Support NeoGAF

[sk3tch]

I've found IBT to be pretty crappy, simply because it makes my CPU about 20 degrees hotter than it ever gets in a real usage situation... it's just completely unnecessary.

Exactly though - true stability. You can OC, or you can OC. If you want to have it run and not crash 95% of the time, great. But I don't like crashes so I try to root out all problems with my OCs.

There's also this:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/motherboards/desktop-motherboards/desktop-boards-software-extreme-tuning-utility.html

 

[mkenyon]

I'm considering buying a 128GB SSD today (Samsung 830).
Is 128 GB enough for Windows + a few programs + a few Steam games? Or would you recommend going with a bigger drive?

I guess it is enough, I just want to know if someone got one and felt limited pretty fast or something.

More than enough. You can do a number of games, OS, and a bevy of productivity applications on a 90GB drive. 120 is nice and roomy.

Exactly though - true stability. You can OC, or you can OC. If you want to have it run and not crash 95% of the time, great. But I don't like crashes so I try to root out all problems with my OCs.

There's also this:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/motherboards/desktop-motherboards/desktop-boards-software-extreme-tuning-utility.html

I've never seen any evidence that IBT finds fault where Prime in FFT hasn't. They both provide the same load, IBT in particular just gives artificially high temperatures.

 

[YianGaruga]

Thanks for the advice on the SSD. I sadly missed the deal and didn't buy anything, but I think I'd be fine with a 128GB, since my system partition is currently only ~25GB and I don't have a large number of games installed at a time anyway. For everything else there's Steam Mover.

That said, if you can afford the 256GB, then you might as well get that one.

Can't really comfortably afford it, so I was checking if a 128 would be enough. I guess it is.
EDIT: Just got a Samsung 830 128GB for 80€. Prices will probably fall even more in the coming months but I think it's a great deal right now.

 

[Xdrive05]

I'm considering buying a 128GB SSD today (Samsung 830).
Is 128 GB enough for Windows + a few programs + a few Steam games? Or would you recommend going with a bigger drive?

I guess it is enough, I just want to know if someone got one and felt limited pretty fast or something.

I have the same SSD with Windows 7 Ultimate with some programs installed and all the OS updates, not just the "recommended." Right now I have 94.7GB free out of 119GB.

I install most of my games to a 2nd (platter) hard drive, and I use Steam Tool to move them to and from the SSD as I see fit. That part is important. It's all about managing the space you have...take things off when you don't need them at the ready.

For the setup, follow the SSD guides in the OP and that's all there is to it.

That said, if you can afford the 256GB, then you might as well get that one.

 

[hypernima]

Anyone know anything about the Galaxy and EVGA 660ti's? their on sale right now. I was gonna go with the ASUS but if these are similar I might get them instead.

 

[mkenyon]

Anyone know anything about the Galaxy and EVGA 660ti's? their on sale right now. I was gonna go with the ASUS but if these are similar I might get them instead.

Unless you need NVIDIA for a specific reason, the 7950 is a comparative steal at the same price.

EVGA cards will run louder, and I'm uncertain on the Galaxy cards. If its non-reference, I'd look for a review to see how the cooler performs. The ASUS DCII and Gigabyte Windforce are for certain amazing performers.

 

[hypernima]

Unless you need NVIDIA for a specific reason, the 7950 is a comparative steal at the same price.

EVGA cards will run louder, and I'm uncertain on the Galaxy cards. If its non-reference, I'd look for a review to see how the cooler performs. The ASUS DCII and Gigabyte Windforce are for certain amazing performers.

Oh I'm getting it for the Mercury Playback Engine, and Coincidentally my friend just convinced me to go for the ASUS as you posted so it's pretty much confirmed

 

[yn-neko hates a cat]

I'm supprised not more people go with the PCI-E based SSD solutions. Why let SATA limit you?

 

[sk3tch]

More than enough. You can do a number of games, OS, and a bevy of productivity applications on a 90GB drive. 120 is nice and roomy.

