PC Hardware Thread: Now With 100% More Folding!

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Horticulture

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IdealistCommi said:
Can I run it with Vista Basic 64bit? If so, then this is the run down:
AMD Phenom?II X4 940 Black Edition Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology (3.0GHz);

Asus M3A76-CM AMD 760G Chipset DDR2/1066 SATA RAID PCIe Mainboard w/ATI 3000 Graphic,GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio (motherboard);

4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory;

NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 512MB 16X PCI Express;

500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD; Thats the big stuff.

The only probem is the fact that I know almsot nothing aobut wirless cards. my current one is a Zonet ZEW1642 IEEE 802.11b/g/n Draft 2.0 PCI Wireless Adapter Network Card. Will this work?

Thanks for the help so far, man.
Looks good to me. As long as you have a free PCI (non-express) slot, that network card will work.

JustShyofGenius said:
CPU: i7 920
GPU: GTX 280
RAM: 2x2gb Patriot DDR3 1300
PSU: 750 PC Power and Cooling

It's awesome.
Awesome seems like the right word for it. Welcome to the Escapist, by the way.
 

Borrowed Time

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I personally still prefer AMD chips to Intels not only because of price but because they still have a better computation architecture for versatility (aka gaming) then intels, which are more efficient for straight up number crunching. I was able to slap a quad core Phenom II X4 processor, 4gb DDR2 1066 RAM, a 1TB HD, a Nvidia 260GTX, a 750w corsair PSU (only had 1 260 so didn't need higher), with a dvd burner and case together for my wife for well under 1k USD. Yes, the i7's are powerhouses but the Phenom II's provide more bang for the buck, especially if you have a limited budget.
 

TheMatt

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My specs - whoch have nothing to do with my question but wth, I'll post them anyway

Intel® Core? i7-920 Processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs
750GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB
With cardreader


Cost me about 1100 Canadian, so about 1000 USD...

Now, the question - ok,so I am a gamer but I freely admit I do not know a hell of a lot about anything else.

Do I need a "wireless card" to get my new desktop to connect to the network at my house, or can i just use one of those "USB wireless adapters"? As in, I just plug this thing into ANY USB port I have and I am off to the races? Or do I need the wireless card thingy?

Any help is appreciated.
 

Borrowed Time

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TheMatt said:
My specs - whoch have nothing to do with my question but wth, I'll post them anyway

Intel® Core? i7-920 Processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs
750GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB
With cardreader


Cost me about 1100 Canadian, so about 1000 USD...

Now, the question - ok,so I am a gamer but I freely admit I do not know a hell of a lot about anything else.

Do I need a "wireless card" to get my new desktop to connect to the network at my house, or can i just use one of those "USB wireless adapters"? As in, I just plug this thing into ANY USB port I have and I am off to the races? Or do I need the wireless card thingy?

Any help is appreciated.
Erm, You can use either the internal or a USB wireless setup, though the USB can be pretty weak so you'll likely need to be close to your wireless router. If you're a gamer, personally I'd find a way to hardwire it instead using CAT5 cable. Wireless is finicky at best and can cause even more latency spikes then what you already experience with your internet. The only machine I tend to go wireless with is a laptop.
 

TheMatt

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Borrowed Time said:
TheMatt said:
Erm, You can use either the internal or a USB wireless setup, though the USB can be pretty weak so you'll likely need to be close to your wireless router. If you're a gamer, personally I'd find a way to hardwire it instead using CAT5 cable. Wireless is finicky at best and can cause even more latency spikes then what you already experience with your internet. The only machine I tend to go wireless with is a laptop.
thanks dude. Cat 5 cable being normal 'run of the mill' ethernet cable? Or something I have never heard of?
 

Borrowed Time

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TheMatt said:
Borrowed Time said:
TheMatt said:
Erm, You can use either the internal or a USB wireless setup, though the USB can be pretty weak so you'll likely need to be close to your wireless router. If you're a gamer, personally I'd find a way to hardwire it instead using CAT5 cable. Wireless is finicky at best and can cause even more latency spikes then what you already experience with your internet. The only machine I tend to go wireless with is a laptop.
thanks dude. Cat 5 cable being normal 'run of the mill' ethernet cable? Or something I have never heard of?
Er yeah sorry, regular ethernet cable, heh. Cat5 (Category 5) is just a different name for it. You'll get much less loss of signal if you can keep it within 50' (15.24m) of the router wired. It's better then wireless, especially if you're going down a floor as wireless tends to have more issues going through floors then walls because of electrical wire/piping interference. If you're going to be sitting right next to your wireless router though it wouldn't be too much of an issue going wireless as long as you don't get any massively interfereing electronics nearby.

