Official Building/Upgrading thread

[Razor Ramon HG]

Well, when I installed the HG10 bracket, VRM temps seemed to be in check.

Of course, one can always buy extra heatinks afterwards, but the HG10 reuses the stock blower fan to specifically cool the VRMs.

[Akinari]

Of course, it's not absolutely necessary to get extra fans or VRM heatsinks on there if converting to water cooling on a card...

[heisenberg]

Does anyone ever have problems downloading... Uh free software on windows 8 laptops? After a few days it goes to a black screen and I have to restore it

[TOS'd]

Originally Posted by heisenberg

Does anyone ever have problems downloading... Uh free software on windows 8 laptops? After a few days it goes to a black screen and I have to restore it

You need to be way more specific.

[heisenberg]

So, after downloading a torrent it works for 3-4 days. Let's use word as an example because it has happened with word. After 3 or say days with the laptop working fine, I'll turn it on and itll just give me a black screen. After restarting a few times I have access to the log in screen. I can log on, but once on all I have access to is the task manager and my mouse. I then proceed to restore my laptop and all works again. I'm on an Asus k555la.

[TOS'd]

Maybe its the specific torrent you downloaded? Haven't run into that before.

[heisenberg]

I've had a bunch of different torrents and they all act up. Microsoft office, cs6, cities.

[underscore]

What happens if you restore but do nothing for 3-4 days?

[heisenberg]

it works fine

[Razor Ramon HG]

Originally Posted by Akinari

Of course, it's not absolutely necessary to get extra fans or VRM heatsinks on there if converting to water cooling on a card...

Depends. The 280X die and VRMs are adequitely cooled with NZXT G10 bracket + compatible CLC, but on the 290X, the VRMs are located elsewhere and requires additional heatsinks that are not included with the packaging. For the 290X, the Corsair HG10 is a better option since you don't to purchase additional materials due to fan placement.

From skimming that thread, the red mod is just an older method to mounting CLCs on a GPU, and I wouldn't recommend it.

I would recommend using Gelid GC-Extreme as the TIM of choice, and make sure you apply a thin layer across the entire GPU die (not a simple ball like CPUs) and mount the cooler in a zig zag pattern.

Mounting a CLC on a video card is a good option for cooling under 100 bucks. Cools your video card much better than traditional fans without all that extra noise on loud.

[underscore]

Hopefully I'm just derping here because I can't sort this one out. Working PC, PSU is whining so I swap it with a known working (but used) replacement. Removed CPU heatsink to get the PSU out, cleaned off thermal paste and replaced, tossed in an extra stick of RAM as well. Now it won't power up, I tried swapping the power cord, swapping the PSU back (just plugging it into the mobo from outside the case), swapping the outlet, nothing. I've tried paperclip testing both PSU's (green to black) and neither one does anything. Is it possible I somehow killed both PSU's?

[Razor Ramon HG]

If the paper clip test is not turning on the PSUs, they're probably dead.

Get a surge protector for the outlet you're running as well.

[underscore]

I've got one, all the electronics in my house have them (as a side note should a fridge have one?). What are the odds they both died at the exact same time though?

[Akinari]

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon HG

Depends. The 280X die and VRMs are adequitely cooled with NZXT G10 bracket + compatible CLC, but on the 290X, the VRMs are located elsewhere and requires additional heatsinks that are not included with the packaging. For the 290X, the Corsair HG10 is a better option since you don't to purchase additional materials due to fan placement.

From skimming that thread, the red mod is just an older method to mounting CLCs on a GPU, and I wouldn't recommend it.

I would recommend using Gelid GC-Extreme as the TIM of choice, and make sure you apply a thin layer across the entire GPU die (not a simple ball like CPUs) and mount the cooler in a zig zag pattern.

Mounting a CLC on a video card is a good option for cooling under 100 bucks. Cools your video card much better than traditional fans without all that extra noise on loud.

