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[WolvenOne]

October is the last date I saw for it. You won't go wrong with an i5 if you need to upgrade and have the cash, they're brilliant frankly.

If you've a good quality 700w PSU then power isn't an issue, you'll not be getting close to the full limit of it.

Mmm, CPU may just not be stable at those speeds then, it happens I suppose.

Well, unfortunately money is a little tight. Which is why I've been looking at CPU's I could swap out without buying a new motherboard, (an AM3 board.) I've been looking at PC Mark benchmarks, and looking for AMD chips with roughly comparable scores to i5's and i7's. The Intel chips are definitely better, but I figure that so long as I'm in the same general neighborhood, the CPU shouldn't be a significant bottleneck.

Cheapest i5 comparable chip I've found so far is the AMD FX-6300 Six-Core, which costs roughly 100USD. I was asking about it earlier, but figured I'd be better off waiting a little while and buying the chip that scored closer to an i7 than an i5.

 

[kharma45]

You sure? the board seems to be slightly bending (not broken but "bending") and I'm not feeling anything going past the pin. That's what is worrying me.

It defs all lined up like in this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymbeMBbbOp8

No bent pins or anything?

Mmm, CPU may just not be stable at those speeds then, it happens I suppose.

Well, unfortunately money is a little tight. Which is why I've been looking at CPU's I could swap out without buying a new motherboard, (an AM3 board.) I've been looking at PC benchmarks, and looking for AMD chips with roughly comparable scores to i5's and i7's. The Intel chips are definitely better, but I figure that so long as I'm in the same general neighborhood, the CPU shouldn't be a significant bottleneck.

Cheapest i5 comparable chip I've found so far is the AMD FX-6300 Six-Core, which costs roughly 100USD. I was asking about it earlier, but figured I'd be better off waiting a little while and buying the chip that scored closer to an i7 than an i5.

Yeah it's most likely that 3.8 is just the limit for your CPU. The FX 6300 isn't an i5 rival though, it's the i3 rival really and in single threaded performance and in most games the i3 beats it.

 

[mkenyon]

Mmm, CPU may just not be stable at those speeds then, it happens I suppose.

Well, unfortunately money is a little tight. Which is why I've been looking at CPU's I could swap out without buying a new motherboard, (an AM3 board.) I've been looking at PC Mark benchmarks, and looking for AMD chips with roughly comparable scores to i5's and i7's. The Intel chips are definitely better, but I figure that so long as I'm in the same general neighborhood, the CPU shouldn't be a significant bottleneck.

Cheapest i5 comparable chip I've found so far is the AMD FX-6300 Six-Core, which costs roughly 100USD. I was asking about it earlier, but figured I'd be better off waiting a little while and buying the chip that scored closer to an i7 than an i5.

The only reliable CPU benchmarks are on TechReport's website. Don't bother with FPS stuff when it comes to CPUs. That's one of the primary places where massive frame latency rears its ugly head, and FPS is just not precise enough to show that in numbers.

 

[TheSeks]

It defs all lined up like in this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymbeMBbbOp8

No bent pins or anything?

AFAIK. I'm a complete dunce at this. But yeah, everything for the processor lines up and I don't see anything "bent" in the little pins under the processor or where the processor is supposed to be. The LOTUS cover's bottom bit is a downward bent but I don't think that's anything weird?

 

[Addnan]

I didn't know the black protector bit popped out by itself. Always removed it before installing CPU heh.

 

[WolvenOne]

Yeah it's most likely that 3.8 is just the limit for your CPU. The FX 6300 isn't an i5 rival though, it's the i3 rival really and in single threaded performance and in most games the i3 beats it.

Well, if PCMark is to be believed, it depends on the exact model i5, and the task of course. They have it roughly in the middle of the various i5 models. Though I suppose that benchmark could be highly parallel in nature.

If I had the money I probably would rebuild for an Intel, unless Steamroller details came out and really surprised me. As is, I'm looking for something that'll, give me 30-40% improvement over my Phenom II X4. I figure that'll get me by until I'm ready to do a full rebuild next year.

