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[RahlsSoldier]

What is your current budget?:
Max of $1200, hoping for around $1000.

What part are you looking for? Why do you need it?:
Looking to do moderate gaming.

What parts are in your current computer? Be as specific as possible. Links to Newegg/Tigerdirect are best. If you have a pre-built, include the make and model.
Current computer has no salvageable parts.

How do you intend to use this new part or new computer? What's the heaviest load it's likely to encounter?
It will be used to game. Starcraft II, CIV V and such. Possibly some FPSs.

If you live anywhere other than the United States, please indicate your country.
Canada

Currently, I'm looking at this through Newegg.ca
Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80605I5760 - $214.99
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 & SATA 6 Gb/s - $184.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL - $179.99
Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate - $9.99
SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - $144.99
RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WBP Black 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case With 500W Power Supply - $80.99
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM - $21.99
(WD1002FAEX) (1TB) (64MB) (7200RPM) (SERIAL ATA III) (BLACK) - $77.95

[Fiel]

Monitor? Power Supply? Keyboard? Mouse? OS?

You're going to be cutting it awfully close.

[RahlsSoldier]

The power supply comes with the case and is 500W. The Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse and OS are already owned.

[Fiel]

Ah, so then you do have salvageable parts. When you say, "No salvageable parts", that implies that nothing from your previous computer can be ported.

Looks like you're going to be doing some overclocking, so you may want to consider an aftermarket cooler.

But now you're going to need to make a choice. You can either drop down the motherboard a bit and get a wonderful AMD 6870 for $239 (which almost doubles the performance) or you can emphasize your processor and go for aftermarket cooling. If you're going to be doing gaming, I suggest going with a lesser motherboard and leaping for the 6870. The i5 is more than capable at stock speeds, and you'll have decent overclocking capability with any motherboard you get in that price range.

Also, I'd recommend against getting the power supply with the case. Usually these combo deals cut as much as they can from the power supply leading to cheap, but bad power. What's your previous case like? Is that salvageable? If so, use that case, drop the power supply/case combo deal from your order, and get a dedicated power supply. You'll thank me later when your PSU doesn't blow out.

Having the extra $200 will mean you can do both - get the upgraded video card and the aftermarket cooler and get a dedicated case + PSU. I'd also recommend going up to the $1200, even if that means you have to save for a few more weeks.

[RahlsSoldier]

When I said that, I meant it. A tv is being hooked up as a monitor, the keyboard and mouse are being appropriated from work. The OS is also from work.

But thank you Paul. I'm looking at grabbing the same case without the power supply. What would recommend as far as wattages go to power this computer?

[rayhovite]

calculate all the wattage you would need with each component, and add 50 watts as a buffer

[KajitiSouls]

Alright, so I stand at a crossroad, continuing from my "Computer Shopping List" thread...

How do you intend to use this new part or new computer? What's the heaviest load it's likely to encounter?

Possible heavy load uses:
--Extractions (lololol) or projecteuler.net stuff
--Fraps (testing purposes only, as expectations, but basic full-time use would be nice)
--3D animation and rendering
--Games like Starcraft, Starcraft 2 (norly?), League of Legends, MARDEK 3 (a flash game that really lags on my laptop), Portal 2, etc...

Graphics card will be salvaged from my brother's computer, which is a GeForce 7900 GS, coincidentally the absolute minimum for Civilization V.
There's a salvageable LCD monitor, but I might have to get a new one soon due to how crappy it is.
USB mouse will be salvaged.



Here's the computer package I've assembled from newegg.com:

Hardware	Model	Price
Motherboard	ASUS M4A79XTD	$108.99
Processor	AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana	$74.99
RAM	WINTEC AMPX 4GB (2 x 2GB)	$67.99
Power Supply Unit	SILVERSTONE ST45SF 450W SFX12V	$79.99
Case	Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case	$49.99
Hard Disc Drive	Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS	$64.99
DVD Burner	Lite-On iHAS-324-98	$21.99
	Subtotal	$468.93
	Shipping	$14.97
	Rebates	-$15.00
	Total	$468.90

Speakers and keyboard were not included.



