holy crap neon, that IS tiny! I wish fry's had stores on the east coast. Shit I wished microcenter was in NC. Those two stores just have too many good in-store only deals that make me blush. Although I have a few friends in NJ who live right next to a microcenter so they can buy stuff and ship it to me.

9/19/2011 12:38:55 PM

Quote :

"No way you can cold boot in 3-4 seconds."

Yeah, I left off a zero. 30 seconds.

9/19/2011 5:10:50 PM

Didn't know you did a new build. What is it?

9/19/2011 6:26:15 PM

2500k Sandy Bridge
ASRock P67 Extreme4 mobo
Crucial 64gb SSD
2x 500gb WD Black HDDs in RAID1
ATI 4770 (I know, old card, don't give me any crap )
8gb GSkill RAM
OCZ 600W PSU

9/19/2011 10:34:53 PM

going to give you crap... why did you buy a P67 board? The Z68 is just as common and much newer, plus the chipset comes with SRT which would have been a welcome function for that 64gb ssd of yours. Although the ASRock mobo u got is pretty rock solid.

9/19/2011 10:48:13 PM

Mostly because I don't know the difference between P67 and Z68. I looked at a lot of reviews and the ASRock one was rated pretty highly.

9/20/2011 12:19:05 AM

its minor and doesn't cost any more than the older p series chipsets. The real advantage is the SRT function that lets you add a small, cheap ssd for system caching in win7; upto 40gigs. You have the speed of an ssd for common files with the storage of a mechanical drive for you boot disk.

9/20/2011 12:23:53 AM

Stimwalt thanks for the advice, I am pretty much following it to a T

So far, the firmware on the drive is already the latest.
There IS a firmware update for the motherboard that specifically fixes AHCI problems.
Firmware updated on motherboard
Reinstalling windows on the ssd
Fingers are crossed

9/20/2011 2:16:44 AM

^^ where are you getting the 40 figure, I've read 64gb as the max.

^ good luck. I'm sure you're using AHCI mode. Keep in mind, sometimes older firmwares are more stable, I'd research the forums. My brand new Vertex 3 came with 2.11 firmware, but the forums showed that 2.09 was more stable.

Flyingtiger, why did you go raid1 instead of raid0? Do you care about the data? My gaming rigs are built with the understanding that if data is lost, no worries. Also, you really need a nicer card It's also true that you probably should have gone with SRT tech considering you have the perfect sized SSD for caching.

It's not a bad build, but your biggest improvement would be a nice middle-of-the-road video card.

[Edited on September 20, 2011 at 8:27 AM. Reason : -]

9/20/2011 8:15:37 AM

interesting observations from my overclocking adventures with the 2600k

was crashing frequently with my 1.35v at 4.4ghz....was disappointed this was a poor overclocker. Turns out the DDR3 was not correctly configured...enabling the XMP profile made it much more stable

I've pushed it to 4.5ghz and managed to lower vcore to 1.325v and was stable for over 8 hrs at around 65 C full load, going to try for a lower vcore tonight....but what is interesting is that I have to dump a truckload of vcore onto it to get it to 4.6ghz. 1.35v boots but that is about it. I know it was a mistake to assume OC'ing with vcore is linear, but it was an interesting thing to see...

9/20/2011 10:24:27 AM

^^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0hrmPj3wco

Some intel engineer spokes person said it, but yeah its odd cause anywhere else its listed as 64gb... Funny how they don't even list the max limit on their own website. And SRT is aka System Recover Tool. search yields almost nothing on intel site. lol

9/20/2011 12:20:13 PM

So I built my first home-brew desktop back in January, and I'm starting to realize how little I know beyond just plugging hardware together and installing software

With that said, does anyone have any good links/good reads to get me more informed on these topics? i.e. overclocking (CPU/GPU/RAM), understanding the influence of the architecture of cards in regards to how they perform, rather than just raw frequency, etc. I'd like to get a little more fluent in this area, but I have no idea where to start, so any advice would be appreciated.

