Thursday, March 29, 2007
Enzotech CPU cooler
I originally wanted to get this Enzotech Ultra-X CPU cooler for my Pentium D but it was out of stock everywhere. Today (after my previous post) I got an email notification telling me it was in stock at one of the sites that lets you do email notifications on out of stock items... I went ahead and checked the other sites that carried it and sure enough it looks like they've all got it in stock now. After having an issue with jab-tech's site I ordered from Performance-PCs.com because they have other items I'm interested in as well. I'm hoping that the extra charges I paid them will actually get my stuff here before the weekend... unlike some OTHER web sites I won't mention.
Ziggo 5, computer or space heater?
The other night about a week ago it was extremely warm in my tiny apartment. This was when I was doing preliminary testing of Z5 running it at full throttle and trying to get the case cooling into order. The temperature outside was 55f and the temperature inside was 90f. The only thing I can think to blame is the hot air being constantly blasted out the top and back of Z5. After a few days of tweaking I figure I'm not going to get it to run any cooler but what I can do is improve the airflow in my apartment maybe. What I'm thinking about is a 5 inch by 5 inch square channel that will run along the wall and direct warm computer exhaust air right out a window that already has a fan in it. I've already mocked up a 5x5 channel that's about 6 feet long but with no bottom (like an upside-down U shape) and hung that on the wall using double stick tape. Using foam core and double stick tape should definitely work but the upside-down U channel seems to leak alot of heat so having a sealed channel will be necessary. The last thing I want or need is for it to get up over 100 degrees inside when it's 80 degrees outside! I can't wait to see my next electric bill...
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Do more with Dual Core
Vegas Video 6, 11 min video consisting of 59 still images with fades and a few page curl transitions.
Ziggo 5 render time = 10:35 - Pentium D 805 2.6 GHz Dual Core
OptimusPrime render time = 55:10 - Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
Ziggo 2 render time = usually about the same as OptimusPrime - Athlon XP 1800+ 1.5 GHz
:)
Ziggo 5 render time = 10:35 - Pentium D 805 2.6 GHz Dual Core
OptimusPrime render time = 55:10 - Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
Ziggo 2 render time = usually about the same as OptimusPrime - Athlon XP 1800+ 1.5 GHz
:)
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Ziggo5: Cooling the beast
I've got an all aluminum Lian-Li case. All aluminum = better thermal dissipation than steel, lighter than steel, easier to cut/mod than steel and more expensive than steel. It's worth it.
The processor is a Pentium D 805 - one of the hottest running dual core 64 bit Pentiums around but it's also a nice overclocker's chip.
The motherboard is an Asus P5b Deluxe with heatpipes instead of fans to cool it's components. Is it crazy logic to think that several noisy fans inside cool less efficiently than heatpipes because the small fans disrupt good airflow and blow warm air onto components? I don't think so.
The case has 1 120mm front intake, 1 80mm rear intake and one 80mm exhaust fan at the top of the case - blowhole style. The PSU also has 2 fans to exhaust... now think about that rear 80mm intake. It's right below the PSU exhaust. What are the chances it will suck in warm air from the PSU exhaust? Very small if you have the PSU fan duct from Lian-Li that directs the PSU exhaust to the left. I would rather have this exhaust direct the hot air up due to where the case is sitting in my workspace and I may look into making that a reality in the future. The case sits at my right as I type this and the hot air gets blown in my general direction.
The CPU cooler is an Apack Zerotherm CF800. It cools about as good as the stock Intel solution but my OEM processor doesn't come with the Intel cooler. The CF800 cost me about $30 at Newegg.
For reference, 35c = 95f, 40c = 104f, 45c = 113f, 50c = 122f, 55c = 131f, 60c = 140f, 65 = 149, 70 = 158, 75 = 167, and 80c = 176f.
Before I even think about attempting to overclock I'm going to make sure my cooling is good. The results of my first test were scary as hell! To test I'm running 2 instances of Prime95 to push both cores to 100%.
