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Post by flanker1six on Sept 25, 2015 21:17:20 GMT
The last desktop I owned was one I built in 2002 (I think), and sold in 2004 just before I started contracting out overseas. As part of my gradual shift back to normalcy.............I just ordered my first desktop since that hairy old RDRAM based 2002 rig! Been looking at various vendors, as well as pricing out parts for a possible DIY rig. Ended up with build quotes from five different vendors; 3 Boutique & 2 second tier. The parts total for the DIY rig was close enough to the 2 or 3 lowest vendor quotes..................BAH! As rusty as I am at building comps......................why bother. The lowest 3 bids were so close together I went with, what would have been, my original "if price was no object" choice, Digital Storm (who came in the middle of the 5 bids, and not much above the 2 lowest). System Configuration: Win 10 Home 64 bit Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Corsair Obsidian 550D Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 5820K 3.3GHz (Six-Core) (Unlocked CPU) Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-X99-SLI (Intel X99 Chipset) System Memory: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX (High-Performance) Power Supply: 850W EVGA SuperNOVA Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x) Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (250GB Samsung 850 EVO) Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (1TB Seagate) Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB (Includes PhysX) Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex 120mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (High-Performance Edition) H20 Tube Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans CPU Boost: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz Graphics Boost: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability Come on Fallout 4! For the time being; I'm going to run the video to my 1080p, 120Hz LED TV, I'll disable the onboard sound and plug in my Creative USB sound card and run it though my home theater system. Got a mouse, but I need to order a keyboard.......pretty sure New Egg has something. If anyone is interested in my current DTR notebook (Sager 9570/ClevoP570WM)--I'll post specs in a couple of weeks.
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Post by JRavens on Sept 27, 2015 1:08:24 GMT
Wow very nice setup Flanker! That system should bring you very many hours of enjoyment while killing drug lords, pirates, mutants, zombies and whatever else gaming throws at you
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Post by flanker1six on Sept 27, 2015 15:15:16 GMT
Thanks.
The one thing I've missed the most over the years of notebook usage is the flexibility of being able to upgrade like you can with a desktop. That capability will be really nice to have again. I'm really surprised ATX is still basically the "standard"................same as it was in 2002.
Ordered a Rosewill, backlit, full sized keyboard, with Cherry MX brown mechanical switches from New Egg..........something else I'm looking forward to after years of cramped (I have long hands and fingers) notebook keyboards (I type with all fingers and constantly am hitting a key that's one or two past the one I wanted ggggggggrrrrr!!!!!!).
Given I recently lost all my files and settings with the self inflicted "Win 10 upgrade/Win 8.1 reversion" incident........I've put a lot of effort into rebuilding my "settings" and internet site resource (like this website) bookmarks/favorites. I did some online research into transferring files and settings from Win 8.1 to Win 10; only to find out MicroSoft (May the fleas of a thousand camels infest their beards! LOL!) eliminated the file and settings transfer wizard from Win 8.1?! May have to fake that with some sort of thumb drive work around transfer???
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Post by flanker1six on Nov 1, 2015 0:03:39 GMT
After some moderately serious vendor issues/delays.....................it finally arrived on Thursday the 29th. Plain black box (not into the bling bling glowing BS and windows in the case thing--not that there's anything wrong with it; just personal preference) in a large cardboard box (likely Snake would have coveted it!). Very nicely done inside........way better than I could have built without about 10 or 12 previous efforts! Very quiet as advertised (on DS's web site), and runs cool to boot! Getting used to the new w-i-d-e-r spacing of the key board groupings on the new Rosewill board...........love the feel though! Had trouble getting my 2010 Creative Sound Blaster 5.1 USB card to roll with Win 10...............got it whipped though! With the home theaqter amp turned up; I'm getting an unpleasant audio shine that's tended to plague USB sound cards over the years. Think I may ask Santa for a new Creative Sound Blaster Z card; with an eye towards eliminating the "whine"! And my display (Vizio 120Hz 1080p TV) is real twitchy after I set up a custom profile on the new Nvidia 980 Ti GPU to take advantage of the 120 Hz refresh. Getting quite a bit of flickering, and it drops out to black screen periodically, or BSs and says "not supported" for some reason. I'll be working on that for a bit.
