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[Minsc]

Uh...sure? Guess I'll never know with non-TN panels going the way of the DoDo lol. Not that I don't care about PQ but they need to price them competitively or atleast demonstrate the big quality difference you are paying for. I got my 23" Samsung on sale for $160, a IPS or MVA panel of that size is more than twice that!

Try it, maybe I'm wrong. Fill your screen completely with a solid purple or blue, and see if you get a free gradient.

Here's a link for a free app to remove dead pixels, which also can fill your screen with nice bright colors to test it out.

 

[PantherLotus]

In AGP? I thought only Leadtek even tried to make them and it didn't quite work out. I could be wrong though.

Edit: Panther, why wouldn't the 3850 work exactly? If it was a power issue, I suggest buying a new PSU (And a decent one at that), that way you have a PSU that can come with you in future upgrades and get that rather nifty card working now.

I actually don't know why it won't work. Maybe it still can?

Here's the process:

1. Previous card (Radeon 8500 DDR, AGP) burnt out.
2. Removed drivers for 8500.
3. Plugged in 3850.
4. On startup, screen is already in higher res, but doesn't touch borders of screen.
5. Load Install Disk - Selected "Install Driver"
6. Hardware Not recognized error -- skipped/ignored/install anyway
7. No apparent error, go to restart now.
8. On loadup, windows looks funny (severe artifacting) and then
9. BLAMMO -- BSoD, infinite loop error.
10. Repeated startups are some variation of 8-9, and sometimes goes straight to a startup/shutdown loop.
11. Start in safemode - remove driver install
12. Restart
13. Everything is fine again (go back to #4).

Now, from what I've read, I appear to have a driver issue. The card requires 450W but I only have 400W. I don't KNOW that the PSU is the issue, only suggesting that I'll be dismissed out of hand if I ask any AMD people for help.

So I look up the driver issue, and I can never exactly find the right answer. Apparently ATI had severe driver issues with the 3850 from day one, and in combination with the fact that they weren't supporting it (letting 3rd parties produce them anyway), we're in a real pickle.

Here is what I was able to glean from multiple repeated readings of numerous threads around the net:

1. The driver set with the install may have the wrong Device ID #. I may need to change it, but I don't know exactly how and I don't know what it should be.

2. I read at least two different things that said I may need to install my .net thing, but I have no idea what that would do.

3. I read that I may need to manually load the driver using the device manager. I did try that and still had a catastrophic BSoD error.

4. I read that there is a hotfix that may or may not fix this issue. I tried the hotfix and had the same exact problem.



I'm honestly at a loss. I could really, really use some help but have no idea where to start. If you guys have any ideas, sites, threads, or anything that I may have missed, please don't hesitate to assume that I'm a drunken grandma with a screwdriver. I need help. If you guys could find something I couldn't, like a step-by-step walkthrough on how to do it, please direct me to it.



Notes:
This thread describes my experience exactly (2nd or 3rd post):
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/224066-33-problem-card-infinite-loop

Can anybody decipher this? It seems like it would help but I can't understand it:
http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=279&threadid=103725

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

is it safe to say that money is an issue at this point for you? 'cause if it were me i'd just save up and get low priced (but good performing) parts and put my own PC togheter that's up to date.

 

[vg260]

What's happening w/ sound cards nowadays?

Last time I built a PC you pretty much needed (2003-ish) a sound blaster audigy 2 to handle the audio load, and even that really didn't support proper dolby digital encoded sound output streams. Has on-board sound progressed enough? I want my next pc for a living room gaming/media machine alongside my 360 & ps3. I have a 5.1 surround receiver I currently us for the 360 & ps3, and would want to use that. I'd be wanting to play my games w/ dolby digital via coaxial or optical connections w/ at least equivalent sound quality as the PS3 or 360. What's needed for that? Thanks for any info.

I'm assuming most video cards output HDMI/DVI video which is what I currently use for the 360&ps3

 

[PantherLotus]

is it safe to say that money is an issue at this point for you? 'cause if it were me i'd just save up and get low priced (but good performing) parts and put my own PC togheter that's up to date.

I'm gonna need a year before I can do that, maybe longer. I got the monitor this year though.


