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[Foffy]

Hey there. Before I ask you guys for help, I'd like to first admit I know very little about upgrading PCs, and have only gotten into PC gaming in the last few years. But, I do feel a need to upgrade, as the games I tend to enjoy the most (Witcher 2 and ArmA II) do not run flawlessly on high settings. That's where you guys come in; I'd like to get some advice on what I should upgrade to. Ideally, I'd like specs to run both games at very high, or perhaps have a machine capable of doing so when ArmA III launches later this year. But considering how unfamiliar I am with this stuff, I don't even know all of the information I should be posting to help you guys help me. I'm gonna try though, and any feedback on what I should get/what may be needed on my end to help me figure that out is absolutely welcome.

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.20 GHz
Mainboard - Gigabyte GA-770T-USB3
RAM - 4GB DDR3
Graphics Card - NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT

I'm sure overclocking may not give me a big boost (I haven't even tried any of this), and I'm leaning more to the side that perhaps upgrading something will fix it. I hope my specs aren't pedestrian, but I want my machine to be a body of Reggie. ):

EDIT: Also sorry if asking for this stuff isn't allowed. Most of the stuff in the OP seems helpful if you're making an all new rig, but I just want to power up the one I have.

 

[mkenyon]

:-D

I dont care that I'm quoting the picture, it needs to be seen as many times as possible.

Also, you dirty, dirty, dirty man. Screw Brazzers sub, this pic bests it by a long shot.

 

[scogoth]

They are hooked up. Impressions will be forthcoming. Playing BF3 in 4800x900. They are awesome so far. Quality is insane...everything you'd want in a gaming monitor.

1. You are obscene and I love it
2. PSSSHT wheres 5760x1080, why you cheating yourself of pixels!

 

[Loofy]

So I just ordered this to get use out of my old PS2 controllers.
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B004YNIOL6/

Anyone know if it works perfectly for every game, including rumble?

 

[sk3tch]

I dont care that I'm quoting the picture, it needs to be seen as many times as possible.

Also, you dirty, dirty, dirty man. Screw Brazzers sub, this pic bests it by a long shot.

Good call, mkenyon. I never thought I'd find a monitor for FPS that I like better than my Acer GD235HZ 120hz...but I have x3!!!

1. You are obscene and I love it
2. PSSSHT wheres 5760x1080, why you cheating yourself of pixels!

Haha...thanks man. I dunno - won't let me do 5760x1080...even though my native desktop resolution is 5760x1080@120hz. BF3 only shows 4800x900@120hz as an option. Not wanting to go 60hz with these babies.

They are tight. I've only played two rounds, but it's a HUGE difference over the prior 3x 23" ASUS VH236H setup I had (which I only bought to test if I liked surround gaming - I did). Honestly guys...these BenQ's are the shizzle. FWIW, using the XL2420TX as my primary (middle) monitor and two XL2420T's as flank (left and right) monitors. Works great. There is no difference between the three other than the XL2420TX has the built-in emitter and there's Nvidia 3D v2 glasses in there.

 

[Hellish]

Good call, mkenyon. I never thought I'd find a monitor for FPS that I like better than my Acer GD235HZ 120hz...but I have x3!!!



Haha...thanks man. I dunno - won't let me do 5760x1080...even though my native desktop resolution is 5760x1080@120hz. BF3 only shows 4800x900@120hz as an option. Not wanting to go 60hz with these babies.

They are tight. I've only played two rounds, but it's a HUGE difference over the prior 3x 23" ASUS VH236H setup I had (which I only bought to test if I liked surround gaming - I did). Honestly guys...these BenQ's are the shizzle. FWIW, using the XL2420TX as my primary (middle) monitor and two XL2420T's as flank (left and right) monitors. Works great. There is no difference between the three other than the XL2420TX has the built-in emitter and there's Nvidia 3D v2 glasses in there.

If my gtx 680 didnt RSoD I would have 3 of these as well, also moved from 3 asus vh236h monitors lol, currently only on one xl2420t.

 

[Smokey]

Yep. The entire Asus Z77 line is out. Gigabyte and MSI are reviewed but I don't know if they're in stock.



For the 680 or the rest of the pack?

Was thinking more for rest of the pack. 680 has had the driver features since its launch driver.

Any impressions from non 680 owners?

Good call, mkenyon. I never thought I'd find a monitor for FPS that I like better than my Acer GD235HZ 120hz...but I have x3!!!



