Hardware Discussion Thread

beno619

Bitfenix's Computex lineup thy have attached a "prototype" tag to all the cases to nothing is official yet.

A bit dissapointed with the Prodigy M the Phenom M looks boss tho.

http://www.pcworld.fr/boitier/actualites,computex-2013-bitfenix-boitiers-micro-atx,539111,1.htm

Prodigy M



Phenom M

NTMK

I'd be very interested in the prodigy m if i could understand the layout of it. Is that the PSU cage at the front with an upside down mobo?

beno619

NTMK wrote: »

I'd be very interested in the prodigy m if i could understand the layout of it. Is that the PSU cage at the front with an upside down mobo?

Yes & Yes, for me it misses a lot of what was great about the original Prodigy, they have stressed its a prototype tho so there could be changes.

Think im gonna to go with a Phenom M if they announce it'll be available anytime in the next week or two or stick with the OG Prodigy.

Monotype

A colossus M as well! Not flashy enough in comparison to the original colossus.

The phenom M looks nice enough, although what's that - carpet or fabric in the top? Do hard drives or anything go in there, I wonder. It could be just a dust collector.

NTMK

Monotype wrote: »

A colossus M as well! Not flashy enough in comparison to the original colossus.

The phenom M looks nice enough, although what's that - carpet or fabric in the top? Do hard drives or anything go in there, I wonder. It could be just a dust collector.

I think its just a fan cover and that the light has hit it funny

however given bitfenix's taste with some of their cases i would be overly suprised if they announced one with a shag carpet exterior :pac:

Tea_Bag

i think the prodigy looks alright. its going to look the same on the outside as normal, but will have mATX support and better GPU cooling from the air up from the bottom.

NTMK

Tea_Bag wrote: »

i think the prodigy looks alright. its going to look the same on the outside as normal, but will have mATX support and better GPU cooling from the air up from the bottom.

it looks fine but i think they should move the mobo tray to the middle of the case and put the psu behind the tray. it is wide enough i think?

MRTULES

What single card would the graphics from an A-10 5800k crossfired with a 6670 be equivalent to?

tuxy

MRTULES wrote: »

What single card would the graphics from an A-10 5800k crossfired with a 6670 be equivalent to?

Not sure, that kind of low end card do not scale well in crossfire.
I would think a 7750 would get similar results but the single 7750 card would run a little smoother.

glynf

Silverstone cases at Computex:

A more polished MM01 mammoth, way nicer than the prototype that was shown CES. The new sugo loks good, and the Raven is still a plastic pig.

Monotype

MRTULES wrote: »

What single card would the graphics from an A-10 5800k crossfired with a 6670 be equivalent to?

tuxy wrote: »

Not sure, that kind of low end card do not scale well in crossfire.
I would think a 7750 would get similar results but the single 7750 card would run a little smoother.

You can actually run a 7750 in crossfire with the APUs now. I assume it was an updated intended to push the Richland APUs (6800K etc.) but it actually works with the 5800K.

Here's an article of it being tested out:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1688717/review-amd-a10-5800k-7750-msi-working-dual-graphics.html

TL;DR:

Verdict:

Yeah, dual graphics a10 5800k with 7750 works, how much performance will you get out of it ? About
10-30% over a stock 7750 , and why is that ? Monitoring the games played and tested i've noticed that the only time the real power and full load of bouth graphics cards was achieved in Battlefield 3 where both GPU's where at 99% load. Crysis 2 was loading the 7750 at 99% and the 7660 at about 40% at times. Crysis 3 just had a copule of jumps to 10% on the 7660, the 7750 was at 99%. The performance increase is noticable and nice, especialy if you own a 5800k you'r better off buying a 7750 and not a 6670, here these 2 cards vary only 5-10$ and thats nothing compared to the performance difference. I've not tested the 6670 but we can see how the 6670 factor becomes irelevant at this point.

Do i want to buy a 7750 and upgrade my existing a10 5800k setup with it ?
Yeah you want.

Serephucus

Nothing at Computex (so far as I could find) about any SFX PSUs... I was really hoping for a Platinum/fanless unit from Silverstone or Seasonic...

Monotype

It's only a matter of time before demand for them increases enough to get their attention. Just look at how ITX boards are taking off!

If you do need a stop gap one now, I'd say by this time next year, we'll actually have some decent choices.

NTMK

Galaxy have made a white pcb GTX780


cooler is hideous imo but the whit pcb should look class in a wc build


and the Bitfenix Prodigy M is close to production a lot closer than the Phenom M

beno619

NTMK wrote: »

Galaxy have made a white pcb GTX780


cooler is hideous imo but the whit pcb should look class in a wc build


and the Bitfenix Prodigy M is close to production a lot closer than the Phenom M

Any links to the bitfenix info ?

NTMK

beno619 wrote: »

Any links to the bitfenix info ?

