Desktop Computers

Joeboo

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
8,157
140
If you can't tell an obvious difference from the features/connections on the motherboard (such as the more expensive one supporting RAID or stuff like that), it usually just comes down to build quality, which usually only becomes a factor when you are overclocking. Higher quality parts will generally withstand more stress(overclocking/raising electrical voltage) before they fail.

So if you aren't overclocking, and the features are the same, you're generally fine with the cheaper board. As long as it's from a well-known manufacturer like ASRock, Gigabyte, or MSI or something, their "cheap" boards are still perfectly fine for all normal use(and will usually even do *some* overclocking if you want to).
 
Denaut

Denaut

Trump's Staff
2,739
1,279
Sithro_sl said:
Well, it's blowing upwards at the moment (towards the video card), which is fine I guess, considering heat travels up anyway.
Click to expand...
Unless is some special or strange power supply, that fan is an intake fan. It is pulling hot air from the video card and exhausting it out of the back of the case (where the plug is).
 
S

Sithro

Molten Core Raider
1,493
196
Denaut_sl said:
Unless is some special or strange power supply, that fan is an intake fan. It is pulling hot air from the video card and exhausting it out of the back of the case (where the plug is).
Click to expand...
Ah, well I suppose that makes sense. Which is good, so I don't have to worry about it.
smile.png
 
Hekotat

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
12,101
11,612
What is a solid upgrade from an HD6850 without breaking the bank? I've been looking at gpureview but I haven't kept up with tech in so long I really don't know what I'm looking for anymore, I'd like to get an Nvidia card for Physx on PS2.

Also, I was finally able to talk my friend out of his Apple G4 case, I think I'm going to xfer my HTPC to it. I'm pretty fucking excited to have one, I've wanted one since Hardocp built the "bad apple" case back in the late 90's.
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
8,157
140
Best card(imho) at various price points:
$400 - Nvidia 770
$250 - Nvidia 760
$200 - AMD 7870
$100 - AMD 7790

I'd highly recommend the 760 if you can afford a $250 upgrade. That's a hell of a card for the price. I paid $300 for my 660Ti at this time last year, and the 760 is significantly more powerful. If budget is a concern I don't know that I'd bother with the 770, thats a huge price leap for not nearly a proportional performance leap (50-60% more price for ~20% more performance). Theres also a massive performance drop down to the 7870 compared to the 760. The 760 is just a hell of a deal for ~$250 right now. That really should be a $300-$350 card based on its performance compared to other cards.
 
Hekotat

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
12,101
11,612
I'm thinking the 760, I just wanted to make sure the card I got was worth the upgrade. When I compared my card to the 660ti it didn't seem worth it at all.

Thanks again Joeboo.
 
Gnomedolf

Gnomedolf

<Silver Donator>
15,796
99,180
Another case fan question: I know that I can plug a fan with a 3-pin plug into a 4-pin header, but does it matter which pin is left free?
 
gogusrl

gogusrl

Molten Core Raider
1,359
102
There's a bump there that will only allow you to plug it one way, you can't fuck it up unless you force it down.
image002.jpg
 
Titan_Atlas

Titan_Atlas

Deus Vult
<Banned>
7,883
19,909
Another question, what from a basic internet and gaming perspective is the difference between a I3 and a I5 besides dual and quad core.I thought i read that most games only make use of two cores anyways.It's about 100 dollars difference for the 5 vs the 3 and i'm wondering if i'm going to notice that performance increase.
 
brekk

brekk

Dancing Dino Superstar
<Bronze Donator>
2,191
1,746
For games that are GPU dependent i3 vs. i5 will be hardly noticable. For CPU dependent games an i3 will still be okay, but an i5 will be the best. It comes down to budget if you can at all possibly afford it get the i5, but the i3 will not be the worst alternative, it will still be as good as the best AMD can muster.
 
