New good spec general PC/modest gaming build

merc.ie

Having another that works doesn't rule out this one being faulty. Are you sure a checkdisk pass rules out all problems/incompatabilities?

slave1

I hear you, just saying I want to do my best to eliminate the basics per Scan's suggestions before moving onto a hard drive, it could literally be anything...

slave1

Whether this means anything to any of ye guys the PC froze during boot yesterday (twice), I think that could possibly slim down where the fault lies?

deconduo

Probably not from overheating then. If you have a mechanical drive, try installing windows on it and seeing if the problems persist with the SSD unplugged. That would eliminate the SSD as the source.

Fluffy88

deconduo wrote: »

Probably not from overheating then. If you have a mechanical drive, try installing windows on it and seeing if the problems persist with the SSD unplugged. That would eliminate the SSD as the source.

Rather than going to all that bother couldn't you unplug the SSD and put Ubuntu onto a USB and boot into Ubuntu from the USB? Means no messing around with installing windows on a new drive and would be alot quicker and gives the same result.
Just an idea, all the instructions needed are on Ubuntu's website.
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

kahf1_01

hey, sorry to invade your fourm here, but ok ubuntu is great for downloading for free and installing your OS, ... cos it saves money on windows 7.

But do most comm'on games like cod, assassin's creed, crysis work on ubuntu. Or should you just try and find a "borrowed" copy of windows 7

edit: btw fluffy, you should be awarded a meda herel. I find your advice great and helpful.

Fluffy88

Most games don't run natively on Ubuntu, but a lot of them can be ran on it using different tools. But if you want to play games, don't use Ubuntu as your main/only OS as it will just be a pain. I wouldn't even recommend switching fully to Ubuntu either. Here I was just adding to deconduo's advice since doing the same thing through Ubuntu on a USB would be easier, cleaner and quicker.

Ubuntu as an OS is great, I love it, it's fast, really fast and quite easy to use. You can get almost anything for it and it's all free. Plus I like to support it because so many people have put so much effort into making it for no pay they deserve our respect and support. But I love Win7 too, it feels cleaner and simpler to me and I wouldn't think of building a new computer and not putting 7 onto it.
If you were on a very tight budget maybe I would leave win7 out of the build, but for €45 I think it's worth paying for.


And thank you for that great compliment! But I'm not the one that you should thank it's all the great minds here that share their knowledge of computers and building them so freely, like deconduo, Monotype, Solitaire and lot's of others (sorry if I didn't mention you, I have the worst memory for names a special thanks to anyone I forgot :P ).

deconduo

Fluffy88 wrote: »

Most games don't run natively on Ubuntu, but a lot of them can be ran on it using different tools. But if you want to play games, don't use Ubuntu as your main/only OS as it will just be a pain. I wouldn't even recommend switching fully to Ubuntu either. Here I was just adding to deconduo's advice since doing the same thing through Ubuntu on a USB would be easier, cleaner and quicker.

Ubuntu as an OS is great, I love it, it's fast, really fast and quite easy to use. You can get almost anything for it and it's all free. Plus I like to support it because so many people have put so much effort into making it for no pay they deserve our respect and support. But I love Win7 too, it feels cleaner and simpler to me and I wouldn't think of building a new computer and not putting 7 onto it.
If you were on a very tight budget maybe I would leave win7 out of the build, but for €45 I think it's worth paying for.


And thank you for that great compliment! But I'm not the one that you should thank it's all the great minds here that share their knowledge of computers and building them so freely, like deconduo, Monotype, Solitaire and lot's of others (sorry if I didn't mention you, I have the worst memory for names a special thanks to anyone I forgot :P ).

I have Windows 7 on my destktop and itss pretty awesome and definitely worth the money. Its smoother, safer and more stable than XP (and Vista, but that goes without saying :P ) I would encourage you to get it if you can afford it, and as fluffy said its only €45 if you are a student.

However, I run Linux Mint on my laptop because I find the customizability great and that the battery life is a fair bit better. With WINE you can run games only designed for windows, though you will suffer a performance hit. I can run Diablo 2, Brood War and a few other games on my laptop with no problems, but they are quite old. Games like CoD, Crysis etc. do work as far as I know, though slower than they would on windows.

If you've never used linux before, it can be a bit scary to get used to, especially using the command line. Ubuntu is defintely the distro I'd recommend to try out first, just to mess around with and get a feel for it. Google is your friend as well.

Monotype

Mint is great. I should install it again. I've tried a good few distributions but have fallen away in the past while because MS did a nice job with W7. Kubuntu gives a more windows style layout, so that might be worth checking out.

kahf1_01

I bought that student version of win7, ive got it on my laptop. would I be allowed to get another copy. plus you can't install it straight on. you've got to have a copy of vista, or xp on the machine first. which is a bit of a pain.

Fluffy88

It's one purchase per student on http://www.software4students.ie/ so unless you have a brother/son or sister/daughter which can create a new account, sorry you can't.

And it is possible to install the upgrade version without actually having Vista or XP, google it

slave1

Okay, back to topic of frustration.
I swapped the GPU for a steady GTS8800 and still getting the random freezes so I therefore presume it is not the GPU.

Now onto Scan's recommended action points.

Remove the motherboard from the case, remove everything from the board
apart from the CPU + heat sink and then clear the CMOS
DONE
Place the board on a non-conductive surface, plug in the main power
connector (usually 24 pin) and any extra power connector (4pin or 8 pin)
the case speaker and the power button, and power the system up.
Depending on the board, you may receive a series of POST beeps. Make a
note of these.
RESULT WAS
LONGISH BEEP FOLLOWED BY SHORTER BEEP AND ANOTHER SHORTER BEEP
THIS PATTERN CONTINUES TO REPEAT
Add a single stick of memory and power the system again, noting the
result.
4 BEEPS SLIGHT DELAY THEN ANOTHER BEEP
Finally, add the graphics card (if using one) and again note the
resulting POST beeps.
BEEP A BIT OF A DELAY AND THEN ANOTHER BEEP

I reconnected everything and all back up and 'working' (until the next freeze that is...

I checked the RAM SKU versus the M/Board compatability list and the code is slightly off, I've used so called generic 'non-compatible' RAM before on PCs and never an issue, in addition I have no m/board warnings about incompatible RAM (m/board has light to indicate same).

Will give SCAN a call tomorrow to see if the BEEPS above mean anything, just wondering does it mean anything to anyone here......

slave1

Scan requested an RMA for the m/board, CPU and RAM so it should be interesting to see how their customer service pans out...