The computer and electronics super geek thread

[eugimon]

there are are dimmable CFL bulbs as well as CFL bulbs specifically for 3-way fixtures. Just check out the bulb section at any home depot.

[Gabe Q]

Hoping for a quick bit of advice to spec a system. I haven't built a system since 2002 and I haven't really kept up with all the changes.

I want to play Civ5 and Starcraft2 and any other game that may come along in the next say 4 years.

I really want this thing to run quietly. That's a big priority for me and I'm not gonna overclock or anything.

Win7 is the OS and I'm thinking 1500+ or so total on the system. Gonna build it myself:

CPU: Intel Core i7-950

CPU Cooler: ??? (something quiet?)

RAM: ??? (I'm not sure about DDR3 1866/1800/1600/1333/1066 what's the difference and how much do I need?)

MoBo: ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 (I like the dependability they're claiming with a 5 year warranty)

GPU: ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5850 1 GB EAH5850 (Can I go with a cheaper card?)

SSD: Corsair F120

Case: Corsair 600T

PSU: Corsair 650TX

[mikeszekely]

Hoping for a quick bit of advice to spec a system. I haven't built a system since 2002 and I haven't really kept up with all the changes.

I want to play Civ5 and Starcraft2 and any other game that may come along in the next say 4 years.

I really want this thing to run quietly. That's a big priority for me and I'm not gonna overclock or anything.

Win7 is the OS and I'm thinking 1500+ or so total on the system. Gonna build it myself:

Let me start off by saying that US$1500 is a bit much for a system that plays Starcraft II and Civ5. My box I built for $1100 almost three years ago does that, and I intend to replace it for just about $1300.

CPU: Intel Core i7-950

While games like Starcraft and Civ will benefit from good graphics, I don't think you'll need to go SLI/Crossfire. Everything I've read indicates that the i7-9xx (LGA 1366 "Bloomfield") do really well with multiple GPUs and tri-channel memory, but that an i7-8xx (LGA 1156 "Lynnfield") works better with pairs of RAM and single cards. The i7-950 is an excellent processor, but you should also get plenty of performance while saving a bit if you consider a Core i7-860 and an LGA 1156 mobo.

CPU Cooler: ??? (something quiet?)

Even for heavy gaming, I've found Intel's stock coolers to be adequate. Can't really comment on the noise, aside from saying that the whisper from my stock Core 2 Duo fan is totally drowned out by the fan on the graphics card when I'm gaming.

RAM: ??? (I'm not sure about DDR3 1866/1800/1600/1333/1066 what's the difference and how much do I need?)

It depends. If you're set on the i7-950, you'll want three sticks, so your choices would be 3 1BG sticks, 3 2GB sticks, or 3 4GB sticks (3, 6, or 12). If you're going to use a 64-bit copy of Win7, I'd say 6 should be your minimum. The difference between all those numbers after DDR3 refers to the speed of the memory. Bloomfield processors like the i7-950 are designed with 1066 in mind, and that should be fine if you're not overclocking.

MoBo: ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 (I like the dependability they're claiming with a 5 year warranty)

Can't fault your taste in motherboards. It's a great choice with lots of extras like eSata, USB 3.0, and multiple PCIe slots. Only thing I can say hear is that if you went with an i7-860, you'd need to pick an LGA 1156 board instead.

GPU: ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5850 1 GB EAH5850 (Can I go with a cheaper card?)

This card's a good choice, but a 5750 should do you if you're sure you're just going to be into Starcraft and Civ.

SSD: Corsair F120

I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it until it stops being true, but for 99% of the population an SSD is a waste of money. Yes, they may be a bit quieter, but the difference in speed is still pretty marginal when you consider that a good Western Digital 7200RPM 1TB hard drive can be had for $70, and the cheapest 60GB SSD on Newegg is over $120, that's something like 20-ish times the cost per gigabyte.

Case: Corsair 600T

Fair enough. I'm more of an Antec guy.

