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[luiztfc]

Disclaimer: I'm a noob in PC.

I was trying to run Furmark in order to see if my videocard (XFX HD 5770) was defective (due to some occasional freezings), but I couldn't and an error message appeared:

"Furmark requires an OpenGL 2.0 compliant graphic controller. Startup failed."

What should I do?

 

[Frankfurter]

Still getting this wishy washy performance with my 5850. Even put my 5770 back in and I'm getting near identical performance give or take a few frames. I've even overclocked my q8300 a bit further up to 3.4ghz still no real performance increase. Someone suggested it might be my power supply only being 550w. 4gb ram too.

Could you run a few benchmarks with both the 5770 and the 5850? For example 3dmark Vantage, Crysis (the demo also has a bench tool afair) or Crysis Warhead.
Just do a few different ones, especially interesting is everything that can't possibly be CPU limited (i.e.: set high resolutions, high AA/AF, high details etc.).

Your power supply is fine imo, unless the PSU is a really, really bad non name thingy.



@luiztfc Did you install the Catalyst driver for the GPU or are you just running on the default Windows driver?

 

[Azih]

Alright so a few months ago my desktop started refusing to start up with a 'Disk Read error' on startup (doesn't even get into Windows seems to be not recognizing the harddrive). Restarting the thing caused it to boot into Windows successfully about half the time with the success rate getting slowly worse and worse. Shutting down the PC entirely (with the switch on the back off as well) seems to get the restarts running better after I turn it back on.

Yesterday for the first time the computer restarted on it's own into the 'Disk read error' screen. Restarting managed to get it back up but man it seems like this thing is slowly dying.

Also I've had a few issues with USB ports suddenly failing (sometimes get a 'no power' kind of message) and a few times my ancient PS/2 connector keyboard also stops getting recognized. I've moved my usb devices to the front connectors which seem to be more stable than the back ones but what's going on?

 

[Labombadog]

Still getting this wishy washy performance with my 5850. Even put my 5770 back in and I'm getting near identical performance give or take a few frames. I've even overclocked my q8300 a bit further up to 3.4ghz still no real performance increase. Someone suggested it might be my power supply only being 550w. 4gb ram too.

It can be a couple of things to why your getting 'wishy washy' performance.

1. Did you use Driver Sweeper to completely erase your previous drivers from your pc?

2. What name brand is your PSU, and does it have good enough juice on the rails?

Also to note. That is a good OC so it is not your CPU that is bottlenecking the GPU, and 4gb of RAM is awesome so who ever told you that is silly.

 

[Stahsky]

I'm noticing some odd temps on my new PC which in all cases, should be cool as fuck. I'm starting to worry that I either I didn't add the thermal paste correctly, or this cheapo shit that came with the cooler isn't doing the job. Would I be in the clear to just clean this off and reapply some arctic silver or something?

Unclocked, I'm idle around 34 (it was 31 when I first started checking temps.. hmm) with around 55ish loaded. The tower has 4 fans, which one being fucking huge, and the aftermarket cooler I bought has one attached as well. When I did attempt overclocking (Put it back to it's original speeds due to fear of screwing something up) the full load temps spiked to 70 with just a slight change in speed, so I got scared and turned it back down.

I'm way too scared to mess with it anymore 'till I get someone with more experience to help me figure this all out, now. WTB someone to hold my hand and walk me through the steps!

Specs are:

4 gigs DDR3
965 BE 3.4
HD 5770
Windows 7 64

 

[Inkwell]

So far, here are my components:
Things I'm keeping from my current PC
-Thermaltake Tsunami case
-Enermax EG565AX Power Supply
-8800GT

Things I'm going to buy
-i5-750
-ASUS P7P55D PRO

I thought picking out what ram to buy would be easy, but now I'm not so sure. I was looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231279. I was trying to find benchmarks to see how much the difference the timings actually make, but couldn't find anything. I've also never used G.SKILL memory before. They seem to be rated fairly high on Newegg though.

