Here's what I'm planning to buy for my GF's new computer. I will stick a 8800 GTS and a 1tb WD hdd with it too.
PCPartPicker part list (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/17zBH) / Price breakdown by merchant (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/17zBH/by_merchant/) / Benchmarks (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/17zBH/benchmarks/)
CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i33220) ($129.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77m) ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmx8gx3m2a1600c11) ($70.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7td120bw) ($99.50 @ Vuugo)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/bitfenix-case-bfcmrc100kkx1u3) ($40.80 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $418.27
In canadian dollar, so Americans can cut 10-20%.
@Viper, I expect to have a proper AMD alternative from you.
What are you planning to do with this machine?
It's a fairly modest system. I would be tempted to try and build it into a much smaller case than that. You've selected a micro ATX motherboard - why not get a micro ATX case? It would probably mean moving to some kind of integrated graphics, but I think AMD probably has something that would be sufficient.
I had a 3 day trial turn into a guilty plea, so I'm a bit bored.
Here's something I was playing around with:
Component Selection Base Price Promo Shipping Tax Price Where
CPU
AMD A10-5700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor $128.99 $128.99 Newegg Canada
MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard $51.02 FREE $51.02 DirectCanada
Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory $63.99 $63.99 Newegg Canada
A-Data XPG SX900 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk $104.99 $104.99 Newegg Canada
Rosewill R379-M MicroATX Slim Case w/300W Power Supply $54.99 $54.99 Newegg Canada
for a total of $403.98
Items selected just to try and prove that it could be done, not for any particular preference. The AMD CPU has integrated Radeon HD 7560D graphics.
FWIW, Tom's Hardware gives a list of "roughly comparable" graphic performance, broken down to 30-some levels. They list the integrated Radeon HD 7560D graphics as one step below the 8800 GTS you wanted to use.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
They have a similar chart for CPUs. Your i3-3220 is listed 2nd from the top, while the A10-7500 is 3rd from the top.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html
You'd take a very modest hit in capabilities, in exchange for a dramatically smaller computer case.
I'm happy to see you browse something else than Apples.
Quote from: Barrister on June 18, 2013, 04:35:26 PM
I had a 3 day trial turn into a guilty plea, so I'm a bit bored.
Here's something I was playing around with:
Component Selection Base Price Promo Shipping Tax Price Where
CPU
AMD A10-5700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor $128.99 $128.99 Newegg Canada
MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard $51.02 FREE $51.02 DirectCanada
Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory $63.99 $63.99 Newegg Canada
A-Data XPG SX900 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk $104.99 $104.99 Newegg Canada
Rosewill R379-M MicroATX Slim Case w/300W Power Supply $54.99 $54.99 Newegg Canada
for a total of $403.98
Items selected just to try and prove that it could be done, not for any particular preference. The AMD CPU has integrated Radeon HD 7560D graphics.
FWIW, Tom's Hardware gives a list of "roughly comparable" graphic performance, broken down to 30-some levels. They list the integrated Radeon HD 7560D graphics as one step below the 8800 GTS you wanted to use.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
They have a similar chart for CPUs. Your i3-3220 is listed 2nd from the top, while the A10-7500 is 3rd from the top.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html
You'd take a very modest hit in capabilities, in exchange for a dramatically smaller computer case.
It's a light-gaming computer. I'm either buying from the 1st or 2nd CPU Row.
YOu keep knocking her up, when is she gonna have anytime for gaming?!?!
Quote from: katmai on June 18, 2013, 07:36:57 PM
YOu keep knocking her up, when is she gonna have anytime for gaming?!?!
The Québec Parental Insurance Plan (http://www.rqap.gouv.qc.ca/a_propos_regime/information_generale/index_en.asp)
Quote@Viper, I expect to have a proper AMD alternative from you.
CPU:
Phenom X4 965 Black Edition (http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=46281&vpn=HDZ965FBGMBOX&manufacture=AMD&promoid=1283)
It's cheaper and it's faster.
Here is full ATX board (http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=62545&vpn=GA-970A-D3&manufacture=Gigabyte)
This is what I've got in the office. I'm not sure the 8800 would fit in there, the newer cards don't for sure, but they are bigger.
Another ATX herem from Asus (http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=76798&vpn=M5A97%20LE%20R2.0&manufacture=ASUS)
This one is bigger and will let you fit the 8800, even modern cards too.
With AMD, just make sure you pick an AM3+ chipset, not one of the FM2. The FM2 chipsets are for their newer "A" cpus, and all board comes equipped wich cheap graphic card, for wich you need to add another discrete radeon to get decent gaming.
Given the rig, chipset 970 should be good enough, but if you ever want serious gaming, the 990FX, like the Asus Sabertooth 990FX is the way to go, but it's sold at 200$ currently, wich is above your price mark. :)
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 18, 2013, 07:04:46 PM
Quote from: Barrister on June 18, 2013, 04:35:26 PM
I had a 3 day trial turn into a guilty plea, so I'm a bit bored.
Here's something I was playing around with:
Component Selection Base Price Promo Shipping Tax Price Where
CPU
AMD A10-5700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor $128.99 $128.99 Newegg Canada
MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard $51.02 FREE $51.02 DirectCanada
Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory $63.99 $63.99 Newegg Canada
A-Data XPG SX900 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk $104.99 $104.99 Newegg Canada
Rosewill R379-M MicroATX Slim Case w/300W Power Supply $54.99 $54.99 Newegg Canada
for a total of $403.98
Items selected just to try and prove that it could be done, not for any particular preference. The AMD CPU has integrated Radeon HD 7560D graphics.
FWIW, Tom's Hardware gives a list of "roughly comparable" graphic performance, broken down to 30-some levels. They list the integrated Radeon HD 7560D graphics as one step below the 8800 GTS you wanted to use.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
They have a similar chart for CPUs. Your i3-3220 is listed 2nd from the top, while the A10-7500 is 3rd from the top.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html
You'd take a very modest hit in capabilities, in exchange for a dramatically smaller computer case.
It's a light-gaming computer. I'm either buying from the 1st or 2nd CPU Row.
By all reports what I described should do just fine for a light gaming computer. The AMD integrated graphics are supposed to be much, much, much better than anything from Intel. After all, AMD *is* a good GPU company.
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 18, 2013, 06:18:03 PM
I'm happy to see you browse something else than Apples.
I don't recommend Apples because I am unaware of the PC world.
Rather, I recommend Apples because I *do* browse PC components. :ph34r:
I didn't notice your site :)
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/17X0q
375$.
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/17WZA
448.80$, 8 core CPU.
I looked at the A series from AMD using this site, but I can't find anything cheaper than the above builds, for the same performance.
Quote from: Barrister on June 18, 2013, 10:18:43 PM
By all reports what I described should do just fine for a light gaming computer. The AMD integrated graphics are supposed to be much, much, much better than anything from Intel. After all, AMD *is* a good GPU company.
