Author Topic: Post your PC's specs here! + Discussion about hardware (Read 105350 times)

StreakInTheSky · « **Reply #320 on:** May 17, 2009, 01:08:16 PM »

So I was looking around and narrowed it down to these 4 cards, and want to hear other's opinions before I buy anything. (Yes I'm crazy like this when it comes to shopping for computer stuff)

ASUS EN9500GT TOP/DI/512M GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0
ASUS EN9600GSO/DI/512M GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0
Both are pretty similar, but the 9500 GT is overclocked to 700mhz at the core and 2000mhz for memory. The 9600 GSO is only 550mhz and 1400mhz, but it's 256-bit. Which would affect performance the most?

EVGA 256-P2-N753-TR GeForce 8600 GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express
The oldest and slowest of the selection, but it's super cheap, and most compatible with my mobo since it's not pci-e 2.0. But doesn't have an hdmi port. I could always buy adapters and such, but It'd also need audio cables. So the price difference might not be worth it in the end.

HIS Hightech H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0
Similar to the 9500 GT but clocked at 780mhz. It probably also has the best cooling of the bunch. But then the hdmi is from an adapter so I'd still need to get audio connected. It's also a bit more expensive.

I guess hdmi is not absolutely necessary, as I could just put stuff or stream stuff to the PS3, but there are difficulties with that method I could avoid with hdmi. So what do you guys think?

Rick-e · « **Reply #321 on:** May 17, 2009, 01:51:21 PM »

Performance wise I think getting a 256 bit card will be the best. I read somewhere that for cards with same memory size, the one with 256-bit memory interface will have almost double the performance (CMIIW)

however cooling needs to be put into account as well. maybe get a 3rd party cooling? (though it will make it more expensive)

I myself have a 9400gt... with 1gb memory... but only 128bit. and it doesn't feel that fast (maybe I was fooled by the 1gb memory

)

ebc · « **Reply #322 on:** May 17, 2009, 03:26:54 PM »

Just get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143161

Anything under that isn't worth the money. If you're getting a graphics card you wanna get one that will play a few games and 9600gt will do that nicely.

StreakInTheSky · « **Reply #323 on:** May 17, 2009, 10:43:31 PM »

Didn't even look at the 9600GT. Is the performance difference between the GT and the GSO that much different?

NAzu · « **Reply #324 on:** May 17, 2009, 11:55:55 PM »

Quote from: StreakInTheSky on May 17, 2009, 10:43:31 PM

Didn't even look at the 9600GT. Is the performance difference between the GT and the GSO that much different?

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-9600-gso-386-mb-review-point-of-view/ <- Here's a review of the GSO (that's the basic version with 386MB vram). The 512MB version will probably perform little bit better at higher resolutions and with antialiasing and anistrophic filtering. But when the price difference is that small I would just get the 9600GT if you're looking for a cheaper card. Though you can get the HD4770 which I mentioned for 99$ from Newegg. The HD4770 has considerable amount more power than the 9600GT, so you might want to think about investing 23 bucks more for the HD4770.

StreakInTheSky · « **Reply #325 on:** May 18, 2009, 02:37:01 AM »

They only have one hd4770 in stock and it's $109. They do have a HD4830 for $80 after rebate though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102822

But it'll probably create a bottleneck at my cpu.

BigDnm01 · « **Reply #326 on:** May 24, 2009, 06:54:28 AM »

I'm thinking about buying a new computer, a laptop. Now to me, I think HP, Sony, Toshiba and Dell are the way to go, but then there are these other brand that I'd never heard of.
I want your advice, Which brands should I include in my decisions and which should I generally avoid. also my budget would probably be around $700.
If I had to say, I would say I'm still a beginner with computer and hardware. though I dabble and are very interested in electronics and gadgets, I understand little about them and doesn't have the time nor money to poke around. Usually I listen to other advices to make an informed decision.
I have experience with Dell and HP. I actually have a HP Pavilion zv6000 for about 4 years now. I upgraded the memory (now 1.12GB RAM) and HD(320GB), which are easy enough to do. But now I want a newer, faster laptop, good for gaming (ex. Battlefield 2) and other tasks without really slowing down the comp. If I know how, I would like to upgrade the processor (currently AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 1.99GHz), but I dunno which processor is compatible with my laptop nor do I know how to switch cpu, but I would like to do it myself and learn from experience.

frblckstr1 · « **Reply #327 on:** May 24, 2009, 08:28:00 AM »

Quote from: BigDnm01 on May 24, 2009, 06:54:28 AM

If I know how, I would like to upgrade the processor (currently AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 1.99GHz), but I dunno which processor is compatible with my laptop nor do I know how to switch cpu, but I would like to do it myself and learn from experience.

