PC Discussion Thread - All PC related in here.

[echo1 0]

Alright, for the graphics card, I'd go for either a HD4870 or HD4890.

Processor depends on your budget. If you can afford an AMD Phenom II X4 940 or 955 (both of which are quad cores), I'd go for that. If you can't, I'd go for the Phenom II X3 720, which is a triple core CPU, but quite fast nonetheless. ArmA doesn't even use more than two cores properly, so it's more than enough if that's all your budget can extend to.

Motherboard-wise, a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-UD2H would be a good choice for any of the Phenom CPUs listed above.

You'll also need new RAM, as the AM2+ motherboard uses DDR2 RAM as opposed to the DDR1 in your old motherboard. I personally use OCZ Platinum RAM, which is good quality and relatively inexpensive, but anything made by Corsair, Crucial or OCZ would be a good choice. 4GB is a good amount to have, however, if you have XP or Vista 32bit, you'll only be able to use ~3GB of that. If you have XP or Vista 32bit and want to save money, you could just get 2GB instead. Some feedback posts in the ArmA 2 section reports that it doesnt use that much RAM anyway, and it would be more than enough for just about any good around, except maybe GTA4.

Also, what sort of Power Supply Unit do you have?

[Sennacherib 0]

Also, what sort of Power Supply Unit do you have?

I don't know :p

btw thx for your explanations, i'm going to watch that, i hope that my budget will be enough because I don't want to attack a bank :p

well, the prices are correct, excepted for the ATI cards, too much expensive. an other idea? the 4850?

Edited June 5, 2009 by Sennacherib

[echo1 0]

At that price, a better choice would be the GeForce GTS250.

If you have an older PC, you may well need to replace the Power Supply Unit, as it may not be powerful enough to supply all your components. Did you build your PC yourself or did you buy it?

[Sennacherib 0]

I bought it. this was an emergency after the die of the previous.

what do you think about the Intel cpu (2 or 4 quad)?

[echo1 0]

AMD is much better value for money, particularily for the Quad Cores. The X4 955 is not far off the Core i7 in terms of performance, despite the fact that they're much cheaper (especially when you factor in the price of motherboards.)

What make/model of PC do you have? I might be able to find out what PSU it has.

[Sennacherib 0]

a compac presario SR1638 fr (french) :)

well, I keep your idea about the phenom 3 quad. ;)

[echo1 0]

Googling the model name doesn't really reveal any useful information, but knowing HP/Compaq PSUs, you may well have to replace the one that came with it (in fact, if it came with a slow graphics card, and is a few years old, I'd say that not replacing it isn't an option). The best choice for a new PSU is a Corsair VX550. You may see cheaper ones around, but they are probably not as good (a bad PSU can cause all sorts of shit). That particular one is probably the best value for money and will be powerful enough if you need to upgrade your computer further in the future.

[Sennacherib 0]

thank you very much for your advices :notworthy:

[Sertorius21 10]

They come for both the AM2+ and AM3 sockets. I'm assuming that since you have a 3500+ plus, you've got the old -939 socket, so you'll be upgrading either way. Remember that AM2+ CPUs will not work in AM3 motherboards, AM3 CPUs will work in AM2+ motherboards after a software update. Besides that, AM3 motherboards use the newer DDR3 memory, AM2+ motherboards use DDR2 memory. The prices on DDR3 memory have started to drop, so you may want to consider an all-AM3 system.

Top of the line AM2+ CPU: 940 Deneb (3.0GHz Quad-core): $189

Top of the line AM3 CPU: 955 Deneb (3.2GHz Quad-core): $245

The AM3 Triple Core comes as either the 720 Black Edition, or the 710 regular version. 720 costs 20 dollars more, and runs at 2.8GHz instead of 2.6GHz.

You can get a decent AM3 motherboard (A GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P) for $80, and 4GB RAM (2x2GB sticks) can be had for $60 (G-Skill stuff). The mobo won't do Crossfire or SLI, but I didn't get the impression that you wanted that. Personally, I'd go with an AM3 system unless you really must pinch the pennies.

Edit: Here's a list ranking a number of PSU brands. Aim for something that's at least Tier 3. Corsair tends to make good equipment, so you should be OK with ch-123's suggestion.

Edit2: Regarding GPUs, a 1GB GTS250 can be had for $145. Is that cheap enough?

Edited June 7, 2009 by Sertorius21
Power Supplies

[nedley 10]

WTB

Wants to buy Nvidia 8800 GTS 512MB.

Please forum PM me.

[echo1 0]

Why would you bother? Much faster cards around these days. Unless you want to have an SLI setup also, but that's also a waste of money really...

[nedley 10]

Why would you bother? Much faster cards around these days. Unless you want to have an SLI setup also, but that's also a waste of money really...

Yes, we already have one system with SLI on these cards and get good performance. Arma2 does support SLI. I have a 9800 GTX which is being outperformed by the 8800GTS SLI setup so i'm after a cheap secondhand 8800GTS to SLI our second system.

For the money-performance ratio its the best bet. 40-80 quid for a 25-50% improvment is better than 150-200 quid for a 50-75% improvment for our budget.

[Sennacherib 0]

@Sertorius, thx for your advices ;)

[-Snafu- 77]

As I was switching off the desktop I chose to install the updates that have downloaded. It went to the blue Windows XP screen which shows you the progress of the installation. It's been stuck on "Installing update 5 of 11...Do not turn off or unplug your computer; it will turn off automatically."

It has been like that for two hours now. I have no idea what the update was, however.

Can anybody help?

Windows XP SP3

P4 2.66GHz

Nvidia 7600GS 512MB

1 GB RAM

[echo1 0]

Leave it on overnight. If it hasnt finished by the time you wake up, pull the plug.

