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f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  Gaming  |  Topic: The 'Build Me A PC' Thread 0 Members and 5 Guests are viewing this topic.
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Author Topic: The 'Build Me A PC' Thread  (Read 853995 times)
Lantyssa
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Reply #595 on: March 14, 2011, 08:29:54 AM

The whole side of the case is open, but I've positioned both 80mm to blow across the CPU fan, with the grill in the back and the 120mm serving as exhaust. It's a retarded setup, but I've been so busy I hadn't really taxed it until Black Ops, and then again on Rift. Generally gets to about 88-92deg F under load. I set the alarm to go off at 98deg F, which I'd hit after about an hour of Black Ops.
I missed this the first time.  Your CPU or your case is reaching 100°F?  If it's the CPU then you're well under okay temperatures.  Mine's around 103°F (depending upon core and BIOS revision) at idle with a nice tower cooler.

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
Engels
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Reply #596 on: March 14, 2011, 08:42:22 AM

Oops, missed the F. 98 degrees F for a quad core is actually quite good. That CPU in particular is rated to go up to 160 F (71C TCase).

I should get back to nature, too.  You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer.  Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached.  Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe

I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa

Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
Venkman
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Reply #597 on: March 14, 2011, 05:23:20 PM

I missed this the first time.  Your CPU or your case is reaching 100°F?  If it's the CPU then you're well under okay temperatures.  Mine's around 103°F (depending upon core and BIOS revision) at idle with a nice tower cooler.
Oops, missed the F. 98 degrees F for a quad core is actually quite good. That CPU in particular is rated to go up to 160 F (71C TCase).
Ok, I just realized I screwed something up. I thought RealTemp was telling me deg F, but it's actually Celcius. So my normal range is low-40sdeg C for CPUs Temp and low 40deg C for GPU Temp. Under load that goes to mid-80s CPU and mid-60s GPU.

I remember back about 18 months ago I had a similar problem. Someone thought it might be something with the thermal paste. I figure if I'm gonna get a new heatsink anyway, I'll take a look at that point.
« Last Edit: March 14, 2011, 05:31:46 PM by Darniaq »
Rasix
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Reply #598 on: March 14, 2011, 05:49:15 PM

Nothing particularly wrong with that GPU temp under load from my experiences.

-Rasix
Lantyssa
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Reply #599 on: March 14, 2011, 07:04:56 PM

Yeah, the GPU is okay, but the CPU should be a lot cooler.  So a new heat sink and/or checking the thermal paste is in order.

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
Engels
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Reply #600 on: March 15, 2011, 09:14:33 AM

Ya, sound like even under stock cooling, which is normally pretty bad for Intel CPUs of that generation, that temp's way too high. Thermal paste gets old, sometimes CPU coolers detach, especially the Intel push-pin stock coolers.

I know its a royal pain in the arse, but for the love of god and money, get a cooler that requires a back plate attachment. I used to 'make due' with a push pin for my Xigmatech, but it never quite cooled well. One weekend about a year ago, I got sick and tired of worrying, and just removed the motherboard and attached the backplate. Ever since then, my C2D 6750 idles in the high 20s C and only goes up to the low 50s C under continual load.

Your GPU temps are actually quite good, so you know its just your CPU heatsink that's not doing its job.

I should get back to nature, too.  You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer.  Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached.  Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe

I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa

Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
Venkman
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Reply #601 on: March 15, 2011, 08:11:53 PM

Fantastic, thanks all. Very helpful. And yea, I figured this would be while moving to a new case, so a backplate would be in the cards.
Lantyssa
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Reply #602 on: March 16, 2011, 06:16:54 AM

Good, good.  Push-pins are Evil.

Also, welcome back!

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
Sheepherder
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Reply #603 on: March 16, 2011, 10:10:25 AM

Good, good.  Push-pins are Evil.

They carved out a new bolgia just for the guys who made them.
Venkman
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Reply #604 on: March 16, 2011, 05:17:10 PM

Good, good.  Push-pins are Evil.

Also, welcome back!

Thanks! :)
Venkman
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Reply #605 on: March 20, 2011, 07:43:12 AM

Went with the Antec Nine Hundred Two and Corsair H5O liquid cooler. The latter was overkill, but I wanted to be sure.  Fringe benefit I didn't expect: way very quiet. Have four 120mm fans and a big 200mm on top, and it's quieter than our Wii.

Temperature certainly was solved. Under almost full load in Dragon Age 2 it's barely hitting what my idle temperature used to be.

Unfortunately i got a BSOD in Rift about 10 minutes in and a hard lock in DA2 about 10 minutes in. This being the first time I've ever transferred all components to a new case and added a cooling system, I expect I screwed something up.

