Upgrading season

Howbout a smaller HDD? Like an OCZ Vertex? :p

I'd go with the first layout, with right angled SATA/Power cables. I'd pre-wire what I could, and I wouldn't be in there too often to add a HDD anyhow. Though, when it did come time to add another HDD, I actually wouldn't mind taking it all apart and putting it all back together again, lol. Again, thats just me. ;)
 
The SSDs are too rich for my blood. That, and I'm more of a digital pack rat.

The case makes things extremely difficult. I've tried placing the hard drive in one of the 3.5 inch slots with the screw-in drive covers and the cover makes positioning damn near impossible. Ideally, I'd place the WD6401AALS right behind the drive bay cover:



Realistically, however, it wouldn't fit. I'd have to either push the hard drive back far enough so that the cover could fit or I'd have to find some way to replace the cover. There are two dedicated spots for mounting hard drives, only I'd have to mount one upside down.



Which brings us back to the S1283V. The long story short is that it's too large for the case that I'm using. Once I add the power cables and whatever else I put in there, it becomes too much of a hassle (for me) to attempt to "maneuver" everything around the heatsink -- and I'm sure that I nearly broke something the first time I tried it last night.

I may have to rethink how I approach everything in regards to this project.
 
enginurd said:
Regarding the X58M, as with the eVGA, you should upgrade the NB cooling. I'm waiting for tiraides opinions on the board, though. :p He has one but hasn't finished his build yet.
Click to expand...

I'll have to wait until this weekend before I can test everything out. I'm working long hours at work this week, so I'm not in the mood to play with my computer right now. :p

However, I will be running everything off the stock Intel HSF. I'm still researching for an "acceptable" replacement to the S1283V -- "acceptable" meaning "better than stock performance" as well as "not so damn big."
 
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I'm thinking a bit out loud here, but I'd also like some input from the rest of you guys. I've spent some time looking at other available CPU coolers, and so far, I've found three that I like:
  • For starters, I like the concept of the Corsair H50, but the price is a bit hard to swallow (I can easily afford it, but is it really worth the money?) and the fan alignment (the rear fan has to serve as the intake, and it's recommended to make another fan -- in my case, the front one -- the exhaust fan) somewhat irks me.
  • I thought about the Cooler Master Hyper N520 and some of the pictures that I've seen gave me some hope for it. But I thought about it for a while, and I came to the conclusion that the width and the depth of the N520 would be similar to the S1283V's specs... and I don't want to repeat that experiment.
  • So I'm considering going back to my original choice for a replacement, the HDT-S963. I'm sure I'll have less problems with it than the S1283V (since it's smaller, duh!), but I'm still trying to figure out if I can perform a decent overclock (to, say, around 3.2GHz) without things getting too hot.
Does anyone have any personal experience using one of those coolers with a mATX Core i7 setup in a mini-tower case? (The Mini P180 doesn't really count.) Does anyone have any other recommendations? (I'm not dealing with another behemoth like the S1283V again. And some "top-down" coolers like the Thermalright AXP-140 would conflict with the HR-05 IFX chipset heatsink, which I am keeping for this build.)
 
No rush. ;)

tiraides said:
... -- "acceptable" meaning "better than stock performance" as well as "not so damn big."
Click to expand...

lol

Would the HR-05-SLI allow you to use the AXP-140? If not, I would think the S963 would be your next best choice. Though, I've got no experience with these, sorry. If I get a chance, I'll try my Ultima90 on my i7, but I doubt I'll get to it before you finish your build (yes, I'm lazy).
 
At first glance, the AXP-140 would be too large for the HR-05 (I have the straight vertical IFX model, not the offset IFX/SLI model). I'd have to either get the S963 instead or revert to using the stock northbridge heatsink again.

I'll search a bit later on tonight for feeback from prior users of all of those heatsinks. I've found out there's a Corsair rep lurking around here... I may have to draw him/her out....
 
Are you keeping the S1283V though? The S963 doesn't come with a LGA1366 bracket but if you keep the S1283V, you can reuse the LGA1366 bracket from that with the S963. Just something to think about if you haven't already.
 
