Upgrading/replacing with new system is this ok?

[Dru]

Basically at the moment my system is this:

AMD AthlonXP Thunderbird 2600+
1GB of PC2700
40 GB HDD
MSI (ATi) Radeon 9550SE 128MB

Runs LFS in 1280x1024 at upto 40 fps (no AA etc etc) but grids get me down to 20 fps ish - just about playable.

However have some money to spend on a new rig and would like comments on below recommendation by a UK computer builder..

Amd Am2 3800
2 x 512ddr2
Foxconn Motherboard
X-Blade case + 450watts PSU
160GB SataII 7200.9 HD.
And
A 8800gts 320mb graphics card.


Anyone able to let me know if this is good/suitable/overkill (i have no idea i'm not technical) and what sort of fps it would give or any weakspots etc etc.


Any help gladly accepted as i don't want to spend £400-500 quid on something that is not right for the job etc etc.

Cheers,

Dru.

[Bean0]

I'm pretty sure that Intel Core 2 Duos are the way forwards at the moment processor wise.

Not 100% though, anyone else got some more geeky info ?

[Jakg]

Geek to the rescue!

8800 + AMD = Bottleneck, how much ya got to spend? a Core 2 Duo system could be grabbed for about £200 (i mean Memory, CPU and ram), and then £200 on an 8800GTS 320 MB, the rest would be alright althogh i'd probably get a beefier PSU

[Dru]

Geek to the rescue!

8800 + AMD = Bottleneck, how much ya got to spend? a Core 2 Duo system could be grabbed for about £200 (i mean Memory, CPU and ram), and then £200 on an 8800GTS 320 MB, the rest would be alright althogh i'd probably get a beefier PSU


I've got £500 to spend (all in inc VAT etc etc)

I've got the operating system/monitor etc etc so effective looking for a complete base unit...

I've always been lead to beleive that intel is better for media and AMD for gaming - is this not true??

so anyways, what can i get for my money thats gonna be able to run LFS and things like half-life 2 engine etc etc but is also future proof (as much as you can get) for a soon to be pennyless student :shrug:

[Jakg]

well AMD used to be better when the P4 was on the market, but the new Core 2 Duo is THE processor to get - for comparison, a C2D does double the amount of work per GHz than a P4, and an AMD does 1.5x times what a P4 does, if that makes any sense - either way, Core 2 Duo is the best bet atm

[Dru]

right ok - so to a non technical person......

Duo Core 6300 or 6400 is there much difference and what 'ingame will the results be'

should i go for a 320mb 8800GTS or should i get a decent 256mB cart like a geforce 256mB or something??

is 1024 RAM good enuff?

Cheers,

Dru.

[Jakg]

1024 is enough for XP, but 2 GB would be better

go for the 8800, it really is the best, you get DX10, although if you plan running at high resolutions (1600*1200) then the 640 MB version would be better


E6300/6400? up to you if you have the money

[Dru]

so the E6300 is more than enuff for know and the mobo it goes on will be able to accept the better chips if money becomes availalbt to upgrade further right?

[Jakg]

yup, BUT an "E6320" is coming soon with more L2 cache (so it will be faster), so expect the price of the E6300 to go down.

Even if Intel were to drop the socket now, then you would still be able to upgrade to an E6700 and get more performance

[Dru]

excellent - any ideas about time to launch. no point buying it noe if the price will come down next month etc etc..

[Jakg]

in march ATi will release a new graphics card, the "R600" which will be the new fastest, and have 2 other models (for mid-range and just crap cards), and nVidia will release an 8600 at the same time, this may affect the price of the 8800

[Dru]

i guess its always a thing about - tomorrow it will be cheaper, but tommorrow there will always be newer better models out.....


it's an ongoing cycle isn't it.


Optical Drives\DVD Writers SAMSUNG DVD+/-RW 18x6x18x8 DUAL LAYER BLACK Cooling Fans SPEEZE - Heatsink/Fan - Silent
CPU\Intel Core 2 Duo INTEL CORE 2 DUO E6400 1066FSB SKT775 Memory\DDR2 1GB DDR2 PC-5400 667 MHZ
Hard Drives\SATA 250 GB SATA HDD UDMA 300 7200 8MB
Graphics Cards INTERGRATED 3D VIDEO
Motherboards\SKT 775 ASUS SKT-775 P5VD2-MX S/V/L M-ATX 1066 Computer Cases XBLADE - Black - 450W PSU
Operating Systems NOT INCLUDED Anti Virus NOT INCLUDED
Sound Cards ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL 5.1 SOUND
USB Ports 10 X USB 2.0 PORTS
Networking FAST 10/100 LAN (BROADBAND READY)

Thats £335 including VAT - just have to sort out a decent graphics card, any ideas??

