Saint's New Computer Build Thread

Started by saintchism · 69 posts · 7,826 views

  1. #1
    DocJon wrote:Hopefully you'll get a machine soon so you can enjoy it with all the gfx settings turned up.


    It looks like I am lucky.
    Met that big guy a former collegue of mine that wants to build me the machine I need.
    When I said I like to go with the 8800 nvidia card, he told me, that he would not recommend nvidia, cause ATI is up to cards with which u can get connected to the LCD television without any additional aplication. So I got stuck here.
    Prefer to go with the majority of the ppl here, tho.
  2. #2
    saintchism wrote:It looks like I am lucky.
    Met that big guy a former collegue of mine that wants to build me the machine I need.
    When I said I like to go with the 8800 nvidia card, he told me, that he would not recommend nvidia, cause ATI is up to cards with which u can get connected to the LCD television without any additional aplication. So I got stuck here.
    Prefer to go with the majority of the ppl here, tho.

    So, is he going to recommend the parts AND build you a machine?

    As far as Nvidia vs Radeon, each offers good cards, just make sure it's powerful enough to do the job you want it to. I have Nvidia now, but had a couple Radeons before that.

  3. #3
    I used to use only ATI, in the past few years I have switched to Nvidia. IMHO Nvidia tends to lead the innovation now while ATi seems to follow. Also it would appear that more of the gaming companies write the games more tailored to the Nvidia cards.

    Now, ATI makes good cards, just I think Nvidia currently has an edge on them.
  4. #4
    DocJon wrote:So, is he going to recommend the parts AND build you a machine?

    As far as Nvidia vs Radeon, each offers good cards, just make sure it's powerful enough to do the job you want it to. I have Nvidia now, but had a couple Radeons before that.


    No recommending r u guys. I have to pick and he will build.
    He is gaming himself. Building PCs for friends or doing repairs at office PCs.

    Bubba: Now, ATI makes good cards, just I think Nvidia currently has an edge on them.

    I think that should be reason enough to go for it.
  5. #5
    saintchism wrote:No recommending r u guys. I have to pick and he will build.
    He is gaming himself. Building PCs for friends or doing repairs at office PCs.


    OK then, give us a price to work with. How much are you willing to spend? We'll see what's at Newegg, or you can tell us another site you would buy from. We can also look at what's available at Dell Europe. I bet there are some good deals available between now and January 7th or so. Returns, sales etc.

  6. #6
    Also keep in mind your on the other side of the pond Saint as far as gaming with the US community. Your likely to encounter problems with ping, especially any servers running punkbuster.

    Another problem too of course is your going to be up all night just to catch us at 10-11pm est.

    Also add to the fact that you live on an island even further complicates your chances of getting on the fibre optics networks running off the mainlands. I've played with a few British peeps who typically get an average of 150+ ping, and they get their feed almost directly to the main. That goes up any higher and you get kicked, or at very best your competing with players with 20 ping.

    Go to some game servers in the US, Ideally Georgia or NYC and do a ping test. Those two places are where I always had to keep my service or I could forget it for foreign friends. We do get a few foreigners on our COD server in NYC real late at nite, so you may be fine.

    Good luck ;p
  7. #7
    lexx wrote:Another problem too of course is your going to be up all night just to catch us at 10-11pm est.



    Varg is the master of staying up late to play. Ask him for some tips 😀
  8. #8
    Sarge wrote:Varg is the master of staying up late to play. Ask him for some tips 😀


    Yeah I was thinking about him too. 🙂

    In the end its not so much IF I can play with u guys, but that I play in ur goood spirits. 😛

    I have to see how it is working and also get the feeling as if I will be back in Germany soon.
    Sick of them all on that frigging island.

    Oh and Doc: I am willing to spend up to 1 grant or around that. With the species u gave me and I printed them all out - ur recommendations on newegg, I thought I am good to go. I was reading stuff and also read the Steam survey - also very helpful. As soon as I have got the counterpart - what Dani, he is the nerd man - is going to offer me - I'll post it here.
  9. #9
    One grand, eh? That should get you a nice enough rig. I suppose you don't have a monitor. I have three monitors, and I've paid a total of $40 for them. I bought one at a pawn shop for $40. Second-hand CRT monitors are cheap, as everyone is upgrading to LCD monitors, and the old ones aren't in demand now. The other two I got for free, as I saw people taking them out to the garbage bin. They just threw them away, that's how little ppl care for the CRT monitors now. I've got two monitors hooked up (gives me a nice big desktop, lotta room for opening windows and programs) and one sitting in the closet as a backup.

    If you look around, you might get one cheap locally. You're going to be moving though, so an LCD monitor would be much better to travel with. . or maybe you could get a cheap CRT locally and just leave it behind when you move, and buy a nice LCD, or new CRT when you get to Germany. Something to think about.

    Let's talk about your operating system. I guess you're running Windows XP on your laptop. Do you have a separate Windows disk for installs, or do you have an install/recovery disk that came with your laptop? Does it have the name of the company that made your laptop on it? I'd be willing to bet you have an install/recovery disk made especially for your laptop, and you can't use it on anything else. If so, we can get you cheaper OEM Windows disk when we pick out the hardware, but that'll probably still be in the range of $100.

    It's been a couple months since we talk about your specs. That's a long time in computer terms. We should go over them again, see if they're all still available, and if you can get something better for the same price now. Also, you're going to need more parts than what we recommended. . .a DVD drive, a hard-drive, a case, a power supply. . .

  10. #10
    DocJon wrote:One grand, eh? That should get you a nice enough rig. I suppose you don't have a monitor. I have three monitors, and I've paid a total of $40 for them. I bought one at a pawn shop for $40. Second-hand CRT monitors are cheap, as everyone is upgrading to LCD monitors, and the old ones aren't in demand now. The other two I got for free, as I saw people taking them out to the garbage bin. They just threw them away, that's how little ppl care for the CRT monitors now. I've got two monitors hooked up (gives me a nice big desktop, lotta room for opening windows and programs) and one sitting in the closet as a backup.

