I'v been looking at specs of parts and such and was wondering if a PCI Express 2.0 x16 will fit in a motherboard's PCI Express x16 port? Basically asking because I'm not sure what that 2.0 means on the video card.
Yes it will. 2.0 is backwards and forwards compatable. It basically has increased bandwidth to the card, and can provide more power through the slot, but current cards haven't even maxed out Pci x16 1.0 bandwidth, so it doesn't make much difference at this point, more of a marketting ploy.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike Loved: Star Wars Galaxies Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
I have a x16dvd x48cd disk drive from my old computer. I see the newer disk drives are x20-22dvd. Can I just keep my own and be patient a little longer on disk loading times to save money lol?
Plugging in the power supply and touching the case sounds good in theory, but it's bad in practice for protecting against ESD. Current (amperage) flows across differences in potential (voltage). The idea behind the wrist strap is to bring both you and the computer to the same potential. If both you and the computer have the same potential, there is no danger of discharge. With a wrist strap there is no need to plug in your PSU. And it's not a good practice to work inside a computer with the PSU connected to line voltage. If the PSU is poorly manufactured, and/or has a short circuit, and/or has a faulty ground, you could be in for a serious jolt. (Electrocution is a whole different topic) If you plug in your PSU and discharge yourself by touching the case, as soon as you take your hand off the case there can already be a difference in potential. Just your clothes rubing against eachother can build a charge. For example, if you were wearing a tie and it brushes across the front of your shirt, it can instantly charge you with 2500V-5000V. When you move your arms, your sleeves rub against your body. When you move your legs, your pants legs rub together. If you have long hair... you get the idea. It takes as little as 10V of difference in potential to cause ESD damage. When you touch a light switch, metal surface, or another person and get a static shock, that is ESD. When this happens: If you can feel it, that's at least 1500V If you can hear it, that's at least 6000V If you can see it, that's at least 8000V It is not uncommon for people to carry 60kV of static charge (that's 60,000V). There are many myths floating around about ESD and how to avoid it, but anything short of a wrist strap is going to leave you susceptible. And a wrist strap is the bare minimum. Electronics manufacturers use several methods of ESD protection simultaneously. These methods include climate control (humidity), anti-static mats on all work surfaces, anti-static floor mats with special shoe straps for the employees, anti-static carts that ensure contact with the anti-static flooring when transporting components, and yes, wrist straps. ESD is taken very seriously in the electronics industry. 10V may or may not blow a silicon device, but it will weaken the metal traces on a circuit board. This type of damage is visible under a microscope. Running millions of cycles per second (MHz) through these weakened traces will eventually burn out the trace. And yes, in response to the previous post, I do understand how electricity works. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering Technology.
I agree with you, a bracelet cost $5 so it is a good buy. Your charge depends a lot on your cloth, the rug and so on. My favorite was a friend whos cat started rubbing his leg at the wrong moment
The chanses to actually destroy a card or weaken it is not extremly high however but why take that chanse to save 5 bucks? And the chanses are that one of your friends have a bracelet anyways.
In my days I killed a network card with ESD (I saw the sparkle, 1 stupid point for Loke and the last time I didn't used a ESD bracelet).
Since you are new at this and not sure what will work with what or what would be a good part to use with another, I would suggest that you try to go to Dell/Alienware or someone, build a computer on their webpage that comes out around $100-$200 above your budget, print it out, then go price the parts on your own.
This will leave you with a much smaller chance that you will have incompatibility issues.
Also, putting everything together is fairly easy, almost everything just plugs in and goes, but you need to make sure you know what you're doing.
Since you aren't planning on RAID, the OS install should actually be fairly easy, but I would take a look on the web once you select a Mobo and make sure you are familiar with the BIOS and where everything should be set. Also, get one of those geeky electro-static wristbands that clip to the case, it can save you some heartache for a couple of bucks.
I know this is rambling I'm a little tired but this should help, I hope. I think it's good that people are trying to build their own computers, I just don't want to see you lose any money because you made a small mistake.
Well I'v been reading specs a lot on different pieces and I think I have a build that should do me well, I'll go ahead and lay it out for criticisim/guidance.
