When I built my computer a month ago, I had this terrible ear-piercing whine that would not go away. It was awful but I put up with it for awhile because I wasn't sure what part it was - the GPU, the old PSU or the mobo/CPU combo. Well today I took a shot in the dark and switched out the old 600w PSU with a new modular 750w. That was pretty terrifying; I had some serious help when I built it after Christmas and this time I was all alone! But thank the lord above, the whine has completely gone away! The only thing I could think of is maybe the new parts put too much strain on the old one (it was pushing seven years old) and started producing that awful noise. Now my computer is pretty much perfect.
Modular didn't help the mess of wires, though. It still looks terrible. But I don't have a case with a window so who cares.
So uh I asked earlier about potential problems with installing Win 7 on a SSD while forgetting to detach the HDD with Win 7 still installed, and everyone put me at ease that it wouldn't be too big a deal to just nuke the HDD once things were up and running on the SSD.
However, I'm having trouble getting rid of the login screen through the normal methods of messing with user accounts, and I'm worried it's because the SSD copy of Windows still things that there's another instance of the OS installed somewhere. There anyway to get around this, or should I just start fresh again now that I formatted the HDD installation?
Edit: Whoops, it was just a slightly more difficult to find setting. I still get Windows skipping by the installation BIOS choice option, so I think my SSD still believes the HDD copy of Windows is still there, but there's doesn't seem to be an issue now.
So uh I asked earlier about potential problems with installing Win 7 on a SSD while forgetting to detach the HDD with Win 7 still installed, and everyone put me at ease that it wouldn't be too big a deal to just nuke the HDD once things were up and running on the SSD.
However, I'm having trouble getting rid of the login screen through the normal methods of messing with user accounts, and I'm worried it's because the SSD copy of Windows still things that there's another instance of the OS installed somewhere. There anyway to get around this, or should I just start fresh again now that I formatted the HDD installation?
I dont think you can find the menu via normal searching, I always had to go and run cmd, type netplwiz hit enter and then uncheck User must enter password to log in on the users tab.
Yeah, it was actually in power settings specific to the system waking up from sleep, so all the guides leading towards the account options weren't quite applicable, and were throwing me off.
Thanks for the link, though!
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
edited January 2014
So fascinatingly enough my copy of Win 8.1 enterprise evaluation is expired, but apparently still working. Not sure what functionality has been turned off, but it appears I don't need to rush to re-install windows with a legit copy. Should let me wait till next weekend paycheck to get an SSD.
Apparently the computer will shut itself down after an hour once the evaluation is over. Oh well, I do most of my computing on my phone.
Okay so it's come time for me to build a new computer, but I'm so out of the loop on parts and processors and all that so I figured I'd come in here for some advice.
Here's what I know:
-I want it to be a gaming PC.
-I'm probably looking to spend between 1000 and 1500.
-Probably don't need a new mouse/keyboard/monitor at the moment, but looking to get a completely new tower and everything inside. Nothing I plan on transferring except maybe an old hard drive for secondary storage.
-Performance should be able to run current games without any issue. It doesn't have to be the highest resolution and smoothest quality possible, but should strike a good balance between looking good and running well. Preference toward running well, though.
-No particular preference for any manufacturers. Whatever has good quality parts these days.
-No specific features necessary, except I guess I'd prefer it not to sound like a jet engine. My current tower is pretty huge so I doubt I have to worry about space when switching to a new one.
I'd like an SSD, but I don't know much about them. It seems like they're becoming the norm these days, but do people use them for running programs, or the OS, or what?
I would say that overclocking your cpu isn't worth it unless you enjoy fiddling with your system.
The Z series is only appropriate if you get the k series processor.
The other ram numbers do matter: for the latency, lower is better. Ram speeds aren't likely to be a bottleneck though, so you could go with something middle of the road. Getting a good brand is the most important part, because in my experience it's the most likely part to fail.
Everyone around here has been pushing the samsung SSDs I believe.
Getting an extra GHz out of my C2D makes a very noticeable difference, but I'm not surprised that it's not as big a difference now.
Wow, there are a lot more Z boards out there than anything else. Still, more options are better.
I've heard good things about the Samsung drives, but I was more wondering if there was anything to avoid even if it's on a good sale.
I think that the internet has been for years on the path to creating what is essentially an electronic Necronomicon: A collection of blasphemous unrealities so perverse that to even glimpse at its contents, if but for a moment, is to irrevocably forfeit a portion of your sanity.
Xbox - PearlBlueS0ul, Steam
If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to message me. Yes, that includes you.
Okay so it's come time for me to build a new computer, but I'm so out of the loop on parts and processors and all that so I figured I'd come in here for some advice.
Here's what I know:
-I want it to be a gaming PC.