 

[kharma45]

I didn't know the black protector bit popped out by itself. Always removed it before installing CPU heh.

Ha same. I presumed that was the correct way

AFAIK. I'm a complete dunce at this. But yeah, everything for the processor lines up and I don't see anything "bent" in the little pins under the processor or where the processor is supposed to be. The LOTUS cover's bottom bit is a downward bent but I don't think that's anything weird?

Should just take a bit more force then.

Well, if PCMark is to be believed, it depends on the exact model i5, and the task of course. They have it roughly in the middle of the various i5 models. Though I suppose that benchmark could be highly parallel in nature.

If I had the money I probably would rebuild for an Intel, unless Steamroller details came out and really surprised me. As is, I'm looking for something that'll, give me 30-40% improvement over my Phenom II X4. I figure that'll get me by until I'm ready to do a full rebuild next year.

When it comes to gaming only a couple of games see the FX 6300 beat out the i3, most of the time the i3 will win hands down. Synthetic benches mean little, it's just dick waving.

 

[mkenyon]

AFAIK. I'm a complete dunce at this. But yeah, everything for the processor lines up and I don't see anything "bent" in the little pins under the processor or where the processor is supposed to be. The LOTUS cover's bottom bit is a downward bent but I don't think that's anything weird?

LOTUS?

 

[TheSeks]

Okay, I think I got it. The loading arm latch is down and it seems fine. Whew. How is the fan supposed to look? I've got the "Intel" logo upside down and a lot more cord than needed to connect to the pin but if I try to put it on the cord "rack" it was in before it'd be a bit short of connecting and I'm worried the wire will hit the fan. :/

 

[maneil99]

I think the intel sign should be upright?

 

[mkenyon]

Doesn't really matter, just put it in whatever orientation makes cable routing easiest.

 

[WolvenOne]

The only reliable CPU benchmarks are on TechReport's website. Don't bother with FPS stuff when it comes to CPUs. That's one of the primary places where massive frame latency rears its ugly head, and FPS is just not precise enough to show that in numbers.

Wasn't using fps for this, since my CPUs shortcomings only becomes apparent when a ton of characters are on screen at once in mmo's. Its a genre I've only recently gotten into, so I simply haven't been aware of this shortcoming until fairly recently.

I'll check out that website though. Hopefully it'll give me a better idea what chip will give me the most bang for my buck.

 

[TheSeks]

Yeah, I think I'll wait until tomorrow and go hassle someone in the IT department at work to help me out because I'm in way over my head and while the manuals help a little bit I'm not sure if I'm doing it wrong/right and the guides on the internet aren't helping me at all...

 

[maneil99]

Can somebody answer my fan screw question on the previous page

 

[Mubbed]

For emulation go with Haswell, seems to provide a decent improvement over Ivy. What I have come up with. Just add an OS if you need it and it should be around your budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ NCIX)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.79 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($155.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($83.48 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($216.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.84 @ Expansys Canada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($269.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.35 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($119.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.50 @ Vuugo)
Monitor: Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor ($149.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $1445.40
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-21 02:57 EDT-0400)

Would this hard drive be a suitable replacement http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=15_1086_210_212&item_id=029337 ?

 

[t-ramp]

I have a question, Coolermaster gave me a upgraded fan for my 212 + replacement. It looks like this http://imgur.com/hoyqS7u,W34dFdE#0

The first image is the replacement, the 2nd is the broken fan. The screws don't seem to want to screw into the holes of the new fan

Fan screws are self-threading. Since it's cutting threads into the fan, it will take a bit of force to screw them in the first time.

 

[Lionel Mandrake]

Okay, I have my monitor hooked up by VGA cable (Will get a new one with HDMI hookup eventually), and my TV hooked up with HDMI. So I can quickly swap on the fly with Windows Key + P. However, the aspect is off on the TV. The edges are cut-off.