Performance? In FC 4; went from an average of 50 FPS on the old gaming notebook(med-high GFX settings) to an average of 95 FPS with all Ultra GFX and the 120 Hz refresh working on the display (looks great!). Come on Fallout 4!
BTW: I've finally realized why so many switched to SSD boot drives before I did!
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Post by flanker1six on Dec 26, 2015 3:32:09 GMT
Things could have gone better with the new and very pricey store bought hot rod. YES! That was sarcastic. Last Friday, the 18th, After I adjusted my onscreen font display to a slightly larger size to see how it looked..........I rebooted as recommended, and my OS would no longer load. It would boot, load the OS until it had hqlf of one foot through the desktop door then lock. I farted around and tried several obvious fixes to no avail. Called Digital Storm Tech Support and spent a quality 40 to 60 mins getting no where. By the end of our interaction ; it was obvious he was running out of ideas on the check list he was audibly flipping through; when he, in a fit of divine inspiration (tis the season after all) he suggested we temporarily terminate our conversation, so he could "do some research" and call me back in a few.
I know you'll be shocked to hear that ended where you think it did. No call back (by 1700 hours my time/EST); me and a more tech savy friend trying to trouble shoot the expensive POS for 2 hours Saturday AM----to no avail; thinking about the **** for several hours, carefully reviewing the multi page sales agreement; especially the part that said after thirty days of proud ownership I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SHIPPING TO AND FROM DS; in order to clkaim my 3 years labor, 1 year parts warranty. Translation? $200 bucks up front ant at least 4 weeks of down time. This week being Christmas, 1 week out (2000 miles/3320 km) to CA, 1 week back, another week for them to exercise their prodigious technical talents to fix my hot rod 6 week old comp. Ever wonder why people build their own? Ssssoooooo.............Saturday PM I take the ailing POS to the nearest OPEN computer hospital (35 miles away) and drop it off for a diagnosis, and data (music, docs, videos etc) migration from the SSD to the HDD. Based on my symptom description; and previous efforts to revive the POS..............they suspect a borked boot sector in the OS. End result? $150 to diagnose and repair, and 100 for data migration. Fast forward to Monday the 21st. The tech I spoke with at the comp hospital says he now/then thinks it's a dead SSD...........kiss your data good by..........but he needs to do further diagnostics. Just keeps getting better; I say!
Early Tuesday; the Comp Hospital Tech tells me it's a dying motherboard. They don't carry it; so if I want it replaced; I'll have to order it, and bring it over for them to install. THAT is SERIOUS customer service! Late Tuesday the 22nd; spoke with Mr. Digital Storm's I'll call you back in a few's Supervisor. Explained all the previous to her; she apologized and authorized shipping to and from their facility ON THEIR DIME, and says she'll send me a RMA form and shipping label via email ASAP. I explain to her that's swell; but I have no way of checking email without a computer (being the geriatric, non smart phone possessing dinosaur that I am) until I can scrounge up a spare comp. Have nice holiday! Picked up the broken POS Wednesday the 23rd; they graciously refunded me $70.00 of my $250.00, I HAD TO pay them up front. The now presumably, needless data migration, and the $80.00 they charged me for it made the occasion special! Did I mention the now needless $150 for diagnosis and repair (which they obviously did not do) which Mr. I'll Call You Back In A Few; had cost me by not telling me last Friday they'd pay for shipping both ways on my six week old computer hot rod? Picked up the 7 year old comp, my daughter graciously loaned me today. My Grandson neglected to include the monitor power cable he disconnected during his disassembly process; causing a second 36 mile round trip to retrieve the necessary item. Nor did he charge me any extra for: The NINE; count'em NINE, tool bars he'd installed on internet explorer, the 5 or six REALLY questionable .exes and apps on the comp, or the 835 + security risks identified between Windows Defender, AVG free antivirus, and free Malwarebytes. Did I mention all the free stuff was because I could not look at, access, or uninstall the Norton Internet Security on the comp? The quirky fact Windows Explorer is completely non functional, or that the Windows Update hadn't been attended to since July 2012 when I LAST DID IT after coming back from Iraq? Oh yea........and the umpteen Windows Critical and Important Security updates awaiting install that will not down load or install? Aren't computers and computer competent relatives fun? NO! REALLY! I mean that! Oh yea..............now I'm back online with this shaky old POS...........................I can't ship the new broken POS out until Monday the 28th.
