Testing a second hand computer

Whippet79 · 10 Oct 2011 at 08:04

Hi folks,

Have made the transition back from Xbox to PC after 9 years away. Xbox is now far too old and the 24 player limit in BF3 for consoles was the last straw!

Anyway have this arriving this week hopefully:

Radon Intel Core i5 760 2.8GHz @ 4.0 GHz. P7P55D-E mother board Intel core i5 760 quad core capable of running at 4ghz. 4GB DDR3 Corsair RAM. Corsair Hydro H50-1 Liquid CPU cooler. GMC R3 Box with 64GB Crucial SSD. GFX is a Geforce 9800GTX. EZcool ambience 80+ 700w PU.

Its been a while so I'm wondering what the best way of testing all the components it? From the listing I'm not sure if the CPU is currently OC'd - best way of checking that its running at acceptable speeds / voltages?

thanks in advance.

Reaper 392 · 10 Oct 2011 at 08:10

to test that the processor is OC'd run some sort of processor stress test (prime 95, linX, intel burn test, etc) and check the clock speed with CPU-z. you might as well test the processor is all good by leaving this to run for a few hours

to check the graphics are all good use OCCT graphics card test for a minimum of 40 mins. if you get no errors then all is good.

then theres the usual memtest86 and probably a few other testing programs that ive forgotten about

mp260767 · 10 Oct 2011 at 11:30

as per reaper, also download coretemp to keep an eye on the cpu temps, gpu-z to monitor graphic card temps when you stress test them.

cmndr_andi · 10 Oct 2011 at 11:45

+1 to all of the above.

I would also suggest running Furmark for a few minutes to ensure the graphics card is working OK.

However, please bear in mind that a graphics card like a 9800 GTX is over three years old (even though the CPU and motherboard are much newer) and won't deal with BF3 very well unless you really turn down the resolution and graphical settings. I would suggest trying the BF3 open beta today (last day afaik) and see how it handles it.

Just so you are aware, EZCool are not well known for making good quality PSUs. A few recommend brands for PSUs for gaming PCs are Antec, Corsair, Enermax, Seasonic, XFX, BeQuiet and OCZ.

Whippet79 · 10 Oct 2011 at 12:04

Thanks for the advice guys, hugely appreciated - yup once the 9800 gtx is tested it's getting swapped for a 560ti oc that I have on order and I'll flog the old card.

Do you think it is worth swapping the PSU then? Take it that its a fairly simple swap just for a better brand with same 700w? They do seem quite expensive though...

Do you reckon standard win 7 tool for checking the drives?

Confused Stu · 10 Oct 2011 at 12:13

Whippet79 said:
Do you think it is worth swapping the PSU then? Take it that its a fairly simple swap just for a better brand with same 700w? They do seem quite expensive though...

Definitely. The PSU is one area you don't want to skimp on. A good quality PSU will last you years and protect your system should anything untoward happen. A poor quality PSU will cause you weird issues (graphics, overclock and audio stability) and in the event of something happening it may well take down other components as well.

Ask yourself which you would rather do - spend £60 on a good PSU, or take a gamble and possibly have to fork out for a new motherboard/CPU/graphics card if the gamble goes wrong?

As for changing them, it's just a case of open the PC up, unplug every power connector, remove old PSU, put in new PSU, plug in all the power connectors you unplugged earlier. Digital cameras can be a godsend in making sure you've re-plugged everything by taking pics as you unplug stuff.

cmndr_andi · 10 Oct 2011 at 12:16

Whippet79 said:
Do you think it is worth swapping the PSU then? Take it that its a fairly simple swap just for a better brand with same 700w? They do seem quite expensive though...

If you are going to invest ~£160 in a new graphics card then I would strongly recommend a new PSU.

Swapping out a PSU just requires you to turn off the PC, unscrew the PSU from the back of the case and disconnect all the power connections to the motherboard, graphics card and drives - then do the reverse when installing the new unit.

Going for a modular PSU like this one would make the install and any future modifications a good deal easier. This antec is also a nice quality unit and gets good reviews.

Whippet79 · 10 Oct 2011 at 12:31

sounds like solid advice - have bought that one.

Whippet79 · 11 Oct 2011 at 01:38

As for checking the hard drives - would the standard windows tool be ok? Does that apply for the SSD as well - not had one before...

mp260767 · 11 Oct 2011 at 09:14

should be able to get software from the drive manufacturer to test the drive, not sure on sdd's.

Whippet79 · 16 Oct 2011 at 13:02

Ok the Antec PSU has arrived - The last time I connected one of these it was fairly straight forward... my comp hasn't arrived yet but trying to visualise how things will work...
The PSU comes with an 8-pin (6+2) PCI-E and a 6-pin PCI-E on the direct cabling. The 560 ti need 2 x 6 pin connectors. So do I use the two on the direct cabling (I'm guessing that you can use a 6+2 as just a 6 pin?) or should the secind connection come from the modular 6 pin connected to another rail?

Whippet79 · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:20

Computer has arrived - graphics card is a GTX 295 not a 9800GTX.... bit of a surprise.
Do I go with this card or Ebay it and put the 560ti I have in?

barneystuta · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:22

If you can afford it, then absolutely do that.

I have a 560ti, and for the price, is a great mid-range card. Will handle BF3 at good resolutions (1080p) on very high settings I reckon.

Marine-RX179 · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:44

Whippet79 said:
Computer has arrived - graphics card is a GTX 295 not a 9800GTX.... bit of a surprise.
Do I go with this card or Ebay it and put the 560ti I have in?

I would toss the GTX295 onto the bay and use the GTX560Ti instead.

This is because GTX295 is much higher power consumption so it would run much hotter. While it is not a slow card, it does not have support for dx11, and the minimum frame rate is also lower than most modern mid-range graphic. I've seen users of GTX295 reporting they experience micro-shuttering that are caused by multi-GPU (GTX295 has two GPU) in some games.

mp260767 · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:50

Whippet79 said:
The PSU comes with an 8-pin (6+2) PCI-E and a 6-pin PCI-E on the direct cabling. The 560 ti need 2 x 6 pin connectors. So do I use the two on the direct cabling (I'm guessing that you can use a 6+2 as just a 6 pin?) or should the secind connection come from the modular 6 pin connected to another rail?

yeah go with those on the direct cabling, as mentioned you've got the 560 so use it.

not bad getting the 295 instead of the 9800 either

.

Whippet79 · 17 Oct 2011 at 13:34

cheers for the advice again folks - have mangaged to restore the original ocuk bios settings so all looking good. Will run the tests as advised then tomorrow swap the gfx and PSU over.