Astrotoy7 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I know, I can't wait...I think that's the ONE. I know Im going to sound like a sour ole basted but do you really need a lappie? Is portability a huge issue? Speaking purely from experience(I had a Toshiba Satteliite 5200 which was awesome back in its day!!) 1. The cost, damn Can build a damn fine deskie for the cost of a higher end gaming ready lappie. 2. Important bits not upgradeable.. Driver support for Mobile GPUs is woeful! Watch the deskie world go through 50 revisions and you get a handful if youre lucky 3. Heat! Heat! Heat! It was lucky I had a 3 year warranty on it as I thrashed it so hard it needed to have the drive replaced twice and the CPU once, simply from being overcooked. If you do decide to go with it, please get yourself a cooling pad, if you're the heavy use type. mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urluckyday Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Hey...thanks for the advice, but I ended up getting that one...I love it... Heat is not an issue thus far, and I love Vista (as I knew I would)... Thanks for all the help guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urluckyday Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Update: I love this computer. Grim Fandango wouldn't even install one file, so I used the installer that put it directly onto my HD, and it now works like a charm...not possible to be mad or upset if GF works... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Update: I love this computer. Grim Fandango wouldn't even install one file, so I used the installer that put it directly onto my HD, and it now works like a charm...not possible to be mad or upset if GF works... ok then. Have fun! Just remember Old Astro's advice about cooling pads will ya mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Ell Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Another one for the AMD list: GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H (Newegg.com) GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H (Scan.co.uk) And an in depth review of the 780G chipset and the above mentioned board... This is now hands down my mobo of choice as I'm an AMD fanboy and this actually doen't make me feel ashamed to say it anymore, with a low TDP, Hybrid Crossfire, integrated GPU that's better than some discrete GPUs and an insanely low price, I wish I could buy it this second cause I wouldn't hesitate! So what exactly does Hybrid Crossfire do? If I were to get this mobo and install a HD 3870 discrete card on it would my games be able to utilize both the HD 3870 and the onboard HD 3200 to render the display or only the 3870? From the bit-tech article it doesn't sound like Hybrid Crossfire will initially support switching between the onboard and the discrete GPU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative Sun Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 So what exactly does Hybrid Crossfire do? If I were to get this mobo and install a HD 3870 discrete card on it would my games be able to utilize both the HD 3870 and the onboard HD 3200 to render the display or only the 3870? From the bit-tech article it doesn't sound like Hybrid Crossfire will initially support switching between the onboard and the discrete GPU. Sorry I thought it explained that in the article, but I've definitely read it somewhere, I'll maybe try and dig it up at some point. Hybrid CrossFire means just that, instead of having to use two identical cards, you can use two different ones, but in this particular case, it's an on-board GPU with a discrete card. The on-board handles pretty much everything in Windows (even Vista Aero) as it's the most powerful on-board solution to date. When you start up a game, the discrete card will kick in on top of the on-board graphics to give you Hybrid Crossfire, which gives you a decent boost in certain games apparently, even more so because the on-board GPU on the above mentioned mobo is apparently a doozy to overclock without any extra need for cooling. Even though it's not as powerful as an HD3870 or even 3850, boosting the core from 500Mhz to about 700/750Mhz is nothing to sniff at, couple that with a decent mid-range GPU (HD3850/3870) and the mid-range isn't quite as dull anymore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue Nine Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Updated the second (recommended parts list - new Intel Quad Core!) and third (General FAQ - OEM vs Retail, hardware pricing) posts of this thread with new information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Ell Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Hybrid CrossFire means just that, instead of having to use two identical cards, you can use two different ones, but in this particular case, it's an on-board GPU with a discrete card. The on-board handles pretty much everything in Windows (even Vista Aero) as it's the most powerful on-board solution to date. When you start up a game, the discrete card will kick in on top of the on-board graphics to give you Hybrid Crossfire, which gives you a decent boost in certain games apparently, even more so because the on-board GPU on the above mentioned mobo is apparently a doozy to overclock without any extra need for cooling. Even though it's not as powerful as an HD3870 or even 3850, boosting the core from 500Mhz to about 700/750Mhz is nothing to sniff at, couple that with a decent mid-range GPU (HD3850/3870) and the mid-range isn't quite as dull anymore! That sounds pretty much like what I'm looking for. Mid-range to high-end discrete card is in a powered off or very low standby power state while low to mid-range onboard GPU runs non-GPU intensive apps like general web browsing, e-mail, office apps, etc. But when GPU activity starts to hit 85-90% utilization or so then the chipset, GPU, or other h/w device powers up the discrete card and both onboard and discrete GPU's are used to render the display. I'm not sure I'd go for the idea of the onboard GPU switching over to the discrete card and not being used until the GPU load drops enough that the switchback threshold is reached and the discrete hands off GP to the onboard again. I don't know, maybe there are technical limitations around running two GPU's with significant differences in GP computational capabilities but if that is the way it works it seems to me that this becomes a one-dimensional benefit of power savings instead of power savings with increased GP power. I look forward to reading in-depth reviews of hybrid GP products to learn more about how this works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balderdash Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 I need some more help... I got everything a while back, and last weekend I just got around to putting it all together. But I ran into a problem. The motherboard I bought apparently needs to be plugged into the PSU via a 4-pin ATX 12V cable... it definitely says so in the manual. But I don't have one. I read up on it, and apparently older motherboards tended to require the 4-pin cable in order to give the processor a bit more juice. Is that right? But the mobo I have definitely supports Core 2 Duo. The cable didn't come with the mobo and it didn't come with the PSU either. There doesn't seem to be anywhere where you can buy said cable seperately. What can I do about it? ^ Picture (not of my hardware, but a picture of what I mean, in case I haven't explained anything properly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Huh? I thought all PSUs came with those. What type of PSU are you using? Are you sure that there isn't one on the PSU? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balderdash Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Positive. I've got somewhere to plug one in to... ...but no cable. (excuse the quality of the pic, it's from a phone since I couldn't be bothered to find the digital camera). http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=602505 ^ This was what I ended up getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingerhs Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 every computer i know of uses a 12V ATX cable (mostly 4-pin, but some use an 8-pin), and as far as i know, every ATX PSU comes with one. check and see if you didn't confuse it with a PCI-E connector (those should be 6-pin, but sometimes they'll be 8-pin). if you're using a modular PSU, the 12V ATX connector should be on the non-detachable strands of wires from the back of the unit. and, no, it doesn't detach from the 24-pin main power connector (the part that detaches does so to fit older motherboards with a 20-pin connector). anyways, let us know if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 unusual.... does the rig start without it??? Check your PSU manual, it should say what cables should be included. Thats a decent PSU btw, silverstone make some good kit mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balderdash Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 It's definitely not there. There's even a key next to it on the PSU itself to show you where the cable should be, and it's just not there. All of the cables on the back of the PSU are detachable... I also seem to be missing a PCI-E cable, but that isn't really needed anyway since I don't have that many expansions. I've just emailed the people I got it from. Hopefully they'll be able to just send me a cable for it, but I'm not gonna get my hopes up. @ Astro, I just checked the manual and the manual seems to indicate that it should be there, as well as the relevant technical specs on the site I got it from, but it's not there. I haven't tried attempting to boot it, though. Do you think it's worth bothering? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative Sun Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Is it a modular PSU you've got? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balderdash Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 I don't even know what that means, but yeah supposedly it is. Click on the link in post #61 and click on the technical specs tab on that page, and it should tell you everything relevant there is to know... it clearly states there that there is an ATX connector but I never got one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative Sun Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 My bad, I should've just checked that...I've no personal experience with modular PSUs, so I don't know if the 4-pin 12V ATX cable would come separately from the 20-pin one, or if it's the 20+4-pin one that's incomplete... What motherboard have you got? And when you connected the motherboard cable, does it fit properly? I doesn't have an excess on either side does it? Cause your pic only shows one side of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balderdash Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=657881 ^ Mobo. The 20+4 pin cable is fine, I'm just missing the seperate 4-pin cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 yes, it is a modular PSU This means that rather than one mess of cables snaking out of a PSU, that there are specific individual cables/connections for each area of a mainboard ie. "module" The pci-e cabe usually comes with your 1337 powered graphics card. If I were you, I'd contact the place you got it from to inquire about the seemingly missing cable! Funny that you havent tried booting it though good luck mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 Looks like that 4-pin and the PCI-E cables were just left out. Weird. Yeah, you should contact who you got it from because it's definitely supposed to come with those. Ask for the PCI-E cable as well because a lot of video cards require 2 of those now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balderdash Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Just an update: it turns out that I was not missing anything. The 8-pin connector that came with the PSU splits into two 4-pin connectors., and you're supposed to use that. Nothing in the manual tells you that, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Just an update: it turns out that I was not missing anything. The 8-pin connector that came with the PSU splits into two 4-pin connectors., and you're supposed to use that. Nothing in the manual tells you that, though. ah, I remember a similar caper on a build using a Thermaltake Toughpower 750W modular PSU....! glad to hear it's sorted! mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingerhs Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 i had a funny feeling about that. oh well, best of luck getting it all together. hopefully, you won't run into any other problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 You know, it just occured to me that these new 780G motherboards would make terrific HTPCs on their own; no video card required. They also appear to be very reasonably priced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 You know, it just occured to me that these new 780G motherboards would make terrific HTPCs on their own; no video card required. They also appear to be very reasonably priced. lolz...just occurred to you! The HTPC milieu have been excited about that for a whiles now. Im sure Iv ebeen rabbiting on about it in the news thread. I use onboard video for my main HTPC... intel, would you believe... the shame of it...!! Shared 256, works fine at 720p. As I am limited by my smallform case which has only two exp slots(being used for dvb-t and dvb-sat tuners) onboard video is a must, alas. mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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