Wanted - hardware for complete system upgrade [Archive]

Munty

10-31-2011, 04:52 PM

Howdy folks. After a lengthy absence and a total halt on almost all of my various projects I'm back for a pre-xmas thread to try and get hold of the components I'm going to need for a complete system upgrade!

First off there are a few things I already have which will stay so for compatability's sake I'll list them first.

Will be keeping;
Radeon HD 4870
standard CDD (is there any good reason to ever upgrade these?)

Will be wanting;
New mobo (want to mount 2 graphic cards in xfire)
CPU (thinking about one of the 2nd gen i5 processors but will be steered by cost and advice from you guys!)
6-8GB of DDR3 RAM
Possibly at some point another HD 4870 to run in xfire unless it's better to upgrade instead (eitehr way advice on that!)
New PSU, guessing 600W will probably be good enough for the system I end up with but advice on yield and manufacturers appreciated)

Can't think of anything else.

If anyone is selling anything that will fit this build I'd certainly consider it as it'll keep costs down. Otherwise any advice on what would suit me best and where I can get it from would be much appreciated. Remember I'm in the UK so I don't want to spend a fortune on shipping.

Currently my funding is around the zero mark but basically I want to get a ballpark figure NOW so I can get hold of the cash to upgrade all in a oner. I know trickle-upgrading often ends in tears as you never REALLY finish due to earlier purchases becoming obsolete later on in the build!

May well build a custom case once I have it all so you could even get a build-thread from it (though I should finish the laptop first I guess :s

Anyway thanks in advance for any adivce, it's all appreciated ;)

Fuganater

10-31-2011, 05:01 PM

Is there an i5 mobo that takes DDR2?

Aldersan

10-31-2011, 05:27 PM

I don't know for sure, but i think the latest ddr2 board I saw was for a core2duo, idk if they make them for the i- cores since ddr3 has become so cheap

Munty

10-31-2011, 06:29 PM

fair enough, guess I've been out of the right circles a while :D Consider updating my request to something that'll give me between 6-8GB of DDR3 with an i5 processor then. Of course given that price WILL be an issue, I may need to adjust some of these parameters later but that's why I'm asking here after all!

Munty

11-01-2011, 06:02 AM

Fuganater

11-01-2011, 06:17 AM

I seem to be turning up some pretty nice bundles on eBay today, some advice on these would be nice. Also some more questions!

Turns out I can get hold of a second 4870 pretty cheaply these days so running 2 in crossfire is certainly doable. What sort of performance would I see from 2 of these older cards compared to splashing out on a single newer one though? I'm pretty sure the former option will give me better performance for the money spent but will it cover new titles? It should do right? I'm not 100% on how crossfire utilises both cards so advice would be good. Also, the link itself, I assume it's flexible so it doesn't matter if the mobo has one or two spaces between the two PCI-E slots right?

On processors, I've found a few bundles with an i5 chip and 8GB of DDR3 memory for a little over £200 so I checked out the cost of i7 bundles too. Turned up some more results for an additional £100 which I could conceivably run to but is it worth it in the long run? Obviously these are 1st gen chips and there's already a 2nd out so how long will it be before these things are getting replaced in peoples gaming machines? And is the i7 £100 better than the i5? It's just for gaming but I do like everything maxed out.

Been looking at PSUs and have found some 600W corsair ones for around the £50-60 mark. Is that something worth pursuing or is there something better out there for equivalent money? Plus how much will I actually need if I'm running the most powerful option I'm considering. That'd be 2x4870's in crossfire, an i7 chip and 8GB of DDR3 ram. I want to have a surplus of power so if it's worth getting more than 600 please tell me now as I'm itching for an upgrade and the PSU will actually be the first thing I get!

Cheers again, T

Just FYI, your GPU is going to bottlekneck your system.

What i5 system? What i7 system? People say the i5 2500k is enough because it overclocks so well but if you have the money get the i7 2600k. I don't reccomend getting any processer unless its the k version. With the boost and being able to OC you will have a sweet system. I run my 2600k at 4.4 or 4.6 every day. (WC system) But with a good air CPU cooler you can do that too.

If you get a newer GPU, which I think you should, You should get a 650w or 700w so you can Xfire later if you want to. My 750w 80+ Silver PSU is having problems now running my i7 OC'd, 2x GTX 560Ti's (sometimes OC'd) and the other normal devices. I'm uping to a 850 80+ Silver. Also get modular so you can manage the extra cables better. AKA not install them lol.

Munty

11-01-2011, 07:52 AM

Thanks Fug, I'd been wondering about the GPU as it was top of the range when I got it but that was some time ago! What sort of recommendations would you make now? I don't really know how the GPU market looks at the moment but I'm guessing the big question is still Nvidia or Radeon so what's on top these days? Obviously replacing the graphics card will knock up my end price so it may be that I need to get that a little later but I can live with the 4870 for now I guess.

A quick question on OSs, what advice is there for someone who despises anything later than XP? I know it's starting to reach it's limitations for use now as there's no DX11 and some games aren't even compatible these days. I just HATE the interface on Vista and 7, plus I don't own copies... Seriously, XP allows me to do most things I like but my understanding of the newer systems is of a level that I struggle to change resolutions :s

As for a PSU, what's a good manufacturer to go for? I just checked up on 800W Corsair options which are creeping towards £90 and that's an awful lot for my pocket but I don't want to end up with something that'll compromise the rest of the system. Thoughts?

Aldersan

11-01-2011, 09:26 AM

It sounds like most people's go-to GPU these days, at least for nvidia, its the 560Ti. Pretty solid card from what I've heard, and not the super high price tag of other high end cards.

Honestly, as far as OS's go, I'd say get a copy of 7 and get used to it. Besides the fact that there's no DX11, I believe Microsoft is going to stop supporting XP altogether in the near future (don't quote me, I think I read it somewhere a while ago) And while yes, the interfaces have changed significantly, a lot of things are still similar if not streamlined, and google magic can find anything you can't :D

PSU-wise, I've got an Corsair AX850 myself, and while a bit pricey, the fact that it's completely modular is extremely nice. No more messing with cables until you want to! I haven't had any problems with the PSU or Corsair, so it seems like a good brand. Another possibility would be Thermaltake.

diluzio91

11-01-2011, 10:24 AM

DONT LISTEN TO THEM! lol... nvidia fanboys... stick with your ATI roots!! 6950 1gb is the darling card of the ati side, competes with the 560ti on price, and is a bit more powerful.

