Computer Show-off

Everything for your PC, from case modding to OS discussions, come here to discuss computer hardware and software.
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Stereo
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Stereo »

Niec, niec.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Carcrazy »

Boo Dell... turns out the only thing still in warranty was the Graphics "Card."

Yay Dell for not inspecting the computer before they gave me a new warranty! \o/

Haha, they said that if I ordered it today they wouldn't inspect it. (That's what you get for being greedy.)
Plus, the warranty has Accidental Damage Coverage for a year. On top of that, when I was telling them what it was doing, I didn't actually say how it was broken. (The dude hit it... hard, apparently.)

...now I wish I hadn't taken it apart yesterday. o.O
Oh well, the warranty extension cost $297, so I paid someone $325 since they let me use their credit card.
IMO, money well spent. =P
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Re: Computer Show-off

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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by vellu »

Slight update to my fileserver. Started running a tad hot now that summer heat waves are coming more frequent. Upgraded the cpu cooler to Titan Fenrir. Very efficient and quiet too.

http://www.titan-cd.com/2009_WEB/produc ... ?ProID=341

Spec summary:
CPU: AMD Phenom X4 9850 @ 2.8GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR800 (2X2GB Dual-Channel)
HDD: 7x500GB (2x500 RAID-1, 5x500 RAID-5 for a total (redundant) storage space of 2.5TB)
CASE: Nexus Caterpillar
PSU: Nexus Silent 500W
OS: Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard X64
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Carcrazy »

Welcome to the BlakBLiT revolution.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dmv=1256186

Build version 0.5 - the build won't be finalized until the Windows 7 release.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by xHaZxMaTx »

So... it'll be outdated by time it's finished? :P
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Carcrazy »

Every computer is outdated. =P

Still, I don't care how old it is, it's got a quad core and a GTX260. I'm just grateful for it. ^_^
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by baumaxx1 »

I'd call it outdated when it struggles to perform tasks it is intended to be used for competently.

Otherwise mine's outdated already because I'm not running blu-ray or SSDs in RAID...
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Carcrazy »

I was surprised when I saw that blue-ray drives only cost $80 now.

Still, if you're spending $80 on a disk drive, you're either loaded, stupid, or have one HELL of a TV/monitor. =P

Anyway, I need a new hard drive before Win7 gets released, another DVD-RW drive, and I'm going to have to replace this motherboard... it's little restart spasm's are becoming too much to handle, especially with so much new equipment wired to it... I'm worried about damaging the new components. D=
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by baumaxx1 »

Cheapest writer is $240 though. And I have a 1080p Monitor.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by PSZeTa »

Decided to freshen up my PC and got a second-hand Q6600 G0. Bought a new EP45-UD3 and 4GBs of OCZ memory to go with it. Still running the old 7900GTO though! Set it up temporarily on my desk so I can get my case sorted out. :p

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It's crazy that I got this stuff for less than I paid for an entry level AMD64 X2 dual core 3 years back.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Carcrazy »

Oh man, trust me... that G0 won't disappoint. =P

Just dump that stock heatsink, it really is teh fail. Back when I had it, my load temps were around 60-70c... D=

I'm not saying you have to go spend $70 on a TRUE or even a Zalman or something of the sort, just something... almost anything is better than that flimsy thing.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by PSZeTa »

Don't worry, it's waiting for a spanking new waterblock. =P~

Also undervolting for fun because it's still under the stock cooler. Can probably go even lower but got tired of rebooting all the time.

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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by baumaxx1 »

I'll have to get some pics in... and run a 3D mark test, and some benches post sound card and optimisation...

but... specs:

| Intel i7 920 | Gigabyte EX58-UD3R | G.skill NQ 6GB DDR3 | 2x WD SATA 640GB | Inno3D GTX260 | Asus DX | Winfast DTV 1000T | Antec 300 |

I've finally got everything in there. Probably go with SSD HDDS and higher spec GFX down the track... but not for a while =-)

Using it... Matlab computes very quickly... mere seconds for a complex integration, Photoshop is very quick and fluid, Adobe Soundbooth encodes pretty much instantly, lol.

I can have firefox, media player + surver, AntiVirus running, msn, and you won't feel a performance hit in-game. Heck, I can run all but retail Crysis (not warhead) on maximum settings with aero on, and I was watching HD TV the other day on the other screen while running bioshock on max at 1080p.

Definitely not a setup to SLI with... maybe lower end cards, but unless you water cool, there is no space if you run 2 GTX 260s on the mobo. The sound card is low profile, so no issues there, but I can't use the first PCI-E 1x slot on the mobo without removing the mobo heatsink. However... if you stick with single cards and what I have it's plenty for any high end user without getting too extreme.

I am running Vista 64 bit, XP 32 bit for a few little things like Oblivion (some retarded audio issue in vista), Mum not liking vista, and the fact that there are no 64 bit Cannon scanner drivers for my model, lol.

