So my computer has finally taken its last dump.

**Stealthyking** · 01-28-11, 05:12 PM

6-8months later and once again this computer has managed to blow A. Another GPU, or B. Another PSU, Either way i think its time i bit the bullet and built myself a rig instead of keeping this one alive, Im posting in here because i wanted to know what steps i take to get all my saved games from my games such as Oblivion and others to go on the new harddrive whenever i get a new rig set up, And also what graphics cards are good for the money, (id like to hear both sides ATI and Nvidia)

While i am a fan of nvidia this is my 3rd nvidia card that i have gone through (Assuming its the card again) and not to ask for freebies, but if anyone has anything lying around that they dont care about that would be worth my while feel free to put that up on here to as i am looking for any type of solution. If not, then i think the best thing i can do is buy a new part each week and build a whole new rig (which will take me a couple months) but im fine with that.

One other thing, Which is better for the money Core I5 or I7? and also tips on motherboards are welcome as well, Ive always been interested in the p55 motherboards, Plz give all feedback i am interested in everyones thoughts.

Ugh and one other thing i just remembered, Sli or Crossfire is a DEFINITE possibility, Im not 100% set on doing that yet, but it IS in my head so let me kno what 2 cards are best for this and or what card i should start off with so i can later upgrade to sli and knowing what boards are best for SLI/Crossfire and have enough space for other things such has PCI Sound cards would be nice information. my monitor that i am using is my 32inch LG TV, I can do HDMI as well. Thanks everyone and anyone who posts!

**idunn** · 01-28-11, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by Stealthyking

6-8months later and once again this computer has managed to blow A. Another GPU, or B. Another PSU, Either way i think its time i bit the bullet and built myself a rig instead of keeping this one alive, Im posting in here because i wanted to know what steps i take to get all my saved games from my games such as Oblivion and others to go on the new harddrive whenever i get a new rig set up, And also what graphics cards are good for the money, (id like to hear both sides ATI and Nvidia)

While i am a fan of nvidia this is my 3rd nvidia card that i have gone through (Assuming its the card again) and not to ask for freebies, but if anyone has anything lying around that they dont care about that would be worth my while feel free to put that up on here to as i am looking for any type of solution. If not, then i think the best thing i can do is buy a new part each week and build a whole new rig (which will take me a couple months) but im fine with that.

One other thing, Which is better for the money Core I5 or I7? and also tips on motherboards are welcome as well, Ive always been interested in the p55 motherboards, Plz give all feedback i am interested in everyones thoughts.

Ugh and one other thing i just remembered, Sli or Crossfire is a DEFINITE possibility, Im not 100% set on doing that yet, but it IS in my head so let me kno what 2 cards are best for this and or what card i should start off with so i can later upgrade to sli and knowing what boards are best for SLI/Crossfire and have enough space for other things such has PCI Sound cards would be nice information. my monitor that i am using is my 32inch LG TV, I can do HDMI as well. Thanks everyone and anyone who posts!

If you have gone through a few video cards already, my bet is a bad psu.

Nvidia typically makes better cards with more stable drivers and support. But ATI cards are generally pretty close in performance, at a more reasonable price. SLI and Crossfire isn't a bad idea if you already have a card capable, and add another. But if you are going to spend the money on 2 decent cards, it would be better to spend the extra on 1 card that will outperform the 2, and not spend as much. Typically, one $300 card will out perform two $200 cards. But if you have the cash for two $300+ cards, then by all means. For 2 cards you'll need better cooling, more juice, more stuff to go wrong etc.

As far as processors go, I've always been an amd fan. Intel makes amazing processors don't get me wrong, they are top of the line for sure. But for a fraction of the performance, and half the price, ill take amd any day... I'm a budget gamer. If I had the cash to waste, I would go intel w/nvidia. But for a budget gamer, and performance you won't be able to tell a difference, amd & ati is definitely the way to go.

One thing you never want to cheap out on is the power supply. Which is usually what people do. They blow all their money on the best processor/video card they can find, and then grab a cheep psu. It's not always about how much wattage you have, its about the quality of the wattage. Id take a decent 650w ps over a cheep 1100w any day. One little voltage drop or surge and you can fry every penny you put into that thing.

Cooling is also very important. Make sure you have a well ventilated case, operatable fans, good cable management to allow adequate air flow, free from dust(clean regularly) etc.

