Overclocking made simple

Xigmatech isn't available in many places in England - and nowhere I'd buy from.

I did, however, find a nice, big, blue glowy-thing.

Any good? Tuniq Tower

Hey, it's big, it's blue and it glows - gotta be cool?

Looks good to me.

Buy it! Anything is better than what you have now at any rate, and it doesn't look like you can go wrong that.

Argh - this buying stuff is addictive. Wonder if I can convince my wife to get me a ThermalTake Armor+ for my birthday - I'll tell her my PC will no longer wake her up

I use to use Tuniq, and I loved it.

The one you're looking at has a blue LED, get the one with a black fan and no LED if you're not going to put it to use.

Tut, you're obviously not reading my sig.

Fans, I have given up. I am moving to a Koolance system. Then I will never need fear temps or noise again. clear tubes, with blue UV dye and a few UV lights = the silent blue glowy. Yes there are cheaper systems out there but its the best blue glowy I can find. BTW snog if ya like the blue glowy check out the saitek eclipse 2 keyboard. .

Silent forever, only need to buy new water blocks when upgrading graphics cards, sign me up.

Water cooling scares me.

Also, I am a proud owner of a G15 that I wouldn't give up for the world - but WHY did Logitech make thev2 glow ORANGE?

It's a better bit of kit, but it's bloody orange

snog water scares me too, I am not a master plumber. but the koolance system seems to me to be the best. I plan on cutting in my teeth and for the price of all those heat sinks and fans you can almost get the entire water system which is virtually silent.

That's what I said, they won't sell me the G15 because it's not blue.

I want to smack them in the head with a brick, who was thinking Orange would be popular? Lol. The keyboard looks pretty still regardless.

They'd have had a better shot at just making multiple colored versions, but it's obvious that Blue, Green, and Red appeal to the masses when it comes to LED lights, Blue being most popular Imo.

The old G11 or whatever has the blue lights, but its too bulky and fat - I really dislike it for that reason, and I've heard bad things about the Saitek Eclipses, like patchy lighting and the letters rubbing off the keys, not risking it.

The patchy lighting is kind of true but not that you can tell unless you are staring at the whole keyboard at the same time in a very dark enviorment. It is physically impossible to "rub" the letters of of the keys on the ECLIPSE2 (this my not be true of the original eclipse) The letters go all the way through the keys.
The keystroke is perfect for gaming and are very quiet. I am not saying it is the best, but when I have been using the same keyboard for over a year(it will be 2 this x-mas) and it doesn't feel or look any worse than day 1, I feel the urge to tell others about it.

Yeah, I've heard better things about the Eclipse2, but I'd surely stay away from the regular Eclipse.

Sad part is, is that I favor the original Eclipses design more.. but oh well, can't win them all. I've yet to ever find a back-lit keyboard that suits my taste and needs, so I've just stuck with my 20$ Microsoft Comfort Curves, they work pretty nice - but the key's feel degrades immensely after about a year, you'll be begging for a new one.

I hate unnesessary LEDs. Why does everything need to glow? If I want light I'll buy a lamp that's why they exist! I stay far away from anything gimmicky glowing if I can.

This thread has completely derailed.

buy a case without a window.

And since what you have to say has less relevance than ANY other post here, I will save the thread!

This is an awesome guide: http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=222688

and a dedicated forum: http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/

and now it can be closed? or not IDK.

Leave my thread alone - it's progressing quite nicely, thank you.

The reason we're veering into leftfield is that I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting for a pair of CPU coolers, a box of 120mm fans and a can of air to arrive. THEN we see what happens

Also, I am registered at http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/ - I just happen to prefer the people in this little corner of Guru

Woo, there's a lot of people on that forum! Topics must get out of hand there more than here.

How many days left are estimated till you get your new coolers and fans Snog? I hate waiting for things to be delivered, it's like torture. But the best part is eying out the window like a hawk waiting for the UPS guy to come around the corner, then running out and ravaging his truck like the Tasmanian Devil! Jk lol.

Was hoping today, but no luck. Yesterday was a public holiday, which really seems to confuse delivery services. If it ain't tomorrow, I'm gonna create a stink.

(tries to clear head of image of Brianna ravishing a UPS guy ><)

Lol, yeah It is a funny image. But I'm not that crazy.. yet! (Maybe if I got something I really really wanted).

It's weird because sometimes they make me sign their little digital pad thingy, or other times they just leave it on my door and take off. I think some of them are scared of me.

We had a holiday yesterday too, Memorial day I think.

Ah, just thought of an on-topic question!

I KNOW when I open her up that there's going to be a helluva lot of dust in there. I'm going to be blasting around with a can of air, but how do you get the stuff OUT?

Domestic vacuum cleaners are a no-no, right? Big generators of chip-killing static, I believe. How about little DustBuster type things? Still bad?

