i am usually an early adopter (except for things that are high priced or 1st generation).... BUT since it's no longer LGA775 and it's a new generation of hardware, and the fact that it requires a new motherboard, cpu, and memory, i think i'll be waiting on i7 until at least March '09. hopefully by then there will be a second more refined wave of X58 motherboards (or at least more refined firmware) and/or more options, and higher availability and lower cost of DDR3

anyone know if LGA 775 cpu coolers are compatible with LGA 1366? if not i'm going to be pissed.

n/m, found my answer, most need adapters, the mounting holes are moved like 1cm from where they were

[Edited on November 19, 2008 at 1:54 PM. Reason : .]

11/19/2008 1:44:31 PM

I've seen a few X58 mobos that have the 775 mounting holes already on the board as well.

11/19/2008 3:32:40 PM

now that's a solid idea. i've also noticed some w/out IDE, another welcome idea

11/19/2008 3:42:17 PM

Thermalright already has adapters for their ultra line and their ultima line. A couple of other heatsink manufacturers already have adapters or revisions of their products for the new socket. Most heatsinks just need adapters.

11/19/2008 10:11:26 PM

yea, i read that

11/19/2008 11:21:28 PM

Nehalem...meh!

I'm sticking with my cool running e8400 + e3110 dual cores until late next year when Westmere launches.

11/26/2008 6:52:01 PM

reposting this from the HTPC thread since more of the hardware experts seem to hang out in here

Quote :

"ok, this is what i think i'm about to order, what do y'all think? particularly the mobo/cpu combination. i'm not especially well versed in hardware, so this is after a night's worth of research. will an athlon x2 fit in that mobo? it says it supports "Athlon 64 X2" but the 4850e info page doesn't say anything about 64 X2. are all X2s implied to be 64? ok pretty sure this will work now thanks wikipedia LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C37B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case $154.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112186 ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $78.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131324 AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor - OEM $48.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103299 Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EACS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $99.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136151 i've got 2 GB memory, hauppage pvr-150 and a dvd-rom i'll throw in it too [Edited on December 3, 2008 at 9:29 AM. Reason : mobo/cpu ?]"

12/3/2008 9:32:19 AM

couple other things i thought of in case somebody knows

will the 70mm fans on the case be horrible? can i switch them out myself? also, will i need to get a different powersupply or heatsink? will i have hdcp problems with the hdmi on that motherboard?

12/3/2008 10:07:17 AM

Quote :

"will the 70mm fans on the case be horrible? "

that's a odd size, you might have some minor issues with them (replacements, etc)

12/3/2008 11:56:06 AM

Thinking about getting a video card upgrade next March in preparation for Empire: Total War...

Running an 8800GT 512MB right now, but I'm debating how much of a performance gain I'm going to get if I go for something like a HD 4870 or GTX 260. Is there anything on the horizon I should keep an eye out for, or will it be pretty quiet for the next quarter?

12/19/2008 11:24:54 AM

next quarter we'll see a new card from nvidia (295), but it's priced at $499, rumor says at CES, but that seems awfully close (Jan.8th)

i'd look at something like the 4870 if you're ready to jump

you may just want to get another 8800GT and run it in SLI and wait until the dual-GPU graphics cards drop in price

12/19/2008 11:39:00 AM

Thanks! Yeah, dual SLI isn't an option since I went P35 at the time I built this machine. I thought about it, but people didn't seem to sure about the 670i at the time, so I didn't bother.

Do you think the 295 will have any downward price pressure on the existing video cards, or is it in such a different tier that it shouldn't impact the 4870 or 260s?

12/19/2008 11:49:30 AM

somewhat of a different tier, it should be competing against the 4870X2, which is ~$500 right now, so it may have some downward pressure on the 4870X2, but i doubt any of the other models, particularly not the 260 ($210AR) /280 ($330AR) which are already pretty low.

one thing to keep in mind is that the 9800GX2/280/4870X2 all require the new 8-pin PCI-e adapter in ADDITION to the 6-pin PCI-e adapter (2 power plugs, (1) 8-pin and (1) 6-pin PCI-express) which means if you don't have a newer or SLI capable PSU, it will require a new one as well

the 260 & 4870 needs just two 6-pin

[Edited on December 19, 2008 at 12:59 PM. Reason : .]

