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Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Tezzeract posted:

Any tips on a GPU upgrade for the HP 6300?

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Compaq-6300-Business-Desktop/dp/B009KGE9NE

Doing a bit of research, it seems like the PSU is basically un-upgradeable and the best card I can get is a 750Ti?

That sounds about right since it's a small form factor so full size graphics cards won't fit.

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Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Fauxtool posted:

my 2500k has been running really hot recently during this heat wave. The cooler is a corsair h80i v2, the one with the thick single rad and push pull fans.

its fairly well overclocked at 4.7 so it should be hot, but I have been noticing it hover at 95c and peak frequently at 98c which im sure is too hot. This is during heavy gaming, the idle is closer to 50c

My gpu is a 980ti that doesnt go above 85c under heavy load so i dont think its a case airflow issue.

The fans and pump on the cpu cooler are working and in their "performance mode"

For most of the year my setup is adequately cool, but this temporarily high operating temperature is worrying me. Should I be concerned or is it okay to run at these temperatures for 20 days a year?

Are their signs that a cpu is near death or does it just stop working? I have been looking a for a reason to upgrade my whole system and this could be perfect.

The Tcase of the i5-2500K is 72.6 C. This is the maximum temp at the integrated heat spreader. Your CPU will throttle itself down to sub 1ghz levels at 99C to prevent from physically burning up. 98C is definitely too hot at it may already be throttling there. You have a large overclock but I think your cooler must have some kind of problem if it's running that hot. Even the idle temperature is high for an idle temp (you should be 30-35C idle with a decent cooler). I'd immediately get a new cooler or attempt to re-paste and remount that one and hope for better results. You should not run it that hot.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Fauxtool posted:

is the idle too high even if it super hot today like 40c?

No, in that case, 10 C over room temp is reasonable. The high end is definitely too high, though. I'm not sure if your single rad unit is unable to keep up with the heat or if it's malfunctioning for sure, but if it's as old as the CPU it may be the latter. Has it run this hot in previous years? Does it get to 70 C when it's 20 C out?

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Shine posted:

My dad's ancient computer needs replacing, and I decided to go with the budget option in the OP: a Dell Inspirion 3847 with an upgraded video card. Dell Outlet has a promotion right now so I snagged a 3847 for about $315.

My question is, does anybody know if the power supply in that Inspirion can handle a GTX 770 or a GTX 960? My girlfriend and I have those cards and I was thinking I could put one of those into dad's computer and then upgrade one of our systems. The PSU specs weren't noted on the website.

If the Dell PSU isn't up to snuff, then is there any reason why I couldn't just swap a better power supply into the Inspirion and to run the GTX 770/960?

If that isn't possible for some reason (proprietary hardware, etc.), then I'll just get him a 750ti as suggested in the OP. He's used to PS3/480i graphic quality so he won't care if he has to run iRacing on low detail.

The Dell power supply won't have PCI-E power cables, just the bare minimum for what's in the case (and one spare sata power in case you add a second HD). So, you can either go with a card that's entirely bus-powered like some models of 750Ti or replace the PSU with something more capable. You can easily replace it on the mid tower models since they're standard ATX, although you should measure the length of the PSU before buying a replacement and check the length of it because some longer power supplies (usually modular or partially modular PSUs are longer due to the extra space for the modular jacks) won't always fit correctly with some of the dell side panel hardware or PSU mounting bracket.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Tony Homo posted:

Just got my ssd drive and the seagate hd and don't know what connectors they use. I'm so used to the big ribbon connectors of eons ago and the big power connectors. These are super small connectors. Read the explanation of the motherboard and it comes with sata cables. The powerbox that I bought doesn't have any connectors that fit such small power connectors on both of them. I read I need "molex" adaptor for a sata power cable? Does that sound right?

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/R7V48d/seasonic-power-supply-ssr650rm

And

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/FrH48d/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz75e500bam

And

Seagate Desktop HDD ST1000DM003 1TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

Each drive will need one SATA power connector (the big one of the two):


and one SATA data cable (the smaller of the two):


The modular power supply probably has sata power cables as a separate cable you need to plug in and run to where the disks are in the case. The data cables go to the sata ports on the motherboard (it's best to hook up the SSD to the Intel sata ports and install windows on it first, then plug in the secondary disk later so windows doesn't put stuff on the wrong disk).

edit: also note that the connectors are keyed so they can't go on upside down. There's a little downwards bit on the end of each.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Zotix posted:

I'm really wanting to upgrade myself. I built my pc in 2012, it's a 3570k, and a year later I bought a 780gtx. It's basically been the same since. I just dont know if I want to build a pc now, or wait until later in the year. I'm not a star citizen fan boy, but I'll likely play it, and I'd like to have a rig that runs it with no hiccups. I feel like Kaby Lake may not come out this year, and the improvements will likely only be marginal. I also am hesitant to get a 1080 since a Ti might be out before Xmas, or it might not. If I don't get a 1080, then I'd probably get a 1070, but AMD has some nice budget cards dropping in a few days. I know I can never really future proof, but I'd like to future proof the best I can based on the best time to buy.

