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Jeff, I know you have that AK, but I don't think you hunt with it - you use a 30/30 or similar, right? Also, as I recall, your AK is not full auto, but I might be wrong about that - it seems to me that I heard you talk about maintaining accuracy on full auto.

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Originally posted by harvardguy:

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Originally posted by Jeff:

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WoW really is an excellent game. The world is richly detailed and there are so many different environments. Not to mention Blizzard's incredible skill at creating mouth-watering LOOT!!! The Diablo series is also another Blizzard masterpiece with an amazing loot system. There are several cross references to Diablo in WoW.

I really like the atmosphere and gameplay in WoW but the monthly subscription fee is a real turn-off. If it was like $5 I would probably still play but $15? For a single game? Get real.

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Holy moly, I forgot about that - $180 a year. Well, not really that much for the hardcore WoW guys.

Blaze - are you on the $15/mo deal?

It's really amazing that the rest of us don't have to pay monthly for these games we pay a one-time $50 for - some of us spend WAY lots of time on them. One 2-hour movie is $10, so video gaming is a pretty good value all the way around.

Rich

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Originally posted by Takagechi:

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Sorry but what is the catch here?

I can't post links but it is the 64.99 120 GB KingstonX SSD at scan.co.uk

That is SURELY well too cheap.

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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£65 is $102 US, but we pay 20% VAT so pre-tax it works out at $85 US. Still pretty cheap, but then it is Kingston...

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Originally posted by Mr-Movies:

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Kingston use to be real good but they have lost some of their sparkle.

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Originally posted by Mr-Movies:

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Kingston use to be real good but they have lost some of their sparkle.

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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Originally posted by Mr-Movies:

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Kingston use to be real good but they have lost some of their sparkle.

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So have many companies, including Corsair.

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Originally posted by Sam in 2010:

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Yeah there's a bit of a discrepancy between the 9750 and your Q9450, you should have about 10% more lead than that.
There's nothing we can really link you to that we can't tell you ourselves, save pictures of what your BIOS looks like :P
Basically overclocking Core 2s is a simple, easy checklist:


1. Raise FSB to desired level
2. Adjust memory multiplier to fit. (example: FSB from 333->360. If using 1066mhz memory, ensure multiplier is below 2.96. If using 800mhz memory, ensure multiplier is below 2.22, i.e. use 2.0)
The lowest memory multiplier is 2. 800mhz memory therefore cannot be used to overclock beyond 400FSB (2x400=800), else the RAM is being overclocked. 400FSB on the Q9450 is 3.2Ghz.

(Good coolers only)3. If still stability problems with correct memory multiplier, raise CPU VCore [slowly]. As a general rule of thumb do not exceed 1.40-1.42VCore on 45nm Core 2 chips. Higher will reduce the CPU's lifespan considerably

(Advanced)4. If still stability problems at the same speed even with considerable VCore increase, try raising Northbridge Vcore [slowly]. As a general guideline don't exceed +0.25V, or 1.5V. The X38 Northbridge is 65nm so can withstand higher voltages, but remember, it will get very hot!

You shouldn't need to overvolt the northbridge until you reach very high FSBs like 450.
X38 chipsets have a built in limitation that makes it near-impossible to exceed 455 FSB on any Core 2 Quad. I do not recommend trying to exceed this, it is extremely difficult.

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Originally posted by harvardguy:

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Hey guys!

Major progress on the upgrade! I ordered the first 7950 - it will probably arrive tomorrow from Newegg. It's the HIS Iceq - very good heatpipe cooler. Here's a cool video on it at newegg TV.




And I took Blaze's advice and bought some memory coolers from Xoxide - 24, to have 12 for each 7950, although the HIS cooler is supposed to have some ram cooling - but I couldn't see it in the newegg video about the card.




With cooling and slight voltage, the thing overclocks past the 925 stock 7970, all the way up to 1150, according to one review. LOL

I liked that card because I was trying to blow all the heat out of the case with a turbine, and it was the only turbine design from what I could see - but still the back is not fully sealed so some of that heat will enter my case.

Which brings me to my other problem. Cooling.

I finally started some cpu overclocking, while waiting for the 7950 to arrive, because I know that for most of the stuff I play, except for a few stressful titles like crysis, I'll no longer be gpu bound.

