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[PigSpeakers]

Ok, I couldn't wait for my monitor to get here since I just got windows today and wanted to see if I could get everything working. But now I have a problem.

I plugged in my old VGA monitor that I use with my Powermac G5 just to test to see if everything booted up and if I could get windows installed at the very least. Unfortunately, the monitor wouldn't turn on no matter if I plugged it into the videocard using a vga-to-dvi adapter or if I plugged it into the motherboard. This monitor is tested working on my old G5 so I know the monitor isn't dead or anything. Everything else boots up: the hard drive, processor, fans, disc drive, USB, gfx card, and all of the lights.

My ram is seated as far as I can tell. The two sticks of ram and motherboard I have with it are the ones from the suggested list of parts to go together on the OP in the $600 kit, so I don't believe they're incompatible in any way. They're plugged into slot a_1 and a_2. There's also a b_1 and b_2 that are unused.

Should I just wait to see if my newer monitor will work, or is there possibly something plugged in wrong?

 

[TheBear]

No one can say, but hopefully if your CPU is fine (according to future BF3 benches)you can put in whatever GPU you want in there sans a superclocked 580.

I'd say GPU.

Would an ATI 6970/GTX 570 make a big enough difference? Which of the two would you recommend?

 

[demigod]

I'm currently using a GTX 295 with my I7 2600k, should I get the Asus 580 ROG or Zotac AMP 580? Can probably get it for $480 with the 20% off from microcenter. I don't know if I should get it or wait until next year to get the 28nm. How hot are 580s compared to 295?

 

[Desaan]

Ok, I couldn't wait for my monitor to get here since I just got windows today and wanted to see if I could get everything working. But now I have a problem.

I plugged in my old VGA monitor that I use with my Powermac G5 just to test to see if everything booted up and if I could get windows installed at the very least. Unfortunately, the monitor wouldn't turn on no matter if I plugged it into the videocard using a vga-to-dvi adapter or if I plugged it into the motherboard. This monitor is tested working on my old G5 so I know the monitor isn't dead or anything. Everything else boots up: the hard drive, processor, fans, disc drive, USB, gfx card, and all of the lights.

My ram is seated as far as I can tell. The two sticks of ram and motherboard I have with it are the ones from the suggested list of parts to go together on the OP in the $600 kit, so I don't believe they're incompatible in any way. They're plugged into slot a_1 and a_2. There's also a b_1 and b_2 that are unused.

Should I just wait to see if my newer monitor will work, or is there possibly something plugged in wrong?

Chances are with the plugging and unplugging of stuff you may have knocked the VGA card loose, even if only slightly. Give it a pretty forceful push down at both ends or pull it out and reinsert it. Are you getting any POST beeps or anything like that?

 

[knitoe]

Started the OC process. On the Asrock board, I'm just doing the auto oc to 4.6ghz. I had to enable Internal PLL Overvoltage in the BIOS to achieve stability at 4.6

I tested with Prime 95 for a couple of hours and then ran the Heaven benchmark. The max the core got upto was 1.35v but then stabilized around 1.3 most of the time the CPU was being hammered. The temps were in the 60's during bench with a max of low 70's on a couple of cores until the fan kicked in.

I'm think of doing a push/pull on the 212+ to take off a few more degrees. I'd like to run 4.6 24/7.

Now that I know my system is stable at 4.6ghz, I need to learn how to adjust the voltages. Should I just manually set the voltage? If I do that, will it always stay that high or still fluctuate? I'd like to be able to have the system "turn down" when needed and scale up as needed without going past a certain max. I keep reading Vcore offset. How does that work?

I don't see a point in going past 4.6ghz for me. If anyone can help me fine tune my voltages, that'd be greatly apprecaited.

A couple of comments regarding the SSD. I did the optimizations in the OP but turning off WriteCaching was a big no no on the Crucial M4. It destroyed 4k performance. Read up on the Crucial forums and they highly recommend leaving it on. Once I turned it back on (and rebooted) performance was back! I keep reading conflicting info about disabling the paging file. Not sure where I stand on that.

