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[rc213]

Before I upgrade my computer, I have another question.
Since not too long ago, my computer is acting weird:
After a few hours (almost instantly sometimes when I open bittorent, etc) my computer starts beeping.
It's not coming from the speakers, just some weird beeping. beeps once, goes away, beeps twice, goes away, beeps three times, goes away.
after that, there's just this long beeping noise followed by my computer crashing. YAY! I say, with absolute joy, my computer sucks.

Do any of you guys have any idea what's causing the situation? my CPU is at 73 F, and my GPU is at 117 F.
I have no idea about my motherboard as it won't show up. halp?

What is the time in between beeps? 3 short followed by 1 long? BSOD or just shuts down?

 

[iam220]

Before I upgrade my computer, I have another question.
Since not too long ago, my computer is acting weird:
After a few hours (almost instantly sometimes when I open bittorent, etc) my computer starts beeping.
It's not coming from the speakers, just some weird beeping. beeps once, goes away, beeps twice, goes away, beeps three times, goes away.
after that, there's just this long beeping noise followed by my computer crashing. YAY! I say, with absolute joy, my computer sucks.

Do any of you guys have any idea what's causing the situation? my CPU is at 73 F, and my GPU is at 117 F.
I have no idea about my motherboard as it won't show up. halp?

What's your mobo? Check its documentation ... sounds like diagnostic warnings coming from the build in speaker within the mobo. The doc should have more info on it's meanings ...

 

[Darklord]

Which brand GPU should I get? ATi or Nvidia? My 7800GT has been great but I've heard ATI has the best card at the moment. However, I've also heard/seen a lot of problem with ATi cards. Like in a lot of games ATI cards seem to have more problems, although most get fixed it's still a worry.

Suggestions?

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Which brand GPU should I get? ATi or Nvidia? My 7800GT has been great but I've heard ATI has the best card at the moment. However, I've also heard/seen a lot of problem with ATi cards. Like in a lot of games ATI cards seem to have more problems, although most get fixed it's still a worry.

Suggestions?

Wait. New stuff is coming out oh so soon and prices are going to drop.

Not to mention the XFX ATI cards will start hitting online vendors later this week.

Just sit tight a while longer and then go for a 4870/GTX260.

 

[Cheeto]

Do any of you guys have any idea what's causing the situation? my CPU is at 73 F, and my GPU is at 117 F.
I have no idea about my motherboard as it won't show up. halp?

Are you sure it's reading Fahrenheit?

 

[Angry Grimace]

Wait. New stuff is coming out oh so soon and prices are going to drop.

Not to mention the XFX ATI cards will start hitting online vendors later this week.

Just sit tight a while longer and then go for a 4870/GTX260.

How is nVidia making money on the GTX-260 as is? They had to lower prices to compete with the 4800 series in the first place...how can a further drop be even possible

 

[VictimOfGrief]

How is nVidia making money on the GTX-260 as is? They had to lower prices to compete with the 4800 series in the first place...how can a further drop be even possible

We'll see a price war against ATI on the 65nm inventory getting cleared out making way for the 55nm.

I would expect to see some of the 65nm Core 216 below $200 w/ rebates here end of this month or mid-feb.

 

[JimmyV]

Before I upgrade my computer, I have another question.
Since not too long ago, my computer is acting weird:
After a few hours (almost instantly sometimes when I open bittorent, etc) my computer starts beeping.
It's not coming from the speakers, just some weird beeping. beeps once, goes away, beeps twice, goes away, beeps three times, goes away.
after that, there's just this long beeping noise followed by my computer crashing. YAY! I say, with absolute joy, my computer sucks.

Do any of you guys have any idea what's causing the situation? my CPU is at 73 F, and my GPU is at 117 F.
I have no idea about my motherboard as it won't show up. halp?

The beeps may be connected to the heat problem. It does sound like a sort of diagnostic warning like iam220 said. Also, are you sure your fans are working properly? Make sure, then dust out your computer and straighten up your wired to increase airflow(if any of those need to be done).

 

[Darklord]

Wait. New stuff is coming out oh so soon and prices are going to drop.

Not to mention the XFX ATI cards will start hitting online vendors later this week.

Just sit tight a while longer and then go for a 4870/GTX260.

