PC Discussion Thread - All PC related in here.

[-ZG-BUZZARD 0]

I have a question, I have an Asus P5N32-E SLI motherboard which has PCIexpress x16 slots, and I was thinking of upgrading my graphics card to a Geforce 9800GT, which requires a PCIexpress 2.0 slot, would it per chance work on my motherboard or is it out of the question to do such an upgrade?

[echo1 0]

It will work. The performance drop (if there is any) will be negligible.

[Sertorius 0]

Is the reverse also true? Could I buy a new mobo/CPU and keep using an old PCI 1.0 card?

[echo1 0]

That is correct.

[Curious 0]

I have a 4850X2 (one card) 1GB does that mean am not getting full 'power' cos arma doesn't support crossfire? :S

[echo1 0]

Yeah. It would probably be slightly faster than a standard HD4850, but nowhere near as fast as it could be. Some people also have problems with dual-CPU ATI cards.

[QBA69 1]

hello,

i'm about to buy a new pc (mainly to play arma) and have already decided to go with amd athlon am2+ platform. but i got no idea which video card i should buy to play arma with full details in 1280x1024 res? could you please recommend me something specific? (btw, i can spend no more than $200 on that)

thank you in advance for your help.

qba

[Sertorius 0]

Newegg has currently got a Radeon 4870 512MB card going for $170 (See here). If you don't want Radeon, probably one of the better nVidia cards within your budget is the 9800GTX+ (Link). You might want to compare them on Tom's Hardware or something similar.

Edit: A quick look on Tom's Hardware (At aggregate scores for 1280x1024 performance) shows the 4870 with a slight lead, though both cards are definitely near the head of the pack (Excluding the mongo 4870X2s and the GTX cards).

[SteelyDan 0]

I'd definitely recommend the 4870 as well, should be plenty fast to run at that resolution.

I applaud your choice of an AM2+ platform, with the new Phenom II's it's a kickass platform for those who don't have an unlimited budget.

If you can afford it, get the Phenom II 940. It has an unlocked multiplier, meaning you can easily overclock it. People report it to go at 3.6 or even 3.8 ghz with air cooling with little effort.

If you want the best "bang for buck" AMD CPU, the Phenom II X3 720 is highly recommended. It's priced comparably to the Intel dualcores, but you get an extra CPU core thrown in...Quite a bargain.

Plus it overclocks like a champ, 3.5 ghz easily with just a slight increase in voltage.

If you plan on upgrading your mobo later, you should get the AM3 version though, as it is compatible with both AM2+ and AM3 sockets, so you can still use it when you get a new mobo.

[QBA69 1]

thank you guys for your quick replies. as it comes to ati i'm not sure yet whether i go with 4870 or 4850 since they differ not that much afaik. but iirc to play arma swiftly with full details i need a card with 1gb vram - is that right?

and as it comes to cpu - i was planning on buying amd athlon 64 x2 6000+ (3ghz) because i already bought mobo (dfi lanparty dk 790fxb-m2rsh) and ram (2gb g.skill ddr2 pc2-8500 pk series dual kit). and i don't know if buying one of these new amd phenom cpus makes any sense in this case? (even if that phenom ii x3 720 is within my price range)

ps.

one more thing - could you tell me which windows is best for playing arma? should i stick to that good old xp (32 or 64 bit) or it's better to move onto vista?

[echo1 0]

thank you guys for your quick replies. as it comes to ati i'm not sure yet whether i go with 4870 or 4850 since they differ not that much afaik. but iirc to play arma swiftly with full details i need a card with 1gb vram - is that right?

and as it comes to cpu - i was planning on buying amd athlon 64 x2 6000+ (3ghz) because i already bought mobo (dfi lanparty dk 790fxb-m2rsh) and ram (2gb g.skill ddr2 pc2-8500 pk series dual kit). and i don't know if buying one of these new amd phenom cpus makes any sense in this case? (even if that phenom ii x3 720 is within my price range)

ps.

one more thing - could you tell me which windows is best for playing arma? should i stick to that good old xp (32 or 64 bit) or it's better to move onto vista?

There is quite a difference between the performance of the 4850 and the 4870 If I recall correctly. And the quantity of VRAM isn't all that important, 512MB is more than enough for most games.

I wouldnt bother getting the Athlon x2, it would be a bottleneck for a fast graphics card. I'd definitely go for one of the cheaper Phenom II quad cores if you could afford it. As for Windows, it depends on how much RAM you have in your PC. If you have 4 or more, go for XP64. For less, you should probably stick to XP32. I'm not really convinced of the merits of going for Vista with Windows 7 scheduled for release in a few months.

