Reducing the core voltage on a graphics card - how dangerous is this?
Using MSI Afterburner, I reduced the core voltage on my SLI 580s from 1075mV to 1025mV and got a significant drop in max temperature, with no perceivable loss to performance. I kept all the clock speeds on default values.
Metro 2033 maxed out used to make my top card peak at 97 degrees, and now it doesn't go past 75 degrees.
FYI, I'm running two Gigabyte GTX 580 Super Overclocks, and the current settings are:
but if you can get away with undervolting and not losing clockspeed or causing instability/crashing then by all means go for it. less voltage is better all other things being equal.
Extra bonus you should be drawing less power undervolted, which is especially nice on powerhungry cards like 580s
Gigabyte's OC Guru comes with the cards, but it's awful - it doesn't even recognise that I've got two cards.
I've tried MSI Afterburner and EVGA Precision and they seem identical, went with Afterburner out of UI preference. Looks like that EVGA utility you linked gets a bit deeper than I'm wanting to go right now, but I'll keep it handy cheers.
The hour is upon me! My new computer parts (chosen with assistance from this thread's previous iteration, thanks) arrive tomorrow. I'm replacing my 4-5 year old CPU/mobo/videocard/case, and keeping my hard drive, which is currently running a retail full install of Windows 7 64-bit.
I think I'm squared away on assembling this thing, but I'm not really sure what's going to happen once I hit power. My original understanding was that if you replace the mobo you have to reinstall the OS. Fair enough, however I've heard that I "might not have to." I'm not nearly smart enough to make use of that information; what determines whether or not I need to reinstall? Also, are there be activation issues that I should look out for?
AFAIK, the only time where you can change motherboards and not have to do a complete reinstall is when the boards are very similar. I'm going out on a limb and assuming that your 5yo MoBo isn't anything remotely resembling your new one, which means a clean install.
And now, suddenly the CPUTIN is holding at 5C which I believe is WAY cooler than the room I am sitting in.
Hmmmm
Check RealTemp.
That program only seems to show the core temps, which all agree with HWMonitor's core temps.
But doesn't seem to have anything that related to CPUTIN. But CPUTIN hasn't gone back above ~10C or so since I made that post so I'm going to just keep on keeping on and assume the 80C wasn't real.
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The AnonymousUh, uh, uhhhhhh...Uh, uh.Registered Userregular
One last question, if I were going to mess around with using Linux instead of Windows what's the best free version out now?
Up to you, really. The vast majority of *nix distros are free (as in free beer), and several of those are free software (as in free speech). Note that "distribution" isn't the same as "version"; the latter refers to the version of either a given distribution, or the Linux kernel itself (and even that has its fair share of forks), while the former is the OS built around Linux.
Anyway. Two distros frequently recommended to newcomers are Ubuntu and Debian. The main difference is in philosophy: the Debian maintainers favour free software over proprietary stuff, while the Ubuntu maintainers are basically the opposite. If you're dead-set on a totally free system, gNewSense is worth looking into - it's a fork of Ubuntu (the eventual version 3.0 will be based on Debian instead) without the proprietary nonsense, and it's sponsored by the Free Software Foundation themselves. There are literally tons of other distros out there; they generally come in the form of disc images that you burn to a CD or DVD which you can then boot from (i.e. you can run the OS from the disc to try it out, then install it if you're satisfied). So try them out and see which one you like the most (or just settle for something that supports your hardware :P).
One last question, if I were going to mess around with using Linux instead of Windows what's the best free version out now?
Up to you, really. The vast majority of *nix distros are free (as in free beer), and several of those are free software (as in free speech). Note that "distribution" isn't the same as "version"; the latter refers to the version of either a given distribution, or the Linux kernel itself (and even that has its fair share of forks), while the former is the OS built around Linux.
Anyway. Two distros frequently recommended to newcomers are Ubuntu and Debian. The main difference is in philosophy: the Debian maintainers favour free software over proprietary stuff, while the Ubuntu maintainers are basically the opposite. If you're dead-set on a totally free system, gNewSense is worth looking into - it's a fork of Ubuntu (the eventual version 3.0 will be based on Debian instead) without the proprietary nonsense, and it's sponsored by the Free Software Foundation themselves. There are literally tons of other distros out there; they generally come in the form of disc images that you burn to a CD or DVD which you can then boot from (i.e. you can run the OS from the disc to try it out, then install it if you're satisfied). So try them out and see which one you like the most (or just settle for something that supports your hardware :P).
Hi everybody! Parts are HERE! Assembly has begun...
