Building a computer? Need advice/suggestions? Come here!

[TheGhost]

The data will technically be there, but when you pull it from the array, I don't know if it will be in an independently readable format.

EDIT: Yeah, as Goat said, I guess that makes sense. RAID 1 seems kind of silly. Why not just set up a backup drive and then backup what you want?

[Cortexian]

830 GB's / 931 GB's is stuff I want backups of, though I may just forgo the backup solution for awhile... I've never had a drive fail on me before. *knocks on wood*

[justin108]

well you have been lucky, I for one have tried the freezer trick as well as chanting voodoo over a dead drive. Then again my first hard disk was like 650MB....and yeah they have come quite a ways since then. The last one I had fail was in 2006 i think, but the drive was old as shit. There can not be enough said about backing up data. If you don't think it is important today, ask all the guys who have lost their source code. In the *real* world hard drives do fail, and backups are the difference in an educated decision, or losing your fucking data, as with the recent tmobile snaffu, I bet most of those folks were banking on no crash too.

1 Terabyte drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433) = 89.99
Not Losing 8 years of Porn = Priceless

[paladin]

well you have been lucky, I for one have tried the freezer trick as well as chanting voodoo over a dead drive.


HDD in the freezer worked for me. When my 500gb external drive went to shit, I was able to get all the data off of it by freezing. It took a few times, but I eventually got it all off.

[Ganon]

For x-mas im getting 2 of these (selling current): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049

Will also be upgrading my GFX card and was wondering what one would be best suited for running both those monitors (ASUS supremacy, going to take a lot of persuading to change my mind on what monitor to get). My price range is $300. I was looking at these so far:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121308
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161299

[Cortexian]

ATI has far superior multi-monitor support, so I'd get one of the ATI cards.

People, stop buying 1920x1080 monitors, 1920x1200 is superior!

[Rook]

I'd go for the HIS card

[InnerGoat]

The gtx275 is a bit faster but not a whole 100 dollars faster (compared to the HIS 4890 with rebate)

Get the HIS, and the right cables since it doesn't have any adapters :-3

[Ganon]

Also looking into getting a bluray drive, just one that plays bluray disks. I have no use for one that serves as a DVD/CD burner, considering I already have a drive that serves that purpose... Besides installation, I literally have 0 clue about drives. I saw this one had good pretty good ratings (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106326), but maybe some of you have more insight on what to look for ;]

[Huero]

A PREDICAMENT:
As of late, I've become increasingly obsessed with the possibility of modding Fallout 3. Unfortunately, I don't have a good enough PC to do such a thing at the moment; I need a good, economic solution that will allow me to play the game on high settings (which, as I've heard, does not exactly require the best video card in existence.) Is anyone willing to help me with this predicament?

e: well this was a dumb question
good job reading the first post sam

[Amit]

A PREDICAMENT:
As of late, I've become increasingly obsessed with the possibility of modding Fallout 3. Unfortunately, I don't have a good enough PC to do such a thing at the moment; I need a good, economic solution that will allow me to play the game on high settings (which, as I've heard, does not exactly require the best video card in existence.) Is anyone willing to help me with this predicament?

e: well this was a dumb question
good job reading the first post sam

Besides skinning, I fail to see how a crappy video card would stop you from modding the game. I've squeezed another 30 hours out of Fallout 3 by modding the game. Hands down the best SP RPG I've ever played.


Also looking into getting a bluray drive, just one that plays bluray disks. I have no use for one that serves as a DVD/CD burner, considering I already have a drive that serves that purpose... Besides installation, I literally have 0 clue about drives. I saw this one had good pretty good ratings (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106326), but maybe some of you have more insight on what to look for ;]

Whoa, that's a cheap Blu-Ray reader. Well I guess it's gotta be good since 80% of reviews are 5 star positive. Guess it just lacks features.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

4670 should do you fine.

[Huero]

Besides skinning, I fail to see how a crappy video card would stop you from modding the game. I've squeezed another 30 hours out of Fallout 3 by modding the game. Hands down the best SP RPG I've ever played.



Whoa, that's a cheap Blu-Ray reader. Well I guess it's gotta be good since 80% of reviews are 5 star positive. Guess it just lacks features.

I don't even have the minimum RAM required; and we're due in for a new PC anyway. I'll just go for the low end setup here.

[Amit]

I don't even have the minimum RAM required; and we're due in for a new PC anyway. I'll just go for the low end setup here.

Alright, then. I just didn't think you'd embark on a new PC-building endeavour just because you want a few features. Well, if we only new the model number of your motherboard, we'd be able to tell you if it's worth upgrading the components or building a new PC from scratch. I just prefer to kill my PCs first. Push it to the edge, identify the failed components, and then do an analysis to see if it's cost-effective to replace the part(s) or to build a whole new PC. My current PC I built just a year and a half ago so I don't think I'll need to upgrade anytime soon, except that I've been so fucking poor that I can't even afford to replace this X1600PRO. Had two of them in crossfire on my old PC and jacked one to put in here once I sold my Atomic HD 3870s for a ridiculous amount of money (probably should have kept one). Protip kids: herb = significant cash loss. My dad wants this computer, though...he's always taking my computers away from me :( But he always funds my new system so maybe I'll be able to build something with more bang for my buck this time.

[Huero]

Well, as it turns out, the screen is black when I turn on the computer. Every time I turn it on. Uncanny timing, no? Methinks the video card is fried, and I don't know how to go about telling you the motherboard model otherwise. I do know that it has like, 512 MB of RAM, and HAD a GeForce 6100 (evidently not now, lol.)

[AAA]

Open up your case and smell it. Never failed me.

[Limited]

Okay guys I need your help. I'm building a new PC, I have like £550 ($917) to spend.

I asked my friend to look up some good parts, he has but he didnt check they were compatible. If you guys could check, and also say if the parts are good etc.

Mobo:
XFX nForce 750i SLI Socket 775 (1333MHz FSB up to 1800MHz overclocked) 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151011)
£67.99

Ram:
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Kit CL5 1.8v (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166785)
£75.00

GFX Card:
XFX GTX260 Black Edition 896MB DDR3 Dual DVI PhysX and Cuda ready PCI-E Graphics Card (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179738)
£146.84

CPU Fan:
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 Socket 775, 1156, 1366, AM2, AM3 Heatpipe CPU Cooler (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176157)
£16.59

HD:
Western Digital WD5001AALS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM Caviar Black (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150246)
£42.07

Case:
Antec 300 Three Hundred Black Case - No PSU (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854)
£39.74

PSU:
OCZ Stealth XStream 600W PSU - SLI Ready ATX2.2 12cm Fan (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861)
£59.99

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz Socket 775 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158333)
£101.50

Please note, I'm not going for a gaming pc, so I dont need it to be mega great, some thing reasonable that can be play games pretty well.

If you guys recommend other parts, could you check this site (http://www.ebuyer.com/) has them, and they are still within the budget, because UK prices are more expensive.

[sdavis117]

Wait, why are you buying your CPU in a retail box (which has a CPU fan) and getting a separate CPU fan? You should either get an OEM Processor with the separate fan or get the retail box version and leave it at that.

[Bhamid]

And the fan you selected isn't really that good...

[Limited]

Hmm, I'm assuming because he though stock fan wasnt too good.

[Amit]

Okay guys I need your help. I'm building a new PC, I have like £550 ($917) to spend.

I asked my friend to look up some good parts, he has but he didnt check they were compatible. If you guys could check, and also say if the parts are good etc.

Please note, I'm not going for a gaming pc, so I dont need it to be mega great, some thing reasonable that can be play games pretty well.

If you guys recommend other parts, could you check this site (http://www.ebuyer.com/) has them, and they are still within the budget, because UK prices are more expensive.

Here are links to the parts on newgg so you can look at the reviews there and decide for yourself if they are good for your needs.

Mobo:XFX nForce 750i (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813141016&cm_re=XFX_nForce_750i-_-13-141-016-_-Product)

Ram: CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145241&Tpk=TWIN2X4096-6400C5C)

GFX Card:XFX GTX260 Black Edition (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150330&cm_re=XFX_GTX260_Black_Edition-_-14-150-330-_-Product)

CPU Fan:ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134&Tpk=Arctic%20Cooling%20Freezer%207%20Pro%20rev%202 )

HD:Western Digital WD5001AALS 500GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320&Tpk=Western%20Digital%20WD5001AALS)

Case:Antec Three Hundred (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&cm_re=antec_three_hundred_black-_-11-129-042-_-Product)

PSU:OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010&cm_re=OCZ_Stealth_XStream_600W-_-17-341-010-_-Product)

CPU:Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115207&cm_re=Intel_Core_2_Quad_Q8300-_-19-115-207-_-Product)

[Limited]

Thanks alot, seems like most people like the parts. Compared to what I have now it will be a massive increase in speed. I'm not looking for a beast of a pc, so I think it will do the job.

Only thing is, will all the parts work together? Most of them will, I'm just a tad nervous about it lol, I hope to order the parts like within the next week.

[Rook]

Limited if you don't plan to OC (I'm assuming your not because your not going for a hardcore gaming PC) the stock intel fan should be fine, I hear they're ok. Some people say they OC with the stock fan on the Phenom II's, I haven't OCed but the stock fan keeps it cool.


It seems everything should work together and the antec 300 is a petty good choice... it was enjoyable working with that case.

[AAA]

Just for fun I built an i5 Computer out of your budget. It was originally for you, but... I went 60 Euros over the limit. I'm posting anyways because I spent quite a bit of time and tried to work with what I got, so why let that effort go to waste?

Enjoy.

Case: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854 ~~~~£39.73

Motherboard: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173450 ~~~~£136.84

CPU/Processor: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172755 ~~~~£144.31

RAM/Memory: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/180490 ~~~~£79.99

GPU/Graphics Card: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176938 ~~~~£116.98

PSU/Power Supply: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861 ~~~~ £49.98

HDD/Hard Drive: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150246 ~~~~£42.29

Subtotal: £610.12

[Amit]

Just for fun I built an i5 Computer out of your budget. It was originally for you, but... I went 60 Euros over the limit. I'm posting anyways because I spent quite a bit of time and tried to work with what I got, so why let that effort go to waste?

