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

[Warsaw]

Well, what do you want to do with it? If you're running a 32-bit OS and playing older games like Halo and Source-based games, then 2GB is fine. If you plan on Crysis and its sequel, or Far Cry 2, or what have you, you want 2x2GB. If you get just 2GB, I suggest getting a 2x1GB kit, since that will double your memory throughput (two sticks operating has more bandwidth than one).

[ThePlague]

What 1 GB sticks do you recommend?

[Warsaw]

The ones with the best and most reviews, naturally!

Aside from that, it has timings of 5, which is good for DDR2 though if you want you can push it to 4. You won't see much performance increase.

[EagerYoungSpaceCadet]

I'm trying to find a good GPU so I could play newer games and found that some most/all GPUs need PCI 2.0 which my mobo lacks, yes I know that 2.0 cards are compatible with 1.0 slots and vice versa, but how big the performance drop will be? And which GPU should I buy? Budget: 200$, PSU: 450W if anyone needs to know.

[Cortexian]

The performance drop is almost immeasurable in games unless you're using SLI/Crossfire, even when using SLI and Crossfire the difference between PCI 1.0 and 2.0 is only a few FPS in most games. I run two GTX 285 1GB's in SLI on a PCI 1.0 board and don't have issues.

[EagerYoungSpaceCadet]

Thx Freelancer and welcome back!

[343guiltymc]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...TEK-_-17815007
Is xigmatek a good brand? I need a cheap PSU, but all of them seems to be crap.

[Rook]

Posted on a tech forum and didn't get any good feedback so I'll try here. Looking to overclock my AMD 550 processor (basically this except mines an older black edition model). By reading how-to tuts overclocking with the BE it should be easy with messing with the multiplier. The main thing I'd like to ask here is if anyone knew of a good cooler for $60 or less that's compatible with AM3.

[Warsaw]

Any cooler that worked on AM2 or Socket 939 also works on AM3; they haven't changed the form factor, just the pin arrangement on the socket proper.

That said, I recommend one of those Zalman fans, the ones that sit perpendicular to the CPU.

Like this one.

Have one on an old 939 Athlon 64 X2 3800+, works wonderfully.

[Cortexian]

I personally recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-T...6972885&sr=1-6
+
2 x http://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-U...6972885&sr=1-4
+
2 x 120mm fans of your choice. Want quite fans, get em. Want loud performance fans, get those instead.

If you look around you can probably find it all for under $60, you don't need to get the Black model but try and get the latest revision of which ever Ultra 120 you find. Don't look at the Venomous X cooler, the tightening bolts will crack your motherboard.

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So I finally got around to formatting my two separate 500GB drives that used to dual-boot Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Now they're combined into a RAID-0 array for increased performance and only running Windows 7, as I hadn't logged into the Vista installation in over a year...



And that's the result, has sped up my load times for Windows/Programs/Games by a recognizable amount. I'm sure it's not as fast as an SSD but it does make a difference! Could some of you grab the free version of HD Tune and bench your drives? These numbers are kinda useless to me without something to compare to...