Opinions On My New/Upgraded Computer

[photon]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

The SilentPC review uses an open test bed instead of a case which actually makes a big difference here even though it might not seem intuitive at first.

True, but that's why I like their reviews, so I don't have to worry about the random effects of different cases on the sound, I know the source is quiet, I don't care what the case may or may not add (though my case is a Fortress FT-02, partly in case I ever wanted to go down the liquid cooling route).

[photon]

Originally Posted by Brannigans Law

Glad I had a closer look apparently the red is on fact 5400 not like memory express lists. Boo.

Does anyone have any experience with the 3tb Seagate drives and any chirping?

Wait what?? That's crazy, I had no idea lol.

They're soo much faster than the WD Greens I had, that's pretty impressive then.

[Brannigans Law]

I decided to go with Seagates 3tb. I'll run the firmware update and pray that the chirping stops.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

What do you need a black for?

I stopped buying blacks in favor of greens since SSDs came out. If you RAID 0 two greens, they'll be faster an a black also.

Curious why would you double your chances of failure for the little speed. Is restoring massive amounts of data a pastime of yours?

[Brannigans Law]

I love the internet.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Curious why would you double your chances of failure for the little speed. Is restoring massive amounts of data a pastime of yours?

I'm an enterprise backup administrator but not certified so all I can do is give reckless advice.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Brannigans Law

edit: After doing some googling it seems the NAS drive is the same thing just has opimized firmware for RAID but can be used just as a regular SATA. According to people on tomshardware anyways.

Yup. It's important for drives participating in RAID arrays to accurately report low level correctable errors upstream to the controller, and also not to spend too much time attempting error correction retries or sector relocations themselves that could cause the RAID controller to time out the drive and mark the array as failed, among other things (but those are the big ones that affect consumer RAID systems - the drive is near death, but hiding it from the controller, or the RAID array keeps going into a degraded (or failed, for RAID 0) states because the drive takes too long handling error conditions on its own)

[Finner]

I had a few questions for some of the tech guys on the board.

I'm still running a Intel Dual Core processor E8400 (i think) and am looking at upgrading.

I know I'm going to need a new motherboard, processor and DDR3 RAM (as opposed to the DDR2 RAM I currently have).

I run Windows 7 and was ideally hoping to not have to reformat if I install new hardware. Is it required if putting in this new hardware?

Secondly, should I be waiting? Is there new architecture coming out in the next 6 months or so from either Intel or AMD, or a new version of RAM that will require a different motherboard?

Thirdly, any thoughts on going with an AMD instead of an Intel processor? Part of the reason the AMD interests me is that I know that both the next gen consoles are going to be running AMD solutions, and was thinking that future games might be better optimized for AMD processors (regardless of single core horsepower), as AMD processors tend to outperform Intel in multi-threaded tasks.

Thanks for any and all help!

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Finner

I had a few questions for some of the tech guys on the board.

I'm still running a Intel Dual Core processor E8400 (i think) and am looking at upgrading.

I know I'm going to need a new motherboard, processor and DDR3 RAM (as opposed to the DDR2 RAM I currently have).

I run Windows 7 and was ideally hoping to not have to reformat if I install new hardware. Is it required if putting in this new hardware?

Secondly, should I be waiting? Is there new architecture coming out in the next 6 months or so from either Intel or AMD, or a new version of RAM that will require a different motherboard?

Thirdly, any thoughts on going with an AMD instead of an Intel processor? Part of the reason the AMD interests me is that I know that both the next gen consoles are going to be running AMD solutions, and was thinking that future games might be better optimized for AMD processors (regardless of single core horsepower), as AMD processors tend to outperform Intel in multi-threaded tasks.