-I'm probably looking to spend between 1000 and 1500.
-Probably don't need a new mouse/keyboard/monitor at the moment, but looking to get a completely new tower and everything inside. Nothing I plan on transferring except maybe an old hard drive for secondary storage.
-Performance should be able to run current games without any issue. It doesn't have to be the highest resolution and smoothest quality possible, but should strike a good balance between looking good and running well. Preference toward running well, though.
-No particular preference for any manufacturers. Whatever has good quality parts these days.
-No specific features necessary, except I guess I'd prefer it not to sound like a jet engine. My current tower is pretty huge so I doubt I have to worry about space when switching to a new one.
I'd like an SSD, but I don't know much about them. It seems like they're becoming the norm these days, but do people use them for running programs, or the OS, or what?
I'll let the people who live pcparrpicker whip you up a parts list, but as for wanting an SSD: You want one. You put the OS and your most used programs/games on them. You pair it with standard HDD (like your old one) for storage of music/movies/games you're not playing. Get Steam Mover to move stuff back and forth. SSD will speed everything up nicely. You just need to balance size with cost. It'll look horrible compared to HDD, even though it' gotten better.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
I still consider an SSD the best overall upgrade. Pretty much all aspects of computer use are improved.
Okay so it's come time for me to build a new computer, but I'm so out of the loop on parts and processors and all that so I figured I'd come in here for some advice.
Here's what I know:
-I want it to be a gaming PC.
-I'm probably looking to spend between 1000 and 1500.
-Probably don't need a new mouse/keyboard/monitor at the moment, but looking to get a completely new tower and everything inside. Nothing I plan on transferring except maybe an old hard drive for secondary storage.
-Performance should be able to run current games without any issue. It doesn't have to be the highest resolution and smoothest quality possible, but should strike a good balance between looking good and running well. Preference toward running well, though.
-No particular preference for any manufacturers. Whatever has good quality parts these days.
-No specific features necessary, except I guess I'd prefer it not to sound like a jet engine. My current tower is pretty huge so I doubt I have to worry about space when switching to a new one.
I'd like an SSD, but I don't know much about them. It seems like they're becoming the norm these days, but do people use them for running programs, or the OS, or what?
This'll play any game you want to throw at it easily, at sane resolutions. If you want to hook up 3x 4K monitors, then we're going to need to discuss your budget, I'm afraid.
You can delete the BluRay burner drive to save $50, and if you can get a copy of Windows 8 for cheaper than $100, kill that option too.
I listed what I think is the best gaming CPU available today, with a great motherboard, great (colourmatched!) RAM, great PSU, great SSD, a fantastic (and very quiet) graphics card, a wonderful tower which is also nice and quiet, and a nice aftermarket cooler so you can play with overclocking your CPU.
You can save some money by dropping down a tier on a few parts, without sacrificing much in performance, but I went for Rolls Royce bits.
TLDR: at lower (higher?) pressures, liquid boils at lower temperatures. This cooler is made of multiple different metals for strength, welded together using high explosives (otherwise impossible), to encase a vacuum filled with nonconducting fluid. The heat from your CPU boils the fluid and the heat from the vapor is dissipated through a heatsink. Supposedly it's 10x as efficient as the coolers we have today, even water cooling.
I was gonna go get a Seagate 1tb HDD from best buy for about $60 buuuut I've been reading they have a high failure rate as opposed to like, Hitachi. (Haven't checked those out yet.) Is there any specific brand/model I should look at that you folks have had good experiences with?
I have a 1.5TB Seagate thats running strong, although its basically just a storage drive. Western Digital is pretty solid (Ive had numerous drives over the years and Ive never had an issue) as are Samsung(?).
I was gonna go get a Seagate 1tb HDD from best buy for about $60 buuuut I've been reading they have a high failure rate as opposed to like, Hitachi. (Haven't checked those out yet.) Is there any specific brand/model I should look at that you folks have had good experiences with?
I have a Western Digital and a Samsung, both have been working fine for 4 and 2 years.
Honestly this is one area where just looking at the egg rating on Newegg can help - drives with serious reliability issues usually have lots of bad reviews.
TLDR: at lower (higher?) pressures, liquid boils at lower temperatures. This cooler is made of multiple different metals for strength, welded together using high explosives (otherwise impossible), to encase a vacuum filled with nonconducting fluid. The heat from your CPU boils the fluid and the heat from the vapor is dissipated through a heatsink. Supposedly it's 10x as efficient as the coolers we have today, even water cooling.
TLDR: at lower (higher?) pressures, liquid boils at lower temperatures. This cooler is made of multiple different metals for strength, welded together using high explosives (otherwise impossible), to encase a vacuum filled with nonconducting fluid. The heat from your CPU boils the fluid and the heat from the vapor is dissipated through a heatsink. Supposedly it's 10x as efficient as the coolers we have today, even water cooling.
