Pc Setup - Chat Thread

[25GTT]

CPU is clockable, but you might want to update the graphics card.

We had talked a little while ago about massive price drops on the current range of high end cards as dx11 is due prob early next year in which case if you can hold out you could a $600 card now for close to half price. Could be worth the wait.

[bozodos]

Only paid $40 for the 8600GT, there's no real point in buying more PC parts because I've nearly finished building my xbox 360 (plus I can play Crysis on medium in a decent resolution lol). I was going to get a 9600GT, but for the amount of games I'm playing on the PC these days there wasn't much point.

I currently have the Engine set on the video card to 600mhz, the Shader to 1250, and the RAM to 850, running nice and stable so far.

When it's time for a DX11 card I'll probably just build a new box and get rid of my laptop.

[R31Nismoid]

DX11 will be only coming 'in' 4-6 months after DX11 comes out before you can actually make use of it.

So that will be 2010. Hence i just grabbed a 4890 for now... sit on that till Q1 or Q2 in 2010, then upgrade again by which stage the initial 'release' prices will have fallen nicely and 2nd Gen cards will be coming out too

[DivHunter]

ATi are apparently on track for DX 11 with Win 7. So once ATi and nVidia have DX11 cards I'll get some new ones, nothing to do with DX11 they just happen to be the next gen of cards.

FYI the 8600 is a dog turd of a graphics card as it's memory bus is tiny so no matter how high you OC it's hobbled.

Edited June 19, 2009 by DivHunter

[25GTT]

Just saw a nice Sapphire 4890 OC'd at PC case gear for only $315

These things are getting cheap now!

Edited - Sorry, might put this in the 'good deals' thread

Edited June 19, 2009 by 25GTT

[R31Nismoid]

Ye, true Jacob - although im just gonna wait, dont need anything greater than a 4890 at present

^ the Sapphire one is a waste of $$.

Buy a standard one and it'll clock to 901mhz.

I have the PCS+ 950mhz and better cooling, ok so far but wont clock any higher, so i need to investigate how much voltage its running in the next day or two

[prae]

The 4890s and GTX260/275s are so bloody tempting at the moment.. Trying not to spend more money on my computers damnit

[25GTT]

Talking about GFX cards....

If you have OC'd your graffix card and you are using RivaTuner DONT UPDATE TO THE LATEST NVIDIA DRIVER.

Long story short the new driver is not supported by Riva Tuner as yet and the latest riva tuner is still close to a month away

So all my clocking of my 9800GTX has now gone :-(

There are some work arounds but generally they only change the fan settings under load NOT the OC itself.

Quite annoying really.

[R31Nismoid]

just backdate driver - takes you 5-10mins

[Chris-06R]

Hey guys,

Just wondering if you could give me some ideas for a new media PC i want to get going. Got a fancy new TV so i want to be able to record tv easily using webscheduler etc as well as browse the net and network the TV.

I'd like to get out of it as cheaply as possible but also want a computer that can run HD TV nicely and a few apps at once. Main things I want is -

- minimum 1Tb HD

- GFX card with HDMI/VGA output

- Dual TV tuner, preferably with one analogue tuner but not essential

- Plan on running windows 7 as an OS, and want fast start up time etc

Obviously i need a psu, mobo, cooling etc to support that stuff but i'm not too sure what i will need. Also a nice small case would be good as it will sit near the TV. Would you guys have any suggestions as to whether i'd be best looking at some second hand gear, or just get all new, and if so, whats the best to go for these days?

[R31Nismoid]

Budget?

[TALBO]

Ye, true Jacob - although im just gonna wait, dont need anything greater than a 4890 at present

^ the Sapphire one is a waste of $$.

Buy a standard one and it'll clock to 901mhz.

I have the PCS+ 950mhz and better cooling, ok so far but wont clock any higher, so i need to investigate how much voltage its running in the next day or two

Did you try and OC the PCI Express bus?

[R31Nismoid]

Nope - I'm not setting it above 100mhz, I'm not a fan of corruption that can occur when toying with that on a P45

[TALBO]

I've had not problems with pushing it between 100-110 on my X38 mobo running X48 Rampage BIOS.

[R31Nismoid]

you're lucky

I'm not willing to bet a HDD of data or similar on possible corruption setting it about 100Mhz, some people will when benching and using DICE and so on...

Especially not once i stick my raid0 setup together lol

[DivHunter]

I've had not problems with pushing it between 100-110 on my X38 mobo running X48 Rampage BIOS.

I've used the P5E and the Rampage Formula and they both can run 110 pretty easily however other boards don't like it at all and can also kill your cards. Especially non-grpahics cards in the PCI-e slots.

[Chris-06R]

Budget?

Thinking I'll need $500-$600 for the necessary gear - This thing looks to be almost ideal atm, what do you all think?

http://www.itestate.com.au/pages/product/p...amp;pcode=03549

[R31Nismoid]

To give you an idea

E5200 - $90

500GB HDD - $70

4GB DDR2 - $60

Thermaltake VK81221N2 - $150

Tuner Card - $45

DVD-RW - $25

Mobo - $115

Total $555

So if they are charging $600 that's a pretty good price for that. Although I'm not sure how it would go playing HD stuff to be honest, and that is where everything is heading so IMO you'd might as well build for it as its not that much more

[Chris-06R]

To give you an idea

E5200 - $90

500GB HDD - $70

4GB DDR2 - $60

Thermaltake VK81221N2 - $150

Tuner Card - $45

DVD-RW - $25

Mobo - $115

Total $555

So if they are charging $600 that's a pretty good price for that. Although I'm not sure how it would go playing HD stuff to be honest, and that is where everything is heading so IMO you'd might as well build for it as its not that much more

Thanks for the price comparison - they are some very competitive prices.

Regarding the HD, thats one of the reasons I thought I'd ask here - from what i've read, most modern budget systems are more than capable of HD stuff and anything more is overkill... any more thoughts on that?

[Aidan]

Dude, you should be fine with Full HD content on that system. My current media pc is an old Athlon 64 3500+ with 2gb DDR400 ram. With an old 7900gtx graphics card. I can play full hd content no worries(1080p if only program running, and 720p with a few programs running). Bare in mind my system has been slimmed down considerably, but with the advantages of a faster and more effecient setup like yours, you shouldn't have any problems at all.

Best of luck