TW's PC Adventure Thread
- Thread starter Twilight Wolf
- Start date
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Re: Help me choose a graphics card!
Sounds like it's a good idea.
All right, for those of you interested, here's what my planned system setup is:
AMD Phenom II X2 @3.1GHz, overclocked to 3.8GHz and possibly made into a quad-core
Two (eventually) Sapphire Radeon HD 5770s running in CrossfireX
4GB DDR3 RAM @ 1600 MHz
1TB HDD
Motherboard: MSI 790FX-GD70
750-watt Corsair PSU
Probably this monitor unless I find something better
Case: Antec Nine Hundred
This DVD Burner
This card reader
This PCI wireless card
This CPU cooler
I already own the CPU, RAM, case, DVD burner, and card reader.
Well, I guess that's it. Thanks for your help, jlee, and thanks also to everyone else involved!
jleemero said:
Sounds like it's a good idea.
All right, for those of you interested, here's what my planned system setup is:
AMD Phenom II X2 @3.1GHz, overclocked to 3.8GHz and possibly made into a quad-core
Two (eventually) Sapphire Radeon HD 5770s running in CrossfireX
4GB DDR3 RAM @ 1600 MHz
1TB HDD
Motherboard: MSI 790FX-GD70
750-watt Corsair PSU
Probably this monitor unless I find something better
Case: Antec Nine Hundred
This DVD Burner
This card reader
This PCI wireless card
This CPU cooler
I already own the CPU, RAM, case, DVD burner, and card reader.
Well, I guess that's it. Thanks for your help, jlee, and thanks also to everyone else involved!
Re: Help me choose a graphics card!
Nice setup.
I especially love that cooler.
It is my favorite CPU cooler of all time.
I once had a fan go out on one, and none of my temperature alarms went off because passively it was still able to keep safe temps!
It's a great cooler, to say the least.
Nice setup.
I especially love that cooler.
It is my favorite CPU cooler of all time.
I once had a fan go out on one, and none of my temperature alarms went off because passively it was still able to keep safe temps!
It's a great cooler, to say the least.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Re: Help me choose a graphics card!
Seriously? That's awesome. I mean, I've heard nothing but good stuff about it, but... wow, that's impressive! Something like that should definitely keep me running cool even overclocked and/or with cores unlocked. I'm totally going to get one now.
Seriously? That's awesome. I mean, I've heard nothing but good stuff about it, but... wow, that's impressive! Something like that should definitely keep me running cool even overclocked and/or with cores unlocked. I'm totally going to get one now.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Re: Help me choose a graphics card!
Whoa, that's kind of an unusual resolution. I've never heard of a monitor like that, anyways. $170, though? Not too bad, even if it is $50 more than the Asus I've got on my list. I'll look it up.
Whoa, that's kind of an unusual resolution. I've never heard of a monitor like that, anyways. $170, though? Not too bad, even if it is $50 more than the Asus I've got on my list. I'll look it up.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
All right, so the monitor I wanted has been listed as "currently unavailable" for a while now, and during the time between then and now I've been under the impression that that meant exactly what it sounds like: that an item is unavailable at the moment but will be back later. However, after reading Newegg's FAQ, I've discovered that they're now using "currently unavailable" in place of "deactivated" as if there was no difference to begin with. Totally misleading.
Also, I looked at the Samsung Bibin talked about. It looks like a good monitor, and I'm a big fan of Samsung stuff, but it wasn't available from Newegg last time I checked, and it's kind of expensive. Well, the HP I had originally thought about getting (this one) seems to still be an option, so I guess I can always get this one if things continue to not work out. And you know something else? It's now cheaper to buy that Corsair PSU from freakin' BEST BUY than from Newegg now. I wish I had just bought it when I could've gotten it for $90. I just pray to God I can at least get my graphics card and motherboard before something else goes wrong, too...
Also, anyone know anything about this HDD? I'm thinking of getting it instead of this 1TB Seagate.
Yep, the same definition of "deactivated" and probably the same fate.Newegg's FAQ said:
Newegg's FAQ said:
Also, I looked at the Samsung Bibin talked about. It looks like a good monitor, and I'm a big fan of Samsung stuff, but it wasn't available from Newegg last time I checked, and it's kind of expensive. Well, the HP I had originally thought about getting (this one) seems to still be an option, so I guess I can always get this one if things continue to not work out. And you know something else? It's now cheaper to buy that Corsair PSU from freakin' BEST BUY than from Newegg now. I wish I had just bought it when I could've gotten it for $90. I just pray to God I can at least get my graphics card and motherboard before something else goes wrong, too...
