xDLGx

I've run into a kinda critical problem with the new build, which has been running fine passing stress and game tests for two days now. I have tried to keep this short as going through everything would be a huge wall of text. All of a sudden after just looking at settings in bios and then rebooting I get: "no bootable device – insert boot disk and press any key" I go back into bios and check the usual things, like that the drives are identified and that the boot order is ok. Everything is fine. I then try the Windows 8 disc and automatic repair, which is unable to find or fix anything. Using the command console in the repair suite finds the windows installation, but located on E. If I check C it appears to be empty and it says that it's the reserved system drive. I try to run a string of boot sector repair commands. It ends with "bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd" and it finds Windows on E and asks if it should be added to the boot order. I select yes and it gives some error (I don't remember what it said and I can't check again, more on why below). When I try the "refresh" install option I end with the error: "The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again." Now I've read that his appears to be some bug in Windows 8 and a lot of people are suffering from it. Never happened for me in any other version of Windows. Based on tips online I try using my old Windows Vista install disc as supposedly moving half-way into repair can unlock a locked drive. It also finds my Windows 8 installation and offers to repair it, with roughly these results (had to copy online from some thread) --------------------------------- "The following startup option will be repaired: Name: {bootmgr} Identifier: {9DEA862C-5CDD-4E70-ACC1-F32B344D4795} The following startup options will be added: Name: Windows 8 Pro (recovered) Path: Windows Windows Device: Partition=C: (87055 MB) <--- I don't remember what it said here A copy of the current boot configuration data will be saved as: C:\Boot\BCD.Backup.0003" --------------------------------- Clicking "Repair and restart" gives me the error "Failed to save startup options." Now I read that can sometimes correct this error by disconnecting HDDs/SSDs and changing boot order in Windows. I fiddle with that a bit and suddenly instead of "no bootable device – insert boot disk and press any key" I now get a blue screen with a boot error, this one. NOW THE PROBLEM is that I'm getting this screen no matter how I boot now. None of my boot discs even works, Win 8, Vista.... nothing. All I can do on the computer is get into BIOS and look around. Any hot tips here?

I know, but most people don't want to have separate headphones and mic.

As far as durable goes I've been using my Qpad QH-1339 every day for over 4 years now and they're as good as new still. They are horribly expensive, not 7.1, but they are indeed durable. Also fantastic sound quality and excellent mic. Prior to these I bought various cheaper headsets that pretty much always had some problem or flat out broke within a year or so.

Kinda sounds like a DOA card but that must be very very rare.

Tried things like different pci-e slot or different pci-e cables even, just to make sure? Does the 760 have any status lights on it?

Yeah it's a cool card... also it's huge. The case comes with a built-in support for large and heavy graphics cards but the Matrix is too fat (wide) for the support to fit. Now my old gaming PC is starting to make life hard for me. It's been over a year since I last had any trouble but now when I start to backup files it's BSOD... four times in the past hour. Like the machine knows it's being replaced and it's pissed off about it,

No obvious leaks... yay Cable nightmare... I really hate the design of the molex connectors. So bulky, cheap and stupid. Like they naturally turn the wrong way in every situation. System running... need to take more photos tomorrow for better natural light without having to use flash.

A lot happening today and the system is running. Plan to make sure that everything is working correctly before I go back in and tweak, need to connect some of the fans differently for one and plan to hide some more cables. Build pictures: None of the screw holes for the bay res fit, which is funny considering how many screw holes there are in the case, including self-adjustable huge ones. I decided to stick the res in there with some help from sticky pads, rubber rings and a velcro band. In real life the there is no visible color difference between the case and the bay res, like in this photo. Fan grill added Raystorm block on Tubing: I had to abandon my plan of running the return tube behind the motherboard trey, there is simply not enough room to comfortably do that.

I aim to complete version 1 (version 2 will have more stuff in it... sleeving, another rad etc.) of this build tomorrow. I've had to wait an entire week for more tubing. In the meantime I have set the system up with the stock cooler and installed Win 8. Installed key software and ran most tests etc. Now I know that if the machine is broken after I add the water loop it'll be my fault :p Found that I probably didn't get the best haswell chip. Starting touching at 100c in prime95 after 25 minutes. 35c in idle though.

Cabes that came with my new motherboard must simply be from a faulty production batch

Since I found that the cables MSI included also were very stiff I went and bought a bunch of third party SATA cables and they are both softer and the metal latches on them actually work properly. Cables MSI sent were crap.

hmm...filing them down is a good idea. Now if I only had a file of some kind... must have one somewhere.

Sell it on ebay under false name

Ah, yes I did think about doing that and tried it a little, but to me it looks like I'd need to use so much force that the connector would break (after all that's made out of plastic)

yes I know how they work, they just don't work the way they should. Last one I had to use a pair of pliers to get out, no idea if that cable still works.

I haven't got enough old cables. These problem cables all came with my new MSI motherboard, and at first I thought it was only a problem with one cable, or with one motherboard socket, but I face the same problem no matter which cable or what I plug them into. It seems like the latches are too large. DVI you screw on, and it's optional.

I hate these things. I've never ever had problems with SATA cables disconnecting themselves. Are these metal latches pushed into place on the cables or are they glued on or? Any risk to the cable if you use force to tear them off? I see no benefit whatsoever with these things, all they do is get stuck in the motherboard or any device I'm plugging them into. Took me half an hour just now to get two cables out of my motherboard after a test fitting... jeez.

If I were poor I wouldn't buy a 580 new but I would consider buying one used. I've got two GTX 580s in my current rig.

A couple of years if nothing goes wrong. Think I've seen some products list expected lifespans of built in LEDs to all from 3 to 10 years.

Update 1: Done what I can today on the machine. As my cleaning products and other random little things didn't arrive before the weekend I can't for example fit the waterblock yet, got nothing to clean the cpu with. I ripped the the front and bottom HDD cages, planning to use the bottom cage and leave the front open for airflow. Drives all fit into the bottom cage Bottom cage installed and done some pre-emptive cable planning… bad lighting in this photo Nice with a motherboard trey that can be removed…. and I didn't notice that this photo was totally out of focus until it was too late Test fitting the radiator in the roof, didn't notice the sun was screwing up the picture Test fitting the motherboard trey and finding out if it's possible to fit the 8-pin and the tubing…. with an angle fitting it seems possible but it's tight and will be a bit tricky. If it wasn't for the removable motherboard trey it would be next to impossible.

That's the idea, not having to upgrade later.

After fiddling with it for a few hours today I find the build quality to be very high. The side panels are indeed thick and solid, they are heavy and don't flex at all. The only negatives I've found so far are that the tool-less mounting of the front fans are a bit tight, need to push pretty hard to take them out and put them back. I'm sure it will get better as I do it a few times. Also, I guess they need to site tight or they'll just vibrate. Everything in the case has rubber to prevent vibrations. Some cut out holes still got kinda sharp edges too, I'm going to place black silicone tape on them so I don't damage some cable by mistake. And yes for such a large case it's clearly not made to fit a lot of radiators. We'll see what I think once I really start building... stupid weekend prevents the final items I need from arriving in the mail.

I've never made a build log before and it's been 10+ years since I put together a PC from start to finish. Also I've never used watercooling before. Figured I might as well make a log and possibly get some tips along the way. I started today as most of the hardware has arrived. Case: Lian Li PC-2120X CPU: i7 4770K PSU: Corsair AX1200i Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming RAM: 16gb (2x8) Corsair Vengeance pro 2400 MHz GPU: Asus HD 7970 Matrix Platinum 3GB This might be temporary as I'm selling my two GTX 580 and need something now while waiting to see what the HD 9000 series will bring. This card also came with a small discount and 8 games :D HDD: 2 x Intel 520 240GB SSDs + 1 x WD Black 2TB Optical: Janking the DVD or Blu-ray from the old PC later... Cooling: XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo, XSPC Raystorm CPU block, XSPC EX360 rad, black chrome fittings, 3X Corsair SP120 Quiet Series Misc: Bitspower Aluminium Mesh Radgard II 360 Up in the air hardware: Soundcard: Not decided if I should get one yet... Xonar Phebus looks interesting. Misc: Thinking about temperature gauges in the front panel and lights inside but we'll see about that. Also want to sleeve some cables but that'll happen later. I want to use this machine before my vacation is over. As my first watercooled PC ever I'm starting with just the CPU but if all goes well I'll expand to cooling the GPU(s) later, maybe once it's time for loop maintenance. For now it will be a simple loop with the 360 rad in the roof of the case and the outlet of the rad going out via the 8-pin hole in the backplate and back to the bay res while hidden by the motherboard trey. I also plan that this will be the lowest point of the loop and place some drainage option there in the back. Anyway, only things I've really done today is a quick test boot to see that the hardware isn't already broken and started sorting through all hardware and planning the build.... and screwed some stuff together. Problems I've run into: 1. The turn from the radiator to the 8-pin hole is very tight so I'll need to get a 90 degrees angled fitting. 2. I didn't buy enough stupid tubing. 3. The radguard mesh and the radiator long screws are not compatible. Making me go from pull to push on the fans and I'll need to come up with a bit of a custom solution to cover the top vent holes with the mesh. Some pictures: Update 1 Update 2

I've been using Nvidia since the early days of ATI when I had some Riva card that barely ever worked. With my new build I picked up a 7970 DCII Matrix Platinum though, to carry me for a while. I will actually go down in performance as I'm sitting with two GTX 580 in SLI now but I need to sell off my old parts while they're still worth something. At the same time I want to wait on the 9000 HD series and have a working computer while I'm still vacation. Had to solve it somehow. Reason I picked this particular card was that overclockers.co.uk is running a bundle deal where you get 8 games with it, and all were games I wanted but had not picked up yet. Good deal I think. Was also important to get a strong single card with at least 3 gig vram. The card really looks like a monster, never had a card nearly as large as this. Will see how it performs once I've managed to put the new PC together.

As long as the companies can make money by selling tablets instead we should not worry too much. The average person might not buy as many cheap PCs or cheap laptops but gamers and high-end users will still buy real PCs. What we'll probably see are less cheap PC models to choose from, manufacturers might streamline their inventory more. Also don't forget the enterprise and server business, tablets won't be replacing those. And for the general mass market Windows 8 is not to blame for anything.