The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition

One of them is 500GB, and the other is 1.5TB. So, at least, mine do not make any noise.

Good point on the rubber mounts, mine also are using them.

 

I'm sure I can help with that

 

Almost a year ago, I bought a 500gb seagate. I ran bench tests on it DAILY. I watched its performance decline over the course of a week. The reason being, Im a western digital FANBOY, HA HA. Nah...it was the first one I bought, it had a curious clicking sound that was a little more audible than other drives of mine. Including an 80gb WD thats pushing 8yrs old, and S.M.A.R.T. still looking good. I gave them a shot, and they blew it. I realize I cant speak for all of their drives Both manufacturers have their bad eggs.
My AAKS is quiet
My AAKB is a little more audible than all my drives, but SMART is good, speed is good, so I have disregarded its slite noise levels.
FALS WD 1TB is my precious baby, LOL. Also very quiet. Fastest drive I own. I wish I had two of those in raid one, WOW! Though it wouldnt amount to some Solid state disks ive read about.
So how is that GP drive sam? I read alot of bad reviews about them. Most importantly, that they may not support raid?
Could that have something to do with their Variable speeds?

 

omegaman7, I might be doing my first build, and of course will be seeking a hardrive, I've always been told to go the segate route, I do have one on another PC and works great so far.

I was thinking about getting a 1TB and was gonna go the segate way but have been reading the a lot of the segates 1TB and 1.5TB have been experiancing frezzing problems.

I don't know if it's because of the size thats creating the problem or if it's just a segate problem, right now I do not know if WD has 1TB or 1.5TB, if they do has any body heard if the WD's of that size are experinacing the same problem as well?

 

Whoops didn't notice the next page. My drives are not on rubber mounts, though they should be. It seems to me that it's just plain luck that determines how good your drive will be. The only drive that's ever failed on me was a WD AAKS, though I blame the failure on the crappy external enclosure not the drive. And for noise/vibration it's about 50/50 now, one quiet and one loud from both WD and Seagate.

 

Fred, My FALS 1TB(NON GREEN) is awesome. Though its merely a transfer/storage drive. AAKS and FALS average about the same spec other than the 32mb cache that the FALS boasts. I have not experienced any hiccups. Ive never installed an OS on the drive. Though two of them in raid one would be nothing short of INCREDIBLE from what ive read about Raid 1. Though, I think a virtual drive, given enough ram, would annihilate ANY competition. Yah, I dream about builds quite abit LOL. Nothin but time...
Hmmm I see that newegg is out of them again. In my opinion the reviews of the drive are pretty good. Averaging five eggs. And you gotta take into acount, that there are alot of newbs out there that may take up a good percentage of the bad reviews. I treat my equipment like they're premature babies. I have nothing but respect for computer components.
Oh boy oh boy. The eggs got a 2TB WD drive. Linky
and also that only 1/4 reviews actually bought the drive through them. I hate that people leave reviews when they dont own an item!!!

LOL creaky. You posted while I was typing

 

The FALS is loud compared to greenpowers, very loud.
The only problem with the GPs is they unload after 8 seconds of inactivity, so being used as an OS drive causes them to load/unload regularly, which wears them out. There's a firmware fix for this though that lets you adjust the length of time they wait before unloading. Outside OS drive use, it's not an issue.

 

Unload after 8 Seconds??? Do you mean 8 minutes? LOL, sounds like a WD mybook. I passed it on to my bro. It causes hangups off and on depending on the task to be done. If the drive felt the need to spin up, you had to wait 5 seconds for it. I Know, trivial amount of time. But when you maximize time useage like I do...Or just plain dont wanna be irritated by waiting for ONE component to do its thing.
EDIT - I dont understand why people buy external drives anyway. You can run an internal via usb(minus enclosure) for 33-50% less money. So your basically paying for the controller chip and a pretty enclosure! Im not the one. I could care less what my hard drive looks like, as long as it performs!

 

No, I mean 8 seconds. It doesn't spin down the platters, it just unloads the heads. They can be re-initialised in a fraction of a second, but when they are unloaded, the power usage of the drive halves (from 7W to 4W - most Seagate drives use 12-15W). Mobile drives turn off completely, which is why they take several seconds to re-initialise, as the platters have to be spun up to speed again.

Exactly why I'm getting rid of my SSD. I just can't be bothered to wait for it any longer.

 

I purchase external drives to do complete backups of my OS drive, and then I put away, so if my internal drive fails all I have to do is replace that drive and do a complete restore.

