Help, advice, input - At wits end

[Sacredtbag 2]

Check your power and reset switches. Physically unplug them from the mobo and use a screwdriver (don't touch the metal during this) to boot the pc (touch the screwdriver (phillips is easier) to the two leads that the power switch plugs into just for a second and pull it away, just long enough to be the "click" that your original switch makes). Try that and see what happens. Momentary switches can easily go bad, especially when it's a part of a mass produced piece of junk (yeah I'm looking at you Alienware/Dell).

Edited June 21, 2012 by Sacredtbag

[Kiyeri 34]

Woot...Alienware gods put their heads together and decided that they would replace it with a brand new one. Keeping the current warranty from when they replaced the last system (still over 1k days left).

 

All in all I'm happy =)

 

They are going to figure out what is wrong with it, but said impossible to let me know. Shame, many people would be interested in knowing, had lots of people totally stumped.

 

Oh... should see the new sys sometime around July 10th.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Kiyeri

[lujate 578]

1000 days left! I would be inclined to say that whatever you paid for that warranty, it was probably worth it.

[Kiyeri 34]

1000 days left! I would be inclined to say that whatever you paid for that warranty, it was probably worth it.

 

yep best $300 investment I ever made huh. But when your getting an amazingly great deal on the computer of your dreams, why wouldn't you make that investment? So glad I think that way.

[Wygram 23]

1000 days left! I would be inclined to say that whatever you paid for that warranty, it was probably worth it.

 

yep best $300 investment I ever made huh. But when your getting an amazingly great deal on the computer of your dreams, why wouldn't you make that investment? So glad I think that way.

 

Congrats on the new system. Now you can play when we get the next BWE event.

[stubbie 21]

But when your getting an amazingly great deal on the computer of your dreams, why wouldn't you make that investment?

 

If that was a computer of your dreams I would hate to see what a computer of your nightmares was like.

[Knuckles 904]

So glad everything worked out...Sometimes trying to get a warranty replacement can be a nightmare. Glad Dell was responsible enough to replace the system. I would say warranty investment was money well spent

[wolfie2kX 528]

1000 days left! I would be inclined to say that whatever you paid for that warranty, it was probably worth it.

 

yep best $300 investment I ever made huh. But when your getting an amazingly great deal on the computer of your dreams, why wouldn't you make that investment? So glad I think that way.

 

Eh..Works for me... Glad to hear they've taken the high road on this..

[Kiyeri 34]

Well, they really haven't yet...

 

Originally I was told the new system would be delivered approx July 10th...

The new date is August 12th, they pushed it back stating that it wasn't approved yet WAAAAHT?

 

And yes... be careful what you dream for it just might turn out to be a nightmare.

[wolfie2kX 528]

Well, they really haven't yet...

 

Originally I was told the new system would be delivered approx July 10th...

The new date is August 12th, they pushed it back stating that it wasn't approved yet WAAAAHT?

 

And yes... be careful what you dream for it just might turn out to be a nightmare.

 

Wise sentiments... Been there, done that.. Got the T-shirt.. Wore it out...

 

Hmmm. This sounds like low end people making decisions that need approval from higher ups that keep them in the dark. To quote Forrest Gump: "It happens."

 

Break a leg... (Theatrical well wishing, not to jinx the process)

 

Keep us posted..!

[Kiyeri 34]

ok need you advice/input again

 

Leave it to them to limit the number of PCI's to 2? So no SoundBlaster, dual GPU's and gaming network card in one. Major downgrade IMHO Grrrr WHHHAT were they thinking?

 

Already decided to forgo the SoundBlaster

For replacement of Dual Nvidia GFX 580's and Killer Xeno Pro nic Choices are:

 

Dual Nvidia GFX 680's or...

Nvidia GFX 690 and Killer nic

 

What do you think?

[Wygram 23]

ok need you advice/input again

 

Leave it to them to limit the number of PCI's to 2? So no SoundBlaster, dual GPU's and gaming network card in one. Major downgrade IMHO Grrrr WHHHAT were they thinking?

 

Already decided to forgo the SoundBlaster

For replacement of Dual Nvidia GFX 580's and Killer Xeno Pro nic Choices are:

 

Dual Nvidia GFX 680's or...