I've never seen any evidence that IBT finds fault where Prime in FFT hasn't. They both provide the same load, IBT in particular just gives artificially high temperatures.

Do the tests yourself. You'll see. I've had Prime95 stable rigs that crumble under IBT/Linpack. IBT is what Intel uses - Linpack. It's in that tool I linked to. Not sure why anyone would use anything else. The TJunction of most of these CPUs is 100Cish so it's not like it's going to melt...and also the Intel XTU app has a watchdog service.

 

[L0st Id3ntity]

I would say just grab another 9xx to save money. But, you already have a 690 so I dont think $ is that huge of an issue. Go X79 + 3820, upgrade to Ivy-E hex/whatever when its out. Make sure you get decent RAM, the frequency headroom will help because you need to OC via BCLK on the 3820. Should be able to hit 4.8-5.0 with a decent cooler.

Thanks, researched for a couple of days and just did that. Now I just want a new case...

What looks cooler but is just as spacious as my current HAF X?

This looks nice, what case is it?


I don't think I'll build it myself this time though, it's a nice experience to have once, then it's just work.

 

[chaosblade]

Thanks, researched for a couple of days and just did that. Now I just want a new case...

What looks cooler but is just as spacious as my current HAF X?

This looks nice, what case is it?


I don't think I'll build it myself this time though, it's a nice experience to have once, then it's just work.

Might want to quote that picture to make it smaller.

And it appears to be a BitFenix Colossus.

 

[DTKT]

Anyone has any experience with hard drive bays/external adapter?

Basically, family calls, computer was on fire so a powder extinguisher was used. Hard-drive doesn't boot anymore but computer appears to be fine beyond burned CD-Drive connections. That has me somewhat worried. I need to remove the hard drive and check if it can be used externally to recover some files.

I'm guessing that any 3.5/SATA external adapter is going to work, but just making sure. Any tips?

 

[Shining Sunshine]

So about the Steelseries Sensei, what makes it special over other mice?

 

[Ledsen]

Do the tests yourself. You'll see. I've had Prime95 stable rigs that crumble under IBT/Linpack. IBT is what Intel uses - Linpack. It's in that tool I linked to. Not sure why anyone would use anything else. The TJunction of most of these CPUs is 100Cish so it's not like it's going to melt...and also the Intel XTU app has a watchdog service.

I'm sure that's true... but why would you need something to be stable under IBT specifically? It will still be stable in basically 100% of real-life situations.

 

[sk3tch]

I'm sure that's true... but why would you need something to be stable under IBT specifically? It will still be stable in basically 100% of real-life situations.

I personally don't want crashes. I want to OC and have stability. 95% stability isn't good enough.

 

[mkenyon]

So about the Steelseries Sensei, what makes it special over other mice?

The sensor, more than anything. It's so friggen precise. "But my mouse already points where I point at", one might say. There are a ton of misses that you are having because your mouse isn't the Sensei.

After that comes the adjustable nature of the settings. You play a new game and can create a profile specifically for it. For our team, we have one guy spectate in first person (or just watch recorded video/streamed video if you can't spectate) and then make CPI adjustment recommendations based on where you are aiming. Rather than figuring out a whole new system and learning new muscle memory, you can alter X, Y, and Z (lift off distance) to work with the memory you already have.

Ergonomics are nearly perfect for all hands. For any game where my X and Y CPI is going to be the same (Warsow, T:A, Q3 Live, MOBA games) I use the CM Spawn because I have fairly small hands and I play with really low sens. I need total control with a palm grip in order to remain accurate. If you don't use a 3-4' square in games then its perfect still, even with small hands. In games where I have uneven X and Y (CoD, CS:GO, BF, Random Modern Shooter #379) I use the Sensei to have those settings just right.

All of the pro gamers I know will use the Sensei at home even if they are sponsored by CM/Razer/Whoever because it's that good.

I personally don't want crashes. I want to OC and have stability. 95% stability isn't good enough.

Anecdotal! Where is this 95% number coming from? Playing this game allows such logic as:

I never have CPU related blue screens when not doing suicide runs. Therefore, Prime 95 on Small FFT is 100% reliable for stability testing.

