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[Jeb]

So I bended the extra input on the graphics card and plugged it, there is the two extra side input holes without a place but that's okay right?

I also want to ask, what are these small slots below and on top of the graphics cards, they look important, but there doesn't seem to e anything to wire into them, and I don't see them mentioned in the videos.

I can ignore those right?

 

[kennah]

That's the heatsink for the video card dude

 

[Roland1979]

Pro is still faster generally with a longer warranty and it should last longer too, not that TLC NAND is anything to worry about now. EVO is the better mainstream option though.

But should i choose it over the regular 840 (non pro) series? Do to old stock and import prices there is barely any price difference.
Edit: and is there much difference between the Samsung 840 EVO Basic 250GB MZ-7TE250BW and the Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7TE250, slightly higher priced?

 

[Smokey]

So I bended the extra input on the graphics card and plugged it, there is the two extra side input holes without a place but that's okay right?

I also want to ask, what are these small slots below and on top of the graphics cards, they look important, but there doesn't seem to e anything to wire into them, and I don't see them mentioned in the videos.

I can ignore those right?

huge images!

as kennah said those are the heatsinks. the blue covers are over the connectors that you would use if you ever got more than one video card.

 

[maneil99]

So I got my pc back with the noctua d14, wow temps are 10-16c better then my H80i, which means it must have been installed wrong. Only issue is the fan clips seem close to my GPU.

 

[Jeb]

That's the heatsink for the video card dude

Ah! didn't know cards have heat sinks, although my card has a shitload of fans, but I'm guessing they have nothing to do with them though, or do they?

Anyway, it seems like my rig is done.
Most of this is thanks to you guys, it was your support that got me through all of this and I thank you all.
I'm going to test it tomorrow though, its late and I'm pretty tired, the boot up and OS install doesn't require internet or does it?
I'm thinking of going around town and finding a nice long cable to connect this to a modem, I have bad experience with the wireless so I hope this makes a difference.
Again thanks, we've finally made it, I say we cause this is as much of your work as it is mine, I shall report the results of our labor tomorrow!

 

[kharma45]

So I got my pc back with the noctua d14, wow temps are 10-16c better then my H80i, which means it must have been installed wrong. Only issue is the fan clips seem close to my GPU.

The Noctua is just that good tbh. Quite a big margin I'll admit (bigger than I thought) but it is a better cooler.

But should i choose it over the regular 840 (non pro) series? Do to old stock and import prices there is barely any price difference.
Edit: and is there much difference between the Samsung 840 EVO Basic 250GB MZ-7TE250BW and the Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7TE250, slightly higher priced?

If the prices are basically the same get the EVO. The Basic EVO I imagine comes without the additional software and mounting stuff, it'll just be a bare drive.

 

[Azulsky]

You get a 3 year warranty on the EVO

In 3 years we will be using PCIE SSD's so its whatever

 

[mkenyon]

The Noctua shouldn't be beating out an H80 like that.

I've got $10 that says the people that installed it put the pump power on a mobo fan header.

 

[Roland1979]

If the prices are basically the same get the EVO. The Basic EVO I imagine comes without the additional software and mounting stuff, it'll just be a bare drive.

Is it the software that give it a boost mentioned here? Is the software not downloadable for free? And the Fractal R4 case has a SSD bay/slot, is that enough or should i get the desktop kit with software and 2,5" to 3,5" slot converter (even though the case has that covered) and screws and what not. Thanks.

 

[Azulsky]

The Noctua shouldn't be beating out an H80 like that.

I've got $10 that says the people that installed it put the pump power on a mobo fan header.

Its either that or one of those weird edge cases where it cant tighten down enough on the CPU.

But I havent seen that problem since the H50

Wonder if the fan on it was at super low rpm or something too

 

[Azulsky]

Is it the software that give it a boost mentioned here? Is the software not downloadable for free? And the Fractal R4 case has a SSD bay/slot, is that enough or should i get the desktop kit with software and 2,5" to 3,5" slot converter (even though the case has that covered) and screws and what not. Thanks.

Yeah it is on their website but it only supports their ssd's.

Basically it using your system memory as a cache.

 

[kharma45]

Is it the software that give it a boost mentioned here? Is the software not downloadable for free? And the Fractal R4 case has a SSD bay/slot, is that enough or should i get the desktop kit with software and 2,5" to 3,5" slot converter (even though the case has that covered) and screws and what not. Thanks.

It's the SLC cache that gives the EVO the advantage over the standard 840 as well as that software tweak, which doesn't have either.

