FMod

Use 301.24, it's under Beta/Legacy. Can help. Newer NV drivers suck. W7 64: http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/301.24/301.24-desktop-win7-winvista-64bit-english-beta.exe XP 32: http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/301.24/301.24-desktop-winxp-32bit-english-beta.exe

Neither. If possible at all, neither. If not, the former is less bad. You need a proper GPU - HD7850 is the best close to your price range. Maybe even HD7950 or GTX670. Intel 330 isn't very good, you'll be better off with (cheaper!) Vertex 3, or, even better, Crucial M4 Both PSU aren't good, get Corsair TX650V2. Use Samsung or Hynix RAM. 8GB is well enough, although 16GB is only slightly costlier.

Do you REALLY need it or is just "cool I want it?" SSD benefit very little from RAID, while compromising longevity, data security, and, with time, access times, since each individual SSD is unique and they can't be spin-locked like HDDs can. Just connect the SSD separately, in practical use they won't be any slower than in RAID and later in life might even perform better. edit: There are a few legitimate uses for SSD in RAID, like servers (where they have to be one drive anyway) and uncompressed video editing where raw throughput is all that's needed, although a 4-wide Raptor array competes strongly there.

I'm just saying there's no reason at all to suddenly dismiss Antec cases. Objectively, i.e. in terms of a combination of acoustic and thermal performance, they're no less competitive.

Well, first, you don't get absolute silence either way. Second, it's not like Antecs are anything but quiet - their P180 is actually the case that other makers copied in design and styling (in Fractal's case particularly closely). Some cases like Define R3 win a little in absolute noise level with loud parts inside, but they do so by closing off vents that are permanently open in Antecs. My preference goes with Antec's balance of noise/airflow, where you have a very quiet case, but always with cooling headroom. Plus, if you need the ultimate in silence, you can always stick some foam or car soundproofing on the inside of P183's/P280's walls or close off the vents with fabric filters yourself. You can't turn the walls of other cases into three-ply panels, mimic the internal structure, cut out vents that aren't there (well, you can, but only technically). And with Fractal, for a high performance system, it's probably better to go with XL anyway, not R3 or even R4.

Antec cases have a considerable edge in cooling. When your primary source of noise is GPU cooling with a high-end card, you want a spacious case with good cooling and low noise, not just an almost entirely sealed box. For that, the only competition to Antecs is the Fractal XL, but even that's lagging behind.

If considering a 2GB card, just get a 7850. 560Ti is OK, but you pay a premium for the extra gig. For 7750 it doesn't matter, you'll brickwall with the chip before 1GB is overrun.

Not worth it. Games just plain don't use the extra two cores, so you'll save a fair bit by sticking with 3570K and Z77, with no loss of performance. Check my post on page 1 for other component selections. There's a lot of things to put that money towards. Samsung RAM is better. For PSU, take Corsair HX650V2, it should be better built and has well enough power. Or AX850 if you really want the best for the sake of it alone. A lot like my previous suggestions: Cooling - Thermalright Macho HR-02 or NZXT Havik 140 Drive - Crucial m4 256GB for OS and games and WD Green or Samsung 2TB HDD for video, storage, etc Case - Antec P280 or Fractal Design XL There are some other good cases on the market, but they're not as quiet. All cables come bundled and work just fine, no need to buy any. Also, X-Fi Titanium sound card - if you have or plan on buying any decent speakers. See for other peripherals.

I can't really see all the reasons behind this suggestion. EVGA is one of the most faded video card brands - nearly everything they sell is just a reference design with "EVGA" written somewhere. If you have to buy a Nvidia, the best deal today is Asus GTX670 DC2. If you are considering MMO at all, you want everything MMO related on a SSD. It makes a world of difference. On the other hand, fast (black) vs regular (green) HDD makes very little difference. m4 256 is only $210 now, and it's good, making it the best value SSD right now. 64GB units no longer offer value. Price per GB aside, if there's one thing everyone comes to regret about their PC purchase, it's too small a SSD. I would know, having easily run out of 4x128GB on my laptop. Corsair AX850 is Seasonic X850, just $10 cheaper, with better warranty and a better fan grille... Although, forget both of them, I just found this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151111 If $200 isn't too much to splash on a PSU for you, this is, by far, the one to have. Seasonic Gold is very good, but their Platinum series is that much better. It's hard to feel in practice, but at least it will be quiet. Otherwise get AX650 for $140, there's nothing in between worth its money. Very few people ever build a SLI or CF configuration, a lot of those who do come to regret it, and AX650 can easily handle a pair of GTX670 or undervolted HD7950 anyway. It won't be quiet, but you won't hear it behind the howling of two video cards.