When are they coming out? I've held it off for a while now and with Empire: Total War and Dawn of War 2 coming out in Q1, I really want to upgrade soon.

 

[-Double_A]

I'm still having trouble biting the bullet on that crysis pc (http://www.tigerdirect.com/go/crysis)

How come I can get like 4 times the ram, twice the processors and processing speed, three times the hard drive, (plus a lot more) for the same cost off the shelf at a Best Buy, and then just buy the same video card for $180?

Wouldn't that make more sense?

 

[rohlfinator]

So I'm putting together a list of parts for a future PC, but I'm having trouble deciding what to do for a graphics card. I'm torn between getting a 4870 or getting two 4830s and Crossfiring them.

Going with the dual 4830s over the 4870 would probably be a bit cheaper (sub-$200 vs slightly over $200) and is supposed to give better performance in games with good Crossfire support. Plus I'd have the option of buying a single one now and buying a cheaper one later, and the fun/e-peen P) of messing around with CF for a fairly affordable price.

But on the other hand, the dual cards will probably draw more power and require a beefier power supply, and the options for good CF-capable motherboards tend to be more expensive, so the CF'd cards might end up being more expensive overall.

Is there anything else I should consider? Any strong opinions one way or the other would be appreciated, since I'm pretty inexperienced with this kind of thing.

I guess I should add that I'd be playing at 1680x1050 and I probably won't be purchasing anything for a month or two, so prices might change before then.

I'm still having trouble biting the bullet on that crysis pc (http://www.tigerdirect.com/go/crysis)

How come I can get like 4 times the ram, twice the processors and processing speed, three times the hard drive, (plus a lot more) for the same cost off the shelf at a Best Buy, and then just buy the same video card for $180?

Wouldn't that make more sense?

If you can, I'd say go for it, but are you sure Best Buy is selling a box with 8GB of RAM and a 5GHz(?!?) quad-core processor for $700?

Also keep in mind that the Best Buy PC might have a less-than-adequate power supply for that card.

 

[JimmyV]

I'm still having trouble biting the bullet on that crysis pc (http://www.tigerdirect.com/go/crysis)

How come I can get like 4 times the ram, twice the processors and processing speed, three times the hard drive, (plus a lot more) for the same cost off the shelf at a Best Buy, and then just buy the same video card for $180?

Wouldn't that make more sense?

It would make a lot more sense to get more for around the same price. Its just their way of marketing a computer, to say it can play a game that takes a lot of power. And it sells.

 

[iam220]

I'm still having trouble biting the bullet on that crysis pc (http://www.tigerdirect.com/go/crysis)

How come I can get like 4 times the ram, twice the processors and processing speed, three times the hard drive, (plus a lot more) for the same cost off the shelf at a Best Buy, and then just buy the same video card for $180?

Wouldn't that make more sense?

Typically that branded stuff cheaps out on the parts especially PSU, motherboard and case. What are you looking at that would give you twice the processor speed at the same price!? Please post link.


VVVVV: Just your main ram.

 

[Lv99 Slacker]

If you're using 32-bit XP, your total ram installed cannot exceed 3GBs, right? Does that include optical/hard drive cache and video card ram as well? I'd like to get a 1gig ram video card, but I have no interest in moving on to 64-bit Vista/XP.

 

[JimmyV]

Also keep in mind that the Best Buy PC might have a less-than-adequate power supply for that card.

Thats very true, power supplies from most manufacturers tend to be just enough to make the machine run.

 

[Cheeto]

I'm still having trouble biting the bullet on that crysis pc (http://www.tigerdirect.com/go/crysis)

How come I can get like 4 times the ram, twice the processors and processing speed, three times the hard drive, (plus a lot more) for the same cost off the shelf at a Best Buy, and then just buy the same video card for $180?

Wouldn't that make more sense?

Twice the processors?

 

[VictimOfGrief]

So I'm putting together a list of parts for a future PC, but I'm having trouble deciding what to do for a graphics card. I'm torn between getting a 4870 or getting two 4830s and Crossfiring them.

Going with the dual 4830s over the 4870 would probably be a bit cheaper (sub-$200 vs slightly over $200) and is supposed to give better performance in games with good Crossfire support. Plus I'd have the option of buying a single one now and buying a cheaper one later, and the fun/e-peen P) of messing around with CF for a fairly affordable price.

