Xmas Computer Upgrades/Addons

Technology and Gaming Help and Support
#1

So tis the season and I was thinking about what I wanted to add to my computer. I think my core parts (CPU, GPU, RAM, etc) are fine for now but I want to add some stuff.

First of all, HDDs.
Right now I have a 1TB Hitachi HDD at 7200 RPM and it’s working really well. I’m looking into getting another HDD to put music, videos, and other media on. At first I was thinking 3TBs but some people on here were saying that they’re not perfected yet and to just stick with 1TB ones.

So for 1TB HDDs I was thinking a Western Digital Caviar Black. I’m just looking on people’s opinions on this and will consider other suggestions. If anyone has anything to say about HDDs larger than 1TB, feel free to say something.

I would also like to get a sound card, but I really have no knowledge on the subject so would really like some help on this. I currently have a 2.1 speaker setup. This is the one that I was thinking of. It looks really good and it’s not too expensive. The only thing that I notice is it doesn’t support EAX which I have no clue what that is besides something to do with sound in game :stuck_out_tongue: .

Any and all help would be appreciated.

#2

I have a Black Caviar 1Tb and it’s a bit noisy. I don’t know how it would compare to the Hitachi though.

Regarding the sound card, do you need the 7.1 or 5.1 setup, or are you happy with the 2.1?

#3

I’m happy with it for right now but might upgrade sometime down the road. I’d just like the option later on. And it’s not like it’s costing an arm or a leg.

I don’t notice the sound of my HDD. I don’t know if it’s because it’s quiet or that I just am not paying attention to it and don’t hear it.

#4

I give a big +1 on Western Digital Caviar Blacks, I’ve used them in the last 5+ computers I’ve built, great performance, good warranty (5 years) and good price.

As for a soundcard, I’d recommend Creative’s newest card (Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD) or something from the Asus Xonar lineup (I have the Xonar DX PCI-E, pretty decent card for the price, have heard good things about the Essence STX as well).

Also, if you don’t already have something, consider adding a backup drive - be it a NAS or regular external drive, get yourself a 1-2TB drive and decent imaging software (Acronis True Image, Macrium Reflect, etc) to make sure everything is backed up :-). In this case, I’d be careful that the drive you get does NOT have hardware encryption - it seems to be a fad these days, but the problem is, if the PCB in the enclosure goes bad, you have to pay BIG money to have the data decrypted. You can always put your own drive together (buy the drive and enclosure) so you know what you’re getting.

#5

Any particular reason to go for that sound card over the one that I linked? They’re both around the same price and I see that the one you linked supports EAX which I still have no idea what that is :3 .

#6

Bad time to buy hard drives. There was flooding recently in Thailand, and hard drive prices have gone up 2x-3x. I would suggest waiting until they drop back down, but it could take a while… just something to keep in mind.

#7

I looked up the prices I’d be getting both hard drives for (one will be used for backup) and it’s around $140 for both of the Caviar Blacks. That’s not bad methinks.

#8

Russilker raises a good point, I’ve gotten the WD Caviar Black 1TB Sata 3 for $70 (so as long as the “$140 for both” doesn’t mean “each” then you’re good :smiley: ).

As for the EAX support, that’s not really the big deal about what I posted. Back in the day (Windows 98, XP) EAX was pretty big since a soundcard had to support it via hardware (backed up by the drivers) to provide some neat audio effects. However, game designers have recently begun creating their own sound engines and calls to the Windows audio stack, which may bypass the EAX on the soundcard altogether. Plus, in Vista/7, the audiostack was changed entirely such that (IIRC) EAX is pretty much moot. The biggest things for soundcards are the quality of the DACs, the SNR (sound-noise ratio, for quality of sound), outputs versus your planned hardware (speakers/headphones) and such.

#9

The DAC (?) of the card you linked is 24-bit/96kHz while the one I was looking at is 24-bit/192kHz. I’m sorry about this arguing but I want the best that I can get.

#10

  1. Just doing as asked :slight_smile: . I was just describing the things to look for in a soundcard, and recommending a few. What you get is up to you. The 96 vs. 192kHz is the sampling rate, and since human ears can only detect up to 20kHz, you really only need a 44kHz sample rate (which is why CDs are recorded at that level; the sample rate needs to be twice the frequency you want to record). See herefor more info.

  2. EAX

  3. DAC

#11

The HHD I got a few months back (Seagate 1Tb 6Gb/s 7200rpm)…

I got it for £34, at the moment it’s selling for £109. :smiley:

#12

When I was building my computer I was told to stay away from Seagate for some reason. I guess there’s not going to be much difference between any of the HDDs I’m looking at since they’re all 1TB 6GB/s 7200RPM. Also thanks BaTz :stuck_out_tongue: .

#13

I have a WD Caviar Black 1TB in my machine. There’s not much to say about it; it’s a hard drive. :stuck_out_tongue: Still, it’s working well for me, and I don’t think the sound is too obtrusive.

As for drives >1TB, I can’t speak for long-term reliability, but I’ve got four 2TB drives in my work machine, with two in RAID 0 and one as a time machine backup drive for the remaining one. All of them work really well, and my supervisor, who’s a CS PhD student, doesn’t seem to think there’s an issue with them, so I trust his judgement.

#14

Wise advise. At least until Seagate can fully redeem some of the issues that have tarnished their name. I mean, I’ve been building PCs for near 10 years, and even back when I started I was advised to not get Seagate (back then, Maxtor was the go-to brand, now for me it’s Western Digital). Even recently, as of last year, Seagate drives had firmware issues with their 7200.11 1TB drives where they would inexplicably brick (there goes 1TB of data you’ll never get back).

I don’t think I would get a 3TB drive yet (especially since you’d need a particular motherboard to boot from it) but 1-2TB drives should be fine. If you’re extra cautious, you could throw out the extra money for the RAID versions of WD drives (RE drives) which are “industry level” and carry better warranty usually. I’d personally stick with Caviar Black, making sure it gets the 5 year warranty and, as previously discussed, a backup drive :stuck_out_tongue:

#15

Thanks, that was helpful. Didn’t realize you’d need a special mobo to boot from a 3TB drive but I wasn’t going to boot from it anyway. If the price is low enough I’ll spring for the 2TB drives but 1TB would be fine too.

Edit: You know, after looking around I might, depending on price, wait till the prices go back down.

#16

I think it’s each to their own, and personal experience tbh. I’ve been buying Seagate constantly, and apart from one warranty replaced drive, they’ve been performing pretty well.

My experience with WD is that I bought 2 of their drives and they both developed faults within the first few months.

I’ve heard good things about Samsung Spinpoint F3’s though, so maybe next time…

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