Well, as you know, it's almost impossible to buy the best thing at the perfect time because there's new stuff every 6-12 months (for the most part). You don't mention what kind of screen you're using. If it's 1920x1080 @ 60hz you're probably fine as is until you find a game that won't give you 60hz. If you're going for a higher resolution screen and/or higher framerates then a beefier video card will be a good idea. The 3570K should be fine for a while yet. Is yours overclocked decently?

If I had to give a general rule for upgrading it's "upgrade when you find something you can't run as well as you want it to."

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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TheBigAristotle posted:

I suppose I should have done more than leave this quote here, but I'm wondering if maybe my motherboard or CPU should be my next upgrade. I figure in a year or so I'll probably upgrade my gpu.

Any suggestions? Am I wrong in my feeling here that the mobo or CPU are what's lagging behind?

The AMD FX CPU line is old and not good. You're going to want to pick up new Intel stuff, especially for gaming. This means motherboard and CPU. If you buy Haswell (4th gen) stuff you can probably reuse your RAM. If you buy Skylake stuff (current 6th gen stuff) you'll need new ram as well because it mostly uses DDR4.

If you go with Haswell you should consider the i5-4690K or i7-4790K CPU (the i5 is fine for gaming but the i7 has higher stock clocks before overclocking) and a Z97 chipset motherboard. You'd be looking at spending $300-400 on motherboard and cpu.

If you go with Skylake you can look at a lot of the recently posted builds. You'll probably just want the i5 here, an i5-6600K and Z170 chipset motherboard for overclocking or an i5-6500 and H170 chipset motherboard for normal use. You'll be looking at spending $300-350 on motherboard and CPU + around $50-100 on RAM.

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May 1, 2010

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Zero The Hero posted:

Can anyone tell me the difference between these "different" series of ram?

From the provided specs the difference is cosmetic. It's likely that the heat spreaders are it.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Zero The Hero posted:

Anyone have any opinions on this external hard drive?
I need one before I build my new PC, and I need it to be at least 5TB. This is 8 and it's affordable, and Seagate is supposed to be a decent brand, so it looked like a good deal to me.
Only thing I dislike about it is that it appears to need an external power source. I guess that's standard, but if anyone knows of a backup drive that doesn't need one, I'd love to see it.

I'm not sure about that external in particular, generally I'm not a huge fan of external disks or seagate in particular. That said, any external that has a 3.5" hard disk in it is going to require additional power. You can get externals that have 2.5" laptop drives in them instead which can draw enough power from USB to run but I think the max capacity is around 2TB on those.

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May 1, 2010

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Bass Bottles posted:

I'm a long time Mac user and console gamer who has been looking into getting a gaming PC for the first time. My hopes and dreams are: quiet, able to run Xbox One "exclusives" and crazy indie games, can be placed horizontally in my media center. I'm not looking for top end visuals, just 1080p/60fps would be nice....

Trying to pick out parts and research how to build a PC is stressing me the heck out though so now I'm looking at pre-built units to chillax and I found one that doesn't seem terrible?

http://www.microcenter.com/product/454949/Envy_750-171_Desktop_Computer

$720 open box seems like a pretty decent price for what it is. The major drawbacks are that it supposedly has almost no room for upgrades, and it's a regular tower so I'm not sure how good of an idea it is to place it sideways.

Is it a super bad idea? Am I missing any drawbacks? I have no PC gamer friends who can help me build something and it stresses me out!!!

You don't want that PC. The video card will have to be replaced to have decent performance and the SSD is of unknown quality. You can place any midtower on its side, although the optical drive (if any) will need to support loading discs vertically (some have little grabbers in the tray for this). There's some low-ish cost builds in the thread that will be better than that for around the same price, but you'll have to assemble it yourself.

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May 1, 2010

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Bass Bottles posted:

I've read a lot that cases plan their cooling systems around heat "rising to the top" and that putting them sideways is not recommended, so I'm very nervous about the idea of putting a normal tower sideways. Though honestly, if I were to build a PC I doubt I'd include an optical drive.

It depends on the case but most pull in from the front/side and out of the back. A tower is basically a desktop case turned sideways (which is why the motherboard is vertical). If you put it so the motherboard is on the bottom, that's fine too.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Bass Bottles posted:

I've read a lot that cases plan their cooling systems around heat "rising to the top" and that putting them sideways is not recommended, so I'm very nervous about the idea of putting a normal tower sideways. Though honestly, if I were to build a PC I doubt I'd include an optical drive.

I asked over in the small form factor/mini-itx thread for you in case someone reading that thread might have come across some prebuilts that fit the bill but the best fit so far, and what you may want to look at, is the Dell Alienware Alpha. It's super tiny and uses a mobile GPU, but it's around $500 (sometimes less if there's a sale) and is basically a console sized windows PC (it's actually smaller than a lot of consoles). There's not much room for expansion in it and it may not play top tier games at 60 FPS but it's not terrible and is reasonably priced. I've seen them on sale for as low as ~$320 but that's very infrequent:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha/pd?oc=dkcwa05hbts

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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rizuhbull posted:

$~400 but I might be convinced to go higher, 1080/60fps and ShadowPlay is a must unfortunately. Isn't graphical fidelity just a catch-all term for the former two things? Resolution, settings, etc? I'd like to play on max settings for at least a couple years going forward. I'm hoping that's possible because I plan on sticking to 1080 for awhile.

