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The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition
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Any Flaming Results in a Temp Ban or Worse. Your Choice!!!
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ferozkq
Newbie
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11. January 2009 @ 00:10 |
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I should add, I don't want a high end rig, as well as a very low one. I am expecting it to play games, not every game though. Most Likely diablo 3 and starcraft 2, maybe WOW, and I obviously still play madden 08 and madden 2k10 comes out i'll be playing that. I will time to time play it on my 47 incher 1080P TV.
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AfterDawn Addict
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11. January 2009 @ 02:21 |
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Originally posted by ferozkq:
I should add, I don't want a high end rig, as well as a very low one. I am expecting it to play games, not every game though. Most Likely diablo 3 and starcraft 2, maybe WOW, and I obviously still play madden 08 and madden 2k10 comes out i'll be playing that. I will time to time play it on my 47 incher 1080P TV.
ferozkg,
looks like you made the right choice in that 780G MB then! It's people like you and me that it was made for. While we are always selective about what we buy, our quality level is higher than most mainstream computer buyers, but we're still mainstream, and that's where the largest amount of sales are made for all high tech stuff.
I'm not clear on whether you have it or are getting it, but if you don't have it yet, be prepared to be stunned by the graphics quality. It's the visual equivalent of the "Things you never heard before", when you listen to a high quality surround sound system for the first time. This time it comes under the heading of "Things you never saw before"! LOL!! Technicolor movies on DVD are the best to see it all! I have the original Robin Hood from 1938 that was filmed in technicolor and for the first time since I last saw it on the big screen when I was a little kid, I can see the rainbows from the water spray the horses kick, racing across a small stream! I was so little when I saw it that all I remember of it was that scene. To a 4 year old kid, it was awesome! The last time I saw anything close to that good, was the same movie on a CD, That's Capacitive Disk, not compact disk! I had an Hitachi Selectavision Disk Player back in the early 80s that was connected to a Sakata 13" Color Composite monitor. You could see little glimpses of the rainbows but nothing like it looks like it looks with the HD 3200 Graphics. Judging from the video card listed in your sig, be prepared to be gassed! Movies that were well made like Bicentennial Man or The Shawshank Redemption are just so alive! The guys with the expensive video cards know exactly what I'm talking about too! I watched the David Niven version of Around the World in 80 Days, and you get spellbound. There's a scene in the movie where they are crossing the Alps and they are grabbing snow from the mountain top to chill wine, and you could break your fingers trying to reach into the screen! LOL!! You want to reach out and pour yourself a glass of wine! I can't wait to see what it's going to look like on the .024 Dot Pitch CRT monitor I'm using at the moment. I should be stunned all over again
Best Regards,
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
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7 product reviews
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11. January 2009 @ 02:40 |
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So the 780 chipset is good? Please bare with me. Im pretty new to considering south/northbridge. If thats the case why spend more on an asus when the gigabyte board is less money and more RAM capacity? I mean NO offense ferozkq :) I hear GOOD things about Giga boards lately. Ive been considering them for some time now.
EDIT - OMG! Windows 7 is PHENOMENAL!!! At this point... Im simply JEALOUS. I need more ram. After a few installs im already hitting 58% ram useage(2gb 6400)! Well... I new this wasnt a permanent solution. And this OS DEFINETELY deserves some return. I really gotta hand it to the programmers on this one. Smooth, does not do this OS justice!!! I havnt even installed my GPU drivers and its running better than it did on XP!!! What does THAT tell you guys :D :D Oh... there I go opening my big mouth. Sorry MS! I better shut it, or i'll hexx it, LOL Sorry about Off topic. Then again, the OS is one of the main components of a build! It appears to have Genuine nvidia drivers installed for my Gpu! Now, I might be behind the times, but thats just friggin AWESOME!!! Performance test installed without fail, And all hardware showing same similar results, INCLUDING GPU!
Well... Time for a new build. Think im gonna look into that 780G board Russ :D Cause I cant get a straight answer on my current board as to how much ram it supports. Its either 2 or 4gb. ehhh... 4 is becoming barely enough anymore though. Time for a giga board. ahhh... 16gb of ram. The possibilities :D
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. January 2009 @ 05:36
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AfterDawn Addict
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11. January 2009 @ 09:37 |
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Originally posted by theonejrs:
Originally posted by omegaman7:
So the 780 chipset is good? Please bare with me. Im pretty new to considering south/northbridge. If thats the case why spend more on an asus when the gigabyte board is less money and more RAM capacity? I mean NO offense ferozkq :) I hear GOOD things about Giga boards lately. Ive been considering them for some time now.
