Building a computer? Need advice/suggestions? Come here!

[Warsaw]

The Core 2 Duo E8000 Series are a nice bunch of overclockers and I hear Games even today only use 2 cores anyway. 2 cores is enough to last me for the next four years.

That's not entirely true. >2 core usage is becoming increasingly common in more and more games, so you'll want a quad if you hope to get through the next four years with minimal hassle. If I'm not mistaken, L4D can take advantage of more than one core, and so can GTA IV, Supreme Commander, Prototype, and I'm sure there are more. Trust me, getting a quad is the way to go. Core 2 Quad, Phenom II X4, Core i7, or Core i5 (when it releases in a couple months with W7).

[Bhamid]

All those games use quad cores btw

[AAA]

Well, I might not have much of a choice... My computer Burned out today. Literally, My 4770 is toast and so is my mobo. All due to the Power supply. I'm done, I'm gonna get something by corsair.

The only problem I have with X58 is that I hear that shit bottle necks with the i7 and 1600 DDR3. Is this entirely true?.... Because, I have a friend with DDR2 800, an E6600 OC @ 3.2, and a GTS 250. He's able to run Crysis on 1920x1080+AA x4 on 40FPS, I saw it with my own eyes. So I'm in a state of "Fuck the What?" because Crysis runs about the same on an X58 setup with a 285.

[InnerGoat]

Then get a setup like your friend has if you honestly believe it runs the same as an i7 / GTX285 rig.

[Warsaw]

Well, I might not have much of a choice... My computer Burned out today. Literally, My 4770 is toast and so is my mobo. All due to the Power supply. I'm done, I'm gonna get something by corsair.

The only problem I have with X58 is that I hear that shit bottle necks with the i7 and 1600 DDR3. Is this entirely true?.... Because, I have a friend with DDR2 800, an E6600 OC @ 3.2, and a GTS 250. He's able to run Crysis on 1920x1080+AA x4 on 40FPS, I saw it with my own eyes. So I'm in a state of "Fuck the What?" because Crysis runs about the same on an X58 setup with a 285.

That's because Crysis is a GPU-limited game (like almost every other game).

Also, your friend likely wasn't running it on Very High. Most people run it on High, or Medium-High settings.

i7 is much faster at workstation tasks than any other processor architecture out there. That "bottleneck" problem is more likely the CAS latencies jumping up very high once you hit 1600MHz and above, though you can find 1600MHz DDR3 with a relatively low CAS (for DDR3) of 6. So it doesn't bottleneck, so to speak, it just becomes a problem of the increased speed of RAM becoming less and less able to overcome its own increasing latency.

Your best bet right now is an i7 920 with 6GB of DDR3 RAM (take advantage of the uber bandwidth of Triple Channel), along with either two GTX295s in SLI or get a cheap card to hold you over until ATi releases the 5870X2. If money is no obstacle and you want it to last 4 years, get the best of the best.

[Varmint260]

Hey, guys! I have more n00b questions for ya's!

So, my mother has this almost brand-spankin' new Acer Aspire that's quite a bit nicer than my current one (AM2+ instead of just AM2, more RAM slots, 64-bit OS). I was thinkin' of trading with her since all she does is email and browse the internet, and my current setup is more'n enough power. But, I wanted to swap a few components and install in the newer one a graphics card I got on sale. Not sure if my power supply can handle it, so this's what I'm looking at.

Acer Aspire M1202
Phenom X3 8550 (2.2GHz)
I want to swap in my 4GB of OCZ Gold PC2-6400
I plan on installing this new BFG Tech GeForce GTS 250 1GB OC Edition
I want to swap in my 550W Optimax Titan power supply.
640GB SATA hard drive
I'll be installing my 160GB WD drive with all my documents.

Now, my problem is that the requirements on the box of the GTS 250 say a 475W power supply with at least 26A on the 12V rail is recommended with a Core 2 Duo E6750. My Optimax Titan 550W says 24A on the 12V rail. With the setup I've detailed above, will this PSU cut it or shall I head out and get something better?

[k4is3rxkh40s]

Computer specs here.
+Radeon HD 4850, 300w PSU, 3 gb ram instead of 1, extra 200GB hard drive.

CPU and PSU both suck and it's getting pretty evident in my gaming(fallout 3, GTA 4, Prototype, Crysis, etc). I might be able to get a hold of my friend's extra 400w PSU, but if there's a cheap and reliable one, I'll get it instead. I'm more looking for a CPU upgrade, but I really have no clue what to look for, moreso than when I was looking for a graphics card. I have about ~$100-130 to work with right now, or should I wait a couple months to save up for anything new/price drops on older models/etc?

[Reaper Man]

This is not entirely relevant, but I don't think it's worth making a new thread just for this.

I'm gunna be getting a new laptop for university, but I'm on a budget. The two computers I'm looking at are as follows

Lenovo IdeaPad Y550 ~$7000HKD (~$900USD)

• Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0 GHz, 2 MB, 800 MHz
• 4GB DDR3 1066MHz
• 500GB 5400rpm Serial ATA
• 15.6" 16:9 WLED HD 1366x768
• nVidia GeForce GT 130M 512MB

or

Dell Studio 15 ~$7000HKD (~$900USD)

• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P7350 2.0GHz / 1066MHz FSB / 3MB (I may pay a ~$100USD extra to get 2.40GHz, the Lenovo's processor can't be upgraded)
• 15.6” 720p WLED 1366x768 Display with TrueLife
• 4GB (2X2GB) DDR2 SDRAM
• 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570
• 500GB SATA Hard Drive

I don't really know much about current hardware, as I haven't kept up to date in years. I need a laptop primarily for photo editing and Photoshop, I work with pretty high resolution images, and do batch processing fairly often, so the things I do are fairly processor intensive. Both these laptops have their pros and cons, so I'm looking for a more knowledgeable opinion.

The screen resolution on both irritates me, but I can't find anything similarly priced with a higher resolution screen. Those two laptops pretty much fit right to the limits of my budget. If anybody else has any recommendations, I'd appreciate it. I'd rather avoid HP though, as I have bad experiences with my current HP laptop.

I am a sucker for the looks of the Dell, it also has a backlit keyboard and a slot loading drive. I'll probably pay the little extra to get the Intel 5300 Wireless-N card instead of the 5100, as I've heard it's much more reliable. I'd much prefer the Studio XPS 16, but it's price is far beyond what I can afford. The screen resolution though...

E: My parents said they're willing to pay the $7000HKD (~$900USD) I might pay the extra several thousand or so to get a better laptop. Augh, I don't know HELP ME

2nd E: Augh, I just checked the Dell USA site, with student discounts for SCAD, and they have so many more different customization options for the Studio laptops. I'm so confused >__>

[InnerGoat]

Out of those two, the Dell. You should really try for something with a usable resolution though!!

e: the studio 15 can be configured with a 15.6" 1920x1080 widescreen for 75 more dollars over stock, lol.

e2: and it falls at $904 with the 1080p display, 95Wh battery, better video, and wifi

[Reaper Man]

Out of those two, the Dell. You should really try for something with a usable resolution though!!

e: the studio 15 can be configured with a 15.6" 1920x1080 widescreen for 75 more dollars over stock, lol.

e2: and it falls at $904 with the 1080p display, 95Wh battery, better video, and wifi

Yeah, after looking at the dell USA website, I noticed that there's more upgrade options, namely the 1080p display. PLUS I can get SCAD student discount.