But just for shits n' giggles, where would I start? Would you guys help me build it? Is it easier than that bullshit I posted above with the crazy drivers? What entry point for price are we talking about for a PC that can play Anno 1404?

 

[MWS Natural]

What's happening w/ sound cards nowadays?

Last time I built a PC you pretty much needed (2003-ish) a sound blaster audigy 2 to handle the audio load, and even that really didn't support proper dolby digital encoded sound output streams. Has on-board sound progressed enough? I want my next pc for a living room gaming/media machine alongside my 360 & ps3. I have a 5.1 surround receiver I currently us for the 360 & ps3, and would want to use that. I'd be wanting to play my games w/ dolby digital via coaxial or optical connections w/ at least equivalent sound quality as the PS3 or 360. What's needed for that? Thanks for any info.

I'm assuming most video cards output HDMI/DVI video which is what I currently use for the 360&ps3

The 4800 series ATI cards have a sound chip on them to output 5.1/7.1 audio over HDMI.

Try it, maybe I'm wrong. Fill your screen completely with a solid purple or blue, and see if you get a free gradient.

Here's a link for a free app to remove dead pixels, which also can fill your screen with nice bright colors to test it out.

I'm not saying I disagree with you, color reproduction is a weakness of TN panels but the price difference is just too great for anyone to really care. Look at the sales of LCD vs. Plasma. Plasma is easily superior is nearly every way yet are a niche market and in large part plasma isn't twice as expensive as LCD's lol.

 

[Minsc]

I'm gonna need a year before I can do that, maybe longer. I got the monitor this year though.


But just for shits n' giggles, where would I start? Would you guys help me build it? Is it easier than that bullshit I posted above with the crazy drivers? What entry point for price are we talking about for a PC that can play Anno 1404?

You'd probably want to start here. $500 will play every game on the market, for another few years.

 

[equap]

which is better, HD 4850 Crossfire or 9800GT SLI? i think they're both about the same price.

 

[vg260]

The 4800 series ATI cards have a sound chip on them to output 5.1/7.1 audio over HDMI..

Thanks, but what's the best option for those without an HMDI receiver? I only have an digital/coax connection on my receiver.

 

[AstroLad]

Question to the people that have the Samsung 2233 (the 3dvision one) monitor: what are your settings at? This thing looks bright and washed out. Turned down the brightness (lol 100 default), but still not totally satisfied and curious to see what has worked for others.

unrelated: just noticed you have to set 120hz manually. damn fiddly desktops.

 

[MWS Natural]

Thanks, but what's the best option for those without an HMDI receiver? I only have an digital/coax connection on my receiver.

You could probably run optical from your motherboard or buy a sound card.

 

[TheHeretic]

But just for shits n' giggles, where would I start? Would you guys help me build it? Is it easier than that bullshit I posted above with the crazy drivers? What entry point for price are we talking about for a PC that can play Anno 1404?

We can come up with a build that suits your budget, and theres always people here to help you out. The act of building can be daunting but is essentially just plugging things into slots, its really not that difficult. The first boot of windows is dead easy, just install your graphics drivers (which doesn't involve any of the insane shit your doing up there) and away you go.

As for the price it depends on your needs. Without a monitor the minimum is about $500US, anything above that is very helpful.

 

[vg260]

You could probably run optical from your motherboard or buy a sound card.

Is the sound in either case this way just as good, or do you really need a dedicated sound card?

 

[godhandiscen]

which is better, HD 4850 Crossfire or 9800GT SLI? i think they're both about the same price.

Neither. Get a 4890 which retails for the same price and is more powerful.

 

[SuperLurker]

Now, from what I've read, I appear to have a driver issue. The card requires 450W but I only have 400W. I don't KNOW that the PSU is the issue, only suggesting that I'll be dismissed out of hand if I ask any AMD people for help.

So I look up the driver issue, and I can never exactly find the right answer. Apparently ATI had severe driver issues with the 3850 from day one, and in combination with the fact that they weren't supporting it (letting 3rd parties produce them anyway), we're in a real pickle.

Here is what I was able to glean from multiple repeated readings of numerous threads around the net:

1. The driver set with the install may have the wrong Device ID #. I may need to change it, but I don't know exactly how and I don't know what it should be.

