Hardware Discussion Thread

deconduo

Monotype wrote: »

Well spotted. That's even worse than the reads on the other thread that you posted. Looks like the Marvell controller really is bad. I had a look around the net and a lot of people are posting similar results on it.
That's one thing that AMD have done very well in their boards. It's a shame Intel can't be bothered doing as well.

If you don't have another controller and you want to do something about it, then the solution would be to get a PCI-E card for better SATA. They seem to be €30-40 for an OK looking one.
I'd look at updating the motherboard BIOS and checking that the SSD has the latest firmware first.

I don't think you can boot from PCI-E though. At the very least its probably a pain in the ass to set up.

Nollog

Monotype wrote: »

Well spotted. That's even worse than the reads on the other thread that you posted. Looks like the Marvell controller really is bad. I had a look around the net and a lot of people are posting similar results on it.
That's one thing that AMD have done very well in their boards. It's a shame Intel can't be bothered doing as well.

If you don't have another controller and you want to do something about it, then the solution would be to get a PCI-E card for better SATA. They seem to be €30-40 for an OK looking one.
I'd look at updating the motherboard BIOS and checking that the SSD has the latest firmware first.

I updated the last post. The msahci driver (the one gigabyte offer for download)gets better results than the driver for the actual controller does.
The bios is the latest stable version, the SSD has the only firmware on samsung's site for it. I haven't tried updating the marvell bios as it needs a floppy/cd and they don't fill me with confidence enough to risk it.

The reason I brought it up is that I moved my old ssd (also sata3) into a new build for someone else and the speed of it blew my mind.
I'll probably just save the ssd for a new build in the future, I'll have a pleasant surprise when it boots in 5 seconds.

unrelated, how good is intel 3000 hd inbuilt graphics on the H61 series?
Would it play games like the sims and stuff?

Monotype

deconduo wrote: »

I don't think you can boot from PCI-E though.

<Slaps forehead> Didn't even think of that. There's a few PCI-E SSDs around so there must be some ways around it. Might be a pain though, as you say.

/\/ollog wrote: »

I I haven't tried updating the marvell bios as it needs a floppy/cd and they don't fill me with confidence enough to risk it.
...
unrelated, how good is intel 3000 hd inbuilt graphics on the H61 series?
Would it play games like the sims and stuff?

I'd skip the floppy but surely a CD isn't too bad?
HD3000 is actually not bad at all in comparison to older graphics. It should run a lot of games if you turn down the detail. Youtube is a good place to look for people testing out random games with low hardware.

Tea_Bag

for interest sake..

my 128gb samsung 830 on an intel chipset on an Asrock Z77 Extreme6.

its almost full though, which might affect results slightly. i remember my old intel x25m 80gb SSD used to crawl when it got full, but things have improved since then.

ill be upgrading to a 256gb samsung 830 when komplett decides to ship it, and ill update my results then.






for giggles i decided to do the same tests on my samsung F3 1Tb... its still running and will be for a long time

frozenfrozen

Yes I am using the marvel controller! I double and triple checked if I was using intel when I was installing but must have just done the wrong thing. I tried to switch to the sata3g intel port but i couldn't boot, I kept getting a bluescreen for like a single frame and then it would loop..?! Do I need to do something differently?

frozenfrozen

Well this is a bit weird; I plugged out my sata cables from the marvell controller, tried to start with them in the intel one and it would't work, i put them back to where they were, and i used my computer for a few hours, did tests again and it says I'm using the intel controller and I get these results

Monotype

Now that looks normal. Very nice. :cool: Could it be possible that you were using the marvel driver with the Intel port?
Unplugging the SSD could have forced windows to search again for suitable drivers.

frozenfrozen

going by the layout picture in the manual I'm still using the marvell controller... I have my ssd and first WD black plugged into the slots with "ssd caching" written on a sticker on it, and it's white/grey, and in the manual it says 10. Marvell Serial ATA 6Gb/s connectors (7pin SATA6G_E1/E2 [Grey]) and all the other slots are brown/black like it says in the manual, and they're all the intel ones.

Am I using intel drivers with the marvell port now? Im really very confused! All the same I'm getting decent performance now but it would be so great if it turned out if these were my bad results!

