice setup, go with a normal 5870 and do a 3x1 Eyefiniti setup :-)

The ASUS board you picked is also top of the line, but unless you need all the ports and RAID controllers on it, and plan on doing some serious OC'ing, it is overkill. That is the type of board someone like Dart gets because he wants to tweak every little thing. Considering you have reservations about building it, I don't think extreme OC'ing is your goal.

I will take some time today and put together a list of what I would recommend, I just helped a co-worker build a system, that turned out really well for about what you were looking to pay for the processor :-P

Sore

08-02-2010, 10:54 AM

If you just want to throw money at a system... sure, that is pretty much top of the line. However, it is sort of a waste of money IMHO. Nothing other than Video editing programs can use a 6 core processor currently. I think most people here would recommend getting a 930 for almost 1/4th the price and overclocking it. 6 cores is the way of the future, and you want a motherboard that will support it, but they just hit the market it April/May, so they are still hugely expensive. In a year you will be able to pick one up for half of that, that will be just as fast. If you have the money and want to gold plate it, go for it, otherwise, go with the 930 and OC it to close to 4GHz.

See this review on the ASUS 5870: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/05/20/asus_rog_matrix_5870_platinum_video_card_review/10
Basically you are paying a premium that you don't need to.

If you really want a nice setup, go with a normal 5870 and do a 3x1 Eyefiniti setup :-)

The ASUS board you picked is also top of the line, but unless you need all the ports and RAID controllers on it, and plan on doing some serious OC'ing, it is overkill. That is the type of board someone like Dart gets because he wants to tweak every little thing. Considering you have reservations about building it, I don't think extreme OC'ing is your goal.

I will take some time today and put together a list of what I would recommend, I just helped a co-worker build a system, that turned out really well for about what you were looking to pay for the processor :-P

I see, well ill definitely look at whatever you show me, but again, I dont really mind paying for something that is "over the top" now, so it will last me a longer period of time. Ive been waiting for FFXIV to come out for a long time and really want a computer that will play the shit outta it. When I ran the official benchmark test on high on my current computer, it only got to 2300 out of 8000 (and that was after updating graphic drivers and such). I would really like to get something that will get me to, or as close as I can, to that 8000 mark on the High settings, so I can take full advantage of the game.

As for stuff like over-clocking and such, to be honest, ive never done any of that stuff before. In fact the most technical thing ive ever done regarding computers was building the one I have now over 2 years ago (and that took me a few hours to do since I had no experience and no one helping me). I suppose I could try and find a local tech guy to hire for an hour or two, but then thats another $50-$200 out of pocket depending on what exactly I have him do.

Thanks again for the help/info!

Pinch

08-02-2010, 06:53 PM

FUCK SLI

.

Sore

08-03-2010, 02:00 PM

Ok, how about this set-up...its a mixture of what I have now and new stuff with a budget of around $2000:

Re-Used Components:

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

Western Digital Caviar SE 16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.0Gb/s

SAMSUNG SH-S203N 20X SATA DVD Burner Black Drive Bulk

Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Full Tower Case w/25cm Fan Side Panel (Black) Retail

ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

New components:

EVGA P55 FTW 200 SLI 141-LF-E658-KR LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard $269.99

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz $579.99

EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 $199.99 X 2 = $399.98

A-DATA XPG Gaming Series 4GB DDR3 memory $94.99 X2 = 189.99

OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE120G 2.5" SSD $314.99

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit $99.99

And if I hire a professional to take apart my old system, clean it and then build up this one with installing Windows and maybe doing some overclocking, it will be $150.00

So total is $2004.93

Thoughts?

08-03-2010, 03:42 PM

EVGA P55 FTW 200 SLI 141-LF-E658-KR LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard $269.99

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz $579.99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZIvgQ9ik48

Sore

08-03-2010, 04:16 PM

So...what, are you saying the motherboard is too cheap/weak compared to the CPU? Again, my experience in doing this stuff is like 0, lol. Im having a few friends put some stuff together for me...and as I get new builds, i share them to see what others think.

