Typically go for a stronger single-card solution when money is no object. I don't know what the difference is between the 550 and 560 or how the boost applies with those particular cards in SLI, but consider that if you get the single card you could always buy a second for 1/3rd the price in a year or two and get the boost then.
Tech Support GAF Thread: No Case Too Big, No Case Too Small
- Thread starter Hawkian
- Start date
That power supply will likely not adequately power your machine with a dedicated video card. Fortunately, that is an ATX PSU so it will be easy to replace.
That's the sticker on the side of the psu. Thoughts?
The Lamonster
Member
I had a scary crash last night. I was watching a YouTube video when the screen instantly became multi-colored rainbow pixelated and the sound started a glitchy looping and I had to force shutdown.
It looked a little like this (not my pic):
or this (not my pic):
What do you guys think could cause this? Video card? But would that explain the sound crashing too?
It looked a little like this (not my pic):
or this (not my pic):
What do you guys think could cause this? Video card? But would that explain the sound crashing too?
I had a scary crash last night. I was watching a YouTube video when the screen instantly became multi-colored rainbow pixelated and the sound started a glitchy looping and I had to force shutdown.
It looked a little like this (not my pic):
or this (not my pic):
What do you guys think could cause this? Video card? But would that explain the sound crashing too?
My guess is that Flash has something to do with it if it happened while watching a YT video.
The Lamonster
Member
I am mostly worried about aging hardware so if you think it's Flash, that's awesome. I was also tabbed in World of Warcraft though...
the single card can run all current games just fine so ill do that then. thanks.
Sorry to invite this potential fear but if you were taxing your card a bit (WoW and flash simultaneously), that kind of corruption can be a telltale sign of your graphics card substantially overheating
Do you have temp monitoring software such as GPU-Z?
The Lamonster
Member
Sorry to invite this potential fear but if you were taxing your card a bit (WoW and flash simultaneously), that kind of corruption can be a telltale sign of your graphics card substantially overheating
Do you have temp monitoring software such as GPU-Z?
Yes, it's constantly running @ 91-94 degrees. Is that bad? Been that way for as long as I've known. And is there anything I can do about it aside from installing a whole cooling system in my PC which I wouldn't know how to do?
So say it craps out. Being an OEM from 2006, should I really upgrade the card (to a 560ti or something) or would it be worth it to get a whole new system? Here are my specs:
Jzero
Member
You still have pretty good hardware, just upgrade your graphics card.
The Lamonster
Member
Well, I think it just crapped out. It froze the same way again (while playing WoW): everything became pixelated sort of like the pics I posted above. I force shutdown'd and waited a while, air dusted the inside and booted again.
Right now it's frozen at the boot in safe mode screen. I selected to boot in normal mode and that's when it froze.
Does this all point to needing a new video card? I mean, I could order a new one tomorrow but would be super bummed if it doesn't change anything. Halp!
Right now it's frozen at the boot in safe mode screen. I selected to boot in normal mode and that's when it froze.
Does this all point to needing a new video card? I mean, I could order a new one tomorrow but would be super bummed if it doesn't change anything. Halp!
The Lamonster
Member
Pressed F2 to get to bios, frozen again. My keyboard is only responsive for the first few seconds of booting.
Edit: got to bios! Where do I go from here to get the info I need?
Does this tell us anything?
Edit: got to bios! Where do I go from here to get the info I need?
Does this tell us anything?
SugarDaddy
Member
So I recently bought the OCZ vertex 4 128gb and installed it today. I unhooked my previous sata hdd, and installed windows on the SSD. After installation was complete, I hooked the old hdd back up, so that SSD was in the first sata port(sata 1), HDD(sata 2) and disc drive(sata 3). After hooking the hdd back up, and booting up, I'm now prompted with this screen
Only in mine, it says Intel Rapid Storage, and it shows my two drives. It doesn't linger at the screen for very long, and there are otherwise no problems. It boots up fine. I'm just wondering why its now prompting me with that screen on boot up, and if its possible to make it go away.
