Talk about your current PC set up

[SuperBeatBoy]

http://www.ebuyer.com/259582-antec-1200-twelve-hundred-v3-full-tower-case-0761345-15118-4

my case = love

[speedlolita]

Get the most massive case you can possibly find room for :-)
Smaller cases won't let you put some of the bigger GFX cards in. I mean, I'm talking about the ?300 cards but still.

Not necessarily true.. Core 1000 from Fractal Design with a HDD cage removed:

http://www.ebuyer.com/259582-antec-1...761345-15118-4

my case = love

Good for cooling, not much else.

[koopatroopa90]

Thanks for the reply, so I'd be looking at around ?550 then, at least? Looked up that case, that kind of size would be fine, although I guess I'd need an external disc drive too...

Really it's just something I'm curious about doing after Shozuki mentioned how good 3D PC gaming is. I'm guessing 3D gaming will require more expensive graphics cards at the very least though and I'm not even sure if it'd use the same system as my PJ...
I do also like the idea of having something that could rip DVDs quickly, like charles. Tried doing some on my old laptop but it'd take an hour or two at a time which is stupid when a torrent would take a half hour max (but is something I don't like doing for obvious reasons).
Oh and whilst I'm thinking aloud here I'm rather interested in Dolphin, not least for gamecube emulation.

[speedlolita]

Shozuki's PC is worth like ?3k I think.. He has SLI 680 GTX now - mental!

And you're right, 3D gaming is more taxing than regular.

You don't need all that much power for Dolphin really, I think PCSX2 requires more.

If you wanted a really small case you could get an mITX motherboard - but that would only allow you an expansion port for GPU. mITX is much smaller though, my friend's Silverstone case isn't too much bigger than a GameCube for example.

I could try to rustle something up for ?550 if you wanted, might be harder if you need a case etc though.

[koopatroopa90]

wouldn't surprise me, he was telling me about stacking 3 graphics cards which I think is the SLI thing you talk of.

I didn't even realise there was a ps2 emulator available, although of course it makes sense. I think if I were to do this, although there is temption to have something as small as possible (from what I can tell those silverstone cases are essentially for building HTPCs in?), I'd probably be better off having the biggest case I can stomach so I don't find myself having to rebuy too soon. Would there be anything stopping me from gutting the p4 I have in the loft? The case is an ugly Packard Bell thing but just an idea. Could I use the same fans and USB/card reader, perhaps even the audio card (assuming it isn't boolarcks)?

Thanks for the offer, if it's something you can do in 5 minutes that'd be very interesting to see, if it'll take some time then don't worry as my primary concern should be to buy a new laptop at the moment which, judging by the type I want (ultrabooks they call them now it seems) is going to set me back even more!

And sorry for derailing this thread lol.

[speedlolita]

You could use your Packard Bell case, but it's going to have poor airflow. Also it'll have 80mm fans, which suck.

I'll just assume you have a monitor n shiz then and spec you something.



i5 2500k with a cooler to overclock the stink out of it, GTX460 might be a tad weak but you'd have to drop the i5 2500k to something like an i3 2100/2120 if you wanted to get something significantly better like a HD6950. i3 is still adequate, but not quite so good for general usage.

Rough idea at least.

[SuperBeatBoy]

Not necessarily true.. Core 1000 from Fractal Design with a HDD cage removed:





Good for cooling, not much else.

What else is a case good for if it isn't for cooling or room for more items?

[speedlolita]

Sound isolation, cable management, component positioning..

Those Twelve Hundred cages aren't convenient at all for example.

I absolutely cannot stand LEDs too, although I'm guessing you've replaced the Tri-Cool to save your ears.

[chang]

Just finished building my PC, some parts I wish I had spent more on to get the best value I'm pretty happy with what I have so far. Just need to upgrade the HDD to an SSD one sometime.

Motherboard Gigabyte GA-X58-G1-GUERILLA X58 Socket 1366
CPU Intel i7 950 socket 1366
GPU Sapphire HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB GDDR5
Memory Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz Vengeance Memory Kit CL9 1.5V
Case NZXT Phantom 410 White Case
PSU NZXT Hale82 750W Modular PSU
Monitor LG D2342P-PN LCD TFT 3D Ready 23"
HDD Seagate 250GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s Barracuda Hard Drive 7200RPM 16MB Cache
Keyboard Corsair Vengeance K60 Performance, FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Mouse Razer Mamba

Annoyed with the HDD if I am honest, I purchased a peice of ****e from maplin and it really capped my Windows Experience Index. so I went and ordered the one listed from Ebuyer, only to find that my score was still capped at 5.9 whilst the rest are 7.5 and 7.9..... ah well

[speedlolita]

Whatever made you choose a HDD over an SSD?

Space I assume, there's not much in it money wise at least.

Solid build there, if a little outdated. Did you get the i7 cheap?

[chang]

I just ordered it all from ebuyer, opted to not go with the ssd as for what I would class as a decent size was well into the ?100's. The cpu was around 236 or so inc vat. lol refraining from really digging around as I dont want to find I can knock that set up together for less than half.

[shaffy_oppa]

I really wanna build another PC but I don't have the money and no cases since the NZXT Phantom have come out that look any good...

[speedlolita]

What are you talking about? Lol.

[koopatroopa90]

You could use your Packard Bell case, but it's going to have poor airflow. Also it'll have 80mm fans, which suck.

I'll just assume you have a monitor n shiz then and spec you something.

(image edited out)

i5 2500k with a cooler to overclock the stink out of it, GTX460 might be a tad weak but you'd have to drop the i5 2500k to something like an i3 2100/2120 if you wanted to get something significantly better like a HD6950. i3 is still adequate, but not quite so good for general usage.

Rough idea at least.

Thanks just had a look and managed to get it down ?470, assuming I can use the DVD RW drive from the PB I already have, which is even better, although Windows will cost what, ?40 from software4students or something?

That HD6950 doesn't seem much more expensive either so presuming it works with the i5 (and therefore that you mentioned dropping to an i3 purely for price reasons) that might be the better buy.

[speedlolita]

I think in the long run the 6950 would be better, although the 6850 is still a strong GPU. And you're right about being able to recycle the drive. I don't even have a DVD drive installed in my desktop, I use a USB one I bought ages ago to install Windows.

If you can get the 2500k and the 6950 though you'll have a PC that'll last at least 2-3 years.

BTW, don't skimp on PSU. You can save money but you risk system instability.