PC Discussion Thread - All PC related in here.

[Bush 0]

Surprisingly I've had this one in mind from the very same website, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-154-OK&groupid=43&catid=1080&subcat=

I just need to know whether they're a reputable, it's potentially a lot of money I'm putting down and if anything goes wrong then I'll be severely disappointed. However, thanks for the recommendations.

I would probably recommend the PC with the Q8400@3,2GHz, that CPU is newer and is 45nm instead of 65nm for the Q6700 so it will be cooler. I would also recommend one of the Antec cases instead of the "Elite 335".

But personally I would get the i7-system if I did not know how to build my own PC.

I also have no personally experience with overclockers.co.uk as I try to buy everything from Sweden were I live.

[PhantomFury 10]

I would probably recommend the PC with the Q8400@3,2GHz, that CPU is newer and is 45nm instead of 65nm for the Q6700 so it will be cooler. I would also recommend one of the Antec cases instead of the "Elite 335".

But personally I would get the i7-system if I did not know how to build my own PC.

I also have no personally experience with overclockers.co.uk as I try to buy everything from Sweden were I live.

Thanks for your help, it's appreciated. :)

[MehMan 0]

Explain your reasons why and suggestions for improvement.

It doesn't specify the PSU, the MB, ram manufacturer, etc etc. A bunch of critical details missing. The price tag is far too much too. I built myself a rig better than this for about the same money more than six months ago. Now it should be even cheaper.

Screw the HD4850, get a HD4870 at the very least, consider also the nvidia cards as they are good and cheap too. The CPU, don't know, fell out of the loop. The HDD is also too small, get a 750gb. The case looks like crap and I'd raher go for a sound muffling one.

All in all, preassembled rigs are usually quite bad. Rather build it yourself or at least find a shop where you can choose your own components.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

...and if you don't know how to build a computer - get into it as soon as you can. It's a wonderful skill to have. :)

[MehMan 0]

Indeed! And if you feel squeamish, don't, if you still are, then go change the brake pads on your car and then try to install a motherboard. Suddenly it becomes easy peasy!

[NeMeSiS 11]

Indeed! And if you feel squeamish, don't, if you still are, then go change the brake pads on your car and then try to install a motherboard. Suddenly it becomes easy peasy!

And you wont die when you mess up when building your PC. :D

[ProfTournesol 956]

And you wont die when you mess up when building your PC. :D

Who knows.. :computer:

[echo1 0]

And you wont die when you mess up when building your PC. :D

Agreed, it's far more likely that you'd die of frustration having to deal with Dell :p

[boomar. 10]

Agreed, it's far more likely that you'd die of frustration having to deal with Dell :p

I seriously love DELL, best customer service ever. You ring up, say your screen is broken and then they check you still got warranty. This all takes 5 minutes.

The next day your new screen turns up.

Gogo DELL.

On the subject, i prefer to pay more for a PC than build it myself. Really cant be bothered trying to build a PC, why ot just buy a super PC and be done with it?

[maddogx 13]

On the subject, i prefer to pay more for a PC than build it myself. Really cant be bothered trying to build a PC, why ot just buy a super PC and be done with it?

1. If you know how to build the PC yourself, why pay more for someone to do it for you?

2. It doesn't take long to build a PC and it's a great sense of achievement once you're finished.

3. You can easily upgrade/replace parts without risking loss of warranty.

4. Unlike Dell, your home-built PC doesn't stop you from overclocking it.

[MehMan 0]

Because you can't buy a super PC from Dell.

Preassembled rigs are shit.

[echo1 0]

On the subject, i prefer to pay more for a PC than build it myself... why ot just buy a super PC and be done with it?

You basically answered your own question - it's a lot cheaper. And alot of the so-called "High end" Dell PCs use mediocre components. The only way you can guarantee getting a really good PC from them is to buy one of their $4000+ systems, at which point you get something that you easily could have built yourself for a third or even a quater of the price.

And btw, out of all the stories I've heard of Dell's tech support (either online or IRL), I've only ever heard one other person say something good about their support (a guy in my class in college who got a screen replacement when the laptop's screen died two days after he got it. That said, such a laptop never should have been sold in the first place). The rest were horrific. Either you're a very lucky person, or a bad troll.

