Messages posted by: TheElectrician

We just got about 24 milimeters.

The actual revised high temp is -1.

Yay.

The high tomorrow for me is 4, with -3 for most of the day.

I have another question if someone has any input.

What is the value of adding a SSD to your setup? I was looking at possibly buying one, but I don't know the true benefit/value of having one at this point.

At this stage, it seems more almost more like an unnecessary novelty. Not to mention the prices are a bit high for my liking.

Anyhow, what is the advantage of having one of these drives integrated into your system? Is the cost/benefit worth it at this point?

Indeed I am. Everything went pretty smoothly. It was a bit sad giving up my beloved windows XP, but windows 7 is great.

Let me just say that the new rig is FAST, fast, fast. I love it. Runs everything I throw at it without a hitch so far. CPU stays very cool with the aftermarket fan. Case fans are nearly silent.

I still have much tweaking to do, but so far I couldn't be happier.

I paid 240 for the 560 ti. I believe there was also a rebate. I almost always rely on Newegg, but Micro Center's prices were better across the board. After much research, I couldn't justify the extra 60-70 bucks on the 448 cores as the benchmarks weren't that much better.

If I was going that route, I'd have just gotten the 570. My goal was to build a system that would be optimal for a good while. My philosophy with tech purchases in general is to buy the absolute best you can afford.

This is my 3rd build, and the best to date.

Update:

So after much testing and research I have figured out that my GPU is basically on its last leg. My core system is well over 6 years old and despite my hopes of rehabilitating my current setup, I pulled the trigger on a new build.

Here's what I will be building tomorrow:

Case- Antec 300
MB- Gigabyte Z86X-UD3H-B3
CPU- Intel i7 2600k 3.4Ghz
GPU - EVGA Geforce 560 Ti superclocked
Power Supply - OCZ 650W ZS series
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 8Gb DDR3 1600
CPU fan - Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus
OS- Windows 7 Pro x64

Recycling my 1TB sata HD, HP optical drive, 3.5" floppy, and my peripherals.

Told the wife about it AFTER I bought it. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, as they say.... lol.

Very excited to put the new rig together.

All parts were purchased from my local Micro Center. They were cheaper on ALL parts over Newegg or any other online retailer I could find. Plus, I have it now, vs. waiting for shipping.

It's no Demon-build PC, but some of us have small children and a budget.

Can't wait to get the rig up and running!

Cheers!

Great topic.

I love to read, but having two young kids makes it tougher these days.

I read mostly fiction but occasionally some non-fiction when the topic appeals to me.

Currently reading Dance of Death by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. They write thriller and slightly sci-fi based novels. I would say that their books are the equivalent to a great popcorn flick. Fast reads and very entertaining. Dance of Death is one in a series of novels featuring a recurring character whom I love.

One of my favorite authors is Dean Koontz. Love his descriptive writing style. His Odd Thomas series is wonderful. Great character and fun stories. I've read so many of his books, but hardly put a dent in his library. He's one of those authors that never seems to sleep.

Just got turned on to Vince Flynn. He writes political/spy novels. Local boy as well. Like him so far.

Tried to get into James Patterson, but just can't so far. Wife loves his books. He famously has the Alex Cross series. Maybe I'll give it another go.

Nelson Demille is another one I read occasionally. Good writing and good storylines.

Phillip K. Dick's stuff is always good sci-fi fodder.

Growing up I must have read every syllable that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote. Still love him. I have sort of become spoiled by his fantasy writing in that I haven't found another author that holds my attention. If anyone has some recommendations for fantasy-esque authors akin to Tolkien, please post them.

If heat is the issue, then the gpu's fan must not be functioning properly any more. My system as a whole always runs well below any dangerous temp levels. Intel system monitors always look great.

Any way to repair a malfunctioning gpu fan?

Card is pci-e.

MB and cpu are same age as vid card. I really don't want to spend money on upgrading those.

Have an intel cpu.

UPDATE:

Ok, so I have run some tests and here are the results.

First, updated BIOS to latest version.
Next, uninstalled vid card, then reinstalled with newest driver.

Ran dxdiag and found no issues in any test.

Downloaded microsoft's RAM test utility, and RAM is funtioning properly. No errors found.

Downloaded GPU-Z utility and monitored GPU stats. Fan is running. Idle temp is around 60-70 degrees. Fired up a graphically intensive game and temp goes to high 80's or so.

Did Furmark test and card never got above 90 degrees.

I only get artifacts now on graphically intensive games.

Dunno what else it could be other than a dying video card.

Any other suggestions?

Ok, so I've been running my GeForce 7900GS for about 4 years now, and I think it may be dying.

In the last week or so when I boot the system, I get vertical green pixelated lines on the windows XP splash screen. Then the video goes to black.

I had the latest Nvidia driver installed. Did a rollback, and rebooted. Fixed the problem temporarily.

Sometimes when I reboot, I get the vertical lines, then a screen full of bizarre artifacts. If I reboot and hit F8 for safe mode, the OS select screen text is all jumbled but readable. Safe mode looks fine. No artifacts, no graphical issues.

I know the card is clean, and I think the fans are running ok. I don't get any BSOD or any error messages on startup.

Been researching the issue and it sounds like a GPU problem. I know that RAM and/or MB issues may also be at fault. What diagnostics can I run, and what is the next step? And no, I don't want to "bake" the card to try and fix it. I'd rather just pony up and buy a new card if necessary.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I'm baaaaack.

After what was supposed to be a couple weeks of work (yeah right) in Amsterdam, NY, I'm finally home. Two weeks turned into two plus months.
Being away from my family was miserable. Not to mention that Amsterdam is about the most boring town imagineable. We went to Cooperstown one weekend to check out the MLB hall of fame. That was spectacular.

I got back about a week and a half ago just in time for my little guy's first birthday, then two days later flew to Jamaica with my wife to celebrate our 10th anniversary. It was a MUCH needed vacation and we had a wonderful time. That was our 3rd time there and we already are thinking about when we can go again.

The manpower guy at the shop says he'll put my name on the white board as being available for work starting Monday, so here's crossing my fingers that they have some work for me.

Good to be home.

Fire_eclipse wrote:

That little stinker changes his sleeping habits too many times. Oi the middle of the night wake ups.

OMG I feel your pain. For whatever reason, my 9 month old boy decided last week that he's done going to bed at his normal time. Now he bawls non-stop and just refuses to go to sleep. All I can think of is that maybe he's getting more teeth.

It's amazing how quickly you forget how tough parenting can be in each stage until you have to do it all over again.

Well, I had my meeting today, and they are sending me to New York next Thursday. I'm happy I can go to the funeral.

The kid situation is being handled by my wife's wonderful extended family and best friend who are stepping up and helping out while we are gone.

The good news that I got today is that they told me they are trying to protect me and the guy going with me as best they can from layoffs. The bad news is they laid off 30 electricians today with many more to follow in the next few weeks. They also said that it won't guarantee we will have jobs when we get back, but this will buy us some time until they hopefully get some more work.

I have been with this contractor for 5 years, which helps, but construction is so very slow with no real light at the end of the tunnel yet.

Things have just got to get better.