New build one week in

[combat goofwing]

Had my new build for a week now and already thinking i could have done things better and need to make a few mods

2 areas for mods cooling and graphics

Graphics

been told my system is beening held back by having a XFX HD4870 1 gig and to get the best out of it i should either fit another , or get a HD4870X2 ,or even wait for the 4890, as my power supply doens't have enough connections and room on my MOBO seems almost impossible to fit in another XFX HD4870 1 gig
see pic here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36125483@N06/3351397950/

so then i think the better option is sell my week old HD4870 and get either the HD4870x2 or wait for the HD4890, which is the better option whats your views, what would you do

cooling

my case is a bit on the small side and while the 2 case fans that come with it are fine on low mode on meduim which is needed to keep the case cool there are a little noisey

i fitted a 120mm fan at the front to draw cold air in over the HD and provide good air flow, so wha i think is remove the 2 stock case fane put one on the side of the case running low for extra GPU cooling, put the other at the front of the case running low for extra air flow, and then buy 2 new good silent(if possible) case fans for the top and back of the case.

think this is the beat possible way to solve both issues with out having to get new case, power supply and graphics card

 

[WR2]

What size / resolution monitor are you using?

 

[combat goofwing]

1920X1080

 

[combat goofwing]

What makes you think this mystery system is being held back by your video card?

The 4890 is only going to be about 20% faster than the 4870.

Is there a reason you need more graphical power?

nothing just been told that with things like crysis @1920 X1080 or newer games coming out it will undr perform casue of the GPU

is that not the case, if so then its only the fans i have to sort out

 

[WR2]

With Crysis @1920 X1080 even a 4870x2 can "under perform"
Try Crysis @ 1680x1050 in windowed mode.

A 2nd 4870 will fit in your Gigabyte EX58-UD3R

 

[WR2]

Also try using the "Gamer Quality" instead of max quality and AA/AF turned on.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/16504/9

 

[combat goofwing]

cant see how a 2nd xfx 4870 would fit its a very thibck card and would be blocked by the othe white ports isn the pic

these figures it says 4870 crossfire i take it that is what i have or is that 2 cards togther

sorry for the dumb questions i can build them but am still learning about everything else

 

[WR2]

The white PCI slots would not interfere at all.
What model of XFX 4870 do you have?
Your picture doesnt show why a 2nd wouldnt fit.
Take another picture (better quality) showing the back of your first 4870 and taking in the other open PCI-e slot

 

[combat goofwing]

3 new pic from different angles showing top of card, side and underneath

and the build photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36125483@N06/

 

[combat goofwing]

3 new pic from different angles showing top of card, side and underneath

and the build photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36125483@N06/

 

[WR2]

This is the shot that shows a 2nd 4870 will fit. Check the backside of your 4870 in relation to the PCI-e slot.
The 2nd 4870 will have enough room as it has the same backside clearance to the PCI-e slot vertical plane.

 

[combat goofwing]

i understand that but the white PCI ports below it make be in the way a the card is chunky ,also the 2 card would be right upto each other meaning heat from the bottom one would be drawn in to the top one

any how going to stick with one at the mo and sort the fans out then assess again in a couple of months maybe by a 4890 or better single card

thanks for the help

what about case fans can you recomend any realy silent one please

 

[WR2]

And looking at that last picture - has me wondering why you installed the RAM the way you did??

 

[shortstuff_mt]

cant see how a 2nd xfx 4870 would fit its a very thibck card and would be blocked by the othe white ports isn the pic

these figures it says 4870 crossfire i take it that is what i have or is that 2 cards togther

sorry for the dumb questions i can build them but am still learning about everything else

A second 4870 WILL fit on your motherboard. The cooler is designed to clear the PCI slot below it.

Crossfire = 2 GPU's. You don't have crossfire. You should be looking at the single 4870 1GB numbers in the chart to see how your system currently stacks up.

 

[combat goofwing]

And looking at that last picture - has me wondering why you installed the RAM the way you did??

they are in slots no 1 ,2 and 3 on the board is that not correct, the PC shows up as 6 gig of ram

 

[WR2]

Notice how 3 of the RAM slots are the same color? And you have how many sticks of RAM?

 

[WR2]

Did you check the manual for RAM installation guidance?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Did you check the manual for RAM installation guidance?

+1 to WR2's observation on the RAM. The RAM needs to go in the white slots to run in triple channel mode. The owners manual would have told you that.

 

[combat goofwing]

+1 to WR2's observation on the RAM. The RAM needs to go in the white slots to run in triple channel mode. The owners manual would have told you that.

right see what you mean, if all else fils read the instructions

so is it a case of just swapping them over , or do i need to change any settings like in the bios etc

thanks for all the help

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I don't see where you listed the complete system specs. It's a lot easier to offer help/advice if you know what hardware you're working with. I'm at work and they block your pictures, so I'm flying a little blind right now. It's always a good idea to manually set the RAM speed/timings/voltage to the manufacturers specs in the BIOS.

 

[combat goofwing]

I don't see where you listed the complete system specs. It's a lot easier to offer help/advice if you know what hardware you're working with. I'm at work and they block your pictures, so I'm flying a little blind right now. It's always a good idea to manually set the RAM speed/timings/voltage to the manufacturers specs in the BIOS.

in my prfile my spec but here you are


Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)
Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM
OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Gold Low-Voltage Triple Channel Kit (3 X 2GB) plac in slots 1,2,3 on mobo
OCZ modxtremepro 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply
Samsung SpinPoint F1 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - 594gig free space
6320g stat drive from old pc full of hif def movies 13gig free space
Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/AM2+/AM2/939)
Akasa AK-191-SM Smoke Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin
antec 300 ultimate gaming case with 2 case fans buit in

as i have said building them im ok but messing around with voltage etc etc i have never done

heres the ram which i got on offer last week for £60
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-151-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1390

thanks again for all the help

 

[shortstuff_mt]

It looks like that RAM is designed to run at 9-9-9-20 timings @ 1.65v. That's what you would set in the BIOS. The motherboard owners manual should tell you how to make the changes.

I guess you could just leave the settings on Auto if you're not having any problems, but the RAM may not be running with the correct timings in that case. You can check to see what speed and timings your RAM is running at with CPU-Z.

 

[combat goofwing]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36125483@N06/

heres some screen shots from cpu z and HW monitor

it says slots 1, 2 and 3 used when now it is actually slot 1 3 and 4 not sure if that matters

in my bios most things to do with my ram are on auto

would realy like to get this set up right so again thamks for any help you can give

 

[combat goofwing]

just a bump for anyone wanting to offer help setting up the ram in my bios

thanks again

 

[shortstuff_mt]

From the pictures it looks like your RAM is running in triple channel mode already. Look in the upper-right corner of the "pc2" picture and notice is says "Channels # Triple". You did move the RAM to the three white slots, right? The pictures still show them in the wrong slots.

The RAM is currently running at 1066 speed. I don't have your motherboard, so I'm not familiar with your BIOS, but you need to read the manual on how to set up the RAM to run at 1333 with the 9-9-9-20 timings @ 1.65v. Most Gigabyte motherboards require you to press "Ctrl + F1" when you get into the BIOS to unlock the advanced settings including RAM timings. Most of the settings you need to change should be in the "M.I.T." section of the BIOS. You can then change the "System Memory Multiplier" to get the RAM running at DDR3 1333. You can then change the "DRAM Timing Selectable" to manual and set up the voltage and timings.

http://news.firingsquad.com/media/article_image.asp/2423/32