They are good for an office computer, but when it comes to gaming, or even 3D computing (Google Earth...), it brings the system down to its knees. So he'd need to add another, compatible Radeon card so the system will use both video cards in tandem to combine the performance. Kinda like the old 3D video cards, where you'd have a 2D video card + a dedicated 3D card instead of having everything on one GPU :)
Quote from: viper37 on June 18, 2013, 10:34:45 PM
Quote from: Barrister on June 18, 2013, 10:18:43 PM
By all reports what I described should do just fine for a light gaming computer. The AMD integrated graphics are supposed to be much, much, much better than anything from Intel. After all, AMD *is* a good GPU company.
They are good for an office computer, but when it comes to gaming, or even 3D computing (Google Earth...), it brings the system down to its knees. So he'd need to add another, compatible Radeon card so the system will use both video cards in tandem to combine the performance. Kinda like the old 3D video cards, where you'd have a 2D video card + a dedicated 3D card instead of having everything on one GPU :)
Tom's is saying though that this one (which is apparently AMD's best) is comparable to a "Discrete: 7950 GX2, GT 440 DDR3, GT 630 DDR3" for NVidia, and "X1950 XTX, HD 4650 (DDR3), 5550 (DDR3)" for AMD. Those are obviously not the latest and greatest, but they were the latest and greatest 5 years ago or so.
So like I said, for light gaming it should be fine. I haven't noticed a whole lot of games coming out that won't run on a 5-6 year old computer. And the graphics card GF wants to use is already a 5 year old card or so.
And remember the big trade-off I'm suggesting - instead of a big, bulky ATC Tower, you have something roughly the size of a hardcover book.
It's something to consider.
Quote from: viper37 on June 18, 2013, 10:32:01 PM
I didn't notice your site :)
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/17X0q
375$.
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/17WZA
448.80$, 8 core CPU.
I looked at the A series from AMD using this site, but I can't find anything cheaper than the above builds, for the same performance.
The thing is the AMDs have way higher power consumption than the I3. The 3220 is a full 100 watt less than the 965.
So what? at 0,095$/kwh, how much more are we talking about in a year? That's about 50w under full load. For the time it runs.
Presumably, your girlfriend will start the computer, play/work for a few hours, than shut it down. Let's make it 2hrs a day 7 days a week, full load. That means 35$ more under this scenario. Wich is extreme. Imho, you're looking at less than 5$ a year under realistic assumptions.
It doesn't really run hotter than Intel, it offers much more performance.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+Phenom+II+X4+965 (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+Phenom+II+X4+965)
Imho, you won't regret it.
But if power is really an issue, try the kit BB suggested, just keep in mind that you will need another video card down the line, and a Radeon too, and not any Radeon, so if you go that way, be sure to check carefully what type of card you will need.
It's never off. I don't turn my computers off.
I'm considering it, all options are on the table.
Except buying a discrete Radeon card, that's not happenning.
What's the hotness in Monitor Brand nowadays?
Keep in mind I might have to buy 2 of them & nothing bigger than 24 inches.
Well you do presumably let the computer hibernate...
And if all options are on the table:
http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac/21
:w00t:
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 19, 2013, 11:06:54 AM
What's the hotness in Monitor Brand nowadays?
Keep in mind I might have to buy 2 of them & nothing bigger than 24 inches.
I :wub: my Samsung 27".
But I did have an earlier 24" Samsung die on me just past warranty.
No hibernate! Hibernate is kryptonite to ssds.
As I will not be user #1(or any user) I'll have to ask my gf what she thinks of having a mac.
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 19, 2013, 11:09:00 AM
No hibernate! Hibernate is kryptonite to ssds.
As I will not be user #1(or any user) I'll have to ask my gf what she thinks of having a mac.
Then why the fuck aren't you turning it off then? :wacko: You must really love Hydro Quebec I guess.
I just realized that these days the biggest question (unless you go Mac) is: Win 8 and touchscreen. Do you want it?
The reason my computer is never off : I will not testify your honour.
The reason my girlfriend's computer is never off : I have no idea, it's her computer.
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 19, 2013, 11:20:55 AM
The reason my computer is never off : I will not testify your honour.
The reason my girlfriend's computer is never off : I have no idea, it's her computer.
:ultra: God damn pirate scum!
In the words of Ed Anger; MAH SHOWS
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 19, 2013, 10:41:45 AM
It's never off. I don't turn my computers off.
I'm considering it, all options are on the table.
They need their sleep too! :D
Sleep/standby will reduce your power consumption. I set my office computer for sleep after an hour, it's quick to resume (<5seconds) and it saves power during the night, plus, the secretary does not need to start my computer and wait for it.
I have a SSD in the office, no problem with hibernate. It doesn't kill your SSD, but many people think it has no use because startup is faster than it was on an HDD.
But I do have a bias toward AMD ;) And you did ask for it! :P
Quote
Except buying a discrete Radeon card, that's not happenning.
Than I wouldn't go the A-10 way. If you change your mind later and want a video card, you're kinda stuck with Radeon. Where as with any other board&cpu, slap any card you want. When your 8800GTS is too slow for you, but any other card you want :)
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 19, 2013, 11:06:54 AM
What's the hotness in Monitor Brand nowadays?
Keep in mind I might have to buy 2 of them & nothing bigger than 24 inches.
Asus seems to be well liked this year. I bought 2 Alienware (23") last year and like them, but they seem discontinued. I have two NEC MultiSync in the office, they're great for text reading, but they do lack in the color department.
Found a new CPU:
AMD FX-4300. 95w power consumption on full load. That's 30w more than the i3, more powerful than both your i3 and the Phenom II X4. All for 112.99$.
I dunno Viper - you (and GF) are building a PC the same way you'd do it in 1998 - get a giant case, find the most powerful CPU and GPU you can for the budget.
I was suggesting a slim build, but on second though that probably isn't radical enough. It's 2013 - for "light gaming" perhaps GF should buy a Windows 8 tablet / convertible? Or screw windows entirely and get a iPad / Android tablet with keyboard?
:lol:
I've got that, I have a nexus 4.
I've started looking at a Mini ITX form factor. I don't want to go Slim since I already have a couple of PSUs not doing anything. Altho, my girlfriend doesn't seem to want to move away from having the tower on the ground. She's very conservative when it comes to those things.
Quote from: Barrister on June 20, 2013, 02:48:55 PM
I dunno Viper - you (and GF) are building a PC the same way you'd do it in 1998 - get a giant case, find the most powerful CPU and GPU you can for the budget.
I was suggesting a slim build, but on second though that probably isn't radical enough. It's 2013 - for "light gaming" perhaps GF should buy a Windows 8 tablet / convertible? Or screw windows entirely and get a iPad / Android tablet with keyboard?
Actually, if it's only for light gaming, why not save a couple hundred and go with a single-die setup like the A10-5700: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113289?
