it puts it clear that this board does produce hotter temp than others from competition. My acutal DFI board have the same problem, if i didnt put a fan to spread air directly to the chipset fan of the board it would overheat easily.
I was expecting that with so many heatsink everywhere and with the removable heat-pipe extension on, temp would be great
Overall it seems like a nice board, but since im on air cooling only often the first page of a review i look is temp, if it runs hot a idle temp, you gotta put a lot of air if you want to hold your ground on full load.
You didnt have any heat issue with your board ?
BTW I'll try to make my next rig as silent as possible. I don't want to "not hear it", but if i can i'll try to don't make it scream like my actual rig lol I'll put more 120mm than 90mm and use slower speed to achieve that, but that could make heat a problem (heat is always a problem lol)
VRM temparatures are very important for the stability and durability of the motherboard. With those VRM temperatures given at the link, I would not touch that DFI board. ASUS and Gigabyte are the way to go.
With the $199 price still available for i7-920 at Microcenter I have been thinking about this ASRock X58 Extreme budget board which has good reviews at THG and Anandtech. I see that budget is not an issue for you. In that case either of the following two looks like a good option to me
Every motherboard has power phases. Phased power circuitry is best described as a way to provide more consistent, reliable and even voltages. The more power phases a motherboard has, the higher it will overclock, and the easier it will be to maintain that overclock.
I think i'll just stick with the CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX, wich is 80+ certified too and affordable + very very good reviews. Only down side is that its not modular, it would have been fun to try one.
For dual 4850 they recommend a 550w PSU and 600W for dual 4890. These are always gross over estimates so you can buy a cheap PSU and still safely run their products, usually. Really the only thing to look at it amperage on the 12v+ rail.
Some update on my rig situation (i changed my first post too) :
1) I chosed GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 as motherboard, i love the layout and it seems to run cooler than most competition while offering good overlocking results (even if its not the top of the chart)
I read some horror story about that board, strange error and so on but less than with the other boards (there's no board without weird issue i presume :P) so i just hope i'll get lucky
2) I found another heatsink that realy seems to take the top choice for me :
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 LGA1366 i7 Heatpipe Cooler W/ 2XNH-P12 120MM Fan
A more silent solution without sacrifice on the performance side. Best of both world. If you can take the weird color scheme of the fans, and i can :P
3) Like i said before, i took the PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W Modular
4) Im going with OCZ XTC Platinum OCZ3P1333LV6GK DDR3-1333 6GB 3X2GB CL7-7-7-20 Triple Channel Memory Kit for the RAM.
Do you think its the best ? Like i said, i fear 1.5TB and 2 TB because of the apparently poor reliability. If there's a bigger drive with good reliability, i would like to read about other good options
6 ) LCD Monitor : Any best choice in your opinion ? Im unable to decide wich one would be best.
So far my choice is : Samsung SyncMaster 2232GW (http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/samsung_syncmaster_2232gw/)
It seems like the best choice in the 22' zone (i can't have a bigger screen without changing my desk and i love my desk :P)
Only problem, for now it seems impossible to find in store =/ Don't know if i will be able to find one in one month or so.
8 ) Case : CoolerMaster CM690 Case -> Anyone have bad comments about it ? It seems like a well establish and accepted case, Some will say Antec 900 but i think i prefere the design of the CM690
The biggest part is done, thankx to you Im waiting for you opinons or input on the bottom of my list if you have some, im close to be "done" with it
Case: Replace all the fans -> Yeah don't worry lol I don't expect fan from a "budget" case to be great But i don't see the need to buy a premium case either, so best of both world : buy a cheaper one and customize it with the things YOU can chose
For the sound card, i think i'll try the onboard and if i see its not good enough i'll look for premium replacement :P
Since i often use a headset, the Asus Xonar with headset amp seems to be a nice choice
That and if you spend any time looking at high end retail cards Asus and Auzentech are the two top companies. Creative makes mostly cards that are driver based soundcards with hardware support and crystal cleaning of the channels. Auzentech is the cheap version of Asus with horrible drivers, no support, and massive failure with their 64-bit drivers.
I bought an Auzentech card 2 years ago... and i still use my old soundblaster because i got too many problems with it. Drivers related indeed, no sound from microphone and other weird issues.
Last Auzentech i'll ever buy ! Too bad because the sound quality was very good.