Haha...thanks man. I dunno - won't let me do 5760x1080...even though my native desktop resolution is 5760x1080@120hz. BF3 only shows 4800x900@120hz as an option. Not wanting to go 60hz with these babies.

They are tight. I've only played two rounds, but it's a HUGE difference over the prior 3x 23" ASUS VH236H setup I had (which I only bought to test if I liked surround gaming - I did). Honestly guys...these BenQ's are the shizzle. FWIW, using the XL2420TX as my primary (middle) monitor and two XL2420T's as flank (left and right) monitors. Works great. There is no difference between the three other than the XL2420TX has the built-in emitter and there's Nvidia 3D v2 glasses in there.

Have you tried researching why you can't run at 5760x1080 @ 120hz? I haven't heard that before and makes me a little wary.

 

[sk3tch]

If my gtx 680 didnt RSoD I would have 3 of these as well, also moved from 3 asus vh236h monitors lol, currently only on one xl2420t.

Nice! I dumped them for $100 each within like 1 hour. Not bad considering they only cost me $130 each and I used them for about 45+ days. It was worth it to make sure I dug surround gaming with triple monitor. I was VERY skeptical...but for BF3 it's quite helpful.

Have you tried researching why you can't run at 5760x1080 @ 120hz? I haven't heard that before and makes me a little wary.

No luck thus far. Found this: http://gaming.benq.com/downloads/ but it's only compatible with 5xx series and prior video cards. Strange.

I haven't done any tweaking whatsoever and honestly...it's such a better experience I don't care about the missing pixels. 4800x900 will do fine for now. Perhaps they will have an update soon.

 

[Arken2121]

Nice! I dumped them for $100 each within like 1 hour. Not bad considering they only cost me $130 each and I used them for about 45+ days. It was worth it to make sure I dug surround gaming with triple monitor. I was VERY skeptical...but for BF3 it's quite helpful.



No luck thus far. Found this: http://gaming.benq.com/downloads/ but it's only compatible with 5xx series and prior video cards. Strange.

I haven't done any tweaking whatsoever and honestly...it's such a better experience I don't care about the missing pixels. 4800x900 will do fine for now. Perhaps they will have an update soon.

Has it been a while since you upgraded to this new setup?

 

[Smokey]

I haven't done any tweaking whatsoever and honestly...it's such a better experience I don't care about the missing pixels. 4800x900 will do fine for now. Perhaps they will have an update soon.

Weird.

This review is running on 3 3D Asus monitors @ 6040x1080 on multiple titles. He may not be playing at 120hz though.

 

[Hawk269]

As I am prepping to build my new rig, I formatted my 2 HDD's and now only have the SSD left that has windows on it. However, whenever I try to format it within Windows or Withing the Samsung Software it says I cannot format the drive siince it is the OS drive.

What do I do?

I have read I can just leave it and when I boot up the new rig insert the Windows CD and it will ask if I want to format the dirve. Is this how I should do it?

Thanks for any quick response as I plan to finish removing all my existing hardware out of my current case tonight and start building the new rig tomorrow morning.

 

[sk3tch]

Weird.

This review is running on 3 3D Asus monitors @ 6040x1080 on multiple titles. He may not be playing at 120hz though.

Downside to this is I don't have a lot of free time. I will see what I can dig up tomorrow. I ran 5760x1080 no problem at 60hz. I'm guessing this is a 120hz and BF3 issue. I don't want to install too many games (just BF3 for now) because I'm overhauling everything once my Rampage IV Extreme arrives tomorrow. The MSI Big Bang XPower-II will house my Radeon 7970 CFX and the Rampage IV Extreme will house the quad-SLI 680s.

 

[mkenyon]

Downside to this is I don't have a lot of free time. I will see what I can dig up tomorrow. I ran 5760x1080 no problem at 60hz. I'm guessing this is a 120hz and BF3 issue. I don't want to install too many games (just BF3 for now) because I'm overhauling everything once my Rampage IV Extreme arrives tomorrow. The MSI Big Bang XPower-II will house my Radeon 7970 CFX and the Rampage IV Extreme will house the quad-SLI 680s.

If you ever need help streamlining your living space by getting rid of hardware, let me know. Lookin' out for your best interests sk3tch.

 

[LordAlu]

As I am prepping to build my new rig, I formatted my 2 HDD's and now only have the SSD left that has windows on it. However, whenever I try to format it within Windows or Withing the Samsung Software it says I cannot format the drive siince it is the OS drive.

What do I do?