1:09 - Start Prime95 x 2
1:11 - proc core temp = 70c
1:13 - proc core temp = 71c
1:15 - pct = 72c... that's 159f BTW
1:24 - pct = 73c, motherboard temp = 51
1:36 - stop Prime95 x 2
1:37 - pct = 57c mbt = 51c
Went into the BIOS, turned off Asus' Q-fan control of the CPU fan then started test 2.
1:43 - start - pct = 65 mbt = 50c
1:44 - 70/50
1:45 - 71/50
1:46 - 73/50
2:02 - 73/53 - stopped test.
BIOS, disable all Q-fan control so all case fans running full throttle, start test 3.
2:08 - start - 62/51
2:09 - 66/51
2:10 - 69/50
2:11 - 70/50
2:16 - 72/51 - stopped test.
Something's either really wrong or I'm confused about what to expect. Did some thinking, took side panel off and just looked around. The exhaust out of the PSU was 140f and the top panel was arund 120f this whole time - I used a meat thermometer to measure exhaust temps. I felt the area of the back panel just below the PSU exhaust and it was very warm. Felt the back panel near the bottom and it was cool... this confirms a thought I've been having off and on about putting a 120mm fan intake in the bottom of the case! Still, I must be missing something so I put the side back on and power up into the BIOS. At some point, at a loss, I grabbed a tissue and held it up to the rear intake to see just how much air it was moving... it was then that I had a small rush of joy quickly overtaken by frustration. That rear fan that should have been an intake was exhausting air! Wow... it was something obvious! I didn't mount/install this fan but that's just an excuse... and changing it requires a bit of work due to the duct attached to the inside of the fan to direct the INCOMING air onto the processor. I felt so damned stupid.
8:00 - took a long break, a nap and then put the case back together to start the tests again.
8:10 - cold boot cpt = 49c mbt = 35c
8:11 - 45/37 - little to no load - CPU fan speed = 1298... first time I've seen it under 2200 RPM ever!
8:14 - 45/38 - little to no load - CPU fan = 1298
8:15 - start test - 59/39 - CPU fan = 1360
8:16 - 61/41 - 2057
8:19 - 63/45 - 2109
8:20 - 63/46 - 2163
8:25 - 64/50 - 2220
MUCH BETTER! I'm no longer seeing a core temp increase of 10 degrees + from normal/average operating temperature.
Now things are performing more in line with what my original expectations were of this Pentium D 805... now I can consider overclocking a small bit. I still haven't stopped that last test.
9:30 - 65c/53c - 2343 RPM
The PSU exhaust still sucks... errr blows. Gotta do something about that before summertime for sure. It's a cheap old 300 watt PSU I had lying around - I'm not in love with it much even before this experience... but at least it hasn't failed yet under these temps.
BTW... Friday morning I got another email from Newegg. It had the UPS tracking numbers for my shipment... that I had recieved on Wednesday. Never. Paying. 2.99. Again.
The processor is a Pentium D 805 - one of the hottest running dual core 64 bit Pentiums around but it's also a nice overclocker's chip.
The motherboard is an Asus P5b Deluxe with heatpipes instead of fans to cool it's components. Is it crazy logic to think that several noisy fans inside cool less efficiently than heatpipes because the small fans disrupt good airflow and blow warm air onto components? I don't think so.
The case has 1 120mm front intake, 1 80mm rear intake and one 80mm exhaust fan at the top of the case - blowhole style. The PSU also has 2 fans to exhaust... now think about that rear 80mm intake. It's right below the PSU exhaust. What are the chances it will suck in warm air from the PSU exhaust? Very small if you have the PSU fan duct from Lian-Li that directs the PSU exhaust to the left. I would rather have this exhaust direct the hot air up due to where the case is sitting in my workspace and I may look into making that a reality in the future. The case sits at my right as I type this and the hot air gets blown in my general direction.
The CPU cooler is an Apack Zerotherm CF800. It cools about as good as the stock Intel solution but my OEM processor doesn't come with the Intel cooler. The CF800 cost me about $30 at Newegg.
