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  1. Patrese

    :Update: Bad things confirmed. ASUS GPU RMA started, heard bad things.

    Just checking in to wish good luck for the OP, and to tell that they lost one more GTX 970 sale because of this thread. Went with MSI instead...
  2. Patrese

    General quality and reliability of ASRock boards

    I`m using a Z68 Extreme 4 for a bit more than an year, and it`s been rock solid.
  3. Patrese

    Do you hate modular power supplies?

    After getting my first modular, I don't intend to get back to the non modular ones. It makes cable management way easier IMO.
  4. Patrese

    Replacement fan for XFX XXX Edition 650W PSU

    I bought it on august 2010. Great PSU, dead silent for most of its time with me, until its fan started clicking in january 2012. I ended up selling it to someone willing to live with the noise. The replacement will be a Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold, which is modular and affordable enough...
  5. Patrese

    Replacement fan for XFX XXX Edition 650W PSU

    I've found this Akasa fan on Amazon UK and they'll ship it ro Brazil. The shipping fee is not what I would call small, but it is doable. But I'm still pondering my options...
  6. Patrese

    Replacement fan for XFX XXX Edition 650W PSU

    Thanks! But neither Amazon or NewEgg will ship it here... :( Could a 140mm fan fit? That would make it way easier...
  7. Patrese

    Replacement fan for XFX XXX Edition 650W PSU

    I have a 650W XXX Edition XFX PSU and it started making a really annoying clicking sound like on the YouTube video below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NGMXrA1PJ4 The PSU is still covered by warranty and XFX authorised my RMA, which is good. The bad news is that I'm in Brazil, and it...
  8. Patrese

    FX-8150 - Error while folding, Prime95 errors on 4 cores. Anyone else?

    Have you guys followed this link? If what the guy says is true, damn... Bulldozer could be even worse then it seems now, and us enthusiasts are even more screwed. Intel will start charging prices of US$999 and above for Ivy Bridge processors... :(
  9. Patrese

    SandyBridge system prices expected to drop any further?

    I don't know about the rest of the "family", but the AsRock Z68 Extreme4 have (had?) issues with the IGP. On the topic linked below you can see the full story: there are people that solved the issues with Intel driver updates, but others still get BSODs no matter what they do...
  10. Patrese

    Best hardware upgrade of your "career"?

    Crappy US$5 speakers to an Edifier E3100 2.1 kit. Hands down. Coming from a K6-2 500MHz paired with a crappy PC-Chips board to an Abit AN7, Athlon XP 3000+ and Radeon 9800 Pro combo is a close second.
  11. Patrese

    Am I getting the right encoding performance with my i5-2500K

    I have no problem at all with the PC in my signature... using Media Player Classic - Home Cinema x64.
  12. Patrese

    Can't Access BIOS for ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3

    I have the vanilla Z68 Extreme4 and the board can be picky with keyboards. A crappy PS/2 keyboard works perfectly, but my Genius Multimedia keyboard (also PS/2) is totally hit or miss. To make it work 100% of the time, here's what I do: - Plug keyboard in PS/2 port with the system powered...
  13. Patrese

    Building on a budget.. $450

    This. If you can get a 6950, great, but other than what DaveSimmons said I think you made great picks for the money you got.
  14. Patrese

    New Gaming PC Build

    I see where you're coming from, but nowadays it is not that important. Since the IGPs are on the CPUs themselves, it is only a matter of having the connectors on the motherboard. I think the board below may be a great pick for you: it is ATX, cheap and you'll be able to overclock later if you...
  15. Patrese

    SSD Disappering on z68 mobo - SOLVED!

    You're welcome. And I'm glad to see the M4 solved your problem, as it is my pick for when I'll get a SSD. :D
  16. Patrese

    New Gaming PC Build

    You'll need a PCI or PCI-E wireless card... don't know if a motherboard with it bundled it worth it cost wise, but I'd have to check it out. The more expensive Asus (H67 EVO) you chose has firewire, eSATA and is Crossfire capable (2 PCI-E 16x slots), although at an 16x/4x configuration. If...
  17. Patrese

    New i3 2100 build - Overheating issue

    Since the case seems to big quite small, that's the first thing that came to my mind. No way a 212 will fit in there.
  18. Patrese

    SSD Disappering on z68 mobo - SOLVED!

    Whoa, it would be ridiculous if AsRock launched a BIOS update that breaks compatibility instead of improving it. That said, I don't find that impossible... if anything else works, a downgrade to version 1.3 will not hurt. Before doing it, I'd try checking the BIOS storage configs to see if...
  19. Patrese

    SSD Disappering on z68 mobo - SOLVED!

    I believe the AsRock guy is talking about Intel SRT (Smart Response Technology), as described in the link below. http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review/2 I can't see how it would affect you, to be honest. Take a look at the link above...
  20. Patrese

    What software supports Quicksync?

    MediaCoder is freeware and supports QuickSync... I found the software looking for freeware options to use QS and was pleasantly surprised. It is really neat and configurable. http://www.mediacoderhq.com/
  21. Patrese

    SSD Disappering on z68 mobo - SOLVED!

    Not that I know, really. It's the older versions of IME that act up on SandForce SSDs, AFAIK. Seen it on the thread below, tip given by someone getting BSODs on an AsRock Z68 Extreme4 like mine...
  22. Patrese

    SSD Disappering on z68 mobo - SOLVED!

