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[sh4mike]

All ordered. Pretty stressful process, and I hope I didn't make any purchase mistakes. Can anyone confirm?

Case: FT02B-W
CPU: i5-2500K
MB: Asus P8P67 PRO
GPU: EVGA GTX 570
RAM: G. Skill 2x4GB 1600
PSU: Corsair 850HX
HDD: 2x Samsung F3 1TB
Fan: CM212+
O/S: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
DVD: Asus DRW-24B1ST
UPS: CyberPower PFC Adaptive Sinewave Intelligent LCD CP1000PFCLCD

Was tempted to add a Crucial C300 but decided to wait.

 

[MisterAnderson]

So I'm going to begin my quest to overclock my system. Just as reference I just ran Prime95 for 10 minutes with everything not overclocked and temps rose up to 80 degrees C... is that normal? It was idling at around 39-42 degrees. I just have the stock cooler that it came with.

 

[Jak140]

Putting together a sandy build today (first time building a computer ever) and spent 20 minutes trying to figure out why i wasn't getting any picture or bios sound, only a green light on the motherboard came on. Unhooked all of the sata cables, ram, and removed the fans. Reseated the video card and still nothing. then took out the video card and tried to boot with just the motherboard and cpu. Nada. Removed and reinserted the power cable and still nothing. Around this time I noticed there was a second step in the manual for power cable insertion. It never occurred to me that there might be a second power cable that needed to be attached to the motherboard. I'm such a noob.

 

[WEGGLES]

So I'm going to begin my quest to overclock my system. Just as reference I just ran Prime95 for 10 minutes with everything not overclocked and temps rose up to 80 degrees C... is that normal? It was idling at around 39-42 degrees. I just have the stock cooler that it came with.

Might want to look into after market cooling before overclocking 80 seems high for stock,

 

[MisterAnderson]

Might want to look into after market cooling before overclocking 80 seems high for stock,

Is it possible that I've botched putting on the cooler when I built my PC a year and a half ago? It seemed straight forward enough and I haven't had any over heating issues but 80 does seem high for stock from what I've heard.

The Coolermaster 212 cooler in the OP should be good enough? What do you guys recommend if not that? And if it says "i5 or i7 compatible" I'm assuming that is also referring the the Bloomfield version?

 

[Kalnos]

It seems to be running perfectly fine.

Quick question about temps.

How does

~60 (58-61) at load and ~35 at idle sound for temperatures?

If that's CPU temps and that's 61 at load (especially prime95) then that sounds like fine temperatures to me.

 

[WEGGLES]

If that's CPU temps and that's 61 at load (especially prime95) then that sounds like fine temperatures to me.

Excellent, and yes those are cpu.

I was a bit worried with the idle, but that could be because I've grown used to running stock clock with a scythe mugen 2 rev b.

Is it possible that I've botched putting on the cooler when I built my PC a year and a half ago? It seemed straight forward enough and I haven't had any over heating issues but 80 does seem high for stock from what I've heard.

The Coolermaster 212 cooler in the OP should be good enough? What do you guys recommend if not that? And if it says "i5 or i7 compatible" I'm assuming that is also referring the the Bloomfield version?

The 212 is a nice cooler, it's what I was going to get, but they were sold out.

What cpu socket do you use? That's what you look for with a cooler. The socket you use and the sockets it supports.
And it could be the cooler isn't in properly. When I first put the stock i5 cooler on it wasn't in right and it got up to 90C.

 

[MisterAnderson]

I have a 1366 socket i7 920 Bloomfield. And I think I'll open up my case and check to see if I've got the cooler in right. Am I going to need to clean off the old thermal paste on the cpu and apply more thermal paste if I pull off the cooler?

 

[Felix Lighter]

I have a 1366 socket i7 920 Bloomfield. And I think I'll open up my case and check to see if I've got the cooler in right. Am I going to need to clean off the old thermal paste on the cpu and apply more thermal paste if I pull off the cooler?

yeah. I use rubbing alcohol and a q-tip

 

[Cipherr]

I have a 1366 socket i7 920 Bloomfield. And I think I'll open up my case and check to see if I've got the cooler in right. Am I going to need to clean off the old thermal paste on the cpu and apply more thermal paste if I pull off the cooler?

Yes, definitely. This might sound weird, but I used some of my coffee filters and alcohol to remove the paste when I reseated my cooler lol. You dont have to use them, but make sure you use something fiberless. I just happened to not have anything better to use and coffee filters dont have fibers so meh.

