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[JaseC]

My 1.5TB external drive died today. ~1.3TB of media gone. *poof* Just like that. Seems the only way I'll be able to download it all again within a reasonable time frame (I have a 200GB monthly quota which I chew through as it is) is to churn to BigPond on their $280p/m Unlimited business plan. Ugh. (Edit: Scratch that, it has a 24-month contract.)

To make matters worse, my Windows installation decided to dick itself. It wouldn't boot, and Windows Repair couldn't find an existing installation. What does it say when I go to install Windows again? "Blah blah seems there's an existing installation blah blah."

So fucking fucked off right now. Every fibre in my body was urging me to grab the sledgehammer from the shed and just start smashing my useless PC to bits.

Spoiler

I would've taken the SSD out first.

 

[Corky]

Damn Gaf, you cats are rolling on some highend shit ...

 

[nismogrendel]

2500k + 2x 6950 (with unlocked shaders)

You really should consider dumping the 10k RPM drive and sticking a small SSD in there. It will be a large improvement over that drive, even.

The money saved by going with the 2500k over the 2600k should just about cover it, unless you want something a little bigger. The 2600k adds hyper threading, which will not really benefit you in games at all, but may give you a ~20% performance boost in applications that can utilize 8 cores. Not worth the extra $100 in your case.

Anyways, I'm off to bed. Hopefully someone can help out with those last few questions.

What manufacturer 6950 would you go with? I've read good things about Sapphire and MSI cards.

I will get an SSD, either an intel 120gb which would be enough room to put windows/wow on and then put steam on my raptor. Either that or get a smaller SSD like 60gb or 80gb and put all games on my raptor.

I'm still torn between the 2600k and 2500k, a friend here at work was saying the 2600k would be better for PS3 media server which I use now and then... it's only $100 so I might go for it.

 

[Bricfa]

Is there any advantage the Phenom II X4 970 BE has over the 955 besides clock speed?

I'm thinking about overcloking one of these ( with a third party cooler), and if there is no other difference I might as well get the 955 right?

 

[Marco1]

I am looking at building a gaming PC but would I be better with sandybridge or a core i7 950?
Thanks and apologies if this question has been done to death but I value all of your views.

 

[Corky]

I am looking at building a gaming PC but would I be better with sandybridge or a core i7 950?
Thanks and apologies if this question has been done to death but I value all of your views.

I'm pretty much sure that a 2500k/2600k is better/cheaper than a i7 950, could be wrong though. But you can't really go wrong with the sandybridge line

according to these benchs : http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/100?vs=288, the i5 2500k is better, albeit not a huge difference, than the i7 950.

 

[nismogrendel]

Ok I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with 2x XFX 6950s (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4150518&cm_re=xfx_6950-_-14-150-518-_-Product)

Not sure if I want to go with the mid mounted fan heat sink type (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4150530&cm_re=xfx_6950-_-14-150-530-_-Product) or the one I linked above with the fan at the rear. Any opinions on this?

 

[FreakinSyco]

I gave serious consideration to getting a USB drive, but in the end went with internal for the speed. Literally the only thing I will use it for is ripping my bluray collection.

Nice build btw. New PC day is the best day.

I meant I installed from a USB thumb drive. I might literally skip having a DVD drive in the house.

I use a media streamer for movies and such. The only reason to have one is to occasionally install stuff but almost everything can me modified to install from USB thumb drives (like Win7).

 

[TheExodu5]

I'm pretty much sure that a 2500k/2600k is better/cheaper than a i7 950, could be wrong though. But you can't really go wrong with the sandybridge line

according to these benchs : http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/100?vs=288, the i5 2500k is better, albeit not a huge difference, than the i7 950.

Don't forget Sandy Bridge can easily overclock to 4.6-5.0GHz, making it that much faster than the 950 again, since the latter will often only overclock to 4.0GHz.

 

[drhankmccoyphd]

What GPU solution would you guys recommend on a 2600 x 1440 display for 40+ fps? Say eventually in Skyrim or other DX9/10 titles?