First question: Bottom mounted PSU in a cooler-master HAF 912. I am assuming that the fan should point down? There's a vent on the bottom and what appears to be a filter? I'll have the case sitting on carpet, it just makes me paranoid about it getting enough air.... Also the PSU didn't come with a power cord, I'm assuming the one that I'm using on this computer right now (that I'll be yanking the HDDs out of anyways) will do?
2nd question: Intel i5-2500k, instructions (barren as they are) don't say anything about applying thermal paste. The heat sink has three gray metallic looking stripes going across it that look paste-like. Is that the thermal paste that has been pre-applied? If so, then after I install the CPU in the socket I just need to put the heat sink/fan on top of the CPU, right, and hook it on, right?
0
minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
PSU fan faces down, and the thermal paste is pre-applied on the i5 heatsink. It's all ready to just clamp on.
if you're gonna try to walk on water make sure you wear your comfortable shoes
If your case is sitting on carpet I highly recommend putting something under it, board or even just a flattened cardboard box, to keep it up above and taking in air without as much obstruction
I read the instructions, knew what the goal was, but somehow misinterpreted what I was seeing or something. Anyways, the wires have to go across the fan to plug into the cpu fan slot. Am I going to have to pull it off and do that again, or is that fine?
0
minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
If your case is sitting on carpet I highly recommend putting something under it, board or even just a flattened cardboard box, to keep it up above and taking in air without as much obstruction
This is sound advice. You can buy cheap rubber mats at home depot, cut to size. This way it's flat for airflow, and the rubber absorbs case vibrations.
if you're gonna try to walk on water make sure you wear your comfortable shoes
Ok, I'm seeing a potential problem with my new setup already and I don't even have all the parts.
Just as a recap I am replacing my old 775 mobo with a new i5 board etc. I'm also upgrading my GTX 460 to a second one.
The second one is possibly going to be the issue. My PSU, while a perfectly good one only has one "set" of 2x 6pin power connectors. Each 460 takes two.
Well, I have adapters for two more for a second 460 but here's the problem; and it might not be...that's why I'm posting. The only 4pin power connectors for my PSU are on two "lines". Both of those lines will be needed for the second 460. However, I only need 4 of the 6 4pins to make this work, so in theory there are two left over.
My question, then, is: Will it be potentially dangerous for my second 460 if I have the same lines they're connected to also powering my case fans? My only other option is no case fans and that's uh...no. I mean I suppose I could break down and buy a new PSU but I'd really rather not for this PC if I didn't have to. Is the pull for powering fans low enough that it shouldn't effect the second GPU if they're pulling power off the same lines?
EDIT: While I'm asking questions; should the rear case fan on a PC be intake or exhaust?
Ok, I'm seeing a potential problem with my new setup already and I don't even have all the parts.
Just as a recap I am replacing my old 775 mobo with a new i5 board etc. I'm also upgrading my GTX 460 to a second one.
The second one is possibly going to be the issue. My PSU, while a perfectly good one only has one "set" of 2x 6pin power connectors. Each 460 takes two.
Well, I have adapters for two more for a second 460 but here's the problem; and it might not be...that's why I'm posting. The only 4pin power connectors for my PSU are on two "lines". Both of those lines will be needed for the second 460. However, I only need 4 of the 6 4pins to make this work, so in theory there are two left over.
My question, then, is: Will it be potentially dangerous for my second 460 if I have the same lines they're connected to also powering my case fans? My only other option is no case fans and that's uh...no. I mean I suppose I could break down and buy a new PSU but I'd really rather not for this PC if I didn't have to. Is the pull for powering fans low enough that it shouldn't effect the second GPU if they're pulling power off the same lines?
EDIT: While I'm asking questions; should the rear case fan on a PC be intake or exhaust?
Depending on your new motherboard there should be a handful of headers to power fans on the board itself.
you should also be fine to power a few case fans off the same molex chain that's driving the second card unless you have a bunch of crazy high rpm fans.
rear fans should be exhaust unless your case is some crazy inverted design
Argh i'm getting so frustrated. I really thought I could just drop in a new mobo/cpu and be good. In retrospect that was kind of stupid of me to think.
EDIT: the really bad thing is that I've built probably a dozen or more PC's over the years; I really should know better.
It sounds like it is booting fine. The lights on the keyboard come on at the right time to make it look like it's booting to windows. Just no video at all. And the monitor is fine. I've tested it with my 360. I've tried the VGA DVI and HDMI ports.