Also, i've got an i5 2500k that i would consider selling when you're ready to build. I'm an i7 man. (Stupid need to encode video, yeah, i actually do that. lol). So i could sell it to you at a decent price.

Depending how long it'll be i might be able to hook you up with a sweet cooler too. (prolimatech mega)...

As for OCZ power supplies, they are good quality and reliable. I might look for a bit higher wattage, but only if you're gonna oc and maybe get dual gfx cards. I'm running a tx 850 from corsair with my sig specs.

7 is the way to go, 8 is looking like a pile of slop.

Have you thought about an SSD? HUGE benefit to any system if you can sneak it in the budget.

At this point you COULD go with a gen 1 i series... but... its kind dated at this point, and with sandy bridge-e, pile driver, and ivy bridge looming over the corner within the next year its not really worth it imho.

Munty

11-01-2011, 05:26 PM

Thanks for the feedback guys, now I'm more confused though :D

Doesn't seem to be a huge difference in price between the 560ti and the Radeon 6950, what are the performances like? It'll definitely be something I wait a while to buy as it's looking to set me back between £150-200 unless someone here knows of a better place to shop?!

Regarding the i core processors can someone please give me a quick lesson in what the friggin difference is as it's getting a bit much now!

I know there were the original i3, i5 and i7 chips and I have a basic understanding of what sandybridge and all that jazz means. As far as I can tell, the numbers changed between 1st and 2nd gen (in that the i7 2600 went to 2960 or something) but is there anything else I'm missing? what exactly does the k mean as it still seems to be 1st gen but is being flagged as a notable improvement over the ones without the suffix.

diluzio, is it only the CPU you're looking to sell as I'm obviously after a mobo as well and I've actually never fitted my own chip so that may be a bit of a scary virgin step for me! The 2500k is kind of what I was expecting to end up with when I started this thread though so I'm certainly interested. Please let me know if you have a price in mind and when you're thinking of parting with it. Feel free to post here or PM.

With the last 2 posts trying to sell me corsair 850's AND that being the first manufacturer I looked up independently as well... I reckon that'll probably be in my shopping basket relatively soon (may even be able to spring for one this week) Does anyone know of a good place to shop for it if this is what I go for? I haven't been able to find any options much under £100 yet so anything cheaper would be good. Remember I'm in uk, sorry I'm being lazy and not converting to dollars for you yanks but I'm sure you'll figure it out :D

I'm still feeling a little sick at the prospect of windows 7 but I guess I'll still have this computer running a pretty good XP setup so maybe I need to move with the times. Of course there are the financial implications of upgrading as I don't have a copy of 7 and I'm guessing it won't come cheap (no matter how crap I think it is!)

As a parting request, can I get some clarification on the pros and cons of SSDs? I've read into it before but it seemed a little ahead of it's time for me. Still quite expensive and I didn't really get what the advantages would be. Any help on that would be awesome.

And finally. How about motherboards? I've never hand-picked one before so I don't even know who makes them. What should I look out for and how do I make sure I get the right one for my machine?

diluzio91

11-02-2011, 01:03 AM

The biggest difference is features. The 6950 supports 3 displays with a single card, 560 does not.

i series breakdown
i3 = hyperthreaded dual core... 2 physical cores, 4 logical cores ( shows up as a 4 core in performance monitor) includes anything below a 2400
i5 = standard quad, 4 cores in windows 2400 to 2500k
i7 = hyperthreaded quad. 4 physical, 8 logical, shows up as 8 core in windows. 2600 to 2700k

Just the CPU, popping in your own chip is easy, just line up the notches, and flip the bar into place. The motherboard you purchase (should be a p67 or z68 chipset, avoid h67/h61 for high performance machines) should give you a step by step guide for the install.
I'll get back to you on price ect when im a little better off financially, i'm thinking around december is most likley. It might be a bit in shipping over to you in the old world.

Corsair is an awesome brand for PSU's.

Windows 7 Kicks a**....

SSD Pro and CON

Pro
Fast
How fast? DAT FAST. no lie...
Fast...

Con
Money
size

Gigabyte == Win, Asus == Mostly good, ROG == Poop in a bucket, ASRock == good for budget minded. Look at size, case, planned upgrade path.

Munty

11-02-2011, 06:39 AM

Thanks Diluzio this is excellent stuff. I think I'm getting close to what I want in my box now, it's just a matter of finding everything at the right price and ensuring it's all compatible! My biggest concern right now is RAM as I bought some Corsair Dominator which I was never able to get working on my current mobo so I don't want to do that again! (coincidentally if anyone wants it give me a shout!)

Anyway, I'm looking at P67 and Z68 mobos but the latter seem to be rather rarer so it may well be a gigabyte P67 board. Currently I'm looking at a GA-P67A-UD4-B3 (http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3759#ov) which is one of the above. Will give me dual PCI-e slots, 4 sticks of DDR3 RAM and the ability to mount any of the i-cores. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I think in order to future proof myself a litte (as my cheap-ass PSUs always die on me!) I'll go with the 850W PSU that you chaps have as it'll give me LOADS of space to grow! Plus going with a good manufacturer I'd expect it to last at least long enough to pay for a few cheap alternatives which is kind of the point!

The CPU can quite happily be the 2500k that you have Diluzio as that's probably what I'll go for anyway. The extra money I'm going to end up spending on PSU and GPU will probably make it rather difficult to go for an i7 and I don't strictly need one anyway.

The GPU situation is certainly leaning towards the 6950 but it's not looking to be a cheap addition to the build so will most likely come later on.

Lastly there's the RAM situation which I absolutely do not want to get wrong! I have no idea how to read compatabilities into this stuff so if someone could help me out with mobo/RAM selection that'd be great! The only good deal I've come across so far is 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 for less than £100 which sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Can't see myself EVER needing more than that anyway! Is this compatible with the mobo I linked to earlier though? If it is then I think I've found my match, otherwise I need some help finding some that will match. I don't really need any more than 6/8GB for now but hell if I can get 16 for the same price why not?

