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Is it normal for some Newegg orders to stay in the "packaging" stage for a number of days? I ordered an admittedly rather large batch of parts last Friday that still hasn't been shipped according to Newegg tracking. I understand that it being New Year's time probably has a lot to do with that, though.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 05:43 |
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| # ? May 19, 2013 11:25 |
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Besides being dumb enough to order late on a Fridays, my orders look like it needs to fill out papers in triplicate before it gets shipped at random times.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 06:22 |
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Newegg took off New Year's Eve. Your order may not have even been acted on yet.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 06:47 |
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It says it can take 2-3 days to get stuff ready for shipping unless you paid the $3 extra. I've had good success with them shipping same day for the most part, but the only time I've ordered a larger pile of parts I did next day shipping, so who knows.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 14:40 |
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I ordered all of my stuff from NewEgg late the night of Christmas Day, without rush processing, and they sent it out before noon on the 26th!  If only UPS would cooperate as well as that... my new parts won't be delivered until this afternoon...
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 15:06 |
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Crackbone posted:The "SA Penny-Pincher Gaming" system It should be noted that you should also: a) Skim the first few pages of the Coupon and Deals forum (subforum of SA-Mart) to see if there's anything good for deals before pulling the trigger. b) (Dell Outlet specific) you should check out @DellOutlet's Twitter feed for coupon codes that can sometimes save you another 20%. http://twitter.com/delloutlet
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 17:05 |
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What's a good amount of RAM for a video card to have? I'm thinking of upgrading from a GTX 460 to a GTX 660 (like this) but am freezing up on whether I want one with either 2GB or 3GB of memory. And is memory bandwidth even worth worrying about? I see it advertised on just about every card, but I don't know if a 192-bit bus is objectively better than a 256-bit bus for [reasons], or if it even matters at all when the memory clock speed on one is twice as fast as the other. What's the best metric to judge GPU RAM performance?
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 17:15 |
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Karthe posted:What's a good amount of RAM for a video card to have? I'm thinking of upgrading from a GTX 460 to a GTX 660 (like this) but am freezing up on whether I want one with either 2GB or 3GB of memory. You don't need 3GB. That's assuming you're at 1920x1080p or below, but even 2GB is more than enough for that. A higher memory bus is objectively better, but just because a card does have a higher bus doesn't mean it will perform better. The performance hit from a lower bus can be offset by using faster rated GDDR5 RAM, for example. Larger memory buses normally cost more, too. There a GPU megathread where they might be able to explain things better but ultimately don't worry about it, just look at benchmark performance for modern games/games you play at the resolution you play at and the value of the card compared to other similar performing ones.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 17:20 |
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Karthe posted:What's the best metric to judge GPU performance? Actual game benchmarks. You cannot judge cards on architecture numbers like ram speed/amount, bandwidth, processor speed, etc. Use the GPU charts in the OP and they'll show you actual performance numbers in games (not synthetic stuff). As for memory, don't buy a card that comes with more than the default amount - for example the default on 660s is 2G. Don't buy a card that has more than that.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 17:28 |
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Crackbone posted:Actual game benchmarks. You cannot judge cards on architecture numbers like ram speed/amount, bandwidth, processor speed, etc. Use the GPU charts in the OP and they'll show you actual performance numbers in games (not synthetic stuff). Crackbone posted:As for memory, don't buy a card that comes with more than the default amount - for example the default on 660s is 2G. Don't buy a card that has more than that.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 17:58 |
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Karthe posted:Fair enough. I found Anandtech's GPU comparison page thanks to the GPU megathread - it seems to have a nice mix of gaming and synthetic benchmarks. Let me re-emphasize synthetic benchmarks are useless. They don't correspond to real-life scenarios (ie games). Additionally, both AMD and Nvidia have a long history of "tweaking" their drivers specifically to perform better on those big synthetic benchmarks. They really don't tell you anything worthwhile. As to your question, yes, both companies release reference designs - whenever you have a "debut" review (ie reviews of a new card model launching) you'll see their reference amount. You can also just go to Amazon/Newegg/Google and search for the model you want, and the vast majority of cards will have the reference amount.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 18:02 |
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Rageaholic Monkey posted:The only thing I'd add is a note about not needing an i7 over an i5 unless you're doing lots of video encoding, which most people here probably aren't. That seems to be a question that gets asked pretty frequently. But you covered a ton of stuff, so maybe it's in there already and I just missed it v It's in the "How many cores" question - or at least I think it is...
