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Budget-ish gaming rig issues

Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
4,815 (0.78/day)
Location
Wangas, New Zealand
System Name Darth Obsidious
Processor Intel i5 2500K
Motherboard ASUS P8Z68-V/Gen3
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212+ in Push Pull
Memory 2X4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) ASUS R9 270x TOP
Storage 128GB Samsung 830 SSD, 1TB WD Black, 2TB WD Green
Display(s) LG IPS234V-PN
Case Corsair Obsidian 650D
Audio Device(s) Infrasonic Quartet
Power Supply Corsair HX650w
Software Windows 7 64bit and Windows XP Home
Benchmark Scores 2cm mark on bench with a razor blade.
Any recommendations for a CPU cooler under $70?

Go with the generic standards of aftermarket air cooling solutions for this one with your CPU.
Cooler Master Hyoer 212+ or EVO.

Purchase and extra fan for push pull.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
51 (0.01/day)
System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
Hi. I decided to ignore all your advicez (Sorry), and got myself the Blizzard T2.
Strangely enough, there are no reviews for it. But i'm content.
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
1,549 (0.31/day)
Location
Kolkata, India
System Name Coffee | Maximus
Processor Intel Core i7 9700K @ 5.2 GHz with AVX, 4.8 GHz cache clock | i7 9700KF @ 5.0 GHz/4.7 GHz cache
Motherboard ASUS Maximus X Formula | ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger (modded BIOS for Coffee Lake)+TPM2.0 module
Cooling Cooler Master ML240 Illusion | Cooler Master ML120L RGB
Memory 2*16 GB (32 GB) Kingston Fury Beast @3600 MHz CL17 | 4*8 GB (32 GB) HyperX Fury @3200 MHz CL14
Video Card(s) Zotac RTX 3070 8 GB Twin Edge | Galax RTX 2060 Super 8 GB
Storage Samsung PM981a 1TB NVMe+480GB SATA SSD+2 TB HDD | Crucial P5 1TB, Crucial P1 500GB+2.5TB HDDs
Display(s) LG OLED 55 G3, 4K 120 Hz, VRR, ALLM, GSync, FreeSync | Samsung 43AU9070 4K TV, VRR, ALLM
Case Corsair Crystal 460X RGB | Lianli Lancool 215
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z SE | Realtek ALC1150 (Supreme FX)
Power Supply ASUS ROG Strix 750G (80+ Gold) | Cooler Master MWE 650 V2 (80+ Bronze)
Mouse Cooler Master MM731 19000 DPI gaming mouse
Keyboard Cooler Master CK721 65% mechanical gaming keyboard (tactile)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 |Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R20 MT 4200,ST 547 CPU-Z MT 4871, ST 620 | R20 MT - 4158, ST - 534, CPU-Z MT 4798, ST 603
Congrats on getting the system running and also for the new cooler.
As for the cooler, I think it is good. :)
And as for the 3rd RAM slot problem, you can RMA the board if you are not happy or simply use it as it is. Also try one thing. Install the RAMs in the 2nd and 4th slots and see if they work.
It may be that the board is not ready for Dual Channel configuration for your RAM. Some complicated BIOS settings may be necessary.
Install the RAMs in the slots of same color for Dual channel mode. It will give you theoretically twice the bandwidth and your system memory performance will be much better.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
51 (0.01/day)
System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
I tried that, and it didn't work. Looks like i'm stuck with that.
Maybe I should swap them both for a single 8GB module?
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
1,549 (0.31/day)
Location
Kolkata, India
System Name Coffee | Maximus
Processor Intel Core i7 9700K @ 5.2 GHz with AVX, 4.8 GHz cache clock | i7 9700KF @ 5.0 GHz/4.7 GHz cache
Motherboard ASUS Maximus X Formula | ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger (modded BIOS for Coffee Lake)+TPM2.0 module
Cooling Cooler Master ML240 Illusion | Cooler Master ML120L RGB
Memory 2*16 GB (32 GB) Kingston Fury Beast @3600 MHz CL17 | 4*8 GB (32 GB) HyperX Fury @3200 MHz CL14
Video Card(s) Zotac RTX 3070 8 GB Twin Edge | Galax RTX 2060 Super 8 GB
