Phaenius

My only problem in this case bonestonne is you and your arrogance. And that's a very easy fix for this. Ignore you. You can take your 15 dollars per hour and stick it. You're no use for me, so far I only heard insults or crap advice from you (like putting the sink on your forehead, etc.). I won't insist anymore. All those products I've been using are not the cheapest, in fact beyond the middle specs range, yet you rush to catalog everything as crap, basically denying the work of professionals, who designed and tested the products. So far, in all your infinite wisdom, you haven't thought of figure it out if the temps are really there (could be erroneously reported) or to even ask me what are the temperatures inside my room. And those are basic things. Without a proper air conditioning system, you can't have lower temperatures on the CPU than the ambient temperature. And that's what the mighty (and praised) Core Temp is saying to me. CPU cores' temperatures are lower than room temperature. Cool, huh ? You say I haven't tested, removing fans, closing door, etc. That means you didn't read my last post. A PC case isn't exactly a vacuum machine. Fans are not that powerful and air not directed through special ducts for the door to stay shut. FYI, I did tested. Temperatures are higher with door closed, because the two 92 mm fans at the side have just a very little air intake on the side panel. And case fans controllers are not cheap. A 6-7 way, automatic control, LCD screen controller may go around 70-80 dollars, if you buy it separately. Tell me a motherboard that can control at least 3 case fans (one at the side, one at the front and one at the back). But you need one at the top usually as well. The real knowledge is to work with reasonable budget and stay within specs, otherwise I would have fitted a freon cooling system on the CPU. Take that, heat !

I bet no one beats me. Some years ago (don't do it anymore, now I am a good boy), I had a HDD suspended by the wires. And it just stood like that and worked like charm. I mean it was hanged by the wires, with nothing else to support it.

You are right in one thing, it;s not applying. Before asking questions, I test everything I can that can cross my mind. Activate and de-activate fans, case with side door shut or open, even front 5.25 / 3.5 bay doors and rear brackets on and/or off. Coolest temp is with as many fans working at highest rpm and as little case obstructions as possible. That i tested in my situation. I wouldn't have asked, but I upgraded processor recently and with my old Phenom 9950, temps were reasonable, with the same fans. What's really annoying is that I cannot tell what temps are right, to start working from there. Some report 25 degs, some 45 and some 50. 25 is way off, I can tell you that.

punto Thanks for the tmax and safe temp. As for Core Temp, it reports bogus data. First of all, it only reports the temps of the cores that, so far, no reporting software was able to correctly interrogate. Core Temp reports temps of 25 degrees on all of my cores. This is incorrect. Temperature inside my computer is around 35 degrees, so it's impossible (by pure physics laws) cores to be 10 degrees cooler than that, unless they have some sort of air conditioning, which is not the case. Even so, it's impossible cores to stay at 25 degrees and the socket twice as that. So, I am still in the unclear. In understand FX-6300 is a popular processor. I can't imagine they haven't figure it out how to proper monitor the temps, after all it's important. Hotter temps will slowly decay the processor. They won't break it, but will slow the performance in time. Core temperature is reporting erroneous by all reporting software, socket is dubious. Basically, there are 4 CPU temps, one in the core, one for the whole processor (no idea what that means), one for the socket (also, no idea) and one externally measured, by applying a sensor on the heat sink (this is of course the temp of the heat sink and not the processor, but you can get a general idea about the whole situation). Motherboards may have different sensors I think, but they are more or less, the same thing for certain CPU sockets. In fact, main chipsets are bought from AMD and the rest of the components are somehow compatible. So, again, which probe is right ? I rule out the core temp (surely wrong), but what is the difference between the socket temperature and the whole CPU temperature ? For instance, now it says 25 core temp, 47 CPU temp and 53 AUX temp (?!?). Those are all CPU related, not the chipset. Motherboard chipset has its own sensor. bonestonne I thought I made myself clear. So, again, my motherboard IS WORKING CORRECTLY. Its the PC case fan controller that is working with interruptions. When it works ok, temps are lower (about 10 degrees), but still too high. When PC case controller is not working, it's like a volcano inside the computer and I am reluctant to use it. So, even with all those fans working at maximum rpm (again, strictly, there are 5 (FIVE) fans working FOR the CPU, 2 blowing cool air and 3 sucking hot air), temperatures are still high. Heat sink is correctly mounted, it's an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2 cooler, it's a good cooler, I used its default thermal paste, they say it's ok. All fans are correctly installed. The PWM correctly, the 3 pins into their correct sockets. Why do I need so many fans ? To cool, of course. I bought the case specifically with 5 built in fans, 2 blowing from the side, one blowing from the front, one sucking from the top and one sucking from the back. Later, I installed an additional one, to cool down an additional HDD. I don't really get what's wrong in having too many fans. They are basically aiding the air flow. So, I have just one more fan additionally then you, where's the problem. There are now cases with 240 mm fans, there you are, instead of one of those babies, running at low speed, I have two 92 mm fans, spinning higher and basically you have the same result. Side panel is off by default. I mean the case side panel. When I put the panel on the case, temps are even hotter, so I better leave it without it. I don't have access (or easy access) to the computer. It's mounted in a tight space (yes, it should have plenty of air around it, but not for me to work on it), so it would take a lot of effort from me to extract it from where it is and even so, cables won't reach the working place. Basically, I can't check (or easily check) what you said about feeling the temperature with the back of my palm, Reducing the number of fans ? That is like reducing the number of cylinders of a car and still expect the same power from the engine. I really don't get it. As for the thermal paste, again, I used the pre-applied cooler's thermal paste. They say it's a good paste. I am too clumsy to apply the paste from syringe or by brush, so I stick with the default pre-applied. I figure Arctic Cooling put a better paste than the default one. They say it's MX-4 if I read correctly. CPU is correctly installed. I mean, you have to be a moron to install it wrong. You put the CPU in the socket, lower the lever, Put the heat sink and screw the screws until you meet some resistance. That's it. It's in the mounting manual of the cooler. Intel CPUs are different in terms of heat sink mounting, but with AMD it's simpler. Again, I am NOT using Intel CPU, don't know why do you insist about it. As for the forehead touch, that is way too erratic. Take it off, clean it and than what ? This could take 1 minute or 2 minutes, plenty enough time for heat sink base to cool down. This is stupid. Not to mention humans react different to heat, it's not like we have a built in display that shows the temperatures. It's hot. How hot is hot ? If Arctic Cooling is "crap" (I paid 33 dollars on it, that with discount), what about the stock cooler ? I don't know what Xeon is (let alone dual Xeon), but FX-6300 is no "little". You should try and put more consideration into people's money, not everything bellow high end is crap. In fact, I would say that everything used bellow it's designed specs is crap. The act and the idea itself.