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 18:11 |
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The Steam winter sale has gotten me back into PC gaming (and because my MacBook Pro can't handle Far Cry 3 as well as I'd like), I'm considering building a PC primarily for gaming, with a bit of Netflix on the side. I have a 42"-ish TV that I would like to use for the primary/only monitor. I'm not sure on its specific specs, but I can check after work). I have a machine that I built in October of 2011, but I abandoned it in favor of the MBP for want of portability and various other reasons. Also something in it is busted and causing random 10-second lagging, but that's another issue. Hopefully I could re-purpose some of the parts, but the HDD has got to go - I'm thinking the 1TB one in the OP. As well, a more portable case would be great, but that's more a luxury item. Anyways, I'm looking to play Far Cry 3 and Skyrim at max-or-near-to-it graphics, with a ton of random mods tacked onto Skyrim. I'm also looking to play the following, but I think most of them are older/less intense than FC3 - Saints Row: The Third, Fallout: New Vegas, Batman: Arkham Asylum/City, Mass Effect. If a full rebuild is necessary, I'd like to keep it under $800, but I'm pretty flexible. My old build is this:
I'm considering the following substitutions:
I respectfully ask for input, with the hope that I was able to keep dumb questions to a minimum. 
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 18:53 |
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Can anyone recommend a brand / specific AV receiver that plays nicely with HTPCs? I'd ask in the A/V Arena but it is... gone? My old one died two nights ago and I (stupidly) decided to pick one up at Best Buy on a whim. Protip: Yamaha receiver + Radeon HD 7900 via HDMI = catastrophe. I'm open on price as long as it's below $700 or so. Specs I'm looking for: 3+ HDMI ports 5.1 surround e: In a similar vein, how are surround sound headphones these days? I bought a pair probably three or four years ago that were just crap and not really surround-ey, and at the time there wasn't much else on the market. Again, any recommendations? Open on price, I have no idea how much they cost, just curious. kedo fucked around with this message at Jan 2, 2013 around 19:01 |
| # ? Jan 2, 2013 18:56 |
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morcant posted:The Steam winter sale has gotten me back into PC gaming (and because my MacBook Pro can't handle Far Cry 3 as well as I'd like), I'm considering building a PC primarily for gaming, with a bit of Netflix on the side. I have a 42"-ish TV that I would like to use for the primary/only monitor. I'm not sure on its specific specs, but I can check after work). Your TV is 1080p unless it's exceedingly old. Honestly, you rig as-is is solid. The 460 is a little long in the tooth, but still serviceable. Maybe consider getting a Hyper 212 and overclocking your chip, but that's not really needed.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 18:58 |
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kedo posted:Can anyone recommend a brand / specific AV receiver that plays nicely with HTPCs? I'd ask in the A/V Arena but it is... gone? AV Arena got folded into Inspect Your Gadgets. "Plays nice with HTPCs" is a bit of misnomer, as it's really just the video card that the receiver is interfacing with, and in my experience the video card can be the problem just as well as the receiver. What card model exactly do you have in your rig?
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 19:03 |
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Crackbone posted:AV Arena got folded into Inspect Your Gadgets. I've got this'un. And you're right the video card probably is the problem in my case as the receiver works perfectly with my 360 / mac mini / PS3. I think it's basically a driver issue, but if there's one thing I've learned it's that waiting for a driver fix for hardware incompatibilities is kinda foolish. I'd rather just return it and get something that works. e: After hours of troubleshooting I do know that at least some AV receivers work with the card (based on what various folks on various forums are reporting), but I'm just wondering if goons have any suggestions. 
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 19:08 |
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Re: this part of the OP: "Note: for this answer, hyperthreading on Intel chips counts as having double the actual cores - so an i7 is 8 cores, and an i3 is 4 cores. This isn't really accurate but is close enough for decision-making purposes." Will most programs/games naturally take advantage of hyperthreading or is it something that has to be specifically programmed to look for?
