brain_stew
Member
Minsc said:
:lol
Their guide being so outdated was one of the things that prmopted me creating that other thread. Oh well, looks like they've damn near mirrored the component I chose anyway. :lol
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Official "I need a new PC!!" 2009 Edition
- Thread starter VictimOfGrief
- Start date
:lol
Their guide being so outdated was one of the things that prmopted me creating that other thread. Oh well, looks like they've damn near mirrored the component I chose anyway. :lol
brain_stew
Member
pseudocaesar said:
That's an original Phenom, meaning its rather shitty. Pick up a Phenom ii 920 or X3 720 instead.
Hazaro said:
I got around to upping it today:
It seems to run perfectly fine and i bought a third party cooler and some thermal paste as well.
My stock cooler (which is a pain in the ass to get hooked onto the mobo) wasnt doing a very good job because it was saying the CPU temp was 91 degrees C, and this is before any overclocking.
It sits around 35-45 degrees now.
edit: and also with all the fans in my case, the system roars like a mother fucker when playing Crysis/Warhead.
Minsc
Gold Member
brain_stew said:
Yea. I'd much rather look at something current, like your awesome thread. Amazing how 6 months can change everything (I don't even think it was that long). That's what happened to me, fell out of PC news for a few years and I was totally lost when it came time to think about a new machine.
brain_stew
Member
That's a damn nice first OC there, congrats.
I was hesitant and weary about my first OC but once you give it ago its a pretty fun experience tweaking and tuning to get every last drop out of your hardware.
I was hesitant and weary about my first OC but once you give it ago its a pretty fun experience tweaking and tuning to get every last drop out of your hardware.
brain_stew
Member
Minsc said:
I think it was only a couple of months old.
:lol
PC hardware moves lightning fast, recent price drops have been batshit insane. GHST just messaged me through Steam, he's just picked up an XFX HD 4890 for £135, that thing launched north of £200 just a couple of months back!!
Minsc
Gold Member
Windows 7 pricing announed, cheaper than Vista.
Well, $10 cheaper for the home upgrade and $40 cheaper for the home retail. The Professional and Ultimate are priced identically.
Well, $10 cheaper for the home upgrade and $40 cheaper for the home retail. The Professional and Ultimate are priced identically.
pseudocaesar
Member
Are there any online stores that ship to Australia with decent shipping costs?
VistraNorrez
Member
So Windows 7 RC is good to use on my primary computer? No major issues?
Is your video card overclocked? My old Ati 3850 gave me the error even if I overclocked a mere 5Mhz. At stock clock it still did it rarely and wouldn't let me run TF2 without crashing. I tried all the "fixes" found from Google and none of them worked for me. What card do you have?Kadey said:
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!
Member
brain_stew said:
My motherboard is a GeForce 7050M-M and it's for AMD cards I believe. Will it run a ATI card on it though?
TheHeretic
Banned
pseudocaesar said:
staticice.com lists all retailers for computer parts.
Umart.net.au isn't cheap but they have supurb service and had a free shipping deal going on for months.
MisterAnderson
Member
I have a question regarding overclocking my i7 CPU. This is quoted from an "Ultimate Core i7 Overclocking Guide"
So just to make sure I understand this correctly... if I want to run my DDR3 RAM at the fastest speed it can go (1600MHz) I can't just choose the XMP profile to be 1 (which on my Gigabyte X58 UD4P Mobo auto sets my RAM to 1600) because that will not compensate for the uncore and the RAM speed will be set too high in comparison? So what I actually have to do is make sure the RAM multiplier is half as much as the uncore multiplier and then overclock the base clock speed (default 133) to get the desired overall overclock?
Currently I have my RAM set to 8x, and Uncore at 16x. I increased the base clock to 150 making my i7 run at 3GHz (150 x 20 = 3,000), which in turn should (if I understand this correctly) make my RAM be running at 1200MHz (8 x 150 = 1200)?
If that is true then to get my RAM at 1600MHz wouldn't I need to overclock the base clock multiplier to 200? (200 x 8 = 1600) But that would make my core clock speed at 4GHz, not 3,200MHz that is stated in the article. Am I missing something?
Edit: So I tweaked with the settings and eventually figured out how to get it to 1600 (Increased the multiplayer of the RAM to 10 and the Uncore to 20, then bumped up base clock speed to 160). So I'm running at 3.2GHz with 1600MHz RAM like the article said it should be... so I'm hoping I did everything right. I also switched off auto on the voltages and set them to the defaults to lock them down.
