The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition

Venison is goooooood eats

AFAIK there are laws in most states allowing growers to protect their crops from deer by any means necessary. If that carries over to private gardens I do not know. Would rather find a way to deter them than kill them though.

LMAO definitely do NOT hunt with my AK, though I imagine it would drop a deer quite capably. And no, none of my rifles are full auto, though I have fired several. That requires a Class 3 firearms license which AFAIK is about $200 per-gun not to mention 10K+ to actually purchase a surviving full-auto weapon. According to several more "experienced" members of my family, full-auto is generally discouraged anyway. A waste of ammo, produces a LOT of heat, and generally destroys accuracy.

My preferred weapon of choice for hunting is either my Marlin 30-30 lever-action or my AR-10(An M16 in .308 NATO which I haven't gotten to try hunting with yet). Have a few other rifles that would be suitable for hunting but are either too powerful(7mm Magnum) or not capable of mounting a scope without modification(Mosin Nagant). Would like to get a side-pull bolt for my Mosin and mount a scope, though it would be simpler and probably cheaper just to find a Mosin with the proper configuration. Mosin rifles are normally $200 and less, even for very nice ones like mine.

 

Sorry but what is the catch here?

I can't post links but it is the 64.99 120 GB KingstonX SSD at scan.co.uk

That is SURELY well too cheap.

 

I set it up for three months once or twice a year. The three month plan is ~$42 for three months and that averages out to about $14 per month.

 

If you are real and not one of the plethora of pathetic people who constantly spam this site with garbage, the cheapest Kingston in the hyperX series is the 3k which retails for about $130.00. the unit is likely a refurb or used, both are bad in the world of SSDs

 

£65 is $102 US, but we pay 20% VAT so pre-tax it works out at $85 US. Still pretty cheap, but then it is Kingston...

 

Never had one problem with kingston. DDR1/2/3 I do however prefer Mushkin or G.Skill.

 

Kingston use to be real good but they have lost some of their sparkle.

 

Loved my DDR2. Built a few DDR3 systems. Guess I'm lucky Perhaps longevity will play a role here though.

 

So have many companies, including Corsair.

 

Very true.

 

I'd still Go with corsair's power supplies Love my PSU! Though I realize not all models are good...

 

Hey guys, talking about games and graphics, check this out!

http://zanylol.com/speed_sign.html

Russ

 

I got that in an Email a while back, funny....

Stevo

 

Ha good one.

 

harvardguy,

Another little present for you, or anyone who wants it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5dpFuLQdfc&feature=plcp

If the tune seems familiar, it's Lara Fabian's "Broken Vow", re-written in French,as "Imaginer", exclusively for Jackie, by Lara, as a favor to David Foster. Love this guy's videos, and the sound is always superb. "Lovers" is in the PMs.

Glad everyone liked the fancy Video. I laughed my butt off! My idea of a real video game!

Russ

 

Hahahaha,

Russ, that is the funniest link I have seen all year.




Stevo gave me an idea - I'm gonna send it to all my relatives - example of flagrant government spending.

I know the picture's a spoiler, but more may watch it, and then email it. Absolutely brilliant production!

Rich

 

Hey guys!

Major progress on the upgrade! I ordered the first 7950 - it will probably arrive tomorrow from Newegg. It's the HIS Iceq - very good heatpipe cooler. Here's a cool video on it at newegg TV.



And I took Blaze's advice and bought some memory coolers from Xoxide - 24, to have 12 for each 7950, although the HIS cooler is supposed to have some ram cooling - but I couldn't see it in the newegg video about the card.



With cooling and slight voltage, the thing overclocks past the 925 stock 7970, all the way up to 1150, according to one review. LOL

I liked that card because I was trying to blow all the heat out of the case with a turbine, and it was the only turbine design from what I could see - but still the back is not fully sealed so some of that heat will enter my case.

Which brings me to my other problem. Cooling.

I finally started some cpu overclocking, while waiting for the 7950 to arrive, because I know that for most of the stuff I play, except for a few stressful titles like crysis, I'll no longer be gpu bound.

Thanks Sam. That advice worked well. The asus p5e bios is very nice - I can save any overclock to a thumb drive, give it a file name of 8 characters, and then a description of about 40 characters. I can load back at any time, and have any number of them saved on thumb, and two saved in bios memory. Also the bios doesn't force me to mess with memory multipliers, it does the math. For each fsb frequency, when I get to memory it gives me a pop out of the possible memory speeds - easy!

My Q9450 is locked at 8x multiplier. But I can't get to fsb 450 which would be the target 3.6 ghz as per your post above.

