[QuinDINGDONGcey]

That whole package seems overkill. Especially the price.

[Helen Quill]

Hey guys, my friend is looking into getting a new computer. I've tried to convince him to build his own, but he says that it is not possible at all.

He's currently looking into http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6899114&Sku=SYX-1070 one, but I'm pretty sure there are better choices. Do one of you guys know a better pre-built computer for the same price or less?

That's a pretty terrible computer for that price. $1500, if building it yourself, could get 2 570s. So while I understand that he doesn't want to build it, that is DEFINITELY not a good buy. Also, convince him more.

[Michelle Serenity Boss]

So I am looking to buy a new laptop for college and well life after since I graduate soon. I want to spend at most $1000, though less is highly preferred, and I want to limit my purchases to Amazon, NewEgg, or a store if one exists nearby such as BestBuy or TigerDirect.

I want to be able to game on it though that will be a secondary use. Primary use will be programming and running virtual machines of various operating systems.

Anyone have any suggestions?

The Lenovo Ideapad Y560 is a pretty decent balance for a notebook and the Radeon 5730 can game, but be a bit friendly on the battery. .

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Ideapad-06465LU-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B004G60AQS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1298704174&sr=8-3
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-064654U-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B0040X4NT2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1298704174&sr=8-5

Available on newegg too, but might be a bit different on the specs...specifically the hard drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146848

Hey guys, my friend is looking into getting a new computer. I've tried to convince him to build his own, but he says that it is not possible at all.

He's currently looking into http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6899114&Sku=SYX-1070 one, but I'm pretty sure there are better choices. Do one of you guys know a better pre-built computer for the same price or less?

That PC you linked to is expensive for what you get....$1500 can get a LOT more than that. Intel's SandyBridge motherboards will be back on the market fairly soon and the custom-built PC sites should pick it up shortly after. CyberPowerPC is claiming to already have them in their configurations although I'm sure there will be a slight wait time for the boards to actually come in. Check them out though:
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/CyberPower_P67_Configurator/

The Essentials...

CPU: Core i5 2500K or i7 2600K....definitely pick a better cooler than the stock one.
MOBO: Asus P8P67, P8P67 Pro....or....GigaByte GA-P67A-UD4
RAM: 4GB or 8GB DDR3 1600MHz
GPU: 2GB Radeon 6950 or 6970....or....GTX 570 or GTX 580
PSU: Corsair 650W at least.....stick with Corsair brand.


Everything else is on you/him.

[Jesus Sanchez]

Quick question! My side case fan (140mm) has started making odd rattle-trap noises. I think the bearing might have come loose, or it's got a hairball stuck somewhere it shouldn't. (...I have cats. It's shedding season. I swear! :ninja: ) I'll look into those possibilities first, but on the off-chance that I would need a new case fan, which of these three would you recommend?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835228017&cm_re=green_led_case_fan-_-35-228-017-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233055&cm_re=green_led_case_fan-_-35-233-055-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835130022&cm_re=140mm_case_fan-_-35-130-022-_-Product

I'm not familiar with any of the brands, but they were the only 140mm green LED case fans I could find on Newegg. (My current case fan has green LEDs, and all my other case lights are green, so...I'd like to stick with the theme I've got going.) The Coolmax one looks like the fan I've got in the case currently, but I can't say for sure, and Xion's customer service is...less than helpful on that front.

Thanks!

[elliot mudd]

The Lenovo Ideapad Y560 is a pretty decent balance for a notebook and the Radeon 5730 can game, but be a bit friendly on the battery. .

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Ideapad-06465LU-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B004G60AQS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1298704174&sr=8-3
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-064654U-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B0040X4NT2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1298704174&sr=8-5

Available on newegg too, but might be a bit different on the specs...specifically the hard drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146848

Those look decent. Do you have any other suggestions? Will 4gb of RAM be sufficient for running virtual machines as well? My current laptop has 3gb and some like Windows 7 have a bit of an issue when I give them 1gb.