 

[nismogrendel]

What GPU solution would you guys recommend on a 2600 x 1440 display for 40+ fps? Say eventually in Skyrim or other DX9/10 titles?

That is almost the same res I run (2560x1600). I'm going with 2x 6950 2gb card (just ordered em), TheExodu5 said a few pages back that it would be a good setup. Can you run two cards on your mobo?



What are the thoughts on this SSD?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=intel_ssd_120gb-_-20-167-052-_-Product

For $40 less I can get an 80GB model. If I get the 120gb model I could fit windows/SC2/WoW with a little room to spare I'm sure. I'll end up installing steam on my 10k raptor.

The intel 320s are supposed to be good drives right?

 

[drhankmccoyphd]

That is almost the same res I run (2560x1600). I'm going with 2x 6950 2gb card (just ordered em), TheExodu5 said a few pages back that it would be a good setup. Can you run two cards on your mobo?

Unfortunately, no. I kind of cheaped out on my build figuring I would gradually upgrade later so I have a 770 AMD board with one PCIe. It's ok for now since I'm on a 1680 x 1050 monitor but I'm considering getting myself a really nice IPS monitor or maybe a used 27" iMac. I'm still on the fence whether the increased resolution is worth it. I really hate jaggies but when push comes to shove I'd go with framerate through and through. The other alternative is running at a lower resolution or in windowed mode.

 

[TouchMyBox]

What GPU solution would you guys recommend on a 2600 x 1440 display for 40+ fps? Say eventually in Skyrim or other DX9/10 titles?

Higher resolutions demand lots of memory bandwidth. Anything with at least 256 bit DDR5 memory should suffice as far as giving you a smooth experience. If you want to max out the few super demanding titles however, the GTX 580 has the most memory bandwidth available for a single-chip solution, or you could just SLI/Crossfire two lesser cards to effectively double your bandwidth.

 

[Marco1]

Thanks for the sandybridge advice.
But surely the i7 950 has something over sandybridge as the cpus and motherboards are cheaper.

 

[TheExodu5]

the HAF cases look so open that they could be noisy, are they?

It depends on your definition of noise. In terms of airflow, you'll hear a light wooshing sound, as long as you have the fans turned down a bit. The loudest part of those cases are mostly the HDDs and GPU. The side is open and so if you're in a direct line of sight with the side, GPU noise will probably be a little louder. They have no sound dampening, so HDD vibrations are not muted at all (though you have to be fairly anal about sound to start noticing HDD vibrations). They can still be extremely very quiet cases, just not on the level of something like the R3 or P183.

Thanks for the sandybridge advice.
But surely the i7 950 has something over sandybridge as the cpus and motherboards are cheaper.

The only thing it has over Sandy Bridge is that it can support more than 16 total PCI-E lanes. At the moment, this is only relevant to 3GPU+ setups.

Unfortunately, no. I kind of cheaped out on my build figuring I would gradually upgrade later so I have a 770 AMD board with one PCIe. It's ok for now since I'm on a 1680 x 1050 monitor but I'm considering getting myself a really nice IPS monitor or maybe a used 27" iMac. I'm still on the fence whether the increased resolution is worth it. I really hate jaggies but when push comes to shove I'd go with framerate through and through. The other alternative is running at a lower resolution or in windowed mode.

GTX 580 will give you the best performance possible on with a single card. If you want to lower your budget, then 6950 with unlocked shaders will give you 80-85% of the performance for a little over half the cost.

I'm not ready to say how well it will run BF3 or Skyrim, since they're not out yet, but you should be able to manage those framerates, at the very least, with a setting or two turned down.

1440p has 77% more pixels than 1080p. Similarly, the GTX 580 is around 77% faster than a GTX 460 1GB, so I would guess that the GTX 580 should perform on a 1440p monitor similarly to a GTX 460 1GB on a 1080p monitor: very well. Not quite well enough to max out the most demanding games out there (Crysis 1, Metro 2033), but not too far off.

