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The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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5. January 2011 @ 07:59 |
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Well it's not just the PSU, I'm reasonably confident in the Nexus unit in my server, but it's all sorts of other concerns, the server could get damaged in transit somewhere, or heaven forbid it could even get stolen, so RAID I see as a very mediocre way of keeping redundancy. It's worth pointing out that no business relies on RAID alone, they have physical redundancy like I do as well, RAID is just a means to shorten downtime if a failure occurs.
Shaff: Sandy Bridge is worth an upgrade from a Core 2 or Phenom II, but from an i5/i7, it's a total waste. It's roughly 10% faster per clock, but the clock speeds are higher. You also need a K-type CPU to overclock as bus-based overclocking is disabled, you can only do it through multiplier increases. However, K-type CPUs aren't any more expensive.
My interpretation of it is like Yorkfield (Q9) vs Kentsfield (Q6) but versus Lynnfield/Bloomfield (LGA1156/1366) instead. It's more efficient, it's a bit faster, it's a bit more powerful, but it's nothing revolutionary.
Only difference though is of course it's on a new socket. I still think this is a good thing.
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AfterDawn Addict
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5. January 2011 @ 08:05 |
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mmm i agree sam. That and it oc's like a beast being on 32nm. How much at like 4.7 ghz am i looking vs 3.4 on my Q6, in performance? Enough to warrant a change. I also really want 8GB of ram.
MGR (Micro Gaming Rig) .|. Intel Q6600 @ 3.45GHz .|. Asus P35 P5K-E/WiFi .|. 4GB 1066MHz Geil Black Dragon RAM .|. Samsung F60 SSD .|. Corsair H50-1 Cooler .|. Sapphire 4870 512MB .|. Lian Li PC-A70B .|. Be Queit P7 Dark Power Pro 850W PSU .|. 24" 1920x1200 DGM (MVA Panel) .|. 24" 1920x1080 Dell (TN Panel) .|. |
AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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5. January 2011 @ 08:09 |
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Rough Comparative Performance
Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz: 100
Q9550 @ 2.833Ghz: 135
X4 955 @ 3.2Ghz: 135
i5 750 @ 2.66Ghz: 150
X4 955 @ 3.8Ghz: 160
Q9550 @ 4.0Ghz: 190
i5 2500K @ 3.3Ghz: 205
i5 750 @ 4.1Ghz: 230
i5 2500K @ 4.7Ghz: 290
As for 8GB of RAM, easy. 2x4GB 1600mhz DDR3 from Corsair is only £80 now. Ridiculously cheap.
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Senior Member
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5. January 2011 @ 11:48 |
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Guys I need a little help here please.
I need a new external drive, 1TB would suffice, sturdy relaible, I understand there are USB, Esata hookups, some that power up with USB only and some that you need the power adapter or both, I hear the ones with the power adapter are better and faster, but my concern is if traveling e.g. to the UK than I would be required to use my U.S. power adapter with a transformer, don't trust those damn things as I burned out my electric shaver doing so over there, are there one's out there that can power up using either the power cable or USB only if desired, not my greatest concern but would be nice if available since my traveling is few and far between.
Most important for my home use, which would be the best out there. Thanks.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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5. January 2011 @ 11:51 |
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The only drives that power over USB are 2.5" laptop-based drives, and not all of them either. They're pretty slow so you usually don't want them unless you can't use a power adapter. However, if you're not after high speed, then they're absolutely fine. You'll need to research which ones use only USB though (some will work, but require two USB connections)
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Red_Maw
Senior Member
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5. January 2011 @ 20:21 |
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Originally posted by omegaman7:
I'd like to see some pricing, and -->encoding<-- comparisons. But myself it'll probably be Bulldozer. AMD generally seems to hit the pricing just right. Time will tell of course.
2600K is 280US right now.
Originally posted by sammorris:
Well it's not just the PSU, I'm reasonably confident in the Nexus unit in my server, but it's all sorts of other concerns, the server could get damaged in transit somewhere, or heaven forbid it could even get stolen, so RAID I see as a very mediocre way of keeping redundancy. It's worth pointing out that no business relies on RAID alone, they have physical redundancy like I do as well, RAID is just a means to shorten downtime if a failure occurs.
My next purchase will probably be a sata dock so I start storing my backup drives offsite rather than have all of them in one case. Only real downside is that backups will be less frequent.
