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General computer/pc/laptop discussion thread.

sublime tool
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beefaroni sublime tool
I've seen a number of similar "I need help with a PC/laptop" threads pop up recently. A lot of them have the same info repeated over and over.

Since we have a General DSLR discussion thread that has seemed to help people buy a good camera, why not do the same for a PC/laptop/monitor to keep everything in one thread?

Here are some threads from the past year that I quickly searched for.

Time to build a new computer
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157172

The right computer for game artists
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=158963&highlight=computer

New Computer and videocard for game design
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152953&highlight=computer+pc

Best place to get a custom built machine?
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150837&highlight=computer+pc

Should I sell my stuff to get a PC?
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148277&highlight=computer+pc

Computer Building Advice
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146950&highlight=computer+pc

Opinions on using laptop for asset creation?
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147879&highlight=computer+pc

Need help choosing computer!!!
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146092&highlight=computer+pc

Desktop PC build help for a beginner?
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145144&highlight=computer+pc

A great non custom computer desktop?
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146103&highlight=computer+pc

Which PC should I pick?
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146003&highlight=computer+pc

Using Apple Mac's for 3D Artwork
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144734&highlight=computer+pc

upgrade or new PC?
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144054&highlight=computer+pc

Monitor suggestions
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126717&highlight=computer+pc

Help choosing a portable computer
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138793&highlight=computer+pc

Student - I'm looking for a new PC and need some help!
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137152&highlight=computer+pc

Best current laptop for 3D work?
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136839&highlight=computer+pc

Computer Build Review for 3D rendering/animation
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134880&highlight=computer+pc

New comptuer $2000 budget
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136870&highlight=computer+pc

PC build for 3D help
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131176&highlight=computer+pc

Replies

  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 9
    Good job taking the time compiling all the threads there have been a ton
  • claydough
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    claydough polycounter lvl 10
    Pascal brings new faster HBM memory and NVLink motherboards supposedly giving us a leapfrog in performance for once.

    With a quarter 1 release date. It seems like it might be worthwhile and save to at least see if the hoopla really eclipses Maxwell performance.

    As the OP mentions, there is so much PC build activity ( 3 I think as of this posting )
    Part of smart PC build purchasing is "informed timing" of those purchase. In which case I would think that holding off till Pascal would be a no brainer considering such a major purchase and that the release will happen sometime between January and the next quarter.
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    I always have the mindset, if you are buying a best bang for your buck pc, it's never worth waiting more than a month for new tech. If you were going to get an enthusiast build with a 980ti, it might be worth the wait. There's never going to be a huge jump in performance without a huge jump in price.
  • claydough
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    claydough polycounter lvl 10
    consider whats been going on,
    compared to whats going to happen in the next quarter.

    I agree Zac, the 980ti is a perfect example of how timing is a really important consideration with a major purchase. Considering how quickly the ti version came out following the gtx 980 release.
    Where if u were upgrading from 700 series. The 980 hardly had any frame advantage over gtx 780ti. Just seems confounding at the amount of posts on the hardware forums over the frame advantage the 980ti had over 980 for those purchasers of 980 who then were left crying over how quickly that frame advantage was released after their hefty purchase.
    Where for the majority of enthusiast I think it was pretty much assumed that exact scenario was going to play out as it did?

    Would be very surprised if HBM 2.0 does not offer a significant advantage and is an iteration over the 3d stacked memory AMD enthusiasts are so proud of touting.

    Remember this GPU roadmap?
    nvidia-gpu-roadmap-gtc2013.jpg
    Unified Virtual Memory never made it to Maxwell ( been in the works for awhile and if anyone has been following... It was what was supposed to be Maxwells definitive advancement next to the die size shrink but now 3D Stacked memory that was supposed to be the defining tech in Volta leapfrogs delayed advancement in Pascal instead )
    Speaking of die size shrink,

    Well...
    That did not happen in Maxwell either. We have been at 28nm since the 600 series due to fabrication drama. Instead of finally decreasing to 20nm as some predicted we leapfrog with a 16nm process for Pascal!