Here's the computer from cyberpowerpc.com:

* CASE: Raidmax Typhoon Gaming Mid-Tower Case with See-Thur Side Panel
* COOLING: XtremeGear Ultra Triple Heatpipes Cool Copper Heatsink CPU Cooling Fan
* CPU: AMD Athlon™II X4 635 Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
* HDD: 750GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Hard Drive)
* KEYBOARD: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB Keyboard
* MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3/1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
* MOTHERBOARD: GigaByte GA-870A-UD3 AMD 870/SB850 chipset support DDR3 Ultra Durable™3 Socket AM3 ATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 Audio, GBLAN, Support 6-core CPU, CPU Auto Unlocker, USB3.0, SATA-III, ON/OFF Charge for IPod, RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1, & 3 PCI
* PSU: 500 Watts - Sigma SP-500AB ESP 80 Plus Power Supply
* SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
* VIDEO: None, or Onboard ATI Radeon 2100 based Integrated Graphics

NOTE: The setup was made from customizing a Mega Special II AMD desktop. Since my relative owns the company, he's willing to sell it for a lower price than the website quotes, which is $507 subtotal.

Costs: $455 + $0 (shipping) - $10? (rebate) = $445

Keyboard IS included.
Speakers not included.



My own thoughts:

The newegg build has pretty much everything that I want for a budget build, including a known reliable PSU, and fairly solid reviews on most everything else. Just about the only thing I'm worried about is not having the thermal paste and SATA cables, and possibly screwing up the actual build process (but I'm a good handyman with my brothers for backup, so this is unlikely).

The cyberpowerpc build is rather limited, in that there was no middle ground for CPU choices (it was either the bad dual-cores or the "overkill" quad-cores), limited selections in general, and I wasn't able to get a good grasp of the overall reliability of the parts. On the other hand, the computer will come pre-assembled (minus the GPU) and I pretty much only have to worry about shipping disasters. Oh, and installing the OS >_>



So I guess you know the big question: WHICH COMPY SHOULD I GET!?!?!?

[Fiel]

cyberpower, hands down.

The processor is better, the motherboard supports SATA III and USB 3.0 which leaves room for the future. It also comes ready to use out of the box - preassembled. More storage space, better memory... Is there a way in which this build is worse than yours? I can only think of one - no dvd drive?

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-2010/compare,2429.html?prod[4447]=on&prod[4454]=on

[KajitiSouls]

How is it worse? Call me paranoid, but my biggest fear is that the PSU will crap out on me much earlier than expected. At least there's a 3 year warranty for the whole thing xD Also, case has less ventilation by a lot iirc. Other than that, no complaints. (yes it does have a DVD drive, forgot to mention that) Good points on the SATA3 and USB3 =)

Storage space above 500 GB is just lol to me, and may probably never get used (my laptop of 2 years has only wasted ~70 GB so far). Actually, I would prefer an HD with fewer platters, but there's no great way of knowing that stuff...

About that link you gave me... it basically told me that the X3 445 was better than the X4 635 for my purposes (unless "encryption" includes video compression, which probably won't happen enough to be of significant effect) And the system power idle value for the X4 635 makes no sense. Explanation pl0x!

[OB3LISK]

F3 I think you know my story Fiel. My old desktop is beyond the level of repair I can give it so I got rid of it.

So my parents got me a new desktop and it's W7. The specs are good, like it's 4 GB RAM 64 bits 750 GB HD RAM. Buttt.

He said to look at the Graphics Card to see if it's good. Is "ATI Radion HD 4200 Integrated Graphics" good? (I read that straight off the desktop on the box, I didn't open it yet.)

Edit: Uhm also do you think it can dual user so I can run multiple MS's on it? I heard 64 bit was the only thing that determines it but I'm not sure.

[Fiel]

Well, it depends on what you're doing with it. As far as graphics goes, that's the low of the low. But if you're not going to be doing much with it - just MS, you don't need to spend too much. Run the game once to see how it runs, if it doesn't run fine, then let's talk about upgrading the PC.

When you say "dual user", do you mean having Windows 7 and XP installed at the same time? If so, that is very possible, but it will likely require you to reinstall Windows 7 as you have to monkey with the partitions. Make abso-lutely sure that it comes with a recovery disk. If the PC requires you to make your own recovery disk, create one. Make sure it's the first thing you do. Then save that CD and put it in a place where you won't forget it. I can't tell you how many of my clients got screwed over royally because they didn't have the recovery disk.

[OB3LISK]

Mmmmmmm okay then I will test it out and determine if I really need to install XP.

Thank you incredibly for the help you gave me so far, by the way.