[Just checked the memory compatibility from the page I posted earlier and seems this memory (CML16GX3M4A1600C9) isn't listed so will keep looking!]

EDIT:
I think I may be learning this compatibility nonsense... It seems to me that there is no corsair 4GB stick compatible with this mobo (a real shame, the vengeance stuff looks mean :D) I've just looked through the 4GB options that are available though and G-Skill turns up a whole bunch of very affordable options. I can get 2x4GB sticks for around £40 which is actually even cheaper than the Corsair stuff I found. Trouble is I've never heard of G-skill before, who are they? Is it cheap for a reason or might this be a good place to steal a bargain?

Also the only thing here that I don't understand is that the chart I'm looking at lists mobo type as 'P67A-UD4-B3' which is correct as that's what I'm considering. It's then suffixed with 'DDR3 2400 (downgrade to DDR3 2133)' ranging to 'DDR3 800' the number decreasing before each table. What does that value correspond to? I'm guessing it's a measure of speed or something but how does that affect compatibility? Is it just significant to performane? I'm still slightly confused :p

But yes, big question is, what do we think of G-skill? Any good or would I be better off sticking to 2/3GB sticks from a different manufacturer?

EDIT AGAIN!:
Just found that I can get hold of a GS800 PSU locally for £20 less than I can find a TX850 online. Can anyone explain the difference between the GS and TX prdoucts? I've googled it a little but there doesn't seem to be much in it. As far as I can tell there is a longer warranty on the TXs but some people say there's actually more power per £ in the GSseries.

I can drive down the road right now and spend £75 on a GS800, still giving me way more power than I'll need for the forseeable future. Is that a good idea or is the TX850 worth the extra dosh? Considering the fact that I don't NEED half of the power I'll be purchasing in either case leads me to believe that the former will be just fine but I would rather garner some other opinions before I shell out for either one.

diluzio91

11-02-2011, 09:56 AM

Haha... I have that exact mobo. its a champ. Ram is pretty easy, just pick up a 2x4gb kit of ddr3 1600 and you'll be good.

The difference in corsair products as i remember
AX - Professional products, Modular (overclockers, servers, ect)
HX - Professional products, non modular (same as above)
TX - enthusiast products, Non modular (overclockers ect)
GX - Gaming series, (lighted to look l337, decent supply, i think it falls into a tier 2 or 3, but i can't remember ATM... )
CX - budget series, still a good PSU, but it wont run as hard as ax, hx, or tx, and will probably be lower wattage, slightly less stable, ect ect.

Munty

11-02-2011, 09:12 PM

I just let this mobo slip through my fingers for £100 but with my finances in their current state I'm sadly not able to splash out on an item that will go un-utilised until the purchase of several other components. It's unfortunate given the high price of the board first hand but I seem to already have a bottleneck in the system thanks to my crappy PSU so that must take precedence! Still no bargains to be had regarding that, so will have to keep looking but hopefully there will be a crash sale on power supplies soon to help me out!

As an NB, the amount of alcohol currently in my system doesn't really help with my logical selection method so fingers crossed I don't buy anything stupid between now and my next sober post!

Good night to all and here't to a good night's sleep! T

Munty

11-03-2011, 09:17 AM

I did it, managed to get a decent sleep and there are no questionable purchases to deal with this morning which is always a bonus! Pretty gutted to have missed out on that mobo last night but it was an eBay deal so no telling how much it could've gone for.

Good news is I've found another one (6 actually) which are selling for just a touch UNDER £100 so this could be the silver lining I was hoping for. These items are listed as **B grade** though and I wanted to ask what in the world that means to me. Are they different to other ones that aren't B grade? I just have no idea what it means...

Anyway, there's that so I can still get the mobo for around the £100 which is ok I guess. Still majorly confused regarding PSUs. I'd like a modular one but not many of the corsair ones seem to be and those that are knock the price up a fair whack. I'm also trying to get a more powerful one NOW (around 850 as suggested) so it's future-proof somewhat but these are of course not cheap either!

Just found a TX850M which is modular and apparently extremely quiet (something that noone has ever said about the other models!) and it's not priced too much higher than the others in the range. I can see a load of places selling it for just under £100 which isn't a great deal more than the standard TX850. So that's an option to set me up for dual GPUs in the future, shame it's not cheaper though!

So that's up to around £200 for the PSU and mobo, add another 40 for 8GB of RAM and the only thing I'm missing from the short term plan is a processor! Does anyone know anything about buying CPUs on ebay? There are a lot on there for really good prices (the i7s especially) but they all look very different and I'm pretty sure that they aren't all what they're advertised as. There's one i7 2700k that ends in a few hours and has 0 bids so it could be picked up for as little as £100 in theory but the seller has zero feedback so I'm guessing you'd never receive that item!

I'm just looking as I would obviously be happier with an i7 than an i5. I don't necessarily need it but who doesn't want the better option? Besides if I can find a good deal then why not? I'm dubious though as all of these processors seem to be too cheap, many aren't boxed and most aren't even printed with intel let alone the chip details!

Anyway I'll be happy with an i5 which I don't want to spend more than £150 on. That takes my running total to just under £400 if I have to buy the CPU brand new. Diluzio, if you're ready to upgrade soon then maybe we can both help each other out :D Right now I'm just putting together the cash I'll need so will probably be happening over the next few weeks (I hope!)

Wish me luck and please keep the advice coming. Nothing is set in stone yet after all.

diluzio91

11-03-2011, 10:32 AM

My experience with ebay boards is: Started folding @home friday. sunday morning i woke up to silence.

Modular is overrated if you have space behind the back panel.

That suits me well. I don't have upgrade funds until my rent for the month and my bills are paid.... I'm one of those pack rat money guys... But i should have that taken care of in the next 3, maybe 4 paychecks. (starting tomorrow i get paid every week) and i have a few other things i'm holding my breath on (im selling my monitors *gasp** to get a single panel.

