questions for Nick N about new system

[FlyinMisfit 0]

hi Nick,the new i-7 system is up & running. i don't have everything installed yet and no o/c yet. i thought i'd wait a few days & see how things go first. i don't know if this is an indication of a prob. right off the bat (hope not). in Device Mgr. the SM Bus Controller is listed as an "unknown device" with a "yellow bang & yellow question mark" next to it as well as System Interrupt Controller (6 times with that one). according to the Release Notes for the latest Intel Chipset Update the X58 chipset is not supported. is this the reason for the "yellow bangs" mention aboved? is this a result of Intel moving away from the FSB and the chipset update is no longer needed? if so, can they be removed in Device Mgr. without causing any probs? will they just reappear the next time the system is booted? or do i have a prob. this early in the game?i know with the P5E3 mobo. that i had the yellow bang would be gone after installing the chipset update. and, i never had the System Interrupt Controller show up in Dev. Mgr. as an "unknown device" prior to installing the chipset update with the P5E3 either. again, thanks for your help. suggestions/comments are welcomed. sys. spec.'s are below...btw, CPU temp. according to the BIOS after a few hrs. of operation was 50 degressC. sounds a ltiile warm to me. was more thermal paste needed for the i-7 than the QX8650 Extreme? i did apply a litlle bit more with the 965. also, SpeedStep, CE1 Support, HT and Virtualization is disabled in the BIOS. everything else is Default except for all that onboard crap ie...onboard audio, LAN, and Express Gate. PC Power and Colling 860W PSUP6T Deluxe v2 Mobo.i7 965 Extreme non O/C (yet) with Zalman CNPS9700 all copper HS with Artic Silver 56GB 1600 Mushkin Red Line MEM triple channel - 3 sticks4870 1GBWD Raptor 150GBX-Fi Fatality Pro (PCI-E) (coming soon) (the 4870 rendered 1 of the PCI slots useless)WinXP Pro x64 SP2DX9

[Mike_CFII_MEL 788]

Hi,If you don't install the drivers and you manually remove them via the device manager they will return upon boot up. Since they are not supported, you can disable them via the device manager.I see you have the P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard, I purchased the same one. I'm waiting on the release of the I7 975 CPU before I build my system. Did you try installing the drivers with the driver CD that came with the motherboard?.As far as the temps your seeing, the Zalman heatsink you have performed the worst out of all heatsinks tested. If you are going to overclock you may want to look into replacing your heatsink. The test listed below was with the Zalman CNPS9900, you have the CNPS9700, according to their website, the 9700 is five degrees warmer than the 9900.The complete test of the above mentioned heatsinks can be found here:http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...5&Itemid=62

[FlyinMisfit 0]

hi Mike,i didn't try installing the drivers from the driver CD. it's been my exp. that the drivers (chipset) are the same as the ones available at Intel's website just an older version. i always used Intel's latest drivers with previous mobos. without any probs.concerning the Zalman HS, that really surprises me. i didn't know that. you would think the all copper HS regardless of the Mfgr. would be the best at cooling. doesn't copper displace heat better? i will look into getting the thermalright.hope you get your new CPU soon. i may be buggin you and or Nick with some O/C'g questions later on if you guys don't mind. it seems he hasn't replied to any of my last couple of posts for whatever reason.thanks for the info., Tim

[gman! 1]

That is just the device manager telling you that it couldn't find the right driver for the device. I used to have that problem before, but it didn't pose any problems (that was back when I had my ECS ATi chipset motherboard with an AMD processors though). Unless your using an onboard video solution, you do not need to worry about the drivers. I remember someone saying you can disable them, DO NOT DO THAT!!!! :( :(. The device manager may gray out the option to disable it anyway, because that is the System Management (SM) Bus. Without the drivers, you may not be able to use PowerStep (I think that is what is called. Haven't used my 2nd Intel P4 system in like 3 yrs :( ). You might not be able to get CPU temps, NB temps, SYS temps, etc, inside Windows as well, or they may be incorrect, it will not affect BIOS hardware monitoring. The SMBus provides that data for the system.Also. For applying thermal paste, I recommend doing what the manufacturer and most people do. Put a rice sized grain on the middle of the heatspreader and put the heatsink on (The processor is in the middle of the metal heatspreader anyway) . The pressure of the HS will spread out the paste evenly, don't worry about it. I use Arctic Silver Ceramique because overtime the bond will strengthen, and reduce temps. Apply too much paste, and you will have a heat transfer problem. The paste is just there to fill in the microscopic gaps on the processor heatspreader and heatsink, that way heat is transferred directly and not by small airpockets.