Edited May 20, 2009 by echo1

[boomar. 10]

You basically answered your own question - it's a lot cheaper. And alot of the so-called "High end" Dell PCs use mediocre components. The only way you can guarantee getting a really good PC from them is to buy one of their $4000+ systems, at which point you get something that you easily could have built yourself for a third or even a quater of the price.

And btw, out of all the stories I've heard of Dell's tech support (either online or IRL), I've only ever heard one other person say something good about their support (a guy in my class in college who got a screen replacement when the laptop's screen died two days after he got it. That said, such a laptop never should have been sold in the first place). The rest were horrific. Either you're a very lucky person, or a bad troll.

Im not trolling, i got a DELL 22" screen a year ago. After 2 weeks of it working normally the thing all of a sudden starts smoking up and cracking at the back, then my screen goes black and she never woke up again. I called em and got a new screen delivered the next day. I figured they were like this for everyone so i always tell ppl how much i love DELL haha.

And yes, i probably wont buy a DELL again, i'm probably gona just call some decent local computer parts place and select some bits, then get them to put it together for me, all for a much smaller price than just getting a high end DELL. Its still not as cheap as building myself but i've had bad experiences even trying to do upgrades by myself in the past.

Edited May 20, 2009 by boomar.

[Hoot1988 0]

Hey guys im having a issue with my computer. I think its the GPU which is a ATI Radeon 3870HD.

Anyway I attempt to boot my computer and the screen looks like this

Sorry for the poor quality, they were taken on a iPhone. It does seem to occasionally work ok, but then I get sporadic dodgy pixels going funny colors.

The first time this happened was after I was playing CS:S and the game froze, no respose from the computer made me shut it down manually and when it rebooted I had this issue.

Anyone seen this before? is it cooling related?

[von_paulus 0]

Hey guys im having a issue with my computer. I think its the GPU which is a ATI Radeon 3870HD.

Anyway I attempt to boot my computer and the screen looks like this

Sorry for the poor quality, they were taken on a iPhone. It does seem to occasionally work ok, but then I get sporadic dodgy pixels going funny colors.

The first time this happened was after I was playing CS:S and the game froze, no respose from the computer made me shut it down manually and when it rebooted I had this issue.

Anyone seen this before? is it cooling related?

I've seen it before. It means you've to buy a new graphic card.

[echo1 0]

I've seen it before. It means you've to buy a new graphic card.

+1 to that.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Hey guys im having a issue with my computer. I think its the GPU which is a ATI Radeon 3870HD.

Anyway I attempt to boot my computer and the screen looks like this

Sorry for the poor quality, they were taken on a iPhone. It does seem to occasionally work ok, but then I get sporadic dodgy pixels going funny colors.

The first time this happened was after I was playing CS:S and the game froze, no respose from the computer made me shut it down manually and when it rebooted I had this issue.

Anyone seen this before? is it cooling related?

Bad VGA RAM. My trusty 8800 recently suffered this same problem - I gave it a Viking's funeral <wipes tear> and bought a 9800GT to tide me over until my 280s arrive. :) Enjoy the time you had with your 3870, but walk away. It's just not worth hanging on.

Edited May 21, 2009 by CameronMcDonald
Specified VGA RAM, not memory!

[sesdelta38 10]

I checked up on your model of PC and it look's like it should be able to take a graphics card and a third party PSU. For the PSU, I'd recommend a Corsair 450W unit. As for the graphics card, I'd recommend a GeForce 9600GT. While there are way more faster graphics cards available, the Pentium D you have would be a bottleneck for them, and your PC wouldn't be able to take advantage of them. The 9600GT is still quite a capable card, and is nearly as fast as the GeForce 8800GT that is listed as the "recommended requirement" for ArmA2.

EDIT: I'd also recommend a RAM upgrade, as the stuff is really cheap these days. I'd get a 2GB set (make sure you buy one that is comprised of two 1GB sticks) so that you have 3GB in total. Also, if you plan to upgrade your motherboard or CPU in the future, I'd go for the 550W Corsair PSU instead of the 450W one.