I didnt know Asus had entered the sound card arena It's a good thing ! Im tired of Sound blaster being the only option we have :P
Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.66GHZ Bloomfield 8MB
Motherboard : GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5
CPU Heatsink : HEATSINK NOCTUA NH-U12P SE1366
RAM : OCZ XTC Platinum OCZ3P1333LV6GK DDR3-1333 6GB 3X2GB CL7-7-7-20 Tri-Channel Kit
PSU : Corsair HX620W CMPSU-620HX ATX Triple 12V 50A 24PIN ATX Modular 120MM Fan 2X PCI-E
Main drive : Raptor 150 gig (already owned, waiting until SSD become mature)
MEDIA DRIVE : Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN OEM
CASING : Cooler Master HAF 932
GPU : PALIT 9600GT 1gig [already owned, waiting until DX11 video card arrive]
LCD MONITOR : ASUS VH242H 23.6IN Widecreen LCD Black 1920X1080 5ms 20000:1 HDMI DVI-D Speaker SPDIF Out Monitor
Mouse : Razer Mamba Wireless Gaming Laser Mouse 5600DPI 7 Button USB
Pad : Steelseries Qck Medium Sized Cloth Mouse Pad 12.6X11.2IN
Keyboard : G15 (already owned)
Sound card : onboard for now, to try it.
DVD : LG GH22NP20 Black DVD+RW 22X8X16 DVD-RW 22X6X16 DL 16X/12X 2MB IDE OEM
+ 1 more Noctua P12 1200mm for the bottom of the case, and a Yate Loon D14SL-12 140MM Quiet Cooling Fan 1000RPM 46CFM to replace the louder back exaust fan.
Thankx for all your help, will let you know how this beast run as soon as possible
I'll recieve my new rig this week and i have a question about i7 temp before i begin to play with the bios i know they run hot... but whats the highest "safe" load temp Intel recommand for this cpu ? (i7 920 D0)
I doenst find that information anywhere, most people overlocking on air seems to run it at >=70C full load, that seems pretty high to me.
Anyway, if anyone knows it or have a link for me that would make my day
The maximum temperature of a Core i7 is a continued debate. To start with, there are four terms you must know:
Tcase: The average temperature of the CPU at the geometric center of the chip. Tjunction: The temperature for each CPU core. TcMax: The Intel-specified maximum average temperature for CPU's geometric center. TjMax: The Intel-specified maximum core temperature for each of the CPU's cores. NOTE:The Tcase temperature is determined by adding the CPU's four Tjunction values together and subtracting six.
Intel uses the TcMax specification to determine what is safe and unsafe for their CPUs. Overclockers, meanwhile, have so far proven that the TjMax might be a better reference, but the CPUs haven't been in service long enough to assess the long-term implications of using TjMax as the safety threshold.
Therefore, there are two schools of thought:
1) Intel says that the Core i7's TcMax is 68°C. You want to fall a few degrees shy of that. This means the maximum core temperature for a Core i7 is 71°C.
2) Overclockers think that the TjMax is a better safe threshold. The Core i7's TjMax is 100°C. You want to fall about 15°C shy of that. This means that the maximum core temperature for a Core i7 is 85°C.
Good choice on sticking with a regular hard drive. I think SSD development has a ways to go yet before they are fast enough and reliable enough and have enough capacity to be worth switching to. Let other people experiment with them until the price falls. Maybe next summer it'll be time to buy one.
I also would not go to anything over 1 TB in hard drives, how many people need that much storage and besides, having a second drive to back up important things on is a better idea anyhow.
I also would not go to anything over 1 TB in hard drives, how many people need that much storage and besides, having a second drive to back up important things on is a better idea anyhow.
Plenty of people need more than that. I have over three terabytes of pictures, movies, and music. Would you suggest I buy a 1TB hard drive? Having multiple drives to use as backup is always a good idea, but it's obtuse to think nobody needs more than a terabyte.
Yeah i need 1TB mainly to host my movie collection for my PS3
Otherwise its overkill. And yeah it wont be long until i buy another one for backup because you never know when one will fail :P
For the SSD, like you said, in 1 year (maximum, i think it will be less) i think SSD will be more than mature enough and at a price that worth buying. Personaly i don't need more than a 160 GIG as it will serve as my main drive. The only reason i want 160 over 80 is because the more space it has, the more time it will take before performance is affected (I'll never use more than 50 GIG in my main drive).
The G2 from Intel seems nice, but i can wait so i will , mainly because of the price at this moment.
Good choice on sticking with a regular hard drive. I think SSD development has a ways to go yet before they are fast enough and reliable enough and have enough capacity to be worth switching to. Let other people experiment with them until the price falls. Maybe next summer it'll be time to buy one.
SSDs are already faster and more reliable than mechanical hard drives. The point of the SSD is to put Windows and your apps on there for fast loading. SSDs are not for file storage.
I also would not go to anything over 1 TB in hard drives, how many people need that much storage and besides, having a second drive to back up important things on is a better idea anyhow.