Is there an easy fix for this or do I have to change the settings each time I swap between screens?

 

[mkenyon]

I have a question, Coolermaster gave me a upgraded fan for my 212 + replacement. It looks like this http://imgur.com/hoyqS7u,W34dFdE#0

The first image is the replacement, the 2nd is the broken fan. The screws don't seem to want to screw into the holes of the new fan

Get a thick handled phillips screw driver and screw hard. It actually threads the fan housing as you are screwing it in, so you are having to dig through plastic.

 

[maneil99]

Thanks I did it, took some force and fidgeting to make it straight, noticed it isn't as snug against the heatsink as the previous one, I think I need to add those little cushion pads right? There were some on but they were triangular and only filled little gaps in the cooler so they must have been useless. Was it bad I removed those triangular pads?

 

[kennah]

Fuck yeah. Got a great deal on all the fittings I need to finish the Splash. Just two rads and a pump away from done!

 

[Trouble]

ATTENTION: Newegg.com has AMD HD Sapphire Dual-X 7970 OC Edition 3GB Video card on sale for $319.99 FREE SHIPPING Price Includes the Bonus EXTRA 9% off w/ promo code EMCXNVR54 ends 7/31! That price is without any mail-in rebate! ..that is a direct price but with rebate its even cheaper, it comes with a $20 dollar rebate making it $300.00.. It has the Dual-X cooler which is a pretty bad ass cooler to be honest.

Here is the link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008

As for the rebate, once you file the rebate, it only takes 5-7 businesses days if you choose "fast rebate option" when filling out the rebate online, they just take out 1 dollar for the faster rebate service..otherwise you're rebate will come in 4 months. I can vouch on the 4 of these cards i've bought in the past ..the rebates all came in on time using their 5-7 day extra fast service...comes on an American Express Gift Card.

I bought this same card for one of my own rigs and 3 for custom builds for local area clients of mine and all of hem overclocks well and has a unlocked bios using Trixx v4.4.0 ..im talking about this newer model with the blue PCB ...i easily got 1150mhz core/1650mhz memory. Two of them i reached a stable 1200mhz core with less than 1.3 voltage.

Damn, really, really tempted to pull the trigger on this right now. $300 is a pretty nice deal. I wasn't planning on building my new system for about a month.

 

[burgerdog]

So I messed up, for some reason I thought I was using a 450 PSU and bought a 600w PSU. New unit arrived earlier today, I flip my PC over so I could install it and what do I see? A 550w PSU. Oops. Now I'm just wondering if I should keep it for a future GTX 870/880 purchase. What say you, gaf.

 

[TheSeks]

I don't see why not. If you aren't hurting cash wise, you already bought it?

 

[WonkyPanda]

Damn, really, really tempted to pull the trigger on this right now. $300 is a pretty nice deal. I wasn't planning on building my new system for about a month.

How much better is this than the 760? Sorry, spotty internet and hard for me to research.

 

[burgerdog]

I don't see why not. If you aren't hurting cash wise, you already bought it?

Yeah, it's fine. I'll keep it and plug it in whenever the Nvidia 800 line is released. Thanks.

 

[frogg609]

So I get in my new parts today:

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus V FORMULA LGA 1155
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K Quad-Core 3.5
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8)
Cooler: Noctua 6 Dual Heatpipe
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (Sexy sexy gunmetal).

This machine is so much faster than my 2.8 Lynnfield. Couple of questions:

My CPU is idling around 27-31 C (stock settings). Running Prime 95 it went up to a max of 79 C. Is this acceptable? (To me it seems really good, but I want to make sure).

Also, I was gonna wait a week or so before overclocking it. Is there a better stress test tool than Prime95 that I should be using?

For overclocking (say to 4.5 or 4.7), would I need to set the timing on my ram manually?

 

[SixStringPsycho]

So I messed up, for some reason I thought I was using a 450 PSU and bought a 600w PSU. New unit arrived earlier today, I flip my PC over so I could install it and what do I see? A 550w PSU. Oops. Now I'm just wondering if I should keep it for a future GTX 870/880 purchase. What say you, gaf.

