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[mkenyon]

CPU: i5-3750
RAM: 16GB (lol black friday sales)
Video Card: HIS Radeon 6950
Storage: Kingston 256GB SSD and WD Caviar Black 640TB
Enclosure: Temjin TJ08E-B

Very nice!

Might want to swap the fan around on the 212. The front fan on the TJ08 is intake. You ideally always want a fan in push on the heatsink (better control of where the air travels over the fins), and exhausting out the back works with the positive pressure layout naturally.

So I should proceed.
I was just worried if I applied the CPU thermal paste correctly. N yeah I Google'd the cpu fan error thing and it said its about the settings/what you said.
But I should proceed right? lol

Yes.

 

[Haly]

Very nice!

Might want to swap the fan around on the 212. The front fan on the TJ08 is intake. You ideally always want a fan in push on the heatsink (better control of where the air travels over the fins), and exhausting out the back works with the positive pressure layout naturally.

Yeah I just realized that I can reverse the fan to help the air flow. It won't fit on the left side because of the hard drive, I was already nervous having the wires so close to the heat sink so I made sure they were pulled taut.

 

[mkenyon]

How do you like the case so far? Such a cool concept.

 

[DagsJT]

Right then. Ordered the Arctic Cooling F12 PWM case fan, that should do the trick. I think it was mentioned here earlier, has great reviews and was cheap.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Can you wait a few months? AMD is supposedly launching the 8xxx series of cards Q1 or Q2. It will bring some price pressure on older models. Maybe the 8950 will fall in your price range too.

I'm in the exact same boat as Macattk15 (same processor, same video card) and looking to upgrade to either a 670, 680, 7950, or 7970. I've posted in this thread a few times trying to decide between Nvidia and ATI, and have done some searching online, but haven't been able to find anything to push me in either direction.

I was hoping to buy later this month, but I guess that depends on what the 8xxx series is shaping up to be. Do we have any information about them? Are people expecting a substantial leap in performance from the 7xxx series? Also, is there any word on Nvidia's next generation?

Also, if anyone wants to weigh in on the 670 vs 7950 or 680 vs 7970 debate, I'd appreciate it. I'll be running single monitor in 1920x1200, but want to be able to max games out while applying AA and still getting a good framerate.

 

[mkenyon]

Right then. Ordered the Arctic Cooling F12 PWM case fan, that should do the trick. I think it was mentioned here earlier, has great reviews and was cheap.

They have great airflow and static pressure, so can serve double duty as radiator/heatsink fans, and excel if they have obstructions in front of them like HDD cages.

I'm in the exact same boat as Macattk15 (same processor, same video card) and looking to upgrade to either a 670, 680, 7950, or 7970. I've posted in this thread a few times trying to decide between Nvidia and ATI, and have done some searching online, but haven't been able to find anything to push me in either direction.

I was hoping to buy later this month, but I guess that depends on what the 8xxx series is shaping up to be. Do we have any information about them? Are people expecting a substantial leap in performance from the 7xxx series? Also, is there any word on Nvidia's next generation?

Also, if anyone wants to weigh in on the 670 vs 7950 or 680 vs 7970 debate, I'd appreciate it. I'll be running single monitor in 1920x1200, but want to be able to max games out while applying AA and still getting a good framerate.

Nothing but rumors as of yet. Lots of conflicting rumors too. With Kepler, it will be in the same architecture, so I wouldn't expect anything huge.

Picking between the two seems to boil down to a couple preferences. If you like low power consumption, Nvidia's 3D tech, need additional dual link DVI connections, and aren't too concerned with overclocking, Kepler is the way to go. If you want possible huge overclocks, aren't concerned with power draw, don't need many/any dual link DVI, need displayport, and want to run multiple monitors and/or high AA, AMD Is the way to go.

 

[Haly]

How do you like the case so far? Such a cool concept.

