Build Advice New PC but seems a bit slow...

[Thaifood]

Hi there, not been on here for a while..
I recently brought a new PC which i was hoping to be pretty fast. here are the specs.

Intel Core i5 2500K Processor Overclocked to up to 4.6GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler
Generic thermal paste
Asus P8Z68-V LE Motherboard
4GB PC3-10666 1333MHz DDR3 Memory (2 x 2GB sticks)
Chillblast AMD Radeon HD 6670 1024MB Graphics Card
1000GB 7200RPM Hard Disk
Sony 24x DVD-RW Drive
EZCool Basic 500W PSU
Onboard High Definition Audio
17 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
*added note.. Monitor resolution is 1650 X
------
now I mainly play a bit of wow and eve online as well as some photo editing, so nothing too heavy..
3dmark 06 was installed when i brought the pc from chillblast so there is virtually no bloatware..
i have also added another HD 6670 card.. now i presume it runs in crossfire automatically?
the problem is i am only getting a 3dmark score of around 8000-9000 when i should be getting 13k with a single 3d card.
i was wondering if anyone knows whats going on? or anything i can do to speed my pc up.
thank you in advance

[Mac_Trekkie]

Few simple mistakes that could be made:

Did you add the SLI bridge?
Update your drivers?
Check the Catalyst Control Center?

Those might help.

[leslie]

Crossfire needs a bridge.


Also, ditch that PSU, it has no business in an overclocked I5/Crossfire system!!!

500 watts is cutting it close for Crossfire on decent power supplies. While those cards are low power, it's too much power for a budget 500 watt power supply. Especially when you overlcock. When it goes, it could fry everything. Seriously, you are living on borrowed time as far as I'm concerned.

Aim for a decent 600+ watt brand name, at least.

[Thaifood]

All drivers are updated.
I will take 1 of the cards out until I upgrade the psu.

Still doesn't explain the low scored. I will keep playing around (with 1 3d card only)

[longweight]

But do you have the cross fire bridge connected? And are the cards showing that they are configured for CF?

[penryn 2 hertz]

I'd throw the psu out the window seriously that psu is no good to man nor beast.
Sell the both card's and buy hd 6870 + corsair cx600w ...

[rollo]

What version of 3d mark we on about here as even duel 580s don't usually score 13k in 2011

[Thaifood]

3d mark 06

[xaser04]

Originally Posted by leslie

Crossfire needs a bridge.


Also, ditch that PSU, it has no business in an overclocked I5/Crossfire system!!!

500 watts is cutting it close for Crossfire on decent power supplies. While those cards are low power, it's too much power for a budget 500 watt power supply. Especially when you overlcock. When it goes, it could fry everything. Seriously, you are living on borrowed time as far as I'm concerned.

Aim for a decent 600+ watt brand name, at least.

500w (From a Decent PSU) in this case would be fine as the cards in question draw very little power under load (I would question the benefit of cross firing HD6670's but that's for a different thread).

You are quite right though that PSU is beyond terrible.

Get a decent PSU in that PC pronto. The "EZ Cool" won't have any of the modern safety features that a decent PSU has (OCP/OVP etc). Its efficiency will also be terrible as will the ripple on the 3.3/5 & 12v rails.

[Thaifood]

i get the point...
for now i have taken out 1 of the garphics cards and have downclocked the cpu to stock speed..
just in case until i can get a new psu asap..


i find it a shame in that case that a company like chillblast would put a psu like that on an overclocked pc...
my fault for not keeping up with the tech.. i use to m,ake my owe pc's but the last one i made was over 4 years ago

[Thaifood]

problem solved.. it seem to be the orignal 6670 i had in from chillblast is SLOW/faulty, which i am in the process in packing and sending back..
now with the new card i am getting faster fps in games and the 3dmark 06 score is now up to 13k insted of 8.5k..

and yes i am looking into a nice 650 psu at the moment

[chewbaccas_nan]

If you bought it pre built changing the psu might void the warranty so if you do change it, keep the old to put back in there incase it needs to be sent back

[leslie]

Originally Posted by xaser04

500w (From a Decent PSU) in this case would be fine as the cards in question draw very little power under load (I would question the benefit of cross firing HD6670's but that's for a different thread).

I disagree.

overclocked i5 = 145 watts (based on common voltage for that clock)
GPU1 = 66 watts (per AMD)
GPU2 = 66 watts
Board ~ 35 watts
Hdd ~ 20 watts
dvd ~ 20 watts
Total is 350 watts before you account for fans, lights, usb, etc.

You still need to account for the 12v rail, since most of the power will come from it, and not going over 80%. A really good 500watt will power it, but skip ahead 2 or 3 years and even a good 500 will struggle to keep up.

[xaser04]

Originally Posted by leslie

I disagree.

overclocked i5 = 145 watts (based on common voltage for that clock)
GPU1 = 66 watts (per AMD)
GPU2 = 66 watts
Board ~ 35 watts
Hdd ~ 20 watts
dvd ~ 20 watts
Total is 350 watts before you account for fans, lights, usb, etc.

You still need to account for the 12v rail, since most of the power will come from it, and not going over 80%. A really good 500watt will power it, but skip ahead 2 or 3 years and even a good 500 will struggle to keep up.

So what point are you disagreeing with? I was specifically talking about the build in question which a decent 500w PSU will handle without issue.

[leslie]

I disagree that it could do so without issue.

Will it power it? Yes, but for how long. It's pushing the limits for a 500watt psu, good or bad.

Let's ignore the rails for a moment. At 400 watts, that means you are loading a 500 watt PSU to 80% at max load. As a PSU ages, it loses capacity. As it is, you are going to be punishing that power supply, which equals heat. Heat lowers the max output/efficiency and shortens the lifespan. Lowering the efficiency means it has it now work even harder, which makes the problem even worse.

Then we have the rails themselves, 500 watts, is not 500 watts. You may have 300 watts on 12v, 100 on 3v, and another 100 watts on 5v (just examples). Odds are you will not use much of the 100 3v watts. So there is almost 100 watts gone. Then there is 5 volts, you might use 25-50% of it. Everything else uses 12volts, of which you have at most 300 watts in this example.

We already know the system needs 350 watts at peak, we also know that some of that 500 is wasted on 3volt. Do you still think a 500 watt psu is a good idea?

[Tangster]

Originally Posted by leslie

I disagree.

overclocked i5 = 145 watts (based on common voltage for that clock)

TDP =/= Electrical power usage.

[Thaifood]

So to save any more arguments. A nice 750 watts psu would do as I will eventually put another hard drive in as well as eventually beefing up the graphics card a well. That should be enough for a few years at least. Shouldn't it ?

[N17 dizzi]

Originally Posted by leslie

I disagree that it could do so without issue.

Will it power it? Yes, but for how long. It's pushing the limits for a 500watt psu, good or bad.

Let's ignore the rails for a moment. At 400 watts, that means you are loading a 500 watt PSU to 80% at max load. As a PSU ages, it loses capacity. As it is, you are going to be punishing that power supply, which equals heat. Heat lowers the max output/efficiency and shortens the lifespan. Lowering the efficiency means it has it now work even harder, which makes the problem even worse.

Then we have the rails themselves, 500 watts, is not 500 watts. You may have 300 watts on 12v, 100 on 3v, and another 100 watts on 5v (just examples). Odds are you will not use much of the 100 3v watts. So there is almost 100 watts gone. Then there is 5 volts, you might use 25-50% of it. Everything else uses 12volts, of which you have at most 300 watts in this example.

We already know the system needs 350 watts at peak, we also know that some of that 500 is wasted on 3volt. Do you still think a 500 watt psu is a good idea?

I have just woken up so I'm a bit blurry but I didn't think the 5v and 3v gets anything like that much dedicated power on a 'good' 500w psu. (My 850 gets nothing like that)

If you are talking 350w from the wall then a decent 500w is totally fine (depending on the above). Its rated for what it can output into DC not how much AC it can draw.

[Gordos]

Originally Posted by Thaifood

So to save any more arguments. A nice 750 watts psu would do as I will eventually put another hard drive in as well as eventually beefing up the graphics card a well. That should be enough for a few years at least. Shouldn't it ?

I would say a 750W PSU will be fine, if a little overkill.
The main point is make sure that what ever you get is a recognised brand.
I'm running an Antec Truepower New 650W, as recommended by Custom PC a few times.

There is a lot of scaremongering above but it is all based on true experiences.

[leslie]

As you notice, I said those were just examples, sadly however I have seen some cheap psu's where the power was distributed in such a poor way.

As for the rest, you guys are splitting hairs over finer details, something I was trying to avoid from the start. My point still stands, a 500 watt should not be used in this system, be it a good or bad one. It's cutting things too close and leaves no room for later upgrades.