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[zulfate]

I dobt know if this belongs here but steam is giving me major issues i cant view the steam store i have tried everything but nothing is working, i went to there faq and found my problem but its not doing anything.thanks again friends

Edit: i took my pc at my gf and it works but for whatever reason it gives me problems at my house

 

[border]

I need a videocard in the $150 range. I am debating between a Radeon 6870 and a GTX 560 -- is there a reason I should prefer one over the other?

 

[NH Apache]

Ok! Final check in before I purchase! My weak point is the power supply...will I be ok?

http://i.imgur.com/iIlk0.png

Dual hard drives, btw.

Edit: Fuck compression on imgur, this is the power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170010

have two 1 TB hdd, a 6870, and an dvd burner

Screw it, not taking chances.... going with the suggested: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

 

[mkenyon]

I dobt know if this belongs here but steam is giving me major issues i cant view the steam store i have tried everything but nothing is working, i went to there faq and found my problem but its not doing anything.thanks again friends

Edit: i took my pc at my gf and it works but for whatever reason it gives me problems at my house

Router/firewall issue.

 

[mkenyon]

Lian Li PC-V700




2012 near-production PC-V700:

- Release around early-mid April
- Finished interior
- Dual 120mm top exhaust (open, fans included)
- Option to fit slim 240mm rads, and, possibly, thick 240mm rads internally
- 1x140mm front intake, 1x120mm rear exhaust
- 8 PCI expansion slots
- WxHxD: 210 x 400 x 496mm (8.27 x 15.75 x 19.53")
- Somewhat similar to Lian Li PC-V354 in overall dimensions (longer, slimmer)
- ODD: 1x5.25" bay
- HDD cage: 4x3.5" (3 of which are hot swap), 3x2.5"
- Case floor: Additional 2.5", and 3.5" mounting points

Need to offset the top exhaust for rad mounting. This one issue makes it a fail from my viewpoint. Arc Mini is still king.

*edit*
Summabitch, double post. Sorry.

Also, to clarify, getting your case configured to accept even the closed AIO systems like the H100 seems like nearly a must at this point. Between those and the huge increase in actual watercooling systems thanks to XSPC kits, it seems like we're moving in that direction in the performance world. That performance junkie is the person that would buy the V700, due to the inevitable insane price. Gotta cater to your customers.

 

[Smokey]

Today I said fuck it and went to Microcenter and got the Asus Z68 Deluxe and the Seasonic 1000w Platinum PSU. Microcenter was selling it for $350 , but I got them to price match Newegg. Been wanting a 1K PSU for a little more piece of mind for a while, so went ahead and went for it.

I've tried one cold boot, and the PC came up as you'd expect. Will try another in a few. Guess I'll try and sell the P8P67 Pro whenever it comes back from Asus. Been without my machine in its proper form for a few months

Edit: Probably a rhetorical question but the PSU fan...you want it pointing down? I guess it could go either way? Right now it's facing up right into one of my 580s, although that was more of just getting it in and seeing if things work.

 

[scogoth]

Today I said fuck it and went to Microcenter and got the Asus Z68 Deluxe and the Seasonic 1000w Platinum PSU. Microcenter was selling it for $350 , but I got them to price match Newegg. Been wanting a 1K PSU for a little more piece of mind for a while, so went ahead and went for it.

I've tried one cold boot, and the PC came up as you'd expect. Will try another in a few. Guess I'll try and sell the P8P67 Pro whenever it comes back from Asus. Been without my machine in its proper form for a few months

Platinum PSU *droooooooooooooooooooool*

 

[zulfate]

Router/firewall issue.

By any chance would you know what to do? It happened out if nowhere and its really bothering. I tried resetting my router but it did nothing

 

[RedSwirl]

I'm still confused at how GPUs are numbered. Is there a guide somewhere?

Just dealing with AMD for instance, are all 6000 series GPUs more powerful than all 5000 series GPUs?

 

[mkenyon]

Today I said fuck it and went to Microcenter and got the Asus Z68 Deluxe and the Seasonic 1000w Platinum PSU. Microcenter was selling it for $350 , but I got them to price match Newegg. Been wanting a 1K PSU for a little more piece of mind for a while, so went ahead and went for it.