Pretty good, although the build quality leaves something to be desired. The roof of the case is removable and you need to take it off to get access to the 5.25" drive bays, but when I finished building, it had trouble fitting on top. Right now, I can only secure 4 out of 6 screws, the other 2 screws are out of alignment, and I have no idea how to fix it short of taking a hammer to the thing.

I would've went with the Fractal Arc Mini if it wasn't so damn heavy, part of the reason I went for the mATX form factor in the first place is for the slight increase in portabability.

(Btw I loved your cabling guide!)

 

[garath]

Performance editions and trust me, the sound of my front fan is a LOT louder than leaves rustling With the front fan disconnected, the PC sounds great. The rear fan is voltage controlled and is whisper quiet. Just the front fan doesn't have a connection on my board to be voltage-controlled.

I'll check out the 7v adaptor though, and I've been looking at some fan controllers. Cheers for the tips.

Sorry about that. Didn't realize you were talking about the performance editions. If you have some money to throw at it the quiet version of the AF120 is very quiet. Very pleased with mine.

 

[Lkr]

OP says to use the pea method for thermal paste. other people say other things. there is a controversy for whatever reason. how should i do it, and does anyone have a video showing proper application of it?

 

[mkenyon]

OP says to use the pea method for thermal paste. other people say other things. there is a controversy for whatever reason. how should i do it, and does anyone have a video showing proper application of it?

tl;dr, doesn't really matter unless a few degrees is important to you. If it is, then it depends on your heatsink and processor for what kind of method is best. How well you mount the heatsink will have a greater impact on temperatures than method of applying TIM though.

 

[Akai__]

Something weird happened today. I won a serial code for Diablo 3 and chose to install it on my Samsung 830 and give it a try.

After 2 minutes in-game, my monitor went black, because my PC was shut down, without any countdown or notification. I didn't even realised it and thought it was the monitor, 1st. After I turned my PC on again, I had to start the system recovery, which was setting my PC back to a current state. Diablo 3 was still installed by the way.

I'm not using the SSD as my OS HDD, just as an additional HDD. Does anybody know, what could have caused this? I'm confused.

 

[scogoth]

OP says to use the pea method for thermal paste. other people say other things. there is a controversy for whatever reason. how should i do it, and does anyone have a video showing proper application of it?

Cheesy as hell I know, but shows different methods and how they spread.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annota...&feature=iv&src_vid=EyXLu1Ms-q4&v=ffK7L0Qj13Q

 

[Shambles]

Pretty good, although the build quality leaves something to be desired. The roof of the case is removable and you need to take it off to get access to the 5.25" drive bays, but when I finished building, it had trouble fitting on top. Right now, I can only secure 4 out of 6 screws, the other 2 screws are out of alignment, and I have no idea how to fix it short of taking a hammer to the thing.

I would've went with the Fractal Arc Mini if it wasn't so damn heavy, part of the reason I went for the mATX form factor in the first place is for the slight increase in portabability.

(Btw I loved your cabling guide!)

Looks good. I'll have to take some pictures of the finished build of my TJ08 for my wifes machine tonight. Yeah it's really a tight fit with the 212 fan on the side of the hard drives. What I did was remove the hard drive bay and put adapters in both 5.25" bays so that I put two 3.5" HDDs in them plus an SSD taped to the side. It was a pain though since the blank faceplates for the 5.25" bays don't just clip into the side of the case but protrude into the 5.25" getting in the way of internal adapters you may use. I ended up shift the adapters further back to make them work but because of that they are only held in by two screws each instead of four. You can also put a 3.5"/2.5" drive in the bottom of the hard drive cage where there is the 3.5" faceplate on the bottom front of the case. I didn't put a drive down there though since I wanted the SATA power cable to stay hidden on the top of the case. Right now there's just a 7750 in there. Eventually I'll probably put a 7870 and move the 7750 into the HTPC to replace the 4870 in there now. She also loves purple so I've been looking for a nice purple LED light to put inside the case so it shines through the front grating. I'll probably also put a purple 120mm fan on the back of the case as well. It seems like purple LEDs/fans are hard to come by. There's also a Steelseries mouse that can turn purple that I'll end up getting for her. I almost picked up a Razer and just do an LED mod on it but I really don't like where they're headed lately.

I don't recall there being 6 screws for the top panel. I thought it was two on each side but I'm guessing I just forgot to put in two on the back, heh. Overall the panels fit on fairly snug with a bunch of power cables hidden behind the motherboard. I haven't run into any problems with bulging panels causing screw holes not to lineup. Having the removable motherboard tray sure made the build a hell of a lot easier.

 

[MisterAnderson]

My friend is looking to build a gaming PC but wants a lower profile case for Big Picture Steam and couch gaming. I explained to him the limitations of smaller cases (upgrade limitations and typically not so good ventiliation) but he insists he would prefer it.

Are there any good options available? I'm out of the loop when it comes to lower profile PC cases and didn't spot any in the OP.

 

[mkenyon]

My friend is looking to build a gaming PC but wants a lower profile case for Big Picture Steam and couch gaming. I explained to him the limitations of smaller cases (upgrade limitations and typically not so good ventiliation) but he insists he would prefer it.

Are there any good options available? I'm out of the loop when it comes to lower profile PC cases and didn't spot any in the OP.

Fortunately the bolded above isn't really the case anymore.

Small Form Factor guide from the OP.

 

[kakashi08]

Okay, I have a problem.

-When I put in my MOBO CD for the Z77 to install the drivers. It takes forever to load the CD, and when i have the option to pick a driver to install example: LAN/audio/usb it says the application does not support this version "32bit" and i have windows 7 64 bit. I checked/confirmed.
Unless is there an option to change bit version in the MOBO bios??
Didn't have any problems installing AMD drivers from the cd or the windows.

-Also, I have a SAMSUNG 840 PRO SERIES SDD and in the taskbar it gives an option to remove it. Why is that?

-Last, I also have a regular HDD connected with a "SATA3G" wire. It's not showing up.

 

[mkenyon]

What is this mystical optical media you speak of? I think I might have one of those sitting next to a floppy drive in my closet maybe.

Download the drivers from the website. The ones on the DVD are probably out of date.

*edit*

Wait, you installed your graphics driver from dvd too!? Uninstall right away and get the newest from www.amd.com.

 

[Haly]

Looks good. I'll have to take some pictures of the finished build of my TJ08 for my wifes machine tonight. Yeah it's really a tight fit with the 212 fan on the side of the hard drives. What I did was remove the hard drive bay and put adapters in both 5.25" bays so that I put two 3.5" HDDs in them plus an SSD taped to the side. It was a pain though since the blank faceplates for the 5.25" bays don't just clip into the side of the case but protrude into the 5.25" getting in the way of internal adapters you may use. I ended up shift the adapters further back to make them work but because of that they are only held in by two screws each instead of four.

Since this is my first mATX build and the first build where I did heavy cable management, I went really vanilla just to be on the safe side. The idea of taping a SSD to someplace random gives my stomach butterflies.

You can also put a 3.5"/2.5" drive in the bottom of the hard drive cage where there is the 3.5" faceplate on the bottom front of the case. I didn't put a drive down there though since I wanted the SATA power cable to stay hidden on the top of the case.

I have my SSD there, and I routed the SATA cable out to the sides. I'm actually using two SATA cables, one for the Optical drive and HDD, and another for the SSD. I really hate how unflexible they are, or else I'd use only one.

I haven't run into any problems with bulging panels causing screw holes not to lineup. Having the removable motherboard tray sure made the build a hell of a lot easier.

My cables behind the motherboard tray were kind of bulky to the point where I noticed a bulge on the side panel after putting it on. I added some tape and more zip ties and it helped, although the back screws for the panels are strained pretty hard compared to the pair of screws for the other sidepanel.

I kind of miss the blue LEDs from my Antec 900, they were pretty reassuring.

 

[mkenyon]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811997072

Some blue lights for ya.

