INFO: Building/Buying a Desktop (PC or Mac)

[tjac]

Originally Posted by Kuriin

Before using diamond thermal paste at 4.2GHz, torture test using P95: 80c+ within seconds.

After: doesn't even get to 80c, but, the screen still greys out after a few minutes. Does anyone know how to fix this? Also, where's the option to turn all my fans on to 100% regardless of temps? Is that PWM? I've never had a BSOD, but these grey screens of death are annoying. Wonder if I should use stock settings on video card?

It could also be your power supply straining to feed the card -- not enough amperage or whatever.

I don't understand your need to overclock the 5800 series. They're the best cards right now, alone or crossfire, and they're designed to perform relatively cool.

[Kuriin]

I'm using the Catalyst to overclock the video card. It's only at like 900/1300 (using both respective options) and fan is set to 100%. I'm using a 1000watt psu.

edit: running a memtest to see if that's the culprit. will use furmark next.

[Aegdaien]

Originally Posted by Eomer

Don't buy a computer ever expecting to upgrade the CPU without also doing the mobo at some point. Unless that upgrade is within a year or two. Because otherwise there's zero guarantees.

I've had my current mobo since 2004. Originally had an Athlon 3700+ in it and upgraded the CPU in 2006/7 to a 4200+ X2. I'd expect at least 2 years out of a slot configuration. At a minimum.

[Kuriin]

Ok, so I have asked my friend and the screen is in fact, blue. GG color blindness. The thing is, it doesn't provide an error message. Is this common? It's just a solid blue screen. Light blue, at that.


Looks like it's not just p95. It's apparently an amount of time before it blue screens. I upped the VCore to 1.3 to see if that fixes it. Any suggestions?


edit: Is it common for temps be jumping up and down frequently, and huge jumps at that? from 41 to 53 then back.


edit 2: i'm seeing the reason and it's because core #0 is having a huge load compared to the rest. can i change this?

thin i might've found the issue

[Phoenix]

Only time your CPU should be approaching 80c is if the ambient air is hot as hell or your have the heatsink improperly mounted.

As for the blue screening; If youre memory is not OCd at youre still getting the blue screen when OCing your processor its due to lack of voltage. For example my 920 will easily do 3820mhz @ 1.27 but requires 1.35v to do 4000mhz. Even at that high of voltage though my temps never went above 60c on the processor.

[Kuriin]

My DIMM voltages are set to auto -- which is like...1.6 or so. My VCore is set to 1.39. So, I really am not sure what the deal is.

My memory is rated at 7-7-7-20. I made them 8-8-8-22, though.


edit: i think i might've got it now. able to run p95 much longer.


edit: unless you're using watercooling or an arctic freezer (temps -20c), I find the never above 60c thing bullshit unless you're talking about every day use and not p95.

[Kuriin]

Still having issues with this random solid color screen of death. The color seems to correlate to what color the background desktop is. Anyone ever had this issue? Would love to be able to run Prime95 for 25 hours, but it won't.

[Phoenix]

Umm you have a defective video card?

[Kuriin]

I ran Furmark and OCCT and have received no errors. I'll give Sapphire a call on Monday and see if there have been known issues regarding this.

[Lefazz]

Is anyone aware of any pending price drops on CPUs? I've been holding off upgrading my second comp since processor prices haven't seemed to budge much in a while.

[Aegdaien]

Not sure of any impending price drops but Microcenter has the i5-750 for $149 and the i7-920 for $199 if you have one near you. Ended up going to the one in Denver earlier today and picked up:

-Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
-ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
-OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV4GK - Desktop Memory
-OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies
2x -SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD154UI 1.5TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
-Thermaltake Silent 1156 CLP0552 92mm CPU Cooler For Intel Socket LGA1156 - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

Using my current video card: -XFX GS250XZDFC GeForce GTS 250 1GB Core Edition 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
And my current case: -Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Can't put it together till I head home on Friday but pretty excited nonetheless. Gonna install Win7 Pro and try to run the i5 stable @ 3.2 ghz. Not really sure what I'm gonna do with 3TBs of harddrive space, but...

[Silence]

Originally Posted by Aegdaien

Not sure of any impending price drops but Microcenter has the i5-750 for $149 and the i7-920 for $199 if you have one near you. Ended up going to the one in Denver earlier today and picked up:

Can't put it together till I head home on Friday but pretty excited nonetheless. Gonna install Win7 Pro and try to run the i5 stable @ 3.2 ghz. Not really sure what I'm gonna do with 3TBs of harddrive space, but...

That's solid! It'll run 3.2 GHz without breaking a sweat. Mine does.

As for hard drive space...go here: www.twoterabytesoftits.com... should help.

[TheCutlery]

Originally Posted by Silence

As for hard drive space...go here: www.twoterabytesoftits.com... should help.

Asshole. I had high hopes for that link.

Crushed.

[Toxxulian]

I'm looking to purchase this - Newegg.com - Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2XXX 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks

But I am unsure if my motherboard supports sata II.
Newegg.com - EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards (that's what i meant)

What do you think?

[Xandax]

Toxx you linked a processor not a motherboard... If that's the processor you have, then I would believe a motherboard that supports that processor should come with Sata II. And more than likely it does support Sata II if you've purchased in the past couple years. Sata II devices are backwards compatible with Sata I ports however.

If you can track down the exact model of the motherboard on Newegg, I'm sure you can figure out whether its SATA I or II.

I just bought an Intel X25-M G2 80GB and installed Windows 7 on it. Extremely smooth, no hang ups. Programs open instantly or near instantly. Basically makes everyday computing what it should be.. seamless. We all loathe the 2-3 second delays between clicking and computer reaction. SSD simply makes life smoother.