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[barnone]

Reposting for new page. If no one can help this time I will look elsewhere :> Online solutions I have tried haven't helped so far.

Any advice for stopping the screen tearing/flickering on my geforce GTS 250? Bad Company 2 and the original witcher both suffer. I am forcing vsync and triple buffering through d3d and that doesnt help. I am thinking about reverting to a good set of drivers, would that help since the latest ones don't focus on this card?

 

[chaosblade]

Eh, screw that. I'll just get a single 6950 and maybe add on a second one later.

How's this one?

Or should I save money now and get a 1 GB?

For $10 more I'd get the 2GB, especially if you are considering Crossfire later. 1GB isn't much of a bottleneck now but that could change in a year or two, and it will definitely be a bottleneck if you add a second card.

But as mentioned above you're probably better off selling the 6950 later and spending more on a GPU than getting a second card. Still, doubling the VRAM for $10 isn't a bad deal if you're thinking long-term (i.e. a few years).

So I basically want to order the $1000 build in the OP, what case is reccomended?

What are you looking to spend? For $50-$60 the HAF912 is what I recommend, and for $80-$100 the CM 690 II Advanced (looks better IMO) and HAF 922 (probably cools slightly better) are pretty nice. That Fractal Design Define R3 in the OP looks really good too, but I don't really like cases with doors (can the door on that one be removed?)


And regarding the 2100 vs 955, maybe you could just have links for both options? With AM3+ boards hitting retail you could default to one of those on the 955 build, although I haven't checked the prices on those at all.

But hey, this is a reason why the "List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play" question is in there right?

Any advice for stopping the screen tearing/flickering on my geforce GTS 250? Bad Company 2 and the original witcher both suffer. I am forcing vsync and triple buffering through d3d and that doesnt help. I am thinking about reverting to a good set of drivers, would that help since the latest ones don't focus on this card?

I'd try drivers first. If that doesn't work can't you try using those options (or at least vsync) through the nvidia control panel? Earlier I read someone fixed an issue by using that instead.

 

[Terproerg]

u guys think it would be worth it to upgrade from a phenom 2 x2 555 to any of the quad cores from amd? i cant afford a new mobo so i have to stick to AM3 socket :\. This is for game playing such as wow and SC2 and stuff. The video card i got is fine for me, 5770.

 

[Syphon Filter]

This case has fans that feature both a male and female molex connector. Does it matter which one you use? Do you need to plug in both or it's optional to choose either?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

 

[metsallica]

HT | Omega Claro

Anyone have thoughts on this sound card? I have Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1s and plan on playing older games, newer games, and the occasional Blu-Ray. I was going to buy a Xonar, but was swayed by the model I wanted being out of stock / great reviews of the Claro. I realize it doesn't support recent versions of EAX, not a huge deal, but are there other issues I'm missing? How is it with HD audio? Please be brutal if necessary, as I can still return it!

Nobody has thoughts?

 

[ithorien]

Nobody has thoughts?

I don't know of that one exactly, but it seems like this card gets pretty good reviews from the Astro folks-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

Waiting on some money to be able to get it myself.

 

[TheExodu5]

u guys think it would be worth it to upgrade from a phenom 2 x2 555 to any of the quad cores from amd? i cant afford a new mobo so i have to stick to AM3 socket :\. This is for game playing such as wow and SC2 and stuff. The video card i got is fine for me, 5770.

Not if you're upgrading for WoW and SC2. Those games barely use more than 1 core, so going from dual to quad core won't help at all.

 

[bwtw]

Well your choices would be:

Cheapest option:
AMD x4 955 - $115
---
$115

Middle option:
Core i5 2400 - $190
+
MSI PH67S-C43 - $85
---
$275

Pricey option:
Core i5 2500k - $220
+
MSI P67A-C43 - $115
+
Cooler Master Hyper 212+ - $30
---
$365

The first option would double your CPU performance for games that use 4 cores, but wouldn't do anything for games that don't. The second option is the cheapest way to get a quad-core Sandy Bridge, which is maybe 50% faster than the 955. The last option would allow you to have a Sandy Bridge CPU overclockable to around 4.6GHZ-5.0GHz...which is probably almost double the performance of the stock 955.

