[dav]

So I'm gonna upgrade my graphics card to an http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130662 and I was wondering if it'll max a game like Skyrim at a resolution of 1920x1080?

[Ashley Tamen]

ight so im trying to figure out witch motherboard is better the two motherboards are NVIDIA GeForce 7025 vs. ASUS M5A97 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Can't tell you which is better but I can tell you this much:

Nvidia GeForce 7025 isn't a motherboard, it's a chipset used by motherboards.

[Alexxxxxx]

DDR2,so yes I think I'll be needing some new RAM also.

And what other specs do you need to know exactly?

Also, how much would a decent(by decent I mean at least a 600W) PSU cost? I unfortunetely found out my PSU is only 375W, which would explain the "VPU Recover" issues I've been having.

Thanks.

My budget is probably a problem, I'd say 350$ max, which probably isn't enough for everything(new CPU, mobo(which means new case), new RAM, and a new PSU) I know my GPU(ATI Radeon 5450) isn't very good but I'll upgrade that later in the future. Anyway, here's what I got from CPU-Z

That's a Dell system. Their cases and motherboards tend to be proprietary so changing one usually warrants changing the other. Your 375W PSU is more powerful than you think...Dell PSUs are generally conservatively specced, so I don't see a problem with your unit at all. VPU Recover errors are generally from the video card overheating. Suggest you to turn off ATI's overdrive in the Catalyst if it's on. That's not really a gaming card to begin with.

$350 is not much to go on. While things can probably be done, changing your motherboard can be issues for your operating system install if you're planning to just bring the hard drive over...Dell pre-installed OS tend to be tied to the motherboard. This is not just a plug and play kind of thing...I always reinstall my OS with a new motherboard to avoid issues, but Dell doesn't exactly use a standard OEM OS install.

May really want to rethink about upgrading this Dell...I'd rather you save up more money for a new system. With Dell machines, I don't like suggesting upgrades that involve changing the motherboard at all. Several possibilities for incompatibilities and other issues.

OKAY. So I'm ordering parts tomorrow and I want confirmation that this build is good and okay for gaming and the likes.

http://i43.tinypic.com/346p7o7.png. It's a picture file. I already have the hard disk!

If no intentions of overclocking, then the system looks fine.

ight so im trying to figure out witch motherboard is better the two motherboards are NVIDIA GeForce 7025 vs. ASUS M5A97 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

The first is just a motherboard chipset and not really a recent one. The Asus is a good board with AM3+ support and a much more recent 970/SB950 chipset.

I have a computer power-consumption question...it's not specific to one piece of hardware.

First, here's my specs:


Second, my PSU: Corsair tx750w

The question:
Some are telling me that even at idle, this setup would be svcking up 700watts of power and at max GPU load it'd be closer to 1100w. eg, I need a much more monstrous PSU. I don't disagree that at very heavy GPU load (something I don't do a lot) I might go a bit over 750, so maybe I could use a 850-900w PSU to be super safe. But 700w at idle? 1100 on load? From my limited research/knowledge & advice from some others, I'd disagree. I'm thinking more like 350-400w. Am I wrong/what's your take? Seems like if it was 700w at idle I'd have all kinds of issues playing almost any current game on top of it.

The eXtreme Power Supply Calculator site has me at around 650w at 90% load...assuming I input all the stuff correctly. (edit: scratch that, input some stuff wrong. Closer to 750w at 90% w/some capacitor aging - but I doubt I reach 90% very much....and not sure what 'capacitor aging' to pick/how accurate that is anyway - 20% seems like a lot, wattage estimate goes up/down a lot per available % selection)

:rolleyes: Whoever told you your system is svcking 700W of power at idle has no idea what they're talking about. Your PSU is more than sufficient for your setup. Under extreme load (which is rare), that system would be close to 650W of power consumption...so yea, the PSU is fine.

I just got my Nvidia 550 Ti today from the black Monday sale on tigerdirect.com. I installed it and everything to go as usual with video card upgrades. But something unusual occurred. The drivers installed some 4 other devices that show up in the device manager, but as unknown devices. What are http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w25/SquealOfDeath/4unknowndevices.jpg?

