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[Angry Grimace]

I finally figured out how to read the damn manual in the P6T. I got it to boot up (after pressing hte little power button ont he board itself), but it doesn't recognize my hard drive. I have no clue what the problme is or how to fix that. Is there some way to figure out whether it's broken or I'm just screwing up?

 

[Angry Grimace]

Okay, so both the DVD drive and the HDD do not work so far.

The DVD drive is deteced in BIOS but when I press a button to open the drive door, it simply flashes it's little light for a few minutes and then gives up.

Also, the HDD is not recognized at all, but a little flashy screen thing on boot showed it for about .5 seconds, but then said no drive detected.

 

[K.Jack]

Mobile ATi 4xxx numbers are coming out of CES:

4870 = 680mhz core, 700mhz memory (GDDR5)
4850 = 550mhz core, 700mhz memory (GDDR3)
4670 = 680mhz core, 800mhz memory (GDDR3, 128 bit)

 

[brain_stew]

I finally figured out how to read the damn manual in the P6T. I got it to boot up (after pressing hte little power button ont he board itself), but it doesn't recognize my hard drive. I have no clue what the problme is or how to fix that. Is there some way to figure out whether it's broken or I'm just screwing up?

Got the SATA cable plugged in the right place? I know its obvious but I've spent hours trying to figure out why my motherboard wouldn't pick up a new HDD wen all I'd done wrong is simply hook it up incorrectly in haste.

Try connecting it to a different SATA outlet on your motherboard.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Got the SATA cable plugged in the right place? I know its obvious but I've spent hours trying to figure out why my motherboard wouldn't pick up a new HDD wen all I'd done wrong is simply hook it up incorrectly in haste.

Try connecting it to a different SATA outlet on your motherboard.

Already done, and already working.

On to Vista64 install, which was baffling the first two times when it just hung up on the first screen. Before I realized it was just working really slow on...something. :lol

It's chugging along now. We'll see how it goes.

I hope i put that damn paste on right. It hasn't restarted yet :lol I just spread it on as thin as I could, although putting a "grain of rice" sized ball pretty much failed as a much longer piece popped out of the tube .

i'm really digging this CM690. Everything fit in just fine, even the GTX 260 had several inches of clearance in the back. The fact I figured out how to get this machine to even turn on, having gotten to the step where you're supposed to plug shit in and saying "I have no clue what to do" makes me feel smart. Although mostly, i just looked at all the plugs on the PSU and tried to figure out what they were and whether they needed to be plugged in to something.

 

[brain_stew]

My PSU only has one, and this video card didn't come with an extra 6 pin connector like most do :lol

If I RMA this card, will Newegg send me the same model or can I choose from another?

Edit: For completeness - 3DMark06 score is 2508 2.0 score, 2576 3.0 score, 2416 CPU score

Why not try a refund and get a 4830 instead? Its a better performer in most games.

Already done, and already working.

On to Vista64 install, which was baffling the first two times when it just hung up on the first screen. Before I realized it was just working really slow on...something. :lol

It's chugging along now. We'll see how it goes.

I hope i put that damn paste on right. It hasn't restarted yet :lol I just spread it on as thin as I could, although putting a "grain of rice" sized ball pretty much failed as a much longer piece popped out of the tube .

i'm really digging this CM690. Everything fit in just fine, even the GTX 260 had several inches of clearance in the back. The fact I figured out how to get this machine to even turn on, having gotten to the step where you're supposed to plug shit in and saying "I have no clue what to do" makes me feel smart.

:lol :lol

I had the exact same experience, and got in a panic trying loads of different things before realising it was just a very, very long load. Sometimes it pays to be patient.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Got the SATA cable plugged in the right place? I know its obvious but I've spent hours trying to figure out why my motherboard wouldn't pick up a new HDD wen all I'd done wrong is simply hook it up incorrectly in haste.

Try connecting it to a different SATA outlet on your motherboard.

