up to you, you won't notice timings or frequency as much since it's triple channel, but if you plan on OC'ing, you may want something that has a higher voltage tolerance.

like this, 1.5V Cas7 (probably good chance this can reach 1.65V at Cas8 or Cas9 and 2000Mhz)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335

[Edited on August 31, 2010 at 3:16 PM. Reason : .]

8/31/2010 3:14:52 PM

Yeah was looking at that ram. I might do that. It's only $15 more.

so for the new page:

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=18446407

Nvidia 460GTX:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130568

ASUS P6X58D-E:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641

i7 950: now at $299
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335

Can't think of anything else I need.

8/31/2010 3:59:03 PM

Anyone want to buy an E8400, 9800GX2 (dual-gpu), G.Skill 4GB DDR2-1066, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L for $929.96?

8/31/2010 4:54:36 PM

Nice, same mobo and ram that I have. I got my asus for 180 on sale, but paid 180 for the ram. 150 is a good price on good, fast ram. Might need to get another set if I continue to do video editing. 950 is a nice choice specially for 300, its the new 930 sweet spot. I wonder what the prices for the 920 (not made anymore right?) and the 930 (what I have, got for 200).

While I like the 460 and it's a good budget card, personally I'd spend a little more and get a 470 or a 5870 to have a little more top end power for 1920x1200 and higher resolutions. But either way, you should be able to stick with either of those three cards for quite a while and still be happy, specially if you are just pushing nothing crazy past 1680x1050 res with ultra high settings. I've been very impressed with my one 5870 setup and get 60+ frames at 1920x1200 on basically every game currently, just wished I had a fast refresh rate LCD instead of being capped at 60hz.

Really want to get a nice 240hz 24" led display in the next year or so that has an 8, 10 or 12 bit color range, but I don't want to spend crazy expensive prices on them either.

8/31/2010 5:44:15 PM

Quote :

"5870 setup and get 60+ frames at 1920x1200"

You must mean older games. A 5870 won't come close to maxing out newer games at 1920 by 1200.

With an i7 920 at 3.7ghz (where is yours?) and a 5870 at 1920 by 1200 (min/avg):

Aliens vs predator: 30/36

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (not maxed out, no AF): 32/56

Just Cause 2: 25/34

Crysis Warhead (no AA/no AF): 41/46

Metro 2033 (AAA/4xAF): 15/21

Splinter Cell Conviction: 39/60

STALKER: Call of Pripyat (only 4xAA/0AF): 29/39

World in Conflit Soviet Assault: 27/52

http://www.techspot.com/review/309-geforce-gtx-460-sli-performance/page7.html

And the funny part is the stock GTX460 only loses in a lot of the games by 6-8 FPS for half the price. The OC version of the GTX460 i'm looking at would even beat the 5870 in a few cases. So i'm getting close to the same performance of the 5870 for half the price.

Hell I could buy two GTX 460's for the price of a 5870 and get much better performance. So no a 5870 right now is a major waste of money. Especially since I have two 24's. Even a GTX 480 now is a waste of money unless you know you're going to do SLI. Might as well do two 460's.

Two 460's almost even match up to a 5970 for less than $500. Looks like JBaz hasn't been keeping up to date on the latest games!

And in regard to getting a 470. Bad idea. The 460GTX barely loses to the 470GTX for $100+ cheaper. In fact in some games it beats the 470. It's not 2009 anymore.

8/31/2010 7:41:43 PM

hahahahahaha, those MW2 numbers are so fucking off, my 4890 and old e6750 @ 3.2 could pull 80-90 avg. 4xaa max everything in MW2.

8/31/2010 8:50:16 PM

Quote :

"hahahahahaha, those MW2 numbers are so fucking off, my 4890 and old e6750 @ 3.2 could pull 80-90 avg. 4xaa max everything in MW2."

The MW2 ones did look a little low but it all depends on if they're using stock cards/OC cards etc and when in the game they are testing. You really think every scene of the entire game averages the same? Lol.

But check out other sources. There's no way you're getting 80-90 average at 1920 by 1200 maxed out with a dual core conroe and a 4890.