OS: Windows XP SP3
CPU: Intel E7500
RAM: 2GB DDR2
GPU: EVGA Geforce 550 Ti

Sure those aren't some sort of portable device(s)? Or a Communication Port on the motherboard. Might want to check if all your motherboard drivers are installed.

Hello everyone, I'm very new to computer parts and building/buying a gaming computer. I was looking for a computer to run Skyrim on high settings. So I was wondering if you guys had suggestions on parts for me to buy.

1. My budget is pretty flexible. I'm not too smart with how expensive all the parts will be so my budget isn't yet yet. I'm guessing around the 1000 US dollar price range.
2. I live in the US.
3. If there is a good pre assembled PC that would be awesome. If not I have a local store to help with the building.
4. I need a ton of things besides the tower. I basically just need windows. I'll be playing on a TV, and using a Xbox controller so a cheap mouse and keyboard will work.
5. Not many preferences.

Thanks for the help!

$1K is a good budget to have. Build it yourself with that budget....you'll get more for the money. Do you have a Microcenter store nearby? They will have the best deal for a Sandybridge 2500K processor with a motherboard bundle. Otherwise, newegg/amazon will be your friend.

CASE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196
CPU+MOBO Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.777644
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186....unless http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 comes back in
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371048
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150524....or...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130623
OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

Should be between $1000-$1100. Can get a rAdeon 6870 or a plain GTX 560 instead to save some money.

So I'm gonna upgrade my graphics card to an http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130662 and I was wondering if it'll max a game like Skyrim at a resolution of 1920x1080?

Should be fine. Although you'd probably be fine with even 1GB of VRAM at that resolution...in which case consider the GTX 560 Ti for more performance. Then again, texture pack mods will probably come to Skyrim too where the 2GB may be beneficial.

[louise fortin]

Should be fine. Although you'd probably be fine with even 1GB of VRAM at that resolution...in which case consider the GTX 560 Ti for more performance. Then again, texture pack mods will probably come to Skyrim too where the 2GB may be beneficial.

Coming from an ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB, how much increase in performance can I expect to see?

[cheryl wright]

That's a Dell system. Their cases and motherboards tend to be proprietary so changing one usually warrants changing the other. Your 375W PSU is more powerful than you think...Dell PSUs are generally conservatively specced, so I don't see a problem with your unit at all. VPU Recover errors are generally from the video card overheating. Suggest you to turn off ATI's overdrive in the Catalyst if it's on. That's not really a gaming card to begin with.

$350 is not much to go on. While things can probably be done, changing your motherboard can be issues for your operating system install if you're planning to just bring the hard drive over...Dell pre-installed OS tend to be tied to the motherboard. This is not just a plug and play kind of thing...I always reinstall my OS with a new motherboard to avoid issues, but Dell doesn't exactly use a standard OEM OS install.

May really want to rethink about upgrading this Dell...I'd rather you save up more money for a new system. With Dell machines, I don't like suggesting upgrades that involve changing the motherboard at all. Several possibilities for incompatibilities and other issues.

Yeah but if I were to get Win7 with a new motherboard wouldn't that be fine? And it's hardly a dell machine anymore, the mobo, PSU, and fans are the only default components left(along with the case obviously). And while the OS isn't "pre-installed" it was installed from an OS disk for dell machines.

[Oscar Vazquez]

Why would you ever need 16GB of RAM?

Upgrading to 16GB of RAM is going to be my first planned upgrade. 8 GBs is really limiting when running virtual machines or doing high-end multimedia editing.

[Roddy]

Coming from an ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB, how much increase in performance can I expect to see?

You're going to see a pretty substantial increase in performance from that upgrade, some better performance on a broader range of games with the 560 Ti if you decide to go that route, but nonetheless somewhere in the realm of 15-35fps for most modern games. I'm no good with percentage power increases, but I'm pretty confident with that assumption.

[Fiori Pra]

Why would you ever waste your time with such a useless comment? I'm looking for advice on what RAM to buy, I don't care whether you think I should buy it in the first place.

