• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

JoeBoy101 said:
Hey, can you guys look over this build and tell me what you think? Purpose is pretty much gaming with some MS Office use, but nothing heavy past the gaming:

CPU: Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55
CPU Cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V
GPU: EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM
Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP

I know the sound card is overrated these days but I haven't had any real experience with Mobo-only sound. Has it advanced to the point where its reliable and good? On costs, I have some wiggle room, but would like to keep it under $1,200. Though my current computer is fairly strong, I've come into some money and want to build my first machine. Any help you guys can give would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Ditch the 470, and get something else
 
koji said:
lol, yeah BSOD on full load is usually vcore.
Click to expand...

mulitplier is at 21, BCLK at 200 , so I'm going for 4.2Ghz on air.

vcore is at 1.29375 now, CPU PLL back to 1.8...

I now get an error at 2m 3s...

guessing more vcore is needed... :lol

at least it didn't BSOD this time.

(When you up the memory to 3gb or so on the LinX, do you let the problem size fluctuate with that adjustment?)
 
I'm thinking about upgrading soon. My mobo and processor I got cheap from a friend and the cpu is a 2.66 Ghz Core 2 Duo. I'm thinking about replacing the graphics card (HD 5770) for a 460 really soon and then upgrading the mobo/cpu/ram over the summer. Thoughts?

EDIT: In another thread someone pointed out that my processor is what's causing some of my games (namely Bad Company 2) to perform poorly. Maybe I should replace my mobo/cpu/ram first?
 
vocab said:
Ditch the 470, and get something else
Click to expand...

I tend to prefer Nvidia cards, but I'm open-minded. Any suggestions? What would be a good Radeon equivalent, price point wise (i.e, about $250)?

Billychu said:
EDIT: In another thread someone pointed out that my processor is what's causing some of my games (namely Bad Company 2) to perform poorly. Maybe I should replace my mobo/cpu/ram first?
Click to expand...

I would. How much RAM we talking? If its less than 4, upgrade it as well.
 
caliblue15 said:
mulitplier is at 21, BCLK at 200 , so I'm going for 4.2Ghz on air.

vcore is at 1.29375 now, CPU PLL back to 1.8...
Click to expand...

You will need round 1.375 vcore to hit 4.2ghz, also with the auto overclock feature you will be hitting 4.4ghz, what cpu heatsink do you have?
 
Sanjay said:
You will need round 1.375 vcore to hit 4.2ghz, also with the auto overclock feature you will be hitting 4.4ghz, what cpu heatsink do you have?
Click to expand...

auto overclock is off, using stock i7-970 heatsink, was told it would be enough as it's actually a good heatsink now. Guessing i should try to stay under 80C
 
JoeBoy101 said:
Bear in mind, if you upgrade the CPU, which can likely require upgrading the mobo, that will lead you having to upgrade the memory to something compatible.
Click to expand...
I know. That's why I wanted to do it last. But the CPU has been holding me back, and this motherboard is honestly terrible.
 
NarcissisticJay said:
I've been at 4.2 for 10 months now @ less than 1.3.
Click to expand...

on an i7-970?

if so, mind showing me your values/setup see what I'm doing wrong..

Keep increasing vcore and it always stops at 2m 3s using 3072mb of RAM at a problem size of 20,014 running 20 times on LinX.
 
caliblue15 said:
auto overclock is off, using stock i7-970 heatsink, was told it would be enough as it's actually a good heatsink now. Guessing i should try to stay under 80C
Click to expand...

Hey I have the same heatsink, its a great heatsink. Temps below 85C is what you want to be looking for. Why you got the auto overclock off for? put it back on, all the other features should be off though.

NarcissisticJay said:
I've been at 4.2 for 10 months now @ less than 1.3.
Click to expand...

Yeah but your not in the norm, most will need more then 1.3vcore. I'm at 4.4ghz using 1.375vcore on a i7 920.
 
Sanjay said:
Hey I have the same heatsink, its a great heatsink. Temps below 85C is what you want to be looking for. Why you got the auto overclock off for? put it back on, all the other features should be off though.