    Lastly...
    The wildcard is probably NVLink which may ( supposed to still be able to work with PCIe ) optionally REPLACE PCI express for quicker connection to the CPU.
    Compare to PCIe 3.0
    nvidia-nvlink-vs-pci.jpg
    supposedly even more parallel advantage with multiple GPU's:
    nvlink_quad.png


    I have yet to hear of any motherboard manufacturers NVLink development plan though.
    But considering that we are now coming up on the last quarter for the 900 series and considering all the technical delays that will now be surpassed...
    I would prefer to "wait and see"
  • Tobbo
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    Tobbo polycounter lvl 11
    Appreciate you putting some links together Beefaroni. It might also be helpful to include some kind of thread title with each thread linked. At the moment it's just a list of links with the same text.
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    Good call, I'll try to go through these at lunch today and get some titles up!

    Edit: DONE!
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 9
    they named the next gpu volta lol
  • claydough
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    claydough polycounter lvl 10
    they named the next gpu volta lol

    Volta was supposed to be the next release. But it is superseded by Pascal now to address design issues and delays described a few posts above.

    Now Pascal Has that 3D Stacked memory that was supposed to be released in Volta:
    CAUXol0UMAAS3iz.jpg:large
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 9
    I was going to say I thought Pascal was next, excited to see how well it actually works
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    Was on buildapcsales the other day and saw that 32GB of DDR4 ram can be had for about $180 now. It was ~$320 earlier in the year. Much less expensive for anyone thinking of a X99 build.
  • Justo
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    Justo polycounter
    This thread is great. I'll be reading this when I have some time...Thanks for making this Beefaroniiiiii
  • claydough
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    claydough polycounter lvl 10
    cool directX 12 article at Anandtech showing off DirectX 12’s improvements to multi-GPU functionality
    A little farther out on the horizon than the driver overhead improvements are DirectX 12’s improvements to multi-GPU functionality. Traditionally the domain of drivers – developers have little control under DirectX 11 – DirectX 12’s explicit controls extend to multi-GPU rendering as well. It is now up to developers to decide if they want to use multiple GPUs and how they want to use them. And with explicit control over the GPUs along with the deep understanding that only a game’s developer can have for the layout of their rendering pipeline, DirectX 12 gives developers the freedom to do things that could never be done before.
    Nice twist though, one of two modes DirectX 12’s multi-GPU Explicit Multi-Adapter mode allows leveraging of both GeForce and Radeons !
    he most surprising thing about all of this is that the greatest gains are with the mixed GPU setups. It’s not immediately clear why this is – if there’s something more efficient about having each vendor and their drivers operating one GPU instead of two – or if AMD and NVIDIA are just more compatible than either company cares to admit. Either way this shows that even with Ashes’ basic AFR implementation, multi-adapter rendering is working and working well.

    http://www.anandtech.com/show/9740/directx-12-geforce-plus-radeon-mgpu-preview


  • RobeOmega
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    RobeOmega polycounter lvl 10
  • kolayamit
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    kolayamit polycounter lvl 13
    nice thread, thank you OP for putting it together..
  • RobeOmega
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    RobeOmega polycounter lvl 10
    I believe the new website has broken all of the links. Or at least when I click on and of the links I just get sent to the forum homepage.
  • RaptorCWS
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    RaptorCWS polycounter lvl 11
    So I'm planning on upgrading (essentially replacing) my current pc with a new build, and was wondering if I could get an opinion on my build. The only thing that I can not change from the parts list is the 980 ti since that is the one part that is in my current pc that is under the age of 6 years old. I'm planning on doing 3d work obviously, and of course gaming. but am I getting the best bang for my buck?