Any ideas?
Only in mine, it says Intel Rapid Storage, and it shows my two drives. It doesn't linger at the screen for very long, and there are otherwise no problems. It boots up fine. I'm just wondering why its now prompting me with that screen on boot up, and if its possible to make it go away.
Any ideas?
out0v0rder
Member
its something to with your ahci/ide mode settings in your bios. there should be an option somewhere you may need to change it back to ide mode.
Pressed F2 to get to bios, frozen again. My keyboard is only responsive for the first few seconds of booting.
Edit: got to bios! Where do I go from here to get the info I need?
Does this tell us anything?
Not many options from here. Do you have any spare video cards or anyone you can borrow one from for a bit to see?
Also, go down through the BIOS see if you find a temperature monitoring option. Make sure nothing is overheating if you just let it sit there.
The Lamonster
Member
No. Your card is PCI Express which means it needs PEG. If you had a super old plain PCI video card then you would have to change the setting.
The board does not have an AGP slot, or I could have mailed you an AGP card. I have a couple laying around I meant to post in the free stuff thread.
Hmm... I'll think on it some more, but I think you are pretty much out of options aside from getting a new video card in there. Go to the "I need a new PC" thread and ask for some advice. Someone there may have some other ideas or suggestions on what and where to buy if you decide to.
The board does not have an AGP slot, or I could have mailed you an AGP card. I have a couple laying around I meant to post in the free stuff thread.
Hmm... I'll think on it some more, but I think you are pretty much out of options aside from getting a new video card in there. Go to the "I need a new PC" thread and ask for some advice. Someone there may have some other ideas or suggestions on what and where to buy if you decide to.
The Lamonster
Member
Already a step ahead of you! Thanks for the help.
The Lamonster
Member
Just got to safe mode. Anything I can check to see if the video card was in fact the cause of the crashes?
Jzero
Member
Might as well upgrade to the 660.
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
Windows Media Center help needed!
I wanted to use it to browse photos, organize and view the movies I have ripped to my NAS, and watch Internet TV, but that last part absolutely will not work.
I have the option to select Internet TV, but when I click on it, nothing comes up besides an unclickable list as shown:
I have installed PlayReady, I have unchecked WMC in Programs and Features and rechecked it (effectively uninstalling and reinstalling WMC) and uninstalled and reinstalled Internet TV, but nothing ever happens. Just this stupid list shows up. I can't click on anything and absolutely nothing functions in Internet TV.
Please help!
I wanted to use it to browse photos, organize and view the movies I have ripped to my NAS, and watch Internet TV, but that last part absolutely will not work.
I have the option to select Internet TV, but when I click on it, nothing comes up besides an unclickable list as shown:
I have installed PlayReady, I have unchecked WMC in Programs and Features and rechecked it (effectively uninstalling and reinstalling WMC) and uninstalled and reinstalled Internet TV, but nothing ever happens. Just this stupid list shows up. I can't click on anything and absolutely nothing functions in Internet TV.
Please help!
Thanks for the recommendation! I don't find that particular PSU on any european amazon website, what are good Europe based (not UK) websites for buying components?
Kind of a long story her, I'll try to be brief:
Compaq presario V6600 running windows XP; has a 120GB HDD with 2 partitions
-started refusing to load youtube videos, and did a restart; got stuck in a loop since after the windows logo appears, the screen goes black only to go to a blue screen of death that goes by so fast I can't get the error code. then it restarts again.
-I tried installing a disc of windows xp pro, only to get an error message like "hard disk not found". I messed around with the few options that the bios menu gave me, until I Disabled something regarding PCI SATA related. This made my HDD appear again when I tried with the disk.
I installed xp pro on the same partition that had the old windows xp, only to have a black screen error saying windows cannot start as soon as it tries to boot up.
I then formatted the second smaller partition and installed xp pro there, and it finally worked, booted and had no problems accesing the main partition to back up some things.