I have read I can just leave it and when I boot up the new rig insert the Windows CD and it will ask if I want to format the dirve. Is this how I should do it?

Thanks for any quick response as I plan to finish removing all my existing hardware out of my current case tonight and start building the new rig tomorrow morning.

This is what you do, yes. Remove your other drives so you only have the SSD in (just to prevent Windows putting anything on them when you install). Pop the disc in and boot off the disc. When it asks you where to install, you'll only have the SSD showing. Choose that and make sure to format it first. Voila.

 

[Stronghammer22]

Hi, I'm currently overclocking my 2500K. I have it at 4.7GHz, the temps when running Prime95 hover around 60. It has been running for a few hours staying at the same temperature without any issue, it's using 1.340 volts. Looks fine so far, yes? Anyway, a couple of things. My fans... What RPM should they be running at? My CPU fan is going at 1800RPM which seems to be as high as it wants to go and one of my chassis fans (possibly the others, they don't show up in Asrock Extreme Tuner, they're working though) is running at 1000RPM. It is a 200mm fan. I've switched the fans between "Full On" and "Auto", as well as changed the desired temperatures/levels but they don't really seem to change speed. Actually, the CPU does fluctuate a little but the chassis fan is constantly 1000RPM. Any ideas?

Getting back to the overclock, is there much point in trying to go higher? Or should I just work on lowering the voltage as much as possible at 4.7 without the system becoming unstable?

Thanks.

 

[Razgreez]

Ok so this is the build i'm about to pull the trigger on:

Intel Core i7-2600
Inno3D GTX680 2GB
Baobab Xtreme 600W
Lian-Li PC-Q08
Zotac Z68-ITX AE
Corsair CMV8GX3M2A1333C9 2x4GB 1.5V

Any glaring issues that might be apparent?

 

[AkIRA_22]

Christ, what an ordeal. All my parts came yesterday and I assembled everything and it's now up and running.

http://photobucket.com/fractal_arc_360_rad_cpu_gpu

It's in a Fractal Arc, so I've had to do a bunch of Modding to get the big boy XSPC RX360 to fit and the pipes to run comfortably.. However I like having such a potent system in a smaller case than normal.

It's an i7-930 @ 3.8GHz (slowly working it up to 4.0) and the 7970 is maxed out in Catalyst. The furmark passed at only 43 degrees and intelburn test and Prime95 pushing the CPU to nearly 60. I'm very, very happy.

EDIT: Got it to 4006 MHz using 190.9 x 21.

 

[EatChildren]

My folks got a new laptop (Toshiba L750), and turning it on today I reckon the touch pad is out. Moving the cursor is very sticky and in my opinion unresponsive, especially when doing small, precise movements. Sensitivity has been cranked and the problem persists.

My sister's boyfriend reckons it's fine, and dependant on how you hold your finger on the touch pad.

I'm telling my folks to take it back, but am I correct? I'm really not laptop savvy.

 

[sk3tch]

Christ, what an ordeal. All my parts came yesterday and I assembled everything and it's now up and running.

*snip*

It's in a Fractal Arc, so I've had to do a bunch of Modding to get the big boy XSPC RX360 to fit and the pipes to run comfortably.. However I like having such a potent system in a smaller case than normal.

It's an i7-930 @ 3.8GHz (slowly working it up to 4.0) and the 7970 is maxed out in Catalyst. The furmark passed at only 43 degrees and intelburn test and Prime95 pushing the CPU to nearly 60. I'm very, very happy.

Looks awesome! Nice work. Your first time doing water or have you done it before? Looks like a pro job.

My folks got a new laptop (Toshiba L750), and turning it on today I reckon the touch pad is out. Moving the cursor is very sticky and in my opinion unresponsive, especially when doing small, precise movements. Sensitivity has been cranked and the problem persists.

My sister's boyfriend reckons it's fine, and dependant on how you hold your finger on the touch pad.

I'm telling my folks to take it back, but am I correct? I'm really not laptop savvy.

Any way to test a floor model at a local shop to see if there is the same behavior? If not, you can always err on the side of caution and exchange it while you can...or contact Toshiba about it and see what they have to say. You definitely want to iron out issues within the first 15-30 days and not just deal with it.

 

[EatChildren]

Any way to test a floor model at a local shop to see if there is the same behavior? If not, you can always err on the side of caution and exchange it while you can...or contact Toshiba about it and see what they have to say. You definitely want to iron out issues within the first 15-30 days and not just deal with it.

