Off-Topic Thread

sosmyface wrote: »

Me again!
What about the Sapphire HD7750 1GB GDDR5 Ultimate Graphics Card?
Its just a couple of weeks old and only about €10-€15 more expensive.
Sapphire claim "first totally silent card to embody all of the features of this new generation of products based on the revolutionary new GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture from AMD" - probably marketing spiel but what do ya reckon?

even better, but keep in mind, you already going for 100eu GPU just for WoW? i though we were looking for cheap way

sosmyface

haha, gonna have to buy a real game now to try it out :pac:

deconduo

sosmyface wrote: »

Me again!
What about the Sapphire HD7750 1GB GDDR5 Ultimate Graphics Card?
Its just a couple of weeks old and only about €10-€15 more expensive.
Sapphire claim "first totally silent card to embody all of the features of this new generation of products based on the revolutionary new GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture from AMD" - probably marketing spiel but what do ya reckon?

I was going to suggest that instead but you beat me to it. Its faster than the 450, and uses less power. Even though its not passive, it will run cooler and shouldn't be noisy at all.

TerrorFirmer

Don't bother with that 450. Get a 550Ti at least. These cards took a lot of flak for being crappy price: performance ratio, but they're now available at the €100-110 price point, which is very respectable given what they can do. Passively cooled is great at all, but you need to be careful, and ideally, have a well ventilated case with good airflow. The last passive card I had - and I just can't remember the model, possibly 8800GT or thereabouts - I found that it just didn't work for me despite a sound principle. I ended up with a considerable raised temperature across the board beyond my 'worst case scenario' expectations (as in,the entire system, not literally the mobo) which just didn't work so great for me. The card itself was hitting 110c on occassion!

I would forget the 7750 at the £100 price range...the 550Ti is also available for that price, and it's actually faster in every game I've seen used in benches, and not crazy loud either.

With regards noise, I've actually heard that the 7750 can be noisy under load....

I think either the 7750 passive at that price or a regular 550Ti are both OK choices, but forget a GTS450...

sosmyface

thanks for the feedback terrorfirmer. hmm that did get me thinking ha.
I do see your point and Serephucus too about the high temperatures. I guess what is the point of a fanless graphics card if I need a case fan to work it. There will be a cpu fan and probably a case fan so I guess a gpu fan is not gonna make a difference.
So im back to square one then:pac:
I was looking at a thread on another forum and I got a few ideas
Gainward GeForce GT 440, 1GB GDDR5 @ €65.19
Asus AMD Radeon HD 6670 Graphics Card @ £59.48stg
Asus nVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti Graphics Card @ £86.99stg (terrors recommendation?)
Gigabyte Radeon HD 6670, 1024MB GDDR3 @ €61.16

or even the original fan version of the 7750?
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7750, 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express @ €96.63

its very confusing for a newbie like me seeing so many differnet version of the same numbers from different companies.. i would rather pay for the most reliable (if I knew which that was)

what do ye reckon? ideally want something that doesnt consume lots of power when its idle.
sorry for taking this off-topic thread 'on-topic'

edit: oh and not trying to be smart but how would the fanless 7750 make noise without a fan?

TerrorFirmer

That's only my recommendation, if you're actually gaming!

If it's light gaming like WOW, the 6670 is a better call than the GT440 for sure. I don't play WOW so I've no idea, but I can only imagine, being that old, regardless of updates, the game would run perfectly on either card.

But between the 7750 and the 550Ti, considering the 550Ti is cheaper, that'd be a no brainer for me - but that's just me personally, because I tend to look at these things from a gaming perspective relatively untroubled by other considerations like max draw, etc. Any bench I've seen puts the 550 ahead by 5-10% in every game tested.

I don't know what the speed of that Asus 550ti is on Amazon, but if you check the like of dabs or Pixmania, it's entirely possible to pick up a factory OC model to about 970~mhz for about 115 euro....if that interests you.

