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Spy · Jan 2, 2010

The 2010 high-res PC screenshot thread!
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=383744

Triple buffering: "Why we love it"
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366413

Why you should become a PC gamer!
http://adrianwerner.wordpress.com

2009 Thread
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=346008

2008 Thread
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=242699

Newegg (Parts)
Chief Value (Parts)
Micro Center (Parts)
NCIXUS (Parts, Assembly)
Performance-PCs (Parts)
Tiger Direct (Parts, Bing Cashback)
ZipZoomfly (Parts)
AVADirect (Custom Built)
Falcon Northwest (Custom Built)
MAINGEAR (Custom Built)

NCIX (Parts, Assembly, Price Match)
Canada Computers (Parts)
DirectCanada (Parts)
Memory Express (Parts, Assembly, Price Match)
Newegg (Parts)
Tiger Direct (Parts)
PriceBat (Price Comparison)
PriceCanada (Price Comparison)
Shopbot (Price Comparison)

Novatech (Parts)
Aria PC (Parts)
Ebuyer (Parts, Custom Built)
Microdirect (Parts)
Misco (Parts)
Scan (Parts)
Dino PC (Custom Built)
YoYoTech (Custom Built)

PC Case Gear (Parts)
MSY (Parts)
Scorpion Technology (Parts)
Umart (Parts)
staticICE (Product Finder)

AnandTech
Ars Technica
ExtremeTech
Guru3D
HardOCP
Hardware Canucks
Maximum PC
Overclockers
The Tech Report
Tom's Hardware
X-bit labs

ATITool allows you to stress test your video card.
CPU-Z gathers information on your CPU, FSB, VCORE voltage and memory timings.
EVGA Precision allows you to overclock your NVIDIA GPU.
Fraps allows you to record real time video, take screen captures and display your FPS.
FurMark allows you to stress test your GPU.
GPU-Z gathers information on your video card and GPU.
HWMonitor gathers you a full range of temperatures, voltage settings, fan speeds, and many other things.
Memtest86+ allows you to run a full memory scan to deal with the blue screen of death and system errors.
MemtestG80 allows you to test for soft errors in GPU memory for NVIDIA CUDA-enabled GPUs.
nHancer allows you to optimize the display, improve the performance and fully utilize your NVIDIA graphics card.
OCCT allows you to stress test your CPU and GPU.
Prime95 allows you to stress test the stability of your computer.
Real Temp allows you to monitor the temperature of your CPU core(s).
RivaTuner allows you to manage GPU overclocking, fan speed and monitor many things.
SpeedFan allows you to monitor fan speed, temperature, voltage and can access S.M.A.R.T. data.

Firestorm · Jan 2, 2010

$1000 Canadian Build (Updated January 14th, 2010)

$600 and $1000 US Builds by brain_stew on January 25th, 2010

brain_stew said:
GAF's recommended "best bang for buck" high end rig (US edition):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103064
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128406
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100302
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131184
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.323129

Total = $940-$25MIR = $915

GAF's recommended ultimate budget gaming rig (US edition):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136167
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119203
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131603
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.312206
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.323089

$625- $35MIR = $590

I'll sort the formatting out later but I'd recommend people to consult these as a base guide to work on. Any recommendations to improve them are welcome.

zoku88 · Jan 2, 2010

Not sure if we had it in past years, but since there's some competition in SSDs now, we can probably write some stuff about it (like the OCZ ones and the Intel ones, mainly).

Or, maybe something controller specific.

EDIT: Oh, SATA 6GBps is coming this year, isn't it (I guess its technically already in an ASUS board, right?) Maybe that should be mentioned, too? ^^

Lkr · Jan 2, 2010

I hope SSD and sata 6.0gb/s will bring down prices on current hard drives for me

zoku88 · Jan 2, 2010

Lkr said:
I hope SSD and sata 6.0gb/s will bring down prices on current hard drives for me

What more do you want? They're already super low! :lol :lol

Slavik81 · Jan 2, 2010

From my bookmarked list of places to buy in Canada:
http://www.directcanada.com/
http://www.canadacomputers.com/
http://www.memoryexpress.com/
http://www.ncix.com/
http://www.newegg.ca/
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/

MWS Natural · Jan 2, 2010

Not made my PCDF General Brain Stew???

evil solrac v3.0 · Jan 2, 2010

MWS Natural said:
Not made my PCDF General Brain Stew???

he's got finals.

should we also add our computer builds?

edit: i think the other download service logos should be added, frankly speaking, there shouldn't be any of those logos. this is more about PC hardware than games, we could always make a PC games thread.