I'm thinking about getting a new HD as well. My current one seems to be running fine, but once in a while it will make a kind of loud *bzzt* *click* sound. I'm sorry, that's the best way I can describe it :lol . It happens when windows loads, and then it happens randomly (but rarely) every other time. I haven't had any actual issues with it. I would rather buy a new drive and be safe than to have the thing die on me. If I get a new HD, it would most likely be 7200rpm with a 32MB cache. Everything else is variable. Other than that, I'm not quite sure what to get. I'm actually looking more for personal experience and reliability more than speed. There's multiple versions of Western Digital Drives, I don't really trust Seagates, and other brands seem to be a bit expensive.

 

[luiztfc]

Disclaimer: I'm a noob in PC.

I was trying to run Furmark in order to see if my videocard (XFX HD 5770) was defective (due to some occasional freezings), but I couldn't and an error message appeared:

"Furmark requires an OpenGL 2.0 compliant graphic controller. Startup failed."

What should I do?

So I ran Heaven Benchmark v1.0 and during the benchmarks my the "driver failed". Is it possible to be related to a physical defect?

 

[grendelrt]

So I ran Heaven Benchmark v1.0 and during the benchmarks my the "driver failed". Is it possible to be related to a physical defect?

Have you tried installing new drivers? I know ATI updated their drivers this week, you might have a bad driver install.

 

[Labombadog]

I'm noticing some odd temps on my new PC which in all cases, should be cool as fuck. I'm starting to worry that I either I didn't add the thermal paste correctly, or this cheapo shit that came with the cooler isn't doing the job. Would I be in the clear to just clean this off and reapply some arctic silver or something?

Unclocked, I'm idle around 34 (it was 31 when I first started checking temps.. hmm) with around 55ish loaded. The tower has 4 fans, which one being fucking huge, and the aftermarket cooler I bought has one attached as well. When I did attempt overclocking (Put it back to it's original speeds due to fear of screwing something up) the full load temps spiked to 70 with just a slight change in speed, so I got scared and turned it back down.

I'm way too scared to mess with it anymore 'till I get someone with more experience to help me figure this all out, now. WTB someone to hold my hand and walk me through the steps!

Specs are:

4 gigs DDR3
965 BE 3.4
HD 5770
Windows 7 64

The Phenom 2 965 are known for how hot they run. Do you have an after market cooler, if so what kind? Did you add a rice size amount of thermal paste?

 

[crisdecuba]

Looking at your above post i see you're going with a Phenom II and want to do a lot of photoshop/encoding. While you might not have the budget for it, depending on your usage it might be worth saving up longer to move up to an i5 750. PII's are more than enough for most people but for encoding type work the i5/i7 series is a class above. The below link is comparing the 750 to the PII 945 which is a little faster than the CPU you spec'd. Note these are stock speed comparisons and both chips will see greater performance with overclocking.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts-update-1/compare,1387.html?prod[2884]=on&prod[2608]=on

This is just me not knowing much about processors, but why is a dual core processor better than a quad core? (Forgive the noob question, please )

 

[Labombadog]

So far, here are my components:
Things I'm keeping from my current PC
-Thermaltake Tsunami case
-Enermax EG565AX Power Supply
-8800GT

Things I'm going to buy
-i5-750
-ASUS P7P55D PRO

I thought picking out what ram to buy would be easy, but now I'm not so sure. I was looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231279. I was trying to find benchmarks to see how much the difference the timings actually make, but couldn't find anything. I've also never used G.SKILL memory before. They seem to be rated fairly high on Newegg though.

I'm thinking about getting a new HD as well. My current one seems to be running fine, but once in a while it will make a kind of loud *bzzt* *click* sound. I'm sorry, that's the best way I can describe it :lol . It happens when windows loads, and then it happens randomly (but rarely) every other time. I haven't had any actual issues with it. I would rather buy a new drive and be safe than to have the thing die on me. If I get a new HD, it would most likely be 7200rpm with a 32MB cache. Everything else is variable. Other than that, I'm not quite sure what to get. I'm actually looking more for personal experience and reliability more than speed. There's multiple versions of Western Digital Drives, I don't really trust Seagates, and other brands seem to be a bit expensive.

