Building a Dolphin rig in the fall/winter. + Nvidia shield and General questions.

[NaturalViolence]

What timezone are you in?

[Edwii]

(UTC-08:00) Pacific Time, Closest major city is Vancouver BC.

[NaturalViolence]

Edwii Wrote:◘ Something I thought I might ask; would it be worth using my current 260gtx in the new rig as a "Dedicated PhysX card"? some brife searching seems to say not really, but I thought I'd ask to be on the safe side.

AnyOldName3 Wrote:You could use it as a dedicated PhysX card, and it would probably take some load off the GTX 770, meaning you could push the settings up higher. Then again, in any given game, the impact of PhysX being used may be so small that it being done on a different card doesn't create enough headroom to push settings any higher, in which case it's just one more thing which could break.

Things to point out:
1. There are hardly any games that use physx and physx popularity is quickly dying among game developers.
2. Out of those games that support physx few support hardware accelerated physx.
3. The GTX 770 is so fast that all of those games would run at 90+ fps either way. Moving the physx calculations onto a separate card won't do much when they account for only 10% of the work that the GPU is doing.
4. That GTX 260 puts out a lot of heat and sucks up a lot of power.
5. He can sell the GTX 260 to help pay for this build.

AnyOldName3 Wrote:I think the option was only really designed so die hard AMD/ATi fans would at least consider giving nVidia some money, even if it was only a cheap, low end card they bought, as opposed to their main card. Then again, it could have been that someone decided to be generous, or that it was intended so that nVidia users wouldn't sell their old cards, so those in the market for a low end card would be less likely to buy high end used as opposed to low end new.

Nvidia doesn't officially support using geforce cards for hardware accelerated physx when an AMD GPU is detected as the primary gpu so that reason makes no sense. They have actively tried to block people from doing this.

Edit 1:

Edwii Wrote:Here's the thing why I'm so "gun-shy" about this; with my current "auzentech" (pos) It will do some funny thing randomly.
•One of the more common glitches, is I could be running any single or combination of programs, (youtube via firefox or Skyrim, or Teamspeak, or Media player) and then all of a sudden the sound will cut out, followed by a second of silence, the extremely loud staticy sounds for about 2 seconds, then no sound at all until I 1. turn dolby off and then back on, or 2. sometimes force me to restart the service all together or 3. sometimes I have to disable the sound devices in the sound control panel then enable it again. In order to get sound back.
This error has been known to happen to me even using headphones alone, and when I use headphones I turn any form of digital output/mixing off in the creative sound panel.
*I have no real proof of this, but I swear I noticed this glitch happening more often when my room was on the warm side, so I rearranged some fans in my case to give it more airflow to the sound card and it seemed to make it the glitch less reoccurring. If it wasnt for that I would of guessed it was drive issue.

There is an easy explanation for this. You're using a buggy audio chipset with even buggier drivers.

I remember the days of auzentech. And I remember the wide spread complaints on the internet about all sorts of weird problems such as yours.

But I'm telling you those days are long gone. Hooking up your A/V receiver is as simple as plugging in an hdmi cable and having the audio chipset pass audio through it. The audio codec doesn't do any processing. There is literally nothing to break because it doesn't do anything! Dedicated hardware audio processing died with x-fi titanium and auzentech.

Edwii Wrote:•I've been researching the higher end on-board sound chipsets, maybe there is a lot of bias out there, maybe they arn't talking about using A/V units, but a lot of people seem to harsh on all the realtech devices... which is funny cause I often see those same ones praising the "supreme FX" while bashing the "ACL1150" at the same time. One there I hear from people is that they hear a lot popping noises from realtechs.

In the same way that integrated graphics has always been many years behind discrete graphics integrated audio has always been many years behind discrete audio in quality. Realtek being the primary provider of integrated audio chipsets naturally got to carry the nasty reputation of the inferior quality of integrated audio throughout its history. They've been working hard to steadily improve integrated audio over the last decade but they've still remained far behind the competition. Thus the "bias" out there.