If at all reasonable, and if you have a high quality flatscreen TV, consider connecting it. Cheap office monitors can be had for under $200, but any TV is much higher in image quality. Quality monitors are expensive, you'd want a 27" PVA, AMVA or IPS unit with 1920x1080 for a good gaming system, that's $500 range easily. Even then a good 32" TV is a better option, but further more expensive.

That's a good range. It doesn't include the display, right? You can connect your PC via HDMI to a TV just like a console. My general advice would be the following: AsRock Z77 Extreme4 or Asus P8Z77 i5 3570K Thermalright Macho HR-02 or Archon or Scythe Mine 2 Zalman ZM-STG2 or Silver Arctic MX-4 thermal compound (optional if you get Thermalright) Samsung 2x4GB or 2x8GB memory Radeon 7950 or 7970 - Sapphire (with two big fans) or (better) Asus DC2 Corsair AX650V2 (or AX850V2) Antec P280 or P183 or P193, or Fractal Design XL Crucial m4 256GB WD Green or Samsung 5400rpm 2TB HDD Optional, if you can splash for it: X-Fi Titanium sound card - if you have any half-decent speakers Coolermaster Storm Trigger or Thermaltake Meka G1 (it's the same thing) or Corsair K90 keyboard Logitech G400 mouse 2-3 Scythe 500 or 800 rpm 120mm fans You will need to do some software work on it to properly overclock the CPU, undervolt the GPU and optimize fan curves to get the best results. I can walk you through the process, it's not hard.

Doesn't matter with 7750. At all. You want 560Ti or 7850 to start taking benefit of 1GB+.

You need to provide your price range and the most important games for you. Then we can design a custom PC configuration.

That is the same 631 all right. For alternatives - 631, 641 and 651K are the same CPU at different stock clock. If you're not a skilled overclocker, 651K is best because it's easier to overclock, it's also best if you are a skilled overclocker, because it clocks a bit better. Nonetheless, 631 and 641 are cheaper and close in performance. While these CPU are a bargain as it is, overclocking is a must for all to extract full performance. For instance, 631 is clocked at just 2.6 GHz, while its real capability is more like 3.3-3.6 GHz; that's +25%..+40% performance for free. They are 32nm, so power consumption remains low. Better go back to Samsung. Seagate has a few plastic parts in their heads unit that sometimes wear out and reduce the drive's reliability.

