Budget pc advice

[nightkhaos]

I think I may risk an angled one there might just be enough room.

This is turning into quite an expensive £250 pc

I'm thinking of replacing the stock fans which can with the coolermaster case with some 3pin ones which can be adjusted. Then the mosfet coolers and graphics card to go! will probably have cost closer to £400 by the time I've fnished! Having said that I will be getting a very nice pc out of it.

Just another aside, what is the main factor in short windows load up times? Mine is pretty quick now at just under 40 seconds (to get into the main windows bit but its not fully loaded up, will still open firefox and things pretty fast though). Is there any point (not now as it seems mroe than enough for me at the moment) in having 8gb instead of 4gb ram. Is 8gb only really needed in photo/video processing?

Edit and one more thing - is there any issues with running say the sapphire 4670 in the pci-e slot then running something like this: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131996# in a pci slot (ati/nvidia clashes etc). The reason for doing this is I will probably be using a dual monitor set up on my desk (have been using laptop and monitor) and would be nice not to have to change cables to connect up my projector (component input or vga only no hdmi).

I am the master of cost creep. My inital budget for my system was £1000 and I still have another 3 or 4 TBs of storage to buy, new fans, possibly even replacement internal cables, a sound card, and an AM cooler for my GPU. All up I'm looking at somewhere in the region of £2200.

The main component of boot times is HDD access times. However increasing the POST time by installing a RAID means you can only go so far. It's loading the OS into RAM as quickly as possible that's important, so that means the bottleneck is 9 times out of 10 the disk drive.

[no_numb]

LOL I know what you mean about the creaping build cost, most of my stuff always turns out like that too.

Depending on the fan connector molex plug you may be able to swap the pins over to make the fans run on 5v which pritty much halves there speed.

Which graphics card did you get in the end? seem to remember most 4670 have d-sub, hdmi and dvi sockets.
A graphics card can output to two monitors/projector/tv, if you need 2 d-sub connectors then you can get a dvi to d-sub convert plug.

Yeah I was thinking about switcfhing the wires but then I thought it would probably be better to get some which are naturally quiet so that they dont negatively impact airflow.

I am just waiting for the 4670 ultimate to come back into stock then I will order it. The trouble is that it has 1d-sub 1 DVI and 1 hdmi. If I were to use dual monitors I would use the d-sub and the DVI. This then leaves the HDMI and my projector does not have HDMI in only component and composite/s-video. I would probably not buy the pci graphics card new just get one very cheap off ebay.

I am the master of cost creep. My inital budget for my system was £1000 and I still have another 3 or 4 TBs of storage to buy, new fans, possibly even replacement internal cables, a sound card, and an AM cooler for my GPU. All up I'm looking at somewhere in the region of £2200.

The main component of boot times is HDD access times. However increasing the POST time by installing a RAID means you can only go so far. It's loading the OS into RAM as quickly as possible that's important, so that means the bottleneck is 9 times out of 10 the disk drive.

Its just so easy to spend when that little bit more can get you an upgrade. I originally was going to spend about £40 on the graphics card as I dont really play many games but then I saw the sapphire ultimate and thought that would be good. Then I thought I could play some games on it. Then unfortunately it was out of stock so I was tempted to buy the 4850 toxic vapor-x for £85! its terrible. I am also considering getting another hard disk or 2 and set up a raid configuration, I dont really have much need for space as I dont really have many movies stored. That said I am starting to put my music collection into flac or wav so that will begin to take up more space. I'm not using my floppy drive so am tempted to get something to go in there as well.

I see maybe I'll look into SSD in the future. Are they reliable? I'd probably look when they've come down in cost as I really wouldnt need that big a drive. Also why are they all 2.5" why cant they be 3.5" and fit in a standard bay without and adapter?

[Pob255]

Yeah I was thinking about switcfhing the wires but then I thought it would probably be better to get some which are naturally quiet so that they dont negatively impact airflow.

Hate to burst you bubble, but I've found the main factor for fan noise is speed
The slower the fan the less noise but also the less the air flow.
Higher quality fans will help increase/decrease things a little, but not much.

Something like the Scythe S-Flex 800rpm fan is so quiet you litterally have to risk your ear getting caught in the blades to hear it, however the air flow from them is pritty rubbish.
Scythe S-Flex 1600rpm pushes out a good amount of air but is far louder.

It's only when you try to go for THE quietest or THE highest air flow at a given sound level, that the more expensive fans show there value.

[no_numb]

Hate to burst you bubble, but I've found the main factor for fan noise is speed
The slower the fan the less noise but also the less the air flow.
Higher quality fans will help increase/decrease things a little, but not much.

Something like the Scythe S-Flex 800rpm fan is so quiet you litterally have to risk your ear getting caught in the blades to hear it, however the air flow from them is pritty rubbish.
Scythe S-Flex 1600rpm pushes out a good amount of air but is far louder.

It's only when you try to go for THE quietest or THE highest air flow at a given sound level, that the more expensive fans show there value.

yeah basicly I'd want the higest sort of airflow at around 18 or less db. I do understand there wont be a massive difference but a quiet computer is quite important. Occasionally I'll want to leave it on overnight and if I'm working then fan noise annoys me.

Slightly annoyed as I missed out on scans stock of 4670 ultimate I should've ordered it but I was waiting to see what the today only offers were and by the time the new ones were up the card had been sold out. They had it in stock for about 14 hours grr. So anyways I'm now either going to wait or possibly buy the 4850 vapor x from ebuyer for £85. I would consider buying this if the fan is quiet enough. I have heard its a good fan but how good is good? Anyone know relative noise levels?

