[Chiggs]

So, I've held off on a whole WC addition to my mini rig since I basically just bought/built a computer for one of my teammates. Since one of my 560Ti's is going in that build, I've since moved the 7970 into my big rig. Don't know what you have going on with yours, but mine is pretty fricken quiet.

I'm thinking that it's my case. I'm more of MATX guy, so I stick with smaller cases and try my best to keep things whisper quiet. The Radeon 7970 is substantially louder than the 6970 or 6950.

Alternatively, have you looked at your temps on it? Thought about creating some custom fan profiles to keep the noise down?

Yeah, my temps look pretty good. I think I'll mess around with the profiles for a bit.

[mkenyon]

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ra...7970-review/10

This shows idle noise as lower than 6970/6950, but equal load noise. Is yours OC'd whereas previous cards were not?

[claviertekky]

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ra...7970-review/10 This shows idle noise as lower than 6970/6950, but equal load noise. Is yours OC'd whereas previous cards were not?

Aim for 20 dBA or below if you want tolerable noise for idling. Can't stand anything above.

Change the stock cooler if you really want quiet performance although changing coolers will void your warranty.

[ghostmind]

Question: The Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard does not have front USB3 connectors, correct?

What would be a good board that does have USB3 front panel connectors at a comparable (or somewhat higher) price?

[mkenyon]

It has a USB 3 Header. It's the thing between the 24 pin power connector and the RAM slots.

*edit*

Picture is worth lots of words and all that

[cilonen]

It has a USB 3 Header. It's the thing between the 24 pin power connector and the RAM slots.

Yep, it comes with an additional separate backplate panel with a couple more USB 3 ports which plugs in to that header too, if you need that.

[scogoth]

So in completely useless but drool worthy news OCZ is releasing the RevoDrive R4 with 16X 2581 sand force controllers, up to 16TB of storage and 6GBps (not Gbps) transfers.

I can just imagine backing up an entire game in 1-2 seconds....

[mkenyon]

So in completely useless but drool worthy news OCZ is releasing the RevoDrive R4 with 16X 2581 sand force controllers, up to 16TB of storage and 6GBps (not Gbps) transfers. I can just imagine backing up an entire game in 1-2 seconds....

Would actually make a really really interesting way of making a RAMdisk be a bit more realistic. Easy way to transfer between the two.

Hmmm...........

[claviertekky]

So in completely useless but drool worthy news OCZ is releasing the RevoDrive R4 with 16X 2581 sand force controllers, up to 16TB of storage and 6GBps (not Gbps) transfers. I can just imagine backing up an entire game in 1-2 seconds....

Is the base price $599 US Dollars?

[scogoth]

Is the base price $599 US Dollars?

Definitely not. Lowest capacity is 800gb and enterprises drives are nowhere near $1/gb. Im guessing it will start in the $1500 range

[claviertekky]

Definitely not. Lowest capacity is 800gb and enterprises drives are nowhere near $1/gb. Im guessing it will start in the $1500 range

I heard that enterprise admins find OCZ drives the least reliable although that may be from the whole SF controller fiasco.

Maybe the newer batch will prove otherwise.

[scogoth]

I heard that enterprise admins find OCZ drives the least reliable although that may be from the whole SF controller fiasco. Maybe the newer batch will prove otherwise.

I think ssds in general have an unreliable reputation but in mass storage scenarios hdds fail a lot and the storage architecture is designed to compensate. I think once the failure rates are established and storage design changes to accommodate ssds they will work more reliably. I mean we are seeing ssds beat hdds in storage density now (for a price) so less power and cooling is required which can offset failure costs. Not to mention with the stackable pcb designs coming failure of one card will be easily replacable and cheaper than a whole card failure of todays designs.

[TheExodu5]

OCZ should be considered unreliable as a company. I would never advise anyone to buy their drives (coming from a Vertex 3 240GB owner).

[Agent Icebeezy]

I'm in for the 7970. But which brand should I go? Sapphire, XFX, Gigabyte...?

I just bought a 7970 from Sapphire, it's fucking awesome


I made a step by step of what I did on my blog, 7970 pic included.
icebergisonfire.blogspot.com

[IamMikeside]

OK GAF, my PC died so I'm taking the opportunity and building a new beast.

Let me know what you think of this build;

Case: BitFenix Raider
Graphics: MSI GeForce GTX570 OC Twin Frozr III (would love to upgrade this and get a GTX580 sub £300, but I don't see that happening)
Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-v PRO/GEN3
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80
CPU: i5 2550K
PSU: Corsair SMPSU-850AXUK 850w Modular PSU (Gold standard)
RAM: 16gb (4x4) Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz
HDD: 2x Seagate 1TB SATAIII ST31000524AS



I'm going to RAID 1 the TB drives to try and get a bit more performance out of them (SSD isn't really an option with the amount of data I have on my PC - I'm going to be filling the thing with my other drives in addition to these)

[Nakazato]

Hey guys My GF has a 785GTM-E45 Motherboard and were looking for a new Video card were looking at a 6770 or 6850. Were running to to a problem cause were not use if these cards would be to big for her MOBO.