[Smokey]

I'm looking for ways to keep my computer cool, it's not overheating or anything but it's still a bit higher than I'd like. My computer sits beneath a window so I was thinking about bringing cool air from the outside to cool the computer which would obviously be problematic due to the moisture in the air... What can I do to prevent moisture damage? Is this even viable?

[Jaki Birch]

Quick question! My side case fan (140mm) has started making odd rattle-trap noises. I think the bearing might have come loose, or it's got a hairball stuck somewhere it shouldn't. (...I have cats. It's shedding season. I swear! :ninja: ) I'll look into those possibilities first, but on the off-chance that I would need a new case fan, which of these three would you recommend?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835228017&cm_re=green_led_case_fan-_-35-228-017-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233055&cm_re=green_led_case_fan-_-35-233-055-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835130022&cm_re=140mm_case_fan-_-35-130-022-_-Product

I'm not familiar with any of the brands, but they were the only 140mm green LED case fans I could find on Newegg. (My current case fan has green LEDs, and all my other case lights are green, so...I'd like to stick with the theme I've got going.) The Coolmax one looks like the fan I've got in the case currently, but I can't say for sure, and Xion's customer service is...less than helpful on that front.

Thanks!

OoOoO...Shiny Neon Lights . Out of those three, the Xigmatek easily. If it didn't need the LEDs, I'd probably suggest something from Scythe, but that Xigmatek got some nice noise level specs for the air it can push.

Those look decent. Do you have any other suggestions? Will 4gb of RAM be sufficient for running virtual machines as well? My current laptop has 3gb and some like Windows 7 have a bit of an issue when I give them 1gb.

This would have been a stellar deal, but unsurprisingly out of stock:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152204&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3640576&SID=skim525X832Xd7ac50b4f70da0238666bdd548f3e98c

For great battery life and a mid-range video card (with switchable graphics for the battery), the Acer Aspire TimelineX is a solid choice with a slightly lesser card than the Radeonn 5730:
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-TimelineX-AS4820TG-6847-14-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B004G6005Y/ref=dp_cp_ob_pc_title_1

For customizable options, check XoticPC:
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5160-custom-laptop-built-the-clevo-w150hn-p-2999.html?wconfigure=yes...GT 540M about on par with Radeon 6550m, but processor is nice.
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5170-custom-laptop-built-the-clevo-w170hn-p-3000.html?wconfigure=yes

I'm looking for ways to keep my computer cool, it's not overheating or anything but it's still a bit higher than I'd like. My computer sits beneath a window so I was thinking about bringing cool air from the outside to cool the computer which would obviously be problematic due to the moisture in the air... What can I do to prevent moisture damage? Is this even viable?

I can't really recommend the idea of trying to control raw air from the outside that isn't controllable or predictable in the first place when it comes to humidity.

[Flesh Tunnel]

Hey guys.

A pretty big question here so I'm hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I'm looking to overclock my CPU finally (something I've been afraid to do for years). I have no idea where to start!

My system:

CPU: E8400 dual core at 3.0Ghz - I'd like to overclock this to 4.0ghz if possible
GPU: NVIDIA GTS250 1GB GDDR3
4gb GDDR2 Ram at 800Mhz
Motherboard: MSI P35 Neo

Cheers!

[biiibi]

Will a Geforce 460GTX (768mb) work on an Asus P5K Premium Mobo? I know P5K does not support PCIe 2.0 but someone told me that the PCIe 2.0 GPUs are backwards compatible, now I know that if it actually works it will bottleneck but its totally better than a 9400GT.

The thing about Israel is that our hardware prices are all whack because of the taxes so it will actually cost me less to buy a 460GTX instead of a 8800/9800GT or a 260GTX, so as long as it will run good even if it bottlenecks I'm willing to buy it and I'll just upgrade my mobo when I have the cash for it...