For reference, 35c = 95f, 40c = 104f, 45c = 113f, 50c = 122f, 55c = 131f, 60c = 140f, 65 = 149, 70 = 158, 75 = 167, and 80c = 176f.
Before I even think about attempting to overclock I'm going to make sure my cooling is good. The results of my first test were scary as hell! To test I'm running 2 instances of Prime95 to push both cores to 100%.
1:09 - Start Prime95 x 2
1:11 - proc core temp = 70c
1:13 - proc core temp = 71c
1:15 - pct = 72c... that's 159f BTW
1:24 - pct = 73c, motherboard temp = 51
1:36 - stop Prime95 x 2
1:37 - pct = 57c mbt = 51c
Went into the BIOS, turned off Asus' Q-fan control of the CPU fan then started test 2.
1:43 - start - pct = 65 mbt = 50c
1:44 - 70/50
1:45 - 71/50
1:46 - 73/50
2:02 - 73/53 - stopped test.
BIOS, disable all Q-fan control so all case fans running full throttle, start test 3.
2:08 - start - 62/51
2:09 - 66/51
2:10 - 69/50
2:11 - 70/50
2:16 - 72/51 - stopped test.
Something's either really wrong or I'm confused about what to expect. Did some thinking, took side panel off and just looked around. The exhaust out of the PSU was 140f and the top panel was arund 120f this whole time - I used a meat thermometer to measure exhaust temps. I felt the area of the back panel just below the PSU exhaust and it was very warm. Felt the back panel near the bottom and it was cool... this confirms a thought I've been having off and on about putting a 120mm fan intake in the bottom of the case! Still, I must be missing something so I put the side back on and power up into the BIOS. At some point, at a loss, I grabbed a tissue and held it up to the rear intake to see just how much air it was moving... it was then that I had a small rush of joy quickly overtaken by frustration. That rear fan that should have been an intake was exhausting air! Wow... it was something obvious! I didn't mount/install this fan but that's just an excuse... and changing it requires a bit of work due to the duct attached to the inside of the fan to direct the INCOMING air onto the processor. I felt so damned stupid.
8:00 - took a long break, a nap and then put the case back together to start the tests again.
8:10 - cold boot cpt = 49c mbt = 35c
8:11 - 45/37 - little to no load - CPU fan speed = 1298... first time I've seen it under 2200 RPM ever!
8:14 - 45/38 - little to no load - CPU fan = 1298
8:15 - start test - 59/39 - CPU fan = 1360
8:16 - 61/41 - 2057
8:19 - 63/45 - 2109
8:20 - 63/46 - 2163
8:25 - 64/50 - 2220
MUCH BETTER! I'm no longer seeing a core temp increase of 10 degrees + from normal/average operating temperature.
Now things are performing more in line with what my original expectations were of this Pentium D 805... now I can consider overclocking a small bit. I still haven't stopped that last test.
9:30 - 65c/53c - 2343 RPM
The PSU exhaust still sucks... errr blows. Gotta do something about that before summertime for sure. It's a cheap old 300 watt PSU I had lying around - I'm not in love with it much even before this experience... but at least it hasn't failed yet under these temps.
BTW... Friday morning I got another email from Newegg. It had the UPS tracking numbers for my shipment... that I had recieved on Wednesday. Never. Paying. 2.99. Again.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Report: One Versus Two Spaces After a Period
Report: One Versus Two Spaces After a Period - old habits die hard... unless you never learned to type on a typewriter...
grrrrrrr
I figured out that the tracking numbers aren't internal newegg tracking numbers. I'm still never paying the 2.99 again. Ziggo V's internals will be here today.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Newegg's 2.99 priority
I'm never paying that $2.99 again. I ordered round about midnight Friday eastern time. UPS does pickups on Saturdays so I can't blame UPS at all. My credit card was charged just fine and I recieved an email about that minutes after I'd completed the order on Newegg's pages. Saturday and Sunday I tried to look up info on my order using the SO # and kept getting errors from Newegg. I didn't get an email from Newegg until 5AM eastern Monday morning regarding the invoice number with internal tracking numbers. It's now 6PM eastern Tuesday and I still get "Unfortunately, we are unable to process your request at this time. Please try again later. If you need immediate attention, please contact the shipping courier directly." when I try to check those internal tracking numbers.