Munty

11-04-2011, 06:58 PM

Bought the first piece of the jigsaw today. Went pretty much top of the Corsair PSU range and splashed out on an AX850. Fully modular which is nice as I'm considering building this rig into a new desk that I so desperately need and highly efficient with automatic variable fan. At 20% load and below there is actually no fan noise and it's something pretty quiet right up to 50% which (considering what I'll end up running) is probably as high as it'll go for at least the first year of it's life. To top it off I get a 7 year warranty, that feels pretty good in itself! Couldn't find anything for less than £140 in the end (cheaper abroad but postage makes it the same or higher) but that works out at just £20 a year with the warranty and I currently spend more than that on cheap ones!

Will be here between the 8th and 10th apparently so chances are there will be a delay in actually installing it as my partner is likely to be giving birth on the 7th. Still, I guess that's a bit better than a new PSU anyway so I'll be happy either way ;)

diluzio91

11-04-2011, 07:48 PM

congrats! haha, just be sure the psu is midget safe. lol

Munty

11-04-2011, 08:13 PM

congrats! haha, just be sure the psu is midget safe. lol

No fear of that, had one of the buggers running around for the last 3 years as it is. Everything I value is well out of reach ;)

Munty

11-09-2011, 09:38 AM

Well, the new addition to the family is now 2 days late and counting but the good news is my PSU arrived yesterday! Was very impressed as that was actually the first date they suggested it could arrive so good delivery time. (For any fellow Brits, I used dabs.co.uk)

I was rather surprised by the size of the box this thing was delivered in, my 3 year old can quite comfortably hide underneath it and you'd never even know he was there! Once inside that one, the retail box is pretty big too, just not toddler sized. I took some pics of the unboxing but the last 2 are a little dark.

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/XTC%20completed%20pile/PB080053.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/XTC%20completed%20pile/PB080055.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/XTC%20completed%20pile/PB080056.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/XTC%20completed%20pile/PB080057.jpg

Fitted it as son as I got it obviously and all of my issues are now gone! No more random restarts so it was clearly down to an insufficient power supply as I initially thought. Very good news for me. Looks very tidy inside my case now but still needs improvement which will come when I upgrade the other components. I used 1x24pin cable, 1x8 pin cable (which is odd as I was only using a 4 pin before with the other 4 empty...) a 4xmolex cable and a 2xSATA cable. Needless to say it's a vast improvement.

I'm currently drawing up plans to build myself a new desk and I'm considering building my new components into it but the current design doesn't really allow for it. I'll share a worklog either way if I do get round to building the thing, should be good!

Now I'm ready for mobo and processor which look set to come from the US. I can get the RAM here. Will be ready for that in the next few weeks but hopefully there'll be another child in the house by then so it may take a back seat for a while!

Will update with any new happenings as they occur! T

Aldersan

11-09-2011, 02:25 PM

I'm running an AX850 myself and it's one helluva nice power supply! Super quiet, the modularity is awesome, and I haven't had any issues with it in the year I've had it, seems rock solid! The sleeved cables are nice too :D

Munty

11-10-2011, 07:13 AM

Indeed, very nice. Sadly my antiquated case and CPU fans are meaning the quietness of it is unnoticeable for the mostpart but it's still a noted improvement even now!

Still no sign of the new baby yet (3 days late now!) but I got a windfall this morning by the way of a tax rebate. Bearing in mind I already have the PSU, Her Majesty has seen it fit to provide me with an additional £650 towards the project! Considering the motherboard and RAM will cost me less than £200 that means I have some nice free reign on CPU and GPU now. Though I can only really splash out on one of them to be fair.

So here's the question, GPU or CPU? I'm tempted to stick with a new i5 rather than go all out on an i7 as the extra features will go almost entirely unused and it'll eat up an extra £100 while CPUs are probably the quickest desktop component to become dated... So maybe I should get a better GPU? I know they date just as fast but I'd rather have a nice 2GB card than go xfire on my 1gb ones for the next year.

Any thoughts? Going to the shops now to pay in my cheque and do some window shopping!

Munty

11-10-2011, 11:15 AM

I'm all of a sudden having trouble comparing motherboards. I thought I'd made a final decision already but it seems there are a lot more choices out there than I originally thought! With this in mind a little more advice would be much appreciated...

First off I'm going i5 or i7, that means I need a 1155 socket right?

Good chipsets out there are the P67 and Z68 I think. Is that right? Are there better ones and are there any major differences aside from the prices?

I'm looking at getting a Gigabyte board but I don't understand their naming conventions. I know the first part is fairly simple. Most start GA followed by the chipset (GA-P67/GA-Z68) Then it has a suffix that I don't understand though along the lines of UDx where x is a number from 3-7. This is sometimes followed by additional letters such as the GA-Z68XP-UD3P (I don't know what the XP means either but these letters are often different as well) I'm ready to buy the motherboard and RAM come next week and obviously the RAM I choose will depend on the mobo so is there any advice to be had? I don't want to spend too much on the mobo, between £100-200 but preferably the lower end of that...

Any advice on the mobo issue (as well as the CPU/GPU issue!) would be much appreciated so thanks in advance ;)

TheMainMan

11-10-2011, 04:43 PM

As long as your i5 or i7 has the model number 2xxx then you're correct that it is socket 1155. I've built on the Z68 platform and highly recommend it, especially if you're gaming for the Lucidlogicx Virtu. Plus lots of USB 3.0 and SATA3. I can't help you with Gigabyte's naming conventions as I'm still an Asus die-hard.

As far as more money on CPU or GPU, I would personally say GPU. You can spend less than the jump to the next CPU and see a huge difference in what you can buy GPU-wise. With so many things allowing for GPU hardware acceleration it can make more of a difference than you would expect outside of gaming.

Munty

11-10-2011, 07:04 PM

Thanks MM, been doing some more online window shopping today and I think I've reached a likely conclusion. I think based on the current prices, what I'm going to be using this computer for, and how briefly something in this world is 'the best there is' I'm going to stick with my earlier thoughts.

A Z68 motherboard is going to do me just fine as I'll NEVER make use of everything it has to offer. I also can't imagine any need to upgrade it in the near future as the only things I frequently upgrade are PSUs (because my cheapo no-name grey boxes always explode) and GPUs. Given that I now have a spanker of a PSU with a 7 year warrantly and I'm about to spend a fortune on a new GPU, I can't see any further upgrades to this system for at least 3 years in reality. My current setup has actually lasted me over 5 years if you can believe it with only ONE new graphics card!

