New Quad-Core build, decisions about GPU/Case/Mobo

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

Okay, I was kind of leaning towards just leaving it on anyway... I'll save the other compound for another build maybe.

Oh, I had another question about the BIOS for my gigabyte mobo... I was reading and a lot of people say that the bios needs to be flashed to F6 to fix VGA issues... I haven't started building it yet but I'm not sure how to flash the bios if I'm not going to be able to install and boot into an OS. I was planning on installing Vista x64 right away but I don't want to run into issues as I only have this weekend to build it and mess around with my new computer.

[gwai lo]

Are you sure there are widespread VGA issues? What kind of issues?

If there are concrete issues with your display, there isn't anything you can do about it without attempting to boot it first. Unless you have a BIOS chip to replace the onboard one, you need the system to be live to update the BIOS.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

Are you sure there are widespread VGA issues? What kind of issues?

If there are concrete issues with your display, there isn't anything you can do about it without attempting to boot it first. Unless you have a BIOS chip to replace the onboard one, you need the system to be live to update the BIOS.

Well yeah that's what I thought, because I don't have a floppy drive to even attempt to flash it from the floppy. I'm just hoping that once i get the system built I can get into Windows fine to flash the BIOS. I'll find out tomorrow when I get my case and monitor.

[+shift. MVC]

:p Don't worry about problems that you haven't encountered yet!

[dolby71]

I remember last time I flashed my bios (on an asus board though) I just did it through a cd, since I also didn't have a floppy. I just burned the file on a cd, pressed whatever key I needed to (F6 maybe) through post, and it flashed it in a minute. ;)

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

Okay, do I need a PS/2 mouse to setup the BIOS? I just booted the system for the first time and I get a BIOS setup screen asking me to select the language. I have a wireless mouse/keyboard set (Microsoft Laser Desktop 6000) and the lights on the receiver blink but I cannot use the keyboard. After about 10 seconds the computer reboots and it repeats.

Any ideas?

Maybe I should make a new thread for this....

Edited July 11, 2008 by Chsoriano

[+shift. MVC]

You have to enable USB devices on boot. I can't remember exactly what the BIOS setting is called.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

I just got off the phone with Gigabyte and I had to remove everything and reset the CMOS. It seems to be working now, it let me get into the BIOS settings to change the voltage for my memory and now I'm getting into the Windows setup finally. I hope this works now.

Oh, and why can I only have one stick of RAM installed for now?

I'm pretty sure this setup isn't as quick as other Vista installations I've seen (although this is the first 64bit installation I've done myself). Right now it's at the "Expanding files" stage at 0%, but it's been here for a couple of minutes now and I don't remember it doing this when I reformat my laptop...

EDIT: Are there any settings or connections for/on the motherboard that I should check to make sure nothing's wrong?

Edited July 12, 2008 by Chsoriano

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

Well, I got it all set up, Windows Vista is up and running... unfortunately, I think one of my sticks of RAM is bad... when I put the other stick of RAM in the system, the computer constantly reboots after about 10 seconds of sitting on the BIOS boot/setup screen. It doesn't have any problems when I just have this one stick in, so I'm hoping Amazon will replace it without hassle.

[mr.dan]

Well, I got it all set up, Windows Vista is up and running... unfortunately, I think one of my sticks of RAM is bad... when I put the other stick of RAM in the system, the computer constantly reboots after about 10 seconds of sitting on the BIOS boot/setup screen. It doesn't have any problems when I just have this one stick in, so I'm hoping Amazon will replace it without hassle.

You might want to put em both in and run Memtest86, just to make sure that's the issue and that the other stick doesn't have any issues either.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

You might want to put em both in and run Memtest86, just to make sure that's the issue and that the other stick doesn't have any issues either.

I've never used that before, and I'm assuming it doesn't matter what the architecture is but will it work with my 64-bit system?

Here's the other problem... I'm assuming there's a way to boot the application and run it to test the memory... but the only problem is, that with that second stick in, the computer doesn't even POST, it will stay at the motherboard screen for only 10 seconds, then restart. When I had the Windows Vista setup dvd in the drive, it didn't even attempt to boot it... will this cause a problem?

[utdarkviper]

Actually Memtest+86 isn't a program. You download the .iso file then burn it to a cd and boot from that cd. So now that your computer is up and running with just the ram you know that works, download from here and burn and boot from this cd. You may need to change the boot sequence in your BIOS so that your computer boots up from the cd.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

Actually Memtest+86 isn't a program. You download the .iso file then burn it to a cd and boot from that cd. So now that your computer is up and running with just the ram you know that works, download from here and burn and boot from this cd. You may need to change the boot sequence in your BIOS so that your computer boots up from the cd.

I'm really sorry, I'm a little confused... not about what you're suggesting I do, I understand burning the iso and booting from the CD, but isn't this supposed to be run with the suspected faulty ram in the system?

If the system won't post with the ram in the system, how am I supposed to boot from the cd to test it? Or am I testing just the ram that works in the system?

