Search results

  1. J

    Feedback on $1300 gaming PC

    Thank you all for taking the time to share a round of feedback--I really appreciate it! Response to your comments and revised build below. Valid questions. The candid answer is probably not. While some loading screens might go marginally faster, I'm interested in the PCIe M.2 disks...
  2. J

    Feedback on $1300 gaming PC

    Here's what I'm thinking. Would love to get your input. Thanks! CPU $249.99 Intel Core i5-6600K 6M Skylake Quad-Core 3.5 GHz LGA 1151 91W BX80662I56600K Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 530 CPU Cooler $29.99 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan GPU...
  3. J

    Making a fan controller to use in my PC’s ductwork

    Thanks, I didn't know about speed fan. While that would work, one of the purposes of the project is to learn about control systems, so I am more inclined to build the controller from scratch.
  4. J

    Making a fan controller to use in my PC’s ductwork

    Which temperature transducer should I use? I’ve seen a variety of temperature sensors out there: There are various sensing technologies (http://www.maxim-ic.com/app-notes/index.mvp/id/3229) · RTD (e.g., http://www.mamacsys.com/TE-701-702ordering_information.htm)...
  5. J

    Making a fan controller to use in my PC’s ductwork

    When I’m running computer intensive tasks, I want the fans to cool my processor. When I’m not, I want the fans to be quiet. While I could use a manual rheostat to control the fans, I want to learn more about HVAC and control systems. So, I want to make a fan controller that senses...
  6. J

    Experimentally determining the coldest I can get with air

    10. Improving the duct There were a couple of issues with the last version of the duct. The rear exhaust fan was blocked. This was because the duct hose wasn’t flexible enough to get from the back of the heat-sink all the way to the exhaust hole. I replaced the duct with more...
  7. J

    Experimentally determining the coldest I can get with air

    7. Controlling for ambient temperature One problem I ran into was controlling for the ambient temperature. A suggestion I was given was to report CPU core temperature – ambient temperature instead of just CPU core temperature. For example, if CPU was 70 degrees C and ambient was 20 degrees...
  8. J

    Experimentally determining the coldest I can get with air

    I would love to drop 10 degrees. I'm curious about what you mean by "cardboard ducting (total fail test)" Do you have pictures/can you give more description?
  9. J

    Experimentally determining the coldest I can get with air

    That sounds awesome. What cooling did you all have before you got that monster fan? How hot was it before and after?
  10. J

    Experimentally determining the coldest I can get with air

    6) I experimented with different heat-sink fans and heat-sink fan locations. Experiment All of these tests were done with a high back exhaust case fan and no duct. In all cases, I set clock to 4.7 Ghz (47 * 100), voltage to 1.35 Vcore, short & long duration power limits to 500...
  11. J

    Experimentally determining the coldest I can get with air

    Those are some awesome temperatures that you're putting up. I have a ways to go before I hit single digits and I need do do my own temperature measurement. Could you elaborate here (or point me to a thread where you do) on your rig: How are you making the air super cold? How are you routing...
  12. J

    Experimentally determining the coldest I can get with air

    Could you elaborate on how this is different from what I have? I think the duct intake is where the optical drives are. Here is a picture with the grill on the front of my case taken off (the optical drive covers are plastic mesh when the front cover is on)...
  13. J

    Experimentally determining the coldest I can get with air

    Thanks. I didn't consider this. When I'm fiddling with the duct, I'll put a fan in the space on top of the case.
  14. J

    Experimentally determining the coldest I can get with air

    Thanks. What is your argument for doubling up on fans? Why would the CFM reduce as it goes through the ductwork? Would double fans increase turbulence? Thanks for the idea. I picked up: 1x Rosewill RFA-120-BL 120mm 4 Blue LEDs LED Case Fan (it has CFM in the high 70s like the one that...
  15. J

    Experimentally determining the coldest I can get with air

    Summary I’m trying to see how cool I can get my PC using air cooling. The ideal configuration so far has been replacing the stock heat sink with a Hyper 212 and using the rear case fan only. I am in the process of testing a duct idea. I am considering ways to cool the air before it enters...
  16. J

    Using 32 nm chip failure data to predict safe SB voltage

    Thanks. I tried to register and was denied. Then, I saw that registration was closed: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=266354 Do you know when they will re-open registration?
  17. J

    Using 32 nm chip failure data to predict safe SB voltage

    There is a lot of speculation as to what the voltage threshold is, beyond which, you are seriously diminishing the life of your CPU. One method I was thinking about was looking for trends in failure data for the 32 nm Nehalem chips and trying to extrapolate to how the Sandy Bridge...
  18. J