[-Snafu- 77]

Thanks, it worked no problem.

I have another question. I am finally getting rid of my ancient piece of crap PC from 2003. I was going to build my own but I have changed my mind. I came across this PC in Costco for 583.98 GBP.

HP

- Intel Core Quad Q8200 2.33GHz

- 4GB DDR2 SDRAM

- 1 TB SATA 3GB Hard Disk

- DVD Writer SATA

- ATI HD 4650 1GB

- 20" Screen

How would you rate that? Is it a good deal?

I was also thinking about this one:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-067-OE&groupid=43&catid=1184&subcat=

This one:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1722296828.1244835854@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceadehhfigjeicflgceggdhhmdgmk.0&category_oid=-35614&sku=752419&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null

Any other sites where I can get more bang for my buck? I am not looking to spend more than 650GBP, could stretch it up to 700 though.

I was looking at one site last week and it let you pick a category where you could modify a basic build (such as Gamer - Basic) I swear that was Overclockers but I can't find that page.

[echo1 0]

The one from Overclockers UK is the best value by far. I'd upgrade the graphics card to the HD4890 if I were you. As for alternatives, I have no idea about what computer shops are around over in the UK, but I'd doubt you'd find anything better for your money. You might want to google to see how good their customer service/support is though.

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

Opinions needed...

My Raid (Nvidia Stripe) is 2.5 yrs old, and also will be unable to hold many more apps/games on 2x150gb Raptors. I also seem to feel I've been lucky that it hasn't crashed yet. (knocks on wood).

I'm considering a format, and deleting the Array.

I want to use the Raptors and other 7200rpm HD's for W7 RC, and also Vista on other HD's.

What would be the best for overall performance?

Would I want the OS on the Raptor (no raid) or just any HD? Or vice versa?

Or should I just add more Raptors to the Array? It will hold 6 total. (Also considering some of the newer HD's on the market)

This MB has 2x6 Raid controllers, so I could put/keep Vista on it's on Raid.

I'm only wanting to test/compare W7 and Vista on identical setups, then eventually only use 1.

[echo1 0]

Asides from the Raptors, what sort of hard drives do you have?

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

WD & Maxtor 7200rpm, 160-320GB, 3-4 each.

[echo1 0]

Im not sure if your RAID controller could support it (and even if it could on paper, whether it would actually support it well) but what I would do, assuming a controller capable of all of it, would be to have a RAID 0 setup of your Raptors, and a RAID 5 setup of 3 of your 320GB drives. The Raptors could be partitioned up with a partition for each OS, and one for games. As you point out, data loss is an issue for RAID 0, especially if your hard drives are a few years old. But for games and Windows, if the drives die, just reinstall them. Meanwhile the RAID 5 setup gives you the reliability for your data.

If I was you though, I'd wait till SSDs become more affordable (which I'd say will happen within a year), get one, ditch your raptors, stick your OSes and games on the SSD and have some sort of RAID 5 setup for data.

[RedLion 0]

Hi Guys,

I am finally breaking down i am buying a new computer. I want to run Arma 2 at its highest possible settings when possible. That said here is what i plan to buy from Newegg:

(My first at building my own but I a comfortable with it. I’m tired of paying Dell for a lesser machine)

- Apevia X-Telstar-AL Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer

- Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000hlfs 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0 Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

- EVGA 017-P3-1294-AR GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 Bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI

- Corsair CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified

- Corsair XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model ASUS

- P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

- Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition Bloomfield 3.33GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601975

- Pioneer Black 8X Blu-Ray DVD Burner w/ Software SATA Model BDR-203BKS

The price is a bit high but I want this to last me a few years plus I hope I can have the flexibility to upgrade with this computer (i.e., video card, cpu etc...)

Many thanks for your thoughts,

RedLion

[CameronMcDonald 146]

I can't talk, because I bought a 965, but if you have even the haziest knowledge of overclocking and are looking for value for money (i.e. don't have money to burn), you'll want a cheaper i7.

[echo1 0]

- Apevia X-Telstar-AL Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer

I'd get a better case, which is quite important when you are getting a powerful PC that outputs a load of heat. Get something from the likes of Lian-Li or Antec.

- Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000hlfs 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0 Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

Wouldn't bother with these. If you want to spend a load of money on a hard drive, get yourself an OCZ Vertex for your games + Windows, and a Samsung 1TB drive for your data. If you don't want to get an SSD, just get the Samsung, they're actually pretty fast and can hold their own against the Raptors if memory serves me correct.

- EVGA 017-P3-1294-AR GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 Bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI

It's pretty debatable whether dual-GPU cards are a really good idea, mainly because of all the problems that they cause. I'd get something like a HD4890 or GTX275.

- Corsair CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified

You don't need that much power for this system. The 620W unit would probably suffice.

- Corsair XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model ASUS

- P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

- Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition Bloomfield 3.33GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601975

You'd have to be completely mad to want an extreme edition Core i7. For one, you could easily get a regular Core i7 920 and overclock it quite easily to about 4Ghz (the extreme edition's top overclock isn't higher than that of the 920).

I also think the Core i7 is a bit of a dead end in terms of upgrading, as Intel are releasing the i5 chips for mainstream (which are just as fast as the current i7s except cheaper and more overclockable), which means that in the future you will only be able to upgrade your LGA1366 motherboard to some really high end server chips and extreme edition CPUs. I'd think you'd be better off getting a Phenom II, then again, the Core i7s seem to be performing the best in ArmA II from what I saee. So if you really want to spend all that money, I'd get a 920, and a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5.

[Sertorius21 10]

If you've got the sort of money to be considering an i7 975, you might be better off buying the cheaper i7 920 and using the money to buy a water cooling system instead.

The GTX 285 is currently the fastest nVidia single-GPU card. Might be a better choice than the GTX 295.