TomFum wrote:Its not important but it just makes things alot easier when you come to do a reinstall of windows, be it because you get a virus that kills your system or be it because you just wanna reinstall to tidy things up (i do mine every 6months or so), you dont have to re-download all of your games ( i have over 100 on my steam) again as there all on a different hard drive. Theres one thing you need to do which is make a copy of all your saved games but other than that its just easier.
See what im saying??
On this note.
Once you've set up your PC how you want it, and before you start installing too much stuff on there, Make yourself a windows backup/recovery disc. put it into a case and place it into the bottom of your pc case.
Then 6 months down the line when windows is running slow and bogged down, you have a recovery DVD in an easy place to find.
I presume it wasn't sold on the premise of being a gaming machine!? Laptop cards do struggle with performance compared to desktop versions, even really expensive gaming laptops. It would be quite a feat to get them competitive, new GPUs are nearly as big as a laptop now!
RoboticMonk3y wrote:...put it into a case and place it into the bottom of your pc case...
magicjoef wrote:I presume it wasn't sold on the premise of being a gaming machine!? Laptop cards do struggle with performance compared to desktop versions, even really expensive gaming laptops. It would be quite a feat to get them competitive, new GPUs are nearly as big as a laptop now!
Nah, but I did want 3D graphics to run some PC-specific games. Starcraft II and Civ V both run reasonably, for instance.
Once you've set up your PC how you want it, and before you start installing too much stuff on there, Make yourself a windows backup/recovery disc. put it into a case and place it into the bottom of your pc case.
Then 6 months down the line when windows is running slow and bogged down, you have a recovery DVD in an easy place to find.
Never done this myself, its good advice but i would rather do a fresh install because if you do a recovery disk your still going over whats on there rather than actually wiping and formatting so theres absolutely no chance of anything coming back
iwatttfodiwwfa wrote:Nah, but I did want 3D graphics to run some PC-specific games. Starcraft II and Civ V both run reasonably, for instance.
I really dont see the point in wanting 3D on a PC due to its high frame rates with a descent set up but thats your preference, but if you want this your deff gonna need money as 3D monitors are still expensive and your better off going the SLI/Crossfire route as its less stressful on your PC. Just my opinion
Tom, I don't think James is referring to 3D as in the kind thing that requires special glasses and gives people headaches. I think he just means 3D video acceleration.
I might actually be selling my HD 5850, if anyone is interested just send me a PM. I don't want a load for it, just looking for a bit to put towards an upgrade I've nearly talked myself into! :\
It still ranks pretty well and will play pretty much anything at 1920 x 1080 at very good mid to high settings.
PlexShaw wrote:I don't think James is referring to 3D as in the kind thing that requires special glasses and gives people headaches. I think he just means 3D video acceleration.
Spot on, Paul. Thanks for setting straight my confusingly worded statement. I'm still stuck in turn-of-the-century PC gaming when having 3D acceleration was a big deal. 'Discrete graphics' would have been a better description.
I went ahead and ordered that SSD and it should be here in a day or two. Any tips before i go ahead and do the whole install windows 7 shenanigans? Anything I need to check or whatnot from windows?
i'm going to be installing Windows 7 using this method as I can't locate my Win 7 Disc but do have my serial no
I put a basket together on eBuyer to approximate (as best I could) the Tom's Hardware $1000 system from August (here). Needless to say, at £946.02, it's a little beyond my £500 budget. Hmm, time for a rethink perhaps, because that system looks very nice indeed.
Seriously though, advice on the components (especially the capture card - is this a decent option?) would be moist gratefully received. [I'm leaving that typographic error right where it is!]
Is there anything that stands out as unnecessary or inadequate? Thanks muchly.
The only thing I'd worry about it relying on WiFi.. 15 years in IT have taught me to trust WiFi as far as you can throw it I prefer a good old fashioned Cat-5 cable myself, and where it's not local to the machine some Ethernet over mains HomePlug. Fire and Forget.
TomFum wrote:Nice set up dude, i hope you brought this. I dont see why you would want to overclock it as it will be fine as it is, but each to there own.
The i5 3570s are very overclockable as the mid-range Intels always tend to be, more power with zero instability. I have mine notched to 4.4Ghz just from the in-built ASUS switch.
TomFum wrote:Nice set up dude, i hope you brought this. I dont see why you would want to overclock it as it will be fine as it is, but each to there own.
The i5 3570s are very overclockable as the mid-range Intels always tend to be, more power with zero instability. I have mine notched to 4.4Ghz just from the in-built ASUS switch.
That's exactly the speed I'm looking at. Probably overkill, but since it's so easily doable I want to see what effect it has.
As for the Wi-Fi, I'll have the ability to trail a cable across the floor if playing online, but I don't want that to be permanent. I'll take a look at ethernet over mains though as, like you, I'm wary of wireless.
I've got my gaming pc connected to the LAN through homeplugs and even with the old 80mb plugs I have it has never missed a beat, well worth doing if you have no option to run a cable
Guy_JD wrote:I've got my gaming pc connected to the LAN through homeplugs and even with the old 80mb plugs I have it has never missed a beat, well worth doing if you have no option to run a cable
I'm interested in setting this up in the house, router is on the ground floor plugged into the master BT socket, PS3/Xbox/PC on the middle floor and wifey's PC on the top floor.
Any good packages you'd recommend for use on BT Infinity 2? House was bought from new and is less than 5 yrs old (if that info helps at all).
I'm thinking of upgrading my graphics card but unsure what to get. I'm finding I'm playing more PC games now I have it hooked up to my TV and would like to play games on high or ultra if possible. I have an I3 processer, 8 gb of RAM, SSD, Radeon HD 5770 and Win 7. I was thinking of upgrading the graphics card to a GTX 660? I don't want to spend more than £200.
I prefer a good old fashioned Cat-5 cable myself, and where it's not local to the machine some Ethernet over mains HomePlug. Fire and Forget.