Also, anyone know anything about this HDD? I'm thinking of getting it instead of this 1TB Seagate.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Okay, I need some more help, this time regarding an OS. I've decided that I'd like to install (preferably) Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit on my machine when I get it built. I can buy a product key for it for as little as $10, possibly even less. Awesome, right? Well, I have a problem: no disc image to install the OS on my PC with. I've Googled the Heck out of it, and all I can find are torrents (which I am not a fan of and find confusing to use) and broken (of course ._.) download links. Microsoft won't give me the ISO unless I bought it from them and them only, which makes me wonder how the Heck you're supposed to install 7 on something like a netbook that has no optical drive if you bought 7 from a store. It looks like I can get 7 Home Premium and 7 Professional ISOs, however, both in 64-bit, too.
Now, my Dad can get supposedly copies of 7 fairly cheaply since he's a teacher, but I think he can only get 7 Basic or something, it's only 32-bit, plus it costs $65, if I recall correctly. Upgrades are free, but if you want a disc to use, they cost $20 each. Not nearly as cheap as just buying a product key for $10.
So, guys, if you've had any experience with real Windows 7 (not the crap labeled "Release Candidate" like I've got on my laptop right now), do either Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate have any definite advantages over each other performance-wise? Can you tell me which would be best for gaming? (I haven't found any kind of comparisons or benchmarks of the latter anywhere, surprisingly. Stupid unhelpful internet. DX )
Thanks!
Now, my Dad can get supposedly copies of 7 fairly cheaply since he's a teacher, but I think he can only get 7 Basic or something, it's only 32-bit, plus it costs $65, if I recall correctly. Upgrades are free, but if you want a disc to use, they cost $20 each. Not nearly as cheap as just buying a product key for $10.
So, guys, if you've had any experience with real Windows 7 (not the crap labeled "Release Candidate" like I've got on my laptop right now), do either Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate have any definite advantages over each other performance-wise? Can you tell me which would be best for gaming? (I haven't found any kind of comparisons or benchmarks of the latter anywhere, surprisingly. Stupid unhelpful internet. DX )
Thanks!
samjc3
#1 Female Member
installing win 7 on a netbook requires either having a usb disc drive (recommended) or making a bootable usb drive with the install disc, or doing a network install, or by installing it on an hdd and putting that in. simple, really. but, anyway, torrents are easy. download the torrent. and open it in a bittorrent client, such as limewire. personally, i like nicotine, since its simple and very lightweight and fast. it will download and you'll have your install disc iso.
as for that monitor, i am sitting before the 24" inch behemoth of that same HP line, and it is GORGEOUS. amazing color quality, no refresh rate issues, good high res. (this one is massive, like 1680x1050, but that one has the same pixel density)
and, caviar black's are about the best drive out there, unless you wanna spend a shload more, and get one of the "Veloci-raptors" which are 10k rpm, not 7200.
as for that monitor, i am sitting before the 24" inch behemoth of that same HP line, and it is GORGEOUS. amazing color quality, no refresh rate issues, good high res. (this one is massive, like 1680x1050, but that one has the same pixel density)
and, caviar black's are about the best drive out there, unless you wanna spend a shload more, and get one of the "Veloci-raptors" which are 10k rpm, not 7200.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Eh, seeing as I can get a 7 product key (of any breed) for mere pocket change (seriously, $0.99!), I'm gonna skip the idea of getting one from a school.
Professional is the best in terms of features for the price, you say? I'll probably go with that, then. The only real difference I can find between Pro and Ultimate is that Ultimate has multiple language options (useless to me since I don't speak anything but English) and BitLocker, which I guarantee you I'll never use. Then again, if I can get Ultimate for $0.99, what's stopping me? You know, aside from the fact that I have no clue how they perform relative to one another. Honestly, though, I think the main reason I want Ultimate is that I'd like to say I have 7 Ultimate as my OS instead of 7 Professional or 7 Home Premium. "Ultimate" just sounds cooler than either of those.
