Author Topic: OK, time to build one (Read 2294 times)

humble · « **Reply #45 on:** January 25, 2008, 01:13:55 PM »

AVG is one of the best AV programs and its free for home use. I'd highly recommend it along with nanoscan (panda) as an active online scan. Run AVG once a day and nanoscan once a week to be sure.

Getback · « **Reply #46 on:** January 25, 2008, 01:15:32 PM »

With regards to Power Supplies what are you calling rails? The main lines that come from the ps and then are distributed by the different connectors on that line?

humble · « **Reply #47 on:** January 25, 2008, 01:51:04 PM »

The total wattage on a PS is going to be broken down into various voltages. The 12V capability has become more and more important as video cards demand more power. Top end cards require more power then they can draw from the PCI-e or AGP slot. So a seperate dedicated power supply is needed. This issue is often combounded since the total watts are distributed across multiple voltages and "rails" (you can think of it as a cable but its not always). If you multiply Vx@ you get the max draw in watts. So a 12V rail at 18@'s will draw 216W of power at full load. If a power supply cant meet the specific demand then the chance for a problem is greater. A PS with a significant portion of its total watts available or dedicated to the 12V is preferred. If we look at the OCZ supply above it has a potential total of 580W available to the 4 12V rails. Which gives you 48@'s+ useable. Realistically you might have a bit less based on what else you hang on the system. Where most people have a porblem is that most lesser PS's have to much power channeled to the 3.3 & 5V rails.

A typical 400W PS has 22-25@'s on the 3.3V rail and 30@'s+ on the 5V rail with roughly 18@'s on the 12V rail. So only 216W are even available to the 12V rail regardless of draw. Often on more powerful 2nd tier PS's the increase in watts is mostly in the 3/5V area with the 12V total amps staying at a max of 60-70% of total watts. A top end PS will have 95%+ of total watts "available" to the 12V rails. EVen btter is a uniot where 100% of the "available" @'s is dedicated...but this is where you get into a high end PS. For normal use a PS like the one I linked is more then you'll ever need. You simply need to know how to add up your system load.

What it prevents is a guy adding up and saying, great I only need 295W's of power and I have a 400W PS...but he has a 22@ draw on his 12V rail and a PS that will only feed him 216W's on the 12V rail.

You can run just about anything on a very good 430W PS...but there arent any for less then the 600W OCZ model above...

Getback · « **Reply #48 on:** January 25, 2008, 02:56:42 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by republic
If you haven't ordered yet, the latest Intel Penryn based chips are now available.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Why is that cheaper than the e6850? What am I missing? Does it not come with a fan?

Fulmar · « **Reply #49 on:** January 25, 2008, 03:57:38 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Getback
Why is that cheaper than the e6850? What am I missing? Does it not come with a fan?

This often happens when new chips come out. The E6850 should go down in price eventually. I remember when the E6420 came out, it had the larger cache than the E6400, but it cost less it to.

Rolex · « **Reply #50 on:** January 25, 2008, 04:50:36 PM »

Hi Toad,

I think you're going to be happy with the last option you posted. I understand the sentiment to just let them build it and test it, too.

I mentioned sound because Aces High is processor intensive. On-board sound uses your processor, so freeing up your processor as much as possible for the game is a good thing, just like using FSAutostart to stop services and running programs. I've found quite a few new folks eliminate some stutters they get with vox and in-game sound after moving to a sound card. You can always try the on-board chip and get that Audigy later if you notice any problem.

I've not had good luck with Turtle Beach cards, but some people must. Maybe they said the magic words or held their nose just right while installing it to make it compatible or even work at all with some motherboards.

humble · « **Reply #51 on:** January 25, 2008, 08:39:00 PM »

My TB santa cruz is doing good duty as a doorstop. Sadly for gaming purposes they are junk...

Pudgie · « **Reply #52 on:** January 26, 2008, 01:17:20 AM »

Hmmmm........................ ............................

My TBSC sound card is working very well w/ games, including AHII.
Coupled w/ a set of Razer Barracuda headphones it simply rocks.

I got to ask this question:

Why only install 1 HDD?

