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Thank you for the always excellent goon advice. That overclockers.com article is a great overview. I am sufficiently informed regarding water cooling. I'm going to give it a definite pass.
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May 6, 2012 08:44
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khy posted:That's exactly what I want. If you're into ridiculously high res texture replacements, the more VRAM the better. I'd take a long hard look at a 7970.
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May 6, 2012 15:44
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Gookistamano posted:Completely fanless off the shelf water cooling; possible or not? I have no experience whatsoever with water cooling. Please don't crush my dreams.
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May 6, 2012 22:35
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The fan on my Scythe Shuriken just crapped out recently, and I'm looking for a replacement. I saw this 100mm fan and at a glance it looks like it'll be fine. Does anyone see a problem with this? From what I gather, it has a 4-pin connector, so that should just plug into the CPU fan header right?
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May 7, 2012 04:40
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I just signed up for the comcast promotion 6months @$29.99 for 20mbps down. Apparently I need a docsis 3.0 modem to get the most out of my speed. I see that the Motorola SB6120 is a very popular model and lots of people mod it. I was wondering what the benefits of a modded firmware were for this cable modem? I see sellers on ebay selling pre-modded versions of this modem but I cannot figure out what the benefit is?
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May 7, 2012 05:41
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It's related to stealing cable, which is a very bad idea. It's probably in your best interest to rent the modem, that way Comcast will replace it if it dies, becomes obsolete, or just because you want to swap it for troubleshooting. There's also no chance they'll try to blame your equipment if you rent the modem.
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May 7, 2012 05:44
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Alereon posted:It's related to stealing cable, which is a very bad idea. It's probably in your best interest to rent the modem, that way Comcast will replace it if it dies, becomes obsolete, or just because you want to swap it for troubleshooting. There's also no chance they'll try to blame your equipment if you rent the modem. At least around here, the modems Comcast rents out are pieces of poo poo. Sure, you can always get a new one when yours goes out - but it'll be a few days without internet while you wait for them to take care of it. The Surfboards, on the other hand, are nice and stable unless they're pushing ridiculous upstream power levels (and it's on Comcast to take care of signal issues at that point anyway). Unless you think you'll be burning through a modem every year, at $7/month it makes sense to buy your own. As far as modding the modem goes, it uncaps the bandwidth. Even if you buy the top-tier plan, you're not going to get all the bandwidth the hardware's capable of; unrestricted DOCSIS 3.0 can usually do ~150 Mb/s down and ~100 Mb/s up. And, with a modded modem, you can get those speeds on any plan, even the cheapass barely-better-than-dialup service. The downside is that it's really easy for Comcast to spot someone who's taking up enough bandwidth to serve an entire neighborhood, and like Alereon says, they'll treat you just like anybody else who's stealing cable.
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May 7, 2012 06:21
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Why does RAM go bad? I had a machine start blue screening occasionally about 2 years after I built it, ran PC-Check overnight and found that 2 sticks of RAM were failing tests. Now I'm mildly bothered and regretting buying OCZ RAM because it was super cheap at Microcenter over G.Skill from Newegg like I've done every other time. Here's hoping they have a good RMA policy. Or I could just goose the voltage some until it passes tests. 
Twerk from Home fucked around with this message at 06:40 on May 7, 2012 |
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May 7, 2012 06:37
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Weinertron posted:Why does RAM go bad? Weinertron posted:OCZ And that's a serious answer. They pumped their stuff so full of volts that the transistors inside it melt together over time.