    If you look around, you might get one cheap locally. You're going to be moving though, so an LCD monitor would be much better to travel with. . or maybe you could get a cheap CRT locally and just leave it behind when you move, and buy a nice LCD, or new CRT when you get to Germany. Something to think about.
    Yes, definitly true! Its a vulnerable item to travel with. Like to go with an LCD, better for the eyes, tho for here right now a second hand monitor should be fine
    Let's talk about your operating system. I guess you're running Windows XP on your laptop. Do you have a separate Windows disk for installs, or do you have an install/recovery disk that came with your laptop? Does it have the name of the company that made your laptop on it? I'd be willing to bet you have an install/recovery disk made especially for your laptop, and you can't use it on anything else. If so, we can get you cheaper OEM Windows disk when we pick out the hardware, but that'll probably still be in the range of $100.
    Its not my Laptop. I am not in the posession of any disk. It'll be better to buy it with the hardware.
    It's been a couple months since we talk about your specs. That's a long time in computer terms. We should go over them again, see if they're all still available, and if you can get something better for the same price now. Also, you're going to need more parts than what we recommended. . .a DVD drive, a hard-drive, a case, a power supply. . .a couple of month, r u sure, it feels like maybe 4 weeks or so. Whatever, its true, in computer terms time is running really fast, I know that.


    and these were the specs u gave me:
    Here are some of the parts I ordered this spring to repair/upgrade my machine:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817121024

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820134488


    My CPU is not offered there anymore, but this one is a slight upgrade:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115032

    My Motherboard isn't there anymore either, but this one is fairly cheap, and might be OK to use:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128358

    This motherboard is even cheaper:(But its no longer available)
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813130177
  11. #11
    Ok. I am thinking of sending Dani the specs above.
    He said he builds me exactly the PC as I want it.
    Said he can get me even the newest nvidia card.
    I said thats a little too much for the beginning and
    I will send him some specs and a price I like to go with.
    Think I can use the specs above. He will come back to me
    anyways afterwards. Doc what u say?
  12. #12
    Hang on for a couple days. Let me take a look at a few things. We're gonna need more than the above to build you a computer, and as I said earlier, the market changes quickly with computers.

    This is probably a bad time to be working on this. The slackers that hang out here do a lot of posting from work, so now that Christmas is almost here, they'll be with their families instead of posting 🙂

    Let me get the ball rolling, though. I'll add more stuff as I get to them.
    Prospective Motherboard:
    GIGABYTE GA-P31-ES3G - $65
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128356

    Prospective HD:
    Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $70
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136320


    First Edit:

    Prospective CD/DVD Burners:
    Pioneer 216DBK- $29. My drive. Seems OK.
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827129032

    Samsung SH-S223F-$25
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827151171

    HP DVD1060I- $29
    Comes with Nero 7. You'll need some CD/DVD burning software, and you probably don't have any. Same price as the Pioneer drive above. DVD/CD burners are SOOO cheap, I'd never recommend anyone get just a CD/DVD reader. Might as well have the future capability, even if you're not planning to use it now.
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827140031

    Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (32 bit) - $99
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16832116485

    If anyone has any thoughts, opinions, or other hardware to recommend, please speak up.
    We're going to need:
    • Operating System (probably Vista, probably OEM)
    • Computer case
    • Power Supply
    • Motherboard
    • CPU
    • RAM
    • Video Card
    • Hard Drive
    • CD/DVD Burner
    • Do we STILL need 3.5" floppies? I can't remember the last time I used one.
    • Monitor, though Saint may get that locally. We'll have to see how that plays out.


    Additionally:
    An inexpensive sound card, but I'm not sure how that works under VISTA. I've heard that sound cards might not be as helpful as under XP, and so on-board sound might be enough. I'll leave it to the folks around here that are more experienced with VISTA to help out with that.

    And probably a keyboard and mouse. As we look at the parts, we might have to change some to make sure there's enough money for everything. Saint said a Max of $1,000, but bear in mind shipping's might be higher than usual, so we have to allow for that.
  13. #13
    DocJon wrote:
  14. Operating System (probably Vista, probably OEM)
  15. Computer case
  16. Power Supply
  17. Motherboard
  18. CPU
  19. RAM
  20. Video Card
  21. Hard Drive
  22. CD/DVD Burner
  23. Do we STILL need 3.5" floppies? I can't remember the last time I used one.
  24. Monitor, though Saint may get that locally. We'll have to see how that plays out.

  25. I just bough Vista Homedeluxe SP1 Egghead $80, its @ 3btech for $89
    case, powersuppy, ram, hd, dvd burner are all much cheaper at 3btech.

    I'd just get the moto/cpu from egghead since 3btech carries stuff 6months old tech wise. They also have free shipping on everything, but I doubt to paradise 🙂
  26. #14
    lexx wrote:I just bough Vista Homedeluxe SP1 Egghead $80, its @ 3btech for $89
    case, powersuppy, ram, hd, dvd burner are all much cheaper at 3btech.

    I'd just get the moto/cpu from egghead since 3btech carries stuff 6months old tech wise. They also have free shipping on everything, but I doubt to paradise 🙂

    Do you mean NewEgg? Egghead is an old brick & mortar store that sold software and accessories. They're not still in business, are they? I looked for them awhile back, but didn't find anything.

  27. #15
    DocJon wrote:Do you mean NewEgg? Egghead is an old brick & mortar store that sold software and accessories. They're not still in business, are they? I looked for them awhile back, but didn't find anything.

    Crap, ya, good catch. Its one of those things that sticks with me probably because it was one of the first computer online stores. *NewEgg* I meant. 😉
  28. #16
    Doc?

    About one grant, this is what I meant for the PC to spent.

    Took it as normal that shipping goes apart. Its a long way.
    And assessories like keyboard, mouse and monitor also.

    I like what I see so far.
  29. #17
    saintchism wrote:Doc?

    About one grant, this is what I meant for the PC to spent.

    Took it as normal that shipping goes apart. Its a long way.
    And assessories like keyboard, mouse and monitor also.

    I like what I see so far.

    Good to hear. Even MORE money to play with.
  30. #18
    I'd appreciate someone double-checking the motherboard to see if anything seems lacking. Is there a compelling reason to put out more money for the P45 chipset over the P35? Is PCI-E 2.0 going to be a big deal for the next 4-5 years (potential lifespan of this rig)? I'm figuring on 1 or 2 GFX card upgrades being necessary, so that path has to be open.

    Also, anyone have GFX card suggestions? Once we narrow down the video card to 2-3 choices, we'll have an idea of what money we'll have left, and we can pick a CPU and an appropriate power supply.

    Lexx, Varg has used Newegg and felt he made out, price-wise, over buying in Europe, even with shipping. For simplicity's sake, I think we should try to stick with Newegg. For one thing, ordering multiple items from the same store is cheaper, shipping-wise, than spreading it out over multiple stores. For another thing, I'm not comfortable recommending pulls, refurbs, and OEM hardware for someone who isn't technically-minded and might not know the risks, or have extra cables/parts. I'd rather go the low-risk route, as returns and exchanges over the distances involved might involve a non-trivial amount of time and effort.

  31. #19
    Yah I agree to a point. Everything I've bought there has been OEM and I guess I know how to put it all together. Everything is brand new, ie the ram, hd and dvd, even powersupply all new in a box. If money is no object then order everything from Newegg, but they have a way of overpricing the extras. I like to squeeze a buck until it shirks. ;p

    For saints' purposes your probably 100% correct. Perhaps later for more accs' he can try them.