So my issue is, anyone know what caused this? corrupt xp? but what caused the HDD to not appear?
and secondly, is there any way to fix the original install of xp?
thirdly, many things that were installed won't work on the new xp pro; I have to get everything again and install, right?
last one: does anyone know if there is any way to recover the bookmarks on google chrome (they were never synced with google). I can't find any folders containing them, and I would have to reinstall chrome to get it working again, I assume doing that would not help me get the bookmarks back right?
Thanks to anyone who can give me some advice, and thanks for just reading if you can't!
Gonna take a nap, so I won't be replying for a while, btw.
Compaq presario V6600 running windows XP; has a 120GB HDD with 2 partitions
-started refusing to load youtube videos, and did a restart; got stuck in a loop since after the windows logo appears, the screen goes black only to go to a blue screen of death that goes by so fast I can't get the error code. then it restarts again.
-I tried installing a disc of windows xp pro, only to get an error message like "hard disk not found". I messed around with the few options that the bios menu gave me, until I Disabled something regarding PCI SATA related. This made my HDD appear again when I tried with the disk.
I installed xp pro on the same partition that had the old windows xp, only to have a black screen error saying windows cannot start as soon as it tries to boot up.
I then formatted the second smaller partition and installed xp pro there, and it finally worked, booted and had no problems accesing the main partition to back up some things.
So my issue is, anyone know what caused this? corrupt xp? but what caused the HDD to not appear?
and secondly, is there any way to fix the original install of xp?
thirdly, many things that were installed won't work on the new xp pro; I have to get everything again and install, right?
last one: does anyone know if there is any way to recover the bookmarks on google chrome (they were never synced with google). I can't find any folders containing them, and I would have to reinstall chrome to get it working again, I assume doing that would not help me get the bookmarks back right?
Thanks to anyone who can give me some advice, and thanks for just reading if you can't!
Gonna take a nap, so I won't be replying for a while, btw.
I use WMC but have never used Internet TV. I'll see if I can remember to try it on my system tonight when I get home. I mainly use my setup to record/watch TV via my Ceton InfiniTV tuner card.
Some good places to get HTPC/WMC help are: thegreenbutton.tv and avsforum.com forums
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
Thanks for the tip. Looking through there, I found out that Just 3 days ago, MS discontinued the Internet TV portion of Windows Media Center! Too little, too late...
Nvidia GeForce GT 545 Help
Hey GAF, I really need your help here. I have a Nvidia graphics card and it works perfectly when I play games HOWEVER
My desktop and even this screen is so fucking small my eyes hurt. I have tried messing with the DPI, but that just makes my icons bigger and not Google Chrome or my Steam Client or any other program look "normal". I have messed with my resolution and I still can't seem to find a solution to make web browsing and my desktop and other programs look "normal" so I was hoping if a Nvidia expert could help me out. Here is my specs and what I know, please bear with me, this is my first gaming PC and I don't know much. I also tried googling this and cannot seem to fix this issue.
Before anybody asks I have updated to the most recent Nvidia Drivers, Windows Drivers, and Chipset Drivers.
I am running windows 7 64 Bit home premium
My processor is an intel core i-7 2600, 3.40 GHZ
Graphics card - Nvidia GeForce GT 545
Here is my monitor - its a 21 Philips HD TV I am running the image through Mini HDMI to HDMI port in my TV.
Like I said the games look AMAZING. I played Skyrim on Ultra High, Oblivion, etc and everything looked amazing and up to par.
It's just my desktop, Spotify, Chrome, everything is so freaking tiny and it's giving me a huge headache. Literally.
If anybody can help me I would greatly appreciate it.
-Nick
Hey GAF, I really need your help here. I have a Nvidia graphics card and it works perfectly when I play games HOWEVER
My desktop and even this screen is so fucking small my eyes hurt. I have tried messing with the DPI, but that just makes my icons bigger and not Google Chrome or my Steam Client or any other program look "normal". I have messed with my resolution and I still can't seem to find a solution to make web browsing and my desktop and other programs look "normal" so I was hoping if a Nvidia expert could help me out. Here is my specs and what I know, please bear with me, this is my first gaming PC and I don't know much. I also tried googling this and cannot seem to fix this issue.
