Help Me Build My PC Catch-All

Hrmmm... that's probably the core temp. It actually might be a motherboard sensor, though. For example, my EVGA motherboard has a little LCD display that shows a temperature. This temp is usually a bit lower than the actual core temp. Generally, things like core temp and real temp show all the 4 core's temperatures. Since there is only one temperature showing, it might not be the core temp. Even so, the temps should be fine. I would think that at worst, your core temps might be 10 more C than that is showing which is fine.

I don't have any experience overclocking sandy or ivybridge, so you will have to rely on others for that input. Generally, the auto overclocks usually use a bit more power than they need to, so you could probably do it better manually. It's just like the thermal paste thing, though. It probably doesn't make a practical difference.

That's pretty damned impressive. What are you temps at idle, or even normal use?

So far so good with my new build! I am going to run prime95 overnight to make sure my CPU and cooler are functioning properly. Then on to putting in my storage drives and then overclocking this sucker! The 500r and 212 EVO are super quiet and seems to be cooling like a champ.

So far it looks like the 3570k is steady around 45-50c at stock averaging at 47. I call that pretty successful for the cooler. I have to give it more time though.

http://imgur.com/YnDNa
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/YnDNa.jpg?1)

I have a quick question about a ram upgrade I want to do on a laptop I recently bought, an Acer Aspire One 756. Here's the spec sheet.

Mine has the Intel Celeron 877 processor. Would I be correct in my assumption that I wouldn't gain anything out of RAM faster than 1333 MHz?

The ram speed upgrade is probably negligible even if you had a fast CPU. 1333Mhz would be fine IMO.

Of course, the price is also negligible these days, so I wouldn't say no either.

What's worth looking for when shopping for RAM nowadays? What brands, what ranges of timings, etc. This would be to go with a 3570k on a H77/Z77 chipset.

Scratched wrote:

What's worth looking for when shopping for RAM nowadays? What brands, what ranges of timings, etc. This would be to go with a 3570k on a H77/Z77 chipset.

For me I was just looking for a CAS rating of 9. That seems to be about the sweet spot. I got 1600 ram because it was cheaper and I could overclocking it if I really wanted to but I don't think I would see much difference.

Posted this in the TV thread but wanted to check here too.

I have a dumb question. Got a friend wanting to buy a 32 inch LCD to use as TV/computer monitor. If it's 1080p everything will run and look fine at 1920x1080? He will be connected through hdmi with a radeon 6950. Any gotchas or things to look out for?

Gumbie wrote:

Posted this in the TV thread but wanted to check here too.

I have a dumb question. Got a friend wanting to buy a 32 inch LCD to use as TV/computer monitor. If it's 1080p everything will run and look fine at 1920x1080? He will be connected through hdmi with a radeon 6950. Any gotchas or things to look out for?

Occasionally there's a TV that ends up having horrendous input lag for one reason or another. It's more rare these days than it used to be, but it's a real thing.

That's the only real annoyance I know of these days. Videocard drivers have advanced enough in recent times to get by a lot of the other weird stuff that used to happen.

It's also not usually an issue for the TV to do 1:1 pixel mapping. If it doesn't though, it's going to have parts of the screen cut off. Sort of like the input lag though, it's a pretty common feature these days so nothing you should worry too much about.

Citizen86 wrote:

It's also not usually an issue for the TV to do 1:1 pixel mapping. If it doesn't though, it's going to have parts of the screen cut off. Sort of like the input lag though, it's a pretty common feature these days so nothing you should worry too much about.

That's true. There are some TV's where overscan is a built in thing that's hard to get around.

I’m currently running two 512MB Sapphire Radeon HD 4850’s in CrossFire mode and am contemplating an upgrade. In addition to adding some extra horsepower for gaming, I’d like to get away from a two card setup and go back to having a single, more powerful card.

I have two Achieva Shimian (Korean IPS) 2560x1440 monitors that only have one dual-link DVI connection each and would therefore prefer a card with two such inputs, so that I can avoid investing in an $80-100 active displayport to DVI adapter.

Is there anything in the $300 range that would be a worthwhile upgrade from my current state or should I just wait until some of the newer cards come down in price?

Here are my other specs, in case my GPU isn’t the only thing due for an upgrade:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black 2.8GHz
Memory: 4GB PC2-8500 DDR2 1066MHz
Motherboard: BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M RT
PSU: 550W BFG LS-550
Case: Antec Three Hundred

sebulba wrote:

I’m currently running two 512MB Sapphire Radeon HD 4850’s in CrossFire mode and am contemplating an upgrade. In addition to adding some extra horsepower for gaming, I’d like to get away from a two card setup and go back to having a single, more powerful card.

