# Budget-ish gaming rig issues



## UDCbey (Jul 11, 2012)

So, um...
Here are my PC specs.
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V LK 
GPU: HIS Radeon 7750 1GB
RAM: Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3, Dual Channel 
Case: Thermaltake Level 10GTS 
CPU: Intel Ivy Bridge i5 3550 
CPU cooler: Stock Cooler 
DVD Drive: Asus DRW-24B3LT 
PSU: Cooler Master GX 650W
HDDs:1x500GB Hitachi HDD, 1x80GB Western Digital 

I've set everything up, but for some reason, when I boot up, I don't hear the internal speaker beep, and nothing appears on screen when I connect to the onboard inputs. (because I haven't gone into BIOS and installed an OS). Does anyone have any idea of what is happening?


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## AhokZYashA (Jul 11, 2012)

do you plug in everything correctly?
you have to plug it to the 7750 output if you have addon GPU


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## CDdude55 (Jul 11, 2012)

Start with the basics, make sure all power connectors are in the right ports and are fully inserted and that all components are seated properly. 

Also try booting with a single memory stick installed as sometimes it's a lot easier for the system to address a smaller amount of memory on boot up.


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## CJCerny (Jul 11, 2012)

Hang on...which video output do you have your monitor connected to? There are probably 3 of them on the motherboard and three of them on the video card. Depending on how the BIOS of that motherboard is configured, some of those ports might work and some might not. Your life might be a little easier if you power off, remove the video card, and then connect to one of the 3 video output connectors on the motherboard. Then, check the BIOS setting that instructs the motherboard what to do when a plug in video card is inserted.


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## UDCbey (Jul 12, 2012)

I did take out my GPU for the boot ups, and connected the onboard inputs to DVI first, and when that didn't work, I went for VGA. Which also didn't work. Everything is plugged in, as the hard drives vibrate, all the system fans move and the onboard LED lights up. I'll take out the one stick of RAM, thanks! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uos6mbzsKo&feature=g-upl for a demonstration of the problem.
Do I need to plug in a mouse and keyboard before I hear the beautiful beep from the system? Might I need to replace my RAM (The MemOK! light is always on when I boot up, and pressing the button doesn't really do anything)


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## Fatal1ty39 (Jul 18, 2012)

according to the manual when Dram led keep lighting it means you have problem with the memory i assume the red light that i saw in the the video is the dram led you can check the manual here.
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1155/P8Z77-V_LK/E7242_P8Z77-V_LK.pdf


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## D007 (Jul 18, 2012)

Disconnect EVERYTHING you do not need to boot the computer. Put only one stick of ram in.. 
Reset CMOS with the jumper or whatever then reboot. Get into bios if you can and load default settings.

Try the one stick of ram in other slots as well, may be a slot failing.


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## itsakjt (Jul 22, 2012)

If you still can't get it to boot even with one RAM stick, remove the RAM. Then power on the system and you should hear a series of beeps from the internal speaker. If yes, then either the RAMs are faulty or incompatible. If they are incompatible, the Mem OK button might get them to work. Try that. If that is the issue, I suggest you request your dealer to replace the modules and get the right one for your system.


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## Aquinus (Jul 22, 2012)

My motherboard (ASUS P9X79 Deluxe,) lit up the DRAM LED when I first built it. I had to flash the BIOS to get it to boot. I also have the push button flash tool that doesn't even need the CPU or memory, so unless you can get some slower memory to try, I'm not sure how you would flash it. How fast is the memory?


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## baggpipes (Jul 22, 2012)

Alot of new motherboards dont have speakers anymore do they?? =/


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## itsakjt (Jul 23, 2012)

They have a speaker connector.


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## UDCbey (Aug 14, 2012)

itsakjt said:


> If you still can't get it to boot even with one RAM stick, remove the RAM. Then power on the system and you should hear a series of beeps from the internal speaker. If yes, then either the RAMs are faulty or incompatible. If they are incompatible, the Mem OK button might get them to work. Try that. If that is the issue, I suggest you request your dealer to replace the modules and get the right one for your system.


