[Jeff Tingler]

Well, you have DDR2 RAM so you'll have to get new RAM for your new Mobo, since it'll only support DDR3 (unless you buy a quite antiquated one)

If your computer is also a Dell still using the stock OS, your current OS of Windows XP won't activate on the new mobo as the copies of Windows used by OEMs are volume licensed and tied to the BIOS. So you'll need a new copy of Windows if you buy a new mobo

Yeah I plan on getting Win7 eventually.

[Undisclosed Desires]

Got an SSD question. I am thinking about getting one to put some of my PC games on. I read on another thread on this forum that you should also put your OS on the SSD, why is that? (My OS came with my system, so I wouldn't even know how to get it on the SSD)

[Jacob Phillips]

Ok so I recently did a new computer build. have a Corsair Force Gt 120 GB for the boot drive, and a Western Digital caviar black 2TB for storage. Both with the 6Gb/s interface. I have Windows 7 64 bit installed on the SSD and everything works great on that, but I've been having some issues with the HDD. At first it didn't show up on My Compuer, so i formatted it as a simple volume, so now it shows up. But when my computer goes into sleep mode and comes out, Windows doesn't recognize the hard drive. The only solution I've found so far is to restart the computer. Does anyone know of a solution to this, so I can utilize the computers sleep function?

[Amber Hubbard]

Ok so I recently did a new computer build. have a Corsair Force Gt 120 GB for the boot drive, and a Western Digital caviar black 2TB for storage. Both with the 6Gb/s interface. I have Windows 7 64 bit installed on the SSD and everything works great on that, but I've been having some issues with the HDD. At first it didn't show up on My Compuer, so i formatted it as a simple volume, so now it shows up. But when my computer goes into sleep mode and comes out, Windows doesn't recognize the hard drive. The only solution I've found so far is to restart the computer. Does anyone know of a solution to this, so I can utilize the computers sleep function?

Sleep mode will eventually turn off power to the HDDs (or SSDs). I'm uncertain if this is the underlying issue but you can try changing the options to disable powering off HDDs.

Go to the Control Panel, find Power Options. Click the Change plan settings link. Click the Change advanced power settings link, Under Hard Disk >> Turn off hard disk after, change the settings to never (increment down below 1 minute).

edit: How did you create the partition on the WD Caviar? You should have used Computer Management >> Disk Management. It is possible you creating some sort of dynamic volume...

[Gemma Archer]

Got an SSD question. I am thinking about getting one to put some of my PC games on. I read on another thread on this forum that you should also put your OS on the SSD, why is that? (My OS came with my system, so I wouldn't even know how to get it on the SSD)

Since SSDs are much faster than HDDs they can boot the OS faster. Ever since I bought my first SSD a few years ago I have always installed Windows on it. (Make sure TRIM is enabled)

In order to get your OS onto the SSD you could do a direct to drive clone from a standard HDD to the SSD. Or just re-install the OS on the drive from an install disc.

[Ana]

Sleep mode will eventually turn off power to the HDDs (or SSDs). I'm uncertain if this is the underlying issue but you can try changing the options to disable powering off HDDs.

Go to the Control Panel, find Power Options. Click the Change plan settings link. Click the Change advanced power settings link, Under Hard Disk >> Turn off hard disk after, change the settings to never (increment down below 1 minute).

edit: How did you create the partition on the WD Caviar? You should have used Computer Management >> Disk Management. It is possible you creating some sort of dynamic volume...

Yeah I used computer > disk management, created a simple volume. I checked the power options though, and I think that fixed it. Thanks for the tips.

[i grind hard]

Two things this time

Whenever I boot up, I get an error message saying there is a CPU fan error. However, the CPU cooler is plugged into the proper power source that clearly sayd CPU FAN, and it is spinning correctly. I can't tell if it is speading up or slowing down correctly with the heat, but it's clearly spinning and is keeping my CPU around 30c

Another question Right now I am running off of a 550w PSU by BFG. Now that the Black November sales are rolling around, I'm looking to upgrade my GPU (A 4770). I supposed I will be needing to upgrade my PSU as well? I'm guessing around 750w should be good? I don't know what I'll be upgrading too yet since it depends on the sales, but I think it will be somewhere around the Nvidia 500 series and the ATI 6800 series, maybe the 6900 series if there is a great sale. Any of these would put my 4770 to shame right?

