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[Wolf Akela]

You can just use Symlink Creator, move your steamapps folder then create a symlink to it.

 

[crisdecuba]

So after lots of parts shopping and hemming and hawing re: the HTPC / Living Room Gaming PC I'd like to build, I'm now thinking of just getting a cheapish desktop from my local Microcenter, adding a video card and calling it a day.

Can someone take a quick look and let me know if I'm just being hasty? It looks like a decent deal, especially considering it comes with Windows 7, which I would have had to buy for any PC I would build from scratch, which would push it beyond my price range ($500):

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0377378

Any thoughts?

 

[TheExodu5]

Still waiting on my motherboard replacement from Gigabyte.

Still wondering exactly what the cause of my issues is. I'm really hoping it's the motherboard.

Recap:

My PC will shut off randomly. No blue screen, nothing. Just straight reboot. There appears to be no pattern as to when it shuts off. I can be gaming, I can be on the desktop...doesn't matter. Running intensive benchmarks does not speed up the process either. Sometimes my PC will stay on for 30 minutes before shutting off, and sometimes 30+ hours. When it does shut off and reboot, it seems to have trouble booting up as it will reboot multiple times during the process, as if it's overheated or something. CPU and GPU temps are perfectly normal.

One thing is clear, however: it's getting worse. As time goes on, it's degrading and shuts off more and more often.

Now, I thought it could possibly be the power supply, but I noticed one thing: USB ports stay powered even when it reboots, which means the motherboard is still getting power, so I'm hoping this is a good sign of the PSU not being the culprit (and I hope it's not, as it's Corsair AX850).

Now, the question is: what caused this? Is it simply motherboard failure? Or is it a result of me runnin 1.36V for 10 months with speed step off? I think I'm going to need to be more careful with my overclocking.

I'm hoping there's no chance of the problem being the CPU. I would assume that if the CPU was the culprit, then I'd be getting blue screens (IRQ not equal, etc...).

It's worth mentioning some water got into my system 4 weeks ago, and the problems started 2 weeks later. Most of the water went on my top GPU (which survived and is intact), and only a splash got on my motherboard. Maybe the water left some sediments that are causing some voltage leak somewhere.

 

[chaosblade]

You can just use Symlink Creator, move your steamapps folder then create a symlink to it.

That's an incredibly nifty program, thanks!

Still waiting on my motherboard replacement from Gigabyte.

Still wondering exactly what the cause of my issues is. I'm really hoping it's the motherboard.

Recap:

My PC will shut off randomly. No blue screen, nothing. Just straight reboot. There appears to be no pattern as to when it shuts off. I can be gaming, I can be on the desktop...doesn't matter. Running intensive benchmarks does not speed up the process either. Sometimes my PC will stay on for 30 minutes before shutting off, and sometimes 30+ hours. When it does shut off and reboot, it seems to have trouble booting up as it will reboot multiple times during the process, as if it's overheated or something. CPU and GPU temps are perfectly normal.

One thing is clear, however: it's getting worse. As time goes on, it's degrading and shuts off more and more often.

Now, I thought it could possibly be the power supply, but I noticed one thing: USB ports stay powered even when it reboots, which means the motherboard is still getting power, so I'm hoping this is a good sign of the PSU not being the culprit (and I hope it's not, as it's Corsair AX850).

Now, the question is: what caused this? Is it simply motherboard failure? Or is it a result of me runnin 1.36V for 10 months with speed step off? I think I'm going to need to be more careful with my overclocking.

I'm hoping there's no chance of the problem being the CPU. I would assume that if the CPU was the culprit, then I'd be getting blue screens (IRQ not equal, etc...).

It's worth mentioning some water got into my system 4 weeks ago, and the problems started 2 weeks later. Most of the water went on my top GPU (which survived and is intact), and only a splash got on my motherboard. Maybe the water left some sediments that are causing some voltage leak somewhere.