    A good card to buy right now is the 9800gt series. Same price as the 8800's were but your building upwards for DX10, plus it has physicx builtin via the drivers. I would NOT recommend SLI to anyone tho. I got the Asus 9800 gt/512 for $129 - $20 rebate from newegg a month ago, one of those one day sales. 2.0 should be fine for awhile as well.

    Saint if you want to connect nvideo to your bigLCD, there is a dvi-hdtv adapter in the box. I didn't see any diff from hdtv to vga on mine so I just used the vga out.

    As far as gaming goes, it didn't help my game any over the 7950 🙁

    The Vista I recommended is also an OEM version, soooo... beware of that too. I'll let you know after Christmas if there are any requirements. Its probably only 32bit as well.
  32. #20
    lexx wrote:A good card to buy right now is the 9800gt series. Same price as the 8800's were but your building upwards for DX10, plus it has physicx builtin via the drivers. I would NOT recommend SLI to anyone tho. I got the Asus 9800 gt/512 for $129 - $20 rebate from newegg a month ago, one of those one day sales. 2.0 should be fine for awhile as well.

    (...)


    The Vista I recommended is also an OEM version, soooo... beware of that too. I'll let you know after Christmas if there are any requirements. Its probably only 32bit as well.


    I think I could be happy with that Asus 9800gt/512 or 2.0 too.
    Like to go with a strong graphic card that I do not have to change that fast.

    Sweet of u Lexx, to give me ur recommendations. I really do apreciate it. Think that others can also take some advice from it. 🙂
  33. #21
    OK guys, NewEgg isn't going to work. Here's what they had to say in response to Saint's inquiries:
    Dear Customer,

    Thank you for contacting Newegg.

    Unfortunately we do not ship to Spain . Presently Newegg only ships orders within the and . Unfortunately we cannot make any exceptions under any circumstances because our internal system is not set-up to accommodate international orders at this time. Currently you must have a verifiable billing and shipping address within the in order for us to serve you. We also only accept orders paid by a credit or debit card issued and drawn from an American bank.

    If you have any further questions or concerns, please visit our FAQs page. If you still need assistance, please feel free to email me directly and I will be happy to assist you.

    Thank you,

    Wendy Yang


    Maybe Varg had an easier time of it because he's British.

    We haven't had much action in this thread. I expect that's because it's Christmas. I figure by Monday or Tuesday we'll be back to whatever the hell normal is around here, 🙂 and we'll get some suggestions and ideas flying again.

    We're going to need to find a new supplier, or maybe just see what Dell Europe is offering. Saint, we probably won't be much help finding a new place to purchase from. Do you think you can dig up any info? Where does the guy who's going to help you build the computer normally buy from?

  34. #22
    DocJon wrote:Do you think you can dig up any info? Where does the guy who's going to help you build the computer normally buy from?


    I dunno. Thing is he said nothing would be a problem. So we turn things around. Maybe I should post ma specs here and wait for opinions and/or experiences that ppl here r willing/able to give. How does that sound?

    As soon as I got infos on supplier, specifications i.e. I'll post it here.
  35. #23
    saintchism wrote:I dunno. Thing is he said nothing would be a problem. So we turn things around. Maybe I should post ma specs here and wait for opinions and/or experiences that ppl here r willing/able to give. How does that sound?

    As soon as I got infos on supplier, specifications i.e. I'll post it here.

    Perhaps google computer parts, suppliers, spain, etc. keywords. Sure as hell there is a spanish computer part store to buy from ;p

    You know the products and brands you want, the rest you should find in your country.

    I still think it would be better to just go to your local electronics store, ask for a Intel dualcore with 2gigs of ram, and have a 9800gt added by the store's geek squad. Surely for 1k Euros that should be easy.
  36. #25
    also check that cards benchmarks blows nvidia out the water
  37. #26
    lexx wrote:Perhaps google computer parts, suppliers, spain, etc. keywords. Sure as hell there is a spanish computer part store to buy from ;p

    You know the products and brands you want, the rest you should find in your country.

    I still think it would be better to just go to your local electronics store, ask for a Intel dualcore with 2gigs of ram, and have a 9800gt added by the store's geek squad. Surely for 1k Euros that should be easy.


    Sure as hell. Lexx i. Sure as hell.
    There are easier ways to do all that. I should get more information about the technic too, but I am unfortunately not a "theory" fanatic. When I read the specification of parts I forget about them very quick. I need to talk to ppl about those things IRL. That way it enters my neurons and stays a while longer, maybe even sticks to them, who knows. Like to meet ppl in real life rather too, normally. 🙂


    I do not know what u meant by 2.0 tho, but at least the graphic card is the one I will go with.
    The rest I leave up to my nerd. He gave me a considerable price and sm more specs I think I am happy with.
  38. #27
    saintchism wrote:Sure as hell. Lexx i. Sure as hell.
    There are easier ways to do all that. I should get more information about the technic too, but I am unfortunately not a "theory" fanatic. When I read the specification of parts I forget about them very quick. I need to talk to ppl about those things IRL. That way it enters my neurons and stays a while longer, maybe even sticks to them, who knows. Like to meet ppl in real life rather too, normally. 🙂


    I do not know what u meant by 2.0 tho, but at least the graphic card is the one I will go with.
    The rest I leave up to my nerd. He gave me a considerable price and sm more specs I think I am happy with.

    Np Saint. I was only saying if your guy doesn't come through, you could go the retail route and get it over with. Its really not that hard to get....
    Core2Dual processor, 2.2 or higher, 2.0 PCI-E 16x slot, 2gigs ram, 9800gt... Done! 🙂 Everything else like key/mouse/harddrive,dvd drive, psupply, case, monitor, and vista included, ready to activate and register, install COD4, and join us Thur nite 😉


    Impressive card Scrappy. How much would that be in Euros tho? 400? That would be close to half his budget. For everyday gaming and for 100 Euros he can add the 9800 which at least is proven.
  39. #28
    lexx wrote:Np Saint. I was only saying if your guy doesn't come through, you could go the retail route and get it over with. Its really not that hard to get....


    Yeah Lexx,

    but I know meee. Sure will have more fun when I have a, well, relation to the machine I am doing it with. U know. Its not like I am simply looking for fun. It has to stay interesting.
    The things u can buy r so easy to get and boring. ...
    That way, and I know its the harder way, I can learn something.

    And was'nt it u who said its anyways questionable if I can catch u guys and that it has smethin to do with the pings and the quality of the cable?! I am stuck on this friggin island here for now.