[ghostmind]

It has a USB 3 Header. It's the thing between the 24 pin power connector and the RAM slots.

Thanks for the info. Think I am going with the HAF 912 for the case (don't want the giant Haf 932 Advanced or the HAF X as this is my living room gaming box), so I may need to either stick with only having USB3 in the back or going with a mobo with a breakout box, like the ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3.

[FanTomasas]

OK GAF, my PC died so I'm taking the opportunity and building a new beast. Let me know what you think of this build; Case: BitFenix Raider Graphics: MSI GeForce GTX570 OC Twin Frozr III (would love to upgrade this and get a GTX580 sub £300, but I don't see that happening) Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-v PRO/GEN3 CPU Cooler: Corsair H80 CPU: i5 2550K PSU: Corsair SMPSU-850AXUK 850w Modular PSU (Gold standard) RAM: 16gb (4x4) Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz HDD: 2x Seagate 1TB SATAIII ST31000524AS I'm going to RAID 1 the TB drives to try and get a bit more performance out of them (SSD isn't really an option with the amount of data I have on my PC - I'm going to be filling the thing with my other drives in addition to these)

Could you tell us more about what kind of programs you are using. You can simply put all data like movies/pictures/music etc on HDD and keep software/windows/games on SDD. 1TB HDD will cost about 80-90£, getting 2TB HDD will cost 100-120£.

[IamMikeside]

The unit is going to be populated with these 2 1tb drives in RAID1, then filled with other 1TB HDDs I already have for my music collection, movies, etc etc.

Unfortunately an SSD really isn't an option for me :(

I'm getting the 2x1TB drives for about £130 total, so that's not a worry :)

How about the rest of the build? I really just want to make sure my RAM, motherboard and graphics are all looking good.


As for programs, this is primarily a gaming PC - none of the other things I use it for are going to push it, particularly - some audio production, MS office use, HTPC stuff... all easy on everything :)

[ombz]

I just connected all of my fans to the motherboard and was wondering if these fan speeds look fine (I don't do any overclocking)

[OriginofHysteria]

It has a USB 3 Header. It's the thing between the 24 pin power connector and the RAM slots. *edit* Picture is worth lots of words and all that

Love that board. Got it for 50 off with an i5-2500k

[IamMikeside]

Love that board. Got it for 50 off with an i5-2500k

That's the same one I'm getting

My case has 4 USB 3.0 ports on the front - I guess I can connect the USB3 header on this board for 2, then a USB2 header for the other 2? Really hoping that'll work

[prettyvacant77]

Love that board. Got it for 50 off with an i5-2500k

Have got that mobo too, only thing I DID NOT like was the frakkin creaking noise it made when putting the CPU clamp back in place!! Thought I was shredding the CPU pins!!

[ghostmind]

Here's my current build list. This will be a living-room/comfy couch build for gaming and HTPC functions. Feel free to comment/suggest. Prices are variable, as I will be picking up some parts from other vendors. Thanks!



COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower
$69.99 -$5.00 Instant $64.99
. .
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 ...
$329.99 $329.99
. .
ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
$139.99 $139.99
. .
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $94.99 -$5.00 Instant $89.99
. .
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
$399.99 -$40.00 Instant $359.99
. .
CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850 (CMPSU-850AX) 850W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active ...
$199.99 $199.99
. .
Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$159.99 -$40.00 Instant $119.99
. .
LG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model UH12LS28 OEM LightScribe Support - OEM
$64.99 -$10.00 Instant $54.99
. .
EVGA 02G-P3-1568-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$289.99 $289.99

Subtotal: $1,649.91

[knitoe]

Here's my current build list. This will be a living-room/comfy couch build for gaming and HTPC functions. Feel free to comment/suggest. Prices are variable, as I will be picking up some parts from other vendors. Thanks! COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower $69.99 -$5.00 Instant $64.99 . . Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 ... $329.99 $329.99 . . ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS $139.99 $139.99 . . CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $94.99 -$5.00 Instant $89.99 . . Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $399.99 -$40.00 Instant $359.99 . . CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850 (CMPSU-850AX) 850W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active ... $199.99 $199.99 . . Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $159.99 -$40.00 Instant $119.99 . . LG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model UH12LS28 OEM LightScribe Support - OEM $64.99 -$10.00 Instant $54.99 . . EVGA 02G-P3-1568-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $289.99 $289.99 Subtotal: $1,649.91

I would get a smaller SSD and use the saved money for a ATI 7970 or GTX 580.

