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[·feist·]

So yeah my 8800gt is basically dead. Anything I can get on the cheap with about the same performance to replace it with? Just need something to hold the computer over until I rebuild sometime next year.

A GTS 250/GTS 450 should do the trick, though they may be pricey relative to their performance level, and other available options. If ~$100 isn't higher than you'd like to spend, you can pick up a GTX 460, or HD 6850. Even a 768MB GTX 460 would be an upgrade on the cheap. Also, Radeon HD 5750/5770s should be sub-$100.

Tech support question.

I've been pretty irritated with the damn "display driver has stopped working but has been recovered" problem with the 280 series of nvidia drivers but my games have been relatively unaffected by it until now. I'm getting crazy artifacting in Super Meat Boy of all games:

For comparison's sake, BF3 on ultra runs perfectly without any hitches at all. Any ideas on what the problem might be? Card is a GTX 570 Twin Frozr III, don't think it's a hardware issue; temps are fine.

Load often has little to do with those types of errors. If you don't have any recent installs, or connected components that could be causing conflicts just use Driver Sweeper, and run through the most recent GF drivers that aren't problematic for you.

 

[·feist·]

Like SFF builds? Xigmatek Gigas mATX chassis. This could be one of the only Xigmatek enclosures that isn't just a re-brand from the usual cast of case OEMs. At least for now, I can't recall any other models based on this platform.

Will fit a Prolimatech Megahalems, Thermalright TRUE/Ven-X, Hyper 212+/Evo-type HSF, and possibly a Thermalright Silver Arrow/Noctua NH-D14-type, depending on width (or different motherboard CPU socket placements). A tiny bit more spacing would've been perfect for one or two 120.2 internal rads without modding, but it should still be doable with a slight shift of the fans, tiny bit of cutting, or split into 2-4 separate 120.1 rads. Looks like it will take a Corsair H100-type at the back if you shift the fans down a notch, or so.

HD Videos:
Newegg TV: XIGMATEK Gigas Micro ATX Computer Case Preview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVIyxX3H0IA

Xigmatek shows Cube case "Gigas"
http://www.pc-max.de/news/gehaeuse/xigmatek-zeigt-cube-gehaeuse-gigas


Pics & info:
http://www.xigmatek.com/product.php?productid=134

Full aluminum Micro-ATX chassis for gaming and HTPC.
Available for 12cm side-blow heatpipe cooler within 160mm height.
Dual 330mm high-end long graphic cards available.
Six 3.5" HDD space with anti-vibration rubbers.
Two 2.5" SSD/HDD available.
Two external 5.25" bays for optical drive and HTPC control panel.
Two preinstalled 12cm 800RPM front black fans and two 12cm rear fan space for optional.
One USB3.0 front port available.

Xigmatek Gigas Case Review
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1357/pg1/xigmatek-gigas-case-review-introduction.html

[ITP2011] Xigmatek Gigas, a prototype cube interesting
http://www.cowcotland.com/news/24323/itp2011-xigmatek-gigas-prototype-cube-interessant.html

Xigmatek Gigas surrounded by Playboy Playmates
http://www.kitguru.net/components/cases/taps/xigmatek-gigas-surrounded-by-playboy-playmates/

 

[TheExplodingHead]

Tech support question.

I've been pretty irritated with the damn "display driver has stopped working but has been recovered" problem with the 280 series of nvidia drivers but my games have been relatively unaffected by it until now. I'm getting crazy artifacting in Super Meat Boy of all games:

For comparison's sake, BF3 on ultra runs perfectly without any hitches at all. Any ideas on what the problem might be? Card is a GTX 570 Twin Frozr III, don't think it's a hardware issue; temps are fine.

Had the same issue on my 580 just a day ago for the first time, I've since installed the newest beta drivers and no issues so far. So updating to the beta drivers is all I can recommend until Nvidia fixes the problem.

 

[DietRob]

Great thread as usually. This years thread is going to come in handy to me because I'm hoping to build a new PC around February of 2012.

Sub'd

 

[TheExodu5]

I'm thinking of buying a new PC monitor. At the moment I'm using a BenQ G2220HD. It's nice, but something with better contrast/DCR and 24" would be ideal. Specs for my G2220HD are;

Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Contrast: 1000:1
DCR: 40,000:1
Response Time: 5ms
Size: 22"

So I guess the question is; any suggestions? Should I go LED over LCD, and 120hz over 60hz?

