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[scogoth]

Returning the ASUS P8H67-M LX because the PWM feature was not working whatsoever.

Gigabyte GA-H67M-D2-B3 now running in my system, PWM function is running as designed. PWM fans start at 700rpm and gradually ramp up as I ran IntelBurnTest. Gigabyte H67 board also allows me to go higher on the On-Chip Frame Buffer Size (Asus 128mb max/Gigabyte 500mb max). Also received the Corsair A50 heatsink, Paired it up with a Cooler Master BladeMaster 120mm PWM for awesomeness!

Just need to replace one case fan that's on the fritz and get some better SATA cables.

Amazon <3<3<3

Why did you buy an after market heatsink on a H67 motherboard?

 

[BoobPhysics101]

If you have a lot of ram (8-16GB), Windows will rarely ever need to use paging files. Thus, you can moved them from the SSD to another drive to save space and you won't notice any performance hit. Plus, less writes to SSD = longer life.

Not exactly true. You should keep at least a 256MB-512MB paging file on the SSD. Some programs require or are designed to use the page file despite how much RAM you might have. Windows itself still writes to the paging file, and legacy software does as well.

As to tons of writes being used by the page file... not true either. Intel claims that Windows does a 40:1 read:write ratio in terms of page file usage.

Or if you've got 8+ GB of RAM, using 512MB to1 GB of it to make a 'RAM' paging file would be optimal if you're not using a ton of RAM for anything.

 

[TheExodu5]

Why did you buy an after market heatsink on a H67 motherboard?

He's got a P183, he's going for silence.

 

[knitoe]

Not exactly true. You should keep at least a 256MB-512MB paging file on the SSD. Some programs require or are designed to use the page file despite how much RAM you might have. Windows itself still writes to the paging file, and legacy software does as well.

That's why I didn't say to disable paging files, but to move them in case you run into a program that does still use them.

As to tons of writes being used by the page file... not true either. Intel claims that Windows does a 40:1 read:write ratio in terms of page file usage.

Or if you've got 8+ GB of RAM, using 512MB to1 GB of it to make a 'RAM' paging file would be optimal if you're not using a ton of RAM for anything.

Again, I didn't say paging files uses "tons of writes". I said "less writes = longer SSD life". The more important thing is saving space.

And, I have notice no difference if I put the paging files on SSD or HDD since I rarely run into a program(s) that uses them. There's a reason why many people have run with paging files disable since XP and not have issues.

 

[scogoth]

He's got a P183, he's going for silence.

Ah, in that case are both case fans necessary? That CPU fan be more then enough to push air out the vent.

 

[Smokey]

No 3d on 60hz either, hence the no point in geting a 60hz tn over ipa

Where is the 60hz requirement coming from? I didn't see him mention that at all in his original post. If 3D interests you then you don't have a choice but to go with TN.

Otherwise IPS all the way.

 

[Baller. PhD]

God DAMN the Noctua NH-D14 is huge! Jesus. I hope it fits in the damn case...

 

[AppleMIX]

So I was doing some benchmarks and for some reason my comp won't go above 3gd of ram usage.

Yes, I'm on 64 bit operating system.

Any ideas?

 

[black_vegeta]

God DAMN the Noctua NH-D14 is huge! Jesus. I hope it fits in the damn case...

What case do you have?

 

[rc213]

Ah, in that case are both case fans necessary? That CPU fan be more then enough to push air out the vent.

Side fan runs at 600rpm. Top on is dead, Not sure yet if I will replace or leave empty.

 

[Sarcasm]

I can't really been bothered to plug my SSD into my desktop to check frimware before I use it on my laptop which arrives next week.

Should I really see if the firmware needs to be updated?

 

[scogoth]

Where is the 60hz requirement coming from? I didn't see him mention that at all in his original post. If 3D interests you then you don't have a choice but to go with TN.

Otherwise IPS all the way.

This.
There's no reason to ever take a 60Hz TN panel over a nice IPS panel except price.

You're response was to this.

Unrelated but, I prefer 120Hz TN not for 3D but for FPS gaming.

God DAMN the Noctua NH-D14 is huge! Jesus. I hope it fits in the damn case...

Don't you love it =)

 

[Corky]

An update for those who have been following along with my performance issues: a reformat didn't fix anything, so it's on to the next step, if there is one.

Hmm

There are still some things we can do.

