Building a new computer [Archive]

kvlt

07-30-2011, 08:25 PM

Hello everyone,

I'm planning on building a new machine to play Project 1999. In previous experiences, I have had issues with the client crashing, weird models, morphing, falling through the zone, ect. (I was playing Shard of Dalaya)

I just want to know what kind of hardware I should have in this new desktop.

What kind of hardware are you using? How is it working out? What would be a good set up so the game will run smoothly?

Any help would be great :)

Thanks.

Chrushev

07-31-2011, 04:09 AM

I would get an i7 processor (930 or 950).
At least 6GB of ram (tripple channel 2GB sticks, or 12GB 4GB sticks).
For video card mid to high range current gen video card. If you are spending less than 180-200$ on the video card, you should buy something better.

PC with those parts should last you a long while, and play P99 perfectly.

Motec

07-31-2011, 05:35 AM

forget i7 930/950 bullshit.

Any cheap as chips P68 board, and a 2500k with 8gb of ram will destroy eq and be half the price and more performance than old tech i7 shit.

Asfasfos

07-31-2011, 05:44 AM

Getting i7 930/950 is lame, get a Sandy Bridge like 2500 or 2500k (if you want to OC) and it's enough.

kvlt

07-31-2011, 07:30 PM

Thoughts on this?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=417543&CatId=114

Deadmantis

07-31-2011, 08:36 PM

Thoughts on this?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...7543&CatId=114

Nice, but integrated graphics, even those that work with online games, are going to limit your performance. It has HDMI out which is good if your monitor or TV supports it, but even so I wouldn't expect stellar graphics.

For a few dollars more from the same website you can get a similar PC with a dedicated graphics card. Look at the 500 dollar+ gaming PCs, there are a bunch in the 500 to 600 dollar range that have dedicated graphics cards with 512 mb to 1gb memory that will run games at a much better framerate.

If you really like the PC you picked out, you might be able add a video card to it. I could not tell from the specs if it has a PCI express slot to do so. You will have to do more research, like reading the reviews or checking the manufacturers website.

Badmartigan

07-31-2011, 09:28 PM

Motec

07-31-2011, 09:36 PM

or get a 2500k with 8 gig of ram and the cheapest mobo you can find and have a new warranty and a ridiuclously fast system for the money.

Prince

07-31-2011, 11:38 PM

buy mac

Littlegyno

07-31-2011, 11:46 PM

buy mac

lol shut up.

Envious

08-01-2011, 04:16 AM

buy mac

Lol jesus

Deadmantis

08-01-2011, 05:46 AM

build a socket 775 build with some used parts.. you dont need i7 and 12gbs of ram unless your encoding video etc..

A used parts socket 775 build will destroy anything on the market...

i suggest Q95XX or q6600 overlclocked i790 boards will run ddr3 i believe and you can still get whatever video card you want on socket 775 for sooo much cheaper than an i7 system.

just an idea.
What he said^

I am running this on an older gaming system that I built a few years back and not only does it run P99 fine, it runs most everything I throw at it fine. Asus 775 socket board, 2.66 ghz core 2 duo, 8 gb corsair ddr2 memory, 8800 GTS 640 mb video card, 1TB black caviar hard drive, etc. Outdated I know but it runs good for me. :)

You can build something better for cheap without going bleeding edge, and still have enough horsepower to run most games.

kvlt

08-02-2011, 08:53 PM

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6703826&CatId=4658
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5642067&CatId=22
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=41125&CatId=3669

Some parts I've been looking into, not sure how compatible they are with each other. Feel free to offer your advice. Feel free to suggest some more parts.

I don't know all that much about this kind of thing (my brother's going to help me build it), but I'm taking in all that I can. I appreciate all the help.

Deadmantis

08-04-2011, 04:13 PM

I think those are all nice parts and are well priced. Pretty good bang for the buck if you ask me. You could probably spend more $$ to get something newer and that's what others will probably say. Stick with what you can afford.

Atmas

08-04-2011, 04:38 PM

I built a machine about 2 years ago. i7 920 12 Gigs of DDR3. I could 8 box while I was playing on EZ server. Updated graphics for EQ are like 10 years old at this point you don't need to buy something expensive to play one character on P99.