Thanks man. I tried the floor model and didn't think there was a problem to the extent of what I'm experiencing now, but you know how it is, it's easy to forget just how it felt.

It's annoying as I've been up at their place for Easter and they wanted me around while they bought this, but I'm heading home tomorrow. I'm advising they take it back within two weeks (it does have twelve months warranty, but yeah) for a replacement, just in case.

 

[sk3tch]

Thanks man. I tried the floor model and didn't think there was a problem to the extent of what I'm experiencing now, but you know how it is, it's easy to forget just how it felt.

It's annoying as I've been up at their place for Easter and they wanted me around while they bought this, but I'm heading home tomorrow. I'm advising they take it back within two weeks (it does have twelve months warranty, but yeah) for a replacement, just in case.

If all else fails, there is always buying an external mouse. I typically use one with all of my portables.

 

[Karmum]

Dunno if posted, but Newegg has a GTX 550 Ti for $79.99 AR + free shipping.

Need to use promo code EMCYTZT1440 as well to get it down to $79.99 AR.

The more deals of other video cards I see, the more I wish I didn't buy a 256-bit GTX 460. Goddamnit.

 

[1-D_FTW]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003V4AK2K/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Eh. I've finally caved. Not sure it was a wise route to go down (since I'll become obsessed with getting games to run close to 120fps now), but I have. 329.99 after rebate with the Nvision kit build-in/glasses included is a good deal.

Here's my rationale:

- It's not Nvision 2? So what. Nvision 2 is all about the brightness. I run my current monitor at a brightness of 12. With 100 brightness in 3D, it's still going to be brighter than I normally view things. I'm not one of those people who sets their monitor to "brighter than the sun" mode.

- It's got a glossy screen? Good. I don't have a window or lamp behind me, so reflections aren't an issue anyways. Without reflections, glossy is actually a positive.

- It's CCFL lighting? Good. It's superior to the cheap LEDs they use anyway. The figure 8 defect in the Asus VG278H is what drove me away from caving to the high price point.

- It's only 23 inches? All right. No way to spin that one positively. Except to say I might just buy this:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...d=1082808&p_id=5401&seq=1&format=1#largeimage

This way when I wanted bigger FOV, I could just swing it closer. I currently use a VESA mount at the front edge of my desk. This is the reason I was against the 27 inch Samsung 120hz monitor. No VESA mounts. And with no VESA mounts, that 27 inch Samsung would have looked no bigger than my current 24 inch.

EDIT: Ended up cancelling. Reasons are listed in this thread.

 

[scogoth]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003V4AK2K/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Eh. I've finally caved. Not sure it was a wise route to go down (since I'll become obsessed with getting games to run close to 120fps now), but I have. 329.99 after rebate with the Nvision kit build-in/glasses included is a good deal.

Here's my rationale:

- It's not Nvision 2? So what. Nvision 2 is all about the brightness. I run my current monitor at a brightness of 12. With 100 brightness in 3D, it's still going to be brighter than I normally view things. I'm not one of those people who sets their monitor to "brighter than the sun" mode.

- It's got a glossy screen? Good. I don't have a window or lamp behind me, so reflections aren't an issue anyways. Without reflections, glossy is actually a positive.

- It's CCFL lighting? Good. It's superior to the cheap LEDs they use anyway. The figure 8 defect in the Asus VG278H is what drove me away from caving to the high price point.

- It's only 23 inches? All right. No way to spin that one positively. Except to say I might just buy this:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...d=1082808&p_id=5401&seq=1&format=1#largeimage

This way when I wanted bigger FOV, I could just swing it closer. I currently use a VESA mount at the front edge of my desk. This is the reason I was against the 27 inch Samsung 120hz monitor. No VESA mounts. And with no VESA mounts, that 27 inch Samsung would have looked no bigger than my current 24 inch.

Been using that screen for awhile, absolutely nothing wrong with it. If you are mostly looking for 120hz it's perfect. If you want 3D I'd buy the vision 2 glasses , they help even with a vision 1 display.

 

[NH Apache]

Alright guys, I've got a problem I can't solve.

A month ago, I built 4 comps, all the same. All the same setup. Parts as follows:

(2) Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($129.99 ea)

(1) MSI Z68A-G43 (G3) LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($117.99 ea)

(1) Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 ...($209.99 ea)

(1) CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9B ($49.99 ea)

(1) HIS H687FN1GD Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ($169.99 ea)

(1) COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...($29.99 ea)

(1) LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM ($17.99 ea)

(1) XFX Core Edition PRO550W (P1-550S-XXB9) 550W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified ...($69.99 ea)

(1) Rosewill CHALLENGER-U3 Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ,comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top ... ($50.00)

On two of the computers, off random boots, a message will pop up in the startup, pre-bios, That says:

Overclocking has failed. Press F1 to boot, F2 to enter Bios setup.

