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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition
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Minsc
Gold Member
Tisan said:Well I have a WD Green which is apparently 5400-7200, and changing song has a noticeable pause, which is why I'm relegating that to external backup and going for a new hdd.
Still I guess that's fine the F3 and black are the same price so I guess I'll go for the 5 year warranty with the black then.
Cheers
Really? The seek time of any HDD is in ms. If there is a noticable pause, the drive is either spinning down and then back up (unlikely if you're accessing it every 3-4 mins), or something really, really weird.
I have WD passports hooked up over USB and those are very poor performing drives, and I play movies, and music and everything without pausing.
Also, couldn't you just use a crossfade filter? Then any pausing would be hidden in the fade from one song to the next. Any good music player would buffer the next song as the current one finishes, so your problem puzzles me.
I NEED SCISSORS
Banned
Finished OC'ing my Phenom II X2 550. Went from 3.1GHz stock to 3.7GHz 
That's as far as she goes though. I've exhausted every option - multiplier can't go any higher without crashing, the FSB can't go much higher, and my Asus mobo's BIOS is stopping me from pumping more juice into it. And even if I could, I wouldn't, as my temps are up at 51 degrees on load. That's where they were on stock with my old shitty cooler.
It's lasted an hour in Prime95 with no errors, so I might move onto a few hours of OCCT overnight. I also tried to unlock the other cores, but the amount of hassle an Asus mobo presents is not worth the effort. I really don't want to wrestle with my computer for hours just for something that might not even work.
That's as far as she goes though. I've exhausted every option - multiplier can't go any higher without crashing, the FSB can't go much higher, and my Asus mobo's BIOS is stopping me from pumping more juice into it. And even if I could, I wouldn't, as my temps are up at 51 degrees on load. That's where they were on stock with my old shitty cooler.
It's lasted an hour in Prime95 with no errors, so I might move onto a few hours of OCCT overnight. I also tried to unlock the other cores, but the amount of hassle an Asus mobo presents is not worth the effort. I really don't want to wrestle with my computer for hours just for something that might not even work.
Odious Tea
Member
How does one go about forcing AA in ATI on a per game basis? For example, I'd like to force AA on BioShock 2, but not on Crysis. I used to do it through nHancer, but that's obviously no longer an option.
Thanks.
Thanks.
matrix-cat
Member
Shaneus said:
1kW? You know you don't need something like that just for a 5850, right? I'm running an i5-750 and a 5850 with a 500W power supply, and that's only because the 450W one I wanted wasn't in stock when I bought my stuff. Unless you're adding that 5850 to the three you already have running, 1kW is gigantic overkill.
Odious Tea
Member
Get the 690 II. It's worth whatever the price difference is. Tremendously built case. Cannot recommend it enough.Shaneus said:
A friend has a spare one for about $200 or so. I'm not sure what power I'm running at the moment (can't check, at work) but fairly sure that my current PSU won't be able to handle the 5850 plus the two DVD-ROM drives and three 3.5" HDDs. It might, but I'd rather not risk it. And from what I've seen, $200 (AU) is a damned good price.
Edit: Odius, it's not the price difference I'm concerned about, it's the delay! The 690 II Adv. doesn't look to be coming out in AU until late March/early April
Edit: Odius, it's not the price difference I'm concerned about, it's the delay! The 690 II Adv. doesn't look to be coming out in AU until late March/early April
Houston3000
Member
Sorry to quote myself but these are my temps at stock... which is why I'm a little worried about overclocking again like I used to.Houston3000 said:
qft.Firestorm said:
I'm running a quad core + 4870 + all sorts of add-on cards and peripherals on a 520W Corsair with everything overclocked through the roof and still haven't even come close to straining the PSU. I'd cut your PSU at least in half unless you're looking for upgrading headroom. And even then you wouldn't need much more than 600W or so for dual GPUs + overclock and fixins.
For $130 you can get a modular Seasonic 520w PSU which should handle that stuff fine: http://www.pccasegear.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_972&products_id=13566 . The 620w is $20 more if you really want more.Shaneus said:
crisdecuba
Member
Okay, so I finished assembling the computer, being careful at each step of the way...