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May 7, 2012 06:40
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My setup's given me two figuratively pants-making GBS threads panics in the past week; once on Tuesday when my underpowered UPS with a year-old battery tried to momentarily fail over to its 450va backup and couldn't accommodate my PC and giant ancient CRT's combined draw of 460W. Hit the power button, nothing, let it sit for 15 minutes and it revved up no problem. I guess the UPS' circuit caps were cooling off or something. Everything was fine until yesterday when I restored from sleep mode, logged in, and got a BSOD as my (four-year-old 250GB Caviar Blue that's been sitting at 6 reallocated sectors since June 2010) boot drive wasn't detected by the motherboard. Didn't show up in BIOS, so I popped it out of the hot-swap bay, looked it over and reinserted. Detected and boots just dandy, like nothing happened. CrystalDiskInfo doesn't show any change/further damage, and it hasn't had an issue since. I'm pretty broke at the moment so aside from dusting my case out, double-checking backups (in progress) and taking my monitor off-battery, are there any zero-budget steps I should be taking? Maybe I'll just sell a kidney or apply for a credit card to replace my monitor, UPS, and buy an SSD.
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May 7, 2012 18:11
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Space Gopher posted:At least around here, the modems Comcast rents out are pieces of poo poo. Sure, you can always get a new one when yours goes out - but it'll be a few days without internet while you wait for them to take care of it. The Surfboards, on the other hand, are nice and stable unless they're pushing ridiculous upstream power levels (and it's on Comcast to take care of signal issues at that point anyway). Unless you think you'll be burning through a modem every year, at $7/month it makes sense to buy your own. Ah Thank you and Alereon for the in depth answer. Im definitely not trying to steal internet. What is the simplest/ cheapest Docsis 3.0 modem I can buy that is still of decent quality?
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May 7, 2012 18:19
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Out of curiosity, could I switch out the intel chip and motherboard the Dolphin list I brought up mentioned with other chips/motherboards that would work with the rest of the parts?
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May 7, 2012 19:27
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Schmendrick posted:Out of curiosity, could I switch out the intel chip and motherboard the Dolphin list I brought up mentioned with other chips/motherboards that would work with the rest of the parts?
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May 7, 2012 19:33
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What sort of glue should I use to fuse the huge panel gaps in the screen bezel of my dropped-too-many-times laptop? There's a gap along two edges and I can easily press it together but I guess the little catches inside have broken because it wont stay snapped together. The bezel is constantly flexed by the metal hinge inside it so I was thinking some kind of semi elastic glue instead of hard brittle superglue but maybe that's the wrong approach. Gluegoons, what sort should I use?
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May 7, 2012 23:00
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Might be the wrong place, but what happened to cases that had the removable motherboard tray? Did those just go away? I remember working on a lot of cases that had that when I was younger and it seemed like a crazy awesome idea.
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May 7, 2012 23:58
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I recently lost my bios, apparently it's a well described problem with my motherboard (zotac 9300 itx G-E). I bought a replacement bios from ebay and my computer now starts. Unfortunately it cannot boot into windows 7. It will try to load but then constantly resets. Repair option, debugging, and safe mode, all reset as well. I'm not sure if the bios has made my motherboard appear different or if my hard drive took a crap. Is there another way to repair my windows 7 installation without reinstalling? I lost my windows 7 key during a move and did not back up that key so it would force me to purchase a new copy of windows 7 if I were to reinstall. UPDATE: So I was suspicious that the bios chip I received had a crappy version on it (though just awesome enough to allow me some simple booting). I hot swapped it with my old defunct bios chip and awdflashed it with the new bios using an msdos bootable usb drive. Things seem to be working now. Medikit fucked around with this message at 03:53 on May 8, 2012 |
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May 8, 2012 00:05
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Weinertron posted:Why does RAM go bad? I had a machine start blue screening occasionally about 2 years after I built it, ran PC-Check overnight and found that 2 sticks of RAM were failing tests. In an interesting parallel to harddrives, there wasn't very much understanding of how memory errors occurred until Google did a massive study in their data center. Like harddrives, there was a myth that errors would occur at some low rate over the life of the device. That's why high-reliability systems use ECC memory, the idea that cosmic rays would cause random bit errors that you need the capability to correct. In reality, low-rate "soft" errors are only seen in systems using poor quality motherboards and are caused by EMI due to bad motherboard design. Google also found "hard" errors caused by failing memory modules to be vastly more common than anticipated.
