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[Unknown Soldier]

I have Load Line Calibration in my voltage settings in my BIOS as well (Gigabyte EX58-UD4P) and it's set to disabled though... should it still be doing that if it's disabled?

Edit: I misread what you said. If I have it enabled it would reduce the Vdroop and bring the voltage up to what I set it to? Would it be better for me to just leave it disabled?

Yes, if you enable LLC it will reduce Vdroop and bring the Vcore closer to what you set it to, especially under cases of 100% Hulk-smashing CPU load like Prime95 stress-testing. For reasons of protecting your processor from transient voltage spikes (see mind-numbingly technical post linked above), you can never reduce Vdroop to zero.

Anandtech has a more accessible article about Vdroop here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2404/5

In general, as long as you aren't increasing Vcore by an insane amount, even with LLC enabled your chances of a transient voltage spike shooting up to a level high enough to fry your CPU are pretty slim. If you are one of those guys blasting 1.5V+ through a Core i7/i5, you probably shouldn't enable LLC.

 

[MisterAnderson]

Yes, if you enable LLC it will reduce Vdroop and bring the Vcore closer to what you set it to, especially under cases of 100% Hulk-smashing CPU load like Prime95 stress-testing. For reasons of protecting your processor from transient voltage spikes (see mind-numbingly technical post linked above), you can never reduce Vdroop to zero.

Anandtech has a more accessible article about Vdroop here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2404/5

In general, as long as you aren't increasing Vcore by an insane amount, even with LLC enabled your chances of a transient voltage spike shooting up to a level high enough to fry your CPU are pretty slim. If you are one of those guys blasting 1.5V+ through a Core i7/i5, you probably shouldn't enable LLC.

Is the voltage I have set for my overclock considered an "insane amount"? I'm guessing not, but I guess what I'm asking is do you think I should leave LLC disabled or enable it given my overclock and voltage settings?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Is the voltage I have set for my overclock considered an "insane amount"? I'm guessing not, but I guess what I'm asking is do you think I should leave LLC disabled or enable it given my overclock and voltage settings?

Your overclock settings seem reasonable. As a point of comparison, I've got my i7-950 doing 4.01ghz as well and my settings are LLC = Level 2, Vcore = 1.2875v, QPI/Vtt = 1.295v, IOH Core = 1.2v, DRAM Voltage = 1.64v. Realistically, my voltage readings in CPU-Z are similar to yours when I've been Prime95-ing this box to test it, an example of LLC in action.

In your case, you set a higher voltage in BIOS and then Vdroop drops it down a bit, in my case, I set LLC to Level 2 and a lower voltage in BIOS and there's almost no Vdroop. The actual voltages we are pumping through our processors are pretty much the same, and the transient spikes will be the same as well as they are proportional to the instantaneous voltage at the moment of the spike. So LLC in this case lets me set a lower idle voltage in BIOS, which might or might not reduce my power bill by $1 a month. LLC really is a wash for people who know what the fuck they are doing, in other words.

In unrelated news, my criteria for OC stability are as follows:
(1) 24 hours of Prime95, you can use Small FFTs for maximum CPU Hulk-smash or Large FFTs for more heat. Remember to manually set the Priority of Prime95 to 9!
(2) 24 hours of memtest86+, the normal default test cycle
(3) 15 minutes of eVGA OC Scanner with no artifacting
(4) 2 continuous hours of playing Crysis without any visible artifacting or crashing. This means I get to play Crysis a lot when testing my OCs, which makes OCing just that much more fun. There's nothing more fun than grabbing a North Korean soldier by the throat, switching to Maximum Strength, and throwing him into a group of his buddies or just off a cliff to watch him fall a hundred feet to his death. :3

I've also played Final Fantasy XIV for 8 straight hours without crashing my box, but I'm not sure if that's a test of system stability or my gaming endurance.

 

[The Gaming Gamer]

I need help deciding between these video cards:

Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3

Radeon HD 5670 512MB 128-bit DDR5

Their both around the same price (after rebate), I was going to buy the newer card but the 4830 is 256-bit.

 

[Hazaro]

If you can stretch get this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150482

Still an incredible value for the money. Pretty sure it beats everything on the market today for FPS/$.

