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Message
re: In the market for Video Editing PC - help
Posted on 6/24/14 at 4:24 pm to ILikeLSUToo
Posted on 6/24/14 at 4:24 pm to ILikeLSUToo
A couple of negs about the cooler installation.
1. I over did the amount of thermal compound and a very small amount leaked over the side of the CPU and settled where the CPU seats into the socket. It didn't seem like I applied a lot (per the NewEgg video) but apparently it was. I quickly cleaned it up with a clean cloth but there's still a little residue. I'm a little concerned with that - especially when it gets hot and the compound thins out. However, when I called Cooler Master, they didn't seem to be overly concerned about it.
2. Because of the mounting holes/standoff locations, I could either mount the fan blowing straight up or straight down. I chose straight up since my case is perforated at the top. I really wanted to make it blow to the rear but that was not possible.
3. The cooler blocks the first of 4 memory slots. Not a problem now since the mobo manual recommends slot 2 & 4 for my 2x8gb memory.
1. I over did the amount of thermal compound and a very small amount leaked over the side of the CPU and settled where the CPU seats into the socket. It didn't seem like I applied a lot (per the NewEgg video) but apparently it was. I quickly cleaned it up with a clean cloth but there's still a little residue. I'm a little concerned with that - especially when it gets hot and the compound thins out. However, when I called Cooler Master, they didn't seem to be overly concerned about it.
2. Because of the mounting holes/standoff locations, I could either mount the fan blowing straight up or straight down. I chose straight up since my case is perforated at the top. I really wanted to make it blow to the rear but that was not possible.
3. The cooler blocks the first of 4 memory slots. Not a problem now since the mobo manual recommends slot 2 & 4 for my 2x8gb memory.
This post was edited on 6/24/14 at 4:40 pm
1
Posted on 6/24/14 at 5:30 pm to tigerpawl
quote:
1. I over did the amount of thermal compound and a very small amount leaked over the side of the CPU and settled where the CPU seats into the socket. It didn't seem like I applied a lot (per the NewEgg video) but apparently it was. I quickly cleaned it up with a clean cloth but there's still a little residue. I'm a little concerned with that - especially when it gets hot and the compound thins out. However, when I called Cooler Master, they didn't seem to be overly concerned about it.
If you used what came with the cooler, it's not conductive. You should mostly be worried about how much you applied and how it will affect cooling performance. We'll find out once you do a stress test.
quote:
2. Because of the mounting holes/standoff locations, I could either mount the fan blowing straight up or straight down. I chose straight up since my case is perforated at the top. I really wanted to make it blow to the rear but that was not possible.
The mounting hole locations have nothing to do with direction of the heatsink. You could've faced the cooler the other way, which is most common. Just like those extremely accurate and useful instructions I linked have it mounted...
If you want the fan to blow to the rear, take the cooler off, clean off the gobs of thermal compound, and remount. This time, apply the thermal compound this way:
1. Place a small pea-sized amount on the actual heatsink contact surface.
2. Use a credit card or similar tool to spread it out in a thin, even layer across the surface, making a point to fill in the gaps between the copper heat pipes and the contact surface, like you're filling in gaps with caulk or wood filler:
It may take more than pea-sized amount to fill in the gaps, but you should start with a tiny amount and add an even tinier amount more as needed. Don't worry about coating the entire surface. The important part is to get the cracks filled.
Then, put a pea sized amount in the center of the CPU and let the heatsink do the spreading when you put it on. Once it's on, don't lift it off or else you'll have to repeat the process over again. Just ignore the newegg method. I'm sure they said to spread the shite with your finger and some plastic wrap.
quote:
3. The cooler blocks the first of 4 memory slots. Not a problem now since the mobo manual recommends slot 2 & 4 for my 2x8gb memory.
Common with most large air coolers. It's because the RAM has heat spreaders with fins that protrude past the height of the modules.