Even if Windows only reports 500 MB as "free", that doesn't mean the other 3.5 GB are used. It only means that 500 MB are not allocated for anything whatsoever. Normally Windows will try and allocate as much RAM as possible so as to speed up the performance. Most of that memory can and will be made available the very instant it's requested. It doesn't even have to be dumped on the disk, as it's already on the disk, just memory-mapped or memory-shadowed. (For this reason, any programs claiming to "free up" your RAM are placebos if free and scams if not.) The best RAM to buy today is, by far, Samsung, original, i.e. with Samsung chips. Their DDR3 chips overclock better than any other. For DDR2 it used to be Micron. Avoid gaming brand names: they test and sort their chips for 2566, 2400, 2133, 2000, 1866, etc. modules, so unless you buy a 2133 rated kit, it's likely that your chip has been tested and failed to overclock to 2133. Since Samsung itself doesn't sell modules and kits rated higher than the standard 1600, each of their modules has a good chance to take 2133 MT/s or higher. And in a common sense defying moment, their 8GB modules managed to take even higher clock rates than 4GB, up to 2400 MT/s and beyond. In contrast, GeIL 8GB modules run extra-cheap Elpida chips that barely manage their stock clock. G.Skill uses middle-of-the-line Microns for medium rate modules and Samsung for top clock, but they run them at their very clock limit while making you pay for every MHz of it. Not getting a bad stick is hardly a strong recommendation - memory failure rate is the lowest of all components. If you want performance, you have to look for more than "it works" from the parts you buy. Heatsinks on RAM are only good for looks, they don't serve any purpose and today most of them are just decorations that actually make chip temperatures higher (because of the thick pad used to glue them to the module). Late next year, but it shouldn't matter to you. Servers are getting it first. Then more servers. Then... Intel's Haswell still uses DDR3, and if Broadwell is to remain compatible, it has to stick to DDR3 too (since DDR4 is point-to-point, a solution taken from GDDR5, making it deeply incompatible with DDR3). AMD won't go for a new memory type until it's cost-competitive, and that won't happen till 2015. Besides, there isn't even a significant gain going up from 1600 MT/s to 2133, so new intermediate DDR3L (low-voltage, 1.35V) should keep serving desktops pretty well. Especially with 2000-2400 clock rates now achievable. Edit: P.S. This is the one you want: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147094

In the case of Skyrim, there's nothing other to be done than to 1) tweak the settings, and 2) o/c the CPU. It only uses 2 cores, so even the background processes are the issue. If you had the moderately large heatpipe cooler that normally comes with Black Edition, you don't even need to replace it, that heatsink is a head and shoulders above other stock heatsinks, being designed for overclocking loads. Keep your CPU temperature below 85C for cores and 60C for Tcase if you get Tcase readings. Anything below that is fine. For overclocking, there's a lot of guides on the net. Here's one from AMD website: http://blogs.amd.com/play/2009/04/22/overclocking-101-with-the-amd-phenom-ii-x4-955-black-edition-processor/ Another from OC.net: http://www.overclock.net/t/777378/official-gappos-little-deneb-thuban-overclocking-guide-with-too-many-smileys And you can just enter "Phenom II Black Edition overclock guide" into your preferred search engine and check out other guides, videos, etc, what you prefer. Keep in mind that most steps are optional, if from different guides you see that it can be skipped, feel free to skip it. I would recommend doing a shortcut by jumping straight to DDR3-1333 (with 9-9-9-24 or -27 timings), maybe try 1600 (same or 10-10-10-27 timings). For the CPU, you have an unlocked multiplier, can use that, start with 3.6 GHz at stock voltage.

You're probably not doing it right. You need to set a different DRAM:FSB ratio so as not to overclock the memory. Then o/c it by increasing FSB speed. It may be that your motherboard is too bad. However, DDR2-800 is actually acceptable. It's approximately as fast as DDR3-1066, and the gain from DDR3-1066 to DDR3-1600 and above is pretty small.

Have I missed something... last time I checked, Das was using the same US designed, Chinese built Cherry MX switches as the rest of them. Older Das weren't known for their build quality, the first version even had cheap switches. The latest model is the same Costar 104 that you find in a number of keyboards, and it's Costar that makes it good. So unless you want blank keycaps, feel free to shop around and pick whichever CST-104 looks and feels best. The only differences are the keycaps and sometimes a bit of difference in the housing shape. It's not so much a "quieter version" as that it's got different switches. Browns are not as good as Blues for typing, so there's that. It's possible to order individual switches, but it's not straightforward, they usually want to ship at least 100, and you have to pick the right version (right mounting). What kills most mechanical keyboards is spilling something on them. If it just gets into the keys, they'll get sticky and you need a lot of time and distilled water to wash it out. If it gets on the board (usually does), there is a chance of damaging the board.

Your CPU is fine. But 2.81GHz, what? It should run 3.2 at least, 3.5 preferably. It should do it easily. GPU is the thing holding you back, it's hopeless. Just put a HD7850 in and it should be fine. It's all about the GPU, you wouldn't notice a bit of difference even if you had 3960X at 6GHz. RAM... not perfect but it's OK. I mean, it's borderline and already a bit low for Battlefield 3 at max settings and other native DX10-11 games with 64-bit executables. But so far it's still this side of the line, you have a year to go or so. So overclock your CPU, get a better cooler if you need, get a proper GPU. I don't see a need to upgrade to SB or IB right now unless you're also getting a 7950 level card with that upgrade.

