My New Rig - Need some help from YOU

Well I recently just put together the system in my sig. Everything seems to be great. Except for a few problems which mabey you guys can help me with.
First problem with my current rig Id' like to fix then i'll be happy.
1. Cables are everywhere and they need sleeves. I like my wires to look very organized and simple/sharp looking. I need some good recommendations of sleeves / cables basicly for everything.
2. Would like to consider using a fan controller, I used to use a nexus fan controller, mabey there are better. Id' like to consider my options for controlling fans.
3. DVD Rom and DVD Burner - How should I configure these to master/slave primary/secondary.
4. HDD partitions. I partitioned like 6GB to install OS and everything else is in the D: for my program files. Does this make any difference or could I just keep one partition of all 200gb? These seperate partitions kinda confuse me.
5. My MBM has a few 0C. In GPU, GPU ENV, and 120mm Fan, not sure how to fix these so it accurately gives me temps. Or suggest another temp monitor.
6. Backplate to my NV Silencer 5 Rev 3 on my 7800GTX is currently off. I idle at 43C and Load at 56C with my GTX. Still the memory on the backside. There is no way to screw it in, it supposed to be held on by ****ty thermal pads. Are there safe clips I can use to put it on, or any other way? Im sure it will help.
7. I also can't figure out how to run dual instances of prime95 when it comes time to, i'll need to.
8. Lastly - OVERCLOCKING : I have read most of the stickies on this site and other to figure everything out. But I am still confused on HTT/FSB/LDT/Multiplyers etc. There are so many calculations for follow... having little to no experience I am lost. I am looking to OC my VGA/Mem/CPU. Mabey someone can point me in the right direction please. Thanks

bump

you can have one big partition of 200gb

thats what i have

#2. IMO the Sunbeam is the best (and one of the least expensive) fan controllers.
#3. You set these up with jumpers on the back of the drive.
#4. The biggest advantage to a smaller C: drive is that it is way faster to defrag. Move your swap file to a different drive and it will keep C: even cleaner.
#5. Try SpeedFan.
#8. Look at the DFI support forum for help here....www.DFI-Street.com

PrometheuSBoxeR said:

1. Cables are everywhere and they need sleeves. I like my wires to look very organized and simple/sharp looking. I need some good recommendations of sleeves / cables basicly for everything.

Click to expand...

For cable managment I reccomend you replace all your IDE cables with these
SVC.com

PrometheuSBoxeR said:

2. Would like to consider using a fan controller, I used to use a nexus fan controller, mabey there are better. Id' like to consider my options for controlling fans.

Click to expand...

I highly recommend this Sunbeam Rheobus fan controller, supports up to 20watts per channel. Sunbeam

PrometheuSBoxeR said:

3. DVD Rom and DVD Burner - How should I configure these to master/slave primary/secondary.

Click to expand...

I would set up the DVD Rom as primary and DVD Burner as secondary

PrometheuSBoxeR said:

4. HDD partitions. I partitioned like 6GB to install OS and everything else is in the D: for my program files. Does this make any difference or could I just keep one partition of all 200gb? These seperate partitions kinda confuse me.

Click to expand...

Keep it the way it is.

PrometheuSBoxeR said:

7. I also can't figure out how to run dual instances of prime95 when it comes time to, i'll need to.

Click to expand...

I believe you have to install the program twice (2 different locations). Then open each one respectivly. I use SP2004 which I believe is just a newer version of Prime 95 (correct me if I am wrong) in which case that program lets you open two instances without installing twice.

1) I use small zip ties. I, of course, clip the tails to keep it neat. I don't care about sleeves, I just try to run them in a way that keeps them out of the way of airflow. I do not like the rounded IDE cables as I believe them to slow the system down. Instead, I fold my ribbon cable as seen in some of the high end system makers (Think Flacon, Area 51, etc).

2) I've been looking into several fan controllers myself. For me, one of the biggest issues is that the lighting can not be turned off. Since I run the system 24/7, I just can't do it.

My current favorites (I have none now) are
ThermalTake's Hardcano-13
Ultra's fan commander-7
Areocool Gate Watch-4

These are all currently at Tigerdirect.com. Do a search for fan controllers.

3) I preffer to put all optical drives on the secondary channel. I reserve the primary channel for HDD's only. I put my burner as master and ROMs as slave.

4) Currently, I use one full partition on my HDDs. I'm currently rethinking this. I see a benefit to a small OS partition.

Sorry. Not sure about how to answer the rest.

don256us said:

3) I preffer to put all optical drives on the secondary channel. I reserve the primary channel for HDD's only. I put my burner as master and ROMs as slave.

Click to expand...

Sorry that is what I ment to say put your DVD Rom on IDE 2 as Master and DVD Burner on IDE 2 as Slave

4. i run a 40Gb partition for my C:. the only benefit i get from this is that is makes it easier to reinstall windows... just backup my documents/desktop, pop the cd in, format c:, install... then i still have all my data from my other drives/partitions. also, 6Gb is a little small.. i wouldn't make c: less than 20Gb since windows keeps all the windows update info, uninstaller info, cache, page file, etc,etc,etc on the system partition (c.


8. judging by your hardware specs you should be able to run the following settings w/o a problem:


HTT: 4x
FSB: 250Mhz
Multi: 10x
memory: "1:1" or 200mhz (not sure what the DFI bios lists)

you may need to raise the cpu voltage slighly to get it stable. these settings will run the cpu at 2.5Ghz and the memory at its spec'd speed (DDR500). you will still need to tweak the memory settings, i believe theres a sticky in the memory section that will help you figure out what all the settings mean.

once you get everything setup correctly and stable you can then begin to tweak the settings and push the board/proc/mem to their absolute limits. also, to get prime95 running on both cores, simply start two instances. windows will schedule them to the correct proc to balance the load.