Wow, I'm afraid to even try putting a S1283V in my p180 mid-tower. good luck with the build.
 
ogewo said:
Wow, I'm afraid to even try putting a S1283V in my p180 mid-tower. good luck with the build.
Click to expand...

o.O.gif
 
A bit off tangent, but earlier today I was talking to a sales rep at a local B&M computer store that I occasionally visit. I explained to him what I was doing with my computer, my problems with the S1283V, and that I came to look at some of the CPU coolers available at the store -- I saw the AC Freezer 7 Pro for around $34 and the CM Hyper N520 for around $45. The sales rep told me that I would be better off getting a new case if I wanted to overclock -- and he then pointed me towards the direction of an Antec Three Hundred case that the store was selling for $60.

My immediate response was... :rolleyes:

... but I may seriously have to rethink my overclocking goals with this system.

enginurd said:
BTW, if you wanted to sell the DK or HR05, hit me up. :)
Click to expand...

YGPM

ogewo said:
Wow, I'm afraid to even try putting a S1283V in my p180 mid-tower. good luck with the build.
Click to expand...

I'd say that it would fit just fine. ;)
 
OK folks, I've put it off long enough... I've finished assembling the computer.



For those who don't know, I normally pull as many cables to the outside of my case as possible, in order to maximize airflow during the initial phases of my build (troubleshooting, burn-in, initial configurations). I probably won't stress the system out that much, but I will try to conduct an initial burn-in of the processor sometime later tonight.

The tentative plan now is to focus on buying a replacement CPU cooler. I may buy a few other items to help tidy up the case, and I may end up swapping out all of the fans after all.

Oh, before anyone else asks for it, I've sold the S1283V already... to enginurd.

enginurd said:
YGPP
Click to expand...

o.O.gif
 
Intel's "instruction" is to mount the CPU cooler so that the connector is closest to the fan header. Considering how all of my other plans went FUBAR this past week, I decided to "do something right" for once.

The plan now is to...

- Mail off the Xigmatek Dark Knight to enginurd
- Search for more information on the Xigmatek PTR-N881 (specifically, its dimensions with an 80mm fan attached)
- Order the Xigmatek HDT-S936 (and possibly the PTR-881)
- Buy replacement fans for everything: Yate Loon D12SM-12 fans for the case and Scythe S-FLEX fan(s) for the CPU (and the northbridge) cooler
- Buy additional cables/parts for "cleaner" internals (e.g., right-angle SATA cables, rubber/silicone screws and dampeners, etc.)
- Get new speakers (I'm currently considering the Swan D1080MkII, though I may still get the M200MkII as originally planned)
- Figure out and pick a new 1920x1200 monitor so I can order it by August 15. (The long story short is that I'm not paying more than $500 for it, and the less that I pay, the better.)
- Decide whether or not I'm going to build that mITX firewall after all. I pretty much need to decide by August 31, or chances are I'll never build it.

That's a pretty big list... I better get started (playing with my new desktop, that is ;) ).
 
You're on the right track as far as I can tell. Good luck!

Oh why do you have to decide on the mITX firewall by August 31?
 
Though I still would like to build one, I need to reassess my priorities at that point. It's not a necessity, per se, and the time, money, and effort that I spend on it could be better utilized elsewhere.

However, it's all a wait-and-see game for me. For now, I'm going to focus on completing the upgrades to my (now) primary rig, and then I'll see whether or not I'm still interested in building the mITX firewall.
 
I was woken up earlier with a phone call from my brother. The long story short is that the computer that I've built for him is overheating. He told me that...

- The heat was mainly coming from the video card, and that it often happened while he was watching a movie or a web video.
- Some of the cooling fans would shut off, but they'd work again after he reconnected them.
- The overheating often happened after he has shut the computer down for a "long period of time" (his words).

I'm expecting an e-mail from him later on today with a more detailed explanation of what's wrong with his system. The red flags that I've figured out on my own are the fact that he lives in Southern California (and probably don't have an AC in the room his computer is in, but that's merely speculation) and that the Yate Loon fans that I (re)used in his computer are about a couple of years old (though they may be working just fine for all that I know...). (Come to think of it, I didn't ask him what his internal temps were... then again, I'm still tired from the lack of sleep thanks to his call.)

That does it -- tomorrow, I'll have to order more cooling stuff for both my computer and his computer.

noql1.gif
 
Where in SoCal is he? If he's by the beaches, its been rather cool. If he's more inland... HOT!
 
After looking at a few pictures and reading the only detailed review that I could find on it, I'm willing to experiment with the Xigmatek PTR-N881. However, since I'm using a SFF setup, I need to find a decent 80x15mm case fan that doesn't cost an arm or a leg.

