The Computer Megathread

[SPooK]

Ethan, do your judging. It is finally my 16th birthday and me and my dad are actually going to start buying parts. In total I'm spending about $2000 which includes a new desk, monitor, keyboard, and OS. Also, I am going to buy these parts but I am going to wait until early April or so for the new NVIDIA GPU's. I am going to buy whichever one is closest to $499. The price below is just the computer.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 (Will combine with Windows 7 Professional for an extra -$7.)
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587 (Using this just as a price point.)
RAM + PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.826185
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233223
OD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289
CPUC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181016

Grand Total: $1,664.35

[Ad Bot]

[KoopaScooper]

and my mom thought my $120 graphics card is expensive for my 15th, even though i'd be paying $80 of it
how you get such good birthday gifts

[Nickelob Ultra]

Ethan, do your judging. It is finally my 16th birthday and me and my dad are actually going to start buying parts. In total I'm spending about $2000 which includes a new desk, monitor, keyboard, and OS. Also, I am going to buy these parts but I am going to wait until early April or so for the new NVIDIA GPU's. I am going to buy whichever one is closest to $499. The price below is just the computer.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 (Will combine with Windows 7 Professional for an extra -$7.)
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587 (Using this just as a price point.)
RAM + PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.826185
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233223
OD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289
CPUC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181016

Grand Total: $1,664.35

That's a hot build you've got there.

[zookuw]

ATI Radeon HD 3600

IMO it's not all that great what video card should I buy to replace it?
I want to spend around $100 to $200 (I would rather not spend over $150)

[brickybob]

ATI Radeon HD 3600

IMO it's not all that great what video card should I buy to replace it?
I want to spend around $100 to $200 (I would rather not spend over $150)

Any idea on your PSU and other specs?

-snip-

Happy birthday. c:

[Ethan]

my dad won't let me download anything on his laptop
and the other computer is an old emac which is extremely slow anyway so i wouldnt be able to tell the difference
my xbox gets o-k-a-y speeds but not great

Well we aren't going to be able to tell if it's your PC or your internet then.
It'd be better if someone would co-operate.

Well the issue with this I have tried calibrating on mac osx myself but nothing makes it work and the colors are set to default the way it should be when you first get the mac with a brand new OS which is what happened last august when my HDD corrupted and needed replacing in 2011.  But, it is forgeted up and won't normalize again but I am for sure now going to apple tomorrow and btw your stuck pixel thing I didn't even have to do apparently it just is gone now so it fixed itself.

Yeah, they can also fix themselves.

Oh, by the way, do I need any other extra items like cords for the PC?

They should come with all.

[Ethan]

Ethan, do your judging. It is finally my 16th birthday and me and my dad are actually going to start buying parts. In total I'm spending about $2000 which includes a new desk, monitor, keyboard, and OS. Also, I am going to buy these parts but I am going to wait until early April or so for the new NVIDIA GPU's. I am going to buy whichever one is closest to $499. The price below is just the computer.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 (Will combine with Windows 7 Professional for an extra -$7.)
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587 (Using this just as a price point.)
RAM + PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.826185
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233223
OD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289
CPUC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181016

Grand Total: $1,664.35

That's really decent.
nVidia might take a while with their new line up. I'd personally go for a 7970 right now, but yeah, I prefer AMD anyway.

ATI Radeon HD 3600

IMO it's not all that great what video card should I buy to replace it?
I want to spend around $100 to $200 (I would rather not spend over $150)

A 6870 seems like a good card for you. What is your PSU? Is your case big enough? Do you have a free PCI-E lane and a free lane below it for the cooler?

[zookuw]

Code: [Select]

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/9/2012, 08:16:52
       Machine name: BEN-PC
   Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_rtm.090713-1255)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
       System Model: Dell XPS420                 
               BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A06
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad  CPU   Q9300  @ 2.50GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.5GHz
             Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4030MB RAM
          Page File: 1527MB used, 6530MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 64bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series (Microsoft Corporation WDDM 1.1)
       Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
          Chip type:
           DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9598&SUBSYS_22421028&REV_00
     Display Memory: 2010 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 251 MB
      Shared Memory: 1758 MB
       Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (75Hz)

That's my specs I have no idea how to check my PSU though. Sorry.

[Kira100000]

so my laptop had some kind of short in it and wont turn on... :[

[Nickelob Ultra]

That's really decent.
nVidia might take a while with their new line up. I'd personally go for a 7970 right now, but yeah, I prefer AMD anyway.

I heard that the higher 600s, like the 670-680s will be out in late March/late April, most likely April.

Then the rest will follow in the summer.

I'm gonna save up as much as possible so I can maybe get a 680 at some point.

[Ethan]

That's my specs I have no idea how to check my PSU though. Sorry.

Open the case and look at the sticker on the side of the PSU. Only way.

so my laptop had some kind of short in it and wont turn on... :[

Hmm where to start..
Open it up I guess?

[Kira100000]

Open the case and look at the sticker on the side of the PSU. Only way.
Hmm where to start..
Open it up I guess?

when i plug the ac adapter into it the little green light on the battery block dims, apparently that means there was a short somewhere??

[Mulch]

My friend suggests this build to me:

Case
Processer
Mother Board
HSF
RAM
Video Card
Power Supply
ODD
HDD
Static Wristband <=== So I don't forget or something.

Will this be able to run any game in Ultra HD? Is there anything you recommend I change? Am I missing anything? Also I was thinking of getting more than 8GB of RAM, can I support that and what RAM would you recommend?

[zookuw]

Open the case and look at the sticker on the side of the PSU. Only way.
Hmm where to start..
Open it up I guess?

What exactly am I looking for? (on the sticker)
Edit: This should be helpful:

[SPooK]

and my mom thought my $120 graphics card is expensive for my 15th, even though i'd be paying $80 of it
how you get such good birthday gifts

lol I have no idea.  But now that I think of it, I haven't gotten a birthday present for about the past 3 years that were over $20. I also intend to go into computer science during college. Even though that's like 2 years away, my dad actually likes the idea of me being productive and building a computer. Also I am getting payed by my friends to help them upgrade/build a computer.