building my new rig, please help

[memory]

I don't know if this is a problem or not but when I first turn the computer on, the cpu fan does not come on right away. Even after Windows is booted up, it still does not spin until after a few minutes. I will watch the fan and it spins for a second then stops and starts up again and stops. I am thinking it has to be a certain temperature before it starts. Am I right?

At idle, my temperature is around 38 degrees and around 43 when I am playing Far Cry. That's pretty good. I reapplied thermal paste because when I went to put the cooler on, I forgot to take the plastic piece off. I almost installed it with the plastic piece on it Before I reapplied thermal paste, my temps were about 35 idle. I plan on running Prime95 to make sure it does not get to hot. What are some other good programs to check the cpu?

I also ran 3dmark06 and got a score of around 11000. How good of a score is that? I can't remember what section of the test it was, it was towards the end of it and I was getting 0 or 1 fps. Is that normal?

 

[nOcLuE98]

1- I am not sure about the heatsink fan thing
2- 38 is not too bad. wait longer and your temps should get better with time, the thermal paste needs to set in
3- 11K is good for stock
4- yes, during the cpu test 0,1 fps is normal. I get the same thing. It is running only your cpu, that is why

 

[b1gapl]

I don't know if this is a problem or not but when I first turn the computer on, the cpu fan does not come on right away. Even after Windows is booted up, it still does not spin until after a few minutes. I will watch the fan and it spins for a second then stops and starts up again and stops. I am thinking it has to be a certain temperature before it starts. Am I right?

hmm...It should start spinning up immediately. I have the same cooler, and it spins right after I press the power button. Maybe you have some feature in the BIOS enabled, that turns on the fan, when it reaches a certain temperature. I would suggest disabling it.

At idle, my temperature is around 38 degrees and around 43 when I am playing Far Cry. That's pretty good. I reapplied thermal paste because when I went to put the cooler on, I forgot to take the plastic piece off. I almost installed it with the plastic piece on it Before I reapplied thermal paste, my temps were about 35 idle. I plan on running Prime95 to make sure it does not get to hot. What are some other good programs to check the cpu?

Core Temp is one of the most accurate CPU temperature monitors. So check that out.

I also ran 3dmark06 and got a score of around 11000. How good of a score is that? I can't remember what section of the test it was, it was towards the end of it and I was getting 0 or 1 fps. Is that normal?

11k stock is awesome. And it is normal in that section you're referring to(CPU test), as it's letting the CPU do all the work, instead of the GPU helping. Just a stress to see how well the CPU would do on it's own, showing you why you need a good graphics card for gaming.

 

[memory]

I will check into the bios for the fan but I don't think I changed anything in there that has to do with the fan. I'll check it out.

On my score, say I overclocked the cpu to 3.0ghz, how much would it help the score? Talking about overclocking, If I start overclocking, can I just overclock the cpu or do I have to overclock the memory and gpu as well? I am clueless when it comes to this. Also, does overclocking void the warranty? Because the memory and gpu has a lifetime warranty. I don't want to void that warranty.

Also, I am having a few minor problems. When I try to copy something from a cd to the hard drive, sometimes it will freeze. Windows doesn't freeze, just the copying part. Do you have any clue what it could be?

 

[b1gapl]

On my score, say I overclocked the cpu to 3.0ghz, how much would it help the score? Talking about overclocking, If I start overclocking, can I just overclock the cpu or do I have to overclock the memory and gpu as well? I am clueless when it comes to this. Also, does overclocking void the warranty? Because the memory and gpu has a lifetime warranty. I don't want to void that warranty.

I forgot what CPU or GPU you have. It would be really helpful, if you would list the current specs of your computer in your signature.

But overclocking in general does void the warranty. But not in all cases. Some graphic card companies, cover overclocking damage within in the warranties. Such as XFX, I believe. With the CPU, it does void warranty. But they wouldn't really know if it was overclocked, unless it was physically damaged by overheating.

If you overclock the CPU, you're also overclocking your RAM at the same time, since they run together. Overclocking the GPU would get you a higher score, since the 3DMark benchmark depends more on graphics.

Also, I am having a few minor problems. When I try to copy something from a cd to the hard drive, sometimes it will freeze. Windows doesn't freeze, just the copying part. Do you have any clue what it could be?

You're going to have to talk with Makaveli, about that.

 

[memory]

Okay, I have the Q6600, EVGA 8800GTS(G92). I will edit my sig in a little bit.

About overclocking, I realize that you can overclock the ram and gpu, but I wondered if you have to overclock all of them or just the CPU.

I am using Speedfan and Coretemp to monitor my temperatures. I am getting totally different readings. On speedfan, it says Core0 and Core1 are around 24 degrees and Core2 and Core 3 are around 17. According to Coretemp, it says Core0 and Core1 are around 38 and Core2 and Core3 are around 32. Why are they so different?

One of the temps on speedfan says it is -3 degrees(temp3) and has never moved. What is that and why is it so low?

 

[b1gapl]

Do not use Speedfan, because they tend to report buggy readings. Core temp would be more accurate. Also you can compare them to the BIOS's reading.

You can just overclock the CPU, but while doing that, it will also overclock the RAM along with it, because they correspond to each other.

 

[memory]

I am still not sure if I put the right amount of thermal paste on. I think I worry about it to much. I guess I will just keep an eye on the temps.

I ran Prime95 and my temps stayed around 50 degrees. How good is that? Right now my temps are around 34 at idle and still dropping but I keep it pretty cool in my room, about 60 degrees.

 

[b1gapl]

The temperatures are fine. Good idles are 30-40C, and safe loads are up to 65C.

The amount of thermal paste, should be no bigger than a pea.

 

[memory]

I don't think I put that much on there. Should I worry about putting more on?

I may try and start overclocking. Could you tell me how I would go about it? Could you be pretty specific? Are there any programs that I would need?