PC Discussion Thread - All PC related in here.

[echo1 0]

By the way, what OS do you plan to use? It's just that putting 4GB in to XP or 32-bit Vista will result in you only being able to use up to about 3GB (depending on the system). So if you need to shave pennies, sticking to 2GB is not a bad plan.

[MehMan 0]

64bit. I want to use all of my RAM.

What are the general problems with the 64bit version?

[echo1 0]

Generally backwards compatibility with older software and (in particular) older hardware. That said, the same can be said for the 32bit version of Vista, which is why I recommend the 64 bit version irrespective of whether you have more than 3GB of RAM or not.

[MehMan 0]

I'm not using Vista even if you pay me. I'll perhaps think about it in a year or two.

[echo1 0]

Are you thinking of getting the 64 bit of XP then? Despite being someone who has refused to change over to Vista, I would still say that Vista 64 bit is a better idea - XP 64 was something of a niche product, it's more accurate to say that it's a rebranded version of Server 2003 rather than XP itself. As such - You're going to have as much if not more compatibility problems compared with Vista 64 and less support for it from hardware and software in the long run. Also, if youre using 4GB, youre not going to suffer from Vista's bloat in the same way people who get systems with 1 or 2 gigs of RAM do.

[MehMan 0]

I'll think about Vista later on, for now I'll stick to XP 64 bit, even if it's a crippled XP. I deal with Vista related problems at work and it's "easier" interface is the opposite of user friendly, makes things hard to find, hard to use, hides everything and takes different, longer routes for simple things. It's a hassle.

[echo1 0]

Hah, I couldnt agree with you more about Vista's "lets change everything for the sake of changing everything" interface. Just as long as youre aware that XP-64 isn't the most ideal choice, you should be relatively alright with it. Just make sure that any hardware you get for it has suitable drivers though.

[Synide 0]

lol, Vista64 or XP64 is fine MehMan... I've been using XP64 for years... never had any problems, with any software, drivers, games, hardware. But, then again I don't have my old dot matrix printer attached to it...

btw, XP64bit is definitely not crippled - far from it - I highly recommend it. It'll probably be in use at my place for a few more years.

[Shadow NX 1]

A little question fior those who followed my hardware adventures so far:

A PC technican had the machine for a week now and everytime it seems the prob was solved another bluescreen popped off.

So one bar of my Corsairs is completely wrecked.

Also the new rams wont work in dual mode.

Alone the Corsair ( 1GB ) or the G-Skill ( 2GB ) modules work flawlessly.

He said after all the tests hes pretty sure that it is related to the Phenom CPU and its internal Ram controllers.

What do you guys think?

One reason can be that it isnt supported by Gigabyte ( 9750 is supported but my 9850 not ) but should that really be the case or are the list on the website just old?

I mean the difference between these two cpus are a 100mhz and a tiny bit more power consumption otherwise they are the same ones.

[mr burns 132]

Your CPU seems to be quite a bi***.

No hands on knowledge from my side, but it´s likely that your mobo cannot cope with the energy consumption from the CPU.

Here´s a page i found by googling "Phenom CPU 9850 board incompatibility": clicky

The guys over there aren´t happy with the cpu either.

Think of it as a carburetor driven engine. There´s only a specific ammount of fuel+air that can go through the carburetor at a time. Due to the construction you cannot get more out of it than what goes into. If you force more fuel+air (or data for PC´s) through, it´ll chuck up &/or sensitive parts will break.

Same applys to mobos rams and cpu´s, just more variables to be taken into account.

Your mobo maybe lacks the required voltage & ampere settings/ammounts that are in demand either on the CPU slot or the RAM slots - logically the occurrence on dual mode only is a valid indicator for this.

[echo1 0]

Perhaps a slight over-volt would help here? I'd google it, I'm sure someone might have found a solution to the problem.

EDIT: For those who are interested, the new version of Windows will be officially known as Windows 7. This was originally a codename for it, but they will be sticking to this name for the actual release. It will be released sometime between June of next year and Jan of 2010, presuming it doesn't get delayed in the process.

[Supernova 0]

I am surprised Shadow_NX is complaining about him getting faulty corsair memory modules. Corsair makes some of the best memory modules and their quality with other products such as power supplies is unmatched. if you are having problems it is because you should have chosen to go for a 790FX on a SB600/SB750 configuration instead. Many motherboards have problems with the Phenoms because they just cannot handle the "juice". Transistors melt etc... 780G platform with a 4870 and a 9850 BE is the result of bad research. You should never have paired up such a configuration , I even read dozens of articles and consulted with fellow employee's and system builders and the answer is the same 780G , 9850 BE and 4870 is a bad choice for a configuration and will lead to problems. Here use this as a better guideline for a better configuration:

M3A79-T Deluxe (ASUS) [sB750] or M3A32-MVP Deluxe [sB600]

9950 BE (125W)

4870 1GB

Zalman CNPS-9700LED or NT.

It's just surprising the amount of computer illiteracy these days.

@ch_123: So called "Mojave". Check out "Mojave experiment" .

@Rest: Anyone who wants to have someone else build their computer does not know what they are missing out. Either build it yourself or just don't even mention you are gonna have a shop build it for you.

[MehMan 0]

Lol, it's free, they test it, I don't have to worry about static electricy and frying my quad.

[Infam0us 10]

I have a quick question, what causes Tearing?

The past two weeks Grid has slowly become unplayable due to tearing filling the screen, then ArmA slowly started doing it aswell and also became unplayable. At first I thought it was the GPU Temp, but its a stock 7900GS 256MB which was running at 50* under stress.

