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

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I am thinking about upgrading my graphics cards. Currently, I have two AMD 5850's Crossfired, but I am getting frustrated with driver updates. I really am uncertain about what to purchase as an upgrade. I've thought about a Nvidia GTX 570 as well as a GTX 580. Of course, I have also considered an AMD 6950 or 6970. My gaming rig's specs are the following:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 (2.6ghz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Guerrilla G1
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
HDD: Hitachi 1tb

Games I want to play with the rig:
Skyrim
Battlefield 3
Deus Ex

If this should be asked in another thread, please point me there. Thanks.
 
eBuyer have said my 560 Ti isn't faulty, and are returning me the card. So I have a few questions:

If it's not my GPU, then could my PSU be causing game crashes, and OCCT to detect errors? Anything else that could be doing this? And what other tests could I run?
 
Omikaru said:
eBuyer have said my 560 Ti isn't faulty, and are returning me the card. So I have a few questions:

If it's not my GPU, then could my PSU be causing game crashes, and OCCT to detect errors? Anything else that could be doing this? And what other tests could I run?
Click to expand...
Yes your PSU could be a cause, but it could easily be your GPU still they think is fine.

In the BIOS what are your 12v/5v/3.3v readings?
If they are ok I'd RMA the card.
 
 
Hazaro said:
Yes your PSU could be a cause, but it could easily be your GPU still they think is fine.

In the BIOS what are your 12v/5v/3.3v readings?
If they are ok I'd RMA the card.
Click to expand...

I obviously don't have the graphics card in right now since it's at eBuyer, but here's my volts:

3.3V: 3.280V
5V: 4.960V
12V: 12.096V
CPU: 1.152V

Is that okay? If it makes a difference, I'll try with the GPU in when I get it back.
 
InfiniteNine said:
Going with this stuff but feel free to suggest some alternatives since I'll be ordering in a few hours:
Mobo: ASUS P8P67 (REV 3.1) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Processor: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000
Memory: G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Video Card: MSI N460GTX Hawk GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
PSU: CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite Black Steel with painted interior ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ Black Front Trim[/B]
Click to expand...
No white case?

I've been reading the recent reviews from the past month or so on the Corsair 430w. I know it is capable of being a good unit, but the seemingly larger amount of DoA's is a bit worrying. I'm not completely sure if it is just because of a lot of human error, or if there actually is a problem. I'm tempted to go back to the Antec EA 380w, but it doesn't ship with a power cord which just complicates things a bit more.

I'd say switch to the EA: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
or BP550 if you can $55AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
Omikaru said:
I obviously don't have the graphics card in right now since it's at eBuyer, but here's my volts:

3.3V: 3.280V
5V: 4.960V
12V: 12.096V
CPU: 1.152V

Is that okay? If it makes a difference, I'll try with the GPU in when I get it back.
Click to expand...
Those are fine. It is +/- 5%, and up to 10% you want to see.
Sometimes it will be overly + or -, then even out as more load is applied.
Or sometimes the values go way off course the more load you put on it.
 
I just ran HCI memtest in Windows and I'm getting lots of errors (in the hundreds). Memtest86+ doesn't report such problems.

Could this be it, or is HCI memtest unreliable software?

Edit: Now Prime95 is reporting errors on the blend test too. Christ.

Edit 2: Going to try individual sticks of RAM in the same slot, and see what happens.

Edit 3: First stick of RAM failed Prime95 within seconds. Put the second one in the same slot, and no problem thusfar, but it hasn't been going long enough to be conclusive.

Edit 3: I've hit over 100% coverage on this stick in HCI Memtest with no errors, going to try a different RAM slot on my motherboard now just to double check it wasn't a fluke pass.
 
What's the difference between these two SSDs? The model names are different, and the one that's more inexpensive (both sale and retail price) seems to read faster, anything I may be missing or is the one for 208 the one to go with?

O27JQ.png
 
Hazaro said:
No white case?

I've been reading the recent reviews from the past month or so on the Corsair 430w. I know it is capable of being a good unit, but the seemingly larger amount of DoA's is a bit worrying. I'm not completely sure if it is just because of a lot of human error, or if there actually is a problem. I'm tempted to go back to the Antec EA 380w, but it doesn't ship with a power cord which just complicates things a bit more.

