New Computer vs. Upgrade Question

[dubb93]

So I'm at a bit of a crossroads with my current computer. I use it for gaming and it seems to have come close to the point of no longer serving its purpose. The original reason for the computer was to run WoW(BC at the time) in raids with full detail at a very good frame rate. It managed to nail this. Nowadays though it seems to have issues with some games(Civ V rings a big bell here) keeping a decent framerate. I'm looking for advice for people in the know about if I should upgrade my current PC or scrap it for a new one. I have a 23 inch HP monitor(S2331) that will be used regardless of the decision.

The PC I have now runs Vista(thinking Windows 7 upgrade here if I go that route), 6GB of Ram(I'm fairly sure this is still good today), and an Intel Core 2 Quad 2.33 Ghz processor(is this still relevant today?). The graphics card is a Nvidia Gefore 9800 GTX(this is an area I think would need an upgrade). This computer was a Dell(a higher end one with an aftermarket graphics card), so motherboard and the like will be whatever Dell put into it. If there is a way to check this let me know and I will do it.

So there it is. If I go the upgrade route I would add Windows 7 and a new higher end graphics card. Any other ideas would be great. Like I said I'm looking at this as strictly a gaming computer. If it can accomplish that it can and will accomplish anything thing else I want/need it to. I'm also looking to run games at pretty high settings with good FPS rather just settling for being able to run it. Advice is appreciated as it is quickly becoming the season for spending money. :D

[Atocep]

So I'm at a bit of a crossroads with my current computer. I use it for gaming and it seems to have come close to the point of no longer serving its purpose. The original reason for the computer was to run WoW(BC at the time) in raids with full detail at a very good frame rate. It managed to nail this. Nowadays though it seems to have issues with some games(Civ V rings a big bell here) keeping a decent framerate. I'm looking for advice for people in the know about if I should upgrade my current PC or scrap it for a new one. I have a 23 inch HP monitor(S2331) that will be used regardless of the decision.

The PC I have now runs Vista(thinking Windows 7 upgrade here if I go that route), 6GB of Ram(I'm fairly sure this is still good today), and an Intel Core 2 Quad 2.33 Ghz processor(is this still relevant today?). The graphics card is a Nvidia Gefore 9800 GTX(this is an area I think would need an upgrade). This computer was a Dell(a higher end one with an aftermarket graphics card), so motherboard and the like will be whatever Dell put into it. If there is a way to check this let me know and I will do it.

So there it is. If I go the upgrade route I would add Windows 7 and a new higher end graphics card. Any other ideas would be great. Like I said I'm looking at this as strictly a gaming computer. If it can accomplish that it can and will accomplish anything thing else I want/need it to. I'm also looking to run games at pretty high settings with good FPS rather just settling for being able to run it. Advice is appreciated as it is quickly becoming the season for spending money. :D

If you're wanting to run current games at a solid framerate and fairly high settings you'll likely need a new one. Your system is pretty dated for current games. I'm seeing games with recommended video cards in the nvdia 200 series or higher.

The core 2 quad series of processors were actually two dual core processors on a single chip instead of 4 processors and the current "true" quad cores just blow the core 2 series away. Upgrading the processor would mean you'd need a new motherboard.

You can find some solid deals on individual parts right now if you're brave enough to build. It's not too difficult to do to be perfectly honest and you literally save hundreds of dollars.

If I were building or buying something right now to build current games and not break the bank I'd look at the intel i5 2500k (the i7 series is incredible, but they can be on the pricey side) and the 500 series of cards from Nvidia. Nvidia's newest line of cards is phenomenal.

[gstelmack]

It actually looks like a reasonable system. A bit dated, but the quad core + 9800 GTX is nothing to sneeze at. You might start with a Win7 64-bit upgrade to get Vista off there and see if things improve, you might be slow due to software cruft or possibly just Vista itself.

If not, then start with a new case / power supply / motherboard / CPU, check your RAM to see if it will just work on the new motherboard, or even make sure you buy a motherboard / CPU it will work in. That latter will depend on DIMMs, size, etc, pointing you to either a dual-channel or triple-channel motherboard (is that 6GB done as 3 2GB DIMMs, or a pair of 2s and a pair of 1s?).

Get a Core i7, either one of the 9xx, or a newer Sandy Bridge 2xxx depending on the RAM question.

You can worry about video card and other pieces later.

[PilotMan]

I wish, I wish! That even my best system could even come close to what you have right now.

[dubb93]

If not, then start with a new case / power supply / motherboard / CPU, check your RAM to see if it will just work on the new motherboard, or even make sure you buy a motherboard / CPU it will work in. That latter will depend on DIMMs, size, etc, pointing you to either a dual-channel or triple-channel motherboard (is that 6GB done as 3 2GB DIMMs, or a pair of 2s and a pair of 1s?).

I just looked inside and I saw 4 sticks of RAM which would to me mean that it is 2 twos and 2 1's.

I'm really a noob when it comes to building. I'm not scared by it, but I fear I lack the experience and a bit of knowledge base so further help would be great.

I was also under the impression that the processor would be welded in, but upon looking myself this does not appear to be the case. It looks to me like it is held firmly in place by four Phillips-head screws. Not sure if this changes anything as far as being able to save the tower goes or not.

EDIT: Thanks for the quick reply too Atocep, but if there is a chance I can just upgrade this to make it more powerful and that would be the cheaper route to boot I would be more interested in taking that route.

[Edward64]

I actually think your Core 2 Quad is still a perfectly good CPU and wouldn't think it was the CPU as your bottleneck. 6 GB Ram is good.

My thoughts are either HD is full, internet access, or GPU.

If HD is full, delete files. If internet is slow, it may be your provider (e.g. I use comcast and every Sunday it slows down, I suspect for maintenance). Buy a new graphics card, and if your system is still slow, then think about investing in a new unit.

Specifically for Civ 5 there animation stuff that I always turn off. It does seem to be a hog.

Be sure to checkout newegg.com. They have computer kits/bundles you can buy.

[Atocep]

EDIT: Thanks for the quick reply too Atocep, but if there is a chance I can just upgrade this to make it more powerful and that would be the cheaper route to boot I would be more interested in taking that route.

It's going to depend on what games you're looking to run at a good framerate and with fairly high settings. If we're talking Skyrim, Battlefield 3, and Rage then what you need is different than running Civ 5.