Keep it. But if I were you Id buy a higher one just in case

 

[Herne]

Hey guys, I intend to upgrade from my Radeon 6870 to a 7970 within the next month or so, and I was wondering if anyone is aware of any edition from the manufacturers that allow for quieter cooling? Every review I've seen mentions how loud these cards are, from 46 decibels at idle to 65 or something under full load. My 6870 apparently goes to 41 decibels at full load, so this is definitely something to worry about.

If none of the manufacturers have brought out any quieter editions of the card, are there any aftermarket coolers I can buy?

 

[kennah]

Hey guys, I intend to upgrade from my Radeon 6870 to a 7970 within the next month or so, and I was wondering if anyone is aware of any edition from the manufacturers that allow for quieter cooling? Every review I've seen mentions how loud these cards are, from 46 decibels at idle to 65 or something under full load. My 6870 apparently goes to 41 decibels at full load, so this is definitely something to worry about.

If none of the manufacturers have brought out any quieter editions of the card, are there any aftermarket coolers I can buy?

Get anything with multiple fans.

And anything modern should be quieter than your 6870. That was a loud series.

Or water cool it all.

 

[JaseC]

Is it possible to replace the top fan in the Antec Eleven Hundred? I've read a couple of threads thus far and both have mentioned non-standard screw hole locations being a problem.

 

[Trouble]

How much better is this than the 760? Sorry, spotty internet and hard for me to research.

A little lower than a 770 on anandtech's bench.

 

[Gaming Truth]

What do you guys use as a heads-up all-in-one monitoring tool for temps, performance, etc? Is there a tool where you can graphically monitor your temps, utilization, and other juicy stats and just leave it open somewhere on your desktop?

 

[maneil99]

What do you guys use as a heads-up all-in-one monitoring tool for temps, performance, etc? Is there a tool where you can graphically monitor your temps, utilization, and other juicy stats and just leave it open somewhere on your desktop?

HWinfo64 is good, it tracks minimum and maximum for all of its recordings. From GPU to Motherboard to CPU. Even does ram and fan speeds.

 

[maneil99]

Is it possible to replace the top fan in the Antec Eleven Hundred? I've read a couple of threads thus far and both have mentioned non-standard screw hole locations being a problem.

Top of the case or rear top fan?

You'll need to give me a prima guide to read first

 

[maneil99]

Quick question, I didn't put the little cushions on the replacement fan for my 212 +, theres a little gap between the fan and the heatsink, is the pad suppose to do something? Does it matter which way it goes on? I have 4 of them.

 

[Addnan]

Would this hard drive be a suitable replacement http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=15_1086_210_212&item_id=029337 ?

Yeah, I use that. Some day it's a little loud, but I never noticed it being any louder than the caviar blue.

 

[Danj]

Reposting for new page - are there any good/easy ways to retouch the paint on my Node 304 case if I've accidentally scraped it a bit?

 

[Hazaro]

Yeah, I use that. Some day it's a little loud, but I never noticed it being any louder than the caviar blue.

Last I checked it's something ridiculous like 2-3x as loud. But that probably is old data, can't find anything quickly. I feel like I've seen some numbers on spcr, but can't find them atm.

 

[hooijdonk17]

Guys, my system is below. If you would upgrade something on it, what would it be? (I just upgraded my VGA from a dead Radeon 4850 to a Radeon 7770 so re-replacing that is kind of out of the question, and I suppose indicative of my purchasing power..)

Shitty mATX case (because I like things small.. I also have a big tower case I'm not using..)
High Power Eco 500W PSU
MSI 760G-P21
AMD Athlon II X4 640
8 GB DDR3 Ram
1GB Sapphire Radeon 7770
1TB Western Digital Blue HDD

Would upgrading the CPU to an FX-6300 give me a significant boost? Would buying an SSD as a system drive help? What else?