I'm giving them Sunday off, not counting Sunday at all. Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. That's 3 days and I still don't know where my stuff is. WTF? I guess this is what really happens when you pay the 2.99 idiot/extortion fee. In 2 to 3 years of ordering crap from them off and on I've never gone 3 days after placing an order with Newegg without knowing where my stuff is and this was the first time I ever payed that $2.99. Coincidence?
I'm giving them Sunday off, not counting Sunday at all. Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. That's 3 days and I still don't know where my stuff is. WTF? I guess this is what really happens when you pay the 2.99 idiot/extortion fee. In 2 to 3 years of ordering crap from them off and on I've never gone 3 days after placing an order with Newegg without knowing where my stuff is and this was the first time I ever payed that $2.99. Coincidence?
Monday, March 19, 2007
Return to Microcenter
So I took the case back today and it wasn't much of a hassle. Spent at least an hour, mostly standing around waiting for the guy to come back and tell me just how messed up they are.
Lian-Li PC-65. That's what's on display and it has a 120mm fan up front. What they gave me in the box was a PC-65 with 2 80mm fans up front. The guy at the returns desk asked if I wanted to pick out another case and I told him no, I want the case you have on display. I didn't pick out a case with 2 80mm fans up front and fewer front ports. I had to tell him to have one of their guys go into the back and find one. Luckily there was a really cool MC guy that came along and was willing to go look... granted I think he was already in the middle of helping 15 other people at the time. I can wait. After about 45 minutes he tells me that they have 4 in the back and they're all the dual 80mm version according to their boxes. He goes on to tell me that the 80mm version is the newer version and is replacing the 120mm version. All I can think when he says that is 'BULLSHIT'! I didn't say that out loud of course... what I said was well, do you really want to keep that 120mm model on display then? He said well I guess we'll have to put that one on clearance. Okay... maybe he was just playing dumb. Maybe they have rules about what they're allowed to offer to a customer who isn't irrationally irate. At any rate I had to suggest that he just take down the display model and swap it for the one I brought back since it represents what they have in stock. He claimed he had to clear it with his manager first and had the display case back to me in about 5 minutes. It had scratches on the side panels and I had to be the one to point out the obvious solution again. Just swap the panels, they're the same frame. I helped with that because I didn't want to spend too much time there and didn't want to keep him off the floor more than I had to. Heh... I went behind the returns counter to swap the panels... that was kinda cool I suppose but no other employees gave me any hassle about it.
So I get home and take the case back out of the box (I'd packed everything back up myself at the store) to inspect it further. It has some nubs on the power supply plate for holding an air director sort of thing (I assume) and the other one didn't have that. Oh... and after I was done petting my new precious I googled lian li replacement parts... found almost everything I need at this site but more importantly I found this image at the site which proves what I knew all along. Too bad for Microcenter I guess... the employee was either poorly informed or their supplier is kinda messing with them or maybe they just have bad inventory control procedures. How you get a gen2 on display and nothing but gen1 in stock is beyond me. I didn't find the freaking 120mm aluminum housing + washable filter for the front fan at that site though and I think that's the only thing missing from the case as it should have been now... unless the duct for the PSU fan should have been included. Oh well. I have the case I wanted and the missing parts can be dealt with.
