(Prime95 is a program that stresses the CPU by performing prime number calculations.  This runs the CPU at 100% and heats it up. The program compares the computer’s calculations against known answers in order to check for errors).

For my computer at stock speeds, idle temps usually are about 38-42 C, and under a full load, the temps go up to around 65-70.

Overclocked, I get temperatures of 43-46 C idle and 77-81 C under load.  These temperatures are considered safe for my chip and motherboard, so assuming everything stays stable, these will probably be my final settings.  Though I might try to lower some of the voltages in the bios to see if I can cool it down a little, while maintaining stability.

For geeks curious about the settings, at stock speeds my computer has a clock speed of 133 MHz and a multiplier of 20. Thus, 133×20=2.67 GHz.  The chip also has “Turbo mode”.  The multiplier for the chip is capped at 20x, but turbo mode will boost it to 21x.

Now I have my computer set to 183×20, with turbo mode enabled.  This results in a speed of 183×21= 3.84 GHz.

In the next few days, I’ll run some benchmarks to see if this results in a noticeable improvements in the computers performance.

Here’s how they compared:

As you can see, the new computer did a lot better in pretty much everything.  The benefits of having multiple cores can be seen in the CD rip + Portal test and in processing multiple images with The GIMP.

The 3Dmark test aren’t comparable since Vantage won’t run on the old system, but needless to say the graphics are much better.  Portal can be played at 1920 x 1200 at fully maxed settings and not break a sweat.  

The system boot times were comparable, but windows is usable a lot faster because all the startup programs load fairly quickly.

The VelociRaptor drive also lived up to its reputation for speediness, which is good since it was really expensive.

In the future, I’ll post some more game benchmarks as well as seeing how overclocking the new system can affect the results.

Here are some pictures of my new computer, its components, and a few pics of it being put together. So far it seems to be working well.

When I first started using the CPU core temps were about 32 C in the bios. Then in windows, they were up around 38-40. I thought it was a little high for idle at stock speeds (in a freezing cold room), but those temps weren’t too terrible. But then when I ran prime95 stress testing, the temperatures jumped to 78-80 C. Those temps aren’t gonna wreck the CPU, but they were much too high for stock speeds, even under full load. So I unmounted the CPU and cooler, cleaned off the thermal paste, and reapplied the thermal paste using a smaller amount than I had used previously. Then I remounted the CPU and cooler.

This resulted in temps of 30-35 C idle and 60 C under stress testing. Now, I think the temps are pretty reasonable. I think I used too much thermal paste the first time. And the cooler might not have been firmly seated since I had a lot of trouble attaching the fan to the heatsink, and probably jostled it a little bit.

Update: I’m bored at school so, I’ll write a few more thoughts about the new computer.

The one problem I’ve had is that few times after starting up or rebooting the computer, the computer posts and then fails to load windows (or maybe it freezes up prior to the point when Windows should load).  I’m not sure if this is random, or if it corresponds to doing something in the computer (i.e. unplugging the computer and plugging in a new component).  It seems to fix itself if I load the bios settings (even if I don’t change anything) and then reboot.  Gonna have to check on this problem a little more if it keeps happening.

I ran memtest86 overnight and didn’t get any errors, so it looks like the RAM is good.  I left the prime95 stress test running when I went to school.  If that runs error free and the temps stay within an acceptable range the whole time, I’ll know the CPU is stable at stock settings, which is probably good to know before I start trying to overclock.

Windows Vista User Account control pisses me off.   For those that haven’t used Vista, basically whenever you do something that needs administrator rights, it pops up with a message asking for confirmation.   The reason this is annoying is that it does it even when you are logged into the administrator account.  Furthermore, it requires confirmation for mundane tasks, like running disk defrag or setting the system clock.  And every time you run a program that is just an executable file (like putty or CPUz), it asks if you want to run the unknown program, not matter how many times you’ve approved it in the past.  In many ways, I understand why they did this, but the execution is poor.  Since many people use their computer as the admin user for everyday use, they require confirmation so that malicious software doesn’t cause trouble without the user noticing.  But surely they could have implemented this such that it was less annoying. For example, remembering that an executable file has been authorized and not requiring authorization for mundane tasks like disk defrag.