[Dajmin]

If you must have a DX10 card, the 8800 is the only real choice (don't know prices) but I can heartily recommend my 7900GS Extreme (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=488119) as a quality DX9 card (was only about £130 too).

LFS runs around 150FPS (down to maybe 80 or 85 full grid) and the HL2 benchmark was well into the 100s as well. I also get good rates in BF2, Oblivion and STALKER with the detail up full (or almost in Oblivion's case). I use an AMD CPU, because nobody mentioned Intel being the better option before I bought mine :p

[Dru]

ah ok so the original spec listed WILL work and work to a good standard, but there is a 'bottleneck' that is holding back various parts...

so therefore i have a choice to either go dx10 with a 8800gts 320mb or go with a dx9 Geforce 7900gs or gt

can someone tell me the differences of dx9 and dx10 - to me will it really make a difference..

By the end of this i hope to have a good spec machine plus also a basic understanding of what everyone is talking about :nod:

cheers,

Dru.

[Hyperactive]

Doesn't a DX10 card need Windows Vista to work in dx10 mode or so? For an XP user the biggest difference is the increased processing power but the dx10 effects are only working in Vista, in XP it is "just" a dx9 card, right?

[Bean0]

Doesn't a DX10 card need Windows Vista to work in dx10 mode or so? For an XP user the biggest difference is the increased processing power but the dx10 effects are only working in Vista, in XP it is "just" a dx9 card, right?

Yes. Also, it'll be a little while before there are a load of DX10 games about.

But, for the price the 8800 is a steal. Far faster than the high end DX9 cards and not really that much more £££.

[Dru]

Yes. Also, it'll be a little while before there are a load of DX10 games about.

But, for the price the 8800 is a steal. Far faster than the high end DX9 cards and not really that much more £££.


you mean the 8800gts 320 is a steal compared to the top 256mb cards or the 640??

[Bean0]

It's probably worth your while having a read through the Graphics Card section of Overclockers forums (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=3).

Here's a quote of interest though

DEFINATELY go for the single 8800 GTS
the amount you will spend on a pair of 7900 GTs is simply not worth it for previous gen hardware.
I would strongly advise ANYONE against buying a new DX9 card now, let alone 2.
With the 8600 range due out soon, and the cheaper 340 MB 8800 GTS, there is simply no excuse for buying DX9 hardware now...
Anyway a single 8800 GTS can do stuff that 7900 cards can't do, even in SLI - like HDR + AA together.
It also has a much better image quality overall.

Also you can always overclock the GTS - it can be overclocked to 8800 GTX levels, and then it will definately be much faster than a pair of 7900 GTs.
Really even at stock speeds it is easily as fast as a pair of 7900 GTs, and for less money!

:)

[Dru]

excellent - that settles it - i'll get the 8800 gts graphics card and will try and get best mobo/chip combo to run it for the money...

dual core 2 6300 or amd am2 4200 - which one tho....

[csurdongulos]

i guess its always a thing about - tomorrow it will be cheaper, but tommorrow there will always be newer better models out.....


it's an ongoing cycle isn't it.


Optical Drives\DVD Writers SAMSUNG DVD+/-RW 18x6x18x8 DUAL LAYER BLACK Cooling Fans SPEEZE - Heatsink/Fan - Silent
CPU\Intel Core 2 Duo INTEL CORE 2 DUO E6400 1066FSB SKT775 Memory\DDR2 1GB DDR2 PC-5400 667 MHZ
Hard Drives\SATA 250 GB SATA HDD UDMA 300 7200 8MB
Graphics Cards INTERGRATED 3D VIDEO
Motherboards\SKT 775 ASUS SKT-775 P5VD2-MX S/V/L M-ATX 1066 Computer Cases XBLADE - Black - 450W PSU
Operating Systems NOT INCLUDED Anti Virus NOT INCLUDED
Sound Cards ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL 5.1 SOUND
USB Ports 10 X USB 2.0 PORTS
Networking FAST 10/100 LAN (BROADBAND READY)

