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"I need a New PC!" 2011 Edition of SSD's for everyone! |OT|

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R

Red

Member
·feist· said:
If you can soldier on for a few more months, the GTX 670/680 and 7800/7900 should provide that extra memory you need along with a healthy boost in processing. Otherwise, you can try your hand at unlocking two 2GB 6850s.

Either route would be better than going with an Ares.
Click to expand...
I suppose you're right. I got very excited when I saw the +$200 off the open box Ares cards, but it's probably better to wait and see what's coming.
 
P

peppermints

Member
Got all my parts today. My motherboard has an extra stand off hole. Is this normal? It doesn't line up with the other holes in the case. Also, should I be using thumb screws, or does it really matter?
 
W

Wazzim

Banned
peppermints said:
Got all my parts today. My motherboard has an extra stand off hole. Is this normal? It doesn't line up with the other holes in the case. Also, should I be using thumb screws, or does it really matter?
Click to expand...
mATX mobo? Just put on the ones that do line up and it'll be good.
 
R

Red

Member
Something I just noticed: Only 10 out of 12 GB of my RAM is being recognized in windows. CPU-Z shows all of it, listing 2 3-channel sets. I'm not sure why it's not being detected by windows. BIOS is also only showing 10 GB.
 
L

LaserBuddha

Member
Looking for some quick buying advice. I found this posting for an XFX 5970 on craiglist. Here are my specs from earlier:


I have a new Studio XPS desktop that is only a few months old. It has:

-Proprietary mini-ATX motherboard
-AMD Phenom II X6 1075T (3.0GHz)
-ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5
-8GB DDR3 SDRAM,1333MHz, 4x2GB
-Some no-name 450w power supply
Click to expand...

I was also thinking of grabbing the PSU as well since, even though my 5770 lists the same 500w requirement, I feel like I'm walking a thin line with 450w.

So aside from whether or not I get the PSU, does this seem like a good idea? If so, should I try to negotiate the price down?
 
R

RedSwirl

Junior Member
MisterNoisy said:
I've got a 460 driving my TV (1080p) and it plays everything quite well. As far as heat/fitment, the 460 generally runs pretty cool, and is about as short a card as I've seen in some time (8.5" give or take), though it is a 2-slot card. If you're really worried about that, you might want to look at the cards with reference-style coolers that blow most of the exhaust outside the case.
Click to expand...

Reference style? How do I check for that?
 
bee

bee

Member
got my second gtx 560 2gb for sli, wow at the performance. absolutely destroys my old gtx 480 in the games i've tested and there is no microstutter, quakelive at 120hz is still butter smooth and so is everything else. much less heat and much less noise too, very impressed

unusually warm night here too, stock fan settings with no adjustments
tempgs8w.png


only problem i've got is crysis had blue flashing shit everywhere but i haven't looked into that yet, the rest run like a dream. both cards are running stock with a 2500k@4.4ghz.

gta 4 1080p, all max, except shadows off and 3D vision enabled runs at 60fps a LOT of the time, just really the open highways it drops to high 30's. lost planet 2 in 3D vision, getting about 50-100% performance increase depending on the scene. battlefield vietnam is pretty much locked at 60fps with all max except hbao and 3D vision, only game that is marginal is predictably metro 2033 on very high with 3D vision but is mostly above 30fps. arma 2 is playable maxed out, ye completetly max i.e render resolution 3840x2160 etc, vram usage quickly shoots upto 1900mb+ though :)

just need to get another 2 monitors now :D
 
Z

ZZMitch

Member
I think I may have narrowed down my issue a bit.

On someones advice I uninstalled Punkbuster (fucking horrible program btw) and started playing Minecraft. An hour or so in my screen went black and I thought my computer was gunna go down again but instead the screen came back and I saw one of those "Driver kernal 266.58 has failed and recovered errors." Something to that effect.

Eventually my computer stopped freaking out and I decided to take a look at Java. When ever I clicked anything using Java (albeit the Java control panel or Minecraft) my computer would freak out at that very second. What i mean by this is the screen would go black (I could still move the cursor a bit though), then it would come back, but the program opened and the bottom bar on Windows 7 would be black. After a minute or so of this off and on my computer would be fine.

I did this five or so times. I just uninstalled Java and am gunna see if I get anything like that happening without Java even being installed.

edit- Bleh, got similar issues while playing Black Ops (althought it wasn't as long and was fine after a few seconds). Although I did notice some graphical artifacting, which makes me think my 460 is at fault (which i already replaced once! :/)
 
N

Naked Snake

Member
Question about the SB/Cougar Point chipset flaw: Are all the affected SATA ports connected to one controller (i.e. once it fails, all ports stop functioning simultanously)? Or does each one have a seperate circute (i.e. I could use one until it fails, then switch the device to another previously unused port, until that fails, etc.)?