Nvidia GFX 690 and Killer nic

 

What do you think?

 

2 PCI slots, OMG this is why I hate proprietary motherboards - oops showing my age again, I believe the PC way of saying that is Main Board.

 

In your original system did it come with all those PCI boards installed. If so then I would bitch that if the original system came that way then the new one should be able to manage the same elements.

[wolfie2kX 528]

ok need you advice/input again

 

Leave it to them to limit the number of PCI's to 2? So no SoundBlaster, dual GPU's and gaming network card in one. Major downgrade IMHO Grrrr WHHHAT were they thinking?

 

Already decided to forgo the SoundBlaster

For replacement of Dual Nvidia GFX 580's and Killer Xeno Pro nic Choices are:

 

Dual Nvidia GFX 680's or...

Nvidia GFX 690 and Killer nic

 

What do you think?

 

First off, There's a BIG difference between the slot the Video card goes into and the humble slot known as a PCI slot. In fact, I don't think anyone's made a pure PCI video card in at least a decade. It might have been longer.

 

PCI slots (pic courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

 

That technology was replaced by PCIe - note the little "e" at the end - by way of the AGP slot. PCIe slots come in multiple flavors depending on the number of channels the device needs. For instance, some devices may only need a 1x (the really short one) or 4x slot while a graphics card needs the full 16x (the long one with the extra bit in the front).

 

Various PCIe slots with a PCI slot (top to bottom):

PCIe 4x

PCIe 16x

PCIe 1x

PCIe 16x

PCI (standard 32 bit) (pic courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

 

------------------------------------------------------

 

Having only 2 PCI slots isn't so bad - as long as you have enough of the newfangled PCIe slots.

 

"To SLI or not to SLI...? That is the question." (with deepest apologies to William Shakespear).

 

Now then.. NOT having a SoundBlaster card - not such a bad thing. It may have been problematic 15 - 20 years ago, but these days pretty much all motherboards come with decent quality sound chips. In fact, The last few motherboards I've gotten have the capability of doing at least 5.1 surround if not higher. Unless you're one of those people out there who have a High Fidelity sense of hearing, the standard sound chips will likely do.

 

NIC cards these days have pretty much likewise gone the way of the dodo as most boards will sport at least a 10/100 or even 10/1000 (gigabit) NIC port. Do you really, really need a gaming NIC card?

 

Consider this: Most DSL, Cable and even Fiber options (FIOS) won't max out a 10/100 NIC port. Unless you've got a situation where you and your friends get together with your systems for regular LAN parties, and everyone else has one, I'd think about spending my cash on something else that might give better overall performance.

 

Which leads me to the video card...

 

These days most GPUs are much more than simple video cards and handle MUCH more than they used to - namely things like PhysX... In fact, IE version 9 and beyond have technology that allows the GPU to accelerate overall system output. Does it make a differenced? HECK YEAH! I've noticed how IE 10's performance dropped from "reasonable" to "SLOWER THAN MOLASSASS" after my GT220 died and I had to resort to onboard video. I'd have to say that IE 9 or 10 without the benefit of a GOOD video card = a sucky experience. Ditto for Sacred 2. It now runs like a slide show. UGH!

 

More applications are likely to also tap into the graphics card for a processing boost.

 

Ergo, having more horsepower under the hood in this department is a VERY good thing. As far as which option I'd go with... I'm not so sure which would be best. THE killer system would have dual 690s... But then again, that's a hefty investment.

 

1.) 2 680 cards have the same number of CUDA cores as a single 690 card. (Both have 3072 CUDA cores.)

2.) The dual 680 cards have a slightly higher clock speed.

3.) #2 is potentially offset by power requirements needed to drive the 2 cards. The 690 card requires a minimum of a 650 Watt PSU. Couldn't find reference to how many Watts a pair of 680s will need for them to operate happily. I'm going to guess that it's at least as high, if not higher than the single 690.

 

After checking Newegg.com, I've seen numerous GTX 680 options - most starting at $400 per card, going as high as $700 per card. GTX 690 options are even more insanely priced - starting at a mere $999.99 for a single card going as high as $1250... OUCH! Most of these, btw, are listed as Out of Stock...

