[Tratos]

Hey, what about the voltage? Could there be a risk or a drawback using RAM reporting 1.65v tested voltage on a 1.5v motherboard?

Also, if my motherboard has four DDR3 things, and I want to insert two RAM banks, do I *have* to put them in an alternated layout or can I put them one next to the other? I think my extremely thick CPU cooler would interfere.

1) I don't think the voltage should be a problem, unless your ram is "overvolted", as in has non-uniform CL numbers (such as 9-11-9), cause then you'd lose a small bit of performance. If it's even (9-9-9 or 10-10-10), no sweat. Either way, I'm sure the PC will downclock all pieces that feel themselves too l33t. Any kind of performance loss will be minimal.

2) Some MOBOs can be a pain, but most don't mind. I remember a PC repairing dude once told me that putting the ram in the farthest slots, far away from the CPU is actually better! Never tested it myself. So anyway, if it can't be DIMMs 1 and 2, go 3 and 4. No fancy ones, like 2 and 4 or 2 and 3 though.

[Bastardo]

Alright, awesome. I'm going to do it then. Thanks for all the informative input.

[Tratos]

Alright, awesome. I'm going to do it then. Thanks for all the informative input.

Good luck! May your rig serve you well.

[ICFabian]

Thread hogging time, but, I'm planning on buying a new PC in October, and I was wondering, is there any new technology I should be aware of?

Something like a new socket for GPUs, like PCIE999x or similar. I don't want to have to buy a new mainboard, which will require a new processor and so on after a few months of using the new PC.

[Tratos]

Depends on the needs and the budget. Please elaborate.

[ICFabian]

Oh come on. All I'm asking if there's any new mainboard technology coming up that would render any PC I'd buy this year obsolete the next.

[Tratos]

I can only tell you about the Mobo's in the Intel Camp. With the launch of the Sandy Bridge architecture for their 2nd Generation i7's, they launched a new series of Mobo's and new chipsets too.

These new CPUs seem to be quite impressive and if you are heading anywhere in this direction, one of these would be a sure hit for the coming years. The P67 and P68 got the most highlights.

[Bastardo]

Oh come on. All I'm asking if there's any new mainboard technology coming up that would render any PC I'd buy this year obsolete the next.

Please. "Damn! I wasted my money on perfectly good hardware and now there's something slightly better and incredibly expensive out there!"
Nah, sorry, I just find obsolete to be a strong word. Like describing an abacus.

From what I understand AMD is going to release their first Socket AM3 CPU sooner than later.

[Bastardo]

Fucking hell.

I built the rig with a slight difference, I got an Asus EAH6950 D-CUII 1GB instead of the Sapphire counterpart, and my system wasn't able to start up. The motherboard beeps a GPU error and that's that. If I swap it for my old card the PC starts up just fine and installs Windows just fine as well. What could be the cause? Does this fat-ass GPU need special treatment when installing or what? Let's suppose nothing is broken but rather that I forgot about something or I don't know about it, any suggestion?

[Tratos]

That is weird, maybe the card's bust.

A wild thought: try it with the RAMs in DIMMs 1 and 2, if you haven't already.

[Bastardo]

A wild thought: try it with the RAMs in DIMMs 1 and 2, if you haven't already.

You mean a RAM layout could be functional with one GPU and not functional with another? I'm going to try that as soon as all the crap is installed.

[Tratos]

Not sure, just guessing. I did have MoBo vs. Ram problems in the past, where different RAM configurations would lead to: 1) no load, 2) load, then bluescreen, 3) load half-way -> dead.

Had to change the entire RAM to make it live.

[Bastardo]

No luck. I guess I should just try to get a replacement or refund on this one.

[Bastardo]

Sort of solved. Seems like I had to plug in additional power directly from the PSU to this whale of a GPU. Still, somehow I can't get this GPU to work with my screen, or maybe it's a cable issue. This card is digital and so is my screen so I bought a double male so-called "dvi-i" because it looked like it's the one I'm after, but it just won't help. I noticed a difference between the double dvi-i and my old digital to analog cable, the latter has less pins. Plus, it freaking works. I went in the living room and stole a plasma screen with analog support and everything works. GPU, screen, everything. I guess dvi-i is wrong and there's a variant with less pins but same fitting? The screen is one of those LED things by the way.

[Tratos]

Glad to hear it.

Yes, it is generally a good idea to have a PSU about 200 W above your estimated requirement.