Enjoy.

Case: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854 ~~~~£39.73

Motherboard: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173450 ~~~~£136.84

CPU/Processor: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172755 ~~~~£144.31

RAM/Memory: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/180490 ~~~~£79.99

GPU/Graphics Card: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176938 ~~~~£116.98

PSU/Power Supply: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861 ~~~~ £49.98

HDD/Hard Drive: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150246 ~~~~£42.29

Subtotal: £610.12

If you down the graphics card to a HD 5750, you can save a good couple pounds and still have crazy performance.

[AAA]

You're right, I have a 4770 and I max out on every game with playable frames, hardly any slow downs. I didn't think about it. Thanks. =)

[Amit]

You're right, I have a 4770 and I max out on every game with playable frames, hardly any slow downs. I didn't think about it. Thanks. =)


:) My birthday is next month and I'm hoping that I can ask for a Sapphire HD 4770 if my parents ask me what I want. It's only $120 at my favourite local PC shop. The HD 5750 has identical performance to the HD 4770, but it has DX11 support. I don't care about all that fancy stuff. I'm still trying to run DX9 games at full settings.

[AAA]

:) My birthday is next month and I'm hoping that I can ask for a Sapphire HD 4770 if my parents ask me what I want. It's only $120 at my favourite local PC shop. The HD 5750 has identical performance to the HD 4770, but it has DX11 support. I don't care about all that fancy stuff. I'm still trying to run DX9 games at full settings.

Well, if you can get a 5770 or 5750, I say go for it due to the fact that it's $120 for a 4770. Not worth that much, I got mine for $90, and the 5750 is $145 from newegg, I say do that. keep yourself a little future proof.
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%20106793261%201067950042&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=RATING)

[Amit]

I know what you mean, but seriously, I won't be playing anything Direct X 11 when most of the DX10 cards can't even handle DX10 enabled games.

[mR_r0b0to]

my system is a little aged, so i think it's time for a little upgrade..
my current specs are in my profile,
i'm thinking of upgrading the video card, but i'm _totally_ lost.. last time i looked into gfx cards was when the geforce 9600 series were pretty good for how much they were.

what else should i upgrade? i'm thinking of getting rid of the stock cooler on the cpu and overclocking it, but so far it hasn't choked on me.. the video card is really bottlenecking everything lol

also what is this pci express 2.0 shit, is it backwards compatible?

[Bhamid]

PCI 2.0 motherboards are backwards compatible with older gfx cards, but not the other way around I think.

My reccomendation is the gt 240

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

PCIE 1.0 motherboards work for 2.0 cards.

[Amit]

my system is a little aged, so i think it's time for a little upgrade..
my current specs are in my profile,
i'm thinking of upgrading the video card, but i'm _totally_ lost.. last time i looked into gfx cards was when the geforce 9600 series were pretty good for how much they were.

what else should i upgrade? i'm thinking of getting rid of the stock cooler on the cpu and overclocking it, but so far it hasn't choked on me.. the video card is really bottlenecking everything lol

also what is this pci express 2.0 shit, is it backwards compatible?

Your system looks okay to me. All you would really need to upgrade is the video card, as you said. You could look into getting a cheap GT 220 or GT 240. Even better, you can get a Radeon HD 4770 for around $100US.

[Bhamid]

gt 240 is the newer equivalent of the 9600 gt btw.

[mR_r0b0to]

i just got a GeForce 9800GT for 80 bux off newegg
it should last me a while.. thanks all +repp (do you guys still care about that?) :iamafag:

[Ganon]

I am in a bind. The card I was going to get got discontinued ;[

Now I'm deciding whether or not to get a 4890 or a 5770. Seems like its really a case of power vs technology (5770s have DX11). As I said before, all it needs to do is be able to run 2 monitors and outperform my current 8800gt. I do however probably prefer the 4890s, as I don't really care about DX11.

this search narrows it down: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201305520549%201069633099%20106832072 9%204017%201369840994&name=800%20Stream%20Processing%20Units

So far i'm eyeing this one for 5770s: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121355&cm_re=hd_5770-_-14-121-355-_-Product (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121355&cm_re=hd_5770-_-14-121-355-_-Product)


halp

[InnerGoat]

They're all the same just buy one :-3

[Warsaw]

I say go with the HD4890. You don't care about DX11, there are only two games I know of slated to support DX11 (and even then they probably won't be using even 25% of the advantages it brings), and the 4890 is marginally more powerful. Also, that 128-bit bus on the HD5770 is going to murder your frame rates at higher resolutions.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

I'm probably gonna get a 5850

[Warsaw]

no one asked u, kay? :maddowns:

Also, why?

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

Its more powerful than the 4870, has dx11, and I will be able to crossfire it for my bday
>: D

[mR_r0b0to]

bit OT, do i need vista+ for dx10+? im still running xp :realsmug:

[Warsaw]

Yes you do.

Pyong: You have a srs CPU bottleneck with the 5850, let alone with two.

[AAA]

I propose going with the 4890. You get at least +10fps or more than the 5770.

[bleach]

Hey, I'm thinking about building a completely new PC. (I can't live with the Dell Dimension 1100 anymore). The new PC must last at least 2 to 4 years without any upgrades. I'm going to play a lot of movies, music, avidly surf the web, do work, and some newer or future games (although the only game I have right now is Halo). I will also OC the CPU and GPU to something stable 24/7. Right now, I will probably OC the CPU that i have in my builds to around 3.2 - 3.3 GHz. The maximum price is $750 - $850; give or take 5 dollars.

These are my ideas so far...:
Build 1
Intel Core i5 750 2.66 GHz) (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4959973&sku=I69-0750)- $189.99
Evga P55 LE LGA1156 ATX Mobo (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5083732&sku=E145-2072) - $149.99 ($20 MIR included)
OCZ Platinum 4 GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5210464&sku=O261-6258) - $57.99 ($30 MIR included)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600 Watt PSU (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4362114&sku=O261-2017) - $44.99 ($25 MIR included)
Western Digital Green 750 GB 32 MB Cache 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 Gb/s Hard Drive (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4762445&sku=TSD-750AADS) - $69.99
Sapphire 100283L Radeon HD5770 (http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-100283L/dp/B002RWJH4E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259631152&sr=8-1) - $170.58
Antec 300 ATX Mid-Tower Case (http://www.frys.com/product/5520150) - $49.99
Emprex 20X Black Internal SATA DVD Writer (http://www.frys.com/product/5691321) - $29.99

Subtotal: $845.51 (with tax [from Fry's]; without rebates)
Total: $770.51 (after rebates)
Will OC Sapphire HD5770 between 875/975 for core and 1350/1450 for mem. 24/7. I don't know what the "safe" values are though, if there are any.

Build 2
Intel Core i5 750 2.66 GHz (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4959973&sku=I69-0750) - $189.99
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 LGA1156 Micro-ATX Mobo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128405&Tpk=N82E16813128405) - $113.65 (w/tax)
OCZ Platinum 4 GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5210464&sku=O261-6258) - $57.99 ($30 MIR included)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600 Watt PSU (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4362114&sku=O261-2017) - $44.99 ($25 MIR included)
Western Digital Green 750 GB 32 MB Cache 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4762445&sku=TSD-750AADS) - $69.99
Sapphire Radeon HD5850 1 GB GDDR5 100282SR Video Card (http://www.ncixus.com/products/45298/100282SR/SAPPHIRE/) - $290.83 (includes S/H; no tax)
Antec 300 Black ATX Mid-Tower Case (http://www.frys.com/product/5520150) - $49.99
Emprex 20X Black Internal SATA DVD Writer (http://www.frys.com/product/5691321) - $29.99

Subtotal: $879.43 (with tax from Fry's; without rebates)
Total: $824.43 (after rebates)

Regarding the out of stock Sapphire HD5850, I will buy it when it's back in stock. (Will OC between 750/850 for core and 1125/1225 for mem). Same thing...I am trying to squeeze even a little bit more performance out by being in the maximum safe value, though I have no clue what it is.

For the case that I have for both of the builds above right now, I might leave the side panel off...
I am open to new suggestions and advice is always welcome. All the MIR deals end 11/30, today. I am not sure whether to buy a system now or wait longer (probably until next year Jan-March).

Thanks.

[Warsaw]

I like your Build No. 2, I like it a lot.

If you want to save a little cash, a system based on the AMD Phenom II X4 955 or 965 would perform very comparably to the i5. If you do go that route, I recommend the 955 over the 965 though because they are essentially different bins of the same chip; just overclock it (it is a Black Edition after all).

[bleach]

So if I want to do some 24/7 OC and have a stable/cool system with a reliable company and get maximum performance out of the the tight budget, which would you go with: the Evga P55 LE or the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2? I'm pretty sure I will have a dual-slot video card and that I will get a PCI network card/adapter.

[Varmint260]

Okay, this isn't building a computer, but it's an upgrade of sorts. I just got my free Win7 home premium delivered this morning, but I'm not quite sure as to the best method to install it. I heard that just upgrading the existing Vista installation can bring a shitload of grief into play.

My idea (tell me if this is ridiculous) was to create a large partition on the drive to install Win7 to and then start moving my data across from the Vista partition until there's nothing left, in which case I would delete the Vista partition and expand the Win7 one to fill that part of the drive. Is that completely ridiculous/crazy and should I just invest in a USB hard drive to backup to and just nuke the whole Vista section all at once?

[Rook]

what no I'm pretty sure it makes a window.old folder in c:/ and keeps your old files, you could ask others as well

[Varmint260]

The disk is telling me it either upgrades the current Vista installation or, failing that, requires a fresh clean install where I have to backup all of my files.

[Rook]

When I installed over my windows 7 beta with the full it was a fresh install yes, but it kept the files in a windows.old folder you could sort through later. I assumed it was the same for vista to 7.