PSU: Corsair 650TX

Should also be fine, but again, I'm more of an Antec guy.

[Gabe Q]

Can't fault your taste in motherboards. It's a great choice with lots of extras like eSata, USB 3.0, and multiple PCIe slots. Only thing I can say hear is that if you went with an i7-860, you'd need to pick an LGA 1156 board instead.

Thanks for the reply!

Can you recommend a good Asus LGA 1156 board? I heard Asus is the most dependable brand so I'm kinda partial to them.

Also, the memory is 1800 better than 1066? The higher the better, right?

[David Hingtgen]

Want a quiet cooler? Buy a big run and run the fan at really low speeds--or no fan. Get a massive cooler designed for intense overclocking--then don't overclock. A very slow fan or fanless will be more than adequate. It's what I do.

You want quiet everything? Then you're like me. Go spend some time at http://www.silentpcreview.com. They are THE place to go for quiet PC parts. They test everything--and not just raw decibels--they'll say if it hums, drones, whines, how shrill, how smooth, is it random or patterned, etc. If you know what types of noise annoy you, you'll know if something does it from reading their stuff.

PS--their goal is a dead-silent PC. So even if it's only "ok" by their standards, it'd be notably quiet compared to most stuff.

[Gabe Q]

Thanks for that link! I never knew that site existed. Noisy computers get on my nerves.

[mikeszekely]

Thanks for the reply!

Can you recommend a good Asus LGA 1156 board? I heard Asus is the most dependable brand so I'm kinda partial to them.

I sure can! Take a look at their P7H55-M PRO board. You'll be giving up some cutting-edge tech like USB 3.0, but you'll actually be retaining most of the features of the Sabretooth X58 board, for about half the price.

Also, the memory is 1800 better than 1066? The higher the better, right?

In theory, yeah. In practice, a computer is only as fast as it's slowest part. Spending extra to get faster RAM, even if the motherboard supports it, won't have any practical benefit if the processor and the chipset on the motherboard don't support it. Both the i7-860 and i7-950 are designed for 1066, so if you're running everything stock you'll likely be running 1800 RAM and 1066 speeds.

[Gabe Q]

Hey thanks got a much better idea of what I need!

[shiroikaze]

Just letting you know, AMD's HD 6850 and HD 6870 will be released very, very soon. Rumor has it that they're priced $200 and $250 respectively. General consensus on performance is that HD 6850 > HD 5830 while HD 6870 > HD 5850, though that's also not set in stone yet. If you're still intent on getting an HD 5850, wait a bit, prices have already begun to drop.

If you don't mind MSI and their rebates, you can have their HD 5850 for under $200.

As for you power supply, pay a little more and get the best of the best

650 watts, fully modular, 80 Plus Gold certified, is Seasonic.

The Seasonic X-650 for $110 @ Newegg

Use coupon code: EMCZYZR42

Edited October 20, 2010 by shiroikaze

[shiroikaze]

Took a gander at my ol' Vaio's temperature through hardware monitor.

Basic specs for those who are curious,

Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz /w HT (Socket 478)

1.7 GB of DDR RAM

HIS Radeon HD2600XT 512 MB GDDR5 (AGP & using Catalyst 9.9)

Measly 295W Delta PSU.

CPU was idling at mid 40 degC, seems "normal" for a tiny case.

GPU was hovering at 70-80 degC!

Decided to try out new drivers to see if it'll make a difference.

Uninstalled old drivers, restarted, ran driver cleaner, restarted, installed newest AGP hotfix drivers (10.10c btw). Screen turned black (I note the disclaimer at bottom stating that screen will flicker from time to time), I step out of the room. Few minutes later, I step back in and faintly smell burning plastic. I immediately shut down the computer.

fart me.

Going into safe mode and reverting back to old drivers.

[edit] Holy poo, half-inch thick dust carpet got wedged into the video card's heatsink! I had to take the card and pull the mini-rug with tweezers.

