Old System Damaged...Time for a Fresh Skylake Build!

[honanhal 1,420]

Hi all,

 

So turns out that shipping my Sandy Bridge system (had to do a transoceanic move) damaged the motherboard and GPU, at a minimum, and no video cards will run in the still-working PCIE slots at higher than x1. Bummer. I built the system in 2011, so I guess it was about time for a ground-up rebuild anyway! At least that's what I'm telling myself...

 

I'd love comments on my proposed (re)build here. I'm mostly starting from scratch, but I'm reusing the asterisked components below that don't seem to have any problems. The video card is new (was hoping it would work in the old system...it did, but only at x1) but the other asterisked components are from 2011. None of them have given me any trouble and it's nice to be able to reuse them.

 

System is mostly for FSX-SE (although I might dip my toe into P3D at some point), although I will play other new games. If some things here seem like overkill for FSX, that's part of why. I'm looking to overclock to somewhere in the 4.6-4.7 GHz range.

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor

Mobo: ASRock Z170 OC Formula ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory

*GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC

*Case: Corsair Carbide 400R ATX Mid-Tower

Cooler: Noctua NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler

*PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V

SSD: Sandisk SD8SN8U-1T00-1122 X400 1TB M.2 2280 Solid State Drive (I'll plan to use this drive for Windows plus FSX, plus maybe one other game at a time)

*Other HDD: Western Digital Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive; Seagate Barracuda 7200 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare (may drop the Western Digital from the new build)

*Optical: ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

*Monitor: ASUS VH236H Black 23" Full HD Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ Speakers

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home - 64-bit - OEM (all things being equal, would love to stick with Windows 7, but sounds like Microsoft made it all but impossible to do that with these new motherboards; not worth the hassle to me and I'll live with W10)

 

Am I missing anything? Will that cooler be enough to maintain a 4.6-4.7 GHz overclock? Is that RAM a good choice for FSX? As I said, any and all thoughts very welcome! 

 

Thanks!

 

James

[martin-w 3,234]

So turns out that shipping my Sandy Bridge system (had to do a transoceanic move) damaged the motherboard and GPU, at a minimum, and no video cards will run in the still-working PCIE slots at higher than x1. Bummer. I built the system in 2011, so I guess it was about time for a ground-up rebuild anyway! At least that's what I'm telling myself...

 

 

 

Did you ship your PC with cooler attached? If so it's possible there was an impact, dynamic load increased and the cooler pushed the CPU into the MB pins. Some have successfully straightened bent pins. 

 

 

Re your proposed system, looks good.

 

NHD-15S

 

The NH-D15S is a superb cooler. Just built with the same cooler and have been advocating this cooler on the forum for some time. I can't tell you definitively, from personal experience, exactly how high you'll be able to overclock, as I'm out of action for a while, while I RMA my graphics card. However, your proposed overclock should be achievable [dependent on the silicone lottery] at acceptable temperature. Further more, you have zero chance of leaks, quiet operation and no pump to fail or become noisy. Something else to bear in mind, is that even if you only achieve 4.6 lets say, that equates to hardly any increase in frame rate, one or two frames at most. So don't get hung up on squeezing out a few hundred pointless megahertz more. 4.6 to 4.8 is what you should expect from the 6700K and the D15S has you covered.

 

 

*PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V

 

This PSU is Bronze certified, so not Gold, not Platinum. But don't be concerned about that, it may generate a little more waste heat, but the increse in terms of your electricity bill is minimal, you won't notice it.

 

Warning though... this PSU is NOT modular. You may save some money but you will have a ton of cables to hide somewhere in your case. If you aren't careful, blocking air flow and looking ugly. If you decide to still opt for this unit, make sure your case has ample room behind the MB tray to hide the spaghetti. 

 

 

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home - 64-bit - OEM (all things being equal, would love to stick with Windows 7, but sounds like Microsoft made it all but impossible to do that with these new motherboards; not worth the hassle to me and I'll live with W10)

 

 

 

I went for W10 too. However, it's not true that you can't install W7. A few more steps involved but many do.