Shambles · Jan 2, 2010

evil solrac v3.0 said:
he's got finals.

should we also add our computer builds?

edit: i think the other download service logos should be added, frankly speaking, there shouldn't be any of those logos. this is more about PC hardware than games, we could always make a PC games thread.

Even if it was a games thread we already have a dedicated Steam thread.

Spy · Jan 2, 2010

evil solrac v3.0 said:
he's got finals.

should we also add our computer builds?

edit: i think the other download service logos should be added, frankly speaking, there shouldn't be any of those logos. this is more about PC hardware than games, we could always make a PC games thread.

The logo wasn't specifically advertising Steam but games in general. It's where I planned to link to PC gaming threads, if you guys don't like it I can remove it.

Dark Stalkers · Jan 2, 2010

What should I upgrade first? My 8800gt or my e2180?

evil solrac v3.0 · Jan 2, 2010

Spy said:
The logo wasn't specifically advertising Steam but games in general. It's where I planned to link to PC gaming threads, if you guys don't like it I can remove it.

well, that sounds fine.

Nemo · Jan 2, 2010

Dark Stalkers said:
What should I upgrade first? My 8800gt or my e2180?

Depends. Are you a PC gamer? I imagine the card doesn't quite cut it at 30- fps when maxed in games. If you want the latest get a new card, then again I don't know if and how much you'll be bottlenecking.

Firestorm · Jan 2, 2010

Slavik81 said:
From my bookmarked list of places to buy in Canada:
http://www.directcanada.com/
http://www.canadacomputers.com/
http://www.memoryexpress.com/
http://www.ncix.com/
http://www.newegg.ca/
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/

Yeah that's pretty much.

NCIX (Canada's Newegg, Parts, Price Matches, Assemble for fee, based in BC)
Canada Computers (Parts, based in Ontario)
Memory Express (Parts, Price Matches via phone or store, Assemble for Fee, based in Alberta)
Newegg (Parts, based in California)
PriceCanada (Price Comparison)
ShopBot (Price Comparison)
PriceBat (Price Comparison)

I did a major store from BC, AB, and ON. Most people will take advantage of NCIX's price match policy or buy locally. NCIX also owns DirectCanada, BestDirect, and NXSource.

evil solrac v3.0 · Jan 2, 2010

oh, also links to some of the top PC hardware and games(if any) websites.

Dark Stalkers · Jan 2, 2010

Teetris said:
Depends. Are you a PC gamer? I imagine the card doesn't quite cut it at 30- fps when maxed in games. If you want the latest get a new card, then again I don't know if and how much you'll be bottlenecking.

Yes, I usually run with a mix of medium and high.

Firestorm · Jan 2, 2010

evil solrac v3.0 said:
oh, also links to some of the top PC hardware and games(if any) websites.

Yeah, my favourite for reviews and stuff are:

Anandtech
HardwareCanucks

Spy · Jan 2, 2010

Firestorm said:
Yeah that's pretty much.

NCIX (Canada's Newegg, Parts, Price Matches, Assemble for fee, based in BC)
Canada Computers (Parts, based in Ontario)
Memory Express (Parts, Price Matches via phone or store, Assemble for Fee, based in Alberta)
Newegg (Parts, based in California)
PriceCanada (Price Comparison)
ShopBot (Price Comparison)
PriceBat (Price Comparison)

I did a major store from BC, AB, and ON. Most people will take advantage of NCIX's price match policy or buy locally. NCIX also owns DirectCanada, BestDirect, and NXSource.

Thanks guys! I'll make a section for price matches soon.