This post was edited on 6/24/14 at 5:33 pm
Posted on 6/24/14 at 8:39 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:By strictly following the instructions in the PDF and not putting the scissor bracket in the "red" position and only using the "green" position, there was only one way to mount the heat sink and fan - pointing up. That was confirmed by CoolerMaster. However, they sheepishly admitted that their PDF was incorrect and in this case, the "red" position was acceptable. Once I did that, I got it to exhaust to the rear of the case.
The mounting hole locations have nothing to do with direction of the heatsink. You could've faced the cooler the other way, which is most common. Just like those extremely accurate and useful instructions I linked have it mounted...
quote:Thanks for this tip. I'll clean off the existing compound with isopropyl alcohol and start fresh using this technique.
1. Place a small pea-sized amount on the actual heatsink contact surface.
2. Use a credit card or similar tool to spread it out in a thin, even layer across the surface, making a point to fill in the gaps between the copper heat pipes and the contact surface, like you're filling in gaps with caulk or wood filler:
**Now my new issue: I can't find the 2 pins on the mobo to short-start and to do my out-of-case test.
One of these days, I gonna have a bad-arse PC!! Pain in the arse but well worth it going forward.
Posted on 6/24/14 at 8:59 pm to tigerpawl
quote:
By strictly following the instructions in the PDF
So you still didn't read the instructions in the link I posted. That is annoying.
quote:
I can't find the 2 pins on the mobo to short-start and to do my out-of-case test.
Read your manual to find the power switch header pins.
Posted on 6/24/14 at 9:35 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:In the Cooler Master PDF sent by Cooler Master customer service.
By strictly following the instructions in the PDF
So you still didn't read the instructions in the link I posted. That is annoying.
quote:Thanks... it's well hidden.
Read your manual to find the power switch header pins.
This post was edited on 6/24/14 at 9:48 pm
Posted on 6/29/14 at 9:12 pm to tigerpawl
Just installed WIN7 Pro. I have 3 drives:
1. Adata SATA SSD
2. SATA Seagate Mechanical 2TB
3. LG Optical CD/DVD
Device manager sees them all and says "The device is working properly" for all three drives, yet the 2TB Seagate is not showing up in Windows Explorer as an available drive - just not there. Only the SSD(C) and the Optical Drive are showing up. I shut it down, unplugged the optical drive SATA cable and put it in the Seagate 2TB it still doesn't show up in the list of available drives but it did show up in device manager again. Bios setup also sees the 2TB Seagate. Software is current.
In Disk Management, remarks are "Unknown, Not Initialized, Unallocated". Does it need a simple formatting?
Any suggestions? Frustrated.
***PROBLEM SOLVED***
Initialized and quick format. Voila
Wow - this sumbitch is fast! Wooooooooo Wooooooooo!!!!
1. Adata SATA SSD
2. SATA Seagate Mechanical 2TB
3. LG Optical CD/DVD
Device manager sees them all and says "The device is working properly" for all three drives, yet the 2TB Seagate is not showing up in Windows Explorer as an available drive - just not there. Only the SSD(C) and the Optical Drive are showing up. I shut it down, unplugged the optical drive SATA cable and put it in the Seagate 2TB it still doesn't show up in the list of available drives but it did show up in device manager again. Bios setup also sees the 2TB Seagate. Software is current.
In Disk Management, remarks are "Unknown, Not Initialized, Unallocated". Does it need a simple formatting?
Any suggestions? Frustrated.
***PROBLEM SOLVED***
Initialized and quick format. Voila
Wow - this sumbitch is fast! Wooooooooo Wooooooooo!!!!
This post was edited on 6/29/14 at 9:43 pm
Posted on 6/29/14 at 11:00 pm to tigerpawl
Did you remount the cooler?
Do a stress test for a few minutes to check on the temps.
Download Prime95: LINK
Download HWMonitor to check temperatures during the test: LINK
In Prime95, run the Blend test for about 30 minutes.
Just make sure "Blend" is selected and click OK. When you're ready to stop, go to "Test" in the top left corner and click "Stop" and then click OK.
