Hardware Discussion Thread

Gbear · 03-09-2012 04:17PM

Some noob questions: What's a cache? Seemingly more is better.

Why isn't there a push towards more cores?

Monotype · 03-09-2012 04:39PM

Yeah, the price difference with those is ridiculous. But people will fork out for top end. I presume the X means it's unlocked, although overclocking in a laptop is usually not the best idea.

@Gbear
Cache is memory directly on the chip. It's the fastest memory that the CPU can use and it's usually either data that's due to be read into CPU or processed data. The idea is that with a bigger cache, the CPU won't have to call the RAM as often and can keep regularly processed data so that it doesn't have to do it again. If the CPU doesn't have to process old data again, it's free to do something else. End result - faster CPU, but only in some circumstances.

There's not really the demand for more cores. Many applications are still only using around two. We saw with the 2600K which had 4 cores and 4 virtual cores, it hardly made a difference in most circumstances. The same goes for AMD's recent CPUs (current and upcoming) which seem to be heading down the route of more cores.
If the software can make use of it, the hardware should follow.

Serephucus · 03-09-2012 05:55PM

The price difference is normal for XM CPUs. If you get a decent Clevo or Alienware or something, you can usually get some pretty hefty overclocks. I've seen plenty of people get 2920XMs to 4.4GHz fairly handily.

Edit: Random other question: I thought that Seagate's drives all came with a one year warranty, but their 3TB Barracuda is listed as having a two-year. Linkie.

Edit 2: Look what just showed up on HWVS. Bit disappointed with the price though, hopefully that's a placeholder until it's in stock, and it drops a bit. Considering it's supposed to run along-side the 2711, €30 isn't a huge difference for the "cheaper" alternative.

Monotype · 03-09-2012 06:18PM

I noticed that about the Seagate there too as it's being showing up in a few places as two years. I checked the specs on their website yesterday, and yes, it still is one year.

Serephucus · 03-09-2012 06:47PM

Just looked there and I can't even find anything on the site that states the warranty period for Seagate's drives. I know every other possible piece of information about the drive though. :P

Monotype · 03-09-2012 07:19PM

Took me quite a while to find it too. I think they're trying to cover it up. I mean this was the company that used to set the standard and had 5 years for all drives just a few years back!

http://www.seagate.com/files/www-content/partners/my%20spp%20dashboard/learn/en-us/docs/lap-desk-cons-guide-qr502-9-1202us.pdf

It's dated as February, but it was linked on one of their drive pages so I presume it hasn't been replaced.

N64 · 03-09-2012 07:21PM

any news on the new amd cpus that were supposed to release today?

Monotype · 03-09-2012 08:12PM

We've got (possible) prices for the Trinity APUs:

http://www.techpowerup.com/171601/AMD-quot-Trinity-quot-A-Series-APUs-Competitive-with-Desktop-Core-i3-quot-Ivy-Bridge-quot-.html

Eboggles · 04-09-2012 07:05PM

http://videocardz.com/34724/asus-preparing-matrix-hd7970-platinum-ghz-edition

DO WANT.

ShadowHearth · 04-09-2012 07:12PM

Eboggles wrote: »

http://videocardz.com/34724/asus-preparing-matrix-hd7970-platinum-ghz-edition

DO WANT.

3 slot fat bastard.... no thank you. plus i doubt it overclock better then the rest. its all about silicon lottery, not " BIG ZUPER PROPELLER FANZZZZZZ!!!"

Eboggles · 04-09-2012 07:20PM

ShadowHearth wrote: »

3 slot fat bastard.... no thank you. plus i doubt it overclock better then the rest. its all about silicon lottery, not " BIG ZUPER PROPELLER FANZZZZZZ!!!"

But it looks so cool!

smileyj1987 · 04-09-2012 11:08PM

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4893/azza_genesis_9000_reversible_full_tower_chassis_review/index1.html

I have to say I really like this case and I think the fact you can mount the mainboard two different ways is a very interesting concept .

PseudoFamous · 05-09-2012 03:18PM

Here, lads, I'm getting a bit of an issue since I swapped a few things around in my case. I had previously two 560ti 2GB cards in there (One MSI, one Asus), and I recently swapped the MSI card for a modular PSU (Which I haven't bothered installing), new HDD and an external sound card.

All the new hardware is fine, but since moving the Asus card from the 8x PCIe slot it was in to the 16x slot the MSI card was in, I have to reinstall the drivers every time I boot up, which is a pain in the hole. Tried all the usual driver sweeper, ccleaner, etc., but nothing has worked so far.

Aside from the fairly radical solutions like reinstalling windows, anyone have any idea what could fix it?

glynf · 05-09-2012 05:18PM

Had similar before but with ATI cards-think what worked for me:

Uninstall all drivers again, restart in safe mode and delete all Nvidia stuff using Driver Sweeper.

Then reboot, enter BIOS choose optimised defaults, save and reboot. If you have on-board graphics, you could try physically removing the GPU and use on-board graphics as well, this sorted it for me.

Edit: Another thing you could do is stick the win 7 disk in and boot from same, then repair windows, might solve it. Also if you have more than one HDD, disconnect all but the drive with your OS on it.

Serephucus · 06-09-2012 04:11AM

Can't say we didn't see this coming, but:

http://videocardz.com/34653/nvidia-geforce-gtx-780-will-utilize-gk110-gpu

People might want to return their 680s...

Tea_Bag · 06-09-2012 09:54AM

that's the card I've been waiting for, but likely won't own. nvidia has completely lost touch with the world by pricing itself so far out of reach for most people.

look at the 680. its slower than the 7970Ghz but still commands a $100 premium. the 660Ti competes in price with the 7950, which competes in performance with a 670.
I hope AMDs 8000 series isn't far behind.