Not sure why you're getting that error. Could just be a motherboard detection issue, but if your fan is spinning and the temps are normal, should be fine.

You don't need to upgrade the PSU for a GTX 560 series or Radeon 6800 series card. You don't need 750W unless you're planning to get two of those cards. Even the Radeon 6900 series card would be fine with that unit. All of these cards are significantly faster than the Radeon 4770.

Alright I used PC Wizard to find out most of the other components, is that fine or do I need to find all the pages for them on newegg?

<<< System Summary >>>
> Mainboard : Dell 0X8582
> Chipset : Intel 945P
> Processor : Intel Pentium XE 830 @ 3000MHz
> Physical Memory : 4096MB (4 x 1024 DDR2-SDRAM )
> Video Card : ATI Radeon HD 5400 Series
> Hard Disk : Seagate ST3500320AS (500GB)
> DVD-Rom Drive : HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24LS70
> Monitor Type : NS-32L430A11 - 32 inches
> Network Card : Intel 82801G (ICH7 Family) I/O Controller Hub LAN
> Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 Service Pack 3 (32-bit)

You could find a new case, mobo and CPU and have your RAM, hard drive, dvd drive work fine with it. However, DDR2 RAM puts you in the AMD AM2+ bracket or Intel LGA 775...both old platforms now. Considering the weak video card, you're almost better off just building a new PC in my opinion.

[Rodney C]

Since SSDs are much faster than HDDs they can boot the OS faster. Ever since I bought my first SSD a few years ago I have always installed Windows on it. (Make sure TRIM is enabled)

In order to get your OS onto the SSD you could do a direct to drive clone from a standard HDD to the SSD. Or just re-install the OS on the drive from an install disc.

Yeah but is there any other reason, other than the faster booting? I don't really care about how long it takes to boot to be honest since I always gotta get up and do something anyways it's usually done by the time I get back. I just meant, any technical reason to do it?

[Isabel Ruiz]

Yeah but is there any other reason, other than the faster booting? I don't really care about how long it takes to boot to be honest since I always gotta get up and do something anyways it's usually done by the time I get back. I just meant, any technical reason to do it?

It is mainly for faster booting. Some people claim that it also makes the whole system slightly more responsive but this is debatable.

[jeremey wisor]

Not sure why you're getting that error. Could just be a motherboard detection issue, but if your fan is spinning and the temps are normal, should be fine.

You don't need to upgrade the PSU for a GTX 560 series or Radeon 6800 series card. You don't need 750W unless you're planning to get two of those cards. Even the Radeon 6900 series card would be fine with that unit. All of these cards are significantly faster than the Radeon 4770.



You could find a new case, mobo and CPU and have your RAM, hard drive, dvd drive work fine with it. However, DDR2 RAM puts you in the AMD AM2+ bracket or Intel LGA 775...both old platforms now. Considering the weak video card, you're almost better off just building a new PC in my opinion.

Yes, but couldn't I get better RAM for a better mobo?

[Mr.Broom30]

How long do PCs last these days? Most electronics aren't as reliable as stuff from like 15 years ago, but the overclocking crowd claims that processors can last beyond their useful lifespan (3-5) years even when heavily overclocked. My WD hard drives are still running very well, but I doubt the newer stuff like SSDs and processors with ever shrinking size. I killed my E6600 after 3 years of use (only overclocked for the last year to 3.2ghz). (killed means it is starting to deteriorate and constantly requires more and more voltage to remain stable, doesn't have to be completely fried)

I'm using a phenomII965 undervolted for just over a year, it is having problems waking up from sleep and reboots once a week. Looks like it can't withstand the mild undervolt anymore.