Thats £335 including VAT - just have to sort out a decent graphics card, any ideas??

to be honest I wouldn'T go with that motherboard as it only supports up to 533 mhz ddr2 memory and it is VIA chipset based. I guess it is very cheap, but if you want a decent MB with potential to overclock you should go with the ASUS P5B series. it is up to you to decide how much fits into your budget, but depending on your needs you'll be better off with any model out of the P5B series. the basic p5b model is quite cheap as well and performance wise it is right up there with the more expensive models, however it is missing out on the accessory side and like less SATA ports? no firewire and so on, just check out the specifications on the ASUS homepage for the various boards and see what you need.

Also buying 800mhz ddr2 memory would be wiser, as the price is not that much higher and again you have more potential for OC or future upgrades and you can run CPU and memory in asynchronous
(spelling? word exists? :D)mode, which can give you a fair bit of performance boost if you use it at 800 mhz instead of 667.

about the videocards. from the Nvidia side I would only recommend the new 8800 series as the cards before didn't have a good AA/AF quality, therefore the ATI cards produced a better (sharper - for me) image quality when AA and AF were used. If you want a decent DX9 card, you could select from the ATI cards as well, the x1900 XT with 256 MB is an excellent choice, but the x1950pro would also rock and is cheaper.

edit: definitely the e6300 instead of the x2 4200 AMD. Also try to squeeze in 2x1gb-s of memory, or 2x512mb to take advantage of dual channel mode.

[Jakg]

dual core 2 6300 or amd am2 4200 - which one tho....AM2 is a rubbish socket, although you can use an AM2 CPU in an AM3 mobo, you cant use an AM2 Mobo with an Am3 CPU, so DEFINATELY go for the Intel

[Dru]

AM2 is a rubbish socket, although you can use an AM2 CPU in an AM3 mobo, you cant use an AM2 Mobo with an Am3 CPU, so DEFINATELY go for the Intel


i think i've got that point now mate :thumb:

just seeing know what combination of available parts i can get for the intel dual core 6300 with the 8800gts grafic card for under £500 all in :D

Trouble is like i said, i'm not that computer literate so things like types of memory cache speed sockets etc etc is just all dutch to me (btw thats an english expression and is not rude to dutch people :)

Thanks for all your help people, keep those ideas and suggestions coming.

BTW i want to buy this all from one place already built and tested or is the kind of stuff we talking about REALLY BASIC and just plug in's

PS i have changed a PSU once, a grafics card twice and a CD Drive - so i can do the basics - its the chip and mobo that scares me something cronic and when people talk about bios etc etc...

Cheers,

Dru.

[srdsprinter]

Just a thought, if there is nothing "wrong" with your comp now, about 2 months could save you up to ~100 pounds...

Intel's launching a few new C2D models, and planing significant price drops across the board in late March/early April. about 50 USD for low end c2d's.

R600 comes out ~April, which is already promising Crushing top end performance, And Best Performance per dollar models. If true it:
a) will bring D10 competiton to Nvidia could = 50 USD cheaper 8800s maybe
b) Ati could be cheaper with = or better performance that 8800gts
c) NVidia might drop the 8600GT which would be awesome, better than 7900gtx & x1950xt's... (Easily enough for LFS and HL2)

Of course, stuff always gets cheaper, so you don't want to Always be waiting for the next thing. But in this case, 2 months might be worth it to you...

[Jakg]

i think i've got that point now mate :thumb:

just seeing know what combination of available parts i can get for the intel dual core 6300 with the 8800gts grafic card for under £500 all in :D

Trouble is like i said, i'm not that computer literate so things like types of memory cache speed sockets etc etc is just all dutch to me (btw thats an english expression and is not rude to dutch people :)

Thanks for all your help people, keep those ideas and suggestions coming.

BTW i want to buy this all from one place already built and tested or is the kind of stuff we talking about REALLY BASIC and just plug in's

PS i have changed a PSU once, a grafics card twice and a CD Drive - so i can do the basics - its the chip and mobo that scares me something cronic and when people talk about bios etc etc...

Cheers,

Dru.CPU's are just flicking an arm up, dropping it in (well, dropping it in might bend the pins, but neatly place it in, close the arm, add a smidge of thermal paste, apply HSF, done!

