Thought I'd post this on here as you guys seem to know what you're talking about! :P
My aged PIII is long overdue for retirement (it still runs fine under Linux, but under Windows it's pretty unusable), so the time has come for me to think about a replacement.
The problem is I'm totally baffled with who to but from. I had thought about Dell for a long while, as I'd feel safer with their on-site warranty, but I know I can get much more bang for my buck elsewhere.
I'd looked at Overclockers, but comments on here have put me off. There's a (relatively) local supplier who I've also considered but as I've never really heard of them I'm slightly wary. ( http://www.dunedin-computers.com)
I have a decent enough budget (£2000) and am considering something like a QX6850 based machine with 4Gb RAM, 1Tb storage and possibly Vista 64. I'd also like to get Office 2007 and a 22" screen in that budget.
I'm not a gamer, but figure that as I have the money to spend, it'd be best in the long run to get the highest spec I can. Apart from the usual, it'll be used mainly for digital photo processing.
So, can you guys please help me spend some money?
TIA
Steven.
Hi Steven.
If you're looking to spend up to £2000 on a PC (I presume you're looking for a desktop) then this probably isn't what you're looking for but with a casual glance when I was in the store it looked quite a good spec for the money. Not being in the market myself I don't know how it compares to other deals elsewhere but I'm sure others here will be happy to comment.
Medion PC at Tesco (http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.202-2819.aspx)
I think your local supplier is a good place to go. If something goes wrong and you don't know how to fix it yourself, they are there to help. Better than being at the other end of the country. A small company is also good as they tend to know what they're talking about and are computer geeks which is what you want. Their systems are also based on decent motherboards which is a good start and is often where the bigger stores skimp.
With that sort of budget, I would also agree with going to a small local retailer, who would build you something to your own specifications, i.e. with strength in the parts you need it.
As far as buying online, I have only ever bought one desktop online, and that was for someone else, but it was from Dell, and they haven't had any trouble with it.
Another good company worth looking at, is Novatech. :)
To be honest, overclockers are a good company in my experience. Sometimes pricer for some components, other times cheaper than everywhere else. I recently bought some RAM, thought it was faulty and called to organise a replacement. It was done very quickly. Then I realised the RAM was fine and it was my own fault.
Since you have a good budget, I'd recommend Dell.
Whatever you do, don't go over the top on the processor unless you intend to buy good hard drive(s). There is no point as the first bottlekneck you always meet is disc I/O and not CPU. Go for 15,000rpm SAS drives. Not SATA(1.5 or 3bit) and not SCSI. In a heavy duty enviroment we've found 15,000rmp seagate SAS drives to be worth every penny. They far out perform SATA and SCSI.
A belated welcome Steven, have a welcome Karma. :welc: :karmic:
Welcome, Steven. :) I'd suggest taking a look at Scan. They will build what you want, not restricting you to a stock model and their backup is excellent.
Thanks, for the input. I guess I should talk to Dunedin before I discount them. I'll take a look at Scan too.
Also, I haven't discounted building my own. That might be the way to go too, especially if I want SAS Drives...
Sign up to AV Forums and you can get free delivery from Scan too http://www.avforums.com/forums/scan_offer.php
If building your own is an option, I'd definitely do that. Will never buy a whole computer again. It's not cheaper though!
Ann, yeah that's what puts me off building my own. Technically it's not a problem, but knowing that someone else can/will do it cheaper puts me right off!!!
I have been looking at this site myself. ;D
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/index.php?page=pcsystembuilder&gclid=CIrJ6YeZ35ACFQ9tMAodVAjDOg
Small update, for anyone who's interested. I popped into the local PC shop here in Stirling and got the helpful chap to give me quote for the kind of spec I was looking for. Unfortunately they were about £500 over my "budget" and about the same over for similar spec'ed PCs that I'd seen online.
However, I'd emailed an ex-colleague who I knew kept his ear to the ground regarding PC technology and "local" suppliers.
He pointed me in the direction of various websites, but one in particular seemed to stand out from the rest, hopefully I'll get to visit them sometime next week, and if all goes well I'll be placing an order with them. Anyway, this is them http://www.laptopsandpcs.co.uk/
£2k budget for a non-gaming pc? Are you mad! ???
I'm having a hard time imagining where the money is going as the pricey parts of a high performance pc are the 2 x Graphics cards (Which you wouldn't need I guess...).
QX6850 - Isn't that only slightly better than a Q6600 with a few hundred quid added to the price tag?
