SkullTrail anyone???

[Crazypinoy9]

So i got my Skulltrail board and two QX9775 CPUs....still waiting on my FB-Dimms....but i wanted to make you guys drool! LOL!

Sorry i only had my camera phone
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/innervisionsystems/skulltrail.jpg

[Envydia007]

Droool!!!! Subscribed!

[mrcape]

Damn, that is hawt. I can't wait to see how these and the Tyan boards work out for gaming.

[adamsleath]

:slobber: holy guocamole.

[Lunchbox21984]

ill take two please, :D

nice dude. yes, please let us know how they all work together, how much did that set you back. keep us up to date when you can.

SUBBED!!!!!!!!!!

[Crazypinoy9]

one problem though.....i sold all my 8800's so i don't have any video cards to run SLI!! And pretty much all the AIC partners don't have any stock of 8800 GT and both the 8800 GTX and Ultra are EOL now so I'm kinda screwed right now.

[chillman]

*puts bucket underneath mouth to collect the drool from looking at pic:slobber:

[Movieman]

So i got my Skulltrail board and two QX9775 CPUs....still waiting on my FB-Dimms....but i wanted to make you guys drool! LOL!

Sorry i only had my camera phone
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/innervisionsystems/skulltrail.jpg

Now you do know that you are going to have to try this on WCG or I'm going to be whacking the infraction button until my finger falls off!:rofl:

Very nice and I'm jealous as all hell!:shakes:

[leoftw]

+++++jiiiiiiiiiizzzzzzzzzzmmmmmmmmmmmmm+++++++++++

[weescott]

Thats a big one. Mwuhahaha

[Movieman]

Looking at the pic with that blower setup over the southbridge I assume:
Will that interfere with a long vid card??

Damn, I'll be back in a few..Just lost another pair of pants..Thats 3 pair since I saw this thread!:shrug:

[leoftw]

that has to be over 3K worth of parts right there. Baller

[Crazypinoy9]

No the heatsink is actually low profile and will not interfere with the cards.

here's a shot underneath the heatsink:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/innervisionsystems/IMG00134.jpg

[Spawne32]

woah, these arent retail are they?

[darkone414]

God I want one. Nice hardware man! Wish I had that kinda money to blow right now lol.

[Supertim0r]

can't speak...no words :eek: :yepp:

[Envydia007]

what are those blue colored, for graphics card?

[Crazypinoy9]

what are those blue colored, for graphics card?

the blue colored slots are for 4-way SLI

[dieqast]

omg :shock:

some G92 GTS's will do then;). Would suggest you get yourself some pots (or another Vapo), then we'll see what this hardporn can rly rly do ^^.

[Crazypinoy9]

depending on how this thing clocks i might have to buy another vapo...LOL! That'd be so 133t!!

[XS Janus]

So skulltrail CPUS are called what exactly? XQ9775? Why...
How do you diferentiate between normal 775 cpus, and can normal 771 cpus be used?

[dieqast]

Next to the Vapo, maybe a waterloop for those 4 G92 GTS's I mentioned and 1 for north & southbridge :P. All I'm saying this could get messy, you're rly doing your name honor CRAZYpinoy9

[Crazypinoy9]

So skulltrail CPUS are called what exactly? XQ9775? Why...
How do you diferentiate between normal 775 cpus, and can normal 771 cpus be used?

yes they are the QX9775's. Intel probably just changed the last digit because these cpus are 771 and the slight part number change keeps it different.

It's pretty much the QX9770 but specifically made for dual cpu motherboards.

[Crazypinoy9]

Next to the Vapo, maybe a waterloop for those 4 G92 GTS's I mentioned and 1 for north & southbridge :P. All I'm saying this could get messy, you're rly doing your name honor CRAZYpinoy9

man that kinda loop would be crrraaaazzzyyy!!!!

[Movieman]

Guys:
It's a dual socket 771 board with a seaburg chipset and takes either 2 clovertowns or the newer 45nm Harpertowns and if you were a real good boy this year Santa brings 2-QX9775's with it..
3200/12mb/1600 of Penryn goodness..
Damn, thats 4 pairs of pants gone and a hole in my desk!

[dieqast]

So what's everybody's expectations of CPU perf? 160% compared to a QX9770? And 4-way SLi? 250% compared to 1 gfx??
OC-capabilities? better/worse than X38 or P35?

We want benchies:D When you getting your FB-DIMMs crazypinoy9? And is the board + cpu's to stay?

[Crazypinoy9]

So what's everybody's expectations of CPU perf? 160% compared to a QX9770? And 4-way SLi? 250% compared to 1 gfx??
OC-capabilities? better/worse than X38 or P35?

We want benchies:D When you getting your FB-DIMMs crazypinoy9? And is the board + cpu's to stay?

ya the board and cpus are for keeps...xmas came a little early for me!

[dieqast]

ya the board and cpus are for keeps...xmas came a little early for me!

well you got my subscription m8, try to keep us posted cause I just know you're gonna bloody wank yourself sometimes when you get that stuff up and running:ROTF: .

[vmsein]

Did you get this board retail and where?

[Crazypinoy9]

no this was from intel direct for testing purposes.

[[XC] riptide]

OK... what OC options are avaiable on that board.? Just limited to systool. Either way this setup is just teh PWN! :clap: I wan't wprime @ 4.0Ghz.

[dieqast]

Good news pinoy9 on those gfx's:

http://www.sallandautomatisering.nl/?redirect=/content/productinfo.php?pid=42748

330E

[Movieman]

riptide;2608839']OK... what OC options are avaiable on that board.? Just limited to systool. Either way this setup is just teh PWN! :clap: I wan't wprime @ 4.0Ghz.

This beast will have OC options like a gaming board my friend.
Unless those chips have an unlocked multi 3600 ish may be tops.
The 800FBDimms I doubt will go over 450..
Still, a 8 core Penryn at 3600/12mb/1800 is going to be a beast:up:
If the multi is unlocked to even 10 from the default 8 this will be a scary setup at over 4000..

[STEvil]

Damn man, wish I had one of those to go with my Xeon 5340's and 4x2gb of DDR2-800 FB-DIMM's :(

[jarthel]

very nice present!

congrats :)

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Ive got one of the new Tyan i5400xt duall 771 boards and two 2.83 hapertown quads sitting on my workbench right now. Along with two 3850's and 16gb kingston FB-Dimms and a PC P&C 750 silencer. For cooling I've got two fuzions with custom plates and an MCR-320. maybe ill be able to compete with this sexy beast (at least at processing power)

the machine is going for high res image editing (i.e. photoshop/QFX and stitching of ultra large photographs) so skulltrail wasn't a necessity.

[Torphoto]

I soooo happy u got a skulltrail

it means I can get one soon after :D

Questions once the fbdimms get there

will it work with any xeon?

will it work with just 1 chip

how hot does it get

bios oc options?

[GAR]

the skulltrail is a socket 771 right???? and xeon only???

[Torphoto]

the skulltrail is a socket 771 right???? and xeon only???

yup, question is will it still work and oc with any xeon not just the XQ9775.