Popping noises when you turn on the system or start playing audio are normal on just about any discrete audio card. Especially high end ones. It's a natural side effect of having a strong amp. Now if you're talking about random popping that's a whole other story.

Edit 2:

Edwii Wrote:1. I have never had HD, from any input source to play back from it:
I ran some tests just now, using the Card's own capture software program: I went thru every combination of settings on the Capture card's control panel and tested using these sources:
•I have been running component to the capture card all along for watching SD tv. (this mode works), if I switch to an HD channel I lose signal and sound.
•I connected my Xbox360 via component with out audio, no signal.
•I connected my Dad's apple TV thingy, via HDMI, no signal.
*I got the capture card on ebay "for a song" used, about 2-3 years ago, the own claimed it was lightly used and in good order. Since I've owned it I have never been able to get any form of HD signal to play thru it, maybe he ripped me off and sold me a faulty card, I really dont know

Sounds like something is wrong with the card then. Not the STB. I'll do some research and see what I can come up with.

Edwii Wrote:2. I can check this later, I'm not near the PC as I'm writing this, but when I checked yesterday it seemed to be around 7-20% total at idle(background programs like utorrent, steam, teamspeak, firefox)

Ah. You meant total cpu usage.

Edwii Wrote:3.After performing the tests in "1." using the cards own capture software, do you still think it's worth me testing it in VLC?

Yes. It should only take 5-10 minutes. What do you have to lose?

Edwii Wrote:4.My cable provider is http://www.shaw.ca , I did a tiny bit of research and I don't think that it's an option: https://community.shaw.ca/thread/2463

Ah. I forgot you were canadian. I guess cable cards are out of the question then. Your only hope for capturing 1080p from cable is component (YPbPr) capture.

Yet another canadian I've met that fits the "unusually nice" stereotype. Which so far is all of them. What the hell is it about that place that makes people act like they're on some beautiful kindness drug?

[Edwii]

(08-21-2013, 02:40 PM)NaturalViolence Wrote: Yet another canadian I've met that fits the "unusually nice" stereotype. Which so far is all of them. What the hell is it about that place that makes people act like they're on some beautiful kindness drug?

I don't think we "Canadian's" are purely polite/kind out of the goodness of there heart, I think we're are just afraid to be thought of as rude.

[NaturalViolence]

Any other questions/comments/concerns before we get to it?

By the way you mentioned you wanted to gift me a game on steam. Which suggests that you have a steam account. Feel free to add me since I can't seem to find you.

[Edwii]

(08-21-2013, 07:02 PM)NaturalViolence Wrote: Any other questions/comments/concerns before we get to it?

By the way you mentioned you wanted to gift me a game on steam. Which suggests that you have a steam account. Feel free to add me since I can't seem to find you.

Added to steam my name will be Agent: Otto, Ottomatic, Ottomatopoeia, Ottoberfest, Ottopia, etc, etc. Also, I have TF2 items and some games in my inventory you can look at if you see any of those you think would make an appropriate gift. *note not all the tf2 items are ones I would part with.

"ge to it" the purchasing of parts?

Something I wanted to run past you is more about the racking/storage. I've been trying my best to find more information about rack storage for electronics, but it's a surprisingly small area of discussion on the web, atleast when it comes to using them for home theater set ups opose to pro-audio or servers.

here is a rack on the local craigs list for $100, it looks very promising, Next to it is an example of where I want to end up more or less, tho I have a few less components in mind. Do you have an opinion on it?


I'm aiming more and more to go down this racking methoid of storage. Here are two cases I'm considering using for it:
Case Comparison The cheaper one looks way better on the front imo for a HT set up, but it has the shorter case, not sure if that would effect me, or cooling.

[NaturalViolence]

How's the parts list coming along?

