AVS › AVS Forum › Gaming & Content Streaming › Home Theater Gaming › HTPC Gaming › Yet another (re)build thread - OPINIONS / SUGGESTIONS??
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Yet another (re)build thread - OPINIONS / SUGGESTIONS?? - Page 4

post #91 of 115
1/28/13 at 10:30am
I use FancyCache.
Reply
Reply

Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #92 of 115
1/28/13 at 1:40pm
Daver - Don't turn off system caching. Also, you only have 16GB of ram, the ideal amount for Windows at the moment. Don't bother with any software caching solutions. You'd just end up making one thing a bit faster at the expense of making a bunch of other stuff a bit slower.

In our consumer systems, FancyCache doesn't really do anything that Windows' caching doesn't already do without you having to think about it. The interesting part is right here:

"FancyCache can utilize SSD (Solid-state Drive) as a cache medium, as ReadyBoost does."

If it works properly, then that can give us a nice hybrid SSD/HDD where the most commonly used files are on the SSD, but Windows still sees it as a large HDD. A second 128GB SSD paired up with a 2TB HDD could be a very nice solution to our storage problems. That is again if it works properly. A storage-level interception driver is a pretty deeply embedded thing to trust as a beta with your data.
Reply
Reply
post #93 of 115
1/28/13 at 2:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by darklordjames View Post

If it works properly, then that can give us a nice hybrid SSD/HDD where the most commonly used files are on the SSD, but Windows still sees it as a large HDD. A second 128GB SSD paired up with a 2TB HDD could be a very nice solution to our storage problems. That is again if it works properly. A storage-level interception driver is a pretty deeply embedded thing to trust as a beta with your data.

That would be very cool. I have an empty mSATA slot on my motherboard - I would love to pop a 128 SSD card in that and create a hybrid with the 2TB game storage hard drive. cool.gif
Reply
Reply
post #94 of 115
1/28/13 at 3:51pm
" I have an empty mSATA slot on my motherboard "

Is that because your board already natively supports exactly what you want to do through firmware? wink.gif The Z77s let you marry an SSD to an HDD for a caching system in the BIOS, last I checked. I'd trust Intel to do this reliably more than I trust FancyCache. That single feature is the one thing that almost got me to go Intel on this last upgrade.
Reply
Reply
post #95 of 115
1/28/13 at 3:53pm
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review/2

Intel Smart Response SSD caching.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review/4

Page 4 is interesting. Almost SSD level performance, but not quite. Significantly faster than an HDD alone though.
Reply
Reply
post #96 of 115
1/28/13 at 8:50pm
Thread Starter 
Very interesting, thanks for the info DLJ! I cracked open my motherboard manual to see how this is set up, and it seems simple enough - RAID mode in BIOS, plus loading the Intel Smart Response config software under Windows.

Although I'm not entirely clear if I can run a HDD+64gig SSD in RAID mode for Smart Response in addition to the SSD w/ my Windows 8 OS? confused.gif

Has anyone here tried this? I'm thinking about giving it a shot.
Reply
Reply
post #97 of 115
1/28/13 at 9:15pm
You should be able to specify which SSD you want as the cache drive once you have the Smart Response software loaded.

http://www.asrock.com/support/note/z68srtguide.pdf

The last page in this PDF shows selecting the SSD and the target HDD. I'm wondering if you could just shrink your current SSD's OS partition, then create a new 32GB partition for HDD caching?

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/resize-a-partition-for-free-in-windows-vista/

This page shows you how to shrink partitions. It's the same process in Win7/8, and I know from first hand experience that it works fine. I shrunk my 128GB SSD partition to 100GB to force free space at all times so I never hit that wall of being too full that TRIM can't properly do it's job any longer without massive speed penalties. Then you can take the empty space and create a new partition. If you have a 256GB drive, I'd throw 64GB at caching as a test. If you have a 128GB drive, then just grab a new 64GB M4 mSATA drive to dedicate to this.
Reply
Reply
post #98 of 115
1/29/13 at 7:19am
Thread Starter 
Thanks DLJ. I messed with this, but for some reason I'm only able to shrink my 256gig SSD by around 14gigs smaller, even though it has well over 100gigs free. I was experimenting with trying Intel Fast Boot, and it was recommending shrinking the boot SSD drive by the amount of RAM possible, so I was targeting 16gigs on my system but couldn't get my SSD to shrink that far. I think I have to disable hibernate mode, but at that point I realized this tech is probably better served on a laptop - my PC boots up almost as fast as the LCD-TV it's connected to. tongue.gif