Anyway, Z68 mobo and I'm thinking to stick with a top of the line i5 CPU rather than go into the more expensive i7 territory just so I can not use it's numerous hardcore features. Is the 'best' i5 still the 2500k? I think I understand naming conventions of the new intel chips but help is always good!

As for the card I've been looking at ATI's offerings tonight, the 6900 family. I figure 6950 is the baby of the family but not significantly cheaper than the 6970 and the 6990 are almost exclusively 4GB £500+ products which I'm neither willing nor able to invest in a GPU. That gives me the HD 6970 as a nice middleground and I can actually pick one up for just over £200 with a 2 year warranty which isn't half bad.

I think before I shut the lid on this I'll spend tomorrow looking over nvidia's latest creations, 570s and such isn't it? I'm not a staunch supporter of either camp so I don't particularly mind which one I go with. Chances are it'll be the one that looks best because I'll be damned if I'm going to spend this much cash on a component and not show it off!

Note to self : must redesign desk design to put new gizmos on show...

EDIT : Just to clarify... Why is it nvidia seem to only make cards in 1-1.28GB? I've seen a few 2GB ones but the majority of what I see all look rather low in power. The 570, 580 and 590 are all much more expensive than the 2GB HD6970 I'm looking at but none seem to match them in memory. I'd always thought that was pretty important in a GPU so is it as wierd as it seems or do the 500family cards compensate for it in some funny techy way that I don't understand?

TheMainMan

11-10-2011, 11:17 PM

The 2500k is still the best i5 chip as it has a slightly better integrated graphics core and unlocked multipliers which the Z68 chipset can take advantage of for overclocking (there are modes that allow for an auto-OC with that setup when needed).

I'm an nvidia guy so I can't help much with the ATI side of things (though I do like the 6770s for a bang for buck card when I'm building for others). The nvidia memory amounts will be odd compared to the ATI as they don't always use standard memory multiples. For a quick comparison of GPUs, I like to use this list (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fastest-graphics-card-radeon-geforce,3067-7.html). Updated monthly, it gives you a comparison of reference designs.

Munty

11-18-2011, 10:58 AM

Ok after a brief holiday from forum posting and the birth of my little boy (finally!) I'm back for some quick fire advice...

Dabs.com where I bought my PSU is having a sale on this http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3850#ov but I've been thinking about going with this one up till now http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3853#ov

Personally I'm all for saving £50 so it seems like an excellent deal to me but I can see there are a few differences between the two options that don't make much sense to me. As far as I can tell, the UD3P has 'Hardware OverVoltage Control IC' where the UD3H doesn't but the UD3H has a fair few features over the cheaper option. They include 'Dynamic Energy Saver™ 2', 'HDMI™-The Next Generation Multimedia Interface', 'DVI Support' and 'Display Port Support'. All of these are listed in the above links but none mean a great deal to me. In addition there are a few more things that the cheaper UD3P has that the other choice does not but there seems to be a lot more in the way of onboard graphics capabilities in the UD3H. Personally I don't think that matters squat for me as I won't be using the onboard card. Ever...

So where do I stand? Does the UD3H actually have anything significant over the UD3P? Because I can't see any real reason to be spending an extra £50 on something that seems almost identical with a superfluous onboard GPU in tow.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated as the deal won't be on for long! As soon as I'm decided on this I'll be ordering the mobo, RAM and CPU (still looking at the 2500k but there seem to be a fair few options out there even so! Is sandybridge the best right now or have I missed something? I know ivybridge is coming but I'm not waiting that long...)

Also going to be needing a cooler for the CPU so if there are any thoughts for that I'd love to hear them too. I've already been told that the CPU itself just plugs in (is it really that simple???) but I've never fitted an aftermarket cooler either so what do I need to know about that? Presumably they'll come with paste won't they? How much as I've heard people slammed on here before for using massive amounts of the stuff :p

Thanks as always for any advice, T

xr4man

11-18-2011, 02:51 PM

yes it really is that simple. the cpu will just drop in the socket and then you fold over the retaining tray and bar. the heatsink will be almost as easy too. it will either come with a thermal pad already installed or come with paste. if paste, then you just put it on in your favorite way and then attached the heat sink and plug in the fan.

personally i would go with the cheaper of the two mobos. since both are probably high quality.

Munty

11-19-2011, 05:54 AM

Thanks for the reply. I went ahead and got the cheaper one, hell £50 is no small saving and I can't see any major differences save for onboard graphics! Haven't ordered RAM or CPU yet so will wait for the board to arrive next week before I do. Still looking for advice on AM cooling for the CPU if anyone has any ideas.

Munty

11-22-2011, 08:57 AM

Ok back on track again as my motherboard arrived today! Sadly I currently have no processor, RAM, heatsink or graphics card to put it to use right now so it'll stay packed away for a little longer. I really want to get my new system set up though so I'm now looking for some finite advice on the last few aspects of this build!

I was waiting for the board to arrive before ordering my RAM but now I'm ready to do it I'm confused. The only good 4GB options I can find are G.Skill products, one of which is green and the other red... Now it may be only asthetic but I have some nice black components going into this build and I think it would look a lot nicer if the ram followed suit.

The gigabyte website has a list for RAM compatibility for the board I'm using which can be found here > http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_ga-z68x-ud3p-b3.pdf but nothing really jumps out aside from the G.Skill sticks.

I'm looking to go with 4x4GB right away as it's really surprisingly cheap these day but I was always hoping to put some Corsair memory into this build. I decided a while ago that I couldn't do it as they weren't listed in the chart but apparently there is a lot of information missing on that chart and there are others who seem to be using a combination of my board and Corsair Vengeance RAM.

That seems perfect for me as I do like the Vengeance sticks and can get 4x4GBs of it fairly cheaply. Of course I don't want to do this without being certain it'll work for me though so how do I make absolutely certain before I put in an order? The Corsair blurb says something like 'suitable for all dual channel motherboards' and the same for triple channel. Quite frankly it means very little to me though so I'd really appreciate someone who's able to tell me if I can get a 16GB kit of Vengeance that will be compatible with my board.

