The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition

Estuansis,
The reason I recommended 3kJodo set the CPU Smart Fan Controller to disabled, is that the PWM control does not work well with the Coolit ECO. The heat is removed so quickly from the CPU that all the components of the ECO remain cool to the touch. The heat transfer to the radiator, and the speed at which the fans remove the heat from it, is like a false reading for the temps. By the time they get to the point of efficiently moving enough air to stay ahead of the internal temperatures, The CPU get's much warmer than it would be if you just let the fans run full speed. The real problem (if you can call it a problem), is all the heat is in the Radiator, not the CPU. By the time the CPU itself get's warm enough to raise the fan speed via PWM, the temps are 10-13C higher, to begin with. While it's quieter using the PWM controller, it's just not near as efficient, or as cool. The noise level wouldn't really bother anyone here, except maybe Sam, and he is the only person I know of that has a better hearing range than I have.

Overall, it's much quieter than my E6750 was in a Cooler Master Cavalier case. I'm sure some day there will be a temperature sensor that you will be able to plug directly into the motherboard, from the radiator, to better handle Liquid Cooling needs.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

To be fair, auto fan control really isn't a very good way of doing it for watercooling. At the most what you should have is a high and low speed, and temperature thresholds for each. Adjusting the fan speed on the fly will probably cause all sorts of havoc with speeds forever changing.

 

Sam,
I quite agree. Liquid cooling seems to remove the heat from the CPU very efficiently, which puts the temperature sensor control for the CPU, in the wrong place until things get warm enough to make the motherboard controller come to a semblance of life. Using the motherboard CPU fan controls seems to reduce the overall efficiency of liquid cooling by 20% or more, in my system! For whatever strange reason there is, the Scythe 1800 rpm, 63CFM, PWM fan that comes with the ECO, can't be effectively adjusted with EasyTune like it could be with the Freezer 64. With the ECO, it doesn't seem to do much of anything.

BTW, I meant to ask you about the CPU's function in games. When I installed the Athlon IIx4 630 in Oxi, Russell noticed right away that there was so much more detail in the graphics for AOE II, than with the 7750 dual Core. The detail improved a lot when I put the 7300GS, I got from Will in it. And now with the 630 installed, the detail is even better. I'm looking for more games that can be played, primarily with a mouse, because Russell is missing a few parts of his fingers, so trying to use any kind of controller is almost useless. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

The level of detail shouldn't improve by itself just by adding a new processor. However, if the games automatically adjust their settings it's conceivable that they will increase the detail level when the CPU changes. CPUs perform a variety of roles in games, the artificial intelligence of the allies/enemies, physics calculations for the visual effects, the primary functioning of the game at the base of it.

As for games that can be played with a mouse (presumably not a keyboard) there's all sorts really, fast-paced strategy games are obviously best avoided due to their reliance on hotkeys, but more lighthearted strategy games, or single players, age of empires being a reasonable example, will certainly be ok. Perhaps consider titles like the Black & White series, the Civilisation series, and for more action-oriented titles, Supreme Commander and Company of Heroes are worth a look, though the former carries a relatively steep hardware demand. There's also stuff like the RollerCoaster Tycoon series which I enjoyed a great deal.
Alternatively, for something a little different, there are the tower defense games Defense Grid and Sol Survivor (the former of which I think is more fun), which can be good fun, though perhaps enhanced when you have a group of mates you're competing for high scores with.
Away from strategy, there are also fun arcade-style games like Ricochet Xtreme, which is a modern adaptation of the arcade game Arkanoid. That's pretty enjoyable.
It may also be worth looking at stuff from casual games producer PopCap, in particular Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle are quite amusing.

Most importantly, there is a vast wealth of free flash games you can play in a web browser out there. Have a rummage through websites like ArmorGames, Kongregate and Miniclip, there's bound to be loads of stuff in there to enjoy.

 

Thanks Sam. I appreciate your input and will look into your suggestions.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Don't forget Newgrounds. Be warned though that they do have adult stuff as well, though separate from the rest.

 

Is true, though a lot of it is quite funny

 

No problem about the pics No . I haven had a chance to Oc the video card. I used the after market fan & heatsink as a way of getting the heat out faster due to problems inside the card itself uder that plastic factory cover they come with but it did'nt help cause my problem lies in the motherboard itself with cpu bein at a higher temps at normal idle when the card is installed on the board my ATI HD 4770 512 mb gets warmer than my ATI HD 5770 1GB reason. I don't know but this is my first AMD build and. I'm alittle upset it went this way. I should recieve my 965BE back tomorrow from AMD in cali and go from there my eyes are on another board at the time...