[Warsaw]

So if I want to do some 24/7 OC and have a stable/cool system with a reliable company and get maximum performance out of the the tight budget, which would you go with: the Evga P55 LE or the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2? I'm pretty sure I will have a dual-slot video card and that I will get a PCI network card/adapter.

Definitely the Gigabyte board; they've been in the game much longer than eVGA has and I trust them to make a solid board more than I trust eVGA to make one that works. I don't have any experience with eVGA motherboards, but I have owned Gigabyte ones.

[FRain]

RAM in the "you don't have money but i still love you" is "deactivated"

[Limited]

Well when I went to order my parts, 3 items were out of stock and 2 were discontinued, bugger. But luckily one became 'un-discontinued', the other was substituted.

Hopefully order will be here in like 2 weeks, then I can attempt to put it together :D

Can you guys help me out, finding which DVD disks are compatible with this drive?
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/170014/show_product_reviews
I've had issues in past, where its not the right kind/right speed etc etc.

[CrAsHOvErRide]

Only DVDs from Walmart.




No seriously the new DVDs drives support almost all types of DVD types, speeds etc. The stuff it says like RW etc are just things they just additionally support.

At the beginning when DVDs were first introduced you just had to pay attention that your drive had not a higher speed set than the DVD supported. Shrapnel...cannot happen anymore today :P

[Limited]

Only DVDs from Walmart.

No seriously the new DVDs drives support almost all types of DVD types, speeds etc. The stuff it says like RW etc are just things they just additionally support.

At the beginning when DVDs were first introduced you just had to pay attention that your drive had not a higher speed set than the DVD supported. Shrapnel...cannot happen anymore today :P
Ah right, because with my dads laptop I bought some DVD disks, that had same write speed, was same type (RW) and they didnt work at all.

[Warsaw]

Protip:

DVD+RW =/= DVD-RW

[CrAsHOvErRide]

Who wants RWs anyway :P

Either you burn the movie or you don't. Temporary storage can be achieved nowadays with a $5 8GB memory stick or exHDD.

[AAA]

Temporary storage can be achieved nowadays with a $20 8GB memory stick or exHDD.

ftfy.

[Warsaw]

Who wants RWs anyway :P

Either you burn the movie or you don't. Temporary storage can be achieved nowadays with a $5 8GB memory stick or exHDD.

Some of us burn Linux .iso files onto a disc and then find out that the md5 checksum doesn't check out, so we want to delete and try again with a fresh download without wasting another disc. :v:

[Cortexian]

Burn at slow speeds, check the MD5 before burning...

[=sw=warlord]

Who wants RWs anyway :P

Either you burn the movie or you don't. Temporary storage can be achieved nowadays with a $26 64GB flash drives (http://cgi.ebay.com/top-64G-64GB-Data-Traveler-200-DT200-USB-U-Flash-Drive_W0QQitemZ120503377885QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_ Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item1c0e8f9fdd) or exHDD.
ftfy.
Ftfy.

[Cortexian]

Or you could get a 128GB for $65...

[CrAsHOvErRide]

ftfy.
I have one here for 5 Euros..explain.

[Rook]

I've never seen them for $5 either...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170522%201309421176&name=8GB

[CrAsHOvErRide]

Oh wow it was this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820191248

Maybe mine fell of a truck or something and that's why the price was so low but wow xD

[Bhamid]

Some of us burn Linux .iso files onto a disc and then find out that the md5 checksum doesn't check out, so we want to delete and try again with a fresh download without wasting another disc. :v:
Or you could make a live USB like I did with Unetbootin.

[=sw=warlord]

Or you could get a 128GB for $65...
and what would the point of that be?
2x 64gb drives@$26 per peice versus 1x128gb@$65

[Cortexian]

Practicality...

[NullZero]

ATTN Freelancer: when have you ever been practical.

[Amit]

ATTN Freelancer: when have you ever been practical.

Almost never. He's a part of the high-end enthusiast.

[=sw=warlord]

Practicality...
$20 extra for practicality? i could spent an extra $6 and get three of the 64GB's sticks for the price of 1 128gb how is that practical?

[Cortexian]

You'd look pretty stupid carrying around three USB keys instead of just one. That's what they're for by the way, portable storage... I always carry around my 128GB, everywhere I go, because you never know when you might need to save something! It's completely different from buying something like two high-end graphics cards, you don't carry those around with you (except that I actually end up carrying them to LAN parties a lot anyways, ugh).

[=sw=warlord]

You'd look pretty stupid carrying around three USB keys instead of just one. That's what they're for by the way, portable storage... I always carry around my 128GB, everywhere I go, because you never know when you might need to save something! It's completely different from buying something like two high-end graphics cards, you don't carry those around with you (except that I actually end up carrying them to LAN parties a lot anyways, ugh).
By the time you need to transfer 128Gb's at once you may as well get a god damned 1TB external drive for that price.

[Bhamid]

What would you use 128 GB on a memory stick for?

[Cortexian]

What would you use 128 GB on a memory stick for?
I transfer lots of HD video back and forth between certain computers, sometimes it's faster than using the network because wireless is so slow. I'm also a pack rat and always try to store rather than delete files that I think I'll use more than once.

[Limited]

You'd look pretty stupid carrying around three USB keys instead of just one. That's what they're for by the way, portable storage... I always carry around my 128GB, everywhere I go, because you never know when you might need to save something! It's completely different from buying something like two high-end graphics cards, you don't carry those around with you (except that I actually end up carrying them to LAN parties a lot anyways, ugh).
Having 3 lets you have even more backup copies if you wish. As long as its under 64GB.

Therefore, having 3 is better, also who gives a fuck if you "look stupid" carrying around 3, least your data's backed up.

[Bhamid]

I transfer lots of HD video back and forth between certain computers, sometimes it's faster than using the network because wireless is so slow. I'm also a pack rat and always try to store rather than delete files that I think I'll use more than once.

Get an external HD, then you can transfer loads at once :)

[=sw=warlord]

Having 3 lets you have even more backup copies if you wish. As long as its under 64GB.

Therefore, having 3 is better, also who gives a fuck if you "look stupid" carrying around 3, least your data's backed up.
I would rather have three 64GB drives and split my data up into 3 winrars than have it all in one mega file, not only is it quicker to transfer but also safer and would allow more storage.

[Rook]

Get an external HD, then you can transfer loads at once :)

Yeah, who uses flash drives anymore.

[TheGhost]

I would rather have three 64GB drives and split my data up into 3 winrars than have it all in one mega file, not only is it quicker to transfer but also safer and would allow more storage.

I am hesitant to put everything into a big RAR file (at least as a primary backup) for fear of corruption. If the archive gets messed up then ALL your files are potentially lost.

[Amit]

Therefore, having 3 is better, also who gives a fuck if you "look stupid" carrying around 3, least your data's backed up.

Exactly. Also, why would you display your USB drives to the world? Hell, I don't even keep my single drive around my neck for fear of the thread coming loose.

[Cortexian]

Again, I don't use my USB keys for backup purposes, I use them for their designed purpose, portable storage. I put data on and take it off later at another computer where it will be stored, external hard drives are useless for this because you can't just carry an external hard drive around with you everywhere you go!

If I wanted to back something up then I'd use a RAID 1 array of hard drives, not flash memory...

[Amit]

You can buy the portable "Passport" or similar drives from Western Digital and other manufacturers.

[=sw=warlord]

Again, I don't use my USB keys for backup purposes, I use them for their designed purpose, portable storage. I put data on and take it off later at another computer where it will be stored, external hard drives are useless for this because you can't just carry an external hard drive around with you everywhere you go!

If I wanted to back something up then I'd use a RAID 1 array of hard drives, not flash memory...
You can get external drives the size of a very small book with about 320GB's if not more in some cases which i really dont see as much of a burden, their pretty much same size as a PDA so how would that make it useless for your needs?

[Cortexian]

They still require an external power source, so you also need to carry around the power adapter and a connection cable. USB keys are by far the best portable storage out there.

[Amit]

The USB ports on most computers should sufficiently power the device, but for those that don't, Western Digital sells a 5V AC adapter for about $10.

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptop-hard-drives/western-digital-passport-portable/4505-9997_7-31239699.html

That could pose a problem with laptops that are not plugged into the wall, but I see no reason for it not to work without an external power source. My sister uses one on her Thinkpad and she says it works great. Her laptop is plugged in to an outlet most of the time, which most computers should be when transferring data.

The USB drive still remains the lightest and easiest method of transfer, though. I would carry both if I had enough money to buy a "Passport" and a large capacity USB drive. I'll stick with my 16GB SanDisk Cruzer Micro.

Cool SanDisk video:

sCgDN5_eTkM

[CrAsHOvErRide]

My external is smaller than a SSD, has 320GB and doesn't need an external power source.

[Bhamid]

Portable HDs i.e passports use USB power.

[Cortexian]

They're still too big to carry around everywhere I go all the time.

[=sw=warlord]

They're still too big to carry around everywhere I go all the time.
You must have small pockets.

[Amit]

You must have small pockets.

Everyone's got different sized pockets. I could fit it in the front pockets of any pants I have, but I would keep it in my locker when I don't need it. Freelancer, I thought you were out of school. Where do you go that you need to take temporary data storage with you every time?

[Cortexian]

I'm finished high school, I'm taking a few other courses as well as sitting in a few University courses. You can sit in certain lessons without actually being accepted to the University/College here without paying or anything, you just don't get a certificate or diploma saying you did anything for it.

I actually wear combat pants most of the time as well, huge pockets, but I still wouldn't want to carry around something that bulky unless it's a whole computer (netbooks are only a bit larger than those enclosures).

[FRain]

You really should update the section of "You don't have money but i still love you" xet. 1/2 the parts there (mainly the gfx and the ram) are deactivated

[Amit]

I'm finished high school, I'm taking a few other courses as well as sitting in a few University courses. You can sit in certain lessons without actually being accepted to the University/College here without paying or anything, you just don't get a certificate or diploma saying you did anything for it.

I actually wear combat pants most of the time as well, huge pockets, but I still wouldn't want to carry around something that bulky unless it's a whole computer (netbooks are only a bit larger than those enclosures).