Nessala

08-03-2010, 11:14 PM

I seem to remember typing up an explanation of this....

You have a "cheap" i7 with an real i7 motherboard. Aka there are two different sockets when it comes to i7's, you have the 1366 which is the good one, that supports the new 6 core processors, and is triple channel for RAM, and you have the cheap one that is mainly designed for the i5's the 1156, that is only dual channel. There are some other differences as well, but there really isn't a good reason to get an 1156, because you really want at least 6GB's of RAM, and the 1156 would require you to go to 8GB's, because it is dual channel. So the minor amount you save by getting an 1156 Motherboard and Processor is lost because you have to buy more RAM, and you end up with a weaker system overall for the same price.

So you need to pick a 1366 socket i7, and I would strongly recommend an ASUS motherboard, nothing wrong with EVGA, ASUS is just better and generally about the same price.

EVGA P55 FTW 200 SLI 141-LF-E658-KR LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard $269.99

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz $579.99

1366 Processor = Square Peg
1156 Motherboard = Round Hole

You can try to shove a square peg in a round hole... but it isn't the best idea.

I would recommend:
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz - $289
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - $234 (204 after rebate)
Paying twice as much for a 10% bump is just silly, when with an aftermarket heatsink you could OC it to the mid 3's with no issue (which is faster than the extreme edition)

If you want to go with Nvidia:
ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card -$209

If you want to go with ATi (which is what I would do):

Closer to the Nvidia Price:
SAPPHIRE 100282-3SR Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity - $284

If you want to go big!
SAPPHIRE 100281-3SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity - $399

The 5870 will perform as well as 2 460's in games that support SLI and will curb stomp it in games that don't. I would get the 5850 or the 5870, the 5970 is on card Crossfire, which has all of the issues of SLI and Crossfire with 2 separate cards. Go with a good single card, that gives you the ability to pick up another one down the road if you really want it.

The 470 and 480 had a lot of issues, you want to stay away from them (use a ton of power, and produce a lot of heat, 5850 > 470 and 5870 >=480 in terms of performance). Not to mention the ATi cards allow you to do Eyefiniti with only one card if you want.

Also, your heatsink will not work, you need one that fits on a 1366 Socket.

Memory you want a 3 x 2GB pack, speed isn't hugely important, any of the major brands with decent heatspreaders will be fine. I personally like Muskin and Corsair. 6GB's is plenty, you can always add 6 more later if you want, the additional bandwidth from 3 channels is better than going with an 1156 and getting 8.

Go with an Intel drive, everyone I know who has gotten a non-Intel one has had it fail on them. 80GB's is normally plenty, if you want to spend more the bigger ones are faster.

That should chop some major money off of your budget, if you really want to spend it, get 2 more monitors and go Eyefiniti.

Sore

08-03-2010, 11:52 PM

I would recommend:
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz - $289
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - $234 (204 after rebate)
Paying twice as much for a 10% bump is just silly, when with an aftermarket heatsink you could OC it to the mid 3's with no issue (which is faster than the extreme edition)

If you want to go with Nvidia:
ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card -$209

If you want to go with ATi (which is what I would do):

Closer to the Nvidia Price:
SAPPHIRE 100282-3SR Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity - $284

If you want to go big!
SAPPHIRE 100281-3SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity - $399

The 5870 will perform as well as 2 460's in games that support SLI and will curb stomp it in games that don't. I would get the 5850 or the 5870, the 5970 is on card Crossfire, which has all of the issues of SLI and Crossfire with 2 separate cards. Go with a good single card, that gives you the ability to pick up another one down the road if you really want it.

The 470 and 480 had a lot of issues, you want to stay away from them (use a ton of power, and produce a lot of heat, 5850 > 470 and 5870 >=480 in terms of performance). Not to mention the ATi cards allow you to do Eyefiniti with only one card if you want.