They aren't overclocked. I measured the peak wattage and it hovers around the 200 range, well within the 550 power supply.

What I've done so far:

Updated Bios to newest revisions.
Contacted manufacturer. They said check the memory. Ran memtest86 for hours. No problems.
Also purchased new UPS backup with Voltage monitoring, etc. HERE

I'm at a loss. I'm guessing it could be a faulty power supply, cpu, or board. Anyone have anything like this happen to them?

 

[fivehorizons]

I have been looking and see that Sandy Bridge doesn't support PCIe 3. Building a PC now and wanting to get a GTX 680 how much of a limitation does this put on the card?

 

[1-D_FTW]

Been using that screen for awhile, absolutely nothing wrong with it. If you are mostly looking for 120hz it's perfect. If you want 3D I'd buy the vision 2 glasses , they help even with a vision 1 display.

Really? Because I heard they were a step back in the sense they were more reflective than the original (defintely a bad thing with regards to reflections and a glossy screen).

The only other thing they really do is brightness. And as I said, I don't really have an issue with active glasses and plasma. So I can't for the life of me imagine I'm going to think it's too dim when it's running at 100 brightness.

EDIT: And I'm pretty sure they don't even do that. I was under the impression they need to sync with the lighting in order for that to happen. Otherwise they're simply backwards compatible (but with a poor design that makes them reflect off the screen).

 

[scogoth]

Alright guys, I've got a problem I can't solve.

A month ago, I built 4 comps, all the same. All the same setup. Parts as follows:



On two of the computers, off random boots, a message will pop up in the startup, pre-bios, That says:

Overclocking has failed. Press F1 to boot, F2 to enter Bios setup.

They aren't overclocked. I measured the peak wattage and it hovers around the 200 range, well within the 550 power supply.

What I've done so far:

Updated Bios to newest revisions.
Contacted manufacturer. They said check the memory. Ran memtest86 for hours. No problems.
Also purchased new UPS backup with Voltage monitoring, etc. HERE

I'm at a loss. I'm guessing it could be a faulty power supply, cpu, or board. Anyone have anything like this happen to them?

I usually only get that after a power failure or an actual failed overclock. Still see the issue after you got the ups?

I have been looking and see that Sandy Bridge doesn't support PCIe 3. Building a PC now and wanting to get a GTX 680 how much of a limitation does this put on the card?

None in a 16x PCIe 2.0 slot.

 

[scogoth]

Really? Because I heard they were a step back in the sense they were more reflective than the original (defintely a bad thing with regards to reflections and a glossy screen).

The only other thing they really do is brightness. And as I said, I don't really have an issue with active glasses and plasma. So I can't for the life of me imagine I'm going to think it's too dim when it's running at 100 brightness.

EDIT: And I'm pretty sure they don't even do that. I has under the impression they need to sync with the lighting in order for that to happen. Otherwise they're simply backwards compatible (but with a poor design that makes them reflect off the screen).

The vision 2 glasses are larger which helps a lot and their transition time from opera closed is quicker to help with crosstalk. The only difference between vision 2 and vision 1 displays is the light boost which is effectively overdrive for the backlight. Not sure where reflections come into play with glasses.

 

[NH Apache]

I usually only get that after a power failure or an actual failed overclock. Still see the issue after you got the ups?



None in a 16x PCIe 2.0 slot.

Yup

I would think that it would be a voltage variance in the Power supply. That would indicate to the chip that a bad overclock happened, maybe?

 

[scogoth]

Yup

I would think that it would be a voltage variance in the Power supply. That would indicate to the chip that a bad overclock happened, maybe?

Could be but I hope not, xfx is supposed to be a good brand.

Edit: looks like a high 12v rail under load with this psu which could be messing up the motherboard but it is still within spec.

 

[Hazaro]

Alright guys, I've got a problem I can't solve.

A month ago, I built 4 comps, all the same. All the same setup. Parts as follows:



On two of the computers, off random boots, a message will pop up in the startup, pre-bios, That says:

Overclocking has failed. Press F1 to boot, F2 to enter Bios setup.

They aren't overclocked. I measured the peak wattage and it hovers around the 200 range, well within the 550 power supply.

