The New AMD Building Thread

Sam,
That's the thing! on the 6 computers I tried the monitor on, it does determine the maximum resolution of 1680x1050, and the DVI works. It's a Plug and Play monitor, so it's supposed to! It also does read the Dell by make and model, yet it again lists resolutions higher than the monitor is capable of, where everywhere else the max is 1600x1200. It also changed my resolution in the middle of watching a DVD on the Dell last night. I set it back, and about 10 minutes later it flipped it again! Something's not right in the NB/Video chip! I'm calling Newegg in the morning!

Russ

 

There's certainly something wrong, whether it's the chip itself or the driver for it.

 

Sam,
You are not going to believe what I think the problem is! A little histor of what I found. I'm repairing a Dell Dimension 8300! After I got rid of the virus problem and repaired XP, I decided to use the Sceptre! Came right up, Plug and Play, 1680x1050 maximum. This is a 4-6 year old P4 and I wasn't happy with the video with full screen DVD's because it would lag every once in a while. Since I had the CD for the Video card, I installed them! That's when the $hit hit the fan! The Video card got un-stable! Monentary freezes and things like that. I managed, thanks to the Task Manager, to remove the offending drivers and rebooted the computer! I'll give you a hint what I got! I saw "The Exact Same Thing I'm Sending My MB back to Newegg For"!! Now that's a new one on me!

I decided to try and do an XP repair. I've never gotten the DOS Repair to be successful, so I Repaired it through Windows for the first time! I figured that a System restore would do no good because the software is physically gone. You can't install what's been deleted. Not files anyway! It's had no updates at all, so I reasoned that I should be successful using the same CD I installed it with! It was! When it rebooted after the repair, it came up 1680x1050. All the programs and icons where there, and the only thing I had to replace was AVG, and that was my fault for not writing down the serial number! Took maybe 30 minutes for the whole repair!

I have XP/SP-3 installed on mine, so I don't think it will let me do a repair from the XP/SP-2 CD! You can't downgrade for obvious reasons, otherwise Windows would use a whole lot more drive space, keeping all those files they normally delete in their cleanup after every newer version is installed! Bloatware would become "BLOATWARE"!! LOL!!

Right now I'm not going to ship my MB tomorrow and instead, put my rig back together and put a copy of XP on my second drive, using the Sceptre betting on My belief, that it will work like a charm! I even tried an experiment. I disconnected the Sceptre and plugged in a no-name 16" CRT, Came up, no problem and ran fine at 1280x1024. I disconnected it and put the Big Dell on it, and again it ran fine at the same resolution. It even changed the Frequency to 115HTz! Then I put the Sceptre back in and it came up fine.

The worst it can cost me is one day if I try! Wish me luck!

Russ

 

Indeed, I had a feeling it would be driver related, but I presumed you'd tried everything. Interesting idea, good luck!

 

Sam,
I haven't started yet as I'm not feeling very well today. If it wasn't for a UPS Delivery, I would still be in bed! LOL!! It's 11:30 AM here! If I feel better, I'll do it today, if not tomorrow! Generally you don't think of driver software in that way. I would be inclined to believe, that if a driver doesn't work, you should be able to restore the old ones. In this case, the problem rests squarely with something in XP, because installing other video software completely removes the Microsoft drivers!

Russ

 

No worries, I've not been in full health either recently, I seem to be able to sleep forever...
Hope you make a speedy recovery

 

Thanks Sam,
Well, the test was a total Failure! I was wrong, and the MB is going back! However, of interest is that I tried it on a second computer that had problems with my monitor. All that took to fix was to uninstall the video and re-boot the computer. It re-installed itself fine and gave me my 1680x1050. If I try the same thing with my computer, the video crashes after install! I'm 100% sure that the monitor is good, seeing that it's now worked properly on 7 other computers, and only one of those gave me a minor fuss that was easy to fix! Hey, if I hadn't tried, I would never have known for sure!

