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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Computer Specs thread (Debate+Support)

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Re: Computer Specs thread

pseudolobster said:
[quote author=Niko link=1234283919/32#46 date=1235164521]
No way....if you jump from 4GB (32bits) to 16GB (64bits) there is really no way of using 128GB of DDR2/3 on that system...

I think you're confusing the math involved here...

The emergence of the 64-bit architecture effectively increases the memory ceiling to 2[sup]64[/sup] addresses, equivalent to approximately 17.2 billion gigabytes, 16.8 million terabytes, or 16 exabytes of RAM.
from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit

64 bit is not just "double 32 bit", it's the difference between 2[sup]32[/sup] and 2[sup]64[/sup]... tens of billions of times more address space.[/quote]


You're right, I thought I was wrong even when I wrote that, I should re-take math for this mistake :p
 





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Re: Computer Specs thread

@big debate regarding new hardware:
The Striker board is really, really infuriaiting me - no lan, wireless dropping out, it hangs up seemingly totally at random, then "befrieinds" me and works for several days without a single isisue!

I am not really an AMD person overall, and haven't ever been, and I've heard the first generation of phenoms were more expensive, slower both in cost/price and clock/price, and had revision bugs, compared to cheap and reliable Q6600's. Mine didn't get over 58 degrees when I was 100% loading it at 3.6, so I would like to stick with it. I have a "reserve" 680i with 4gb ram - my best bet is to switch back to this? It wouldn't clock as high as I'd hoped when I ran it before, but at least it was half-way reliable.

I bought the striker II purely to overclock the Q6600 to its maximum, but that "deal" really backfired on me...

I was thinking about the i7 and LGA1366 system purely for future-compatibility, but it was only an idle thought, and not a definite plan.

Regarding video cards, basically all the money I spend comes out of my savings, and a GTX295 is an awfully large chunk of it. To throw in watercooling for it, and accessories like new piping and a proper radiator box for the second set of fans would be half of my money gone, and giving me nothing to spend when i7's become much more cost-effective (when i7/x58's are what the q6600/680i builds were last year or two). Are custom-machined waterblocks a risk? My school have a proper machine for drilling copper and I have some sealant stuff... ::) Alternative, is a 4870X2 but that's nearly as expensive, and I'm not sure aboutt he performance of a single 4870. Does anyone have one of these?

I saw a few posts back someone wanted rid of some components? I might be interested depending on what they are...
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

Regarding video cards, basically all the money I spend comes out of my savings, and a GTX295 is an awfully large chunk of it. To throw in watercooling for it, and accessories like new piping and a proper radiator box for the second set of fans would be half of my money gone

Yeah, it will. But i didn't know that you weren't willing to spend an awful lot on the hardware (i thought you did because you bought a striker II and such :p)

If you're having problems with your mobo then I SERIOUSLY do NOT recommend buying an i7 now. There are not many motherboards that support it, you should wait at least 3 months until asus releases a good candidate :)
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

Niko said:
If you're having problems with your mobo then I SERIOUSLY do NOT recommend buying an i7 now. There are not many motherboards that support it, you should wait at least 3 months until [highlight]asus[/highlight] releases a good candidate :)

Couldn't agree more!
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

charlie bruce said:
@big debate regarding new hardware:
[highlight]The Striker board is really, really infuriaiting me - no lan, wireless dropping out, it hangs up seemingly totally at random, then "befrieinds" me and works for several days without a single isisue![/highlight]

I am not really an AMD person overall, and haven't ever been, and I've heard the first generation of phenoms were more expensive, slower both in cost/price and clock/price, and had revision bugs, compared to cheap and reliable Q6600's. Mine didn't get over 58 degrees when I was 100% loading it at 3.6, so I would like to stick with it. I have a "reserve" 680i with 4gb ram - my best bet is to switch back to this? It wouldn't clock as high as I'd hoped when I ran it before, but at least it was half-way reliable.

I bought the striker II purely to overclock the Q6600 to its maximum, but that "deal" really backfired on me...

I was thinking about the i7 and LGA1366 system purely for future-compatibility, but it was only an idle thought, and not a definite plan.

Regarding video cards, basically all the money I spend comes out of my savings, and a GTX295 is an awfully large chunk of it. To throw in watercooling for it, and accessories like new piping and a proper radiator box for the second set of fans would be half of my money gone, and giving me nothing to spend when i7's become much more cost-effective (when i7/x58's are what the q6600/680i builds were last year or two). Are custom-machined waterblocks a risk? My school have a proper machine for drilling copper and I have some sealant stuff...  ::) Alternative, is a 4870X2 but that's nearly as expensive, and I'm not sure aboutt he performance of a [highlight]single 4870[/highlight]. Does anyone have one of these?