[dadge]

and don't forget the copper risers to keep th mobo away from the chasis. but if your lucky the new baord will have the same riser layout as your old mobo.

[Dru]

Everything within the Case will be new for this system so buying mew parts (particulalry from the same place) is likely to be compatible.

regarding the waiting a few months - yes i could - but i have the money know and i fear if i wait a few months the money pile will be alot lower than now... :really:

[Dru]

Ok - someone i know recommends the Intel Core 2 DUO E6400
£140.00 inc VAT

Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650
£80.00 inc VAT


that leaves me £280 to get - case + psu, memory Hard drive and a decent graphics card.

The chip and mobo mean i will have something good for know and also futureproof, but can the below be done for £280. I guess i'm looking for at least 160MB HDD and 400W PSU and a 256MB Graphics card. anyone got any recommendations and also do i need anything else (i have an operating systemXP Home and a DVD Burner/Drive etc already from old computer)

Cheers all,

Dru.

[Bean0]

Given the above, I think your pushing it a bit. You're best off waiting and getting maybe another £100 or so to throw at it, and of course you'll get slightly better bits for the same money :D

[Dru]

sure, but if you don't ask you don't know :D and as i don't know.... i'll ask :thumb:

[Dennisjr13]

Hard Drive: 160 Gb Seagate Barracuda (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=434386) £36.71 Inc VAT
Case: NZXT Apollo Silver Midi Tower Case (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=469179) £46.94 Inc VAT
RAM: 1GB CorsairXMS2 DDR2 PC2-6400 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=239017) £73.60 Inc VAT
Graphics Card: 256Mb XFX 7600GT (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=368197) £79.30 Inc VAT
Power Supply: 430W Enermax Coolergiant (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=318499) £38.72 Inc VAT

Total: £275.27

You can always upgrade your graphics card to a midrange 8xxx series when they come out or the price drops. That is what I'm waiting for :D.

[Dru]

Hey Dennis thanks, thats really kind - i'll have a look into it :) and thanks for your help again ,

Dru.

[Jakg]

If you dont know which C2D mobo to get, here (http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/141321-what-core-2-duo-motherboard-right.html) is a guide

(Enthusiast Board = Overclocking board)

[Dru]

i'll take a look jthanks :D

so is this build heading in the right direction now after a wayward start?

might chuck another £50 into the pot if i can stretch it to get better PSU then only thing needed would be extra memory in say a years time and a graphics card update maybe?

[Dru]

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112708/rb/25637698396
£140.56 inc VAT

Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 Onboard Audio ATX
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125082
£75.31 inc VAT

160 Gb 7200RPM 8MB ATA133
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124503
£39.47 inc VAT

Corsair 1GB Kit (2x512MB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 (TWIN2X1024A-6400) CL5-5-5-12
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/92870
£69.99 inc VAT

EYE-T Silver X-Blade Mid Tower Case - With 450W PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/123403
£34.98 inc VAT

Total: £360.31 ex graphics card

know to choose a graphics card and get someone to build it or do it myself :shrug:

[Dru]

any ocmments or thoughts on this guys?? I've just got my pay packet thorugh and it looks like i can spend £550 on this setup so it leaves me £190 for a graphics card :D

[Dennisjr13]

EVGA 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 DVI TVO PCI-E Graphics Card

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125105

Though I don't know if your power supply could run it, might need a double check from someone who knows. :)

[Dru]

it says ...

Requirements
Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 26 Amp Amps.)

does this mean that the graphics card will need 400W just to run it and the remaining 50W is used for the rest of the computer, or does it mean that a system that uses a 400W PSU will be able to run this card?

soory, not technical enuff when it says stuff like that :shrug:

[Jakg]

it means with your "average" PC you'd need a 400w PSU to run it + the GFX card

[Dru]

Cheers JAkG - can i ask that is the above spec listed with the intel E 6400 considerd normal and the PSU i'm aiming to get is 450 - will this do the job or be up for it?

As you can see iim finalising the build and just looking for the graphics card know - however people are also recommneding something like a 7600GT Silent thats 'more than enuff' for LFS and the half-life 2 engine games that i will be playing and an unpgrade to the 8800 GTS range would be possible 12-18 months down the line as that would save me around £100 quid. :shrug:

Opinions please :thumb:

[Dru]

A 7600 GT such as this one http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/118475/rb/25671135737

will cost £75.00.