Originally posted by Sam in 2010:

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Yeah there's a bit of a discrepancy between the 9750 and your Q9450, you should have about 10% more lead than that.
There's nothing we can really link you to that we can't tell you ourselves, save pictures of what your BIOS looks like :P
Basically overclocking Core 2s is a simple, easy checklist:


1. Raise FSB to desired level
2. Adjust memory multiplier to fit. (example: FSB from 333->360. If using 1066mhz memory, ensure multiplier is below 2.96. If using 800mhz memory, ensure multiplier is below 2.22, i.e. use 2.0)
The lowest memory multiplier is 2. 800mhz memory therefore cannot be used to overclock beyond 400FSB (2x400=800), else the RAM is being overclocked. 400FSB on the Q9450 is 3.2Ghz.

(Good coolers only)3. If still stability problems with correct memory multiplier, raise CPU VCore [slowly]. As a general rule of thumb do not exceed 1.40-1.42VCore on 45nm Core 2 chips. Higher will reduce the CPU's lifespan considerably

(Advanced)4. If still stability problems at the same speed even with considerable VCore increase, try raising Northbridge Vcore [slowly]. As a general guideline don't exceed +0.25V, or 1.5V. The X38 Northbridge is 65nm so can withstand higher voltages, but remember, it will get very hot!

You shouldn't need to overvolt the northbridge until you reach very high FSBs like 450.
X38 chipsets have a built in limitation that makes it near-impossible to exceed 455 FSB on any Core 2 Quad. I do not recommend trying to exceed this, it is extremely difficult.

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Thanks Sam. That advice worked well. The asus p5e bios is very nice - I can save any overclock to a thumb drive, give it a file name of 8 characters, and then a description of about 40 characters. I can load back at any time, and have any number of them saved on thumb, and two saved in bios memory. Also the bios doesn't force me to mess with memory multipliers, it does the math. For each fsb frequency, when I get to memory it gives me a pop out of the possible memory speeds - easy!

My Q9450 is locked at 8x multiplier. But I can't get to fsb 450 which would be the target 3.6 ghz as per your post above.

So I got it to 3.4, which is fsb 425, but I had to pull back from that due to heat issues. I am right now at fsb 418, vcore 1.31875, ddr1114, and NB 1.35 volts, just 0.1 above reference. The vcore was higher, at 1.3250, and that worked, but since things are hot, I wanted lower. I tried 1.30000 as I recall. That wouldn't start. The wonderful thing also about this motherboard is, if it won't post, you just power off and back on, and it will automatically drop to a setting that posts, advising you that your overclocking settings failed, and F1 puts you back in the bios. There is a cmos reset switch, but I have never had to use it.

My problem is that my stock cooler is not good enough, so yes I could try higher vcore, but temps really start rising.

By the way - question: My memory is the kingston, that comes at 800, but is rated at 1066. You can see I have it running at 1114 which I mentioned above.




I had it up to 1120, but some instability entered in, at fsb 420, which is why I dropped down to 418, and memory at 1114 - I decided it was that little bit extra memory clock causing the problem. So yes, I am overclocking the memory even beyond the rating, without adjusting memory voltage, and it is stable as a rock - prime 95 all night, twice. I can even run the very stressful linx, as long as I keep core temps under 70, which might mean running just a very short 1 minute test.

Here's my memory question. If I take that configuration, and change the memory to the next more conservative, which in the bios means just selecting the next lower speed, which might be 1055, which is even below the memory rating, the computer won't start. In other words, by trying this several times, it appeared to be very clear that I had to let the memory overclock, in order to achieve the cpu overclock. Does that make sense? Why does the cpu care how fast the memory is? I know that the cpu could have to wait on memory, but to not even post? Anybody know what I mean, and if so, why??

Okay, that's one question.

Here's another question.

I have started thinking about my upgrade progression path, which is to install the one 7950, prove that I am still gpu bound on at least one title, let's say crysis, or maybe even BF3 on ultra textures, then install the second 7950, all within the next 60 days. At that time I'll be very definitely cpu bound, and obviously, I would benefit by going from 3.344 to the full 3.6 I should be able to get, according to Sam's help above, with a better cooler. That is nearly 8% more cpu speed - I am guessing that would help a lot.

Right now, by the way, on 3dmark6, my cpu test score is up from 4000, at my former 2.67 clock, to just over 5000. That is 25% more performance that I just picked up - but I probably can't game in the middle of the hot daytime trailer temps of 90-100F, if that causes my core temps to edge over 70 in my on-screen display. I do have an A/C unit in this trailer, and maybe I'll have to use it once in a while, or game in the cool evening. During gaming week, once each two months, I could sleep in the day, and game all night, lol. But I might not be able to find a BF3 map with anybody on it, except for the hardcore experts who will murder me.