My windows Vista compatiblity score was 5.9, which is currently the highest score.

I ran Portal in 1920 x 1200 with all the graphics maxed and got good frame rates around.  I actually turned on vsync to get rid of some taring.  I guess, for my 60 Hz monitor, if my frame rate never drops below 60 fps, and the graphics are maxed, vsync makes since right?  Steady 60 fps looks good for most everything, yeah? And even if the GPU is pumping out  200 fps, only 60 fps are visible  since that is how often the monitor updates its image.  One problem with vsync apparently is that if the fps drops below the monitor refresh rate, performance degrades quickly. For example, if the video card renders 30 fps, maybe only 20 fps would be displayed because some frames are lost waiting to sync with the monitor.

I’m just in the newbie zone at the moment, but I like the graphics and the interface seems pretty good.  I’m not a total LOTR geek, but the references to the Tolkein world do make the game more interesting and give it more heft, unlike WoW in which the lore is complete goobledy-gook and the rational behind the quests can be kind of silly (what?  the Argent Dawn needs more scourgestones?  Sign me up! …actually, I did like some parts about the Argent Dawn quests and Anti-scourge story line.  And SM was a fun instance for the level).

• AMD Athlon64 3000+ (Winchester, 90 nm, 1800 MHz, 512 KB L2 cache)
• Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard (Rev. 1, American Megatrends 1018.001 BIOS)
• 2×1 GB Dual Channel OCZ Platinum DDR3200 RAM
• Radeon x850 AGP graphics card
• 75 GB system drive / 500 GB storage drive, SATA

I ran tests of file compression, system boot time, image processing, Firefox load time, mp3 ripping, file copying, and 3Dmark05. Here are the results:

File Compression – Using 7-Zip, I created an archive of a 314 MB file. This took 5 min 40 s at an average rate of about 900 KB/s.

System Boot Time – The time it took from powering up to the windows loading screen was 39 s. From there, it took 29 s for Windows to load to the user selection screen. After logging it, it took 56 s for all the startup programs and processes to run. The grand total: 2 min 4 s.

Image Processing – To test image processing, I used the Gimp to do a Gaussian blur on a 1920×1200, 172 KB JPEG image. I then scaled the original image 400% and ran the Gaussian blur filter again. I then made a copy of the enlarged image and ran the Gaussian blur filter on the two large images simultaneously.

Gaussian Blur (1920×1000): 7 s
Scale 400%: 33 s
Gaussian Blur (7680×4800): 45 s
Gaussian Blur x 2 (7680×4800) 1 min 30 s

Interestingly, using the filter on two images simultaneously resulted in an exact doubling of the processing time. The CPU was at 100% the whole time, so clearly this is a CPU-limited function. I’ll be interested to see what the i7 chip will do for this test.

Firefox Load Time – After rebooting, Firefox took 13 s to load for the first time following a reboot.

MP3 Ripping – Ripping an audio CD (Uta Baka by Ken Harai, Disk 1) took 4 m 10 s using my DVD-ROM drive and 4 m 50 s using my DVD burner. Next, I ripped the CD using the DVD-ROM drive while playing “Portal” at the same time. This bumped the time up to 7 m 40 s.

File Copying – Copying 2.54 GB of Battlestar Galactica Season 2 from my storage drive to my system drive took 2 m 10 s. Then, when I made copies from the system drive to the system drive, it took 3 m 20 s.

3Dmark05 Lastly, I ran the free version of 3Dmark05. This gave me a 3Dmark05 score of 4474 and a CPU score of 1001.