 

[AkIRA_22]

yeah. I use rubbing alcohol and a q-tip

An eraser works well too.

 

[IrishNinja]

NP, you're very welcome.
Don't forget to pick up some good quality TIM to mount the HSF with instead of just using what's included in the box. While you're changing coolers, take a moment to tidy up your cable management a bit. For instance, you're partially blocking the PSU exhaust and with space at a premium inside your case, you want to get things cleaned up as much as possible. Sloppy cabling impedes airflow.

Good luck with the new cooler. Post up your results.

sadness.

friends came by today to get my new GeminII S, and everything fit, even with the AP181 fan! was quite pleased..until we realized the cooler overlaps the PCI-E slot for the GPU. fuuuuuuuuu

gonna try running a buddy's intel cooler w/said fan for a bit, and contact newegg about making a switch...looking at reviews for my case again, it seems the scythe shuriken 100mm might've been a better fit (dude on the review has my mobo as well). really hoping they don't give me too much shit past a restock fee.
looking at the dimensions of the scythe, should i be worried about running into the same problem?

 

[Mobius1B7R]

What is everyone's temperatures with a 6950? I flashed it to unlock the extra shaders and it's idle at 60c, with no monitors attached. Think that might be kind of hot for idle. A lot of temperature problems for me it seems.

 

[Jak140]

I was wondering about temps too. My i5 2500k is idling at 31 C in bios with a hd 6950 attached to the mb. I have a Cooler Master 212+ and 4 120mm case fans. Now I'm wondering if I made a mistake applying the heat sink and thermal paste since most people get lower idle temps with the stock cooler (~26 C). Should I remove the heat sink and try again? Ambient temp is ~19 C. Can't test load temps cause my copy of W7 is still in the mail. Any advice? Thanks!

 

[·feist·]

sadness.

friends came by today to get my new GeminII S, and everything fit, even with the AP181 fan! was quite pleased..until we realized the cooler overlaps the PCI-E slot for the GPU. fuuuuuuuuu

gonna try running a buddy's intel cooler w/said fan for a bit, and contact newegg about making a switch...looking at reviews for my case again, it seems the scythe shuriken 100mm might've been a better fit (dude on the review has my mobo as well). really hoping they don't give me too much shit past a restock fee.
looking at the dimensions of the scythe, should i be worried about running into the same problem?

This is easily the biggest issue I have with the newer mITX layout that began springing up with H55 boards, and has continued with many LGA 1155 products. It's entirely up to the manufacturer, as there are still 1156 and 1155 boards that have the "traditional" socket setup.

Anyway, the GeminII S does fit on your particular board along with an expansion card.

Remember, your cooler, like many other low-profile sinks, has an off-center mounting plate so you need to rotate it to find the ideal mount for your board. For center-socket mITXs that's normally with the HSF's heatpipes facing the expansion slot, like above. That makes for some unnecessarily precarious situations between the HSF and GPU.

You may want to place some non-conductive material between the cooler and GPU.

And, yeah, the Scythe Shuriken also fits.

 

[itxaka]

This is easily the biggest issue I have with the newer mITX layout that began springing up with H55 boards, and has continued with many LGA 1155 products. It's entirely up to the manufacturer, as there are still 1156 and 1155 boards that have the "traditional" socket setup.

Anyway, the GeminII S does fit on your particular board along with an expansion card.

[IG]http://cryo-laboratory.com/uploader/files/509/Corsair_Pc1333/DSCN0753.JPG[/IMG]

[IG]http://i25.tinypic.com/rgw6xk.jpg[/IMG]

Remember, your cooler, like many other low-profile sinks, has an off-center mounting plate so you need to rotate it to find the ideal mount for your board. For center-socket mITXs that's normally with the HSF's heatpipes facing the expansion slot, like above. That makes for some unnecessarily precarious situations between the HSF and GPU.

You may want to place some non-conductive material between the cooler and GPU.

And, yeah, the Scythe Shuriken also fits.

[IM]http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/4035/thdsc00064.jpg[/IMG]

Loving that miniITX boards. Any articles about them in order to build a HTPC?
I want one of those, with a couple of 1Tb disks but the grphic cards are huge and the PSU is huge as well!

Isn't there smaller PSUs for HTPCs and smaller graphics cards capable of 1080p HDMI (ION I guess?)?

 

[ChRoNiTe]

What is everyone's temperatures with a 6950? I flashed it to unlock the extra shaders and it's idle at 60c, with no monitors attached. Think that might be kind of hot for idle. A lot of temperature problems for me it seems.

