[Cloudius12]

Well, this is a weird problem. My internet service from Charter (15mbps) was just fine for a month or so. But recently, my desktop has had severe trouble maintaining a steady connection. It cuts in and out with ridiculous frequency, and is notably slow even when the reading is "connected". The weird thing, though, is that my laptop (and my roommate's laptop) connect to it just fine, with proper speeds and no connection issues. Moreover, when I try to connect my PC to another network (specifically, my 4G wireless tethering app via my Galaxy Nexus), that seems to work fine as well. It's only the specific connection between my PC and my home network. Power cycling the router did nothing. Any ideas? Should I try calling Charter?

What I would suggest doing is the computer with the connection issue, set that one with a static IP and DNS. The problem might be with your router.

[Feep]

What I would suggest doing is the computer with the connection issue, set that one with a static IP and DNS. The problem might be with your router.

I'll give it a shot, thanks.

/googles

Edit: No dice. When I can get the PC to SpeedTest, I end up scoring a 0.64 Mbps...more than twenty-five times slower than my laptop's 16.62 Mbps over the same connection. Maybe it is the wireless card, I dunno...I should bring the router upstairs and try a wired connection, maybe.

[MaddenNFL64]

Odd one for you all. I get the Black Screen of Death on Windows 7 on restart, or boot up, the one that has the mouse cursor, and the blank screen over the log on screen of windows. Funny thing is, I hit tab a few times, guess where the password entry is, pop my password in, and i log in :P.

Everything is on, and working. I've been trying google magic to find an answer, but the google wizards fail me. I don't have my screen blinking, or my pc rebooting itself etc. Just a black screen over the log on, but things work. Any ideas on registry files I need to change, or enter? Maybe a service I stopped that needs to be restarted. I dunno at this point. I've uninstalled & reinstalled my display drivers a few times before, and nada on a fix. I've just been happy to not power off my pc to avoid it :\.

Anyway, thought i'd ask here. Probably not going to find an answer, but worth a try.

I can always do a clean install of windows I guess, but the hassle :(.

[KingOfReading]

I just built a new computer, and before hooking it up to my monitor, I hooked it up via HDMI to my TV, and it looks great. Then I tried to use it ony monitor (through DVI), and everything seemed OK. Then I started playing a few videos to see how the looked on the monitor (games like Bastion as well), and anytime something moves about 3/4 of the way down my screen, I get tearing.

I have an ATI 6870 1GB video card, so I don't understand why I have this issue. I tried it again on my TV, and no problems at all. The tering always happens in the same place, and it's pretty consistent. I even get it when watching YouTube videos.

If anyone can help me solve this issue, I'd really appreciate it. If you need more information about my setup, I'll be home in a few hours and I can run whatever scan is recommended for getting that info out to you guys.

[Kod1ak]

I wasn't sure where else to post this, so here goes:

I'm thinking about getting a second monitor. It'd either be on my desk next to my current 20" LCD. It would mostly be for watching TV/movies while I'm doing other stuff on my current monitor. I'd also like a bigger screen to play games on (not that my current one isn't big enough, but why not if I'm going to have it anyway).

It would mostly be connected to my PC, but I may want to hook up a ps3 to it as well.

Is there any reason not to just skip a monitor and buy a smallish LCD TV? I'm not sure how I could get sound from my ps3 to my computers, if I set up a ps3, though.

Are TVs comparable or would a monitor be more suitable for what I want, especially considering I'm planning on gaming with it?

[spats]

I have a quick question I was really hoping somebody would answer.

I need to buy a PCI-E graphics card for an older computer and the card is PCI-E 2.0 but I have no idea if the motherboard has the newer standard. Will it work or what'll happen?

