Hardware Discussion Thread

Unregistered. · 28-11-2011 11:39PM

Crucial M4 is very popular, I'd say most if not all ship with the new firmware (assuming you stick with the popular retailers.) Bought one from HWVS recently, the SSD has the firmware version on the label.

Serephucus · 28-11-2011 11:59PM

There's also OCZ's Octane to look into. From the couple of reviews that are out so far, it looks great (bearing in mind that Crucial have had ages to improve the M4's firmware, and the Octane is just released) and it's priced similarly. Assuming it's reliable, I'll be picking one up for my next upgrade.

Trevor451 · 29-11-2011 12:56AM

Anybody here with a 6950 having problems with the latest version of CCC (11.11) ? I updated my drivers (used driver sweeper to clean remains out before installing 11.11 btw) and I am having stability issues. My system will lock up randomly when just running firefox and then will proceed to restart. I ran furmark & heaven bench. each for 3 hours and everything appeared to be fine

I have since rolled back to 11.9 and everything seems stable but Its hard to tell since again the crashes I experienced were completely at random.

I also was looking up reviews for this card and noticed that one other person is having issues with 11.11.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-127-575&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

Overheal · 29-11-2011 02:15AM

Second Vapor-X 5770 is on it's way.

Excited.

Tea_Bag · 29-11-2011 04:46AM

Trevor451 wrote: »

Anybody here with a 6950 having problems with the latest version of CCC (11.11) ? I updated my drivers (used driver sweeper to clean remains out before installing 11.11 btw) and I am having stability issues. My system will lock up randomly when just running firefox and then will proceed to restart. I ran furmark & heaven bench. each for 3 hours and everything appeared to be fine

I have since rolled back to 11.9 and everything seems stable but Its hard to tell since again the crashes I experienced were completely at random.

I also was looking up reviews for this card and noticed that one other person is having issues with 11.11.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-127-575&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

No problems for me with 2x 6950CF with CC11.11 aside from being unable to play BF3 at all. Between Russian keys, crossfire, a dodgy patch, and a load of bad luck I can't play for more than 5min without a crash. Resorted to Xbox with my friends gamertag until a fix is found.

Trevor451 · 17-12-2011 01:50AM

Hi guys, one of my friends is kindly going to give some black dragon DDR3 ram to me. I already have 4GB DDR3 black dragon ram however my friends ram is running at different frequency, timing, etc. Would I run into any problems running the two kits together?

RAM I have: 4GB-Kit GEIL Black Dragon PC3-8500 DDR3-1066 CL7
Ram friend is going to give me: 4GB-Kit GEIL Black Dragon PC3-10660 DDR3-1333 CL7

Cheers

deconduo · 17-12-2011 02:19AM

If you run them both at the same frequency/CL you'll be fine.

Serephucus · 17-12-2011 02:25AM

Just run them both on the speed/voltage/timings that your RAM has and you'll be fine. Oh, and no, you won't notice the slightest bit of difference at the slower speed.

Tar.Aldarion · 17-12-2011 02:57PM

any suggestions for a nice cheap wireless router online or on argos (get 10% off there)

deejer · 20-12-2011 02:02PM

If I connect an SSD to my IDE motherboard connection via an IDE/SATA converter connection would I loose the speed gained from adding the SSD?

Have an old Dell that I just want to use for downloading and will have it connected to the home network. Thought a 30GB SSD would be a good idea just for the OS as I would probably pay as much for a new HDD.

Cheers

Unregistered. · 20-12-2011 05:57PM

deejer wrote: »

If I connect an SSD to my IDE motherboard connection via an IDE/SATA converter connection would I loose the speed gained from adding the SSD?

Some of it. I'd imagine you'd still notice an improvement over a Hard disk.

deejer · 20-12-2011 06:04PM

Unregistered. wrote: »

Some of it. I'd imagine you'd still notice an improvement over a Hard disk.

Cheers

I guess the other issue is RAM. Just giving her a clean out at the moment and id say 2gb is probably the most it will take. Will have a look at its specs later and see.

A newer SSD would probably be wasted in it so. Maybe if I can pick up a vertex 1 would suit.

Unregistered. · 20-12-2011 06:12PM

deejer wrote: »

Cheers

I guess the other issue is RAM. Just giving her a clean out at the moment and id say 2gb is probably the most it will take. Will have a look at its specs later and see.

A newer SSD would probably be wasted in it so. Maybe if I can pick up a vertex 1 would suit.

Well, It depends on whether you're planning on upgrading the mobo soon. Sure, you're definitely not gonna see any of the great sequential speeds offered by some SSDs. However, it's the random speeds, which are well lower than the transfer speeds of IDE which make the biggest difference IMO. Having said that, I don't think IDE supports AHCI which might have an effect on some of the newer SSDs at least - but don't quote me on that.

Trevor451 · 20-12-2011 11:34PM

11.12 *touch wood* has seemed to fix the crashing issue with my 6950

No idea why it was crashing in the first place though, it only happened when I was just browsing the web. Never in games

Markd250 · 21-12-2011 08:04AM

11.12 has also fixed a funny flicker artefact I was getting with flash and other web plugins. Good work AMD!

sdiff · 21-12-2011 01:54PM

Something I'm a little confused about. Is there any difference between the HD 6970 and the HD 6950, given that the 6950 can be "unlocked" to 6970?
If this were the case, I could buy one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11188-05-20G-HD6950-Graphics-GDDR5/dp/B005G50EOQ/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
For 200£ and save 100£ compared to this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11187-00-40R-6970-GDDR5-Graphics/dp/B004JNN87G/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1324472074&sr=1-1

Monotype · 21-12-2011 02:01PM

The modern revisions can't be unlocked, as far as I know. It was only some models too.
If you're thinking of a new card, the 7000 series will be released soon, starting with the 7950 and 7970.

deconduo · 21-12-2011 02:08PM

Monotype wrote: »

The modern revisions can't be unlocked, as far as I know. It was only some models too.
If you're thinking of a new card, the 7000 series will be released soon, starting with the 7950 and 7970.