Well, on some of our old computers I walked out in the garage and shot 80-PSI of air from the compressor through them and the dust was.. well gone.

I don't know the dangers - I may be naive by doing this. But it works and has never ruined anything. Vacuums? I don't know Snog, someone else will have to fill us in on that.

I think the only danger of your method is the likelihood of "overdriving" the fans - sure as hell clean it out, though!

Maybe I'm lucky and only the external filters are clogged, having done their work.

Yeesh, you should have seen some of my old PCs after a few years use, back in the days when I was allowed to smoke in the house. Nicotine doesn't mix well with computer innards :/

I use a DeWalt air compressor to clean my rig, it's also in my garage

That thing can clean your life!

Your only other alternative is compressed air... I use a portable vacuum as well (to clean my rad). And I don't thing theres any issues with it.

I love how a can of air costs far more than a can of, for example, deodorant.

Hmm, my rig is giving me grief - it must know I'm thinking of spring cleaning. Kept BSODing on GW, but not a processor fault, it was memory. Can't remember the exact STOP now (yeesh).

Now I know for a FACT that I underclocked it a few days ago by lowering the multiplier from 10x to 7x, yet evrything I run tells me it's still running at 10x (CoreTemp, CPU-Z, EVEREST).

What the hell?

No no, you missed what I said. Each scenario takes about 24-39 minutes. But... you have to run them in sets of 10, so 240-39 minutes, and you run about 500 different ones for any given process design.

So... that means... let's just take a fast running scenario as an example.

240 minutes x 500 = 83 days. Now, mind you, I am not running all 500 of those on my PC alone, I may run 3 days worth.

But, if I can save 7 minutes per single scenario with a higher clocked processor and faster RAM and FSB.. guess what that adds up to?

7x10x500 ~ -25 DAYS Do yeh... definitely worth it to some people. Although, they are starting to give out Tesla systems to do this stuff, I am hoping to get one before the end of the year, but I won't hold my breath.

You may not have saved your BIOS settings. Double check, reduce the multiplier to 8x, reduce your FSB a bit, loosen memory timings a tad, and wait for a new cooler to arrive. Install, then tweak as needed.

Oh Rajah - "a bit", "a tad" - waaah!

CPU Speed:
CPU Clock 2666.6 MHz (original: 2667 MHz)
CPU Multiplier 10x
CPU FSB 266.7 MHz (original: 266 MHz)
Memory Bus 400.0 MHz
DRAM:FSB Ratio 3:2

And by memory timings, are you referring to the 4-4-4-12?

[edit]What the hell? Did it again, dropped to 8x, dropped mem to 5-5-5-15 (seemed logical...) - and STILL EVEREST is reporting the same. Changed settings, F10 (save to CMOS and exit? Y/N) - whass goin on?

Sod double posting - I'm getting fed up with editing that last post.

CPU Speed:
CPU Clock 2133.4 MHz (original: 2667 MHz)
CPU Multiplier 8x
CPU FSB 266.7 MHz (original: 266 MHz)
Memory Bus 400.0 MHz
DRAM:FSB Ratio 3:2

Got that far - my BIOS doesn't like me and ignores me so I held my breath and used the nVidia widget to bring it down. THAT bit worked...

Memory Timings 5-4-4-12 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

THAT bit didn't - I asked for 5-5-5-15, and it gave me 5-4-4-12

I'm getting various errors - display driver not responding last time (first time I've seen that in ages) and the last BSOD was a 1a MEMORY_MANAGEMENT one.

Anyone on first name terms with my BIOS?

Award BIOS Type Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Award BIOS Message (691N0P32) 122-CK-NF68

well in my previous experiences the in windows oc tools tend to mess up more than they help that's why i keep putting the values in the bios than in an in windows oc - tool, however i think rahja can shed more light on that one

That I can. The nVidia program, nTune, actually uses your BIOS settings, via the MCP controller. The newer boards are built with leads that allow direct manipulation of BIOS settings, but without ever physically stimulating the CMOS. So, if you use nTune, it will tweak the BIOS for that session, but it can't save settings (to my knowledge) onto the BIOS, as that requires a flash rewrite, and might damage the CMOS if it was actively running. It simply puts in temporary values that trick the PC into believing the BIOS is set differently. So you will have to tweak it each time you boot Windows, or have it apply the settings upon loading Windows.

On a side note, seems like your BIOS is acting up. Get the latest release for your board, and flash it over.

Just did that - it's still behaving oddly. Told the BIOS to clear CMOS on reboot so, theoretically, it started with defaults.

The BIOS now tells me that my memory is not running as SLI-ready (good) and has defaulted down to 5-5-5-18 (also good).

It also tells me my proc is running at 6x (eek - but still, ok...).

Let's try good ol' EVEREST.

CPU Clock 1600.0 MHz (original: 2667 MHz)
CPU Multiplier 6x
CPU FSB 266.7 MHz (original: 266 MHz)
Memory Bus 400.0 MHz
DRAM:FSB Ratio 3:2

Yuck - ah well.