    http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gQdRdC

  • EarthQuake
    That's not a bad build, but you can shave probably ~$150 off by going with a 4790K and a LGA 1150 motherboard, with zero drop in performance. Avoid the crazy expensive "gamer" motherboards unless you really need some specific feature.
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    That power supply is crazy overkill. You can save $50 and get a better PSU with http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-ax760 or just get the best deal you can find on a 700+ watt gold rated PSU with good reviews. 
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    1. A high quality 600 - 650 watt should be all that you need. Should save some $$
    2. Agree on the Mobo, could shave some $$ from there. 
    3. That's a pretty large case and kind of expensive. Personal opinion but you could get a very very nice case (fractal design) for $70 - $100. Some more money shaved off.
    4. I would go with the Intel Dual Band Wireless AC PCI adapter instead. It is dual band so you can use the 5ghz spectrum. In apartments this is especially important as the 2.4ghz spectrum is flooded and you may run into  problems with performance / connectivity. It's a little more $$ but well worth it.
    5. With that money saved you can go up to 32GB of ram. Between Designer, Photoshop, Painter, etc, I am usually north of 16GB. 
  • jStins
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    jStins interpolator
    Good idea for a thread! I skimped somewhat on my video card when I got my current workstation about 3 years ago (GeForce GT 530). It did OK for me, but it's time to upgrade. (this is in no way related to the upcoming release of Fallout 4, promise.) What's the current sweet spot for price/performance? I'm looking at the GeForce GTX 970 since it's in my budget and I think I see it recommended as a good gaming / game art card fairly often. That said, I'd like a card that is somewhat future proof (solid performance for 2-3 years). Would there be much benefit in spending more for the 980 or 980 ti? I'm not really concerned with being able to run everything at max settings when gaming, but would I be hamstrung when it comes to authoring game assets with the 970?

    It seems like PNY and EVGA are reliable manufacturers, but are there others that provide more bang for the buck or any to absolutely avoid for poor build quality?

    Sorry for the lame questions, but the hardware side of things tends to make my eyes glaze over...

    Thanks in advance for any input/advice.




  • RaptorCWS
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    RaptorCWS polycounter lvl 11
    well the 980ti has half the vram as a titan so there is a plus on that side I really like mine. there is no coil wine and I have not seen/felt the card get hot (ive never overclocked it though). I think a 970 should be fine for asset creation I know of others who do game art that have it in their machines, but i also do not know what future requirements will be to run software.

    I may be singing the praises of the 980ti to highly though  since the card I had before it was a bfg tech gtx 280 that i could literally heat my apartment with.  so the leap in performance for me was massive from my previous card.

    The guy in the video does a pretty good job at reviewing hardware

    here is a good review for the msi 980ti that i have
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iORNWrgty4

    He has one as well on the 970 but its more about how its limited to 3.5gb of ram or something about that whole situation that i never paid attention to.

  • EarthQuake
    The 960, 970, 980 and 980 Ti are all good choices, it really depends on what you can afford. The 960 is the best value, followed closely by the 970. If you divide performance by price you can get an idea of the value:

    960: 30
    970: 27.5
    980: 21
    980 Ti: 18
    Titan X: 11

    Bigger number = better value, data from: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

    The Titan X only makes sense if you really need the extra VRAM, in which case you might consider an 8GB Radeon for a lot less money instead.

    Personally I would go with the 970 or 980, whichever you can afford.
  • jStins
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    jStins interpolator
    Thanks for the info guys. The 970 seems to be in the sweet spot for me.

    That price on the Quadro M6000... Crazy. 
  • Spoon
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    Spoon polycounter lvl 11
    Do monitors also go in this thread?

    Im looking for a new monitor, I have 3 small ones now, and I prefer upgrading my main monitor, and then just having 1 on the side.
    So, I would like something like an 27" for my main monitor.
    However, if it also needs to be IPS, it breaks budget, and I would need more time to save for it.
    So I could also go smaller 24" IPS where it seems more reasonable, but I was hoping for 27".
    So in short:

    Is IPS worth the price jump?


  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    I would say in most cases, IPS is worth the jump in price. Most TN panels have terrible color accuracy and what you see will look way off from what everyone else sees. 