Yeah but your not in the norm, most will need more then 1.3vcore. I'm at 4.4ghz using 1.375vcore on a i7 920.
Click to expand...

Was told to turn it off... There are a whole bunch of skew options and things that are enabled, which no one really knows if you should turn off or on.. I also have load-calibration turned on..

I'm at 1.3475 vcore right now, it just failed at 1.325 2m and 4s in...

 
Felix Lighter said:
Your not unintentionally overclocking your memory too much are you?
Click to expand...

The bus speeds increase the memory speeds, which makes 1600mhz at like 3,000 something, i put it down to 1600, and the uclk to 2+1 above that..

is that what I'm doing wrong?

Should i have it set to 1600 from stock, and let the BUS throttle it up, think computer reads it as 800 mhz ram.

Edit: CPU-Z reads it as 800MHz, when I have it set to 1603MHz on the motherboard. Guessing that's my issue.
 
Robert Ashley said:
Sorry to be so needy, but are those available in PCI instead of PCIe? I don't have a PCIe port. (my phone is my only Internet right now, so research is difficult).
Click to expand...

You're going to need a whole new computer most likely since im guessing the one you are on is extremely old to be PCI only. PCI cards havent been the norm for a long time.
 
caliblue15 said:
The bus speeds increase the memory speeds, which makes 1600mhz at like 3,000 something, i put it down to 1600, and the uclk to 2+1 above that..

is that what I'm doing wrong?

Should i have it set to 1600 from stock, and let the BUS throttle it up, think computer reads it as 800 mhz ram.
Click to expand...

Your memory speed would be your BCLK x memory multiplier (6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18), so if your BCLK is 200, then 1600 would be an option (200 x 8) and if you are setting the memory clock to 1600 manually then it should be fine if you have DDR3-1600.

Edit: CPU-Z reads it as 800MHz, when I have it set to 1603MHz on the motherboard. Guessing that's my issue.
Click to expand...

Nah it sounds fine.
 
Metalic Sand said:
You're going to need a whole new computer most likely since im guessing the one you are on is extremely old to be PCI only. PCI cards havent been the norm for a long time.
Click to expand...
He must have a PCI express slot, since his last card was an 8800 GT. They didn't make that in a PCI slot, did they?
 
The Big Rig said:
He must have a PCI express slot, since his last card was an 8800 GT. They didn't make that in a PCI slot, did they?
Click to expand...

I didnt catch that he had a 8800 GT. Yea that would have to be a PCIe slot.
 
Felix Lighter said:
Your memory speed would be your BCLK x memory multiplier (6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18), so if your BCLK is 200, then 1600 would be an option (200 x 8) and if you are setting the memory clock to 1600 manually then it should be fine if you have DDR3-1600.



Nah it sounds fine.
Click to expand...

hmm.. why does it keep failing then... at 1.375 and still fails.. that voltage is really high.

Decrease the Bus and increase the multiplier, i guess is an option...
 
caliblue15 said:
hmm.. why does it keep failing then... at 1.368and still fails.. that voltage is really high.

Decrease the Bus and increase the multiplier, i guess is an option...
Click to expand...

What ram do you have? Is the DRAM Voltage set correctly?
 
caliblue15 said:
Was told to turn it off... There are a whole bunch of skew options and things that are enabled, which no one really knows if you should turn off or on.. I also have load-calibration turned on..
Click to expand...

And also told to turn it on..decisions decisions. Off by heart you also want to turn off these:-

C1E Support
Intel virtualization tech
cpu tm function
Intel HT tech
Speedstep
 
TheExodu5 said:
Increase the multiplier! You have an unlocked multiplier for a reason!
Click to expand...

It's not unlocked... it's maxed at 25... usually runs at 24. I was trying to get higher bus speed, as I was told that was a better overclock, guess i could lower it and increase the multiplier.
 
The Big Rig said:
He must have a PCI express slot, since his last card was an 8800 GT. They didn't make that in a PCI slot, did they?
Click to expand...
Ah, you guys are right. Looked at my manual, and I have PCIe. I'm going to go for that 5770. Thanks for the help.
 