Here, to give you an idea what you can expect from most console ports:

The 6950 with unlocked shaders should perform similarly to the 6970 (a little slower).

Here's BFBC2:

Metro 2033:

Keep in mind that Metro 2033 is running at maxed settings (minus AA). It's an incredibly demanding game, and even my SLI GTX 570 setup runs it at 20-50 frames (varies a lot) at 1080p. Turn down a few settings and it should run okay.

 

[nismogrendel]

Unfortunately, no. I kind of cheaped out on my build figuring I would gradually upgrade later so I have a 770 AMD board with one PCIe. It's ok for now since I'm on a 1680 x 1050 monitor but I'm considering getting myself a really nice IPS monitor or maybe a used 27" iMac. I'm still on the fence whether the increased resolution is worth it. I really hate jaggies but when push comes to shove I'd go with framerate through and through. The other alternative is running at a lower resolution or in windowed mode.

The dual GPU beasts are out recently, I'm curious how they will rank on Tom's Hardware best GPU for the money chart next month.

This link (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...rd-geforce-gtx-590-radeon-hd-6990,2879-6.html) rates a 580GTX up there with dual 6950s/6970s/560Ti.

This link (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-580-gf110-geforce-gtx-480,2781-9.html) is a review of the 580gtx, looks like it averages about 50fps at 2560x1600 on Bad Company 2 (I hear this game relies more on a strong CPU though), and about 40FPS on Just Cause 2. I was originally thinking of going with a 580gtx and adding another down the line, but ended up with 6950s.

 

[TouchMyBox]

The only thing it has over Sandy Bridge is that it can support more than 16 total PCI-E lanes. At the moment, this is only relevant to 3GPU+ setups.

Bububu... Triple channel memory?

 

[C.Dark.DN]

So I'm looking at this Ausus UEFI demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vBN-cBPs98

What frequencies would you get if you only click the EZ Mode 1 button overclock on both the 2500 and 2500k? I don't know much about all the other variables he's changing.

This is the maximum potential right? And I'm assuming the one button overcock is something lower on both?
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cpu/intel/sandybridge/review/limitedunlock_sm.jpg

Edit: Also... what if you buy a 2600 from Hp, Sony, or Dell. Will they have an UEFI and an easy way to do the limited overclocking?

 

[TheExodu5]

Bububu... Triple channel memory?

Yeah, it has triple channel memory...but Sandy Bridge still manages to have as much memory bandwidth with just 2 channels.

 

[nismogrendel]

Exodu5, you think this is a decent SSD? Should I go with an 80gb? It's only $40 more for this model:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...167052&cm_re=intel_ssd-_-20-167-052-_-Product

 

[drhankmccoyphd]

Good info

Thanks for those charts. If I do go the super high res route I'm looking at a pretty hefty upgrade as I'm currently on a 5770. My only other question is for those who went from modest 1050p models up to 1440p or 1600p: was it worth the cash? Or would I be better off keeping my 1050p monitor and upgrading my video card to something a little more modest for a ton of AA and AF. I'm already using MLAA and it gets the job done but I feel like the crispness and sharpness could be way better.

 

[Marco1]

Yeah, it has triple channel memory...but Sandy Bridge still manages to have as much memory bandwidth with just 2 channels.

Thanks, would having triple channel memory have any relevance over dual channel for a gaming PC?

 

[Sarcasm]

My 1.5TB external drive died today. ~1.3TB of media gone. *poof* Just like that. Seems the only way I'll be able to download it all again within a reasonable time frame (I have a 200GB monthly quota which I chew through as it is) is to churn to BigPond on their $280p/m Unlimited business plan. Ugh. (Edit: Scratch that, it has a 24-month contract.)

To make matters worse, my Windows installation decided to dick itself. It wouldn't boot, and Windows Repair couldn't find an existing installation. What does it say when I go to install Windows again? "Blah blah seems there's an existing installation blah blah."

