Hardware Discussion Thread

farna_boy

marco_polo wrote: »

Probably kick myself when I see the answer but can't think who TTL are?

I wasn't sure myself, but from what I can tell it's Tom Logan, who does reviews for Overclock3D.net.

His results do seem a little strange especially for someone who claims to be an AMD fan. Most other reviews have found the FX to be comparable to the 3570K in multithreaded applications, even beating it sometimes but there is no mention of that.

Saying that though, the review isn't as bad as anandtech's results.

N64

Dabs accepted my RMA (took them about 3 working days to process the RMA ) and I should have the money back in my account soon enough.

I arranged the RMA on the phone and the CS rep stated that the engineers will test the card just to make sure it actually is faulty. So I presume the way I did get a refund means that the card was faulty?

I really want to go with AMD again since the 12.11 drivers look excellent and the 7870 is cheap but then again, I have a really bad experience with the AMD platform in general.

My budget is just about €240 and I'm looking for speedy delivery since I have a week off starting on Friday. Any recommendations? :pac:

ED E

Yeah, Tiny Tom Logan is what he signs on/off with, and the channel is Time To Live customs.

I think he was realistic, they arent bad per say, they just arent enough of an improvement, AMD are showing no progression.

Linus was quite positive, but thats his cheerful canadian attitude, he's never hard on anything.

In a way its ironic the naming convention when intel are steamrolling amd on their way to a monopoly....

*gets coat*

Eboggles

N64 wrote: »

Dabs accepted my RMA (took them about 3 working days to process the RMA ) and I should have the money back in my account soon enough.

I arranged the RMA on the phone and the CS rep stated that the engineers will test the card just to make sure it actually is faulty. So I presume the way I did get a refund means that the card was faulty?

I really want to go with AMD again since the 12.11 drivers look excellent and the 7870 is cheap but then again, I have a really bad experience with the AMD platform in general.

My budget is just about €240 and I'm looking for speedy delivery since I have a week off starting on Friday. Any recommendations? :pac:

Get a HD7870 if you think it will work with your basically cursed system. Otherwise, just grab a GTX 660 and be done with it.

N64

Eboggles wrote: »

Get a HD7870 if you think it will work with your basically cursed system. Otherwise, just grab a GTX 660 and be done with it.

Cursed is definitely the right word to use . I have watched god knows how many youtube videos on building PC's and read guides on various sites and I just can't see what I am doing wrong!

I *might* be able to stretch my budget out to the 660ti w/ borderlands two bundle on amazon. Pray to whoever that it actually works out this time :pac:

freeze4real

Hi all, so I got win 8 yesterday or my bro did and he had to boot from my iPhone since he downloaded it to it, but after installing it all his files are gone.

Since I don't want that method of installing win8 whats the best way of doing so ?

PseudoFamous

click "upgrade" rather than "fresh install", make sure to not format the drive, etc.

Monotype

I see an FM2 ITX board on scan for preorder, due on the 31st.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-fm2-a75ia-e53-amd-a75-fm2-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-d-sub-hdmi-mini-itx

freeze4real

PseudoFamous wrote: »

click "upgrade" rather than "fresh install", make sure to not format the drive, etc.

Will I still have access to my files and stuff as I do now ? And will they still work properly

PseudoFamous

freeze4real wrote: »

Will I still have access to my files and stuff as I do now ? And will they still work properly

yes, if you use the "upgrade" option rather than clean install.

Tea_Bag

logitech finally releases a mechanical keyboard:

strangely they decided to go with MX browns. looks good anyway.

PseudoFamous

Here, lads, looking to go up to windows 8 now, and I'm planning on wiping the SSD for this install and doing it fresh.

Any advice on how to do this?

Monotype

Just put in the install disc, boot and wipe* all the partitions by selecting a custom install.
No need for full formats or anything like that.

*By wipe, I mean delete the partitions. Oh yeah, disconnect your other drives too - and enable AHCI if you haven't done it before.

PseudoFamous

Monotype wrote: »

Just put in the install disc, boot and wipe* all the partitions by selecting a custom install.
No need for full formats or anything like that.

*By wipe, I mean delete the partitions. Oh yeah, disconnect your other drives too - and enable AHCI if you haven't done it before.

I was originally planning on zero writing it since I've started seeing a marked decrease in performance (OCZ Agility 3 - miracle its lasted so long), would there be a point in doing this, or is it just unnecessary effort?

N64

Apparently there is a manufacturing defect with sapphire branded 7870's

http://translate.google.com/translate?depth=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http://www.hardware.fr/news/12705/radeon-hd-7870-ecrans-noirs-solution.html

EIDT: this does not seem to be limited to sapphire cards and happens with a couple OF AMD partners. Some other articles about the issue state that they knew of the problem before they shipped it as well

Monotype

The agility 3 decreases in performance the fuller it gets - perhaps this is the cause of the slowdown? Have you got TRIM enabled?