Give me some real data to convince me, I am keeping an open mind. If you can find something other than an appeal to authority or anecdotal positing, I will cease to use Prime 95 for my stability testing.

Thanks, researched for a couple of days and just did that. Now I just want a new case...

What looks cooler but is just as spacious as my current HAF X?

Current kings of the full tower recommendation in the $100-200 range are the Lian Li PC-90, CM Storm Stryker/Trooper, NZXT Switch 810, and BitFenix Shinobi XL. I love my Shinobi XL a lot.

 

[beje]

About those recomending Steam mover... they're adding native extra folders in the Steam Beta releases. Just opt-in from the settings menu and you're done. Every time you install a game it will ask if you want to use the default folder or another one in a different drive. Some of them seems not to be compatible but you can still move them by hand to the other folder and they will still work.

Edit: just a question I couldn't get answered before, are the self-contained water coolers actually good and reliable? Or just a gimmick that will get ruined in a couple of years? I'm talking about these:

Reviews I've seen about the Antec H20 620 model (a budget one, at 60&#8364 put it really great but I guess I need some second opinion.

 

[Shambles]

I personally don't want crashes. I want to OC and have stability. 95% stability isn't good enough.

It's more like a difference between being 99.997 and 99.998% stable.

 

[mkenyon]

Edit: just a question I couldn't get answered before, are the self-contained water coolers actually good and reliable? Or just a gimmick that will get ruined in a couple of years? I'm talking about these:

Reviews I've seen about this particular model put it really great but I guess I need some second opinion.

It's a choice of aesthetics really. I use them because I like to have really strict control of case airflow and I constantly tinker with my PC's, so having a more open interior is really nice for me. That's a total niche reason for having one though.

Of course, there are some builds out there that make me want to buy specific air coolers just to emulate the design. This is the one that always pops up into my head when I generally say I like the look of water cooling more as the trump card:

Otherwise, they just can't compare in $erformance as comparable air coolers. The NZXT Havik 140 and CM TPC 812 (number of others) are right with the H100 in terms of performance for 40-50% of the price. The smaller 120mm closed loop coolers are outperformed by $35 coolers.

 

[golem]

I'm considering buying a 128GB SSD today (Samsung 830).
Is 128 GB enough for Windows + a few programs + a few Steam games? Or would you recommend going with a bigger drive?

I guess it is enough, I just want to know if someone got one and felt limited pretty fast or something.

Yes it will be enough but sometimes you will feel squeezed. Steamtool will help with this (moving old games to a storage drive).

I'd recommend getting a 256 if possible

 

[beje]

It's a choice of aesthetics really. I use them because I like to have really strict control of case airflow and I constantly tinker with my PC's, so having a more open interior is really nice for me. That's a total niche reason for having one though.

Of course, there are some builds out there that make me want to buy specific air coolers just to emulate the design. This is the one that always pops up into my head when I generally say I like the look of water cooling more as the trump card:

http://i.imgur.com/ihFCLl.jpg[IMG]

Otherwise, they just can't compare in $:performance as comparable air coolers. The NZXT Havik 140 and CM TPC 812 (number of others) are right with the H100 in terms of performance for 40-50% of the price. The smaller 120mm closed loop coolers are outperformed by $35 coolers.[/QUOTE]

Thanks! So, in the end they are actually good and safe, but just a matter of aesthetics. Ok, got it!

 

[Tomodachi]

So I'd like to change my CPU. I have a Phenom II X4 840 (it's crap actually, it doesn't even have L3 like the other Phenom CPUs, it's a Athlon II X4 in disguise) and I was thinking i3-3220. Of course I'll need to change also my mainboard and RAM with those suggested in the OP.
Just to be clear, AsRock H61M-S is the same as the VS model with an added DVI port, right? 'Cause I can only find the S model on the Italian Amazon store, no trace of the VS.