Edited October 30, 2010 by shiroikaze

[Oihan]

I just thought I'd chime in on the whole AV thing. I used to use Norton AV exclusively till I found out about Avira's AntiVir. It's a great AV program and it's completely free. I think it even works better than Norton and a lot of the other AV programs out there. There is a catch/annoyance though - every time AntiVir goes to update it'll have an advertisement pop in regards to upgrading. That can be easily fixed however. It's just a matter of knowing which file to block from executing.

Edited October 30, 2010 by Oihan

[VF-19]

Built me a new computer with a signing bonus I got recently.

AMD 1090T OCed to 4.03 GHz

4 Gigs of DD3 Ram (gonna get another 4 gigs later)

Asus Crosshair IV Formula

Biggest Zalman cooler I could get.

I recycled my videocard (ATI 4870 1 Gig version), optical and hard drives. Ordered everything off of Newegg.ca.

And not about 2 hours (and the same day that I got the parts) after the computer has been built, I found out the 1090T dropped from 297.99 to 252.99... I'm gonna try and recover that $45. It I can't, I'll be one VERY unhappy customer.

Also, the motherboard managed to get the CPU to 4.2 GHz (stock speed is 3.2 GHz), but backed it down to 3.9. I put it back to just over 4 Ghz myself. Hottest the CPU gets is 45 degrees Celcius.

One other thing: If you're using the Zalman "flower" type coolers, be VERY careful. Those copper blades are razor sharp. Luckly, I didn't cut myself this time.

[jenius]

I was looking to buy a computer recently but decided to take my time and buy all the parts and put it together myself. I'm just waiting on AMD at this point to see what the 6900 series video cards look like. I hear they're due out this month. If they are more enticing to me than the 6870 I may upgrade which might have an affect on what power supply I go with.. Here's my current build wish list . This is going to be a gaming rig that will also be used for photo editing. I won't be overclocking initially but I'm leaving the door open to doing so later (and adding a second video card for crossfire) as ways to keep the computer super fast. I also won't be using Eyefinity initially but am leaving that door open also.-

Cooler Master 690II Advanced

Gigabyte X58A-UD5

OCZ Platinum 1600 DR3 6GB

Intel I7 950

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler

Crucial C300 128GB Hard drive (for games and OS)

SATAII 1TB Hard drive

DVD Read/Write (probably Lite-on)

Internal Memory Card reader (probably Sony)

HP LA2405wg Monitor (1900x1200 with DisplayPort)

Still considering:

Corsair Silent Pro 750W PSU (may get the 1000W Rosewill lightning if the next wave of graphics cards look power hungry AND if I get a side panel for my 690II)

AMD 6870

[mikeszekely]

Tis the season to build new computers, I guess. I just bought some stuff myself...

Intel Core i7-950

12GB (3x 4GB) G.Skill Ripjaws PC 1333 DDR3 RAM

Asus X58 Sabertooth motherboard

1TB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive (since the motherboard supports SATA 6.0Gb/s, it was the cheapest hard drive I could find that supported the same)

EVGA GeForce GTX 465 Superclocked.

Got an OEM Asus DVD burner too that's slightly faster than the one I have now. All this stuff is going into my Antec P182 case, and I'm also reusing my 650w Antec TruPower Trio power supply and my 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue hard drive. The rest of the my current rig (Core 2 Duo E8400, 3GB Kingston Hyper X DDR2, 640GB Hitachi hard drive, Pioneer DVD burner, EVGA GeForce 9800GTX+) is going to go into an Antec Sonata III with a 500GB Antec Earthwatts PSU. The new computer is going to replace the one on my desk, and the one on my desk is going to get moved into the bedroom and hooked up to the 32" TV we're getting for Christmas.

[VF-19]

Update to the Newegg price changes. They're giving me a $45 gift card good for 90 days. I think I'll get that extra 4 Gigs of RAM now.