Question on the QPI though... that currently is set to auto. Do I need to change the QPI speed? The only options it gives me for the multiplier is: "Auto, x36, x44, x48, Slow" Not sure if I need to mess with this or not...
Here's some readings from CPU-Z. If anything looks wrong/dangerous/whatever please let me know so I can fix it:
If it's helpful information, the latency (I think that's the correct term) of my RAM is 8-8-8-24 with 1.65 volts which was confusing to me because in the BIOS it says it's set to 20, not 24 and the voltage I believe is set to 1.5 volts. Should I manually change this? I also have the Intel Turbo setting "disabled" (in my BIOS there's a second setting for turbo performance that has 3 settings, standard, turbo, and extreme, I set it to standard since it recommended that for overclocking stability as there was no off setting). Anyone recommend turning Turbo on? I read that it's typically best to keep turbo off when OCing, although I'm not exactly pushing it to the limit or anything.
So just to make sure I understand this correctly... if I want to run my DDR3 RAM at the fastest speed it can go (1600MHz) I can't just choose the XMP profile to be 1 (which on my Gigabyte X58 UD4P Mobo auto sets my RAM to 1600) because that will not compensate for the uncore and the RAM speed will be set too high in comparison? So what I actually have to do is make sure the RAM multiplier is half as much as the uncore multiplier and then overclock the base clock speed (default 133) to get the desired overall overclock?
Currently I have my RAM set to 8x, and Uncore at 16x. I increased the base clock to 150 making my i7 run at 3GHz (150 x 20 = 3,000), which in turn should (if I understand this correctly) make my RAM be running at 1200MHz (8 x 150 = 1200)?
If that is true then to get my RAM at 1600MHz wouldn't I need to overclock the base clock multiplier to 200? (200 x 8 = 1600) But that would make my core clock speed at 4GHz, not 3,200MHz that is stated in the article. Am I missing something?
Edit: So I tweaked with the settings and eventually figured out how to get it to 1600 (Increased the multiplayer of the RAM to 10 and the Uncore to 20, then bumped up base clock speed to 160). So I'm running at 3.2GHz with 1600MHz RAM like the article said it should be... so I'm hoping I did everything right. I also switched off auto on the voltages and set them to the defaults to lock them down.
Question on the QPI though... that currently is set to auto. Do I need to change the QPI speed? The only options it gives me for the multiplier is: "Auto, x36, x44, x48, Slow" Not sure if I need to mess with this or not...
Here's some readings from CPU-Z. If anything looks wrong/dangerous/whatever please let me know so I can fix it:
If it's helpful information, the latency (I think that's the correct term) of my RAM is 8-8-8-24 with 1.65 volts which was confusing to me because in the BIOS it says it's set to 20, not 24 and the voltage I believe is set to 1.5 volts. Should I manually change this? I also have the Intel Turbo setting "disabled" (in my BIOS there's a second setting for turbo performance that has 3 settings, standard, turbo, and extreme, I set it to standard since it recommended that for overclocking stability as there was no off setting). Anyone recommend turning Turbo on? I read that it's typically best to keep turbo off when OCing, although I'm not exactly pushing it to the limit or anything.
Metalic Sand
who is Emo-Beas?
Asus just released a Bios update that adds "Unleashed mode" for AM3 processors to unlock disabled cores, So i easily unlocked the 4th core. What should i use to test for stability and i cant check the temps on it when in quad core so should i be worried about heat?
brain_stew
Member
Yes, if your RAM specifies a higher voltage then you're recommended to use that to get to its full speed. I wouldn't worry about OCing your RAM too much, its not going to have any real effect on performance anyway. If you're OCing its generally recommended to use loose timings and the minimum RAM multiplier first so that you take that out of the equation if you get stability problems. You can always OC it after you've sorted your CPU overclock.
What are you using to test stability? I highly recommend OCCT as Prmie95 just doesn't cut it these days.
What are you using to test stability? I highly recommend OCCT as Prmie95 just doesn't cut it these days.
Metalic Sand
who is Emo-Beas?
I dled both OCCT and prime95. Ran OCCT for 10 mins :lol. Just to do a quick check of the 4th core. ill let it run for an hour later then give Prime95 a go.
Computer boots fine and even played some games so i would assume my 4th core atleast seems stable. No real testing yet though.
