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[riceandbeans]

Screwdriver thats all you need. Mount it so the fan pushes air through the heatsink toward the back of the case. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffK7L0Qj13Q Theres a cheesy video to show you how spread pastes. Not all those methods are the correct way but it gives you a visual of the spreading. Use the pea or line method and you can prep the heatsink by scraping a thin film paste across the heatsink, this should be outlined in the Hyper212 manual.

I've got a new case and was wondering about air flow as well since I've been having some annoying heat issues. The front, back, and top have a 120mm fan. So the case should have the front fan sucking air into the case with the rear fan going ahead and sucking air out of the case, right? Not sure what to do with the top fan.

 

[scogoth]

I've got a new case and was wondering about air flow as well since I've been having some annoying heat issues. The front, back, and top have a 120mm fan. So the case should have the front fan sucking air into the case with the rear fan going ahead and sucking air out of the case, right? Not sure what to do with the top fan.

Yes air flow should go front to back. Some cases are specially designed for bottom to top airflow but those aren't the majority. Lots of cases do have top fans but this is just to exhaust more air then the one rear fan. Even with the top fan going you should have front fans pulling air in and the rear exhaust fan going.

 

[Ravidrath]

So after less than a week, my new OCZ Vertex 3 died suddenly in the middle of use today.

Woke up my laptop, and slowly everything became unresponsive. Upon rebooting, the system couldn't see the drive any more, and neither could the OSX install disc's Disk Utility.

Popped the old HDD back in and am on it now.

Anyone have any experience with OCZ customer service? How quickly can they get me a new one?

 

[John Rabbit]

so, this is prob as good a thread as any to post this.

i need a new video card. i play the occasional PC game, but typically its something that has not received a console port and/or is not a graphics showcase (i.e. - TF2, Amnesia, L4D2, games with similar level of graphic intensity, etc). the biggest reasons i want to replace my card are two fold: 1. the current card has issues (crashing, redraw issues) and has ever since my gigantic heatsink BROKE off the mobo and dislodged it from the board whilst in the middle of a WoW gaming session, and 2) i want a card with HDMI and DVI(x2) output; this is important so that I can retain use of my dual monitors AND be able to connect to my TV.

so, with all that said, is this card a decent investment for the future (not concerned with super-graphics, definitely a console player 1st) and does it support 3 simultaneous outputs (2 DVI and 1 HDMI to TV)?:

Radeon HD 6870

 

[Stantron]

OK, so I have the CPUID Hardware Monitor installed.
2600K, no overclock, DH-14 cooler, Windows7 sitting idle, both R3 case sides are off.
Core#0 = 40C
Core#1 = 27C
Core#2 = 28C
Core#3 = 36C
Before I take off the sink and re-try installing, what temperature ranges should I expect for my setup?

Ok, so I've cleaned the thermal compound and re-installed the sink using much less this time.
Core#0 = 41C
Core#1 = 28C
Core#2 = 29C
Core#3 = 37C
Vcore = .90 (.83V min, 1.22V max)
My temps are a degree hotter across the board. Argh! What the hell is the problem?
Should I maybe try the stock Intel cooler to see if that makes a difference?

 

[Whopper]

Screwdriver thats all you need. Mount it so the fan pushes air through the heatsink toward the back of the case. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffK7L0Qj13Q Theres a cheesy video to show you how pastes spread. Not all those methods are the correct way but it gives you a visual of the spreading. Use the pea or line method and you can prep the heatsink by scraping a thin film paste across the heatsink, this should be outlined in the Hyper212 manual.

So mount it on the front side of the heatsink (the large silver block) which would put the heatsink in between two fans, right? Both fans blowing towards the back of the case.

Again, thanks for answering my dumb questions.

 

[momolicious]

What is a better HD 6950 vs EVGA GTX 570 ? Also are they whiny cards

Also, I would like to know if the HAF 922 is noisy? That is the only thing im worried about the case. It should be good quality right.

 

[gregor7777]

What is a better HD 6950 vs EVGA GTX 570 ? Also are they whiny cards

Also, I would like to know if the HAF 922 is noisy? That is the only thing im worried about the case. It should be good quality right.

The 922 is fairly quiet. There's an "air moving" sound you can hear when you're near it, but it's not really something you'd identify as a noisy PC fan.

 

[scogoth]

So mount it on the front side of the heatsink (the large silver block) which would put the heatsink in between two fans, right? Both fans blowing towards the back of the case.

Again, thanks for answering my dumb questions.

Yes

What is a better HD 6950 vs EVGA GTX 570 ? Also are they whiny cards

Also, I would like to know if the HAF 922 is noisy? That is the only thing im worried about the case. It should be good quality right.

