Info First Build in 14+ years, wish me luck...

[Heartbreaker]

The last computer I built was a Core2Quad with 8800GT back in 2008 (and I'm still using it). I had the advantage back then of good local computer shops, so I bought all parts from the same store and I could quickly use them to sort issues.

Now I live in backwoods so I had to mail order parts, final parts to get running came in today, and I am slightly nervous about having no local shops to help sort any issues/parts if it doesn't go smoothly.

Here's what I have. I haven't opened anything yet but PSU, case which I have had for a while:


Notably no GPU yet, and gaming was the main impetus for upgrade. This enables a modern GPU which I will be on the lookout for a deal on. Leading contenders are RX 6600 or RX 6650 XT.

 

[Tech Junky]

Still no point...

It shows you the GPU being used for each generation and xe not being used at all on the desktop side yet.

 

[Heartbreaker]

It shows you the GPU being used for each generation and xe not being used at all on the desktop side yet.

No it really doesn't, and that's just a rumor page.

It makes no sense at all that the Desktop and Laptop chips use different GPU technology. That would just make Intel's job more difficult for no reason.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Intel Arc GPU | Intel UHD & Iris Graphics Card For Gaming

Intel Arc GPU for laptops and desktops delivers exceptional gaming and creative performance. Intel integrated graphics deliver great visuals with less heat and power draw. Learn more from Lenovo.

www.lenovo.com

Lenovo should know the difference. Xe is next level and not just due to more execution units. UHD is older tech that Intel is too lazy to phase out. Simple explanation for why they can't scale Xe down to UHD level is that it will cost them extra for no real benefit. They don't expect serious gamers to use iGPU on desktop when a dedicated PCIe slot is available. In a laptop, people would get screwed by going with Intel so they were forced to develop Xe to provide similar value compared to AMD Vega iGPUs.

 

[Tech Junky]

It makes no sense at all that the Desktop and Laptop chips use different GPU technology.

Two different platforms and dies.

The timeline shows xe being invoked later on desktop units. If you can't comprehend then there's no use beating a dead horse.

 

[Heartbreaker]

Two different platforms and dies.

The timeline shows xe being invoked later on desktop units. If you can't comprehend then there's no use beating a dead horse.

Don't mix up marketing position, and technology used. It's widely known they are all Xe GPUs now.

From Alder Lake Architecture day:

Intel Architecture Day 2021: Alder Lake Chips, Golden Cove and Gracemont Cores

Alder Lake Comes to Fore

www.tomshardware.com

The media engine, in this case the same Gen12 Xe LP architecture found in Tiger Lake but ported to the Intel 7 process, comes in two variants: one with 32 EUs (GT1) for desktop PCs (because they tend to use discrete GPUs), and another GT2 variant with 96 EUs for the mobile variants.

Note, that BOTH the large and small GPU blocks are Xe Architecture:

Welcome to the ignore filter for being so consistently wrong and hard headed about it.

 

[Heartbreaker]

Good bye Intel Box cooler:

Deepcool came through on a free LGA 1700 Kit for my previously purchased Gammaxx 400 V2. I got this cooler on sale for $25 CDN. Not crazy about the backplate barely pushing through the MB holes, and you have to screw down into them while its held in place with 2 sided tape. Very finicky. I did a dry run before applying paste because the tiny pack of paste that came with the cooler was all I have. I used nearly all of it and went with the spread it liberally method since cooler has exposed heatpipes with gaps:



I wasn't even thinking about the stupid LED(it's built into the fan not a separate connection, so I'm stuck with it for a while. Image through glass side case. I didn't really want a glass side either, but the case was another deal at about $70 CDN delivered.




Results:

Fantastic so far. It's basically silent and peaked at 58c after an hour of Prime95 mixed. In the same Prime95 run, the box cooler was very annoying and peaked at 78c.

In both cases the 65 Watt power limit is in place. No rush but I will be removing that. So far I can't see any place to set an alternate limit. I saw a setting for Boxed Cooler (65W) and Tower/water (>200W).

 

[Heartbreaker]

I removed the power limit.

~75W - Handbrake encoding peaks, still silent.

~90W - Prime95 at it's peak - The cooler is audible then but nothing annoying like the Intel Box cooler at 65w.

~100W Peak Prime95 + Furmark, together hit a 100 W, a little more audible still not as bad as Intel.

Peak Temps in an hour of testing up to 100W Peak.
CPU: 67.5 C
CPU Socket: 44.5 C
MOS: 56.5 C
PCH: 42 C

I guess I will just leave the power unlocked as in normal usage, it seems I would rarely hear the fans spin up, and every hitting 100W seems very unlikely under a non synthetic load.

Outside of Gaming, the only decent load I apply is Video Encoding. Temp check on an encode:

Handbrake x265 shrinking a movie to 720p (something over half an hour encode time), Peak CPU temp: 59C.

Pretty much done with the HW updates until I get a GPU, and that might be awhile.

 

[blckgrffn]

1st picture just lines up to hide the other pipes, check the 2nd pic.

It's a 4 pipe design (basically the same as the venerable and ubiquitous Hyper 212), and it's only a 12400...

This will work great for a 12400. Using one now in such an application. I used a different fan I had on hand to eliminate LED and for slightly better pressure and sound curves, but really it's just because it is a work PC but with a window and I didn't want the bling.

