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[Skel1ingt0n]

Alrighty... so what do people think of my new storage setup? I only have four SATA HDD bays, so I'm trying to make the most of them. I intend to build a new computer later this year, and I plan to move my new drives to the new computer when the time comes. So, this is an early start to my upgrades. Plus, I have some God-awful malware and am wanting to do a new Windows install, so this is a good chance to knock out two birds with one stone.

Current setup:

60GB Agility 2 SSD for boot/Firefox/tTunes/small programs
120GB Kingston V-Series SSD for temporary storage/scratch/etc
300GB Velociraptor 10K HDD for games
2TB Western Digital Green for media

Considered new setup:

120GB Crucial M4 SSD - My thinking here is that I like having a dedicated Windows/C Drive. But, I need more space than 60GB for my most used apps. This will be $100 on Monday, so the price is reasonable. Also, I want reliability for my C Drive, and the M4 seems to be the go-to "reliable" drive.

240 Mushkin Chronos Deluxe - This will be my new games drive. I've done pretty well staying in the confines of my 300GB VR for a couple years. Yeah, I'd love a 512GB drive, but that's WAY out of my price range. The VR just isn't fast enough any more. Loading maps on BF3 and even launching games are the slowest moments using my computer, and so I'm looking to fix that. The Mushkin seems to be the fastest drive you can get within reason. I'm not so much interested in reliability for my games - just the speed.

Then I'll probably eBay off the Kingston SSD, the Agility Drive, and my VR drive to help offset the price of a 2TB WD Black for other stuff, and keep the WD Green for Media. Unless someone can think of a good use for them? I can't do anything to my work laptop because we use proprietary software; and none of them seem like they'd be a good upgrade for my iMac. And I already have enough external storage for the time being.

I'm in no hurry... would like to have the parts by next weekend so I can have a "weekend project." Should I consider different drives? Or do are the ones I chose seem good for the stated reasons? Thanks!

 

[chaosblade]

I have a 2500k and a Biostar TZ77XE3.

I've overclocked my cpu to 4ghz, however I'm having some strange issues with voltage. I have my voltage fixed at 1.25 volts in the bios. Below is a screengrab with the cpu idle.

http://i.imgur.com/0MvTj.png

In idle it's at the correct voltage.

However when the cpu is under load the voltage drops to 1.176 volts.

http://i.imgur.com/m8JAx.png

It seems to me the voltage should be lower in idle and higher under load. Does anyone know how I can fix this?

I'd guess that's vdroop. I don't remember what you'd want to do about that, I think LLC has something to do with it, but I'm honestly going off my bad memory since I hardly paid any attention to that when I OC'd :lol

As long as you're stable under fairly long term loads (like an overnight test) I'd say you're fine.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Don't bother with the 64gb SSD if you don't have a new data drive for it, get a 128 so you don't want to strangle yourself a few days later.

Agreed. I just mentioned in my post above (sorry for the double) that 60GB just isn't enough. I'm pretty lean, but it's time to bump up to at least 90 and preferably 120.

 

[MrBig]

Then I'll probably eBay off the Kingston SSD, the Agility Drive, and my VR drive to help offset the price of a 2TB WD Black for other stuff, and keep the WD Green for Media. Unless someone can think of a good use for them? I can't do anything to my work laptop because we use proprietary software; and none of them seem like they'd be a good upgrade for my iMac. And I already have enough external storage for the time being.

You could use the 60gb drive for an SRT set-up with the WD Black.

Forgot to mention I might get a 500GB somewhere for cheap

You'd still regret it if you use your computer for anything beyond casual internet stuff. A computer is useless without reliable storage, don't cheap out on the data drive either.

 

[Hagi]

Hey guys got everything up and running thanks for all the help. What's the ideal idle temp as right now Core Temp is reading 46 degrees C which seems pretty high. I haven't had a chance to run any games yet but when i was updating windows it read the max at 93 :/

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

You could use the 60gb drive for an SRT set-up with the WD Black.

Thank you for the input, it's appreciated. But I'm using a first-gen Core i processor (i7 930), so I don't believe it supports SRT. Plus, I don't think I'd have the SATA slot for it.

 

[Revengeance]

I'm basically having the same problem as proximity (I have an Asrock z77 extreme4). When I power on, all the fans start, etc, but there is no beep, and nothing displays on the monitor.

I've tried it with and without the graphics card, same result. I've tried with the motherboard battery out (as advised further up in the thread.)

So I'm thinking that I may have a bad board.