Computer boots fine and even played some games so i would assume my 4th core atleast seems stable. No real testing yet though.
Anyone here have any experience with touchscreens? Does vista or Win 7 natively support it? Do I have to get third party software to support it?
I have this vision of building the most ridiculous media center/living room gaming machine possible. One media center PC outputting to both a small touchscreen on a coffee table and to my living room TV with a bluetooth mouse + keyboard as a secondary input.
Not sure if this is possible as there would be quite a few issues to overcome.
I have this vision of building the most ridiculous media center/living room gaming machine possible. One media center PC outputting to both a small touchscreen on a coffee table and to my living room TV with a bluetooth mouse + keyboard as a secondary input.
Not sure if this is possible as there would be quite a few issues to overcome.
Metalic Sand
who is Emo-Beas?
I remember hearing Windows 7 natively does touch screens.
Metalic Sand said:
Yea, I binged it and it does support it. Now to find out if it will support one touchscreen and one standard screen. And I guess I can disable the touch screen while gaming.
Unfortunately they have no plans to sell there software specifically designed for touchscreens to consumers, just to PC manufacturers.
BravoSuperStar
Member
Not sure if it's been posted yet, but I got an email from MS this morning about pre-ordering Win 7 at a 50% discount. Home premium for $50 and Professional for $99. Participating retailers are newegg, Fry's, Best buy, amazon, tigerdirect and a couple others. Will probably jump on the Win 7 pro for $99. Deal looks to be going until at least July 11th.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy/offers/pre-order-email.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy/offers/pre-order-email.aspx
BravoSuperStar
Member
TheExodu5 said:
True, but I have been told you will be able to upgrade from the RC.
Edit: Looks like there is a very nice thread in the OT about this already:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366289
MisterAnderson
Member
brain_stew said:
My computer is currently running stable with the settings I posted (Turbo off, Base clock 160x, Memory 10x, Uncore 20x - currently voltage is all BIOS default but I'll go in and up the RAM voltage from 1.5 V to 1.65 V since that's the recommended V for the RAM)
And when I say "stable" I mean it isn't crashing or anything. Regarding testing stability, what exactly am I looking for w hen I use programs like OCCT? I just run "test" for a while and make sure it doesn't exceed max temps and doesn't crash?
Edit: I went back into BIOS to check out the RAM voltage settings. There's two different settings referring to RAM voltage which is confusing me...one is RAM profile voltage, then on the bottom where there is CPU voltage, QPI, etc., RAM is there as well. The strange thing is that it only let's me edit the one at the bottom, and it won't let me select 1.65. Only 1.64 or 1.66 are selectable, not in between. I heard you shouldn't go over 1.65 so I guess 1.64 is what I should select?
The confusing part to me is that when I choose this, the profile setting remains unchanged at 1.5 V. Is this conflicting setting going to cause problems? The only way I can change the profile voltage setting to be 1.65 is to choose X.M.P. from "disabled" to "profile 1". But this does a few things:
It automatically sets my RAM setting to 1600 and the multiplier to auto. When it's set to "disabled" and "10x mulitipier" there were two speed values, the base value and the overclocked value (1033 1600). With XMP turned to profile 1 it says "1600 1600" (if i set the multiplier from auto to 10x it reads "1600 1033" as if it's being downclocked) but it DOES however automatically set the RAM timings/frequencies/profile voltage to be correct (1.65). This of course creates another inconsistency however, since the closest I'm able to set the RAM voltage to 1.65 on the bottom of the list to 1.64. I'm fucking confused!
Edit 2: Ran OCCT with that overclock and it stopped the test 3 minutes in saying the CPU was too hot (80 degrees). I set everything back to the default settings (2.66 GHz w/ turbo on, 1033 RAM) and ran the test again just to experiment. It ranged from about 72-77 degrees, which still seemed kind of hot. Is this a normal temp reading when stress testing? My CPU temps idle around 45-50 degrees. After playing Crysis for 10 mins the max CPU temps according to realtemp was 60 degrees.
I am thinking about getting an aftermarket CPU cooler but I heard good things about the stock i7 one. Claims stating that they are even good for moderate overclocking, so I'm confused as to why a slight bump in the clock to 3-3.2GHz is running too hot with the stock cooler.
fatigues_gasolini
Member
Im looking at building an HTPC with an ION board. Any suggestions on cases? Will any mini-itx work?