Avoid LED if you can. You'll get better colors and black levels out of most non-LED monitors.

Don't pay attention to contrast and dynamic contrast numbers. They're usually bullshit. If you can find independent static contrast ratings out there, that's all I would trust.

You might want to look in to IPS panels for better colors and viewing angles, though at the cost of slightly slower response rate (minimal ghosting). Otherwise, if you're sticking with a cheap TN panel, I hate to say it, but they're pretty much all the same. I like the Asus 24" monitors. Cheap, no frills, and the colors and black levels are pretty good out of the box.

If you want to consider something bigger (32"), you can also look in to using a 32" HDTV as a PC monitor, which is what I do:

 

[mkenyon]

Xigmatek Gigas surrounded by Playboy Playmates
http://www.kitguru.net/components/cases/taps/xigmatek-gigas-surrounded-by-playboy-playmates/

SOLD! Wait, what am I buying?

Nice looking case. For those not overly interested in being a showoff at LANs or in case build contests, almost perfect. Suffers from the same issue as the V354 which is that the goods are all blocked off. Arc Mini is still king, IMO.

 

[Betta Lines]

I just did a fresh Win 7 install, and now SpeedFan doesn't want to start up on... startup.

All I had to do last time was whack a shortcut to the .exe in the empty 'Startup' folder in the Start Menu, and bam.

Now this is not working. I've tried adding a registry value with no success either...

Any tips appreciated.

 

[jmdajr]

Dudes..

is it worth getting a AMD Phenom II X6 1055T over sandy bridge?
Some dude says for the price it's good enough.

I don't know if I believe it.

trying to recommend a 1000 dollar rig. Currently leaning to intel/nvidia.

edit: also how many cpu cores does battlefield 3 use?

 

[mug]

My Swan M10's are acting up :/ The left and right channels aren't differentiating themselves. Instead they're playing the same sound at the same level - resulting in a flat sound. When I do the speaker test I can hear both sounds from both speakers instead of left then right. I've switched sound cards and cables - any ideas?

 

[vilmer_]

In the process of RMA'ing my 570 only to find out that they send back a refurb :lol Going to just grab another one and sell this when it gets back.

 

[mkenyon]

Dudes..

is it worth getting a AMD Phenom II X6 1055T over sandy bridge?
Some dude says for the price it's good enough.

I don't know if I believe it.

trying to recommend a 1000 dollar rig. Currently leaning to intel/nvidia.

edit: also how many cpu cores does battlefield 3 use?

The dude is wrong.

Check out the $1000 rig in the OP.

 

[RickA238]

Hazaro, I missed your logic on why you won't be recommending AMD Bulldozer CPU's for any of your builds; could you please explain? Thanks.

 

[mkenyon]

Hazaro, I missed your logic on why you won't be recommending AMD Bulldozer CPU's for any of your builds; could you please explain? Thanks.

As in, this is contradictory to what you have read? Bulldozer is worse in just about any test compared to the Intel equivalents, including in pricing. Heck, they even get outclassed by Phenom II x4's in some games. This is coming from a guy who before a few months ago, only had AMD CPU's in his house.

 

[Betta Lines]

I just did a fresh Win 7 install, and now SpeedFan doesn't want to start up on... startup.

All I had to do last time was whack a shortcut to the .exe in the empty 'Startup' folder in the Start Menu, and bam.

Now this is not working. I've tried adding a registry value with no success either...

Any tips appreciated.

Resorted to running it as a task in Task Scheduler. Not all that happy about it, as it's yet another process that I have to run. I don't understand why I have to do this now when I didn't have to before... maybe one of the Speedfan updates messed it up.

 

[Wazzim]

Hazaro, I missed your logic on why you won't be recommending AMD Bulldozer CPU's for any of your builds; could you please explain? Thanks.

Intel moneyz

 

[Instro]

A GTS 250/GTS 450 should do the trick, though they may be pricey relative to their performance level, and other available options. If ~$100 isn't higher than you'd like to spend, you can pick up a GTX 460, or HD 6850. Even a 768MB GTX 460 would be an upgrade on the cheap. Also, Radeon HD 5750/5770s should be sub-$100.

Yeah I definitely want to keep it cheap, I really don't want to drop $100 on a replacement.

 

[RickA238]

As in, this is contradictory to what you have read? Bulldozer is worse in just about any test compared to the Intel equivalents, including in pricing. Heck, they even get outclassed by Phenom II x4's in some games. This is coming from a guy who before a few months ago, only had AMD CPU's in his house.

