Well, I finally did it ...

[Timotheus 416]

Is the new setup working properly by now Spock? It's been a while since your last update

[Thorin Oakshield 260]

Maybe it isn't. Reason why it's been a while since his last update.

 

 

Thorin

[Spock 271]

Nope, still not working. The MB was again sent back. Hope they are able to do something that makes it work this time.

[Timotheus 416]

Aww sorry to hear that sometimes building your own pc is such a hassle.

[Spock 271]

I agree. That's why I switched to Macs. Wonder if I could shame the equipment providers into giving me an upgrade to a higher spec MB ...

[Dorimil 224]

well...probably giving ASUS a try? I am using there MBs for years now and don't have got any problems. all bought at ebay.

[Ironwill 135]

Just give it back and get maximus VII ranger or hero.I have been using 4790k for few months and it is performing very well

[SX255 630]

I agree. That's why I switched to Macs. Wonder if I could shame the equipment providers into giving me an upgrade to a higher spec MB ...

Nah, they will charge you extra for the story alone... then they will clame it as their property.

Also, didn't their mouse have one button instead of 3? Not much of a game PC.

[Spock 271]

The MB came back on the 26th but I refrained from trying to put anything together until we returned from visiting our daughter. I finally started putting everything together last night and finished up today.

We have lift-off!

The new board is working and I am even now installing Windows 8.1 (I know, I was going to use Windows 7 but SOMEONE talked me into using Windows 8 ). The onboard VGA connector is working just fine for the install but I may try to find an HDMI monitor to use with the onboard HDMI connector for better graphics. Once I transfer everything I want from my old Windows XP system, I will probably move the nVidia graphics card over as well ... if I need it.

I added a serial port (DB-9 connector) to the back as there was a Com port available. There was also a speaker output, so I added a speaker. Haven't heard a peep out of it yet, so it may have been a futile attempt to add everything I could.

There are two USB 2.0 ports on the MB and only one is being used, so I may find an extra USB connector and cable lying around just to have it if I need them. Each connector gives two USB ports.

There are only 6 SATA connectors but 10 internal and 3 external bays. Will have to see if I need more than 6 ports. If I do, I'm sure I can add more using an interface card.

I am a bit excited (as if you couldn't tell) and must go back up to see how the install is progressing.
[Added]
Well I spoke too soon. The computer is working just fine. Now I'm having problems with the Bloated OS. Why did I ever decide to go back to Windows!?

Edited December 2, 2014 by Spock

[rm3000 85]

Usually, I try to avoid using any onboard stuff, but maybe I'm just too cautious. That way, if my [whatever] breaks, I have a fallback option already present.

 

About the speaker - you might have to activate the onboard sound device in your BIOS or install some driver from the CD/web.

[Spock 271]

I'm not really all that concerned about the speaker. It's one of those tiny little things that goes beep when something goes wrong. If it never works, it won't bother me. The system has 7.1 surround sound available and I'm going to beat my head against the wall over a tiny little speaker!?

 

What's more annoying is Windows 8.1. I decided to move the system to where I could run an Ethernet cable to it to get on the Internet to upgrade drivers, register software, etc. Since it was near my 42" LED TV, I also decided to use the HDMI video output instead of the VGA. Wouldn't you know that totally confused Windows and it went so far as to fail completely! I really HATE Windows and am now wondering what caused my failure of good judgement to make me think I wanted a new Windows system.

 

I have stopped working on the system for now after getting it working again. I am in my dungeon trying to clear a space for the new system so I can not only get it set up where it's supposed to live but have it closer to the Internet connection and the old computer I plan to transfer data from. There isn't all that much data to transfer, mainly a few small game Mod files. All my main documents are on my Mac.

[rm3000 85]

Oh, THAT speaker. Obviously, what I heard isn't what you said. THAT Speaker only has a tiny connector on the mainboard. There might be an option to disable it in the bios.

[Thorin Oakshield 260]

You shouldn't hate Windows, you should dislike (as hating is too much of it) the one who talked you into using Win8.1 instead of Win7.

But then...

 

Windows in general does have the tendency to require installation software for certain kinds of hardware. Like LED TV's.

 

 

Thorin

[Spock 271]

Since our baby daughter is the one who talked me into Windows 8, I can't really hate (or even dislike) her, so will have to settle for hating Windows which is so easy to do.

 

I have taken some time out from playing with my new system to clear out enough room to incorporate it in my dungeon. Once so incorporated, I plan on installing as many of my old games as will work on it as well as a few new ones. I picked up Dragon Age: Inquisition over Black Friday and also got the Elder Scrolls Anthology (all 5 games with all DLCs!) for a whooping $14.95!

[SX255 630]

Great to hear that you finished your machine.

Just in case, don't keep anything important on disk C for a couple of months, in case you have to redo all your hard work again.

[Gilberticus 374]

No crap? The whole TES series with all dlc for 15 bucks? That's awesome!

[Dorimil 224]

Daggerfall and Arena are freeware!

