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[Hazaro]

Has anyone on GAF had a CX430 V2 Power Supply fail on them? Please PM me.
I don't have access to the numbers it's sold, but I'm thinking of at least putting up an alternative lower budget PSU in the $45-50 range no rebate. Problem is everything is 'on sale' so we'll see.
Tempted to just go back to the Antec EA380 and make sure people know it needs a power cord.

Or you know, make a non crap 350W PSU for $40. Should not be this hard.

I saw the Corsair on sale at Best Buy for 90, but could I have gotten away with using the 400W supply with the GPU?

Until it failed on you, possibly.
You'd be taxing it and it's not a good supply at all.

Right choice was to swap it out. Now if it was an Antec EA380W, then yes you could run it just fine.

 

[OriginofHysteria]

Is there a difference between OEM and third party video cards?

 

[Beef]

My four year old 8800 GTS 512 just fried yesterday playing skyrim, .

I'm not a huge graphics enthusiast, playing stuff on medium is fine with me. Should I grab an old 4870 at $60 , or hold out for a 6850 @ $140 before rebate?

I just want something to play skyrim / Diablo 3 at medium/high (1920x1080) and play games at medium for the next few years. Can I just run with the 4870? The price/performance ratio is just SOOOOOOOO Good.

 

[mug]

My four year old 8800 GTS 512 just fried yesterday playing skyrim, .

I'm not a huge graphics enthusiast, playing stuff on medium is fine with me. Should I grab an old 4870 at $60 , or hold out for a 6850 @ $140 before rebate?

I just want something to play skyrim / Diablo 3 at medium/high (1920x1080) and play games at medium for the next few years. Can I just run with the 4870? The price/performance ratio is just SOOOOOOOO Good.

I'd go for the 6850 to be honest but if you're looking for best bargain entry level card go for the 5770 or 6770. They only require one PCI-E input and produce fantastic results.

 

[Beef]

I'd go for the 6850 to be honest but if you're looking for best bargain entry level card go for the 5770 or 6770. They only require one PCI-E input and produce fantastic results.

If you have a look at http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/common_gpus.html, the 4870 ($60) actually outperforms the 5770 ($110). Am I interpreting that wrong or are you saying 4870 is just not reliable?

 

[FoolsRun]

If you have a look at http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/common_gpus.html, the 4870 ($60) actually outperforms the 5770 ($110). Am I interpreting that wrong or are you saying 4870 is just not reliable?

The chart also shows a single 4870 beating a 4870X2. I'm not sure what happened there. . .

Other sites show a 4870 and 5770 having roughly comparable performance. The 5770 is a newer and better designed card (smaller, less heat, consumes less power), but for $60 the 4870 isn't a bad deal. I had a 4870 for three years and was pretty happy with it, although it always ran hot (idled around 80 degrees), and consumed around 40 more watts at idle and while playing games than my current Nvidia 570 does.

In any case, it's a step up from your 8800. It is a 3.5 year-old card, though.

 

[GoingGreen]

Hey GAF! After waiting, what seems like an eternity, I finally have an account here. This is my first post and am excited to be here.

I'm in the market to build a new PC that will last me for another seven years. The last computer I built was in 2005 and it is having a ton of problems now.


Here's what I am building. Any suggestions on what I don't need or should change?

ASUS LGA 1155 - Z68 - PCIe 3.0 and UEFI BIOS Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2200 LGA 1155 Motherboards P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3

Intel Core i7-2600 Processor 3.4GHz 8 MB Cache Socket LGA1155

Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3, i5, i7

Corsair HX Professional Series 750-Watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply Compatible with Core i7 and Core i5

Corsair Force Series GT 120 GB SATA 2.5-Inch SATA III Solid State Drive

Corsair Hydro Series H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Quiet Mid-Tower Cases

Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6850 PCIE Video Card

Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit

 

[Celcius]

I'd swap the intel 2600 for a 2600k. Do you plan to use the pc for gaming?

 

[TheExodu5]

I'd go with the AX650 or AX750 over the HX. You're spending a fair amount on a good PSU, so might as well get one that's 80 Plus Gold rated. You could also easily drop down to a TX650 modular if you wanted to save a few bucks.