Asking because I hadn't heard anything about the Bulldozers (wasn't really listening) and I saw that note in the OP. I've been very happy with my Phenom II X4 955 BE, so I was a bit surprised to see the discouragement from buying the new line. No reviews were linked in the OP either.

 

[cryptic]

I'm looking for a case where I won't be cutting my hands trying to squeeze everything in like with my old antec 900. I hear lian li make's the best cases, I'm wondering if anyone can recommend me one? I'm looking to just do single card gaming, probably a 7970 with a single hdd and cd-drive. I'm tempted to get a full tower but would that be overkill? Thanks.

Also, I was thinking of getting one of those corsair water cooling parts...

 

[Hazaro]

Anyway guys I need your help. I got a Force GT SSD, thinking I had an Intel SATA3 controller, but unfortunately I have a Marvel 9128 one. As you can guess it's causing me a lot of trouble, with BSODs pretty frequently.

Now I know that my options are to use the Intel SATA2 controller or buy another motherboard. Do you have any that you could recommend me for the 1156 chipset? Would love to get it as cheap as possible, I could probably sell my Gigabyte UD3 for €50 so there is that.

I'd just use the SATA 2. You could also probably buy a PCI-E SATA 3 card and use that for much less.

Dudes..

is it worth getting a AMD Phenom II X6 1055T over sandy bridge?
Some dude says for the price it's good enough.

I don't know if I believe it.

trying to recommend a 1000 dollar rig. Currently leaning to intel/nvidia.

edit: also how many cpu cores does battlefield 3 use?

It depends on what you are doing, but in a vast majority of applications and daily usage the Intel just wins in power consumption, speed, and 1155 as an upgrade platform for most users.

Certain aspects like VMWare, full on media encoding with the correct software, etc. it does have advantages and it is 6 cores on the cheap.

Hazaro, I missed your logic on why you won't be recommending AMD Bulldozer CPU's for any of your builds; could you please explain? Thanks.

I read 15+ reviews on launch day and walked away with the conclusion above. Even with Win 8 updates, possible power usage issues with review mobos, etc. The downsides were just too much. When AMDs previous Phenom IIs are comparable or sometimes FASTER with LOWER power you can't say that BD launch wasn't a failure. It was really really sad. I mean I had the x4 640 in the budget rig for a long time until I was finally swayed over to the 1155 platform since AMD botched AM3+ support and the intel G850/2100 are faster in many regular applications and games than the x4.
It's hard to recommend for most.

Also

Asking because I hadn't heard anything about the Bulldozers (wasn't really listening) and I saw that note in the OP. I've been very happy with my Phenom II X4 955 BE, so I was a bit surprised to see the discouragement from buying the new line. No reviews were linked in the OP either.

Oh you are right, I must have trimmed it with the news section. It was on there before.
*You can read my posts in the thread. I wasn't believing it was as bad as it was going to be before launch.
Thread and start of reviews at #600
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=31742026&postcount=621

 

[·feist·]

What are the odds? Just posted in the BD thread, without seeing the discussion here turn to BD. Poor AMD.

Yeah I definitely want to keep it cheap, I really don't want to drop $100 on a replacement.

I never paid attention to the HD 55xx/56xx cards so those may also be good options, but I believe equivalents to the GTs 250, or HD 5750 are about as low as you want to go. Check out some 55xx/56xx reviews to be sure.

SOLD! Wait, what am I buying?

Nice looking case. For those not overly interested in being a showoff at LANs or in case build contests, almost perfect. Suffers from the same issue as the V354 which is that the goods are all blocked off. Arc Mini is still king, IMO.

Unless you can successfully argue that those are silicone sound dampeners, I doubt that a certain someone would appreciate those case accessories...

Lian Li needs to get it together, and give me a proper V600. Even if the interior is still bare, it needs a rear exhaust. Don't want to have to mod that myself, when it's such a ridiculous omission. Function > form. Fractal also needs a Define Mini R2 with a dual top exhaust/intake option.

 

[mkenyon]

FWIW, word on the street (or rather forums) is that Corsair is working on a mATX case right now. Here's hoping.

The Arc Mini is exactly how the V600 should be designed, just with that Lian Li polish in the aesthetics department. That case (V600) makes me sad for what could have been.