    & oh my steak is burning, wait ...no it was just a little fat. (mm nice sirloin steak).

    where was I?
    & I doubt that I'll start with COD4 - first thing that'll happen I already know. I probably get knifed with ma luck. 😀


    (...) Mmmh that was one good steak. 🙂
    Yeah I will go for the retail Dell PC, if the 2nd option is not working. For sure. One way or another...
  40. #29
    lexx wrote:Np Saint. I was only saying if your guy doesn't come through, you could go the retail route and get it over with. Its really not that hard to get....
    Core2Dual processor, 2.2 or higher, 2.0 PCI-E 16x slot, 2gigs ram, 9800gt... Done! 🙂 Everything else like key/mouse/harddrive,dvd drive, psupply, case, monitor, and vista included, ready to activate and register, install COD4, and join us Thur nite 😉


    Impressive card Scrappy. How much would that be in Euros tho? 400? That would be close to half his budget. For everyday gaming and for 100 Euros he can add the 9800 which at least is proven.


    My bad didnt see the part on budget definatley a no go then.
  41. #30
    Scrappy wrote:My bad didnt see the part on budget definatley a no go then.


    Still, very nice card. Think "my" nerd even mentioned it.

    And he gave me some more info:


    ASUS P5QL-E:(775)4xDDR2,PCIe,sATA2,sound7.1,GBLan,Firewire

    Intel Dual Core E5200 2x2,50GHz 775/800MHz/2Mb/Retail box

    Corsair DDR2 XMS2 2X1G 800Mhz

    Western Digital or Seagate 640Gb SATA2 7200rpm

    GIGABYTE PCIe Nvidia 9800GT OC 512M GV-N98TOC-512H

    Semitower GIGABYTE GZ-X5 Negra

    Power Supply Unit XILENCE 480Watt (PSU480XP)

    DVD±RW 20x SAMSUNG sATA Negra Bulk SH-S203D

    Total Price +/- Euro 625

    This configuration dosn't come with software (XP or Vista)


    Look the configuration I gave is the one more likely to run with all the available today on the market, the good thing about this is that I can get almost everything here so if any problem surface it can be solved relatively easy and fast!!! One more thing this sistem might be cheaper in the States but again if sny problem come up you are on your own with no help!!! I will speak to you soon and will decide how to do everything
    I have to run, bye bye for now..
  42. #31
    Looks good

    a few small opinions

    The motherboard looks really tight. the on board video heatsink is really close to where your vid card will be, you might have some trouble. Also SATA ports are right behind the pci, if you put in any longer pci cards you might have room issues. pic here

    Processor looks good. I am using the same ram it's great. Tower looks decent. DVD drive looks fine, I have run those.

    I don't know and can't find much about your PSU, the one caveat is be careful. This is where people screw up building their own machines, they underpower or buy cheap PSUs. This is the reason for alot of crashes and blue screens. I recently put an nvidia 9800gtx in my machine it requires ALOT of power. It seems the GT you are putting in is less power and space intensive, but this PSU wouldn't be able to handle the 9800gtx, so you might want to look into something a little more robust. I would make sure you have at least 2 separate rails (or one monster rail like Duck found) I would also look for one with 2-6pin atx connectors (your current supply only has one, and you vid card only requires 1 but it'lll be good in the future).
  43. #32
    Bubbaspanky wrote:I don't know and can't find much about your PSU, the one caveat is be careful. This is where people screw up building their own machines, they underpower or buy cheap PSUs. This is the reason for alot of crashes and blue screens. I recently put an nvidia 9800gtx in my machine it requires ALOT of power. It seems the GT you are putting in is less power and space intensive, but this PSU wouldn't be able to handle the 9800gtx, so you might want to look into something a little more robust. I would make sure you have at least 2 separate rails (or one monster rail like Duck found) I would also look for one with 2-6pin atx connectors (your current supply only has one, and you vid card only requires 1 but it'lll be good in the future).

    Thank u Bubba. I am glad I can post him your nicely stated objections. And he will be probably too. that is what came back to me right now


    The power supply you can find it here:
    http://www.xilence-power.com/
    just look under power supply units and it is a very well known german quality PSU and the most important it is that it has a 6 pin power cord for your nVidia 9800GT (very few PSU that come here to the islands have this feature...)
    About the customer service I can only tell you that no matter from which brand you buy you are pretty much on your own, they will not help you as you think, they will try to solve the problems on the phone (carefull here they ALWAYS GIVE A 902 support number which you have to PAY for) so don't expect big things from them, example I have a faulty DELL monitor with 3 years warranty and after 1 year of normal use the power on switch has broken down and from AUGUST I am still waiting for them to come and colect it for repairs!!!...
    So what I can tell you is simple I will assamble the PC for you and I will make a backup copy of your OS with all the applications that I install for you (I mean all that you need, WinRAR, Acrobat Reader, SUN Office packet, DirectX, Nero, XP Codec Pack all the Codecs for audio and video playback, CCleaner, XP-Antispy, Spyware Blaster, Video LAN Player, Live Messenger, Skype, µTorrent, Tweak UI, MS .NET v2.0, Nx Sensor for temperature monitoring, Benchmarking tools if you want like 3D MARK...etc),
    (I have to look up what exactly Benchmarking tools are and Skype and µTorrent, Tweak UI and if I am all going to need them)+

    I will download and install for you all the new drivers for you mainboard, graphic card, sound card, LAN card, I will download and update the Mb BIOS to the latest revision, will tune up the software for optimal functionality, then I will install Norton Ghost and I will make a copy of your system so if trouble occours you will be able to go back to your original setting without any problem.
    Sounds wise to me!

    That's about it and one more thing that we forgot to talk about and very very important ANTIVIRUS!!! You can buy on in the shop or I can get you one for less money!!! I can get you one of the 2 best at the moment Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 (antivirus, firewall, antispyware, antispam, etc the full package) or BitDefender Internet Security 2009 (same as the other one but with a few extras like GAME mode for online gamming, data encryption etc.) I am already fixed up with my AVG - think I´ll keep it.

    That's about it from me now, please let me know more less when do you think that you need the PC and what about the other things like monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, webcam if you need one, well think about all this and if you want call me and we can get together and have a coffee somwere and discuss about all this, I think that it will be easyer...
    Ciao
  44. #33
    The one thing I will say is this, the PSU seems low on connectors, now that may not be a big deal. The one thing I question and don't have alot of time right now to research. Your motherboard has the std 24 pin atx power connector (and your PSU supports that), however your Motherbaord also has a eatx 4 pin connector, sometimes you don't need to power these but I suspect you will. Your PSU doesn't seem to have a connector for that. (look at the picture I posted earlier, goto the overhead view the eatx is on the left hand edge about 1/3 up from the bottom, it's white.

    Look into that.
  45. #34
    Bubbaspanky wrote:The one thing I will say is this, the PSU seems low on connectors, now that may not be a big deal. The one thing I question and don't have alot of time right now to research. Your motherboard has the std 24 pin atx power connector (and your PSU supports that), however your Motherbaord also has a eatx 4 pin connector, sometimes you don't need to power these but I suspect you will. Your PSU doesn't seem to have a connector for that. (look at the picture I posted earlier, goto the overhead view the eatx is on the left hand edge about 1/3 up from the bottom, it's white.