Rendering video is a task that is easy to break up into different threads so an i7 would beat your i5 for it (20% gains for highly threaded tasks is normal). If you're considering a CPU swap then the best your board could handle is an i7-4790K which would be the fastest clock speed CPU for that socket type. It's a -K but you won't be overclocking, it's clocked to 4ghz/4.4ghz turbo out of the box which is pretty great (faster than any other CPU Intel has that I'm aware of). The CPU is around $300, however.

If you also need a video card the 970 is good for high to ultra 1080 at 60fps with current games. The main downside to it is that it's now one generation old, which is why it's down in the $200 range (while this is normal price for a used one, there was a new one for sale that low in the last week, so there may be other sales since manufacturers are now trying to get rid of old stock). The 1070 is a better card by a good amount but it's around $400 and is a bit overkill for 1080 resolution currently unless you're going for higher refresh rates. That said, new games will likely require more video card power in the next few years so if you're planning to use it for a while the 1070 may be a safer bet. I can't tell the future of game performance and what you'll be playing so I can't say which is the best choice for your uses.

Rendering video could also be done on a secondary machine if you're game to really throw money at the problem (and the time savings would probably be worth considering) but that's a whole separate subject where we'd be looking at the most cores and ram for the buck instead of just trying to maximize what you have now.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Man_of_Teflon posted:

I have an older computer with an AMD 945 Phenom X4 and NVIDIA GT 440.

If all I'm looking to play is 1080p Overwatch and the like, and want to save some $$$, would it be stupid to get an RX480 (or GTX1060 if they are actually available once released) and simply upgrade my CPU to the best cheap AM3+ processor deal I can find? Microcenter has the FX 8320E or FX 4350 for $90, which would be a hell of a lot cheaper than a new motherboard and Skylake CPU (and a cooler if I do the overclocking thing... and new RAM...).

I already have 16gb of RAM and an SSD for the OS.

The AMD FX line of CPUs is a dumpster fire except for highly threaded tasks (they are bad for most games). I wouldn't even bother trying to upgrade that CPU, it's just throwing money away that could be better saved for a new Intel build. A video card may help some but a lot of games will be strenuous for your CPU. I'm not sure about Overwatch specifically, since Blizzard usually tries for lower specs and wider compatibility, but it might work out. That said, since the CPU is 7 years old (and the FX line is basically 5) you will eventually need to step up to something new.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Rookersh posted:

Well this is a fun hell.

I currently have 3 2TB drives plugged in, plus my starter 1TB I built the machine with. I still need more space ( about 1k more or so, give or take ).

What I want to do is buy an external 2TB HDD as something of a backup box I can currently use for more storage, but also to keep stuff I want to make sure is saved in case of infection/reformat needs. I'm also toying with the idea of using it to transport games to LAN parties/friend events, or transporting VR stuff to parties so it doesn't need to be set up so much. Since I'll have an extra 500 gigs after that's all over, I figure I'll drop the initial 1TB HDD and replace it with a 500gb SSD sometime in the future.

Problem is I know loving nothing about external HDDs. I know Toshiba and Hitachi are great brands for internal HDDs, but they don't seem to make external HDDs at all. From doing some light googling online, external HDDs also have a lot of oddities compared to internal HDDs, where many can have completely different run speeds ( so can internal drives, but 90% of internal drives seem to be the same, whereas most external drives seem to be different. ), some require external power sources ( this is good ), while some require your PSU ( this is bad for me. ), etc.

If I'm looking for exactly 2TB, reliable brand for external, gaming capable/internal matching speeds, with a budget of say $100-$200, what should I be looking at? What should I know about external drives?

External drives aren't that reliable in general. You'd think they're just internal drives in cases but it seems like they fail more often due to heat issues or being knocked over or having lovely sata to USB controllers or whatever. If you really want one I'd shop for a small 2.5" one since they use laptop drives which are a little more tolerant of movement and don't require an additional power brick. They also run cooler. Buy whatever is cheapest between Seagate and WD, there's no huge difference:
https://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Elements-Portable-WDBU6Y0020BBK-EESN/dp/B00DULWSXI/
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Portable-External-STEA2000400/dp/B00TKFEE5S/

For your home system I'd also look at getting some 4 or 5TB disks next time you get low on space. They're reasonably cheap (120-180 bucks) just make sure that if your stuff is essential you back it up. Having one copy of anything essential means you're going to lose it eventually. This goes for now and later, plan for some redundancy.