N64

Marvell controllers are pure piss alright, on my old motherboard I experienced lock ups when using my DVD drive on the marvel controller :eek:

Nollog

500MB/s :O

For curiosity sake I enabled the "auto" setting for the sata3 port on my motherboard, I scored a 460ish on ASSD(points, not MB/s)
Set it back the FW mode and back to 533(actually scored 535)
What Auto does is use the newest version either from the motherboard's bios, or from the actual bios on the marvell chip.
FW mode uses the marvell's chip.
So since my bios is newer than what shipped with it, and I haven't touched the marvell bios at all, I thought it was kind of funny the older one gets better performance.

Sarz91

I ordered the coolermaster HAF 912 and was just wondering how many extra fans I should purchase. It says it comes with two pre installed. Should that be enough? I also ordered the coolermaster hyper evo 212 CPU cooler. Should I invest in more fans or should it be ok?

Nazata

Sarz91 wrote: »

I ordered the coolermaster HAF 912 and was just wondering how many extra fans I should purchase. It says it comes with two pre installed. Should that be enough? I also ordered the coolermaster hyper evo 212 CPU cooler. Should I invest in more fans or should it be ok?

You can get by with 2 if you're not doing heavy overclocking, but 4 is probably the golden number value wise for that kind of case, I'd recommend picking up some reputable fans and have 1 front intake, 1 side intake, 1 rear exhaust and 1 hind roof exhaust.

Not essential to have 4, many can get by quite happily with 2, though 4 will allow you to turn your fans lower and keep system cooler (than 2) resulting in a lower noise output and better overclocking potential.

Eboggles

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/news/amd-announces-new-pricing-structure-for-7000-series-cards/

I have a feeling AMD is worried about GTX 660...

This just means I can pick up a 7950 for some proper 1440p gaming :cool:.

Procrastastudy

Nice!

freeze4real

Hiya what intel processor can I get thats cheap but okayish starting from a pentium 4 upwards to a i3.

Although I havent picked a mobo yet but it will be an intel one.

deconduo

freeze4real wrote: »

Hiya what intel processor can I get thats cheap but okayish starting from a pentium 4 upwards to a i3.

Although I havent picked a mobo yet but it will be an intel one.

G530 + ASRock H61M mobo would be your best bet for cheap but half decent.

freeze4real

deconduo wrote: »

G530 + ASRock H61M mobo would be your best bet for cheap but half decent.

thats abit over my budget lol, can you tell me what motherboard is the best in this link.

thanks

deconduo

freeze4real wrote: »

thats abit over my budget lol, can you tell me what motherboard is the best in this link.

thanks

What's your budget, also your link is broken.

freeze4real

Sorry, I was comparing these motherboards.

1.ASUS ZACATE E350 E35M1-M S/V/L M-ATX
2.M4A87TD EVO
3.M4A77T/USB3
4.P8P67 LE

They are all asus motherboard, for now I have 80e to spend.

Way below what the amount I need but i'm getting them 2nd hand.

Skylinehead

http://www.techpowerup.com/169148/Sapphire-Debuts-the-Radeon-HD-7970-6-GB-TOXIC-Edition.html

Nice.

glynf

Two of these in xfire would pretty much sh!t on any thing else available at 5760 x 1080 with AA/AF maxed. :eek: Look forward to a few reviews that concentrate o eyefinity res'.

Monotype

freeze4real wrote: »

Sorry, I was comparing these motherboards.

1.ASUS ZACATE E350 E35M1-M S/V/L M-ATX
2.M4A87TD EVO
3.M4A77T/USB3
4.P8P67 LE

They are all asus motherboard, for now I have 80e to spend.

Way below what the amount I need but i'm getting them 2nd hand.

The first one has an integrated CPU. Good board for HTPC or something you want on all day long. Not good for desktop use as it would be slow.

The middle two are AMD boards. I don't think there's any reason to get the 77T over the 87TD. Not a bad board but not the newest generation either and Intel has better current upgrade paths. I thought that you had an AMD CPU already?

The P8P67 isn't the best board on the block but it would allow you to overclock high end CPUs like the 2500K, 2600K, 2570K etc. Now these CPUs would be well over your budget but they're there if you want to upgrade in the future. You wouldn't be able to overclock lower CPUs but a G530 would be faaaaaar more powerful than a pentium 4.

Conclusion: Get #4 for the best upgrade path. Note that it does not support integrated graphics so you have to use a dedicated card.

freeze4real

Monotype wrote: »

The first one has an integrated CPU. Good board for HTPC or something you want on all day long. Not good for desktop use as it would be slow.