Storage Samsung PM981a 1TB NVMe+480GB SATA SSD+2 TB HDD | Crucial P5 1TB, Crucial P1 500GB+2.5TB HDDs
Display(s) LG OLED 55 G3, 4K 120 Hz, VRR, ALLM, GSync, FreeSync | Samsung 43AU9070 4K TV, VRR, ALLM
Case Corsair Crystal 460X RGB | Lianli Lancool 215
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z SE | Realtek ALC1150 (Supreme FX)
Power Supply ASUS ROG Strix 750G (80+ Gold) | Cooler Master MWE 650 V2 (80+ Bronze)
Mouse Cooler Master MM731 19000 DPI gaming mouse
Keyboard Cooler Master CK721 65% mechanical gaming keyboard (tactile)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 |Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R20 MT 4200,ST 547 CPU-Z MT 4871, ST 620 | R20 MT - 4158, ST - 534, CPU-Z MT 4798, ST 603
You can do that but if you don't use dual channel, you will not get the full memory bandwidth from your system. I suggest you check the memory QVL for your motherboard which is available in the website and choose and buy a particular set of memory module which is guaranteed to work on dual channel for you motherboard. :)
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
51 (0.01/day)
System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
Ok, one more thing.
Windows 8 or 7? I've decided to wait for the 7870 and 660 ti to battle it out in prices, seeing as the war has already begun with $50 USD price cuts (But i'm not too sure if that will apply in my computer mall, which is in HK) on several radeon chips, including the 7870.
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
1,549 (0.31/day)
Location
Kolkata, India
System Name Coffee | Maximus
Processor Intel Core i7 9700K @ 5.2 GHz with AVX, 4.8 GHz cache clock | i7 9700KF @ 5.0 GHz/4.7 GHz cache
Motherboard ASUS Maximus X Formula | ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger (modded BIOS for Coffee Lake)+TPM2.0 module
Cooling Cooler Master ML240 Illusion | Cooler Master ML120L RGB
Memory 2*16 GB (32 GB) Kingston Fury Beast @3600 MHz CL17 | 4*8 GB (32 GB) HyperX Fury @3200 MHz CL14
Video Card(s) Zotac RTX 3070 8 GB Twin Edge | Galax RTX 2060 Super 8 GB
Storage Samsung PM981a 1TB NVMe+480GB SATA SSD+2 TB HDD | Crucial P5 1TB, Crucial P1 500GB+2.5TB HDDs
Display(s) LG OLED 55 G3, 4K 120 Hz, VRR, ALLM, GSync, FreeSync | Samsung 43AU9070 4K TV, VRR, ALLM
Case Corsair Crystal 460X RGB | Lianli Lancool 215
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z SE | Realtek ALC1150 (Supreme FX)
Power Supply ASUS ROG Strix 750G (80+ Gold) | Cooler Master MWE 650 V2 (80+ Bronze)
Mouse Cooler Master MM731 19000 DPI gaming mouse
Keyboard Cooler Master CK721 65% mechanical gaming keyboard (tactile)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 |Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R20 MT 4200,ST 547 CPU-Z MT 4871, ST 620 | R20 MT - 4158, ST - 534, CPU-Z MT 4798, ST 603
Personally saying, I didn't like Windows 8. The Metro UI is good but many things are not there. No flip 3D. The Aero effect is fully crippled. The menus are not at all transparent. And no TurboV or EPU support for my motherboard. And as for the GPU, wait a bit and get a beast. :)
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
51 (0.01/day)
System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
All right, my computer works, and I've loaded Win 7 onto it. Im slightly concerned because on the windows experience index, which I really shouldn't worry about, I have a 5.9 for disk transfer rate. Also, my computer recognizes my 500 GB drive as a... 59 GB drive. I reformatted that drive on a mac to MSDOS FAT 32, and then my build reformatted that, so.... I dunno.
Also, when I eventually upgrade my GPU, in the event that I choose Radeon, do I have to reinstall catalyst? Or do I just plug in the new GPU?
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
1,549 (0.31/day)
Location
Kolkata, India
System Name Coffee | Maximus
Processor Intel Core i7 9700K @ 5.2 GHz with AVX, 4.8 GHz cache clock | i7 9700KF @ 5.0 GHz/4.7 GHz cache