1) Try another kind of benchmark that can give you a separate Gpu-score ( like Vantage ) as mentioned earlier a 3dmark06 score can fluctuate heavily depending on the cpu.

2) Also you should download the latest version of for example nvidia inspector so you can use the built in monitoring software to ascertain that your gpu is actually running at 100% usage during these benchmarks. While also giving you the temps. For example if your gpus usage is less than 100% or the temps are off the charts then obviously something is wrong.

3) If it turns out that you get a gpu-score that is indicative of what you "should" have, yet the ingame performance feels jittery and "lowfps" you can ( should ) download d3doverrider and enable triplebuffering.

All of these 3 steps are semi-painless ( compared to formats and RMAs ) so I suggest to go for it and get closer to the issue.

 

[FoxSpirit]

Okay, reposting because somehow this sank completely. Please help.

I'm currently on a E4400@2.7Ghz and think I should get something better but only the chip, I wanna keep my Mobo and the rest (HD6850 represent).

Have a potent Zalman cooler so heat shouldn't be much of an issue.
Mobo is this: http://uk.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=BxdaHYTJECBvPJ3k

E/Q-6600?? Or one of the higher Qs? Many thanks.

 

[Corky]

Okay, reposting because somehow this sank completely. Please help.

I'm currently on a E4400@2.7Ghz and think I should get something better but only the chip, I wanna keep my Mobo and the rest (HD6850 represent).

Have a potent Zalman cooler so heat shouldn't be much of an issue.
Mobo is this: http://uk.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=BxdaHYTJECBvPJ3k

E/Q-6600?? Or one of the higher Qs? Many thanks.

the problem with older sockets is that the cpus can be rather expensive actually. I just looked at what kind of cpus I could get for a 775 socket and on the higher end spectrum we have a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz for more money than an i7 2600k

So I guess what I'm trying to get at is that it's much more worth it to do a real upgrade than sticking to an old socket and doing an expensive sidegrade.

 

[BloodySinner]

If I bought a 5.1/7.1 sound card for my PC and plugged in my analog headset (Gamecom 377), would I gain the sound benefits of such card?

 

[Corky]

If I bought a 5.1/7.1 sound card for my PC and plugged in my analog headset (Gamecom 377), would I gain the sound benefits of such card?

I'd reckon it must, I mean it's a pair of surround headsets right?

 

[Kyaw]

Theoretically, yes.

Things like virtual surround sound and better shielding to eliminate static noise etc.

 

[BloodySinner]

I'll simplify the question.

If I installed a 5.1/7.1 card and plugged in Apple earbuds, would I gain that sound experience though the buds? Or would I have to buy myself headphones that take advantage of such?

 

[Revenant]

on the issue of speakers/headphones, if i'm just getting some speakers, should i get 5.1 or 2.1... They wouldnt be expensive 5.1 but I'm not necessarily an audiophile where I'll sit there and analyze how every sound comes through..

 

[Corky]

I'll simplify the question.

If I installed a 5.1/7.1 card and plugged in Apple earbuds, would I gain that sound experience though the buds? Or would I have to buy myself headphones that take advantage of such?

You won't' get surround in a pair of ( stereo ) earbuds. You'll need a pair of surround headsets to get surround. However that doesn't mean you won't be getting better quality audio regardless of headset when going from onboard sound to a sound card.

edit :

on the issue of speakers/headphones, if i'm just getting some speakers, should i get 5.1 or 2.1... They wouldnt be expensive 5.1 but I'm not necessarily an audiophile where I'll sit there and analyze how every sound comes through..

When we're talking about a good speakersetup, believe me you'll notice the difference between 5.1 and 2.1. On the subject of headphones I'd rather spend my money on a pair of nice "regular" headphones like HD 595 or the like, instead of surround headphones. ( if we're talking about the same pricerange that is )

Also even if you're not planning on spending a lot of money on your speaker setup you can have great results by just spending a couple of hundred on a smallset Logitech z-906 for example.

They may look small but my little brother had a z-5500 ( it's predecessor ) and they sounded great for their price/size

 

[BloodySinner]

You won't' get surround in a pair of ( stereo ) earbuds. You'll need a pair of surround headsets to get surround. However that doesn't mean you won't be getting better quality audio regardless of headset when going from onboard sound to a sound card.

Thank you, good sir.

 

[pseudocaesar]

Should I get a 6970 2GB or a GTX 570 1280MB card. Both are priced the same.

