Support NeoGAF

[C.Dark.DN]

Can a bad North Bridge fan cause these problems?:

Symptoms:
PC games are unplayable. The freeze every few seconds and I hear a repetitive sounds through the speakers. Eventually my monitor says no signal until I restart.


Temps:

Rest-
39C GPU (According to Pc Wizard and Speedfan)
32C CPU (According to BIOS)

Stress Testing without symptoms-
(55C GPU) and (43C CPU) FuMark GPU stress test.
(44C CPU) S&M CPU Stress test.

World of warcraft with symptoms-
(49C GPU) and (40C CPU)

 

[ZZMitch]

It seems to be running fine right now... except:

edit- Did another install of the latest drivers and it seems to be working.. no errors and no graphical glitches. Will see what happens.

edit again- according to MSI afterburner my temps are low (26 C) and there doesn't seem to be a lot of pressure put on the card. Everything seems to be going ok, I will work on it somemore!

edit3- Well I tried playing Minecraft and got that error almost immediately >.<

 

[msv]

Oh that seems fine, just ignore it.


:lol


Try to install earlier driver versions. Might be DOA, not too familiar with GPU glitches.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

time for RMA methinks.

 

[ZZMitch]

time for RMA methinks.

Yeah :/ I am just surprised this happened because it must have been working fine for the people who built my PC to test it! Something must have happened during shipping I guess...

 

[Brazil]

So, this is what I'm planning on buying tomorrow:

Asus P6X58D-E MB
Intel Core i7-960 (the i7-960 actually costs less than the i7-950 in my local store :lol )
Sapphire Radeon HD 5970
Zalman CNPS9900 Cooler

Should I be fine with those?

 

[kitch9]

So, this is what I'm planning on buying tomorrow:

Asus P6X58D-E MB
Intel Core i7-960 (the i7-960 actually costs less than the i7-950 in my local store :lol )
Sapphire Radeon HD 5970
Zalman CNPS9900 Cooler

Should I be fine with those?

No way you can wait? Amds new flagship cards are only a month away, there's no way I'd drop that kind of money on a 5970 at the minute.

 

[ZZMitch]

Going completely stock didn't help, gotta be a faulty card.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

New PC Pics:

 

[radioheadrule83]

My acer aspire 5520 laptop appears to be dead. I've ruled out dust/overheating problems, bad RAM, hard disk problems, checked for shorted and loose components on the mobo.. I can't see anything like that though. The dvd drive started acting up a few weeks ago and now the entire thing won't work so what I thought was some sort of IDE problem I could live with was probably a bigger issue on the main logic board...

Anyway, this might be a good opportunity to invest in a good upgrade. What can I do with say £300-400 for a desktop system these days? Building it myself..

 

[Sanjay]

Does anyone have an opinion on running SSD drives in AHCI vs IDE mode?

I've screwed up my user folders on Windows 7 being indecisive with what user accounts I want, so now I have all of these weirdly named user folders that are annoying the hell out of me, and it seems the easiest way to fix it is simply to reinstall. Since I'm going to do it I was wondering if anyone had an opinion between the two modes? I haven't seen anything concrete from reading around and just wondered if anyone on here had any real world experience? I'm running a single SSD as my OS drive with a larger regular HDD, no RAID or anything.

Yeah I ran my Corsair F60 SSD first using IDE then AHCI, I got advertised speeds using AHCI while IDE did not reach them, off by like 20/30%.

I bought an SSD at one point (later returning it) and all I did was install Windows 7 on it with some key programs I needed, and Steam with one or two games I would want to load fast. I didn't bother erasing my original HDD just in case I decided to return it. The cool thing was I could run Steam off that HDD while booted into my SSD. Wouldn't that make that specific program... unnecessary? Why was I able to run games off a slave?

EDIT: Is your wallpaper the one of a turtle with a city on it's back?

Well I did the same as you too, but I really wanted Steam running of the SSD. It really irritated me with everything booting up fast except steam on pc boot up. So basically I did it for the fast boot up.

And yes it is that wallpaper parodying Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

 

[ChoklitReign]

Would a 74GB Velociraptor HDD make a significant improvement as a boot drive compared to a 1TB Spinpoint F3?