EDIT - OMG! Windows 7 is PHENOMENAL!!! At this point... Im simply JEALOUS. I need more ram. After a few installs im already hitting 58% ram useage(2gb 6400)! Well... I new this wasnt a permanent solution. And this OS DEFINETELY deserves some return. I really gotta hand it to the programmers on this one. Smooth, does not do this OS justice!!! I havnt even installed my GPU drivers and its running better than it did on XP!!! What does THAT tell you guys :D :D Oh... there I go opening my big mouth. Sorry MS! I better shut it, or i'll hexx it, LOL Sorry about Off topic. Then again, the OS is one of the main components of a build! It appears to have Genuine nvidia drivers installed for my Gpu! Now, I might be behind the times, but thats just friggin AWESOME!!! Performance test installed without fail, And all hardware showing same similar results, INCLUDING GPU!
Well... Time for a new build. Think im gonna look into that 780G board Russ :D Cause I cant get a straight answer on my current board as to how much ram it supports. Its either 2 or 4gb. ehhh... 4 is becoming barely enough anymore though. Time for a giga board. ahhh... 16gb of ram. The possibilities :D
I know that if you have phenom II in your future then the only MB you should even consider is the $138 GA-0MA790GP-DS4H! For now, no other MB can get a Phenom II to 3.8GHz on air, and it shows ever time you read a review for the Phenom II 3.0GHz 940, the results are so much better than when done with a different brand, same chipset MB! Gigabyte's certainly got something figured out that no one else has! Asus, BioStar and gigabyte were all development partners with AMD for the Phenom II. Then too, You can't be giving all your secrets away now, can you? The MB is solid, and offers you so much flexibility when upgrading. I can't afford the phenom II right now so I'm buying a x2 7750 AM2+ CPU fo $80 instead! Training wheels for the Phenom II! LOL!! If I had enough money to buy one of the existing quads, I would still pick the 7750BE because it's an AM2+ chip, so all the features of the AM2+ motherboards come with the purchase! AMD Overdrive that's highly adjustable, HyperTransport 3, 3 channel memory for DDR2 and Advanced clock Calibration (ACC)! There are six previously unused pins that now make a direct hardware connection between the motherboards + features, and the CPU. That opens up an interesting door as it and AMD's implementation of those features raises the CPU's bandwidth significantly, as well as the memory bandwidth! the clock cycles you gain back because of the direct connection, are significant. Every clock cycle you don't use, to do the same work, makes it a faster computer!
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. January 2009 @ 12:40 |
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Basically, it activates when you update a graphics driver to try and keep your resolution the same and let you install a graphics driver without a restart. Unfortunately, it usually crashes and you end up with a low resolution even after you've put the driver back, or a corrupted driver installation.
ferozkq: Don't bother with the Phenom X3, it's a terrible processor for that price, cheap dual cores beat it. The power supply is mediocre, the motherboard isn't really worth its price, and the case is way over the top for a low budget system. There are far better systems you can get for the money. If you must Phenom, get a Phenom II and a 790GX board, but ultimately, if you just want the best for your money, you would be wise to consider what intel offer.
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bigwill68
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11. January 2009 @ 14:19 |
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Originally posted by theonejrs:
For now, no other MB can get a Phenom II to 3.8GHz on air, and it shows ever time you read a review for the Phenom II 3.0GHz 940, the results are so much better than when done with a different brand, same chipset MB! Gigabyte's certainly got something figured out that no one else has! Asus, BioStar and gigabyte were all development partners with AMD for the Phenom II. Then too, You can't be giving all your secrets away now, can you?
Russ
Russ you have sent me on wild goose chace to prove you wrong..lol but your evenly right on issue of the 940..you got me really thinking to postponing a few months the asus deluxe water build for 09 and jump on a Quick Amd air build to try and sell to the public.
I see the Gigabyte 790GP-DS4H got to 4064 freq at 1.584vcore on air..
but at that high vcore that's pushing is'nt it?
Phenom II Overclocking Database
Phenom II Different with MB's
Done out of Here!
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. January 2009 @ 15:12
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. January 2009 @ 14:23 |
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1.58V is ludicrous, air or water cooling. The lifetime of that CPU is going to be short, and it will use a monumental amount of power.