    Look into that.


    Ok. Bubba I will check that out when I talk to Dani. More power that wourld be 1000 Watt or even 1200 Watt, that is like my hairdryer. This supply also comes with more connectors, you mean pins, no?! (two 6 pin atx connectors)

    Two seperate rails or one monster rail (not likely I am going to find that)

    And like you said before a motherboard which leaves more space for an eventually in the future build in larger/longer pci. Because the Sata ports are too close and does not leave enough space.

    And the video heat sink is too close to where the vid card will be build in too.

    I will insist on that.

    Only one thing what do you mean by "the one caveat is be careful"?That makes no sense to me.
    I don't know and can't find much about your PSU, the one caveat is be careful.
  46. #35
    Well, we can disregard the motherboard I posted earlier, as it doesn't have the 2.0 PCI-E video slot. See, I told you things change a lot in a few months, Saint. 🙂 I rebuilt my computer just six months ago, and 2.0 PCI-E wasn't big then. The only other motherboard I was looking at was this:

    ASUS P5Q SE PLUS LGA 775 Intel P45
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131347

    Similar to the P5QL-E mentioned upthread. It has the P45 chipset rather than the P43, but I think Bubba's cautions about the P5QL-E might just as well apply to the one I just posted. I think the SE PLUS has a bit more room above the graphics card.
  47. #36
    So what about this one then.
    I don't see enough space here either. 🤔

    ASUS P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel

    Sure I would need the more potent CPU to go with it.

    i7 920 Nehalem

    & the PSU had to be at least 1000 Watt.

    In a couple of hours I will meet Dani anyways in that italian coffee shop (small place, big LCD, blasting music equipment far too potent for that tiny space and lots of italian folk hanging around with their Laptops) and I'll see if there are any options in between.
  48. #37
    I am sure they will all work space wise, though they will be VERY VERY tight, and that can be ttroubelsome. I used to use ASUS exclusively, but they I ceased because of this type of thing.
  49. #38
    Bubbaspanky wrote:I am sure they will all work space wise, though they will be VERY VERY tight, and that can be ttroubelsome. I used to use ASUS exclusively, but they I ceased because of this type of thing.


    If it is so troublesome do you think it would be easier or would it make any difference to just "outsource" the problem and let Dell do it e.g. ?
  50. #39
    You will get a better computer cheaper to build yourself. Dell makes fine machines, but they are custom fit to their parts. I.e. the powersupply will be no bigger than what is needed for that machine as shipped, when you add a big videocard for gaming you will be passing or pushing up against powersupply limitations(then you try to upgrade that to find its a custom shape or size and maybe doesn't have a standard connector). Also many of their parts are not standard so you have to deal with that with each upgrade.

    I know some like to buy cheap off the shelf machines and throw in some ram and video cards to make them gaming rigs, but I think you would find those people have more computer issues than others.

    This isn't to say that you can't buy a good gaming rig from Dell, because you can, but it is not the $400 machine, it's the $1000 machine. You can build a custom rig much cheaper and with more upgradability and better parts.

    Personally because I have been building computers for 20 years, I would build my own, though about 5 years ago I bought a Dell that was rigged enough to do what I wanted.

    If I were in your shoes I might look at Gigabyte and MSI motherboards, those have been my favorite the last few years, they seem more stable and may give you some more room.

    if I find some spare time I will try to mock up a machine for you, but honestly to plan one well takes a lot of time and research. See what your buddy thinks, if he knows what he is doing hopefully you will be fine.
  51. #40
    If I were in your shoes I might look at Gigabyte and MSI motherboards, those have been my favorite the last few years, they seem more stable and may give you some more room.

    See what your buddy thinks, if he knows what he is doing hopefully you will be fine.


    I set my hopes in him.
    He's got a couple advantages:
    he is gaming
    and he is building rigs for years.

    & thanks for ur time, man. 🙂
    & I will probably if I got infos on the parts just go on posting them here.
  52. #41
    saintchism wrote:I set my hopes in him.
    He's got a couple advantages:
    he is gaming
    and he is building rigs for years.

    & thanks for ur time, man. 🙂
    & I will probably if I got infos on the parts just go on posting them here.


    That's not too bad an idea. Your buddy knows what's available there, and for how much. You can post the parts here and we can say if we see anything wrong.

    Don't forget to leave a little cash for a keyboard, mouse, speakers, and gaming headset with microphone. Probably $125 to $200 for the bunch. . .or more if you get real fancy with the speakers and keyboard. This is the sort of thing that ppl with desktop computers just carry over from one computer to the next, but laptop computer owners need to buy when they're switching.

    Mouse - $30 to $50 U.S. (I like the Logitech mice, they're always good. The Logitech G5 (the blue and black second edition) is what I have now, but the Logitech 510 and 518 are cheaper, and are good mice as well.)

    Keyboard - you can get one that works well for under $20 U.S. You could get a basic generic keyboard, or you could get fancy and get one with backlit keys, macro keys and volume/multimedia keys. The Logitech g15 a nice high-end keyboard, but it costs quite a bit more than the generic one. You're better off buying a decent mouse and getting a cheap keyboard if you have to compromise. Reasonably-well build cheap keyboards work fine, they just lack some bells and whistles.

    Speakers - This all depends on what you want out of them. Do you want to have a nice surround sound setup for games? Do you want a nice set for listening to music? Maybe you just want something cheap so you can hear Windows sound notifications. You have to decide what you want out of them for yourself.

    Assuming you're not going to go the cheap route, try to get a known brand name, or something well-reviewed/recommended. I have a nice 2.1 set that unfortunately aren't available anymore ( a subwoofer and 2 satellite speakers). I think you can get better quality for less money by going with a 2.1 set rather than a 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 set. The ones with more speakers give a nice surround sound effect, and some folks like them for gaming. Of course, then you have to set up the speakers all around your computer, and then you have all the wires, so you have to decide if that's something you want to deal with. I game with headphones on, so I just wanted a good set of speakers for playing music. You can use your speakers for years, for whatever computer you own, so keep that in mind.

    Headset - ($20-$35) I've had good luck with Plantronics headsets, and surprisingly BAD luck with Logitech headsets. The ones that have the band go behind your head stay there by pressure: I don't like those. The ones that have the band that rests on top of your head stays put more easily, and is more comfortable for me. This is the set I'm using now.

    If you need to save money, get a decent headset and a dirt-cheap set of speakers. The headset will serve when you want to hear something that sounds good, and the $20 speakers will serve their basic function. You can always get new speakers another time.
  53. #42
    Bubbaspanky wrote:You will get a better computer cheaper to build yourself. Dell makes fine machines, but they are custom fit to their parts.
    You can build a custom rig much cheaper and with more upgradability and better parts.