Using Offset will allow the CPU to use less voltage at idle and increase with load. Simply, for example, if stock voltage is 1.25V and you need 1.35V, you would add offset+ 0.10V. Of course, they maybe other factors that increase voltage by certain % if enable, Internal PLL, LLC and etc. So, you need to use a monitoring software (HWmonitor) and run Prime95 to see what the actually offset -/+ number you should punch in.

 

[PigSpeakers]

Chances are with the plugging and unplugging of stuff you may have knocked the VGA card loose, even if only slightly. Give it a pretty forceful push down at both ends or pull it out and reinsert it. Are you getting any POST beeps or anything like that?

I'm actually not getting any beeps at all.

I'll try the video card thing though.

 

[knitoe]

I'm actually not getting any beeps at all.

I'll try the video card thing though.

If you are sure the monitor works and get no video from onboard/discrete video card, I would look at the MB as possibly being bad.

Take out the video card, use 1 stick of ram and see if you get any video with onboard video. If that doesn't work, take everything out of the case, put it MB on box, connect only bare minimum (cpu, cpu fan, and 1 stick of ram) and see if you can get any video. Still doesn't work, try with the video card. Still nothing, it's probably a bad MB.

 

[PigSpeakers]

If you are sure the monitor works and get no video from onboard/discrete video card, I would look at the MB as possibly being bad.

Take out the video card, use 1 stick of ram and see if you get any video with onboard video. If that doesn't work, take everything out of the case, put it MB on box, connect only bare minimum (cpu, cpu fan, and 1 stick of ram) and see if you can get any video. Still doesn't work, try with the video card. Still nothing, it's probably a bad MB.

That worked! Unplugged the power from the video card and turned it on and it worked. Thanks! When should I plug the video card back in?

 

[Wolf Akela]

Don't just unplug the power to the videocard. Unplug the videocard itself as well, otherwise you run the risk of making things go kapow.

 

[Big Papa Husker]

I am looking to possibly upgrade my DVD burner to a Blu-ray burner. Which models should I be looking at?

 

[PigSpeakers]

Don't just unplug the power to the videocard. Unplug the videocard itself as well, otherwise you run the risk of making things go kapow.

Okay, I don't want to screw up my video card. Unplugged that as well

Thanks everyone.

 

[Hazaro]

Started the OC process. On the Asrock board, I'm just doing the auto oc to 4.6ghz. I had to enable Internal PLL Overvoltage in the BIOS to achieve stability at 4.6

I tested with Prime 95 for a couple of hours and then ran the Heaven benchmark. The max the core got upto was 1.35v but then stabilized around 1.3 most of the time the CPU was being hammered. The temps were in the 60's during bench with a max of low 70's on a couple of cores until the fan kicked in.

I'm think of doing a push/pull on the 212+ to take off a few more degrees. I'd like to run 4.6 24/7.

Now that I know my system is stable at 4.6ghz, I need to learn how to adjust the voltages. Should I just manually set the voltage? If I do that, will it always stay that high or still fluctuate? I'd like to be able to have the system "turn down" when needed and scale up as needed without going past a certain max. I keep reading Vcore offset. How does that work?

I don't see a point in going past 4.6ghz for me. If anyone can help me fine tune my voltages, that'd be greatly apprecaited.

A couple of comments regarding the SSD. I did the optimizations in the OP but turning off WriteCaching was a big no no on the Crucial M4. It destroyed 4k performance. Read up on the Crucial forums and they highly recommend leaving it on. Once I turned it back on (and rebooted) performance was back! I keep reading conflicting info about disabling the paging file. Not sure where I stand on that.

Ok I added that to the SSD section.
I'd go for whatever you can get at 1.30V

Would an ATI 6970/GTX 570 make a big enough difference? Which of the two would you recommend?

