[Andy durkan]

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/

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.

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


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

[Charlotte X]

Quick question...

My friend inherited a computer that has a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116254 processor in it along with an old 1950xt video card. I plan to upgrade my video card soon and give him my http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770 to put in his computer. Would that CPU bottleneck the newer GPU any and how well would something like that handle newer titles (unplayable, low settings, medium?)?

And since I'm here, I have a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103872 I've been thinking about overclocking/attempting a core unlock/L3 cache unlock. I haven't messed with overclocking before and I've always used stock cooling. What kind of cooling set up (heatsink, fan, thermal paste, ect) would you guys recommend? (Here's my mobo if it matters any http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128438...)

Much thanks!

It will bottleneck that card, but I suppose it's worth dealing with since you're giving it to him. Netburst based CPUs like that Pentium D were just slow and inefficient. The setup these would be capable of mediumish settings in modern stuff, but that CPU might drop it a bit.

Good place to start with unlocking cores:
http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/535501-amd-k10-5-core-cache-unlocking.html

That board should be very capable to do it, but understand that your CPU may not unlock...it's not a guarantee that it will, but the general consensus is that there's a good chance.

While waiting for my last few parts to arrive (case & fans.... sigh, Amazon free shipping is slower), I'm watching build tutorials & thinking, and I've got a couple more small questions....


1) The Newegg "How to build a computer" video talks about doing an External Build to see that your mobo / PSU / GPU / CPU / memory work, before you've taken the time to shove everything inside the case. How important is it to do this? (i.e, good basic practice, or just being extra paranoid careful?)


2) I've just got the one internal HDD (no SDD, no extra HDDs, etc). Would it be a good idea to partition a small chunk off for the OS/boot (so that it's easier to blank and reinstall if needed), or is that a dumb idea?

3) Rebates..... all the rebates want UPC codes/etc cut off the original box. Will that screw things up if I need to RMA something?


Thanks again.

1.) I generally don't do it, but it's not like it's a bad idea. Saves the headaches from removing the components from the case should something go wrong.

2.) Not a bad idea if you not going to get another drive anytime soon. Don't feel it's all that necessary otherwise.

3.) Rebate centers will look at the postmark date of your mail when you send it out. So do all the benching and testing possible up to the few days before the due date. However, companies like Asus are actually pretty good on allowing RMAs even without the UPC...register the board if your board company allows it as it will make things easier.

Its really that much faster? I figured space wise I just didnt need a terabyte, but if its going to make that big of a difference, I might be able to spare the extra 20, but it means downgrading the GPU from the 2gb, to the 1gb. Will that heavily effect graphical performance? Also, any way to save on the PSU?

It is a good improvement. 1GB VRAM version will still do pretty much just as well as the 2GB version of the 6950 at your resolution. It's just the price difference between the two isn't that great to not go for the 2GB version for most people...you seem to be an exception

If you want to save a little on the PSU, can go with this Corsair CX500:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

I currently have a socket 939 processor, which is almost archaic at this point. I am wondering which mobo and processor and ram would be ideal for a GeForce 560 Ti? And are there any socket types that are promising and won't fade out soon?

Edit: my current case specs are : Micro ATX (9.6'' x 9.6'') & ATX (12'' x 9.6'')

Need to tell us the budget you're willing to spend.

Right now Intel Sandybridge is a staple for the latest and greatest CPU setup. AMD Bulldozer will be coming out within the next couple weeks to compete with it finally. Will be a good time to make comparisons and a decision.

Both platforms will be the latest and should last for a while....the performance of Intel's i5 2500K is outstanding and far ahead of software CPU utilization. The chip should last for a long while.

Found out there is a Microcenter nearby, I think there are a few things like the Motherboard and CPU that I can get for a better price then off of Newegg.

I just need to know if http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364220, is the same as http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131705.

Yup, Microcenter has unmatched deals when it comes to CPU+mobo combos. If you got one nearby, make use of that.

Those boards are for the most part the same, one just has a more recent revision than the other. Of course it's preferable to have the latest one, but from what I can tell, there isn't much difference. Either board will suit fine.