I'd say switch to the EA: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
or BP550 if you can $55AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
Click to expand...
I can get 20% off on the black case! The white one does look nice though and I'd get it if it had the same deal there.

Found a spare power cable so I'll go with the EA. Any reason I should go with the BP550? I'd be willing to upgrade with some info.
 
Scuba Steve said:
What's the difference between these two SSDs? The model names are different, and the one that's more inexpensive (both sale and retail price) seems to read faster, anything I may be missing or is the one for 208 the one to go with?

O27JQ.png
Click to expand...
Not sure why the speeds are different, it should be the same SSD but the more expensive one includes a transfer kit. Whatever that is.
 
chaosblade said:
Not sure why the speeds are different, it should be the same SSD but the more expensive one includes a transfer kit. Whatever that is.
Click to expand...

probably newer units that come with the new firmware have the faster speed advertised on the box and so they put it in the description.
older units with old box probably have outdated infos on them.

not a problem since all units can be updated to fw 0009 with a nice speed increase.

:)
 
mkenyon said:
Also, Vengeance Low Profile 8GB Kit for $40.
Click to expand...
I actually have a question about these low profile kits (which I didn't know existed until you posted that deal): are they the same hardware as the Vengeance sticks with the big heatsink on them, sans the heatsink, of course?

I only ask because my CPU fan stopped me from placing one of the larger ones into one of my RAM slots, which means that if I'm going to add more RAM in the future, I'll only have one slot to do so.

I know that the blue and black Vengeance kits are the same sticks of RAM, just in a different colour, so I'm wondering if the low profile is a similar sort of thing. If so, I may consider mixing them, otherwise I won't bother.

Just for reference, I have the Vengeance blue 8gb kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B).

The low profile 8gb kit I was looking at is this one: CML8GX3M2A1600C9B.

The speed, timings and voltage appear to be the same, for what it's worth.
 
Anyone have an idea of how the GTX560 performs vs the 6870 in newly released games? Specifically Battlefield 3. I see the GTX560 mentioned as the "recommended card" everywhere so I figure as far as games go it's the same old tale of Nvidia being preferred over AMD, however I can't find solid confirmation
 
Teetris said:
Anyone have an idea of how the GTX560 performs vs the 6870 in newly released games? Specifically Battlefield 3. I see the GTX560 mentioned as the "recommended card" everywhere so I figure as far as games go it's the same old tale of Nvidia being preferred over AMD, however I can't find solid confirmation
Click to expand...
For the money, go for the GTX560Ti if you're already thinking about the GTX560.

Otherwise, for AMD, look at the 69XX series.

-----------------

Anyone use a SFF case here?

I was looking at Silverstone SUGO and Lian-Li cases.

Been staying away from those bulky towers after my first computer build back in 2003/2004.
 
Yeah, they're the same kits. Also, the heatspreaders actually don't do very much. They became the rage in DDR2 days because DDR2 ran pretty hot. DDR3 does not, and more importantly, you don't overclock RAM with sandybridge. Older chipsets required a combination of BUS and Multiplier to get a good OC, so you had to have pretty nice RAM to get a solid OC.


claviertekky said:
Anyone use a SFF case here?

I was looking at Silverstone SUGO and Lian-Li cases.

Been staying away from those bulky towers after my first computer build back in 2003/2004.
Click to expand...
I bought the Arc Mini, and it's incredible. Certainly the way to go if you want to watercool or consider the H100. Moves more air than any mATX case out there with a total of 6 120mm fans and 1 140mm fan.

I5mvm.jpg


Zhyfi.jpg


In stock form:
Fractal-Design-Arc-Mini-front.jpg


Other SFF darlings of the OC crowd: Lian Li V600, Lian Li A04, Lian Li V354, Silverstone TJ08E, Silverstone FT-03.
 
claviertekky said:
For the money, go for the GTX560Ti if you're already thinking about the GTX560.

Otherwise, for AMD, look at the 69XX series.
Click to expand...
It's for my nephew and he's getting into PC gaming. The 560 series was my first choice, 6950 is still a bit much so I'll leave that choice behind leaving only the 560ti as it's the updated ver! Thank you :)

No benchmarks of how these perform against eachother however? I'm actually kinda curious to see the average FPS differences

claviertekky said:
Anyone use a SFF case here?