I also noticed that the product code for the ram I'm using - 2x4gb kingston hyper x - is not listed on the asrock memory support list page. Could this be the problem?

This is my first full build, so I'm a bit lost.

 

[ProXimity]

I'm basically having the same problem as proximity (I have an Asrock z77 extreme4). When I power on, all the fans start, etc, but there is no beep, and nothing displays on the monitor.

I've tried it with and without the graphics card, same result. I've tried with the motherboard battery out (as advised further up in the thread.)

So I'm thinking that I may have a bad board.

I also noticed that the product code for the ram I'm using - 2x4gb kingston hyper x - is not listed on the asrock memory support list page. Could this be the problem?

This is my first full build, so I'm a bit lost.

If you solve it, shoot me a pm or i'll check back here. What works for you may work for me.

 

[EternalGamer]

I'm basically having the same problem as proximity (I have an Asrock z77 extreme4). When I power on, all the fans start, etc, but there is no beep, and nothing displays on the monitor.

I've tried it with and without the graphics card, same result. I've tried with the motherboard battery out (as advised further up in the thread.)

So I'm thinking that I may have a bad board.

I also noticed that the product code for the ram I'm using - 2x4gb kingston hyper x - is not listed on the asrock memory support list page. Could this be the problem?

This is my first full build, so I'm a bit lost.

Are you plugging in ALL power outlets on the motherboard? I had this same problem when I put together a build last year. Turns out there were extra power connectors on the motherboard I wasn't connecting to the power supply.

 

[Revengeance]

I get error code A2 on the debug thingy. Looking at the newegg reviews for the motherboard, I'm not the only one. Tthe Asrock support replies to those reviews are less than helpful. Think I'm just going to RMA.

So sad

 

[dope4goldrope]

Hey guys, I'm looking for a bit of a hand here. Building a PC for my brother's birthday, gaming is the focus here. Budget is $750 (but willing to go a bit higher to say ~800 if something is just that much better). No parts being reused.


List of games he'd like to play: (as you can see the ceiling is pretty much any popular game, which I think would account for most of anything underneath that)
- Diablo 3
- Starcraft 2
- Battlefield 3
- Minecraft
- Mass Effect 3
- Batman: Arkham City

Here's what I came up with:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8V4d
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8V4d/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8V4d/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($157.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($118.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($115.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 1GB Video Card ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 600W ATX12V Power Supply ($74.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SN-208BB DVD/CD Writer ($20.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $741.90
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-26 14:56 EDT-0400)

Thoughts? Much appreciation in advance to anyone that can help! This is my first build. D:

 

[Ace 8095]

Does anyone know how to change the offset to negative in the Biostar TZ77XE3 BIOS?

 

[Doc Holliday]

Hey guys got everything up and running thanks for all the help. What's the ideal idle temp as right now Core Temp is reading 46 degrees C which seems pretty high. I haven't had a chance to run any games yet but when i was updating windows it read the max at 93 :/

What cpu again? That seems high for idle, and 93 is definitely too hot. Sounds like it could be bad thermal paste application or heatsink installed incorrectly. Im on a IB 3770k and im runnin 32c idle, i actally think that's a little warm. But on full load i stay under 65c.

 

[Hawk269]

My Antec Eleven Hundred full case didn't come with SATA cables. I am missing the cables necessary to finish this build. I need a cord that fits into the SATA POWER slot on the optical and hard drives. I also don't think I have the right cable to hook up my graphics card.

Usually cases do not come with Sata cables or cables for your graphics card. Sata cables usually come with the motherboard and the only cables you need for GPU are power cables that come with your power supply.

 

[Hagi]

i5 2500k the heatsink is on and locked but yeah i was thinking it might be the thermal paste. I tried out Torchlight and the max temp was just under 70 which is weird because it's hardly a graphic intensive game.

 

[MrBig]

My Antec Eleven Hundred full case didn't come with SATA cables. I am missing the cables necessary to finish this build. I need a cord that fits into the SATA POWER slot on the optical and hard drives. I also don't think I have the right cable to hook up my graphics card.

Usually cases do not come with Sata cables or cables for your graphics card. Sata cables usually come with the motherboard and the only cables you need for GPU are power cables that come with your power supply.

Yeah, the mobo should have had 3 sata III cables packaged with it.

 

[Ty4on]

i5 2500k the heatsink is on and locked but yeah i was thinking it might be the thermal paste. I tried out Torchlight and the max temp was just under 70 which is weird because it's hardly a graphic intensive game.

