2560x1600 gaming resolution - need system upgrade

[lehtv]

Yo dawg, add more cases? You mean a case, inside a case?

@ Zorander

I don't think those temperatures are anything to worry about. CPU at 60C and GPU at 74C are perfectly acceptable. I'd expect 6970 lightning to run a bit more cool at stock speeds but 74C shouldn't make it unstable so long as it's not faulty.

Did the whole system freeze and force you to shut it down, or did you get a BSOD and an automatic reset? Or did Crysis just crash to desktop? When you installed the new video card, did you thoroughly remove all previous graphics drivers with the Driver Sweeper? Is the CPU overclocked at all?

 

[Zorander]

I don't think those temperatures are anything to worry about. CPU at 60C and GPU at 74C are perfectly acceptable. I'd expect 6970 lightning to run a bit more cool at stock speeds but 74C shouldn't make it unstable so long as it's not faulty.

Did the whole system freeze and force you to shut it down, or did you get a BSOD and an automatic reset? Or did Crysis just crash to desktop? When you installed the new video card, did you thoroughly remove all previous graphics drivers with the Driver Sweeper? Is the CPU overclocked at all?

The whole system simply froze (with whatever sound was playing being repeated in infinite short-burst loops). I had to press the reset button but on a few cases I actually had to forcibly power down and cold reboot. I don't think the system ever auto-reset. Based on this, does this sound like a power issue, or rather just heat?

This is on a fresh Win7 installation. There was no difference in stability between scenario: 1) RAM running at XMP profile (CPU effectively pegged at stock speed) and 2) RAM running at standard 1333MHz and CPU running between stock and turbo (2.8GHz-3.4GHz).

I have only dealt with this for one night so I'm sure there will be other details to uncover.

 

[mfenn]

Got the new upgrades installed (Crucial M4, Corsair 2x4GB C9 and MSI R6970 Lightning). BIOS flash was needed to allow the mobo to POST properly with the new RAM and I re-organized the insides to accommodate the long video card. Win7 installed without a problem. I am having stability issues past that point though.

I can't play Crysis2 DX11 long enough; the whole system crashes during the initial stage anywhere between opening the hatch and admiring Lady Liberty. It even froze on me when playing Hi10-encoded videos with the MPC-HC+LAV-filter+MadVR combination (which stresses the GPU considerably at 40-60% load). When it froze, CPU temp was in the high 60C and GPU 74C.

I'm suspecting either heat, PSU power or a combination of both. The RAM could be flaky too or just not happy at those temperature. To describe my current cooling arrangement, the CPU is passively cooled by a Prolimatech Megahalem cooler, with a nearby rear-facing 12cm Noctua fan blowing out. Directly above the CPU cooler, on the top of the P180 case, is an unoccupied fan bracket from which cool air from outside (should) flow down the CPU area by convection. Hot air from the video card flows up towards the CPU and is exhausted by that single Noctua fan. There is no other fan blowing in/out the case in the upper chamber. This worked perfectly fine with the previous components.

Assuming a heat issue, I'm guessing the culprit is either the CPU (from higher heat output of the video card below) or the GPU VRM chip (need more direct cooling). Maybe the RAM too as they are directly underneath the CPU heatsink and getting the heat from below too. I'm going to try to install a fan to directly blow at the video card, drawing air from the case front. I'm unsure if I should install a fan at the unoccupied fan bracket at the top too (noise is a major factor for me).
I haven’t thoroughly tested things (Memtest, Prime95 and whatever else) due to time constraint. But judging by these, what do you think could be the problem here?


Thanks!

With such minimal airflow inside the case, I wouldn't be surprised if you have a hot spot that isn't being caught by the temperature probes. Try taking the side panel off and aiming a desk fan at the PC. If the crashes go away, you know that you have a heat problem.

 

[Zorander]

With such minimal airflow inside the case, I wouldn't be surprised if you have a hot spot that isn't being caught by the temperature probes. Try taking the side panel off and aiming a desk fan at the PC. If the crashes go away, you know that you have a heat problem.

Thanks, mfenn. I did put the system back to its original spot, with the side panel closed. Think about it, I did install Windows with the side panel off and I had no issue at all back then.

I'll try testing things tonight and see if the problem goes away.

Thanks.

 

[Zorander]

Looks like you were right, mfenn. I took off the side panel, played Crysis 2 (at Extreme settings) for about 30 minutes and had no crash at all. Load temperature (as soon as I exited the game) is around 65C for both CPU & GPU. I have not even tried blowing a fan at it.

With the panel closed again however, the crashes return and this is despite my having installed an intake fan to blow directly at the video card. I believe there are heat spots forming somewhere along the video card that remains trapped and which is causing these issues. There is also about 10C difference in temperature between the CPU and GPU, which further points to heat trapped around the video card.

I have created a thread on this on SPCR, with (hopefully) clearer description of my cooling arrangement. I will try to take a pic of the case inside tonight as well.

Thanks.

 

[mfenn]

I have a P182 (similar to your P180), an i7 860, and an unlocked 6950 2GB, so I am pretty much in the same situation as you. I have my tower cooler oriented in the normal direction with the fan on the right pushing air into the cooler. Then I have a Noctua FLX in the rear exhaust position. Finally, I have another Noctua FLX in the top position as intake. I have another FLX in the bottom chamber blowing over the HDDs, but I don't think that affects the upper chamber much at all.

Anyway, the reason I described that to you is because I have no cooling issues whatsoever. I'd say that you will be fine if you put a fan on the HSF itself, which will get air moving around the socket.