Protip on SSDs, you can literally put those anywhere with some double sided tape (3M Extreme Mounting Tape is my favorite). Hell, you could tape it to your actual HDD if you wanted.

Also if the SATA cables aren't behaving, you can always get a power extension. Then you just run it off one of the extra headers to get it where you need it.

 

[t-ramp]

I kind of miss the blue LEDs from my Antec 900, they were pretty reassuring.

I haven't used LED fans or extra lighting for a while, and I even unplugged the power light on my Elite 371 since it was like having a blue strobe light going when the PC was in standby. My fans are loud enough that I know it's on, though.

Protip on SSDs, you can literally put those anywhere with some double sided tape (3M Extreme Mounting Tape is my favorite). Hell, you could tape it to your actual HDD if you wanted.

At work we got a Gigabyte Z77 board with onboard mSATA the other day. It's pretty nifty being able to pop in a good-sized SSD there if one feels like it.

 

[Mrbob]

My Logitech Gaming Mouse started giving me the dreaded click --> double click issue.

Looked online and this issue seems fairly prevalent. I don't need a ton of buttons for MMOs, but whats one of the best balanced mice out there to play FPS and RTS games? Hopefully I can get a cheat sheet to look into and buy something this weekend.

 

[mkenyon]

My Logitech Gaming Mouse started giving me the dreaded click --> double click issue.

Looked online and this issue seems fairly prevalent. I don't need a ton of buttons for MMOs, but whats one of the best balanced mice out there to play FPS and RTS games? Hopefully I can get a cheat sheet to look into and buy something this weekend.

Sensei RAW is on sale on NCIXUS right now for like $41. It has two buttons on either side. It is best mouse. If you want more than that, maybe the Razer Naga Hex?

*edit*

If you like chunkier mice, the CM Storm Recon has a good amount of buttons that can be assigned to be any key, and has a great sensor. If you claw grip, it's hard to beat the Xornet as well. Best sensor in the game (same one on the Recon) with an unbeatable price.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

OP says to use the pea method for thermal paste. other people say other things. there is a controversy for whatever reason. how should i do it, and does anyone have a video showing proper application of it?

I just build my PC today and that along with the Hyper 212 lock made me nervous. I ended up putting just a little bit too much thermal paste which made me have to spread it around to get off the excess paste.

I haven't turned it on yet as I'm getting the house ready for some football tonight.

 

[Mrbob]

Sensei RAW is on sale on NCIXUS right now for like $41. It has two buttons on either side. It is best mouse. If you want more than that, maybe the Razer Naga Hex?

*edit*

If you like chunkier mice, the CM Storm Recon has a good amount of buttons that can be assigned to be any key, and has a great sensor. If you claw grip, it's hard to beat the Xornet as well. Best sensor in the game (same one on the Recon) with an unbeatable price.

Amazon has the Xornet for just over 20 bucks. Looking at some reviews, it's hard to believe a mouse rated this well could be so cheap. I've never used a mouse with claw grip before. Not sure if I could use to it.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Small inquiry on a program that would tune up my system. My OS is fast enough but startup has take a hit over the months. I ran CCCleaner and am currently running jv15 powertools (which I read was really good). It has a host of options so I hope this does the trick as the PC boots up more than fast enough but it used to boot faster.

 

[Exuro]

Are there any deals on the M4 or 830 ssds?

 

[x3r0123]

god damn, they just shipped my items from an order that is 2 weeks old. I just need to receive my mobo and i'll be set for my new pc

 

[Mikeside]

Are there any deals on the M4 or 830 ssds?

I'm selling an 830 512GB - it's a Dell version, but it's new and sealed.

Looking for about £300 PayPal, willing to ship internationally

This is the last time I'll post about it in here, I promise

 

[Bleether]

My Logitech Gaming Mouse started giving me the dreaded click --> double click issue.

.

My Logitech will be 6 years old next month!

