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[Curufinwe]

Anyone have a recommendation for some under $50 speakers? I just bought some new headphones and they work fine when plugged into the back of the PC, but when I plug them into the headphones port on my crappy old Logitech stereo speakers there's a noticeable hiss.

I would like to be able to keep speakers plugged into the back of the PC and just the plug the headphones into the speakers when I want to use them.

 

[Stantron]

Those are fine temps, there's alot of other factors that determine your idle/max temp anyways.

Each core is different, and thus has slightly different thermal properties. As we get into high core counts per CPU die, it'll be more noticeable. You're fine though.

Thanks for the input, guys, but I'm a little confused. Hawk269 mentions that he's getting ~28C at idle using the 212+ cooler. I thought the DH14 was even better, yet I'm getting much higher temps at idle (+12C for Core0). Why is that?

Stranton, I have the same processor but the 212+ cooler and at idle, my average is about 28c tops. For you it seems like Core 0 and 3 are above the normal that I have seen at idle. I am not familiar with your cooler, but it does look a little odd that those 2 cores are that much higher.

One of my cores at times, spikes a little higher, but we are talking like 3c or so above the normal of 28c, I dont think I ever seen it go higher that 33c on one of them at idle. Sorry I cant be more help.

With a 212+ my idle temps on a 2600k @4.2 are higher than yours, in the mid to upper 30's, and at full load after 30 minutes they reach the lower to mid 60's. How are your load temps? I really don't see anything very wrong with that.

I'm only running the stock 3.4Ghz at the moment. I plan to run some more load tests, but I've posted a 10 min prime 95 sensor test on the previous page.

 

[Ravidrath]

For some reason, windows and running programs may become unresponsive after a brief period of inactivity. The mouse works and you may be able to highlight some icons, but after that, they will also cease to work and the OS will take its sweet time to become responsive again... if you are lucky. Mine ceased to work yesterday and stayed that way for the whole night.

Apparently it has something to do with the unit's firmware not playing really well with some energy saving software. Whatever it is, is really annoying, and people are only fixing it with varying degrees of success.

This sounds similar to the problem I had yesterday - I went to lunch, and when I got back my machine started gradually shutting down and becoming unresponsive.

However, when I rebooted my machine couldn't see the drive any more. I removed it and put it back in, but not even Disk Utility can see it.

I'd assumed it was completely dead, but are you telling me it might not be?

 

[jlai]

Loving my C300 SSD. Boot times... so faaaaaaaast. Everything's just so snappy now

 

[AllIsOneIsNone]

Loving my C300 SSD. Boot times... so faaaaaaaast. Everything's just so snappy now

How fast is so fast?

 

[NIN90]

Hey I'm looking for a new PSU. It should be rather silent and it should be able to handle the following specs:

Phenom II X4 940
GTX 460

In addition, can someone recommend a fan for my 460? My room sounds like an aircraft carrier whenever I play something.

 

[Hawk269]

Thanks for the input, guys, but I'm a little confused. Hawk269 mentions that he's getting ~28C at idle using the 212+ cooler. I thought the DH14 was even better, yet I'm getting much higher temps at idle (+12C for Core0). Why is that?





I'm only running the stock 3.4Ghz at the moment. I plan to run some more load tests, but I've posted a 10 min prime 95 sensor test on the previous page.

Stantron- Those load temps look normal to me. I am running at 4.5ghz and my load temps after about an hour of prime95 is between 62-68 depending on core. So for you, running at stock that is normal. Try to do some OC and re-run to see where you are at. Not sure was MB you have, but you can do a quick OC via the MB to do a quick test.

 

[Akia]

buying a new pc was one of the best decision i made all year

 

[ithorien]

How fast is so fast?

9-10 sec from Win logo to full desktop.

 

[Princess Skittles]

Hey I'm looking for a new PSU. It should be rather silent and it should be able to handle the following specs:

Phenom II X4 940
GTX 460

In addition, can someone recommend a fan for my 460? My room sounds like an aircraft carrier whenever I play something.

I got a Cooler Master 550w PSU, seems okay, same GPU but I can't remember which CPU I bought though, some AMD Black thing.

I would also like to know about the GTX 460 fan, that's the card I got and when I'm in Portal 2, it.. is.. LOUD.

 

[wandering goat]

Hey I'm looking for a new PSU. It should be rather silent and it should be able to handle the following specs:

Phenom II X4 940
GTX 460

In addition, can someone recommend a fan for my 460? My room sounds like an aircraft carrier whenever I play something.

