PC Discussion Thread - All PC related in here.

[johnwilso007 0]

i had the exact same problem too. however it stopped reading CDs at a certain point to. now when i tried to reinstall windows the installation stopped part of the way through. i assume as the CD drive just stopped working. i ended up borrowing someone else's CD drive then reinstalling windows then buying a new drive.

what i think ull find is that most programs like arma will only use the DVD to detect that it is there. they wont look for it again. so you turn your computer on and start playing straight away. then you turn it off 6 hours later. for me my drive may have been damaged for months and i not noticed.

Some people think this is however a securom bug, something about it not being compatible with many brands of CD drives and it damages them. good luck with getting it to work, i can only tell you of my personal experience on this matter.

on a personal note. my GPU appears to have just died on me. every time i start a game it reboots the computer. my budget for a new card is 60 pounds unless i can get this repaired under warrenty. so i think im looking at a X1650 again or a 2600. is there a clear difference between these two cards which one is better? both have 512 memory.

also any problems with arma on these GPUs?

also is thermal paste supposed to be hard or soft? ie it rubs off?

[echo1 0]

also any problems with arma on these GPUs?

Other than the fact that they wont run it particularly well, I wouldnt think so.

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]i had the exact same problem too. however it stopped reading CDs at a certain point to. now when i tried to reinstall windows the installation stopped part of the way through. i assume as the CD drive just stopped working. i ended up borrowing someone else's CD drive then reinstalling windows then buying a new drive.

what i think ull find is that most programs like arma will only use the DVD to detect that it is there. they wont look for it again. so you turn your computer on and start playing straight away.

Well as both drives work flawless in another computer I guess it´s dependant on WindowsXP or some installed components.

I did another test by booting from a disk with CD-drivers and both drives worked in DOS mode without problems.

It has to be something in Windows or in an installed application that causes this. As I have not installed anything new lately, it seems to be a bug or something.

I need to use a lot of different DVD´s while making music on the comp for the soundbanks, so the 1 DVD at a reboot doesn´t work.

Right now I am almost concluding that I need to reinstall XP with all the trouble that comes along with it.

[johnwilso007 0]

ok sounds like your problem is a little different to mine anyway just thought id let you know of my problems before you do anything, only just go mine fixed after months of work. get playing QG for a bit then it just dies on me, im not a happy bunny:(

[shadow 6]

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've seen this countless times over the years.

Unless the pickup is defective (not likely in your case) disabling and re-enabling Windows Autorun with a reboot inbetween usually solve the problem.

Toggling Autorun the registry-way:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - SYSTEM - CurrentControlSet - Services - Cdrom - Autorun [DWORD=1] (1=on,default / 0=off)

If you have daemon-tools installed you can quickly do this by disabling Autostart (it overrides all optical drives), leave daemon running while you shut down Windows. Start Windows, start DT again and enable Autostart again, then exit DT (if you want to).

The problem could also be the result of some poorly made software. HP printer-drivers and selected freeware cd-burning tools comes to mind.

Let me know how it goes. If it doesnt help I'll dig a little further.

[Balschoiw 0]

Thx for the tip Shadow.

Unfortuanlly it also didn´t change anything.

As I had replaced my old 400 Watt PSU last week with a BeQuiet 400 Watt PSU I decided to check if the PSU could be the cause and changed it again. I replaced it with my old one and one of the 2 DVD drives came back to life, while the other one still refuses to work under Windows. Maybe the IDE cable has some damage. I will try to find a replacement and report back again.

This is all very weird. Why should it refuse to work with a PSU with the same output ?

[echo1 0]

The PSU could be a dodgy unit that isnt providing enough power.

[B-rad 0]

G'day,

Was asked to re-post this here. Original post and replies here.

I live in Australia and am looking to set up a gaming PC for ArmA. I have set aside no more than $5000 (AUD) to spend.