[Blimblim]

I just built a new computer, and before hooking it up to my monitor, I hooked it up via HDMI to my TV, and it looks great. Then I tried to use it ony monitor (through DVI), and everything seemed OK. Then I started playing a few videos to see how the looked on the monitor (games like Bastion as well), and anytime something moves about 3/4 of the way down my screen, I get tearing. I have an ATI 6870 1GB video card, so I don't understand why I have this issue. I tried it again on my TV, and no problems at all. The tering always happens in the same place, and it's pretty consistent. I even get it when watching YouTube videos. If anyone can help me solve this issue, I'd really appreciate it. If you need more information about my setup, I'll be home in a few hours and I can run whatever scan is recommended for getting that info out to you guys.

Sounds like a sync issue between the card and the monitor. Can you tell us the exact model of both the card and the monitor?
As a test first, try forcing vsync in CCC, it's somewhere in gaming IIRC.

[Moppet13]

So I didn't want to post a thread about this so I guess I'll just post it here.

So I am about to purchase a new processor to replace my AMD 955. I have already purchased the motherboard but I am going between the 3570k and the 3770k. My go to site for quick benches and making these decisions is usually Anandtech but they only have the 3770k which has impressive benches. I am only going to be mainly gaming on my PC. I am leaning towards the 3570k but this is a big decision and I am not the best at picking out processors. Anyone here have any input?

[scorcho]

you won't see much, if any, difference by going with the 3770K if you primarily game. stick with the cheaper 3570K, take advantage of its overclocking headroom, and either pocket the money or use it towards more RAM or a better video card.

i was in the same boat as you when Sandy Bridge first came out, and i had to decide between the 2500k and the 2600k. i ended up with the cheaper chip, am still running it at 4.3ghz and with zero regrets.

[Hazaro]

So I didn't want to post a thread about this so I guess I'll just post it here. So I am about to purchase a new processor to replace my AMD 955. I have already purchased the motherboard but I am going between the 3570k and the 3770k. My go to site for quick benches and making these decisions is usually Anandtech but they only have the 3770k which has impressive benches. I am only going to be mainly gaming on my PC. I am leaning towards the 3570k but this is a big decision and I am not the best at picking out processors. Anyone here have any input?

For gaming 3570K, or even the 2500K if you want to save some change or overclock.

[Moppet13]

For gaming 3570K, or even the 2500K if you want to save some change or overclock.

But why would I want a 3570k over a 3770k, I rather understand why. I am somewhat ignorant to what the number of threads are useful for, for that matter.

you won't see much, if any, difference by going with the 3770K if you primarily game. stick with the cheaper 3570K, take advantage of its overclocking headroom, and either pocket the money or use it towards more RAM or a better video card. i was in the same boat as you when Sandy Bridge first came out, and i had to decide between the 2500k and the 2600k. i ended up with the cheaper chip, am still running it at 4.3ghz and with zero regrets.

This is really one of the last upgrades I will be doing this year I am pretty sure. I (regrettably) got crossfired 6870s after I saw how much power they had in comparison to a single 580 and I already have 16gb of Corsair Vengeance.

[Combichristoffersen]

I have a quick question I was really hoping somebody would answer. I need to buy a PCI-E graphics card for an older computer and the card is PCI-E 2.0 but I have no idea if the motherboard has the newer standard. Will it work or what'll happen?

If the mobo has a PCI-E slot (doesn't need to be PCI-E 2.0), the card should work. Here's a comparison illustration of slot sizes to help you check if the mobo has a PCI-E slot.

[KingOfReading]

Sounds like a sync issue between the card and the monitor. Can you tell us the exact model of both the card and the monitor? As a test first, try forcing vsync in CCC, it's somewhere in gaming IIRC.

I'm back from work, and I just ran Sandra on my computer to get the details...

Monitor - BENQ GL2450H
http://www.benq.com/product/monitor/...specifications
Video Card - HIS ATI Radeon HD IceQ 6870
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph...=750&Itemid=72

I also tried forcing vsyn in CCC right when I got home, and it didn't do anything. I also found that it tears in the exact same spot even when I drag a webpage slowly from left to right. I can take a video of this if it would be of any help.

