Quiet Fractal Design Define R4

[Karikiro]

This is a build log of a value and silence oriented computer with efficiency in mind, followed up by some basic overclocking of someone inexperienced.

 

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Also: Feel free to correct my grammar. English is not my first language and I do not consider myself being particularly good at it.

 

Edit: This article has grown quite significantly in size, since it has been first uploaded. I will continue to update this post as well as the thread with information, tips and thoughts about the products I use.


Tl;dr

Spoiler

Old PC:
 

 
 
Old PC with new CPU-cooler, PSU, audio-card, GPU and case:
 
 
 
New CPU, MB, SSD and PSU:
 
 
 
New GPU:
 
 
 
New RAM and noise reduction:
 
 
 
No soundcard, new GPU and SSD, further noise-reduction:

 

 

 

Contents

• Introduction

Why did I upgrade?

• Previous Situation

My previous computer

• New System Specifications

Computer-components and peripherals

• The Build

Build log with commented pictures and personal thoughts

• Set-Up

Basic computer settings and hardware configuration

• Power Consumption

Synthetical, approximate numbers

• Benchmark Results

Synthetical numbers with Windows Performance Index, ALLBenchmark Catzilla, Unigine Heaven and Valley

• Overclocking and Undervolting

Settings and temperatures

• November 2013 Update

Small report of the situation and what has changed in the four months of operation

• January 2014 Update

Airflow personalisation, different RAM and minor modding including advanced noise dampening

• April 2015 Update

Removed soundcard, new SSD, frontpanel mods, broken old and sketchy new GPU

 

 

Introduction

 

Why did I upgrade my PC?

The performance, my previous system offered, covered most of the used applications sufficiently. However, recent purchases were giving it a hard time, so I needed to upgrade.
The new system is supposed to last for some years and to be vastly quieter. I hope to get increased performance without too much of an increase in power-consumption, too.

Edit (07.11.2013): Never mind. I now got a GTX 770, because I need to heat my room.

 

 

Previous Situation

 

This is an Acer Aspire X3900 (Q1 2010), my first and current PC:

Spoiler

 

• CPU : intel Core i3-530 (4/2 cores, 2.93GHz)
• GPU : Sapphire GT 320 1GB
• RAM : 4 GB RAM DDR3-1333MHz CL9
• HDD : Western Digital Green 1TB (WD19EADS <90MB/s)
• PSU : 220W PSU Flex ATX
• ODD : noctua DVD-R/W ... wait

As you may have noticed there is something off here.
You need to know that I am quite picky about noise. Therefore, I prefer quiet solutions.
Yet, what you are seeing on the two previous pictures is not quite quiet. In fact it turns into a vacuum-cleaner once one utilizes it.

In an attempt to lower its noise-output, I did the following:

• placed cloth-tape on every metal surface that is touching another and is not bolted to which to reduce rattle
• replaced CPU-fan
• replaced the defected (friction bearing) PSU-fan by a temperature-regulated ball-bearing-fan (only to short the sensor with a paper-clip after finding out that the PSU is already regulating the fan) and wrapping cloth-tape around it to lower transmission of vibration
• placed shroud on GPU-fan to force it to pull its air from outside of the case
• "ghetto-mounted" a noctua NF-P12 in the ODD-bay with two packets of tissues to internally move the air and cool the chipset and ODD / case sandwiched HDD (<52°C)

Since nothing really helped I got myself a Fractral Design Define R4 (very nice case), a Seasonic X-560, a Noctua NH-U12P SE2 and an Asus GTX650-DC-1GD5 (130€ launch, oh gosh). That pretty much solved my worries.

 

Spoiler

Now you may ask yourself why I do use the Acer case again. Well, after 9 month of usage the PSU decided to make electrical noises. Nothing obnoxious, yet audible, probably caused by the primary ripple smoothing.
Since I planned on upgrading my machine anyway and putting it into the R4, I returned the faulty PSU and rebuild my current PC to its 'personalised' default.

