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[Witchfinder General]

new build is up and running, but there is a bit of a story on how it got this way.

So I ordered my parts + case on Newegg on Monday. The case showed up today (Bitfenix Raider) at 7PM and I was eager to get building.

I tear into it and am opening up the case to check it out and I find this:

Front Panel:

Top Panel:

Well fuck. So I call up Newegg and just start the process of a refund, because fuck waiting another 2 weeks for a replacement case.

Once that is done I head out towards Microcenter and grab a Fractal Arc Midi (Probably should have done this in the first place)

As a reminder I am north of Atlanta and the Microcenter is pretty much where all the northbound traffic from the city and anywhere around it merges.

So I leave Microcenter and find myself sitting in the famous Atlanta traffic for 2 hours on my way home.

After that everything goes swimingly.

I have a few dangling fan wires I will clean up later. I am tired of dealing with this thing atm.

Ran Prime95 for a bit and these are the load temps I am getting on a 3570K @ stock settings. These look alright?

PS. That massive Noctua cooler is DEAD SILENT. I can't hear a thing from it. Super impressive.

I've got the same CPU and Noctua fan and my CPU averages at about 34-35c. Then again, I am using the Coolermaster Cosmos II case.

 

[Hazaro]

I've got the same CPU and Noctua fan and my CPU averages at about 34-35c. Then again, I am using the Coolermaster Cosmos II case.

Load says 100%

 

[Noaloha]

I don't know what source you have that says this, but I have not heard of such things. A friend of mine actually got a ~1275mhz clock out of his DCII 7970 on air. Pretty sweet card.

Morning. Sorry for the late reply, I went to bed shortly after posting.

I didn't scour the very corners of the internet last night to find sources or official confirmation, but I was first alerted to the voltage locked thing whilst idly clicking about the OCN forums (I got exhausted trying to make my way through their 1000+page 'official 7970' thread).

First thread that I saw mentioning it. Only 18 posts long.

Sample quote:

HD 7950 DCII Top is unlocked, i can alter up to 1.3V.
Its pretty idiotic asus locked voltage control on HD 7970 DCII models.

Then a hurried google search led me to this.

Sample quote:

I've had three Asus 7970 DCII TOPs and one hit 1200c / the other two hit 1175c w/ reasonable mV. Is your's a TOP? If not, no voltage control from what I've read. Good price for a fast card nonetheless.

And etc.

So yeah, I wasn't sure what to make of it. Lots of what the people are talking about with regards to the terms and values and actions are still in a mysterious foreign language to me though, so I was hoping that I was misunderstanding. Or, even better, that the voltage locked thing was plain old bullshit and the threads I linked to were just flat out wrong.

EDIT: Another forum topic on the subject. - Again, mixed messages to someone like me who is still new to the terminology; there's what looks like confirmations of it being an issue, then confirmations of what looks like a fix, then mention of zero positive results from said fix, etc.

 

[DodgyGeezerFella]

GTA IV - 60 FPS glory.... i love my i5.

Just been playing some Warhead, not a single stutter so far, including the resort at the end of the first level, performance remains steady throughout.

This new CPU is so far impressing me more than a GPU upgrade has

 

[hiryu]

I want to upgrade something without breaking the bank too bad.

Current setup is:

i5-2500k
4 GB RAM
GTX 460
Normal HD

I figure a SSD drive and a new video card would be the best upgrade path and maybe some more RAM. What's the biggest noticeable upgrade and if I upgrade the video card what is my best option?

 

[factorybelt]

I want to upgrade something without breaking the bank too bad.

Current setup is:

i5-2500k
4 GB RAM
GTX 460
Normal HD

I figure a SSD drive and a new video card would be the best upgrade path and maybe some more RAM. What's the biggest noticeable upgrade and if I upgrade the video card what is my best option?

Seems like an SSD ticks all your boxes (reasonably cheap, noticeable performance improvement).

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I want to upgrade something without breaking the bank too bad.

