Update Crap-a-damn

IM BACK WITH UPGRADES

Hey guys, chicks, dogs, cats, snakes, gekos, whatever, lol, I'm new here.... Thought I'd join as it might be quite useful for me...

My computer (I built) Specs are

AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz Quad Core (Not overclocked)
8GB DDR3 Ram Corsair XMS3 (I think) (1066MHz) [I got a spare 2GB stick as I swapped mobo)
1000W PSU
2TB HDD (Samsung)
500GB HDD (WD)
Asus HD Radeon 6670 1GB DDR5 (Overclocked out the box to 810MHz from 800MHz)
Stupid heatsink (After market) one that DOESN'T do it's job
Motherboard I'm not sure about but I know it's junk!
Running Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit

Right now my temps are quite high at 45 - 50c on idle 65 - 70c under full load sometimes more than that!

Just pretty much wanna know best things to do to my computer (without changing CPU as it's okay...)

I'm also gonna add I've had this computer about 3 - 4 years and I was a TOTAL noob with computers, I went online got random parts and hoped it fitted and would work with it! It did, awesome

My first computer I had was as follows

AMD Sempron Single core 3.0GHz
2TB HDD (Still in this computer I have now)
ASRock motherboard
4GB Ram (I broke cause I fed it the dog)
300W PSU (I use to power my car amp for my speaker system in the house)
Graphics was onboard (not sure what it was)
The case was a crap one that can be picked up for £5 ($7 ish)

When I built this computer I got now and used it, I thought I was god, the power and speed was just a MASSIVE gain over my old build

The computer I got now STARTED out as this

AMD Phenom II X4 965
16GB Corsair Ram 4x4GB DDR3 1066MHz
2TB HDD x4
500GB HDD x2
Gigabyte 440 GT 1GB GFX
1000W PSU (Cooler Master Silent Pro)
Stock heatsink
Dual boot Windows XP and Windows 7 Home 64bit

How this computer ended up like this is by my own stupid mistakes
This computer at one time was awesome
But now it's SUPER glitchy
Random 1 - 3 second crashes
Random Sound issues (despite doing everything to solve it)
Random BSOD's
It's just junk now.....
But I'm working on it!

Welcome to OCF !

The 965BE may be long in the tooth but it's still a very serviceable chip. Depending on what you're using your system for it should still be a pleasure to play with.

Your temps are high, as you stated. You may want to work on getting that under control first. It is likely that you are seeing the temp issue causing some of the other system issues. Look into an aftermarket cooler to replace what you have. There are many available which are affordable and will put your system back to something like a normal operating temp.

Read this Sticky and you'll get a good start on solving that problem; it was posted in 2010 but is still relevant.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=630522

A couple things I would recommend is to read this OC guide for the Phenom so we can be on the same page and you really will need a better CPU cooler a CoolerMaster hyper 212 is around $30 and will give you a ton of headroom on that CPU

Welcome to OCF JethroJay!

Thanks guys and I'm sure it's the thermal paste I used, it's crap, I need some Arctic Silver 5 as this paste was only £2 for 3 needles of it..... Kinda explains why, lol, I'm gonna buy a water cooling kit as I want it to run better and lower temps, I only use the computer for random crap anyway, lol

I think the ranking of PC uses puts you in the lower quintile:

1) gaming
2) work
3) surfing the web
4) art design
5) random crap

1) gaming
2) work (Studying networking and other stuff)
3) surfing the web
5) random crap

Screen shots will give us a peek under the hood so to speak. Download HWmonitor "non pro", Cpu-Z and Prime 95. Open Hwmonitor and run Prime 95 for 20 minutes making sure the Cpu temp and socket temps stay below 62c. Then post back a Screen shot of the following, Hwmonitor and the following tabs in Cpu-Z, Cpu, Spd and Memory. You can also include the mainboard tab so we can see what motherboard it is. Additionally what are the ambient temps in the room the pc is in.

What Mandrake4565 is talking about...

.
Makes answering about overclocking an AMD cpu easier.

In bios disable C1/E, C6, Cool N Quiet, TurboCore (if there), Disable APM and in windows power manager set to "performance mode". Then do as below.

CPU Tab in CPUz from CPUID com


Memory Tab in CPUz from CPUID com


SPD Tab in CPUz from CPUID com


And this is screen capture of HWMonitor (free version) from CPUID com
HWMonitor has been scrolled enough and large enough to show Min/Max of Voltages and includes the CPU Core Temps; which are n0w called Package Temps, fully visible.