 

Am I missing anything? Will that cooler be enough to maintain a 4.6-4.7 GHz overclock? Is that RAM a good choice for FSX?

 

 

 

 

Yes and yes. I have same cooler and GSkill Ripjaw V 3200. GSkill did a great job, top quality Samsung modules and specifically designed with Skylake in mind.

[Bionor 44]

I built a very comparable system just two weeks ago(6700K, MSI Z170A Carbon, MSI 1070 Gaming X and Corsair@3000Mhz RAM), different brands but pretty much the same. If you're gonna clock to 4,6-4,7, why choose the NHD-15S over 15? Same cooler, but the non-S gives you two fans which is not a bad thing when overclocking. I reached a stable 4,6 clock with my 6 year old NHD-14 although I had to give the cpu a little bit more voltage than I wanted to...

[martin-w 3,234]

different brands but pretty much the same.

 

 

 

Yes and no. Pretty much the same, but as I said. GSkill put a lot of effort into the Ripjaw V and use the best Samsung modules around.

 

If you're gonna clock to 4,6-4,7, why choose the NHD-15S over 15? Same cooler, but the non-S gives you two fans which is not a bad thing when overclocking.

 

 

 

Because he's a very wise man that did his research. 

 

1. The difference in cooling between the D15 and D15S as a result of one fan is... 2 degrees, virtually nothing. Technically, this is because the velocity of the air passing through the cooler remains the same. You do benefit from slightly higher static pressure though, hence the 2 degrees. In essence, all this time, with the D15 and D14, we have been running with two fans pointlessly.

 

2. If you are desperate for 2 fans instead of one... Noctua provide the clips for you to whack another fan on.

 

3. The "S" is the "high compatibility" variant. Much improved RAM clearance and as it's offset, further away from the uppermost PCIe slot, so not crowding the graphics card.

 

The "S" variant is pretty much the NH-D15 perfected.

[martin-w 3,234]

Nice review here, demonstrating that overclocked to 4.6 GHz, only ONE degree difference between the D15 and D15S. And in some of the tests, no difference at all!

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Noctua/NH-D15S/6.html

 

 

 

The Noctua NH-D15S is a fantastic CPU cooler that improves on the already outstanding NH-D15. Overall, it usually stays within 1-2 °C of its sibling. With such fantastic performance on mainstream processors, the loss of a second fan does little to dampen its performance. It also doesn't hurt that noise levels are just as expected in that it's nearly silent. At 64 mm under the fins, memory clearance is good, and with the new asymmetrical design, expansion-slot clearance is greatly improved as well. Much like all Noctua coolers, the NH-D15S is easy to install thanks to the SecuFirm 2 mounting hardware, and let's face it, that paired with its exceptional build quality make this cooler a bit of a treat to work with. The fact that it's well packaged and has a nice accessories bundle is just icing on the cake. Oh and who can say no to an industry leading no fuss six year warranty? 

The only negatives I can think of are a bit lacking. Noctua's NH-D15S packs a high price, and with a second NF-A15 fan, it hits nearly $110, which is quite a lot all things considered. Finally, there is the color scheme. We all know it's unavoidable unless one buys replacement fans. We also know it's part of it being a Noctua cooler, which still doesn't make it any easier on the eyes.

In my own opinion, the NH-D15S is the better cooler when compared to the NH-D15. The better expansion-slot clearance allows it to fit into far more builds, which gives it a wider appeal. That and the fact that users can still slap a second fan on for maximum performance without issue certainly doesn't hurt either. That second fan doesn't really matter on mainstream systems, but it would prove a bit more useful with AMD or Intel HEDT platforms. Noctua has definitely set a new bar in terms of what one can expect from monstrous heatsinks in that the NH-D15S is compatible with many mini-ITX and micro-ATX systems where the first expansion slot is PCIe x16.

If you want top-tier performance with ultra-low noise levels and extra expansion-slot room, the Noctua NH-D15S is a damn good option.

 

[honanhal 1,420]

Thanks, guys! Looking like this is a solid set of choices. Which is always nice.  :smile:

 

 

 

Did you ship your PC with cooler attached? If so it's possible there was an impact, dynamic load increased and the cooler pushed the CPU into the MB pins. Some have successfully straightened bent pins. 

 

Yes, cooler attached (I realize in hindsight this was incredibly stupid, but if you can believe it I had already shipped it twice with it attached and no apparent damage or ill effects). Very likely that the pins got bent, which might explain why the link width is limited to x1, but even if I fixed that I'd still have a first PCIE slot that only works intermittently--it's visibly bent and at least one pin on the slot interior is sticking out into the slot. I haven't checked the MB pins since I'm concerned one I open it up there may be no putting in back together again (computer works, just not for graphics intensive work). So bottom line: lots of problems, motherboard is probably toast one way or another. Rather than try to find a motherboard replacement for Sandy Bridge (esp. when CPU might also be damaged), I'm just starting over with a new generation.

 

 

Warning though... this PSU is NOT modular. You may save some money but you will have a ton of cables to hide somewhere in your case. If you aren't careful, blocking air flow and looking ugly. If you decide to still opt for this unit, make sure your case has ample room behind the MB tray to hide the spaghetti. 

 

You're exactly right on the cables, but this is my existing unit--and luckily this case also has a compartment behind MB tray to hide cables. Since I'm keeping the same case and PSU, I guess I don't even actually need to rearrange them.  :smile:

 

James

[martin-w 3,234]

Yes, cooler attached (I realize in hindsight this was incredibly stupid, but if you can believe it I had already shipped it twice with it attached and no apparent damage or ill effects).

 

Transoceanic though James, it's not just a trip down the road. All manner of scary things probably happened to it on the journey. Mind you, even shorter trips like here in the UK can be an issue. I ordered a posh Asus monitor recently, arrived with a huge boot mark on the box and a shattered monitor.

 

 

 

 

You're exactly right on the cables, but this is my existing unit--and luckily this case also has a compartment behind MB tray to hide cables. Since I'm keeping the same case and PSU, I guess I don't even actually need to rearrange them.

 

 

Fair enough James, thought I'd mention it in case you weren't aware. I have no doubt you will love your new setup. And hopefully you wont have a faulty SATA power cable to your SSD and a dodgy ACX cooler on your EVGA card like I have. :smile:  

[honanhal 1,420]

Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

So one thing on this build I'm not sure of. Evidently the Asrock Z170 OC Formula has not just the usual 8-pin ATX power connector, it also has a sort of supplemental 4-pin power connector right next to it--which my 5-year old PSU doesn't have. I haven't been able to get a fully clear answer on whether this is strictly "optional" or not--the manual is not helpful in that regard, and here are the answers I've gotten on Newegg to that question:

 

IF you have no other cards pulling power from the board other than video, you should be OK with a mild over clock that doesn't require increasing CPU voltage (as long as the manual indicates the 4 pin as optional - I do not have it nearby). Of course, using it would help supply more stable power.

...
 

Try it and see, might be ok - if you get unexplained reboots - good chance it's the old power supply. if you decide to replace it - check out - "Eggxpert Tiered Power Supply List - good luck.

...
 

No not necessary. But anything beyond 4.6ghz would need it. I have mine plugged in and i haven't overclocked as yet. It gives mobo more power if needed.

 

 

 

So while I'm of course tempted to stick with my current PSU, both to save money and (more importantly) to avoid the hassle of having to reinstall a PSU, I'm concerned that I'll be holding back my system...I initially thought that extra plug was really only for the "super extreme" overclockers who are using crazy techniques, but now I'm not sure. Anyone know anything more on that?

And if the recommendation IS that I just buy a new PSU, can anyonerecommend one (modular would be great)? I think 750w is plenty.

 

Thanks,

James

 

[Breeze 17]

That 4 pin for supplemental power is purely optional.  I have the ASRock Z170 OC Formula and I'm not using it.  It's for extreme overclocks.  I have a Corsair RMx power supply.

[honanhal 1,420]

Jim, so getting to a normal (e.g. under 5.0 GHz) overclock shouldn't be an issue without it?

 

James