PC build thread

[isiolia]

Typically you can clone the drive, though the degree that you can resize it might depend on the software you're using. I've had decent luck with the Acronis stuff that Crucial tends to bundle, or Samsung's tools. I've had more issues with Clonezilla or my hardware cloner.

[noiseredux]

yeah when I've done it was using Samsung's.

[Ziggy]

So my i7-965 came in the mail. I also decided to order a new fan for my Cooler Master V8 CPU cooler, as well as an 80mm for my case (now I will have all Noctua fans). I figured if I have to take apart damn near the entire PC to swap the CPU, I might as well use the opportunity to swap out those fans before they die.

Since the V8 cooler mounts to the bottom of the mobo, I knew I would have to remove the mobo to swap the CPU. But I forgot the REAL pain in the ass of it. There's NO torque specs that exist online, as far as I can tell, for how tight you should make the mounting bolts for the cooler. Now this sucks because too tight means you can break something, but not tight enough means the cooler wont do it's job. I was fretting over this while installing it the first time, and I'm not gonna have fun with it again. A small part of me wants to just put the stock Intel cooler back since it just clips in and you don't have to worry about that, but that would mean I can't overclock. So I guess I'll just go through the nerve racking process of installing the V8 again, "OMG IS THIS TOO TIGHT? AM I ABOUT TO BREAK IT? IS IT TOO LOOSE, WILL MY CPU TEMPS BE FUCKED UP?"

If I get a ssd that is greater or equal to the one I have. Can I just clone the old one or do I have to do a fresh install?

I just posted a few pages back that I upgraded to a larger SSD. The software that comes with the Samsung EVO drives is great. I'm not sure how other software competes with Samsung's, but everyone raves about the EVO drives. The software is great, the drives themselves get great reviews, and the prices of them are pretty good too.

[SpaceBooger]

I only ask about the SSD because taking the advice in this thread I bought a GTX 980 and 16gb of ram. But... before that I tried to overclock my GPU and wasn't happy with it. Now my pc seems to be lagging - the most noticeable examples: when I load chrome it takes a ton of time for the tabs to load but once the first tab loads slow every other tab after that loads fast. The other thing I have noticed is that HD youtube videos now stutter.

I think the overclocking may have messed up the ram from overheating. I have no idea, maybe it's a chrome thing. So I am wondering if the GPU and RAM will fix the chrome and youtube lag. Do you guys think the lag may be chrome or RAM (comics and images load fast, and PDFs seem to take as long as normal) or is it the HD?

Hopefully, it is the RAM and all will be good tomorrow, I don't want to install a new HD yet. I have a 1TB drive, I don't really want to buy a 1TB SSD, but don't have the original disc for a windows install (I have a Windows 7 disc that updated to 10). Can I clone just the OS and get a smaller drive?

[noiseredux]

Try the videos in another browser to rule out Chrome?

[isiolia]

Hopefully, it is the RAM and all will be good tomorrow, I don't want to install a new HD yet. I have a 1TB drive, I don't really want to buy a 1TB SSD, but don't have the original disc for a windows install (I have a Windows 7 disc that updated to 10). Can I clone just the OS and get a smaller drive?

You can create the install media for Windows 10 if you want to do a clean install.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softwar ... windows10/

The key for 10 is stored in the BIOS (or your machine's profile is stored to validate it) so if it's activated now you should be good.

While an SSD might help with some of the loading issues, that seems more like a plugin or something.

[SpaceBooger]

Hopefully, it is the RAM and all will be good tomorrow, I don't want to install a new HD yet. I have a 1TB drive, I don't really want to buy a 1TB SSD, but don't have the original disc for a windows install (I have a Windows 7 disc that updated to 10). Can I clone just the OS and get a smaller drive?

You can create the install media for Windows 10 if you want to do a clean install.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softwar ... windows10/

The key for 10 is stored in the BIOS (or your machine's profile is stored to validate it) so if it's activated now you should be good.

While an SSD might help with some of the loading issues, that seems more like a plugin or something.

Good call.

Ok, so I'm thinking I may go the cheaper route and try one of the hybrid 7200 and SSD drives like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
Has anyone tried one of these?

[Ziggy]

I'm not sure how worth it those hybrid drives are now that SSDs are getting cheaper. For not much more than the hybrid drive you linked, you could get the 250GB Samsung drive I linked in my earlier post. Put the OS and programs on the SSD, keep everything else on the 1TB mechanical HDD. Games can be an issue. I don't know what kind of PC gamer you are (game installs are getting huge!) but you could install some games to the mechanical HDD (they don't have to be installed to the drive your OS is on), and reserve the SSD for installing games that would actually take advantage of the faster speed.

But I agree with others, I don't think that sounds like a HDD issue. Try another browser and make sure all browsers and plugins are up to date. It never hurts to run diagnostic software. Memtest86+ will test your RAM. HDD manufactures usually provide free diagnostic software for their drives. You can view the SMART values and/or run diagnostic tests.

[SpaceBooger]

The key for 10 is stored in the BIOS (or your machine's profile is stored to validate it) so if it's activated now you should be good.

Quick question:
I am upgrading the CPU (FX 6100 to 6300) the RAM and the Graphics Card. If I do all that at once will that mess up my machine's profile and not allow me to do a clean install? If so should I install the above components before swapping out the hard drive?

[isiolia]

I'm not sure, since I haven't really tried that. I did a clean install on my main PC not too long ago, but didn't change any hardware (I did upgrade to a GTX1080 shortly before doing so though). Simply saying I'd put a serial in later/etc resulted in it being activated once everything got set up.