[dubb93]

I actually think your Core 2 Quad is still a perfectly good CPU and wouldn't think it was the CPU as your bottleneck. 6 GB Ram is good.

My thoughts are either HD is full, internet access, or GPU.

If HD is full, delete files. If internet is slow, it may be your provider (e.g. I use comcast and every Sunday it slows down, I suspect for maintenance). Buy a new graphics card, and if your system is still slow, then think about investing in a new unit.

Specifically for Civ 5 there animation stuff that I always turn off. It does seem to be a hog.

Be sure to checkout newegg.com. They have computer kits/bundles you can buy.

My HD isn't full. I have 406 GB free. I use Comcast. I'm not thinking that is the issue b/c I experience the slowdown even with offline games. And actually the main online game I play right now, Battlefield BC 2, runs perfect online lag free(and at high detail). Compare that to Sims 3 and Civ 5 which chug along like crap offline without turning stuff WAY down.

I assume by GPU you mean the graphics card. That was my original thought as well combined with my operation system.

It's going to depend on what games you're looking to run at a good framerate and with fairly high settings. If we're talking Skyrim, Battlefield 3, and Rage then what you need is different than running Civ 5.

Skyrim, Battlefield 3, and The Witcher 2 would be the most immediate planned retail purchases for me this holiday season for reference.

[Atocep]

Skyrim, Battlefield 3, and The Witcher 2 would be the most immediate planned retail purchases for me this holiday season for reference.

To be honest the core 2 quad won't cut it if you're looking for fairly good settings in those games. If you're wanting to play Civ 5 well then an upgrade or 2 would be fine, but I just don't see it happening with those games. A friend of mine was running a system similar and could only play Witcher 2 on low settings and even then it was fairly choppy (he was running an equivalent AMD quad with a gtx 460 and the CPU was a huge bottleneck). The recommended video card for Witcher 2 is a gtx 260 and both Skyrim and BF 3 will probably exceed that.

There are more options now when you build than there used to be. It's why you're able to build a fairly solid system for far cheaper than you used to be able to and why it's an even better option now than buying from Dell, ect. The top AMD X4 processors are in the $150 range and a good X6 processor is in the $180 range. You can get a really good video card now for $200 or less (I believe Nvidia's 560 TI is in the $220 range and is considered competitive with the $300+ ATI cards). Intel processors are a little better but you pay for that premium.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

[ozias]

You didn't mention what you wanted to spend, so here is a quick list for some items.

CPU
Intel I5 2500K $220, if you prefer the locked chip, you can save $10.
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)

A P67 chipset mobo to go with the CPU will run you $100-350, depending on what you want on the mobo. I think you can get one that would do want you wanted in the 100-150 range. As an example...

Asus P8P67 mobo, 6gb sata and 3.0 usb, DDR3 2200(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/1866(O.C.)/2133/1866/1600/1333/1066 Mhz frequency. So, you have memory options. 2 PCI-e slots, in case you wanted to run dual video cards in the future. $130
Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131706)

8 Gigs of DDR3 1600(2 4gig sticks) will run around $50, unless you wanted top end stuff, then it can be had for around $150.

Video cards are another beast altogether, you can spend a lot, or a little here. I've been a fan of EVGA cards, as they will "buy back" http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=240 your card if you upgrade it within 90 days. So if your funds don't allow it now, you can buy a lesser card, save some money for three months, and then upgrade the card thru them. The GTX 560's can be had for under $250, some have 1 gig of memory, and some have 2 gigs, the price difference is probably not worth worrying about, and I'd say go with a 2 gig card.

This one comes in with 2gig, and is $245, but drops to $220 with the rebate.
Newegg.com - EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P3-1469-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130662)

If you wanted to go higher, you can get some of the GTX 570's for $300-320 after rebate.
Newegg.com - EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1573-AR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130622)

There is even a Dual 460, which is faster than the GTX 580(PC Perspective review)
EVGA GeForce GTX 460 2WIN 2GB dual-GPU Graphics Card Review | PC Perspective (http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/EVGA-GeForce-GTX-460-2WIN-2GB-dual-GPU-Graphics-Card-Review)

$320 after rebate.
Newegg.com - EVGA 02G-P3-1387-KR GeForce GTX 460 2Win (Fermi) 2GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130626)

So you need to figure out what your budget is, and adjust accordingly.

[dubb93]

So you need to figure out what your budget is, and adjust accordingly.

My budget would be $1000 give or take a few. Obviously would take the cheaper route on items if the difference is negligible for an upgrade.

[Atocep]

My budget would be $1000 give or take a few. Obviously would take the cheaper route on items if the difference is negligible for an upgrade.

Assuming you have DDR2 ram right now that's a place to save. You can easily find a DDR2 board that will run any processor and video card and the difference between DDR2 and DDR3 Ram is negligible. If you're not interested in SLI I'd try to find a board that doesn't have it so that you're not paying for something you don't plan on using.

Do you know the wattage on your power supply?


An AMD X4/X6 processor (or the i5 2500 if you want to spend a bit more) with Motherboard and a 560 TI video card would keep you comfortably under $500. You should be able to keep your RAM. That leaves Power Supply (if needed) and Case. That's a system that can run anything for well under $1k.

It's going to come down to what exactly you're wanting to do. For example, you could spend more on a motherboard which would probably require you to get DDR3 ram, but it would likely give you more upgrade options in the future. $1k is plenty to spend on a computer though and if building your own will get you a much better system and better upgrade paths and it will be cheaper. This is coming from someone who built his first computer 3 years ago. It's not hard at all and once you do it the first time you won't want to do it any other way.

[stevew]

I have a newish computer with an i3-2100 in it. What kind of performance boost would happen with a move to the i7 or i5 sandy bridge chips? This machine runs well as it is, but if I could swap out the chip and sell the i3 I'd think about doing it.

[Scoobz0202]

My budget would be $1000 give or take a few. Obviously would take the cheaper route on items if the difference is negligible for an upgrade.

$1000 without buying a monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc you could build a very very nice rig. I don't even think you would need to spend that, but if you said, hey, I want to spend a grand on a pc, then boy will you have fun.