EDIT: just got video with one of the cards. Had to use the secondary DVI port on it for some reason.
EDIT2: the card I got working (via second port) is the card I know is bad and is getting replaced tomorrow. I traded out RAM and blew out ports to get it to boot this time fine. not sure if some of my ram is bad or something.
Either way I can't get the new mobo to boot but that could be due to using my current windows install.
I'm not sure what you're asking exactly. I've got my 'old' PC up and running and am backing up some files which is taking fucking forever because my USB ports refuse to run in 2.0 mode.
After I get everything off it that I want I'll find my 7 disk and try putting the new pc back together and getting it up and running and do a fresh install.
I was really not intended on doing all of this today. I'm going to be installing shit through the weekend. Guess I'm gonna see if I have a download cap with Comcast redownloading my steam stuff.
EDIT: So, I'm just trying to "clean" up my PC interior and I'm curious...I have a large front fan and a large back fan. There are also two small side fans on my case. I'd like to remove the side fans for various reasons but I'm wondering if those specific fans are more beneficial than I'm thinking they might be.
Also it's stupid at this point with my USB controller that burning dvd's is faster than copying to a memory card.
Ok. Got everything backed up and my new parts hooked up.
It won't boot at all. It keeps shutting down/rebooting itself during post. I can't get further than that.
EDIT: after about the 8th time of that it finally booted. Told me I didn't have a boot drive then proceeded to load windows but gave me some funky error then crashed.
I'm not sure if I even bothered putting in the Win7 disk it would do a damn thing.
Something isn't right. Either the mobo or the RAM is bad I think.
EDIT2: figured out the thing about it telling me I have no boot drive. There's several SATA controllers on the board, it's just cycling through the various ones. I think I have it starting now with the WIn7 Disc. Lets see how this goes.
Windows is reinstalled and I'm starting to load all my crap back on. So far so good. It never did that weird rebooting during post a dozen times after that first time and everything has gone smoothly since.
Of course I get my new 460(s) tomorrow and I know I'm going to dick something up
Probably not. I guess I thought windows would just automatically install that stuff but I'm now thinking nope. My bandwidth is currently getting destroyed trying to download a bunch of games; I'll have to check in the morning.
Posts
Using MSI Afterburner, I reduced the core voltage on my SLI 580s from 1075mV to 1025mV and got a significant drop in max temperature, with no perceivable loss to performance. I kept all the clock speeds on default values.
Metro 2033 maxed out used to make my top card peak at 97 degrees, and now it doesn't go past 75 degrees.
FYI, I'm running two Gigabyte GTX 580 Super Overclocks, and the current settings are:
Core Voltage (mV) - 1025
Core Clock (MHz) - 855
Shader Clock (MHz) - 1710
Memory Clock (MHz) - 2050
If voltage is too low, what's the worst that can happen?
but if you can get away with undervolting and not losing clockspeed or causing instability/crashing then by all means go for it. less voltage is better all other things being equal.
Extra bonus you should be drawing less power undervolted, which is especially nice on powerhungry cards like 580s
So if it does start to struggle, am I just likely to see dropped frames / sketchy framerate etc?
I've tried MSI Afterburner and EVGA Precision and they seem identical, went with Afterburner out of UI preference. Looks like that EVGA utility you linked gets a bit deeper than I'm wanting to go right now, but I'll keep it handy cheers.
AFAIK, the only time where you can change motherboards and not have to do a complete reinstall is when the boards are very similar. I'm going out on a limb and assuming that your 5yo MoBo isn't anything remotely resembling your new one, which means a clean install.
That program only seems to show the core temps, which all agree with HWMonitor's core temps.
But doesn't seem to have anything that related to CPUTIN. But CPUTIN hasn't gone back above ~10C or so since I made that post so I'm going to just keep on keeping on and assume the 80C wasn't real.
Anyway. Two distros frequently recommended to newcomers are Ubuntu and Debian. The main difference is in philosophy: the Debian maintainers favour free software over proprietary stuff, while the Ubuntu maintainers are basically the opposite. If you're dead-set on a totally free system, gNewSense is worth looking into - it's a fork of Ubuntu (the eventual version 3.0 will be based on Debian instead) without the proprietary nonsense, and it's sponsored by the Free Software Foundation themselves. There are literally tons of other distros out there; they generally come in the form of disc images that you burn to a CD or DVD which you can then boot from (i.e. you can run the OS from the disc to try it out, then install it if you're satisfied). So try them out and see which one you like the most (or just settle for something that supports your hardware :P).