MWS Natural
Member
What is the easiest way to setup 3 monitors? Is a second video card required or can you do 2 on the video card and one on the onboard video?
Looking to buy a Dell Studio XPS, this one a bit more powerful (customised) but for £900 is this ok, I have no idea other than to buy dell. How powerful is this pc? Could I run photoshop ect. relatively easily? Render 3Dmax/Video? Maybe run a few games. Can I play Crysis Highest (Is that still currently pc benchmark?)
Thanks for help.
Thanks for help.
lowlylowlycook
Member
besiktas1 said:
That's not really a gaming video card. The CPU is a very powerful one and will do 3D work and video encoding or whatever very nicely.
Minsc
Gold Member
Akim said:
Seems pretty good to me, see this.
A 4890's estimated score is 10.7K, and you have 9.8K, I'd attribute the difference to the nuts that tweak their cards and overclock them to get every last point.
Your CPU on the other hand (Core i7 920?), should be scoring around 24K, and you're just over 10K, so something's fishy with that.
brain_stew
Member
That's a terrible gaming rig besiktas1, the £400 machine I specced for instance will demolish it in games so it seems a bit hard to justify spending £900 on it!!
Given your tasks you'll be wanting a quad core but if you're gaming then Dell is going to offer terrible value. Any real reason you can't build your own rig? My £600 config looks ideal for you, heck you might as well bump it upto 8GB RAM, while you're at it.
If you won't go the "build your own" route then I recommend YoYo Tech, this PC looks ideal for you:
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/pc_system.php?pCid=16&pcSysId=169
Do the £5 upgrade to a 4870 512MB and I'd recommend upgrading the PSU to the Coolermaster for £20 for some piece of mind, still less than £640 even after them upgrades.
Heck you could get one of these watercooled, pre overclocked monsters with a BD drive and a top of the line 4890 1GB GPU in your budget:
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/yoyotech-...-reader-onboard-sound-software-p-2300846.html
or
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/yoyotech-...sound-vista-home-premium-64bit-p-2300847.html
The big problem with going with something from Dell is they're terrible for upgrading. The motherboard is locked down, the cases crappy and the PSUs, while servicable, generally need replacing if you're to upgrade the GPU. If you get a custom build, either premade or built at home you get to choose your parts and will be able to keep stuff like the case, PSU and motherboard through many upgrades and overhauls. When people get a Dell they tend to junk it all in one which is just a bad use of funds, you're money works much better for you if you do gradual upgrades over time to enhance its lifespan.
Having solid, user replaceable/servicable components means you'll never have to buy a whole new system again, upgrades over time well let your system last indefinitely.
Given your tasks you'll be wanting a quad core but if you're gaming then Dell is going to offer terrible value. Any real reason you can't build your own rig? My £600 config looks ideal for you, heck you might as well bump it upto 8GB RAM, while you're at it.
If you won't go the "build your own" route then I recommend YoYo Tech, this PC looks ideal for you:
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/pc_system.php?pCid=16&pcSysId=169
Do the £5 upgrade to a 4870 512MB and I'd recommend upgrading the PSU to the Coolermaster for £20 for some piece of mind, still less than £640 even after them upgrades.
Heck you could get one of these watercooled, pre overclocked monsters with a BD drive and a top of the line 4890 1GB GPU in your budget:
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/yoyotech-...-reader-onboard-sound-software-p-2300846.html
or
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/yoyotech-...sound-vista-home-premium-64bit-p-2300847.html
The big problem with going with something from Dell is they're terrible for upgrading. The motherboard is locked down, the cases crappy and the PSUs, while servicable, generally need replacing if you're to upgrade the GPU. If you get a custom build, either premade or built at home you get to choose your parts and will be able to keep stuff like the case, PSU and motherboard through many upgrades and overhauls. When people get a Dell they tend to junk it all in one which is just a bad use of funds, you're money works much better for you if you do gradual upgrades over time to enhance its lifespan.
Having solid, user replaceable/servicable components means you'll never have to buy a whole new system again, upgrades over time well let your system last indefinitely.
brain_stew
Member
gamerecks said:
You should really read this:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/17102/10
and this:
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/17120
brain_stew said:
Some sound advice here mate
.... BUT ... I heard bigger is always better This one here with the blu-ray I have a few probs with so let me say eactly what I want, so you can you help?
Monitor is a must (Dell one came with 23' full HD monitor).
I heard the more ram the better. I can't find how to up the ram on that it only has 4GB
Is Phenom 2 as good as i7?