[CzingerX 0]

I'm looking to upgrade my computer.  I'll spend a couple hundred bucks on it.  But I don't know what to do.

Thought this was the best place to ask.

Specs:

AMD Athlon X2 3800

2gigs of Cricial DDR2 RAM

Sapphire ATI 1950GT 512MB PCI Express

Creative AudigySE sound card

300 Watt Psu

[chammy 7]

Ok, seems I will be replacing my motherboard and at least 4 GB ddr of ram or 2 gb?, I just bought a new tower with 2 fans and a 680 w power supply, would 680w be over kill?. I have my eye on 2 cards, the 4870 and either the PNY Geforce GTX285 the one from BFG, but BFG has GDDR and 1 GB of ram. I heard to stay away from OSC or OC. Or should I go for the 9800 GTX or GT+? all with SLI and GPU performance. Here are some prices at Fry's:

Fry's G cards

[echo1 0]

I'm looking to upgrade my computer.  I'll spend a couple hundred bucks on it.  But I don't know what to do.

Thought this was the best place to ask.

Specs:

AMD Athlon X2 3800

2gigs of Cricial DDR2 RAM

Sapphire ATI 1950GT 512MB PCI Express

Creative AudigySE sound card

300 Watt Psu

Czingerx:

I assume that is the spec of your old you are posting. Of course, it depends on how much money you want to spend on the upgrade. As I don't know what your budget is, I'll list both cheap and expensive options:

CPU -

Budget:

Phenom II x4 940

Non-Budget:

Core i7 920

Motherboard -

Budget:

keep your RAM (or get a new set of OCZ Platinum 4GB, and upgrade to 64 bit Windows) and if you have an AM2+ plus board, keep it too. If you have an older AM2 board, you'll need to replace it with decent ASUS or Gigabyte board with an AMD 780 chipset.

Non-budget:

Gigabyte Socket LGA1366 board, 6GB of Corsair RAM.

Graphics:

nVidia 9800GTX+ (or ATI HD4870 512MB if you can afford it.

or

GTX 260 or GTX 285.

PSU:

Corsair 550W

Hard Drive:

Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB

Sound Card:

Keep the Audigy

or

ASUS Xonar DX

Chammy:

What brand is the PSU? 680W would be sufficient for just about anything, but if its not a good make of PSU, then it could cause you problems.

Graphics cards wise: 9800GT < 9800GTX+ < HD4870 < GTX285. If you can afford the GTX285, go for it by all means. Just make sure your CPU is good enough to keep up with it (A quad core or a 3GHz+ Dual Core)

[Sertorius 0]

Hey QBA69, Newegg has a GTX 260 available for exactly $200 (And there's also an extra $20 mail-in rebate). It's here if you want to take a look.

[QBA69 1]

Hey QBA69, Newegg has a GTX 260 available for exactly $200 (And there's also an extra $20 mail-in rebate). It's here if you want to take a look.

thanks Sertorius for letting me know but unfortunately i can't shop on newegg since they don't ship overseas:(( (what a shame). besides i'm not sure if nvidia gtx 260 would be a better choice than ati hd 4870? afaik both cards are almost equal when it comes to performance, image quality or price. it's almost impossible for me to make a right choice:/

ps.

regarding cpu - i decided to go with that phenom ii x3 720 be. it seems to me that it's the best choice right now for me.

[echo1 0]

nVidia tend to have better drivers in my experience. Of course, some will say ATI's drivers are better, but I'm just going on what I've seen myself.

[chammy 7]

Chammy:

What brand is the PSU? 680W would be sufficient for just about anything, but if its not a good make of PSU, then it could cause you problems.

Its a Apevia Iceberg 680W Green ATX Power Supply from Fry's.

[Lepardi 0]

nVidia tend to have better drivers in my experience. Of course, some will say ATI's drivers are better, but I'm just going on what I've seen myself.

Well in my experience it's the exact opposite. ATi drivers have been way better than nVidia's.

[Rebel Man 431]

Hi all, i'm just about to buy a new CPU and motherboard, so maybe i'm going to buy "Core2Quad" or "Core i7", so anybody know what is the good\decent motherboard for the "Core i7"? (afforable or\and not afforable).

[CzingerX 0]

I'm looking to upgrade my computer.  I'll spend a couple hundred bucks on it.  But I don't know what to do.

Thought this was the best place to ask.

Specs:

AMD Athlon X2 3800

2gigs of Cricial DDR2 RAM

Sapphire ATI 1950GT 512MB PCI Express

Creative AudigySE sound card

300 Watt Psu

Czingerx:

I assume that is the spec of your old you are posting. Of course, it depends on how much money you want to spend on the upgrade. As I don't know what your budget is, I'll list both cheap and expensive options:

CPU -

Budget:

Phenom II x4 940

Non-Budget:

Core i7 920

Motherboard -

Budget:

keep your RAM (or get a new set of OCZ Platinum 4GB, and upgrade to 64 bit Windows) and if you have an AM2+ plus board, keep it too. If you have an older AM2 board, you'll need to replace it with decent ASUS or Gigabyte board with an AMD 780 chipset.