It's astonishing that a $25 wireless mouse has such longevity. I cant think of any other object i have used practically everyday for 6 years that has not broke.

 

[DTKT]

Small inquiry on a program that would tune up my system. My OS is fast enough but startup has take a hit over the months. I ran CCCleaner and am currently running jv15 powertools (which I read was really good). It has a host of options so I hope this does the trick as the PC boots up more than fast enough but it used to boot faster.

Check MSCONFIG and take a look at the startup programs.

 

[NervousXtian]

So this is where my 3570k is at, any tips to get more out of it?

I'm not super good with knowing whats what in the bios. My brother applied the turbo thing and that didn't work.. we just did the OC to 4ghz option in the Bios and called it a day.. this is where it put it.

 

[Mrbob]

I think I'm sold on the Sensei Laser Mouse. Any pros and cons for the glossy black versus the rubberized black version? I'm leaning towards the rubberized black model.

My Logitech will be 6 years old next month!

It's astonishing that a $25 wireless mouse has such longevity. I cant think of any other object i have used practically everyday for 6 years that has not broke.

Yeah, my first logitech mouse treated me well. This one last only a little over a year, unfortunately. Good fortune with my first Logitech mouse made me go buy another. But it's time to move on to something else.

 

[mkenyon]

So this is where my 3570k is at, any tips to get more out of it?

I'm not super good with knowing whats what in the bios. My brother applied the turbo thing and that didn't work.. we just did the OC to 4ghz option in the Bios and called it a day.. this is where it put it.

Follow the OC guide in the OP. In simple summary, increase the multiplier until unstable. Bump up voltage until stable in somewhat large increments (.0X increments). Once you have hit a frequency/voltage that is bringing your temps into the 70s during load (use Prime 95 for stress and HWMonitor for temps), then start scaling back voltage in smaller increments to get it as low as you can as this will bring down heat.

I'm selling an 830 512GB - it's a Dell version, but it's new and sealed.

Looking for about £300 PayPal, willing to ship internationally

This is the last time I'll post about it in here, I promise

Keep posting it, no rules against such things here. Unless there is some GAF ToS rule that applies. Lots of people here don't go into the B/S/T thread, so definitely worth a few more reposts.

I think I'm sold on the Sensei Laser Mouse. Any pros and cons for the glossy black versus the rubberized black version? I'm leaning towards the rubberized black model.

Rubberized feels better in the hand, but it's harder to clean thoroughly (at least this is what I've been told by esports buds who have more than 10 hours a week to play games right now).

 

[Mikeside]

Follow the OC guide in the OP. In simple summary, increase the multiplier until unstable. Bump up voltage until stable in somewhat large increments (.0X increments). Once you have hit a frequency/voltage that is bringing your temps into the 70s during load (use Prime 95 for stress and HWMonitor for temps), then start scaling back voltage in smaller increments to get it as low as you can as this will bring down heat.

Keep posting it, no rules against such things here. Unless there is some GAF ToS rule that applies. Lots of people here don't go into the B/S/T thread, so definitely worth a few more reposts.

Awesome thanks - just didn't want to annoy people by turning the thread into me pushing it down everyones throats.

 

[mkenyon]

If your 300 figure had a $ sign in front of it, it would be on it's way to me

 

[Mikeside]

If your 300 figure had a $ sign in front of it, it would be on it's way to me

Lol, fair enough - it's a pretty great price as far as I can tell - the cheapest one I've seen for sale is £330. Don't suppose you'd go up to $400?

 

[Train of Midnight]

*siiiiiggghhh* Forgot you can't screw a HDD directly on your case without frying your PSU. Never felt my heart sink so quickly as when I saw the smoke on the 24-pin connector.

Fuck

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Check MSCONFIG and take a look at the startup programs.