So I got it to 3.4, which is fsb 425, but I had to pull back from that due to heat issues. I am right now at fsb 418, vcore 1.31875, ddr1114, and NB 1.35 volts, just 0.1 above reference. The vcore was higher, at 1.3250, and that worked, but since things are hot, I wanted lower. I tried 1.30000 as I recall. That wouldn't start. The wonderful thing also about this motherboard is, if it won't post, you just power off and back on, and it will automatically drop to a setting that posts, advising you that your overclocking settings failed, and F1 puts you back in the bios. There is a cmos reset switch, but I have never had to use it.

My problem is that my stock cooler is not good enough, so yes I could try higher vcore, but temps really start rising.

By the way - question: My memory is the kingston, that comes at 800, but is rated at 1066. You can see I have it running at 1114 which I mentioned above.



I had it up to 1120, but some instability entered in, at fsb 420, which is why I dropped down to 418, and memory at 1114 - I decided it was that little bit extra memory clock causing the problem. So yes, I am overclocking the memory even beyond the rating, without adjusting memory voltage, and it is stable as a rock - prime 95 all night, twice. I can even run the very stressful linx, as long as I keep core temps under 70, which might mean running just a very short 1 minute test.

Here's my memory question. If I take that configuration, and change the memory to the next more conservative, which in the bios means just selecting the next lower speed, which might be 1055, which is even below the memory rating, the computer won't start. In other words, by trying this several times, it appeared to be very clear that I had to let the memory overclock, in order to achieve the cpu overclock. Does that make sense? Why does the cpu care how fast the memory is? I know that the cpu could have to wait on memory, but to not even post? Anybody know what I mean, and if so, why??

Okay, that's one question.

Here's another question.

I have started thinking about my upgrade progression path, which is to install the one 7950, prove that I am still gpu bound on at least one title, let's say crysis, or maybe even BF3 on ultra textures, then install the second 7950, all within the next 60 days. At that time I'll be very definitely cpu bound, and obviously, I would benefit by going from 3.344 to the full 3.6 I should be able to get, according to Sam's help above, with a better cooler. That is nearly 8% more cpu speed - I am guessing that would help a lot.

Right now, by the way, on 3dmark6, my cpu test score is up from 4000, at my former 2.67 clock, to just over 5000. That is 25% more performance that I just picked up - but I probably can't game in the middle of the hot daytime trailer temps of 90-100F, if that causes my core temps to edge over 70 in my on-screen display. I do have an A/C unit in this trailer, and maybe I'll have to use it once in a while, or game in the cool evening. During gaming week, once each two months, I could sleep in the day, and game all night, lol. But I might not be able to find a BF3 map with anybody on it, except for the hardcore experts who will murder me.

Hmmm. Maybe Blaze will come on, but that might be when he signs up for $42 for another 3 month run of WoW, and we'll never see him anywhere else. It won't be Jeff, he works and has a normal schedule. It might be Shaff, with his watercooled rig, but that's what I mean about me getting murdered. It won't be Russ or Stevo, they'll be watching movies, or seeing what else Jackie Evancho is up to. It won't be Kevin, he'll still be playing Angry Birds. LOL

------------------

Russ, speaking of Jackie, it is your fault that I have been all over YouTube lately checking out these talent contests, including Paul Potts, Susan Boyle, and a host of others, even adorable Holly Steel and Natalie Okri, both 10 years old. But have you come across the 11 year old Dutch sensation Aliyah Kolf singing I Have Nothing?



That 14-year old down in Australia, the Australian Justin Bieber did the same cover - a very good job also and one of the judges got on the stage and kissed him - and he won the show.

But if you liked that first Aliyah video, watch this, where she gets worked up halfway through and throws down the microphone stand



and the judges go crazy - the main judge jumps up on the table, to the disbelief of the other judges.



As I said, she is 11, and if Jackie is an angel, maybe Aliyah is Egyptian Queen of the Vampires - like the last movie role Aaliyah had a few days before she took the plane that ended her life some 10 years ago in the Bahamas. I saw that movie recently, didn't know it was her, thought that whoever was playing the role was utterly fabulous, and then glanced at the ending credits and saw, "makeup to Aaliyah." What!!

This Dutch 11-year old Aliyah can sing an ANGRY song and come across like the Queen of the Vampires, until you see her beaming with her teddy bear.



Other videos show her in school with all her regular friends, she is still the same normal Dutch kid, but on stage, they are calling her the new Whitney Houston and I believe it!