So fucking fucked off right now. Every fibre in my body was urging me to grab the sledgehammer from the shed and just start smashing my useless PC to bits.

Spoiler

I would've taken the SSD out first.

SO you can't access anything on your disks basically? If so I might have a solution to being able to get files off before you destroy the hardware.

 

[Sarcasm]

Exodu5, you think this is a decent SSD? Should I go with an 80gb? It's only $40 more for this model:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...167052&cm_re=intel_ssd-_-20-167-052-_-Product

I don't see it for $40. And for what you linked 10 bucks more you can get an Intel 320 120gb.

 

[TheExodu5]

Exodu5, you think this is a decent SSD? Should I go with an 80gb? It's only $40 more for this model:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...167052&cm_re=intel_ssd-_-20-167-052-_-Product

Now that the Intel 320 is out, I'd probably just get that, considering the 120GB model is $240.

I don't see it for $40. And for what you linked 10 bucks more you can get an Intel 320 120gb.

He meant $40 more than the X25-M 80GB.

 

[TheExodu5]

Anyone recomened the Dell U3011 for gaming?

I really want the best display I can get for new rig I am going to build was wondering if this would be worth the 1400 it will cost me.

Also would one gtx580 be good enough to run it?

Everyone that has it seems to love it.

And the GTX 580 should be good enough, yeah. If you have the option for dual-cards, you can consider that as well (just start with one card, but keep the option open). I normally wouldn't recommend dual-card setups, but 1440p/1600p are just insanely high resolutions and demand a lot of performance.

 

[nismogrendel]

Now that the Intel 320 is out, I'd probably just get that, considering the 120GB model is $240.



He meant $40 more than the X25-M 80GB.

Yea I meant to link to the 320 120GB, copied link from the wrong tab. Gonna go put in my order now, thanks

 

[TheExodu5]

Well guys, the time has come for me to upgrade my calculatornetbook (Asus Eee PC 1000HA), and I'll need all possible help to build it! (I haven't build a PC in ages, no idea what's ok and what's not).

The idea:
It will be connected to my HDTV, I can't reuse anything from my previous PCs, this means that I'll need everything new including the OS, keyboard, mouse and Blu-Ray Drive.

The machine's main purpose will be gaming, but I'll also use it for some random stuff like running virtual machines and playing movies and stuff. I intend to use it from my comfy couch, I don't know If there is some sort of consideration for it.

Budget (Without shipping or taxes): $1500

Other stuff:
I hate noisy hardware, water cooling solution?
Energy consumption is important to me, I would like to keep it as low as possible.
I can wait, specially if there is some hot new release in the horizon. (There is always one, but let's be practical about it)

This is something I found, when I was looking for ideas:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.619493

All suggestions are welcome!

Rough build:

$100 - Fractal Design R3
$100 - Corsair 650TX
$150 - Asus P8P67
$220 - Core i5 2500K
$70 - Noctua DH-14
$80 - G.Skill 8GB DDR3
$270 - AMD 6950 2GB
$70 - Blu-Ray Drive
$240 - Intel 320 120GB
$80 - Samsung F3 1TB

+

$100 - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
$10 - Standard Keyboard
$50 - Razer DeathAdder

I didn't double check the prices, but those should be fairly close.

edit: moving a few things around to fit in the ssd...hold on

edit2: okay, pretty close to $1500. It can be tweaked a bit to your liking. If I were going for a really quiet system, I'd up the GPU to an Asus GTX 570 DirectCu II. $350, and not that much faster than the 6950, but it's a 3 slot cooler and apparently runs incredibly quiet, so load noises will be kept to a minimum. The SSD is also very important to having a quiet system...no more drive seek noises during normal operation.

 

[verbum]

My 1.5TB external drive died today. ~1.3TB of media gone. *poof* Just like that. Seems the only way I'll be able to download it all again within a reasonable time frame (I have a 200GB monthly quota which I chew through as it is) is to churn to BigPond on their $280p/m Unlimited business plan. Ugh. (Edit: Scratch that, it has a 24-month contract.)