Before anybody asks I have updated to the most recent Nvidia Drivers, Windows Drivers, and Chipset Drivers.
I am running windows 7 64 Bit home premium
My processor is an intel core i-7 2600, 3.40 GHZ
Graphics card - Nvidia GeForce GT 545
Here is my monitor - its a 21 Philips HD TV I am running the image through Mini HDMI to HDMI port in my TV.
Like I said the games look AMAZING. I played Skyrim on Ultra High, Oblivion, etc and everything looked amazing and up to par.
It's just my desktop, Spotify, Chrome, everything is so freaking tiny and it's giving me a huge headache. Literally.
If anybody can help me I would greatly appreciate it.
-Nick
Cloudius12
Member
Right Click Desktop, View, Large or Medium Icon size.
So, I'm just starting to use Handbrake and want to know if their is a way to rip the whole DVD; menus, extras, commentaries instead of just the main video file which is the movie that the program is giving to me by default. I'm also using DVD Decrypter as well before I use Handbrake.
Can a graphics card output a picture through two cables at the same time (for example both mini-HDMI and DVI) without issues?
The reason I ask is I currently have everything (PC, 360, PS3) wired up to an Onkyo 5.1 surround system - but that only has one picture output as far as I know - to my TV, which is 32". I've been using this as a monitor for a while for convenience, but I don't want to do that long term if I don't have to. I'd prefer to have a separate, smaller monitor for the PC, and the TV for 360/PS3, but still have all 3 connected to the 5.1 speakers through the AV box, as they are now.
Currently, the PC is plugged in to the AV receiver via the mini-HDMI port on my GTX 460 graphics card (using a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable), which outputs both sound and video signal down the one cable. I think the simplest solution, if possible, would be to leave this as is, and then run a DVI cable at the same time from the graphics card to my monitor, when purchased. Then, hopefully, I can set the AV receiver to the PC setting as normal (the TV doesn't need to be switched on for the surround sound to output), and switch on the monitor, and receive a picture on the monitor, and sound through the surround speakers. Would this work fine?
Thanks for any advice.
The reason I ask is I currently have everything (PC, 360, PS3) wired up to an Onkyo 5.1 surround system - but that only has one picture output as far as I know - to my TV, which is 32". I've been using this as a monitor for a while for convenience, but I don't want to do that long term if I don't have to. I'd prefer to have a separate, smaller monitor for the PC, and the TV for 360/PS3, but still have all 3 connected to the 5.1 speakers through the AV box, as they are now.
Currently, the PC is plugged in to the AV receiver via the mini-HDMI port on my GTX 460 graphics card (using a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable), which outputs both sound and video signal down the one cable. I think the simplest solution, if possible, would be to leave this as is, and then run a DVI cable at the same time from the graphics card to my monitor, when purchased. Then, hopefully, I can set the AV receiver to the PC setting as normal (the TV doesn't need to be switched on for the surround sound to output), and switch on the monitor, and receive a picture on the monitor, and sound through the surround speakers. Would this work fine?
Thanks for any advice.
Jzero
Member
You should be able to. That's how people use multiple monitors.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
I had a scary crash last night. I was watching a YouTube video when the screen instantly became multi-colored rainbow pixelated and the sound started a glitchy looping and I had to force shutdown.
It looked a little like this (not my pic):
or this (not my pic):
What do you guys think could cause this? Video card? But would that explain the sound crashing too?
Definitely your card might have issue. I've been there. Hopefully not. Either that or not enough power provided to it i.e. weak power supply.
I'm having some intermittent USB issues. Sometimes actions register multiple times and I can't complete a button holding minigame in Hell Yeah! since the connection seems to drop for a small amount of time. So far I've tried: different ports, reinstalling drivers and reinstalling the OS.
I'm going to swab the ports with rubbing alcohol next, but I doubt that will help. Any smart ideas? My mobo is an ASUS P7P55D-E LX and I'd hate for it to be broken.