And what happened with the PSU?

Edit: Link to the rack and/or the Craigslist entry please?

I think something like this would be more appropriate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811182566

Edwii Wrote:but it's a surprisingly small area of discussion on the web, atleast when it comes to using them for home theater set ups opose to pro-audio or servers.

They're big, ugly, expensive, and mostly useless for home theater. What did you expect?

I can't say that I know much about racks or rackmount equipment/chassis. So I'll likely have to do some research on this.

[Edwii]

(08-22-2013, 06:52 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: How's the parts list coming along?

And what happened with the PSU?

Edit: Link to the rack and/or the Craigslist entry please?

I think something like this would be more appropriate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811182566

I can't say that I know much about racks or rackmount equipment/chassis. So I'll likely have to do some research on this.

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/ele/3974975256.html

◘No word from the PSU guy since i made an offer of $105 from is asking price of $130. I will end up getting the seasonic if I dont hear from him soon.
•Which means I might end up buying one of those cases at the same time to save shipping, I don't overly like the look of the one you picked, can you tell me why you perfer it over the two I did?(I dont really want a door flap on the front that has to be opened to use the disk drive or usb ports bascily, which is why I like the short case the most for aesthetics)

Current PC parts:
With most of the parts none with in the paramiters i have made are on sale, forcing me to buy now, so i'm waiting for deals to pop up, I aim to have everything orded before or on black-Friday. So for now I am putting priory to the PSU and Racking, as I can work with both right away and make use of them.

1.CPU, 4670k or 4770k . the i5 holds priory but if the chance a sale or great combo deal I might take the i7 just for the sake of a bargain.
2. GPU, not much to be said hear, I know it will be a gtx 770 of a reputable brand, but since there are no remarkable sales right now it too is on hold, 2gb or 4gb, I dont have to be picky; which ever pops up with the best discount. leaning toward a gigabyte, higher clock speeds for the same price, can't argue with that.
3. Ram, 1833. It still seems inexpensive 8 vs 16, probably g.skill as they seem to have good value overall, waiting for deals.
4. SSD: I considered your suggestion for going with the 128gb 840pro vs the larger 840, and like, read times are the same, I dont really thing write times will be that much of a noticeable difference for my purposes, the 840pro has a longer life span, but really they are both really long. I checked my steam game folder, and there is like 200gb+ in it, it can be slimmed down and i could be more conservative, but it seems like the larger 840 would be better for that, unless i'm missing a reason to go with the smaller 840pro.
5. Motherboards: This is still a tough one for me, I like the asus hero it has some nice perks and some what better audio, but the pro series and up have built in bluetooth and wifi, tho good boards, anrt specifically aimed at gaming, the hero might prove to be a better board for OCing. I still haven't looked at many other brands as of yet, not really seeing anything that stands out yet, so waiting for sales that might help weigh the odds. I would still value more input.
•sound cards and onboard sound I've decided to not make a big deal about it at this time, I'll get a board with a above average audio hardware. If it doesn't pan out to be working for me after that I'll just upgrade to an independent sound card, or maybe a dac headphone amp.
6. Cooling, not much to be looked at yet as I don't know what chassis system I will be going with.

[NaturalViolence]

Update your PCpartpicker page.

Edwii Wrote:http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/ele/3974975256.html

No model number or specs?!?

Buying something like that without any information about it is nuts.

Edwii Wrote:I don't overly like the look of the one you picked, can you tell me why you perfer it over the two I did?(I dont really want a door flap on the front that has to be opened to use the disk drive or usb ports bascily, which is why I like the short case the most for aesthetics)

Better reviews.

Edwii Wrote:Current PC parts:
With most of the parts none with in the paramiters i have made are on sale, forcing me to buy now, so i'm waiting for deals to pop up, I aim to have everything orded before or on black-Friday. So for now I am putting priory to the PSU and Racking, as I can work with both right away and make use of them.

