The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition

I guess I figured If I could find one of their cases, I might catch a sweet deal. I've now changed my mind about the HTPC. I'm looking at a Western Digital Media Center device that could be a very good option. It plays almost any file type, and connects to networks. That's more than I could hope for in such a device. It even connects to Netflix, and other sites

 

got a question guys. the last week i guess things have seem to be lagging for me. everything i do at times seems like it takes for ever for windows to respond. i looked into event viewer and found this error. it is the same error from today back to 12-4-10

i know it says ide port but i dont have anything ide pluged into my mobo. i do have my main OS hdd pluggd into the sata port 0... i dont think its the port itself maybe the cable????

any thoughts, suggestions?


Log Name: System
Source: atapi
Date: 12/13/2010 12:47:53 PM
Event ID: 11
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: BigRedHemi
Description:
The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0.


EDIT:
well just tinkering around inside the case. i switched out the sata cable that the OS was useing and no more errors.(knock on wood) my 4 hdd's i was useing the yellow gigabyte cables and my 4 odd's i had the newer red ide cables i bought a few months back. i put one of the red ones on the hard drive and all is well right now..lol

EDIT
ok now im getting a JRAID error. im not running any kinda Raid setup???

Log Name: System
Source: JRAID
Date: 12/13/2010 1:26:11 PM
Event ID: 117
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: BigRedHemi
Description:
The driver for device \Device\Scsi\JRAID1 detected a port timeout due to prolonged inactivity. All associated busses were reset in an effort to clear the condition.

 

Sorry rob, I'm afraid I'm no help

Went under my house last night. Decided to run a temporary ethernet cable instead, rather then drill holes and such. Well...my cable came up short. I also discovered I'm moderately claustrophobic! I won't be going under there again LOL! I was home alone yesterday, and I swear while I was down there, I heard my mother talking to the dog through the floor. When I came out, she wasn't home yet! I thought that was pretty messed up!
Instead, I may try one of those devices that convert electrical lines to Ethernet. Even though they're expensive. I just don't trust wifi to keep up with what I/they want...
I measured the cable before I went down there, and figured it would be very close. Unfortunately, I didn't realize I'd have to add on a couple feet of insulation I'd have to go through

 

Hi, LOL!

Need to pick up another 2tb drive myself...

 

Good stuff, another WD20EARS server takes shape

 

Rob,
It sounds to me like you have the drivers for Raid installed, but it's turned off in the setup. Once you uninstall the Raid drivers, it will go away. I had the same thing happen to me! If you need the Raid drivers for hot swap, change the OnChip SATA type to AHCI. If not, just make sure it's set to Native IDE.

Happy Holidays,
Russ

 

after doing some reading on the Jraid error. ive found that after i changed the cable to a new one i must not have push it in god enough. it wasnt makeing a good clean connection.all is well with it now.

 

Has anyone have experience with the OCZ OBIS 240GB HSDL SSD? My Q6600 Asus P5N-D
system is reaching retirement age. The GTX-8800 needs replacing for video work. A single slot video card recommendation would be appreciated. Slot spacing will be at a premium and with add-on fan GTX-8800 = 3 slots gone. I don't do any gaming just heavy multi-tasking along with video 64bit editing & trans-coding and 3D CAD. The Q6600 has been pegged 100% for hours even OC @ 3.4 which is very irritating waiting for it to complete assigned tasks. I just hit the sack and hope it's finished when I wake up.

My 5-11 year grandchildren need a PC so that's where the Q6600 & ViewSonic VP230mb will go. It ought to fine for kids needs.

45 years in computers I've done enough waiting for a lifetime! It's tough (old) seeing equipment you worked on in museums. We should have fiber optic interfaces and FiOS nationwide by now not standing still while the rest of the world passes by.

* = on hand now awaiting installation

Future build: P6 motherboard, I7 2600K S CPU, 12GB DDR-3 1600, Win 7 64bit Ultimate * running on 240GB HSDL SSD. 2x WD1501FASS in RAID-0 temporary data storage, 3x W1320EURS for storage, 2x 500GB OS-SSD backup *, 2x 1TB * + 4x 750GB video storage *, 2x eSATA docks for other drives *, I have 20 *, Floppy/card reader *, Zalman CNP 9700, Hauppauge HVR=2200 +HVR1850 *, 2x SATA 24xDVD-R/W *, Tegan ITZ 1400W p/s *, Thermatake Armor VH6000 (small) Case *, Samsung P2779HD Monitor/HDTV, 1400VA UPS rewired to 2x 170AH SLA batteries *, N-WiFi* to service dual core AMD 64bit HTPC *, 2x recording DVR media players *, HDTV * & spouses internet surfing PC *. I prefer Sennheiser pro headphones for sound and spouse doesn't complain 'turn it down'.

Gulftown 980 you might wonder, we'll see how SB I7-2600K is after launch, early reviews look promising. I7 980 tick is 2012 and it's a $700 CPU not $1000. If chipzilla would realize that they'd sell a lot more 980's. Intel it's nothing special stop acting like it is ditto for SSD's.