12/19/2008 12:54:45 PM

Ugh... I'm so confused and sick of trying to find the right computer for me...

I'm a WoW player (might play Left 4 dead)... Don't need a badass computer... Want it under 1 grand.

I'll pay someone to pick out a computer and build it for me... even better if you have an OS. PM what you can do.

[Edited on December 20, 2008 at 9:04 AM. Reason : .]

12/20/2008 9:02:14 AM

woohoo!
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-295,2107.html

12/22/2008 3:24:07 PM

Samsung dvd drive $29.99

Asus p182 ownage case $169.99

WD black 640gb hdd $79.99

EVGA GTX260 $259.99

Antec neo power 500 $89.99

Corsair 4gb (2gx2) $54.99 plus $30 mir = 24.99

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L $95.99 + $15 MIR = 80.99

C2D E8500 $187.99

total comes to $969 before shipping or rebates

The E8400 is $20 cheaper and 166mhz slower. Not really sure if that 166 is worth $20. The case is pretty $texas for a case, but i hear its pretty nice.

this would be the case i'd get instead maybe.

So what do you folks think?

1/3/2009 1:55:35 PM

My dad has a 4 or 5-year-old Dell 4400 that seems about ready to kick the bucket. I'm interested in putting something together for him, but would he be better off buying something from HP or Dell again, what with their warranties and service plans? I figure anything put together from parts will be much cheaper and have individual warranties, but no tech support dude in India to phone up for help, and I'm not very good at that sort of thing.

Usage would be just word processing and low-end applications.

1/3/2009 6:09:34 PM

^^looks good, except if you get the sonata it comes with a 500w earthwatts (2xPCI-e 6-pin) which would power that rig just fine w/out the need of the neopower. as for the P182, i have the P180B and love it.

^Dell

1/3/2009 6:22:41 PM

I actually ended up going with the sonata III instead of the p182 because folks were saying in order to fit the 260gtx in the 182 you had to take out the middle drive bay, but it fit fine in the sonata.

Total price came to ~780 after rebates. Cant wait till it gets here.

1/4/2009 9:40:59 PM

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=7736914

thats what I ended up buying.

1/4/2009 9:55:24 PM

So i just got a rebate notice from OCZ saying "A claim is being or has been processed for this household." My neighbor and i both sent in the same rebate for the same product and we live across from each other. But we specifically put "102" and "103" on the forms. Is this just a mistake on their part? Should i just email them?

1/6/2009 1:54:12 AM

more than likely just a mistake, the one time I emailed Simon of OCZ he was extremely responsive and helpful, so I'd just recommend that.

1/6/2009 5:32:59 AM

Quote :

"I actually ended up going with the sonata III instead of the p182 because folks were saying in order to fit the 260gtx in the 182 you had to take out the middle drive bay, but it fit fine in the sonata"

i have the sonata and like it, good case

1/6/2009 6:54:33 PM

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=208290487

280gtx $191

1/10/2009 1:03:23 PM

figures it was another buy.com price mistake, I didn't even bother warning people that got excited over this one because of the last three cards I've seen this happen to.

edit: rofl, this one actually went through?

[Edited on January 10, 2009 at 3:23 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2009 3:21:56 PM

^Haha nope. They just changed it back.

1/10/2009 3:29:04 PM

I got the SSC for 200.99. It says processing and hasn't been cancelled yet. We shall see.

[Edited on January 10, 2009 at 3:39 PM. Reason : ]

1/10/2009 3:38:35 PM

Anyone have a good recommendation on an IDE CD Burner that's extremely quiet. I'm trying to upgrade my mom's computer.

1/12/2009 9:37:59 AM

A DVD burner only costs a whole $4 more than a CD Burner.
This is the one that I bought to upgrade a Dell Dimension 2400. It was a pain in the ass to do because of the master drive/slave drive relationship. I never really figured out what was going on, but I got the DVD burner and a CD reader to work, so I left it at that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106228

1/12/2009 2:12:34 PM

^ +1 on that, I used it for a couple years in my main comp and it's still going strong in my friend's HTPC after I converted to all-sata, it's also pretty quiet IIRC.