 

Make sure your power supply is up to the task of powering both cards should you go with the SLI setup. Otherwise, you could be in for an additional upgrade for a bigger PSU.

 

So quite frankly, I don't know which would ultimately be better. I'm kind of leaning toward the single 690 for a couple of reasons..

 

1.) You have one 690 card in the box AND have 1 free slot - so down the line, you can buy a 2nd card and install it as a SLI setup should you feel a lack of performance. This would yield the equivalent of 4 680's worth of CUDA cores...

2.) the single 690 card is simpler to install. Simpler usually means better.

 

One more thing to consider... Either way you go, you WILL need to install a 64 bit OS. The 32 bit versions of Windows (and Linux for that matter) will lock you into a maximum of 4 GB of RAM. Given many of these cards come with 2 or 4 GB of Video memory - that would mean you would have ZERO free RAM to run a 32 bit OS - even if you've got 4 GB of RAM on board. All available memory must fall into the 4GB cap on a 32 bit system.

Edited July 10, 2012 by wolfie2kX

[Kiyeri 34]

Wow thank you for your ossum input. Very Very much appreciated.

 

Well, since price isn't an issue, Alienware is attempting a comparable replacement...

The system is 64bit so that isn't an issue either.

 

Here are the original specs

Intel Core 17 990x Extreme 6 core 3.46GHz, 12MB Cache

12GB Triple Channel 1600MHz DDR3 3x4GB

Dual 1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 580-SLI

512GB Raid 0 - 2x 256GB Samsung SSHDD

Win7 Ultimate 64Bit

802 11n WiFi & Bluetooth 2.1 EDR USB combo

Dual Blue ray BD Burn combo and DVDRW

Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

High Performance Liquid Cooling

Killer NIC 2100 PCIe

 

 

This is what they replaced it with

Intel Core 17 3820 quad core overclocked 4.1GHz, 10MB Cache

16GB Quad Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz

Dual 2GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 680-SLI

1TB Raid 0 - 2x 500GB SATA 6Gb/s Hybrid

Win7 Ultimate 64Bit

Dual BD Burn combo and DVDRW

Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Internal USB Bluetooth + WLAN

 

I complained... go figure. Was told Liquid Cooling is now standard on all machines. They will upgrade me to a i7-3960. They are happy to give me SSD but in that case no Raid 0. and as I stated before one of the two choices for PCIe slots... since there are only 2 max available.

 

All in all, I feel like I am getting less than original value? or am I just being silly.

 

Oh and I forgot to say, they shipped the replacement system even tho its wrong, they said they are not able to cancel orders once they are replaced. There for I have to go thru an additional replacement to get it fixed ><.

Edited July 10, 2012 by Kiyeri

[wolfie2kX 528]

Wow thank you for your ossum input. Very Very much appreciated.

 

Well, since price isn't an issue, Alienware is attempting a comparable replacement...

The system is 64bit so that isn't an issue either.

 

Here are the original specs

Intel Core 17 990x Extreme 6 core 3.46GHz, 12MB Cache

12GB Triple Channel 1600MHz DDR3 3x4GB

Dual 1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 580-SLI

512GB Raid 0 - 2x 256GB Samsung SSHDD

Win7 Ultimate 64Bit

802 11n WiFi & Bluetooth 2.1 EDR USB combo

Dual Blue ray BD Burn combo and DVDRW

Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

High Performance Liquid Cooling

Killer NIC 2100 PCIe

 

 

This is what they replaced it with

Intel Core 17 3820 quad core overclocked 4.1GHz, 10MB Cache

16GB Quad Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz

Dual 2GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 680-SLI

1TB Raid 0 - 2x 500GB SATA 6Gb/s Hybrid

Win7 Ultimate 64Bit

Dual BD Burn combo and DVDRW

Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Internal USB Bluetooth + WLAN

 

I complained... go figure. Was told Liquid Cooling is now standard on all machines. They will upgrade me to a i7-3960. They are happy to give me SSD but in that case no Raid 0. and as I stated before one of the two choices for PCIe slots... since there are only 2 max available.

 

All in all, I feel like I am getting less than original value? or am I just being silly.

 

Oh and I forgot to say, they shipped the replacement system even tho its wrong, they said they are not able to cancel orders once they are replaced. There for I have to go thru an additional replacement to get it fixed ><.

