I would suggest booting into the BIOS settings screen with your old RAM and set the DRAM voltage to 2.1. Reboot but pause the system during the POST screen and turn it off. Stick in the new RAM and it should be fine to boot with it's recommended voltage.
Did you try to RMA your old memory? Most sticks these days have a lifetime warranty and are quickly replaced after one round of troubleshooting with the company.
Question about upgrading my video card. Right now to go with my Geforce 8800 GTS 640MB, I have a Q6600 processor, and 6GB of RAM (DDR2 PC2-6400 running at 800mhz and how the hell am I supposed to remember this I ask you :x ). It's been reliably able to run modern games on high detail with good framerate for some time now, but I recently got Assassin's Creed on Steam and at full detail it runs pretty badly (ed: like 10-15 FPS at 1680x1050 full detail). I could turn it down of course, but it's got me worried about up-and-coming stuff like Prototype.
Would upgrading my video card to one of the 1GB Geforce 200 series cards (or whatever the ATI equivalent is now, but I know dick about ATI right now) get me much bang for my buck, or is it still a waste of time/money for another generation or two?
So a good point of reverence is the fact that a 250GTS is the same thing as a GTX9800+. On the ATI side the equivalent cards would be a 4770 or a 4850. All of those cards are about $100ish. For $150-$200 you could upgrade to a 4870 or 260GTX.
On the one hand it seems that even a 4850 is fast enough to be constrained by CPU or other limits (at 60FFS). On the other hand it seems that you should be getting something like 30FPS now with no AA. With 4x AA things are slightly different.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I personally wouldn't bother upgrading from an 8800 GTS unless I was going to at least a 275 gtx or 4890
For 1680x1050?
Yeah, the 250 and 4850 just don't have enough power to push good looking recent games at high settings at 1680x1050, the 4870 or 260 would do it, but if you look around the 4890/275 can be found within 50$ or so of them so it makes more sense to just go up another level imo
I personally wouldn't bother upgrading from an 8800 GTS unless I was going to at least a 275 gtx or 4890
For 1680x1050?
Yeah, the 250 and 4850 just don't have enough power to push good looking recent games at high settings at 1680x1050, the 4870 or 260 would do it, but if you look around the 4890/275 can be found within 50$ or so of them so it makes more sense to just go up another level imo
Which games?
[edit] Not that I'm saying Ledneh should upgrade. Personally I have a 8800GTS and it turns out I'll be waiting for W7 before building a new computer so I'll probably see what the new gen from ATI offers. I'm just trying to give Ledneh a bit of info so he can make his own choice.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Yeah those benchmarks mostly reminded me what a ridiculous hog multisampling is. I turned that all the way down and left everything else up, and AC runs peachy keen. So I'm gonna stick it out a couple more generations unless I see a mega cheap upgrade at Fry's tomorrow (I need a new HD--you'd think 600GB between two drives would be enough, but apparently not )
So my desktop is back up and running and I burned, copied everything essential and I am getting ready to install my 4850. But one thing still bugs me.
The molex adapter I got for free from Computer Sonics (great guys in the Tukwila, WA area) has a male and female ending, which should I use to connect my fan to the power supply? My motherboard was retarded in that the connector to the fan's power supply was placed so far away that the cable is stretched right over the PCI express port. :?
Ran into some financial stickyness in February and didn't get my parts. Now some of them are out of stock. Basically I'm just going to go with the bang for buck set in the OP, but omit the case and power supply since I have that already. (The Antec III Sonata with 500w.) Anyone have any suggestions? Anything I'm missing?
For Reference:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz $168
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard $135
MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv4 GeForce GTX 260 896MB $175
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $45 X2
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB Hard Drive $70
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black $23
I set it to 2.1 but the same problem occurred when the new RAM was put in. Just a few seconds of the fan spinning before it shut itself off
Try it with just one stick in and see if that makes a difference. Alternatively, you can try to lower your FSB to 800 or so to make it a bit easier on the RAM and see if it will boot like that until you can figure out exactly what the issue is.
SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
edited June 2009
Ok, so a bit of an update. I had the PC powered down all weekend because I've been out. Tonight I turned it on, and it couldn't even get into windows before freezing. Went into safe mode and uninstalled the video driver again. I'm running the memtest iso now before I boot back into Windows, but I'm starting to think more and more there's something physically wrong with the video card.
Edit: No problems with the memory. I can get into Windows just fine if there's no video driver installed. As soon as I install a driver (I've tried both 9.5 and 9.4 Catalyst drivers), windows freezes at a black screen just before loading the desktop, ie right after the "Starting Windows" screen.
I don't think this is a heat issue now, since it happened from a cold boot after 2 days of being off.
The behavior is very repeatable now, whereas before it didn't start having problems for a couple of hours.
One last thing I'm trying is putting the card in the other PCI-E slot.
...and, nope. Same problem. Starting Windows - black screen - monitor loses video signal after about 30 seconds.
The Q6600 is better but I'm not sure if that will translate to actual performance for gaming as I doubt most games actually use the advantages of Quads just yet.
oh no, q6600 vs e8400...it's early 2008 all over again. That said, my vote goes to the e8400. More frames in more games. If you want a quad core at a reasonable price, wouldn't the 3.0 ghz phenom II x4 be better anyway?
I have been trying to see how far I can push my computer with simple tasks like itunes and firefox. At one point I was installed two things with eight browsers and and itunes opened at the same time with not slow down. This is amazing since my old computer would lag with ituns and firefox open.
oh no, q6600 vs e8400...it's early 2008 all over again. That said, my vote goes to the e8400. More frames in more games. If you want a quad core at a reasonable price, wouldn't the 3.0 ghz phenom II x4 be better anyway?
yea, for purely gaming, e8400. But, if you're considering a quad core, get the Phenom II X4 940 instead of a Core 2 quad. IMO they're better than the intel Core 2 Quads.
If you're looking for a high end quad core, get an i7. If you're looking for mid range Quad core, get a Phenom II X4 940, and get a Core 2 Duo otherwise.
What kind of speakers do you Onboard sound dudes have?
I have a high end Logitech 2.1 set, my dad has a 5.1 set. Couple other people I know run 5.1 off of onboard with no issues.
Sound is one of those things that people don't give a shit about until they actually hear the difference.
Going back to this, while I won't quite call bullshit, because a really good, really high end system will be able to tell the difference, but for 99.5% of the population, myself among them, there is no noticable difference at all. I was *pissed* when my sound card wasn't working properly in my machine, until I heard the sound from the on board, and was like "oh, this sounds pretty much exactly the same, I can stop caring now"
Hey, so I'm getting together a better PC for my wife, since her lappy is starting to chug a little bit on WoW and her new Sims 3.
Does the stuff on this list make sense? I've built several computers before, but I always feel that I'm forgetting something, or not taking into account some incompatibility. Mouse and keyboard are not on the list but are in the cart. Will get probably 2G RAM. Maybe more. Also can't find speakers on Newegg. Do they not sell them any more?
XFX HD-465X-YAFC Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
ASUS M3A76-CM AM2+/AM2 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Antec EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition Processor Model AD775ZWCGHBOX - Retail
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
Acer X193W+BD Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Just need some validation as I always hate to have screwed up a big order like this.
My main concern is the PSU. It's part of a combo deal with the case. And they're both Antec, which I like. But the PSU has 3 12V rails, and I've generally heard that 1 good one is better than multiple mediocre ones. This ones are 22A, 22A and 25A. Should that run everything fine?
Tofystedeth on
0
SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
What kind of speakers do you Onboard sound dudes have?
I have a high end Logitech 2.1 set, my dad has a 5.1 set. Couple other people I know run 5.1 off of onboard with no issues.
Sound is one of those things that people don't give a shit about until they actually hear the difference.
Going back to this, while I won't quite call bullshit, because a really good, really high end system will be able to tell the difference, but for 99.5% of the population, myself among them, there is no noticable difference at all. I was *pissed* when my sound card wasn't working properly in my machine, until I heard the sound from the on board, and was like "oh, this sounds pretty much exactly the same, I can stop caring now"
Obs doesn't really know what he's talking about, which is I bet why this was ignored.
