Could we update the front page anytime soon or is the author just going to wait for the thread to reach 100?
It's usually not updated unless there's a major change in hardware prices and parts, I imagine it will get done when the new intels are readily available.
VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
I'm back.
have my windows install on a SATA drive, and a backup SATA drive for data. I also have an IDE drive for data. when I try and copy files off the IDE drive, or even just read the files, within a few minutes (sometimes much faster) the computer will stall, then resume as normal, then stall, every 3 to 5 seconds.
I tried to run the disk checker but that cause the same problem.
I suppose the drive could by going, I've had it for a very long time, but I wanted to check in here if anyone had heard of this, and also if the drive is going would getting one of those USB enclosure deals help me to get the data off?
This weird file keeps appearing in my My Documents. Its called 'spider' and is represented as a HL2 file for some reason. Also, my comp cant run stuff like limewire, it opens, doesnt freeze, but you cant click anything, its not frozen, but buttons dont click. I suspect my ports. But what would fix that? Im thinking a cold reformatting because the problem has just gotten so out of hand. Norton comes up with nothing
Also fun shit happens like I cant delete photoshop files because it says they're in use, cant drag to copy files into folders. All kinds of weird shit is going on, it seems like a job for reformatting.
Well I'm tired, bout of insomnia keeping me awake, anyway nothing looks wrong off the bat with that list...though I do notice it says your cpu usage is at 1% at that moment, which doesn't mesh with your previous screen with that graph showing crazy high cpu usage. Running less programs the second time? Also I remember you said you couldn't get windows to update....you did install sp2, right? Would explain a lot if you didn't. If you have, then try getting a screen of your processes when your cpu usage is high, or just look for yourself to see if there is some program hogging more resources than it should. Something that would slow you down that much will stand out. If you're unsure about a particular process, just googling it will usually come up with an explanation of what it is.
So, 11:40 today, I got a phone call while asleep.... I think this makes me the "Computer guy" in my friends circle.
Anyway, this is a problem I haven't had before, and since I do not have a education about computers I draw all my knowledge from seemingly common sense and experience.
My friend just got new parts. The only old part is the processor. Anyway, he builds everything into his computer, carefully handling every part while being grounded. He turns on the PSU and hears the sound of electricity coming into it.
The power switch does nothing.
So I told him to Check all cables (Done) Check the power switch pins (done) and try the PSU on another computer (in progress I think).
So, now I come seeking help... Is there any other thing it could be? I mean, I think it's either a faulty board or PSU and testing the PSU will be easiest.
So, 11:40 today, I got a phone call while asleep.... I think this makes me the "Computer guy" in my friends circle.
Anyway, this is a problem I haven't had before, and since I do not have a education about computers I draw all my knowledge from seemingly common sense and experience.
My friend just got new parts. The only old part is the processor. Anyway, he builds everything into his computer, carefully handling every part while being grounded. He turns on the PSU and hears the sound of electricity coming into it.
The power switch does nothing.
So I told him to Check all cables (Done) Check the power switch pins (done) and try the PSU on another computer (in progress I think).
So, now I come seeking help... Is there any other thing it could be? I mean, I think it's either a faulty board or PSU and testing the PSU will be easiest.
He could try double-checking the PSU 12-volt connectors for his stuff and try setting things up in alternate positions (if he isn't using that much stuff). The first few times I tried booting it didn't catch, but some fiddling around with the 12-volts (2 case fans and the front case LEDs, in fact) finally got it working. When I went back in the following day to get things organized and sorted, the same thing happened, but more fiddling with those 3 eventually got it running again; I believe that for one cable I had the DVD, HD, and LEDs plugged in and then for a second went back case fan, empty, side case fan.
Did he say what PSU he's using? I've got an OCX-or-whatever-the-hell-it-is 700-watt one, and I can't help but wonder if it's a rare brand/model fluke.
He's got a OCX or OCZ or something along those lines...
He hasn't called me yet though, so maybe the problem was the PSU.
Burning Organ on
0
Options
Kane Red RobeMaster of MagicArcanusRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
I seem to have somehow bricked my computer. I noticed one of the fans was making an irritating grinding noise (had been louder than usual for a bit, but it got much worse when I booted it today), so I opened up the case to check which fan it was. After some trial and error it turns out it was the power supply fan, at which point I took off the little metal grate in front of the fan so I could see if anything had fallen in there or whatever.
