Let's talk computers

[Sam17]

Thanks for the advice guys, I've updated my first post to show what I'm looking at

I'm looking for some advice on what RAM I should be getting, I know I need DDR3 but I'm not sure what the MHz business is all about

That motherboard supports,
DDR3 - 1066
DDR3 - 1333
DDR3 - 1866(OC)
DDR3 - 800

Id go with DDr - 1333

Thanks for the info

Lets talk about sound, I'm looking to spend around £50-70 on a sound system, would I need a soundcard? Or would my motherboard have good enough sound on its own? I'm having trouble trying to find a good pair of 2.1 speakers with a subwoofer,ones I'm seeing so far look quite small

 

[EHKOS]

Get a 1TB HDD, you'll need it. Also, drop the 4890. You can get a really good deal on a GTX460 or either of the 68XX series chips. They're great. And you have no RAM. And lol @ screen res. 1080 or higher is what you want.

I would stick with an ATI card, just a slightly better one than he has. I agree on the HDD tho you WILL need more space. I have Eight Gigs running for RAM and it just barely cuts it...by three gigs, but I still think more RAM the better. Grab a Western Digital HDD I have used them all my life, and they last a very long time, a TB is about 65 USD.

 

[Kabutos]

I would stick with an ATI card, just a slightly better one than he has. I agree on the HDD tho you WILL need more space. I have Eight Gigs running for RAM and it just barely cuts it...by three gigs, but I still think more RAM the better.

You really only need 6+ GB of RAM if you're doing stuff like video editing and 3D rendering. 4GB is enough for just gaming.

 

[Sam17]

Okay I updated my initial post, got the RAM sorted

 

[PeePantz]

I see what your problem is going to be. Okey dokey, lets see what we got baking in the oven. Yeah, ya, ya, ya, ya. Not yet a match. Ok well, it looks like we are about one degree Celsius off on that ah magenta color. What I can do is quantify the 7F reading. To me they're just a little bit off, what I can do on that is run a pap smear, and that should even it out......

That's the extent of my "knowledge". (cupcake for reference)

 

[Kabutos]

I don't know much about audio, but as for keyboard and mouse; I've heard good things about the Logitech G110, and I can recommend the MX518 from personal experience.

Also,

I see what your problem is going to be. Okey dokey, lets see what we got baking in the oven. Yeah, ya, ya, ya, ya. Not yet a match. Ok well, it looks like we are about one degree Celsius off on that ah magenta color. What I can do is quantify the 7F reading. To me they're just a little bit off, what I can do on that is run a pap smear, and that should even it out......

...Beverly Hills Ninja?

 

[PeePantz]

...Beverly Hills Ninja?

Spoiler

There ya go, skipper. Can only pick one. Chris Farley may be gone, but Chet Walters is immortal.

 

[Continuity]

As far as your GPU goes, since you're playing at 1680x1050, the HD 4890 is still a fine card. However, if you want to upgrade to 1920x1080 or above, I'd recommend upgrading to an HD 6950, and then unlocking it into a 6970.

I have an xfx HD4890 and I play quite happily at 1920x1200, max settings for most games.

I don't know much about audio, but as for keyboard and mouse; I've heard good things about the Logitech G110, and I can recommend the MX518 from personal experience.

Well in the interest of balance I should say that I believe the g110 sucks ass and the MX518 Is grossly overrated, especially as it has prediction which is pretty much a cardinal sin for a gaming mouse.

 

[Sam17]

I bought the Razer Lycosa and the Razer Deathadder left handed edition, so I'm sorted for mouse and keyboard now (Not many ambi mice that I like, and I'm cackhanded)

So I 'think' all I need now is a sound system, still not sure whether to get a soundcard or not

 

[Weaver]

I bought the Razer Lycosa and the Razer Deathadder left handed edition, so I'm sorted for mouse and keyboard now (Not many ambi mice that I like, and I'm cackhanded)

So I 'think' all I need now is a sound system, still not sure whether to get a soundcard or not

I wouldn't get a soundcard. Onboard sound has come a long, long way and sounds surprisingly good now-a-days. Plus, if you ever decide you, for some reason, want a really good soundcard you can upgrade at a later date. Installing soundcards is (generally) as simple as putting it into the PCI slot and then closing your case.

For instance, your mobo has a 7.1 surround sound system built into it. I think the only thing it won't be able to do is use EAX effects in games (which I believe creative owns). These are generally minor things, such as an echo in a tunnel area would sound better.