[seamumc]

Sweet! Congrats!

Can't wait to see some benchies and oc'ing results.

[SiGfever]

No see what you have gone and done? Movieman won't be in his right mind for days. :shakes: :ROTF: :ROTF:

[revogamer]

we want Benchies now!

[TheCarLessDriven]

Isnt this more of a server/corporate board?? idk, I prefer sticking to normal boards. This thing is just wierd.

[heydo6]

i seen some gt's over at hardforums in FS section .

nice board , wonder when we can see more of these out ?

[Movieman]

No see what you have gone and done? Movieman won't be in his right mind for days. :shakes: :ROTF: :ROTF:

What? Me go nuts over a little thing like a dual Harpertown system that's OC'able?
A piddly little system with $2500.00 in cpu's and a $500.00 MB?
Me? nah......:nuts:

[heydo6]

i heard the board was going to be $600 - $800

[JacobF]

Nice :D

[jarthel]

Isnt this more of a server/corporate board?? idk, I prefer sticking to normal boards. This thing is just wierd.

skulltrail = enthusiast's board :)

[ineedaname]

:eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: I want!!!!

[Movieman]

:eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: I want!!!!

Go to the end of the line and wait your turn!:rofl:

[NaeKuh]

Man.... i have 3k to burn on this system. Only problem is finding it for sale. :\

[Crazypinoy9]

well so far i'm waiting for my fb-dimms from kingston, zalman is sending me two CNP9700's and I just got off the phone with my contact at thermaltake and he's sending me two 1200w toughpower's.

Only things left are the cards and a new case that takes two PSU's....will contact silverstone in the morning about getting a TJ07....

It brings me to tears to say that now my newly built DDR3 rig is gonna be my backup....

[Movieman]

well so far i'm waiting for my fb-dimms from kingston, zalman is sending me two CNP9700's and I just got off the phone with my contact at thermaltake and he's sending me two 1200w toughpower's.

Only things left are the cards and a new case that takes two PSU's....will contact silverstone in the morning about getting a TJ07....

It brings me to tears to say that now my newly built DDR3 rig is gonna be my backup....

I'm guessing the zalmans are also a gift but if not swing for the TRUE's..Better HS, yes, not as sexy and the Harpers should be a little easier on the heat output so the zalmans might do.
Now I noticed the gentleman from EVGA post in this thread.
Maybe if you asked him nice..well, you get the idea.
What's your timeframe on the DDR2-800 FBDimms.
I have 4 of them here now.Theyare scheduled to head to Canada soon but I know the guy and he might let them make a sidetrip..

[ludeboy12]

Oh my I can't wait till this stuff eventually hits retail.

8 cores overclocked and folding. Oh my.

[Nate P.]

That's amazing, can't wait to see some numbers.

[Crazypinoy9]

I'm guessing the zalmans are also a gift but if not swing for the TRUE's..Better HS, yes, not as sexy and the Harpers should be a little easier on the heat output so the zalmans might do.
Now I noticed the gentleman from EVGA post in this thread.
Maybe if you asked him nice..well, you get the idea.
What's your timeframe on the DDR2-800 FBDimms.
I have 4 of them here now.Theyare scheduled to head to Canada soon but I know the guy and he might let them make a sidetrip..

I was actually just on the phone with Jakup about an hour ago...i used to work at EVGA with him...very good guy.

Plus i already know that EVGA has no inventory....trust me i've been talking to them pretty much everyday.

as for the zalmans, i'm trading them some extra 2GB dominators that i had laying around which is obviously more than what those coolers are worth but who cares! I've got 10GB's of crucial memory just sitting on my desk right now doing nothing so I've got some to spare.

[Torphoto]

:eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: I want!!!!


Go to the end of the line and wait your turn!:rofl:

Ya way back in the line after movie man and I :D

[Movieman]

Ya way back in the line after movie man and I :D

Nah, I'm only mentally in line..I be a poor SOB, this is out of my reach..
Damn, a Big Mac is out of my reach!:shakes:

[Crazypinoy9]

aite guys, time to call it a night! Got a new episode of Bleach to watch! Latez!

[Torphoto]

aite guys, time to call it a night! Got a new episode of Bleach to watch! Latez!

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooo:shrug:

[Movieman]

aite guys, time to call it a night! Got a new episode of Bleach to watch! Latez!

Is it ok if we come over and peek in the windows to look?
I promise we won't steal it!:hrhr:
Night and congrats!

[Linus@ncix]

Crazy..... I look forward to seeing some numbers from this. Power consumption has gotta be through the roof!

[Flarexi]

This one is sexy! :shocked:

[Zytek_Fan]

*uber drool*

I need money... :(

[zanzabar]

why are u guys drooling u can get the same thing from tyan with the i5400xl/x but they only have 3 16x slots but no nv carap on the board so it should run without random crashes

[NaeKuh]

well so far i'm waiting for my fb-dimms from kingston, zalman is sending me two CNP9700's and I just got off the phone with my contact at thermaltake and he's sending me two 1200w toughpower's.

Only things left are the cards and a new case that takes two PSU's....will contact silverstone in the morning about getting a TJ07....

It brings me to tears to say that now my newly built DDR3 rig is gonna be my backup....

omg now your making me cry.....


seriously... its very hard to make me cry... but you've done it.... :mad:

[GAR]

does this board support pci-e 2.0?

[Bl4ck^!]

now that is what i call a hardware p0rn

[STEvil]

why are u guys drooling u can get the same thing from tyan with the i5400xl/x but they only have 3 16x slots but no nv carap on the board so it should run without random crashes

Clock generator(s) are unknown on the new 5400 series boards, let alone the fact you cannot adjust cpu:fb-dimm ratio.. :down:

[XS Janus]

Will this be faster that PS3 in folding and such?

[Cronos]

Movieman has had similar machine for over a year now, maybe except for the fancy video cards, so his drooling was not too sincere :)

I am particularly interested to see multi-threaded memory benches on this platform. This is the main weak spot.

[happychappy]

Movieman has had similar machine for over a year now, maybe except for the fancy video cards, so his drooling was not too sincere :)

I am particularly interested to see multi-threaded memory benches on this platform. This is the main weak spot.

Wrong, he's had dual Clovertowns, this board is for skulltrail, it overclocks like a normal board, and can support Harpertowns or the new QX6775, unlocked multi:up:

[Cronos]

Wrong, he's had dual Clovertowns, this board is for skulltrail, it overclocks like a normal board, and can support Harpertowns or the new QX6775, unlocked multi:up:

I did not say the same, i said similar. By this i meant similar performance.
He, too, had (has?) the possibility to OC his Clovers very high, 3.6-4GHz.

[happychappy]

I did not say the same, i said similar. By this i meant similar performance.
He, too, had (has?) the possibility to OC his Clovers very high, 3.6-4GHz.

