VeeshanVault

SpeedFan is a nice little program that shows ya the temperature readings for different hardware in your computer. cpu, hd, case temperature... it can even control the fan speeds on some of them...

I just had a total shutdown while projecting a game of madden on the wall, and I kinda knew it was heat related... I downloaded SpeedFan and every sensor icon was a flame, my PC was burning up... the CPU was over 183 degrees. It took a room fan to bring it to nominal, and i'll be buying a new case asap.

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

direct download: http://www.almico.com/speedfan426.exe

I don't want to hijack your thread but your comment about overheating is important in my next CPU selection.

I've allotted myself 2K to upgrade my MB, CPU and Graphics card in the next month.

As I research, I'm finding it hard to consider anything other than an Athlon X2 3800-4800+ dual core CPU.

Tech geeks that already have them can't say enough good things. 99% of them say once you go dual core, you'll never go back and I believe it considering the power to run the most CPU intensive games and still be able to rip a DVD to your HD in the background without any lag. I know most of you will be thinking you don't need dual core...technically you don't but I know there's a lot of you out there like me that do some intense multitasking...or play movies on your computer while downloading stuffage or maybe have dual screens and want to be operating on the other non game screen at full steam while playing EQ or BF2...not going to do that smoothly with a single core. If you play a game and do anything else on your computer at the same time, a dual core should be considered. Anyways, I know how some of you think, and you'll be explaining away the need for dual core CPUs but you should consider one, even if it's the cheapest one as the heart of your next computer. Besides the ungodly AMD dual core performance in rendering, encoding, games (run as good as their single core AMD counterparts which is better than Intel's chips), and scientific calculation, it's a 64 chip which readies you for Win XP 64 (now or in the future) and the speed enhancements those bring as well as new apps and games that take advantage of two cpu cores. (the game engines being released around christmas this year)

Some apps, like TMPEGenc, benefit from dual core (which more and more apps will). In a compression test, the 4800+ took 835 seconds to encode what the Athlon 64 FX-55 single core took 1651 seconds to encode. Rendering was 287 seconds vs 520 seconds. For some apps like Winrar, there's no difference as Winrar currently won't take advantage of a dual core...but you can run two instances of Winrar at the same time to double the speed if you have several rar tasks. That's big for me when I've downloaded multiple rar'd DVD ISO's.
Beyond that, the Athlon X2's are better than Intel's offerings in gaming performance and these chips run much cooler and OC very well.

The 3800+ appears to be the new P4 2.4c that can OC up to 4400/4600 levels. My days of extreme OC'ing are over but cranking up a CPU a little with stock heatsink/fan is a no brainer.

Here's what I'm considering. Feel free to comment as this will be my first AMD based system:

$538 - Athlon64 X2 4400+ 1MB cache (stock) or $375 3800+ (OC'd)
$175 - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe MB (add another 7800 when they get cheap and love that the MB chipset is cooled via heatpipe...cheesy MB fans always crap out on me so this will last and be quiet)
$285 - 2X1MB High Quality Ram of some sort (whatever works well with the ASUS MB after reading others experiences)
$500 - 7800GTx nVidia (500.00 for graphics card hurts but due to PCI Express must upgrade from current AGP 6800GT I have plus i need dual DVI outs which my6800 doesn't have))

So far that's about $1,500 if I go with the 4400+ and would be a monster performance upgrade from what I have.

AMD is the clear CPU choice over Intel this generation and AMD's dual core solutions are the clear choice over Intels in almost every category. (and run much cooler!) Any suggestions from the tech geek peanut gallery? The main thing I'm considering is whether to buy a $375 3800+ and OC it to 4400+ level or buy the $538 4400+ and leave it stock or OC that to 4800+. The only other suggested 939 socket SLI motherboard is the Lan Party offering that has more OC options but I really like the idea of no MB chipset fan and the ASUS has the basic OC capability I'd need. I also hear the 512 cache X2 CPU's (3800/4200) are more OC friendly than the 1MB cache versions (4400/4800)

The main thing I'm considering is whether to buy a $375 3800+ and OC it to 4400+ level or buy the $538 4400+ and leave it stock or OC that to 4800+.

From a personal experience, a GTX with anything less than a 4000+ (stock) will be computercide. The processor will completely bottleneck your system, as a GTX is so... damn... good.

