Muzman on 25/8/2011 at 05:53
Oh geez the creaking and metal-on-ceramic scraping of crushing into place a new Intel chip was a real step back in time. A nerve wracking one at that.
The delicate clipping in of an AMD seems thoroughly futuristic now. Their ads should show carefully manicured 1950s housewives doing the assembly.
Raymond Luxury Yacht on 26/8/2011 at 02:56
So I think I have convinced the IT guy at work to come over and give me a hand, if needed, in exchange for some homebrewing guidance.
Now I must decide on a couple of things - which motherboard will be ideal, and a video card. I have been trying to decide whether to get a GTS 450, or upgrade to the GTX 460, or Radeon 6850. In my case, anything will be a major upgrade (P4, GeForce 6800), so I am convinced that a GTS 450 will be so much of an improvement that a GTX 460 will be wasted, just like giving the $100 bottle of wine to the guy who's used to spending under 20 bucks. The $50 bottle will be such an improvement, the nuances of the more expensive/higher quality will be lost. That said, I am also interested in future-proofing (read: not do this again for a loooong time, if ever), so I want to at least be sure that the mother board I choose will be fine for me, should I decide to upgrade. And, honestly, the only reason I am looking at a new rig is the new Deus Ex game, and the fact that nothing new has been able to run on my system for two or three years now (I also wanna get GTA IV).
So am I correct in looking at the chipsets on a motherboard and assuming that nForce 7025 will run an Nvidia card better than a radeon, and, should I decide on radeon, I need to get a board with the ATX, or whatever it is? I found an Asus M4N68T for about 50 bucks, and it has the Nforce 7025, so I was thinking that would run my GTS 450, possibly the GTX 460 (?). I also noticed that, as the number go up, so does the price. So I would like to get the beast board that will run whatever card I get. If it costs 80 or 90 bucks, it'll be worth it to not have to mess around again.
Finally, what are good names for PSUs? I know of Cooler Master, and found the 80Plus GX450, which seems to be enough (though if I go with the 6850 or GTX 460 I was wondering if it still would be?), but I think I'd feel more secure with 500W. Is Antec a good brand?
Matthew on 26/8/2011 at 09:10
Antec, Cooler Master, PC Power and Cooling (who I think are now part of OCZ) are all good names.
Ostriig on 26/8/2011 at 12:47
Ray, I'd suggest you have a gander over these (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134968&p=2070789&viewfull=1#post2070789) two (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134968&p=2070937&viewfull=1#post2070937) posts I made for Dia when she was asking about getting a new PC. Bear in mind that the listings I've given there are for a shop-built configuration, so I only had their options to go on, but I think you might find it a good starting point to see what I suggested and why. With you building the rig yourself you'll be able to get better use of your budget and should be able to squeeze a lot more out of it, I'd suggest having a read over that stuff, scoping out a set of parts off Amazon and posting it to see if we can offer any other advice.
Don't worry about how the motherboard chipset plays with the video card, it's largely irrelevant these days. The main thing with motherboards is expandability options. For the video card, I'd see if I can fit in a Radeon 6950 in there, if not, the 6870. Here's a (
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/) listing from PassMark with how GPUs compare to one another these days (check High End, anything else is useless to you). As a general thing, you want the absolute best Bang you go Intel and nVidia, you want best Bang For Buck, you can't beat AMD and ATI.
You build a strong system today, it will carry well for, say, three years from now. After that you may well be able to stretch if out for gaming purposes for another two years, even three if you're very lucky. But from then on all bets are off. There's not much you can do about it, it's just the way tech moves.
Quote Posted by Matthew
Antec, Cooler Master, PC Power and Cooling (who I think are now part of OCZ) are all good names.
I'd add Corsair to that list too. And I don't know how OCZ do with PSUs, but I definitely wouldn't buy their RAM.
Matthew on 26/8/2011 at 13:29
Well, when they were PCP&C they had a fantastic rep, so hopefully that carries on now that they are part of OCZ. I have one of their previous models myself, excellent wee unit.