Most DP boards only support overclocking by Systool and the like, this board has OCing options built in. Movieman can't overclock his anywhere near as high as a Skulltrail could

[Movieman]

Most DP boards only support overclocking by Systool and the like, this board has OCing options built in. Movieman can't overclock his anywhere near as high as a Skulltrail could

Correct. Max I can run right now is 9x363 or 10x333 for maybe a SP1M run.
Realistic top speed is 3240 for a bench and 3157 for 24/7 loaded speed.
Now if I didn't begruge the downtime I could volt mod the cpu's up from the stock 1.33v to maybe 1.46 and go for 10x 350 for 24/7 work but thats max with the 667FBDimms and maybe 10x380 with 800FBDimms.
I just tested 800FBDimms on this board(SM X7DAE) and the board will not run memory beyond 394..Yes, 400 memory that won't go over 394 on this board.
Bottom line is my combo does have some more in it but nothing like what this skulltrail combo has for potential..
And yes, my drooling was "sincere":rofl:

[happychappy]

Correct. Max I can run right now is 9x363 or 10x333 for maybe a SP1M run.
Realistic top speed is 3240 for a bench and 3157 for 24/7 loaded speed.
Now if I didn't begruge the downtime I could volt mod the cpu's up from the stock 1.33v to maybe 1.46 and go for 10x 350 for 24/7 work but thats max with the 667FBDimms and maybe 10x380 with 800FBDimms.
I just tested 800FBDimms on this board(SM X7DAE) and the board will not run memory beyond 394..Yes, 400 memory that won't go over 394 on this board.
Bottom line is my combo does have some more in it but nothing like what this skulltrail combo has for potential..
And yes, my drooling was "sincere":rofl:

Would your clovers work with a Skulltrail board? Then you can use after-market HSF and overclock them properly

[Movieman]

Would your clovers work with a Skulltrail board? Then you can use after-market HSF and overclock them properly

Yes, they will..That's crossed my mind but $500-600 for a board and another $400.00 for the 800FBDimms.
Add in that we don't know for positive if the 400BSEL mod will work on the Clovers. Remember, they are default 2667/8mb/1066's BSEL modded now to (with the 9 multi,10 multi needs more volts to work) 3000/8mb/1333 then bumped up a little with systool to 3157/8mb/1402
I already have a excellent HS/Fan set up
A dynatron HS with 80mm vantec tornadoes on them.
App 10-15 mins work per HS and worth 13C off of the stock Intel HS's.

[happychappy]

Oh, they are a tad expensive:p:

[Movieman]

Oh, they are a tad expensive:p:

Yes, I can almost justify it. I do have a pair of woodcrests here sitting on a shelf that I could put to use in the current board..
Just a 1860/4mb/1066 that will BSEL mod to 2330/4mb/1333 and do maybe 2450-2500 tops..
But it's coming up with that $1000.00 for the MB and memory that is the killer.

[IanY]

Wish these were for sale already. That way, I can just give my PC to my son and not have to spend more money on yet another set of consumer hardware.

I can envision four 8800GTs. Multi LCD setup. My wife will love this machine !

I can envision a humongous water cooling project. I see four chipsets on the mobo to water cool :D

[sierra_bound]

One nice thing about the Skulltrail board is that, even though it's LGA771, it will accomodate LGA775 heatsinks. So you have a lot more cooling choices.

[IanY]

Upon further inspection, it seems like only the NB is secured by clips and thus can accept a water block like a MCW30. I don't see the mounting holes for the others, but there's that huge fan/heatsink combo. Is this correct ?

Need to stash away moolah. No more designer coffee lol Darn.. each cpu costs $1500 lol :)

[sierra_bound]

Here's a few other pics. Note the standard Zalman coolers used by Intel during a demonstration.

[Movieman]

Upon further inspection, it seems like only the NB is secured by clips and thus can accept a water block like a MCW30. I don't see the mounting holes for the others, but there's that huge fan/heatsink combo. Is this correct ?

Need to stash away moolah. No more designer coffee lol Darn.. each cpu costs $1500 lol :)

Calm down now, remember your age and your heart..
You keep reading this thread your Mrs is going to think you've taken to eating Viagra like a kid eats M&M's...:rofl:

[Torphoto]

Need to stash away moolah. No more designer coffee lol Darn.. each cpu costs $1500 lol :)

sorry need to keep drinking that fancy coffee, it runs in our veins

[ShoNuff]

Calm down now, remember your age and your heart..
You keep reading this thread your Mrs is going to think you've taken to eating Viagra like a kid eats M&M's...:rofl:

LOL...you almost made me spit my coffee out! The image...that was funny. :ROTF:

@Sierra...nice avatar.

Typically, how much are the Dimms for this board? I would imagine you would run a 64bit OS and at least 4gb of memory.

I imagine this would be an incredible system with 3-4 8800GT's on board. :up:

[Kingcarcas]

That's if she doesn't divorce him after spending that much money on a computer:shocked:

[Torphoto]

Funny thing, our admin just emailed me the thread, he wants one to. Knowing him he'll mortage his house for it.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

This thing is weak :P, I got my i5400xt from Tyan that has 8 dimm slots, = 16gb FB-dimms and my 2 x 2.83ghz harpertown quad cores came today from etech4sale! (despite the crappy name, they drop shipped them from cali and the came to mass in two days even though i payed only $15 dollars)

the only version of this board i can see having major advantages over the 5400 chipset is the non FB-Dimm version

[Crazypinoy9]

This thing is weak :P, I got my i5400xt from Tyan that has 8 dimm slots, = 16gb FB-dimms and my 2 x 2.83ghz harpertown quad cores came today from etech4sale! (despite the crappy name, they drop shipped them from cali and the came to mass in two days even though i payed only $15 dollars)

the only version of this board i can see having major advantages over the 5400 chipset is the non FB-Dimm version

The only thing your board has on my skulltrail is that it supports 16GB....big deal! This is gonna be a gaming rig so who needs 16GB's? Even 8GB's for that matter?

Try to get your harperton's to run 3.2GHz 1600FSB without breaking a sweat....because both my board and my cpu's run it stock!

Oh and I got my stuff for free months before anyone can even touch this board so when you can do that then come talking to me saying that my stuff is weak.

nothing bugs me more than haters

[Movieman]

This thing is weak :P, I got my i5400xt from Tyan that has 8 dimm slots, = 16gb FB-dimms and my 2 x 2.83ghz harpertown quad cores came today from etech4sale! (despite the crappy name, they drop shipped them from cali and the came to mass in two days even though i payed only $15 dollars)

the only version of this board i can see having major advantages over the 5400 chipset is the non FB-Dimm version

That's 2 posts you've had in this thread and both negative.
Listen for a minute:
Nothing the matter with your setup, love to have it myself BUT it's an apples and oranges comparison to this guys setup.
You also said your chips just came today so you don't have any experience with the system yet to make these judgements.
Be nice huh? Call it a favor to another Massachusetts guy( Born in Lynn, lived in salem and beverly till 2000)
This is this guys 15 minutes of fame and he's entitled to enjoy it.
Add to that there's a lot of people here who'd give their right nut for this system..;)

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

dude that was joke, did you not see the sticking-out-tounge smiley?

im sure your board is gonna rule for gaming.

the system I'm building is going to hardcore photoshop on super highres images so its not even in the same segment as yours.