Also, I find greater overclocking success with Abit motherboards. Their uGuru technology really is great. Really, it's great. No, really (I'm serious), it's great.

I can't go Abit anymore. I have a GURU Abit MB right now and it's the third Abit MB I've owned. (see cheesy fan comment, RAM timing issues among other things) There are only two choices that seem solid for the X2's right now that aren't riddled with complaints (as the Abit offering is unfortunately), and thats ASUS and Lan Party DFI.

Let me say, the dual core is bad ass. And you stated all the reasons. Playing a game and ripping DVDs, fucking thing doesn't even flinch.

I've done PLENTY of research on the system that you are looking to get, so let me save you some trouble.

For the motherboard, you don't want the Deluxe, you want the Premium, that is the one with the heatpipe. The deluxe has that cheesy fan that ALWAYS dies.

The memory that you will want is Mushkin which is $285 for 2x1. http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820146425

As for the graphics card, well that's where we differ in opinion. I think it's a waste of money to get a $500 card video card. For bang for the buck, I prefer two 6600GT's. If you check tomshardware site, you can see the comparisons between all the current video cards in single and SLI mode.

valryte wrote:Let me say, the dual core is bad ass. And you stated all the reasons. Playing a game and ripping DVDs, fucking thing doesn't even flinch.

I've done PLENTY of research on the system that you are looking to get, so let me save you some trouble.

For the motherboard, you don't want the Deluxe, you want the Premium, that is the one with the heatpipe. The deluxe has that cheesy fan that ALWAYS dies.

The memory that you will want is Mushkin which is $285 for 2x1. http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820146425

As for the graphics card, well that's where we differ in opinion. I think it's a waste of money to get a $500 card video card. For bang for the buck, I prefer two 6600GT's. If you check tomshardware site, you can see the comparisons between all the current video cards in single and SLI mode.

Thanks for the correction on the motherboard, I would have made sure I got the right one before ordering from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131540



I'll also keep looking into the graphics card options. I kind of wanted to eventually dual SLI 7800's down the road when 7800's are much cheaper. I've seen articles that show 6600's in SLI are faster than a single 6800 but nowhere near a single 7800GTx. Got a link? I can't seem to find anything comparing a single 7800GT or 7800GTx to dual 6600GTs.

Here's some numbers to consider re: cards in question. All things aren't equal in the systems but generally speaking:

3DMark05:

9,346 - 7800GTX
7,141 - SLI 6600GT's
6,227 - 6800GT

3DMark03:

19,893 - 7800GTX
15,240 - SLI 6600GTs
14,061 - 6800GT

3DMark2001:

34,608 - 7800GTX
27,579 - 6800GT
25,438 - 6800GT
24,449 - 6800GT
21,371 - SLI 6600GTs

AquaMark3:

104,893 - 7800GTX
74,253 - 6800GT
70,171 - SLI 6600GTs

The quote below compares a single 7800GTx favorably to SLI 6800 Ultras which already are considerable step above SLI 6600GTs)

If you’re not into SLI, a single 7800GTX will still own your games and it will set you back for about $479 to $500 (check latest retail price). Considering that a single 7800GTX performed similar if not better than a pair of 6800U in SLI, it would be a good idea to ditch a pair of 6800U and go for a single 7800GTX. Besides, you don’t have to deal with thermal, noise and power issues if you choose a single 7800GTX.

Nice article on 7800GTx and comparisons here:

http://www.pcmoddingmy.com/content.php?review.294.0

As for the Mushkin, are you OC'ing your CPU? Which X2 did you go with? Thanks for your input Val.

I got a 3800 X2 oc'd to 2.4ghz (will do 2.6 but gets a little toasty(i'm using stock cooling)).

DFI Freaking Lanparty Ultra DR SLI (or normal and mod it to SLI ;)

Cant say enough good things about the company/board. I love it.

I was just referring to the money. 500 bucks for 1 video card is too much. I have a 6600GT and it's more than enough for me. I haven't hit a game that it can't handle at the highest settings. Granted I'm dealing with 1280x1024 max res. If you're getting into the 1600x1200 + range, well that's another story. If you don't care, then by all means fuck it and get the 7800GTX, it's a badass video card.