2. I read at least two different things that said I may need to install my .net thing, but I have no idea what that would do.

3. I read that I may need to manually load the driver using the device manager. I did try that and still had a catastrophic BSoD error.

4. I read that there is a hotfix that may or may not fix this issue. I tried the hotfix and had the same exact problem.



I'm honestly at a loss. I could really, really use some help but have no idea where to start. If you guys have any ideas, sites, threads, or anything that I may have missed, please don't hesitate to assume that I'm a drunken grandma with a screwdriver. I need help. If you guys could find something I couldn't, like a step-by-step walkthrough on how to do it, please direct me to it.

I used one of these cards up until I built my new system recently. I remember having similar problems when I first installed the card, I never got it working by setting the device id manually like many sites suggested. I doubt its a power supply issue since I powered mine with a 400W seasonic.

What I remember doing is completely wiping all drivers by uninstalling and then running Drivercleaner, and then installing the drivers from power color's web site. After I got the card working I was able to update to those agp hotfix drivers on ATI's website that were posted on a previous page. As for your .net thing, the drivers may rely on some of the libraries included in the .net redistributable, it couldn't hurt to make sure its up to date.

 

[Slavik81]

So much love for DirectCanada.

I just orded a flightstick for IL-2 Sturmovik on Tuesday night at around 7pm. On thursday, I come home to find that purolator attempted delivery at 9:30am. Including shipping from BC to Alberta, my entire order process took just over 36 hours. (Or would have, if I were home to recieve it.)

They don't guarantee that kind of service, but this is the second time they've impressed me. They're definitely the best Canadian retailer I've ever dealt with. (Though Canada Computers, Compu2000 and Memory Express were also quite good.)

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

I'm gonna need a year before I can do that, maybe longer. I got the monitor this year though.


But just for shits n' giggles, where would I start? Would you guys help me build it? Is it easier than that bullshit I posted above with the crazy drivers? What entry point for price are we talking about for a PC that can play Anno 1404?

oh lord yes. hell for 5-700 dollars you can have a real nice set-up.

 

[AstroLad]

Does anyone who has a Samnsumg Syncmaster 2233RZ (the nvidia 3d combo one) have any recommended settings? As noted above, the defaults are awful, and I've seen some suggested ones online (brightness+contrast around 50, fiddle with colors and gamma) but I'm still not totally on board. I wanna take sharpness down to 0 also.

 

[BeeDog]

No, but I have a BenQ V2400W... excellent monitor. They have great customer service and a decent dead-pixel return policy.

My friend has the E2400HD and he says it's fantastic. I haven't had a single problem with my BenQ, but my friend did and he said the service was top notch. I'd definitely recommend them.

The one knock I have on BenQ is their crappy stands. You can tilt the monitor up and down, but you can't swivel, rotate, or adjust height. Furthermore most of of their newer models (even mine, a relatively old monitor now) aren't VESA mount compliant, so you can't replace the stand with a nice desk arm.


Otherwise you're getting a typical TN panel display. I'm not sure if it's wide gamut or SRGB though. With a wide gamut monitor you get these nice, vibrant colours that seem to "pop" off the screen, but you sacrifice colour accuracy. That's all about personal preference. My monitor is SRGB so I don't really get that vibrance, but I like the colour accuracy (no blue ice while watching hockey games!)

If you have an nVidia graphics card you can go into your nVidia control panel and turn on something called "digital vibrance". This basically mimics what wide gamut would look like (a little bit looks nice, but overdo it and your image looks like ####)

Sorry for the late reply, but many thanks for the comprehensive answer. Speaking of the TN panel "problem", what other types of panels are there? Also, speaking of my Samsung problem, apparently there are several types of TN(?) panels for it:

* X-xxxxxxxAx-xxxx: Samsung panel.
* X-xxxxxxxLx-xxxx: AU Optronics panel.
* X-xxxxxxxDx-xxxx: CMO panel.
* X-xxxxxxxIx-xxxx: CPT panel.

I got the worst one (CPT), twice in a friggin' row. Are BenQ monitors known to use different quality panels for the same monitor model?

 

[MWS Natural]

Is the sound in either case this way just as good, or do you really need a dedicated sound card?