The Sapphire Dirt3 edition and the MSI Twin Frozr III still have a decent chance to unlock. The Dirt3 comes with a BIOS switch and a BIOS with the shaders already unlocked. The TF III has a better cooler and overclocks great, but doesn't have any switch so unlocking it is a bit riskier.

Dirt3:
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=51280&agid=1165

TF III:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-msi-hd-6950-twin-frozr-iii-power-edition-oc-pci-e-21-5200mhz-gddr5-gpu-850mhz-1408-cores

Monotype · 22-12-2011 12:34PM

I remember reading a comment from MSI themselves about the Twin Frozr III saying that their card unlocked. To be safe, you'd want to do some research to see what people are getting in the latest cards. The twin frozr range of coolers are very quiet.

I didn't know about the Sapphire card. That's very generous of them!

Tea_Bag · 03-01-2012 03:44PM

ladies and gentleman, introducing the HD7770...

www.tomshardware.com/news/AMD-Radeon-HD-7770-GPU-graphics,14399.html

looks like a lovely card. stock at 1Ghz

and under 100W under load.

looks like the days of the big 1Kw+ psu are numbered. with these super efficient cards and low power cpus (ivy bridge i5 is 76W tdp i think) gaming is only becoming cheaper

also, whoever leaked the specs is running an ES ivy bridge on Z77. lucky ******

Trevor451 · 04-01-2012 03:07AM

Hi guys (and mods please forgive me if posting this is against the rules) I have decided that I am going to keep my vtx card and sell my twin forzr iii 6950 2GB since I am a bit strapped for cash and the vtx card is serving me fine

What do you guys reckon is a fair price to sell it for? I bought it about 3-4 months ago for €250. AFAIK MSi have transferable warranty (warranty system is based on serial code) and this card is meant to have a good unlock rate to a 6970.

Tea_Bag · 04-01-2012 05:28AM

you would want to sell quick before everyone knows about the 7950 being around the corner.

hell even the 7850/70 is rumored to destroy the 6970 in every department, so it really depends.

problem is, not everyone is in the market for a top end GPU all the time, so if you plan on holding out for the best price you could wait ages.

that said, Id say you should get €200 and youd be doing well.

Tea_Bag · 09-01-2012 03:18AM

anyone notice the price increase for the phenom 955?!

cheapest is €120 i can find. was dipping below €100 before.

now some advice. should i get the phenom x4 970 or the x6 1055T? (they're only a tenner more than the 955)

wont be used for gaming initially, but possibly eventually. mostly creative suite stuff, some chemistry calculations using unknown programs at the moment.

Completionist · 09-01-2012 04:29AM

The 7970 is being released today right?

Will the price of the 6XXX cards drop now?:D

Monotype · 09-01-2012 11:07AM

Tea_Bag wrote: »

anyone notice the price increase for the phenom 955?!

cheapest is €120 i can find. was dipping below €100 before.

now some advice. should i get the phenom x4 970 or the x6 1055T? (they're only a tenner more than the 955)

wont be used for gaming initially, but possibly eventually. mostly creative suite stuff, some chemistry calculations using unknown programs at the moment.

960T (in case you didn't see other thread).

Completionist wrote: »

The 7970 is being released today right?

Will the price of the 6XXX cards drop now?:D

It's on AMD's site anyway, and they're a bit over confident in their product. "Engineered to humiliate the competition" - I assume it's in jest but they're in a good position now, don't ruin it. You never know when some disaster and a mass recall is around the corner!

ShadowHearth · 09-01-2012 11:20AM

Come on! Daddy wants to have a look at 7870!

One thing that I really love about this gen as they get more energy efficient. I might get away with my 750w psu for some crossfire setups.

dan_ep82 · 09-01-2012 01:25PM

As far as I know the 7870 and 7950's will be released at a later date.

And they're not cheap either.€500 before delivery from OCUK at its cheapest actually

ShadowHearth · 09-01-2012 01:26PM

dan_ep82 wrote: »

As far as I know the 7870 and 7950's will be released at a later date.

And they're not cheap either.€500 before delivery from OCUK at its cheapest actually

i thought 7970 was in 500eu bracket?

edit: those are listen on scan now.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-power-color-radeon-hd-7970-5500mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-925mhz-2048-cores-dvi-i-hdmi-mini-dp

479£, ouch!

Serephucus · 09-01-2012 01:29PM

Its RRP was actually reduced from $525 to $475, but it's unlikely we - customers - will feel that soon, if at all.

dan_ep82 · 09-01-2012 01:30PM

ShadowHearth wrote: »

i thought 7970 was in 500eu bracket?

edit: those are listen on scan now.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-power-color-radeon-hd-7970-5500mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-925mhz-2048-cores-dvi-i-hdmi-mini-dp

479£, ouch!

Actually it was the $500 USD bracket,but as usual in europe the price doesn't change,just the $ to € sign

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