    I've seen people getting BSOD with SandForce SSDs combined with the Intel ME driver. OCZ drives mainly. I'd try updating it to the latest version or simply uninstalling IME to see if it helps.
  23. Patrese

    i5 2500k owners, is everything OK?

    Got an AsRock Z68 Extreme4+2500k combo and got nothing to complain about. Still amazed at how cool the processor is compared to my old Q9650.
  24. Patrese

    First Time Builder

    US$600,48 without shipping, but with a videocard. :D BIOSTAR TZ68A+ LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138319 Intel Core i5-2310 Sandy Bridge 2.9GHz (3.2GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor...
  25. Patrese

    Upgrade then Build - Need Advice

    What he said. I've seen pictures of the card you bought posted on eBay and it comes with a DVI-VGA adapter, so plan carefully on how to spend this US$5. :D I strongly suggest this: http://www.humblebundle.com/ :D And this card will run circles around The Sims 3. My GF's laptop (Pentium Dual...
  26. Patrese

    Z68 Motherboard Dilemma

    I haven't tried RAID or Smart Response on my board, but I know that it does not work at all with BIOS versions prior to 1.30. If you're already on the lastest BIOS (1.60) and drivers, I'd try posting your problem on the boards below. There is a lot of great info on the first one, and the second...
  27. Patrese

    Budget Gaming PC!

    I bothered to look at lotion22's user profile. 1 post. Last time he logged in was yesterday night, before the topic turned into this mess. I can only wonder what he'll think when he gets back. "But... but... I only wanted help!" He'll and up buying a DELL or a Wii/XBOX/PS3 only to never...
  28. Patrese

    Is my board dead?

    A3 means "IDE enable" on the manual. The board defaults to IDE mode on the EFI for some bizarre reason. Change it to AHCI and see what happens. Since the thing is powering off, I'd try to unplug all the SATA devices to see if is stays on and change it to AHCI. If that doesn't help, we'll need...
  29. Patrese

    Virtu usability??

    The Intel Quick Sync features only works if the video software supports it. As far as I know, the only freeware alternative that uses it is MediaCoder (http://www.mediacoderhq.com/), which is a real neat software really. As for my experience, it's been flawless so far. I use Virtu on the dGPU...
  30. Patrese

    Sandy-Bridge Build: Feedback?

    Unless you're planning to crossfire/SLI high end cards, the power supply is overkill. A 650W one will have power to spare, and even a good 550W one will do perfectly. The one below is a great choice IMO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139012 Take care about what Corsair...
  31. Patrese

    "Addicted" to building computers (56K warning!)

    This is one of the very rare times in which I thank God hardware prices are so high in Brazil. If I had capable, new motherboards for 40 bucks like the one you found, I'd be building stuff like crazy and my house would never be big enough... :p @topic: nice build!
  32. Patrese

    Seagate Momentus XT: reliable?

    I bench every single new hardware I get once, just after install, to compare it to the one it's replacing and stress it a little searching for eventual failures. Then I start using it normally and forget about it, until I buy its replacement and repeat the process. I'm also somewhat curious...
  33. Patrese

    Seagate Momentus XT: reliable?

    My Momentus XT arrived today. I've put it on my external enclosure just to check if it is working and everything looks fine. Much to my surprise, it arrived with firmware SD26. :) I bought it as a SD24 way cheaper then the SD25s on the market here in Brazil (I'd do the upgrade myself), but the...
  34. Patrese

    Anyone have a llano rig yet

    You asked what is a Llama, right?
  35. Patrese

    Z68 Motherboard Suggestions

    Yeah, more or less the same situation is happening with the AsRock Z68 Extreme 4. There is a known bug related to the use of the onboard video (http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/44772-asrock-z68-extreme-4-bsod-clock-interrupt-not-received.html), and the people who are having it are obviously...
  36. Patrese

    Z68 Motherboard Suggestions

    The GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 seems to be a great choice for the money, and I have no problem at all with my AsRock Z68 Extreme 4 so far. As for the upgrade, GTA4 loves fast CPUs, go for it and you won't regret it. I love GTA4 and the 2500k made for much better gaming.
  37. Patrese

    Building a new Gaming rig, decent size budget

    Since your budget is way below the initial $1700 and you rarely upgrade, I would get the GTX570. Not because of VRAM, but because it is lot faster on higher resolutions. The GTX580 is too expensive for me to consider it worth it, but that's just me. This model seems to be a great deal today...
  38. Patrese

    Building a new Gaming rig, decent size budget

    Tall heatspreaders are something like the one on the link below: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...144-_-07072011 Not tall on the link below: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145327 Check the pictures and you'll see the difference. As you're going to use all the four...
  39. Patrese

    Building a new Gaming rig, decent size budget

    bntran02 is spot on in my opinion. I only disagree with him on the motherboard choice, as I'd look for one with a Z68 chipset. The GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 seems to be a great choice for the money... if you want a little more bells and whistles, I have nothing but praise for my AsRock Z68 Extreme...
  40. Patrese

    Seagate Momentus XT: reliable?

    Thanks for all the responses, they were really helpful! I'll get a Momentus XT and post the results here as soon as possible for reference.