So far, the 1090T hasn't even blinked. This thing is a pretty good improvement over the old E8400 (both cores slightly overclocked to 3.25 Ghz).

I'm pretty sure I can get the CPU to go to 4.4 Ghz with some volt mods, and getting the CPU to stay cool. Apparently, the 1090T does not like to go above 55 degrees celcius when under load...

[David Hingtgen]

Need a router!

Current setup: Single PC wired directly to cable modem.

Future/goal setup: Single PC wired directly, with a laptop, PS3, and 360 connected wirelessly. Suggestions?

[mikeszekely]

Need a router!

Current setup: Single PC wired directly to cable modem.

Future/goal setup: Single PC wired directly, with a laptop, PS3, and 360 connected wirelessly. Suggestions?

I don't have any strong positive feelings about any particular router or brand. I can say that Belkin's products have generally been crap in my experience, though. Oh, Cisco's Valet routers are supposed to be really easy to set up, but for a power user I'm not sure they're worth the price.

[azrael]

Need a router!

Current setup: Single PC wired directly to cable modem.

Future/goal setup: Single PC wired directly, with a laptop, PS3, and 360 connected wirelessly. Suggestions?

I've had good experiences with Cisco/Linksys and Netgear. Haven't ventured beyond those 2 brands at the moment.

[shiroikaze]

The one Netgear router (WGT624v3) that I had gave me issues with port forwarding, and just recently decided to drop connections every 10-15 minutes.

Recently got this one on recommendation from a friend:

BUFFALO WHR-HP-G54

I loaded it with Tomato firmware, and it's doing pretty well so far.

I hear that Asus routers are generally good too.

[Chewie]

Need a router!

Current setup: Single PC wired directly to cable modem.

Future/goal setup: Single PC wired directly, with a laptop, PS3, and 360 connected wirelessly. Suggestions?

Netgear N300/600. $65/$180 at Best Buy. I have/use the 300 for computer gaming,(WoW, MW2, DCUO, WC3, SC2) torrenting, Pandora and Netflix with no issues running 3 hardwired computers, a hardwired 360, a laptop doing all of the above too and 2 smartphones. All of which are constantly running simultaneously.

The 600 is a dual band gigabit with a usb interface for a network drive.

You can also get them installed by Geek Squad for $129/199 respectively.

Avoid Belkin like the plague. It may be awesome to get a N-300 series router for $40 but you definitely get what you pay for.

(yeah, I know I'm a walking Best Buy ad, but I love my job. )

Edited November 9, 2010 by Chewie

[-Snowblind-]

Avoid D-Link like the plague. I've had nothing but trouble with their stuff.

[areaseven]

Got myself a new laptop last weekend. Here are the specs:

Asus K42JC

Intel Core i3 350M

2GB DDR3 RAM

320GB hard drive

Nvidia GeForce 310M Cuda 1GB GPU

14" HD (LED) monitor

DVD+/-RW Super-Multi drive

HDMI port

802.11n + Bluetooth wi-fi

BTW, if you're shopping for an internet security program, go for either Norton or McAfee (which I have installed). Avoid Kaspersky like the plague, as it makes gaming rigs run like Pentium I computers.

[jenius]

580 GTX is out... looks like you can find it for $500 at Newegg. Sounds like a sweet card, more powerful, cooler, and much quieter than the 480GTX... but also more expensive than two AMD 6870s with AMD's new high end card right around the corner. My guess is AMD's next release won't be quite as powerful as the 580GTX but won't be too far off and will be $100 cheaper... still very eager to see.

BTW - I have been monitor shopping for a while and the monitor market sucks. LG is supposed to be releasing a sweet IPS screen in late December but I can't believe how few monitors include display port. I might keep my dinky monitor for another year and hope HP or Dell can release a smaller IPS monitor (24" max) with improved response time and no tinting issues.