I wonder if a OEM will introduce a dual CPU 1155 E-ATX motherboard, wouldn't that be sweet.

Personally I wish AMD would kick into overdrive and at least catch Intel yet that seems unlikely. Maybe Scotty will beam down and give them a hand before Intel becomes a monopoly.

I would appreciate any constructive comments concerning more bang for the buck hardware.
Thanks and happy computing to all. Ed = OldGeek1945

 

I don't think anyone here is rich enough to have tested an HSDL SSD yet!

The i7 hex-core CPUs are a bit much, the 970 is only $880, but that's still an enormous amount to pay for what is just half more of an i7 950 (albeit at 133mhz higher clock speed)
There's no such thing as a W1320EURS? Not sure what you're referring to here.

 

Sam,
What I don't get is how many people need all of this? I've said it before, and I'll continue to say it, "How fast is fast"? It would cost me about $610, just to but an Intel 17 950, 3GB of Cas 7 DDR3 1333 ram, and a decent GigaByte motherboard.

It would cost me $382 to buy a phenom II 955, GSkill DDR3 1333 ram, and a GIGABYTE GA-890XA-UD3 motherboard! That comes to $228 less for the AMD. I can also change the CPU to a Phenom IIx6 1090T BE, and it's still $137 less! These prices include Tax and Shipping!

What's it going to save me, time wise? So my DVD Rebuilder will take maybe 3-5 min less? Whoopee!! Probably no difference at all with the x6! Other than that there's not enough difference when running Apps to justify the purchase, unless you are a dedicated gamer. It's just a waste of money to me. For all the talk about how much faster the Intel's are, for the most part they aren't worth the money, unless you are a heavy Duty Gamer, or you have specific needs as far as computers go, speed has become redundant! For most people, the gain isn't worth the cost. IMHO!

Russ

 

I don't really get the point you're trying to make. You spend more, you get more. How much people spend is relative because the scale between price and performance is logarithmic. Always has been, always will be.
The i7 950 is 30% faster, and overclocks a lot further than the AMD will too.
There's no arguing that overclocking is irrelevant, because frankly only enthusiasts would be buying high-end hardware like that.

Anyone defending AMD for AMD's sake and not that of reason always chooses the i7 as a comparison as it's so comparatively expensive.
The X4 955, 890XA-UD3 and 4GB of Corsair XMS3 RAM at 1600mhz costs $344, a bit less with a rebate.
An i5 760, P55A-UD3 and the same 4GB of Corsair XMS3 costs $398.
That $54 rise represents 16% more cost. Considering the i5 760 is a 20% faster CPU, that seems a perfectly viable option to me!
Now add the fact that the i5 760 is a 95W CPU versus the AMD's 125, and the final nail in the coffin is the 50% overclocking, versus the AMD's 25%.
The whole 'AMD is better value' ideal does not apply in this sector.
The only sector AMD have an absolute value advantage is in the low-end sector with dual cores. This makes up the largest portion of the market, and for that reason AMD are doing well. But for high-end CPUs like this, you can clearly see why I spec i5s in builds. They're if anything, better value!

 

just to add, the i5s also have turbo boot for the normal user.

also russ many people are jumping to blray ripping vs dvd rippeing.

not to mention video encoding for 20p plus content.

it still takes a while to go from mkvs to mp4s aswell.

x58 is there for the hig end, wjere there is still a market, no matter what you say, but H/P55 are there for the normal user.

most people end up buying a netbook, so all points are moot as it is haha.

edit. And without pushing performance more we would hit a stangant period. We wouldn't be where we are nowadays without it, and you with your long tech life should know that the most.

also this, we have here is an enthusiast forum, why bring up people outside us? We are not the average user. Infact if we were i am sure a c2d is still plenty enough. Something like an E5200.

though if amd were at the top, and the sitation was reversed im sure the argument would be reversed aswell, i would think.

 

oh i agree ddp, but we are enthuisats right? we arnt going to be buying off the self stuff, and doing mundane tasts lik web broswing/word proscessing only right?

i am not saying we are not going to help fellow members, im sure 99% of the people who ask, ask about what components they need, not how to buy a normal computer. so we help them, buy the best an enthusiast needs, for his/her needs and money.

im sure we arnt here to discuss what people who need to buy a computer from PC world need?


PS i completly agree, which ever one a member wants, we should help him choose the best one for that. i was not advocating choosing intel over AMD, was jsut trying to give a rebuttle to russ. no mallice intended, just saying what i sees.


PS heres a funny one, how to actually pronounce ASUS

http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/17/how-to-pronounce-asus-video/

 

Sam,
I know it costs more to get more, that's a simple thing. I used the i7 950 because you mentioned it, and it is relatively cheap. You are also right in that you are talking about the enthusiasts market, which is relatively small at about 10%. I'm speaking of the other 90%. I never considered the Building Thread an Enthusiasts thread, so that's a new one on me. I've never even heard of this thread being for enthusiasts. I would think that would be the job of the Overclocking thread.

