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[FLAguy954]

I just upgraded my shitty Thermaltake mid-tower case to a Phanteks Enthoo Pro and holy shit, this case is amazing!

I also sold my MSI 290 Twin Frozr and got an MSi Lightning 290x instead. The airflow in the Enthoo Pro is freaking insane and my cable management has never looked so good!

 

[hitgirl]

What's the highest quality 27"+ 1080p Gsync monitor around? Wanted a bedroom TV connected to my PC for games and movies but figured I'd be best off getting a PC monitor.

 

[Burgess_101]

Does anyone know where I can get a HAF XB Window top panel in the EU? The CM website doesn't seem to have them any more. I was waiting just to save the money to buy it and when I finally got it the option was gone.

 

[JbstormburstADV]

Any of you guys experienced with water cooling? I need recommendations for reservoirs that will mount on the Enthoo Primo's reservoir bracket without any issues. Relatedly, has anyone tried the new Monsoon MMRS with it?

 

[Skelter]

What's the highest quality 27"+ 1080p Gsync monitor around? Wanted a bedroom TV connected to my PC for games and movies but figured I'd be best off getting a PC monitor.

If you care about pixel density I seriously suggest getting a higher resolution Gsync monitor.

 

[FLAguy954]

Can someone post a thread for this:

Epic Games is giving away Shadow Complex for free on PC for the whole month of December!

 

[opticalmace]

Can someone post a thread for this:

Epic Games is giving away Shadow Complex for free on PC for the whole month of December!

Already posted my man.

 

[RGM79]

I honestly think I may just end up buying a new CPU/mobo. I'm tired of having to work with 6+ year old hardware.

I'm looking at maybe an FX-6300 since it's sub-$100 and seems to get good reviews for gaming. Was also looking at the Pentium Anniversary CPU, but it's dial-core and some games won't even open up, lol/.

I don't think it's the age of the hardware that's holding you back. There are few direct comparisons between your i5 and the FX-6300, but I have reason to believe the FX-6300 won't offer you much. CPUWorld mostly showcases synthetic comparisons (doesn't quite reflect real-world performance) and the i5 750 is apparently much better as the i5 offers overwhelmingly faster single core performance and is only 2% slower than the FX-6300 at multi-core performance. Anandtech's bench comparison seems to say that your i5 750 is already just as fast if not faster than the FX-6300 in the three games that they performed shared testing with.

Game performance will vary, though. Do you have any specific games in mind that you want to get higher performance in? Maybe I can find some benchmarks.

Why can't I find Micro ATX motherboards that support SLI? I can find dozens that support Crossfire, but for some reason no SLI support.

Also if it matters I am looking at LGA 1151 boards.

You're limited to these two motherboards.

 

[Finaika]

I just upgraded my shitty Thermaltake mid-tower case to a Phanteks Enthoo Pro and holy shit, this case is amazing!

I also sold my MSI 290 Twin Frozr and got an MSi Lightning 290x instead. The airflow in the Enthoo Pro is freaking insane and my cable management has never looked so good!

How did you set up your case fans?

 

[REMAINSILLY]

I don't think it's the age of the hardware that's holding you back. There are few direct comparisons between your i5 and the FX-6300, but I have reason to believe the FX-6300 won't offer you much. CPUWorld mostly showcases synthetic comparisons (doesn't quite reflect real-world performance) and the i5 750 is apparently much better as the i5 offers overwhelmingly faster single core performance and is only 2% slower than the FX-6300 at multi-core performance. Anandtech's bench comparison seems to say that your i5 750 is already just as fast if not faster than the FX-6300 in the three games that they performed shared testing with.

Game performance will vary, though. Do you have any specific games in mind that you want to get higher performance in? Maybe I can find some benchmarks.



You're limited to these two motherboards.

Ah, dude, nice! Mostly, I wanted better frame rates in Fallout 4. I get 60 most of the time on Medium, but it dips to the high 40s in cities, and Diamond City. But I think that's a universal thing. I can play Mad Max on High at a constant 60. The Wither 3 on high 50-60. Maybe I'm just being too nitpicky for Fallout.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

This is the most boring part of a new PC build.

I want to play games NOW. But I know better. Time invested doing this now will pay off in the years to come. I was very thorough stress-testing my old i7-950 build when I first built it and it was absolutely rock solid for 6 years. I never had a single BSOD or crash of any kind caused by the CPU or mobo during those years of ownership.

