Desktop Computer Build Advice

[mfenn]

So I take it that the hard drive must be first formatted in AHCI mode for it to work properly?

AHCI is a SATA controller setting, not a drive setting. It refers to how the OS accesses the drive, not the data on the drive itself.

I understand this, but my questions are: Are AHCI drivers included within Intel's chipset drivers, are Intel's chipset drivers compatible with XP (though some places it says only Windows 7 & 8) and my chipset (which is an Intel-based chipset, but of course not on an Intel-made 'board.)

The AHCI drivers are not part of the chipset INF driver, but are instead part of Intel's RST package. It doesn't look like the latest version supports XP, but you might get lucky installing older versions. Windows Vista and newer include a generic AHCI driver, but no such thing exists in XP, hence the need for custom drivers.

This is what I thought as well, but I am surprised that everything in the actual user's manual for my board would still include this misleading information.

The confusion still remains that on Intel's own Website, they list all editions of XP as compatible in their readme file, but not on their main page.

Notice that the driver package includes support for both Z77 and Z87 boards. The XP part is referring to the Z77 boards.

Thank you for this.
So I would assume that installing chipset drivers before OS would be the only way here? (Not that that's any problem, I'm just asking!)
The only remaining problem is knowing which drivers I am to be slipstreaming / where do I find them / do they exist!
I really hope they do exist!

You can't install drivers before the OS is installed. There's nothing to install them to! Slipstreaming allows you to include extra drivers as part of the OS install.

 

[thomase13]

Thank you for the clarification and link!
I think I will try some older version.

 

[thomase13]

Alright,
So my friend came over to re-assemble my computer with the new Foxconn motherboard, and it wouldn't boot up. He took the processor off of the 'board and then pointed out to me that the 'board was defective, as it bent pins! I thought this was really strange, as I thought these things were checked out before leaving the factory. Also, I personally inspected the pins as soon as I got the 'board and they were flawless. :\
Neither he nor I had the time or patience at this point to continue to screw around with drivers, as I had to go back to school (this was all happening literally the morning I was supposed to be leaving), so he just put everything back together how it was (except he mixed up the power and reset button wiring).
I was not thrilled about all of this naturally, so I just wanted to get rid of it all and start fresh with the proper stuff (meaning a non-Haswell 'board and processor). The AsRock 'board and i5 4570 CPU are currently for sale, as well as the entire working computer in a separate advert.

I was offered $200, some RAM and an i7 920 CPU for my current 'board and CPU, but it seems a bit old.

Now that Haswell 1150-socket things are off the table, I am wondering which processor is best at this point.
The i5-3570 seems pretty good to me, and both it and the 3570k are in stock on NewEgg.ca!
Is this a good choice, or should I be looking at other ones?


Thanks,
Thomas

 

[thomase13]

My other question is about the SSD.
Now I know that the Samsung 840 SSDs are quite highly thought of, but I wonder: in my situation in which I am running an OS without TRIM support, is the garbage collection on this 840 Evo drive good enough? Is there anything special I should be doing / utilities that would be useful to me?

Thanks!

 

[mfenn]

It's easy to bend the pins while installing the CPU in an LGA socket if you're in a rush. So it's quite possible that your board was fine when you got it, but your friend accidentally bent the pins.

In your situation, I would certainly not get a 3570K. It costs a significant portion of an B75 motherboard for overclocking features which you're not going to use. I would look at the i5 3470.

The 840 EVO has pretty aggressive background GC, so it is a good choice for an OS without TRIM support.

 

[thomase13]

The 3470 looks quite good, but the 3570 (both no k) is a bit better, and is tempting to get, though it is $30 more on NewEgg. :/

 

[lehtv]

The 3470 performs better per dollar as the performance gap is irrelevantly small: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/702?vs=701

 

[panikas12345]

Greetings everyone !