 

[MisterAnderson]

How do you "set Prime95's priority to 9"?

 

[The Gaming Gamer]

If you can stretch get this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150482

Still an incredible value for the money. Pretty sure it beats everything on the market today for FPS/$.

I would get that card but i'm trying to stick to a budget.

What power supply would I need for these cards? I thought I was fine with a 480-500W PSU which is over the 450 recommend limit but that is only the max output and it can normally be in the 300's.

 

[Diablohead]

SSD gaf, is this good for £80?

Kingston 64GB V100 model, I am guessing it's not too brill for a SSD but anything is faster then my current hard drive, right?

 

[Dilli666]

SSD gaf, is this good for £80?

Kingston 64GB V100 model, I am guessing it's not too brill for a SSD but anything is faster then my current hard drive, right?

Pay a few pounds more and get a 60GB (by Corsair, OCZ...) with Sandforce controller.

 

[nib95]

Ok guys, so my current rig, running an i7 at 3.8ghz is really starting to run choppy lately. I don't know whether it just needs a re-boot or if it might be my OC or what, but either way, would it be worthwhile for me to just sell my gear and go for a new Sandybridge variant along with new mobo (mainly for USB 3.0 and improved performance). I figure I can eBay the entire PC and get enough for it that I can afford the upgrade new PC with just a bit on top.

Or am I better of waiting? What is coming out next?

 

[pestul]

Very subjective opinion here, but Windows 7 Pro x64 with SP1 feels A LOT faster. I'm still using a mechanical HDD (I'll get a SSD later this year when they're cheaper/bigger) and I can notice a great difference in 'zippyness'. Any other opinions out there? I know some of you guys have probably been using the pre-release SP1 for a while.. but this was new to me.

Good job MS.

 

[pestul]

Ok guys, so my current rig, running an i7 at 3.8ghz is really starting to run choppy lately. I don't know whether it just needs a re-boot or if it might be my OC or what, but either way, would it be worthwhile for me to just sell my gear and go for a new Sandybridge variant along with new mobo (mainly for USB 3.0 and improved performance). I figure I can eBay the entire PC and get enough for it that I can afford the upgrade new PC with just a bit on top.

Or am I better of waiting? What is coming out next?

"starting to run choppy". Sounds like you just need to clean it up. Get a program like Autoruns or WinPatrol and see what's bogging you down. If it still isn't resolved, maybe try a nice fresh install with the new service pack to bring back that fast feeling. Basically, with that awesome CPU you have, no it would not be worth your while to upgrade right now.

 

[EarsOfASnake]

I am about to purchase my rig and looking to get a Asus P8P67 LE P67 Socket 1155 motherboard. Now, correct me if I am wrong but it says it has 3x6gb's SATA ports, so as long as I use those then I shouldn't experience any of the reported issues right?

 

[CrankyJay]

I am about to purchase my rig and looking to get a Asus P8P67 LE P67 Socket 1155 motherboard. Now, correct me if I am wrong but it says it has 3x6gb's SATA ports, so as long as I use those then I shouldn't experience any of the reported issues right?

Where do you plan on getting the motherboard? I don't think they're available yet.

 

[EarsOfASnake]

Where do you plan on getting the motherboard? I don't think they're available yet.

Ebuyer.com, I imagine they are the old boards.

 

[knitoe]

I am about to purchase my rig and looking to get a Asus P8P67 LE P67 Socket 1155 motherboard. Now, correct me if I am wrong but it says it has 3x6gb's SATA ports, so as long as I use those then I shouldn't experience any of the reported issues right?

It has two 6Gb/s ports and four 3GB/s ports (defective). And, as long as you only use the 6GB/s ports, you should be fine.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

It has two 6Gb/s ports and four 3GB/s ports (defective). And, as long as you only use the 6GB/s ports, you should be fine.

I accidentally put my 2 SATA devices in the 3GB ports, can I switch them on the fly without no hitches?

 

[Ultrabum]

I am about to purchase my rig and looking to get a Asus P8P67 LE P67 Socket 1155 motherboard. Now, correct me if I am wrong but it says it has 3x6gb's SATA ports, so as long as I use those then I shouldn't experience any of the reported issues right?