And now I connect it and turn it on, and it turns on briefly - for like half a second (the case fan starts turning, the fan on the CPU starts turning, the LED on the CPU fan turns on) and then nothing. Off again.
Then, it won't turn on again unless I unplug the PSU, plug it back in, and try again.
This being my first build, I have no idea how to troubleshoot this... :-(
Where do I start??
And now I connect it and turn it on, and it turns on briefly - for like half a second (the case fan starts turning, the fan on the CPU starts turning, the LED on the CPU fan turns on) and then nothing. Off again.
Then, it won't turn on again unless I unplug the PSU, plug it back in, and try again.
This being my first build, I have no idea how to troubleshoot this... :-(
Where do I start??
captain wow
Member
crisdecuba said:
So is it turning on and staying on but nothing is happening or does it actually turn itself off.
Odious Tea said:
1. You won't get AA in Bioshock 2 without renaming the .exe, which sometimes isn't groovy if you bought it on Steam.
2. The profiles are broken as hell so you gotta just do it on a per game basis. You can right click the icon in the system tray and do it from there without opening up CCC, but it's still a pain.
crisdecuba
Member
Seems to turn itself off.captain wow said:
captain wow
Member
Good point, with my connector i had initially put it in so part of it wasnt in properly, would turn on and then right off.
crisdecuba
Member
It was a 24 pin and a 4 pin - the PSU came with a 20pin connected to a 4 pin that fit adjacent to it (completing the 24 pin plug) and then a separate 4pin connected to another 4pin (I'm assuming to accomodate both 8 and 4pin setups). For that one I just picked one of the 4pin plugs - does it matter which one?TheExodu5 said:
crisdecuba said:
Yeah that's what I meant, sorry. Don't know if it matters...my PSU has a 4 and an 8 pin connector, not a split one. Try the other one and see if it makes a difference.
I really should caution to anyone building a system that these sorts of hangups are inevitable the first time around...but you really learn a lot from them.
crisdecuba
Member
K, tried it - checked all the power hookups. Re: the split 8 pin connector, only one half fits into the 4pin hookup.TheExodu5 said:
crisdecuba
Member
HAHAHAHAHA
I figured it out.
Apparently "O" on the PSU means off and "-" means on.
Whoo hoo!
I figured it out.
Apparently "O" on the PSU means off and "-" means on.
Whoo hoo!
FYI: The circle means Open Circuit, as in there's a point of disconnection. The line means Closed Circuit, everything is connected and electricity is able to go in and out.crisdecuba said:HAHAHAHAHA
I figured it out.
Apparently "O" on the PSU means off and "-" means on.
Whoo hoo!
Sweet... I won't worry about it then! I called up the Antec PSU calculator and clocked in at 365W (including the 5850), allowing for an extra device here or there. Overclocking the CPU to 1.45V (not that I overclock, just to allow for it) gets me to 418W, just 2W under what my PSU is rated :lolShambles said:
If I do decide to get a new PSU (a quieter one would be nice!) then I might go that Seasonic one. I have a feeling that if I get that, everything will be quieter.
Edit: I should spoil myself with a new PSU anyway... my current one is EIGHT YEARS OLD.
crisdecuba
Member
Thanks for the explanation. At least now I won't go around thinking it was nonsensical.Hitokage said:
So here's a summary of what I learned in actually putting the thing together:
1. The scariest part for me was holding the processor and dropping it into place on the motherboard. I held it for only 5-10 seconds and yet it felt like I couldn't get it into place fast enough. Every extra second seems like another opportunity for me to drop it or accidentally damage it in some way. The fact that it's surprisingly heavy added to my sense that I was holding something very valuable that was easily damageable. WHEW!!
2. Closing the bracket that holds the chip in place caused a slight creaky sound from the motherboard - at first I think I was crushing the chip or something... but thankfully that wasn't the case.
3. I should have tightened the motherboard mounts into the case more tightly. Two of them somehow unscrewed after I was almost done getting the motherboard screwed in and I had to undo it all.