As regards passive. If the reason you were considering a passive GPU was noise, then you'd need both a very low db cpu cooler, and case fans to match...so it's really not worth considering a passive card unless those other 2 aspects are tied down....which is very much achievable by the way, if that's the route you'd like?

Genghiz Cohen

This + Me =

Monotype

sosmyface, there's a 6850 for £87.44 from amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-6850-DirectCU-PCI-E/dp/B004HXW5OU/
(choose amazon themselves as a seller).

Looks like I got an email information last night at 21:30 from komplett.ie that my stuff is despatch by post.

So I guess tommorow I should see it at my doors!!

Im looking for some advise on speakers. Never had a 5.1 set so i am wondering if the Z906 is really all that. In my own mind it sure isnt worth Eur350 but at Eur200 would it be worth a look?

deejer wrote: »

Im looking for some advise on speakers. Never had a 5.1 set so i am wondering if the Z906 is really all that. In my own mind it sure isnt worth Eur350 but at Eur200 would it be worth a look?

350eu speakers for PC? **** that...

i got these 5-6 years ago with my first PC in ireland and i am still using them. Damn briliant. and for that price, you can go wrong.

http://www.logitech.com/en-roeu/speakers-audio/home-pc-speakers/devices/x-530

I've recently upgraded from X-540s (similar to the X-530s) to the Z906s. There's a big difference. Is it worth €300? No.

... That's why I got them for Christmas.

If you're around Maynooth at any point you're welcome to have a listen for yourself. I don't have the 540s any more, but you could always bring your speakers for comparison.

ShadowHearth wrote: »

350eu speakers for PC? **** that...

i got these 5-6 years ago with my first PC and i am still using them. Damn briliant. and for that price, you can go wrong.

http://www.logitech.com/en-roeu/speakers-audio/home-pc-speakers/devices/x-530

Ya Im prob going a bit ahead of myself. I got my current set in Lidl a few years ago. Have been planning on upgrading for a while now but other things always get in ahead if it.

deejer wrote: »

Ya Im prob going a bit ahead of myself. I got my current set in Lidl a few years ago. Have been planning on upgrading for a while now but other things always get in ahead if it.

buy those 530/540 and spend 250eu on something nice. if those are still in production after so many years, then it really means something, eh? :P

i bought my one for 130eu ( if i remember correctly ), for 80 quid its a steel.

Serephucus wrote: »

I've recently upgraded from X-540s (similar to the X-530s) to the Z906s. There's a big difference. Is it worth €300? No.

... That's why I got them for Christmas.

If you're around Maynooth at any point you're welcome to have a listen for yourself. I don't have the 540s any more, but you could always bring your speakers for comparison.

What do you use them for? Gaming, movies, music? See I think they would be a bit wasted with me as I plan on having HTPC setup in the living room so music and movies will be played there.

ShadowHearth wrote: »

buy those 530/540 and spend 250eu on something nice. if those are still in production after so many years, then it really means something, eh? :P

i bought my one for 130eu ( if i remember correctly ), for 80 quid its a steel.

Ah the voice of reason! Hows that 680 going

but you are probably right!

I use them for everything. Mostly movies and music, but a fair bit of gaming too.

They work great for everything TBH. I suppose it just depends where you want the quality.

deejer wrote: »

What do you use them for? Gaming, movies, music? See I think they would be a bit wasted with me as I plan on having HTPC setup in the living room so music and movies will be played there.

Ah the voice of reason! Hows that 680 going

but you are probably right!

its grand. quite weird having BF3 going 70-90FPS ( have only AA lowered a wee bit, i have no idea why would anyone even want it on 1080p resolutions ). waiting on my u2312hm now! belive it or not my lovely 680 is hooked now with VGA on 22 inch VGA monitor lol.

i think i will be ordering second u2312hm very very soon so i can get 3 monitor setup with my 22inch old one for now. still havent told misses i ordered monitor in the first place

anyway, speakers. i would vote for 530/540, and ignore serephucus, he is a sound junky, so something good for mortals like you and me, for him is just not acceptable

Why does everyone think I'm an audiophile? Jeez. :P

Get the Z906s! They thump more!!

ive got the 540's (paid €25 :P) and they're grand. really cant complain for the money, but I wouldn't pay 100e for them, but maybe that's cause I don't have a sound card. I said it before, but I'm not sold on 5.1. If you're source isn't 5.1, the speaker fill is.. odd? I definitely prefer my z623 2.1 Channel. more boom boom too

..Brian..