[Derosis]

What is your current budget?:
$500-1000 (Try not to go into 800+ only if necessary)

What part are you looking for? Why do you need it?:
Not high end Gaming but atleast Crysis on low/Mid on 1920x1080 *Or lower, give reso.*

What parts are in your current computer? Be as specific as possible. Links to Newegg/Tigerdirect are best. If you have a pre-built, include the make and model.
26 in. Sanyo TV w/ 2 HDMI + 1 VGA

How do you intend to use this new part or new computer? What's the heaviest load it's likely to encounter?
Fallout 3/NewVegas, SC2, Maple, DFO, STEAM GAMES

If you live anywhere other than the United States, please indicate your country.
USA-Mississippi

[ickarumba1]

What is your current budget?:
$700-$1000 USD

What part are you looking for? Why do you need it?:

I'm looking for a nice gaming rig.

I'd like to get:
Intel Core i7 860 with a possible OC
AMD Radeon 5770

I can't seem to find a reasonable mobo. It doesn't need to be the best, as I won't be upgrading the computer in a few years.
I also need help in finding a PSU, case, and a cooler if the case doesn't provide enough cooling.

I already have a windows 7 disk. I have all the peripherals I need. All I need now is a computer.

What parts are in your current computer? Be as specific as possible. Links to Newegg/Tigerdirect are best. If you have a pre-built, include the make and model.

Too old to salvage, literally.
I got this 7 years ago:
Intel Pentium 4 @ 1.7GHz
NVidia Geforce4 MX 440
Old-ass mobo
Old-ass case (not a tower case)
PSU is 400W (not enough for a gaming rig)

How do you intend to use this new part or new computer? What's the heaviest load it's likely to encounter?
Heaviest load would be 3D gaming on high graphics.

If you live anywhere other than the United States, please indicate your country.
New Zealand.

[rayhovite]

You're better off with at least an HD 6850.......fixes lots of tesselation problems, and it supports Eyefinity and MLAA. Well, so do the 5xxx line for MLAA, but through the community.

Don't upgrade this week. Black Friday is coming up. You will get your money's worth then. Usually you can find some good CPU + mobo deals, even online. Keep an eye out.

Any dual heat pipe cooler will be more than enough for most of today's quad core and up processors. Think you can set up a liquid cooling rig, though?

As for power supply, Corsair's gaming power supplies should be more than enough for your needs. If you have the budget...

Corsair HX750W Power Supply

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/corsair_hx750w/

And for your case:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/27...se-flow-gaming

[ickarumba1]

I don't live in America. Black Friday sales don't exist here. I'm also not gonna pay $200 for shipping from america.
6850 is double the price compared to 5770 here.
The PSU is much to expensive.
As for the case. The cheapest reasonable one is fine.

[KajitiSouls]

Question about monitors:

So when I scanned and uploaded a few of my pencil sketches onto computers and the interwebs, I pay great attention to the quality (or more technically, the intensity and/or gamma). For most monitors, the image in my siggy looks like the original, where the centerpiece has the most darkness while everything else is kinda like soft fill.

However, when I'm looking at certain monitors in college, the whole image is washed out. Tinkering with the monitor's settings don't really help. You can hardly see the foliage of the tree.

So when you're looking at monitor specs, what should you look out for that will tell you if the display will have issues of being too light or too dark? (And yes, looking at reviews is always an option.)

[ickarumba1]

Question about monitors:

So when I scanned and uploaded a few of my pencil sketches onto computers and the interwebs, I pay great attention to the quality (or more technically, the intensity and/or gamma). For most monitors, the image in my siggy looks like the original, where the centerpiece has the most darkness while everything else is kinda like soft fill.

However, when I'm looking at certain monitors in college, the whole image is washed out. Tinkering with the monitor's settings don't really help. You can hardly see the foliage of the tree.

So when you're looking at monitor specs, what should you look out for that will tell you if the display will have issues of being too light or too dark? (And yes, looking at reviews is always an option.)

With monitors you have the DCR (dynamic contrast ratio). When this is higher, you'll see faint dark colours easier. On my monitor it's currently 20 million to 1, so anything that is dark will show up. (I can clearly see your sig right now)
Having an HD monitor helps as well.
My monitor has IPS (in plane sight). IPS is an LCD monitor-only technology. This allows you to see the images on the screen from any angle, without the glare of sunlight bouncing off it.

When looking at reviews, note that what they say about the images from the monitor are highly subjective, as the images on new monitors these days are very similar in quality.

[Derosis]

Can I get any help?

[rayhovite]

Can I get any help?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.514089

and then... order either a 6850 or 6870 or a GTX 260 1GB


Personally I'd blow the rest on an HD 5970 when it comes out. =D