Feachie

08-04-2011, 04:47 PM

Atmas

08-04-2011, 04:56 PM

regardless if he plays p99 or not, it's silly to build a pc with the present and the past in mind. what are you going to do in 6 months if a really cool game comes out that you want to play?

imho don't settle for less than a socket 1156 board with a sandy bridge processor. ivy bridge is due out late this year, and it's possible the current 1156's will support it with a bios flash.

Maybe you didn't get my post. I think it's not really worth it to build something with the intent of playing P99. I gave an example of a machine I built that was pretty good 2 years ago being way overpowered for playing P99. I have machines 6 or more years old that I have EQEmu functional on.

I think in 6 months if a really cool game comes out that would be the time to build the PC. Until then you just have resources going to waste and could be spending the same amount of cash when you actually need it and get something better.

Saiene

08-04-2011, 05:15 PM

Skyrim
Battlefield 3 :cool:

Feachie

08-04-2011, 09:14 PM

Maybe you didn't get my post. I think it's not really worth it to build something with the intent of playing P99. I gave an example of a machine I built that was pretty good 2 years ago being way overpowered for playing P99. I have machines 6 or more years old that I have EQEmu functional on.

I think in 6 months if a really cool game comes out that would be the time to build the PC. Until then you just have resources going to waste and could be spending the same amount of cash when you actually need it and get something better.
never said he should build a beastly pc for p99, all i said was it's just silly to build computers with the present and past in mind, because if you think about it it's true.

you sound like a learned individual about pc stuff, so you know how fast technology advances (both hardware and software). if you build a pc aiming for the lga775 generation you Will hit a brick wall pretty soon. have you tried running something as recent as Witcher 2 on a 775 platform? i have and it's not pretty :\

Skyrim
Battlefield 3 :cool:

^also this

EkireiTheNecro

08-06-2011, 01:53 PM

I'm buying this in about 2 months....might wait til January of Feb. though.

http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-g74sx3de-pre-order-p-3096.html

Self upgrading to 2 120GB SSDs in RAID 0.

Gonna be pretty win playing playing P99 in 3D.

$1900 bucks for a custom-built desktop replacement laptop. Runs at a max temp of about 65C (which is cooler than my current desktop)

That said...I currently run a Q6600, with a GTX 8800 from like 4 years ago. It runs **MOST** games at max settings @ 1600x900.

I'd say wait til AFTER christmas time when all the companies are trying to move the last of their stock before the new product lines come out.

EkireiTheNecro

08-06-2011, 01:57 PM

I **STRONGLY** suggest getting an 80-120 GB SSD as your main drive.

Install your OS on that drive, and the games you play most. Buy a cheap 1TB HDD for additional backup.

You won't regret it when you PC boots up / shuts down in literally 10 seconds.....and any games you have on the SSD will have virtually non existent loading times.

EkireiTheNecro

08-06-2011, 01:58 PM

Skope

08-06-2011, 02:03 PM

regardless if he plays p99 or not, it's silly to build a pc with the present and the past in mind. what are you going to do in 6 months if a really cool game comes out that you want to play?

imho don't settle for less than a socket 1156 board with a sandy bridge processor. ivy bridge is due out late this year, and it's possible the current 1156's will support it with a bios flash.

1156 = last gen core i3 i5's, meaning sandy bridge won't fit into those motherboads. don't go recommending incompatible parts, friend. he'll be stuck with a motherboard and a processor that won't go together and then the hassle of refunds...

If i were to build a new system I would wait a month and see what bulldozer does for the price of systems. but let's narrow things down some and see exactly what you'd benefit from most:

what'll be the primary use for the PC? what will you be doing with it?

Will you be gaming on it? if so, what games?

what's the resolution of your monitor? will you be using more than 1 monitor? tv?

any addons? sound cards?

do you need an operating system as well?

do you need a new monitor?

what's the budget?

and how long are you looking to use it for? upgrade piece by piece or hand down the whole thing for a new PC?