I saw a few posts back someone wanted rid of some components? I might be interested depending on what they are...

Try to monitor the temps of your north and south bridges.  This sounds like the same problem that my old Gigabyte mobo was having.  I managed to fry the NorthBridge on that mobo.  It would run just fine for days at a time, but then it would start freaking out.  Turns out, my Northbridge was running at over 135 degrees celcius.   I blame Nvidea (SLI) and Gigabyte for making crappy products. :(
Either that, believe it or not, it can also be caused by stability issues in your over clocking setup.  Try running your cpu at the Stock cpu speed of 2.4ghz and see what happens.
Also, buy this card and plug it in and see what it says.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3589
or this one
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11812

I have a single hd4870.  I love it.  It will be a good jump from your 8800gts.  I personally would stay away from the hd4870x2 for now until the next driver comes out.  I have heard of several driver issues with them. :)
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

Catalyst 9.2 was released, they focused primarily on dual-card configs.

Not too good for single cards though, some performance drops in games have been reported.



Oh, now, imagine I bought IDK...8GB RAM for my PC and I installed it with Vista Business (up to 128GB), would it REALLY make a lot of difference between 4GB or 6GB?
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

Niko said:
Catalyst 9.2 was released, they focused primarily on dual-card configs.

Not too good for single cards though, some performance drops in games have been reported.



Oh, now, imagine I bought IDK...8GB RAM for my PC and I installed it with Vista Business (up to 128GB), would it REALLY make a lot of difference between 4GB or 6GB?

When was 9.2 released? Well I gues it's a good thing that I haven't updated the driver then! :)

As for the second part of what you posted.
In all reallity, it depends on what you would be using that pc for. There really aren't any programs out there today that even come close to using up all 6GB, but on the other hand, there are some games that will almost use up all 4GB of ram, so you might see a slight perfomance boost when it comes to games. Basicly, if you are one of those people that like to play a game on one screen while they surf the web and do other random things on another, then 6GB would make a difference. Plus, if your mobo can handle 8GB, then put in 8GB....why hassle with it in the future?

FYI: The highest ram usage that I have seen in a game was 3.5GB. Games are only going to get larger.
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

iskor12 said:
[quote author=Niko link=1234283919/48#55 date=1235239403]Catalyst 9.2 was released, they focused primarily on dual-card configs.

Not too good for single cards though, some performance drops in games have been reported.



Oh, now, imagine I bought IDK...8GB RAM for my PC and I installed it with Vista Business (up to 128GB), would it REALLY make a lot of difference between 4GB or 6GB?

When was 9.2 released?  Well I gues it's a good thing that I haven't updated the driver then! :)

As for the second part of what you posted.
In all reallity, it depends on what you would be using that pc for.  There really aren't any programs out there today that even come close to using up all 6GB, but on the other hand, there are some games that will almost use up all 4GB of ram, so you might see a slight perfomance boost when it comes to games.  Basicly, if you are one of those people that like to play a game on one screen while they surf the web and do other random things on another, then 6GB would make a difference.  Plus, if your mobo can handle 8GB, then put in 8GB....why hassle with it in the future?

FYI: The highest ram usage that I have seen in a game was 3.5GB.  Games are only going to get larger.[/quote]


Oh, of course, I was talking about contemporary applications. Games usually take up all that ram, but the same deal was when 2GB was an awful lot of ram and people still used 4GB... guess we'll be using 4GB as a standard in two years and 8GB or 6GB will be the standard for gamers (maybe 16GB :p)


The review of the Cat. 9.2 can be reached at www.xbitlabs.com ;)
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

My machine has been running at stock speeds for the last few months, since I was having the instability isuues in fact. I suspected one of the chips on the motherboard was causing it, since a lan, sata and hanging issue aren't all going to happen seperately and unconnectedly, are they...? The motherboard temperatures were fine as far as I remember, with the BIOS reporting temperatures under the 70 degree mark even after it hangs, and the machine set to auto-shut-down when any chips reach 90deg. The case itself gives enough airflow (5 120mm fans and 1 200mm fan), and I recently cleaned all of them out.