I'm going to swab the ports with rubbing alcohol next, but I doubt that will help. Any smart ideas? My mobo is an ASUS P7P55D-E LX and I'd hate for it to be broken.
Just for clarity sake: you're referring to your mouse, right? And by drivers do you mean the drivers for the mouse or for the USB controller?
Great, cheers! I have a couple of other options (I think my motherboard has optical, but I'm not sure), but I'll try that as it seems to be the simplest solution. I'll test it on another monitor tonight before I order a new monitor.
Mouse is the most problematic (or one I notice the most often), but the 'holding button pressed' problem comes up with both my keyboard and my x360 controller. As for drivers, I reinstalled three instances of Generic USB Hub, two Intel 5 Series Host Controllers and 2 USB Root Hubs and one xHCl Root Hub.
I have an HTPC on a large 70" screen that I use from 10ft away. What I do is go to Control Panel -> All Control Panel Items -> Display
You have 3 options: Smaller (default), Medium, and Larger (150%). I choose Larger and it works will for most things.
Have you tried this option?
Nerdy Fergy
Neo Member
I have a question about accessing my computer when I am not on my network.
First, how would I go about setting up a static network address (192.168.2.x)? I have a wireless router and modem in the office, but my htpc and xbox360 are connected via a network bridge I set up through dd-wrt. Does this change how I would set up the static network address?
Second, how can I use this to set up my htpc with an external domain? I have used something like no-ip.org and dyn-dns in the past, but the set up was more direct.
Finally, can I set this up with a domain I bought and I am using on a hosting site? Let's say I own domain.com and I am using a hosting site for my website that is accessed through domain.com. Can I set up htpc.domain.com and use that in my second question? Is there a quick guide written up somewhere on how to do that?
Thanks!
First, how would I go about setting up a static network address (192.168.2.x)? I have a wireless router and modem in the office, but my htpc and xbox360 are connected via a network bridge I set up through dd-wrt. Does this change how I would set up the static network address?
Second, how can I use this to set up my htpc with an external domain? I have used something like no-ip.org and dyn-dns in the past, but the set up was more direct.
Finally, can I set this up with a domain I bought and I am using on a hosting site? Let's say I own domain.com and I am using a hosting site for my website that is accessed through domain.com. Can I set up htpc.domain.com and use that in my second question? Is there a quick guide written up somewhere on how to do that?
Thanks!
The Lamonster
Member
Sorry to invite this potential fear but if you were taxing your card a bit (WoW and flash simultaneously), that kind of corruption can be a telltale sign of your graphics card substantially overheating
Do you have temp monitoring software such as GPU-Z?
Thanks dudes! Installed a 7850 GPU and everything's working well. I should have done this a long time ago. But yeah - I was freaking out and I really appreciate all the help from everyone that replied.
Thought I'd post this here since I'm having some issues...
So I just built my PC and it loads up fine, but when I installed the Nvidia drivers from the CD, it pretty much crashes after log-in and continues to do that. After downloading the ones from the Nvidia website... did the same thing. Decided to boot into safe mode and get into the windows update action center and only installed the 560 Ti display update (forgot what it was called). I was in a bit of a hurry so I couldn't really wait to install/update everything. After that, it seemed to get worse where my mouse and keyboard wouldn't work (more like a freeze) when it logged in. That's where I left it as I had to leave.
Don't really understand what's causing it nor am I that knowledgeable in regards to this. :x
My build:
intel 2500k 3.30Ghz
Biostar TP67B+
EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 FTW
XFX PRO750W 12V 62A 24PIN
G.SKILL DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
Everything is still stock speed. I haven't tampered with that stuff yet.
So I just built my PC and it loads up fine, but when I installed the Nvidia drivers from the CD, it pretty much crashes after log-in and continues to do that. After downloading the ones from the Nvidia website... did the same thing. Decided to boot into safe mode and get into the windows update action center and only installed the 560 Ti display update (forgot what it was called). I was in a bit of a hurry so I couldn't really wait to install/update everything. After that, it seemed to get worse where my mouse and keyboard wouldn't work (more like a freeze) when it logged in. That's where I left it as I had to leave.