Once I get the new computer up and running, I’ll run these tests again using the new rig and compare the results. Since my new processor has multiple cores, I’m interested in seeing the results of the the Portal/mp3 test and the 2x image processing test. Will the mp3’s rip just as fast as if I wasn’t playing portal? Will I be able to process the two images in roughly the same time as one? Copying files within the system drive should speed up since I’m getting a VelociRaptor drive, though I’m curious if there will be any improvement copying from the storage drive to the system drive (if the speed of my 500 GB drive is the limiting factor, the improvement may be small).

**Update:

Portal FPS

Normal Settings (default, 1920×1200)
Min: 37
Max: 189
Avg: 113
High Settings (AA: 4x, AF:4x, most other settings maxed, 1920×1200)
Min: 37
Max: 157
Avg: 102.66

This probably isn’t the best test since I only tested the very beginning of the game, and Portal isn’t the most taxing game on a system.   Also, if I set  the AA/AF above 4x, the game crashed and wouldn’t load when I restarted.  Although the results for the high settings listed above aren’t bad, at those settings, my system was totally incapable of rendering portals.  Possibly a major problem for a game called “Portal”.  The fps dropped to 1 whenever a portal came onto the screen.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll test another game.  In the comments, Naft recommended F.E.A.R.

So far, the monitor, the CPU cooler, and the Blu-ray burner have arrived.  The case has shipped and should get here in a day or two.  The rest of the parts are on the way to my brother in Colorado.  He should get them in a couple days, and then it’ll take about a week to ship them to Japan.

Here are some pics of what’s come so far:

From New Computer

From New Computer

From New Computer

From New Computer

The system has the following parts:

Intel i7 920 2.66 GHz Processor  I was thinking about going with a Quad core processor since I could save money on the CPU, motherboard, and RAM, but I decided to splurge on the new architecture since it is supposed to perform well and I’ll be able to upgrade the CPU later without having to get a new motherboard.  Also, this CPU apparently can do a decent overclock under air cooling – probably up to 3.5-3.8 GHz without much trouble.

Cooler Master HAF 932 Case I probably could have saved money on the case, but I thought this one looked cool. It should give good air flow to keep the components cool.

Scythe Mugen 2 Cooler Most components in Japan are super expensive, but this looks like a nice CPU cooler that was cheaper than what I could get in America.  Right now, the selection isn’t great for LGA 1366 socket coolers, but maybe I got lucky ordering in Japan for this one.  And I hope it fits in my system.

Western Digital VelociRaptor 300 GB Hard Drive I’m gonna move a 500 GB drive from my old computer for storage and a 75 GB drive to use for Ubuntu, so I thought I’d buy this fast drive for my windows drive.  

BFG GTX 260 MaxCore OC2 Only one video card for now.  This one comes with a factory overclock (630 MHz vs. 576 MHz for the reference design). Hopefully,  I can bump it up a little more.

Samsung 2443BW 24 inch LCD Monitor Got this from Amazon.co.jp where it was only $300 bucks and shipped over night for like 2 dollars.  Seems like a good deal for a pretty big monitor. 

Corsair 1000HX Power Supply I probably spent too much on the power supply, but it’ll be good for future upgrades.  If I want, I could add 2 more video cards to run in Tri-SLI.  Also, everywhere I read said not to buy an off-brand power supply.

6 GB (3×2 GB) Patriot Viper 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM Hopefully this is more RAM than I’ll ever need.  I also got the 64-bit version of Windows Vista so that the system can recognize more than 4 GB of memory.  But if I ever want more RAM when the prices go down, my motherboard has 3 more slots where I could put in another 6 GB.  I got 1600 MHz instead of 1333 MHz to give more head room for overclocking.

EVGA x58 SLI Motherboard This can accomodate up to 3 graphics cards and 12 GB of RAM and can handle overclocking.  Of course it has networking, sound, USB onboard.  

LG Blu-ray Burner Not sure if I’ll need a blu-ray burner, but I thought it would be nice to have.  And since I’ll have an HD monitor, I thought it would be good to be able to play HD media.

The total for the system was about $2100 plus $300 for the monitor and $170 for Vista 64.  And I’ll probably have to pay about $100 for my brother to ship all the stuff to me from America.  Hopefully I can start putting this badboy together in a couple weeks.