Also, your heatsink will not work, you need one that fits on a 1366 Socket.

Memory you want a 3 x 2GB pack, speed isn't hugely important, any of the major brands with decent heatspreaders will be fine. I personally like Muskin and Corsair. 6GB's is plenty, you can always add 6 more later if you want, the additional bandwidth from 3 channels is better than going with an 1156 and getting 8.

Go with an Intel drive, everyone I know who has gotten a non-Intel one has had it fail on them. 80GB's is normally plenty, if you want to spend more the bigger ones are faster.

That should chop some major money off of your budget, if you really want to spend it, get 2 more monitors and go Eyefiniti.

Ok, so going off your recommendations, how does this look:

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

SAPPHIRE 100281-3SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930

ZALMAN CNPS9900ALED 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LED CPU Cooler

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
--------------
Total that comes to: $1,394.93

Now that kinda leaves a gap in my budget, and I dont need a new monitor (already have a 27' WS + 21' side by side) and I dont think the Eyefiniti stuff is really helpful for stuff like MMO's, which is what ill be using it for.

So, maybe double up the video cards (in which case, would I have to get a bigger Power Supply?)? Maybe do some liquid cooling to get the overclocking working better? I mean, my budget is $2000 and I have at least $500-$600 left over from this build. Id rather spend it on the guts of the PC instead of a monitor and such.

Thanks again for the help ^^

Nessala

08-04-2010, 12:32 AM

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Get this instead:
Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH160G2R5 2.5" 160GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Replace you main drive as well with:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD10000LSRTL 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive
(Or go with the 1.5 or 2TB if you think you will need the storage).

Water cooling is always a good option, but only if you are willing to deal with it, it generally isn't maintenance free.

If you really want to spend all of the money, go ahead and upgrade to the i7-960, it is 400 Mhz faster if you aren't OC'ing, and if you are it will OC higher.

I would really stay away from SLI/Crossfire, there is a reason so many people said "Fuck SLI", it is nice when and if it works... but yeah...

Save the money, send it to me (I might be willing to put it together for you, just built a similar system for a co-worker, and it ended up really clean - I'll post the final picture tomorrow), put it away for a little upgrade 6-12 months from now when you want something else, the gains you are going to get from anything else will be a poor return on the dollar, which is generally what I look at for a build that isn't "Mommy and Daddy gave me a $4k PC".

So I would say definitely get at least an 80GB Intel SSD (since that somehow didn't make it on the list, they are great for MMO's due to slashing load times), don't get the 10k drive. If you want to spend the rest, upgrade your storage drive, get a bigger SSD and then upgrade the processor in that order.

Water cooling will possibly require a different case, and doing it right is pretty expensive, water blocks for the CPU and GPU, Radiators, Fans, Pump, and Reservoir.

Pinch

08-04-2010, 12:33 AM

get an SSD instead of a Raptor, and then just get a 1 or 2TB 7200 rpm drive for everything you don't put on the SSD.

edit: god damnit nessala

Sore

08-04-2010, 01:13 AM

So with adding:

Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH160G2R5 2.5" 160GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

and

Western Digital Caviar Black WD10000LSRTL 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Retail

and upgrading to:

Intel Core i7-960

my Newegg total went up to $2,082.15 - which is perfect. I assume that with all these new things, my 700W Power Supply is still enough?

As for sending it to you - I might have to look into how much it would cost for me to ship my Tower to you...its kinda heavy...and big...lol. Might cost more to do that than just get a local pro to do it. But ill check around at prices and such.

Nessala

08-04-2010, 09:57 AM

700w is plenty

Sore

08-04-2010, 03:44 PM

Nessala

08-05-2010, 07:39 AM

Instead of upgrading to the 960, what do you think about using a i7-875K Unlocked instead of the 930?