I removed my RAM, and the speaker made a continuous beep. I will try to get hold of some compatible RAM as soon as possible. Thanks!
While we are on the topic of problems, I have another question to ask.  My mobo says that it has a PCI e 3.0 running at x16, and a.PCI e 2.0 running at x4 mode max. Now,seeing as I use a 7750, I plan to get another for crossfire. 7750s draw power solely from x16 slots so... Can I still run them in crossfire on my mobo?


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## itsakjt (Aug 14, 2012)

UDCbey said:


> I removed my RAM, and the speaker made a continuous beep. I will try to get hold of some compatible RAM as soon as possible. Thanks!
> While we are on the topic of problems, I have another question to ask.  My mobo says that it has a PCI e 3.0 running at x16, and a.PCI e 2.0 running at x4 mode max. Now,seeing as I use a 7750, I plan to get another for crossfire. 7750s draw power solely from x16 slots so... Can I still run them in crossfire on my mobo?



That is a good sign that the motherboard made a series of continuous beeps without the RAM. It usually indicates that your CPU and motherboard is working ok. 
And yes, you can run them in crossfire very well without a problem. The two PCIE slots have dedicated power phases. The thing is that the extra performance gain you will get might be outran by a single 7870 GPU so I suggest don't crossfire and when you have saved enough money, get a single beast GPU like the GTX 670 or 690 or Radeon HD 7970 or 7990(when it comes  )
Best of luck.


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## de.das.dude (Aug 14, 2012)

you usre the bios pins are set right?


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## UDCbey (Aug 15, 2012)

itsakjt said:


> That is a good sign that the motherboard made a series of continuous beeps without the RAM. It usually indicates that your CPU and motherboard is working ok.
> And yes, you can run them in crossfire very well without a problem. The two PCIE slots have dedicated power phases. The thing is that the extra performance gain you will get might be outran by a single 7870 GPU so I suggest don't crossfire and when you have saved enough money, get a single beast GPU like the GTX 670 or 690 or Radeon HD 7970 or 7990(when it comes  )
> Best of luck.



I think the 7870 is out of my reach, but I think that a 7850 isn't too hard to get my on. Does a 2gb 7850 outperform 2 1gb 7750s by a decent amount? Or should I just go for a 560 ti, or SE?


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## itsakjt (Aug 15, 2012)

UDCbey said:


> I think the 7870 is out of my reach, but I think that a 7850 isn't too hard to get my on. Does a 2gb 7850 outperform 2 1gb 7750s by a decent amount? Or should I just go for a 560 ti, or SE?



A 2 GB 7850 will easily outperform 2 1 GB or even 2GB 7750s. And especially for your mobo which has a PCIE x 16 3.0 @ x16 and the other 2.0 @x4, you will not get the full potential of your 2nd GPU. So in all cases, a 2 GB 7850 will be the best choice.


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## UDCbey (Aug 16, 2012)

Noted. One last question-when I boot up for  the first time, should I hook my monitor up to the onboard outputs or to the GPU outputs?


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## itsakjt (Aug 16, 2012)

I suggest you not to connect the graphics card to the pcie slot at all for the first time. Try with only the onboard first. If system works that is POST is successful, then connect the graphics card and connect the monitor to it as well.


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## UDCbey (Aug 16, 2012)

Thanks. I recently read an article on the newly released 660 ti on tom's hardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-ti-benchmark-review,3279-17.html ) and a remark at the end caught my eye- 7870s are beginning to emerge for around 280 dollars, and that both companies will probably start slashing prices for those products. So, should I go with a 660 ti, or a 7870, or should i go with something else?