 

Holy moley! That's some system you got there. NICE!

 

Now then.. Is the new box equal to the new one? Or does it fall short?

 

Color me silly, but, it seems to be equal to if not better than the old box in most respects. The only area where things seem to fall a tiny bit short - would be the bit where the original i7 had 12 MB cache and the new i7 has only 10 MB.

 

You've got a faster chip.

You've got 25% more RAM.

You've got 2x the disk space. Not 100% sure, but the new system will be using SATA 3.0 (6GB/s). Is that not faster than the old system?

 

Assuming everything else is pretty much equal to what you had before. A couple of questions tho…

 

1.) Liquid cooling - did they agree to provide that on the replacement's replacement?

2.) Doesn't the motherboard in the new system have built in RAID capabilities?

3.) Was there anything else they got wrong?

 

Anyhow.. I'm thinking that you've likely got a decent gamer's system and outside of the liquid cooling - you're probably coming out ahead. The real test is doing some benchmarking.. See how it performs using your favorite games and such.

[Kiyeri 34]

Ok thanks again Wolfie *many hugs*, think I can now not sound like an idiot when I speak to them about the replacements replacement... lmao

 

Yea it's a sweet rig, an amazing deal when originally purchased, but also been nothing but a nightmare. This is now 3 years of headache (untold hardware replacements and shipping back and forth) and the 3rd complete system replacement. Is this a trend? or was I just the lucky recipient of lemons time and time again.

[wolfie2kX 528]

Ok thanks again Wolfie *many hugs*, think I can now not sound like an idiot when I speak to them about the replacements replacement... lmao

 

Yea it's a sweet rig, an amazing deal when originally purchased, but also been nothing but a nightmare. This is now 3 years of headache (untold hardware replacements and shipping back and forth) and the 3rd complete system replacement. Is this a trend? or was I just the lucky recipient of lemons time and time again.

 

Eh.. It's hard to say, really. Keep in mind that a lot of the technology in these systems are on or near the 'bleeding edge' of tech. Me, I usually go for stuff that's more on the 'bargain' end of the spectrum - going for technology that's already been proven. Which is probably why I have so few problems outside of the usual wear and tear kind of thing. Am I able to play Crysis in the ultra elite graphics modes? HECK NO! But then again, do I care. And the answer to that is also HECK NO!

 

I'm on the verge of having 3 hard drives drop on me and of course, I've mentioned my video card's recent demise. One hard drive is a SATA 80 GB drive. The 2nd is a 20 GB PATA drive and the last one is a PATA 320. You can tell by the sizes that they're getting up there in age. It's been a very, very long time since anyone's made a 20 GB hard drive.

 

Anyhow.. I digress... Bleeding edge hardware tends to be more problematic - mainly because it's so new. There may be a few bugs in the hardware. There may also be issues with drivers. There's also the fact that the stuff you've got is all about high performance. Running at high speeds usually means running hot - and heat is the enemy of electronics. More heat = a higher rate of entropy = things wear out faster.

 

So sure.. It's nice to have the fastest system on the block with the most badarse video and everything - but you can almost expect issues to pop up periodically. OTOH... 3 complete system replacements in 3 years.. That does seem a bit excessive. But then again, I don't have a complete history on your system, what issues have popped up, etc...

[Stormwing 40]

Kiy: The old me would've been green with jelousy after seeing those specs. As it stands now, I mostly concentrate on PS3, so PC isn't the first priority for me. Still sporting with the EAH4770 GPU I got on Dec '09. Says a lot.

As Wolfie said, it really seems you got much more with the replacement. I'm not a big fan of overclocking, noticed the processor's one of those. But being Intel, it should really be okay. Gotta echo Wolfie, he got it all neatly nailed down.

[Kiyeri 34]

Don't be jealous, the incredible can't refuse deal that dropped in my lap has been nothing but a nightmare... trust me hindsight really is 20/20 and I wouldn't do it again.

 

In 2009 when I joyfully jumped at this offer, my roommate bought a $700 computer... not only does it run all the same games that mine does (or tongue in cheek... didn't as the case has been) it is still running today with nary an issue. They have had 3 years of joy, while I have had 3 years of it being out of commission 90% of the time and a headache ALL the time.