Pikelet · Jan 2, 2010

The best sites for Australian pc parts that i have seen are as follows:
http://www.umart.com.au/
http://www.pccasegear.com/
www.msy.com.au
http://www.scorptec.com.au/

evlcookie · Jan 2, 2010

You can also add staticice.com.au to the australian sites. It's just a search engine for some of the sites pikelet has mentioned and more.

sca2511 · Jan 2, 2010

Dark Stalkers said:
What should I upgrade first? My 8800gt or my e2180?

i would say e2180. My cousin and I were in the same boat as you and he chose to upgrade his video card first which ended up being bottlenecked by his CPU. I did the opposite and upgraded my e2180 to a Q9550 and my fps in many games has increased tremendously, there were still legs in my 8800GT. With that said, I only run my games at 1440x900 resolution with an exception of a few at 1080p (SF4 and some older games) for the TV and I'm not too picky with AA and AF.

Nemo · Jan 2, 2010

Dark Stalkers said:
Yes, I usually run with a mix of medium and high.

sca2511 said:
i would say e2180. My cousin and I were in the same boat as you and he chose to upgrade his video card first which ended up being bottlenecked by his CPU. I did the opposite and upgraded my e2180 to a Q9550 and my fps in many games has increased tremendously, there were still legs in my 8800GT. With that said, I only run my games at 1440x900 resolution with an exception of a few at 1080p (SF4 and some older games) for the TV and I'm not too picky with AA and AF.

Yeah, I'd say go for the processor too then. 8800GT will last you, even if it is on medium high settings for at least another year or so. Directx 11 will probably take for a while to fully flesh out anyway which would seem like the only reason to upgrade that videocard imo

brain_stew · Jan 2, 2010

As mentioned in the 2009 thread could you please link to my screenshot and triple buffering threads and throw up a link to the HTPC thread as well.

Mention/bold/highlight Tech Report's buyer's guides as they're the best around.

Under the UK builds switch Ebuyer to parts, and add "parts + custom builds to the scan description. I'd suggest putting Novatech and Ebuyer at the top and highlighting them as well, they're the best UK etailers by a decent distance, really.

You can add YoYo tech and Dino PC under the UK for custom build retailers.

Utilities you want:

OCCT for CPU/GPU stress testing.

ATI Tool/Furmark for GPU stress testing

EVGA Precision and Riva Tuner for GPU OCing

nHancer for Nvidia profile management + extra AA quality modes

FRAPs for taking screenshots

D3DOverrider for tripple buffering, you can link to my thread for this (it comes with Riva Tuner)

Link to these PC building guides:

http://forums.ebuyer.com/showthread.php?t=19603 (note you need to signup to view the pictures, they make the guide a lot more helpful, so do so)

http://techreport.com/articles.x/13671

A cheap $2 (delivered) anti static wrist band (worth having especially for those nervous about their first build):

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.20440

brain_stew · Jan 2, 2010

Dark Stalkers said:
What should I upgrade first? My 8800gt or my e2180?

Processor's fine, just OC to 3ghz and she's golden. Upgrade the 8800GT if you still feel you need more from your games. Try and hold out though, prices are shitty atm.

HomerSimpson-Man · Jan 2, 2010

So when are the 58xx prices going to be more reasonable?

I'm clinging onto my trusty 8800GT at the moment since prices are higher than originally thought.

DR2K · Jan 2, 2010

Are there any good guides out there that can help us console peasants learn about building a PC and what parts to choose? It's so overwhelming.

brain_stew · Jan 2, 2010

DR2K said:
Are there any good guides out there that can help us console peasants learn about building a PC and what parts to choose? It's so overwhelming.

That's what this thread is for, most of that stuff is in that post I just made and will be added to the OP. Generally what sort of budget are you looking for, what are you using it for, where are you based and what performance do you expect.

brain_stew · Jan 2, 2010

HomerSimpson-Man said:
So when are the 58xx prices going to be more reasonable?

I'm clinging onto my trusty 8800GT at the moment since prices are higher than originally thought.

Think we'll have to wait until some competition shows up, so about early Q2 I'd imagine.

Lkr · Jan 2, 2010

idk if I can ask for tech support in here buuuuuut:
I'm trying to use Windows XP ICS to share a connection between a PC and 360, and it flat out refuses to work. The xbox with automatic or manual settings, will not connect to the network. using a standard crossover cable.

brain_stew · Jan 2, 2010

Lkr said:
idk if I can ask for tech support in here buuuuuut:
I'm trying to use Windows XP ICS to share a connection between a PC and 360, and it flat out refuses to work. The xbox with automatic or manual settings, will not connect to the network. using a standard crossover cable.