FWIW, current computer specs listed below - if you have any suggestions for what I could do to my current hardware, please let me know! I'm thinking of OC'ing the CPU, as it's an already unlocked chip, but I'm not sure the stock heatsink would be up to it, as I push right around 60*C at full load for extended periods at stock, and I'm not sure what the next best choice would be for a different HSF.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.2GHz
ATI Radeon HD 5750
Cooler Master RS500-PCARD3 500W ATX12v v2.3 PSU
GIGABYTE GA-770TA-UD3 AM3 AMD 770 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
8GB DDR3 RAM (2x4GB) - CEON (generic apparently)
Seagate 500GB 7200RPM HDD
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Running on an ASUS VH222H-P 1920x1080 21.5" screen

9/20/2011 4:32:21 PM

http://www.anandtech.com/
http://www.tomshardware.com/
http://www.hardocp.com/
http://www.maximumpc.com/ - Best Computer Magazine IMHO. I read it monthly.

I always start with these. If you want more specifics of how to overclock a certain processor or motherboard, search. A lot of times people have already done it and documented it. Sometimes it takes a lot of research (reading forums) sometimes it's laid out for you. Chances are in your favor that the question you have is already answered.

Quote :

"understanding the influence of the architecture of cards in regards to how they perform, rather than just raw frequency"

if you read any news article about cpu's & chipsets when they are released, a lot of good reputable sources who are knowledgeable about the subject will explain the entire architecture in a single article, what's new about it, what's good or bad about it, etc.

[Edited on September 20, 2011 at 5:39 PM. Reason : .]

9/20/2011 5:33:18 PM

^^ Shits weak son Just kidding lol.

Hey did anyone here play int the BF3 Alpha? If so what GPU did you test the game with? I am just trying to figure out how my vanilla GTX 560 is gonna handle it. I am thinking about get a GTX 570 since it appears that it is a significant enough increase in performance to warrant the upgrade.

[Edited on September 20, 2011 at 5:35 PM. Reason : /]

9/20/2011 5:35:07 PM

Wait why don't you get a second 560 and run them in SLI? That'll be fast.

9/20/2011 5:37:43 PM

I don't think my motherboard supports SLI, it seems to only support Crossfire. If it does support SLI let me know.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131733

9/20/2011 5:42:36 PM

Yeah, SLI 560 is better, unless you do a 580, which still isn't as good as SLI 560's, but under the assumption you'll go SLI 580's within the year.

Quote :

"2 PCIe slots for SLI or Crossfire"

[Edited on September 20, 2011 at 5:45 PM. Reason : -]

9/20/2011 5:44:11 PM

That what a reviewer said not whats on the official packaging, right?

9/20/2011 5:47:13 PM

Don't know how it works but what are the requirements for SLI capability? If it supports crossfire shouldn't it support SLI?

9/20/2011 5:48:00 PM

If it does support SLI, whats a rule of thumb for an adequate power supply, ie, 1.33x, in other words I have a 750W PSU and a single card needs a minimum of 450W, so in SLI would my power supply be enough?

9/20/2011 5:50:49 PM

Did the motherboard come with an SLI bridge?

If you go SLI 560/570 I would have at least a 850 PSU.

Technically, you can calculate your power consumption which each component if you want, but personally, I'd rather have more power than I need, rather than just enough.

The 750W might be sufficient, but it depends on all the other power hungry components in your rig.

[Edited on September 20, 2011 at 6:03 PM. Reason : -]

9/20/2011 6:01:54 PM

No SLI bridge came with it.

9/20/2011 6:06:25 PM

update on the HTPC build:

The Motherboard Firmware update fixed all the erratic behavior. System is running smooth as butter now. The SSD is benching at 550mb/s read and 565mb/s write speeds, and is rock solid.

I can't believe how performant the system is, even moreso being a mini-itx form factor. It is FAST. Also, its pretty amazing how noticeable a difference a 6gb/s SSD is from an older 3gb/s SSD. It really is worth the extra cash.

Cold boot time to desktop is 13 seconds. There is absolutely no lag in WMC anymore, and no lag on WMC Extended to the Xbox either. Very good stuff

--------------------

Now for my "stupid computer moment" of the year: After I upgrade the firmware, reinstalled windows and got everything updated, I ran the ATTO Disk Bench to make sure the SSD was working properly.

Benchmark results showed it capping out at 80mb/s. I was like WTF!?!?! Searched online for an hour looking to diagnose it. Doubled checked AHCI was enable, write caching, all sorts of arcane shit.