I'd guess the motherboard too, CPU doesn't seem likely since, as you said, there aren't any blue screens. Also not sure you'd get reboots with a dead CPU, I didn't when my old one died (and I guessed mobo then, and was wrong).

--Edit: To clarify, when my CPU died I couldn't POST at all, it just spun the fans up and wouldn't go off until I turned the PSU off.

And regarding the voltage, you couldn't use an offset instead of just setting it manually? That's what I did so it drops down to close to 1v most of the time.

 

[TheExodu5]

And regarding the voltage, you couldn't use an offset instead of just setting it manually? That's what I did so it drops down to close to 1v most of the time.

I couldn't find the offset voltage setting in the Gigabyte BIOS. I'll make an effort to look for it this time, if it exists.

Really, though, I'm only going to bother overclocking my CPU for Xenoblade, I think. I don't think anything else I'm playing even needs higher than stock. The 2500K is still beastly fast at 3.3GHz.

As a sidenote: when I was looking for potential replacement motherboards, I was really disappointed to see you couldn't get the Realtek 889 audio chip on anything but $220+ boards. The Gigabyte UD4 is the only sub-$200 board that offers this onboard audio. I've been raving about the onboard audio on my motherboard for a while...I'm not lying when I say it's not that far off from an Asus Xonar Essence STX I had for a little while. Bass response is not quite there, but it's a damned good onboard chip. It also has Dolby Headphone (which I don't like, but hey, not bad for onboard!). It has an equalization feature that's been great about getting the best out of my Sennheiser PC360 as well (used it to tone down the bass and bring out the midrange a bit).

I haven't actually heard the 892 that's in other motherboards, but it has an SNR of ~95 instead of ~110, so there must be a big difference in the DAC used.

 

[ChoklitReign]

Has the Spinpoint F3 been out of stock on Newegg since the floods started? It's that only hard drive with a reasonable price.

 

[Dash Kappei]

I know nothing about memory voltages and what latency settings work best, for one. I'd rather not change them if not required... is that possible with these two possible OCs?
___________
Build:

i5 750
Gygabyte p55a UD3
4GB 1333Mhz DDR3 unbuffered CL 9-9-9-24
heatsink Scythe Shuriken revB (lp, I also had a CM Hyper 212+ but it couldn't fit)
___________

Main problem with all the "easy to follow" guides out there is that memory is always @1666Mhz.


So, provided memtest and Prime95's results mean my OC is stable,
to achieve a respectable OC can I:

~
BCLK: 170
Memory: X8
Turboboost OFF

Resulting in constant 3.4Ghz and RAM@1360Mhz. Can I do this without messing with voltages?

~
Or maybe:

BCLK: 160
Memory: X8
Turboboost: ON

Which would be better as far as performances go? Iirc Anandtech reported that on stock voltages a 160 base clock value was the one giving the best performances with turbo boost on.
Other than those, can I just leave everything else as it was ie Auto or Enabled? I've read that Gigabyte puts higher-than-needed voltage values when set to Auto, but I dunno if this should be a concern.

-
I'm obviously taking full responsability as far as getting my pc fried with you guys' tips (hopefully not, lol).
One last thing, maybe it's relevant maybe not:
This computer DOES NOT run 24x7 but a couple of hours per day, at the most.

*Any* help will be greatly appreciated. A lot.
Thanks!

Posted this a few days ago without any luck, I though I'd try again and see if a kind soul want to give me a couple of tips.

 

[Spectacular Dr Dawg]

I'm currently overclocking my Lightning GTX580. I was running MSI Kombustor for 20 minutes without issues @ 985/1970/2100 with stock voltages but when I closed Kombustor I had a driver crash and then the GPU fan stopped spinning. I restarted my computer and the fan was working correctly again but when I downclocked to 980/1960/2100 and ran Kombustor it immediately started chugging. Is that normal and should I just turn down the clocks further or is it possible that there's some other issue?