    Personally because I have been building computers for 20 years, I would build my own, though about 5 years ago I bought a Dell that was rigged enough to do what I wanted.

    If I were in your shoes I might look at Gigabyte and MSI motherboards, those have been my favorite the last few years, they seem more stable and may give you some more room.

    See what your buddy thinks, if he knows what he is doing hopefully you will be fine.


    Ok. Here is what I want to show you. Its about the graphic card, because anything else - Doc said is more or less getting build around it. And I won't make a lot of fuss about it in the moment. But as we are talking graphic card I think I have to change my opinion.
    Now I guess figures talk more than I can:

    ComputerBase - Test

    Now, my question would be: at a time - aprox. 1 year ago - when more and more ppl. changed from nvidia to ATI why did you do just the oposite? This is really disturbing me.
    ATI is cheaper, if you talk performance - price relation. Also it comes with a at least yearly update on the drivers. Nvidia is more expensive in comparison and does not provide updates on drivers ever. So it would be nice if anyone who changed from using ATI to Nvidia could give me a striking reason.

    Ok now here I found Benchmark result for Call of Duty World at War which states just the oposite - it is difficult to make ones mind up like that - but this for me again is a clear plus:

    test results

    & here is another site do some comparison:
    graphic card comparison
  54. #43
    First off benchmarks don't mean everything. The seeable performance difference is negligble most of the time. I think when comparing apples to apples, Nvidas are a touch cheaper.

    -Nvidia and ATI both update drivers monthly.
    -Nvidia does a better job of including newer games in their newest drivers, ATI is slower
    -ATI is now owned by AMD which turned alot of people off
    -Nvidia has done a better job of creating partnerships with game makers, so the game
    makers incorporate the newest Nvidia technology in their games.
    -Nvidias drivers are more streamlined, and have less install issues while ATI is more bloated
    and I started to find as time went on they caused more and more trouble each upgrade
    -Nvidia has SLI mode, which is well supported hardware wise, ATI has Crossfire, which I
    have never heard of anyone supporting.
    **** The true answer, while ATI has rested on its laurels, Nvidia has fought to be innovative and to claim the gamer market.

    Note: until 2 or 3 years ago I was the biggest ATI supporter out there. They used to simply be the best.
  55. #44
    ok. Man, this was really confusing for my neurons - plain to see when I try to understand the post I wrote. Hell, I just like to erase eveything I wrote that evening. It sounds so confused and crappy.
    I did not imagine it half as complicated as it is. 🙂

    So now at least I now the brand of the Graphic Card I want to go with.
    The one with the best price/performance ratio is out of stock tho. (8800GT)

    I wait for my ex colleague to come up with another proposal.
  56. #45
    saintchism wrote:The one with the best price/performance ratio is out of stock tho. (8800GT)

    Note: until 2 or 3 years ago I was the biggest ATI supporter out there. They used to simply be the best.

    I wait for my ex colleague to come up with another proposal.

    Bubba is spot on. I also used to be ATI only until the 8xxx series came out.

    the 9800gt is the same as the 8800 except you can have dx10 plus it has physicx with the software drivers. 8800's are last years product.
  57. #46
    To further muddy the waters 🙂

    Tom's Hardware Guide-November 2008 "best video card for the money". I particularly like the "Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart", as it lets ppl who don't have all the specs memorized to see at a glance how the various cards roughly compare.
    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-g...-card,2064.html

    Cards around $200, not sure if it's US or Canadian, but they're close now anyway.
    http://www.gamespot.com/features/6202494/i...tml?sid=6202494

    A great big GeForce 9800 GT Video Card Roundup:
    http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardw...byte-palit.html
  58. #47
    DocJon wrote:To further muddy the waters 🙂

    Tom's Hardware Guide-November 2008 "best video card for the money". I particularly like the "Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart", as it lets ppl who don't have all the specs memorized to see at a glance how the various cards roughly compare.
    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-g...-card,2064.html

    Cards around $200, not sure if it's US or Canadian, but they're close now anyway.
    http://www.gamespot.com/features/6202494/i...tml?sid=6202494

    A great big GeForce 9800 GT Video Card Roundup:
    http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardw...byte-palit.html


    After looking through these links I feel my decision wants to leave its "birth channel". 🙂
    Especially the last review was entertaining to read, so very well written and informative.
    Nicely choosen, Doc. 🙂

    Lexx 🙂 recommended the 9800 GT to ppl here in this thread earlier. It appealed to me directly as a good option. (After reading the Hoenig's review tho I really tend to go for the GTX+ card.)

    Bubba :=) provided me with some really robust "foundation" info about the two main concurrents ATi/AMD and Nvidia.

    Lost my standing tho when talking to my ex colleague cuz I did not gather sufficient info detail to back up my point of view. 🙁 After going through these articles now he will have to expect my next "tackle". 🙂

    Thanks for your guys patients ?! and effort and time spent etc. etc. etc.
  59. #48
    So here I am again. All set up. Exited like a child about my new rig.
    In the end I grew more and more impatient 😴 but now I am nothing but exited to try this rig.
    I thought it would be nicer to play with it, but it is even nicer than I imagined it to be, hell yeah 🤘

    Ended up with lots of ASUS components

    an ASUS EN 7800 GT
    on an ASUS P5KPL/1600 motherboard
    ASUS Powersupply 650 Watts.
    ASUS LCD VW 193D-Splendid
    Logitech keyboard 600
    Logitech speakers

    Alltogether I spent Euros 825,00.

    Still have to make quite a few adjustments to feel |home| tho.
    Everything feels different.

    In Half Life I was falling off ladders, because of that. I swear. 🤣
    Now I can listen to the radio and play. Its great.

    First time I played WoW today.Turned of the music tho.

    Fun game to play if I understand all the comands right.
    Would have loved to take a video of the first 3 or 4 starts I did. 🤦 Just for fun's sake and to fall of the chair when watching the recording months later. 😄

    I really feel completely lucky today!!!
    Thank you guys but especially Doc and then Bubba and also Lexx and Sarge for helping me out and keeping up my faith.
  60. #49
    saintchism wrote:So here I am again. All set up. Exited like a child about my new rig.
    In the end I grew more and more impatient 😴 but now I am nothing but exited to try this rig.
    I thought it would be nicer to play with it, but it is even nicer than I imagined it to be, hell yeah 🤘

    Ended up with lots of ASUS components

    an ASUS EN 7800 GT
    on an ASUS P5KPL/1600 motherboard
    ASUS Powersupply 650 Watts.
    ASUS LCD VW 193D-Splendid
    Logitech keyboard 600
    Logitech speakers

    Alltogether I spent Euros 825,00.

