What I learned when making my E6400 PC. Long!

[pr0p4g4nd4]

I've always put the HS/F on the mobo before installing it into the case. Never had any problems and it's saved a lot of hassle.

Enjoy your new setup mate, it really is beautiful!

[SiM]

Ok, my bad... Although I remember there being a warning on my zalman heatsink about doing that... But that heatsink was heavy...

[BlindMelon7]

Nice post m8. I wish I had money for ne of those screens. Does he get a double post count for that one?

[FLuff_eei]

Thanks, interesting read,
Fluff_eei

[Clunk]

Nice system mate

P.S. i think that heatsink looks pretty damn cool!

[rolph]

Just about to put a build together that's pretty similair.

Good to read about your experiences.

Thanks

[owen1978]

The difference between the E6300 (x7) & E6400 (x8) is the multiplier

[zawer612]

dude word of advice, use intel TAT to monitor the temps, if your temps get too high under load then your cpu might be throttling (backing down in speed).

I've just built two conroe systems this morning and one has a bad hsf/heat spreader or maybe just bad contact. Using TAT one core idles at 24C and the other 28C, under load (orthos) it gets to 45C and 52C respectively. seems one side is not dissapating heat properly. Gona check it out later, need some sleep now finished work at 01:30 and couldn't sleep so went and built two systems Was thinking about doing some overclocking but i guess i better not....

System specs are;

E6700
2gig geil PC6400 ram
Asus P5w-dh
Chenbro gaming bomb2 case
OCZ 700watt PSU
8800GTX
150gig Raptor

and

E6600
2gig crucial PC5300 3-3-3-12 ram
Asus P5w-dh
Thermaltake kandalf case
OCZ 700watt psu
8800GTX
150gig Raptor

Currently running orthos on both systems while i sleep, gotta check for stability before i overclock

Also the issue you have with needing a floppy to install windows is because you've got your drives connected to the third party raid SATA's, the primary SATA's are native sata so no drivers needed.
I've built 25+ systems that have never required a sata floppy UNLESS i'm installing a raid or have the drives connected to the third party raid controller.
HTH

need some sleep now, *yawn* night night...

[Rack]

nice post mate, and nice PC. I love the monitor, wish I could afford it *jealous*

One thing I don't get is a 400W PSU for £56? I bought a 450W Tagan for £40 the other day. You sure that'll be enough on load with the extra hdd's? Also you'll probably look at upgrading the gfx at some point with that monitor - you'll probably need a new PSU then.

7900GS I just bought for a friend who got 2 x 2407WFP 24" monitors, I hope it's enough!

[DavidA]

dude word of advice, use intel TAT to monitor the temps, if your temps get too high under load then your cpu might be throttling (backing down in speed).

Oh. Now you've got me worried. Here's the PC running Orthos. Notice that the Asus motherboard util reads a lower temperature than the TAT one.



At idle they run at about 46 degrees. Are these temperatures okay? Also, CPU 0 runs about 3 degrees hotter than CPU 1. Have I installed the heatsink badly?

Also the issue you have with needing a floppy to install windows is because you've got your drives connected to the third party raid SATA's, the primary SATA's are native sata so no drivers needed.
I've built 25+ systems that have never required a sata floppy UNLESS i'm installing a raid or have the drives connected to the third party raid controller.

I was installing a RAID. Forgot to mention.

[Agent]

Just slipstream the RAID drivers to a windows disk using somthing like nLite
Ive just this second installed windows on a RAID 0 array using the above method - no F6, and no floppy

[magneticman]

Oh. Now you've got me worried. Here's the PC running Orthos. Notice that the Asus motherboard util reads a lower temperature than the TAT one.



At idle they run at about 46 degrees. Are these temperatures okay? Also, CPU 0 runs about 3 degrees hotter than CPU 1. Have I installed the heatsink badly?




I was installing a RAID. Forgot to mention.

I could be wrong as I have an e6300 (not really a conroe) but I thought C2D's are really cool, as I've never seen mine exceed 45 degrees under load...

[chuckskull]

It's because you're running the heatsink passively. Even fans nearby isn't the same as one right on the HS to force air over the heatpipes.

Try putting a 120mm fan on there and recheck the temps, I reckon they'll drop 10c. If not then just remount the heatsink with AS5.

[Thorsson]

Graphics Card - MSI GeForce 7900GS 256MB PCIE DVI - £147 from Dabs.

I got the 7900GTO from Scan for £170 and even at retail clocks it was around 50% higher. It scores 3dmark05 11206 at the current OC (not anywhere near what some are running at), with a slower AMD4400+ processor, and the card only gets to 60C under full load. OTOH although it's not noisy (I can't hear it over the other 4 fans, inc PSU, all of which are slow 120mm), it's not silent either - but that's only a HS replacement away.

[fathazza]

nice little read...
and i didnt realise that dell had knocked £450 of the price of that monitor.... thus making it severlely tempting. so thanks for the heads up

id suggest you try fitting the intel stock hs and a couple of case fans and see if that solves your temp/performance issues. also you did use some thermal paste when fitting the hs, right?

[DavidA]

Thanks chuckskull, fathazza.

Reading around, my temperatures aren't really dangerous, but I think if I want to be a little cooler I need to bite the bullet and put a fan on the heatsink. I might stick on the one which came with the Scythe Ninja. I'll be able to control that fan from the motherboard so it shouldn't be too noisy.