I have 1.3TB of space, and I'm looking at adding another terabyte.
SSDs are already faster and more reliable than mechanical hard drives.
Faster yes? More reliable? Only if you're NOT using them for a write-heavy purpose. Once you start writing to them repeatedly their lifespan quickly drops. For instance, having mysql databases that are written to often on an SSD (or a RAID 0 of SSDs for that matter) is a VERY BAD IDEA. Lunchb0x can attest to this fact.
Comments
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/x58-motherboard-i7,2164-19.html
it puts it clear that this board does produce hotter temp than others from competition. My acutal DFI board have the same problem, if i didnt put a fan to spread air directly to the chipset fan of the board it would overheat easily.
I was expecting that with so many heatsink everywhere and with the removable heat-pipe extension on, temp would be great
Overall it seems like a nice board, but since im on air cooling only often the first page of a review i look is temp, if it runs hot a idle temp, you gotta put a lot of air if you want to hold your ground on full load.
You didnt have any heat issue with your board ?
BTW I'll try to make my next rig as silent as possible. I don't want to "not hear it", but if i can i'll try to don't make it scream like my actual rig lol I'll put more 120mm than 90mm and use slower speed to achieve that, but that could make heat a problem (heat is always a problem lol)
VRM temparatures are very important for the stability and durability of the motherboard. With those VRM temperatures given at the link, I would not touch that DFI board. ASUS and Gigabyte are the way to go.
With the $199 price still available for i7-920 at Microcenter I have been thinking about this ASRock X58 Extreme budget board which has good reviews at THG and Anandtech. I see that budget is not an issue for you. In that case either of the following two looks like a good option to me
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5
/me shrugs
Ultimately up to you, though.
Most boards have power phases, what are those ? Why more is better ? Never read about that when i buiilded my last rig.
Maybe its too new and the product has not spread everywhere at the moment ?
I found one on tigerdirect.ca but it is not modular =(
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=corsair%20750
I think i'll just stick with the CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX, wich is 80+ certified too and affordable + very very good reviews. Only down side is that its not modular, it would have been fun to try one.
For dual 4850 they recommend a 550w PSU and 600W for dual 4890. These are always gross over estimates so you can buy a cheap PSU and still safely run their products, usually. Really the only thing to look at it amperage on the 12v+ rail.
Thankx a lot _k_
1) I chosed GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 as motherboard, i love the layout and it seems to run cooler than most competition while offering good overlocking results (even if its not the top of the chart)
I read some horror story about that board, strange error and so on but less than with the other boards (there's no board without weird issue i presume :P) so i just hope i'll get lucky
2) I found another heatsink that realy seems to take the top choice for me :
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 LGA1366 i7 Heatpipe Cooler W/ 2XNH-P12 120MM Fan
A more silent solution without sacrifice on the performance side. Best of both world. If you can take the weird color scheme of the fans, and i can :P
3) Like i said before, i took the PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W Modular
4) Im going with OCZ XTC Platinum OCZ3P1333LV6GK DDR3-1333 6GB 3X2GB CL7-7-7-20 Triple Channel Memory Kit for the RAM.
Now, there's still some points i could use input.
5 ) As my media drive, i said this :
Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B 1TB 1000GB 7200RPM SATA2 16MB Terabyte
Do you think its the best ? Like i said, i fear 1.5TB and 2 TB because of the apparently poor reliability. If there's a bigger drive with good reliability, i would like to read about other good options
6 ) LCD Monitor : Any best choice in your opinion ? Im unable to decide wich one would be best.
So far my choice is : Samsung SyncMaster 2232GW (http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/samsung_syncmaster_2232gw/)
It seems like the best choice in the 22' zone (i can't have a bigger screen without changing my desk and i love my desk :P)
Only problem, for now it seems impossible to find in store =/ Don't know if i will be able to find one in one month or so.
7 ) Sound card : Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Gamer 24BIT Sound Card 7.1 PCI -> anything else i should consider ?
8 ) Case : CoolerMaster CM690 Case -> Anyone have bad comments about it ? It seems like a well establish and accepted case, Some will say Antec 900 but i think i prefere the design of the CM690
The biggest part is done, thankx to you
Case: Replace all the fans
For the sound card, i think i'll try the onboard and if i see its not good enough i'll look for premium replacement :P
Since i often use a headset, the Asus Xonar with headset amp seems to be a nice choice
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=35724&vpn=XONAR%20ESSENCE%20STX&manufacture=ASUS
Thankx _k_ !
Last Auzentech i'll ever buy ! Too bad because the sound quality was very good.