Why does this happen? Changing the slot worked perfectly, but I have no insight as to why...bad slot? Does that happen?

 

[Hazaro]

Why does this happen? Changing the slot worked perfectly, but I have no insight as to why...bad slot? Does that happen?

Could of been external. Bad slots happen.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Could of been external. Bad slots happen.

It's entirely possible it wasn't seated right. I forgot to plug the SATA cables in, because I thought I had, but that was for the eSATA port on the top, so I just reached through the back to get it plugged in. when I pulled teh whole system back to the bench to fix it all, seemed to work better.

BTW, running with the VGA adapter because none of these parts came with a DVI-D cable, blows. It's got lines running down the thing like an old CRT television when you'd watch local cable channels and get those funky moving lines going down teh screen. I'm pretty sure this is just analog interference of some kind....right?

 

[rc213]

Some boards also come with a separate raid only sata ports.

 

[Hazaro]

It's entirely possible it wasn't seated right. I forgot to plug the SATA cables in, because I thought I had, but that was for the eSATA port on the top, so I just reached through the back to get it plugged in. when I pulled teh whole system back to the bench to fix it all, seemed to work better.

BTW, running with the VGA adapter because none of these parts came with a DVI-D cable, blows. It's got lines running down the thing like an old CRT television when you'd watch local cable channels and get those funky moving lines going down teh screen. I'm pretty sure this is just analog interference of some kind....right?

Make sure the adapters and connections are seated tightly. If possible watch the monitor while you do it.

Slight taps and wiggles should do it, probably just a pin or two not connecting

 

[Angry Grimace]

Make sure the adapters and connections are seated tightly. If possible watch the monitor while you do it.

Slight taps and wiggles should do it, probably just a pin or two not connecting

didn't seem to help, but I'm not concerned at this point. That kind of thing is almost always a cable or connection issue. It's also a 15 ft. long cable. Already ordered some monoprice DVI cables today, but figured I could deal with it for now.

On another note, i'm really glad I watched a video of some kid putting the CPU and explaining that the amount of "resistance" of the CPU latch when you lock it in is normal. I would have been stuck at that part for a long time, not wanting to break the mobo or the CPU.

 

[Angry Grimace]

New problem, after installing all the drivers, the system won't allow me to set my resolution to 1680x1050. Am I missing something here? Or is this just a limitation of using an analog adapter for the moment?

 

[brain_stew]

New problem, after installing all the drivers, the system won't allow me to set my resolution to 1680x1050. Am I missing something here? Or is this just a limitation of using an analog adapter for the moment?

Could be. What drivers are you using? Download the latest from either Nvidia or ATIs site.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Could be. What drivers are you using? Download the latest from either Nvidia or ATIs site.

I must be doing at least one thing right.

Posting from the i7 rig right now

I assume the drivers are current; this is the 55nm 260/216, which came out about 2 weeks ago.

Edit: But the drivers for the monitor aren't, so that might make some sense.

 

[Vaporak]

Hey guys, i am planning to purchase a new computer, and then later down the line a new monitor. For the time being, i was going to buy an HD4850. My question is, if i purchase a ~24" 1920x1200 resolution screen, would the 4850 be able to handle those kinds of resolutions with high/max settings?

edit. Also, does anyone have any impressions on the BenQ G2400WD? Or if anyone has a monitor recommendation, i would appreciate it.

No GPU is going to be able to do drive those settings for very long; either get used to running non-native resolution/lower settings, have lots of money to burn, or just don't go down that road. I suggest the later.

 

[Firebrand]

Looking at doing an upgrade to a E8400 3.0 GHz system while keeping my old video card which is a single 8800 GTS 640 MB (G80).

Will a 400W PSU (FSP brand) be enough to run this system, or what wattage should I get?
P35 vs P45 motherboards?

 

[Angry Grimace]

Vista gave me rig a grade, and gave me an "F+" 5.9.

WTF is that

Edit: apparently 5.9 is the max it goes.

Kind of unintuitive. i'm sitting here what setting I fucked up to not break the magic "6" barrier .

 

[Ysiadmihi]

I think I may have figured out at least part of why my frame rate was so low in a bunch of games. I decided to overclock my RAM a bit with nTune and saw a pretty good increase, so I decided to go to the BIOS so I could overclock my CAS latency, but then I realized my BIOS didn't have that option. So I googled a bit and found out it does, but it's hidden so people don't fuck up their RAM or something. After I messed with the timings I saw an option called "K8 to NB link width" and noticed it was at 8x/8x instead of 16x/16x so I changed that too.

After rebooting my performance is vastly increased, going from about 700fps idling in ATI Tool to about 900, a near constant 60fps in Fallout 3 on high settings and a very playable framerate in Crysis Warhead. It still doesn't seem to be running quite how it should so I'll still send my card back, but wow what a difference. I just hope I'm not pushing anything too hard :lol

 

[comedian]

I'm thinking about buying a pc and hoping to spend about 800£ (pre-made, don't have the confidence to make my own)(no monitor but i'd like speakers,keyboard and mouse included). I live in england and was wondering what recommendations are out there ( if by chance there are some companies that are having great sales etc.. i'd like to know).

Thank you.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

 

[Cheeto]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

Thats a damn good price.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

^^^ Yeah I'd say so.

Windows 7 Beta 1 released to the masses today.
x32 and x64 flavors.

Go here for more info @ Neowin.

If you want to skip straight to the Technet Free Beta, go here

 

[Minsc]

Hmmm, I'll have to see if it'll run in a VMWare VM, I don't feel like screwing up my XP box just yet.

Edit: Seems I'm not the only one who thought about that.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Hmmm, I'll have to see if it'll run in a VMWare VM, I don't feel like screwing up my XP box just yet.

Edit: Seems I'm not the only one who thought about that.

I've had windows 7 running on xVM from Sun since the first release of it.

I'm actually going to dual-partition my HD (once I build my new rig) and run Windows 7 as my primary OS with Vista Ult. being my back up. It's really a lot better than people realize.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

X-Bit breaks the news.

Quickhits:
Newegg:
Sapphire 4870x2 :$449
Powercolor 4870x2 :$449

Other retailers look to be following suit with somewhat lower prices, but not NewEgg low.

 

[Minsc]

X-Bit breaks the news.

Quickhits:
Newegg:
Sapphire 4870x2 :$449
Powercolor 4870x2 :$449

Other retailers look to be following suit with somewhat lower prices, but not NewEgg low.

What would we do without ATI and nVidia both keeping each other in check? That's pretty much in line with what the 295 review I was reading yesterday said. A $499.99 295 would cause the 4870X2 to drop in price to be lower than it.

Whatever happened to that big scandal that nVidia and ATI were price-fixing their cards or whatever it was?

 

[Median]

X-Bit breaks the news.

Quickhits:
Newegg:
Sapphire 4870x2 :$449
Powercolor 4870x2 :$449

Other retailers look to be following suit with somewhat lower prices, but not NewEgg low.

Oh God I'm happy I'm buying a computer in the next month or two

 

[brain_stew]

I'm thinking about buying a pc and hoping to spend about 800£ (pre-made, don't have the confidence to make my own)(no monitor but i'd like speakers,keyboard and mouse included). I live in england and was wondering what recommendations are out there ( if by chance there are some companies that are having great sales etc.. i'd like to know).

Thank you.

Whilst I'm not a great fan of them overclockers.co.uk pre overclocked rigs are pretty hard to beat tbh.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...e 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz @ 3.00GHz+ DDR2 System

3ghz quad, 4850 GPU, 4GB RAM, Bluray/HD DVD reader, 4GB RAM and all great components, including Corsair PSU, ASUS P45 motherboard, Antec case and OCZ RAM. That's a pretty damn sweet rig and still more than £50 under budget. That machine will eat up anything you through and still ask for more.

Edit: A $400 4870x2!? Damn!

Edit 2:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp....00GHz @ E8800+ 3.66GHz Dual Core DDR2 System

That's an alternatie system if you're not interested in quad core or Bluray. A 3.66ghz 45nm Core 2, 4GB RAM and 9800GTX+ is no slouch, and this machine is almost £100 less. Not bad at all.

 

[Elhandro]

Gaf experts, Help needed

So Im kinda of A newbie and built my first rig over the holiday break. Mainly for watching HD video for my plasma.

At first I didnt think I would be doing much gaming on it, so I just spec'd out a medium range rig that could push 1080p over xbmc. And it does that Fine, but after playnig some L4D, I wanted to see how Crysis would run.....And Now I'm a little dissappointed. It seems like its running around 20-25fps at medium settings (mainstream) with no AA at about 720p.

My specs are:

CPU: Phenom X4 9850
Motherboard: ASUS M3N78-EM GeForce 8300
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1B16K DDR2-800 2 x 2GB
Graphics Card: ASUS EN9800GT HB/HTDI/512M GeForce 9800 GT

Is there anything I can tweak to get better performance.

Thanks in advance

 

[YuriLowell]

So whats the consensus on these Phenom IIs.

Ive only got a AM2 board, but is it worth it to buy an AM2+ board, or just get a Corei7 rig?

 

[luxarific]

Does anyone know if there are any online vendors that sell motherboard+CPU packages that use thermal grease/compound instead of thermal pads? I want to build a new system this year, but I'd rather have someone else do the CPU mounting+board testing. The only problem is that all the vendors I've checked that sell motherboard bundles just use thermal pads instead of thermal compound when they mount the CPU. Anyone out there know of any vendor that will use Arctic Silver or something similar instead of a pad? I'm willing to pay extra.

 

[brain_stew]

Gaf experts, Help needed

So Im kinda of A newbie and built my first rig over the holiday break. Mainly for watching HD video for my plasma.

At first I didnt think I would be doing much gaming on it, so I just spec'd out a medium range rig that could push 1080p over xbmc. And it does that Fine, but after playnig some L4D, I wanted to see how Crysis would run.....And Now I'm a little dissappointed. It seems like its running around 20-25fps at medium settings (mainstream) with no AA at about 720p.

My specs are:

CPU: Phenom X4 9850
Motherboard: ASUS M3N78-EM GeForce 8300
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1B16K DDR2-800 2 x 2GB
Graphics Card: ASUS EN9800GT HB/HTDI/512M GeForce 9800 GT

Is there anything I can tweak to get better performance.

Thanks in advance

You should be getting better performance than that.

You absolutely want to download CCC config (just google it) and run at level 5, your rig should manage a stable 30fps and the graphics will look better than the default high settings.

I'd also look into overclocking that Phenom a little as Crysis only uses two threads but is very CPU intensive. As such a 2.5ghz Phenom isn't going to be anything spectacular and I think that's what is holding you back here.

 

[brain_stew]

Does anyone know if there are any online vendors that sell motherboard+CPU packages that use thermal grease/compound instead of thermal pads? I want to build a new system this year, but I'd rather have someone else do the CPU mounting+board testing. The only problem is that all the vendors I've checked that sell motherboard bundles just use thermal pads instead of thermal compound when they mount the CPU. Anyone out there know of any vendor that will use Arctic Silver or something similar instead of a pad? I'm willing to pay extra.

Um, its really not that hard and only takes a couple of minutes. Just take your time and don't be afraid to start over if you're happy with the results. Trust me, I was hesitant about this efore building my first rig, but its a stupidly easy task. Buying an aftermarket cooler with pre applied paste is always an option as well, it'll allow you to buy a cheaper OEM CPU as an added bonus.

For $20 this can't be beat:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200035

 

[iam220]

Gaf experts, Help needed

So Im kinda of A newbie and built my first rig over the holiday break. Mainly for watching HD video for my plasma.

At first I didnt think I would be doing much gaming on it, so I just spec'd out a medium range rig that could push 1080p over xbmc. And it does that Fine, but after playnig some L4D, I wanted to see how Crysis would run.....And Now I'm a little dissappointed. It seems like its running around 20-25fps at medium settings (mainstream) with no AA at about 720p.

My specs are:

CPU: Phenom X4 9850
Motherboard: ASUS M3N78-EM GeForce 8300
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1B16K DDR2-800 2 x 2GB
Graphics Card: ASUS EN9800GT HB/HTDI/512M GeForce 9800 GT

Is there anything I can tweak to get better performance.

Thanks in advance

This is crysis warhead? You should be getting good frames for medium settings @ 720p. You should be able to put everything in gamer and still get 30fps +. Get fraps or type in r_displayinfo 1 in console (~ key brings it up). Crysis warhead has this annoying texture streaming thing which seems to cause frequent pauses, so that might lead you to think you're getting less fps then you really are. To disable it i think the command is r_texturesstreaming 0 (I think you need to put this in a cfg, google for more info) ... but that may cause some of the levels to crash while loading ... so be warned.

So whats the consensus on these Phenom IIs.

Ive only got a AM2 board, but is it worth it to buy an AM2+ board, or just get a Corei7 rig?

I say go for it. I don't know what kind of performance drop you can expect when running phenom 2s on an AM2 board .. I guess you can get the CPU and try it out, and if the performance is not up to par then you can get a new AM2+ board.

 

[luxarific]

Um, its really not that hard and only takes a couple of minutes. Just take your time and don't be afraid to start over if you're happy with the results. Trust me, I was hesitant about this efore building my first rig, but its a stupidly easy task. Buying an aftermarket cooler with pre applied paste is always an option as well, it'll allow you to buy a cheaper OEM CPU as an added bonus.

For $20 this can't be beat:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200035

I know it's easy, but I've built three systems and I always find this part to be a time-consuming pain in the ass. I'd much rather have someone else do it, assuming they'll use compound instead of a pad.

 

[brain_stew]

This is crysis warhead? You should be getting good frames for medium settings @ 720p. You should be able to put everything in gamer without and still get 30fps +. Get fraps or type in r_displayinfo 1 in console (~ key brings it up). Crysis warhead has this annoying texture streaming thing which seems to cause frequent pauses, so that might lead you to think you're getting less fps then you really are. To disable it i think the command is r_texturesstreaming 0 (I think you need to put this in a cfg, google for more info) ... but that may cause some of the levels to crash while loading ... so be warned.



I say go for it. I don't know what kind of performance drop you can expect when running phenom 2s on an AM2 board .. I guess you can get the CPU and try it out, and if the performance is not up to par then you can get a new AM2+ board.

I thought Phenom 2s only worked on AM2+ boards? They're a no go on a vanilla AM2 board aren't they? Check your motherboard manufacture's website for compatibility. If you have a compatible mobo and are rocking an X2 then yes, its a terrific upgrade path and should give you a great performance boost as well a two extra cores which are always welcome. If your board doesn't support it then I'd sit tight and see where the pricing of i7 rigs go with the increased competition.

 

[YuriLowell]

I looked on gigabytes site for my mobo, and it says this.
*Note: If you install AMD AM2+ CPU on AM2 motherbord, the system bus speed will downgrade from HT3.0(5200MHz) to HT1.0(2000 MT/s) spec; however, the frequency of AM2+ CPU will not be impacted. Please refer "CPU Support List" for more information.

So is it worth it?

