The Computer Thread

You could go with one step down of GTX to avoid the issues with very little performance hit, I use a 7xx something, and It will run any modern game on max. It would save money and avoid tech issues I can't speak much about.

I would personally recommend that over the Radeon... as I have said many times in this thread, my past experiences with them have not been kind.

OK, thank you. Does the 750 ti sound good? It's pretty well reviewed, and only costs $160.

Here, this will help a lot

Acording to to it use the 780.

edited 4th Mar '15 8:26:42 PM by Imca

Thank you, that's a useful site, though their prices aren't always up to date. The GTX 770 looks pretty good, and I can find it in the $250 range, so I think I'll get that.

EDIT: I can't find the 780 for less than $400, so I think I'll go with the 770.

edited 4th Mar '15 8:33:56 PM by Sivartis

You can opt to get H97 boards instead, as well as slightly lower capacity for the PSU. 500-700W is more than enough for your setup. Thus you get to save some money and be able to accommodate a GTX 970.

What's a good GPU for gaming on 1080p monitors/TVs? Not too bothered about the make, but I'd prefer a lower price range.

As for price, check the link Imca dropped. As for monitors...you get what you pay for. The monitor has to support 1080p. What kind of monitor are you looking at? Will you use the built in speakers or do you have a sound system? And yes, a pair of small mini/bluetooth speakers count.

Check Newegg.com and Amazon.com for prices.

edited 5th Mar '15 3:09:41 PM by TairaMai

Anyone good at estimating prices for ebaying older hardware?

I ask because I'm going through my crap collection, and while a lot of the stuff is relatively old (2009-ish) I don't have the heart to just throw it away if I can avoid it. (There are some places that will buy used computers/tablets/etc around here, but not individual components.) I've looked up individual components here and there, but that doesn't really help me much for pricing a package deal.

The big thing right now (still digging) is the guts prior to the current hardware in my Star Citizen system.

• Asus M2N68-AM PLUS (1 IDE cable, 2 SATA data cables, backplate thingy, and driver disc; original packaging may be somewhere around here, but not sure)
• AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition
• 4GB (2x2GB) G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ, DDR2-800
• Rosewill RCX-Z80-AL
• EVGA nVidia GT610, 1GB DDR3 memory

No overclocking, and kept reasonably well cooled when it was in regular use.

Or should I save time and just toss it into the county's hazardous materials dump, and write it off?

You could offer it to a local community college or other non-profit. Or, if you want to just get rid of it, sell it for the price of shipping. Someone could use it as a media center, streaming box, network server or hobby project (like a linux sandbox).

Any of you guys experienced with flight sticks? been looking at the Thrustmaster X, seems pretty good. Mainly intend on using it with Kerbal Space Program, possibly other games if I like it.

Thrustmaster is a good brand, as is Logitech.

I don't play games that require a stick or a pad (oh Goddess that sounds dirty!).

If you're concerned, visit the local computer store and/or big box store and try them out. There are reviews on various sticks, consider the response and how solid the thingy is. A nice stick that will fall apart after six months isn't that nice at all. Can you use it was a USB hub or does it have to be plugged in directly?

What do you want in your joystick? Do you want it to have everything (throttle, rudder controls etc) on the stick itself, or do you want separate throttle and/or rudder controls?

edited 5th Mar '15 6:49:50 PM by Krieger22

Separate throttle would be nice. I'd like to have a number of buttons for action groups in Kerbal.

Flexible on the rudder. Don't really need it for most of what I play so I could deal with less than 100% accurate controls. Plus I could always get pedals for the rudder later if I really wanted.

"I don't play games that require a stick or a pad (oh Goddess that sounds dirty!)."

Yea, try saying "Thrustmaster Joystick" with a straight face

edited 5th Mar '15 7:00:55 PM by Joesolo

Evidently the founders didn't care for any possible innuendo.

Seems like what you found would fit your needs well then. Reviews for it are pretty positive too.