[SUck MYdIck]

Tig Ol Bitties, I am getting my computer tomorrow at my local NCIX. The one thing I have not decided on is the hard drive. Should I go through the trouble of ordering the Samsung F3 1TB online? Is there another HD that does the job as well for the same price? NCIX doesn't have any samsung 1tb hard drives at all right now. Thanks.

[patricia kris]

nvm

[Alberto Aguilera]

Tig Ol Bitties, I am getting my computer tomorrow at my local NCIX. The one thing I have not decided on is the hard drive. Should I go through the trouble of ordering the Samsung F3 1TB online? Is there another HD that does the job as well for the same price? NCIX doesn't have any samsung 1tb hard drives at all right now. Thanks.

Same performance and capacity for a similar price? Nope. It's the best performing and lowest priced 1TB drive. There is the Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB that will perform similarly for the same price, but obviously half capacity.

[Causon-Chambers]

One last graphics card related question! My brand shiny new Sapphire 6970 arrived yesterday, and I installed it this morning. Everything went fine and it seems to work great. I do have two lingering questions, however.

One: the card seems to be running hotter than I thought it would be. It's currently idling at around 64-65C--http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8472/catalystreadout.jpg. Is this normal? Do I need to double-check to make sure the fans are clear and all? I'm really worried it might overheat. :cold: (While I was typing this the temperature actually climbed up to 66C, but it seems to stay around the 64-70C range...doing a benchmark test with Resident Evil 5 and the fans bumped up to 45% it hung around 70-75C.)

Two: my device manager and Catalyst Control Center both recognize the device as "AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series," rather than specifically the 6970. Again: is this normal?

Help is appreciated.

[Claudia Cook]

Same performance and capacity for a similar price? Nope. It's the best performing and lowest priced 1TB drive. There is the Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB that will perform similarly for the same price, but obviously half capacity.

Is there anything thats at all close? I really don't want to wait a week for delivery from the US.

[My blood]

One last graphics card related question! My brand shiny new Sapphire 6970 arrived yesterday, and I installed it this morning. Everything went fine and it seems to work great. I do have two lingering questions, however.

One: the card seems to be running hotter than I thought it would be. It's currently idling at around 64-65C--http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8472/catalystreadout.jpg. Is this normal? Do I need to double-check to make sure the fans are clear and all? I'm really worried it might overheat. :cold: (While I was typing this the temperature actually climbed up to 66C, but it seems to stay around the 64-70C range...doing a benchmark test with Resident Evil 5 and the fans bumped up to 45% it hung around 70-75C.)

Two: my device manager and Catalyst Control Center both recognize the device as "AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series," rather than specifically the 6970. Again: is this normal?

Help is appreciated.

Your idle temps are a bit higher than normal for idle, but what really matters is the load temp and yours is actually below average...many see around the 80-85C range. And besides, the GPU has a max temp of 110C...so you're way more than fine. If the idle heat bothers you, can raise the fan speed a bit if you can tolerate the extra noise. Or put a side fan on if your case allows it...it does help.

The CCC reading of your card as 6900 Series is perfectly normal. My Radeon 6950 gets read the same way.

Is there anything thats at all close? I really don't want to wait a week for delivery from the US.

How about TigerDirect:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6448061

They have stores here in the US...not sure about where in Canada if any.

[Amy Gibson]

One: the card seems to be running hotter than I thought it would be. It's currently idling at around 64-65C--http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8472/catalystreadout.jpg. Is this normal? Do I need to double-check to make sure the fans are clear and all? I'm really worried it might overheat. :cold: (While I was typing this the temperature actually climbed up to 66C, but it seems to stay around the 64-70C range...doing a benchmark test with Resident Evil 5 and the fans bumped up to 45% it hung around 70-75C.)

Two: my device manager and Catalyst Control Center both recognize the device as "AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series," rather than specifically the 6970. Again: is this normal?

Seems a bit warm compared to http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/asus_hd_6970/15.htm, but by no means in the danger zone. You can download http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm and set up custom fan profile that suites you. (Noise/performance.) I use it myself with my 2 5870's.

That is normal. My 5870's are just "5800"s as well.

P.S.

Doh, took too long and Tigs beat me to the punch.