The SSD is a good idea for a boot disk, it's the biggest upgrade in general PC performance you can get these days and 500GB disks are 150 bucks or less pretty regularly.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Ciaphas posted:

I'm considering the Haswell->Skylake upgrade I asked about upthread (link to last post in conversation) again, because I've stumbled into a little extra money. Question: do we know if a successor to Skylake is in the very near future, and if its characteristics lead anyone to believe it will be a massive jump over Skylake?

I've pretty well concluded that my PC is CPU-bound on certain Vive applications, most especially trying to play 2D (ed: as opposed to VR) games in Virtual Desktop, so it seems it would be good value for me if it's not going to be super supplanted three months later (like my six month old 980ti has been thanks to the 10xx series :saddowns:)

Kaby Lake is scheduled for early 2017 and is a Skylake refresh. It will probably have small clock speed increases and possibly some additional features. I doubt it will have anything you can't live without.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Professor Moriarty posted:

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00GHz
Wolfdale 45nm Technology
RAM
4.00GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 533MHz (5-7-7-24)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. EP45-UD3P (Socket 775)
Graphics
VA2406M-LED (1920x1080@60Hz)
1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 (EVGA)

I've had this sucker for about 7-8 years, and in that time only upgraded the graphics card after the old one went to purple screen Valhalla. It's served me very well in that time, but it seems it might be unable to run Doom, Witcher 3, etc.

Budget is pretty tight, so I'd like to minimize the amount of upgrading I'd need to do. What's the weakest link to attack to get my PC more up to modern gaming specs? I figure I probably need to get a quad-core CPU at least, but would that require me to get a new mobo?

If you're brave and don't mind cutting some plastic out of your CPU socket you might consider putting an LGA771 Xeon in that LGA775 socket. I did it with a couple of MSI boards recently and got 4 cores with 12 MB of cache for $20 + a cheap sticker thing. Read about it here:
http://www.delidded.com/lga-771-to-775-adapter/

If it's your only computer it may not be the best idea. The machines I did worked great but they got upgraded out of an office and were left to me to use/fix/donate as I see fit.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Shumagorath posted:

If I've got a 650-750W Corsair (forget which) is there any reason not to reuse that PSU in a new system? If anything the power draw will be less but it's getting on 5 years old and I've done the Saturday-afternoon-dead-PSU panic run before.

If it's a CX and/or Builder series you want to replace it. If it's a different unit and the warranty is still okay you should be alright for a while longer, but if the warranty is up you should get a new one. The general rule in the thread is 5 years or the warranty length, whichever is longer.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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Bleh Maestro posted:

Can anyone recommend a USB 4-port+ hub that actually has a length of cord that will reach from the front / back of my PC to my desk where I can reach it easily?

You may have to be a bit more specific about the distance, but there's always the option of a good hub and replacing the stock 2' or 3' cable it comes with. For example, an Anker with a superspeed cable:
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Charging-Adapter-Included-VL812-B2/dp/B014ZQ07NE/

Then a 10' cord (15' is only $1 more):
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-SuperSpeed-Type-Black/dp/B00C7RZPJ0/

Of course on that model you may end up with a short power cable.

This one has a 3' USB and a 6' power cable:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008ZGKWQI/

There's also just a USB extension if you already have one you like and it doesn't quite reach:
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-SuperSpeed-Female-Extension/dp/B00CFL6ARO/

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

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ihatepants posted:

I just got all my components delivered today and am starting to put it all together. I just am not sure about one thing. I've got a be quiet Dark Base Pro 900 case and an EVGA 650GQ PSU. Am I supposed to be mounting the PSU with the fan facing up or down?

Looks like my case has a removable filter on the bottom and the space below looks like it exits through the sides since the bottom of the case itself has no holes. I'm just not sure which way the PSU is meant to be mounted in this case and just looking at how people mounted it in the reviews, it's split 50/50. The manual was, of course, no help. One of the reasons why I am hesitant to mount it with fan facing down is that the filtered opening is off center, with about 1/3 of the fan being over the non-filtered base, presumably because the case is modular and supports a left or right motherboard configuration.

Pictures:




You can mount it either way. If the fan is up it will pull air out of the case and out of the back of the PSU. If it's down, it will pull air in the bottom and out the back of the PSU. I prefer to mount them fan down if there's an opening in the bottom of the case because it just gets room temperature air and cycles it back out of the PSU. I keep my PC on a hard floor, though, and if you have yours on a carpet it may be more complicated.

In reality it probably won't make a huge difference to your case temperatures so you should just do what you prefer.

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May 1, 2010

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ihatepants posted:

Thanks. I guess I will place it fan down because the PSU is completely inside of the case and doesn't touch the rear wall of the case at all. That way it'll pull in room temperature air and expel it into the case itself?


Yeah the internal PSU mount is a little weird on that case, but I'd probably still put the fan down so it's getting cool air from the bottom.

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May 1, 2010

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Enigma posted:

Any suggestions for an intake?