So I changed the drivers to the latest Nvidia and it didn't help, so yesterday I took apart my PC and cleaned it. Fired it up and it still happened. So now I'm using Tweaked drivers and it seems to have stopped in the past two days, although I'm dreading seeing it again.

Just some background info, the card itself is only two years old, and has never been overclocked. Both games ran at very high with smooth fps, but I have been told that my card may not be able to handle it, which has caused the tearing. But why has it ran ArmA fine for two years and now suddenly started?

Regards

[Shadow NX 1]

Perhaps a slight over-volt would help here? I'd google it, I'm sure someone might have found a solution to the problem.

That was actually the problem

Who would have thought it but that really was it and for some reason the only thing i didnt check.

The Gigabyte board tends to change ram timings a bit by default as some kind of "tuning" it seems.

Changed the clock speeds to the right ones and still nothing.

Then -and damn how could i not see that- the lil writing 2.1v was noticed and after a check in the bios i noticed that by default the board always sets the rams to 1.8 volts.

Long story short... after changing to 2.1volts the PC runs stable and flawlessly

Who would have thought that something like this can cause such a mess.

At least i learned something from that, always was afraid of playing with the voltages to not damage anythign but in this case that was rather wrong.

@Universal

Yeah but even a Ferrari may have a engine malfunction one day.

Was very happy with the corsairs, they werent even hand warm after running for a few hours and the one bar that was ok ran perfectly.

Most probaly my Mainboards undervolting of the Bars caused the death of the second bar, either that or it really was faulty.

[echo1 0]

@ch_123: So called "Mojave". Check out "Mojave experiment" .

What's that got to do with what I said?

Quote[/b] ]@Rest: Anyone who wants to have someone else build their computer does not know what they are missing out. Either build it yourself or just don't even mention you are gonna have a shop build it for you.

Some people would rather pay money to have peace of mind, which is a perfectly understandable decision to make if they aren't able/prepared to deal with the various problems they may encounter along the way. That isn't something they have to be ashamed about.

Quote[/b] ]It's just surprising the amount of computer illiteracy these days.

Pot, meet the kettle...  

@Shadow: Funny, after posting that thread, I thought "Should that have been undervolt?". I just never got arond to clarifying it.

@Infam0us: How's the monitor? That would be the first place I would look. Please provide more details about the rest of your system especially PSU and motherboard.

[MehMan 0]

@Rest: Anyone who wants to have someone else build their computer does not know what they are missing out. Either build it yourself or just don't even mention you are gonna have a shop build it for you.

To further explain. I don't feel an urgent need to build my own rig, I've built them before, but if they do it for free and if they stress test it for free, then big yay. If not, I can do it myself. But it's easier to let them screw around with it and if they fuck it up they have to replace it, for free. Much easier. The only problem is the agonising wait.

[Shadow NX 1]

After all the trouble i had with the self build pc i can understand why so many buy already made PCs or let Shops build it for them... especially because all my not self made PCs worked pretty flawlessly before.

However i would and most probably will build one again especially because i learned so much in the last months about hard and software... a year ago i remeber me saying "i never will try to build in a motherboard and wire it all myself" but now i done it all myself and after a lot of trial and error things the pc runs well and cost me a lot less than a pre build one with similar specs.

But indeed, if you dont have the nerves or time for this a pre build one is the best choice.

[Infam0us 10]

@Infam0us: How's the monitor? That would be the first place I would look. Please provide more details about the rest of your system especially PSU and motherboard.

The monitors fine, its only in games these tears show.

Processor:

AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3400+

Memory:

2GB Crucial

Hard Drive:

360GB Seagate

Video Card:

NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS

Monitor:

F-417"

Sound Card:

Sound Blaster X-Fi

Speakers/Headphones:

Medusa 5.1

Keyboard:

Saitek Eclipse

Mouse:

Saitek Gamers Mouse

Mouse Surface:

4D Steel

Operating System:

Windows XP Home Edition SP3

Motherboard:

Gigabyte GA-K8NE-RH

Computer Case:

Antec 900

[BraTTy 0]

You said you updated your video drivers but I would try older drivers.

7900gs has no need for newer drivers really

[Infam0us 10]

You said you updated your video drivers but I would try older drivers.

7900gs has no need for newer drivers really

I've tried 2 new ones, and the ones it came with and they all cause tearing :/ ... However, seeing as though it was my Birthday I'm going to upgrade my entire PC ... how do ATI HD4870's run ArmA?

[Shadow NX 1]

However, seeing as though it was my Birthday I'm going to upgrade my entire PC ... how do ATI HD4870's run ArmA?  

Very happy with the performance on mine, ArmA runs in 1650x1080 with all details on high ( except the odd looking blur effects ) with good and stable framerates... didnt check exact framerate but from the feeling it was very smooth.

Only downside is that for some reason custom faces always look totally pale

[froggyluv 2136]

You said you updated your video drivers but I would try older drivers.

7900gs has no need for newer drivers really

I've tried 2 new ones, and the ones it came with and they all cause tearing :/ ... However, seeing as though it was my Birthday I'm going to upgrade my entire PC ... how do ATI HD4870's run ArmA?  

Overall I love my 4870 as it crushes the majority of games I've tried and it does a decent job with Arma but I still see many of the same problems ie...texture loss,slowdowns(more so with mods), and flickering. Since Arma was my primary game, the 4870 didn't have that 'Bang factor' I'd like to enjoy when getting a new card until I tried other games  

Here's hoping for Arma2...

[MehMan 0]

Heh, that's why I took the 4870. Oh well, there are other games that I will be able to run on max without a hickup .

[Deadfast 43]

Only downside is that for some reason custom faces always look totally pale

It's the way all ATi cards handle JPEG textures.