City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Building Comp...Stumped

Father Xmas

By Father Xmas,
Posted on: 2010-11-17 11:19 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs

 

Posted

Hey folks,

Hope all is well.

If you have been gracious to help me out in the past, thank you (notably Je_Saist and Father XMas). And to all, if I do not respond quickly, it's because of work.

**Note**I live in a country without Newegg or such, but any suggestions are truly appreciated. As I "may" be able to find recommended parts.

I am just about to post my final draft for my first ever self-made gaming rig that I am dying to play COX on. However, a few curve balls...

1. Purchasing a GTX460 1Gb card of choice, but I have a Sony Trinitron CRT monitor with D-SUB (a.k.a. VGA). And I plan to keep my monitor. Just wondering how an adapter such as a DVI-I or DVI-A will affect me? I know LCD monitor typically take the brunt of compatibility issues. Being CRT, things should be ok, right?

Minor issues are no concern to me. But if there is going to be tremendous issues, I'll get a HD 6850 with D-SUB/VGA.

2. CPU Cooler-which to pick for Phenom II x4 965 BE@3.4GHZ stock with possible "mild" future overclocking.

Ranking of two choices below http://www.bestcovery.com/best-amd-heatsink-fan

A) 3Rsystem Iceage 120 Boss II (Top pick for AMD CPU's with manual fan control only) http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2461&page=1

B) Zalman CNPS1OX Extreme (Ranked two spots below from above choice with "BIOS" fan control settings and a manual switch) http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2475&page=1

3. PSU Choices:

Right now, no overclocking CPU or GPU.However, "if I learn" correctly, will overclock Phenom II x4 965 BE and, either, GTX 460 or HD 6850. Overclocking will be mild.

Whatever PSU I choose, I will make sure it is atleast 80 plus. If I can, I can pickup a Bronze or Gold certified pending wattage/brand. Just unsure of wattage for "now and later".

Right now I assume 600-650 watts? Later...

Any advice given is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Posted

Overclocking and you - a voice of experience.

If you overclock you may shorten the life of the component you OC or your system. It may also make it less stable.

When I OC a CPU I watch the temperature of the core as I do it. I will bump it up a couple of hundred MHZ at a time until it either is unstable or the temperature raises. Once the temperature raises, I personally stop.

The temperature shows it is straining at that speed, I don't like a system that is straining just running without a load and so I stop at the highest speed that doesn't increase temps.

I do the same with video cards and I have never had a component burn out

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by HwaRang View Post
Hey folks,

Hope all is well.

If you have been gracious to help me out in the past, thank you (notably Je_Saist and Father XMas). And to all, if I do not respond quickly, it's because of work.

**Note**I live in a country without Newegg or such, but any suggestions are truly appreciated. As I "may" be able to find recommended parts.

I am just about to post my final draft for my first ever self-made gaming rig that I am dying to play COX on. However, a few curve balls...

1. Purchasing a GTX460 1Gb card of choice, but I have a Sony Trinitron CRT monitor with D-SUB (a.k.a. VGA). And I plan to keep my monitor. Just wondering how an adapter such as a DVI-I or DVI-A will affect me? I know LCD monitor typically take the brunt of compatibility issues. Being CRT, things should be ok, right?
I am aware of no particular problems in running CRT's from modern video cards. Both Nvidia and AMD specific fairly high quality RAMDAC's for use in their graphics cards. While you'll occasionally get a really poor picture quality on low-end add in cards, all of the GTX 460's on the market should drive a CRT without issue. Most vendors pack-in a DVI to VGA adapter.

Quote:
Minor issues are no concern to me. But if there is going to be tremendous issues, I'll get a HD 6850 with D-SUB/VGA.
I'd have different reasons for telling you to get a 6850, but it's your money.

Quote:
2. CPU Cooler-which to pick for Phenom II x4 965 BE@3.4GHZ stock with possible "mild" future overclocking.

Ranking of two choices below http://www.bestcovery.com/best-amd-heatsink-fan

A) 3Rsystem Iceage 120 Boss II (Top pick for AMD CPU's with manual fan control only) http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2461&page=1

B) Zalman CNPS1OX Extreme (Ranked two spots below from above choice with "BIOS" fan control settings and a manual switch) http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2475&page=1
Honestly, I don't have anything to add here since I haven't seriously approached the modern overclocking market since I haven't had the money to invest in overclocking products.

That being said, I have heard of the 3Rsystem from those who do overclock, and it probably is worth your money over the Zalman.


Quote:
3. PSU Choices:

Right now, no overclocking CPU or GPU.However, "if I learn" correctly, will overclock Phenom II x4 965 BE and, either, GTX 460 or HD 6850. Overclocking will be mild.

Whatever PSU I choose, I will make sure it is atleast 80 plus. If I can, I can pickup a Bronze or Gold certified pending wattage/brand. Just unsure of wattage for "now and later".