- I've  got 3gb of RAM, two Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4 in the first two bays and a CM2X1024-6400 in bay four. According to CPU-Z, looks like I'm running at default (DRAM Freq is 400MHz, FSB:RAM is 5:6, 5CL, 5tRCD, 5tRP, 18tRAS, 22tRC and CR = 2T)
- Have reset Bios to factory (Rev 1201). Vcore voltage is 1.29v, 3.3v is 3.31v, 5v is 4.83v and 12v is 11.90v. These LOOK like they're in acceptable ranges, but I'm really not sure.
- Have run BurnInTest a number if times using different combinations of components under full load. All tests pass.
- Memtest86+ showed a lot of failures in test 5, which I understand from the nets that it could be memory controller or voltage? Is there any way to tell exactly which stick is causing the error, or is it trial and error (take one out, go full load, take another out, etc)? Also, it took over 8 hours to run through Test #8. That normal?
- CClean'd of course (do this pretty much weekly)

Running Defraggler at the moment but it's gonna take awhile.

Under light load the computer runs fine. It's been on for 20 hours. Quiet as heck and even on BurnIn

 I think I either screwed up something or a RAM stick went bad. I'm leaning on screwed-up because while the various plugs from the PSU looked like they only had one logical place to go based on what I was following from the Asus MB site, I could see myself putting too many things on one rail, or something like that. Plus, it'd be*real* coincidental for one stick to burn out right now (unless it was always bad but i was overheating before those areas of that stick were being accessed?)

Thoughts? 
Sky
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Reply #606 on: March 20, 2011, 08:22:34 AM

Isolating the sticks and putting a load on them always works for me.

As far as the transfer, were you using best practices, ie wrist strap and anti-static measures? If not, that could be the culprit. To be honest, I don't use a wrist strap. I've just been lucky (I do always make sure to ground myself before touching components, though).
Lantyssa
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Reply #607 on: March 20, 2011, 09:08:59 AM

Before you get too drastic, have you tried just reseating the RAM?  Since you just switched cases, it's likely they wiggled loose a bit.  Push on any power connectors, too, to make sure.

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
Engels
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Reply #608 on: March 20, 2011, 09:25:37 AM

To answer the earlier question as to whether its 'normal' to have to wait till test 8 on memtest86, its not 'normal', but its not unheard of. Unfortunately, I think Sky is right. Isolate each memory stick and run the test.

Another possibility is that its a specific bank or even a particular memory slot that's bad, not the memory itself. I had this issue with my old 989 socket ASUS board back in the day. If you can remember which slot it was that gave you errors, try rotating your sticks through that slot and see if there's a difference.

Another memory tester on UBCD is the Windows Memory tester. In some instances I have found it to be faster at finding errors.

I should get back to nature, too.  You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer.  Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached.  Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe

I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa

Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
Venkman
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Reply #609 on: March 20, 2011, 11:42:32 AM

Thanks. I'll try each stick. How can I can tell which bank it was? In Memtest the errors came up when the testing range was 2048M-3071M. I assume that's the third stick, but how can I tell which bank it is? My board is an ASUS P5N-T and I have 1gb sticks in DIMM bays A1, A2, and B2 (with B1 empty). But in looking at the manual again, I'm thinking maybe 3Gb is just unstable altogether on this MB, since on page 39 diagramming RAM configs, there isn't one for 3GB.

I tried 4Gb prior but that kept crashing. I'm sticking with WinXP until I absolutely need the 4gb+ of RAM though, so I'm wondering if maybe I just need to stick with 2gb on this board until I go Win7 64bit.

I was being as careful as I could be on this, being my first time and all. And I'm hoping it's just RAM.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2011, 11:48:34 AM by Darniaq »
Engels
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Reply #610 on: March 20, 2011, 12:06:39 PM

The memory range does suggest its the 3rd stick or the 3rd slot. It may be that the board isn't handling 3 sticks when its best used when you have pairs. As a test, take out the A slot pair and leave the one stick in the single B slot, then run the test again. If it doesn't give memory errors, that suggests that the problem is having a pair and a single rather than a broken memory stick.

Also, remember that when you use 3 sticks in a dual channel board, you're losing the dual channel functionality of the board, and your speed is suffering, even if you have more memory.

I should get back to nature, too.  You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer.  Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached.  Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe

I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa

Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
MisterNoisy
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Reply #611 on: March 20, 2011, 12:30:25 PM

The memory range does suggest its the 3rd stick or the 3rd slot. It may be that the board isn't handling 3 sticks when its best used when you have pairs. As a test, take out the A slot pair and leave the one stick in the single B slot, then run the test again. If it doesn't give memory errors, that suggests that the problem is having a pair and a single rather than a broken memory stick.