Anyway, I notice the 64gig mSATA drives seem in low supply right now, so I might wait a month or two to see if the impulse to try Smart Response hits me again. Thanks for your help!
Reply
Reply
post #99 of 115
2/24/13 at 9:36am
Thread Starter 
I'm playing Borderlands 2, and performance in some areas is not as good as I had expected. I was reading that the PhysX can be offloaded from the system's video card to the CPU or another video card to improve GPU performance.

So I'm thinking about adding my old 8800 GTX back in the rig, only for PhysX, to remove the load from the GTX 670.

But the concern is:
  • a 8800 is a lot of power just as a PhysX card.
  • extra noise of the 8800
  • might cut down on air flow

So I'm wondering if the advantage of removing the PhysX load from the 670 is even worth the downside? Anyone doing something like this, or have any info and/or comments?
Reply
Reply
post #100 of 115
2/24/13 at 11:07am
I'd not put that 8800 in your rig. The disadvantages out weigh the advantages. especially for a psychics card that won't be fully utilized.
Reply
Reply
post #101 of 115
2/24/13 at 11:39am
Toss it in, give it a try. If it works how you like, then order up a quiet GTX 650 to replace the old 8800 with for like $100.
Reply
Reply
post #102 of 115
2/24/13 at 11:57am
I tried it a while back and it worked ok. If you mix it with Lucid you're asking for trouble though.
Reply
Reply
post #103 of 115
2/24/13 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaverJ View Post

I'm playing Borderlands 2, and performance in some areas is not as good as I had expected. I was reading that the PhysX can be offloaded from the system's video card to the CPU or another video card to improve GPU performance.

So I'm thinking about adding my old 8800 GTX back in the rig, only for PhysX, to remove the load from the GTX 670.

But the concern is:
  • a 8800 is a lot of power just as a PhysX card.
  • extra noise of the 8800
  • might cut down on air flow

So I'm wondering if the advantage of removing the PhysX load from the 670 is even worth the downside? Anyone doing something like this, or have any info and/or comments?
I don't think PhysX is your issue. I turned up all Borderlands 2 in-game settings to max, including PhysX, and rarely saw it drop below 60fps. I did not adjust the game in the Nvidia control panel. I'm running a 2500K and a 670, so your setup should have no problems with the PhysX.
Reply
Reply
post #104 of 115
2/24/13 at 4:30pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmwatkins View Post

I don't think PhysX is your issue. I turned up all Borderlands 2 in-game settings to max, including PhysX, and rarely saw it drop below 60fps. I did not adjust the game in the Nvidia control panel. I'm running a 2500K and a 670, so your setup should have no problems with the PhysX.

Hmmm... thanks for letting me know.

But now I'm wondering the source of this issue. BL2 runs at 60fps most of the time, but there's some areas where the frames will bog down in the 40s and occasionally in the 30s. I'll mess with it some more to see if I can figure it out. Maybe it's textures loading? I'll try moving the game to the SSD to see if that helps.

EDIT: moving over to the SSD didn't really help. It seems to be bogging down in a complex environment when there's a lot of explosions and particles. That's why I was thinking PhysX. Must be something else. confused.gif
Edited by DaverJ - 2/24/13 at 4:58pm
Reply
Reply
post #105 of 115
2/24/13 at 5:29pm
That's weird. I never saw the game drop below 50. I don't really have any ideas.

I will say that I got stuttering with Nvidia CP vsync turned on, but the in-game vsync worked perfectly. Thought that was strange, because I thought the hardware vsync was supposed to be better. Not sure how your vsync is set up.