I have two Achieva Shimian (Korean IPS) 2560x1440 monitors that only have one dual-link DVI connection each and would therefore prefer a card with two such inputs, so that I can avoid investing in an $80-100 active displayport to DVI adapter.

Is there anything in the $300 range that would be a worthwhile upgrade from my current state or should I just wait until some of the newer cards come down in price?

Here are my other specs, in case my GPU isn’t the only thing due for an upgrade:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black 2.8GHz
Memory: 4GB PC2-8500 DDR2 1066MHz
Motherboard: BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M RT
PSU: 550W BFG LS-550
Case: Antec Three Hundred

You can get a nice card for $300 but anything you get in the top end of that range will be bottlenecked by that CPU. On the other hand you will still notice improvements and can always upgrade the CPU/motherboard down the road. You can a like new Nvidia 670 from Amazon warehouse for $300 or if you prefer AMD radeon 7950 for $313.

sebulba wrote:

so that I can avoid investing in an $80-100 active displayport to DVI adapter

I just ordered an active mini displayport to DVI adapter for $20 off of Amazon.

Gumbie wrote:

You can get a nice card for $300 but anything you get in the top end of that range will be bottlenecked by that CPU. On the other hand you will still notice improvements and can always upgrade the CPU/motherboard down the road. You can a like new Nvidia 670 from Amazon warehouse for $300 or if you prefer AMD radeon 7950 for $313.

Thanks for the advice. I haven't bought a used video card before. Should I be worried about the warranty?

Also, what would you recommend for a CPU and motherboard upgrade?

MannishBoy wrote:
sebulba wrote:

so that I can avoid investing in an $80-100 active displayport to DVI adapter

I just ordered an active mini displayport to DVI adapter for $20 off of Amazon.

Is it a single-link or dual-link adapter? I might be wrong, but I think that I would need a USB powered dual-link adapter to support resolutions above 1920x1200.

sebulba wrote:
Gumbie wrote:

You can get a nice card for $300 but anything you get in the top end of that range will be bottlenecked by that CPU. On the other hand you will still notice improvements and can always upgrade the CPU/motherboard down the road. You can a like new Nvidia 670 from Amazon warehouse for $300 or if you prefer AMD radeon 7950 for $313.

Thanks for the advice. I haven't bought a used video card before. Should I be worried about the warranty?

Also, what would you recommend for a CPU and motherboard upgrade?

This is a really well put together info dump for someone looking to upgrade or build. As far as the warrenty goes, I bought mine that way and it was an EVGA brand which carries a lifetime warranty that follows the card.

Do overclock settings persist on the actual card, or are they just in software? I bought a GTX 570 from jonnypolite earlier this year, and I keep getting display driver crashes in Just Cause 2. Wiped every trace of drivers, rebooted, and reinstalled. Still crashed. Installed EVGA Precision, and according to the card specs, both the GPU and memory clocks were 50% higher than advertised on EVGA's site. Cranked them down, and it's running smoothly with no crashes.

I've never done any sort of overclocking before, so I'm new to all this. Why would it have installed cranked up so high by default?

@Bonus

As far as I know, overclocks are software based. It's possible you have a card that is OC'd from the factory, but 50% is very high.

sebulba wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
sebulba wrote:

so that I can avoid investing in an $80-100 active displayport to DVI adapter

I just ordered an active mini displayport to DVI adapter for $20 off of Amazon.

Is it a single-link or dual-link adapter? I might be wrong, but I think that I would need a USB powered dual-link adapter to support resolutions above 1920x1200.

Sorry, didn't read your post well enough. The one I bought is a single.

EvilDead wrote:

I need a quick recommendation. Is this a good deal and why is it so much cheaper then this (Besides Assassins creed)?

The more expensive one comes with an HDMI cable?

I need a quick recommendation on a 660Ti. Is this a good deal and why is it so much cheaper then this (Besides Assassins creed)?

I don't know what the XLR8 means in the name on the more expensive one.

Edit: I ordered it with an additional $20 coupon code "VMEPROMO" for using that Visa checkout option. I will cancel if someone points out something wrong with the card. It will be $180 after the mail in rebate which I don't always have luck with.

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:

Do overclock settings persist on the actual card, or are they just in software? I bought a GTX 570 from jonnypolite earlier this year, and I keep getting display driver crashes in Just Cause 2. Wiped every trace of drivers, rebooted, and reinstalled. Still crashed. Installed EVGA Precision, and according to the card specs, both the GPU and memory clocks were 50% higher than advertised on EVGA's site. Cranked them down, and it's running smoothly with no crashes.