I've decided I'm gonna go with this Asus monitor. 1920 x 1080 for the price of a 1680 x 1050, plus it's one of the highest-rated monitors on Newegg! The price went up by $10 recently, though. Grr.
As for the hard drive, it had better reviews than the Seagate, plus I've heard nothing but good stuff about WD and the Caviar Black series. As much as I'd like a speedy HDD, for the increased performance, it's not worth the price, plus the only Raptor drives I can find are something like 320GB.
Also, I ordered a tool kit for putting my PC together when the time comes, along with some fan filtration accessories to keep dust out of my desktop, since my room gets crazy dusty really quickly and I want to keep it out of my computer. Newegg as usual performed well in their task and I got my tool kit three days after I ordered it. FrozenCPU, from whom I bought some anodized aluminum filters for the 120mm front fans on my Antec Nine Hundred, was just as quick, though my delivery was delayed by a day due to President's Day. Same story with Filtalert, who I bought some foam filter material and software from. Kudos all around!
Professional is the best in terms of features for the price, you say? I'll probably go with that, then. The only real difference I can find between Pro and Ultimate is that Ultimate has multiple language options (useless to me since I don't speak anything but English) and BitLocker, which I guarantee you I'll never use. Then again, if I can get Ultimate for $0.99, what's stopping me? You know, aside from the fact that I have no clue how they perform relative to one another. Honestly, though, I think the main reason I want Ultimate is that I'd like to say I have 7 Ultimate as my OS instead of 7 Professional or 7 Home Premium. "Ultimate" just sounds cooler than either of those.
I've decided I'm gonna go with this Asus monitor. 1920 x 1080 for the price of a 1680 x 1050, plus it's one of the highest-rated monitors on Newegg! The price went up by $10 recently, though. Grr.
As for the hard drive, it had better reviews than the Seagate, plus I've heard nothing but good stuff about WD and the Caviar Black series. As much as I'd like a speedy HDD, for the increased performance, it's not worth the price, plus the only Raptor drives I can find are something like 320GB.
Also, I ordered a tool kit for putting my PC together when the time comes, along with some fan filtration accessories to keep dust out of my desktop, since my room gets crazy dusty really quickly and I want to keep it out of my computer. Newegg as usual performed well in their task and I got my tool kit three days after I ordered it. FrozenCPU, from whom I bought some anodized aluminum filters for the 120mm front fans on my Antec Nine Hundred, was just as quick, though my delivery was delayed by a day due to President's Day. Same story with Filtalert, who I bought some foam filter material and software from. Kudos all around!
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Eh, sorry, but I don't think I will. As much as I like Samsung, it's $219, first of all; heck, that Asus got to be a little more expensive than I liked as it is at just $170. I'm working on a budget here, after all. And although the high resolution is fine and dandy, I was just going to go for a 1680 x 1050 before I found the aforementioned Asus. My reasons?
A.) 1680 x 1050 is typically a good amount cheaper than a comparable 1920 x 1080. That Asus was an exception.
B.) 1680 x 1050, while not as high of a resolution as I could get, is still excellent, and I still have a good deal of screen area to utilize. I'm using 1280 x 800 on my laptop right now, and I generally have enough space to work as it is, so 1680 x 1050 will be totally sufficient.
C.) Fewer pixels to render means my graphics card doesn't have to work as hard to give me high framerates in my games.
Also, no built-in speakers? Not really a necessity, but I'd totally use them if it had them.
No, I think I'll just look for another Asus. Or that HP; that's still an option if nothing else comes around.
A.) 1680 x 1050 is typically a good amount cheaper than a comparable 1920 x 1080. That Asus was an exception.
B.) 1680 x 1050, while not as high of a resolution as I could get, is still excellent, and I still have a good deal of screen area to utilize. I'm using 1280 x 800 on my laptop right now, and I generally have enough space to work as it is, so 1680 x 1050 will be totally sufficient.
C.) Fewer pixels to render means my graphics card doesn't have to work as hard to give me high framerates in my games.
Also, no built-in speakers? Not really a necessity, but I'd totally use them if it had them.
No, I think I'll just look for another Asus. Or that HP; that's still an option if nothing else comes around.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Glossy, matte, I don't give a Dang. Just as long as it has a good picture and a good resolution, that's all I care about.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Meh, I've never had that problem in the past, so like I said, I don't give a Dang.