EDIT: On another note, there is a little interference when using headphones on the front audio port of my case... should I just check the connector on the MB or is there anything else I can check?

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

This is probably a dumb question, as the answer is probably apparent but I'm just a little confused. Can I purchase a second Radeon HD 4870 and enable CrossFire? Sorry, I've never built a CrossFire machine. And this isn't really to have a higher resolution, I am hoping this will improve performance in games.

The motherboard says it supports it, but I am unclear as to whether or not I can put two pci-e x16 graphics cards in it. GIGABYTE's product page says it has two pci-e x16 slots but I thought it looked like one x16 and one x8... can anyone explain if I can do this or not?

[+shift. MVC]

Not worth it unless you're using a massive monitor with like 2850 x 1600 resolution or higher.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

Not worth it unless you're using a massive monitor with like 2850 x 1600 resolution or higher.

No, I know it's not really worth it... but I want to know if I can (to improve performance, not increase the resolution) when the price of another HD 4870 is under $200.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

EDIT: Unless you're telling me that it won't improve performance at all... in which case then I see your point. But if it will increase performance, like FPS, then I wouldn't mind spending the little extra money.

[+shift. MVC]

Refer to the "Bang for Buck" section in my Guide to Computer Build thread. It applies to the overall computer system, as well as a single piece of hardware's effect on the overall system. :)

I believe you would be in the "max performance for minimal money" section, and going CF would move you to the "max money, max performance" graph.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

Refer to the "Bang for Buck" section in my Guide to Computer Build thread. It applies to the overall computer system, as well as a single piece of hardware's effect on the overall system. :)

I believe you would be in the "max performance for minimal money" section, and going CF would move you to the "max money, max performance" graph.

Okay, so what you're saying is that the performance gains would be minimal, and not worth the price of another GPU?

I was also planning on getting another 4GB of RAM (I would like to be able to run a few VMs), I figured it would only cost about $100. Do you think it would be worth it to double my RAM?

Oh, since I am having a couple of other problems with my build, I'm trying to find out if the RAM I have is defective. Is it possible that one of the 2GB sticks in the package to be defective, or is it more likely that my motherboard is defective since I am also having other problems with the system (such as not resuming from sleep and locking up on a light-blue screen when left idle).

Amazon is sending me a replacement package of RAM that I'm going to have put in the system today or tomorrow (I'm not at home so my roommate is going to install it for me). Hopefully it will work fine because right now my RAM is running in single channel mode because only one stick works. If it doesn't work then I think I'll be pretty sure the motherboard is bad... which sucks.

Edited July 14, 2008 by Chsoriano

[gwai lo]

Multi-GPU doesn't scale particularly well, so unless you're maxing everything out now and still want more FPS, then don't bother. A single GPU will be able to handle 25x16 and higher, it's the performance that scales with two cards.

Your call on the VMs as well, I wouldn't be so hasty to drop more cash on the system just yet. Use it and if you see a deficiency, then get what you need...otherwise trying to predict what you'll need doesn't always work when your hardware is generally sufficient for your purposes. Some people don't need more and some people do, it's up to the user to use their discretion.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

What about the bad ram vs. bad motherboard?

I mean, I think it's odd how I'm having problems such as resuming from sleep. And it only occurs when resuming from S3 state, I changed the setting to S1 (which doesn't really turn everything off) and it resumed fine. I'm just worried that it's the motherboard that may have problems since the resuming from sleep is a big issue.

And for some reason I couldn't even boot a Linux LiveCD, I got an I/O error, so that makes me even more curious.

[gwai lo]

From reading what you've posted so far, I don't know. My troubleshooting experiences and instincts are generally poor anyway, as my systems have a tendency to run trouble-free.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

From reading what you've posted so far, I don't know. My troubleshooting experiences and instincts are generally poor anyway, as my systems have a tendency to run trouble-free.

Lol, punk, well some of us aren't that lucky! kidding, well alright, thanks though. I'm guessing I may have had a better experience had I just gone with an Intel board but oh well. I'm still waiting on GIGABYTE's response to my e-mail, hopefully they'll know how to make their motherboard work right (if that's what's causing the problem(s))

[+shift. MVC]

If your RAM doesn't work, then I'd bet it's motherboard troubles. Gigabyte don't usually reply to e-mails quickly, so if RAM doesn't work, then RMA motherboard.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

If your RAM doesn't work, then I'd bet it's motherboard troubles. Gigabyte don't usually reply to e-mails quickly, so if RAM doesn't work, then RMA motherboard.

My roommate just installed the new RAM for me and it works, both 2GB sticks, so now I'm running dual channel. I'm kind of surprised the system now scores a 5.9 on Vista's little rating system though. I would have thought the ram or hdd would bring it down.

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can solve the sleep state issue. If I can get that fixed then I'll be all set and a very happy camper. Oh and the I/O error on booting a Linux LiveCD is also kind of wierd, I'm going to look more into that as well... but I guess I'll give Gigabyte a few days on the e-mail then... hopefully it doesn't take too long.

Edited July 15, 2008 by Chsoriano