Motherboard ASUS Maximus X Formula | ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger (modded BIOS for Coffee Lake)+TPM2.0 module
Cooling Cooler Master ML240 Illusion | Cooler Master ML120L RGB
Memory 2*16 GB (32 GB) Kingston Fury Beast @3600 MHz CL17 | 4*8 GB (32 GB) HyperX Fury @3200 MHz CL14
Video Card(s) Zotac RTX 3070 8 GB Twin Edge | Galax RTX 2060 Super 8 GB
Storage Samsung PM981a 1TB NVMe+480GB SATA SSD+2 TB HDD | Crucial P5 1TB, Crucial P1 500GB+2.5TB HDDs
Display(s) LG OLED 55 G3, 4K 120 Hz, VRR, ALLM, GSync, FreeSync | Samsung 43AU9070 4K TV, VRR, ALLM
Case Corsair Crystal 460X RGB | Lianli Lancool 215
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z SE | Realtek ALC1150 (Supreme FX)
Power Supply ASUS ROG Strix 750G (80+ Gold) | Cooler Master MWE 650 V2 (80+ Bronze)
Mouse Cooler Master MM731 19000 DPI gaming mouse
Keyboard Cooler Master CK721 65% mechanical gaming keyboard (tactile)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 |Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R20 MT 4200,ST 547 CPU-Z MT 4871, ST 620 | R20 MT - 4158, ST - 534, CPU-Z MT 4798, ST 603
Don't worry about the 5.9 HDD score. Even me too have that score with a 1.0 TB HDD. Actually that score is fixed for a single mechanical HDD and is the maximum. To achieve higher scores, you will need to get SSDs(Solid State Drives) which will get that scores to 7.0+ depending on the drive. SSDs have no mechanical parts unlike HDDs. They are fully semiconductor based and hence have zero mechanical latency. They have ultra low access times. And as far as I saw in reviews, those drives are capable of booting Windows in around 5 seconds. But they are far more costly than HDDs. The price of a 64 GB SSD is almost equal to a 500 GB HDD.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
51 (0.01/day)
System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
I knew that.
Also, I used my mac to reformat it to 2 partitions, and now windows recognizes them so its all good.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
51 (0.01/day)
System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
One final question- I currently have 3x200 mm fans for intake and 1x 120 mm for outtake at the back. I'm worried about overheating, so should I change my configurations?
I've also decided to buy a GTX 660 ti mainly because they are easier to find.
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
1,549 (0.31/day)
Location
Kolkata, India
System Name Coffee | Maximus
Processor Intel Core i7 9700K @ 5.2 GHz with AVX, 4.8 GHz cache clock | i7 9700KF @ 5.0 GHz/4.7 GHz cache
Motherboard ASUS Maximus X Formula | ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger (modded BIOS for Coffee Lake)+TPM2.0 module
Cooling Cooler Master ML240 Illusion | Cooler Master ML120L RGB
Memory 2*16 GB (32 GB) Kingston Fury Beast @3600 MHz CL17 | 4*8 GB (32 GB) HyperX Fury @3200 MHz CL14
Video Card(s) Zotac RTX 3070 8 GB Twin Edge | Galax RTX 2060 Super 8 GB
Storage Samsung PM981a 1TB NVMe+480GB SATA SSD+2 TB HDD | Crucial P5 1TB, Crucial P1 500GB+2.5TB HDDs
Display(s) LG OLED 55 G3, 4K 120 Hz, VRR, ALLM, GSync, FreeSync | Samsung 43AU9070 4K TV, VRR, ALLM
Case Corsair Crystal 460X RGB | Lianli Lancool 215
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z SE | Realtek ALC1150 (Supreme FX)
Power Supply ASUS ROG Strix 750G (80+ Gold) | Cooler Master MWE 650 V2 (80+ Bronze)
Mouse Cooler Master MM731 19000 DPI gaming mouse
Keyboard Cooler Master CK721 65% mechanical gaming keyboard (tactile)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 |Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R20 MT 4200,ST 547 CPU-Z MT 4871, ST 620 | R20 MT - 4158, ST - 534, CPU-Z MT 4798, ST 603
It will be better if you post a photo of your case arrangement. :)
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
51 (0.01/day)
System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
Sorry for not posting earlier.