EDIT: I have my copy installed on the HDD.
EDIT #2: I think I read somewhere that Borderlands 2 was one game that had some performance issues with Windows 8. I played on 7 and I'm pretty sure you have 8. Check into that, maybe.
Reply
Reply
post #106 of 115
2/25/13 at 7:02am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmwatkins View Post

I will say that I got stuttering with Nvidia CP vsync turned on, but the in-game vsync worked perfectly. Thought that was strange, because I thought the hardware vsync was supposed to be better. Not sure how your vsync is set up.

Thanks for this, it might have put me on the right track.

I messed with the in-game v-sync and frame-cap settings, and my solution seems to be a choice between hardware v-sync (off, on, or adaptive), the game's v-sync (which wasn't working well for me), and the frame-rate capping.

I need to experiment more, but I think my solution might be hardware v-sync on adaptive, and in-game framecaping on "smoothing 22-62fps".
Edited by DaverJ - 2/25/13 at 7:08am
Reply
Reply
post #107 of 115
2/27/13 at 12:36am
I've been reading a bit about Windows Blue. I'm curious to see how it plays out. It would be nice if they tweaked the Metro apps for 720p, but knowing MS I'll keep my enthusiasm in check.
Reply
Reply
post #108 of 115
5/19/13 at 8:41am
Thread Starter 
I'm coming close to the 6 month mark of this gaming build, and still enjoying the heck out of it. If you would have told me that after doing this project I would have no desire to even power on the Xbox 360 or PS3, I wouldn't have believed it, but it's true. I think this build is a true next-gen gaming console, and I have been thrilled with the results.

The only hitch lately I've discovered: I was playing the Grim Dawn alpha, and noticed my CPU fan was kicking into overdrive (game must be highly CPU bound?). So I installed Real Temp GT 3.70 to monitor my CPU temps, and my idle temps are now running in the 50s Celsius. This seems high for idle, right? I'm not overclocking and using stock cooling.

Now I'm thinking about replacing the stock cooling with the aftermarket cooler like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO I was originally considering. But before I make that leap, for now I'm going to pull the stock cooler off the CPU, clean off the contacts points of the CPU cap and the heat sink with ArtiClean, and try Arctic Silver 5 with the stock cooler. I would like to drop those idle temps into the 40s, and preferably in the 30s - but I don't know if the stock cooling can do that.

If that doesn't work, I guess I go with 212 EVO, unless anyone has any suggestions? confused.gif

btw, my GPU temps are comfortably in the mid 30s.
Reply
Reply
post #109 of 115
5/19/13 at 8:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaverJ View Post

I'm coming close to the 6 month mark of this gaming build, and still enjoying the heck out of it. If you would have told me that after doing this project I would have no desire to even power on the Xbox 360 or PS3, I wouldn't have believed it, but it's true. I think this build is a true next-gen gaming console, and I have been thrilled with the results.

The only hitch lately I've discovered: I was playing the Grim Dawn alpha, and noticed my CPU fan was kicking into overdrive (game must be highly CPU bound?). So I installed Real Temp GT 3.70 to monitor my CPU temps, and my idle temps are now running in the 50s Celsius. This seems high for idle, right? I'm not overclocking and using stock cooling.

Now I'm thinking about replacing the stock cooling with the aftermarket cooler like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO I was originally considering. But before I make that leap, for now I'm going to pull the stock cooler off the CPU, clean off the contacts points of the CPU cap and the heat sink with ArtiClean, and try Arctic Silver 5 with the stock cooler. I would like to drop those idle temps into the 40s, and preferably in the 30s - but I don't know if the stock cooling can do that.

If that doesn't work, I guess I go with 212 EVO, unless anyone has any suggestions? confused.gif

btw, my GPU temps are comfortably in the mid 30s.