Would have to ask someone else. Currently I use onboard sound to my 2.1 PC speakers but previously when I had my PC next to the AVR I ran HDMI sound from my 4890 for 5.1. It's all about what fits your needs. If you don't need HDMI audio then you can't go wrong with ATI or Nvidia, buy whichever you find a better deal on and use your motherboard audio.



For those looking for a Monitor this is a great deal from SD:

Dell EPP has the Dell S2309W 23-inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor for $159 - 7% off instant in cart = $148 ($143 w/ DPA) w/ free shipping.

 

[AstroLad]

Oh also (since I know probably no one can speak to my 2233RZ settings request): I've got Vista completely updated (getting 7 when it comes out), I've got the latest Nvidia drivers. Anything else I should be doing in terms of getting the most out of this thing performance-wise? I'm gonna go looking for banners touting optimization products, and install and try out a lot of them but I'd love GAF's advice as well.

 

[TheExodu5]

So much love for DirectCanada.

I just orded a flightstick for IL-2 Sturmovik on Tuesday night at around 7pm. On thursday, I come home to find that purolator attempted delivery at 9:30am. Including shipping from BC to Alberta, my entire order process took just over 36 hours. (Or would have, if I were home to recieve it.)

They don't guarantee that kind of service, but this is the second time they've impressed me. They're definitely the best Canadian retailer I've ever dealt with. (Though Canada Computers, Compu2000 and Memory Express were also quite good.)

I recommend NCIX as well. Usually you can get Express Shipping for an extra $5, and it's really, really fast. I ordered my GTX 275 at 5PM EST (from NCIX British Columbia no less), and I received it the following day at 10AM EST. Fastest shipping ever.

Oh also (since I know probably no one can speak to my 2233RZ settings request): I've got Vista completely updated (getting 7 when it comes out), I've got the latest Nvidia drivers. Anything else I should be doing in terms of getting the most out of this thing performance-wise? I'm gonna go looking for banners touting optimization products, and install and try out a lot of them but I'd love GAF's advice as well.

What videocard are you using? You should be overclocking it if you can, especially if your manufacturer has a lifetime warranty that allows for OC'ing as well.

Go download Riva Tuner.
Download FurMark for stress testing.
Open the Riva Tuner Hardware Monitor.
Run the FurMark stress test for 15 minutes. See what type of temperatures you're getting.

a) if you're under 90C, you're good to overclock a bit.

b) if you're around or above 90C, you're going to either want to avoid overclocking, or increase your fan speeds to get lower temperatures.

You can overclock using Riva Tuner. You can also increase your fan speeds using Riva Tuner. If you want to go the safest route, overclock both Core/Memory by 5MHz increments each, and run a stress test each time. As long as your temps are staying under 90C, and you're not getting artifacts, you're good to go. To save time, I usually start by overclocking to 5% above stock clocks, and go by about 20MHz increments from there until I get either artifacts or a hard lock. I lower from there.

If you've got EVGA or XFX, feel free to overclock as much as you want without any real repercussions. They cover overclocking.

A CPU overclock would be your next best bet. As long as you've custom built your PC, your motherboard should allow for it. This one is a tiny bit trickier, so you may want to look up a guide on how to overclock your specific CPU.

 

[AstroLad]

Sorry, shoulda specified: i7 950, gtx295, 6gb ddr3

 

[TheExodu5]

Damn you went all out. :lol

Yeah the GTX295 is probably already running really hot, but you should check the temps anyways. You can possibly crank up the fan some more to get some overclocking headway.

I think the i7's are really nice overclockers as well, so I'm sure you can squeeze out some extra performance there, depending on how hot it's running. I'm not sure what the thermal specs are for the i7, so you should look for an i7 overclocking guide.

Also, I'm not sure if you can, but you can possibly use the second GPU (since the GTX 295 is really two GTX 275 on one dual-layered card) for PhysX in some games. NVidia allows you to use your second SLI'd card for PhysX if you so wish it, so for games where you may have enough GPU power, but not enough PhysX power (Mirror's Edge), it might help. Then again, it might give the exact same performance since PhysX will be running off of the GTX 295 in either case. I'm not sure if someone can clarify this. It would be an extremely niche use anyways, as you wouldn't want to do that for the vast majority of games.