At the back I have a 120mm exhaust and a 200mm intake on the side for my GPU, a front 200mm intake for cooling down HDDs and getting air in general to the system and top mounted 200mm because... It kinda felt right when I was building. I've heard that its more sensible to have the top fan as an exhaust though.
What should I do?
EDIT: It appears that images dont show. http://www.flickr.com/photos/88532044@N08/8076991992/in/photostream
 

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
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Location
Republic of Texas (True Patriot)
System Name PCGOD
Processor AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory 16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s) NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s) Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software Windows 7 Pro 64
Sorry for not posting earlier.http://www.flickr.com/photos/88532044@N08/8076991992/in/photostream
At the back I have a 120mm exhaust and a 200mm intake on the side for my GPU, a front 200mm intake for cooling down HDDs and getting air in general to the system and top mounted 200mm because... It kinda felt right when I was building. I've heard that its more sensible to have the top fan as an exhaust though.
What should I do?
EDIT: It appears that images dont show. http://www.flickr.com/photos/88532044@N08/8076991992/in/photostream

whichever fans produce the most CFM, you will want negative pressure in the case, so the fans with the most CFM should be exhaust fans
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
1,549 (0.31/day)
Location
Kolkata, India
System Name Coffee | Maximus
Processor Intel Core i7 9700K @ 5.2 GHz with AVX, 4.8 GHz cache clock | i7 9700KF @ 5.0 GHz/4.7 GHz cache
Motherboard ASUS Maximus X Formula | ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger (modded BIOS for Coffee Lake)+TPM2.0 module
Cooling Cooler Master ML240 Illusion | Cooler Master ML120L RGB
Memory 2*16 GB (32 GB) Kingston Fury Beast @3600 MHz CL17 | 4*8 GB (32 GB) HyperX Fury @3200 MHz CL14
Video Card(s) Zotac RTX 3070 8 GB Twin Edge | Galax RTX 2060 Super 8 GB
Storage Samsung PM981a 1TB NVMe+480GB SATA SSD+2 TB HDD | Crucial P5 1TB, Crucial P1 500GB+2.5TB HDDs
Display(s) LG OLED 55 G3, 4K 120 Hz, VRR, ALLM, GSync, FreeSync | Samsung 43AU9070 4K TV, VRR, ALLM
Case Corsair Crystal 460X RGB | Lianli Lancool 215
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z SE | Realtek ALC1150 (Supreme FX)
Power Supply ASUS ROG Strix 750G (80+ Gold) | Cooler Master MWE 650 V2 (80+ Bronze)
Mouse Cooler Master MM731 19000 DPI gaming mouse
Keyboard Cooler Master CK721 65% mechanical gaming keyboard (tactile)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 |Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R20 MT 4200,ST 547 CPU-Z MT 4871, ST 620 | R20 MT - 4158, ST - 534, CPU-Z MT 4798, ST 603
The top and front fan should be intake and the rear fan should be exhaust. Just play an idea in your mind about air circulation. I agree with eidairaman1 that always have the exhaust fans to be of the maximum CFM.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
51 (0.01/day)
System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
So... Let's just say that i've come across some cash. Im leaning towards the 7970 (Non GHz Edition), or GTX 680. Which one should I take? And are there any companies with specifically good coolers?
One cooler is catching my eye- I can get a GTX 680 with 4GB RAM, from Inno3D (Somewhat shady company), but with an Arctic Accelero Hybrid Cooler at around 695 USD, but that seems way overpriced and unnecessary.
Sapphire's Vapor X cooler with a 7970 is also at quite an attractive price point, at ~$515 USD.
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
1,549 (0.31/day)
Location
Kolkata, India
System Name Coffee | Maximus
Processor Intel Core i7 9700K @ 5.2 GHz with AVX, 4.8 GHz cache clock | i7 9700KF @ 5.0 GHz/4.7 GHz cache
Motherboard ASUS Maximus X Formula | ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger (modded BIOS for Coffee Lake)+TPM2.0 module
Cooling Cooler Master ML240 Illusion | Cooler Master ML120L RGB
Memory 2*16 GB (32 GB) Kingston Fury Beast @3600 MHz CL17 | 4*8 GB (32 GB) HyperX Fury @3200 MHz CL14
Video Card(s) Zotac RTX 3070 8 GB Twin Edge | Galax RTX 2060 Super 8 GB
Storage Samsung PM981a 1TB NVMe+480GB SATA SSD+2 TB HDD | Crucial P5 1TB, Crucial P1 500GB+2.5TB HDDs
Display(s) LG OLED 55 G3, 4K 120 Hz, VRR, ALLM, GSync, FreeSync | Samsung 43AU9070 4K TV, VRR, ALLM
Case Corsair Crystal 460X RGB | Lianli Lancool 215
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z SE | Realtek ALC1150 (Supreme FX)
Power Supply ASUS ROG Strix 750G (80+ Gold) | Cooler Master MWE 650 V2 (80+ Bronze)
Mouse Cooler Master MM731 19000 DPI gaming mouse
Keyboard Cooler Master CK721 65% mechanical gaming keyboard (tactile)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 |Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R20 MT 4200,ST 547 CPU-Z MT 4871, ST 620 | R20 MT - 4158, ST - 534, CPU-Z MT 4798, ST 603
As for the GPU I would recommend the GTX 680. You get PhysX support and CUDA. As for reliability(here respective to cooling units and simplicity) I would recommend the 7970. Now its up to you. If you are on to PhysX and CUDA, get the 680. Else the 7970.
 