While running the Prime95 test, run HWMonitor:
That's a screenshot of my instance of HWMonitor, so the CPU is different, but you can see Cores #0-#3. Yours will display Cores #0-#7. Look for the temperatures on the left-most column while running Prime, as well as the right-most column (max) if you happen to step away while it's running.
If, at any point during this 30-minute run, you see the temps on any of the cores exceed 60 degrees Celcius, stop the Prime95 test. If your cooler has been properly mounted, your temps should not come anywhere near 60, though.
After the test, take a screenshot of your HWMonitor window and post.
Do a stress test for a few minutes to check on the temps.
Download Prime95: LINK
Download HWMonitor to check temperatures during the test: LINK
In Prime95, run the Blend test for about 30 minutes.
Just make sure "Blend" is selected and click OK. When you're ready to stop, go to "Test" in the top left corner and click "Stop" and then click OK.
While running the Prime95 test, run HWMonitor:
That's a screenshot of my instance of HWMonitor, so the CPU is different, but you can see Cores #0-#3. Yours will display Cores #0-#7. Look for the temperatures on the left-most column while running Prime, as well as the right-most column (max) if you happen to step away while it's running.
If, at any point during this 30-minute run, you see the temps on any of the cores exceed 60 degrees Celcius, stop the Prime95 test. If your cooler has been properly mounted, your temps should not come anywhere near 60, though.
After the test, take a screenshot of your HWMonitor window and post.
This post was edited on 6/29/14 at 11:01 pm
Posted on 6/30/14 at 9:09 am to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
After the test, take a screenshot of your HWMonitor window and post.
Posted on 6/30/14 at 12:14 pm to tigerpawl
Do me a favor and run Small FFTs in prime rather than blend, and take a screenshot of HW monitor while that's running. Let it run for a minute or two before you take the screenshot. You'll see higher temps, but if this HWmonitor screenshot you posted reflects your load temps, this won't be a problem at all. You only need to run the Small FFT test for a few minutes, just long enough to get a screen cap of load temps.
At what point during the blend test did you take the screenshot? Was it right after you stopped it? Temps look fine, but the 8350 doesn't have a true temp sensor - rather, it uses an algorithm to calculate temps based on input power/load, voltage, and probably some other things. At lower temperatures, it's known to be inaccurate, so I just want to see some higher temp readings.
At what point during the blend test did you take the screenshot? Was it right after you stopped it? Temps look fine, but the 8350 doesn't have a true temp sensor - rather, it uses an algorithm to calculate temps based on input power/load, voltage, and probably some other things. At lower temperatures, it's known to be inaccurate, so I just want to see some higher temp readings.
Posted on 6/30/14 at 12:43 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
Do me a favor and run Small FFTs in prime rather than blend, and take a screenshot of HW monitor while that's running.
quote:The blend test was running for approx 30 minutes. I took the screen shot, then Test>Stop. The temp dropped precipitously at the moment I stopped the test and felt it best to take the screen shot while the test was still in progress, thereby reflecting a more accurate test under stress.
At what point during the blend test did you take the screenshot? Was it right after you stopped it?
This post was edited on 6/30/14 at 1:11 pm
Posted on 6/30/14 at 1:35 pm to tigerpawl
Looks great. In fact, if you find that the fan was a bit loud for your taste during the test, you can probably dial it back a little. Looks like it was ramping up to near full speed. Not a big issue though, since you'll probably only be hearing that fan ramp up while encoding or gaming.
Posted on 6/30/14 at 1:51 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:That is indeed the case. Probably calls for changing the settings in the AS Rock Utility. So is there a thermostat/set-it-and-forget-it feature? Or should I just watch it and tweak it over time?
In fact, if you find that the fan was a bit loud for your taste during the test,
Posted on 6/30/14 at 2:18 pm to tigerpawl
Go into your bios and under H/W Monitor, change CPU Fan 1 & 2 Setting from "Full On" to "Automatic."