Could still be somewhat CPU-intensive. Unless your case is super hot inside (bad airflow) it's probably the thermal paste.

 

[DurielBlack]

Alright, I got some overtime coming up at work, and will hopefully soon be ordering a new PC. Figure I would post the list of parts I am considering ordering here for advice.

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V PRO LGA 1155
I'm always on the fence about what motherboard to get. I need somethng that can handle overlocking easily, RAID, and SLI.

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K
Can't justify the extra cost for the I7's. Most games don't take advantage of 4 threads let alone 8, the I-5 can be OC'd anyways, and I do very little video transcoding and the like.

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Whats better? 2x8gb or 4x4gb? Either way 16gb should be enough for the life of the PC. The 4x4gb kits seem a bit cheaper, so I will probably go with one of those.

GPU: EVGA 02G-P4-2678-KR GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB
Getting one of these, with plans to upgrade to SLI at some point.

2x HD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB
Two for a mirrored RAID setup.

PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850
More than enough to power this system, with room to grow for SLI.

DVD: ASUS 24X DVD Burner

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO

Wireless Adapter: TP-LINK TL-WN722N Wireless Adapter High Gain
I'd just use my current PCI adapter, but I also have a PCI sound card and I don't think I can get both of those in there with SLI'd 670's.

Other notes:

No SSD. I don't really care about load times either for booting up or loading screens in games. SSD's seem to have very little impact on in-game performance from what I have seen, and they are too pricey to get in any significant capacity.

No case, I have a full-tower Thermaltake Armor case for my current PC. I'll be gutting it and transferring the stuff to another full-tower case I have lying around, and putting the new parts in it.

Total price for all of the above right now on Newegg is $1471.90. I still need a copy of Windows 7, and can't seem to get anything free/cheap through work so that will add another hundred to the price.

Currently using a 22" 1680x1050 monitor. Once I build up enough funds I'd like to get three new monitors and a second 670. If I were to buy today I might pick up three of these as they seem to be decent without costing an arm and a leg.

I'd like any input you guys can throw my way.

 

[MrBig]

Looks good to me. Be aware the the F3's are just re-branded Seagate Barracudas now though.
The Asus board has a 50Mbs (6 MB/s) wifi adapter built in, so no need for a separate thing. No reviews have really gone over it, but I'll be able to tell if its good or not on Wednesday.

 

[ProXimity]

So my motherboard has Dr. Debug and it shows 53, which I think (according to the manual that calls it 0x53) means I've got a bad memory stick. If one is bad, do they all fail? I don't understand. I've mixed em around a bunch. is it really that bad if i accidentally touched the gold plated teeth?

 

[haikira]

Was hoping, someone could keep me right here. I'm using this Motherboard and CPU.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8P67_PRO_REV_31/#overview

+

Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor



I'm a little confused about the difference between sandybridge and Ivybridge. Can someone help me out, with answering if my motherboard supports Ivybridge. I noticed they're both called socket 1155. Was thinking of a quick upgrade to Intel Core i7 3770K, just before Max Payne 3.

 

[MrBig]

I'm a little confused about the difference between sandybridge and Ivybridge. Can someone help me out, with answering if my motherboard supports Ivybridge. I noticed they're both called socket 1155. Was thinking of a quick upgrade to Intel Core i7 3770K, just before Max Payne 3.

Yes it will but you will hardly see a difference between the 2500k and 3770k just for a game.

 

[Hagi]

Cool i'll get some thermal paste and some cleaner on monday. Here's another query i'm hooked up to my HDTV but the recommended settings for the resolution doesn't work and i'm forced to go down to 1200x800 as thats the only resolution that fits the screen properly. It's probably a simple solution but for now i'm stumped.

 

[ProXimity]

Also, my power supply came with two 8-pin (one solid 8 the other 4+4) and a 24-pin connector. I can only find a place for one 8 pin and the 24 pin. The other 8 pin is unused. Which 8 pin should I be using? Do I need both?

 

[MrBig]

Also, my power supply came with two 8-pin (one solid 8 the other 4+4) and a 24-pin connector. I can only find a place for one 8 pin and the 24 pin. The other 8 pin is unused. Which 8 pin should I be using? Do I need both?

I'm not exactly sure, but I think its the 4+4 you should be using, since some boards just use 4 pins.

Cool i'll get some thermal paste and some cleaner on monday. Here's another query i'm hooked up to my HDTV but the recommended settings for the resolution doesn't work and i'm forced to go down to 1200x800 as thats the only resolution that fits the screen properly. It's probably a simple solution but for now i'm stumped.