Your call, really. 955 is definitely the best value, but the 2500k would have a much longer life.

You could just get the 955 now, and wait on the CPU for a few years...it's not like many games really need more than the 955 offers right now (beyond maybe emulation, and a few standouts like SC2 and BFBC2).

Thanks for that. I guess TW2 is probably the most intensive game on the market right now and presumably the 955 will work fine with that?

You don't have a crystal ball obviously but would games such as BF3 later this year probably work well on it as well? That would seem to be the the next big PC release.

You say that the 2500k will have a much longer life...how long a life would you expect the x4 to have compared to the 2500k? A year or less? If I can get a good year out of the x4 I'll probably go down that route and do a complete upgrade down the line, but if it'll already be massively outdated by later this year I'll probably do the mass upgrade now.

edit: Looks like the 2500k is 'only' £65 more although the motherboard adds another £100 on top. Seems like if I had an Intel mobo already the 2500k would be a no-brainer but factoring in the new motherboard it's a bit of a tougher call.

Also, I've got a Antec EarthWatts 650W PSU - will that be good enough to handle the new CPU?

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

Colonisation helped me out a little before, but I decided ask everyone again since my time frame will be different and case size isn't a big issue anymore. I have one big big change. I'm no longer going to be living in New York and will no longer be covered by a state that requires Amazon or others to collect sales tax, so make of that what you will.

Your Current Specs: CPU / RAM (DDR2/DDR3) / Motherboard / GPU: It's a laptop with a Geforce 9300MS, 4GB of Ram, Intel Duo 2GHZ...feel free to mock. W7 Ultimate

Budget: Price Range + Country:My wife wants $400, I want $500-$600. If you could get 400 with what I want I'm fine with it. I'm also willing to go with a system that allows for easy upgrading later on.

Main Use: Light Gaming, Gaming, Emulation (PS2/Wii), Video Editing, 3D work, general usage (Word, Web, 1080p playback):Gaming, General Usage. Maybe some DVD to mobile format video conversion, but its not a key reason to bump up price.

Monitor Resolution: What resolution will you be playing your games at? Are you going to upgrade later?: I'm just going to us my 40in Samsung TV it can do 720p or 1080p and I'm fine with 1280X720 for better FPS. I'm sure I can find a super cheap if I need one later on. So I will need HDMI out. Otherwise don't worry about monitor for cost.

List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Self Explanatory Civ 5, Deus Ex, Duke Nukem, Skyrim and Battlefield 3, although those can be medium range as long as its good FPS. I'm used to playing some games with 15-30 so I want good FPS for once. lol I most likely will get Duke for the PS3. Regarding Skyrim and BF3 I would love great graphics, but I'm fine on medium for both at high resolution

Are reusing any parts?: List make and model (e.g. Corsair 520HX 520W): Windows 7 is a student edition I bought so I have no need to pay for an operating system. Maybe I can get 100 to 200 to salvage my old laptop...though I am a bit nuts with insuring no data is transferred so I might just keep it for emergencies.

When will you build?: When do you want your computer, do you need it in a week, can you wait a month or two?: July or August

Will you be overclocking?: Yes, No, Maybe (This means yes)
Maybe, but that's only if I feel good after the building process.

I have never built a computer before so I am really nervous about trying this, but I figure I need to learn at some point. I'd also like to be able to finally upgrade with this unit (I've only gotten prefabs before), so I don't mind starting out a little weaker, but free to build on later.

Thanks!

 

[(._.)]

Really got to fix the flash settings on my Atrix. Not sure if everything is here but I got the case and some other stuff today. Have a feeling it isn't all here.

 

[RS4-]

I don't know of that one exactly, but it seems like this card gets pretty good reviews from the Astro folks-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

Waiting on some money to be able to get it myself.