I'd just go for the straight install, after deleting the partitions or a quick format. TRIM should be taking care of what zero writing would do for you and it seems to me that it would cause unnecessary wear.

PseudoFamous

Monotype wrote: »

The agility 3 decreases in performance the fuller it gets - perhaps this is the cause of the slowdown? Have you got TRIM enabled?

I'd just go for the straight install, after deleting the partitions or a quick format. TRIM should be taking care of what zero writing would do for you and it seems to me that it would cause unnecessary wear.

Yeah, TRIM is on. Currently about 16/60GB free at the minute (Pagefile and hibernation off), so I'm not quite sure if that's considered relatively full. I'll go with the quick format when I get home then, thanks.

thewheel2.0

N64 wrote: »

Apparently there is a manufacturing defect with sapphire branded 7870's

Oh god no! I'm so happy with my 7870 OC which is the exact card the article talks about. I remember the second or third game I played the screen went and I had the no signal message from my monitor and I had to do a hard reboot but I've had no issues since. I have no idea what to do now.

NTMK

Tea_Bag wrote: »

logitech finally releases a mechanical keyboard:

strangely they decided to go with MX browns. looks good anyway.

browns are a safe enough choice for their first go nicer than reds/blacks for typists and nicer than blues for gamers

Looks like the G110 which is a plus

€150 on their website though you'd probably be better off getting a filco/cm quickfire for that money (less money in the case of the quickfire) or even a razer mech (if they fixed the problems with them)

Serephucus

I think I'll be getting one. I love my QPad, but I really miss media keys...

NTMK

Serephucus wrote: »

I think I'll be getting one. I love my QPad, but I really miss media keys...

What switches did you get on it? and how did you find the build quality

Serephucus

Browns, and excellent. Very solid.

N64

http://blogs.amd.com/work/2012/10/29/amd-and-arm-team-up-to-drive-innovation-in-the-data-center/

AMD breaking into the ARM CPU market (although only for servers for the time being) :eek:

Tea_Bag

welcome back NTMK!


lads, whats the best single slot GPU i can get my hands on? it also needs to be low power/motherboard powered only if possible. basically i need to get it into a Thermaltake ElementQ case (with its 220W PSU that doesnt have any PCIe connectors)

the only job it needs to do is movies and World Of Tanks at med settings @ 1080p.

any suggestions?

Serephucus

GT 640, or 7750, as far as I can see. No idea how they compare or any of that though.

Tea_Bag

thanks. the gt640 looks to be quite a lot slower than the 7750. kinda looks like the 7750 is a rebadged 5770, which wasnt a slouch in its day tbf.

found this 7750 for €82. looks good enough.

struggling to find any people talking about world of tanks and the 7750 though

ED E

Tea_Bag wrote: »

struggling to find any people talking about world of tanks and the 7750 though

Runs quite acceptably on a 5770

Tea_Bag

thats what I want to hear. the lads playing it dont have a clue what fps is, so numbers arent important. just that its consistantly smooth @ 1080p. how high could you get the settings while maintaining 30fps?

NTMK

Tea_Bag wrote: »

welcome back NTMK!


lads, whats the best single slot GPU i can get my hands on? it also needs to be low power/motherboard powered only if possible. basically i need to get it into a Thermaltake ElementQ case (with its 220W PSU that doesnt have any PCIe connectors)
the only job it needs to do is movies and World Of Tanks at med settings @ 1080p.

any suggestions?

is the 6450 or whatever is in it not doing the job or have you got the upgrade itch again since i moved out

Does the PSU have molex connectors on it?

Tea_Bag

yea its got a molex so i can splice a PCIe connector if needed.

this one isnt for me :P

NTMK

Tea_Bag wrote: »

yea its got a molex so i can splice a PCIe connector if needed.

this one isnt for me :P

I know if it was for you, you'd use the 6990:pac:

Is it the case from the server?

You've definitely pushed someone you know to get a custom build (again) haven't you?

ED E

i

Tea_Bag wrote: »

thats what I want to hear. the lads playing it dont have a clue what fps is, so numbers arent important. just that its consistantly smooth @ 1080p. how high could you get the settings while maintaining 30fps?

Havent played it in a while, just set the patcher going now and I'll let ya know in a little while.

Settings:
http://i.imgur.com/S98Vk.jpg
Saw min 32fps, max 56, hovered at 35 while running and gunning, 45 in arty mode. Stock clocks 5770PMD1G.

Eboggles

Tea_Bag wrote: »

thanks. the gt640 looks to be quite a lot slower than the 7750. kinda looks like the 7750 is a rebadged 5770, which wasnt a slouch in its day tbf.

found this 7750 for €82. looks good enough.

struggling to find any people talking about world of tanks and the 7750 though

That HD7750 is going to be crippled due to the GDDR3 memory, I really wish they wouldn't try catching out consumers by giving them cards that look better value but are actually worse.