My 6950 idles at 40-41 C with overdrive enabled.

 

[snack]

Looking to upgrade my 5770 with something new. Any recommendations? I play at a 1920x1080 resolution on a X4 955 CPU.

 

[Mr_Brit]

Looking to upgrade my 5770 with something new. Any recommendations? I play at a 1920x1080 resolution on a X4 955 CPU.

6950 or wait for the GTX 560.

 

[·feist·]

Loving that miniITX boards. Any articles about them in order to build a HTPC?
I want one of those, with a couple of 1Tb disks but the grphic cards are huge and the PSU is huge as well!

Isn't there smaller PSUs for HTPCs and smaller graphics cards capable of 1080p HDMI (ION I guess?)?

Just about any current Intel/AMD mITX's on-board/on-chip IGP can handle 1080p content, with certain DVI and DisplayPort-equipped models going higher.

Unless you're going for an Ion or Fusion build, you may want to hold off for now. AMD options are still slim, and a few of the available models are problematic. H55 is dead so there isn't much reason to go with that, either. You can't do CPU overclocking on H67, so, if you wanted to have that as an option, you'd need to wait for any viable P67 or Z68 boards to surface.

There are over a half dozen PSU form factors, like SFX, WTX, Baby AT, etc.

 

[AkIRA_22]

Looking to upgrade my 5770 with something new. Any recommendations? I play at a 1920x1080 resolution on a X4 955 CPU.

The 560 is going to be a great card, I would absolutely recommend waiting.

 

[n0n44m]

Very nice. The push-pull fans on the HDD's is a great touch. Only thing, that 24pin EPS can't be re-routed behind? Have you got a fan controller? I'm just wondering what all those extensions for the fans are.

it could but I would have to redo all cabling from my previous setup, and it was already late I don't mind it in the position where it's at at the moment

as I said no fan controller, but all casefans hook up to a switch in the bottom (on the other side of the HDD cage) with which I can switch them from 12 to 5 volts. In addition I soldered an extension to the 690's light switch for the default front 140 fan (which I replaced with a YateLoon) so I can now turn on or off the only LED fan left, a 120 YateLoon in the side panel next to the GTX480 (to make sure that hot air doesn't all go through the CPU heatsink )

furthermore the extensions you see on the two CPU fans are from a three-way PWM splitter, with that splitter both of them hookup to the motherboard CPU fan header, PWM controlled =] I believe with the Asus P8p67pro they are now not temperature, but current controlled; so immediately when heavy load is applied (3dmark11 physics test for example) to the CPU they ramp up from ~700 to their maximum 1300ish

edit: and the push pull (140/120 by the way) is definitely nice, not only do the HDD temperatures drop more indicating there is a more direct airflow through the cage, it also makes sure the GTX480 gets fresh air from the bottom. Together with the 120 side LED fan it has it's own thermal zone. There is a 120 tie-wrapped beneath the DVD drive as well aimed directly at the CPU fan by the way

 

[iNvid02]

im not interested in this so someone else can have it, first person to quote me gets it.

 

[godhandiscen]

im not interested in this so someone else can have it, first person to quote me gets it.

I want to try it. Thank you.

 

[iNvid02]

I want to try it. Thank you.

pm sent

 

[JoeBoy101]

From my personal experience, speed fan reported core temps of around 15 C less than any other program - that's with an i5-760. Try using Core Temp or RealTemp. Both should report similar values to each other.

Thanks, will do. I had three different programs for it on my old machine, but only remembered Speedfan.

EDIT: That's more like it. Mid 20's for idle, mid to upper 50's for when under Prime95.

 

[Shadowhaxor]

Wish we knew the actual length of the GTX 560's that will be coming on. I fear the Antec 300 might be a wee bit short ;( I really don't want to get a new case, I love my Antec 300.

 

[Link Man]

Alright, I haven't been keeping up lately, but I was just wondering if there were any recent good low-profile video cards (for a good price). I got a Radeon HD 4650 last year, and it runs games pretty well, would it be worth it to upgrade?

I was also thinking of getting a new desktop sometime next year, so I could probably just wait until then (I've had my current PC around 2 years, but it's starting to show its age; plus, it's a Vista system).

 

[Mr_Brit]

Wish we knew the actual length of the GTX 560's that will be coming on. I fear the Antec 300 might be a wee bit short ;( I really don't want to get a new case, I love my Antec 300.

Exact same as the GTX 460 so it will fit in that case.

 

[ph33nix]

This is going to be torture.