[OriginofHysteria]

I would get a smaller SSD and use the saved money for a ATI 7970 or GTX 580.

If he gets the EVGA 560 ti 448 classy instead, he can save money and over clock the card to 580 performance.

[scogoth]

If he gets the EVGA 560 ti 448 classy instead, he can save money and over clock the card to 580 performance.

Or buy a GTX580 and OC it to way beyond that. If you spending >$1500 and dont have a top of the line card sometimes not right.

Also drop that 2600k to 2500k

[Smokey]

I just bought a 7970 from Sapphire, it's fucking awesome I made a step by step of what I did on my blog, 7970 pic included. icebergisonfire.blogspot.com

Nice rig but you have GOT to get an aftermarket cooler. Almost criminal to not have one with that rig.

[Khorino]

I just bought a 7970 from Sapphire, it's fucking awesome I made a step by step of what I did on my blog, 7970 pic included. icebergisonfire.blogspot.com

Thanks! And how it is different from Asus's one? Is there any advantage in one or another? Espeacially in temperature and overclock.

[GoingGreen]

Can someone explain the difference between

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER


and

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[Xyphie]

Can someone explain the difference between http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER and http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Looks like the only difference is that there's a VIA SATA controller on the second board for some extra ports, you can see the the solder points for the SATA connectors and the place on the PCB were the chip itself goes.

[celcius]

I had a spare stock Haf X 200mm black fan laying around and swapped it into the front of my 650d....soo much better. :)
Now I'd like to get one more for the top, but newegg and others only sell red or blue led 200mm fans (not the black version). Is there a store that sells stock haf X fans or should I just contact CM directly?

[mkenyon]

I had a spare stock Haf X 200mm black fan laying around and swapped it into the front of my 650d....soo much better. :) Now I'd like to get one more for the top, but newegg and others only sell red or blue led 200mm fans (not the black version). Is there a store that sells stock haf X fans or should I just contact CM directly?

Check performance-pcs, frozencpu, xoxide, and coolermaster store.

[demigod]

So, I've had a week to get to know my Gigabyte Radeon 7970. My first thought is regret...this card should not be over $500.00, but since Nvidia is dragging their ass with Kepler (June, seriously?) AMD can do whatever they want. Still, shame on them for being so bullish. My second thought concerns acoustics; this thing is loud as hell. So loud, in fact, I've had to resort to using headphones. Not sure why AMD couldn't design a better reference cooler. This thing is nearly as bad as the initial batches of GTX 480s. Third thought concerns performance; I love what it can do, but I'm still feeling like the drivers are holding it back. Hoping they improve over the next month.

Sold my MSI 7970 for $540, I can't stand the fans on reference cards, they suck ass. Will wait for Kepler now and also because I want to use 3D Vision 2.

[Hazaro]

Here's my current build list. This will be a living-room/comfy couch build for gaming and HTPC functions. Feel free to comment/suggest. Prices are variable, as I will be picking up some parts from other vendors. Thanks!

2500K
128GB SSD
HX750
At least a 560Ti 448

[Keldor]

Just got done putting my PC together. Thanks Hazaro and Exodus. You guys rock! Everything went perfectly. Pics will be incoming.

I tried to cheap out on the mouse and when playing SWKOR, I realized what a piece of junk it was. I'm sitting about 14 feet away from my pc and the signal keeps dropping out. Can anyone recommend me a good gaming mouse that has good range so that I can play from my couch?

[Agent Icebeezy]

Thanks! And how it is different from Asus's one? Is there any advantage in one or another? Espeacially in temperature and overclock.

LOL, I just got one I could find.

Smokey, I' m seriously looking into it.

[celcius]

Check performance-pcs, frozencpu, xoxide, and coolermaster store.

No luck, I'll just send an email. Otherwise, I guess I'll just have to get a Megaflow and cut the led's off...

[lowrider007]

Are SSD's really worth it seriously?, even for someone like myself that leaves their machine on 24/7?, that being the case start-up times aren't really and issue and most actions within windows have been cached.

Anyone ungraded to an SSD that leaves their machine on 24/7 notice a marked improvement in windows?

[IamMikeside]

That's the same one I'm getting My case has 4 USB 3.0 ports on the front - I guess I can connect the USB3 header on this board for 2, then a USB2 header for the other 2? Really hoping that'll work

Can anyone confirm this?
It looks like the headers are totally different, so I'm not sure if USB3 on my case will connect to the USB2 header on my board....

[scogoth]

Can anyone confirm this? It looks like the headers are totally different, so I'm not sure if USB3 on my case will connect to the USB2 header on my board....

No you cannot. What case do you have? It's interesting that they have 4 USB3 ports has only the higher end motherboards have 2 headers.

