CPU-cooling, memory and PSU

Soterius · Post by **Soterius** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:59 am

Hi everyone! I would really appreciate it if you guys can help me out with the final choices on my new rig! So far it looks like this:

Case: Antec P182
Motherboard: P5K-E/WiFi-AP
CPU: Q6600 G0
GPU: 8800 GT 512 MB
HDD: WD Caviar GP 750 GB
Memory: Corsair Dominator 2048 MB, PC8500
PSU: Corsair HX520

I'm not sure about CPU-cooling. Is that neccesary? If CPU-cooling is neccesary, I will buy the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Aluminium . But then I have another question: Is it neccesary to put a fan on it?

I'm also not sure whether I should buy 4 Gig of memory instead of 2. I'm probably gonna run Vista 32-bit, so if I install 4 Gig it should let me use 3 of the 4 Gig, right? 4 Gig is considerably more expensive than 2 Gig, so is it worth it??? Also, what's better? 4 Gig of DDR2 or 2 Gig of DDR3?

Last, but not least: I read something about the PSU having low noise below 30% use, higher noise above 30% use, then again more noise above 40% use etc. So would my rig be more silent if I replaced the HX520 for a HX620? The difference in price is not that much so I'd definitely buy the HX620 if it made a difference...

Hope anyone can help me out here

Vahan · Post by **Vahan** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:32 am

yes you need a fan for that heatsink. despite being a low power version, that Q6600 still has 4 processor cores on one chip. makes lots of heat. even if you want total silence from your cpu i would recomment attaching a fan and having it off while idle but automatically turn on if your cpu heats up.

get ddr2. the advantage of ddr3 is that it runs at faster clocks but that would mean severely overclocking your cpu fsb because its multiplier is locked. it probably wont go high enough to match the ram's stock speed. ddr2 is way cheaper than ddr3. therefore you can get better performance for the same money just buy buying more of it! 4gb ddr2 > 2gb ddr3

i dont see any advantage of using 32bit vista as opposed to 64bit vista. you can install and run 32bit applications on 64bit windows, they just get a different "program files" folder to live in so windows can tell the difference. well, thats how it is in xp64 anyway. i recommend 64bit OS so you can use the full 4GB of ram. you never know, it might actually be useful one day.

oh and about the brand, corsair dominator looks expensive, i assume its CL5... so look for the cheapest pc8500 cl5 ram you can find online and it probably uses the same ram chips (micron D9) and gives you the exact same performance.

seems like everyone has a Q6600 G0, 8800GT, and ultra120 extreme these days lol. myself included :p

VanWaGuy · Post by **VanWaGuy** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:44 am

Hi Soterius,

You certainly made some great choices for most of the system. If you watch sales and rebates, DDR2 memory seems so cheap to me these days that I would probably get 4 GB with the future in mind. (I tend to browse techbargains.com daily)

I do not know that motherboard and case together, but if you do use the rear case fan, and it is a straight shot from the rear fan to the heatsink, a little ducting added from the rear fan to the CPU heatsink might let you get away without a separate fan. Otherwise, if you do put a fan on it, you should be able to have it going quite slowly.

Vahan · Post by **Vahan** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:50 am

VanWaGuy wrote:a little ducting added from the rear fan to the CPU heatsink might let you get away without a separate fan.

ooooh ducting. hadn't thought of that. if you do decide to take this route, you'd be better off with a scythe ninja, as they're designed for low pressure airflow and the ultra extreme likes high pressure.

Soterius · Post by **Soterius** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:47 am

Hey, thanx for the quick replies

Ducting..

How does that work??

I'm from Holland and ordering from a Dutch website, but I don't see a special category called "CPU-cooler-fans" or something. They have a category called "CPU-cooling" and there you can find the "Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Aluminium" or "Scythe Ninja" and others but I don't see a seperate category for fans that go onto your CPU-cooler. So can you give me an example of such a fan, I mean the name or type number so I can search for these things?

About the PSU, will the HX620 make my system more quiet than the HX520?

Thanx in advance!

grayter · Post by **grayter** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:46 am

The fans you are looking for will probably be in a section labeled "Case fans" or similar as they aren't actually any different. Fans that I've seen recommended around here are the Scythe Slipstream 120mm, Scythe S-Flex 120mm and the Nexus 120mm for the two CPU Heat sinks you mentioned (I think there is a recommended fans article too).

Soterius · Post by **Soterius** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:26 am

Thanx, grayter! I'm looking into them now.

Almost finished with picking the parts.

Only question that remains is whether to buy the HX520 or the HX620...

Soterius · Post by **Soterius** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:19 am

Anyone???

Shoud I go for the HX520 or the HX620? Will it make a difference in sound?

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:28 am

Soterius wrote:Anyone???

Shoud I go for the HX520 or the HX620? Will it make a difference in sound?

Hi.

Im pretty sure the HX520 has had some "problems" with coil-whine or such which the HX620 hasnt had AFAIK.

Why not go with a VX450W?

Soterius · Post by **Soterius** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:56 am

Hmm, never heard about those "problems", from what I've been reading the HX520 doesn't have any flaws. Do you have any links where they talk about these "problems"?