This will bring the build total to £435, meaning that the 'free' £65 will be able to exchange the E6400 for a E6600 is this a worthwhile idea?

Then in the future only a better graphics card and extra 1 gig memory will be needed ?

Comments please.

Also will this setup all run ok with a 450W PSU that comes with the Xblade case?

[Jakg]

that coems with a case? i wouldn't trust it - keep the 65 quid and get a PSU and sell the one it comes with on eBay

[Dru]

well - ok but apart from that the build spec is ok right?

i've gone for max chipset and mobo i can afford.
a cheapish card that'll last a while and enuff memory also for now :)

[Dru]

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 4MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112706 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112706)
£202.10 inc VAT

Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 Onboard Audio ATX
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125082 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125082)
£78.59 inc VAT

160 Gb 7200RPM 8MB ATA133
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124503 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124503)
£39.56 inc VAT

Inno3D GeForce 7600GT 256MB TV Out DVI Core 560MHz Memory 700MHz PCI-E
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/118475/rb/25671135737 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/118475/rb/25671135737)
£74.95 inc VAT

Corsair 1GB Kit (2x512MB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 (TWIN2X1024A-6400) CL5-5-5-12
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/92870 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/92870)
£69.99 inc VAT

EYE-T Silver X-Blade Mid Tower Case - With 450W PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/123403 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/123403)
£34.98 inc VAT

Total: £500.17


Anything else required that people can think of?

i have a O/S, DVD and floppy to go in this, i will retain my monitor, keboard,mouse, speakers from old computer...... and wheel :thumb:

[JohnUK89]

Instead of the ATA133 hard disk you are thinking of ordering, I would recommend getting a SATAII one, they are about the same price, and the performance boost you will gain from SATAII features (such as Native Command Queuing) will make it well worth it. Here is a 160GB one I found on ebuyer:
Western Digital WD1600JS Caviar SE 160GB 7200RPM SATAII/300 8MB Cache - OEM (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/94406) (£37.31 inc VAT)

[Dru]

Instead of the ATA133 hard disk you are thinking of ordering, I would recommend getting a SATAII one, they are about the same price, and the performance boost you will gain from SATAII features (such as Native Command Queuing) will make it well worth it. Here is a 160GB one I found on ebuyer:
Western Digital WD1600JS Caviar SE 160GB 7200RPM SATAII/300 8MB Cache - OEM (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/94406) (£37.31 inc VAT)



good spot :thumb:

will re-jig :D

anything else?

[Dru]

So taking tha above advise i have ordered all my bits (including a floppy drive and DVD RW Drive as well to complete the system.

The HDD has been swapped to a 250GB SATA type on recommendation.

Total Cost is £530 including delivery.

It says it is coming tomorrow, so i have put a holiday form in and will build tommorrow when it arrives.

I presume i just follow the instructions that come with all the different bits or is there an online 'idiots guide' to building a new PC that i can view on my old system, whilst i build the new one alongside.

Also anyone got any good tips for me to avoid beginners errors.

Cheers all,

Dru.

[Dennisjr13]

So taking tha above advise i have ordered all my bits (including a floppy drive and DVD RW Drive as well to complete the system.

The HDD has been swapped to a 250GB SATA type on recommendation.

Total Cost is £530 including delivery.

It says it is coming tomorrow, so i have put a holiday form in and will build tommorrow when it arrives.

I presume i just follow the instructions that come with all the different bits or is there an online 'idiots guide' to building a new PC that i can view on my old system, whilst i build the new one alongside.

Also anyone got any good tips for me to avoid beginners errors.

Cheers all,

Dru.

It is hard to mess up if you go slow and take your time, just follow the directions that come with everything. You can google a guide to building one if you want. If you have any questions you can always make another post in this topic and we will be glad to help you. :)

[Dru]

All the bits have arrived over the course of the day, now building it then set it up... it might be a long night :scratchch

[Blaeza]

Me and the Missus last night were installing a new gpu and psu, so I feel your pain!

[Dennisjr13]

Hope your build goes well, show us some benchmarks when you finish/are ready. I would love to see how lfs runs with everything maxed on that machine. :)

[Dru]

Never really got back to people on this one.

The build went ok, LFS runs at 200FPS with full details etc etc, possible down to 180 ish with full AA on etc.