Isn't that what heat pipes do?
Yes, that's basically how all heat pipes function.
I'm thinking of upgrading my 5 year old PC in the next few months, and I could use a bit of advice.
What I've got right now is a Pentium E5200, Asus P5Q, 4 GB RAM, a Radeon HD 4830, and a 600W OCZ power supply. Originally I had the CPU overclocked to around 3.5 GHz, but a few months ago it became unstable so I set it back to 2.5 GHz.
I'd like to upgrade to an i5-4670K with 16GB of RAM. My main question is what motherboard I should go with. There are options from around $70 all the way up to $200 and beyond, and I have no idea what the pros and cons and trade-offs are between the different chipsets and boards. I'd like something overclocking-friendly, but on the other hand I hear that Haswell CPUs don't get quite as amazing overclocks as earlier ones did, so I don't know if $30 or more for an aftermarket cooler plus whatever the increased cost of an overclocking-friendly motherboard is would be worth it.
I'd also like to know whether I can keep on using my current power supply or whether I need to upgrade. Combined with that is the question of whether I upgrade my video card now or not. I pretty much go by Tom's Hardware's Best Graphics Cards For The Money articles, and I'm amazed that according to their GPU hierarchy chart, the Radeon HD 4830 I paid $90 for 5 years ago pretty much stomps all over the currently recommended $70 card. So I may hold off on upgrading my GPU. Anyway, I'd like to know whether my current power supply will be sufficient to power the i5-4670K along with something like a Radeon HD 7770, HD 7790, or R9 270.
Thanks a bunch for any insight!
dsplaisted on
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited January 2014
Time to upgrade my PC again to try to get it a lil more future proofed for the Xbox One/PS4 era.
Been looking at stuff like this and this for ideas but this forum helped me last year and I've been pretty happy with the parts since then, figured I would ask again.
Got $360 to spend on this project. I'm trying to upgrade my PC up to a point where it'll be able to get itself through this new console era, not looking to max anything out, just run decently at the very least. Mid range at best.
I'm guessing the motherboard and processor are going to have to be replaced at this point. Every single processor upgrade I see ever mentioned suggests something that needs an AM3+ socket and mine currently doesn't have one.
What are some critical but budget priced upgrades I should be looking for? I don't imagine I have enough money to get everything (graphics card might have to wait) but looking to get atleast a few areas improved for now.
I'm still pretty clueless when it comes to the inner workings of a PC, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I'm thinking of upgrading my 5 year old PC in the next few months, and I could use a bit of advice.
What I've got right now is a Pentium E5200, Asus P5Q, 4 GB RAM, a Radeon HD 4830, and a 600W OCZ power supply. Originally I had the CPU overclocked to around 3.5 GHz, but a few months ago it became unstable so I set it back to 2.5 GHz.
I'd like to upgrade to an i5-4670K with 16GB of RAM. My main question is what motherboard I should go with. There are options from around $70 all the way up to $200 and beyond, and I have no idea what the pros and cons and trade-offs are between the different chipsets and boards. I'd like something overclocking-friendly, but on the other hand I hear that Haswell CPUs don't get quite as amazing overclocks as earlier ones did, so I don't know if $30 or more for an aftermarket cooler plus whatever the increased cost of an overclocking-friendly motherboard is would be worth it.
I'd also like to know whether I can keep on using my current power supply or whether I need to upgrade. Combined with that is the question of whether I upgrade my video card now or not. I pretty much go by Tom's Hardware's Best Graphics Cards For The Money articles, and I'm amazed that according to their GPU hierarchy chart, the Radeon HD 4830 I paid $90 for 5 years ago pretty much stomps all over the currently recommended $70 card. So I may hold off on upgrading my GPU. Anyway, I'd like to know whether my current power supply will be sufficient to power the i5-4670K along with something like a Radeon HD 7770, HD 7790, or R9 270.
Thanks a bunch for any insight!
Your planned build is kind of unbalanced.
What's your budget, and what do you want to do with your new system? Game? 3D engineering design? Video editing?
Your current PSU doesn't seem too bad, but according to the reviews on Newegg, it does seem to have a typical lifespan of 3-4 years before it starts pumping smoke. How old is yours?
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
Come to think of it, would a AMD Phenom II X6 1100T be an okay processor for what I'm looking for?
My motherboard supports it and I assume it would save me the headache of having to find a way to reinstall Windows again or buy it all over again.
So I've been thinking of building a desktop system (at the behest of my wife), and am wondering whether touch screen monitors exist, how good are they, and what is the pricing like?
My wife and I were at Best Buy last night looking at the all in ones, which she particularly likes, and I thought I might be able to build a box with a touch screen monitor at a comparable price. Am I on base with that?