 

 

 

New System Specifications

• CPU : Intel Core i5-4670k
• CPU-Cooler : Noctua NH-U12P SE2
• GPU : Asus GTX 650 >> replaced with >> Palit GTX 770 >> replaced with >> Asus GTX 560
• SC : Asus Xonar DX 7.1 >> removed
• MB : Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H
• RAM : Samsung Green Series 2x4GB DDR3-1600 CL11 1,35V >> replaced with >> Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3-1600 CL9 1,5V
• SSD : Samsung 840 Basic 250GB >> replaced with >> SanDisk Extreme II 480GB
• ODD : DVD-R DL R/W
• PSU : Seasonic X-650
• Case : Fractal Design Define R4
• OS: Windows 7 Professional 64bit

Here is a preview of the build in progress since I am waiting for the PSU to return to me.

Spoiler

Why would they package 90€ RAM like toothbrushes?

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

The Build

 

The PSU has arrived and the build can go on.

Spoiler

It is a Seasonic X-650 that the vendor send back to me. Compared to the X-560, the X-650 has got black flat cables, which to me look better than the colour-coded, sleeved ones included with the X-560. Even the 24-pin mainboard-cable has got all black wires bundled in a fairly good sleeving.

The angled SATA-power-connector could not be fitted onto the surface-mounted SSD though as it would have been the case with the X-560. Therefore I had to think of another location, which I found on the ODD.

Spoiler

 

Mounted like that the connectors of both of the drives line up to allow straight cable-routing.

Salad.

Spoiler

Cable-management is mostly done. I did not do an outstanding job I have to admit, but it is out of sight and not too tight of a fit.

Spoiler

Not using any zip-ties also gives me a great amount of flexability, since i do not need to replace any of the mounting-strips if I am changing something.

Soundcard and graphicscard are mounted. (I forgot to take a photo of it, but it is straight forward anyway.) Time to install the CPU-heatsink.

Spoiler

For thermal conductivity I used PROLIMA TECH PK-3.

If you are unsure as to how to apply thermal paste it can be worth to take a look at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hNgFNH7zhQ

The build is done.

Spoiler

No Pictures of the outside; there is nothing spectacular going on there. Also I forgot to take photos again.

My desk.

Spoiler

The keyboard that you are seeing on the picture above was not intended to be a replacement for the Acer one. I just found it and used it on my old Acer PC for the software set-up of my new PC. After some use I found that for me this keyboard is vastly superior to my previous, when it comes to the typing experience.
I do not know, what type of switches Fujitsu has used on this particular keyboard, but from what I have heard of the Cherry key switches, they seem to be quite similar to the Cherry MX Browns.

That I found it is very convenient, too, since I where looking for a new keyboard and where considering to buy the Corsair K70, despite it having MX Red switches and only red lighting with the black base.
I where struggling, because if I am going to spend that much money on a keyboard, I want it to fit all my preferences, which it did not at all points. I am eager to see what versions of the K70 Corsair will release in the future, but might stay with the Fujitsu to save money.

 

 

Set-Up

 

Mainboard

Stock: All relevant settings set to 'auto' / 'default'
Overclock: f_Bus=100MHz; n_c=43-43-42-42; U_c=1,2V; n_m=16

 

Graphicscard (GTX 650)

Stock: All relevant settings set to 'auto' / 'default'

Overclock: f_c=1215MHz; U_c=1,125V; f_m=2550MHz (5100MHz)

 

Graphicscard (GTX 770)

Stock: All relevant settings set to 'auto' / 'default'

Overclock: f_c=1293MHz; U_c=1,2V; f_m=3804MHz (7408MHz)

 

Ventilation

2x Front (Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140 at 5V)

1x Rear (Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140 at 5V)

1x CPU (Noctua NF-P12 at 5V)

2x GPU (NZXT FN 12RB at 5V)

1x PSU (semi-passive)

 

 

Power Consumption

 

Power Consumption at power outlet (stock system / overclocked system; GTX 650 / GTX 770)

Idle: 41 - 45W / 51 - 55W

Maximum with OCCT: 139 - 149W / 159 - 169W / 294 - 304W / 333 - 353W

 

 

Benchmark Results

 

How to read:

Test: stock + 650 / overclocked + 650 (oc) / stock + 770 / stock + 770 (oc) (previous PC)
 

Windows Performance Index

Processor : 7,6 / 7,7 / 7,7 / 7,7 (6,9) / 7,6

Memory (RAM) : 7,8 / 7,8 / 7,8 / 7,8 (5,9) / 7,7
Graphics : 7,3 / 7,5 / 7,9 / 7,9 (6,6) / 7,9
Gaming graphics : 7,3 / 7,5 / 7,9 / 7,9 (6,6) / 7,9
Primary hard disk : 7,9 / 7,9 / 7,9 / 7,9 (5,9) / 7,9