This capture is made of HWMonitor after it has been open on the desktop logging Min/Max temps and voltages while Prime 95 was running Blend Mode test on all cores for at least 20 mins and then the capture of HWMonitor was made and it shows the Min/Max temps and voltages before P95 Blend was started and while running P95 Blend mode and gives much greater insight into how the system is performing without guessing.



In order to attach screenshots of INDIVIDUAL images as suggested, first crop and capture the images with Snipping Tool found in Windows Accessories or equivalent. Then click on Go Advanced, a button at the bottom of every new post window. Then click on the little paperclip tool at the top of the Advanced post window when it opens. Clicking on the paperclip tool brings up the file browser/upload tool and the rest is fairly obvious.

How to actually attach images to the forum and not use a link to some outside location where image is stored. Store the image within the forum.


You can attach more than 3 pics at one time by going back up to browse another file and uploading it.

JethroJay said:

. . . I'm gonna buy a water cooling kit as I want it to run better and lower temps, I only use the computer for random crap anyway, lol

Click to expand...

Water cooling is not the silver bullet for temp control. Even the best all in one water cooling kits will only give you slightly better temps than the best air coolers and they cost more and have more potential problems. And whether you decide to go with better air cooling or with water cooling you will need to do your homework to determine if what you want to buy will fit in your case.

trents said:

Water cooling is not the silver bullet for temp control. Even the best all in one water cooling kits will only give you slightly better temps than the best air coolers and they cost more and have more potential problems. And whether you decide to go with better air cooling or with water cooling you will need to do your homework to determine if what you want to buy will fit in your case.

Click to expand...

you can spend $30 on a Hyper 212 cooler and get great results with your CPU; i had a Phenom II 925 overclocked quite high on just the mentioned cooler and ran temps lower then you're experiencing.

A good water cooling would easily handle this CPU, but cost isn't worth it.

IF you want to spend a little more on a nicer tower cooler than the Hyper 212, then just say so and the guys here will gladly give you a recommendation.

and YES, post the aforementioned screen shots so we can at least confirm everything is running at the proper speeds.

dtrunk said:

...and YES, post the aforementioned screen shots so we can at least confirm everything is running at the proper speeds.

Click to expand...

Yup. And Cpu-Z will identify your mobo, so post a screenshot of the mainboard tab, too.

Just got back on guys and yeah I'll upload the screen shots, but I ran prime for 2 minutes and my temps was almost at 75c so I called it quits and turned it off!

There go guys!

JethroJay said:

Just got back on guys and yeah I'll upload the screen shots, but I ran prime for 2 minutes and my temps was almost at 75c so I called it quits and turned it off!

Click to expand...

2 mins is 'plenty' of time to have HWMonitor open and running on the desktop before you 'begin' to run P95 Blend mode. Even if you decide to turn off P95 Blend mode HWMon will have been running before you open P95 Blend and after so we can SEE what is happening with that capture and upload to the forum.
RGone...

Mandrake4565 said:

Screen shots will give us a peek under the hood so to speak. Download HWmonitor "non pro", Cpu-Z and Prime 95. Open Hwmonitor and run Prime 95 for 20 minutes making sure the Cpu temp and socket temps stay below 62c. Then post back a Screen shot of the following, Hwmonitor and the following tabs in Cpu-Z, Cpu, Spd and Memory. You can also include the mainboard tab so we can see what motherboard it is. Additionally what are the ambient temps in the room the pc is in.

Click to expand...

It's the coldest room in the house, enough to get goose pimples if you walk in without a jumper on.....

RGone said:

2 mins is 'plenty' of time to have HWMonitor open and running on the desktop before you 'begin' to run P95 Blend mode. Even if you decide to turn off P95 Blend mode HWMon will have been running before you open P95 Blend and after so we can SEE what is happening with that capture and upload to the forum.
RGone...

Click to expand...

Explain please? You lost me, lol

See post #2 of that thread as I have alread described the issue with the VRMs and high cpu socket temps. Also note the OP mentions in post #1 that he had been advised to put heat sinks on his VRMs.
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=722799
ASRock 960GM-GS3 FX :: Stability issue ??

JethroJay said:

Explain please? You lost me, lol

Click to expand...

You said you turned off P95 Blend but WAS HWMonitor open and running logging min and max temps and volts before and during the time you let P95 Blend run up to the time you turned off P95 Blend?
RGone...