Hmmm. Maybe Blaze will come on, but that might be when he signs up for $42 for another 3 month run of WoW, and we'll never see him anywhere else. It won't be Jeff, he works and has a normal schedule. It might be Shaff, with his watercooled rig, but that's what I mean about me getting murdered. It won't be Russ or Stevo, they'll be watching movies, or seeing what else Jackie Evancho is up to. It won't be Kevin, he'll still be playing Angry Birds. LOL

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Russ, speaking of Jackie, it is your fault that I have been all over YouTube lately checking out these talent contests, including Paul Potts, Susan Boyle, and a host of others, even adorable Holly Steel and Natalie Okri, both 10 years old. But have you come across the 11 year old Dutch sensation Aliyah Kolf singing I Have Nothing?




That 14-year old down in Australia, the Australian Justin Bieber did the same cover - a very good job also and one of the judges got on the stage and kissed him - and he won the show.

But if you liked that first Aliyah video, watch this, where she gets worked up halfway through and throws down the microphone stand




and the judges go crazy - the main judge jumps up on the table, to the disbelief of the other judges.




As I said, she is 11, and if Jackie is an angel, maybe Aliyah is Egyptian Queen of the Vampires - like the last movie role Aaliyah had a few days before she took the plane that ended her life some 10 years ago in the Bahamas. I saw that movie recently, didn't know it was her, thought that whoever was playing the role was utterly fabulous, and then glanced at the ending credits and saw, "makeup to Aaliyah." What!!

This Dutch 11-year old Aliyah can sing an ANGRY song and come across like the Queen of the Vampires, until you see her beaming with her teddy bear.




Other videos show her in school with all her regular friends, she is still the same normal Dutch kid, but on stage, they are calling her the new Whitney Houston and I believe it!

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Back to gaming, rather than game in the middle of the night, another thought is - why not install a good cooler now, jump to 3.6ghz, pick up the extra performance from 8% faster clocks, and then take that cooler with me next year to the new build? I see the good ones are compatible with 1155, AND LGA775. I am looking at the Thermalright Silver Arrow, and maybe I'll get all three fans for it.




The noctua is a very similar design, and no doubt a great cooler.

But I like thermalright - I have always admired the TRUE. They are within one or two degrees of each other, I have read.

I am not sure if I can install the Silver Arrow without removing the mother board - anybody know about that? I'll download the cooler installation instructions.

For next year's 1155, I have looked at some great 3-graphic card designs - gigabyte has one without the wireless, at $179 with 114 reviews. It offers the 3 pci-e 3.0 16x slots at 2, 5, and 7.




The HIS boards slightly overlap 2, so I'll put them at 2 and 7. I think slot 7 is only x4 lanes, but with 3.0 that will be like x8 on pci-e 2.0 boards, so I'll be okay. I'm glad I traded out the microcenter antec 900 that I bought for the spedo, to get the 7th expansion slot, because I'm going to need it. Then when I need more gpu power in the next year or so, with the 3570 at 4.5, I'll add the third 7950 at slot 5. It will have to be a 2 slot board. Those 7950s will be super cheap by then.

Rich

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Originally posted by harvardguy:

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Kevin - you and me both. I'm thinking of SSD also for W7 and crysis. I think for $100 I can get a small one - 50 gigs? 100 gigs? Jeff said to turn off texture streaming - and I will soon be in crossfire on the 7950s (second one ordered today) - so maybe most of the textures will fit on the 3gb memory for each card - but with the game installed on the SSD, that should help get those textures to the graphics card much faster.

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Originally posted by harvardguy:

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The cpu, the Q9450, is overclocked to 3.334, from 2.66, runs maybe 30% load per core, if ever. To get it to the 3.6, fsb 450, I need a new cooler, and I'm seriously considering the silver arrow thermalright, which one youtube review reported it beating the noctua NH D-14 by 2 degrees, then dropped another 2 degrees when a 3rd fan was added on.

Hey happy 4th everybody.

I looked out the front door and there was a parade up the street - the neighbor said they've been doing it for years, but I never noticed, lol.

Kids pulling their wagons loaded with dolls, and a few flags, bicycle riders - people walking in the street - just a two block parade to the local park the neighbor told me - maybe a couple hundred people.

Rich

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