I ordered my stuff with rush processing on Thursday. I'm in Brooklyn; my case and monitor are coming from New Jersey, and they will arrive Monday as I expected. Everything else is coming from Industry, CA on 3 day guaranteed and it's scheduled to arrive Wednesday I know the item will be in transit this weekend but I'm honestly expecting that it could arrive earlier than expected, on Tuesday. This is possible...RIGHT!?!?

And is using leather gloves okay when assembling everything? I hope that wasn't a dumb question but I couldn't find the answer on Google. I'm not sure if that's better, or just using clean, bare hands.

 

[LiquidMamba]

I ordered all of my parts on Jan. 9. Most of it was from Newegg, all of those parts arrived on Wednesday. I order my case from Amazon to save on shipping costs. Big mistake. They just shipped it out yesterday, and the estimated date of delivery is Jan 20. I'm seriously considering going to one of the computer shops around my area and just buying a case that will fit my stuff. Ugg.

 

[itxaka]

I just got my hands on a Compaq DC7900 Small form factor at work.

I was thinking of leaving it at work to play some games during the weekend (Dual core 2,5Ghz, 3Gb RAM) as the thing only needed a graphics card to be abgle to play some games (wow, torchligth, Titan quest, nothing too new)

The thing has a couple of x16 pcie slots but the goddam case is incredibly small so I don't know if the thing would be capable of using any standard graphics card.

This is what it says on the data sheet:

(1) LP PCI, (1) LP PCI Express x1, (2) PCI
Express x16 (standard), (2) FH PCI slots
(available via optional riser card)

But this are the dimensions:

3.95 x 13.3 x 14.9 in
(100.3 x 337.8 x 378.5)

I don't think there is a card that small, anyone who knows more than me care to point to a decent card that fits there?

Thanks!

 

[DrForester]

Just noticed there was a new thread. Wanted to add something about a case in the OP. The Anted P183 (and the P193).

Both are great and offer very very low nice and great cooling options when you add low speed quite fans to the front, but be very careful when selecting a CPU cooler. The materials on the case give noticeably less clearance for a cooler than other cases of comparable size. Still a great case just don't go overboard on the fan.

 

[mattiewheels]

Alright, I haven't been keeping up lately, but I was just wondering if there were any recent good low-profile video cards (for a good price). I got a Radeon HD 4650 last year, and it runs games pretty well, would it be worth it to upgrade?

I was also thinking of getting a new desktop sometime next year, so I could probably just wait until then (I've had my current PC around 2 years, but it's starting to show its age; plus, it's a Vista system).

I have the same card, and wonder if the 57xx series is the best way to upgrade for a reasonable price? Or could I get way better performance for a couple dollars more from another series?

 

[n0n44m]

I ordered all of my parts on Jan. 9. Most of it was from Newegg, all of those parts arrived on Wednesday. I order my case from Amazon to save on shipping costs. Big mistake. They just shipped it out yesterday, and the estimated date of delivery is Jan 20. I'm seriously considering going to one of the computer shops around my area and just buying a case that will fit my stuff. Ugg.

just build it on top of the motherboard box should hold until the 20th

 

[itxaka]

I just got my hands on a Compaq DC7900 Small form factor at work.

I was thinking of leaving it at work to play some games during the weekend (Dual core 2,5Ghz, 3Gb RAM) as the thing only needed a graphics card to be abgle to play some games (wow, torchligth, Titan quest, nothing too new)

The thing has a couple of x16 pcie slots but the goddam case is incredibly small so I don't know if the thing would be capable of using any standard graphics card.

This is what it says on the data sheet:

(1) LP PCI, (1) LP PCI Express x1, (2) PCI
Express x16 (standard), (2) FH PCI slots
(available via optional riser card)

But this are the dimensions:

3.95 x 13.3 x 14.9 in
(100.3 x 337.8 x 378.5)

I don't think there is a card that small, anyone who knows more than me care to point to a decent card that fits there?

Thanks!

I quote myself to say, this is what is called low profile slot cards? Becasue I have found one!

SAPPHIRE HD4350 lite! it's like 34€ so cheap as fuck and I guess that with the other components of the PC this would be more than enough!

 

[TheExodu5]

All ordered. Pretty stressful process, and I hope I didn't make any purchase mistakes. Can anyone confirm?

Case: FT02B-W
CPU: i5-2500K
MB: Asus P8P67 PRO
GPU: EVGA GTX 570
RAM: G. Skill 2x4GB 1600
PSU: Corsair 850HX
HDD: 2x Samsung F3 1TB
Fan: CM212+
O/S: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
DVD: Asus DRW-24B1ST
UPS: CyberPower PFC Adaptive Sinewave Intelligent LCD CP1000PFCLCD

Was tempted to add a Crucial C300 but decided to wait.