About the VX450W...Well as I said in my first post:

I read something about the PSU having low noise below 30% use, higher noise above 30% use, then again more noise above 40% use etc. So would my rig be more silent if I replaced the HX520 for a HX620?

So the question is how many Watts will my rig be using?

Case: Antec P182
Motherboard: P5K-E/WiFi-AP
CPU: Q6600 G0
GPU: 8800 GT 512 MB
HDD: WD Caviar GP 750 GB
Memory: Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 G 4096 MB, PC6400
PSU: Corsair HX520

and a DVD-player.

Scoop · Post by **Scoop** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:05 am

The wattage depends on if you OC or not. If you're running it stock, it consumes around 90-100W idle, 210-220W fully loaded (even these numbers are a bit high). If I were you, I'd take a Seasonic S12II-330 for that system, S12II-430/VX450 if you're overclocking, but since you've already made your mind about going with either HX520/620 then I'd say 520 naturally.

PSUs are usually at their most effective at ~45% so you might want to aim the most effective with idle load instead of most quiet since they won't be getting more quiet while idle. HX520/620 is actually 1db louder than S12II or VX450 at those stock load levels I presented. If you go the OC route, if you don't use headphones like I do when gaming, you might want to consider the HX520, since the fan, which is not the same as in VX450 and S12II series, ramps up later.

With your rig, it doesn't matter which PSU you go for (HX520/620), the load levels don't get high enough to make a difference in fan speed.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:18 am

Soterius wrote:Hmm, never heard about those "problems", from what I've been reading the HX520 doesn't have any flaws. Do you have any links where they talk about these "problems"?

Here
here
and
here

Id say your max power consumption is about 250-300W.

Nick Geraedts · Post by **Nick Geraedts** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:27 pm

My setup is pretty much exactly what you've got, with a few replacements:

CPU: Q6600 G0
GPU: EVGA 8800GT 512MB
Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe
RAM: OCZ Platinum DDR2-800 (2x2GB)
HDD: 2xWD3200AAKS
CPU Heatsink: Thermalright U120 Extreme
PSU: Corsair HX520

The loudest part of my setup is the fact that the hard drives are currently hard mounted. At stock speeds, my core temperatures are all under 40C at load, and my GPU never goes above 54C.

Soterius · Post by **Soterius** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:09 am

Nick, can you tell me how many case fans you're using with your setup? And do you use a seperate cooler for the 8800GT?

My current specs:

Case: Antec P182
Motherboard: P5K-E/WiFi-AP
CPU: Q6600 G0
CPU cooler: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme
GPU: 8800 GT 512 MB
HDD: WD Caviar GP 750 GB
Memory: Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 G 4096 MB, PC6400
PSU: Corsair HX620

I might OC the Q6600 a bit (probably 2.7 GHz or 3.0 GHz at the most) and perhaps OC the 8800GT a little (or buy one that's already OC'ed)

Any advice on airflow is welcome!

Scoop · Post by **Scoop** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:10 am

Soterius wrote:I might OC the Q6600 a bit (probably 2.7 GHz or 3.0 GHz at the most) and perhaps OC the 8800GT a little (or buy one that's already OC'ed)

Those OC'd GPUs are just a waste of cash. There's nothing miraculous about them, you can just as well OC it yourself.

Soterius · Post by **Soterius** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:15 pm

Okay, thanks for the advice! But I'd definitely need a cooler on the GPU if I were to OC it, right? So what about running it stock? Should I need a cooler then?

Soterius · Post by **Soterius** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:38 am

Can anyone please suggest to me how many case fans I will need for my new rig? It's about the only thing that keeps me from ordering the new rig

The lower chamber doesn't really need one, does it? So I think 1 rear, 1 top and one in the front. Now should I place a 120 mm fan at the top or a smaller one? And what if I OC the 8800gt, should I need an extra fan at the middle then? Since I'm already gonna place a fan on the CPU-cooler, that would make 5 fans total...which is much isn't it? So what should I do?

Sorry for beng noob..I see people aren't too jumpy to reply on my noob-questions.

pd230soi · Post by **pd230soi** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:03 am

I would reccomend you adopt a wait and see attitude about the case fans. Perhaps you can replace them one by one or you may find that it is ok without replacement.

I do think that case comes with fans. Read the review on this website.

P182 owners correct me if I have gone astray.

Have fun with your build!

Soterius · Post by **Soterius** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:35 am

Thanx for your comment, pd

Yes, the case comes with fans but those fans aren't as quiet as others and the basic placement of the fans isn't optimized for my specific system. I can find enough info on this forum about which fans are good and quiet so I know which ones to buy, but I can't find out how many fans I need for my specific system and where I should place them... For example: If I decide to put a fan on the GPU, perhaps I don't need the fan at the top of the case but I don't know things like that...so that's why I hope someone with experience can tell me how many fans I need and where to place them. Of course I could just buy a bunch and experiment but it would save me a lot of trouble if anyone here already knows the answer

CPU-cooling, memory and PSU

CPU-cooling, memory and PSU

Case Fans