I am a new user. I recently bought a new desktop and I am seeking your advice on something. The desktop I bought is the Packard bell bare-bone PC win an intel core i3 processor. (http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/PACKARD-BELL-DTU7HEK062-Barebones-Desktop-PC/316290/307) The built in graphics card is abysmal so I am thinking of buying an additional one. My question is: IS this desktop able to support it ? The case only has some USB ports behind so I wonder if I will be able to connect it. Any ideas ?

 

[thomase13]

The 3470 performs better per dollar as the performance gap is irrelevantly small: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/702?vs=701

Wow!
And that benchmark is between the 3470 and 3570k, so the difference should be even greater (than between the 3470 and 3570[no k]), but it's so close that the 3470 performed better on a couple of things! I don't know how that's possible, given that they seem identical save for a 200 MHz increase in the 3570, but processors are just beyond me!
I wanted to get the best that was reasonable, but I definitely can't justify spending another $30 on that!
If I need to upgrade something in the future, I bet it would be to get a graphics card anyway, and I'm sure there'll still be a few 1155 CPUs kicking around in the future even if that ever became a problem (which I think is very unlikely!)

 

[thomase13]

Greetings everyone !

I am a new user. I recently bought a new desktop and I am seeking your advice on something. The desktop I bought is the Packard bell bare-bone PC win an intel core i3 processor. (http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/PACKARD-BELL-DTU7HEK062-Barebones-Desktop-PC/316290/307) The built in graphics card is abysmal so I am thinking of buying an additional one. My question is: IS this desktop able to support it ? The case only has some USB ports behind so I wonder if I will be able to connect it. Any ideas ?

Panikas!
Welcome to the forum!

If you would like help with your question, then navigate to AnandTech Forums' main page, then find the appropriate forum for your issue, and then start a new thread. Starting a new topic in someone else's thread is generally frowned upon.

Good luck!

 

[mfenn]

Wow!
And that benchmark is between the 3470 and 3570k, so the difference should be even greater (than between the 3470 and 3570[no k]), but it's so close that the 3470 performed better on a couple of things! I don't know how that's possible, given that they seem identical save for a 200 MHz increase in the 3570, but processors are just beyond me!
I wanted to get the best that was reasonable, but I definitely can't justify spending another $30 on that!
If I need to upgrade something in the future, I bet it would be to get a graphics card anyway, and I'm sure there'll still be a few 1155 CPUs kicking around in the future even if that ever became a problem (which I think is very unlikely!)

The 3570 and 3570K are clocked the same, so non-overclocked performance should be identical between the two. The point still stands though, the i5 3570 isn't worth $30 more than the i5 3470.

 

[mfenn]

Panikas!
Welcome to the forum!

If you would like help with your question, then navigate to AnandTech Forums' main page, then find the appropriate forum for your issue, and then start a new thread. Starting a new topic in someone else's thread is generally frowned upon.

Good luck!

Absolutely correct, thank you.

 

[thomase13]

Alright,
So it's settled — I have decided on the i5-3470 and the [FONT=&quot]Foxconn B75M to go with it! I checked the Foxconn 'boards first to find a nice one, then checked out all the others (on Newegg and TigerDirect, and as I thought, they just can't be beat in looks or features! (Although they can be in product support.) :\
Anyway, you know what they say — third time's the charm!
[/FONT]

 

[lehtv]

Wow!
And that benchmark is between the 3470 and 3570k, so the difference should be even greater (than between the 3470 and 3570[no k]), but it's so close that the 3470 performed better on a couple of things! I don't know how that's possible, given that they seem identical save for a 200 MHz increase in the 3570, but processors are just beyond me!

Some of the tests are measured in units of time which means the lower scoring CPU is faster. Only one of the tests in the link shows the 3470 performing better, that's the Dawn of War II frames per second test, but it has to be an anomaly because the 3470 physically can't perform better given that it is lower clocked and otherwise identical.

 

[thomase13]

Some of the tests are measured in units of time which means the lower scoring CPU is faster. Only one of the tests in the link shows the 3470 performing better, that's the Dawn of War II frames per second test, but it has to be an anomaly because the 3470 physically can't perform better given that it is lower clocked and otherwise identical.

