post-holiday PC upgrade question

[Mainframeguy]

ho ho ho

 

[seperatist]

i went through the same thing as you and then got defective merch. i hope that doesn't happen to you. i also got suckered by there free 2 day shipping deal. after i got my long delayed RMA's i went with newegg and they sent out my stuff very quickly.

 

[ElementalDragon]

well, my order is now packed, and if i'm lucky, it'll ship out soon, and i MIGHT get it by tomorrow. a big MIGHT though.

 

[ElementalDragon]

IT WORKS!!!! YAY!!!! got a nice nearly 5k bump in 3dmark03 too. didn't try 05 yet. so...... after $700 in parts..... plus another $100 for a Seasonic power supply (that i'll probably be taking back due to the fact that it does not have 6-pin PCI-Express power adapters, so right now i'm using the one thing that came with the card that requires 2 4-pin molex).

Dear god this is too damn quiet though. forgot what it was like to not have the CPU fan, and the hard drive, and the PSU with 2 80mm fans, 2x 80mm case fans, 3x 92mm case fans...... all running at the same time. now it's just the CPU fan, hard drive, and 120mm PSU fan........ couldn't imagine if i had a Zalman on the puppy. surprisingly though, the mesh sides seem to be allowing enough airflow to the components to keep them relatively cool. right now, my CPU's at 35C, and the video card is at 42C.

LA: you have any idea why in the hell the memory test takes SOOOOOO Freakin long on POST? i actually turned the Fast Boot thing (or whatever it's called) back on in the BIOS just so it would get passed that in less than a minute.

 

[LordOfLA]

I never use full post, ram checks always take too long imo. If I want an indepth ram test Iuse memtest86 I dont ened the bios to count 1.5GB of ram four times everytime I boot

 

[seperatist]

i'm glad it all worked.

 

[ElementalDragon]

well.... yeah LA, but on my last board, the RAM test on POST was done in a few seconds.

 

[Mainframeguy]

...
LA: you have any idea why in the hell the memory test takes SOOOOOO Freakin long on POST? i actually turned the Fast Boot thing (or whatever it's called) back on in the BIOS just so it would get passed that in less than a minute.

I think this will be down to BIOS programming - longer test = more rigorous testing (and the more memopry the longer that takes)...

Basically you can simply disable it if you are prepared to test your RAM as and when it is a suspect in any errors you encounter.

 

[ElementalDragon]

meh. that takes effort.

So..... now that i'm thinkin that i MIGHT be able to take this power supply back if i recieve another one from another source (like newegg, TigerDirect, etc...), anyone have any preferences for a nice power supply.... preferrably modular.... 6-pin pci-express power adapters, 24-pin motherboard power, etc...? i'm kinda lookin at somethin from Ultra again, since i'm quite find of my X-Connect 500w modular power supply. was lookin at the Ultra X2-Connect or whatever it's called, or the Ultra X-Finity supplies now.... with the ribbon cable-ish design of the power cables. don't really wanna go over like $120-ish though on the supply.... the Seasonic that i have now was $100, and my mom said she was OK with paying that much..... don't wanna go TOO much higher than that.

Just can't live without Modular-ness once you've had it. i was hooking up the Seasonic power supply yesterday, and the only thing goin through my head the whole time was "Damn this is such a pain in the arse with all these wires".

 

[Mainframeguy]

I dunno if I should ask this - but is all this stuff built into a desk now? Or was that idea just left to die?

 

[ElementalDragon]

think it's more of an idea i've temporarily put on hold. don't think i'd really be able to do all the stuff myself, and my brother could care less about me putting the computer into a custom made drawer in the desk.

 

[LeeJend]

Very stout power supply for your Dual 7800 system, but unfortunately no modular connectors. They do have SATA and SLI power connectors. Best 12V power I've seen.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103931

Antec has some newer power supplies with modular connectors but there have been a lot of DOA reports about them.

 

[ElementalDragon]

....... it's NOT a dual 7800 system....... probably won't be for quite some time. that's why i'm looking for more of a modular system. i like they way they look, and they're also pretty reliable. least my Ultra X-Connect that i used to have in here was, till i had to swap it out due to no 24-pin power cable. i've seen a few good reviews of the X2 Connect. also lookin towards the X-Finity if i go the non-modular route.... since i love the cable design. not modular, but not all wires sprawled out everywhere..... yet not exactly "wrapped" like most non-modular power supplies.

If i had a dual 7800 system, then yeah, i'd probably start lookin more towards non-modular. right now..... i like having my case nice and tidy with some minor work to get it that way. non-modular just ain't cuttin it for that.

 

[ElementalDragon]

well..... so far i've used my new hardware for about...... 3 days, with the Seasonic power supply that i returned today (hence why i am goin off to bed soon due to lack of fun on the lappy (i.e. no HL2, no CoD2, etc...)), and so far utterly LOVE IT!!!! should be getting my Ultra X2 Connect tomorrow or today (January 11th), whichever way you look at it. probably around noon-ish i should have it and have it installed.

one thing i'm kinda deciding upon yet..... i'm lookin at CPU coolers....... need some opinions. i've been kinda looking at the following two.... seem like rather good coolers. if anyone else has one that's a) not water... don't feel like spending that much, and b) as stated.. doesn't cost that much, please link it, and maybe give an opinion on it.

Zalman CNPS9500 LED
GigaByte G-Power Pro

i like the design of both.... the GigaByte one seems to cool rather well, and i love the 3D Cooler Pro that i had on my P4.... but i might be selling that one to my friend if he buys my old hardware. only thing i'm not entirely fond of with the GigaByte one is the weight, but both it, and the 3D Coolers and Rocket Coolers are quite heavy.

 

[ElementalDragon]

anybody have any input? maybe some nice quiet 92mm case fans too?