[Bethany Short]

Since SSDs are much faster than HDDs they can boot the OS faster. Ever since I bought my first SSD a few years ago I have always installed Windows on it. (Make sure TRIM is enabled)

In order to get your OS onto the SSD you could do a direct to drive clone from a standard HDD to the SSD. Or just re-install the OS on the drive from an install disc.

Careful with the term "faster." They have lower seek latency, which makes them a lot faster for accessing a lot of different files in a short period of time (makes them good system drives), but don't always have better sequential throughput than platter-based HDDs, which can actually make them slower for some tasks (can make them bad storage/media drives).

[Myles]

Yeah, Skyrim.

Buying a new PC for it. I know this'll run it really well, but I'm the kind of guy who worries a lot, if you know what I mean. Just tell me I'm right and that it will run it okay and I won't worry every night.

This really isn't a brag post, just giving me a bit of peace of mind.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/WINDOWS-7200rpm-Kingston-HDMI-DVI-VGA-DirectX11-COMPUTER/dp/B0059GAMMG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1320279114&sr=8-3

I'm also replacing the on-board GPU with my GTX 560.

[Courtney Foren]

Yes, but couldn't I get better RAM for a better mobo?

Sure you could. DDR3 RAM is dirt cheap now...8GB of DDR3 1600 for less than $50. But you do realize you're pretty much already just building a whole new PC right. I mean there isn't much left to salvage here.

Yeah, Skyrim.

Buying a new PC for it. I know this'll run it really well, but I'm the kind of guy who worries a lot, if you know what I mean. Just tell me I'm right and that it will run it okay and I won't worry every night.

This really isn't a brag post, just giving me a bit of peace of mind.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/WINDOWS-7200rpm-Kingston-HDMI-DVI-VGA-DirectX11-COMPUTER/dp/B0059GAMMG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1320279114&sr=8-3

I'm also replacing the on-board GPU with my GTX 560.

Why not get a respectable PC that already has the GTX 560 Ti in it. The thing is you'd have to upgrade the PSU in that system too....it's likely a junk generic unit. Since you're in the UK and are lokoing for a prebuilt system, should check out chillblast.co.uk for their customizable systems...something like this Fusion Hurricane:
http://www.chillblast.com/pconf.php?productid=17827

The default choices there are already decent. There are many other systems too check out and price match too

[Your Mum]

Sure you could. DDR3 RAM is dirt cheap now...8GB of DDR3 1600 for less than $50. But you do realize you're pretty much already just building a whole new PC right. I mean there isn't much left to salvage here.



Why not get a respectable PC that already has the GTX 560 Ti in it. The thing is you'd have to upgrade the PSU in that system too....it's likely a junk generic unit. Since you're in the UK and are lokoing for a prebuilt system, should check out chillblast.co.uk for their customizable systems...something like this Fusion Hurricane:
http://www.chillblast.com/pconf.php?productid=17827

The default choices there are already decent. There are many other systems too check out and price match too

:o

This site is really nice. I'll play about and post a build.


EDIT: After playing around, I've come up with a PC that fits my budget, while still having enough for Skyrim. Yay!

I just want to know a few things:
1: How will these components work with eachother?
2: Is the PSU good enough?
3: Will it run Shogun 2?
4: Once again, for my peace of mind, how will it run Skyrim?

http://www.chillblast.com/pconf.php?productid=17906

[jessica sonny]

Get it over with and just get a sandybridge setup.

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K
MOBO: Asus P8P67 R3
SSD: Crucial 64GB 2.5" M4 SSD

Crosscheck prices at Scan, Amazon, Overclckers, etc...whichever gives you the cheapest.



Great, thanks for that tig.

Sorry to bother you all again with some advice that I've already been given but is the above still the best value upgrade for an AMD Phenom II X2 550 (CPU) if I've got a budget of around ￡300? Any recommendation on RAM to go with that?

Also, any recommendations on a nice monitor I can pickup? I heard Dell were the way to go at the minute? This will be the 2nd monitor in a planned 2 monitor setup.

Thanks

[Charity Hughes]

Sure you could. DDR3 RAM is dirt cheap now...8GB of DDR3 1600 for less than $50. But you do realize you're pretty much already just building a whole new PC right. I mean there isn't much left to salvage here.

