[Reanan-Marie Olsen]

Originally by Powerslide
LET'S MAKE THIS WORK PEOPLE!

Okay, now as anyone could see there are HUNDREDS of tech threads floating around in CD - ranging from questions about graphics hardware, to questions about pricier graphics hardware and other tech such as monitors, hard drives and Processors to announcement threads of new technology and more. (I accede - I'm not being very eloquent here)

Any questions you have, tech news or ANYTHING related to buying/selling/information/announcements of new hardware should go here.

For example, if you come to the forums to ask "What is the better graphics hardware" or "What sort of RAM should I put in my PC?" then it should go here - I'm a little hazy, I know - but please keep all those graphics card and tech questions to one thread! Please!
So here's the summary, all:

• Announcements and queries on new or unreleased tech
  
• Benchmarks and results of hardware/discussion
  
• Questions on what sort of hardware you need/want for your machine
  
• Questions about existing tech and/or function
  
• Pricing and recommendations

Should be kept to THIS THREAD.

This has been A-okayed by CCNA for all who were wondering - it's up to you to stop filling CD with the same topics again and again that ask what the most powerful card in existence is so you can (not) buy it.

If you feel you have a question or can answer one - please feel free to do so.


Thanks all.
Adding more links shortly, thank you for your patience.

(Threads 1-85 have been all pruned, may they rest in peace)

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1079401-the-community-tech-thread-%2386/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1084024-the-community-tech-thread-no-87/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1090141-the-community-tech-thread-no-88/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1094900-the-community-tech-thread-no-89/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102258-the-community-tech-thread-no-90/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1108118-the-community-tech-thread-no-91/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1112884-the-community-tech-thread-no-92/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1118559-the-community-tech-thread-no-93/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1145193-the-community-tech-thread-no-94/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1153130-the-community-tech-thread-no-95/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1160717-the-community-tech-thread-no-96/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1167952-the-community-tech-thread-no-97/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1176772-the-community-tech-thread-no-98/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1180239-the-community-tech-thread-no-99/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1188969-the-community-tech-thread-no-100/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1199194-the-community-tech-thread-no-101/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1207079-the-community-tech-thread-no-102/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1217232-the-community-tech-thread-no-103/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1224422-the-community-tech-thread-no-104/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1227492-the-community-tech-thread-no-104/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1228926-the-community-tech-thread-no-106/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1233177-the-community-tech-thread-no-107/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1241366-the-community-tech-thread-no-108/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1247846-the-community-tech-thread-no-109/
http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1297566-the-community-tech-thread-no-110/


Do I also have to put a big glowing neon sign to this in my signature? THERE ARE TOO MANY TECH THREADS - THIS IS NOT A FORUM FOR YOUR TECH WOES!

But we will gladly help you anyway. [img]http://www.gamesas.com/images/smilie/wink.gif[/img]

Honour list:
Nottheking
Lord Athanar (SUPER-PINK!)
Insaneturbo13
Anothercanadian
Tig Ol' Bitties (Moderator)
Dogsbody
CCNA (Moderator)
Níeh?ggr
wolfpup
Wierd
Softnerd
wingus
DEFRON
Qwaxalot
iGuess
Starforce9
Sivartus


Oh and PLEASE, if you want us to "Build" you a PC, please indicate the following:
1.) your budget in your country's currency
2.) what country you reside if not listed in your avatar area
3.) pre-assembled PC? ...or can you build your own?
4.) what is needed other than the PC tower? Monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, Windows OS disc? All these can jack up the price.
5.) product preferences, preferred seller, and intended aim

but please, no "I want teh superererest Peecee evar1!!!!11!1", because really, only Bill Gates has that much moolah.