I love “The Dark Knight,” most people do, but wow is the Blu-ray version awesome. This is the second Blu-ray movie I’ve bought, “Enchanted” was the first, and wow I’m just amazed at the picture and the sound. My TV is only a 720p but it really looks amazing. The imax scenes are so clear that I wished the whole movie had been filmed in that format. Even though I have very little free time during the week, I keep it on in the background for some reason. I’m even tempted to turn it on in Japanese or French to hear how the Joker was dubbed. But then again, Im not that crazy.  I love Blu-ray, and I can’t wait for my five disk special edition set of Blade Runner shows up soon.

Not only have I spent most of my free time watching Batman, I decided to finally buy something I’ve always wanted, a Indy Jones fedora. I tried on some used ones at a recycle shop the other day near my home, and they looked pretty good on me. So I decided to buy a new one online. I should be getting it in a few weeks. Since I am the explorer of my family, I think its appropriate.

And finally Chrono Trigger, the one Japanese RPG that I haven’t played that I should. Many call it the crown jewel of JRPGs, yet back in the SNES days I wasn’t able to get my hands on it. Thankfully the Japanese version of the new DS version of the game has the full English translation on it, so finally I can play this masterpiece. I love being a geek!

One month later I can clearly say that my former opinion on PS3, was without a doubt wrong. Its far much better than I expected. Its not as perfect as the 360, but I love some of the things this system does. The free online, built in out of the box wi-fi, blu-ray and media center capabilities are simply awesome. The lack of PS2 backward compatibility is a bummer though, and a major negative to the system. But the positives out weight it for me. As for the games, heres some small reviews:

Metal Gear Solid 4 – Awesome gameplay, great graphics, cutscenes are a tad long. Still having a blast to play.

Little Big Planet – Great platformer. The online levels are amazing. Haven’t touched the create your own level part of the game yet, but will soon.

Gran Turismo 5 – My favorite track, Suzuka, in HD, gorgeous! Simply gorgeous! I cant wait for the full version of the game. Online play on GT is nice too.

The Eye of Judgement – Just barely played it, interesting eyetoy card game. Need more time with it.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Kensan – Yakuza set in 1600s. Cool so far but only just started it.

I think it was well worth buying, especially with some other new exclusive games coming out. Most of my gaming budget will go to my 360, but the PS3 is a fine addition to the library. Now sadly only the Wii is gathering dust, and lots of it.

Lord of the Rings Online does what it sets out to do very well. It wants to be a solid PvE game that portrays Middle Earth in a more-or-less “accurate” fashion. It’s adult in the sense that there are no Paris Hilton jokes or silliness like that. There’s humor, but it doesn’t seem out of place with the rest of the world. The art style is far more refined than that found in WoW, and particle effects on weapons are rare and subtle when they do occur. There are no cows walking around with twigs sticking out of their heads.  In total, it makes a world that requires much less suspension of disbelief than Azeroth.

It’s interesting how this can actually add to the game experience. Many of the areas in WoW, especially places like Sunwell Isle and Netherstorm seemed really over-realized. While being distinct is important, after a while it can stop being interesting and start to grate on your senses. LotRO has some very beautiful areas, but they’re always grounded in reality.

The classes are also more interesting. The burglar class, my main, is alot like a rogue in WoW, and many of the rogue skills, like Vanish or Cold Blood, have burglar equivalents. It’s not a DPS machine, though. They’re better than some classes, but they make up for not putting out damage by specializing in debuffing and crowd control.  They’re not a button-mashing class, and people who just want a DPS monster can roll a champion or a hunter. (LotRO has huntards, too)

Overall this is a game that has really filled-out since release. Many aspects, like the end-game, the PvP, and class skills, have been tweaked in good ways. It’s not perfect, and burglars are a little less powerful after the new expansion, but for now this game is providing a very enjoyable MMO experience, and I anticipate it doing so for a while to come.