[GoingGreen]

Are SSD's really worth it seriously?, even for someone like myself that leaves their machine on 24/7?, that being the case start-up times aren't really and issue and most actions within windows have been cached. Anyone ungraded to an SSD that leaves their machine on 24/7 notice a marked improvement in windows?

I'm at the point as well. I don't turn off my PC unless updates, etc.

[Prezhulio]

so yesterday i got my seagate barracuda green 2TB hard drive in the mail and put it into my rig. not the fastest drive, but i was desperately running out of space.after the boot, the hard drive "beeps" several times, and but then was able to be formatted as an NTFS fine.

maybe 10 minutes later, it now intermittently will "beep" again, lose connection,and then recover and "beep" and be detected and accessible again.

i tried other SATA ports/power cables that are known to work my hard drive containing win 7, and all the ports check out fine, but the new drive keeps doing this.

haven't had much time to look into it/what i may have done wrong (which i suspect is nothing), but does it sound like i should probably just go ahead and start the RMA when i get home from work tonight?

[1-D_FTW]

http://www.electronista.com/articles...oduction.ramp/

Intel is said to have notified partners that it will delay its production ramp for Ivy Bridge to June, with shipments starting in early April.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-573...report-claims/

So because of lousy sales in the notebook market, they're delaying mass release until after June. Wonder how many will be released in early April? And if Newegg will get them? And whether they'll have the decency to charge retail, or insert a massive markup on them?

I'd talked myself into waiting till Ivy Bridge launched and doing it right with the i5 2500k replacement. This despite the fact the cheapo method I was considering was probably smarter (since I've stopped putting my computer to sleep due to mobo issues and the fact I severely doubt a 2012 build is going to flawlessly execute next gen console ports. It hasn't been the case the last two gens and if they go too many threads, it doesn't matter how superior Ivy Bridge is, it'll have issues with sloppy ports.)

Grr. Wish I knew if there was any chance of snagging one on April 8th.

[Sourtreats]

I just bought a Belkin f5d5000 Ethernet PCI card to add to my machine so I can bridge my 360 to my PC and then use a VPN for a better connection while I'm at University. The problem is the Belkin F5d5000 device isn't showing in Local Area Connections, only my on-board ethernet slot is. I've installed the drives from Belkins Support page but still no luck. I can't see the card in device manager either.

[claviertekky]

Been eyeing on the Crucial M4 drives this past week, and the price continues to drop.

[mkenyon]

Are SSD's really worth it seriously?, even for someone like myself that leaves their machine on 24/7?, that being the case start-up times aren't really and issue and most actions within windows have been cached. Anyone ungraded to an SSD that leaves their machine on 24/7 notice a marked improvement in windows?

The difference is like dial up to broadband in general computer use. When you open something, it just opens. During the initial transition, I was a big fan of 'SSD for OS/main programs, RAID0 mechanical for games', and now have completely moved away from mechanical for anything other than media storage and dxtory recording.

[FourDoor]

so yesterday i got my seagate barracuda green 2TB hard drive in the mail and put it into my rig. not the fastest drive, but i was desperately running out of space.after the boot, the hard drive "beeps" several times, and but then was able to be formatted as an NTFS fine. maybe 10 minutes later, it now intermittently will "beep" again, lose connection,and then recover and "beep" and be detected and accessible again. i tried other SATA ports/power cables that are known to work my hard drive containing win 7, and all the ports check out fine, but the new drive keeps doing this. haven't had much time to look into it/what i may have done wrong (which i suspect is nothing), but does it sound like i should probably just go ahead and start the RMA when i get home from work tonight?

I have 2 of those exact same Seagate drives in my media server and did not have any of those issues (I also have 4 of the older 1.5TB drives in an older machine). Sounds like an RMA is in your future.

[claviertekky]

so yesterday i got my seagate barracuda green 2TB hard drive in the mail and put it into my rig. not the fastest drive, but i was desperately running out of space.after the boot, the hard drive "beeps" several times, and but then was able to be formatted as an NTFS fine. maybe 10 minutes later, it now intermittently will "beep" again, lose connection,and then recover and "beep" and be detected and accessible again. i tried other SATA ports/power cables that are known to work my hard drive containing win 7, and all the ports check out fine, but the new drive keeps doing this. haven't had much time to look into it/what i may have done wrong (which i suspect is nothing), but does it sound like i should probably just go ahead and start the RMA when i get home from work tonight?

Yeah, you have that right.

RMA it.

[Iadien]

Are SSD's really worth it seriously?, even for someone like myself that leaves their machine on 24/7?, that being the case start-up times aren't really and issue and most actions within windows have been cached. Anyone ungraded to an SSD that leaves their machine on 24/7 notice a marked improvement in windows?

I personally regret purchasing an SSD. I've had mine for about a week or so now, and sure it's faster than my other drives, but I feel it's unnecessary considering the price.