[Atocep]

I have a newish computer with an i3-2100 in it. What kind of performance boost would happen with a move to the i7 or i5 sandy bridge chips? This machine runs well as it is, but if I could swap out the chip and sell the i3 I'd think about doing it.

The difference between an i5 2500 and an i3 2100 is massive. For example, the passmark score is more than double. Price to performance the 2500 is arguably the best CPU you can get right now.

[Scoobz0202]

I have a newish computer with an i3-2100 in it. What kind of performance boost would happen with a move to the i7 or i5 sandy bridge chips? This machine runs well as it is, but if I could swap out the chip and sell the i3 I'd think about doing it.

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)

This is what I put in my recent rig and it is outstanding.

[sovereignstar v2]

What's your BC2 tag/nickname? I bumped the BC2 thread long time ago, but no one ever responded.

Mine is 'capt ron'

[sovereignstar v2]

I started looking for the latest Battlefield 3 gossip recently and some people seem to be pretty freaked out about what is going to be required system-wise. I think there are going to be 64 player maps and if that's the case, then processor power is going to be pretty significant. If you're going to want to play this game badly, I'd hold off a bit until more details come out about minimum requirements. I got the notion that more info was going to be on the way fairly soon.

[dubb93]

What's your BC2 tag/nickname? I bumped the BC2 thread long time ago, but no one ever responded.

Mine is 'capt ron'

Mine is dubb93. I literally just picked it up during the $5 sale. I played it for ages on the 360 prior.

I started looking for the latest Battlefield 3 gossip recently and some people seem to be pretty freaked out about what is going to be required system-wise. I think there are going to be 64 player maps and if that's the case, then processor power is going to be pretty significant. If you're going to want to play this game badly, I'd hold off a bit until more details come out about minimum requirements. I got the notion that more info was going to be on the way fairly soon.

I can't imagine an i5 or x6 not being able to handle it.

While we are at it, which would you guys recommend with gaming in mind:

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDE00ZFBGRBOX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103913)

Edit: I imagine I will be bumping this thread quite often in the coming weeks/months with what will probably seem like silly questions so bear with me and thanks for everything so far.

[Atocep]

Mine is dubb93. I literally just picked it up during the $5 sale. I played it for ages on the 360 prior.



I can't imagine an i5 or x6 not being able to handle it.

While we are at it, which would you guys recommend with gaming in mind:

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDE00ZFBGRBOX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103913)

Edit: I imagine I will be bumping this thread quite often in the coming weeks/months with what will probably seem like silly questions so bear with me and thanks for everything so far.


The i5 is better for gaming. I'm using an X6 now and would buy an i5 2500k if I were building something today. Right now intel performance is better than AMD. It comes down to whether or not the price difference in their products is worth it and the 2500k gave them something in the $200 range that beats the AMD X6 series.

[Scoobz0202]

Mine is dubb93. I literally just picked it up during the $5 sale. I played it for ages on the 360 prior.



I can't imagine an i5 or x6 not being able to handle it.

While we are at it, which would you guys recommend with gaming in mind:

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDE00ZFBGRBOX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103913)

Edit: I imagine I will be bumping this thread quite often in the coming weeks/months with what will probably seem like silly questions so bear with me and thanks for everything so far.

From the specs that I looked at when I was building my gaming rig a couple months back, the i52500K was the perfect price-to-performance ratio for gaming specifically.

[cartman]

I was also under the impression that the processor would be welded in, but upon looking myself this does not appear to be the case. It looks to me like it is held firmly in place by four Phillips-head screws. Not sure if this changes anything as far as being able to save the tower goes or not.

I didn't see this addressed in any of the other replies, but the CPU is not held in by screws. There is a heatsink attached to the CPU that might be using screws, but the CPU itself is in a ZIF (zero insertion force) socket. There is a small lever that locks the CPU in place. Each of these ZIFs changes a bit for each generation of CPUs, so newer CPUs won't fit in your existing motherboard. This is where you'll see terms like LGA1155 (the new Sandy Bridge CPUs), LGA775 (probably what you have now), etc. Also the other chips that are on your motherboard are only compatible with the CPUs that the board was designed for.

[dubb93]

Just out of curiosity, if I went with my first choice for the following

Motherboard- Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131706)

CPU- Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)

GPU- Newegg.com - EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P3-1469-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130662)

RAM- (Really not sure exactly what would match here but let's say I want to go above 8gb here)

If I go with all of these and they total up to approx $700 is there a way to finish the build under $1000 sans the operation system bc it seems to me with just some quick looking that the power supply, HD, disk drive, case, and cooling for all of that is going to be way over that. FTR I have a 600 GB HD now that is plenty big enough.

Could I salvage my current HD and disk drive?

[Atocep]

Just out of curiosity, if I went with my first choice for the following

Motherboard- Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131706)

CPU- Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)

GPU- Newegg.com - EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P3-1469-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130662)

RAM- (Really not sure exactly what would match here but let's say I want to go above 8gb here)

If I go with all of these and they total up to approx $700 is there a way to finish the build under $1000 sans the operation system bc it seems to me with just some quick looking that the power supply, HD, disk drive, case, and cooling for all of that is going to be way over that. FTR I have a 600 GB HD now that is plenty big enough.

Could I salvage my current HD and disk drive?

HD and disk drive can easily be moved to a new system.

Unless you plan on going SLI down the road you can save a bit on the motherboard. Something like:

Newegg.com - MSI H67MA-E45 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130570)

Personal preference, but I find MSI boards easier to work with than ASUS. Both make great boards though.

That leaves case, PSU, and RAM.

Newegg.com - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021)

Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017)

Newegg.com - Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PG238G1333ELKA (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220596)

The PSU I linked is modular, which means you can add/remove power cables which saves a lot of room in your case.

I believe that puts you at about $790. You should be fine with stock cooling and the Antec 900 has really good air flow. If you wanted to get a different CPU cooler you don't have to spend very much unless you're doing some heavy overclocking. Something like:

Newegg.com - Thermaltake CL-P0075 80mm 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106055)

[dubb93]

So if I save my disk drive and drop down to the above motherboard I could step up to 16 of RAM and grab this HD and still stay under 1000(or something similar, what should I look for in one of these that won't slow my system down). Also I assume my other PC will not require a disk drive to function and could probably be saved as a 2nd computer after I remove the disk drive.

