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Thread: Customized computer?

  1. #681
    Banned darkshadow's Avatar
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    Right under de memory chips:
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  2. #682
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    Hmm..that seems to be the case. Thanks for confirming DS.

    My 9800GTX+ died (again) and I thought it's time for a new gfx card. (not that I really have a choice now).

    According to Arctic Cooling's website, the Accelero S1 Rev 2(which is attached to my 9800GTX+ right now) is compatible with the 5870 - but looking at the VRsinks they come with.. it doesn't look like they'll cool it properly.

    I could buy it for 400AUD and check it out, but that would be a pretty hefty price to learn a lesson. I guess I'll use it on my brother's 4850 (he's upgrading) when he abandons it in 2 weeks or so.

    If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~

  3. #683
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    Have you ended up buying something yet Animeniax?

    My mobo (I think?) died, and I'm deciding to upgrade - and ran into some old news about Foxconn sockets burning out i5 processors.

    Currently looking at an i5 750, and I haven't settled on the mobo, memory or PSU yet.

    edit: I remember reading some info about how the quadcores can suspend 2 of the 4 cores when there's not enough demand. I've read some intel whitepapers that seemed to support this (though it didn't say it outright). Does anyone else know if this is true?
    Last edited by Buffalobiian; Sun, 07-11-2010 at 10:38 AM.

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  4. #684
    Banned darkshadow's Avatar
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    I don't think that happens at all, the cpu's do downclock, but they don't suspend cores.
    Perhaps it's a mobile chipset only thing. Haven't heard of desktop's doing that.
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  5. #685
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    Fair enough. I might have been imagining things, since I remember it was specifically a quad core feature.

    Meanwhile, latest troubles have been finding the

    Thermalright Socket 1156 Bolt-Thru-Kit Rev.B mounting kit for my HR-01 PLUS.

    All vendors in Australia seem to have the first revision while only works for the 120 TRUE, but not mine.

    If I had to get it internationally, I'd be better off investing in a new cooler.

    If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~

  6. #686
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    Upgraded my PC a few days ago:



    New parts:

    i5 760 (using previous HR-01 PLUS cooler with 1156 mounting kit)
    ASUS P7P55D LE
    8GB Geil 1333MHz RAM
    Corsair AX-850

    Pre-existing parts:

    ATI HD5870 (using Accelero S1 cooler previously installed on a GeForce 9800GTX+, VRMs cooled by Thermalright VRM-R4)
    2x Samsung 500GB 5400rpm SATA HDD
    Antec P182
    DVD-burner



    My previous board was a Gigabyte 775 socket board. The new layout was interesting, as the PCIe socket now sits a lot higher than with my Gigabyte board. The result is that the graphics card sits higher, with three fans lined up almost perfectly.

    CPU torturing ends up with temps that are only mildly hotter than my E6600, as I'm guessing it gains some cooling benefit now that the noctua VRM-cooling fan is also directed at it. Temps cap at 68C. I think my previous issue was actually not applying enough thermal paste. I put a decent amount on now.

    Adding gfx torturing to it reverses this, however. The graphics cooling solution I've chosen means the heat released from the card relies on chassis cooling to bring it out of the system, resulting in a very warm internal ambient. Furthermore, the VRMs reach 68C peak during this, and the air from its heat sink would now feed directly into the CPU's HS. In these scenarios, it will max out at 84C.

    Nothing critical though. And the new PSU is quieter than my old one, so that's pretty awesome. I can't reliably tell the difference since the majority of the noise is created by the two Nexus fans at the top left.
    Last edited by Buffalobiian; Sun, 10-03-2010 at 11:01 AM.