[KingOfReading]

I switched from DVI-I to HDMI, and the problem went away. Problem solved!

[Gaspode_T]

Odd one for you all. I get the Black Screen of Death on Windows 7 on restart, or boot up, the one that has the mouse cursor, and the blank screen over the log on screen of windows. Funny thing is, I hit tab a few times, guess where the password entry is, pop my password in, and i log in :P. Everything is on, and working. I've been trying google magic to find an answer, but the google wizards fail me. I don't have my screen blinking, or my pc rebooting itself etc. Just a black screen over the log on, but things work. Any ideas on registry files I need to change, or enter? Maybe a service I stopped that needs to be restarted. I dunno at this point. I've uninstalled & reinstalled my display drivers a few times before, and nada on a fix. I've just been happy to not power off my pc to avoid it :. Anyway, thought i'd ask here. Probably not going to find an answer, but worth a try. I can always do a clean install of windows I guess, but the hassle :(.

This is usually a misbehaving device driver...it is tricky to fix but F8 and restore to a previous system restore point is worth trying...if you can figure out where it is getting stuck you can hack it out w regedit but obviously dangerous

[Combichristoffersen]

Trying again, since no one seems to have noticed my question last time :p

Sup techgaf.

Years ago I bought a region 1 DVD of Neil Gaiman's MirrorMask since I thought it wouldn't get an official region 2 release here, which it ended up getting a few days after I bought the US DVD. My PAL PS3 obviously won't play US DVDs, so I want to rip the DVD to an .mp4 file. What program would you recommend for doing this? I'd also like to hardcode the subtitles into the video, since PS3 doesn't support .srt files and such. How can I do this for the .mp4 file?

Edit: Also, the PS3 self cleaning trick to make the fans go in reverse, could this be harmful to the PS3 or is it OK to do this trick?

I have a BitLocker encrypted USB stick that I haven't used in a couple of years and somehow got... unformatted? It isn't recognized and Windows asks me to format it before using it. What is my best bet to recover its data? I still have its key etc.

Have you tried running some sort of file recovery software like Recover My Files to see if you can salvage anything from the stick?

[jts]

I have a BitLocker encrypted USB stick that I haven't used in a couple of years and somehow got... unformatted? It isn't recognized and Windows asks me to format it before using it.

What is my best bet to recover its data? I still have its key etc.

[crazygambit]

Which I find very weird.

I have a WNDR3800 with the latest official firmware. I've tried pretty much every tip from google and nothing has worked. The area is heavily congested by other Wifi signals, but the weird thing is I can get 1.5 MB/s download over wifi on my notebook (and about 5 MB/s on my wired connections), but when I try to transfer between the notebook and wired computer I get about 500 KB/s, which is just too slow. All this on the 2.4 Ghz band as the notebook doesn't seem to support 5 Ghz.

Also it's always connected a 54 Mbps despite me setting up as 300 Mbps. The only thing that seemed to improve speed was removing security (I was using WPA2-PSK [AES], which is supposed to be the correct setting for 802.11n). After setting security to none I got 65 Mbps in the connection and saw transfer speeds of about 3-4 MB/s. Which is somewhat acceptable for my needs, however leaving my connection unsecured is not.

The problem has to be with the wireless signals since connecting the notebook to a lan port of the router gets me transfer speeds of about 50 MB/s which is awesome, but is not practical to have the notebook wired.

I'm very surprised about the security having such an impact on transfer speed, maybe I have a problem there somewhere. The wired computer is a NAS running a version of Linux if that helps. Notebook is Windows 7.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Bisnic]

Is it normal for my CPU fan to turn as fast as 5400 RPM while a game is running? That thing is as loud as an airplane engine. :lol With no games running, the speed goes around 3000 RPM which is more tolerable...
Is there a way to lower the speed? I tried SpeedFan, but playing with Speed01 and Speed02 % do not do a thing.

