Recent content by quantumdawn

Ah, my bad. I followed the link you posted for $349.99, didn't realize it was for a combo motherboard + CPU. Reasonable price for the combo, unreasonable price if it was just the CPU.

No point going for the i5-3570k for $350, just buy the cheaper i5-2500k for $229. For $120 less, you get about the same performance and lower temps if you ever overclock. Take the extra savings there and upgrade from a 660 for a hypothetical $300 to the currently available 670 for $420...

I use junction link magic. Creates links between individual game folders on your SSD and HD. What this does is you can keep individual steam game folders on the HD, but fool steam into thinking the games are stored in your steam folder. This way you can keep the steam executable and a few...

Awesome review, Chris. I appreciate how you made the technical details accessible... The technical details of processors and chipsets normally sound like gibberish to me!

Best answer selected by quantumdawn.

That's what I'm worried about. Would 8GB dual channel be better than 10GB single channel? Is it hard to lift the fan on most CPU heat sinks?

That's what I'm worried about. Would 8GB dual channel be better than 10GB single channel? Is it hard to lift the fan on most CPU heat sinks?

I have an asus p8p67 pro motherboard and a gelid tranquillo CPU cooler. Currently running with 2x2gb dual channel kit. I bought a 2x4gb dual channel kit to add to the system, for a total of 12gb. Problem is, the fan attached to the CPU cooler blocks the 4th ram slot. That leaves me with only...

Here's an article about CPU bottlenecks with graphics cards: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/balanced-gaming-pc-overclock,2625-9.html The 6950 benchmarks similar to the 5870 OC, so you'll be CPU bottlenecked by around 20% with your current CPU. Still, it'll be a big performance boost...

1155 offers more performance and less cost than 1366, and it's also future-proof. 1366 is a dead socket, about to be replaced by 2011. Since we don't know much about bulldozer and what AMD has to offer, the current best choice for a socket is 1155.

There really isn't an easy fix like installing a "ram unlocker". As explained above by Herr_koos, the limit to 3.25gb is a hard limit set by the 32-bit OS and not a software limitation that can be bypassed by a patch. Back up your system, and re-install the 64-bit version.

I'd look at: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701 If you aren't using the Z68 features, you can get a better value from a P67 board. And since 8x/8x crossfire is identical to 16x/16x, I'd look at these...

If you're just using 1 GPU, then go for a much cheaper MB.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-gaming-3-way-sli-three-card-crossfire,2910-16.html That page compares x8/x8 to x16/x16 when used with a 6950, and the difference is less than 1%. You can get a better value from a cheaper MB. Also, why are you looking at a Z68 board? If you use it for...

Overclocking, which is really easy with the i5-2500k. You can overclock from 3.3ghz to 4.0ghz with almost no effort, and if you buy an aftermarket cooler for ~$30 you can go from 4.0ghz to 4.5ghz easily. So for an extra $10 you go from 3.3 to 4.0ghz, and for an extra $40 you go from 3.3 to 4.5...