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May 8, 2012 00:09
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Medikit posted:I recently lost my bios, apparently it's a well described problem with my motherboard (zotac 9300 itx G-E). I bought a replacement bios from ebay and my computer now starts. Unfortunately it cannot boot into windows 7. It will try to load but then constantly resets. Repair option, debugging, and safe mode, all reset as well. I'm not sure if the bios has made my motherboard appear different or if my hard drive took a crap. If it's doing that, it's probably down to the AHCI settings for the SATA controller, try switching between AHCI and IDE/normal SATA mode in the BIOS to see if that helps. That's about all that's going to cause it to reboot every time even on safe mode.
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May 8, 2012 00:11
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Voodle posted:If it's doing that, it's probably down to the AHCI settings for the SATA controller, try switching between AHCI and IDE/normal SATA mode in the BIOS to see if that helps. That's about all that's going to cause it to reboot every time even on safe mode. I tried AHCI, IDE, and RAID. It still resets automatically without being able to get into windows (sorry I can still get into the bios). I tried something else. I booted from CD rom successfully, this brings up the "windows boot manager and states "windows failured to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem instert your installation disc and restart." This error occurs with all HDD unplugged as well. UPDATE: So I was suspicious that the bios chip I received had a crappy version on it (though just awesome enough to allow me some simple booting). I hot swapped it with my old defunct bios chip and awdflashed it with the new bios using an msdos bootable usb drive. Things seem to be working now. Medikit fucked around with this message at 03:53 on May 8, 2012 |
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May 8, 2012 01:02
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So my UPS is coming up on 4 years old, and I'm in an area where it gets constant use because of constant power flickers and brownouts due to surrounding construction. Is there any reason to replace the entire unit? Have UPS gotten any better in the last few years? It's looking like a battery replacement will be almost as much as a new one, but it seems a waste to replace more than the part that's failing.
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May 8, 2012 06:29
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Hopefully this is the right place for my questions. My old reliable 8800GT conked out recently, and I upgraded it to a Radeon HD 6770. My computer is running Windows XP. I have a hard-on for the old Baldur's Gate series. However, it turns out that the only way I can play them now with this new card is to disable hardware acceleration, as otherwise I get crazy stuttering and cursor flicking. When I disable HA, most of the options in my catalyst control center are disabled until I turn it back on, and when its off I get a warning on bootup about incompatible drivers. My questions... - I understand the concept of what HA does, but would having it off have an significant effect on newer games? What does it even do in terms of effect on visual quality and performance? For reference I mainly play League of Legends, TF2 and Starcraft 2 those days, and will play Diablo 3 when it's out. - Is there a way to selectively turn off HA when I play Baldur's Gate, and have it on otherwise? I can only find a global switch.
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May 8, 2012 10:32
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Koskinator posted:- I understand the concept of what HA does, but would having it off have an significant effect on newer games? What does it even do in terms of effect on visual quality and performance? For reference I mainly play League of Legends, TF2 and Starcraft 2 those days, and will play Diablo 3 when it's out. Hardware acceleration is required to play those games. In the 14 years since that game came out, CPU-based rendering has effectively ceased except for very simple games. quote:- Is there a way to selectively turn off HA when I play Baldur's Gate, and have it on otherwise? I can only find a global switch. Not really, no. In fact, if you were running Windows 7, you couldn't disable hardware acceleration at all, since it's required for the OS to render the desktop. Though that gives me an idea: If you upgraded to a copy of Windows 7 that allowed XP Mode (i.e. Win 7 Pro or Ultimate), you could run Baldur's Gate in XP Mode, which is a Virtual Machine with its own settings and preferences separate from the Win 7 installation yet runs programs seamlessly. You could disable HA in the VM, then run Baldur's Gate through it.