And my CPU temp is also always at 60 celsius, doesnt matter if a game is running or not..., what's up with that? My GPU can go as low as 30-35 celsius with nothing running and around 55 while i play a game, but the CPU? Nope, 60. Always 60.

[Pazuzu9]

Soo I turn my PC on today and Dropbox warns me that my Dropbox folder is missing. I check My Computer and find that my second hard drive isn't accessible. There's an icon, but it doesn't show the usual used/free space underneath. My PC is running Windows 7. The C: drive is a 120GB SSD, with the OS and all software installations. D: drive I believe is a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Green SATA II HDD, where I keep all my large documents and media, including my Dropbox folder. Any reason why this would suddenly happen? It's been a rock solid drive for over a year... I hope it hasn't died... all my data is on that drive :(

Welp, I didn't get a response to this, but I'm making some progress. I've been able to recover everything using some recovery software... I have now formatted the drive, and it seems to be working fine. Currently transferring everything I recovered back onto there.

So my question now is... if the hard drive is in good working order after a quick format, what could have caused it to be unreadable by anything but some recovery software?

[Alrix]

help me smartgaf.

building my new system and once I connected everything I plugged the psu into the wall to flip the switch on and make sure everything was receiving power properly before continuing. much to my despair the PSU flickers on for a half second then dies out again. i switch it off and back on and the same thing happens. i assume the psu is DOA and go out and buy a new one so that I can get my new pc up and running asap rather than waiting on the refund process from newegg.

to my despair once again the same issue happens with the second psu. what could the issue be? the LED and fan on the PSU turn on for a very brief moment, and one of the case fans moves also but the rest of the system stays quiet.

can post pictures or links to the parts if needed. thanx gaf

[SailorCosmos]

help me smartgaf. building my new system and once I connected everything I plugged the psu into the wall to flip the switch on and make sure everything was receiving power properly before continuing. much to my despair the PSU flickers on for a half second then dies out again. i switch it off and back on and the same thing happens. i assume the psu is DOA and go out and buy a new one so that I can get my new pc up and running asap rather than waiting on the refund process from newegg. to my despair once again the same issue happens with the second psu. what could the issue be? the LED and fan on the PSU turn on for a very brief moment, and one of the case fans moves also but the rest of the system stays quiet. can post pictures or links to the parts if needed. thanx gaf

How many watts is your power supply? Have you made sure all the connectors are firmly connected to the motherboard? What parts do you have in the system? Do you have another computer you could test the power supply on just to make sure it isn't the power supply that is faulty? Try powering up the system with the bare minimum components to see if it stays on.

[rhfb]

So I got a new router and I'm having issues with it. 95% stock options, just changed the SSID and password on it as well disabling SSID broadcast. Thing is, my Xbox and Laptop will not connect to the network for roughly 5 minutes after turning on... After that they are mostly fine (I'm getting kicked off Xbox Live a ton though, think that might be a port issue though) Any idea as to what the issue might be? It is a Buffalo router if that helps at all.

Now my Xbox360 won't connect to the router at all... Sweet.

Not having issues with anything else now, just the Xbox360 :|

[Alrix]

How many watts is your power supply? Have you made sure all the connectors are firmly connected to the motherboard? What parts do you have in the system? Do you have another computer you could test the power supply on just to make sure it isn't the power supply that is faulty? Try powering up the system with the bare minimum components to see if it stays on.

I figured it out, it ended up being my CPU cooler not hooked up properly.

I need some help figuring out my mobo's beep codes now, though. This is the board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131767

I've only kinda glanced through the manual, is there something I would look for in the table of contents to tell me about the beeps?

thx

[SailorCosmos]

I figured it out, it ended up being my CPU cooler not hooked up properly. I need some help figuring out my mobo's beep codes now, though. This is the board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131767 I've only kinda glanced through the manual, is there something I would look for in the table of contents to tell me about the beeps? thx

I believe ASUS motherboards use AMI BIOS(someone correct me if I am wrong).