Thanks.

My rig right now is --

9400GT 512mb
Intel Q6600 2.4Ghz
2 Gigs of DDR2 800Mhz Ram
Asus P5K Premium

I can actually afford 2 more gigs of ram, yay :sadvaultboy:

[Lucie H]

Sorry if this has already been posted, but has anyone installed Windows 7 Service Pack 1, yet? I'm haven't issues getting it to install via Windows Update.

I installed it the other day. I downloaded it from Microsoft's site and just distributed it throughout my network to all my Windows 7 machines. It took about 40 minutes to download and install but it seems to work fine. I have yet to update my primary desktop though. I have been running SP1 beta from about June of last year and it has worked fine for me.

[Matt Gammond]

Will a Geforce 460GTX (768mb) work on an Asus P5K Premium Mobo? now I know P5K does not support PCIe 2.0 but someone told me that the PCIe cards are backwards compatible, now I know that if it actually works it will bottleneck but its totally better than a 9400GT.

...so as long as it will run good even if it bottlenecks I'm willing to buy it and I'll just upgrade my mobo when I have the cash for it...

You will have no issues with PCI-E 1.0 vs 2.0. They are indeed backwards compatible and it will work.

You are correct it will be bottlenecked buy the CPU. If you have it in you to over clock the CPU it would really help. I'd aim for 3.0GHz.

The extra 2GB will help when gaming. 4GB is the sweet spot for gaming.

[Marta Wolko]

Also, using a PCIe 2.0 GPU on a PCIe 1.X mobo, do I lose a lot of juice there or does it not even matter because of the CPU bottleneck?

Thanks for the fast reply btw

[neil slattery]

Also, using a PCIe 2.0 GPU on a PCIe 1.X mobo, do I lose a lot of juice there or does it not even matter because of the CPU bottleneck?

Thanks for the fast reply btw

You will lose maybe 2-3% of the performance. The CPU is the bigger issue. OCing it to 3.0GHz+ would definitely help the system over all. (340x9=3060MHz for example.)

My pleasure.

[Samantha hulme]

Yeah I'll OC it a bit but not too much, I'm extremely paranoid.

I have lots of bad luck with stuff like that

[Sebrina Johnstone]

I am in need of a headphone suggestion. They are for a friend of mine. I tried suggesting the Stanton DJ Pro 3K M2 to him, but I remembered he said he wanted something not too prone to damage. He also is looking for a pair that he will use mainly for music, so no mic. He listens to mainly electronic with deep bass, most notably dub. The price needs to be lower than 120USD, as well. If anyone could make a suggestion, it'd be appreciated. ^.^

[sam smith]

Hey guys.

A pretty big question here so I'm hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I'm looking to overclock my CPU finally (something I've been afraid to do for years). I have no idea where to start!

My system:

CPU: E8400 dual core at 3.0Ghz - I'd like to overclock this to 4.0ghz if possible
GPU: NVIDIA GTS250 1GB GDDR3
4gb GDDR2 Ram at 800Mhz
Motherboard: MSI P35 Neo

Cheers!

I highly suggest heading over to http://www.overclock.net/intel/ and searching for results there for your chip and that particular board in the Intel CPU/Motherboard sections. There are also lots of helpful stickies there to get you acquainted with overclocking. You can even google those components with "overclock.net" tags and see what threads show up. If you're willing, sign up for an account there and post your question...there are many experienced users there willing to point you to the right direction for your specific chip and board. I'm sure if you look hard enough, there are probably some guides for newbies such as yourself....but definitely research before doing anything.