Don't really understand what's causing it nor am I that knowledgeable in regards to this. :x
My build:
intel 2500k 3.30Ghz
Biostar TP67B+
EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 FTW
XFX PRO750W 12V 62A 24PIN
G.SKILL DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
Everything is still stock speed. I haven't tampered with that stuff yet.
Thought this was a pretty amusing virus on a user's computer, I've seen the FBI ones, but never with a hostile webcam takeover and and audio loop saying:
"FBI warning your computer has been locked, FBI warning your computer has been locked, FBI warning your computer has been locked, FBI warning your computer has been locked"
"FBI warning your computer has been locked, FBI warning your computer has been locked, FBI warning your computer has been locked, FBI warning your computer has been locked"
Cloudius12
Member
I would try an older version of Nvidia driver just to check.
Yeah, a bit of an update that the gpu is definitely not faulty as it works in his computer while his gpu works in mine if that means anything.
Hopefully it's not too hard finding the right one and i'm concerned what to do when I want to update.
EDIT: Thanks for the suggestion, btw.
Hopefully it's not too hard finding the right one and i'm concerned what to do when I want to update.
EDIT: Thanks for the suggestion, btw.
Setvan2734
Member
Need a bit of Laptop help here
The fan on the inside of my laptop seems to have died on me, causing my computer to overheat and turn off after 30-60 mins. So I need to buy a new fan replacement for my laptop.
This is what was in my laptop: http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3034
That one is currently out of stock right now though.
Should I get this one instead? http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3024
It's only $4 more, but the dimensions aren't exactly the same. Would the second one work just as well or better in my laptop?
My laptop: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Gaming_Powerhouse/G72Gx/#specifications
The fan on the inside of my laptop seems to have died on me, causing my computer to overheat and turn off after 30-60 mins. So I need to buy a new fan replacement for my laptop.
This is what was in my laptop: http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3034
That one is currently out of stock right now though.
Should I get this one instead? http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3024
It's only $4 more, but the dimensions aren't exactly the same. Would the second one work just as well or better in my laptop?
My laptop: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Gaming_Powerhouse/G72Gx/#specifications
You probably would have a small opening around the new fan, since it's 3mm smaller. I'd say that that wouldn't be a good idea, since it's easier for dust (or "larger" dirt) to get in there.
Maybe it's possible to swap out only the actual (defective) fan, retaining the old casing. But I don't know if it is even openable, or you have the means to do it.
i have a question! my laptop has problems detecting my wired mouse. when i put it in, it makes the sound, and the light under the mouse is also shining red. but i cannot move it. on the other hand, when i use my wireless mouse, it works flawlessly. since i wanna game though, i rather have a wired mouse.
i tried the wired mouse already on a different pc, worked fine.
i tried the wired mouse already on a different pc, worked fine.
Does the USB port work fine with other devices? What operating system are you using? Is there a driver for your mouse from the manufacturer you could download and use?
yeah, usb ports work fine! when i plug in the wired mouse it even shows the little pop up with the message "all drivers installed, u can use it". im using win 7 home premium.
down own a special driver cd since its just a cheap 10 euro mouse. but as i said, it works on the other laptop. so it cannot be broken.
I am trying to update my NVIDIA drivers to the latest version (GeForce 306.23 Driver) for my NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 but when I do the computer tends to restart itself constantly after a short while. The screen goes black, the computer keeps going for a little while until it restarts. This happens in non-regular intervals after starting up the computer.
If I install a older driver (currently using the GeForce 301.42 Driver) it works fine.
I am using Windows 7 64-bit and the card is manufactured by EVGA.
Anyone who recognise this problem?
If I install a older driver (currently using the GeForce 301.42 Driver) it works fine.
I am using Windows 7 64-bit and the card is manufactured by EVGA.
Anyone who recognise this problem?
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