Deadmantis

08-06-2011, 05:57 PM

Friend of mine just bought this gaming PC and while it isn't the best of the best, it's still pretty sweet for around $1k. Everything he has thrown at it runs very well.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/755582-REG/CyberpowerPC_GLC1202_Fang_Evo_GLC1202_Desktop.html

kalzin

08-06-2011, 06:49 PM

Im going to weigh in here as an IT professional that has built many a computer and has yet to have a complaint on speed.

I recommend the following:
Case: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z

Mobo: ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Video Card: (select from)
>Going Big: ASUS ENGTX580 DCII/2DIS/1536MD5 GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

>Mid-range: ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

>Budget: ASUS ENGTX560 DCII OC/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

> Broke: ASUS ENGT520 Silent/DI/1GD3(LP) GeForce GT 520 (Fermi) 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card

Ram: Kingston Model KVR1066D3N7/4G (at least 3 for 12GB or max of 24GB)

Processor: Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930

HDD: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX 600GB 10000 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Power Supply: XION AXP Lan-Party Edition AXP-1000R14HE 1000W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS 12V 2.92 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

CD/DVD: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

shop newegg for chance to really save when combo'ing these things together...

Skope

08-06-2011, 07:09 PM

Kalzin, you're recommending a core i7 930, which is on 1366 and it's a dead platform. the velociraptors offer a minimal speed increase when compared to SSDs (laughable, in fact).

If you're thinking about buying a videocard for all around gaming performance you'll get a better bang for your buck with AMD right now. most hardware sites will rank them at the top or near the top for every price category and unless you only play a specific game that suits nvidia better (like WoW or any blizzard game) then you'll be better off with an AMD videocard.

kalzin

08-06-2011, 07:47 PM

Kalzin, you're recommending a core i7 930, which is on 1366 and it's a dead platform.

It is by far a dead platform, in fact the reason i chose this was that he does not need to be bleeding edge of everything. I chose this because ASUS recommends this processor line for their Military Certified TUF board also listed... if money where of no issue and the asus board recommended it in the QVL(qualified vendor list) I'd say go with nehalem...

the velociraptors offer a minimal speed increase when compared to SSDs (laughable, in fact).

SSD's are starting to show rather sad performance, I currently have 6 of them, 2 were purchased about 8 months ago and already im starting to see a sharp drop in speed, SSD's (until the enterprise class was released) show a burn-out rate that make them unreliable long-term... see the following link:
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/blogs/cole/ssds-and-the-reliability-factor/?cs=36187

If you're thinking about buying a videocard for all around gaming performance you'll get a better bang for your buck with AMD right now. most hardware sites will rank them at the top or near the top for every price category and unless you only play a specific game that suits nvidia better (like WoW or any blizzard game) then you'll be better off with an AMD videocard

the only reason I suggest Nvidia here (I usually opt for ATI/AMD myself) is that we are using an Intel Board. Again I reference the QVL and do see some of the recommended video cards are in the ATI category... I suppose if you wanted to use an ATI card you could substitute for one of the following:

ASUS EAH6950 DCII/2DI4S/2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

or

ASUS EAH6670/DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

again though either ati or nvidia will suit whichever needs are required; I tend to stick with ATI is for AMD's Nvidia is for Intel's I don't really know why that has gotten into my head, but that is a bias on my behalf.

Feachie

08-06-2011, 08:40 PM

1156 = last gen core i3 i5's, meaning sandy bridge won't fit into those motherboads. don't go recommending incompatible parts, friend. he'll be stuck with a motherboard and a processor that won't go together and then the hassle of refunds...

Sorry, meant 1155. I've been away from pc's for a bit, mostly caught back up but I get the two sockets confused.

I'm less concerned with Sandy as I am with Ivy Bridge. 1155 is the socket they're sticking with, and current boards *could* be compatible with a bios flash.