I'm still on the Noctua NH-D14 I recycled from my old build, so this is a very conservative OC on my 5820K. It easily booted up at 4.5 but the heat generated is unmanageable with my aircooler. In fact I was hitting 95C at 4.3 using Prime95 28.7 which adds support for the AVX instructions and that thing literally sets Haswell on fire so I have to stress with Prime95 27.9. I think I won't lose too much sleep over 4.3 vs. 4.5, I'm not interested in going to a full custom loop watercooler and the improvements from an AIO aren't really worth the additional cost to me.

 

[LQX]

So I bought a motherboard for my sisters G3258...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128822

It has HDMI, VGA, and DVI output connections on the motherboard so how then does it not support CPU based integrated graphics? Why the hell does it have those connectors then? Did they fuck up or did I? You see those outputs on the motherboard you would assume you could use them.

 

[FLAguy954]

How did you set up your case fans?

Two intakes in the front, one intake near the PSU and 3 exhausts (2 on top and one in the rear. I am exclusively using 6 120mm Zalman hydro dynamic-bearing fans and I just let them rip at full speed (they are near silent at full speed so the noise isn't a concern).

 

[opticalmace]

So I bought a motherboard for my sisters G3258...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128822

It has HDMI, VGA, and DVI output connections on the motherboard so how then does it not support CPU based integrated graphics? Why the hell does it have those connectors then? Did they fuck up or did I? You see those outputs on the motherboard you would assume you could use them.

So uh what exactly is the problem? It should work fine. Are you just getting no signal to the monitor?

 

[LQX]

So uh what exactly is the problem? It should work fine. Are you just getting no signal to the monitor?

No signal. The board does not support CPU based integrated graphics and I'm not sure how that is possible if those video inputs are on the board. What else could they be used for? I had to put in a video card I had laying around and that worked.

The GIGABYTE GA-B85M-DS3H-A (rev. 1.0) does not support CPU-based graphics
http://motherboards.specout.com/l/5989/GIGABYTE-GA-B85M-DS3H-A-rev-1-0

 

[opticalmace]

No signal. The board does not support CPU based integrated graphics and I'm not sure how that is possible if those video inputs are on the board. What else could they be used for? I had to put in a video card I had laying around and that worked.

The GIGABYTE GA-B85M-DS3H-A (rev. 1.0) does not support CPU-based graphics
http://motherboards.specout.com/l/5989/GIGABYTE-GA-B85M-DS3H-A-rev-1-0

The official Gigabyte page says it does: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5346#sp

 

[RGM79]

No signal. The board does not support CPU based integrated graphics and I'm not sure how that is possible if those video inputs are on the board. What else could they be used for? I had to put in a video card I had laying around and that worked.

The GIGABYTE GA-B85M-DS3H-A (rev. 1.0) does not support CPU-based graphics
http://motherboards.specout.com/l/5989/GIGABYTE-GA-B85M-DS3H-A-rev-1-0

It does, it might just be some kind of defect or bug. If you look at the only 3 star review at the Newegg link, the reviewer states that he purchased two and one of them had the VGA connector randomly stop working and he had to use a graphics card instead to have dual monitors working again.

Do all three video connectors not work? Try resetting the BIOS, updating the BIOS, or using a different connector if you haven't already tried one of them.

 

[LQX]

I figured it had to support it but it should work off the bat. I only tried HDMI and DVI and neither work. Will update the bios and see if that fixes it. Thanks dudes. Will report back.

 

[SilverVenom]

Sorry, totally missed your post and forgot. Do you prefer to order from Amazon or are other retailers okay? As far as low prices go, the Gigabyte Windforce model is $600 at Amazon. The next best model I'd recommend costs at least $630 and requires rebates to be that cheap.

What is overall the best one out of those options(Performance/cooling). Cost isn't really a major concern right now.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I figured it had to support it but it should work off the bat. I only tried HDMI and DVI and neither work. Will update the bios and see if that fixes it. Thanks dudes. Will report back.

There's also the possibility of bad hardware, you might try an RMA on it.

 

[RGM79]

What is overall the best one out of those options(Performance/cooling). Cost isn't really a major concern right now.

Well if cost is no issue, it's hard to go wrong with each of the manufacturer's high end models. Based on what's currently available.. Gigabyte has their Windforce Extreme, MSI has the Lightning and Sea Hawk, Asus has their Poseidon model, Zotac has the AMP! Extreme, and EVGA has their Classified and Hybrid models.