Also, do all the Haswell chips come with integrated graphics? I would hold off on getting a video card for a while if they do, which seriously reduces the price...
Come to think of it, would a AMD Phenom II X6 1100T be an okay processor for what I'm looking for?
My motherboard supports it and I assume it would save me the headache of having to find a way to reinstall Windows again or buy it all over again.
Depends on how much that processor will cost you. If you could get it for less than $100 on eBay then sure.
Gonna be honest, you're not going to be future proofing much from that build for $360. Save a bit more and you would get a lot more use out of a new motherboard and processor. Probably a new case as well. You should be able to reuse your RAM because you have DDR3 - I assume you have 2 2GB and 2 1GB sticks now?
As for finding a way to reinstall windows, you can burn your own disc or use an 8gb thumb drive and install whatever version you got with that HP with the key it came with.
TLDR: at lower (higher?) pressures, liquid boils at lower temperatures. This cooler is made of multiple different metals for strength, welded together using high explosives (otherwise impossible), to encase a vacuum filled with nonconducting fluid. The heat from your CPU boils the fluid and the heat from the vapor is dissipated through a heatsink. Supposedly it's 10x as efficient as the coolers we have today, even water cooling.
Isn't that what heat pipes do?
But, but; explosion welding!
Honestly I have no idea how this thing is better than current heatpipe+radiator combos. All I know is they're saying that it's 10x more efficient and that it's going to cost a fortune ($250?). Also explosions.
TLDR: at lower (higher?) pressures, liquid boils at lower temperatures. This cooler is made of multiple different metals for strength, welded together using high explosives (otherwise impossible), to encase a vacuum filled with nonconducting fluid. The heat from your CPU boils the fluid and the heat from the vapor is dissipated through a heatsink. Supposedly it's 10x as efficient as the coolers we have today, even water cooling.
Isn't that what heat pipes do?
But, but; explosion welding!
Honestly I have no idea how this thing is better than current heatpipe+radiator combos. All I know is they're saying that it's 10x more efficient and that it's going to cost a fortune ($250?). Also explosions.
Also, Plasma Fusion Welding for the sight glass. That just sounds like a bucket of cool.
TLDR: at lower (higher?) pressures, liquid boils at lower temperatures. This cooler is made of multiple different metals for strength, welded together using high explosives (otherwise impossible), to encase a vacuum filled with nonconducting fluid. The heat from your CPU boils the fluid and the heat from the vapor is dissipated through a heatsink. Supposedly it's 10x as efficient as the coolers we have today, even water cooling.
Isn't that what heat pipes do?
But, but; explosion welding!
Honestly I have no idea how this thing is better than current heatpipe+radiator combos. All I know is they're saying that it's 10x more efficient and that it's going to cost a fortune ($250?). Also explosions.
I'm thinking of upgrading my 5 year old PC in the next few months, and I could use a bit of advice.
What I've got right now is a Pentium E5200, Asus P5Q, 4 GB RAM, a Radeon HD 4830, and a 600W OCZ power supply. Originally I had the CPU overclocked to around 3.5 GHz, but a few months ago it became unstable so I set it back to 2.5 GHz.
I'd like to upgrade to an i5-4670K with 16GB of RAM. My main question is what motherboard I should go with. There are options from around $70 all the way up to $200 and beyond, and I have no idea what the pros and cons and trade-offs are between the different chipsets and boards. I'd like something overclocking-friendly, but on the other hand I hear that Haswell CPUs don't get quite as amazing overclocks as earlier ones did, so I don't know if $30 or more for an aftermarket cooler plus whatever the increased cost of an overclocking-friendly motherboard is would be worth it.
I'd also like to know whether I can keep on using my current power supply or whether I need to upgrade. Combined with that is the question of whether I upgrade my video card now or not. I pretty much go by Tom's Hardware's Best Graphics Cards For The Money articles, and I'm amazed that according to their GPU hierarchy chart, the Radeon HD 4830 I paid $90 for 5 years ago pretty much stomps all over the currently recommended $70 card. So I may hold off on upgrading my GPU. Anyway, I'd like to know whether my current power supply will be sufficient to power the i5-4670K along with something like a Radeon HD 7770, HD 7790, or R9 270.
Thanks a bunch for any insight!
Your planned build is kind of unbalanced.
What's your budget, and what do you want to do with your new system? Game? 3D engineering design? Video editing?
Your current PSU doesn't seem too bad, but according to the reviews on Newegg, it does seem to have a typical lifespan of 3-4 years before it starts pumping smoke. How old is yours?
I don't have a fixed budget. This PC is for software development and gaming. I care more about getting components with a good price/performance ratio and longevity than having a balanced build right now. If I don't buy a new GPU right now, I can always upgrade when I want to play a game that needs it.
