Hardware Should I just get a new laptop?

[war2thegrave]

You should be fine with what you have.
The motherboards thermal overload protection should shut down the
computer long before your cpu would start to be affected by the heat.

 

[the_randomizer]

I won't tell you to uninstall it, that's your decision. I had it on my last pc build and only used it during the initial phase and never used it again.

As far as building a new desktop it all depends on what you'll be satisfied with.
I recommend you shop around and make sure to read reviews and checkout some benchmarks between components in the same price range to get the best dollar to performance ratio.

You should be able to get something similar to what you're looking for anywhere from about $450 to $700 depending when and where you shop. Newegg doesn't always have the best deals so check out tigerdirect also and keep an eye on techbargains, slickdeals and fatwallet. If anyone has any other sites to suggest please do so.

I'm still on the fence, but I've decided to stop being overly paranoid about the temperatures being what they are. Considering the cramped space for the components, and this particular CPU being pretty much a desktop CPU, these temperatures are to be expected and nothing to get scared of. In the time I've had it, I've only seen it throttle once, but that was because I forgot to turn my cooler on (and the throttle framerate only lasted five seconds tops). As for a desktop, now probably wouldn't be the best time due to other financial obligations but I would eventually want one just for the heck of it. Tiger Direct, huh? Can they be trusted as far as not winding up with refurbished parts? I avoid refurbished/used hardware like the plague, but that's just me, but I'll do more research.

You should be fine with what you have. The motherboard's thermal overload protection should shut down the
computer long before your CPU would start to be affected by the heat.

Thankfully, I've never had my laptop get to those levels, maybe just one did I ever see it throttle, but only for five seconds at most, but then the temperatures stabilized to safe levels. I know that low 80s is pushing it, but I don't believe that to be detrimental.

 

[Rydian]

Tiger Direct is a parts store, if something' refurb it's usually entire devices (PCs, monitors, etc.) and should be labeled properly there.

 

[the_randomizer]

Tiger Direct is a parts store, if something' refurb it's usually entire devices (PCs, monitors, etc.) and should be labeled properly there.

Ah, makes sense, thanks! I did see some pretty good deals on prebuilt machines, but you can customize desktops on there as well, right? Maybe I'll try out that gaming laptop cooler first as it seems pretty decent.

 

[Rydian]

They sell prebuilts from what I've seen, you can't customize on-site. Usually tigerdirect and newegg are used for buying parts for a machine, or buying a machine and extra parts to customize when it gets to you (for desktops it's not hard at all to do the physical work).

 

[the_randomizer]

They sell prebuilts from what I've seen, you can't customize on-site. Usually tigerdirect and newegg are used for buying parts for a machine, or buying a machine and extra parts to customize when it gets to you (for desktops it's not hard at all to do the physical work).

Yeah, that's true, I'll look more into it. As for normal gaming (dolphin, PCSX2, Skyrim, etc), I would assume that a Core i5 3570K would be sufficient for my needs, as I've heard nothing but good things about it and for a GPU, I don't need anything ultra high-end, an upper mid-range GPU will suffice along with 8 GB RAM. Any advice on whether or not I should getting to cool my current machine more efficaciously?

 

[Rydian]

What're the exact specs of your current?

 

[Celice]

Yeah, that's true, I'll look more into it. As for normal gaming (dolphin, PCSX2, Skyrim, etc), I would assume that a Core i5 3570K would be sufficient for my needs, as I've heard nothing but good things about it and for a GPU, I don't need anything ultra high-end, an upper mid-range GPU will suffice along with 8 GB RAM. Any advice on whether or not I should getting to cool my current machine more efficaciously?

My brother got an i5 3750k over the summer, and he's been able to play almost all his Wii games at 60fps, withstanding emulator issues in general. That's without an overclock mind you. Getting a nice graphics card will allow you to run higher native resolutions without a performance hit either; but you can also skimp and run games at a lower maximum resolution and save a performance hit and get a lower tier graphics card too.

If you're going to be serious about wanting to build a desktop, now or in the future, let us know and we'll help you out as best we can. Next to that, always consult sites like reddit for awesome savings:


http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales

Besides good finds, a little bit of searching can shave off $100-$200 depending on your tastes and what you want or would be using the computer for. This usually involves recognizing that you can get a mobo with less features, because you're probably not going to use the three different graphics card slots or won't ever be using more than 16GB RAM (4GB is still modestly adequate for gaming!) or need 6 HDD running at the same time. All you'd really want to look for is reliability, and next to that, overclock potential.

I got the same processor as my bro a couple months back, and I was playing FFXII two days ago at 60fps with 3x native resolution (over 1920x1080). An i7 is overkill for almost anything asides from rendering/algorithmic stuff. Emulators would benefit, but the pricetag--unless you live near a microcenter or whatever that other store is--isn't worth it (sometimes they drop to the same price as an i5).