For the vast majority of PC tasks, onboard sound these days is just fine. MB's come with coax and optical out, so you can send the stream right to a nice receiver if you want. Really, the only reason you'd need a separate card is if you're doing audio recording, and even then you're likely going to want an outboard interface.
oh no, q6600 vs e8400...it's early 2008 all over again. That said, my vote goes to the e8400. More frames in more games. If you want a quad core at a reasonable price, wouldn't the 3.0 ghz phenom II x4 be better anyway?
yea, for purely gaming, e8400. But, if you're considering a quad core, get the Phenom II X4 940 instead of a Core 2 quad. IMO they're better than the intel Core 2 Quads.
If you're looking for a high end quad core, get an i7. If you're looking for mid range Quad core, get a Phenom II X4 940, and get a Core 2 Duo otherwise.
I wonder why the Phenom II x3 gets no love around here. It's what I'm planning to get once I scrounge up the money to replace my dead 939 Opteron+mobo. It seems to be a monster in both gaming and SMP apps like video encoding plus lots of folks have good luck unlocking the fourth core anyway.
Gah, why must choosing DDR2 be so overwhelming. There are dozens of seemingly viable options but I want to grab some now while Newegg is taking 15% off!
Ended up getting these Corsair sticks. After promo code and rebate it'll end up costing $26!
oh no, q6600 vs e8400...it's early 2008 all over again. That said, my vote goes to the e8400. More frames in more games. If you want a quad core at a reasonable price, wouldn't the 3.0 ghz phenom II x4 be better anyway?
yea, for purely gaming, e8400. But, if you're considering a quad core, get the Phenom II X4 940 instead of a Core 2 quad. IMO they're better than the intel Core 2 Quads.
If you're looking for a high end quad core, get an i7. If you're looking for mid range Quad core, get a Phenom II X4 940, and get a Core 2 Duo otherwise.
I wonder why the Phenom II x3 gets no love around here. It's what I'm planning to get once I scrounge up the money to replace my dead 939 Opteron+mobo. It seems to be a monster in both gaming and SMP apps like video encoding plus lots of folks have good luck unlocking the fourth core anyway.
Good question. Phenom II x3 720 at $139, c2d e8400 at $168, Phenom II x4 940 at $190, and Core i7 920 at $280... all good buys depending on budget and needs. Actually it might finally be time for me to cut the e8400 from my own rec list when I look at those prices. That's a pretty tight space it's occupying.
imperial6 on
0
SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
edited June 2009
Picked up a video card at lunch today (an ATI..um, 4670, I think?) so tonight I'll hopefully be able to determine if it really is the video card. If not, I'm guessing it has to be the motherboard? God, who knows. So aggravating.
Six, was looking on newegg at the 4850's and it seems like your particular model had a relatively high amount of 1 star reviews (16%), saying the card died between a few days and a month of use. It sounds like sapphire just dropped the ball on this one, which is too bad because they are usually pretty good with quality and great with prices. I have a feeling the 4670 will work fine and you'll be RMA'ing that 4850.
imperial6 on
0
SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
Six, was looking on newegg at the 4850's and it seems like your particular model had a relatively high amount of 1 star reviews (16%), saying the card died between a few days and a month of use. It sounds like sapphire just dropped the ball on this one, which is too bad because they are usually pretty good with quality and great with prices. I have a feeling the 4670 will work fine and you'll be RMA'ing that 4850.
You know, I should have gone to check that out myself, thanks.
That gives me even more hope that this is the root of the problem I'm having. Now, do I just exchange the sapphire for another, or do I return it and buy a different model, like the (I think) Asus I was looking at initially?
Well, that's a choice for later this week when I'm sure the problem is solved.
At least my unblemished record of at least one significant and hair-pulling problem with every PC build is still intact. The first few times it was also rookie stuff like the MB shorting out because I attached it to the case wrong, or having the master/slave jumper wrong on a HD. I've had bad RAm before too - that one really sucks. This time i was sure I'd done everything right, and what happens? Bad video card.
Hey, so I'm getting together a better PC for my wife, since her lappy is starting to chug a little bit on WoW and her new Sims 3.
