Just looking before I leap...new PC final thoughts.

[Wordsworth]

Congrats on getting the build completed. It's always a joy to see your custom-built masterpiece actually work after pressing the power button; the beginning of rewards for your research and work.

Once you get things finalized how you want them (software and configurations) don't forget to make a system image of your freshly installed system so you can restore it rather than have a need to install again.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

HWinfo32 all looks good. The Seasonic PSU is keeping your voltages very close to norms.

Your temps are so low I am wondering if maybe it is a little cool in your room—perhaps 75 or maybe closer to 70 (F)?? Maybe the low temps are because the rear fan is on high?

You are on the F2 BIOS. No need to change.

Is Sysfan 1 your front or rear fan? You should be able to monitor both. I am with my similar board and setup.

The Antec Tri-cool on the rear does not have a rep for being quiet, even at low. I’d move it down to low and monitor internal temps for a while. If they remain tolerable, leave it on low or replace it with a Scythe Slipstream or a Nexus. I assume you are satisfied with the noise level of the front Nexus?

WEI figures are great.

Looks like everything is under control. Did you install Windows 7 SP1??

 

[Dave76]

Re system restore; you want it on. Go to control panel/system/system protection and poke the "configure" button to see how much space is devoted to it. You can move the slider to change the setting. A setting of 10 GB should allow at least 10 restore points. How many you want is personal choice, but in the real world you rarely want to restore to a 2 week old point. Usually, you want to restore to one no more than 3 or 4 days old. I use a setting of 8, but it's up to you. If you had a real small SSD, you'd probably want to keep it quite low.

Did you get AHCI enabled in the BIOS??????????

I enabled AHCI in BIOS before installing Windows 7. Are we good or is more needed to be done?

See pic of Diskpart. I think it's the same as yours.

Looks like default is 10% of total or 1.26Gb ( C: is 128Gb). " I use a setting of 8, but it's up to you." Do you mean 8Gb?

All temps, voltages and the rest look good.
These SB CPUs do run cool, and fast, great combination.

Your SSD alignment is good, 101MB X 1024 = 103424 K which is the 100 MB System Reserved partition and the 1 MB is 1024 K alignment for the first partition, all good, same as mine.

This is what Win7 does when you point the installer at a fresh un-formatted out of the box SSD.

When the Win7 installer identifies a SSD it will make most of the necessary SSD settings.

Strange that the defrag window didn't list the OS drive, it should be disabled for the SSD by the installer but, listed. I would verify again as this does not help a SSD and uses up writes.

System restore, if you want to keep it, Win7 will make it the minimum size. Some people don't recommend it for SSDs, that is usually for small boot drives, it is normally recommended to keep it if you have the space.
The 1.26GB will likely give you one or two restore points, as ignatzatsonic mentioned 8GB is more than enough for an SSD.
I make regular image backups and have had issues previously with system restore not working, so I don't use it on my SSDs, but that is just my preference. My main reason is all of the additional writes it puts on the SSD.


Congrats on your build, that is a great system.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Re system restore; you want it on. Go to control panel/system/system protection and poke the "configure" button to see how much space is devoted to it. You can move the slider to change the setting. A setting of 10 GB should allow at least 10 restore points. How many you want is personal choice, but in the real world you rarely want to restore to a 2 week old point. Usually, you want to restore to one no more than 3 or 4 days old. I use a setting of 8, but it's up to you. If you had a real small SSD, you'd probably want to keep it quite low.

Looks like default is 10% of total or 1.26Gb ( C: is 128Gb). " I use a setting of 8, but it's up to you." Do you mean 8Gb?

Are you sure about 10% and 1.26??

10% of 128 is closer to 12.8 GB, not 1.26.

I'd move it down to 6 or 8 GB, which should be around 5 to 7%.

 

[GARoss]

Are you sure about 10% and 1.26??

10% of 128 is closer to 12.8 GB, not 1.26.

I'd move it down to 6 or 8 GB, which should be around 5 to 7%.

Sorry, my math was wrong. (See pic on left of the default setting) I assumed Current Usage & that would of been 1%, not 10%. But, you were referring to the figure below, I think, which was at 5% (5.96).

The pic on right is current. I moved the slider to close to 8Gb as you recommended. I have installed some software & Current Usage is now 2.31Gb.

 

[GARoss]

Your temps are so low I am wondering if maybe it is a little cool in your room—perhaps 75 or maybe closer to 70 (F)?? Maybe the low temps are because the rear fan is on high?

We keep our home @ 70F

Is Sysfan 1 your front or rear fan? You should be able to monitor both. I am with my similar board and setup.

(See pic) PWR_FAN is where the front fan is plugged. The rear fan is direct from the PSU with Molex Connection. I do have an adapter that came with the PSU that could plug the rear fan into the 4-pin SYS_FAN2 on MB.

The Antec Tri-cool on the rear does not have a rep for being quiet, even at low. I’d move it down to low and monitor internal temps for a while. If they remain tolerable, leave it on low or replace it with a Scythe Slipstream or a Nexus. I assume you are satisfied with the noise level of the front Nexus?

I'm thinking of replacing this fan but will try a lower speed 1st.

Did you install Windows 7 SP1??

Yes SP1 installed

 

[GARoss]

Congrats on getting the build completed. It's always a joy to see your custom-built masterpiece actually work after pressing the power button; the beginning of rewards for your research and work.

Once you get things finalized how you want them (software and configurations) don't forget to make a system image of your freshly installed system so you can restore it rather than have a need to install again.

Thanks. Is special software required to make an system image file?

 

[GeneO]

Congrats on getting the build completed. It's always a joy to see your custom-built masterpiece actually work after pressing the power button; the beginning of rewards for your research and work.

Once you get things finalized how you want them (software and configurations) don't forget to make a system image of your freshly installed system so you can restore it rather than have a need to install again.

Thanks. Is special software required to make an system image file?

Congrats!

Just use the built in windows 7 backup and select the option to make an image backup. You will also want to make a repair disk so that you can restore that image if you need to. To make a repair disk, type "create a system repair disc" into search. Or you can find it by control panel -> Backup and Restore

 

[ignatzatsonic]

(See pic) PWR_FAN is where the front fan is plugged. The rear fan is direct from the PSU with Molex Connection. I do have an adapter that came with the PSU that could plug the rear fan into the 4-pin SYS_FAN2 on MB.

Nothing wrong with connectimg a fan to pwr fan, but you can't monitor the speed of anything plugged into it. That's why you don't see the front fan speed when you run HWinfo32.

You can still monitor fan speed if you use a Molex provided the Molex adapter came with a single thin spare wire (probably yellow). You use the Molex, but also connect that thin yellow wire to the sensor pin on a system fan header.

However, I'd say it's not critical to monitor intake fan speed so long as you are monitoring temperature, at least periodically.

I would set the BIOS to sound alarms if CPU, exhaust, or intake fans failed. Those settings should be available to you in the BIOS "PC Health" section.

Re imaging:

Windows 7 has the capability and it works, but many on this forum find either Macrium Free or Acronis to be more flexible and understandable. Macrium is free and Acronis is free if you have a WD or Seagate drive. If you don't, you have to pay for Acronis. General idea is to make an image when you are satisfied with the installation and periodically thereafter--perhaps weekly or monthly or quarterly.

DON'T rely on imaging as it can and does fail. ESPECIALLY don't rely on it as a backup for your personal data. Worst case--you can't restore an image and therefore must reinstall Windows. Not the end of the world.

If you use images, I would not use "incrementals". Just do a full image from time to time.

Be sure to make a Linux-based recovery disk if you use Macrium. Takes a couple of minutes within the program. I'm not sure if Acronis requires a recovery disk, but Macrium Free does for sure. Otherwise, you cannot restore an image.

 

[GARoss]

The rear fan is a 2-wire only. The Molex adapter I mentioned apparently isn't the proper 4-pin that would fit into SYS_FAN2 so no go there. I did put the rear on its lowest setting. Here are comparisons; Looks to be 2-3 degrees C higher. Too
hot or OK?

It is much quieter on LOW!

 

[GARoss]

In BIOS "PC Health" section I have an alarm set to go off when temp reaches 60 degrees C/140 degrees F & also if CPU fan fails.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

The rear fan is a 2-wire only. The Molex adapter I mentioned apparently isn't the proper 4-pin that would fit into SYS_FAN2 so no go there. I did put the rear on its lowest setting. Here are comparisons; Looks to be 2-3 degrees C higher. Too
hot or OK?

It is much quieter on LOW!

Your temps are fine on the low exhaust fan speed, across the board. Going to low seems to make only a 1 or 2 degree increase at most.

As you are seeing, the ambient room temperature makes a lot of difference. Your room is circa 70, cooler than most. My ambients are perhaps 70 in winter, 75 this time of year, and 80 from May through Sept. My temps right now are several degrees warmer than yours. I would not worry at all unless CPU temps got above 50 consistently or other temps got into the 40s consistently. CPU temps will go high occasionally under load and you will probably see that in video encoding.

Do you see anything odd in the BIOS?

You might consider something like Malware Bytes as an auxiliary app to Microsoft Security Essentials. They don't conflict with each other.

Do you have a backup scheme in place or in mind?

Have you checked your boot time using the tool on this site? Probably down under 30 seconds somewhere? I am fighting the urge to get an SSD, although my boot times are quick for a spinning drive (47 seconds).

 

[GARoss]

Do you see anything odd in the BIOS?

You might consider something like Malware Bytes as an auxiliary app to Microsoft Security Essentials. They don't conflict with each other.

Do you have a backup scheme in place or in mind?

Have you checked your boot time using the tool on this site? Probably down under 30 seconds somewhere? I am fighting the urge to get an SSD, although my boot times are quick for a spinning drive (47 seconds).

I'm not sure what might be considered odd in BIOS. I seldom go there. I haven't decided if I want to OC or not. Probably wouldn't hurt.

I don't have a back-up plan, yet. I'll check boot time but I can tell you it is fast!

 

[GeneO]

You can connect your 3 pin fan to a 4 pin header, you just might not be able to control the speed (but it will report the speed). The missing line is for the PWM control and they are meant to be compatible. Many motherboards will let you select between PWM and voltage control of the fan speed for the fan headers, so you may actually be able to control the speed from the processor temp even though it s 3 pin. The MB varies the voltage to control the speed in that case. I have 2 fans in my case that are 3 pin, connected to a sys_fan 4 pin header, and whose speed is controlled by the motherboard.

 

[GARoss]

You can connect your 3 pin fan to a 4 pin header, you just might not be able to control the speed (but it will report the speed). The missing line is for the PWM control and they are meant to be compatible. Many motherboards will let you select between PWM and voltage control of the fan speed for the fan headers, so you may actually be able to control the speed from the processor temp even though it s 3 pin. The MB varies the voltage to control the speed in that case. I have 2 fans in my case that are 3 pin, connected to a sys_fan 4 pin header, and whose speed is controlled by the motherboard.

Thanks. The rear fan has only 2 wires going into a Molex male/female connector. I have this wired directly from the PSU.

I thought I might be able to use a PSU supplied Molex to 4-pin connector but there are 2 issues. The 4-pin connector on the MB is physically different than the the 4-pin adapter. Also the GND & PWR do not match with the MBs 4-pin alinement. I'm concerned that something might short out on the MB if tried.

 

[GeneO]

You can connect your 3 pin fan to a 4 pin header, you just might not be able to control the speed (but it will report the speed). The missing line is for the PWM control and they are meant to be compatible. Many motherboards will let you select between PWM and voltage control of the fan speed for the fan headers, so you may actually be able to control the speed from the processor temp even though it s 3 pin. The MB varies the voltage to control the speed in that case. I have 2 fans in my case that are 3 pin, connected to a sys_fan 4 pin header, and whose speed is controlled by the motherboard.

Thanks. The rear fan has only 2 wires going into a Molex male/female connector. I have this wired directly from the PSU.

I thought I might be able to use a PSU supplied Molex to 4-pin connector but there are 2 issues. The 4-pin connector on the MB is physically different than the the 4-pin adapter. Also the GND & PWR do not match with the MBs 4-pin alinement. I'm concerned that something might short out on the MB if tried.

Yeah, better safe than sorry.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Here are 3 different Sandy Bridge overclocking guides-----if you dare to indulge.

The first one is Gigabyte specific--the others are not.

Sandy Bridge Overclocking Guide

P67 Sandy Bridge Overclocking Guide For Beginners

Intel Sandy Bridge Overclocking Guide | Intel Sandy Bridge,Overclocking,Guide,Performance,Analysis,Servando Silva,Intel Sandy Bridge Overclocking Guide and Performance Analysis by Servando Silva

Did you ever measure a boot time or do any benchmarks at all?

 

[GARoss]

Did you ever measure a boot time or do any benchmarks at all?

On the to "do list".

 

[GARoss]

When Win 7 boots it goes to a password screen. Is there an easy way to bypass to boot to desktop? I've looked but cannot find one.

 

[Dave76]

This should work for you.

Log On Automatically at Startup