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General PC Hardware Help

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by Midway the Echidna, Mar 13, 2013.

  1. GerbilSoft

    GerbilSoft

    RickRotate'd. Administrator
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    Microsoft isn't going to magically know that you removed a given Windows license from a laptop if you install another OS, especially if that other OS isn't Windows to begin with. (Not to mention dual-boot systems, where you have more than one OS installed on the same drive.) Typically, non-OEM Windows licenses allow activation on another machine after a given amount of time. (For XP, I think it was around 6 months.) OEM licenses are locked to the first system they're installed on permanently.

    Also, migrating Windows to another hard drive or motherboard isn't a pain because of activation. It's a pain because Windows' bootloader is braindead and will fail to boot if the slightest hardware change is done. Motherboard changes always caused this problem on Windows NT-based systems, especially if the chipset is changed. HDD changes only caused problems starting with Vista, since the new boot manager is an awful pile of crap that hardcodes the HDD serial number. (This can be fixed by booting to the Windows install disc and running a BCD repair.)
     
  2. Midway the Echidna

    Midway the Echidna

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    To your first point- that's more or less what I was trying to say. The motherboard has outdated information, and it's not like it can report to Microsoft that it no longer has Windows.

    To your second point- I didn't think of that other problem. I knew hard drive and motherboard changes throw a monkey wrench in everything, but I always attributed most of the problems to the motherboard. Activation still sucks and adds another layer of arbitrary complexity, but the bootloader really is the worst problem. WAT Remover was my answer, and it certainly helped.

    Thanks for catching that! I'm glad other people are getting involved in the thread to verify suggestions and offer up better suggestions!:)
     
  3. Lanzer

    Lanzer

    The saber calls for its master... Member
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    Guys I almost have my parts picked out. Im still deciding on the graphics card though, I was told by HP to look through this list:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=-1&isNodeId=1&Description=agp+8x+graphics

    What do you guys reccommend? Remember here is a full specs scan from EVEREST:
    http://pastebin.com/yc4VrXg9
     
  4. Skaarg

    Skaarg

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    About the only decent one on there is the HD 4350, but I would take the advice that's earlier in the thread and get a used HD 2600 for ~$15. It's older, but gets better performance.
     
  5. Lanzer

    Lanzer

    The saber calls for its master... Member
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    Is there anywhere I can buy it new? I know thats a long shot, but I'm really iffy when it comes to buying used parts especially graphics cards.

    EDIT: Looking at that 4350, it doesn't seem to run good on win7 which is what I want to upgrade to, other then the 2600, any other reccommendations from either that list or something else?
     
  6. Skaarg

    Skaarg

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    I saw a couple on amazon, but they we're really expensive for an AGP card. (talking like over $85-90)

    For cards on that Newegg page the only other real option besides the 4350 is the 3450 which is a bit worse than the 4350. All the other cards on there are like 9-10 generations old (and probably have a lower chance of working properly with Windows 7) so not worth the price really.

    Other than those two or buying the 2600 used looking to ebay for cards is about your only option. Most retailers just don't carry them anymore because they're so outdated and rarely purchased anymore.
     
  7. Lanzer

    Lanzer

    The saber calls for its master... Member
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    Ah ok, well I knew this was gonna be a task, but whats a project without difficulties amiright? :v:

    Anyways onto another issue:
    http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f16/delayed-write-failed-after-putting-hdd-into-an-case-enclosure-692688.html

    This dude is telling me to write off my entire drive because some program in DOS won't pick it up to scan. I want a second opinion, what do you think Retro and what should I do?
     
  8. Mastered Realm

    Mastered Realm

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    Just connect the damn drive internally with a SATA cable... even my grandma can do that.
     
  9. Lanzer

    Lanzer

    The saber calls for its master... Member
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    My own computer's slots are filled so it would be a bit of a hassle. and the project computer I'm working on only has IDE/PATA.

    I'm just wondering if theres anything else I can do out here before I have to go borrow my brother's computer. if theres nothing else then its fine.

    No need for the attitude btw.
     
  10. Looking at the enclosures customer reviews, I would definitely take the drive out of the enclosure and try hooking it up directly to the PC. After you manage to do that, try viewing the SMART data to see if there are any errors with the drive. Try using crystal disk info which is a good tool that might help you figure out what's wrong.
     
  11. Jason

    Jason

    *Results not lab tested. Member
    Uh...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FERqsP5rkjw
    Ignore the short bursts of buzzing. That's just the phone. This seems to happen occasionally without much warning. No specific task seems to trigger it. This sound is different than normal, but in every case the computer freezes, and if noise was playing, some noise like a very short repeating clip of it plays until I shut the computer off. Any thoughts?
     
  12. Ultima

    Ultima

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    Run memtestx86. Sounds like a memory error to me, offhand :P
     
  13. JaredAFX

    JaredAFX

    You telling me a shrimp fried this rice? Member
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    I'm looking to buy parts for a custom PC. I'm competent in my ability to get compatible parts, but just in case, I wanna ask you guys before ordering.


    I'm not trying to cheap out on anything. If you guys think I should get different parts, please, let me know. I'm at about $1,200 right now and I can go higher. $1,400-1,500 is my max--I really want this to be future proof for a couple of years. Play Generations flawlessly now... replace dying parts 4-5 years later.
     
  14. Ell678

    Ell678

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    I'd consider looking at the 700 series Nvidia cards. They are obviously a bit more expensive - the 760 is about £75 more than the 660 but if futureproof is what you want, this is what you should get.
     