 

[Hazaro]

As a sidenote: when I was looking for potential replacement motherboards, I was really disappointed to see you couldn't get the Realtek 889 audio chip on anything but $220+ boards. The Gigabyte UD4 is the only sub-$200 board that offers this onboard audio. I've been raving about the onboard audio on my motherboard for a while...I'm not lying when I say it's not that far off from an Asus Xonar Essence STX I had for a little while. Bass response is not quite there, but it's a damned good onboard chip. It also has Dolby Headphone (which I don't like, but hey, not bad for onboard!). It has an equalization feature that's been great about getting the best out of my Sennheiser PC360 as well (used it to tone down the bass and bring out the midrange a bit).

I haven't actually heard the 892 that's in other motherboards, but it has an SNR of ~95 instead of ~110, so there must be a big difference in the DAC used.

Good thing the Xonar DG is only $20 or $30 for people to have a nice option.

 

[Neckbeard]

You can just use Symlink Creator, move your steamapps folder then create a symlink to it.

Probably not as easily as you'd like with Steam, but it's possible.

You could put the steamapps folder on the HDD, and then copy over the necessary files (game directory+gcf file) to the Steam installation on the other PC. Then you just log in and in your library the game should have a status of "download paused." Resume download or verify cache integrity and it will activate the game so you can play it.

Don't know about the others.

Awesome I will give these a shot. Thanks for your ideas.

 

[crisdecuba]

So after lots of parts shopping and hemming and hawing re: the HTPC / Living Room Gaming PC I'd like to build, I'm now thinking of just getting a cheapish desktop from my local Microcenter, adding a video card and calling it a day.

Can someone take a quick look and let me know if I'm just being hasty? It looks like a decent deal, especially considering it comes with Windows 7, which I would have had to buy for any PC I would build from scratch, which would push it beyond my price range ($500):

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0377378

Any thoughts on this? Am I getting ripped off?

 

[PolishQ]

Has the Spinpoint F3 been out of stock on Newegg since the floods started? It's that only hard drive with a reasonable price.

Looks like the F4 has shot up in price, too. Anyone know an alternative source of these drives or if we can expect them to come back in stock / back to lower prices any time soon?

 

[Lkr]

Battlefield 3 upgrades needed. I haven't even attempted to run it on my desktop yet, but I will be home for thanksgiving and need to plan accordingly. I'm thinking of just going with a GPU. I only play at 1366x768. Should I go with a 6770?
Current Specs:
AMD Phenom II X4 920 @ 3.0GHz
4GB DDR3-1333
GTS 250 1gb
I have an AM3 mobo with a 785G chipset (M4A785TD-M EVO), so I don't think a CPU upgrade would be worth it at the moment.

 

[TheExodu5]

Good thing the Xonar DG is only $20 or $30 for people to have a nice option.

For sure. On my own system, I don't like putting any extra cards just because the 2x GTX 570 generate so much heat. That's the reason I returned my Xonar Essence STX...it was boiling hot.

 

[Hazaro]

Yeah, not fun having the sound card in between two GPUs

Battlefield 3 upgrades needed. I haven't even attempted to run it on my desktop yet, but I will be home for thanksgiving and need to plan accordingly. I'm thinking of just going with a GPU. I only play at 1366x768. Should I go with a 6770?
Current Specs:
AMD Phenom II X4 920 @ 3.0GHz
4GB DDR3-1333
GTS 250 1gb
I have an AM3 mobo with a 785G chipset (M4A785TD-M EVO), so I don't think a CPU upgrade would be worth it at the moment.

6790 or GTX460 (not SE version) for value.

 

[RS4-]

For sure. On my own system, I don't like putting any extra cards just because the 2x GTX 570 generate so much heat. That's the reason I returned my Xonar Essence STX...it was boiling hot.

I was close to grabbing an ST but I didn't have great speakers to pair with it; stuck with the DG instead.