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
40,435 (6.61/day)
Location
Republic of Texas (True Patriot)
System Name PCGOD
Processor AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory 16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s) NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s) Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software Windows 7 Pro 64
7970

-nuff said-
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
51 (0.01/day)
System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
Alright then, so this rig has gone from "budgetish" to "Higher end". But now I have a MAJOR problem. I just installed an Antec 620 H20 CPU Cooler, and now all of a sudden, steam will not boot. It probably has nothing to do with the HDDs, as I can access the drive from the drives menu. When I press on steam, and check processes, Steam.exe *32 appears as normal, but "steamerrorreporter" also appears, and then Steam.exe*32 just disappears. I'm really reluctant to reinstall everything, but if I have to, I will. Is there another way?
 
Joined
Jan 22, 2013
Messages
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System Name Desktop
Processor i5 3570k
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Video Card(s) Sapphire Radeon 7850 X 2
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Case Thermaltake V9
Power Supply Seasonic 620 W, CX600M on stand by
Software Win 8.1 64
Benchmark Scores Benches are silly
I don't know what you did but try reinstalling it to fix it.
There's a lot of possibilities as to why that happens. It could range from user errors to drive corruption.
Reinstall and run a check on your HDD

BTW at 1080p, do you really need anything above a 7870 or 660?
 
Joined
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System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
I don't know what you did but try reinstalling it to fix it.
There's a lot of possibilities as to why that happens. It could range from user errors to drive corruption.
Reinstall and run a check on your HDD

BTW at 1080p, do you really need anything above a 7870 or 660?

Future-proofing. Also the card i'm eyeing is ridiculous- 7970GHz Edition, custom cooler, ONLY 3550 HKD. Stock-Clocked reference designed 7970 (Non- GHz Editions) are more expensive than that. I know, ridiculous.
 