To make matters worse, my Windows installation decided to dick itself. It wouldn't boot, and Windows Repair couldn't find an existing installation. What does it say when I go to install Windows again? "Blah blah seems there's an existing installation blah blah."

So fucking fucked off right now. Every fibre in my body was urging me to grab the sledgehammer from the shed and just start smashing my useless PC to bits.

Spoiler

I would've taken the SSD out first.

What brand and exactly what symptoms?
Could the external drive failing to be read and the Windows failure be related?

 

[mkenyon]

Is there any advantage the Phenom II X4 970 BE has over the 955 besides clock speed?

I'm thinking about overcloking one of these ( with a third party cooler), and if there is no other difference I might as well get the 955 right?

Yes, it's generally higher quality silicon, which means you can most likely get a higher clock speed when overclocking. It's the reason why I went with one over the 955

I am looking at building a gaming PC but would I be better with sandybridge or a core i7 950?
Thanks and apologies if this question has been done to death but I value all of your views.

In terms of real world performance, the 950 and socket 1366 in general is heavily outperformed by sandybridge. It's only when you look at the 990x and have highly specific needs does the sandybridge start to lose ground. Additionally, Sandybridge procs still can't reach the same top speeds as 1366 when going crazy on an overclock with liquid or nitrogen. On air coolers, Sandybridge overclocks better than 1366.

the HAF cases look so open that they could be noisy, are they?

Nah. Had a HAF922 as a media center pc case for about a year, thing was really quiet. It does also depend what kind of components you put in there. I have a scythe shuriken as a CPU cooler and a GTX465 in there.

My 1.5TB external drive died today. ~1.3TB of media gone. *poof* Just like that. Seems the only way I'll be able to download it all again within a reasonable time frame (I have a 200GB monthly quota which I chew through as it is) is to churn to BigPond on their $280p/m Unlimited business plan. Ugh. (Edit: Scratch that, it has a 24-month contract.)

To make matters worse, my Windows installation decided to dick itself. It wouldn't boot, and Windows Repair couldn't find an existing installation. What does it say when I go to install Windows again? "Blah blah seems there's an existing installation blah blah."

So fucking fucked off right now. Every fibre in my body was urging me to grab the sledgehammer from the shed and just start smashing my useless PC to bits.

Spoiler

I would've taken the SSD out first.

I'm sorry. I know I've been through a similar circumstance, which is why I started getting obsessive about a fileserver. Also, try to repair your install since windows is detecting a current install.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

 

[TheExodu5]

Yes, it's generally higher quality silicon, which means you can most likely get a higher clock speed when overclocking. It's the reason why I went with one over the 955

That's the case with pretty much any CPU though. Yields are generally good enough in the past few years that going with the higher end model is often pointless.

 

[ithorien]

I never got a chance to post the specs of my new rig that I completed this past Sunday. I will also take pics of it once I get my camera working agian. This was the first computer I have ever built by myself and it was alot of fun!

System Specs:
Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (REV 3.0) Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
EVGA GeForce GTX 580 x2 SLI OC 850/1700/2050
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz OC 4.5Ghz
CORSAIR Professional Series AX1200 1200W ATX12V v2.31 PSU
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" HDD x2
Windows 7 64Bit Ultimate Edition

Still in testing and tweaking phase, but so far no issues and everything has been stable. I just read a review of the Antec Self Contained water cooler, the one that looks ;ike the Corsair one and based on the reviews it is a pretty good little cooler. Does anyone have one of these and would it be worth getting one over the Hyper 212 I have?

All of that and no SSD? Shame on you.

 

[mkenyon]

That's the case with pretty much any CPU though. Yields are generally good enough in the past few years that going with the higher end model is often pointless.

There's a lot of anecdotes on some forums I frequent of people with new 955s not being able to go much higher than 3.7-3.8 on air. The 970 can hit 4.0 no prob. So, it does still seem to hold true for AMD's procs given that we do know they use the higher quality silicon. Still not 100% sure, but it does seem to be the determining factor.