Robert Ashley said:
Ah, you guys are right. Looked at my manual, and I have PCIe. I'm going to go for that 5770. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

robert, my winter has been unneedingly dark,cold and bitter without your soothing voice tickling my eardrums... We're can we hear ya nowadays ? ( other than the once in a fullmoon OoTG )
 
Actually, am I going to be able to power the 5570? Looking at the thin XFX version on NewEgg, they're saying I need a 500 watt min supply. I think the 8800gt I was using required 450, though my Dell has like a terrible 375, and that worked. For three years at least.
 
Corky said:
robert, my winter has been unneedingly dark,cold and bitter without your soothing voice tickling my eardrums... We're can we hear ya nowadays ? ( other than the once in a fullmoon OoTG )
Click to expand...
OotG is the only thing I'm doing right now. Spending most of my time working on a new I Come to Shanghai record. We're trying to do OotG more often, though.
 
Robert Ashley said:
Actually, am I going to be able to power the 5570? Looking at the thin XFX version on NewEgg, they're saying I need a 500 watt min supply. I think the 8800gt I was using required 450, though my Dell has like a terrible 375, and that worked. For three years at least.
Click to expand...
The 5770 will use less power at idle and more at full load. If you're right on the edge with the 8800gt, it will boot and let you use windows and such but could conk out during gaming.
 
Shambles said:
Geez you are just having the absolute worst luck. Almost always I just put everything together on new builds and it just works fine. The worst I've had to deal with is forgetting to plug the 12V in. Windows 7 won't have a problem with a 5770, you'll just have to download the latest drivers from AMD as the Windows install disk obviously won't have them. I would also recommend using the upgrade disk to do a clean install if you're not aware that you are able to.
Click to expand...


I ran the MSI live update and upgraded my ATI System Driver to its latest version, 8.51. However, the status on my Graphics card BIOS is "Unknown" when running the MSI live update. I went to the AMD website and I am pretty sure I've downloaded the latest driver from there also (I must have downloaded multiple times just to make sure,) but the "unknown" status compatibility still appears when running Windows 7 upgrade advisor.

It literally took me four days to get my computer up and running. First it was the defective harddrive then a shit load of problems occurred when trying to install Windows 7. Even installing XP was a hassle because it kept on freezing at the 34 minutes mark. Hopefully the next time I build a computer it will go much smoother.

darthbob said:
This happened to a friend of mine with an MSI board, G54 870A actually, and I suggested that he turn off Cool N Quiet for the CPU, and we never saw the error again.

Weird.
Click to expand...
I turned it off but it didn't fix the problem.

I forgot to mention in my previous that I was looking for recommendation on a new motherboard. No MSI please. My current build:

-COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX
-Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM
-XFX P1-650X-CAH9 650W ATX12V v2.2 / ESP12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
-OCZ Signature 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3SR1333LV4GK
-MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
-XFX HD-577X-ZMF3 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
 
caliblue15 said:
It's not unlocked... it's maxed at 25... usually runs at 24. I was trying to get higher bus speed, as I was told that was a better overclock, guess i could lower it and increase the multiplier.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about the bus speed thing, but I do believe running at higher bus speeds is more demanding for the mobo. More expensive motherboards generally come with better heatsinks on the components required for heavy overclocking, though most moterboarda still shouldn't really have an issue up to 4.0GHz on an i7.
 
Robert Ashley said:
Actually, am I going to be able to power the 5570? Looking at the thin XFX version on NewEgg, they're saying I need a 500 watt min supply. I think the 8800gt I was using required 450, though my Dell has like a terrible 375, and that worked. For three years at least.
Click to expand...
It'll run it. They are overstated like mad. Dell builds their low end systems to run 5670/8800GT.
 
Alright, lowering bus speed, adding CPU multiplier and turned off everything but hyperthreading that was off the top of Sanjay's head.
 
If your a gamer then might as well turn off hyper-threading, it adds around 5/10c to your temp. It's only worth having on for software that takes advantage of hyper-threading.

caliblue15 what mobo do you have?
 