Yep.

[Nick Jase Mason]

Sorry to bother you guys, but I honestly don't know what to do and I'm running out of time before Skyrim/SWTOR. I have 3 questions primarily, but first let's start with my current specs:

CPU: Phenom II X4 920 ~2.8ghz (I would OC if I had a better case with airflow... but I don't.)
GPU: Nvidia GTS 450 (Plan on replacing this soon, see below)
RAM: 8190MB DDR2 (All my mobo supports...)
Mobo: MS-7501 (AMD Gen2 mobo)

Essentially I'm confused on what the best course of action would be.

1) I know that my PC is starting to become outdated fast, I understand that. The CPU is basically average, and the mobo can't support anything more than I have on CPU or RAM, and my RAM is only DDR2. Not to mention the GTS 450 is a pretty weak card.

So my question is basically:
Would it be a good time to build a new rig? I've had this bad boy 3.5 years, is it time?

I was thinking that I should get a new GPU, get a gaming case finally (crappy one right now, terrible airflow), and PSU for Skyrim. That way with the new case I could OC my CPU I have currently a bit, and the new GPU would help immensely in Skyrim. Should I do that, or just build a new rig now?

Basically it comes down to if I should build a rig now since my parts are slowly but surely becoming obsolete, or get a GPU, Case, PSU now and in January when things will most certainly be lower price build a rig and use the GPU, Case, PSU I'm about to get. Theoretically getting a new rig in 2 chunks.

Which do you guys think would be the best bet? I'm assuming post-holidays things will be cheaper (in terms of parts) because of it being after the holiday sales, and also new generations of parts coming out. It would probably be a money saver to build the majority of my rig (everything except the case, GPU, PSU I'm about to get in the coming days) in a couple months since prices will go down a bit. But, should I just build it now and have it done and ready to go and not have to worry about it later? I just don't know. It's quite the dilemma, honestly. Any advice on my current state of affairs is highly appreciated guys.


2) Regarding a GPU, Case, PSU upgrade since at the very least that's what I'll be upgrading in the coming days:
I've been researching GPUs EXTENSIVELY. I'm pretty certain I want a 560 Ti 1gb or 6950 2gb. I am really leaning towards the 560 Ti because I am more of an Nvidia kind of guy, but then I stumbled upon something. Nvidia announced a re-fresh (a new 'version', if you will) of the 560 Ti is coming out this Holiday, so in about a month. Getting a 560 Ti now (and I want to upgrade GPUs NOW for Skyrim, not wait for the new 560 Ti) would be silly because it would be replaced by a better version in a month. Seeing that, is it smarter to get a 6950 so it won't be replaced immediately like the 560 Ti? I've never really gotten an AMD GPU, would the 6950 be a good card? Is AMD as bad on drivers as people say?

If the 6950 makes more sense, that brings me to my other part of the question. Which 6950 card is a good one to buy? And is 1gb enough for my uses - 1920x1080 res? There are tons of manufactures and models and what-not, and I just don't know. I've looked at a few that include the HIS IceQ X Turbo, both the 1gb and 2gb versions of the MSI Twin Frozr 6950s, XFX 2gb, Sapphire Flex 2gb, Sapphire Dirt3 Edition 2gb, honestly the list goes on. They vary in price, from about $240-270 with some having MIBs.

3) My third and final question (I know it's been rough going through all this, I apologize).
What case should I get, any suggestions? I'm looking at the $80-120 range, as any lower is cheap and too budget, and any higher is kind of expensive for a case IMO. $80-120 AFTER a MIB is fine though. I've looked at a ton of brands: Antec, NZXT, Corsair, CoolerMaster, Lian Li (kind of like theirs a lot, are these any good?), Silvertone, and a bunch of other ones.

apologize guys for giving you such a lengthy novel that you had to read. I just want advice on these 3 subject areas, and seeing as a lot of the reason I want to upgrade my system or at least some components is for Skyrim (but also other future games) I figured this was a great place to get info. Again, I apologize for having such a long post. Also, when I'm super tired which I am today I kind of get a bit happy with my punctuation, so sorry about the excessive amounts of parenthesis. Haha.

