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Don't be scared. You can't screw anything up - you can only not plug something in (which is easy to remedy). The nice thing about PSUs is all their plugs only fit in where they belong.
Computer Gamers!
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9,900 Posts
^so you are saying your PSU has 2x and you need 2x more?
So i had 2xGTX 260s, and my 700w psu of the time only had 2x connectors as well. I used 2x of the dual molex to single 6pin adapters with them, it actually worked with 0 issues.
these:
![Material property Cable Font Technology Electrical supply]()
Now, while that was fine with my 2x gtx 260s, when i upgraded to 2x gtx 470s, they did NOT work. there was a whole fiasco of me getting one of the cards replaced though, so its entirely possible it would have worked with the replacement card. However by the time i got the new card i had replaced the psu with a 850w ocz that has 3x 6pins. i then used 1x of the molex to 6 pin adapters for the fourth.
oddly enough the new psu only had 2x 6 pin power, and then it had 1x 8pin power. But the 8 pin power connector was IDENTICAL to the six one, but had 2x extra pins, and BOTH extra pins just had black ground wires going to them. I used my volt meter to make sure, and they were indeed not powered lines. So i grabbed pair of tinsnips (lol) and sheered off the end 2x connectors. a little bit of trimming and cleaning it up with smaller tools and i had what looked just like a 6 pin connector. Hooked it up and it works like a charm :diablo:
So i had 2xGTX 260s, and my 700w psu of the time only had 2x connectors as well. I used 2x of the dual molex to single 6pin adapters with them, it actually worked with 0 issues.
these:
Now, while that was fine with my 2x gtx 260s, when i upgraded to 2x gtx 470s, they did NOT work. there was a whole fiasco of me getting one of the cards replaced though, so its entirely possible it would have worked with the replacement card. However by the time i got the new card i had replaced the psu with a 850w ocz that has 3x 6pins. i then used 1x of the molex to 6 pin adapters for the fourth.
oddly enough the new psu only had 2x 6 pin power, and then it had 1x 8pin power. But the 8 pin power connector was IDENTICAL to the six one, but had 2x extra pins, and BOTH extra pins just had black ground wires going to them. I used my volt meter to make sure, and they were indeed not powered lines. So i grabbed pair of tinsnips (lol) and sheered off the end 2x connectors. a little bit of trimming and cleaning it up with smaller tools and i had what looked just like a 6 pin connector. Hooked it up and it works like a charm :diablo:
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15,251 Posts
Continuing on my on/off-topicness, I had planned on building a home server for my house. Currently I have music and pictures on the desktop, movies on the HTPC, and laptops that access it. With another HTPC coming soon, putting all my storage stuff on one server. I had 3 options:
Windows Home Server 2011. Played with it on a test box. Not bad, basically Windows Server 2008 R2 for dummies. Costs $52 for a legal copy. Lots of software RAID options for disks. Will need to build a farily-competent 64bit PC to run this. Windows server management at home = ugh.
Take a Snap Server 410 off the garbage pile here at work and put 4x 2TB drives in it. Noisy. Not expandable. Must be built all at once. Runs RAID 0, 1, 5
UnRaid. Needed a box to run it. Irony. Walked upstairs to my garbage pile. Saw something sitting on top of it that isn't "one of mine." Pull it off the heap and examined: HP Media Center PC. 3.0GHz processor (single core, dual thread) 64-bit processor, 1.0GB ram. No hard drive, but 4x SATA ports. Hello my new unRaid server.
With 4x SATA ports, I can buy 2x 2.0TB drives ($90 each eBay), use one as parity, one as storage, throw my 2x 640GB from the current HTPC and have 3.2TB of usable storage for about $220, after paying for unraid. Or, just buy 3x 2TB drives now for $270, and not need to pay for unraid (for a while) since you can use up to 3 drives on the free version. If I need more space before I build a new server, that will just mean registering the software for $59, and $20 PCI -> SATA card, and more drives. I think we have a winner!
Windows Home Server 2011. Played with it on a test box. Not bad, basically Windows Server 2008 R2 for dummies. Costs $52 for a legal copy. Lots of software RAID options for disks. Will need to build a farily-competent 64bit PC to run this. Windows server management at home = ugh.
