21

9/1/2008 9:56:40 PM

My friend just bought a new AMD based PC from Tiger Direct (all parts) for 1300 (I told him!!! NewEgg). This doesn't even include a monitor!

Here's the specs.

Motherboard: Asus M3N HT Deluxe
Processor: AMD Phenom X4 9850 black edition
Memory: (2 gig) Corsair xms2 dd2 1066 mhz There's 2 sticks of this.
Graphics Card: (2) Nvidea PNY GeForce 9600GT (SLI configured)
Hard Drive: SeaGate Barracuda 250 GB HDD
PSU: Ultra 650W

Here's the problem (he put it together himself???)

He dropped it off at my place, and he wants me to fix it. From what I can gather, the computer boots on & off about 6 or 7 times, and then it stays on. I figure this is just the bios restarting when it encounters a problem. I really don't understand what's going on with the build.

He's told me he's taken it to Tiger Direct to get the Power supply replaced which hasn't solved anything. He Took it back to get the Motherboard replaced. He says the when he replaced the motherboard the computer booted fine about three times, and then it started doing the same on and off business, again. Has anyone else had this problem before?

[Edited on September 9, 2008 at 10:08 PM. Reason : img]

9/9/2008 10:08:19 PM

ultra makes shitty power supplies. Sounds like that pc shoulda cost about 600$. Why did he get 2 9600gts? Is he running 4 monitors or something?

[Edited on September 9, 2008 at 10:16 PM. Reason : ..]

9/9/2008 10:11:47 PM

^yeah, I hope the above poster meant 9800GTX because buying 2 9600's for gaming is like buying 2 staplers to build a house. That and I don't know how the build got to $1300 unless he spent at least some money on a graphics card.

[Edited on September 9, 2008 at 11:39 PM. Reason : ]

9/9/2008 11:39:03 PM

gah, this is horrible! i agree, $1300 is way overpriced, and Ultra, are you kidding me? that thing couldn't power a Celeron.

here's my synopsis.

a) the memory isn't configured properly, this is a VERY common mistake, you need to manually set the voltage and timing for ANY memory over DDR2-800 in speed.

b) replace the power supply with a known good solid 12v rail = corsair, thermaltake, ocz, antec, or enermax power supply

9/9/2008 11:45:06 PM

lol my system cost lest than $1300 shieeettttt

now i don't feel so bad

but plz to help me get it working in this thread: http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=540534

thxu <3

9/10/2008 12:07:21 AM

What do you guys think of this monitor?

http://stores.tomshardware.com/rating_getprodrev.php/product_id=32832526/id_type=masterid/st=product/sv=review/

I think it comes to ~ $225 shipped.

Also, any thoughts on this HD:

http://stores.tomshardware.com/rating_getprodrev.php/product_id=52200879/id_type=masterid/st=product_tab

9/10/2008 12:41:24 AM

7200.11's are great in any size

9/10/2008 2:09:11 AM

I would like to thank Prospero for his monitor recommendation on the previous page. I got mine in last week and it looks awesome. Granted this is still hooked up to my old ass laptop and I will have a clearer assessment once my new desktop arrives next week and have the 4780 X2 running.

9/10/2008 5:46:24 AM

^^^Samsung SyncMaster's are awesome.

look at the 2053, it's the newer version of the 206bw:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001270

Quote :

"7200.11's are great in any size"

i concur. both look good.

9/10/2008 1:19:51 PM

I actually haven't seen a monitor that was worth it's price since the Samsung 206BW was discontinued. All of the monitor makers have switched all of their monitors less than 23" over to TN panels, and on top of that cheap TN panels that look worse than the old ones. There are more people complaining now about their panel being blue than there were years ago. I have finally given up on searching for a monitor that was <$400 and worth a shit. I am biting the bullet and buying the Dell 2408wfp next time it goes on sale for less than $575. TN panels are only worth around $200-$250 for the 20-22" and around $300-$350 for the 24". If you pay any more for a TN monitor, you are paying too much.

9/10/2008 9:13:48 PM

the 206BW was only half 12-bit, you do realize that probably over half of the 206's were TN panels (using the new a-si TFT/TN) right? samsung (and others, including Dell) have used bait and switch in the past.

also I have a N panel (not the notorious S panel) and the blue is easily toned down, LCD's never are calibrated right out of the box anyways, and the blue was just barely noticeable. the panel itself (imho) is just as gorgeous as any other true 12-bit panel, and even now the TN panels are a lot closer than they used to be (most TN now simulate 16.7m colors). i'd still say if you go sub 24" go samsung

i'd say the 2053 is just as good as the 206 if not better.

the benefit is that TN panels have faster refreshes for gaming and i do more gaming than photo editing.

[Edited on September 10, 2008 at 9:37 PM. Reason : .]

9/10/2008 9:33:39 PM

I do agree that the best smaller panel types are the Samsungs. The only 20-22" monitor that I would buy that is not a Samsung is the HP LP2275w, because it is a s-pva panel and the only s-pva or s-ips panel left in that category. To get a s-ips panel you have to get a 30" and to get an s-pva you have to get a 24" or 27". The rest of them are all tn, I guess the manufacturers assumed that people that wanted a s-pva or s-ips panel would buy the absolute top end monitor and would spend whatever it takes to say that they have the best monitor ever made. I actually want a 20" monitor, but I do not want a TN panel because I have been spoiled with my Lenovo T60 s-ips panel.

9/10/2008 10:17:56 PM

that 9800gtx keeps freezing up on me
http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=540975

plz to help!

9/13/2008 12:03:29 AM

I'm kind of between two Samsung 22" panels... same price, very similar specs.
The T220: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001273
2253BW Mentioned above: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001268

I know the T220 is red at the bottom, don't know what I think of that. If the panel is better though, then it's probably ok. Which one to buy, TWW?

9/13/2008 12:38:54 AM

how would two 8800 GTS' perform with respect to some of the other 9 series graphics cards out there now?

9/13/2008 8:30:05 AM

stop trying to run graphics cards in CLI

9/13/2008 8:40:25 AM

^^ It'd probably run a little better than a 9800 GTX+. Someone posted a deal for a 9800GX2 for $200 on here recently. If that deal is still going, the GX2 should outperform two 8800's.

9/13/2008 1:52:49 PM

who here actually has experience with running graphics cards in SLI?

9/13/2008 7:43:08 PM

Is it generally a good idea to have a motherboard/processor with the same FSB?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131325
ASUS M3A78 Pro AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
2600MHz Hyper Transport (5200 MT/s)

with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103273
AMD Phenom 9950 BLACK EDITION 2.6GHz
Hyper Transports 4000MHz

Random question, thanks.

[Edited on September 16, 2008 at 1:36 PM. Reason : links]

9/16/2008 1:36:29 PM

they messed up the specs, it's supposed to be 2,000Mhz FSB or 4000MT/s

HT 1

* 200 MHz = 400 MT/s = 800 MB/s
* 400 MHz = 800 MT/s
* 600 MHz = 1,200 MT/s
* 800 MHz = 1,600 MT/s

HT 2

* 1,000 MHz = 2,000 MT/s
* 1,200 MHz = 2,400 MT/s
* 1,400 MHz = 2,800 MT/s

HT 3

* 1,800 MHz = 3,600 MT/s
* 2,000 MHz = 4,000 MT/s
* 2,400 MHz = 4,800 MT/s
* 2,600 MHz = 5,200 MT/s

9/16/2008 1:51:46 PM

sorry i didn't answer the question...

it's good to have a motherboard that supports the highest available FSB from the CPU so there are no limiting factors.

technically speaking, as long as the socket-type is listed as supported than you it will "technically" work, but either a) the CPU will be limited to the FSB of the motherboard, or b) the motherboard will be limited by the FSB of the CPU.

in this scenario, the CPU will run at 2000Mhz which means you WILL be able to max out your CPU (since your motherboard supports up to 2600Mhz) which is what you want.

what you DON'T want, is a motherboard that only supports 1000Mhz, and a CPU that supports 2000Mhz, then you'll see your performance drop, since the CPU is being limited.

9/16/2008 1:57:36 PM

IT'S HERE!!!!1 (pertaining to my beeftacular computer mentioned across previous pages)
I am installing WoW right now. So far this thing flies. Vista doesn't annoy me quite as much as I thought it would thus far.

So much for getting anything resembling sleep today.

9/18/2008 12:28:15 PM

what did you decide for the hard drives?

also did you go with the Freezer 7 Pro? (that's what i have on an E8400 and love it)

9/18/2008 12:32:35 PM

Drive 1- Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive) - OEM

Drive 2- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

CPU cooling- ASUS Silent Knight II 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail


OMG this video card is HUGE.

9/18/2008 12:42:43 PM

good choices

9/18/2008 12:48:18 PM

I had good help.
Thank you and everyone else for your assistance and recommendations.

9/18/2008 12:52:31 PM

did you seriously build that thing for WoW?

9/18/2008 1:17:53 PM

1) Vista probably wont annoy you if you have a decent computer for it to run on

2) That is a big upgrade for WoW

9/18/2008 1:24:44 PM

I hope you're planning on playing other games on it. Wow has horribly outdated graphics. My old dell laptop from like 2004 will max out wow at 1920 by 1200. I do want a velociraptor though.