 

[Hazaro]

So, this is what I'm planning on buying tomorrow:

Asus P6X58D-E MB
Intel Core i7-960 (the i7-960 actually costs less than the i7-950 in my local store :lol )
Sapphire Radeon HD 5970
Zalman CNPS9900 Cooler

Should I be fine with those?

Parts are fine, but I'd be hard pressed to recommend i7 to most people. Unless you can defend your purchase, getting an i5 system is a much better value.

Also the Zalman doesn't cool as well as other coolers in its price range, fine if you like the looks of it. It will also cut you so be careful when in stalling.

I'd wait a few days for info on the 6 series of AMD cards as well.

Would a 74GB Velociraptor HDD make a significant improvement as a boot drive compared to a 1TB Spinpoint F3?

Not that much.

 

[asdad123]

So I think I made up my choice on the case.

Most likely gonna get this shuttle for i3/i5/i7. I was looking at the core2 shuttle, but this is only $30 more expensive and this seems more future proof.

Would buying a cheap I3 be a bad idea until I have the money for a quad i5?

Which Video card would be better? GTS 450 or 5770? A 5750 takes about 90ish at load. Im looking for one that does not take too much power and both of these seem to be around 110ishW at load. Any other suggestions for others?

 

[half a moon]

What's the cheapest decent case? I see the Cooler Master Elite 310 Mid Tower for $40. Something even less would be nice.

 

[ZZMitch]

Sorry for clogging up this thread with my video card issue but I just kind of wanted to write all down I guess :lol

Well I got an RMA number and am probably going to ship it out soon, but my cousin who works with computers is gunna come by and take a look at my computer on Sunday and check it out so we will see then.

Thanks for all the input guys.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

Could this be causing my PC to freeze like crazy during world of warcraft on extreme low settings? The GPU never gets above 45C during play. I didn't a stress test to 55C without the symptoms.

 

[Jin34]

Could this be causing my PC to freeze like crazy during world of warcraft on extreme low settings? The GPU never gets above 45C during play. I didn't a stress test to 55C without the symptoms.

Those sir are blown capacitors, that card is toast. Or you could try some crazy DIY and change the capacitors .

 

[JesseZao]

Those sir are blown capacitors, that card is toast. Or you could try some crazy DIY and change the capacitors .

I had to do that with my samsung lcd recently and it wasn't too hard.

Spoiler

those cheap bastards

 

[C.Dark.DN]

Balls.

It's just a 6800 GT. I think I see some better cards with HDMI for ~$50.

What would be the best/cheapest upgrade?

Sapphire Radeon HD4650? $36 after mail in rebate.

Edit: Hm, looks like some have DX10.1 and others 11.

 

[teiresias]

Yeah I ran my Corsair F60 SSD first using IDE then AHCI, I got advertised speeds using AHCI while IDE did not reach them, off by like 20/30%.

Your answer's a bit late since I already reinstalled Windows and don't really want to deal with it again. I guess I could try one of the guides for going from IDE to AHCI without screwing the install, but I really see conflicting information around the web as to AHCI's merits. I definitely see a huge increase in boot drive speed using the SSD over a HDD already, so that's enough for me at the moment, I haven't really bothered doing any benchmarks.

 

[Buggy Loop]

My headphone jack on the front panel of my CM 690-II advanced is mono /cry

wtf, noticed too late but mostly too because it took NCIX a freaking long time to ship my items while newegg where i got the case was blazing fast, so newegg offers 0 support and tells me to call coolermaster..

I hope CM will send me the cable for free, i will not unwire and unmount my PC for one stupid jack. Could be the motherboard but that would be odd.

 

[msv]

I hope CM will send me the cable for free, i will not unwire and unmount my PC for one stupid jack. Could be the motherboard but that would be odd.

I've got the same case, and it's a stereo jack. I don't see why they would put a mono cable in there, so check if you've put it in the proper connector. Which motherboard do you have?

 

[brain_stew]

Balls.

It's just a 6800 GT. I think I see some better cards with HDMI for ~$50.

What would be the best/cheapest upgrade?

Sapphire Radeon HD4650? $36 after mail in rebate.

Edit: Hm, looks like some have DX10.1 and others 11.

Stay the hell away from DDR2 cards.