This◊ is my joystick. lol

@Taira: I already have the TV. It's a 22" Bush 22/207F.

Check the chart Imca linked to and pick a mid point between price and performance. "Priceformance" is a thing.

Geforce GTX 660 on Amazon.co.uk. ~ £100-210, a good buy for a medium video card. Radeon HD 7870 as well.

If you want to future-proof your rig go for a newer card just mind the price.

For movies any good quality card should be able to pump out the fps to avoid the "blurry mess" look. Some onboard video can even do that.

Sadly if you want to run the latest titles at smooth +90fpx, shell out mucho £££...

edited 6th Mar '15 10:27:07 AM by TairaMai

Got a new desktop (acer AXC 605, not that I understand why the name is like that anyway) since my old one (it's only been 3 years, how could you leave so soon?!) have problem starting up. (Blue screen or something? Why no I am not good with computers )

I don't like windows 8, give me back my 7 interface.

And once again a large amount of pre-installed apps, unpinned all of them and pretend they don't exist.

Edit: Oh the new keyboard doesn't have the button that scrolls to the bottom of a page, I am doomed. (or just use the old one)

edited 8th Mar '15 6:50:37 AM by Batter

Windows 10 is going back towards more of a 7 look judging by pics they've released, and it'll be free for anyone with 8

Yeah, with Balmer out as CEO, the era of "mobile is king" seems to have passed.

• Windows 8 apps were going to be part of the "walled garden" approach, like Apple's iOS apps, their was oging to be a move away from programs to "apps" and strict control over who gets to make them. Xbox One was a preview of what some in House Redmond (motto: "You take what we give you") had planned for the PC and mobile.

• The interface was originally designed for mobile and tablet use. "Metro" came from the signs in the Seattle area "metro". Of course not everyone can spend the cash money to get new monitors and the pad-like peripherals to make Win 8 work without a touch screen.

• And this is why we can't have a nice startmenu: a move to a closed system that is the antithesis of the free open PC era. And an interface that would force many consumers to upgrade.

And then people, real people not Silicon Valley MS employees, got a hold of it. The open source community patched around Win 8, the apps were crap and their mobile phones and tablets were eaten alive by Apple and 'Droid. And so, coincidence I'm sure, Steve Balmer decided to retire...

With Balmer now enjoying retirement, it's nice to see some sanity in Micro$oft.

It looks like my Logitech USB headphones finally died for good. No matter how many times I plug and unplug them or restart the computer, it still comes up as usb device failed, unrecognized usb device, etc. I even tried reinstalling the usb drivers to no effect.

Any recommendations for new headphones?

edited 8th Mar '15 1:09:27 PM by storyyeller

^ Just to make sure, have you tried plugging it into other ports?

And on an unrelated note, are there any decent non-Logitech trackballs out there? The left button on my current M570 is flaking out, some times not responding at all while others double-clicking even though I only pressed once. This isn't the first time I've had Logitech buttons start to flake out on me, and I'm thinking that maybe I should try elsewhere. I've been using Logitech mice and trackballs since the late 90s, and as the product line continues my opinions regarding the durability that drew me to them in the first place become more and more negative.

There's only 2 usb ports and it hasn't worked in the other one for years. I did try plugging it into my Chromebook to check (no luck).

Another Logitech headset? What are your needs? I've got a Plantronics USB gaming headset which is comfy, has great sound quality, etc.

Also, have you tried finding and uninstalling the driver in Device Manager to see if it works the next time you use it? Sometimes that seems to help with USB devices.

edited 8th Mar '15 2:29:15 PM by AFP

@Nohbody: Trackballs have become Deader Than Disco for some reason.

I prefer them, but Logitech has gone all cheapskate on their switches. The left ones will fail due to many things. DIY hackers have soldered new switches to the circuit boards. Those of us with less $$ and carpel tunnel syndrome have to find new trackballs.

Kensington does make trackballs.