4. The pushpin design for the CPU heatsink/fan I got (ZEROtherm CORE92 Socket 1156/1366 HDT Cooler) sucks. If the official one that comes with the i5 sucks works like this does, then I say get rid of this pushpin stuff altogether.
5. It was easier for me to get the motherboard into the case by installing the cpu heatsink first - then I could grab it by that instead of the edges of the mobo.
6. Spreading the thermal grease on the CPU was a big unknown for me. I didn't know how much is too much or too little, so I went with what I thought was a "thin layer." Seems to be okay so far. Idles at 22C.
7. Connecting the case's LEDs and Power / Reset buttons to the mobo was the most confusing part to figure out from the manual. So many little pins and whatnot. This should be more standardized / consolidated.
That's it for now. Waiting for Windows 7 to come in the mail - then I can really say I've finished building my own PC.
Thanks again to everyone for the help!
OK, quick question about overclocking...
I managed to overclock my i5 750 to 4Ghz by changing the base clock to 200Mhz and leaving the multiplier at 20x. However, I had to lower the RAM multiplier to 6, so that RAM speed doesn't go over its stock 1333Mhz. This means my RAM is now running at 1200Mhz.
Am I losing a lot of performance because of this? Is it worth trying to fiddle with the settings so that my RAM is running as close to 1333MHz as possible?
In case it matters, this is the RAM I'm using: G.Skill RipJaws DIMM Kit 4GB PC3-10667U CL7-7-7-21 (DDR3-1333).
I managed to overclock my i5 750 to 4Ghz by changing the base clock to 200Mhz and leaving the multiplier at 20x. However, I had to lower the RAM multiplier to 6, so that RAM speed doesn't go over its stock 1333Mhz. This means my RAM is now running at 1200Mhz.
Am I losing a lot of performance because of this? Is it worth trying to fiddle with the settings so that my RAM is running as close to 1333MHz as possible?
In case it matters, this is the RAM I'm using: G.Skill RipJaws DIMM Kit 4GB PC3-10667U CL7-7-7-21 (DDR3-1333).
I just bought a new monitor. I know it isnt name brand but for the price + free shipping thought it was a great deal. Was wondering if any had any comments or has any experience with it.
currently I am using a 21" LG 1680x1050.
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5532033&CatId=4420
currently I am using a 21" LG 1680x1050.
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5532033&CatId=4420
twdnewh_k
Member
Sorry to ask this here, not sure of relevance. Im waiting for March 26th to see what nvidia announce before finally building a new rig. Depending on price/performance, it'll either be one of the new nvidia cards or a 5870/5970.
So knowing what kind of gpus Ill be running, I was hoping for some advice on monitors.
Im looking for a 24' 1080p with 2ms. Preferebly with vga,hdmi and dvi inputs. My primary concern is gaming, so if a monitor performs well for games but sux for media/editing or whatever then that's fine.
I've done some research and have seen some good stuff, but Id like to know whats everyone's take on LED monitors for gaming ? and wat brands come recommended ?
Many thanks in advance. my budget is 200-350$ or so
So knowing what kind of gpus Ill be running, I was hoping for some advice on monitors.
Im looking for a 24' 1080p with 2ms. Preferebly with vga,hdmi and dvi inputs. My primary concern is gaming, so if a monitor performs well for games but sux for media/editing or whatever then that's fine.
I've done some research and have seen some good stuff, but Id like to know whats everyone's take on LED monitors for gaming ? and wat brands come recommended ?
Many thanks in advance. my budget is 200-350$ or so
Great job with your build.crisdecuba said:Thanks for the explanation. At least now I won't go around thinking it was nonsensical.
So here's a summary of what I learned in actually putting the thing together:
1. The scariest part for me was holding the processor and dropping it into place on the motherboard. I held it for only 5-10 seconds and yet it felt like I couldn't get it into place fast enough. Every extra second seems like another opportunity for me to drop it or accidentally damage it in some way. The fact that it's surprisingly heavy added to my sense that I was holding something very valuable that was easily damageable. WHEW!!
2. Closing the bracket that holds the chip in place caused a slight creaky sound from the motherboard - at first I think I was crushing the chip or something... but thankfully that wasn't the case.