Thanks in advance. I appreciate any time and effort in helping me out.

[Nick Tyler]

@ zorph

1. I don't think you're in desperate need to build a new rig right now. I suppose you could wait for a couple months so that you can get better prices and spread the cost.
2. I would personally go for the Radeon HD6950. For as long as you don't game at resolutions over 1080p you don't need more than 1GB VRAM and AMD drivers are fine.
3. Since you said that you like Lian Li I suggest that you have a look at the Lian Li Lancool Dragonlord PC-K62. It has excellent airflow and it's a great case for the money.

[james reed]

@ zorph

1. I don't think you're in desperate need to build a new rig right now. I suppose you could wait for a couple months so that you can get better prices and spread the cost.
2. I would personally go for the Radeon HD6950. For as long as you don't game at resolutions over 1080p you don't need more than 1GB VRAM and AMD drivers are fine.
3. Since you said that you like Lian Li I suggest that you have a look at the Lian Li Lancool Dragonlord PC-K62. It has excellent airflow and it's a great case for the money.

Just looked up that case and it doesn't look like it fits m-ATX mobos which is what mine currently is... Also, it only fits 290mm VGAs which is super short. Is there a way to fit my mobo and put bigger GPUs in it?

Thanks for your help though! And I think I will go with the 6950, probably 1gb. What's a good manufacture of a 1gb 6950?

[emma sweeney]

:o

This site is really nice. I'll play about and post a build.


EDIT: After playing around, I've come up with a PC that fits my budget, while still having enough for Skyrim. Yay!

I just want to know a few things:
1: How will these components work with eachother?
2: Is the PSU good enough?
3: Will it run Shogun 2?
4: Once again, for my peace of mind, how will it run Skyrim?

http://www.chillblast.com/pconf.php?productid=17906

Just to let you know, if you configured that system differently from default, we're not seeing it right now. You will have to mention the changes.

If you left everything at default, then it's a terrible system as is. No video card and a garbage power supply. Should spec out the system similar to how it was with my last link to the Hurricane.

Sorry to bother you all again with some advice that I've already been given but is the above still the best value upgrade for an AMD Phenom II X2 550 (CPU) if I've got a budget of around ￡300? Any recommendation on RAM to go with that?

Also, any recommendations on a nice monitor I can pickup? I heard Dell were the way to go at the minute? This will be the 2nd monitor in a planned 2 monitor setup.

Thanks

Yes, it is still is a great value. For RAM, G Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600 CL9 would be fine.


Dell has plenty of decent panels ...U2311H to name one. Asus has some nice monitor these days too like their http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-ML239H-23-inch-LED-Monitor/dp/B004SORE8K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320395725&sr=8-1.

Pretty much any of the panels http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006652+600030956&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=-1&description=asus+lcd&hisInDesc=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc= are worth a search in the UK. Check out ebuyer, scan, overclockers, amazon, etc. or wherever it is you shop.

Sorry to bother you guys, but I honestly don't know what to do and I'm running out of time before Skyrim/SWTOR. I have 3 questions primarily, but first let's start with my current specs:

CPU: Phenom II X4 920 ~2.8ghz (I would OC if I had a better case with airflow... but I don't.)
GPU: Nvidia GTS 450 (Plan on replacing this soon, see below)
RAM: 8190MB DDR2 (All my mobo supports...)
Mobo: MS-7501 (AMD Gen2 mobo)

Essentially I'm confused on what the best course of action would be.

1) I know that my PC is starting to become outdated fast, I understand that. The CPU is basically average, and the mobo can't support anything more than I have on CPU or RAM, and my RAM is only DDR2. Not to mention the GTS 450 is a pretty weak card.

So my question is basically:
Would it be a good time to build a new rig? I've had this bad boy 3.5 years, is it time?

I was thinking that I should get a new GPU, get a gaming case finally (crappy one right now, terrible airflow), and PSU for Skyrim. That way with the new case I could OC my CPU I have currently a bit, and the new GPU would help immensely in Skyrim. Should I do that, or just build a new rig now?