Edited November 9, 2010 by jenius

[grss1982]

Got myself a new laptop last weekend. Here are the specs:

Asus K42JC

Intel Core i3 350M

2GB DDR3 RAM

320GB hard drive

Nvidia GeForce 310M Cuda 1GB GPU

14" HD (LED) monitor

DVD+/-RW Super-Multi drive

HDMI port

802.11n + Bluetooth wi-fi

BTW, if you're shopping for an internet security program, go for either Norton or McAfee (which I have installed). Avoid Kaspersky like the plague, as it makes gaming rigs run like Pentium I computers.

I hear Microsoft Security Essentials is a good free alternative nowadays.

[mikeszekely]

I hear Microsoft Security Essentials is a good free alternative nowadays.

That's what I use. It's tiny and unobtrusive, which I like.

I successfully got my old hardware in it's new box. The Sonata III is a good-looking box, although not as roomy as the P182 it used to be in. That computer is in the bedroom now, hooked up to the 32" LCD TV my wife bought. I'm looking forward to playing NES roms in bed on it.

The new hardware gave me a couple of minor bumps, but it's all up and running now. Windows 7 is installed and updated, and I got Firefox with all my extensions, but that's about as far as I got. I've still got to install my programs and copy over my backed-up data.

Kind of a bummer, but it seems that 5.9 is the highest you can get on the Windows Experience Index with a 7200rpm SATA drive. I was hoping that using 6Gb/s would make a difference over 3Gb/s, but both my old computer and the new one are stuck at 5.9. Processor and RAM are up to a 7.5, though, and both graphics scores are 7.6.

[David Hingtgen]

That tells me the "Windows Experience" is BS----doubling the HDD access rate doesn't do anything?

[VF-19]

That's what I use. It's tiny and unobtrusive, which I like.

I successfully got my old hardware in it's new box. The Sonata III is a good-looking box, although not as roomy as the P182 it used to be in. That computer is in the bedroom now, hooked up to the 32" LCD TV my wife bought. I'm looking forward to playing NES roms in bed on it.

The new hardware gave me a couple of minor bumps, but it's all up and running now. Windows 7 is installed and updated, and I got Firefox with all my extensions, but that's about as far as I got. I've still got to install my programs and copy over my backed-up data.

Kind of a bummer, but it seems that 5.9 is the highest you can get on the Windows Experience Index with a 7200rpm SATA drive. I was hoping that using 6Gb/s would make a difference over 3Gb/s, but both my old computer and the new one are stuck at 5.9. Processor and RAM are up to a 7.5, though, and both graphics scores are 7.6.

Heh. I'm getting a 5.7 due to my hard drive too. Everything else is in the 7.5 to 7.6 range.

Honestly, the only way that score is going to improve is if I put a solid state drive in the PC and use it as a boot drive. But I'd rather use that giant wad of cash to build a new PC (which is exactly what I did).

[David Hingtgen]

Another "what to buy" question:

Need to pick a laptop for someone for Christmas (or at least, help them pick it out), this will basically be their "introduction to computers"---they know how to surf the web, but that is IT. Surfing the web will really be all it's ever used for, and maybe some spreadsheets. It will never have a game installed on it. MS Office would probably be the most advanced thing it'll run. Playing 1080p smoothly would be nice, when it comes to gfx performance.

Budget---500ish? Main issues are probably battery life and screen quality. And weight. And if it is quote "pretty" that'd be a plus.

PS---any suggestion MUST be available to physically check out, so that means BestBuy, WalMart, etc.

[Chewie]

Another "what to buy" question:

Need to pick a laptop for someone for Christmas (or at least, help them pick it out), this will basically be their "introduction to computers"---they know how to surf the web, but that is IT. Surfing the web will really be all it's ever used for, and maybe some spreadsheets. It will never have a game installed on it. MS Office would probably be the most advanced thing it'll run. Playing 1080p smoothly would be nice, when it comes to gfx performance.

Budget---500ish? Main issues are probably battery life and screen quality. And weight. And if it is quote "pretty" that'd be a plus.