That's a really unusual size so I'm not sure if you're going to find anything easily. I haven't been able to with some cursory searches. Most 120mm fans are 25mm thick so the main slim one I found is 12mm:
https://www.amazon.com/Scythe-Slip-Stream-120mm-SY1212SL12L/dp/B002CYPWTG

It doesn't move as much air as a regular fan since it's so thin. Deepcool has a UPC for 120x120x10mm fan but every page I can find it on lists it as 20mm thick, so the 10mm may just be a typo:
http://www.upcindex.com/6933412712176
https://www.amazon.com/Deepcool-Gamer-Storm-Computer-Connector/dp/B00KJF1ZM8

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May 1, 2010

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Bass Bottles posted:

PC Parts Picker says this PSU is incompatible with the Node 202 case. Anyone have any idea why?

Also, my estimated wattage is only around 270, so if I stick with the 600wat PSU would that cause problems?

The node 202 is a super small case so it only takes SFX sized power supplies. Enigma linked an ATX one (which is much larger) because the price vs. wattage seemed off on the SFX one, but he didn't realize it was SFX and it will cost more per watt simply due to being small. So the ATX one won't fit and you're paying a bit more for the small size, but you should probably go with your original linked one or another good gold 80+ model like Silverstone which is going to cost about the same anyway:
https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Factor-BRONZE-ST45SF/dp/B003H4QPDC

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May 1, 2010

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Avalanche posted:

Hey goons. Build my first ever PC all by myself! (Well, maybe not first ever since I've pretty much replaced/installed every single component possible in other lovely dell boxes over the years but still). I have some concerns on cooling, airflow, and cable management with this build.

Here is the build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($344.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9x65 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.90 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII GENE Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($206.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card ($429.99 @ B&H)
Case: Lian-Li PC-O6SX HTPC Case ($297.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($103.02 @ Amazon)
Total: $1664.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-01 04:43 EDT-0400

*Also there is a rear case fan not included above.

Overall, the build was pretty simple and only took me ~2-3 hours to complete. Everyone I spoke with told me that it was loving retarded to do this as a first build and that it would be way too complicated, but it really wasn't that bad.

Here is a pic of the build:

]

Cooling setup:
a)3 exhaust fans on the top of the case that came with the case (not shown in pic)
b) 1 intake fan on the back of the case that blows onto the underside of the mobo where the cpu is.
c) Noctua cpu fan is blowing into the radiator
d) 3 GPU exhaust fans
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions/Concerns:

Running some burn in tests I've been getting some pretty high cpu temp numbers. When running Prime95, the cpu was hitting 92-94C easily. With Folding At Home, the cpu was hitting the upper 70s to low 80s. I did a dumb thing and ran Prime95 + FoldingAtHome + 3 Nvidia GPU tech demos + 2 4k youtube videos all at the same time and got the CPU temp up to 99-100C and kept it there for ~30min. The mouse cursor was stuttering, the sound was stuttering, but the system surprisingly did not crash or catch on fire.

Ambient temps seem good with the cpu running at 25-28C. When not under load with ~7 chrome tabs open, cpu temps are in the 28-33C area. CPU temps with Doom on ultra using the vulcan API stayed in the 40s-50s. CPU temps with BF4 on ultra were mostly in the 40s-50s with weird spikes to the mid 60s on 1 or 2 cores that last 2-3 sec before going back to 40-50.

Is this good? (other than being a complete dumbass and running prime+folding at the same time)

Also, how is my cable management? It's not the best, but I'm not sure if rerouting all the crap on the bottom left under the chasis at this point is going to substantially make a difference in temps. And yes I realize a fan cable touching the cpu fan that spans across the mobo looks really jenki.

Is there really anything I can do at this point to improve temperatures? When I was applying thermal paste to the cpu, I followed my friend's advice and applied a very thin layer across the entire cpu. When mounting the radiator, I placed it on the cpu and had to briefly pull it off and put it back on because I did not have the radiator perfectly aligned with the mobo mounting bracket. Could this have potentially caused some air pockets to form in the thermal paste?

Any opinions on the 3 upper case fans? Should I keep them as exhaust fans or make them intake fans?

There is a tempered glass case panel that came with this thing (not shown). If I put it on, temps tend to increase by ~10-12C across the board probably due to the cpu fan having little air to intake, and the gpu exhaust fans basically shooting air directly at the glass panel which then reflects back onto the gpu. I'm thinking about getting a custom piece of plexiglass made with cutouts for the cpu fan and gpu fans so I never run into this problem but then again, a better cooling configuration may be a better option.


With RL performance in games, applications, etc. the system has been awesome and I'm really happy with it. Just want to make sure there's nothing else I can do to substantially decrease temps aside from water cooling and replacing the stock top 3 case fans with something aftermarket.

Thanks all

Since you pulled the heatsink off the CPU after pushing it down on the thermal paste you might want to reapply it but gererally your temps sound normal. Prime95 and Intel Burn Test and other utils like that intentionally use instructions that cause the CPU to heat up way beyond normal usage temps. The reason everything got all lovely when you ran everything at once is that your CPU clocked itself down to like 800mhz or something to save itself from burning to death at 99C (don't do this). Your temps seem fine otherwise, I'd probably leave it alone but maybe repasting the CPU heatsink just in case you got some air bubbles trapped in the paste.