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 19:09 |
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Require More Fire posted:Re: this part of the OP: Hyperthreading doesn't require special programming.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 19:14 |
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I have a quick question after re-reading the OP:quote:14. What sound card should I buy? Should I use my old one? I just recently got my hand on a pair of these nice Audio-Technica Headphones. I'm super happy with the quality but I'm wondering if they would sound even better if I picked up this here recommended sound card. I'm not THAT big of an audiophile but I really enjoy listening to music and I play quite a few rhythm games like DJ Max on my computer that really shine with a good audio setup. Is it worth it?
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 19:34 |
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Fano posted:I have a quick question after re-reading the OP: Are you happy with the sound you get currently? If yes, stick with what you have. If no, get a discrete card.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 19:37 |
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Require More Fire posted:Re: this part of the OP: To expand a bit: Assuming the operating system properly supports hyperthreading (and Windows and Linux have for a decade), a program cannot tell the difference between a hyperthreading "logical core" and an actual CPU core. The OS's job is to actually schedule processing tasks so that the actual cores fill up first, and then any CPU resources made available by the hyperthreading "logical cores" take whatever else will fit in. So as long as the program supports multiple cores, it can also support hyperthreading. However, a program that supports four cores will place no more than four process threads on the CPU, even if it's an i7-3770 and eight "cores" are available, and even if it's an i7-3930K and six real cores are available.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:04 |
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I know this is verboten on these forums, but I am looking to buy a prebuilt gaming system. 2500 to 3000 or so. I could build it myself but my work schedule makes it difficult at best. Is there a place that won't rip me off too hard?
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:30 |
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Penguin Bacon posted:I know this is verboten on these forums, but I am looking to buy a prebuilt gaming system. 2500 to 3000 or so. I could build it myself but my work schedule makes it difficult at best. Is there a place that won't rip me off too hard? Any computer you buy for over $1500 is going to be a ripoff. 2500 to 3000 is highway robbery.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:33 |
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Rageaholic Monkey posted:Any computer you buy for over $1500 is going to be a ripoff. 2500 to 3000 is highway robbery. I'm factoring in that I could build it myself for 1500. I just don't have the time to do it.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:34 |
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Crackbone posted:Are you happy with the sound you get currently? I'm quite happy with what I have, it's more that the discrete card is relatively cheap and my curiosity has been sparked by it. I've had lovely headphones up until recently and I'd really like to get the most out of them.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:35 |
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Penguin Bacon posted:I'm factoring in that I could build it myself for 1500. I just don't have the time to do it. You don't have a couple hours free at any point? If you get a case with toolless design, that's all the time it takes. Hell, it may even go quicker than that, but allow yourself that much time anyway. I don't think a couple hours worth of basic installation work is worth $1,000, but that's me.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:38 |
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I would give a tentative recommendation to OriginPC.com. They've been well reviewed, offer most sane choices, and actually tell you what brand of product you're buying. Something close to our standard "performance" recommendations comes out to ~$1600 before shipping, which is a hell of a markup, but 
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:41 |
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Penguin Bacon posted:I know this is verboten on these forums, but I am looking to buy a prebuilt gaming system. 2500 to 3000 or so. I could build it myself but my work schedule makes it difficult at best. Is there a place that won't rip me off too hard? TBH any local shop would probably hook you up for a few hundred bucks of installation fees and order the parts for you. If you want to not talk to people you can go the Ibuypower/Cyberpowerpc or OriginPC route.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:44 |
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I was getting a lot of help prior to Christmas in the last thread, and after reading advice and making a few changes I've updated my build to where I think it is final: PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.99 @ Newegg) Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($166.49 @ Amazon) Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($81.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($249.99 @ Amazon) Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card ($287.86 @ Newegg) Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 520W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg) Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg) Monitor: Dell U2312HM 23.0" Monitor ($268.98 @ Newegg) Keyboard: Das Keyboard Model S Professional Wired Standard Keyboard ($124.99 @ Newegg) Total: $1626.25 I also intend to purchase a gaming mouse, and some headphones. But otherwise, this is what I came up with. Primary Use: Gaming, Photoshop, Visual Studio Questions: 1. Is there any reason to go with the 16GB of RAM like I chose, or should I drop to 8GB? 2. If I drop back to the 8GB of RAM, should I upgrade any particular component here? 3. Possible Future Upgrade Path: An additional Dell U2312HM monitor, Water Cooling for Overclocking, additional HDD. 4. Anything I should change otherwise? I went with a 256GB SSD for O.S., Office, Visual Studio, etc. and WD 1TB for storage, game installations.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:45 |
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Penguin Bacon posted:I know this is verboten on these forums, but I am looking to buy a prebuilt gaming system. 2500 to 3000 or so. I could build it myself but my work schedule makes it difficult at best. Is there a place that won't rip me off too hard? If you don't have a couple of hours to build it yourself, you don't have time available for a gaming system in your life. Maybe think about why you want one and how much time you really have available?