But yeah. Personally, I have SpeedFan running to note my temps, but CPUID is nicer as it will keep a tally of your lowest, current, and highest temps as long as it's been running. It's a nice reference, but SpeedFan also can graph temps visually if you like to see/need to compare stress points during performance.

 

[Ethevion]

My brother got an i5 3750k over the summer, and he's been able to play almost all his Wii games at 60fps, withstanding emulator issues in general. That's without an overclock mind you. Getting a nice graphics card will allow you to run higher native resolutions without a performance hit either; but you can also skimp and run games at a lower maximum resolution and save a performance hit and get a lower tier graphics card too.

If you're going to be serious about wanting to build a desktop, now or in the future, let us know and we'll help you out as best we can. Next to that, always consult sites like reddit for awesome savings:


http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales

Besides good finds, a little bit of searching can shave off $100-$200 depending on your tastes and what you want or would be using the computer for. This usually involves recognizing that you can get a mobo with less features, because you're probably not going to use the three different graphics card slots or won't ever be using more than 16GB RAM (4GB is still modestly adequate for gaming!) or need 6 HDD running at the same time. All you'd really want to look for is reliability, and next to that, overclock potential.

I got the same processor as my bro a couple months back, and I was playing FFXII two days ago at 60fps with 3x native resolution (over 1920x1080). An i7 is overkill for almost anything asides from rendering/algorithmic stuff. Emulators would benefit, but the pricetag--unless you live near a microcenter or whatever that other store is--isn't worth it (sometimes they drop to the same price as an i5).

But yeah. Personally, I have SpeedFan running to note my temps, but CPUID is nicer as it will keep a tally of your lowest, current, and highest temps as long as it's been running. It's a nice reference, but SpeedFan also can graph temps visually if you like to see/need to compare stress points during performance.

There's a 3750k?

 

[Celice]

There's a 3750k?

I'm constantly mixing those two numbers up

 

[the_randomizer]

What're the exact specs of your current?

My laptop's? Okay I'll post them, but be warned, I'm sure their weakness compared to the other members' rigs will incite some laughter

Brand: Lenovo IdeaPad Y570
CPU Intel 2nd Generation Core i7 2670QM 2.2 to 3.1 GHz (Turbo Boost)
RAM 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM PC2 10600 1333 MHz
HDD 500 GB Toshiba HDD
OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
GPU nVidia GT555M 1 GB GDDR

Programs I can run: Dolphin (most games I've tested run full speed), PCSX2 (same as Dolphin), Skyrim on high/ultra, 3DS Studio Max, Bsnes (not the most recent one) to name a few. I know, the specs suck balls, that's what I get for not doing more research and comparing It is what it is I guess.

 

[Rydian]

The i5-2500K's more powerful, but not much more (maybe 5%)... though you won't hit heat issues in a desktop that's not built badly.

The specs are actually decent for a laptop, the problem is laptop specs are weaker than desktop specs (the mobile i7 you have is weaker than a desktop i5), and as you found, heat generation is ass-crazy.

 

[the_randomizer]

The i5-2500K's more powerful, but not much more (maybe 5%)... though you won't hit heat issues in a desktop that's not built badly.

The specs are actually decent for a laptop, the problem is laptop specs are weaker than desktop specs (the mobile i7 you have is weaker than a desktop i5), and as you found, heat generation is ass-crazy.

Though it is faster than my old desktop, no question of that (simple Core 2 Duo E8400, yeah, it's ancient), I think I'd go with a 3570K simply because it got a lot of excellent review for benchmarks and overall performance. The specs are pretty good for a laptop as I can run many things my old desktop wouldn't have a chance in hell of running at all, so there's at least that, but I at the same time, I didn't want to spend an exorbitant price either, so damned if I do, damned if I don't. It does output a lot heat, which I've come to learn the hard and painful way, but luckily nothing bad has happened as the temp caps out at around 77 to 78 Celsius, but it remains stable. I checked out Microcenter and they have some pretty good deals,

Intel Core i5 3570K3.40 GHz $189.99
http://tinyurl.com/cmqv3ut

Kingston HyperX Red8 GB DDR3 1600 $44.99
http://tinyurl.com/a47kt76

nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti1024 MB GDDR5 $164.99
http://tinyurl.com/akal6lr

Western Digital Black Caviar7200 RPM - 1 TB $89.99
http://tinyurl.com/ag96uvn

Asus P8Z77-V LX32 GB RAM $124.99
http://tinyurl.com/ax8axg7

Extreme Power Plus700 W PSU $79.99
http://tinyurl.com/bxrvq9b

CM Storm EnforcerMid ATX Tower $89.99
http://tinyurl.com/b6hksgh

For everything, it's just shy of $800, which isn't bad at all to be honest.

