Bartimaeus

With a budget of $1800, I'd get a motherboard with at least six full phases... (edit): Maybe not. Can't seem to find a single >=six phase Z97 motherboard under <=$140 at the moment. I was expecting at least one or two...unless you're overclocking, 4+1 is fine, I guess.

A 280X at its most expensive is like...what, $300? Can probably get it closer to $250. A $120-$180 motherboard, a $60-120 PSU, a $200-300 CPU, $150's worth maybe of RAM, a $50-100 case...even at the highest values, that leaves you a little less than $700 for storage...

Crossfiring/SLI? Not a fan of doing it myself, but if that's what you're looking to do... (e:) Whoops, thought that read $1,000, not $1,800. At that budget, I'm not sure how you can avoid it, really...not unless you buy a $1,000 GPU, haha. Someone else will have to help you with that - $1,800 is more money than is sensible for me,

Update on that computer problem: I'm a moron. I need to work with more Intel CPUs...I assumed that was like that on purpose because, you know, AMD CPUs have a few blank spots here and there. Nope.

And finally, a motherboard: namely, the Asus Maximus VI (Z87). My former pick was the ASRock Extreme4, whenever it dropped down to about $120, but the Asus board just did that today, and it's a much higher quality board. I didn't really want to get an Asus board, because they seem to be having a lot of problems with their boards lately, but...it's from newegg, so hopefully I'll be good even if there are any problems - not getting rid of my current desktop, so I'm not exactly desperate for a computer ASAP anyways. Recap: Chassis: Corsair 300R (Non-Windowed, 'cos windows are ugly) @ $35 PSU: Silverstone ST50F-ESG @ $25 (it's an FSP Aurum S rebrand) MB: Asus Maximus VI (Z87) @ $120 CPU: Intel Core i7 4770k @ $100 RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 2x4GB DDR3 1600/CAS 8 @ $50 (holdover from my previous build because DDR3 is too danged expensive nowadays - giving the old desktop some very cheap 2x2GB Gskill stuff) GPU: AMD XFX 5770 (for now - my previous GTX 660 for $90 order actually did end up being canceled, sadly, so I'll have to wait for something decent to come by again) System SSD: PNY XLR8 120GB @ $35 Storage HDD: Some 5 year old or so 1TB Seagate holdover that I'm surprised is still working Storage HDD: Some 3TB WD Green that I got for free Total: $365 (discounting HDDs, since they're not specifically a part of this build, really, and the video card, since it'll end up being replaced sometime in the future most likely). Not too shabby - the retail cost of the CPU is almost more than that total. I'm fairly pleased. If I bought these all at closer to MSRP, (let's say within 10% of their current, about), it'd be closer to $800, (again, discounting HDDs and video card). All new, too, of course, (except holdovers, obviously).

Corsair 300R obtained for $35 after rebate, ($55 before). Yay! At this point, I just need a motherboard...and some cheap DDR3 for my computer so it can at least run, but I can wait for that.

Haha, what's this in reference to? Can't find a mention of "nightjar" in the last few pages of this topic... Bought a GTX 660 for $87 after MIR. Hopefully it's not canceled. My first nvidia card - not because I've had something against them before, but it's just how it's worked out in the past.

Yeah, it was supposed to be a favor for him, but at this point, I think it's done for. The very last thing I wanted to do before I called it quits, though, was screw around with the BIOS, possibly reflash it to see if that would help at all. Tough luck, I guess, as it's completely obstinate at this point. Not being able to use a keyboard means messed up beyond repair, I guess, haha.

Ooh, how I hate Windows. For some reason, after having started it up again, it suddenly decided to go into the Windows Startup Repair tool. Couldn't stop it because...you know, no keyboard...and by the time you're in it, it doesn't let you freaking cancel what it's doing - says the process cannot be stopped. Ridiculous. With the clocks at 1.1GHz, this is going to take forever for it to oh hey it just finished as I was writing this. Cannot find anything to repair. GEE, I WONDER WHY, GUYS. How about you let me decide if it needs to be repaired or not, eh? Have no idea why it suddenly let me go through without needing to set BIOS values...but it did. I switched the power supply back from my own to my brother's old one, (who actually owns the computer, in case you haven't been keeping up, ), and now it suddenly isn't requiring it...gosh darn I hate computers.

Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you didn't already own a copy of it. Uh...well...unless you were willing to go through more dubious methods because it's a stupid and arbitrary distinction between the two, there's not really a way to get around it.

Time to reformat!

Yeah. I'm pretty sure the motherboard is shot to at least some degree - I'm surprised I was able to consistently make it to Windows desktop before I cleared the BIOS, to be honest - in fact, that confuses me more than anything, really. What I really need is some random compatible motherboard to test out the CPU...but I just don't have one, and the cheapest one I can find online is like $60, which would be a bitter pill to swallow if the CPU is shot, too.

Sorry, I meant spending money in terms of only your GPU, too - that was unclear, though. At $80, this would be a pretty fantastic card for your build, (there's some additional 10% off coupon using MasterPass or something that brings it down to there - alternatively, use the $15 off of $50 iPhone promotion they currently have running). The card is equivalent to...a $150 or so 265, if I'm not mistaken. On the other hand, I hate PowerColor, so best of luck if you do go that route, (again, someone else should provide input).

What're you thinking of spending? You have one PCIE 2.0 slot, (x16, it seems), which should still be able to handle just about any single chip card. CPU's a little bit of a different story...but it's not too bad. Decent speed, dual core with hyperthreading. I'd imagine it should be handle to hand anything new under...$200, maybe a little more, maybe a little less? Someone else should chip in, though, before you decide anything.

That's a good idea, if you have something like that or a ps/2 keyboard try that. You might've missed it, but I already tried a PS/2 keyboard. Works on my computer, doesn't work on his. Unlike the USB stuff, it won't even power on. The ports might as well be completely dead for all I can tell. Stupid broken hardware...

But I cannot get past POST at this point. It asks me to hit either F1 or F2 to either enter setup, (the BIOS), or to just load the default values. I can't get a keyboard to work, so it just sits there, forever. Can't get past it. So even if I did make a flash CD or something, I wouldn't be able to boot to it, because it won't pass POST because I have to press a dumb key before it'll try to boot anything, haha. Only thing I can think of is...maybe a third party PCI USB or PS/2 controller? Not sure. I tried plugging in the front panel USB, just to see if that might work, but still nothing.

How would I reflash it without being able to get to desktop? (e: and without being able to press anything while outside of Windows, too...) I have no idea what any part of your second sentence means.

Oh, I forgot to say: I was finally able to clear the BIOS this morning. I had tried using the CMOS clear pins, but it would simply not work after having tried multiple times - so I took out the CMOS battery, and that finally did it. I no longer get that horrendous beep/30 minute long wait when I have USB devices plugged in, but now I can't boot to desktop: it says "Keyboard/Interface Error", "CMOS Time/Data Wrong", and "CMOS Settings", and then tells me to either go into setup, or load default settings. I can't do either, though, because again, none of my keyboards will work - they'll power on, but they won't actually work...and nor will my PS/2 keyboard. Can't do anything at that point. Ack...one step forward, two steps back.

Yeah, I physically inspected the CPU and the motherboard itself, but did not notice anything strange looking. Anyone know how good MSI support is? Just finished sending them an information/advice inquiry, and wondering if they'll actually help after having written about a page and a half's worth...

Hah. Yeah. The weird thing is the circumstances of the problem: it had been working perfectly...but one day, he decided to move it to a different room for whatever reasons, and upon trying to boot it up, it was "dead". I am guessing static electricity got the best of the poor thing...but the strange thing is, his video card is fine, his RAM is fine, his power supply is fine...only two things show any signs of having problems - his CPU and his motherboard, which I cannot swap out with anything, as I simply do not have the parts. I physically inspected both, and I don't see any signs of damage anywhere. That's weird, if it was static electricity that did something. So what's he to do...buy a motherboard and pray that the CPU is still good? It's still a pretty decent CPU in this day and age - not great, obviously, but decent...about equal to the Phenom II 970 I'm currently running, in fact. I think if he could spend $50 on a used motherboard and get it back up and running, it'd be worth it vs having to shell out a $250-350 on buying a "modern" equivalent motherboard and CPU. What to do...

