The Official OC (OverClocking) Thread!

greensman,

Right idea with the graph paper, wrong method! Use a precision steel ruler at 90 degrees to the flat surface! Move it slowly across the surface and you will see the lines in the reflection move if it's not flat. If you suspect a spot make the angle of the ruler smaller towards the suspect area. Again, just watch the lines on the ruler's reflection and it will show right away!

Using graph paper the way you do in your pics shows the result of the different distances between bottom and top. The Steel Rule has all those terrific black increments on it and it really works good at finding any bad spots! I had one, a Rosewill (customer's), a few months ago that even when I got it nice an polished made the reflection look like a train wreck. It wasn't close to flat. I just kept working the high spots until I got it flat. Closest to putting one in the milling machine I ever came. If I had been doing it by hand, I'd still be there! LOL!! The surface had unacceptably deep scratches as well. Not recommended!

Russ

 

It's Rosewill Russ, what do you expect?

 

Unless I am getting something free after MIR I would NEVER buy anything made by Rosewill, same goes for ECS although I have never seen anything free from them. PERIOD.
-im1992

 

I knew not to buy ECS stuff long ago from what I read, Rosewill tend not to appear too often in this country but same goes for them too. It was why I disfavoured Ultra when I found out they made stuff in the same factory.

 

Rosewill and Ultra? or ECS and Ultra?
-im1992

 

Rosewill and Ultra...

 

What's wrong with Rosewill heatsink products? what are they rebadged as the same underneath?

 

Not just their heatsinks will, they generally produce nasty low quality stuff, power supplies included... Run for your lives!

 

Nothing, they're just a best middle performers and aren't generally a first choice purchase.

Quality wise in terms of mechanical performance the are about average. They are better than many but not as good as many others.

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2130&page=4

That being said many people at newegg who've purchased them seem to be happy and since I haven't owned one I have to defer my opinions to theirs.

Read them and judge for yourself bur remain to count the total number of reviews and compare and not just go with one or two unhappy people, because they do not usually provide good unbiased reviews.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16835200013

 

Sophocles,
The Rosewill I mentioned was a different Model!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200015
The quality was very poor!

Russ

 

Russ

All that I was saying is that just because a certain name is on a product it doesn't mean that it's bad. I hear that all the time from brand conscious people and I am somewhat guilty of that too.

If followed the link that you posted and the only complaint that I was reading was that it was too big. The rest gave it good reviews. Again I wouldn't buy it because I still have parts for two unused water kits that are over a year old.

 

If we say a product is bad, it gets shot down because newegg say it's good. If we say a product is bad because of newegg reviews, we get shot down (rightfully) because most newegg reviewers are clueless.

 

soooo true!

 

All that I was saying is if I see one or two bad reviews I read them to see what their complaint was and then I read all the rest to get an overview of what one might expect from a product. I don't believe ever review that I see on newegg unless there are a large number of them. It's hard to overlook almost 50 reviews of which most are good. Dissing certain brands based on a supposed reputation sometimes is costly. I remember when Asus was considered to be just such a brand. Remember the cheapskate that Donald used to be? LOL

 

I have an Intel Pentium D805 processor overclocked currently 2.96Ghz from original 2.66Ghz. I am also using an Ultra 400watt power supply. How can I tell if I am running out of power and need to upgrade my power supply? My motherboard is an ECS P4M900T-M and I have 2GB of DDR2 667 memory installed.

 

Racer_XO,

The Pentium D-805 Draws 211 watts of power under load, so I don't even think you have to test to determine if you are running out of power. The D-805 also draws 147 watts at idle! I know people are going to jump out of the woodwork screaming "Corsair 620", or something. But lets be honest here, we are talking about a Pentium D-8xx series here, Not a front line Quad. Here's the exact same power supply I used for my D-940 cranked up to 3.86GHz. The D-940 was 130 watts at stock 3.2GHz!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153028

It's well made, 70% efficient at full load which is decent! It's quiet and it runs cool, you don't even hear the fan. newegg puts them on sale, most times for $59.99. Mine runs 15-17 hours a day 365 days a year, and you can't hear the PSU with the cover off! Oh! Ignore the lack of a PCI-E connector in Newegg as it does have one. Newegg just made a mistake!

I still have mine and it's on it's 4th build! It went from my D-940, then E4300, to my present E6750 and it still runs just as cool and quiet as the day I put it in the case a couple of years ago! Highly recommended as a low cost quality alternative to some of the more expensive offerings. Like I said, it's only a Pentium D-8xx. You will be astonished at how much heavier it is than your present Ultra 400 is. It feels solid! You'll see what I mean if you get one.

Oh! Another thing about the Ultra 400s! Some of them are very dangerous and have been known to burn down houses, and even kill people. There was an article printed on one of the threads here about it a few months back. I don't know how to get this information, but I'm sure someone will chime in with it! You could try and Google your PSU's model number, that may tell you if it's a dangerous one or not!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Russ, the 650TX is cheaper(and quite better).

http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-tx-...x-cmpsu-650tx-atx12v/q/loc/101/206178324.html

 

abuzar1,

Don't be a wise guy! You know what I meant by that! Hey whatever! If the Corsair is that cheap then it's a good buy. I just didn't want to see another 2 and 1/2+ pages on damn power supplies! The PSU I suggested to him is a quality, well designed and well made unit that often sells for $59.99 at newegg. Mine's going on 2 1/2 years and it still performs just as good as when it was new. I based my opinion on my personal experience using it for 2 1/2 years! It would still be my first choice if I needed to replace it based on it's performance and lack of noise. My computer while not silent, is still a very quiet computer and you can't hear the fan in the PSU, even with the cover off! It's far quieter than any PSU I ever owned! The Corsair will probably be the better choice unless he wants a very quiet PSU! At that price, with free shipping! the Corsair will do nicely!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Geez, relax man. Just because I didn't make a huge post doesn't mean I'm trying to be a smart-ass. I'm just lazy, so please don't get offended.

All I'm saying, currently the Corsair 650TX is cheaper, and would you not agree that it's better?

P.S. Just to clear things up. ATX is 12" x 9.6". All I said was that the Gigabyte is not FULL ATX, and that the Rampage Formula is. I never said which is better.

 

I think the ultra 400 is modular. if he wants to stay with modular cabling, the corsair 520HX would be an excellent replacement http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-520...ply-corsair-hx-cmpsu/q/loc/101/203270716.html