MWS Natural
Member
MWS Natural said:
Anyone?
purvispisgah
Member
Okay, so I've got my new PC, it's all put together, but I'm having some problems.
First, here are all the components:
*CPU - AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor
*Mobo - ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
*Video Card - HIS Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
*Ram - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
*Monitor - ASUS VH222H Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen 16:9 Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor
*Power Supply - Antec EA750 750W ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply
*Case - Rosewill R901-P BK Triple 120mm Cooling Fan, Mesh Design Front Panel, ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
*HDD - Western Digital 640 GB
*DVD Drive - LG DVD Writer
So after an arduous build last night, I believe I've narrowed the problem down to two possibilities: The video card or the motherboard. If I boot up without the video card in at all, everything runs fine with the dedicated video. I've installed Windows, everything. However, if the video card is installed in either of the PCI-E slots, the computer will not post at all. It's just a blank screen.
If it helps, three of the LED's on the top of the card light up at the beginning of the boot. They are labeled D1601, D1602, and D1603. They light up for a second or two and then stay off. The LED labeled D601 never blinks at all. I've read the on another forum that this was normal, but the person wasn't sure.
I'm assuming my problem is the card. I guess it could be that both of the PCI-E slots on the mobo are not working, but that seems unlikely. Anyone got any suggestions?
First, here are all the components:
*CPU - AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor
*Mobo - ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
*Video Card - HIS Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
*Ram - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
*Monitor - ASUS VH222H Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen 16:9 Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor
*Power Supply - Antec EA750 750W ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply
*Case - Rosewill R901-P BK Triple 120mm Cooling Fan, Mesh Design Front Panel, ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
*HDD - Western Digital 640 GB
*DVD Drive - LG DVD Writer
So after an arduous build last night, I believe I've narrowed the problem down to two possibilities: The video card or the motherboard. If I boot up without the video card in at all, everything runs fine with the dedicated video. I've installed Windows, everything. However, if the video card is installed in either of the PCI-E slots, the computer will not post at all. It's just a blank screen.
If it helps, three of the LED's on the top of the card light up at the beginning of the boot. They are labeled D1601, D1602, and D1603. They light up for a second or two and then stay off. The LED labeled D601 never blinks at all. I've read the on another forum that this was normal, but the person wasn't sure.
I'm assuming my problem is the card. I guess it could be that both of the PCI-E slots on the mobo are not working, but that seems unlikely. Anyone got any suggestions?
purvispisgah
Member
dionysus said:
Even though it's running everything else just fine?
BravoSuperStar
Member
purvispisgah said:
Does it boot with the video card installed, but the monitor hooked to the internal/onboard graphics? It might be set to only look at onboard in the bios if so. Also I assume you are connecting power to the video card...
MWS Natural said:
That should work as long as the onboard video card is the same brand (either nvidia or ATI) as far the main video card, or else I would think driver conflicts might happen.
purvispisgah
Member
SuperEnemyCrab said:
No, if the video card is installed, the system will not post at all. Everything powers up (including the video card which will run its fan) but I don't get any video. The card is connected via two 6-pin connections from the power supply labeled "8PIN(PCI)Express" although it is seperated into two 6-pin connections and one 2-pin connection.
brain_stew
Member
purvispisgah said:
You are hooking up the 2 PCIe 6 pin connectors to the card right?
Edit: Oh, you are. How are you hooking up your card to your monitor? Tries a different output and/or a different connection type like VGA?
Oh, and yeah, go into the BIOS and make sure the onboard graphics are disabled, that's probably your problem.
purvispisgah
Member
brain_stew said:
But wouldn't the system still boot with the video card installed even if it was setup to run the onboard graphics? Will it even give me the option to run through a video card if none is installed when I'm in the bios menu?
Finally, if I am able switch in the bios over to the video card and it still doesn't work, do I just reset the CMOS to get back to onboard graphics?
I will try these things when I get a chance. Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
brain_stew
Member
purvispisgah said:
Yes.
Ikuu said:
A modular PSU, lots of zipties and some black tape is my current solution. Its far from ideal and isn't the prettiest but its enough to provide excellent airflow and since I can't see my cables from the outside anyway, it works for me.
brain_stew
Member
Akim said:
Download CPU-Z and take screenshots of each tab.
Run OCCT and make sure it passes the tests fine.
What are your scores in the two individual CPU tests in Vantage? They should be around 2400 and 110.