Yes...unfortunately, it's worse and worse: roughly half of them will not power on anything at all - the other half will give power, but not actually work. At this point, I'm pretty sure there's something terribly wrong that I can't really fix with the motherboard - what I'm really trying to ascertain is whether the CPU is salvageable. Not sure how to figure that out at this point.

Sorry, I guess I should've expounded upon the "but I'm at the point where I can now successfully boot to desktop" - I swapped out the PSU with one of my own, switched out the GPU for a low powered 6450 to reduce any strain the system might be having, tested the RAM in my own system and tested my RAM in it, (both are fine), am using my own OS HDD, (none of his drives are connected), a different SATA cord, reseated the CPU as well as reapplied thermal paste and then reseated the entire motherboard to boot in case there were any objects underneath it causing it to short...which lead me to where I am now, which is better than I was then, but not exactly where I'd ideally be. I actually did just wait about half an hour after that long beep occurs when I have a USB device plugged in, and it finally went to an actual visible POST, and then repeated the beep again, but then gave me this simple error: "Keyboard/Interface Error", and then tells me to either hit F1 to continue, press Delete for the BIOS, or F11 for the boot menu. And now I can't do anything, because my USB devices will not work before Windows is actually booted up, (and my PS/2 keyboard will not work no matter what).

Trying to get my older brother's computer to work. It's an old Intel i5-750 build that is having...problems. It would not boot or post or give error beeps when I first got it, but I'm at the point where I can now successfully boot to desktop. However, there seems to be something wrong with the CPU, or how the motherboard is handling it, as it seems to be unable to get out of idle speeds. It also takes about five minutes to actually get to desktop, which is unusually long. After hitting the power button, it spends a few minutes completely dark - absolutely nothing shows up. Then, it suddenly shows the motherboard start screen, and posts. Then, a few more minutes in blackness, and then suddenly the Windows desktop shows up. Additionally, I cannot get into the BIOS in any manner, as having a USB device plugged in when it's booting causes the motherboard to scream bloody murder and give me one huge long beep that lasts for about 30 seconds straight, and then freezes at the motherboard startup screen. I tried using a PS/2 keyboard, but no matter what I do, I can't get the PS/2 ports to work. I also tried resetting the BIOS, multiple times, but to no avail. Anyone have any ideas?

Yeah, the game runs perfectly on max settings with me running an old quadcore Phenom II and a 5770...on the other hand, I think the game looks (stylistically) worse than Dark Souls 1, so you win some, you lose some, I guess. A lot of the active lighting looks completely awful and ruins the look of certain areas - they should remove a lot of the environmental torches and such and reduce the overall brightness of the game, IMO. Why the heck can't anyone but Valve properly animate faces? The opening cutscene sequence...oh man, that was awful. Those stupid firekeepers were animated (and voice acted) terribly, so let's do close up their faces while they talk so we *make sure* everyone knows how bad we are at doing this. And then let's have them repeat the same random, stupid crap several times. I nearly quit then and there. I pray that the only remaining cutscenes in the game are the ending cinematic(s), and non-dialogue ones of bosses when you meet them for the first time.

Have they fixed the item durability bug on the PC version yet? Always wanted to play Dark Souls games, but I have no intention to reward companies that do horrible PC ports. If they ever make HD versions of them for PS4, I just might get the console just for that. Getting PS3 now would be somewhat dumb. Can't say for sure. I don't think so, though, based on the fact that my beginner weapon broke almost immediately - like, within a half hour - for some reason, but since getting a different weapon, it's taken only 2 durability damage in the past two hours of playing... (e): Ah, it seems I didn't understand durability. I thought it worked like in DS1, where you have to repair stuff at a blacksmith - apparently, it's automatically repaired at bonfires. That explains why I was unable to make it through the tutorial area without my weapon breaking - no bonfire for a while - but my current weapon is doing fine. haha