1.CPU, 4670k or 4770k . the i5 holds priory but if the chance a sale or great combo deal I might take the i7 just for the sake of a bargain.
2. GPU, not much to be said hear, I know it will be a gtx 770 of a reputable brand, but since there are no remarkable sales right now it too is on hold, 2gb or 4gb, I dont have to be picky; which ever pops up with the best discount. leaning toward a gigabyte, higher clock speeds for the same price, can't argue with that.
3. Ram, 1833. It still seems inexpensive 8 vs 16, probably g.skill as they seem to have good value overall, waiting for deals.
4. SSD: I considered your suggestion for going with the 128gb 840pro vs the larger 840, and like, read times are the same, I dont really thing write times will be that much of a noticeable difference for my purposes, the 840pro has a longer life span, but really they are both really long. I checked my steam game folder, and there is like 200gb+ in it, it can be slimmed down and i could be more conservative, but it seems like the larger 840 would be better for that, unless i'm missing a reason to go with the smaller 840pro.
5. Motherboards: This is still a tough one for me, I like the asus hero it has some nice perks and some what better audio, but the pro series and up have built in bluetooth and wifi, tho good boards, anrt specifically aimed at gaming, the hero might prove to be a better board for OCing. I still haven't looked at many other brands as of yet, not really seeing anything that stands out yet, so waiting for sales that might help weigh the odds. I would still value more input.
•sound cards and onboard sound I've decided to not make a big deal about it at this time, I'll get a board with a above average audio hardware. If it doesn't pan out to be working for me after that I'll just upgrade to an independent sound card, or maybe a dac headphone amp.
6. Cooling, not much to be looked at yet as I don't know what chassis system I will be going with.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you haven't bought many PC parts in the past. You're not going to be able to save much if any money with these crazy schemes unless you buy older hardware. Which you aren't.

Waiting for deals on some of this stuff to buy it will literally mean waiting years until something better replaces it. For intel cpus for example that is the only time the price goes down. And even then not by much.

Edwii Wrote:1.CPU, 4670k or 4770k . the i5 holds priory but if the chance a sale or great combo deal I might take the i7 just for the sake of a bargain.

Considering the huge price difference between the two hell will freeze over long before you can find a 4770k for anywhere near the price of a 4670K.

Edwii Wrote:2. GPU, not much to be said hear, I know it will be a gtx 770 of a reputable brand, but since there are no remarkable sales right now it too is on hold, 2gb or 4gb, I dont have to be picky; which ever pops up with the best discount. leaning toward a gigabyte, higher clock speeds for the same price, can't argue with that.

You're talking about a product released 2-3 months ago. You're not going to be able to find a big discount on these things until the GTX 870 replaces them a year from now.

Edwii Wrote:3. Ram, 1833. It still seems inexpensive 8 vs 16, probably g.skill as they seem to have good value overall, waiting for deals.

Unless you're buying used ram the most you'll save from "waiting for deals" here is maybe $5-10.

Edwii Wrote:4. SSD: I considered your suggestion for going with the 128gb 840pro vs the larger 840, and like, read times are the same, I dont really thing write times will be that much of a noticeable difference for my purposes, the 840pro has a longer life span, but really they are both really long. I checked my steam game folder, and there is like 200gb+ in it, it can be slimmed down and i could be more conservative, but it seems like the larger 840 would be better for that, unless i'm missing a reason to go with the smaller 840pro.

I'm not sure if you understand this or not but I'm going to say it just in case. Please don't take offense if you do already understand it because I can't quite tell.

The 840, 840 evo, and 840 pro are all available at multiple sizes including 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. The 840 evo series is also available in 750GB and 1TB sizes. Pick a size and pick a series. The two are independent.

The 840 pro and 840 should both have long enough lifespans for your needs. This isn't a server environment so they won't be under constant heavy load. I would recommend putting your steam folder on a HDD and just using the SSD for other applications. Your steam folder is only go to grow further.