Ok for games... Its all about the graphics card.... the better the card the better the game will perform. so the rest all you need is basic... mid price dual core or cheapest quad core with 2gb of ram and 1 regular 7200 rpm hard drive and a motherboard with sound thats part of the motherboard. but go ALL OUT on the card... best card for Nvidia is the Geforce 280. and for Ati its the 4870X2. the ati runs on the new GDDR5 technology where nvidia is only running on the GDDR3 technology. i like nvidia usually better but nvidia announced its not comming out with a card with GDDR5 technology till the END of 2009. But the geforce 280 is still really great for games. and the only card that outperforms it is the 4870x2 and alot of ppl on butgets will always be the second best of everything. so go for the nvidia 280.
Oh and i forgot.... AMD used too be the best for gamming but last year or 2... they have just been dying... intel dual core and quad cores outperform in games.
Ok for games... Its all about the graphics card.... the better the card the better the game will perform. so the rest all you need is basic... mid price dual core or cheapest quad core with 2gb of ram and 1 regular 7200 rpm hard drive and a motherboard with sound thats part of the motherboard. but go ALL OUT on the card... best card for Nvidia is the Geforce 280. and for Ati its the 4870X2. the ati runs on the new GDDR5 technology where nvidia is only running on the GDDR3 technology. i like nvidia usually better but nvidia announced its not comming out with a card with GDDR5 technology till the END of 2009. But the geforce 280 is still really great for games. and the only card that outperforms it is the 4870x2 and alot of ppl on butgets will always be the second best of everything. so go for the nvidia 280.
Depends on the game as some new ones like GTA IV are very processor intesive, but usually graphics card and ram are the two most important parts, followed by CPU for gaming. But don't forget about the fun of an awesome processor, like running 3 DVD encoders at once and only being at around 80% cpu usage.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike Loved: Star Wars Galaxies Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Since you are new at this and not sure what will work with what or what would be a good part to use with another, I would suggest that you try to go to Dell/Alienware or someone, build a computer on their webpage that comes out around $100-$200 above your budget, print it out, then go price the parts on your own. This will leave you with a much smaller chance that you will have incompatibility issues. Also, putting everything together is fairly easy, almost everything just plugs in and goes, but you need to make sure you know what you're doing. Since you aren't planning on RAID, the OS install should actually be fairly easy, but I would take a look on the web once you select a Mobo and make sure you are familiar with the BIOS and where everything should be set. Also, get one of those geeky electro-static wristbands that clip to the case, it can save you some heartache for a couple of bucks. I know this is rambling I'm a little tired but this should help, I hope. I think it's good that people are trying to build their own computers, I just don't want to see you lose any money because you made a small mistake.
Compability isn't usually a big problem anymore as long as you check what processor slot and ram memorys you need. 1 years ago it was worse, when you couldn't use A-BIT and ASUS parts in the same computer without problems and so on.
Just carefully reading the specs for the motherboard is usually enough, and check so it have the same FSB and not lower than the processor.
Ya i love the fact that Crisis has better graphics and gameplay then GTAIV yet GTAIV usues more power too play. What a horrible setup the creators did for that game. Graphics wise.... 2gb of ram and a nvidia 280 will play crisis with NO PROBLEM and it has the best graphics out there... as for GTAIV id just avoid that game... they did a horrible job on that one... it has less graphics then crisis yet it uses way more power and processing and ram too run it. but nvidia 280 with 2gb of ram should play it nicely at almost max graphics. (but not max)
Ya i love the fact that Crisis has better graphics and gameplay then GTAIV yet GTAIV usues more power too play. What a horrible setup the creators did for that game. Graphics wise.... 2gb of ram and a nvidia 280 will play crisis with NO PROBLEM and it has the best graphics out there... as for GTAIV id just avoid that game... they did a horrible job on that one... it has less graphics then crisis yet it uses way more power and processing and ram too run it. but nvidia 280 with 2gb of ram should play it nicely at almost max graphics. (but not max)
Yeah I know it's frustrating. I don't have the best card(8800gts 320mb) but its still pretty damn good, and hasn't had any trouble running any game on max graphics before GTA IV, but because of it's low vram i can only have texture quality set to medium, and even then I'm at like 400/320 mb of resources used and I get textures disappearing. Luckily I just have random textures that occasionally disappear and reappear, and not the god awful fps that people have been complaining about.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike Loved: Star Wars Galaxies Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Ya and t he 8800 is under the 280.... so imagine what the 280 can do
personally i went all out and got the 4870x2 but it has the pricetag too go with it lol... but hey... will take at least a year for Nvidia too come out with gddr5.... i will wait a year and use ati until then lol
2) id recommend Vista 32bit unless your planning too go over 4GB of ram in the near future... (32 bit is more compatible with games and hardware unless you have over 4gb of ram
3)Hdd is great
4)Ram is Great
5)id go with a 8800 over the 9800 for graphics card but 9800 is OK. but for the price difference id go with 8800.
