New (ish) build cpu help

paulhenney

paulhenney

paulhenney

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26 Sep 2008
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18
Hi I've been building systems on a tight budget for about 5-6 years now, buying the odd upgrade here and there. I've got a few extra quid over the past few weeks and am starting a new build/upgrade.

So from my old system I've got a cheap Asus mobo running AMD 9550 BE (I thats the one), 4 gig of Corsair and a Sapphire 6870. This is in a CM Scout case and have two 160G HDs. This has stood me in good stead for the latest FPS games until now.

However, with BF3, Skyrim and a few others making autumn look very nice indeed, I thought a bit of an overhaul is required.

So over the last three weeks I've picked myself up
8G Kingston HyperX http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS

Asus p67 Sabertooth 1155 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-449-AS

and

OCZ Agility 3 60G SSD http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-075-OC

So first question is which CPU do you think, I'm probably looking at the i5 price wise as what says the i7 wont improve things too much. Is there much point spending the £30-£40 for the higher speed and unlocked ones. I've never overclocked much, maybe used the mobos standard oveclocks but if needed could I get the 2.9 up to the 3.3 speed?

Second - Do you think my GFX card will suffice, if not would you get another 6870 and crossfire or go for a 680. The 6870 looks the cheaper option but ive read bad things about crossfire support for AMD cards on new games.

Third and last (thanks for bearing with me) a cooler for the CPU. I was looking for something in the £40 price range, whats my best option at the moment. A few people have recommended the Antec Khuler water cooled option. Never been down this route but have heard it is easy enough to set up with better cooling than Air alone. Would you guys recommend this and would it fit in my Scout case.

Oh and 4th (I know I lied) anything else I should upgrade while I'm at it, maybe swap my storage to a single larger HD. Would this help with heat etc?
 
For gaming a i5 2500K is what you want, the Hyperthreading benefit and slight clock speed increase and slightly more cache of the i7 2600K isnt needed.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287

Second - Do you think my GFX card will suffice, if not would you get another 6870 and crossfire or go for a 680. The 6870 looks the cheaper option but ive read bad things about crossfire support for AMD cards on new games.
Click to expand...

Crossfire it when you think it needs more power, driver and game support have got much better these days.

Do you have a good PSU for a pair of these cards?

Third and last (thanks for bearing with me) a cooler for the CPU. I was looking for something in the £40 price range, whats my best option at the moment. A few people have recommended the Antec Khuler water cooled option. Never been down this route but have heard it is easy enough to set up with better cooling than Air alone. Would you guys recommend this and would it fit in my Scout case.
Click to expand...

Coolermaster Hyper212.
Gelid tranquillo
Corsair A50
 
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right up and running in a fashion.

Went for a Seagate !TB 6G/S to go with the OCZ SSD

Having a few problems with the memory, PC is fine with 1 stick of memory in but doesnt like 2 sticks at all.

In dual channel it wont post at all, if I put them in single channel it starts to boot, resets and boosts. It has a mem test thing that supposedly autotunes memory when there is a problem. So I think it is doing this.

I should have looked into the memory first rather than diving in for a bargain as it isnt on the compatibility list. It runs at 16.5v and apparently p67s dont like this. Have changed the timings in the BIOS and upped from the standard 1.5v but no joy.

Tried a BIOS update but then it wouldnt run at all, it posted but then wouldnt detect the harddrive just got a blinking cursor on a black screen. Would POST fine to the CD but not the harddrives. BIOS recognised them fine and tried messing around with the order etc.

When its up and running its fine, no crashes, 3D mark ran the full test and loved it but got a feeling there are things I need to sort out. Might buy some more RAM from the compatibility list - any recomendations (the board is P67 Sabretooth. Need something low profile because of the A50 fans though and want 8G.

Will continue to have a tinker tonight and get BC2 installed and have a game on it, but anyone has any ideas about the above, let me know cheers.
 
tried memtest but couldnt get it to run. After doing this it wouldnt boot at all - kept getting the black screen with white cursor. Messed about with all the BIOS's but none solved the problem - same thing.

Then booted to DVD and Windows booted fine from the disk.

Thought I'd try a reinstal to try and solve it, windows would not install to the SSD or the 1TB HD. Both of these are plugged into the Marvell slots (6GB/s)

So I installed to my old 160 HD and it was fine. Once installed it boots fine and I can go into the drives on the 6GB/s I just cant boot from them. Havent sorted the memory thing yet but if the mobo cant boot from the high speed slots I think it may need an RMA. What you think?
 
Use the Intel ports, the Marvells suck (lots).

When you were doing the BIOS updates, did you set the SATA controller to IDE/AHCI etc, as if it was on AHCI when you did your first ever install, then you did the BIOS updates it may have set the SATA back to IDE mode.

AHCI is best for a SSD.

If you went into the BIOS and set "default settings" this will also set the SATA controller back to IDE.

So try with the Intel ports and in either IDE or AHCi/Raid setting.
 
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is it a specific stick of memory that causes problems, or is it putting two sticks in together that causes it?

you could try underclocking and undervolting the memory to see if it helps too
 
IDE/ACSI were set to auto on install, realise the default settings moved it all back when looking at the RAM (voltage/timings). Want to sort the booting problem now before I start on the memory, will be back for that im sure. Rebooting now
 
right havent switched the leads for the drives but switched to IDEI. If I then manually boot from the wrong drive it works and boots from the SSD??

Will give it a go moving the leads to the non-marvell slots tomorrow. Thought if I but a fast drive I should put them through the fastest port which I thought was the Marvell's.

Will have a mess round with this tomorrow and if it is all stable come back about the RAM if thats ok.

Cheers, at least Im booting to the SSD
 
Thought if I but a fast drive I should put them through the fastest port which I thought was the Marvell's.
Click to expand...

The Intels are faster as they are "native" on the chipset, not a "bolt on" attachment so to speak.
 
right cool. I'm back to where I was. Booted and fine, working looking good.

ATM I've got a 4gig stick in one of the slots. Whats the best way forward now. It wont boot with them in in A1 B1 or A2 B2.

Was booting in B1 B2 but occasionally I got a hard freeze, sometimes with USB thingies freezing - mouse and keyboard.

BTW really appreciative of the help, thought I was reasonably clued up but it can be quite easy to find yourself well out of your depth, cheers guys.
 
What speed is the RAM set to in the BIOS? 1333mhz/1600mhz? as Reaper said, slow the RAM down to 1333mhz if they are at 1600mhz, and slacken the timings right off.
 
they are 1333 with DRAM 1.5 and 9,9,9,24

specs for the RAM say

1600 voltage 1.65 and 9,9,9,27

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS

I've alreadt tried to post with the 2 sticks in (before the HD problems kicked in)

If I change the timings, it will load with them not dualed up but with them in
A1 B1 or A2 B2 it wont even POST, just starts to boot then restarts then nothing.

Im presuming DRAM is the thing I should be changing for the voltage am I right?
 
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