First Build-- i7 920-- OS Questions (Windows 7)

[jfree1112]

Ok, so this is my first post here. This is also my first computer build. I have a pretty ambitious setup I'm going for, but I think it will be worth it. I have purchased all of these parts, and they will be arriving in the next couple of days. Amazingly this worked out to be $1000 flat believe it or not. Anyways, I have a few questions for you guys. I really appreciate all the help I can get with this first build.

1) I have a legit windows 7 upgrade disk that hasnt been used yet. Does anyone know if I can just toss that in the cd drive and magically turn my computer with no os into a computer running windows 7? If that doesn't work could I torrent a vista os and try to upgrade from that? I guess my question is: whats the best/cheapest way to get a legit copy of windows 7 on my computer?

2)Do you guys have any advise about any of the components I'm using (listed below)?

3)I know the kingston ssd has some downsides, but the boost its going to give me is worth it in my mind. Are there any precautions I should take, even if all I only use that drive for my OS and programs? Should I be doing any type of routine maintenance on this drive?





mobo: EVGA 121-BL-E756-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 Micro ATX SLI Micro Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188051

cpu: intel i7 920
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115202

power supply: ocz 500w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341016

ram: 3x2gb ocz gold ddr3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227365

HDD: 500gb seagate barracuda
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148395

SSD (boot drive) 64gb kingston
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820139006

case: azza helios 910
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811517007

cd/dvd burner: sony
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118030

video card:EVGA 01G-P3-N945-LR GeForce 9400 GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130390

monitors: 2 acer 23" 1080 monitors
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%20V233H%20bmd

OS: hopefully windows 7

[pdxgolf]

Hey, congrats on your first build... just did one of my own and it worked out great.

I noticed your question about the Windows 7 upgrade. I was in the same boat as you (I purchased mine from Microsoft with the student discount for $29.99).

I ran into a slight snag, but it worked out fine. I installed Windows 7 Pro as a clean installation on a new hard drive and when I put in my product key, it said it was invalid. Little did I know that you could only upgrade, not do a clean install with the disc.

I was actually going to do the same thing as you, install a 64 bit OS and upgrade from that, but as luck would have it, I bypassed the product key thing at install (it said I had 30 days to activate) and just did it from inside Windows 7 and it worked like a charm.

Not quite sure why it doesn't work at install, but works fine once you get booted up inside Windows...

[inflames988]

Originally Posted by pdxgolf Hey, congrats on your first build... just did one of my own and it worked out great. I noticed your question about the Windows 7 upgrade. I was in the same boat as you (I purchased mine from Microsoft with the student discount for $29.99). I ran into a slight snag, but it worked out fine. I installed Windows 7 Pro as a clean installation on a new hard drive and when I put in my product key, it said it was invalid. Little did I know that you could only upgrade, not do a clean install with the disc. I was actually going to do the same thing as you, install a 64 bit OS and upgrade from that, but as luck would have it, I bypassed the product key thing at install (it said I had 30 days to activate) and just did it from inside Windows 7 and it worked like a charm. Not quite sure why it doesn't work at install, but works fine once you get booted up inside Windows...

My roommate had the same issue, I think he called microsoft tech support and they sorted it out.

[jfree1112]

Originally Posted by pdxgolf I ran into a slight snag, but it worked out fine. I installed Windows 7 Pro as a clean installation on a new hard drive and when I put in my product key, it said it was invalid. Little did I know that you could only upgrade, not do a clean install with the disc. I was actually going to do the same thing as you, install a 64 bit OS and upgrade from that, but as luck would have it, I bypassed the product key thing at install (it said I had 30 days to activate) and just did it from inside Windows 7 and it worked like a charm. Not quite sure why it doesn't work at install, but works fine once you get booted up inside Windows...

So you just pop the upgrade disk in before you have an os installed? Click something to the effect of activate later, and then put the product key in afterwards? By the way I got the 29.99 version too. Aren't we lucky lol.

[glc]

I would recommend an Asus P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard - it appears to be the only truly stable X58 board out there. If you are going to be gaming, you need a stronger video card. If not, get an ATI for better display quality.

[jfree1112]

First of all, all of the parts listed above will be here tomorrow...i probably should have ran the build by everyone beforehand, but what can you do?

I don't intend to do any heavy gaming on the computer, only light gaming, and some picture and video editing. What could go wrong with my motherboard exactly? I haven't heard a lot about it breaking or anything...I really appreciate everyones comments on here.