EDIT: Nevermind, apparently realtek (the person who makes the soundboard on that motherboard) made a deal with creative awhile ago and realtek audio devices now support EAX.

 

[Private Custard]

Yes but i7's are more expensive don't want to spend much over £150 on cpu.

Then get an i5. Most games won't use more than 1 or 2 cores anyway.

EDIT: Especially the new i5 2400. That looks pretty nice.

Honestly, the AMDs are truly the best bang for your buck at the minute.

I have a X6 1055T. Normally 2.8Ghz, mine's running rock solid at 3.5Ghz and 1.35v.......on the standard AMD fan and cooler!

Point me to the nearest intel than can push out that sort of performance for £150 and I'll admit I'm wrong. Hell, I could add a Noctua NH-D14 cooler to that CPU and be looking at a six-core 4Ghz processor, running at 50 degrees, for just over £200.

That's nearly £500 cheaper than a bog standard i7 980x at a frankly wimpy 3.33Ghz!!

And as for the core useage thing. FSX, made in 2007, will bring systems that can comfortably run Crysis to their knees. And it runs on four cores. Now hexacores are getting more common, they'll start getting used more.

 

[Fenring]

Get a 1TB HDD, you'll need it. Also, drop the 4890. You can get a really good deal on a GTX460 or either of the 68XX series chips. They're great. And you have no RAM. And lol @ screen res. 1080 or higher is what you want.

I would stick with an ATI card, just a slightly better one than he has. I agree on the HDD tho you WILL need more space. I have Eight Gigs running for RAM and it just barely cuts it...by three gigs, but I still think more RAM the better. Grab a Western Digital HDD I have used them all my life, and they last a very long time, a TB is about 65 USD.

Dude, 2ith 24 gigs, use some of it as VRAM, OMG.

 

[Sam17]

I bought the Razer Lycosa and the Razer Deathadder left handed edition, so I'm sorted for mouse and keyboard now (Not many ambi mice that I like, and I'm cackhanded)

So I 'think' all I need now is a sound system, still not sure whether to get a soundcard or not

I wouldn't get a soundcard. Onboard sound has come a long, long way and sounds surprisingly good now-a-days. Plus, if you ever decide you, for some reason, want a really good soundcard you can upgrade at a later date. Installing soundcards is (generally) as simple as putting it into the PCI slot and then closing your case.

For instance, your mobo has a 7.1 surround sound system built into it. I think the only thing it won't be able to do is use EAX effects in games (which I believe creative owns). These are generally minor things, such as an echo in a tunnel area would sound better.

EDIT: Nevermind, apparently realtek (the person who makes the soundboard on that motherboard) made a deal with creative awhile ago and realtek audio devices now support EAX.

Thanks a bunch, decided to not bother with a soundcard for now and saved a bit of money!

 

[Antari]

So I've been saving my cash for the past few months from my shitty nightclub job and I plan to build myself a gaming computer (I refuse to call it a 'rig'), I am in the UK and I have roughly £700 to build one.

I already have a nice 1680x1050 monitor, as well as an 800w PSU and an XFX Radeon HD4890, I'm planning to use Windows 7 and I'm probably going to go for a 500GB hard drive

So far I've picked out the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 8MB L3 Cache 125W Retail Box Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/186428

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 870 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/218937

Antec 900 Nine Hundred - Gaming Case
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/118268

Seagate ST3500418AS 500GB Hard Drive
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158860

I still need a keyboard and mouse as well as speakers, unless I've missed something

I'm not very tech-savvy, would any of these cause problems if used together? Am I looking at something that's too expensive for what it is?

Any advice and what I should and shouldn't do would be very much appreciated

Thanks

Note: A big question right now is what I should be looking for in terms of sound, I'm looking to get a 2.1 set since that's all I need, I don't really have the space for a 5.1, I'm looking to spend about £50-70 but I can't seem to find a good set of 2.1 that don't have really small speakers. Would I need a soundcard? Or would my setup be able to stand up on its own?

Only real problem I see there is Seagate 500gig Drive. Lately reliability on those things has been pretty bad. I'd recommend a Western Digital, 500 or 1tb. Steer clear of 1.5's and 2's, not only do they take forever to defrag but reliability isn't there yet with any manufacturer. Otherwise everything else looks good. As for 2.1 Speakers Logitech X240 or the 2.0 X140 speakers are good value for sound.