6970 and 570 are about the same but the 6950 can be unlocked to run near 6970 speeds. The 570 will be faster but the 6950 is a better deal if you flash the bios. The EVGA GTX 570 is a reference card so it has a blower style fan which will be louder then an after market fan. It does blow all the air out of the case where non-reference designs blow some of that heat in the case but they are generally quieter.

 

[Hawk269]

Ok, so I've cleaned the thermal compound and re-installed the sink using much less this time.
Core#0 = 41C
Core#1 = 28C
Core#2 = 29C
Core#3 = 37C
Vcore = .90 (.83V min, 1.22V max)
My temps are a degree hotter across the board. Argh! What the hell is the problem?
Should I maybe try the stock Intel cooler to see if that makes a difference?

Stranton, I have the same processor but the 212+ cooler and at idle, my average is about 28c tops. For you it seems like Core 0 and 3 are above the normal that I have seen at idle. I am not familiar with your cooler, but it does look a little odd that those 2 cores are that much higher.

One of my cores at times, spikes a little higher, but we are talking like 3c or so above the normal of 28c, I dont think I ever seen it go higher that 33c on one of them at idle. Sorry I cant be more help.

 

[Stantron]

Stranton, I have the same processor but the 212+ cooler and at idle, my average is about 28c tops. For you it seems like Core 0 and 3 are above the normal that I have seen at idle. I am not familiar with your cooler, but it does look a little odd that those 2 cores are that much higher.

One of my cores at times, spikes a little higher, but we are talking like 3c or so above the normal of 28c, I dont think I ever seen it go higher that 33c on one of them at idle. Sorry I cant be more help.

Thanks for the input. I've tried a third instal, and I get the same high temps.
I was going to let it dwell for a bit, but I don't expect it to come down much.

I'd like to reserve installing the stock Intel cooler as a last resort as it has the thermal compound already on the sink, so it's a one time shot.

Anyone have any additional ideas or insight? Could it just be a bad CPU part? If so, would newegg swap me for a new one?

 

[Raw64life]

Finally pulled the trigger on my PC. Can't wait to build it this weekend. I'll probably have a lot of questions once I have it built (and hopefully it wont be the "help X isn't working" type of questions) but I have one question now. I'm going to have an SSD and a HDD in my comp. How do I ensure that when I put the Windows CD in that it will install to the SSD? Will Windows ask me or do I have to connect the SSD to a certain spot or what?

Edit: Also another question, what's the best way to gauge the temp of my comp once it's up and running?

 

[blanky]

Thanks for the input. I've tried a third instal, and I get the same high temps.
I was going to let it dwell for a bit, but I don't expect it to come down much.

I'd like to reserve installing the stock Intel cooler as a last resort as it has the thermal compound already on the sink, so it's a one time shot.

Anyone have any additional ideas or insight? Could it just be a bad CPU part? If so, would newegg swap me for a new one?

Why would you install the stock Intel cooler though? It's not going to get lower temperatures, unless you think something is wrong with your Noctua. Did you check the thermal compound spread before the third reseat, how did that look?

 

[scogoth]

Thanks for the input. I've tried a third instal, and I get the same high temps.
I was going to let it dwell for a bit, but I don't expect it to come down much.

I'd like to reserve installing the stock Intel cooler as a last resort as it has the thermal compound already on the sink, so it's a one time shot.

Anyone have any additional ideas or insight? Could it just be a bad CPU part? If so, would newegg swap me for a new one?

Check load temps, you don't need to get all worked up about idle temps.

Finally pulled the trigger on my PC. Can't wait to build it this weekend. I'll probably have a lot of questions once I have it built (and hopefully it wont be the "help X isn't working" type of questions) but I have one question now. I'm going to have an SSD and a HDD in my comp. How do I ensure that when I put the Windows CD in that it will install to the SSD? Will Windows ask me or do I have to connect the SSD to a certain spot or what?

Edit: Also another question, what's the best way to gauge the temp of my comp once it's up and running?

Windows will ask you. Realtemp, coretemp and hwmonitor will all tell you CPU temps.

 

[ZZMitch]

My FPS in Crysis just doubled. I <3 my new graphics card :3

 

[EricHasNoPull]

Gaf what do you think of this Card and the price?

Should I get this or a Radeon HD 6870 1GB?

Now that those new AMD drivers are out I am kinda leaning towards the latter. But I am more of a "Nvidia" Kinda guy, I like there interface and drivers more.

Please Halp

Thanks

 

[CaLe]

What's your take on this guys, should last me a good while ? Everything in the list is good enough ?