Nice. However, have you ever held a Passport in your hand before? It's actually not too large.

[Warsaw]

I have a 500GB 2.5" external HDD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822211012); it's metal and pretty slim, if I do say so myself.

[Cortexian]

Nice. However, have you ever held a Passport in your hand before? It's actually not too large.
Yea I have, but like I said, netbooks are the same basic size (maybe slightly bigger on some models) and you get an entire computer. If all you want is storage it's a lot easier to get it a USB key.

[Warsaw]

256GB of USB storage is ~$350. You can actually buy a netbook for that price. USB keys are only good to a point, and that point ends around 32GB before it starts getting outrageous.

[TheGhost]

You guys can argue all you want about subjective "size" and other bullshit, but let's put some numbers in here, shall we?

CORSAIR Voyager GT 128GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233094)
Dimensions: 4" x 1.5" x 0.67"
Weight: 0.22 lbs
Price/GB: $3.125

Western Digital My Passport Elite 250GB USB 2.0 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136240)
Dimensions: 5.0" x 3.1" x 0.6"
Weight: 0.23 lbs
Price/GB: $0.24

Both draw power from USB. Both have similar performance in terms of transfer speeds.

If you ask me the answer is quite obvious. You are paying 13x more $/GB for the flash drive, whereas they have the same weight, same power requirements, and same transfer speeds. And the flash drive only takes 1" off the length and 1.5" off the width. That makes the flash drive half as small in volume, but that's still not very much, considering these things aren't that big in the first place.

That being said, I'm totally for SSD's and flash drives up to 32 GB. The higher capacity flash drives just aren't practical right now. In a year though I'm sure these numbers will all be vastly different.

P.S. I own a 500 GB WD Passport Elite and a 16 GB Corsair Flash Drive.

[Amit]

Yea I have, but like I said, netbooks are the same basic size (maybe slightly bigger on some models) and you get an entire computer. If all you want is storage it's a lot easier to get it a USB key.

Refer to below quote.


You guys can argue all you want about subjective "size" and other bullshit, but let's put some numbers in here, shall we?

CORSAIR Voyager GT 128GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233094)
Dimensions: 4" x 1.5" x 0.67"
Weight: 0.22 lbs
Price/GB: $3.125

Western Digital My Passport Elite 250GB USB 2.0 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136240)
Dimensions: 5.0" x 3.1" x 0.6"
Weight: 0.23 lbs
Price/GB: $0.24

Both draw power from USB. Both have similar performance in terms of transfer speeds.

If you ask me the answer is quite obvious. You are paying 13x more $/GB for the flash drive, whereas they have the same weight, same power requirements, and same transfer speeds. And the flash drive only takes 1" off the length and 1.5" off the width. That makes the flash drive half as small in volume, but that's still not very much, considering these things aren't that big in the first place.

That being said, I'm totally for SSD's and flash drives up to 32 GB. The higher capacity flash drives just aren't practical right now. In a year though I'm sure these numbers will all be vastly different.

P.S. I own a 500 GB WD Passport Elite and a 16 GB Corsair Flash Drive.

This, completely. This is the WD passport my sister has: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=569

It fits in my hand no problem. Netbooks are over 12" long, or did you mean in terms of Hard Drive capacity for the price you buy them for?

[Cortexian]

or did you mean in terms of Hard Drive capacity for the price you buy them for?
Both.

[=sw=warlord]

If all you want is storage it's a lot easier to get it a USB key.
Not really, you still need to goto the same place to buy the thing.:downs:

[Limited]

Damnit, I built my pc, and my graphics card doesnt work. The fan doesnt spin around and I get no output onto the screen.

Its a XFX GTX 260 (core edition), my power supply is 600W ocz xstream, it should be compatible with my PSU, Ive connected the 2 6 pin PCI-E power cables onto the graphics card. Yet absolutely nothing.

The mobo I have is the xfx nforce 750i, it has a debug LED at the back, and it displays "FF" when I try to boot, everything seems to work, apart from the bloody graphics card.

Any one got any ideas? I;m gonna ring XFX up tomorrow, but I heard they suck at technical support, my guess is the graphics card is bust.

Massive rep to anyone who helps fix it, I cant afford to be without a decent pc, I have alot of work I need to do over xmas =\

[Rook]

Have you tried onboard video and see if that works? If no on board video a shitty card that you know works?

[Limited]

Uh, no idea if it has on-board video, theres no VGA connector on the back of the motherboard so I assume no on-board.

And no, dont have any other setup I can test it on =\

[Warsaw]

Damnit, I built my pc, and my graphics card doesnt work. The fan doesnt spin around and I get no output onto the screen.

Its a XFX GTX 260 (core edition), my power supply is 600W ocz xstream, it should be compatible with my PSU, Ive connected the 2 6 pin PCI-E power cables onto the graphics card. Yet absolutely nothing.

The mobo I have is the xfx nforce 750i, it has a debug LED at the back, and it displays "FF" when I try to boot, everything seems to work, apart from the bloody graphics card.

Any one got any ideas? I;m gonna ring XFX up tomorrow, but I heard they suck at technical support, my guess is the graphics card is bust.

Massive rep to anyone who helps fix it, I cant afford to be without a decent pc, I have alot of work I need to do over xmas =\

Plug in your old 7600GT (assuming it's PCIe) and see if you get a signal through it. If you do, then your GPU is DOA and you need to RMA that sucker. There's no reason 600W shouldn't be enough to power it. If you still don't get a signal, then either your PSU or motherboard has had it...or CPU. To see if it's the PSU, use the 7600GT and the old PSU in the new setup and see if it works (assuming that the previous test didn't work).

[Rook]

I really can't help you further maybe someone will pop in who's more tech smart, it'd be real nice if you had another card to test with though.

Just wanna say you should have rolled with XFX ATi. :p

[Limited]

Sadly my other pc is 60 miles away, plus that 7600 is AGP :O

I think it is a PSU issue, on the box it says it needs a minimum of 550W or greater with minimum of 36 amps with 12v.

Recommended is 630W+ for non SLI.

On the PSU box it says max current 36amps, +3.3V at 155W.

Maybe I need a 700W PSU instead?

[Warsaw]

That should be more than enough to power the GTX260...I honestly think you just got a lemon card. The fact that its fan isn't spinning is what's telling me it's dead. If it were a flaky PSU, chances are you'd be able to power up, and the power will be randomly allocated to system components (i.e. GPU, but not a hard drive, etc.). I had this happen to me once, and those were the symptoms. Couldn't get past POST.

I'd RMA the GPU. ATi for the win; a 5770 or 4890 would probably surpass the GTX260 while granting you a better image anyways.

[Limited]

Nah I want the card, its just bloody annoying it isnt working. Had issues with last build too :(

Do I RMA to XFX (manufacturer) or do I RMA to the company I bought it with, Ebuyer.

[Warsaw]

To be honest, I have no idea. Not familiar with Ebuyer's policies. I know Newegg generally takes the RMA, but you are in the UK and therefore didn't buy from Newegg.

Contact them and find out.

[Cortexian]

Most likely going to be dealing with XFX directly for an RMA, at least you should be. If I'm buying Nvidia chips I always buy EVGA because of their superior customer service.

[Warsaw]

Actually, now that I think about it, since it's XFX, you probably should send it to XFX. They do have the double lifetime warranty, so you should be covered. And if you can, get online somewhere and register your card to guarantee you the coverage.

[InnerGoat]

I've RMAed to XFX before and it takes about 2 weeks. You need to have registered the card on their site beforehand (do this now before you put in a ticket for RMA).

[Limited]

Well just got off the phone with the Ebuyer guy, said that its booting up (hard drives spinning, motherboard giving FF which is good) yet no graphics card output or fans spinning.

He confirmed (looked at my order) that the power supply is sufficient, so he thinks the gfx card is dead. He requested an RMA, so I now have the number, going to spend it off later today (cant right now).

Really wishing I had on-board, least I could start getting Windows 7 installed, actually hoping it is the gfx card that is dead, then I'll get a new working one and it should all work :D

I may be able to put my sisters old crappy PCI video card in :O Its like, 2000, ancient, doubt it will work.

Edit: Damnit, just spent 30 mins to get in the attic and find my sisters old pc, turns out her gfx card is AGP, GAH, cant use it :(

[TheGhost]

I'm having problems with my computer as well. First I thought it was the graphics, then the RAM, now the CPU/mobo. It won't even boot most of the time (nothing on the screen) so it's hard to figure out what's wrong...

I've swapped the graphics card and it still won't boot, still nothing showing up on the screen. I'm going to try clearing the CMOS/BIOS, putting only the essentials in, and playing around with it more later today.

Thoughts??

[Warsaw]

Sounds like a dead power supply, since that's what was happening when my 420W kicked the bucket.

[CrAsHOvErRide]

Well CPU and RAM rarely die on you. Most of the time it's the capacitors that just go boom because of their bad quality.

[TheGhost]

Well, on the CPU there are two tiny dents in the metal where the lever thingy comes down to hold it tightly in place. I've re-seated it twice now, and I'm pretty sure it's in there correctly (lol). On my last two computers I've never taken the CPU out so I don't know if this is normal or not. I think the RAM is okay, because any number of sticks in any configuration of slots doesn't seem to help.

I think the power supply is okay (and it is high quality), because things seem to be happening on the motherboard, it just gets stuck at random postcodes (4F, 3B, 51, etc). Also the temp card is tiny and doesn't require any extra power. Sometimes it will get into Windows and then I will get vertical color bars on the screen and it's just dead (pic later, but I haven't been able to verify this result with the temp card, haven't gotten past BIOS with it). Also, it would become more and more frequent (card heating up??).

The no screen image made my suspect the video card, but swapping hasn't helped so far so I'm really stuck.

[CrAsHOvErRide]

blah!

Video card rarely dies on you as well. It seriously sounds like your mobo has some problems.

[Limited]

£21 ($34) to send that package, all be it next day delivery, signed for and insured.