If you're sure you're not planning on upgrading from that GPU any time soon, the best silent PSU is the Seasonic SS-460FL, which is completely passive. It is pretty expensive though and obviously somewhat limited at 460W, but it is built very well and 80plus gold. I use the Seasonic X650, which doesn't spin the fan at low PSU temps, and it's also quite quiet with more headroom, though you can hear the fan spinning up / spinning in a very quiet build if it gets hot. These may be overkill for what you need though.

As for the GPU, I don't know if you can just replace the fan and keep the stock heatsink. The usual thing to do is to get an aftermarket heatsink. On my 6850, I use the Accelero S1 Rev 2, which is a passive heatsink, and attached Accelero's Turbo Module to it (you can also just zip tie a quiet 120mm fan to it). In my case, I find that my OCd 6850 runs fine in idle without a fan blowing directly at it, but it needs some additional cooling for gaming. If your motherboard supports voltage fan controls (I think most major ones do), you can use programs to control the fan. For example, using SpeedFan, I set-up the fan speed to be automatically varied between 50% and 100%, based on CPU temp (SpeedFan unfortunately doesn't monitor all GPU temps). If that's too loud, I uncheck the option to automatically vary speed and set speed to 0% for idle, then just check it off again when I'm going to game. Or you can just manually set how fast it spins.

Unless there's a solution that I'm unaware of, going to an aftermarket heatsink kind of kills the idea of directly using your GPU to control your fan, as the stock GPU fan connector is different (smaller) than usual fan connectors. Also, there are other aftermarket coolers that people like that have integrated quiet fans, but I don't have experience with them. You can look into some of them (Accelero, Thermalright, and Zalman are some of the major providers for these).

And last of all, if it works, is keep an eye on just how hot the 460 gets when gaming. If it is very cool, you can possibly let it spin at a lower temp. You can make a custom slope that determines what the RPM should be at various temps in MSI Afterburner.

 

[Stantron]

Stantron- Those load temps look normal to me. I am running at 4.5ghz and my load temps after about an hour of prime95 is between 62-68 depending on core. So for you, running at stock that is normal. Try to do some OC and re-run to see where you are at. Not sure was MB you have, but you can do a quick OC via the MB to do a quick test.

Ok, I'll give OCing a shot tonight. I have the Asus Pro MB. Is there an easy to follow online guide to over clocking for a noob like me? ;D

 

[Funky Papa]

This sounds similar to the problem I had yesterday - I went to lunch, and when I got back my machine started gradually shutting down and becoming unresponsive.

However, when I rebooted my machine couldn't see the drive any more. I removed it and put it back in, but not even Disk Utility can see it.

I'd assumed it was completely dead, but are you telling me it might not be?

That sounds completely different from my case. Mine only froze from minutes to hours, but everything would be fine after a quick reset. You should contact OCZ or check its support forums.

I think I managed to fix mine after some tweaking. Let's hope it stays that way.

 

[EricHasNoPull]

Hey GAF, what do you think?

Should I get GTX 560 Ti 1GB or a Radeon HD 6870 1GB?

Thanks

 

[jlai]

How fast is so fast?

Probably 30 sec from the time I press power to full functionality. And yeah less than 10 seconds after I see the Windows splash screen. Theres no delay after you reach the desktop anymore, the second your wallpaper shows up its good to go

 

[ithorien]

Probably 30 sec from the time I press power to full functionality. And yeah less than 10 seconds after I see the Windows splash screen. Theres no delay after you reach the desktop anymore, the second your wallpaper shows up its good to go

I hear the Windows logon sound seconds after I start doing things, it's that awesome.

 

[blackMamba1187]

Thinking about picking these up. Does anyone have any opinions/experience with these items.



I've wanted a new monitor for quite some time and have looked into the 23" in Dell IPS, 25-27" screens and higher resolution monitors, but to be honest it's making my head hurt trying to come to a decision. A friend has the samsung and I think it looks pretty good. It would be for games, mainly, although I don't really play multiplayer on PC. Any opinions would be appreciated. Budget would go to ~$400 for the monitor.

 

[Deft Beck]

I'm going to a university that gives new students a laptop; cursory research tells me that they are business-class and not especially adept for gaming.

I'd invest in a desktop for gaming and video editing, if anything.
Just need to see what's in my budget.

 

[Hawk269]

Ok, I'll give OCing a shot tonight. I have the Asus Pro MB. Is there an easy to follow online guide to over clocking for a noob like me? ;D

lol...yeah there are guides, but all you have to do is when you turn on your computer, press delete a few times to enter the UEFI Bios Menu, use your mouse to click on the performance icon, hit exit, save changes and you have a 4.4 overclock. It's that easy on that Asus MB you have.

You can also use AI Suite 2 to do the same or achieve a little higher auto-overclock. For 24/7 use, I know many suggest you do your own bios editiing for the OC, but for a quick test one, the automated one via AI Suite or the UEFI Bios does work well.

