Author Topic: Please help me build my new computer, DC! (Read 208996 times)

40hz · « **Reply #200 on:** January 07, 2009, 01:29 PM »

Compliments on your new avatar

superboyac · « **Reply #201 on:** January 07, 2009, 01:45 PM »

Don't do it - if it is anything like my experience before you know it you will fill it up on your old system and then you'll have to go and buy another one
-Carol Haynes (January 07, 2009, 01:22 PM)

Ha! No, I'm just going to make sure it works. Because I only have 30 days to RMA it, and since I don't have all the other parts, I only have my current computer to test it on.

superboyac · « **Reply #202 on:** January 07, 2009, 01:48 PM »

Compliments on your new avatar
-40hz (January 07, 2009, 01:29 PM)

Thanks! I love vector graphics. Lossless! Someone made that beautiful crown as an adobe illustrator file and it looks freakin great. Check it out:

Please help me build my new computer, DC!

f0dder · « **Reply #203 on:** January 07, 2009, 03:09 PM »

superboyac: use WesternDigital's drive testing tool, start with the short test. If that works, do the long test (will probably take 1½-2 hours). If that works, use the tool's "fill drive with zeroes", and check "reallocated sector count" afterwards. If all tests pass (as I'd expect them to on a raptor drive), you're good to go

(Just finished going through that series with a 640GB Western-Digital WD6401AALS drive, which is going to be one half of my new raid mirror after one of the old 400gig disks died... too bad the shop only had one drive in stock, but running a degraded mirror with one new disks, and all the data present on the old disk as well, is better than running a degraded mirror with one old disk

).

superboyac · « **Reply #204 on:** January 07, 2009, 03:30 PM »

superboyac: use WesternDigital's drive testing tool, start with the short test. If that works, do the long test (will probably take 1½-2 hours). If that works, use the tool's "fill drive with zeroes", and check "reallocated sector count" afterwards. If all tests pass (as I'd expect them to on a raptor drive), you're good to go

(Just finished going through that series with a 640GB Western-Digital WD6401AALS drive, which is going to be one half of my new raid mirror after one of the old 400gig disks died... too bad the shop only had one drive in stock, but running a degraded mirror with one new disks, and all the data present on the old disk as well, is better than running a degraded mirror with one old disk ).
-f0dder (January 07, 2009, 03:09 PM)

Wow, thanks for that advice. I would have never known about that. I will definitely do this.

f0dder · « **Reply #205 on:** January 07, 2009, 03:41 PM »

Note that the "fill with zeroes" step is quite different from the "full surface scan" step. Surface scan only does reading, and can thus detect sectors that are already bad (and to a large degree also detect "new" bad sectors). Writing zeroes will likely discover more bad sectors than just reading and it will also trigger the drive's "sector reallocation" mechanism - which will then show up in the S.M.A.R.T stats.

4wd · « **Reply #206 on:** January 07, 2009, 06:16 PM »

Don't do it - if it is anything like my experience before you know it you will fill it up on your old system and then you'll have to go and buy another one
-Carol Haynes (January 07, 2009, 01:22 PM)

That is so, so true.....

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #207 on:** January 07, 2009, 06:59 PM »

Glad I am not alone. I now have 3 Seagate external USB drives absolutely full and they were meant to be used for system backups. (To be fair one of the drives has one backup on it!)

40hz · « **Reply #208 on:** January 07, 2009, 07:47 PM »

Far from alone:

Hi. My name is 40hz...and I'm a squirrel.

I'm looking at 3 different 160-300Gb external drives plus one 500Gb drive (half full) loaded with all sorts of interesting software, pdf files, mirrored websites, Project Gutenberg books, music projects, artwork, animations, etc. etc. etc. that I'm definitely going to sort through "as soon as I get a slow day or two."

(Yeah right...)

superboyac · « **Reply #209 on:** January 07, 2009, 08:10 PM »

^^^ Ha! Nice pic. Reminds me of one of my graduation pictures:

Please help me build my new computer, DC!

superboyac · « **Reply #210 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:09 AM »

Well, I ran the WD Diagnostics on my new drive, and everything seems fine. I don't know what the reallocated sector numbers mean, but there's a checkmark there, so I'm assuming it's ok.

f0dder · « **Reply #211 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:58 AM »

The problem with S.M.A.R.T is that it's a brilliant idea, but the specification & implementation is retarded - there really isn't any standard as for what the raw values mean, so the only thing an application can logically test is whether the value falls below the threshold.

IMHO there should have been specifications for at least the common values - ie., reallocated sector count should be (duh!) the count of sectors that have been reallocated, HD temperature should be mentioned in Celsius, etc. (OK, some values wouldn't fit within a single byte then, but the field size coooould be extended).

Anyway, I'd say the drive is good to go

superboyac · « **Reply #212 on:** January 08, 2009, 10:31 AM »

Anyway, I'd say the drive is good to go :Thmbsup
-f0dder (January 08, 2009, 12:58 AM)

Thanks fodder.

superboyac · « **Reply #213 on:** January 08, 2009, 10:39 AM »

Carol, I read this at NCIXUS (where I plan to buy the monitors, they have a sale). Is this true?:

This is a nice crisp, attractive monitor, however the maximum resolution is only 1920 x 1080 rather than 1920 x 1200 which is common for all other 24 inc monitors

Also, in case of dead pixels, ncixus offers an "express coverage" for about $30 where I can RMA the monitor back in 30 days. Is that worth it? Shouldn't I be able to return it regardless if it has dead pixels?