I'v always used overclockers and built my own, never had a problem with them. I spent about £1k upgrading my pc last month, That was a full spec (Inlcuding a £200 graphics card and a £350 24" widescreen monitor) except for a copy of Windows XP and a case. I don't see any need to spend more than that as you would be throwing money away for a tiny performance gain.
ROFL.. I kinda read the post and agreed but just sidled off and said nothing.. LOL. For £2000 I could build a top grade machine but to say that what you wanted would cost another £500 on top is a bit odd. But who knows.. there you go...
Quote from: Arthix on Jan 05, 2008, 23:32:58
£2k budget for a non-gaming pc? Are you mad! ???
I'm having a hard time imagining where the money is going as the pricey parts of a high performance pc are the 2 x Graphics cards (Which you wouldn't need I guess...).
QX6850 - Isn't that only slightly better than a Q6600 with a few hundred quid added to the price tag?
I'v always used overclockers and built my own, never had a problem with them. I spent about £1k upgrading my pc last month, That was a full spec (Inlcuding a £200 graphics card and a £350 24" widescreen monitor) except for a copy of Windows XP and a case. I don't see any need to spend more than that as you would be throwing money away for a tiny performance gain.
Arthix, yes I probably am. From the comparisons I've read the QX6850 is about 27% faster than a Q6600 (others may be able to set me right on that figure).
But you were right in your original post (pre-edit :P), I'm one of those who have more money than sense. I've had this PC for about 8 years and if it takes another 8 years for my next upgrade then I don't want to be in the same position I am now, i.e. it isn't capable of running the types of applications I need. (I have to use the laptop my work gave me for the likes of iTunes and digital photo processing because this one can't cope, I hate having so much personal data on a PC I don't own).
But, I'm in the position that I came into a bit of money just before Christmas and the money is there to spend...
Quote from: Ann on Jan 06, 2008, 00:00:34
ROFL.. I kinda read the post and agreed but just sidled off and said nothing.. LOL. For £2000 I could build a top grade machine but to say that what you wanted would cost another £500 on top is a bit odd. But who knows.. there you go...
Ann, care to give me a quote for a new PC? :P
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 06, 2008, 00:01:40But, I'm in the position that I came into a bit of money just before Christmas and the money is there to spend...
You've come to the right place, Steven. We are experts are spending other people's money! ;D
Here's the spec I'm looking at, how much do you reckon it would cost to build it myself?
Case \ Chassis Lexa Blackline original
Power supply Thermaltake 850W TOUGHPOWER CABLE MANAGEMENT
Processor\CPU INTEL CORE 2 EXTREME QX6850 1333FSB
Memory\RAM 4GB DDR2 800 CL5.0 GEIL DUAL CHANNEL BLACK DRAGON
Motherboard ASUS STRIKER EXTREME S/L 1333FSB
Hard Drive WD HD SERIAL 150GB 10000RPM 16MB RAPTOR X (ULTRA FAST DRIVE)
2nd Hard Drive 500GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7200rpm)
Optical Drive ASUS DVD±RW/DL S-ATA 18x6x18x8x DRW-1814BLT BLACK LIGHTSCRIBE
Graphics \ Video card GeForce 768MB 8800GTX ULTRA PCI-E SLI (ASUS)
Operating System MS WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE 64-bit
Take a look over at http://www.buildyourown.org.uk/forums/
They'll help you build what you want. I'm a bit out of it as I've not built for over a year.
It would cost you £1,657.81 delivered to build your own with that spec (If I had the right case, Pic here (http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?image=specjb3.jpg)).
I strongly suggest you sign up on the overclockers forums and post a "spec me" thread similar to your first post in this thread in the general hardware forum. Hopefully they will knock some sense into you, your willingness to spend money worries me! :'(
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/ (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/)
If you do end up getting that spec, i'd be interested to see how my pc (less than half the cost) compares in 3dmark, I bet there is very little differance.
LOL, I'm not scared to admit that I'm aware that I may be overspending for my needs. I'd hoped the guy I spoke to today may have wanted to talk some sense into me, but alas he just wanted to make the sale.
The price you came up with was 200 quid cheaper than what the quote form the retailer is and about 300 less than I'd found sourcing the parts online myself, and that's not including postage costs. I think I'll follow you're advice and post on that forum.
One thing I'd be thinking though, is that buying from a retailer I can trust is also buying piece of mind. I'm not sure how much value you'd put on that though?
BTW what site did you use to get that price? And I think the graphic card is different too..
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 06, 2008, 01:28:49
One thing I'd be thinking though, is that buying from a retailer I can trust is also buying piece of mind. I'm not sure how much value you'd put on that though?