 

[Kabutos]

Honestly, the AMDs are truly the best bang for your buck at the minute.

I have a X6 1055T. Normally 2.8Ghz, mine's running rock solid at 3.5Ghz and 1.35v.......on the standard AMD fan and cooler!

Point me to the nearest intel than can push out that sort of performance for £150 and I'll admit I'm wrong. Hell, I could add a Noctua NH-D14 cooler to that CPU and be looking at a six-core 4Ghz processor, running at 50 degrees, for just over £200.

That's nearly £500 cheaper than a bog standard i7 980x at a frankly wimpy 3.33Ghz!!

And as for the core useage thing. FSX, made in 2007, will bring systems that can comfortably run Crysis to their knees. And it runs on four cores. Now hexacores are getting more common, they'll start getting used more.

Well, first of all, an i5 750 can be easily OC'd to around 4.2 Ghz. Also, clock speed isn't everything, especially considering that most games only use 1 or 2 cores. Getting a CPU with more cores won't necessarily improve gaming performance. If you're doing video editing, 3D rendering, etc., then by all means, go ahead. But as for gaming, you won't need anything more than 4 cores right now.

Secondly, I agree that AMD CPU's are great with price/performance, such as the X4 955's and such, but I really don't think that hexacores of any brand are worth it at the moment; AMD's hexacores aren't as powerful as Intel's i5's for the same price, and Intel's hexacores cost far too much to be justified.

As for your last point about FSX and hexacores becoming more common, I will just say one thing. Futureproofing is impossible. The top-of-the-line hardware today will be okay in 3 years, but you can't buy anything that would still be considered great. It's better to just buy what you need; buying more expensive hardware when you won't use it is just wasting money, especially when it comes to CPUs and RAM.

 

[bam13302]

So I've been saving my cash for the past few months from my shitty nightclub job and I plan to build myself a gaming computer (I refuse to call it a 'rig'), I am in the UK and I have roughly £700 to build one.

I already have a nice 1680x1050 monitor, as well as an 800w PSU and an XFX Radeon HD4890, I'm planning to use Windows 7 and I'm probably going to go for a 500GB hard drive

So far I've picked out the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 8MB L3 Cache 125W Retail Box Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/186428

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 870 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/218937

Antec 900 Nine Hundred - Gaming Case
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/118268

Seagate ST3500418AS 500GB Hard Drive
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158860

I still need a keyboard and mouse as well as speakers, unless I've missed something

I'm not very tech-savvy, would any of these cause problems if used together? Am I looking at something that's too expensive for what it is?

Any advice and what I should and shouldn't do would be very much appreciated

Thanks

Note: A big question right now is what I should be looking for in terms of sound, I'm looking to get a 2.1 set since that's all I need, I don't really have the space for a 5.1, I'm looking to spend about £50-70 but I can't seem to find a good set of 2.1 that don't have really small speakers. Would I need a soundcard? Or would my setup be able to stand up on its own?

Proc is fine (for gaming, all u need is an amd, or a lower end intel, i ususally go amd cuz of the cheaper mother boards)
Mobo is fine (though im not a fan of the manufacturer, they dont do bad)
Case should be fine
Be wary of that hard drive, seagate has gotten a bad reputation as of late (for good reason) and u may want to stay away from them, id recommend western digital or samsung

also, ram?
make sure u get at absolute least, 2gb, 4 recommended, especially if u install windows 7 x64 (i can easily get 85-90% usage on my 4GB of ram when doing anything particularly intensive, windows 7x64)
ati sometimes has driver and compatability issues with some games, but im not an expert on that matter so ill leave it there
ur 900W psu should be enough for any rig, the only question really being with any PSU is will u have enough/the right connectors
i have a 950W with a GTX480 (big power hungry video card), AMD phenom2 x4 955, 5 hard drives (3 in raid 5, 1 as data backup, 1 SSD for OS) 8 case fans, 4GB of ram (2x2GB) (when this was measured, i currently have 12, 2x2+2x4), wireless card, and according to multimeters and my UPS' (Uninterruptable power supply) led, it uses 200W normal operations, and 400W during full benchmarks (100% proc and GPU usage, + heavy hdd usage)

 

[Admiral Stukov]

What I can say is that I know next to nothing about AMD or ATI, and have had nothing but bad experinces with those two in the past.

Oh and take a look at the CloolerMaster HAF 922 chassi, 'tis great.