Just bridging the connections usually works (just select them then right click > bridge connections), try that.

Xenon · Jan 2, 2010

I just upgraded my HDs on my main machine. That left me with 2 250GB sata drives to throw in my media server, AMD XP1700+. The problem was that it did not support sata drives. So I decided to upgrade the MB and processor. I picked up this at Fry's today. http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com...Phenom-II-550-Black-Asus-M4A78L-M-Motherboard

Now Im thinking it would be better to swap out my Dual Core E4400 2Ghz to my media server and use this board as my main PC. I believe there is a chance I can unlock the cores on the 550 to get 3-4 total. Does anyone have anything bad to say about the new AMD chips? I am planning to move my 8800GT to it and was unsure about it since AMD owns ATI.

BTW. Fry has some very cool combo deals. You just have to be careful because they usually have shit MBs.

TouchMyBox · Jan 2, 2010

Lkr said:
idk if I can ask for tech support in here buuuuuut:
I'm trying to use Windows XP ICS to share a connection between a PC and 360, and it flat out refuses to work. The xbox with automatic or manual settings, will not connect to the network. using a standard crossover cable.

I'm totally going out on a limb here as I haven't tried bridging machines with a crossover cable, but you totally don't need a crossover cable to do what you're trying to accomplish. Test it out with just your standard rj-45 and see what happens. As far as making a network bridge goes, XP is quite finicky about doing it, but it's absolutely painless in 7.

brain_stew · Jan 2, 2010

Xenon said:
I just upgraded my HDs on my main machine. That left me with 2 250GB sata drives to throw in my media server, AMD XP1700+. The problem was that it did not support sata drives. So I decided to upgrade the MB and processor. I picked up this at Fry's today. http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com...Phenom-II-550-Black-Asus-M4A78L-M-Motherboard

Now Im thinking it would be better to swap out my Dual Core E4400 2Ghz to my media server and use this board as my main PC. I believe there is a chance I can unlock the cores on the 550 to get 3-4 total. Does anyone have anything bad to say about the new AMD chips? I am planning to move my 8800GT to it and was unsure about it since AMD owns ATI.

BTW. Fry has some very cool combo deals. You just have to be careful because they usually have shit MBs.

That'll smoke your old E4400 so definitely use it in your main rig. Unlocking cores is a lottery and you need the right mobo/BIOS revision to do it. Its a great OCer as well.

brain_stew · Jan 2, 2010

TouchMyBox said:
I'm totally going out on a limb here as I haven't tried bridging machines with a crossover cable, but you totally don't need a crossover cable to do what you're trying to accomplish. Test it out with just your standard rj-45 and see what happens. As far as making a network bridge goes, XP is quite finicky about doing it, but it's absolutely painless in 7.

Actually this might be part of the problem, you're recommended to not use a crossover cable with a 360, though I agree on the finicky part, don't be surprised if it randomly stops working one day for no good reason.

aznpxdd · Jan 2, 2010

Best Buy has the Corsair H50 for $60. Seems like a pretty decent deal for people who want to venture into water cooling without breaking the bank or have the technical know-how.

brain_stew · Jan 2, 2010

aznpxdd said:
Best Buy has the Corsair H50 for $60. Seems like a pretty decent deal for people who want to venture into water cooling without breaking the bank or have the technical know-how.

Budget watercooling is a complete waste of time. Either invest properly or get a decent air cooling solution.

TheExodu5 · Jan 2, 2010

Just want to chime in and say: SSD is totally worth it. I love my new Intel X-25M 80GB drive.

HomerSimpson-Man · Jan 2, 2010

brain_stew said:
Think we'll have to wait until some competition shows up, so about early Q2 I'd imagine.

Hmmmm...I guess I'll might wait and see what happens, or I'll bite the bullet and get the either the 5770 or 4870-90.

Lkr · Jan 2, 2010

brain_stew said:
Actually this might be part of the problem, you're recommended to not use a crossover cable with a 360, though I agree on the finicky part, don't be surprised if it randomly stops working one day for no good reason.

ugh...all of my standard cat5 cables are being used for routers.