9/18/2008 1:45:02 PM

This beast is for Assassin's Creed, F.E.A.R. and whatever else comes along in the future. WoW is just the first thing I needed to install because of the omgbbq patches and updates.

9/18/2008 1:55:08 PM

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
Save $45 on the combo - $265 total
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.125575

9/18/2008 2:15:50 PM

^^fear was so much fun. Pretty old game though. Assassins creed looks sweet on a nice computer.

^convincing 2 of my friends to get that deal for their new builds.

9/18/2008 3:36:13 PM

My friend recommended I check out the trailers for Dead Space which comes out around Halloween. It looks pretty tight. To be honest I don't have any desire to get Crysis just to say I can run it well. I would rather get a game because it is fun and looks nice rather than simply looking nice.

9/18/2008 8:06:07 PM

^i really enjoyed playing Crysis. If you like first person shooters then Crysis is a must. Gameplay was great, weapons/body suit was awesome, and the world was really interactive. You can spend quite a bit of time figuring out different cool ways to blow things up and kill the enemy.

Then again if you install it you'll just be pissed when you try to turn all the settings up and your new computer still can't handle it.

9/18/2008 8:20:40 PM

at least he'd probably get the Enthusiast graphics setting in Crysis Warhead, I can't even select that shit on my computer :/

9/18/2008 8:27:06 PM

what's the best ram to get for an 8400/8500? Fsb is 1333. The mobo is ddr2 and says it has a 1200 memory standard, but there's only like 3 ddr2 1200 rams on newegg.

9/18/2008 10:53:55 PM

So I'm currently still running an Athlon 64 with 1GB of RAM and a 6800GT.

Would adding another 2GB of RAM and moving to a new video card give me any significant gains in gaming performance, or should I just wait and go for a new desktop entirely?

9/20/2008 2:49:12 PM

^^doesn't really matter, the only way you'd be able to do 1:1 is with DDR3 or underclocking your CPU, just get the fastest memory you can afford

[Edited on September 20, 2008 at 3:08 PM. Reason : .]

9/20/2008 3:07:41 PM

^^ Upgrading the RAM and video card will make a noticeable difference, but then you'll be CPU limited.

Depends on the games you play. If you're playing older games (stuff that will run ok on what you have) you could probably double your frame rates for < $100. But your CPU won't be able to keep up with games from the last year or 2.

9/20/2008 5:02:23 PM

That's the thing, I'm worried the CPU is going to bottleneck it too much.

I don't mind throwing $150-$200 into upgrading this PC, but if it's going to be a waste then I'd rather just put that toward building a new box instead. That's probably the way to go.

9/20/2008 10:56:45 PM

Friend just got his e8500. Overclocked it to 4.3ghz no problem!

9/24/2008 11:28:24 PM

lol yea e8x00 are so crazy, my friend runs his e8400 at 4.5 on his DFI BloodIron on air.

[Edited on September 24, 2008 at 11:40 PM. Reason : on air]

9/24/2008 11:39:47 PM

yea, E8500 especially with the increased multi

9/25/2008 12:53:38 AM

Well now my aunt wants me to build a computer for her, similar to the ones I've built for her husband's business... what's everyone's take on this one?

mobo: ASUS P5QL PRO LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz LGA 775 65W Model BX80571E7200 - Retail
ram: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail
video: EVGA 512-P3-N954-TR GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 - Retail
hd: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
psu: Antec earthwatts EA430 430W ATX12V v2.0 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
dvd SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q - OEM
os: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk - OEM

Should I go with 4gb ram instead of 2gb?

10/2/2008 6:52:42 PM

i'd recommend anyone go with at LEAST 4gb if they're gonna run vista

not based on any reading or anything - but my vista system idling uses 2.5+gb lol

10/2/2008 7:39:40 PM

^^looks good to me, you may also look at the 9600GSO, it was $40 AR last week. 4GB may be worth looking into, but not needed

10/2/2008 7:44:54 PM

Thanks, I wanted to get a cheaper mobo though (I've been pretty partial to asus). That one seems to be a better one for the money though. Same for the video card, I had been getting cheaper cards that have been fine, but this is a pretty good deal. The one ^ mentioned wasn't quite as good a deal anymore. This will be great for anything she'll be using it for.

As for the ram, I can always upgrade it... I put 4gb in the one I built for myself though, but it's used for gaming a lot.

10/2/2008 11:02:26 PM

My roommate (who is a grad student in computer engineering) has been using the same eMachine since 2005 without any reformatting. I mentioned the other week he should open it up and check it out. Notice how you can't even see the fins.

10/8/2008 4:05:37 PM

that stuff makes you live longer if you eat it

10/8/2008 11:28:47 PM