To repaste it use some high % rubbing alcohol and low lint products (coffee filters or good quality paper towels or something) to wipe/roll off the old paste from the heatsink and CPU. Reapply your thermal paste as a pea sized dot in the middle then put the heatsink back down and don't move it except from very slight side to side or very small rotations just to get it to line up. This may smush the paste around a little but don't pick it back up. Picking it up makes the paste sort of peel off both sides and putting it back down afterwards can cause bubbles which can make spots of poor thermal conductivity.

As for fan positioning and the side panel it seems like a weird case that's got a kind of unique layout so the general rules may not apply. For a regular case you pull air in from the bottom/front/side and out the top/back. You also shoot for more air intake than output to keep a slight positive pressure inside the case so that dust won't clog up every opening in the case. With that case I'm not sure how you'd achieve that, especially if all of the fans are on the top. It seems like, based on the diagrams on newegg, you're using it as intended:

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Avalanche posted:

Thanks for the responses guys.

I just did the intel burn test on "standard" and got core temps in the mid-high 90s that would drop down back to 50C in-between the 10 trials.

Time to re-apply thermal paste?

Also my buddy who is very into building computers is against the "pea sized dot" method of applying thermal paste if your goal is to eventually overclock the system.

His rationale is that moving the radiator from side to side to spread the paste can cause air pockets to form. He prefers applying a very very VERY thin layer with a spreader over the entirety of the cpu with the added benefit of getting complete coverage of the cpu with paste instead of just a localized region but emphasizes the method is worthless if the layer of paste if not as thin as possible.

Is he wrong or just gets a massive boner from applying thermal paste perfectly?

It really doesn't matter that much, it's kind of a nerdy "I know best because I do it this way" thing. There's been a lot of testing and from what I saw the thin line seems to be the best coverage of the core under the heatspreader (I think this was for Haswell specifically, not sure where you're aiming for under the heatspreader on skylake), the pea is normal because it gets you a big circle that covers the core. I believe, however, that spreading it yourself can introduce bubbles because you can't necessarily get it completely flat and they don't mill the bottom of the heatsink completely flat, so letting it squeeze out like from a pea or line should fill in any tiny gaps more completely than pushing them onto a flat surface of paste. But you can just do what you want, there won't be a significant difference in temps as long as you don't pick it up after you put it down.

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Bass Bottles posted:

I'm trying to install my CPU into an ASUS B150i Motherboard, but it has this extra piece of plastic that is giving me trouble.

It's not the protective shield you're supposed to remove, it's more like a tiny plastic dock for the CPU to sit it. It's supposed to snap into place but I can't get it to.

Touching the bottom of the CPU is forbidden, right? This stupid thing just won't snap.

You just lie it in there and close the top with the handle, it doesn't snap into anything. Make sure it's oriented the right way (there's a gold corner that points at an arrow usually). The mechanism you close it with holds the CPU down with the amount of pressure it needs to contact the pins in the socket well. Don't touch the pins or the bottom of the CPU.

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80k posted:

Can someone with a Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO answer this question?

I currently have a case with an inverted airflow (rear fan is intake, and front fan exhaust). I will be installing the Cooler reversed.

I might change the case to a regular airflow (front intake, rear exhaust). Would I need to completely reinstall the cooler to flip the direction? Or can I simply move the fan to the other side?

I know some coolers have the fins designed for a particular direction. I am hoping the Coolermaster is perfectly symmetric and doesn't care which side the fan is on. Does anyone know this?

You can put the fans on either direction on it. There's also very little difference in push/pull on the 212. I can't remember the source off the top of my head but we went over some different configs in the thread a couple of years ago and someone found an article with testing that someone had done that indicated it was fine with pretty much whichever config as long as air flowed through the fins. I also just looked at my spare one and there's no front side, it's almost symmetrical (the heat pipes aren't all the same but the fins are which is what will matter.)

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This is a pretty good uninterruptible power supply, I've used 4 or 5 of them and they're good stuff.

McCracAttack posted:

We use these for our workstations. They really just protect against random power blinks and if the power goes all the way out you have 5 minutes or so to save your work.

Though be aware, while it has 6 outlets only 3 of them are connected to the battery. You don't want to have your PC in a battery outlet and your monitor in a non battery outlet when the power goes out.

That's not going to provide enough power for his overclocked gaming PC if it's running something when the power goes out. He'll likely be pulling 300 Watts or more from the wall/UPS, and 350VA isn't enough for that. APC is a good brand but he definitely wants more capacity and sine-wave.

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nerox posted:

I have a i53570k (Ivy Bridge) running at 4ghz. My video card is currently a GTX660Ti.

Would a 1070 be worthwhile to upgrade to if I weren't going to upgrade the cpu/motherboard at this time?

Yes!