Go to this website http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml and look under AMI BIOS Beep codes to check which error you are getting.

[Kreios]

I have an acer netbook with windows 7 starter on it. Lately it has been making a usb eject noise completely at random. It started a couple days ago, and nothing seems to happen when the noise pops up. I tried shutting it down and taking out the battery with any usb devices for the night, but it didn't work. There usually isn't anything in the usb's either, and all ports work fine. Any ideas? I don't mind if it doesn't get fixed. It's just such a weird thing to happen without anything failing on me.

[show me your skeleton]

my girlfriend's hp g56 laptop's screen just flashed on & off before going completely black. resetting does nothing, and the back light still works fine as you can see it go on & off during the boot up sequence. any ideas what it could be before i open it up & investigate?

[Turnstile]

my girlfriend's hp g56 laptop's screen just flashed on & off before going completely black. resetting does nothing, and the back light still works fine as you can see it go on & off during the boot up sequence. any ideas what it could be before i open it up & investigate?

Try removing the battery and plugging in the power cord. Start up with just the power cord and no battery. If it does come up- do a proper shutdown from Windows. Put the battery back in (plug in power cord too) and power up.

I get some HP laptops (different models though)that do that from time to time and this works.

[show me your skeleton]

Try removing the battery and plugging in the power cord. Start up with just the power cord and no battery. If it does come up- do a proper shutdown from Windows. Put the battery back in (plug in power cord too) and power up. I get some HP laptops (different models though)that do that from time to time and this works.

had a flash of hope as the hp bootup screen came up, and then the option to start windows normally or in safety mode. starting windows killed the screen again and we've not been able to get it back since... :(

[Turnstile]

had a flash of hope as the hp bootup screen came up, and then the option to start windows normally or in safety mode. starting windows killed the screen again and we've not been able to get it back since... :(

The only other thing I can think of is to remove BOTH the battery and cord. Next, hold down the power button for 30 - 60 seconds. Let go holding the power button. Plug in the power cord (no battery) and attempt power on as normal.

If it does come up - normal shut down and then insert battery, power cord, and then power up.

[show me your skeleton]

no luck unfortunately, thanks for the help though!

[rCIZZLE]

Does anybody know why the mouse cursor is moving far off on the right side of the screen? It goes to the correct spot on the top, bottom, and left sides but on the right it acts as if the display extends almost indefinitely. I tried every resolution available yet they all do the same thing. Under the screen resolution in properties there is a box for "Multiple display" that's set to extend the display but when I try to set it to just one the screen goes blank and forces revert.

The drivers are the only ones for my graphics card that I could find that work so I really don't want to uninstall and look again even though I figure that'll be the first suggestion I get. :\

[impruv]

Does anybody know why the mouse cursor is moving far off on the right side of the screen? It goes to the correct spot on the top, bottom, and left sides but on the right it acts as if the display extends almost indefinitely. I tried every resolution available yet they all do the same thing. Under the screen resolution in properties there is a box for "Multiple display" that's set to extend the display but when I try to set it to just one the screen goes blank and forces revert. The drivers are the only ones for my graphics card that I could find that work so I really don't want to uninstall and look again even though I figure that'll be the first suggestion I get. :\

There should be an option to actually resize / shift your screen which is independent of your resolution. Or perhaps there is a button to recalibrate your screen entirely, depends on the software available.

[rCIZZLE]

There should be an option to actually resize / shift your screen which is independent of your resolution. Or perhaps there is a button to recalibrate your screen entirely, depends on the software available.

Sounds like what I'm looking for. I'm on windows 7 with a Radeon HD 6500M if that helps.

I just want to further elaborate that this likely came from the drivers being installed. Prior to that the screen was normal. I can't uninstall them and look for new ones since they're the only ones I've found in 2 days of searching that worked. I just want to know how I can set a barrier on the right side of the screen to prevent the mouse from going scrolling off indefinitely.

Also, as I said before - "extend the display" is checked under the display settings. When I try to move that to either "show display 1" or "show display 2" the screen goes black and reverts. I've tried every combination of settings but unless "extend the display" is checked I get the same result.

[Alrix]

I believe ASUS motherboards use AMI BIOS(someone correct me if I am wrong). Go to this website http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml and look under AMI BIOS Beep codes to check which error you are getting.

I'm not seeing anything there that's what I'm hearing. I'm getting a short quick beep, a pause, then 1 long beep followed by 4 short beeps. Originally there were 5 short beeps at the end but I took out the RAM and put it back in in different slots and it went down to 4 beeps. The first initial beep actually sounds like a beep, and the ones following the pause sound more like an alarm clock buzzer. I mean, there's still beeps but they sound different. Does that mean anything?

The system is starting up (which leads me into a few smaller issues) and I've got Windows up on it and have started installing drivers and stuff, but every time I restart I need to go back into the UEFI bios menu and boot from the hard drive to start windows. The first initial screen is telling me there's a CPU fan error and when I get to the bios screen there is no CPU fan listen, even though my cooler is running, the fan and LED are on and stuff, so i don't know what the issue is there.

Also with the monitor, when it's putting up a picture with dark colors there looks to be one small green dot around the middle - is this a dead pixel? Is it possible to fix this? Also with the monitor sometimes when it's putting up a really bright picture I can kinda see some weird, dark grainy shit in the background. It's pretty hard to explain but I'm not sure what that is.

Again thanks for the help.

[Reseil]

The first initial screen is telling me there's a CPU fan error and when I get to the bios screen there is no CPU fan listen, even though my cooler is running, the fan and LED are on and stuff, so i don't know what the issue is there. Again thanks for the help.

Is your CPU cooler hooked up to the actual CPU fan connection or one of the SYS fan connections? Most boards have 2 or 3 SYS fan connections for case fans. Make sure you're hooked up to the actual CPU one.

[Reseil]

my girlfriend's hp g56 laptop's screen just flashed on & off before going completely black. resetting does nothing, and the back light still works fine as you can see it go on & off during the boot up sequence. any ideas what it could be before i open it up & investigate?

If you actually got to the boot screen and it let you pick normal or safe mode, then it sounds like it may be a boot loop. Just out of curiosity, do you have another monitor you can hook up to the laptop to see if the machine is even booting properly?

[Alrix]

Is your CPU cooler hooked up to the actual CPU fan connection or one of the SYS fan connections? Most boards have 2 or 3 SYS fan connections for case fans. Make sure you're hooked up to the actual CPU one.

Yeah it is. It's a 3-pin cable coming from the cooler itself into a 4-pin slot on the board marked cpu_fan.

[Reseil]

Yeah it is. It's a 3-pin cable coming from the cooler itself into a 4-pin slot on the board marked cpu_fan.

Interesting. Hate to ask but are you sure you have it on the right 3 pins? There will be a notch that guides where it should be. If you're connected properly and the BIOS is still not recognizing it, there may be a short in the yellow wire or on the header itself. Since it's working, the pos and neg are fine.

Best way to eliminate which it is would be is to hook another fan to the CPU header or hook the CPU cooler to one of the SYS headers and check the BIOS to see if it recognizes it plugged into one of those.

[Alrix]

Interesting. Hate to ask but are you sure you have it on the right 3 pins? There will be a notch that guides where it should be. If you're connected properly and the BIOS is still not recognizing it, there may be a short in the yellow wire or on the header itself. Since it's working, the pos and neg are fine. Best way to eliminate which it is would be is to hook another fan to the CPU header or hook the CPU cooler to one of the SYS headers and check the BIOS to see if it recognizes it plugged into one of those.

I'm not entirely sure that it is, the only others systems I've built have all had 4-pin cables and 4-pin slots on the mobo so I've never had to deal with that before. I kinda just stuck it in wherever. It fit, so I didn't think it was an issue.

[Reseil]

I'm not entirely sure that it is, the only others systems I've built have all had 4-pin cables and 4-pin slots on the mobo so I've never had to deal with that before. I kinda just stuck it in wherever. It fit, so I didn't think it was an issue.

Well, if you force it, you can connect it to the wrong pins and the guide will bend out since it's flimsy plastic.

Pic of typical MB header:


Note the plastic guide that sticks up from the base of the header.

Now here's a picture of a 4 pin fan for comparison.


Note the notches sticking out. These line up with the guide on the motherboard.

Now since you don't have a 4 pin, you need to ensure your 3 pin is connected to the corresponding 3 on the header. Pin 4 on your MB header will be the one with no connection.

You can test these with any 3 or 4 pin case fans as well and they can be hooked up and removed safely while the system is on. Just make sure that your CPU fan is hooked up to one at all times or the box probably won't boot or it will shut itself off in seconds.

[rCIZZLE]

Does anybody know why the mouse cursor is moving far off on the right side of the screen? It goes to the correct spot on the top, bottom, and left sides but on the right it acts as if the display extends almost indefinitely. I tried every resolution available yet they all do the same thing. Under the screen resolution in properties there is a box for "Multiple display" that's set to extend the display but when I try to set it to just one the screen goes blank and forces revert. The drivers are the only ones for my graphics card that I could find that work so I really don't want to uninstall and look again even though I figure that'll be the first suggestion I get. :\

Sounds like what I'm looking for. I'm on windows 7 with a Radeon HD 6500M if that helps. I just want to further elaborate that this likely came from the drivers being installed. Prior to that the screen was normal. I can't uninstall them and look for new ones since they're the only ones I've found in 2 days of searching that worked. I just want to know how I can set a barrier on the right side of the screen to prevent the mouse from going scrolling off indefinitely. Also, as I said before - "extend the display" is checked under the display settings. When I try to move that to either "show display 1" or "show display 2" the screen goes black and reverts. I've tried every combination of settings but unless "extend the display" is checked I get the same result.

Bump for evening gaffers. :(

[Pazuzu9]

Soo I turn my PC on today and Dropbox warns me that my Dropbox folder is missing. I check My Computer and find that my second hard drive isn't accessible. There's an icon, but it doesn't show the usual used/free space underneath. My PC is running Windows 7. The C: drive is a 120GB SSD, with the OS and all software installations. D: drive I believe is a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Green SATA II HDD, where I keep all my large documents and media, including my Dropbox folder. Any reason why this would suddenly happen? It's been a rock solid drive for over a year... I hope it hasn't died... all my data is on that drive :(

Welp, I didn't get a response to this, but I'm making some progress. I've been able to recover everything using some recovery software... I have now formatted the drive, and it seems to be working fine. Currently transferring everything I recovered back onto there. So my question now is... if the hard drive is in good working order after a quick format, what could have caused it to be unreadable by anything but some recovery software?

Also keen to find some clues to this guys... if someone could offer an explanation, I might be able to prevent it happening again. Or if people think my hard drive is on the verge of dying and has only momentarily revived itself, I might go ahead and buy a new one.

[K' Dash]

Hey guys, I'm trying to build a gaming rig and I need all the help you can give me cause I know next to nothing about computer hardware, the build I have so far with a little help of the PC thread is:

Core i5 2500K
Z77 MoBo -> Don't know wich one, I need something under $200
ATI Radeon 6870
500 GB Seagate HDD
2x 4GB kingnston RAM 1300 or 1600?

Don't know what case or PSU, I live in costa rica where most people buy shitty PC's, so, good parts are scarce, with the information you give I'll try and find something similar.

Thanks in advance.