[Mike_CFII_MEL 788]

Hi Tim,Nick said he would be away for awhile, guess he's not back yet. I'm hoping the new CPU will be released this month. All the other parts are here, I'm waiting for the final piece (i7 975 CPU). I'm still not sure if I'm going to run Windows 7 or Windows XP Pro 64 bit.Looking / Hoping to O/C to at least 4.5GHz, guess I'll have to wait and see.If you are unable to find any compatible chipset drivers online, I would install the drivers on the CD and at least get them loaded correctly, then worry about finding updated drivers online.I wouldn't worry about the TIM, your temps are inline with what the Zalman 9700 can do, unless your going to lap your heatsink. It has been proven time-and-time again that a applying a small pea size drop of TIM and allowing the Heatsink to spread it doesn't work well. As a matter of fact there are numerous photos that show the H/S and/or CPU after such application and the poor coverage obtained by doing this.I will cover my CPU the way I've been doing it for years, by applying an extremely thin layer of TIM over the entire processor. I will also lap the heatsink, this should get me another 5

[gman! 1]

Hi Tim,Nick said he would be away for awhile, guess he's not back yet. I'm hoping the new CPU will be released this month. All the other parts are here, I'm waiting for the final piece (i7 975 CPU). I'm still not sure if I'm going to run Windows 7 or Windows XP Pro 64 bit.Looking / Hoping to O/C to at least 4.5GHz, guess I'll have to wait and see.If you are unable to find any compatible chipset drivers online, I would install the drivers on the CD and at least get them loaded correctly, then worry about finding updated drivers online.I wouldn't worry about the TIM, your temps are inline with what the Zalman 9700 can do, unless your going to lap your heatsink. It has been proven time-and-time again that a applying a small pea size drop of TIM and allowing the Heatsink to spread it doesn't work well. As a matter of fact there are numerous photos that show the H/S and/or CPU after such application and the poor coverage obtained by doing this.I will cover my CPU the way I've been doing it for years, by applying an extremely thin layer of TIM over the entire processor. I will also lap the heatsink, this should get me another 5

[Mike_CFII_MEL 788]

Hi,Actually, for the I7 and the Quad/Dual Core CPU they recommend a thin line of arctic silver spread horizontally over the core(s). The single core CPU is the "ONLY" CPU they recommend a grain of rice application.I7 & Quad Core CPU------------------------------http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruc...l_quad_wcap.pdfDual Core CPU----------------------http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruc...l_dual_wcap.pdfSingle Core CPU-------------------------http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruc...lecore_wcap.pdf

Well I used to spread my thermal paste over the processor, but with Artic Silver they recommend that you apply a rice grain size and let the pressure of the heatsink do the job, and with Artic Silver Ceramique, spreading the thermal paste is a PITA.

[Guest Nick_N]

HIT-N-RUNNO FOLLOW UP SO READ AND FOLLOW1. SM BIOS

[Guest Nick_N]

Almost forgotI HAVE seen the chipset drivers NOT install the full support automatically on motherboards in the past.. the workaround for this is1. Make sure you have the UNZIPPED and DECOMPRESSED chipset drivers on the drive in a folder2. In device manager, right click on other devices showing YELLOW - UPDATE DRIVER and direct BROWSE search to the folder created in step 1. You will need to manually browse to the folder that contains the drivers.. the OK button should go from GRAY to AVAILABLE. With the Asus downloaded drivers I think that was: Intel_ChipsetUtility_NUMBER\All <------------------ this folder (but its been a while so I cant remember for sure)for VISTA I think it was the VISTA folder.. again, you need to see which one but for XP it was 'ALL' as I recallse if it finds the drivers and installs that waygood luck

[FlyinMisfit 0]

hi All,thanks for all the help & info. will get those drivers installed pronto...hopefullyhappy flyin, Tim

[FlyinMisfit 0]

hi All,mobo. drivers are installed and the yellow bangs are gone. waiting on the X-Fi (PCI-E) to arrive and trying to find a Thermalright 120 HS.so far, no random reboots & no cold start-up probs.thanks to All for all the help and suggestions.happy flyin, Tim

[FlyinMisfit 0]

Mike,i just ordered the Therm. 120 U/E from CrazyPC.com it appears Newegg used to stock them but for some reason doesn't anymore.in case ur interested, CrazyPC has the Prolimatech Megalems in stock. thought u might like to know. happy flyin, Tim

[Guest Nick_N]

I thought I may share a bit of follow up on the Internet TV Infomercial called the "Hardware Site"Please look at this review from 2008http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...p;limitstart=13Please look at the position of the Thermalright 120 against the OCZ Vedetta2.. not to mention a few othersNow Please look at where these devices sit here (or the chart above)http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...p;limitstart=16the ONLY DIFFERENCE between the devices that show up in both tests is a 1366 CLIP and MOUNT!this makes even more sense! http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...p;limitstart=11LOL!It seems to me the Thermalright being #2 with a hotter CPU, and, on January 1st it was #7 on a 775 slug is quite SILLY when the same #1 VendettaII in January was almost LASTNEVER believe these sites!The better ones will at LEAST make sure they show SOME continuity in their BS!LOL!

[TechguyMaxC 516]

I find Xbitlabs to be amongst the more reliable (and throrough) hardware review sites on the net.http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/d...er_7.html#sect0

[Guest Nick_N]

I find Xbitlabs to be amongst the more reliable (and throrough) hardware review sites on the net.http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/d...er_7.html#sect0

yes sir!Xbit, anandtech.. both excellent and there are others.. but its still best to get a perspective from all of them and look very carefully at the environment they test in.