CAN$ 250 - GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 and Intel i3-2100 3.1GHz
CAN$ 180 - M4A88T-M/USB3 and Athlon II X3 455 3.3GHz

If your problem is the GPU overheating then, as an experiment: - run a benchmark suite and record the temperatures - put a fan at spot 4, block spot 1, leave spot 2 fanless and leave out the expansion slot filler plates - re-run the benchmark suite and record the temperatures Have fun. -------------...

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cooler ... html#sect0
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cooler ... html#sect0
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cooler ... html#sect0

the review only shows 12W difference at full load The pertinet word in the chip spec is Max . The i3-2100 Processor runs at 3.10 GHz and is a Max TDP 65W category chip. The i3-2100T Processor runs slower, at 2.50 GHz, and costs more and is a Max TDP 35W category chip. It's possible that you could b...

This is the best memory test i know of:

Windows Memory Diagnostic
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

For the best reliability now and for the many years you own this computer you should:

> only buy QVL memory
> never overclock
> never overvolt
> never undervolt
> always have some air flowing

Some people say Reliability is Job 1.

Try an additional (dummy) load on the AC-DC power brick.

It was glaringly obvious to me what a poor performer the FX-8150 is in general use compared to the lowly Core i3-2100. Here is my 2 cents worth: -------------------------------------------- FX-8150 vs Core i3-2100 Performance And Cost Performance Based On spcr Article Core i3-2100 is 8 % faster in ...

The supplied bracket along with the drive is blocked by the power supply and sata cables underneath them

Perhaps a 24 Pin ATX Power Extension Cable will help and SATA cables come with right angle connectors.

I don't think that they will sell a lot of these unless the prices are reduced by 33%.

In my city I can get:

AMD FX-8150 Processor 3.6GHz CAN$ 279.99 (Preorder)
or
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 3.2GHz CAN$ 179.99
or
Intel Core i5-2500K, 3.30GHz CAN$ 219.99

Thanks for the heads up. I have updated my OCZ Solid3 120G to the BSOD fix (OCZ version 2.15) using the linux based firmware update boot CD. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASUS M2A-VM HDMI, Athlon II X4 640, Scythe NINJA, OCZ...

First you need air flowing through the case and then something like a Scythe Mugen.

This is reasonably quiet and perhaps will fit your budget:

On Sale!!! $109.99 - Antec Sonata IV Case w/ 620W Power Supply, USB 3.0

Some have experimented with plastic floor tiles glued onto the side panel for additional quieting.

"does the BIOS do such a bad job?" The mainboard BIOS CPU fan control is designed to do a good job with the OEM heatsink/fan that comes with the CPU. The spec's of your 3rd party fan are out of the design range of the CPU fan connector and you are getting the abnormal start/stop activity. You have ...

What's the practical difference between the CPU and system fan connectors? CPU fan connectors can respond quickly to changing CPU temperature depending on the design and settings for the connector. I've never seen system fan connectors, irregardless of claims, respond to changing temperatures. The ...

"If you're only going to have one fan, is there a reason it's better to make that a case fan, rather than a CPU one?" My single fan is a case fan and a CPU fan because of the duct. The fan runs at around 650 rpm at idle and 1500 rpm when re-coding a video. It moves most of the heat inside the case ...

"It's making me wonder whether I even need both case fans." My Main System lives in an Antec P180 spcr_edition Case. Upper Chamber: ASUS M2A-VM HDMI, Athlon II X4 640, Scythe NINJA, 2 GBytes RAM, Boot drive is OCZ Solid 3 120 GByte SSD, Backup drive is a Seagate 500 GByte FXD, Optical Disk Drive, F...

A W E S O M E

I am VERY interested in hearing more.

I'm on a pension and I "go round that cycle a few times" on a regular basis and then buy myself an upgrade item about once a year. Last year it was an Athlon II x4 640 and last week it was an OCZ Solid 3 120 GByte SSD. Next year maybe it will be Windows 7 or .....

Also there is the Phenom II X4 955 BE---Asus M5A87---Radeon HD 6770 option.

This is tough.tough.tough when on a tight budget.

£52 is £1 per week for a year or £0.25 per week over 4 years....

This rig will run fine on a 500W PS, but if you choose the Antec P183 V3 in would be a shame not to get the Antec CP-850 850W power supply.

Looks like it would be a great system. It would be a shame not to spend $10 more and get the 2500K for a mild OC. Also consider saving $100 on the power supply and using it for: getting 2 Western Digital Green 2TB WD20EARX in RAID 1 or get an SSD and 1 Western Digital Green 2TB WD20EARX or get a Blu...

The manual has very few details. I wonder where jonnyguru got the more detailed info....

Both of the PCIe connectors are on the 12v3/12v4 supply circuit and each power feed is over current protected at higher that 25 amps. If you connect both the 12v3 and the 12v4 power feeds to the same video card you will be interfering with the over current protection and losing the safety that is en...

now one is on the non-modular connector, the other is connected via a modular, so separate rail There is a very comprehensive review of the EA-750 here: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=163 The EA-750 has two 12 volt supplies instead of the usual one circuit. The 12...

I think it is the CPU

I suggest checking the push pins on the CPU heatsink.

Soon as I put the 6950 in anything using 3d was causing system crashing

I will suggest these 3 possibilities:

1. The HD 6950 is faulty.
2. The HD 6950 is not compatible with your mainboard.
3. You've got a weird driver issue.

My Main System lives in an Antec P180 spcr_edition Case. The upper chamber heat load consists of a ASUS M2A-VM HDMI mainboard, an Athlon II X4 640 quad core processor running at stock 3 GHz, 2 Gbytes DDR2 memory, Optical Disk Drive, Floppy Disk Drive and a RADEON HD 3450 Graphics Card. I use only on...

darunium wrote:...cooling performance would be decreased due to heatpipe orientation...any advice is appreciated...

I suspect that the cooling performance will remain above a safe threshold with an adequate safety margin.

...will the single cable provide sufficient power for the card... "Yes, because the weakest link in the power feed is usually the pin connections and not the power cable gauge." edit: I meant to say: The copper wires in a single cable can usually provide sufficient power for the card but the weakes...