Link

not sure about the sites credibility but i've been told by a workmate whos at computex that The Prodigy is good to go (maybe a few tweaks) and should be out in the next few months. They're unsure that where the phenom M market is with the 2 prodigys existing and are using computex to gauge interest

tuxy

Does anyone know where I can buy a swiftech h220?
Specialtech have it on back order but they keep pushing the arrival date back. Pixmania have it buiit it's about €40 over the rrp.

Headshot

Special tech on amazon have it

tuxy

Headshot wrote: »

Special tech on amazon have it

Yes but you can't order it and they don't know when it will be in stock.

indough

don't think you'll find it for cheaper than the pix price in europe right now; they ballsed up its release pretty badly, with lots of RMAs and moving to a new factory just after launch. i don't see it on amazon right now although it was on there the other day. it looked like a dodgy ad though, said specialtech in one place and had another sellers name also on the same page (and not on the other offers page). specialtech haven't had any since the first batch which was a couple of months ago. you could try asking in the owners club on overclock.net, but they'll probably give a vague half-answer

tuxy

Thats a shame it does look like a nice kit for the price.
All the RMAs are a worry, I think it was mostly problems with the pump right?

indough

i think they had problems with contaminants in the coolant clogging up and then blocking the pump, which then led to the pump failing. but apparently their new batches have the problem fixed, and in fairness they seem to have amazing customer service/support.

tuxy

I've heard their CS is great in the US but not as good in Europe. No idea if it's true. I still want the kit though, its looks really good.

indough

i've been reading that thread on overclock for the past while and they do seem to be helping people out if the have problems with RMA'ing to the european distributors (bacata or something like that). perhaps they are going the extra mile due to the higher rate of failure on this particular product (although on the internet you only really tend to hear about the bad experiences).

i got one for about the same price as they are on pixmania, but i would advise against buying anything off them, and particularly if there is an increased chance of possibly having to send it back. i'm sure you're probably aware of their reputation and my only experiences with them were fairly horrific. highlow.nl stock these as well but they have a ridiculous shipping charge, something like 40 euro if i'm not mistaken

tuxy

I've ordered off pixmania many times and the service has been perfect. But I know that's just because I have never had to send an item back.
It's out of stock there now too.
I guess I will just have to wait.

Hexen

Swiftech H220 from Highflow.nl @ €139,95. I've no idea how much delivery costs and not something I'm every likely to need.

tuxy

Thanks but they charge €35 delivery from gls who aren't even a good courier service imo.
Normally I would be paying half that for a full PC and monitor
If I was to spend that much I might be better off with a custom watercooling setup.

Monotype

Superflower Extends Warranties. Woo!
I always thought that 2 years was bordering on scabby for a warranty, but the bronze PSUs all have 3 years now (backdated if you purchased from April 1st), others lengthened too. I like companies who have confidence in their own products.

Unfortunately, some of the PSUs have been a little less competitive such as the 450W Amazon with the likes of BeQuiet producing better PSUs since FSP stepped up and the CX430v3 from Corsair (aside from the measly 1 PCI-E connection).

freeze4real

Hi guys,

would a gtx295 run well on a seasonic s12.

This my pc specs.
DD3 2 x 2gb + 1 4GB = 8GB RAM
120mm fan x 6
i3 2120
previous GPU ATI 5850
500GB H.D
DVD Drive
Asrock z68 pro3.

thanks

Serephucus

Unfortunately not. The 295 is a pretty power hungry card, and even with the 600W unit, you only get 32A on the 12V rail, and I'd want at least 40A if it were me. There's also the fact that only the 5 and 600W units even have two PCIE connections, let alone the fact that they're only 6-pin, and the 295 requires 6+8.

Bazzo

Sooooo, it having been a whole month since I've ordered any parts I've been pondering buying one of these in the coming months.

Anyone else around here got one? Or heard anything/have any opinions on them? Would I be as well waiting for AMD to release their new line?

BloodBath

The 770 and 780 are a waste of money imo. The price/performance ratio drops fast on those higher end cards. The 760 gtx and 7950 are far better value. You can get one of these for €260. Overclocked it wouldn't be too far off a 770.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11196-09-40G-HD7950-Vapox-X-Graphics/dp/B0091MFBZC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376341656&sr=8-2&keywords=7950

Bazzo

I've got a 7870 XT at the moment, and that combined with the fact that the 8000 series will be coming out in the not-so-distant future steers me off buying a 7950, and a gtx 760 just feels like a side-grade. I was looking at the 770 because it would be the latest generation that gives a decent performance bump.

I may just wait for the new AMD series to come out and upgrade that way.

BloodBath

What about buying a second 7870xt for crossfire?

EoinHef

Im about to buy a second 7950 Vapor X on adverts for €190 plus €10 for postage. The recent price drop convinced seller to let it go for less than €200. Card is 3 months old with reciept. So id imagine there be a few more going second hand for very cheap when the 8000 series comes out

Bazzo

BloodBath wrote: »

What about buying a second 7870xt for crossfire?