Nvidia? Go to the "adjust desktop size and position" section of the control panel, select the display, and mess around with the positioning and custom resolutions. AMD should have something similar.

 

[BackwardsSuggestions]

It works! New Motherboard (stayed with my trusty Asus P8Z68-V LX. Love that board. My new GTX 570 is slightly too big for my case, so will need a bigger one but for now, it works. Front panel headphone jack doesn't work and I seem to be missing a cable that was there before, but I'll take a look at that again. For now, it all works.

CPU fans though...Man, I hate them. Once you use them once, getting the 2 little pegs back as small as possible to fit in the hole is impossible. Hate them.

 

[haikira]

Yes it will but you will hardly see a difference between the 2500k and 3770k just for a game.

Yeah. Right after posting, I started checking reviews and benchmarks, and decided the same thing. Think I was probably overreacting.

 

[Prodigal]

Any of you guys have recommendations for a pretty good pair of 2.1 speakers? Not looking to break the bank, but my current pair have crapped out on me.

 

[LordAlu]

Also, my power supply came with two 8-pin (one solid 8 the other 4+4) and a 24-pin connector. I can only find a place for one 8 pin and the 24 pin. The other 8 pin is unused. Which 8 pin should I be using? Do I need both?

Check your motherboard manual, mine for example allows me to use just a 4-pin in the 8-pin slot. It's unlikely, but it's possible you need to just put a 4-pin in at the correct end rather than the 8-pin one?

Any of you guys have recommendations for a pretty good pair of 2.1 speakers? Not looking to break the bank, but my current pair have crapped out on me.

Apparently, these are really good if you want a set of cheap speakers.

 

[Infinite Justice]

So my motherboard has Dr. Debug and it shows 53, which I think (according to the manual that calls it 0x53) means I've got a bad memory stick. If one is bad, do they all fail? I don't understand. I've mixed em around a bunch. is it really that bad if i accidentally touched the gold plated teeth?

You should be able to try them separately by just loading one stick then start the computer (might have to place it in a specific slot though if your MB is like that).

and those things can get fucked due to the possible static electricity you might have generated, especially if you touch the gold teeth since those are the contacts (normally you are told to hold a memory module by the 2 sides that opposite each other horizontally or the "edges").

 

[knitoe]

Just finish reinstalling Windows from:

Raid0 OCZ Agility 3 60GB

Raid0 Samsung 830 128GB

It benches are much faster, but I don't notice any difference in normal use. Going from HDD to SSD was a huge upgrade. Getting faster a SSD not so much. Instead, go with a reliable larger cheap SSD vs one faster.

 

[ProXimity]

Best Buy wanted to charge me $30 for 15 minutes of work. I called to see if I could borrow a stick of ram for a few seconds to troubleshoot my system and that's what I was told. I'm pretty sure it's the mobo now, though. It's either that or a bad batch of RAM.

Dr. Debug code 53 is for a failure to initialize memory. I tried booting with each stick of ram. None worked. However, when I boot with no ram, I still get the same error. I read that that means it's the motherboard, because it would say something else if no ram was plugged in at all.

 

[Hazaro]

Also, my power supply came with two 8-pin (one solid 8 the other 4+4) and a 24-pin connector. I can only find a place for one 8 pin and the 24 pin. The other 8 pin is unused. Which 8 pin should I be using? Do I need both?

I've seen PSUs come with a 4+4 and a solid 8 for whatever reason.
I use the 4+4

 

[ProXimity]

You guys are going to want to rip my dick off and beat me to death with it...


I was just being too timid. I didn't push the RAM all the way in for fear of breaking it (the DIMM slots on this mobo are super tight). I'm not sure if they're all like that, but it seems to be working now.

 

[clav]

You guys are going to want to rip my dick off and beat me to death with it...


I was just being too timid. I didn't push the RAM all the way in for fear of breaking it (the DIMM slots on this mobo are super tight). I'm not sure if they're all like that, but it seems to be working now.

It's ok man.


It works!

 

[Infinite Justice]

You guys are going to want to rip my dick off and beat me to death with it...


I was just being too timid. I didn't push the RAM all the way in for fear of breaking it (the DIMM slots on this mobo are super tight). I'm not sure if they're all like that, but it seems to be working now.

so the hooks at the ends of the slot did not snap in place this whole time then?


anyways if its working then that's good since you don't have a possible RMA on your head now, so congratulations man.