G.Skill is my personal favorite. They overclock well, and they have never let me down. Go for it.

This is just me not knowing much about processors, but why is a dual core processor better than a quad core? (Forgive the noob question, please )

i5 (750) is not a dual core cpu, it is a quad. And I agree with the poster recommending it for video editing.

 

[Tiduz]

PC gaf, im about 2 weeks from getting my last 2 components, a SSD and a CPU. Im getting the postville 80GB, but what im thinking about is the CPU:

i7 920 or 930? I read it only has a 133mhz difference, but the 920 is EOL soon, so would it be smarter to go for the 930 or the 920 (which is about 60 euros cheaper) but the EOL bit makes me hesitate. the 930 does seem nice, but since its so new retailers here are raping me with pricing

im not really big on overclocking, i want it at 3 ghz.

the rest of my specs:

Coolermaster Cosmos S
Corsair HX750
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
Asus P6T Deluxe V2
ocz platinum 6gb
Intel postville 80GB
Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ, 1TB
MSi Radeon HD4850 (will be replaced with 5870 around march)

Anything i should know about before pulling the trigger?

 

[Pachimari]

Alright, this is my definitive question going into 2010. I have never build my own computer but is looking to buy the components myself. I'm located in Europa (Denmark, Scandinavia), so were can I buy the stuff from? What do I need in general to have a functioning PC?

Graphics card, sound card, motherboard, harddrive, operating system, cooler (?), anything else?

The overall goal is to have a PC which can run the latest games with 3D Vision (so no ati, i guess Fermi if it doesn't end like a failure) and the nicest graphics (i know ati is in front right now).

 

[Stahsky]

The Phenom 2 965 are known for how hot they run. Do you have an after market cooler, if so what kind? Did you add a rice size amount of thermal paste?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

And yes, though I used the thermal that came with this, which I didn't feel too great about using. Should I purchase a better cooler?

 

[crisdecuba]

i5 (750) is not a dual core cpu, it is a quad. And I agree with the poster recommending it for video editing.

Oh my mistake. I was looking at the i3 (which I'm assuming would not be better than the Phenom II I was looking at earlier...

 

[Shambles]

Alright, this is my definitive question going into 2010. I have never build my own computer but is looking to buy the components myself. I'm located in Europa (Denmark, Scandinavia), so were can I buy the stuff from? What do I need in general to have a functioning PC?

Graphics card, sound card, motherboard, harddrive, operating system, cooler (?), anything else?

The overall goal is to have a PC which can run the latest games with 3D Vision (so no ati, i guess Fermi if it doesn't end like a failure) and the nicest graphics (i know ati is in front right now).

Top to bottom you'll need a montior, mouse/kb, case, power supply, motherboard, cpu, gpu, memory, hard drive, cooler (if you're planning on overclocking, stock cooler is fine with stock settings).

If you're looking for 3D vision you're stuck playing the waiting game for fermi. Currently nVidia cards in the mid/high range have become inflated in price over the last while and simply are not a reasonable choice at the moment. If fermi underperforms you'll have to make the hard choice of wasting money, or wasting 3D vision.

 

[Labombadog]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

And yes, though I used the thermal that came with this, which I didn't feel too great about using. Should I purchase a better cooler?

I believe that cooler is fine, but the thermal paste is to blame for your temps. I would personally buy this and apply it. Use a high percentage rubbing alcohol to remove the old thermal paste. When adding Artic silver 5, add a rice size portion and with a plastic bag (or business card) smooth it out evenly. Make sure not to add more than a rice sized portion because it will increase the heat with too much.

Oh my mistake. I was looking at the i3 (which I'm assuming would not be better than the Phenom II I was looking at earlier...

It is fine!