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284)

[sovereignstar v2]

You do not need 16 gigs of RAM. 99% don't even need 8 gigs. It's a diminishing return unless you are editing raw photos and video or doing CAD.

[cartman]

Yeah, there really isn't a need for a floppy drive anymore. The newer motherboards can all boot from a USB key, or failing that you can made a boot CD. Plus BIOSes can all be updated from inside of Windows, one less reason to have to boot into DOS.

[sovereignstar v2]

That drive you linked to above is fine. Anything 7200 RPM is good. The 5400/5800 RPM drives are best for large-capacity storage drives.

[dubb93]

So after some research I think I am pretty close to pulling the trigger and attempting my first build.

Motherboard - Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131706)

I went here so I can run DDR 3 1600 RAM rather than 1333.

RAM - Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445)

See above.

CPU - Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)

GPU - Newegg.com - EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130595)

I saved a little money elsewhere so I am stepping up to the 570.

PSU - Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017)

Is this enough power? Does it have all the connectors I will need?

Hard Drive - Newegg.com - HITACHI Deskstar 7K3000 HDS723015BLA642 (0F12114) 1.5TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145520)

Case - Newegg.com - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021)

I have a DVD/CD drive on my current machine I intend to use on this one. Is there anything I need to look for that would prevent it from being compatible?

Am I missing anything? Anything that won't click? Any reason I won't be happy with something here? I am within cents of budget with this setup. Thanks to everyone for the advice so far.

[Atocep]

Good choices. The superclocked 570 benchmarks at roughly the same level as the 580, which is an amazing card. I bought one a month or so ago as an upgrade and it's impressive.

EVGA is a great company as well. I can't see myself buying a video card that's made by anyone else. The card I had when I built my current computer was a gtx 280 and it went bad after 4 months. I called EVGA and they sent me a new one out. Less than 2 weeks later that one went bad and within a week they had sent me a gtx 285 as a replacement. Their customer service is outstanding.

The Antec 900/1200 series are easy cases to work with and have excellent air flow.

ASUS boards are great, have excellent design, but I'll warn you to make sure you keep the disk. Navigating their website looking for drivers is a pain in the ass. It's like stepping back into 90s on the internet.

Everything should work fine. You'll definitely meet your goals in running BF3, Witcher 2, and Skyrim at high settings.

[weegeebored]

Are you going to overclock? If so, invest in an aftermarket cooler like the Cooler Master Hyper 212+. If you going to a max overclock then you need to look into liquid cooling options.

I would double-check the power requirements for the video card. Some cards need multiple connectors. Yours probably not, but better to check anyway to see if your PS has them. And I would say that 600W is fine unless you are going to add another video card or a massive number of additional storage devices.

Also, you might want to check out a MB with the Z68 chipset instead of a P67. Depending on which one you get you may get better performance/features. It's not like there's anything wrong with the P67s, btw. The Z68 a newer chipset that some people prefer.

[gstelmack]

Are you going to overclock?

The answer to this should always be "no". Unless you THOROUGHLY understand hardware and what you are getting yourself into, and if you do decide to do it stop calling tech support when things start crashing...

[Desnudo]

If you truely want to do an upgrade for gaming, I'd consider adding a solid state drive (SSD) or increasing your HD RPMs. The hard drive is an often overlooked aspect of system performance that can have a huge impact on your experience.

[CleBrownsfan]

I'm toying around the idea of purchasing a powerhouse desktop. I saw this one on Amazon and was wondering if you guys this it's worth the $$$$

iBUYPOWER Gamer Chimera Intel A989XLC (http://www.amazon.com/iBUYPOWER-Gamer-Chimera-A989XLC-Computer/dp/B004L2LAFW/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top)

Product Features and Technical Details
Product Features

* With the improved Windows 7, you get one place to enjoy your photos and music.
* 8GB DDR3 Memory delivers insane system speed to hanle serious ultra-fast frame rate during game play.
* NVIDIA GTX580 1536MB dedicated
* For over 10 Years, iBUYPOWER has provided countless numbers of configurable Gaming Desktops and Notebooks equipped with the latest technology
* Processor: Intel i7 2600K (3.4GHz) Graphics: NVIDIA GTX580 1536MB (HDMI) Hard Disk Drive: 2TB Serial ATA-III Memory: 8GB DDR3-1333

Processor, Memory, and Motherboard

* Processor: 3.4 hertz Intel Core i7
* RAM: 8 GB
* Memory Slots: 2

Hard Drive

* Size: 2000 GB
* Manufacturer: SATA III
* Speed: 7200 rpm

Graphics and Display

* Graphics RAM: 1536 MB

Ports and Connectivity

* USB Ports: 6

Cases and Expandability

* Size (LWH): 24.5 inches, 8.7 inches, 21.3 inches
* Weight: 48 pounds

[dubb93]

Weeger, I'm just not sure that motherboard is in the budget. Also not too sure overclocking is high on my priority list. Most of my components are factory overclocked and I think with my current knowledge base that overclocking would probably end badly.

Onto the HD issue, I'm looking at twice the price to jump to 10000 RPM and well above that to get a SSD drive with any kind of storage space. I also read a newegg article which said that the faster drives will increase the overall computing experience by making things load faster(up to 86% in the case of SSD vs. high end HDs it seems) but for gaming application the difference is zero once everything is loaded. Is there something I'm missing here? Is it basically down to my ability to stand load times or is there something here I don't want to overlook?

[cartman]

The answer to this should always be "no". Unless you THOROUGHLY understand hardware and what you are getting yourself into, and if you do decide to do it stop calling tech support when things start crashing...

The newer ASUS boards do an excellent job of doing automatic overclocking behind the scenes. Long gone are the days of having to go into BIOS and tweak 10 different settings and hope you get a stable boot.

[Scoobz0202]

Weeger, I'm just not sure that motherboard is in the budget. Also not too sure overclocking is high on my priority list. Most of my components are factory overclocked and I think with my current knowledge base that overclocking would probably end badly.

Onto the HD issue, I'm looking at twice the price to jump to 10000 RPM and well above that to get a SSD drive with any kind of storage space. I also read a newegg article which said that the faster drives will increase the overall computing experience by making things load faster(up to 86% in the case of SSD vs. high end HDs it seems) but for gaming application the difference is zero once everything is loaded. Is there something I'm missing here? Is it basically down to my ability to stand load times or is there something here I don't want to overlook?