 

[Roland1979]

Yeah it is on their website but it only supports their ssd's.

Basically it using your system memory as a cache.

I will be using it for their SSD. But the mounting kit that comes along side the software in total is €20 more then the regular. If i can download the software for free then why should i buy it if i don't need a 2.5 to 3.5 converter? So i guess that answers my question.

 

[maneil99]

Fans and pump were fine. I am 99% sure it wasn't installed right, so the fan pins should be fine right?

 

[mkenyon]

Fans and pump were fine. I am 99% sure it wasn't installed right, so the fan pins should be fine right?

The pump can be working without it operating at the correct speed.

The pins are fine as long as they don't make contact. If they do, they'll short your system and it'll turn off. No damage though.

I will be using it for their SSD. But the mounting kit that comes along side the software in total is €20 more then the regular. If i can download the software for free then why should i buy it if i don't need a 2.5 to 3.5 converter? So i guess that answers my question.

You don't even need to put it in a tray. You can mount it with double sided tape anywhere you want, or just leave it dangling on the floor even.

 

[Seanspeed]

Do I need to worry about getting any extra cables or tools to piece my machine together? Or should everything I need already be included with the parts I've ordered?

I would recommend a magnetic screwdriver at least.

EDIT: See that's been covered, cool.

 

[Roland1979]

You don't even need to put it in a tray. You can mount it with double sided tape anywhere you want, or just leave it dangling on the floor even.

I would freak out lol. And since the R4 has a place to mount SSD's i rather do that. But i get your point, no moving parts and all that. Funny thing i have a second HDD taped to the bottom of my case all this time now (for years), and it's still working flawlessly. Disk repair showed it doesn't earn beauty prices, but it still works and is in acceptable condition.

 

[Ty4on]

The Noctua shouldn't be beating out an H80 like that.

I've got $10 that says the people that installed it put the pump power on a mobo fan header.

I have my H60 hooked to a mobo connector (don't want more wires inside an FT03 mini) and at full speed (level 10 on Asrock) with the mobo reporting like 4470RPM on it. Should be just like hooking it straight to 12V?
The CPU temp will get sort of hot , but you also have the gap between the fan and rad in this case (using a new Noctua F12 (pressure 120mm) fan). 4.2 and core temp shows VID 1.286 while I used offset +.01V.

 

[mkenyon]

I have my H60 hooked to a mobo connector (don't want more wires inside an FT03 mini) and at full speed (level 10 on Asrock) with the mobo reporting like 4470RPM on it. Should be just like hooking it straight to 12V?
The CPU temp will get sort of hot , but you also have the gap between the fan and rad in this case (using a new Noctua F12 (pressure 120mm) fan). 4.2 and core temp shows VID 1.286 while I used offset +.01V.

Nah, it's fine as long as it's set to full power always. The issue is that there aren't many motherboards that have a 100% setting by default.

 

[Zaph]

Any opinions on the Noctua NH-D14 vs NH-U14S? Looking at them, you'd assume the D14 is the better cooler because of the sheer size, but I'm noticing some posts of people reporting better temps with the U14S due to the improved heatsink design and newer, larger fans.

Delidding this weekend and figured it's a good opportunity to get rid of my H60. It's a neat cooler, but that annoying pump noise is the only thing stopping my PC being silent at idle (which it is a lot of the time when I'm working).

 

[TheD]

So I got my pc back with the noctua d14, wow temps are 10-16c better then my H80i, which means it must have been installed wrong. Only issue is the fan clips seem close to my GPU.

I would put some electrical tape on that (maybe on and around the clips).

 

[maneil99]

I would put some electrical tape on that (maybe on and around the clips).

Think I could get it on without removing anything? Will it move at all?

 

[Mubbed]

Hello GAF.

Looking for a PCI card for wireless (range is the most important) and bluetooth support (for 7th gen gaming controllers). Would it be ideal to get a 2-in-1 PCI device or should they be split, or a wireless PCI card and a bluetooth dongle? Also do these wireless cards that sport higher mbps matter if my internet connection speeds are vastly inferior?

My motherboard is MSI Z87-G45 and I'm running Windows 7 OEM if it matters.

If you want to do the sleuthing for me I'm using these websites; NCIX, TigerDirect, Amazon, Canadian Computers.

 

[kharma45]

Hello GAF.

