PC Discussion Thread - All PC related in here.

[shadow 6]

I dont have a question, I just want to inform people of the benefit of RAID-5 with 4 drives.

Recently, I added a 4th drive to my existing 500GB array (3*250GB).

I havent run any benchmarks yet, but Photoshop CS2 used to take about 9 seconds to start from scratch. Now it takes 5 seconds.

I noticed that the slight slow-down while loading terrain in Arma is completely gone now (while flying very fast).

If you are considering to begin using RAID-5 it is very important that you buy a separate RAID-controller because the onboard ones simply suck and RAID-5 is alot more complex than RAID-0 so it demands more processing power if you want it to be effective at reading and writing.

I'm using Adaptec 2420SA with 128MB RAM. It has a very good value for money but at the same time if you look at the price-tag you'll understand why you dont want to use an onboard controller on a motherboard that cost less than this controller.

So in short, RAID-5 with 3 drives has very good disk redundancy and good performance over a single drive, but add another drive and the performance really kicks in.

[maatz 1]

No, but Ive read reviews of them... apparently theyre very much underpowered. What about something like a 7950GT or an 8800GTS?

hm, I always thought there were problems with ArmA and the 8800 series?! or am I wrong there?

[4 IN 1 0]

Poor man's Wi-Fi

just find this on the internet, through thats funny so i post it here

[red oct 2]

would anybody happen to know whether a Asus Tek Amberine M motherboard would be capable of supporting a dual core AMD processor?

[echo1 0]

If it has the same socket type (939 or AM2) as the processor in question, it will work. It may need a BIOS update though. AMD based motherboards dont suffer the backwards compatibility problems of Intel boards - if the CPU fits, it will work.

[red oct 2]

If it has the same socket type (939 or AM2) as the processor in question, it will work. It may need a BIOS update though. AMD based motherboards dont suffer the backwards compatibility problems of Intel boards - if the CPU fits, it will work.

939 i certianly have.(at least that is what WHinfo tells me whats inside) awsome.

[456820 0]

Well my brother was in the process of switching the CPU heatsink and after removing the heatsink he found out the CPU was stuck to it.

He now cant get the CPU back in due to the heatsink being in the way and nor can he get the heatsink off so hes a bit stuck!

Does anybody have any ideas ons olcing this?

(He would much rather not buy a new CPU)

[echo1 0]

What sort of CPU is it? The only time Ive encountered a CPU glued to a heatsink was with very old Pentiums. My advice would be to try harder.

[Trapper 0]

I would put it one hour in some kind of baking oven, on a temperature equal to the former working temperature. Then try to remove it with pliers.

Or maybe just a razor blade will do.

Just forget about the values you're possibly about to damage.

[456820 0]

Well instead of using an onven he used a hair-dryer and then slid a razor blade inbetween and that got it free.

Thank you.

[Sgt_Eversmann 1]

WTF o_O

Somehow it looks funny, like straight out of a movie, but

What was that?

IED under the Road?

[simba 0]

yes, looks like they burried it too deeply.

[echo1 0]

Funny as it is, what has this video got to do with this thread? Put it in Military humour or something...

[Shashman 0]

Er...wtf?

[Colossus 2]

Me and a buddy of mine are working on a website (including a forum), but I got almost no clue on how to make a .css/.xhtml website.

Got any websites to recommend?

And yes.. I know, there is always Google, but that doesn't give you any personal favorites.

[hoz 0]

Sgt_Eversmann in the future please post in the most appropriate place.

[wex-q 0]

Me and a buddy of mine are working on a website (including a forum), but I got almost no clue on how to make a .css/.xhtml website.

Got any websites to recommend?

And yes.. I know, there is always Google, but that doesn't give you any personal favorites.

Get a WYSIWYG program.

My favourite is DreamWeaver, but it costs alot for personal users (about 400 dollars depending on where you buy it from),

but it's a great WYSIWYG editor.

[Sgt_Eversmann 1]

Sgt_Eversmann in the future please post in the most appropriate place.

whooops sorry!

Haven't noticed I put it in the wrong thread

won't happen again!

[Balschoiw 0]

Just some feedback:

I now upgraded to 2 GB GEIL 400 Mhz RAM with a latency of 2.5, operating in dual channel mode.

I got a good piece of performance within Arma compared to the old PC 2700 RAM I was using. SO if you got a dated system like mine, an investment in faster RAM really does pay.

My system:

- Athlon XP 3000+

- GeForce7600 GT AGP overclocked to core 620 Mhz, memory 1618 Mhz

- 2 Gig GEIL DDR Ram 400Mhz

- Soundblaster XFi

running Arma with ViewDistance 2300 m, all normal or high, except shadows.

[charliereddog 9]

Looking at getting a new pc for ArmA, what do you chaps think about the following from Aria.co.uk

Microsoft XP Home OEM SP2 #25139 £ 43.25 £ 43.25

EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCIE DUAL DVI #26692 £ 157.95 £ 157.95

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz (775) #27972 £ 98.50 £ 98.50

160GB Seagate Barracuda SATA2 8MB #27791 £ 27.95 £ 27.95

OCZ 2GB PC2-6400 Special Opps (2x1GB) #24326 £ 46.95 £ 46.95

OCZ 600W StealthXStream PSU #26933 £ 44.95 £ 44.95

Coolermaster Centurion 5 Silver #16357 £ 37.00 £ 37.00

[echo1 0]

Looks good, but I'd get a bigger Hard disk. 160GB is rather low by todays standards and fills up quite quickly.

[shadow 6]

Looks good, but I'd get a bigger Hard disk. 160GB is rather low by todays standards and fills up quite quickly.

Yep, its not a matter of if you're filling up a hd, its when.

320GB drives are the cheapest per byte over here (Norway).

I'm using 4 Seagate ST325062 250GB, 16MB cache, SATA2.

I recommend that drive or the 320GB variant.

[Balschoiw 0]

I guess I just found the mother of all bugs.

I have 2 DVD drives in my comp.

Both worked flawless up to now. Both are quite new.

Both refuse to read DVD´s now. Movies and Data, original and burned ones.

Both work fine with CD´s of any type. No problem there.

What is really weird is that if I insert a DVD in any of those drives and boot the comp, the DVD loads and shows up in Windows explorer. I can use the DVD with no problems then.

If I remove the DVD in Windows XP SP2 and insert a different one (yes, I use one that also has no problems with loading when booting the comp), the DVD drives do not recognize the DVD at all. The drives blink and that´s it.

What I have done so far:

Removed Nero, using the cleaning tool

Removed ASPI, using killASPI and installed the new version

Removed drives physically, rebooted, shut down, connected them one by one

Checked DMA acess for both drives. Both have DMA enabled.

Used Windows system restore with no effect.

Checked drives in second comp. They work without problems.

I´m running out of ideas. Both drives work if the DVD is inserted prior booting. Windows can access the DVD´s, but I can´t change the DVD´s when in Windows. All I get is blinking drives then.

Can anyone please help me ?

[echo1 0]

I'd reinstall windows if I were you, as inefficient as that may be, I couldnt think of anything else.

[Balschoiw 0]

Is there a fast way to do that without loosing all the apps and programs installed ?

Can I overwrite WindowsXP on the fly ?