The sound card was actually worth it, it made a big improvement in bass detail. It made it more sub bass - like than a muddy woof. Bass guitars sound fantastic on it. And the imaging's a bit better, it's not so much a wall of sound anymore. And there is also none of that noticable interference you get from onboard sound. It also improves Mp3s a bit and has all this handy post processing. VOIP features are included too.

Out of the stuff I've tested... Bioshock runs on max perfectly. Fallout 3 is buggered. It's skipping frames no matter the settings and it's very stuttery. It's related to the game engine, lol.

I have done benches pre-sound card, pre-optimisation and vista tweaks, with background tasks and with older drivers too. Plus, the FarCry 2 bench was done without a reset after installation ,lol.

FarCry2

Settings: Demo(Ranch Long), 1920x1080 (60Hz), D3D10, Fixed Time Step(No), Disable Artificial Intelligence(No), Full Screen, Anti-Aliasing(8x), VSync(No), Overall Quality(Ultra High), Vegetation(Very High), Shading(Ultra High), Terrain(Ultra High), Geometry(Ultra High), Post FX(High), Texture(Ultra High), Shadow(Ultra High), Ambient(High), Hdr(Yes), Bloom(Yes), Fire(Very High), Physics(Very High), RealTrees(Very High)

* Average Framerate: 38.16
* Max. Framerate: 82.87
* Min. Framerate: 20.06

And Crysis

GPU_Benchmark

Run #1- DX10 1280x1024 AA=No AA, 64 bit test, Quality: High ~~ Overall Average FPS: 49.35

Run #1- DX10 1680x1050 AA=4x, 64 bit test, Quality: High ~~ Overall Average FPS: 32.23
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Stereo »

PSZeTa, should've gotten the EP45-UD3P. ^^ Basically the same, but more bridge cooling. :P
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by PSZeTa »

Sick machine baumaxx, maybe I'll have i7s in a couple of years or so. I'll be hunting them down on eBay, lol.
Stereo wrote:PSZeTa, should've gotten the EP45-UD3P. ^^ Basically the same, but more bridge cooling. :P
Or the EP45-UD3R, but I'm satisfied with what the cheapest model offers. I have some copper sinks lying around, so I might just use them on the board.

I lapped the IHS to improve heatsink contact, it was concave. :mrgreen:
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by baumaxx1 »

Haha, i9s will be out by then. But yeah, I built it for longevity and with plenty of CPU power for engineering, so I'll imagine it'll last me a while. Plus... I can chuck in an i9 if need be down the track, lol.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by PSZeTa »

I find that computers usually don't last very long.. The CPUs can be kept longer than graphics cards though. GPUs tend to get slow real quick, as graphics just take giant steps.

Anyways, I got my watercooling setup running and load temperatures are the same as idle on stock cooler, lol.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by baumaxx1 »

Depends what you build... I held onto my last one for 4.5 years and it was still able to run Crysis smoothly and I didn't even have everything on low.

Have you found that graphics have kind of frozen at this point though? Because How old is Crysis now? Nothing has surpassed it, it is still the most intensive game, and I midrange card like a 9600GT will be able to run it on high. Heck, a lowly e2xxx series CPU is competent for the task. New GPUs are coming out... but you don't even need top of the line $700 GPUs to max most games out now. I'm guessing there'll come a time soon where something will take a massive step again though.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Carcrazy »

Meh, that's like pulling up nVidia's old moves with the 8000/9000 series. The 8000 series was godly, whereas the 9000 series was essentially just a remake. Having not had an 8800 or anything of the such, I don't really comment on the 9000->200-series move, but meh.

Although yeah, the gaming industry, graphics wise, had a major jump a few years ago, and yeah, it now seems to be standing still. ...somewhat.

I'm still curious to see DX11 in action, was I wasn't going to wait around for a new card. At least MS wised up this time around and is making 11 fully compatible with DX10. (Or so I heard, I'm not much up to date.)
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by baumaxx1 »

Well the GTX 260 is the X600 card of the range... and it'll max everything but Crysis... which it gets very close to. It's dual Processor, so it'll be able to do HD video and play Bioshock on max no sweat. So it is a few times more powerful than the 8800s.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Koenigsegg_Rox »

The card that I'm getting, the GTX275, can max Crysis Warhead except AA @ 1920x1200, 32fps according to Guru3D.com, and depending on where you look you can pick that up for less than AU$250 now.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by baumaxx1 »

Yeah... grumbles... grumble... 1 month and it's cheaper than my 260 gold now -.-
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Stereo »

Damn, son. I can max Crysis on 1440x900 and get 30fps. On a 9600GSO.
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Re: Computer Show-off

Post by Carcrazy »

I could play Crysis on high at playable frames on my old 7600GT.

In fact, it surprised me how much the ol' 76 could do compared to the 260.
If the 275 drops much more, though, I might just have to look into EVGA's Step-Up program. =P
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