If I buy a PSU off Hardwareversand.de will it come with a EU 2 pin plug? If so can I just stick any kettle lead into it and it'll work fine?

yes and yes.
I can vouch for the XFX pro core 850W that it comes with a euro and Irish cable, which was a nice find. obviously that psu might not suite your needs though. what are you powering?

Tea_Bag wrote: »

yes and yes.
I can vouch for the XFX pro core 850W that it comes with a euro and Irish cable, which was a nice find. obviously that psu might not suite your needs though. what are you powering?

A fecking starship I guess

speaking of, I wish LEDs had never been invented. I've got millions of them on each of my electronic devices telling me they're on. even when they're off, I get an led. when I sleep its like a Christmas tree next to me. bloody annoying unplugging each item every night. damn wall socket doesn't have a switch either.

Tea_Bag wrote: »

ive got the 540's (paid €25 :P) and they're grand. really cant complain for the money, but I wouldn't pay 100e for them, but maybe that's cause I don't have a sound card. I said it before, but I'm not sold on 5.1. If you're source isn't 5.1, the speaker fill is.. odd? I definitely prefer my z623 2.1 Channel. more boom boom too

Correct.

I'm actually going to try the onboard sound on my board later on, and see what I can get out of it, just for giggles. Then I'll be able to give you a better comparison and you can see if a sound card is worth it. The Z623s are better quality speakers though, so you're right there.

Tea_Bag wrote: »

speaking of, I wish LEDs had never been invented. I've got millions of them on each of my electronic devices telling me they're on. even when they're off, I get an led. when I sleep its like a Christmas tree next to me. bloody annoying unplugging each item every night. damn wall socket doesn't have a switch either.

That's why I don't plug in HDD activity or power LEDs on my builds any more.

Genghiz Cohen

Tea_Bag wrote: »

speaking of, I wish LEDs had never been invented. I've got millions of them on each of my electronic devices telling me they're on. even when they're off, I get an led. when I sleep its like a Christmas tree next to me. bloody annoying unplugging each item every night. damn wall socket doesn't have a switch either.

If you wanted to be clever you could get the colour tape that absorbs the colour of the LED.

ShadowHearth wrote: »

buy those 530/540 and spend 250eu on something nice.

I nice TJ07 case for a WC build maybe..........

Serephucus wrote: »

Correct.

I'm actually going to try the onboard sound on my board later on, and see what I can get out of it, just for giggles. Then I'll be able to give you a better comparison and you can see if a sound card is worth it. The Z623s are better quality speakers though, so you're right there.

That's why I don't plug in HDD activity or power LEDs on my builds any more.

I left that in there cause I knew you were going to respond it anyway :P

asrock boards have a BIOS option that disables the leds permanently or only at night. nifty feature.

VenomIreland

I've been convinced not to go with an eyefinity setup, but I have found something else to devote too much money and time to!

Going to put the money into building a HTPC for the sitting room, will be used for movies and some gaming (I have two brothers so there'll be no fighting over who gets to play with another PC in the house), but I've run into a snag, I need a case! Trying to find something cheap and not too ugly, but most importantly, it has to be no more than 15cm tall (unless I can convince my dad to move a shelf).

deejer wrote: »

I nice TJ07 case for a WC build maybe..........

Well 250eu is a lot of money. What ever you fancy

. put away for gpu upgrade, monitor upgrade? Ssd for games? An extra big fan to cool down your jewels. All goes!