Upgrading CPU...

ger101 · 17-07-2010 1:01am

VenomIreland wrote: »

If ye can afford it, go for the 5770 instead.

Seems that I have the CPU done and over with, I'll go with the 5770...but the thing is, which one? There's HIS, XFX, Sapphire...

Are they all the same or are there any differences?

lmimmfn · 17-07-2010 2:05am

ger101 wrote: »

Seems that I have the CPU done and over with, I'll go with the 5770...but the thing is, which one? There's HIS, XFX, Sapphire...

Are they all the same or are there any differences?

what cpu did you go for? surprised people here didnt mention a quad, i mean yeah its more expensive but not by much over a dual

As was said, 5770 all the way. As for the manufacturer well its more down to customer experience and their cooling for non reference cards. Personally i would go for an XFX if comparitively its the same price as the Sapphire/HIS, simply because i have had unbelievable experience with their customer support even though my card was second hand, they also provide support for second hand cards( only in the case of first hand->second hand, i.e. not second hand->second hand, but thats just down to registration )

ger101 · 17-07-2010 2:00pm

lmimmfn wrote: »

what cpu did you go for? surprised people here didnt mention a quad, i mean yeah its more expensive but not by much over a dual

An E8400. I would've gone with a quad, but I'm not changing my motherboard for a good while yet.

lmimmfn wrote: »

As was said, 5770 all the way. As for the manufacturer well its more down to customer experience and their cooling for non reference cards. Personally i would go for an XFX if comparitively its the same price as the Sapphire/HIS, simply because i have had unbelievable experience with their customer support even though my card was second hand, they also provide support for second hand cards( only in the case of first hand->second hand, i.e. not second hand->second hand, but thats just down to registration )

So there's no performance difference or anything?

I'll read a couple of reviews for each of them, then pick which ever seems the best.

Solitaire · 17-07-2010 2:22pm

All HD5770 1GB are the same so long as they aren't manufacturer-OCd, and those models tend to carry a significant price premium. Apart from that, the PCB and cooler may help dictate heat and noise output and OC ceiling.

BostonB · 17-07-2010 2:46pm

lmimmfn wrote: »

what cpu did you go for? surprised people here didnt mention a quad, i mean yeah its more expensive but not by much over a dual...

Out of curiosity do you have many apps that use all quad cores

VenomIreland · 17-07-2010 3:16pm

BostonB wrote: »

Out of curiosity do you have many apps that use all quad cores

My most often used app that seems to utilise all four cores is FRAPS, great little tool for recording game footage

ger101 · 17-07-2010 3:28pm

Solitaire wrote: »

All HD5770 1GB are the same so long as they aren't manufacturer-OCd, and those models tend to carry a significant price premium. Apart from that, the PCB and cooler may help dictate heat and noise output and OC ceiling.

Ah, I see!

Just to clarify, are you sure that the 5770 will work with my PSU? It wouldn't overheat after about a month or something?

VenomIreland wrote: »

My most often used app that seems to utilise all four cores is FRAPS, great little tool for recording game footage

That probably kills your frame rate, though!

VenomIreland · 17-07-2010 3:33pm

ger101 wrote: »

That probably kills your frame rate, though!

Not by much, as I unlocked my Phenom II X2 550 into a B50, never gone below 60 in any game I tested (Ok, I only tested Morrowind, Mass Effect and Team Fortress 2).

ger101 · 17-07-2010 3:55pm

VenomIreland wrote: »

Not by much, as I unlocked my Phenom II X2 550 into a B50, never gone below 60 in any game I tested (Ok, I only tested Morrowind, Mass Effect and Team Fortress 2).

That's pretty cool. Give a couple some more demanding games a try and see what they're like.

VenomIreland · 17-07-2010 4:00pm

ger101 wrote: »

That's pretty cool. Give a couple some more demanding games a try and see what they're like.

Don't have many more demanding games XD

I might DL the Crysis Demo, see what I can get out of that.

ger101 · 17-07-2010 4:14pm

VenomIreland wrote: »

Don't have many more demanding games XD

I might DL the Crysis Demo, see what I can get out of that.

Wouldn't do it if I were you, your PC will explode!

Sorry! Couldn't resist!

VenomIreland · 17-07-2010 6:37pm

ger101 wrote: »

Wouldn't do it if I were you, your PC will explode!

Sorry! Couldn't resist!

Decided to cancel it, I CBA downloading the 1.8GB, I was 500MB in and I accidentally closed the download browser, which cancelled the download as well

lmimmfn · 18-07-2010 12:56am

BostonB wrote: »

Out of curiosity do you have many apps that use all quad cores

i honestly havnt checked the cpu usage on apps in ages. Blender, Photoshop, andmost video conversion apps and 3D apps use quad core. For video conversion i prefer to use gpu to do most of the conversion, but ATI's converter uses all 4 cpus and all 8 threads and converts movies about 3 times faster than the cpu alone

BostonB · 18-07-2010 1:18am

No games though?

ED E · 18-07-2010 1:51am

APB suggests Quad, and its not the only one IIRC.

lmimmfn · 19-07-2010 1:13am

BostonB wrote: »

No games though?

Games? you asked for apps :P

GTAIV
Metro2033
Bad Company 2
Supreme Commander 1&2
Prototype
Lost Planet
Dirt 2

are the games i can have and can think of that really really benefit from a quad, GTAIV goes from avg 27FPS to avg 60FPS with a quad, Prototype and Metro 2033 need a quad also. Bad Company 2 ive never tried on a dual core but i would imagine run pretty crap on anything but an E8400 or similar at 4Ghz.

also ones i dont have that benefit from a quad:
Red Faction:Guerrilla
Ghost Busters

95% of games out there now will improve with a quad, they may not require it but FPS etc. benefit, especially the Unreal Engine 3 games.

ger101 · 20-07-2010 12:37pm

CPU has just arrived...and I have two more questions!