---------------

Back to gaming, rather than game in the middle of the night, another thought is - why not install a good cooler now, jump to 3.6ghz, pick up the extra performance from 8% faster clocks, and then take that cooler with me next year to the new build? I see the good ones are compatible with 1155, AND LGA775. I am looking at the Thermalright Silver Arrow, and maybe I'll get all three fans for it.



The noctua is a very similar design, and no doubt a great cooler.

But I like thermalright - I have always admired the TRUE. They are within one or two degrees of each other, I have read.

I am not sure if I can install the Silver Arrow without removing the mother board - anybody know about that? I'll download the cooler installation instructions.

For next year's 1155, I have looked at some great 3-graphic card designs - gigabyte has one without the wireless, at $179 with 114 reviews. It offers the 3 pci-e 3.0 16x slots at 2, 5, and 7.



The HIS boards slightly overlap 2, so I'll put them at 2 and 7. I think slot 7 is only x4 lanes, but with 3.0 that will be like x8 on pci-e 2.0 boards, so I'll be okay. I'm glad I traded out the microcenter antec 900 that I bought for the spedo, to get the 7th expansion slot, because I'm going to need it. Then when I need more gpu power in the next year or so, with the 3570 at 4.5, I'll add the third 7950 at slot 5. It will have to be a 2 slot board. Those 7950s will be super cheap by then.

Rich

 

Rich,

Yes. I've seen her. Not close to Jackie, however. Her latest caper was Wednesday, in St. Petersberg, Russia with two of the very best Opera stars in the world today Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Russian baritone, and Sumi Jo, Korean Coloratura Soprano. Jackie sang "Time to Say Goodby" with Sumi Jo. Jackie asked for no quarter, and was given none. Sumi Jo started, and set the bar very high. Jackie's response was magnificent! She came! She saw! She Conquered! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP2i9LtonmU Bravo!

Good to see you upgrading your computer. I know I'm glad I upgraded mine! Win 7 has got to be the most maddening OS in the world. It does so many things right, and makes it much easier, but all the simple things it seems are always messed up.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Wow, that indeed was beautiful singing between Jackie and Sumi Jo.

Both voices are truly amazing.

I know Jackie is referred to as a crossover singer - but I really don't know what that means. She has sung songs like Starry Starry Night - so she sings more than just opera - and maybe that is what crossover singer means. Everything she sings has a very operatic quality, even the Disney theme, When You Dream Upon a Star. So I guess one would not call Jackie a pop singer by any stretch of the imagination, and you, Russ, might say that her voice is too classically beautiful for pop, like the voice of tenor Paul Potts, very pointedly for opera only, as that is the music he said he likes to sing. The beautiful tenor quality of his voice, and his humility, expresses so much emotion it brings tears to your eyes.

The little Dutch girl, Aliyah, on the other hand, I would say, is clearly a pop singer, along the lines of Whitney Houston, and in no way is she an opera singer. Her voice doesn't bring tears to my eyes, rather it puts a goofy smile on my face, like that judge who jumped around in glee, especially when she threw the microphone stand down on the stage. After that he climbed up on the judging table to cheer.

Whether that difference in singers is good or bad depends, I suppose, on ones taste in music, or even on one's mood at the time. Some like pop, some like opera, some like both.


But here is something very different. Hit this link - you might be amazed.



(Like I say, it's your fault Russ that I have been all over YouTube checking out these young singers for the past couple of weeks.) The above video (<-- this link is the longer version with an intro where she is smiling with the hosts before she gets going) had me pretty choked up by the end. It was on a Turkish show featuring many young singers. The song and what happened at the end, haunted me - I have gone back and seen the short version of it a half dozen more times.

Also I found other videos from that show, by searching youtube for bir &#351;ark&#305;s&#305;n sen shown on the screen in the longer version. There were some even featuring the same girl in light-hearted duets with a young boy in a fancy Turkish red headband, a Fez like the Shriners wear.

But there was another singer even perhaps more powerful than her (one of the hosts had to leave the room as soon as she started singing - and watch the first singer's reaction to this one at 8:06) - and I got the impression that most Turkish singing is very emotional.

Rich

 

What a Fricking Tease!!! Not sure why, but when you look at a list of crucial 512Gb SSD's on newegg, they're all under $100USD. But when you click on the drives link, it shows its true price. More like $400. Sure can't wait til they're around THAT price. Probably be 3 - 5 yrs (maybe more) before that happens.

I'm currently considering an SSD. I'm sure Games, the OS, and certain Apps would load stupid faster I really should be using something upwards of 256Gb.