How dangerous is DICE usage?

[PeterPwned]

Hi,

I'd like to know how dangerous DICE usage is. I happen to have a GA-EX58-Extreme with a defective PCI-E slot and a 9800 GTX lying around, so if DICE benching is fairly risky I'd rather buy a 920 and some cheap RAM to get some practice with this board first before I mess with my main rig. Will hopefully get my hands on a GA-X58A-OC soon and I don't feel like breaking it to be honest

 

[Bobnova]

Well, so far I've benched with dice 20 times or so, maybe 30, in those 20-30 times I have killed:

CPUs: 0
Mobos: 0
RAM: 1
Fingers: 2
Hours: lots.

That said, it's not really safe either.
Preperation is key, if the motherboard is well insulated and the ram is kept dry you stand an excellent chance of having a good session and not killing something.
If the insulation is a hackjob and the ram is allowed to get frosty and then melt the frost, you're in trouble.

I would start with something you wouldn't be too annoyed with killing, whether that means dirt cheap parts (I started with a $60 mobo and $20 cpu and $30 ram) or parts with good warranties (the ethics are an entirely different subject) is up to you.

 

[PeterPwned]

Yeah the insulation part also seems a bit weird to me. Painting over the majority of the board with nailpolish and smearing all kinds of paste on it doesn't seem to be the number one thing to do with sensitive electric equipment, but that is just my first impression haha

Okay so I think I'll leave my 2.5k rig for later. What do you reckon are good cheap parts? Is this RAM Kit any good? http://www.alternate.de/html/produc...DWARE&l1=Arbeitsspeicher&l2=DDR3&l3=DDR3-1600

Cheapest CPU I can get for my 1366 mobo is sadly a 920 right?

Do I need an HDD or can I install windows on a large USB stick? If I am not mistaken I don't need more than a couple programs to bench.

Also - what else do I need in terms of equipment? Do you make the CPU pot yourself?

Sorry to riddle you with questions, feel free to answer some of them.

 

[arcanise]

if your benching a USB loaded OS would slow you down to the point of making you go crazy

 

[PeterPwned]

if your benching a USB loaded OS would slow you down to the point of making you go crazy

This Caviar blue is on sale atm - how does that look to you?
http://www.alternate.de/html/shop/productDetails.html?artno=A9BW87&articleId=738026&baseId=690688

 

[arcanise]

that should be more than enough for benching needs. but im a huge fan of the SSD especcially when benching and frosting

 

[PeterPwned]

Well this is just for first benching experiments. When I'm more experienced I think I'll use the Corsair F120 from my main rig.

 

[PeterPwned]

Building this benching rig turns out to be more expensive than planned. I think I'd rather use my main rig and use the money to buy replacement parts, should something break.

What I do need to know though is whether you can buy CPU pots - not really finding any on google.

 

[EarthDog]

that should be more than enough for benching needs. but im a huge fan of the SSD especcially when benching and frosting

What does an SSD vs HDD have to do with benching or 'frosting'?

PeterP - If you want to join the benching fray, check out the our team section. There is LOADS of information there are far as how to insulate and a couple of different methods to do so (none of which use nail polish, LOL!). Looking through those threads will give you PLENTY of information to start you on your journey to benchmarking and joining the team.

As far as buying pots for your CPU, there are a few for sale here and there on this website and a few others (XS, OCN, to name two).

 

[hokiealumnus]

What does an SSD vs HDD have to do with benching or 'frosting'?

A lot, if you have the disposable income for a dedicated cold-SSD. You can get a whole heck of a lot more done in three hours of benching with an SSD than you can an HDD.

 

[EarthDog]

Yes, I understand OS load times/reboots. But thats about it?

 

[hokiealumnus]

Absolutely the only difference I can think of (well, except for PCMark). It really is night and day though. IF you have enough spare cash for a cheap'ish, small capacity SSD that is. Another CPU or better RAM, etc would be a more important investment, but if the cash is there to use, it will save a ton of OS load time.

 

[EarthDog]

Reboots too (ninja edit)! I wasnt thinking at all when I posted that I dont believe.

After moving some stuff I managed to get for great deals, I have a 120GB Vertex2 on the way, and can move my 60GB Vertex2 for benching. A OS install dream come true.

 

[TsunamiJuan]

If you watch closely you can score small ssd's quite inexpensively, which is fine for pure benching solutions. Only place these really help with benchmarks right now is for PC mark, and for some benchmarks when you really approach the top end of performance a standard hard drive can cause the benchmarks to lag in some places due to streaming data off the drive. SSD's are much better at random fast burst accesses of data, and in some circumstances fix this. However it depends on how hard your pushing.

As for insulation methods depending how how cold you are going depends on the levels of insulation. Kneaded eraser tends to conduct heat alot more than you exspect. But theres allways a 3-5$ in vasoline layered across the board to help out aswell. I have started using alot of this stuff, partly due to the fact that its a quick to implement solution.

 

[EarthDog]

I resell most of my stuff so vaseline is out of the question for me. On LN2 and DI Kneaded Artist eraser worked juuuuuuuust fine.

 

[PeterPwned]

I resell most of my stuff so vaseline is out of the question for me. On LN2 and DI Kneaded Artist eraser worked juuuuuuuust fine.

Kneaded Artist eraser? Is that some kind of clay? That leaves no traces on the mobo?

 

[EarthDog]

Rubber. Its an eraser. here is a link. It leaves very minimal traces on the motherboard.

 

[TsunamiJuan]

Just go to a local art supply store or drafting/engineering supply place. You can get a large amount very inexpensively, and most of these places will give you a discount these days for paying cash. Cost me about 1$ a piece for XLarge Prismacolor's (they are extremly sticky and work very well for insulation), Try to avoid the overly hard kneaded erasers as they are more difficult to get to stick, and require more kneading before they are workable.

 

[xxrabid93]

Kneaded eraser works well. I cover all around my socket up to the heatsinks (nb and vregs) and ram slots. After that, i put 1 layer of paper towels on top of the eraser, all around the cpu and socket area. After that, put a neoprene gasket on top. Cut out a hole over the cpu that will just fit the size of your pot. Of course also you need neoprene around the pot. The neoprene on the board and pot should make an airtight seal, to help minimize condensation. Then put paper towels all around the pot and board.

That is basically what i do for dice and ln2, and i have never killed anything yet.*crosses fingers*


Edit: Also, if you want to get into benching cheaply, look at socket 775 stuff. It is fairly abundant, and usually not too expensive.

 

[Seebs]

You've already gotten all the info you could need for getting you started on your DICE adventures.
I can only reiterate what has already been said... Insulation, Insulation, Insulation. It is all about the insulation; as long as you protect the board from condensation you will be ok.

As far as killing stuff while on DICE...

I killed a Rampage Extreme within five minutes of my first time using it... It wasn't because of the DICE, or bad insulation... I removed the POT to replace the CPU and in the two minutes that the socket was exposed; condensation formed and when I fired her back up she took an early departure from the world of the living. People that were there for that night (over livestream) will remember it as the night when everything that might have gone wrong for me; did go wrong... Came close to destroying my pot and killed my REX... That night almost turned me off of benching for good, but in the end the bug remained and I am still here, freezing stuff.
Safe to say I have been much more careful after that debacle and haven't killed anything else... I do miss my REX though.