But on the other hand, the dual cards will probably draw more power and require a beefier power supply, and the options for good CF-capable motherboards tend to be more expensive, so the CF'd cards might end up being more expensive overall.

Is there anything else I should consider? Any strong opinions one way or the other would be appreciated, since I'm pretty inexperienced with this kind of thing.

I guess I should add that I'd be playing at 1680x1050 and I probably won't be purchasing anything for a month or two, so prices might change before then.


If you can, I'd say go for it, but are you sure Best Buy is selling a box with 8GB of RAM and a 5GHz(?!?) quad-core processor for $700?

Also keep in mind that the Best Buy PC might have a less-than-adequate power supply for that card.

Single card solution > Dual-Card solutions.

 

[-Double_A]

well, quad core I meant, you can see each wording independently in the task manager

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9062364&type=product&id=1218014206836

This isn't what I saw on the shelf but pretty close, the one I saw said it could even read Blu-Ray

ahh yeah, says the power supply is 300 watts hmm

 

[rohlfinator]

Single card solution > Dual-Card solutions.

Alright, thanks!

 

[Nif]

I ordered a 4850 the other day at Newegg with rush processing, and they still need to ship it. They're usually good with my orders, so I'm guessing it's just a shitty time of the year.

Now I currently have

AMD X2 3800+ (2GHZ)
2GB Ram
An old ASRock 939 board

Next up on my list to upgrade will be all of the above, but I figure this should last me through most of next year.

 

[Cheeto]

well, quad core I meant, you can see each wording independently in the task manager

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9062364&type=product&id=1218014206836

This isn't what I saw on the shelf but pretty close, the one I saw said it could even read Blu-Ray

ahh yeah, says the power supply is 300 watts hmm

7gb of Ram....that's just silly. You're better off elsewhere.

 

[iam220]

well, quad core I meant, you can see each wording independently in the task manager

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9062364&type=product&id=1218014206836

This isn't what I saw on the shelf but pretty close, the one I saw said it could even read Blu-Ray

ahh yeah, says the power supply is 300 watts hmm

Oh man, don't do this. The phenom 9650 although quad core does not perform as well as a e7300. Ram and HDD are cheap so negate those when looking at specs. Not to mention the lack of a dedicated video card.

I have never witnessed a situation where buying a name brand computer is cheaper or more advantageous. Stay away. Stay far away.

I ordered a 4850 the other day at Newegg with rush processing, and they still need to ship it. They're usually good with my orders, so I'm guessing it's just a shitty time of the year.

Now I currently have

AMD X2 3800+ (2GHZ)
2GB Ram
An old ASRock 939 board

Next up on my list to upgrade will be all of the above, but I figure this should last me through most of next year.

It's not going to be a pleasant year for you. I had the 4850 paired with a X2 4200+ and it was STRUGGLING. I'm pretty sure even with a low end card like nvdia 8600 your cpu will still be the bottle neck. My advise is to cancel your order and upgrade everything whenever you can. By that time you'll be able to get a better GPU for the same price.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Boy when they say OEM parts dont' come with anything, they mean it. :lol

 

[Angry Grimace]

We'll see a price war against ATI on the 65nm inventory getting cleared out making way for the 55nm.

I would expect to see some of the 65nm Core 216 below $200 w/ rebates here end of this month or mid-feb.

I got a 260/216 55nm already, and it will be put together this week (I'm waiting, aggravatingly enough, on the TRUE-120).

The savings for getting the 65nm version was something like 20 bucks, but there were other options already under 200, especially for the 192 version.

 

[brain_stew]

Which brand GPU should I get? ATi or Nvidia? My 7800GT has been great but I've heard ATI has the best card at the moment. However, I've also heard/seen a lot of problem with ATi cards. Like in a lot of games ATI cards seem to have more problems, although most get fixed it's still a worry.

Suggestions?

It should never be a case of which "brand" to go for, simply a case of which card best fits your budget and performance needs. If you're simply after the best bang for buck then the 4830 is insane value. For less than $100 it'll tear through anything you throw at it, including Crysis.