Thanks!
First question: Bottom mounted PSU in a cooler-master HAF 912. I am assuming that the fan should point down? There's a vent on the bottom and what appears to be a filter? I'll have the case sitting on carpet, it just makes me paranoid about it getting enough air.... Also the PSU didn't come with a power cord, I'm assuming the one that I'm using on this computer right now (that I'll be yanking the HDDs out of anyways) will do?
2nd question: Intel i5-2500k, instructions (barren as they are) don't say anything about applying thermal paste. The heat sink has three gray metallic looking stripes going across it that look paste-like. Is that the thermal paste that has been pre-applied? If so, then after I install the CPU in the socket I just need to put the heat sink/fan on top of the CPU, right, and hook it on, right?
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/9858/oopsm.jpg
I read the instructions, knew what the goal was, but somehow misinterpreted what I was seeing or something. Anyways, the wires have to go across the fan to plug into the cpu fan slot. Am I going to have to pull it off and do that again, or is that fine?
This is sound advice. You can buy cheap rubber mats at home depot, cut to size. This way it's flat for airflow, and the rubber absorbs case vibrations.
Just as a recap I am replacing my old 775 mobo with a new i5 board etc. I'm also upgrading my GTX 460 to a second one.
The second one is possibly going to be the issue. My PSU, while a perfectly good one only has one "set" of 2x 6pin power connectors. Each 460 takes two.
Well, I have adapters for two more for a second 460 but here's the problem; and it might not be...that's why I'm posting. The only 4pin power connectors for my PSU are on two "lines". Both of those lines will be needed for the second 460. However, I only need 4 of the 6 4pins to make this work, so in theory there are two left over.
My question, then, is: Will it be potentially dangerous for my second 460 if I have the same lines they're connected to also powering my case fans? My only other option is no case fans and that's uh...no. I mean I suppose I could break down and buy a new PSU but I'd really rather not for this PC if I didn't have to. Is the pull for powering fans low enough that it shouldn't effect the second GPU if they're pulling power off the same lines?
EDIT: While I'm asking questions; should the rear case fan on a PC be intake or exhaust?
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Depending on your new motherboard there should be a handful of headers to power fans on the board itself.
you should also be fine to power a few case fans off the same molex chain that's driving the second card unless you have a bunch of crazy high rpm fans.
rear fans should be exhaust unless your case is some crazy inverted design
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
EDIT: the really bad thing is that I've built probably a dozen or more PC's over the years; I really should know better.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3981/maybebetter.jpg
Should be fine as long as they don't touch any whirling bits.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
What's it doing? Failing POST? No sign of power at all? Error beeps? Will it boot to your windows install disc?
It sounds like it's booting but I get no video. I've tried several video cards.
It sometimes will do a weird power on, power off, power back on then go thing; but no video at all ever. Either motherboard.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
EDIT: just got video with one of the cards. Had to use the secondary DVI port on it for some reason.
EDIT2: the card I got working (via second port) is the card I know is bad and is getting replaced tomorrow. I traded out RAM and blew out ports to get it to boot this time fine. not sure if some of my ram is bad or something.
Either way I can't get the new mobo to boot but that could be due to using my current windows install.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
After I get everything off it that I want I'll find my 7 disk and try putting the new pc back together and getting it up and running and do a fresh install.
I was really not intended on doing all of this today. I'm going to be installing shit through the weekend. Guess I'm gonna see if I have a download cap with Comcast redownloading my steam stuff.
EDIT: So, I'm just trying to "clean" up my PC interior and I'm curious...I have a large front fan and a large back fan. There are also two small side fans on my case. I'd like to remove the side fans for various reasons but I'm wondering if those specific fans are more beneficial than I'm thinking they might be.
Also it's stupid at this point with my USB controller that burning dvd's is faster than copying to a memory card.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
It won't boot at all. It keeps shutting down/rebooting itself during post. I can't get further than that.
EDIT: after about the 8th time of that it finally booted. Told me I didn't have a boot drive then proceeded to load windows but gave me some funky error then crashed.
I'm not sure if I even bothered putting in the Win7 disk it would do a damn thing.
Something isn't right. Either the mobo or the RAM is bad I think.
EDIT2: figured out the thing about it telling me I have no boot drive. There's several SATA controllers on the board, it's just cycling through the various ones. I think I have it starting now with the WIn7 Disc. Lets see how this goes.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Of course I get my new 460(s) tomorrow and I know I'm going to dick something up
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
I know mine didn't function in any capacity until I installed the drivers
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand