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The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition
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Any Flaming Results in a Temp Ban or Worse. Your Choice!!!
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AfterDawn Addict
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11. January 2010 @ 00:41 |
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Originally posted by ddp:
i prefer a desktop case over a tower as i just have to pop the cover off & i'm into the guts of it without having to move anything.
ddp,
The problem with Desktop cases is that there's only one these days, that has a decent amount of room for ODDs and HDDs. That's a Thermaltake Mozart, and like a lot of media center/desktop cases, the cooling is very suspect (read poor), and very noisy! 60mm and 80mm fans are not generally very quiet fans, if they move enough air.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133168
There's also this Thermaltake that has 3 5.25" and 7 3.5" bays. That's about it for room!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133061
Cases like the Antec Fusion series, cool well but lack 5.25" bays for more than one optical drive and two 3.5" internal bays for hard drives. Their cheapest model has one 5.25" ODD bay and one 3.5" HDD bay! They could be better, but hardly anyone wants a desktop case anymore. It's a shame really!
Best Regards,
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
 This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. January 2010 @ 00:48
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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11. January 2010 @ 00:47 |
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Meh I've given an HTPC some thought but not for a long while. I still mainly watch all of my HD media and play all my games on my desktop anyway. Maybe when I get an HDTV and finally have a real purpose for one will I give it more thought. I am a hi-fi/music fan though so I already have my stereo/entertainment system ready to go with an open spot should I decide to build an HTPC.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388 |
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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11. January 2010 @ 00:51 |
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I'm quite content with a tower myself. The HTPC is for my brother. That Pavilion, that I upgraded with the Athlon XP recently, does O-K, but i've come to realize that it's just too darn outdated. So i'm giving him my MSI board, installed in a good HTPC case. I'll probably just go for looks and cheap price, and fashion its interior to do a better job. I do worry about the PSU though. NONE of them are getting even decent reviews...
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kangyu
Suspended permanently
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11. January 2010 @ 01:12 |
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Irrelevant spam removed. Perv.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. January 2010 @ 05:57
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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11. January 2010 @ 01:14 |
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umm, kangyu...do you have the right thread?
Looking at a very cheap HTPC here.
Cheap HTPC
I realize that you get what you pay for, but I sure don't mind spending 40$ to see what I can do to this cheap sucker. It's certainly not bad looking anyway...
LOL! Never mind. That sucker is getting some of the poorest reviews i've ever seen! The friggin motherboards won't even line up with the standoff holes. That's some pretty poor fabrication skills if you ask me...
Now this one is more like it :)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121027
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. January 2010 @ 01:28
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. January 2010 @ 08:13 |
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One thing I will say about cable management is that in order to have so many cables tucked behind the motherboard tray area makes removing the second side panel an absolute chore. Normally there wouldn't be anything in there, but in the interests of cable tidying (and to be fair, this is a good idea) the hard disks are mounted motherboard to open side in most coolermaster cases, as opposed to open side to motherboard, or front to rear as is conventional. So when you need to get at your hard disks or hard disk cables, getting that side panel back on again afterwards is a chore when there's so many cables trying to push it off.
Omega: DVD duplicator case I suppose is what you're after. You presumably don't need to hear me caution you about the 'included' PSU with that case.
DVD drives do get quite warm. If you run them for hours on end I suppose they can get quite hot if cramped together. I haven't run DVD drives in a cramped environment for quite some time.
Russ: Agreed, cable tidiness does make sense to a certain extent, but beyond that point it does become a little obsessive. Also, full tower cases for anything but top-end PCs are a waste. When I see giant full tower cases that store maybe 2 HDDs, have a standard CPU cooler in them and a small single graphics card it annoys me, it's a waste of space. Much like the people that use 1KW PSUs to run systems that use less than 200W. These two examples often coincide...
ddp: There's an advantage to having a desktop case already the right way up for maintenance, but it's really not an issue to put a tower case on its side for complex work, and I actually do a reasonable amount of work on PCs when they are still upright.
Omega again: Onboard 6200 may be a little tricky, but there are linux drivers for the 8400GS that can run 1080p smoothly with GPU video acceleration.
I think the reason why desktop PC cases fell out of fashion was that PC hardware has simply grown in size for a lot of markets. Basic workstation PCs will still fit fine, but any reasonably powerful graphics card either won't fit or won't be cooled properly, there's only room for a couple of hard drives or optical drives, sometimes less. That was fine in the past, but now many hard drives is quite popular. The desktop case market was reborn into the HTPC market, the demand for HDDs is still there, but typically those that can't fit their data onto two HDDs (typically 3TB+) will know how to network in some other storage.
I've ordered the new case for my fileserver. I'm still tempted to run it on its side permanently like an HTPC case, I think it would still look the part like that.
Sadly, I have to leave a large enough gap in my spending to cover the eventuality that I don't receive the undergraduate bursary, since last year I only ended up getting half of it. 4 weeks to wait to see if it shows up or not. That means 4 weeks until I know if I can buy the i5 upgrade or not...
For now, it's just the NZXT Whisper, another TRUE cooler, some extension cables and PCIe S-ATA cards and thermal paste, the NX5000R3 PSU and the four second hand WD10EACS drives I've acquired.
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Moderator
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11. January 2010 @ 08:16 |
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My cheapy Geforce 6200 card can handle 1080p rips with ease, what i don't know as i don't have any, is whether retail Bluray needs anything over and above a 6200. Just throwing that out there.
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules *** |
AfterDawn Addict
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11. January 2010 @ 10:56 |
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am i the only one with 1 HDD in my system (and one external)
MGR (Micro Gaming Rig) .|. Intel Q6600 @ 3.45GHz .|. Asus P35 P5K-E/WiFi .|. 4GB 1066MHz Geil Black Dragon RAM .|. Samsung F60 SSD .|. Corsair H50-1 Cooler .|. Sapphire 4870 512MB .|. Lian Li PC-A70B .|. Be Queit P7 Dark Power Pro 850W PSU .|. 24" 1920x1200 DGM (MVA Panel) .|. 24" 1920x1080 Dell (TN Panel) .|. |
Moderator
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11. January 2010 @ 10:58 |
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Probably. Now go sit on the naughty step until you buy loads more :p
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. January 2010 @ 11:03 |
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Well, one of my systems only has a single HDD in it :P
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Moderator
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11. January 2010 @ 11:04 |
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Shaff, budge up for Sam :p
Then again, i need a step too as i have a few single HDD machines.
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. January 2010 @ 11:05
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. January 2010 @ 11:09 |
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I'd consider soon to be having 13 HDDs in one system making up for the singular in another :P
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AfterDawn Addict
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11. January 2010 @ 11:13 |
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my step is too nice, get off of here sam!
hehe. i do need some more space. i think 2.5TB up from my 1.2TB currently seems like a good upgrade. 1.5TB WD green externally, and 1TB samsumf F3 for speed (OS and games) internally.
MGR (Micro Gaming Rig) .|. Intel Q6600 @ 3.45GHz .|. Asus P35 P5K-E/WiFi .|. 4GB 1066MHz Geil Black Dragon RAM .|. Samsung F60 SSD .|. Corsair H50-1 Cooler .|. Sapphire 4870 512MB .|. Lian Li PC-A70B .|. Be Queit P7 Dark Power Pro 850W PSU .|. 24" 1920x1200 DGM (MVA Panel) .|. 24" 1920x1080 Dell (TN Panel) .|.
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Moderator
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11. January 2010 @ 11:19 |
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I'd love more external drives, but due to no job i've just done the next best thing, housekeep the drives i do have and make more space for other stuff. Amazing how much space you can free up. I should clarify that i've always been extremely organised with all my data, it's just that when i got the DVD->AVI bug i filled up the drives with too many films that could just as easily stay on DVD's. So i have enough space to outlast the recession (hopefully) :o
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
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AfterDawn Addict
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11. January 2010 @ 11:28 |
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sorry to hear about the lack of job :(
yeha i know what you mean, i could be burning some of the films i have to DVDs, wouldnt be a bad idea. cant burn 1080p films, but 720p on a DL no problem.