 

[TheExodu5]

All of that and no SSD? Shame on you.

Yeah that's a pretty amazing build and it definitely deserves an SSD.

 

[epmode]

I'm *this* close on pulling the trigger but I'm stuck waiting for the new EVGA P67 motherboards. I know I could go with ASUS or something but EVGA's warranty and awesome customer service has saved me a few times already.

So: Does anyone know when the EVGA P67 board will actually be released or is it just a guessing game at this point?

 

[ithorien]

Yeah that's a pretty amazing build and it definitely deserves an SSD.

If WoW has taught me one thing, you can have a solid system and the HDD will screw you over anyway.

I'm *this* close on pulling the trigger but I'm stuck waiting for the new EVGA P67 motherboards. I know I could go with ASUS or something but EVGA's warranty and awesome customer service has saved me a few times already.

So: Does anyone know when the EVGA P67 board will actually be released or is it just a guessing game at this point?

That makes it look like it's out, just sold out.

 

[Kyaw]

All of you guys makes me want to buy a SSD more and more...

 

[C.Dark.DN]

That's the case with pretty much any CPU though. Yields are generally good enough in the past few years that going with the higher end model is often pointless.

What's the difference when the higher end model has more L3 Cache? Say you have the 2500k and 2600k both at 4.0Ghz.

 

[epmode]

That makes it look like it's out, just sold out.

I thought the same thing at first. Maybe this was part of the line that was pulled because of the Sandy Bridge problems?

I hear that they're about to release new P67 boards but that rumor has been going around for a month now.

All of you guys makes me want to buy a SSD more and more...

I'm definitely going with a 128 GB SSD in my new build. I'd love to get a bigger drive for Steam or something but the prices are out of control.

So: Smaller SSD for the operating system and regular program files, upgrade my other regular drive to SSD when the prices drop!

 

[·feist·]

For those of you waiting on Bulldozer 1/AM3+ (either to buy, or compare to s1155 and s2011), here's further "confirmation" that AMD's FX line of 8-, 6-, and 4-core BD parts will likely debut around June 7 or so.

Seems that partners may be showing their products at, or shortly after, Computex, with AMD tipped to show BD at E3.

I'm thinking of possibly starting a Bulldozer thread. Thoughts?

 

[mkenyon]

I'm slightly confused. Are they saying they're re-releasing 890FX chipsets with AM3+ socket support, or that 890FX chipsets will simply get a BIOS update to become AM3+ compatible?

 

[Q8D3vil]

what is the best ssd to put windows and programs on ?

 

[CrankyJay]

So...I'm getting ready to build on Saturday. Is there a good tutorial on the order of operations that things should be done in in terms of setup (upgrading firmware? etc). If it helps, here's my parts list:

Corsair 600T
Asus p67 mobo
8gb ram
i7-2600k
Corsair 750HX
2 x Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb (I would prefer to put these in Raid 1)
128GB c300
Video card (bought an old 1gb ATI 4870) to get started, willl upgrade for gaming later.

No heatsink/fan yet.

 

[mkenyon]

So...I'm getting ready to build on Saturday. Is there a good tutorial on the order of operations that things should be done in in terms of setup (upgrading firmware? etc). If it helps, here's my parts list:

Corsair 600T
Asus p67 mobo
8gb ram
i7-2600k
Corsair 750HX
2 x Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb (I would prefer to put these in Raid 1)
128GB c300
Video card (bought an old 1gb ATI 4870) to get started, willl upgrade for gaming later.

No heatsink/fan yet.

There's a link to a build that Tested.com did for Giant Bomb within a couple pages back.

what is the best ssd to put windows and programs on ?

Depends. What kind of motherboard do you have? How much are you looking to spend? Is ultimate performance worth the $ for you?

 

[TheExodu5]

Unless people know what they're getting into and want to go high end, I'd probably recommend the Intel 320 just because it's a safe bet. Just get the size that fits your budget and needs.