I have a n Asus P8P67 (no LE) and it has 8 sata ports, 4 sata II and 4 sata III, I'm pretty sure its the same way in the P8P67 LE.

I have also heard that the problem doesn't occur with the 4 sata III ports, and I even heard that you could just plug sata II devices into sata III ports. I have no idea if you can do that, I have not tried it. I have not experienced any problems so I haven't messed around with it.

 

[knitoe]

I accidentally put my 2 SATA devices in the 3GB ports, can I switch them on the fly without no hitches?

You might have to re-select the boot drive in the bios, but otherwise, there shouldn't be any problem moving them to the 6GB ports.

 

[knitoe]

I have a n Asus P8P67 (no LE) and it has 8 sata ports, 4 sata II and 4 sata III, I'm pretty sure its the same way in the P8P67 LE.

I have also heard that the problem doesn't occur with the 4 sata III ports, and I even heard that you could just plug sata II devices into sata III ports. I have no idea if you can do that, I have not tried it. I have not experienced any problems so I haven't messed around with it.

To get 4X 6GB sata III ports on Asus P8P67 MBs, 2 ports comes from Intel chip and 2 ports from Marvell chip. On LE version, it doesn't have the Marvell chip, and thus, it only has 2 GB ports.

 

[greenry]

Need some advice. Got a few hundred dollars to spend on either SLI my video card setup or getting 2 SSDs and running them in raid 0.

I've got an i7 920, 8gb of ram and a GTX 560ti. I only game at 1680x1050 is getting a second GTX 560ti worth it or should I just go for the SSDs?

 

[Ultrabum]

To get 4X 6GB sata III ports on Asus P8P67 MBs, 2 ports comes from Intel chip and 2 ports from Marvell chip. On LE version, it doesn't have the Marvell chip, and thus, it only has 2 GB ports.

Ahh that makes sense. So now I have another question. I was thinking about buying a 64GB SSD and putting windows and games on it. I heard that the sandforce controller was the way to go. However, the more I look into it myself the more the marvell SSDs look better. Thoughts?

 

[EarsOfASnake]

To get 4X 6GB sata III ports on Asus P8P67 MBs, 2 ports comes from Intel chip and 2 ports from Marvell chip. On LE version, it doesn't have the Marvell chip, and thus, it only has 2 GB ports.

So when are we expecting new boards to be readily available? I managed to get a rig all sorted out and ready to pull the trigger but then this issue came about. I am getting impatient lol I will get a new 64gb SSD and 1TB HDD with my build but did plan to put my current HDD's in there. What are the consequences of the SATA2 issue, the board just stops working on those ports? or does it mess up your devices?

 

[Corky]

Need some advice. Got a few hundred dollars to spend on either SLI my video card setup or getting 2 SSDs and running them in raid 0.

I've got an i7 920, 8gb of ram and a GTX 560ti. I only game at 1680x1050 is getting a second GTX 560ti worth it or should I just go for the SSDs?

Do you currently have an SSD? If not, then buying an SSD is the most bitching thing one can do to a modern pc-system.

 

[knitoe]

Ahh that makes sense. So now I have another question. I was thinking about buying a 64GB SSD and putting windows and games on it. I heard that the sandforce controller was the way to go. However, the more I look into it myself the more the marvell SSDs look better. Thoughts?

Marvell controller SSD seems to be similar to Crucial C300 in that they offer fast read but slow writes unless you get their top tier versions, ie 128GB, 256GB and above.

 

[knitoe]

So when are we expecting new boards to be readily available? I managed to get a rig all sorted out and ready to pull the trigger but then this issue came about. I am getting impatient lol I will get a new 64gb SSD and 1TB HDD with my build but did plan to put my current HDD's in there. What are the consequences of the SATA2 issue, the board just stops working on those ports? or does it mess up your devices?

New boards won't show up in mass quantities until April.

As for what will happen on the defective ports, you will start experiencing slower and slower transfer rates due to increase error corrections, and at some point, the affected port no longer works so you HDD won't show up anymore.