I trust www.overclockers.co.uk as much as I trust any other company, besides... when building your own pc each part has its own warranty (varying length) so if something breaks you just RMA that particular part. My RAM for instance has a lifetime warranty while my Q6600 has a 3 year warranty. Never had a part break on me mind you...
I'm glad your going to sign up on Overclockers (probly have to wait until later to post as the mods approve every account). Be sure to specify if your willing to overclock or not ;).
I used overclockers.co.uk to spec that. Thats a customer forum I reccomended you to join, Be aware that linking or mentioning any competitors within that forum is a nono :).
Arthix, just waiting for the mods to approve me. I've given you some Karma for the help... ;D
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 06, 2008, 01:37:40
BTW what site did you use to get that price? And I think the graphic card is different too..
Hmm you may be right about the graphics card, that may explain the £200 differance, :laugh:. Sorry.
I still think its completely crazy to go for such a high end system (especially on the graphics card) that won't be used for anything that requires much more than onboard graphics ;). I went for a 8800GT (~£150-200) thats near enough to a GTX/GTS to not make much differance to me and I use mine for games!
I don't think it will be too long before the 9xxx series of Nvidia cards come out making your super expensive Ultra die in value. Same with the CPU, Intel are bringing some new quads out soonish. Probly not worth waiting for, no release dates as far as I can see but I know i'd feel a bit miffed if I bought a CPU for £600 only to see it selling for far less once the new stuff comes out.
*sigh* If I opt for the GeForce 512MB 8800GT from "laptopsandpcs" then the price drops to £1626.41. I think I'll take your advice on this one and opt for this card.
Never thought it would be so hard to spend my money! ::) ;) :laugh:
Quote from: Arthix on Jan 06, 2008, 01:55:49
I don't think it will be too long before the 9xxx series of Nvidia cards come out making your super expensive Ultra die in value. Same with the CPU, Intel are bringing some new quads out soonish. Probly not worth waiting for, no release dates as far as I can see but I know i'd feel a bit miffed if I bought a CPU for £600 only to see it selling for far less once the new stuff comes out.
I know, I know. That's what we have to put up with PCs, our shiny,shiny bright new toys are obsolete by the time we take delivery. I'm resigned to that fact...
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 06, 2008, 02:17:19
*sigh* If I opt for the GeForce 512MB 8800GT from "laptopsandpcs" then the price drops to £1626.41. I think I'll take your advice on this one and opt for this card.
Never thought it would be so hard to spend my money! ::) ;) :laugh:
Switch to the Q6600 and the price drops even further! >:D At which point you wouldn't need a 850W PSU anymore and could switch to a 600W or even a 500W (Quality branded of course).
Have a read here, Link (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/07/25/overclocking_intel_core_2_quad_q6600/1). Particularly the final thoughts section.
:'( :'( :'( :'( Dude can you just not let me blow my money how I want!!! LOL
Ok, I take you're point, the conclusion on that link pretty much blows the QX6850 out of the water! I'll read the rest of the article tomorrow to see what I'd need to do to overclock the Q6600.
I'm off to look at prices for a new Nikon D300 with the money you've just saved me... ;D
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 06, 2008, 02:33:44
:'( :'( :'( :'( Dude can you just not let me blow my money how I want!!! LOL
Ok, I take you're point, the conclusion on that link pretty much blows the QX6850 out of the water! I'll read the rest of the article tomorrow to see what I'd need to do to overclock the Q6600.
I'm off to look at prices for a new Nikon D300 with the money you've just saved me... ;D
My work is done here :yes:. Sorry Simon :tongue:.
There is an overclocking guide on the overclockers forum, Overclocking and Cooling section, probly best to have a read into it before you decide if you are willing to give it a go or not. You would also need an after market cpu cooler (Mine cost £30 and its one of the best.).