I'll be honest, you can probably get away with onboard audio instead. I wouldn't get a dedicated soundcard unless I had really good speakers or wire something through an amp or whatever.

 

[scoobs]

Ok installing my SSD... but my SATA3 cable doesn't quite click into the SSD because the bracket that holds it kinda gets in the way... not sure what to do here. I guess just use an old SATA2 cable?

 

[Roquentin]

Why hello there...

Not pictured: Fractal Design Define R3

 

[j2theizzay]

Where did you buy those Gentle Typhoons?

 

[Dog Problems]

I'm having some video cards issues. Whenever I run Call of Duty Black Ops or Team Fortress 2 I get a crazy amount of artifacting and the games crashes. Furmark also crashes on me whenever I start it. I've tried playing other games (Aliens vs. Predator, Brink, Metro 2033) all at max settings and I've had no problems there.

I've got a superclocked 570, with the 270.61 drivers, and the temperatures are fine. I had no idea what the issue is.

 

[scy]

Since I'm apparently replacing everything from my old computer, any mouse recommendations? Mousepads? There's a $20 off Razer DeathAdder + Scarab mousepad deal through Newegg but a $35 mousepad boggles me a little. $60 for both doesn't seem terrible though.

Thoughts?

 

[Yoritomo]

Why is everyone still buying optical drives?

 

[TheExodu5]

Why is everyone still buying optical drives?

To be able to watch movies and retain full backwards compatibility with physical games we own for a measly $20. Being able to burn CDs for your car is useful as well.

 

[Mr Nightman]

Why is everyone still buying optical drives?

Used to think I could live without an optical drive, but damn my drives been acting weird since I swapped mobo's, and man its actually a pain not being able to pop in a disc and have it work, lol, gotta get in the case and find whats wrong

 

[TheExodu5]

Oh, and to install Windows.

It's a lot easier to just keep your OEM disc around than to have a dedicated USB key containing Windows. Heck, an 8GB USB key will run you half the cost of an optical drive in the first place.

 

[Mr Nightman]

Oh, and to install Windows.

It's a lot easier to just keep your OEM disc around than to have a dedicated USB key containing Windows. Heck, an 8GB USB key will run you half the cost of an optical drive in the first place.

Haha, when I swapped mobos, could not get the dvd to read the windows disc, therefore I now have a dedicated 4gb flash drive for windows, dont understand how the drive can be acting soo weird since the swap. Any disc I try to access freezes up windows explorer soo I dont know :-\

 

[iceatcs]

Why is everyone still buying optical drives?

In UK, we do need it. Blu-rays and PC games from the online or retails, are deadly cheap few weeks after launch.

I'm just bought Lite-on Blu-ray writer.

 

[Roquentin]

Where did you buy those Gentle Typhoons?

Are you in Poland? (If you are then I got them on Allegro)

Why is everyone still buying optical drives?

I actually haven't had one in my computer for over a year. Still, it may come in handy some times.

 

[Dog Problems]

I'm having some video cards issues. Whenever I run Call of Duty Black Ops or Team Fortress 2 I get a crazy amount of artifacting and the games crashes. Furmark also crashes on me whenever I start it. I've tried playing other games (Aliens vs. Predator, Brink, Metro 2033) all at max settings and I've had no problems there.

I've got a superclocked 570, with the 270.61 drivers, and the temperatures are fine. I had no idea what the issue is.

Well I updated my drivers to 275.33 and Furmark runs but it shows a lot of artifacting. TF2 and Black Ops continue to crash after showing an insane amount of artifacting, while others games are just fine. I'm so confused.

EDIT: Now Crysis isn't playing right anymore. Is it safe to say my card is just failing?

 

[scy]

I didn't buy a new drive for my recent build since I was going to cannibalize an existing one. And then I realized I only had IDEs and new rig had no care for IDE. Decided to just not bother with it. Had to do a lot of shuffling around on a 4 GB USB stick to install Windows and get the basic drivers up and running that took waaaay longer than it should have.

