• Peter: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

    Characters: Rittal[85] Mieville[80] Terlan[80] Caltera[67] Dynia[67]
    Created: 2009-02-20 23:02:21

    Okey, so I've just got my desktop working properly again, after pulling it all apart, testing with a different PSU to try and get rid of the faults. I finally reset the BIOS CMOS (which, yes I should have done in the first place), after reconfiguring it and ensuring that the voltage management was set to automatic, the machine has been running flawlessly. Survived a pass or two of MemTest86 and now boots up fine first time, every time.

    BTW Dan, when you are testing with MemTest86, are you using the latest version? I found that the single processor version and multiprocessor version of the newest MemTest86 crashed no matter what.

    So I didn't get that as an excuse for buying a new PC, however now that it's working again I'm happy that I'll have a replacement MB/Mem/CPU for my server. So I've been contemplating buying new bits, maybe even tomorrow. Heh. I've never been one for waiting around.

    I've been mainly considering one if the new Intel i7 processors, if PassMark is anything to be believed by my current Pentium D 3.6Ghz Dual core gets a complete smashing by the slowest new i7 processor (a score of 960 to 4920 (higher is better)).

    As far as I understand it and everything that I've read so far the i7 920 (2.6Ghz) CPU will only accept RAM of 800/1066. The "extreme" version will accept higher memory speeds.

    So do people mind just casting an eye over this?

    Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound for CPU and Chipset Coolers - 3.5 gram
    425W Enermax PRO82+ EPR425AWT Dual PCI-E Rail, ATX12v 2.3 , 88% Eff, AirGuard, SafeGuard
    Intel i7 920, Socket 1366 (B), Nehalem, 2.66GHz, Cache 8MB, Retail + Far Cry 2
    6GB (3x2GB) CorsairXMS3, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24
    Gigabyte EX58-UD4, Intel X58 Express, S1366, PCI-E 2.0x16, DDR3 1333, SATA 3Gb/s, SATA RAID, ATX

    As far as I can tell, the 1333 RAM should be fine with the i7 920. There don't appear to be many vendors who produce RAM specifically for the 1066 that the i7 920 has listed.

    I might end up going for this, or leaving it for a bit. I can't quite decide, waiting means lower costs, and at the end of the day if instead I just get a better GPU that will probably solve a lot of issues I'm having now this machine is stable again.

    P.
    "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." -- Douglas Adams

    • Lee: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

      Characters: Craylor[85] Cryten[80]
      Created: 2009-02-20 23:27:49

      Thats would be a very nice setup if you buy the equipment. One thing i would say though do you know how good the stock heat sink is with the i7? I found the one with my core 2 quad a bit on the noisy side and wasn't the best at cooling so i got a Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro. Which runs quite nicely and doesn't make hardly any noise. Crucial RAM seems a good choice too i had Crucial in my last machine and it was fine the Corsair stuff i am using at the moment has gone wrong once already and had to get it replaced.

      Also what GPU do you currently have and what were you thinking of buying?
      If you don't mind me asking that is :)

    • Peter: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

      Characters: Rittal[85] Mieville[80] Terlan[80] Caltera[67] Dynia[67]
      Created: 2009-02-21 00:16:32

      Thanks for the feedback Lee. I was just going to use the stock Intel one, I pretty much have with most CPU's I've brought. Although I do have a Zalman on this machine at current, the big copper bladed fan flower thing. I was just going to stick with the stock one initially, see how it does.

      I've decided so that I don't hurt my wallet too much, that this weekend I'll buy a new PSU and GPU. After lots of umming and arring I've decided that we'll see if this gives an immediate boost to frame rate and the such.

      I was contemplating something along the lines of:

      GX-280N-ZDE9 - 1GB XFX GTX 280 XT, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), Mem 2400MHz GDDR3, GPU 640MHz, 240 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ HDTV

      I'll need a new PSU to run that, I wish they'd stop adding power connectors to the top of GFX cards. So I'll get this tomorrow probably, and get the rest next month. Of course next month is Friday for us at the uni. :)

      Also it appears there's a bug with the new code that checks to see if there's a new post. It didn't highlight the fact you had replied, I just happened to see it in the list.

      P.
      "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." -- Douglas Adams

    • Andy: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

      Characters: Marlen[85] Egeria[81] Davarnon[80] Lyia[61] Krafla[34]
      Created: 2009-02-21 12:14:12

      Ima hijack this thread. I suffer blue screen graphics card crashes, completely randomly. At the moment I'm running with the basic graphics card that came with my machine. I want a new one, my main problem is I have a slimline box ~ TwitPic so want to find a graphics card that will fit in it.

      I have no idea what I'm looking for. I want to spend around £100 and would rather a nvidea geforce, apart from that I have no idea what to look for, what is a good deal and what would just be a waste of money. I'm guessing I want to go for a 512mb card as opposed to 250 but apart from that I'm clueless. Oh and think I'm PCIe..2..? WHo knows.

      Any suggestions would be brilliant, thanks
      "My interest in what you're talking about is low to moderate" -- Vork

      • Lee: Re: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

        Characters: Craylor[85] Cryten[80]
        Created: 2009-02-21 12:39:25

        Well Andy first you do need to know exactly what interface you have for a graphics card. What PC is it prebuilt dell, hp etc or something built by someone for you? Also do you know what power output your PSU has as you need to make sure that it can actually handle the card you put in along with everything else in there. I've not looked at slimline cards in a while but i do remember that they cost more and don't give you the same performance for the standard size ones of the same price range. I will have a look during the day and see what i can see and post what i find.

        • Andy: Re: Re: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

          Characters: Marlen[85] Egeria[81] Davarnon[80] Lyia[61] Krafla[34]
          Created: 2009-02-21 12:43:02

          Dell Lee. No idea about power.
          "My interest in what you're talking about is low to moderate" -- Vork

        • Andy: Re: Re: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

          Characters: Marlen[85] Egeria[81] Davarnon[80] Lyia[61] Krafla[34]
          Created: 2009-02-21 12:45:07

          Unless you're talking GHz, which I think was 3.0 but will have to wait till I get back home to verify that.
          "My interest in what you're talking about is low to moderate" -- Vork

        • Lee: Re: Re: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

          Characters: Craylor[85] Cryten[80]
          Created: 2009-02-21 12:45:15

          What model of dell? I can look up the details if i know the exact model etc.

        • Andy: Re: Re: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

          Characters: Marlen[85] Egeria[81] Davarnon[80] Lyia[61] Krafla[34]
          Created: 2009-02-21 12:48:58

          Yeah was trying to find it but they don't have the same one as i ordered, this was a year ago. It was an inspiron I think.

          hmm maybe something like this. but looking at the Ghz on them I'm obviously terrifically wrong.
          "My interest in what you're talking about is low to moderate" -- Vork

        • Lee: Re: Re: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

          Characters: Craylor[85] Cryten[80]
          Created: 2009-02-21 12:52:17

          No not GHz Andy :) The power rating of the power supply unit was what i was after. The PSU can only have a certain power output hich is measured in watts. So a PSU with only 120W output would be mostly useless with high end systems as i would fail when too much strain was put on it. You can work ouyt exactly what power rating you would need when building a system but i usually just overestimate and go for one i know will handle it. Also there are other factors you need to take into accoutn such as connectors but i don't really need to go into those now.

        • Lee: Re: Re: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

          Characters: Craylor[85] Cryten[80]
          Created: 2009-02-21 12:56:16

          Hmm the PSU of that is only 250 Watt. You might need to be careful of what graphics card you buy so you don't overload it.

        • Chris: Re: Re: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

          Characters: Allynne[85] Phelia[85] Massus[81] Akkyyr[74] Aerryn[46]
          Created: 2009-02-21 14:59:33

          Will it have the power rating written on the back of the machine somewhere? If not, have a look inside; there'll be a sticker on it somewhere. If all else fails, look up the model number on your original order confirmation.

          AndyT had an older Dell XPS, and had no end of problems when it came to upgrading. The psu was a custom job such couldn't be replaced. Think it killed three hard drives too.

    • Peter: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

      Characters: Rittal[85] Mieville[80] Terlan[80] Caltera[67] Dynia[67]
      Created: 2009-02-21 18:53:25

      To follow this up before I look at the bit Andy hijacked with, thanks to Sara so that I could get most out of this machine (especially before raid day on Sunday) I ended up getting pretty much everything.

      It is fast, very fast. But then again I'm comparing it to a three year old processor and slow RAM.

      I am however managing 29 fps reliably in Dalaran and capped 60 fps in instances and not Dalaran (basically I think it's just badly coded). Other exciting news is that even though Frapps forces my displayed frame rate to that of the recording, I'm capable of recording a solid 30fps in instances at full screen size (1920x1200). Maybe I'll get around to doing some HD videos of us in action.

      Build went perfectly, apart from it appears my BIOS "can" have an embedded version of linux in it just to web browse from. It's just freaky.

      So yah, while the Intel Core i7's are expensive, they do seem to be worth it. On most of the benchmarks I've read (and certainly by feel) they seem faster then the current Core 2 Quad's.

      "Would you like to know more?"

      Catch me on WoW/IRC. Above quote to those would might remember it, Andy sush, I intend to do a raid boss in that style.

      P.
      "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." -- Douglas Adams

      • Andy: Re: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

        Characters: Marlen[85] Egeria[81] Davarnon[80] Lyia[61] Krafla[34]
        Created: 2009-02-22 16:39:21

        Haha, that'd be freaking awesome! And the spider wing is OBVIOUSLY the best to do it for!
        "My interest in what you're talking about is low to moderate" -- Vork

        • Carrot: Re: Re: Re: New Machine - Mainly for Carrot's attention but all welcome!

          Characters: Glorif[85] Heclan[73] Nathrezim[37] Cuchillo[23]
          Created: 2009-02-23 09:20:23

          I vote for first boss. He looks most fitting.
          Wash: This is going to get pretty interesting.
          Mal: Define interesting...
          Wash: Oh god, oh god, we're all going to die?