The Power PC Thread [f*ck off consoles]

[Gareth]

TIM cleaner is what I use, but tbh you don't necessarily need it, a bit of paper towel and or cotton buds can clean them up easily. I've also seen some components specifically say not to use TIM cleaner, not sure why.

 

[sburrell93]

Cheers guys. I'll just give it a wipe down and see how it runs. I'm used to 40+ degree temps on load just now anyway with the standard cooler so if I can get it to run cooler and quieter than that I'll be happy enough!

 

[Wilkeh]

I've always used Acetone

 

[Andy.]

My 6 year old PC has died so it's time for an upgrade.

I'm completely out of touch with what is the current standard for processors and graphics cards.

I'll be editing large photos, GoPro footage and playing games occasionally as the Xbox gets used more.

Would an i5-6600K, MSI z170a tomahawk motherboard, MSI GTX 960 (4GB), 16GB of 2400 RAM be alright?

Is the GTX 960 better than the equivalent ATI card? Is there any benefit is getting even faster RAM? Any suggestions welcome!

 

[Wilkeh]

My 6 year old PC has died so it's time for an upgrade.

I'm completely out of touch with what is the current standard for processors and graphics cards.

I'll be editing large photos, GoPro footage and playing games occasionally as the Xbox gets used more.

Would an i5-6600K, MSI z170a tomahawk motherboard, MSI GTX 960 (4GB), 16GB of 2400 RAM be alright?

Is the GTX 960 better than the equivalent ATI card? Is there any benefit is getting even faster RAM? Any suggestions welcome!

What's your budget mate, we'll start from there

 

[Mikeyjp]

i normally just post on overclockers and get them to spec me a pc

 

[Andy.]

i guess 6-800 for the above lot. I'm planning on reusing my HDDs, PSU and case.

 

[sburrell93]

New case (define R5) and cpu cooler (hyper 212 evo) arrived on saturday. Never realised how fiddly a job it was replacing a cpu cooler! Could've done with 3 hands trying to get it all back together.


Love the new case though. Much neater inside with all the cables tucked away at the back. Excuse the horrific photos here.

Went from this:

To this:

No idea how well I've applied the thermal paste for the new cooler but it certainly doesn't seem to be running as hot under load any more. It's much quieter too.

 

[SharkyUK]

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Did you fit the heatsink while the motherboard was in the case? It's not hard at all if you do it on a desk (or if you have a case with decent access)

 

[Amos91]

The Fractal has a large cut out for access.

 

[sburrell93]

I had the motherboard on my desk but it was fiddly trying to hold the backplate to motherboard and screw it all together without everything moving about

 

[Snake182]

The only change I'd make to that m8, would be to ditch the flexible SLi bridge and get a fixed one. I had issues with a couple of flexible bridges back in my GTX460 days. Blue-screening, sometimes saying that SLi was disabled when I'd only just put it on, etc. Switching to a rigid one fixed it immediately - plus it does look smarter with one fitted!

Yeah I looked into getting one, but wont be running SLi for much longer, hopefully NVidia pull there finger out and get there Pascal GPU released this or next quarter so I can use a top end single GPU.

 

[guysy]

So everything arrived for my new build, the only thing I used from my old build was a corsair 450w PSU and the 4x Hard drives.

I built it all up to the point of turning it on and all that happened was the fans span up - then died. Same thing over and over.

So I stripped the graphics card, same thing. Took the ram out, same thing, removed everything apart from the PSU and mobo, tested the PSU and thats fine, tested the mobo with another PSU and it still pulsed the fans. My conclusion was a faulty motherboard? Ended up building up my old set up in the new case and everything works fine again.

My only concern was that possibly the 450w PSU wasn't enough to power the motherboard but surely 450w is fine for just the motherboard alone. I can understand if I plugged the graphics in and then it started having problems. Replacement board is arriving tomorrow.

Not happy with the Corsair 330R titanium case tbh, very flimsy for me after coming from the Antec P180. The Antec is MUCH better of build quality and so much more silent. Shame tbh I think ill send the corsair back with the faults it has.

 

[Cookie]

So everything arrived for my new build, the only thing I used from my old build was a corsair 450w PSU and the 4x Hard drives.

I built it all up to the point of turning it on and all that happened was the fans span up - then died. Same thing over and over.

So I stripped the graphics card, same thing. Took the ram out, same thing, removed everything apart from the PSU and mobo, tested the PSU and thats fine, tested the mobo with another PSU and it still pulsed the fans. My conclusion was a faulty motherboard? Ended up building up my old set up in the new case and everything works fine again.

My only concern was that possibly the 450w PSU wasn't enough to power the motherboard but surely 450w is fine for just the motherboard alone. I can understand if I plugged the graphics in and then it started having problems. Replacement board is arriving tomorrow.