I already have an ATI 6870, which I think is still good enough for now.

Thanks

P.S: Prices are in Canadian $.

 

[Stantron]

Why would you install the stock Intel cooler though? It's not going to get lower temperatures, unless you think something is wrong with your Noctua. Did you check the thermal compound spread before the third reseat, how did that look?

To check to see if the Noctua is the problem. Before the third instal, the thermal compound was spread almost up to the edge of the CPU lid. Definitely less material applied than the first instal.

Check load temps, you don't need to get all worked up about idle temps.

It would be nice to know I'm not running abnormally hot... even at idle. I'm just trying to fix the problem if there is one since I'm new to PC building. Is there a program I can run to check temps at load?

 

[Hawk269]

To check to see if the Noctua is the problem. Before the third instal, the thermal compound was spread almost up to the edge of the CPU lid. Definitely less material applied than the first instal.

It would be nice to know I'm not running abnormally hot... even at idle. I'm just trying to fix the problem if there is one since I'm new to PC building. Is there a program I can run to check temps at load?

Use Realtemp to monitor, then run prime for a little bit. Have the real temp window open and you can see in real time the hear rising.

 

[RedSwirl]

Guys, The Witcher is causing my HD 6850 cooling to go off louder than any other game, even Crysis. Is that normal?

Up until now the card's fan has been barely audible, but with this game sometimes it's almost as loud as the 8800GT was (which sounded like a jet engine if I so much as turned on all the features on Google Earth).

Anything I should be worried about?

 

[Celcius]

To check to see if the Noctua is the problem. Before the third instal, the thermal compound was spread almost up to the edge of the CPU lid. Definitely less material applied than the first instal.

It would be nice to know I'm not running abnormally hot... even at idle. I'm just trying to fix the problem if there is one since I'm new to PC building. Is there a program I can run to check temps at load?

Give this a try: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
I've been using it forever and highly recommend it. Just leave it open while running prime95 or cinebench.

 

[scogoth]

Use Realtemp to monitor, then run prime for a little bit. Have the real temp window open and you can see in real time the hear rising.

And by prime he means prime95

 

[JaseC]

Finished copying over the files from my old HDDs to the two 2TB Samsungs. Copying from the thought-it-was-dead-but-turns-out-it-was-just-super-fucked 1TB HDD took forever as the speed hovered between 9 and 11MBps. Total amount of free space went from somewhere in the 100GB ballpark across 4 drives to just under 2TB (not including the 1TB drive I'm now using for Steam and GoG, since I have no idea how much space the games will take up when I'm done re-downloading all of them).

I still need to buy a replacement 2TB external, which I'll do in a week or two.

 

[Stantron]

Thanks guys. Running Prime 95 now with Real Temp, CPUID and Core Temp all monitoring simutaniously. Will report back soon.

 

[Fredescu]

What's your take on this guys, should last me a good while ? Everything in the list is good enough ?

No video card in the list. Already have one?

 

[Stantron]

OK, just finished the 10 minute Sensor Test running Prime 95 via Real Temp GT software.
All three temp monitor packages pretty much agree, or do to within a degree.

Core0: 32C min, 56C max
Core1: 27C min, 51C max
Core2: 29C min, 50C max
Core3: 32C min, 53C max

During the test, I noticed that Core0 was consistantely ~10 to 12 C hotter than Cores1,2 for most of the test. And Core3 was consistantly ~4 C lower than Core0. Tj, max (read from Core Temp software) stayed at 98C though.

So, am I good, or still kinda high (2600k, DH-14 cooler)?

 

[Velion]

OK, just finished the 10 minute Sensor Test running Prime 95 via Real Temp GT software.
All three temp monitor packages pretty much agree, or do to within a degree.

Core0: 32C min, 56C max
Core1: 27C min, 51C max
Core2: 29C min, 50C max
Core3: 32C min, 53C max

During the test, I noticed that Core0 was consistantely ~10 to 12 C hotter than Cores1,2 for most of the test. And Core3 was consistantly ~4 C lower than Core0. Tj, max (read from Core Temp software) stayed at 98C though.

So, am I good, or still kinda high (2600k, DH-14 cooler)?

Those are fine temps, there's alot of other factors that determine your idle/max temp anyways.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

SSD has been installed, and I am now installing Windows! WOO HOO! :3

 

[darthbob]

OK, just finished the 10 minute Sensor Test running Prime 95 via Real Temp GT software.
All three temp monitor packages pretty much agree, or do to within a degree.