I bought the power supply with the computer, it's 5 years old.
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
So you need to code, compile, and bugtest, and play hecka games?
You've picked the right processor. I wouldn't personally trust your current PSU any longer, however. 16 gigs of RAM is a lot if you're not running rendering software.
Lemme have a crack at something that hopefully won't be too expensive, and will serve your stated needs well.
As an addition to my previous post about touch screen monitors, how feasable is it to build a system (monitor included) for ~$800. What kind of capability level should I expect?
I've got a question regarding power supplies. Namely, I've got a build in mind here that has a 350W estimated wattage.
Should I go for a power supply that gives 450W or should I go higher for overhead? I'm not planning on adding anything more than maybe another hard drive down the line.
As an addition to my previous post about touch screen monitors, how feasable is it to build a system (monitor included) for ~$800. What kind of capability level should I expect?
Considering that if you want a 24 inch 1080p touch screen monitor, even off-brands like ViewSonic are around the $330 mark, not much. You could build a machine that does most computer stuff quite well, but gaming is going to be fairly ordinary.
+1
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
I've got a question regarding power supplies. Namely, I've got a build in mind here that has a 350W estimated wattage.
Should I go for a power supply that gives 450W or should I go higher for overhead? I'm not planning on adding anything more than maybe another hard drive down the line.
You should be fine, that PSU is quite a good one. Overclocking your processor is going to ramp up it's power usage though, by quite a lot. It won't suddenly start sucking down 600 watts, but you can expect to run out of headroom if you overclock it and your video card.
+1
Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
Come to think of it, would a AMD Phenom II X6 1100T be an okay processor for what I'm looking for?
My motherboard supports it and I assume it would save me the headache of having to find a way to reinstall Windows again or buy it all over again.
Depends on how much that processor will cost you. If you could get it for less than $100 on eBay then sure.
Gonna be honest, you're not going to be future proofing much from that build for $360. Save a bit more and you would get a lot more use out of a new motherboard and processor. Probably a new case as well. You should be able to reuse your RAM because you have DDR3 - I assume you have 2 2GB and 2 1GB sticks now?
I don't believe so, no. I've only upgraded the PSU and graphics card since I've gotten in it. Nothing else has changed from the product description.
I really just want to keep my PC running modern games at 1600x900 resolution (or maybe even a lil lower) and medium-low but stable settings for another four or five years.
As for finding a way to reinstall windows, you can burn your own disc or use an 8gb thumb drive and install whatever version you got with that HP with the key it came with.
I have the product key for Windows 7 on the side of my case still thankfully.
So, if I installed a new motherboard and processor and then booting up and using a disc created with recovery media from the HP recovery manager, could I get everything working again relatively easy?
I know it would all revert back to the way it was when I first got it but I really have no important documentation or anything like that saved on my computer. 90% of my games are saved on Steam, discs or GOG and can be easily reinstalled.
I have the product key for Windows 7 on the side of my case still thankfully.
So, if I installed a new motherboard and processor and then booting up and using a disc created with recovery media from the HP recovery manager, could I get everything working again relatively easy?
Depends on your definition of "easy". Recovery media are seldom OS install discs but rather factory images (OS installed, factory load apps, HP crapware). So if you booted that image to a new mobo it should boot, but be unhappy since there will be a bunch of devices that are not recognized. You could then download and install the correct drivers and be up and running. I'd try out the recovery on a spare hard drive first just to see if it results in a booting OS, cause if you wipe what you've got, then you have no working system if it doesn't boot.
Come to think of it, would a AMD Phenom II X6 1100T be an okay processor for what I'm looking for?
My motherboard supports it and I assume it would save me the headache of having to find a way to reinstall Windows again or buy it all over again.
Depends on how much that processor will cost you. If you could get it for less than $100 on eBay then sure.
Gonna be honest, you're not going to be future proofing much from that build for $360. Save a bit more and you would get a lot more use out of a new motherboard and processor. Probably a new case as well. You should be able to reuse your RAM because you have DDR3 - I assume you have 2 2GB and 2 1GB sticks now?
I don't believe so, no. I've only upgraded the PSU and graphics card since I've gotten in it. Nothing else has changed from the product description.
I really just want to keep my PC running modern games at 1600x900 resolution (or maybe even a lil lower) and medium-low but stable settings for another four or five years.
As for finding a way to reinstall windows, you can burn your own disc or use an 8gb thumb drive and install whatever version you got with that HP with the key it came with.
I have the product key for Windows 7 on the side of my case still thankfully.
So, if I installed a new motherboard and processor and then booting up and using a disc created with recovery media from the HP recovery manager, could I get everything working again relatively easy?