 

[Stahsky]

I believe that cooler is fine, but the thermal paste is to blame for your temps. I would personally buy this and apply it. Use a high percentage rubbing alcohol to remove the old thermal paste. When adding Artic silver 5, add a rice size portion and with a plastic bag (or business card) smooth it out evenly. Make sure not to add more than a rice sized portion because it will increase the heat with too much.


It is fine!

Thanks a bunch, man. That's exactly what I was planning on doing, but it's great to get a second opinion. Puts my mind at ease.

 

[Minsc]

Alright, this is my definitive question going into 2010. I have never build my own computer but is looking to buy the components myself. I'm located in Europa (Denmark, Scandinavia), so were can I buy the stuff from? What do I need in general to have a functioning PC?

Graphics card, sound card, motherboard, harddrive, operating system, cooler (?), anything else?

The overall goal is to have a PC which can run the latest games with 3D Vision (so no ati, i guess Fermi if it doesn't end like a failure) and the nicest graphics (i know ati is in front right now).

I agree, buying a GTX 260 or 275 now seems like a bit of a waste of money, for 3D gaming. The cards will be outdated as soon as Fermi comes out.

Don't forget you need a 120hz monitor for it to work, I'd buy the best you can get.

 

[Labombadog]

Thanks a bunch, man. That's exactly what I was planning on doing, but it's great to get a second opinion. Puts my mind at ease.

No problem! I hope you get everything running smooth and cool!

 

[Inkwell]

G.Skill is my personal favorite. They overclock well, and they have never let me down. Go for it.

That's good to know. Should I spend the extra $20-30 for the lower CAS latency and timings? Here are my choices:

These 2 look like they are the exact same thing (CAS 9, 9-9-9-24)
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

I'm thinking I'd rather get one of these ones
-CAS 7, 7-8-7-24
-CAS 7, 7-7-7-24 (this is the one I posted previously)

 

[Hazaro]

Thanks a bunch, man. That's exactly what I was planning on doing, but it's great to get a second opinion. Puts my mind at ease.

For TIM or thermal paste I like ICD7 better. Temps dropped 3C (vs. AS5) and is non-conductive/capacitive and is 99.3% DIAMONDS. Pretty awesome. You can polish stuff with it too.

http://www.jab-tech.com/IC-Diamond-7-Carat-Thermal-Compound-1.5-gram-pr-4633.html
http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/ic-diamond-7-carat-thermal-compound-15-gram-p-16605.html

Also Ceramique is on sale for $4 before shipping
http://www.jab-tech.com/Arctic-CERAMIQUE-2.5g-pr-1626.html

RAM

You will never notice or care about low latency RAM. Buy the cheaper stuff.

Also buy the better HS RAM if you won't run into any problems with your heatsink (some rise into the area that a larger HS will cover).

 

[BMX Bandit]

How's the future looking for mini ITX? I was looking at some mobos the other day and a few of them seem to be able to handle some decent processors. Any manufacturers working on anything interesting on that front?

 

[luiztfc]

Have you tried installing new drivers? I know ATI updated their drivers this week, you might have a bad driver install.

So, I've already installed the new 10.2 drivers, unistalled them, then put the 9.11 drivers. Then uninstalled the 9.11 drivers and put the 10.2.

Then I did the same but using driver sweeper and I'm still experiencing these goddamn freezes.

I bought the card yesterday and I'm returning it tomorrow.

Goddamn.

 

[crisdecuba]

So I've been looking more at the HD solutions out there and I'm being tempted by the notion of having a SSD as my boot drive. But are there reliability issues to be concerned about? What kind of longevity will I get out of it?

 

[Minsc]

So I've been looking more at the HD solutions out there and I'm being tempted by the notion of having a SSD as my boot drive. But are there reliability issues to be concerned about? What kind of longevity will I get out of it?

As long as you get a good SSD there's no reliability issues (they should in fact be significantly more reliable than normal HDDs since they have no moving parts).