[pdxgolf]

Is everything all built?

[jfree1112]

Nope, most of the parts are sitting on the table next to me though. The rest of the parts are coming in the next couple of days.

[jfree1112]

I have put together the build described above, and please forgive me if this post is in the wrong place, but i need help with this. There are two main problems.

1) My cpu score on the windows experience index is 3.5. Shouldn't a stock i7 920 score WAY higher than that?

2) My computer shuts down usually every few minutes. It will shut down before completing another window experience test, usually right at the cpu portion of the test.


Additional info:
-all case fans and the cpu fan appear to be working properly
-my evga mobo reads (i believe this is for the cpu temp, not 100% sure though) 84-85*F which is 29-30*C i believe
-speedfan said all of my cores were running between 98-100*C....very scary, but confusing to me
-nothing in my case seems too hot when i put my hand near it, wouldn't i be able to tell if my processor was at 100C?
-are there any all around diagnostic programs that i can use to figure out what part is malfunctioning automatically, assuming its a component?

[Masaki 7-11]

Seems like the CPU is overheating; try reseating the heatsink and make sure it is on properly; a loose heatsink will make the CPU overheat.

[jfree1112]

both realtemp and speedfan are reporting all cores over 95 degrees idling... it seems like a cpu related issue more and more now...

ii took off the fan and removed the cpu twice and the temperature seemed to drop a degree, but the overheating problem seems to remain...it seems like the fan is on very snug

any more suggestions/tests for me? is it possible i received a bad i7 920? is that even possible? anyways i guess my next step is to talk to newegg and see what they can do for me. please let me know if you can think of anything else that might help in the meanwhile

[Iamjosh]

Originally Posted by jfree1112 .... 2) My computer shuts down usually every few minutes. It will shut down before completing another window experience test, usually right at the cpu portion of the test. Additional info: -all case fans and the cpu fan appear to be working properly -my evga mobo reads (i believe this is for the cpu temp, not 100% sure though) 84-85*F which is 29-30*C i believe -speedfan said all of my cores were running between 98-100*C....very scary, but confusing to me -nothing in my case seems too hot when i put my hand near it, wouldn't i be able to tell if my processor was at 100C? -are there any all around diagnostic programs that i can use to figure out what part is malfunctioning automatically, assuming its a component?

Your cpu is reaching its temperature threshold is shutting itself to prevent any further damage. You have a real overtemp issue and I would not be testing it until you have actually isolated the problem.

I do not see any mention of thermal compound/grease in your posts, so can you confirm if you have applied any grease between your cpu and heatsink assembly?

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/143

http://www.arcticsilver.com/

Originally Posted by jfree1112 both realtemp and speedfan are reporting all cores over 95 degrees idling... it seems like a cpu related issue more and more now... ii took off the fan and removed the cpu twice and the temperature seemed to drop a degree, but the overheating problem seems to remain...it seems like the fan is on very snug any more suggestions/tests for me? is it possible i received a bad i7 920? is that even possible? anyways i guess my next step is to talk to newegg and see what they can do for me. please let me know if you can think of anything else that might help in the meanwhile

I do not believe that you have a defective cpu but you do have insufficient thermal unloading of the processor which is causing these high temps.

[jfree1112]

there is a thermal paste that camewith the stock heatsink... here are two videos...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIMj8f_-6_g

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD7GMfz7sOQ

so it started to turn on, shut down, and started up again, only to shut off all by itself

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by jfree1112 there is a thermal paste that camewith the stock heatsink... here are two videos... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIMj8f_-6_g and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD7GMfz7sOQ so it started to turn on, shut down, and started up again, only to shut off all by itself

Looks like the heatsink is installed properly and doesn't move around; something you can try is to go into the bios and manually put in the cpu voltage as the motherboard may have put the voltage for the cpu too high.

A while back I was working on a computer with a Intel e8400 (stock heatsink) with a Intel motherboard and it was running at 90C at idle; barely cool enough to get into the bios, would crash after a few minutes of being in windows.

The heatsink was installed properly, and the Intel motherboard had no options for setting voltages. I ended up getting an AC 7 Pro aftermarket heatsink and idle temps dropped to low 30sC. If the temps don't drop down to 50C or lower for idle by manually changing the voltage, you can either return the processor and get another which hopefully doesn't have the problem or you can get an aftermarket heatsink like the AC 7 Pro.

Stuff like this probably wouldn't be so common if Intel decided to put in decent heatsinks into their retail CPU packages (especially on their more expensive processors).