I was looking at Silverstone SUGO and Lian-Li cases.

Been staying away from those bulky towers after my first computer build back in 2003/2004.
Click to expand...
I have a Lian-Li in my apartment, however it's no SFF. Like it very much, if the smaller sizes are of the same quality I'd definitely get one
 
Alright, I'm going to start saving to build a new PC in the spring. I'm just going to go with one of the $6-700 builds, but I figure I can start stockpiling and looking for deals now.
 
The_Technomancer said:
Alright, I'm going to start saving to build a new PC in the spring. I'm just going to go with one of the $6-700 builds, but I figure I can start stockpiling and looking for deals now.
Click to expand...
Only issue with this, is that you might get a crap part, and have no way of knowing until the rig is built. By that time, you'd be past the return date from merchants and would need to RMA it, which is generally a lengthier process.
 
Hey - so Skyrim runs pretty great on medium settings with some stuff bumped up and ultra draw distance.

I want more.

Here's my current build. What would be the most affordable option to making my system MORE POWERFUL, and also giving me something I can work with on a future mega-upgrade?


Your Current Specs:

ASUS Sabertooth x58 mobo
i7-930 @ 2.80 GHz
6 GB DDR3.
GeForce GTS 250
850 W Corsair TX

Budget: Would like to keep it under $500. More bang for buck would be nice.

Main Use: Gaming

Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080

List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: Skyrim is the only thing I'm playing right now. I'm not a heavy PC gamer, but there are some games where I'd prefer PC over that. Skyrim being the most recent - if I can get this on Ultra, I shouldn't have problems for a while.

Are reusing any parts?: Well sure - I'm just upgrading. :)

When will you build?: ASAP ideally

Will you be overclocking?: I would if I knew how. I have a boss heatsink, so it shouldn't be a problem in terms of heat.
 
nicoga3000 said:
Here's my current build. What would be the most affordable option to making my system MORE POWERFUL, and also giving me something I can work with on a future mega-upgrade?


Your Current Specs:

ASUS Sabertooth x58 mobo
i7-930 @ 2.80 GHz
6 GB DDR3.
GeForce GTS 250
850 W Corsair TX
Click to expand...
Overclock the CPU and buy a video card, probably a GTX 570, but you could buy pretty much any single GPU card for under $500 (except the 580 Lightning AFAIK). If you already have a good CPU cooler you're good to go there, just check out some OCing guides for your board, should be some out there for that one for sure.
 
Yep, just OC that CPU and get a better videocard. Socket 1366 i7 isn't going to bottleneck any game. Per chance, do you know what kind of memory you have? You'll want to make sure it's rated for higher voltage, since you'll need to up your BUS for a proper OC. 1.65V RAM is a safe bet.

*edit*

Here's a guide for Nehalem procs
 
nicoga3000 said:
Rad, that's easy enough. Is a 570 a solid "bang for your buck" deal, or am I just throwing moneys away?
Click to expand...
It's all relative to your budget, and what is acceptable performance. But, the 570 is a great card.
 
mkenyon said:
It's all relative to your budget, and what is acceptable performance. But, the 570 is a great card.
Click to expand...

Reading a bit about it and some reviews through the internet make it sound like a huge step up in improvement. That in itself sounds good enough for me to work with right now. :) Thanks!
 
Might want to wait for the 560Ti (448), even if you don't buy it. Not sure when it's supposed to be released (end of the month?) but we might see price drops on higher end cards since that's supposed to cost the same as the current 560Ti. Should be a lot closer in performance to the 570 though, and there's no way they can justify a $100 price gap between the two cards. I think the 570 could drop about $50 or so, but that's just a guess.

But that all depends on whether some savings is worth waiting on. There's always something to wait for, if it's not this, it might be next-gen cards or whatever.
 
chaosblade said:
Might want to wait for the 560Ti (448), even if you don't buy it. Not sure when it's supposed to be released (end of the month?) but we might see price drops on higher end cards since that's supposed to cost the same as the current 560Ti. Should be a lot closer in performance to the 570 though, and there's no way they can justify a $100 price gap between the two cards. I think the 570 could drop about $50 or so, but that's just a guess.
Click to expand...