Does the stuff on this list make sense? I've built several computers before, but I always feel that I'm forgetting something, or not taking into account some incompatibility. Mouse and keyboard are not on the list but are in the cart. Will get probably 2G RAM. Maybe more. Also can't find speakers on Newegg. Do they not sell them any more?
XFX HD-465X-YAFC Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
ASUS M3A76-CM AM2+/AM2 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Antec EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition Processor Model AD775ZWCGHBOX - Retail
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
Acer X193W+BD Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Just need some validation as I always hate to have screwed up a big order like this.
My main concern is the PSU. It's part of a combo deal with the case. And they're both Antec, which I like. But the PSU has 3 12V rails, and I've generally heard that 1 good one is better than multiple mediocre ones. This ones are 22A, 22A and 25A. Should that run everything fine?
I would go with a different video card, in this order (depending on how much you want to spend):
HD 4670
9600GT
HD 4770 (if you can find one, DEFINITELY get this)
9800GTX+ / GTS 250
I would also get a different power supply. The components you have there are low-power, and you'll get better efficiency with a lower-watt psu like this:
Hey, I got the Sapphire 4850 too, and mine shitted out after 2 weeks. I just replaced it with another brand 4850 today.
I thought it was the PSU, but it wasn't. It was the card that somehow managed to die.. I thought maybe it was the adaptor I was using but I think it unlikely.
Anyway, I got refunded for the Sapphire 4850 and got another 4850 in its place. So I'll see how that goes.
The Sapphire was great until it just pooped out, randomly, one day.
SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
edited June 2009
So I got a UPS label from newegg after bitching for 2 seconds that I had to pay for shipping myself. The Sapphire's going back for a refund and I'll pick up the HIS card for $5 cheaper. Plus it comes with STALKER!
Edit: Actually, hmm. The Sapphire card had HDMI, while this one doesn't. That *may* be useful for me. Or I could just use a DVI/HDMI adapter, of course. HIS it is.
PC seems to be running just peachy now. None of the weird problems have been cropping up, so I'm pretty confident things are good. I went ahead and reinstalled Windows 7, too.
Edit2: And I just played TF2 for a while, everything runs great. I'm glad at least that the problems weren't something stupid on my part.
Thanks to everyone in this thread for their help, especially llc.
Still the plural of anecdote is not data and the fact that most of the cards are just reference designs make me hesitate getting into trying to recommend brands.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
So do people think I should make a note about avoiding Sapphire 4850s in the OP?
Problem child cards pop up from time to time... it's usually self-correcting thanks to customer reviews forcing the manufacturer to fix whatever is causing the problem. I expect Sapphire, which has been around for-almost-ever, will fix this problem too.
It's your call whether you want to edit a warning in to the OP in the meantime, but it seems like a bit too much micromanagement, and I know you don't want to be doing a lot of that. Maybe edit something more general in, like "if you're considering a part and it has a high number of 1 star/egg reviews (> 10% or so), consider going with another manufacturer/part instead because those 1 star reviews almost always mean DOA." Well, DOA or user error...
edit: maybe 10% is a little harsh, 12 or 15 might be a better number
edit 2: it's also completely a common sense thing, and won't help people buying products with fewer reviews like our 2 compatriots, so you could really just skip it altogether. it's your OP tho
There aren't a whole ton of reviews on that sapphire. What few negative reviews there are seem to indicate the same problem; the card just blacks out after some varying amount of time and doesn't come back.
I don't know if there are problems with this card or not. Or if it's a common problem or not. It was a great card for me while it worked, because it's not too big, and the fan is fairly quiet, and it has 3 different monitor outputs. Seems to stay reasonably cool as well.
I can't say for sure it was user error on my part that killed the card, but I don't think it was. I had this computer built without problems, and it ran without problems for 2 weeks. It just died one day. I thought it was the PSU, but I tried 3 different PSUs and 2 different mobos and the card had just pooped out.
Posts
Reading my manual, I see my mobo only supplies 1.8V to the RAM. Which means that my 2.0v that was suggested to me was actually too much
Did you try to RMA your old memory? Most sticks these days have a lifetime warranty and are quickly replaced after one round of troubleshooting with the company.