However i have a problem.

The computer REGULARY crashes.

Now i have to say that it tends to crash in game after several hours playing - and the chip monitoring does not really show any excessive heat and the blue screens that come up say about memory errors etc etc...

so my question is, how do i once and for all get this system working good.

For instance it has to be heat/corruption/memory issues as.....

LFS works well and lasts a long time,
rFactor with everything turned on generally lasts 15-20 minutes
etc etc

At the mo i have the front of the case open with an office fan running into the front to help cool things down.

Can anyone point me in the right direction of how to go about diagnosing this problem once and for all and then helping me solve/resolve it?

Best regards,


Dru.

Spec

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 4MB Cache
Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 Onboard Audio AT
250 Gb SATA HDD
Inno3D GeForce 7600GT 256MB TV Out DVI Core 560MHz Memory 700MHz PCI-E
Corsair 1GB Kit (2x512MB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 (TWIN2X1024A-6400) CL5-5-5-12
EYE-T Silver X-Blade Mid Tower Case - With 450W PSU

will post temps later on but from memory does not go above 40 ish

[Dru]

I've read about the E6600 having overheating issues and that people are using something like a thermaltake golden orb II to solve it?

anyone used this on one successfully?

Cheers,

Dru.

[Davo]

COuld be a psu issue. Never heard of EYE-T but it sounds like some yum cha brand they usually include a weak PSU in them.

Check the crash address and file if available from the bsod when it crashes and plug them into google and see what you get.

[Dru]

COuld be a psu issue. Never heard of EYE-T but it sounds like some yum cha brand they usually include a weak PSU in them.

Check the crash address and file if available from the bsod when it crashes and plug them into google and see what you get.


shall do that when the crash eventually comes. . . . .

looking at dabs they have 650W PSU with really good reviews (ie running biggeer spec machines that mine) without issue, and for only £38 they would be good on the wallet too :)

[mcintyrej]

Dru - You should think about using the site

www.overclockers.co.uk

Thats where I get my parts from, I got my G25 there not long back for £140. Great delivery and service, also cheap. Add up your parts list on there, see how much cheaper than Ebay it is.

[Dru]

ok first test

memcheck passes all sectors of memory in memory test :schwitz: :thumb:

running constant monitoring.

ambient temprature running 45C

rFactor single player no AI but full graphics running for 20 minutes 58C

LFS test to follow..

[Dru]

not that cost is a pointer, but a £38 psu probably aint a great bet, and unfortunately the one you have with the case and psu costing £35 is probably not much cop at all.

with the quality of kit youve invested in already its a shame to lumber it with a crappy budget psu & risk a psu that wont deliver solid stable power down the rails , may have a short life span .. as well as noise levels etc

have learnt the psu lesson the hard way after buying numerous cheap psus and having them fail after a few months time after time.

you really you ought to be looking at quality psus's but theyll cost £60/£70 upwards , Seasonic , Antec etc

I have a Seasonic S12 450w and its rock solid and incredibly quiet.

Corsair also make PSU's and its my understanding they are re-badged seasonics at a slightly lower price.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=823

A friend has the above with a very similar setup to yours we built a month ago, but the gfx cards a 8800 GTS and he is very happy indeed

You might want to up the wattage a bit if your considering going SLI in the future with bigger cards than your 7600GT. If not then 520 is plenty for your current kit and will be enough to handle a 8800 gtx which need abour 450w +

you might also want to consider a couple of fans inside the case if heats an issue.. my mates e6600 is fine on the stock cpu cooler, but his case is well cooled with 3 120 mm fans , if yours has none other than the CPU fan , then airflow might be an issue, if it can take them , get a couple of 120mm fans 1 for front and 1 for rear ..

Well running a burn test tonight the PSU only got up to 45C
The graphics card running up to 60C

Mem test was clear, therefore i think it HAS to be PSU.

Know i don't know why, but i'm guessing that altohugh all my kit only needs 300W (did a powercheck online) that the quality of my 450W is not producing it stable and theis is cuaseing the issue.... does this make sense??

I will be looking at the £60-70 investment in a PSU methinks.

Regarding Fans the Case already has 2 fans on it (excluding the PSU one) so i'll grab myself a third one for the rear exit as well

Do i need to do anything else??

Best Regards,

Dru.