Don't ask about the CPU (ok, it's a 3000+ hehe), I just got the cheapest thing I could get at the time. I had to upgrade my entire system, the CPU was actually the cheapest piece I got. I'm the type to get the best deal I can and top end CPU/Video is NEVER a deal. I rather go on a trip somewhere than waste that extra 2-300 dollars. And besides, I was upgrading from something like an ATHLON XP 2800 or worse, so believe me it was a HUGE difference. Hell, this single core CPU is twice as fast as my 1.2 dual Xeons at work!

Anways, I did help a couple of my friends get the dual cores at the same time. We're crazy like that, when one of us goes to upgrade their system, we all do it too. Hell we all own Pronto remote controls which we bought at the same time just to get an idea. Anyways, we worked on getting them OC'd very nicely, the temp on the CPU didn't even budge. I can find out what we ended up getting. It's been several months and at 4:30AM, my memory isn't too good.

valryte wrote: Anways, I did help a couple of my friends get the dual cores at the same time. We're crazy like that, when one of us goes to upgrade their system, we all do it too. Hell we all own Pronto remote controls which we bought at the same time just to get an idea. Anyways, we worked on getting them OC'd very nicely, the temp on the CPU didn't even budge. I can find out what we ended up getting. It's been several months and at 4:30AM, my memory isn't too good.

What did you OC your 3800+ to?

I also don't like to blow money on computer hardware just for the hell of it and enjoy finding the sweet spots or OC'ing.

In the case of the graphics card, since I'll be at 1920X1200, a single 6600GT isn't going to cut it for me and dual 6600GT's will roughly cost the same as a single 7800GTx which outperforms the SLI combo. The extra SLI slot will allow me to boost my system at a reasonable price a year or so down the road without a major makeover.

I'm thinking a 3800+ OC'd is in my future as you can get a solid OC out of it with stock heatsink/fan. I'm still running off an OC'd Intel 2.4c @ 3GHz right now. It looks like Janx has his 3800+ stable at 2.4Ghz which brings its performance up to the level of a 4600+ $800.00 CPU for the price of the $375.00 3800+. The money saved for the performance value there basically covers the cost of the 7800GTx which would be a huge performance boost over getting a lesser graphics card and gaining like .2Ghz OC'ing a 4600+ to 2.6 or 2.8Ghz. Running at 4600+ levels, the 7800GTz shouldn't be bottlenecked too bad.

I've delayed upgrading because of the need to upgrade CPU, Video Card and memory all at once due to the PCI express and new sockets etc and the 6800GT I presently have being capable of handling anything gamewise for the most part. I can't ignore the benefits of dual core and sizable performance upgrade in the 7800GTx anymore though. $1,445 is worth the MB, RAM, CPU, Video Card upgrade. It will last 2 years as it is and have some flexibility for improvment without a major upgrade again.

get your own thread, fuckers! /pharm

Win,

Keep a look out for specials on the 7800GT, most can be found for about $350 now... I would spend a little more money and get 2 of those and OC the bitches to GTX speeds, most will do it right out of the box anyway.

Marb

i have the A8N-SLI premium mobo. i like it.

dont be a tard like me and stick your case button connector on backwards

Voronwë wrote:i have the A8N-SLI premium mobo. i like it.

dont be a tard like me and stick your case button connector on backwards

Maybe in a year or so you can swap out your CPU for a dual core Voro! That would be an easy upgrade.

183 degrees? was your HSF attached correctly?

winnow: i've ready a few consumer reports that the heatpipe on the deluxe version is really insufficient and runs mighty hot, you may want to look into it more.

Stragi wrote:183 degrees? was your HSF attached correctly?

winnow: i've ready a few consumer reports that the heatpipe on the deluxe version is really insufficient and runs mighty hot, you may want to look into it more.

The "deluxe" in my first post was a mistake. It's the premium that has the Heatpipe.

So far, I haven't come across anyone with heat issues. I'll check some more on the forums.

The issues that have been reported with the heatpipe are due to improper contact with the chipset. I had get my MB replaced because of it. I just didn't feel like taking apart a brand new MB just so I could do it right. But, taking it apart, removing the paste and applying the paste correctly will fix it. Other than that, both my friends that have this MB and myself haven't had any other problems with it. I was the only one that initially had a problem with it.

I have 3/4 of a tube of Arctic Silver thermal paste left if needed. I hope it's not though. Seems like they'd take a little care in that step of assembly. It sounds like yours was the exception.

Yeah, there were a lot more people that didn't encounter this problem than actually did. I only know of like 2 other people that encountered it. 1 sent it back and one fixed it himself.