Build or buy...

[AndalayBay]

No, you're just like the rest of us - which is why we're so bad in telling you exactly what we did to fix something. Welcome to the club

[donnato]

...actually I did try to take notes...lasted about ...well ok...didn`t happen...

[Firelady]

Hey Donnato

I watched this topic for a while...I had ONLy build rigs, by my self.

I still remember my first build PC, it was an Pentium IV...

They never failed, actually some of them are still in use , after so many years.

I followed some simple rules:

1. First choose the MB. It's one of the most important piece of the rig. Not too expensive, not too cheap.

And without onboard video cards, worst choice in my opinion, but cost affective for companies.

When you choose a MB they are several important factors : the max FSB supported, number of memory slots and the connectors ( SATA, IDE, External ).

The tricky part is to sincronize the FSB of the best CPU you could afford with the memory and the MB.

That's all, same FSB for CPU, MB and memory.

2. CPU...see above, maybe try to find the " Black " series of what you desire. Why ?...Because the "Black " series have the multiplier unlocked and are much easy to overclock.

3. Memory - as much you could afford.

Regarding memory, in a Win32 enviroment, the MB will recognize no more than ~ 3 Gb. In a Win64 environment, ALL the memory installed will be available.

About AHCI...is a pain in the ass, try better RAID or even IDE Compatible.

When messing with BIOS, try first to understand what do each of the settings.

The only effective settings changes are those reffering to Memory access timing. Those settings could really boost the system with ~ 15 - 20 %.

And NEVER do more than one modification...if you have problems, just simply load the menu - Load default settings.

For a successful overclock you have to know something about physics, for instance :

If you modify the FSB or the multiplier, you will have to modify also the core voltage.

Just be careful...

[donnato]

ello Firelady and thank you so much for your advice. Very good info there which gives me a clearer idea of what questions to google or ask others. When I chose my mobo/cpu setup (being my very first time out) I gathered some suggestions then went and read up on the selections. They were all very good and considering my budget and future upgradability I hit a middle ground with my final choices. I`ll have to google the term...FSB, and then look for info about the timing you mentioned as well as the symcronizing info as well. With the cpu I chose it seemed to have a good margin for overclocking but this is something I`m not in a hurry to mess up, I fully understand...and ave witnessed the mayhem others have caused their systems by clocking up. The option is, however, there if I get to the point of understanding it more fully. For now that is ...read-only...! I`ve read up a bit on using a RAID configuration and I don`t think it`s necessary at this point, there were 2 conflicting (it seems) SATA settings that when set to AHCI seemed to help. As I read it in the mobo manual IDE simulates a PATA configuration and some things I decided not to try at this point, I suppose these settings can be altered at a later date but since it`s working I`m in no hurry to "fix" it. I have alot to learn here and really appreciate your info. As to the BIOS...again...READ ONLY...at this point, and again,... alot to learn The ASUS has utilities in the Bios that automatically make the proper adjustments to over clock to a level I select, but...and again....I`m not trusting what is "supposed" to be automatic, at least till I know more about it and even then maybe not. have read up on voltages but only just began.

Again Firelady thank you.

[donnato]

The Asus P8P67 LE is a dual memory channel board, which means to get the best performance, you should put both memory stick in the blue brackets.

Ok bro...now I`ve got a little breathing room...please explain? It`s fairly simple I know but I need to understand what`s happening here. My 1600 sticks are only reading at 1300...do you think this is an issue that your suggestion would fix?

[Meo]

Dual channel "theoretically" allows you to double your memory transfer rate. Four brackets, two channel, in your case, one black and one blue. Installing your memory sticks in the same channel is therefor better than splitting them up. Check your manual to know which brackets (black or blue) to use.

As for your memory running at 1300 instead of 1600, you might need to manually adjust the settings in the bios.

Edit: in the Ai Tweaker menu, for Memory Frequency, instead of Auto, select DDR3-1600MHz.

Edit2: ive checked, its the blue brackets, otherwise your pc wont even start.

[donnato]

Ah good stuff Meo thanks I changed the MHz in BIOS from 1300 to 1600 and it seems to be reading it. So you`re saying to place my sticks in the blue sockets? I`lol check the manual but ...yeah I`m single channel now.

[HeyYou]

Going dual channel will noticeably improve performance........ you REALLY wanna do that.

[donnato]

Thank you but didn`t seem to want to work in either channel blue or black...no boot...no signal to monitor...

[donnato]

Ok...gotta watch those little clippy things that hold the sticks in.,..I`ve moved the sticks to A2 and B2 which are the blue sockets and it`s now reading dual channel...thank you so much...

[Firelady]

FSB - Front Side Bus

It's the frequency used by the device ( CPU, memory, MB-CPU slot ) .

The best is to read first the MB manual, it explain a lot about memory, types of memory , connectors etc.

In your case, the best match is when the CPU , the memory and the MB run at the same frequency - 1600 MHz.

For CPU find the producer page and read the specs.

Same thing for the memory producer, sometimes they specify a different voltage than usual for certain frequency.

Try to avoid the water cooling, better invest in silent but powerful fans, 12-14 cm in size.

Look for the Air Flow ex. : http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/cpu/034/scsk1000_detail.html

You will have to dismantle your case to install the fans, especially the front, depending on the age of your case, in front must be a place for 9-14 cm, side 8-12cm, rear 8-12 cm.

If you could find, buy a small fan controller, 3,4 in in size, you will be very happy in the summer...lol.

Try to find fans with 4 pins at connector, that will allow to MB auto control, especially for CPU and System fans.

Also is a good idea to make some holes in the upper panel and install also a 14 cm fan, to blow the hot air up.

