The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition

I forgot to mention I'm using a kernel patch to remove the Windows memory lock limition.

 

That's called Physical Address Extension. PAE is an old trick Server 2000 and other server software used in order to allow more memory to be used in a 32-bit environment. Using it takes a huge performance hit. Since XP64/Server 2003 64, PAE has gone the way of the do-do bird. If you want Windows to register all your memory, get a 64-bit OS. The hack you are referring to will NOT be good for a home system. It's designed to provide access to more memory in a clustered server environment where memory usage is more important than raw speed.

 

True. I am going to upgrade eventually to 64bit OS so I figure its worth getting 8gig ram now. What do you think?

 

Well, it's probably worth it to get the RAM now if you are planning on using a 64 bit OS soon. But don't use the hack as it will be SLOWER than just being limited to 3GB of RAM. Serious.

 

Not only that, Estuansis, but I would believe it will not allow 64-bit programs to run. IMHO, that would be another reason to go with the 64-bit OS.

 

Yes that's true too. Unless you're actually using a 64 bit OS, more RAM doesn't really benefit anything. All 32 bit software is limited to 2GB of memory(or 3GB with Large Address Aware enabled). Also, Windows XP do0es not manage resources nearly as well as Windows 7. Some of the major differences are better memory management, better multi-core support, and faster SATA transfer speeds. XP will still work for most things, just not as well.

To be fair though, true 64 bit software is really rare.

 

So will this system run 64bit windows 7?:

Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 UNLOCKED
Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4
G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM (2x4GB) DDR3
NVIDIA GT430 1GB ASUS PCIe Video Card
APEVIA Warlock 900W PSU

 

The rest is fine, but ditch that terrible PSU.
low quality power supplies are all too often the cause of major stability problems.
May I ask what the GT430 is for in this case? You might be able to do without it.

 

OOOooops I cut and pasted the wrong system LOL!. That GFX card is for the HTPC I'm building, its meant to be gtx295!

 

I LOVE MY APEVIA! All lights up and everything!lol

 

LOL Apevia products are cancer for computers. Have seen more than my fair share of dead Apevia PSUs included with a case and the systems they fried in the process. I highly doubt that "900W" PSU even touches 400W with a clean bill of health. Have had a 600W Apevia unit tested and its shut down limit was 250W, and it never turned back on again either. This was testing on the same load bank that has brought my 620HX to 700W+ before shutdown multiple times, and I've been using the very same one for years now.

 

Ok ok ok!, I'll do an upgrade, recommendations much appreciated (bare in mind I like bright lights!lol)

 

Lights up in more ways than one...

In all seriousness, don't run the risk if destroying decent hardware with one of those hateful things.

 

The GTX295 may be tough to find and the 600 series seem to be out of stock at NewEgg so you might want to think about the GTX580's (Fermi's). This one has three fans with PWM and 512 pipes so it should be quiet most of the time with plenty of gaming power.

GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series GV-N580SO-15I GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Russ has a similar card just less processor pipes and loves it. Plus it is Gigabyte which will go with your mainboard for what that is worth.

 

Shagratt,

Hi to you too! First, I would be more careful where you buy. The Geeks are a bunch of crooks, and they do a lot of "Bait and Switch", selling mostly junk. The last time I bought anything from them, I drove 55 miles one way, after confirming stock by phone. The bill should have been $355, according to the order form I filled out on their computer. It came to over $700 at the register. When I balked at the price, I was told to F/O by this "Gothic" chick at the register! When other customers yelled at her for talking that way to a customer, she told them if they didn't like it, to F'n leave. 7 of us put our orders down on the floor, and walked out! I've never been back, or bought anything from them since!

I see another problem, as well. There's no point in buying more than 4GB of ram, because 32 bit Win7 can only address 4GB, Maximum. You will need 64 bit Win7 to address more memory.

Best Regards, and good to hear from you,
Russ

 

Russ, referring to Geek Squad? I could write 8 pages of horror stories about those guys. Most of the time it's not a "bait and switch", it's plain incompetence. They have a superiority complex about it too. Have been directly accused of incompetence by a Geek Squad member who didn't know what components were in a machine he put together himself. This is the same guy who then formatted a customer's HDD without backing up a lot of important data. Lol he didn't keep his job long. I left Geek Squad on my own due to disagreeing with the business model. Apparently, it's just fine to replace a PSU with a cheap piece of junk then charge $250 for the 10 minutes it took to replace. I find that morally wrong and distressing to do every day.

Know and have worked with many members of Geek Squad. Needless to say roughly 90% of them are laughably incompetent at basic skills. The other 10% aren't much past figuring out how to access BIOS.