I actually did think there were multiple tests with the 3470 coming up better, but I just neglected to read the "lower is better" part!
Thank you for the explanation (or lack thereof, i.e., the Dawn of War II test should not have turned out the way it did.)
I guess my point is that they must be pretty darn close for an anomaly to make the slower CPU to somehow come out faster in one test.
Anyhow, I'm glad it's settled!

Now if I can just sell my other 'board and processor!

 

[thomase13]

Does anyone know about these supposed "IDE" floppy drives floating around the Web?
I first thought it must be a typo, but IDE FLOPPY is printed right on the box!
They all seem to have 34 pins, and the IDE interface is supposed to use 40!
Are these really normal IDE floppy drives, or are SuperDisk drives the only true IDE floppy drives?

Thanks,
Thomas

 

[thomase13]

Much more importantly than the above post, I don't know how I should be setting up my SSD. I think (I hope) that the Windows installation will go fine, but I want to have the drive partitioned correctly to begin with! I have been told I should use GParted, but I don't know how this should be done, as I don't know what the sector sizes should be or whatever else I should be worrying about.

Thanks,
Thomas

 

[Cerb]

1. Make sure SATA is booting AHCI (usually default, today).
2. Have only the SSD, and OS media drive connected, during the install.
3. After it's up and running, connect any other drives, and check your defrag schedule. The SSD should not be listed as scheduled for defrags, and that is correct (but every now and then, Windows gets it wrong, so check).

#1 and #2 apply to HDD installs, too. Windows 7 and up will automatically partition the drive correctly.

 

[thomase13]

While I'm sure that would work perfectly when installing Windows 7, I am told that I first have to go through the step of partitioning the SSD correctly before installing Windows, since it's Windows XP, which (understandably) doesn't know how to format SSDs properly. I understand that GParted is good for this, I just need help with the particulars (correct sector size, etc.)
​

 

[Cerb]

Well, sure, for XP, if you're intent on an OS install good for another couple months, on new HW...

There are no particulars. GParted defaults to aligning partitions. When you create a new one, it will show the start location, which should be 2048.

 

[thomase13]

Alright!
I was just confused, as I have seen people using 512, 1024, and 2048 various places, but if the GParted defaults are fine, then that is good to hear!

Thanks,
Thomas

 

[mfenn]

Does anyone know about these supposed "IDE" floppy drives floating around the Web?
I first thought it must be a typo, but IDE FLOPPY is printed right on the box!
They all seem to have 34 pins, and the IDE interface is supposed to use 40!
Are these really normal IDE floppy drives, or are SuperDisk drives the only true IDE floppy drives?

Thanks,
Thomas

An LS-120 drive is the only kind of IDE "floppy drive" out there. Any other floppy drive uses the standard 34-pin floppy connector.

 

[thomase13]

An LS-120 drive is the only kind of IDE "floppy drive" out there. Any other floppy drive uses the standard 34-pin floppy connector.

Thanks for the clarification!
I guess the IDE labelling must have to do with the FDD connector's resemblance to IDE or something?
Anyway, I will know to steer clear of these on eBay!

 

[thomase13]

On an unrelated note, I have my computer together again with the new motherboard and processor! It took a bit longer since I've never done this before, but it was quite an experience! And I did it without bending any CPU pins!
Honestly though, the crunching sound of the processor pins when clamping down the cover is like no other. I bet that gives a lot of first-timers a good scare — I had to double-check that it was seated properly myself!

Anyway, I have started it up, and I have the American Megatrends screen, which lists my components and says "CMOS checksum fail,default was loaded!", below which it says "Press <F1> to continue, <DEL> to enter Setup".

Am I O.K? Is this normal if things have changed, or do I have a real problem?

Thanks,
Thomas

 

[mfenn]

Did you get that message once or do you get it on every boot?

If you only got it once, the CMOS battery might have gotten jostled during shipping, nothing to worry about.

If you get it on every boot, your CMOS battery is probably bad (it's the little CR2032 on the board). You can pick one of those up at any place that sells batteries and swap it one.