Current setup is:

i5-2500k
4 GB RAM
GTX 460
Normal HD

I figure a SSD drive and a new video card would be the best upgrade path and maybe some more RAM. What's the biggest noticeable upgrade and if I upgrade the video card what is my best option?

In everyday life? An SSD. It's the most noticeable performance upgrade you can ever make. It'll also make any time you run out of 4GB of RAM (however often you have that occur) much less noticeable since secondary storage is so fast.

 

[kharma45]

I want to upgrade something without breaking the bank too bad.

Current setup is:

i5-2500k
4 GB RAM
GTX 460
Normal HD

I figure a SSD drive and a new video card would be the best upgrade path and maybe some more RAM. What's the biggest noticeable upgrade and if I upgrade the video card what is my best option?

Yeah an SSD as has already been said. The 460 is still a decent card, what you'd upgrade to depends on what resolution you're playing at and how much cash you can spare.

Is your i5 overclocked? If not it can be a relatively cheap performance boost.

 

[hiryu]

Yeah an SSD as has already been said. The 460 is still a decent card, what you'd upgrade to depends on what resolution you're playing at and how much cash you can spare.

Is your i5 overclocked? If not it can be a relatively cheap performance boost.

Nope, never overclocked the i5, I should do that.

I play at 1920x1080. I'm looking to spend about 200-300.

 

[gatti-man]

I need a 240gb ssd whats the best bang for the buck. Must be reliable. It will be a primary drive.

 

[IcyRhythms]

With new consoles coming in the next year or two, does anyone think buying a couple of 670's or even two 680's would be rendered irrelevant in that same time? Are next gen consoles even going to be close to current high end PC performance? or will MS and Sony play it safe based on the current economic climate...

 

[mxgt]

With new consoles coming in the next year or two, does anyone think buying a couple of 670's or even two 680's would be rendered irrelevant in that same time?

No way. Next gen consoles won't even come close to SLI 670 or 680 performance unless they want to charge £700+ for a console.

 

[IcyRhythms]

No way. Next gen consoles won't even come close to SLI 670 or 680 performance unless they want to charge £700+ for a console.

Yeah, didn't think so myself. Part of me still wants to wait for the 7xx series next year as my 570 is still going strong for most games.

 

[Infinite Justice]

I need a 240gb ssd whats the best bang for the buck. Must be reliable. It will be a primary drive.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W2JL2A/?tag=neogaf0e-20


The Crucial M4 has gotten many praise (its one of the preferred choices in the OP)and its as cheap as i've ever seen it so far

 

[gatti-man]

With new consoles coming in the next year or two, does anyone think buying a couple of 670's or even two 680's would be rendered irrelevant in that same time? Are next gen consoles even going to be close to current high end PC performance? or will MS and Sony play it safe based on the current economic climate...

Irrevant? No. They will hopefully get utilized though.

 

[Ceebs]

So overclocking question, what sort of voltage offset max should I be looking at before I stop trying to push it further? Is it more of a heat issue?

 

[kharma45]

Nope, never overclocked the i5, I should do that.

I play at 1920x1080. I'm looking to spend about 200-300.

For a relatively small outlay for a decent cooler (if you don't already have one) you might as well make use of the fact you've a K CPU.

For that price range GPU wise you'd be looking at something like a 7850 (I recommend them highly, overclock like a demon).

Yeah, didn't think so myself. Part of me still wants to wait for the 7xx series next year as my 570 is still going strong for most games.

Yeah the 570 is more than plenty until the next gen of graphics cards come out.

 

[gatti-man]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W2JL2A/?tag=neogaf0e-20


The Crucial M4 has gotten many praise around the place (its one of the preferred choices in the OP)and its as cheap as i've ever seen it so far

Wow bought! Ive been struggling on a 120gb x-25m for 2 years this will be sweet.

 

[Infinite Justice]

I didn't get an answer to this question

and while on this topic, if the power supply comes with a 4 pin CPU plug is it cool to place it in that same 8pin socket? if so any disadvantages?

 

[Horsemama1956]

I didn't get an answer to this question

Yeah the 4 pin will fit into one side and only one. May limit overclocking potential, but other then that it's not a big deal.