Yes. Mechanical keyboards have separate switches under each key. Here's a good guide on fundamentals: http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide Information about specific models is very obsolete there, but the first generic sections are good.

Wireless is really bad for mice. They just don't make gaming mice wireless - it spoils movement control due to wireless lags, plus makes the mouse itself heavier, not a good thing either. Just keep a separate wireless mouse for when you need one. You can have as many mice and keyboards on one computer working simultaneously as you want and they don't interfere with one another. Razer had some great products, but just a couple, and that was over 5 years ago, it's been all downhill since then. Try mechanical keyboards on first, I mean touching them, pressing the keys. It's all about the feel and the feedback. Make sure you like the handrest too. For lighter switches, take a look at Corsair K90 (there's K60 too, but its handrest is terrible). These are almost as high quality as CST-104, but look... probably the best looking. But some keys on them are rubber dome rather than mechanical, which is disconcerting when typing. And you can brick them when updating firmware (can be fixed at home), they'll fix it, MX Red switches

I don't think I know of any Razer keyboard that doesn't suck. Even Blackwidow carries the dubious distinction of one of the worst mechanicals one can get. A good keyboard just feels better and gives less finger fatigue when typing. When gaming it doesn't matter much. There are some good mechanicals for $100 today, you don't have to pay Filco prices. The same Costar CST-104 that Filco uses is also found inside Thermaltake Meka G1 with MX Black switches and CM Storm Trigger with MX Brown. Blacks are better for gaming, Browns are good for both games and typing. MX Blue are only good for typing. Razer Mamba is about the size of a dump truck with all the grace of one. It's certainly not precise. And if that wasn't bad enough, the twin eye sensor is among the worst. Fancy mice don't really give precision the way you make it sound. It's more ambiguous than that. Most of the better mice are optical, not laser; if you have optical, you're already halfway there. The second most important thing is size and weight, you want light and small (but not laptop mouse small). In my experience there's no such thing as too light a mouse, extra weight for "stability" is maybe good if you're drunk or emotional, in which case you can't play competitively anyway. Size-wise it comes down to grip - if you use claw or fingertip grip, small size is more important. But if you used fingertip grip, you probably wouldn't need to ask at all. If you use palm grip, the greatest improvement you can make to your mouse performance is learning to use claw grip, so get a claw grip mouse anyway. Out of brand-name mice, Steelseries Kinzu V2 Pro is good, but it's 3-button which is a head-scratcher for the price. Logitech offers some excellent options with G300 and G400. Other Logitechs use Setpoint, you only want these two; G300 is fingertip only, G400 is all grips. Seeing how Logitech also tends to have the best build quality, and they probably also use optical scroll (not sure, but they usually do), and since they use the new LGS that is fully programmable, I think G400 just might be the overall best mouse on the market today.

About $150 for a quad-core would be the top dollar. They retail for more, that's because they're so old. It's a no brainer. i5 650 isn't any better than i3-530. Both are dual-cores with 4MB cache. i5-650 has a tiny bit higher stock clock, that's it. If you can't get i5 750, don't even bother.

A 560Ti of course. It's the GPU that makes a gaming PC, not the CPU. 550Ti is considerably slower than 460 (by 20%). It isn't even as powerful as GTX 260 in the shader department. Simply put it's not worth its salt, used GTX 260 go for next to nothing.

But as always the video card sucks. It doesn't matter much how good your CPU is if your video card is a lowly 550 Ti. You want at least 560Ti, or, better, HD7850 to go with i5-3570. Seriously speaking, Phenom 9650 isn't all that bad... well, if you overclock it. And except for Skyrim. HD4350 is a definite weak link, on the other hand. A GPU upgrade might be all he really needs as of today, with platform replacement coming later.