 

[AstroLad]

Cool, I think I will at some point probably in a few months once the games really start pushing it. I'm only running at 1680x1050 with the 2233 referenced above so I think i'll have leeway for a while. I checked the temps, thanks, they're all around 30-40c, around 35 average. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious especially since I haven't had a real desktop in like ten years at least.

 

[rohlfinator]

I just pulled the trigger on a cheap 4850, Antec 300, and an OCZ power supply last night. Seems like it should be a decent upgrade for a bit under $200. Can't wait to join the "current gen" of PC gaming, and start powering through my Steam backlog!

 

[Firestorm]

I recommend NCIX as well. Usually you can get Express Shipping for an extra $5, and it's really, really fast. I ordered my GTX 275 at 5PM EST (from NCIX British Columbia no less), and I received it the following day at 10AM EST. Fastest shipping ever.

That's faster than in store pickup

 

[Talyn]

Speaking of monitors, could anyone tell me how the ASUS VH242H compares to the others previously mentioned in the thread? Better, worse? Recommended or not?

 

[zugzug]

If money was a factor...

Assuming some type of Intel motherboard...would a Xenon server type processor work for a gaming rig?

Using the Cooler Master case posted in this thread, Salvaging my DVD and CD-rom drives my evga nvidia geforce 8800gts 320meg video card, and my Antec 550 watt powersupply, and my creative soundblaster audigy 2 ZS card. Will the 550 watt powersupply be strong enough?

Think I will have a product beta code for windows 7 otherwise stuck with reusing windows xp home until 7 officially comes out. Avoiding Vista atm. Want more than 2 gigs memory but if I'm stuck with xp home till win7 comes out juggling match.

So I'm looking for a new Motherboard, CPU, and memory. Using case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 that was posted earlier in this thread.

My local guy is happy with intel motherboards and processors, he is just trying to find the price point match for a gaming rig that is current. He is think Quad-core.

 

[AstroLad]

Not to pile on here, but this PC was built for me and not built by me. I just ran 3dMark06 and found some things that were disturbing to me (but I am ignorant, so hey).

First off, my system--i7 950, gtx295, 3x 2GB 16000MHZ, EVGA X58 3X SLI

Now I wanted this to obliterate my old laptop, which could pull roughly 10k on 3dmark06. The score for this? 16k. Meh. Seems pretty wack.

Then there's this:
CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07GHz
CPU Speed 2653 MHz

Uh, again maybe I'm totally wrong, but doesn't that mean this CPU is being underclocked?

I hope I am wrong because otherwise I'm gonna have to bitch out the place that did it and dig in myself.

Ignorantly yours,
Astro.

 

[aryies]

Not to pile on here, but this PC was built for me and not built by me. I just ran 3dMark06 and found some things that were disturbing to me (but I am ignorant, so hey).

First off, my system--i7 950, gtx295, 3x 2GB 16000MHZ, EVGA X58 3X SLI

Now I wanted this to obliterate my old laptop, which could pull roughly 10k on 3dmark06. The score for this? 16k. Meh. Seems pretty wack.

Then there's this:
CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07GHz
CPU Speed 2653 MHz

Uh, again maybe I'm totally wrong, but doesn't that mean this CPU is being underclocked?

I hope I am wrong because otherwise I'm gonna have to bitch out the place that did it and dig in myself.

Ignorantly yours,
Astro.

does the 295 suffer from microstuttering that every other dual gpu card has?

 

[Helmholtz]

Hey guys. I'm hoping this is the right thread for this.
I've recently been working on upgrading my PC. Right now these are my main specs:
CPU: Intel Core Duo E6400 @2.15Ghz
GPU: EVGA GTX275
RAM: 2GB DDR2
I'm playing games (mainly Team Fortress 2) at 1920x1080 with maximum settings or near max. My problem is that my fps frequently drops into the 30-40fps area, especially in firefights. Do you think my less than average CPU is holding back my PC resulting in this low fps? I'm planning on upgrading to a 3.00Ghz dual core processor within the next few weeks, as well as having 4gb of ram. Should this do the trick?
Thanks.

 

[Firestorm]

Source games are more dependant on CPU than GPU from what I understand so that might very well be the case.