I've never used that board before so not entirely sure of its options. I've OCed a E6750 in the past to 3.2GHz on a Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R board, but it was a simple bump of FSB for me with absolutely no voltage change. For a E8400 to hit 4.0GHz, you''ll most certainly have to adjust voltage for the CPU. You'll also need a better cooler to reach that if you're still using stock. And the quality of RAM will play a factor for this line of CPUs....you're not going to get much on ValueRAM or generic RAM. And it's not a guarantee that you'll reach 4.0GHz....3.6GHz is common...I believe there are different steppings for this chip. Not all chips are the same... different OCing potential for each one. Anyways, voltage and temperatures will be monitored the most when stress testing and you must be very careful with both.

I typically do at least 10 hour runs of prime95 (blend, then Small FFTs) and 10 runs of IntelBurnTest (IBT) on maximum. If I pass those, I consider myself to be stable. For CPU temperature monitoring, RealTempGT is useful. For voltage monitoring, CPU-Z. I will at least provide you with links for stress and monitoring tools:

http://www.overclock.net/downloads/137251-prime95-8.html
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
http://majorgeeks.com/IntelBurnTest_d5987.html...some people prefer using LinX over this
http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

I am in need of a headphone suggestion. They are for a friend of mine. I tried suggesting the Stanton DJ Pro 3K M2 to him, but I remembered he said he wanted something not too prone to damage. He also is looking for a pair that he will use mainly for music, so no mic. He listens to mainly electronic with deep bass, most notably dub. The price needs to be lower than 120USD, as well. If anyone could make a suggestion, it'd be appreciated. ^.^

Try Audio Technica ATH-M50S:
http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50S-Studio-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B000ULAP4U

Pretty highly recommended for that price range.

[Ronald]

Hey, I'm back
Anyways, I have a tech question! (obviously)

In short:
I want this http://store.turtlebeach.com/ps3pcchatadaptercable-cab.aspx, but their sold out right now.
So would combining this http://www.amazon.com/2-5mm-Mobile-Headset-PC-Converter/dp/B000IZCUTQ with this http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Mini-Stereo-Cable-2-5mm-mimi/dp/B0013JV8E4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1299256908&sr=1-1 have the same effect?

Story:
I have a headset for my Xbox 360, which I want to use for my PC, its the Turtle Beach x31 headset. Problem is, Turtle Beach is out of stock on their "http://store.turtlebeach.com/ps3pcchatadaptercable-cab.aspx", and idk when it will be in stock, and im not very patient. Plus, if my theory works, i'll save money. So anyways, as you can see (or read) that cable is just a 2.5mm male to PC Audio and PC Mic (3.5mms). The 2.5mm end plugs into the headset, then obviously the PC parts go to my PC. Well, I looked around to try to find another one, then ran into this. Another "http://www.amazon.com/2-5mm-Mobile-Headset-PC-Converter/dp/B000IZCUTQ". Only problem with that (that I can see) is the fact that its female 2.5mm, and I need 3.5mm. So I get a http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Mini-Stereo-Cable-2-5mm-mimi/dp/B0013JV8E4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1299256908&sr=1-1. So will the two cables from Amazon work like the cable from the Turtle Beach website would?

edit: I lied when I said "the only problem I see", because I noticed that the color on the 2.5mm to PC adapter is red on one of the plugs? It's usually pink I though. I don't have a red input port on my PC. Is that just random coloring, or does that have an effect on the cable?

[Alexandra Ryan]

It seems the SATA II ports on my sandy bridge motherboard have already failed. I have my HDD and SDD connected to ports 0 and 1 and they work fine, but my DVD and BD drives are no longer being detected.