3. I should have tightened the motherboard mounts into the case more tightly. Two of them somehow unscrewed after I was almost done getting the motherboard screwed in and I had to undo it all.
4. The pushpin design for the CPU heatsink/fan I got (ZEROtherm CORE92 Socket 1156/1366 HDT Cooler) sucks. If the official one that comes with the i5 sucks works like this does, then I say get rid of this pushpin stuff altogether.
5. It was easier for me to get the motherboard into the case by installing the cpu heatsink first - then I could grab it by that instead of the edges of the mobo.
6. Spreading the thermal grease on the CPU was a big unknown for me. I didn't know how much is too much or too little, so I went with what I thought was a "thin layer." Seems to be okay so far. Idles at 22C.
7. Connecting the case's LEDs and Power / Reset buttons to the mobo was the most confusing part to figure out from the manual. So many little pins and whatnot. This should be more standardized / consolidated.
That's it for now. Waiting for Windows 7 to come in the mail - then I can really say I've finished building my own PC.
Thanks again to everyone for the help!
2 and 3 - Yeah, when I installed the Thermalright Ultra to my i7 920 and board it was quite dodgy. I mean it took A LOT more force than I was expecting to get it clamp down... and kinda made a horrible sound in the process, but everything works fine.
7 - If you're lucky (in my case), the case you get might have an adapter to simplify this. With my Antec 902 it had a little adapter that has all the cables situated correctly to snap into the motherboard, so no fiddling around.
crisdecuba said:Thanks for the explanation. At least now I won't go around thinking it was nonsensical.
So here's a summary of what I learned in actually putting the thing together:
1. The scariest part for me was holding the processor and dropping it into place on the motherboard. I held it for only 5-10 seconds and yet it felt like I couldn't get it into place fast enough. Every extra second seems like another opportunity for me to drop it or accidentally damage it in some way. The fact that it's surprisingly heavy added to my sense that I was holding something very valuable that was easily damageable. WHEW!!
2. Closing the bracket that holds the chip in place caused a slight creaky sound from the motherboard - at first I think I was crushing the chip or something... but thankfully that wasn't the case.
3. I should have tightened the motherboard mounts into the case more tightly. Two of them somehow unscrewed after I was almost done getting the motherboard screwed in and I had to undo it all.
4. The pushpin design for the CPU heatsink/fan I got (ZEROtherm CORE92 Socket 1156/1366 HDT Cooler) sucks. If the official one that comes with the i5 sucks works like this does, then I say get rid of this pushpin stuff altogether.
5. It was easier for me to get the motherboard into the case by installing the cpu heatsink first - then I could grab it by that instead of the edges of the mobo.
6. Spreading the thermal grease on the CPU was a big unknown for me. I didn't know how much is too much or too little, so I went with what I thought was a "thin layer." Seems to be okay so far. Idles at 22C.
7. Connecting the case's LEDs and Power / Reset buttons to the mobo was the most confusing part to figure out from the manual. So many little pins and whatnot. This should be more standardized / consolidated.
That's it for now. Waiting for Windows 7 to come in the mail - then I can really say I've finished building my own PC.
Thanks again to everyone for the help!
This sounds very similar to a lot of my feelings when I built my first rig. Connecting the LEDs to the mobo, I eventually gave up trying to figure it out and just started plugging things in where I thought they were supposed to go. Probably not the best strategy, but it's worked out okay.
I was also very scared of the processor. It's funny, I recently took it out to wipe off the thermal paste so I could install an aftermarket cooler, and I was much less afraid of handling it. Probably a little too casual TBH, but it seemed to have been okay.
And yes, push pins SUCK. With this aftermarket cooler I installed, apparently one of the pushpins got loose, and yesterday afternoon I happen to open up RealTemp and see my CPU is running at 90 degrees. That was an oh shit moment...
Now the finishing line is in sight, the only things I still need are some of the stress test and monitoring tools from the OP, which ones are the best? What do I have to adjust in Catalyst/tutorial link please?
I want to OC my 5850 to the max frequency from Overdrive to see if it works, which stress test programm for that? Which programm to see my cpu´s temperature (applying thermal paste is scary, they really should add a little pic with the amount of paste shown in life size).