    What is your price range?
  • PolyHertz
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    PolyHertz polycount lvl 666
    Yes, IPS is worth it, unless you're working strictly in black and white :p
  • EarthQuake
    These days you can get very reasonably priced IPS monitors, so really there is no reason to buy a TN panel.

    If you're on a tight budget but want a 27", consider something like this Benq: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824014383&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=27"_ips-_-24-014-383-_-Product

  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    There's the new 25" 1440p category. 
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236453

    Also, if you're buying 27" don't bother with 1080p. 
  • EarthQuake
    Yeah, avoid 1080p over 23", doesn't make any sense, you're only paying for bigger pixels.
  • Spoon
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    Spoon polycounter lvl 11
    Thanks a lot, guys :)
    Yeah I don't know anything about monitors. I have a Spyder at home, and was actually under the impression that when I calibrate my monitor, it would look kinda IPS-y if I was viewing it perpendicularly.
    And that's why I came here, I didn't want that price jump for things like viewing angle, when budget is tight.

    I trust Earthquake so much, that I just clicked the link, and input my details. However, they don't seem to ship to Germany, and the Amazon prices are huge in comparison.

    Maybe I will sleep on this for a day or two. I also like the 24" IPS i'm using at work, I just feel that if I upgrade my monitor at home to ISP, i might as well get some extra resolution while i'm at it.

    EDIT: Bought it. #YOLO

  • jStins
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    jStins interpolator
    So my GTX970 arrived today (yay!) I unstalled my old video drivers, took the old card out and put the new one in without much trouble. (Yay!) When I boot, I get the initial boot screen, three beeps from the mobo then nothing (boo!) The trouble shooting guide says that disconnected pci-e from the power supply could be the cause. I reseat the card, check the connections and try again with no luck (booooo!)

    Now here's my question. The power adapter that came with the card has six holes, but only 5 pins. The six prong adapters from my power supply have metal pins in all six holes. Could this be the issue? Potential solutions if so? (Some sort of 6 pin to 5 pin adapter dealy? Do I need a new power supply? My current power supply is 600 watt so it should have enough to juice.)

    Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
  • SonicBlue
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    SonicBlue polycounter lvl 10
    The GTX 970, according to the GeForce website, has two 6-pin PCI-E connectors, some manufacturers provides a 6+8-pin solution, check if your power supply has the correct cables.

    Is it a good practice to check the actual photos of the product you're going to buy, to avoid this kind of surprises.
  • jStins
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    jStins interpolator
    My power supply has two 6-pin connectors that were both plugged into the card. So I guess the card is faulty? Don't mean to make polycount my personal tech support site, but the EVGA website is returning a server error when I try to post on their forum/submit a ticket. Very frustrating...
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    Make sure the cables say PCIE and are all the way plugged in on the power supply and on the card. 
  • jStins
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    jStins interpolator
    Well apparently I'm screwed. I bought my system from HP and their OEM motherboard doesn't support the GTX970 because they won't release a BIOS update. I guess that's what I get for buying an HP. Too bad because the system has been really smooth until now. FML.

    EDIT: I'm considering getting a new case/motherboard and just swapping the proc and RAM over to the new one. Any motherboard suggestions? I assume this process would involve a full reinstall on the system?
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    Yep. You also may have trouble re-installing the OS as OEM copies are usually tied to the motherboard so re-installing may require a call to microsoft. 
  • jStins
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    jStins interpolator
    Thanks, I'm not too worried about the OS as the first thing I did when I got the PC was do a clean install with my own copy of Windows 7. 
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 9
    Wait im confused, you said the video / card has 6 holes and only 5 pins ? Its should have 6 for 6
    Also can you elaborate "Well apparently I'm screwed. I bought my system from HP and their OEM motherboard doesn't support the GTX970 because they won't release a BIOS update. I guess that's what I get for buying an HP. Too bad because the system has been really smooth until now. FML."