SSD's are starting to show rather sad performance, I currently have 6 of them, 2 were purchased about 8 months ago and already im starting to see a sharp drop in speed, SSD's (until the enterprise class was released) show a burn-out rate that make them unreliable long-term... see the following link:
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/blogs/cole/ssds-and-the-reliability-factor/?cs=36187
haha i've been saying this for years. solid state memory generally has a lifespan of 1,000,000 writes. It can read infinitely, but begins to degrade after too many writes. I had a thumb stick that I was running a copy of linux for work from so I could literally take my work home with me, died after about a month of use. That's assuming solid state memory is relatively equal. Regardless, this experience is what shied my away from ssd's. viva platters.

EkireiTheNecro

08-06-2011, 08:54 PM

If that's really true I might not even get one....

My friend has had his PC for about 8 months with an SSD and it still works great. I dunno if it's slowed but I'll ask him tomorrow.

Have you been torrenting alot of large files to the SSD or anything?

Skope

08-06-2011, 08:55 PM

generally speaking, you will never get anywhere close to the approximate # of writes to fail sectors, and it always fails in sectors and not completely.

There are certain SSDs that have had issues, but those were Intel and some of the OCZ's (new intel drivers and the new OCZ's), but the longterm reliability of SSDs in comparison to regular ol' plated hard drives is actually about equal. The worst part of SSDs is getting thru that initial install and the first couple of weeks (when they usually die), but after that it's smooth sailing. Mind you, the speed increase is mindblowingly faster.

1366 is in fact a dead platform, dude. The processor you're suggesting as well is inflated in price and actually 30-40% slower than equally priced current-gen sandy bridge CPUs. The asus mobo was a badass mobo, unfortunately Intel needlessly changes sockets so fast it'll make your head spin. It's not about getting the bleeding-edge computer, it's about getting the best computer you can get for the money, and 1366 is very high priced and it's a dead platform. There is literally no reason to buy 1366 unless you're getting handed down a 1366 CPU or 1366 mobo, but buying both is a very very veerrry poor investment. same goes with 1156 and 775. Intel very rarely drops prices on their last-gen hardware so buying the newer stuff actually saves you money and boosts performance.

Intel chipset doesn't favor AMD nor Nvidia. Just like AMD chipsets don't favor Nvidia or AMD. the only difference was that Intel chipsets supported both crossfire and SLi, but AM3+ now supports SLi so they're on an even keel here as well (and that issue only came up if you bought 2 video cards anyway). Right now, though, for the most part you can comfortably assume that you should buy an AMD videocard because of the better performance in power consumption, higher resolutions, cheaper price and crossfire scaling whoops nvidia's butt. unless you find a really solid deal on some of the 560Ti or 570Ti video cards, you should probably steer clear of nvidia

EkireiTheNecro

08-06-2011, 08:55 PM

Which exact model SSDs have you had for a long time that are still performing well?

EkireiTheNecro

08-06-2011, 09:03 PM

Even the experts don't really know how current gen tech will really perform...

The Q6600 for example has proven to be an amazing processor. I've had mine OCed from 2.4 - 3.0 for like 3 years now.

My old 8800 gtx actually died I had totally forgotten...I replaced it with an ATI Radeon HD 4650. Bought it like 6 months ago.

It's now a $40-80 card and can run MANY current-gen games at medium settings; and previous gen games at mostly high settings.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 for example I can run on High settings @ 1600x900 and get a stable 30FPS. I overclock the card though: from 625mhz core to 700mhz and memory from 500 to 550mhz. Even OCed this much the hottest it ever gets is about 75C during long gaming sessions. Drops back down to 40C in probably 30 seconds after exiting a game.

The ATI cards seem to cool much better -- this model of the card has a VERY small fan too.

EkireiTheNecro

08-06-2011, 09:08 PM

Bascially if you spend $250+ on a DX11 graphics card you'll probably be running all games for the next 2 years at high-to-highest settings.

And avoid SLI / Crossfire....It's great in games that it's optimized for, but in games that aren't optimized for dual graphics cards it's absolute trash.

You want the SINGLE most powerful GFX card you can afford.

Deadmantis

08-06-2011, 09:14 PM

The ATI cards seem to cool much better -- this model of the card has a VERY small fan too.