 

AllBenchmark Catzilla (RC5 / RC5 / RC6 / RC6 / RC6 / 1.4)

(576p: 4670k + 650, 4670k (oc) + 650 (oc), 4670k + 770, 4670k + 770 (oc), (previous system) and 4670k + 780Ti)
Score : 6319 / 7233 / 19411 / 20339 (1813) / 31957
Hardware (GPU+CPU) : 6185 / 7035 / 19189 / 20096 (1891) / 31798
Physics Test (CPU) : 537 / 646 / 586 / 551 (120) / 644
Fur Test (GPU) : 485 / 533 / 1427 / 1567 (163) / 2870
Fluid Test (GPU) : 348 / 401 / 1387 / 1520 (95) / 2095
Raymarch Test (GPU) : 216 / 250 / 785 / 893 (73) / 1197
Loading Time (ms) : 10817 / 9144 / 11132 / 10855 (31786) / 10594

 

Unigine Heaven 4.0

(basic)
FPS : 46,2 / 51,7 / 142,6 / 153,8 (16,3)
Score : 1163 / 1302 / 3591 / 3873 (410)
Min FPS : 25,6 / 27,3 / 28,2 / 29,9 (10,0)
Max FPS : 81,5 / 92,7 / 241,9 / 296,1 (26,6)
 
(extreme)
FPS : 14,8 / 16,7 / 49,1 / 54,4 (6,0)
Score : 374 / 420 / 1236 / 1371 (152)
Min FPS : 5,4 / 9,8 / 19,9 / 22,0 (3,9)
Max FPS : 34,7 / 38,1 / 115,6 / 135,0 (10,5)

 

Unigine Valley 1.0

(basic)
FPS : 38,7 / 43,8 / 107,3 / 106,8 (13,6) / 110,8
Score : 1620 / 1833 / 4489 / 4469 (568) / 4635
Min FPS : 20,2 / 24,7 / 24,4 / 28,0 (8,6) / 32,7
Max FPS : 76,0 / 82,1 / 170,2 / 161,7 (23,7) / 165,3
 
(extreme)
FPS : 18,7 / 21,1 / 60,0 / 66,4 (5,2) / 90,2
Score : 784 / 882 / 2511 / 2778 (219) / 3772
Min FPS : 9,0 / 12,5 / 27,7 / 29,2 (3,1) / 36,0
Max FPS : 33,5 / 39,0 / 118,7 / 123,7 (9,3) / 157,5
 
(extreme hd = 1920 x 1080 p)
FPS : 14,3 / 16,0 / 45,7 / 48,9 (-) / 72,9
Score : 600 / 671 / 1910 / 2048 (-) / 3050
Min FPS : 7,4 / 9,6 / 24,5 / 24,8 (-) / 34,8
Max FPS : 26,0 / 29,1 / 84,1 / 68,8 (-) / 139,9

 

 

 

Overclocking and Undervolting

 

This Gigabyte Z87 / Haswell Overclocking Guide helped me out a lot.

For the following results I would like to repeat that all fans are running at approximately 5V and the computer is operating at about 24°C room temperature.

Result GPU (GTX 650 / GTX 770)

GPU Clock: 1215MHz

GPU Voltage: 1,125V

Memory Clock: 2700MHz (5400MHz)

Temperature: <76°C

Fan (AUTO): <35% (<30°C ambient)

 
Result CPU
Multiplier: stock

Vcore: 1,025V (undervolted)

Multiplier: 42 (overclocked)

Vcore: 1,150V

 

 

Notes:

Spoiler

Progress (CPU)']Maximum core-temperature with OCCT after 3 minutes (linpack/+avx)

OCCT burns every CPU. I highly doubt, that any CPU is getting as hot in real-world-applications, as it is the case within OCCT.