But, hey, kept the front of my case looking pristine so it was worth it. Maybe.

 

[Diseased Yak]

Edit: You know what, nevermind. Sticking with what I was going to originally.

 

[(._.)]

Here is everything. Plan to assemble it tonight. I am familiar with every piece of hardware except the SSD. I don't have one in my current build (PC). does the assembly video in the OP touch on them and what they are for?

 

[Mr Nightman]

my kind of christmas, nothing greater imo

 

[ithorien]

I'll be honest, you can probably get away with onboard audio instead. I wouldn't get a dedicated soundcard unless I had really good speakers or wire something through an amp or whatever.

Precisely why I wanna get one

 

[Izayoi]

Here is everything. Plan to assemble it tonight. I am familiar with every piece of hardware except the SSD. I don't have one in my current build (PC). does the assembly video in the OP touch on them and what they are for?
http://i.imgur.com/a7GxY.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]
Your build is almost identical to mine, good show. What do you mean about the SSD? It's just an ultra-fast hard drive.

 

[black_vegeta]

Here is everything. Plan to assemble it tonight. I am familiar with every piece of hardware except the SSD. I don't have one in my current build (PC). does the assembly video in the OP touch on them and what they are for?
http://i.imgur.com/a7GxY.jpg

Nice parts.

The SSD is a non-mechanical HDD. Super fast read/write speeds.

Next time don't buy an item that you have no idea what it's used for...do your research! :/

Good luck and have fun building.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Here is everything. Plan to assemble it tonight. I am familiar with every piece of hardware except the SSD. I don't have one in my current build (PC). does the assembly video in the OP touch on them and what they are for?

I swear PC parts boxes always look like you bought a bunch of fireworks for 4th of July. Love it!

 

[(._.)]

Your build is almost identical to mine, good show. What do you mean about the SSD? It's just an ultra-fast hard drive.

Yeah, that is what I figured. I'm guessing when I install the os it should go on the ssd? Then install frequently used software on it also? 2tb in is then for storage.

 

[Shambles]

Here is everything. Plan to assemble it tonight. I am familiar with every piece of hardware except the SSD. I don't have one in my current build (PC). does the assembly video in the OP touch on them and what they are for?

Looks awesome! By the way, just because you can take a 5MP picture doesn't mean you should

 

[f0rk]

Is there any kind of sales measure on PC hardware? It seems the ASUS mobo, Intel 2500k and the Fractal case are racking it in.

 

[scy]

So my BlackWidow arrived and I knew it was a pretty beefy keyboard but ... damn, I could club something to death with this thing. My DiNovo looks like a twig next to it:

Time to spend forever getting used to typing on it. The clickclack is loud, sure, but it's not unpleasant. I need to hit the spacebar quieter, though, as that does make a rather "bleh" thud sound and not a pleasant click.

 

[Laurentius]

I've got a HDD question.

I installed a new Samsung F4 that I got on sale at Newegg a couple of weeks ago. It seems to be working fine. Just a little bit worried about the noise that it's making. Most of the time it's completely silent -- can barely hear it. But during high access times on the drive, I do hear a sort of light "clicking" or "tapping" almost? It's kind of hard to describe. It's not too loud, or anything. My previous hard drives have never really done that, at least not to this extent.

Any idea why it might be doing that? Should I be concerned? I contacted Samsung about it, and their tech support was absolutely clueless. Wondering if I should return it or just not worry about it. The noise doesn't bother me, as it isn't very loud. But it makes me a little concerned, I guess.

 

[Izayoi]

Yeah, that is what I figured. I'm guessing when I install the os it should go on the ssd? Then install frequently used software on it also? 2tb in is then for storage.

You want you OS, any applications you use, and several of your most-played games if possible. Be sure to leave 10-20GB of space free as well.

 

[evanft]

Is HIS a good brand for video cards? They have a 2GB 6950 for $249.99 shipped at Newegg. There's a $20 mail in rebate on top of that.