 

[TheHeretic]

Not to pile on here, but this PC was built for me and not built by me. I just ran 3dMark06 and found some things that were disturbing to me (but I am ignorant, so hey).

First off, my system--i7 950, gtx295, 3x 2GB 16000MHZ, EVGA X58 3X SLI

Now I wanted this to obliterate my old laptop, which could pull roughly 10k on 3dmark06. The score for this? 16k. Meh. Seems pretty wack.

Then there's this:
CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07GHz
CPU Speed 2653 MHz

Uh, again maybe I'm totally wrong, but doesn't that mean this CPU is being underclocked?

I hope I am wrong because otherwise I'm gonna have to bitch out the place that did it and dig in myself.

Ignorantly yours,
Astro.

Download and run CPU ID, what does that tell you?

 

[SRG01]

That's faster than in store pickup

Related story, my brother once ordered something from Digikey at 1 or 2am in the morning in Vancouver and it somehow got to his dorm mail at 10am the same day. :lol

 

[SRG01]

Not to pile on here, but this PC was built for me and not built by me. I just ran 3dMark06 and found some things that were disturbing to me (but I am ignorant, so hey).

First off, my system--i7 950, gtx295, 3x 2GB 16000MHZ, EVGA X58 3X SLI

Now I wanted this to obliterate my old laptop, which could pull roughly 10k on 3dmark06. The score for this? 16k. Meh. Seems pretty wack.

Then there's this:
CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07GHz
CPU Speed 2653 MHz

Uh, again maybe I'm totally wrong, but doesn't that mean this CPU is being underclocked?

I hope I am wrong because otherwise I'm gonna have to bitch out the place that did it and dig in myself.

Ignorantly yours,
Astro.

Hmm. I would think that it's not clocking upward properly. Windows can sometimes throttle SpeedStep to a certain multiplier. Best way to check is to use some kind of live CPU monitor that can tell you the current CPU speed and multiplier.

 

[Toby]

Hey guys. I'm hoping this is the right thread for this.
I've recently been working on upgrading my PC. Right now these are my main specs:
CPU: Intel Core Duo E6400 @2.15Ghz
GPU: EVGA GTX275
RAM: 2GB DDR2
I'm playing games (mainly Team Fortress 2) at 1920x1080 with maximum settings or near max. My problem is that my fps frequently drops into the 30-40fps area, especially in firefights. Do you think my less than average CPU is holding back my PC resulting in this low fps? I'm planning on upgrading to a 3.00Ghz dual core processor within the next few weeks, as well as having 4gb of ram. Should this do the trick?
Thanks.

If it were me, I would try overclocking the CPU you have right now. Unless you have someone to offload the old CPU to, its probably much cheaper to get a ~$20 cooler that would enable higher OC's.

 

[TheExodu5]

I think 3DMark06 just experiences diminishing returns. Astrolad, seems others are having the same issue with pretty much all of the GTX 200 series...18-19k seems to be near the ceiling.

Vantage should be a much better benchmark.

Then again, maybe these cards just aren't build for benchmarking. The benchmarks do not always conform to actual game performance. What you should be doing is testing out the same games and see how much of a performance increase you're getting.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

Astro, if you really want to test out your set-up, download fraps and run your most demanding games at maximum settings.

 

[Mr. Spinnington]

a PC that can play Anno 1404?

YOU WERE TRUE TO YOUR WORD!!!! ;_:


<33333333333333333

 

[AstroLad]

Download and run CPU ID, what does that tell you?

Thanks guys.

Check it and tell me what you think:

 

[Minsc]

futuremark stuff

You can check how you stack up here, 16K for a 295 is right on the money. I can't believe you had a gpu score of 10k on a laptop.

Keep in mind those scores are heavily skewed by OC's, so you may get 20-30% less if you're not overclocking, especially on the CPU side.

 

[AstroLad]

You can check how you stack up here, 16K for a 295 is right on the money. I can't believe you had a gpu score of 10k on a laptop.

Keep in mind those scores are heavily skewed by OC's, so you may get 20-30% less if you're not overclocking, especially on the CPU side.

Oh no, the 10k was just the total futuremark score. I'm actually not sure--where are these separate CPU and GPU scores listed? Or are those just the average total 3dMark scores for each type?