Thanks for any and all help!

a) You will need to reformat. Though, if you don't want to lose anything, this your opportunity to buy an SSD along with your new CPU/Mobo/RAM, and use your old boot drive as a storage slave (which will still contain all your old files), and get a huge boost to general PC functions.

b) Intel's new Haswell line is coming out in June-ish, but from what I've been reading, it's more geared towards mobile and low-power setups. The actual output increase for desktop is up in the air, but estimates are that it will be minor, much like the Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge transition (~8%-12% performance gain). This is however, all industry conjecture, and we won't know for sure until Intel put's chips in early adopter hands and they can benchmark them.

c) AMD is good for their price point, but unless you are planning to build a budget system and cut corners (which is essentially what console builders are doing), Intel handily beats AMD in the long game, and has for a good 6 or 7 years. the extra $70-$80 spent on an Intel processor will have a significant impact on your PCs overall performance. Not sure where you've seen AMD outperform in threaded tasks (maybe Opteron vs Xeon?) but the two comparable processors for most gaming builds at the same price point, ~$230 i5-3570k vs FX-8150, the Intel handily beats it in every test but 1 (file compression). http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/701?vs=434

[Finner]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

a) You will need to reformat. Though, if you don't want to lose anything, this your opportunity to buy an SSD along with your new CPU/Mobo/RAM, and use your old boot drive as a storage slave (which will still contain all your old files), and get a huge boost to general PC functions.

b) Intel's new Haswell line is coming out in June-ish, but from what I've been reading, it's more geared towards mobile and low-power setups. The actual output increase for desktop is up in the air, but estimates are that it will be minor, much like the Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge transition (~8%-12% performance gain). This is however, all industry conjecture, and we won't know for sure until Intel put's chips in early adopter hands and they can benchmark them.

c) AMD is good for their price point, but unless you are planning to build a budget system and cut corners (which is essentially what console builders are doing), Intel handily beats AMD in the long game, and has for a good 6 or 7 years. the extra $70-$80 spent on an Intel processor will have a significant impact on your PCs overall performance. Not sure where you've seen AMD outperform in threaded tasks (maybe Opteron vs Xeon?) but the two comparable processors for most gaming builds at the same price point, ~$230 i5-3570k vs FX-8150, the Intel handily beats it in every test but 1 (file compression). http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/701?vs=434

Really appreciate the help!

Any recommendations on a motherboard? Nothing overly pricey ideally.

Part of the reason I don't want to reformat is I bought an SSD about 6 months ago and don't want to have to reformat again...oh well maybe this my opportunity to buy a bigger one (current is 64GB).

Perhaps something like this: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=72062&...s&promoid=1302

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Finner

Really appreciate the help!

Any recommendations on a motherboard? Nothing overly pricey ideally.

Part of the reason I don't want to reformat is I bought an SSD about 6 months ago and don't want to have to reformat again...oh well maybe this my opportunity to buy a bigger one (current is 64GB).

Perhaps something like this: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=72062&...s&promoid=1302

That NCIX bundle is fantastic for the price. Wow.

[Brannigans Law]

I went with a ASUS VE278 27" monitor. At first I thought it would maybe be too big but ... damn this thing is amazing. Very happy I went with it. I had to turn down the brightness a lot though. It's like the sun!

[J Diddy]

How is the 1080 resolution on a monitor that size and sitting so close? Is it crystal clear or can you see the pixels at times?

[Brannigans Law]

Originally Posted by J Diddy

How is the 1080 resolution on a monitor that size and sitting so close? Is it crystal clear or can you see the pixels at times?

You adjust. I noticed it at first but I'd never go back to a 25" or smaller now. It's just too awesome.


edit: Maybe I didn't notice it before cuz I can't seem to find the pixels now. Or maybe thats cuz my vision stinks?

[Vulcan]

I have the Benq GW2750 HM (1080p A-MVA panel) and I don't have any problems with the text but than I'm old and have had cataract surgery. It has great contrast similar to my high end Sony TV and they say it's not bad for gaming as well.

Here's a ratings chart for response times at Premium setting although this will have more ghosting than a TN panel, still it's not bad.

http://down.playwares.com/xe/files/a...18a795108b.jpg

It's on sale for $250, although I got it for $200 during Boxing day sale.


http://ncix.com/products/?sku=69381&...Q&promoid=1302