I know you said that I should upgrade my RAM until I have 3 GB, but is it possible to upgrade to more than 3 gb? Also, are you recommending the 550W over the 450W or upgrade with 450W and later upgrade with the 550W in the future?

Edited May 22, 2009 by sesdelta38

[maddogx 13]

I know you said that I should upgrade my RAM until I have 3 GB, but is it possible to upgrade to more than 3 gb? Also, are you recommending the 550W over the 450W or upgrade with 450W and later upgrade with the 550W in the future?

When it comes to RAM, you're best off using identical sticks in groups of two or three (depending on whether your board supports dual or triple channel). If your motherboard has four RAM slots, you should get two sticks of 2GB (I'd always go for at least 4GB nowadays, providing your OS supports it). That way you still have two free slots and can easily upgrade to 8GB later on if you want. Just make sure to get the same RAM from the same vendor.

About the PSU, definitely go for 550W.

[echo1 0]

I know you said that I should upgrade my RAM until I have 3 GB, but is it possible to upgrade to more than 3 gb? Also, are you recommending the 550W over the 450W or upgrade with 450W and later upgrade with the 550W in the future?

If you have XP Home/Pro or 32bit Vista, all the OS will support is 3GB of RAM. There's also the above mentioned issue of how much your motherboard can accept. Though I suppose if you plan upgrading to 64bit Windows (particularily with Win 7 coming out later this year) 4GB would be good.

As for the PSU - get the 550W if you can afford it for the sake of future proofing. But if you are on a really tight budget, the 450W will do you just fine.

Edited May 22, 2009 by echo1

[Landstalker 10]

i had a radeon 4870 x2 , and i had no end of trouble with it i purchased it when it very first got launched and stuck with it for a while, drivers where very slow from ATI/AMD which was expected.

But my overall experience was terrible i ended up having to return it, my system kept constantly crashing and my rig was like 3 weeks old so....

i changed from ATI to Nvidea and i haven't had 1 system crash since unless caused by me. I had Nvidea previous to buying the ATI and ill never go back to ATI there forums where littered with peoples cards failing and crashing and they never responded to any posts, my 9800GT oc is awsome i would reccomend an Nvidea card to anyone.

[MehMan 0]

The problem I have with the ATI forums is censorship. All my posts got deleted because I said that I'm going back to nvidia because of shitty XP64 drivers. :P

Overall, besides the noise, satisfied with my card. But I solved the noise problem, so I'm a happy customer. Mainly because I got to fuck around with stuff.

[Hoot1988 0]

Bad VGA RAM. My trusty 8800 recently suffered this same problem - I gave it a Viking's funeral <wipes tear> and bought a 9800GT to tide me over until my 280s arrive. :) Enjoy the time you had with your 3870, but walk away. It's just not worth hanging on.

One of my friends has told me the same, that it is a VGA ram issue. However last night i got it working in safemode and downloaded the ATI drivers for windows 7 off their site. Installed them and now it seems fine. I was playing CS for agggeeeessss last night with no issues at all. Not even got any of the sporadic funky pixels anymore. Maybe I just bought the old girl some time.

@Landstalker

I have used ATI for all my computing life. But I have had problems with every card I have had (Though my last one could have been the motherboard witch was replaced shortly after I got my new card) but I am very much considering Nvidea card should I have to get a new one.

[Landstalker 10]

MehMan

Im guessing you have an ATI card now ? i remember having the fan turnt up as it used to get quite hot it looked nice the exterior of the card and i remember it was very heavy and crossed over an extra bay on my motherboard :) but it just wasnt to be i tried allot of games and still had the same response on 64bit and 32bit windows xp and vista :p

[Landstalker 10]

Hoot1988

i can only give you personal advice from my previous experiences i just feel that Nvidea are slightly better with the card drivers, the Nvidea cards are reasonably cheap now so , i mean if you never liked it then you could possible get an ATI 4870 but each to there own, handy thing is check the reviews of the card from a few shops before buying so you can make sure that you get the best card and value for money.