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Post by bontainer on Dec 26, 2015 11:48:28 GMT
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Post by flanker1six on Dec 26, 2015 16:34:05 GMT
Win 10 did try to auto repair after several OS load failures. It starts during the boot sequence then locks up; just like the boot lock up; except a prompt to the effect of, "Attempting Auto Repair" is frozen at the bottom of the screen. In any event; the last diagnosis from the computer hospital is the motherboard is defective in some fashion (not sure how that relates to an OS load failure), but that's what they said. The tech who worked on my comp has a gaming rig with Win 10 on an SSD in it, so he's familiar with this type of configuration. My current problem is getting this old POS scrubbed enough to where I think it's safe to connect to my financial sites and conduct my bill paying and such. I'm looking for work, and keep all my resumes (CVs), cover letters, and personal info on a USB stick. Don't really want to plug that into this comp either.............until I'm sure the comp is clean. When I first booted this thing up last night......I noticed my right arm was getting hot? That was all the hot air the comp was putting out from it's exhaust. I popped the side cover to discover the dirtiest computer insides I've ever seen. The fan blades and housing were coated with caked on dust, as were all the insides of the intake and exhaust grills. The CPU cooler fins were plugged with a 1-2mm thick layer of solidified dust, as was the PSU exhaust grill. Cleaned all that out this AM. Running MUCH cooler and more quietly now! I've DLed MicroSoft's malicious software removal tool, and am running a full system scan with that as I type; AVG AV just popped a prompt up telling me it snagged and skagged some kind of virus or malware. Be checking on that in a minute....... I've contacted a recently unemployed IT Tech who is working at home for extra money. Going to see if I can get him to inspect this thing, scan it with any software scrubbers he may have and root out any **** I've missed. In reality; the drive should be reformatted and the OS reinstalled--my Daughter says the computer did not come with an OEM Windows install/repair disc; which I find hard to believe. More likely she's lost it somewhere along the way........... Oh yea......the DVD drive won't open anyway.........not sure if it's built up dirt, or something else. Where'd I put that LARGE screwdriver??
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Post by bontainer on Dec 26, 2015 21:15:22 GMT
OMG, that sounds terrible. Reformatting seems to be the best choice. If it is an OEM machine it is possible that it did not come with a disc, at least not with a clean install disk, meaning, repair yes, but no possibility to install on a clean slate. Perhaps you can get a WIN10 install CD from somewhere, its legal, and you should not get any problems with Microsoft.
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Post by flanker1six on Dec 27, 2015 3:44:55 GMT
w00t! Bagged a Trojan Horse virus earlier; BackDoor Generic_c! I suspect the MS Malicious Software Removal Tool caused the virus to bust out of whatever software cover it was hiding in and RUN FOR IT! Allowing AVG to catch and quarantine it.
Just got done performing a Windows corrupt file system scan. Total shock! The report was a number of Windows files were corrupt. The humorous part was I was told to go to a specific file location to view a detailed report.........when I typed the file location in (being certain I'd typed it perfectly) and hit enter........I was told I wasn't allowed to perform that operation! A perfect software revolving door!
Since I posted earlier......I spoke with my more tech savvy friend; who told me about the F11 on boot option to the Vista boot system recovery console. I've looked at it.........said something to the effect that following the prompts would restore my windows/system to it's factory default settings. I canceled out for the time being; will likely do it tomorrow.
Any idea if I need to have my ancillary drivers (sound, video, chipset etc) on hand first? Or will the recovery process just reset and repair my windows WITHOUT REFORMATTING THE HDD, and necessitating a proper sequential driver reinstall? TY!