It'll also be quite a bit quieter, since you're not plunking a GPU with huge fans in there.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on June 20, 2013, 03:34:03 PM
Quote from: Barrister on June 20, 2013, 02:48:55 PM
I dunno Viper - you (and GF) are building a PC the same way you'd do it in 1998 - get a giant case, find the most powerful CPU and GPU you can for the budget.
I was suggesting a slim build, but on second though that probably isn't radical enough. It's 2013 - for "light gaming" perhaps GF should buy a Windows 8 tablet / convertible? Or screw windows entirely and get a iPad / Android tablet with keyboard?
Actually, if it's only for light gaming, why not save a couple hundred and go with a single-die setup like the A10-5700: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113289?
It'll also be quite a bit quieter, since you're not plunking a GPU with huge fans in there.
If you go back to the first page, you'll see that a A10-5700 was precisely what I suggested, and for precisely that reason. :contract:
Quote from: Barrister on June 20, 2013, 03:37:44 PM
If you go back to the first page, you'll see that a A10-5700 was precisely what I suggested, and for precisely that reason. :contract:
:blush: My bad.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on June 20, 2013, 03:40:46 PM
Quote from: Barrister on June 20, 2013, 03:37:44 PM
If you go back to the first page, you'll see that a A10-5700 was precisely what I suggested, and for precisely that reason. :contract:
:blush: My bad.
I'm still 99% positive the video card in there isn't good enough for even light gaming. I've been down that road before, it was Nvidia back in the days who made these kind of board + combo card, and it just wouldn't work for anything else than office duty (Excel, Word, etc.).
Quote from: viper37 on June 20, 2013, 10:09:19 PM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on June 20, 2013, 03:40:46 PM
Quote from: Barrister on June 20, 2013, 03:37:44 PM
If you go back to the first page, you'll see that a A10-5700 was precisely what I suggested, and for precisely that reason. :contract:
:blush: My bad.
I'm still 99% positive the video card in there isn't good enough for even light gaming. I've been down that road before, it was Nvidia back in the days who made these kind of board + combo card, and it just wouldn't work for anything else than office duty (Excel, Word, etc.).
But this isn't a board + combo card. This is an APU - a CPU and GPU on the same chip.
Supposedly it works pretty good (and is miles better than any Intel integrated graphics). But I've never had one, so I'm only going by reviews.
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 19, 2013, 11:44:14 AM
In the words of Ed Anger; MAH SHOWS
Remind me to kick you in the nuts.
I like the A10 suggestion but I'd get the 5800k since it's the same price & is the unlocked version.
People at Neogaf are telling me that my 8800 GTS should be better than anything onboard.
Quote from: viper37 on June 20, 2013, 10:09:19 PM
I'm still 99% positive the video card in there isn't good enough for even light gaming. I've been down that road before, it was Nvidia back in the days who made these kind of board + combo card, and it just wouldn't work for anything else than office duty (Excel, Word, etc.).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud893Ehcwjw&t=1m40s
Basically, the onboard 7660D trails right behind a GeForce GT 640M.
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 21, 2013, 06:00:12 AM
I like the A10 suggestion but I'd get the 5800k since it's the same price & is the unlocked version.
People at Neogaf are telling me that my 8800 GTS should be better than anything onboard.
5800k - fair enough. My sample build was really just a quick "proof of concept" - none of the items were specifically recommended over anything comparable.
And I bet that 8800 GTS would be better. But it's also much bigger and hotter. The main question is whether the AMD stuff is "good enough".
Quote from: Barrister on June 20, 2013, 02:48:55 PM
I dunno Viper - you (and GF) are building a PC the same way you'd do it in 1998 - get a giant case, find the most powerful CPU and GPU you can for the budget.
Actually, I like giant cases. I often upgrade computer parts, or shuffle them around the various computers, and when I do, I like to be able to put my hands into it.
What's your case, viper?
Quote from: Barrister on June 21, 2013, 11:06:30 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 21, 2013, 06:00:12 AM
I like the A10 suggestion but I'd get the 5800k since it's the same price & is the unlocked version.
People at Neogaf are telling me that my 8800 GTS should be better than anything onboard.
5800k - fair enough. My sample build was really just a quick "proof of concept" - none of the items were specifically recommended over anything comparable.
And I bet that 8800 GTS would be better. But it's also much bigger and hotter. The main question is whether the AMD stuff is "good enough".
At somepoint she will inherit my GT 460 too.
I've started poking around Tomshardware, Anandtech, Newegg, etc. and looking into the Haswell CPUs.
Quote from: Barrister on June 20, 2013, 10:36:44 PM
Quote from: viper37 on June 20, 2013, 10:09:19 PM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on June 20, 2013, 03:40:46 PM
Quote from: Barrister on June 20, 2013, 03:37:44 PM
If you go back to the first page, you'll see that a A10-5700 was precisely what I suggested, and for precisely that reason. :contract:
:blush: My bad.
I'm still 99% positive the video card in there isn't good enough for even light gaming. I've been down that road before, it was Nvidia back in the days who made these kind of board + combo card, and it just wouldn't work for anything else than office duty (Excel, Word, etc.).
But this isn't a board + combo card. This is an APU - a CPU and GPU on the same chip.
Supposedly it works pretty good (and is miles better than any Intel integrated graphics). But I've never had one, so I'm only going by reviews.
I've an A8 based laptop, and it does light gaming well; plays Civ5 in dx10/11 pretty mode just fine.
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 21, 2013, 01:30:40 PM
What's your case, viper?
Thermaltake Armor+
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00000091
Oh, that's nice.
Quote from: viper37 on June 22, 2013, 12:35:35 AM
Thermaltake Armor+
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00000091
You must have a very forgiving gf.
Quote from: Vricklund on June 22, 2013, 12:14:24 PM
Quote from: viper37 on June 22, 2013, 12:35:35 AM
Thermaltake Armor+
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00000091
You must have a very forgiving gf.
Why do you care so much about cases? They're gonna be under the table and out of sight, no one needs easy access the cd-drive anymore. :P
Quote from: Liep on June 22, 2013, 12:55:21 PM
Quote from: Vricklund on June 22, 2013, 12:14:24 PM
Quote from: viper37 on June 22, 2013, 12:35:35 AM
Thermaltake Armor+
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00000091
You must have a very forgiving gf.
Why do you care so much about cases? They're gonna be under the table and out of sight, no one needs easy access the cd-drive anymore. :P
it's not out of sight, it is besides my table, in plain view of everyone walking over there. I have USB ports on top, wich i frequently need, so I like that. And it has room inside. Perfect for me.
Quote from: Caliga on June 21, 2013, 03:27:31 PM
I've started poking around Tomshardware, Anandtech, Newegg, etc. and looking into the Haswell CPUs.
Decided for now to just get a new monitor. ASUS VG248QE... only an inch bigger but HDMI, 3D ready (but you gotta separately buy a kit if you want that), and built-in speakers so I can use it for an alternate setup if I want to.
Oh that's nice.