6) power supple is great... youll only need more if you get SLI
2) id recommend Vista 32bit unless your planning too go over 4GB of ram in the near future... (32 bit is more compatible with games and hardware unless you have over 4gb of ram
3)Hdd is great
4)Ram is Great
5)id go with a 8800 over the 9800 for graphics card but 9800 is OK. but for the price difference id go with 8800.
6) power supple is great... youll only need more if you get SLI
7)Case and Drive are good.
Ya the 9800 will be OK but for roughly the same price the 8800 is better so worth it. and you can get intel's for roughly the same price then amd and Intel outperforms amd so id go with Intel if i were you.
Ok, my other comps where AMD so I just went with that. I'll research through intel. I don't really want to go over $650 so I may go for one of those case/500-550 combo deals instead of the two I have now that are about $135 or so together.
Well just check the Benchmarks about intel vs amd for recent processors... before AMD did ROCK... better then intel for games... till Intel came out with there dual core... that outperformed AMD. then when amd caught up... intel came out with Quad Core... when amd caught up intel came out with Core i7's which remove the use of Front Side Bus.... so amd has been falling behind... it takes the best AMD processor too make a ok Intel processor. and the best Intel outperfoms AMD 2 to 1.
Ok, my other comps where AMD so I just went with that. I'll research through intel. I don't really want to go over $650 so I may go for one of those case/500-550 combo deals instead of the two I have now that are about $135 or so together.
I was using AMD since the K6-2 3dnow (yes its b een a while).
I picked up an Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo combo at Fry's and I've been happy with that. You can definitely build a setup for the price range you listed.. I don't overclock etc so it works for me.
Also with DDR2 (in your money range I doubt you'll go I7 which I belieeve is DDR3) you can get 4 gigs of decent memory for cheap.
I'm running Vista 64 and have been for quite some time.. no compatibility issues. I actually had 32bit vista but I couldn't see not getting the 4gigs (I had a DDR1 setup with my 939 x2 so I needed new memory regardless).
If you're worried you can always get 32 bit and Microsoft has a link on their site you can use to get the 64 bit media sent to you for the cost of shipping. The actual license gives you the right to either version of the type you paid for (ie: home etc)
*note* I saw someone telling you to not go with Vista 64 is why I added that in. Perhaps its a personal thing.. but I haven't had issues with any program I've run. In my opinion it actually runs better than 32 bit did for me.. /shrug
i had a 500W power supply before and it fried after playing large games... i wouldnt go under 600W but if your sticking too the 9800 graphics card then 500W should be OK. but if your going for 8800 which are better for roughly the same price then id go with 600W
Ok, my other comps where AMD so I just went with that. I'll research through intel. I don't really want to go over $650 so I may go for one of those case/500-550 combo deals instead of the two I have now that are about $135 or so together.
I was using AMD since the K6-2 3dnow (yes its b een a while).
I picked up an Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo combo at Fry's and I've been happy with that. You can definitely build a setup for the price range you listed.. I don't overclock etc so it works for me.
Also with DDR2 (in your money range I doubt you'll go I7 which I belieeve is DDR3) you can get 4 gigs of decent memory for cheap.
Yes i have the I7 and i have 12GB of tripple channel ddr 3 ram. the new I7 can go up too tripple channel ddr3 where the regular quad cores only do dual channel. so the I7 you have 6 spaces so 2X6 =12GB is what i got for mine now THAT is RAM lol
I'm running Vista 64 and have been for quite some time.. no compatibility issues. I actually had 32bit vista but I couldn't see not getting the 4gigs (I had a DDR1 setup with my 939 x2 so I needed new memory regardless).
Ya if you dont plan on actually using the 64bit of your windows (most ppl dont and NO games do) then id just stick too 32bit. less issues ESPECIALLY if you like older games... my brother plays old games like command and conquer 1 and first civilization and those all have issues with vista 64bit lol...
If you're worried you can always get 32 bit and Microsoft has a link on their site you can use to get the 64 bit media sent to you for the cost of shipping. The actual license gives you the right to either version of the type you paid for (ie: home etc)
Ya i have the 32bit version and when i got 12GB of ram i just downloaded the 64bit version off the net and used my 32bit code for it and it worked.