 

[Red Blaster]

A GTS 250/GTS 450 should do the trick, though they may be pricey relative to their performance level, and other available options. If ~$100 isn't higher than you'd like to spend, you can pick up a GTX 460, or HD 6850. Even a 768MB GTX 460 would be an upgrade on the cheap. Also, Radeon HD 5750/5770s should be sub-$100.


Load often has little to do with those types of errors. If you don't have any recent installs, or connected components that could be causing conflicts just use Driver Sweeper, and run through the most recent GF drivers that aren't problematic for you.

Are there any good GPU diagnostic programs out there? I'm still getting the glitches even after rolling back. I've tried scouring the net for info and some people on the Bioware forums who had similar issues suggested underclocking as a solution.

 

[mkenyon]

Download MSI afterburner, up the volts a bit.

 

[sikkinixx]

Is it worth me upgrading from an E8400 to a 2500k at this point? Or better to wait a few months for newer stuff? I guess it's not a huge rush but I wanna be prepared if Xmas deals bring that Gene-Z I keep glancing at down in price a little...

 

[Instro]

I never paid attention to the HD 55xx/56xx cards so those may also be good options, but I believe equivalents to the GTs 250, or HD 5750 are about as low as you want to go. Check out some 55xx/56xx reviews to be sure.

Alright, thanks for the help.

 

[jmdajr]

Decided to go with Intel 2500k+560gtx

 

[Red Blaster]

Download MSI afterburner, up the volts a bit.

Doesn't let me adjust voltages on my non-reference GTX 570 : /

 

[Hazaro]

Is it worth me upgrading from an E8400 to a 2500k at this point? Or better to wait a few months for newer stuff? I guess it's not a huge rush but I wanna be prepared if Xmas deals bring that Gene-Z I keep glancing at down in price a little...

Wait for Ivy Bridge in about 3 months

 

[mkenyon]

Is it worth me upgrading from an E8400 to a 2500k at this point? Or better to wait a few months for newer stuff? I guess it's not a huge rush but I wanna be prepared if Xmas deals bring that Gene-Z I keep glancing at down in price a little...

It's a worthy upgrade.

Wait for Ivy Bridge in about 3 months

Though sound advice, the gains had by going from 775 dual core to 2500K are hugely significant if you're hurting in performance on some games you'd like to run better. If you can hold out a few months, then you'll get even more of a gain. All dependent on your situation though.

 

[Hazaro]

Yeah that is a better complete answer. Took could wait to mean there is nothing urgent.

 

[Eiji]

So yeah my 8800gt is basically dead. Anything I can get on the cheap with about the same performance to replace it with? Just need something to hold the computer over until I rebuild sometime next year.

My 8800GT died but the electric oven fix revived it and it's still going strong!

I just want it to last till April 2012, when I will be building a Ivy Bridge 3770K rig with a AMD 7970 or something.

 

[drexplora]

Thx for the avatar!

 

[Goodacre0081]

Im looking to upgrade my older core2duo/9800gt to something new around boxing day.

so far i picked out these from NCIX. I wouldn't mind some advice concerning these components and what changes you might make seeing as it's been so long since I built my last PC.

Waiting for a price drop isn't out of the question either if some new line of processors or videocards are due out within the next month or two.

The mobo/cpu is a bundle deal
-Intel Core i5 2500K
-Gigabyte P67X-UD3-B3

-Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/2X4GB DDR3-1600

-EVGA GTX 570 HD Fermi 732MHZ 1280MB

 

[Soi-Fong]

How exactly does one use driver sweeper?

 

[mkenyon]

How exactly does one use driver sweeper?

Teach a man to fish and all that.

http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/

Top result from googling "how to use driver sweeper".

Im looking to upgrade my older core2duo/9800gt to something new around boxing day.

so far i picked out these from NCIX. I wouldn't mind some advice concerning these components and what changes you might make seeing as it's been so long since I built my last PC.

Waiting for a price drop isn't out of the question either if some new line of processors or videocards are due out within the next month or two.

The mobo/cpu is a bundle deal
-Intel Core i5 2500K
-Gigabyte P67X-UD3-B3

-Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/2X4GB DDR3-1600

-EVGA GTX 570 HD Fermi 732MHZ 1280MB

79xx due out in a few weeks, wait until the release before making a GPU decision. Otherwise looks good. Not seeing where it lists the volts for the RAM, 1.5V is the best way to go for sandybridge.

 

[cartman414]

It's a worthy upgrade.