BTW: I know the comp came with a repair, if not a repair/install disc, as I used my card to buy it for my daughter back when; unboxed it, performed the initial set up, performed a couple of subsequent repair/tune ups (most recently in July 2012); and had placed all included literature and software in a file folder in her filing cabinet--labeled "Computer". Besides that; there's a MS Windows sticker on the side of the box identifying her Windows Vista as an OEM copy, and identifying the Product Key. Sloppy records and asset keeping will get you every time!
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Post by bontainer on Dec 27, 2015 16:45:34 GMT
Reformatting: Depends, but if it is necesary, the programm will ask you before it does it. Drivers will be gone, and a few hours of windows update will be necessary, but the system does most of it by itself. Only question is, if the malware will be gone if you do NOT reformat the drive...
BTW: You will need to enter the windows key during the reinstallation.
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Post by flanker1six on Dec 27, 2015 23:48:18 GMT
No worries!
Hewlett Packer (computer manufacturer) installed a backup OS copy + drivers on a partition on the HDD [so you can perform repair/recovery even if your daughter has lost the Windows CD!] . During boot, at the BIOS/Setup screen I had to press F11 to bring up the Recovery Console. Several different options were available; from simple file repair to a reformat and fresh OS + drivers install (my choice). Worked fine........except a seven year old OS version came bundled with IE 7 and wouldn't even display HP's home page! You weren't too far off on that "hours of Windows updating and configuring" either!
Anyway.......a few additional DLs and installs of some utility, maintenance, and productivity apps and this thing is about as clean and tuned as you could expect a great, great, great grandfather PC like this to be. At least I'll be able to stay up on my job searching, bills, banking, and such until DS gets my gaming rig fixed and back to me.
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Post by flanker1six on Jan 18, 2016 23:13:59 GMT
Received several email updates on my comp today from Digital Storm; stating they'd diagnosed, repaired, and were testing my comp prior to returning it to me. Gave them a call.........Customer Service said they'd replaced the MB (Gigabyte) and and CPU (Intel Core i7 5820K). The bad MB was in keeping with the last diagnosis I'd gotten from Best Buy (local computer hospital; which was a possible bad south bridge. Guess either one would explain why the OS wouldn't load.......and sounds like I didn't lose any data this time; off either the SSD or HDD. Did I mention a month with NO gaming??!!
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Post by JRavens on Jan 19, 2016 12:29:51 GMT
Ouch. Glad they fixed it, but that sucks you weren't able to game over the holidays
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Post by flanker1six on Jan 27, 2016 23:02:46 GMT
Comp was delivered back to me today. Fired it up and gave it a quick once over------------seems fine! Had to laugh during the boot sequence; one of the load screens is an advert for Gigabyte; my MB manufacturer. Said something like: Gigabyte Insist On Ultradurable! or some such PR. Given the first board only made it to the 6 week mark.............if that's the Ultradurable benchmark................I'm in trouble!! Fired up FC 4 for a few minutes as my gaming test run. Man! Am I out of practice...................couldn't move or operate my character worth a darn...............shooting was so bad I thought about getting an autoaim hack! Sheesh!! UPDATE 1/29/16: Noticed a prompt in the lower R corner of my display last night; said I needed to activate Windows, and to go into settings to do so. When I did, I was informed my copy of windows appeared to have been installed on another computer. I wondered if my OEM copy on Win 10 was somehow digitally registered to the MB or CPU that got swapped out during the warranty service? Anyway............after a bunch of pretty much useless back and forth with Digital Storm tech support; last night and this morning, I researched the issue on MS's web site and got my Wincdows reactivated under it's original Product Key. I HATE computers! Laugh #2 about the Ultradurable PR tag on my Gigabyte MB boot screen.................while talking with DS Tech Support this morning I asked if she could tell me "what" was wrong with the MB and CPU they swapped out? The Technician said she hadn't worked on my rig; however, in her experience they swapped out a fair few MBs due to "unknown failures". She went on to say she had handled several that had died unexplainedly around the one week mark! Cripes! So much for "Ultradurable".............................guess the upside is it was my MB and not the Fail Safe on a nuclear warhead.................which would have upsetting to me and my neighbors!
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