Question: does the skulltrail have SAS?

[Crazypinoy9]

I really do apologize...no excuses but there's a lot of political BS going on in the company i work for now and I'm getting dragged into it somehow....again, my apologies Sniipe

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

That's 2 posts you've had in this thread and both negative.
Listen for a minute:
Nothing the matter with your setup, love to have it myself BUT it's an apples and oranges comparison to this guys setup.
You also said your chips just came today so you don't have any experience with the system yet to make these judgements.
Be nice huh? Call it a favor to another Massachusetts guy( Born in Lynn, lived in salem and beverly till 2000)
This is this guys 15 minutes of fame and he's entitled to enjoy it.
Add to that there's a lot of people here who'd give their right nut for this system..;)

please read my post, that was a joke, i was just messing with his (well deserved) inflated ego. I retract my earlier statement of no advantages, i kinda forgot about the 4 pci-e slots

im sorry if i made you angry by just poking some fun (movie and crazy)

[Crazypinoy9]

please read my post, that was a joke, i was just messing with his (well deserved) inflated ego. I retract my earlier statement of no advantages, i kinda forgot about the 4 pci-e slots

im sorry if i made you angry by just poking some fun (movie and crazy)

nah man i really don't blame you cuz i really shouldn't be answering anyone that way to begin with....like i said...my apologies, been a rough day....let's just continue to make this a HAPPY thread! LOL!

[Movieman]

please read my post, that was a joke, i was just messing with his (well deserved) inflated ego. I retract my earlier statement of no advantages, i kinda forgot about the 4 pci-e slots

im sorry if i made you angry by just poking some fun (movie and crazy)


nah man i really don't blame you cuz i really shouldn't be answering anyone that way to begin with....like i said...my apologies, been a rough day....let's just continue to make this a HAPPY thread! LOL!

Great, now that we're all buddy buddy and going for drinks this weekend together whats next?:up:
Now Crazypinoy9, whats your timetable on memory so we can see what this bastage can do or do I have to overnight you the 800Dimms that are here and risk Stevil having me denutted for doing so?:rofl:

[mrcape]

Cool I'm glad you guys worked it out because I'm excited to see the results on both of these setups. Cheers to you both for sharing.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

once again information asymmetry makes everyone look silly! lol we were all posting at the exact same time

[Movieman]

once again information asymmetry makes everyone look silly! lol we were all posting at the exact same time

Should have added this: Love to see what your machine does when assembled.
If you don't post that sucker I'm going for the infraction button!;)

[Origin_Unknown]

Go to the end of the line and wait your turn!:rofl:


maybe ill push to the front of the cue with an email to my companys Intel rep on monday :rofl:


when are these out retail? and is there any truth in that they will be limited to 2000 peices?

[Crazypinoy9]

As far as I know intel is providing these only to certain system builders...i was lucky, because just having an intel rep won't necessarily help. I was super lucky now that i really think about it.

[LaMpiR]

Congratz man on your skulltrail board :)
I am sitting now and thinking how was I happy when I got mine bad axe 2 and E6700. Now I am deprest because when I see this, I have no comment.
Just waiting for those benchies...

[railer]

As far as I know intel is providing these only to certain system builders...i was lucky, because just having an intel rep won't necessarily help. I was super lucky now that i really think about it.

Can i have your full address with appartment number and zip code? Some h00ker is coming to see ya and she takes only new hardware for payment. :D
Pimp....

[Crazypinoy9]

Can i have your full address with appartment number and zip code? Some h00ker is coming to see ya and she takes only new hardware for payment. :D
Pimp....

that badaxe2 board is a great board! nothing to be depressed about. This thing is super overkill in all honesty.

I'm gonna use it to process some crazy excel spreadsheets! LOL!

and play some minesweeper!

[XS Janus]

I would so like do build a dualie (a single GPU one) but I really dont know what I could use it for today to really see a benefit in private use.

Anybody got any ideas that could sway me? :D

[Crazypinoy9]

For bragging rights!!!! LOL!

that's the only reason why i would ever pay for a setup like this.

[IanY]

Add to that there's a lot of people here who'd give their right nut for this system..;)

Actually, can I give my left one as well in return for two of these? After all, I suspect that they are no longer functional, plus I am done with the procreation business lol :p:

[IanY]

Actually, is it even possible to run COD4 on one set of SLI and Crysis on another set of SLI at the same time ? rofl

[Crazypinoy9]

So this morning i got a hold of Silverstone and for some reason this time they want me to pay for a case.....can you believe that? the nerve...LOL!

So i called up my buddies at Tagan for a favor right after and then lookie lookie....20 mins ago they pull up with a very nice Blackpearl case. So the build begins!!!

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/innervisionsystems/Windows-1252BSU1HMDAxMzUuanBn.jpg

[Crazypinoy9]

Actually, is it even possible to run COD4 on one set of SLI and Crysis on another set of SLI at the same time ? rofl

no not possible....all for cards will be synced to run one monitor.

[IanY]

Just some mental math...

Two cpus = $3,000; mobo =$600; 8 GB FB-DIMMs = $1,200; four 8800 GTs - $1,200; five 147 GB x15.5 SAS drives = $3,000; LSI or Areca controller = $800; X-Fi Elite = $250; Two optical drives.. make one a Blu-Ray = $1,000; four 24 inch Dells = $2,400; one centerpiece 30 inch Dell = $1,100; case = $400; keyboard and mouse = $100 (gotta settle for the budget version lol); speaker = $200; Watercooling = $1,000

That's about $17K.. never mind the downpayment on that new car the wife is asking... college for the kids? college is over-rated :)

[IanY]

Now... tell me again... how do I become a computer supplier or retailer ? First.. I quit my day job, right? rofl...

[Crazypinoy9]

Now... tell me again... how do I become a computer supplier or retailer ? First.. I quit my day job, right? rofl...

LOL!

working for a system builder may have it's perks but it definitely comes with it's downsides....trust me!

[Crazypinoy9]

Just some mental math...

Two cpus = $3,000; mobo =$600; 8 GB FB-DIMMs = $1,200; four 8800 GTs - $1,200; five 147 GB x15.5 SAS drives = $3,000; LSI or Areca controller = $800; X-Fi Elite = $250; Two optical drives.. make one a Blu-Ray = $1,000; four 24 inch Dells = $2,400; one centerpiece 30 inch Dell = $1,100; case = $400; keyboard and mouse = $100 (gotta settle for the budget version lol); speaker = $200; Watercooling = $1,000

That's about $17K.. never mind the downpayment on that new car the wife is asking... college for the kids? college is over-rated :)

definitely a dream system! but we're gonna have to make some cut backs cuz $100 bucks for keyboard and mouse ain't gonna cut it...i have to have my tarantula keyboard and death adder mouse! no exceptions!

[Torphoto]

definitely a dream system! but we're gonna have to make some cut backs cuz $100 bucks for keyboard and mouse ain't gonna cut it...i have to have my tarantula keyboard and death adder mouse! no exceptions!

tarantula's are over rated, the adder isn't tho :D

ok enough about rodents and keyboards, we want benchies!!!!!