I'll be making another purchase on Friday... for myself. My brother still hasn't responded to me, which tells me that he either solved the problem on his own or didn't make time for it. So far, the list looks like:

Xigmatek HDT-S963 (I've followed Danny's advice and kept the S775/S1366 mounting kit, which only works with three-pipe HDT heatsinks)
Xigmatek PRT-N881
2-4 right-angle SATA cables (for my drives)
2 Yate Loon D12SM-12 120mm case fans (medium-speed; plus a few things for my Dremel ;) )
Scythe S-FLEX 92mm case fan (for the HDT-S963)
(Still looking for the 80x15mm fan for the PRT-N881... any recommendations?)
 
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Dilemma: I've just remembered that I could get most of the things that I'm looking for with just an hour-long drive to my "local" Micro Center. At the very least, I can buy the HDT-S963 and the PRT-N881... I can also get an 80mm fan (but it's not 15mm thick)... they even have Yate Loons (even though they're heavily marked up)....

Assuming that I can't get them to price-match NewEgg's prices -- but don't worry, enginurd, I'll ask them ;) -- is it worth making the weekend trip to Micro Center?
 
tiraides said:
Assuming that I can't get them to price-match NewEgg's prices -- but don't worry, enginurd, I'll ask them ;) -- is it worth making the weekend trip to Micro Center?
Click to expand...

If you're only buying those relatively small items, I say it isn't worth the 2-3 hours for a MC trip. Unless you really need those parts now, I say just buy them online. However, if the items you want do not come with free shipping, figure out how much it would cost you in gas money to drive to and forth MC. It may or may not be cheaper and faster to just buy it locally.
 
Hehe, yah, it depends on how bad you want the parts. The only reason I bought the i7 was because I was there, and the only reason I was there was because my homie bought a scanner, lol. If you hadn't noticed, I'm extremely lazy, so for those parts, I'd just order it online, unless I needed/wanted instant gratification and couldn't wait.
 
Danny Bui said:
If you're only buying those relatively small items, I say it isn't worth the 2-3 hours for a MC trip. Unless you really need those parts now, I say just buy them online. However, if the items you want do not come with free shipping, figure out how much it would cost you in gas money to drive to and forth MC. It may or may not be cheaper and faster to just buy it locally.
Click to expand...

enginurd said:
Hehe, yah, it depends on how bad you want the parts. The only reason I bought the i7 was because I was there, and the only reason I was there was because my homie bought a scanner, lol. If you hadn't noticed, I'm extremely lazy, so for those parts, I'd just order it online, unless I needed/wanted instant gratification and couldn't wait.
Click to expand...

Funny you guys should mention that. The long story short is that only the HDT-S963 comes with free shipping online, but the Yate Loon fans are heavily marked up at MC (I could buy both fans online and pay less, including shipping, than I would buying one of them at MC's B&M store.).

I've just received a series of text messages from my brother... apparently he forgot my e-mail address:

My Brother said:
Hey, the CPU is currently at 91C. When it reaches 107C, the computer shuts off. The video card is at 50C the entire time. The CPU (temp) rises whenever I watch a video online or when I open a folder with a lot of big files. During installation and playing big games it isn't really affected.
Click to expand...

(The text messages were consolidated and cleaned up, a bit, for the sake of everyone's sanity... or, rather, mine.)

At first glance, it seems like the CPU cooler -- I used the stock Intel HSF that came with the Q9550 -- either wasn't installed properly or no longer worked. (It may have popped loose during shipping, but I made sure to ship the case on its side, with the HSF facing up.) I used three case fans, including two medium-speed Yate Loons (that I've used for a little over a year each), just to cool the case. I'm thinking that, in order to solve his overheating problem, I should get him an HDT-S963 (like me, but without the mounting kit -- :eek: -- only because I know he'll be too lazy to take out the motherboard -- :rolleyes: ) and two more medium speed Yate Loons (to either replace the front and rear fans or for the side of the case).

It looks like I may have to table the MC trip and give my brother a phone call this weekend.
 
I think the HSF came loose. Core2's run cool, as you already know. ;)

Show him this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFEOd7nQbuQ

Ask him to tug on the HSF... if its not fully secure, it'll lift up on a corner or something, which would explain the temps. He'll just have to reset the pushpin and push down again.
 