Anyway, fact is I fell in love with the CoolerMaster Elite 120 Advanced, it looks really really good and I've always wanted a smaller PC, and my case is very old and crappy so I thought what the hell, let's change that too. But the mainboard suggested in the OP is a bit on the pricey side for my budget (ASUS P8H77I). So I was wondering, are there other decent and cheaper mini-itx around (socket 1155)? I don't feel like adding a case and a much more expensive motherboard to the budget

Otherwise, are there smaller m-atx cases that remotely look like the Elite 120?

One last thing: I have a 560 Ti from MSI (Twin Frozr II something? can't recall at the moment). Would that fit inside an Elite 120 or a smaller case than a normal mini-tower?

 

[mkenyon]

So I'd like to change my CPU. I have a Phenom II X4 840 (it's crap actually, it doesn't even have L3 like the other Phenom CPUs, it's a Athlon II X4 in disguise) and I was thinking i3-3220. Of course I'll need to change also my mainboard and RAM with those suggested in the OP.
Just to be clear, AsRock H61M-S is the same as the VS model with an added DVI port, right? 'Cause I can only find the S model on the Italian Amazon store, no trace of the VS.

Anyway, fact is I fell in love with the CoolerMaster Elite 120 Advanced, it looks really really good and I've always wanted a smaller PC, and my case is very old and crappy so I thought what the hell, let's change that too. But the mainboard suggested in the OP is a bit on the pricey side for my budget (ASUS P8H77I). So I was wondering, are there other decent and cheaper mini-itx around (socket 1155)? I don't feel like adding a case and a much more expensive motherboard to the budget

Otherwise, are there smaller m-atx cases that remotely look like the Elite 120?

One last thing: I have a 560 Ti from MSI (Twin Frozr II something? can't recall at the moment). Would that fit inside an Elite 120 or a smaller case than a normal mini-tower?

SFF Guide from the OP

Elite 120 is best suited for a really low power draw, as the airflow in it is pretty bad. You'll want to upgrade the fans in it if you want your computer to be fairly quiet.

Athlon/Phenom II X4 -> i3 is a sidegrade mostly. You'll get a performance bump, but not much of one.

 

[hemtae]

Well I'm done. Got everything the way I want it and I cleaned up the cables a bit. Thanks the OP and everybody else that help. You guys are the best

 

[Setvan2734]

Need a bit of Laptop help here, couldnt find the Laptop thread.

The fan on the inside of my laptop seems to have died on me, causing my computer to overheat and turn off after 30-60 mins. So I need to buy a new fan replacement for my laptop.

This is what was in my laptop: http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3034
That one is currently out of stock right now though.
Should I get this one instead? http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3024
It's only $4 more, but the dimensions aren't exactly the same. Would the second one work just as well or better in my laptop?

My laptop: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Gaming_Powerhouse/G72Gx/#specifications

 

[Salsa]

Yeah, gonna try to RMA this shit on Monday. I get pretty awful coil whine even in assassins Creed and no way that's pushing the card much. Wish me luck :-/

 

[ipitydatfu]

It's a choice of aesthetics really. I use them because I like to have really strict control of case airflow and I constantly tinker with my PC's, so having a more open interior is really nice for me. That's a total niche reason for having one though.

Of course, there are some builds out there that make me want to buy specific air coolers just to emulate the design. This is the one that always pops up into my head when I generally say I like the look of water cooling more as the trump card:

Otherwise, they just can't compare in $erformance as comparable air coolers. The NZXT Havik 140 and CM TPC 812 (number of others) are right with the H100 in terms of performance for 40-50% of the price. The smaller 120mm closed loop coolers are outperformed by $35 coolers.

whats that gpu cooler called?

 

[cametall]

Yeah, gonna try to RMA this shit on Monday. I get pretty awful coil whine even in assassins Creed and no way that's pushing the card much. Wish me luck :-/

Not sure how RMAs work where you are, or if you have the disposable income, but when I RMA'd a card for a refund with Newegg I just outright purchased a new card at the same time (before receiving the refund).

Used the card I was RMAing until the new one came in, so I had no gap there where I couldn't game.

 

[Tomodachi]

Athlon/Phenom II X4 -> i3 is a sidegrade mostly. You'll get a performance bump, but not much of one.