[Edited on January 12, 2009 at 2:26 PM. Reason : .]

1/12/2009 2:24:50 PM

I just went with a Pioneer

1/12/2009 2:33:39 PM

Ok, so I was installing a PCI card into my moms comp and accidentally pulled off two places. Well they don't screw in, they twist in. So now there is a hole in the computer and I'd like to get a plate I can put in to cover it up, anyone know where I can get one?

1/17/2009 7:28:41 PM

ebay, search pci slot cover

1/18/2009 12:10:03 AM

^Yeah that was my last resort, kinda hoping just to pick up something in the area.

1/18/2009 10:20:14 AM

I have been tasked to compile and build a computer for a friend. I need the official TWW seal of approval much like you guys helped me with mine last summer (Thank you all again).

OS - Microsoft Windows XP Home SP3 for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116511 $89.99

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115132 $119.99

RAM -CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184 $56.99

Video - HIS Hightech H487F512P Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161236 $189.99

HDD - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218 $74.99

Motherboard - ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299 $129.99

PSU - Rosewill Stallion Series RD600N-2SB-SL-BK 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182150 $59.99

Optical - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171 $25.99

Cooling - ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019 $53.99

Case - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 $49.95

I am not sure what is overkill and what needs to be beefed up. I have a budget of $800.00 and right now it is at $851.00 which can be approved. Thank you guys in advance for your advice.

Also, she is buying the monitor on her own and I came up with
Monitor - SAMSUNG 933BW High Glossy Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 15000:1(1000:1) - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001307 $159.99
Her personal budget for this is around $150.00

1/27/2009 9:22:18 AM

I don't know anything about anything, but make sure the OS is a 64-bit version if you want to be able to take advantage of all that memory.

Couldn't you save on the OS by using a MSDNAA license?

I don't know what the intended use is, but one think I kinda keep an eye on nowadays is the processor L2 cache. I'd rather have a slightly slower clock speed for a slightly larger L2 cache, but I could be wrong in this line of reasoning.

[Edited on January 27, 2009 at 10:18 AM. Reason : -]

1/27/2009 10:17:21 AM

^^looks good. 2 things to consider.

a) i would never buy a Rosewill PSU, look at Thermaltake, Corsair, or Antec
b) 4870 paired with a E7300? E7400 is same price i think. or i'd suggest bumping up to an E8400 or Q8200

Quote :

"I don't know anything about anything, but make sure the OS is a 64-bit version if you want to be able to take advantage of all that memory."

i get sick of hearing this.
a) you buy memory in pairs for dual-channel memory (for DDR2)
b) the most common pairing is 2GB or 4GB to be the most cost effective
c) you can't install 3.25GB of memory using 4 slots, and it's not as cheap as just jumping to 4GB
d) this allows for the person to jump to 64-bit in the future (say for Windows7)

so, stop complaining when people spec 4GB with their 32-bit OS

Quote :

"Couldn't you save on the OS by using a MSDNAA license?"

good suggestion if your friend has access to MSDNAA (not all students have access)

1/27/2009 12:47:08 PM

If you want to run two video cards in either SLi/Crossfire, will any motherboard with two PCI-E slots work or are they specific to one or the other?

1/27/2009 4:56:12 PM

^^Agreed on the cheaper solution to get to 3 GB, but there are still people out there that might not be aware of the limitation. I'd rather them know before they spent $90 on an OS and then come back later wondering why their system isn't using all the memory they bought, and then wishing they had used the $90 toward a 64-bit OS.

Sorry if that upsets you.

1/28/2009 9:44:50 AM

nah, not at all, it's just every other time someone mentions it, they are typically 'implying' that they should either purchase less memory (because why would you buy more than you need?) or they are implying that they should use 64-bit OS. i'm just stating that having 4GB and using a 32-bit OS is ok... but as you kindly pointed out... as long as they are 'aware' they may not use all of it.

1/28/2009 11:25:38 AM

Decided to come in here with an update on my build.

