Desktop Computers

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brekk

Dancing Dino Superstar
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Desktop computer stuff.
 
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Pinch_sl

shitlord
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My wife wants me to build her a desktop computer, so I'm thinking I may do so for Christmas. I'm wondering how the Intel 4000 integrated graphics are on the Ivy Bridge chips. She doesn't game except for random stuff like World of Goo. Primarily it would be used for work, meaning Excel / Word / Powerpoint, ImageJ, and having lots of PDFs open. She would also probably want to use Splashtop to access it from her tablet, and I'm considering using her computer as our Plex Media Server to connect to our Roku box. Think I will I need a dedicated video card for that?

Right now, I'm looking at:
-random motherboard
-Core i5 3570K
-16gb (2x8gb) DDR3 1600 or 1333 G.Skill RAM (is this still a good brand? Haven't built a computer since 2006)
-650W-ish power supply (SeaSonic, Corsair, or Silverstone)
-Samsung 830 120gb SSD for Windows and core programs
-2TB HDD for misc storage and media
-Antec 300 2 case

I have a Microcenter about an hour and a half away that I could use to get good deals on the motherboard / cpu and probably several other components. Any suggestions? Additionally, this is putting me in the mood to get myself a new desktop since I am still running a core 2 duo and 8800 GTS. Is core i5 and GTX 660ti the sweet spot for price/performance these days? I am running a single 23'' 1080p monitor, but might add another if performance won't be a big hit.
 

brekk

Dancing Dino Superstar
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You'd be fine with 8gb of ram, but for the price currently, fuck it rock the 16gb. Don't need a video card from what you describe.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
8,157
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You could even scale down from the 650W power supply if you aren't getting a video card, unless you want to leave room for adding one down the road.

I'd still plunk down $50-$75 or so for a decent dedicated video card. The Intel 4000 is about on par with about 5-6 generations ago for cards...probably something like a Geforce 8600 GT or something like that. Snag a cheap card, something like this Radeon 6670 for $65, and it's going to be at least 2-3x as powerful as the built-in Intel 4000.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102988

I'f you're going to plunk down $500 or so for the rest of the PC, pony up the extra $50 or $60 for a video card, it'll be worth it. There are plenty of decent cards for well under $100 if you are only doing the rare occasional casual gaming.
 

Ignatius

#thePewPewLife
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So I'm going to buy a video card today I think. It seems like the nvidia 670 is a better deal than the 680. Tom's Hardware was saying its only a few more frames per second for $100+. Any reason not to go with a 670?
 

brekk

Dancing Dino Superstar
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670 is beast, I'm still rocking a GTX 460, and thats the card I would upgrade to when the price comes down. I don't like the idea of the 650 TI, 660, or 660 Ti having 2gb of ram but really only utilizing 1.5gb with their gimped memory bandwidth.
 

Orcus_sl

shitlord
295
3
-16gb (2x8gb) DDR3 1600 or 1333 G.Skill RAM (is this still a good brand? Haven't built a computer since 2006)
That ram is fine, but I would pick up this samsung ram instead if I were youhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147096

It's cheap
It's super low profile
It's a new 30 nm fabrication, super low power ram. Most ram runs at 1.5v, this ram runs at 1.35v. You can run it at normal 1.5v power and overclock the shit out of it or jack up the timings. I'm using it in my new build, it's great.
 

Kovaks

Mr. Poopybutthole
2,354
3,142
with stupid Xmas presents i haven't been able to get myself a video card yet but the 4000 has been ok, good enough to stream full HD no problem and run wow in between good and ultra. Not the best but way better than 3000
 

Chancellor Alkorin

Part-Time Sith
<Granularity Engineer>
6,029
5,915
For what you're describing, the 4000 should be fine. You can always add a video card later if you need it for something, but it's not like World of Goo is all that GPU crazy.

I have G.Skill RAM in my laptops and desktops and it runs fine. Never had a problem.
 

Pinch_sl

shitlord
232
0
Gracias everyone. Also hi Alkorin (Pescador from TMO).

Yeah I was thinking about a cheapo video card but I honestly can't imagine her even stressing the intel 4000 as long as it can stream HD video, run Plex, and do Splashtop.
 

Chancellor Alkorin

Part-Time Sith
<Granularity Engineer>
6,029
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Yo, Pesc! Long time no talk. =)

Yeah, it sounds like onboard is the way to go. It's easy to add a cheap one later, and unless you go with a truly cheapo PSU, you'll have the leeway to do it.
 

Vepil

Gamja
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I'm rocking a 670 and hands down its the best bang for the buck. My opinion may not hold much weight since my old card was a 8800 gtx. I paired it with an i5 3570 OC to 4.3GHZ. Everything so far is butter smooth.