I ended up with a 64GB SSD drive that I put the OS, Office, and a few other things here and there on. The speed of it is fucking awesome. From the time I hit power, to the time I am opening the browser is so damn fast. Do I think it was worth it? Yes. Would I put it above anything you have right now? Probably not. If you had room, I'd recommend the SSD drive for system and a 1TB for everything else, but it's far from a necessity.

[gstelmack]

The newer ASUS boards do an excellent job of doing automatic overclocking behind the scenes. Long gone are the days of having to go into BIOS and tweak 10 different settings and hope you get a stable boot.

I'm more worried about cooling, etc, plus you need to hope you got a CPU that can actually support those speeds, RAM that will support it, etc. If you know what you're doing, sure, but there are still plenty of folks that crank up clocks, some app or game starts crashing, and they are out there complaining about stability.

[cartman]

I'm more worried about cooling, etc, plus you need to hope you got a CPU that can actually support those speeds, RAM that will support it, etc. If you know what you're doing, sure, but there are still plenty of folks that crank up clocks, some app or game starts crashing, and they are out there complaining about stability.

Except for the cooling, the new ASUS approach takes those other items into account for you. Yes, the cooling definitely has to be addressed, but the new overclocking built into the motherboards is rock solid, without having to try and mix and match different components and hope for the best.

[Atocep]

I'm more worried about cooling, etc, plus you need to hope you got a CPU that can actually support those speeds, RAM that will support it, etc. If you know what you're doing, sure, but there are still plenty of folks that crank up clocks, some app or game starts crashing, and they are out there complaining about stability.

As Cartman said, overclocking is pretty easy now. Motherboards are designed to handle it better and any CPU made with gaming in mind has some overclocking leeway in it. The last two CPUs I've owned I've overclocked more than 10% without touching voltage. I just had to adjust the multiplier.

Intel fans can be iffy, but they've improved. AMD actually has nice fans and heatsinks on the X6 series that keeps my CPU below 40 degrees at full load.

[dubb93]

So today I took my current spare PC mostly apart. This is the one is used prior to my current one. I identified all the parts and took the power supply, graphics card, RAM, floppy disk drive, and DVD drive all out. I made an attempt at the hard drive but it has screws that are unreachable. Seems I would have to disassemble the actual case to get it out. I looked at the processor and identified six screws which appear to hold the motherboard in place but did not actually remove either.

I then put it all back together and it all worked.

I then popped the DVD drive out of my current PC an attempted to put my old DVD drive in. I ran into a problem. My current one hooks up with a blue digital cord(for audio?). My old one only accepts analog. I'm sure there is an easy workaround to this. Can I buy an analog cord and use it? If so where does it hook into the motherboard?

I now feel pretty confident I can do this and am going to be buying my items tonight. Really excited about this.

[Atocep]

I'm toying around the idea of purchasing a powerhouse desktop. I saw this one on Amazon and was wondering if you guys this it's worth the $$$$

iBUYPOWER Gamer Chimera Intel A989XLC (http://www.amazon.com/iBUYPOWER-Gamer-Chimera-A989XLC-Computer/dp/B004L2LAFW/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top)

Product Features and Technical Details
Product Features

* With the improved Windows 7, you get one place to enjoy your photos and music.
* 8GB DDR3 Memory delivers insane system speed to hanle serious ultra-fast frame rate during game play.
* NVIDIA GTX580 1536MB dedicated
* For over 10 Years, iBUYPOWER has provided countless numbers of configurable Gaming Desktops and Notebooks equipped with the latest technology
* Processor: Intel i7 2600K (3.4GHz) Graphics: NVIDIA GTX580 1536MB (HDMI) Hard Disk Drive: 2TB Serial ATA-III Memory: 8GB DDR3-1333

Processor, Memory, and Motherboard

* Processor: 3.4 hertz Intel Core i7
* RAM: 8 GB
* Memory Slots: 2

Hard Drive

* Size: 2000 GB
* Manufacturer: SATA III
* Speed: 7200 rpm

Graphics and Display

* Graphics RAM: 1536 MB

Ports and Connectivity

* USB Ports: 6

Cases and Expandability

* Size (LWH): 24.5 inches, 8.7 inches, 21.3 inches
* Weight: 48 pounds


For gaming I don't think so. The difference between the 2500k and the 2600k is actually pretty small in gaming (I've read between 3% and 6%). So that's $100+ in the build that would be wasted. Also, the GTX 580 is almost exactly the same as a EVGA superclocked 570 but another $100 more.

If you use programs that can make use of the hyperthreading then the extra on the processor could be worth it.

If you're not interested in building and you're looking for something for gaming I'd look for a system with an i5 2500k. The gtx 580 card would be fine since you're not going to find the EVGA card in that scenario. I'm not knocking the 580 at all as it's a fantastic card. It's just that there is a cheaper option available to system builders.

[Atocep]

So today I took my current spare PC mostly apart. This is the one is used prior to my current one. I identified all the parts and took the power supply, graphics card, RAM, floppy disk drive, and DVD drive all out. I made an attempt at the hard drive but it has screws that are unreachable. Seems I would have to disassemble the actual case to get it out. I looked at the processor and identified six screws which appear to hold the motherboard in place but did not actually remove either.

I then put it all back together and it all worked.

I then popped the DVD drive out of my current PC an attempted to put my old DVD drive in. I ran into a problem. My current one hooks up with a blue digital cord(for audio?). My old one only accepts analog. I'm sure there is an easy workaround to this. Can I buy an analog cord and use it? If so where does it hook into the motherboard?

I now feel pretty confident I can do this and am going to be buying my items tonight. Really excited about this.


The first time you drop a CPU into a motherboard is a little nerve-racking, but they're more or less dummy proof now. It's obvious which way it goes and it just drops into place. I've also heard the fan/heatsink that comes with the 2500k is really easy to put on.

I think most people have swapped out RAM and changed a video card before. That's pretty easy.

The HD will screw into it's mounted slot and the SATA cable is easy to spot.

The thing to keep in mind is if you turn on the computer after getting everything together and it doesn't boot up it's not a big deal. 99% of the time it means you missed a power connector somewhere.

There will be power connectors in the case to hook up in order to get power to the front side USB connectors. Don't forget those.