Wasn't able to see anything, so I booted up while holding the fan in place to make certain I had the right one. Apparently I did, as there was no grinding noise anymore,; however, I got POST failure, and a beep code of what I believe is just one beep repeating. Naturally I quickly let go of the fan and powered down, but I still get the beep whenever I boot now, and I'm not precisely sure what permanent damage I could have done by checking the fans.
Edit: Ah, after stewing over the problem at work, I figured I may have loosened something while laying the tower down flat to see into the power supply fan, and yep, memory got unseated. Problem solved.
I was considering buying the budget upgrade parts in the OP. How up to date is that anyways? Newegg lists that motherboard as a deactivated item.
Anyways, just a few quick questions.
Will my Geforce 6800GS work with that motherboard (Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3)? I assume both are PCIe so it will work. How do I tell in the first place?
Someone recommend me a power supply.
nome on
0
Options
VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
alright I just realized... my computer is only freezing when I try to access or copy one particular folder on that hard drive. something about that folder is making the computer go nuts and I have no idea what it is.
edit - using something called XYPlorer instead of windows explorer has me inside the folder and copying things out with no problem. it's only a 30 day trial but hopefully after today that won't matter. I still have no idea what actually caused this, but in a way I don't care since it seems I've found a way around it. I'll keep xyplorer for 30 days, and also I grabbed two other free Windows Explorer alternatives in case of a problem in the future.
Cheers to Kayne and Variable for problem solving skillz.
nome, the prices and parts were last updated november 17th. So not very recently, though not much has changed (new intels coming this week though). Anyway, as much as I love amd (and I do, I have never bought intel), it's hard not to recommend the Gigabyte DS3L ($90) paired with whatever of e2180/e4500/e8400* you can afford. The reason is that I wouldn't recommend anything less on the amd side now than the 700 series chipset, which to get a decent board will cost $100. This would be for the ability to upgrade to a phenom in the future, however I'm starting to wonder if phenoms will ever be worth it, or if amd will have to catch up in 2009 with socket am3. With intel, you know even if you get a budget processor you'll have a certain upgrade to wolfdale or penryn if you want it (and the sweet L2 cache size that comes with it). Of course if you have a budget that isn't flexible, or you don't care about upgrade options, then a budget amd system is probably still the right call, and will still handle most anything you throw at it. It's just going to show its age a little sooner. Really if I was updating the op, I'd probably include both intel and amd setups for budget configs.
*45nm chips I think will require a bios flash, so if you don't have an older intel processor to boot with, you'll need a usb drive to get it working.
imperial6 on
0
Options
VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
actually, I have to take back what I said, though it's somewhat true. something I guess corrupted in one artists folder, so I'm deleting that with MoveOnBoot... but without xyplorer I wouldn't have been able to narrow it down, so it's still much better than it could have been, and also means I don't have to worry about random problems with explorer in the future.
an d at least the artist I lost I own the albums of... don't have to try and borrow it from anyone. that would be more of a pain.
edit - okay so as said I know exactly what folder is giving me the problem. it's not a file, because multiple folders within this folder cause the computer to stall on attempted access. moveonboot did nothing, deleting from command prompt did nothing, deleting from safe mode did nothing. I type del directoryname and it asks y/n, I say y, and it's still there. I can't do it through windows explorer or any replacement explorer because choosing 'delete' causes the system to stall as described earlier. I can't find anyone with a similar problem and have no idea what to do. if no one here has any ideas, I guess I'll just try copying everything off of the drive and formatting it. I can't think of anything else. this has confused me SO MUCH.
edit again - perserverence! I don't care that it's spelled wrong! messed around more with command prompt and got it to work. had to delete all files inside each individual folder. makes sense but I forgot quite how big of a folder tree I was working with.
edit - nevermind. not working on one of the folders. haha
Oh, hey, I could use some help on flashing my BIOS. I've downloaded the new version for my mobo, but it says I need a floppy drive....
A floppy drive.
Any way to do this without resorting to buying a goddamn floppy drive?
I have an Allied Al-A350 350 W max PSU, will this be ok with modern components or is it absolutely necesary to replace? My comp is a budget computer from 2003ish and I'm ready to replace pretty much everything, but I was hoping to skimp out on the case and PSU if possible.