Damn well better be an issue with the graphics card, if its not faulty then I have a huge issue, because I don't know what else it is, power supply or mobo, surely if power supply isnt enough, it will work for a bit, then demanding tasks it will stop. (Considering I'm 30 watts under the recommended, and thats like full load).

[InnerGoat]

RIP Ghostie's computer machine~

My secondary display has been acting up the past few days now. Doesn't display anything but a white screen now and needs to be turned on and off a few times :smith:

get on aim

[Varmint260]

£21 ($34) to send that package, all be it next day delivery, signed for and insured.

Damn well better be an issue with the graphics card, if its not faulty then I have a huge issue, because I don't know what else it is, power supply or mobo, surely if power supply isnt enough, it will work for a bit, then demanding tasks it will stop. (Considering I'm 30 watts under the recommended, and thats like full load).

It's worth remembering that the 12v rail needs to supply enough current to power the system, and if the amperage rating is too low, it doesn't matter if the PSU has a high enough wattage rating. This GTS 250 of mine recommended a 450W power supply that could supply 25 amps on the 12v rail, and my 550W (more than enough wattage, right?) only rated its 12v rail at 18A. That's why I overcompensated and bought a 700W PSU so that I never run into that sort of problem again. I think your 600W OCZ should have two 25A 12v rails, so it shouldn't be a problem?

[Limited]

So, say they test the graphics card and it works fine, what should I do next? I'll probably ring up tech support and see what they can do, then again, thats same people that told me PSU is adequate for it.

Buy a 700W PSU? Noting, I'd have to send the 600W back, again more delivery charges =\

Varmint, I gotta be honest I dont know any thing about PSU's, I have no idea how to tell :P Heres the webpage for the current PSU I got.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861/show_product_overview

[Warsaw]

Well, on the CPU there are two tiny dents in the metal where the lever thingy comes down to hold it tightly in place. I've re-seated it twice now, and I'm pretty sure it's in there correctly (lol). On my last two computers I've never taken the CPU out so I don't know if this is normal or not. I think the RAM is okay, because any number of sticks in any configuration of slots doesn't seem to help.

I think the power supply is okay (and it is high quality), because things seem to be happening on the motherboard, it just gets stuck at random postcodes (4F, 3B, 51, etc). Also the temp card is tiny and doesn't require any extra power. Sometimes it will get into Windows and then I will get vertical color bars on the screen and it's just dead (pic later, but I haven't been able to verify this result with the temp card, haven't gotten past BIOS with it). Also, it would become more and more frequent (card heating up??). The no screen image made my suspect the video card, but swapping hasn't helped so far so I'm really stuck.

Definitely sounds like a flaky PSU. Just because it's from a quality brand doesn't rule out the possibility of a lemon...

I had random post codes on my motherboard when the PSU was dying; take those post codes to mean that certain parts are not getting powered and are thus reading as failed.

If it isn't the PSU, then it is probably the motherboard. There are only two ways I can conceive that you would damage a CPU under normal installation and operation: excessive heat and bent pins. You were grounded when you put the computer together, right?

[TheGhost]

Is there a way I can check the PSU with like a multimeter or something?

So also, now I am just running with the CPU and one stick of RAM, and it barely does anything. This kind of boils it down to PSU, mobo, or CPU.

PSU I could go to Best Buy, get a shitty one, and return it before 30 days (this is exactly what I'm doing with the GFX card). If it's the CPU or mobo, I'm gonna have a bad time.

[Varmint260]

Varmint, I gotta be honest I dont know any thing about PSU's, I have no idea how to tell :P Heres the webpage for the current PSU I got.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861/show_product_overview

I'll admit, I don't know a lot about the internals of power supplies; someone else on here probably knows more. However, I did look up some information.

http://media.bestofmicro.com/H/G/110788/original/image034.png

Their test system with a GTX260 shows as using 270 watts of power under load. As long as the 12v rails can handle what the card's drawing, I don't think there should be a problem...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010

Is this your power supply, then? OCZ StealthXStream 600W SLI-ready power supply? Here it lists it as having four 12v rails each capable of 18A (64A total). I suspect that's more than enough to run a GTX 260; BFG Tech's factory overclocked GTX 260 reads "525W PCI Express®-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 38A or more (Minimum system power requirement based on a PC configured with an Intel Core®2 Extreme QX9650 processor)"

Based on that, I'd say your power supply isn't the problem, but I'm not a final authority by any means.

EDIT: Didn't see that maximum 36A, 155W you say was on the PSU's box. Probably means the GPU runs off of two of the 12V rails. However, that also would mean there are two other 12V rails for running everything else, so the processor and hard drives have their own set of rails to run off of. Sorry to say I can't really give a definitive answer.

[Limited]

Thanks for the enlightenment Varmint :D Also yes thats the exact power supply I have.

I have no idea what rails are, I assume "lines" of power?

Edit: Aha! http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/custom/athlon64x2/step1.html

Under power supply section, it has this:

For the latest graphics cards the minimum requirements are as follows:

ATI 4850/4870 - OCZ 500W
ATI 4890 - OCZ 600W
ATI 4870 X2 - OCZ 700W
NVIDIA GTS 250 - OCZ 500W
NVIDIA GTX 260 - OCZ 600W
NVIDIA GTX 275 - OCZ 600W
NVIDIA GTX 280/285 - OCZ 700W
NVIDIA GTX 295 - OCZ 700W

SLI
2 x NVIDIA GTX 260 - 850W
3 x NVIDIA GTX 260/280 - 1250W

Not sure how reliable this site is, but it means minimum, therefore it should run (boot up, genreic Windows usage), it could hick up on demanding stuff though

[Warsaw]

This (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010&cm_re=OCZ_Stealth_XStream-_-17-341-010-_-Product) is what Limited has (Ebuyer doesn't give enough detail in the specs). So yeah, it should be more than capable of handling his system unless it's flaky.

I still think it's the GPU. Can you give us some POST codes?

[Limited]

Post code on the DEBUG LED from mobo is "FF", meaning fully functional or something about passing first few tests. I do hear the hard drives spinning up, nothing happens as I have no OS installed. So I believe its booting up okay, cant be sure because no output to screen.

Hopefully in a few days company will send me a new one, and tell me old one was broken, if it worked then crap I'm stuck.

Under returns, it says "direct replacement", do you think they will just swap old one without testing? Even though there policy is to test them.

[Warsaw]

If you are getting FF, then that pretty much guarantees that it's the GPU. My motherboard says FF under normal operation, and also has indicator LEDs next to each critical part (CPU, Hard Drives, Chipset, and RAM). If you have such LEDs, look at those and if they are all working, then your GPU is fried.

[Limited]

No idea to be honest, when I turn it on I see a few red lights and a few purple lights in the case. I hope it is GPU, as its getting replaced if it is.

Just hope they send replacement before Christmas, if its after then me coming home has been pointless, a side from seeing family Christmas is work work work time :(

[Warsaw]

Welp, rush delivery works. I live about three quarters of an England away from the nearest Newegg stockhouse, and it takes two days for me to receive items. Where's this Ebuyer located?

[Limited]

I sent it to like DN post code, possibly Doncaster, so like, middle of England. I sent it next day delivery recorded, bloody royal mail charged me £21 :(.

Ebuyer has a great history of deliveries, people have ordered things like 7:30pm, and got it 11am next day.

[Warsaw]

Then you should be good for Christmas! :)

[=sw=warlord]

I sent it to like DN post code, possibly Doncaster, so like, middle of England. I sent it next day delivery recorded, bloody royal mail charged me £21 :(.

Ebuyer has a great history of deliveries, people have ordered things like 7:30pm, and got it 11am next day.
Ah so your where i got the video card in the post from then:realsmug:

[TheGhost]

So it's either CPU or mobo. Literally every other part has been verified to work (unless all 4 of my RAM sticks are all dead).

I'm tempted to pull a bait and switch with Best Buy... they carry my motherboard and CPU and have a pretty loose return policy from what I understand.

Thoughts?

[Jelly]

I'm looking for a new gaming mouse; the G9 looks to be out of my price range unless it has some super-useful features, and the G7 doesn't seem to be stocked in my retailers, so I'm looking at the MX518. Does anyone here have experience with this mouse or the G9?

I'd be using it quite a lot and from the smooth design of it, it looks like my fingers might slip off the MX518's buttons (I love the curved-up edges of my current Krait). There's also a concern that I'd accidentally press the side function buttons accidentally. Have any of you MX518 owners experienced either of these?

[TheGhost]

G500

[InnerGoat]

The MX518 is still the best mouse you can get so go for it. The side buttons own and are good binds for vent or what have you.

[TheGhost]

G500 > MX518

just sayin

(Note: I own both)

[Jelly]

The MX518 is still the best mouse you can get so go for it. The side buttons own and are good binds for vent or what have you.
make an mp3 of you reading this post please.

[Ganon]

G500 > MX518

just sayin

(Note: I own both)

you are correct

goat you are incorrect

this is solid fact

[InnerGoat]

MX518 is the best if you disagree you are trolling and trolling is a violation of teh AUP!

[TheGhost]

So it's either CPU or mobo. Literally every other part has been verified to work (unless all 4 of my RAM sticks are all dead).

I'm tempted to pull a bait and switch with Best Buy... they carry my motherboard and CPU and have a pretty loose return policy from what I understand.

Thoughts?

bump

[Ganon]

MX518 is the best if you disagree you are trolling and trolling is a violation of teh AUP!

you are obviously some scrub gamer haruhi

[Warsaw]

bump

RMA the motherboard and wait it out to see if that's the issue. Motherboard has more individual parts that can fail than the CPU.

[Cortexian]

G500 > MX518

just sayin

(Note: I own both)
Same here, used my MX518 all the time up until last year when a friend spilled pop on it... Now the right click has some seriously fucked up resistance too it. Used a G500 for a brief time while reviewing it for a school project (long story), use an MX Revolution now... MX Revolution is a great mouse but it suffers from the same problems as all other wireless devices, poor reception and such. I'm hopefully getting a G9 or G9x for Christmas, I'll let you know what it's like then if you still want.