Not happy with the Corsair 330R titanium case tbh, very flimsy for me after coming from the Antec P180. The Antec is MUCH better of build quality and so much more silent. Shame tbh I think ill send the corsair back with the faults it has.

Did you test the motherboard outside of the case? May have been a shorting issue against the case

 

[guysy]

Yeah I took it out and tested it resting on the box it came in and had the same thing,

Corsair cases stand off's for the motherboard where absolute s**t and nearly every other screw rounded off in the stand off forcing me to replace the painted stand off's to normal brass ones which where fine - thats where I thought there could be a shorting issue but I have my old set up running in the new case all fine right now. Never the less its going back on RMA due to the crap parts and massive air bubbles in the sound proofing (and its also not in the lease bit a "quiet" case imo).

 

[guysy]

Received the brand new motherboard replacement, tested it on the box with nothing connected but the power supply, my test power supply doesn't have the 4 pin connector ( I will try my 450w power supply shortly with the added 4 pin as obviously its lacking power ) but WITH the 4 pin 12v connected the other day it still pulsed the fans and wouldn't kick into with the bios screen? I will do some more testing later but there cant be a problem with this mobo as well. Do I need a stronger power supply? or am I missing a simple trick.

I guess the only way to find out is to connect my 450w up when im finished work and see.

Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97P-D3

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

There's a guide on TomsHardware for computers that won't post. You just need to work through that as it says (i.e. not skipping bits because you think you know a certain component is fine).

The times I've had the symtoms you describe was when I forget to connect the CPU 12v rail. But it could be anything really which is why I'd recommend going through the guide if you're stuck.

And FWIW, I agree that Corsair cases are w**k. I've got a 540 Air. It's ok, but I am just looking for an excuse to get one of those Lian Li cubes next.

 

[guysy]

Thanks for the response - I think I'm missing something as well, been a while since I built a PC so probably something simple.

I will remove the battery on the mobo when I get home and try and re set it . I'm reading something about it being stuck in a boot loop.

Ordered a 550w psu to play it safe have got a lot running on it after all with a more powerful graphics card etc.

Yeah I agree about the corsair cases i like my antec p182 better but it's broken here and there, the p280 or whatever it's called the new version is too big to sit on my stand though unfortunately otherwise I'd get that.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Thanks for the response - I think I'm missing something as well, been a while since I built a PC so probably something simple.

I will remove the battery on the mobo when I get home and try and re set it . I'm reading something about it being stuck in a boot loop.

Ordered a 550w psu to play it safe have got a lot running on it after all with a more powerful graphics card etc.

Yeah I agree about the corsair cases i like my antec p182 better but it's broken here and there, the p280 or whatever it's called the new version is too big to sit on my stand though unfortunately otherwise I'd get that.

It won't be load on the PSU. A dead PSU maybe, but not overloaded.

When your PC boots it's using next to no power.

 

[Cookie]

Thanks for the response - I think I'm missing something as well, been a while since I built a PC so probably something simple.

I will remove the battery on the mobo when I get home and try and re set it . I'm reading something about it being stuck in a boot loop.

Ordered a 550w psu to play it safe have got a lot running on it after all with a more powerful graphics card etc.

Yeah I agree about the corsair cases i like my antec p182 better but it's broken here and there, the p280 or whatever it's called the new version is too big to sit on my stand though unfortunately otherwise I'd get that.

You'd be surprised at how little loading even high end PC's put on a PSU.

Power
To test power consumption using our reference platform, a bit of creative math is needed. Since Haswell-E processors don’t have integrated GPU cores, we can’t boot the system without a discrete board installed to get a baseline. We are able to estimate consumption based on the approximate power draw of the test bench, though. In our observations, we’ve found that the approximate power draw from everything other than the GPU is 120W. By deducting that from the recorded wattage reported on our in-line power meter, we can calculate the approximate draw of the GPU.

 

[guysy]

So it's unlikely to be PSU ? On my 450w when everything was plugged in the case fan stopped and started.

My test 550w I had the motherboard plugged in but it has no 8 pin plug, when testing it with that both the case fan stopped and started and the psu stopped and started.

That was just psu and motherboard plugged in.

So I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong? I read that without the 8 pin plug the motherboard won't post bios ?

When I have the new psu wired in today I'll see what happens, I'll put the cpu / hsf and one stick in and see if i have any luck !

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

That last post doesn't paint a full picture.

Question: Do you have power connected to the CPU plug on the motherboard (I believe it's 8 pin for Haswell and later but 4 pin for anything before).

 

[Cookie]

Top right of the picture, and bottom right. You need power to both of those black plugs. (If that is the motherboard you've posted)
You'll also need CPU and RAM in (and a graphics card if it's not got onboard), or it won't POST)

 

[guysy]

Ok thanks cookie, first time I built it all up I had both of those in and I had the fans stopping starting problem. But I have a few more things to try tonight, also there is no on board speaker for beeps so I think I've read if I plug a speaker I go the line out I might be able to hear and fault beeps. We will see - cheers.