[abasm]

Hey guys, I'm trying to build a gaming rig and I need all the help you can give me cause I know next to nothing about computer hardware, the build I have so far with a little help of the PC thread is: Core i5 2500K Z77 MoBo -> Don't know wich one, I need something under $200 ATI Radeon 6870 500 GB Seagate HDD 2x 4GB kingnston RAM 1300 or 1600? Don't know what case or PSU, I live in costa rica where most people buy shitty PC's, so, good parts are scarce, with the information you give I'll try and find something similar. Thanks in advance.

Case:
Really a matter of personal taste. If this is your first build, I wouldn't go too crazy and get a super expensive case unless there's some sort of premium feature you're absolutely dying to have. (All aluminum chassis, noise-reduction, etc.) The cases listed in the PC thread are a good place to start. I picked the HAF 912 for a few reasons:
- Lots of airflow -- I overclock my CPU/GPU, so keeping things cool is important.
- Space for cable management -- Same as above, being able to tuck away loose cables helps airflow.
- 2.5" bracket -- I have a SSD, so I was looking for something that wouldn't require me to buy extra accessories.

Another thing to consider is size--a bigger PC is easier to build in, but takes up more space, while a smaller PC is trickier to build in but is more discrete. You can go as small as mini-ITX, but I wouldn't recommend it for your first time building a PC.

...just consider how/where you plan on using your PC, and figure out which features you want the most.

PSU:
If you're getting a 6870, I'd recommend at least 500W. Modular cabling costs a little extra, but is easier to manage. (you only have to plug in the cables you need) Check the ratings on NewEgg/Amazon -- really, reliability is the biggest thing you'd want, since a bad PSU can take out your entire PC.

RAM:
In most cases, the difference between 1333 and 1600 MHz RAM is negligible. I'd recommend 1333, unless you feel comfortable spending the extra $10-ish for 1600.

Mobo:
As with cases, figure out what features you need and work from there. Chances are, you don't need a lot, so check user reviews and try to get something reliable. I have a Gigabyte Z77-D3H, which isn't high end, but still has a lot of nice little perks. (Updating the BIOS from Windows, back-up BIOS, lots of overclocking options, etc)

Make sure your motherboard fits in your case. Some larger cases have mounting holes for smaller motherboards, so make sure you check before you buy. You can't stick a larger motherboard in a smaller case, though. (I.E. mATX mobo -> ATX case might work, but ATX mobo -> mATX case won't.)

PCPartPicker is a great website for making sure everything in your build matches up properly.

[BLACKLAC]

Need advise from experienced TechGaf.

Any suggestions on a reliable external 1TB HDD for a W7, USB 2.0 laptop?

Around 100$ or less? I have $10 credit at Amazon I could use on it as well.

[CSX]

Gaf I need help on my computer case.

I have one of the infamous defective Haf X cases. I built the pc thinking the defective case was normal. Just found out that I need to send it in for a replacement. This explains all my freezing problems. SCrewing the gpu in required me to shove it towards the screwhole which caused a bad connection the PCI slot.

Cooler Master wants me to pay $50 shipping and wait 2 months for a replacement. I read that there is a temporary solution of bending the back panel. Will this work for a few months? I just want to play my pc till next school semester starts.

If so, how will I go bending the back panel? Just push as hard as i can? get pliers and bend it forward from the inside?

[Jzero]

Need advise from experienced TechGaf. Any suggestions on a reliable external 1TB HDD for a W7, USB 2.0 laptop? Around 100$ or less? I have $10 credit at Amazon I could use on it as well.

Maybe this one?

[BLACKLAC]

Maybe this one?

Apparently it's not great if you want to play media from it. Is this true?

EDIT: I was thinking of this.

Any opinions on it TechGaf?

[beelzebozo]

i am a man on a mission!

MY COMPUTER IS SUCKY AND VERY UNPOWERFUL WITH NO HULKITUDE. i want very badly to play this game:



before you ask, yes, my computer is apparently incapable of playing this game. what i want is to make my computer capable of playing this game, or to find the element of my computer that is so weak that it cannot run said game.

some specs, for reference:




think you guys can help? anything else you need to know?