Running an internal constantly will lessen the drives longevity. Or one must take it out or disable the power to it every time one needs to use.....external is the way to go, IMHO.

 

thanks for the clarification guys

 

Guys very sound advise and I thank all kindly, a while back everybody always raved about the Seagate, after extensive reading lately and advise on forums it looks like Seagate has lost some of it's luster.

My Gateway PC blew, well the mobo did, I really liked it while it ran, I got it re-furbished from globalcomputer.com about a year ago, you guys might not remember when I was searching for a descent PC everybody here was screaming at me not to go that route but to build my own which especially than was really out of my league, regardless I did get it and was very happy with it, I was upgrading the ram on it about a month ago and I don't know what I did but somehow the mobo got fried, it had 1gb of ram, two 512 sticks, and I bought two more 1gb sticks from newegg to advance it to 3gb, it was the proper ram size, I talked to the corsair people and they said the sticks were ok to go with my PC but there was an issue were the other two sticks of 1gb should be placed, the corsair people really weren't a 100% where they should be placed, sure I got advise on placing them in the same color slots etc. but exactly how to pair of the two 512's and the two 1gb was still a confusion, the PC had four slots, the guy said try it this way if it's a problem switch it.

I did so of course holding one hand on the outside of the case and working with my other free hand so not to cause a short, I placed them in, got the PC going, it ran great and speedy for about 3 minutes than the PC would freeze, I re-started it several times and the same thing, I switched the sticks and than walla no more freezing.

I was very happy, I ran it for about an hour and no problems plus of course it was super fast, than I noticed my monitor cable was still not fully screwed in and loose, while the PC was still on I un-plugged and re-plugged, I think that was a big no-no cause that's when the s$#t hit the fan, nothing worked right after that, man was I pissed, I started to finagle with the sticks again thinking maybe it was them, nothing, I even put back the original two sticks still nothing. It was time to call and hire an old friend.

He noticed that the monitor cable I was using was a crappy one, the kind that did not have I forget what he called it, a protector on one end tube shaped, he said there could have been a short after pulling it while the PC was on, he said there's a reason why monitor cables have screw's so not to have anybody yank on them especially while the PC is on, and of course I could have also done something while messing with the sticks on and off but everything was running great till I yanked on that damn cable.

He took it with him and of course I got the news the mobo was fried, fiddly sticks, this PC was mainly for my son and daughter, their both deaf and rely on the PC big time cause really it's their only means of communication since they can't speak, it's been almost a month and still no PC, and yes I got some angry kids in the house, and I don't mean to ramble on here, but I want to let people know what's going on for educational reasons so to speak and the dilemma I ran into.

It's no secret hiring someone to replace a mobo is not cheap, my guy asked me to see if I can locate a board, forget asking the gateway people they got their head up their ass, besides gateway said they don't carry those boards anymore anyway, I did talk to Russ which by the way has been a great help to me, he did say I do not need the exact board there are plenty of other models I can choose from.

I called global where I got the PC, explained everything and asked help to pick out a board, the guy asked after checking my records why am I trying to buy a board, I said maybe a little sarcastically didn't I tell you it's fried lol, he said why cause my PC is still under warranty, I said WHAT, well yes I totally forgot that I purchased and extended one year warranty for an extra 50 bucks and forgot all about it, I said well I bought it 13 months ago, even so isn't it's time up, he said no the year kicks in after the first 90 day period ends, which gave me two more months, I didn't argue.

He said how it works mostly is to call the warranty people and what they usually do is say to send it in and they will send me a check which for the purchase price and of course it has to be spent on globals site, hey that's ok with me compared to what it might have cost to replace a mobo, I called those people and they said a tech guy needs to see it first, oh crap here we go, Iv' e been thru that before on other purchased PC's with an extended warranty, oh it's great to have if you can't fix your own it's the red tape involved that's crappy.

First you wait to get a call, normally a couple of weeks to get a date, than after the call to get a date is usually another two weeks, than if he doesn't have the right parts you wait another week or two, you guys get the picture, that's happened to me before, so I finally I get a call about a week later, lady said a tech guy should arrive in 48 hours, I was kinda surprised cause I thought it was gonna be a send the PC back to them deal, so I waited a week, nothing, I called the main office, a lady checked my records and said she has no record of a tech coming, she said didn't I get a letter in the mail with slips and instructions to take it to my local UPS, send it in and wait for a check, I said no lady I got nothing, she said she will send all the forms out which was Tuesday by the way, said I should get it in a couple days, send it in than after a coupe of weeks when they do whatever they do a check will be sent. OK, nope not the end of story.

