The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition

Isn't that a 40mm chipset fan you're using, not the AMD stock cooler one? Because no 5000rpm CPU heatsink cooler 'barely makes a peep'. Even at 2000rpm those size fans can get pretty frustrating. 5000? ugh, I couldn't stand it.

Encoding tests that I ran (95 mins heavy load) pushed my CPU to about 59-60C with the case exhaust fans on high. I don't consider that too bad on air with a quiet (120mm 1500rpm) CPU cooler, and a considerable overvolt and overclock (2.66->4.12Ghz, 1.15V->1.35V).

 

If you can process graphics faster you will see increased performance, it has nothing to do with drivers! If we were working in monochrome DOS at a CLI prompt environment then maybe it wouldn't make as much difference but in an intensive GUI world it does!!

 

Only if the graphics are being processed slowly enough to be of concern. I never saw any issues with an X1600 Pro running windows 7. An 8600GT is faster than that.

Make the CPU and disk fast enough, and the difference in the windows environment (ignoring video playback and games) is indistinguishable, even with an ancient card. As long as it can run aero, it's good enough. How do you think PCs with integrated graphics work?

 

I don't get it myself. It probably was just a driver issue of some sort. Residual 260 settings? Perhaps windows 7 simply thought the 8600 was more than it actually was. I'll never know. All I know is, the 570 kicked it in the butt. Big time! GTA IV is running quite nicely. Better than the 260 ever did. Though the 260 was very respectable

 

Well it should, the GTX570 is twice as powerful as the GTX260

I would say though, just in case you're tempted, leave alone from overclocking the GTX570, especially if it's a reference design. Like the GTX460, the 570 is built to borderline tolerance, and even minor overclocks/modifications lead to premature failure.

 

LOL, I have zero interest in overclocking a GPU. The returns are probably minimal anyhow. The GPU's run pretty warm, so increasing the clock would increase the temps. Not into it By reference, do you mean fan in the center-ish? That's where it is...

 

This layout, specifically:
http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2010/12/nvidia-geforce-gtx-570-1-3gb-review/GTX570-7.jpg

If it's anything different, it's non-reference, which means the quality of manufacture of the card is down to the brand on the box, rather than nvidia themselves. Often a blessing with nvidia, but something to be avoided with AMD.

nvidia generally produce very poor quality hardware, but have some good partner brands that produce improved designs with longer lifespans. With AMD, the reference hardware is usually quite good, but almost all the partner brands are bad, and produce much worse quality cards than the reference designs.

From a neutral perspective, I somewhat prefer the AMD approach here, as with AMD you have a good GPU and just have to carefully pick and choose which brand of card you get, whereas with nvidia even with a quality non-reference card you still have the manufacturing of the GPU itself to contend with.

 

Ahh, my 260 looked like that. Well, I'm not a heavy gamer, as you've likely surmised. So it won't be stressed like the typical gamer would. Plus I'm more lax about fan speeds. I prefer cooler temps. If cooler temps = longevity, I'm all for it

 

Proper GPU-accelerated computing actually stresses GPUs far more than games do.

 

Mmm, I see. Well, I like to run the fan beyond the typical 40% It's at 50 right now, and I can barely hear it.

 

It certainly is not. It's a Phenom II/late A64 X2 era non-heatpipe cooler.

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pu...kigsT5ehRwCrPSm3mcU7wg9YfKRDoc1brmcy0oLS17Tz5

Believe mine came with my 5000+ or 7750. It was a really late-in-the-life-cycle design. Yes it does create noticeable noise. But believe me when I tell you my ears are extremely sensitive and well accustomed to the noises of this machine. It barely rates at audible above the other fans in my rig, which make a reasonably subdued amount of noise. There is no bearing noise AFAIK, only a soft "woosh". All at 5k RPM

Also Omega keep in mind that the above screenshot is the max temps this PC reaches barring the video cards. I cannot make it go hotter with any other workload. Folding does not reach those temps(again, barring the video cards which folding thrashes) and these PCs fold 12+ hours a day. Having very reliable cooling is also a priority for me. Luckily XFX have supplied me with super overkill video cooling(and the 8800GTS does not fold, ever)

 

Looks identical to the akasa 60mm 5000rpm cooler I had on my XP 3000+ when I first bought the machine:


Same number of fan blades and everything. That was a difficult amount of noise to mask.

 

I'm telling you it's really reasonable, and much more quiet than I thought it would be. It surprised me as I've used AMD stock coolers before but never bothered to try this one until I pulled it off the sink. It's something to do with the age of the unit and the OEM for the fan. Also this was definitely from the lower end cooler. IIRC it was with the Kuma 7750. Russ had the same CPU so it would explain the identical, quiet fans. Again, powerful as well.

 

hows it going everyone? long time no chat...
so im about to do a nice high end build,yes for myself.
no its not gonna be a AMD rig like you all have. im staying with intel.
im getting the I7 2700K cpu. but im having a issue with what mobo to get. the gigabyte board i wanted is no longer being offered at newegg.(GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3P) anyone have any input on which i should look at? and a cooler for the CPU?

ssd or hdd? for OS only that is.
GPU? im wanting a good card that i can plug my flat screen tv into and watch movies right from my rig.HDMI a must. ati,nvidia, it dont matter to me. as you all know i dont game,other than some COD now and then. but i wouldnt mind a card that i know can handle the games.

oh yea. must have 6-8 sata plugins...lol you know how i am about odd's


any input on any part of this build is appreciated.

this is kinda what im looking at right now.

 

Oman7,

I'm pretty sure the fan I'm using is 70mm 3200 rpm. It blows a veritable storm across the NB heatsink and the back side of the video card, and is super quiet out in the open like that. It's from a stock AMD 7750x2 simple cooler.

Russ

 

Rob,

The pic is too small to read.

Russ

 

MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131791
CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115095
SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167042
MEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231417
GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010
CASE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194

and about 3-5 odd's
also need a cooler

 

the only thing that is set in stone is the CPU...lol

 

Rob,

I went a little different way for my memory. I opted for 1333 MHz Cas 7, with timings of 7-7-7-21

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231402

I'm happy with it.

Personally, I can't see the price for the Intel SSD I have the 60GB Patriot Pyro, and it is one fast drive, even in IDE mode. Patriot has been around for a long time and make their own chips. Write speeds are almost double that of the Intel.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220603

Here's the ATTO of my 60GB drive.



Best Regards,
Russ

 

Why not wait for Ivybridge? Should be out soon (end of the quarter iirc).

My thoughts on the parts you listed:

MB: Unless you want/need a specific feature, why not something a little cheaper like GB GA-Z68XP-UD4

GPU: I owned a sapphire gpu once and the quality sucked; I would never recommend one. The cooler was also loud and barely did any "cooling" (at least when compared the XFX version I have now).

SSD: I like the 520 series better; not sure what the price difference is though.

RAM: Personally I'd put PC 12800 ram (with better timings) in a build like yours but I have no idea if the cost is worth it. This stuff is PC 12800 and almost the same price as the gskill Mushkin 996995