 

[abunai]

Yeah the 4 pin will fit into one side and only one. May limit overclocking potential, but other then that it's not a big deal.

Just make sure to stick it in the correct side if you're only putting a 4pin in. It'll say in your motherboard manual.

 

[saltinekracka]

Thanks to this thread, I've done a little bit of mix and matching and have come up with a build. Can anyone double check this and let me know if everything looks good, or have any suggestions?


Processor: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
Graphics: XFX HD-687A-ZHFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Power Supply: Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Storage: Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM
Case: COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

 

[Hazaro]

Thumbs up.
Go low profile RAM if possible. I know some people like the big heatsinks, but they don't help. Worth it to not run into CPU heatsink issues.

 

[K' Dash]

Guys, Can anyone point me to a good tutorial to OC a Sapphire 7850, I don't know the first thing about OCing, so bear that in mind.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Should I use the CCC or MSI afterburner?

 

[Infinite Justice]

Wow bought! Ive been struggling on a 120gb x-25m for 2 years this will be sweet.

Cool.

I just dont have the funds for one yet but i'm really interested. Plus update the firmware as i hear that helps out.

Yeah the 4 pin will fit into one side and only one. May limit overclocking potential, but other then that it's not a big deal.

Just make sure to stick it in the correct side if you're only putting a 4pin in. It'll say in your motherboard manual.

Thanks i will keep that in mind, unless the situation changes.

Thumbs up.
Go low profile RAM if possible. I know some people like the big heatsinks, but they don't help. Worth it to not run into CPU heatsink issues.

Are there any of those issues with the normal Vengeance and the Cooler Master Hyper 212+?

 

[kharma45]

Guys, Can anyone point me to a good tutorial to OC a Sapphire 7850, I don't know the first thing about OCing, so bear that in mind.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Should I use the CCC or MSI afterburner?

Use neither, they don't allow for unlocking of the voltage.

After install, go into Settings and tick the following boxes.
*GPU Voltage
*Overclocking range enhancement

GPU tool now opens up the clock ranges for my reference 7850 up to 1720MHz GPU and 9600MHz. Needless to say, don't try that high.

Aim for around 1200MHz, you shouldn't need to go above 1.2v for that, I managed it completely stable at 1.175v but it varies from card to card.

For the memory on GPU Tool I found 5800MHz was my sweetspot.

 

[endresults]

Hah! Union Gap. I'm right over the mountains from you in Oly. Went to Central for a year, so of course went over to Yakima often to buy electronic toys.

Grats on the case, good luck with the build.

*edit*
To be clear, I meant "funny how small forum worlds can be".

You ever head over to PDXLAN?

Super late reply... building my new toy. Never been to PDXLAN... In fact, I've never heard of it. The Valley is 10 years behind everything.

 

[Noaloha]

Are there any of those issues with the normal Vengeance and the Cooler Master Hyper 212+?

Take a look at this thread. Be sure to read all three pages though - what at first looks like a snug fit is made more complicated by a model revision that adds a millimetre or two of extra width. I think, if low profile RAM isn't an option for w/e reason, it boils down to whether you're using 2xDimm in A2+B2 (tight fit but workable) or 4xDIMM (buggered due to losing the A1 slot). I have to imagine differing motherboard layouts play a factor too, unless the space and arrangement of CPU to DIMM slots is universal.

 

[Liquid_Bike]

About to pull the trigger on this any glaring flaws?

Prices are CDN if they seem high.

I didn't include an aftermarket cpu cooler because I don't plan to overclock the cpu anytime soon.

 

[TheExodu5]

Get the Asus GTX 670 instead of that EVGA GTX 680. It's on sale today, and is actually faster because it has a better cooler:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=71705&vpn=GTX670-DC2-2GD5&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1223

 

[kharma45]

About to pull the trigger on this any glaring flaws?

Prices are CDN if they seem high.

The only thing really that jumps out to me is the 680, if it were me I'd swap it and go for a 670.