*note* I saw someone telling you to not go with Vista 64 is why I added that in. Perhaps its a personal thing.. but I haven't had issues with any program I've run. In my opinion it actually runs better than 32 bit did for me.. /shrug
Vista 32 is just better for gamming especially if you do alot of old games.... All the new games tend too work with 64bit with no problems. but the older ones especially those made for Windows XP and older.... those have issues with 64bit. But if you dont plan on playing old games and your planning one day going for more then 4gb of ram... then Id go for 64bit. if not... stick with 32bit lol.
Comments
Yes it will. 2.0 is backwards and forwards compatable. It basically has increased bandwidth to the card, and can provide more power through the slot, but current cards haven't even maxed out Pci x16 1.0 bandwidth, so it doesn't make much difference at this point, more of a marketting ploy.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Ah, that's nice to know. Thank you.
EDIT: Btw another question lol >.<
I have a x16dvd x48cd disk drive from my old computer. I see the newer disk drives are x20-22dvd. Can I just keep my own and be patient a little longer on disk loading times to save money lol?
I agree with you, a bracelet cost $5 so it is a good buy. Your charge depends a lot on your cloth, the rug and so on. My favorite was a friend whos cat started rubbing his leg at the wrong moment
The chanses to actually destroy a card or weaken it is not extremly high however but why take that chanse to save 5 bucks? And the chanses are that one of your friends have a bracelet anyways.
In my days I killed a network card with ESD (I saw the sparkle
, 1 stupid point for Loke and the last time I didn't used a ESD bracelet).
Since you are new at this and not sure what will work with what or what would be a good part to use with another, I would suggest that you try to go to Dell/Alienware or someone, build a computer on their webpage that comes out around $100-$200 above your budget, print it out, then go price the parts on your own.
This will leave you with a much smaller chance that you will have incompatibility issues.
Also, putting everything together is fairly easy, almost everything just plugs in and goes, but you need to make sure you know what you're doing.
Since you aren't planning on RAID, the OS install should actually be fairly easy, but I would take a look on the web once you select a Mobo and make sure you are familiar with the BIOS and where everything should be set. Also, get one of those geeky electro-static wristbands that clip to the case, it can save you some heartache for a couple of bucks.
I know this is rambling I'm a little tired but this should help, I hope. I think it's good that people are trying to build their own computers, I just don't want to see you lose any money because you made a small mistake.
Well I'v been reading specs a lot on different pieces and I think I have a build that should do me well, I'll go ahead and lay it out for criticisim/guidance.
Ok for games... Its all about the graphics card.... the better the card the better the game will perform. so the rest all you need is basic... mid price dual core or cheapest quad core with 2gb of ram and 1 regular 7200 rpm hard drive and a motherboard with sound thats part of the motherboard. but go ALL OUT on the card... best card for Nvidia is the Geforce 280. and for Ati its the 4870X2. the ati runs on the new GDDR5 technology where nvidia is only running on the GDDR3 technology. i like nvidia usually better but nvidia announced its not comming out with a card with GDDR5 technology till the END of 2009. But the geforce 280 is still really great for games. and the only card that outperforms it is the 4870x2 and alot of ppl on butgets will always be the second best of everything. so go for the nvidia 280.
Oh and i forgot.... AMD used too be the best for gamming but last year or 2... they have just been dying... intel dual core and quad cores outperform in games.
Depends on the game as some new ones like GTA IV are very processor intesive, but usually graphics card and ram are the two most important parts, followed by CPU for gaming. But don't forget about the fun of an awesome processor, like running 3 DVD encoders at once and only being at around 80% cpu usage.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Compability isn't usually a big problem anymore as long as you check what processor slot and ram memorys you need. 1 years ago it was worse, when you couldn't use A-BIT and ASUS parts in the same computer without problems and so on.
Just carefully reading the specs for the motherboard is usually enough, and check so it have the same FSB and not lower than the processor.