[IanY]

I'm most interested in the bios options. Voltage tweaks, etc.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

so noone ever answered me, does the skull trail have SAS?, cuz it doesnt look like it to me....

[Torphoto]

nope it doesn't seem to have sas on the board.

Actually other than it's OC potential, a good sm or tyan ( if they would add oc options in the bios ) may be better

[GRAFiZ]

Can't WAIT to see more... you're going to bust some records here for sure with that setup.

Here's a quick shot of my V8:

http://i3.tinypic.com/89vsg0z.jpg

[miahallen]

one problem though.....i sold all my 8800's so i don't have any video cards to run SLI!! And pretty much all the AIC partners don't have any stock of 8800 GT and both the 8800 GTX and Ultra are EOL now so I'm kinda screwed right now.
Hey Crazy,
The 8800GT is readily availible over here in Japan...send me a PM if you want to work something out.

[IanY]

SleazeUSA has the BFG OC 8800GTs for $299 each.

[Crazypinoy9]

Thanks guys for all your patience in my build! I know this is taking very long but just bear with me. So i just got back home and mounted everything in the case so here are some shots.

I just noticed that tagan had the rear fan mounted backwards so i'll have to change that LOL!

Enjoy!:D
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/innervisionsystems/3.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/innervisionsystems/1.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/innervisionsystems/2.jpg

[GAR]

that looks F'n Good!!!!!!!!!

[OCfreak]

:slobber: :slobber: :slobber: :slobber:

[Simps]

OMG!
You have to show us some 3DMARK06 and SUPER_PI with that monster!

[]'s
Simps

[Supertim0r]

thats awesome

why not mount those V1 on the other way ?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

hey man you may have a problem with 4 8800 gt's, they only have 1 SLI header on the PCB, so you cant link more than two together....

and also you should flip those V1 180 degrees

[IanY]

Are those just regular 9500 Zalmans? Sure look pretty from the top view. Do 9700s fit ?

[zanzabar]

u should try ur ati cards they will actualy work in a 4 card setup with 2x2900 and 2x3870 since they have the card headers and ati scales better

[[XC] DragonOrta]

Are those just regular 9500 Zalmans? Sure look pretty from the top view. Do 9700s fit ?

Pretty sure those are ThermalTake V1 heatsinks.

[Crazypinoy9]

thats awesome

why not mount those V1 on the other way ?

Because when i tried that initally the V1 on the right towards the back of the case wouldn't fit. It would hit the aluminum center divider and wouldn't allow me to mount the motherboard.

So i had to settle with them mounted this way....i know it sucks but oh well!

[Darkatom]

So thats what was used to make crysis, no wonder no one can run it :rofl: .

[GAR]

So thats what was used to make crysis, no wonder no one can run it :rofl: .

not really, Crysis doesnt even support quads, i doubt its going to run any better, and those FB dimms are going to slow the system down....if anything its going to be slower because of latency.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

has everyone misside that quad SLI aint gonna work, what is your plan for this crazy?

[threeply]

I am majorly jealous. Where does he get all those parts for testing?

I thought only the GTS and GTX cards are QUAD supported (Maybe the upcoming G92 GTS). I still questioning why Intel chose Seaburg for gaming. They should've stayed with DDR2 to get max OC.

With all the heat from those Dimms alone I would bet that LOX is the only way to go 4+ GHz.

Let the benches begin....

[Crazypinoy9]

has everyone misside that quad SLI aint gonna work, what is your plan for this crazy?

Ya know in all honesty I don't expect it to work myself. Nvidia has been so dissapointing when it comes to crap like this that it seriously wouldn't surprise me if it didn't.

The fact that they can barely even get TWO cards to work together properly makes it worse!

I really don't have a plan...if it doesn't work then it doesn't work, if it does then great. :shrug:

[Crazypinoy9]

I am majorly jealous. Where does he get all those parts for testing?

I thought only the GTS and GTX cards are QUAD supported (Maybe the upcoming G92 GTS). I still questioning why Intel chose Seaburg for gaming. They should've stayed with DDR2 to get max OC.

With all the heat from those Dimms alone I would bet that LOX is the only way to go 4+ GHz.

Let the benches begin....

In all honesty the computer industry is very much like every other industry.
You gotta know the right people. Try to find ways to build contacts at different companies and once you have that established maintain that relationship and don't keep it just business related. It takes time.

But also remember that getting free stuff is great and all...but what's more important than that is information. information will get you into more places than just getting free stuff:)

[Kingcarcas]

Curious how 2 PSUs will run in one system :confused:

[zanzabar]

Ya know in all honesty I don't expect it to work myself. Nvidia has been so dissapointing when it comes to crap like this that it seriously wouldn't surprise me if it didn't.

The fact that they can barely even get TWO cards to work together properly makes it worse!

I really don't have a plan...if it doesn't work then it doesn't work, if it does then great. :shrug:

its not drivers its the cards, the gt only has 1 sli header so it cant be chained but the gts/gtx have 2 headers so that u can chain them like this
http://www.extreme-pc.ca/imagegallery/CrossfireX4.jpg

while those are ati cards nv uses their new tri/quad system the same way


so how u will have it u will have duel 2 card sli sets so u can play 2 games at once or something on 2 monitors

[Crazypinoy9]

I'll just go ahead and clarify this so that everyone knows:

I've already seen the way they hardware configure the 4way SLI. I can't describe it only because i'm under NDA.

My skepticism lies mainly in the fact that the system was not running so I can't confirm that 4way actually works. But I have in fact seen the hardware setup and with the way they explained how it works makes sense but at the same time actually getting it to work is another story.

The only reason why i brought up Nvidia is because SLI is nvidia's technology and we all know that it's not perfect by any means.

***ya know while we're on the subject, 4way running on this platform is not new news. Very credible reviewers have been reporting about it for months now. albeit they don't have any evidence to back it but it has been talked about for some time. Just because we don't understand how it will work doesn't mean they can't get it to work.....***

[Movieman]

Can't WAIT to see more... you're going to bust some records here for sure with that setup.

Here's a quick shot of my V8:

http://i3.tinypic.com/89vsg0z.jpg
Ok Crazy, when you get that bastage up and running here's my Cinebench run for you to demolish. That I know of this is the fastest Cinebench run out there except for Intels own V8 system shown at Cebit:
( They beat me by 400 measly points!:rofl:

[Crazypinoy9]

its not drivers its the cards, the gt only has 1 sli header so it cant be chained but the gts/gtx have 2 headers so that u can chain them like this
http://www.extreme-pc.ca/imagegallery/CrossfireX4.jpg

while those are ati cards nv uses their new tri/quad system the same way


so how u will have it u will have duel 2 card sli sets so u can play 2 games at once or something on 2 monitors

FYI- Nvidia isn't daisy chaining the cards like that for 3way. All 6 connectors are used from all 3 cards.

[Crazypinoy9]

i'll end my discussion regarding SLI on this board with this. Just something that you guys can start pondering:

"The real innovation in the Skulltrail platform is the incorporation of NVIDIA SLI support. To enable SLI support, Intel incorporates two NVIDIA nForce 100 MCPs which act as a PCIe to PCIe bridge."