Not likely. Just another SKU to get people to shell out some money.
 
I'll post it here too...

I compiled some early results for the new 3960K processor from a Chinese website.

However, those guys are fools, they didn't test the CPU in games properly by moving to a point where the GPU could be CPU limited... running the games at 1680x1050? Seriously? No wonder there is no difference... they're basically running at the same clock speed, of course there is going to be no difference at that resolution.

Honestly, there probably won't be that much difference in games anyway, unless you can overclock it higher, or games become more multi-threaded.

benches7mw0x.gif
 
Actually, how you remove a GPU from a gaming benchmark for CPU is set the graphics to an absolute minimum to remove the GPU bottleneck. Increasing the resolution would bring the benches closer together, as the only thing limited at that point would be GPU.
 
Gloomfire said:
It keeps happening over multiple sets of drivers.
Click to expand...

I get that when my overclock is unstable

factory overclocked card ? then downclock it

if not ? doesn't look too good then .. try it in another PC else I'd RMA


ColonialRaptor said:
I'll post it here too...

I compiled some early results for the new 3960K processor from a Chinese website.
Click to expand...

More WATT is better ? I like how they think :p

3dmark11 difference is kinda low when compared to the difference between a 2500K and a 2600K. The much better physics tests on the latter would cause a much greater difference in final score than the 100 points in this test?
 
Google the error message, seems to be a common problem. "Display driver stopped resonding" brings up all sorts of threads regarding the issue, here's two that could conceivably point in the right direction:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-and-has/4e8ed22d-fe52-4321-b83c-3ecd6650f91d (first answer)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/gg487368.aspx (false positive from a
windows feature)

This one's specific to AMD cards, but looking at the list, it could be all manner of things, so they likely apply to Nvidia cards as well:
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticle...TIKMDAGhasstoppedrespondingerrormessages.aspx

Seems like a troubleshooting nightmare, I'm sorry to say.
 
Built my PC in late June and have enjoyed it thus far, until recently it has had some issues with the blue screen of death. Seems to happen maybe once or twice a week. Happens randomly as far as I can tell; I can be browsing the web, playing a game, typing in Word, whatever, I can't find a common culprit. This may be the wrong thread for this, but can anyone perhaps diagnose this, or give me some direction, based on some cell phone pics I took?

IMG_0148296.jpg


IMG_0147297.jpg


Interestingly, it always hangs at "75" when dumping physical memory. I have my OS and a couple programs on a SSD and everything else on a HDD if that is potentially related to this.

EDIT: Come to think of it, I have my GPU and CPU overclocked, so I'm going to disable my GPU overclock for now and see if it occurs again. If it does, I'll then disable my CPU overclock and see if it occurs. If it does, then I'll have to come up with another route for investigation.
 
mkenyon said:
Yeah, they're the same kits. Also, the heatspreaders actually don't do very much. They became the rage in DDR2 days because DDR2 ran pretty hot. DDR3 does not, and more importantly, you don't overclock RAM with sandybridge. Older chipsets required a combination of BUS and Multiplier to get a good OC, so you had to have pretty nice RAM to get a solid OC.



I bought the Arc Mini, and it's incredible. Certainly the way to go if you want to watercool or consider the H100. Moves more air than any mATX case out there with a total of 6 120mm fans and 1 140mm fan.

I5mvm.jpg


Zhyfi.jpg


In stock form:
Fractal-Design-Arc-Mini-front.jpg


Other SFF darlings of the OC crowd: Lian Li V600, Lian Li A04, Lian Li V354, Silverstone TJ08E, Silverstone FT-03.
Click to expand...

What video cards are those?
 
Gloomfire said:
XR1UX.jpg
[/IMG]

This keeps happening. Is it my video card or monitor?
Click to expand...
It's a TDR error, and nVidia's forums have been awash with people complaining about them recently.

If this is on a GTX 560 Ti, nVidia are aware of this problem and are hoping to address it.

On other nVidia cards, the latest drivers are supposed to fix this problem. May also want to see this thread on their official forums.

If the latest WHQL drivers don't work, try the latest Beta drivers and see if that's any better.
 
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