Ya i love the fact that Crisis has better graphics and gameplay then GTAIV yet GTAIV usues more power too play. What a horrible setup the creators did for that game. Graphics wise.... 2gb of ram and a nvidia 280 will play crisis with NO PROBLEM and it has the best graphics out there... as for GTAIV id just avoid that game... they did a horrible job on that one... it has less graphics then crisis yet it uses way more power and processing and ram too run it. but nvidia 280 with 2gb of ram should play it nicely at almost max graphics. (but not max)
Yeah I know it's frustrating. I don't have the best card(8800gts 320mb) but its still pretty damn good, and hasn't had any trouble running any game on max graphics before GTA IV, but because of it's low vram i can only have texture quality set to medium, and even then I'm at like 400/320 mb of resources used and I get textures disappearing. Luckily I just have random textures that occasionally disappear and reappear, and not the god awful fps that people have been complaining about.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Ya and t he 8800 is under the 280.... so imagine what the 280 can do
personally i went all out and got the 4870x2 but it has the pricetag too go with it lol... but hey... will take at least a year for Nvidia too come out with gddr5.... i will wait a year and use ati until then lol
Motherboard: ECS A780GM-A AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
AM2+/AM, DDR2 1066 support with the AM2+ CPU, ATX form, Certified windows vista
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition Processor
64-bit support
OS: Windows Vista 64-bit
Is OEM, Home premium SP1
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
OEM if that makes and diff.
RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
4gb, supported by the cpu (1066)
VID: EVGA 512-P3-N975-AR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Everything here should be fine I think.
PSU: APEVIA ATX-AS600W-BL 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready Power Supply
Seems to have good size cables and sleeves for cable control, 3 fans
CASE: RAIDMAX Tornado ATX-238WY Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
ATX support, 3 Fans, Cheap
DISK DRIVE: Benq DVD ROM Unit 16x DVD-ROM & 48x CD-ROM
Old drive I own that worked fine
This comes out to a total of $650. With that I can do the "Bill me now" and have until April 1st to pay that off, which I'll have done in Feb.
1)Again id go for intel if i were you
2) id recommend Vista 32bit unless your planning too go over 4GB of ram in the near future... (32 bit is more compatible with games and hardware unless you have over 4gb of ram
3)Hdd is great
4)Ram is Great
5)id go with a 8800 over the 9800 for graphics card but 9800 is OK. but for the price difference id go with 8800.
6) power supple is great... youll only need more if you get SLI
7)Case and Drive are good.
As much as I'd liek to get the 280 that price is a bit more for me : Besides that would the 9800 GT 512mb i posted do me well?
Edit: So if I stick with 4GB ram I should get the 32-bit vista and swap the 9800gt for 8800?
Ya the 9800 will be OK but for roughly the same price the 8800 is better so worth it. and you can get intel's for roughly the same price then amd and Intel outperforms amd so id go with Intel if i were you.
Ok, my other comps where AMD so I just went with that. I'll research through intel. I don't really want to go over $650 so I may go for one of those case/500-550 combo deals instead of the two I have now that are about $135 or so together.
Well just check the Benchmarks about intel vs amd for recent processors... before AMD did ROCK... better then intel for games... till Intel came out with there dual core... that outperformed AMD. then when amd caught up... intel came out with Quad Core... when amd caught up intel came out with Core i7's which remove the use of Front Side Bus.... so amd has been falling behind... it takes the best AMD processor too make a ok Intel processor. and the best Intel outperfoms AMD 2 to 1.
I was using AMD since the K6-2 3dnow (yes its b een a while).
I picked up an Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo combo at Fry's and I've been happy with that. You can definitely build a setup for the price range you listed.. I don't overclock etc so it works for me.
Also with DDR2 (in your money range I doubt you'll go I7 which I belieeve is DDR3) you can get 4 gigs of decent memory for cheap.
I'm running Vista 64 and have been for quite some time.. no compatibility issues. I actually had 32bit vista but I couldn't see not getting the 4gigs (I had a DDR1 setup with my 939 x2 so I needed new memory regardless).
If you're worried you can always get 32 bit and Microsoft has a link on their site you can use to get the 64 bit media sent to you for the cost of shipping. The actual license gives you the right to either version of the type you paid for (ie: home etc)
*note* I saw someone telling you to not go with Vista 64 is why I added that in. Perhaps its a personal thing.. but I haven't had issues with any program I've run. In my opinion it actually runs better than 32 bit did for me.. /shrug
How does this Mobo/CPU look?
Mobo: MSI P43 Neo3-F LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard ($84.99)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 ($159.99)
Looks nice. I have the same CPU in one of my systems. For what you said you want to run .. that would do nicely.
Also would this do fine to switch the case/psu i posted at about $130 to:
A Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
That's about $70 and help lower cost back down :P
i had a 500W power supply before and it fried after playing large games... i wouldnt go under 600W but if your sticking too the 9800 graphics card then 500W should be OK. but if your going for 8800 which are better for roughly the same price then id go with 600W
Mobo: MSI P43 Neo3-F LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard ($84.99)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 ($159.99)
Is great for core 2 duo... any bettter and youd need too go for a quad core.