    Why does it not support it ?, not sure what a BIOS update would change as the card goes via PCI-E . I can understand a bios update to fix for a new CPU but not for a video card
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool

    Why does it not support it ?, not sure what a BIOS update would change as the card goes via PCI-E . I can understand a bios update to fix for a new CPU but not for a video card
    Back when I had a ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 (3750k), I went from a 560ti to a 780. When I installed the card I needed to upgrade my BIOS in order for the card to work. It's not limited to only CPUs.
  • jStins
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    jStins interpolator
    That's what the video card adapters look like, but the power cable that came with the card looks like this:



    The cables on my power supply have six metal pins rather than the 5 shown in the pic. Either way I'm 90% certain it's a motherboard compatibility issue at this point.

    Edit re: the motherboard / BIOS issue... Check this thread: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware/H8-1280t-and-GTX-780-Video-Card-installation-issue/td-p/2733761
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 9
    beefaroni said:

    Why does it not support it ?, not sure what a BIOS update would change as the card goes via PCI-E . I can understand a bios update to fix for a new CPU but not for a video card
    Back when I had a ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 (3750k), I went from a 560ti to a 780. When I installed the card I needed to upgrade my BIOS in order for the card to work. It's not limited to only CPUs.
    Interesting, never ran into that, i wonder if its because that specific chipset is older 
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 9

    jStins said:
    That's what the video card adapters look like, but the power cable that came with the card looks like this:



    The cables on my power supply have six metal pins rather than the 5 shown in the pic. Either way I'm 90% certain it's a motherboard compatibility issue at this point.
    So what is this a picture of exactly ? The cable from the power supply , the adapter or video card socket ?
  • jStins
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    jStins interpolator
    The card came with a cable to plug the card into the power supply if there weren't enough on the power supply already. This is the end of the cable that plugs into the card (it has two four pin plugs at the other end).
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 9
    So one of these

  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 9
    beefaroni said:

    Why does it not support it ?, not sure what a BIOS update would change as the card goes via PCI-E . I can understand a bios update to fix for a new CPU but not for a video card
    Back when I had a ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 (3750k), I went from a 560ti to a 780. When I installed the card I needed to upgrade my BIOS in order for the card to work. It's not limited to only CPUs.
    If the motherboard was incompatible anhd needed a bios update I don't think it would have posted.

    T
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    beefaroni said:

    Why does it not support it ?, not sure what a BIOS update would change as the card goes via PCI-E . I can understand a bios update to fix for a new CPU but not for a video card
    Back when I had a ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 (3750k), I went from a 560ti to a 780. When I installed the card I needed to upgrade my BIOS in order for the card to work. It's not limited to only CPUs.
    If the motherboard was incompatible anhd needed a bios update I don't think it would have posted
    I never said it didn't post. It was able to POST; however, it said something along the lines of "update your BIOS" afterwards and wouldn't boot any further than that. Read the thread that JSTINS posted. I'm guessing my issue was something similar. Regardless, a BIOS update fixed my problem. 
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 9
    beefaroni said:
    beefaroni said:

    Why does it not support it ?, not sure what a BIOS update would change as the card goes via PCI-E . I can understand a bios update to fix for a new CPU but not for a video card
    Back when I had a ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 (3750k), I went from a 560ti to a 780. When I installed the card I needed to upgrade my BIOS in order for the card to work. It's not limited to only CPUs.
    If the motherboard was incompatible anhd needed a bios update I don't think it would have posted
    I never said it didn't post. It was able to POST; however, it said something along the lines of "update your BIOS" afterwards and wouldn't boot any further than that. Read the thread that JSTINS posted. I'm guessing my issue was something similar. Regardless, a BIOS update fixed my problem. 
    Gotcha, I was referring to the OP's original post. He said his machine posts but then gets and beep code that translates too power error for video card.

    I'm almost positive those power adapters should be 4 pins to 6 pins not 5. Im going off of memory and try to search but I wonder if a pin broke or they sent wrong one.

    Also OP did you plug BOTH (2) Power modelx into the adapter then into video card ?
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