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## itsakjt (Aug 16, 2012)

The 660 Ti is actually a better choice over the 7870 I think personally. Assuming they will cost the same after sometime, gaming will be slightly better on the 660Ti not to mention about the extra features like CUDA and PhysX NVIDIA gives. I would have got the 660 Ti if it was me  Now there are many factors. Look for the better subvendor and better coolers. In our computer market, when I went to buy my GPU, my budget was 125 $(6500 Rs approx). In all the shops I went, there was not a single NVIDIA card at that budget which had good cooling system. All puny aluminium ones. So I got the Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 1 GB DDR5 850MHz core, 1200MHz mem which has copper cooler. And trust me, I am super satisfied. So as you can see, my choice was narrowed down not by the GPU but the customization of the subvendor. 
So I suggest you look for the balance of both the GPU and the subvendor customization because both GPUs are excellent when it comes to gaming.


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## UDCbey (Aug 20, 2012)

ERMAHGERD IT WORKS.
I purchased new RAM, and it turns out that my 3rd RAM slot is faulty, so I plugged the 2 modules into the 1st and 2nd slots, and it booted up fine. 
I need some purchasing advice- At my local computer mall, I can get an Nvidia GTX 660 ti 3GB (2nd from top) from Inno3D with a free copy of 3D Mark 11 vantage, and a free mousepad. On the other hand, I can get an OC 7870, 2GB, that always remains under 50 celcius for around the same price. So what should I get?


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## micropage7 (Aug 20, 2012)

UDCbey said:


> ERMAHGERD IT WORKS.
> I purchased new RAM, and it turns out that my 3rd RAM slot is faulty, so I plugged the 2 modules into the 1st and 2nd slots, and it booted up fine.
> I need some purchasing advice- At my local computer mall, I can get an Nvidia GTX 660 ti 3GB (2nd from top) from Inno3D with a free copy of 3D Mark 11 vantage, and a free mousepad. On the other hand, I can get an OC 7870, 2GB for around the same price. So what should I get?



if ram slot is fail RMA it
take Inno you gonna have 3gb memory on that +bonus with the same price


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## UDCbey (Aug 20, 2012)

Any recommendations for a CPU cooler under $70?


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## micropage7 (Aug 20, 2012)

UDCbey said:


> Any recommendations for a CPU cooler under $70?


what about THERMALTAKE Frio CL-P0564 or XIGMATEK CPU Cooler Dark Knight [S1283W]


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## brandonwh64 (Aug 20, 2012)

UDCbey said:


> Any recommendations for a CPU cooler under $70?



Honestly with the CPU you have and its non OCing abilities, I would just go with a 212+ evo cheap and be done with it.


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## Widjaja (Aug 20, 2012)

UDCbey said:


> Any recommendations for a CPU cooler under $70?



Go with the generic standards of aftermarket air cooling solutions for this one with your CPU.
Cooler Master Hyoer 212+ or EVO.

Purchase and extra fan for push pull.


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## UDCbey (Aug 22, 2012)

Hi. I decided to ignore all your advicez (Sorry), and got myself the Blizzard T2. 
Strangely enough, there are no reviews for it. But i'm content.


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## itsakjt (Aug 22, 2012)

Congrats on getting the system running and also for the new cooler. 
As for the cooler, I think it is good. 
And as for the 3rd RAM slot problem, you can RMA the board if you are not happy or simply use it as it is. Also try one thing. Install the RAMs in the 2nd and 4th slots and see if they work.
It may be that the board is not ready for Dual Channel configuration for your RAM. Some complicated BIOS settings may be necessary.
Install the RAMs in the slots of same color for Dual channel mode. It will give you theoretically twice the bandwidth and your system memory performance will be much better.


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## UDCbey (Aug 23, 2012)

I tried that, and it didn't work. Looks like i'm stuck with that.
Maybe I should swap them both for a single 8GB module?


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## itsakjt (Aug 23, 2012)

You can do that but if you don't use dual channel, you will not get the full memory bandwidth from your system. I suggest you check the memory QVL for your motherboard which is available in the website and choose and buy a particular set of memory module which is guaranteed to work on dual channel for you motherboard.


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## UDCbey (Aug 24, 2012)

Ok, one more thing.
Windows 8 or 7? I've decided to wait for the 7870 and 660 ti to battle it out in prices, seeing as the war has already begun with $50 USD price cuts (But i'm not too sure if that will apply in my computer mall, which is in HK) on several radeon chips, including the 7870.