Memory Timings 5-4-4-12 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
/facepalm

Temperatures:
Motherboard 43 °C (109 °F)
CPU 51 °C (124 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1 66 °C (151 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2 65 °C (149 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #3 58 °C (136 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #4 61 °C (142 °F)
MCP 60 °C (140 °F)
GPU1: GPU 55 °C (131 °F)
GPU1: GPU Diode 55 °C (131 °F)
GPU1: GPU Memory 55 °C (131 °F)
GPU1: GPU Ambient 50 °C (122 °F)
GPU2: GPU 46 °C (115 °F)
GPU2: GPU Diode 61 °C (142 °F)
GPU2: GPU Memory 46 °C (115 °F)
GPU2: GPU Ambient 44 °C (111 °F)
...
...
...

So, I was looking at new cases, cos it's my birthday in just over a week. I really like this one that has been mentioned before - Thermaltake Armor+ if they ever get one in stock. However, how does this new Antec compare, oh wise ones? Antec 1200 Ultimate Gaming

Incidentally, I'm not using nTune as such - unless that has been incorporated into the latest version of NCP. There is a "Dynamic BIOS Access" page which basically has the same options as the actual BIOS and says "This page allows you to change your sytem BIOS settings. Changes take effect on the next boot." That sounds to me like it actually does write to the CMOS. But, er, as you all know - I ain't an expert

---------------------------
EDIT - sigh

I was running EVEREST yet again to glare at the heat readings, when I noticed the CPU multiplier CHANGING from 6x to 10x AS I WATCHED. Obviously, this also changed the CPU clock from 2666 to 1600. And back. Several times. At random intervals.

My mobo's shagged, isn't it?



---------------------------
Edit ...
Checked my cooler delivery thingy. It was delivered on Tuesday and no-one was home, so they carded me. YES I WAS, an NO THEY SODDING DIDN'T! How many times have you had that done to you? Grrrr.

Struggling to think of a bump reason :/

Phoned automated delivery reschedule line - it should arrive tomorrow. It better - that's my only day off this week.

Intel chips do that, on idle, it'll automatically regulate your vcore and multiplier. When you run taxing apps, it'll give you full speed, so don't worry.

Also, I'd go with the Armor+, sliding mobo trays are ftw.

Oh, THANK you Admael - I've been tearing my hear out with worry!

Phew.

And thanks for giving me the advice I wanted to hear about the Armor+ - it's an unnecessary luxury, but my wife has agreed to buy me one for my birthday. (When someone gets one in stock - they're like hen's teeth.)

I might even use the nothing-wrong-with-it CoolerMaster Stacker to build a secondary rig piecemeal.

Thank you!

3 words for you, if you go with the Antec 1200.

You'll be sorry.

Hmm, howcome? Is it cheapy like everyone said the 900 was or something?

Looks ok - certainly not cheap. I just wondered because OcUK are splashing it as a new line - I'd certainly wait for customer reviews before I'd even think about it.

Seems to have plenty of fans and a lot of blue glowy going on.

Ignore whether it comes with blue fans or not, you can always add those later.

I'd mostly pay attention to its features, like:

*Removable motherboard tray

*Does it have room to hide wires

*How many fan slot options does it have / and does it take 120mm or 80mm

*Is it tooless or not

And all that. Personally I hate tooless cases because I don't feel that the brackets secure everything properly in some cases, and I'm not too lazy to get my screwdriver out and turn a few screws, I think tooless is just a product of laziness.

The Armor+ is a work of art. It is HUGE, so be aware of that. It has tons of cooling options. When you buy it, make sure you also purchase 3x 140mm fans with good CFM ratings to put into the additional cooling configs. The motherboard tray is amazing on so many levels.

I've had enough good things said about the Armor+ to KNOW I want one

Just musing about the Antec really - have a look at all the Antec fanboys (heh) drooling over it in a British forum I frequent

Oh, and 140mm fans? Wow, wonder if there's any old Spitfires in the local junkyard oO

Oh, oh - nearly forgot. back on topic.

My mobo just will not listen to me. Maybe (probably) I'm just not understanding something, but it will NOT drop the memory timings below 5-4-4-12 1T. Seemed to have finally convinced it to run with an 8x multiplier at last, though.

They have mental issues...

But really, take my advice on the fans. You have 2 slots in the bottom for 2 140mm fans, and 1 slot in front of the graphics card(s) for another 140mm fan. Order some decent airflow to noise ratio fans.

Lol - oh well, the 4 120mm I ordered can go somewhere else, I'm sure. They can sit in my Stacker while I save up for something midrange to put in it ^^

Actually, great thing about the Armor+, you can put 120mm or 140mm into those fan slots. So, you can use your 120mm fans in it with no problem.