Though sound advice, the gains had by going from 775 dual core to 2500K are hugely significant if you're hurting in performance on some games you'd like to run better. If you can hold out a few months, then you'll get even more of a gain. All dependent on your situation though.

I don't think it'll be THAT much in terms of CPU. If you're looking at other factors such as the IGP, USB 3.0 right out of the box, PCI-E 3.0, and Thunderbolt with a little luck, then absolutely.

 

[mkenyon]

I don't think it'll be THAT much in terms of CPU. If you're looking at other factors such as the IGP, USB 3.0 right out of the box, PCI-E 3.0, and Thunderbolt with a little luck, then absolutely.

SB to IB? Who knows for certain, but it will be morestuff:$ than SB right now, which was my only claim.

Who knows though, might blow us all away with a 200% increase in something-or-other. On the other hand, it might be not even worth bothering for. No point in speculating at this point. The only certainty we can take to the bank is my claim above.

 

[mattiewheels]

I really need to get an SSD, but 120gb (my price point pretty much) seems like a bad idea. Do you guys with 120s hit the ceiling all the time, or just have a streamlined way to move things back and forth?

 

[mkenyon]

I really need to get an SSD, but 120gb (my price point pretty much) seems like a bad idea. Do you guys with 120s hit the ceiling all the time, or just have a streamlined way to move things back and forth?

I have a 90 gig only on a secondary gaming rig. Plenty of room for windows and quite a few games. Of the top of my head there's Skyrim, Saints Row 3, Tribes: Ascend, DOTA 2, and Mount & Blade. There's a host of ancillary programs that I put on most of my rigs (overclocking stuff, monitoring stuff, utilities, media programs), and still plenty of room.

If you get a SSD, just keep your current mechanical HDD as the "media" drive.

 

[sikkinixx]

It's a worthy upgrade.

Though sound advice, the gains had by going from 775 dual core to 2500K are hugely significant if you're hurting in performance on some games you'd like to run better. If you can hold out a few months, then you'll get even more of a gain. All dependent on your situation though.

I don't think it'll be THAT much in terms of CPU. If you're looking at other factors such as the IGP, USB 3.0 right out of the box, PCI-E 3.0, and Thunderbolt with a little luck, then absolutely.

Thanks guys. Realistically, it's only going to be used for games since I use my Mac for day-t-day stuff. When I do upgrade I'm going to basically wipe the drive since at one time, several years ago, it was my only machine and only have Steam, Origin and GFWL (ugh) on it. So I doubt I will need Thunderbolt etc out of it. I made it almost 4 years with this CPU without much of an issue so if the deal is right I will just buy now and deal without having Ivy Bridge stuff.

 

[mkenyon]

You'll be fine. If there's a game that's released that punishes a 2500K overclocked to the point of it being a serious bottleneck, it's either 2 years from now or those SLI 590's are just too ridiculous.

 

[cartman414]

SB to IB? Who knows for certain, but it will be morestuff:$ than SB right now, which was my only claim.

Who knows though, might blow us all away with a 200% increase in something-or-other. On the other hand, it might be not even worth bothering for. No point in speculating at this point. The only certainty we can take to the bank is my claim above.

From the looks of it, it'll be in the neighborhood of 15%. Decent, but nothing earth-shattering. Pretty much to be expected of a Tick.

Not to mention Intel's been focused more on improving power efficiency than performance.

 

[Instro]

My 8800GT died but the electric oven fix revived it and it's still going strong!

I just want it to last till April 2012, when I will be building a Ivy Bridge 3770K rig with a AMD 7970 or something.

Yeah I read about that fix the other day, was thinking of giving it a shot.

 

[Betta Lines]

I really need to get an SSD, but 120gb (my price point pretty much) seems like a bad idea. Do you guys with 120s hit the ceiling all the time, or just have a streamlined way to move things back and forth?

I'm on a 120GB SSD. I have tried in vain to create a smaller Windows 7 install using RT7Lite - even with a 'safe' tweak it just refused to update to SP1. A shame, because it would have saved about 7GB.

I resorted to a vanilla install, and after doing the usual tweaks of reducing page file size and disabling hibernation, the footprint was about 15GB. Once graphics and sound drivers were on there plus all the usual suspects (firefox, winrar etc) you're hitting 20GB before you know it.

Then Photoshop... Office... depends on how many big programs you want to run regularly as well as games. If you're setting it up just for games, you'll probably have at least 90GB of space for game installs, which is not all that much especially if most of your stuff is on Steam and you like everything downloaded ready to go.