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:47 |
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Yah, I know I'm being gourged. It is not the best that I'm being forced into this route but I don't have the choice. I'm still sitting on a built computer from 2008. It is still good but its getting long in the tooth. If the prices get really bad, I'll just have to take a vacation day or two to get things up to snuff.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:47 |
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vyst posted:If you want to not talk to people you can go the Ibuypower/Cyberpowerpc or OriginPC route. Except don't do this. My desktop originally came from CyberPower and I've replaced almost every single component of the original build. And the way they put it together, a few of the components didn't work at all until I got inside it and made them work. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. If you're going to go the pre-built route, I'm sure other companies do it better.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:50 |
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LLJKSiLk posted:Questions: 1. You don't really need 16G given what you've told us. If you really want 16G you can get it for cheaper than that ($60 on Newegg). 2. No. 3. Forget watercooling, you can get equivalent performance out of a $35 Hyper 212 vs. a $100 watercooler that is louder and more failure prone. 4. There are some concerns about the NAND used in the Samsung 840 has a reduced lifespan vs other drives (including the 830). It's most likely fine, but fair warning.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:50 |
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vyst posted:If you want to not talk to people you can go the Ibuypower/Cyberpowerpc route. No no no. Both of these builders make money buy skimping like a motherfucker wherever they can, and they have nearly non-existent support. OriginPC only gets a halting recommendation from me because they actually spell out what they're putting in your case.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 20:52 |
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When I was building a computer last summer, I remember someone in the old thread linked to a website which let you pick all the programs you would typical download after a fresh OS install, and have them all on a single installer. Does anyone have said link? Also, I'm at a bit of a crossroads with my new SSD hardrive. It's a crucial M4 and it's freezing all the time. I've read the stickied thread, but a) it already has the latest firmware installed and b) it's only sitting at about 3500 hours. I'm hoping a fresh windows install will help, but if not I guess I need to replace it?
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 21:08 |
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1) http://www.ninite.com 2) Re-read the sticky; it's not the LATEST firmware you want, it's 000F. Downgrade.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 21:09 |
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Penguin Bacon posted:Yah, I know I'm being gourged. It is not the best that I'm being forced into this route but I don't have the choice. I'm still sitting on a built computer from 2008. It is still good but its getting long in the tooth. If the prices get really bad, I'll just have to take a vacation day or two to get things up to snuff.  Do you take vacation days to play your games, too? It's like an evening or two or half a Saturday. I'm sure your guild will understand if you skip out on one raid.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 21:11 |
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Factory Factory posted:1) http://www.ninite.com Cheers, And yeah, sorry, I have 000F (according to DiskInfo).
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 21:14 |
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| # ? May 19, 2013 11:25 |
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Fano posted:I'm quite happy with what I have, it's more that the discrete card is relatively cheap and my curiosity has been sparked by it. I've had lovely headphones up until recently and I'd really like to get the most out of them. The M50's can be driven really easily, so they don't benefit from an amplifier like what comes in high end sound cards. If you notice an annoying amount of static, beeping or other noises coming through your headphones when no sounds should be playing, consider heading to the headphone thread and asking for recommendations for a cheap external DAC. Some motherboards are pretty poorly shielded against intereference from all the electricals in your case, not to mention appliances such as cell phones and microwaves.
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| # ? Jan 2, 2013 21:17 |
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