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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11. January 2009 @ 17:36 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
1.58V is ludicrous, air or water cooling. The lifetime of that CPU is going to be short, and it will use a monumental amount of power.
Perhaps AMD thought ahead and planned for that? But that does seem like abit of volts. Curious, what do some of you experts think of pushing the boards ram limits. What would happen? Would it simply not boot? Is it NOT recommended. 2GB has become VERY insufficient!!! And I cant get a proper answer from crucial, newegg, MSI.
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4 product reviews
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11. January 2009 @ 17:38 |
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4GB overclocks fine, as long as it's 2x2GB. Four sticks of RAM severely restricts overclocking performance.
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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11. January 2009 @ 17:56 |
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Sooo... You think I could put more in my board than newegg states. Hypothetical question. A manufacturer says a board can ONLY support 2gb of ram. Has anybody EVER put 4gb in a board such as that? Would it simply not boot, or would it actually use/handle it in most situations. Anybody have odds on DESTROYING my board? 50/50, 90% chance it just wont boot? Im sorry if this seems ignorant :( I do need to upgrade anyway, but this could be an interesting experiment.
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
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4 product reviews
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11. January 2009 @ 18:31 |
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Oh I see, it doesn't support it at all. It'll just not work then, it won't do any harm though.
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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11. January 2009 @ 18:43 |
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Thanks sam. Yet another reason to pull the board and replace it. Its just a measly am2 socket. Only supports upto 94W cpu's. So yah... Its done. Saving up some funds, and making the switch. I wonder if I should just wait for am3 sockets though. This is definetely a good case though. Atx slip right in there. I like that there is a CPU air intake on the side of the case. It averages 32-34c idle and 42-44c under high (dvd rebuilder) load. Though because of my PSU, I really should consider a different case too. Perhaps I can sell this computer to somebody. Its friggin FAST and smooth. People who've sat down to it are blown away at its ease.
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
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11. January 2009 @ 19:19 |
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A 5400+ with 2GB of RAM is good compared to a lot of PCs, but you can do a heck of a lot better. Especially if you employ a relatively minor overclock, you could double that system's performance with ease, using a CPU that cost less than $100.
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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11. January 2009 @ 19:27 |
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Dont get me wrong. This system continues to impress. But, in my opinion its a lost cause for my moving forward. It will make an EXCELLENT media center and more. Besides, I have a pc Building itch that needs scratched, LOL. The board itself APPEARS to allow overclock. But the CPU is locked. Im sure one of the brisbane blacks would overclock nicely, Minus L2 cache size :(
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
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bigwill68
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11. January 2009 @ 20:03 |
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Done out of Here!
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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11. January 2009 @ 20:49 |
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Impressive. But doesnt it mention that it SUPPORTS am3. I want a board that says socket AM3. Built from head to toe, FOR the am3 processor. Now... Im pretty stupid, when it comes to the technical side of this stuff, but im trying :D Be gentle
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11. January 2009 @ 23:50 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
1.58V is ludicrous, air or water cooling. The lifetime of that CPU is going to be short, and it will use a monumental amount of power.
You're right again Sam. I learned that the hard way! LOL!! 3.8, even on air is much more manageable and Takes a lot less juice. Water cooling I see 4.5GHz or so without near that much voltage. From what I've been hearing, the way to overclock the DS4H is raise the fsb multiplier until it crashes, then add a little voltage, and if it fires up, turn on ACC and AMD Overdrive. You can adjust damn near everything in real time, on the fly, and it saves the settings without having to make changes in the setup itself. You can revert to the previous good settings and adjust the settings some more! Far more sophisticated than the Overdrive was for the Phenoms!
