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Bloggit's Journal - New Computer Blues

About New Computer Blues

Previous Entry New Computer Blues Dec. 1st, 2007 @ 08:05 am Next Entry
I bought a new computer last month. Actually buying new computers isn't that rare; we bought an iMac earlier this year too, and I regularly replace servers and such here, but replacing my "desktop" is generally traumatic due to the configuration, program migration, registration migration, and so on. So the system being replaced had been in-place for four years!

Because they last so long, I wanted high-end. Quad-core, 2.6GHz or better. And decently quiet. I heard ads for Puget Systems SilentPC on the radio, but they ask a heckuva markup. Very expensive for what you get. (Although in retrospect, if what you get is basically silent, it may be worth it.)

So looking at the usual standard-bearers for decent prices, NewEgg and Costco, I noticed they had an iBuyPower gaming system on sale. 3GB RAM, 750GB disk, dual DVD, top-end video, duel GHz NICs, WiFi, Quad-core Intel Q6700 running at 2.6GHz, in a system designed for overclocking. In theory. And some gizmos I don't care about such as...
  • Liquid Cooling
  • Acrylic Case Window
  • Blue cathode lighting

Seriously, why do you need to watch your computer chips? I don't get that.
Anyhow, the system was only available with Vista. Bummer. But onward I forge; I can install XP Pro if Vista is too painful.
I plug everything in... and go deaf. This was one incredibly noisy system! 68dB at six inches away, top-level! And through the case window I can see that the cooling hose is kinked. Un-kinking it doesn't reduce the noise at all; that appears to be due to the pump perhaps. But with the placement and hose length, it's gonna re-kink fast anyhow. And the noise is not just at high-load; if the system's on, it's emulating a jet engine.

I can't have that, so I nipped down to ComputerStop and bought a new case fan and CPU cooler, ripped out the "liquid cooling" system and put in air cooling. With the air cooling in place, the ASUS "Q-Fan" BIOS feature can raise or lower fan speed (and therefore noise) with the temperature. And this works, very well. My temperatures are up maybe 5C, but still quite low... and the system is at least 13dB quieter. (My sound level meter doesn't go low enough to get good resolution down there.)

With the liquid cooling out, I examined it. No brand name anywhere. Very heavy putty-like thermal grease, rather than the thinner stuff I'm accustomed to. And a big sticker saying "Engineering Sample" on it. Huh?

When I ordered this system, iBuyPower didn't offer their own liquid cooling. About a week after delivery, they now do on their web site. It's probably worth avoiding. Not the system, which is mostly working fine. Just the liquid cooling.

Other glitches and gotchas are:
  • The system includes a very convenient USB port on the top of the case. This is convenient because the system is too big to fit on a desk anyhow. But... that USB hub is 1.x, not 2.0. So it cripples high-speed USB memory sticks. They'll work, but slowly.
  • Even though the motherboard (ASUS P5N32-E SLI) is designed for overclocking, it can't overclock the Intel Q6700 at all without losing the ability to come back from a Vista Sleep. Overclocked decently, all memory and processor tests pass. Vista runs. But put the system to sleep and you're gonna have to yank power to get it awake again.

    This is a motherboard (or BIOS) issue, not a Vista issue; I can tell by the fan pattern. Remember above where I enabled Q-Fan? The boot process powers the fans all the way up, ramps them back down in about a second, and then starts the normal software boot. But the fans are never going back down. Oh well, it's a screamer without overclocking, but now I know why they don't.
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