There are very few laptops that let you upgrade the processor after you bouth the machine, I think HP have some where you could replace the AMD with another, but for the price difference in about two years you probably can buy a new faster computer.
For $700 you should be able to get a decent 4GB laptop with a 17" screen these days (just watch the 'laptop hunters' video's

)
I Have a HP dv9600 (17" screen, upgraded to 4GB memory) with a second monitor attached (24" iiyama).
The 1.6ghZ CPU is a bit slow for gaming probably, but it handles what I need.
Aside from HP you might look into ASUS or ACER, both make good priced laptops, although they sometimes look a bit less 'professional' then the HP (e.g. they have a bit more plastic).

BigDnm01 · « **Reply #328 on:** May 25, 2009, 08:50:40 AM »

thanks for the advice, frblckstr1. I guess I probably won't try to upgrade the processor after all. But I will upgrade the memory. I will buy another 1GB memory and install it so it will have a max of 2GB (the highest it can go), so hoping it would improve the speed of my comp with many apps. I also would like to buy another laptop in the near future and pass this on to someone else. btw, I check up the prices for the memory and it's actually inexpensive now.

frblckstr1 · « **Reply #329 on:** June 28, 2009, 08:19:25 AM »

Newest addition to the flok:

Acer Aspire One 751: Processor Intel® Atom™ Z520 1.33GHz
Display: 11,6 inch widescreen (1366 x 768) WXGA, Acer CrystalBrite™ LED-backlit TFT
OS: Windows® XP Home (replaced with W7 RC)
Memory: 1 GB DDR2 (will be replaced with 2GB soon)
HDD: 160 GB SATA (replaced with a 400GB test HDD for use with W7)
Wireless 54 Mbps (802.11b/g)
And: upto 8 uur with the 6cell battery!
Weight: 1.35 Kg

Needed a new easy to transport (less then 2kg) machine, price was good to: 336 euro (they had a 'no tax' 4 days at the shop, meaning you get a 20% lower price then the sticker price

)

BigDnm01 · « **Reply #330 on:** June 28, 2009, 06:25:16 PM »

I currently have a Linksys WRT150N Wireless-N home router. it's fine, but there are some spots in the house that have little-to-none signal and it's been more irritating now than ever. I want to expand my network to the far corners of the house, but I dunno how to do that. I once bought a Linksys WRE54G Wireless-G Range Expander, but everytime within 2 days, it messes up the signal. I guess it's not compatible with my N-router.

btw, I have a WPA2 security on my network.

I heard about Wireless Access Point (WAP), would that helps expand my current network? or any other devices?

please keep me inform.

Datalanche · « **Reply #331 on:** June 28, 2009, 07:22:10 PM »

^ Wireless network expansion seldom works reliably from my experience. To give yourself the best shot, don't put the repeater at the end of your coverage. Make sure you at least have a solid low connection with a laptop wherever you put it. As for the N mode possibly conflicting, it shouldn't, but you could try going into your router's configuration and setting the wireless to G mode only. It should be an option in there. Also, in those settings, you might be able to boost the antenna's power. Don't pump that up too high, though. Just try a few notches above what it is, if that's an option. I have a Linksys myself, but I use the Tomato firmware, so I'm not sure if Linksys let's you screw with those lower level settings or not.