Basically it comes down to if I should build a rig now since my parts are slowly but surely becoming obsolete, or get a GPU, Case, PSU now and in January when things will most certainly be lower price build a rig and use the GPU, Case, PSU I'm about to get. Theoretically getting a new rig in 2 chunks.

Which do you guys think would be the best bet? I'm assuming post-holidays things will be cheaper (in terms of parts) because of it being after the holiday sales, and also new generations of parts coming out. It would probably be a money saver to build the majority of my rig (everything except the case, GPU, PSU I'm about to get in the coming days) in a couple months since prices will go down a bit. But, should I just build it now and have it done and ready to go and not have to worry about it later? I just don't know. It's quite the dilemma, honestly. Any advice on my current state of affairs is highly appreciated guys.


2) Regarding a GPU, Case, PSU upgrade since at the very least that's what I'll be upgrading in the coming days:
I've been researching GPUs EXTENSIVELY. I'm pretty certain I want a 560 Ti 1gb or 6950 2gb. I am really leaning towards the 560 Ti because I am more of an Nvidia kind of guy, but then I stumbled upon something. Nvidia announced a re-fresh (a new 'version', if you will) of the 560 Ti is coming out this Holiday, so in about a month. Getting a 560 Ti now (and I want to upgrade GPUs NOW for Skyrim, not wait for the new 560 Ti) would be silly because it would be replaced by a better version in a month. Seeing that, is it smarter to get a 6950 so it won't be replaced immediately like the 560 Ti? I've never really gotten an AMD GPU, would the 6950 be a good card? Is AMD as bad on drivers as people say?

If the 6950 makes more sense, that brings me to my other part of the question. Which 6950 card is a good one to buy? And is 1gb enough for my uses - 1920x1080 res? There are tons of manufactures and models and what-not, and I just don't know. I've looked at a few that include the HIS IceQ X Turbo, both the 1gb and 2gb versions of the MSI Twin Frozr 6950s, XFX 2gb, Sapphire Flex 2gb, Sapphire Dirt3 Edition 2gb, honestly the list goes on. They vary in price, from about $240-270 with some having MIBs.

3) My third and final question (I know it's been rough going through all this, I apologize).
What case should I get, any suggestions? I'm looking at the $80-120 range, as any lower is cheap and too budget, and any higher is kind of expensive for a case IMO. $80-120 AFTER a MIB is fine though. I've looked at a ton of brands: Antec, NZXT, Corsair, CoolerMaster, Lian Li (kind of like theirs a lot, are these any good?), Silvertone, and a bunch of other ones.

apologize guys for giving you such a lengthy novel that you had to read. I just want advice on these 3 subject areas, and seeing as a lot of the reason I want to upgrade my system or at least some components is for Skyrim (but also other future games) I figured this was a great place to get info. Again, I apologize for having such a long post. Also, when I'm super tired which I am today I kind of get a bit happy with my punctuation, so sorry about the excessive amounts of parenthesis. Haha.

Thanks in advance. I appreciate any time and effort in helping me out.

1.) I think your CPU is still fine. You're in better shape than a lot of people tbh. Getting a new card, PSU, and case would be a fine idea. Do you really need a new PSU? what do you currently have?

2.) I have the 2GB version of the 6950...fast card to say the least. Nvidia has their bad driver moments too....neither company is perfect. The current GTX 560 Ti is a card that can trade blows with the Radeon 6950, but I really don't get this refresh. The newer version will be faster and they still want to keep the GTX 560 Ti naming convention? They should just call it the GTX 570 SE or something. This is going to confuse a lot of people, but that's Nvidia always changing naming conventions :rolleyes:

As for brands, most buy from Sapphire as they are tops in AMD GPU sales. XFX, MSI, Asus, and HIS follow. It falls down to warranty coverage really and customer service...XFX has the double lifetime warranty, but quite a lot of horror stories with their service these days. The rest are 3 year with decent service. Not much difference between cards from each brand...could just be a simple OC (5% increase maybe), quieter/better fan, more accessories, etc. A 6950 is still a 6950 no matter what vendor. 2GB VRAM could help with high res textures later on when the mods come full swing. Get that version if you can afford it.