I have reconsidered my position on write speeds being unimportant after spending more time with my htpc which has an SSD with poor write speeds. So I would recommend a 128GB 840 pro.

Edwii Wrote:5. Motherboards: This is still a tough one for me, I like the asus hero it has some nice perks and some what better audio, but the pro series and up have built in bluetooth and wifi, tho good boards, anrt specifically aimed at gaming, the hero might prove to be a better board for OCing. I still haven't looked at many other brands as of yet, not really seeing anything that stands out yet, so waiting for sales that might help weigh the odds. I would still value more input.

You can get good wifi adapters for $20. BT for $5. I already explained earlier why your mobo choice won't effect overclocking at all. Here, this may help you decide: http://promos.asus.com/us/z87/comparison/

Edwii Wrote:•sound cards and onboard sound I've decided to not make a big deal about it at this time, I'll get a board with a above average audio hardware. If it doesn't pan out to be working for me after that I'll just upgrade to an independent sound card, or maybe a dac headphone amp.

How often do you use headphones instead of the a/v system and what do you use them for?

[Edwii]

Quote:Update your PCpartpicker page.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Edwii/saved/2d5c

Quote:http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/ele/3974975256.html
No model number or specs?!?
Buying something like that without any information about it is nuts.

The owner has had it for "15-20 years" he said. I will go out and see it and take mesurments before I buy it of course, but it looks to be a standard "19 inch rack" and should have the standard "19 inch rack" displacements. Even if it was off a bit, I can use spacers, drill new holes, make modifications in general to make things work. I do know it's rough dimentions, enough to know it will fit all of my electronics.

Quote:"I don't overly like the look of the one you picked, can you tell me why you perfer it over the two I did?(I dont really want a door flap on the front that has to be opened to use the disk drive or usb ports bascily, which is why I like the short case the most for aesthetics)"
Better reviews.

Ah ok, as I said I'm still liking the short ones aesthetics over that one. Would you see any complications using that size of a case if i went with it any way?

Quote:I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you haven't bought many PC parts in the past. You're not going to be able to save much if any money with these crazy schemes unless you buy older hardware. Which you aren't.

I have built 3 PCs so far from scratch, all buying new parts for the most part. I know I'm not going to find door crashing deals, but even if I get an additional $5-$10 off each part that add's up. I'm not in a rush, I've set a build dead line of blackfirday so I'm not going to be draging this out any longer then that, and I'm ok with that. I'm going to have to spend a good chunk of time just getting the rack system together before any ways.

Quote:I'm not sure if you understand this or not but I'm going to say it just in case. Please don't take offense if you do already understand it because I can't quite tell.
The 840, 840 evo, and 840 pro are all available at multiple sizes including 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. The 840 evo series is also available in 750GB and 1TB sizes. Pick a size and pick a series. The two are independent.
The 840 pro and 840 should both have long enough lifespans for your needs. This isn't a server environment so they won't be under constant heavy load. I would recommend putting your steam folder on a HDD and just using the SSD for other applications. Your steam folder is only go to grow further.
I have reconsidered my position on write speeds being unimportant after spending more time with my htpc which has an SSD with poor write speeds. So I would recommend a 128GB 840 pro.

Thank you for sharing your experince with the SSD's, I onlt have experince with my dated hardware, and never used an SSD before, I'm sure I will be impressed ether way with any SSD upgrade. I know that all the 840's come in all differnet sizes, but the price differince between a 256 and a 256pro is pretty big for my tastes.

Quote:How often do you use headphones instead of the a/v system and what do you use them for?

I use them equaly as much as my a/v system. I use them for everything, Movies/Games/Music anything audiable. I almost always pick the A/V over the headphones if I have the choice, the primary reason for the headphones is for when I dont want to disturb the house with what I'm doing, so staying up to late and playing media basicly.