Core0: 32C min, 56C max
Core1: 27C min, 51C max
Core2: 29C min, 50C max
Core3: 32C min, 53C max

During the test, I noticed that Core0 was consistantely ~10 to 12 C hotter than Cores1,2 for most of the test. And Core3 was consistantly ~4 C lower than Core0. Tj, max (read from Core Temp software) stayed at 98C though.

So, am I good, or still kinda high (2600k, DH-14 cooler)?

Each core is different, and thus has slightly different thermal properties. As we get into high core counts per CPU die, it'll be more noticeable. You're fine though.

 

[Hazaro]

What's your take on this guys, should last me a good while ? Everything in the list is good enough ?

Thanks

P.S: Prices are in Canadian $.

Do you really need a 2600K over a 2500K?
GPU?

Guys, The Witcher is causing my HD 6850 cooling to go off louder than any other game, even Crysis. Is that normal?

Up until now the card's fan has been barely audible, but with this game sometimes it's almost as loud as the 8800GT was (which sounded like a jet engine if I so much as turned on all the features on Google Earth).

Anything I should be worried about?

Some stock fan profiles are wonky in the way they rev up.
Download MSI Afterburner and check the temps and maybe set up a manual fan profile.

Each core is different, and thus has slightly different thermal properties. As we get into high core counts per CPU die, it'll be more noticeable. You're fine though.

More often than not the thermal diode is offset by 1mm and the temp is vastly different. 51C load is fantastic.

SSD has been installed, and I am now installing Windows! WOO HOO! :3

So far I'm not finding anything super extra special on my Intel 320. Bootup is nice, installs are much faster. Maybe its the way I use my PC where I don't notice as much.
I'll see as time goes on.
Windows 7 installed in under 10 minutes (minus naming and such).

 

[John_B]

So far I'm not finding anything super extra special on my Intel 320. Bootup is nice, installs are much faster. Maybe its the way I use my PC where I don't notice as much.
I'll see as time goes on.
Windows 7 installed in under 10 minutes (minus naming and such).

SSD is more like a cure - it fixes something that is defective. You don't notice a perfect water pressure when turning on a faucet. If it was chucking and changing temperatures at random then you definitly would notice.

 

[mrklaw]

To unlock shader only using your card's bios:

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1967l/ati_winflash_2.0.1.14.zip
http://www.techpowerup.com/wizzard/Mod_BIOS_HD_6950.zip

1)Download/Extract to your HDD mod batch files.
2)Using Winflash, save your stock BIOS as original.bin in the same folder where you extracted the above file.
3)Double click the run.bat file... it will take that bios file and mod it to only unlock the shaders. That way you can keep the card as a 6950 and only unlock the shaders.
4)Use Winflash to flash your card with mod bios from #3.
5)Use whatever program you want to O/C the card, like Catalyst Control Center.

or flip the switch if you have switchable bios on your card.

 

[CaLe]

No video card in the list. Already have one?

Yes I appologize I already have a GPU, its an ATI 6870.

I'm not sure to be honest if I need an i7. Is it much better than the i5 ? Can it overclock better ?

Thanks alot

 

[Hazaro]

Yes I appologize I already have a GPU, its an ATI 6870.

I'm not sure to be honest if I need an i7. Is it much better than the i5 ? Can it overclock better ?

Thanks alot

Nope. Nope.
4 THREADS vs 8. Both have 4 cores.

 

[NeoandGeo]

Ok, so I've cleaned the thermal compound and re-installed the sink using much less this time.
Core#0 = 41C
Core#1 = 28C
Core#2 = 29C
Core#3 = 37C
Vcore = .90 (.83V min, 1.22V max)
My temps are a degree hotter across the board. Argh! What the hell is the problem?
Should I maybe try the stock Intel cooler to see if that makes a difference?

With a 212+ my idle temps on a 2600k @4.2 are higher than yours, in the mid to upper 30's, and at full load after 30 minutes they reach the lower to mid 60's. How are your load temps? I really don't see anything very wrong with that.

 

[Funky Papa]

Vertex 3's freezing issues are becoming fucking annoying... You don't buy a SSD so it can go to sleep whenever the fucker pleases!

 

[TheExodu5]

Vertex 3's freezing issues are becoming fucking annoying... You don't buy a SSD so it can go to sleep whenever the fucker pleases!

What's happening exactly? I haven't had any issues with mine.

edit: just so people aren't confused...when I said the Vertex 3 could have some issues in comparison to the Intel 320, this is what I meant. These little firmware issues and OS incompatibilities are to be expected. You need to be willing to possibly having to deal with these issues if you're going for a non-Intel drive.

 

[CaLe]

Nope. Nope.
4 THREADS vs 8. Both have 4 cores.

