The New Hardware Thread

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

I ordered everything and a new dvd burner.

New egg is throwing in Tom Clancy's HAWX for pc when you buy a intel processor.

[Jiminator]

picked up an LD sata 22x dvd RW + a segate 1.5 TB drive. good stuff. for my media center I picked up an antec nsk2480, looks fine, but I guess I'll have to get a micro-form factor board for it, bummer there. Add to that an ati tv wonder board, have not opened that yet, have to make sure that the nsk/micro is going to work (as in not cost too much)

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

Originally Posted by Inanimate Carbon Rod

This is what I am planning to buy shortly.

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
COOLER MASTER V8 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
Foxconn Renaissance LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
OCZ XMP Ready Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM


I plan on using my existing video card / power supply and transplanting it over, current vid card is the ATI x1900XT.

Right now my computer takes to long to build panoramic / hdr photos in photoshop cs3... sometimes several minutes per photo. I believe it is both a memory and processor issue. The computer also lags quite a bit when viewing /editing large photos.

I have a 4200+ and 2gigs of ram.

Arrives Thursday.


If I get a CO stepping processor I will overclock the i7 to 3.3ghz and leave turbo on. If I get a DO stepping processor, I will probably overclock to 3.8 and leave turbo on. I should note that these are modest overclocks for this processor.

The overclocking abilities of the i7's are why they are the processor to buy right now.

[peoplessi]

Did CS3 support GPU's or was it starting from CS4 that it can use GPU's to accelerate some basic tasks?

[Hudson]

My Q6600 SLACR runs great at 3.4ghz with a zalman heatsink. It really was/is an OC'ers dream.

I guess I could push it farther, but I really have no need right now. Maybe at some point

[Phayzon]

Wow nice, whats the stock clock on that, 2.4GHz right? A whole GHz of OCing!

I only pushed my E8400 from 3GHz to 3.6GHz so that the bus multiplier is 1:1 with RAM speed (400MHz). Ive heard they go as far as 4.4GHz on air cooling! I thought about maybe getting some DDR2-1066 but I know I cant push the bus to 533MHz (which would run the CPU almost at 4.8GHz!)

[KO Gilligan]

Okay, I need $135

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814121288

[Jeff]

Bought a LaCie 1 TB external drive today.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

CS3 does not support GPU enhancement.

For those of you who do not know. Newegg will pricematch themselves if the price drops before you receive the item. This policy is not listed anywhere on their website.

The samsung 1tb hd dropped to $79.99 from $99.99 (just for one day) and the i7 dropped $9. So I have $29 coming back.


I ran western digital's diagnostic test on both of the raptors, and they passed. So I think I may try and use them in raid0 again. Apparently there is something wrong with my raid controller on my current motherboard.

[peoplessi]

I wouldn't touch any onboard raid controllers. Areca if you have money, but HighPoint RocketRAID seems to have good value for your money.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

http://www.newegg.ca/ for you Canadians. I just noticed the link at the bottom of the newegg homepage.

[KO Gilligan]

How about new used hardware?


A few days ago I found these bulky old used creme colored desktop speakers at the second hand store for $2 They are pod shaped on cool little removable sheet metal feet. They are "JBL Platinum" and they sound amazing for a little pair of cheap computer speakers. (and they'll easily fit in a large laptop bag with the feet separate) I noticed they took a 1 amp @ 12v power supply, so I figured they would be decent.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

Well after initial elation (I did get a D0 stepping processor) I have been saddened.


I did not move my unused modular power supply cables with me to oregon, I have no cable to power the motherboard....

[Jiminator]

those are likely for extra power, the computer will probably boot without them, although you don't want to do any overclocking or run any sli. spares are probably available from the manufacturer, although if it is an older or generic unit may be better to just splurge on a new one.

[KO Gilligan]

Originally Posted by Inanimate Carbon Rod

Well after initial elation (I did get a D0 stepping processor) I have been saddened.


I did not move my unused modular power supply cables with me to oregon, I have no cable to power the motherboard....

Postal Service $2 first class. Same as priority, 3-5 days to cross the country.

In the old days you'd have to have your Modular cables go by stage coach and there were dangerous Indian tribes

Getting your ex-roomate to actually prioritize a trip to the post office - priceless.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

Well when I installed my latest power supply I stuffed the 8pin connector above the power supply. I found it when disassembling my old computer. All is well.

[Rassilon]

I'm considering grabbing a Wacom Bamboo Fun for use with gimp and drawing on my PC in general, what do you all think?
should i get 6x4 or 9x6, is bigger better?

[Dave-ros]

Old 650W PSU was making a high-pitched buzzing whenever I started playing a high-spec game, so today I took it back to the shop and part-exchanged it for a superior 850W "modular" one, where you can choose which cables to plug in! So far, so good -- I think it might even have helped with the case temperatures a bit!

[Jiminator]

jup, believe it or not a higher watt PSU will actually use less power.

[Phayzon]

As I mentioned in my thread, I picked up a 2GB Radeon HD4870 recently. Love it so far!

[Jeff]

Trashed my P5N-T Deluxe motherboard for a new P5Q-E motherboard with a P45 chipset. Good riddance.

[Dave-ros]

Just had that brand new PSU explode on me!

Just so I don't wonder whether I'm going to be ripping off a nice shop by taking back something I broke myself, does the thickness of the power cable make a difference? This is an 850W PSU that came with a thick cable, but I used an old thinner one because it was already plugged in. Should that matter?

(Right now I'm on an old PSU, which didn't have the right connections for my GTX280, so I'm writing this in very low-res on an old VGA graphics card )

[peoplessi]

The cable that connects your PSU to the power outlet? No, it shouldn't matter.

[Dave-ros]

Got a replacement one (couldn't say no to the shop, it's one of those small privately-run ones, not a faceless multinational), and so far the new PSU hasn't exploded, and my GTX280 didn't buy the farm either. Phew! However, I've decanted some devices from my surge protector, in case it was overloaded (I was using every socket)... here's hoping nothing else goes wrong, and it was just a single defective PSU! Otherwise, I'll be the only person in the entire world to have a Cooler Master PSU fail twice... lucky I don't own an Xbox 360, eh?

[Jiminator]

strange, you could try feeling the cable to see if it was getting hot. Normally if it was pulling too much current it would cause a breaker to blow (or an internal fuse). So very strange.

[Dave-ros]

I reckon that's what blew -- no other components got fried, so it's like some kind of fuse in the PSU itself blew. Hopefully the shopkeeper will find out from Cooler Master what's gone wrong with it when he sends it back to them, as I'd really like to know!

Around 3 hours with the new PSU, and no problems so far...

[Phayzon]

Theres a fairly long story behind it all, but soon I will have an ASUS TOP HD4850 to Crossfire with my new HD4870.

[KO Gilligan]

I'm considering Crossfiring a 3850 with my 3870.

Seems totally like the dumb thing to do, but I can get some big increases in my gaming now, and later migrate each of the cards into 2 older machines. The whole reason for this crazy idea: a 3850 is only $50

[d3ad connection]

Got a Western Digital My Book 1 TB hard drive. I don't know what to do with all this space!

[Dave-ros]

Pr0n?

Incidentally, it's now over a day using the new PSU, and still no bangs. I'll wait until the weekend before I believe it's not going to explode... damn you Cooler Master for being so perfect, so I feel like a weirdo for having one of your PSUs fail!

[ZuljinRaynor]

Originally Posted by d3ad connection

Got a Western Digital My Book 1 TB hard drive. I don't know what to do with all this space!

I would have the filled up in a day. Games, anime, music, etc. etc.

[d3ad connection]

Originally Posted by ZuljinRaynor

I would have the filled up in a day. Games, anime, music, etc. etc.

I've only filled up 100 GB with all of my stuff

[Phayzon]

Originally Posted by KO Gilligan

I'm considering Crossfiring a 3850 with my 3870.

Seems totally like the dumb thing to do, but I can get some big increases in my gaming now, and later migrate each of the cards into 2 older machines. The whole reason for this crazy idea: a 3850 is only $50

Heh, why not? Worse that can happen is you get a negligable boost and even then you can use the 3850 elsewhere. If you want to look up benchmarks and cant find any, the closest thing will be 2 3850s. Oddly enough someone did benchmark a 4870+4850 combo . Performance was about 2-3FPS better than 2 4850s and quite a bit less than 2 4870s.
Here it is.

Forgot to mention, that 4850 didnt cost me a thing!

[Phayzon]

EDIT: Oh wow, it actually did post earlier!

Delete plzthx

[Jeff]

Picked up some new memory which will be compatible with my motherboard. Works good so far.

[peoplessi]

New old hardware, my WD 3200KS failed on me, RMA'd it. WD has since shipped the replacement drive for me, waiting for that

[Water12356]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...L0C-_-24009127

Newegg is having a 24 hour sale and this was on sale for 99 bucks. couldnt resist! Especaly since its better than my current one and everyone is going widescreen. I shall still keep my current LCD for old school games and as a backup

[Water12356]

Bump... got it, but looks like the box got punctured and the screen is cracked. Image is completely distorted. But I called Customer Service and they are sending me a new one.

[Tualmasok]

Squashed a massive spider with my fist and flicked it into my PC case - Dunno if you'd call it an upgrade, but there's new shit in there for sure!

[Hudson]

I got a Samsung SyncMaster 220wm 22" LCD monitor with a custom stand from work with my employee discount for a mere $120, not bad at all for an originally priced $300 display (and a $75 stand)

I am extremely happy with it. Superior viewing angles, a fantastic contrast ratio, 5ms response and just generally a perfect monitor for gaming and everything in between. It even has built in speakers I use for a pseudo semi-surround center speaker for my audio-system, for being built in they should pretty good! Above average for monitor speakers, but then again they are Samsung

I also just picked up a Samsung SATA DVD-RW burner with Light-Scribe, however I expect that to work just like a usual burner. It'll probably burn things I got it because it had an excellent overall rating and it was fairly cheap ($23.99 via newegg).

I'll be sticking the DVD-ROM and HP CD-Burner that's currently in my machine (used temporarily until I got a DVD-RW replacement) into the Linux server in my wolfpack setup once the new one arrives UPS.