Drop the CPU to a 2500K. The 2600 is not overclockable. You could go to a 2600K, but that will only give you ~20% more performance in applications that support 8 cores, and it won't help you for gaming at all.

Spend the extra money saved on a better video card. The rest of your build is very high end, but your video card is mid-range. If you're willing, you could go up to the 7970, but that's $550 so would up your price by a fair bit. Otherwise, you could at least go mid-high end with something like a 6950 2GB or a GTX 560 Ti.

 

[GoingGreen]

I'd swap the intel 2600 for a 2600k. Do you plan to use the pc for gaming?

What's the difference between the 2600 and 2600k?

 

[mug]

If you have a look at http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/common_gpus.html, the 4870 ($60) actually outperforms the 5770 ($110). Am I interpreting that wrong or are you saying 4870 is just not reliable?

As stated by the previous poster the card definitely runs hot. Also it isn't a card that supports directx11. Also the 5770/6770's usually go on sale for ~$85 shipped.

 

[chaosblade]

What's the difference between the 2600 and 2600k?

k version can be overclocked, the other one can't. k CPUs also have better integrated GPUs, but you're buying one so that doesn't really matter. And unless you know you're going to want to use Hyperthreading, the 2500k is a much better value since HT is the only difference.

And I'm seconding/thirding stepping up that 6850, it's not a bad card, but you're going to want to upgrade it pretty soon if you do get it. Might as well just get something that's going to last you a while longer. 2GB 6950 is a good choice, but will probably cost an extra $100.

Edit: Win7 Home Premium is fine too unless you need the extra enterprise networking features in Professional or use some horribly written old software that doesn't work with the standard Win7 compatibility mode.

 

[wwm0nkey]

My PC absolutely refuses to overclock :/

 

[GoingGreen]

k version can be overclocked, the other one can't. k CPUs also have better integrated GPUs, but you're buying one so that doesn't really matter. And unless you know you're going to want to use Hyperthreading, the 2500k is a much better value since HT is the only difference.

And I'm seconding/thirding stepping up that 6850, it's not a bad card, but you're going to want to upgrade it pretty soon if you do get it. Might as well just get something that's going to last you a while longer. 2GB 6950 is a good choice, but will probably cost an extra $100.

Awesome thanks for the info. I've changed out the 2600 for the 2600k. I do want a high end processor and this will need to last me for probably another 7 - 10 hours disregarding some huge paradigm shift in computing.

Any particular brand you recommend for the 6950?

I do basic home networking using Samba with my NAS and Boxee, so will Win 7 pro support that?

I thought that HP didn't do Windows XP comparability mode

 

[chaosblade]

My PC absolutely refuses to overclock :/

CPU/motherboard? And PSU?

Awesome thanks for the info. I've changed out the 2600 for the 2600k. I do want a high end processor and this will need to last me for probably another 7 - 10 hours disregarding some huge paradigm shift in computing.

Any particular brand you recommend for the 6950?

2500k is definitely high end. If you want the 2600k that's fine though, just be aware you won't see any benefits from the extra $100 outside of applications that benefit from HT (like encoding, compression, etc).

And anything with a good cooler is fine (MSI TwinFrozr is a popular choice).

I do basic home networking using Samba with my NAS and Boxee, so will Win 7 pro support that?

I thought that HP didn't do Windows XP comparability mode

Home Premium has compatibility modes for Windows versions dating back to Win95 I think (confirmed that), including XP with various service packs. Professional includes Windows XP that you can run in a Virtual Machine which is for those few programs that the main compatibility mode won't run.

As for the networking question, I would assume any version would support that, but I'm not 100% sure so don't take my word for it. Someone else could probably give you more info on that.

 

[TheExodu5]

You're definitely going to want to be upgrading before 7-10 years. I'm not saying it won't last that long, but considering a new console generation is around the corner, your system will likely start feeling long in the tooth after 5 years. A 5 year old system today of similar caliber would be an E6600 with an 8800GT. It would still be a capable system, but it's certainly going to feel dated.

If we're not counting gaming, then yeah, your system should still feel plenty fast even then. The SSD will be one of the biggest boons to general computering and will keep your system feeling responsive throughout its life.