You also have to be very careful to direct everything else to your other drive. Photos, Music, Video must stay off the SSD. Whenever you save a document, photoshop project, etc... must be on the HDD. Your default 'Downloads' folder that your browser uses needs to be changed to somewhere on the HDD too.

It's just something you have constantly think about and you have to be very organised with your files and folders. If you're careful, it can work very well. I really wouldn't want to go for less than 120GB though. It's already on the edge of being uncomfortable.

But games are just gonna get bigger... 20GB per game will be the norm soon...

 

[Soi-Fong]

I'm on a 120GB SSD. I have tried in vain to create a smaller Windows 7 install using RT7Lite - even with a 'safe' tweak it just refused to update to SP1. A shame, because it would have saved about 7GB.

I resorted to a vanilla install, and after doing the usual tweaks of reducing page file size and disabling hibernation, the footprint was about 15GB. Once graphics and sound drivers were on there plus all the usual suspects (firefox, winrar etc) you're hitting 20GB before you know it.

Then Photoshop... Office... depends on how many big programs you want to run regularly as well as games. If you're setting it up just for games, you'll probably have at least 90GB of space for game installs, which is not all that much especially if most of your stuff is on Steam and you like everything downloaded ready to go.

You also have to be very careful to direct everything else to your other drive. Photos, Music, Video must stay off the SSD. Whenever you save a document, photoshop project, etc... must be on the HDD. Your default 'Downloads' folder that your browser uses needs to be changed to somewhere on the HDD too.

It's just something you have constantly think about and you have to be very organised with your files and folders. If you're careful, it can work very well. I really wouldn't want to go for less than 120GB though. It's already on the edge of being uncomfortable.

But games are just gonna get bigger... 20GB per game will be the norm soon...

I can understand this. I have the Intel 320 series 160 gb and I'm at 80 gigs currently after installing win 7, BF3, Lightroom, Maya and all the other drivers. It really adds up.

I really need to get a freaking HDD soon. right now, my plan is to dump all my files on externall HDD's for now.

 

[Hazaro]

As long as your store data files on a different drive I think a 120GB should be plenty. This means your desktop/downloads/music/video etc.

Programs don't take that much and games don't benefit greatly.

What is using your space up?

 

[thechristoph]

Does anyone here have an opinion on Velocity Micro? They seem to be a bit shady to me. They offer several "tiers" of PCs that you can then customize. I customized the Z55 and Z40 models to be exactly the same, and the Z55 model is $600 more for no reason I can tell.

 

[barnone]

My brother wants to upgrade his Dell XPS 630i a bit. He is only playing SWTOR right now on all low at around 15-30 FPS. He wants to add an SSD to improve load times the most, but I am also curious as to what other parts I could find for cheap to implement. Is an SSD a good choice or can I find some other parts for this old motherboard chipset that have a better costerformance ratio?

Here is the best specification list for the prebuilt machine I could find.

From the link, I believe this information is concerning the MoBo:
System chipset: NVIDIA® nForce 650i SLI

Northbridge: C55

Southbridge: MCP51

BIOS chip: 8 MB

NIC: integrated network interface capable of 10/100/1000 communication

Thanks =)

 

[Mr Nightman]

My brother wants to upgrade his Dell XPS 630i a bit. He is only playing SWTOR right now on all low at around 15-30 FPS. He wants to add an SSD to improve load times the most, but I am also curious as to what other parts I could find for cheap to implement. Is an SSD a good choice or can I find some other parts for this old motherboard chipset that have a better costerformance ratio?

Here is the best specification list for the prebuilt machine I could find.

From the link, I believe this information is concerning the MoBo:
System chipset: NVIDIA® nForce 650i SLI

Northbridge: C55

Southbridge: MCP51

BIOS chip: 8 MB

NIC: integrated network interface capable of 10/100/1000 communication

Thanks =)

you should have him post his specs, try using everest free edition which will list the pc's full specs. Mainly need to know what kind of processor, ram amount, and graphics card hes using

 

[Jtrizzy]

Well, my PC is back in action. Thought I'd share my experience just in case it helps others. I was having a problem with the dram, and the PC wouldn't post. Took it to my PC guys place to see what the problem was. He put in a different ram stick, it worked, then he put mine back in and it's all back to normal.

He said that in 20 years of building PC's that he's never seen that happen and couldn't explain the problem. Anyway, glad to be back. Now I just need to find a deal on Skyrim.