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Shuttle build Help

So of the ones I picked, there's no difference at all between the cards by the same company except for what might come bundled with the card? Is that what the different model numbers signify?

Pretty much yes.

Which company's card (EVGA, XFX, or BFG) would you recommend for a quiet card?

Theoretically the dual-slot eVGA should be quiter since it has a larger heatsink and therefore a bit of a lesser need for the fan to spin higher.

All of the other single slot 9800GT cards will be fairly noticeable even behind a quiet case like the P180 if my experience with the PNY 8800GT (Similar design to the blue eVGA cards) and eVGA 7900GS (similar HSF design to the XFX cards) counts. I can't recommend any of the BFG 9800GT in stock at newegg at their current prices as of today since their costs is waaay too close to the faster HD4850. IMO, don't get any 9800GT that costs more than $130, no matter what HSF or game they come with.
 
Theoretically the dual-slot eVGA should be quiter since it has a larger heatsink and therefore a bit of a lesser need for the fan to spin higher.

Sorry, I forgot to specify that from the ones I listed which company would be the quietest (although I will certainly consider that dual slot card.) The reason why I'm limited to those cards is because I'm buying from tigerdirect because they have a $25 off $100 deal if you pay with billmelater, and those are the only cards that I can afford from tigerdirect.
 
Sorry, I forgot to specify that from the ones I listed which company would be the quietest (although I will certainly consider that dual slot card.) The reason why I'm limited to those cards is because I'm buying from tigerdirect because they have a $25 off $100 deal if you pay with billmelater, and those are the only cards that I can afford from tigerdirect.

From the ones you listed, none of them is any quieter than the other.
 
I hope it's ok if I'm copying this question from my other thread. No one seems to be responding and I'm in an urgent situation:

1. I was placing the CPU into its socket, and because my fingers were in the way, I couldn't place the CPU softly all the way until it was in place. Instead, about 5mm above the socket, I had to let it fall in and gently tap it a bit so that it was aligned properly. Is that going to damage the socket or the CPU?

1a. Is it ok to touch the backside (silver part) of the CPU with my bare finger?

2. I'm trying to put the lever back into place for the CPU load plate, but there's quite a strong resistance against the plate when I'm pushing it back down. Is that normal or is it supposed to be resistance-less? I didn't want to force it just in case it's supposed to be easy to push it back. I have checked that all the covers are off from the CPU and the load plate, and that the CPU is aligned correctly in the socket.
 
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1) Unless it was a hard drop and crammed it in there, shouldn't be any damage.
1a) Are you talking about the CPU side that makes contact with the HSF?
2) Link doesn't work.
 
1a) While touching that part of the CPU won't damage the CPU at all (unless you jammed or stabbed your finger at it), I generally try not to touch that part since a single touch will leave a very thin layer of oil/sweat/fluid on that part. Remember that people do have oil/sweat/fluid on their fingers and fingerips. Anyway, that very thin layer MIGHT interfere with the effectiveness and efficiency of the thermal paste when it's transferring heat from the CPU to the HSF.

2) Should be ok.
 
1a) Before applying the HSF, can I just give it a wipe with tissue, or do I need to use something like rubbing alcohol?

2) Should be ok.
Just for reference, if it's possible to explain in your experience how much pressure do you usually need to press that lever down?
 
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1. I tried installing intel's stock HSF, and it was a real pita. The first pin made a nice, clean click, but then every pin after that was just really hard to push in properly and I had to do it really hard until I noticed that it already went in without making a distinct click. There was a lot of creaking sounds when I was twisting the pins to detach it. I looked at the back and all the pins look like it went through. I also checked all the pins from the side to see if the male-female screws are close to each other. 3 of them look pushed really close to each other, but 1 of them looks like there's a small space between the male and female that didn't push in all the way, even though I can't push it down any farther, and the pin on the other side of the mobo looks like it went through. Is this ok?

2. I also looked at the mobo from the side and I noticed that it's very slightly curved in the middle, so there's a very, very tiny gap between the board and some blue component right above the the CPU. I'm not sure if that's from when I pushed the HSF in or if that's how the board originally came. I ran a bare minimum mobo test with a CPU, video card and 1 stick of RAM and it turned on fine. Should I be worried about the slight curvature of the board and if any circuitry got disconnected or damaged?

3. Because I had some trouble putting on the HSF, I put it on and took it off a couple times. If the HSF with thermal paste comes into contact with the CPU once, is it bad to take it off and on a couple times, or should it have stayed in contact and if I do remove it, I'll need to do a fresh coat of paste?
 
I'm pretty tired from New Year celebrations so hopefully some of this is coherent:
1) Any way you can take a picture of that? I'm having a hard time picturing in my head what you're saying.
2) You mean the blue heatsinks aren't making contact with the mosfets (I think that's what they're called)?
3) General advice is no. Many people here on the forums recommend redoing the entire thermal paste whenever you break the contact (the thermal grease/paste or TIM) with the HSF and CPU for optimal cooling. Personally I'm lazy so I sometimes don't replace the TIM when I remove the HSF. However I do see slightly higher temperatures as result of doing that.

Honestly cannot think of an analogy for how much force to apply to the lever. I just do it and it always works out well.

Well I'm off to bed. Been up for 24 hours now :D
 
1) Any way you can take a picture of that? I'm having a hard time picturing in my head what you're saying.

Ok, I'll try to update with photos soon.

2) You mean the blue heatsinks aren't making contact with the mosfets (I think that's what they're called)?
I'm not sure. I'll take a picture of this too.