I'm not saying you shouldn't plan on keeping a system for that long, but since you're building yourself a very nice platform with a high end case and motherboard, I'd certainly plan on at least one video card upgrade throughout its life.

 

[GoingGreen]

CPU/motherboard? And PSU?



2500k is definitely high end. If you want the 2600k that's fine though, just be aware you won't see any benefits from the extra $100 outside of applications that benefit from HT (like encoding, compression, etc).

And anything with a good color is fine (MSI TwinFrozr is a popular choice).

Honestly I don't do much encoding like I use to do, but I want the power to be there if I need it.

Maybe I'm being crazy as well, but currently I have the intel q6600 and since that is a quad core I'd atleast like to go higher than 4 quads when upgrading

 

[GoingGreen]

You're definitely going to want to be upgrading before 7-10 years. I'm not saying it won't last that long, but considering a new console generation is around the corner, your system will likely start feeling long in the tooth after 5 years. A 5 year old system today of similar caliber would be an E6600 with an 8800GT. It would still be a capable system, but it's certainly going to feel dated.

If we're not counting gaming, then yeah, your system should still feel plenty fast even then. The SSD will be one of the biggest boons to general computering and will keep your system feeling responsive throughout its life.

I'm not saying you shouldn't plan on keeping a system for that long, but since you're building yourself a very nice platform with a high end case and motherboard, I'd certainly plan on at least one video card upgrade throughout its life.

I only do low to medium gaming on machine, as in, I'd rather play console with my 65" tv...,but with this new build I could hook it up to my TV as well. Hmm. Time to do somet thinking in the graphics department.

 

[TheExodu5]

Well the 6950 2GB is extremely capable and is going to be a massive step up if all you're used to is low-medium end PC gaming. If the choice is getting a $550 7970 now or a $250 6950 2GB along with a $300 upgrade 4 years down the road, the latter is going to be the far better alternative.

 

[wwm0nkey]

CPU/motherboard? And PSU?

MB is P67A-GD55 and the CPU is i5 2500k. Ive been trying to get it to go to 4.2GHz since you dont have to change anything but it always goes back to 3.3GHz no matter what I do.

Also for some reason if I set it to 4.0GHz it gives me this weird rainbow screen. Does not appear on 4.1 or 4.2 though.

 

[chaosblade]

MB is P67A-GD55 and the CPU is i5 2500k. Ive been trying to get it to go to 4.2GHz since you dont have to change anything but it always goes back to 3.3GHz no matter what I do.

Also for some reason if I set it to 4.0GHz it gives me this weird rainbow screen. Does not appear on 4.1 or 4.2 though.

Well, to start with the kind of obvious "did you try restarting" level question, you did make sure you saved and exited the bios and not just exited, right?

With that out of the way, does it boot any differently after attempting to OC? Maybe takes a little longer? I know the MSI board I had implented some sort of OC failure protection that automatically reset everything to the factory defaults if it had issues booting.

My ASRock board does something similar, with my old phone plugged in it had issues booting so it reset everything including my OC. Confused me for a little while.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

Well the 6950 2GB is extremely capable and is going to be a massive step up if all you're used to is low-medium end PC gaming. If the choice is getting a $550 7970 now or a $250 6950 2GB along with a $300 upgrade 4 years down the road, the latter is going to be the far better alternative.

Agreed. 6950 2 GB is a fantastic card.

 

[The Friendly Monster]

Ok decided I need a computer sooner rather than later, for dev, media, some gaming

Total 807 euros = 670 quid roughly, already have monitor, keyboard, camera, mouse, speakers

How does this look? Also is it worth an extra 85 euros for the 6950 2gb?

I am also hoping to not have to buy Windows 7 again, do you think it's feasible to run the Windows 8 dev build as my main OS?

Am I right in thinking that since the motherboard has toslink optical audio and im going to be plugging into a receiver then there's not much point getting a discrete audio card?

 

[GoingGreen]

Well the 6950 2GB is extremely capable and is going to be a massive step up if all you're used to is low-medium end PC gaming. If the choice is getting a $550 7970 now or a $250 6950 2GB along with a $300 upgrade 4 years down the road, the latter is going to be the far better alternative.

Good advice. Picked out the Sapphire 2 GB 6950 Dirt Edition.