PS---any suggestion MUST be available to physically check out, so that means BestBuy, WalMart, etc.

Toshiba L655-S5117

Core i3 at 2.4ghz

4 gigs of DDR3

320 gig HD

15.6" screen

5.5 lbs

Right now it's $449 but will go back up to $479 Sunday morning.

It's a solid system for sub $500 considering it is running an i3 and has 4 gigs of ram instead of 3 that usually runs in that price range.

The core family all support HD video BUT this particular model doesn't have an HDMI port.

It's an ad item this week and is something we're supposed to be running through the holidays. Your local Best Buy should definitely have one on display.

=)

Edited November 12, 2010 by Chewie

[areaseven]

Another "what to buy" question:

Need to pick a laptop for someone for Christmas (or at least, help them pick it out), this will basically be their "introduction to computers"---they know how to surf the web, but that is IT. Surfing the web will really be all it's ever used for, and maybe some spreadsheets. It will never have a game installed on it. MS Office would probably be the most advanced thing it'll run. Playing 1080p smoothly would be nice, when it comes to gfx performance.

Budget---500ish? Main issues are probably battery life and screen quality. And weight. And if it is quote "pretty" that'd be a plus.

PS---any suggestion MUST be available to physically check out, so that means BestBuy, WalMart, etc.

You should also consider the following factors:

- Screen size.

- Use of CD-ROM drive.

If these two are not important, your best bet would be a netbook (preferably an Asus Eee PC). Just be sure that Windows 7 Home Premium is available for it, as Windows 7 Starter blows chunks.

Other than that, stay away from Compaq (which still sucks after HP acquired them) and eMachines (still don't trust them even under Acer).

[azrael]

Another "what to buy" question:

Need to pick a laptop for someone for Christmas (or at least, help them pick it out), this will basically be their "introduction to computers"---they know how to surf the web, but that is IT. Surfing the web will really be all it's ever used for, and maybe some spreadsheets. It will never have a game installed on it. MS Office would probably be the most advanced thing it'll run. Playing 1080p smoothly would be nice, when it comes to gfx performance.

Budget---500ish? Main issues are probably battery life and screen quality. And weight. And if it is quote "pretty" that'd be a plus.

PS---any suggestion MUST be available to physically check out, so that means BestBuy, WalMart, etc.

If these two are not important, your best bet would be a netbook (preferably an Asus Eee PC). Just be sure that Windows 7 Home Premium is available for it, as Windows 7 Starter blows chunks.

I'd advised against a netbook. Too small for new users.

I would consider a minimum of 13" but 15" would be better for watching movies. The best processor in that price range you could probably get would be a Core i3 or the AMD V-series CPU. The AMD V-series would give you a slightly better deal since you'll get a Mobility Radeon GPU over the Intel graphics.

For the AMD, I'd probably go with this one:

Acer - Aspire Laptop AS5252-V333

AMD V-Series processor V140*

2GB DDR3 SDRAM

15.6" LCD high-definition widescreen display

250GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm)

ATI Radeon HD 4250 graphics

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit

[myk]

Question: I seem to have lost one of the install discs for the first F.E.A.R. game; am I SOL or is there support for a game this ancient?

[David Hingtgen]

::edit:: Thanks much, think I have it narrowed down to 2 Toshibas at this point.

[azrael]

Question: I seem to have lost one of the install discs for the first F.E.A.R. game; am I SOL or is there support for a game this ancient?

Talk to Vivendi Universal.

[mikeszekely]

Question: I seem to have lost one of the install discs for the first F.E.A.R. game; am I SOL or is there support for a game this ancient?

Which disc? As long as it's not the play disc, you could install it from a downloaded ISO.

If these two are not important, your best bet would be a netbook (preferably an Asus Eee PC).

No one should buy a netbook. Ever. For smaller, portable web-browsing type devices tablet slates are the new hotness. For real computing, netbooks aren't just cramped to work on, the Atom processor is slower than Duke Nukem Forever's development.