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  7. #687
    Moderator Raven's Avatar
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    Upgrading soon, please critique my list so far and answer the questions I have:

    Intel Core i7 950
    Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Mboard OR Asus P6X58D-E
    OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 Reaper 3x2GB
    CoolerMaster CM690 II Advanced
    OCZ Vertex 2 3.5" 120GB E Series SSD
    Western Digital 2TB SATAII
    CoolerMaster V8 CPU Cooler
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM

    Already own - GeForce GTX 285

    Questions:
    - Is it worth using SSD for Windows and standard SATA for games, or will gaming speeds be handicapped by the slower drive? Not sure of how it works.
    - I won't be utilizing SLI/Crossfire in the foreseeable future as I've always been a single graphics card man - does that mean I can find cheaper mboard alternatives that don't support it?
    - I've heard that people often fall into the trap of buying RAM that's too fast for their CPU to utilize in terms of Mhz... I haven't done that, have I? I've mainly read up on clock speed so far.
    I think I know precisely what I mean
    when I say it's a schpadoinkle day

  8. #688
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    - Is it worth using SSD for Windows and standard SATA for games, or will gaming speeds be handicapped by the slower drive? Not sure of how it works.
    Gaming speeds will largely be limited by your gaming drive, since it loads all the textures and game data from there. You'll need to put your games in the SSD to notice any real performance gains.


    - I won't be utilizing SLI/Crossfire in the foreseeable future as I've always been a single graphics card man - does that mean I can find cheaper mboard alternatives that don't support it?
    Yes... if you can. Every 1366 socket mobo I see supports SLI/Cross Fire though, since you're already buying an upmarket CPU.Your choice of motherboard(s) is already one of the least costly ones.

    - I've heard that people often fall into the trap of buying RAM that's too fast for their CPU to utilize in terms of Mhz... I haven't done that, have I? I've mainly read up on clock speed so far.
    You've bought RAM at 1600MHz. Your CPU supports up to 1066MHz RAM speeds. To utilize 1600MHz, you'll need to overclock. (it's probably more correct to say that 1600MHz RAM allows you to overclock your CPU to that base clock speed - only learnt about that recently.

    Build comments: any reason for the V8 cooler?
    Last edited by Buffalobiian; Sat, 10-16-2010 at 08:43 AM.

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  9. #689
    Vampiric Minion Kraco's Avatar
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    If you got a good deal on the memory, there's no reason not to get it. I got faster RAM than my CPU can handle because it was a special offer. I just use it at a lower speed. Although I'm not adventurous enough to have tried dropping the CL lower despite underclocking it.

    If you have got no special deals, then I can't say if it's worth it.

  10. #690
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kraco View Post
    If you got a good deal on the memory, there's no reason not to get it. I got faster RAM than my CPU can handle because it was a special offer. I just use it at a lower speed. Although I'm not adventurous enough to have tried dropping the CL lower despite underclocking it.

    If you have got no special deals, then I can't say if it's worth it.
    Yeah, I can't find any RAM lower than 1600MHz at the online stores I frequent neither. Guess like the board, most of the stuff now is enthusiast-orientated.

    If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~

  11. #691
    Moderator Raven's Avatar
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    Thanks Bill.

    Quote Originally Posted by Buffalobiian View Post
    Build comments: any reason for the V8 cooler?
    No real reason besides someone recommending it in passing.
    I've since been put onto the Mega Shadow coupled with the Zalman ZM-F3, but I'm still reading reviews.
    I think I know precisely what I mean
    when I say it's a schpadoinkle day

  12. #692
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Raven View Post
    Thanks Bill.


    No real reason besides someone recommending it in passing.
    I've since been put onto the Mega Shadow coupled with the Zalman ZM-F3, but I'm still reading reviews.
    You only need aftermarket CPU cooling for 2 reasons:

    1) overclocking and/or
    2) quiet cooling.

    If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~

  13. #693
    Moderator Raven's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buffalobiian View Post
    You only need aftermarket CPU cooling for 2 reasons:

    1) overclocking and/or
    2) quiet cooling.
    Correct, both of which I am after.
    I think I know precisely what I mean
    when I say it's a schpadoinkle day

  14. #694
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Raven View Post
    Correct, both of which I am after.
    In that case your 1600MHz would be a good choice after all (unless you're going even more extreme)

    If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~

  15. #695
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    Can anybody tell me about what to look for when purchasing a sound card, or offer a recommendation if they have one? I've only used onboard sound, and have been very satisfied with it, but am wanting to buy something better to source a potential ATH-AD700 headphone purchase.

    The sound equipment I have are Logitech 2.1 speakers (R-20), the new headphones (both via 3.5mm jacks + splitter), and a mic when needed.