Scook 94, using your spec, I have tried to spend the £2000 you want, but come to £1600, the parts are not all exactly the same, the main difference being the case, also a faster CPU
608447 BFG nVidia GeForce 8800GTS OC '675Mhz' 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI/TV Out (PCI-E) - £194.95 £194.95
606828 Microsoft Vista Ultimate X64 Edition DVD - £91.50 £91.50
608301 Samsung 20x DVD±R/±RW S-ATA Lightscribe Dual Layer Multi Bezel - £18.72 £18.72
607047 Samsung SpinPoint T 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3GB/s 16MB Cache - £53.50 £53.50
605284 Western Digital Raptor SATA 150GB 16MB 10000RPM £106.34 £106.34
606632 Asus Striker Extreme nForce 680 SLI PCI-E (Socket 775) DDR2 Motherboard £138.00 £138.00
608009 Corsair Twin2X 4GB DDR2 (2x2048MB) XMS2 6400 C5 £85.10 £85.10
606724 Thermaltake Toughpower 850W Modular Black PSU - SLI Ready £92.50 £92.50
608352 Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9650 3.00GHz 'Yorkfield' 12MB Cache LGA775 (1333 Mhz) - Retail £536.13 £536.13
606495 Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - No PSU £58.00 £58.00
Replacing the CPU with a Q6600 drops the price down to £1148.
All prices are from Tekheads, a very trustworthy company, with a very fast turnaround for any RMA parts.
Quote from: Arthix on Jan 06, 2008, 02:37:53
My work is done here :yes:. Sorry Simon :tongue:.
There is an overclocking guide on the overclockers forum, Overclocking and Cooling section, probly best to have a read into it before you decide if you are willing to give it a go or not. You would also need an after market cpu cooler (Mine cost £30 and its one of the best.).
Just wondering, does overclocking invalidate your warranty? And, which cpu cooler do you have?
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 06, 2008, 01:44:53
Arthix, just waiting for the mods to approve me. I've given you some Karma for the help... ;D
In what way approve you?
If you are looking to future proof, I would get either a blu-ray of HD-DVD writer - and a decent monitor which can display the HD output.
I notice looking through the costed specs in this thread, none of them seem to include a monitor (unless I need to go to specsavers!).
Rik - They must do manual account activation :)
Quote from: Lance on Jan 06, 2008, 10:09:57
If you are looking to future proof, I would get either a blu-ray of HD-DVD writer - and a decent monitor which can display the HD output.
Rik - They must do manual account activation :)
My thoughts as well Lance, the last Medion Computer at £629.99 from Aldi had a combination one, allowing either system to be used.
Was that a combination reader or combination writer, In?
Quote from: Rik on Jan 06, 2008, 10:04:55
In what way approve you?
Rik,
I was advised to join the OcUk forum, when you register you can't log on until one of their mods approves you, I guess to make sure I'm a real person rather than a spammer.
Quote from: Lance on Jan 06, 2008, 10:13:31
Was that a combination reader or combination writer, In?
Not 100% sure Lance, I think it was a writer, it was an LG unit, that was Blu-Ray and HD DVD compatible.
Quote from: Lance on Jan 06, 2008, 10:09:57
If you are looking to future proof, I would get either a blu-ray of HD-DVD writer - and a decent monitor which can display the HD output.
I notice looking through the costed specs in this thread, none of them seem to include a monitor (unless I need to go to specsavers!).
Rik - They must do manual account activation :)
I'd looked at Blu-ray but decided that it might be worth waiting for the cost of BD-RE drives to drop first. I had intended to use my existing flat screen monitor as I had wanted to pour most of my budget into the base unit, but now it looks like I'll only be spending ~£1200 I can maybe rethink that and maybe get a new 22" one...
I wonder if it was like this one (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136317) where it can write blu-Ray but only read HD-DVD.
I'd go for a 24" monitor myself :)
Possibly Lance, if it was, that made the Medion Computer look a real bargain. ;)
This is regarded as one of the best 24" monitors Dell (http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=128238)
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 06, 2008, 10:16:33
Rik,
I was advised to join the OcUk forum, when you register you can't log on until one of their mods approves you, I guess to make sure I'm a real person rather than a spammer.
Right, sorry, I thought you were talking about here. :)
My thoughts too when I saw the price of the drive :)
Quote from: Rik on Jan 06, 2008, 10:25:52
Right, sorry, I thought you were talking about here. :)
:conf: ;D
Quote from: Glenn on Jan 06, 2008, 10:25:20
This is regarded as one of the best 24" monitors Dell (http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=128238)
Though I'd recommend the Eizo (http://www.nativedigital.co.uk/shop/product.php/479/eizo-s2411w---24--widescreen) to anyone interested in graphics/digital photography, and I'd also recommend a Pantone Huey to go with it.
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 06, 2008, 09:49:59
Just wondering, does overclocking invalidate your warranty? And, which cpu cooler do you have?
QuoteWarning
Before we start, a word of warning, overclocking voids your warranty and increases the risk of premature death of you're hardware. The use of extreme voltages can lead to instant death of hardware if you are careless. Overclocking can also kill your Windows install so back-up anything important!