After that I´ll play some games and then OC the cpu in a few months, don´t want to kill it right away :lol
I want to OC my 5850 to the max frequency from Overdrive to see if it works, which stress test programm for that? Which programm to see my cpu´s temperature (applying thermal paste is scary, they really should add a little pic with the amount of paste shown in life size).
After that I´ll play some games and then OC the cpu in a few months, don´t want to kill it right away :lol
Binabik15 said:
http://www.modshop.net/article/howtos/howto_install_cpu_and_apply_thermal_paste
Just one of what I'm sure are many hundred guides out there on how to do it. I like this one, although I actually apply a little bit more then they recommend.
gregor7777
Banned
Yep, those stupid pin cables for front power, reset and whatnot have been the bane of pc builders for many years. :lol
Minsc
Gold Member
Tisan said:Well I managed to find out what has been happening:
The idle time before the drive head is parked is 8 seconds.
8 seconds!
WHAT
Well, that makes sense, if you're spinning the drive up and down every few minutes, what's normally meant to happen maybe 3-4 times a day instead happens 30-40+ times, so there's your factor of 10. Instead of lasting 2000-3000 days, you're going to get 200-300 days.
Sometimes I wish there was a way to completely disable drive spin down and spin up, but since I have my computer sleeping during the night and while I'm at work, that's ~16 hours of the day the drive gets to rest without being active and doing nothing, so I tolerate the spin downs.
If they were every 8 seconds tho... :lol
Askani said:
Quoting from a few pages back. Anyone have thoughts or suggestions for me?
Also, I just saw on NewEgg that they actually have the Dual Core AMD 6000+ new for $55 with free shipping. So I could get it new instead of taking a chance with a used. That and the difference between it and the 6400+ isn't enough to keep me from looking for a 6400+instead.
I bought the 6400+ last year as an upgrade to a P4; keep in mind that the 6400+ posts much higher temperatures and the TDP is higher. If you have the technology(!), the 6000 may outperform the 6400 as the overclocking potential is much greater.Askani said:
EDIT: I just read your post. A videocard is going to help a lot more than a processor upgrade although if you can afford to, do both. The 5770 is a fine choice.
This is the bane of PC builders everywhere. No amount of experience will make this easier and it's common practice to sublet this job to someone you don't like very much.crisdecuba said:
Fugu said:
Thanks for the info. The 6000+ on NewEgg doesn't come with a HSF, but I bought an OCZ Vendetta for $10 at a MicroCenter sale a while ago. Hopefully it will be enough to keep things cool:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16835202005
I haven't installed it yet because my damn retention bracket is broken and the OEM HSF is currently wired to the bracket with actual wire and I don't want to take it apart. Just been to lazy to order a new bracket.
Also, I've never tried to overclock, but there's a first time for everything. Good to know it's got more potential then the 6400+ if I decide to go that route.
GHG
Member
Just ordered my new parts:
Motherboard: gigabyte ga-790xta-ud4
PSU: AMD Phenom 965 X4 Black Edition 125W
Ram: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600mhz
GPU: Powercolor ATI 5770 1GB
Decided to go with the 5770 instead of the 5850 because of my current monitor resolution of 1440x900. I have no intention of upgrading my monitor until 120hz and 3D 1080p becomes more widespread by which time I'll want a GPU upgrade as well. The 5770 is the better buy for that res right?
Also plan on throwing a 9800GT Green edition in there for Physx and then maybe buying another 5770 in the distant future for crossfire once the price drops. Was looking at getting a SSD drive but they just aren't worth it for the price.
All in all should be a healthy upgrade over what I have now:
AMD X2 6000+
2GB DDR2 800 ram
ATI 4770
Oh and I'll also be going from XP SP3 to Windows 7 64bit just in time for the Just Cause 2 demo .
Motherboard: gigabyte ga-790xta-ud4
PSU: AMD Phenom 965 X4 Black Edition 125W
Ram: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600mhz
GPU: Powercolor ATI 5770 1GB
Decided to go with the 5770 instead of the 5850 because of my current monitor resolution of 1440x900. I have no intention of upgrading my monitor until 120hz and 3D 1080p becomes more widespread by which time I'll want a GPU upgrade as well. The 5770 is the better buy for that res right?