What I've done so far:

Updated Bios to newest revisions.
Contacted manufacturer. They said check the memory. Ran memtest86 for hours. No problems.
Also purchased new UPS backup with Voltage monitoring, etc. HERE

I'm at a loss. I'm guessing it could be a faulty power supply, cpu, or board. Anyone have anything like this happen to them?

Remove RAM and run only 1 stick in the slot the motherboard tells you.
Set RAM to specifications in BIOS.

Do you lose your BIOS settings when this 'OC failed' happens?

Check your PSU voltages in the BIOS as well to see if they are horribly off. (3.3,5,12V)

Could be but I hope not, xfx is supposed to be a good brand.

Edit: looks like a high 12v rail under load with this psu which could be messing up the motherboard but it is still within spec.

Right, the only thing is that the 12V gets high under load, but stays well within spec. Especially at these loads it should be a non-issue. It's a good PSU.

 

[NH Apache]

Could be but I hope not, xfx is supposed to be a good brand.

Edit: looks like a high 12v rail under load with this psu which could be messing up the motherboard but it is still within spec.

Remove RAM and run only 1 stick in the slot the motherboard tells you.
Set RAM to specifications in BIOS.

Do you lose your BIOS settings when this 'OC failed' happens?

Check your PSU voltages in the BIOS as well to see if they are horribly off. (3.3,5,12V)

Right, the only thing is that the 12V gets high under load, but stays well within spec. Especially at these loads it should be a non-issue. It's a good PSU.

I'm not near the pcs now, but I distinctly remember using HWmonitor and noticing I was getting 8.3 volts on my 12 volt reading.

I'll call XFX soon and see if this is common.

Hazaro, I'll check the memory stick when I get access to the computers tomorrow. If the user clicks enter bios, it resets everything, which resets the raid 1, which changes the bcd. Its a big hassle to get back into working mode.

The problem is that it occurs randomly. I've disabled an option on the bios called overspeed protection on the z68a-g43 on one of the computers and it hasn't acted up in 5 days, but I'm not sure that's the fix.

Thanks, guys.

 

[1-D_FTW]

The vision 2 glasses are larger which helps a lot and their transition time from opera closed is quicker to help with crosstalk. The only difference between vision 2 and vision 1 displays is the light boost which is effectively overdrive for the backlight. Not sure where reflections come into play with glasses.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...ws/47332-nvidia-3d-vision-2-kit-review-4.html

The change in design also leads directly towards the one major SNAFU. By increasing the glasses’ depth NVIDIA was left with a large, boring expanse of plastic between the outer frame and the lenses. Their solution: cover it in a glossy finish. It sure looks great but the reflective coating projects a mirror image of the screen directly into your peripheral vision (see image above). Luckily, this isn’t too distracting most of the time but move your head a fraction of an inch and be prepared to a light show where there shouldn’t be one. Hopefully NVIDIA will address this in the near future because it can become very annoying when gaming.


If you already have a 3D Vision kit, there are obviously very few reasons to upgrade the glasses but the LightBoost-certified monitors are drool worthy. Even when using the original kit, the VG278H’s improvements over the Samsung 2233RZ and even Acer’s GD235GHZ were almost indescribable. Games were bright, sharp and ghosting-free instead of dull, slightly fuzzy and filled with blurred high speed movements.

After re-reading that review, it does seem 3D Vision 2 is that much better (if you have a Vision 2 monitor). Order was shipping soon, but I managed to cancel it just in time. I guess I'll just wait for a good deal on that. If I'm going to go this route, I'd at least like the option to do 3D with acceptable levels of crosstalk.

 

[clav]

I'm not near the pcs now, but I distinctly remember using HWmonitor and noticing I was getting 8.3 volts on my 12 volt reading.

I'll call XFX soon and see if this is common.

Hazaro, I'll check the memory stick when I get access to the computers tomorrow. If the user clicks enter bios, it resets everything, which resets the raid 1, which changes the bcd. Its a big hassle to get back into working mode.

The problem is that it occurs randomly. I've disabled an option on the bios called overspeed protection on the z68a-g43 on one of the computers and it hasn't acted up in 5 days, but I'm not sure that's the fix.

Thanks, guys.

hwmonitor's voltage readings are unreliable.

Take a multimeter and measure your rails through a connector.

 

[NH Apache]

hwmonitor's voltage readings are unreliable.

Take a multimeter and measure your rails through a connector.

Any connector? They don't all supply 12v, do they?

 

[clav]

Any connector? They don't all supply 12v, do they?