Would upgrading my video card to one of the 1GB Geforce 200 series cards (or whatever the ATI equivalent is now, but I know dick about ATI right now) get me much bang for my buck, or is it still a waste of time/money for another generation or two?
Take a look here for some benchmarks.
On the one hand it seems that even a 4850 is fast enough to be constrained by CPU or other limits (at 60FFS). On the other hand it seems that you should be getting something like 30FPS now with no AA. With 4x AA things are slightly different.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
For 1680x1050?
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Which games?
[edit] Not that I'm saying Ledneh should upgrade. Personally I have a 8800GTS and it turns out I'll be waiting for W7 before building a new computer so I'll probably see what the new gen from ATI offers. I'm just trying to give Ledneh a bit of info so he can make his own choice.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Thanks
The molex adapter I got for free from Computer Sonics (great guys in the Tukwila, WA area) has a male and female ending, which should I use to connect my fan to the power supply? My motherboard was retarded in that the connector to the fan's power supply was placed so far away that the cable is stretched right over the PCI express port. :?
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
The 3 pin end that leads from the fan leads to two power connectors, a male and female.
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
For Reference:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz $168
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard $135
MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv4 GeForce GTX 260 896MB $175
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $45 X2
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB Hard Drive $70
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black $23
Also I'll be getting Vista Ultimate.
Why would you do that when the much better Windows 7 is coming out this fall? You can get the Release Candidate now for free and use it until March.
Try it with just one stick in and see if that makes a difference. Alternatively, you can try to lower your FSB to 800 or so to make it a bit easier on the RAM and see if it will boot like that until you can figure out exactly what the issue is.
Edit: No problems with the memory. I can get into Windows just fine if there's no video driver installed. As soon as I install a driver (I've tried both 9.5 and 9.4 Catalyst drivers), windows freezes at a black screen just before loading the desktop, ie right after the "Starting Windows" screen.
I don't think this is a heat issue now, since it happened from a cold boot after 2 days of being off.
The behavior is very repeatable now, whereas before it didn't start having problems for a couple of hours.
One last thing I'm trying is putting the card in the other PCI-E slot.
...and, nope. Same problem. Starting Windows - black screen - monitor loses video signal after about 30 seconds.
I wish I had another video card to try.
The build will mostly be used for gaming.
According to this benchmark:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html
The Q6600 is better but I'm not sure if that will translate to actual performance for gaming as I doubt most games actually use the advantages of Quads just yet.
yea, for purely gaming, e8400. But, if you're considering a quad core, get the Phenom II X4 940 instead of a Core 2 quad. IMO they're better than the intel Core 2 Quads.
If you're looking for a high end quad core, get an i7. If you're looking for mid range Quad core, get a Phenom II X4 940, and get a Core 2 Duo otherwise.
Going back to this, while I won't quite call bullshit, because a really good, really high end system will be able to tell the difference, but for 99.5% of the population, myself among them, there is no noticable difference at all. I was *pissed* when my sound card wasn't working properly in my machine, until I heard the sound from the on board, and was like "oh, this sounds pretty much exactly the same, I can stop caring now"
Does the stuff on this list make sense? I've built several computers before, but I always feel that I'm forgetting something, or not taking into account some incompatibility. Mouse and keyboard are not on the list but are in the cart. Will get probably 2G RAM. Maybe more. Also can't find speakers on Newegg. Do they not sell them any more?
- XFX HD-465X-YAFC Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
- ASUS M3A76-CM AM2+/AM2 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
- Antec EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
- Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition Processor Model AD775ZWCGHBOX - Retail
- Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
- Acer X193W+BD Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Just need some validation as I always hate to have screwed up a big order like this.My main concern is the PSU. It's part of a combo deal with the case. And they're both Antec, which I like. But the PSU has 3 12V rails, and I've generally heard that 1 good one is better than multiple mediocre ones. This ones are 22A, 22A and 25A. Should that run everything fine?
Obs doesn't really know what he's talking about, which is I bet why this was ignored.
For the vast majority of PC tasks, onboard sound these days is just fine. MB's come with coax and optical out, so you can send the stream right to a nice receiver if you want. Really, the only reason you'd need a separate card is if you're doing audio recording, and even then you're likely going to want an outboard interface.