I didnt know Asus had entered the sound card arena
Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.66GHZ Bloomfield 8MB
Motherboard : GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5
CPU Heatsink : HEATSINK NOCTUA NH-U12P SE1366
RAM : OCZ XTC Platinum OCZ3P1333LV6GK DDR3-1333 6GB 3X2GB CL7-7-7-20 Tri-Channel Kit
PSU : Corsair HX620W CMPSU-620HX ATX Triple 12V 50A 24PIN ATX Modular 120MM Fan 2X PCI-E
Main drive : Raptor 150 gig (already owned, waiting until SSD become mature)
MEDIA DRIVE : Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN OEM
CASING : Cooler Master HAF 932
GPU : PALIT 9600GT 1gig [already owned, waiting until DX11 video card arrive]
LCD MONITOR : ASUS VH242H 23.6IN Widecreen LCD Black 1920X1080 5ms 20000:1 HDMI DVI-D Speaker SPDIF Out Monitor
Mouse : Razer Mamba Wireless Gaming Laser Mouse 5600DPI 7 Button USB
Pad : Steelseries Qck Medium Sized Cloth Mouse Pad 12.6X11.2IN
Keyboard : G15 (already owned)
Sound card : onboard for now, to try it.
DVD : LG GH22NP20 Black DVD+RW 22X8X16 DVD-RW 22X6X16 DL 16X/12X 2MB IDE OEM
+ 1 more Noctua P12 1200mm for the bottom of the case, and a Yate Loon D14SL-12 140MM Quiet Cooling Fan 1000RPM 46CFM to replace the louder back exaust fan.
Thankx for all your help, will let you know how this beast run as soon as possible
I doenst find that information anywhere, most people overlocking on air seems to run it at >=70C full load, that seems pretty high to me.
Anyway, if anyone knows it or have a link for me that would make my day
Tcase: The average temperature of the CPU at the geometric center of the chip.
Tjunction: The temperature for each CPU core.
TcMax: The Intel-specified maximum average temperature for CPU's geometric center.
TjMax: The Intel-specified maximum core temperature for each of the CPU's cores.
NOTE: The Tcase temperature is determined by adding the CPU's four Tjunction values together and subtracting six.
Intel uses the TcMax specification to determine what is safe and unsafe for their CPUs. Overclockers, meanwhile, have so far proven that the TjMax might be a better reference, but the CPUs haven't been in service long enough to assess the long-term implications of using TjMax as the safety threshold.
Therefore, there are two schools of thought:
1) Intel says that the Core i7's TcMax is 68°C. You want to fall a few degrees shy of that. This means the maximum core temperature for a Core i7 is 71°C.
2) Overclockers think that the TjMax is a better safe threshold. The Core i7's TjMax is 100°C. You want to fall about 15°C shy of that. This means that the maximum core temperature for a Core i7 is 85°C.
The choice is yours on this one.
Whats the best program to get accurate temp (and all the temps you talked about like TcMax and TjMax.
I read that Real Temp is the way to go, but since you know what you're talking about maybe you have another suggestion
I know that some temp reader are dramaticaly inacurate so i want the best one :P
As a starter for the rules i'll try to respect each one at first : Don't go to ~68C TxMax and ~85C TjMax full-load.
FYI, I Just found the original info from intel :
http://processorfinder.intel.com/Details.aspx?sSpec=SLBEJ#
It's like you said, they talk about 68C heh
I also would not go to anything over 1 TB in hard drives, how many people need that much storage and besides, having a second drive to back up important things on is a better idea anyhow.
Wrong.
Plenty of people need more than that. I have over three terabytes of pictures, movies, and music. Would you suggest I buy a 1TB hard drive? Having multiple drives to use as backup is always a good idea, but it's obtuse to think nobody needs more than a terabyte.
Otherwise its overkill. And yeah it wont be long until i buy another one for backup because you never know when one will fail :P
For the SSD, like you said, in 1 year (maximum, i think it will be less) i think SSD will be more than mature enough and at a price that worth buying. Personaly i don't need more than a 160 GIG as it will serve as my main drive. The only reason i want 160 over 80 is because the more space it has, the more time it will take before performance is affected (I'll never use more than 50 GIG in my main drive).
The G2 from Intel seems nice, but i can wait so i will , mainly because of the price at this moment.
SSDs are already faster and more reliable than mechanical hard drives. The point of the SSD is to put Windows and your apps on there for fast loading. SSDs are not for file storage.
I have 1.3TB of space, and I'm looking at adding another terabyte.
Faster yes? More reliable? Only if you're NOT using them for a write-heavy purpose. Once you start writing to them repeatedly their lifespan quickly drops. For instance, having mysql databases that are written to often on an SSD (or a RAID 0 of SSDs for that matter) is a VERY BAD IDEA. Lunchb0x can attest to this fact.