Looks great to me.

The only concern might be whether or not the RAM can run at 1.5V, since that's the max rated voltage for Sandy Bridge (though lots of people are reporting 1.65V is fine).

 

[hyelife]

So I need so recommendations here. After looking for a laptop to game with and use for general purpose, it would seem like I'm out of luck. So I have decided to get a Desktop for gaming.

Let me know if I should change anything and also decide the GPU.

Processor: Intel 2600k 329.99
Heatsink: COOLER MASTER V8 59.99
MB: ASUS P8P67 PRO 184.99
GPU: Cant decide weather to go with 6970 or 6950
Mem: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB 129.99
HDD: WD VelociRaptor 169.99
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W 89.99
Case: HAF 922 99.99
Monitor: LG E2360V 23" Full HD LED 249.99

 

[mclaren777]

Some advice for people mounting a cooler with heat pipes...

Thermal paste application

 

[Krauser Kat]

So the SSD is going fantastic, its only 80GB though so i was wondering if anyone has used SMYLINK (MKLINK) commands to place lesser used games on a separate larger harddrive while only keeping the games i want to play on my smaller SSD.

 

[JoeBoy101]

Those of you with GTX 570's, what kind of temps are you getting under load. Running the Metro 2033 benchmark, I'm getting high 50's to 60 from Speedfan. Want to make sure its not getting to high.

 

[TheExodu5]

Those of you with GTX 570's, what kind of temps are you getting under load. Running the Metro 2033 benchmark, I'm getting high 50's to 60 from Speedfan. Want to make sure its not getting to high.

85C at 60% fan speed under FurMark.

The differences in temps will just be due to the fan controller profile.

 

[TheExodu5]

So the SSD is going fantastic, its only 80GB though so i was wondering if anyone has used SMYLINK (MKLINK) commands to place lesser used games on a separate larger harddrive while only keeping the games i want to play on my smaller SSD.

I use this:

http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html

How to use:

Copy folder off drive.
Right click and "Pick as link source".
Right click where you want the link to appear and click "Drop Link As - Symbolic Link".

For Steam, you'd want to copy your steamapps folder off your SSD and use that.

 

[sh4mike]

Looks great to me.

The only concern might be whether or not the RAM can run at 1.5V, since that's the max rated voltage for Sandy Bridge (though lots of people are reporting 1.65V is fine).

Here's the one I bought. Voltage listed @ 1.5V. Should be good to go.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

 

[DrForester]

I use this:

http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html

How to use:

Copy folder off drive.
Right click and "Pick as link source".
Right click where you want the link to appear and click "Drop Link As - Symbolic Link".

For Steam, you'd want to copy your steamapps folder off your SSD and use that.

I've heard "steam mover" is great for moving steam games. I haven't reloaded enough on my new PC to need it yet though.

 

[EphemeralDream]

Newegg has some Xigmatek coolers on today and I heard good things about the HDT-1283. There's a Balder 1283 that is a few dollars more but looks more modern. Recommendations? I have an AM3 board and don't want something that's too crazy to install.

Slickdeals

 

[TheExodu5]

It really pisses me off how unoptimized WoW is. In Elowyn Forest, maxed out, I'm going down to 30fps on a friggin' 2500K @ 4.6GHz and 2x GTX 570. :lol

My CPU is being stressed to like 20%, and my GPUs to 50%. Makes no sense.

 

[Max]

What's the typical recommended 1TB+ HDD? I'm looking for one on NCIX

320 GB doesn't cut it after that Steam sale.

 

[mclaren777]

I have this HDD in my current rig and I have a question about transferring files to my upcoming SB machine.

The question: is it possible to connect this ATA drive to my SATA-only P8P67 motherboard?

I was hoping to set up my new drives (SDD&HDD) and then plug this one in later to copy files across, but now I'm doubting the likelihood of that happening due to incompatibility.


Edit: would something like this work? I'm particularly concerned by this disclaimer: "Please set the IDE drive to Master mode before connection the IDE drive."

 

[TheExodu5]

What's the typical recommended 1TB+ HDD? I'm looking for one on NCIX

320 GB doesn't cut it after that Steam sale.

Samsung or Seagate 7200RPM are good.

Samsung 5400RPM would be good...but you need to install the new firmware to avoid data corruption.