[dubb93]

I'm just getting into this but for 1900 I would expect a massive system, multiple GPU's, 16gb RAM and included monitors. Infect I think my system is VERY compatible to that one. I will tell you total cost when I buy it in a bit.

They both have the same RAM and very comparible CPUs and GPUs. I expect mine to be at the very least 800 cheaper after I factor in operating system so I would say it is a great PC at a pretty poor price.

[weegeebored]

The answer to this should always be "no". Unless you THOROUGHLY understand hardware and what you are getting yourself into, and if you do decide to do it stop calling tech support when things start crashing...The average person should not do it, no. But overclocking isn't hard at all even through the BIOS. My current (nearly four years old) machine is an E6750 which is stock at 2.66 GHz. I did a mild overclock to 3.42 which is about..what?...30% over? Used a Zalman 9700 to keep the temps at < 40C under full load. I could have gotten more but it's very stable and I didn't think I needed to push the limit for a few extra MHz. If the headroom is there (like on a 2500K) why not use it?

It doesn't matter anyway as dubb said that he wasn't going to OC, but for those who might be interested in doing so it's pretty straightforward.

[dubb93]

Everything should arrive tomorrow. Will begin the build on Wednesday. Hopefully everything goes well. I'm pretty excited about the whole process.

[Scoobz0202]

Yea. It was pretty damn fun. It was fucking awesome checking out all the boxes and stuff when they arrived. Worse part (outside of the cpu fan being a pain and having some trouble figuring out what plugged in where) was the absolute disaster of a mess I made hooking it up. I remember when I finished I just had shit EVERYWHERE

[CleBrownsfan]

I'm definitely a noob when it comes to upgrading computers. What factors do I need to be looking at if I want to upgrade my computer? I have a very similar build of dubb's old rig (Intel Core 2 Quad 2.33 Ghz processor with a graphics card is a Nvidia Gefore 980). What would happen if I just got a Gforce 5xx and a new power supply for the computer I have now? Does the processor, RAM, ect really make that much of a difference?


Sorry if I sound stupid - I'm just really ignorant when it comes to upgrades...

[Atocep]

I'm definitely a noob when it comes to upgrading computers. What factors do I need to be looking at if I want to upgrade my computer? I have a very similar build of dubb's old rig (Intel Core 2 Quad 2.33 Ghz processor with a graphics card is a Nvidia Gefore 980). What would happen if I just got a Gforce 5xx and a new power supply for the computer I have now? Does the processor, RAM, ect really make that much of a difference?


Sorry if I sound stupid - I'm just really ignorant when it comes to upgrades...

Processors make a huge difference. Even more than in the past as developers are trying to offload as much as possible onto the processor to free up the GPU.

Ram speed doesn't make much of difference at all. The difference, for example, of DDR2 and DDR3 (the newer memory standard) when it comes to gaming is very, very small. You typically just want to get RAM that suits the motherboard you're getting. Buying DDR3 RAM right now won't give you much performance, but it would likely make upgrading your motherboard easier in the future since DDR2 is being phased out.

Amount of RAM makes a large difference as well. However, a 32 bit operating system can only use roughly 3.2gb of RAM so any amount over that is wasted. That's why you're seeing the 64 bit versions of windows becoming the standard (a 64 bit OS could use up to 128gb of RAM). The typical high end gamer is using 8gb of RAM with Windows 7 64 bit.

You don't need to spend a lot on a motherboard unless you plan on doing some serious overclocking or you want a SLI setup. Otherwise, it's an area you can save a little on. The key is to get a good brand and a board that suits your needs.

You generally want to get a processor that can match the performance of your video card. There's no sense in having a GTX 580 with a core 2 quad processor. Your processor would just create a bottleneck that would waste most of the power from your graphics card.

Feel free to ask anything you have a question about.

[Desnudo]

Weeger, I'm just not sure that motherboard is in the budget. Also not too sure overclocking is high on my priority list. Most of my components are factory overclocked and I think with my current knowledge base that overclocking would probably end badly.

Onto the HD issue, I'm looking at twice the price to jump to 10000 RPM and well above that to get a SSD drive with any kind of storage space. I also read a newegg article which said that the faster drives will increase the overall computing experience by making things load faster(up to 86% in the case of SSD vs. high end HDs it seems) but for gaming application the difference is zero once everything is loaded. Is there something I'm missing here? Is it basically down to my ability to stand load times or is there something here I don't want to overlook?

It depends on the games you like to play. You would see a noticable difference if you were playing something with a large environment that doesn't preload into RAM. An ideal set-up would be OS on SSD, game on fast HD, storage on slower HD.

[CleBrownsfan]

Thanks Atocep - just confirms my local "computer repair shop" didn't really know what he was talking about then. I went up there tonight and he said I could put in a new video card w/ power supply with no problems.

If you guys could look at the three I found on Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006736%20600030537&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=10|83-227-351^83-227-351-TS%2C83-229-267^83-229-267-TS%2C83-229-232^83-229-232-TS)and tell me you opinion.

If I spent 2k on a rig I would want to be able to play BF2, SC2, ect of max graphics with no problems. The lower $$$ ones look like good value - IMO.

If none of these appeal and if you have time could you suggest some pre-built desktops for this link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006736%20600030537&IsNodeId=1)??

Thanks again for any input!

[dubb93]

You can go to the Ibuypower.com website and customize a PC. You start with which type you want and upgrade the pieces you find important(graphics card anyone?). From there they will even overclock it before they ship if you pay extra. It can all get expensive, but it is a pretty good option if you are not willing to try a build.

Also of note I took my old PC apart again. This time I actually took the processor out and the fan apart and put it all back together. The only part that seems daunting at this point is hooking everything into the motherboard/power supply correctly and quickly.

[sovereignstar v2]

Give yourself a fair amount of time for the build. I remember plugging in the PCI power into the power supply wrong my first build. Was stumped and took everything apart before figuring it out haha.