Anybody?

Still looking for thoughts on a decent heatsink for the i5 too (which is similarly awaiting order!) but I think I'll go with the 6970 for a graphics card. One last question though. My mobo says it's 'nvidia SLI ready' but is there a major difference between that and ATI's crossfire? I'd like to double up at some point so if I'm not able to do it with the Radeon then maybe I should reconsider a Geforce card. I'm hoping (and assuming) that it'll work fine either way but a confirmation either way would be nice please!

EDIT : Am I being a bit simple? Does dual, triple and quad just mean 2, 3 or 4 slots? Because I obviously have 4 :p

EDIT AGAIN : Provided someone can confirm that the Vengeance RAM is compatible with my board it seems I can get both that and the CPU from Amazon for a pretty good price. Here are the links with technical info so please feel free to check them out for me! Spending money makes me very nervous...

4x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 memory - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004E0ZKLQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
Sandybridge 2500k i5 CPU - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004FA8NX2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Aldersan

11-22-2011, 10:55 AM

From what I've heard, you CAN run xfire on an sli board (and vice versa) but it requires a software hack, I haven't looked into the specifics I've just heard its possible. If you dont want to mess with that, then going with nvidia might be a safer bet. As for ram, I'm pretty sure if you make sure the pins match (i think its pretty standard 240 now for ddr3) and make sure the ram is designed for the type of proc you're using (intel), you should be fine. Especially if other people are using the same board and ram lol.

diluzio91

11-22-2011, 05:06 PM

You can run dual card sli/xfire no mater what. its when you get higher than 2 that i get fuzzy at what happens.

TheMainMan

11-22-2011, 11:24 PM

According to Gigabyte's description of your mobo here (http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3850#ov) you should have no problem adding a second 6970 and running them in CrossFireX as your board supports both CFX and SLI. Your board will do dual CrossFireX or SLI as you only have two PCI-E 16x slots (not sure if it supports quad though, such as two 6990s).

As for the ram, I've found that the QVL is only marginally helpful. A quick google search brought up a few members of the Gigabyte and Corsair forums who were running that board and 16GBs of Corsair. Sounds like anything over 1333MHz needs to use XMP in BIOS, that was the case on the Asus P8Z68-V LE I used in my SO's machine with 16GB of Vengeance ram in it. As far as I can tell, as long as you're using a recent chipset like the Z68 there seems to be very few complaints about the Vengeance stuff.

Wish I could recommend CPU coolers but the i5 builds I've done in the last while have been for people who the stock is fine for.

Munty

11-23-2011, 07:40 AM

I hate having all you guys over in the States as I have to wait until morning for your replies but it does make getting out of bed easier knowing that there will be such a lot of good advice waiting for me :D

Having read up on heatsinks and such the 212 and 212+ come out pretty high in most discussions. The Corsair A70 (I think) is similarly well spopken of but more expensive and that's the case for most other alternatives too. The 212+ seems to be one of the best performances to the pound so I'm going to go with that.

I've been able to find all of the remaining components I need at Amazon so I'm ready to place a final order now thanks to you guys and all your help. Below is the shopping list as it stands now;
Cooler Master 212+ - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002G1YPH0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A1IE2T48Y49NKD
Sandybridge i5 2500k - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004FA8NX2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
4x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004E0ZKLQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
Windows 7 Home 64bit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004Q0PT3I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Much as I hate going with Windows 7 I feel it's rather inevitable at this point... It's going to be a bit like teaching old dogs new tricks but Google can always answer any interface queries I have and I guess I'll get the hang of it sooner or later! Obviously going with a 64bit system or I'll lose out on 3/4 of my installed RAM ;)

The last thing I'll need for this build which I'm having some trouble with is a new CDD... Yep, that simple! All my stuff is ancient and therefore PATA and I noticed when my new board arrived that it only accepts SATA connections (or USB) That means I need to get a new CDD or I won't even be able to install my drivers and Windows let alone any of my games!

Here's my dilemma though... Seeing as I need to get a new CDD anyway and I'm considering replacing the HDD too, I was thinking about maybe using external components for both so as to leave the build as clutter free as possible. If I do this I won't be using a standard case and will instead build the new rig into the desk I'm planning. Will be a relatively simple perspex box or similar, nothing fancy! That way the HDD and CDD won't jumble the innards as they can just be USB extensions build into different parts of the desk.

I just wonder if it'll be possible to build and boot the rig from external drives. First off I'll need to install Windows from a CD so will the computer recognise an external CDD at such an early point? Same obviously goes for the HDD. Is it possible to have the computer automatically boot from an external drive without having to fiddle in BIOS or setup or something everytime I switch on? If not is there a way I can use temporary SATA devices just to get up and running? For example, I could use a SATA CDD to install windows and then once it's bootable I can switch out to an external one which will be recognised in Windows. Same sort of question for a HDD. I'm going to place the above order now and throw in an external CDD anyway as it's only £7 but please keep any more advice on the above coming in thick and fast!

Once my final hardware order is placed I'll be taking another look at getting together the materials for my desk and hopefully I can build the whole lot at once! Cheers, T

xr4man

11-23-2011, 09:32 AM

yes, you can install windows from an external usb cdd. that's no problem.

i don't know how well windows 7 will boot from a usb hdd though. i know windows xp will not unless you do some hacking and get a custom install iso. it had to do with when xp would load usb drivers.

something easier might be to just get a long sata cable and run it out your perplex box and remotely mount the hdd.

diluzio91

11-23-2011, 11:00 AM

I install win 7 from a flash drive all the time. USB hdd is a nono though.

Munty

11-23-2011, 01:33 PM

Thanks guys, all my orders are now placed although I haven't set about getting a new HDD which means I'll have to either wait for one or recycle an old one. I have a 500GB one which I could use but I'd rather have my 1TB drive in the build. Not sure how I'd go about installing 7 onto a HDD with XP already on it though and of course it would be much better to start off with a clean slate.

I may try cleaning out my 500GB drive then moving everything form the 1TB drive onto that one. But then I wouldn't have any HDDs with good OSs on and I wouldn't be able to use the computer at all :p

If I were to move all the stuff I wanted to keep onto my 500GB drive, could I then reformat it in the new rig before installing windows? I think I did something similar before but I forget how...