I got an email yesterday from Newegg, saying they have started receiving replacements; any speculation on whether you have to send your old one back first though? (PC downtime svcks)

[Miranda Taylor]

In a few months I will be getting a laptop for college, and though I've always used Macs, I've been thinking about getting a laptop that I could use for some gaming (and by gaming I mean Skyrim). Up until now, I've always played Xbox 360, but something tells me that I'm not going to want to share a TV with a roommate once Skyrim comes out, but having my own TV would be a little excessive perhaps? So playing on a laptop would be nice in that respect and of course for mods as well. I'd probably still use a 360 controller, because I've heard that's possible and I'm not really a fan of the mouse and keyboard arrangement. Anyway, I'm working with limited finances of course, so I was just wondering if it would be possible to get something that will run Skyrim decently (comparable to how Oblivion was on 360, maybe a little bit better). Unfortunately, my computer knowledge is pretty limited. I've been looking at the Dell XPS 15 and was just wondering if someone could tell me if it is possible to set this up to meet my needs and how. I'll probably need to keep things below or around $1,500 if possible. And if I'm hoping for the impossible, just let me know. And feel free to recommend other laptops as well.

This is the customization page for the laptop: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dndodq1&cs=19&dgvcode=ss&c=US&l=EN&dgc=SS&cid=39716&lid=1003784

[El Goose]

snip

I'm hoping you meant 1,500usd?

I highly suggest G73JW and if that's to expensive, the G53JW from ASUS ROG. It's amongst the best you can get plus it's from ASUS so you know it has good build quality, epsecially considering it's from ROG

[Karen anwyn Green]

I'm hoping you meant 1,500usd?

I highly suggest G73JW and if that's to expensive, the G53JW from ASUS ROG. It's amongst the best you can get plus it's from ASUS so you know it has good build quality, epsecially considering it's from ROG

Haha, oops, major typo. And thanks, looking up the ASUS now . . .

Edit: Looked it up and like what I saw. Should http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220861&nm_mc=OTC-C173T&cm_mmc=OTC-C173T-_-Notebooks-_-ASUS-_-34220861 be able to do all I need? And of course the other qualifications for the computer would be to handle all my college needs, but I'd assume that won't be a problem. And of course I won't be buying anything for a few more months.

[JR Cash]

It seems the SATA II ports on my sandy bridge motherboard have already failed. I have my HDD and SDD connected to ports 0 and 1 and they work fine, but my DVD and BD drives are no longer being detected.

I got an email yesterday from Newegg, saying they have started receiving replacements; any speculation on whether you have to send your old one back first though? (PC downtime svcks)

I have no idea if they are going to cross-ship. Might want to call them, or ask on their forums.

[Jennie Skeletons]

Haha, oops, major typo. And thanks, looking up the ASUS now . . .

Edit: Looked it up and like what I saw. Should http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220861&nm_mc=OTC-C173T&cm_mmc=OTC-C173T-_-Notebooks-_-ASUS-_-34220861 be able to do all I need? And of course the other qualifications for the computer would be to handle all my college needs, but I'd assume that won't be a problem. And of course I won't be buying anything for a few more months.

Exactly. It's slightly under 1500usd and you get good bang for buck. With a GTX 460M I'm pretty sure you'll be able to run Skyrim at high, so at better settings than in the Xbox 360. As for College, gaming laptops are the most powerful laptops you can buy so it should be able to fulfill all college needs.

If you can wait though I suggest buying a future model of this laptop closer to Skyrim's release date (that way you would probably be able to play in maxed out settings, minus AA), however if due to college you need it now you could just buy it the current version.

[Bedford White]

Exactly. It's slightly under 1500usd and you get good bang for buck. With a GTX 460M I'm pretty sure you'll be able to run Skyrim at high, so at better settings than in the Xbox 360. As for College, gaming laptops are the most powerful laptops you can buy so it should be able to fulfill all college needs.

If you can wait though I suggest buying a future model of this laptop closer to Skyrim's release date (that way you would probably be able to play in maxed out settings, minus AA), however if due to college you need it now you could just buy it the current version.

In all honesty I could probably wait until September, no need to buy it over the summer. Thanks again.

[Manuela Ribeiro Pereira]

I was just wondering what are your personal feelings on B&Ws P5 vs BOSEs QC15...

These are amongst the best headphones I can think of but have never seen a topic discussing one against the other, so has anyone ever tried one of those?