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/intel_skulltrail_preview/

[Movieman]

not really, Crysis doesnt even support quads, i doubt its going to run any better, and those FB dimms are going to slow the system down....if anything its going to be slower because of latency.

I have 4- 2 gig Transcend DDR2-800FBDimms here at my house right now.
They are 5-5-5-18
Remember, systems like this run in quad channel.
It isn't going to be a huge factor

[LaMpiR]

that looks F'n Good!!!!!!!!!

What he said :)

[Bail_w]

Very nice......

[disruptfam]

make that 4 9800gtx's :)

If that system can't max out crysis 2560 x 1600 16aa 16af ultra high settings...

I will go back to consoles!!! :( (shudder)

[RLM]

Movieman, might be of interest, but a bench has been posted here from Boxx systems.

http://www.3dfluff.com/mash/cinebench/top.php

Xeon Quad 5482's running at stock 3.2 ghz XP64

Multithreaded run came to 23,879

RLM

[Movieman]

Movieman, might be of interest, but a bench has been posted here from Boxx systems.

http://www.3dfluff.com/mash/cinebench/top.php

Xeon Quad 5482's running at stock 3.2 ghz XP64

Multithreaded run came to 23,879

RLM

Yea, I've been waiting to hear this.
No way I can compete with my clovers with harpertowns.
No imagine what this guys system is going to do!:up:

[RLM]

No imagine what this guys system is going to do!

Imagining :D

RLM

[GAR]

I have 4- 2 gig Transcend DDR2-800FBDimms here at my house right now.
They are 5-5-5-18
Remember, systems like this run in quad channel.
It isn't going to be a huge factor

If that board used regular DDR2 or 3 i would buy it in a heartbeat......fb dimms are too pricey.

[sierra_bound]

FB-DIMMs have dropped a lot in price. You can get 2GB for around $100. The Transcend dimms that Movieman was testing sell for $85 for 2GB. Also, Intel has tested Skulltrail with FB-DIMMs rated at CL3. These were engineering samples from Kingston.

[Blauhung]

i'll end my discussion regarding SLI on this board with this. Just something that you guys can start pondering:

"The real innovation in the Skulltrail platform is the incorporation of NVIDIA SLI support. To enable SLI support, Intel incorporates two NVIDIA nForce 100 MCPs which act as a PCIe to PCIe bridge."

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/intel_skulltrail_preview/

my understanding is that they aren't required for SLI, only for quad SLI. the Seaburg chipset only has enough channels for 2 16x pcie 2.0 slots, the bridge chips split that out to 4 16x pcie 1.0 slots.


I'll just go ahead and clarify this so that everyone knows:

I've already seen the way they hardware configure the 4way SLI. I can't describe it only because i'm under NDA.

My skepticism lies mainly in the fact that the system was not running so I can't confirm that 4way actually works. But I have in fact seen the hardware setup and with the way they explained how it works makes sense but at the same time actually getting it to work is another story.

Given your earlier statement though, and something else FUD or Inq had said about some form of HT link between the chips, i would say you bridge the pairs that are directly connected to their own bridge chip on the board, and the HT link takes care of communication between the bridged pairs of cards.

This would mean that there's a serrious need for some fancy drivers to split the GPU work not once, but twice and each time using a different transfer protocol.

[IanY]

800 Mhz FB DIMMs seem hard to find. Anyone with any links, especially 2 GB sticks ?

[sierra_bound]

800 Mhz FB DIMMs seem hard to find. Anyone with any links, especially 2 GB sticks ?
These are the ones MM was using.

http://ec.transcendusa.com/product/ItemDetail.asp?exid=1&ItemID=TS256MFB72V8U-T

GamePC also has DDR2-800 FB-DIMMs in stock. But because they are a custom builder, they are going to charge you an arm and a leg.

[Torphoto]

$70.38 $69.00 Pre-Order
KVR667D2D8F5/2G 2GB 667MHZ DDR2 ECC FULLY BUFFERED CL5 DIMM DUAL RANK X8 $98.94 $97.00 Active
KVR667D2D8F5K2/2G 2GB 667MHZ DDR2 ECC CL5 DIMM 2 KIT DUAL RANK $128.52 $126.00 Pre-Order
KVR667D2S8F5/512 512MB 667MHZ DDR2 ECCBUFFERED CL5 DIMM X8 FINAL SALE NO RETURNS $44.88 $44.00 Pre-Order
KVR667D2S8F5K2/1G 1GB 667MHZ DDR2 ECC FULLY BUFFERED CL5 FINAL SALE NO RETURNS $86.70 $85.00 Active
KVR800D2D8F5/1G 1GB 800MHZ DDR2 ECC FULLY BUFFERED CL5 DIMM DUAL RANK X8 $80.58 $79.00 Pre-Order
KVR800D2D8F5K2/2G 2GB 800MHZ DDR2 ECC FULLY BUFFERED CL5 DIMM(KIT OF 2)DUAL RNK $151.98 $149.00 Pre-Order
KVR800D2S8F5/512 512MB 800MHZ DDR2 ECC FULLY BUFFERED CL5 DIMM SINGLE RANK X8 $52.02 $51.00 Pre-Order
KVR800D2S8F5K2/1G 1GB 800MHZ DDR2 ECC FULLY BUFFERED CL5 DIMM(KIT OF 2)SGL RANK $98.94 $97.00 Pre-Order
SIMPLETECH,





http://atic.ca/index.php?search=buffered&x=0&y=0

[GRAFiZ]

FB DIMMS really aren't anything to be "afraid" of. They're cheap enough now, plus, if you can run in quad channel, the bandwidth is enough to feed the chips the data they need.

Certainly it's not as fast DDR2, but then again, it doesn't have to be, everything is relative.

Synthetic benchmarks show a difference, but real world usage is not affected much at all.

As for quad SLI, you do not need all four cards to be "linked" by an SLI bridge.

In fact, you never had to, the SLI bridge has been shown to increase performance by a small amount, but past that is fairly useless and certainly not necessary.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I picked up 8 x 2gb kingston 667 fb dimms at cl5 for my system, mostly because they are on tyan's compatability list.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

In fact, you never had to, the SLI bridge has been shown to increase performance by a small amount, but past that is fairly useless and certainly not necessary.

i was always under the impression that the bringe was needed, if not only for "enabling" the SLI (aka nvidia being stupid)

[Clockwork_Apple]

Can't wait to see pics of the Quad SLI up and running, and some performance numbers. :D

[GRAFiZ]

i was always under the impression that the bringe was needed, if not only for "enabling" the SLI (aka nvidia being stupid)

Nope, it can be done via software.

A lot of it is marketing fluff, makes things look better.

You'll see.