Urgel - depends on your mobo. Your manual/their website should let you know what you need to know about options for flashing.
Svelte - Probably not going to work. There should be a sticker on the psu itself that lists the amps on the +12v rail, if that isn't at least 24a or so then you're just rolling the dice running a modern graphics card.
Apologies if this is rather off-topic. I know this forum has a very strict rule regarding emulation. However, is it okay to talk about emulation programs, in regards to tweaking them to the best settings allowed by your PC? Most other forums allow this kind of discussion, since the program itself isn't illegal, plus in my case I do have the original game discs on hand. I'm just scouring the net for advice on tweaking things, since the finished results make those old games look incredibly awesome.
Well, how bout that wolfdale launch? I had my build all set and ready to go for today, only to find the e8400 going for $225 at newegg (and out of stock or similar price everywhere else). I guess they didn't have enough supply built up to meet the demand. Now I just don't know if I should suck it up and overpay for what will be a $200 processor in two or three weeks, or if I should wait it out. While I'm at it, I might as well open the comments on my new build to see if anyone thinks I should change anything...
Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail (119.95, free ship) (I really need a new case, and the earthwatts psu this comes with is made by seasonic, 80 plus cert, and has 34a on the +12v -- it says it has dual rails but there's only one).
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (104.99)
GECUBE GC-HD3850PG3-D3R Radeon HD 3850 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail (149.99 after 20 mir) (over $100 cheaper than an 8800gt, can't beat it price to performance).
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail (21.99) (plan to oc a bit)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail (224.99) (stupid inflated price, cursed high demand!)
The total with shipping would be $794.72. If anyone finds a better (in-stock) deal on that processor, please let me know. I'm weak and will probably order this sometime tomorrow afternoonish.
imperial6 on
0
Options
Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
edited January 2008
I have a question.
There are quite a few torrents that become available to download while I am at work, if my computer could download these while I am at work it will save me a fair bit of time as if it is a slow download I wont be able to watch it for several hours after I get home.
Is there a program where I could say download the torrent at work, email it to my computer at home and it would start downloading? Obviously it would need to be password protected (and it might be a battle to make work because of the UAC) but is it possible?
Query, not so much for the hardware side of things but still something a new builder might've asked: are there any skins or sanctioned mods or anything that's generally considered on the up-and-up to get, specifically, the Vista forms of Windows and Internet Explorer to look like their XP counterparts? IE isn't exactly bad, but the WE appearance is driving me nuts with all the grey space in HCB and all those useless extra folders on the side or whatnot.
(A good site describing how to get the most out of WE would work just as well).
You'd have to have remote desktop installed in both PC's, right? No chance of that happening with my work PC.
But I have a more important question: While looking at certain things to get the proper mileage out of my new specs, I was referred to overclocking, as well as this RivaTuner program which is supposed to help tweak your PC to really push itself.
Problem is, I was also told there was a potential risk in overheating your PC. So I just wanted your opinion on the matter: Is it something I could use to enable just a little bit more horsepower without any worries, or should I just stay away due to the risks?
There's a risk every time you want your hardware to do more than it was designed for. A few years down the road it might be worth it, but now the 'just a bit' might not be worth the risk. What do you want your computer to do faster or better? Do you want more FPS in a game or do you need to run a specific program?
I just want the game to run smoother. That game would be Crysis, by the way. I seem to be having an issue with draw distance, but I'm looking at the tweaking guides as well as "hotfixes" and drivers I should be installing.
So no, I don't really want to resort to something that could screw up my PC sometime down the road. I shouldn't have to do it, either.
First for oc'ing the cpu...anyone should be able to get a 5% overclock with stock cooling and minimal adjustments, so if you want to kind of get a feel for it you could start with that goal. If you feel good about that, maybe aim for 10%, also pretty easy. After that a lot depends on the quality of your components (mobo, cpu, psu and cooling). There are helpful guides all over the internet, and if you have a popular board there might even be one specifically tailored. You're probably not going to fry your processor, in fact you can set your bios to shut down your computer if you get to a certain unsafe temp, say 65 or 70c. The more common 'worst-case' is not being able to boot into your bios, at which point you have to know how to reset it manually. Anyway, you'll find all this in any comprehensive guide, I'm just saying it's not really that risky if you do your homework and don't just dive into the bios. That reminds me, do use the bios to oc your cpu and not software running in windows. There's just not a good oc'ing utility out there right now, except maybe amd overdrive, which only works on amd700 series chipsets anyway.