Btw GAF, since I've waited this long should I just wait for the new 3d Trigate processors? Are they coming out this year?

 

[mambadragon]

So I'm having instability with my less than year old build. I'm getting random freezes/hardlocks where the audio goes into a loop. It can happen when playing a game as simple as Bastion or even just web surfing and listening to music. One difference I believe I have from most who I read about with similar problems is if I wait 2-3 minutes the PC recovers and I get back control, so though I haven't lost any work it makes playing games impossible.

This happens with no overclocking of my 2500k and running the RAM at the motherboard defaults (ie not using XMP). The PC is stable with Prime95 and OCCT. I reinstalled Windows 7 a few times now.

I think I can rule out the two most obvious things:
- motherboard: this problem started happening on my Asus Gene-Z, so I went and bought a Gigabyte Z68 mATX board and am having the same problem. I may be misremebering but it seems to happen more on this Gigabyte board.
- RAM: I have two 4GB DIMMS and I get no errors in Memtest. I've also been able to get the freezes to occur when using only one stick at a time in different slots.

So what's left in my PC to test?:
- 2500k
- XFX 850W power supply
- 6950 2GB (not unlocked)
- Samsung hard drive
- WiFi card (doubt this is the problem but Im just going to take it out and use Ethernet)

Logically I don't know what to think it is if the PC is stable with the benchmark software. My next idea is to take out the 6950 (not likely the problem) and disable the Realtek and use the 2500K's internal video and HDMI audio on my TV. Then probably power supply, then hard drive, and I guess worst case buy a new processor.

Any ideas are more than welcome. Ive been a lifelong PC gamer but this is really driving me nuts and I've put way too much time into this. Thanks.

Just to bump in case anyone has a similar problem and searches and finds this... it's really looking like it's the Realtek onboard sound. I hooked my PC up to my TV for a bit and used the 6950 HDMI (so video and audio from the 6950) and disabled the Realtek sound in the BIOS and didn't get any crashes. I purchased a Xonar DX for my regular monitor/speaker setup, and am still stable. I have to give it more time to be sure, but so far so good.

I replicated the problem with two different motherboards (both have the Realtek ALC889 chip), so I'm guessing it's some weird driver problem or something with what I have in my setup. It's strange cause I have pretty standard components, but hey at least it seems resolved.

I'll probably now try to go back to my Asus Gene-Z motherboard and return the Gigabyte board and save some money since both had this same problem and the Gene-Z gave me better overclocks.

 

[chaosblade]

Good advice. Picked out the Sapphire 2 GB 6950 Dirt Edition.



Btw GAF, since I've waited this long should I just wait for the new 3d Trigate processors? Are they coming out this year?

That's Ivy Bridge, probably launching in April. From a pure CPU performance standpoint, no, it's not really worth it to wait. The CPUs aren't going to be much faster (5% clock for clock), and they're still likely going to be voltage limited for OCing.

This is a good article on IB.

 

[Piercedveil]

What is your guys' opinion on the Cooler Master Storm Enforcer? It looks pretty nice.

 

[Spiritreaver]

Finally got my PC totally setup, games installed, works like a charm. Just some minor things I need to finish (I think I didn't plug in all the case wiring as the lights aren't working), but I'll do that later. Managed to OC my 2500k to 4.5 without a hitch, haven't done more than OC my 7970 on stock volts, and don't think I'll up it any more until more people have a chance to really play with the card.

Really happy with the results. Shit plays like a dream.

 

[Gav47]

Ok decided I need a computer sooner rather than later, for dev, media, some gaming

http://i.minus.com/jURczH9k7vDXP.png[IMG]

Total 807 euros = 670 quid roughly, already have monitor, keyboard, camera, mouse, speakers

How does this look? Also is it worth an extra 85 euros for the 6950 2gb?[/QUOTE]Swap that corsair SSD for a Crucial M4, it should be around €160 and it performs much better. You should perhaps wait until the 7950 is released (31st of Jan supposedly), if its the same price as the 6950 currently is then it's definatly worth the upgrade. What resolution will you be running? I can't answer your other questions, sorry. Also, what site is that? The prices look pretty good.

 

[cilonen]

Well, this is it. I abandoned my plans to look for a gaming laptop as some part of me would never be happy with the compromise. I'm going to build my first gaming rig.

Case (white edition Corsair 600T) ordered, now for more internet searching.

This thread has been absolutely invaluable and key to me taking the plunge. Thanks PC GAF, hopefully I won't be bugging you with too many dumb questions over the next few months (goint to take my time, not in a rush and going to see how the 28nm graphics card secene plays out).

 

[Hellish]

Hey GAF! After waiting, what seems like an eternity, I finally have an account here. This is my first post and am excited to be here.

I'm in the market to build a new PC that will last me for another seven years. The last computer I built was in 2005 and it is having a ton of problems now.


Here's what I am building. Any suggestions on what I don't need or should change?

ASUS LGA 1155 - Z68 - PCIe 3.0 and UEFI BIOS Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2200 LGA 1155 Motherboards P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3

Intel Core i7-2600 Processor 3.4GHz 8 MB Cache Socket LGA1155

Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3, i5, i7

Corsair HX Professional Series 750-Watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply Compatible with Core i7 and Core i5

Corsair Force Series GT 120 GB SATA 2.5-Inch SATA III Solid State Drive

Corsair Hydro Series H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Quiet Mid-Tower Cases

Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6850 PCIE Video Card

Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit

If your dead set on getting the most longevity out of your comp now would be the worst time to buy components considering both new architectures for gpu + cpu are on the horizon, once those release in a couple months it would be the best time.

Only changes would really be

2600 to either 3570k or 3770k (unless you really want a non-k but the oc ability will help it keep up longer).

6850 to either 7850 or if you can squeeze a little larger budget a 7870 or 7950

and finally a z77 mobo.

Also I think 7 years is unrealistic, the only components I consider future proof really are power supplies and cases, but if you build a solid pc, there is no reason to just grind it out 7 years if you can swap out what is needed when you need it.

 

[GoingGreen]

If your dead set on getting the most longevity out of your comp now would be the worst time to buy components considering both new architectures for gpu + cpu are on the horizon, once those release in a couple months it would be the best time.

Only changes would really be

2600 to either 3570k or 3770k (unless you really want a non-k but the oc ability will help it keep up longer).

6850 to either 7850 or if you can squeeze a little larger budget a 7870 or 7950

and finally a z77 mobo.

Also I think 7 years is unrealistic, the only components I consider future proof really are power supplies and cases, but if you build a solid pc, there is no reason to just grind it out 7 years if you can swap out what is needed when you need it.

Any word on when these new processors/GPUs will be released or where I can read up about it?

 

[Hellish]

Any word on when these new processors/GPUs will be released or where I can read up about it?

April, and start lurking on overclock.net , more specifically the hardware news section, the new cpus are set for april and the 7950 is set for jan 31st, but 7850 and 7870 have no dates as of yet.

Edit: This should be helpful

 

[GoingGreen]

April, and start lurking on overclock.net , more specifically the hardware news section, the new cpus are set for april and the 7950 is set for jan 31st, but 7850 and 7870 have no dates as of yet.

Edit: This should be helpful

Is it really going to be worth the wait though for the new CPUs? How much better is it going to be then the i7 2600k?

From your chart, the i7 3770K is barely any difference from the specs.

 

[chaosblade]

Is it really going to be worth the wait though for the new CPUs? How much better is it going to be then the i7 2600k?

From your chart, the i7 3770K is barely any difference from the specs.

The article I posted before describes the architecture and changes. For somebody ready to build, I don't think it's worth waiting for ~5% clock for clock improvement, especially when Sandy Bridge already tears through anything you throw at it.

GPUs could be worth waiting for, we'll probably see some price shifting once NVidia gets new GPUs on the market. But you have to avoid getting into the waiting cycle, there is always something new around the corner.

 

[Hellish]

Is it really going to be worth the wait though for the new CPUs? How much better is it going to be then the i7 2600k?

From your chart, the i7 3770K is barely any difference from the specs.

Its a newer architecture which will be faster, draw less power, less heat, and supposedly will oc higher.

It is your call but if it was up to me I would wait, hell I did, I wanted the 3930k, waited since spring to build, and for the gpu's I bought 2 used 480's for dirt cheap that I will most likely be able to sell for at least what I paid when the 680/780/785 (what ever nvidia's fastest single gpu card is) comes out.

 

[TheExodu5]

That 3470T is going to be a killer HTPC chip.

 

[·feist·]

Any word on when these new processors/GPUs will be released or where I can read up about it?

From the OP:

Everything you would want to know about Ivy Bridge and Ivy Bridge-E, straight from Intel - 128 complete slides of info (downloadable .PDF, and .JPG) *very nearly everything

- Includes Sandy Bridge vs Ivy Bridge cross-compatibility info, upcoming CPU line-up, and 7-series chipset specs


http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=33821237&postcount=733
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=33067614&postcount=18500

 

[Isaccard]

What is your guys' opinion on the Cooler Master Storm Enforcer? It looks pretty nice.

This is the case I will be using. Based on the extensive research i've done, its absolutely amazing.

 

[JJBro One]

I'm getting ready to overclocto the i52500k on two different motherboards (asrock p67 extreme 3 gen 3 and a gigabyte z68xp ud4) and every guide I've read had just one minor tweak different than the other one. Is there a guide out there that I can't go wrong with? Which guides did you guys use?

 

[powersurge]

So my friend is needin a new gaming PC but he doesn't have much in the way of cash and is asking me for advice. He first had me looking at some $400 dell desktops at bestbuy's site (he's got a couple of BB gift cards to go with some cash) a long with some sub-$600 laptops (He's kind of torn I think he'd prefer a laptop but in this budget I don't see how and still get good performance).

I'm trying to convince him into going with a custom built box (more bang for the buck) and we have a pretty decent mom and pop type shop locally that doesn't mark up and charge too much for builds (a couple of years ago they built me a tower and it only cost me about $50-75 more vs newegg and it came with a 1 year warranty). So I'm asking you guys for advice on a list I came up with based on newegg prices but keep in mind cheaper is better. He's a WoW addict, F2P mmo's (Age of Conan), and RPG's like Dragon Age are the target games.

LOGISYS CS301BK Mid tower with 480w PSU $30
GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 $90
AMD Phenom II X4 925 (quad core) $85
4gb DDR3 ram $30
Radeon HD 6770 1GB $110
WEstern Digital WD3200AAKX 320gb 7200rpm Hard Drive (capacity does not equal speed edit: oops that was a note for him sorry guys!) $60
DVD Burner $20
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM $100

Total: $525

I'm normally not a big fan of AMD/ATI stuff but in this budget it seems you get more performance for your buck. Any advice on bringing the price down and tweaking the list would be awesome. I know its probably a little iffy going with a cheap case/psu combo but I thought it might be a spot where we could shave some $$ off.

 

[cartman414]

Honestly I don't do much encoding like I use to do, but I want the power to be there if I need it.

Maybe I'm being crazy as well, but currently I have the intel q6600 and since that is a quad core I'd atleast like to go higher than 4 quads when upgrading

Hyperthreading only means that each core can function as 2 threads. It's an improvement, but nowhere near getting more cores, or even faster clock speeds on the same architecture.

The 2500k, despite topping out at 4 threads and 4 cores like the old Core 2 Quads, is still much faster. 2 generations and to a lesser extent, higher clock speeds (3.3 vs q6600's 2.4), will do that.

 

[catapult37]

Did my motherboard just commit suicide on me?

I have this Gigabyte P67A board with a 2500K and a Hyper Cooler 212 attached. Happily OC'd up to 4.7 for months with excellent temps. It was not 100% stable, so I enjoyed the occasional BSD, but was not too concerned.

Yesterday, I had clocked down to avoid any interruptions while showing my kids a movie. Then I went back in and loaded a saved CMOS setup for my 4.7 OC and restarted.

Suddenly my machine will not boot. It keeps restarting and failing to show the bios screen, then restarting again. After panicking a bit, I was able to get it back up by fully unplugging for a while and starting up with a PS2 keyboard plugged in (Google search...). My BIOS went through some kind of restore process. When I get back to finally seeing the BIOS screen, all my saved CMOS configs are gone, but it'll boot.

Okay. Fluke, right? So tonight I went back to OC again (all I do is turn up the individual turbo multipliers on each core). SAME THING. Won't boot, keeps restarting. I was able to bring up again with the same method. No bios restore this time, but it would not load Windows (froze or blue screened) until I removed the OC settings.

WTF? Did my motherboard just decide it will never overclock again? Did I do something wrong? Time to RMA it? Could it be my CPU at all? Help GAF... this thread got me to build the thing in the first place.

 

[sikkinixx]

This liquid cooling worth getting? I'm currently using the stock cooler with my 2500k. It's on sale in store for $40. I like the idea of quiet and I'm using an mATX board and wanna move to a smaller case in a little bit.

 

[Gunmonkey36]

Did my motherboard just commit suicide on me?

I have this Gigabyte P67A board with a 2500K and a Hyper Cooler 212 attached. Happily OC'd up to 4.7 for months with excellent temps. It was not 100% stable, so I enjoyed the occasional BSD, but was not too concerned.

Yesterday, I had clocked down to avoid any interruptions while showing my kids a movie. Then I went back in and loaded a saved CMOS setup for my 4.7 OC and restarted.

Suddenly my machine will not boot. It keeps restarting and failing to show the bios screen, then restarting again. After panicking a bit, I was able to get it back up by fully unplugging for a while and starting up with a PS2 keyboard plugged in (Google search...). My BIOS went through some kind of restore process. When I get back to finally seeing the BIOS screen, all my saved CMOS configs are gone, but it'll boot.

Okay. Fluke, right? So tonight I went back to OC again (all I do is turn up the individual turbo multipliers on each core). SAME THING. Won't boot, keeps restarting. I was able to bring up again with the same method. No bios restore this time, but it would not load Windows (froze or blue screened) until I removed the OC settings.

WTF? Did my motherboard just decide it will never overclock again? Did I do something wrong? Time to RMA it? Could it be my CPU at all? Help GAF... this thread got me to build the thing in the first place.

You should attempt to overclock it at a lower multiplier. Try 4.0 instead at a lower voltage and see if it will boot.

 

[Branson]

Whats the best way to buy Windows 7, retail wise? Home Premium is more than enough right? Its $200 at walmartz

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Whats the best way to buy Windows 7, retail wise? Home Premium is more than enough right? Its $200 at walmartz

Go to newegg and get an OEM copy. $100. Don't waste money getting a boxed copy from a place like walmart.

EDIT: Can get it from amazon also and get that free 2 day shipping if you have prime. If you're seriously wanting the full $200 box version, I have to ask, why?

 

[clav]

Whats the best way to buy Windows 7, retail wise? Home Premium is more than enough right? Its $200 at walmartz

If you're going to blow $200, you might as well get the triple family pack: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002MV2MG0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

If you're a student, the student discount price for Windows 7 Professional is now $65. http://www.microsoftstore.com/store...arentCategoryID.37826100/categoryID.55981000/

Otherwise, if you're a student who takes a computer science class at any college that grants you a .edu address, you can get one for free through MSDNAA.

 

[Om3ga]

I have an i7 960 processor that I got a WHILE back for really cheap. I was thinking of building a PC either with that or a brand new i7 processor.

Should I sell this one and get an i7 2500k/2600k or should I just keep it and build a PC with this processor? Also should I just build a PC with this processor and then wait until the newer i7s come out?

My budget is about $700-$1000 give or take a few hundred. I'm looking to play most games as high as possible @ 1080p with AA. I don't need advanced motherboard features that I probably won't ever use, but I'd like a good motherboard regardless. I have an Antec Sonata 3 case I could use since it comes with a 500 (or is it 550?) watt power supply (if that is sufficient). Just looking to finally retire my e8400 and 8800GT that I built in early 2008.

Thanks for all help given.

 

[Branson]

If you're going to blow $200, you might as well get the triple family pack: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002MV2MG0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

If you're a student, the student discount price for Windows 7 Professional is now $65. http://www.microsoftstore.com/store...arentCategoryID.37826100/categoryID.55981000/

Otherwise, if you're a student who takes a computer science class at any college that grants you a .edu address, you can get one for free through MSDNAA.

Thanks guys, I have a .edu address, is that all I need?