Blackbird - 9800gt finally gave out. Bye bye SLI

Running away and never looking back sounds more like it.

Alright then... the second GPU went (as I expected it would).

Since I just sold my jeep, I decided to splurge and get a GTX 580 (single).
It looks like it uses a 6 pin and an 8 pin.

Requirements
Minimum of a 600 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 42 Amps.)
An available 6-pin PCI-E power connector and an available 8 pin PCI-E power connector

They have an adapter that lets me convert the two 6 pins to an 8 pin, but them I am left needing another 6 pin.

Not remembering what is in the Blackbird Power supply, are there more than two PCI-E 6 pin cables ?

They have a "two available hard disk to 6 pin adapter" which I might have to use for a third 6-pin ?

Oops...

Here are the adapters included.

It might be messy but with a molex to 6 pin pcie adapter you should be able to make it work. If memory serves me 9800's used a single 6 pin connector for power. You can use the included adapter to turn that into a 8 pin and then use the other adapter to fulfill the 6 pin pcie requirement. Newegg Tigerdirect and Microcenter should carry a molex to 6 pin adapter.

Yeah, and it looks like I should not use a single six to eight pin (75w vs. 150w).

But let's be specific about the blackbird, as far as I know I have the 1100w power supply - though I've heard some have 900w power supplies.

And, if it is the topower 1100 as seen here (or even the 900w):
http://www.topower.com/product/powerbird1100_pba.htm
Then it appears I should have two 6+2 plugs floating about somewhere in the case ? Right ? I am struggling to recall if I have ever seen these, I don't think I have.

Anyone else ??

Well depends where you got the BB002, Retail (Best Buy...), From HP/Voodoo & if; was it a built system or a bare case w/psu?

I think I recall you saying yours was a built system from HP/Voodoo. I didn't think they supplied any loose cables (extras) as delivered. The bare cases w/ psu did come with the a complete bag of cables as noted in your link from TopPower.

I purchased it retail therefore it may not have the cables I will be checking tomorrow.

If it doesn't have the cables, are there any "hints" on what I should search for to find these cables ? "8 pin to 8 pin pci express" for example, the search results seem to be extenders so I am very unclear if I am getting the proper product.

Thanks !!!

Most of what you will find are going to be extenders. The 6pin end is pretty much standard, however the connection at the PSU is not (between manufacturers and even between product lines at the same manufacturer). I'd call TopPower and order them from them if you don't see what you need in the case. I've called TopPower a few times, they have been pretty helpful.

Nice to see PO popping up occasionally, even if only to answer questions!

I like how every time I field a question to PO he appears magically out of nowhere

Make no mistake, he's watching. Which begs the question: Do we bore him that much on other occasions that he doesn't participate?

Maybe he has simply become a man of few words.

Not bored, ...just not knowledgeable enough. ...and sarcasm seems to just scare people away.

Not enough people here to worry about scaring away. We welcome your sarcasm and even you lack of knowledge.


By the way, just got four rolls of B&Ws that I shot in South Dakota back from processing. It will take me a while to scan in the good ones, but I will make an album when I do and will want your opinion.

See PO: He wants your opinion, and doesn't care about the opinion of others.

Scanned and tweaked sixty of them over the weekend. Now to see if I can make the time to hit a coffee shop and upload them.

Iago wrote:Scanned and tweaked sixty of them over the weekend. Now to see if I can make the time to hit a coffee shop and upload them.

That must have been time consuming. We look forward to seeing them. How does photoshop run on tha x7200?

Depends on the resolution at which the photographs were scanned.

What can I say, I am a poster of few words... err... posts ? Sorry! I have no fear though, just nothing to add once I put up the backgrounds I created.

So I am also an idiot, the power cables (6+2) were sitting in the blackbird shipping case (DOH!) and I had no issues installing the GTX 580.

ToPower was great too, they sell the cables for $5 each plus S+H, but of course I will not be needing now that I discovered them.

Well, feel free to post even if you have nothing to say! That has never stopped any of us in the past!


East/Seamaster: I opted for 600 dpi. Little hitch in that my scanner will not work with 64 bit Windows 7, so I guess that I am in the market for a new scanner. My scanner will operate at higher resolutions than that, but for some reason I was having issues and 600 was the highest that it would allow. That still makes for a pretty high resolution file (though it stops a bit short of resolving the grain structure as well as I would like, but for posting online it will do. I am going to have to downrez them anyway!) Once I put the files onto the new laptop, it just screamed. Photoshop was actually a joy to work with, and I am sure that my laptop still had several cores tied behind its back.

I remember back in the day having I had a pentium II ibm aptiva. I was so excited when I finally got a photo quality scanner. Back then if I remember correctly it was about 1k and it was scsi

That was the first in a long line of being screwed over by hp hardware. The glass developed a film in it that was uncleanable even from the inside. (Manufacturing defect?). I remember I was going to bring it to a glass shop and have them fit it with a new piece of glass but honestly at that point for what it was going to cost I could not be bothered. I picked up a cheap-o cannon led scanner that I still have to this day. Although admittedly it sucks at photos.

The upper edge of my old scanner seems to have a burned-in blemish on the end where the light comes to rest. I used to line photos up with that upper edge of the scanner, but I did these by placing the photo in the center instead. No point in replacing the glass as I have no choice but to replace the whole scanner!

Any thoughts about that? I would want a standalone scanner (not a fax/printer) that can scan photos well but is hopefully not too expensive.

One of my clients presented me with the very same question. After a few hours of research I concluded that no inkjet currently on the market is worth spending money on. Instead I recommended he buy a brother all in one color laser printer. He opted for the black and white version as he rarely prints color.

I have noticed a sharp decline in the quality of inkjet based printers and all in one printers in recent years. They are now made with the print head in the printer and not the cartridge. You may not think this is a big deal that is until you go to use it one day to find that the print head dried out and now essentially the entire printer is garbage as even if the print head is replaceable it usually is not something that is cost effective to replace.

Granted if you are looking for a photo quality printer the laser printer built into the all in one may not be the best choice. Photo quality lasers are however currently available. My friend has a minolta magicolor series one he is very pleased with.

Picking out a laser printer is about what you would expect. Most laser printers are rated in dpi (except the really cheap ones) and pages per min.

I currently have a samsung 315w color. It does not print the best photos but it is a good printer, Especially since I picked it up at office max on sale for $125 (half of what it normally costs) and I am still on the starter/demo toner cartridges.

HP has some good flatbed scanners, but a little pricey given how much use you'd get out of it (i'm suspecting).

How about scanning straight from the negative?

East: not looking for a new printer (still satisfied with my old Epson 380), just a new scanner.


PO: I prefer scanning from prints due to the magnification factor -- any dust or particles of any time that stray in front of the glass are magnified in the final scan. When scanning from a print, especially if it is recent and you are careful, there is little garbage in final scan. (It is also easier to keep track of things with prints rather than trying to find the correct negative.) But you are correct, I do not use it regularly, which is why I was hoping for something decent that was not too much money.

The graphic artist in my group uses an HP Scanjet 8300, which is a flatbed scanner. The quality is pretty good, but I'm not sure if it's in the price range you were thinking. I think it retails for about $500, though I'm sure you can do better if you hunt around.