Schematic:
Multiplier
Bios Vcore / OCCT temperature

38/38/37/36x (stock)
1,050V / 66°C
1,040V / 65°C
1,030V / 64°C
1,020V / 63°C
1,015V / 62°C
1,010V / 60°C

38/38/38/38x
1,020V / 65°C

39/39/39/39x
1,060V / 70°C

40/40/40/40x
1,100V / 74°C
1,090V / 73°C
1,080V / 72°C
1,070V / 72°C

42/42/42/42x
1,150V / 81°C
1,140V / 79°C

43/43/43/43x
1,230V / 93°C (90°C limit exceeded; OCCT stopped after 1min 34sec; unstable)

44/44/44/44x
1,300V is ridiculous, there is no way to cool it with my cooler and getting it stable

AIDA64
38/38/37/36x (stock) at 1,010V after 2 hours

Spoiler

 

LTT Forums CPU Overclocking Database

Spoiler

 

 

---

 
 
November 2013 Update

An update.

While my old computer is suffering from random experiments, such as cooling the Sapphire GT 320 passively and overheating it in the process, remounting the HDD to several random places in the case to lower noise and temperatures, and peltiering the spirits out of the poor i3, there isn't much that changed during the four month period, the new computer has been running by now.

Basically there are three things that changed: SSD, rear case fan and the GPU.

The SSD, that I mounted on top of the ODD, had to move at some point and I didn't bother to stick it back, so it is almost carelessly chucked behind the mainboard tray.

 

Spoiler

 

Don't worry the temperature is fine, it is an SSD after all.

There is also a new fractal design Silent Series R2 140mm now mounted in the back, while the noctua moved back to its prior position.

 

Spoiler

 

I mainly bought the additional fan, because it annoyed me to turn the fan control up to '7V' to start the noctua fan up on system start. It now sits on the CPU cooler, just because I have it. It isn't necessary at all.

The major reason I even update this post is the new Palit GTX 770 (vanilla), that I got for about 260 Euro. If it hadn't been for the low price, I probably hadn't bought it.

 

Spoiler

 

It is reasonably silent at idle, but can be heard under load. Please be aware, that I am picky about noise, so this might be a fairly silent card to you. For a more detailed subjective description go here.

Thanks for reading this far. I am not sure, if anyone cares about this project, but if there is anyone I can help with this post, I am glad, I could.
 
 

---

January 2014 Update

I have re-uploaded all pictures of all my topics in high quality. (<=2MB 1600x1200p; offline compressed)
It took me some time to figure out what was wrong with the picture quality I achieved, but now I know that the images where compressed online by wiping a sandy sponge over them several times and then crumbling them to the desired size.

Noise

I took off the fan-bracket of the graphicscard to replace the original fans due to their excessive noise-production under heavy load.

After two hours of trying different ways of mounting 120mm fans onto the card itself, I gave up and thought about other ways.

I came up with a mounting arm that screwed onto the PCI-covers, but it didn't fit with the materials I had and wasn't strong enough. So I decided to buy Alpenföhn's mounting system that is included with their "Peter" GPU-cooler.

Currently, there are two NZXT 120mm fans mounted onto the bracket. They are connected to a 1-to-4 PWM splitter, which is connected to the case's fan controller. It also provides power to the rear and CPU fan (the second CPU fan doesn't offer a significant temperature decrease and adds noise, so I removed it), so now all fans are controlled by one voltage.

 

Spoiler

 

With all fans at 5V and ambient temperatures around 23°C the GPU runs without throttling in BF3 (max, no AA @ 1080p) and any older games at 60 fps. Only in AC4:BF (max, no AA, no Physx @ 1080p) it starts to sweat, but still offers about 34-60 fps (avsync; 42 fps average), as it downclocks the core to 1045 MHz at <85°C.

Since the fans I use aren't as quiet as I wished them to be and I assume that this issue wouldn't be solved by any other fan, I figured that further noise dampening was appropriate. For that purpose I ordered some sheets of studio noise dampening material that is usually used to cancel out echo when voice or music is being recorded.

For testing I first installed the foam onto the mainboard facing panel. I didn't expect it to be very effective, but surprisingly the result was very good.

 

Spoiler

[attachment=29577:Bild 20.jpg]

 

To decrease the noise more effectively I scattered the off-cut of the original piece within the case.

Furthermore, my brother noticed, that the front fan cover, which I assume is there to give the case a cleaner look, when the door is opened, theoretically reflects some of the noise, the front fans emit, and removing it, allowed the noise to run directly into the foam of the front door, achieving a greater noise cancellation than the stock configuration. So I removed it and experienced this assumption to be true.

 

Spoiler

 

Side effects are easier cleaning of the filter and the now larger chamber the fans can pull their air from.

The result: Sitting in front of it in a silent room the only noise I hear is the whisper quiet airflow of the six fans inside. No amount of money spend on better fans could have given me a better result and considering the price of six new fans, a tenth of it for the foam instead seems fairly appealing to me.

If you feel bothered by your computer's noise, you already own reasonably quiet fans and your case supports it, I definitely recommend this method before anything else.

Hardware

I am now using Corsair Vengance RAM (2x4GB DDR3-1600MHz CL9-9-9-24 at 1,5V). That is, because it is faulty and my brothers machine couldn't deal with it as well as mine can. *should probably return it*

Due to the new GPU cooling, the soundcard had to move down two slots.
To connect it to the m-ATX board I got a PCIe x1 extention cable. It isn't particularly beautiful but serves its purpose just fine.

 

Spoiler

 

I finally personalised the frontpanel to my preferences. The mods include matting the power LED socket, for which I have written tutorial here, and the USB ports, which I lowered into the case to fit the bevel as the audio connectors are as it has been probably intended by fractal design in the first place. There are some problems with that, however. The USB 3.0 cables make contact with the duct, if the connector socket is pushed down too far. For that reason the USB ports can be at a slight angle. None the less, I am satisfied with the result.

 

Spoiler

 
 
 

---

 
 
April 2015 Update
 

Typical April weather.

Spoiler

12:25

 

12:34

It's been a while since the last update - fifteen month to be exact.

In chronologic order: the changes.

Since the beginning I had trouble with the Asus soundcard as it decided to occasionally turn the volume up to max on start-up, distorting all sounds until restart and therefore causing a very loud and terrifying screeching sound that was supposed to be the Windows 7 start-up-jingle.
Since it was only necessary on the old board to not have to listen to obnoxious background-noises, I removed it.
 
--------------------------------

Mid 2014 the Palit GTX 770 quit on me but that wasn't the only bad thing to happen: shortly after, the Samsung 840 Basic 250GB SSD died, too. The sudden end was probably provoked by continuously having only 0,3GB of available space left to compensate for dead sectors.
"No big deal", I thought to myself "I will just return it and use an HDD in the meantime". ... But no. Apparently, if you choose \C as the data to backup in Windows, but not separately "User", it will save \C but not all of it. In my case not the userdata. Oh well.

 

Spoiler

 The SSD was repleaced by a SanDisk Extreme II 480GB, whilst the 850 evo I got back from Samsung went into a Lenovo ThinkPad L540.
 
Since the GTX 770 still hadn't arrived I looked for alternatives.
While asking in different computer-stores for some scrap GPUs/-coolers for a GT 320 I intended to use, I was surprised they offered me a seemingly broken Asus GTX 560 that one of the employees pulled out of his personal system. They said I could have it for a small tip and that by chance it may be still operational.
 
A quick test at home after carefully cleaning it revealed that it was indeed still operational.

 

Spoiler

The only parts broken were the fans, which I replaced a few days later with bequiet Silent Wings PWM 92mm fans.

 

Spoiler

After another week a new 770 arrived at my house, but since the 560 is powerful enough for my needs and I currently need to save money I sold it.

--------------------------------

Next up: frontpanel. I widened the cable-hole to allow the USB3-cables to pass through while having the ports fully seated back into the frontpanel and glued the PCB in place.

 

Spoiler

I also added a few LEDs with custom acrylic glass socket around the USB and audio ports and immediately removed it again, because it looked horrible. So horrible in fact, that I didn't even take a photo.
It was made from four separate layers glued together and slotted in between the ports. The LEDs were connected to 12V.

 

Spoiler

 

Also this.

 

Spoiler

 

I installed and removed that, too.

--------------------------------
 
The GPU has been running fine the last two month but I still wanted to check, whether everything was alright.
That is what greeted me, as I opened the case:

 

Spoiler

Rubber bands don't cope well with warmth, but I didn't expect them to wear out that quickly.

Since rubber bands were out of the question and I still had the custom mounting arm that I didn't use, I modified that one to carry the GPU fans.

 

Spoiler

It screws onto the Alpenföhn mount.

 

Spoiler

 

--------------------------------
 
I finally got around to make a proper stand for my desk, too.
 

Spoiler

 

 

[david cassar]

why the 650?

[bchampion96]

I have the same old computer as you! It's a pile of crap :P I'm going to be upgrading it with my Dad soon. Gonna teach him how to build computers :D Nice build man :)

[Karikiro]

why the 650?

When I bought this graphics-card it was brand new. It also was the best nvidia card I could effort at that point in time. For now the 650 should be sufficient anyway. (I am eager for Maxwell)

I have the same old computer as you! It's a pile of crap :P I'm going to be upgrading it with my Dad soon. Gonna teach him how to build computers :D Nice build man :)

I were actually surprised, how well it performed when I bought it, since it was the most powerfull machine in our household. :D Also thanks. I would appreciate it, if you posted your experiences on your upgrade and the difference in performance it will offer to you and your dad.

I will update the first post as soon as the PSU rearrives and I am getting time to build it. I expect that to be around the 08.07.2013 so if you are interested, that is when there will be more pictures and information. I am also going to carefully overclock as this will be my first time doing so. I hope the BIOS is as good as it promised to be. (Love the monitoring)

[BlueDinoMiner]

Really enjoyed reading this PC Build Topic!! Looks cool. Are you planning any future upgrades for this PC?

[bchampion96]

When I bought this graphics-card it was brand new. It also was the best nvidia card I could effort at that point in time. For now the 650 should be sufficient anyway. (I am eager for Maxwell)

I were actually surprised, how well it performed when I bought it, since it was the most powerfull machine in our household. :D Also thanks. I would appreciate it, if you posted your experiences on your upgrade and the difference in performance it will offer to you and your dad.

I will update the first post as soon as the PSU rearrives and I am getting time to build it. I expect that to be around the 08.07.2013 so if you are interested, that is when there will be more pictures and information. I am also going to carefully overclock as this will be my first time doing so. I hope the BIOS is as good as it promised to be. (Love the monitoring)

 

I'm going to make a build log of it. Keep your eyes peeled :P

[Karikiro]

Really enjoyed reading this PC Build Topic!! Looks cool. Are you planning any future upgrades for this PC?

Thank you.

Sadly I am not going to upgrade anytime soon since I am on a tight budget. A new more powerful graphicscard for example would probably require a new PSU as well if I am overclocking the CPU so it is not in question right now.

I'm going to make a build log of it. Keep your eyes peeled :P

I will. :)

[AxelPeeters]

I have the same ssd , It's an awesome one but the write speeds are a little bit low...

[Demos]

Should get the Noctua NH-U12s instead of the NH-U12P SE2.

The fan is a lot better and the heatsink design is SO much better.

[Karikiro]

I have the same ssd , It's an awesome one but the write speeds are a little bit low...

The most attractive part about it for me was the price. It sure is going to be faster than my WD Green.

Should get the Noctua NH-U12s instead of the NH-U12P SE2.

The fan is a lot better and the heatsink design is SO much better.

I agree with you but actually I bought the cooler a few month ago. At that point in time the 's' was not released. I particularly like the lower weight of it compared to the 'SE2' since it puts less strain on the components.

[Karikiro]

I am sorry for the belated update but here it is.

Unfortunately the PSU has not arrived yet. I will update the first post as soon as I am able to work on the Computer again.

(It is quite frustrating to have such nice hardware just standing around without being able to utilize it. :,()

[Bluejay0]

Noctua Dvd. I loled so hard. Nicely done +1 follower!

[Clank]

let me know how that gigabyte board is, i'm thinking about getting it for my mATX build. 

[Karikiro]

Noctua Dvd. I loled so hard. Nicely done +1 follower!

I am glad that you enjoyed reading it. I am trying to make this as interesting as possible with this kind of hardware.

let me know how that gigabyte board is, i'm thinking about getting it for my mATXbuild.

Maybe I am going to make some sort of review about it. I have never done such before so do not expect an overarching article.

One thing I can say at this point in time though is, that this mainboard looks quite beautiful.

[deguzi]

i actually have an evga 650. It's quite fine for my use, with mild gaming. +1 for the ssd also. I have 2 250gb 840 series. Love em  :D

[Clank]

I am glad that you enjoyed reading it. I am trying to make this as interesting as possible with this kind of hardware.