 

Estuansis,

The Geek Squad is Best Buy. The Geeks are an outfit down around Oceanside. They have no people with technical knowledge, just high powered sales people, that try and sell you the same product for twice the money, claiming they are out of stock on the ones in their ad. When you fill out the order form, it confirms stock, yet at the register, they "Don't have any of those anymore!" Checking the part numbers, they are identical to what is supposed to be on sale. That's why I bad mouth them! They're a bunch of crooks!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Ahh that makes some sense. Hilariously, that's my exact description of Geek Squad, lol!

Have been directly accused of incompetence by a Geek Squad member who didn't know what components were in a machine he put together himself(he then accused me of stealing when I told him what the components were and he didn't recognize them). Then, being a Dell Optiplex with a Pentium 4, it had already blown ALL of the caps next to the CPU socket due to heat. I showed this to him, and he denied it saying the PC worked fine(REALLY? BECAUSE NO IT DIDN'T. IT DIDN'T EVEN BOOT) and then tried to blame me for it, which I laughed at.

Long story short he is the step-son of a long time friend, and is very disrespectful and endlessly stupid. He had "given his mother a computer" for Mother's day, which was said discarded husk. The case had all of the plastic ripped off down to the shell and it had several dents in it that looked like it had been kicked in. It was basically such a pile of junk, that they were insulted. I personally wouldn't have tried to do anything with the machine let alone give it to my mother for Mother's Day and expect recognition for it.

Needless to say, they didn't trust his dumb ass and brought it to me. This led to an angry phone call from him making threats, calling me stupid, and then accusing me of stealing, all without knowing why I had the PC to begin with. The best part is, he then demanded payment for the machine, citing it as a "$1500 gaming rig". It was a laugh, because he's a very unsavory character with poor hygiene, and extremely unpleasant to be around.

In the end, I took that machine out and put about 500 rounds of 5.56mm NATO through it and some 100 round of 3" Magnum #00 Buck. Sent him video, pictures, and a long-winded breakdown of what the PC was actually worth, ie about $20 if it were still brand new. Then told him to never call my home again.

I wouldn't have been so nasty about it, but he was basically as arrogant and stupid as possible. He even tried to cite experience in the US Airforce working on mainframes like "The government trusted me with multi-million dollar hardware, I think I'd know more about it than you." First off, I know very much about his service, and he worked in a on-base PX store selling electronics and setting up Facebook profiles for elderly officers. Second, even without knowing where he served and being personal friends with people he served with, his incompetence is so glaring, I had to fight not to burst out laughing. He couldn't properly install drivers, let alone work in a server environment for the United States Military.

Last, he was dishonorably discharged for stealing from said on-base store and rear-ending a general without even having a driver's license. I can get behind our servicemen, but he is without skill or honor and tried to abuse respect that he never earned. My friends and family have a long history of military service and to use that as leverage after having been dishonorably discharged, was just insulting in the extreme. Not only does his service not count for anything due to the nature of his discharge, it was supreme proof of his incompetence.

 

And to think I thought we had it bad over here!

Those are some pretty hilarious stories

Proper hardware stores are hard to come buy in the UK unless you live in the northwest, otherwise you are lumbered with either PC world, or worse still (for PC parts), Maplin.

Today I bought another 2TB WD for my file server, but now all of our household work, having stuff delivered doesn't really work, so I looked for one in london. Ended up collecting from yoyotech who wanted £97. They're a small london store, and I had been waiting 2 weeks for them to get any stock, but given the current availability of HDDs I'm not holding anything against them for that, they did have other brands available.

PC World on the other hand wanted £130, and Maplin £150. The latter wouldn't even say what brand it was, it was just 'a 2TB hard drive'.
There are some Best Buys in our part of the country, but none that nearby, and I don't think they're that cheap either if I remember.

Mr-Movies: I assume he means a GTX295 he already owns. I don't think he plans on buying one new, especially since he knows newer generations exist, owning a GT430.

 

There is one very good hardware store in my area and I know the owner personally. He actually has an excellent selection of components, and is in possession of a very high end load bank(iirc it's the same model SPCR use). He has tested my PSUs for free multiple times. Is unbiased as well, carrying CPUs, video cards and motherboards of mixed brands. Happens to mainly sell ASUS motherboards though, which has prevented me from giving him as much business as I'd like. I do always use him for HDDs though as he keeps lots of different models in stock. Not so much with the shortage right now, but I did get my 1001FALS and 1TB GreenPowers from him.

Rest assured Sam that Best Buy is as bad as the rest. They have decent deals on some things(namely my CoolIt Eco and HDTV), but I would never go there for any serious PC components. Also, if any ever cites Geek Squad as past experience, please, feel free to tear the up one side and down the other. Geek Squad is useless.

Sorry for my last post being so long-winded, but it really amuses me when stupidity goes from simple incompetence to aggressive incompetence.