DarrenP

I didn't really know where to put this topic, but I guess here will do for now?

 

So, to begin with, I'm going to be dropping around AUD $3000 on computer parts for my first build ever. Yes, I'm going all out. But I also don't want to buy everything at full price. Which is why I've made this post, so that the experienced buyers out there could share their knowledge on how to get the best deals when buying.

 

Here's a little bit more info:

 

- I'm in Adelaide, and I'll be buying the parts from IT Warehouse; a locally-owned company with less than 15 employees. I already know that they're willing to cut the price on big purchases, as I bought a laptop a few years back for $1500 and they cut the price by about 200 bucks.

 

- The total price of the components I want is $3,176 AUD on PC part picker (http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/KTmqt6) and I'd like to get the price down to less than $3000.

 

- I have this concept that, by spending more at a store, you're more likely to get a really good discount. Is this accurate?

 

Also, how do you deal with a bad sales rep? I've been in contact with a less-than-helpful sales guy before, and it was pretty clear that he isn't the kind to go around making deals to get customers.

 

Lastly, is it possible to haggle at ANY store, such as JB HI FI or Dick Smith or NCIX? Or is it only an option at smaller ones?

 

Sorry for the super long post.

As far as haggling with NCIX, You're not going to be able to do it. I've tried, unless you're spending like 10K+, they don't have room to move, their price is already the lowest possible. 

My first eBay rant was the story of how I got scammed as a seller, and hoe the buyer got his money back and got to keep the item. But I have something else this PISSES me off SO much.

 

The amount of people who win auctions and never pay for their sh*t is unbelievable. I sell shoes on eBay, and no sh*t I don't think I've ever sold a pair out of 30+ pairs I've sold where I haven't had a bidder win and not pay for the item.  And I have had this happen 4 times on one pair I sold. This is infuriating. You spend a week waiting for an item, then it sells and the buyer doesn't pay, it's BS. What eBay needs to do, is one of two things.

 

Option 1: (This is the best option IMO) If you place a bid on an item, you are accepting an agreement, that if you win, your paypal account is automatically charged for the winning amount, and you just have to confirm shipping. But the buyer will get the money either way.

 

Option 2: If you don't pay for an item, and the seller files an unpaid item case, and wins it, the buyer is automatically charged a 10-% re-stock fee, that goes to the seller as time compensation.

 

But seriously, the amount of people who do this is unbelievable. eBay pro tip, be sure to exclude buyers from Asia, they NEVER pay for items, and most of the time this happens, it's Asians. So be sure to exclude Asians. Ebay REALLY needs to find a solution to this problem, this really hurts seller, and wastes SO much time.

I want to get into racing simulation but I want to get an awesome wheel without breaking the bank. I found the Logitech G29 for $355 and its really appealing. Do you guys have any suggestions?

 

Edit: Does anyone know if the G290 is worth getting over the G29?

 

Cheers.

I have a G27, I found it a much better budget oriented option rather than the G920, or G29. 

This is for a school project in AP statistics so thanks for your help 

Do you mean just my Computer? or Setup?

 

Hi I have been looking at the Toshiba Chromebook 2 and I really like it. It looks great for the price and that 1080p display is very tempting. However I have a problem, I want to use it at school, where I do not have access to wi-fi so it would essentially be useless as chrome OS is dependant on having an internet connection. I have looked into installing windows on it so that I can use things such as Word and Visual Stuido etc without being connected to the internet. There have been 2 problems that I have come across however. Firstly I have read that when running windows the drivers for the keyboard and speakers do not work, is this still the case? Obviously carrying around a keyboard would defeat the purpose of a laptop. The other problem is that the CB2 only has a non replaceable 16GB SSD which would obviously not be big enough for installing all of my programs along with windows. So my question is would I be able to buy an SD card and leave it permanently inside the laptop and install things on there? 

Thanks

 

 

You wont be able to install Windows on it. They have like what 16GB of storage? The driver support also likely wont be there. You also wont be able to use the SD Card as a boot drive. So if you can even manage to get windows to go, I doubt it would be a wonderful experience. 

I bought a Logitech G27 Racing Wheel:

I know someone's going to ask why I didn't grab the G29. I didn't because I'm not paying 100 bucks more for the almost same product without the shifter. 

Its for my Macbook Pro so USB 3 or Thunderbolt. Going to need 250gb or more. More preferably.

Does it need to be portable? If not you could look at a thunderbolt raid enclosure, it'll be pricey, but well worth it. 

The Influenza strain this year that's been passing around most first world nations lately is rather rough. You likely just have the common house cold. I have it right now. Give a week. if you're sick after a week / 2 weeks go see a doctor. 

 

I have a spare system I am trying to sell on Craigslist and am looking for tips on how to make it more "sellable".  Any tips would be great, but I do have a few questions.

 

1.  It has a fresh load of Win-7, should I leave that on or go ahead and upgrade it to Win-10?

 

2.  Should I load it up with software or leave it fairly bare bones?  IE should I install a non-MS office suite, and other free utilities like VLC, AV, other browsers, benchmarking & system utilities, etc?

 

3.  Should I include a monitor with it, or list the monitor as an add-on for an additional price?

 

4.  It has a G3258 which I can get up to 4.4Ghz, so should I sell it pre-OC'ed or just say it can be OC'ed?

 

5.  It has an older but decent video card, 7870-XT, so should I label it a gaming PC?

 

 

Any help would be great.  Thanks!

 

What's the price you're selling it for? That's likely why it's not selling. 

Crappy sale. GTA V isn't even on there. 

You realize it's a themed sale. Why would GTA V be on sale on a "Stealth" Sale?

Dunno, was just thinking about it. They're slow buggers, but a quad core at 1.6/2.05ghz should be enough for something like it, right?