 

[mrklaw]

If I get an SSD, would it be possible to image my current 1TB samsung drive with windows and steam installed on it, then restore to the SSD and use that as the boot drive? both drives will be different sizes obviously.

 

[Dynamic3]

Ebuyer.com, I imagine they are the old boards.

Omg, does this place deliver to the US?

 

[knitoe]

If I get an SSD, would it be possible to image my current 1TB samsung drive with windows and steam installed on it, then restore to the SSD and use that as the boot drive? both drives will be different sizes obviously.

That should work, but only thing is the SSD may not be align correctly thus could be a 50% performance hit. Better to install new using Windows 7 / Vista SP1 installer.

 

[greenry]

Do you currently have an SSD? If not, then buying an SSD is the most bitching thing one can do to a modern pc-system.

Do not have an SSD currently. Been reading in this thread that unless you are running at a pretty high resolution SLI is not really worth it. Maybe it is SSD then.

 

[Johnny2Bags]

Do not have an SSD currently. Been reading in this thread that unless you are running at a pretty high resolution SLI is not really worth it. Maybe it is SSD then.

I don't have one yet either. If the guy is choosing between that and SLI ... I made a temporary compromise and went crossfire, whilst picking up one of the fastest traditional HDs I could (64 cache, Sata 6 g/s etc.) for the storage advantage.

Will be picking up a SSD soon however.

 

[mkenyon]

Need some advice. Got a few hundred dollars to spend on either SLI my video card setup or getting 2 SSDs and running them in raid 0.

I've got an i7 920, 8gb of ram and a GTX 560ti. I only game at 1680x1050 is getting a second GTX 560ti worth it or should I just go for the SSDs?

Running SSD's in RAID reduces the life of the drive as you will not be able to use TRIM. If that doesn't matter to you, go for it, it is insanely fast. You won't really notice a difference when it comes to general usability, but games won't load, they'll just happen.

 

[Corky]

What say ye GAF -

OCed i5@4ghz
OCed SLI 460s @ 850mhz
Bad cablejob
Bad airflow
Semi-small case

GPUs idle temp : 35C
GPUs load temp: 70C


Good? Bad?

 

[Johnny2Bags]

What say ye GAF -

OCed i5@4ghz
OCed SLI 460s @ 850mhz
Bad cablejob
Bad airflow
Semi-small case

GPUs idle temp : 35C
GPUs load temp: 70C


Good? Bad?

GPU temp at load is about what I get on my 5850's Crossfired. I just ordered a HAF 932 to help with temps and cable management. I was using a six year old case to house my rig, and the airflow was pretty laughable so this should improve things.

Sounds like a bitchin' rig!

 

[Corky]

GPU temp at load is about what I get on my 5850's Crossfired. I just ordered a HAF 932 to help with temps and cable management. I was using a six year old case to house my rig, and the airflow was pretty laughable so this should improve things.

Sounds like a bitchin' rig!

Oh sweet, and the ATI/AMD cards are usually cooler than the nvidia ones. I'm soo getting a HAF case next build, it seems like such a good feeling to avoid all the hassle of having a cramped case.

 

[mkenyon]

If they're dumping that heat into your system, I'd try to clean up your case and get some better airflow.

That's not OTT for a GPU by any means, though.

 

[Corky]

If they're dumping that heat into your system, I'd try to clean up your case and get some better airflow.

That's not OTT for a GPU by any means, though.

Well maybe I was exaggerating slightly but there's not much room for improvement seeing as my PSU is nonmodular and the extra cables are hogging alot of space. But aslong as the temps are "ok" and not in any way shape or form damaging my system then I'm all good

 

[Johnny2Bags]

Oh sweet, and the ATI/AMD cards are usually cooler than the nvidia ones. I'm soo getting a HAF case next build, it seems like such a good feeling to avoid all the hassle of having a cramped case.

Yeah I'll toss in a mini-review or some pics of cabling when I get it put together after work tomorrow hopefully.

I just got sick of seeing my rig in my old rig's skin. And I don't feel comfortable having those temps as a constant when I'm gaming over 2 hours or so at a time... Odds are the cards will be fine, but to me it was worth the extra 150 to get peace of mind.

 

[drizzle]

Hey there.

almost 4 years (it'll be in June) qx6700 owner here. It's coupled with a 8800GTX as old as the system itself.

In light of the new computer releases coming at the end of the year, I'm looking into upgrades for my machine.

Obviously, the i7 2600k is the go-to processor for massive performance today. However, there's two issues with the fact

1) I live in Brazil, where everything is 2 to 3 times more expensive than anywhere else in the world
2) The game I want to upgrade for, Battlefield 3, is not coming until the end of the year.

I was very lucky with my qx6700 purchase - it has served me well for a long ass time. But I can see the CPU Bottlenecks here and there already.

Since the application for which I'm doing the upgrade doesn't come out until the end of the year, should I post pone the upgrade? It's 100% sure that a new videocard generation will be out by then, but what about the CPUs? With sandy bridge being so new, is there a chance that we will be seeing a new generation of CPUs by the end of the year? And if not, would it be a stupid decision to buy a Sandy Bridge at the end of the year, when a new generation would be coming out soon after, in 2012?

Again, this is not as easy as going to newegg.com and ordering a 200 bucks CPU "in the mean time". A computer upgrade, for me, is a big deal. It's hard to find specific components at a decent price down here.

What would GAF do?

 

[1-D_FTW]

I'd overclock your Q6700 as high as you can go and just wait till at least summer. Should know more by then.

 

[drizzle]

I'd overclock your Q6700 as high as you can go and just wait till at least summer. Should know more by then.

I'm currently running at stock speeds because it's summer down here, and the computer was just giving out. However, I can only get to 3.2 and it's somewhat stable - any higher than that and it just overheats (since I have to drive the voltage up, even with a unlocked multiplier), and even at 3.2 I can see chugging on CPU intensive tasks.

Your summer is around June/July, correct? That would put my computer inside the 4 years plan I made for it back in 2007, when I bought it.

But that's great. "wait until summer" is kind of what i wanted to hear. Thanks.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

You might have to re-select the boot drive in the bios, but otherwise, there shouldn't be any problem moving them to the 6GB ports.

Ok thanks, will try when I get home later to configure my CPU fans that will be complete today.

 

[mkenyon]

The LGA775 socket is still no slouch by any means. You could always upgrade to the 9xxx series of procs, which would save you a mobo/ram/heatsink purchase. The latency on DDR2 is still way lower than DDR3 as well, just not as high clocks. But seriously, the 9xxx series of CPUs are still awesome. I can't think of a single game where it would bottleneck your system. People just get the upgrade bug and want the new shiny. If you want to upgrade your whole system though, waiting at least until Bulldozer comes out would be a good bet at this point. You could also buy it in bits, as buying a GPU right now is a pretty safe bet.

 

[·feist·]

An "Overclock Version" power supply? C'mon.

Just 550w? That's a shame.

It's 80+ Platinum.
While it's rated at 550w, the PSU puts out considerably higher wattage than that.




H61, Z68s, and "X67s/X68s/Xxxs"

 

[antonz]

Ebuyer.com, I imagine they are the old boards.

Worth Mentioning. Asus right now has the best replacement program in place for when the new revised boards start shipping. They will place a charge hold on a credit card and send out new board ahead of time. Noticed the others are all demanding you send the board in first which would suck.

 

[Curufinwe]

Nice round-up of the various overclocked versions of the GTX 560 Ti.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...engtx560-graphics-card-overclocking,2858.html

 

[Zenith]

I have an MA790X mobo and a GTX 460. They are incompatible with each other. Does anyone know where to buy a decent AM2+ mobo at reasonable prices and/or trade in hardware for credit?

 

[Kenka]

I have an MA790X mobo and a GTX 460. They are incompatible with each other. Does anyone know where to buy a decent AM2+ mobo at reasonable prices and/or trade in hardware for credit?

Wait, there may be incompatiblities between mobos and GPUs ? What ?

 

[Johnny2Bags]

Wait, there may be incompatiblities between mobos and GPUs ? What ?

I didn't get it either...

 

[Corky]

Maybe its a 2nd 460 and he's trying to run SLI?

MAybe!