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## itsakjt (Aug 24, 2012)

Personally saying, I didn't like Windows 8. The Metro UI is good but many things are not there. No flip 3D. The Aero effect is fully crippled. The menus are not at all transparent. And no TurboV or EPU support for my motherboard. And as for the GPU, wait a bit and get a beast.


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## UDCbey (Aug 25, 2012)

All right, my computer works, and I've loaded Win 7 onto it. Im slightly concerned because on the windows experience index, which I really shouldn't worry about, I have a 5.9 for disk transfer rate. Also, my computer recognizes my 500 GB drive as a... 59 GB drive. I reformatted that drive on a mac to MSDOS FAT 32, and then my build reformatted that, so.... I dunno.
Also, when I eventually upgrade my GPU, in the event that I choose Radeon, do I have to reinstall catalyst? Or do I just plug in the new GPU?


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## itsakjt (Aug 25, 2012)

Don't worry about the 5.9 HDD score. Even me too have that score with a 1.0 TB HDD. Actually that score is fixed for a single mechanical HDD and is the maximum. To achieve higher scores, you will need to get SSDs(Solid State Drives) which will get that scores to 7.0+ depending on the drive. SSDs have no mechanical parts unlike HDDs. They are fully semiconductor based and hence have zero mechanical latency. They have ultra low access times. And as far as I saw in reviews, those drives are capable of booting Windows in around 5 seconds. But they are far more costly than HDDs. The price of a 64 GB SSD is almost equal to a 500 GB HDD.


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## UDCbey (Aug 25, 2012)

I knew that.
Also, I used my mac to reformat it to 2 partitions, and now windows recognizes them so its all good.


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## UDCbey (Sep 13, 2012)

One final question- I currently have 3x200 mm fans for intake and 1x 120 mm for outtake at the back. I'm worried about overheating, so should I change my configurations? 
I've also decided to buy a GTX 660 ti mainly because they are easier to find.


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## itsakjt (Sep 13, 2012)

It will be better if you post a photo of your case arrangement.


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## UDCbey (Oct 11, 2012)

Sorry for not posting earlier.
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




At the back I have a 120mm exhaust and a 200mm intake on the side for my GPU, a front 200mm intake for cooling down HDDs and getting air in general to the system and top mounted 200mm because... It kinda felt right when I was building. I've heard that its more sensible to have the top fan as an exhaust though.
What should I do?
EDIT: It appears that images dont show. http://www.flickr.com/photos/88532044@N08/8076991992/in/photostream


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 11, 2012)

UDCbey said:


> Sorry for not posting earlier.http://www.flickr.com/photos/88532044@N08/8076991992/in/photostream
> At the back I have a 120mm exhaust and a 200mm intake on the side for my GPU, a front 200mm intake for cooling down HDDs and getting air in general to the system and top mounted 200mm because... It kinda felt right when I was building. I've heard that its more sensible to have the top fan as an exhaust though.
> What should I do?
> EDIT: It appears that images dont show. http://www.flickr.com/photos/88532044@N08/8076991992/in/photostream



whichever fans produce the most CFM, you will want negative pressure in the case, so the fans with the most CFM should be exhaust fans


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## itsakjt (Oct 11, 2012)

The top and front fan should be intake and the rear fan should be exhaust. Just play an idea in your mind about air circulation. I agree with eidairaman1 that always have the exhaust fans to be of the maximum CFM.


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## UDCbey (Nov 25, 2012)

So... Let's just say that i've come across some cash. Im leaning towards the 7970 (Non GHz Edition), or GTX 680. Which one should I take? And are there any companies with specifically good coolers? 
One cooler is catching my eye- I can get a GTX 680 with 4GB RAM, from Inno3D (Somewhat shady company), but with an Arctic Accelero Hybrid Cooler at around 695 USD, but that seems way overpriced and unnecessary.
Sapphire's Vapor X cooler with a 7970 is also at quite an attractive price point, at ~$515 USD.