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Senior Member
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5. January 2011 @ 23:43 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
The only drives that power over USB are 2.5" laptop-based drives, and not all of them either. They're pretty slow so you usually don't want them unless you can't use a power adapter. However, if you're not after high speed, then they're absolutely fine. You'll need to research which ones use only USB though (some will work, but require two USB connections)
OK, forget what I said about USB only, throw some ideas at me on the best externals period, to much to dabble about the other idea, need a good one for the home, if I do overseas again I'll get one of those little externals that can almost fit in a shirt pocket, right now I'll consentrate good solid one for the home, so ideas please.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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7. January 2011 @ 09:04 |
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I'd recommend the externals I use but they don't sell them in the US, sorry.
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Moderator
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7. January 2011 @ 10:25 |
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I swear by an 80GB laptop drive in a cheapy caddy, however the 3 or so identical caddies i bought since (and the various other different caddies i bought previously) would corrupt files. The caddies would copy/paste files fine under windows, but often times movies would skip/crash during playback. I proved the file corruption by comparing the files under linux, subtle differences would show up (hence the playback corruption), which windows isn't clever enough to detect (windows would claim that the files were identical). So know i only use the 80GB caddy, the many other caddies got binned and i won't buy any others.
The only other laptop drive i use in a caddy is a WD Passport SE drive, a 1TB model. Nice and everything but it has a tendency to go offline and complain about lost files quite often, where you get the yellow triangular danger icon pop up in the taskbar and display "lost files $MFT" or similar. I just use it for a few files at a time, that way it doesn't error out. Seems it only errors out when large amounts of files (regardless of size) are attempted to be copied at once.
This is why i don't trust 'pre-built' external drives and buy my own parts, however as i say, it's all about finding a decent caddy. 3.5" drives is easier, the chipsets tend to be better in all the types i've used thus far.
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 7. January 2011 @ 10:29
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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7. January 2011 @ 12:46 |
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Agreed, USB enclosures are pretty terrible most of the time because you're paying £20 for about 50p's worth of electronics. That said, I've had better luck with IcyBox enclosures than others, which sadly seem exclusive to europe. They don't always last that long, but when they're working you usually don't get any problems, more than can be said for the cheap ones I've had from the likes of Dynamode.
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Red_Maw
Senior Member
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7. January 2011 @ 20:40 |
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Not sure about the model you're thinking about but amazon and newegg sell icybox enclosures/docks. Almost got one but need to confirm that it works with win7 first (just too busy).
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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8. January 2011 @ 05:58 |
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As it turns out they sell the enterprise-grade IcyDock components, but not the retail-grade IcyBox stuff. Might be able to find what you're after there.
I think you'll find it's rare for an enclosure to not work with win7 these days. Win7 will read vista drivers for stuff like that.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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8. January 2011 @ 17:04 |
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Core i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge CPUs on sale in the UK.
i5 2300 2.8Ghz Quad core: £140
i5 2500 3.3Ghz Quad core: £165
i5 2500K Overclockable 3.3Ghz Quad core: £185
i7 2600 3.4Ghz Quad core: £240
i7 2600K Overclockable 3.4Ghz Quad core: £270
Gigabyte P67A-UD3 Motherboard: £100
Gigabyte P67A-UD3H Motherboard: £130
Gigabyte P67A-UD4 Motherboard: £150
Gigabyte P67A-UD5 Motherboard: £220
Performance [i5 2500K]: 20-35% faster than i5 750 [0-10% faster per clock]
Some power consumption results [CPUs that use a separate northbridge include power used by the northbridge for comparison's sake]
i5 2500K: 30W idle, 85-90W load
i7 2600K: 30W idle, 90-95W load
i5 750: 30W idle, 90W load
i7 870: 35W idle, 120W load
i7 950 inc X58 North: 60W idle, 145W load
i7 980X inc X58 North: 60W idle, 150W load
X4 645 inc 890FX North: 35W idle, 95W load
X4 975 inc 890FX North: 40W idle, 115W load
X6 1055T inc 890FX North: 45W idle, 100W load
X6 1100T inc 890FX North: 45W idle, 135W load
Lastly, some i7 2600K overclocking basic info:
Initial clock speed: 100x34 = 3400Mhz
Overclocked clock speed: 103x46=4739Mhz
Voltage: 1.475V
Cooler used: Intel LGA1155 stock cooler (!)