Even an i7 at 3.5ghz with a 4890 only averages 62.5:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,699312/Modern-Warfare-2-Graphics-card-benchmarks-of-the-latest-Call-of-Duty/Practice/

Here's another one:

http://www.techspot.com/article/219-cod-modern-warfare-2-gpu-performance/page5.html

i7 with a 4890 with only 4xaa and 0 AF. Getting 70 average.

Unless you have one magic setup your numbers are off. Oh and keep in mind they picked a particularly graphical intensive section of the game to benchmark so average in the game does not equal average in one particular scene. And what does it matter? They compared each card using the same section of the game. They're not comparing frames per second with other reviewers just frames per second with each card in that particular section.

But those benches seem pretty on-par with other reviews of the 460 i've read. Including:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-460-roundup-gf104,2714.html

If you're interested in comparing various models.

8/31/2010 9:34:41 PM

herp derp, I was looking at the top 1680 graph haha. I really can't remember how the game ran in single player on this card, I know multiplayer gets destroyed by it, but I guess benches usually are SP runs. On a side note, I'm fucking pissed that 1920x1200 is being phased out. I wanted to upgrade to a nice IPS panel, but it seems 1080p is the new status quo for PC panels. I guess I can only dream to one day have a 2560x1600 panel, maybe they won't be phased out by the 2560x1440 BS. /rant

9/1/2010 12:21:53 AM

I do have to admit, I'm playing some old ass games. I'm 2 years behind playing games lol

The only modern game I'm playing are SC2, which doesn't count since it's a dx9 game, and Bad Company 2, which I see 60fps easily on my 24", I actually get above 30 with running across 3 displays, which I was surprised, although I had to turn AA down.

The only reason why I got the 5870 was that there was only the 470/480's on the market at the time, which were hard to find, hella expensive (huge mark ups), higher power requirement, ridiculous heat issues and the 5870 is actually quieter at either idle or with 100% load. I'm just a enthusiast gamer, not hardcore like some of my friends in my clan who have the triple 480's with dual watercooling loops. I practically have the slowest computer compared to my friends , but I still can kill them pretty easily.

If I had to build one now, 460 would def be on my list; although the native 3 display output is nice. Does the 460 do triple monitor setup? don't care about gaming, just running three displays. I've been spoiled with running more than 2 displays for the past 4+ years.

The only thing I hate about amd/ati is that their video card acceleration on adobe products isn't as good as nvidia, specially with fermi and cs5. Plus their 3 monitor gaming setup is stupid as hell, I was hoping it was going to be an awesome selling feature, but it's completely worthless and gave me the facepalm when my k/d ratio dropped by 40% on average because it was too distracting.

^ and wtf are you talking about? only cheap consumer based lcd's are using the 1080p standard res, you still have to pay for IPS panels which are still in the 1920x1200 16:10 ratio. I hear HP's got some nice stuff lately.

[Edited on September 1, 2010 at 3:08 AM. Reason : ]

9/1/2010 3:03:59 AM

Quote :

"who have the triple 480's with dual watercooling loops."

See now that's a waste of money. Very little performance increase for another $500 and no reason to water cool.

Quote :

"Plus their 3 monitor gaming setup is stupid as hell,"

You mean 6? Newer 5870's have eyeinfinity which support 6 monitors.

Quote :

"^ and wtf are you talking about? only cheap consumer based lcd's are using the 1080p standard res, you still have to pay for IPS panels which are still in the 1920x1200 16:10 ratio. I hear HP's got some nice stuff lately."

Yeah all the high-end displays are still 1920 by 1200. Apple, Dell, ^ HP.

Quote :

"I've been spoiled with running more than 2 displays for the past 4+ years."

Who hasn't? My co-worker has 2 30" Dell ultrasharps with 2 24" ultrasharps on either side. That's his home computer. Work computer has 8.

9/1/2010 8:55:51 AM

Quote :

"See now that's a waste of money. Very little performance increase for another $500 and no reason to water cool. "

Agreed. Dual SLI 480 still yields some power, one of my friends with his system gets 40k 3dmark, I think he got it to 42k, but it was a little unstable. He runs a wc loop for gpu and another loop for cpu with two huge ass radiators.