Anyone still using the Dell 2407WFP or WFPHC monitors? I plan on picking up two of them just for the hell of it even though I'd like a 27 or 30"

 

[Lkr]

Yeah, not fun having the sound card in between two GPUs

6790 or GTX460 (not SE version) for value.

ok. i'll definitely be waiting for a nice black friday sale, so hopefully one of those goes on sale

 

[Prodigal]

Can't seem to get my i-2500k to OC past 3.7...kinda pitiful. I'm assuming it's a power issue at this point because right now my comp's in my garage with a built in A/C unit so I doubt it's getting that hot, though what would be the best way to monitor temps while playing a game? Just play it windowed with a program open? It seems like 30 seconds into any game my comp just shuts off when I try it at 4.0 or higher. I'm rocking a solid 500w PSU with a 560ti and 8 gigs of ram as well, but hopefully I'm wrong about the power usage.

 

[RS4-]

Can't seem to get my i-2500k to OC past 3.7...kinda pitiful. I'm assuming it's a power issue at this point because right now my comp's in my garage with a built in A/C unit so I doubt it's getting that hot, though what would be the best way to monitor temps while playing a game? Just play it windowed with a program open? It seems like 30 seconds into any game my comp just shuts off when I try it at 4.0 or higher. I'm rocking a solid 500w PSU with a 560ti and 8 gigs of ram as well, but hopefully I'm wrong about the power usage.

Is that with manual changes in bios or that Asus doctor thing or whatever its called that tries to OC for you?

 

[knitoe]

Can't seem to get my i-2500k to OC past 3.7...kinda pitiful. I'm assuming it's a power issue at this point because right now my comp's in my garage with a built in A/C unit so I doubt it's getting that hot, though what would be the best way to monitor temps while playing a game? Just play it windowed with a program open? It seems like 30 seconds into any game my comp just shuts off when I try it at 4.0 or higher. I'm rocking a solid 500w PSU with a 560ti and 8 gigs of ram as well, but hopefully I'm wrong about the power usage.

HWmonitor will tell you min/max voltage and temps. Never heard of 2500K not reaching at least 4.0GHz. What voltage are you using? You should overclock, and then, test with Prime95 for a few hours. If it's stable, then, play with your 560ti.

 

[Prodigal]

I'm using manual tweaks within the BIOS, should I try that Asus app?

And I tried stock voltage and then 1.4, though I believe I've tried up to 1.6 in the past as well.

 

[Hazaro]

I'm using manual tweaks within the BIOS, should I try that Asus app?

And I tried stock voltage and then 1.4, though I believe I've tried up to 1.6 in the past as well.

Did you read the guide in the OP?

What are your settings and hardware (all of it) and PSU Brand. 500W is more than enough. OCing a 2500K adds like 35-45W load which is nothing.

Limit your CPU volts to 1.35V max. I'd suggest 1.25V for something like 4.2Ghz. or 1.30V for 4.4Ghz+

 

[knitoe]

I'm using manual tweaks within the BIOS, should I try that Asus app?

And I tried stock voltage and then 1.4, though I believe I've tried up to 1.6 in the past as well.

1.35V should get you upto 4.5GHz, and maybe, higher. Don't go any higher if you plan on going 24/7 longterm. If it's not stable at 4.0GHz @ 1.35V, then, either you have bad luck (shit o/c CPU), or more likely, something else is going on.

 

[Prodigal]

Did you read the guide in the OP?

What are your settings and hardware (all of it) and PSU Brand. 500W is more than enough. OCing a 2500K adds like 35-45W load which is nothing.

Limit your CPU volts to 1.35V max. I'd suggest 1.25V for something like 4.2Ghz. or 1.30V for 4.4Ghz+

Just started reading the guide now so I'll see how that goes. This just seems more like a faulty hardware issue though but what do I know.

My parts are:

P67A-UD3
i-2500k
EVGA 560ti
8 gigs GSKILL
FSP Group Blue 500w
2 Seagate HDDs (320, 200)

Settings are all on auto right now except for the core multiplier that I changed from the stock 33 to 37.

 

[Neckbeard]

Just started reading the guide now

heh.