Quoted from that overclockers guide, I'd say its worth the risk for a saving of £450.. but then I'm not you. :-X
I have a Tuniq Tower CPU cooler, gotta be a bit careful with your choice as they can be huge (mine "Just" fits in my case). Overclocked my Q6600 a little last night, stable at 3.0 Ghz (same clock speed as the QX6850) without changing any voltages, i'll go further later on.
I went for the Samsung SM-245B 24" widescreen, pretty happy with my choice, little bit of screen burn but can't fault it otherwise.
Did you get approved over at OcUK yet?
Yes, the mods have approved me but I've not had a chance to post anything yet. I've been looking again at some of their pre-overclocked systems but the only one that I fancy is back up at around £1700!
However, I think I'll dump the ASUS striker extreme board though as it doesn't appear to the best for overclocking, the Intel P35 based mobos look like a better bet...
Well I ordered the parts this morning. Went with the Q6600/Abit IP35 pro, 4gb of Crucial ballistic tracer RAM, 2 WD Raptor 150Gb disks a WD 320Gb disk and the Asus 8800 GT 512Mb graphics card and the Antec 182 case. A few other bits and bobs too... In total just over £1300.
My other half is away down to London this weekend so I'll have peace and quiet to build it and no nagging about the mess I'm making! ;D
So we shouldn't expect to hear too much from you then? :)
Rik, I can give a running commentary of the build progress from my laptop if you like? :P
I think you should, preferably streaming a webcam. :)
Quote from: Rik on Jan 07, 2008, 12:35:12
I think you should, preferably streaming a webcam. :)
So that we can see the blood pouring from your knuckles.. >:D
Not just knuckles on some of the builds I have done. :o
Coming to just over £1300 means you could buy very nice monitor with the spare!
Heh, I have the Abit IP35-Pro, Q6600, 2 GB of Crucial Ballistix (Wasn't paying extra for the tracer which appears to be the same thing except with a few LED's and comes in black for some more bling :P) and the Asus 512mb 8800GT.
Seems we will have almost identical systems. :laugh: My case doesn't look like a fridge though! ;D
Two Raptors seems a bit of overkill no? ;)
Which CPU cooler and PSU did you go for?
It's the way I would do it, one for system, one for apps.
I'm not sure yet how best to use the raptors. My current archaic PC is dual boot with Linux, so I had been thinking of Raid-0 using the raptors purely for Windows and the 320Gb drive for Linux. Or I might use 1 raptor for the OS, one for programs and the 320 for data and get a fourth drive should I decide to keep Linux. Any thoughts?
I went for the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler and some Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound, the PSU is a Seasonic X900 SS-900HP 900w. These were on the recommedation of a friend/ex-colleague who builds his own gaming PCs. Again, any comments?
I agree about the case though, it's pretty hideous compared some but it's supposed to do it's job extremely well. It'll be hidden for the most part anyway, so no point having a bling-ed out case with loads of windows and LEDs when it won't be seen.
I wasn't sure when I placed the order if I'll get all the cables I need, but I can get those in my local PC shop should it be necessary.
It's well worth having a couple of small drives, one for Windows, one for apps, 80-100GB will be adequate. Once you have Windows installed, move the swap file from C to D (assuming that's the second drive), which will gain you a small speed advantage. I'd go for a third Raptor for Linux, then one or two large data drives - you could consider a RAID1 for some added redundancy.
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 07, 2008, 14:43:56
I went for the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler and some Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound, the PSU is a Seasonic X900 SS-900HP 900w. These were on the recommedation of a friend/ex-colleague who builds his own gaming PCs. Again, any comments?
I wasn't sure when I placed the order if I'll get all the cables I need, but I can get those in my local PC shop should it be necessary.
900W is overkill again :P, you don't really need that (Mine worked fine on a 480W Thermaltake, switched to a new Corsair 620W now however), it won't really matter though. I'd reccomend the modular PSU's now after getting one for myself, so nice not having unwanted cables cluttering up your case.
You should get all the cables you will need :).
Can't help with the HD setup, I just use one 500GB drive for everything :-\.