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May 8, 2012 11:21
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I hope this is the right thread for this - I spilled water in my laptop and fried my dedicated graphics card and some of my USB slots. I'm concerned that there might be additional damage to the motherboard or CPU that hasn't shown up yet. Is there a diagnostic program that will really put my mobo and CPU through their paces so I can know what exactly needs to be repaired?
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May 8, 2012 12:45
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Mozi posted:I hope this is the right thread for this - I spilled water in my laptop and fried my dedicated graphics card and some of my USB slots. I'm concerned that there might be additional damage to the motherboard or CPU that hasn't shown up yet. Is there a diagnostic program that will really put my mobo and CPU through their paces so I can know what exactly needs to be repaired? CPU and/or motherboard damage would likely manifest itself either as a BSOD or instability. The best thing you could do is run some sort of stress test benchmark like SuperPI running for a while and see if it shuts down. My favorite diagnostic is Eurosoft's PC-Check, but I don't know that there are any free or evaluation editions available.
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May 8, 2012 13:39
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This picture shows the front of the Fractal Design R3, a case that's often recommended here. It looks to me like the fans would be pretty useless when the front door is closed, since they wouldn't be able to take in much outside air. I know this probably isn't true, but I don't know why. Can anyone explain?
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May 8, 2012 15:06
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Biggest human being Ever posted:This picture shows the front of the Fractal Design R3, a case that's often recommended here. It looks to me like the fans would be pretty useless when the front door is closed, since they wouldn't be able to take in much outside air. I know this probably isn't true, but I don't know why. Can anyone explain? It appears there are vents on the side of the door:  Edit: never mind, it appears they are further back from where the door opens. I have no idea how that works out.
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May 8, 2012 15:21
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I have 2 EVGA 560ti 448 in sli and they are hotter than a rattlesnakes taint under load. Saving up to do the Antec Kuhler 620 mod on them. But for now I was thinking about leaving the shroud off and changing the TIM. Will that do anything? Will I see a drop in temp?
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May 8, 2012 15:30
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How do I view detailed info on my hard drives? Health diagnostic maybe, and I'd like to see when they were manufactured and at what point I started using it.
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May 8, 2012 15:58
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PirateBob posted:How do I view detailed info on my hard drives?
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May 8, 2012 16:03
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Biggest human being Ever posted:This picture shows the front of the Fractal Design R3, a case that's often recommended here. It looks to me like the fans would be pretty useless when the front door is closed, since they wouldn't be able to take in much outside air. I know this probably isn't true, but I don't know why. Can anyone explain? IT Guy posted:Edit: never mind, it appears they are further back from where the door opens. I have no idea how that works out. EDIT: This image shows how the filters sit flush with the actual frame of the case with the fans inside. The whole front door assembly is held away to allow for air flow through the vents. 
Bobulot fucked around with this message at 16:29 on May 8, 2012 |
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May 8, 2012 16:22
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Karthe posted:CrystalDiskInfo will be your best bet, though I don't think your HDD reports when it was first used. You could take the serial number (as reported in CDI) and check the manufacturer's website for manufacturing date, though. Thanks. Is there maybe a way to find the files with the first "date created" date?
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May 8, 2012 16:26
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Weinertron posted:So my UPS is coming up on 4 years old, and I'm in an area where it gets constant use because of constant power flickers and brownouts due to surrounding construction. If your UPS has been good to you, I'd just replace the batteries. I have about 5 UPSes due to bad power here and previous issues with storms, and I replace the batteries every few years. I've found that with a new battery the units act like they were new again, and for me the batteries have cost around half as much as a new unit. The 500VA and 650VA units I have use batteries that cost around $20, while the 1000 and 1200VA usually use two batteries that are in the $25 range. If you unit doesn't have voltage regulation you might consider a new one just because it's useful to have some power conditioning (mine click on to bump the voltage up when the AC runs or we get brown outs in the summer), but most of what manufacturers have added recently seems to be LCD panels on the front that you won't look at anyway.