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #214 on:** January 08, 2009, 10:55 AM »

I don't know because it isn't the same model that I have (mine is the pre-HDMI model). There is a more recent review that speciafically say it does support 1920x1200 (and mine certainly does).

The reviewer you quoted seems to be the odd one out in the list of reviews. If it is anything like mine brightness certainly isn't an issue (in fact you may want to tone it down a bit!).

WRT pixels - each manufacturer has a policy of a 'permissible' number of dead pixels before the product is considered faulty. I am not sure what BenQ's policy is. In theory you could get an LCD monitor from any manufacturer with a couple of dead pixels and not have any recourse to warranty. Having said that I have had two BenQ monitors and neither have had any dead pixels and if one had arrived with even one dead pixel I would have returned it immediately for refund or replacement. UK law allows any one buying via 'distance selling' a cooling off period of 7 days after receipt of goods during which you can return the goods for any reason for a refund (except for perishable items and media like CDs and DVDs - in which case they can only be returned if they are faulty or have not been unsealed).

superboyac · « **Reply #215 on:** January 08, 2009, 10:58 AM »

Good to know. I'll probably buy these tonight then. Thanks Carol.

superboyac · « **Reply #216 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:22 PM »

The RAM I'm getting:
Corsair, Dominator 4GB (2 x 2GB) (PC2 8500)

Is this the right RAM for me? I don't know. If not, please let me know thanks. (Check first post for list of purchases)

I see other similar options:
Corsair 4gb #1
Corsair 4gb #2
Corsair 4gb #3
Corsair 4gb #4
Corsair 4gb #5

...and so forth. How do I choose?

tomos · « **Reply #217 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:36 PM »

The RAM I'm getting:
Corsair, Dominator 4GB (2 x 2GB) (PC2 8500)

Is this the right RAM for me? I don't know. If not, please let me know thanks. (Check first post for list of purchases)

I see other similar options:
Corsair 4gb #1
Corsair 4gb #2
Corsair 4gb #3
Corsair 4gb #4
Corsair 4gb #5

...and so forth. How do I choose?
-superboyac (January 08, 2009, 12:22 PM)

have you checked the motherboard site/page - they usually recommend compatible ram

Lashiec · « **Reply #218 on:** January 08, 2009, 01:00 PM »

The first one should be OK. The rest either run at lower speeds, or have different heatspreaders. Since you're not going to overclock, fancier heatspreaders should not be of much concern.

And yeah, just like tomos says, check if they're compatible. There should not be any problem, but with memory you never know.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #219 on:** January 08, 2009, 01:14 PM »

The motherboard websites alwways seem to have lists of memory that have been tested and guaranteed compatible but there are a number if issues:

they were compatible at the time of testing but manufacturers regularly change their sources of RAM chips and so what was true in the past isn't necessarily true of the future
they regularly only test smaller RAM modules (relative to the board capacity)
they are often obscure or difficult to obtain modules
they never seem to bother with popular and reliable brands as much as the concentrate on the obscure

further to all that lot Corsair and Crucial both make hi spec memory that generally has no compatibility problems and are guaranteed for life. If it doesn't work send it back! For Crucial memory use their memory picker and then it is guaranteed compatible.

40hz · « **Reply #220 on:** January 08, 2009, 02:24 PM »

For Crucial memory use their memory picker and then it is guaranteed compatible.
-Carol Haynes (January 08, 2009, 01:14 PM)

Completely agree.

Two rules to follow if you're buying Crucial RAM:

1. If you are not 100% sure about what to order - use the memory picker.

2. If you are 100% sure about what to order - use the memory picker anyway.

http://www.crucial.com/index.aspx

superboyac · « **Reply #221 on:** January 08, 2009, 05:22 PM »

Well, it looks like I have all the parts picked out, I've included links to each item's webpage:
[Click here to return to first post and see updated system components & price]

I should buy everything soon. Now, I need to make sure I have all the wires and cables and stuff.

Lashiec · « **Reply #222 on:** January 08, 2009, 05:38 PM »

With the price you're paying, I expect they'll throw some cables in the package

No, seriously, all components must bring everything you need and more, otherwise complain to the vendor.

superboyac · « **Reply #223 on:** January 08, 2009, 05:43 PM »

With the price you're paying, I expect they'll throw some cables in the package

No, seriously, all components must bring everything you need and more, otherwise complain to the vendor.
-Lashiec (January 08, 2009, 05:38 PM)

Not necessarily. My hard drives are oem, so they come bare. So I have to make sure I have sata cables, at least. It's minor, but I just want my list to be complete. I know I can just go down to the store and pick some up.

Lashiec · « **Reply #224 on:** January 08, 2009, 06:17 PM »

Yes, but the motherboard must (sorry for the emphasis, but it's the rule nowadays) have enough SATA cables in the box to connect as many SATA devices as it allows. Still, extra cables can't hurt