This morning yup Sunday, I get a call asking me if the tech guy has come it, now don't forget, it's the same company but different departments, you know where the right hand doesn't tell what the left hand is doing, now I got one dept. telling me a tech guy should be out and another telling me paperwork to send it in should be coming, the lady about the tech guy doesn't have a solution for me, I asked her because what she's doing is that gonna mess me up with computer records sending me return slips etc, she couldn't answer, in the mean time guess who's without a PC, Daddy was trying to be a good guy and speed up the computer for on Xmas for the kids, that should as hell didn't work out to well, but a lesson here I'm learning.

I have been yearning to build a PC when the time and bucks were right, I talked about it several times here on this thread, and don't forget guys your talking about a guy that knows absolutely nothing on how to put one together, still didn't have the balls to try, but after this cluster f@#k I don't care anymore, I really wanted to wait for a time when I could have put one together with mostly a lot of goodies I have been reading about here on this thread, not a super PC, but yes with lot of goodies, I'm not a gamer but would have liked something in between just in case some kids did want to give it a go.

I wanted one were it could help with my music and movies, really nice sound and video cards so to speak, a really nice processor not the best but a fast one and no I will never overclock, well not any time soon anyway, and I really wanted something were I can multitask without getting slowed down while messing with music and videos, the bucks are not yet ready for a system like that, but I also noticed to try and get a similar PC like I got before at global is forget about it, the choices for a re-furbished like they had a year ago forget it, plus everything is mostly Vista now, yeah some XP's but crappy models and I in no way will touch Vista, how did Nicholson put it in one of his flicks, "I'd rather stick needles in my eyes".

After talking to Russ and gaining some confidence he helped choose some barebones that caught my eye and the price is tempting to finally try and put one together, if I can get this damn warranty bull resolved I'm gonna take a stab at it, maybe it will be a good experience to someday really put one together that I would really like, so probably better of with starting with a mediocre one.

And I'm still contemplating on hiring a kid I know of that has build several PC's before, he goes to a local community college and I'm sure he could use some extra bucks and as long as he agree's and doesn't try to lay some ridiculous price on me I'm game, I've mentioned this idea to Russ he got upset lol, he said he will fly out and give me an ass whopping if I hire someone, I believe he would to, I know with guidents from Russ and help in this thread maybe I can pull it off, besides what more can happen with the crap that I'm already involved in.

Sorry to have made such a lengthy post, but I thought I wanted to write about some of the bull one puts up with when buying PC's from factory folk, wouldn't it be nice if one can learn about building their own and not have to rely on factory PC's and be weighted down with a ball and chain to get help, as soon as I get this warranty thing straightened out advise will be surely needed, actually I'm really counting on Russ, he will be my main guy but I would love to if people wont mind keep posting on how it will go, you never know there might be plenty of others out here that always read and would never had thought they might put one together, and if things work out right it might give those the confidence to give it a shot, cause believe me, if I can be lucky enough to pull this off, anybody can build one, I'm both scared an looking forward to it.

 

Fred,
I promise in front of God and this Forum, that even if I have to Baby?Sit you through it on the phone, between the two of us "we can do this"! First thing is you are planning a stock machine, so it's really just assembly. Second, don't be so hard on yourself as you aren't the first person to make a mistake, and you won't be the last. If you just do everything in the right order, all that maze of wires and plugs will be a fairly simple thing. There's very few things that you can plug in wrong that could affect the machine. Third, if you do purchase that Bare-Bones kit, I'll download the manual and be able to guide you through what to connect where! Third, it's a much easier job today than when I did my first build right about 20 years ago. You won't have hardware jumpers to worry about, as all the settings these days are all done from the bios setup. I know that it looks so complex, but as you put it together you will see that it isn't that difficult. I personally think that the hardest part of the job is connecting the computers front panel to the motherboard, mainly because the connections are small and hard to see. With this being a new build, you can more than likely connect the front panel to the MB before installing the MB in the case. Same thing with the CPU cooler, as it's a lot easier to do with the MB out of the case. The Freezer 64 Pro comes with Arctic Cooling's MX-2 thermal paste already applied to the cooler, so it should be an easy thing to do, especially with an AMD. Other than that, you can't really plug anything in wrong because everything uses specific plugs, and it's very hard to put a "Square Peg" in a round hole, and hammers aren't allowed! LOL!! I know you can do this!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Does anybody know if this dvd drive (sony ad-7220s) supports bitsetting? Apparently, it's a rebadged lite-on, which does not sound very good.
I want another ad-7200s, but they are all gone everywhere, except micro center, which has it for $40 (a bit pricey).
Or if you guys can redirect me to another good drive, that would be great.
Thanks.

 

@ mrk44,
AFAIK right now that drive does not, but you might try looking at imgburn and seeing if it will let you set it under the lite-on tab. From everything that I've heard it's a Lite-on but no one has produced a pic of the chipset that I know of either. Give it some time and someone will have a f/w for it.

@Fred (& Russ),
Fred you can do this... I think that we've said that before but if the GM can do it, anyone can. As Russ has mentioned it's just assembly and nothing more really. I would consider a modular psu, simple graphics, and RELIABLE parts. I know that sounds like it's easy but it is. Just list what you want in a computer and we (Russ) can get the parts you need and go from there.

good luck buddy....

....gm

 

You got it Russ, I'll do my best, you know it's funny, when I first started to read this thread and I mean it was a while back, I had absolutly no idea what anybody was talking about, and I mean syltch, nada, niet, after reading and googling and once in a while and a question here and there at least it's not Chinese anymore.

I really am looking forward to it, I just hope this warranty bull gets resolved soon, I know for most of you guys this is remedial, for me it's a big time step, if an when I can fire this thing up and see that welcome screen, I'm gonna get me a cold one with a shot on the side, do a two step and will go outside and howl at the moon if it's up there or not.

 

I know that greenman, knowing I have this thread behind my back even though I cry how scared I am actually I'm at ease.

 

Russ,
By 'stock machine' are just you referring to a build that won't be overclocked?

Fred,
Like everyone's said it really isn't hard at all and you'll do just fine. You'll probably realize at the end, if not before, how much fun it is

As a side note I'd like to mention that after swapping the 7200.10 HDD that was in an external enclosure with the 7200.11 that was bloody annoying my problem as gone away (in the case at least). Since the external is only used as a backup it's only on for a little bit so the noise/vibration, which incidentally decreased significantly in the external enclosure, isn't an annoyance anymore. I'll probably never buy another 7200.11 again though since 2/2 have had a noise/vibration problem.

 

Yes, I am referring to a machine that isn't going to be overclocked. It has the ability, but until Fred gets a little more comfortable with things, IMO it's the best thing for him at the moment. Once he gains a bit of confidence, he may well want to try it. Because of his Kids special needs, having a good running computer is first and formost the important thing!

As far as the HDDs go, from what I've seen, the larger drives are more noisy than smaller ones. I think it has more to do with the number of platters in them. I personally don't much care for the concept of huge drives. Too much to lose all in one shot IMO! I have a Seagate 160 as my boot and software drive, and a Hitachi Deskstar 250 for storage. The Seagate 160 is dead silent and the Deskstar makes a very small amount of noise. The 160 has one platter in it and the Deskstar has two. They suit my needs and I've never come close to running out of disk space yet. It's been suggested that with a large drive I could store lots of movies. The down side to me is if I lose the drive I also lose lots of movies. I do know someone who bought two 500GB WD drives and backed one up with the other. He ran into a problem with the one in his machine, and replaced it with the other one he had put away. The problem turned out to be his CPU and it fragged the second drive. Since he hadn't burned the movies to DVD and was just playing them from the hard drive, he now had a major bit of work ahead of him to replace all the movies on the disk. Turns out he was yet another victim of Electro-Migration with a Wolfdale! I had warned him not to exceed 1.365v, but one of the Extreme Overclocking Forums on the net convinced him otherwise, even though Intel told us that you "will", not "may", damage the chip! It turned out to be bad advice from the Extreme overclocking Forum, and he's now paying the price for it! The only good thing is that neither drive turned out to be bad!

I recently experienced the same problem with my E6750, for the same foolish reason, and mine was only overclocked to 4.0GHz for about 15 minutes. With mine, it took about 7-8 months to develop problems, and I knew that it was dying because I kept having to up the voltage every 4 to 6 weeks or it would start crashing. When it did finally go, it did all sorts of things to the files on my HDD. Fortunately I had backups of all my software and I didn't lose anything I couldn't download again.

Best Regards,
Russ