Built out a new system

[SixtyFourBit]

I just built a new system:

ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe
AMD FX-55
2GB Crucial Ballistix (4x512)
Plextor PX716A
2 x WD 10K RPM Raptors in Raid 0
2 x EVGA 6800 Ultra Video Cards
510W PC Power & Cooling Power Supply
Lian-Li Mid Tower Aluminum Case
4 Case fans, 1 Power Supply fan.

I haven't gotten it through burn-in yet, but this thing vibrates more than the toys Anna Nicole Smith's nightstand.

It sounds like a 747, and feels like one is passing overhead.

I can't exactly isolate where it is coming from. I was thinking of putting rubber grommets around the hard drives and maybe put the machine on some kind of rubber pad.

Anyone else have vibration issues, and solved them?

 

[Praytus]

Check the seatings on the fans and make sure they're securely fastened to the case.
BTW, why did you go for 4x512 Ballistix?

 

[ribbon13]

This thread seems like Déjà vu

 

[SixtyFourBit]

I went 4x512 Ballistix because I wanted 2GB of fast RAM.

As for Deja Vu, I searched for "vibration" and got:

"No search results were found"

So do feel free to hook me up with a link.

TIA.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Does it still vibrate when you disconnect the harddrives?

 

[Praytus]

Recommend you read through these threads and see the performance hit your taking by using 4x512. I think you'll be quite supprised

 

[Promethply]

Originally posted by: SixtyFourBit
I just built a new system:

ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe
AMD FX-55
2GB Crucial Ballistix (4x512)
Plextor PX716A
2 x WD 10K RPM Raptors in Raid 0
2 x EVGA 6800 Ultra Video Cards
510W PC Power & Cooling Power Supply
Lian-Li Mid Tower Aluminum Case
4 Case fans, 1 Power Supply fan.

I haven't gotten it through burn-in yet, but this thing vibrates more than the toys Anna Nicole Smith's nightstand.

It sounds like a 747, and feels like one is passing overhead.

I can't exactly isolate where it is coming from. I was thinking of putting rubber grommets around the hard drives and maybe put the machine on some kind of rubber pad.

Anyone else have vibration issues, and solved them?

My case vibrated quite a bit into its second week,

after opening and physically inspecting HDs, optical drives, FD, and fans, it turned out the rear fans screws needed tightening,

after that, no more vibration.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Originally posted by: Promethply

Originally posted by: SixtyFourBit
I just built a new system:

ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe
AMD FX-55
2GB Crucial Ballistix (4x512)
Plextor PX716A
2 x WD 10K RPM Raptors in Raid 0
2 x EVGA 6800 Ultra Video Cards
510W PC Power & Cooling Power Supply
Lian-Li Mid Tower Aluminum Case
4 Case fans, 1 Power Supply fan.

I haven't gotten it through burn-in yet, but this thing vibrates more than the toys Anna Nicole Smith's nightstand.

It sounds like a 747, and feels like one is passing overhead.

I can't exactly isolate where it is coming from. I was thinking of putting rubber grommets around the hard drives and maybe put the machine on some kind of rubber pad.

Anyone else have vibration issues, and solved them?

My case vibrated quite a bit into its second week,

after opening and physically inspecting HDs, optical drives, FD, and fans, it turned out the rear fans screws needed tightening,

after that, no more vibration.

As he said, it's probably your fans. Make sure that a blade isn't missing.

 

[SixtyFourBit]

Cool, thanks for the replies. I'll go over the fans and re-torque every screw just to make sure. For some reason, the Cool-n-Quiet isn't working, so my CPU fan is spinning like crazy at 1% CPU usage .... need to investigate that too.

As to the 4x512M vs. 2x1G issue, well, that has been one for the debate mill for some time. One person claims one thing, one person claims another. At the time of purchase, the largest sized Crucial Ballastics available to me (the ones with the nifty heatsinks) were 512Mb. I could have gotten 2 sticks of another brand of RAM, but I really wanted to Ballastics. In a Dual-Channel A8N-SLi Deluxe, they seem to work just nifty. Am I taking a performance hit? I'm really not sure. If I am I can't tell, or maybe the dual 6800 Ultras and the FX-55 are already pulling it as fast as they can. I don't overclock, I wanted the fasted stock machine.

If someone with Dual 1Gb sticks has a particular benchmark program they enjoy using, let me know. I'll run it on mine, you run it on yours, we post the numbers. You beat my by a little, i'll feel a little bad. You beat my by alot, I'll Ebay my 4 sticks and get two of yours. I'm man enough to admit a wrong decision. If it's more or less the same, then so be it. Perhaps we can settle the debate on just how much this effects things once and for all with a little head-to-head benchmark.

 

[ribbon13]

It's Ballistix, and current A64s downclock to DDR333 2T command with 4 DIMMs as per the JEDEC specification at the time of thier release. That's a fact.

 

[SixtyFourBit]

> It's Ballistix

Calling me out for a spelling error on an intentionally misspelled marketing name? Come on now. Don't go overboard.