Longevity depends on how quickly you fill it up! I'm using 40GBs of my 80GB Intel SSD, and I don't ever forsee myself going past 60GBs, so it will last me forever. You'll have long since retired the PC before they run out of read/write cycles (20-100 years depending on how heavy usage you put).

 

[Violater]

Tight fit

 

[Karish]

My cousin would like me to build her a computer for about $400 (not including the OS). Are there any guides out there currently for a great budget build?

 

[crisdecuba]

Okay, so this is my budget "dream machine" - the SSD for the OS and Programs is "extravagant" item in my opinion...

But it's a tad bit expensive still cuz I still need to get a display... where would you guys cut back?

 

[VariantX04]

Could someone help me out? Just a few days ago I got a pop-up regarding bad ATi drivers or something (I have a 5870). I completely forgot about it and loaded Mass Effect 2. I noticed the textures on Shepard's armor were really low-res compared to what I was used to. I double checked that my settings were all on high and they were. When I remembered the driver issue I went on the ATi site and downloaded the latest ones. After installation, I rebooted the computer, fired up ME2 and I'm still getting the same problem. What's going on?

EDIT - Fixed. Used driver sweep to delete all previous drivers then reinstalled 10.2

 

[Odious Tea]

I've settled for the ASRock P55 Extreme for my new mainboard. Is the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro sufficient for an i5?

 

[DonMigs85]

My cousin would like me to build her a computer for about $400 (not including the OS). Are there any guides out there currently for a great budget build?

Check this out:
http://anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3739
Might wanna pony up at least $100-200 extra unless she's ok with an Atom-based nettop or something.

 

[kamspy]

Okay, so this is my budget "dream machine" - the SSD for the OS and Programs is "extravagant" item in my opinion...

But it's a tad bit expensive still cuz I still need to get a display... where would you guys cut back?

http://www.crisdecuba.com/images/current-specs. gif]

I can't help but think you'll want better gfx performance for $800.

Look for a 5xxx series ATI card at least. If nothing else for the future proofing of the HDMI audio.

Drop that SSD and turn that 4850 into a 5850.

 

[Labombadog]

I can't help but think you'll want better gfx performance for $800.

Look for a 5xxx series ATI card at least. If nothing else for the future proofing of the HDMI audio.

Drop that SSD and turn that 4850 into a 5850.

His main usage for the pc is encoding/editing so I am gonna have to disagree. Plus the 4850 is still a great gpu, I have one and can run anything I throw at it.

 

[Labombadog]

My cousin would like me to build her a computer for about $400 (not including the OS). Are there any guides out there currently for a great budget build?

You can get a nice barebone system from mwave, which comes with an Athlon 2 cpu! or this barebone with a e5400 cpu

Both great options.

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

Any help anyone here could give me with this would be greatly appreciated. I'm not the most tech savvy person out there and I feel like you guys may be able to help me with this. I recently downloaded C&C:RA3 because I'm a big fan of the series and hadn't gotten it yet, but when I played it the graphics looked awful and I realized the game was running at low settings by default. I think my system specs should allow me to play the game at least on medium if not high. I tried to up the settings but I get terrible slow down. Any ideas what I can do. Here are my specs so someone can tell me if I'm horribly wrong.

Dell Studio 1537
RAM: 4 GB
Processor: Intel Dual Core 2.4 Ghz P8600
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400 Series 256 MB dedicated 1277 MB Shared
Driver: 8.5120.0 (Is this updated? I couldn't find a newer one)
Windows Vista SP2 32 bit
126 GB Free on my C drive
Standard resolution 1280x800

Any reason why I can't get the settings to go to at least medium? Would upgrading to a 64 bit operating system help? I've been thinking about upgrading to Windows 7 because I hear it uses a lot less memory while running. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[crisdecuba]

Okay - I feel like I'm getting close to the final system. My budget is firm at $1,000, and I had to get a display and the Windows OS, so that ate into the cost...