Quaid

Quaid

Trump's Staff
11,565
7,877
In the market for a new monitor soon. Looking for something to play FPS games (building a system for Titanfall in the spring, currently playing TRIBES: Ascend). Anyone got any suggestions for max performance around $300-500? Don't need bigger than 24-27 inches. Plan on buying a GTX 790 or whatever AMD comes out with in October if it's attractive.

Currently eyeballing ASUS VG248QE
 
Intrinsic

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
14,407
12,015
Think I'm going to order a 770 4gb so it is waiting when I get home from my honeymoon. Before we left I went to boot up my computer to transfer some movies to our laptop between the wedding / long trip.

Computer booted up like normal and when Windows finished loading the monitors just turn off. Reboot doesn't make them come back on at all, even during post. Have to move the DVI to card two and then can get in to safe / restore mode which is 'successful' at a couple of points, one, two, three weeks ago. Then the same thing repeats. Windows loads, monitors turn off in to standby, have to move DVI.

Kind of don't want to go with NVIDIA again, but for performance it seems the best option. Anyways, will have two moderately used 670s for sale shortly if anyone wants to SLI or two buyers want them on the cheap.
 
Gnomedolf

Gnomedolf

<Silver Donator>
15,796
99,180
Got all the parts and my new PC is fully built. Everything working fine. My only complaint is with the Corsair H55 water cooler. The pump is noisy as fuck, and since I was going for a silent as possible machine, it really annoys me. I'll have to return it and try something else.

I ended up going with a Hasell i7, 16gb, 500gb ssd, and a GTX 770. It's fast as all hell.

I got one of those Korean Qnix 27' IPS monitors. It shipped from Korea and got to my house in less than 24 hours, and that's with free shipping. The screen is extremely good for the price. I did a small overclock up to 96hz and used a color profile that someone made for it. Colors are rich and sharp. I got the glossy version. My only complaint with it is that there appears to be a fingerprint smear on the inside of the glass. I can only see it on lighter backgrounds (but not on white), so I'm not sure if it's worth it to return it. No dead or stuck pixels.
 
mkopec

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
25,440
37,581
Gratz man, that's a beast of a system. And yeah the monitor thing sucks. I drove my ass 1.5 hours to my local Micro Center to replace my 24" 1080 Dell screen I picked up. It had a bright spot dead in the middle of the screen. It was not that bad, but it got on my nerves.
 
Intrinsic

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
14,407
12,015
Gnomedolf_sl said:
Got all the parts and my new PC is fully built. Everything working fine. My only complaint is with the Corsair H55 water cooler. The pump is noisy as fuck, and since I was going for a silent as possible machine, it really annoys me.
Click to expand...
Make sure you are running the latest firmware, and like really check to make sure. My h100i was loud as a bitch until I found some corsair messageboard with a link to a firmware download that the official site had pulled. Quiet as a mouse now.
 
Gnomedolf

Gnomedolf

<Silver Donator>
15,796
99,180
I spoke too soon. After spending the entire afternoon and evening installing Windows and all my apps the brand new SSD took a shit and died. Won't load a damn thing while the hard drive light stays solid all the time. I'm so mad I can't put it into words. I've invented new swear words, I can tell you that. In fact, I'm so pissed that I don't think I'll be able to jerk off to Emma Watson pics tonight.

FUCK!
 
Gnomedolf

Gnomedolf

<Silver Donator>
15,796
99,180
Intrinsic_sl said:
Make sure you are running the latest firmware, and like really check to make sure. My h100i was loud as a bitch until I found some corsair messageboard with a link to a firmware download that the official site had pulled. Quiet as a mouse now.
Click to expand...
How do you install firmware on a pump?
 
Intrinsic

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
14,407
12,015
Gnomedolf_sl said:
How do you install firmware on a pump?
Click to expand...
Oh, the h100 and other versions, 70 maybe?, Have that really shitty corsair link program that lets you do monitoring and other worthless things. There is a tool to flash it and my pump went from very very noisy to completely silent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.