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#1
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Two questions about my homebuilt thingy
I've just assembled my first pc from a bundle I bought and some
innards from my last base unit. I wanted to ask about the fan, it's currently installed on the left side of the case, blowing directly over the CPU which has its own fan. Do I really need this case fan? I'm not a gamer, and the pc isn't very tricked-out yet. I wouldn't say it was a din, but there are two fan sounds, one like a quiet breath and the other a faint whine. Maybe it's normal for a computer these days, although I have seen adverts for 'silent' coolers and the like, maybe for later purchase - I take it I could just screw-in a quieter fan where this case one is now and reconnect? This is an AMD machine, and t has 'cool 'n' quiet facilities, which are currently disabled in the BIOS. The CPU is a 3 ghz dual core. Does the cool 'n' quiet deal only with the CPU cooler or will it quieten the fan? I've been loathe to try in case it would cook it. The other question is I have seen a graphics card, an Asus nVidia 9500- something with 512 mb. The graphics memory in my pc so far is 128 mb apparently, but with 384 mb available, whatever that means. Is it worth getting this card that's affordable to me, or should i hold out till I can manage something with 1gb. I don't have any great problems with graphics so far, but I do some tinkering with video-editing and there is slight glitchiness with HD material from a friend's Flip camera. I have more RAM arriving tomorrow, 2GB, either to replace the genric 1GB that came in the bundle or to use with it (for some reason Windows 7 tells me only 885 mb is useable, whether this is normal or a fault I don't know). Okay, that's effectively four questions, pardon me... Thanks for all help. Excellent little project though, I'm glad I went for it after a few years' trepidation, partly after a few uses of this group. |
#2
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Two questions about my homebuilt thingy
poachedeggs wrote:
I wanted to ask about the fan, it's currently installed on the left side of the case, blowing directly over the CPU which has its own fan. What exactly and specifically is the case? What exactly and specifically is the case fan? What exactly and specifically is the cpu cooler and also fan if the fan came separately? The graphics memory in my pc so far is 128 mb apparently, but with 384 mb available, whatever that means. What exactly and specifically is the mobo? Exactly and specifically in this context can be managed with such as a brand and modelno. Okay, that's effectively four questions, Yabbut your questions didn't include the background/specifics of the hardware in question. -- Mike Easter |
#3
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Two questions about my homebuilt thingy
On Feb 5, 12:51*pm, Mike Easter wrote:
poachedeggs wrote: I wanted to ask about the fan, it's currently installed on the left side of the case, blowing directly over the CPU which has its own fan. What exactly and specifically is the case? *What exactly and specifically is the case fan? *What exactly and specifically is the cpu cooler and also fan if the fan came separately? The graphics memory in my pc so far is 128 mb apparently, but with 384 mb available, whatever that means. What exactly and specifically is the mobo? Exactly and specifically in this context can be managed with such as a brand and modelno. Okay, that's effectively four questions, Yabbut your questions didn't include the background/specifics of the hardware in question. -- Mike Easter Ah, okay: The case is a basic CIT-brand AT case, nothing flash about it, just the usual metal and plastic combo, with 450 w psu. The motherboard is an Asus M2N68-AM SE2, which has a nVidia GeForce 7025/nForce 930a graphcs chip (don't know why it has the forward slash and two model names aspect though, 7025 and 930a). The CPU is an AMD Athlon II X2 '250, 3 ghz, "socket AM3 w/heat sink fan". I'll add what it says on the fan in a second after I switch off for a bit to take the side off and look. Thanks. |
#4
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Two questions about my homebuilt thingy
On Feb 5, 5:20*pm, poachedeggs wrote:
On Feb 5, 12:51*pm, Mike Easter wrote: poachedeggs wrote: I wanted to ask about the fan, it's currently installed on the left side of the case, blowing directly over the CPU which has its own fan. What exactly and specifically is the case? *What exactly and specifically is the case fan? *What exactly and specifically is the cpu cooler and also fan if the fan came separately? The graphics memory in my pc so far is 128 mb apparently, but with 384 mb available, whatever that means. What exactly and specifically is the mobo? Exactly and specifically in this context can be managed with such as a brand and modelno. Okay, that's effectively four questions, Yabbut your questions didn't include the background/specifics of the hardware in question. -- Mike Easter Ah, okay: The case is a basic CIT-brand AT case, nothing flash about it, just the usual metal and plastic combo, with 450 w psu. *The motherboard is an Asus M2N68-AM SE2, which has a nVidia GeForce 7025/nForce 930a graphcs chip (don't know why it has the forward slash and two model names aspect though, 7025 and 930a). *The CPU is an AMD Athlon II X2 '250, 3 ghz, "socket AM3 w/heat sink fan". *I'll add what it says on the fan in a second after I switch off for a bit to take the side off and look. Thanks. Firstly here's a link to what I bought: http://advancetec.co.uk/acatalog/Adv...Upgrade_2.html And, minus the probably wacky translations on the fan like where it says 'super fan', the salient details of this unbranded item are hopefully 'DC brushless', DC 12v, 0.14 A. Roughly 3" x 3" and about 3 1/2 inches deep. Possibly too much detail now... It feels odd both the Q-fan and Quiet 'n' cool mentions in the BIOS and other material seem to do the same thing, but this is all new to me. I'm still wondering which of the CPU/fan and the case fan is making the breathy noise and which is the faint-ish whine. |