I wonder why the Phenom II x3 gets no love around here. It's what I'm planning to get once I scrounge up the money to replace my dead 939 Opteron+mobo. It seems to be a monster in both gaming and SMP apps like video encoding plus lots of folks have good luck unlocking the fourth core anyway.
Ended up getting these Corsair sticks. After promo code and rebate it'll end up costing $26!
Good question. Phenom II x3 720 at $139, c2d e8400 at $168, Phenom II x4 940 at $190, and Core i7 920 at $280... all good buys depending on budget and needs. Actually it might finally be time for me to cut the e8400 from my own rec list when I look at those prices. That's a pretty tight space it's occupying.
You know, I should have gone to check that out myself, thanks.
That gives me even more hope that this is the root of the problem I'm having. Now, do I just exchange the sapphire for another, or do I return it and buy a different model, like the (I think) Asus I was looking at initially?
Well, that's a choice for later this week when I'm sure the problem is solved.
At least my unblemished record of at least one significant and hair-pulling problem with every PC build is still intact. The first few times it was also rookie stuff like the MB shorting out because I attached it to the case wrong, or having the master/slave jumper wrong on a HD. I've had bad RAm before too - that one really sucks. This time i was sure I'd done everything right, and what happens? Bad video card.
I would go with a different video card, in this order (depending on how much you want to spend):
HD 4670
9600GT
HD 4770 (if you can find one, DEFINITELY get this)
9800GTX+ / GTS 250
I would also get a different power supply. The components you have there are low-power, and you'll get better efficiency with a lower-watt psu like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151032
SeaSonic S12 II SS-380GB 380W
Also, get a bigger hard drive. HDD space is so cheap, for $10 more you can get double the space:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098
Also, look for combo deals. That case/processor combo on newegg gets you $10 off.
I'm going to give things a few hours tonight before starting the replacement process with Newegg.
I thought it was the PSU, but it wasn't. It was the card that somehow managed to die.. I thought maybe it was the adaptor I was using but I think it unlikely.
Anyway, I got refunded for the Sapphire 4850 and got another 4850 in its place. So I'll see how that goes.
The Sapphire was great until it just pooped out, randomly, one day.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Edit: Actually, hmm. The Sapphire card had HDMI, while this one doesn't. That *may* be useful for me. Or I could just use a DVI/HDMI adapter, of course. HIS it is.
PC seems to be running just peachy now. None of the weird problems have been cropping up, so I'm pretty confident things are good. I went ahead and reinstalled Windows 7, too.
Edit2: And I just played TF2 for a while, everything runs great. I'm glad at least that the problems weren't something stupid on my part.
Thanks to everyone in this thread for their help, especially llc.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I'd hate for anybody to get a card with whatever demons infested mine, but it's possible i just had extraordinarily bad luck.
Still the plural of anecdote is not data and the fact that most of the cards are just reference designs make me hesitate getting into trying to recommend brands.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Problem child cards pop up from time to time... it's usually self-correcting thanks to customer reviews forcing the manufacturer to fix whatever is causing the problem. I expect Sapphire, which has been around for-almost-ever, will fix this problem too.
It's your call whether you want to edit a warning in to the OP in the meantime, but it seems like a bit too much micromanagement, and I know you don't want to be doing a lot of that. Maybe edit something more general in, like "if you're considering a part and it has a high number of 1 star/egg reviews (> 10% or so), consider going with another manufacturer/part instead because those 1 star reviews almost always mean DOA." Well, DOA or user error...
edit: maybe 10% is a little harsh, 12 or 15 might be a better number
edit 2: it's also completely a common sense thing, and won't help people buying products with fewer reviews like our 2 compatriots, so you could really just skip it altogether. it's your OP tho
I don't know if there are problems with this card or not. Or if it's a common problem or not. It was a great card for me while it worked, because it's not too big, and the fan is fairly quiet, and it has 3 different monitor outputs. Seems to stay reasonably cool as well.
I can't say for sure it was user error on my part that killed the card, but I don't think it was. I had this computer built without problems, and it ran without problems for 2 weeks. It just died one day. I thought it was the PSU, but I tried 3 different PSUs and 2 different mobos and the card had just pooped out.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games