Build Critique

M

mMike01

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
110
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, Web Browsing, some basic home video editing
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
1400-1500 including tax and shipping
3) Where do you live?
Pennsylvania
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
All Parts
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Not Re-using parts.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Maybe in the future, but not now
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
22"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next 2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
No additional feature, although the ability to go SLI would be nice
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
No, need to buy OS

Hi, If you could critique and offer suggestions to this build I put together that is within my budget. I want to make sure I am using reliable parts and that they will work for what I want. Any and all suggestions welcome.

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

EVGA 132-BL-E758-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

CORSAIR XMS3 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X3G1333C9 - Retail

EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express
2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP Black SECC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

Vista 64

Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM

The total is 1412.00 and 1343.00 with rebates. I'm pretty sure I won't be charged tax in PA if I buy from newegg.

Thanks in advance.
 
Thanks for the input Danny. I'm gonna take your advice about the RAM, an extra 40 isn't that much more.

I'm gonna get Vista Home Premium 64bit for system builders for $100.

Thanks again.
 
Well then good luck with the build! Post pics if you can!
 
Hi, I just finished the above build, and the parts seem to be working fine, but my cpu temps seem high.

After it was first built, I ran 5 instances of Prime 95 and some HD Bloom graphics program. Core Temp and Real Temp showed temps of 87-89 degrees and idle was sitting around 55.

I just took it apart and re-applied the thermal paste and re-seated the heatsink. Reading lead me to believe I didn't push the pins in good enough. This time i really pushed, as hard as I could for around half hour. I was sweating and everything. I basically pushed on them until my thumbs couldn't take anymore. To my dismay, the pins seemed to look exactly the same as they were the first time.

I ran 4 instances of Prime 95 (for some reason this time 4 was maxing out my 6 gigs of mem and I couldn't run a 5th) and the HD Bloom program. My temps were a little better, but still high. After running the programs for an hour and half, the temps hovered around 80-83 degrees C, w/ one instance jumping to 86. But for the most part it was in the 80-83 range. Idle is still running at 55 degrees.

Anyone have any advice? My thermal paste app seemed good to me both times. I first applied a very small dot into the center of the CPU HS and the Heatsink. I spread it around w/ my hand in a plastic bag and then wiped it off w/ a lint free cloth. I then set the CPU in the sockt, applied some Arctic Silver 5 (half grain of rice), spread it around w/ a my finger in a plastic bag, then smoothed out a very thin even coat w/ a credit card. Put the heatsink back on and pushed at those pins for half hour.

Anyone recommend a good aftermarket cooler or should i re-attempt w/ the stock HSF.

Thanks in advance.
 
setscrew said:
Two words...bolt through

good inexpensive heatsink
Click to expand...

Only if the OP lives near a Microcenter as that Xigmatek HSF is In-Store Pickup only. In addition, none of those bolt-thru kits will work in most socket LGA-1366 motherboards.

Anyway OP, I recommend getting this HSF:
Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm HSF - $40

However, I've never seen temps that high with the stock HSF with a Core i7 unless A) the person installed the HSF incorrectly, B) they lived in a pretty hot place, or C) they have little or poor airflow inside the case.

Remember, when you push in the pins, the "bolt" should expand the pins out underneath the mobo.
 
Your temps are high because you're running the stock heatsink. I second Danny's recommendation.
 
Thanks for the replies. It's still a possibility I didn't mount the HSF properly, but I don't think I can push any harder. My thumbs are actually bruised today from pushing down on those mounting pins.

I was aware this could be a possibility as this is now the second build I've had a hand in( so I'm still quite the noob at this). 3 months ago, my friend and I put together his I7 build, basically the same as mine except he has the Asus mb. After we put it together, he ran the same stress tests and his temps shot in the mid 90's immediately. We hit the forums and found it was most likely not setting the HSF properly, so he redid it, pushing really, really hard. He ran the tests again and his heat was fine.

He helped me w/ my build so we were ready for this possibility and made sure we really pushed down on those pins. Looking at the bottom, the middle pin was slightly past the outer portion flanging that part out. When I redid mine again, I pushed much harder, and the pins looked the same.

I should of mentioned this earlier and i guess I should of known better, but the heatsink actually had a good scratch in it towards the side of it. The scatch was deep enough, that when i glazed the surface w/ Thermal paste, it filled it in. We thought we'd try it anyway since the scratch was towards the side. Maybe that's the culprit and I think I'm gonna return the proc to microcenter and try again. If i'm still running into problems, I'll just take it as I can't mount properly, or simply just not strong enough and then may try the above mentioned aftermarket cooler.