The reason I'm asking is that I found SB desktops on sale locally, and I'm very interested in grabbing one. But being in Jordan, I will most likely be out of warranty beyond 1-year. If I knew that the affected ports fail independently based on usage volume, and not all together, then I think I could live with that.
 
K

knitoe

Member
Naked Snake said:
Question about the SB/Cougar Point chipset flaw: Are all the affected SATA ports connected to one controller (i.e. once it fails, all ports stop functioning simultanously)? Or does each one have a seperate circute (i.e. I could use one until it fails, then switch the device to another previously unused port, until that fails, etc.)?

The reason I'm asking is that I found SB desktops on sale locally, and I'm very interested in grabbing one. But being in Jordan, I will most likely be out of warranty beyond 1-year. If I knew that the affected ports fail independently based on usage volume, and not all together, then I think I could live with that.
Click to expand...
The flaw is found in the Intel's 3GB/s ports (4) while the separate branch 6GB/s ports (2) are fine. Some MB's also comes with good Marvell 6GB/s ports. Thus, if you have both of these, you could have 4-6 good ports to use.
 
N

Naked Snake

Member
knitoe said:
The flaw is found in the Intel's 3GB/s ports (4) while the separate branch 6GB/s ports (2) are fine.
Click to expand...

That I knew. My question was whether the failure hits all 3GB/s ports at once or if each port fails independently based on usage rate.

Some MB's also comes with good Marvell 6GB/s ports. Thus, if you have both of these, you could have 4-6 good ports to use.
Click to expand...

That's very good to know. Now I need to find out which Sandy Bridge MB's have Marvell ports, or how I can identify them visually, so that I can look for them. Thanks.
 
K

knitoe

Member
Naked Snake said:
That I knew. My question was whether the failure hits all 3GB/s ports at once or if each port fails independently based on usage rate.
Click to expand...
Seems to be failing one by one, but that doesn't mean you won't be unlucky and have them all fail at once.



Naked Snake said:
That's very good to know. Now I need to find out which Sandy Bridge MB's have Marvell ports, or how I can identify them visually, so that I can look for them. Thanks.
Click to expand...
They are a different color compare to Intel's ports.

Example:
asus_p8p67_layout_2.jpg

Intel Ports: White (6GB/s) & light blue (3GB/s).
Marvell Ports: Dark blue (6GB/s).
 
P

peppermints

Member
Got everything put together. :)

Took longer than I had hoped. My case had some pretty unconventional installation mechanisms... but I like it so far.

Definitely need to learn a thing or two about cable management! But for now I'm going to get everything set up software-wise and mess with the internals tomorrow. :)

Thanks to everyone that helped!
 
K

knitoe

Member
Naked Snake said:
Excuse my ignorance (haven't built a PC in 10 years), the SATA ports are top-right, next to the ASUS label, correct? And I assume each colored block houses 2 ports?
Click to expand...
Yes and Yes.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
Do you guys leave your computer plugged in but turned off and use an anti-static wrist strap attached to the metal chassis when installing and uninstalling components? That seems to be what most how-to videos and articles recommend.
 
K

knitoe

Member
Curufinwe said:
Do you guys leave your computer plugged in but turned off and use an anti-static wrist strap attached to the metal chassis when installing and uninstalling components? That seems to be what most how-to videos and articles recommend.
Click to expand...
Nope. I just unplug the power cord. Then, touch PS and/or metal part of case before messing around.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
I thought that would be fine until I started googling and found that whether to unplug or not is a matter of debate. At least I learned that you're supposed to press the power button after unplugging a PC to discharge any energy left in the power supply.
 
P

pro_gamer666

Banned
I am a complete newbie when it comes to this stuff and I intend on getting into it this year, hopefully in the next month or two.

Now, I realize there is this helpful thread here, but are there any great guides any of you could recommend that I could look at? I mean in regards to not only actually building, but as far as what too look for in parts and deciding what's "bad" or "good".

I've been to Tested, Lifehacker and Ars Technica, but there isn't all the information I'm looking for there.
 
T

tigerin

Member
hey guys, what's a cheap and good laptop that you guys would recommend? i just want to browse the web and watch streaming movies on there. nothing fancy.
 