I'm buying an Asus Monitor. I just have to decide between the 23.6, 23 or 21.5.
21.5 could be a little small by today's standards.
Quote from: viper37 on June 25, 2013, 01:01:49 PM
21.5 could be a little small by today's standards.
It'll be the same 1080p native resolution on an IPS panel, just gotta pick how big I want it.
Right now, I have a 19'' that predates 1080p.
I made mock up of the monitor sizes to test out on my desk, yes I'm that kind of nerd, and I am going to tell you; they all look like GIANTS.
Oh right, forgot to mention that the new monitor is 1080p and my old one could only do 1680x1050.
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 25, 2013, 01:05:36 PM
I made mock up of the monitor sizes to test out on my desk, yes I'm that kind of nerd, and I am going to tell you; they all look like
GIANTS.
Trust me, you'll get used to it ;)
Quote from: viper37 on June 26, 2013, 08:51:03 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 25, 2013, 01:05:36 PM
I made mock up of the monitor sizes to test out on my desk, yes I'm that kind of nerd, and I am going to tell you; they all look like
GIANTS.
Trust me, you'll get used to it ;)
Oh I know. At work I use 2 24inches and they don't seem that big.
I think I will buy the 23 IPS from Asus.
:cool:
QUESTION: My new HDMI cable should get here today so I can set my shiny new monitor up. However, when I unpacked it yesterday, plugged it in, and turned it on to validate it was working (and it was), I noticed that it also has a DisplayPort jack. I don't believe my current gfx card has a DisplayPort jack but most of the newest ones seem to. Is DisplayPort better than HDMI? Should I plan on my next gfx card having a DisplayPort jack?
Quote from: Caliga on June 27, 2013, 10:53:40 AM
QUESTION: My new HDMI cable should get here today so I can set my shiny new monitor up. However, when I unpacked it yesterday, plugged it in, and turned it on to validate it was working (and it was), I noticed that it also has a DisplayPort jack. I don't believe my current gfx card has a DisplayPort jack but most of the newest ones seem to. Is DisplayPort better than HDMI? Should I plan on my next gfx card having a DisplayPort jack?
Quick googling suggests that while DP has some minor technical advantages over HDMI it really isn't any "better", and you can use an adaptor to go between DP and HDMI.
I only know about DP because Apple has switched over to the related miniDisplayPort / Thunderbolt connectors.
Oh, wait, this is an Apple connection? Fuck that noise then. Let's pretend I never made my post. :)
Quote from: Caliga on June 27, 2013, 11:20:18 AM
Oh, wait, this is an Apple connection? Fuck that noise then. Let's pretend I never made my post. :)
Mostly, no.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort
It is a protocol that Apple is supporting (and sometimes Apple's support can drive adoption), but it's owned by VESA and is royalty-free.
Quote from: Caliga on June 27, 2013, 10:53:40 AM
QUESTION: My new HDMI cable should get here today so I can set my shiny new monitor up. However, when I unpacked it yesterday, plugged it in, and turned it on to validate it was working (and it was), I noticed that it also has a DisplayPort jack. I don't believe my current gfx card has a DisplayPort jack but most of the newest ones seem to. Is DisplayPort better than HDMI? Should I plan on my next gfx card having a DisplayPort jack?
no diffrence that you would perceive, for now.
DisplayPort is better on paper, it offers more possibilities. It's not something we notice in games, even less in general use. It has higher bandwith than HDMI and it is royalty free, so ultimately it will replace HDMI on the desktop, and possibly on home theater setup too.
Your next video card will likely come with a dp port, you won't have to look for it. It's necessary for multiple display setup, like dual cards 6 monitor setup.
:face: You can only get 144 Hz refresh rate with this monitor if you use a DisplayPort or DVI-D cable. Oh well, I only paid $7 for this HDMI cable and since it's 15' I'm sure I'll find another use for it at some point. That said, with HDMI there's a special color setting that, when enabled, looks pretty awesome. :cool:
That's true of all 144hz monitor.
Monitor is here, it's very bright.
I had to turn the brightness way the fuck down on my new ASUS. It was hurting my eyes. :huh:
I turned it down to 50%, it's much better. I can only imagine how it looks on those 27 inches.
Quote from: Caliga on July 02, 2013, 09:29:13 PM
I had to turn the brightness way the fuck down on my new ASUS. It was hurting my eyes. :huh:
They probably put it high so when they take it out in stores they look better, what with all the lighting and the general profiency of BestBuy's sales staff with computers.
Yeah, makes sense. IIRC I had to do that with my last monitor also (which was a Samsung).
I'm looking at doing a new PC build now, one in which I shift from AMD back to Intel/nVIDIA (since I own Intel stock now it seems like I ought to help myself by using their products. :) )
CPU would probably be an i7-4770K (Haswell), which means I need a new PSU in addition to a new board, so I'm probably going to just build an entirely new system, case and all.
Want to give the old one to goodwill(ie : my girlfriend)?
Quote from: Grey Fox on October 18, 2013, 09:52:31 AM
Want to give the old one to goodwill(ie : my girlfriend)?
If you drive down here to pick it up, sure. :)
Quote from: Caliga on October 18, 2013, 09:54:29 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on October 18, 2013, 09:52:31 AM
Want to give the old one to goodwill(ie : my girlfriend)?
If you drive down here to pick it up, sure. :)
Does it has to be Me-me or can it be Fedex-Me?
:hmm: Not sure if serious.
Anyway, I tend to do builds over a long period of time (ordering shit as it goes on sale), and always keep my last PC around for a few months in case the new one breaks, so we're probably talking six months out here at the earliest.... and I'd still want at least a couple of hundred for the old PC--it can run Skyrim at close to max settings so it's not like it's ancient history or anything.
I am serious. If you are willing to give your old computer parts away, I will take them. We can discuss how to achieve that later.
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2HHz (http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2HHz)
Thoughts?
Quote from: Caliga on October 31, 2013, 09:19:30 PM
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2HHz (http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2HHz)
Thoughts?
Slight update (different RAM that's on the ASUS QVL for this board).
I like it. You could get a better video card or SLI 2 of them.
Have you thought about getting a 4k and/or 120hz monitor?
If it was me, I'd just buy a dell for 500. But I'm a special snowflake.
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 02, 2013, 07:46:03 PM
I like it. You could get a better video card or SLI 2 of them.
Have you thought about getting a 4k and/or 120hz monitor?
I already have a 144hz ASUS monitor. :)
Quote from: Ed Anger on November 02, 2013, 07:50:03 PM
If it was me, I'd just buy a dell for 500. But I'm a special snowflake.
And you won't let us forget it!
My Pc is coming up on two years old, so thinking it's time to upgrade my gphx cards as they are just GTX 560ti's
Quote from: katmai on November 03, 2013, 12:44:55 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on November 02, 2013, 07:50:03 PM
If it was me, I'd just buy a dell for 500. But I'm a special snowflake.
And you won't let us forget it!