Quote from: Arthix on Jan 07, 2008, 15:01:50
900W is overkill again :P, you don't really need that...
hehe, are you detecting a trend here? LOL
I thought that by the time I add bd-re drives and further disks i didn't want to regret skimping in this area. Anyway, looking forward to see how it runs, FreeCell should really rock! (Do you get FreeCell with Vista? :P)
I tend to over-provide with the PSU too. I like a bit in reserve. :)
He has still saved £700 from his original budget, so the price of the PSU isn't that important. ;D
Still some cash for a nice Eizo monitor then. >:D
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 07, 2008, 15:25:25
, FreeCell should really rock! (Do you get FreeCell with Vista? :P)
Probably has if you can find any drivers for it... :hehe:
I think a new monitor is definitely on the cards, I'll need to see how my current one fares but I suspect I'm going to get dissatisfied with it VERY quickly indeed! Assuming it works at all with the new graphics card!
You wouldn't regret a move to a 24" w/s, 1920 x 1200. It's very easy to fit multiple windows on the screen. Or, you could make us all jealous and go for a 30" w/s. ;)
Well our TV is only 21", she'd freak if I brought a 30" monitor into the house! ;D ;D
;D
Sue wondered why I wanted to go to 24" until she saw it...
Quote from: Rik on Jan 07, 2008, 16:12:14
;D
Sue wondered why I wanted to go to 24" until she saw it...
Boasting again Rik tch tch.. ;D
Sounds like a tale from an angler.. ;)
:rofl2: :karmic:
Quote from: Rik on Jan 07, 2008, 15:26:42
I tend to over-provide with the PSU too. I like a bit in reserve. :)
Theres a differance between over-providing and going over the top ;D.
My 620W is over-providing, I'd guess i'm using about 350W at most. Still.. its only £50 more than mine was and it shouldn't use any more than it needs to so who cares :laugh:.
Couldn't agree more about the 24" though, I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. Fell in love with it as soon as it came :).
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 07, 2008, 15:46:44
I think a new monitor is definitely on the cards, I'll need to see how my current one fares but I suspect I'm going to get dissatisfied with it VERY quickly indeed! Assuming it works at all with the new graphics card!
You could always go for something like my racing PC's display http://www.wrracing.net/pics/screens.jpg :hehe:
Time for an upgrade, Glenn, you could move to 3 x w/s. >:D
No, Matrox TripleHead2Go does not support 3 widescreen displays, only 2 at the moment. I currently get the max 3840 x 1024 resolution from the 3 monitors.
Just think 5760 x 1200 awaits... :)
Woohoo! All my new pc bits are here!!!! :happy:
That was quick.. ;)
I bet the build takes longer. :)
That was nice and quick, I do love it when next day delivery is actually next day and not sitting in a warehouse queue for a day or two ;D.
Wonder how the build is going. :)
The silence says it's absorbing, or something has gone wrong. ;)
Woohoo! My baby lives! She lives I say!!!!!!
(At least she POSTs and enters the BIOS! Gonna try RAIDing the Raptors and put my OS on her!)
Great news. :) Have a karma for your work so far. :karmic:
Well done ;).
Hmmm, having problems getting Vista to install. I've enabled raid in the BIOS and created a RAID Volume from the 2 Raptors, when I get to the part in the install it can see the Volume and I've created a partition and formatted it, then when I select it and click next I get this-
"Windows is unable to find a system volume that meets its criteria for installation"
Currently doing a manual format of the partition while I Google for the solution!
??? ??? ???
Have you loaded the RAID drivers? In XP, at least, you pressed f6 (from memory) to do that during the installation.
Yes, done that. It may be this problem
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925481
as the 320Gb disk is still uninitialized although the RAID Volume is. Once the format finishes I'll create a partition on the 320 disk and see if that helps...
Sounds probable. Ho hum, a new issue to deal with. :sigh:
All part of the learning curve Rik! Easy solution is just to disconnect the 320 disk, so I'll try that now...
EDIT: Ha! That did the trick, copying files to disk now! :phew:
Good news. :)
Ahh, this takes me back to when I built my first PC (you never forget your first time! ;) ). Incidentally, I'm still using it now, and it still runs great. It also had two siblings, which went to a friend and a relative. The relative's one died early last year (we think, due to a motherboard fault, as everything else had been replaced or tested), but the friend's machine lives on! ;D
One of my 386SX machines is still doing sterling service with a friend... Now, if only I could remember what I did with my 8086. 8)
This post comes to you courtesy of Vista Ultimate 64-bit running on 2.4Ghz Quadcore Q6600chip/4Gb RAM (with disco lights!) ;D ;D ;D
Sweet!
:congrats:
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
:karmic: Steven! (http://si6776.www.idnet.com/smileys/welldone.gif)
Thanks guys. Never thought I'd have it up and running this quick. Got the 320disk attached now and getting the Windows Updates.