[sierra_bound]

A few more notes about FB-DIMMs. They get very hot, even with only 1.8v, and especially when overclocked. I have a fan blowing on my dimms. Also, they do consume more power than unbuffered DDR2. But if you are building an expensive server-type system, the added electricity cost is hardly a huge consideration.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

A few more notes about FB-DIMMs. They get very hot, even with only 1.8v, and especially when overclocked. I have a fan blowing on my dimms. Also, they do consume more power than unbuffered DDR2. But if you are building an expensive server-type system, the added electricity cost is hardly a huge consideration.

good to know, ill have to set up some fans clearing the air around mine when i get to building the system

[sierra_bound]

And contrary to popular belief, server boards can be overclocked, even if there are no overclocking options in the BIOS. Those of us at XS with Clovertown rigs use Systool. Works very well. Even with default voltages, I can still manage over a 30% overclock that's fully stable.

One of the things I'll be interested in when Crazypinoy gets his board powered up is the overclocking options in the Skulltrail BIOS. The boards that Intel showed off at IDF apparently did not have any voltage options in the BIOS, so they were limited in terms of maximum overclock. I heard the production boards will have voltage options.

[GRAFiZ]

A few more notes about FB-DIMMs. They get very hot, even with only 1.8v, and especially when overclocked. I have a fan blowing on my dimms. Also, they do consume more power than unbuffered DDR2. But if you are building an expensive server-type system, the added electricity cost is hardly a huge consideration.

An excellent point and one I was going to bring up, being lucky enough to play with a "V8" system recently has shown me this very same thing.

The ram get's INCREDIBLY hot, you can feel it radiating from the heat spreaders it's so hot.

Using the bios information it's not unusual to see the chips sitting around at 45c or more.

A fan is a great help to bring that down.

[TiN_]

What for:

2x Thermaltake 1.2KW PSU

???

Better buy one Enermax Galaxy DXX 1000W, it's more than twice enough for your setup. And this PSU have _HUGE_ amount of connectors, there are 24 connectors for only SATA :-D, with 6 PCI-E and two 8-pin CPU :D

[Crazypinoy9]

What for:

2x Thermaltake 1.2KW PSU

???

Better buy one Enermax Galaxy DXX 1000W, it's more than twice enough for your setup. And this PSU have _HUGE_ amount of connectors, there are 24 connectors for only SATA :-D, with 6 PCI-E and two 8-pin CPU :D

Well I'm actually thinking about just dropping to one PSU because two would take up a lot of space. Plus with the case I'm using they would have to be stacked on top of each other.

The galaxy DXX1000 is definitely a great PSU, in fact I have a brand new one that's been sitting under my desk that enermax gave me about 6 months ago.

The perfomance i've experienced out of the TT PSU has been pretty great which is why i use them now. Plus they are always willing to sponsor me parts when i need them w/out even asking me questions which is a huge thing.

[GRAFiZ]

Why not go PC Power and Cooling?

Best in the bizz... right?

[Crazypinoy9]

what fan do you guys suggest i use on the memory? something like the OCZ cooler or just mount a high flow 120mm on them?

[Crazypinoy9]

Why not go PC Power and Cooling?

Best in the bizz... right?

because it's really hard to get components from them...LOL!

Plus from all the testing that i've seen reviewers make it seems as if the thermaltake performs very similarly.

If i really wanted to get the best then I'd try for the Ultra 1.6KW....read the reviews on this PSU cuz they're supposedly amazing. They supposedly maintain 80-85% efficientcy even at it max rated wattage.

[Zytek_Fan]

what fan do you guys suggest i use on the memory? something like the OCZ cooler or just mount a high flow 120mm on them?

The OCZ cooler is fine, but just mounting a 120mm fan on the RAM would be cheaper...might be better temperature wise also...

[Movieman]

google " Zalman FB123"
$9.00 with fan:D

[STEvil]

Best PSU would be HiPro's 1200w unit ;)

[AliG]

depends on how much money you're wiling to spend, there are top of the line heatpipe ram coolers out there that will allow quite a bit of extra ocing with the right fan on top
http://www.thermalright.com/a_page/main_product_hr07.htm
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106098
or you could just put a nice copper heatspreader (with some fins would be nice) and put a high cfm fan on top

come to think of it, something I just thought of is you could mount something like this on top as apparently it moves TONS of air with minimal noise
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2810/hdc-23/525_Cross_Flow_Fan.html?tl=g36c15s462
or mod in one of these fans
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g36/c15/s566/list/p1/Fans-12_Volt_Fans-250mm_x_30mm_LED_Fans-Page1.html

[GRAFiZ]

google " Zalman FB123"
$9.00 with fan:D

Yup yup... this man speaks the truth.

And thanks for the PM dude. :up:

[Torphoto]

and what about these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835227004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835704001

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835202003

[Zytek_Fan]

The Corsair and OCZ are fine, but the CoolIT RAM fan moves barely any air.

[TiN_]

I don't like thermaltake, so I vote for enermax :)
It's much more reliable and 24\7 comfortable for use.
As for >1k wattage - just to tell everybody that you have cool megasuperwattaged psu? Or what? :) Your skulltrail, even with 4 Ultras and 10 HDD's will be near 750-800W load MAXIMUM STRESSED :) What for all that megawatt trash? Better spend some money and buy 6 15000RPM HDD's SAS with controller ;)

[Clockwork_Apple]

I don't like thermaltake, so I vote for enermax :)
Nice objective review there ;)

:up:

[Zytek_Fan]

I don't like thermaltake, so I vote for enermax :)
It's much more reliable and 24\7 comfortable for use.
As for >1k wattage - just to tell everybody that you have cool megasuperwattaged psu? Or what? :) Your skulltrail, even with 4 Ultras and 10 HDD's will be near 750-800W load MAXIMUM STRESSED :) What for all that megawatt trash? Better spend some money and buy 6 15000RPM HDD's SAS with controller ;)

You sure it's more reliable?
I can't count how many stories I've heard of Enermax Galaxies failing this past year... :shakes:

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

go read the PSU section, TT toughpower PSU's are top quality and have excellent line stability and reliability.(not that i approve of all the rest of TT)

[RLM]

You expect thermaltake to be crap due their dodgy water cooling stuff.

You should check out this review

http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=115

I remember reading these reviews a while back, and it was on the strength of them I picked up a Thermaltake back in the UK. Looking at the ripple factor the thermaltake was actually better than my Silverstone OP-1000.

As far as I remember Jonny said that the components inside these psu are actually very good.

RLM

[NapalmV5]

pci placement is really bad for now

itll make sence when auzentech releases their next sound card @ pcie

silverstone OP1200
2x tuniq towers
cm stacker 830 se
areca raid
bunch of little friends

all waiting..

[Crazypinoy9]

Ok guys i've been making a few phone calls throughout the day and i've got some bad news.

quad sli drivers are in super beta right now and doesn't work properly. The drivers that i have right now only allow 2way.

I will keep you guys update!

[Torphoto]

Don't worry about the sli yet, there are so many other tests you can do

[Blauhung]

yeah, we want to see overclocking options! Need BIOS Screenies!

[Movieman]

Yup yup... this man speaks the truth.

And thanks for the PM dude. :up:
My pleasure..cheap and works..

yeah, we want to see overclocking options! Need BIOS Screenies!

You got it..That is what people want to see..
And of course if you can get that bastage to 4000mhz!:up:

(Ahh,Crazy, since your stuck with 2 extra vid cards and ahh, well my address is..)