Right now I assume 600-650 watts? Later...

Any advice given is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Thermaltake has a B-Stock shop and I've gotten my last 4 power supplies from there, including the 850 watt power supplies that drive both my I7 Crossfire rig and my Phenom Triple SLI rig.

If it was my money on the line, I'd go for this thing: http://www.thermaltakestore.com/w030315.html

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by HwaRang View Post
1. Purchasing a GTX460 1Gb card of choice, but I have a Sony Trinitron CRT monitor with D-SUB (a.k.a. VGA). And I plan to keep my monitor. Just wondering how an adapter such as a DVI-I or DVI-A will affect me? I know LCD monitor typically take the brunt of compatibility issues. Being CRT, things should be ok, right?

Minor issues are no concern to me. But if there is going to be tremendous issues, I'll get a HD 6850 with D-SUB/VGA.
I can't think of a video card that doesn't come with a DVI to D-Sub dongle adapter when there isn't a D-Sub on the card itself but you should always double check. Needless to say you will be stuck with only the resolutions and refresh rates your monitor can support. That's why their are monitor drivers for Windows.

Quote:
2. CPU Cooler-which to pick for Phenom II x4 965 BE@3.4GHZ stock with possible "mild" future overclocking.

Ranking of two choices below http://www.bestcovery.com/best-amd-heatsink-fan

A) 3Rsystem Iceage 120 Boss II (Top pick for AMD CPU's with manual fan control only) http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2461&page=1

B) Zalman CNPS1OX Extreme (Ranked two spots below from above choice with "BIOS" fan control settings and a manual switch) http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2475&page=1
Those are two of the BEST heatsinks you can buy, they'll handle pretty much any sensible overclock you throw at them with ease.

Quote:
3. PSU Choices:

Right now, no overclocking CPU or GPU.However, "if I learn" correctly, will overclock Phenom II x4 965 BE and, either, GTX 460 or HD 6850. Overclocking will be mild.

Whatever PSU I choose, I will make sure it is atleast 80 plus. If I can, I can pickup a Bronze or Gold certified pending wattage/brand. Just unsure of wattage for "now and later".

Right now I assume 600-650 watts? Later...
Yes, always go with an 80 Plus rated PSU because you at least know it was tested at it's max rated wattage, not to mention that they are designed to be efficient which also means less waste heat from the PSU.

A stock clock HD 6850 max out at around 130 watts and a stock clock GTX 460 1GB is around 160 watts. The Phenom II X4 965BE is 125 watts (140 for the older version of it). So worse case there is 300 watts for the CPU and video card, bump it up by 50% for aggressive overclocking to 450 watts, toss in a generous 100 watts for everything else and that gives us 550 watts. In practical terms, you will never get close to that number. A nice 650 watt PSU with 520 or more watts available at 12 volts combined (43+ amps) will be fine.

Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components

Tempus unum hominem manet

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by HwaRang View Post
1. Purchasing a GTX460 1Gb card of choice, but I have a Sony Trinitron CRT monitor with D-SUB (a.k.a. VGA). And I plan to keep my monitor. Just wondering how an adapter such as a DVI-I or DVI-A will affect me? I know LCD monitor typically take the brunt of compatibility issues. Being CRT, things should be ok, right?
I'm using a GTX 460 just fine with a Viewsonic 19in. CRT (via the included DVI-to-VGA adapter). Any video card will work fine with a CRT, it's really a non-issue.

Quote:
2. CPU Cooler-which to pick for Phenom II x4 965 BE@3.4GHZ stock with possible "mild" future overclocking.

Ranking of two choices below http://www.bestcovery.com/best-amd-heatsink-fan

A) 3Rsystem Iceage 120 Boss II (Top pick for AMD CPU's with manual fan control only) http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2461&page=1

B) Zalman CNPS1OX Extreme (Ranked two spots below from above choice with "BIOS" fan control settings and a manual switch) http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2475&page=1
If you want to save a little money, yet still get decent overclock-friendly cooling, you can't go wrong with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus:

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6603

Quote:
3. PSU Choices:

Right now, no overclocking CPU or GPU.However, "if I learn" correctly, will overclock Phenom II x4 965 BE and, either, GTX 460 or HD 6850. Overclocking will be mild.

Whatever PSU I choose, I will make sure it is atleast 80 plus. If I can, I can pickup a Bronze or Gold certified pending wattage/brand. Just unsure of wattage for "now and later".

Right now I assume 600-650 watts? Later...

Any advice given is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I'd go with 650W, which would give you plenty of headroom (so the PSU doesn't have to work too hard) even with overclocking and future expansion. On a build not too different from yours, I actually went with a 750W, but then I will eventually have a ton of hard drives running on it. Brand-wise, Corsair is the best of the lot. Quality and reliability are key.

Hope this helps!

TargetOne

"If you two don't work this out RIGHT NOW, I'm turning this invasion around and going home!" - Emperor Cole