OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

[Rodster]

Now a days the GPU is way more important than the CPU. Your CPU is plenty Dan, nice rig btw. I do agree with DB 12GB is overkill, also you might want to consider dropping the soundcard, most motherboards have really good audio these days for games. Now if your doing some serious music listening on your rig then the soundcard makes sense.

[dbdynsty25]

When you get over a grand for a PC, what's another 1-2 hundy on the sound card? It actually does make a significant difference. If you're on a budget, it's the first thing to scrap however.

[Rodster]

When you get over a grand for a PC, what's another 1-2 hundy on the sound card? It actually does make a significant difference. If you're on a budget, it's the first thing to scrap however.

Yeah if you've got money to blow then keep the 12GB too. But most motherboards handle audio really nice these days where soundcards become irrelevant.

[DChaps]

PS - the 5850's have really come down in price now if you use mail in rebates, etc.

XFX 5850 - $185 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150477

HIS 5850 - $170 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

Just a couple months ago these cards were still in the $300 range. If I am reading the benchmarking site reviews correctly, it appears that the 5850 still outperforms the $200 6850 by quite a bit.

[Rodster]

Yeah that's about right and they are a pretty good deal as ATI wants to purge their stock. The 6870 which is the one I bought went up in price from $239 to $275. The 5850 is a good card especially at that price.

[Jimmydeicide]

Looking for a new Wireless router any suggestions, my xbox and ps3 dont need the wireless.

[dbdynsty25]

Looking for a new Wireless router any suggestions, my xbox and ps3 dont need the wireless.

Anything made by Buffalo. Fantastic routers. Way better than the Linksys/D-Link competition.

[DChaps]

Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 (1GB) - $139 with free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

This seems like a pretty good deal for a budget gaming setup, even compared to most places still selling 5850's. I have seen them still selling them for $200 or so unless you use a mail in rebate.

I have been thinking about picking one up to replace my current 4850 so that I can utilize a 3 monitor setup for iRacing on a budget. Going for anything higher than a 5850 would require me getting a new power supply as well, and possibly a new case as I know for sure the 6950's would not fit in my current case/power supply (450 watt) setup.

[dbdynsty25]

Even a year after I bought it (or more, can't remember) the 5850 is still my favorite video card I've had. I can still run every game at max res 1920x1200 with all of the detail and no issues at all. I really can't see any reason I'd need to get a new video card unless I was running multiple monitors or had a 30" higher res screen. At 139 it's a damn steal.

[Rodster]

Not sure if this belongs here but didn't see a console hardware thread. I made the jump to HDMI with my new Toshiba 1080P HDTV. In the past I used two sets of component cables for both the PS3 and 360. For audio I used a set of Logitech PC speakers.

From my understanding HDMI carries both video and audio signals, is that correct? Can I split the video and audio? I would like to run the audio through the PC speakers. Actually the Toshiba has a pretty decent set of speakers built in but the Logitech's sound much better.

[dbdynsty25]

Not sure if this belongs here but didn't see a console hardware thread. I made the jump to HDMI with my new Toshiba 1080P HDTV. In the past I used two sets of component cables for both the PS3 and 360. For audio I used a set of Logitech PC speakers.

From my understanding HDMI carries both video and audio signals, is that correct? Can I split the video and audio? I would like to run the audio through the PC speakers. Actually the Toshiba has a pretty decent set of speakers built in but the Logitech's sound much better.

The answer is yes (with caveats). Do the Logitech speakers have an optical audio port? I know their high end 5/7 channel systems do, but I'm not sure what you have. If the answer is yes, then you would need to get an optical audio cable and run it from the port on both the PS3 and the 360 (assuming you have one built in the last two years, the originals didn't have the port included) to the Logitech speakers. If the speakers do not have an optical port, it gets more complicated. Your new TV should have a sound output section where you can just run the regular Red and White cables from the tv itself directly to the Speakers.