 

[Nif]

It's not going to be a pleasant year for you. I had the 4850 paired with a X2 4200+ and it was STRUGGLING. I'm pretty sure even with a low end card like nvdia 8600 your cpu will still be the bottle neck. My advise is to cancel your order and upgrade everything whenever you can. By that time you'll be able to get a better GPU for the same price.

They shipped right after I posted that. :lol But I'm not too worried. I might push up the rest of the setup to February or March if it's really bad. I'm coming from a 7600GT, and I just want something better to help me replay some of last year's games and wait for Dragon Age.

 

[Blue Geezer]

what the general opinion on motherboards with i7 chips?

 

[Angry Grimace]

what the general opinion on motherboards with i7 chips?

I'll you when I fire mine up :lol

The consensus I've read is that the high end stuff is nice, but too pricey for normal humans (>300). The problem is that while a low end exists, it's hard to justify paying for that when you're bothering with i7. There is no alternative to Intel's X58 chipset.

 

[Blue Geezer]

I'll you when I fire mine up :lol

The consensus I've read is that the high end stuff is nice, but too pricey for normal humans (>300). The problem is that while a low end exists, it's hard to justify paying for that when you're bothering with i7. There is no alternative to Intel's X58 chipset.

well the motherboard is always something i have long considered the key part so paying a lot for it wouldnt be too much of a problem for me. but basically high end only with the i7 then?

 

[zoku88]

well the motherboard is always something i have long considered the key part so paying a lot for it wouldnt be too much of a problem for me. but basically high end only with the i7 then?

Yea, the launch is enthusiast only. The cheapest board is like $200-some.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Yea, the launch is enthusiast only. The cheapest board is like $200-some.

You'd be missing the point if you went much cheaper than the baseline option, which in my opinion is the ASUS P6T Deluxe. (There is a cheaper model, the P6T, but I have no insight as to it.)

 

[Jamesfrom818]

So I was walking around Fry's and I've been toying around with the idea of building my own computer. I found a ASUS P5QC. It was decently priced board at $140 and it supports DDR3. The reviews on Newegg seem pretty split but whats everyone else's take on it.

 

[zoku88]

You'd be missing the point if you went much cheaper than the baseline option, which in my opinion is the ASUS P6T Deluxe. (There is a cheaper model, the P6T, but I have no insight as to it.)

I have no idea what you mean by 'point.'

 

[rc213]

So I was walking around Fry's and I've been toying around with the idea of building my own computer. I found a ASUS P5QC. It was decently priced board at $140 and it supports DDR3. The reviews on Newegg seem pretty split but whats everyone else's take on it.

Good luck finding parts that have never been opened at Frys. Why not Newegg? Mwave?

 

[Jamesfrom818]

Good luck finding parts that have never been opened at Frys. Why not Newegg? Mwave?

Why buy online and pay for shipping and handling when I have a Fry's 10 minutes away? It also saves me the trouble of having to explain why I have a bunch of packages being sent over to my mom's house. I could have it sent to my apartment but I'd rather not have packages sitting outside until I get back from work.

 

[rc213]

Why buy online and pay for shipping and handling when I have a Fry's 10 minutes away? It also saves me the trouble of having to explain why I have a bunch of packages being sent over to my mom's house. I could have it sent to my apartment but I'd rather not have packages sitting outside until I get back from work.

Just use Mwave.com, They have Will Call Warehouse in Walnut $5 per order. I use them all the time when I need a part on the same day.

 

[Vaporak]

Why buy online and pay for shipping and handling when I have a Fry's 10 minutes away? It also saves me the trouble of having to explain why I have a bunch of packages being sent over to my mom's house. I could have it sent to my apartment but I'd rather not have packages sitting outside until I get back from work.

Online prices for computer parts are in general far cheaper than what you find at retail stores. I don't know about your specific instance, but that's why most enthusiasts shop for computer parts online.

 

[RobotChant]

Even with shipping some products still end up cheaper, and on many occasions you can can get free shipping.

That Asus board looks to be discontinued. There probably won't be any support/updates for it.