Also, remember that when you use 3 sticks in a dual channel board, you're losing the dual channel functionality of the board, and your speed is suffering, even if you have more memory.

I'd place money on this being the issue, which would likely be solved by just installing the two matched sticks in the 2-stick configuration (A1+B1).  It may be worth looking into a mate for the third stick, since memory is pretty cheap right now.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2011, 12:35:30 PM by MisterNoisy »

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Venkman
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Reply #612 on: March 20, 2011, 12:44:24 PM

Cool thanks. Looks like a bad RAM stick. Does mean I'm down to 2gb for now, but I was mostly holding myself back by sticking with XP anyway. Guess it's time to bite the bullet for an upgrade. Even if I put 4gb in there, XP will only recognize 3. And the manual does recommend sticking with under 3gb if I'm using a 32bit OS anyway.

Which is funny because for a year I've had it set up like this, but with no time to game, I haven't pushed the limit enough. And then when i did it was the heat I was more worried about. Glad it happened this way, that old case sucked, was loud, and ive always wanted an excuse to get a new one anyway :)

I've heard conflicting things, so want to confirm: can I buy a Win7 upgrade to go from XP 32 to Win7 64 of some form? Or is it a new purchase altogether?
« Last Edit: March 20, 2011, 12:46:37 PM by Darniaq »
Chimpy
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Reply #613 on: March 20, 2011, 01:08:49 PM

I would think there would be no restriction on upgrading XP 32 to Win7 64 as the 64 bit version of XP was almost never installed on, well, anything.

(That is assuming you can still upgrade XP-7 directly, which I am fairly certain you can).

'Reality' is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
Engels
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Reply #614 on: March 20, 2011, 02:53:03 PM

Don't be confused by the term 'upgrade'. It will require a fresh reinstall either way. Go with 64 bit.

I should get back to nature, too.  You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer.  Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached.  Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe

I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa

Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
Venkman
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Reply #615 on: March 20, 2011, 02:55:46 PM

Thanks guys. I was only thinking price. I don't install OSes unless it also includes a complete drive wipe :)
Stormwaltz
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Reply #616 on: March 25, 2011, 07:52:54 PM

Hey folks, my monitor appears to have finally kicked it. What do you think of this as a quick replacement?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176141

Nothing in this post represents the views of my current or previous employers.

"Isn't that just like an elf? Brings a spell to a gun fight."

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- Henry Cobb
Shrike
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Reply #617 on: March 25, 2011, 10:11:56 PM

Engels
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Reply #618 on: March 25, 2011, 11:12:26 PM

Hey folks, my monitor appears to have finally kicked it. What do you think of this as a quick replacement?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176141

Its hard to say without seeing it. All the stats in the world won't account for the way it actually looks. That said, its probably pretty good. The expensive IPS monitor Shrike points out is probably great for movies and photo, but may not be that much better for gaming.

On the whole, however, I'm always a big advocate of spending as much on a monitor as you would for most of your system; after all, the monitor is what you're actually engaged with. I shake my head in wonder at folks that get multi-thousand dollar gaming rigs, then get some TN monitor for 200 bucks.

I should get back to nature, too.  You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer.  Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached.  Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe

I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa

Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
Shrike
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Reply #619 on: March 26, 2011, 01:05:44 AM

More seriously, the 24" HP is actually a pretty good monitor. Another worth looking at is the Dell U2411. IPS monitors are just going to cost a bit more, but they're generally worth it if you value picture quality.

I still maintain if you have the video horsepower you should go big--and that means 2560x1440 or 1600. The HP mentioned above, the Dell U2711, or the Dell 3011 (though I consider the HP superior--the Dell has a rep for color issues. The HP is wide gamut, though, and no OCD). Money spent on good monitors is never wasted. Also, if you roll Cupertino, the Apple 27" Cinema Display is pretty impressive, assuming you can get past the weirdo ergonomics and reliance on display port.
Stormwaltz
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Reply #620 on: March 26, 2011, 06:21:44 AM

I've got $300 I can spend. If I wanted to get a big, expensive monitor, that would mean no home computer until my tax return gets here. That would drive me insane.

Nothing in this post represents the views of my current or previous employers.

"Isn't that just like an elf? Brings a spell to a gun fight."

"Sci-Fi writers don't invent the future, they market it."
- Henry Cobb
Shrike
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Reply #621 on: March 26, 2011, 07:00:30 AM


This one might cure what ails you:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=320-9270&~ck=baynoteSearch&baynote_bnrank=5&baynote_irrank=0

If one were to go multi-monitor for nVidia 3D surround or some such, it'd be high on one's list. It's about as cheap as it gets for a good IPS monitor. The only downside is it's 1920x1080, rather than 1920x1200, but the latter are getting damned hard to find and generally aren't as cheap.