So you think I should get something more powerful to make the upgrade worth? Would the i5-3450 be a more reasonable upgrade? It's just 30€ more than the i3-3220, so I could afford that.
The next step the OP is suggesting (i5-3750K) is way out of my budget because I also have to grab the motherboard and RAM

I'm actually satisfied by the overall performance with PC games of my pc as it is right now, I wanted to upgrade mainly for Dolphin and PCSX2 cause my CPU is a bit of a bottleneck in this regard (AMD are not very good for those, apparently).

 

[yn-neko hates a cat]

About those recomending Steam mover... they're adding native extra folders in the Steam Beta releases. Just opt-in from the settings menu and you're done. Every time you install a game it will ask if you want to use the default folder or another one in a different drive. Some of them seems not to be compatible but you can still move them by hand to the other folder and they will still work.

Edit: just a question I couldn't get answered before, are the self-contained water coolers actually good and reliable? Or just a gimmick that will get ruined in a couple of years? I'm talking about these:

Reviews I've seen about the Antec H20 620 model (a budget one, at 60€) put it really great but I guess I need some second opinion.

I got a two hour lecture on this last night that made me switch out my closed loop liquid cooling solution for a fan based solution. The gist of how it was explained to me was that because of the lack of a pump, closed loop solution really don't cool effectively until the system is hot and they suffer from a higher than average idle temp. I was told if I really wanted to do proper liquid cooling, i need a solution with a pump that actively moves liquid through the radiator rather than waiting for the liquid in the closed loop system to gradually raise to a uniformed temp.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

The sensor, more than anything. It's so friggen precise. "But my mouse already points where I point at", one might say. There are a ton of misses that you are having because your mouse isn't the Sensei.

After that comes the adjustable nature of the settings. You play a new game and can create a profile specifically for it. For our team, we have one guy spectate in first person (or just watch recorded video/streamed video if you can't spectate) and then make CPI adjustment recommendations based on where you are aiming. Rather than figuring out a whole new system and learning new muscle memory, you can alter X, Y, and Z (lift off distance) to work with the memory you already have.

Ergonomics are nearly perfect for all hands. For any game where my X and Y CPI is going to be the same (Warsow, T:A, Q3 Live, MOBA games) I use the CM Spawn because I have fairly small hands and I play with really low sens. I need total control with a palm grip in order to remain accurate. If you don't use a 3-4' square in games then its perfect still, even with small hands. In games where I have uneven X and Y (CoD, CS:GO, BF, Random Modern Shooter #379) I use the Sensei to have those settings just right.

All of the pro gamers I know will use the Sensei at home even if they are sponsored by CM/Razer/Whoever because it's that good.

Oh yah I just did some quick research.

What's the difference between the different Sensei versions? RAW/Normal/and MLG Pro

 

[mkenyon]

I got a two hour lecture on this last night that made me switch out my closed loop liquid cooling solution for a fan based solution. The gist of how it was explained to me was that because of the lack of a pump, closed loop solution really don't cool effectively until the system is hot and they suffer from a higher than average idle temp. I was told if I really wanted to do proper liquid cooling, i need a solution with a pump that actively moves liquid through the radiator rather than waiting for the liquid in the closed loop system to gradually raise to a uniformed temp.

These have pumps. You received some really odd (and incorrect) information.

So you think I should get something more powerful to make the upgrade worth? Would the i5-3450 be a more reasonable upgrade? It's just 30€ more than the i3-3220, so I could afford that.
The next step the OP is suggesting (i5-3750K) is way out of my budget because I also have to grab the motherboard and RAM

I'm actually satisfied by the overall performance with PC games of my pc as it is right now, I wanted to upgrade mainly for Dolphin and PCSX2 cause my CPU is a bit of a bottleneck in this regard (AMD are not very good for those, apparently).

The higher the frequency of processor, the better the Dolphin/PCSX2 experience will be.

whats that gpu cooler called?

That's a Prolimatech Megahalems (Black Edition) with two Corsair SP fans.