[scaryjim]

The trouble is that it has 1d-sub 1 DVI and 1 hdmi. If I were to use dual monitors I would use the d-sub and the DVI. This then leaves the HDMI and my projector does not have HDMI in...

If you're already using the DVI and the VGA outputs then it doesn't matter what inputs your projector has, you're not going to run it off the 4670 It will only output to 2 sources simultaneously, so you'd be looking at a second graphics card whatever...

[no_numb]

If you're already using the DVI and the VGA outputs then it doesn't matter what inputs your projector has, you're not going to run it off the 4670 It will only output to 2 sources simultaneously, so you'd be looking at a second graphics card whatever...

Fair enough I wasnt sure if it could or not but thats good to have it confirmed. I think a cheap pci one of ebay will do the job or a kvm switch.

[no_numb]

Xfx 4850 xxx 512mb, xfx 4850 1gb, sapphire vapor x 4850, or sapphire 4670 Ultimate?

I primarily want a quiet card but I'm startinging to think that the 4850 may be more cost effective as it will be more future proof. I have read reviews of all of the cards which suggest that they seem to be pretty quiet. 4670 is £55 the rest are around £85.

Also if anyone knows of any cheap <£20 pci cards available (preferably fanless) then that would be great too.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

There is this HD4830 1gb for around £67:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168791

Scan also have the GTS250 Green Edition for under £70 too:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...128-Cores-HDMI

It is basically a GTS250 with lower clocks and power consumption.

[no_numb]

Ah this is so confusing. Basicly I want a card that will run at under 20db when doing windows tasks, I dont mind if it raises slightly when playing games as I will have either speakers or headphones on. I might buy some games but only have some old ones now.
Max budget £85 well £90 but would not go over £90 at all. I am not a serious gamer and only have a 19" monitor so 1440 x 900 resultion. I was going to get the sapphire 4670 because it is passive and I like that idea. If not passive then needs to be basicly inaudible (or as close to as possible) when just using windows. Double height etc not an issue just someone tell me what to get!

The sapphire website says

Quite and Powerful Dual Slot Vapor-Chamber Cooler, Under 20 dbA in 2D Operation, under 30 dbA in 3D Operation before 85 degree °C

About the 4850 vapor x and its £85 in stock at ebuyer that seem like the right desicion?

[Domestic_Ginger]

How desperately do you need it? If you don't need it now I would wait a few days and make your own mind up; if i was still positive its the right choice then go for it!

If you don't game then you'll have invested an extra £40 on the HD4850 that you don't need; it is a pretty card though!

[Pob255]

The 4850 will be more than enough performance at 1440x900 you'll be able to run near enough any game on maximum graphics setting.

You can never fully trust the dba rateing on any fan as it's more of a relative sound level and the testing methord can change the numbers greatly.
However the VaporX are know as quiet coolers.

But that gts 250 green is a real tempting card, not as fast as a 4850, but it'll still have plenty of power, it's cheaper and it most likely produces less heat to start with.

Tough call

[no_numb]

Hmm I dont really game at the moment mostly because I dont have anything which can run anything recent so I tend to just play on the 360. If I were to invest in a decent graphics card then I think I'd buy something like crysis.

The 4670 ultimate really appeals to me as then I know it just wont be an issue at all RE noise! Do you know how the 4670 would cope with something like crysis at 1440 x 900?

Sorry for all the questions but you know this pc should last me a good couple of years so I want to get it right.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Find reviews on the web. Crysis is a standard benchmark. FPS make me seasick; I personally couldn't comment.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

There is this passively cooled HD4850 1gb but it is very expensive:

http://www.lambda-tek.com/components...prodID=B219295

Here is a review:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...d4850-1gb.html

There is also the GIGABYTE Silent Cell HD 4850 1GB too:

http://www.futurelooks.com/gigabyte-...o-card-review/

There is also the cheaper Gigabyte 9600GT passive too:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1Gb-G...-64-Cores-HDMI

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166049

If the pricing of the card at Scan is true then it looks a better altenative to the HD4670 Ultimate IMHO.

Here is a review:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2384


TBH,I would look at getting an HD4770 and manually changing the fan settings using software.

The HD4670 is around the same speed as an HD3850 BTW.Here are some reviews of the HD4670 Ultimate:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...rd-review.html

http://www.bigbruin.com/2009/sapphire4670_1

http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...4670_ultimate/

[no_numb]

Hate to burst you bubble, but I've found the main factor for fan noise is speed
The slower the fan the less noise but also the less the air flow.
Higher quality fans will help increase/decrease things a little, but not much.

Something like the Scythe S-Flex 800rpm fan is so quiet you litterally have to risk your ear getting caught in the blades to hear it, however the air flow from them is pritty rubbish.
Scythe S-Flex 1600rpm pushes out a good amount of air but is far louder.

It's only when you try to go for THE quietest or THE highest air flow at a given sound level, that the more expensive fans show there value.

Well taken your advice and done the 7v mod and the fans are not really audible now. I figured that instead of replacing the fans I'd be better off doing the 7v mod and spending the money on another fan such as the scythe kamabay (which is supposed to be pretty quiet)

And big thanks to cat the filth for spotting ebuyer had stock of the 4670 ultimate back in. So I took the plunge and ordered this card. Looking forward to a nice quiet pc now!

[no_numb]

You can still overclock the hell out of it like a standard processor. I'm sure you know all the risks well enough. And another word of caution about the mosfets on the MOBO. Gigabyte recommend they are cooled if you are overclocking.

There are loads of forums of people pushing them up to the 4ghz mark.

I wish mine would *sob sob*

I was just wondering where you found this? I have read the manual and I can find anything which talks about mosfet cooling? thanks