78LMT-S2P R5 mobo & X4 965 cpu - What $600 build got WEI 7.5

[petspy]

I'll let the pictures tell the story.  I ran Prime95 and Heaven 960x600 together error/hang free two nights in a row.  CPUID shows temps right before I stopped the torture test while the case was closed.  I know pushing the memory controller risks CPU health - but those Samsung 1.35v sticks are very flexible and my massive Hyper 612 PWM remains silent with one fan.  If I kill this cheap old CPU in a few years - I don't care since I'll be replacing it regardless.  I found increasing the Multiplier and/or PCIe bus clock destabilized this build even with a standard memory bus clock.  after hours of trail and error the only way I could get over 4ghz was to push my memory a bit - fortunautly I anticipated this with my DDR3 choice and have them comfortably running 9.9.9.24.33.1720,1.5v.  Easy Tune 6 "Core Boost" feature was kept disabled as it interferes with temperature sensor reporting in Win7 and gave me no actual benefit.

this build is a work in progress;  I will replace that old GPU with a 7850 2GB this Month and OC it by 20%, and also buy a second SSD, re-install Win7.Ult.64 using AHCI instead of SCSI and RAID0 the two drive (that ST3500320AS HDD is temporary).  once that's done all my WEI subscores will be 7.5 or better on this $600 budget game box (my net cost after tax s&h codes and mirs bought over a Month's time, see parts list below). 2 years from now I will replace the CPU:Mobo with some low voltage 12-16 core DDR4 stuff we have not seen yet - I went with this old mobo:cpu combination only because it cost me $115 new and I could pick my own cooler.  I may have over did it on the cooler and under did it on the PSU, but I had my reasons.  i did not use any case fans (FANIN1 is on the old fanless GPU) as this cheap well vented case runs cool and silent using existing PSU CPU GPU fans.  that CPU cooler makes this case a struggle to close, but once I'm done I don't plan on reopening it for 2 years.  I'll update this thread once the new GPU and second SSD are working for me.





PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($89.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($43.98 @ PC Mall)
Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P Micro ATX  AM3+ Motherboard  ($47.52 @ NCIX US)
Memory:  Samsung 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  OCZ Agility 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage:  OCZ Agility 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card:  Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card  ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Case:  NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:  Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply  ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive:  LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer  ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $660.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

[angelotrinidad]

Hi petspy,

I've been searching for over an hour now about how to users replace/ upgrade their video card.

had a meager GT430 installed on the PCI-E slot 1 of my 990FXA UD5, which I then replaced with a HD6670. Upon power up, letters and numbers (ala Matrix) started floating on the screen which Im certain means trouble.

So Im probably doing this wrong... or.. it might be a board bios issue. How do you perform an upgrade on a video card anyway? I suspect, I should NOT have removed the GT430 and instead added the 2nd card (HD6670) in other PCI-E slot and then allowed the BIOS to recognize it. Is that correct?

[Ripshod]

Did you uninstall the old nVidia card before swapping them? nVidia drivers could be interfering.

If you didn't put the nVidia back and as you suggested the AMD in another.

When you boot install the AMD drivers. Uninstall the nVidia card drivers through 'Control Panel'.

Shut down and remove the nVidia. Move the AMD to the main slot - reboot. It'll install on that slot and you'll have to reboot again.

This is assuming there's no other software (nVidia) that could interfere.

Good luck