As for the video card I know if you have ATI you can just go into the ccc and overclock it right there, just make sure you start small and monitor your temps at idle and under load, and back off if there's a problem. Nvidia probably has something similar, or Rivatuner is also a good option. A good oc will certainly squeeze a few more frames out of crysis, so it's ultimately up to you whether that's worth it or not. Obviously if you do do it, make sure you've done enough research that you're comfortable with it.
First for oc'ing the cpu...anyone should be able to get a 5% overclock with stock cooling and minimal adjustments, so if you want to kind of get a feel for it you could start with that goal. If you feel good about that, maybe aim for 10%, also pretty easy. After that a lot depends on the quality of your components (mobo, cpu, psu and cooling). There are helpful guides all over the internet, and if you have a popular board there might even be one specifically tailored. You're probably not going to fry your processor, in fact you can set your bios to shut down your computer if you get to a certain unsafe temp, say 65 or 70c. The more common 'worst-case' is not being able to boot into your bios, at which point you have to know how to reset it manually. Anyway, you'll find all this in any comprehensive guide, I'm just saying it's not really that risky if you do your homework and don't just dive into the bios. That reminds me, do use the bios to oc your cpu and not software running in windows. There's just not a good oc'ing utility out there right now, except maybe amd overdrive, which only works on amd700 series chipsets anyway.
Just want to chip in that I've used AMD overdrive on my current board (A 790X from MSI) and 75% of the releases don't work, and the rest are extremely unstable (Can't get my CPU clocked to 2.3 ghz per core in AMD overdrive, allthough it works fine through bios.)
One program that is pretty much vital according to my brother is prime95 (Google it). Benchmarking and torture testing (Checking fro calculation errors by the CPU and testing the RAM). I usually leave it running while I'm in school to check that everything is fine if I've overclocked.
Update on my build, I found the e8400 at mwave for $209...much better. The shipping is terrible if you buy one item but I also found that mobo there for $10 less, hard drive for $5 less. While I was looking at other stuff I also found a pny 8800gt for $234, so I don't know if I should do that or go for the $170-20mir 3850. I don't much care for the hassle of mail-in rebates so I'm leaning towards the 8800gt even though it's more than what I need right now and puts me over my $800 budget. I hate you hot deals, for making me spend more monies!
Random question, how do you guys recycle/dispose of computer parts you aren't using anymore?
I have a big box of old stuff in my closet I'd really like to get rid of, and Google searches for "electronics recycling los angeles" don't bring up anything super reliable.
eta: enh, DPW has some dropoff sites now. That's something. Anyone know of any charities/trade schools that would use them for Good?
Mariam on
0
Options
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
Random question, how do you guys recycle/dispose of computer parts you aren't using anymore?
I have a big box of old stuff in my closet I'd really like to get rid of, and Google searches for "electronics recycling los angeles" don't bring up anything super reliable.
eta: enh, DPW has some dropoff sites now. That's something. Anyone know of any charities/trade schools that would use them for Good?
I had to find a place to "dump" about 2 dozen fossilized Dells for work - a contractor (not sure what else to call them) for one of the big charities in my area (The Bay) took them off my hands. Might be worth checking with some of the charities around your spot - at the least they should be able to send you in the right direction. Also, for what it's worth, the "value" of all the crap I got rid of was tax deductible (up to $500 I think), which got me points with accounting.
In other news, I picked a BFG 8800GT 512 card over the weekend. Pretty awesome, coming from a 7600GT. Today I noticed New Egg's got the G92 GTS for the same price I payed for the GT, so it looks like that one's going back. Also got Company of Heroes, which is way too much fun.
I just got a new laptop that runs on the Windows Vista OS and I've been having some troubles connecting to the internet wirelessly. After messing with a few things I checked the network adaptors in Device Manager and it says,
"This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)
Click 'Check for solutions' to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available."
I clicked "Check for solutions", but I get nothing. Any suggestions?