[Dru]

Yes makes sense, if its dropping off the volts under pressure or the PSU itself is hotting up then thats going to cause crashes etc . Not saying it is definately psu, but it sounds possible with the symptons you have.

You can test the psu in some ways with a multimeter etc, but im not an electrician so i'll leave that one to a google search :)

yeah i'd get one to exhaust the air from the rear, if it can take 120mm's then get one, they can shift a reasonable volume of air at lower rpms than 80/92mm fnas and hence less noise

have you checked the voltage of the Ram in the bios, some of the 965 Intel boards dont automatically detect the Ram voltage ( or Latency timings ) correctly (possibly later bios fix this ) and default to 1.8v, we had to change it on friends Intel 965 board to 1.9v .

Am pretty sure its the same spec Corsair Ram as yours , but check the voltage with corsair, although fairly sure most would need at least 1.9v on the 965 boards

I'm not really a technical guy so will have to google most of what you jusrtsuggested.. lol , burt thanks for the information. i will look inot it :)

Regards,

Dru.

[Dru]

I have just ordered my Corsair 520W PSU and 120mm fans so shall be installing it when it arrives.

Lets hope that this will resolve the issues seen here :D

[Dru]

New PSU and fans makes no difference, have updated the bios chipset grap drivers etc etc and still getting the shutdown problem..

at least it went through a stage of saying 'display driver error'

now it just says 'device error' which is un solvable.

Total re install tonight and see what happens...

[DEVIL 007]

Hi Dru,

keep us posting.
I have few bits in my mind but its uselless untill you will re-install your OS.

[Dru]

4 days later and the situation is this.......


IT WORKS PERFECTLY!

soory for the caps, but after spending close to £800 on all bits and bobs i was getting increasingly down about it all.

Anyhow what did i do?

I went and registered on both Asus and Corsair website support forums and looked for similar problems regarding mobo/ram compatability errors etc etc

well, from the asus website i found out that the slots on my PN5-E SLi are particulalry picky when in comes to memory and that the recommended slots in the hand book (Yellow) are actually more problematic that the non-recommended Black ones.

needless to say swapped them over immediately.

Also at the same time found out that the auto bios settings for this memory is also not the best, therefore followed the advise given there and manually set some of the memory settings to 5,5,5,12 rather than auto. Also and importantly changed the Command Clock rate from auto to 2T.

With all this set i went and tried a few games, they seemed to work ok for a little while (about 30 minutes per game, without any problems)

Therefore i decided i needed to d/l some stuff and left the computer running over night.

In the morning i got up and saw that the computer was on it's start up page - NO - i thought it can not just last a night of idle (actually only about 6 hours tbh :schwitz:

Checked the events log and there was nothing apart from an entry of AVG at 3.07 am..... hmmmm so actually it had only lasted a couple of hours.

Then the penny dropped.

As it was a fresh install i had turned on automatic updates in windows, these had obviously d/l at 3.00 (default d/l time) and reset the machine, the AVG log i was seeing was when the computer had booted back up and dones it's standard startup sweep :thumb:

so ok it had lasted a night of idle and a few hours of combined play but nothing 'major'

so wed night and thursday night got back from work (had left computer running 24/7 ) and played a mixture of games all evening including the trouble some (don't judge me rFactor) that used to only last 10 minutes before crashing...

well a very bleary eyed Dru is writing this having spent all last night playing LFS/DOD/rFactor with out one single crash or hang up.....

this is FANTASTIC :thumb:

I thought i would share my happiness with you all.

Thanks to all of you who have posted and suggested things in this thread.

MY computer is now behaving itself properly and i can go back to enjoying racing again (particulalry league) so i'm not afraid to have hang ups anymore.

:thumb:

Thanks guys.

Also, morale of the story, always try and get good advice also from the support forums of the products individually, you may think you are alone in your setup (as they are all self builds aren't they) but many people had the same mobo/memory/chip combo as me and als othey had gone through the same and come out the other side alive and kicking :D

[Bean0]

Great news, and thanks for posting the solution. Might help out others in the future. :thumb:

[Dru]

Great news, and thanks for posting the solution. Might help out others in the future. :thumb:

Exactly , many people post problems, but not always the solutions once they have them. I have felt that many people in the LFS community help me so much already if this can some how help another then that just makes me feel i am contributing too :thumb:

[DEVIL 007]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: