Graphics Card/Onboard Graphics for Media Centre PC

[cmd187]

I'd get a GTX 570 or 580 instead of that 6950, and an 8GB set of Kingston HyperX instead of that Corsair set.

That would be bad advice. Except for model khx1600c9d3p1k2/8g, the Kingston kits use 1.65 volts... which is high for the Sandy Bridge memory controller. Aside from that, the Kingston doesn't run any faster or tighter.

Wrong, the 1333MHz Genesis kit runs at CAS 7.

 

[Fumz]

I'd get a GTX 570 or 580 instead of that 6950, and an 8GB set of Kingston HyperX instead of that Corsair set.

That would be bad advice. Except for model khx1600c9d3p1k2/8g, the Kingston kits use 1.65 volts... which is high for the Sandy Bridge memory controller. Aside from that, the Kingston doesn't run any faster or tighter.

Wrong, the 1333MHz Genesis kit runs at CAS 7.

Oh boy... :sarc:

You do understand there's difference between CAS and voltage, right? The sticks you mention are 1.65 volts. Sandy Bridge likes 1.5 volt RAM. I thought I made that clear?

You should also know that for Sandy Bridge it's better to increase memory frequency than to tighten timings. Basically, CAS is the last thing to worry about as it provides the least gains in performance.

DDR3 SDRAM for Sandy Bridge: Choosing the Best Memory for LGA1155 Platform - X-bit labs

 

[cmd187]

Sandy Bridge can run at 1.65v. No problem, yes you can run lower, but that will be fine.

 

[Fumz]

Sandy Bridge can run at 1.65v. No problem, yes you can run lower, but that will be fine.

The Sandy Bridge memory standard is 1.5 volts... period. Yes, you can run RAM at 1.65 volts with Sandy Bridge. However, for you to suggest that there's "no problem" is nonsense. The reality is that it's a potential risk... and anyone who actually owns a Sandy Bridge would know that.

Intel has always said to use no more than 5% over the standard, which is ~ 1.6 volts. Anything more is a risk... a risk overclockers take, but a risk nonetheless.

You have no way of knowing how the Sandy Bridge memory controller will react to that much voltage over time... nobody does, they're too new. If you want to take chances with your own hardware, more power to you, but when you give bad/ill-informed advice, you're taking chances with other people's hardware... and so you must be corrected.

Overclockers UK Forums - View Single Post - Sandy Bridge 2500k Just Died

 

[TheJay]

Let me keep you updated.

I have ordered:

MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 Game £166.66
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £129.99
G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM) £74.99
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £16.66
OcUK Value 1.8m Male - Male Gold Plated v1.4 Oxygen Free HDMI Cable - 3D READY £4.99
Dirt 3 Email Game Voucher (AMD promotion) £0.00
DPD Next Day Parcel: £9.50
VAT: £80.56
Order Total: £483.351

Gigabyte Z68X-UD3P-B3 Intel Z68 DDR3 ATX Motherboard - Socket 1155 @ £125.50
Order Total : £157.74

Overall: £641.09

 

[Fumz]

Let me keep you updated.

I have ordered:

... bout time old man.

 

[TheJay]

Yep! Will be building it from Friday onwards.

 

[biggles1000]

good luck, hope it goes well

 

[TheJay]

Hardware arriving today!

 

[Fumz]

Then today is indeed a good day. Post pics when you're done. I'm sure everyone who's had a hand in this would like to see the rig.

 

[TheJay]

This is bliss... I can't believe I managed to boot into Windows 7 without reactivation coming up for changing hardware...

I intend to install Windows 7 64 bit anyhow... Although strangely the system is now picking up 8GB of ram in Windows 7 32 bit..

 

[Fumz]

Graphics score seems a bit low... my 5850 gets 7.7... did you install the drivers?
i5-750 default clock speed, 5850, 4GB G.Skill Pi, Samsung F3 1TB.

 

[essenbe]

Graphics score seems a bit low... my 5850 gets 7.7... did you install the drivers?
i5-750 default clock speed, 5850, 4GB G.Skill Pi, Samsung F3 1TB.

I agree about the graphics. My cheap 5770 gets 7.4

 

[Fumz]

One thing I just noticed about WEI: which drivers you install has an effect. It shouldn't, because it's supposed to rate hardware, but with the last set of nvidia drivers I get 7.9 on my graphics score; with the 275.33's I just re-ran it and got a 7.8 (like I have room to gripe )... so it's possible the low score is simply to to this set of drivers you're running (if you're running them yet?). I wouldn't be overly concerned about it though... wei is meaningless and has zero impact on real world performance and AMD releases new sets very often (too often if you asked me).

 

[biggles1000]

whoa... if that was an SSD, that would be one of the best WEI scores i've ever seen. Congratulations

 

[TheJay]

Don't know why, but my score has increased...