S

Schmattakopf

Member
I'm putting things together right now and I just tried to fit the optical drive in the bay and I'm confused. I have the 690 II Advanced and this optical drive. If I line the case lock up with the drive, it sticks out several cm. If I forget about the lock and just push it in all the way, the black part still sticks out.

Edit: Nevermind, I'm mental. I forgot that I took the front off.
 
-COOLIO-

-COOLIO-

The Everyman
hey all, id like to sli 460s when theyre as cheap as theyre going to get. when would they likely be phased out of stores? do they have another year~ on shelves or no?

also, would an sli setup overheat a mid tower? specifically the antec sonata 3?

thanks
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
bee said:
got my second gtx 560 2gb for sli, wow at the performance. absolutely destroys my old gtx 480 in the games i've tested and there is no microstutter, quakelive at 120hz is still butter smooth and so is everything else. much less heat and much less noise too, very impressed

unusually warm night here too, stock fan settings with no adjustments
tempgs8w.png


only problem i've got is crysis had blue flashing shit everywhere but i haven't looked into that yet, the rest run like a dream. both cards are running stock with a 2500k@4.4ghz.

gta 4 1080p, all max, except shadows off and 3D vision enabled runs at 60fps a LOT of the time, just really the open highways it drops to high 30's. lost planet 2 in 3D vision, getting about 50-100% performance increase depending on the scene. battlefield vietnam is pretty much locked at 60fps with all max except hbao and 3D vision, only game that is marginal is predictably metro 2033 on very high with 3D vision but is mostly above 30fps. arma 2 is playable maxed out, ye completetly max i.e render resolution 3840x2160 etc, vram usage quickly shoots upto 1900mb+ though :)

just need to get another 2 monitors now :D
Click to expand...
SLi only supports 2 monitors in SLi I thought? I mean if you want to go through the hassle of turning the modes of and on thats up to you.
Negator said:
Here's the build I'm currently working on.

Should I make any switches or does it look solid?
Only things missing from the list are a 2500k Sandybridge and Gigabyte GA P67A-UD3.
Click to expand...
I'd take a Seasonic 520/620 or a Corsair PSU instead although that unit looks pretty decent.
-COOLIO- said:
hey all, id like to sli 460s when theyre as cheap as theyre going to get. when would they likely be phased out of stores? do they have another year~ on shelves or no?

also, would an sli setup overheat a mid tower? specifically the antec sonata 3?

thanks
Click to expand...
SLi 460's are great. Just have some nice airflow (intake/exhaust) and you'll be ok. It'll get toasty though. Can't see them being sold out until new refresh hits. They probably aren't going to get any cheaper though so you might as well jump in now.
 
X

Xapati

Member
Xapati said:
So I'm thinking of building my own PC, but unfortunately I'm a total noob at this. I put together a list of components I think would make a good mid range gaming pc, but I'm open to suggestions (like I said, utter noob here). And I have a few questions:
Click to expand...

Alright, so I've decided on my list of components. But I have one more question, what about drivers? For which things will I need drivers? And where can I get them? For example I was trying to find drivers on AMD's website for the Athlon X4, but I couldn't find any.
Or the motherboard I chose seems to have three different revisions and then there are about 9 different drivers just for the Motherboard, I assume I'll need to get all of them?
 
bee

bee

Member
Hazaro said:
SLi only supports 2 monitors in SLi I thought? I mean if you want to go through the hassle of turning the modes of and on thats up to you.
Click to expand...

nah that's wrong, nvidia surround
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Can't find the post, but someone was getting a 1TB WD green drive in NA. The Samsung 1TB F3 is better.
bee said:
nah that's wrong, nvidia surround
Click to expand...
Oh on 4xx and up. I see.
Xapati said:
Alright, so I've decided on my list of components. But I have one more question, what about drivers? For which things will I need drivers? And where can I get them? For example I was trying to find drivers on AMD's website for the Athlon X4, but I couldn't find any.
Or the motherboard I chose seems to have three different revisions and then there are about 9 different drivers just for the Motherboard, I assume I'll need to get all of them?
Click to expand...
Motherboard will come with a disc that should install everything. Win 7 will make whatever you add on work (on generic, or it will even find the right drivers). Updated Drivers can be found on manf. website.

