Help Build My System

[mervaka]

um... same. i've been at work for a bit, so its sitting around waiting for the apocalypse to come. i'll buy some alternative ram soon.

[mervaka]

UPDATE:


FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK


i just reached in behind to plug a network cable in, then it all went dead. i look up at the screen nothing. i reach down to reset, and notice thick grey smoke billowing out the back. great old me just shorted a spare 12v line against the case. after cutting the dodgy wire out, it's a bit hit and miss, but after testing a second power supply with it, my motherboard/cpu/ram might also have been fried! D:

i really dont know what to do now haven't got a pc to cross check half of these bits with

EDIT: tried the whole system with my bro's PSU, all seems okay now :S strange.. oh well, time to fix this shitted up PSU

EDIT#2: Done now to refit it all and flash the BIOS..

[o_tennovan]

Duuuuude that sucks. Where did you buy everything from? If you truly did fry it, places like Newegg will generally let you RMA it. Otherwise, did you say that you got everything working again? (except PSU?)

EDIT: Didn't wanna double post. Has anyone been able to find a decently cheap Core 2 Duo mobo? It seems the cheaper ones are getting poor reviews because of lack of RAID functionality, memory compatibility or something else stupid like that. I wanted to buy the E6400 since its under $250.00 now but the motherboards are going for about that much or a little more. I'm not looking for an SLI board so I figured that would help the price out but um... guess not.

[mervaka]

if you want RAID functionality, the ABit AB9 pro has three SATA controllers, two of which can handle RAID. the onchip intel one has 6 onboard ports, the jmicron one runs two SATA IDE and a PATA IDE, and the silicon image one runs an internal and an external SATA port, of which can be RAIDed.

on the flipside, this board has SEVERE issues with certain types of ram, which is why i'm waiting for abit to release a BIOS update.

haven't really looked at other boards, because i just cant be fucked changing for a 3rd time tbh..

also, if you're going for a conroe, i dont think the chipsets that support them support SLI yet. another issue with the ram is that this board doesnt detect SPD values properly, so i had to set the timings manually.

but for now, i'm in a semi stable sort of situation here. i fixed the power supply myself (and voided the warranty in the process), and i have the 2 gigs of ram running in single channel on the DDR667 strap, instead of dual channel on the DDR800 strap.


here's whats left of the fried yellow 12v cable i cut out:

[o_dancingfool]

AHAHAHAHAHAHA! POINT AND LAUGH AT MERVAKA! Wow, I am such a bastard, especially thinking if I was in that situation...AHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is why I like to let professionals build my system for a small amount more.

[o_tennovan]

I believe there are SLI supported boards available on newegg (2 of them) but every other board that I've seen with decent ratings/functionality are around $200. Like you said earlier, it seems memory compatibility is a big issue right now.

The cheapest intel mobo I've found with decent ratings is going for about $200 right now. AMD mobo's are going for less than half that. I want to keep my build around $1000 and don't wanna have to go with cheaper gfx or memory in order afford the motherboard. With that extra $100 saved on the mobo, I can afford to move the video card from a X1800XT to a 7900GT which is one of the reasons I didn't want SLI in the first place.

Maybe better boards will start making debuts before order day. I will post an overview of parts I am looking to buy in a bit.

[mervaka]

yeah, in hindsight i'd have either held off for a bit, or just tried out a mac pro... works straight out the box :/

so are ram problems quite common throughout the board? (ha, no pun intended)

i have a 512MB 7900GTX here, and it seems to run pretty much everything except 3dmark flawlessly. 3dmark it has issues with at the moment, probably because of the RAM issue. on the first test though, it was at 35fps normally, and didnt ever go below 11fps. is that good? my old system could barely run it

[o_tennovan]

Originally Posted by Mervaka

yeah, in hindsight i'd have either held off for a bit, or just tried out a mac pro... works straight out the box :/

so are ram problems quite common throughout the board? (ha, no pun intended)

i have a 512MB 7900GTX here, and it seems to run pretty much everything except 3dmark flawlessly. 3dmark it has issues with at the moment, probably because of the RAM issue. on the first test though, it was at 35fps normally, and didnt ever go below 11fps. is that good? my old system could barely run it