 

[Kyaw]

You dont need 'surround' sound headsets to get surround sound. You can get a good pair of stereo headphones with large soundstage such as Audio Technica AD700 to get an illusion of surround sound. No stereo headphone will be as good as proper 5.1 setups though.

 

[Corky]

Should I get a 6970 2GB or a GTX 570 1280MB card. Both are priced the same.

They perform rather similarly, you could always get a cheaper 6950 2gb and to ye old unlock shaderwhatchamacallit and get yourself a 6970 for less.

If that's not an option, maybe you've considered going multigpu in the future? If so, it seems that CF 6970s Scale better than SLI 570s. But it's not the biggest difference in the world.

People say nvidia drivers are "better" and more carefree, I can't attest to this since my last ATI card was the 9800 XT. But for what it's worth I think the nvidia drivers are as stable and easy to use as they can get I guess.

 

[soultron]

Is it still worth it to buy the components "$600 gaming PC" that GAF originally built? Or do you guys think they're already extremely outdated? I'm looking to find some pricewise equivalencies if that's the case.

I'm looking to rebuild my PC, but since it's so old I'm probably going to have to scrap the Mobo+CPU+GPU+RAM. I haven't built a PC since the HL2/Far Cry days, so I'm a bit out of the loop. The only components I think I'll be able to use again are my case, HDD(s) and PSU.

 

[Corky]

Is it still worth it to buy the components "$600 gaming PC" that GAF originally built? Or do you guys think they're already extremely outdated? I'm looking to find some pricewise equivalencies if that's the case.

I'm looking to rebuild my PC, but since it's so old I'm probably going to have to scrap the Mobo+CPU+GPU+RAM. I haven't built a PC since the HL2/Far Cry days, so I'm a bit out of the loop. The only components I think I'll be able to use again are my case, HDD(s) and PSU.

Just a quick note, HDDs are dirt cheap now, we're talking about 5-10cent per GB so you'll be doing yourself a favor by just buying a new one. Also depending on the brand and wattage of the PSU ( I mean if it's really low, dunno maybe 200-300w? ) then you might want to buy a new PSU aswell.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

I got my PC for slightly under 700 (thanks to windows 7 student deal and rebate). This thing impresses me. Can play Bulletstorm, ME2, and Fallout 3 like nothing. Haven't had a problem with a game yet, really hoping that holds up until Saints Row2 and Elder Scrolls Skyrim.

Oh and I really like this Samsung Spinpoint F3. Fast stuff, well coming from a HDD that gave me a warning to backup data because it's about to die.

Also the case, this thing keeps cool. I've been looking into overclock stuff but I don't notice the difference. I just did GPU overclock with afterburner. I went from 700mhz clock, 1400 shader, 1840 mem clock to 900, 1800, 2000 (added 40v). However I noticed a huge upgrade in performance when my HDD showed up and I got off the old dying 40gig hdd and installed the motherboard software (doubt that did anything).

 

[Revenant]

You won't' get surround in a pair of ( stereo ) earbuds. You'll need a pair of surround headsets to get surround. However that doesn't mean you won't be getting better quality audio regardless of headset when going from onboard sound to a sound card.

edit :




When we're talking about a good speakersetup, believe me you'll notice the difference between 5.1 and 2.1. On the subject of headphones I'd rather spend my money on a pair of nice "regular" headphones like HD 595 or the like, instead of surround headphones. ( if we're talking about the same pricerange that is )

Also even if you're not planning on spending a lot of money on your speaker setup you can have great results by just spending a couple of hundred on a smallset Logitech z-906 for example.



They may look small but my little brother had a z-5500 ( it's predecessor ) and they sounded great for their price/size

Alright thanks, so it seems like unless I'm willing to drop more than 100 it'd probably be worth just sticking with 2.1 for the time being? I have to buy the new rig first so thats going to take up most of the funds.

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

So I reseated my chip and the temperatures didn't change. I decided I'm going to probably have to live with the temps and decided to start overclocking. I bumped it to 4.5 GHz and ran prime95 overnight and it was successful. Although I'm not sure if the temps are high or not. This is what HWmonitor showed me when I woke up this morning.

 

[TheExodu5]

You're fine.