    Gamer computer 1000

    I've been really happy with mine so far. It was $1040 after $45 of rebates from newegg. I am running 4.7 Ghz @ 1.35V & 66 degrees C at load. I got it before the recall and I don't know how hard it is to track down a sandy bridge motherboard these days. $224.99 Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy...
  19. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    I edited my post above to expand on my reasoning. Thanks, Blitz Krieger & Hogan773. I have a clear idea of what LLC is now. I have decided not to fiddle with it as I don't want the voltage to go above the threshold I've chosen--even if it isn't for very long. You weren't kidding. The...
  20. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    Here is a summary of the stable iterations I've done so far. Frequency / Vcore / Tcore / Heat-sink / BIOS settings 3300 Mhz / 1.216V / 60 C / Intel stock / Default 4400 Mhz / 1.354V / 94 C / Intel stock / Default 4300 Mhz / 1.200V / 66 C / Intel stock / Power limits = 500W 4500 Mhz / 1.275V /...
  21. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    This strategy worked out well as I mentioned in the tests in my last post. Thanks! Do you think 1.58V is too high? If so, why? I wasn't planning to touch PLL as my understanding is that it impacts FSB/BCLK and I don't want to touch either. What is PLC? If it was a typo and you meant LLC...
  22. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    I have the ASRock Pro3. I have this. I wanted to see how hard I could push my cpu on stock cooling before putting it on. Huge thanks for this--fiddling with Long Duration Power Limit and Short Duration Power Limit fixed the issue. Admittedly, I don't know exactly what it does (and...
  23. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    Thanks for this. It was very clarifying. I got some baseline temperature data and took my first stab at overclocking this thing. Ultimately, I want to evaluate the value of the Hyper 212, so I did all of this with the Intel stock heatsink/fan. Here's how I measured temperature and voltage...
  24. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    Thanks for calling these into question--I think that choosing good tolerances is the most important part of the process. Here's how I came up with them. I would be curious to hear more about what's behind your suspicion of them. CPU voltage My choice is based on Asus's testing...
  25. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    My primary motivation for overclocking is learning more about electricity and cooling. Being able to play games at a higher fps is a distant second (though, I admit, this was unclear in my OP). Thanks--that encourages me to de-prioritize memory over-clocking and to get an idea for the impact...
  26. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    Thank you. This will make my overclocking efforts go dramatically faster. Is there an analog for the GPU such that I can run it for 10 minutes and get a good gauge of its stability? I think you're right to say that it isn't possible to capture all of the possible cases in a simple if-then...
  27. J

    Relation between voltage, temperature, clock speed and impact on chip longevity

    One thing I have been curious about is how voltage, temperature, and clock interact as well as the impact of each on chip longevity. This my understanding based on some googling. Is this accurate? I would also appreciate it if you would fill in the rates where I leave them ambiguous (e.g., I...
  28. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    This does seem like the optimal strategy for striking the balance between maximizing your machine's longevity and maintaining its relevance. For me, however, I am too impatient about seeing how fast this machine can go. Once there, I don't think I will be satisfied with anything slower...
  29. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    That's a good point. Thanks. I hadn't considered that. To accommodate this point, when I find a stable clock at my volt tolerance, I will ramp down my voltage until it is unstable. Based on you guys' feedback, the last step of my strategy is: If unstable, then decrease clock until stable...
  30. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    Here is how this strategy plays out for each component. CPU 1) Run prime95 for an hour to make sure I got a good processor. Then, before increasing voltage and clock, I will make the following bios changes: set LLC to ultra high and disable speed-step. 2) I am willing to go to...
  31. J

    Please provide feedback on my 2500k/6950 over-clocking strategy

    A few days ago, I bought the following machine. Intel Core i5-2500K COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6950 2GB G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24 Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB SATA III ASRock P67 PRO3 COOLER MASTER HAF 912 XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W ATX12V 2.2 Microsoft...
  32. J

    Please critique my $1000 Gaming PC

    That's interesting. I didn't even consider that card, because I didn't see it on the GPU 2011 benchmarks (which, by the way, is an awesome tool): http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU11/188 From what I could tell from the review they are really neck and neck. For example, in Crysis and Mass...
  33. J

    Please critique my $1000 Gaming PC

    My argument for the SSD I chose is that I presume that game performance is going to be more read-sensitive than write-sensitive. Specifically, I would rather have a slow initial game install and then wait for shorter periods of time while loading between levels. In terms of GPU's, I have to...
  34. J

    Please critique my $1000 Gaming PC

    I really appreciate the input. Based on it, I'm getting this machine for about $1050 from newegg. $224.99 Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K $13.99 COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct...
  35. J

    Please critique my $1000 Gaming PC

    1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing. I will be playing FPS's. I am particularly interested in l4d2, mw2, and me2. 2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread $1000 excluding tax and shipping...