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Building New Computer - Need Input

FrozenIpaq

Justin B / Supp. Editor
Enforcer Team
Personally, I wouldn't either, I'd go for the PC-P50 instead. It is very nice though :)

I've got to have a case I 100% like and will not want to upgrade from. I love the tooless design of the case and I couldn't ask for better aesthetics. I did however look into the cheaper version of this case (made by Lancool) for about $100 less but I would be made out of steel, no red trim or inside and no dragon on the side panel. I thought long and hard, spent a few hours looking at other cases and decided that this was the case I wanted.
 

Hardrive

Contributor
I've got to have a case I 100% like and will not want to upgrade from. I love the tooless design of the case and I couldn't ask for better aesthetics. I did however look into the cheaper version of this case (made by Lancool) for about $100 less but I would be made out of steel, no red trim or inside and no dragon on the side panel. I thought long and hard, spent a few hours looking at other cases and decided that this was the case I wanted.

But there's an AMD logo on the side window...
 

FrozenIpaq

Justin B / Supp. Editor
Enforcer Team
But there's an AMD logo on the side window...

I don't mind that much, ATI is under AMD so who knows, I could get an ATI card at some point. If I find it to be a problem at all I'll just cover it up with an Intel sticker ;)
 

ilyace

Member
I think that spending a lot of money on an i7 system, then buying an expensive case that has a giant AMD logo on it is fucking stupid. That's just me though :)
 

FrozenIpaq

Justin B / Supp. Editor
Enforcer Team
When'll you get the stuff? I assume they'll send it all together since you ordered together.

This is where it sucks, the case is being shipped from CA (to CT) so that won't get here until Tuesday while the rest of the stuff should be here today or tomorrow. So I'll have all the parts and no case ;) That's going to suck but I'll deal with it - and knowing stupid UPS I'll get the case late Tuesday night (and I have work early the next morning)....
 

FrozenIpaq

Justin B / Supp. Editor
Enforcer Team
Bah I didn't double-check what DVD drive I got, I ended up purchasing a IDE drive instead of the Sata I had bookmarked, I'm not sure how that happened :confused: (all my bookmarks and the link I had here pointed to a SATA drive, gah). I'll just be getting a cheap bluray drive for $60 then instead :cool: and keep the IDE, one of our old computers could use an IDE drive since the one it has is on its last legs

Case coming on Tuesday, so will assemble Tuesday the second I get it. The Coolermaster V8 is a massive cooler, it's the only thing I'm not looking forward to installing :huh:
 

FrozenIpaq

Justin B / Supp. Editor
Enforcer Team
Ok, computer has booted on first try! Woot!

It took me about an hour to get the motherboard in correctly, here's why:

1st try: I/O Shield was not fully snapped in
2nd try: I/O Shield was not fully snapped in (again!)
3rd try: Keep on trying...
4th try: trying...more
5th try: Uh screw these lian-li thumbscrews, I'm switching to the regular ones they gave me
6th try: those regular screws worked magic....screw thumbscrews

1/2nd tries took me about 30-40min of sweat to figure out what was wrong....

I'm install windows 7 on it at the moment although I'm missing a few parts that should come up tomorrow or wednesday:

1) Bluray drive (using one from old desktop at the moment)
2) Fan control is not here yet
3) Some case LEDs are not here yet (I have a special plan for these LEDs)
4) Awaiting a wireless card, my old one's antenna is broken
 

LocutusEstBorg

Active Member
USB>>>PCI card.
Tried D-Link and Netgear's Wi-Fi cards and both of them sucked... Probably too much interference from the PC or something. They would barely pick up a signal from the router 20 feet away.

Or get a pigtail antenna and keep it high up.

You do know that the antenna screw is standard right? You can just buy a pigtail antenna.
 

FrozenIpaq

Justin B / Supp. Editor
Enforcer Team
USB>>>PCI card.
Tried D-Link and Netgear's Wi-Fi cards and both of them sucked... Probably too much interference from the PC or something. They would barely pick up a signal from the router 20 feet away.

Or get a pigtail antenna and keep it high up.

You do know that the antenna screw is standard right? You can just buy a pigtail antenna.

1) Bought a new antenna already (well stole it from my brother's card)
2) Performance/signal is not that great with the current location
3) Wanted a pig-tail antenna so just bought a new card that came with one (and an extended antenna) for relatively cheap
4) Now I can give my brother back his antenna ;)
 

Moose

Meta Moose
I may as well revive this thread for my own use rather than create a new one.

I want to build a computer with a budget of around
 

FrozenIpaq

Justin B / Supp. Editor
Enforcer Team
9500 is a really shitty card. I'd upgrade to at least the GTX 260.

Agreed or at least a 9800GT. The PSU you need really depends on the GPU you get but 500W seems to be sufficient enough for the cards we are recommending.
 

Moose

Meta Moose
Hm, 9800GT seems a little less powerful than what I had in mind. I just looked at a new setup which comes to around
 

Hardrive

Contributor
That's a damn nice setup. If you plan on overclocking, MAKE SURE to get a decent power supply. Nothing's worse than an inconsistent power supply.
 

Moose

Meta Moose
Yeah, I will probably scout around and post here when I find some good PSUs. Cheers guys!
 

x3sphere

Administrator
Staff member
Enforcer Team
Game Info Editor
Not sure when you are planning to order the parts but if an HD5850 is in stock I'd rec that over the GTX275, unless you have interest in Nvidia specific features like Physx. The 5850 is better than a GTX285 and has DX11 support. It's not like MS introduces a new DX version every year either so it should future proof you for some time. Nvidia has no answer to these cards yet (apparently won't until March) so they are in high demand and very hard to find atm. There should be more coming in stock end of December from what I hear.
 

LocutusEstBorg

Active Member
The i5 is a much better choice. Please buy only Asus or eVGA boards. Its so much less of a hassle when getting things like USB installation, addon PCI card BIOS etc. to work. Most other boards just lock up.

You ABSOLUTELY need this: Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 or Thermalright IFX-14

You will be able to do 4.0GHz easy.

For a fan I'd recommend: Panaflo/NMB-MAT 114CFM

This thing pushes more air than a table fan and its not loud. The case fan behind the CPU is much more important than the CPU fan itself. I have one of these on the CPU and one on the case. You could put the Panaflo 114CFM on the case and put a less powerful one on the CPU. My CPU heatsink is cold to the touch with this thing on it.

It looks like this is primarily a gaming system. I wouldn't recommend anything less than a 5850. A GTX 275 is just not going to cut it anymore. I'd even compromise on the CPU/board/RAM and go with an E8400 and DDR2 if you need extra cash for the 5850. Modern games are console ports and look like shit even on maximum settings. Playing on medium will burn your eyes out. However don't compromise on heatsink/fan, they're vital for OCing. The E8400 can do 4.4GHz easy. It will outperform an i7 in most games. Its very difficult to get an i7 truly stable (48h Linpack) at above 4GHz.
 
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