:showoff:
Quote from: Caliga on October 31, 2013, 09:19:30 PM
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2HHz (http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2HHz)
Thoughts?
I have nothing to say to an Intel lover. :shutup:
:P
Seriously, 16gb is overkill, unless you run a virtual machine. Windows 7/8 won't use that much for games.
I have 12gb on my machine, and it changes nothing from 8gb.
I'm not too sure about your choice of fan either. It looks like a standard fan that gets broken after 1 year. Might want to spend 20$ more to get something better. Zalman has interesting models.
Quote from: viper37 on November 04, 2013, 10:31:46 AM
Quote from: Caliga on October 31, 2013, 09:19:30 PM
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2HHz (http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2HHz)
Thoughts?
I have nothing to say to an Intel lover. :shutup:
:P
Seriously, 16gb is overkill, unless you run a virtual machine. Windows 7/8 won't use that much for games.
I have 12gb on my machine, and it changes nothing from 8gb.
It's coming Viper. This year, we're getting 4 and 6gb ram min. In 5 years we'll have 8gb ram mins with 16+ recommended.
Quote from: viper37 on November 04, 2013, 10:31:46 AM
I'm not too sure about your choice of fan either. It looks like a standard fan that gets broken after 1 year. Might want to spend 20$ more to get something better. Zalman has interesting models.
:huh: That fan always seems to have stellar reviews on NewEgg and from other places I look at.
Oh, and I have an AMD build right now... and I'm tired of always having issues with games because of it.
Quote from: Caliga on November 04, 2013, 01:39:46 PM
Oh, and I have an AMD build right now... and I'm tired of always having issues with games because of it.
Didn't you just build that thing too?
I'm still rocking my '08 Mac Pro. I'd like to get a new computer, but this one hasn't given me any reason to do so.
built it in early 2010.
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 04, 2013, 10:35:06 AM
It's coming Viper. This year, we're getting 4 and 6gb ram min. In 5 years we'll have 8gb ram mins with 16+ recommended.
Well, it will have to wait for the next-next generation of consoles I guess. These things stalled development on good games, sad as it is.
Quote from: Caliga on November 04, 2013, 01:39:05 PM
Quote from: viper37 on November 04, 2013, 10:31:46 AM
I'm not too sure about your choice of fan either. It looks like a standard fan that gets broken after 1 year. Might want to spend 20$ more to get something better. Zalman has interesting models.
:huh: That fan always seems to have stellar reviews on NewEgg and from other places I look at.
ok, then. It might just be me. It's a good brand, but I don't like those designs.
Quote from: Caliga on November 04, 2013, 01:39:46 PM
and I'm tired of always having issues with games because of it.
I was just joking, but I'm curious: what kind of issues? I've never had any problems with AMD since... since longer than I can remember.
Quote from: viper37 on November 04, 2013, 02:43:01 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 04, 2013, 10:35:06 AM
It's coming Viper. This year, we're getting 4 and 6gb ram min. In 5 years we'll have 8gb ram mins with 16+ recommended.
Well, it will have to wait for the next-next generation of consoles I guess. These things stalled development on good games, sad as it is.
Generation that is 2weeks/1month away.
Quote from: viper37 on November 04, 2013, 02:47:59 PM
I was just joking, but I'm curious: what kind of issues? I've never had any problems with AMD since... since longer than I can remember.
micro-stutter in plenty of games that should run easily on my hardware (e.g. Star Wars: The Old Republic, Skyrim).
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 04, 2013, 02:54:15 PM
Generation that is 2weeks/1month away.
OS will use 3gb, games will use 5gb. Total 8gb for this generation of Xbox, and PS4 must be similar, right? I've had 8gb since Windows Vista.
Quote from: viper37 on November 05, 2013, 02:52:08 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 04, 2013, 02:54:15 PM
Generation that is 2weeks/1month away.
OS will use 3gb, games will use 5gb. Total 8gb for this generation of Xbox, and PS4 must be similar, right? I've had 8gb since Windows Vista.
Yes but you are leaving no place for other applications.
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 05, 2013, 03:06:03 PM
Quote from: viper37 on November 05, 2013, 02:52:08 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 04, 2013, 02:54:15 PM
Generation that is 2weeks/1month away.
OS will use 3gb, games will use 5gb. Total 8gb for this generation of Xbox, and PS4 must be similar, right? I've had 8gb since Windows Vista.
Yes but you are leaving no place for other applications.
But developpers can't code a game that could use 12gb of RAM if it was there, right? Because that would fuck things up on the consoles?
Like some developpers sometimes releasing better textures for their PC games, either they make a seperate package, or most likely, they don't use all the hardware we have at our disposal.
Yes but not all games at console ports. Sometimes the PC version gets ported & dumbed down.
And sometimes it's Civilization VI.
I'd argue the missing piece of the puzzle here is discrete graphics cards. Desktop variants come with more and more onboard memory, so that "same 8GB since Vista" isn't actually the same 8GB- you might have gone from 8GB and a 512MB video card, to 8GB and a 5GB video card.
On consoles, they get the GPU, but that 8GB has to provide memory for the game logic, the graphics operations, and the hardware-software interfaces. PCs are still getting nicer graphics or expanded editions of games simply because they're more expandable than consoles.
I've picked up Windows 8.1, an SSD, and a case so far (since I'm not in a hurry I keep waiting for stuff to go on sale before picking it up).
updated build: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2HHz (http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2HHz)
updated build: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2M1o (http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Caliga/saved/2M1o)
Got rid of the retail Blu-Ray unit and swapped in an OEM from LG. I can easily get the software that the retail unit came with. :shifty:
So I've bought everything so far but the blu-ray drive, and I am debating whether it's worth it to pick that up, in part because I would like to keep the total cost of the build below $1500. :hmm:
...and I wish I lived near a MicroCenter. I could have done the build for about $100 cheaper if so and picked everything up in-store. I miss MicroCenter. :(
Why do you need a blu-ray drive on your computer?
To access blu-ray media? :)
Seriously, I only have a few blu-ray movies (basically the Star Wars trilogy) but as of right now I have no blu-ray player in my house... I only have those movies cause they came in some six disc set I found on sale at Wal-Mart.
The other thing I could do with it is burn backups since blu-ray data discs have an enormous capacity... but I have a WD Passport backup drive that's working fine for me.
So I'm thinking of passing on the drive at this point. :hmm:
See. No need for it.
Basically, yeah. I'll just swap my current DVD burner in to the new build when it's all done. I have a spare DVD player I can put into my current PC (taken from yet another old build).
Yeah if not actively buying blu rays, see no need to put a player in pc, ya freak.
For me it would be different if I felt like at some point games would start being sold on Blu-ray, but the future for games is streaming for sure (and probably the future for movies, too, for that matter).
Quote from: Caliga on November 13, 2013, 05:12:55 PM
For me it would be different if I felt like at some point games would start being sold on Blu-ray, but the future for games is streaming for sure (and probably the future for movies, too, for that matter).
