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MacLeod

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About MacLeod

  • Birthday 07/14/1972

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Chattanooga, TN
  • Interests
    weightlifting, car audio competition, PC gaming and building

Gaming

  • Steam
    Axe1592

OCC

  • Computer Specs
    FX-8150 @ 4.352 GHz
    Asus Sabertooth 990FX
    Sapphire 5870
    WD Caviar Blue 320GB & Black 1TB
    Corsair Vengeance low profile 2x4GB
    Corsair TX750W
    Corsair Carbide 500R
    Cooler Master Hyper 212+ push/pull

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  1. It depends on how much youre wanting to spend. Im a big believer that you should get the best one you can afford because the motherboard is the foundation of your entire rig and will determine how far you can upgrade it, longevity and so on. Since its by far the most complicated and biggest PITA to swap out, you dont want one that youll be wanting to upgrade in 6 months. That being said, I am of the opinion that the Asus Sabertooth is the best AM3+ motherboard on the market right now. Theyre a little pricey at $180 but man theyre bulletproof. One thing about your video card upgrade, instead of getting a GTX570, you could always pick up a 2nd GTX460 and go SLI. A pair of GTX460's will perform about the same as a single GTX580 and would be a bigger upgrade for you and for a lot less money as you can pick up GTX460's right now for $130-150. Granted those are the 192 bit cards.
  2. I would NOT use Overdrive. Using the BIOS is the best and easiest way. Download and install Intel Burn Test. This is my favorite stress tester because its a lot faster for one and for 2, Ive had several OC's that would pass P95 but wouldnt pass IBT however Ive never had a IBT certified OC fail P95. Now YMMV as I hear a lot of the opposite from other people. Bulldozer's benefit a lot by HT Reference Clock increases as opposed to multiplier increases. So set the CPU voltage to 1.35 and bump up the FSB (Ht reference clock but FSB is quicker to type) up to where youre at 4.0 GHz. Youll have to go in and turn down the RAM speed as well because the FSB controls the RAM speed too. Now run IBT. If you can make it thru 5 passes, go in and try 4.1 Rinse and repeat. When IBT crashes, bump the voltage up to say 1.37 and try IBT again. Make 5 passes, move up to 4.1 and so on. Keep your core temps under 61C. Ive never really read an AMD approved "max safe voltage" but the consensus seems to be 1.45 for 24/7 use so stay under that would be my advice. You have a rock solid motherboard so I but you could hit 4.5 on that 6100 with little problem. You will need some high end cooling to get that high though. My midrange Hyper 212 is good up to 4.3 but any higher and it couldnt keep it under 61C in IBT. A H100, Antec Kuhler 920 or Noctua NH-D14 would be the best coolers you could get. Phanteks makes one too but its so enormous that its not really an option for me.
  3. Absolutely recommend the DeathAdder. The most comfortable mouse Ive ever used. Very nice and precise sensor too. My only complaints is that it doesnt "feel" like its built very well where my Logitech G700 and G9 feel like they were assembled by eye surgeons. Now thats just in feel. Ive had this DeathAdder for about a year and a half and its performed flawlessly and never given me any trouble. And thats really the only complaint I can come up with. The G400 is no slouch though and while I havent owned one, Ive felt one up at Best Buy a couple times and the DeathAdder fits my hand better.
  4. Im a big believer that you should buy as much GPU horsepower as you can afford. If you can afford a 7870 then that is what you should get. Youll be glad you did later on down the road when youre not having to worry about upgrading. I bought the fastest single card available a few years ago and its still maxing every game on the market. It is getting a little long in the tooth and there are a couple games where Id like more frame rates so Im already saving up for an 7970 thatll hopefully last me several years as well.
  5. This makes a lot of sense for my mom or my wife who couldnt care less about what computer they were using, but people that are going to be frequenting sites like this are more than likely gonna be upgrade junkies and always wanting something new and cool to play with. I dont see anything wrong with this. Im on my 5th processor in 4 years and am having a ball with it. I was gonna ride out my old X6 1090 until Piledriver dropped but where's the fun in that? Id already pushed that 1090 as far as it would go so I wanted something new to play with. Bottom line is, if you want to upgrade, do it. New and better stuff is always a good idea. If youre tight on money and you current rig is getting the job done, then stick with it for a while. As for what options are out there for you, not much. The Phenom II X4 965 can be had for just a little over $100 these days and that would be a very nice upgrade for you. They overclock very well and that extra core along with the L3 cache will make for a nice performance bump.
  6. I vote for the H100. It is just about the best cooler on the market right now. They are a little pricier than the other coolers but not by a whole lot. The Noctua D14 is $80+ and the best choice for air coolers. The new Phanteks is a little better but that thing is just simply massive and takes up half your motherboard. Thats not anything Id want. Ill be picking up an H100 myself in the next few weeks so I can get some better overclocking out of my 8150.
  7. A GTX570 is a great card! Its very powerful and should give you good frame rates in every game at max settings. My 5870 will handle anything maxed at 1920x1080 although games like Metro and Crysis are in the 30's the whole time. Under $300, the GTX570 is the best card available.
  8. Id opt for the HX model if it were me. I never really cared too much about modular power supplies so I went with the TX model. Now that I kinda wish I hadnt because it is easier to keep a nice clean case when you dont have to worry about all kinds of extra cables. Im also kind of a brand snob when it comes to power supplies and so Corsair, XFX, Antec and Seasonic are my favorites and the ones I always try to recommend.
  9. Good point, I never really thought of the brown outs. I live kinda out in the country so we get a quick power outage almost every day it seems and usually from squirrels touching two power lines at once. I had a UPS but the battery didnt last and so I just hooked everything up to the surge protector and havent worried about it. Maybe I should look into replacing that battery.
  10. It bugs me. Im just riddled with OCD and ADD too so it drives me crazy not having everything maxed. I feel like a moron for not getting all the eye candy I paid for. Yeah, I know, Im a loser. Thats why Im really putting off the temptation to upgrade my GPU. I have to keep constantly talking myself out of it. Newegg has a XFX 7950 right now for $323 shipped with a $20 MIR. Its been in my cart for 2 days now and Ive come ever so close to pulling the trigger.
  11. Guess I need to start lurking over there! The cheapest one Ive seen so far is $280 shipped over at HardOCP.
  12. Yeah it takes a big bite out of performance. Look at the benchmarks on Anand and with FXAA and you get 45 fps. Turn on MSAA and youre down to 31. GTX470 benchmarks For close to 60 fps at full max settings, you need a GTX670 minimum and for some reason, Nvidia cards seem to handle the game better than AMD cards. So it is a pretty demanding game. Which is nice cause we need more games out there pushing the graphics envelope. BF3 Max settings benchmarks
  13. Wow!!! $300 for a GTX580?! Im with ya OP. Im gonna have to start making sites like that part of my waking up routine along with my Monster energy drink. Ive been eyeballing the GTX580's since the GTX600's came out thinking theyd drop to $300 pretty quick but theyre stuck at $380. Im running a 5870 now and its getting the job done at my 1920x1080 and while I can play Crysis and Metro at max settings, my framerates are in the mid 30's and Id like to get them into the upper 40's at least.
  14. Hi all! Been a long time reader of this website and have used the benchmarks in the OCC reviews to determine several of my purchases. Ive been looking for a new place to hang out and thought Id try this forum since Ive always liked the content of the website. Im primarily a PC gamer but have been building my own systems and overclocking since 2008. Im also an AMD fanboy so......
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