Looking for a PCI card for wireless (range is the most important) and bluetooth support (for 7th gen gaming controllers). Would it be ideal to get a 2-in-1 PCI device or should they be split, or a wireless PCI card and a bluetooth dongle? Also do these wireless cards that sport higher mbps matter if my internet connection speeds are vastly inferior?

My motherboard is MSI Z87-G45 and I'm running Windows 7 OEM if it matters.

If you want to do the sleuthing for me I'm using these websites; NCIX, TigerDirect, Amazon, Canadian Computers.

Considered Power Line adapters instead of going wireless?

 

[BattleMonkey]

So not gonna bother building one, what would a decent place to get a custom PC made for you online? This is something I have to order for someone else and not going to waste my time. Any decent places that won't totally rip a person off. Random pre made desktops I'm not sure on, perhaps better deals out there?

 

[kharma45]

So not gonna bother building one, what would a decent place to get a custom PC made for you online? This is something I have to order for someone else and not going to waste my time. Any decent places that won't totally rip a person off. Random pre made desktops I'm not sure on, perhaps better deals out there?

Depends on where you live in the world. Alienware X51 is a nice SFF option in basically all regions and isn't badly priced.

 

[ss_lemonade]

If you

A) Have the ability to go to PAX
B) Want to go to PAX
C) Do not have tickets

PM me.

Would've posted this in the PAX thread, but I like you guys and gals the most.

Damn, should have definitely checked this out. One of the cards was starting to give some pretty nasty VRM popping with just the highest dynamic level though.

I miss those cards, just for the size of them. How can a PCB so small kick so much ass?

EDIT:
Lol was supposed to be a PM. PM'ed

 

[BattleMonkey]

Depends on where you live in the world. Alienware X51 is a nice SFF option in basically all regions and isn't badly priced.

In the us.

Was looking for somewhere that does custom jobs perhaps. Saw the good prices on the x51s, but heard mixed reviews on them.

 

[kennah]

In the us.

Was looking for somewhere that does custom jobs perhaps. Saw the good prices on the x51s, but heard mixed reviews on them.

Where in the Us? Some gaffers offer their build services. Some of us do art.

Spoiler

i really want to get sleeving gear

 

[Haku]

I think I might have a problem with my Western Digital Black 1TB. Whenever I'm playing music, my hard drive freezes randomly for 10 or so seconds. It happens every 30 or so minutes when I'm listening to music. It also happens when I'm playing games during the loading screens. The computer will freeze for 10 or so seconds (the loading music will completely stop in some games) and then resume normally 10 seconds later.

I've tested my drive with the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows. It passes the quick test and I'm currently testing the extended test. I've been busy so I haven't necessarily had the time to explore all possibilities.

Any ideas of what's going on?

Edit: Passed the extended test. I've never had a problem like this with my past WD drives. Is this common to the Black drives?

If your OS is running on the SSD, as it should, it will send your HDD to hibernate if it is inactive. Then, when a programm is accessing the HDD, the whole system has that annoying freeze until the HDD spins up and reads that data. Your music-player seems to buffer half an hour and whenever it needs to read files again, it freezes your system by waking up your HDD: Playing around in the energy-saving-options is your best bet here.

I've tried shutting off every energy saving option related to the HDD, and it still has the annoying freezing during gaming and music playback. Do you think I might have a defective drive? I've passed multiple HDD test, so I think it's either a setting in Windows or a defective driver. I did encounter a BSOD while gaming yesterday with the WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR (Windows 8).

Any thoughts?

I've called Western Digital to seek their help. Random freezes. I tried different SATA ports, SATA cables. Random freezes. I've adjusted all the power savings options so it never shuts off the HDD. Random freezes. I turned my overclock back to stock settings. Random freezes. I updated my SSD to the latest firmware and adjusted all the settings accordingly. Random freezes. I'm starting to think it's another motherboard issue. I had to RMA my last one due to bent CPU pins, so I'm awfully suspicious that it might be the motherboard again. I'm about to test the RAM, PSU and GPU to see if they're the culprit.

Any thoughts. I'm getting really annoyed at this point.

 

[Mubbed]

Considered Power Line adapters instead of going wireless?

I may acquire one in the future. Does every individual computer on the power line system have complete privacy? And do you have to insert encryption passwords in order to connect (assuming the router has a password)?

 

[TheD]

Think I could get it on without removing anything? Will it move at all?

You would likely need to remove the graphics card, normaly that would be easy (just unscrew the bracket, unplug the power cables going into the card and move the PCIE connector latch to the open position), but the PCIE latch looks very hard to get at, so IDK.