More than half of the people that come here don't even overclock. I did say unless you are a heavy duty gamer, but I should have included Blue Ray as well, my screw up there. The majority of apps today are not multi-threaded, and most never will be. It's just not economical for what you would get out of them. Lets use Excel as an example. Lets say you build a spreadsheet. The only likely part of Excel to benefit from more speed if it was multi threaded, would be the calculation. Unless you are talking about a spreadsheet for the payroll of GM, the average calculation difference in speed, is fractions of a second. Most apps are just not that demanding.

I ran your CPU, MB and Memory and come up with $447, delivered, which is roughly $52 more than the cost of the 955, MB and Ram I mentioned in my post. I know it wouldn't be worth spending the extra $52 for me. For you or Shaff it would be, but. Shaff spoke of stagnation if the performance don't continue to improve. Generally speaking we have stagnation right now! Aside from high end gaming, and Blue Ray encoding, most of the speed difference is a bit worthless to someone like me. The numbers game only works for accountants. back in the day where a 3 hour DVD encode was considered normal, it would have mattered a lot. I average 27 min for a 2 pass encode, while the 15 760 doesn't encode as well. The average OC seems to be right at 3.6GHz for both, and the high OC seems to be right around 4.2GHz. Temperatures seem to be more of an issue for the i7 760 compared to the 955. I'm currently idling at 24-25C, and it's been on for 15 hours. It will hit 39C fully stressed. On a real hot day when it's about 85F in here, it will peak at 43C. I've had it OC'd to 4.2GHz (30%), but I don't want to exceed 1.40v. I have it running at 3.8GHz @1.377v, and I'm able to get about 97% of what it will do at 3.9GHz by making some adjustments it won't allow at 3.9GHz, so I'm happy with the performance. I'm happy with my video encoding and video editing, and I expect to improve on that when I upgrade to a 1090T BE. It runs all the hardware required for my two Wurlitzer Theater organs perfectly. I talked to AMD and they seem to think the sound and video glitches I've been having are the fault of the CPU, so they want me to send it in for a tested replacement, right after New Years.

Happy Holidays,
Russ

 

Shaff: You've made two rather conflicting arguments there, brushing off the high-end as an unnecessary [which the vast majority of the time, it is] and brushing off the low-end as "we're all enthusiasts".

As for the i7 argument, frankly most people who buy i7s on LGA1366 now that the i5s are out, don't know what they're doing. There are a few specific situations where they work well, but they're older, less efficient CPUs, often don't overclock as well as i5s, and per-clock they're actually marginally slower. They're simply good at certain specific programs.
Anyone who wants to take at pick at the i7 does not typically go "this is why you should buy an i5", they usually go "this is why Intel are bad and you should buy AMD" completely oblivious to where the actual value offerings are.
Intel sell overpriced high-end products that most people shouldn't buy. Congrats, nothing new here. The point is, they also sell decent value CPUs and that is very much the Core i5.
As for the Asus pronunciaton, for the last year or two I've been pronouncing it as I heard someone from the company pronounce it, ərzuːs [IPA]

Russ: The i7 950 is relatively cheap, but it's also relatively expensive. It's hugely more than its LGA1156 counterparts, as are the motherboards for X58.
H/P55 offers cheap boards, with acceptable brands starting from $80, and a good-spec Gigabyte being included in the comparison I made earlier.
Your argument about multi-threading only adds to the reason why I steer people away from Phenom II X6 CPUs.

I assume the extra cost is tax in your state, but wow, you wouldn't pay 13% more for a 20% faster system? You do see the folly in that right? It's hardly a bad deal.
Your sig tells the world you're willing to overclock, and quite significantly too. You've achieved just under 20% out of your X4 955. I could effectively guarantee you, you could get 45% out of the i5 760, and just as easily, in fact more easily than you have overclocked your AMD, and with less power too.
Whether you're the type of user you're describing or not, fact is, if it were you, you'd get a system almost half as fast again as your AMD, yet only pay an extra $50 for it. I think turning that down is frankly barmy.

 

sam,
Actually it's pronounced A-Zues, as in Greek mythology!

The total was $410 without the tax and shipping. I didn't include any rebates, because not every state allows them. How much is the VAT?

Well I guess I'm just Balmy then, but my plan is to upgrade to a 1090T BE as soon as I can afford one! I have another contract coming up for more Miniature Air Turbine research and testing, using Auto-Cad. Lots of 3D rendering, which the i5 760 sucks at.
I do a lot of audio/video converting, 3D rendering and video editing work, and the 6-core Phenom II X6 1090T BE 3.2GHz excels at those tasks.

The average OC is 3.9GHz, and many get all the way to 4.2GHz without overvolting. The Office bought one for the Design Engineer, and his is OC'd to 4.1GHz. He highly recommended it to me! He says it runs our custom Auto-Cad software great!

I guess that's enough reasons for me to be Balmy! LOL!!

Happy Holidays,
Russ