The PC Building Thread

DagsJT said:
I use Gamesave Manager's "Steam Mover" function to move some Steam games over to my SSD. Works a treat.
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Remember Tho Dags that SSD's only have a limited Write Cycle. Ive set up a Raid0 using 2 normal 250GB Hard Disks in my machine for games. Performance is still good games still load up pretty fast like.

The SSD is only for Windows and my main apps like Office etc.
 
CalcioCalabrese said:
Do any of you guys run virtualisation software? I was thinking about trying out OS X so I could play with Final Cut and with Logic Pro. But I'm currently running a 6 year old machine (which was well specced for its time) with Windows XP.
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I dont use them no but I think its worth doing if you want to use some "Alternative" Operating Systems without having to dual boot etc.
 
Hi guys
Thanks to jamezinho who linked me to this very interesting topic!
Like I said to him I have never been in to pc gaming and no nothing about building them!! Mind you I know a lot more since reading through all your post!! You guys certainly know your stuff!!
Any there is a guy who is selling a pc he said he built last year he wanted 700 for it.
Here are the specs!

Specs:
AMD Phenom II X6 1100t 3.6ghz (hex core)
16gb DDR3 ram
ATI Radeon hd 4870 1gb (8.7gb when shared!)
2x1tb WD HDD's - On raid 0 - 2 x The Speed!
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 zs 24bit sound card
Gigabit Lan
750w PSU
MSI Motherboard
One of the guys on here said that the graphics card is not good enough to play the latest games on high settings!! So I have managed to knock the guy down to 500! Is this worth 500? And would I only need a new graphics card to play new games on high settings??
Sorry for long post guys.
Thanks wes
 
Most people say go for Intel rather than AMD processors so perhaps that's something to consider.

I'd still consider a self build as well. Having done it myself for the first time last week, I can say that it's pretty straightforward. Just make sure you read up on it and take your time. The hardest part was choosing the components.
 
I wouldn't even consider that PC it is extremly overpriced even at £500 and who needs to have RAID drives? If you were that bothered about speed you would get a solid state.
The CPU is AMD and no one touches them anymore, the graphics card is still pretty good but would struggle on some games. Really old sound card.

I have just built a PC for someone for around £500 which was a really good spec was pretty much the same as Jamezinho's build but with the Ivybridge instead of Sandybridge.



The graphics card purchased was an XFX 5850 Black Edition for £70, can play all modern games at maximum settings.
 
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Thanks for the response guys!
Sorry to sound like a noob!! But that list of stuff you brought to build that pc for 500 is that everything I would need to have it up and running!!

I am really starting to think about building my own?? With the help of this site!
Thanks guys
 
DagsJT said:
Surely not at 60fps at 1080p? Battlefield 3 and Batman?
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I used to have a 5870 before I upgraded to a 680GTX and I played all games maxed out without any problems.

But in answer to you actual questions.

Batman will run at an average of 74FPS maxed out at 1080p on a 5850.

As for Battlefield 3 not many people can run that maxed out at 1080p. Only someone with a 580GTX, 680GTX or 5970, 6970, 7970 can run Battlefield 3 maxed out and get 60+ FPS.
Maxed out BF3 will run at 49FPS on a 5850, but then a 560Ti will only do 53FPS on BF3 maxed out.

So in regards to real performance it is only slightly short over what seems to be everyones favourite card at the moment the 560TI + it was over half the price for only running 2-3% slower in most benchmarks.

The above system only cost him £460 so he got a really good machine for the price.
 
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What?! So that gives better performance than most cards these days? I run Batman AC at 1920x1200, max details and I can't maintain 60fps on my GTX 580 :(
 
DagsJT said:
What?! So that gives better performance than most cards these days? I run Batman AC at 1920x1200, max details and I can't maintain 60fps on my GTX 580 :(
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Something is wrong there you should easily be getting more than that, I will have to run FRAPS on my 680 tonight, but I completed AC whilst I had a 5870 and that was played completly maxed out and never had any slowdown.

Or are you playing in DX11 mode?
As in DX11 mode looking at benchmark scores only the 590 and 680 can play above 60FPS.
As a 580GTX would run at an average of 51FPS in DX11 mode on AC.

P.S. The benchmark scores for the 5850 were taken from AA not AC but uses the same engine so FPS shouldn't be that different between the two.
 
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Yep, DX11 mode. 51fps is probably right for an average. In alleyways, it hits 60fps (vsync on) but shoots down to 40fps~ whilst flying about.
 
DagsJT said:
Yep, DX11 mode. 51fps is probably right for an average. In alleyways, it hits 60fps (vsync on) but shoots down to 40fps~ whilst flying about.
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Prob why then, I couldn't play AC on DX11 mode it ran like complete shit on my 5870. It jerked really bad and prob was only running at about 20FPS, so I only played in DX9 mode and that was maxed out and never slowed down.
 