Lian-Li PC-65. That's what's on display and it has a 120mm fan up front. What they gave me in the box was a PC-65 with 2 80mm fans up front. The guy at the returns desk asked if I wanted to pick out another case and I told him no, I want the case you have on display. I didn't pick out a case with 2 80mm fans up front and fewer front ports. I had to tell him to have one of their guys go into the back and find one. Luckily there was a really cool MC guy that came along and was willing to go look... granted I think he was already in the middle of helping 15 other people at the time. I can wait. After about 45 minutes he tells me that they have 4 in the back and they're all the dual 80mm version according to their boxes. He goes on to tell me that the 80mm version is the newer version and is replacing the 120mm version. All I can think when he says that is 'BULLSHIT'! I didn't say that out loud of course... what I said was well, do you really want to keep that 120mm model on display then? He said well I guess we'll have to put that one on clearance. Okay... maybe he was just playing dumb. Maybe they have rules about what they're allowed to offer to a customer who isn't irrationally irate. At any rate I had to suggest that he just take down the display model and swap it for the one I brought back since it represents what they have in stock. He claimed he had to clear it with his manager first and had the display case back to me in about 5 minutes. It had scratches on the side panels and I had to be the one to point out the obvious solution again. Just swap the panels, they're the same frame. I helped with that because I didn't want to spend too much time there and didn't want to keep him off the floor more than I had to. Heh... I went behind the returns counter to swap the panels... that was kinda cool I suppose but no other employees gave me any hassle about it.
So I get home and take the case back out of the box (I'd packed everything back up myself at the store) to inspect it further. It has some nubs on the power supply plate for holding an air director sort of thing (I assume) and the other one didn't have that. Oh... and after I was done petting my new precious I googled lian li replacement parts... found almost everything I need at this site but more importantly I found this image at the site which proves what I knew all along. Too bad for Microcenter I guess... the employee was either poorly informed or their supplier is kinda messing with them or maybe they just have bad inventory control procedures. How you get a gen2 on display and nothing but gen1 in stock is beyond me. I didn't find the freaking 120mm aluminum housing + washable filter for the front fan at that site though and I think that's the only thing missing from the case as it should have been now... unless the duct for the PSU fan should have been included. Oh well. I have the case I wanted and the missing parts can be dealt with.
Ziggo V conception
Newegg Wishlist
After months and months of agonizing and waffling I have to go with Intel over AMD. The main reason being price/performance/upgradeability. I got into the AMD game nearly 4 years ago (Ziggo 2) with an Athlon XP+ 1800 and an Asus A7V333+Raid. My thinking at the time was buy what I could afford across all the parts and upgrade as prices came down. AMD decided to change their socket on me though... not once but twice. Kinda screwed my update path as getting a new board wasn't part of it. I wasn't going to hold a grudge against AMD for that but I still didn't like it.
So here I am again trying to envision the upgrade path. Upgrading is fun to me and not just a necessary evil. So I'm setting a limit of under $1000 for the core components but I'm going to skimp on the processor this time. Also the first time I did this in 2003 I picked a motherboard with on-board video but this time it's not an attractive option. That was my very first build so I could afford to do it piece by piece... and now I have standards that won't let me do that :)
Processor: Intel Pentium D 805
I had originally planned on getting the E6300 but by going with an OEM D 805 I was able to cut over $100 from the cost. I think my upgrade path feels pretty solid going this route too. Since the exact chip I'm getting is an OEM I had to throw in a cooler: ZEROtherm CF800 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail - I did a little research on this and it shouldn't be any worse than the stock Intel cooler.
Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP
Originally I was looking at motherboards with the P975 chipset but the $200+ price of these boards left me holding off on the purchase. Roughly $150 per component just feels right in my mind so I started to look at the P965 boards. I also found benchmarks where the ICH8 southbridge was alot better than the nvidia chipsets when it came to USB performance and some other things. The WiFi version of the board is priced about $20 more than the one without and even though I don't need WiFi I figure it won't be bad to have the option in the future. The same with dual PCI-E slots... I'm not sure that I'll ever need that but might as well.
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
No point in sacrificing on the RAM. I struggle along with 1.5GB in Ziggo2 with XP + Photoshop, virtual machines and other apps as it is.
Video Card: ATI X1950 XT
Originally I was thinking about going with an ATI X850 variant because that's what I currently have in Ziggo2 running in a 4x AGP slot. The comparison would have been cool but I can't find any X850 cards lately. I want to have VIVO regardless so that meant the X1650 was the card to set my sights on... until I compared the X850 and X1650 using Tomshardware.com's graphics card comparison utility. The X850 consistently scored better than the X1650... oooookay. That's how I ended up with the X1950 as my card of choice and this was what ultimately lead me to choose the Pentium D 805 as well, spending more on the video than the original plan. It's an open box card but I have the adapters I need already. I also didn't want a card that was double height with the cooler.