I've never done any sort of overclocking before, so I'm new to all this. Why would it have installed cranked up so high by default?

The only way I've seen overclock setting stick is if the card is flashed with bios that has those settings on it.

Gumbie wrote:

Posted this in the TV thread but wanted to check here too.

I have a dumb question. Got a friend wanting to buy a 32 inch LCD to use as TV/computer monitor. If it's 1080p everything will run and look fine at 1920x1080? He will be connected through hdmi with a radeon 6950. Any gotchas or things to look out for?

If the TV has a dynamic contrast feature that might be an issue. It's a feature that adjusts the display brightness based on how light or dark the on-screen image is. You usually don't notice with video but with games and software it can get confused and seem to brighten or darken at random. There should be an option to turn that off in the tv's settings.

Am I crazy for thinking of importing a Korean 1440P 27" monitor?

I was going to get the Asus 27" 120hz but, the more I look at it I don't play any twitch shooters on my PC (that's what consoles are for silly. ) I would like to try a 120hz monitor at some point though. Going the Korean route has the slight possibility of solving both problems.

Thin_J wrote:
Gumbie wrote:

Posted this in the TV thread but wanted to check here too.

I have a dumb question. Got a friend wanting to buy a 32 inch LCD to use as TV/computer monitor. If it's 1080p everything will run and look fine at 1920x1080? He will be connected through hdmi with a radeon 6950. Any gotchas or things to look out for?

Occasionally there's a TV that ends up having horrendous input lag for one reason or another. It's more rare these days than it used to be, but it's a real thing.

That's the only real annoyance I know of these days. Videocard drivers have advanced enough in recent times to get by a lot of the other weird stuff that used to happen.

Citizen86 wrote:

It's also not usually an issue for the TV to do 1:1 pixel mapping. If it doesn't though, it's going to have parts of the screen cut off. Sort of like the input lag though, it's a pretty common feature these days so nothing you should worry too much about.

Vargen wrote:
Gumbie wrote:

Posted this in the TV thread but wanted to check here too.

I have a dumb question. Got a friend wanting to buy a 32 inch LCD to use as TV/computer monitor. If it's 1080p everything will run and look fine at 1920x1080? He will be connected through hdmi with a radeon 6950. Any gotchas or things to look out for?

If the TV has a dynamic contrast feature that might be an issue. It's a feature that adjusts the display brightness based on how light or dark the on-screen image is. You usually don't notice with video but with games and software it can get confused and seem to brighten or darken at random. There should be an option to turn that off in the tv's settings.

Lots of good info. Thanks guys!

TigerBill wrote:

Am I crazy for thinking of importing a Korean 1440P 27" monitor?

I was going to get the Asus 27" 120hz but, the more I look at it I don't play any twitch shooters on my PC (that's what consoles are for silly. ) I would like to try a 120hz monitor at some point though. Going the Korean route has the slight possibility of solving both problems.

I will have a post about this a bit later today.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
TigerBill wrote:

Am I crazy for thinking of importing a Korean 1440P 27" monitor?

I was going to get the Asus 27" 120hz but, the more I look at it I don't play any twitch shooters on my PC (that's what consoles are for silly. ) I would like to try a 120hz monitor at some point though. Going the Korean route has the slight possibility of solving both problems.

I will have a post about this a bit later today.

@Tuffalo - Ooooh, exciting! I'm looking forward to that

@TigerBill - I don't think that's crazy at all. I've been considering it since I first heard about them. Although there are a few, albeit very few options here in the US as well.

This one is available, although it used to be priced at $430... not sure what happened for it to almost double in price.

Microcenter has sold this Auria for a while now, probably almost as long as these Korean Monitors have caught on. I remember it getting decent reviews.

I'm definitely not against the Korean monitors, there are some nice deals, and apparently everyone gets it shipped to their house in like 2 days. I'm just worried if something goes wrong, I'd hate to have to have it shipped back across the world, even if the seller does take care of the expense.

That resolution though... I love that type of screen real estate. It's on my eventual buy-list!

TigerBill wrote:

Am I crazy for thinking of importing a Korean 1440P 27" monitor?

I was going to get the Asus 27" 120hz but, the more I look at it I don't play any twitch shooters on my PC (that's what consoles are for silly. ) I would like to try a 120hz monitor at some point though. Going the Korean route has the slight possibility of solving both problems.

I dont think your crazy at all. I am thinking about doing the same. It was so cheap but now that they are getting popular they are a bit more money

www.Tested.com just wrote and article about it. You should have a read