Take a Snap Server 410 off the garbage pile here at work and put 4x 2TB drives in it. Noisy. Not expandable. Must be built all at once. Runs RAID 0, 1, 5
UnRaid. Needed a box to run it. Irony. Walked upstairs to my garbage pile. Saw something sitting on top of it that isn't "one of mine." Pull it off the heap and examined: HP Media Center PC. 3.0GHz processor (single core, dual thread) 64-bit processor, 1.0GB ram. No hard drive, but 4x SATA ports. Hello my new unRaid server.
With 4x SATA ports, I can buy 2x 2.0TB drives ($90 each eBay), use one as parity, one as storage, throw my 2x 640GB from the current HTPC and have 3.2TB of usable storage for about $220, after paying for unraid. Or, just buy 3x 2TB drives now for $270, and not need to pay for unraid (for a while) since you can use up to 3 drives on the free version. If I need more space before I build a new server, that will just mean registering the software for $59, and $20 PCI -> SATA card, and more drives. I think we have a winner!
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1,443 Posts
My computer gaming set up is
32inch flat screen(cheapo brand = no input lag)
xbox 360
xim3 adapter
Razor Blackwidow Ultimate
Razor Naga Molten edition
I get to play like im using a computer, but kill kids that use controllers and dont have to worry about sinking a grand into my computer every 3 years.
32inch flat screen(cheapo brand = no input lag)
xbox 360
xim3 adapter
Razor Blackwidow Ultimate
Razor Naga Molten edition
I get to play like im using a computer, but kill kids that use controllers and dont have to worry about sinking a grand into my computer every 3 years.
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9,900 Posts
^how you liking that ultimate? I HATE THE CAPS LOCK KEY!!! AHH!!! Its been over a month and i still hit it ALL THE TIME!
that aside.. this keyboard is literally "the best" KB like.. ever.
I forgot to mention i have a black widow ultimate and a R.A.T. 7.
Hyun, i use 2003 @ work a ton, but never found the need for it @ home.
Just win7 pro x64 on everything. Sever is an old p4 3.0 laptop that supports 64bit instruction. 1gb as well. similar to what you found. its an old precision so it has a 256mb quadro card as well. Its "meh" but what i use it for is backup and data storage. it has 3x USB drives. a 500GB, a 1TB and a 2TB. the 500GB is mp3s and my system drive backup. the 1tb is downloads, and the 2tb is a backup of my main rig. all just network shares. a 1-1 backup using synctoy i run every week. But im starting to get over 2tb of games and downloads. So i bought a Blu Ray burner and am archiving TV shows and Anime and other such things. 25GB per disc is pretty awesome.
i have no raid here, but its pretty awesome, we use it at work on a NAS and on a Sever station i manage. but for home.. im ok with my redundancy being my main rig and a secondary drive off my "server".
I always think i want to get a home server, but i cant think of what i does that i cant do with standard 7.....
Why the move for you? just the raid setups and such? easy management with home groups? what was the major "draw"?
sidenote: my p4 laptop in the basement also runs my "basement setup"... which consists of a USB Alesis Multi-MIX, 2x Nady 12" subs with compression horn cabinets, running of an early 90s 200w RMS stereo unit with 2x motion controlled lights, a REAL 1950s traffic light with a relay installed to make the lights flash, a red "fire engine" spinning light and about 6x black lights ceiling mounted. The Alesis USB has 2x stage quality Microphones hooked up and 1 stage mic stand (all metal, and not hollow). So when i have parties.. basement = party time
that aside.. this keyboard is literally "the best" KB like.. ever.
I forgot to mention i have a black widow ultimate and a R.A.T. 7.
Hyun, i use 2003 @ work a ton, but never found the need for it @ home.