I detest the Intel stock one. All these years later and the stock 65W cooler still makes so much noise and has a such a change in pitch too.

My wife considers me to be annoying, hearing coil whine in her alarm clock and her work monitor, so YMMV on your level annoyance.

You should post some benchmarks of before and after and post them too, just for fun

 

[Heartbreaker]

You should post some benchmarks of before and after and post them too, just for fun

I didn't really do any benchmarking before, and I am never swapping that Intel cooler back in there.

 

[blckgrffn]

I didn't really do any benchmarking before, and I am never swapping that Intel cooler back in there.

I meant benchmarks of before and after your PC build - comparing your older PC to the new one. But if that is already torn down, so it goes.

Looks like a great build to me!

(sorry, somehow I missed the extra pages on the thread)

I would note that I thought the onboard Xe graphics (haha) would pack a punch a little closer to the AMD onboard Vega solutions. It's still a solid step up and despite constant driver updates has been very stable for professional desktop use, including Adobe suite stuff. At least it is fully current and supported and works.

 

[Heartbreaker]

I meant benchmarks of before and after your PC build - comparing your older PC to the new one. But if that is already torn down, so it goes.

Yeah. I might do that. Any decent GPU bench that will work on 15 year old GPU? For most old games, that 15 year old 8800GT seems more powerful than the IGP.

I would note that I thought the onboard Xe graphics (haha) would pack a punch a little closer to the AMD onboard Vega solutions.

Desktop to Desktop, I think Intel IGP has an edge compared to Ryzen 7 7700x GPU section that only has 2 CUs.

 

[blckgrffn]

Yeah. I might do that. Any decent GPU bench that will work on 15 year old GPU? For most old games, that 15 year old 8800GT seems more powerful than the IGP.




Desktop to Desktop, I think Intel IGP has an edge compared to Ryzen 7 7700x GPU section that only has 2 CUs.

Novabench is quick, lightweight and just interesting enough to run in my opinion.

Here are the results I’ve added to my profile, but apparently they just launched a new version that changed the scoring criteria, but it’s a cross section of hardware:

Novabench - blckgrffn's Benchmark Results

blckgrffn's Novabench profile and benchmark test submissions

novabench.com

 

[Heartbreaker]

Novabench is quick, lightweight and just interesting enough to run in my opinion.

Here are the results I’ve added to my profile, but apparently they just launched a new version that changed the scoring criteria, but it’s a cross section of hardware:

Novabench - blckgrffn's Benchmark Results

blckgrffn's Novabench profile and benchmark test submissions

novabench.com

New version won't install on my old system, and the don't make the old version available. Even when I found old version 4.x, it just instantly fails to install.

Some things that work:

Furmark 1.33.0:

8800GT discrete GPU: 543
i5-12400 Integrated GPU: 646

GB 5:

Q9400
450 Single-Core Score
1338 Multi-Core Score

i5-12400
1683 Single-Core Score
8425 Multi-Core Score

 

[BoomerD]

Novabench is quick, lightweight and just interesting enough to run in my opinion.

Here are the results I’ve added to my profile, but apparently they just launched a new version that changed the scoring criteria, but it’s a cross section of hardware:

Novabench - blckgrffn's Benchmark Results

blckgrffn's Novabench profile and benchmark test submissions

novabench.com

I ran novabench for the first time tonight. Weirdly enough, it doesn't recognize my RTX3070 card...and their system keeps throwing errors at me when I try to register and see the results online. (maybe because I only signed up for the free version)

 

[blckgrffn]

Yeah man, I am disappointed - I've long used the last version of Novabench for sanity checking. It's quick, easy, and ran on everything from my DDR2 Phenom 2 to my current one.

 

[igor_kavinski]

It's kinda like the Passmark Performance Test but I suppose it completes faster than that one. Passmark can also be buggy sometimes. I used to run PCMARK10 before but it takes too long to finish.

 

[Heartbreaker]

I just popped the cover off the OLD PC and took a photo of the innards of what I have been using for 15 years. Still hooked up and running. Played a bit of Fallout 3 on it last night.

Enjoy the vintage Rainbow wiring:

 

[igor_kavinski]

Must have been cleaning it regularly. Looks too clean. Maybe coz older systems didn't have that much air blowing through them.

 

[BoomerD]

Must have been cleaning it regularly. Looks too clean. Maybe coz older systems didn't have that much air blowing through them.

Regular cleaning is good...

When we lived in Norcal, dust was ALWAYS a problem.

 

[Heartbreaker]

Final piece of the puzzle arrived. A basic RTX 4070. In hindsight, I should have just bought one, as soon as they were readily available. I went over 6 months without a GPU, to save just $50 CAD off an $800 CAD part, and of course there is always something more on the horizon to wait for. Now Super cards are coming early next year, so if I just waited a few more months... At some point you just need to jump in.

So far I really like it. I ran OCCT GPU stress test for an hour, and it made a lot of heat in my case. Anything more power hungry, and I would need more case fans to get the heat out.

Playing some of my old games on the other hand, doesn't even make enough heat to spin up it's fans.

This is exactly the power consumption, performance balance I like. My only complaint is price, but not much can be done about that, and it's in the past now.






Yes, I purposefully left the protective plastic on it. It doesn't impede airflow, and will keep the plastic all shiny and new.