That's a normal thing. I guess I should note that I'm pretty versed in steps to do but more so looking for good registry cleaners or tune up apps. The one I mentioned before is working right now but is taking long. Maybe it's going deeper or something lol

 

[jon_dojah]

Just received all my gear today. Before I start putting it together is there any advice words of wisdom I can use? How long should this take me to do including the installation of OS? Any potential issues I may run into that are common to people who are rusty on on building rigs? Thanks in advance

 

[Felix Lighter]

That is some stuff right there.

 

[Ty4on]

How long should this take me to do including the installation of OS?

From a USB to an SSD it's really quick to install an OS.

 

[Chesskid1]

Just received all my gear today. Before I start putting it together is there any advice words of wisdom I can use? How long should this take me to do including the installation of OS? Any potential issues I may run into that are common to people who are rusty on on building rigs? Thanks in advance

you'll be fine, it's easy as hell.

just remember be extra careful putting on the processor, since it takes a bit of force and you don't want to bend anything. after you get it on, the hardest part is behind you ^_^

 

[jon_dojah]

you'll be fine, it's easy as hell.

just remember be extra careful putting on the processor, since it takes a bit of force and you don't want to bend anything. after you get it on, the hardest part is behind you ^_^

hmmm thats the part i'm worried about and also adding the cooler block...luckily the thermal compound is pre-applied. I always felt like I was putting to much in the past. And yes I remember the slight flex you feel when pressing down the cpu. I'm gonna try to be firm but delicate as possible. here goes nothing :|

 

[TheD]

i3's are hyper threaded. i5's are not. Both have four threads. Although threads aren't as good as real cores, there are few games that use more than two cores. Those that do, are efficiently coded enough to give similar frame rates despite slightly weaker CPUs. In some cases, there is no performance difference. The games that have the most dramatic change based on CPU are single and dual threaded, and all that matters is frequency.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/677?vs=363
(note, anandtech does not have game benchmarks for the ivy bridge quad core).

http://www.computerbase.de/news/2012-11/eigene-benchmarks-zu-assassins-creed-iii/

More and more games will need quad core CPU's in the future (and Hyperthreading can even hurt performance in some games).

 

[Chairhome]

So, there is an issue with my router not being able to load videos quickly. I think I may just need to buy a new router. Any suggestions on a reliable, cheapish ($50-100) router?

I have DD-WRT on an E1000 Linksys router right now. Everything else is as fast as it should be, its only youtube and other video streaming sites that take forever, on my phone, tablet or PC. I've looked into the problem and I can't pin it down, I've tried multiple things. I'm just going to try getting a new router :-(.

 

[kakashi08]

I got my build up and running,
The Samsung 840 pro series is AMAZING.
Window boots up under 9 seconds!
Just thought I say that.
Didn't get a chance to use my crossfire 7970's yet.
Can't wait!

 

[Chesskid1]

So, there is an issue with my router not being able to load videos quickly. I think I may just need to buy a new router. Any suggestions on a reliable, cheapish ($50-100) router?

I have DD-WRT on an E1000 Linksys router right now. Everything else is as fast as it should be, its only youtube and other video streaming sites that take forever, on my phone, tablet or PC. I've looked into the problem and I can't pin it down, I've tried multiple things. I'm just going to try getting a new router :-(.

are you sure it's not just youtube? it takes forever for me to buffer youtube HD videos on all my devices, even on my PC sans router, and i know i have a fast connection. it's not my router, i have no problem streaming HD videos from netflix onto the same devices, for example.

 

[Chairhome]

are you sure it's not just youtube? it takes forever for me to buffer youtube HD videos on all my devices, even on my PC sans router, and i know i have a fast connection. it's not my router, i have no problem streaming HD videos from netflix onto the same devices, for example.

it might just be youtube and not other video sites (I haven't had problems with netflix or crunchyroll, now that i think about it), but its definitely a problem on my router. My phone and tablet have problems loading videos, and if I turn off wifi on my phone, it'll load the videos fine on 3g or 4g.

 

[AkIRA_22]

PSU BROS

aaahhhhh.... huh?

 

[kennah]

aaahhhhh.... huh?

He means you guys have the same power supply