It's a lot less money and the performance is pretty much the same bar a few frames.

8GB of RAM would probably do too but it depends on what you're doing with it I guess.

Money saved from those two could go towards an SSD maybe.

 

[MrBig]

About to pull the trigger on this any glaring flaws?


Prices are CDN if they seem high.

I didn't include an aftermarket cpu cooler because I don't plan to overclock the cpu anytime soon.

Get a Z77 board unless you want to deal with bios flashing for some reason. kharma's suggestions are also good, lose the 680. 500-600w PSU unless you plan to SLI later.

 

[Liquid_Bike]

I'm looking at these two power supplies and the 750 is cheaper then the 650.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=42532

and

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=58382&promoid=1223

Any reason not to take the 750?

 

[Smokey]

Noticed that when I'm using Chrome my GPU is at stock clock (915mhz) and 50c. When I use IE it idles like it should, down to 324mhz, with temps of about 35c.

Because of this I've been using IE as of late but it really is a lot slower than Chrome. Does anybody know how to fix this?

 

[MrBig]

I'm looking at these two power supplies and the 750 is cheaper then the 650.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=42532

and

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=58382&promoid=1223

Any reason not to take the 750?

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52176

Same producer and it's modular, the 750 is not.

Noticed that when I'm using Chrome my GPU is at stock clock (915mhz) and 50c. When I use IE it idles like it should, down to 324mhz, with temps of about 35c.

Because of this I've been using IE as of late but it really is a lot slower than Chrome. Does anybody know how to fix this?

Looks like GPU acceleration is integrated into the browser in a way that can't be disabled. Firefox GPU acceleration can be disable and I don't think IE even has it.

 

[Zombie James]

I'm looking at these two power supplies and the 750 is cheaper then the 650.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=42532

and

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=58382&promoid=1223

Any reason not to take the 750?

The TX series is Bronze (82-85% efficiency), the HX series is Gold (87-90%). Both are manufactured by Seasonic so they're very high quality.

edit: Oh, and that TX750 isn't modular.

 

[cackhyena]

I had been eyeing the i5 2500k for the longest time. The 3570k is near the same price. Should I just be looking at that instead?

 

[EternalGamer]

Get a Z77 board unless you want to deal with bios flashing for some reason. kharma's suggestions are also good, lose the 680. 500-600w PSU unless you plan to SLI later.

Do all non z77 1155 motherboards require a bios flash before Recognizing Ivy Bridge?

 

[Liquid_Bike]

Ok thanks for the power suppy advise I've changed that now.

As far as z77 vs z68 is it worth an extra ~$40 for the z77? I don't have any usb 3.0 devises now and will probably only ever do a mild cpu overclock at best. I'm not sure if its worth the extra cash. I always tend to upgrade the CPU and motherboard at the same time so I'm thinking the z68 might be good enough for me but I'd like a second opinion.

Edit: EternalGamer wrote his post while I was typing but that would be a big factor.

 

[JJBro One]

is anyone else having framerate issues with dayz/Arma2? I'm running 670's sli, 16gb of ram, i5 2500k OC 4.5ghz, and I'm getting fps low as 30 running everything at very high on 1920x1080.

 

[kharma45]

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52176

Same producer and it's modular, the 750 is not.

Looks like GPU acceleration is integrated into the browser in a way that can't be disabled. Firefox GPU acceleration can be disable and I don't think IE even has it.

The HX650 is a SeaSonic unit apparently and the 750 is a ChannelWell.

Also, IE9 does have GPU acceleration.

 

[Smokey]

Looks like GPU acceleration is integrated into the browser in a way that can't be disabled. Firefox GPU acceleration can be disable and I don't think IE even has it.

this has the potential to ruin my day

The HX650 is a SeaSonic unit apparently and the 750 is a ChannelWell.

Also, IE9 does have GPU acceleration.

yes it does and it de-clocks when it should. chrome it just stays at 915mhz regardless of what is going on..

 

[mkenyon]

Yeah, didn't think so myself. Part of me still wants to wait for the 7xx series next year as my 570 is still going strong for most games.