[James Rhead]

Your idle temps are a bit higher than normal for idle, but what really matters is the load temp and yours is actually below average...many see around the 80-85C range. And besides, the GPU has a max temp of 110C...so you're way more than fine. If the idle heat bothers you, can raise the fan speed a bit if you can tolerate the extra noise. Or put a side fan on if your case allows it...it does help.

I think what I may do is open the case back up and try to gently move some cables. http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/7307/img20110910101750.jpg, in crappy cell phone-o-vision, and there's some cables on the right that I think may be impeding the airflow of the card fan. Maybe moving them will make a difference.

Also, someone suggested my higher idle temps were because the core clock was only downclocking to 500Mhz when idle, while his went to 250Mhz. Any ideas why my card won't downclock that far? Edit: Never mind. :huh: It's now downclocking to 250 like it should when idle with the idle temps at a much more sensible 50C. I have no idea why it wasn't doing that before.

Computers. Sheesh!

The CCC reading of your card as 6900 Series is perfectly normal. My Radeon 6950 gets read the same way.

Whew. I was worried I'd missed a step there...my old 4870x2 always read as just that, a 4870x2, not 4800 series. Thanks!

[Tyrel]

Another question, how do I get Wifi onto my computer? Does the motherboard have it built in or something? See my signature for the mobo.

[SamanthaLove]

Another question, how do I get Wifi onto my computer? Does the motherboard have it built in or something? See my signature for the mobo.

I don't see it mentioned on the Details page at Newegg. Not sure if that means anything, of course.


I grabbed one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704045, for my build. Still waiting on a couple parts, so I can't tell you how well it runs.

[Laura Richards]

Another question, how do I get Wifi onto my computer? Does the motherboard have it built in or something? See my signature for the mobo.

Very few boards come with wifi built in and for those that do, it ends up being some sort of add-in card anyways. There are plenty of wireless adapters out there for cheap if you need one...one was just mentioned to you.

[Donald Richards]

Not sure if this goes here, lol. Anyways...

1. I run windows 7 and my firefox suddenly crashed on me and it still kept on crashing on me every time I load it now. I hit troubleshoot compatibility and got something that works, XP service pack 2 or something, now but I have every time I load firefox, like start it up, I have to give it permission to load up. I want this fixed badly.

[Sara Lee]

Not sure if this goes here, lol. Anyways...

1. I run windows 7 and my firefox suddenly crashed on me and it still kept on crashing on me every time I load it now. I hit troubleshoot compatibility and got something that works, XP service pack 2 or something, now but I have every time I load firefox, like start it up, I have to give it permission to load up. I want this fixed badly.

Something similar to this happened to me before. Every time I clicked on it, it would just crash instantly. I fixed it by using Firefox in safe mode as it starts it up with all the add-ons disabled. I worked my way through the list and disabled one add-on at a time until I found the add-on that was causing it to crash. Might be worth a try.

[Emerald Dreams]

Is Fry's notorious for having missing pieces? Just bought a replacement wireless keyboard and it was missing the wireless usb reciever part.

[Joanne]

Is Fry's notorious for having missing pieces? Just bought a replacement wireless keyboard and it was missing the wireless usb reciever part.

I hope you didn't buy an open box item...you know, the ones with the orange and white sticker tags on the box. You might just end up finding something missing.

Never had this issue with new items myself though. Bring it back to the store and let them know. Their return/exchange policy is quite allowing.

[Rik Douglas]

I hope you didn't buy an open box item...you know, the ones with the orange and white sticker tags on the box. You might just end up finding something missing.

Never had this issue with new items myself though. Bring it back to the store and let them know. Their return/exchange policy is quite allowing.

Nah it was new of course it could have been stolen by some customer... since I try to buy things that don't look manhandled... Also can't doubt it wasn't put in the box at the factory

[Yvonne]

I got my computer guys! Thanks so much for all the help! Im going to set it up right now!

[tannis]

I got my computer guys! Thanks so much for all the help! Im going to set it up right now!

Congratulations! :rock: :celebration:

[Paul Rice]

I hope you didn't buy an open box item...you know, the ones with the orange and white sticker tags on the box. You might just end up finding something missing.