 

[Prodigal]

heh.

I mean I have experience with overclocking, so far this guide has really shown me anything I didn't know yet.

 

[Hazaro]

Isn't that PSU from 2005? Not saying it isn't up to par, but I'm pretty sure that is quite old.

I'd also lock BLCK at 100.0 and see if that helps. Some mobos can default from anywhere up to 104Mhz.

 

[Wichu]

As a reference, my i5 2500K is running stable with 100 base clock, 43 multiplier (i.e. 4.3GHz), and 1.300V core voltage. Seems to be below average, but it works.

 

[Karmum]

How much better is the performance from a GTX 460 to say like a...560 or 560 Ti? I had that one website with all of the benchmarks in my bookmarks but it's gone now. What I'm trying to say is, how much higher can I go up on the ladder before I'm really shelling out money? Since my 460 was like $180, how much higher can I get? Somewhere around $250 - $300 being the highest.

Feel like an OC'd GTX 460 isn't enough for me either. I don't plan on SLI'ing, though. I want to clarify buying two of something, by the way. I know I can't SLI my current 460 and like...a 560 or something.

 

[jstevenson]

Thinking about building something to be a gaming PC in my living room hook up to my plasma / surround. Res would max at 1920x1080

A couple issues of note -

A. Is there any sort of sound card that handles HDMI / high-res (DTS Master / Dolby Digital Plus) audio? Does any game even support those codecs? (THinking mainly for use with blu-ray, but maybe it's not needed).

B. What are the best wireless keyboard / mouse options if you're going to be across the living room. Will probably use a wireless Xbox controller as well.

C. SSD effects bootup times (usually just OS-Win7 on it right)? Any other big benefit?

D. I'm probably somewhere between excellent and enthusiast, want to do this right if I'm going to do it. Thoughts on where I should splurge vs. not (GPU / CPU / Ram)?

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

I'm wondering if i should get an aftermarket heat sink for my 2500k, im running it stock with the packed in heat sink and after an hour of prime95 my cpu is at 66c, but it idles around ~37c.

The fan at 66c is at around 1500rpms (im letting the bios dynamically change fan speed), I dont plan on OCing it, but I heard the threshold is 72 for a 2500k?

 

[Paches]

Ugh, my 500 gig storage drive just shat the bed. Great timing, huh? What are my options here folks. I understand the flooding has caused prices to go up, but are there any in particular companies or models or something that haven't been effected? I am currently only working off a 120GB SSD and a sad external USB drive.

 

[Hazaro]

How much better is the performance from a GTX 460 to say like a...560 or 560 Ti? I had that one website with all of the benchmarks in my bookmarks but it's gone now. What I'm trying to say is, how much higher can I go up on the ladder before I'm really shelling out money? Since my 460 was like $180, how much higher can I get? Somewhere around $250 - $300 being the highest.

Feel like an OC'd GTX 460 isn't enough for me either. I don't plan on SLI'ing, though. I want to clarify buying two of something, by the way. I know I can't SLI my current 460 and like...a 560 or something.

A 560 is an overclocked 460. 560Ti is a small bump and a 570 is another small bump.
You'll want to boost your 460 frames by around 10% since few 460's run at that low stock speed.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/313?vs=330

Thinking about building something to be a gaming PC in my living room hook up to my plasma / surround. Res would max at 1920x1080

A couple issues of note -

A. Is there any sort of sound card that handles HDMI / high-res (DTS Master / Dolby Digital Plus) audio? Does any game even support those codecs? (THinking mainly for use with blu-ray, but maybe it's not needed).

B. What are the best wireless keyboard / mouse options if you're going to be across the living room. Will probably use a wireless Xbox controller as well.

C. SSD effects bootup times (usually just OS-Win7 on it right)? Any other big benefit?

D. I'm probably somewhere between excellent and enthusiast, want to do this right if I'm going to do it. Thoughts on where I should splurge vs. not (GPU / CPU / Ram)?