Sanjay said:
If your a gamer then might as well turn off hyper-threading, it adds around 5/10c to your temp. It's only worth having on for software that takes advantage of hyper-threading.

caliblue15 what mobo do you have?
Click to expand...

ASUS x58 Sabertooth, I've heard that about hyper-threading, also heard you can clock faster without it on... i might just turn it off, we will see.

I'd be happy with just a 4.0-4.2ghz overclock on air for everyday use.

Edit: Passed that 2m 4s mark i couldn't get by using 177mhz bus and 23 multiplier. 4.071 GHz

Stopped at 3m 15s...
 
Le-mo said:
I ran the MSI live update and upgraded my ATI System Driver to its latest version, 8.51. However, the status on my Graphics card BIOS is "Unknown" when running the MSI live update. I went to the AMD website and I am pretty sure I've downloaded the latest driver from there also (I must have downloaded multiple times just to make sure,) but the "unknown" status compatibility still appears when running Windows 7 upgrade advisor.

It literally took me four days to get my computer up and running. First it was the defective harddrive then a shit load of problems occurred when trying to install Windows 7. Even installing XP was a hassle because it kept on freezing at the 34 minutes mark. Hopefully the next time I build a computer it will go much smoother.


I turned it off but it didn't fix the problem.

I forgot to mention in my previous that I was looking for recommendation on a new motherboard. No MSI please. My current build:

-COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX
-Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM
-XFX P1-650X-CAH9 650W ATX12V v2.2 / ESP12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
-OCZ Signature 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3SR1333LV4GK
-MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
-XFX HD-577X-ZMF3 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Click to expand...

Last Phenom build I did was the Asus M4A87TD/USB3. It's auto overclocker was good enough to tune it up to 3.6Ghz without having to do anything else. Wasn't able to unlock the 4th core on the chip, has USB3, full set of SATA3, under the 100$ mark, no multi-GPU ability. System was stable, no problems with the machine. Does the 'unknown' even matter for the upgrade status? Or is this just some bullshit mechanism to try to make people feel better. Does this mean you've installed Windows 7 or does it stop you? I'd say just install windows anyways, should work without a problem.
 
evil solrac v3.0 said:
where are the 6970 and 6990s??? shouldn't they have announced something by now?
Click to expand...
NDA is up on 15th. They'll probably be up for sale on that same day. Not long to go.

Edit: For the 6970 that is. 6990 won't be this year.
 
caliblue15 said:
ASUS x58 Sabertooth, I've heard that about hyper-threading, also heard you can clock faster without it on... i might just turn it off, we will see.

I'd be happy with just a 4.0-4.2ghz overclock on air for everyday use.

Edit: Passed that 2m 4s mark i couldn't get by using 177mhz bus and 23 multiplier. 4.071 GHz

Stopped at 3m 15s...
Click to expand...

What frequency are you running your memory at, and what voltage? What's it rated at?

How are your temps?

There's always the odd chance you just got a bad overclocker. My old E6600 wouldn't clock past 3.0GHz, even though tons of people were getting them to 4.0GHz.
 
TheExodu5 said:
What frequency are you running your memory at, and what voltage? What's it rated at?

How are your temps?

There's always the odd chance you just got a bad overclocker. My old E6600 wouldn't clock past 3.0GHz, even though tons of people were getting them to 4.0GHz.
Click to expand...

Freq of memory is 1600mhz close as I can get via multipliers. It's either 1419mhz or 1774mhz, I picked 1419 to be safe. the uclk frequency is then 2x that, plus one. so I should pick 3016 but I pick 3194. I'm then running it at 1.65V which is what it's rated at and the Qpi/dram core voltage at 1.35.

