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Technology Thread: Building a Desktop Computer

Kind of annoying that my system, which I ordered online at around 2am Friday 11/25 with "3 Day Select (Estimated 2 Day) Shipping" won't get here until Thursday 12/1.

Signed up for Newegg Preferred Account which has automatic Rush Processing (orders shipped out same day if ordered before 2pm or something) and nothing got shipped until late Monday?

BS.
 
That sucks, they must do something like Friday as a holiday so your order was effectively placed next business day of Monday. But I mean c'mon, you're an internet company and UPS works on the weekends.
 
All my stuff was on the porch when I got up for work this morning.

I guess I get to look forward to that when I get off tonight at 7:30pm.
 
Probably no one up to help me with this...but I had a plan to setup my new desktop.

I had a 1TB and 2TB drive setup in separate external enclosures and was using both with my laptop....my plan with my new desktop was to move everything from the 1TB to the 2TB and then format/install windows on the 1TB....unfortunately, the enclosure for the 1TB malfunctioned and I couldn't transfer files between the drives so I could format the boot drive.

I was still able to install windows, but now the 2TB which is connected with a SATA 6Gb/s connection to the MoBo isn't recognized or accessible in Windows....

Though it does show up in Disk Management.


I need to know what to do to get access to the 2TB drive to transfer the few files I have on the 1TB to the 2TB.
 
OblongPickle said:
Probably no one up to help me with this...but I had a plan to setup my new desktop.

I had a 1TB and 2TB drive setup in separate external enclosures and was using both with my laptop....my plan with my new desktop was to move everything from the 1TB to the 2TB and then format/install windows on the 1TB....unfortunately, the enclosure for the 1TB malfunctioned and I couldn't transfer files between the drives so I could format the boot drive.

I was still able to install windows, but now the 2TB which is connected with a SATA 6Gb/s connection to the MoBo isn't recognized or accessible in Windows....

Though it does show up in Disk Management.


I need to know what to do to get access to the 2TB drive to transfer the few files I have on the 1TB to the 2TB.
Click to expand...

If it shows up in disk management, you most likely just have to assign it a drive letter to get it to be recognized by Windows. At least it shows up, this is a good thing.
 
Are you sure the 2TB is Sata III? My box was funky when I had a SATA II drive plugged into the 6GB/s port.
 
TWDeac said:
If it shows up in disk management, you most likely just have to assign it a drive letter to get it to be recognized by Windows. At least it shows up, this is a good thing.
Click to expand...

True....for some reason I thought you had to format to assign a drive letter.

I'll check on that when I get home from work.



Though I have to say, this was my first complete build on my own and it is very satisfying to take a group of boxes/components, unbox them, test them, and install them in a desktop and get everything to work and up and running all on my own.
 
Yep, all I had to do was assign the drive letter.

Thanks TW!
 
Posted this on the skyrim thread, but it probably fits better here:

So I finally got my rig set up on our new place so I can remember the actual specs and hardware (built my computer in 2007-2008 so I have forgotten a lot of stuff).

Thoughts on running skyrim on high:

I am running and intel core duo e6850@3.00 ghz and my graphics card is the GeForce 8800 GTX.

Windows 7 utility is giving me a 6.9 for graphics (knew that would be the case) and a 5.7 overall. My main concern is load times as I have two pretty slow (got them for free)HDD.

Def thinking I might upgrade the processor.

ETA: I am running an intel processor right now, I used to have AMD a while back. They seem a lot cheaper for some options right now, any reason to not go with them?

Considering this one: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6052729&csid=_21
 
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I wouldn't be too hopeful w/ Duo and 8800. I had a Quad and 9800 and couldn't push graphics too hard on some games.
 
dot com said:
I wouldn't be too hopeful w/ Duo and 8800. I had a Quad and 9800 and couldn't push graphics too hard on some games.
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What games? Granted I don't have any brand new games, but I can run Assassin's Creed 2 and Arkham Asylum on highest graphics with a Duo and 9800.
 
Deacon923 said:
What games? Granted I don't have any brand new games, but I can run Assassin's Creed 2 and Arkham Asylum on highest graphics with a Duo and 9800.
Click to expand...

Yeah I haven't bought a pc game since about a year ago but my last purchase my computer still crushed.
 
Deacon923 said:
What games? Granted I don't have any brand new games, but I can run Assassin's Creed 2 and Arkham Asylum on highest graphics with a Duo and 9800.
Click to expand...

Starcraft II is the most obvious one I remember, whenever the game had more than a couple hundred units frames dropped very low, at low-medium graphics settings.
 
So I bought the 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws series (1600) [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314] and was going to expand that to 16GB just for the hell of it.

I went to buy 2x4GB sticks, but when I bought them they were at $29.99, now they are up to $43.99.

Then there is the X-Series [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428] which is supposedly newer and "certified" for Z68 chipsets, which I'm pretty sure is just a marketing ploy....

My question is, if I want to expand to 16GB, could I just buy 2 sticks of the X-Series and add to the 2 sticks of regular ripjaws?...or would that not be good?

Or should I just buy 4 sticks of the X-Series and return/sell off the regular?


The only difference I see between the two is that the Timing for the X-Series is 9-9-9-24, but the Timing for the regular says its 9-9-9-24-2N which I have no idea what that means.
 
OblongPickle said:
My question is, if I want to expand to 16GB, could I just buy 2 sticks of the X-Series and add to the 2 sticks of regular ripjaws?...or would that not be good?

Or should I just buy 4 sticks of the X-Series and return/sell off the regular?
Click to expand...
I like to match them all, not sure it makes a difference; however, I think the "made for Z68" implies they've been tested for supporting overclocking/voltage changes.
 
dot com said:
I like to match them all, not sure it makes a difference; however, I think the "made for Z68" implies they've been tested for supporting overclocking/voltage changes.
Click to expand...

Honestly I would just stick with 8 until you prove you really need 16, unless you're running some huge scratch disk for an Adobe product or something.

And I would definitely not mix and match. There are some good writeups out there about the real-life performance impacts of moving to 16+ gigs of ram. Just because 64 bit Windows is capable of addressing that much memory doesn't necessarily mean the more the better.

I think tom's hardware had a test that showed going to 16 was basically a trade-off, certain gigantic work programs like CAD, Adobe, etc. improved, while games and general Windows performance degraded.
 
Yea...I was just curious if it would really be mixing and matching if they are the same type and specs with just a different branding for the Z68.
 
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