Funny you should mention that. I replied to his text message(s), basically telling him to try and reseat his HSF first. His response (unaltered this time, emphasis mine):

My Brother said:
What part is the intel hsf? The huge thing that says gigabyte?
Click to expand...

My response: The round, circular thing that reads Intel.
noql1.gif


I think I may go to MC after all....
 
Here's another lesson learned: Micro Center does price-match against NewEgg... however it depends on the item in question. I talked to a few sales clerks while I was at the store, and they all said that they normally price-match motherboards, processors, and memory/RAM. That said, I was able to get them to price-match the HDT-S963 and the PTR-N881. :D

So...

Xigmatek HDT-S963 92mm CPU cooler - $24.99 (Micro Center; price-matched NewEgg)
Xigmatek PTR-N881 chipset cooler - $24.99 (Micro Center; price-matched NewEgg)
Xigmatek XSF-F8251 80mm case fan - $6.99 (Micro Center)
(plus $2.85 local sales tax)

Total spent at Micro Center (this time) - $59.82
Total spent on myself - $1570
 
SWEET! That's a world of good news. Now I know where I'm going for my next personal PC build. :p
 
I believe the standard caveat -- may not apply to every store, or every product -- applies here.

One thing that I forgot to note was that the sales clerk who approved the price matching of the Xigmatek heatsinks only did so after contacting and getting the manager's approval. I also had a printed-out copy of the NewEgg prices, in the form of a "shopping cart," on hand.

So, to recap...

- Motherboards, processors, and RAM: Yes
- Heatsinks, disk drives, and add-on cards: Maybe
- Everything on your wish list: Uh, I don't know....
 
I need some second opinions (yes, more than one) regarding my heatsink selection. I've spent the past couple of hours trying to follow up on a post that I read earlier:

jonsy2k said:
I'd say that the dark knight isn'ta great cooler for the i7 because of the placement of the heatpipes, if you look at

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=292&Itemid=62

they mention that the change in the placement of the cores affect how the hdt heatpipes perform.

So bottom line is, a 4 heatpipe hdt would do much better than the dark knight's 3, since the 4 heatpipe orientation would make direct contact with the cores.

This is not to knock the dark knight though, since I am running one of my e8400, and its really great.

A 285 gtx would definitely be better, but I don't know if its worth the amount more that it is. Though i guess in this case money isnt really a limiting factor.

Also at this budget you could probable look into a nice lian li case, since they basically epitomize what you are looking for.
Click to expand...

From the link in the earlier post:

Because of the slightly spread-out core placement on a Core 2 Quad or Duo processor, most triple-piped HDT cooler would make directly-aligned contact with the cores through the IHS. However, when it comes to the Core i7 series, the processor cores line-up better with four-piped HDT coolers (or at the outer edge of the center heat-pipe in the three-piped HDT cooler). Conversely, coolers with a solid base are not effected by either platform, so long as they're big enough to saturate the contact surface. Making matters a little more complicated is the orientation of the Core i7 processor series, which is restricted to comply with the Intel-designed horizontally-aligned rectangle shape (not square like LGA775 processors). The 32mm tall by 35mm wide Core i7 processor is more sensitive to how a cooler is mounted to it, and care must be take to ensure the IHS is fully covered.
Click to expand...

I started off by viewing Benchmark Reviews' Q1 Core i7 CPU cooler results, which featured the Xigmatek Dark Knight. Then, after searching through Google, I found a review by OCC that comes to the same conclusion.

Why does this matter? Well, I jumped through a few hoops just to get the HDT-S963 -- the long commute, the price-matching -- which I picked up, in part, because it uses three heatpipes. Now, I'm reading information saying that a four-pipe HDT design is best for a Core i7 processor -- and that's assuming that I don't go for a CPU cooler with a solid base.

The HDT-S963 is still unopened, so I can return it to Micro Center if I want/need to. However, I don't know if I'm willing to jump through all of those hoops to exchange it for an HDT-S964 -- and then try to price-match that (and, since I'll need it as well, another mounting kit).

What should I do now? Go on and still use the HDT-S963? Return it for the HDT-SD964? Get a different (92mm tower) CPU cooler? (I'm not getting another 120mm behemoth like the Dark Knight, and the Hyper N520 is just as wide.) Should I just give up and live with the already-installed stock Intel HSF? It may seem silly of me to ask these questions, but after this weekend, I want to be finished with "experimenting" with the cooling for this machine.
 