When you begin to install Win, after the last restart, but BEFORE Win want to make updates, install the software from the MB CD ( MB drivers first, Video second, audio last and reset after each installement).

LOL...you have a LOT to learn to master your toy...

Cheers

[donnato]

This is very true Firelady I have many new things to learn. Front sid bus... of course...don`t know why I didn`t make that connection. I`ll check those specs to see just how/what needs matching as you say. Right now I`ve got pretty good fans 200mm on top 200 in back and 150 in front. I have places for 3 more if I need it . Yup...that`s the order I installed the discs for mobo,video, DVD drive...like that then I got a new monitor and it came with software. Now that I`m up and running thigs are easier to absorb by actualling going in and observing the actuality instead of just reading from a manual that is meant to cover a few different apps. The Asus book is very good though. Also my EVGA card has a ton of tweeks and adjustments I need to figure out. I`m registered into the website and can find everything there....rocket sled demo just kills me laughing every time...

Thank you again Firelady your guidance is greatly appreciated.

[Firelady]

Good luck...

Asus and Gigabyte have ( in my opinion ) the best product support.

Drivers, manuals, utilities...they are well structured and easy to update.

If you have no problems after the start up ( at least few months ) DON'T do a BIOS update. They also recomend that, if the rig is stabile ...don't changed.

Don't bother with the MB or Video tweak utilities, unless you are a Power user, most of the time, with the factory settings all will be fine.

Many people don't realize how powerful are today CPU and GPU...most of the time you will not need ANY kind of overclocking.

The only worth investement is...memory, in this case, much more is better...lol.

During all this years just a few times I used a mild overclocking...but in the long run, is better to avoid...think at a light bulb, the higher the voltage, sooner is the death.

If you don't use a Win 64, now is a good time to try...you will be surprised of the performance. The entire quantity of memory will available to be used by your software ( games...mostly...lol ).

Windows 7 64 is a good choice and if you want, a second partition with XP SP3.

Believe me, I don't run a super rig ( Athlon 64 X2 7750, 8 Gb Ram, 500 Gb HDD, GForce 9800 GTX+ ) but so far I have not encountered a game who not run.

Use some good software to maintain with regularity the Win ( TuneUp Utilities, Perfect Disk ) and you will never have problems.

And in some way...is also fun to build your own rig, to knew every bolt and screw...lol.

You have not mentioned what power have the Power source...for your rig, it must be somewhere between 600 - 800 W, maybe more, because the most power eating are thr CPU, MB and video card.

[donnato]

Agreed Firelady once I got the disc to partition properly and my RAM sorted out and runninig at full speed I think I`ll just need to adjust the monitor settings to my liking. What you said about todays processors is true and I spent some time researching compatabilities to avoid bottlenecks. The folks here were spot on in their suggestions and gave me an enormous boost and head start, greatly narrowing and simplifying the search process. My laptop performs better than some PCs I`ve seen and it`s not an outragously expensive rig. Asus G50VT with a core duo cpu running at 2.26GHz, 320GB RAM (I added a 500 as secondary) and Nvidia GeForce 9800M GS running at 512MB...I think I paid in the range of $850 or so. I`ve had to call support twice in the two years I`ve been using Asus and they had me back on my feet in minutes . I`m running win7 64 bit on this PC and I`m slowly getting used to it.

Just to get up and running I`ve only got the one hdd for now but I`ll add another soon but the RAM will probably come first. I`m using the nice Corsair sticks I listed in my build list on page 2 of this thread and they`re not cheap so it`ll be a bit before this happens.

I`m powered by a Corsair 750W PSU which I am very impressed with. So far I haven`t had to make any frantic runs to find adapters and such. The only problem was trying to get all those cable bundles tied up out of the airflow.

[donnato]

Uhoh...I just found a whole range of i7s for my 1155 socket using the P67 chipset...any thoughts..???

[HeyYou]

What's wrong with what's in there now? I mean, seriously, you just got it built.... Do you want your wife to kill you??

[donnato]

I know but I`m thinking it`s why I can`t use the higher settings on my graphics card...and I really want to. My new PC runs the games about as well as my laptop which, boggles my mind since I was thinking it`d be way better. Doesn`t take much to kill my FPS.

[HeyYou]

For all out performance.... Go with This processor, and This MB.

Not exactly inexpensive though.

[donnato]

Thanks HY. Yup that`s the CPU I was looking at but the mobo looks almost like the one I got. CPU is compatable.

[HeyYou]

I picked that one, because it has the capability of doing SLI/Crossfire with both slots at X16...... supporting 32gb of RAM was a minor consideration..... But, according to the reviews/ratings/whathaveyou, the processor is THE best on the market for gaming currently. Even better than some of the thousand dollar Intel "Extreme" chips.

[donnato]

Yup I read that too...good place to start,no? Then later go for the mobo however I don`t know if the gtx460 is sli capable...

[HeyYou]

Looking at the listings on NewEgg, appears ALL of them are.

If your system board will already support it though, that would be a rather significant upgrade to your already pretty nice system.

[donnato]

Yup thank you HY...I think CPU first...then mobo...due to the costs...but first...another hdd

[DaMage]

I can safety assure you.....the Intel Core i7-2600K is an epic CPU.

[Meo]

Dont blame me. I recommended the i3 cause of your then limited budget. If ive known you were willing to spend a little more later, i wouldve told you to wait and get at least the i5 2500k. Now i feel like crap. You dont need to change your mobo. The i7 will work great on it, and as long as you only use one videocard, you'll get nearly the same performance than with any $400 mobo. Use the money and get yourself a radeon hd6950 instead.