I've tried one cold boot, and the PC came up as you'd expect. Will try another in a few. Guess I'll try and sell the P8P67 Pro whenever it comes back from Asus. Been without my machine in its proper form for a few months

Edit: Probably a rhetorical question but the PSU fan...you want it pointing down? I guess it could go either way? Right now it's facing up right into one of my 580s, although that was more of just getting it in and seeing if things work.

First off, totally jelly. Definitely my next PSU.

Second, it's kind of up to you and doesn't really matter. Thing is, is that the fan actually stays off because its so well built that it stays cool most of the time. Having the fan facing up allows more of that heat to escape to also help it stay in fan off mode. If you do end up placing it down, protip is to have a squishy piece of material between the grate/mesh and whatever it is resting on. One of the design issues with Seasonic PSU's is that mesh stuff is flexible enough to be pushed down to interfere with the fan. It won't necessarily happen, but the suggested tip is a good preventative measure.

I'm still confused at how GPUs are numbered. Is there a guide somewhere?

Just dealing with AMD for instance, are all 6000 series GPUs more powerful than all 5000 series GPUs?

They are not. They switched up the naming conventions between 5xxx and 6xxx to make it even more difficult. I think Tom's has a hierarchy of video cards somewhere, and it might even be under that name.

As far as tiers go, 57xx = 68xx (68xx being slightly more powerful), and 58xx = 69xx (69xx being slightly more powerful).

 

[larvi]

So what does the Z68 chipset offer over the P67 other than integrated graphics? Shopping for a MB now and the P67's seem to be cheaper overall and integrated graphics just add components and backplane ports that I don't really need so I'm leaning towards a P67 board.

 

[mkenyon]

SSD Caching is the other big feature. This is only important if you have a SSD that is 40GB or less.

Additionally, the "Gen 3" boards are seemingly Z68 only, at least from ASUS. This means that the PCI-E slots are PCI-E 3.0 instead of PCI-E 2.0, but that also doesn't really matter either unless you're looking at getting two insanely powerful cards in SLI/X-Fire.

 

[Felix Lighter]

I'm still confused at how GPUs are numbered. Is there a guide somewhere?

Just dealing with AMD for instance, are all 6000 series GPUs more powerful than all 5000 series GPUs?

No. The 5000 series cards are all just part of the same generation of cards but there are different tiers of performance.

5970 - dual GPU card
58xx - high end
57xx - mid range
56xx - low end
...

AMD changed their numbering convention in the 6000 series however, which does complicate things a little.

6990 - dual GPU card
69xx - high end
68xx - mid range
67xx - low end

 

[RedSwirl]

No. The 5000 series cards are all just part of the same generation of cards but there are different tiers of performance.

5970 - dual GPU card
58xx - high end
57xx - mid range
56xx - low end
...

AMD changed their numbering convention in the 6000 series however, which does complicate things a little.

6990 - dual GPU card
69xx - high end
68xx - mid range
67xx - low end

So what really matters is the hundreds digit?

Are the 6000 cards just more efficient or something?

 

[mkenyon]

No, it all matters in a way. The hundreds digit is the tier its placed in, the thousands is the generation.

New generation, changes to the basic architecture and whatnot.

 

[artist]

So what really matters is the hundreds digit?

Are the 6000 cards just more efficient or something?

Yes and no.

6970 > 6950 > 5870 > 6870 = 5850 > 6850 > 6770 > 5770 > 6750 > 5750 ...

This gives a basic idea:

 

[Smokey]

First off, totally jelly. Definitely my next PSU.

Second, it's kind of up to you and doesn't really matter. Thing is, is that the fan actually stays off because its so well built that it stays cool most of the time. Having the fan facing up allows more of that heat to escape to also help it stay in fan off mode. If you do end up placing it down, protip is to have a squishy piece of material between the grate/mesh and whatever it is resting on. One of the design issues with Seasonic PSU's is that mesh stuff is flexible enough to be pushed down to interfere with the fan. It won't necessarily happen, but the suggested tip is a good preventative measure.

Yeah I do remember reading that in the reviews. I think I'll leave it how it is. Came down to the Seasonic and Corsair 1200w. Both were priced roughly the same, but I figured 1200w was way overkill for my setup so I "settled" for the sonic PSU.