    I was considering a card with front-side panel, jacks and volume control previously, but I just remembered I can buy a multimedia keyboard for the on-the-fly volume adjustment, so having a front-panel is no longer a requirement.

    My main uses are music and anime, with the occasional movie. Positioning isn't as important as natural sound reproduction, but that's more a headphone/speaker thing anyway.

    I haven't set a budget for myself yet, as I have no idea what's out there and how things compare to each other from a performance/cost perspective. (Xel mentioned that a card would cost between 150-300$ )

    If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~

  16. #696
    Banned darkshadow's Avatar
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    From cheapest to most expensive.

    SB audigy 2zs - discontinued
    SB X-FI Titanium - €60
    "" Titanium fatality pro - €100
    "" Titanium Fatality champ - €120
    Auzentech Forte 7.1 - €132
    SB X-FI Titanium HD - €155
    Auzentech HT HD - €200/250 (this one is sick, but I think out of your price range/usage)

    Based on what you said, just get the SB X-FI Titanium, or if you can still find it at a cheaper price, the Audigy 2zs.
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  17. #697
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    Thanks for list DS (and Xel via IRC). My graphics card setup renders all my PCIe ports useless though, so my cheapest alternative would be to sought out a PCI card.

    The Auzentech X-FI Prelude you mentioned before is like impossible to find in Australia. I've pretty much got my choice set on the Asus Xonar Essence ST right now, though I'm giving myself a bit of time just in case the Asus Xonar D2 turns out to be a better buy.

    Too bad the Asus site's compare function sucks.


    edit: Essence ST it is. Now it's simply waiting for the right time to make the jump.
    Last edited by Buffalobiian; Sun, 01-09-2011 at 01:09 AM.

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  18. #698
    Banned darkshadow's Avatar
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    I generally don't like the xonar cards because I dislike the chip they use, same reason I told you to stay away from the x-* series auzen cards.
    But I guess if you aren't really going to do any gaming, it should be somewhat fine.

    I would also say to stay away from the essence ST because the lack of analog 7.1. But I guess as long as you use your stereo equipment it should work fine.....just don't upgrade to 5.1+ ;P
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  19. #699
    What's up, doc? Animeniax's Avatar
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    I'm looking to build an ultra-portable desktop PC unit so I can bring it to work to play CoD on our blazing fast uni network. Can anyone give me opinions on these components?

    1. LIAN LI PC-V351B Black Aluminum MicroATX Desktop Computer Case
    2. ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
    3. AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
    4. CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5C
    5. MSI N460GTX Hawk GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

    The motherboard has a built-in ATI HD4200 videochip with the ability to crossfire with another ATI videocard you install. But I'm getting the Nvidia vidcard to install in my home PC and installing the 8800GTX from that into this mobile PC. Also, I'll be using a WD Raptor 74GB HDD and Asus DVD drive I have already.


    For God will not permit that we shall know what is to come... those who by some sorcery or by some dream might come to pierce the veil that lies so darkly over all that is before them may serve by just that vision to cause that God should wrench the world from its heading and set it upon another course altogether and then where stands the sorcerer? Where the dreamer and his dream?

  20. #700
    Family Friendly Mascot Buffalobiian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Animeniax View Post
    I'm looking to build an ultra-portable desktop PC unit so I can bring it to work to play CoD on our blazing fast uni network. Can anyone give me opinions on these components?

    1. LIAN LI PC-V351B Black Aluminum MicroATX Desktop Computer Case
    2. ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
    3. AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
    4. CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5C
    5. MSI N460GTX Hawk GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

    The motherboard has a built-in ATI HD4200 videochip with the ability to crossfire with another ATI videocard you install. But I'm getting the Nvidia vidcard to install in my home PC and installing the 8800GTX from that into this mobile PC. Also, I'll be using a WD Raptor 74GB HDD and Asus DVD drive I have already.
    I can't really nitpick at anything there, except that if you were looking at changing the bus speed of the CPU for overclocking, some DDR2-1066 would give you more headroom. It's not needed at all though, especially since it's a good CPU on default settings alone, and overclocks well using multipliers only too.

    Does that case have a handle (or can you find one with one)? That would be handy.

    If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~

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