Looking to build a new PC [EDIT: Built]

[lordmissus]

lol

[odditude]

no real suggestions here; your picks are reasonable.

only comment is amd's just starting a refresh cycle on video cards; i'd try and hold out until the 5750's successor hits. you'll either get a faster card or a cheaper 5750. can't guarantee when it's going to hit, though - could be before the holidays, could be well into q2.

[Deathlike2]

Is hard drive performance important to you? You selected a power saving drive... which tends to be a 5400RPM drive of some sort. If boot or load times is not important to you, then feel free to disregard my question.

[lordmissus]

lol

[odditude]

going with an RE4 is a waste - the firmware's tooled towards better performance in a RAID array (don't keep trying on errors, just say it's broke and let the RAID controller handle the mess). stick with a caviar blue (mainstream) or black (enthusiast) drive. given your overall component selection and the general performance characteristics of current wd drives, i'd say go blue. if you really want a faster drive, go with a 640GB black. either way, you're saving money; with the black, you're also probably a little faster. whether the difference between the black and the blue is perceptible to you is going to depend on how disk-bound your regular usage is. i would indeed avoid going with a green on the system drive of anything but a budgetbox.

also, don't be too surprised if the single-slot cooler on that 5770 has a bit of a whine to it. most 5770s have dual-slot coolers; there's a good chance the compromise here is cranking the hell out of the fan speed.

RAM on backorder is generally a sign of EOL, but that DHX stuff is currently showing as in-stock at Amazon (US), so it might just be out there. i haven't really paid any attention to neither DDR3 nor Clarkdale overclocking in general, so i can't really comment on the appropriateness of those sticks. that being said, over $20 just for the damn DHX sinks..?

...backtracking for a second, this is a Clarkdale build, no? Sandy Bridge is also right around the corner, and performance characteristics are looking to be an impressive improvement over Clarkdale. expected release is Q1 (likely during IDF in January).

speaking of amazon, don't be afraid of looking there for tech parts - just because they're not tech-focused doesn't mean they aren't a solid retailer. prices can be all over the board - either absurdly high OR absurdly low - so sometimes you can get crazy deals. plus, their customer service is EXCELLENT. (my most recent amazon tech purchases have been my desktop's CPU, mobo, and video card last year, as well as my laptop 6 months ago).

minor derp edit: tabs are closed with / not \

[lordmissus]

lol

[Deathlike2]

I too would like NCQ on the hard drive, but it really isn't a deciding factor in performance... it's more useful depending on the loads you are doing really. Although, I'm not a fan of WD and would personally avoid them (I'm a crazy Maxtor/Seagate guy, so bleh).

You don't really need SATA 6Gbps for non-SSDs unless you're planning on RAID. However, you should have some consideration for SATA 6Gbps and USB 3.0 on the mobo though, given future-proofing to a limited extent.

[lordmissus]

lol

[Deathlike2]

The latter is more ideal, given concerns for future proofing (also, from what I gather, USB 3.0 devices can't run on USB 2.0 ports, it's not like USB 2.0 on 1.1 ports where it just runs at lower bandwidth, so more expense on the motherboard might be wise).

USB is all about backwards compatibility (like SATA), so it will work. The only device that isn't as favorable for USB2, than a USB3 connection would be an external USB hard drive... because hard drives are more than capable to maxing out the USB2 bandwidth (IIRC flash drives are within the same vicinity).

Though, with USB 3.0, I'm sure there are or will be expansion cards for adding USB3 support to a PC. Probably using PCI-E.

There will be, but the general issue is that most PCI-E x1 slots are ver1, not ver2. This problem has been described before and will hinder the maximum bandwidth required for USB3.

[lordmissus]

lol

[I.S.T.]

no real suggestions here; your picks are reasonable.

only comment is amd's just starting a refresh cycle on video cards; i'd try and hold out until the 5750's successor hits. you'll either get a faster card or a cheaper 5750. can't guarantee when it's going to hit, though - could be before the holidays, could be well into q2.

AMD is not planning on replacing the Juniper based cards with this latest generation.

[odditude]

SATA 6G is pointless unless you're going with an SSD. there isn't a single mechanical drive on the market that can saturate a SATA 3G connection, and there isn't likely ever to be one. </deadhorse> that being said, any current 6G drives will work quite happily in a 3G port - so don't worry about 6G drive and non-6G mobo.

i'm as big a fan of WD as DL seems to dislike them. ask a hundred people, get a hundred opinions.

i wouldn't be concerned about the cooling on that XFX card; just the noise. some people (me!) want their machine to be as quiet as possible, and will go out of their way to get parts that run more quietly.

i'd be nervous about a used CPU, personally. there's a reason it was returned, and there's a decent chance it wasn't buyer's remorse. in general, i'm not a fan of used "core" hardware unless i personally know the seller.

as for whether AMD will be a viable option in the future... *shakes magic 8-ball* "ask again later." at the moment, they own the budget arena on a pure price/performance ratio, but are barely competitive in the midrange and literally have no competition in the performance and enthusiast arenas. once bulldozer and llano hit, and sandy bridge hits on the intel side, the world will look again.

[lordmissus]

lol

[lordmissus]

lol

[Gil_Hamilton]

None beyond "LOL THERMALTAKE"

[odditude]

None beyond "LOL THERMALTAKE"

they're less laughable then they used to be; however, their spinoff Thermalright usually has more... reasonable... products.
---
lordmister, i'd recommend taking a look at some of the cooler reviews over at SPCR.

[lordmissus]

lol

[Gil_Hamilton]

None beyond "LOL THERMALTAKE"

they're less laughable then they used to be; however, their spinoff Thermalright usually has more... reasonable... products.
---
lordmister, i'd recommend taking a look at some of the cooler reviews over at SPCR.

You sure Thermalright is a Thermaltake spinoff?

Because they seem to be pretty much the exact opposite of Thermaltake in just about every respect, and searching for Thermaltake spinoff coughs Cogage up, but not Thermalright.

[odditude]

You sure Thermalright is a Thermaltake spinoff?

i could've sworn i read that a few years back when Thermalright first appeared... possibly it was just a bad rumor OR old age is getting to me :p

[Gil_Hamilton]

You sure Thermalright is a Thermaltake spinoff?

i could've sworn i read that a few years back when Thermalright first appeared... possibly it was just a bad rumor OR old age is getting to me :p

My guess is you read it about Cogage, and over the years, the name similarity made Thermalright drift into that spot.

[lordmissus]

lol

[adventure_of_link]

Sounds like you came out ahead a tad with this new apprenticeship... congrats on it!

if you survive the apprenticeship, will that lead on to a future job at the company, or are they gonna throw your ass out the door after the ten weeks are up?

[lordmissus]

lol

[lordmissus]

lol

[kode54]

Should'a gone with a Sandy Bridge instead.