 

[guysy]

Cleared the CMOS etc, didnt even open the new PSU used the original, think there could have been a few simple errors from me before a possible short to the case as suggested in the Corsair, too hasty to call the mobo a failure and send it back, built it up and let it run it didnt post first time, shorted the contacts to turn the mobo off and on and when it re booted it showed the bios screen. Happy days, thanks for all the help.

Time to transfer everything back and research a decent case with the same build quality as the Antec P182, any suggestions? Needs 3 optical bays, and 4 HD bays, full ATX and silent as possible please.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

I don't see how you could short something on the mobo using a normal case tbh- seems more likely you just didn't plug it in correctly! Good that it's now working though.

As far as cases go, how much do you want to spend. Sub £100 I don't think you'll find things are much different from Corsair.

 

[Pistachio]

My Aerocool DS200 is amazing quality and only £65. It is sound insulated too. Only 2 optical drives though

 

[Silent_Scone]

View attachment 980Ti-pair_zpsvt6apyyk.jpg

lol bro, I just sold both my TITAN X with EK blocks :smiley:


Unrelated, my ASUS Impact i5 6600K with 4Ghz memory, great little system.
View attachment f97c7be5_1000.png

I have some nice GSKILL Trident 8GB sticks in my X99 build.

3200MHz-32GB-C13-13-13-36-1T @ 1.4v

 

[Cookie]

lol bro, I just sold both my TITAN X with EK blocks :smiley:


Unrelated, my ASUS Impact i5 6600K with 4Ghz memory, great little system.
View attachment 147963

I have some nice GSKILL Trident 8GB sticks in my X99 build.

3200MHz-32GB-C13-13-13-36-1T @ 1.4v

There I was thinking you'd grown out of pointless benchmarking and just spent all your money on unusable power instead

 

[Wilkeh]

lol bro, I just sold both my TITAN X with EK blocks :smiley:


Unrelated, my ASUS Impact i5 6600K with 4Ghz memory, great little system.
View attachment 147963

I have some nice GSKILL Trident 8GB sticks in my X99 build.

3200MHz-32GB-C13-13-13-36-1T @ 1.4v

How come you're rocking i5's over i7's?

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Guessing it's not his only system seeing his past hardware! I mean read the start of the post ffs. "just sold BOTH my TX's" lol.

I'd say that's more money than my whole system.... To my mrs

 

[GiT]

Upgrade time for me too chaps, albeit a little SSD one.

Taking out the Corsair 128gb (x 2 in Raid0) for a couple of 500gb SK Hynix Canvas SL301's which will also go in Raid0.

Rest of the system is sound as a pound... Gigabyte Haswell Z97 jobby. i7 4770k, 16k Vengeance Ram, HD 7950 gfx. 3x24" monitors

 

[Silent_Scone]

Guessing it's not his only system seeing his past hardware! I mean read the start of the post ffs. "just sold BOTH my TX's" lol.

I'd say that's more money than my whole system.... To my mrs :wink:

It's an engineering sample from ASUS, I use the 6600K and Impact at work

 

[SharkyUK]

lol bro, I just sold both my TITAN X with EK blocks :smiley:

I'm on a single 980 Ti mate... one of those has been returned as it is faulty.

 

[Silent_Scone]

I'm on a single 980 Ti mate... one of those has been returned as it is faulty.

Fair enough! I'm on a single TX which will be going Monday. Then it's the count down till Pascal :wink:

There I was thinking you'd grown out of pointless benchmarking and just spent all your money on unusable power instead :tongueout:

lol don't be daft, although I get a few quarterly samples in return for helping users in NA so I don't have to spend out quite so much. Besides which it's all usable power! Any results I post are 24/7 :wink:.

EDIT, you mean the Evo. Yeah I've got nothing for you there!

 

[SharkyUK]

Then it's the count down till Pascal :wink:

Yeah, that's what I'm waiting for. The performance figures look staggering. Sadly I'm currently unemployed and I no longer get toys and samples to play with

 

[Lal B3N]

Anyone rocking M.2 SSD? My new board supports it so quite fancy it for the OS. 2100MB read and 1250MB write speeds sound great. Not very expensive now either.

 

[Darren S]

Now you're just being selfish. Surely I need to borrow the TI's (permanently - never to be returned, sent back, or seen by yourself ever again) in order to conduct a useful comparison experiment against my 690s?

I'll even pay the postage...... :smiley:

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Anyone rocking M.2 SSD? My new board supports it so quite fancy it for the OS. 2100MB read and 1250MB write speeds sound great. Not very expensive now either.

It's on my list of "wants".
950 Pro from Samsung, not that expensive as you say and 3-4x faster than the 850 Evo. Wonder whether/where I'd notice the speed difference though.