 

Thanks to both you and Estuansis,
He belongs to POGO, and I usually play a lot of Pinochle there as well. He takes AOE II pretty seriously. Anybody can win, but he always stacks the deck against himself, because he likes the challenge. He always plays with the full compliment of men for all sides, and sometimes plays for hours on end. He enjoys outwitting them and the challenges they present. He's not one of those people who stacks the deck against his enemies, like his son does. I mean you can stack the deck to where anyone with half a brain can win, easily. What's the fun in that? Besides, his son is incredibly stupid to begin with! He's got two brains, One lost, the other out looking for it. It's amazing just how far the Apple can fall from the tree! LOL!!

My Thanks again,
Russ

 

Hi guys hows every1 im new here lol now to business i have set a buget of £600 to build a gaming pc and the last time i got 1 i ended up with a piece of junk Nvidia 8500GT lol so im looking for input please lads thanks in advance Gav

 

Adjusting fan speed on a rad works well from what I've been told, you just need to do it right, similar to adjusting case fans. Originally I was planning on getting a fan controller for mine but I figure if I have room to undervolt my fans I'll probably just raise the OC lol.

 

So I recieved the scythe fan today tossed it on the cooler unfortunately I only have the 4 screws that came with the original so I split them 2/2 front/back turned on the comp pc health shows it at 24C which is schweet now I just need to get the OS installed and can finally get around to this OC dealy oh and find 2 more 3/8 screws
Hey they Theduff10 I just built my first computer which after rebates ended up approx 800 american dollars not sure how that converts to pounds or euros this doesn't take into account an OS or a HDD though and you could knock off a hefty bit of cash with a cheaper graphics card mine was 300 bones(wince). I did just score a 1TB seagate barracuda for 40 bucks after rebate which I just tossed in the case along with the scythe fan

 

3kJodo,
The danger in only using 2 screws, is that you "NEED" 4 screws on the rear fan mount, as it's all that holds the radiator to the case, plus it will warp from the heat without being secure! It isn't very strong either! Take yourself to a hardware store and buy a couple of screws, and do it soon! Be sure to take one of the screws with you!

Russ

 

heh no worries there, will be moseying on down to the home depot tomorrow when I have more time. I just wanted to see what the temps would be with em both on the radiator

 

Red_Maw,
I'm not arguing that adjusting the fan speed on a rad, doesn't work well. All I'm saying is that I don't recommend using the PWM controller on the motherboard to adjust it with the ECO. It seems to work well enough for Oman7 on his, but it doesn't on mine! A fan controller would be even worse, because you can't use voltage control to adjust a PWM fan! Doing that will ruin the fan, because it will burn out the electronics built into it. With PWM control the voltage remains constant, only the pulse width of the power is changed. The wider the pulse width, the faster the fan runs. Narrow the pulse width, and it slows down.

For me, using the PWM controller on the motherboard increases my idle temps by 13-15C. At my current 80F room temperature, my Idle temp is 29C/84F. I don't want to see 43C/90F at idle, and I've yet to see anything over 48C, regardless of the load. It's certainly not going to get any cooler when I put a load on it. I prefer to let my fans run at full speed, since all but one fan is either 800 rpm or 1200 rpm, and very quiet. Even the one that came with the ECO, at 1800 rpm isn't that loud, although I will shop a quieter fan to replace it.



I really don't think you could ask for better temps than this, and I don't have to fiddle with fan controllers to maintain those temps! The computer is quiet enough, and my temps are outstanding!

Russ

 

Didn't mean to come across as arguing, I agree completely in that PWM won't do a good job. Just wanted to state that it can be done well and effectively.

Never knew that adjusting the voltage of a PWM fan would ruin it, probably good to know (need to double check my fans now, they weren't cheap lol). Thanks Russ.

 

Red_Maw,
Most case fans are not PWM, so I wouldn't worry too much. They usually make weird noises, long before they call it quits anyway. Some, like the one in my Kama Bay fan, make weird noises when you try plug them into a PWM header.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

The coolit fan is 1800rpm, and 120mm? That can't be that quiet, and I'm somewhat surprised it ships with such a powerful fan, my experience with watercooling rads (though granted, small compact single 120mm ones may differ) is that 1000-1200rpm is all you ever need.

 

I got say loving my temps also low rpm's on cpu fan and Gpu at 40% speed but my cpu is on the PWM it is temp controlled if stress is applyed on this Rig but. I control my ATI HD 5770 Card with software for it's speed. I just wish 1 day... I can get my AMD rig to the same 965BE will be home today Fedex travel...



liking my video card temps real well...

 

1640rpm is quite a high fan speed for idle for a 5770, so that probably explains its low temperature. However, with most 5770 coolers, 1640rpm really isn't that obnoxious at all. On the other hand, keeping your GPU at such a low idle temperature is unnecessary