[mGGDrGooSe]

Originally Posted by Scope_IV

Imo really bad time to upgrade, Keplar and Ivy bridge will be coming out really soon.

Yeah this is exactly the answer to I wanted to hear. If it's only a month, will likely wait for the new stuff, if only to get the older stuff cheaper.

Originally Posted by breadfan

Do check out if 1600MHz memory will actually perform at anything above 1333MHz unoverclocked on that CPU

Interersting, never thought of that.

Originally Posted by breadfan

I would definitely recommend an after market CPU cooler, the stock Intel ones are pretty terrible

Cool. Will do. Although I have a stock Intel on the current i7 860 and have run it 50% for 2 weeks on two occassions with no probs. That's with all sides of the case open though.

Originally Posted by Mayo

Out of interest, where is this PC coming from?

Usually I get my systems from Arc Penrith (arc.com.au). They do sell Tt stuff, they just don't stock much of it (that I've ever seen anyway). But if I'm waiting a month that won't matter. Recommendations for a mid-size with a USB 3.0 on the front? Also the Tt stuff is more expensive there. Can you hook me up ? :P

[breadfan]

Originally Posted by Drgoose

Cool. Will do. Although I have a stock Intel on the current i7 860 and have run it 50% for 2 weeks on two occassions with no probs. That's with all sides of the case open though.

Just a note - it's really bad to leave the sides of a case off. In fact, it actually makes it hotter, because it reduces air flow, so all the hot air can just sit there. Cooling is all about keeping the air in your case moving, not how cool the breeze is.

A quick google gave me this as the first result: http://www.technibble.com/case-cooli...-good-airflow/ I haven't read it, but I am sure it will help you make decisions

I think of having good cooling like ABS brakes on a car. I can't remember the last time my ABS intitiated because I slammed on the brakes, therefore, I could say I don't actually need them. But, for that time when they are needed, which may or may not happen, I will really regret not having it. Of course, heating issues aren't just car crashes - CPUs need to cope with some fluctuation in temps before it hits that cutoff temp, because obviously they need to cope for brief periods of intense work. Just because your system doesn't turn off from overheating doesn't mean high temps aren't slowly deteriorating the CPU over time.

Originally Posted by Hydroid

Last person I told to go Nvidia rather than ATI/AMD ignored me and came and apologized after 3 months saying never again will they buy a video card from them. You might save some money, but they can't do drivers right. Every couple of weeks he would be having issues with drivers in relation to a new game. If all you do is play 1 game (hopefully SC2) and stick with it for years I'd be fine recommending AMD because they can only mess up drivers so many times for the same game. But if you like to grab a new game every so often to play on the side then I don't feel as though it is a good idea. He isn't the only one either. Numerous friends have the same issues with their AMD cards. Another friend even had to get their card replaced 3 times in a month before switching back to Nvidia. One of them the fan died, another just made a lot of noise and another wasn't performing to the standards of other reviews and benchmarks. And yet in an equal sampling of friends and family who have bought and used Nvidia there has been at most 1-2 cases of a DOA card. But if the card works at the start, it keeps working and is often still working 5 years later. So in my overall experience, I would agree wholeheartedly that an AMD card is a bad play when investing large amounts of your hard earned money in a new gaming rig. But hey, it doesn't affect my wallet when other people buy.

Just want to respond to this. Personally, I have used both Nvidia and ATI and have not had a noticable difference aside from the expected (I generally buy to upgrade, not to go sideways between brands, so there's not really been a direct comparison). Never had any driver issues from ATI cards, however I have to say that I really enjoy what Nvidia have done with their drivers and support to the point that I think they are setting the way in making this easier, but I haven't owned an ATI card in the past 3 years. This is from someone who grew up swapping out cards in a time where drivers were never easy to find from any manufacturer, so I'd be perhaps a little more blind to ATI drivers being difficult to track down if they in fact are. I certainly never had a problem with a video driver ruining gameplay or anything.

When it comes to replacing cards and DOAs - that could be lots of things beyond manufacturer, like the place you bought it from (freight, storage, handling etc). I'm guessing Hydroid's is also a fairly small sampling and all a fairly close proximity geographically, so the retailer has a high chance of being the same one in most cases?

Anyway, everyone has their preference, and people are more inclined to notice all the problems with another product that they don't prefer and make a bigger deal of it when it comes to their recommendations - that's just how we are. More likely to tell more people about something bad than something good. My point is, look at a wide range of reviews and sources. You might find that generally, there are similar things said on both sides of the ATI vs Nvidia fence. Evaluate for yourself always

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