Muzman on 26/8/2011 at 23:14
Here's a couple of articles on the subject of PSUs from a while ago, just for added edification.
(
http://www.dansdata.com/io109.htm)
(
http://www.dansdata.com/gz086.htm)
I had terrible trouble with a couple of supplied "500w" PSUs a couple of years ago. I've gone with Corsairs ever since (It's actually almost worth it for the really nice neat and sturdy cabling you get with proper brands)
Raymond Luxury Yacht on 27/8/2011 at 02:03
Ostriig, your posts to Dia were most helpful. I am pleased that I actually had the same setup you gave her, save for the motherboard. I am stillon the fence whether to to Nvidia or radeon, having had Intel/Nvidia rigs for 10+ years. But I just can't spen over $200 for an i5 processor, when there are quad core Phenom II processors for half that. As for the motherboard, the Asus ones you suggested were a little more than I was looking to spend, but I found the M4A88TD-V for 90 bucks on sale after rebate. So that's even better than the M4A87 I was looking at. I am trying to figure out what all the number mean, but as with everything else computer-wise, higher numbers seem to mean better/faster/more powerful; it's just figuring out if the extra price is worth it.
that said, I also got thinking about a new rig, because of her comment that the new OS doesn't play nice with old games, and I will not get a computer that can't/won't run Deus Ex or NOLF or Doom 3. I will assume that they can run the FEAR games, and the half Lifes, but if that's the case I want to figure out how to keep my present comp. running smoothly for good. Obviously I'll have to replace the hard drive. This system is over 7 years old, all original equipment except for the PSU, so I think when it goes it'll go big. therefore, i want to be sure I can run my old stuff. My wife's comp runs Vista, but it's a laptop and gaming on it sucks. I'm not a hardcore gamer (I might play 4 or 5 hrs/week, sometimes that in a night), so a decent mid-range card will do me just fine. I was looking online and found a forum where several people discussed the GTX 460 and overclocking it from 763MHz to over 850, which was a steady level. if I knew how to do it, I might consider that card, if it'd make a difference. i got the impression that radeons don't OC as well, but maybe it's just that GTX 460s are just much better/stable. I still wonder if the GTS 450 will be sufficient for my purposes (FEAR 3, DX 3 Alice)...?
Raymond Luxury Yacht on 27/8/2011 at 03:02
Muzman - great articles. However, I must mention this - the writer staes that a $50 PSU claiming 500W is most likely crap, but I have been able to find several Coolermaster and Antec 80PLUS certified PSUs for around that price.
I'm not complaining, just a little confused, since these are supposed to be reputable brands....:confused:
Ostriig, I forgot to list my parts...
Phenom II 965
Asus M4A87TD EVO (or M4A88TD-V if I can get it for the sale/rebate price of 90 bucks..)
GTX 460 Superclocked
Antec 500W Green 80PLUS bronze (or CoolerMaster GX450 80PLUS Bronze, if it's enough)
CoolerMaster 430 case
8GB Kingston HyperX RAM
Western Digital 500GB SATA II HD
Of course, if it holds true that Windows 7 won't run my old games, I think I'll downgrade to a GTS 450 and the ASUS M4A68 Micro ATX board, perhaps 4GB of RAM, to make it less of a kick in the wallet.
Muzman on 27/8/2011 at 05:43
Ahh. Yeah, the article is a little out of date I think, despite being updated once or twice. Also it's an Australian article and concerning Australian prices. Currency values and so on have meant prices have changed pretty dramatically in certain areas in the last 12 months. Makes it a bit confusing. Sorry 'bout that.
Raymond Luxury Yacht on 27/8/2011 at 20:39
No worries Muzman - thanx for the links.
I have found SATA III hard drives that for some reason cost less than the STA II drives - same size, same company, same everything but SATA. Does it matter if I use a SATA III drive on a SATA II board? I assume it will work, just not be used to its full potential.