I know it would all revert back to the way it was when I first got it but I really have no important documentation or anything like that saved on my computer. 90% of my games are saved on Steam, discs or GOG and can be easily reinstalled.
You could even forego the case and stick everything in the HP case - I am not sure of the I/O shield situation though, does it come out?
Sorry, I don't know that.
RE: Your RAM: The product profile indicates your machine has 6GB of RAM. Since this isn't one of those wacky Intel machines that used Triple-Channel RAM, and 3GB RAM sticks don't really exist, I have to assume you have 4 sticks. You can open your case and check what's in there or use CPU-Z to check it out: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html Use the SPD tab, it can tell you what's in each slot.
I would think your current machine would be able to play games at that resolution and medium settings very well - are you having issues? Up until recently I had an Athlon II X3, 4GB of RAM and an HD5770 (not as good as yours) and things were running pretty well even at 1080p.
If you get an SSD as I indicated in my list of parts, you could install your OS and some programs on that and use your current drive for music/pictures/documents storage. An SSD is really an amazing upgrade; it makes everything on your PC just start up so quickly. Best upgrade I made to my machine hands down. You will probably want to back up some stuff like game saves, etc.
The I/O Shield is the part of the case where the motherboard ports are exposed - your USB/keyboard/mouse/audio/network stuff. On custom cases there is a rectangular opening that you fill with the shield that comes with whatever motherboard you buy. Take a look at your HP case - does it look like that comes out and could be replaced? If yes then you can probably get a new motherboard, if not you will need a new case.
Often an OEM-provided key will not work with a retail ISO, meaning when you get to the point where you enter your key during Windows installation or activation, the OEM key is not considered valid.
+1
toloveistorebel Impressive. Most impressive. Central FLRegistered Userregular
Often an OEM-provided key will not work with a retail ISO, meaning when you get to the point where you enter your key during Windows installation or activation, the OEM key is not considered valid.
I had this same issue with my Samsung laptop. The key on the bottom of the laptop was for Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit. I even called Microsoft and they told me it wouldn't work because it was an OEM key. Was a huge pain and just pissed me off. Samsung said they would send me a recovery disc so that I could have a "legit" copy again but it never happened. Don't have the laptop anymore though.
Posts
Modular didn't help the mess of wires, though. It still looks terrible. But I don't have a case with a window so who cares.
However, I'm having trouble getting rid of the login screen through the normal methods of messing with user accounts, and I'm worried it's because the SSD copy of Windows still things that there's another instance of the OS installed somewhere. There anyway to get around this, or should I just start fresh again now that I formatted the HDD installation?
Edit: Whoops, it was just a slightly more difficult to find setting. I still get Windows skipping by the installation BIOS choice option, so I think my SSD still believes the HDD copy of Windows is still there, but there's doesn't seem to be an issue now.
I dont think you can find the menu via normal searching, I always had to go and run cmd, type netplwiz hit enter and then uncheck User must enter password to log in on the users tab.
EDIT: Found this guide, it should work http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/auto-logon-windows-7.htm
Thanks for the link, though!
Apparently the computer will shut itself down after an hour once the evaluation is over. Oh well, I do most of my computing on my phone.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Here's what I know:
-I want it to be a gaming PC.
-I'm probably looking to spend between 1000 and 1500.
-Probably don't need a new mouse/keyboard/monitor at the moment, but looking to get a completely new tower and everything inside. Nothing I plan on transferring except maybe an old hard drive for secondary storage.
-Performance should be able to run current games without any issue. It doesn't have to be the highest resolution and smoothest quality possible, but should strike a good balance between looking good and running well. Preference toward running well, though.
-No particular preference for any manufacturers. Whatever has good quality parts these days.
-No specific features necessary, except I guess I'd prefer it not to sound like a jet engine. My current tower is pretty huge so I doubt I have to worry about space when switching to a new one.
I'd like an SSD, but I don't know much about them. It seems like they're becoming the norm these days, but do people use them for running programs, or the OS, or what?
Getting an extra GHz out of my C2D makes a very noticeable difference, but I'm not surprised that it's not as big a difference now.
Wow, there are a lot more Z boards out there than anything else. Still, more options are better.
I've heard good things about the Samsung drives, but I was more wondering if there was anything to avoid even if it's on a good sale.
If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to message me. Yes, that includes you.
I'll let the people who live pcparrpicker whip you up a parts list, but as for wanting an SSD: You want one. You put the OS and your most used programs/games on them. You pair it with standard HDD (like your old one) for storage of music/movies/games you're not playing. Get Steam Mover to move stuff back and forth. SSD will speed everything up nicely. You just need to balance size with cost. It'll look horrible compared to HDD, even though it' gotten better.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
This'll play any game you want to throw at it easily, at sane resolutions. If you want to hook up 3x 4K monitors, then we're going to need to discuss your budget, I'm afraid.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2HERu
You can delete the BluRay burner drive to save $50, and if you can get a copy of Windows 8 for cheaper than $100, kill that option too.