Yes, there are several fan controllers inside the computer (CPU, GPU and PSU have their own fan regulators that work fine) and apart from those, there is the built-in fan controller, who regulates 6 fans. When this controller fails, hell break lose. I mean, computer works fine, but I monitor the temps on various components and it's no good. No good at all. HDDs are around 52-53 at idle, CPU around 60-70 (idle-load), GPU fan start working like a take-off airplane, NB chipset around 50 and so on. I am afraid to put stress on computer when case controller is off (like it is now for instance). I can only do browsing and that's pretty much it. I mean, computer won't shut down or sense anything wrong, but I'm afraid to put too much stress on it, it's bad as it is. I should buy a new controller, but I can't find anything that can regulate 6-7 fans, plus it will look ugly with the build in one disabled. And I don't really want to replace the case, I like this one, it's a good case, don't want to replace a working case (apart from the controller), just because it's built in controller fails. But this is off-topic about the controller. I am aware something must be done regarding it, but my two questions remain. What is the safe temp for FX-6300 and which reporting tool is right ? The MSI Center or the AIDA64 ? AIDA reports lower temps by around 5 degrees. Again, the sensor probe is Fintek F71889A (ISA 480h). Anyone having an identical (or similar) processor ?

Of course I did. PWM controller on the motherboard works fine.

It's a normal case, it has for instance five 5.25 bays, it has plenty of space. It does have two 80 mm fans and three 92 mm fans, this should be plenty. Fans are spinning quite fast (around 2800 RPM at full load), good silent fans, can spin at high revs without annoying much. So, problem shouldn't be the case. In fact, there are 3 (THREE) fans working for the CPU heat sink, one is the 92 mm cooler fan (blowing air from the inside towards the sink), one blows air from the outside directly to the sink (this is from the side of the case) and a third one, a 120 mm fan is sucking hot air from the vicinity of the CPU heat sink. So, 3 (quite big) fans are working for the CPU. As for PWM, common, it's the best regulating controller. Fans are spinning quite high, so this is not the problem. Connecting a CPU fan directly to 12V is a crime nowadays (considering the advance of technology, it would mean that all the cool monitoring and technological breakthrough were in vain). Top fan IS sucking hot air. I forgot. This is the 4 (forth) fan working for the CPU !