I just got a new laptop that runs on the Windows Vista OS and I've been having some troubles connecting to the internet wirelessly. After messing with a few things I checked the network adaptors in Device Manager and it says,
"This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)
Click 'Check for solutions' to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available."
I clicked "Check for solutions", but I get nothing. Any suggestions?
Go to the manufacturer's website for that network adaptor (or the laptop manufacturer's website), download the drivers for the network adaptor, install and enjoy.
"Check for solutions" is largely useless. It's only going to tell you to GNFD (Get New Fucking Drivers) anyways.
Locust76 on
0
Options
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
edited January 2008
I'm looking to update my mobo and CPU. Right now I'm using an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and am thinking about switching over to a Core Duo.
As far as I'm aware, everything I have now will work with the new mobo/CPU, though, I'm not sure about the RAM. It's PC4000/DDR500 which I'm sure will work, but if I'm wrong, please let me know.
Anyhow! If the RAM does work, what's a good upgrade to what I have now? I'm not looking for top of the line 16-core whosafudge, but I would like something that is.. well.. an upgrade. I've used AMD for so long that I'm not sure what to be looking for on the Intel side.
What programs are you looking to run better/faster? If you do more video work or things that will take advantage of 4 cores, wait a month or two for the q9450 (~$350). If it's gaming, get an e8400 ($210) and a p35 board (abit and gigabyte are probably the best under $150). You're not going to see a whole lot of improvement here relative to the cost though and would be better off upgrading your graphics card if it is gaming we are worried about (unless you already have a new high end card of course).
edit: oh yeah the ram, totally forgot to address that, it will be another 40 bucks or so for 2 gigs.
I don't think there are any motherboards that use newer Intel products use regular DDR. You'll probably have to get some DDR2. DDR won't fit into the other slots. What's your budget like?
Anyone know whether the new AMD Phenom Quad Core is worth getting yet? I mean the last I heard most applications hardly make full use of dual-core (I'm out of the loop PC-wise at the moment).
Also, anyone heard anything good or bad about pcoption.co.uk? They have good prices on building a machine for you, but I can't tell if the site looks trustworthy enough to part with my hard earned student loan
Posts
It's usually not updated unless there's a major change in hardware prices and parts, I imagine it will get done when the new intels are readily available.
Looking at it, it basically spikes from 20 to 40 and briefly 60 every second. Not sure if that's normal. If it isn't, please help me get it normal.
Blog||Tumblr|Steam|Twitter|FFXIV|Twitch|YouTube|Podcast|PSN|XBL|DarkZero
have my windows install on a SATA drive, and a backup SATA drive for data. I also have an IDE drive for data. when I try and copy files off the IDE drive, or even just read the files, within a few minutes (sometimes much faster) the computer will stall, then resume as normal, then stall, every 3 to 5 seconds.
I tried to run the disk checker but that cause the same problem.
I suppose the drive could by going, I've had it for a very long time, but I wanted to check in here if anyone had heard of this, and also if the drive is going would getting one of those USB enclosure deals help me to get the data off?
Also fun shit happens like I cant delete photoshop files because it says they're in use, cant drag to copy files into folders. All kinds of weird shit is going on, it seems like a job for reformatting.
Blog||Tumblr|Steam|Twitter|FFXIV|Twitch|YouTube|Podcast|PSN|XBL|DarkZero
Anyway, this is a problem I haven't had before, and since I do not have a education about computers I draw all my knowledge from seemingly common sense and experience.
My friend just got new parts. The only old part is the processor. Anyway, he builds everything into his computer, carefully handling every part while being grounded. He turns on the PSU and hears the sound of electricity coming into it.
The power switch does nothing.
So I told him to Check all cables (Done) Check the power switch pins (done) and try the PSU on another computer (in progress I think).
So, now I come seeking help... Is there any other thing it could be? I mean, I think it's either a faulty board or PSU and testing the PSU will be easiest.
Did he say what PSU he's using? I've got an OCX-or-whatever-the-hell-it-is 700-watt one, and I can't help but wonder if it's a rare brand/model fluke.
He hasn't called me yet though, so maybe the problem was the PSU.
Wasn't able to see anything, so I booted up while holding the fan in place to make certain I had the right one. Apparently I did, as there was no grinding noise anymore,; however, I got POST failure, and a beep code of what I believe is just one beep repeating. Naturally I quickly let go of the fan and powered down, but I still get the beep whenever I boot now, and I'm not precisely sure what permanent damage I could have done by checking the fans.