PiFast: 21% improvement
wPrime Multithread: 22% improvement
Cinebench R11: 31% improvement (=i7 980X)
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 8. January 2011 @ 17:35
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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8. January 2011 @ 18:13 |
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Ok guys quick question. I know a few of you have the. WD 2tb hdd. Is there anything speacial to it being seen in win7. Just got mine yesterday and havent instaled it yet. Anything i should know before hand?
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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8. January 2011 @ 18:41 |
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I went for long/complete format(NTFS), at 4096 bytes allocation size. There were no problems. Take note, that long format will take 4 - 4.5 hours. I did this for my own piece of mind. I figure if it can survive the long format, it increases the odds of having a good non defective drive ;) If it didn't, it would go back to western digital, with little grief.
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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8. January 2011 @ 19:29 |
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Nothing to it, quickformatted all of mine. So far no problems.
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Moderator
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8. January 2011 @ 19:59 |
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Yeah, quickformatted all mine also (always used to long-format disks in years gone by, i don't bother any more). But as they live in an XP machine, and the external ones could be used in (or attached to, via SATA docks) any manner of non-Win7 systems, i had to format them in 'advanced format', i used the proper tool for that, Acronis something or other.
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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8. January 2011 @ 20:40 |
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Will all the bad reviews newegg is getting, I figured better safe than sorry :p
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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9. January 2011 @ 04:06 |
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Yeah it's a perfectly valid strategy if you have the time, UER issues are the main cause of the non-DOA short term failures of the drives. Full formatting will spot these straight away.
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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9. January 2011 @ 04:20 |
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Glad to say that after several days of intermittent stability issues I seem to be sorted.
Long story short I was getting hanging at POST and in the BIOS, as well as intermittent crashing even at stock OC settings. First I thought it was a loose connection to my IDE DVD-RW drive. After plugging it back in, the issues seemed to clear up. Then it crashed again, this time hanging on POST every time I booted up. Removed the drive completely and it booted perfectly the first time, even without a cold boot. Not only that but I'm enjoying the longest period of stability I've had in several weeks.
So anyway yeah woo bought a Sony Optiarc SATA DVD-RW from my friend for $10. Going to pick it up tomorrow.
For the record guys my current OS drive always gets flagged for a chkdsk after a format because I use killdisk. It has a few bad sectors and normally bad sectors are allocated so they go un-used. Killdisk writes the drive with all zeroes and apparently removes that allocation because after a fresh format the bad sectors are always back. If I format without killdisk, I never have the problem. Normally I'd flag the drive for replacement, but I have never had data loss or stability issues and S.M.A.R.T. gives it a 98 and 97 for health and fitness accordingly. Tell me, is my logic wrong here?
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 9. January 2011 @ 04:28
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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9. January 2011 @ 08:19 |
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Not necessarily, I tend to retire bad sector drives but I used a raptor I got for £5 due to bad sectors for a good year without incident. The only other drive i had with bad sectors is now dead, as far as I can tell (2006 HD400LJ).
As for the ODD, before you write it off, try a firmware flash JIC.
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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9. January 2011 @ 12:33 |
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I've used a Raptor off and on knowing it has bad sectors. I used it for network transfers and bd encoding, and transferring large files to my brothers house. It's just about retired now though. I may have yet another Velociraptor failing. SMART statistics look good, but I have this itch telling me to run some deeper tests. Just haven't gotten to it. My system has been hanging for rather large periods of time for the last month or two. I wonder if there's a device that can test Sata cable throughput. Other than an Ohms meter :p
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
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Red_Maw
Senior Member
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9. January 2011 @ 14:44 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
Core i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge CPUs on sale in the UK.
Some power consumption results [CPUs that use a separate northbridge include power used by the northbridge for comparison's sake]
i5 2500K: 30W idle, 85-90W load
i7 2600K: 30W idle, 90-95W load
i5 750: 30W idle, 90W load
i7 870: 35W idle, 120W load
i7 950 inc X58 North: 60W idle, 145W load
i7 980X inc X58 North: 60W idle, 150W load
That right there is the only reason I'd love to get SB.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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9. January 2011 @ 14:45 |
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It will be interesting to see how the bigger 6-core and 8-core LGA2011 Sandy Bridge chips do when they come out towards the end of the year.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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12. January 2011 @ 10:48 |
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ok guys what am i doing wrong? ive just put in the new WD20EARS drive. it shows up in the bios. windows7 showed it as being ready to use in the new hardware install. it shows it in the device manager, but when i click on my computer it dont show the drive at all. only 3 other drives i have installed? isnt there a WD install disc i need to add the hdd?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12. January 2011 @ 10:52
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