[Warsaw]

The RAZER Mamba has fantastic wireless reception. It ain't the most comfortable mouse ever made, but it looks good and performs well. You can use it wired, if you so desire, to boot.

[Amit]

The RAZER Mamba has fantastic wireless reception. It ain't the most comfortable mouse ever made, but it looks good and performs well. You can use it wired, if you so desire, to boot.

Yeah, but it's hands down the most expensive gaming mouse out there.

[Ganon]

> razor mice

[Warsaw]

@Amit: You do have a point. Hence, only buy one if your existing computer needs no other upgrades...











...I want one. :saddowns:

[Limited]

Fantasic news people!

Following extensive tests by our returns technicians, this item was found to be faulty. A replacement product will be dispatched as soon as the RMA is closed.
:D:D That means when it comes back, it should be working :D. Dispatched today, date given as delivery is Monday :)


Now, time to demand the postage I had to pay.

[343guiltymc]

Did they improve the mouse wheel for the G500? I have a G5 and the mouse wheel sucks.

[Warsaw]

Fantasic news people!

:D:D That means when it comes back, it should be working :D. Dispatched today, date given as delivery is Monday :)


Now, time to demand the postage I had to pay.


Glad to hear it! Also good to know my diagnosis was on the money. :-3

[Jelly]

> razor mice
My Krait served me well!

It also lit up orange which was cool

[NullZero]

no, deathadder

[Amit]

I would definitely buy a Deathadder. It's cheap and damned effective.

[Limited]

Part came today, plugged it in, turned it on and absolutely nothing.

Exact same problem, GPU has no video output, the GPU fan doesnt spin. I dont think its getting any power, which to me sounds like an issue with PSU.

What I dont get, is the company have said the part was faulty. The box of this one was sealed, so they havent bothered testing this one.

I might just have to go buy another damn PSU, issue is if I get one online, it won't be here till next fucking year.

E: Rang up tech support, guy was like "uh you should try another graphics card", freaking idiot if I had another I would have tried that duh. He goes, "it could be the mobo, graphics card or psu, but 600w should be good enough", oh thanks for narrowing it down you imbecile, even I knew that.

Hoping to get a multi-meter from a neighbor to test pci-e connectors, see if they are getting power or not. I want to go down to a shop in town, buy a new PSU, but I bet it won't work, then they wont take it back so I'll be stuck with 2 =\

[StankBacon]

shitty luck man.


also, anyone see this beast yet?

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Dec-0-2009/SupCombo/index.html

i want that case! (and everything inside it)

*drools*

[Limited]

Funky case hah, expensive though :O.

I tested each pin on both PCI-E power connectors, they each get 1.5v, no idea if thats enough or not. But to me, it means power is going to the card.

So either its the graphics card (again) or the power supply.

Looks like I'm gonna have to take it to a shop in town, and get them to see whats not working and try some parts themselves. Problem is that might cost $100 =\

[Rook]

I'm very sorry limited that does suck, guess my first build was lucky that nothing went wrong.

[Limited]

I have a sneaky suspicion that again its the graphics card is faulty. Its definitely getting power, its just gay because even if I take this down to a shop, they work out the issue, I cant get a replacement part before Christmas, and I'm going back just after Christmas, the plan was to take new pc and carry on with uni.

Grr bloody hell >_<

[Rook]

May be a stupid question, but do you have your 4pin/8pin whichever you have CPU power connector plugged in? On my first build I forgot that and the lights and fans came on, but the card had a red light indicating not enough power and the computer wouldn't have a display.

Just a thought..

[InnerGoat]

Got an Acer h233h (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+23%22+Widescreen+Flat-Panel+LCD+Monitor+-+Black/9183224.p?skuId=9183224&id=1218049006792) yesterday because my secondary was failing. This is a lot more than I expected for 140 dollars.

Well, cya

[Rook]

Got an Acer h233h (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+23%22+Widescreen+Flat-Panel+LCD+Monitor+-+Black/9183224.p?skuId=9183224&id=1218049006792) yesterday because my secondary was failing. This is a lot more than I expected for 140 dollars.

Well, cya

Similar to mine cept yours is ~2 inches bigger, acer owns

[Limited]

May be a stupid question, but do you have your 4pin/8pin whichever you have CPU power connector plugged in? On my first build I forgot that and the lights and fans came on, but the card had a red light indicating not enough power and the computer wouldn't have a display.

Just a thought..
Yeah I double checked everything to make sure it wasnt a connection issue.

Ive taken it down to a shop in town, they couldnt figure it out from first looks which took 45 mins, they tried another PCI-E card and powered it on but no output.

They think it might be the motherboard, apparently its not fully posting, it goes to FF on the mobo, but it freezes at the FF, it should cycle through other checks which it isnt doing. They're keeping it over night to try to work out what part isnt working, there probably going to have to fully disassemble it and test each separate part.

The guy tested it briefly in front of me and damn, he was so heavy handed I'm worried hes going to break something, he was ripping parts out, throwing cables all around.

Looks like me having use of it this year is rapidly decreasing. I'm getting fed up of it now, I get the feeling I will never get it working :(.

[CrAsHOvErRide]

Yeah I double checked everything to make sure it wasnt a connection issue.

Ive taken it down to a shop in town, they couldnt figure it out from first looks which took 45 mins, they tried another PCI-E card and powered it on but no output.

They think it might be the motherboard, apparently its not fully posting, it goes to FF on the mobo, but it freezes at the FF, it should cycle through other checks which it isnt doing. They're keeping it over night to try to work out what part isnt working, there probably going to have to fully disassemble it and test each separate part.

The guy tested it briefly in front of me and damn, he was so heavy handed I'm worried hes going to break something, he was ripping parts out, throwing cables all around.

Looks like me having use of it this year is rapidly decreasing. I'm getting fed up of it now, I get the feeling I will never get it working :(.
I always had a severe problem with the first three computers I build. It wasn't my fault though but it was very frustrating.

This computer I double checked everything, ordered expensive parts and didn't take any chances and everything worked so flawlessly. :iamafag:

[Warsaw]

Part came today, plugged it in, turned it on and absolutely nothing.

Exact same problem, GPU has no video output, the GPU fan doesnt spin. I dont think its getting any power, which to me sounds like an issue with PSU.

What I dont get, is the company have said the part was faulty. The box of this one was sealed, so they havent bothered testing this one.

I might just have to go buy another damn PSU, issue is if I get one online, it won't be here till next fucking year.

E: Rang up tech support, guy was like "uh you should try another graphics card", freaking idiot if I had another I would have tried that duh. He goes, "it could be the mobo, graphics card or psu, but 600w should be good enough", oh thanks for narrowing it down you imbecile, even I knew that.

Hoping to get a multi-meter from a neighbor to test pci-e connectors, see if they are getting power or not. I want to go down to a shop in town, buy a new PSU, but I bet it won't work, then they wont take it back so I'll be stuck with 2 =\

If it ain't the PSU, try buying a different brand of GPU.

[itszutak]

Limited, it's most likely the mobo.

While building my own computer, I went through 3 mobos before I finally found one that worked.

[Yoko]

I was gonna buy a Biostar $120 mobo when I built my computer, but I've never used anything Biostar before, so I was a little skeptical of quality. I decided to spend $200 and get an Asus mobo, and I haven't had any problems with it. Plus the drivers are halfway decent on this one. The one thing you should never be cheap about on your computer is the mobo, and I'm glad I wasn't.

[Rook]

Gigabyte is a good brand and cheap... my mobo was $79. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

[CrAsHOvErRide]

I have had bad experiences with Gigabyte and Biostar (how the fuck can you release a MoBo with a chipset that has problems running Windows and not even mention it??) .

It's Asus for me.

[Limited]

Got some news, I rang up earlier today, asked if they had any news, they said no but were going to try and put a new mobo in with my parts and see if it works.

I rang up 3 hours later (just now), they hadnt even tried it. :gonk: But, they were pretty sure the other mobo was broken, I said if they had any mobos of a similar spec, they said no, they only have like regular desktop ones. He basically said "no we dont have any gaming ones, ones you'd use to overclock".

Then again, I dont plan to overclock it, I dont plan at the moment to have dual SLI, therefore one PCI-E port will do the job, its 64 bit compatible and he said it will definitely work.

So, they will put the new one in, get it working, maybe by end of today but its unlikely, but tomorrow definitely.

I'm just worried I have crippled my pc by getting a lower spec motherboard, he didnt mention the make but yesterday I saw Asus, Gigabyte motherboards so hopefully won't be too shabby.

But, I should be able to get it working before Christmas.

[Limited]

Sry for double post.

Its working! Holy crap what a journey eh? Had to have a new motherboard, definietly have downgraded it, slightly regretting it because its horrendous lol. It does the job, but it only has 1 accessible PCI slot, which will be for my wireless adapter.

For those who want a laugh, this is the mobo: Intel Desktop Board DG41RQ, ugly as hell if I ever want to upgrade, I'll probably purchase a new mobo, but for now it will do I hope.

Windows 7 took like 7 minutes to install, clean install. Installing apps now, gonna attach secondary hard drive and pray it works because it has my backed up data.

Thanks for all your help guys :D Rep for all!

[Cortexian]

If you upgrade your motherboard go with EVGA since they are the best!

[bleach]

Part came today, plugged it in, turned it on and absolutely nothing.

Exact same problem, GPU has no video output, the GPU fan doesnt spin. I dont think its getting any power, which to me sounds like an issue with PSU.

What I dont get, is the company have said the part was faulty. The box of this one was sealed, so they havent bothered testing this one.

I might just have to go buy another damn PSU, issue is if I get one online, it won't be here till next fucking year.

E: Rang up tech support, guy was like "uh you should try another graphics card", freaking idiot if I had another I would have tried that duh. He goes, "it could be the mobo, graphics card or psu, but 600w should be good enough", oh thanks for narrowing it down you imbecile, even I knew that.