Tea_Bag

didn't even notice that!

wondering how they got away with that
that single slot cooler.

Eboggles

AMD to launch Radeon HD 7930 in Mid-November @Videocardz/HT4U

Article is as follows:

According to the news provided by HT4U, AMD may launch a new Tahiti LE based graphics card this month.

The first leaks regarding a new graphics card based on Tahiti LE silicon surfaced few months ago, where a new driver listing mentioned such GPU. It’s yet unclear what is the exact name of this model, but considering this would still be a Tahiti chip, then there’s only one possibility – Radeon HD 7930. However the source is mentioning that the name would actually be based on HD 7800 series — possibly Radeon HD 7870 Boost Edition.

As for the Tahiti LE, current rumors are not very detailed, but according to previous leaks this crippled GPU would offer 1536 stream processors along with full 32 ROPs from other high-end models.

AMD is probably targeting a performance segment of recently launched GeForce GTX 660 and 660 Ti. This would be somewhere between Radeon HD 7870 and HD 7950 non-Boost Edition.

It’s worth mentioning that the same thing happened almost a year ago, when AMD launched its Radeon HD 6930. Back then, that new graphics card was called a ‘new entry high-performance class gpu’.

So if the rumors are true, then AMD Radeon HD 7930 or 7870 Boost Edition would be launched in mid November for a price between $260 and $280.

What? Why? I thought that the HD7870 and HD7950 were already close to begin with...

Gbear

Eboggles wrote: »

AMD to launch Radeon HD 7930 in Mid-November @Videocardz/HT4U

Article is as follows:


What? Why? I thought that the HD7870 and HD7950 were already close to begin with...

There's the bones of €100 in it for most of the models.

It might just kind make the 7870 obsolete and it'll break down between 7850, 7930 and the 7950.

Monotype

They should have done a 7830 a few months ago when there was nothing in that price region. Well the 7850 is cheaper now, so it's all good.

The 7930 is probably to sell off some of their wonky cards like the 5830 was.

Tea_Bag

PlayStation4 will be using a derivative of AMDs A10 APU.

m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=498008

not surprised in any way, but its nice that its been 'confirmed' now. 8 or 16gb of RAM, so Sony isn't making that mistake again. they're expecting 1080p60 in 3D.

I'm happy AMD sealed the deal. they'll have the XBox too, teaming up with Arm in the server market, GPU’s doing well against nvidia, 8350 actually a CPU worthy of an upgrade over phenom. hopefully they'll be around for a few more rounds of consumer CPUs now their foot is firmly in the door for next generation.

now where the hell is my itx FM2 motherboard?

Eboggles

Here?

Waiting for it to come back into stock, a mate might be getting one .

glynf

What do you all make of this? anyone here tempted to go to 21:9?

Serephucus

Thought about it. Would be very nice for productivity, but seeing as I watch so much TV, I couldn't stand having letter-boxing on the sides.

Tea_Bag

glynf wrote: »

What do you all make of this? anyone here tempted to go to 21:9?

I think its silly.

Gbear

glynf wrote: »

What do you all make of this? anyone here tempted to go to 21:9?

I would presume games would look ludicrously stretched, no?

Films too?

glynf

All I could think to do with it is watch films & film editing, that or programs that have a sh!t load of toolbars etc. open at once. Guaranteed some clown puts 3 in surround/eyefinity by the end of the year though

dwighet

glynf wrote: »

All I could think to do with it is watch films & film editing, that or programs that have a sh!t load of toolbars etc. open at once. Guaranteed some clown puts 3 in surround/eyefinity by the end of the year though

And I was just about to get 3 of em:o

ShadowHearth

I like it. Though knowing dell price tag - 5million dollars!!!

ED E

It'd be great if you could split it to two virtual displays, so windows would size to half screen, no point in a browser being that wide say.

glynf

dwighet wrote: »

And I was just about to get 3 of em:o

You would end up with a neck like a battered turkey

Gbear

Gbear wrote: »

I would presume games would look ludicrously stretched, no?

Films too?

The majority of Hollywood films are scope which is more or less the same as the aspect of this monitor. Its not a massive majority...there are plenty of movies in 1.85 or other ratios but certainly more than 60-70% are scope.

However most TV shows are 16:9 so if you'll have bars on the side.

Any decent game will have adjustable fov so it shouldn't be any more of an issue than a multi-monitor setup. Actually it would be great for FPS or driving games or any game where you'd like more peripheral vision.

Zillah

glynf wrote: »

What do you all make of this? anyone here tempted to go to 21:9?

This would be absolutely amazing for multimedia and video editing. As for movies, professional films tend to be in 1.85:1 or 2.35:1, which is much more wide than 16:9 (hence the black bars), so they would actually use up most of the real-estate. They wouldn't stretch, I imagine, any more than movies are warped to fit 16:9 screens, they would just have black spaces at the sides. I'd get one of these monitors in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the price tag.