 

[Jin34]

Balls.

It's just a 6800 GT. I think I see some better cards with HDMI for ~$50.

What would be the best/cheapest upgrade?

Sapphire Radeon HD4650? $36 after mail in rebate.

Edit: Hm, looks like some have DX10.1 and others 11.

4000 series is DX10.1, 5000 series is DX11. I'm not really knowledgeable about the low end but you should start looking at the 5500/5600 series cards.

 

[Hazaro]

What's the cheapest decent case? I see the Cooler Master Elite 310 Mid Tower for $40. Something even less would be nice.

Ain't going to get much less unless you go no name thin / plastic crap.

Balls.

It's just a 6800 GT. I think I see some better cards with HDMI for ~$50.

What would be the best/cheapest upgrade?

Sapphire Radeon HD4650? $36 after mail in rebate.

Edit: Hm, looks like some have DX10.1 and others 11.

Used 8800GT/ Rebate 9800GT. I think GTS 250's are low enough as well?
If you can get a 4850 for $70-$80 that would be a very good buy as well.

For under $100 cards, you get fantastic returns the more you spend.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

Ain't going to get much less unless you go no name thin / plastic crap.

Used 8800GT/ Rebate 9800GT. I think GTS 250's are low enough as well?
If you can get a 4850 for $70-$80 that would be a very good buy as well.

For under $100 cards, you get fantastic returns the more you spend.

I really don't want to push $100, but I need to use this until I can build a new.

This should get similar performance as the 6800GT?

Radeon HD 4550 for $25 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102819

 

[Brazil]

No way you can wait? Amds new flagship cards are only a month away, there's no way I'd drop that kind of money on a 5970 at the minute.

Parts are fine, but I'd be hard pressed to recommend i7 to most people. Unless you can defend your purchase, getting an i5 system is a much better value.

Also the Zalman doesn't cool as well as other coolers in its price range, fine if you like the looks of it. It will also cut you so be careful when in stalling.

I'd wait a few days for info on the 6 series of AMD cards as well.

I suppose I could wait for a few days to check the info on the new cards, but I do live in Brazil, and I think the new cards would take months to show up in stores here. The problem is that I want this PC to be ready for the Cataclysm launch.

And Hazaro, do you have any other suggestions in terms of coolers? The Zalman was just a random cooler this friend of mine recommended, but I didn't even check other options. And since I don't want to get cut... :lol

Thanks for the help.

 

[Vyer]

Ok, I've been given an old PC through work and decided to get it up and running to give to a friend. It's an old Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4Ghz.

I bumped up the RAM (pc25300) to 2GB just with what I happened to have lying around, put a new 500GB drive in it and actually loaded 32bit Windows 7 Ultimate. It's running fine.

However, my friend asked if it was something he could use to hook to his TV for video, or even play a few games with it.

The thing currently has it's onboard video, a POS GeForce 6150 SE, so it's obviously a no go right now.

So what do you guys think? Is it worth it to get a decent/still cheap card to pop in there that would do the job? Or would it be too much of a bottleneck? Any recommendations?

New PC Pics:

I'm sitting at that same desk right now. It's a real POS.

 

[Hazaro]

I really don't want to push $100, but I need to use this until I can build a new.

This should get similar performance as the 6800GT?

Radeon HD 4550 for $25 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102819

http://www.guru3d.com/article/ati-radeon-hd-4550-512mb-review/7

4550 vs 4850

You can pick up a 4850/8800GT/9800GT used for $50-$60. I'd really suggest you go that route. Even if you are only using it for a month or two you could resell it, or keep it as a decent backup card that can actually play games.

e.g. (just pulled something up)
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2106625&highlight=4850

I suppose I could wait for a few days to check the info on the new cards, but I do live in Brazil, and I think the new cards would take months to show up in stores here. The problem is that I want this PC to be ready for the Cataclysm launch.

And Hazaro, do you have any other suggestions in terms of coolers? The Zalman was just a random cooler this friend of mine recommended, but I didn't even check other options. And since I don't want to get cut... :lol

Thanks for the help.

http://i.imgur.com/A55hA.jpg

Similar to this. Swap in i5 and mobo (Might have to pick a comparable ASUS in BR) Might have to get a Seasonic PSU instead of Corsair if it's not there or too expensive. RAM probably Corsair/Kingston where you are.
Coolers are at bottom.