Blueblur1 · Jan 2, 2010

Come March, I'll be in here asking all kinds of questions. Until then, the kickass gaming PC I want to build will have to wait.

aznpxdd · Jan 2, 2010

brain_stew said:
Budget watercooling is a complete waste of time. Either invest properly or get a decent air cooling solution.

You should probably read some of the reviews/forum impressions for the H50 before talking out of your ass.

SuperAwesome · Jan 2, 2010

aznpxdd said:
You should probably read some of the reviews/forum impressions for the H50 before talking out of your ass.

It's not so much a water cooling set up, though.

Kintaro · Jan 2, 2010

This year, I would like to make a bitchin' micro ATX gaming rig.

zoku88 · Jan 2, 2010

For utilities,

speedfan can read temps and smart data (if launched in admin mode.)

mr stroke · Jan 2, 2010

TheExodu5 said:
Just want to chime in and say: SSD is totally worth it. I love my new Intel X-25M 80GB drive.

really want to make this my next upgrade, do you notice a massive performance boost?

Anandtech is saying this is THE biggest day to day performance boost you can get out of your PC right now, how fast does your PC boot into windows?(and do you notice a huge boost in speed accessing programs?)

worth the extra $$$?

Kerrinck · Jan 2, 2010

Finally got all the parts for my gaming rig
This will be my first time building a pc and I will be following the guides posted by brain stew.
My only question is, is there any chance I can screw this up and actually break something? If yes, what should I watch out for besides using an anti static wristband?

evlcookie · Jan 2, 2010

Kerrinck said:
Finally got all the parts for my gaming rig
This will be my first time building a pc and I will be following the guides posted by brain stew.
My only question is, is there any chance I can screw this up and actually break something? If yes, what should I watch out for besides using an anti static wristband?

I've never used an anti-static wristband before, having said that, if you have one then you are more than welcome to use it.

It's like lego. Shit should just go together. The CPU Cooler may require a little bit of force but don't go in too hard or you could break the cpu / snap the motherboard. It sounds scary but you have to really go in hard to do any real damage.

Everything else has it's place. Ram will fit into ram slots, GPU will fit into the GPU slot and so on. Just take your time and plan what should go in first, second, third, last. You might run into some issues with what should go in first, but trial and error. Just take your time, There's never a rush to building a PC.

TheExodu5 · Jan 2, 2010

mr stroke said:
really want to make this my next upgrade, do you notice a massive performance boost?

Anandtech is saying this is THE biggest day to day performance boost you can get out of your PC right now, how fast does your PC boot into windows?(and do you notice a huge boost in speed accessing programs?)

worth the extra $$$?

Once it gets to the "Starting Windows" screen, it takes about 15 seconds or so until I'm ready to go. Desktop boots nearly instantly, and I can use my apps nearly instantly as well.

If you want a decent comparison with opening apps, I've noticed a huge difference with iTunes. Right now, it takes about 1 second or so for iTunes to open and be 100% usable.

The unresponsiveness of my PC was always annoying to me in the past...I hate hanging there even if it just means waiting 5 seconds. I'm very happy with my upgrade.

Hazaro · Jan 2, 2010

Add these to OP please

TechReport Christmas 2009 Builders Guide (Many configurations and price points to choose from!)

Utilities for any PC gamer:
Prime95 - Stress test the stability of your system on stock settings or your latest Overclock.
CPU-Z - Gathers system CPU, FSB, Vcore Voltage and memory timings presents it in a clean and tidy way.
Memtest - Having weird Blue screens or system errors? Download and run a full memory scan using Memtest.
GPU-Z - Gathers information on your Graphics card chipset, similar to that of CPU-Z but for your GPU.
HWmonitor - A must if you OC your equipment! Gives you a full range of temperatures, Voltage settings, fan speeds and more!
RealTemp - A utility to monitor the temperature of your CPU core(s).
RivaTuner - A Utility to manage GPU overclock, fan speed, and monitor about 25 other things all in 1 customizable screen.
NeoGAF's own PC Benchmarking thread - Have questions about your Futuremark score or want to show off your new overclock on your CPU/GPU? This thread is for you!

NIGHT- · Jan 2, 2010

Well it seems that my pc is starting to over heat bad. How much would it cost me to get a totally new medium level gaming pc?

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