My friend with a triple SLI 480 gets 48k, but he's having some issues with OC all three cards at the same level of my friend with two 480's. He too runs two wc loops. Their numbers keep changing with newer drivers.

And I don't have 6 24" displays to pump to at the moment, If I had the need, I would have gotten the 5870 eyefinity, but the 100 extra bucks wasn't worth it to me. After experiencing 3 monitor gaming, I don't want it anymore. They need to fix the perspective for the two side displays to be effective. It's just stretched an annoying as hell. If it worked really well for one modern game I'd be happy instead of trying to force the drivers to make it work with all games.

I wished I had some disposable cash to throw it at a few 30" displays and an awesome computer desk

9/1/2010 12:05:56 PM

I need to stop spending money on computer parts. Now that i'm working full time (for the time being) I don't sit at my computer as much, but I still can't resist doing this upgrade. I haven't made major upgrades to my computer since 2006/2007.

9/1/2010 12:13:15 PM

do it... or else we will laugh at you constantly

9/1/2010 12:16:50 PM

BTW, Microcenter has their i7 930 retail box on sale again for 199. It's in-store price only so if you know anyone near one, and looking to build a new computer soon, you should pick this up. I had a friend in NJ pick mine up for me and shipped to me, saved like 80 bucks.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331303

9/1/2010 3:44:50 PM

that's a good price. Still going for the 950. Ordering the parts next week, putting together next weekend.

9/1/2010 3:54:11 PM

you can save a few bucks on the 950 by ordering this goofy combo, may as well

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.412620&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=404255&SID=154588

9/1/2010 4:18:36 PM

+1 on SD, figured your SD name was same as FAH? thanks.

i7-930 for $199
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331303

[Edited on September 1, 2010 at 5:10 PM. Reason : .]

9/1/2010 4:51:04 PM

Yeah, when I got my 930, they had 920's on sale for 179, but they went fast.

9/1/2010 5:17:15 PM

yea the SD post was me...thanks

9/1/2010 10:26:17 PM

Okay so I just upgraded my system from 1.5gigs of RAM to 4.0gigs of RAM and now it runs laggy all of a sudden on Windows 7 (seems to run fine with Ubuntu). Any suggestions?

9/2/2010 5:39:13 PM

are they the same type of ram sticks? how did you have 1.5tb before? I think you go some mixed sets and mix/matching different timing ram sticks could probably be this. Sort of like when an engine is misfiring the sequence of the cylinders, runs dog shit slow.

9/2/2010 11:05:16 PM

One of the new sticks could be bad. Have you tested them one at a time?

9/3/2010 7:03:48 AM

Quote :

"1.5tb"

I'm really tempted by the 6.0Gb/s velociraptors:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136555&cm_re=velociraptor-_-22-136-555-_-Product

Two of those in raid 0 come close to the performance of a SSD and lots more storage:

http://www.storagereview.com/western_digital_velociraptors_raid_ssd_alternative

Not worth the extra money though. Would be nice.

[Edited on September 3, 2010 at 8:56 AM. Reason : s]

9/3/2010 8:55:37 AM

lol, yeah... it's been a long day, running on 3 hours of sleep for the past few days. class load, riding bikes and playing starcraft are to blame... lol

9/3/2010 10:23:39 AM

I love my 300GB Velociraptor, it'll be a while before I go SSD.

9/3/2010 1:47:49 PM

Yeah I'm still using the original 150GB raptor.

The new 600GB one is 6Gb/s instead of 3. My new mobo i'm getting has the 6Gb/s so i'm tempted to pick one up. 600GB for my OS drive is a big improvement over 150. I hate having to delete older games to put new ones on.

9/3/2010 1:54:00 PM

Does anyone use the built in RAID on the motherboard?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641

It has it and I have two old Raptors I could use in raid 0. Would that be worth the hassle? Is it a hassle? I've never dealt with raid.