Yeah, thats pretty high for idle...both my CPU and GPU sit at 30C on stock cooling with a pretty weak fan curve. Its far from danger zone though. Did you somehow disable speedstep, or maybe the fan is blocked or coming loose?
Reply
Reply
post #110 of 115
5/19/13 at 10:16am
I have a 212 EVO and I'm idling at 35-40C at this moment, but the ambient temp in the room is higher than normal right now at about 80F. Normally, I idle in the low 30's with ambient temps between 68-74F.

I'm kind of surprised you don't have an aftermarket cooler already, so If I were you, I would just go ahead and get one. It will run cooler and quieter than the stock one and you will be all set to OC if you get the itch.
Reply
Reply
post #111 of 115
5/19/13 at 10:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bd2003 View Post

Yeah, thats pretty high for idle...both my CPU and GPU sit at 30C on stock cooling with a pretty weak fan curve. Its far from danger zone though. Did you somehow disable speedstep, or maybe the fan is blocked or coming loose?

I opened the case and pushed on the fan while the computer was off... still seems solid. The fan is running as normal, and increases in speed as the temps go up. But I'll double check EIST in my BIOS, just in case.

I remember getting temps in the 30s when I first set this up. My first thought is the thermal glue from the stock heatsink has worn, or the heatsink isn't seated well for reason, as you mentioned. If anything, applying the Artic Silver will at least reseat the heatsink.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmwatkins View Post

I'm kind of surprised you don't have an aftermarket cooler already, so If I were you, I would just go ahead and get one. It will run cooler and quieter than the stock one and you will be all set to OC if you get the itch.

Yeah, I'm not an overclocker - more of a "set it and forget it" guy. But I might go the aftermarket route - just want to avoid pulling everything out and dealing with a big heatsink + fan if I can avoid it. But if it's worth it, I'll do it.
Reply
Reply
post #112 of 115
5/19/13 at 10:27am
Another recommendation for the Hyper Evo 212. I have my i7 3770k overclocked at 4.2 ghz and am sitting at 34 C idle temp. It works great and is relatively easy to install.
Reply
Reply
post #113 of 115
5/19/13 at 10:53am
I don't know how practical it is, but I love the looks of this cooler.

http://www.pcwhipped.com/news/scythe-grand-kama-cross-cpu-cooler-enters-rev-b.html

It just screams Hemi Power!
Reply
Reply
post #114 of 115
5/19/13 at 11:00am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bd2003 View Post

.... Did you somehow disable speedstep

Well this is interesting - I went into BIOS, and saw that EIST options are automatic/enable/disable. It was set to automatic, which I assume means the OS controls Speedstep? confused.gif

As an experiment, I changed this to enable, and now I'm back to idling in the upper 30s!

Nice call bd!!!! You win the awesome person of the day award. biggrin.gif I don't know how or why, but I don't think Speedstep was active in Win8 for some reason, even though it was set to auto via the BIOS and Win8's Power Options are set to "Balanced". But one BIOS change later, and I'm back to a much happier/cooler idle CPU temp. cool.gif
Edited by DaverJ - 5/19/13 at 11:07am
Reply
Reply
post #115 of 115
5/19/13 at 1:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaverJ View Post

Well this is interesting - I went into BIOS, and saw that EIST options are automatic/enable/disable. It was set to automatic, which I assume means the OS controls Speedstep? confused.gif

As an experiment, I changed this to enable, and now I'm back to idling in the upper 30s!

Nice call bd!!!! You win the awesome person of the day award. biggrin.gif I don't know how or why, but I don't think Speedstep was active in Win8 for some reason, even though it was set to auto via the BIOS and Win8's Power Options are set to "Balanced". But one BIOS change later, and I'm back to a much happier/cooler idle CPU temp. cool.gif

There you go. smile.gif

I think the settings that control how it acts within windows are buried in the advanced power settings. You can control the minimum and maximum processor speed. By default it should go from min to max on its own, somehow it might have been changed? Who knows, its fixed now at least. tongue.gif
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: HTPC Gaming

Gear mentioned in this thread:

AVS › AVS Forum › Gaming & Content Streaming › Home Theater Gaming › HTPC Gaming › Yet another (re)build thread - OPINIONS / SUGGESTIONS??