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MacDeuce posted:

First of all here’s by current build:

GPU: EVGA GTX 560 Ti SuperClocked
CPU: Intel i5 2500k Quad-Core w/ Cooler Master CPU Cooler
MB: Asus P8P67-M PRO (LGA 1155 - Micro ATX)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 371 Black Mid
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1.5TB SATA3 7200RPM 64M Cache
+ a SSD
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
PSU: Corsair 600 Watt w/ modular cables (Builder series I think)
OS: Windows 7 64-bit

I put together this build about 4-5 years ago, haven’t used my desktop in almost one year, recently tried to use it and the computer no longer boots.

We started by checking all the wiring, everything is properly plugged in. We tested the power supply with a paperclip and it still works fine, fans start turning. There’s a small light that turns on on the motherboard when the PC is plugged in, but based on what my brother who originally built my setup told me, the problem is definitely with the MB since the computer does not boot at all. Is there any chance that something else is causing the issue?

Question 1) I’m guessing the easiest and cheapest solution is simply to replace the MB with another compatible one. And anything that’s LGA 1155 / Micro ATX should be compatible with my current parts? The LGA1155 socket seems sort of out-dated but I’m not looking to run any brand new games so I should be fine just replacing the motherboard and not upgrading my whole computer.
Are there any brands or models that I should avoid? Any other suggestions?

Question 2) Instead of getting a LGA 1155, let’s say I have a 600$ CAD budget to fix this motherboard issue and slightly upgrade my PC without having to change every single component: Is that realistic? And if so what should I be looking to upgrade first?
I’m just using it for web browsing, watching movies and playing a few older games (Starcraft 2, Path of Exile)

Thanks for your help!

Just because the power supply runs on its own doesn't mean that it's capable of supporting the PC, but it's probably not the first thing I'd replace. First I'd look at the motherboard and see if any of the capacitors are exploded. If not, I'd reseat the video card and ram (or even try to run without them and with one stick of RAM). I'd also reseat all of the power connectors and then clear the CMOS. Here's a link to the manual:
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1155/P8P67-M_PRO/E6426_P8P67-M_PRO.zip

The manual has the different LEDs and what they're for on 1-36 which may help narrow it down. The jumper for clearing the cmos clock ram is shown on 1-24 and is in the lower right.

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Rocko Bonaparte posted:

Generally speaking, is it pretty easy to cram a respectable Intel CPU on a mini-ITX into a case that is less than a foot on any particular dimension? I see quite a few of them, but the power supplies all go around 150W, which scares me. I assume if I just need on-board video, it's fine, but I'd want a video card in mine. Outside of a hard disk, I wouldn't have anything else to cram into them.

Yeah it's totally possible, although if you need a graphics card you need to go a little bigger. You generally don't use the 150 W power supply that comes with it unless you're just running a CPU and motherboard, there's a lot of SFX and other small sized PSUs available, they just cost a bit more than the ATX ones. Check out:
The SFF and Mini-ITX Thread

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Arsenic Lupin posted:

I bought the SA Penny-Pincer, the Dell Inspiron 3847 ]with Intel Core i5. I'm saving pennies to put a graphics card into it. It has a 300W power supply, brand name unknown. Should I replace it when I add the graphics card?

You will almost definitely need a new power supply unless you're buying a super low power GPU (GTX 750 or something). Most third party graphics cards require additional power cables to be hooked up to them which the Dell PSU won't have and, depending on model, will require more power than the PSU can deliver. If you have a graphics card in mind we can make suggestions but another consideration is that not all ATX power supplies fit into dell cases just due to the length. Modular PSUs are popular because they're easy to work with but they're often longer and may not fit correctly. It wouldn't hurt to measure the length of your current one before ordering a new one.

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Ciaphas posted:

I'm not really familiar with the world of workstation / server hardware. Is something like this dell t310 for $200 actually a good deal? I'd like to install ESXi on it and--besides installing Plex on one VM--try my hand at setting up stuff I'm not too familiar with, like setting it up as a router/VPN or NAS (or both???).

(e: I guess it'd be $250 since I'd want 16gb of ram and not 4, but question stands)

For virtual machines you want
a) lots of cores
b) lots of RAM

That machine is kind of old but isn't terrible, but you're going to want at least one of the quad core cpu options it offers (which costs extra) and some RAM (costs extra). I'd shoot for 16 or 32gb depending on how many VMs you'll be running, although the number may depend on how many cores you have in the system and how busy your VMs will be. Some general eccentricities with server hardware include things like specialty hard disk sleds which cost more, weird network interfaces (I think that particular one looks okay) and stuff like ECC RAM (not sure on that one but ECC isn't bad, just usually costs a little more).

Because there's a million Xeons with a weird numbering scheme it's worth looking up what you're getting on Intel ARK. For that T310 you're looking at http://ark.intel.com/products/42927/Intel-Xeon-Processor-X3430-8M-Cache-2_40-GHz
which shows that that's quad core 95 Watt TDP xeon from 2009. It's not terrible but it's not as efficient as something new. It's roughly equivalent to an i5 from the first generation they called quad core desktop CPUs i5. Skylake is 6th generation so the T310 is a little long in the tooth. It's not terrible but there's new virtualization features with newer chipsets.

