The Official PC building thread!

@soutzouk
that sounds like your g73 is only running at 10mhz. iv read about them but didnt belive it was true. what driver are you using?

the only thing in the graphics that i drop is i turn the soft shadows off, 2xaa and 2xaf and fear never goes below 40fps my rig is a semp 3400@2.4ghz with 1g ddr400 even @ stock i only lose about 10fps

cheapest conroe i can build - under £450

mobo -Gigabyte 945PL-S3 - £59
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=448644

cpu - e6300 - £126
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=430631

ram - 1gb ddr2 - £67
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=182628

gpu - 7600gt - £108 - 4th down
http://www.advancetec.co.uk/acatalog/Asus_nv_pcx.html

hdd - 250 GB Samsung SP2504C SpinPoint - £47 - 3rd down
http://www.advancetec.co.uk/acatalog/250GB.html

dvdrw - Pioneer DVR-111D - £23 - 25th down
http://www.advancetec.co.uk/acatalog/INTE_WRS.html

psu - 400w - £0

case - black/silver - £19
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=10921&GroupID=511


how cheaps that for a conroe system? it would last till...ooo..kentsfields and dx10 are available

 

That's quite a nice build, soutzouk, I especially like the choice of 2GB of memory, not many people think it's necessary, but I can honestly say it makes a hell of a difference. Depending on which games you're playing you may get away with a 7600GT still, the reason i say this is that you may get an advantage out of your gaming if you pick up a dual core CPU? The raw performance difference for one core isn't that great (about 10-15% for a 3800+, 20-30% for a 4200+) but you can run apps in the background and them not affect your games. Given the often limited gains of SLi due to processor performance, you may want to weigh up what you feel is best for you. My recommendation would be to hold off the GPU for a bit, and maybe try for the dual core so when you upgrade your graphics you can hit the ground running.

 

sam(and everone else running amd x2s) have you got amds new driver for your cpu? it automaticly sorts out which apps/games will run on both cores and sets it to one core if it wont.

 

thnx guys and marsey99 sorry for the mistake i made.fear on crt 1600x1200.the lg19s is a new buy.anyway i'll test it on my tft and post back.
@sammmoris
think u re right.wait for dx10 and then cpu and gpu(and maybe windows........)
B(illy).G. rules snif

 

1600x1200? No wonder the game runs badly, FEAr at that resolution is one of the hardest tests for any PC. I run the game at that setting, and I can only just get away with it with my card, let alone a 7600GT. 1280x1024 should see you achieve a respectable frame rate. Yeah I downloaded AMD's newer driver. That's kind of useful, but it isn't the fount of all knowledge, so it's often necessary to change the setting yourself.

 

Do you have the link for AMD x2 new drives?

 

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_13118,00.html

 

WOW...thanks

 

@ Sam

Theres alot of drives there? Which ones would you suggest per my sig?

 

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/utilities/amdcpusetup.exe

 

COOL...Thanks

 

ok thankyou everyone for all your posts i think ill just get onboard graphics and wait for the dx10 graphics cards to come out and then ask you gus which one to get. thanks again!!

 

You do realise that onboard graphics means you can't run a few games at all, right?

 

Hi guys I dont know much about computers but I want to upgrade it by getting a new GPU, CPU and a new motherboard, what bothers me tho is that, what do I have to consider when upgrading? Can I just get a new mother board, graphics card and CPU and plug the rest of the parts I have back in?

 

Usualy yes, but it depends what sort of board you get. You need to make sure your memory is compatible, and that the new parts you buy are compatible with each other.

 

You'll be surprised what people pay for crap on ebay, 7600GT or X1900 you'll make most of your money back once DX10 Games are actually out for DX10 cards I'm an AMD fan, but a Core2Duo around 3.0ghz will smoke anything from AMD. Most C2Ds are going even higher too.

P.S. Keep on mind that it looks like you'll only get 10 activations for Windows Vista, making some people think twice about actually buying it.

 

id read it was 2 after the first install, but unlimited if it was down to faults. so if you tell them that your mobo(or whatever youve changed) was broke or faulty then it wont count. i tell you m$ just want peeps to lie to them.

 

I know what you mean,
Iv'e seen people buy 2nd hand fx55's off ebay for $200 Australian more than what you buy them new!!!

 

thers an idiot in ever village, and most of em love ebay.

my previous card was a 256mb gf fx5500 i paid £28 new, mail order, from dabs.

 

@sam
Now that I've downloaded the amd driver program how do I use it?