Kind of excited. I definitely want to try and bench my machine and see where I'm at in that thread. All you mafuckers with 7970s though have left me behind lol

 

[phinious]

So I bought a mismatch of a couple of the builds on the OP, but I dont have an operating system.

Is there a legit way to get in the Windows 8 beta?

Otherwise Im gonna have to see if I can reuse an old VISTA key.

 

[Yoritomo]

So what does the Z68 chipset offer over the P67 other than integrated graphics? Shopping for a MB now and the P67's seem to be cheaper overall and integrated graphics just add components and backplane ports that I don't really need so I'm leaning towards a P67 board.

SSD Caching, quicksync, native support for DDR3 1600

I think that's it.

 

[Branson]

Do most new boards have 5.1 audio? Or is a different sound card needed for that? Specifically talking about this board im going to use for my new comp:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131781

 

[artist]

So I bought a mismatch of a couple of the builds on the OP, but I dont have an operating system.

Is there a legit way to get in the Windows 8 beta?

Otherwise Im gonna have to see if I can reuse an old VISTA key.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833520

or you can always use the old developer preview: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516

 

[larvi]

SSD Caching, quicksync, native support for DDR3 1600

I think that's it.

Thanks for the reply. I don't do a lot of video transcoding so the quicksync isn't that important for me, SSD caching sounds interesting as a way to utilize a cheaper small SSD drive, but it looks like it requires running the hard drives you are caching in a raid setup which I don't currently do. DDR3 1600 support is important but pretty much all of the boards I'm looking at do say they support that speed (and higher). Is there any advantage to native chipset support for it?

 

[Ultrabum]

Ok PC gaf I got a question (Hazaro I know your out there).

Basically, I bought a new SSD. I want to do a clean install and I know how to do it and everything, but there is one problem.

Microsoft office. I bought office with 3 activation codes, and I used all 3 (laptop, desktop, tablet).

So I guess my question is can I do a clean install, but not wipe the old HDD and run only office from the HDD (in the new install of windows)? Or somehow copy the old install onto the SSD without activating it again?

I have no idea how to do this.


Any solution that doesn't require me to reboot into the old install of windows would be great!

Thanks for your help.

 

[Yoritomo]

Thanks for the reply. I don't do a lot of video transcoding so the quicksync isn't that important for me, SSD caching sounds interesting as a way to utilize a cheaper small SSD drive, but it looks like it requires running the hard drives you are caching in a raid setup which I don't currently do. DDR3 1600 support is important but pretty much all of the boards I'm looking at do say they support that speed (and higher). Is there any advantage to native chipset support for it?

nope, just easier to configure in bios.

 

[mkenyon]

Ok PC gaf I got a question (Hazaro I know your out there).

Basically, I bought a new SSD. I want to do a clean install and I know how to do it and everything, but there is one problem.

Microsoft office. I bought office with 3 activation codes, and I used all 3 (laptop, desktop, tablet).

So I guess my question is can I do a clean install, but not wipe the old HDD and run only office from the HDD (in the new install of windows)? Or somehow copy the old install onto the SSD without activating it again?

I have no idea how to do this.


Any solution that doesn't require me to reboot into the old install of windows would be great!

Thanks for your help.

You can call microsoft to activate it. Reformating is a perfectly acceptable excuse from their end.

 

[Hazaro]

Ok! Final check in before I purchase! My weak point is the power supply...will I be ok?

http://i.imgur.com/iIlk0.png

Dual hard drives, btw.

Edit: Fuck compression on imgur, this is the power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170010

have two 1 TB hdd, a 6870, and an dvd burner

Screw it, not taking chances.... going with the suggested: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

That $19 PSU will work until it kills itself and other parts of your computer. Same thing as putting a time bomb in your case.

I need a videocard in the $150 range. I am debating between a Radeon 6870 and a GTX 560 -- is there a reason I should prefer one over the other?

6870 better value. Check the Bench link in the OP.

Ok PC gaf I got a question (Hazaro I know your out there).

Basically, I bought a new SSD. I want to do a clean install and I know how to do it and everything, but there is one problem.

Microsoft office. I bought office with 3 activation codes, and I used all 3 (laptop, desktop, tablet).

So I guess my question is can I do a clean install, but not wipe the old HDD and run only office from the HDD (in the new install of windows)? Or somehow copy the old install onto the SSD without activating it again?