 

[Salsa]

Not sure how RMAs work where you are, or if you have the disposable income, but when I RMA'd a card for a refund with Newegg I just outright purchased a new card at the same time (before receiving the refund).

Used the card I was RMAing until the new one came in, so I had no gap there where I couldn't game.

No moneys sadly. Worst case scenario if it takes a while I still have my old 560.
honestly there's a big chance they won't give me another card just for coil whine

 

[yn-neko hates a cat]

These have pumps. You received some really odd (and incorrect) information.

Wouldn't be the first time

 

[chaosblade]

So you think I should get something more powerful to make the upgrade worth? Would the i5-3450 be a more reasonable upgrade? It's just 30€ more than the i3-3220, so I could afford that.
The next step the OP is suggesting (i5-3750K) is way out of my budget because I also have to grab the motherboard and RAM

I'm actually satisfied by the overall performance with PC games of my pc as it is right now, I wanted to upgrade mainly for Dolphin and PCSX2 cause my CPU is a bit of a bottleneck in this regard (AMD are not very good for those, apparently).

For Dolphin and PCSX2 you should definitely look into something you can overclock. Dolphin especially, quite a few key GCN and Wii games require an OC to run at full speed.

Not sure how newer AMD CPUs do in that regard, but it might be a cheaper option if they do OC well. Supports the same instruction sets now, and like mkenyon said, clock speed is king for emulation.

 

[btrboyev]

According to the Windows Index, I have a 5.9 HDD. Everything else is 7.9. I'm really thinking about getting an SSD even though my HDD is 2TB and is working fine. It's the perfectionist in me.

So get an SSD as the primary and keep your 2tb as the data drive.

 

[derder]

Do you guys have a good link for OC'ing a 3570k on air?

 

[mrklaw]

Any recommended mSSDs? My laptop has a second slot that can take them (currently using a 64GB mSSD as hybrid storage/cache), but I don't see recommendations for them. Are they worthwhile or should I just look for a large SSD in the main drive slot? Trouble is I think I'm already up to around 150GB with OS apps and steam games, so even 256GB might have me managing my fridge.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Oh mah god. Can't believe how close I am to actually putting this thing together. Was looking through receipts and I started piecing this thing together in JULY! It's now October. I definitely have been taking my time. I have a slot loading 6x BluRay drive in the mail, and the only thing I need to purchase is the Intel Processor. I'm getting my place ready for the build. Doing some house cleaning and cutting back on the number of generic brown newegg boxes in my possession. Figured since this thing is about to manifest itself into reality it might as well have its rightful place on my desk.

 

[mkenyon]

Any recommended mSSDs? My laptop has a second slot that can take them (currently using a 64GB mSSD as hybrid storage/cache), but I don't see recommendations for them. Are they worthwhile or should I just look for a large SSD in the main drive slot? Trouble is I think I'm already up to around 150GB with OS apps and steam games, so even 256GB might have me managing my fridge.

This is something I'm curious about too with the increased support for these on SFF motherboards. I'm going to do a bit of research.

*edit*
Oh, Crucial makes an M4 msata drive on the same controller as its bigger brother. Easy pick.

Oh mah god. Can't believe how close I am to actually putting this thing together. Was looking through receipts and I started piecing this thing together in JULY! It's now October. I definitely have been taking my time. I have a slot loading 6x BluRay drive in the mail, and the only thing I need to purchase is the Intel Processor. I'm getting my place ready for the build. Doing some house cleaning and cutting back on the number of generic brown newegg boxes in my possession. Figured since this thing is about to manifest itself into reality it might as well have its rightful place on my desk.

Don't know if you are into this sort of thing, but it would be rad if you did a build log. Adds a ton of time to the process, but would be greatly beneficial to those looking to build a SFF PC, could add it to the guide.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

I think I'm going to. I already take tons and tons of photos of everything I do anyway for my photoblog. So I think it'll just happen naturally.

 

[cackhyena]

So get an SSD as the primary and keep your 2tb as the data drive.

