Hardware maintenance

[mbryant]

SORRY FOR LONG POST: had to be really detailed

 

So I just built my new PC. i7 4790k w/ stock cooler (upgrading soon), GTX 780 (had it since July it was a gift from a friend) 16GB of RAM, Corsair RM 750 and an MSI Z97 SLI Krait edition. So lately I started playing insurgency like a lot. I noticed my frame rate dips below 60 a little more often than I'd like not for longer than 5 seconds though. It also seems to be a bit more CPU intensive than my other games (speculation) My CPU load is like 15% normally while in-game but during my last session it was around 30%. Temps are max 75 while in-game. I also noticed that in GTA V the last few times I've run it the game likes to drop to 30FPS for a while. It'll go back up and fluctuate but for the first like 40 hours I had a solid 60 with very very minimal dips and not for any longer than 10 - 20 seconds. So is this my CPU throttling? Should I do any sort of maintenance?

[pagani123]

you cant really do any maintenance just get a better cooler also what monitor do you use because if you playing max settings on higher than 1080p your frame rates going to drop below 60

[GalacticRuler]

SORRY FOR LONG POST: had to be really detailed

 

So I just built my new PC. i7 4790k w/ stock cooler (upgrading soon), GTX 780 (had it since July it was a gift from a friend) 16GB of RAM, Corsair RM 750 and an MSI Z97 SLI Krait edition. So lately I started playing insurgency like a lot. I noticed my frame rate dips below 60 a little more often than I'd like not for longer than 5 seconds though. It also seems to be a bit more CPU intensive than my other games (speculation) My CPU load is like 15% normally while in-game but during my last session it was around 30%. Temps are max 75 while in-game. I also noticed that in GTA V the last few times I've run it the game likes to drop to 30FPS for a while. It'll go back up and fluctuate but for the first like 40 hours I had a solid 60 with very very minimal dips and not for any longer than 10 - 20 seconds. So is this my CPU throttling? Should I do any sort of maintenance?

It may be throttling. But you are doing the right thing by getting an aftermarket cooler.

[mbryant]

you cant really do any maintenance just get a better cooler also what monitor do you use because if you playing max settings on higher than 1080p your frame rates going to drop below 60

See I would've told any other person that you can't but idk I just felt like maybe, just maybe. Instead I come here and act as though I haven't been doing this for 3 years.

[mbryant]

It may be throttling. But you are doing the right thing by getting an aftermarket cooler.

Yeah, I would've when I bought it but I couldn't really afford to spend the extra cash and I wanted to do some research I'm sure I'll get the Noctua U12S though

[skimmilk5]

Get the demo version of AIDA64 (Linus has a full license and uses that for benchmarks; the demo version simply has a bit of limited functionality and has a watermark over the graphs, but still is excellent). Run a stress test and check for thermal throttling detected. If you want to go one step further, get CPUID CPU-Z and watch the clock speed on the main page. Run a stress test. If you see a dramatic clock speed drop mid-stress-test, that means that your CPU's probably throttling. If you have any kind of overclock, it's throttling. End of story. It spits out a TDP of more than 135W.

[mbryant]

Get the demo version of AIDA64 (Linus has a full license and uses that for benchmarks; the demo version simply has a bit of limited functionality and has a watermark over the graphs, but still is excellent). Run a stress test and check for thermal throttling detected. If you want to go one step further, get CPUID CPU-Z and watch the clock speed on the main page. Run a stress test. If you see a dramatic clock speed drop mid-stress-test, that means that your CPU's probably throttling. If you have any kind of overclock, it's throttling. End of story. It spits out a TDP of more than 135W.

I usually have real temp and task manager open while gaming, but I'll give that benchmark a shot, should I 100% load with the stock cooler? 

[skimmilk5]

It will show you if you're getting any thermal throttling. Try to push the system. See how much it thermal throttles in AIDA64. It will show you in the bottom graph as a red line. Once that even starts to jump to 10% throttling detected, end the stress test. That's how you know. If you want to see how bad the problem really is, you can run the test for longer with negligible long term damage. Something like a tall Noctua air cooler (get some NF-F12s while you're looking as aux cooling), or a Corsair H100i (again, ditch the stock fans on that AIO liquid cooler and stick Noctua NF-F12s to it) will be fine for any overclock. BTW, the Noctua NF-F12 is both Linus AND Luke's favorite fan. It's a very silent, very well built pressure optimized fan. And if you want to be awesome, then you can get the custom LinusTechTips branded and colored fans (rather than puke brown and vomit tan). Or you can get an Industrial PPC also from Noctua. I'm a fan of Noctua's fans.

[mbryant]

It will show you if you're getting any thermal throttling. Try to push the system. See how much it thermal throttles in AIDA64. It will show you in the bottom graph as a red line. Once that even starts to jump to 10% throttling detected, end the stress test. That's how you know. If you want to see how bad the problem really is, you can run the test for longer with negligible long term damage. Something like a tall Noctua air cooler (get some NF-F12s while you're looking as aux cooling), or a Corsair H100i (again, ditch the stock fans on that AIO liquid cooler and stick Noctua NF-F12s to it) will be fine for any overclock. BTW, the Noctua NF-F12 is both Linus AND Luke's favorite fan. It's a very silent, very well built pressure optimized fan. And if you want to be awesome, then you can get the custom LinusTechTips branded and colored fans (rather than puke brown and vomit tan). Or you can get an Industrial PPC also from Noctua. I'm a fan of Noctua's fans.

Could I pull a stable 4.7 GHZ OC on air? I want a considerable bump for when I'm editing and doing work in after effects. 

[skimmilk5]

Short story: Maybe. Silicon Lottery. It depends.

Long story: Maybe. Silicon Lottery. It depends. You'll have to explore. A decent cooler like the Noctua cooler or the Corsair cooler mentioned above is plenty capable. I personally prefer to use a custom loop because I also use my PC as a capture PC through SDI and also for animation and video editing work, but some people may not be comfortable with this. Just make sure that the rated TDP of the cooler is greater than 140ish. More is better, but also more expensive. Air is much more powerful than you think it is, and good air coolers like:

-be quiet! Dark Rock 2 or Dark Rock

-Noctua NH-D15 or NH-D15S or NH-D14

-Corsair H100i or H100i GTX or H110 GT or H80i GT

 

Again, swap out those fans with Noctua NF-F12s, especially on the Corsair liquid coolers.

[mbryant]

Silicon Lottery. It depends. You'll have to explore. A decent cooler like the Noctua cooler or the Corsair cooler mentioned above is plenty capable. I personally prefer to use a custom loop because I also use my PC as a capture PC through SDI and also for animation and video editing work, but some people may not be comfortable with this. Just make sure that the rated TDP of the cooler is greater than 150ish. More is better, but also more expensive.

I've been considering water but I just have some hangups about it and I know corsair covers your parts if their cooler leaks. What is maintenance like with liquid coolers?

[skimmilk5]

I've been considering water but I just have some hangups about it and I know corsair covers your parts if their cooler leaks. What is maintenance like with liquid coolers?

With these closed loops (meaning you can't refill or drain the loop), minimal. You don't have to worry about metal compatibility or any of that. Just make sure that the fans on the radiator are configured properly...

[skimmilk5]

With these closed loops (meaning you can't refill or drain the loop), minimal. You don't have to worry about metal compatibility or any of that. Just make sure that the fans on the radiator are configured properly...

In fact, it's just as easy as an air cooler. Just some cable management with the tubes for the block and rad.