I was about to pull my hair out, but I was like hmm lemme check and see what the driver version is. So I go to "My Computer" to right click on the drive. And I see "Capacity: 40gb used, 960gb free". WHAT? Oh, stupid ass me installed windows to the regular HDD, and didn't even bother to check. At least 80mb/s is really damn good for a 1tb 7200rpm platter drive

So one more reinstall later I finally had everything right. Definite ID10T error.

[Edited on September 20, 2011 at 6:46 PM. Reason : .]

9/20/2011 6:45:46 PM

^^ Then it's very unlikely to be SLI Ready.

lol, nice cold boot. Is that with Raid 0 too? Everyone runs into problems with a new build, they just don't talk about it. My cold boot is 14 seconds, with mods (Soluto).

[Edited on September 20, 2011 at 7:06 PM. Reason : -]

9/20/2011 7:04:08 PM

no raid. Single drive Corsair Force GT 128gb. and vanilla Win7 SP1 without any optimization.

9/20/2011 7:13:36 PM

Mod it with Soluto, Ultimate Windows Tweaker, msconfig No GUI Boot, and BIOS mods to reduce wait time, and you might be able to drop it to 12 seconds.

I'll add that it's 14 seconds for me after I installed a lot of games and other crap.

[Edited on September 20, 2011 at 7:23 PM. Reason : -]

9/20/2011 7:20:32 PM

So is the 6970 or the 6950 more close to the performance of the 560?

9/20/2011 7:27:08 PM

Get the 6950 and unlock it to the 6970 bios. Try to find a manufactorer that didn't laser cut the card. Basically the 6950 and 6970 were originally the same stock card, and a bios unlock made the 6950 turn into a 6970. Manufacturers caught on to the bios unlock, and physically altered the 6950's to prevent losing a lot of money on their 6970 cards on the market.

9/20/2011 8:00:51 PM

How can you tell if they have been unaltered and how do you unlock the BIOS?

9/20/2011 8:46:33 PM

Quote :

"Mod it with Soluto, Ultimate Windows Tweaker, msconfig No GUI Boot, and BIOS mods to reduce wait time, and you might be able to drop it to 12 seconds."

Considering it's a HTPC that I reboot maybe once every 6 months, I'm totally happy with 14 seconds as-is

9/20/2011 9:02:26 PM

^^
MSI TFIII 6950 will unlock, and it boasts even more shaders than the standard 6970 BIOS, and here's the guide:

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/msi_r6950_twin_froz_iii_power_edition_unlocking,1.html

^
Gotcha.

[Edited on September 21, 2011 at 7:27 AM. Reason : -]

9/21/2011 7:19:00 AM

Quote :

"No SLI bridge came with it."

Quote :

"Then it's very unlikely to be SLI Ready."

A mobo that doesn't come with an SLI bridge doesn't mean its not SLI ready. Its common to see budget/midrange mobo's that DON'T add this accessory for free and the bridge sure as hell doesn't come with most nvidia cards.

9/21/2011 10:21:03 AM

I said it was unlikely. The mobo should come with an SLI Bridge, if it's truly SLI Ready. It seems odd to me that mobos would be SLI Ready, and not provide the SLI Bridge, or at least some indication on the box, or mobo itself, of being SLI Ready. In regards to the motherboard in question, I do not see anything that clearly states it's SLI Ready online, outside of customer reviews...

[Edited on September 21, 2011 at 10:35 AM. Reason : -]

9/21/2011 10:31:41 AM

Buy a second 560. Try it out. If it isn't return it.

9/21/2011 11:06:31 AM

So what motherboard does everyone suggest for a i5 2500k? I'm thinking of building a new computer, was going to do to HTPC, but kind of want to do one that's both HTPC and possible to game because Battle Field looks incredible and I enjoyed the hell out of those years ago. I'm doing a completely new build so I'm looking in the neighborhood of 800-1000. I know the CPU is 220ish and will probably just end up getting 16GB of RAM because of how cheap it is right now. I already have an SSD SATA III just waiting to be used as a boot drive. I just need to get the rest.

Right now this is kind of what I'm thinking of the following two motherboards, but open to suggestions:
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 $150: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512
BIOSTAR TZ68A+RCH $130: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138320

At least 2-4 TB total of hard drive space (so that's another 200+ probably)

Cases I'm very open, but I'd like something I could have in my living room and not feel too weird by having 80 LEDs flashing every which way (which was where the HTPC originally came in).