Take a look at the home lab thread which suggests building a whitebox system over buying older enterprise stuff. I'm currently running ESXi on an AMD FX-8300 with 32gb of ram and a dell optiplex i5-2500 with 20gb of ram and both work decently (well the AMD had a non-intel NIC so it was a pain to get working in ESXi). The AMD build wasn't too pricey but I had a case and PSU already. The optiplex was dell refurbished for about $180 and I tossed in 16gb of RAM.

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Ciaphas posted:

Cool, thanks a lot for the info. It'd be dishonest of me if I didn't say I kinda wanted to be lazy about this and buy something prebuilt, but that's hardly the point of this thread is it :v:

Anyway I'll look over the home lab thread (didn't even know that existed) for advice.

Don't let me entirely dissuade you, used hardware has the advantage of being ready to run and can be cheaper since you get everything. I'd just be more concerned with 2009 era stuff in 2016. I did just buy the 2011 optiplex myself, though.

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Aesculus posted:

Holy poo poo I can get a i7 3930k (used) for literally 100bux less than a new skylake 6600k. Is this a good idea?

That depends what you want your PC to do. If you'd like new features and the (arguably) best single core performance, go Skylake. If you want lots of cores, get an extreme edition CPU like that one or an engineering sample xeon or something.

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jauk3n posted:

if I have 8gb of ram. will an 8gb video card affect that?

No, video ram on the video card is used to hold textures and stuff from games or 3d application and is accessed by the GPU. PC ram holds the data from running programs and is accessed by the CPU. They do similar jobs but aren't exactly related.

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Krakkles posted:

Hey y'all! It's been awhile since I've come through these parts, but I wanted to seek some advice.

Almost 5 years ago, I built a PC based on advice from here. Here's the specs:

Case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Motherboard: Intel BOXDP67BGB3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Processor: Intel Core i5 2500k
Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler (along with Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM)
Memory: CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1600C9
Drive: Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB
Video Card: MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

My question is ... what would be worth upgrading? I don't really want to lay out the cash to build a whole new PC, but I'd probably drop a couple hundred on upgrading a component or two if it'll make a marked difference. Video card? Faster processor on the same mobo? Nothing, just throw it away, it's worthless?

(It still plays most games I throw at it, but I'm not super cutting edge on anything anymore.)

Overclock the CPU and get a new video card, probably a GTX 1060 or something. Optionally you could add 8gb more RAM, but you'd probably notice if you're running out of memory.

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Cytokinesis posted:

I've been waffling back and forth on buying a new PC for a while now, because I feel like my current one is having trouble running games. I'd need a new monitor to go with the computer as I'm currently using a 1080p TV, but I'd want to go all the way to a 1440/144 IPS panel rather than sidegrading and that's a big chunk of change. How badly does this seem to be in need of an upgrade?



Your PC is about 7 years old so it's definitely time to upgrade. A modern Intel system will be a huge improvement.

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VulgarandStupid posted:

Has anyone ever used internal wifi antennas in a desktop? I'm getting a motherboard that has a short m.2 slot for a wifi card, and I already have an extra one to slip into that slot. The question is if I should just drill two holes in the back plate and use screw on antennas or try using an internal antenna? My case is a RVZ02, so it is a metal case. What generally yields a better wifi signal? I'd rather just do it once, when I swap the motherboard in, because drilling holes into a metal plate once the motherboard is installed is a bad idea.

A desktop case is basically grounded metal, which makes a faraday cage. Very little radio should be able to get in or out. You'll definitely want an external antenna of some kind.

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Xarn posted:

I swear building PCs used to be easier.

I started building my rig today and ran into couple of problems.
1) Even though manual, shop and basically everything says that my motherboard is ATX, after installing risers into the A(TX) labelled holes in the case, the motherboard didn't cover them. Since I have a fairly expensive case (fractal design define r5), I'd expect the labeling to be correct.
2) There 3 unlabeled cables leading from the front panel that look a lot like fan power cables, but as far as I can tell there is only one fan.
3) I didn't plan my build properly, so I ended up having to do some gymnastics to plug in ATX power cables from my PSU, after I placed CPU and installed Noctua heatsink. In doing so, I kinda rocked the heatsink up and down -- what is the likelyhood that I hosed something up, or that I will have to take it off, put in new paste and try again?


I might be back with more stupidity tomorrow, stay tuned. :v:

There's a lot of standoff holes that count as ATX mounting but aren't used for every board. Most consumer boards use the 9 that consist of 3 along the back (by the IO plate and cards), 3 in the middle, and 3 on the front (by connectors). That's not a rule, though. I just repurposed an ATX board from a 1U Supermicro server that has a nonstandard hole in the top edge and one of the middle holes is down and to the right of the "normal" spacing because it's a weird dual CPU board so nothing lines up right. The best thing to do is to put in the normal standoffs and lay the board in there and look into the mounting holes to see which ones are visible or not and pull it out and adjust. I think they use a 5mm nut driver but you can just use pliers to remove them or tighten them, usually. It's also not usually the end of the world if one of your standoffs just doesn't fit, but I'd expect most retail boards and the R5 to be compatible.

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