Edit: it is a 670 gtx sorry about that.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
8,157
140
I think you mean a 660Ti (there is no 670TI), but I do agree that it's a damn fine card for the price. I've had one for a few months now and it's great. Have Far Cry 3 maxed on all settings (1900x1200 reso) and it's silky smooth. Also overlocks decently with stock cooling, I think I have the core GPU clock at +70mhz and the memory clock at +400 mhz(which is about a 6-7% bump on both) and it's stable as can be. In the benchmarks I ran(Heaven & 3DMark 11) it increased the graphic performance right at that 6-7% as well. Might try pushing it a little farther when I have the time to mess with it.
 

ronne

Nǐ hǎo, yǒu jīn zi ma?
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So I've using a 560 TI, some superclocked thing at 900mhz. It's 100% fine still for any game except Skyrim+50 visual mods, so I'm kind of thinking of either upgrading or adding a 2nd one. Thoughts on replacing it with a 670 or similar, or just getting another 560 TI and going SLI? I've never really meddled with SLI before, so don't know many pros/cons about it. I thought this was going to be an easy decision as the 560 is getting a bit older and I could pick one up for cheap, but they are still in the ~250$ range so that made this a bit more complicated.
 

Jovec

?
727
279
So I've using a 560 TI, some superclocked thing at 900mhz. It's 100% fine still for any game except Skyrim+50 visual mods, so I'm kind of thinking of either upgrading or adding a 2nd one. Thoughts on replacing it with a 670 or similar, or just getting another 560 TI and going SLI? I've never really meddled with SLI before, so don't know many pros/cons about it. I thought this was going to be an easy decision as the 560 is getting a bit older and I could pick one up for cheap, but they are still in the ~250$ range so that made this a bit more complicated.
SLI isn't going to solve your issues. "Skryim+50 visual mods" means you are likely VRAM limited, and SLI does not increase your VRAM (it doesn't double, it mirrors). If you are running a 2GB 560 then look at a 3GB 7900 series or 4GB 600 series. There are also a few reviews that show Skyrim mods so you can see if a 2GB 600 series will benefit you enough. If you are running a 1GB 560 then you have more options.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
8,157
140
Yeah, I think you would get more bang for your buck selling your current 560Ti for whatever you can get for it, and then putting that money towards a 660Ti or 670(depending on your budget, the 670 is superior, especially at resolutions well over 1080p, the extra bandwith is big at high resolution), rather than plunking down another $250 on another 560Ti.

Basically it just kind of comes down to what resolution you game at. If you're low at something like 1680x1050, the 670 might not be any better than the 660Ti, save the money and get the 660. At 1080p, the 670 is probably 10-15% more powerful than the 660Ti, and going up to something crazy like 2560x1440p the 670 pulls well ahead of the 660Ti.

I personally do my gaming at 1920x1200, and I went with a 660Ti as the best bang for the buck. I couldn't justify 30-40%% more cost for maybe 10-15% better performance, but make no mistake, the 670 is the better card if price is no issue.
 

ronne

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SLI isn't going to solve your issues. "Skryim+50 visual mods" means you are likely VRAM limited, and SLI does not increase your VRAM (it doesn't double, it mirrors). If you are running a 2GB 560 then look at a 3GB 7900 series or 4GB 600 series. There are also a few reviews that so Skyrim mods so you can see if a 2GB 600 series will benefit you enough. If you are running a 1GB 560 then you have more options.
Thanks mate, I'm using the 1gb version and I assumed adding another would work additively (probably not a word, whatever), but if it just mirrors like that then yea there is no point in a 2nd 560.

I play primarily at 1920x1080 using TVs as monitors, but am very close to springing for a couple of those 2560x1440 korean jobbers from Ebay, so I may wind up with a 670.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
8,157
140
Definitely go 670 if you think you even might get one of those Korean monitors(even moreso if you get 2)
 

Utnayan

I Love Utnayan he’s awesome
<Gold Donor>
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So I've using a 560 TI, some superclocked thing at 900mhz. It's 100% fine still for any game except Skyrim+50 visual mods, so I'm kind of thinking of either upgrading or adding a 2nd one. Thoughts on replacing it with a 670 or similar, or just getting another 560 TI and going SLI? I've never really meddled with SLI before, so don't know many pros/cons about it. I thought this was going to be an easy decision as the 560 is getting a bit older and I could pick one up for cheap, but they are still in the ~250$ range so that made this a bit more complicated.
FYI: I have this same question. Been thinking of SLI'ing my set up. I have never done it before, but I can snag an identical 570 GTX EVGA Superclocked card for around $250.00. Unfortunately, Amandtech doesn't show SLI 570 GTX as a comparison bench set up when comparing this to a 670 or even a 680.

Any ideas on performance and if it is worth it? Or should I just reroll with a single 680 GTX? CPU is a 2500k OC'd to 4.5 Ghz, 8 Gb Ram, and Windows 7 Pro if that matters.