Joined
Jan 22, 2013
Messages
478 (0.12/day)
System Name Desktop
Processor i5 3570k
Motherboard Asrock Z77
Cooling Corsair H60
Memory G Skill 8gb 1600 mhz X 2
Video Card(s) Sapphire Radeon 7850 X 2
Storage 1 TB Velociraptor, 240GB 840 Samsung
Display(s) 27" Samsung LED X 2
Case Thermaltake V9
Power Supply Seasonic 620 W, CX600M on stand by
Software Win 8.1 64
Benchmark Scores Benches are silly
Future-proofing. Also the card i'm eyeing is ridiculous- 7970GHz Edition, custom cooler, ONLY 3550 HKD. Stock-Clocked reference designed 7970 (Non- GHz Editions) are more expensive than that. I know, ridiculous.

You must be new to the whole this computing world. Future proofing is something salesman and marketing people use to get you to part with more money. Look at the performance difference between a 6950 and 5950 to a 7870 and please tell me if future proofing still exist. Then the support and drivers issues with this future proofing concept.

You should think more of can i afford this and keep going with this. Buying a higher end graphics card will also trigger more expensive parts like more powerful PSU, bigger case, better cooling, etc... then you would also want more things to explore the potential of your graphics card like a higher res monitor.
Then it will cause more problems like overheating, power supply life shortened due to higher loads, more fans in case means louder system and more dust, electric bill, etc...

If you can afford it then do it. Future proofing is a nothing more than a scam since a refresh cycle is one year or less in this realm of tech. Some people will jump in and say "well I'm still running 9800gtx on for 5+ years". Well, congrats but how's your gaming at low settings?
 
Joined
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Messages
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System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
Hi, sorry to resurrect this thread.
So I wanted to play Max Payne 1. I've tried all the Win 7 fixes but they didn't work. I have a few Hard drives with Windows XP on them laying about so if I used an IDE to SATA connector to connect them to my mobo will my PC let me choose between Win 7 and XP on boot? Or do I have to do anything else?
Thanks!
 
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Benchmark Scores Cinebench R20 MT 4200,ST 547 CPU-Z MT 4871, ST 620 | R20 MT - 4158, ST - 534, CPU-Z MT 4798, ST 603
Hi, sorry to resurrect this thread.
So I wanted to play Max Payne 1. I've tried all the Win 7 fixes but they didn't work. I have a few Hard drives with Windows XP on them laying about so if I used an IDE to SATA connector to connect them to my mobo will my PC let me choose between Win 7 and XP on boot? Or do I have to do anything else?
Thanks!

If the OS was installed for your old machine and if it is much differect from the one you have at present which I assume it is, then I am afraid that installation of Windows won't work at all.

All you have to do is disable AHCI in BIOS and set the mode to IDE. Boot with the XP disc and install it. After installation, you will find that Windows 7 will not start. To fix it, insert the Win 7 DVD and click Startup repair. Then upon reboot, you should have the options to start either 7 or XP.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
51 (0.01/day)
System Name Hella Cool/Mini Moop
Processor i5 3550/i3 3240
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LK/ MSI B75IA-E33
Cooling Antec Kuhler 620 H20+ Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition/ Stock Intel Cooler
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600 MHZ/ 8GB Corsair XMS 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Sapphire VAPOR-X 7970 GHz Edition 3GB DDR5/ HIS 7750 1GB DDR5 Single Slot
Storage Western Digital Black 640GB (SATA III), Toshiba 1TB (SATA III)/ Hitachi 500GB (SATA III)
Display(s) Viewsonic Something (Full HD 1080P, 24 in)
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III/ Cooler Master Elite 110
Audio Device(s) Onboard Audio
Power Supply Corsair HX 750W/ CM GX 650W (Will change to corsair cx430M)
Software Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ Ubuntu or SteamOS
Thanks.
Urm, I think i'l try even harder to patch up Max Payne instead. I don't have the XP disk as that thing is from a time other people built PCs for me.
 
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