I'm thinking of getting the H80 water cooling for the CPU or if there's a good quiet solution to look into I'm open obviously right now as I'm in the planning stages. Though will probably try to start building within the next 2 weeks.

What graphics cards give the best HD Audio as I'm going to be sending it through my 7.1 Receiver and would love if any are capable of that, though if I need to buy a sound card I'm fine with this too. I'm obsessed with speakers and would love my computer to be able to use them to their fullest, so I don't know if graphics cards can do this (I've seen some with the DTS HD and what not capability so I'm hoping to probably get one of those if it makes sense).

tl;dr Need Motherboard (see links), Graphics cards with audio or get sound card, water cooling or air solution?

9/21/2011 11:29:35 AM

Quote :

"It seems odd to me that mobos would be SLI Ready, and not provide the SLI Bridge, or at least some indication on the box, or mobo itself, of being SLI Ready. In regards to the motherboard in question, I do not see anything that clearly states it's SLI Ready online, outside of customer reviews..."

Probably the most annoying thing about sli since its inconstant (yes its a moot point). They should be like amd and just supply a set of bridges with every gpu. I mean the ribbon cable sli bridges can't be that expensive to build in bulk and throw in on $100+ cards. The cost of the packaging itself is probably around the 10-30 per box amount anyhow depending on the printing, overlays, graphics and construction type/complexity.

^IMHO, the H50/80 LC coolers are a waste of money specially for being close to $100. If you are going LC, invest in a proper setup which shouldn't be that far away from the price of one H80 and you will see better cooling abilities. But for air, Cooler Master 212+ for 25-30 bucks is a bargain and will yield similar OC to that of the H50 for 1/3 of the price.

As for the mobo, stick with Gigabyte, asus, msi or asrock. I've really never liked biostar even for shitty pc builds.

[Edited on September 21, 2011 at 11:52 AM. Reason : ]

9/21/2011 11:47:33 AM

The H80 is great for processor over-clocking, but admittedly, I didn't decide on it until after I had built my rig. If you want to liquid cool the entire system, you can do it cost-effectively, just make sure you get the right case for it.

9/21/2011 12:05:42 PM

http://support.asus.com/FAQ/detail.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=M5A88-V%20EVO&p=1&s=24&os=&hashedid=NOXKRd8n3wWVKy2e&no=D06D6034-D5C9-49C4-5E1B-CF724DB5C000

According to this link it should support SLI, but I guess AMD doesn't want to advertise for a competitor i guess.


Will any SLI bridge due? Like the one in this kit? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814998025

[Edited on September 21, 2011 at 1:03 PM. Reason : /]

9/21/2011 1:00:12 PM

it should be if its the right length, depends on your mobo layout.

9/21/2011 1:58:50 PM

This should do it then http://www.amazon.com/Nvidia-flexible-bridge-interconnect-connector/dp/B0025VT6LQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316629773&sr=8-1

9/21/2011 2:31:21 PM

Quote :

"Mod it with Soluto, Ultimate Windows Tweaker, msconfig No GUI Boot, and BIOS mods to reduce wait time, and you might be able to drop it to 12 seconds."

....all that work to shave 2 seconds off a bootup time?

9/21/2011 2:39:21 PM

Not everyone is a computer nerd.

Some people collect stamps.

[Edited on September 21, 2011 at 2:42 PM. Reason : -]

9/21/2011 2:41:56 PM

$15 for something that should come free with your gpu or mobo? jeez

9/21/2011 2:43:44 PM

^^

Quote :

"Not everyone is a computer nerd. "

I'm a computer nerd, and even I think that is reaching the "diminishing returns" mark.

9/21/2011 3:01:29 PM

You are? Then you should appreciate a 12 second cold boot.

9/21/2011 3:11:29 PM

9/21/2011 3:25:51 PM

9th result on google.

9/21/2011 3:35:19 PM

Should I buy another 560 and try the SLI on my motherboard, yay or nay? I think it is likely it supports it but I don't feel like the hassle of a return if it doesn't..

9/21/2011 5:34:06 PM

It's not THAT hard to return. A second 560 will be worth it. That will be quite fast.

9/21/2011 5:35:55 PM

do it

9/21/2011 5:55:16 PM