And, speaking of building your own PC, two sets of good how-to videos from Newegg:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok&feature=related

Thanks to SpankyTheElf for finding these additional ones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CStOC0hET8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3buj5cIh2Bs&feature=related



Other useful links

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/983941-a-freeware-guide/page__p__14225246__fromsearch__1#entry14225246
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2
http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/502403-graphics-card-ranking-5th-time-last.html
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/articles.php?articleid=132
http://www.memtest86.com/
http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/
http://entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm
http://www.irfanview.com/
http://www.knoppix.org/
http://www.jonnyguru.com/
http://www.overclock.net/power-supplies/183810-faq-recommended-power-supplies.html
http://www.overclock.net/power-supplies/715889-psu-articles.html#post9110838
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/
http://tftcentral.co.uk/
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark06/
http://www.fraps.com/
http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1&front_id=12

[Patrick Gordon]

I have this case: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811146068

And the CPU & Motherboard cobo:

CPU http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115072

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.co...82E16813131703R I see that revision 3.1 is out now, mine is revision 3.0.

They were a combo pack when I got them.

On my original post the ones that say Done are what I have now only.

Link to my original Post: http://forums.bethso...0#entry18499180

Those selections are still pretty good as is. THe holidays just ended, so PC component deals are a bit lackluster right now. Keep an eye out for AMD's 7-series and see how it fairs if you haven't bought a card yet.

I have one of these (except it has a nVidia 8400 in) and need more RAM for it. I assume any 1GB stick would work fine? Is there any major disadvantage with going for very cheap RAM (Like ￡8 - ￡12). The only games I play are for things like HL2 and Company of Heroes. The aditional RAM is mainly for Chrome + Flash (Which seem to eat up a lot of memory ) and compiling larger programs. I assume power wouldn't be a problem with just another stick of RAM?

Also, I have another computer (parents one) that needs a new DVD-RW drive as the current one no longer reads DVDs for some reason. It doesn't need to be anything special. Anything that I should be awear of price wise or generally (brands to avoid)? i.e. I saw some drives on Amazon for ~￡12 which I was wondering if they were too cheap? Or just get anything with good reviews that works?

Last but not least, my Sister wants a new computer capable of playing Skyrim. In the budget of ￡400 - ￡600 is there a huge amount of difference between buying a prebuilt (and putting a GPU in or something) and building it yourself? (This is in the planning phase. IDK when she will have the money). I seem to remember Tig saying something about how there wasn't that much different. Also, my parents were a bit worried about warranties. (I don't know how warranties work on a computer at all)

For the RAM, I highly suggest you find out exactly what speed RAM the existing sticks are and also the timings. You can do this with CPU-Z:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Download the program, run it, go to the memory tab and there will be lots of info similar to this:
http://www.cpuid.com/medias/images/en/softwares-cpuz-04.jpg

Do you know how many sticks are in the system right now? Do you know how much RAM is in the system?

Should gather all of this info before buying anything. The thing is that you should try to match the RAM you buy to the existing ones in the system as close as possible to avoid compatibility issues. That means speed and timings. And if dual channel is to be maintain, should keep the capacities the same. We'll take a deeper look when you have the info.



For the DVD drive, these days Asus makes excellent drives. I have used 10 of their drives over the course of 3 years for my own builds and others...not a single problem at all. Samsung and LG have alright drives too, but Asus is my first choice these days for DVD drives. Go for a SATA version if this PC isn't too old to have one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204



Getting closer to ￡500-￡600, you can see more of a difference between prebuilt and DIY. Depends really on where you shop in the UK. But building yourself will always be more beneficial component seletion wise. If you decide to go prebuilt, Chillblast is a great place in the UK to get one:
http://www.chillblast.com/Systems-less-than-L750/

But let's see when that money comes through...things may be cheaper then. No point really in asking now.

[Sarah Edmunds]

I'm having a small issue here. I"m not sure this is the right place to ask, but I will anyways.

I can't seem to run .jar files. I'm trying to install a modpack for Minecraft called Technic, however when I double click on the installer nothing happens.

I've tried using a .bat file to go around this, but that failed also.


For reference my OS is Win 7 64x.

Any help is appreciated.

[Philip Rua]

I'm having a small issue here. I"m not sure this is the right place to ask, but I will anyways.

I can't seem to run .jar files. I'm trying to install a modpack for Minecraft called Technic, however when I double click on the installer nothing happens.

I've tried using a .bat file to go around this, but that failed also.


For reference my OS is Win 7 64x.