Hoping to get a multi-meter from a neighbor to test pci-e connectors, see if they are getting power or not. I want to go down to a shop in town, buy a new PSU, but I bet it won't work, then they wont take it back so I'll be stuck with 2 =\

I had a similar problem with my new computer custom build and also coincidentally had the same power supply: OCZ ModXStream 600W.
I returned any parts I had suspected - the Power supply and motherboard (Evga P55 LE).

Now, I need help finding a new power supply and a new motherboard. =(

1st: I have a few motherboards I'm looking at:


1) Asus P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Motherboard (http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=9i872VNaAILRp8bS&templete=2)



2) Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3P LGA 1156 Motherboard (http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ProductID=3253)



3) Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Motherboard (http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ProductID=3254)
I am also open to any other solutions (USB 3.0, SATA 6G, ATX, good cooling/bios/memory/support/reputation, onboard audio, sturdy material, and also if possible, Firewire would be great)

2nd, For the power supply, could you find one that has:


1) a very good reputation, cooling, etc.
2) from Electronic Fry's (http://frys.com/) (with availability by buying online then picking up in store---> Anaheim or City of Industry)



Preferably 500-600 Watt and low priced for its power


If any additional info is needed, the current components that I still have are:

1) Intel Core i5 750
2) OCZ Platinum 4 GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 PC3-10666
3) Western Digital Caviar Green 750 GB HD 32 MB Cache
4) Gearhead DVD Burner Triple Format 24x DVD+/-R Drive
5) Antec Three Hundred
6) Temporary GFX: (ATI X300 SE and ATI 9250 PCI, just in case)


Note: I am waiting for the ATI HD5850 price to lower and also for Nvidia, with their Fermi - when they have a card with similar performance with the ATI HD5850.


Thanks,

Bleach

[Warsaw]

If you upgrade your motherboard go with EVGA since they are the best!

No. Bad idea. They may make a good board, but compared to the likes of ASUS or DFI, they are relative newcomers to the motherboard industry. If you've got cash to drop and don't mind taking a chance, then fine. But if you want it to work right on the first try, go DFI.

[AAA]

It's DFI that seems the least trustworthy. They make a shit load of motherboards with various components. No overclocking consideration or skill and no good reviews.

[Cortexian]

And almost all of the ASUS motherboards I've ever dealt with have had some type of annoying problem. For example, my current Striker Extreme motherboard (and all of the other ones in existence) contain a manufacturing defect that prevents stable overclocking of Kentsfield quad core 775 processors. This was a problem with the reference board that they based their product off of, so really it was Nvidia's fault, however... The first EVGA 680i boards had this problem as well except when EVGA found out about the issue they offered to replace any boards that suffered from this with an updated revision of the board. All you had to do was open an RMA ticket and state that you had a faulty board that wouldn't OC properly and they'd send you a revised board.

EVGA also has the best customer support out of any hardware manufacturer that I've had to deal with, they're very accommodating! When the next processor series comes out from Intel for next gen sockets, I'm going to be building a new rig that's completely built from EVGA products!

[Warsaw]

It's DFI that seems the least trustworthy. They make a shit load of motherboards with various components. No overclocking consideration or skill and no good reviews.

What the fuck?

DFI has the most overclocking consideration in my experience. They offer so many options in the BIOS that a beginner would likely fry the damn thing because he/she doesn't know what he's doing and messes with the wrong setting. I've also seen TONS of good reviews, and most have the disclaimer "NOT FOR BEGINNERS."

They aren't on the higher end of the pricing spectrum for nothing.

[ThePlague]

I might buy the lowest thing you have posted, but don't know if I need a power supply or not. I have an old Compaq Presario that I used to use with one. Is it a good idea to get one anyway?

[Cortexian]

Depends on the specs of the older PSU you're thinking of using.

[ThePlague]

It is Steady-state 235 watts. Also, the link for the gfx card in the first one says it's deactivated. And so is the RAM

[Chozenzzz]

It is Steady-state 235 watts. Also, the link for the gfx card in the first one says it's deactivated. And so is the RAM

Do not skimp on the power supply, because if you get a shitty one it will degrade your hardware and might pop and die taking many parts with it.

Get a quality 400 watt PSU, Corsair's 400 watt psu?, or a OCZ 400watt PSU(Heard they are now PC&P) So they are high quality to.

Corsair
OCZ
Seasonic
PC&P
Some ANTEC PSU's
Are all good quality PSU's and everybody but ANTEC has high end low wattage PSU's you should get a nice PSU to keep strong life in the hardware your going to buy. But if money is tight you can gamble with other companys but NO BESTEC or CODEMASTER psu's those two companies are terrable. Everything else 400-450 watts should do the job.

[Cortexian]

Yea I wouldn't be using that Steady-state, get yourself a nice Corsair (don't trust OCZ anymore since a piece of my old 850 Watt GameXStream fell out).

[Chozenzzz]

Yea I wouldn't be using that Steady-state, get yourself a nice Corsair (don't trust OCZ anymore since a piece of my old 850 Watt GameXStream fell out).

That sux:saddowns:. Some of OCZ's Power supplys are maid by Seasonic and other high quality, some can be really cheaply maid and whine, and not provide enough power, all Corsair stuff from 400watts and up should be perfect for your rig, corsair is the garentee :P.

[Amit]

Yea I wouldn't be using that Steady-state, get yourself a nice Corsair (don't trust OCZ anymore since a piece of my old 850 Watt GameXStream fell out).

My OCZ GameXStream 600W hasn't had any problems in the past 1.5 years that I've had it. Hopefully nothing goes wrong with it. Maybe it was a simple manufacturing defect, just like your motherboard.

[AAA]

Say you have a graphics card that's 325W, is a 1000W power Supply necessary?

[Chozenzzz]

Say you have a graphics card that's 325W, is a 1000W power Supply necessary?

No. It isnt necessary, really at all. There are few video cards that acctualy use that real wattage. A company can say this and that about a video card but under real world testing video cards tend to use less power then company recommend.

HD 4870x2, HD 5970, and a overclocked GTX 295 will use that many watts at full load. So even if you got the fastest production maid video card in the world which was a HD 5970, a 650 watt psu would be fine for even a i7 and the whole system overclocked. But many people want room for upgrade and 100-200 watts above recommended just to be safe. So a 750watt basicly powers most dual card setups, and all single card setups.

Corsair power supplys like the 750watts are pefect example, and should do what they say and even more. 1000 watts is only neceassary for 2 HD 4870x2s or 2 HD 5970's or 2 GTX 295's with a GTS 250 physx card. The HD 4870x2's acctualy use the most power at about 930 watts full load on a overclocked i7 rig and yet dont have the performance of 2x GTX 295s or HD 5970s. HD 5970's max out at around 280 i belive at full load. But havnt checked reviews

[AAA]

Much Appreciation. Also, welcome to the forums. I haven't seen you around before.

+rep

[AAA]

yadadada

I'm sorry for the double post, but I noticed your keyboard. I've been looking at that keyboard for over a year now and I must ask: are you able to hold down the arrows key < & ^ simultaneously while tapping the 0 on the numpad in a FPS game?? Because that's what has been holding me back from buying it. It's a dream keyboard.

[Cortexian]

My OCZ GameXStream 600W hasn't had any problems in the past 1.5 years that I've had it. Hopefully nothing goes wrong with it. Maybe it was a simple manufacturing defect, just like your motherboard.
Nah I probably just got a lemon unit because from the looks of the damage when it happened, it looks like something heated up so much it caused one of the capacitors to literally come loose and fall out...

Here's the original post I made about it. (http://www.modacity.net/forums/showpost.php?p=404594&postcount=9)

Anyways, I have another GameXStream PSU in my dads computer and it's been running for around 6 years with no problem.

[StankBacon]

im thinking about building a budget rig and i wanna know what you guys think..


Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392)

Video Card - XFX HD-485X-ZDFC Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150351)

Ram - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193)

Proc - AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor Model ADX630WFGIBOX - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704)

Total - $413.96

i already have PSU, HDDs, Case and all other peripherals... so those 4 are the only components i need.

i originally wanted a phenom 2 x4, but its like $70 more, so i figured the athlon 2 x4 should suffice, especially if i OC it a bit.... would the lack of L3 cache really make that big of a difference?

the most demanding game i play right now is l4d2 and i don't do any video editing or shit like that.

anyway, id like to stay around 400, and get the best bang for my buck, anything i should swap or is this a decent rig?

[Rook]

One suggestion, Phenom>Athlon. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

I know it's dual core but go for I'd get it over the Athlon. (because I did) I also got that motherboard, nice board for the price.

Overall most everything you're thinking of is what I have and my shit runs reasonably, showed you FPS/tech settings over steam. I have similar RAM, G.SKILL 1333 speed. MY computer also uses a XFX 4850, however mine has 512MB of ram on it.

[Cojafoji]

yeah, bacon, get the phenom 2. on that mobo, you can unlock the other two cores.

so instead of getting the quad core at 2.8ghz for 112, you get a quad core at 3.1ghz for 102 with a 6mb l3 cache.

GA-MA770T-UD3P - F2c/F3 Bios - SUCCESS!! (http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/535501-amd-phenom-ii-core-unlocking-guide-4.html#post6715058)/SUCCESS!! (http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/535501-amd-phenom-ii-core-unlocking-guide-32.html#post7166578)

click those links for details on unlocking etc.

[Rook]

One thing to think about not every 550 CPU can unlock a 3rd or 4th core. Some of the chips are supposedly defective. Still, phenom supremacy.

[StankBacon]

and unlocking disables the temp sensors or some shit.

[Bhamid]

Phenom is black edition as well, so its easier to overclock.

[StankBacon]

ZALMAN CNPS9900ALED 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LED CPU Cooler - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118046)

or

Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler Socket 1366 Ready - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835702007)

or something else?

[Cortexian]

Any one if these three coolers are the best for air cooling on the market. (http://www.prolimatech.com/products/cpu_cooler.html)

The Mega Shadow looks the best imo and it provides the same cooling, I'd recommend getting it from FrozenCPU (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9655/cpu-pro-05/Prolimatech_Mega_Shadow_Megahalem_Nickel_Plated_Bl ack_Edition_Intel_CPU_Heatsink_LGA_775_1156_1366_A M2_AM2_AM3_Hot_Item.html) as I've dealt with them before and they had great customer support. I'm actually thinking of getting a Mega Shadow to replace my TRUE if I can justify it...