Just win7 pro x64 on everything. Sever is an old p4 3.0 laptop that supports 64bit instruction. 1gb as well. similar to what you found. its an old precision so it has a 256mb quadro card as well. Its "meh" but what i use it for is backup and data storage. it has 3x USB drives. a 500GB, a 1TB and a 2TB. the 500GB is mp3s and my system drive backup. the 1tb is downloads, and the 2tb is a backup of my main rig. all just network shares. a 1-1 backup using synctoy i run every week. But im starting to get over 2tb of games and downloads. So i bought a Blu Ray burner and am archiving TV shows and Anime and other such things. 25GB per disc is pretty awesome.
i have no raid here, but its pretty awesome, we use it at work on a NAS and on a Sever station i manage. but for home.. im ok with my redundancy being my main rig and a secondary drive off my "server".
I always think i want to get a home server, but i cant think of what i does that i cant do with standard 7.....
Why the move for you? just the raid setups and such? easy management with home groups? what was the major "draw"?
sidenote: my p4 laptop in the basement also runs my "basement setup"... which consists of a USB Alesis Multi-MIX, 2x Nady 12" subs with compression horn cabinets, running of an early 90s 200w RMS stereo unit with 2x motion controlled lights, a REAL 1950s traffic light with a relay installed to make the lights flash, a red "fire engine" spinning light and about 6x black lights ceiling mounted. The Alesis USB has 2x stage quality Microphones hooked up and 1 stage mic stand (all metal, and not hollow). So when i have parties.. basement = party time
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9,737 Posts
wow my new rig is sweet, loads to win7 desktop in under 10 seconds.
SSD is the ****! WOOT!
bf3 on ultra settings. ~50fps
might consider sli in the future, but how will it affect performance? because if i go sli it will switch from x16 to x8x8...
will 2 x8 still be better than 1 x16?
SSD is the ****! WOOT!
bf3 on ultra settings. ~50fps
might consider sli in the future, but how will it affect performance? because if i go sli it will switch from x16 to x8x8...
will 2 x8 still be better than 1 x16?
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9,900 Posts
16x to 8x is like a 5% loss in performance. check out the benchmarks on it, its UBER small. small enough that people really dont even care.
so yeah, you could sli in the future. im on my 4th sli rig (2x at work and 2x at home) and i gotta say in games that really support it and benchmarks it really does like double your score and speed. had a few video numbers coming in at a 80% improvement.
let me know about that SSD you got. i have one at work, and my system freezes about one a week. i did some reading online and they say some ssds screw up with windows power management and the thing can cut juice after xx idle time and that just causes a total freeze. So let me know if you experance any stability issues while at idle and your not around
so yeah, you could sli in the future. im on my 4th sli rig (2x at work and 2x at home) and i gotta say in games that really support it and benchmarks it really does like double your score and speed. had a few video numbers coming in at a 80% improvement.
let me know about that SSD you got. i have one at work, and my system freezes about one a week. i did some reading online and they say some ssds screw up with windows power management and the thing can cut juice after xx idle time and that just causes a total freeze. So let me know if you experance any stability issues while at idle and your not around
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15,251 Posts
Well, it's older equipment and just under a windows load, so that's probably why. I think that if I started doing processor & graphics intense things, I would run into power deficiencies. Q6600 + Radeon HD 4850 + 3 Hard Drives. Which reminds me... off to order a replacement.
On my server-build front, I decided to buy the 3x 2TB drives now with unraid. That will give me about 3.7TB of usable space for now. Unraid will let me put in more drives as I need them, so long as they are 2TB or smaller (or I put in a bigger parity drive). I want the server for 3 main reasons: 1, redundant storage. 2, always-on access from any of my PCs. 3, large storage location for network DVR. Too many times I've wanted to watch a movie upstairs, only to realize the HTPC storing the movies isn't running. Annoying. With more HTPCs coming as I get ready to get rid of digital cable, centralizing was due. Now I will rebuild my main desktop to use smaller drives in RAID for faster performance, and not worry about needing storage space on it.