[sovereignstar v2]

Kind of random, but here are some pics from my Home Theatre PC build. I have the 2500k in this machine. 3 1TB drives, 60GB SSD, and a Bluray drive in this puppy.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/sovereignstar/htpc/1.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/sovereignstar/htpc/2.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/sovereignstar/htpc/3.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g135/sovereignstar/htpc/4.jpg

[stevew]

I like that case. What's the model #

[sovereignstar v2]

Silverstone GD06B
SST-GD06B
SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd. (http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=293&area=en)
Newegg.com - SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum front door and plastic front panel, 0.8mm SECC body Grandia Series GD06B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163179)

[dubb93]

Give yourself a fair amount of time for the build. I remember plugging in the PCI power into the power supply wrong my first build. Was stumped and took everything apart before figuring it out haha.

I've heard to set aside two days and I have.

Also in reference to the ssd, how big would be enough for the operating system and a few games at a time. Would probably be looking to put a MMO, a strategy game(civ 5?),a story based game, and a few text sims at a time on the drive with the SSD. Would something like 80gb work?

As for brands I have seen OCZ mostly allows write speeds up to 570 but seem to require bios updates prior to use while Intel seems to be in the 270-280 range but don't seem to require an update and for the most are cheaper. Any recommendations?

[Scoobz0202]

For 80? Windows 7 is probably... 20-25 GB? Maybe slightly less. I know WoW on my system is sitting at 17.7GB and that does not include Lith King and Caty. If you could go 128, I'd say do it. But I do know the price point starts getting pretty high, if I recall.

I really recommend an SSD. Some people may claim it's pointless for just the OS and a few things here and there, but the awesomeness of windows booting up as fast as it does, firefox opening in a split second, using the windows search feature to find a program and it being practically instant is awesome. I'd say with 80, yea, you can fit some games for sure. But you will probably reach a point where you're deleting stuff down the road which can become pretty annoying in it's own right. If that's all you can afford, I'd still do it in a heart beat. Worst case, you have to put some of those games on your regular drive.

[dubb93]

For 80? Windows 7 is probably... 20-25 GB? Maybe slightly less. I know WoW on my system is sitting at 17.7GB and that does not include Lith King and Caty. If you could go 128, I'd say do it. But I do know the price point starts getting pretty high, if I recall.

I really recommend an SSD. Some people may claim it's pointless for just the OS and a few things here and there, but the awesomeness of windows booting up as fast as it does, firefox opening in a split second, using the windows search feature to find a program and it being practically instant is awesome. I'd say with 80, yea, you can fit some games for sure. But you will probably reach a point where you're deleting stuff down the road which can become pretty annoying in it's own right. If that's all you can afford, I'd still do it in a heart beat. Worst case, you have to put some of those games on your regular drive.

If I install Windows on my HDD and later buy an SSD how big of a pain is transferring the operating system to the SSD?

[CleBrownsfan]

I think I finally found the pre-built desktop to purchase:

CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme 1317 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229269)

What do you guys think? Pro's/con's?

[weegeebored]

If I install Windows on my HDD and later buy an SSD how big of a pain is transferring the operating system to the SSD?You can't really transfer the OS per se. You would have to image the drive/partition and then restore it to the SSD. There is some information about doing so that you might want to read about at this link: Clone Windows 7 onto SSD? - Wilders Security Forums (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=244950)

Essentially if you clone the entire drive and not just a partition you should be ok.

Regarding SSDs, just a couple of things: DON'T defragment them; get one with a Sandforce controller, and one with TRIM support (insert joke here). Newer SSDs will support TRIM in the firmware but just check to make sure.

[dubb93]

Bought the bullet and picked up an SSD, should be here tomorrow. Figured since I paid in full for the parts I could just charge an SSD.

So far the case is apart. Motherboard, CPU and fan is in. Break time then RAM and GPU which will require additional case assembly.

[dubb93]

PS the I/O shield was a PITA. Had to bend parts to get it to fit. Felt like they spent just cents manufacturing it.

[dubb93]

I have some pictures so far of my progress.

Here is the PITA I/O shield. It looks good, but as I said had to be bent to fit the motherboard it was packaged with.

http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy279/dubb93/photo3.jpg

Processor in(yes that is RAM too, I didn't take an earlier picture).

http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy279/dubb93/photo5.jpg

Ram in.

http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy279/dubb93/photo4.jpg

Picture of both. Note the piece of black plastic which had to be removed for the GPU.

http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy279/dubb93/photo1-1.jpg

GPU in.

http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy279/dubb93/photo2-1.jpg

[dubb93]

Almost done for night. Question even with no OS yet can I fire this up and will it tell me if I have anything messed up?

OS will go on the SSD when it gets here.

[sovereignstar v2]

If you can get past POST and to the point where it says something like, "No Operating System" found, you are sitting good.

[stevew]

Sov-
You using any kind of a tuner or video card in that machine?

[dubb93]

How about:

"reboot and select proper boot device
Or Insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key"

[Buccaneer]

Great thread and nice work, esp. Atocep's posts.

[sovereignstar v2]

Yeah, that sounds good to me. You have an OS disc, right? Don't have to install tonight, but you can see if it loads. :)

[sovereignstar v2]

Sov-
You using any kind of a tuner or video card in that machine?

No to both. Just using the integrated graphics, which are good enough for my HTPC needs. I did go with the higher priced 2500k processor since it had the better HD3000 graphics (versus the HD2000 the cheaper processors have). I did finally install my Hauppauge Colossus capture card though, which I use in conjunction with satellite TV. I never liked the fact that I couldn't keep the content I recorded. Well now I can and it's working better than expected. Buh-bye DVR's.

[dubb93]

I put it in and it wanted to install. Is there anything I need to do once I have two HDDs in tomorrow to make sure it installs tithe SSD rather than the 7200? Can I pick that somewhere? Should I just unplug the 7200 prior to installing windows?

[cartman]

I put it in and it wanted to install. Is there anything I need to do once I have two HDDs in tomorrow to make sure it installs tithe SSD rather than the 7200? Can I pick that somewhere? Should I just unplug the 7200 prior to installing windows?

You'll get a choice as to which drive you want to install the OS on. You'll get the sizes of the drives, so pick the smaller one, and that will be the SSD. :)

[dubb93]

Thanks guys for the help so far.

[CleBrownsfan]

I love reading a build while it is progress. I really wish I had the guts to build one mysf.