Easiest one to measure 12V is through the molex connector. (4 pin PATA/IDE one)

You should be seeing readings over 12.00V for a decent power supply including under load.

It's either the power or the motherboard according to the information you reported.

 

[NH Apache]

Easiest one to measure 12V is through the molex connector. (4 pin PATA/IDE one)

You should be seeing readings over 12.00V for a decent power supply including under load.

It's either the power or the motherboard according to the information you reported.

Cool. I've been looking for an excuse to get a new multimeter. Thanks for the info.

 

[jarosh]

Guys, I'm replacing my old, busted ASUS P8P67-M PRO with a newer Asus mATX board, namely the P8Z77-M PRO.

What's the deal with this new feature ASUS is pushing: LucidLogix Virtu MVP?

Here's the PR:

LucidLogix Virtu MVP

Up to 60% Hybrid Graphics Boost and 3X Faster Video Conversion
LucidLogix Virtu MVP featuring HyperFormance™ Technology boosts your discrete graphics card up to 60% beyond its original performance through the test of 3DMark Vantage. Designed for Intel® processor graphics and Windows® 7 PCs, it perfectly combines the performance of discrete graphics cards with fast computing iGPU. Also with the newly designed Virtual Sync, users can enjoy a smoother gaming experience by eliminating tearing artifacts. LucidLogix Virtu MVP could also dynamically assign tasks to the best available graphics resource, based on power, performance and system load. This allows users to fully utilize 3x faster video conversion with Intel® Quick Sync Video technology while retaining high-end 3D rendering and gaming performance, provided by both NVIDIA® and AMD graphic cards. When the discrete graphics card is not required, power consumption goes automatically down to near zero, making the system more environmentally-friendly. For users searching for perfection, LucidLogix Virtu MVP provides great graphical performance and the best flexibility and efficiency.

So, what is this, some sort of virtual SLI/CFX with a discrete GPU and the Sandy/Ivy Bridge on-board GPU? Is it worth a damn?

 

[scogoth]

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...ws/47332-nvidia-3d-vision-2-kit-review-4.html

The change in design also leads directly towards the one major SNAFU. By increasing the glasses’ depth NVIDIA was left with a large, boring expanse of plastic between the outer frame and the lenses. Their solution: cover it in a glossy finish. It sure looks great but the reflective coating projects a mirror image of the screen directly into your peripheral vision (see image above). Luckily, this isn’t too distracting most of the time but move your head a fraction of an inch and be prepared to a light show where there shouldn’t be one. Hopefully NVIDIA will address this in the near future because it can become very annoying when gaming.


If you already have a 3D Vision kit, there are obviously very few reasons to upgrade the glasses but the LightBoost-certified monitors are drool worthy. Even when using the original kit, the VG278H’s improvements over the Samsung 2233RZ and even Acer’s GD235GHZ were almost indescribable. Games were bright, sharp and ghosting-free instead of dull, slightly fuzzy and filled with blurred high speed movements.

After re-reading that review, it does seem 3D Vision 2 is that much better (if you have a Vision 2 monitor). Order was shipping soon, but I managed to cancel it just in time. I guess I'll just wait for a good deal on that. If I'm going to go this route, I'd at least like the option to do 3D with acceptable levels of crosstalk.

Never noticed any reflection, guess I got lucky with lighting. For me the larger lens are invaluable. Again this is all for 3d but 120hz is where the money is.

 

[Shahadan]

LucidLogix Virtu MVP

This is the worst name ever for something.

 

[scogoth]

Guys, I'm replacing my old, busted ASUS P8P67-M PRO with a newer Asus mATX board, namely the P8Z77-M PRO.

What's the deal with this new feature ASUS is pushing: LucidLogix Virtu MVP?

Here's the PR:



So, what is this, some sort of virtual SLI/CFX with a discrete GPU and the Sandy/Ivy Bridge on-board GPU? Is it worth a damn?

It does a few different things

1. Saves power by idling your discrete GPU and using your integrated GPU while in windows
2. Hyperformance basically is a nifty way to prevent redundant rendering by using the integrated GPU as a frame buffer and predictive frame calculator to tell the discrete GPU when to discard redundant frames. Only useful is your fps is greater than your refresh rate
3. New type of vsync which does not limit the the rendering to refresh rate but uses the Integrated GPU as a frame buffer to create vsync but keeps responsiveness up elminating input lag. Only useful if your fps is greater than your refresh rate

It's using GPU virtualization to do some cool new things but really only beneficial to people with really high performance machines. Biggest drawback is it does not work with SLI/cfx so until they add that its usefullness is limited.