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May 8, 2012 18:15
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PirateBob posted:Thanks. Is there maybe a way to find the files with the first "date created" date? code:
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May 8, 2012 18:42
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Rexxed posted:If your UPS has been good to you, I'd just replace the batteries. There's one exception to this: the internal switch that goes between battery power and mains power has a limited lifespan of a few hundred switches. When I had shittier power in my apartment, I burned through so many switches (about... 250? 300?) that the UPS actually stopped switching. It was covered by warranty for advanced RMA, though.
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May 8, 2012 21:04
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Biggest human being Ever posted:This picture shows the front of the Fractal Design R3, a case that's often recommended here. It looks to me like the fans would be pretty useless when the front door is closed, since they wouldn't be able to take in much outside air. I know this probably isn't true, but I don't know why. Can anyone explain? They pull air in around the sides of the case as in the picture IT guy quoted. I was a little unsure when I first saw it, but actually it works well. Lets see if I can get a picture of what I mean. Edit: here you go, sorry everyone else: these aren't exciting images Here you can see how the plastic "door" fan cover has no real vent slots, but it sits quite far from the actual filter.  Just a quick one to show depth comparison, showing the door would sit flush on the DVD drive..  .. But you can see here the depth of the front as the DVD drive is out quite far, giving you a decent amount of ventilation down the sides.  HalloKitty fucked around with this message at 21:26 on May 8, 2012 |
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May 8, 2012 21:13
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If a video card constantly gives a Code 10, replacing the drivers does nothing, and it limits itself to 640x480 with blue lines all over the screen, is it safe to say that it's joined the Choir Invisible? Probably-dead card is an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS, motherboard is Asus P5N-D with PCI-E 2.0. What would be a decent replacement card these days?
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May 9, 2012 02:40
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Jet Jaguar posted:If a video card constantly gives a Code 10, replacing the drivers does nothing, and it limits itself to 640x480 with blue lines all over the screen, is it safe to say that it's joined the Choir Invisible? It's gone. Lifetime warranties were pretty common back when the 8800GTS was a good card; you might want to check to see if you're still under warranty. Failing that, you'll run into a CPU bottleneck with higher-ed modern cards, but a Radeon 6770 would be a decent match. It's also the least expensive gaming card recommended in the stickied parts picking, system building, and upgrading megathread.
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May 9, 2012 02:51
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Thanks to everyone who explained the R3 ventilation, looks like I'll join the owners club soon. 
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May 9, 2012 04:23
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Hi guys. Im looking at buying a computer desktop from a friend-of-a-friend and am not incredibly knowledgeable about parts interactions or if I'm getting ripped off. Apologies if this is the wrong place to post. Anyways, I'm looking to get a PC that can do some gaming on modern games without catastrophic issues. So, for 500 dollars here is the offering: 23" Acer LED LCD 1080p flat screen, HDMI cable, Logitech Speaker System with Subwoofer, Keyboard, Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3000, and 150Mbps Wireless 802.11b/g/n nano USB Adapter. Windows 7 Home Premium, AMD Athlon II X3 3.3GHz, Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 1GB DDR5, 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM, 80GB HDD 7200RPM, 160GB HDD 5400RPM, CD-RW Drive, HDMI Out, AM3+ motherboard, and 600 watt power supply with turbo fan button. Is there anything critical missing from this components list? How do I ensure when I go to look at it that it's not about to metaphorically fall apart? I know to check the wiring to see if it's wired well, but beyond that not much. Are there any programs I should bring on a flash drive to check computer integrity? Anything you guys could offer in terms of advice in this process would be much appreciated. Thanks
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May 9, 2012 06:15
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Mr. Giggles posted:Hi guys. Im looking at buying a computer desktop from a friend-of-a-friend and am not incredibly knowledgeable about parts interactions or if I'm getting ripped off. Apologies if this is the wrong place to post. Anyways, I'm looking to get a PC that can do some gaming on modern games without catastrophic issues.
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