For my HTPC I use an ATI Radeon 4670 HIS Isilence4 card, fanless with a big ol heatsink on it. It runs fairly cool, and of course it's quiet. I believe I paid 65 bucks for it. I do some gaming on it as well as watch movies and it performs quite well for an under $100 older card.

kalzin

08-06-2011, 09:20 PM

EkireiTheNecro

08-06-2011, 09:25 PM

For my HTPC I use an ATI Radeon 4670 HIS Isilence4 card, fanless with a big ol heatsink on it. It runs fairly cool, and of course it's quiet. I believe I paid 65 bucks for it. I do some gaming on it as well as watch movies and it performs quite well for an under $100 older card.

Yup. High end Nvidia cards perform just as well....but at a slightly higher cost and almost ALWAYS run a good 20-30C hotter than equivalent ATI cards.

For low and mid-end, ATI cards just blow Nvidia's out of the water. ATI actually updates older cards with new technology where Nvidia just reproduces old cheap model cards.

And again...those cheaper cards are gonna run hotter, and there not be overclockable.

If you've never overclocked before OP, it couldn't be easier (for a GFX card.) All ATI cards use the "Catalyst Control Center" to install drivers, control card specs and everything. There's a "performance" option in there that allows me to easily increase my cards speed as well as manually set the fan to run @ 100 whenver I'm OCed.

Feachie

08-06-2011, 10:52 PM

So in researching old vs new i found common ground (yeah so what, i didnt realize asus updated their stuff last week) it only costs about $150ish more but you could theoretically still get out under $1500

final descision:
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=13318774

http://desusig.crumplecorn.com/endthread.jpg

you linked your own wishlists which makes your image very ironic :p

here i'll help you. $1350, current gen, nice sound, ready for upgrade to ivy bridge Q1 2012 just double the memory (ivy supports quad channel memory) and add your new processor.

case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112154)
motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730)
gpu (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130621)
psu (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088)
cpu (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)
memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226200)
hdd (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533)
sound (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132010)

/thread

EkireiTheNecro

08-06-2011, 11:52 PM

Lol that mobo is covered in heatsinks...nice.

The ONLY thing I would suggest would be to shop around a bit more for cases....maybe spend $30-50 more on a case with some extra fans. Then again i like full towers so it's just preference really.

With that GTX 570 youll be playing all games on High settings at 1080p for probably the next 2 years. It'll be worth it....Skyrim is gonna look amazing with maxed out settings and Mass Effect 3 about 6 months after that.

Feachie

08-07-2011, 01:20 AM

that case has two 120mm intakes and a 120mm exhaust. you want more fans than that? :p

lian-li are no joke. they make some quality cases.

EkireiTheNecro

08-07-2011, 02:22 PM

Ahhh you're right...

I didn't see the alternate view with all the fans labelled...nice.

kalzin

08-07-2011, 04:41 PM

you linked your own wishlists which makes your image very ironic :p

here i'll help you. $1350, current gen, nice sound, ready for upgrade to ivy bridge Q1 2012 just double the memory (ivy supports quad channel memory) and add your new processor.

case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112154)
motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730)
gpu (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130621)
psu (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088)
cpu (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)
memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226200)
hdd (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533)
sound (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132010)

/thread

questions:
why did you chose an i5 processor instead of an i7?
why did you choose a motherboard that is not TUF certified (given it's a nice mobo, just it doesnt come with the "certificate of reliability")
and again why are we choosing Nvidia? i got near-flammed when choosing them before...
other then that i have no quarels with this configuration.

Feachie

08-07-2011, 07:11 PM

questions:
why did you chose an i5 processor instead of an i7?
because there's no reason to pay more for an i7 when the rig is meant to be upgraded Q1 2012.

why did you choose a motherboard that is not TUF certified (given it's a nice mobo, just it doesnt come with the "certificate of reliability")
i remember when SLI was becoming the mainstream thing with nvidia gpu's. bad reviews kept coming in regarding power supplies, even though they had nvidia's certification on them. ends up pretty much anyone can get certified if they pay for it. asus makes quality boards, and this one will support ivy with a bios flash.

and again why are we choosing Nvidia? i got near-flammed when choosing them before...
other then that i have no quarels with this configuration.
because fuck amd

kvlt

08-08-2011, 12:58 PM

I am very grateful for all the help, everyone.