Edit: Ah, after stewing over the problem at work, I figured I may have loosened something while laying the tower down flat to see into the power supply fan, and yep, memory got unseated. Problem solved.
Anyways, just a few quick questions.
Will my Geforce 6800GS work with that motherboard (Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3)? I assume both are PCIe so it will work. How do I tell in the first place?
Someone recommend me a power supply.
edit - using something called XYPlorer instead of windows explorer has me inside the folder and copying things out with no problem. it's only a 30 day trial but hopefully after today that won't matter. I still have no idea what actually caused this, but in a way I don't care since it seems I've found a way around it. I'll keep xyplorer for 30 days, and also I grabbed two other free Windows Explorer alternatives in case of a problem in the future.
nome, the prices and parts were last updated november 17th. So not very recently, though not much has changed (new intels coming this week though). Anyway, as much as I love amd (and I do, I have never bought intel), it's hard not to recommend the Gigabyte DS3L ($90) paired with whatever of e2180/e4500/e8400* you can afford. The reason is that I wouldn't recommend anything less on the amd side now than the 700 series chipset, which to get a decent board will cost $100. This would be for the ability to upgrade to a phenom in the future, however I'm starting to wonder if phenoms will ever be worth it, or if amd will have to catch up in 2009 with socket am3. With intel, you know even if you get a budget processor you'll have a certain upgrade to wolfdale or penryn if you want it (and the sweet L2 cache size that comes with it). Of course if you have a budget that isn't flexible, or you don't care about upgrade options, then a budget amd system is probably still the right call, and will still handle most anything you throw at it. It's just going to show its age a little sooner. Really if I was updating the op, I'd probably include both intel and amd setups for budget configs.
*45nm chips I think will require a bios flash, so if you don't have an older intel processor to boot with, you'll need a usb drive to get it working.
an d at least the artist I lost I own the albums of... don't have to try and borrow it from anyone. that would be more of a pain.
edit - okay so as said I know exactly what folder is giving me the problem. it's not a file, because multiple folders within this folder cause the computer to stall on attempted access. moveonboot did nothing, deleting from command prompt did nothing, deleting from safe mode did nothing. I type del directoryname and it asks y/n, I say y, and it's still there. I can't do it through windows explorer or any replacement explorer because choosing 'delete' causes the system to stall as described earlier. I can't find anyone with a similar problem and have no idea what to do. if no one here has any ideas, I guess I'll just try copying everything off of the drive and formatting it. I can't think of anything else. this has confused me SO MUCH.
edit again - perserverence! I don't care that it's spelled wrong! messed around more with command prompt and got it to work. had to delete all files inside each individual folder. makes sense but I forgot quite how big of a folder tree I was working with.
edit - nevermind. not working on one of the folders. haha
A floppy drive.
Any way to do this without resorting to buying a goddamn floppy drive?
Svelte - Probably not going to work. There should be a sticker on the psu itself that lists the amps on the +12v rail, if that isn't at least 24a or so then you're just rolling the dice running a modern graphics card.
Blog||Tumblr|Steam|Twitter|FFXIV|Twitch|YouTube|Podcast|PSN|XBL|DarkZero
Blog||Tumblr|Steam|Twitter|FFXIV|Twitch|YouTube|Podcast|PSN|XBL|DarkZero
Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail (119.95, free ship) (I really need a new case, and the earthwatts psu this comes with is made by seasonic, 80 plus cert, and has 34a on the +12v -- it says it has dual rails but there's only one).
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (104.99)
GECUBE GC-HD3850PG3-D3R Radeon HD 3850 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail (149.99 after 20 mir) (over $100 cheaper than an 8800gt, can't beat it price to performance).
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail (44.99)
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (99.99)
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail (21.99) (plan to oc a bit)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail (224.99) (stupid inflated price, cursed high demand!)
The total with shipping would be $794.72. If anyone finds a better (in-stock) deal on that processor, please let me know. I'm weak and will probably order this sometime tomorrow afternoonish.
There are quite a few torrents that become available to download while I am at work, if my computer could download these while I am at work it will save me a fair bit of time as if it is a slow download I wont be able to watch it for several hours after I get home.
Is there a program where I could say download the torrent at work, email it to my computer at home and it would start downloading? Obviously it would need to be password protected (and it might be a battle to make work because of the UAC) but is it possible?
Satans..... hints.....
Don't consider this post an actual admission.
It likely wouldn't work for me anyway, since my work blocks out pretty much all the sites.
Blog||Tumblr|Steam|Twitter|FFXIV|Twitch|YouTube|Podcast|PSN|XBL|DarkZero
(A good site describing how to get the most out of WE would work just as well).
But I have a more important question: While looking at certain things to get the proper mileage out of my new specs, I was referred to overclocking, as well as this RivaTuner program which is supposed to help tweak your PC to really push itself.
Problem is, I was also told there was a potential risk in overheating your PC. So I just wanted your opinion on the matter: Is it something I could use to enable just a little bit more horsepower without any worries, or should I just stay away due to the risks?
Blog||Tumblr|Steam|Twitter|FFXIV|Twitch|YouTube|Podcast|PSN|XBL|DarkZero
So no, I don't really want to resort to something that could screw up my PC sometime down the road. I shouldn't have to do it, either.
Blog||Tumblr|Steam|Twitter|FFXIV|Twitch|YouTube|Podcast|PSN|XBL|DarkZero
As for the video card I know if you have ATI you can just go into the ccc and overclock it right there, just make sure you start small and monitor your temps at idle and under load, and back off if there's a problem. Nvidia probably has something similar, or Rivatuner is also a good option. A good oc will certainly squeeze a few more frames out of crysis, so it's ultimately up to you whether that's worth it or not. Obviously if you do do it, make sure you've done enough research that you're comfortable with it.
Just want to chip in that I've used AMD overdrive on my current board (A 790X from MSI) and 75% of the releases don't work, and the rest are extremely unstable (Can't get my CPU clocked to 2.3 ghz per core in AMD overdrive, allthough it works fine through bios.)
One program that is pretty much vital according to my brother is prime95 (Google it). Benchmarking and torture testing (Checking fro calculation errors by the CPU and testing the RAM). I usually leave it running while I'm in school to check that everything is fine if I've overclocked.
I have a big box of old stuff in my closet I'd really like to get rid of, and Google searches for "electronics recycling los angeles" don't bring up anything super reliable.
eta: enh, DPW has some dropoff sites now. That's something. Anyone know of any charities/trade schools that would use them for Good?
I had to find a place to "dump" about 2 dozen fossilized Dells for work - a contractor (not sure what else to call them) for one of the big charities in my area (The Bay) took them off my hands. Might be worth checking with some of the charities around your spot - at the least they should be able to send you in the right direction. Also, for what it's worth, the "value" of all the crap I got rid of was tax deductible (up to $500 I think), which got me points with accounting.
In other news, I picked a BFG 8800GT 512 card over the weekend. Pretty awesome, coming from a 7600GT. Today I noticed New Egg's got the G92 GTS for the same price I payed for the GT, so it looks like that one's going back. Also got Company of Heroes, which is way too much fun.
I just got a new laptop that runs on the Windows Vista OS and I've been having some troubles connecting to the internet wirelessly. After messing with a few things I checked the network adaptors in Device Manager and it says,
I clicked "Check for solutions", but I get nothing. Any suggestions?
Go to the manufacturer's website for that network adaptor (or the laptop manufacturer's website), download the drivers for the network adaptor, install and enjoy.
"Check for solutions" is largely useless. It's only going to tell you to GNFD (Get New Fucking Drivers) anyways.
As far as I'm aware, everything I have now will work with the new mobo/CPU, though, I'm not sure about the RAM. It's PC4000/DDR500 which I'm sure will work, but if I'm wrong, please let me know.
Anyhow! If the RAM does work, what's a good upgrade to what I have now? I'm not looking for top of the line 16-core whosafudge, but I would like something that is.. well.. an upgrade. I've used AMD for so long that I'm not sure what to be looking for on the Intel side.
Thanks in advance.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
edit: oh yeah the ram, totally forgot to address that, it will be another 40 bucks or so for 2 gigs.
Also, anyone heard anything good or bad about pcoption.co.uk? They have good prices on building a machine for you, but I can't tell if the site looks trustworthy enough to part with my hard earned student loan