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## itsakjt (Nov 25, 2012)

As for the GPU I would recommend the GTX 680. You get PhysX support and CUDA. As for reliability(here respective to cooling units and simplicity) I would recommend the 7970. Now its up to you. If you are on to PhysX and CUDA, get the 680. Else the 7970.


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## eidairaman1 (Nov 25, 2012)

7970 

-nuff said-


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## UDCbey (Jan 31, 2013)

Alright then, so this rig has gone from "budgetish" to "Higher end". But now I have a MAJOR problem. I just installed an Antec 620 H20 CPU Cooler, and now all of a sudden, steam will not boot. It probably has nothing to do with the HDDs, as I can access the drive from the drives menu. When I press on steam, and check processes, Steam.exe *32 appears as normal, but "steamerrorreporter" also appears, and then Steam.exe*32 just disappears. I'm really reluctant to reinstall everything, but if I have to, I will. Is there another way?


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## tokyoduong (Jan 31, 2013)

I don't know what you did but try reinstalling it to fix it. 
There's a lot of possibilities as to why that happens. It could range from user errors to drive corruption.
Reinstall and run a check on your HDD

BTW at 1080p, do you really need anything above a 7870 or 660?


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## UDCbey (Jan 31, 2013)

tokyoduong said:


> I don't know what you did but try reinstalling it to fix it.
> There's a lot of possibilities as to why that happens. It could range from user errors to drive corruption.
> Reinstall and run a check on your HDD
> 
> BTW at 1080p, do you really need anything above a 7870 or 660?



Future-proofing. Also the card i'm eyeing is ridiculous- 7970GHz Edition, custom cooler, ONLY 3550 HKD. Stock-Clocked reference designed 7970 (Non- GHz Editions) are more expensive than that. I know, ridiculous.


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## tokyoduong (Jan 31, 2013)

UDCbey said:


> Future-proofing. Also the card i'm eyeing is ridiculous- 7970GHz Edition, custom cooler, ONLY 3550 HKD. Stock-Clocked reference designed 7970 (Non- GHz Editions) are more expensive than that. I know, ridiculous.



You must be new to the whole this computing world. Future proofing is something salesman and marketing people use to get you to part with more money. Look at the performance difference between a 6950 and 5950 to a 7870 and please tell me if future proofing still exist. Then the support and drivers issues with this future proofing concept.

You should think more of can i afford this and keep going with this. Buying a higher end graphics card will also trigger more expensive parts like more powerful PSU, bigger case, better cooling, etc... then you would also want more things to explore the potential of your graphics card like a higher res monitor.
Then it will cause more problems like overheating, power supply life shortened due to higher loads, more fans in case means louder system and more dust, electric bill, etc...

If you can afford it then do it. Future proofing is a nothing more than a scam since a refresh cycle is one year or less in this realm of tech. Some people will jump in and say "well I'm still running 9800gtx on for 5+ years". Well, congrats but how's your gaming at low settings?


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## UDCbey (Mar 5, 2013)

Hi, sorry to resurrect this thread.
So I wanted to play Max Payne 1. I've tried all the Win 7 fixes but they didn't work. I have a few Hard drives with Windows XP on them laying about so if I used an IDE to SATA connector to connect them to my mobo will my PC let me choose between Win 7 and XP on boot? Or do I have to do anything else?
Thanks!


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## itsakjt (Mar 5, 2013)

UDCbey said:


> Hi, sorry to resurrect this thread.
> So I wanted to play Max Payne 1. I've tried all the Win 7 fixes but they didn't work. I have a few Hard drives with Windows XP on them laying about so if I used an IDE to SATA connector to connect them to my mobo will my PC let me choose between Win 7 and XP on boot? Or do I have to do anything else?
> Thanks!



If the OS was installed for your old machine and if it is much differect from the one you have at present which I assume it is, then I am afraid that installation of Windows won't work at all.

All you have to do is disable AHCI in BIOS and set the mode to IDE. Boot with the XP disc and install it. After installation, you will find that Windows 7 will not start. To fix it, insert the Win 7 DVD and click Startup repair. Then upon reboot, you should have the options to start either 7 or XP.