One of the biggest reasons for stuttering in games is not the vid card or CPU, it's the OS trying to run your game AND handle page faults (moving data out of system mem to the HDD that's not being used to make available space for a program(s) request & vise-versa) at the same time. The seeker heads are constantly moving back & forth across your 1 HDD's sector tracks between your game & your page file. Windows WILL set up a page file even if you tell it not to or regardless of how much RAM you got. It's a holdover from the early days & MS intentionally leaves it in their OS-including Vista.

Install 2 SATA HDD's & load the OS & all programs, apps & games on 1 HDD then setup your pagefile in the outer tracks on the 2nd HDD (do this 1st) then use the rest of the 2nd HDD for storage. This is where the large capacity HDD's (500Gb & up) are best utilized. With this configuration (due to SATA headders being independent & SATA's huge bandwidth) the OS can now perform both duties at the same time. The size of the HDD's don't matter-it's the speed of the HDD's that matter (best done w/ 2 matched speed HDD's-like 2 7200rpm w/ 8 Mb cache HDD's).

My box is setup w/ 2 WD Raptors in this configuration & there is virtually no stuttering from vid card or CPU-only the occasional packet loss by a wayward router across connect hops causes some hesitation & OB LAN don't help it either as you have the same issues to contend with as OB sound vs PCI-sound card w/ OB DSP.

Sorry for posting this here but I hadda do it while I was thinking 'bout this.

http://www.techarp.com

Read the Virtual Memory Optimization Guide

At least look into it.

MrRiplEy[H] · « **Reply #53 on:** January 26, 2008, 03:32:12 AM »

I've never run into stuttering problems with 1 HD systems if I had enough ram to use. Having said that I too have 3 hd's in my main gaming box and I use a separate HD for pagefile. But I haven't noticed any benefit from doing that, works just like with 1HD.

715 · « **Reply #54 on:** January 26, 2008, 02:31:37 PM »

I don't understand these comments regarding 1HDD vs multiple. After AH loads, ie while it is running, I never see the HD accessed even once. So neither the pagefile.sys nor AH is accessing the HD. How could having multiple HDs help me?

Toad · « **Reply #55 on:** January 27, 2008, 12:06:42 PM »

OK, I'm going to order up that last build I spec'd out. I will get an ATX case with the OCZ psu. The nice folks at Mwave will build/test it with XP Home and wipe the supersecret BillGatesEyesOnly licensing code before ship. Supposedly, all I have to do is enter my own supersecret BillGatesEyesOnly licensing code when it gets here, load AH again and I'm off to the furballs.

Now, will the OB sound be ok without sucking down the new super-duper CPU or should I plunk in a sound card?

If I do use a card, which one? Remember, these old ears of mine have been subjected to a lot of rifle, pistol and shotgun shooting over the last 40 odd years and a boat load of large, unmuffled piston engines and jet engines howling at them as well. I don't need the newest/bestest card; I need one that works and won't cause compatibility issues or stutters.

So, while I'm not deaf I am probably a bit less discriminating when it comes to good sound. I have a 4 speakers + woofer Cambridge Soundworks speaker set up left from the old computer and I plan on using those. Sounded OK with the Turtle Beach card........

Max · « **Reply #56 on:** January 27, 2008, 12:16:09 PM »

Toad, words of wisdom from Lord Skuzzy:

By the way Max, there is a reason why you want to go with XP Professional. MS is being forced to support it through 2014. All other versions of XP will only besupported through 2009.

Current cost at NewEgg is $139

Toad · « **Reply #57 on:** January 27, 2008, 12:34:45 PM »

Max, current cost of the XP Home sitting here on the desk from my last OS upgrade is $0.

They may not support Home past 2009, but I bet it will still run AH better than Vista for a lot longer than that!

Max · « **Reply #58 on:** January 27, 2008, 01:17:32 PM »

For some reason I thought you were buying XP Home - doht

Rolex · « **Reply #59 on:** January 27, 2008, 01:51:40 PM »

ATX case is good idea, otherwise you'd need a micro-ATX motherboard.

Yuck.
Since your sound card works now, why not throw it into the bottom PSI slot when it arrives? Find the CD with the drivers.

You have a floppy or CD somewhere that came with your monitor. If it's a floppy, you need to copy it somewhere on the internet or onto something you can use since you don't have a floppy disk listed on this new machine. Track that down and use it to add a monitor "driver." It's not really a driver, but an .inf file that will display all the available resolutions and refresh rates so you aren't stuck with the limited MS defaults.