I listed what I think is the best gaming CPU available today, with a great motherboard, great (colourmatched!) RAM, great PSU, great SSD, a fantastic (and very quiet) graphics card, a wonderful tower which is also nice and quiet, and a nice aftermarket cooler so you can play with overclocking your CPU.
You can save some money by dropping down a tier on a few parts, without sacrificing much in performance, but I went for Rolls Royce bits.
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/35079/captherm-about-to-start-selling-revolutionary-multiphase-cpu-cooler/index.html#ZvMBYUOTB7UTPdLR.16
TLDR: at lower (higher?) pressures, liquid boils at lower temperatures. This cooler is made of multiple different metals for strength, welded together using high explosives (otherwise impossible), to encase a vacuum filled with nonconducting fluid. The heat from your CPU boils the fluid and the heat from the vapor is dissipated through a heatsink. Supposedly it's 10x as efficient as the coolers we have today, even water cooling.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
I have a Western Digital and a Samsung, both have been working fine for 4 and 2 years.
Honestly this is one area where just looking at the egg rating on Newegg can help - drives with serious reliability issues usually have lots of bad reviews.
I had a Hitachi 2TB that made it a little less than two before it started making ticking noises and randomly disappearing from Windows until a reboot.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Isn't that what heat pipes do?
tomato or DD-WRT.
Yes, that's basically how all heat pipes function.
What I've got right now is a Pentium E5200, Asus P5Q, 4 GB RAM, a Radeon HD 4830, and a 600W OCZ power supply. Originally I had the CPU overclocked to around 3.5 GHz, but a few months ago it became unstable so I set it back to 2.5 GHz.
I'd like to upgrade to an i5-4670K with 16GB of RAM. My main question is what motherboard I should go with. There are options from around $70 all the way up to $200 and beyond, and I have no idea what the pros and cons and trade-offs are between the different chipsets and boards. I'd like something overclocking-friendly, but on the other hand I hear that Haswell CPUs don't get quite as amazing overclocks as earlier ones did, so I don't know if $30 or more for an aftermarket cooler plus whatever the increased cost of an overclocking-friendly motherboard is would be worth it.
I'd also like to know whether I can keep on using my current power supply or whether I need to upgrade. Combined with that is the question of whether I upgrade my video card now or not. I pretty much go by Tom's Hardware's Best Graphics Cards For The Money articles, and I'm amazed that according to their GPU hierarchy chart, the Radeon HD 4830 I paid $90 for 5 years ago pretty much stomps all over the currently recommended $70 card. So I may hold off on upgrading my GPU. Anyway, I'd like to know whether my current power supply will be sufficient to power the i5-4670K along with something like a Radeon HD 7770, HD 7790, or R9 270.
Thanks a bunch for any insight!
Been looking at stuff like this and this for ideas but this forum helped me last year and I've been pretty happy with the parts since then, figured I would ask again.
Got $360 to spend on this project. I'm trying to upgrade my PC up to a point where it'll be able to get itself through this new console era, not looking to max anything out, just run decently at the very least. Mid range at best.
My current PC is whats listed in this link but with the exception that last year it was upgraded and it now has a 430W Corsair PSU and a GTX 650Ti graphics card.
I'm guessing the motherboard and processor are going to have to be replaced at this point. Every single processor upgrade I see ever mentioned suggests something that needs an AM3+ socket and mine currently doesn't have one.
What are some critical but budget priced upgrades I should be looking for? I don't imagine I have enough money to get everything (graphics card might have to wait) but looking to get atleast a few areas improved for now.
I'm still pretty clueless when it comes to the inner workings of a PC, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Your planned build is kind of unbalanced.
What's your budget, and what do you want to do with your new system? Game? 3D engineering design? Video editing?
Your current PSU doesn't seem too bad, but according to the reviews on Newegg, it does seem to have a typical lifespan of 3-4 years before it starts pumping smoke. How old is yours?
My motherboard supports it and I assume it would save me the headache of having to find a way to reinstall Windows again or buy it all over again.
My wife and I were at Best Buy last night looking at the all in ones, which she particularly likes, and I thought I might be able to build a box with a touch screen monitor at a comparable price. Am I on base with that?
Also, do all the Haswell chips come with integrated graphics? I would hold off on getting a video card for a while if they do, which seriously reduces the price...
Depends on how much that processor will cost you. If you could get it for less than $100 on eBay then sure.
Gonna be honest, you're not going to be future proofing much from that build for $360. Save a bit more and you would get a lot more use out of a new motherboard and processor. Probably a new case as well. You should be able to reuse your RAM because you have DDR3 - I assume you have 2 2GB and 2 1GB sticks now?