For some reason after getting my 670 installed, I expected my index rating to be much higher. Everything is either 7.7 ot 7.9 but overall is 5.9...because of my SSD for some reason. It was my main before the GPU upgrade and my rating was higher. I don't get it. I've checked it's health as well and nothing out of the ordinary. The SSD that is.

EDIT: And of course now I run it for the first time in almost a month and get 7.7 as my new score for overall. I'll take it. No clue why the lower score from before, though.

 

[ghibli99]

I'm sure it's been mentioned numerous times, but I just wanted to say that this electric duster from Amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001J4ZOAW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

...took my PC, which I hadn't cleaned out in 3 or 4 years, and made it look and sound brand-new again. It was running hotter than it should have due to all the dust clogging everything up. Now, everything is nice, cool, and restriction-free. Highly, highly recommended!

 

[btrboyev]

For some reason after getting my 670 installed, I expected my index rating to be much higher. Everything is either 7.7 ot 7.9 but overall is 5.9...because of my SSD for some reason. It was my main before the GPU upgrade and my rating was higher. I don't get it. I've checked it's health as well and nothing out of the ordinary. The SSD that is.

EDIT: And of course now I run it for the first time in almost a month and get 7.7 as my new score for overall. I'll take it. No clue why the lower score from before, though.

Those scores don't really mean much anyway

 

[cackhyena]

I know. It just bothered me. Made me worry unnecessarily about the state of my 1.5 year old SSD.

 

[vaelic]

I'm sure it's been mentioned numerous times, but I just wanted to say that this electric duster from Amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001J4ZOAW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

...took my PC, which I hadn't cleaned out in 3 or 4 years, and made it look and sound brand-new again. It was running hotter than it should have due to all the dust clogging everything up. Now, everything is nice, cool, and restriction-free. Highly, highly recommended!

WOW NICE.... beats paying for canned air each time...

 

[t-ramp]

For some reason after getting my 670 installed, I expected my index rating to be much higher. Everything is either 7.7 ot 7.9 but overall is 5.9...because of my SSD for some reason. It was my main before the GPU upgrade and my rating was higher. I don't get it. I've checked it's health as well and nothing out of the ordinary. The SSD that is.

EDIT: And of course now I run it for the first time in almost a month and get 7.7 as my new score for overall. I'll take it. No clue why the lower score from before, though.

Did you have a hard drive in your PC as well? Sometimes Windows benchmarks the wrong drive, I think.

 

[cackhyena]

2 others, in fact. An older one and a new 1TB HDD. Guess that was it.

 

[Salsa]

been benchmarking this card (and still suffering with the whine in the process), just wanna know if this is to be expected:

in Arkham City, with everything on max, including:


"Extreme" level of detail, MVVS, HBAO, DX11 tesselation on High, 8XMSAA, Physx on High

I get as low as 30fps in crowded or rather particle heavy areas. And some random-ass drops to 3fps (this could be just the game being silly) that happen once or twice.

this to be expected? keep in mind that im at 1360x768 on a single GTX670 + i5 2500k @ stock

is the CPU @ 3.3 bottlenecking the whole thing or is it just impossible to get steady 60 in this game with DX11 + high physx on a single card?


same with Max Payne 3 on max settings (no physx there), though I get something around 45fps on that one

 

[Fantomex]

been benchmarking this card (and still suffering with the whine in the process), just wanna know if this is to be expected:

in Arkham City, with everything on max, including:


"Extreme" level of detail, MVVS, HBAO, DX11 tesselation on High, 8XMSAA, Physx on High

I get as low as 30fps in crowded or rather particle heavy areas. And some random-ass drops to 3fps (this could be just the game being silly) that happen once or twice.

this to be expected? keep in mind that im at 1360x768 on a single GTX670 + i5 2500k @ stock

is the CPU @ 3.3 bottlenecking the whole thing or is it just impossible to get steady 60 in this game with DX11 + high physx on a single card?


same with Max Payne 3 on max settings (no physx there), though I get something around 45fps on that one

I've heard that's the game that owns video cards constantly unfortunately.(AC)