My New Build!

wait? what?

Tell me moar, I want to make sure my MoBo is properly forward compatible

RoninHo'in wrote:

wait? what?

Tell me moar, I want to make sure my MoBo is properly forward compatible

The new cards coming out (gtx 680, radeon 7750) are PCI Express 3.0. But most of these cards are $400+ atm. I would still get a compatible mobo though.

oh, I looked... All I could find are PCI Express 2.0 slots.

Those cards work in PCI Express 2.0 slots though... supposedly

RoninHo'in wrote:

oh, I looked... All I could find are PCI Express 2.0 slots.

Those cards work in PCI Express 2.0 slots though... supposedly

Looks like some people see no difference in performance, but I wonder if there'll be a significant difference later in the series.

well, when they actually come out with mobos that support the 3.0 yah.

Think of it like plugging a USB 3.0 thumbstick into a USB 2.0 slot. It works at the same speed as a USB 2.0 thumbstick would but it still works.

Same basic thing here. They made the new cards before the slots even exist to support it though..........

Like the card I'm getting... it's a 3.0. Doesn't matter to me. I wouldn't care if it was 2.0 since when I upgrade my board, I'll prolly already have upgraded my GFX card so it won't matter.

Still, it's nice to have 2 way backwards compatibility. Remember the old days when any change no matter how minor meant everything was incompatible? ohwait..........

3.0 only works with Ivy Bridge on up anyways

GFX card came today as well! rig is built! SICK! 7.6 (7.9 max) windows score lol Pics and benchmarks to follow

Pictures!

https://imgur.com/a/aEDk3

I added an SSD drive to the build, and holy hell... fast

We have the same RAM!!

Mine is red though.

So I went with
Biostar MB (was a steal @ only $60... uses new Intel chipset. Downside is no SLI/XFire support... not even 2 16x slots)

Intel i3 (lil beast has got some oomph to it... haven't had any issues yet and I haven't even OC'd it yet. Went with i3 as i7 is a better upgrade option than the AMD Bulldozer.)

Sapphire Radeon 6850 (best bang for yer buck card)

OCZ 650 modular PSU (power to spare and good cable management)

I need to add a couple 140mm fans to my case to improve venting but it's power use is low enough it' staying well within temp threshholds even after extended heavy gaming sessions in a non-AC'd room in Summer (ok, room is well positioned to not get blazing hot... still gets over 80 when it's 90+ outside. Ideal room temp for computers is lik 60's ) Will want to add a couple fans before I OC and bump up my heat output though. As I said though... I'm not having any issues yet.

you can OC the i3? not much, it is a locked multiplier.

Or are you talking the GPU?

GnarlyBromance wrote:

you can OC the i3? not much, it is a locked multiplier.

Or are you talking the GPU?

meant both actually.

but maybe just the GPU

CPU is handling fine though. Dutiful lil bugger. I do make sure to close down all unnecessary apps prior to playing any real demanding games tho...

But according to my performance monitor... I've never seen my CPU usage bust the 95% barrier even during the most hectic gaming sessions....

BF3 usually it runs high 70s-low 80s

Most other games it's 40-60

70s and 80s? C?

Heh, that stock cooler from intel sucks. I'd upgrade that to an after market asap to extend your longevity. I don't break 60 on my un-overclocked i5

You can get a good one for 20-30 dollars. A rear, exhaust case fan will also help

uhm
70-80% CPU usage...

Temps are down in the low 40's after a heavy play session (BF3)

Sorry, I was kinda jumping topics from heat management, to CPU usage lol