I have no idea how to do this.


Any solution that doesn't require me to reboot into the old install of windows would be great!

Thanks for your help.

I'm no good with Windows. Pretty sure you just call them and tell them what's up.

Thanks for the reply. I don't do a lot of video transcoding so the quicksync isn't that important for me, SSD caching sounds interesting as a way to utilize a cheaper small SSD drive, but it looks like it requires running the hard drives you are caching in a raid setup which I don't currently do. DDR3 1600 support is important but pretty much all of the boards I'm looking at do say they support that speed (and higher). Is there any advantage to native chipset support for it?

Not really. 1600 support is just for official support. 1333 boards been running 1866 sticks forever.

 

[NH Apache]

That $19 PSU will work until it kills itself and other parts of your computer. Same thing as putting a time bomb in your case.

Thanks. Realized that if there is one component that can fuck everything in the case, it would be the PSU. Went with the one suggested for the 2500k in the OP.

Ordering everything on Monday. Looking forward to assembly!

 

[larvi]

nope, just easier to configure in bios.

Not really. 1600 support is just for official support. 1333 boards been running 1866 sticks forever.

Thanks for the info, went with the Asrock P67 performance mobo, it was one of the few that still has both a FDD and pata controller, would rather have that then the integrated graphics. If it only had a ISA slot for my Roland SCC-1 it would be perfect for me

Now to find a deal on the 2500K so I can start my upgrade, it looks like the price of it has been trending up lately. Microcenter has them for $179.99 but it's in store only. By the time I drive the hour there and hour back and pay the sales tax I've lost any savings.

 

[scogoth]

Yeah I do remember reading that in the reviews. I think I'll leave it how it is. Came down to the Seasonic and Corsair 1200w. Both were priced roughly the same, but I figured 1200w was way overkill for my setup so I "settled" for the sonic PSU.

Kind of excited. I definitely want to try and bench my machine and see where I'm at in that thread. All you mafuckers with 7970s though have left me behind lol

Race your pc thread. Time to measure that epeen.

 

[Jharp]

This is good thread!

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

I looked at the Maximus IV Extreme as well, but I didn't know if it was Gen 3. Didn't think it'd make that much sense to get something that wasn't Gen 3.

I have the ASUS P67 Revvoultion WS, it's a great board though I will have to RMA because two of the RAM slots aren't working. but what cpu do you have/want?

 

[Smokey]

I have the ASUS P67 Revvoultion WS, it's a great board though I will have to RMA because two of the RAM slots aren't working. but what cpu do you have/want?

I have a 2600k. Went out and got the Asus Z68 Deluxe today. I have a ASUS P8P67 Pro that's away for RMA at the moment.

 

[TheExodu5]

It's quite ridiculous they didn't offer you an Advance RMA.

 

[Trike]

You're using VGA aren't you?

Had HDMI for awhile, but then I needed to use speakers instead of just my TV. I couldn't get it to work otherwise.

Edit: Also why does this thread of Hazaro's PC Builds for January 7th, 2011? The other one has December 12th 2011 or something. Unless it was just a typo?

 

[RS4-]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMsruac6tG0&feature=player_embedded

Video review for the NZXT Switch 810

 

[Kraftwerk]

Now that I finally have the money, I am going to buy a PC this week. The Hazard PC build in the OP seems perfect. I want to get the $1000 version - $986-. JUst wanted to see if you guys would make any changes to it, performance wise. I'm O.K with going 100-200 extra.

Using it for Gaming mainly. Such as WoW and Skyrim.

 

[michaeltraps]

Hey Gaf-

Any recommendations for HD Monitors? Currently using an old Vizio 22" 1080p TV as my "monitor," but the clarity and sharpness just isn't cutting it for gaming.

 

[Smokey]

It's quite ridiculous they didn't offer you an Advance RMA.

They "tried". Told me they didn't have any in the warehouse to send me...which I kind of find hard to believe but whatever. I got this z68 board with the warranty from Microcenter to not have to deal with them again if something goes wrong.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

Everything came in yesterday and I just got done putting it together. I can breathe a sigh of relief cause I've got BIOS. I'll put Windows on it after class, but I think this was a success! The only time I felt super nervous was putting in the CPU, because it was heavier than I expected and the slot was much, much smaller. My hands were shaking so I dropped it in sideways the first try and thought I was fucked.