I went ahead and reset the BIOS to defaults--I have no idea why they would UNDERclock this thing (and the temps are still fine now)--but that did the trick at least w/r/t CPU speed. So basically I stockclock'd the fuck out of this bitch. Pulled up my total 3dmark scores as follows:
3DMark Score 19669
SM 2.0 Score 7330
SM 3.0 Score 10114
CPU Score 5059

 

[TheHeretic]

Thanks guys.

Check it and tell me what you think:

Umm, wow. Did you pay for an i7 920 or an i7 950? Thats running at 2.66 , whereas an i7 950 should be running at 3.07. I'm not familiar with how the i7's show in CPU ID but its very suspect that thats running at the exact speed an i7 920 would at stock. Did you buy these parts from newegg or did someone do it for you?

I went ahead and reset the BIOS to defaults--I have no idea why they would UNDERclock this thing (and the temps are still fine now)--but that did the trick at least w/r/t CPU speed.

Thats weirder still. Why would the CPU ID show as an i7 920 when the specification is an i7 950?

Heres mine, for example:

 

[AstroLad]

Yuuuup. After talking to EVGA about the bios setup, it dawned on both of us that what happened was that the installer configured it for a 920 (and that's why the title was 920 even though everything was detecting it at 950). Here's the new shot, post load of default settings:

Seems to be running fine and the benchmarks got a really big boost. Anything I should keep an eye out for now that I've loaded the defaults? (ie anything the default bios settings might have messed up).

 

[Tom Penny]

If my PC turns on but suddenly does not give power to the hard drive or CD do you think that is a power supply issue or a motherboard issue? It boots up but doesn't load. I thought my hard drive was toast so I went into the bios the change the boot priorty to the main hard drive and it didn't even show one and the light on the CD drive doesn't go on.

 

[Helmholtz]

If it were me, I would try overclocking the CPU you have right now. Unless you have someone to offload the old CPU to, its probably much cheaper to get a ~$20 cooler that would enable higher OC's.

Actually ya, I'm planning on giving my processor to my brother. So I'll probably just make the upgrade to the 3.00Ghz processor, my friend's selling it to me cheap. Thanks for the advice though.

 

[K.Jack]

Not to pile on here, but this PC was built for me and not built by me. I just ran 3dMark06 and found some things that were disturbing to me (but I am ignorant, so hey).

First off, my system--i7 950, gtx295, 3x 2GB 16000MHZ, EVGA X58 3X SLI

Now I wanted this to obliterate my old laptop, which could pull roughly 10k on 3dmark06. The score for this? 16k. Meh. Seems pretty wack.

Then there's this:
CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07GHz
CPU Speed 2653 MHz

Uh, again maybe I'm totally wrong, but doesn't that mean this CPU is being underclocked?

I hope I am wrong because otherwise I'm gonna have to bitch out the place that did it and dig in myself.

Ignorantly yours,
Astro.

Hey, what was your old notebook?

 

[squinters]

Hey, I recently got a Dell XPS 435 with a Radeon 4670. I originally only planned on playing the Orange Box with it, but now StarCraft 2 is starting to interest me.

My problem is that while playing Episode 2 on the Orange Box, I noticed I couldn't run the max settings (including AA and AF) without overclocking, and even then the frame rates sometimes dips to 30 fps (never below though). So when things like Episode 3 and StarCraft 2 come out, I'd like to have a newer card.

Unfortunately, I got a premade Dell, and I don't know if it's compatible with a dual slot card like the 4890.

Thanks for the help.

 

[brain_stew]

Hey guys. I'm hoping this is the right thread for this.
I've recently been working on upgrading my PC. Right now these are my main specs:
CPU: Intel Core Duo E6400 @2.15Ghz
GPU: EVGA GTX275
RAM: 2GB DDR2
I'm playing games (mainly Team Fortress 2) at 1920x1080 with maximum settings or near max. My problem is that my fps frequently drops into the 30-40fps area, especially in firefights. Do you think my less than average CPU is holding back my PC resulting in this low fps? I'm planning on upgrading to a 3.00Ghz dual core processor within the next few weeks, as well as having 4gb of ram. Should this do the trick?
Thanks.

OC to ~3ghz and bump yourself upto 4/6GB of RAM. Job done.