 

[Hawk269]

Christ, what an ordeal. All my parts came yesterday and I assembled everything and it's now up and running.

It's in a Fractal Arc, so I've had to do a bunch of Modding to get the big boy XSPC RX360 to fit and the pipes to run comfortably.. However I like having such a potent system in a smaller case than normal.

It's an i7-930 @ 3.8GHz (slowly working it up to 4.0) and the 7970 is maxed out in Catalyst. The furmark passed at only 43 degrees and intelburn test and Prime95 pushing the CPU to nearly 60. I'm very, very happy.

Images are not showing...can you repost them. I am starting my new build today and just love looking at pics of builds.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Thanks for the thread OP. With the NVIDIA 680 out now, i took the plunge and ordered a whole new computer. It helped narrow down my parts. Its the first one i'll be building from scratch. In the past i'd order Alienware computers, but they're mark-up is higher now than in the past.

 

[LordCanti]

Is there a way to force P8 mode on a GTX 580? I updated to the newest drivers (Why God? Why?) and now I'm stuck in P0 mode. It's like I've got a space heater running even when the computer is idling.

I've checked GPU usage, and it's flatlined. For some reason it's just not occurring to the GPU that it's not in use and that it should clock down.

 

[Hawk269]

Thanks for the thread OP. With the NVIDIA 680 out now, i took the plunge and ordered a whole new computer. It helped narrow down my parts. Its the first one i'll be building from scratch. In the past i'd order Alienware computers, but they're mark-up is higher now than in the past.

Good move man. Years ago, I would do the same, but reading this thread and having a friend that knew how to build got me started and now that is the only way for me to go...because of this thread and the help of many of the users here, I have built around 5 Rigs in the last year for myself, family and friends. It is a very fun, yet expensive hobby, but doing it yourself it great.

What kind of parts are you using? Sounds like you got a 680 so that is a good way to start, but many first timers dont go top of the line out the gate, so it would be interesting to see the rest of the specs for your new rig! Have fun too!!

 

[scogoth]

Is there a way to force P8 mode on a GTX 580? I updated to the newest drivers (Why God? Why?) and now I'm stuck in P0 mode. It's like I've got a space heater running even when the computer is idling.

I've checked GPU usage, and it's flatlined. For some reason it's just not occurring to the GPU that it's not in use and that it should clock down.

Go back to whql drivers.

 

[scogoth]

CPU: 3770k
PSU: Seasonic 1000W Platinum
HDD: either vertex3 (reuse) or vertex 4 (I'll be the guinea pig) in RAID-0
RAID controller: need recommendations, will be expanding beyond 2 drives in raid
Mobo: RoG Maximus formula, EVGA Z77 FTW or Asus sabertooth (love the look and built in chipset cooling, just wish it had a plx chip for SLI)
GPU: 2x GTX 680 hydro copper (will most likely add on 1 or 2 later)
Waterblock: Apogee HD special edition (already have)
Rads: XSPC RX360s
Case: Case labs M8 4x 360mm or NZXT Switch 810 1x 480mm plus 1x 240mm
Res: DD Monsoon
Pump: D5

This is what I got so far. Suggestions welcome especially on the motherboard and case.

 

[LordCanti]

Go back to whql drivers.

That's what I'm on, unfortunately. I guess I'll try the beta drivers. If only I could remember what driver I was previously on.

Edit: Tried to update to the newest beta drivers, and the installation failed. Nvidia Control Panel won't open, but my card will go into P8 mode now. Success? I think I'm going to nuke this computer from orbit when my SSD arrives next week.

Or have you added a second monitor? Even if you're only cloning a monitor and HDTV (and have one turned on at a time), this will prevent it from entering a lower power state. Only one can be marked active at a time.

Yes I did. If you'll excuse me, I'll be banging my head against a wall.

Spoiler

Problem solved, I suppose. Guess I'll only keep one active at a time from now on. Thanks.

 

[1-D_FTW]

That's what I'm on, unfortunately. I guess I'll try the beta drivers. If only I could remember what driver I was previously on.

Have you possibly locked the voltage in MSI Afterburner? You can disable the feature.

Or have you added a second monitor? Even if you're only cloning a monitor and HDTV (and have one turned on at a time), this will prevent it from entering a lower power state. Only one can be marked active at a time.

EDIT: Guess you've somewhat solved things.