 

[Kintaro]

So, I picked up the Antec Nine Hundred case at my local PC shop because I needed a new case since the old one was pretty ratty. I can't believe my ears. It's like my PC isn't even on. It's crazy. So quiet, so cool. Makes me wish I got this thing soon. What a crazy difference. =O

 

[K.Jack]

I just successfully installed my first CPU upgrade, and on a notebook no less! It's a great feeling to see it boot up with no problems.:lol

 

[Nemo]

I just successfully installed my first CPU upgrade, and on a notebook no less! It's a great feeling to see it boot up with no problems.:lol

It's the hardware equilivant of sex. You just did yourself a shortie

 

[Deadly]

Is the performance of the 4850 that much better than the 9800GTX+ to justify a purchase over it if I can get the 9800GTX+ for ~20$ cheaper?

 

[Nemo]

Is the performance of the 4850 that much better than the 9800GTX+ to justify a purchase over it if I can get the 9800GTX+ for ~20$ cheaper?

It's worse in most games. Get the GTX

 

[dogbowl]

If you're using 32-bit XP, your total ram installed cannot exceed 3GBs, right? Does that include optical/hard drive cache and video card ram as well? I'd like to get a 1gig ram video card, but I have no interest in moving on to 64-bit Vista/XP.

You can install as much RAM as you'd like, but a 32-bit operating system is only able to recognize up to 3 gigs of RAM. Your hard drive cache/ video memory is different and unrelated. (Unless your video card is integrated onto your motherboard where they can sometimes share the same RAM).

 

[rohlfinator]

You can install as much RAM as you'd like, but a 32-bit operating system is only able to recognize up to 3 gigs of RAM. Your hard drive cache/ video memory is different and unrelated. (Unless your video card is integrated onto your motherboard where they can sometimes share the same RAM).

I think you have this kind of backwards. If you have a 32-bit CPU, OS, chipset, or BIOS, your CPU is limited to addressing 4GB of RAM. But Windows uses part of the range from 4GB downward to address things like your PCI bus, integrated peripherals, etc., including your video memory. There's a pretty good explanation of it here.

So with 32-bit XP, you'll be fine installing a 1GB video card, but be aware that it'll cut your usable memory down to 2.5-3GB. If you want to use more than that, you'll need a 64-bit CPU/chipset/OS.

 

[Lv99 Slacker]

2) Good processor, the Xigmatek-S1284 is out and make sure you get the retention bracket (extra $9 bucks) as it is completely worth it. Should be able to OC to 3.6-3.8 on stock volts while maintaining a sub 35C idle and less than 55C under load.

Just my 2 cents.

Anybody know if this bracket compatible with any LGA775 cooler or just Xigmatek models?

 

[Angry Grimace]

I have no idea what you mean by 'point.'

Buying the cheapest motherboard you can find for i7 is the equivalent of putting a Ferrari V12 into a Hyundai. There's no point in picking the highest of the high end if you're going to cheap out. I mean, you could in theory get the cheapest motherboard, stick 2GB of RAM in there, and it would still boot up and work, but I don't get the purpose of that.

 

[Lv99 Slacker]

I think you have this kind of backwards. If you have a 32-bit CPU, OS, chipset, or BIOS, your CPU is limited to addressing 4GB of RAM. But Windows uses part of the range from 4GB downward to address things like your PCI bus, integrated peripherals, etc., including your video memory. There's a pretty good explanation of it here.

So with 32-bit XP, you'll be fine installing a 1GB video card, but be aware that it'll cut your usable memory down to 2.5-3GB. If you want to use more than that, you'll need a 64-bit CPU/chipset/OS.

Thanks guys.

 

[MikeE21286]

I have a sound card question I'm hoping somebody can give me a suggestion on...

I'm looking to run from my PC to my 5.1 surround home theater. I'm guessing that I'm gonna need a sound card. But I'm really not sure what a good card is. I'm not really looking to spend a lot. Just a good value card where I can run Dolby Digital/DTS in my games and any media files I have as well.

 

[Minsc]

I have a sound card question I'm hoping somebody can give me a suggestion on...

I'm looking to run from my PC to my 5.1 surround home theater. I'm guessing that I'm gonna need a sound card. But I'm really not sure what a good card is. I'm not really looking to spend a lot. Just a good value card where I can run Dolby Digital/DTS in my games and any media files I have as well.

Are you sure your current motherboard doesn't already have a digital output, most do. Possibly no need to buy a dedicated sound card.