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Building A Computer

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  • This page has a pretty chart.

    http://techreport.com/review/23419/nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-ti-graphics-card-reviewed/11

    It's missing a lot of models though. But it still sounds like the 660 ti is reasonable.
  • edited September 2012
    Get a GTX 660; probably not the Ti version given the ~$60 difference.
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • And apparently this article just came out yesterday at some point.

    http://techreport.com/review/23527/nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-graphics-card/11
  • Newegg should have useful charts and data like that.
  • This one looks well priced to performance. Not the fanciest most awesome cooler, but whatevs.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826
  • Seems like every video card has 2 DVI one HDMI and one Display Port. Can't someone make one with two display ports?
  • edited September 2012
    All the manufacturers can. They usually cost extra for different configs than the stock though. I know one of my bosses had a 4x dvi output version of a card... cost about 2x what it should have.

    Also appears 2x mini-display port is stock design on some ATI cards.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709+600083832&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=48&description=&hisInDesc=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc=
    Post edited by Anthony Heman on
  • Another problem with DP is that it has a mandatory analog signal, while DVI can be made digital only, saving on the DAC.
  • Has anyone had any experience with Seagate drives? I'm thinking about buying one to replace the burned-out hard drive my laptop came with.

    Also, is a 7200 RPM drive going to be painfully loud in a standard laptop? The old WD one that burned out was 5400.
  • My Seagate Barracuda died within three months, as did many other people's, but it seems like that was a defective batch and the problem has since been fixed. Still, a fair warning.
  • edited September 2012
    No statistical difference in failure rates between hard drive brands. Just get some drives.

    http://serverfault.com/questions/7952/what-brands-of-hard-disk-has-the-lowest-failure-rates
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • I personally don't buy Seagate drives - I just have bad luck with them. Every one i've ever owned has died within 6 months. It must be the will of the flying spaghetti monster or something.

    I don't believe Seagates fail any more or less frequently than others though, my company has purchased at least 75 computers over the last 3 years, and about 80% of them have Seagate drives and we've had almost no failures.
  • edited September 2012
    One of my apartment-mates is building her computer.
    She got a Newegg combo deal that included an 1100W PSU.
    Wut.
    Post edited by Axel on
  • Sooo.... I assuming she'll be having triple SLI and a whole mess of harddrives?
  • Eventually. Right now she has an HDD and SSD, a 3GB graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and some processor. She'll probably be getting a second graphics card someday.
  • So I've been advocating low wattage PSUs, and I use a Antec Earthwatts 380. I just feel I should comment that while this can easily support my gaming rig, the fan does wind up pretty good when I play BF3.
  • Eventually. Right now she has an HDD and SSD, a 3GB graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and some processor. She'll probably be getting a second graphics card someday.
    An 1100W PSU is almost always the wrong decision, and this seems like no exception.
  • edited September 2012
    So I've been advocating low wattage PSUs, and I use a Antec Earthwatts 380. I just feel I should comment that while this can easily support my gaming rig, the fan does wind up pretty good when I play BF3.
    Yeah, I'm on that low wattage ish lately, especially considering that the AMD APUs with integrated Radeon HD 6550D are only 100W packages. Pretty much the best, especially for a HTPC.
    Eventually. Right now she has an HDD and SSD, a 3GB graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and some processor. She'll probably be getting a second graphics card someday.
    An 1100W PSU is almost always the wrong decision, and this seems like no exception.
    If you don't have three GPUs and a six-drive RAID array, there is no way you'll ever come close to using 1100W.

    Also, SSDs, RAM, and HDDs draw almost no power. We're talking tens of watts, if that. Your GPU is your biggest power suck, and if you have two, you're talking maybe 400W maximum. 1100W supplies are for render rigs. Emily is the only person I know with the most remote need for that, but most companies have render farms, so it's still a non-issue.

    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • edited September 2012
    Yeah, and even then that's only with the highest-end and most power-hungry GPUs.
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • She got it in a great Newegg combo deal, so I don't think she's super worried.
  • I've actually measured the wattage my system uses.

    My specs:
    -Core 2 Quad 2.83GHz
    -AMD 6870
    -3 hard drives (I really don't think hard drives make much difference)

    My system draws 235 watts while playing BF3.
  • edited September 2012
    Okay, but see, a 1100W PSU is wayyyyy less efficient at loads that don't approach its maximum. All PSUs are, really. So, if her computer is running at maybe 250W at idle and 400W at peak, then she's actually wasting a ton of electricity.

    Theoretically its fine if she's not paying for utilities, but an inefficient PSU on your main PC is a huge money suck.
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • but an inefficient PSU on your main PC is a huge money suck.
    Yeah, $15 a year is a lot of money! :P
  • Well, for the moment, we're not paying utilities. And she will upgrade a lot as the years go on, I imagine.
  • edited September 2012
    but an inefficient PSU on your main PC is a huge money suck.
    Yeah, $15 a year is a lot of money! :P
    Every penny counts, bro.
    Well, for the moment, we're not paying utilities. And she will upgrade a lot as the years go on, I imagine.
    I mean, it shouldn't be a big deal. But note that unless the game software cycle becomes PC-dominant again (possible but not likely) or she starts doing 3D art and rendering, she's probably not going to need to upgrade for at least 5-7 years. My PC is four years old, never been upgraded, and still runs Skyrim at max.

    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • Just look at this crazy thing.

    http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5846&review=how+to+upgrade+laptop+graphics+notebook



    At first glance this is pretty fucking stupid. A PSU, a video card, and a crazy contraption just so you can get an awesome GPU on your laptop. Might as well be a desktop!

    But then I thought about it some more. This thing is under $300. And you can get one that has a nice enclosure.

    http://www.villageinstruments.com/tiki-index.php?page=ViDock

    It's actually not a bad setup to have a Lenovo X series laptop as your only computer, and this thing on your desk that you can dock it into. You're actually saving money since you are buying one less computer. You are also getting convenience since you'll never have to transfer things between your laptop and your desktop. And if you think about it, that is extremely portable for LAN parties. Probably even more portable than a gigantic gaming laptop.

    Maybe 5+ years from now I'll be doing something like that.
  • Oh yeah, External GPUs. I considered it a while back in England, when I only had a laptop for gaming, but I didn't bother in the end. It's pretty cool, some people make really nice custom cases for their DIY setups, and the off-the-shelf solutions are pretty alright too.
  • There are no words for just how utterly ridiculous that looks. I'm sorry.
  • There are no words for just how utterly ridiculous that looks. I'm sorry.
    That's why you would get one of the ones in a nice box.
  • I was looking at something like this recently with the Thunderbolt adapters which should get you equivalent to a 4xPCI-E slot (Not a 16x so limited performance.).

    That said, the system will be much less bulky if someone produces it professionally as most of the PSU won't be needed. So your tablet will just slot into the top and away you go.
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