Stormwaltz
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Reply #622 on: April 12, 2011, 04:27:38 PM

The tax return will be coming in the next few weeks. I'm starting to shop for a video card upgrade, which will almost certainly necessitate a PSU upgrade. My old card (Visiontek 512MB Radeon HD 4870) still works perfectly well, and can run modern games with little or no difficulty. But it is three years old, and on the advice of those here I undershot with a plan to upgrade in the computer's middle age.

What I want is something at the high end of "middle of the road" - good quality without paying through the nose for imperceptible (to me) improvements. DX11, 1GB of memory, and good heat management - the only thing I can really complain about the Visiontek is that it runs in the high 70s to low 80s, which seems high. I have no intention of using multiple monitors or Crossfire cards. Right now I'm looking at the Radeon HD 6850s, which have decent performance and cost under $200.

Most of these cards use PCIe 2.1. My motherboard is PCIe 2.0. The internet says the two should be compatible, but I wanted to ask here to be sure. Partly because I trust F13 internet people more than general internet people, partly because you'd note any caveats or gotchas others might gloss over.

As a first pass I'm looking at these: http://tinyurl.com/5uxbd3k

How am I doing so far? I'm not married to the 6850, so feel free to suggest a different type of Radeon. I'm not willing to shell out more than $300 or so. I want something good and reliable that will last a few years, not something bleeding edge (and likely incompatible with my current machine).

Nothing in this post represents the views of my current or previous employers.

"Isn't that just like an elf? Brings a spell to a gun fight."

"Sci-Fi writers don't invent the future, they market it."
- Henry Cobb
Sky
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Reply #623 on: April 12, 2011, 10:45:59 PM

New cards are backwards compatible, my mobo is over 4 yrs old. I really like my gtx 460, though the eventual plan is to SLI them in the computer I can't afford to build. Went in to replace an 8800gtx that was still a nice card (that died).

Despite the older bus tech and old cpu (c2d e6600), a few games can still make use of the whole gpu (divinity 2 pegs it). It does venture into low 90s territory on temps, though, despite being externally exhausted (which does mean it's not overly heating the rest of the innards of the pc, though!).
Shrike
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Reply #624 on: April 13, 2011, 03:04:01 AM

Since you're already in the red camp, I'd look at the Radeon 6950. They're running about $280 for the 2gig model. This is a strong card. They can--generally--be flashed to 6970 specs, but rumor was AMD was going to correct that in later iterations of the card. I'm a bit out of the loop on this, so not sure where the 6900 series stands at the moment in that regard. There's also a 1gig model of this card floating around. If you're not pushing high resolutions and lots of AA, it might be worth a look, since it's a bit cheaper (knock off about $30).

If you want to cut down on cost even more, the 6870 is another good choice, weighing in at about $200. This card is much stronger than the 6850, which to my mind is a bit lackluster, considering there's only about 30-40 bucks difference in price. I think the 6870 is the real sweet spot if you're not pushing outrageous resolutions.

I'm not aware of any issues with this generation of cards and PCIe 2.0.

MisterNoisy
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Reply #625 on: April 13, 2011, 07:08:57 AM

I really like Shrike's suggestions.  Either a 6870 or 6950 would be good, depending on how much you want to spend.  I also like the GTX560ti, and have them installed in two different PCs currently - at 1080p, I've yet to find the game I can't run with everything cranked.  The 6950 2GB would definitely be a better fit if you run higher resolutions, though.

As for temp concerns, I like the 2-3 fan non-reference coolers, since they tend to outperform the blower-box style solutions by a fair amount in terms of heat.  The downside is that they're generally dependent on an 'enthusiast'-type case with good airflow to avoid slow-roasting the rest of your PC in the process.

You mention possibly needing a new PSU to power the new card - what are you using now?
« Last Edit: April 13, 2011, 07:19:05 AM by MisterNoisy »

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Ironwood
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Reply #626 on: April 17, 2011, 03:38:44 AM

What's good in laptop land these days ?

"Mr Soft Owl has Seen Some Shit." - Sun Tzu
Engels
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Reply #627 on: April 17, 2011, 08:24:11 AM

insufficient parameters for valid computation <beeep, bloop, bleng-di-bleng>

I should get back to nature, too.  You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer.  Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached.  Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe

I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa

Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
jakonovski
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Reply #628 on: April 17, 2011, 08:35:52 AM

What's good in laptop land these days ?

iPads.
Engels
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Reply #629 on: April 17, 2011, 09:38:03 AM


I should get back to nature, too.  You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer.  Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached.  Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe

I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa

Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
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