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
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4 product reviews
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12. January 2009 @ 06:37 |
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Almost all CPUs are multiplier locked, it's down to the motherboard to do the overclocking, and abasic MSI micro board won't be very good at that. MSI's uber-cheap basic boards are fantastic value, but they're not what you'd call "enthusiast"
There is no 'socket AM3' really, it's the same socket as AM2 and AM2+, they are, a little confusingly, just different revisions of the same technology. While that might seem odd at first, it's exactly what Intel did with Socket 775 - first they only worked with P4s, then Core 2 Duo support was added, then Core 2 Quad support was added. In exactly the same way as AMD, the 65nm Quad era boards could usually be BIOS flashed to see the newer 45nm Quads, in the same way that some AM2+ Phenom boards can be flashed to see Phenom 2s, but ones that did not have the physical electronics to do so could not, for instance a lot of old P4s could never be used for Core 2 Duos or Core 2 Quads, in the same way first generation Athlon X2 boards will never work with Phenoms. All AM3 really is, other than a dedicated Phenom II platform is a DDR3 base of AM2+. I personally don't really see the benefits of DDR3 memory as of yet, yes it's mandatory for i7, but that doesn't really make it ideal. I've seen benchmarks with Intel CPUs using DDR2 versus DDR3 and generally, there's very little difference, a couple of % at most.
Russ: Call me sceptical, but if you can achieve it on air with one voltage, you can achieve it on water with that voltage. Yes, the heat will become a problem on air, but that merely means you can take the voltage even higher with water before you encounter heat issues. The CPU being on watercooling doesn't reduce the voltage you need, certainly not by half. If such an air cooler existed that was capable enough, 4.5Ghz would probably take around 1.7V, these are the sorts of voltages people are using when they go for their Liquid nitrogen tests. Because Liquid nitrogen coolers aren't remotely realistic for a continuously running system, they can go as mad as they like with the volts. The electronmigration effect is greatly reduced due to the lack of heat, but it still exists. Liquid Nitrogen gets the CPU below the threshold for severe electronmigration. Watercooling does not.
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12. January 2009 @ 06:56 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
Almost all CPUs are multiplier locked, it's down to the motherboard to do the overclocking, and abasic MSI micro board won't be very good at that. MSI's uber-cheap basic boards are fantastic value, but they're not what you'd call "enthusiast"
There is no 'socket AM3' really, it's the same socket as AM2 and AM2+, they are, a little confusingly, just different revisions of the same technology. While that might seem odd at first, it's exactly what Intel did with Socket 775 - first they only worked with P4s, then Core 2 Duo support was added, then Core 2 Quad support was added. In exactly the same way as AMD, the 65nm Quad era boards could usually be BIOS flashed to see the newer 45nm Quads, in the same way that some AM2+ Phenom boards can be flashed to see Phenom 2s, but ones that did not have the physical electronics to do so could not, for instance a lot of old P4s could never be used for Core 2 Duos or Core 2 Quads, in the same way first generation Athlon X2 boards will never work with Phenoms. All AM3 really is, other than a dedicated Phenom II platform is a DDR3 base of AM2+. I personally don't really see the benefits of DDR3 memory as of yet, yes it's mandatory for i7, but that doesn't really make it ideal. I've seen benchmarks with Intel CPUs using DDR2 versus DDR3 and generally, there's very little difference, a couple of % at most.
Actually, There's more to AM3 than you are realizing, as it has both forward and backward compatibility. There are 6 pins on the chip that were previously unused that go directly from the CPU to the + extras on the motherboard, and tells the MB that the CPU is AM2+ or AM3. Since it's directly controlled buy the CPU and directly connected to the perifial, and not controlled by software, it should save a good number of clock cycles for other work!
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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12. January 2009 @ 06:59 |
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That many clock cycles to tell the board which CPU it is?
As I mentioned before, it's a nice feature, but I think perhaps you're overstating it's importance somewhat... :S
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. January 2009 @ 07:08 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
That many clock cycles to tell the board which CPU it is?
As I mentioned before, it's a nice feature, but I think perhaps you're overstating it's importance somewhat... :S
It all seems to work well, if you have the right MB and chipset. BTW! You should see the new AMD OverDrive! Adjustments for everything, on the fly. If it should crash, it reverts back to the last stable settings and you try again! Pretty neat stuff, nothing like the old OverDrive for the phenom at all! It's like working in the setup, only the results are in real time, while it's running!
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
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spamual
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12. January 2009 @ 11:14 |
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on the fly Ocing?
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12. January 2009 @ 15:41 |
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Originally posted by spamual:
on the fly Ocing?
That's correct!
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
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spamual
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12. January 2009 @ 15:55 |
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nice to see it being implemented other than asus doing it lol. at least this way its perfectly tuned with a propper GUI, rather than the LCD poster, or the OC Palm to use.
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4 product reviews
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12. January 2009 @ 16:25 |
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Gigabyte EasyTune does it, believe it or not, and it kind of works, but I'd never use it over the BIOS.
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