EDIT : I have a friend up the road with an external 1TB drive. Maybe I can borrow that for temporary storage while I reformat in the new comp... That should work I guess... Right?...

Munty

11-24-2011, 08:25 AM

Well, I'm pleased to announce that most of the expensive stuff is done now! I'm waiting for CDD and HDD solutions as I need to reformat my 1TB drive (a job for this afternoon) and get hold of an external or SATA CDD so I can actually install windows onto the new rig! I have an external drive on it's way but could be a few days. No point reformatting until that arrives as once I do I'll be without a computer for a while so hey ho. Will start backing up the files I want to keep shortly and then reformat when the CDD is here as well.

Here's a bit of unboxing and the build so far. Remember the AX850 is already supporting my current build but will obviously move over soon. It has fixed all the issues I had before I installed it so my frequent in-game restarts were definitely due to a lack of power.

First up here are all of the components I have so far. No graphics card yet but will be a Christmas present (hopefully an early one!) For now I'll be continuing to use my 4870 so I'll see a nice gain in speed and power but nothing noticeable in graphics for now. Looking on the bright side, Windows 7 will give me DX11 but I don't know how much difference that'll make to an aging card anyway. Roll on xmas and my 6970 anyway!
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240091.jpg

This is the stuff I took delivery of this morning. CPU, RAM and heatsink. I got my copy of Windows as well but that's just a plain box so not very noteworthy...
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240092.jpg

Finally unboxed my motherboard today (I've been waiting for everything else to arrive! Went with Gigabyte's Z68 board which was part of a massive sale and saved me £50!
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240093.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240094.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240095.jpg

The Vengeance RAM was one I always liked the look of but sadly the fools seem to build the stuff backwards as the name is on the side of the stick that faces the CPU fan and is therefore invisible. Admittedly, that makes sense for a normal build as CDD and HDD bays obscure the side I'll be looking at but it sucks for my planned arrangement...
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240096.jpg

The 2500k i5 processor is the first I have EVER bought. This is in fact the first computer of any kind I have ever bought and built myself, though I've made a great deal of Frankensteinian rigs in my time. I was, am and probably always will be scared of processors. Something so small and expensive has to be pretty fragile right? Presumably not but it sticks with me :D
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240097.jpg

Went with the 212 fan as it was fairly cheap and was given good props almost everywhere I looked. It's a beast, probably too big for my current tower but thankfully I don't plan on using it anyway!
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240098.jpg

As for the build, only the parts above went together today so not much to see. Here's everything unboxed waiting for assembly.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240099.jpg
Here's partial assembly with the RAM and CPU installed.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240100.jpg
And here's the heatsink installed as well, had to remove the motherboard from it's donor tray to fit it but I already knew I would so no drama there.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/i5%20build/PB240101.jpg

The bottom of the 212's contact plate is quite ridged so I gave it a little thermal paste as well as the CPU. It was my first time but I'm confident it's a good join, I'm pretty anal so that helps sometimes :D

Going for a walk into town now to borrow a HDD for backing up. Will stop into the local tech shop to see if he has any cheap SATA or external CDDs as I'm itching to test this build but I have one in the post anyway so we'll see.

Anyone curious as to why this is lacking a case, that's because I'm already using the only decent looking case I have AND the fatc I'll probably build a custom enclosure for this rig when I make my new desk anyway. Expect to hear about both projects in a seperate thread as and when they happen, should be easy ;)

diluzio91

11-24-2011, 02:56 PM

God gigabyte makes some sexy mobos...

Munty

11-25-2011, 09:04 AM

Have you seen their Sniper boards? http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3760#ov That's a pretty unique design right there!

I'm enjoying the simplicity of an almost completely black design so far with my build. The PSU follows suit and my external CDD arrived today which is also black. Following recent advice I'm thinking about doing as xr4man says and just get a caddy and placing an internal HDD externally with a long SATA cable. As long as I can run it nicely then it shouldn't make a big difference...

Of course I need to get on and build my new desk and case in order to actually do that which will wait until next month (just so I know the rent gets paid first!!!) but I'm looking forward to getting that done.

For now, I'm just finishing the backup of my documents from this computer and then I'll be temporarily fitting the mobo assembly into my current case I think. Not sure the side will go on with that huge 212+ cooler but I don't care too much about that! Just looking forward to seeing if everything is working nicely together. My next post here will probably (and hopefully) be made from the new build. Either way I'll be wiping this HDD shortly so I'm going to be either very happy or very annoyed later this afternoon!

Munty

11-25-2011, 04:27 PM

I'm happy to say it worked! The USB CDD didn't do it's job though so I had to half-inch an internal SATA one from the same friend who loaned me the external HDD for my backup! Worked ok once I had that sorted but I had real trouble with my USB keyboard which prevented me from 'pressing any key' to boot from the Windows CD :(

In the end I had to enable a few additional USB device settings in BIOS but I don't understand why as the keyboard worked fine in the boot/post/bios screens and such. Just ceased functioning once the boot went further...

I've now got Windows 7 running and all my new hardware is running perfectly. It's a lot quieter although my case fan is spinning obsurdly fast compared to the CPU one. The CPU fan is automatically variable (or whatever the correct term is) so I wonder if I can replace the case fan with a similar one? I'll be building a new case soon anyway as I said but I'm still going to need a few extra fans when I do that I think!

The 212 DOES fit in my case and has a little space too, the side is still off anyway though as the borrowed CDD is connected but not installed. Will put the side on when it gets disconnected. The trouble with that is that my external CDD (a very cheap one) doesn't seem to recognise all cds, so I could have trouble once I disconnect the SATA one. It came with no paperwork and a CD with a few USB drivers and NERO burning ROM on it but I don't know if I need them for it to recognise other CD's. (It does recognise the driver cd thankfully so I can always do it later once I've experimented a little!)

CPU and system temperature are good though of course I haven't had anything more intensive than Chrome running so far. Will report on that later as I learn more performance wise. BIOS has recognised all 16GB of RAM so if anyone in the future happens to ask if Vengeance is compatible with Gigabyte's Z68 boards we can tell them yes!