    Still have to make quite a few adjustments to feel |home| tho.
    Everything feels different.

    In Half Life I was falling off ladders, because of that. I swear. 🤣
    Now I can listen to the radio and play. Its great.

    First time I played WoW today.Turned of the music tho.

    Fun game to play if I understand all the comands right.
    Would have loved to take a video of the first 3 or 4 starts I did. 🤦 Just for fun's sake and to fall of the chair when watching the recording months later. 😄

    I really feel completely lucky today!!!
    Thank you guys but especially Doc and then Bubba and also Lexx and Sarge for helping me out and keeping up my faith.

    There's nothing like that new computer feeling. The greater the upgrade, the greater the feeling!

    Enjoy, and ask questions if you have them.

  61. #50
    DocJon wrote:There's nothing like that new computer feeling. The greater the upgrade, the greater the feeling!

    If you say so Doc. My system went fubar this morning. At least Saint's thread allowed me to do some research and make a quick order. Can't do crap on a laptop, plus there goes a week without gaming, omg 🙂

    I ordered MSI this time. I've had 2 Gigabytes go bad. The MSI I bought last year is rock solid. Also I thought it best to get the PCI-e 2.0 slot, plus this board will use my 800 ram.
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813130185

    Since I didn't see any sense in a Quad core, I settled for the Wolfendale chip
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115132

    I just hope my 9800 is ok. It was hot as hell when I opened the case. Last couple of days the video/sound was just quiting. It was acting like going into standby, but wouldn't resume. Hit reset and it would reboot fine for a few hours, then repeat. Took the cover off, pulled the video card, powered back on to check the case and cpu fans and the damn thing booted into windows with a vid card. That's a new one on me. Unplugged it and popped in a diff vid card and it wouldn't boot. Swapped in a new power supply, still wouldn't boot.

    I'm guessing its a motherboard issue now but I sure as hell didn't want another AMD. Guess I'll find out in a few days.

    ... and yah Atomm, I remembered to login to newegg from the website 🙂
  62. #51
    saintchism wrote:an ASUS EN 7800 GT

    Did you really get a 7800gt or was that a typo? Actually its still a pretty good card and I think it even has 3.0 shaders, but its nowhere near a 9800gt tho.

    In any case, congrats on finally getting her built 🙂
  63. #52
    lexx wrote:Did you really get a 7800gt or was that a typo? Actually its still a pretty good card and I think it even has 3.0 shaders, but its nowhere near a 9800gt tho.

    In any case, congrats on finally getting her built 🙂


    Thank you.

    Too bad what happened to your PC though. A real pita.
    Due to excessive use, huh 😉

    Well yes, it is the 7800 and has 3.0 shaders. Small enough for the motherboard(due to Bubbas expertise). And with that integrated sound card I got in the ASUS motherboard I am not exspecting to run into any of the problems sound wise any time soon.

    The thing runs in CoD World at War at 40 degrees Celsius.
    The powersupply is ASUS too, 650 Watt and with THAT graphics card it runs cool.
    A priority for me that this thing is stabile, because I need to practise and have fun.
    In the summer we have temperatures up to 42 degrees Celsius, which is seldom, but happens and I am not running any AC. Will change that probably tho. 🙂
  64. #53
    I just replaced my 7800GTX, it'll serve you well.
  65. #54
    lexx wrote:If you say so Doc.

    Oh, I say so, and so will you in a week. you will be surprised the difference a dual-core will make. You had a single core before, right?


    lexx wrote:My system went fubar this morning. At least Saint's thread allowed me to do some research and make a quick order. Can't do crap on a laptop, plus there goes a week without gaming, omg 🙂

    I ordered MSI this time. I've had 2 Gigabytes go bad. The MSI I bought last year is rock solid. Also I thought it best to get the PCI-e 2.0 slot, plus this board will use my 800 ram.
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813130185

    Since I didn't see any sense in a Quad core, I settled for the Wolfendale chip
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115132

    I just hope my 9800 is ok. It was hot as hell when I opened the case. Last couple of days the video/sound was just quiting. It was acting like going into standby, but wouldn't resume. Hit reset and it would reboot fine for a few hours, then repeat. Took the cover off, pulled the video card, powered back on to check the case and cpu fans and the damn thing booted into windows with a vid card. That's a new one on me. Unplugged it and popped in a diff vid card and it wouldn't boot. Swapped in a new power supply, still wouldn't boot.

    I'm guessing its a motherboard issue now but I sure as hell didn't want another AMD. Guess I'll find out in a few days.

    ... and yah Atomm, I remembered to login to newegg from the website 🙂


    The MSI board that went sailing out the window was rock-steady for me. 🙂 Never had a single problem with it. I thought I read that MSI is giving up the motherboard business in a couple years, but I can't find the info now, so I could be wrong.

  66. #55
    DocJon wrote:The MSI board that went sailing out the window was rock-steady for me. 🙂 Never had a single problem with it.

    Karma 🙂
  67. #56
    Newegg email daily special. Could be your first upgrade Saint. 🙂

    EVGA GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card
    $124.99
    Rated 5 eggs.
    Your Price: $114.99
    With Promo Code
    EMCABBDCK
    $99.99 After $15.00 Mail-In Rebate

    Sheesh, unbelievable price. Got any money Doc?
  68. #57
    lexx wrote:Newegg email daily special. Could be your first upgrade Saint. 🙂

    EVGA GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card
    $124.99
    Rated 5 eggs.
    Your Price: $114.99
    With Promo Code
    EMCABBDCK
    $99.99 After $15.00 Mail-In Rebate

    Sheesh, unbelievable price. Got any money Doc?

    My system is running very well for me, and I didn't get a motherboard with PCI express 2.0, so I'll pass. It's always great to see the price of hardware falling, though.

    You didn't answer my question upthread. Are you upgrading from a single-core?
  69. #58
    DocJon wrote:My system is running very well for me, and I didn't get a motherboard with PCI express 2.0, so I'll pass. It's always great to see the price of hardware falling, though.

    You didn't answer my question upthread. Are you upgrading from a single-core?

    Er, mine worked very well with just the PCIx 16. 2.0 isn't needed.

    No, I had a AM2 dualcore 2.4 which never worked right so I decided to go Core2duo this time.

    Sometimes I think its so insane worrying about motherboard upgrade ability. I don't think I ever upgraded a moto other than add more ram. However after reading the MSI webpage specs, I'm not too sure my ram will be compatible. I also ordered another MSI AM2 board so the chip doesn't go to waste anyways. At least most of my upgrades trickle down to the other 4 in the house ;p

    One more day.... gads I hate using this older one 🙂
  70. #59
    lexx wrote:Er, mine worked very well with just the PCIx 16. 2.0 isn't needed.