Any help is appreciated.

Do you have Java installed? 64-bit version or the 32-bit version?

[Symone Velez]

Do you have Java installed?

Yes I have java installed. I've even tried reinstalling it, but had no luck with that.

64x version.

[Marlo Stanfield]

Yes I have java installed. I've even tried reinstalling it, but had no luck with that.

64x version.

The 64-bit version of Java is buggy in my experience. Even Oracle recommends installing both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Java on 64-bit computers for full compatibility. Install the 32-bit version as well.

[Liv Brown]

That didn't help either.

[Ana Torrecilla Cabeza]

I'm having a small issue here. I"m not sure this is the right place to ask, but I will anyways.

I can't seem to run .jar files. I'm trying to install a modpack for Minecraft called Technic, however when I double click on the installer nothing happens.

I've tried using a .bat file to go around this, but that failed also.


For reference my OS is Win 7 64x.

Any help is appreciated.

Try asking in the Minecraft thread. I don't know why you're double clicking a jar file, since as far as I know you're supposed to open the minecraft.jar in WinRAR (or other archive program) and insert the mod files manually.

[Laura]

Try asking in the Minecraft thread. I don't know why you're double clicking a jar file, since as far as I know you're supposed to open the minecraft.jar in WinRAR (or other archive program) and insert the mod files manually.

This .jar is actually an installer for the mods.

[Melis Hristina]

For the RAM, I highly suggest you find out exactly what speed RAM the existing sticks are and also the timings. You can do this with CPU-Z:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Download the program, run it, go to the memory tab and there will be lots of info similar to this:
http://www.cpuid.com/medias/images/en/softwares-cpuz-04.jpg

Do you know how many sticks are in the system right now? Do you know how much RAM is in the system?

Should gather all of this info before buying anything. The thing is that you should try to match the RAM you buy to the existing ones in the system as close as possible to avoid compatibility issues. That means speed and timings. And if dual channel is to be maintain, should keep the capacities the same. We'll take a deeper look when you have the info.

There are two sticks, so I would assume 512 each. The CPU-Z program gives: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/35/memgn.png/

lshw gives:

H/W path	  Device	 Class	   Description================================================/0/1					 memory	  128KiB BIOS/0/8/e				   memory	  128KiB L1 cache/0/8/f				   memory	  1MiB L2 cache/0/2c					memory	  1GiB System Memory/0/2c/0				  memory	  DIMM Synchronous [empty]/0/2c/1				  memory	  DIMM Synchronous [empty]/0/2c/2				  memory	  512MiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)/0/2c/3				  memory	  512MiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)...

For the DVD drive, these days Asus makes excellent drives. I have used 10 of their drives over the course of 3 years for my own builds and others...not a single problem at all. Samsung and LG have alright drives too, but Asus is my first choice these days for DVD drives. Go for a SATA version if this PC isn't too old to have one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Cheers, I will pass on the recommendations

Getting closer to ￡500-￡600, you can see more of a difference between prebuilt and DIY. Depends really on where you shop in the UK. But building yourself will always be more beneficial component seletion wise. If you decide to go prebuilt, Chillblast is a great place in the UK to get one:
http://www.chillblast.com/Systems-less-than-L750/

But let's see when that money comes through...things may be cheaper then. No point really in asking now.

Ok. Cheers. The reason why I was asking is that I am not sure when nearer the time will be and it may be semi parent funded. (So it could be fairly soon, or it could be 6 months/a years time)

[Claire Vaux]

There are two sticks, so I would assume 512 each. The CPU-Z program gives: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/35/memgn.png/

Looks like DDR2 533 sticks being run at DDR2 400 ratio. With the timings info there, these sticks look like they should work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144157

Would give you 3GB of total memory and still maintain dual channel.

[Stephanie Valentine]

Looks like DDR2 533 sticks being run at DDR2 400 ratio. With the timings info there, these sticks look like they should work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144157

Would give you 3GB of total memory and still maintain dual channel.

Cheers. So as long as it is 240 pin and DDR2 533Mhz, PC24200 and there are two sticks then it should work (given that I am in the Uk I need to find something other than newegg)

For example, would two of these work: http://www.ebuyer.com/64183-kingston-1gb-ddr2-memory-cheap-at-ebuyer-kvr533d2n4-1g

[Hazel Sian ogden]

I recently got a new GTX 560 ti for an upgrade from my GTX 260 black editon and I am noticing that I am getting fluctuating framerates. I ran a 3dMark and the first test seemed to be all over the place. I got a minimum of 22 fps and a max of 92 fps. With my GTX 260, it would stay solid at about 20-40 fps. should this be expected from the card or is this something unusual?

[Alessandra Botham]

I have a question, how much would it cost me to get a new computer that would run Skyrim on Ultra. I'm looking at around $1,000 to $2,000 dollar budget.

[Laura-Lee Gerwing]

Cheers. So as long as it is 240 pin and DDR2 533Mhz, PC24200 and there are two sticks then it should work (given that I am in the Uk I need to find something other than newegg)

For example, would two of these work: http://www.ebuyer.com/64183-kingston-1gb-ddr2-memory-cheap-at-ebuyer-kvr533d2n4-1g

Yes, those would, but might as well get the kit:
http://www.ebuyer.com/64178-kingston-2gb-ddr2-memory-cheap-at-ebuyer-kvr533d2n4k2-2g

I recently got a new GTX 560 ti for an upgrade from my GTX 260 black editon and I am noticing that I am getting fluctuating framerates. I ran a 3dMark and the first test seemed to be all over the place. I got a minimum of 22 fps and a max of 92 fps. With my GTX 260, it would stay solid at about 20-40 fps. should this be expected from the card or is this something unusual?

What processor? And which portion of the test? 3DMark does test several areas. Kind of wonder if your CPU might be holding anything back.

I have a question, how much would it cost me to get a new computer that would run Skyrim on Ultra. I'm looking at around $1,000 to $2,000 dollar budget.

to run Skyrim on ultra, $1K would probably do...should really narrow that budget down though. $1K to $2K is a wide range. Answer these questions:

1.) your budget in your country's currency
2.) what country you reside if not listed in your avatar area
3.) pre-assembled PC? ...or can you build your own?
4.) what is needed other than the PC tower? Monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, Windows OS disc? All these can jack up the price.

[Philip Lyon]

I have $1740 Australian dollars. I would like to build my own PC within this budget for gaming only. The best that my money can afford. If that isn't enough to build a decent (by decent I mean it can run Fallout GOTY and Fallout New Vegas flawlessly) gaming computer then is there any specific brand of pre-made PC's that I should buy for gaming? I know of AlienWare but their Desktops are too pricey and I am looking for a desktop.

[Dezzeh]

I have $1740 Australian dollars. I would like to build my own PC within this budget for gaming only. The best that my money can afford. If that isn't enough to build a decent (by decent I mean it can run Fallout GOTY and Fallout New Vegas flawlessly) gaming computer then is there any specific brand of pre-made PC's that I should buy for gaming? I know of AlienWare but their Desktops are too pricey and I am looking for a desktop.

Building gives you more power for cheaper, so obviously were your budget not enough to build a PC for your needs, it wouldn't be enough to buy one, either.

Luckily, it's more than enough money to build an extremely good PC.

http://pcpartpicker.com/au/p/3CDy is quite a bit under your budget, and would do well with anything you throw at it, while being quite a bit under your budget. You didn't state whether your budget includes a monitor or not, so I didn't include one. Adding one would still make it well under your max budget.

[Facebook me]

Yes, those would, but might as well get the kit:
http://www.ebuyer.com/64178-kingston-2gb-ddr2-memory-cheap-at-ebuyer-kvr533d2n4k2-2g

Cheers. The reason I asked is that It is (slightly) cheaper to get them individually for some reason

[Jordan Fletcher]

Building gives you more power for cheaper, so obviously were your budget not enough to build a PC for your needs, it wouldn't be enough to buy one, either.

Luckily, it's more than enough money to build an extremely good PC.

http://pcpartpicker.com/au/p/3CDy is quite a bit under your budget, and would do well with anything you throw at it, while being quite a bit under your budget. You didn't state whether your budget includes a monitor or not, so I didn't include one. Adding one would still make it well under your max budget.

Thanks very much. I am going to be using my old TV as a monitor. I am generally against people using TV's as monitors but I love this TV to death and if the computer you are linking me to has a HDMI port (which my laptop has so I was just assuming) then it won't look too bad as I do it with my laptop all the time.

[evelina c]

to run Skyrim on ultra, $1K would probably do...should really narrow that budget down though. $1K to $2K is a wide range. Answer these questions:

1.) your budget in your country's currency
2.) what country you reside if not listed in your avatar area
3.) pre-assembled PC? ...or can you build your own?
4.) what is needed other than the PC tower? Monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, Windows OS disc? All these can jack up the price.

1.) US Dollars. $1,000
2.)United States
3.)Someone's teaching me how to build it for free
4.)I've got Monitor, Speakers, I think i'll need a mouse, but that's a maybe. I've got a keyboard. I have a OS disk.

[Brian Newman]

What processor? And which portion of the test? 3DMark does test several areas. Kind of wonder if your CPU might be holding anything back.

The first portion of the test had large fluctuations. I cannot remember the name of it. It is the one with the people coming down in the dropship and the space marine looking guy with the chaingun.
I am running an AMD Phenom II 1090T.
I disabled anything that limits my processor power.

Strangely enough, I run skyrim on high at 60 fps everywhere. This may be because I have an acceleration layer mod, but I do not know.

[claire ley]

1.) US Dollars. $1,000 2.)United States 3.)Someone's teaching me how to build it for free 4.)I've got Monitor, Speakers, I think i'll need a mouse, but that's a maybe. I've got a keyboard. I have a OS disk.

Try this...

CASE+RAM Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.814584
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
CPU+GPU Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.795881
HDD+PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.809521
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Should be under $1K. Leave the mouse up to you

The first portion of the test had large fluctuations. I cannot remember the name of it. It is the one with the people coming down in the dropship and the space marine looking guy with the chaingun. I am running an AMD Phenom II 1090T. I disabled anything that limits my processor power. Strangely enough, I run skyrim on high at 60 fps everywhere. This may be because I have an acceleration layer mod, but I do not know.

Ceratinly a capable CPU. If you're not suffering in your games, doesn't really matter what 3DMark has to say does it?

[steve brewin]

I currently have a 17 inch monitor (1280x1024) and am planning to upgrade to a 23 inch one (1980x1080). My question is, how much is this change going to affect my performance? I'm getting decent performance in Skyrim at fairly high settings right now, and it would be a shame if I had to lower them to maintain 30-40 FPS on average (outdoors).

My PC specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 ghz
ATI Sapphire Toxic HD4850 512 MB
8 GB RAM

I imagine that it's the graphics card that would need to be upgraded the soonest. Do you think I can run recent games at 1080p with it, or should I hold off buying a monitor until I can get a new graphics card as well?

[Mr. Allen]

I've been wondering whether to buy an internal soundcard or headphones with an audio processor

Currently have realtec ALC889 onboard and an older logitech 5.1 surround system

Most of the time I use headphones for gaming

I've looked at the ASUS cards that have headphone amplification - and the reviews seem pretty good for those - even the cheap DG model looks good - and I wouldn't need to spend much money on new headsets

However there seems to be more headphones coming out with external audio processors like Steelseries or Astro (though I'm not sure I could justify the expense of getting Astro) and the reviews for those are pretty good too

Just wondering if anyone has ever personally compared having a soundcard onboard versus integrated sound and an external audio mixer?

[Emmanuel Morales]

Ceratinly a capable CPU. If you're not suffering in your games, doesn't really matter what 3DMark has to say does it?

Yeah. I figured that out later, but it was bugging me as it just did not seem right. i do think my acceleration layer mod on skyrim has something to do with me hitting vsync and throwing off the reading.
Arkham City runs similar to how the 3dmark showed by having fps drop seemingly at random during a benchmark, sometimes below what the old card would perform at. It just disturbs me.