 

[vexvegaz]

So I reseated my chip and the temperatures didn't change. I decided I'm going to probably have to live with the temps and decided to start overclocking. I bumped it to 4.5 GHz and ran prime95 overnight and it was successful. Although I'm not sure if the temps are high or not. This is what HWmonitor showed me when I woke up this morning.
[IMG...]HM.jpg[/IMG]

Assuming your cooling with air, those temps looks about right. See what you can do about that 70+ max temps but other than that you shoul dbe good togo. BTW whats your vcore?

edit: NM i see your using a 1.3 - 1.38vcore

 

[forgrim]

128°C for OCZ Vertex? am i seeing things? lol

on another topic, the max temperature for o/c should be approximately ~70-75°C right? i'm slowly overclocking my 2500k and i'm at 4.2ghz and max temp of 60°C for all cores. gonna slowly fiddle with it today.

 

[TheExodu5]

128°C for OCZ Vertex? am i seeing things? lol

on another topic, the max temperature for o/c should be approximately ~70-75°C right? i'm slowly overclocking my 2500k and i'm at 4.2ghz and max temp of 60°C for all cores. gonna slowly fiddle with it today.

That's right.

Also, the Vertex readings are wrong. No worries.

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

You're fine.

But shouldn't I have lower temps on a Noctua? I feel like I spent $90 on a CPU cooler and it's not doing anything.

 

[Velion]

But shouldn't I have lower temps on a Noctua? I feel like I spent $90 on a CPU cooler and it's not doing anything.

Whats your ambient temp? (room temp/case temp)

 

[TheExodu5]

But shouldn't I have lower temps on a Noctua? I feel like I spent $90 on a CPU cooler and it's not doing anything.

You running with the ultra-low noise adapters? Those temps are pretty much in line with my Thermalright Venomous X w/ dual 800 RPM fans. If you're running with the ultra-low noise adapters those are about the temps I'd expect with that voltage.

Keep in mind that the Noctua is extremely quiet when compared to some of the cheaper heatsink (like the Hyper 212+).

Now, it's also possible that your CPU just runs hot. My old E6600, inexplicably, ran 10C hotter than it should have, regardless of the heatsink on it. I don't know if it was the fault of the temp sensors, or if the CPU wasn't flat enough...

Oh, also, the 2600k runs hotter than the 2500k by a small amount. Keep that in mind as well.

edit: also, what case is this in? That could have a fair impact on your temps. A Fractal R3 will tend to run at least a few degrees (~5C) hotter than a cooler case like the FT02, to give an example. Some cases might even run 10C hotter.

Your GPU can have an impact on temps as well. If you have a GPU that exhaust some hot air into the case, like the Asus DirectCU cards, and most third-party heatsinks for that matter, your CPU temps will go up unless you have a lot of airflow.

 

[Coldsnap]

What's a good strategy to manage hot exhaust air dump from the back of your PC? Trying to figure out how to make my computer have the least affect on my rooms temp. Currently my PC dumps air out onto a shelf and it just sorta hangs, dissipates from under my desk heating up my desk area.

 

[TheExodu5]

What's a good strategy to manage hot exhaust air dump from the back of your PC? Trying to figure out how to make my computer have the least affect on my rooms temp. Currently my PC dumps air out onto a shelf and it just sorta hangs, dissipates from under my desk heating up my desk area.

Nothing is going to make a difference. It doesn't matter how you exhaust that air, the heat will still dissipate in your room. The only way would be to have an exhaust pipe hooked up to the outside like a dryer. That, or just reduce your power consumption (don't overclock).

 

[Coldsnap]

Right on, oh well. I'm almost done putting together this computer, got two scythe fans coming in the mail one 700rpm for the cpu fan and another 500rpm I'm going to put on the button of the case where a fan slot is.

 

[verbum]

I can't really been bothered to plug my SSD into my desktop to check frimware before I use it on my laptop which arrives next week.

Should I really see if the firmware needs to be updated?

Not if it bothers you.

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

You running with the ultra-low noise adapters? Those temps are pretty much in line with my Thermalright Venomous X w/ dual 800 RPM fans. If you're running with the ultra-low noise adapters those are about the temps I'd expect with that voltage.

Keep in mind that the Noctua is extremely quiet when compared to some of the cheaper heatsink (like the Hyper 212+).

Now, it's also possible that your CPU just runs hot. My old E6600, inexplicably, ran 10C hotter than it should have, regardless of the heatsink on it. I don't know if it was the fault of the temp sensors, or if the CPU wasn't flat enough...