Here a few company's I have stuck by for the past 10 years:

Mobo - Asus hands down
Proc - amd & intel are both good, amd is more bang for the buck
Vid - ati & nvidia are both good, ati is more bang for the buck as well
Mem - corsair/kingston are both good
psu - corsair/antec/coolermaster/thermaltake
HD - western digital is the only way to go

I think I have an asus mobo, amd proc, some corsair memory, and a nvidia 8800gt in a box somewhere, I can look for it tomorrow if you are interested. I won't give it away, but id be willing to sell it all for dirt cheap. Its nothing special, but its played CS:S with ease, 150-200 fps.

(Sent from hell, its frozen)

**Guyver** · 01-28-11, 08:46 PM

If it is your PSU..do not skimp. Buy quality. I'd go Corsair.

**HeavyG** · 01-29-11, 11:44 AM

In regards to SLI/Crossfire...

Two graphics cards in SLI/Crossfire will almost always out perform a single high end graphics card, especially when you get into higher resolutions, the SLI/Crossfire really takes control.

This isn't true for ALL scenarios, but take the GTX 460 cards... at $200 each, they were easily out performing the $400+ GTX 480 in most games and benchmarks. This is similar to the new GTX 560ti... buying two of them will cost you $500, but they blow away a single equally priced GTX 580.

The only drawback is that running SLI/Crossfire may require a beefier PSU and a better motherboard. That stuff costs money. A single card solution is good, but if you expect to run the highest frame rates with the highest detail and DX11 enabled to get the maximum gaming experience, I highly recommend going with two "slower" cards with SLI/Crossfire.

For single card solutions in the $250 range, I highly recommend the GTX 560ti or the AMD 6950 1GB model. They are the best cards in that price range with the best cost/performance for a "mainstream" gamer. Anything higher and you would be running into the "enthusiast" category where you would expect to pay more for a single card or start considering SLI/Crossfire.

In regards to CPUs...

Intel is simply dominating AMD at the moment. AMD has some great stuff in the budget realm, but with the release of Sandy Bridge, Intel not only left AMD in the dust, but pretty much any existing Intel platform as well. If you want high end, go with Intel Sandy Bridge... if you want to save some cash, there are some older Core-i5 and Core-i7 chips out there, as well as some decent AMD chips.

Bottom line is that your CPU is not as important to PC games as your graphics card(s). If you want to spend extra, upgrade the graphics card or buy a second one and put in in SLI/Crossfire. I recommend against spending more than $250 on a CPU as you simply won't see the gains. This goes for memory as well... you won't see much improvement from 1333 MHz to 1600 MHz to 2000 MHz. The performance boost is simply not there... save your money for the graphics card.

As for your PSU...

There is no good answer to what PSU is the best. Corsair, Cooler Master, PC Power and Cooling, Antec... the list goes on. Just make sure you get something that is 80+ certified, which means that your PSU converts more than 80% of the energy from your wall socket into usable energy to your PC. The remaining energy is bypassed as heat. There are some "gold" PSUs that are more in the 90% range, which means less waste (heat), but most of the good brand 80+ certified PSUs are already in the mid-high 80% range. The "gold" series typically cost about 20-30% more.

The bottom line is that buying a PSU isn't easy. It really depends on what you want to do with it. If you are going to have a single hard drive, single optical drive, single graphics card... you can likely get away with a PSU between 600-700w.

If you are going to run multiple hard drives, multiple optical drives, SLI/Crossfire graphics setup... I highly recommend something between 850-1000w. Even then, depending on your graphics cards, some will require you to go 1000w+.

Then the next decision to make is modular or not modular. This isn't an easy decision because modular always costs more money. It isn't a rare thing to see a 600-700w modular PSU breaking $100-120. Jumping to the 1000w modular PSUs, you will likely see them between $160-200 and up! In my opinion, modular is the way to go for cable management purposes.

Not too far off of what idunn said, but I have some different opinions when it comes to SLI/Crossfire as I have both purchased the high end graphics card, only to see it depreciate to half value in a matter of 2 months (ATI X850XT Platinum - $360 card, and ATI HD2900XT - $329 card). My best purchase was two ATI 4850 ($120 each) in Crossfire X, overclocked... I was stomping the 4870 and coming close to the performance of the 4890. I ran them for over a year.

**Stealthyking** · 01-29-11, 02:56 PM

Thank you for your inputs, and i am 100% positive im going to SLI, I used to be a BIG ATI fan but am no longer. Intel is the ONLY way i will go, i am highly against Anything AMD related (sorry dunn) =P

and to clarify dunn, This would be my Second PSU and or GPU that has blown out o nme, At this point i am still uncertain of the issue, the card looks fine and still runs, The PSU runs and is running my comp ONLY off the Onboard card, However the LED lights are no longer on. So i really have no clue what the deal is, All i kno is that i definitly got my head set in on a new build. Ty guys.