3.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006644+100007583&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=-1&description=nzxt+phantom&hisInDesc=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc=

Just looked up that case and it doesn't look like it fits m-ATX mobos which is what mine currently is... Also, it only fits 290mm VGAs which is super short. Is there a way to fit my mobo and put bigger GPUs in it?

Thanks for your help though! And I think I will go with the 6950, probably 1gb. What's a good manufacture of a 1gb 6950?

That case does fit Micro-ATX board and it's a solid choice as most Lian Li cases are:
http://www.lancoolpc.com/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=15&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=62&g=spec

May not be convenient for large video cards though.

[Tyrel]

I've been watching for video card deals and I'm wondering if I have this right. My budget is $90-$110 (115 max) after rebates. The cards in this range seem to be:
GTS 450
GTX 550 Ti
HD 6770
HD 6790 (I've found several for $110 post rebate.)

If a GTX 460 hit under $120 after rebate I'd grab that but I highly doubt any of the holiday sales will be that outrageously good.

Looking up the prices, it looks like the best values in that price range are the GTX 550Ti and HD 6790 (which is slightly more powerful?). Do I have this correct? I plan to watch for special holiday sales, and the current ones I see for those cards are regular ones. I'm in no rush but I don't want to miss a great holiday deal if there is one.

On a semi-related note, what the heck is the difference between these cards other than the cooler and extra display port? It looks like the more expensive one has two power plugs as well, yet when I look it up it looks like it's the exact same graphical power?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150564
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150534 (More expensive just for the better cooler and extra display port I'm guessing?)

However, DDR2 RAM puts you in the AMD AM2+ bracket or Intel LGA 775...both old platforms now. Considering the weak video card, you're almost better off just building a new PC in my opinion.

While I agree with your advice about that particular motherboard since it's for Intel CPUs, if it were a socket AM2+ motherboard I wouldn't agree someone would need a new motherboard.

Most AM2+ motherboards support socket AM3 CPUs with a BIOS update. The only disadvantage (according to what I've found in searches) is that it would still use DDR2 RAM... but from what I've been reading the speed advantage of DDR3 over DDR2 really doesn't matter for typical gaming. Socket AM2+ (and socket AM3) wouldn't support an AM3+ processor, but those are brand new and probably not a good idea for the price yet anyway, whereas there are many sub-$150 AM3 processors that would (probably) work in an AM2+ motherboard (with said BIOS update).

I don't have personal experience here but I've been looking it up since I'll be getting an old AM2+ motherboard and CPU in the nearish future, though I don't know the power of the CPU yet (other than that it's a dual core Athlon 64). If the CPU isn't good enough, I'll not get a new motherboard and simply get a socket AM3 CPU, though I hope the dual core will be good enough (and dual core Athlon 64 by itself doesn't answer that).

[Toby Green]

Just to let you know, if you configured that system differently from default, we're not seeing it right now. You will have to mention the changes.

If you left everything at default, then it's a terrible system as is. No video card and a garbage power supply. Should spec out the system similar to how it was with my last link to the Hurricane.

Right, my mistake. I configured it myself.


EZCool A200D Basic Case
Intel i5 2500K 3.3GHz (Intel stock cooler)
Asus P8H61-M LE/USB3 Basic Micro ATX Motherboard
8GB PC3-10666 1333MHz DDR3 Memory (2 x 4GB sticks)
Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 560.
1000GB 7200RPM Hard Disk
Sony 24x DVD-RW Drive
Xigmatek Premium Grade 500W PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

[ezra]

I've been watching for video card deals and I'm wondering if I have this right. My budget is $90-$110 (115 max) after rebates. The cards in this range seem to be:
GTS 450
GTX 550 Ti
HD 6770
HD 6790 (I've found several for $110 post rebate.)

If a GTX 460 hit under $120 after rebate I'd grab that but I highly doubt any of the holiday sales will be that outrageously good.