>and current A64s downclock to DDR333 2T command with 4 DIMMs as per the JEDEC specification at the time of thier release. That's a fact.

I'm not disputing you. Although mine are not showing up as DDR333 in the Nforce Utilities. Perhaps it is misreading it, or is just taking a reading from the modules and not measuring actual performance. I would still like to know how they would stack up in a real-world situation, as far as actual %'age difference, if any. Wouldn't you?

Here's hoping I didn't misspell something. I once wrote Toys Are Us instead of Toys R Us. And "Kids Zone" instead of "Kidz Zone". Imagine my embarassment.

 

[wisdomtooth]

Originally posted by: SixtyFourBit
It sounds like a 747, and feels like one is passing overhead.

Things you can do to quiet your system:

1) You don't want to only retorque the screws-- You want to ISOLATION MOUNT the fans. Pick up some soft rubber washers and put them between the screw and the fan. Ditto for your HDDs and optical drives. That way vibrations will be dampened so you won't hear a low-frequency buzz from the vibration.

2) GET A QUIETER CPU HSF. I would get either a Thermalright XP90 or 120 (and a quiet fan likea Panaflo L1A), or a Zalman CNPS7000/7700 (whichever one will fit).

3) GET FAN CONTROLLERS. Fast fans are noisy fans. Slow them down and the noise disappears.

4) SLOW DOWN YOUR NB FAN. It spins at an insane 8000rpm and is probably half of the noise coming from your machine.

5) GET QUIET HSFs FOR YOUR VID CARDS. I have never heard of a quiet stock vid card fan.

6) That PCP&C PSU is very reliable, but quiet it is not. Since you already blew so much cash on it, replacing it would probably be your last resort. But if you do, you want to get a Seasonic S12-600, which is much quieter.

HTH.

 

[ribbon13]

Haha. well you spelled it wrong either way. -> Ballistics

 

[SixtyFourBit]

Thanks Wisdomtooth. I will look into all of those issues.

Upon simply poking around 80% of the noise does seem to be coming from the Power Supply. I may live with that, as it is a nice power supply, and it was quite expensive. It may be a matter of getting longer DVI cables and moving it a few feet away.

 

[SixtyFourBit]

>Haha.

Not saying you are easily amused, but ....

>well you spelled it wrong either way. -> Ballistics

Yeah, got me. Good job. Thanks for all of your help.

BTW, is it true that 1GB sticks have slower timings than 512Mb sticks, and that this somewhat muddies the discussion about 512 vs 1024 sticks since they each have their benefits and drawbacks, or are you pretty much here to point out spelling errors?

(Proudly spellcheck free for online forums for 15 years. If you can't figure it out from the context, you need more help than proper spelling can provide)

 

[ribbon13]

I agree with the Seasonic S12-600. I like it much better than my Turbo-cool 510 SLI.

 

[ribbon13]

Originally posted by: SixtyFourBit

BTW, is it true that 1GB sticks have slower timings than 512Mb sticks, and that this somewhat muddies the discussion about 512 vs 1024 sticks since they each have their benefits and drawbacks, or are you pretty much here to point out spelling errors?

Was a minor comment, if anything, you're overreacting to it.

As for 1GB sticks, ones with tight timings can be found.

I got these for my gf's rig.

edit: technically I got two of these

 

[SixtyFourBit]

Thank you for the advice without criticism. It will be my next PSU.

 

[SixtyFourBit]

Those are nice sticks. About $160 more than the 4x512's I got, but may be worth it. I would still love to see a head to head to see just how much of a difference there is. Over 5% would be worth the exta $$$, IMHO.

 

[ribbon13]

They were only $155 a few days ago. Weird...

 

[SixtyFourBit]

BTW, I changed the BIOS to clock those 5x512 sticks to DDR400.

I got about a 7% speed boost in Sandra and Prime95.

It's been very stable.

Ergo, with the right motherboard and BIOS (ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe), you can indeed run 4 DIMMS at DDR400 without doing much more than telling your BIOS to run them at that speed. And most importantly, they actually DO run at those speeds. And I haven't evenbothered trying to change the timings.

Now, everyone knows that 2 DIMMS are almost always faster as they can be run with tighter timings, but the 4 DIMM "performance hit" is really not much of a hit at all if a quality motherbord is run with the sticks.

 

[Ike0069]

Yes, the MB will automatically down clock more than 2 sticks to 333, but you can manually take it to 400. This has been known for some time.
The performance 'hit" you take is you have to run 2T vice 1T.
It wasn't too long ago (a few weeks I think) that someone ran Sandra (or maybe it was aquamark) with 2X512@1T vs. 4X512@2T. The numbers were extremely close, but the 2X512 was actually higher.
This is something you can test yourself. I would like to know the results too. And I will try and find that thread.

 

[Ike0069]

Ok, I found it. This should answer at least some of your questions. Your best bet will be to run some benches yourself. But it does appear that 2X512is at the very least equal to 4X512 for 1/2 the money.

BTW: The new Venice core is supposed to allow 4 sticks at 1T.