If a game has DX11 and your only usin DX9 with max settings your not maxin it out. Im the same as Dags. Some games that use DX11 and ULTRA Settings yield just under 60FPS as low as 50FPS for me sometimes.
 
Well I tested AA on my 680GTX
DX11 was on for both MVSS and HBAD.
Tessellation was on HIGH.
Detail level was EXTREME, which means everything was on YES.
Vsync was off.

With AA on FXAA(HIGH) it averaged 92FPS.
With AA on NVIDIA 32x CSAA it averaged 54FPS.
 
Guys.

I need a computer for work that will allow me to connect at least 4 monitors to it.

It's for work and I CBA building one.

Have been quoted £570 for this: -

E-6062 EVO LABS E-6062 BLACK 500W USB/HD-AUDIO 1 24.30 24.30
ADX260OCGMBOX AMD AMD ATHLON II X2 260 3.2 GHZ AM3 RETAIL 1 52.03 52.03
GA-990XA-UD3 GIGABYTE 990X AM3+ 4xDDR3 2000 3xPCI-E SATA3 FW 1 80.52 80.52
TED34096M1333C9 TEAM 4GB DDR3 1333 CL9 TEAM ELITE NO HEATSINK 2 13.50 27.00
ST500DM002 SEAGATE SEAGATE 500GB SATA-III 16MB 7200RPM ROHS 1 49.50 49.50
SH-S222BB/BEBE SAMSUNG SH-S222BB 22x DVD±RW/RAM DL BLACK SATA 1 10.92 10.92
GFC-02050 MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM 64BIT OEM SP1 1 66.90 66.90
GV-N520SL-1GI GIGABYTE GT520 1GB 64bit HDMI DVI DDR3 2 32.16 64.32

I think it's a bit pricey for what I need.

What do you think? I was thinking more like £300?

We'll only be using it to have at least 4 monitors showing different online flash gaming sites (bingo).

ThoughtS?
 
Hello, not exactly pc building, but just wanted to ask a quick question.

I want a super cheap computer just to hook upto my tv with hdmi, all I want is to browse the internet and put TV Series and films on it to watch from the tv. Is getting a really cheap desktop the way to go? or are there other things out there cheap to do that?

Ideally if they are cheap enough I would have a couple put in different rooms connected to a network so they can both access the stuff on a harddrive?

I know desktops are big, but the cheapest solution is what I want?
 
You could get an Apple TV or something similar, or even a tablet?
 
BobbyBox said:
Hello, not exactly pc building, but just wanted to ask a quick question.

I want a super cheap computer just to hook upto my tv with hdmi, all I want is to browse the internet and put TV Series and films on it to watch from the tv. Is getting a really cheap desktop the way to go? or are there other things out there cheap to do that?

Ideally if they are cheap enough I would have a couple put in different rooms connected to a network so they can both access the stuff on a harddrive?

I know desktops are big, but the cheapest solution is what I want?
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You only need a really cheap computer and graphics card and make sure it has hdmi out.
You could get a micro ATX case and motherboard or try and get a small shuttle case.

You shouldn't be looking at too much money at all really maybe £200-£250, or if you want a media centre you could just use an XBOX or PS3, as these play most file types these days and you can plug an external HD into them.
I use my PS3 as a media centre as that is the only thing it is good for and a paperweight.
 
Placebo said:
Won an auction for a brand new OCZ 120GB Vertex Plus SSD on Ebay at £65 last night, seems a good price? :)
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Decent Price for what is considered to be a decent SSD mate. I paid a lot more than that for my Corsair Series 3 SSD 120GB..... double that to be precise like!:RANT:
 
I have a Vertex 3 if anyone is interested £75.

3 months old and comes with 5 years warrenty.
Drive has been flashed with the latest firmware and been securely wiped.

I am selling due to upgrade to Vertex 4.

Otherwise I will just use it in my laptop.
 
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m.schumacher said:
Decent Price for what is considered to be a decent SSD mate. I paid a lot more than that for my Corsair Series 3 SSD 120GB..... double that to be precise like!:RANT:
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Sweet! I saw there were a few apps which migrate your OS for you over to the new SSD but I figure it's a good opportunity to start afresh, have loads of apps installed I used maybe once then never again, complete waste, will free up more space to install some games which will benefit from the faster access times :)
 
Do a fresh install mate. Thats my advice when it comes to being my main Boot Drive. I was building a new machine so thankfully I had to do a fresh install anyway :). My machine boots up pretty fast and is very snappy when launching apps.

Ive got my games on a RAID0 that ive setup with 2 250GB SATA II Drives and that helps with Game Loading times.
 
SSD prices are falling like a stone, more so than HDD prices.

I'm waiting for the first 256gb drive to hit the sub £100 mark and then I will probably pick one up to put my games on.

At this rate it won't be long.
 
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