Compared to what? I can’t help much about noise, power, or overclocking unfortunately.
Well, I did a little more reading, from the user and offical reviews, it was noisier then the other GTX 460 cards. I was hoping to avoid too much noise on this system, but noise is one of the few things here that is very much subjective, and it can also depend on what else you have running in the computer, since the other fans may drown out anything from the video card.
I do have a system here that has a PCIe slot which I could try it in, and see how it is. RMA it if I think it is too loud. Hmmm.
So, remember how I said my current computer has been healthy and running well for close to 7 years? Well this weekend I got my first virus.
So this weekend I spent cleaning that out. I think it’s all gone now, but the last thing I feel like doing at the moment is reading about computer hardware.
Winners for this weekend:
Malwarebytes - For getting rid of the virus, although it took several run thoughs. Also big props for allowing install and run in safe mode. And speaking of…
Windows XP Safe Mode - The virus wasn’t able to do anything while in safe mode, and I was able clear most of it out. And finally…
The Virus creators - Because the amount it did in a very short time was impressive.
The Loosers for the weekend
Windows XP Security- The first thing the virus did was delete all my system restore points. Windows firewall was on.
Symantec Endpoint - Didn’t find jack shit at any point of the infection, while auto protect was on. Goodbye Symantec.
Firefox - First issue I have had in 5+ years, but it was a big one.
Java - The virus most likely used java to get in, and it sat in the java cache.
Well I went to Microcenter tonight. The place was packed. If you are a geek and a man. Its one of two places you are haunting now. Lowes or a place like Microcenter. I took the latter. (BTW the Lowes was in the same parking lot so its a two for.
). Was juggling parts for the DVR rebuild I’m doing. I have a working win 7 system now thats more of an experiment. In the end all I picked up as a 2tb deskstar (wha Deathstar) HD. Gonna throw it in the running machine to get more recording space. As of now running all of it on 250GB hd I have had for years. I soo wanted to pick up a thermaltake HTPC case but 200+ for the case just made me queasy.
Oh well when the return from my taxes comes in. I think I’ll be doing it right.
Ok, lets talk power supplies. I’m going to get this now since I need one for my old computer, and that is one of the few things that is “compatable” so to speak. When i get the rest if the new computer I will move it over.
Based on what I think I will need for the new computer, I want to get between 550 and 600 watts total. I need to do some more research, but any help on specific brands or models would be appreciated. Thanks!
These are the two PSUs I am deciding between:
SeaSonic X650 Gold 650W
Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W
Both look excellent, the Seasonic is about $50 more expensive. While I’m sure its a little better I don’t know if it is worth $50 more. What do you all think?
Either should be good. I have Antec in my system it’s a champ. Haven’t heard anything bad about Seasonic. Biggest decider is what you are using the system for. Ultimate gamer with 6 core cpu and dual gpu’s then the more power the better. If you want to save a lil go for the antec other wise it’s your preference.
BTW that HD I picked up is a great paper weight. Seems i’m out of screws for the case I have. The HD cages have extended screws that I don’t have at the moment. Called the company and waiting for the mail to get them. Oh well.:o
Ending up going with a Seasonic X750 Gold, which is 750 watts instead of 650. Discussed it with a couple of my co-workeds and decided that 750 watts was a safer bet then 650, especially if I want to do SLI in the future.
I kind of want a Hitachi hard drive just so I can tell people I have a DESKSTAR!
Look at the size of that thing!
I just hope the thermal exhaust system doesn’t have a design flaw.
Nah, I have the ports for water cooling before I have that problem.
New Power Supply is installed and running in the old computer. Its way over powered for the box it is in now, but because it is running so cool, the fan doesn’t even need to turn on. 
Pretty sweet having a zero noise PSU.
For those of you who have used Intel chips in the past, do you guys think it is worth getting a 3rd party CPU cooler/fan? I am hearing mixed reviews on the cooler/fans sent by Intel with the Sandy Brige chips. I am not planning to overclock this, but I do want to get the best performance, and maybe more importantly low noise levels.
I’ve always used fans that came with the CPU. But, I don’t overclock. Until I started playing STO, I’ve never had an issue. Since STO, my motherboard says the CPU is overheating, but I think it’s a sensor misread.
I’ve always used fans that came with the CPU. But, I don’t overclock. Until I started playing STO, I’ve never had an issue. Since STO, my motherboard says the CPU is overheating, but I think it’s a sensor misread.
How was the noise level with the Sandy Bridge stock cooler?
Also, why would STO be giving you a problem and not other games? The requirments don’t look to be that steep.
I have 40%/60% hearing lost in either ear. Noise level never bothered me other than noticing my ATI X1800 fans spin up/down when I start/stop a game.
For STO, I wish I knew. It’s very confusing.
Unfortunatly measuring noise can pretty difficult, and can be somewhat subjective. I’ll assume the STO thing is an anomoly, but that still doesn’t answer the question of if I need to get a third party cooler.
Let me ask this instead. How difficult is it to remove a fan and cooler once it has been mounted?
I’ll be more direct. If you do not overclock, do not get a third party cooler. If you overclock, then you may want to get one.
I’ve only removed a stock fan/cpu once. The CPU came off with the fan. But, this was more than 6 years ago. So any advice I can give on that topic is limited. d:
The replacement sandy bridge motherboards are out and mine came via UPS today.
It took me 14 hours to set up my PC myself. I have friends who could help me replace it. But, I think I’m going to take my pc and new motherboard to Bestbuy to get switched. They say it’ll cost $100 and I’ll have to let them keep it overnight though.
When I went to talk to Geek Squad, Greta was not there unfortunately.
Nice, I saw on Newegg that MSI, Biostar, Gigabyte and Asus all have boards out. Who is missing? Intel still I guess, but I probably wasn’t getting theirs.
Anyway, I’m still kinda at square one with the boards. I know I want at least 2 PCI-E slots, but not sure about too much else. What kinda features should I look for?
EDIT: Also I want it to support way more RAM then it sounds like anyone could possibly need, becuase that is probably how much I will want towards the end of this boards lifetime.
Tbh, you should just pick the best board with the features you want at your price range. There are reviews that will tell you performance differences, but in most cases the differences are so minor that you may as well go cheap.
Having said that, I ignored what I said and went with a feature rich board that had a 5 year warranty. d: Asus Sabertooth P67. The warranty was important to me. In fact, many of my components have 5 year or lifetime warranties.
I’ll link videos that explains Asus Sandy Bridge line…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlA2gR8cfVQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoL6SQsZ3qY
The other manufacturers has similar lines of progression, features and price. So, I these videos help.
For features, the UEFI (bios) is good. But, only a few brands, if any anymore, lacked it. Other than that, most other features are standard depending on brand and price point. Some brands may have particular features on a more expensive or less expensive board in their line.
I have 16 gigs of RAM and it’s enough/too much. d: Eventually, 8 gig sticks should be coming out and these boards can already support 32 gigs of RAM. But as of February, 16 gigs seemed the max.
How much were you thinking of?