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## UDCbey (Mar 5, 2013)

Thanks.
Urm, I think i'l try even harder to patch up Max Payne instead. I don't have the XP disk as that thing is from a time other people built PCs for me.


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## Kwod (Mar 6, 2013)

tokyoduong said:


> You must be new to the whole this computing world. Future proofing is something salesman and marketing people use to get you to part with more money. ?



I would say that most people with gaming PC's should always start with something like a 7850/7870.....and then budget for another $200-$250 card in 18-24months or so.
As I said to you before, it annoys me that top end cards are often x2 or ultra expensive......consider that I can actually buy a 7970 box with 16gig ram etc for the same price as a Titan.


http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=72&bid=2&sid=104935

This build is the same cost as a Titan......something very wrong with all that


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## UDCbey (Mar 25, 2013)

So, um, i'm really really considering making a new build that I can lug to people's houses without too much suspicion. I'm going to switch the HDDs from my main rig to the mini-rig when I go to somebody's home, and to serve as a bit of an HTPC (Im really cutting down on price, so i'm just probably going to get a pentium G850, a cheap but reliable m-atx mobo, and a small chassis- Everything else will be swapped from my main rig) and what I want to know is do I have to reinstall drivers every single time I swap my HDDs? Or can I just hotswap at will with no issues?


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## itsakjt (Mar 25, 2013)

Sometimes, changing the motherboard will cause you to reinstall the entire OS. So no one can say what will happen. Trying it is your best bet. All the best.


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## tokyoduong (Mar 25, 2013)

itsakjt said:


> Sometimes, changing the motherboard will cause you to reinstall the entire OS. So no one can say what will happen. Trying it is your best bet. All the best.



All the times I've done it, it didn't do that. As long as you have windows installed in the primary drive then it won't try to reinstall the OS. And it can't reinstall the OS unless you have a windows disc in the drive.

If you change mobo and plug in a drive that already windows installed then it should boot. Some of your mobo features may not work because it does not have correct driver.

It should not try to reinstall windows unless you have drive corruption, blank drive, or windows 95?


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## itsakjt (Mar 26, 2013)

tokyoduong said:


> All the times I've done it, it didn't do that. As long as you have windows installed in the primary drive then it won't try to reinstall the OS. And it can't reinstall the OS unless you have a windows disc in the drive.
> 
> If you change mobo and plug in a drive that already windows installed then it should boot. Some of your mobo features may not work because it does not have correct driver.
> 
> It should not try to reinstall windows unless you have drive corruption, blank drive, or windows 95?



When I used XP, I once changed my motherboard from 915G chipset to 945G. No matter what BIOS settings I tried, I got a BSOD while XP was loading. Same thing happened with my friend too. I don't know about 7 though. Maybe they have improved it.


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## tokyoduong (Mar 26, 2013)

itsakjt said:


> When I used XP, I once changed my motherboard from 915G chipset to 945G. No matter what BIOS settings I tried, I got a BSOD while XP was loading. Same thing happened with my friend too. I don't know about 7 though. Maybe they have improved it.



because you did not boot in safe mode. You don't want it to use any drivers when loading windows because it would be the wrong drivers or having your ports messed up since it's a different mobo. Wrong video drivers will definitely BSOD like hell.

of course windows 7 is smarter and will prevent most BSOD but XP and 2000 worked fine for me.


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## itsakjt (Mar 26, 2013)

tokyoduong said:


> because you did not boot in safe mode. You don't want it to use any drivers when loading windows because it would be the wrong drivers or having your ports messed up since it's a different mobo. Wrong video drivers will definitely BSOD like hell.
> 
> of course windows 7 is smarter and will prevent most BSOD but XP and 2000 worked fine for me.



No man I tried safe mode but in vain. I even tried repairing the installation i.e. reinstalling keeping all programs. But it BSODed as well causing me to format.


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## tokyoduong (Mar 26, 2013)

That sucks. I guess I'm lucky


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## itsakjt (Mar 26, 2013)

tokyoduong said:


> That sucks. I guess I'm lucky



LOL yes


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