Again, I can't keep dwelling in the past on what I should have or could have done, what's done is done, but I can learn from the past on what to do in the future. Not the best hardware, but it should be sufficient for my needs.

 

[Celice]

For ~$40 more, you can get a MUCH BETTER GPU than what you're looking at now. As reference:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

If you get a mobo with a bit less you can save ~$40-50, an equal case for ~$40 less, and you can often find 1TB hard drives for sale around $60, saving another ~$30. Total so far: +$100 savings.

Hard drive: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.aspx?sku=298356

A reliable power supply is also a real important deal. Don't skimp, and buy from a reputable brand, or else you risk potentially damaging parts of your system should it blow out or otherwise fail on you. This is on sale and I've had good experiences with OCZ.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...ompatible-20?ie=UTF8&ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics

But keep checking that sales site I linked to see some awesome deals, if you're fine with rebates. You can often find a good PSU for around $50.

If you're vocal enough, price matching is a beautiful thing too.

You can also save $10-20 on the RAM by waiting for deals. These savings add up big, especially if it means you can opt for an even better graphics card or other such. You'll want to buy an aftermarket cooler for your CPU too if you go intel. Stock AMD coolers work pretty well, but Intel isn't as reliable if you go the route of overclocking, or if you're worried about temps in the first place.

EDIT: 560ti for $110 after rebate: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7297825

But ZOTAC is a little bit of a weird brand... I've seen people with some crappy experiences, in terms of DOA or dying after some use. For what it's worth, my brother was about to get an ASUS OC version of the card for $90 after rebate, so if you want to hold off, you should. Keep in mind: you have a good laptop. There's no reason to get another computer if the one you have serves you fine. Especially at that huge of a price.

 

[the_randomizer]

For ~$40 more, you can get a MUCH BETTER GPU than what you're looking at now. As reference:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

If you get a mobo with a bit less you can save ~$40-50, an equal case for ~$40 less, and you can often find 1TB hard drives for sale around $60, saving another ~$30. Total so far: +$100 savings.

Hard drive: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.aspx?sku=298356

A reliable power supply is also a real important deal. Don't skimp, and buy from a reputable brand, or else you risk potentially damaging parts of your system should it blow out or otherwise fail on you. This is on sale and I've had good experiences with OCZ.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...ompatible-20?ie=UTF8&ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics

But keep checking that sales site I linked to see some awesome deals, if you're fine with rebates. You can often find a good PSU for around $50.

If you're vocal enough, price matching is a beautiful thing too.

You can also save $10-20 on the RAM by waiting for deals. These savings add up big, especially if it means you can opt for an even better graphics card or other such. You'll want to buy an aftermarket cooler for your CPU too if you go intel. Stock AMD coolers work pretty well, but Intel isn't as reliable if you go the route of overclocking, or if you're worried about temps in the first place.

Well, I chose Western Digital since they're pretty dang reliable (more so than Seagate or Toshiba), never hard of Deskstar or how reliable they are, but there are cheaper HDDs I can look at For the GPU, nVidia GTX 560 Ti might be a better choice than the 650, as it has a higher benchmark score. OCZ is a good brand, so I'd definitely get that. Once I get my tax return, affording one of these shouldn't be an issue I would think. Still, I'll do more comparing and I'll ask my brother, who is quite knowledgeable in hardware as well.

 

[RchUncleSkeleton]

Check out some barebones setups on tigerdirect and throw in a good gpu and you should be sitting pretty for about $650 or $700. There's a setup with an Asus mobo, an i5 2500k, 1TB HD, 8GB ram, EVGA Nvidia GTX650, Samsung DVDRW, Ultra 750watt PSU, and thermaltake midtower case for about $650.

 

[the_randomizer]

Check out some barebones setups on tigerdirect and throw in a good gpu and you should be sitting pretty for about $650 or $700. There's a setup with an Asus mobo, an i5 2500k, 1TB HD, 8GB ram, EVGA Nvidia GTX650, Samsung DVDRW, Ultra 750watt PSU, and thermaltake midtower case for about $650.

Can I swap out the HDD too? I don't like Seagate's drives (high failure rate). I'll check those builds out

 

[RchUncleSkeleton]

Can I swap out the HDD too? I don't like Seagate's drives (high failure rate). I'll check those builds out

Don't think you can customize the barebones systems as far as swapping in and out items but you could try going for a mobo/cpu combo and adding the other components seperately.

 

[the_randomizer]

Don't think you can customize the barebones systems as far as swapping in and out items but you could try going for a mobo/cpu combo and adding the other components seperately.

Yeah, there's that too, either method has a downside, so one way or another, I'd have to bite some kind of bullet. Thanks! I'll continue my research.

 

[Rydian]

Some barebones I see are just case+Motherboard+CPU, so you can pick and choose the RAM and drive and addon cards (video, wireless, etc.)