Depending on pricing getting a GTX 460 / 5850 will be your best bet.
*Not a lot of WoW benchies, but you decide if its worth it to get a 5970 for its cost.
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/scre...HD_5970_Grafikkarte_Benchmark_WoW_WotLK_2.PNG
460/5850 slots in a bit behind the 5870.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

http://www.guru3d.com/article/ati-radeon-hd-4550-512mb-review/7

4550 vs 4850

You can pick up a 4850/8800GT/9800GT used for $50-$60. I'd really suggest you go that route. Even if you are only using it for a month or two you could resell it, or keep it as a decent backup card that can actually play games.

e.g. (just pulled something up)
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2106625&highlight=4850

It'll work in a asus a8n sli deluxe right? And 520W PSU?

 

[Shambles]

It'll work in a asus a8n sli deluxe right? And 520W PSU?

Yup, not a problem. I believe it uses a single 6-pin PCIE power connection.

 

[·feist·]

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/19830

AMD demos Llano, confirms mid-2011 release
by Geoff Gasior — 11:25 PM on October 18, 2010

At today's AMD Technical Forum and Exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan, corporate VP and general manager of AMD's client division Chris Cloran revealed that the much-anticipated Llano APU will arrive in "mid 2011." Llano started sampling way back in April, and it was initially expected to arrive later this year or early next. Cloran went on to show off one of the first Llano wafers built using GlobalFoundries' 32-nano fabrication process.

Shiny wafers are neat to look at and all, but the demo that followed was far more interesting. AMD showed a quad-core Llano system playing a high-def video clip while running a DirectCompute-enabled celestial body simulation and a four-way instance of HyperPi. Video playback was smooth despite the fact that all four CPU cores were pegged at full utilization during the demo.

TR regulars will know Llano is a desktop-bound APU that consolidates a graphics processor and four Phenom II-derived CPU cores on a single die. You won't have to wait until the middle of next year to get your hands on AMD's first Fusion offering, though. According to Cloran, AMD's Bobcat-based Brazos APU is still on track to infiltrate the mobile world in the "first part of 2011." Cloran was particularly enthusiastic about Brazos, whose first silicon was solid enough to boot three operating systems within 48 hours of coming back from the fab. Brazos won't just be for notebooks, either. AMD's first APU will also make its way into nettops and desktop motherboards, presumably of the small-form-factor variety.

AMD Demonstrates Llano APU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwhuNcx4BTY

Here's pic of few months ago, and yes I know how terribly bad it is. I'm ashamed even, but those cables are freaking huge and there's too much of them and not enough space even in big case like this :|
https://sites.google.com/site/nolimitss/20100628_001.jpg

Nothing a pack of zipties and some dedicated cable management time couldn't take care of.

 

[Mr Nightman]

Ok, I've been given an old PC through work and decided to get it up and running to give to a friend. It's an old Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4Ghz.

I bumped up the RAM (pc25300) to 2GB just with what I happened to have lying around, put a new 500GB drive in it and actually loaded 32bit Windows 7 Ultimate. It's running fine.

However, my friend asked if it was something he could use to hook to his TV for video, or even play a few games with it.

The thing currently has it's onboard video, a POS GeForce 6150 SE, so it's obviously a no go right now.

So what do you guys think? Is it worth it to get a decent/still cheap card to pop in there that would do the job? Or would it be too much of a bottleneck? Any recommendations?



I'm sitting at that same desk right now. It's a real POS.

I have a HP desktop that had that same chipset, and had it hooked up to my tv with no problems, through the vga port. Could probably play some older games, but forget anything modern lol

 

[Vyer]

I have a HP desktop that had that same chipset, and had it hooked up to my tv with no problems, through the vga port

Even with streaming content? Hulu and such?

I figured it might be okay, but to be honest I was referring more to the gaming part. Thanks for the info though.

 

[Nabs]

what kind of gaming are you thinking of?

 

[marathonfool]

I was wondering how you can tell which component of the PC is dragging down performance. I'm about to upgrade the video card on a older PC, but I'm wondering how I can tell what is limiting the performance of a game. The ram, cpu, or video card?