Non-budget:

Gigabyte Socket LGA1366 board, 6GB of Corsair RAM.

Graphics:

nVidia 9800GTX+ (or ATI HD4870 512MB if you can afford it.

or

GTX 260 or GTX 285.

PSU:

Corsair 550W

Hard Drive:

Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB

Sound Card:

Keep the Audigy

or

ASUS Xonar DX

Chammy:

What brand is the PSU? 680W would be sufficient for just about anything, but if its not a good make of PSU, then it could cause you problems.

Graphics cards wise: 9800GT < 9800GTX+ < HD4870 < GTX285. If you can afford the GTX285, go for it by all means. Just make sure your CPU is good enough to keep up with it (A quad core or a 3GHz+ Dual Core)

Thank you for the great response.

I ended up getting and installing a Antec 500 watt psu, 2 gigs more of ram.

Also a ATI VisionTek HD 4970 pci-express that has 1gig DDR3 ram.

One other question.  The processer I have is a AMD X2 3800+ 989 socket.

I have a nForce 520LE motherboard.  Since they don't make 989 sockets anymore, what would be the best processer to upgrade too?

[echo1 0]

Chammy:

What brand is the PSU? 680W would be sufficient for just about anything, but if its not a good make of PSU, then it could cause you problems.

Its a Apevia Iceberg 680W Green ATX Power Supply from Fry's.

Doesnt sounds like a good model. Are there are any Corsair PSUs on the site?

CzingerX: Did you mean 939? The x2 3800 was one of the better 939 chips made. The only thing that would represent a worthwhile upgrade would be an Opteron 185 or FX-60. However, both of these tends to be quite expensive, so you'd be better off saving up for a new motherboard + CPU + RAM.

ReblMan: A Gigabyte EX58-UD4 is probably the best choice.

[CzingerX 0]

Yes,939. Made a typo there.

Thanks again for the advice.

[Supernova 0]

nVidia tend to have better drivers in my experience. Of course, some will say ATI's drivers are better, but I'm just going on what I've seen myself.

I've used both ATI and Nvidia drivers and I encountered more issues with Nvidia than with ATI. I tested both 2 GTX 295 in Quad-SLI with the latest drivers and my current setup of 2 4870 X2's in CrossfireX with 9.2 Catalysts and found that ATI's drivers are more superior. What kind of company releases new drivers every week or so can be considered to have decent drivers .

Quote[/b] ]Hi all, i'm just about to buy a new CPU and motherboard, so maybe i'm going to buy "Core2Quad" or "Core i7", so anybody know what is the good\decent motherboard for the "Core i7"? (afforable or\and not afforable).

Core i7 is and will continue to be an expensive option. You need to buy a new motherboard , triple channel ddr3 memory , core i7 cpu. A good configuration there would cost roughly (according to newegg prices) :

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE"> Qty.   Product Description   Savings   Total Price

   CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D

   CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D - Retail

   Item #: N82E16820145224

   Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

-$15.00 Instant

   $214.00

   $199.00

   ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

   ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

   Item #: N82E16813131365

   Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

   Protect Your Investment (expand for options|hide options)

       Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan

           The product will be replaced and shipped directly to you at no charge(more info13-131-365.0.18)

               * 1 year: $34.99

               * 2 year: $59.99

   $289.99

   Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920

   Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

   Item #: N82E16819115202

   Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy

   Protect Your Investment (expand for options|hide options)

       Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan

           The product will be replaced and shipped directly to you at no charge(more info19-115-202.0.18)

               * 1 year: $34.99

               * 2 year: $59.99

-$14.99 Saving

   $288.99

   $274.00

1

   Intel Gift

   Intel Gift - Retail

   Item #: N82E16800995068

   Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

   $14.99

Subtotal: $777.98

Quote[/b] ]

I ended up getting and installing a Antec 500 watt psu, 2 gigs more of ram.

Also a ATI VisionTek HD 4970 pci-express that has 1gig DDR3 ram.

There is no 4970 available (wait till April), so i think you mean the 4870.

[echo1 0]

What kind of company releases new drivers every week or so can be considered to have decent drivers .

Releasing regular updates for your software is generally considered to be good practise. Maybe if you knew half as much as you claim to know about computers you'd appreciate that fact  

Why get an overpriced ASUS board when the Gigabyte one does the same thing and gets good reviews?