I don't know, maybe kabini core is way too slow processing for that kind of thing. Never really studied them, never cared much about them. Just wondering if it would work.

Ex: tf2, csgo, css etc

I have an AM1, AMD 5350 2.05Ghz 4 core CPU in a desktop I have that I use for streaming content from my desktop to it for Steam in-home streaming. They're great little CPU's and I think you'd be fine with one of them for small servers. (less then 20 people).

EDIT: If you want OP I can set up a server later (Like a day or two from now) and test the performance.

I've been trying to find a dual CPU motherboard that supports more than Xeons and can be used for overclocking. Two g3258's give me 4 cores and I currently have 1 clocked at 4.9Ghz with a custom water loop.

Reasons for dual pentiums:

4 OCable cores for half the price of a 4690k

Can be upgraded to i3s or i5s for more cores

Different experience

I have been looking for a while and have had no luck, honestly I was never expecting overclocking capabilities but I haven't found one that officially supports pentiums. Have any of you had any experience with a set-up like this before? Also in prepared for the motherboard to be expensive but cheaper would be preferable.

Doesn't exist. It never will either. The only platform that supports more than one CPU is the LGA 2011+ platform. 

Seems like a pretty shite case. https://www.nzxt.com/product/detail/105-source-210-case.html ?

 

Also isn't that CPU a bit out dated?

That CPU is in no way shape or form out-dated. 

Hello, I'm new to the forums and ive always wanted to know if my PC is still good or not. my specs include

 

i7 920 OC to 3.4ghz

hyper 212 evo

p6t mobo

8gb 1866 hyperX fury

500 watt semi-modular psu

gigabyte HD 6850

corsair 230T case (orange)

Western Digital Caviar blue 1tb

128gb corsair force SSD

USB 3.0 pci-e card (mobo doesn't support 3.0)

 

 

I know alot of my parts are getting older but they still hold up very well to my standards. If you could please leave a rating (1/10) and say how i could make it better i would greatly appreciate that

As long as they work for you, than it's good enough. 

Okay But one more question, what are the differences with 390 and 390x? The Msi 390 just happens to be in sales with price 369e and the msi 390x is 519e.

Go with the 390 then. 

In dollars I think it could be something like 450-700. I live in Finland so we have euros.

I'd recommend the R9 390X. As it has higher amount of VRAM, than it's NVidia counterparts. 

Hi!

I run 3 monitors at 5760x1080 with 60hz and I have a Msi z170 pro gaming + i5 6600k.

My gpu broke down and I need to get a new one. The problem is just that I simply cannot decide what to pick because of my lack of my knowledge.. Like will I need a 980 Ti or will some cheaper card also do the job.

Any suggestions?

What's your budget?

Well I will be doing some overclocking.

You'll still have plenty of room. I've run 2x280x's + 3770K overclocked to the snot on an 850W with no issues.

Hello friends.

Can any of you fine folks with experience building workstations advise me on a motherboard capable of running at least four PCIE lanes each in a 16x configuration?

My technical knowledge only extends as far as standard desktop components and sadly a lot of them usually tend to have 16/0/0/0 or 8/8/0/0 PCIE configurations and such. I need at least a 16/16/16/16 configuration and the supporting processor(s) for this beautiful, beautiful machine.

As far as my research goes, I have here the, an ASUS Z10PE-D8 WS, intended to seat two of the Xeon-2620 v3 which should happily suit my needs although it's not too easy keeping up with the workstation scene. Can I do better?

Dual CPU is not an  absolute requirement, but I mean COME ON! You know you want to see that build log!

~D

You're going to need to go with dual CPU do actually have the lanes. Let me do some further looking for you. I've never needed to know about 16x(x4) so I'll take a look for you and find you a decent board. What's your overall budget? Are you planning to use Tesla's? Or something similar, hence the 16X requirement? or?

You wont need a 1000W for dual SLI / CFX. 850 is more than enough for most card. especially the 270X. 

Don't.

Cold Pizza is life. 

Hello! :-)

I have just currently bought 2 LG 34" UM95

Monitors. I'm looking into buying a 3rd one in spring time. My question is this.

At the moment I'm on a $1000 budget.

Should I invest in a laptop that can operate both my monitors, and possibly a 3rd one?

OR...

Should I invest in building a desktop PC instead?

I'm on a $1,000 budget right now wether I go with a laptop or Desktop.

Which is best to invest in???

If Laptop, can I get recommendations please?

If Desktop, help on building one or just buying one.

I'm aware I'll need to buy a GPU that displays 3 monitors. Thanks

I'd go Desktop. I don't know or understand why you're going to spend that much on monitors if you don't have the horsepower to push it. You'd be better off saving more for a desktop.

6400 would be more cost effective.

I wasn't sure if the lower end I5's had been released yet. 

Hey all! I'm currently running an i5-3570k with a z75 motherboard. I want to downsize to a m-itx form factor. Issue is there aren't too many 1155 mitx boards to pick from. So I'm thinking about making the change to 1150/1151 socket. For gaming and general productivity would it be better to get a non-k chip and non-z board? I'm just running an r9 380 at this point anyways. I wouldn't want to do too high of an OC if I did get a K simply because of the form factor. Much love!

If you don't have the intentions to overclock. Just grab a decent H97/H170 board with a I5-6600, and you'll be set. 

I'm doing a "budget build" (I got a free i5 3470), and I'm sure the cpu would be fine but I am curious what the best cpu for the 1155 socket is. Google had mixed results and I know the people on here have knowledge from person experience/testing. Thanks for any ideas you have for me. 

The best CPU that was available for the LGA 1155 Platform is the 3770K. They can be found on eBay.