9/3/2010 3:41:50 PM

yes, i'd do it, i've done it before and it's worth it. not a hassle, just enable the RAID BIOS in the main BIOS and boot up with both HDD's attached, when the RAID BIOS comes up (after initial POST) there should be an option to enter the menu in which point you just tell it which RAID and devices to use and it formats them and then you just boot into Windows normally after exiting.

once booted into windows you can install the Intel Matrix software to monitor and configure them within Windows.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=3061&DwnldID=17412&lang=eng

[Edited on September 3, 2010 at 4:11 PM. Reason : link]

9/3/2010 4:06:34 PM

Awesome. I'll plan on doing that then. I'll get better performance out of two Raptors in RAID0 than if I bought a new velociraptor. I'll get the storage from both for my OS but if one fails i'm out of luck. They're about two years old so hopefully they've got more life in them.

So it formats them within the RAID bios and does all the striping etc then I just boot into windows and it shows up as one big 300GB drive?

-Oh parts ordered. Hopefully they'll all come in by the end of next week. Going to be a major upgrade from my old Conroe 6600 that I paid $310 for back in the day.

9/3/2010 4:12:20 PM

Quote :

"So it formats them within the RAID bios and does all the striping etc then I just boot into windows and it shows up as one big 300GB drive?"

Yes. I just can't remember if you're supposed to install the Matrix software/driver before or after the RAID setup.... at least install the RAID driver first.

Use ASUS's driver & matrix software:
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/utils/IMSM_V8901023.zip

[Edited on September 3, 2010 at 4:17 PM. Reason : .]

9/3/2010 4:14:19 PM

Yeah but if it's a clean install of windows and I want to wipe both drives clean then I'd have to boot into the RAID bios to format them, then install windows and install the drivers? I'll look into it.

^i'll check it out. I guess I don't understand which process actually sets up the raid. The bios or the matrix software within the OS. I obviously can't install the OS until they're already set up in RAID 0 though so what does the software do after that.

V gotcha. So in the actual windows install process it installs the driver and then can "see" the array?

[Edited on September 3, 2010 at 4:24 PM. Reason : s]

9/3/2010 4:16:27 PM

I think Windows 7 has the ICH10R RAID driver built in to the install disc, something (Vista & XP) didn't have and you used to have to use a floppy.

I know in the install process once you load the driver it will show up as one 300GB partition you can install to.

The BIOS sets it up, but Windows needs the driver to "see" it.

[Edited on September 3, 2010 at 4:22 PM. Reason : .]

9/3/2010 4:19:11 PM

Will someone recommend me a new computer plz?!

My only real requirement is for it to be able to run solidworks 2010. Im not looking for fulltilt mother of all workstation...just something that will let me learn the software.

Id prefer to buy a prebuilt machine.

And...GO!

9/4/2010 7:20:07 PM

this should be sufficient:
http://bit.ly/bcbvVB

i'd look for quad-core cpu, 6GB memory min., 500GB+, dedicated graphics card with 512MB of video memory, windows 7 64-bit

you may want to upgrade to the 5570, or buy a graphics card separate and swap out the one that comes with it, i think SolidWorks can be GPU intensive as it displays 3D in realtime

[Edited on September 5, 2010 at 1:38 PM. Reason : .]

9/5/2010 1:22:36 PM

icanread2, what is your budget? full system or just the computer box?

Like prospero said, quad core, 6GB+, gobbles amount of hdd space and a dedicated graphics card (a nice one since the pre and post rendering in 2010 is huge). If your budget is more than 1000, you'd be better off looking for parts and building your own as you'd get most of the best bang for the buck build, specially for a mid-range computer. It's very very simple to build one these days and worrying about compatibility issues really is fairly rare occurrence, as long as they fit, they should be fine in win 7.

[Edited on September 5, 2010 at 3:48 PM. Reason : ]

9/5/2010 3:45:29 PM

Shits coming in three different boxes. Grr. Should all be here by Thursday though.

9/6/2010 2:57:51 PM

Kind of want an SSD. Don't know if it's worth it though over the raptors in RAID 0. Was looking at the Crucial C300:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357

Anyone have one?

9/9/2010 12:02:02 PM

i don't have one, but i like the OCZ Vertex2 series, 250+MB/s write speeds
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550

and 2,000,000 hours MTBF

[Edited on September 9, 2010 at 12:28 PM. Reason : .]