But even the other three for 15$ is awesome!

[Thorin Oakshield 260]

I'd keep Dragon Age: Inquisition at the shelf for the time being as I were you. That game is BBR (bugged beyond recognition) when using AMD chipsets.

 

I got it myself, but haven't been able to play it much so far. Things I - and many other - ran into were: AMD GPU's being unable to render the graphics, resulting in a new update of that chipset. After that, even when having a machine close to the requirements and playing at minimal settings, the game stutters, occasionally hangs and once in a while returns to desktop without! being able to re-open the - still open - game. Meaning you need to close the game with the taskmanager, as even using [alt]+[F4] isn't shutting down the game.

I've basicaly been doing a Quick-save every 2-3 minutes, just to make sure my progress was saved. And even thàt didn't work sometimes.

 

So I'd suggest you focus at the TES first for the next couple (6?) months. Perhaps by then the DA:I game has been patched well enough to have it running for all players.

 

Thorin

 

PS: How 'bout no x-mass presents for your baby daughter as punnisment?

Edited December 3, 2014 by Thorin Oakshield

[SX255 630]

Man, big game releases these days are terrible and rude.

 

Tried playing "Alien Isolation" on my epic year old PC - got black screen of death on start and an error message under it. Something about not finding a graphics card with DirectX 11.

Turns out my half year old graphics card doesn’t go all the way to 11 Tried many software solutions, none worked. All that is left is to update the videocard, and that is not happening on my current budget.

 

What really fries my biscuits is that the developers didn’t even try making the game Dx10 compatible. When I had a similar issue with shaders v2 and v3 on Darksiders 1, it ran. Granted, the fog visibility was only 1 meter, but the game ran OK. With Alien Isolation, you ether play with their "spooooooky atmosphere" or don’t play at all. How rude.

 

OK. Enough digression.

[Dorimil 224]

ehm...DX11-cards are how old now? 6 Years? time enough to upgrade. doesn't wonder that the developers start to ignore DX9...

. All that is left is to update the videocard, and that is not happening on my current budget.

I don't know your budget, but a DX11-card is available from 40-50€ (a GTX 560ti...which is enough to play Skyrim with a lot Mods...)

Edited December 3, 2014 by Dorimil

[SX255 630]

ehm...DX11-cards are how old now? 6 Years? time enough to upgrade. doesn't wonder that the developers start to ignore DX9...

. All that is left is to update the videocard, and that is not happening on my current budget.

I don't know your budget, but a DX11-card is available from 40-50€ (a GTX 560ti...which is enough to play Skyrim with a lot Mods...)

 

Thank you for the price checkup.

I built my gaming rig this January for 1K €. Aimed it to last for a couple of years before replacing it completely. Had to swap out the video-card a couple of months later because it had a factory defect... and was stuck on a temporary card for a couple of months after that.

The rig is fine enough as it is, and I have a lot of games to catch up on (Skyrim included). So updating the video-card over one game I can play later is just not worth it.

[Spock 271]

I'd keep Dragon Age: Inquisition at the shelf for the time being as I were you. That game is BBR (bugged beyond recognition) when using AMD chipsets.

 

I got it myself, but haven't been able to play it much so far. Things I - and many other - ran into were: AMD GPU's being unable to render the graphics, resulting in a new update of that chipset. After that, even when having a machine close to the requirements and playing at minimal settings, the game stutters, occasionally hangs and once in a while returns to desktop without! being able to re-open the - still open - game. Meaning you need to close the game with the taskmanager, as even using [alt]+[F4] isn't shutting down the game.

I've basicaly been doing a Quick-save every 2-3 minutes, just to make sure my progress was saved. And even thàt didn't work sometimes.

 

So I'd suggest you focus at the TES first for the next couple (6?) months. Perhaps by then the DA:I game has been patched well enough to have it running for all players.

 

Thorin

 

PS: How 'bout no x-mass presents for your baby daughter as punnisment?

Don't forget, I'm running an Intel chip on this beast though I'm using the on-board graphics at the moment, so may have to get a video card in order to play the game.

 

I am anxious to get Sacred 2 and all the community Mod installed as well as see how Skyrim plays on this machine compared to my old one. Guess I will have lots to keep me busy if I can't play DA: I right away.

[SX255 630]

Best get the "next gen" vidoecard at this point (and double-check that its next gen compatible). It's not like the PS4 and Xbox are going to get updated any time soon, so a videocard that can play WatchDogs or Alien Isolation should last you as long as the rig.

[Spock 271]

Best get the "next gen" vidoecard at this point (and double-check that its next gen compatible). It's not like the PS4 and Xbox are going to get updated any time soon, so a videocard that can play WatchDogs or Alien Isolation should last you as long as the rig.

So true. I was trying to play Skyrim but the on-board video kept going intermittently black. I could still hear the audio but the video was really flaky. What there was of it was phenomenal but it wouldn't stay.

[Ironwill 135]

Spock if I was a US citizen,I would pick up a gtx 970 using newegg,they have the best prices for gpus