Upgrading my PC

[clocand]

M/B: GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 SSD : N/A
GPU: Zotac GTX 560 Ti Case: CM HAF 922
K/B: Logitech G15 Mouse: Razer Copperhead 2000 DPI
CPU: i5 2500k@3.3GHz HDD : 750GB HITACHI
RAM: G.SKILL 2x4GB DDR3 PSU: Corsair TX750

I'm thinking about upgrading my PC. First off, I'm considering an SSD because I don't have one and they're a nice feature to have, especially for us speedfreaks. But let's be reasonable, 60GB is too small so I'm looking for one around 120GB. Anything above $250 isn't necessary, I don't believe anyway. TRIM isnt essential, most modern ssd's don't require this feature. Since I've never had one, I'm looking for advice when installing them, such as amount of room to leave for cache, etc.

Secondly, I'm having some temp. problems with my gpu, it's higher than I want it to be, usually reaching 90 degree celsius after only an hour or so of running bf3. I have sufficient air circulation from my fans (3x200mm fans, 2x140mm) plus it has a fan itself. Would purchasing an a second GTX 560 TI and SLI'ing them cool them off? I know fan exhaust from one will inevitably make the other a bit hotter, but neither should be reaching 90 degrees after an hour or so of high performance, right? What other tips would you recommend before doing this to get my gpu tips down? How can I check to make sure my PC is running optimally (recommended programs for this?)

Nothing else comes to mind when thinking of other possible upgrades except something like a gaming headset (just returned a $250 dollar PX5 headset to Best Buy b/c I wasn't satisfied with what I had, looking for something around 100). Suggestions? Questions?

 

[clocand]

Well I was going to post my spec's in my sig, but idk where that is..

 

[clocand]

Found it..just showed up.

 

[clocand]

Sig on new posts only?

 

[lehtv]

Yep, your sig shows up now. Nice rig, but it is missing an SSD. This is the best choice at the moment: Samsung 830 128GB $180. Highly reliable and fast.

Secondly, I'm having some temp. problems with my gpu, it's higher than I want it to be, usually reaching 90 degree celsius after only an hour or so of running bf3. I have sufficient air circulation from my fans (3x200mm fans, 2x140mm) plus it has a fan itself.

This is unusual. Can you post back with the core voltage and clocks (in 3D)? Use MSI Afterburner.

Would purchasing an a second GTX 560 TI and SLI'ing them cool them off?

Why would SLI run cooler than a single GPU? Makes no sense, as the inverse is invariably true.

 

[clocand]

I want to understand why you suggested that SSD over

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226236
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220624

I just compared them and these two both have much higher Max Write speeds and a slightly higher IOPS, not that I really know what that means.

I DL'ed MSI afterburner and saw immediately that I have a 950 MHz for Core Clock, but I couldn't find anything about voltage, other than it saying "MAX." Perhaps I don't know what I'm doing since I've never used this before.

The reasoning behind SLI cooling down my gpu temps: two devices sharing the workload for the same system settings as before should lower temps. But what do I know, I'm an amateur. :biggrin:

 

[lehtv]

Because those are both Sandforce based drives. Sandforce has a track record of relatively lower reliability. Samsung 830 also performs better where it matters. See read speeds (vs Pyro) in particular Desktop Iometer 4KB random read. Write speeds don't really matter, as reading data fast is primarily what makes the operating system and programs work fast and feel fast.

If you simply can't afford the 830, you'd probably be fine with either of those. But the extra cost is justified if you ask me.

I DL'ed MSI afterburner and saw immediately that I have a 950 MHz for Core Clock, but I couldn't find anything about voltage, other than it saying "MAX." Perhaps I don't know what I'm doing since I've never used this before.

It's a single fan card right? I've got a dual fan Gigabyte 560 Ti operating at 950Mhz with 0.95V core, it gets up to around 75C at heavy load. My voltage is nowhere near max, in fact it's the lowest I can get with MSI afterburner and it's stable (because it's a Super Overclock card with better power delivery).

At those speeds, high temps are to be expected with only a single fan and high volts. Maybe the 90 degrees isn't that surprising after all, though it is too high. I'd recommend simply lowering your clocks and volts. Presumably even a small decrease in MHz will allow you to loosen up the voltages significantly; my Gigabyte card shipped at 1000MHz and 1.012V, and just a 50Mhz reduction allowed me to use the minimum volts. If you can't touch the volts, go to settings and check "Unlock voltage control".

The reasoning behind SLI cooling down my gpu temps: two devices sharing the workload for the same system settings as before should lower temps. But what do I know, I'm an amateur. :biggrin:

If it's the same workload, then yes; assuming that the workload is shared 50/50 rather than maxing out one GPU before using the other. I'm not sure which way it works, actually - would be interesting to know. But unless your current card is already playing games capped at 60 fps with Vsync, you'll see higher workloads with SLI because the cards will attempt to reach that 60fps.

 

[clocand]

Yes, it is a single fan GPU.
Okay, enabling "Unlock Voltage ControL" showed that MAX meant 1.15V. I'll try lowering my clocks to 900MHz and my Voltage to minimum (825mV), but what should I be looking out for to ensure that its stable? What sort of hit will my video performance take?

 

[clocand]

Lowering 50MHz didn't free up anything, but lowering it another 50 (to 850MHz), allowed the core voltage to drop from 1150mV to 975mV. Should I try for more?

 

[lehtv]

1.15V is a big voltage for 560 Ti. No wonder!

How did you figure out so quickly that the lower volts and MHz are stable? You need to actually properly stress test it with at least a heavy game or benchmark, but preferably OCCT. If you're happy with the temps under stress then no need to go lower. I'd set 80C as my ceiling.

 

[clocand]

Well, when I first lowered the clocks by 50MHz and I dragged the voltage bar to lets say 900mV, MSI placed it immediately back to MAX. I tried replacing the bar at 1000mV and it did the same thing. But when I lowered it another 50MHz, it allowed me to lower the bar all the way down to 975mV, but any point beyond that it placed it back to 975.

I DL'ed OCCT, set my core voltage to 975mV and core clocks to 950MHz using MSI.
Now I'll give this OCCT a try, although I'd prefer some advice on these settings when you have a chance.

 

[lehtv]

You can also set the time manually. As mentioned in the testing guidelines thread, need to pass at least 20min to be considered stable.

 

[clocand]

I ran for 2 hours with shader complexity set on 8, full screen, error checking, and 1600x900 (resolution of my monitor) and never went above 83 degrees Celsius, so it looks good on paper. Hopefully it holds up under BF3 and other demanding games.

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/7561/newgpuvoltage.png

 

[VirtualLarry]

SLI is def. NOT cooler-running than just a single card.

With my rig (Rosewill Blackhawk case, 5 fans stock), one GTX460 1GB OC card ran around 65-68C, now with two cards, the top card gets to 83C, the bottom one to 77C.

 

[mfenn]

If you simply can't afford the 830, you'd probably be fine with either of those. But the extra cost is justified if you ask me

He said anything up to $250 would be fine, so I think the 830 is a solid choice.

OP, IOPS numbers are like response times on monitors. You can't trust the manufacturer's specs, they will find any way to twist the numbers to their advantage. You'll better off going by controlled tests performed by independent sources.