I will probably NEVER touch another ASUS branded object again. What a load of garbage.

The mobo appers to be fine, but my EAH4850 TOP is such a piece of crap. Constantly causes my system to lock up and crash while playing games. I finally broke down and decided to try tech support. The email I got two days later was hardly even English. He wasn't even tech support. It was some guy just forwarding letters to customers where the first thing to do was RMA the card. Fucking worthless. Any attempts to say on their site that I have not been helped simply point me back to the guy's email.

I went to the Asus forums and sure enough, tons of other people have the exact same problem. Some of them did RMA their cards and sure enough, the new cards act the same.

If you must go for the Asus board, go ahead; but avoid their video cards like the plague. And pray you don't ever need tech support from them.

1/28/2009 10:37:46 PM

^Did you read about all the asus gpu troubles before you bought the card?

1/28/2009 11:18:50 PM

I did a bit of research, though not as much as I could have. I knew I wanted a 4850, it was just a matter of which one. The NewEgg reviews for the card I chose (I know, not an extremely reliable source) had one of the highest ratings. I also read miscellaneous reviews on sites like tomshardware and they seemed to indicate a strong card without any mention of these potential problems. I also figured that since my mobo was ASUS, any problems would be more easily resolved and it would be simpler for all my troubleshooting to be in one area.

I also listed my stuff here and was hoping you guys letting me know of any potential problems . Oh well. You live, you learn, and you don't get support from ASUS.

1/29/2009 9:50:01 AM

Quote :

"tomshardware "

The source of completely biased reviews. Intel and Nvidia almost always stay at the top of their leader boards. The only reason that the 4870X2 is at the top of their gpu leader board is because it is a known fact that it beats the ever living shit out of the GTX280.

1/29/2009 10:37:08 AM

^Well the 4870X2 is a dual gpu card. The GTX280 is a single gpu card. The GTX 295 beats the ever living shit out of the 4870X2.

1/29/2009 1:31:07 PM

^^newsflash, amd & ati haven't had any quality products in years, henceforth there's no good reviews, it's not biased, it's fact. (excluding the 4870 & 4870x2) they just haven't been able to compete.

1/29/2009 1:58:17 PM

Yes, but when they did have good products, they were still below Intel and Nvidia in tomshardware's leaderboards.

[Edited on January 29, 2009 at 4:11 PM. Reason : :]

1/29/2009 4:11:07 PM

Quote :

"The GTX 295 beats the ever living shit out of the 4870X2."

lolol, are you like a firing squad rep or something? I'm pretty sure the 4870X2 still wins at extreme resolutions mixed with extreme AA levels, but I'd still pick the 295 just for safe thermal levels lol.

edit: ^^actually, I'm still a Intel fan for sure, but a Phenom II clocked at around 6.5 holds the 3DMark05 Record currently. It was set at CES IIRC.




edit2: I guess liquid Helium doesn't really count, heh. But just as a clarification, I mean the 4870x2 still goes strong at 2560x1600 8xAA+

[Edited on January 29, 2009 at 8:33 PM. Reason : .]

1/29/2009 8:15:56 PM

Quote :

"lolol, are you like a firing squad rep or something? I'm pretty sure the 4870X2 still wins at extreme resolutions mixed with extreme AA levels, but I'd still pick the 295 just for safe thermal levels lol."

Did you not see the benchmarks on tomshardware? The GTX 295 beat the pants off TWO 4870X2's in crossfire. Even with extreme resolutions, AA, and AF the GTX 295 has no problem outperforming a single 4870X2.

1/29/2009 9:26:25 PM

um, that's just CoD4. Wait until Cat 9.1 reviews with many games tested at 2560 1600 8xAA

edit: you have to be pretty retarded to believe those x-fire numbers aren't driver faulted rofl

http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=711&pageid=11
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2009/01/08/nvidia-geforce-gtx-295-quad-sli-review/5

I know the 295 still destroys, but from what I've seen, the R700 is still amazing for 2560x1600 with 8xAA. No clue why anyone would need that much AA on that resolution, but w/e.

[Edited on January 29, 2009 at 10:44 PM. Reason : .]

1/29/2009 10:24:03 PM