The (new) Official PC building thread!

GM, my next build, I'm going OCZ.

Rob, if they are replacing your RAM with a slower kind just ask for a partial refund.

 

no prob here whatsoever with corsair DDR2 1066 dominators, running at 1068mhz 5:6 fsb:dram ratio and 5-5-5-15.

 

Morty doesn't a mutual friend have this RAM.. linky to Corsair PC2-10000

I've had good luck with the PC2-8500 Tracers and the Mushkin PC2-8500 RAM I purchased... Sometimes it's just luck of the draw.... sorry rob you got the SHORT stick..... hehehe.

....gm

 

abuzar1,

I was considering the OCZs, but everywhere I looked, the failure rate was very high, and they use the Micron D9 chips.

I'm having an issue with the P35 chip on my motherboard that comes and goes. I've run MemTest on 5 sticks, 3 different brands and everyone of them fails. Put the same sticks in the AMD or my buddies EP35-DS3R and there's no errors at the proper speed. I tried 1 512 stick of Hynix 667MHz, 2 sticks of G.Skill 800MHZ and the 1066 Dominators, both single and in pairs, on mine and all failed! 2 days later they came up clean on my MB. The G.Skills had hundreds of errors while the Dominators and Hynix only showed one or two! It has to be an intermittent problem with the P35 chip, and not the memory itself!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

@Russ
the crucial guy told me that it was the memory(crucial) that was haven problems with the P35 chip itself. but this is the single side memory not the double sided stuff. i dont know why they would go with the single sided if they know its haven problems and why not go back to the double sided

 

The answer to every question is money, my friend...

 

cincyrob,

Part of it like Sam said is money, but single sided chips are easier to cool as they are narrower, allowing more air between them if you are populating all 4 slots. My G.Skill 800MHz in the AMD is double sided and they almost touch because of the wider heatsinks. There's only 2 memory slots on the MB! LOL!! They are so close to the CPU fan that heat is not an issue.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

whats so damn bad about it is a guy just dont know what to get. there is so many BAD stories about these mem sticks its unreal. like you said Russ you gotta read past the idiots that dont know what they are talking about. going back and reading some reviews knowing what i know now. alot of them are clueless to the fact of the P35chip is part of the mem failing problem.not that the chip is bad just the fatc the mem isnt compatible with it.

im getting ready to contact crucial again and find more out about the tracer rounds and se if they are the same sticks of mem just with the led on them(which i think they are)

 

cincyrob,

Yes but the Dominators are certified to run on my DS3R! The come and go part is what tells me that it's the P35 chip itself and not a compatibility issue!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

if its the chip then Russ. how come i ran fine the very first time for a week or so. then it all went south on me.. they sent the repaired board back and it ran fine again still the same chip in it. its like it was a quick fix????????? i dont know tbh...

good news then some great news.
i just got off the phone with crucial. they are sending me the DDR2 800 mem. it is there newest "16 chips" mem. not the "8 chips" stuff that was the problem...im wondering if the 16chip is the double sided stuff? i doubt it seing the tech said they arent makeing those anymore. but they assured me i wouldnt have any problem with them on the P35 board..so only time will tell.

so i got off the phone with them and got online with a live chat with a newegg rep. told them the situation about the cheaper memory being sent to me, and that crucial wont issue a refund cause of the third party thingy.. the newegg rep asked the difference in the price. i told him depending on the sale price at the time between $20-$30..he said ok. will give you a $30 credit back to my card,or a credit towards my next purchase....i allmost fell over.. no questions of proof from crucial or anything...

edit
i just did a search for the so called 16chips. i would say it is the double sided stuff.8 chips on each side. here is a pic of them
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/memory/ddr2/crucial/ballistix_pc26400_5300/PC25300IC.jpg

edit again
did some more reading about the 16 chips ddr2 800 sticks a few people have loosen'd the timing up to 5-5-5-18(which is the 1066 cas5) and they have the 800 running at 1066....so let me cross my fingers some more..lol all this sudden good luck is gonna get crushed when gigabyte makes me pay to get my board back.. wouldnt that figure

 

Certainly good news!

