New Build - Any Comments / Lessons Learned?

[mfenn]

16 RAM is at a deal $30.00 more ($82.99) than 8 GB ($52.99) was the deal I got for the same brand.

Well sure it looks good compared to the terrible price for the 8GB version. You can get 8GB of RAM for much less than $53.

Motherboard and CPU were $133 dollars off at Boxing day and the upcoming sale promises similar value reductions...if not then I will grab the i5 (also to be reduced)

Even at $133 off, they are merely average value for your intended purposes. I'd get a similarly marked down i5 over the i7.

 

[Kinesis]

End Results.

The i5 Bundle (i5, Gigabyte Board, and 8 GB Ram for $309) was sold out when I got to the store for the encore sale, but the i7 Bundle (CPU/Board) was $105 off. Total Price including additional fans and cables ($1200. with tax, S&H).

Case:500R White --> I Love this Case, thanks Corsair.
(I was a long time Coolermaster Buyer, but I have changed my thoughts after this build)
MBrd:Asus P8Z58-V Pro Gen 3
Ram: Corsair DDR 3, 1600, LP Blue 16 GB
CPU: i7 2600K @ Stock
CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 EVO (NOT Installed Yet)
Video:XFX Radeon 6950 2 GB --> lehtv you were right, it is a solid choice.
PSU:XFX 750W Semi_modular --> Sorry Corsair couldn't been the price
SSD:Crucial M4 128 GB
HDD: 500GB WD Caviar Black, 500 GB WD Green
DVD/CDR: Samsung SH-222AL 22x SpeedPlus -- > This is so quiet, the CPU fan is louder
BluRay:LG BH12 Super Multi Blue 12x

Build & install took 3 hours (including patches), and it is purring like a kitten.

Thanks mfenn and lehtv for all your advice!

 

[mfenn]

Parts list looks nice, shame that the i5 was sold out. Pics?

 

[Kinesis]

First Problems

So I ran the system all night, played games last night (NFS, Crysis, COH, etc) while installing other stuff (Office, etc). Ran without a hitch.

Then today I was playing Crysis while installing a software package into a VirtualBox VM of Windows XP and I got a Memory Dump BSOD. Rebooted, but got a BSOD on entry into Windows.

Tried Safe mode, got in and BSOD. Then the system would turn on but my screen stayed black.

Cause:
1. Video card?
2. Ram. So I took out 8 GBs and tried again. Booted up no problems.
- Put the two sticks back in. Couldn't boot again.

Not sure why it would just suddenly stop working? DRAM voltage is at 1.5, should I up it?

 

[mfenn]

Try swapping the sticks you have in there with the sticks that you took out. That will tell you if you're having trouble with those 2 sticks or with 16GB in general.

Increasing the voltage might help, but that could just be masking a marginal stick of memory. Better to take care of it now that to have trouble again 6 months down the line.

 

[Kinesis]

Exactly what I did, and bingo, no boot. So half the set are toast.

 

[mfenn]

RMA time I guess.

 

[Kinesis]

RMA time I guess.

Spoke with Ram Guy at Corsair and going to try to run a few tests to confirm, but RMA looks like the route.

Thanks again

 

[Kinesis]

Confirmed. Ran MemTest86+ on the 4 modules, and 1 came up with numerous errors in secs of starting the MemTest and the other pass 100%.

Thanks again, and the video card still rocks

 

[mfenn]

Oh well, hopefully they will let you send that one stick in instead of the whole kit!