I've got so much data to get transferred it'll keep me busy for a while! Plus all my progs installed then get Vista working the way I want it. Sheesh! Then think about overclocking! >:D
Must admit, I'm pretty chuffed!
So you should be. And just in time for the latest MS updates too. :)
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 08, 2008, 18:32:36
Must admit, I'm pretty chuffed!
Much more satisfying than just buying a whole computer isn't it? :)
Especially if I can get it clocked to around 3.2Ghz, where are you at?
3.0ghz still, i'll go and see if I can take it a bit further now, Temperatures are still pretty low ;D.
Up to 3.3Ghz ;D, An hour of Prime95 and seems stable. Temps still under 50°C at full load. Think i'll aim for 3.4Ghz and call it a day at that.
I'm waiting for the clouds of steam. ;)
Nice work Arthix! 3.4 would be real nice! ;D You'll need to let me know what settings you used to get those results, with any luck I'll have the time to try this weekend.
Would like to see how far I can improve on a 3DMark06 of 11557...
Stable at 3.6Ghz, overclocked the graphics card and RAM just to see how what I could get on 3dmark. 14824, not bad. Think my first 3dmark with everything stock was ~11000.
I'll drop back down to 3.4Ghz again now, Was using 1.5 volts to get it stable which is the maximum safe voltage according to Intel and it was almost reaching 70°C at full load with 3.6Ghz and i'm not comfortable with that ;).
Overclocking is so addicting, i'm almost tempted to buy a water cooling setup just to go that little bit further! ;D
Quote from: Rik on Jan 08, 2008, 23:48:38
I'm waiting for the clouds of steam. ;)
Thats just the steam coming out of my ears, i'm sick of restarting my pc to up the voltage one notch or nudge the fsb. Glad i'v found my stable 3.4Ghz and can leave it now. ;D
A few pics of my new baby...
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2384/2179299991_b241877237.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2201/2180087520_151aac54f1.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2314/2180087064_2a4a944090.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2018/2179298061_3700dc8a55.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2412/2179297555_d1b969199e.jpg)
Nicely done - it should keep you going for at least six months before you feel the urge to upgrade. ;)
Quote from: Arthix on Jan 09, 2008, 04:24:57
I'll drop back down to 3.4Ghz again now, Was using 1.5 volts to get it stable which is the maximum safe voltage according to Intel and it was almost reaching 70°C at full load with 3.6Ghz and i'm not comfortable with that ;).
Hmm, I was getting temps of 62 at a speed of 3096Mhz (can't remember what voltage was, ~1.35, I think) at full load with Prime95. Was stable enough though.....
I can feel an upgrade to a Tuniq Tower coming on....
Careful, you're on a slippery slope... :o
Quote from: Rik on Jan 09, 2008, 09:50:10
Nicely done - it should keep you going for at least six months before you feel the urge to upgrade. ;)
Or 10 hours :o
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 09, 2008, 16:47:09
Hmm, I was getting temps of 62 at a speed of 3096Mhz (can't remember what voltage was, ~1.35, I think) at full load with Prime95. Was stable enough though.....
I can feel an upgrade to a Tuniq Tower coming on....
Your temps might drop a bit after a couple of days, AS5 needs a little time to bond.
I was managing 3.05Ghz at the lowest voltage, temps were about the same as stock.
3.4Ghz - 378 x 9 - 1.4025 volts. Pic of temps Here (http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/3492/34vq5.jpg).
Here are some pictures of the Tuniq to show you how big it is... Should have had it standing up instead of on its side for the comparison with the stock heatsink. Before you ask... yes I have tidied the wires (when I put in the new PSU) and no... that fan door doesn't shut with the Tuniq in, had to remove it :D.
(http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/731/tuniqzh4.th.jpg) (http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tuniqzh4.jpg)(http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/341/sinkzs8.th.jpg) (http://img131.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sinkzs8.jpg)(http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6656/victoryge2.th.jpg) (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=victoryge2.jpg)
Wow, it really is immense! I think I'll need to take some measurements if I decide to go for it!
The thing I don't like about the Arctic Freezer is how it attaches to the mobo, it has the same plastic contraption as your stock cooler. Plus the fact that I installed it with the mobo in the case which made it really fidddly. I'll maybe try re-fitting it out of the case, just on the off chance that it's not bonded properly (quite likely actually..)
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 09, 2008, 19:58:57
The thing I don't like about the Arctic Freezer is how it attaches to the mobo, it has the same plastic contraption as your stock cooler. Plus the fact that I installed it with the mobo in the case which made it really fidddly. I'll maybe try re-fitting it out of the case, just on the off chance that it's not bonded properly (quite likely actually..)