You guys might be interested to know, as of this evening I'm running my CPU completely fanless on the TRUE. Front and rear fans running at 700rpm as always (S-Flexes) and side fan running at 900rpm (Scythe Kaze White 120mm) I played half an hour of Forged Alliance with crossfire mode on, running the second card at 60% fan speed. No issues - what's more when I closed the game my CPU temp was 38C - the two GPUs were 56C and 48C. How awesome is that?
Chipset temp was about 40.

I'm going to try dropping the fan speed on the second card further to 50% and see if it'll still run in crossfire stable - that should reduce the noise level even further.

Now I need to figure out how I'm going to fit two HR-03GTs in my case and run them fanless too! lol

 

cincyrob,

I had flashed the bios back to F-10 from F-11 shortly before I started having a problem. I talked to Gigabyte this morning and after putting our heads together we decided to give the F-11 bios a try again. It's now running back at 3.55GHz with the memory right at 1066MHz on the 2.40 multiplier, with a 1775MHz fsb with no problems. Memtest is clean!

Time will tell, and because of the record of the problem, GigaByte will allow additional time if it does need to be RMA'd down the road!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

did gigabyte say anything about the F12 beta bios? if it would help any?

@sam
fanless???? is it that noisey that you need to run fanless or just wanna see how it reacts?

 

Neither really, the fan I had on my CPU never made much noise - I got rid of it because I found the fan clips for the TRUE too much of a pain when I last fitted the cooler and as a result the fan was hanging off at an angle since it was only held on with one. To save myself the bother I just took the fan off, and so far the system has responded well.

 

cincyrob,

No, and I didn't ask. I wouldn't run a beta bios unless all else failed! Anything that can screw up things in your computer I avoid! Note how long they have been working on the F-12 Beta, which means they haven't gotten all the bugs out of it yet! Usually when a Beta is released, it usually becomes the next official bios upgrade in pretty short order. The F-12 Beta has been around since I originally bought the DS3R, so I wouldn't touch it with "your" 10" pole! LOL!!

In fairness to it all, The few problems I was experiencing were things like an occasional hang when playing a CD or something, the sound would just hang on any given note. Having run MemTest first thing when I installed them I never even considered any problems related to the memory. Thinking about it now, I should have realized that glitches like that are amost always memory related when just the Application hangs like that. It like puts the App in Limbo! Just close and open the App and everthing works fine! No system reset or crash! I just completely forgot about the bios! ROFLMSOAO!! (figure that one out! LOL!!) LOL!!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

when i first had the problems i did. i would check in the event manager and it would show all kinds of APP errors. not opening or it would open and then just stay there and spin its wheels..lol
i know now if i look in there and see those kinda errors i know what the deal is....gotta love this learning new stuff..

 

ok a little decision makeing here.
card reader vs fan controler vs burner???

 

cincyrob,

Just apply what you learn and temper it with a good bit of common sense, and you'll generally come out on top, most of the time. If I had applied common sense, I would have known a week ago what I know now! So much for not applying Common Sense! ROFL!! I was thinking too far ahead, a little panic set in too and I blew right on by question #1! "What changes have you made recently"? Let me see.......! I changed the bios, so change the bios back to F-11! Like the bios only controls the chipset and the Northbridge controls the memory!! DUH!!

It's what happens when you ignore your common sense! You do not want to know how many times I've asked a customer if any changes were made in their computer, or was any new hardware added, because I ask it all the time! LOL!!

It's good to see you learning how to weed out all the BS in Newegg's reviews. Beneath all that crap there's sometimes a lot of good information to be found!

Let the MB control the fans and then decide which is more important. If you are always exchanging pictures and stuff, then I'd go with the card reader! That's what my common sense and logic tell me! ROFLMAO!!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

What "media cards" do you currently have and need a reader for?? You can pick up a little usb reader that reads SD only media for about $6-$7. I have one and keep it in the camera case, good little device btw.

NOW if you wants a NEW ODD then check this list for cheapies from the EGG!! linky to ODD's All have FREE shipping except the Sony/NEC/Optiarc AD-7200 ( I want someone to try it out, well that I know at least... ) BTW there are some cross-flashes available in there. Just gotta be brave and do it.... hehehe.

.....gm

 

It's funny, the only thing in any of my front bays now is a fan controller. I've still yet to buy a new DVD burner, and my card reader is in my monitor!