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
On-board sound doesn't cut it. Never has for me.
Hard Drive: WD Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Seems like an obvious choice to me.
The total comes to $935.18 with shipping. I'm also trying to get a Lian-Li PC-65 variant case. This is turning out to be just as complicated as putting the core system together. I went to microcenter and they had one on display, so I bought one. When I got home with the box it's not the same case they had on display. In the box = 2 80mm fans up front, on display = 1 120mm fan up front. There are other differences as well and I'm taking the damned thing back to see if I can get what I want. This adds another $150+ to the total but this is total splurging :) I don't NEED a case, I have a few I can use but none of them are aluminum with a removable motherboard tray! :D
After months and months of agonizing and waffling I have to go with Intel over AMD. The main reason being price/performance/upgradeability. I got into the AMD game nearly 4 years ago (Ziggo 2) with an Athlon XP+ 1800 and an Asus A7V333+Raid. My thinking at the time was buy what I could afford across all the parts and upgrade as prices came down. AMD decided to change their socket on me though... not once but twice. Kinda screwed my update path as getting a new board wasn't part of it. I wasn't going to hold a grudge against AMD for that but I still didn't like it.
So here I am again trying to envision the upgrade path. Upgrading is fun to me and not just a necessary evil. So I'm setting a limit of under $1000 for the core components but I'm going to skimp on the processor this time. Also the first time I did this in 2003 I picked a motherboard with on-board video but this time it's not an attractive option. That was my very first build so I could afford to do it piece by piece... and now I have standards that won't let me do that :)
Processor: Intel Pentium D 805
I had originally planned on getting the E6300 but by going with an OEM D 805 I was able to cut over $100 from the cost. I think my upgrade path feels pretty solid going this route too. Since the exact chip I'm getting is an OEM I had to throw in a cooler: ZEROtherm CF800 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail - I did a little research on this and it shouldn't be any worse than the stock Intel cooler.
Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP
Originally I was looking at motherboards with the P975 chipset but the $200+ price of these boards left me holding off on the purchase. Roughly $150 per component just feels right in my mind so I started to look at the P965 boards. I also found benchmarks where the ICH8 southbridge was alot better than the nvidia chipsets when it came to USB performance and some other things. The WiFi version of the board is priced about $20 more than the one without and even though I don't need WiFi I figure it won't be bad to have the option in the future. The same with dual PCI-E slots... I'm not sure that I'll ever need that but might as well.
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
No point in sacrificing on the RAM. I struggle along with 1.5GB in Ziggo2 with XP + Photoshop, virtual machines and other apps as it is.
Video Card: ATI X1950 XT
Originally I was thinking about going with an ATI X850 variant because that's what I currently have in Ziggo2 running in a 4x AGP slot. The comparison would have been cool but I can't find any X850 cards lately. I want to have VIVO regardless so that meant the X1650 was the card to set my sights on... until I compared the X850 and X1650 using Tomshardware.com's graphics card comparison utility. The X850 consistently scored better than the X1650... oooookay. That's how I ended up with the X1950 as my card of choice and this was what ultimately lead me to choose the Pentium D 805 as well, spending more on the video than the original plan. It's an open box card but I have the adapters I need already. I also didn't want a card that was double height with the cooler.
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
On-board sound doesn't cut it. Never has for me.
Hard Drive: WD Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Seems like an obvious choice to me.
The total comes to $935.18 with shipping. I'm also trying to get a Lian-Li PC-65 variant case. This is turning out to be just as complicated as putting the core system together. I went to microcenter and they had one on display, so I bought one. When I got home with the box it's not the same case they had on display. In the box = 2 80mm fans up front, on display = 1 120mm fan up front. There are other differences as well and I'm taking the damned thing back to see if I can get what I want. This adds another $150+ to the total but this is total splurging :) I don't NEED a case, I have a few I can use but none of them are aluminum with a removable motherboard tray! :D
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