A few problems with my new build

[Holesto]

I just finished building my gaming computer which I posted a few weeks ago and I'm having a few problems.

I'm running the a8n-sli deluxe mobo with an amd athlon fx-55 processor and 2 6800 ultras in SLI. I have 2 gigs of 3200 crucial ballistix memory and an enermax 535w PSU.

My problems are as follows:

My fans are running all the time. I have a Sunbeam Transformer case with 2 side fans, a top exhaust fan, and a rear fan. My heatsink fan which is a Zalman enterprises CNPS7000B-Cu is also always running. I had a hard time figuring out how to get them all running, but I plugged all the wires on the heatsink where they were supposed to go, one into the MOBO and one into the power supply. My case fans however is a different story. The rear fan has 2, 4 connector, plugs while all the other fans have 2, 4 connector plugs, and 1, 3 or 4 (cant remember which) plug. Where do these plugs go and are they the reason they are always running? I think there are 3 total 3 or 4 connector plugs, and I only have 2 things on my MOBO that say chassis fan.

I have the video cable from my monitor plugged into the correct video card (the blue one) and my screen will go black from time to time depending on what i click on, like its switching between video cards or something. Is this supposed to happen? It does it 4 or 5 times when I start up the computer when it gets to the Welcome screen on Windows XP. This isn't a REAL big problem, but it's kinda annoying.

Final problem: When I'm playing Doom 3 I get a small flicker running up the screen when I run or turn around or sometimes even just walk through the game. I can't understand why I'd be having problems in Doom 3 with 2 6800 ultras on high quality at 1024x768. My monitors native resolution is 1280x1024, so I don't know if that might be causing it - i havent tried it. Any ideas?

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated guys. I wanna get this thing running as smooth as possible! I just did 3dMark05 and got 9846 as my score. Help me out guys, I know this is the place to come for probs!

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Holesto My problems are as follows: My fans are running all the time.

That's really not a problem...your fans are supposed to be running when the computer is on.

Originally Posted by Holesto I have a Sunbeam Transformer case with 2 side fans, a top exhaust fan, and a rear fan. My heatsink fan which is a Zalman enterprises CNPS7000B-Cu is also always running. I had a hard time figuring out how to get them all running, but I plugged all the wires on the heatsink where they were supposed to go, one into the MOBO and one into the power supply. My case fans however is a different story. The rear fan has 2, 4 connector, plugs while all the other fans have 2, 4 connector plugs, and 1, 3 or 4 (cant remember which) plug.

The 2, 4 pin molex connectors are called a "pass-through" connector...this allows you to plug the fans in between the power connection from the power supply and a optical drive...or you can just plug one end into a power supply connection and leave the other end unconnected.

The other 3 pin connection from the fan is for RPM monitoring. This smaller connector would go to one of the chassis fan headers on the motherboard. It's just to monitor the fan's speed, not to control the speed.

Originally Posted by Holesto Where do these plugs go and are they the reason they are always running? I think there are 3 total 3 or 4 connector plugs, and I only have 2 things on my MOBO that say chassis fan.

The 4 pin connectors plug into any unused power connection from the power supply. If you don't have any unused connectors, plug the fans in the power connection to the optical drives, not the hard drive or video card.

Like I said, the smaller connector is only for RPM monitoring. You really don't have to monitor all your case fans, it's really not necessary.

To speed up or slow down your fans, they either have to be thermostatically controlled or you have to plug them into a fan bus that has rheostats to raise or reduce the voltage to the fans.

And your fans should always be running when the computer is on.

Originally Posted by Holesto I have the video cable from my monitor plugged into the correct video card (the blue one) and my screen will go black from time to time depending on what i click on, like its switching between video cards or something. Is this supposed to happen? It does it 4 or 5 times when I start up the computer when it gets to the Welcome screen on Windows XP. This isn't a REAL big problem, but it's kinda annoying. Final problem: When I'm playing Doom 3 I get a small flicker running up the screen when I run or turn around or sometimes even just walk through the game. I can't understand why I'd be having problems in Doom 3 with 2 6800 ultras on high quality at 1024x768. My monitors native resolution is 1280x1024, so I don't know if that might be causing it - i havent tried it. Any ideas?