 

[Addnan]

Last I checked it's something ridiculous like 2-3x as loud. But that probably is old data, can't find anything quickly. I feel like I've seen some numbers on spcr, but can't find them atm.

That would be quite the difference. I think the reason I don't notice the difference is because my main PC with the black is so relatively quiet in comparison to the other build which has a blue, but also has a reference fermi card and stock intel cooler.

 

[maneil99]

Guys, my system is below. If you would upgrade something on it, what would it be? (I just upgraded my VGA from a dead Radeon 4850 to a Radeon 7770 so re-replacing that is kind of out of the question, and I suppose indicative of my purchasing power..)

Shitty mATX case (because I like things small.. I also have a big tower case I'm not using..)
High Power Eco 500W PSU
MSI 760G-P21
AMD Athlon II X4 640
8 GB DDR3 Ram
1GB Sapphire Radeon 7770
1TB Western Digital Blue HDD

Would upgrading the CPU to an FX-6300 give me a significant boost? Would buying an SSD as a system drive help? What else?

SSD or CPU will be the biggest jump. Do you want to see a slight improvement in multitasking and a large gain in games, Or a snappier OS but with little difference in games

 

[hooijdonk17]

SSD or CPU will be the biggest jump. Do you want to see a slight improvement in multitasking and a large gain in games, Or a snappier OS but with little difference in games

I'm kind of OK with the OS performance as is, I'd rather like to see a framerate jump in games to be honest. Would something like an FX 6300 help me much? Best my mainboard allows would be a 95W FX series CPU.

 

[Hazaro]

I'm kind of OK with the OS performance as is, I'd rather like to see a framerate jump in games to be honest. Would something like an FX 6300 help me much? Best my mainboard allows would be a 95W FX series CPU.

Not really, just overclock your X4 with what headroom you have on cooling.

 

[hooijdonk17]

Not really, just overclock your X4 with what headroom you have on cooling.

I remember reliably overclocking to around 3.4GHz at some point, but that means losing Cool n Quiet and CE1 which I kind of like using.. So meh :/

Also Athlon/Phenom II overclocking is kind of boringly complicated. Any pointers to a decent guide?

 

[Neonglitz]

Can anyone please list me all the haswell mobos having C6/C7 state turned off by default.

 

[Hazaro]

I remember reliably overclocking to around 3.4GHz at some point, but that means losing Cool n Quiet and CE1 which I kind of like using.. So meh :/

Also Athlon/Phenom II overclocking is kind of boringly complicated. Any pointers to a decent guide?

Just FSB instead of multi for basic stuff, isn't it? Don't have any guides on me.

 

[Shaldome]

Playing with the thought about putting my rig under water again later this month when I have a week off. Wasn't there a water cooling thread somewhere around here. Did a search but couldn't find it.

 

[doniewhalberg]

From the OP, I'm wondering if there's a clear winner between the asus VS247H-P & VS239H-P monitors? They're effectively the same price on amazon uk,

 

[kharma45]

Ivy Bridge-E priced

Starting on the low end, the i7-4820K includes four cores clocked at 3.7GHz alongside 10MB of L3 cache and a 130W TDP. It can be yours for the aforementioned $310. Bumping up to the i7-4930K nets you a six-core CPU clocked at 3.4GHz and 12MB of L3 cache at the same 130W TDP. Expect to pay around $555 for the opportunity which is about $50 cheaper than the previous generation i7-3930K at launch.

If money is no object for you, the i7-4960X Extreme Edition will likely be on your wish list. This powerhouse six-core chip is clocked at 3.6GHz and comes with 15MB of L3 cache. Fortunately it’s also a 130W TDP processor so it shouldn’t run much warmer than the i7-4930K.

http://www.techspot.com/news/53447-...bridge-e-cpus-get-priced-ahead-of-launch.html

 

[Addnan]

That doesn't even seem too bad for the 4930K. Although, I am waiting out for Haswell-E.

The 4820K is cheaper than the 4770K, wonder how performance compares.