There's no probably about it, son.
Quote from: Caliga on November 13, 2013, 08:08:15 AM
So I've bought everything so far but the blu-ray drive, and I am debating whether it's worth it to pick that up, in part because I would like to keep the total cost of the build below $1500. :hmm:
...and I wish I lived near a MicroCenter. I could have done the build for about $100 cheaper if so and picked everything up in-store. I miss MicroCenter. :(
:) God bless the bins of OEM drives in plastic baggies.
When I was in college, we had a MicroCenter across the river in Cambridge. My roommate and I were big nerds and we used to go there all the time just to browse and hang out. :nerd: I remember what a big deal it was when the Pentium II came out and MicroCenter got its first shipments. It was PANDEMONIUM, people. :cool:
One of my packages arrived in Indianapolis two days ago and hasn't gotten here yet. WTF. I can drive to Indy in two hours. :rolleyes:
Luckily, I have a MicroCenter just close enough that I can make a "pilgrimage" a couple times a year or for emergency supplies while just being far enough to keep me from hibernating there.
Finally got all the parts and started unboxing/inspecting tonight. In preparation for the build I took advantage of the EZ BIOS Flashback thing that ASUS has on all of their mid to higher-end boards now: I unboxed the motherboard, plugged it into the new power supply, plugged the power supply into the wall, turned it on, and plugged a USB flash drive into the board and pushed the flashback button, and the board switched on and updated the BIOS... all without a CPU or RAM installed. :cool: So thus far nothing is obviously damaged and the board appears to be working.
Basic build complete - CPU and memory on board, and was able to boot to BIOS successfully (no need for a video card yet since this board has onboard graphics) and all 16 Gb of RAM seem to be registering and working under their XMP profile. Getting this CoolerMaster Hyper 212 heatsink in was kind of a pain in the ass... most of my time tonight was spent fiddling with that. Now that it's in though, I can see that it's holding the CPU temp at 31-32 C and that's with the fan barely running/not running at all, and when it does run it's practically silent, and will be completely so once everything is in a case.
My build is back on the table. Decided to go with an FX-6300.
Will probably buy next week with Black Friday deals.
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 20, 2013, 10:35:23 PM
My build is back on the table. Decided to go with an FX-6300.
Will probably buy next week with Black Friday deals.
I have read some good reviews of the more recent FX chips. But as I have some Intel stock now, it would seem weird for me to buy AMD parts. :)
I don't know where to whine about this so I'll do it here.
Buying a TV sucks. It's worse then a car.
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 21, 2013, 08:30:49 PM
I don't know where to whine about this so I'll do it here.
Buying a TV sucks. It's worse then a car.
Nah, it's easier than a car :)
Buy a Panasonic, either the highest end model or the one just below, 55" and above. ;)
...aaaaaaaand it looks like I may have a bad PSU. :frusty:
I was going to put the PC into the case last night, but when I went to boot it from the onboard button, it couldn't finish the POST. I pressed the button like ten times and eventually it did POST and put me into BIOS, but after that I could never get it to post successfully. Most of the time it jut flashed '00' on the BIOS code window thingy, which isn't even a defined error code in the motherboard manual. Also, the PSU was making a faint little clicking noise every time I tried to turn it on and the fan usually wouldn't spin up. This is one of those fans that isn't supposed to spin up unless it 'needs to' so that's not necessarily indicative of a problem, though.
I happen to have a spare Antec TruePower 650W PSU in an old case, and I took it out of there and plugged it into the motherboard and tried it. The PC booted right into BIOS, and did it each and every time I tried afterward (like 7 times or so).
Corsair has this thing on their website called 'the paperclip test' where you plug the PSU into a case fan and then connect two pins on the ATX line with a paperclip, which is supposed to determine if the power supply is dead or not. I did that test and the power supply does power the case fan. It doesn't seem to want to power my CPU and motherboard, though.
Oh well. Guess I'll RMA it. It's been a while since I've had a bad part mess up a build--last time that happened was like 10 years ago when I had a bad stick of RAM.
Quote from: viper37 on November 21, 2013, 11:10:06 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 21, 2013, 08:30:49 PM
I don't know where to whine about this so I'll do it here.
Buying a TV sucks. It's worse then a car.
Nah, it's easier than a car :)
Buy a Panasonic, either the highest end model or the one just below, 55" and above. ;)
:lol:
No.
Quote from: Caliga on November 22, 2013, 06:04:15 AM
...aaaaaaaand it looks like I may have a bad PSU. :frusty:
I was going to put the PC into the case last night, but when I went to boot it from the onboard button, it couldn't finish the POST. I pressed the button like ten times and eventually it did POST and put me into BIOS, but after that I could never get it to post successfully. Most of the time it jut flashed '00' on the BIOS code window thingy, which isn't even a defined error code in the motherboard manual. Also, the PSU was making a faint little clicking noise every time I tried to turn it on and the fan usually wouldn't spin up. This is one of those fans that isn't supposed to spin up unless it 'needs to' so that's not necessarily indicative of a problem, though.
I happen to have a spare Antec TruePower 650W PSU in an old case, and I took it out of there and plugged it into the motherboard and tried it. The PC booted right into BIOS, and did it each and every time I tried afterward (like 7 times or so).
Corsair has this thing on their website called 'the paperclip test' where you plug the PSU into a case fan and then connect two pins on the ATX line with a paperclip, which is supposed to determine if the power supply is dead or not. I did that test and the power supply does power the case fan. It doesn't seem to want to power my CPU and motherboard, though.
Oh well. Guess I'll RMA it. It's been a while since I've had a bad part mess up a build--last time that happened was like 10 years ago when I had a bad stick of RAM.
Woha, that sucks.
Yeah, and the system POSTed successfully this morning twice with the Antec spare PSU, so it really looks like an issue with the PSU to me (fortunately... I'd much rather have that than a bad motherboard or CPU).
I'll probably finish the build out with the old PSU this weekend, which kinda sucks as it's not a modular power supply, so it's gonna be cable spaghetti everywhere.
Quote from: Caliga on November 22, 2013, 06:04:15 AM
Corsair has this thing on their website called 'the paperclip test' where you plug the PSU into a case fan and then connect two pins on the ATX line with a paperclip, which is supposed to determine if the power supply is dead or not. I did that test and the power supply does power the case fan. It doesn't seem to want to power my CPU and motherboard, though.
Oh well. Guess I'll RMA it. It's been a while since I've had a bad part mess up a build--last time that happened was like 10 years ago when I had a bad stick of RAM.
Wow, been a while since I've actually seen the paperclip test used. Yeah, Just shorting the pins just verifies that it's getting power- to really test it, you need a multimeter to check each active pin separately. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say one of your 3.3V or 5V rails is off-voltage. In general, the 12V rail being off still POSTs reliably, but you start encountering weirdness with attached devices like the hard drive or video card.
