Posts by Christian Mendoza60

Richard Edwards78 said:I saw it, but I don't really know much about computer parts

Man, whatever, it's a 4850 no matter what!

Richard Edwards78 said:which one is better, this pair of GPUs: the VTX Radeon HD4850 512mb 256bit GDDR3 or the HD5670 1GB 128bit GDDR5?

It's obvious from the specs. That 128-bit bus on the 5670 tells you everything you need to know—it's basically just a glorified media player for movies and browsing the web.

The Radeon HD 5770 is basically sitting right next to the GTX 460 with that DX11 support. If you don't like it, go ahead and pass—if you actually want decent gaming performance, just grab a 4890 instead.

Joshua Garcia3 said:Go to your motherboard manufacturer's site and grab the specific audio drivers meant for Windows 7. Uninstall whatever you're running right now and swap them out for those.

thanks

Hey guys, I’ve got a problem! Back when I was running Windows XP, whenever I installed sound drivers, I always had that Realtek control panel to tweak everything. Now that I'm on Windows 7, I can't find it anywhere—it seems like the system just wiped my old drivers automatically. Is it possible that this Realtek guy didn't actually install the full suite? I have a high-end audio setup hooked up to my PC, and right now everything is just playing through the default settings, which I absolutely hate.

In your admin panel, you've got access to a much faster Radeon HD 4890 $245 that absolutely smokes both of those cards you're looking at. Since you're playing at 1920x1080, this card is basically a non-negotiable requirement—you won't even see its true potential unless you're pushing higher resolutions.

You can go with ATI without any issues, but if you want someone to break down which chipset is actually better, you should ask someone who really knows their stuff.

If you don't mind a bit of extra noise when you crank up the fan speeds on an ATI Radeon HD 4850, and you've got a decent power supply under the hood, you should just go with the 4850. In higher resolutions, it's nearly 40% better than that Radeon HD 4770 mentioned above—I've actually tested it myself.

I don't see any reason why you couldn't swap a Radeon HD 4770 for an ATI Radeon HD 4850 without any issues. I've run both cards on the exact same setup, and honestly, the 4850 crushed it in games compared to the other one.

Look, if you're planning on actually playing games, forget about those two 128-bit cards. They won't cut it. I think I saw somewhere that for $250, you could snag an ATI Radeon HD 4850 instead. That card will absolutely crush everything listed here, so think about it. If you want a real gaming GPU, just scrape together a little more cash and go for that one.

Could you maybe snap a few photos or draw up a quick sketch? It’d help us give you better advice instead of just guessing while I try to picture that hole in your desk in my head. We've got plenty of ideas, but damn, we can't really know for sure until we see it.

I’m trying to shove these HDDs into the drive bays for the ROMs, but I’m running into a wall. They're positioned sideways, and both drives are exactly as wide as the bays themselves—no wiggle room at all. I actually had to hack away at the sides of the bays just to get them to plug in; you can see where I cut into the metal in the third photo. I might post another shot later once I get my hands on a camera, since I'm currently borrowing one. You can see the drives sitting in the last pic; the top one isn't fully seated yet, but the bottom one is locked in. Once I get the top one flipped and tucked in, everything will be packed tight and tidy. 🙂

Alright everyone, I finally wrapped up my PC Modding project, so here are some shots.
Just a heads-up: the case started out completely white. In some of the early photos, you can see the paint didn't bond perfectly at first, but I sorted that out. I couldn't get any photos of the actual cutting process because I ran into some issues, so this is just the painting and assembly stages. Also, I went with a MAT finish—looks great, but man, fingerprints show up like crazy xD
Here’s the build progress:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=30wpldu&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2ex2dcp&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=33k99ah&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=1y4e4k&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=34o82f5&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2m82of6&s=6

Now, here's how the teardown looked:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=nwlvzr&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2n24iyv&s=6

Stripping down the PSU to repaint it:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2yo3h46&s=6

My workspace:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2iuclzl&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=sx22cx&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=29nuidy&s=6

The specs and the "fridge":
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=nefexi&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2ufavbd&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=ei4irm&s=6

Cable management:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2hywhp2&s=6

The finished build:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=orrmut&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=11h6r75&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=8zp4w8&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=a0ghv5&s=6
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2thkj&s=6

So, yeah, that's it. I know there's a hell of a lot of photos, but let me know what you honestly think. I managed to damage the HDD mounting bracket while working on it, which actually opened up space in the front for an extra 12cm fan I need to pick up.

Nice work. It looks great, but more importantly, it’s actually functional. My setup is the exact same way—I've got photos on my desk showing me working without a case at all right now. I'm planning something similar: hiding all the cables and doing a ton of cutting. I actually had to go out and grab some heavy-duty tin snips just to get started. I'll post some shots once I'm finished. Keep it up.

btw. what GPU and CPU are you running?

I handled the cutting using a similar method—marked the corners with a nail first, then grabbed a small rotary tool with the smallest grinding disc I could find and just worked it from hole to hole. After that, I cleaned everything up with a file and finished it off with a custom paint job. Went with a matte black automotive spray for the whole case, looks about $10. It turned out great; the paint bonded perfectly everywhere. I’d show off the finished work and the process, but honestly, I'm broke and my phone is completely dead 🙂
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Here’s a shot taken on a buddy's phone showing what my rig looks like while he preps the case:
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8379/dsc00687dp.jpg
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2981/dsc00690n.jpg
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2820/dsc00689g.jpg

Sorry the quality sucks, lighting was pretty dim!

Man, I’m stuck on a project. I need to drill a hole in my case—not through the side panel, but right in the aluminum tray where the motherboard mounts. I need a 2.5cm hole about 1cm wide. What’s the best way to do this without making it look like a total mess?

How thick does the plexiglass need to be if I’m building a custom case from scratch? It’s gotta hold a motherboard, two GPUs, and a heavy metal radiator—this thing is going to be a beast.

Is it just me, or is everyone here making fun of my future PC modding build?😠

Now that would be quite the spectacle🤣🤣

Of course I want one, I live out in the sticks.👍
My old man told me how hard it is to track down wood like that; he’s been working the timberlands on his off days for 20 years and only spotted that specific tree a handful of times. Hopefully, I'll have better luck than him.