MGR (Micro Gaming Rig) .|. Intel Q6600 @ 3.45GHz .|. Asus P35 P5K-E/WiFi .|. 4GB 1066MHz Geil Black Dragon RAM .|. Samsung F60 SSD .|. Corsair H50-1 Cooler .|. Sapphire 4870 512MB .|. Lian Li PC-A70B .|. Be Queit P7 Dark Power Pro 850W PSU .|. 24" 1920x1200 DGM (MVA Panel) .|. 24" 1920x1080 Dell (TN Panel) .|.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. January 2010 @ 12:06 |
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1080p films burn to DL discs if they are standard length, standard bitrate. A large number of the 1080p rips I have are sized correctly for DL disc usage.
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Moderator
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11. January 2010 @ 12:08 |
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I only go for 720p rips maximum, and i only use single layer media anyway, one film literally just fit on a disc by a hair's width, would've been gutting to buy a DL disc purely as i've managed to avoid them all these years.
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. January 2010 @ 12:11 |
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DVD+R DL discs see plenty of use as Xbox 360 rips here. That's their only real use, though having run out of single layer discs I'm going to waste one putting Windows Server 2008 R2 on it. (Meh, £1.40 instead of 40p, I'll live!)
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Red_Maw
Senior Member
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11. January 2010 @ 23:35 |
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Once I upgrade to i5 or i7 I'll have one system running as a server and only have two hdd's in my main rig (OS and a bit of storage). Problem is I can't find a good "server" chassis that has sufficient cooling. A modified lian li A77 would be nice but it's just too much money lol.
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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12. January 2010 @ 00:19 |
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Originally posted by creaky:
My cheapy Geforce 6200 card can handle 1080p rips with ease, what i don't know as i don't have any, is whether retail Bluray needs anything over and above a 6200. Just throwing that out there.
I've generally found that people underestimate things. I was leaning toward the 6200 being able to play BD's/1080P files. The athlon 5200 continues to impress me as well ;)
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
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12. January 2010 @ 01:18 |
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Quote:
(sammorris)I think the reason why desktop PC cases fell out of fashion was that PC hardware has simply grown in size for a lot of markets. Basic workstation PCs will still fit fine, but any reasonably powerful graphics card either won't fit or won't be cooled properly, there's only room for a couple of hard drives or optical drives, sometimes less. That was fine in the past, but now many hard drives is quite popular. The desktop case market was reborn into the HTPC market, the demand for HDDs is still there, but typically those that can't fit their data onto two HDDs (typically 3TB+) will know how to network in some other storage.
Sam,
I really don't think that PC hardware has anything to do with it at all. I say that, because there used to be a lot of real nice Desktop Cases on the market. For instance, the last Desktop Case I bought had lots of room in it for anything you could think of. It had 3 5.25" bays and 5 internal and 1 external 3.5" bays. I think that the early popularity of Window Cases, was what did desktops. I mean, lets face it, a tower is nothing more than a desktop, stood on one end! 6 bays = two rows of three drives each, or they can be mounted sideways. I never even owned a tower at all, until 2004.
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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12. January 2010 @ 07:06 |
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Creaky: As a Q6600 user, the CPU can do all the work and you'd never notice any lag. GPU decoding is only of fundamental importance when the CPU isn't powerful enough.
Russ: Hmm, that's quite possibly true, though Desktop cases I remember being thinner than tower cases typically are.
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Moderator
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12. January 2010 @ 07:22 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
Creaky: As a Q6600 user, the CPU can do all the work and you'd never notice any lag. GPU decoding is only of fundamental importance when the CPU isn't powerful enough.
Sure, which will be the case on my E6400 C2D machines with onboard video, and it's worth mentioning that this is also the case on my Atom N270 powered netbook which obviously only has it's onboard video too (ie even the N270 can manage 1080p video)
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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12. January 2010 @ 07:25 |
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Not all 1080p I wouldn't expect. I've heard instances of the newer Atom chips being powerful enough to decode low bitrate 1080p encodes, but the higher bitrate encodes will be a bit on the laggy side.
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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12. January 2010 @ 08:26 |
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With proper GPU acceleration enabled in MPC I was able to get my sister's netbook playing high quality 1080p rips lag-free.
Users take note: 99% of media players rely entirely on the processor to decode. Even Media player classic must have Dx9 GPU acceleration turned on in order for low power machines to play 1080p properly.
And regardless of being advertised for HD or not, any true Dx9 capable GPU(GeForce 6 and up, Radeon X100 and up) can accelerate 1080p with the Dx9 rendering option turned on.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
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