#5
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Two questions about my homebuilt thingy
poachedeggs wrote:
The case is a basic CIT-brand AT case, nothing flash about it, just the usual metal and plastic combo, with 450 w psu. I've always called the AT case the type that took the old AT style mobo and everything else since some kind of ATX such as mini-atx and so forth. The reason I was asking about the case brand/model airflow design is because the business of using a noisy case fan vs no case fan vs a quiet case fan vs more than one quiet case fan depends on the airflow design and how much heat you are putting in there. The motherboard is an Asus M2N68-AM SE2, which has a nVidia GeForce 7025/nForce 930a graphcs chip (don't know why it has the forward slash and two model names aspect though, 7025 and 930a). That slash number business is about the nvidia north/southbridge functions. The CPU is an AMD Athlon II X2 '250, 3 ghz, "socket AM3 w/heat sink fan". I'll add what it says on the fan in a second after I switch off for a bit to take the side off and look. The way you could tell pretty quickly if your case fan were noisy would be to disconnect it. Maybe you don't even need it or maybe you need a quieter one. If your cpu fan is being noisy, maybe you need a better cpu cooler and a quieter cpu fan. And/or some fan control. -- Mike Easter |
#6
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Two questions about my homebuilt thingy
"poachedeggs" wrote in message ... I've just assembled my first pc from a bundle I bought and some innards from my last base unit. I wanted to ask about the fan, it's currently installed on the left side of the case, blowing directly over the CPU which has its own fan. Do I really need this case fan? I'm not a gamer, and the pc isn't very tricked-out yet. I wouldn't say it was a din, but there are two fan sounds, one like a quiet breath and the other a faint whine. Maybe it's normal for a computer these days, although I have seen adverts for 'silent' coolers and the like, maybe for later purchase - I take it I could just screw-in a quieter fan where this case one is now and reconnect? generally the noisiest fans are the small ones that spin very fast as opposed to the larger slower moving fans - if I want to tell where the noise is coming from I put my finger very gently on the hub of the fan to slow it down just for a second and listen. If you're using a retail CPU that came with its own heatsink - those are generally poor quality in terms of cooling efficency and noise. A third party cooler is usually better. This is an AMD machine, and t has 'cool 'n' quiet facilities, which are currently disabled in the BIOS. The CPU is a 3 ghz dual core. Does the cool 'n' quiet deal only with the CPU cooler or will it quieten the fan? I've been loathe to try in case it would cook it. Cool n Quiet is designed to slow the CPU down when its not being stressed. Its a power saving feature and besides - you dont need 3ghz to do word processing do you. The other question is I have seen a graphics card, an Asus nVidia 9500- something with 512 mb. The graphics memory in my pc so far is 128 mb apparently, but with 384 mb available, whatever that means. Is it worth getting this card that's affordable to me, or should i hold out till I can manage something with 1gb. I don't have any great problems with graphics so far, but I do some tinkering with video-editing and there is slight glitchiness with HD material from a friend's Flip camera. I have more RAM arriving tomorrow, 2GB, either to replace the genric 1GB that came in the bundle or to use with it (for some reason Windows 7 tells me only 885 mb is useable, whether this is normal or a fault I don't know). Your 7025/930 is an intergrated graphics chip. Motherboards have chips to handle certain functions like controlling hard drives - generally referred to as the Northbridge and Southbridge - thats the 930 number. The 7025 refers to the graphics part. It uses a portion of the system RAM for texture memory (whereas a plug-in card has its own dedicated memory). Currently its using 128mb of the 1GB you have installed. That chipset is okay for web browsing and word processing but its no good at all for gaming. Okay, that's effectively four questions, pardon me... Thanks for all help. Excellent little project though, I'm glad I went for it after a few years' trepidation, partly after a few uses of this group. |
#7
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Two questions about my homebuilt thingy
On Feb 5, 7:56*pm, "Benedict" wrote:
"poachedeggs" wrote in message ... I've just assembled my first pc from a bundle I bought and some innards from my last base unit. *I wanted to ask about the fan, it's currently installed on the left side of the case, blowing directly over the CPU which has its own fan. *Do I really need this case fan? I'm not a gamer, and the pc isn't very tricked-out yet. *I wouldn't say it was a din, but there are two fan sounds, one like a quiet breath and the other a faint whine. *Maybe it's normal for a computer these days, although I have seen adverts for 'silent' coolers and the like, maybe for later purchase - I take it I could just screw-in a quieter fan where this case one is now and reconnect? generally the noisiest fans are the small ones that spin very fast as opposed to the larger slower moving fans - if I want to tell where the noise is coming from I put my finger very gently on the hub of the fan to slow it down just for a second and listen. If you're using a retail CPU that came with its own heatsink - those are generally poor quality in terms of cooling efficency and noise. A third party cooler is usually better. This is an AMD machine, and t has 'cool 'n' quiet facilities, which are currently disabled in the BIOS. *The CPU is a 3 ghz dual core. Does the cool 'n' quiet deal only with the CPU cooler or will it quieten the fan? *I've been loathe to try in case it would cook it. Cool n Quiet is designed to slow the CPU down when its not being stressed.. Its a power saving feature and besides - you dont need 3ghz to do word processing do you. The other question is I have seen a graphics card, an Asus nVidia 9500- something with 512 mb. *The graphics memory in my pc so far is 128 mb apparently, but with 384 mb available, whatever that means. *Is it worth getting this card that's affordable to me, or should i hold out till I can manage something with 1gb. *I don't have any great problems with graphics so far, but I do some tinkering with video-editing and there is slight glitchiness with HD material from a friend's Flip camera. *I have more RAM arriving tomorrow, 2GB, either to replace the genric 1GB that came in the bundle or to use with it (for some reason Windows 7 tells me only 885 mb is useable, whether this is normal or a fault I don't know). Your 7025/930 is an intergrated graphics chip. Motherboards have chips to handle certain functions like controlling hard drives - generally referred to as the Northbridge and Southbridge - thats the 930 number. The 7025 refers to the graphics part. It uses a portion of the system RAM for texture memory (whereas a plug-in card has its own dedicated memory). Currently its using 128mb of the 1GB you have installed. That chipset is okay for web browsing and word processing but its no good at all for gaming. * Okay, that's effectively four questions, pardon me... *Thanks for all help. Excellent little project though, I'm glad I went for it after a few years' trepidation, partly after a few uses of this group. Great, thanks. I was hoping to try with the case fan disconnected but just needed the go-ahead from someone as I didn't know it wouldn't cook without that. And yes the case fan was the noisier culprit, it's fine now. So I will enable Cool 'n' Quiet in the Bios and see if it goes any further, but this is fine now. There are plenty of vents in the case, more than in my old PC, and plenty of space, if that constitutes airflow. I'll look into case fans that claim to be silent later, and that is helpful what was said about larger slower ones being better. Two inches down from where the case fan is mounted is a larger vent grill area, 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" where I imagine I could screw a bigger fan instead. Can you confirm that a 512 mb graphics card is perfectly fine for my purposes as mentioned? I'm not a gaming man, but I imagine video- editing is similar demand-wise, DVDs and online video, including BBC iPlayer, being the other uses. I see there are inexpensive 1 gb cards but the price makes me suspicious of other shortfalls I wouldn't at present understand. I see some have fans on, and maybe I'd end up there getting some noise back. Thanks. Cheers. |
#8
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Two questions about my homebuilt thingy
"poachedeggs" wrote in message ... *snip* Great, thanks. I was hoping to try with the case fan disconnected but just needed the go-ahead from someone as I didn't know it wouldn't cook without that. And yes the case fan was the noisier culprit, it's fine now. So I will enable Cool 'n' Quiet in the Bios and see if it goes any further, but this is fine now. There are plenty of vents in the case, more than in my old PC, and plenty of space, if that constitutes airflow. I'll look into case fans that claim to be silent later, and that is helpful what was said about larger slower ones being better. Two inches down from where the case fan is mounted is a larger vent grill area, 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" where I imagine I could screw a bigger fan instead. case fans create airflow inside the case and can make a difference of 10 degrees - worthwhile if you have a gaming PC with a fast graphics card that generates a lot of heat. download some free software like cpu-z, gpu-z and everest to check temps. a cpu temp in the 40s is good, in the 50s is acceptable but if its getting close to 60c then you need more (or better quality) cooling. Can you confirm that a 512 mb graphics card is perfectly fine for my purposes as mentioned? I'm not a gaming man, but I imagine video- editing is similar demand-wise, DVDs and online video, including BBC iPlayer, being the other uses. I see there are inexpensive 1 gb cards but the price makes me suspicious of other shortfalls I wouldn't at present understand. I see some have fans on, and maybe I'd end up there getting some noise back. A graphics card will take some of the load off the CPU but with a 3ghz CPU Im not sure you need to worry. Certainly 1GB of RAM is on the low side so I would increase that first and see how your system performs. Always have your RAM in matching pairs ie 2x1GB sticks or 2x2GB sticks so that it runs as dual-channel and gives you the best performance from your RAM. If that DVD is High-Definition then a plug-in card may well be a good idea but try the RAM first. |
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