Fan controller is working with interruptions. I mean, when it works, it can work perfectly for 5 straight days and controls the fans correctly. When it doesn't, fans are off and temperatures raise high. So, let's rule out the controller out of the equation, let's assume it works right (sometimes I pull and push some wires and start working again, but doesn't work all the time, it seems it has a mind of its own ). I understand AMD hasn't released in their specs the maximum safe temperature for this processor. That's what I wanted to know. I read on various forums that anything beyond 60 is dangerous. Now, THIS IS THE TRICKY PART ! Which is 60 ? MSI's own reporting tool reports the temps above, AIDA64 Extreme Edition reports temperatures about 5 degrees cooler. Which is right ? And another thing. All temperature related software reports the temperature for processor way hotter than the temperature of each core. Cores are reported to have 23 degrees each one. I must say temperature in the room is hotter than this, so this surely is an error. How can this be possible ? CPU sensor probe is Fintek F71889A (ISA 480h).

Hi, I hope the gurus here can offer me some answers to this problem. I do have an AMD FX-6300, MSI 970A-G46 motherboard, 8 GB Kingston DDR3-1600 MHz dual channel RAM (probably not important for this test) and Sapphire ATI HD4870 video card (also probably not important). What's really conclusive for this test is the cooling part. I do have an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2 cooler on CPU, 2 92 mm fans on the side (intake), blowing towards the CPU, 1 92 mm fan on the rear (exhaust), 1 80 mm fan (intake) at the front and 1 80 mm fan (exhaust) at the top. I also have a 80 mm fan inside to cool a HDD (but this probably has little to no effect). All the 6 case fans are regulated by a build in controller, set to auto, it regulates from 7V to 12V (fans have different speeds, so I better gave the voltage instead). CPU and GPU have their own PWM connectors. Now, the problem. MSI Control Center 2.5 (motherboard own monitoring software) reports temperatures of 52-53 degrees at idle and 65 degrees when tested with IntelBurn Test (probably an Intel tool, but I think it works with any processor, if not please tell me a suitable one for my processor), full burn, maximum stress. I selected this to emulate the stressful conditions inside a demanding game. I do not render anything, not work with applications demanding stressful situations, only video games (occasionally). Now, my fan controller is faulty. Most of the times it works, but sometimes it shuts down by itself, only to randomly start again (have no idea why this happens, i thought it was a faulty connection, but I now think it's a hardware issue inside). When this happens, air flow is reduced inside the case and my CPU temperature raises to 56 (idle) to 72 (full load). My question: What to do ? How much my processor will take this ? Assuming my controller works, still the temps are not correct, right ? I mean, around 60 degrees (on average between idle and full load). But what can I do ? I used the pre-applied paste on the CPU sink, I mounted the sink well. One annoying thing is that the CPU fan is sucking air that is coming from the power supply fan (120 mm). I don't know if that fan is blowing or sucking air. But one of the 92 mm side fans is blowing cool air on the CPU sink as well, so I could say that the heat sink is cooled by 2 fans (one by casualty). So, should I be worried ? I couldn't mount the heat sink in any other way, due to motherboard and case design. Will a better and powerful sink lower the temps ? Shall I use a better sink paste ? I would really love to hear some answers to all this. Thanks.

Well, that's nothing I can do about it. I won't revert to XP or Vista. I do like 7 better. I wish it was a solution for this. For the last reboots, my computer was nice and didn't switch the cards, but it can strike at any time. And along with the switch back, I must perform all the settings, which are defaulted.

And now I have another problem. I have 2 sound cards in my system, one is integrated (Realtek HD via SB950 chipset), the other is a PCI Creative X-Fi card. Each one has analogue and digital outputs (I wish they hadn't). Problem is at each system boot, computer decides on its own which output to use and I have to uninstall and reinstall the other card if I want to use its analogue output. This is annoying. How can I fix this, so that I select one option and it stays like that until I say different ?

Well, I solved it meanwhile, after reading a post on other forum. It needed to disable the front panel jack detection in the Realtek sound manager utility. In Romania we have a saying "eu centrez, eu dau cu capul", meaning I cross the ball, I head it towards goal. In this case, I posed the question and I answered it.

Rear. The 3.5 mm jacks. For the front output I have a Creative card.

Can anyone tell me how to enable analogue output on my MSI 970A-G46 motherboard (via Realtek integrated audio card) ? I installed the drivers, but I only have Realtek Digital Output and Realtek Digital Output (Optical) available. The analogue output (Realtek High Definition Audio) returns "Not plugged in" error. How can I enable this output ? What exactly shall I plug in ? Everything is plugged in. On old AC'97, it used to be 2 jumpers that needed to short some pins on the motherboard, but I don't know if this is the case with the new Realtek HD anymore (who has a different connector). Thanks. Motherboard manual can be found here: http://www.msi.com/service/download/manual-18822.html

So, am I OK to use the current firmwares (SD1A, SD3B and SD13 - which I know for a fact it's bugged) or shall I look further ?