But if you're sitting right next to your router, what's the point of going wireless since you could just buy a 5-10$ 6' ethernet cable and just plug it in anyway.
 

Horticulture

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IdealistCommi said:
I have a question about video cards; Should I furutre proof my PC with a ATI Radeon HD 4850, or should I keep it cheap for now and go with the ATI Radeon 4830?
The 4850 will be a better match with the other components in your system. If you have the cash, a 4870 or nvidia gtx 260 would be a nice upgrade.
 

Whistler777

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I'm putting in a new Gigabyte mobo, an Intel Q8200, and an XFX 4870 (1GB) relatively soon. Gonna be the best $500 I've ever spent!

IdealistCommi said:
Horticulture said:
IdealistCommi said:
I have a question about video cards; Should I furutre proof my PC with a ATI Radeon HD 4850, or should I keep it cheap for now and go with the ATI Radeon 4830?
The 4850 will be a better match with the other components in your system. If you have the cash, a 4870 or nvidia gtx 260 would be a nice upgrade.
Makes sense. Thanks!
Make sure you get the 4850 manufactured by XFX. Whenever buying a video card, always look for their name.

Why? Because you could take that card with you on a trip to the Matterhorn, and they'd replace it free of charge.
 

Stoic raptor

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just got bioshock, i meet all the requirments but the framerate is slow.
does anyone know how to fix it?
 

Horticulture

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speidel28 said:
just got bioshock, i meet all the requirments but the framerate is slow.
does anyone know how to fix it?
What are your system specs (CPU, Memory, Video Card, OS), and what settings/resolution are you using? A system at the recommended specs will have trouble running max. settings at a high resolution.
 

Stoic raptor

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Horticulture said:
speidel28 said:
just got bioshock, i meet all the requirments but the framerate is slow.
does anyone know how to fix it?
What are your system specs (CPU, Memory, Video Card, OS), and what settings/resolution are you using? A system at the recommended specs will have trouble running max. settings at a high resolution.
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processoer 5200 ( not sure if its the CPU, read it off the side of the computer
I think i have 3 gig of ram, not sure
vid card is Nvidia geforce 8400 GS
dont know what OS is
it is on max settings, should i lower it?
it has vertical sync, which is on. when its off, framerate is higher, but screan tearing may occur. when i turn it off, the screan went black and i had to restart.
EDIT: have to sleep. will not answer till tommarow afternoon
 

Horticulture

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speidel28 said:
Horticulture said:
speidel28 said:
just got bioshock, i meet all the requirments but the framerate is slow.
does anyone know how to fix it?
What are your system specs (CPU, Memory, Video Card, OS), and what settings/resolution are you using? A system at the recommended specs will have trouble running max. settings at a high resolution.
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processoer 5200 ( not sure if its the CPU, read it off the side of the computer
I think i have 3 gig of ram, not sure
vid card is Nvidia geforce 8400 GS
dont know what OS is
it is on max settings, should i lower it?
it has vertical sync, which is on. when its off, framerate is higher, but screan tearing may occur. when i turn it off, the screan went black and i had to restart.
OS=Operating System (XP or Vista)

But, yeah, lower the settings all the way. The 8400GS in your computer isn't really designed for heavy gaming, so it'll struggle with Bioshock above the lowest settings.
 

Stoic raptor

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Horticulture said:
speidel28 said:
Horticulture said:
speidel28 said:
just got bioshock, i meet all the requirments but the framerate is slow.
does anyone know how to fix it?
What are your system specs (CPU, Memory, Video Card, OS), and what settings/resolution are you using? A system at the recommended specs will have trouble running max. settings at a high resolution.
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processoer 5200 ( not sure if its the CPU, read it off the side of the computer
I think i have 3 gig of ram, not sure
vid card is Nvidia geforce 8400 GS
dont know what OS is
it is on max settings, should i lower it?
it has vertical sync, which is on. when its off, framerate is higher, but screan tearing may occur. when i turn it off, the screan went black and i had to restart.
OS=Operating System (XP or Vista)

But, yeah, lower the settings all the way. The 8400GS in your computer isn't really designed for heavy gaming, so it'll struggle with Bioshock above the lowest settings.
its vista, and ill lower all the graphic settings to its lowest