Most people here getting a Vertex 3 realize it may have issues that could pop up down the road. Were just willing to risk it for the performance benefits.

For that reason, I'd prefer only recommending Intel drives. If the buyer wants to get something else, I suggest they do a bit of research beforehand.

 

[Necronomikon]

Hey guys a little question... what kind of UPS do you recommend me??

I'm looking forward to buy something that gives me at least 10 minutes (if not more) to shut down everything in a normal, not rushed, way that can handle having my PC, monitor, Modem/router on while shutting everything down, and that it also works as a Voltage Regulator.

I was looking for something around 1KVA since I guess that would give me what I'm asking for, and specifically I was looking at this:

Tripp Lite Omni

There was a 1KVA version but I can't find it anymore... anyone has any suggestions/experiences/recommendations about this or other great UPS (maybe not Tripp lite but APC)?

BTW, System Specs:
Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DQ6 AM2+ Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T OC. 3.8GHz (Mult. x20)
Saphire AMD Radeon 6870 1GB
Corsair XMS2 2x2GB PC6400 6400C4DHX & 2x1GB PC6400 6400C4DHX (Total 6GB)
1xWestern Digital 320GB 3.5'' SATA Drive & 1x120GB 3.5'' SATA Drive (Don't remember brand)
Thermaltake W0116RU Toughpower 750W Modular PS
Coolermaster Cosmos ATX Full Tower Silver Case
Coolermaster Hyper TX2 CPU Cooler (although I recently bought but not installed a Zalman CNPS9900MAX)
Samsung P2370HD 23'' HDTV Monitor
Buffalo WHR-G54S Access Point/Router
UTStarcom Modem

 

[ElyrionX]

What's the general sense on SSDs now? Is it as good a time as any to be buying them? If so, which brand? OCZ seems to get a lot of attention around here due to its Vertex 3? I also read that Seagate will be entering the market pretty soon with its own lineup of drives. Any comments?

 

[Corky]

What is best :

Should I start everything with putting in the psu or motherboard?
I've got a 600T and a noctua dh14, should I install the cooler while the mb is out of the case? Or should I install the noctua through the backplate?

edit : also which one is the connector for the "top" fan, the big one in the case.

 

[·feist·]

I'm slightly confused. Are they saying they're re-releasing 890FX chipsets with AM3+ socket support, or that 890FX chipsets will simply get a BIOS update to become AM3+ compatible?

Nah. Just that unlike Asus and MSI's claims of bios updates for old boards to make AMD FX chips compatible, Gigabyte and ASRock are releasing 800 and 700-series boards with actual AM3+ sockets, ahead of the retail debut of the official 900-series AM3+ products.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=26620456&postcount=9871

A few of the boards are revisions, with the rest being new 800/700 models. Some have already been on sale for weeks, and it looks like the release of the remaining products will overlap with the upcoming 900 models.

Looking at this seemingly legit Bulldozer ES chip, Asus and MSI may be on to something...

 

[JaseC]

What brand and exactly what symptoms?
Could the external drive failing to be read and the Windows failure be related?

Western Digital. Clicking noise.

I thought the same thing, however I tried the drive on my laptop and my mates PC to no avail. I then took the HDD out of the enclosure and hooked it up, however despite many tries it wasn't detected at all.

I'll be on an unlimited ADSL2+ connection for 6 months in about a week, and I've been meaning to buy a 2TB external for quite some time now, so it's not a complete loss so much as it is just incredibly annoying.

I should have all my data back in about two months.

I'm sorry. I know I've been through a similar circumstance, which is why I started getting obsessive about a fileserver. Also, try to repair your install since windows is detecting a current install.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

I've been seriously considering a file server lately, and thanks to yesterday I'll likely relegate my current system to such a position when I upgrade (I'll need to buy a new case though, and probably some other bits and pieces if it continues to play up).

I ended up reinstalling Windows and simply copying over all my documents and such from the Windows.old folder. What I should really do now is make a backup image to save myself the hassle in the future.