"I need a New PC!" 2011 Thread of reading the OP. Seriously. [Part 2]

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Madrical said:
Hey guys & gals, anyone know much about case modding? I'm thinking of buying a new case and modding it into a Protoss (StarCraft) themed case. I'm not looking for anything in particular; if anyone has past experience who I can discuss with, or anyone have any useful tips or recommended cases would be great. Actually, I really need a recommended case, I can't decide!

ALSO! Water cooling; I know nothing about it but I want it as long as it is no louder than fans. Any recommended brands for water cooling? Or links/advice etc.

Thanks for any help my fellow master racers. :)

there's only one solution, read lots of forums

xtremesystems.org , bit-tech.net , overclock.net , hardwareluxx.de , and many more

I must have spent 4 months reading before starting this (and another 4 modding lol)

edit: this digital magazine here http://www.computerpoweruser.com/DigitalEditions/Default.aspx starting page 58 has a pretty nice n00b guide by the way ;)
 
Deadly Joker said:
I'm trying to find a good headset for my new gaming PC and I don't know what I'm looking for.

I'm wanting to spend $100 and use them for the game audio and game communication.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

I'm using the Sennheiser PC 151 and I can recommend it to everyone who's going to play with some friends or just want to voice chat online. I think taken the price into consideration it's a very good buy!
 
Hey folks, I picked up a Sapphire 6970 right around the time that The Witcher 2 came out. Yesterday, I started noticing some snow or white flecks/pixels moving around in darker images and elements on my screen. Is that a sign of a bad video card?
 
WEGGLES said:
I mostly want to game/browse the internet on this PC.

For someone who mostly wants to game you'd say I'm best off with the LG W2442PA?

A bit of a stretch, but how would it's picture quality compare to my current Dell s2009Wb?

This seems to look fine, other than dark colours... but it could be a case similar to good quality speakers where I don't know what I'm missing right now.

(Thanks for your help so far)

I'd probably suggest the LG W2442PA (or HP 2509b on the glossy end of things) over a low-end VA/IPS. If you want a good IPS, you're looking at the Dell 2311h or HP ZR24w, both of which I believe use a pretty harsh AG coating so they're not really perfect.

As for the Dells2009Wb ... I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you. Never seen the monitor in person myself so not sure how it compares. Another perk of the two TNs listed are that they're both calibrated and setup properly out of the box without much (if any) tinkering to be done at all.
 
I got my new PC today. Managed to run by and pick it up this morning and now it's at home downloading stuff while I'm at work... every single minute is pure torture. I want to be home with my new computer. :S
 
Median said:
Hey folks, I picked up a Sapphire 6970 right around the time that The Witcher 2 came out. Yesterday, I started noticing some snow or white flecks/pixels moving around in darker images and elements on my screen. Is that a sign of a bad video card?
Have you OC'd your card? Also what temps are you getting? And are you using the latest drivers?
 
AwesomeSauce said:
Have you OC'd your card? Also what temps are you getting? And are you using the latest drivers?

No to OC'ing my card. My CPU is being OC'd though. I haven't had time to do a decent check, but I've been sitting between about 45-67 degrees. I updated my drivers yesterday through Steam.
 
Median said:
Hey folks, I picked up a Sapphire 6970 right around the time that The Witcher 2 came out. Yesterday, I started noticing some snow or white flecks/pixels moving around in darker images and elements on my screen. Is that a sign of a bad video card?

What kind of monitor are you using? LED?
 
godhandiscen said:
When is Intel releasing it's new enthusiast line of CPU's? I OC'd my Core i7 940 to 4.0Ghz but it is still holding back my SLI setup. I would upgrade to Sandy Bridge, but it doesn't seem worth the money considering what I currently have.

What kind of SLI setup do you have?
 
Median said:
Hey folks, I picked up a Sapphire 6970 right around the time that The Witcher 2 came out. Yesterday, I started noticing some snow or white flecks/pixels moving around in darker images and elements on my screen. Is that a sign of a bad video card?

This is typically artifacting caused by the VRAM. If it is happening at stock clocks it may be the VRAM chips are bad. Double check that the fan is working properly (assuming there's no OC on the card).
 
fin said:
What kind of monitor are you using? LED?

It's a 24" BenQ LCD. Link here.


Wallach said:
This is typically artifacting caused by the VRAM. If it is happening at stock clocks it may be the VRAM chips are bad. Double check that the fan is working properly (assuming there's no OC on the card).

Gah, that's sort of what I figured. The room it's in is kind of hot, but not hot enough to seriously affect it. The fan seems to be working fine, but I'll have to double check when I get home later.
 
Just in the game, or on your desktop too?

The snow could just be noise intentionally added by the game. It could also be dithering introduced by your monitor.

The fact that you're only noticing it in dark scenes only makes me think it's not a GPU issue at all. GPU artifacting tends to be bright green, and is very visible regardless of the brightness of what's displayed on your monitor.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Just in the game, or on your desktop too?

The snow could just be noise intentionally added by the game. It could also be dithering introduced by your monitor.

That's true, there's definitely some games out there with stupid flim grain effects that sometimes look like that (glares at Mass Effect).
 
TheExodu5 said:
Just in the game, or on your desktop too?

The snow could just be noise intentionally added by the game. It could also be dithering introduced by your monitor.

Nope, it's on the desktop. Pretty noticeable on Steam over any black areas, and anywhere else in the OS where there's darker colours.

I wouldn't call what I've seen light green, but it's not white and probably a little closer to green.
 
How is this for a 1st time build?


Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7261S-0B LightScribe Support - OEM
$23.99

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Compucase Case with USB 3.0 and Black Interior
$154.48

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
$64.99

EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ...
$359.99

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power ...
$109.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL
$69.99

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$159.99

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
$219.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
$99.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...
$49.99


TOTAL: $1313


Any changes you would recommend?
 
Median said:
Nope, it's on the desktop. Pretty noticeable on Steam over any black areas, and anywhere else in the OS where there's darker colours.

I wouldn't call what I've seen light green, but it's not white and probably a little closer to green.

GPU artifacting doesn't look the same. Almost all of the artifacting I've ever encountered with bad VRAM looks like whitish snow.
 
Median said:
Nope, it's on the desktop. Pretty noticeable on Steam over any black areas, and anywhere else in the OS where there's darker colours.

I wouldn't call what I've seen light green, but it's not white and probably a little closer to green.

Are the speckles always the same color? Or do they mostly seem to match their surrounding color? If it's the latter, it could be a sign of monitor dithering.

Wallach said:
GPU artifacting doesn't look the same. Almost all of the artifacting I've ever encountered with bad VRAM looks like whitish snow.

Yeah, I'm not sure what determines the color of the artifacting.

Deadly Joker said:
How is this for a 1st time build?


Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7261S-0B LightScribe Support - OEM
$23.99

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Compucase Case with USB 3.0 and Black Interior
$154.48

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
$64.99

EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ...
$359.99

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power ...
$109.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL
$69.99

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$159.99

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
$219.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
$99.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...
$49.99


TOTAL: $1313


Any changes you would recommend?

I would get either the Asus DirectCu II or MSI Twin Frozr III GTX 570 over the EVGA. Much better and quieter cooling.

If you care about the looks of your motherboard, you could consider the Gigabyte Z68 UD3 boards...very sexy in an all black case. :P

Otherwise, just make sure you want a full tower. I have the HAF X, and while it's great, it is massive and a pain to bring to LANs. If you're just keeping it at home, that's not an issue. A full tower is definitely much easier to build and maintain than a mid tower.

You've done your research and the build looks solid.
 
Hey Guys.

I dont really need a new pc. Rather I have a problem with my GPU, but didnt really find a PC-Problem-Thread on GAF.

Right now this is how it looks like:

971aa449.jpg



And this is how the GPU looks from the inside:

48iYc.jpg

yA4La.jpg


If I start up the PC in normal-mode it will freeze a lot.
I can use it in Safe-mode, but then it still has these errors.


Could it be because of the heat transfer paste? It doesnt really look like it would work anymore. If that would be the case, I would buy new heat transfer paste.


I had this problem too about 2 months ago, but a friend of mine cleaned the whole GPU, removed a looot of dust and the GPU-temperature was about 20°C less than before and it worked again. Till today...


Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can give to me :)
 
Definitely seems like a cooling problem. Having a tube of paste around is not a bad thing, so you might as well pick up a tube of Arctic MX-4...it'll last you for a while and be useful in future builds anyways.

Is the fan still working? Could also be the bearing on the fan that's dying and preventing it from cooling the GPU properly.
 
Yeah. The fan is still working fine.

I have the GPU since about 2 years and never even renewed the paste, so I guess it really should be a thing I should do.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Are the speckles always the same color? Or do they mostly seem to match their surrounding color? If it's the latter, it could be a sign of monitor dithering.

They're mostly the same colour. I'll check all the connections on the monitor and take a look at the card itself when I get home tonight, but the monitor has never done this before. I'll probably try out my old card as well to see if it's the new card that's the problem.
 
Median said:
They're mostly the same colour. I'll check all the connections on the monitor and take a look at the card itself when I get home tonight, but the monitor has never done this before. I'll probably try out my old card as well to see if it's the new card that's the problem.

Yeah the only way to really find the problem is going to be switching out a piece of the hardware.
 
I just got my Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus in the mail, and it was much bigger than I expected. Is having a second fan to sandwich the heatsink recommended or more of a convenient option? I haven't ordered any other computer parts yet, but taking the fan out of the box has me in hype mode. I may order everything tomorrow.

Still trying to decide on a case, too. The Haf 922 is at the top of my list, but a case that comes with air filters over every fan would be nice, while still having enough room for good air flow.
 
It's not necessary. You're only looking at a 2-3 degree drop in temps, so it's good for really high overclocks where you need to shave off a few degrees. You also need to use the same fan that ships with it, a Cooler Master Blademaster, or 2 other identical fans for it to function optimally.

It won't hurt if you do though, just don't invest too much on the fans as the main reason you buy a 212+ is for the cost to performance ratio. Increase the cost too much and you could have bought a better cooler.
 
Deputy Moonman said:
Still trying to decide on a case, too. The Haf 922 is at the top of my list, but a case that comes with air filters over every fan would be nice, while still having enough room for good air flow.

You might want to consider the CM 690 II Advanced.
 
Chairmanchuck said:
Hey Guys.

I dont really need a new pc. Rather I have a problem with my GPU, but didnt really find a PC-Problem-Thread on GAF.

Right now this is how it looks like:

971aa449.jpg


This is making me itch
 
TheExodu5 said:
You might want to consider the CM 690 II Advanced.

Yeah, I was going to say that myself. The only vent that is not covered by a filter is the side panel one, but there's not a fan there included with the case either.
 
Chairmanchuck said:
Hey Guys.

I dont really need a new pc. Rather I have a problem with my GPU, but didnt really find a PC-Problem-Thread on GAF.

Right now this is how it looks like:

http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m518/sharillon/971aa449.jpg[img]


And this is how the GPU looks from the inside:

[img]http://i.imgur.com/48iYc.jpg[img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/yA4La.jpg

Anyone else see a dead Jabba in the thermal paste?
 
Chairmanchuck said:
Oh? Why? *haha*

This is how I have to work right now with my PC :(

what card is it?

nvidia 8800 series have a habit of dying this way, something about the solder with which the chip is attached to the PCB slowly breaking off due to heating up and cooling down (like RROD/YLOD)

there's a temporary fix that involves putting it in an oven ... like how I fixed my YLOD 60g ps3 for a couple of hours with the help of a heatgun

this looks like an ATI by the look of the core chip?

edit: 8800GT(S)? bake it lol. If it's not dead yet it will be soon :(
 
Do all video cards had additional noise besides moving air? My GTX 460 had a crazy loud whine so I replaced it and this Twin FROZR II 560 is quiet but it sounds like one of the fans has a tick to it, like a tick every 1/2 second. If I could get a video card that makes no additional noise other than the fans moving air boy would I be a happy camper. Also I dont have enough money to buy another card so im SOL unless i find what is causing that fan tick.
 
Chairmanchuck said:
Yeah. Its the 8800GTS 512.

I just bought the thermal paste. Will try it later and see if it works.

Baking it sounds.. a bit strange.

same principle as the heatgun PS3 YLOD fix

heat it up a lot, solder will melt again and flow back into place, and it'll work again for some time

google around a bit for more info (although you might as well just get a cheap new card that uses far less power and offers dxva video decoding and so on, assuming you're not playing games with that 8800 anymore?)
 
n0n44m said:
same principle as the heatgun PS3 YLOD fix

heat it up a lot, solder will melt again and flow back into place, and it'll work again for some time

google around a bit for more info (although you might as well just get a cheap new card that uses far less power and offers dxva video decoding and so on, assuming you're not playing games with that 8800 anymore?)

Im still playing Games with the 8800 :)

I really could buy a new one, but I am going to China for 6 Months in 2 weeks, so I couldnt really use it now.


But thanks. After I try to put new thermal paste on it and it still has these strange artifacts, I will try to bake it :)
 
Wallach said:
Yeah, I was going to say that myself. The only vent that is not covered by a filter is the side panel one, but there's not a fan there included with the case either.

It actually comes with a filter to place there as well.
 
Hmm...

So a GTX460 - recommended in the OP for the cheap rig - consumes 140W idle ? Damn.

So if i'm only reading my e-mail, that graphics card will be slurping up over 140W ?
That's such a waste of electricity.
 
Goldrusher said:
Hmm...

So a GTX460 - recommended in the OP for the cheap rig - consumes 140W idle ? Damn.

So if i'm only reading my e-mail, that graphics card will be slurping up over 140W ?

That's insane and pretty retarded if that's the minimum ?

My current card - ancient Radeon 9800XT - can't even go over 65W at the limit.
I think it's 140W including the CPU and MOBO.
 
-viper- said:
I think it's 140W including the CPU and MOBO.
facepalm.gif

That actually makes a lot more sense.

It's still a lot of power for simply idling, ie showing a bunch of desktop icons.
That's what idle is, right ? Simply turning on the PC and leaving it alone ?
 
Hazaro said:
Oh I missed this.
Usually with ASUS boards it's just verifying that your clocks and settings are stable. Nothing to worry about.

Hmmm... alright. Is this something that is supposed to happen every time I turn the computer on? Because that's what it seems to be doing.

If it's nothing to worry about, then I will just let it be, but it is a little disconcerting.
 
Goldrusher said:
facepalm.gif

That actually makes a lot more sense.

It's still a lot of power for simply idling, ie showing a bunch of desktop icons.
That's what idle is, right ? Simply turning on the PC and leaving it alone ?

Yes. That power consumption is for the entire PC at idle (aka doing nothing on the desktop w/ Aero enabled).
 
FatBaby said:
Hmmm... alright. Is this something that is supposed to happen every time I turn the computer on? Because that's what it seems to be doing.

If it's nothing to worry about, then I will just let it be, but it is a little disconcerting.
No, it's only suppose to happen the 1 time to verify the settings. Next time, should boot like normally.
 
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