 

[Izayoi]

Is HIS a good brand for video cards? They have a 2GB 6950 for $249.99 shipped at Newegg. There's a $20 mail in rebate on top of that.

Feedback seems decent enough. Never tried one before, but they've only got a two-year warranty. How often do you replace your video cards?

 

[evanft]

Feedback seems decent enough. Never tried one before, but they've only got a two-year warranty. How often do you replace your video cards?

That's what I was thinking. Probably about every 2-3 years.

Mobo question now. Which ones looks nicer and would be easier to overclock?

$143.90 ($128.90 after mail-in rebate) GIGABYTE GA-P67X-UD3-B3

$124.99 ($114.99 after mail-in rebate) MSI P67A-G45

The Gigabyte deal is part of a bundle at Microcenter. i5 2500k+mobo for $315+tax out the door. The MSI deal is a shell shocker at Newegg tonight. The MSI apparently has issues with G.Skill ram, which seems like it may be like a big deal.

 

[Coldsnap]

My computer has become like my baby. I love this thing.

 

[black_vegeta]

My computer has become like my baby. I love this thing.

Do you breast feed it?

 

[The Teachinator]

Well I updated my drivers to 275.33 and Furmark runs but it shows a lot of artifacting. TF2 and Black Ops continue to crash after showing an insane amount of artifacting, while others games are just fine. I'm so confused.

EDIT: Now Crysis isn't playing right anymore. Is it safe to say my card is just failing?

I had similar issues with a superclocked 580. No reason not to contact your manufacturer as I'm sure you're still under warranty. Good luck!

 

[Yoritomo]

Oh, and to install Windows.

It's a lot easier to just keep your OEM disc around than to have a dedicated USB key containing Windows. Heck, an 8GB USB key will run you half the cost of an optical drive in the first place.

I could never stand installing windows 7 from an optical drive ever again. Seriously that is the absolute worst reason to have an optical drive.

I do have two blu-ray drives but they're both on my server. No more optical drives for HTPC client and gaming machines.

 

[MSIMagus]

Is there one time of the year or another that is better to order a new PC? I have been holding off for the last 6 months or so to buy/build a new PC and currently I am still thinking I may try and wait till really close to Diablo 3's release, but if there is a certain point in time thats really good to order I may bite then.

 

[TheExodu5]

I could never stand installing windows 7 from an optical drive ever again.

Why's that?

Takes around 10-15 minutes to install Windows from my BRD.

I mean, if you really don't need one, then don't bother. But I think the flexibility it affords you is worth $20.

 

[(._.)]

Looks awesome! By the way, just because you can take a 5MP picture doesn't mean you should

thanks!

you JEALOUS?! or did I just make this page hard to load? :\

You want you OS, any applications you use, and several of your most-played games if possible. Be sure to leave 10-20GB of space free as well.

alright, simple enough. thanks

 

[Shambles]

thanks!

you JEALOUS?! or did I just make this page hard to load? :\

Yes, and yes. (I think that image breaks the horizontal even for 30" panels) I am still relying on my trusty old Q6600 4870 until I upgrade last this year, but even waiting to see what product is out by november GTX 580 type performance still won't be in my price range. After buying a house yesterday who knows, I might be running my 2008 rig for another 5 years, I feel so poor now.

 

[Javaman]

This isn't the right thread for this question, but it's the best I can find in a pinch. My dad passed away a couple of months ago and I'm trying to gain access to his win7 laptop. It's locked with a password and I hadn't had any luck guessing it, nor did he leave a usb key around. I've tried booting into safe mode but that also goes straight to the log in screen. I've tried the demo of "windows password unlocker" (I think that's what it's called) and it created a cd boot disk based on Win xp and showed the accounts on the system (admin, dad) but I've got to pay for the full version to reset the password, despite what the product comparison on their page shows. Are there any trusworthy and free tools or tricks to do this? I could restore it back to factory condition but I don't know if he had any important files on there and don't want to wipe it clean. Thanks for any help!