Grab a used 570 and go SLI if you want more performance in the interim. Waiting for 7xx is a good idea, or even AMD 8xxx.

So overclocking question, what sort of voltage offset max should I be looking at before I stop trying to push it further? Is it more of a heat issue?

You have a Noctua DF cooler, right? You never want your max voltage going over 1.45 with that cooler, and even that is pushing it. Keeping close to 1.4 is a good idea generally. But yeah, heat is the main thing you're going to be contending with.

I didn't get an answer to this question

You should have an 8pin, and depending on your processor, you'll need it to run it at load.

Guys, Can anyone point me to a good tutorial to OC a Sapphire 7850, I don't know the first thing about OCing, so bear that in mind.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Should I use the CCC or MSI afterburner?

Sapphire Trixx. No one really comes out with overclocking guides for GPUs because A) They're simple, and B) Each one is different. If you look at a review of your card, you'll have a general idea of what you will want to be doing once you read the 'overclocking' section. The process is this generally: increase core clock and volts until the heat/sound is no longer acceptable and you get it stable. If it isnt stable, increase volts. If the increased volts makes it stable but puts the temps too high, reduce both clock and volts until it is stable again. Once you have that dialed down, start working on the memory clock.

Super late reply... building my new toy. Never been to PDXLAN... In fact, I've never heard of it. The Valley is 10 years behind everything.

You should check it out. Only a ~3 hour drive for you, and it's the largest LAN on the west coast. 550-600 gamers, tons of prizes, cool dudes, and amazing hobbyists. They even leaked the 580s/570s there a year ago two days before the initial launch. Was pretty rad. I've been to maybe 10 of them and I've only not walked away with a prize twice. If you're into the tech side of it, being able to chat directly with ASUS, Sapphire, and NVIDIA guys about the products is amazing. They'll talk about stuff that would otherwise never ever hit the PR circuit.

Do all non z77 1155 motherboards require a bios flash before Recognizing Ivy Bridge?

If it doesn't have the latest BIOS, yes.

this has the potential to ruin my day

yes it does and it de-clocks when it should. chrome it just stays at 915mhz regardless of what is going on..

So you mean it's like a normal videocard. Does it really matter? Using chrome, and my 690 is inaudible even at head level 3 feet from my ear.

I had been eyeing the i5 2500k for the longest time. The 3570k is near the same price. Should I just be looking at that instead?

If you are overclocking past 4.5, 2500K is where its at. Otherwise yes.

 

[Hellish]

now my least favourite part, everything to the power supply neatly, so there is no side panel bump.

 

[mkenyon]

Good lord that's a ton of fans. Looks good though.

Might want to look into a set of Demciflex fliters. Will save you tons of effort down the road.

 

[Liquid_Bike]

now my least favourite part, everything to the power supply neatly, so there is no side panel bump.

Damn thats beautiful

 

[BolognaSoup]

Picked up all my parts at MicroCenter today except PSU and case. Going to order the Seasonic M12II online.

I need to find a case now. So many friggin choices! I'm afraid the Corsair 600t might be a bit bigger than I want. I felt like the Coolermasters were butt ugly.

 

[cametall]

now my least favourite part, everything to the power supply neatly, so there is no side panel bump.

If your Corsair cooler makes a buzzing/clicking/HDD reading noise you may want to get a hold of RamGuy in the Corsair forums. Assuming it is an H60/80/100

 

[Curufinwe]

I'm downloading the demo on Space Marine now and would like to buy it, but I'm a bit worried as to how my E6420 @ 2.13 GHZ and my 768 MB GTX 460 will handle it now I have a 1080p monitor.

Is there a certain resolution I shouldn't go over with a 768 MB card? I do overclock the processor to 2.8 GHz in the winter, but it's too hot to do that in the summer.

 

[BolognaSoup]

What would you guys recommend?

1. Seasonic m12ii 620 watt for $90
or
2. Corsair enthusiast TX V2 650 watt for $100

Both are modular. Will be running a GTX 670 and 3570k