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9,900 Posts
now that the hardware side has calmed i bit, im gonna repose the question of games:
hey, so whats everyone playin?
i know there alot of new releases coming out in the next couple weeks, mw3 and skyrim just dropped, Bf3 only been out a bit. but ATM heres what im messing with:
COD Black Ops: i never finished SP so im going back and playing through
Dead Rising 2: getting really annoyed at the stupid timed missions. like when they end and im in the middle of them, and i cant find a good trainer to stop it
Witcher 2: liking the game, but nvidia surround support isnt working right, and that makes me want to play it less.
saints row 2: pretty fun, but with 3 coming out so soon im sure ill just stop playing it and move to 3
Rage: i had such high hopes for.. but honestly i really just dont think its that fun, so im prolly gonna drop it
Dead island: was great for a while, im in the middle of Chapter 2, and i am so bored with the mechanics, i doubt ill play it again. MAYBE some light MP.
Elder Scrolls Skyrim: only got a few hours in, waiting for the boys over at widescreengaming to release thei v2 patch. v1 makes it playable but has some bugs that are holding me back.
since i went from a 26" widescreen down to these three 19"s its REALLY hard for me to get into a game on a single 19" 4:3 monitor. so i have been trying to hack every game i play to work with the new setup. Thanks to WSG forums, ive had some success.
Also saints row the third just dropped too. ill need to at least check that out if not pick it up
hey, so whats everyone playin?
i know there alot of new releases coming out in the next couple weeks, mw3 and skyrim just dropped, Bf3 only been out a bit. but ATM heres what im messing with:
COD Black Ops: i never finished SP so im going back and playing through
Dead Rising 2: getting really annoyed at the stupid timed missions. like when they end and im in the middle of them, and i cant find a good trainer to stop it
Witcher 2: liking the game, but nvidia surround support isnt working right, and that makes me want to play it less.
saints row 2: pretty fun, but with 3 coming out so soon im sure ill just stop playing it and move to 3
Rage: i had such high hopes for.. but honestly i really just dont think its that fun, so im prolly gonna drop it
Dead island: was great for a while, im in the middle of Chapter 2, and i am so bored with the mechanics, i doubt ill play it again. MAYBE some light MP.
Elder Scrolls Skyrim: only got a few hours in, waiting for the boys over at widescreengaming to release thei v2 patch. v1 makes it playable but has some bugs that are holding me back.
since i went from a 26" widescreen down to these three 19"s its REALLY hard for me to get into a game on a single 19" 4:3 monitor. so i have been trying to hack every game i play to work with the new setup. Thanks to WSG forums, ive had some success.
Also saints row the third just dropped too. ill need to at least check that out if not pick it up
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5,686 Posts
Playing BF3 and Skyrim mostly right now.
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9,737 Posts
bf3 until i cooked my computer.
on the topic of dead island. i couldnt agree more with you dude. i got so ****ing bored of that game, so quickly... its amazing... -.- and then i got hit with some bug with xbox and that game, where my entire save file got corrupted and i havent touched the game since then. gonna trade it in, left 4 dead was way more fun than this stupid game.
anyways, ill b bak on bf3 as soon as my rig is back up n running, NO MORE OC'ing.
on the topic of dead island. i couldnt agree more with you dude. i got so ****ing bored of that game, so quickly... its amazing... -.- and then i got hit with some bug with xbox and that game, where my entire save file got corrupted and i havent touched the game since then. gonna trade it in, left 4 dead was way more fun than this stupid game.
anyways, ill b bak on bf3 as soon as my rig is back up n running, NO MORE OC'ing.
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9,900 Posts
i have oc'd every single computer since my first PC, which was a pentium 166. OC'd to like 175 lol
if i was building it, i was buying a board that allowed OC
a few stand out in my memory.
amd 300 @350
AMD thunderbird 1000 @ 1200 *invovled using the "pencil trick" on the cpu itself
p4 3.0 @ 3.4
3.0Ghz c2D @ 4.25
2.8Ghz c2Q @ 3.6 (current system)
and my crowning achievment was my 1.8ghz c2D @ 3.2ghz for a rediculous 77% boost.
man i get new computers alot hah. i had a computer between the 300 and 1000, and i had 3 computers between the 1000 and 3.2ghz.
wish i rememberd them all, would make a neat list.
so yeah, ill always OC, i feel like if your board fried it wasnt the OC.. or you accidentally tried to run your voltage at something astronomical.
-back to games
man dead island was super fun.. for a while. then you get guns. and they are clunky to use and meh anyway. and the game is SO unbalanced. even way overleveled i cant run through chapter 2s city without getting my *** handed to me, but up to then the game was way easy. even with 3x others on multi it wasnt that fun.
it did SOME things right though.. and i just hope they take those pluses and kill some of the minuses and try again
im not doing mw3 or bf3. but i did put another hour into skyrim. im only just at level 4 and still in the very first city. its really picky with wrong doing. i killed a chicken and people from the opposite side of town came at me trying to kill me and im like wtf, you were in your house, go away lol. and i killed a wanderer way out in the dead smack of nowhere, but apparently he lived in the town, so when i got back after tons of walking there was a bounty on me. im like dood.. theres no way. but i guess thems the brakes in elder scroll games.
if i was building it, i was buying a board that allowed OC
a few stand out in my memory.
amd 300 @350
AMD thunderbird 1000 @ 1200 *invovled using the "pencil trick" on the cpu itself
p4 3.0 @ 3.4
3.0Ghz c2D @ 4.25
2.8Ghz c2Q @ 3.6 (current system)
and my crowning achievment was my 1.8ghz c2D @ 3.2ghz for a rediculous 77% boost.
man i get new computers alot hah. i had a computer between the 300 and 1000, and i had 3 computers between the 1000 and 3.2ghz.
wish i rememberd them all, would make a neat list.
so yeah, ill always OC, i feel like if your board fried it wasnt the OC.. or you accidentally tried to run your voltage at something astronomical.
-back to games
man dead island was super fun.. for a while. then you get guns. and they are clunky to use and meh anyway. and the game is SO unbalanced. even way overleveled i cant run through chapter 2s city without getting my *** handed to me, but up to then the game was way easy. even with 3x others on multi it wasnt that fun.
it did SOME things right though.. and i just hope they take those pluses and kill some of the minuses and try again
im not doing mw3 or bf3. but i did put another hour into skyrim. im only just at level 4 and still in the very first city. its really picky with wrong doing. i killed a chicken and people from the opposite side of town came at me trying to kill me and im like wtf, you were in your house, go away lol. and i killed a wanderer way out in the dead smack of nowhere, but apparently he lived in the town, so when i got back after tons of walking there was a bounty on me. im like dood.. theres no way. but i guess thems the brakes in elder scroll games.
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5,686 Posts
I've not needed to overclock anything except my GPU. Everything else remains stock. AMD overdrive just made OCing the GPU easy. So my 4870 runs stable at 700mhz instead of 500.
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9,900 Posts
^thats a HUGE oc for a gpu?!
awesome!
i run my 2x 470s @ 675. stock is 600. Even at 700 i start to artifact.
course there are two of them, and they are right next to each other for sli so heat is a huge issue.
im actually running them at 625 now. just cause @ 675 i was good for a while but i got a C2D (crash to desktop) and a video driver error, so i ramped it back
. meh such a minor OC only gave me a few fps anyway
awesome!
i run my 2x 470s @ 675. stock is 600. Even at 700 i start to artifact.
course there are two of them, and they are right next to each other for sli so heat is a huge issue.
im actually running them at 625 now. just cause @ 675 i was good for a while but i got a C2D (crash to desktop) and a video driver error, so i ramped it back
. meh such a minor OC only gave me a few fps anyway
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the only time i ever overclocked a gpu is when i had an old AGP ati card. way back in the day, right around when CS:S came out i think.
but i dont remember what the specs on it were... i installed an aftermarket cooler on it that was all copper and heatpipes. allowed me to run it past wat it was boxed as.
then better games came out n i got rid of it. lol
ever since then, ive pretty much always bought high end gpu's so i usually dont need to OC them..
i was just being stupid n bored and i fried my mobo and cpu... hopefully the ram is still ok. gonna have to test it out.
but i dont remember what the specs on it were... i installed an aftermarket cooler on it that was all copper and heatpipes. allowed me to run it past wat it was boxed as.
then better games came out n i got rid of it. lol
ever since then, ive pretty much always bought high end gpu's so i usually dont need to OC them..
i was just being stupid n bored and i fried my mobo and cpu... hopefully the ram is still ok. gonna have to test it out.
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