|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin, Administration
Joined: 3/27/2008
Posts: 1,793
Points: 3,380
Location: Arizona
|
So my computer died yesterday morning. I couldn't tell if it was the CPU, MB or PSU, but had one hint pointing to the CPU. I went against some others' advice of it probably being the PSU and replaced the CPU. Which means I had to replace the MB. Which means I had to replace the memory... Just can't replace one component anymore, with how fast the change form factors of shit. Some $500 later I'm going to have 4 more cores and 12GB more memory. Also upgrading from DDR2 to DDR3 and from an Opteron to a Fusion CPU. My Windows is horribly broke right now, though. Downloading the OS to burn since I can't find my original DVD. Hopefully all will go well. Anyway, that's my excuse for not being around here more the past 2 days.
|
|
|
Rank: Polio Power!
Groups: Registered User, Server Admin
Joined: 6/14/2008
Posts: 666
Points: 1,416
Location: San Diego
|
Im stuck in a similar boat right now- I upgraded my vid card with a fairly high end model (like $200 bucks range) and had to upgrade my power supply at the same time. Also decked out my hard drives, but I didnt want to redo the motherboard as I see it as a huge upgrade (money wise.)
So I know I need to upgrade my CPU, and I'm still running DDR RAM, but to do either of those means to do them all plus the MB.
Hope your happy with your new performance- any particular benchmark programs your looking forward to testing the new rig on?
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin, Administration
Joined: 3/27/2008
Posts: 1,793
Points: 3,380
Location: Arizona
|
ahhhh_crap wrote:Im stuck in a similar boat right now- I upgraded my vid card with a fairly high end model (like $200 bucks range) and had to upgrade my power supply at the same time. Also decked out my hard drives, but I didnt want to redo the motherboard as I see it as a huge upgrade (money wise.) Now I'm the opposite. I have really good Windows ratings of the memory and CPU (7.5/7.6 out of 7.9), but my video card and hard drives are pulling my overall rating down. When Windows 8 comes out and there's another OS reinstall moment, I might get a new drive at the same time. Probably not SSD since I'm not that awesome, but certainly a newer gen SATA. Quote:So I know I need to upgrade my CPU, and I'm still running DDR RAM, but to do either of those means to do them all plus the MB. Yeah, it's a pain in the ass how closely linked the memory, CPU, MB, and even PSU can be. I have a not-too-old MB and 4 1GB DDR2 DIMMS sitting right here that I'm sure still function fine, but might as well be given to the kid as a toy. Quote:Hope your happy with your new performance- any particular benchmark programs your looking forward to testing the new rig on? TF2? =P Not sure. Never really got into benchmarking and without having done it prior to the upgrade, I can't really quantify the improvement, anyhow. Plus doing it will probably just reveal how far behind the "bleeding edge" systems I still am.
|
|
|
Rank: Polio Power!
Groups: Registered User, Server Admin
Joined: 6/14/2008
Posts: 666
Points: 1,416
Location: San Diego
|
I just benchmark with a game of some sort. Something I felt could always run at higher graphics but the comp couldnt support it. I dont get into the hardcore analysing as to me its just a way of finding out where I suck. Building a good comp is just a matter of buying better parts, so getting satisfaction out of "scoring" high on some of those things is silly to me.
its like buying a high-end car and showing off to people that it can go fast as if it was something you did for it. Well no shit, thats why you spent lots of money on it.
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin, Administration
Joined: 3/27/2008
Posts: 1,793
Points: 3,380
Location: Arizona
|
ahhhh_crap wrote:I just benchmark with a game of some sort. Something I felt could always run at higher graphics but the comp couldnt support it. I dont get into the hardcore analysing as to me its just a way of finding out where I suck. Building a good comp is just a matter of buying better parts, so getting satisfaction out of "scoring" high on some of those things is silly to me.
its like buying a high-end car and showing off to people that it can go fast as if it was something you did for it. Well no shit, thats why you spent lots of money on it. Yep. I've sort of overclocked my memory to 1600--at least as far as the motherboard is concerned. I was going to overclock the CPU a little, too, but I just want a functioning computer for a while. If I look back at OC'ing the CPU, I might do a benchmark before and after, just to see what's changed.
|
|
|
Rank: Admiral OCD
Groups: {pDs} Member, Moderator, News Editor, Newsie
Joined: 5/9/2006
Posts: 3,491
Points: 1,346
Location: Parallel Universe
|
Pics, or it never happened. You should be more like Cantrip.  Twitchy: "I pulled a Cantrip . . ." GivePeaceAChance: "If the Tempest had nipples, I'd pinch that shit." Xylicon: "I'm about to deliver my [Richard] in your face for posting that stupid shit. " WDF?: "He keeps reaming me... night after night... I'm rather sore." GivePeaceAChance: "OMG MY NIPS ARE HARD" llenta: "cantrip, you fail!!!" Filliam H. Muffman: "i'm on top of dick"
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin, Administration
Joined: 3/27/2008
Posts: 1,793
Points: 3,380
Location: Arizona
|
Fine. I'm bored, anyway. And I haven't put it back on the ground yet. Heavy bitch, it is. 