I expect gtx780 to be ~€800

ShadowHearth · 06-09-2012 11:01AM

Tea_Bag wrote: »

that's the card I've been waiting for, but likely won't own. nvidia has completely lost touch with the world by pricing itself so far out of reach for most people.

look at the 680. its slower than the 7970Ghz but still commands a $100 premium. the 660Ti competes in price with the 7950, which competes in performance with a 670.
I hope AMDs 8000 series isn't far behind.

I expect gtx780 to be ~€800

I agree on nvidias pricing policies. They need to take their head out of the arse.

Though.... Do we even need anything more powerfull? My 680 eats everything at 1080p and it is not even overclocked. There is nothing in horizon that will give it a good workout in the next year at least. Like I said before: we need better pricing, not a new gen cards.

Tea_Bag · 06-09-2012 11:07AM

a catleap will give your 680 a spanking though.

I'm looking for a single card solution that will give me 120fps (for 120hz) in BF3 on ultra @1440p

the 780 might actually be able to do it, if nvidia don't cripple it too much from reference gk110.

ShadowHearth · 06-09-2012 01:06PM

Tea_Bag wrote: »

a catleap will give your 680 a spanking though.

I'm looking for a single card solution that will give me 120fps (for 120hz) in BF3 on ultra @1440p

the 780 might actually be able to do it, if nvidia don't cripple it too much from reference gk110.

680 still will do grand at 1440p 60hz. When we are going 1440p and looking for 120hz setups, we are leaving sensible side and going to "have more money then sense" side.

Serephucus · 06-09-2012 01:18PM

ShadowHearth wrote: »

680 still will do grand at 1440p 60hz. When we are going 1440p and looking for 120hz setups, we are leaving sensible side and going to "have more money then sense" side.

I don't think so, really. You do notice a difference going from 60Hz to 120Hz, and people do like higher resolution displays than 1080p - evidenced by the Catleap's popularity - so I can't see why 25x14/16 120Hz displays won't be popular in a couple of years.

ShadowHearth · 06-09-2012 01:32PM

Serephucus wrote: »

I don't think so, really. You do notice a difference going from 60Hz to 120Hz, and people do like higher resolution displays than 1080p - evidenced by the Catleap's popularity - so I can't see why 25x14/16 120Hz displays won't be popular in a couple of years.

Ofc in couple of years it will catch on, but now or I'm next 2 years it's still very expensive thing to have. Catleap is fun and all, but there are not many people with wallet to get stuff running smooth ant 1440p.
I remember very well as people here were giving out at me, that I said a lot of gamers already at 1650x1050 and 1080p. I was told that I am mad to say and that majority gaming pcs still inter 16x10... So how did we all got to 1440p so damn fast?

Serephucus · 06-09-2012 01:36PM

Well it will have to be in a couple of years; right now there isn't a single 120Hz IPS panel out there, and f**k me if I'm going back to TN.

ShadowHearth · 06-09-2012 01:40PM

Serephucus wrote: »

Well it will have to be in a couple of years; right now there isn't a single 120Hz IPS panel out there, and f**k me if I'm going back to TN.

That will be a good couple of years m8, before 1440p 120hz will be affordable and not just a massive epenis addon.

Even now 120hz 1080p is still a very expensive setups.

I am still looking forward to that dell 1440p IPS cheaper yoke, but by the looks of it, dell somehow lost the word "cheap" in that formula.

Serephucus · 06-09-2012 01:43PM

Yup. It's on HWVS for a whopping €30 less than the U2711. I'm hoping it comes down a bit when it actually shows up in stock.

Tea_Bag · 06-09-2012 01:53PM

isn't the 'overlord' catleaps that are 120hz gonna be $450, and shipping in large numbers? that's a premium alright, but hardly 'years away'.

ShadowHearth · 06-09-2012 01:55PM

Tea_Bag wrote: »

isn't the 'overlord' catleaps that are 120hz gonna be $450, and shipping in large numbers? that's a premium alright, but hardly 'years away'.

450eu-500eu ( with duties ) then a hardware to support 1440p 120hz... Yup years away from now for average joe.

Serephucus · 06-09-2012 01:58PM

Didn't know there was such a thing on the market as of yet. Ignore my previous statement.

Also, I'd hardly call €500 for a 27" IPS 120Hz monitor a premium. If those turn out to be the numbers, that's downright cheap.

ShadowHearth · 06-09-2012 02:46PM

Serephucus wrote: »

Didn't know there was such a thing on the market as of yet. Ignore my previous statement.

Also, I'd hardly call €500 for a 27" IPS 120Hz monitor a premium. If those turn out to be the numbers, that's downright cheap.

I would call my self a light enthusiast and my pc would be just a bit stronger then average gamers, but I could not even dream of a 1440p 120fps/120hz setup. 500eu + hardware to run it is not cheap. Idiot with 500eu can buy IPS 120hz panel, but what will he do with his pc?

If people find these 120hz IPS monitors + system to run them cheap, then ****, this has tobe a rich side of the boards.ie and I don't belong here as I am poor bum so.

.

Tea_Bag · 06-09-2012 02:49PM

you spent €540 on a GPU to play 1080p though. a 6870 can do that for €130...

ShadowHearth · 06-09-2012 03:04PM

Tea_Bag wrote: »

you spent €540 on a GPU to play 1080p though. a 6870 can do that for €130...

I have both of them and no, 1080p 680 performs waaaaay better. Even so, I did said I spent money and what I spent is very big money ( for me ), but we are talking about 500eu monitor amd system to run it at 120hz like it is a cheap setup, which is very close to be a standard gamers weapon of choice.

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