9/9/2010 12:25:56 PM

That's a good one too. Might still get the 64GB Crucial C300. Write speeds are kind of shitty but with SATAIII I can get over 330 read and that's what matters. After looking at benchmarks on Tom's Hardware the C300 destroys everything else in boot up time, application loading, and gaming. What I care about.

My 4 year old Raptor drives are probably going to die soon and they're loud. Plus I'll be screwing myself over if I try to do RAID0 then one of them dies.

9/9/2010 12:49:53 PM

where were you looking? toms hardware review shows it only besting out the rest in gaming throughput, the Vertex2 was rated higher than the 64GB version of the C300 in everyday use (although they didn't test a 60GB Vertex2 for some reason).... i dunno, i just can't see myself paying the price for an SSD which only gives me faster read times and not write times.... but to each their own, the C300 IS a fast read for sure.

[Edited on September 9, 2010 at 1:18 PM. Reason : .]

9/9/2010 1:14:57 PM

Just the overall vantage scores, boot time, gaming, etc. What about the Corsair Force?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233124&cm_re=corsair_force-_-20-233-124-_-Product

-Ok after further research I think i'll go with the OCZ Vertex 2.

[Edited on September 9, 2010 at 1:58 PM. Reason : d]

9/9/2010 1:40:19 PM

pretty solid drive as well, i think it's the same controller (Sandforce SF-1200) as the OCZ Vertex 2 but the OCZ has a $20 rebate

[Edited on September 9, 2010 at 2:11 PM. Reason : .]

9/9/2010 2:09:06 PM

K ordered the 60GB OCZ Vertex 2. Gotta remember to do the $20 MIR. This is going to be a step up from the Raptor I got in 2006. Looking forward to the faster boot and application launch times.

I'm obviously still going to need a lot more room for programs/games. I guess it wouldn't hurt to still put my two old Raptors in RAID0 and 300 more GB's of space. I guess I have enough SATA ports.

9/9/2010 2:21:21 PM

do you not have an external HDD for backup or something?

i think the OCZ Vertex 2 is a good choice. i think the SATA III SSD controllers need some work before adopting them.

you're on Windows 7 right? just remember to make sure it's aligned and setup for 4K writes.

[Edited on September 9, 2010 at 2:50 PM. Reason : .]

9/9/2010 2:39:40 PM

Yeah the write speeds are pretty poor. I meant the two Raptor 150's in RAID0 for programs/games. 60 is no where near enough. Right now with one 150 i'm having to uninstall games to install new ones. I don't even game terribly much anymore but a few hours a week. I never bother to backup OS/program drives. Everything else I have backed up on the other 4 TB's in my case.

^yeah windows 7. Oh make sure the RAID0 is aligned and set up for 4k? I'll have to look into this. Will be my first RAID0 set-up. I thought with a clean install you didn't have to worry about aligning with RAID0.

[Edited on September 9, 2010 at 2:59 PM. Reason : d]

9/9/2010 2:49:55 PM

Looking to spend less than $150 for a new video card. PCI-E obviously. I'd rather stay with nvidia cards but realize that ATI/AMD has the better ones out in that price range right now. Any suggestions? Looking mainly at the ATI 4870 line.

9/9/2010 3:18:24 PM

Game a lot? Sit a while and wait on deals for the Nvidia 460. They're around $199 right now but dip down near $160-170.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130562

Good evga 460 for $169 after $10 rebate.

[Edited on September 9, 2010 at 3:30 PM. Reason : s]

9/9/2010 3:21:11 PM

only gaming is iRacing, and I'm planning on moving my gaming to the tv instead of the monitor, so 1920x1080 with high level AA and the like are important. iRacing isn't really intensive but I get an occasional drop in frame rate when I'm at 1680x1050 right now and stuttering isn't good when going with 20 other real people. I'm also going to be upgrading from an E6300 to an E8400 to further help out.

9/9/2010 3:34:55 PM

What video card are you using now?

9/9/2010 3:52:20 PM

7900GS

9/9/2010 4:19:11 PM