The only issue I've had so far is that I was never given the option to reformat my HDD before the OS installed. The first screen after booting from the Win7 cd asks if you want a normal 'upgrade' from an older OS to 7 or a 'custom' installation which it notes will allow you to start from scratch. Or at least that's how it read to me...

Either way I never got an option to reformat and I would like to start from nothing so if anyone can tell me how to go about it without using a slave HDD I'd really appreciate it.

Right now I'm going to switch off to disconnect this CDD and connect my peripherals! Then it's time to see if I can spot any nice differences in my games. Remember it's still the old Graphics card but I'm sure that extra power will do SOME good at least! Will upgrade to DX11 while I think about it as well as it's one of the main reasons I upgraded to 7!

Cheers for all the help and advice guys, it's all looking spot on so far!

TheMainMan

11-25-2011, 08:44 PM

If you pick the custom option you will see a screen that lets you pick which HDD you want to install to. The bottom portion of the screen will have the options you can do with each partition, you can specify to format there.

Glad to hear you have it all up and running!

Munty

11-25-2011, 09:25 PM

Thanks TMM, must've missed those options as I simply chose to install it to the existing partition! Will reformat in the next week and get a fresh install going. In the mean time, any ideas from anyone on why this USB CDD isn't reading my CDs would be good :(

AmEv

11-25-2011, 11:45 PM

USB Legacy support on all devices enabled?

Munty

11-26-2011, 08:33 AM

I'm pretty sure that's one of the things I had to switch on in BIOS in order to get my USB keyboard working for the windows installation... Will check again later but the fact that it's able to read the driver cd (don't get excited the files on it don't seem to be drivers and none of them successfully install...) shows it has power and signal. Don't understand why it can't read other CDs. It couldn't make out the Windows one or any game cds...

AmEv

11-26-2011, 03:26 PM

Finicky lens/laser?

billygoat333

11-27-2011, 02:41 AM

try running a lens cleaner disc through it/blow it out with canned air. Might be a dust/dirt on the lens problem?

Munty

11-27-2011, 03:51 PM

Thanks guys, still having no luck with this so far and the lens seems ok. I kind of wish I had some more of the small CDs to test as that's the only one that's worked so far. Can't imagine why size would matter though... As for when it stops working, the CDD doesn't even run up to speed before it tells me the disc is corrupt. It's not stupid though and it DOES know when there is no cd in there and spin up to speed when it has the cd in that it can read.

I emailed the guys I bought the thing off (eSecure via amazon) and said if they can't help me get it working I want to return it for a full refund. Right now I have this nice new build that I'm only able to play pre-installed, cracked or STEAM titles on... Not good!

Munty

11-29-2011, 10:11 AM

Seems that the problem is the hardware itself from what I can tell... This makes no sense to me but apparently in this modern age of technology people are still making CDDs that are just that. It only works on CDs... It won't read DVDs or game discs or any kind of software at all. It only reads data files and music (the latter of which remains untested too!)

Now can anyone tell me WHY people are making something like this? Sure it may still be useful if I was an on-the-go executive who for some reason bought a notebook without a CDD instead of a laptop with one, regardless of the fact that my job makes it necessary to use CDs on such a regular basis that I deemed it necessary to buy an external drive to lug around with me everywhere instead of the former option of buying a laptop with a FRIGGIN INTERNAL DRIVE!

What's the point of this crappy little piece of hardware? Does it really serve any purpose at all? And is it really worth manufacturing them at all when for a few extra pence you could upgrade it to read all types of disk?

See now I need to buy ANOTHER CDD and I'm baffled by what I'm going to end up with now. This has got to be the most simple component in the build and it's giving me more trouble than fitting a chip and heatsink for the first time in my life! It just makes me wonder, if THIS CDD doesn't read every type of disk, how do I know that THAT one will? What if I just end up with piles and piles of CDDs, none of which bloody well work?

I really would still like to run an external drive for this build but I have no idea if I'll be able to get one that just works so I'm thinking about getting an internal one with long cables and just stealthing it away now. Same issue as the HDD really... Getting long SATA cables won't be too bad but these components will be a long way from the PSU and the last thing I want to do is add more cables to my nice tidy modular system...

Any suggestions on how I can avoid this ridiculous design choice in the future?

AmEv

11-29-2011, 11:13 AM

I feel your pain:facepalm:

I'm not sure why you're having so many problems.

Munty

11-30-2011, 05:57 AM

Me neither! I went and got a decent (external) CDD yesterday with all the usual 'DVD' and 'RW' logos and such on the faceplate so this time I'm safe. As I said, I'd never even considered a Compact Disc ONLY drive but I guess it's the logos that gives it away as my cheapo one only has the CD logo on the front.

Ah well we live and learn I guess...

Oh, did I mention my new drive is bright pink? Cool eh :D

AmEv

11-30-2011, 11:31 AM

Bet your wife/girlfriend loves it :P

xr4man

11-30-2011, 11:50 AM

i kept seeing that you were referring to the external optical drive as a cdd. i'm so used to my sidework customers using the wrong terminology that i simply assumed you knew what you were talking about but just kept typing "cdd". but yeah, you're right, why would anyone get a com[pact disk only drive when for the same price you can get a dvd drive.

i hope all your issues are sorted now with your new pink drive.

Twigsoffury

12-05-2011, 01:52 AM

little bit of masking tape and some spray paint can do wonders.

Munty

12-05-2011, 05:36 AM

Funnily enough xr4, I've just sat down and realised that of course new games (and not so new ones) are all DVD Roms rather than CDs. Something that hadn't even crossed my mind until now!

Anyway it looks like I'm stuck with the useless CDD as well as my new DVD RW etc. one so I'm thinking about just swapping over the shells to make my pink one black. That may be unnecessary though as I've started work on my new desk and I have a nice location in mind to stealth the new drive away anyway.

I'm waiting for the last few parts to arrive for the desk build but when they get here I'll upload the worklog. I've taken pics of what's been done so far but I think I'll wait till it's all finished before I share the project this time. I was told delivery would be 3-5 days and today is no.2 so could be finished by the end of the week!

I'm pretty sure what I'm doing is unique so stay tuned, hopefully it'll turn out how I imagine it!