  15. Extended Play

    Extended Play

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    Cheap out? You have quite a bit of money sunk in the motherboard. You can get something that will suit your needs just as well for $120. From there, you could use the savings to buy 16GB of RAM for good future-proofing with the onset of the Playstation 4.

    I also wouldn't bother buying an i7 CPU because hyperthreading costs you $100 more and does not offer a noticeable improvement in games. Instead, I'd just buy the Core i5 4670k. For one thing, you could overclock it. You can get it to at least 4.2GHz with an aftermarket heatsink, like this one I use that works perfectly. Even in the most favorable circumstances, Hyperthreading cannot outperform a 25% overclock. Making this decision will give you a big performance increase if you choose to overclock, and only a 5-10% drop if you choose not to. and save you $55. The motherboard will even do the overclocking for you automatically if you don't want to raise the voltage offset by 0.05V.

    That wireless adapter you found is only compatible with mini pci-e slots found on laptops, so you would have to shell out about $10 for an adapter just to make it work on your desktop PC. You also don't have to buy at wireless adapter at the obscene price of $54. I have this $8 wireless-N adapter that uses USB 2.0 that has worked perfectly for me. Remember- your wi-fi adapter only needs to be as fast as your internet service, and this thing still moves data at 150mbps. As it turns out, I don't need mine anymore. Since it was so cheap, I'll just give it to you for free. I can mail it in a small envelope for ~50 cents. This right here is $65 in savings, $57 even if you had to buy the adapter for yourself. You also don't even have to open your PC to install and remove this thing.

    With those savings, I would recommend buying an NVidia GTX 760 instead of the 650Ti. The performance gain is over double, I don't know what else to say about that.

    I think you would be better off saving your money and getting a 550W PSU instead. This is still a lot more than what you need for an 85W CPU and a GTX 760. This PSU is still 80PLUS Gold certified, so it's highly efficient.

    As for your storage solution, I would just shell out $10 more and get this 128GB SSD instead of that 64GB unit or else skip the SSD altogether. You have to put most of your games on the hard drive anyway, so the performance gain isn't that great. I have an SSD, and it's really not that much better for desktops. If you take my advice, you're getting 16GB of RAM anyway which gives you enough RAM to run an 8GB drive on ramdisk (run a virtual hard drive using RAM) which reads at over 6000 MB/s instead of 400 MB/s. 8GB of These things provide the most utility inside laptops where shock resistance, power consumption, and noise are much more significant deciding factors. When I do a complete reboot, I'm going to put my 60GB SSD in my laptop anyway. If you don't get the SSD, you save $82.

    Summary of suggestions...
    -Buy a cheaper motherboard that still has everything you need and more, save $60.
    -Buy the unlocked i5 instead of the locked i7, buy a $25 heatsink, save $55 and still get a 20% performance increase.
    -Don't buy the incompatible wi-fi adpater, take mine for free, save another $55 and have an adapter that actually works.
    -Don't buy a 750W PSU, buy a 550W PSU, save $40, and still have way more power than you need even with a GTX 760 in your system.
    -Don't buy the SSD, use RAMdisk instead, save $82 and get over 15 times the read/write speed.
    -Use the $290 you just saved to buy 16GB of RAM instead of 8, buy a GTX 760 instead of a 650Ti, and watch your game performance shoot through the roof.
    -Maybe buy another set of the same RAM sticks I just recommended since you have a $1400 budget, and you've still spent less after doing all these things.

    If you do everything I suggested, you spend $25 more, but you end up with a CPU that's typically 20% faster, a video card twice as fast, and four times as much RAM. I can't make any suggestions about getting Windows 7 cheaply because Sonic Retro has rules set in place for understandable reasons, but if to use more than 16GB as system RAM (not ramdisk), you need to get Windows 7 Pro instead.

    EDIT: http://www.raymond.cc/blog/superspeed-firefox-by-putting-profile-and-sqlite-database-in-ramdisk/
    I'm sure this will come in handy.
     
  16. JaredAFX

    JaredAFX

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    Thank you so much! Don't get me wrong: I completely understand what you're saying, but I'm just new to putting components together. I wouldn't really have thought to do any of this. This is why I love this community.
     
  17. Extended Play

    Extended Play

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    Yeah, no problem! I love this community too, but I need to stop procrasturbating long enough to actually get some work done on my fangame.

    Man, I envy you with that budget. I only had $850 to make my PC, so I was cheap on the graphics card and put $225 into the CPU.

    I was kind of wishy-washy about the extra RAM, but I would say resolutely to buy all 32GB if you have the money. A 16GB RAM drive will make everything run stupid fast if you set it to load the OS from the hard disk on startup.

    EDIT: One last thing, please make sure to watch the how-to videos. Personally, I received a lot of help from watching Linus Tech Tips.
     
  18. Vinchenz

    Vinchenz

    Yo! Hustle! Hustle! Member
    So I keep getting BSODs on my computer. I'm kind of assuming that its because its been hot and its over heating but it worrying me.

    Anyone know how I can figure out the cause of the BSODs? From what I can seem to gather, it's pretty random but I think maybe it has to do something with the GPU? Since it happens while I'm watching YouTube videos (then again... I pretty much ALWAYS have a YouTube video going but it has happened when I've started the video several times and once when I exited the window the video is on).
     
  19. winterhell

    winterhell

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    It could be from pretty much anything. For me it most often happens either from HDD problems(the drive gets disconnected on its own and you have to restart). Also CPU failure, clocked too high or having a damaged core that you need to disable.
     
  20. What may help with diagnosing the blue screen would be to note down any useful information from the blue screen, such as the error code or anything else. I managed to determine my computer was crashing due to a failing Wifi card after I noticed the BSOD always mentioned the file name of it's driver.