[Scoobz0202]

You are a stronger man then me dubb. I know the feeling of building my pc a couple months ago. If i had everything but the hard drives just sitting there I would be going crazy... unless you are of course

[dubb93]

So the SSD I got a deal on has a Marvell Controller. When I connect it to my motherboard does it go in the "Marvell Serial ATA 6.0Gb/s connector" as I assume or just into the "Intel P67 Serial ATA Gb/s Connector?". If it is the latter does it matter which HDD goes into the Intel ATA connector 1 and which goes into 2. My other HDD also uses the Intel 6.0 Gb/s connector but I still have another one free and the Marvell one free.

[cartman]

For single drives, it won't matter, since they are both 6Gbs slots. If you were looking to do RAID in the future, then it would matter, as the drives need to go into the matching connectors in order for the RAID controller to pick them up.

[dubb93]

One last question once I get booted up how can I test my CPU? I seem to be running high 50s to 60 C in bios. I've read that could be normal b/c my MOBO doesn't pull the temp 100% correctly and it is best to test it under load. How do I do this?

[dubb93]

One last question once I get booted up how can I test my CPU? I seem to be running high 50s to 60 C in bios. I've read that could be normal b/c my MOBO doesn't pull the temp 100% correctly and it is best to test it under load. How do I do this?

Also I guess what am I looking for as I test it under load. What would tell me something is wrong?

[dubb93]

Stupid question forgot drivers :)

[stevew]

Probably just need to track down the driver for the on board one. I recently switched to a wired connection and my adapter was a pita too.

[Scoobz0202]

Ya. Your motherboard should have one on it. I can see it on the picture you posted with the I/O shield. Do you have a disc that came with the motherboard? They will be outdated but at least good enough to get you online to go to the boards site to get the newer ones.

[dubb93]

I got that fixed but after I installed the GPU drivers I got an overclock failed message on restart. All I did was install drivers and restart. It went to bios, I exited and it booted without issues on try 2. Any idea what did this?

[dacman]

I put it in and it wanted to install. Is there anything I need to do once I have two HDDs in tomorrow to make sure it installs tithe SSD rather than the 7200? Can I pick that somewhere? Should I just unplug the 7200 prior to installing windows?

WORD OF WARNING -- Windows can be really stupid about putting some files the HDD during install if you have it connected in some situations. To be absolutely certain, I would only connect the SSD for the Windows install.

[dubb93]

One last question once I get booted up how can I test my CPU? I seem to be running high 50s to 60 C in bios. I've read that could be normal b/c my MOBO doesn't pull the temp 100% correctly and it is best to test it under load. How do I do this?

WORD OF WARNING -- Windows can be really stupid about putting some files the HDD during install if you have it connected in some situations. To be absolutely certain, I would only connect the SSD for the Windows install.

Too late but I hope it will not be an issue. After I installed windows it did not pick up my larger drive I had to manually partition/format the larger drive to get it working. Hopefully with that being the case everything went where it was supposed to go.

[Atocep]

I got that fixed but after I installed the GPU drivers I got an overclock failed message on restart. All I did was install drivers and restart. It went to bios, I exited and it booted without issues on try 2. Any idea what did this?

I've been told this error can happen any time the motherboard gets an error that could be related to overclocking. So in this case it sounds like it may have had a problem reading the GPU when you installed the drivers and a reboot fixed whatever the issue was.

If the problem pops up again check the fans on the CPU and the GPU to make sure they're running. On my last computer I'd get that error every now and then couldn't figure out what was causing it because a reboot would usually fix it and it didn't happen every time I booted the computer up. What it turned out to be was the CPU fan was going bad and wasn't kicking on every time I booted the computer up.

[dacman]

Too late but I hope it will not be an issue. After I installed windows it did not pick up my larger drive I had to manually partition/format the larger drive to get it working. Hopefully with that being the case everything went where it was supposed to go.

You should be fine then.

[dubb93]

Had an eventful night setting it up. All firmware/bios updates are done. I did have to reinstall my OS as I mistakenly had my SSD set up in IDE mode. I fixed that and now it runs twice as fast.

My motherboard does have a few known issues that haven't been fixed with bios update yet that are very annoying.

1. On a cold boot often times it will go through post twice or even three times. Research shows this is a as of yet unfixed known issue.

2. After entering sleep mode the system will not pick up the monitor. Seems to be another known issue. A hard reset is required.

Also I never realized it but in bios EZ Mode OC'ing the rig is as easy as clicking one button and the motherboard automatically ups my RAM speed a bit and OCs the CPU to 4.3 ghz. Takes all the guesswork out.

As of right now I can't use this. I tried it and ran a CPU stress test, but the CPU got hotter than I would have liked.

My question is if I would buy an aftermarket heatsink is this mode safe to use since it is motherboard automated?

[dubb93]

The multi post issue seems to have resolved itself in the short term atleast. Told myself I wad going to file a ticke with ASUS if it happened again(that was Thursday). It hasn't happened since.

PC has ran all three games I have thrown at it(Bad Company 2, Civ 5, Star Trek Online) at full detail(physically going in an adjusting every setting to max), in full resolution at a constant 60 FPS. Makes me wish my monitor was 120 hz or more to see how many FPS I could actually hit.

EDIT: I do have a weird issue with my old PC. It runs Vista 64 bit and has no eLicense Control in the control panel(or system search for that matter) to unlicense games. Currently have a support ticket open with them but haven't heard back yet. Anyone know a fix that makes it appear.

[cartman]

EDIT: I do have a weird issue with my old PC. It runs Vista 64 bit and has no eLicense Control in the control panel(or system search for that matter) to unlicense games. Currently have a support ticket open with them but haven't heard back yet. Anyone know a fix that makes it appear.

A lot of times the Control Panel icon will never come back. First thing to try is to find the .exe for the game, and right click on it. Sometimes there is an unlicense option in the context menu. Failing that, adding a '-unlicense' option to the program's shortcut works. Here is an example that should work for any game:

If all else fails: manual unlicense procedure - Powered by Kayako SupportSuite Help Desk Software (http://www.battlefront.com/helpdesk/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=48&nav=0,34,2)

[sovereignstar v2]

I can't remember the last time I was able to unlicense anything without doing it the manual way Cartman is referring to.

I decided this weekend that my laptop wasn't going to make the Battlefield 3 cut, so I bought a new desktop system over the weekend! Probably won't get to the build until next week, but I'll post details and pictures then.

[Chubby]

all this trouble to play WW?