Oh, also, the 2600k runs hotter than the 2500k by a small amount. Keep that in mind as well.

edit: also, what case is this in? That could have a fair impact on your temps. A Fractal R3 will tend to run at least a few degrees (~5C) hotter than a cooler case like the FT02, to give an example. Some cases might even run 10C hotter.

Your GPU can have an impact on temps as well. If you have a GPU that exhaust some hot air into the case, like the Asus DirectCU cards, and most third-party heatsinks for that matter, your CPU temps will go up unless you have a lot of airflow.

I'm using the normal molex connector so the fans are running at 1200RPM. The case is a HAF X, and I've made sure to route all the cabling through the back so as not to impede airflow. The GPU is an asus 6950 so it's possible that it could be contributing. I guess maybe it just runs hot. Sitting stable at 4.6 GHz right now, though, so maybe I shouldn't be complaining all that much.

 

[TheExodu5]

Yeah that is a little hot judging by your setup, considering I'm only getting 3 degrees hotter with my 120mm fans at 800RPM (and case fans at ~450RPM...same case as you). I know the temperature probes are only accurate to about 10C I believe, so that could be it.

edit: actually, I'm running at a slightly lower voltage though. Maybe the temperature is not completely out of line.

Anyways, my suggestion to you: don't worry about it. Console yourself with the fact that the cheaper heatsink would either be hotter or louder, there's no question about that. You're still running at safe temperature levels, so don't worry about lowering them.

 

[knitoe]

I'm using the normal molex connector so the fans are running at 1200RPM. The case is a HAF X, and I've made sure to route all the cabling through the back so as not to impede airflow. The GPU is an asus 6950 so it's possible that it could be contributing. I guess maybe it just runs hot. Sitting stable at 4.6 GHz right now, though, so maybe I shouldn't be complaining all that much.

1.38V@4.5GHz is pretty high which would cause higher temps. I run 1.27V @ that speed. Have you tried lower CPU voltages? Also, I notice you min voltage is 1.30V. Did you manually enter a voltage number or are you using offset? Normally, if you are using offset, it should be ~1.00V min during idling.

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

1.38V@4.5GHz is pretty high which would also to higher temps. I run 1.27V @ that speed. Have you tried lower voltages? Also, I notice you min voltage is 1.30V. Did you manually enter a voltage number or are you using offset? Normally, if you use offset, it should be min ~1.00V during idling.

I'm still using the ASUS auto voltages to see how far the chip will go. I'm planning to switch to manual and bring it down incrementally when I find my sweet spot.

 

[knitoe]

I'm still using the ASUS auto voltages to see how far the chip will go. I'm planning to switch to manual and bring it down incrementally when I find my sweet spot.

If you can decrease from 0.05-0.10V, it will drop you temp by ~10C. Right now, you temps are normal for that amount of voltage.

 

[Zimbardo]

anyone have an ideas as to what a nice, stable, 24/7 overclock on an i5 760 should be in the neighborhood of?

i've seen a lot of people pushing to 4ghz and stuff ...but i'm not sure if that's just for benchmarking.

i'm thinking that 3.6 and 3.8ghz would be easily attained for 24/7 overclock.


cooling = noctua d14.

any suggestions?

 

[eznark]

Versailles, IN, United States 04/14/2011 5:43 A.M. Out For Delivery

GLORIOUS

 

[Shambles]

An update for those who have been following along with my performance issues: a reformat didn't fix anything, so it's on to the next step, if there is one.

I agree with Corky. We need some real formal benchmarks to see exactly how your system is performing compared to other results we can find under the exact same settings for detail/resolution etc...

Here is a list of games with built in benchmark tests . But this list is from 2008 and doesn't include more current titles that are likely to be benchmarked in GTX 460 reviews like HAWX and Batman Arkham Asylum. Unigine Heaven might be one of your better choices for a current stand alone benchmark that might show up in GTX 460 reviews. It's not a real game but should give us an idea if/how your card is underperforming. Also found a standalone benchmark test for AvP.

 

[TheExodu5]

anyone have an ideas as to what a nice, stable, 24/7 overclock on an i5 760 should be in the neighborhood of?

i've seen a lot of people pushing to 4ghz and stuff ...but i'm not sure if that's just for benchmarking.

i'm thinking that 3.6 and 3.8ghz would be easily attained for 24/7 overclock.


cooling = noctua d14.

any suggestions?

3.6GHz is a piece of cake. Push it higher if you like after that.