PC Died

[DerStrom8]

The reason I asked about e-mail is that I use Outlook Express (OE). Windows 7 does not support it. Microsoft offers a free download for a new program, "Live Mail." (https://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/email )

Superficially, Live Mail looks similar to OE. What I like about OE is the ability to keep e-mails locally (including a file tree like Explorer), back them up, and export them. So, I have lots of old receipts, tax correspondence, etc., and pictures of the grandkids. I don't want NSA to have access to the latter.

Outlook may still be supported (I have an old copy), and worse comes to worse, I may go to that.

John

At work I used Outlook for my email service. I think it was 2010. I really like the setup of it--you can have email, calendars, notes, and all sorts of other stuff all in one. It's a great program, and I highly recommend it.

 

[eTech]

It looks like the mobo and/or cpu are bad. New PS, new video card, wiggled everything, same result.

Anyone have opinions or experience with the following:

MoBo = Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3h Socket 1150 (ATX)
CPU = Intel i7 4770K 3.5 GHz (quad core, 8 threads)

Memory = DDR3, 1600 -- 8 or 16 GB? ( I currently have just 2 GB DDR2 and windows XP). I know I will need a different OS for that much ram. Any comments about Win 7 Pro?

My main question regards the MoBo and CPU. The rest is pretty much a commitment forced by that choice.

John

Hi

Sorry...reading this thread a little late.

If your system ever doesn't POST, first try clearing CMOS on the motherboard. That sometime helps.
There's usually a 3 pin header jumper on the MoBo that allows you to clear CMOS. Newer MoBo's
are easier, they have a button on the back panel you press to clear.

On the new stuff..

1. The i7-4770K is a nice CPU. The "K" designator means that it is unlocked for overclocking.
Out of the box it runs at 3.5 GHz but can be overclocked to as hi as 4.6 Ghz. Be aware though,
that CPU overclocking requires enhanced system cooling. It sounds like 3.5 Ghz is fine for what your doing.

2. Nice MoBo too. The 4770K CPU chip has a built-in HD Graphics Processor. The Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3h MoBo has built in video,
so you don't need to buy a separate video graphics card.

3. I highly recommend Windows 7 Professional x64. You can still use your 32bit programs, and you'll be able to
to take advantage of up to 32GB memory supported by your MoBo.

4. Use 4GB DDR3/1600 as an absolute minimum. I highly recommend 8GB if possible. Use 2 separate memory modules so you can use Dual Channel functionality..

5. Your MoBo also has built in sound. You'll need to download the sound drivers from the GigaByte Web site...

6. Make sure to download and install all MoBo drivers from the Gigabyte web site.

eT

 

[jpanhalt]

Thanks, eTech.

I finally installed Win7 Pro 64 bit yesterday and am slowly bringing up the applications I need. I've got Windows Live Mail running and looking a little like Outlook Express. Imported addresses, but not the old emails I have saved. The equipment is pretty much as you recommend, including 8 GB of 1600 ram. I also installed a SanDisk UltraPlus 128 GB SSD drive for my "C" drive. Recently, I touched an icon and got some performance figures from an application that is native to Win 7.

Overall (lowest) score was 7.0 (older GTS250 Video card). Ram and C-drive were 7.9. It is running so fast, I am afraid it will burn out my Samsung SyncMaster monitor. Aside from that, it still takes me 30 minutes to read and respond to an e-mail, so I don't think PC speed is or ever was the bottleneck. I will be playing with PhotoShop CS3 and AI CS3 in the near future. Then, we will see whether the speed makes a difference. The Adobe apps do seem to load faster, as expected.

I am a little worried about my old WP11 running and getting my ICD3 (MPLab) working properly. MPLab itself installed without problems.

John

 

[eTech]

Thanks, eTech.

I finally installed Win7 Pro 64 bit yesterday and am slowly bringing up the applications I need. I've got Windows Live Mail running and looking a little like Outlook Express. Imported addresses, but not the old emails I have saved. The equipment is pretty much as you recommend, including 8 GB of 1600 ram. I also installed a SanDisk UltraPlus 128 GB SSD drive for my "C" drive. Recently, I touched an icon and got some performance figures from an application that is native to Win 7.

Overall (lowest) score was 7.0 (older GTS250 Video card). Ram and C-drive were 7.9. It is running so fast, I am afraid it will burn out my Samsung SyncMaster monitor. Aside from that, it still takes me 30 minutes to read and respond to an e-mail, so I don't think PC speed is or ever was the bottleneck. I will be playing with PhotoShop CS3 and AI CS3 in the near future. Then, we will see whether the speed makes a difference. The Adobe apps do seem to load faster, as expected.

I am a little worried about my old WP11 running and getting my ICD3 (MPLab) working properly. MPLab itself installed without problems.

John

Hi

Excellent...sounds like your happy with it.

1. remember...you have a built in video controller, so you can try that if your not happy with the GTS250.

2. Good choice using an SSD drive. Just remember to regularly back up any data you save to "C". I have an
SSD drive for C also, but I have a second pair of mirrored HD drives for my data (Drive D)

3. I've been running MPLab on Win7 x64 without any problems. Don't know about WP11, however it does support Win XP, so may not be an issue. Your system is powerful enough, so if there is an issue, you can always run the free VMWARE player, then you can run WP11 in a virtual machine with whatever OS it needs.

eT