Yeah I'd considered it, but if I were to go the crossfire route I'd really have to upgrade my mobo and possibly PSU to do it justice.

As I said, I may well just wait for the 8000 series to be released and then consider my options, whether it be to pick up a second hand 7000 series card or 2 or to go for a new single 8000 series gpu.

Gumbi

Bazzo wrote: »

Yeah I'd considered it, but if I were to go the crossfire route I'd really have to upgrade my mobo and possibly PSU to do it justice.

As I said, I may well just wait for the 8000 series to be released and then consider my options, whether it be to pick up a second hand 7000 series card or 2 or to go for a new single 8000 series gpu.

What PSU you have? 550w plus (assuming Intel chip) shoul be fine for a pair of XTs.

I am waiting for the 8/9xxx series too. In that vein, does anybody know if the Accelero Xtreme 7970 will support the 9000 series cards? They apparently support the 8000 series cards, but say nothing of the 9000 series on their site. Seeing as the 8000 series is just the OEMs, would the Accelero support the 9000 series? I have one of those coolers, and bringing it over to a new card that overclocks well would make it worth my while.

BloodBath

It won't be the 9000 series. Amd are changing their naming convention for the next series of cards.

They are following the A6, A8, A10 style of apu naming convention.

http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/amd_likely_to_adopt_new_naming_scheme_for_hd_9000_series_r9_xxxx.html

Gumbi

BloodBath wrote: »

It won't be the 9000 series. Amd are changing their naming convention for the next series of cards.

They are following the A6, A8, A10 style of apu naming convention.

http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/amd_likely_to_adopt_new_naming_scheme_for_hd_9000_series_r9_xxxx.html

I actually knew that! I just mis-understood it. Thanks

Let me rephrase my question: will the Accelero cooler support the next series of AMD cards to be released in October?

BloodBath

I don't think anyone knows that yet

Gumbi

BloodBath wrote: »

I don't think anyone knows that yet

But Arctic sites says (and has said for some time now) that they will support the 8000 series of cards. These are the OEM models of the newer cards, released in October, am I correct?

BloodBath

Nope, the 8000 series is rebranded 7000 series for the oems.

Is it worth me upgrading my machine?
I have a 3.2mhz core 2 duo, 8 gigs ram and a radeon HD 5850 1gig in a cooler master cosmos case.

I'd be keeping the gfx card.
obviously I'd need a mobo,cpu and new ram.
Im just wondering if now is a good time to buy or should I hold off a bit?
If I was upgrading what cpu is the best bang for buck these days?
Im totally out of the hardware loop!
cheers

BloodBath

It depends on your budget. I assume your processor is an E8400. Those procs are overclocking beasts. I had mine at 4.3ghz.

Your specs aren't bad but there's no doubt a full upgrade would give you a big performance boost. What's your budget?

The best bang for buck cpu at the moment is the amd fx 6300.

no budget in mind,
I think your right on the E8400.
Might look into clocking it for the larf.

Wow that fx6300 does look to be a beast.
havent messed with the rig in a good while (bar the gfx card) so I kinda have a hankering to do something.
But at the same time I dont want to fix something thats not broken!

BloodBath

Well there's a lot of games that make use of quad cores or higher at the moment. The combination of faster per core performance and extra cores would give you a big boost depending on what games you play.

You could probably get decent money selling your old pc towards an upgrade.

You could make a new thread and fill out the sticky questions to see what you could get.

freeze4real

Guys what do you think of a mid upgrade from ATI 5850 to ATI 5870 or Geforce GTX 295.


I'm not a gamer. There's only one game I play which is avp1998.

AlmightyCushion

freeze4real wrote: »

Guys what do you think of a mid upgrade from ATI 5850 to ATI 5870 or Geforce GTX 295.


I'm not a gamer. There's only one game I play which is avp1998.

Utterly pointless if you're not a gamer. AVP will probably run on a broken calculator it's that old.

freeze4real

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Utterly pointless if you're not a gamer. AVP will probably run on a broken calculator it's that old.

I get your point but I need a good gpu to run it. yea it can run on a crap gou but whats the point as I wont get muy desired satisfaction.



I've run this game on about 4 cards now, gainward 8500gt,8800, ati 5850, ati 6870 but I'm not satisfied as there's still room for improvement.

I might be getting additional games but not now.

I use GPU for other purposes such as data manipulation, forex trading etc.

So is it a good upgrade ?

Monotype

I would say that it's not your graphics card but the settings or possibly that it's not optimised to run on new systems.
I remember running that on a pentium 2 and 3 machines with integrated graphics. Your graphics card is probably a hundred times faster. It's likely that the graphics is software rendering which is going to be dependent on CPU, which is still much, much faster than the above.

What's the problem with it? Frames too low? Quality not looking good?