Also plan on throwing a 9800GT Green edition in there for Physx and then maybe buying another 5770 in the distant future for crossfire once the price drops. Was looking at getting a SSD drive but they just aren't worth it for the price.
All in all should be a healthy upgrade over what I have now:
AMD X2 6000+
2GB DDR2 800 ram
ATI 4770
Oh and I'll also be going from XP SP3 to Windows 7 64bit just in time for the Just Cause 2 demo
.I NEED SCISSORS
Banned
This Phenom II X2 550 is a beast. Overclocked it to 3.7GHz earlier, so overnight I ran Prime95 for 2 hours and then OCCT for 6 hours - no errors. Also re-synced the FSB: DRAM to 1:2. Booted up Crysis, Left 4 Dead 2 and Half Life 2 today - the former runs better and the lattr now has no stutter... I love overclocking! Max temperature is now 52 degrees, idle is actually about the same, so i'm happy.
brain_stew
Member
I NEED SCISSORS said:
Now get to unlocking them cores!!
I don't care how difficult it is, I command you to do it!! :lol
Once you get the OCing bug its hard to give it up, I kinda hate having a settled 24/7 OC sometimes as I love the endless tweaking in search of the perfectly balanced OC. All that free performance as well, it gives you a real feeling of satisfaction knowing you're getting the most out of your components and you've saved a crapton of money.
PjotrStroganov
Member
crisdecuba said:Thanks for the explanation. At least now I won't go around thinking it was nonsensical.
So here's a summary of what I learned in actually putting the thing together:
1. The scariest part for me was holding the processor and dropping it into place on the motherboard. I held it for only 5-10 seconds and yet it felt like I couldn't get it into place fast enough. Every extra second seems like another opportunity for me to drop it or accidentally damage it in some way. The fact that it's surprisingly heavy added to my sense that I was holding something very valuable that was easily damageable. WHEW!!
2. Closing the bracket that holds the chip in place caused a slight creaky sound from the motherboard - at first I think I was crushing the chip or something... but thankfully that wasn't the case.
3. I should have tightened the motherboard mounts into the case more tightly. Two of them somehow unscrewed after I was almost done getting the motherboard screwed in and I had to undo it all.
4. The pushpin design for the CPU heatsink/fan I got (ZEROtherm CORE92 Socket 1156/1366 HDT Cooler) sucks. If the official one that comes with the i5 sucks works like this does, then I say get rid of this pushpin stuff altogether.
5. It was easier for me to get the motherboard into the case by installing the cpu heatsink first - then I could grab it by that instead of the edges of the mobo.
6. Spreading the thermal grease on the CPU was a big unknown for me. I didn't know how much is too much or too little, so I went with what I thought was a "thin layer." Seems to be okay so far. Idles at 22C.
7. Connecting the case's LEDs and Power / Reset buttons to the mobo was the most confusing part to figure out from the manual. So many little pins and whatnot. This should be more standardized / consolidated.
That's it for now. Waiting for Windows 7 to come in the mail - then I can really say I've finished building my own PC.
Thanks again to everyone for the help!
Just build my own system two days ago. Your experience is so familiar:lol
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
Club3D HD 5850 1GB (CGAX-58524IDP)
Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
Cooler Master Real Power M520
GeIL GV34GB1333C7DC
Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4
Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ, 1TB
Samsung Syncmaster P225
Scythe Mugen 2 rev B
The only thing that is missing is my 5850.
Attaching the huge scythe mugen cooler was scary as I couldn't see whether the cooler and the cpu made contact. Now that the system is running, the cpu fan doesn't even have to spin to keep the cpu at sub 30 temps. No doubt, the twin rear fans of the CM 690 are to 'blame' for that.
BuddhaRockstar
Member
Fuck pushpins so much. I have never cursed so much as when I tried installing the E8400 heatsink/fan onto the damn motherboard. There is no way in hell it should take that much physical effort around such delicate parts.