The Tuniq has a sticky back plate (metal IIRC) that you stick onto the rear side of the motherboard and the pins go through into that. I re-seated it while inside the case once, I won't make that mistake again... after half an hour or so of impaling my knuckles on the fins I gave up and removed the PSU to get to the top left screw.
The Artic Freezer should be good enough if your goal is still 3Ghz though ;).
Have you got a surround sound speaker setup? It seems to auto detect when you plug speakers in so I plugged each wire in seperately and selected what it was (front/back/sub etc), strangely though I can't seem to get surround sound using that method. If I just press cancel to the select what it is thingmy then it seems to work just fine... same with my surround sound headphones. Just curious how you did yours if you have surround sound speakers.
Erm, no. Just got 18 quid stereo speakers out of PC World. Don't really need surround sound for processing digital images! LOL
BTW was totally blown away by the graphics tests on 3DMark06, gonna have to get myself back into gaming!
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 09, 2008, 21:13:13
BTW was totally blown away by the graphics tests on 3DMark06, gonna have to get myself back into gaming!
It is quite pretty isn't it, I like the firefly test.
Would be a crime to own a 8800GT and not play a single game ;).
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 09, 2008, 21:13:13
BTW was totally blown away by the graphics tests on 3DMark06, gonna have to get myself back into gaming!
In which case you'll be needing the surround sound 8)
Quote from: Arthix on Jan 09, 2008, 21:53:19
It is quite pretty isn't it, I like the firefly test.
Would be a crime to own a 8800GT and not play a single game ;).
Yeah, especially as it came with Company of Heroes! I guess I can start with that!
On another note, I've dropped the multiplier to 8 and an speed of 355 to get what I'd thought would be 2840, yet Core Temp and CPU-Z are showing the multiplier still as 9 and 3204 (I've checked in the BIOS and it's definitely 8 in there). Any idea why the discrepancy?
EDIT: Haha, never mind. Prime failed at whatever setting it was at! Back at multiplier of 9 at 348 (3132) Vcore of 1.3175. if this works I'll up the Vcore a bit and try pushing it further...
FURTHER EDIT: Seems it was a bug it Coretemp 0.954, it fixed in 0.96...
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 09, 2008, 22:02:03
Yeah, especially as it came with Company of Heroes! I guess I can start with that!
FURTHER EDIT: Seems it was a bug it Coretemp 0.954, it fixed in 0.96...
CoH is an awesome game, really enjoyed the campaign, haven't got round to playing CoH:Opposing Fronts (the sequal that came with our graphics card) yet though.
Glad you sorted out that bug as I didn't have a clue. :)
Hey Arthix, I caved and ordered the Tuniq Tower! ;D
It always gets people eventually. :)
Quote from: scook94 on Jan 14, 2008, 17:47:02
Hey Arthix, I caved and ordered the Tuniq Tower! ;D
What happened to the goal of 3.2ghz? :D Maybe I should have warned you that it can be addicting before I recommended getting a Q6600. :P
This means i'm going to have to take mine further, curse you! Maybe time to get out the sand paper? ;D
I'm at 3.33Ghz at the moment with 1.3275 Vcore, prime load temps are 62,62,61,61 or thereabouts. Gonna try and get her up to 3.6 if the Tuniq is as good as they say. Although I may have to lap to get that!
Have you done anything with your memory? Apart from upping my Vdimm to 2.1v everything else is still at stock. I can't seem to get a handle on how you overclock the memory...???
Fitted the Tuniq Tower today, idle temps are 6-7 °C less than with the Arctic Freezer which is good news. Tried pushing her up past 3.42 Ghz but couldn't get her stable. Will try again at the weekend, when the thermal paste should have bonded better. ;D
Cool, 6-7 °C differance (before the AS5 is bonded) sounds good, is that at load or idle?
To overclock the memory you can try adjusting the memory timings, its located in the advanced chipset section of the bios, page 2-16 in your manual. I haven't touched my memory except for going to the lowest devider while overclocking the cpu and then raising it to reach 1300mhz (atleast I think thats what its at, I can't remember).
Seems to be consistent both at idle and at full load. Whereas before at these frequencies and Vcore I was getting 67 under prime I'm now getting 59-61 (depending if I put all fans to max or not).
In trying to push above 3.42Ghz it dawned on me how the memory clocking was done. I have it set now for 1:1 and as my memory is rated up to 1066Mhz I have some room to play once I get the CPU where I want. ;D