It would make a noticeable difference yes. I suggest looking at benchmarks of games you currently play and see if it warrant the upgrade for you. Both cards are fairly similar, but the 570 has free batman if you are interested in that.

 

[TheBear]

Ok I added that to the SSD section.
I'd go for whatever you can get at 1.30V

It would make a noticeable difference yes. I suggest looking at benchmarks of games you currently play and see if it warrant the upgrade for you. Both cards are fairly similar, but the 570 has free batman if you are interested in that.

Both have HDMI out right? If I ran a seperate HDMI from the GPU to my HDTV, would it have sound?

 

[Hazaro]

Both have HDMI out right? If I ran a seperate HDMI from the GPU to my HDTV, would it have sound?

Yes.
I'm not sure which one would be better for that though.

I vaguely recall nVidia having more problems with that vs AMD. But I've heard AMD having overscan problems as well. Pretty sure both are fixable regardless.
If someone can let me know how both companies are doing with HDTV linkage via HDMI that would be great.

 

[RukusProvider]

Using Offset will allow the CPU to use less voltage at idle and increase with load. Simply, for example, if stock voltage is 1.25V and you need 1.35V, you would add offset+ 0.10V. Of course, they maybe other factors that increase voltage by certain % if enable, Internal PLL, LLC and etc. So, you need to use a monitoring software (HWmonitor) and run Prime95 to see what the actually offset -/+ number you should punch in.

Thanks. Since my last post, I did the auto tweak to 4.8 and ran some tests. The system actually worked but temps and volts were too high for my liking. I just wanted to see if my chip was capable of 4.8ghz. It is but it's too scary for me

I'm now going to work on 4.6ghz. Previously I had PLL Overvolate enabled with everthing else at auto. I went back and set the overvolt on the PLL to a max of +0.05V which inturn reduced my temps during benchmark and stopped my volts from spiking to 1.39 on occasion.

It now only spikes to 1.35v for a split second before it comes back down. This is during Prime95 Torture Test and WEI.

I'm now going to manually set the vcore offset (thanks a ton for the explanation!) to a lower number and see where I end up.

Let me know if this makes sense: I plan to use an offset of +0.05v on the vcore and +0.05 on the PLL and then see where my max vcore ends up during benchmarks. Let me know if I'm going about this the write way or not. Atleast for my board, it would seem having PLL turned on past 4.5ghz is a must.

 

[NH Apache]

Absolutely no problems at all.

Little late, but thanks a bunch Hazaro. Been too many years since I've done a build. Should be purchasing in about a month, I'll keep my eyes out for a couple price drops, but it looks like I'm going to be doing the i3 build. My body is ready.

 

[childplease]

I'm currently using a GTX 295 with my I7 2600k, should I get the Asus 580 ROG or Zotac AMP 580? Can probably get it for $480 with the 20% off from microcenter. I don't know if I should get it or wait until next year to get the 28nm. How hot are 580s compared to 295?

I bought the Zotac at microcenter using the coupon. Total price out the door was 350. Price after rebate should be 320.

Definitely worth it.

 

[Hazaro]

Little late, but thanks a bunch Hazaro. Been too many years since I've done a build. Should be purchasing in about a month, I'll keep my eyes out for a couple price drops, but it looks like I'm going to be doing the i3 build. My body is ready.

It's a good platform, you should be able to upgrade to Ivy Bridge chips later on in 2012.
If you can scrap another $50 you can get the lower end quad though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115076

*If you aren't building now there will be more Bulldozer info in October, but after so many delays and secrecy no one knows how competitive it will be.

 

[n0n44m]

Yes.
I'm not sure which one would be better for that though.

I vaguely recall nVidia having more problems with that vs AMD. But I've heard AMD having overscan problems as well. Pretty sure both are fixable regardless.
If someone can let me know how both companies are doing with HDTV linkage via HDMI that would be great.

I'm running my GTX480 to my receiver with HDMI for a year now, no problems at all. 1080p & 7.1 uncompressed

Downstairs in my HTPC I have a Radeon 6450 going to a receiver with HDMI as well, works fine as well.

(AMD does strangely insist on having 20% overscan at default, which you need to set back after a driver update.)

I also ran a Gefore GT210 for some time in the HTPC but it had issues with the motherboard. What I did notice was that, using a DVI->HDMI cable the GT210 also was able to output sound over the DVI port. The Radeon can't. Haven't tried that with the GTX480.

 

[Sethos]

I can recommend the latest nVidia Beta drivers, they really seem to stabilize the voltage which means straight-as-arrow lines and there's about 50mb less memory usage on average idle.

You can see the dip, that's where I installed the drivers, before was the old WHQL drivers and then it just stays steady and still does.

 

[Gaaraz]

Hi guys,

I have an i7, 8GB RAM PC with 3 hard drives.

Almost exclusively I use this for virtual machines (VMWare) and when I had 4 running at a time it was incredibly smooth, not a single problem and I could happily run for example Portal maxed out with the 4 VMs running at the same time.

Now I've added one more VM and it's completely crippled my PC, especially when I turn off one of the virtual machines (on a certain drive) my computer practically locks up for up to 5 minutes at a time.

What's the best way around this? Would buying an SSD (to run 3 of the VMs on) have a big impact? Do I need even more memory? (ie allocate 1GB per VM?)

Thanks

 

[EatChildren]

Anybody want to explain what is up with my RAM timings?

I have four sticks of dual channel RAM, each 2GB for a total of eight. All four are same model, with the same CAS timings and speed. I've OC'd my system, for what its worth.

However, CPU-Z is reporting incorrect timings for two of the sticks (same dual channel pair). They each have a max bandwidth frequency of 667MHz, meanwhile my other pair run at the proper 800MHz.

All four sticks have the same part number, both reported in CPU-Z and by the sticker. What's the deal? Dodgy sticks?

 

[Wallach]

Anybody want to explain what is up with my RAM timings?

I have four sticks of dual channel RAM, each 2GB for a total of eight. All four are same model, with the same CAS timings and speed. I've OC'd my system, for what its worth.

However, CPU-Z is reporting incorrect timings for two of the sticks (same dual channel pair). They each have a max bandwidth frequency of 667MHz, meanwhile my other pair run at the proper 800MHz.

All four sticks have the same part number, both reported in CPU-Z and by the sticker. What's the deal? Dodgy sticks?

The fuck? Can you take shots of the CPU-Z output?

 

[DSN2K]

The fuck? Can you take shots of the CPU-Z output?

indeed

 

[EatChildren]

 

[DSN2K]

gonna have to check them individually, might just be one stick causing the issue.

 

[n0n44m]

that's just different pre-programmed JEDEC settings. You need to go one tab to the left for the actual speeds it is running at right now (which should be the same for all 4 sticks obviously)

the difference is probably due to different dates of manufacturing or something like that ... you bought them all at the same time?

 

[EatChildren]

that's just different pre-programmed JEDEC settings. You need to go one tab to the left for the actual speeds it is running at right now (which should be the same for all 4 sticks obviously)

the difference is probably due to different dates of manufacturing or something like that ... you bought them all at the same time?

Separate times, a few months apart.

The standard memory tab reports all the memory there, expected DRAM frequency (800MHz), 1:6 FSBRAM, and the timings I set. So from that window everything looks hunky dory.

But why does the SPD window report different timings? Shouldn't all my sticks report the same max bandwidth, as they are all supposed to be identical? Different frequency timings in the timings table would indicate something is wrong, no?

 

[Hazaro]

that's just different pre-programmed JEDEC settings. You need to go one tab to the left for the actual speeds it is running at right now (which should be the same for all 4 sticks obviously)

the difference is probably due to different dates of manufacturing or something like that ... you bought them all at the same time?

Set RAM timings in your BIOS with the correct voltage.

Preset RAM timings can often be incorrect, or perhaps you bought 1600 sticks before and after manufacturers started actually setting 1600 sticks to auto at 1600.
If you click Memory (not SPD) check what speed you are running at. What you circled is just what the module has as a written value for it's rated speed.

 

[Wallach]

Well that seems to indicate that these aren't actually from the same batch. These are the specs imprinted on the DIMMs themselves. Note that SPD isn't just short for speed; the SPD is a little chip on the DIMM that has a bunch of pre-configured settings/frequencies, stuff that the mobo can use when communicating with these DIMMs.

Can you show the Memory tab? That will tell you what frequency and timings all the RAM is actually running at. It can't be running two sticks at different frequencies than the other two.

Edit - I guess I'm slow. Whatever is reported in the Memory tab is what those DIMMs are running at. The info on the SPD tab just means G-Skill has updated this part's SPD and they no longer match.

 

[EatChildren]

Can you show the Memory tab? That will tell you what frequency and timings all the RAM is actually running at. It can't be running two sticks at different frequencies than the other two.

Memory tab reports;
Size: 8192mb
Frequency: 800mhz
FSBRAM: 1:8
Timings: 8-8-8-24-2T (what I set them as, and what they should be given the model)

EDIT: No problem then. Phew. Thanks guys!

 

[Hazaro]

Memory tab reports;
Size: 8192mb
Frequency: 800mhz
FSBRAM: 1:8
Timings: 8-8-8-24-2T (what I set them as, and what they should be given the model)

EDIT: No problem then. Phew. Thanks guys!

Early 1600 sticks were overclocked 1333 sticks as the rating board didn't let them label them as legitimate 1600 since it wasn't an approved speed.
Or something like that I think.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Newbie incoming.

Your Current Specs: Mac Pro (for video editing; I need a work computer [I work in games])
Budget: $500 to $614 (but honestly, I have no real clue - was gonna wait till Black Friday, already got a $80 700w Power Supply for $20 sale)
Main Use: Testing games, gaming, a lot of multi-tasking (Word, Excel, Photshop), possibility of using copy of Adobe Premiere for secondary video editing [would be multi-tasking with that, too])
Monitor Resolution:. 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Skyrim, DX:HR, ME3 (but I just don't want 2012's games to kick my ass)
Are reusing any parts?: Was thinking of wiping the 1TB secondary drive in my Mac Pro and using it as a secondary drive for my new rig; using two drives? One or the OS and other data, one for Steam and my folder?
When will you build?: November, hopefully
Will you be overclocking?: Nope

 

[Hazaro]

Newbie incoming.

Your Current Specs: Mac Pro (for video editing; I need a work computer [I work in games])
Budget: $500 to $614 (but honestly, I have no real clue - was gonna wait till Black Friday, already got a $80 700w Power Supply for $20 sale)
Main Use: Testing games, gaming, a lot of multi-tasking (Word, Excel, Photshop), possibility of using copy of Adobe Premiere for secondary video editing [would be multi-tasking with that, too])
Monitor Resolution:. 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Skyrim, DX:HR, ME3 (but I just don't want 2012's games to kick my ass)
Are reusing any parts?: Was thinking of wiping the 1TB secondary drive in my Mac Pro and using it as a secondary drive for my new rig; using two drives? One or the OS and other data, one for Steam and my folder?
When will you build?: November, hopefully
Will you be overclocking?: Nope

Standard build + i5 2500K + Biostar board.
2500K is just $10 more for resale value and an OC option down the line if you ever choose to want one.
You can save a bit and get a 2300 or 2400 (non K) and stick with the H67 board though, but a $110 board is built better over $60 boards.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Standard build + i5 2500K + Biostar board.
2500K is just $10 more for resale value and an OC option down the line if you ever choose to want one.
You can save a bit and get a 2300 or 2400 (non K) and stick with the H67 board though, but a $110 board is built better over $60 boards.

Thank you, sir. May your fight against the Space Orks find you fare.

 

[SalomonA]

Wait for the BF3 beta. If you don't like the performance you are getting, you could think about a GPU upgrade. The 5850 is only a gen old though, and it's a good mid-range card. If you were to upgrade, think $200 or so for a GTX 560 ti, or HD6950 as the likely upgrade path (just know that the performance probably won't be night and day from a card that new. You might try selling it to make up the difference.)

Yeah I'll prolly sell the 5850 to my brother. I always sell my old pc stuff to him when I upgrade :3 Yeah I was thinking Nvidia 560 (maybe some OC version), the 570 is to expensive and im tired of ATI cards now.

My specs are identical except I am sporting a 4890, so I will be buying a 6950 or 6970 for Skyrim, BF3 and so forth.

What is this I read about certain 6950 2GB being unlockable to 6970 features? And I think I will wait on a new card until the last possible minute. Prices drop as the fall gets going.

The price drops of pc components are sick sometimes! You'll never do a good deal cause next day it's half price. But yeah I'll wait like a month until I decide

 

[Smokey]

Finally the thread can stop being bombarded with BF3 spec questions! BF3 required specs announced

 

[h3ro]

I'd like to upgrade the ram in my old desktop, could you guys help me with what type of ram I require?

I have a Pentium D 2.8ghz processor running on Windows 7 32bit currently with 2GB of ram.

I'd like to move it up to 4GB of ram, but I'm not sure if I need DDR3 or DDR2 ram. Also, should I go for a single 4GB stick or 2 2GB sticks? (I currently have two 1GB sticks on the motherboard)

I'd appreciate any help.

 

[aeiko]

what's the best 23-24 inch monitor for color accuracy? I do a lot of photography/video stuff..and need colors to be spot on.

 

[Sethos]

what's the best 23-24 inch monitor for color accuracy? I do a lot of photography/video stuff..and need colors to be spot on.

Dell's high-end monitor ( can't remember the model suffix they use for those ) definitely come recommended.

 

[Stalfos]

Dell's high-end monitor ( can't remember the model suffix they use for those ) definitely come recommended.

Dell u2410 is their high-end model. I got the Dell u2412m which is a newer cheaper model in their ultrasharp range but it doesn't have the color range that the u2410 has. I'm loving it so far.

 

[RukusProvider]

Ok. So I got my CPU comfotable at 4.6ghz and I'm not going to mess around it with anymore.

Now it's time to OC the GPU. This is the video card I have:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500186

It currently comes OC'd out of the box at:

Core Clock:815MHz
Shader Clock:1630MHz
Stream Processors:512 Processor Cores
Effective Memory Clock:4100MHz

The cooler is stock, I believe. How much further can you push a GTX580 and how would I go about overclocking it?

My resolution is 2560x1600 and I have a feeling, I'll need every last bit of power for BF3 at max settings.

 

[datamage]

Ok. So I got my CPU comfotable at 4.6ghz and I'm not going to mess around it with anymore.

Now it's time to OC the GPU. This is the video card I have:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500186

It currently comes OC'd out of the box at:

Core Clock:815MHz
Shader Clock:1630MHz
Stream Processors:512 Processor Cores
Effective Memory Clock:4100MHz

The cooler is stock, I believe. How much further can you push a GTX580 and how would I go about overclocking it?

My resolution is 2560x1600 and I have a feeling, I'll need every last bit of power for BF3 at max settings.

Not sure about that model in particular, but I'd grab MSI Afterburner and see what its current temps are at under load. From there, you can start raising the core clock up little by little (I usually do around 50MHz increments- just to start with to gauge how far I can go.)

I'd first see how far you can go with stock voltage, then if it still has room for improvement, raise the voltage to the card slightly, and continue raising the clock. (You have to unlock the ability to increase the voltage, it's in the settings of Afterburner.)

For testing, as others have recommended here, run the Unigine Heaven benchmark with max settings and check your temps. If it crashes, well, you either need to back down the clock a bit, or raise the voltage a bit. It takes a bit of tweaking to get it to where it's perfect.

Hope this helps somewhat, I kinda wrote this in a hurry. I'm sure others will chime in with more info.


Edit: Depending on how loud the fan on your card is, you can either leave the fan on auto (so it'll ramp up accordingly depending on the heat)- or you can find the highest fan speed you're comfortable with and leave it at that speed.

You can also raise the memory clockspeed, but I'd focus on the core first since that's what nets you the biggest performance.

 

[Corky]

Hey guys, can I somehow plug in a pair of headphones to my Dell u2711 while having say a 360 connected to it via hdmi?

 

[LordCanti]

Ok. So I got my CPU comfotable at 4.6ghz and I'm not going to mess around it with anymore.

Now it's time to OC the GPU. This is the video card I have:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500186

It currently comes OC'd out of the box at:

Core Clock:815MHz
Shader Clock:1630MHz
Stream Processors:512 Processor Cores
Effective Memory Clock:4100MHz

The cooler is stock, I believe. How much further can you push a GTX580 and how would I go about overclocking it?

My resolution is 2560x1600 and I have a feeling, I'll need every last bit of power for BF3 at max settings.

OC it using something like MSI afterburner. Core and Shader are locked together I think (so if you up one, the other goes with it). If that is a limitation of Afterburner, nevermind. Shader should end up being something along the lines of 1800.

I don't touch the memory clock. You may be able to get a little more out of it, but I'm not sure it's worth it.

Needless to say, do the OC, and then check your temps using a program like EVGA's OC scanner (or a benchmarking application Uniengine). I like to stay under 75 or so degrees.

Check to make sure you actually need the extra performance first. You may not, because the 580 is already a beefy card.

Hey guys, can I somehow plug in a pair of headphones to my Dell u2711 while having say a 360 connected to it via hdmi?

Green hole, assuming it's in/out. Not sure if monitor outputs audio through headphones, when it comes through HDMI (you'll have to check)

 

[Corky]

Green hole, assuming it's in/out. Not sure if monitor outputs audio through headphones, when it comes through HDMI (you'll have to check)

Yeah that's what I'm wondering, DVI does not carry audio correct?

Also, have I understood this wrong or is (dual link) DVI a must if you want resolutions over 1080p? 1600p etc possible via hdmi?

 

[Desaan]

Hey guys, can I somehow plug in a pair of headphones to my Dell u2711 while having say a 360 connected to it via hdmi?

I think the headphone jack is the black one the left, I do the same with my PS3 and monitor (although it's a different model, same principle).

 

[VibratingDonkey]

So I've come across two problems. So far. Not counting the ones I think I've solved.

1. Windows Update won't do it's thing when I boot the computer back up. Just hangs at 0% and then reverts all the changes.
   
2. My optical drive (Optiarc AD-7173S) basically doesn't function in AHCI mode. But I'm pretty sure the SSD would prefer it. Is there a point bothering with firmware updates or should I just get a new drive?

 

[TommyT]

So I went with 4GB of this when I did the build... Looking to up it to 8GB. I see there is this going on right now as a shell shocker deal. I've heard them mentioned before, but don't remember the general consensus.

 

[LordCanti]

Yeah that's what I'm wondering, DVI does not carry audio correct?

Also, have I understood this wrong or is (dual link) DVI a must if you want resolutions over 1080p? 1600p etc possible via hdmi?

I would think that HDMI can do it (HDMI has a lot of bandwidth) but I can't be sure. Only one way to find out.

DVI definitely doesn't have audio though. It seems like the monitor will output via the green port on the back when HDMI audio is coming in, but I can't be sure without the monitor in front of me.