Here is a 16 gig pack for 75 USD. It is rated well, and it is super-cheap. It is on the slower side for DDR3 RAM, but it can get expensive when searching for higher end pieces.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231309

[Doniesha World]

Hokay, so I'm back again... Since I've got my new cooler, I decided to try my hand at getting some cores unlocked from my Athlon II X3 445. Last time I was here Tigol linked me to http://www.overclock.net/t/535501/amd-k10-5-core-cache-unlocking-guide. I tried following along but I ran into a couple problems. I had to get the newest version of my bios in order to get the core unlocking feature (my mobo is a GA-890x-UD3 rev 1), and it also says if using a Gigabyte board (which I am) to turn on either "EC firmware to hybrid" or turn on "unleashing". I don't see either of those options. I did some googling, and I figured I'd try just turning on CPU unlock and see what happens. It restarts, it shows the 4th core, but when I booted I got a 0x0000225 error about winload.exe being corrupted. I thought that was something about my core being unstable, so I boosted up my vcore and vcore-nb up to 1.5 and 1.275 respectively, going .250 at a time. After that didn't solve anything, I put everything back to defaults and still got this error. Put in my windows disc, did a repair, and now I'm here.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, or why my Windows got corrupted. Is my mobo not able to unlock cores properly or something? I don't know what EC firmware hybrid or unleashing is, and why I don't have those options. Any ideas?

The EC firmware should be in the MB Intellingent Tweaker (M.I.T) section as far as I know. Rather important to have this done before attempting to unlock anything.

Yeah but if I were to get Win7 with a new motherboard wouldn't that be fine? And it's hardly a dell machine anymore, the mobo, PSU, and fans are the only default components left(along with the case obviously). And while the OS isn't "pre-installed" it was installed from an OS disk for dell machines.

I take it then the $350 budget doesn't need to include the OS? If so, here's what you can do:

CASE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186....unless http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 comes back in

Can use current PSU. Get a better video card, which you already plan to do. A Radeon 6770 or even 6850 would be fine with your PSU.

[Mario Alcantar]

If no intentions of overclocking, then the system looks fine.

Excellent!

[sunny lovett]

Here is a 16 gig pack for 75 USD. It is rated well, and it is super-cheap. It is on the slower side for DDR3 RAM, but it can get expensive when searching for higher end pieces.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231309

That is desktop RAM, hyrule4927 said he was going to be upgrading a laptop. Desktop RAM will not fit inside a laptop. (Desktop =240Pin DIMM, Laptop = 204Pin SO-DIMM)

I personally love having 16GB of RAM on my desktop, its great for multi-tasking and VM's as Defron said above.

[Sophie Morrell]

That is desktop RAM, hyrule4927 said he was going to be upgrading a laptop. Desktop RAM will not fit inside a laptop. (Desktop =240Pin DIMM, Laptop = 204Pin SO-DIMM)

I personally love having 16GB of RAM on my desktop, its great for multi-tasking and VM's as Defron said above.

I did not hear the laptop part... derp... :banghead:

[matt white]

How would this build run Skyrim?

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=20889427

I still need a hard disk BTW.

[Heather M]

How would this build run Skyrim?

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=20889427

I still need a hard disk BTW.

Max, or right on the edge.

Heres you a HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

[Myles]

The EC firmware should be in the MB Intellingent Tweaker (M.I.T) section as far as I know. Rather important to have this done before attempting to unlock anything.




I take it then the $350 budget doesn't need to include the OS? If so, here's what you can do:

CASE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186....unless http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 comes back in

Can use current PSU. Get a better video card, which you already plan to do. A Radeon 6770 or even 6850 would be fine with your PSU.

Thanks a bunch.

[^_^]

I don't know if my problem warrants a whole thread so I thought I'd try here first.

In my flat at uni I've got a cable going from the wall to my laptop that connects me to the internet. It's getting pretty annoying since I have to sit at my desk all the time when I want to use the internet and it gets really uncomfortable after a while. My question to all you technically minded people is: If I bought a wireless router, would I be able to plug in the cable from the wall to the router, and have the internet transmitted wirelessly?