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin, Administration
Joined: 3/27/2008
Posts: 1,793
Points: 3,380
Location: Arizona
|
Well this has taken a turn for the worse. I think my motherboard is kinda screwed up. It doesn't detect the memory right and I've gone through a lot of troubleshooting to find a stable setup, but I'm still having to cram settings into BIOS' throat and I still get the periodic BSOD or lock up. So, hoping Amazon will accept it as a defective return and give me a refund. Once I verify they can, I'll order a new motherboard then send this one in once I swap them out. I'd send it to MSI to get it repaired/replaced, but that could be weeks of not having a computer. That just won't work since I telecommute. Fun, fun.
|
|
|
Rank: Fecal Impaction For the Win!
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin
Joined: 11/27/2007
Posts: 1,625
Points: 2,067
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
|
Windows 7 32 bit or 64 bit?
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin, Administration
Joined: 3/27/2008
Posts: 1,793
Points: 3,380
Location: Arizona
|
64-bit And a new chapter of fun. Amazon confirmed I can get a refund so I went ahead and bought a new 990FXA-GD80 at a local store--seems to be the next generation model of the one I bought a week ago. Go figure. Somehow I missed that it was already outdated. Anyway. I get home, put it in... and the damn thing won't even post. Why? Because the version of the BIOS that comes on it doesn't support my 8-core CPU, and I can't flash the BIOS to the version that works without it posting. Chicken and the egg. sigh...
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin, Administration
Joined: 3/27/2008
Posts: 1,793
Points: 3,380
Location: Arizona
|
Well, I seem to be stable now. So far. I got them to flash the BIOS for me at the place I bought the motherboard. Fuckers tried to charge me $30 for it, even though I could have walked 10 feet to customer service and gotten a full refund since it didn't work correctly "out of the box". Fortunately a manager saw the stupidity of their ways and it was free. And I had to get a new SATA DVD-RW drive since this new generation of motherboards have done away with all IDE support. Meh. But at least that was only $25, and I really have no use for a Blu-Ray burner that'd be $100+. Probably going to stick with 8GB of memory instead of the originally planned 16GB, and plan to get 2x8GB sticks in the near future. I'd return these 2x4GB sticks I have now but lost the original packaging. Ah well.
|
|
|
Rank: Fuckstick
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User
Joined: 12/14/2007
Posts: 1,195
Points: 2,775
Location: Near Seattle
|
Rikaelus wrote:Probably going to stick with 8GB of memory instead of the originally planned 16GB, and plan to get 2x8GB sticks in the near future. I'd return these 2x4GB sticks I have now but lost the original packaging. Ah well. I can't imagine 16GB being any noticeably faster than 8GB anyway. Unless you were virtualizing a lot I suppose.  Quote:Razor: As hard as one might try no one will ever be able to pull one over on Super Penguin. Backpack of Win
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin, Administration
Joined: 3/27/2008
Posts: 1,793
Points: 3,380
Location: Arizona
|
Super Penguin wrote:I can't imagine 16GB being any noticeably faster than 8GB anyway. Unless you were virtualizing a lot I suppose. It's too bad you can't tell programs to leave certain things in memory indefinitely. Like 2fort. So annoying waiting for that map to load when it's practically the only one I play.
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User, Server Admin, Administration
Joined: 3/27/2008
Posts: 1,793
Points: 3,380
Location: Arizona
|
*bangs his head on the desk* So we go out Friday to pick up food for all of 20 minutes, having left the computer sitting on the desktop. I get home to a blank screen and everything is unresponsive. I couldn't even turn it off with the front power button. A couple days later, the final assessment of the symptoms: Consistently: - Debug LED consistently shows FF - BIOS unable to detect CPU temperature, shows as 255 degrees (CoreTemp software reports fine) - BIOS unable to detect fan1/fan2 speeds, show as 22 RPM - Windows 7 loads slowly, runs sluggishly Only when second DIMM in Slot3: - Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller failure: "This device cannot start. (Code 10)" - Video card not recognized: "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)" The motherboard is fucked up. Again. It works just well enough to be used for my job and with only one DIMM it works just well enough to game, but it's still fucked up and should be replaced. And MSI already authorized an RMA on it. But an RMA takes 1-2 weeks to process PLUS shipping times. I can't be without a working computer for that long so probably will be buying a replacement motherboard in the store, RMA'ing this, and then trying to sell the one they return, just because I can't afford to throw away $180. >:( Stuck between a cost on a long wait.
|
|
|
Rank: Fuckstick
Groups: {pDs} Member, Registered User
Joined: 12/14/2007
Posts: 1,195
Points: 2,775
Location: Near Seattle
|
Yikes, that sounds no bueno! Good luck with your endeavors sir :/ Quote:Razor: As hard as one might try no one will ever be able to pull one over on Super Penguin. Backpack of Win
|
|
|
| Users browsing this topic |
|
Guest
|