A. I'm not positive since this is not my expertise but I believe GPUs can handle what you are talking about (they have HDMI out and sound now).
B:
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/3616
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/k750-keyboard
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/192
C. Instant OS and instant program loading too
D. Small form factor case and nice heatsinks with good fans

I'm wondering if i should get an aftermarket heat sink for my 2500k, im running it stock with the packed in heat sink and after an hour of prime95 my cpu is at 66c, but it idles around ~37c.

The fan at 66c is at around 1500rpms (im letting the bios dynamically change fan speed), I dont plan on OCing it, but I heard the threshold is 72 for a 2500k?

If just for temps don't bother. Those are fine.

Ugh, my 500 gig storage drive just shat the bed. Great timing, huh? What are my options here folks. I understand the flooding has caused prices to go up, but are there any in particular companies or models or something that haven't been effected? I am currently only working off a 120GB SSD and a sad external USB drive.

I don't know. If someone does a post or PM would be nice.

 

[Paches]

So if I am truly fucked, would you recommend just to buck up the extra dollars instead of waiting this out? I don't mind paying more if I have to because my current setup isn't very conducive to my every day PC needs.

 

[jstevenson]

A. I'm not positive since this is not my expertise but I believe GPUs can handle what you are talking about (they have HDMI out and sound now).

I guess I don't need the audio card to do any processing - my receiver will handle if it gets a bitstream, just need to be sure the GPU will output those high-end sound streams.

B:
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/3616
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/k750-keyboard
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/192

Sweet, good range there. Any mouse suggestions?

D. Small form factor case and nice heatsinks with good fans

Will that limit mobo / GPU selections? Also, going for quiet, or at least, no louder than slim Xbox/PS3 - will the small size/form cause the fans to run hotter? Any specific case suggestions out of the ones you list?

Leaning i5 2500k/580 right now, I think

 

[Hazaro]

So if I am truly fucked, would you recommend just to buck up the extra dollars instead of waiting this out? I don't mind paying more if I have to because my current setup isn't very conducive to my every day PC needs.

I'd just pony up the cash or buy used.

I guess I don't need the audio card to do any processing - my receiver will handle if it gets a bitstream, just need to be sure the GPU will output those high-end sound streams.

Sweet, good range there. Any mouse suggestions?

Will that limit mobo / GPU selections? Also, going for quiet, or at least, no louder than slim Xbox/PS3 - will the small size/form cause the fans to run hotter? Any specific case suggestions out of the ones you list?

Leaning i5 2500k/580 right now, I think

I only have experience with the Performance MX and MX Revolution (older and better one imo). Those are costly and not 'gaming' mice. I know Razer's wireless one is decent, but I find Razer products to not be the most reliable.

That is only if you want a small form factor. If you can just park a case wherever that is fine too. Some like a PC that looks like home theater equipment instead of a tower off to the side. 580 limits your options, yes. Also if possible could you survive on a $250 equivalent GPU or no? It is getting closer to the new GPU cycle and the 580 is not a great value as it stands right now.

 

[BigBlackGamer]

I'm currently overclocking my Lightning GTX580. I was running MSI Kombustor for 20 minutes without issues @ 985/1970/2100 with stock voltages but when I closed Kombustor I had a driver crash and then the GPU fan stopped spinning. I restarted my computer and the fan was working correctly again but when I downclocked to 980/1960/2100 and ran Kombustor it immediately started chugging. Is that normal and should I just turn down the clocks further or is it possible that there's some other issue?

dude you won't even get past 900mhz with stock voltage. 985 on stock voltage is impossible with the GTX 580 Lightning. If you don't wanna mess with voltages you will get around a 875mhz overclock.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

If just for temps don't bother. Those are fine.

well the issue i have is i was using the AS Suite to measure the temp (my mobo is ASUS and it came on the disc) yet when I use core temp, it says I idle around 45, and under load hit 75 (basically +10c to whatever asus suite is telling me), So i ordered the hyper 212, not looking forward to having to gut my rig down to the mobo just to get this dumb back plate installed tho.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Thinking about building something to be a gaming PC in my living room hook up to my plasma / surround. Res would max at 1920x1080

A couple issues of note -

A. Is there any sort of sound card that handles HDMI / high-res (DTS Master / Dolby Digital Plus) audio? Does any game even support those codecs? (THinking mainly for use with blu-ray, but maybe it's not needed).