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How high do you plan on OC'ing? From the Benchmark Reviews results, the 1283/V performed as expected, IMO. So, I guess it really depends on how high you want to go. According to my guestimations, the 964 would only improve cooling at most 15%. The 963 is still definitely better than the stock intel cooler, so I'd at least stay with that, depending on how burned out you are.
 
Realistically, I don't believe that I'll be able to overclock very far. I'd like to go above 3GHz, but not if it results in turning the inside of my case into a mini-oven. That's why I went for the aftermarket northbridge cooler... and I'll probably end up buying the medium-speed Yate Loon fans for my case sooner or later.

The key for me is better-than-stock cooling, regardless of whether I'm running stock or overclocked speeds on my processor -- and while I'm sure that the HDT-S963 could do that, I'm starting to believe that it won't be that much better than the stock HSF. Right now, the only other CPU cooler (besides the HDT-SD964) that I would consider as a replacement is the Noctua NH-U9B.

Looks like I'll have to perform more research.... :mad:
 
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So, I went to Micro Center because of my paran... er, on a whim, and I was able to swap the HDT-S963 for the HDT-SD964 without having to pay anything extra. (For comparison's sake, here are the MC prices for the HDT-SD964 and the NH-U9B.) I picked the the ACK-I7363 mounting kit separately, but I decided that the money I saved last week justified my paying full price for this particular item.

Xigmatek HDT-SD964 92mm tower CPU cooler - $0 (Micro Center; exchange for HDT-S963)
Xigmatek ACK-I7363 Crossbow Socket LGA 775/1366 retention bracket kit - $12.99 (Micro Center)
(plus $0.65 local sales tax)

Total spent at Micro Center (this time) - $13.60
Total spent on myself - $1584

The plan today will be simple. I'll run the computer as it presently is and get the idle and full load temps of the processor and northbridge (that currently have the stock Intel CPU cooler and Thermalright HR-05 IFX, respectively). I'll then make the swap with the Xigmatek items and get the idle and load temps using those heatsinks. (If I can, I'll also mount the 80mm fan onto the PTR-N881.)

The amended plans for the rest of this upgrading season are:

Today - Mount the Xigmatek CPU and NB coolers onto computer (probably later on tonight)
End of August - Order new 2.0 speaker set (right now, either Swans D1080MkII or M-Audio AV40)
Middle of September - Order new LCD monitor (still need to figure out which one)
October - Buy parts for miniITX firewall (with a $500 fixed budget)
Mid-October - Decide upon either keeping the WIndows 7 Professional Upgrade preorder or getting the full OEM version of W7 Pro
 
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... OK, let's try this again....

So, I finally will be able to do all of the things that I said I would do two weeks ago tomorrow (and Sunday) night.

And by Monday, before I go to work, I plan on ordering the monitor and speakers. My original plan was to get the Samsung T240 and Swan D1080MkII, but I'm still not 100% sold on either choice. Suggestions are welcome, but I plan on spending no more than $500 on both the speakers and the monitor. (Sure, I can spend a bit more, but only if you chip in. ;) )
 
*sigh* I should have thought this through a little better....

Well, I tried playing with the PTR-N881 and the HDT-SD964 a bit tonight, in order to find the "ideal" placement for both heatsinks. At first glance, I may have been better off keeping the HR-05 IFX in place as the northbridge heatsink... but what's done is done. For what it's worth, the SD964 can support two 92mm case fans (and even have the rubber mounts available for the second fan), and an 80mmx25mm fan doesn't add too much to the N881's dimensions -- it seems to have been offset just enough to accommodate a fan.

But I've run into a problem with the N881. By placing the heatsink portion of the N881 downwards, away from the SD964, I've pretty much blocked the first PCI-E x16 slot that's used most often. (I know that I have the second PCI-E x16 slot available, but I need to check whether or not it's usable on its own.) But by placing the N881 upwards, it's literally touching the SD964, regardless of whether I mount the SD964 vertically (in the direction of the rear case fan) or horizontally (towards the direction of the PSU fan).

I'll take some pictures within the next day or so of the different "configurations" that I'm looking at. I still have the HR-05 on hand, so it's not as if I'm totally hosed should this combination fail to work out.
 
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