Been reading mixed reviews on 930 vs i7-875K in terms of value - on Newegg the difference in price is $40 (with the i7-875K being the more expensive one). In terms of Overclocking abilities, it looks like the i7-875K can get pretty high up there pretty easily.

The i7-875K is an 1156 socket, you want a 1366, the motherboard and RAM you have picked out are for a 1366 chip. There are 2 different sockets for i7's, the one for the high end chips including the 6 core ones, and the one for the i5's/gimped i7's. You can't use an i7-875K with the setup you have. See my previous comments for stuff about memory bandwidth etc.

If anything I would go to the 970 since you are already at almost $600 for the 960, which gives you 2 more cores for future proofing. But honestly my recommendation is to get the 930, and then if you need more power OC and use the money saved to upgrade in a year or two.

rokaz

08-14-2010, 07:53 PM

Vallkor

08-14-2010, 07:55 PM

from buying a home

Grats.

Nessala

08-14-2010, 10:24 PM

Sore

08-15-2010, 08:30 AM

only asking in this thread since it pertains to computer hardware

is anyone running an eyefinity set up? got my $8000 back from buying a home and figured i may as well get a few monitors and set up eyefinity for my computer and not let the 5970 go to complete waste. i'm mainly wondering how practical it is to be playing things on that many screens (it'd be 3, not 6)

Yea...I was considering it also. I found this of a guy in FFXIV beta using it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49m5Eug37W0

It looks cool - but, I dunno...thats a whole lotta screen. How many years until you can just surround yourself in monitors so you can get a 360 view of your character at all times?

Btw, I bought my systems and it works great. Im lucky enough to live near a Microcenter, and they pretty much matched the price of all the Newegg stuff and then gave me a great deal on assembling the computer there as well. Thanks for all the help!

rokaz

08-15-2010, 09:22 AM

yeah i've seen a couple youtube videos of eyefinity on various games. i was mostly wondering about first hand experience and how well it works for gaming in a practical sense (i'm fairly confident from a performance standpoint it's gonna be just fine)

Sore

08-15-2010, 01:00 PM

Devium

08-15-2010, 01:44 PM

Im guessing like switching from a 15' standard monitor to a 27' widscreen monitor takes some time to adjust - doting the eyefinity setup would be much the same way. It would probably be awkward at first - but after playing with it for a few months, going back to anything less just seems crazy.

Heh, I did pretty close to this back last November. Went from a 19" to a 28". The first few days I had some pretty decent headaches and it seemed "awkward" for a few weeks... But now I absolutely love the massive amount of screen space I have not only for games, but when I'm doing school work and need to have several documents open at once. I also set up my 19" sideways right beside it, they're approximately the same height (the extra leftover space on the sideways 19" is where I put my Windows taskbar so it works out well) and I've been really pleased with how nice having a 900x1440 resolution at my side has been, most browsers fit well in it.

I think what would be hard for me would be the 1-2in break inbetween monitors due to the boarding around the screens. Im kinda surprised there arnt screens (or if there are they are very few and not easy to find) out there that have very narrow boarders made specifically for this type of thing, but I guess this is still kinda new, so might see more of those types pop up in the future.

They're called "thin bezel" monitors - but they are still rather hard to find. The only ones I've seen are made by NEC. Samsung makes some, but only really for larger TV's (like the 40"+ type) - though, of course, you're perfectly capable of gaming on them. (NEC on Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007617%2050001591&IsNodeId=1&name=NEC%20Display%20Solutions)

I've been thinking about trying out Eyefinity recently, too, Rokaz. I've got the 2 GB 5870 on the way currently. I personally haven't used it, but I know Darthn has it setup if you talk to him (or I can tell him look you up). He set it up slightly before he quit though so I don't know how much he's gotten to use it, especially in a WoW context.

The one slightly off-putting thing to me with Eyefinity is compatibility with games. The list is getting pretty solid now, but obviously it just doesn't work with all games.