Component Links:
Motherboard
Processor
Hard Drive
Video Card
Memory
Case
Optical Drive
Power Supply
Firewire Adapter
Wireless Adapter
Display
Windows 7 OS

My final questions are basically:

1. Is there anything else I'll need? Do the necessary cables come with this stuff? I'm thinking I'll need some cable for the hard drive, since it's listed as a "bare drive," but what about everything else?

2. Do I need some of that "thermal grease?"

3. Any thoughts on the display? I tried to find one that was affordable, but still had HDMI in.

4. Any way of getting Windows 7 cheaper?

5. One thing I didn't think of, which I'm thinking of now that I'm typing this, is that the video card I picked, doesn't have HDMI out. I'm thinking of switching it out with this one: the difference seems to be that it doesn't do dual-monitors, which I never want to do anyways. SAPPHIRE 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Whatcha think?

 

[brain_stew]

Get that alternative video card if only because its cheaper, both support HDMI and dual monitors actually but having native HDMI out without an adapater is pretty nice.

Use the money saved to get this HDD instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=samsung f3

Its much faster, which you'll definitely notice, and the extra storage isn't a bad thing either.

 

[crisdecuba]

Get that alternative video card if only because its cheaper, both support HDMI and dual monitors actually but having native HDMI out without an adapater is pretty nice.

Use the money saved to get this HDD instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=samsung f3

Its much faster, which you'll definitely notice, and the extra storage isn't a bad thing either.

Wow... that's a nice find! One question - the only thing I know to look for in HDs is the RPM - why is this drive faster than the other one?

 

[TheExodu5]

Wow... that's a nice find! One question - the only thing I know to look for in HDs is the RPM - why is this drive faster than the other one?

You can't tell by specs alone. A lot of it has to do with the drive's firmware and how they do things on the inside. Only way to find out is to check reviews/benchmarks. RPM and Cache will have an effect on performance though, if ever you needed to decide by specs alone.

 

[Violater]

Playing Warhead at 28fps on gamer settings, 1680x1050.
If only it was as much fun as it is good looking. :lol

Ohh wait shits starting to explode, make that 14fps :lol

 

[BravoSuperStar]

Wow... that's a nice find! One question - the only thing I know to look for in HDs is the RPM - why is this drive faster than the other one?

The amount of platters can effect performance. A drive with a single 500gb platter is going to be faster than one with two 250gb platters even if both are 7200rpm.

 

[Corky]

ill just quote myself from the sc2 beta thread :

" soo ;

whats the cheapest ( general ) pc-build in order to play sc2 @ 1080p , 60ps high settings and reasonable AA/AF "


thanks in advance

 

[Shaneus]

SC2 = Star Control 2, FYI

 

[captain wow]

right i tested a few games with both cards, 5770 all max on mw2 except for smoke and aa gets my 60fps with dips and one area always gets me down to 45-50. exactly the same with my 5850. About 2fps on average difference between cards on crysis and the same settings. Havent had the time to do any proper tests. My psu is this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160349.

I also used driver sweeper and reinstalled drivers with no increase.

 

[Odious Tea]

Might it be a PSU problem?

 

[TheExodu5]

right i tested a few games with both cards, 5770 all max on mw2 except for smoke and aa gets my 60fps with dips and one area always gets me down to 45-50. exactly the same with my 5850. About 2fps on average difference between cards on crysis and the same settings. Havent had the time to do any proper tests. My psu is this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160349.

I also used driver sweeper and reinstalled drivers with no increase.

What CPU are you using?

 

[captain wow]

What CPU are you using?

q8300 overclocked to 3.4ghz

 

[Minsc]

ill just quote myself from the sc2 beta thread :

" soo ;

whats the cheapest ( general ) pc-build in order to play sc2 @ 1080p , 60ps high settings and reasonable AA/AF "


thanks in advance

Wait for the game to get benchmarked properly when the full game releases. Guessing will only lead to excess spending or disappointment when you're playing 2v2 matches and your framerate isn't sticking to 60 like you wanted.

 

[Slo]

So is there any reason to go 64-bit Windows7 over 32 bit if I just plan on gaming?