 

[EricHasNoPull]

What does GAF think of this Card and the price?

Plus, Do the "Mail-In-Rebates" ever work?

 

[TheExodu5]

Thinking about picking these up. Does anyone have any opinions/experience with these items.



I've wanted a new monitor for quite some time and have looked into the 23" in Dell IPS, 25-27" screens and higher resolution monitors, but to be honest it's making my head hurt trying to come to a decision. A friend has the samsung and I think it looks pretty good. It would be for games, mainly, although I don't really play multiplayer on PC. Any opinions would be appreciated. Budget would go to ~$400 for the monitor.

I really wasn't a fan of that monitor. The LED lighting was brutal. So much bleed, terrible blacks, and if you brought the brightness down enough for the whites not to be blinding, the colors all went away.

I'd say get the 24" Dell IPS (hoping for a sale) or maybe a 120Hz TN panel (though since you're not doing competitive online gaming, this will be less beneficial to you).

If you want something big, you could also get a 32" HDTV for around that price. You'd get a far better panel than TN monitors, and an easy to run 1080p resolution. If you have the space for it, it's hard to beat. You just need to make sure to get a model that doesn't have much input lag.

 

[riceandbeans]

Working on my new i5 2500K build and I fucked up already. I put the wrong washers, the plastic white ones, instead of the rubber black ones, between the mount between the Frio and mobo plate. Would this make any difference or should I just go ahead and redo everything?

 

[Manus]

Okay so I'm looking to build a PC just to play WoW and that's it so I don't need anything to fancy. I posted in last years thread, but what people gave me was more than I wanted to pay and would run way more things than WoW. So what I'm asking how much would it run me by ballparking to build a PC to just run WoW on max settings, that's all I'm looking to do.

So could anyone give me some advice on some prices?

 

[Grinchy]

A question for overclockers:

I bought a new heatsink specifically so I could OC my CPU. I was wondering if you guys have any input on whether or not I should leave C1E turned on.

Turning it off, with stock speeds, I noticed an increase in temperature (since it is always keeping the full 7.5 multiplier, therefore working harder). Should I just leave it on Auto even after I overclock? Is C1E smart enough to give me my full processing needs when running CPU intensive applications or can this cause inconsistent performance? Thanks in advance if anyone feels like answering!

 

[whatsinaname]

Anyone go from an Intel x25-M G2 to a newer Vertex 3/ Intel 320/510 drives? Is is a large upgrade? I see that the random read/write speeds haven't changed drastically. (I am basically trying to convince myself not to buy one. Spent too much on a monitor and speakers recently. My next upgrade should be my CPU and maybe a second 6950. Someone stop me. -_- )

 

[Hawk269]

Just out of curiosity for those that are bit more into the tech end of things. Why does every game lock FPS at 60 when V-Sync is enabled? Just been curious about it.

 

[scogoth]

A question for overclockers:

I bought a new heatsink specifically so I could OC my CPU. I was wondering if you guys have any input on whether or not I should leave C1E turned on.

Turning it off, with stock speeds, I noticed an increase in temperature (since it is always keeping the full 7.5 multiplier, therefore working harder). Should I just leave it on Auto even after I overclock? Is C1E smart enough to give me my full processing needs when running CPU intensive applications or can this cause inconsistent performance? Thanks in advance if anyone feels like answering!

Turn C1E for extra stability at high overclocks. If your not doing anything serious just leave it.

Just out of curiosity for those that are bit more into the tech end of things. Why does every game lock FPS at 60 when V-Sync is enabled? Just been curious about it.

Read up.
In short because its forcing the GPU to wait for the next screen refresh so it can release the frame its rendered and then start on the next one. 60Hz monitor = 60fps

Okay so I'm looking to build a PC just to play WoW and that's it so I don't need anything to fancy. I posted in last years thread, but what people gave me was more than I wanted to pay and would run way more things than WoW. So what I'm asking how much would it run me by ballparking to build a PC to just run WoW on max settings, that's all I'm looking to do.

So could anyone give me some advice on some prices?

$600 op build.

 

[scogoth]

Just read this- "Nvidia's agreed to license its SLI tech for use on AMD motherboards."

What's going on, hell freezing over?

No more Nvidia chipsets, no more competitive advantage for said chipsets, so they want to expand their market to all types of mobos. Oh how money makes a fickle company.

 

[Hazaro]

$600 op build.

Once some extra AM3/AM3+ boards come out I'll be updating both lists.
hopefully there's a cheapy one. I'll drop the CM212 as well from the budget build, and probably swap in an 840

 

[Smokey]

suggestions for thermal paste? i remember reading in this thread to go with something else besides the artic silver, but I can't remember.

also what's the difference between the intel 500 series ssds and the 300 series?

 

[Hazaro]

suggestions for thermal paste? i remember reading in this thread to go with something else besides the artic silver, but I can't remember.

also what's the difference between the intel 500 series ssds and the 300 series?

mx-2/3/4, ICD7
Speed as you go up in GB

 

[JWong]

Hey guys, $150 for OCZ Vertex 2 good deal?

 

[Hazaro]

Hey guys, $150 for OCZ Vertex 2 good deal?

Unless you are an enthusiast I'd recommend Intel 320 to everyone.
But yeah, that's a good price.

 

[JWong]

Unless you are an enthusiast I'd recommend Intel 320 to everyone.
But yeah, that's a good price.

but that's like exp.. oh wait

I thought you mean 320gb.

 

[Smokey]

Unless you are an enthusiast I'd recommend Intel 320 to everyone.
But yeah, that's a good price.

Why not the 510 series? It's only $20 more and can take advantage of SATA 6gb/s..

Unless I'm missing something here

 

[L0st Id3ntity]

So I'm about to add a second gtx 480 to my rig for sli, do I need to reinstall the drivers?

 

[JWong]

Why not the 510 series? It's only $20 more and can take advantage of SATA 6gb/s..

Unless I'm missing something here

Isn't the 510 using a non-Intel controller which makes it not as reliable?

Still probably pretty good though.

Edit: Couldn't find TheExodu5 on Steam, anyone remember which SSD did he get? I remember it was expensive.

 

[Smokey]

I am torn:

Dell Ultrasharp 24'' - $500

or

Asus VG236H w/ Nvidia 3d kit - $500


halp

 

[Saren is Bad]

I am torn:

Dell Ultrasharp 24'' - $500

or

Asus VG236H w/ Nvidia 3d kit - $500


halp

I'm going to say Ultrasharp. My friend has it and the colors are insane.

 

[Kadey]

Apparently the electrolyte something something c is busted in my Samsung monitor. Anybody know anything about fixing it?

It seems to be a common problem based on research. Samsung is even willing to fix any monitors and tvs for a one time do it thing for free even if your warranty has expired.

I'd rather do it myself or someone around me instead of dealing with Samsung. Wonder if you guys know about it. Basically its just going to a shop, buying the parts and soldering it in or something.

 

[Wolf Akela]

Which one should I go for?

Phenom II X4 840 was my original plan.
i3 540 is the same price, I heard about it performing better than the 840 even for quad-core optimized games?

I could add $15 to get the 550, or $17 to get an i3-2100, but I dunno if it's worth the additional price.

I wanted to make an upgrade to quad core, but if those dual core Intel procs still outperform AMD quad cores then I might consider an Intel one.

 

[Smokey]

I'm going to say Ultrasharp. My friend has it and the colors are insane.

gaming lag?

 

[Conflict NZ]

gaming lag?

I've got the 2010 model and it has a bit, not noticible looking at it but you can feel it. Makes it harder to pull off headshots. Not sure if the 2011 model still has it.

 

[darthbob]

gaming lag?

Wasn't this issue a non issue after 2005?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Wasn't this issue a non issue after 2005?

Nope. Most LCD monitors and HDTVs have some degree of input lag, some have much worse lag than others.

 

[Ravidrath]

That sounds completely different from my case. Mine only froze from minutes to hours, but everything would be fine after a quick reset. You should contact OCZ or check its support forums.

I think I managed to fix mine after some tweaking. Let's hope it stays that way.

OK, I guess only the first part was similar.

Started tech support last night, but they're a little slow... hopefully their RMA process is fast once everything gets going.

 

[Velion]

Finally went ahead and ordered one of these now to hope I don't have many if any problems with it.

 

[From The Dust]

so I want to get a basic controller for my comp and I'm trying to decide if I should get a wired 360 or a wireless Logitech Gamepad F710. or a wireless 360 pade (though I heard there were some issues with some games)

 

[Velion]

so I want to get a basic controller for my comp and I'm trying to decide if I should get a wired 360 or a wireless Logitech Gamepad F710. or a wireless 360 pade (though I heard there were some issues with some games)

Wired 360 pad is great.

 

[mike23]

Talked to NewEgg support and got an RMA for the two bad drives. Had them do a refund and I ordered two more. They waived the restocking fee and are paying return shipping. Plus, there's a $10 coupon on the replacement drives I ordered, so I'm up 20 bucks.

I'm going to attempt to resilver the raid-z array one bad drive at a time. Hopefully one will last long enough to rebuild it the first time. I don't want to copy all my data back onto it again.