The middle two are AMD boards. I don't think there's any reason to get the 77T over the 87TD. Not a bad board but not the newest generation either and Intel has better current upgrade paths. I thought that you had an AMD CPU already?

The P8P67 isn't the best board on the block but it would allow you to overclock high end CPUs like the 2500K, 2600K, 2570K etc. Now these CPUs would be well over your budget but they're there if you want to upgrade in the future. You wouldn't be able to overclock lower CPUs but a G530 would be faaaaaar more powerful than a pentium 4.

Conclusion: Get #4 for the best upgrade path. Note that it does not support integrated graphics so you have to use a dedicated card.

thanks for the easy explanation, I did have an AMD motherboard but sold it.
I already have a dedicated GPU so thats not a problem.

Is the cpu intel core duo better than intel celeron ?

Is this mobo better than the asrock alivenfg6 that I was using, and in terms of difference will I notice any difference at all in terms of computing speed games etc ?

Monotype

Core duo is for laptops. Core 2 duo is the following two generations after Pentium 4.
The last three mainstream generations of Intel CPUs have been known as Core i3/Core i5/Core i7.

Celeron is a long running name that's been in use for many generations and is their budget line. The celeron G530 is a dual core that runs at 2.4GHz and would be equivalent to... oh let's see... assume 12% improvement each generation and 100% for P4->C2D, would put you at about 6-7GHz Pentium 4. Except it's a dual core as well.

What CPU did you have again? The motherboard should be better in terms of features as the one you had didn't support SATA 6Gbps or have USB 3 and there's a better upgrade path.

freeze4real

Monotype wrote: »

Core duo is for laptops. Core 2 duo is the following two generations after Pentium 4.
The last three mainstream generations of Intel CPUs have been known as Core i3/Core i5/Core i7.

Celeron is a long running name that's been in use for many generations and is their budget line. The celeron G530 is a dual core that runs at 2.4GHz and would be equivalent to... oh let's see... assume 12% improvement each generation and 100% for P4->C2D, would put you at about 6-7GHz Pentium 4. Except it's a dual core as well.

What CPU did you have again? The motherboard should be better in terms of features as the one you had didn't support SATA 6Gbps or have USB 3 and there's a better upgrade path.

I was using AMD Athon 64 x 2 5600 2.8GHZ.

So in short your are saying that the celeron G53O is better than the intel core 2 duo.

Monotype

Core 2 Duo is 3-4 generations old. You would need a socket 775 motherboard. Upgrades would be limited; don't go down that route.

The Celeron G530 should have a small edge on that CPU. I dunno... possibly 10%, no more than 20% faster. But remember that this is a bottom end €40ish CPU available so you have huge scope for upgrades.

freeze4real

Monotype wrote: »

Core 2 Duo is 3-4 generations old. You would need a socket 775 motherboard. Upgrades would be limited; don't go down that route.

The Celeron G530 should have a small edge on that CPU. I dunno... possibly 10%, no more than 20% faster. But remember that this is a bottom end €40ish CPU available so you have huge scope for upgrades.

thanks mate, I will first get the mobo, then decide on what CPU to get might try toget the i3.

Genghiz Cohen

freeze4real wrote: »

thanksmate, why is it that people make the assumption that intel core 2 duo is better than the celeron ?

People seem to compare the Core 2 Duos to the Celerons of the same era.
Celerons have come a long way while C2D is effectively dead.

That's also a Socket 775 CPU you linked.
I think you want a Socket 1155.

Skylinehead

freeze4real wrote: »

thanksmate, why is it that people make the assumption that intel core 2 duo is better than the celeron ?

Can i Use this CPU in this link.

Probably because at the time when these were the best CPUs, the Core2 was better than the corresponding Celeron. But as the Core2 was discontinued and the Celeron has been updated, the gap has shrinked/reversed.

stevenf17

Getting a new laptop for college soon and going to replace the hdd right out of the box.
Do ya's think the 830 worth the extra 6 quid over the m4?

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/Solid-State-Disk/56863/Samsung+SSD+830+256GB+SATA+III+Paper+Box.article

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/Solid-State-Disk/53777/Crucial+M4+Slim+256GB+SATA+6GB%27s+6%2C4cm+%282%2C5%29.article

I've already had a 128gb m4 in my desktop for the past year and its a great drive, I've no complaints, but just wondering do yas think there's any benefit going for the Samsung drive other than a little faster write speeds?