Looking up the prices, it looks like the best values in that price range are the GTX 550Ti and HD 6790 (which is slightly more powerful?). Do I have this correct? I plan to watch for special holiday sales, and the current ones I see for those cards are regular ones. I'm in no rush but I don't want to miss a great holiday deal if there is one.

On a semi-related note, what the heck is the difference between these cards other than the cooler and extra display port? It looks like the more expensive one has two power plugs as well, yet when I look it up it looks like it's the exact same graphical power?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150564
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150534 (More expensive just for the better cooler and extra display port I'm guessing?)


While I agree with your advice about that particular motherboard since it's for Intel CPUs, if it were a socket AM2+ motherboard I wouldn't agree someone would need a new motherboard.

Most AM2+ motherboards support socket AM3 CPUs with a BIOS update. The only disadvantage (according to what I've found in searches) is that it would still use DDR2 RAM... but from what I've been reading the speed advantage of DDR3 over DDR2 really doesn't matter for typical gaming. Socket AM2+ (and socket AM3) wouldn't support an AM3+ processor, but those are brand new and probably not a good idea for the price yet anyway, whereas there are many sub-$150 AM3 processors that would (probably) work in an AM2+ motherboard (with said BIOS update).

I don't have personal experience here but I've been looking it up since I'll be getting an old AM2+ motherboard and CPU in the nearish future, though I don't know the power of the CPU yet (other than that it's a dual core Athlon 64). If the CPU isn't good enough, I'll not get a new motherboard and simply get a socket AM3 CPU, though I hope the dual core will be good enough (and dual core Athlon 64 by itself doesn't answer that).

For now, those would be the best cards for that price range. I've seen the GTX 460 go as low as $115 and that's w/o rebates....but of course they get snatched up real quick. IT's not common, but you might see some decent deals during the holidays...just gotta keep eyes open and be quick.

The only difference between those two cards is the fan. The dual-fan version is going to OC a lot better than the standard one if that's what you're into. The extra 6-pin PCI-E connector is probably for that fancier fan and handling OCing.

But it's not an AM2+ motherboard. ...I guess he could get a cheap AM2+ board just to salvage the RAM, but DDR3 is so cheap now. And there aren't many retail new AM2+ boards nowadays. If it's on an extreme budget, then it can be an option and can pick up a Phenom II X4 955/965.

Right, my mistake. I configured it myself.


EZCool A200D Basic Case
Intel i5 2500K 3.3GHz (Intel stock cooler)
Asus P8H61-M LE/USB3 Basic Micro ATX Motherboard
8GB PC3-10666 1333MHz DDR3 Memory (2 x 4GB sticks)
Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 560.
1000GB 7200RPM Hard Disk
Sony 24x DVD-RW Drive
Xigmatek Premium Grade 500W PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

You can go with that system if you wish. It comes with a monitor, which of course can be removed to make the system ever cheaper. Some notes:

- If you have no intentions of overclocking the CPU, the motherboard is fine. If you do, then it's not a good choice
- Upgrade PSU to the FSP or Corsair unit. Well worth the extra money.

[Allison C]

For now, those would be the best cards for that price range. I've seen the GTX 460 go as low as $115 and that's w/o rebates....but of course they get snatched up real quick. IT's not common, but you might see some decent deals during the holidays...just gotta keep eyes open and be quick.

The only difference between those two cards is the fan. The dual-fan version is going to OC a lot better than the standard one if that's what you're into. The extra 6-pin PCI-E connector is probably for that fancier fan and handling OCing.

Thanks. Since I can play Skyrim on a computer with the GTS 450 anyway (albeit in a more busy room, yeah first world problems I'm not complaining) I'll see if the GTX 460 goes lower. If not I'm sure I'll be happy with one of the others since most of the games I play are years old now.

I had PNY refuse to honor a warranty "because they weren't making that model card anymore" two years after it came out, of a three year warranty. If I got snubbed out of $400 back then (I will never pay so much for a video card again, or buy PNY despite hearing they usually aren't that bad) I'm not going to risk overclocking which does void the warranty. It's neat reading about the results of those who do though.