All I had plugged into the motherboard at that time was the 12V rail and the 8 pin for the CPU (the video card and HDDs aren't even in yet).
I just got a new SSD, and am going to be running the OS and steam off of it. Does the Windows upgrade trick still work with 8? The thing where you install the upgrade twice and you end up with a full version.
Quote from: MadBurgerMaker on November 22, 2013, 01:34:52 PM
I just got a new SSD, and am going to be running the OS and steam off of it. Does the Windows upgrade trick still work with 8? The thing where you install the upgrade twice and you end up with a full version.
I really have no idea... It should, but I can't be certain.
One thing that is suggested: Install Windows 8, don't activate. Upgrade to Window 8.1 then activate. This could work.
Worst case scenario, Windows 7 ==> Windows 8.0 ==> Windows 8.1.
Quote from: Caliga on November 22, 2013, 12:36:09 PM
All I had plugged into the motherboard at that time was the 12V rail and the 8 pin for the CPU (the video card and HDDs aren't even in yet).
The P20 connector isn't flat voltage across the board. Some pins are ground, some are 12V, some are 5, some are 3.3... unless you've got a monster of an aftermarket cooler, nothing around the CPU uses the 12V rail- the CPU itself cycles between 3.3 (low) and 5 (high) volt states for binary operations, and the CPU fan usually runs on a 5V rail.
http://wiki.xtronics.com/index.php/ATX_Pinout
Quote from: viper37 on November 22, 2013, 03:47:24 PM
I really have no idea... It should, but I can't be certain.
One thing that is suggested: Install Windows 8, don't activate. Upgrade to Window 8.1 then activate. This could work.
Worst case scenario, Windows 7 ==> Windows 8.0 ==> Windows 8.1.
I just went ahead and put a copy of Windows 7 on there since I won't be getting the 8 upgrade disk until next week. Forgot how much shit was involved when you start "clean" like that. Should have made a damn image. <_<
I gave the PSU another shot just to make sure I didn't seat the power cords correctly last time. No POST. I swapped my backup PSU in again. POSTed immediately. Looks like this bad boy is going back to NewEgg.
Quote from: Caliga on November 22, 2013, 10:33:58 PM
I gave the PSU another shot just to make sure I didn't seat the power cords correctly last time. No POST. I swapped my backup PSU in again. POSTed immediately. Looks like this bad boy is going back to NewEgg.
I'd say the keying on the PSU connector makes it extremely unlikely to put it in wrong, but then I discovered someone who managed to jam an RJ-45 plug into a USB socket. :blink: :weep:
Quote from: DontSayBanana on November 22, 2013, 10:38:04 PM
Quote from: Caliga on November 22, 2013, 10:33:58 PM
I gave the PSU another shot just to make sure I didn't seat the power cords correctly last time. No POST. I swapped my backup PSU in again. POSTed immediately. Looks like this bad boy is going back to NewEgg.
I'd say the keying on the PSU connector makes it extremely unlikely to put it in wrong, but then I discovered someone who managed to jam an RJ-45 plug into a USB socket. :blink: :weep:
That's kind of impressive, really.
motherboard + CPU + RAM is now in the case with the backup PSU and POSTing successfully. This afternoon I'll hopefully finish the wiring and get the graphics card, SSD, and optical drive (recycled from this PC) in there to make sure everything else works, and then install Windoze.
Gonna try to install Windows by burning the DVD to an ISO and then copying it onto an 8 Gb bootable flash drive. :nerd:
It worked. Installing now. :cool:
Windows 8 :wacko:
Quote from: Caliga on November 23, 2013, 04:27:00 PM
Windows 8 :wacko:
Update to 8.1 then it'll be better.
Yeah, that's what I have. I figured how to get to a view that looks basically just like Win 7. I'm on the new PC now. :cool: Downloaded Windows updates and am now starting to download drivers for the various MB components (lack of an optical drive means I gotta d/l everything, which is kind of a pain, but at least that means I'll have the newest version of everything).
edit: btw the operating system install from USB -> SSD took less than 5 minutes. :showoff:
Remember, don't use any Metrop App & actually use that interface as full screen search improved Start menu.
You can customize the first screen to your liking.
Quote from: Caliga on November 23, 2013, 04:51:50 PM
Yeah, that's what I have. I figured how to get to a view that looks basically just like Win 7. I'm on the new PC now. :cool: Downloaded Windows updates and am now starting to download drivers for the various MB components (lack of an optical drive means I gotta d/l everything, which is kind of a pain, but at least that means I'll have the newest version of everything).
edit: btw the operating system install from USB -> SSD took less than 5 minutes. :showoff:
I've grown fond of
Start8, but there is another similar free tool that a lot of people like. It's essential under Win8.
Stardock has a few tools I've found essential for Win8, one is Start8 and the other is ModernMix lets you run Metro apps in windows. Now, you may be wondering why one would want to run Metro apps at all, which is a good question because they are universally horrible, and the answer is sadly a few Microsoft applications (Skype is one of them) no longer work properly for me with the regular Windows applications. For example Skype frequently locks up, or during a video call will disconnect, and then you cannot use the application at all. It becomes non-functional, if you kill it through task manager when you restart the application it says "You can't log on here because you already have a session signed in on this computer." You can try to kill skype.exe under the details tab of task manager (which persists even if you kill the main Skype task), but you get an "Access Denied" error when you try to do this. Even using SysInternals PSkill and killing it by process ID does't work (something I'd never seen in 10 years of using PSKill.) So if you want to use Skype at that point you need to reboot the machine, and can then use it again for 2-5 minutes before it locks up again.
However, if you can get the Skype Metro App installed, it never has this problem. I say "if" because at least for me frequently the App Store just has the spinning progress logo infinitely when I try to download metro apps, and then when I get to the point I can click "Install" it says "This application can't be installed because your internet connection is too slow." [It's an 11.0 MB file and I have a > 100 Mbps connection that was having no issues at this time.) I'm guessing this behavior is because the Store is 100% in the cloud and we just see the interface locally, and when it is having server-side problems (almost always) it gives that behavior and those messages. But, once I did get Skype installed as a metro app it did actually work consistently, and with ModernMix you can put it in a window.
There's actually some positives with Windows 8 but it's shocking how badly implemented the App Store and Metro apps in general are and how they basically just seem like a layer of unpleasantness.
I'm already used to Windows 8 and I don't understand all the bitching about it. It's very, very easy to get to the 'Desktop' which is basically identical to Windows 7 and the Start screen is neat in that you can customize the hell out of it and put stuff like weather widgets, etc. on it. If you like modern smartphones, it follows that you would like the Start screen as well. Granted, this is 8.1 and I believe the Start thing in the lower left corner is new to 8.1, and I can see how not having that would be annoying.
Also, the UI has a 'lighter' feel, for lack of a better term, and I like the default fonts better.
Maybe if I had a touchscreen I would like the start menu. As it is, it does nothing for me.
Quote from: Caliga on November 26, 2013, 01:21:09 PM
I'm already used to Windows 8 and I don't understand all the bitching about it. It's very, very easy to get to the 'Desktop' which is basically identical to Windows 7 and the Start screen is neat in that you can customize the hell out of it and put stuff like weather widgets, etc. on it. If you like modern smartphones, it follows that you would like the Start screen as well. Granted, this is 8.1 and I believe the Start thing in the lower left corner is new to 8.1, and I can see how not having that would be annoying.
Also, the UI has a 'lighter' feel, for lack of a better term, and I like the default fonts better.
My complaint has nothing to do with the Start Screen, which is fine/ignorable if you don't use it, but the fact that an extant WinForms application breaks in Win8 (it's a common enough problem that I've seen many similar complaints on the support forums) and the only workaround is to use a metro app (which takes up full screen and limits multitasking.) ModernMix fortunately takes care of this.
I think there is a general problem with a small subset of applications that used to run fine on Win7 and on some Win8 systems. Skype isn't the only one, I have a few apps that regularly "hang" and you can't kill process (even with PSKill.) It shows me there is some problem with the ability of the OS to kill processes on demand and there's not been a single solution I've found online to the problem.
Interesting. I have actually been noticing some problems with Chrome in 8 where it seems to take forever to load websites when I know my internet connection is solid. In fact, it was happening last night and I opened up IE and loaded the same sites with no problem. Supposedly if you use the Metro version of Chrome, the problem isn't present there (I found this on Google's forums last night), but I'm not sure I want to do that.
I haven't yet noticed any problems with Chrome, for me so far it has been a few different programs where the program launches multiple processes. A quick example is Skype...when it is running one component is the WinForms application but it also runs a background process (there's also a set of Windows Services that install with Skype that handle some extended functionality IIRC.) Anyway, when the main application "breaks" you can usually close it normally, or failing that close it up through the task manager. But the background process cannot be killed through any means (including PSKill-which is an old school c. 1995 command line utility I've used for years to kill rogue processes and has never failed prior to Win8.) With Skype, as long as that background processes remains screwed up you can never get the WinForm app to work again even if you do kill/restart it.
I've had the same problem with Plex Media Server (which really sucks, as that was core to my ability to stream like 500+ movies I ripped from BluRay and DVD and 40-50 TV shows from an old machine I converted to a file server to various media devices in my home), PMS runs with a normal application and a Windows service...now it periodically breaks. When it breaks I can restart the main PMS application but the background service can't be stopped/restarted and even trying to kill it doesn't work, so the only thing that fixes it is a reboot.
I suspect since I've heard many people on the Plex and Skype forums have the exact same problem, while others have no problem at all, it is some arcane combination of security/etc settings that no one has quite figured out but honestly I'm not interested in screwing with that noise for hours and hours to try to figure out a solution. Sadly Win8 has basically pushed me to use alternative solutions to these applications. (XBMC replaced Plex for example.)
Old TV :
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FZ0AwqYp.jpg%3F1&hash=4000b07b4869f90b9f0ab1665afb77e0b1e7668a)
New TV :
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F87BIyJl.jpg%3F1&hash=40d0cdac7bd3bc1e155fff68e4e51f789c38f7e7)
:) Is it one of the Samsung smart TVs with voice activation, etc?
Looks a lot better, congrats! :)
As I bought a new computer screen today, I was reflecting on how it's twice as big as my first tv :showoff: (wich was 11")
Quote from: MadBurgerMaker on November 28, 2013, 11:27:30 PM
:) Is it one of the Samsung smart TVs with voice activation, etc?
Oh no, it's the 5000 model that is Canada's Black Friday door crasher everywhere.
In Canada, the price difference between the smart & non-smart model is INSANE. Would be cheaper to just buy an Xbox One.
Quote from: Caliga on November 26, 2013, 03:26:00 PM
Interesting. I have actually been noticing some problems with Chrome in 8 where it seems to take forever to load websites when I know my internet connection is solid. In fact, it was happening last night and I opened up IE and loaded the same sites with no problem. Supposedly if you use the Metro version of Chrome, the problem isn't present there (I found this on Google's forums last night), but I'm not sure I want to do that.
I think I figured out what the problem was... when I installed the ASUS software that was designed for my motherboard it added a 'feature' called ASUS Network iControl that's supposed to help prioritize bandwidth... except it seems to want to make everything zero priority. :huh:
Uninstalled it, and it made an immediate and huge difference.
Quote from: Grey Fox on November 29, 2013, 07:58:27 AM
Quote from: MadBurgerMaker on November 28, 2013, 11:27:30 PM
:) Is it one of the Samsung smart TVs with voice activation, etc?
Oh no, it's the 5000 model that is Canada's Black Friday door crasher everywhere.
In Canada, the price difference between the smart & non-smart model is INSANE. Would be cheaper to just buy an Xbox One.
Yeah the price difference is pretty big here too. While I'm sure it's cool to wave at it and say TV on, it's probably not THAT cool. It's a big improvement from the old one for sure.
Quote from: Caliga on November 29, 2013, 08:57:44 AM
I think I figured out what the problem was... when I installed the ASUS software that was designed for my motherboard it added a 'feature' called ASUS Network iControl that's supposed to help prioritize bandwidth... except it seems to want to make everything zero priority. :huh:
Uninstalled it, and it made an immediate and huge difference.
Ugh, yeah. I got a nasty bite back from iControl, too. You can tune the profile all you want, but it still won't load the profile on startup and make you save it and select it every time you want your network not to drag. After looking for ways to work with it, I found out that AISuite II is a known clusterfuck that most system builders just don't even bother installing. As of now, the only piece of ASUS middleware that I still have on my computer is the Xonar DG Audio Center for my sound card.
Viper will be happy, I bought an AMD FX-6300 for my Girlfriend computer.
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd6300wmhkbox)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-m5a97ler20)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/team-memory-tlyd38g1600hc9dc01)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-internal-hard-drive-sh103s3b120g)
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/bitfenix-case-bfcmrc100kkx1u3)
Final Price of 412$
This sucks, I buy the CPU & Motherboard in a combo deal on NCIX.com
Of course, the motherboard is back ordered. They sent me the CPU.
Yay.
Quote from: Grey Fox on December 20, 2013, 08:16:29 PM
Viper will be happy, I bought an AMD FX-6300 for my Girlfriend computer.
:punk:
I'm sad the MB is b.o. though :(
Quote from: Grey Fox on December 24, 2013, 02:01:51 PM
This sucks, I buy the CPU & Motherboard in a combo deal on NCIX.com
Of course, the motherboard is back ordered. They sent me the CPU.
Yay.
Wait, an M5A97 is backordered? That's the mobo I have, and it wasn't exactly top of the line when I ordered it. O.o
Of course, I don't think the 6300 or the 8350 were out yet, either, so then again, there wasn't a real compelling reason for an AM3+ motherboard.
It was a good price for the bundle, maybe they sold lots of them.