Which one is the absolute best will depend on your preferences. Maybe you have brand loyalty or preference for one manufacturer because of good experience with their warranty or customer service. If you are not going to be overclocking the graphics card, then the Gigabyte or Zotac models might be more enticing because they offer the highest default clock speeds. The EVGA Hybrid, MSI Sea Hawk, Lightning, or Asus Poseidon would appeal to you if you were interested in extreme overclocking and/or more than just air cooling.

As far as I know, there's nothing particularly wrong with any of them, so you quite literally can't go wrong. All of them will feature similar if not nearly identical performance if they are overclocked to similar levels. The only thing that changes are the aesthetics and cooler design.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Just get the Gigabyte. The 980 Ti's all generally make it to around 1400-1450, regardless of cooler type as long as it's not reference. A few magic ones hit 1500. Realistically, the performance difference in actual games is nil. You don't need watercooling for 980 Ti unless your goal is overclocking world record, aircooling is plenty sufficient.

 

[Finaika]

Two intakes in the front, one intake near the PSU and 3 exhausts (2 on top and one in the rear. I am exclusively using 6 120mm Zalman hydro dynamic-bearing fans and I just let them rip at full speed (they are near silent at full speed so the noise isn't a concern).

l see. Did you have to remove the PSU cover in order to use the bottom intake fan?

 

[LilJoka]

Two intakes in the front, one intake near the PSU and 3 exhausts (2 on top and one in the rear. I am exclusively using 6 120mm Zalman hydro dynamic-bearing fans and I just let them rip at full speed (they are near silent at full speed so the noise isn't a concern).

Sounds very overkill, what is your hardware? I wouldnt be recommending 6 fans to anyone.

 

[kennah]

What's the best way to stop screen tearing when I play on a 60 Hz tv? Vsync only does so much.

3770k and 670

 

[Damerman]

What's the best way to stop screen tearing when I play on a 60 Hz tv? Vsync only does so much.

3770k and 670

Gsync, homie

 

[opticalmace]

Gsync, homie

Ain't no TV g-sync.

Kennah, if you don't want to use v-sync I would try lowered settings and setting an FPS cap of 60 in rivatuner to see if it helps.

 

[deoee]

As this thread just popped up I've got a question regarding my Rig:

a) What would you upgrade if anything
b) Can I oc my CPU somehow?

Mainboard is Intel DH67BL
Thank you guys

 

[opticalmace]

As this thread just popped up I've got a question regarding my Rig:

a) What would you upgrade if anything
b) Can I oc my CPU somehow?

Mainboard is Intel DH67BL
Thank you guys

What video card do you have? I think since it's not the K model you can only overclock it by changing the frontside bus speed... but I'd have to check on that.

 

[deoee]

What video card do you have? I think since it's not the K model you can only overclock it by changing the frontside bus speed... but I'd have to check on that.

Oh sorry, I have a GTX 970 OC

 

[opticalmace]

Oh sorry, I have a GTX 970 OC

I assume you game at 1080p.

If you're not getting the performance you want, you may wish to look into upgrading to Haswell. You could get an i5-4690K and motherboard and reuse your current ram. Overclock it and you'd be set.

 

[deoee]

I assume you game at 1080p.

If you're not getting the performance you want, you may wish to look into upgrading to Haswell. You could get an i5-4690K and motherboard and reuse your current ram. Overclock it and you'd be set.

Yes 1080p is correct, I might switch to 1440p later next year tho.

My performance is OK but I always feel it could run a bit smoother at times and I like to use Chrome while gaming.

I guess I should consider more RAM at some point just for that

 

[opticalmace]

Yes 1080p is correct, I might switch to 1440p later next year tho.

My performance is OK but I always feel it could run a bit smoother at times and I like to use Chrome while gaming.

I guess I should consider more RAM at some point just for that

A CPU upgrade would help smooth things out. You're probably getting framerate drops (or frametime spikes). Generally a modern intel CPU at 4GHz+ will fix that.

 

[kennah]

Ain't no TV g-sync.

Kennah, if you don't want to use v-sync I would try lowered settings and setting an FPS cap of 60 in rivatuner to see if it helps.

Hey thanks. That works way better than vsync

And yeah if I had a spare thousand dollars if go for a gsync monitor but got a long way before that

 

[hitgirl]

If you care about pixel density I seriously suggest getting a higher resolution Gsync monitor.

It won't be at a desk, so I wont be super close to the monitor. Mostly 3 feet or so, figure I wont see the pixel density from that far away. As right now I have a 1440p monitor and don't feel like I'm getting much out of it.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Technical questions about installing a GPU:

1) My power supply has two 8-pin ports and one 6-pin port still free. My GPU needs two 6-pin plugs. Is there a reliable way to convert my 8-pin slots into a 6-pin?
2) Alternatively, can I pop a Molex adapter/splitter from another one of my 6-pin slots (which is also powering a SSD) to use to power my GPU?

My guess is "Yes, get an 8-pin to 6-pin adapter cable" for the first question and "No, that's a bad idea" to the second question. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[SpanishExplorer]

I know this should probably go in the tech support thread, but I figured you guys might have more experience with this issue. I was playing Starcraft for about 5 hours when every thing on my screen doubled and some lines showed up which you can't really see in the picture.

I'm running an i7 2600K which is NOT overclocked and an EVGA 770GTX which is just under 2 years old. So, is my card dying? Anything I can do to completely avoid or speed up its untimely death?

 

[opticalmace]

Technical questions about installing a GPU:

1) My power supply has two 8-pin ports and one 6-pin port still free. My GPU needs two 6-pin plugs. Is there a reliable way to convert my 8-pin slots into a 6-pin?
2) Alternatively, can I pop a Molex adapter/splitter from another one of my 6-pin slots (which is also powering a SSD) to use to power my GPU?

My guess is "Yes, get an 8-pin to 6-pin adapter cable" for the first question and "No, that's a bad idea" to the second question. Any advice is appreciated.

What PSU? Are you only using one video card?

I think most 8-pins are actually 6+2, so you can just pop off the 2 on the side. Check the PSU manual. I would not use a Molex adapter, I've had one of those melt on me.

I'd be surprised if your PSU had 2 8-pins and only one 6-pin. Seems like a weird config.

I know this should probably go in the tech support thread, but I figured you guys might have more experience with this issue. I was playing Starcraft for about 5 hours when every thing on my screen doubled and some lines showed up which you can't really see in the picture.



I'm running an i7 2600K which is NOT overclocked and an EVGA 770GTX which is just under 2 years old. So, is my card dying? Anything I can do to completely avoid or speed up its untimely death?

How hot is the GPU getting? Could be overheating. Has it done it in any other games? Did you OC the 770?

 

[kuYuri]

Just a heads up, Newegg has the EVGA 980 Ti Classified on sale for $660. Normally these go for $750~.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487146

Apparently it's a great card if you plan to overclock according to LinusTechTips.

 

[Lys Skygge]

So my RAM is supposed to be 3200 but it's only running at around 2100. Whenever I try to overclock my RAM to 3200 my PC refuses to boot. I feel like I'm doing something wrong (first time builder and I'm still trying to figure out bios).

My RAM is the G.Skill Ripjaws V
My mobo is the Gigabyte Z170x-Gaming 5.

Edit - a little more info: my PC will "boot" but it won't boot to Windows. I get a screen that tells me to revert to my previous bios settings.

 

[squadr0n]

Where should I go to ask a question about Wireless Network Cards?

Just built a new PC and the first wireless network card would constantly drop the signal every 15 minutes and was extremely slow and now the second card holds the signal 100% but is still super slow! My laptop can reach up to 10 Mbps no problem but the highest ive seen the pc get is 1.5 mbps.

Specs: Wireless Router/Modem combo (cant be changed) that uses B/G/N 2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz (5G). This is provided by our ISP Suddenlink and they really dont want us to change.

PC: Skylake I5-6600K, MSI Z170A Mobo with 16 GB DDR4 Jipjaw RAM 3000.

Wireless network Card: D-Link DWA-552 Xtreme N, and the old one was a Netis WF-2113

 

[RumblingRosco]

What PSU? Are you only using one video card?

I think most 8-pins are actually 6+2, so you can just pop off the 2 on the side. Check the PSU manual. I would not use a Molex adapter, I've had one of those melt on me.

I'd be surprised if your PSU had 2 8-pins and only one 6-pin. Seems like a weird config.

My PSU has like 4 6-pin slots and 2 8-pin, but 3 of the 4 pin slots are already in use for HDs and SSDs and such.

 

[Ptaaty]

I just upgraded from a Crucial M500 (went to my HTPC) to a Samsung 850 EVO.

I am quite surprised that I can tell the difference in daily use. It does bench quite a bit higher, but the M500 was already so fast.

Anyone else have a similar experience? I guess I thought it was just an unnoticeable spec war thing at this point. Not at the level to justify spending $$ to get the newer faster one (I bought it for the size increase), but a nice bonus.

 

[Ptaaty]

Where should I go to ask a question about Wireless Network Cards?

Just built a new PC and the first wireless network card would constantly drop the signal every 15 minutes and was extremely slow and now the second card holds the signal 100% but is still super slow! My laptop can reach up to 10 Mbps no problem but the highest ive seen the pc get is 1.5 mbps.

Specs: Wireless Router/Modem combo (cant be changed) that uses N 2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz (5G). This is provided by our ISP Suddenlink and they really dont want us to change.

PC: Skylake I5-6600K, MSI Z170A Mobo with 16 GB DDR4 Jipjaw RAM 3000.

Wireless network Card: D-Link DWA-552 Xtreme N, and the old one was a Netis WF-2113

If you can get an AC based router and card, that is going to provide massive gains in speed and range (and speed at range...).

That said you likely have a setup issue if you get those speeds in short range line of sight (I assume you tested that - but you don't say).

 

[opticalmace]

My PSU has like 4 6-pin slots and 2 8-pin, but 3 of the 4 pin slots are already in use for HDs and SSDs and such.

What PSU? You know you can daisy chain the SSDs/HDDs right?

So my RAM is supposed to be 3200 but it's only running at around 2100. Whenever I try to overclock my RAM to 3200 my PC refuses to boot. I feel like I'm doing something wrong (first time builder and I'm still trying to figure out bios).

My RAM is the G.Skill Ripjaws V
My mobo is the Gigabyte Z170x-Gaming 5.

Edit - a little more info: my PC will "boot" but it won't boot to Windows. I get a screen that tells me to revert to my previous bios settings.

Enable/set XMP in the bios.

 

[squadr0n]

If you can get an AC based router and card, that is going to provide massive gains in speed and range (and speed at range...).

That said you likely have a setup issue if you get those speeds in short range line of sight (I assume you tested that - but you don't say).

Im sorry im basically a nub when it comes to wireless networking. What is a AC based Router and card? My ISP wants us to use the router/modem that they provide. Believe me, Ive tried getting them to let us use our own router. I recently just moved out here and its a huge step down from where I used to live.

I got into our routers setup site and changed the channel to 11 but only see I slight gain in speeds on the PC, up to about 2.5 Mbps.

I dont get how my laptop runs fine right out of the box but no matter what card or usb adapter I try on my pcs it doesnt.

 

[RGM79]

So my RAM is supposed to be 3200 but it's only running at around 2100. Whenever I try to overclock my RAM to 3200 my PC refuses to boot. I feel like I'm doing something wrong (first time builder and I'm still trying to figure out bios).

My RAM is the G.Skill Ripjaws V
My mobo is the Gigabyte Z170x-Gaming 5.

Edit - a little more info: my PC will "boot" but it won't boot to Windows. I get a screen that tells me to revert to my previous bios settings.

By overclock, do you mean that you are just enabling XMP, or are you manually keying in RAM overclock settings?

For some reason, high speed DDR4 RAM support is kind of spotty on some Z170 motherboards. Try updating your motherboard BIOS if there are any updates available.

I just upgraded from a Crucial M500 (went to my HTPC) to a Samsung 850 EVO.

I am quite surprised that I can tell the difference in daily use. It does bench quite a bit higher, but the M500 was already so fast.

Anyone else have a similar experience? I guess I thought it was just an unnoticeable spec war thing at this point. Not at the level to justify spending $$ to get the newer faster one (I bought it for the size increase), but a nice bonus.

I can tell a difference between this crappy Samsung drive I have in my work PC and my 850 Evo at home. My work PC has an i5 3570 and my current home PC has a Pentium G3258, yet my work PC's SSD feels like a bottleneck. The differences between those two are a lot greater than the differences between the Crucial M500 and the Samsung 850 Evo are, though.

The size of the SSD would also make a difference. A smaller 120~128GB SSD would be slower than a 240~256GB or 480~512GB SSD of the same model because of the larger SSD's parallelism, which I think has to do with the SSD's memory chip design and how many memory chips there are. The more there are, the greater the performance, or something like that.

My PSU has like 4 6-pin slots and 2 8-pin, but 3 of the 4 pin slots are already in use for HDs and SSDs and such.

Can you tell us what power supply brand and model you have? You said you had four 6 pin connectors in total and three were being using already? Then you started talking about 4 pin connectors that aren't used for graphics cards. Earlier you were also saying you were using 6 pin connectors to power an SSD which doesn't make sense either as those connectors are only 4 or 5 pins. We're a bit confused.

Take a look at your 8 pin connectors, do they split into 6+2 pin connectors?

 

[Waaghals]

I have a 6600k and a CM 212 EVO cooler.

I have been dabbling in some slight overclocking.

Currently I am running it at 4,4GHz at around 1.3v (is this too much?)
While testing in Prime95 (I have heard that this might not be a good idea) I see very variable temperatures.

Most of the time they stay at around 60-65 C. And all cores seem to be very similar in terms of thermal performance.

However, every now and again temperatures spike. While this happens to all cores, core #2 spikes the most, all the way up to 74C. after that they quickly drop down to around 60.
Is this a problem? What can be the cause of this? Overvoltage? did I mess up the cooling solution?

 

[RumblingRosco]

What PSU? You know you can daisy chain the SSDs/HDDs right?

Can you tell us what power supply brand and model you have? You said you had four 6 pin connectors in total and three were being using already? Then you started talking about 4 pin connectors that aren't used for graphics cards. Earlier you were also saying you were using 6 pin connectors to power an SSD which doesn't make sense either as those connectors are only 4 or 5 pins. We're a bit confused.

Take a look at your 8 pin connectors, do they split into 6+2 pin connectors?

Hi guys. First, thanks for helping me trouble shoot. What I have is an OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w. Purchased new and have been using continuously since 2011. I am trying to install a Gigabyte 960 4 GB GPU which requires two 6-pin PCIe. My PSU has four 6-pin PCIe slots and two 8-pin PCIe slots. I am using three of the four 6-pin slots right now to power everything else in my PC (2 SSDs, a HDD, a sound card, and a CD drive) using various adapters which branch off of the 6-pin PCIe cables.

What I have now is the following situation causing my PC to not boot:

I have two 8 to 6+2 PCIe cables, the 8 end of both plugged into the PSU and the 6 ends plugged into the GPU. The PC will not boot. After some troubleshooting, it looks like one of the cables is bad, because no matter how I plug it in (trying either 8-pin on the PSU or either 6-pin on the GPU) the PC won't post. The other cable however will work in any slots and allows the PC to post.

So I think my problem now is simply a faulty cable...

Sorry, in my earlier post when I said "3 of the 4- pin slots are already in use" I meant to type "three of the four 6-pin slots..."

 

[RGM79]

Hi guys. First, thanks for helping me trouble shoot. What I have is an OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w. Purchased new and have been using continuously since 2011. I am trying to install a Gigabyte 960 4 GB GPU which requires two 6-pin PCIe. My PSU has four 6-pin PCIe slots and two 8-pin PCIe slots. I am using three of the four 6-pin slots right now to power everything else in my PC (2 SSDs, a HDD, a sound card, and a CD drive) using various adapters which branch off of the 6-pin PCIe cables.

What I have now is the following situation causing my PC to not boot:

I have two 8 to 6+2 PCIe cables, the 8 end of both plugged into the PSU and the 6 ends plugged into the GPU. The PC will not boot. After some troubleshooting, it looks like one of the cables is bad, because no matter how I plug it in (trying either 8-pin on the PSU or either 6-pin on the GPU) the PC won't post. The other cable however will work in any slots and allows the PC to post.

So I think my problem now is simply a faulty cable...

Sorry, in my earlier post when I said "3 of the 4- pin slots are already in use" I meant to type "three of the four 6-pin slots..."

Oh, no wonder it's confusing. Don't call the cables by what the plug looks like on the power supply end. They are not PCI-E power cables, and the cables themselves are not called adaptors. Only the ones with red plugs are PCI-E power cables, the rest are just cables. Call the cables by what they look like on the end that plugs into the device you want to power. These are the correct names and will save us some confusion and trouble, most of them are correctly scaled to size, ignore the oversize SATA connector, that's just zoomed in to show what each individual pin does.

The two red PCI-E power cables are what you want to have plugged into your graphics card to power it, but as you say, one of them seems to be defective. I don't know how easy it is for you to contact OCZ and get a new cable for warranty purposes, but it is probably easier for you to get an adaptor. There's two types that you can use depending on what connectors you have available. There's twin molex to 6 pin and SATA to 6 pin.