 

[brain_stew]

I'm thinking about buying a pc and hoping to spend about 800£ (pre-made, don't have the confidence to make my own)(no monitor but i'd like speakers,keyboard and mouse included). I live in england and was wondering what recommendations are out there ( if by chance there are some companies that are having great sales etc.. i'd like to know).

Thank you.

Forget everything I said and instead just go ahead and take advantage of this deal straight away, nothing's going to beat this:

http://hotukdeals.com/item/314470/dell-studio-xps-core-i7-920-4gb-ram/

Core i7, 6GB RAM, 750GB HDD and a 4850 for £700 delivered.

Go, go, go.

 

[seat]

Do you guys think it's a bad idea to go with a refurbished PSU? I found this one:

TR2 RX Cable Management 550W W0134RU (Refurbished Product)

It's $29.99 and for an extra $10 comes with a two-year extended warranty. I'm wary of refurbished products, but this model is very highly reviewed on Newegg. I'll probably wait, but this is tempting.

 

[Labombadog]

Do you guys think it's a bad idea to go with a refurbished PSU? I found this one:

TR2 RX Cable Management 550W W0134RU (Refurbished Product)

It's $29.99 and for an extra $10 comes with a two-year extended warranty. I'm wary of refurbished products, but this model is very highly reviewed on Newegg. I'll probably wait, but this is tempting.

A PSU is very important because its whats giving you power for your pc. I would personally go with a brand new PSU. Corsair, Thermaltake, OCZ, and Antec are pretty good.

 

[avaya]

X-Bit breaks the news.

Quickhits:
Newegg:
Sapphire 4870x2 :$449
Powercolor 4870x2 :$449

Other retailers look to be following suit with somewhat lower prices, but not NewEgg low.

I just got hosed on my GTX 295 :lol

 

[Ysiadmihi]

Hey guys, I was thinking of looking into a CPU upgrade that would work with my current motherboard and found this on the Gigabyte website:

Note: If you install AMD AM2+ CPU on AM2 motherbord, the system bus speed will downgrade from HT3.0(5200MHz) to HT1.0(2000 MT/s) spec; however, the frequency of AM2+ CPU will not be impacted. Please refer "CPU Support List" for more information.

This sounds bad, but to be honest I'm not quite sure exactly how bad. I would be further ahead to get a completely new motherboard right?

 

[Angry Grimace]

Do they make ATX12V extensions the one on the Earthwatts wasn't long enough without running it straight across the mobo and graphics card, which looks pretty tacky. I'd prefer to run it behind the mobo tray if I could get a longer extension (there are a couple of holes to do this on the case.)

 

[rc213]

Do they make ATX12V extensions the one on the Earthwatts wasn't long enough without running it straight across the mobo and graphics card, which looks pretty tacky. I'd prefer to run it behind the mobo tray if I could get a longer extension (there are a couple of holes to do this on the case.)

http://www.svc.com/cbl-extend-12v.html

 

[HokieJoe]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

Guhhh-geez. That's quite the deal! I'm not looking to upgrade, but that deal is tempting, very tempting.

 

[Blizzard]

Just another Vista search complaint since this is my Vista thread: I added a second song in my music directory. Why is search COMPLETELY unable to find the second file? Searching for * in Music produces only the other file or files, not this additional one.

I can only assume that it's due to search indexing, which I would REALLY rather didn't happen. Why couldn't there just be a button to like "search whole hard disk slowly, ignoring indexing, for a file named X". :/

*goes to dir /s *.mp3 | more*

 

[K.Jack]

The prices on the mobile 48xx series are NICE! I can't break NDA yet, but believe that Nvidia is in trouble in the mobile enthusiast market.

 

[Allen]

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B Aluminum/ SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
SeaSonic M12II SS-430GM 430W ATX12V 2.2 /EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler
EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
EVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q
SAMSUNG 2433BW High Glossy Black 24" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor

Any thoughts? Would it be worth it to add another GTX 260+? As of now the total is $1,681.37 ... pretty good.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

pics will be coming.