Unfortunately, because of some of the hardware and software compatibility issues with ArmA I can't just go out and buy the best specs available. That's a shame because it means that I'm limiting the number of upcoming new games like Crysis etc that I'll be able to play. But I suppose that's just the way it goes.

From research on the net I understand that Arma especially has issues with any of the following a) Windows Vista, b) 8800 video cards, c) using 2 video cards simultaneously (SLI), d) 4GB RAM.

Given that, I'm hoping someone can recommend a rig that I can get put together in Australia that is going to have the best screen-size, FPS', draw-distance, etc etc that I can physically get (without overclocking) while still avoiding compatibility issues. For all I know, perhaps there's an ideal rig setup that even includes Vista, an 8800 video card etc. etc. when chosen wisely.

The system I've come up with so far is (and includes some of the risky elements):

OS: Windows XP Pro x64 (later on dual-boot it with Vista)

Processor: Quad-core QX6800 2.93GHZ.

Video card: 768MB PCIe™x16 NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 Ultra. I'm thinking I'll leave open the option to get a 2nd 8800 ultra card in the future for other games.

RAM: 4GB (4X1GB) NECC Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz SDRAM Memory

Sound: I just use a Logitech USB headphone so won't need an especially fancy sound card. However, I understand that using onboard sound can reduce game performance.

Monitor: I'm probably going to use a 19" monitor I already have. I might get a wide-screen 20" or 22" inch LCD some time down the track.

Please share with me any of your advice, experience, specs, etc, your take on the rig I've suggested above, or an alternative rig. I appreciate it.

Cheers,

Brad

[echo1 0]

Just to clarify, are you building yourself or buying? If youre buying, alot of the below wont be relevant.

OS: Stick to 32bit XP, people have been having trouble with 64 bit versions of windows with just about everything (ArmA included).

Graphics Card: I dont think there's much point in getting an 8800 Ultra, you pay a large premium for a tiny performance increase over a GTX.

RAM: If you stick to 32bit, you wont be able to use more than about 3.2GB RAM. If you want to use 4GB, use 2x2GB instead of 4x1GB, some motherboards have problems when you fill up all the slots. Also, make sure to use good quality brand RAM like Corsair or Crucial.

Sound: If youre using a USB headphone, you wont need any soundcard at all. I dont think the internal soundcard slows the PC down that much. Also, Creative soundcards have driver issues, internal sound is more reliable.

Processor: QX6800? Are you sure its not the QX6850? The QX6800 is an older model. How much are you paying for it?

PSU: What sort of model are you getting? For a system that you have described, you are going to need at least a high quality 600W unit.

[Hoot1988 0]

hey all. im looking for a new graphics card and was wondering. is it true that DirectX 10.1 will NOT be compatible with the DirectX 10 cards?

the reason i am asking is that i am after a new card as my other is bust. Instead of getting a DirectX 10 card like a 2900 or a 8800 that will cost a small fortune and be out of date in January id rather pay £99 for a X1950 that i can upgrade in a year with a card that will be capable of running arma2.

[shadow 6]

hey all. im looking for a new graphics card and was wondering. is it true that DirectX 10.1 will NOT be compatible with the DirectX 10 cards?

Somewhat true.

While the current DX10 cards doesnt support the new features that will arrive in DX10.1 they will run DX10-enhanced games, they just wont have all the bells and whistles.

I wouldnt worry about that just yet. I'd want to know what features I'd be missing, then I'd worry.

You could go for a low to medium performer such as a GF8600 now and save up for a future DX10.1 card.

[maatz 1]

does anyone have experience with this grafics card?

Gainward (Retail) 8600GT 1024MB 2xDVI/TV

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">

technical data:

Chipset GeForceâ„¢ 8600 GT

- Memory Clock 2000 MHz

- Clock rate 600 MHz

- Dual Link DVI - Supporting digital output up to 2560x1600

- Chipset GeForce 8600 GT

- Memory 1024 MB

- Bus Type PCI-E

- Memory Type DDR2

- Memory Interface 128 bit

- Stream Processors 32

- RAMDACs 400 MHz

Highlighted Features

- HDTV ready , TV Out , Vista , Dual DVI Out , SLI ready

I was just wondering, because the price is only 170€ in the online shop:

http://www.kmelektronik.de/

[echo1 0]

I'd get this one.

Although it only has 1/4 of the RAM, the RAM is faster so it balances out.

The 8600GT is not great at resolutions over 1024x768. I'd consider spending an extra €100 and getting a 320MB 8800GTS

[maatz 1]

ok, and what about a 8800 gtx? i am just thinking about the future, you know... who knows what will be needed for ArmA2....

but thanks already mate!

[berghoff 11]

Hi,

blabla

edit; all solved!

[456820 0]

Well just having a little think, computers start stalling and shutting down when under hot temperatures but what if the computer was too cold?

Can computers be too cold? Will they start shutting down under the cold temperature?

I think I have seen a question like this and it would probably be somewhere in the 106 pages which well I don't have the time to read.

Anyway thanks.

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]Can computers be too cold? Will they start shutting down under the cold temperature?

If you computer is colder than the outside air temperature water will condensate on the parts and give you a short but impressive show on how a computer can get toasted

There was a discussion on another forum to use peltier elements to cool down gfx cards or processors and someone tested it. There was ice on the GPU and it fried soon after because of the condensed water.

[456820 0]

Well my CPU is 10-15c, should I start thinking about disconnecting a fan or two?

[echo1 0]

What sort of CPU are you using, and under what circumstances was this temperature taken? If its in the BIOS just after the computer has been turned on, I wouldn't see the problem. If its whilst under load, it would be rather odd, and would probably indicate that youre running your computer inside a freezer....

[456820 0]

Well I have an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.00ghz, I have 5 case fans including a...

http://www.aria.co.uk/Product....d=20729

The temperature is taken with the software which came with the mobo which measures the temp, under load it will be about 15+c and keep in mind its getting wintery now so its dropped from about 20ish c from Summer.

[echo1 0]

Perhaps there is something wrong with the software... sometimes motherboard software in Windows isnt very accurate. Try playing a demanding game in windows for a while and then quickly exit out and restart the PC and go into BIOS and see what temperature it gives.

[456820 0]

Well after playing Cod4 the temp I get in the BIOS is 19c.

[baddo 0]

You can do a simple test. Open the case of your computer and use your hand to try how warm the CPU cooling block is. You can tell if it is at 20 or at 50 degrees Celcius, I am sure of that.

Before you put your hand to the CPU, touch the metallic parts of the case while having the power cord of the PSU attached. As an attempt to discharge electric potential in you so that you won't destroy the sensitive parts of the computer with it.

As a sidenote, heat will reduce the efficiency and stability of the electric components of a computer. But you will have to make sure no ice/water appears in your computer. Scientists have been researching how to make a computer in which there is no resistance at all. Problem is today that if we want to achieve that, we need to cool the materials into so low temperature that it isn't really practical. Read more about this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconductivity A sidenote to this sidenote, you can get more power from an internal combustion engine (modern automobile engines) if you feed it colder air - so it's not only in electronics where cold can be better.

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]Well my CPU is 10-15c, should I start thinking about disconnecting a fan or two?

Looks like false data to me unless your room temperature is lower than 10 degrees. The temperature within your computer simply can´t be lower than the external temperature as you are just pumping air from the outside into the comp, but you are not cooling the air.

[echo1 0]

Quote[/b] ]Well my CPU is 10-15c, should I start thinking about disconnecting a fan or two?

Looks like false data to me unless your room temperature is lower than 10 degrees. The temperature within your computer simply can´t be lower than the external temperature as you are just pumping air from the outside into the comp, but you are not cooling the air.

If its really that cold, why not overclock it? Most people would see a CPU running at 15-C under load as a godsend.

Tbh, I think it is a case of an inaccurate reading. At any rate, if CPUs can run at -50 or -60 when cooled with LN2, Im sure they can hack 15-C