 

[Ace 8095]

Are there any biostar TZ77XE3 owners who know how to set the vcore offset to a negative amount?

 

[kaskade]

You guys are going to want to rip my dick off and beat me to death with it...


I was just being too timid. I didn't push the RAM all the way in for fear of breaking it (the DIMM slots on this mobo are super tight). I'm not sure if they're all like that, but it seems to be working now.

RAM is weird. It always feels like you are pushing it in too hard. Glad it works now though.

 

[Edvardelis]

I've seen PSUs come with a 4+4 and a solid 8 for whatever reason.
I use the 4+4

My Seasonic Platinum 860 came with both but I couldn't get one of the two plugs on the 4+4 to stay seated on my ASUS P8Z77-V Pro motherboard for whatever reason so I switched to the 8 pin plug.

 

[PGamer]

Crossposting from the tech support thread in the OT as this is PC related and this thread is much more active:

Quick hard drive question for you guys. I'm selling off an old HDD and I want to completely wipe it before I do. What's the best program for doing this? I know of DBAN but I'd prefer something within Windows that doesn't make my computer unusable for the duration of the program running (I'm not trying to wipe my OS drive). Thanks!

 

[Hazaro]

Crossposting from the tech support thread in the OT as this is PC related and this thread is much more active:

Quick hard drive question for you guys. I'm selling off an old HDD and I want to completely wipe it before I do. What's the best program for doing this? I know of DBAN but I'd prefer something within Windows that doesn't make my computer unusable for the duration of the program running (I'm not trying to wipe my OS drive). Thanks!

CCleaner has a wipe function. Dunno how good it is but it has german words on the options.

 

[MrBig]

CCleaner has a wipe function. Dunno how good it is but it has german words on the options.

CCleaner is the best choice (though I haven't updated to the newest version after they dropped support for the free version so I don't know if they stripped anything). It offers quite a few wiping methods. The 1 pass option should do you fine.

 

[PGamer]

CCleaner has a wipe function. Dunno how good it is but it has german words on the options.

CCleaner is the best choice (though I haven't updated to the newest version after they dropped support for the free version so I don't know if they stripped anything). It offers quite a few wiping methods. The 1 pass option should do you fine.

Yeah I tried CCleaner before with the 1 pass option but just to be sure I tried running drive recovery software on the disk afterwards (Recuva) and it was still showing a bunch of files so I don't know what's up with that. Maybe I'll take another look at it.

 

[MrBig]

Yeah I tried CCleaner before with the 1 pass option but just to be sure I tried running drive recovery software on the disk afterwards (Recuva) and it was still showing a bunch of files so I don't know what's up with that. Maybe I'll take another look at it.

Do some more passes on it then. If they're still recoverable I'd just go with one of the linux options.

 

[ParityBit]

What do you guys with the H100 use for after market fans? One of the fans on mine is making a really bad squeal noise an I would like to replace both of them.

Thanks!

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[clav]

Yeah I tried CCleaner before with the 1 pass option but just to be sure I tried running drive recovery software on the disk afterwards (Recuva) and it was still showing a bunch of files so I don't know what's up with that. Maybe I'll take another look at it.

Use Ccleaner.

More passes the better although that will require time.

One pass is not enough.

---------

If you want to go old school, then check out DBAN.

http://www.dban.org/download

 

[MrBig]

Anyone have any suggestions?

Gentle Typhoons, Noctuas, noiseblockers, anything should work.

 

[ParityBit]

Gentle Typhoons, Noctuas, noiseblockers, anything should work.

I used some silverstones and they did not work. They would stop at times on thier own. But both the stock ones and the ones which came with my case both worked and never stopped.

The stock were way too loud and the ones that came with my case were great until one started squealing!

 

[Hawk269]

You guys are going to want to rip my dick off and beat me to death with it...


I was just being too timid. I didn't push the RAM all the way in for fear of breaking it (the DIMM slots on this mobo are super tight). I'm not sure if they're all like that, but it seems to be working now.

lol. never heard someone say something like that. Usually it is "I am a retard" or "Im Stupid", but "rip my dick off and beat me to death with it"...that is a new one!!!

Glad you found your problem.

 

[MrCunningham]

You guys are going to want to rip my dick off and beat me to death with it...


I was just being too timid. I didn't push the RAM all the way in for fear of breaking it (the DIMM slots on this mobo are super tight). I'm not sure if they're all like that, but it seems to be working now.

They usually are the most simplistic things that get overlooked.

But, at least it works.