[StankBacon]

those seem to be intel only, shame since that one is damn sexy.

need am3 compatibility.

[Cortexian]

AM3 Compatibility. (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9094/cpu-pro-04/Prolimatech_AM2_AM2_AM3_Megahalem_Retention_Mount_ Adapter_Kit_ARM-01.html?id=WWE6coS2&mv_pc=3525)

[Cojafoji]

My brother uses that Zalman cooler bacon. Works like a charm for him.

[NuggetWarmer]

Working on my first build.

Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145220)
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128362&cm_re=Gigabyte_ex58-_-13-128-362-_-Product)
Intel Core i7-920 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202&cm_re=intel_i7-920-_-19-115-202-_-Product)
Cooler Master Storm Scout (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196&cm_re=scout-_-11-119-196-_-Product)

plus all the basic CD/DVD and HD stuff.

What gfx card should I get?

[CrAsHOvErRide]

Nvidia :downs:

3x2GB at least you are doing it right. Good job on that. :iamafag:

[AAA]

No USB 3.0? With the price points you're looking at, better off. But, I can't disagree entirely due to the catches on the functionality strings... I guess.
but, if you consider. Take a look at this:

Asus: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614)

or hell, maybe even this...

Gigabyte: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128413

Also, that new 690 II Advanced case is coming soon, should take a look at that here: http://www.modacity.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20066

Shit's sleek and agile. Hope I helped a little.

[NuggetWarmer]

I did look into both, but I like the price I paid for the parts I currently have. My next build will be a bit more fancy than this one.

E: I also looked into that case, but I just like the way the scout was designed. :)

[Warsaw]

Nvidia :downs:

3x2GB at least you are doing it right. Good job on that. :iamafag:

No u

Nugget, you want something in the ATi Radeon HD5000 series. Preferably an HD5850 or HD5870, though the HD5770 is also an excellent card.

[Ganon]

http://bacon.modacity.net/img/images/zomg.jpg

+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608007

wat ya guys think

[Warsaw]

I like. I'd rather take Corsair or Ballistix memory, but honestly at the high end it doesn't matter much. I also think you'd be better served buying an SSD over the Velociraptor and buying a regular HDD for mass storage and less intensive applications.

[Ganon]

I like. I'd rather take Corsair or Ballistix memory, but honestly at the high end it doesn't matter much.

I considered both, but i've had a bad experience with Ballistix memory dying after short term use. Yet I completely contradict myself due to the fact I recently purchased 4 GB of Ballistix memory... Mushkin has served me well however, and I'm choosing to give them my business.


I also think you'd be better served buying an SSD over the Velociraptor and buying a regular HDD for mass storage and less intensive applications. I've considered just adding an SSD for the OS and a game or two along with the velociraptor in the new build (Have a 1 tb external that caters to all my needs as far as storage), but I'm not sold on all the benifits of an SSD for the price they charge for them. Mostly because I know little about them...

[Warsaw]

They have a MUCH greater throughput than traditional hard drives, and thus make better use of the bandwidth available in the SATA interface. So, a 64GB or 128GB SSD is a good option for your OS and your top pick of apps because they will load resources from the SSD faster than they would from a traditional HDD. I agree that the price per gigabyte of SSDs is outrageous and I don't recommend anything large, but since you are building a high-end system it would be wise to invest in a fast hard drive to make full use of the other components. Remember, it only takes one part to slow the entire rig down.

[Rook]

2Gs be a lot of cash bro

[NullZero]

lol ganons build

ffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuu-

[InnerGoat]

http://bacon.modacity.net/img/images/zomg.jpg

+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608007

wat ya guys think

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

May as well get the best if its just a few dollars more. Wonder if it even fits in that case lmao.

[Cortexian]

That HSF is huge though, if you want to put a push fan on the other side you'll probably run into issues with the memory DIMM's getting in the way.

[Ganon]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

May as well get the best if its just a few dollars more. Wonder if it even fits in that case lmao.

I'd love to know if it would interfere with anything in my build actually. That thing looks awesome

e: looks like it literally would be next to the plexiglass heh

[Cortexian]

I'd love to know if it would interfere with anything in my build actually. That thing looks awesome

e: looks like it literally would be next to the plexiglass heh
Did you read my post? Should be fine in regards to hitting the side panel window, your issues are going to be with the cooler getting in the way of your memory slots.

[Ganon]

Did you read my post? Should be fine in regards to hitting the side panel window, your issues are going to be with the cooler getting in the way of your memory slots.

so you are saying it will be an issue if i have relatively tall RAM and dont get it or

take a hacksaw

[InnerGoat]

Ehhhh? Just buy it and sort out mounting issues when you're building it! That's part of the fun :D

[Amit]

Ehhhh? Just buy it and sort out mounting issues when you're building it! That's part of the fun :D

^^ This guy is nuts.

[Bhamid]

^^ This guy is nuts.
He's nuts about having fun :woop:

[Cortexian]

so you are saying it will be an issue if i have relatively tall RAM and dont get it or
Yes, the HSF will hang over the nearest DIMM slot to the CPU socket and prevent you from placing memory in it. You could always try mounting the HSF vertically instead of horizontally though, that could solve the problem... As long as the HSF isn't so huge that it doesn't interfere with other things on the motherboard, or hit the top of your case...


take a hacksaw
:ugh:

[Ganon]

buying an SSD and a regular HDD for mass storage and less intensive applications.

Probably going to do this now, anyone here have experience with SSD's and can recommend one (especially size)? I'm thinking I'm going to use it mainly for w7, 2-3 games and a few programs (photoshop, vegas, after effects, cinema 4d, 3dsmax). And anything that I should know about installation etc... would be helpful!

[InnerGoat]

Intel's 80GB x25-m and a Samsung F3 for the rest of your files

[Rook]

Samsung F3 for the rest of your files

Got a samsung drive it owns.

[Cortexian]

Western Digital Caviar Black drives are superior, and they still have 5 year manufacturer warranty unlike the other companies that only offer 3 year.

[Rook]

WD are more well known, don't think I'd still say superior though. :v

[Amit]

WD are more well known, don't think I'd still say superior though. :v

Many people have had their fair share of problems with all types of hard drives, including Western Digital drives. I'd say they're superior, though and I swear by them.

[Warsaw]

+1 for Western Digital.

[CrAsHOvErRide]

+1 for Western Digital.

Everything including Samsung has died on me except for WD.

[Cortexian]

They're superior because Western Digital themselves are confident enough to continue offering 5 year warranties as opposed to the other manufactures, who have since dropped their warranties down to 3 years because they were loosing money on all their failed drives that they had to keep replacing.

[Ganon]

opinion
*checks system specs*

amd

*laughs*

[Rook]

(AoG) Rook: samsung drives for life
(AoG) Rook: acer monitors for life
Wilhelmina: say amd
(AoG) Rook: amd for life


ugay?
Some of us r not rich!

[Cortexian]

"Hey guys I've got a great idea to counter Intel's new quad-core processors, lets build triple-core processors!"

- AMD Employee

[CrAsHOvErRide]

Actually triple-cores are successful. Of course not for showoffs like you who can't differentiate between power and efficiency.


AMD 4 life btw.

[InnerGoat]

"Hey guys I've got a great idea to counter Intel's new quad-core processors, lets build triple-core processors!"

- AMD Employee

The tri-cores compete with the dual cores from intel...

[Bhamid]

The tri-cores compete with the dual cores from intel...
+1, the generally perform better in games as well as being cheaper :realsmug:

[Rook]

+1, the generally perform better in games as well as being cheaper :realsmug:

I have AMD for the price, I would however say that a comparable Intel would perform better in games.

[Cortexian]

That's not the point, the point is that they decided to make a processor with three cores instead of going up by stepping's of two, like you're supposed to!

It was a dumb idea either way since Intel is better! :)

[Horns]

That's not the point, the point is that they decided to make a processor with three cores instead of going up by stepping's of two, like you're supposed to!

It was a dumb idea either way since Intel is better! :)

I believe it was actually ment to be a quad core but they failed at it and decided to make a triple core. It still has 4 cores however and if you get the right one you may be able to unlock and make use of the 4th core. cmiiw

[Cortexian]

Yes I know, that just outlines how much MORE fail they are.

[Rook]

I have no idea but intel has to fuck up some way, they probably just throw their bad batches away because they charge so much more per processor and people still buy it.

[Warsaw]

Intel is only good as long as you don't spring for that god-awful Socket 1156. Whoever had the bright idea of creating TWO simultaneously existing sockets is a bastard.

Also for the record: AM3 > LGA775 :downs:

[Cortexian]

1366 is the only way to go with current gen sockets, whoever thought down-stepping to DualChannel memory on the 1156 socket was a good idea after teasing us with TripleChannel should be shot!

AM3 isn't > LGA775, at least not when you're talking about the high-end processors for those sockets!

QX9650 > Phenom II X4 965 Black

[Warsaw]

No, but AM3 has a future and LGA775 doesn't.

c wut i did thar? :realsmug:

[AAA]

AMD = Bang for the Buck

Intel = Brute Power

If Intel would throw down their cocky attitude of such powerful CPU's and lower the prices a bit. AMD would literally be fucked. Bent over and all. They'd have stop dead in their tracks.

Lets face it, and although I may have AMD it doesn't mean I'm a fan, Intel needs to get their shit straight on quite a few levels as AMD has, then we'd finally be on the right track with these sockets, prices, and performance.

AMD isn't the best. Intel doesn't have a lot of their own pros either.

It's just going to take a few centuries for them to realize this because they obviously aren't thinking about it.

[Amit]

I'm always gonna buy Intel. Simple as that. Why? Because at each level the Intel processors are constantly better performing than AMD processors. The price might be a little higher, but you pay for that performance and then overclock it to the speeds of the next price level up.

[Warsaw]

That wasn't the case until after 2006. AMD used to always be better than Intel.