This might sound totally stupid but I have next to no knowledge about how these things work. All I know is, when I'm at home the internet comes from a router and I can sit wherever I want, and at uni I have to use this annoying cable. Here's a picture of http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/Lady-Mara-2/100_1249.jpg if that helps at all.

[x a million...]

My question to all you technically minded people is: If I bought a wireless router, would I be able to plug in the cable from the wall to the router, and have the internet transmitted wirelessly?

Yup, as long as your laptop has wireless connectivity. (which I'm guessing it does if you use it at home)

[Jade Muggeridge]

I don't know if my problem warrants a whole thread so I thought I'd try here first.

In my flat at uni I've got a cable going from the wall to my laptop that connects me to the internet. It's getting pretty annoying since I have to sit at my desk all the time when I want to use the internet and it gets really uncomfortable after a while. My question to all you technically minded people is: If I bought a wireless router, would I be able to plug in the cable from the wall to the router, and have the internet transmitted wirelessly?

This might sound totally stupid but I have next to no knowledge about how these things work. All I know is, when I'm at home the internet comes from a router and I can sit wherever I want, and at uni I have to use this annoying cable. Here's a picture of http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/Lady-Mara-2/100_1249.jpg if that helps at all.

What Narmy said.

To add a little to that though, check into getting a Wifi anolyzer (I have one on my Droid), so that you can check the traffic on the different channels of the router. You'll have the best results if you pick a channel that has the least amount of people on it.

[Stu Clarke]

I'm in the market for a new keyboard, and am thinking about switching to mechanical. I was wondering if anybody has any experience with mechanical keyboards, or recommendations. I was thinking about a http://tigerimports.net/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=11422, but I'm not sure if it's worth the all that money, and a hefty shipping charge of $37. Thanks in advanced.

EDIT: And I know about the noise of mechanical keyboards, a friend of mine has one with Cherry MX Blue switches, which I think are the loudest, and they did not bother me after hours of listening to them at a LAN party.

[SEXY QUEEN]

I'm in the market for a new keyboard, and am thinking about switching to mechanical. I was wondering if anybody has any experience with mechanical keyboards, or recommendations. I was thinking about a http://tigerimports.net/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=11422, but I'm not sure if it's worth the all that money, and a hefty shipping charge of $37. Thanks in advanced.

EDIT: And I know about the noise of mechanical keyboards, a friend of mine has one with Cherry MX Blue switches, which I think are the loudest, and they did not bother me after hours of listening to them at a LAN party.

If you plan to game on it at all, I would suggest against MX Blue keyswitches. The way the stem works, there can be issues with doubletapping keys. Cherry MX Clears are essentially Blues that don't click, and because they don't have a stem structure that allows for the click, they don't have doubletapping issues. MX Browns are a more commonly found, and lighter version of the clears. The tactile feedback isn't as strong, and the actuation weight is lower.

Some people like MX Blacks for gaming, but I think all linear keyswitches are terrible for pretty much anything, and don't find tactile feedback to be a problem in any type of game.

Unless you're really set on a backlit keyboard, I would strongly suggest avoiding them. Unless you can't touchtype, they don't help at all, and drastically increase the price of the keyboard, as well as limiting your selection.

For clears:
Leopold makes a tenkeyless keyboard in http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,tenkeyless&pid=fc200reaw or http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,tenkeyless&pid=fc200reab
Deck makes backlit keyboards that use MX clears. http://www.deckkeyboards.com/

For blues:
The http://www.amazon.com/Razer-BlackWidow-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboard/dp/B003ZJ1VD8 is usually the cheapest you'll find.

Leopold also makes a MX Blue, Red, and Brown version of both their full-size and tenkeyless keyboards.

[Dean Brown]

If you plan to game on it at all, I would suggest against MX Blue keyswitches. The way the stem works, there can be issues with doubletapping keys. Cherry MX Clears are essentially Blues that don't click, and because they don't have a stem structure that allows for the click, they don't have doubletapping issues. MX Browns are a more commonly found, and lighter version of the clears. The tactile feedback isn't as strong, and the actuation weight is lower.

Some people like MX Blacks for gaming, but I think all linear keyswitches are terrible for pretty much anything, and don't find tactile feedback to be a problem in any type of game.