 

[Smokey]

It's funny looking back on when I put mine together for the first time. The CPU part was easily the most nerve wracking with the amount of force needed to close the socket. Then yesterday putting it into the new mobo took me all of 2 seconds

 

[RomanticHeroX]

Putting the CPU fan on was a mess too. I put it down and started twisting the stands before I thought I should check the manual, then forgot which ones I had turned to see what was locked and unlocked. It also took way more force to put those in than I expected.

 

[CoachKevin]

OK so I am ready to jump back into PC gaming and actually play all of the steam games I bought.

With a $500 budget what would you guys recommend? (I saw some posts about this in the past but I am having find one with options recently).

Edit: I should note I would love to have a smaller case, not a tall tower, so I guess that would be a mid tower?

 

[scogoth]

OK so I am ready to jump back into PC gaming and actually play all of the steam games I bought.

With a $500 budget what would you guys recommend? (I saw some posts about this in the past but I am having find one with options recently).

Edit: I should note I would love to have a smaller case, not a tall tower, so I guess that would be a mid tower?

Read op. There are builds there. If you have questions or modifications then post them here.

 

[CoachKevin]

Read op. There are builds there. If you have questions or modifications then post them here.

Got it. And can I expect to put together something that can the latest games with no problem at that price range?

 

[scogoth]

Got it. And can I expect to put together something that can the latest games with no problem at that price range?

Yep standard build has you covered. AAA titles like bf3 you will only be able to play on medium settings but pretty much anything else should be medium/high settings

 

[FlawlessCowboy]

Hey Gaf, I need to buy a new PC. I know this thread is primarily for building your own PC, but do you guys have any recommendations for buying a straight desktop off newegg or tigerdirect? It's primarily going to be used for school, music, and some moderate gaming.

This was my previous computer's specs:

AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+
2.6 GHZ
3GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 4770
Windows XP (LOL)

I'm pretty much flying blind in terms of what I'm looking for. I'm not tech savvy in any sense of the word, so is there anything you guys would recommend? My budget is around $750. I already have a monitor and an excellent keyboard/mouse.

Thanks for your help.

 

[border]

I got my new PC today, and yeah it's a bit of a hassle.

Dell is usually good about not loading on bloatware, but this PC now has McAffee and and some Roxio burning garbage on it. Is it easy to remove this stuff? Or should I just look into doing a clean install of Windows 7?

 

[chaosblade]

I got my new PC today, and yeah it's a bit of a hassle.

Dell is usually good about not loading on bloatware, but this PC now has McAffee and and some Roxio burning garbage on it. Is it easy to remove this stuff? Or should I just look into doing a clean install of Windows 7?

A clean install would be a lot quicker and easier than trying to remove all the bloatware, if you can do that without restoring to factory settings (which will also load the bloatware) then go for it. Nothing to lose on a new PC.

 

[border]

6870 better value. Check the Bench link in the OP.

The OP recommends a 6870 for both the standard and the budget builds, yet also recommends a 430 Watt PSU. Every 6870 I've come across says it requires a 500 Watt PSU -- some even demand a 550W unit. Is this an error in the builds, or can I realistically run a 6870 on a 430-460 Watt PSU?

A clean install would be a lot quicker and easier than trying to remove all the bloatware, if you can do that without restoring to factory settings (which will also load the bloatware) then go for it. Nothing to lose on a new PC.

Is there any simple way for me to get a Windows 7 install disc? Or download it to an external hard drive/USB key and install from there? I have a license, but no disc.

 

[chaosblade]

The OP recommends a 6870 for both the standard and the budget builds, yet also recommends a 430 Watt PSU. Yet every 6870 I've come across says it requires a 500 Watt PSU. Is this an error in the builds, or can I realistically run a 6870 on a 430-460 Watt PSU?




Is there any simple way for me to get a Windows 7 install disc? Or download it to an external hard drive/USB key and install from there? I have a license, but no disc.

I believe you can download Win7 without a key from Microsoft somewhere, but I don't know where it is on their site.

And regarding the PSU, the requirements on the card are more like recommendations since all PSUs aren't made equally. A good higher quality 430W PSU will run that card fine, but some cheapo 500W PSUs could struggle with it.