B. What are the best wireless keyboard / mouse options if you're going to be across the living room. Will probably use a wireless Xbox controller as well.

C. SSD effects bootup times (usually just OS-Win7 on it right)? Any other big benefit?

D. I'm probably somewhere between excellent and enthusiast, want to do this right if I'm going to do it. Thoughts on where I should splurge vs. not (GPU / CPU / Ram)?

1) Only AMD GPU cards from Hd 5xxx series onwards will give you Full Bitstreaming of PAVP (protected audio video path) lossless audio (Blu Ray's DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby True HD -the one you mention, DD Plus, is a lossy codec which was used mainly on HD DVD) without downsampling (so for example 24bit 96Khz audio won't be downsampled to 16bit 48Khz).
There's a couple of other ways to get full bistreaming but it's no worth looking at: a few, selected, Intel's H55/57 cards are able to bs thru the onboard video out, but not all models can -for example ASRock boards don't) OR a couple of costly&hard to find audio cards like the Asus Xonar HDAV amd the Auzen Xfi HT 1.3a).
Nvidia cards officially supports DTSHD MA and DD True as of the 460 with a post release beta-driver (260.63) but it's much more difficult to find it supported in players and it's also still very buggy.

And no, there's no videogame using those lossless codecs.

You will also need to fiddle with software, since most players will downsample the audio for the lossless audio streams above 16bit/48Khz).
With AMD it is much easier to trick your pc player into thinking it's sending a downsampled stream conform to PAVP rules when in fact you are not.

 

[Hazaro]

There ya go.

So here is my question.

1. If someone wanted that stuff only for Blu-Ray what GPU/sound setup would you say? What if it is for a TV? What if it is for desk monitor?
2. For gaming doesn't matter right?

 

[Jijidasu]

I've ordered the following:

Will arrive early next week due to the Noctua NH-D14 being on back order. I'm looking forward to putting it all together and overclocking the CPU. Speaking of which, does anyone have a good guide on overclocking the i5 2500k to around 4.5Ghz?

I OCed my old i7 930 but I can't really remember what I did and if it may have changed I'll be completely lost!

I also picked up the ASUS VS248H 24" LED monitor. Absolutely fantastic!

 

[Hazaro]

Answer is on this page and the OP.

 

[The Mana Legend]

How do I know if my overclocked worked or not? I edited the numbers in the BIOS just fine, and my temperate went up for 5c, but I want a straight up number showing an increase from 3.3 to 4.0 or something along those lines.

 

[razgriz417]

Looks like the F4 has shot up in price, too. Anyone know an alternative source of these drives or if we can expect them to come back in stock / back to lower prices any time soon?

Not looking likely. Last article I saw, WD said they don't expect prices to get back to normal until after Q1 2012. I know that's not Samsung but I'm pretty sure the industry is just short stocked right now and there's no way they'd keep their prices below the competition. If you're in dire need, I'd say just bite the bullet

http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/01/technology/thailand_flood_supply_chain/

Impacted companies have said that production will likely be disrupted for at least six months. As a result, IHS iSuppli said there could be a shortage of notebooks in the first quarter of 2012.

 

[The Mana Legend]

Okay, so I found a way to determine my CPU speed.

But what I don't get are the numbers. I understand that my CPU's original speed is 3.3.

But the reading using CoreTemp says 1597.3 with a multiplier of 16.0 (and bus speed of 98 or something like that).

I have no idea what that means.

 

[knitoe]

Okay, so I found a way to determine my CPU speed.