Do you think it would be possible to get a machine for under 500$? I'm pretty broke my options on gear is kinda limited. I was looking at this machine here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227314).

It's pre-built, so I'd avoid lots of headaches, and it has recieved a lot of positive feedback. There is also a shitload of memory too, so I'd be able to get all kinds of stuff downloaded.

My concern is that the hardware would conflict with P99. I know in the past, the eq emulator is was playing (Shards of Dalaya) really bugged out because I was using a dual core processor. I don't know if P99 is the same, but I'd be bummed to get a system together and have the same issues arise.

Again, I really appreciate all the help. I'm not too adept with computers so all of this info is really good stuff.

Feachie

08-08-2011, 05:13 PM

EkireiTheNecro

08-08-2011, 07:12 PM

it will definitely run p99. the only thing i would be wary of is with ibuypower.com pc's is i hear that they generally don't use very good quality components.

there are workarounds for the dual core processor issue. p99 issues are software 99% of the time and not hardware. also 87% of statistics are made up on the spot, but still you get the idea :)

I've decided to build a desktop instead of a laptop and I'm going through Ibuypower.

You have to SELECTIVELY choose your components or yes, you'll get the stock trash. Like for example some "no-name" power supply is the standard on ALL their machines - but you can upgrade to a Coolermaster for just +$20.

They have some fucking **AMAZING** "back to school" sales going on right now.

IF YOU GO THROUGH IBUYPOWER, START WITH THE CHEAPEST SYSTEM AND UPGRADE IT MANUALLY. The PC I've built on their website so far, is about $500 cheaper than ANY equivalent PCs I've looked at due to all of their "back to school" promotions.

Feachie

08-08-2011, 07:59 PM

Coolermaster is still about as bad as antec though imo

Doors

08-08-2011, 08:29 PM

www.xoticpc.com if you want to build a gaming pc and have some cash to throw around. If you're gonna build a computer you might as well make it pretty up to date with hardware otherwise you'll just be spending more money not far down the road to upgrade yet again.

Deadmantis

08-08-2011, 08:39 PM

it will definitely run p99. the only thing i would be wary of is with ibuypower.com pc's is i hear that they generally don't use very good quality components.

This is true. A friend bought a gaming rig from them but he only customized a few things, such as memory, hard drive, and video card, which were all top notch. The rest of the components were low end, no name, junk. The power supply took a dump and the case with all it's fancy LEDs shorted out.

Skope

08-08-2011, 10:05 PM

Coolermaster is still about as bad as antec though imo

you've gotta be trolling... some of the PSUs are made by the same manufacturer under the same roof. Also, cooler master PSUs (and cases in particular) are actually quite awesome and as far as PSUs go you should always shop by model number. Antec has made some horrendous PSUs in the past whereas xigmatek (new to PSUs) has made some awesome ones for cheap. It all depends on the model and the individual PSU. Generally you'll want to look for one with a 80%+ bronze efficiency tag (think the silver/gold/plat go up incrementally by 5%).

Usually the better the medal the better the PSU and the less power and heat you'll chew through (excessive power and heat. the %'s are efficiency ratings). You can get a very good antec/xigmatek/corsair or OCZ PSU in the $60-80 that's ~600 watts and bronze efficiency. The amount of wattage you require depends on the hardware in your rig.

Feachie

08-08-2011, 11:34 PM

i'm trolling because i'm suggesting a good power supply? sorry, no

i prefer seasonic. for $139 you can get a 650w with 54a on 12v. also why spend all that money on a computer when you're only going to protect your hardware with an $80 piece of crap? it's not all about the amperage or wattage. there's a lot going on in that power supply and they're definitely not all equal even in the same price range. as far as the bronze, silver, gold rating thing, see my above post about what should be thought of certifications and ratings.

i used to like pc power & cooling until OCZ bought them and started using bad components, if that tells you anything about what I think of OCZ (or antec) power supplies. it's not blind hatred either. i can show you the corpses.