So what is the advantage of the i7 over the i5 ? It performs better under applications that take advantage of the additional threads ?

What would the additional threads practical uses be ?

 

[CrankyJay]

So what is the advantage of the i7 over the i5 ? It performs better under applications that take advantage of the additional threads ?

What would the additional threads practical uses be ?

Audio/Video encoding, compiling code, rendering 3d, virtual machines.

 

[CaLe]

Audio/Video encoding, compiling code, rendering 3d, virtual machines.

Thanks, much appreciated.

As I'll probably be programming and rendering 3D on it, I'll probably keep the i7 if the 4 additional threads have an impact on the performance.

Would you guys recommend the rest of the rig's components ? : http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=27454537&postcount=14919

 

[NeoandGeo]

You can also turn off hyperthreading in the BIOS for when you are going to be gaming only, and you will have a slightly better chip over the i5 thanks to the small bump in Lv.3 cache, and a solid 4 cores, instead of 8 virtual cores.

 

[Funky Papa]

What's happening exactly? I haven't had any issues with mine.

edit: just so people aren't confused...when I said the Vertex 3 could have some issues in comparison to the Intel 320, this is what I meant. These little firmware issues and OS incompatibilities are to be expected. You need to be willing to possibly having to deal with these issues if you're going for a non-Intel drive.

For some reason, windows and running programs may become unresponsive after a brief period of inactivity. The mouse works and you may be able to highlight some icons, but after that, they will also cease to work and the OS will take its sweet time to become responsive again... if you are lucky. Mine ceased to work yesterday and stayed that way for the whole night.

Apparently it has something to do with the unit's firmware not playing really well with some energy saving software. Whatever it is, is really annoying, and people are only fixing it with varying degrees of success.

 

[mike23]

2 of my 3tb Hitachi drives of the 6 I put in my NAS are clicking and causing transfers to pause for a second. SMART info is all showing up fine though. I sent an email to newegg, hopefully they will let me RMA them before they die completely. I'm also hoping that I can rma one at a time and resilver the raid-z array so I don't have re-copy all my data onto it.

With my luck I'll have a third fail next week though.

 

[TheExodu5]

For some reason, windows and running programs may become unresponsive after a brief period of inactivity. The mouse works and you may be able to highlight some icons, but after that, they will also cease to work and the OS will take its sweet time to become responsive again... if you are lucky. Mine ceased to work yesterday and stayed that way for the whole night.

Apparently it has something to do with the unit's firmware not playing really well with some energy saving software. Whatever it is, is really annoying, and people are only fixing it with varying degrees of success.

The C300 has the exact same issue. A registry tweak was required to fix that. You may look into that.

 

[Funky Papa]

The C300 has the exact same issue. A registry tweak was required to fix that. You may look into that.

Yep, I found that. I will try it as soon as I reach home.

 

[SaintR]

or flip the switch if you have switchable bios on your card.

Do you mean to flash to original stock bios?

 

[Kenka]

Yeah, unless you're doing non gaming related multithreaded tasks, I'm not convinced Ivy Bridge is going to be an improvement for anyone currently on a 2500k/2600k. It won't be faster core-for-core...it will just have more cores. I doubt it will really show its use in gaming for at least a few years...and by that time there will no doubt be faster CPUs out there.

I don't think IvyBridge or Bulldozer are going to be good buys for gaming PCs. Just an educated guess.

So the decrease in size of the engraving process won't be the occasion to make the CPU beefier ? Goddamn, I shouldn't have had my hopes high. Well, I'll have to be satisfied with my i3-2100. It was a good pick for gaming and I needed to cut the cost somewhere so... I just hope it'll let me enjoy forthcoming games for the next three years or so.

 

[TheExodu5]

So the decrease in size of the engraving process won't be the occasion to make the CPU beefier ? Goddamn, I shouldn't have had my hopes high. Well, I'll have to be satisfied with my i3-2100. It was a good pick for gaming and I needed to cut the cost somewhere so... I just hope it'll let me enjoy forthcoming games for the next three years or so.

Well it will...but the decrease in size will be offset by the addition of more cores, or so I assume.

There's no way to know for sure...we haven't seen specs and benchmarks yet.

Either way, if you were planning on getting Ivy Bridge, it will be a good time to upgrade anyawys.

 

[ithorien]

Yep, I found that. I will try it as soon as I reach home.

My C300 had the issue, but it wouldn't lock up for a night, it would just freeze up for ~60-90 seconds. I found it in event viewer, applied regtweak and it's gone.

Best of luck.

 

[ithorien]

Just read this- "Nvidia's agreed to license its SLI tech for use on AMD motherboards."

What's going on, hell freezing over?