But what I don't get are the numbers. I understand that my CPU's original speed is 3.3.

But the reading using CoreTemp says 1597.3 with a multiplier of 16.0 (and bus speed of 98 or something like that).

I have no idea what that means.

Run CPUZ. If your CPU downclocks while idling, you need to run something stressful, like Prime95, to see the speed under load. For example, a stock 2600K will run at 1600MHz idle and 3.4GHz load.

 

[The Mana Legend]

Run CPUZ. If your CPU downclocks while idling, you need to run something stressful, like Prime95, to see the speed under load.

Is that why when it first turned on it went from 3.99 (99.82 x 40) to 1.9 (99.82 x 16) (or something like that)? Because it went Idle?

Am downloading Prime95 now to see what it does.

Edit: That worked, thanks. What was confusing me was the fact that I didn't know that the numbers would drop that low in Idle. I am new to this, so it was a good learning experience.

 

[knitoe]

Is that why when it first turned on it went from 3.99 (99.82 x 40) to 1.9 (99.82 x 16) (or something like that)? Because it went Idle?

Am downloading Prime95 now to see what it does.

Most likely, now, CPUs are design to downclock to save power. You don't need max speed for things like web browsing.

 

[jstevenson]

That is only if you want a small form factor. If you can just park a case wherever that is fine too. Some like a PC that looks like home theater equipment instead of a tower off to the side. 580 limits your options, yes. Also if possible could you survive on a $250 equivalent GPU or no? It is getting closer to the new GPU cycle and the 580 is not a great value as it stands right now.

Got it. Yeah, Not worried about hiding it. Got a huge TV it can sit behind without causing issues. I don't think having it look like HT equipment is worth the tradeoff.

If you were looking to build right now, would you hold off for the next round of GPUs then? or go cheap with plans to upgrade for the next round?

1) Only AMD GPU cards from Hd 5xxx series onwards will give you Full Bitstreaming of PAVP (protected audio video path) lossless audio (Blu Ray's DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby True HD -the one you mention, DD Plus, is a lossy codec which was used mainly on HD DVD) without downsampling (so for example 24bit 96Khz audio won't be downsampled to 16bit 48Khz).
There's a couple of other ways to get full bistreaming but it's no worth looking at: a few, selected, Intel's H55/57 cards are able to bs thru the onboard video out, but not all models can -for example ASRock boards don't) OR a couple of costly&hard to find audio cards like the Asus Xonar HDAV amd the Auzen Xfi HT 1.3a).
Nvidia cards officially supports DTSHD MA and DD True as of the 460 with a post release beta-driver (260.63) but it's much more difficult to find it supported in players and it's also still very buggy.

And no, there's no videogame using those lossless codecs.

You will also need to fiddle with software, since most players will downsample the audio for the lossless audio streams above 16bit/48Khz).
With AMD it is much easier to trick your pc player into thinking it's sending a downsampled stream conform to PAVP rules when in fact you are not.

Right, sorry, brainfart on the DD+/True HD.

I have a great Onkyo receiver, obviously my PS3 can still handle blu-ray playback. Is it worth going AMD over NVidia then? I'm guessing it's just not necessary to have the full PAVP playback if games don't support - and while it'd be nice to run blu-ray through the PC (probably a better player?) - it's not worth sacrificing gaming performance when a PS3 is going to run the blu-ray just fine.

 

[Hazaro]

Got it. Yeah, Not worried about hiding it. Got a huge TV it can sit behind without causing issues. I don't think having it look like HT equipment is worth the tradeoff.

If you were looking to build right now, would you hold off for the next round of GPUs then? or go cheap with plans to upgrade for the next round?

It is up to you. The GTX 580 should certainly hold its own in power, but you might be able to get a slightly faster card that uses less power Q1 2012.
A 570 or 6970 right now is above the 560Ti/6950 sweet spot I feel. If I was buying I would be fine with a $250 card to carry me over, but it is a very personal thing on how much graphics you want.
What are you coming from?