Unless you're really set on a backlit keyboard, I would strongly suggest avoiding them. Unless you can't touchtype, they don't help at all, and drastically increase the price of the keyboard, as well as limiting your selection.

For clears:
Leopold makes a tenkeyless keyboard in http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,tenkeyless&pid=fc200reaw or http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,tenkeyless&pid=fc200reab
Deck makes backlit keyboards that use MX clears. http://www.deckkeyboards.com/

For blues:
The http://www.amazon.com/Razer-BlackWidow-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboard/dp/B003ZJ1VD8 is usually the cheapest you'll find.

Leopold also makes a MX Blue, Red, and Brown version of both their full-size and tenkeyless keyboards.

Thank's a lot. I was not aware of the problem with the blue switches, and it being backlit isn't that big of a deal, I wanted to stick with the ricey look of my current keyboard (which is a Logitech G110,) but now I'm not that sure if I like the look. I'm going to look into the Leopold one, with either browns or clears. Another one of my friends has a DAS Ultimate with brown switches, and he's letting me borrow it for a while so I can make up my mind on whether or not I need to make the switch to a mechanical.

EDIT: Another question, I only have about 100 gigabytes left on my 1tb WD Black. I was looking at a 500gb Hitachi hard drive for $90. I know they aren't really the most reliable, and the price is outrages, but I can't justify paying the even more outrages price of a Samsung or Western Digital drive. My question is should I go through my current drive and delete stuff try to wait out while the factories rebuild, or buy this hard drive before the price goes up anymore?

[rae.x]

Thank's a lot. I was not aware of the problem with the blue switches, and it being backlit isn't that big of a deal, I wanted to stick with the ricey look of my current keyboard (which is a Logitech G110,) but now I'm not that sure if I like the look. I'm going to look into the Leopold one, with either browns or clears. Another one of my friends has a DAS Ultimate with brown switches, and he's letting me borrow it for a while so I can make up my mind on whether or not I need to make the switch to a mechanical.

EDIT: Another question, I only have about 100 gigabytes left on my 1tb WD Black. I was looking at a 500gb Hitachi hard drive for $90. I know they aren't really the most reliable, and the price is outrages, but I can't justify paying the even more outrages price of a Samsung or Western Digital drive. My question is should I go through my current drive and delete stuff try to wait out while the factories rebuild, or buy this hard drive before the price goes up anymore?

The Hitachi Deathstar? :shakehead:

[Lifee Mccaslin]

EDIT: Another question, I only have about 100 gigabytes left on my 1tb WD Black. I was looking at a 500gb Hitachi hard drive for $90. I know they aren't really the most reliable, and the price is outrages, but I can't justify paying the even more outrages price of a Samsung or Western Digital drive. My question is should I go through my current drive and delete stuff try to wait out while the factories rebuild, or buy this hard drive before the price goes up anymore?

Well are we talking about a need for just raw storage here? Or something for holding the OS?

If going Hitachi, you can get http://www.frys.com/product/5947234?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG for the same price you are reporting for that 500 GB one

Amazon currently has the best price on http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Desktop-WD20EARS/dp/B002ZCXK0I though the inflation of this is about 2.25 times the pre-flood price.

There are a couple of other fairly priced ones at Frys, but only if your local frys has them in-stock still. Something worth checking out.

[Veronica Flores]

Well are we talking about a need for just raw storage here? Or something for holding the OS?

If going Hitachi, you can get http://www.frys.com/product/5947234?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG for the same price you are reporting for that 500 GB one

Amazon currently has the best price on http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Desktop-WD20EARS/dp/B002ZCXK0I though the inflation of this is about 2.25 times the pre-flood price.

There are a couple of other fairly priced ones at Frys, but only if your local frys has them in-stock still. Something worth checking out.

Thank's a lot for the info. I was just looking for a dump drive. I never thought to check out local shops, so thanks for that advice, it saved me a lot of money while still buying a hard drive I could trust. I just went to Futureshop (Canadain electronics store) and I picked up a 1tb Western Digital Caviar Green that was on sale for $69. Thanks again.

[Genevieve]

Max, or right on the edge.

Heres you a HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Thanks!