Thanks for the help. Happy new year! :)
 
I'm pretty tired from New Year celebrations so hopefully some of this is coherent:
1) Any way you can take a picture of that? I'm having a hard time picturing in my head what you're saying.
2) You mean the blue heatsinks aren't making contact with the mosfets (I think that's what they're called)?
3) General advice is no. Many people here on the forums recommend redoing the entire thermal paste whenever you break the contact (the thermal grease/paste or TIM) with the HSF and CPU for optimal cooling. Personally I'm lazy so I sometimes don't replace the TIM when I remove the HSF. However I do see slightly higher temperatures as result of doing that

Hey Danny, I posted photos (bending, HSF, load plate, CPU and socket) in my main thread about the motherboard.http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1033534398

After you see the photos: When I was concerned about there being too much pressure when pressing the lever down because the load plate seemed slightly curved, do you think that's what's causing the HSF to not insert evenly, or is the HSF just being stubborn?
 
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I just found out that it only has a 1 year warranty period (2 years if I register it). I've been looking exclusively for cards with lifetime warranties, and I thought all EVGA products were lifetime, but I misread their terms and conditions and it turns out only some of their products have it. I wouldn't have bought this card if I knew before that it was only 2 years because I'm only looking for ones that have lifetime warranties since my motherboard doesn't have a video out connector for my monitor (I didn't want to get stuck being forced to pay for another gpu because my motherboard needs it in order to connect a monitor). I'm planning on keeping this build for about 4-5 years. Should I just keep the card I ordered or cancel it and pick one of the cards with a lifetime warranty?
 
I still have a chance to cancel the order since it hasn't been processed yet, so I was wondering if I should just keep the order or pick a 9800 gt from a company that does carry a lifetime warranty. I purchased my card for $65 ($80 if you don't count the rebate), but if I'm picking one with a lifetime warranty, then I would get http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4035113&CatId=3670 for about $75 or http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4209965&CatId=3585 for about $50. I'm planning on keeping this build for about 4-5 years. Should I just keep the card I ordered or cancel it and pick one of the cards with a lifetime warranty?

Your prices seem very off to me. Even with the rebate, that "$75" eVGA card is still $125 AR and the "$50" XFX is $100 AR. How are you getting those prices??

Oh and I recommend canceling the order and getting on with a lifetime warranty. Price difference isn't that much and you'll have a sort of security blanket in case anything happens. In any case, make sure you register the card as soon as it is in your hands to get the lifetime warranty,
 
Oh and I recommend canceling the order and getting on with a lifetime warranty. Price difference isn't that much and you'll have a sort of security blanket in case anything happens. In any case, make sure you register the card as soon as it is in your hands to get the lifetime warranty

So I should just forget about the dual-slot cooling benefit and put more weight into the lifetime warranty aspect of a card?
 
Yes. I say a lifetime warranty is worth the tradeoff.

Ok I'll cancel. Should I go with the XFX or the EVGA card?

Just wondering, even with a lifetime warranty, maximum how long do you think the card will be usable for? Even if I'm upgrading other components of the computer, would this card still work/be compatible 5,6, 7 years down the line? Or will I just be defeating the purpose of a lifetime warranty if I have to change it anyway?
 
Just wondering, even with a lifetime warranty, maximum how long do you think the card will be usable for? Even if I'm upgrading other components of the computer, would this card still work 5,6, 7 years down the line?

If you have good luck, do regular maintenance (clean out the dust), don't feed it shitty power, and don't damage it in any way, then that card will last a liftetime. I still have a bunch of GeForce 4 cards from 6 years back that still work fine.

I'm more partial to eVGA.
 
If you have good luck, do regular maintenance (clean out the dust), don't feed it shitty power, and don't damage it in any way, then that card will last a liftetime. I still have a bunch of GeForce 4 cards from 6 years back that still work fine.

I'm more partial to eVGA.

I see. So new motherboards in the future will still be compatible with a card from today? Is that what you mean: your old cards are in a newer motherboard, or that you still have old cards in old motherboards?
 
I see. So new motherboards in the future will still be compatible with a card from today? Is that what you mean: your old cards are in a newer motherboard, or that you still have old cards in old motherboards?

Well I was saying that treated right, cards will last a long time. But yes I meant old cards are still in old motherboards. The Geforce 4 series were only AGP cards. AGP cards do not work with the mainstream/current PCI-E slot. But for the forseeable future, yes your 9800GT PCI-E 2.0 will still be compatible with newer mobos in the future.
 
Well I was saying that treated right, cards will last a long time. But yes I mean old cards are still in old motherboards. The Geforce 4 series were only AGP cards. AGP cards do not work with the mainstream/current PCI-E slot.

Ok I see. So basically if I keep my current setup, then given that I take good care of it, it'll last a lifetime, but if I upgrade my components, then I'll have to get a new gpu anyway in maybe 5 years or so.
 
Ok I see. So basically if I keep my current setup, then given that I take good care of it, it'll last a lifetime, but if I upgrade my components, then I'll have to get a new gpu anyway.

Pretty much. You'll might also have to get a new GPU if your current GPU cannot handle the games you play at the settings you want.
 
Oh one more thing.

Which EVGA would be better:
1.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4283352&CatId=3670
2.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4035111&CatId=3670
3.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4035113&CatId=3670

The weird thing is, for #1, if you scroll down to the bottom, it says it's covered by a lifetime warranty. But if you look at EVGA's warranty site it says "The EVGA limited lifetime warranty is only eligible for part numbers ending in: -A1, -A2, -A3, -A4, -AR, -AX, -CR, -CX, -DX, -FR, -FX, -SG, -SX", which means it doesn't have lifetime warranty. Any ideas?
 
The $120 one only has a 2 year warranty. So that's out of the running. I'd go with the Super Clocked version since it's $10 cheaper than the non-Super Clock card.
 
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