Sorry, can't help you with the two other problems since I have no experience with PCI-Express video cards yet.

Cricket

[Holesto]

Thanks Cricket, but man my case is so loud with all 5 fans running. I thought i hooked em up wrong and that's why they were always running.

Thanks again!

Anyone know about the graphics problems?

[Cricket]

What you could do to reduce the noise from your computer is...

1) Disconnect a few of the fans, you don't really need all of them running. Disconnect the front fan first and then monitor your temps. If your computer runs stable and them temps do go up much, disconnect another fan...maybe one of the side fans, and then monitor your system again. The less fans running in your case, the quieter it will be.

2) Or you could get a fan controller. This is one of those items you see in the 5.25" drive bay with the little LCD screen and a few speed controller knobs on it.

3) Or you could replace your current fans with low RPM models from Panaflo, Zalman or Vantec.

As long as your computer runs stable and isn't locking up or freezing all the time, the temps inside the case are fine.

Cricket

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Cricket Or you could replace your current fans with low RPM models from Panaflo, Zalman or Vantec.

That would be my choice.

[GRP]

Get yourself a thermal fan sensor, like digital doc or Thermaltake hardcano. you can put the heat sensors on your video card, hard drive, cpu , what ever. Set the operating temp, and the fans will come on when the temprature reaches a certian level. I have a digital doc , it controls 4 fans most of the time only one fan runs, however if the temp of the sensors exceed the set level other fans will turn on. Why listen to all that.

[David M]

Holesto,
Fan cooled SLI machines are noisy unless you go with liquid cooling. In addition to your case fans you also have 2 very noisy graphics card fans and a high pitched noisy chipset fan. Unless you want to go with liquid cooling, there is no way to make an SLI a nice quiet machine. The only idea I have is to install 120mm fans with a fan controller. Silverstone makes an excellent fan controller which controls them in proportion to case temperature. Just install the thermal sensors, make some settings and you no longer have to fuss with your case fans. I bought this http://google1-cnet.com.com/4014-300...net&tag=170071 fan controller for a FX-51 gaming machine I made last year. I put a Venus 12 HSF with a speed controller which allowed me to have a quieter machine when I was not playing games.

I went with liquid cooling from Koolance for my newest machine (see below) and am happy with how quiet it is.

As far as your graphics problem, it may be an inadequate PSU. nVidia only certifies 4 PSU's for SLI use. http://www.xoxide.com/slicertified.html.

I had a Thermaltake 680 watt PSU that was supposed to be ok for SLI. It wasn't.

I had graphics problems and the PSU kept shutting down. I finally took a voltage meter to the graphics cards while under a load and saw the voltage dropping below 11.5 volts at times. So I bought the PC Power & Cooling 850watt PSU. Its a little overkill, but it stopped all my graphics problems. The Enermax 600 watt PSU is certified for SLI use and its much more reasonably priced.

Which PSU are you using? Dont let anyone tell you a PSU with less than 500 watts will work for SLI. The ASUS mobo manual says 500 watts is the minimum.

Congrats on your 3DMark05 score. You can see mine is less but then I am running a 3500 Winchester. I cant wait for the FX-57 to come out so I can overclock past 3Ghz. Lets see who gets to 10,000 first!

Have you tried using nTune yet? I tried it but it kept locking up my machine. I also tried some overclocking by running the FSB past 20% over the stock setting but it corrupted the OS. So I run my machine at about 10% overclocked. Tell me if you find something on the internet of someoene successfully overclocking our computer configurations beyond 10-20%. I have spent hours searching the internet but without success. I am putting together a list of people who have our boards in SLI so we can share ideas. Its been my experience this is not an easy board to overclock.

Holesto,
I just read this about the Q-fan from another forum http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=364790 http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=364790

[Holesto]

Thanks for the input everyone! I thought I might have wired something up wrong, but i guess not. it's just noisy :P I guess i'll get used to it.

David I'll let you know if I find anything past 20%!

Thanks a lot guys!