Thanks again for the help and recommendations.
 
http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTU4MSwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

A shown in the link above, the stock cooler does not do a good job relative to other heatsinks. No matter how hard you push, you're still going to get temperatures in the upper 80-90*C range. According to Intel's specifications, those temperatures are still safe but we all know that lower temps prolong the life of the CPU and improve efficiency. Therefore, I recommend that you spend $40 on a quality heatsink and $6 on some Arctic Cooling MX-2 to drop your temperatures by about 20*C relative to the stock setup.
 
Thanks for the advice PC, i'll most likely follow it because maybe some time in the future when i'm comfortable w/ it, i may try a small overclock. But, do you think that good scratch I mentioned above be the problem w/ my temps? And should I return the proc and HSF because of it?

The link you posted had idle and full load temps over 10 degrees cooler than what i'm seeing w/ mine.

Thanks for the help.
 
The heatsink had a scratch in it? Define how deep it is. You may have better odds of sanding the scratch out that you would by returning everything. (If they suspect that you were responsible for the scratch, there's a good possibility that you wouldn't be able to return the package.) Honestly that scratch may impact your temperatures, but how long are you letting the Arctic Silver 5 cure for?

I ask because the TIM has a long curing time of about 200 hours (IIRC). With your constant resetting of the heatsink and reapplying of the TIM, you've essentially reset the clock each and every time you've reapplied the TIM.

I agree with Danny Bui and PC_User's recommendations. The Xigmatek HDT-S1283V would perform much better than the stock heatsink and the Arctic Cooling MX-2 has no curing time; it practically works almost immediately.
 
I will probably go out and buy the stuff recommended, but I'm just trying not avoid spending anymore money.

The scratch was deep enough, that when I "glazed" the heatsink w/ AS5, it fillied the scratch in, you could visably see the AS5 in the scratch.

I thought it was a bad seat, as in my friends case, he saw temps of 95 degrees, after re-seating properly, they dropped to 72 at full load. So I tried that as well, but no real difference.

I gave the AS5 no curing time, Friday night I put it together, then first thing after installing windows and the drivers, i started running the heat tests. It was late, so on Sat, i re-seated and ran the tests again. Even uncured, I thought if all done properly, I should see temps in the low 70's.

What I'll probably do, is, try and return the Proc to Microcenter, If I can, I'll redo it and if that doesn't solve my problem, I'll buy the aftermarket cooler suggested by you all. This time I'll try the TIM you all suggested as well.

Thanks for all your help and time, much appreciated.
 
Thanks for the advice all, i took it and everything is all good now. I returned the proc, and was able to get a replacement, but still had heat troubles. So I bought the Xigamatek DK and Arctic Cooling MX like suggested (should of just did that first). My temps seem normal to me at stock speeds now. Across the 4 cores I see temps of 35-39 degrees while idle and at full load running 7 instances of Prime 95 the core have temps of 55-59 degrees, once in a while it will hit 60-61 fore a second or two.

Before this post get's eaten up by the forums I'll post my experience for people who were like me and worried about a few issues. I will say that the DK was really easy to install (i'm a noob at this and my Tech level is -1), it took me under and hour and half to take apart my pc, install it, and put it back together including 2 smoke breaks. It fits fine in the above EVGA Mb w/ no obstruction. I was worried the NB fan/hs or heat fins on the IO port side of the proc would be in the way, but they weren't. It also fits in the above coolmaster case, although, you would not be able to fit a side case fan where the cooler is. The cooler is also surprisingly light.

Thanks again for the help.
 
Nice to see that your problems have been resolved.
 
I see you guys ask for pics after a pc is built and not alot of people do, so I'm gonna post some.

I have to say, I sift through these forums quite a bit and see alot of the same re-occuring names helping people out and taking their time to help others with their builds and pc problems. I just wanted to say thanks for all the help with my build to my heat problems. I couldn't be happier how this worked out. It was my first build and was pretty prepared for it simply not to work, lol. But it did and now I have it OC'd to 3.5ghz, my temps are great and it's stable. Compared to my old almost 5+ year old P4 Dell I was chuggin on, this thing is lightening fast and a pleasure to use.

Thanks again.

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Thanks for the pics!

Man, FO3 looks so good on that rig. :)
 
Thanks Danny and thanks for the help too.

Yeah, I'm happy w/ gaming, I was able to max the settings and it runs great. The LCD compared to my old 19in CRT is great.
 
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