Apparently the CM Seidon CLCs are a direct bolt on to the R9 290/290x cards, with just four M3 screws needed, doesn't even need a shim. As long as a fan close to the card is blowing air at the VRMs the temps should be fine. If I can pick up one of these for cheap, I'd definitely prefer to do so over getting the G10.

Also the HG10 only fits reference cards so meh.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon HG

If the paper clip test is not turning on the PSUs, they're probably dead.

Get a surge protector for the outlet you're running as well.

Third known working PSU, hook it up, nothing. Fails the paperclip test as well. Is there any way a mobo or something could take out a PSU as soon as it's hooked up?

[Razor Ramon HG]

Originally Posted by underscore

Third known working PSU, hook it up, nothing. Fails the paperclip test as well. Is there any way a mobo or something could take out a PSU as soon as it's hooked up?

Third PSU has died? What brand are they?

I haven't heard of something like this happening before.. I would check to see if your power bar is working fine. It could be faulty and instable.

Did you test the PSUs right before plugging them in the computer? So they passed the paper clip test before, and then failed after plugging them into the computer?

[underscore]

Latest one was a Sparkle, other two were no namers that came in older Acer towers. Power bar and cord were hooked up to another PC earlier, and I can hear the brief arc as I plug the cord into the PSU.

I didn't think to paperclip test them prior, the first two were hooked to this machine and ran it for several hours each but stopped working when hooked up consecutively. The third never ran this machine but did run the PC it was pulled from a while back.

[Razor Ramon HG]

Hmm.. I would just assume it's a combination of garbage PSU + voltage spikes.

Buy a quality PSU and double check your wall outlets.

[G-spec]

Originally Posted by Akinari

Ok so the upgrading itch is returning, the R9 290 prices are getting pretty damn low these days with new prices around $330 with pre-owned hovering around $250. I have a 7950, this is gonna be a huge noticeable upgrade yes?

Also, has anyone done the "red" mod on their AMD graphics cards (closed-loop water cooling their card)? My CPU is already water cooled, but also looking at driving temps down since these chips run so hot.

It's a good option I recommend it since I did a similar mod myself, neither VRM nor GPU go over 60c's even after hours of gaming. And both cards idle at around 35c's.
that bracket I used though is old and there are much better solutions out there now, I did this a while ago when they weren't available.
These two pictures however, were taken before I installed the Gelid VRM heatsinks which you can get here GELID Solutions > Products

[R&R]

Hide Yo kids, hide Yo wife, hide Yo CABLESSSS

[underscore]

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon HG

Hmm.. I would just assume it's a combination of garbage PSU + voltage spikes.

Buy a quality PSU and double check your wall outlets.

I'm doubting it's the outlets as there's anywhere from 1-10 PC's running on this series of outlets at a time and none of them have ever had a problem.

[G-spec]

Originally Posted by R&R

Hide Yo kids, hide Yo wife, hide Yo CABLESSSS

oh yea, it's a mess I know

To be fair though this was my first build ever with a friend helping me mostly pick the parts, I got bored after being done modifying my car thought I'd get into computers a bit...
Even though I'm getting good temperatures as it is right now (CPU/GPU never go over 60c's) I would still like to have something nice to look at.
I want to do things right for my second build, and really like these PC desk builds I've seen online. Where would I be able to get something like this locally ?

[R&R]

^DIY

[Razor Ramon HG]

Other than doing it DIY, Lian-Li makes similar computer case tables, but they're like over a grand.

Lian Li DK-02 Black Aluminum Computer Desk (Computer Case with Legs) - Newegg.ca

YouTube

By the way, I picked up my Clevo P650SE the other day for $1400 through Eurocom.

It comes with a i7-4720HQ + GTX 970M.

I benchmarked the GTX 970M and its performance is equivalent to a desktop R9 280X or GTX 770.

Nice and quiet under load as well as being fairly slim (25mm) and portable compared to a lot of the other laptops.

MSI's GS60 would cost you well over $2000.

[R&R]

New Rig for home