I found the LCD poster for the Striker, so that'll be plugged in and reporting as soon as I get back to my mum's (Monday). I suspect that, as 4gb is currently the standard, 6gb will soon replace it, with 12gb being the de facto for ultra-high-end machines and professional workstations.

Regarding Hackintosh, to be honest unless your hardware works out-of-the-box or you're never going to reinstall it, there's little to no point working for hours to get it running. Sure it is fun, and an excellent boasting point, but anything I need to run is easier on Windows anyway, and the hassle isn't worth the time you put into it. Maybe it is useful for high-end video editors who can't afford a "real" mac pro, but it wasn't for me. If you need any help installing it though I might be able to help.
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

charlie bruce said:
My machine has been running at stock speeds for the last few months, since I was having the instability isuues in fact. I suspected one of the chips on the motherboard was causing it, since a lan, sata and hanging issue aren't all going to happen seperately and unconnectedly, are they...? The motherboard temperatures were fine as far as I remember, with the BIOS reporting temperatures under the 70 degree mark even after it hangs, and the machine set to auto-shut-down when any chips reach 90deg. The case itself gives enough airflow (5 120mm fans and 1 200mm fan), and I recently cleaned all of them out.

I found the LCD poster for the Striker, so that'll be plugged in and reporting as soon as I get back to my mum's (Monday). I suspect that, as 4gb is currently the standard, 6gb will soon replace it, with 12gb being the de facto for ultra-high-end machines and professional workstations.

Regarding Hackintosh, to be honest unless your hardware works out-of-the-box or you're never going to reinstall it, there's little to no point working for hours to get it running. Sure it is fun, and an excellent boasting point, but anything I need to run is easier on Windows anyway, and the hassle isn't worth the time you put into it. Maybe it is useful for high-end video editors who can't afford a "real" mac pro, but it wasn't for me. If you need any help installing it though I might be able to help.


Oh..have you tried making it work UNDERclocked??
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

charlie bruce said:
My machine has been running at stock speeds for the last few months, since I was having the instability isuues in fact. I suspected one of the chips on the motherboard was causing it, since a lan, sata and hanging issue aren't all going to happen seperately and unconnectedly, are they...? The motherboard temperatures were fine as far as I remember, with the BIOS reporting temperatures under the 70 degree mark even after it hangs, and the machine set to auto-shut-down when any chips reach 90deg. The case itself gives enough airflow (5 120mm fans and 1 200mm fan), and I recently cleaned all of them out.

I found the LCD poster for the Striker, so that'll be plugged in and reporting as soon as I get back to my mum's (Monday). I suspect that, as 4gb is currently the standard, 6gb will soon replace it, with 12gb being the de facto for ultra-high-end machines and professional workstations.

Regarding Hackintosh, to be honest unless your hardware works out-of-the-box or you're never going to reinstall it, there's little to no point working for hours to get it running. Sure it is fun, and an excellent boasting point, but anything I need to run is easier on Windows anyway, and the hassle isn't worth the time you put into it. Maybe it is useful for high-end video editors who can't afford a "real" mac pro, but it wasn't for me. If you need any help installing it though I might be able to help.

I am still guessing that you fried either your North or South bridge. BUT I have been wrong before!

As for the Hackintosh, it's just something that I want to do. When I decide to do it, I will have a dual or tripple boot setup. Windows/Linux/Mac. I see it as being something fun to do. :)
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

Does anyone have photos that they want to post of their custom pc?
 
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Re: Computer Specs thread

UNDERclocked? You blaspheme! Besides, 2.4ghz is pretty low for ANY system made in the last 5 years ;)

I got the LCD poster set up, and each time it fails to boot it reports "DET  IDE" - detecting drives. It may be nothing, and most probably is only part of the problem, but I disconnected my CD/DVD drive when it was totally failing to boot, and it's been fine since (last 45 minutes). Is removing this forcing the SATA controller to do something differently? Removing the drive does not solve the issues totally, though, I tried this in the past when I suspected the drive, and it would still hang. Removing the drive is not a permanent solution for me, either - all my data and video is burnt to DVD. When it hung in Windows, the poster continued to display the time as normal.

With the Hackintosh, I had a lot of fun making it work too, and the first time I saw that grey spinny thing and dock sliding onto my screen was a magic moment. It's strange that nearly all of those magic moments for me happen on the computer or with high-powered lasers... I need to get out more :D

I will have some photos if you want, since it is quite a good-looking computer if I do say so myself (no UV light for the coolant though), but only after I've tidied my desk!
 




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