[Rodster]

If the speakers do not have an optical port, it gets more complicated. Your new TV should have a sound output section where you can just run the regular Red and White cables from the tv itself directly to the Speakers.

They have the speaker jack like on the iPod. So if I hook up the red and white audio cables from the Logitech speakers to the back of the TV it should work?

[dbdynsty25]

If the speakers do not have an optical port, it gets more complicated. Your new TV should have a sound output section where you can just run the regular Red and White cables from the tv itself directly to the Speakers.

They have the speaker jack like on the iPod. So if I hook up the red and white audio cables from the Logitech speakers to the back of the TV it should work?

Correct. There will be red and white "outputs" on the TV...just get a Y cable (red and white rca's on one side, and a 3.5mm plug on the other) and plug it in. If it doesn't work, there may be a setting inside the TV menu that you may need to enable but most likely it's on by default.

[Rodster]

Thanks db.

So I ordered two HDMI cables from Monoprice for under $5 and shipping was close to $6. I placed the ordered on Tuesday and they arrived today from Anaheim, CA in less than 2 days via USPS...Wow !

[dbdynsty25]

Monoprice is the sh*t. Whenever I order stuff from there I just order a few extra, just in case. LOL...I've got cables coming out of my ears, but they are so cheap (and they work, so don't buy Monster whatever you do), it makes sense to just buy extras to have laying around.

[Rodster]

I just ordered those RCA audio cable adapter and another HDMI along with a short video cable. Est delivery is Monday. From Cali to Florida by Monday

Too bad they don't sell pizzas

[Rodster]

Looking for a solution to a dead LAN Ethernet port on my Dell laptop. Would a USB LAN dongle work?

[dbdynsty25]

Looking for a solution to a dead LAN Ethernet port on my Dell laptop. Would a USB LAN dongle work?

Ummm yeah that is what they are for. Or you can just go wireless like a real man.

[Rodster]

Looking for a solution to a dead LAN Ethernet port on my Dell laptop. Would a USB LAN dongle work?

Ummm yeah that is what they are for. Or you can just go wireless like a real man.

Bah don't trust WiFi that's why.

Got the internal NIC card to work again, took it apart and cleaned the area of the motherboard where the NIC socket connector sits with alcohol. There was some glue on there, not sure if that did it but i'm not arguing with success no matter how short lived it might be lol.

Just realized I have a USB LAN dongle from the Wii, i'll use that if it quits working.

[pk500]

Bah don't trust WiFi that's why.

Don't trust wi-fi? Damn, you're more paranoid than I am cheap. That's saying something.

[Rodster]

Hey db, need your advice

This is regarding my 360 Pro I recently cool modded. I replaced the thermal paste and used Arctic Silver Ceramique. For some reason the area where the CPU and GPU sit on the motherboard feels warmer than before (covers on). I've read both sides so i'm confused.

Some say yeah it's supposed to be hotter dumbass because the thermal paste is doing it's job and transferring heat away from the chips and passing it on to the heatsink.

Then i've read it's a sign the thermal paste is not doing it's job, was applied incorrectly etc.

How the hell do I know which is which ?! Damn I would hate to tear down that mother again.

[dbdynsty25]

The heat sink should be hotter if its taking the thermal transfer correctly. I wouldn't worry about it. Anything you've done has to be better than the s*** job Microsoft did at the factory.

[Rodster]

Thanks db, the only thing that has me second guessing myself are those phucking X-clamps. You just don't get a good feeling they're are making a tight fit. Am also second guessing whether or not I should have used a small washer on each hole.

[DChaps]

XFX HD 6950 1 GB DDR5 PCI-E Video Card - $239.99 with $30.00 mail in rebate and Free Deus Ex: Human Revolution for PC

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LB5AT0/ref ... B004LB5AT0

This seems like a really good deal for a 6950, almost too good to be true. Purchase must be made by end of day today for the $30 rebate.

[Rodster]

That's the same price at Newegg w/o Deus Ex. Solid deal either way.