That by itself should stop the fan from ramping up unnecessarily, so you can either be happy with whatever "Automatic" does to reduce noise, or you can then use AXTU to make further adjustments if you want. You can adjust mostly by watching temps and tweaking over time. AXTU won't work until you set the fan to "Automatic" in the bios though.
That by itself should stop the fan from ramping up unnecessarily, so you can either be happy with whatever "Automatic" does to reduce noise, or you can then use AXTU to make further adjustments if you want. You can adjust mostly by watching temps and tweaking over time. AXTU won't work until you set the fan to "Automatic" in the bios though.
This post was edited on 6/30/14 at 2:21 pm
Posted on 7/1/14 at 12:39 pm to ILikeLSUToo
Major stroke of bad luck today. The unit just quit on me! I am dead in the water. All day yesterday, it worked fine - no problems.
Prior to this issue, it began restarting every 5 minutes or so. Then it suggested repair mode (recommended) which I selected, but the issue persisted. No when I give it power, the thing that works are the fans on my Graphics card. The Processor fan and 2 case fans are dead. I checked all the connections and they are snug. I can't even get the BIOS on the screen.
Also of note is the fact that I bump the PC with my knee 3 times but not very hard at all, and when I did it crapped out each time for a few seconds and restarted (strange). On a scale of 1-10, I'd say the bump was about a 3.
I think there was a conflict with fan settings between BIOS and the ASROCk utility and I was going to disable the ASROCK utility and just go with the BIOS settings, but I can' even get to that now.
So currently I have $1,000 worth of dead parts in front of me. I checked every cable connection on the PC.
Anybody have any suggestions on this? Very frustrating.
***UPDATE***
It has been said: "I have met the enemy, and it is me". Upon closer inspect, the primary power connector was not firmly in place. Up and running - but watching closely.... such are the adventures of a first-time builder.
Prior to this issue, it began restarting every 5 minutes or so. Then it suggested repair mode (recommended) which I selected, but the issue persisted. No when I give it power, the thing that works are the fans on my Graphics card. The Processor fan and 2 case fans are dead. I checked all the connections and they are snug. I can't even get the BIOS on the screen.
Also of note is the fact that I bump the PC with my knee 3 times but not very hard at all, and when I did it crapped out each time for a few seconds and restarted (strange). On a scale of 1-10, I'd say the bump was about a 3.
I think there was a conflict with fan settings between BIOS and the ASROCk utility and I was going to disable the ASROCK utility and just go with the BIOS settings, but I can' even get to that now.
So currently I have $1,000 worth of dead parts in front of me. I checked every cable connection on the PC.
Anybody have any suggestions on this? Very frustrating.
***UPDATE***
It has been said: "I have met the enemy, and it is me". Upon closer inspect, the primary power connector was not firmly in place. Up and running - but watching closely.... such are the adventures of a first-time builder.
This post was edited on 7/1/14 at 1:06 pm
Posted on 7/1/14 at 1:24 pm to tigerpawl
Yeah, the fan settings have nothing to do with it. The "Automatic" setting in the bios is designed to enable the Asrock fan utility to even function at all.
Which power connector was loose? The 24-pin on the motherboard?
Which power connector was loose? The 24-pin on the motherboard?
Posted on 7/1/14 at 2:32 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:Yes - what I'm embarrassed to admit is that I broke the clip a few days ago (arthritis is setting in my hand and I was using a flat-head screwdriver for leverage to pry it open) and now it's just relying on the friction of the male/female plugs to stay in place. Seems like a tight fit. Good for now. I think I'll look in to getting a replacement cable from Corsair.
Which power connector was loose? The 24-pin on the motherboard?
Posted on 7/1/14 at 4:44 pm to tigerpawl
I've broken a clip with just my bare fingers before. They aren't always well made. You can always keep the connections mated with a strip of electrical tape. I did that with front panel header connections back when I used to sell and ship PCs.
Posted on 7/3/14 at 7:13 am to ILikeLSUToo
OK (knock on wood).... I am **VERY** happy with the performance of my new PC. Thanks to everybody for the hand-holding (Special tip of the hat to ILikeLSUToo).
That said, it does take approx 30 seconds or so to boot up from a dead stop. The first thing you see is what appears to be an ASROCK control-panel screen which hangs up for a relatively long time, then eventually boots to Windows. I've heard it said that 4 second start-ups are the norm if you have a Solid State Drive and the 4 second start up is a function of the SSD rather than a mobo utility.
I found this on the ASROCK website: LINK
In the corresponding YouTube video, they make no mention of a required SSD to make it happen, so I guess I mis-understood that.
Anyway, my question: is there any down side to installing the "Instant Boot" from ASROCK (maker of the mobo)? Also curious to know if the 4 second start-up is an inherent function of Solid State Drive's or is an add-on utility required - or both? I guess I'm answering my own question, but would appreciate feedback from those who have gone before me. Seems like software makers have a habit of pumping the merits of their own product but conveniently are in denial about potential problems it might cause down the road.
That said, it does take approx 30 seconds or so to boot up from a dead stop. The first thing you see is what appears to be an ASROCK control-panel screen which hangs up for a relatively long time, then eventually boots to Windows. I've heard it said that 4 second start-ups are the norm if you have a Solid State Drive and the 4 second start up is a function of the SSD rather than a mobo utility.
I found this on the ASROCK website: LINK
In the corresponding YouTube video, they make no mention of a required SSD to make it happen, so I guess I mis-understood that.
Anyway, my question: is there any down side to installing the "Instant Boot" from ASROCK (maker of the mobo)? Also curious to know if the 4 second start-up is an inherent function of Solid State Drive's or is an add-on utility required - or both? I guess I'm answering my own question, but would appreciate feedback from those who have gone before me. Seems like software makers have a habit of pumping the merits of their own product but conveniently are in denial about potential problems it might cause down the road.
This post was edited on 7/3/14 at 7:46 am
Posted on 7/3/14 at 2:53 pm to tigerpawl
Are you measuring this from the time you press the power button to the time you are in Windows and ready to go? The super-fast boot times that are advertised and boasted about are under the utmost minimalist conditions. Here's some factors that an SSD has nothing to do with:
1. When pressing the power button to turn on the PC, the time it takes for your bios to receive power, find and initialize your CPU, RAM, and GPU, which then sends a signal to your monitor. Some are faster than others.
2. Initialization and validation checks on hardware such as keyboard, mouse, RAM, CPU, GPU, SSD, other hard drives, optical drive, onboard sound device and network device, and all of the other onboard peripherals that you may or not even be using, such as RAID, onboard non-native SATA controllers, PCI/PCIe slots, USB ports, etc. At every cold boot, your bios is programmed to do this stuff by default just to make sure everything is in full working order before more variables are introduced (i.e., an operating system).
3. On top of that, other misconfigurations can slow things down -- for example, having another drive set as first boot priority, like USB, HDD, or optical drive, which causes your bios to look at one or more other devices for boot files before finally finding them on your SSD. Or having your SSD plugged into a higher number SATA port, in sequence after the ports in which you have other drives connected (the performance issues with this are debatable and vary by motherboard).
4. Even after all that, your ASROCK motherboard logo could be set to display on the screen for longer than the motherboard even needs to do these initializations.
The ASRock Instant Boot utility helps to significantly reduce the time involved in most of the above -- the bios functions. Not sure it will do much as far as the time it takes to see something on the screen from the time you hit the power button, and you'll still want to check to ensure your SSD is the #1 device in boot order... but all of the other hardware checks and initializations will be reduced. It's good as an all-in-one option vs. going into your bios and disabling things individually.
It isn't until you first see a Windows logo that the performance of your SSD even factors in, and the time from Windows logo to desktop is what is commonly bragged about by SSD brands and reviewers. At that point, a fresh windows install should boot quickly, but as you begin accumulating software, you always need to be hyperaware of what programs and services are needlessly starting with Windows.