From what I've read, the list of compatible memory is very small and many people are even having compatibility issues with modules listed as compatible. Also, which version of 3dmark are you talking about? 06? Though I've never used it myself, I'd say if you're having RAM issues, then it's probably dragging the system down as a whole. What was your actual score? 3DMark06, 1280x1024, 32-bit, 4xAA, 8xAF, HDR Rendering and Shader Model 3.0, Default Quality - I'd guess your score should be between 2000 and 2500 with your setup. That's just a guess though.

EDIT: Also, couldn't find the AB9 listed on Newegg. blah

[mervaka]

it's never completed a run of 3dmark06.. lol

[o_tennovan]

hah... because you stop it or because something goes wrong?

[mervaka]

just BSODs left right and centre until recently.. it just crashes outright now, and i get wierd errors, like in the snow one, the snow doesnt get rendered for half the demo. the balloon one gets wierd disco shaders too

[o_coldy]

Originally Posted by DancingFool

AHAHAHAHAHAHA! POINT AND LAUGH AT MERVAKA! Wow, I am such a bastard, especially thinking if I was in that situation...AHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is why I like to let professionals build my system for a small amount more.

A small amount more? More like 'lets pay an insane premium like $25 stoli martinis or US Army defense budget premium we pay top dollar everything work 100% A-OK' amount more. Pre-built systems are a rip-off, without fail, building a computer is easier than setting up norton fucking internet security.

[o_tennovan]

Speaking of prebuilt, I was looking around dell/alienware trying to see how much it would cost to just buy a similar system straight up. Retail it would cost me about $2500. DIY would cost around $1000. Seems quite a bit cheaper to me.

[o_|404|innoc-tpf-]

Originally Posted by Coldy

building a computer is easier than uninstalling norton fucking internet security.

edited for truth and comedy.

Seriously guys, people really need to pay close attention to memory compatibility lists from the manufacturers....it's gotten really bad in recent years. Even peripherals suffer from this and Promise RAID Controllers are one of the worst offenders in my experience.

[o_tennovan]

Originally Posted by |404|Innoc-TPF-

Seriously guys, people really need to pay close attention to memory compatibility lists from the manufacturers....it's gotten really bad in recent years.

No joke. It seems like the list of compatible memory gets smaller and smaller with every passing month.

[mervaka]

thing is, my ram IS supported! it just doesnt work yet.. lol

all the timings are right, bla de bla. these motherboards cant even achieve the 800mhz from what i've read on the forums.

i'm just putting it down to teething problems. hell its a new processor, and a new northbridge. gotta give some slack to sort this out.

i do admit though, having these problems really did bring me back up to speed with all the stuff on the market (as far as my care goes)

[o_tennovan]

Time for me to dig this thread back up. Yes I'm super indecisive and I change my mind every couple of minutes but I need help again.

I'm looking for a 22-inch monitor, preferabbly wide screen, budget around $300-350. I have absolutely NO experience with LCD's since I've had the same CRT for 5 years but I've done plenty of research on them. I guess my question is, should I stick with samsung/viewsonic/other from newegg or go with a Dell? All the "show me your LCD" threads I've read are pretty much Dell showcases but there isn't much in the way of reviews available. Its also become apparent that reponse time and contrast ratio are measured differently by companies so anyone's personal experience is more than welcome.

So, 19-22 inch widescreen LCD suggestions?

[o_agret]

Originally Posted by Tennovan

Has anyone been able to find a decently cheap Core 2 Duo mobo?

Gigabyte GA-965P-S3

[o_skanky butterpuss]

agret, chill out man. youre turning into the next circ.

[o_tennovan]

Originally Posted by Agret

Gigabyte GA-965P-S3

Yeah I've got all my hardware under control now, I'm just having trouble figuring out which monitor to go with.