And just to be clear, I mean wrapping the fan clips in tape and not putting any on the card itself.

 

[timetokill]

Like anyone would know, clock that sucker up.

First thing that stands out to me is the 1.1 (Not sure if that's low power mode or GPU-Z reading)
I'd update your drivers and swap the card to another PCI-E slot (Even if it's 8x it won't matter).

Also just PM me and I'll come over to help.

Drivers updated. I tried switching it to a different slot and it ran at x1, screen refresh was terrible. lol.

In the bios "hardware explorer" it says the card is in the PCI 16x slot but is running at 8x 2, but in gpu-z it says x8 1.1 and won't budge no matter what I throw at it. Super weird.

I'll shoot you a PM Haz.

It is either the system or the card slowing down the pcie link

run something to make it come back up to 3.0

You'd think the render test or Furmark would do that, but it won't budge.

 

[chrono01]

I have a relatively ancient old [I'm being kind here] PC that I want to upgrade for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. I don't play many PC games [since I generally use my consoles for that], so I don't really want to spends hundreds and hundreds of dollars just to run one game. By the time a new PC game comes out that I want to play, I'll likely need to upgrade again.

My current specs are these:

Q6600 2.4 GHZ [overclocked to 3.0GHZ]
4GB DDR2 RAM [running at 333MHZ to run 1:1 with CPU]
GTS 250 1GB
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ATX LGA775
ST50EF-PLUS 500W PSU

For the benchmark I can only run on Standard [at 1680 x 1050 resolution] comfortably. I usually end with a score of around 7700. When I attempt to increase to High I get constant stutter and a score of only 3100 or so. Maximum is even worse.

Would upgrading my video card improve performance any or is my PC beyond the point of help? If so, which would you recommend? I tend to favor NVIDIA graphic cards if possible as they've served me very well in the past. I'd rather not spend more than $200 CDN [give-or-take], so something around that price-range would be great.

If I could even run it on High [at close to 60FPS and at 1680 x 1050 resolution] I'd be happy. I'm not sure if it would be possible, though, given my current specs.

 

[TheD]

Drivers updated. I tried switching it to a different slot and it ran at x1, screen refresh was terrible. lol.

In the bios "hardware explorer" it says the card is in the PCI 16x slot but is running at 8x 2, but in gpu-z it says x8 1.1 and won't budge no matter what I throw at it. Super weird.

I'll shoot you a PM Haz.



You'd think the render test or Furmark would do that, but it won't budge.

PCIE link speed has very, very little effect on GPU speed.

I have a relatively ancient old [I'm being kind here] PC that I want to upgrade for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. I don't play many PC games [since I generally use my consoles for that], so I don't really want to spends hundreds and hundreds of dollars just to run one game. By the time a new PC game comes out that I want to play, I'll likely need to upgrade again.

My current specs are these:

Q6600 2.4 GHZ [overclocked to 3.0GHZ]
4GB DDR2 RAM [running at 333MHZ to run 1:1 with CPU]
GTS 250 1GB
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ATX LGA775
ST50EF-PLUS 500W PSU

For the benchmark I can only run on Standard [at 1680 x 1050 resolution] comfortably. I usually end with a score of around 7700. When I attempt to increase to High I get constant stutter and a score of only 3100 or so. Maximum is even worse.

Would upgrading my video card improve performance any or is my PC beyond the point of help? If so, which would you recommend? I tend to favor NVIDIA graphic cards if possible as they've served me very well in the past. I'd rather not spend more than $200 CDN [give-or-take], so something around that price-range would be great.

If I could even run it on High [at close to 60FPS and at 1680 x 1050 resolution] I'd be happy. I'm not sure if it would be possible, though, given my current specs.

I would say get a graphics card, sure a Q6600 is not that great anymore but most games are GPU limited and turning up graphical settings giving you a big performance hit seems to interact that it is your GPU limiting you.

 

[TheD]

double post

 

[chrono01]

I would say get a graphics card, sure a Q6600 is not that great anymore but most games are GPU limited and turning up graphical settings giving you a big performance hit seems to interact that it is your GPU limiting you.

Thanks, that confirms my suspicion.

I was thinking of going with the GTX 660 Ti [2GB] video card. It's a bit over my $200 budget, but not by much [only around $50 or so]. I only have PCI-E 2.0 but it should throttle back, I'm hoping. I assume my 500W PSU should suffice, as well?

Sorry for the questions, I'm not exactly knowledgeable in the way of PC-building.