Does the CPU come with thermal paste/grease already on it or would I have to go out and buy some before installing it? Also should I wait until I get the graphics card before installing the CPU or should I install it now?

VenomIreland · 20-07-2010 1:29pm

ger101 wrote: »

1. Does the CPU come with thermal paste/grease already on it or would I have to go out and buy some before installing it?
2. Should I wait until I get the graphics card before installing the CPU or should I install it now?

1. No, but the cooler should have some pre-applied or in a little tube.
2. Why wait?

ger101 · 20-07-2010 2:06pm

VenomIreland wrote: »

1. No, but the cooler should have some pre-applied or in a little tube.

Ah, okay. Well, I'm looking at the cooler now and there's three grey things on the back. I assume that's the paste? It didn't come with a tube or anything.

VenomIreland wrote: »

2. Why wait?

...I just thought that they'd run better since they would be brand new when installed.

BTW, how easy is it to install?

VenomIreland · 20-07-2010 2:11pm

ger101 wrote: »

Ah, okay. Well, I'm looking at the cooler now and there's three grey things on the back. I assume that's the paste? It didn't come with a tube or anything.

...I just thought that they'd run better since they would be brand new when installed.

BTW, how easy is it to install?

Those 3 grey things should be the paste

How easy is what to install? The CPU is very easy to install (life up a lever, drop (NOT FORCE) in, close lever.

The Cooler, should be just as easy, although I installed an aftermarket cooler on mine which is a little bit harder to get in.

ger101 · 20-07-2010 2:19pm

VenomIreland wrote: »

Those 3 grey things should be the paste

That's great! Should I buy some thermal paste, though? Is it needed at all?

VenomIreland wrote: »

How easy is what to install?

Oh, lol I was talking about the CPU and the cooler - how easy are they to install.

VenomIreland wrote: »

The CPU is very easy to install (life up a lever, drop (NOT FORCE) in, close lever.

The Cooler, should be just as easy, although I installed an aftermarket cooler on mine which is a little bit harder to get in.

What about static? I don't have any anti-static straps or anything like that...

VenomIreland · 20-07-2010 2:20pm

ger101 wrote: »

That's great! Should I buy some thermal paste, though? Is it needed at all?
It's already there, you don't need to buy anymore

Oh, lol I was talking about the CPU and the cooler - how easy are they to install.
Answer below

What about static? I don't have any anti-static straps or anything like that...
What I did was plug in the PSU after I installed it and keep it plugged in but off.

There.

ger101 · 20-07-2010 2:29pm

VenomIreland wrote: »

What I did was plug in the PSU after I installed it and keep it plugged in but off.

I'm talking about during the installation. I don't want to fry anything by accidentaly touching the RAM or something.

VenomIreland · 20-07-2010 2:29pm

ger101 wrote: »

I'm talking about during the installation. I don't want to fry anything by accidentaly touching the RAM or something.

By "after I installed it" I meant after I installed the PSU.

ger101 · 20-07-2010 2:32pm

VenomIreland wrote: »

By "after I installed it" I meant after I installed the PSU.

Ah, okay! ...but isn't that dangerous?

Do you use those anti-static straps?

VenomIreland · 20-07-2010 2:33pm

ger101 wrote: »

Ah, okay! ...but isn't that dangerous?

Do you use those anti-static straps?

It's only dangerous if you turn it on and say, lick a molex plug or something

I have only built one PC and I didn't use an anti-static strap for that.

ger101 · 20-07-2010 2:42pm

VenomIreland wrote: »

It's only dangerous if you turn it on and say, lick a molex plug or something

I have only built one PC and I didn't use an anti-static strap for that.

Alright. I'll install the thing in about 20 minutes.

BTW, is there any specific part of the case should I touch to ground myself? I just been reading about people installing stuff without those straps and they all say that they 'touched the case' to ground themselves.

VenomIreland · 20-07-2010 3:12pm

ger101 wrote: »

Alright. I'll install the thing in about 20 minutes.

BTW, is there any specific part of the case should I touch to ground myself? I just been reading about people installing stuff without those straps and they all say that they 'touched the case' to ground themselves.

I touched the metal casing surround the PSU.

Solitaire · 20-07-2010 4:32pm

Just make sure the PSU is plugged in first so the chassis is actually grounded

ger101 · 22-07-2010 7:21pm

VenomIreland wrote: »

I touched the metal casing surround the PSU.

Solitaire wrote: »

Just make sure the PSU is plugged in first so the chassis is actually grounded

Sorry for the late reply, guys. The CPU is in, although I had to take it to PC World because I couldn't get the heatsink on - that might seem stupid, but even they were having trouble with it, lol! It had these crappy plastic things on it instead of screws.

Anyway, I'm in need of one last thing: A power supply. I have the HD 5770 and I need a new PSU because the one I have now won't cut it - for gaming, at least.

I saw this...

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_01COM/29_PSU/01_PSU/productdetails/10020274/CoolerMaster_Silent_Pro_M500_Power_supply_%28/RS500_AMBAD3_EU/default.aspx

...on Komplett and am wondering if that'll be enough? It's 500w. Also, is there a way to measure the size PSU without taking it out of the case? I don't want to pay €76 for something that won't be able to fit in the case.

Upgrading CPU...

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