Tested my new build, results OK?

[Ransome]

Gonna try making it simple:
My new build:
1) GPU: Asus Nvidia Geforce 670GTX DC2T

2) CPU: Intel Core i5 3570k

3) Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Z77

4) Case: Corsair CC600TWM-WHT Graphite Special Edition

5) PSU: Corsair CMPSU-750AXEU Gold AX850 Modular

6) RAM: 2X8GB G.Skill Ripjaw-X DDR3 1600Mhz

7) CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D14

8)SSD: Crucial Solid Series 256GB CT256M4SSD2 SSD


The 3Dmark11 score:
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4050993

Score
P8598 3DMarks

Graphics Score
8936

Physics Score
7849

Combined Score
7546

Is my score good for the rig I have? Or is something wrong with it?

Please try to help, thanks

 

[Ransome]

Just now I noticed that my mobo DRAM was set to 1334 instead of 1600. So I went to bios and changed the DRAM frequency to 1648 (can't set it to 1600) and now 3dmark11 always stops in the middle giving me this message:
Workload work failed with error message: Process exited unexpectedly

 

[obsama1]

Update your BIOS and try setting the frequency again. The changelog says it fixes the GTX 680 hang issue, and that might apply to 670, so try it out.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/SABERTOOTH_Z77/#download

 

[Ransome]

How do I install that?
Its not a bios flash I hope! :SS..
And is the score correct?

 

[obsama1]

You ran the test in 720p, but I'd recommend you to run it at your native resolution

 

[obsama1]

It's not that hard to update the BIOS. On the back of your computer, you'll see a USB with a button that reads BIOS above it. Download the ASUS AI Suite from the ASUS website(http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/SABERTOOTH_Z77/#download), select Windows 7 64bit, scroll down to utilities, and download the ASUS AI Suite. It will help you update the BIOS.

 

[Ransome]

It is a basic version, I can't change anything.

How do I install that Asus bios, I can't find a way to do it..

 

[Ransome]

So I can basically update it through this AI suite software?
Should I uninstall the AI suite later? It might be heavy on the system, and isn't it risky to update bios?
And I didn't understand what you said about the button.

Thank you.

 

[obsama1]

Yea, I should have clarified. My bad. The AI Suite will check for BIOS updates, download them, and help you transfer it to a FAT16/32 formatted USB. Then, unplug the USB, and turn off the computer. Plug in the USB into the USB port with the BIOS button. Press the BIOS button for 3 seconds, and it will flash, signaling that is has started updating the BIOS. When it finishes, it will stop blinking. BIOS updating is a bit risky, but if you do it correctly, nothing should go wrong. You can remove the AI Suite later, it makes no difference. And, it's no problem.

 

[Ransome]

Thank you very much.
I decided not to take that risk. I don't think I need to update bios. My board works well.

I do however can't set the ram into the 1600 mhz. only 1648 for some reason.
I think this is the source of the issue.

I set my bios on "optimal" mode, and I got 1000 better score. so I kept that.
Btw, was my score ok? it gave me the top graph at similar systems, but I saw other systems go 15000, what does it mean?

 

[obsama1]

Your score is OK. Pretty good. The 670 scores about a 9310, so your GPU score is good, but it might impove if you try the latest Nvidia beta drivers(http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/46279). I'm not sure where the 15,000 comes from, but maybe it's the sum of all the scores? IDK. Also, I see that your CPU clock was 2.678 GHz, while running the benchmark. I think the CPU downclocked itself.

 

[Ransome]

Thanks, this is good to know!

But...Why did it downclock itself
I have Core i5-3750K a brand new one. And I haven't got into OC yet.

You think its something in my settings or something with the program?

 

[obsama1]

It's automatic kind of thing, so you save energy. I say just rerun the test again. Also, did you install all the mobo drivers after installing Windows? Chipset drivers? Windows updates? Those make a difference in performance by a lot.

 

[Ransome]

Well I tried installing:
I have download and installed Asus chipset driver (I didn't download the installation utility, I download the driver directly - it was one option below on "chipset".

Also I have downloaded Asus USB driver, and Asus Network driver.

As for windows update, I have downloaded all of them, and downloaded the latest Nvidia driver.

When I open device manager though - I have two "!" on other devices, the system doesn't recognize them and I'm not sure if it harms performance or not. Those are:
PCI simple communication controller
Universal Serial (USB) plug and play controller

I have disabled them, because I can't find a way to install them, it might be something with the chipset updates but dunno.
Maybe I should have installed updates using the AI suite instead? or is it ok?

Anyway thanks alot. I think I figure out something here, when I ran the test before I was on Optimal mode (you choose it in EZ mode in the bios UEFI). what it does is basically giving you a nice OC, so the Turbo Target is 4.2 Ghz instead of 3.8 for the Ivy i5.
I am considering using it instead of going through trouble of manual oc, I don't need more than that I think.

 

[obsama1]

Well, right click on those devices that have a !, go to properties, then the driver tab. Click update driver, and it SHOULD find the drivers for those. Try using AI Suite, if the drivers aren't found. Also, that Optimal mode is basically an auto-OC, but pretty much anybody here on the forums will tell you to OC manually. The problem is that the auto-OC applies a very high voltage. Higher voltage means reduced lifecycle, and higher power consumption. You should disable that, and when you want to, go for a manual OC.