Russ

 

Oh well, guess faulty IGPs do show up every so often... :S

 

How does this System look ? Is it a good buy ?
Asus GeForce 4TB Barebone Kit - AMD Phenom X4 9500 Retail Processor, 4GB DDR2-667 Kingston Memory, (4 x 1TB) SATA2, ATX Mid-Tower, 650W PSU

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...?EdpNo=4492004&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs

 

Why the four 1TB hard drives? You could just buy those separately...
It's a lot of money for a lot of mediocre parts, those TD barebone kits always are. Slow CPU, naff motherboard, risky power supply, bargain basement RAM, mediocre hard disk drives. It might cost a little more, but you could build such a better system than that with a bit more thought.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103249
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128379
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119115

$370 for a much better basic system, leaves $330 for the hard drives.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136317

Four of those are $360.
So for thirty dollars more, you've got better, faster RAM, a significantly faster CPU, a better PSU, better drives and a better motherboard. It's not as if those barebones come pre-installed...

 

ROFL... just checked and that little bugger Sammy already posted. He's right Rick. I'd much rather get a little better mobo, RAM, and psu and then see what's left for some 1TB HDD's. With the better components you would prolly still be able to get 2 1TB drives and if you went a little less on the case you might be able to squeeze a 3rd drive even with a "better" cpu. Just some thoughts from a couple of guys that like to spend other people's money.... heheehe.

....gm

 

See my edit above.

 

I agree with U ! Don't really care 4 the HDD anyway[Hitachi Deskstar], had 2 250Gig they went tits up B4 any of my others.Had really bad luck if thats what its called, with Hitachi Deskstars. Won't buy them again
Personally I prefer Samsung[Cooler then the rest]but not the best warranty, next being Seagate, & Western Digital. Really what it boils down to is whats on Sale, whats free Shipping.
I really like the Samsung the best, of all my HDDs.
I really prefer to build my own Computer
In the past, if U recall. All the Questions I asked about parts, each and every time I did build a Computer. But each and every time I something Different. I am in the process of Building two more, in the long run its better. You get what U specifically need it for

 

I have 1 of those HDD's on the way, I will use it to back up my home server data. I just cant decide if I want to leave it external, and back up whenever I want and not use the disc 24/7 or just put it in my TT armor case and schedule weekly backups.
If I use my dock, I only get USB2 transfer speeds but if I use no dock I can plug it in my rear ESATA port. Decisions, decisions.

 

Deadrum33: I guess if your going to use it for back-up only. But I owned two of them 250Gig they didn't last 2 years. I guess it dependa on where U live, and whats available. My best and Recommended is Newegg
for any of the HDDs I mentioned. I feel really confident that most here at AD will agree with me. You of all people should know this,being a Senior Member. Why the Deckstar anyway, I know it can't be price. Especially being these are Superior Drives Samsung, Seagate, Western Digital

 

They all have their own merits, but reliability (which as far as I'm concerned is paramount) is best with Seagate and WD, with Samsung not far behind. However, of late only one drive manufacturer has managed to get the Terabyte drive right, which is WD, so for that particular size, it's WD or nothing.

 

status means little around here but you got your post in earlier in the minute than me...I meant the exact link from Newegg Sammy posted is on the way, not the Hitachi... My 3 500GB HDD's in RAID 5 are all Samsung spinpoints and have given no troubles at all.

 

The 500GB samsungs, in particular the HD501LJ were excellent. We'll draw a veil over the HD102UJ though...

 

Rick,
The MB is a cheapie, and so is the memory! Good case, but a so-so PSU! You can do better price wise getting a better MB, PSU and memory. The case is nice, but I think I got more for my money buying the Cooler Master Centurion RC-534. In my opinion it's the best bang for the buck in cases, as it gives you a lot of features that a lot of more expensive cases don't include, like modular wiring for usb, Firewire and audio. They just plug in. No more playing with tiny connectors to get the front panel to work, especially the front audio, which are usually stuck in a cramped spot at the back of the MB! Doesn't hurt that it looks nice too!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119190
Mine was on sale for $80 with decent quality 460w PSU. My advice is to shop around! You can do much better for your money!

Russ

 

Rick,
I have one of the Deathstar 250's! Aside from being very noisy when it reads, it's been a good drive. I had it as a boot drive and the noise drove me crazy. Now I use the Seagate 160 as my boot drive and all is quiet! LOL!!

Russ