Maybe I am going to make some sort of review about it. I have never done such before so do not expect an overarching article.

One thing I can say at this point in time though is, that this mainboard looks quite beautiful.

You don't have to do a review, I just heard that the board had blue screen issues, but that would be fixed with updates eventually. And yes, it is a very nice looking board.

[Karikiro]

i actually have an evga 650. It's quite fine for my use, with mild gaming. +1 for the ssd also. I have 2 250gb 840 series. Love em  :D

I wonder if it can run higher resolutions than 1080p without stuttering in Battlefield 3.

My GT 320 can not on 720p and low settings ...

... its PCB is just as big as the ASUS Xonar DX soundcard. I find this quite amusing.

 

You don't have to do a review, I just heard that the board had blue screen issues, but that would be fixed with updates eventually. And yes, it is a very nice looking board.

It would be more like personal thoughts on the product. We will see about it.

I also got to know that my replacement PSU (Seasonic X-650) is on its way. There will be more soon.

[deguzi]

I wonder if it can run higher resolutions than 1080p without stuttering in Battlefield 3.

My GT 320 can not on 720p and low settings ...

... its PCB is just as big as the ASUS Xonar DX soundcard. I find this quite amusing.

 

 

i am actually not too sure.  my res is 16x9 and not 1920x1080. with that , I have on med-high settings played Planetside 2 with 50-60 fps & CS:GO on high settings 120fps+  My gaming experiences isn't up to par w/ others, but which is also why this card works perfectly in my scenario.  

I wonder if it can run higher resolutions than 1080p without stuttering in Battlefield 3.

 

[Karikiro]

 

i am actually not too sure.  my res is 16x9 and not 1920x1080. with that , I have on med-high settings played Planetside 2 with 50-60 fps & CS:GO on high settings 120fps+  My gaming experiences isn't up to par w/ others, but which is also why this card works perfectly in my scenario.  

I wonder if it can run higher resolutions than 1080p without stuttering in Battlefield 3.

 

 

 

Now, I have not played a lot on my new PC yet, but from what I saw until now, it does indeed run rather smooth on medium settings without ambient occlusion and multisampling at 1920 to 1080 p. I think on lower settings it should be running Battlefield 3 sufficiently at a higher resolution.

[Karikiro]

You don't have to do a review, I just heard that the board had blue screen issues, but that would be fixed with updates eventually. And yes, it is a very nice looking board.

So, I have had some time to play around with it and never encountered any random bluescreen, caused by the mainboard. The Power supply is very stable, allowing vDroop on the Vcore of only 0,003V and less with my overclocking. The BIOS-screen is nice and tidy and even allows the user to switch to an alternate (older but simpler) version of the BIOS-interface without restarting.

Unfortunately the HD-BIOS is not available for my configuration yet. No easy BIOS-monitoring for me then.* However there are supposed to be updates that are fixing those issues and the Gigabyte EasyTune utility (OS) is fine too.

As all the other utilities, EasyTune will be installed by the Gigabyte AppCenter which allows the user to easily install and update any mainboard drivers.

I hope that this is helpful for you. If you have any other questions regarding the hardware I am using, I will happily answer them.

 

 

PS: I found this Gigabyte Z87 / Haswell Overclocking Guide very useful. It is well written and could help you, if you are unexperienced with overclocking.

 

 

 

*Edit: Since the recent BIOS Rev.1 F4 update that GIGABYTE made available on thier website it does work.

[Karikiro]

November update

 

Small report of the situation and what has changed in the four month of operation

 

 

New scores added. I hope you enjoy.

[anton_ma_99]

so clean

[EpicGeekonFire]

Damn you didnt have to write up a lab report dude!

[Kiwiandapple]

Damn you didnt have to write up a lab report dude!

I dont mind. Love to see a bunch off information. Im interested to see hardware perform. Sadly I am on a phone now, so little rough to grasp the info clearly. But Thanks

[EpicGeekonFire]

I dont mind. Love to see a bunch off information. Im interested to see hardware perform. Sadly I am on a phone now, so little rough to grasp the info clearly. But Thanks

Dude you are so inspirational... This is how I am gonna get through college I m gonna make myself LOVE to write lots of stuff and glorify it as a huge amount of info