Edit - Actually, maybe a regular GTX 660 [2GB] will be good enough. It's at/near $200...

 

[Azulsky]

You'd think the render test or Furmark would do that, but it won't budge.

Hmm, for me just running Chrome puts the links back up at 3.0

 

[TheD]

Thanks, that confirms my suspicion.

I was thinking of going with the GTX 660 Ti [2GB] video card. It's a bit over my $200 budget, but not by much [only around $50 or so]. I only have PCI-E 2.0 but it should throttle back, I'm hoping. I assume my 500W PSU should suffice, as well?

Sorry for the questions, I'm not exactly knowledgeable in the way of PC-building.

Edit - Actually, maybe a regular GTX 660 [2GB] will be good enough. It's at/near $200...

PCIE bandwidth makes fuck all difference till you get to really low link speeds (e.g 4x PCIE 2.0 has a 10-15 % hit) and all cards have to work in the older speed slots, so you would be fine.
Your PSU is fine for that card (it seems like a very good PSU anyway based off the jonnyguru review of it).

 

[lostsupper]

Any opinions on the Noctua NH-D14 vs NH-U14S? Looking at them, you'd assume the D14 is the better cooler because of the sheer size, but I'm noticing some posts of people reporting better temps with the U14S due to the improved heatsink design and newer, larger fans.

Delidding this weekend and figured it's a good opportunity to get rid of my H60. It's a neat cooler, but that annoying pump noise is the only thing stopping my PC being silent at idle (which it is a lot of the time when I'm working).

I'm using an NH-U12S after delidding and it's good up to 4.7. Go with the NH-U14S.

 

[maneil99]

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/noctua_nh_u12s_u14s_review,10.html
D14 is slightly better butt its up to you

 

[damaph]

Any opinions on the Noctua NH-D14 vs NH-U14S? Looking at them, you'd assume the D14 is the better cooler because of the sheer size, but I'm noticing some posts of people reporting better temps with the U14S due to the improved heatsink design and newer, larger fans.

Delidding this weekend and figured it's a good opportunity to get rid of my H60. It's a neat cooler, but that annoying pump noise is the only thing stopping my PC being silent at idle (which it is a lot of the time when I'm working).

From what I've seen in reviews, I think the D14 still performs better than the U14S. If you have the room. I would get the D14. The U14S does seem to come with a better fan though.
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/noctua_nh-u14s_review/5

 

[chrono01]

PCIE bandwidth makes fuck all difference till you get to really low link speeds (e.g 4x PCIE 2.0 has a 10-15 % hit) and all cards have to work in the older speed slots, so you would be fine.
Your PSU is fine for that card (it seems like a very good PSU anyway based off the jonnyguru review of it).

Thanks!

I think I'll give it a purchase and hope for the best. From what I've been reading, even with a Q6600 CPU, it provides a pretty substantial boost in games, so I'm hoping it will help a bit.

 

[Azulsky]

I never posted a picture of mine. I snapped a crappy cell pic while i was going through old HDD's

Final Parts
Corsair Air 540 w/AF Quiets
H100i w/SP Quiets
4770K
Asus Z87-WS
Corsair Vengeance 16GB
EVGA 780 Classified SLI
Corsair HX850
Samsung EVO 120GB

Upcoming Addons
Dell U3014
Fan Filters
EVGA Sli Pro Bridge
780 Backplates(kinda worried about long term sag, always concerned with having more swag)

 

[timetokill]

PCIE link speed has very, very little effect on GPU speed.

So I've heard, but at the moment I can't figure out anything else as to what's wrong with it or why it's performing so poorly.

 

[Anton668]

Where in the Us? Some gaffers offer their build services.[/spoiler]

still waiting for that part to be added to the OP

 

[Coldsnap]

Final Parts
Corsair Air 540 w/AF Quiets
H100i w/SP Quiets
4770K
Asus Z87-WS
Corsair Vengeance 16GB
EVGA 780 Classified SLI
Corsair HX850
Samsung EVO 120GB

Upcoming Addons
Dell U3014
Fan Filters
EVGA Sli Pro Bridge
780 Backplates(kinda worried about long term sag, always concerned with having more swag)

Nice computer. +1 for backplates rigidity/aesthetics.

 

[TheD]

So I've heard, but at the moment I can't figure out anything else as to what's wrong with it or why it's performing so poorly.

Your card is broken.

 

[Willectro]

H100i w/SP Quiets

Great build. Did you try the H100i with the stock fans?