For Sore: About 2-3 months ago I got a fairly similar computer to your setup - I got the I7-920, the 80 GB version of the X25-M. Got different case and RAM though they're roughly the same, just different brands.

Everything has run fairly solid at pretty much max everything outside of really high end shadows on some games (L4D2, for instance) - but I don't have my new graphics card yet. I've got the 920 OC'd to 3.5 GHz and could go higher without much question (as it only runs at like 50 degrees under heavy load) with air cooling - though I got a different CPU Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106150&Tpk=Thermaltake%20CLP0564%20FRIO%20CPU%20Cooler) and my case has a 200 MM fan on the side of the case right in front of the CPU too.

Overall I put about $1.5k into it, though I reused my old PSU and two 250 GB SATA drives (that I use for non vital storage since my SSD is so small).

I would really encourage you though to put together your own computer. I was intimidated the first time I did it (the computer before this one) but it really, REALLY isn't that hard. There are only two parts that are even remotely "stressful" and that's putting on the CPU Cooler, and managing your cords - that's just cause they're not exact sciences. Everything else is really just "Tab A into Slot B" and you save yourself a lot of money, plus it's way easier to diagnose and fix problems when something goes wrong once you've gone through the process of troubleshooting a new computer's boot issues for the first time.

And, of course, I tend to keep old parts around so if something does go bad I have an acceptable replacement for most things so that I don't have to buy something overpriced and retarded at Best Buy or wait for something to ship before I can even use my computer. Learning all that stuff helps make problems just not seem as bad, and much easier to figure out.

Sore

08-15-2010, 02:05 PM

I did put together my last computer and its worked fine other than some of the USB ports on the case not working. The problem I have is I have 0 experience in building a computer and I dont have any friends that could have helped me either. When I built my last computer, I was quite literally watching YouTube videos on how to do certain things...and it took me like 3-4hrs to put everything together - not including installing Windows.

If I had a person standing next to me showing me to to do things, it would be different. But for me, having the peace of mind knowing that professionals are putting it together this time around, was worth the small extra expense.

rokaz

08-15-2010, 02:37 PM

the NEC bezels dont look that much thinner than the dell equiv (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-8277)

I actually currently use an older version of that monitor, and if i do this eyefinity set up i'll probably just grab two of these and hook it up (note: you need to have one monitor hooked up via DisplayPort for it to work properly, or use a DVI/DP active converter - i've read the passive converters do not work for eyefinity, meaning another $100 for a converter).

the NEC monitors i glanced at do not have DP so thats one thing the dell monitors are ahead on. then again, thats over $1000 i'm spending on just two monitors, which i think is a lot (i think these are more expensive than what i paid for mine back in the day, i recall ~400)

i'm assuming over time i will stop noticing the bezel gap, i just have to avoid pictures/videos of thinner bezel setups so i dont know what i'm missing out on

ps: its so fucking annoying that 1920 x 1080 is the standard, 1920 x 1200 monitors are like double the price :\

Nessala

08-15-2010, 06:26 PM

ps: its so fucking annoying that 1920 x 1080 is the standard, 1920 x 1200 monitors are like double the price :\

It isn't the resolution you are paying double for, it is the fact that most 1920 x 1200 are IPS Panels whereas the 1920 x 1080 are TN panels. IPS is a much better technology, and it is what are used in the Apple monitors as well as the Dell Ultrasharps (which it looks like you are using). TN Panels are what you will find in all of the cheaper monitors, and all of the 21"/22" ones or at least, because when I last looked they didn't make a 21/22" IPS Panel.

I have a Dell 24" 2408WFP Ultrasharp, next to a 20" Dell TN Panel, and the difference in brightness and color quality is huge. Yeah, a good 24" IPS Panel is going to cost you ~$500, but you are getting more than another 120 lines of resolution.

Google the difference between TN and IPS for more information (the one you linked is IPS as well).