n00b questions

N

n0s0upf0ry0u

n00b
Joined
Dec 24, 2005
Messages
6
hey everyone,
new member and first post, so be gentle.

just recently put together my first system-

msi k8n nf4 platinum sli mobo
athlon 64 4000+ san diego CPU
ocz pc3200 ddr-400 1GB x 2 DIMMs
7800GTX 256MB GPU (one unit)
antec TPII 550 PSU

system worked fine running windows (with all the default bios settings), but when i tried running a few games such as half life 2, need for speed most wanted and quake 4 at 1600x1200 (without aa), frame rate was poor, even after switching to a lower resolution of 1280x1024. haven't played around much with the bios or overclock settings, as i wouldn't have expected this poor performance even at the default settings. the only thing i tried was turning on "agressive overclocking" setting, which made windows unbootable. any ideas where my bottleneck might be, or how i can boost performance?

second question- whenever i run the corecell software that comes with msi mobo's, my cpu fan alarm goes off. the fan speed is around 3300 rpm's with idle temps that look ok. my fans are plugged into the antec TPII connectors, not the mobo connectors.

any answers/advice to either question, including that of the "RTFM" type (as long as good sources included) would be HUGELY appreciated.

thanks everyone,
abe
 
in order for corecell to read your fans both processor and system they MUST be plugged into the motherboard headers and have at least 3 wires one+, one-, and one a sensor wire.
 
If you splice to your fans speed signal wire and negative (black) take those two wires and plug them into your motherboard header. That way the board knows what speed they are spinning and you can use your fan controller. Everyone is happy
 
With those sweet specs, you should have no problem getting excellent frames at stock. Overclocking should probably be closer to the last thing on your to do list. Do it, (and enjoy it), but first get your system fully up to snuff.

You say this is your first system build, so I'm not going to assume anything. Make sure all your drivers are installed (the latest nVidia Forceware for example).

Right click on My Computer, click properties, hardware, Device Manager. Make sure there are no yellow exclamation points suggesting you missed any drivers for chipset etc.

Be certain that you do not have any overheating components. Good cable management will help in this area, as well as properly designed airflow.

It's getting late, so start with that. You'll be on the right track in no time.
 
guys,
thanks so much!
i updated my nforce drivers and everything runs smooth as silk.
amazing what a software update can do.
will try those fan wiring modifications ASAP.
thanks again,
abe
 
Glad to be of help. Welcome to the [H]ard|Forums.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top