BigDnm01 · « **Reply #332 on:** June 29, 2009, 03:04:58 PM »

Been looking at Processors, and thinking about upgrading...

but is there anything I need to know before I decided? how should I determine the compatible processors with my computer, desktop and laptop? I want to learn about cpu in general.

with hard drives or optical drives, it's either IDE or SATA. with memory, it's the type (i.e. 200-PIN DDR2 SO-DIMM) and Speed (PC 5300). so what should I look at for comparing processors?

my current processors is AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile TL-58 processor (1.9-GHz, 1-MB L2 cache), so I just usually find the same type of processors and hope it's compatible with my laptop mobo.

P.S. I looked thru my comp guide and it shows a list of processors, highest being:
AMD Turion TL-66 processor (2.3-GHz, 1-MB L2 cache)
...and...
Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 processor (2.4-GHz, 4-MB L2 cache, 800-MHz FSB)

since these was included in the my laptop guide, I would think that they would be compatible with my comp, but can't be too sure. I'd seen better cpu on the market so if I can just know about the compatibility, I can start looking for the right one.

btw, switching between AMD to Intel cpus shouldn't be hard at all, right?

UPDATE: I did a search and it seems my AMD laptop uses a socket S1 type cpu, Intel uses Socket P. so there is a major difference. so does that mean Intel cpus aren't compatible with my laptop? there's no way to interchange between the two? would the same applies to desktop computers?

frblckstr1 · « **Reply #333 on:** June 29, 2009, 06:58:10 PM »

^ It might help if you posted your computer manufacturer and type.

When AMD started they needed to be pin-compatable with Intel to gain market share, these days they have there own socket type(s) and periferal chips, so mixing the two physically will be a problem.

CPU Intruction wise they are all 'x86 compatible with extensions' so the OS/programs have no real problem with either (they might use some special instructions from one to execute some things faster or from the other to execute other things faster)

For multimedia AMD still seems to have the advantage, for general purpose its intel.

You could check Toms hardware site for some comparisons.

StreakInTheSky · « **Reply #334 on:** July 01, 2009, 11:18:40 PM »

Here's a list of Turion cpus. You should look at the "Tyler" series cpus. Those are pretty much guaranteed to work with your laptop, and are the best of the socket s1 cpus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Turion_microprocessors

If you go on google shopping and you search for "AMD Turion cpu" you can see what's available from different retailers and at what prices.

NAzu · « **Reply #335 on:** July 06, 2009, 10:15:45 PM »

Upgrading cpu to a laptop is kinda waste of money. You already have a dualcore cpu, getting a cpu with 200 or 300 more MHz isnt going to help the situation much. There are other things bottlenecking the performance than the cpu.

StreakInTheSky · « **Reply #336 on:** July 09, 2009, 04:14:33 AM »

upgrading my macbook to 4gb ram. It's taking too long to get here! :/ (ordered it yesterday >_>)

LaJon · « **Reply #337 on:** July 09, 2009, 11:39:12 PM »

Now that I have my new computer in working order, I can officially call these my new PC specs.

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Case
COOLER MASTER 750W Modular Power Supply
GIGABYTE EX58-UD4P Motherboard
Intel Core i7-950 3.06GHz Quad Core Processor
G.SKILL 6GB DDR3 1600 Triple Channel Memory
EVGA GeForce GTX285 DDR3 1GB Video Card
Sound Blaster Audigy SE Sound Card
500GB Western Digital HD (Windows XP Pro 64)
1TB Western Digital HD (Storage 1)
1TB Western Digital HD (Storage 2)
Samsung SATA 22X DVD Burner

NAzu · « **Reply #338 on:** July 11, 2009, 11:02:09 PM »

Nice system LaJon. I have the HAF932 too and it's an awesome case. Plenty of space to work on and very good case cooling. One small problem for me is the lack of dustfilters cos we have a dog so there's lots of hair and dust.

LaJon · « **Reply #339 on:** July 12, 2009, 01:10:50 AM »

Quote from: NAzu on July 11, 2009, 11:02:09 PM

Nice system LaJon. I have the HAF932 too and it's an awesome case. Plenty of space to work on and very good case cooling. One small problem for me is the lack of dustfilters cos we have a dog so there's lots of hair and dust.

True that. But yeah, I love the case. Just wish I had a light to put up at the top so I could see how great it looks inside, so I might get a red one to match the front intake fan.