Part selection and prices not so good :[
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
how much air should an ATI6950 be pumping out the back when running a game (eg crysis)? Mine expels warm air but not very much or very quickly - more a waft than a gust. I have a front fan bringing air into the case, and two CPU cooler fans plus two exhaust fans. CPU is dead cool, GPU around 70c during crysis. I just guessed that if GPUs ran so hot they'd be like a hair dryer pushing hot air out the back.
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
I've tried searching and haven't really come up with good info: Is Intel going to release a CPU this year without a dedicated GPU? It seems like a waste of silicon. My computer is having some issues and I'm considering just building a new one. I understand the Intels currently have a recall, but I'm wondering if I only need to wait till Bulldozer comes out, or if Intel is going to release a mainstream CPU without the extra bloat. I'd like to make the next build last a while.
 
O

OatmealMu

Member
I'm looking for a new HDMI cable. Any particular reason to not go with a flat cable from Monoprice? I'd definitely like something more flexible than my old cable that's encased in plastic mesh.
 
M

Mr_Brit

Banned
1-D_FTW said:
I've tried searching and haven't really come up with good info: Is Intel going to release a CPU this year without a dedicated GPU? It seems like a waste of silicon. My computer is having some issues and I'm considering just building a new one. I understand the Intels currently have a recall, but I'm wondering if I only need to wait till Bulldozer comes out, or if Intel is going to release a mainstream CPU without the extra bloat. I'd like to make the next build last a while.
Click to expand...
Yes, Socket 2011 CPUs are coming later this year without GPUs and will offer more than 4 cores.
 
T

TouchMyBox

Member
1-D_FTW said:
I've tried searching and haven't really come up with good info: Is Intel going to release a CPU this year without a dedicated GPU? It seems like a waste of silicon. My computer is having some issues and I'm considering just building a new one. I understand the Intels currently have a recall, but I'm wondering if I only need to wait till Bulldozer comes out, or if Intel is going to release a mainstream CPU without the extra bloat. I'd like to make the next build last a while.
Click to expand...

From what I recall, the gpu silicon is turned off completely when placed in a p45 board. Though yes, if you want an "enthusiast" system wait for LGA2011.
 
Q

Quake1028

Member
So, it was officially my graphics card beeping the entire time. What a freaking relief to know what it was. My question: I now have a bit more money than I did a few weeks ago. I can go up to $250 for the graphics card instead of $200. What should I be looking at? Can I get a GTX 560 for that price? I can buy it from Newegg, Amazon, CompUSA (local store www.compusa.com) or anywhere else.
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
TouchMyBox said:
From what I recall, the gpu silicon is turned off completely when placed in a p45 board. Though yes, if you want an "enthusiast" system wait for LGA2011.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Guess I'll wait till the Crysis 2 benchmarks hits and see just what kind of performance the extra threads are making before deciding anything. I don't want to make the e6750/q6600 mistake again.

Just upped the voltage big time on my memory (Was crappy Crucial Ballistix DDR 800) that was rated to run at 2.2 volts, but ran fine for years at stock (1.89). Just upped the DDR voltage +3 (Which despite being "warning pink" in the BIOS, is only giving it 2.056 volts and upped the G(MCH) +1. This has enabled my dead 4th stick to come back to life. We'll see how long till I get a hang/BSoD with that.
 
W

Wazzim

Banned
What gives the best airflow: Sidepanel exhaust fans or intake? (when having 1 120mm in the front and 1 120mm in the back)
 
Q

Quake1028

Member
Gloomfire said:
So, it was officially my graphics card beeping the entire time. What a freaking relief to know what it was. My question: I now have a bit more money than I did a few weeks ago. I can go up to $250 for the graphics card instead of $200. What should I be looking at? Can I get a GTX 560 for that price? I can buy it from Newegg, Amazon, CompUSA (local store www.compusa.com) or anywhere else.
Click to expand...

How is this 560? Is this an OK brand? here.
 
A

ashbash159

Member
Okay so I've just updated the AMD Drivers (via the Steam option).

It installed fine and I think I have a never version (which I checked with Speccy).

Now I can't access the CCC. I have tried accessing it through the start menu and also by trying through right-clicking on the desktop and selecting it from the top of the menu.

I have restarted my PC and it has not resolved this issue.

Also is there something new with this update? It seems that in my programs list there is now an ATI Stream SDK v2. Is this new, I don't think I've seen it before. Does anyone know what it does.

Please help me access CCC.
 
S

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
Since those assholes at UPS were a day late with the delivery of my desktop memory, I'm a day behind but I just dropped off all my parts with a new professional and now I just have to wait till tomorrow and I'll have my PC.

It's been a long wait of several months but it's finally happening. This is gonna be so nice. I couldn't have done it without you guys.
 
E

Emitan

Member
Windows Update updated the drivers for my 560 and I couldn't boot into Windows. Fixed it with a system restore. Anyone else getting this?
 
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