1. When pressing the power button to turn on the PC, the time it takes for your bios to receive power, find and initialize your CPU, RAM, and GPU, which then sends a signal to your monitor. Some are faster than others.
2. Initialization and validation checks on hardware such as keyboard, mouse, RAM, CPU, GPU, SSD, other hard drives, optical drive, onboard sound device and network device, and all of the other onboard peripherals that you may or not even be using, such as RAID, onboard non-native SATA controllers, PCI/PCIe slots, USB ports, etc. At every cold boot, your bios is programmed to do this stuff by default just to make sure everything is in full working order before more variables are introduced (i.e., an operating system).
3. On top of that, other misconfigurations can slow things down -- for example, having another drive set as first boot priority, like USB, HDD, or optical drive, which causes your bios to look at one or more other devices for boot files before finally finding them on your SSD. Or having your SSD plugged into a higher number SATA port, in sequence after the ports in which you have other drives connected (the performance issues with this are debatable and vary by motherboard).
4. Even after all that, your ASROCK motherboard logo could be set to display on the screen for longer than the motherboard even needs to do these initializations.
The ASRock Instant Boot utility helps to significantly reduce the time involved in most of the above -- the bios functions. Not sure it will do much as far as the time it takes to see something on the screen from the time you hit the power button, and you'll still want to check to ensure your SSD is the #1 device in boot order... but all of the other hardware checks and initializations will be reduced. It's good as an all-in-one option vs. going into your bios and disabling things individually.
It isn't until you first see a Windows logo that the performance of your SSD even factors in, and the time from Windows logo to desktop is what is commonly bragged about by SSD brands and reviewers. At that point, a fresh windows install should boot quickly, but as you begin accumulating software, you always need to be hyperaware of what programs and services are needlessly starting with Windows.
Posted on 7/3/14 at 3:53 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:Yes
Are you measuring this from the time you press the power button to the time you are in Windows and ready to go?
quote:Duly noted...
The super-fast boot times that are advertised and boasted about are under the utmost minimalist conditions. Here's some factors that an SSD has nothing to do with:
1. When pressing the power button to turn on the PC, the time it takes for your bios to receive power, find and initialize your CPU, RAM, and GPU, which then sends a signal to your monitor. Some are faster than others.
2. Initialization and validation checks on hardware such as keyboard, mouse, RAM, CPU, GPU, SSD, other hard drives, optical drive, onboard sound device and network device, and all of the other onboard peripherals that you may or not even be using, such as RAID, onboard non-native SATA controllers, PCI/PCIe slots, USB ports, etc. At every cold boot, your bios is programmed to do this stuff by default just to make sure everything is in full working order before more variables are introduced (i.e., an operating system).
3. On top of that, other misconfigurations can slow things down -- for example, having another drive set as first boot priority, like USB, HDD, or optical drive, which causes your bios to look at one or more other devices for boot files before finally finding them on your SSD. Or having your SSD plugged into a higher number SATA port, in sequence after the ports in which you have other drives connected (the performance issues with this are debatable and vary by motherboard).
4. Even after all that, your ASROCK motherboard logo could be set to display on the screen for longer than the motherboard even needs to do these initializations.
The ASRock Instant Boot utility helps to significantly reduce the time involved in most of the above -- the bios functions. Not sure it will do much as far as the time it takes to see something on the screen from the time you hit the power button, and you'll still want to check to ensure your SSD is the #1 device in boot order... but all of the other hardware checks and initializations will be reduced. It's good as an all-in-one option vs. going into your bios and disabling things individually.
It isn't until you first see a Windows logo that the performance of your SSD even factors in, and the time from Windows logo to desktop is what is commonly bragged about by SSD brands and reviewers. At that point, a fresh windows install should boot quickly, but as you begin accumulating software, you always need to be hyperaware of what programs and services are needlessly starting with Windows.
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