PC Discussion Thread II - All PC related discussion goes here.

[echo1 0]

@ ch 123:

I got the motherboard, rocessor, graphics card and power supply.

I just need the hard drive, disk drive, computer case, memory, speakers and monitor.

However, I got a 19" plasma screen TV that I'm using as monitor. It's set 720p. Would i be able to use it for the gaming PC?

AFAIK, plasma screens can get some nasty screen burn-in (i.e. a still image will burn itself into the screen that you constantly see it). I'm not sure if that is still the case, but you might want to read into it first.

[sesdelta38 10]

AFAIK, plasma screens can get some nasty screen burn-in (i.e. a still image will burn itself into the screen that you constantly see it). I'm not sure if that is still the case, but you might want to read into it first.

Alright then. Which monitor would you recommend? Does the DVD drive need to be compatible with the motherboard?

[Inkompetent 0]

Alright then. Which monitor would you recommend? Does the DVD drive need to be compatible with the motherboard?

Just any LCD screen really. If your DVD drive has a IDE-connector (broad, flat cable with 22 wires or something in it) and not a SATA (flat, stiffer, and much smaller than IDE) one you would need to make sure there is an IDE-port on the motherboard. Most new motherboards do have one IDE-port though, but better safe than sorry.

[sesdelta38 10]

Just any LCD screen really. If your DVD drive has a IDE-connector (broad, flat cable with 22 wires or something in it) and not a SATA (flat, stiffer, and much smaller than IDE) one you would need to make sure there is an IDE-port on the motherboard. Most new motherboards do have one IDE-port though, but better safe than sorry.

This the motherboard I chose:

-GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 AMD

What kind of DVD drive would be compatible with it?

[echo1 0]

Any SATA one would do fine. LG make decent ones.

[Hoot1988 0]

Hey guys.

I hope this goes in the right thread.

Basically my GFs flat has a issue that one of her housemates friends has stolen an external HD from someone else in the flat and we are trying to work out if it is the same HD. Most of the files on there are the same as the other housemate says are on there. I was wondering if there is any software out there that can tell you where a HD has been plugged into in the past? Or any other methods of confirming ownership?

Thanks for any help ::j

[NeMeSiS 11]

Hey guys.

I hope this goes in the right thread.

Basically my GFs flat has a issue that one of her housemates friends has stolen an external HD from someone else in the flat and we are trying to work out if it is the same HD. Most of the files on there are the same as the other housemate says are on there. I was wondering if there is any software out there that can tell you where a HD has been plugged into in the past? Or any other methods of confirming ownership?

Thanks for any help ::j

Jack Bauer has a method of confirming ownership.

[XXXEliteXXX 10]

I'm on a view for new graphics card but is unsure whether my PC will hold this I have a Dell XPS / Dimension XPS Gen 3 with Pentium ® whit Pci-Express 4CPU-3.40GHz-3.39GHz, 2.00GB RAMog and addapter at 460 W. pc is from 2004 and has a Radeon X800 XT (only shader 1.0) and works fine on Cod 4,Crysi.s When we bought this computer, we paid around 3000 so it was Beste at the time, but is unsure whether it is possible to buy a graphics card that can also run Arma 2, which requires Minimum system requirements:

Windows XP or Windows Vista

Dual Core CPU

nVidia GeForce 7800 / ATI Radeon 1800

So it is possible to buy a graphics card to that Pc and run Arma 2 and not make the PC crashes? came up with suggestions on different cards, the best also ho can can fit my pc, Price is not the most important.

Tanks for all answers

[sesdelta38 10]

@echo1:

This is my current list of parts. I still need to add more.

-GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 AMD 790X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard-$129.99

-SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive-$74.99

-AMD Phenom X4 940 Black Edition Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad Core Processor.

-XFX HD-587X-ZNDC Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) XXX Edition 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX-$419.99

-OCZ Gold 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 (PC10666) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1333LV8GK-$189.99

-CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-650HX 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply-$119.99

-SAMSUNG 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 4X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk LightScribe Support - OEM-$24.99

-Antec Three Hundred + BP430 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply-$90.00

So. Will these parts work?

[blackettle 10]

ATI5970 vs GTX480

Which performs best in this game?

[acoustic 82]

Hello all. I am soon to be getting a new 5750 to replace my 4670. While that's all dandy, I think maybe I should look into overclocking my CPU. I will start off by saying, I don't have a clue as to how to do anything with overclocking. So please put into terms for a "Overclocking Noob". Here are my system specs...

Asus m3a76-cm Mobo

ATI Radeon 4670(soon to be 5750, wanna play Arma at it's best )

Amd Athlon x4 620 Quad Core processor

Mushkin Enhanced 2gb RAM

Thanks1

[maddogx 13]

Acoustic, you will definitely want to check out Overclock.net. They have lots of guides that explain overclocking, even for specific motherboards (because it's slightly different for every BIOS).

For starters, here are some very basic things you should know about overclocking:

- CPU clock frequency is calculated by FSB times multiplier. For example, if you have an FSB of 300Mhz and a multiplier of 9x, then the resulting clock frequency will be 300x9 = 2700, or 2,7Ghz.

- Most overclocking is done by increasing the FSB (because CPU manufacturers usually lock the multiplier). For example, if you increased the FSB from the above example to 333Mhz, you would get ~3Ghz.

- Overclocking possibilities are limited by several factors, most notably the CPU voltage. If you increase the clock frequency too far without increasing the voltage, the system will become unstable.

- You cannot increase voltage infinitely, because A: higher voltage means more heat, so the CPU may get hotter if your cooling solution is insufficient, and B: too high voltage may damage the CPU. The maximum safe voltage is usually known, and you should not exceed it unless you are feeling very brave. Also note that higher voltages reduce hardware life in the long term.

- Once you have found an overclock that seems to work, you should test it thouroughly using a program like Prime95 for several hours (preferrably over night). Only if your system runs without error through several hours of 100% load should the overclock be considered stable.

There is of course a lot more you will need to learn, but those are the most important things I could think of to get you started. ;)

[banenwn 10]

It works fine.

A large percentage of the 'problems' are more user error than anything else. It was dodgy for a couple of weeks after the initial release of A2 (and that was purely down to the lack of a proper profile that was quickly rectified).

@banenwn - 465 SLI is faster than 1 480 and you will notice a difference. The only thing that blows about any amount of GPU horsepower vis a vis Arma 2 is that when you are in cities with a lot of AI, your FPS will drop. This has nothing to do with SLI or lack of SLI, it is purely a limitation of the engine at this point.

In open areas my FPS is halved when SLI is disabled.

I dunno about that ive tried every last suggestion on this board to get arma 2 to work in sli and it just doesnt.guess some are just lucky and some arent.Im going to sli gtx 470's and sell off one of my gtx 465.the gtx 465 plays the game great but wish i could get sli to work

[ziiip 1]

You must see the truth: http://files.sharenator.com/12362152488400_Gamers-s780x1820-33252-580.jpg

[sesdelta38 10]

@echo1:

This is my current list of parts. I still need to add more.

-GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 AMD 790X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard-$129.99

-SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive-$74.99

-AMD Phenom X4 940 Black Edition Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad Core Processor.

-XFX HD-587X-ZNDC Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) XXX Edition 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX-$419.99

-OCZ Gold 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 (PC10666) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1333LV8GK-$189.99

-CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-650HX 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply-$119.99

-SAMSUNG 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 4X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk LightScribe Support - OEM-$24.99

-Antec Three Hundred + BP430 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply-$90.00

So. Will these parts work?

I'm still wondering. Will these parts work? Anyone???

EDIT: I need to edit the list a little. I had to choose some different parts.

Edited September 5, 2010 by sesdelta38

[TechnoTerrorist303 10]

Why are you buying a case with a power supply and then a seperate power supply as well?

[echo1 0]

The parts look good, but as pointed out, get a case without a PSU. In fact, the ones that come with PSUs are usually low quality.

[sesdelta38 10]

The parts look good, but as pointed out, get a case without a PSU. In fact, the ones that come with PSUs are usually low quality.

Then which case should I get?

[TechnoTerrorist303 10]

Antec 300 is actually a good case but you don't need to get it with a PSU.

[Tonci87 163]

Hi guys, I´m interested in buying a new GPU, maybe the HD 5850.

I´m curious if my PC can handle that.

My current system

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 @2,5 GHz

4Gb Ram

Nvidia GeForce 9500 GS

Mainboard: MS-7366 ver. 2.2

Power Supply: FSP400-60MDN with 400W and 20A on the 12V rail

Thanks in advance

[maddogx 13]

Hi guys, I´m interested in buying a new GPU, maybe the HD 5850.

I´m curious if my PC can handle that.

My current system

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 @2,5 GHz

4Gb Ram

Nvidia GeForce 9500 GS

Mainboard: MS-7366 ver. 2.2

Power Supply: FSP400-60MDN with 400W and 20A on the 12V rail

Thanks in advance

The HD5850 can apparently use up to ~150W. Possibly even more, since it requires two 6-pin power connectors (so it could theoretically go up to 225W).

Most 400W power supplies only have one of those 6-pin connectors (not sure about yours, can't find much info about it). There are adaptors of course, but on the whole I think a 400W PSU may still struggle under load from such a card.

[Tonci87 163]

You my be right, what PSU would you suggest?

[echo1 0]

One of Corsair's PSUs... something in the 550-650W region.

[Tonci87 163]

I´m thinking about buying a Cougar Power 550W

[echo1 0]

Don't bother with non-brand PSUs, they're shit.

Just get a Corsair and it will work perfectly.