 

[Ransome]

Really? ok I set it back to regular mode.
When I try to install the AI suite, it give me a huge bunch of thinks to install.

I personally don't like having too many app and programs running on the computer so it won't make it heavy.
Should I simply let the AI Suite install everything? or some of the things?

EDIT:
About that auto OC.

I have two options for that on the sabertooth bios: one is that Optimal mode. The other is clicking OK on the OC Tuner option in the AI tweaking.

not sure what each do exactly, seems similar.
Can I use OC tuner instead?

 

[Ransome]

I have no problem trying some safe manual OC really, I would like that. I heard that the Corei5 can be easily OC using my BIOS. and I have Noctua NH-d14 fan to support it. I dont really need to overdo it, I am sure the system is strong without OC. thought about OC to the limit without increasing voltages.

Can you guide me through it?

thanks for the all the help so far, hope I'm not overloading you with questions.

 

[obsama1]

Yea, that's a big pain the neck. I wish they offered indiv. DL's. I'll give you a brief description of everything, so you can choose what to install.

AI Charger+: Allows you to charge an iPhone, iPod, iPad 50% faster than normal, and even when the computer is shut off.

ASUS Update: Finds updates for your mobo drivers, and other programs in the suite.

DIGI + Power: Power management, and helps control power to RAM, save power, and ramps up power when CPU is stressed.

ASUS My Logo: Lets you create a custom boot logo.

Network iControl: Prioritizes network traffic.

System Information: Self-explanatory, haha.

Thermal Radar: Monitors temp. of mobo components, and adjusts them in real-time.

TurboV EVO: Basically Auto OC, but from Windows(Stay Away!)

USB 3.0 Boost: Boosts USB 3.0 speeds.

USB BIOS Flashback: Explained in above post.

USB Charge+: Ramps up power to energy-consuming devices.

 

[obsama1]

Well, I plan on OC'ing, but I haven't done it. What speed do you want to go up to, though?

 

[Ransome]

OK lol thanks! you are awesome man.
Please read my two last messages, I edited the one you read.

As for the installs, I will only install Asus Update, USB 3.0 Boost, and I think system Information so I can uninstall CPU-Z (it is the same thing right?)
thanks.
And this might sound silly, but should I uninstall every driver of Nvidia before installing the new-one or that beta? I have been an ATI guy for a long time, and their uninstall allowed you to un-install everything in express mode, while nvidia forces you to uninstall each item alone, restart pc every time too.
Is there a way to uninstall everything at once?

 

[obsama1]

Really, it's OK, haha! On my AMD card, I just install the new driver. No need to uninstall the last one. Just download, run, restart. Also, I got confused. Optimal mode just ups the turbo frequency, OC Tuner does an Auto OC. I'd also get Thermal Radar. Adjusting the fans dynamically is a good thing to have! Also, maybe DIGI+Power.

 

[Ransome]

Well, I plan on OC'ing, but I haven't done it. What speed do you want to go up to, though?

Not too much I guess. Something that you don't need to up the voltage for, and temps don't go up alot.
I heard it is a good thing to do.

As for that Asus Update thing, the first thing that comes up is BIOS update, I rather not risk bios updates if I can.... how can I choose other stuff to update?

 

[Ransome]

eh.... I rather not start troubling my head over that tempartures and power of the mobo, I will go nuts believe me I was only working on setting things right since I got my pc and haven't played a real game ever since !

One thing I wanted to ask you! I set my bios to XMP profile in the AI tweaker. That made my ram 1600 mhz instead of 1333 (my Gskill ram specs are 1600 mhz 2x8 Gb).
I did so cuz I had some difficulties setting my ram manually to 1600 mhz.

When I use CPUz it writes my frequency is 800mhz (which is good). But when I ran 3d mark or that Asus System info it still reads 677 like it was 1333. what should I do ?

thanks for all that.

 

[obsama1]

BIOS updates aren't that risky. I've done a few of them. But, it's your choice. It doesn't allow you to choose other things to update? -_-.

Anyway, I'd say go slowly at first. Go to 3.8GHz, and then do some stress testing. Stress testing allows you to stress your CPU to see how stable it is. You OC in the BIOS, exit, boot up, and run this program named Prime95. It stresses your CPU very hard. If you see an error while running it, that means your OC is not stable. Run the program for a few hours, maybe 5-6. Just don't try to do intestive tasks like gaming while running the program. You can browse the web, just not intensive stuff. Here's the link.

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

After 3.8 is stable, go to 4.0.

OC'ing is easy bwlow 4GHz. Just change the multiplier to 38 to get to 3.8GHz, 40 to get to 4.0GHz, etc. If somethign goes wrong, Windows will fail to boot, so no damage is done. However, for more in depth OC'ing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mkGQhE1o2w

http://www.overclock.net/t/1198504/sandy-ivy-bridge-complete-overclocking-guide-asrock-edition

 

[Ransome]

It's not like it doesn't let me update other stuff, when I press Asus Update, it gives me a single update to start with - the BIOS, maybe it is because I already update the chipset, network and usb, or maybe you need to do that before doing other stuff.

Regarding OC, what is the difference between that turbo clock that makes your 3.4 ivy get to 3.8 at times, to OCin to 3.8?

And I don't have "multiplayer" anywhere (I know what you took about) I do however have ratio in so many places of the bios lol...

Do you have any idea about that RAM question I asked?