Temps are good haven't hit over 80C yet in any test yet. (tests don't usually last long enough, 3mins is nothing. When I left everything as auto, i had a better overclock and less voltage.. lol)
 
Shambles said:
Last Phenom build I did was the Asus M4A87TD/USB3. It's auto overclocker was good enough to tune it up to 3.6Ghz without having to do anything else. Wasn't able to unlock the 4th core on the chip, has USB3, full set of SATA3, under the 100$ mark, no multi-GPU ability. System was stable, no problems with the machine. Does the 'unknown' even matter for the upgrade status? Or is this just some bullshit mechanism to try to make people feel better. Does this mean you've installed Windows 7 or does it stop you? I'd say just install windows anyways, should work without a problem.
Click to expand...
It won't let me install Windows 7. It would get past copying the files then restarts at the "expanding files" procedure when it reaches the 20% mark then it would freeze.

TheExodu5 said:
Terrible luck Lee-Mo. :(
Click to expand...
Yah, I thought it would be a cakewalk :lol
 
caliblue15 said:
Freq of memory is 1600mhz close as I can get via multipliers. It's either 1419mhz or 1774mhz, I picked 1419 to be safe. the uclk frequency is then 2x that, plus one. so I should pick 3016 but I pick 3194. I'm then running it at 1.65V which is what it's rated at and the Qpi/dram core voltage at 1.35.

Temps are good haven't hit over 80C yet in any test yet. (tests don't usually last long enough, 3mins is nothing. When I left everything as auto, i had a better overclock and less voltage.. lol)
Click to expand...

Alright, well we can rule out the RAM. So issue is either the CPU, or the motherboard.

Now, one thing to keep in mind...the voltage you set in the BIOS is not necessarily the voltage you'll actually get. My old motherboard had a shitload of voltage drop. I would set 1.5V and I'd actually closer to 1.4V. CPU-Z should tell you what voltage you're actually getting, I believe.

Le-mo said:
Yah, I thought it would be a cakewalk :lol
Click to expand...

At least you're not letting it discourage you. Hopefully your subsequent builds will go smoothly...god knows you deserve it.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Alright, well we can rule out the RAM. So issue is either the CPU, or the motherboard.

Now, one thing to keep in mind...the voltage you set in the BIOS is not necessarily the voltage you'll actually get. My old motherboard had a shitload of voltage drop. I would set 1.5V and I'd actually closer to 1.4V. CPU-Z should tell you what voltage you're actually getting, I believe.



At least you're not letting it discourage you. Hopefully your subsequent builds will go smoothly...god knows you deserve it.
Click to expand...

Just ran at 65C , and have passed 4 linX tests so far.. so maybe i finally got it right!

vcore at 1.3V
 
TheExodu5 said:
At least you're not letting it discourage you. Hopefully your subsequent builds will go smoothly...god knows you deserve it.
Click to expand...
Thanks. My brother asked me to help him build a computer this summer so I'm trying to learn as much as possible to avoid any future problems.

How well will this motherboard work with my current build? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131604

-COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX
-Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM
-XFX P1-650X-CAH9 650W ATX12V v2.2 / ESP12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
-OCZ Signature 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3SR1333LV4GK
-XFX HD-577X-ZMF3 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
-500GB WestGate SATA Harddrive
 
Le-mo said:
Thanks. My brother asked me to help him build a computer this summer so I'm trying to learn as much as possible to avoid any future problems.

How well will this motherboard work with my current build? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131604

-COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX
-Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM
-XFX P1-650X-CAH9 650W ATX12V v2.2 / ESP12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
-OCZ Signature 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3SR1333LV4GK
-XFX HD-577X-ZMF3 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
-500GB WestGate SATA Harddrive
Click to expand...

That's a 1156 board for the i5/i7 series. You'll want to limit your searches to AM3 motherboards with that Athlon II chip.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

PC games that are ONLY in a borderless window need to stop.
2
53
946
RoboFu replied
Do we even need a new consoles so soon?
Opinion  2
80
487
Three replied
Fallout New Vegas 15th Anniversary Edition Announced - $155
News  2 3
100
1K
KungFucius replied
FusionFix 4.0 Turns GTA IV on PC Into the Definitive Edition
2 3
100
7K
Windom Earle replied
PC Master Race, I need your help!
37
2K
lachesis replied
Top Bottom