Never had this issue with new items myself though. Bring it back to the store and let them know. Their return/exchange policy is quite allowing.

Just found the little usb receiver laying on the floor behind me... I remember something flying out of the box when I opened it up. So no return trip to frys 15 miles away.

[OTTO]

What would you recommend for a good reasonably priced external hard drive? (Newegg.. lol)

Maybe a $125 price limit, above 1TB.

[Reanan-Marie Olsen]

Okay, new issue. Possibly a serious one. Booted up Trine just now, everything loaded fine until out of the blue (about 30 seconds after loading the game; I was watching the GPU temps and it did not overheat) my computer went dark and instantly rebooted.

I have two items in the event viewer that I believe are related, but none seem to be particularly enlightening. I did not get a BSOD. It just shutdown and restarted itself.

Here's the two items:

Error:

Spoiler

The previous system shutdown at 7:31:27 PM on ?9/?10/?2011 was unexpected.

Details:

+ System   - Provider    [ Name]  EventLog    - EventID 6008    [ Qualifiers]  32768     Level 2     Task 0     Keywords 0x80000000000000    - TimeCreated    [ SystemTime]  2011-09-10T23:33:21.000000000Z     EventRecordID 434949     Channel System     Computer Azura     Security  - EventData    7:31:27 PM    ?9/?10/?2011            15870            DB07090006000A0013001F001B009F03DB07090006000A0017001F001B009F033C0000003C000000000000000000000000000000000000000100000000000000 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Binary data:In Words0000: 000907DB 000A0006 001F0013 039F001B 0008: 000907DB 000A0006 001F0017 039F001B 0010: 0000003C 0000003C 00000000 00000000 0018: 00000000 00000000 00000001 00000000 In Bytes0000: DB 07 09 00 06 00 0A 00   ?.......0008: 13 00 1F 00 1B 00 9F 03   ......?.0010: DB 07 09 00 06 00 0A 00   ?.......0018: 17 00 1F 00 1B 00 9F 03   ......?.0020: 3C 00 00 00 3C 00 00 00   <...<...0028: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ........0030: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ........0038: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ........

Critical Error:

Spoiler

The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

Details:

+ System   - Provider    [ Name]  Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power    [ Guid]  {331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}     EventID 41     Version 2     Level 1     Task 63     Opcode 0     Keywords 0x8000000000000002    - TimeCreated    [ SystemTime]  2011-09-10T23:33:14.357619100Z     EventRecordID 434955     Correlation    - Execution    [ ProcessID]  4    [ ThreadID]  8     Channel System     Computer Azura    - Security    [ UserID]  S-1-5-18  - EventData   BugcheckCode 0   BugcheckParameter1 0x0   BugcheckParameter2 0x0   BugcheckParameter3 0x0   BugcheckParameter4 0x0   SleepInProgress false   PowerButtonTimestamp 0 

What caused this?

Edit: FWIW, when this happened I was not doing AMD Overdrive/manual fan control, I was letting Catalyst handle itself but monitoring it in GPU-Z. Nothing is overclocked. Prior to trying to launch a game again (after my earlier issues with downclocking) I uninstalled the 11.8 drivers, cleaned my AMD drivers out with Driver Sweeper, and then reinstalled 11.8. Prior to that everything was fine.

Edit 2: I'm currently running Trine again (but not GPU-Z, if that has anything at all to do with it, which I doubt), exact same settings, no issues. My PSU (Thermaltake Toughpower 750W) is on the list of certified PSUs for the new 6970, so unless it's decided to go faulty I don't think that's the issue, either. It is about ~2.5 years old at this point but up until yesterday was running the 4870x2 without any problems.

This thing is safely plugged into a UPS, so no power cut, either. I've also verified that the power cord is securely plugged into the back of the tower.

This may have just been a random, one-off issue, but I really don't like it when my computer just up and decides to reboot itself. For some odd reason.

[Chris Ellis]

Is there any benefit from going two ram chips over one? Like two 2gb, over just one 4gb?

Also need a good, cheap Ethernet card, any suggestions? Thanks.

[Kelvin Diaz]

What would you recommend for a good reasonably priced external hard drive? (Newegg.. lol)

Maybe a $125 price limit, above 1TB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173043 + http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152245