Situation as follows: - 4 HDDs - all Seagate. - 3 of them 7200.11, all affected by BSY state bug. - 2 bricked, 1 unaffected. Both bricked were unbricked. - Updated firmware to all susceptible (or at least tried), using Seagate update ISO file AD14-AllMoose.ISO. Results: - HDD 1 - Old firmware SD15 - new firmware SD1A. This drive was never bricked. - HDD 2 - Old firmware SD33 - new firmware SD3B. This drive WAS bricked. - HDD 3 - Old firmware SD13 - Seagate firmware auto-update tool insists there is no firmware available for this drive and the drive ISN'T AFFECTED by the BSY state bug. This drive WAS bricked, despite what Seagate says. Anyone can untangle all this ? I am lost. All firmwares were done using auto-update by Seagate tool.

ISO file is AD14-AllMoose.ISO. When I press ESC key, it prompts me with a menu and Download data is one of the options.

Help me, Obi-Jaclaz-Kenobi, you're my only hope ! ... well, more a bit of a concern actually. Lazy as I am (and since all my 4 drives were full to the last bit) only now I got to upgrade the firmware to 3 of my BSY bug affected drives (didn't want to risk the upgrade with data on them). I downloaded the DOS disk utility, ran it, was a pain in the butt since it was very hard to work with it, but bottom line is I (weird choice of words) selected Download data option from the menu and my 500 GB drive got the SD1A firmware and one of my 640 GB (the third hasn't been applied yet), got SD3B. Should I be worried ? Is this ok ?

Hey ! You stole my bunny !

Thanks for the advice. I'll follow the steps and hopefully will make it work.

Hi, I have a problem, please help. At the moment I do have 2 operating systems on my PC, Windows Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64. My Windows Vista is installed on C drive and Windows 7 on D drive. Those are 2 individual HDD, not partitions of the same disk. When I power up the system, after POST and all I get prompted to chose what OS I should like to load. And here comes the problem. The boot manager (Windows standard, I didn't installed a third party boot manager or anything) has some files (I think they are bootmgr, grldr, NTDETECT.COM and ntldr) located on C drive. What I want ? I want to (if possible) renounce to Windows Vista altogether (so, complete uninstall) and to use only Windows 7 from now on. Since there will be just one OS, I don't need the boot manager, but if necessarily needed, I want to move it from drive C to drive D, since drive C won't be compatible to my new motherboard. So, how do I delete Windows Vista and how do I get rid of that boot manager ? Currently I need drive C just because boot manager is there, otherwise Windows will reporte ntldr is missing. Thanks.

Wow ! Someone thanking me, now that's a first. You're welcome, although I did nothing. Now I must take a snapshot and put it in a frame.

I didn't want to post anything until I am sure to have solved everything or at least addressed every issue in the final way (I mean to assure nothing can be done without replacing the card). But, since you wonder I will paste an answer written a few days ago: I think I managed to solve the "capping" problem. It might have been a clipping problem after all. Possible reasons: 1. Sound card's output level is too high for the input of active speakers' amplifier to handle and, at "rich" sound and powerful bass, it simply ran out of power to amplify. Volume knob handles the level of amplifying, the power given towards speakers, they don't have an input level volume, they take what it's given and, in this case, a too high volume from the sound card. 2. I read somewhere that input impedance of an amplifier must be a few times higher than output impedance of a line out. If not, amplifier can "short" the output (in a way) and this could mean a power drop. The solution: I set the sound card volume lower and active speaker's volume higher. At the moment, active speakers' volume knob is set at about 70%, Winamp is set at 70% volume (both fixed values) and I only adjust the volume from the sound card's output. From 0% to 30% I get reach and powerful bass in any circumstances and sound doesn't "cap" anymore. At least one problem solved. At least I hope, I did almost a week of intensive testing and it works ok. Still, there is the matter of front panel to solve. I plugged to power cable but still no connection to the front panel. I hope I didn't break anything somehow. When I will open the computer again, I will replace my new "suppa-duppa" cable with the original one, hope it will solve the problem. Lastly, there is the problem of "metallic" sound. Well, at speakers I don't sense it anymore, but that was detected mostly in the headphones. During my limited testing when computer was open and front panel was working I noticed an improvement listening to headphones as well, but this could have been something that lasted shortly. Have to do extensive testing as well, when I will (hopefully) make the front panel to work.

Only 19 ? I have the same and the cheapest in Romania is 64 $.

When I will open the computer again (since the surgeon left a tool inside - in this case forgot to plug the front panel power), I will supply the card with an additional line. This is not required, but since it's there, why not take advantage of it ?