As for finding a way to reinstall windows, you can burn your own disc or use an 8gb thumb drive and install whatever version you got with that HP with the key it came with.
This is a little over $350 but is what I would do if I were in your shoes: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2IqHS
You could even forego the case and stick everything in the HP case - I am not sure of the I/O shield situation though, does it come out?
But, but; explosion welding!
Honestly I have no idea how this thing is better than current heatpipe+radiator combos. All I know is they're saying that it's 10x more efficient and that it's going to cost a fortune ($250?). Also explosions.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
Also, Plasma Fusion Welding for the sight glass. That just sounds like a bucket of cool.
and the window, don't forget the window!
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pablocampy
I don't have a fixed budget. This PC is for software development and gaming. I care more about getting components with a good price/performance ratio and longevity than having a balanced build right now. If I don't buy a new GPU right now, I can always upgrade when I want to play a game that needs it.
I bought the power supply with the computer, it's 5 years old.
You've picked the right processor. I wouldn't personally trust your current PSU any longer, however. 16 gigs of RAM is a lot if you're not running rendering software.
Lemme have a crack at something that hopefully won't be too expensive, and will serve your stated needs well.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2IvWg
Should I go for a power supply that gives 450W or should I go higher for overhead? I'm not planning on adding anything more than maybe another hard drive down the line.
Here's the link: pcpartpicker.com/p/2Ixzk
Considering that if you want a 24 inch 1080p touch screen monitor, even off-brands like ViewSonic are around the $330 mark, not much. You could build a machine that does most computer stuff quite well, but gaming is going to be fairly ordinary.
You should be fine, that PSU is quite a good one. Overclocking your processor is going to ramp up it's power usage though, by quite a lot. It won't suddenly start sucking down 600 watts, but you can expect to run out of headroom if you overclock it and your video card.
I really just want to keep my PC running modern games at 1600x900 resolution (or maybe even a lil lower) and medium-low but stable settings for another four or five years.
I have the product key for Windows 7 on the side of my case still thankfully.
So, if I installed a new motherboard and processor and then booting up and using a disc created with recovery media from the HP recovery manager, could I get everything working again relatively easy?
I know it would all revert back to the way it was when I first got it but I really have no important documentation or anything like that saved on my computer. 90% of my games are saved on Steam, discs or GOG and can be easily reinstalled.
Sorry, I don't know that.
Depends on your definition of "easy". Recovery media are seldom OS install discs but rather factory images (OS installed, factory load apps, HP crapware). So if you booted that image to a new mobo it should boot, but be unhappy since there will be a bunch of devices that are not recognized. You could then download and install the correct drivers and be up and running. I'd try out the recovery on a spare hard drive first just to see if it results in a booting OS, cause if you wipe what you've got, then you have no working system if it doesn't boot.
RE: Your RAM: The product profile indicates your machine has 6GB of RAM. Since this isn't one of those wacky Intel machines that used Triple-Channel RAM, and 3GB RAM sticks don't really exist, I have to assume you have 4 sticks. You can open your case and check what's in there or use CPU-Z to check it out: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html Use the SPD tab, it can tell you what's in each slot.
I would think your current machine would be able to play games at that resolution and medium settings very well - are you having issues? Up until recently I had an Athlon II X3, 4GB of RAM and an HD5770 (not as good as yours) and things were running pretty well even at 1080p.
I'm not sure if using the HP recovery media is a good idea. It might have a bunch of specific drivers and stuff for your HP system. You can get a blank DVD and burn your own with your current machine: http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-7/lost-windows-7-install-disc-create-a-new-one-from-scratch/ Easy-peasy. You can even get the ISO with service pack 1 integrated (http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325/) - those are the official MS disk images.
If you get an SSD as I indicated in my list of parts, you could install your OS and some programs on that and use your current drive for music/pictures/documents storage. An SSD is really an amazing upgrade; it makes everything on your PC just start up so quickly. Best upgrade I made to my machine hands down. You will probably want to back up some stuff like game saves, etc.
The I/O Shield is the part of the case where the motherboard ports are exposed - your USB/keyboard/mouse/audio/network stuff. On custom cases there is a rectangular opening that you fill with the shield that comes with whatever motherboard you buy. Take a look at your HP case - does it look like that comes out and could be replaced? If yes then you can probably get a new motherboard, if not you will need a new case.
I had this same issue with my Samsung laptop. The key on the bottom of the laptop was for Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit. I even called Microsoft and they told me it wouldn't work because it was an OEM key. Was a huge pain and just pissed me off. Samsung said they would send me a recovery disc so that I could have a "legit" copy again but it never happened. Don't have the laptop anymore though.