 

[vazel]

I was wondering how you can tell which component of the PC is dragging down performance. I'm about to upgrade the video card on a older PC, but I'm wondering how I can tell what is limiting the performance of a game. The ram, cpu, or video card?

Play demanding games at a high resolution, note the framerates you get then lower the resolution. If at the lowered resolution you get an increase in framerate then the GPU is your bottleneck. If the framerate stays the same then it's the CPU that's the bottleneck.

 

[Hazaro]

I was wondering how you can tell which component of the PC is dragging down performance. I'm about to upgrade the video card on a older PC, but I'm wondering how I can tell what is limiting the performance of a game. The ram, cpu, or video card?

Ask here. List game, resolution, and your specs.

No games need more than 4GB of RAM right now.

 

[Dr. Acid Avatar]

New PC Pics:

Is that your drink on the left side of the desk? If so, I hope you are not as clumsy as I am with spilling shit, that would really suck.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

How do you make sure your PSU is good? Those blown capacitors worry me. I have a 2 year old? Corsair hx520w.

 

[ZZMitch]

A 650w PSU (Corsiar 650w) is sufficient to run a GTX 460 1G effectiely correct?

 

[BigAT]

A 650w PSU (Corsiar 650w) is sufficient to run a GTX 460 1G effectiely correct?

Yep. That's exactly what I have on my new system and it's running fine.

 

[brain_stew]

A 650w PSU (Corsiar 650w) is sufficient to run a GTX 460 1G effectiely correct?

Its sufficent to run SLI 460s.

 

[LaserBuddha]

Hey guys, I need a new system (WoW has dragged me in again) and was wondering if this is still the best deal for pre-built systems:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...wds4&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=studio-xps-7100

If so, I was wondering what changes to the config I should make. I'm trying to keep the price as low as possible though, but if an upgrade is a "no-brainer" I would consider it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[brain_stew]

I really don't want to push $100, but I need to use this until I can build a new.

This should get similar performance as the 6800GT?

Radeon HD 4550 for $25 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102819

I'm not actually sure of that. The 4550 is horiffically crippled and will be slower than Netbook integrated graphics within a few months.

A used 8800GT will probably offfer the best bang, if you're buying something new then a DDR3 4650 is the lowest end card I could reccommend in clear conscience, can be had for $45 after rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131360&cm_re=4650-_-14-131-360-_-Product

Spending the extra $40 for a 4850 makes a hell of a lot of sense though assuming you have some sort of dual core CPU.

 

[Hazaro]

How do you make sure your PSU is good? Those blown capacitors worry me. I have a 2 year old? Corsair hx520w.

Mine's older. Don't worry, they are Seasonic built units, rated at 50C, and have the good quality caps. Don't think about it until maybe another 3 years down the line.

 

[brain_stew]

Hey guys, I need a new system (WoW has dragged me in again) and was wondering if this is still the best deal for pre-built systems:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...wds4&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=studio-xps-7100

If so, I was wondering what changes to the config I should make. I'm trying to keep the price as low as possible though, but if an upgrade is a "no-brainer" I would consider it.

Thanks in advance.

I reckon you could do better than that nowadays. Piece up something from ncixusa.com and see what it comes to once you add the OS and assembly fee.

 

[LaserBuddha]

I reckon you could do better than that nowadays. Piece up something from ncixusa.com and see what it comes to once you add the OS and assembly fee.

Well I guess the real issue is that I don't know what to get. been out of the game for a while now.

I want to a system that can run Cataclysm at max settings/60 fps. My other goal is to "future-proof" it, and by that i mean choosing a mobo that wont need to be upgraded again when I want to upgrade my CPU or GPU, choose RAM that can be added to rather than replaced, etc.

 

[brain_stew]

Well I guess the real issue is that I don't know what to get. been out of the game for a while now.

I want to a system that can run Cataclysm at max settings/60 fps. My other goal is to "future-proof" it, and by that i mean choosing a mobo that wont need to be upgraded again when I want to upgrade my CPU or GPU, choose RAM that can be added to rather than replaced, etc.

That's impossible at the current moment in time I'm afraid.

There's nota rig on the planet that exists that won't suffer from dropped frames in WOW, especially after the expansion comes out.