    Hmm. Well, I got that going for me anyway 🙂


    lexx wrote:I also ordered another MSI AM2 board so the chip doesn't go to waste anyways. At least most of my upgrades trickle down to the other 4 in the house ;p

    One more day.... gads I hate using this older one 🙂

    There IS that. You can upgrade your computer when you need to, and the other folks in the house are happy because their computers get better too!
  71. #60
    Well my new board and cpu arrived at noon, and I had it built by 2pm. I gotta admit, to connect all those tiny single wires for front usb, speaker/mic, temp monitor, system switches, etc, just about drove me nuts. I think Saint would have fainted there ;p

    Now get this crap. I plugged it in and powered it up. Forget that it was a VIA/AM2 chipset before and the new one is Intel/core2duo, the damn thing booted straight into windows and requested the motherboard drivers! I've never been that lucky before. Usually it gets half way and blue screens'.

    From 3dmark the Am2 2.4 marked 8700. This one is marking out at 10742. Video card is still overheating tho. I installed the asus util for it and running fan at full speed but it keeps saying I need to replace the fan. WTF?

    Its at 199F. I have to shutdown and do some more investigating.
  72. #61
    lexx wrote:Well my new board and cpu arrived at noon, and I had it built by 2pm. I gotta admit, to connect all those tiny single wires for front usb, speaker/mic, temp monitor, system switches, etc, just about drove me nuts. I think Saint would have fainted there ;p

    Now get this crap. I plugged it in and powered it up. Forget that it was a VIA/AM2 chipset before and the new one is Intel/core2duo, the damn thing booted straight into windows and requested the motherboard drivers! I've never been that lucky before. Usually it gets half way and blue screens'.

    From 3dmark the Am2 2.4 marked 8700. This one is marking out at 10742. Video card is still overheating tho. I installed the asus util for it and running fan at full speed but it keeps saying I need to replace the fan. WTF?

    Its at 199F. I have to shutdown and do some more investigating.


    Poor Lexxi, I will think of you tho, that probably won´t do nothing, but still.
    Oh, oh I also think you were lucky, that for sure. 🙂

    You are right about one thing: All this IT stuff has probably the same weird impact on me as America must have had to Vasco da Gama. 🙂
    Ref. to me fainting tho: I don´t want to imagine any of you guys seeing what I have to see at work sometimes. I can tell you one thing: I am not an easy "fainter" type.
  73. #62
    lexx wrote:Well my new board and cpu arrived at noon, and I had it built by 2pm. I gotta admit, to connect all those tiny single wires for front usb, speaker/mic, temp monitor, system switches, etc, just about drove me nuts. I think Saint would have fainted there ;p

    Now get this crap. I plugged it in and powered it up. Forget that it was a VIA/AM2 chipset before and the new one is Intel/core2duo, the damn thing booted straight into windows and requested the motherboard drivers! I've never been that lucky before. Usually it gets half way and blue screens'.

    From 3dmark the Am2 2.4 marked 8700. This one is marking out at 10742. Video card is still overheating tho. I installed the asus util for it and running fan at full speed but it keeps saying I need to replace the fan. WTF?

    Its at 199F. I have to shutdown and do some more investigating.

    This isn't any sort of guarantee, but often times those built in temp sensors are way off. I never trust them for anything. Shut it down and wave you hand or a handheld thermometer over it and see how hot it is. If you are real real brave touch it, though you can really hurt yourself.
  74. #63
    Bubbaspanky wrote:This isn't any sort of guarantee, but often times those built in temp sensors are way off. I never trust them for anything. Shut it down and wave you hand or a handheld thermometer over it and see how hot it is. If you are real real brave touch it, though you can really hurt yourself.

    I was brave, I touched it. Ouch. Fan is spinning, I even reloaded the asus utils and set the fan to high. Rebooted then ran the benchmark to heat it up, and it went right to hot. Previously it was just turning off. I'm afraid its no good. My luck of course is I never register crap or keep receipts.

    I put a 110v fan under it for a few minutes. It cooled down from 160 and leveled off to 140 or so which is still in the red zone. Damn 🙂 I think it killed the motherboard and there's no way I'm going to chance losing this one.

    ...and it was just on sale YesterDay. Oh well, I'll use the 7950 until I get this sorted out. Surely an Aztez 550w powersupply isn't the culprit is it? Only other thing I can peg it on. It has 2 12v rails, 2 six, 2 eight, PCI-E connectors at that. I thought for sure it would power SLI's.

    Karma 🙂
  75. #64
    Maybe the problem is a defect heatsink. But for me it sounds like something directly connected to the graphics card or that area.

    How are you doing, Lexx? Shall I ask somebody for help?
    Don´t get hurt again. Especially the hands are so delicate things (& and you gonna need them for gaming and stuff for sure)
  76. #65
    Nahh Saint, the heatsink and fan on that sucker is bigger than my CPU fan. I'll sooner or later get around to looking for reg cards and/or emails and see if I can send it anywhere for repair.

    Probably easier to just buy another one 🙂 I'll keep a lookout for another one at $99. When my board arrived yesterday they had increased the bus speed from 1066 to 1600 so I ordered 4 gigs of faster ram for it. Nice board and the 8 Sata ports are nice.

    No worries about the hands, they are case hardened from contracting. ;p
  77. #66
    Strange shipping from NewEgg. I ordered ram via free UPS shipping. UPS decided to hand it over to DHL in NJ which shipped it to KY. In KY DHL decided to give it to the USPS to mail back north to PA.

    What marons 🙂
  78. #67
    Well another good reason to buy from Newegg. They keep track of your purchases as long as they are in warranty. I logged in and submitted a RMA for my video card.. cool. Then I was stupid enough to buy the UPS label. Ughh, instead of printing it they mail it to you which of course will take more days. In any case 11 bucks to return. Not too shabby.

    edit, received the label in email after it was paid for, cool. Now to just visit UPS to drop it off.
  79. #68
    It seems to be a good service at Newegg normally - acceptions are always a confirmation of the rule - sit happens.

    Ughh, instead of printing it they mail it to you which of course will take more days. In any case 11 bucks to return. Not too shabby.

    edit, received the label in email after it was paid for, cool. Now to just visit UPS to drop it off.

    Sounds good to me. 🙂


    I am w a i t i n g too.

    (guess even have to wait minimum 3 times as long as you will have to, Lexxi)
    For my mouse. Until my mouse will arrive I am not willing to spend too many hours with games. It is not possible to have real fun with a tiny, light mouse build for a laptop.
  80. #69
    lexx wrote:Strange shipping from NewEgg. I ordered ram via free UPS shipping. UPS decided to hand it over to DHL in NJ which shipped it to KY. In KY DHL decided to give it to the USPS to mail back north to PA.

    What marons 🙂

    Well, my purchases fly from the West Coast to the East Coast, then travel a few hundred miles west again. Not as crazy as what they did above, but close 🙂