[IanY]

These are the ones MM was using.

http://ec.transcendusa.com/product/ItemDetail.asp?exid=1&ItemID=TS256MFB72V8U-T

GamePC also has DDR2-800 FB-DIMMs in stock. But because they are a custom builder, they are going to charge you an arm and a leg.

Many thanks !

Confirm that CAS 5 is as low a latency as they come at this time, and in any event, the quad channels make latency less of an issue. Correct ?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Some more hardware pron for y'all.

Mbob: TYAN tempest i5400xt w/ SAS


http://img457.imageshack.us/img457/5310/img0695hz6.jpg

http://img457.imageshack.us/img457/5599/img0693rg5.jpg

http://img457.imageshack.us/img457/5653/img0696jx1.jpg

[Torphoto]

Some more hardware pron for y'all.

Mbob: TYAN tempest i5400xt w/ SAS

Totally uncalled for, your making me jealous

[Cronos]

FB DIMMS really aren't anything to be "afraid" of. They're cheap enough now, plus, if you can run in quad channel, the bandwidth is enough to feed the chips the data they need.


This really depends on applications of yours.
The quad-channel controller in previous version of this chipset -5000X -was so slow that it lags 20-30% behind dual-channel P35 at the same DDR2 speed.

Now split this 0.8 bandwidth between two CPUs and you have only ~1/3 bandwidth per CPU, compared to desktop. Now adds the possibility to use high-speed DDR2 or even DDR3 on desktop boards (for those with bottomless wallet) and you easily get 1/4 difference.

So, this platform really was/is not for bandwidth-hungry applications.
Thats why i am so anxious to see memory bandwidth benchmarks on this new platform.

[masterg]

where can we get 1?

[Zytek_Fan]

where can we get 1?

The SkullTrail board or the Tyan board a few posts above?

[Linus@ncix]

does that Tyan board support Crossfire?

[Zytek_Fan]

does that Tyan board support Crossfire?

It should. Both slots are electrical x16.

[threeply]

These pics are making me drool all over the screen.

Tyan has a 5100 chipset board S5375. Wonder if that board will have better Latency scores since its not tied to FBDIMMS.

[Cronos]

5100 chipset has dual-channel controller and requires Registered DDR2 memory. It supports only 1333FSB (officially).
I doubt its memory controller is better than 5000X , surely it cant compete with 5400 MCH.

FB-DIMM latency is not a problem, this series of chipsets is optimized for low latency. The real problem is available bandwidth.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

the one I posted is the 5400 chipset and it was a PITA to get a hold of, seriously I was calling wholesalers and e-tailers for weeks trying to find it.

[Cronos]

SNiiPE_DoGG
Can you please run memory bandwidth benchmark?
Download RMMA suit from here:
http://cpu.rightmark.org/download.shtml

Find Multi-Threaded Memory test (in the folder there the package will be installed ) and run it. Set amount of tested memory to 20Mb per process or more. Compare total score with 1 and 8 threads.

P.S.
Its interesting to note that Tyan implemented 6-phase design for their server 5400xt board and Intel uses 5-phase for the Skulltrail.. It should be otherwise.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

SNiiPE_DoGG
Can you please run memory bandwidth benchmark?
Download RMMA suit from here:
http://cpu.rightmark.org/download.shtml

Find Multi-Threaded Memory test (in the folder there the package will be installed ) and run it. Set amount of tested memory to 20Mb per process or more. Compare total score with 1 and 8 threads.

P.S.
Its interesting to note that Tyan implemented 6-phase design for their server 5400xt board and Intel uses 5-phase for the Skulltrail.. It should be otherwise.

I will in about a week... lol, I have a lot of college applications to do ASAP, so I wont be building until i have time to mod the case for the radiator and get my order from petras

[adamsleath]

im lovin the skulltrail build pics.
vicarious enjoyment/window shopping. :)

[Zytek_Fan]

Nice to see a lot of all solid caps on the Tyan board :)

[Cronos]

I will in about a week... lol, I have a lot of college applications to do ASAP, so I wont be building until i have time to mod the case for the radiator and get my order from petras

Don't forget to try BSEL-mod on your Xeons for 1600FSB - if the BIOS let this happen, you will get instant 3.4GHz OC. Then you can probably get 10-15% more with Systools or whatever windows utility can understand onboard PLL.
If you intend to use Linux, there is also a way for software OC.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Don't forget to try BSEL-mod on your Xeons for 1600FSB - if the BIOS let this happen, you will get instant 3.4GHz OC. Then you can probably get 10-15% more with Systools or whatever windows utility can understand onboard PLL.
If you intend to use Linux, there is also a way for software OC.

Got a link for the BSEL on the 771? I would gladly get a hard oc like that.

[Cronos]

Got a link for the BSEL on the 771? I would gladly get a hard oc like that.

http://forums.2cpu.com/showthread.php?t=77937

By the way, once you make a software OC, you can reboot and have "true hardware OC" - the new fsb setting will be preserved. At least, thats how most Tyan boards behave.

Actually, software OC and BIOS OC does the same thing -set PLL registers. Windows calibrate some variables at the start, basing on detected speed, and, then you do software OC, this variables should be re-calibrated again. The best way is just restart.

Under Linux, there is even easier way -fast kernel reboot using kexec mechanism.

[[XC]Atomicpineapple]

Interesting, I have the older i5000X version of that Tyan board. I'll be interested to see how the new 1 OCs.

[Torphoto]

Waiting very impatiently for test results..................................:scope:

edit, No one has asked this as yet but one thing you could do ( if you can ) if give us a tour of all the connectors etc on the board if you can, won't involve any tests :D

[mrcape]

Any test results yet?

[Crazypinoy9]

Any test results yet?

LOL! That's a good question that deserves an answer so here goes!

Got my FB-Dimms in yesterday, popped them in, powered on....guess what? No boot!

Brought everything into my test benches at work and tested every component and what'd ya know....the board is DOA! Intel is sending me a new board so everything is postponed.

The funny thing is that I called up a buddy who got the setup too and guess what...his board came dead also. LOL!

[Movieman]

LOL! That's a good question that deserves an answer so here goes!

Got my FB-Dimms in yesterday, popped them in, powered on....guess what? No boot!

Brought everything into my test benches at work and tested every component and what'd ya know....the board is DOA! Intel is sending me a new board so everything is postponed.

The funny thing is that I called up a buddy who got the setup too and guess what...his board came dead also. LOL!

We'll wait patiently...Ok, some of us will.
This is worth waiting for!:up:

[mrcape]

Good luck on the next one, looking forward to it.

[GRAFiZ]

LOL! That's a good question that deserves an answer so here goes!

Got my FB-Dimms in yesterday, popped them in, powered on....guess what? No boot!

Brought everything into my test benches at work and tested every component and what'd ya know....the board is DOA! Intel is sending me a new board so everything is postponed.

The funny thing is that I called up a buddy who got the setup too and guess what...his board came dead also. LOL!

They're still "prototype" boards right?

I know from my "sources" they're pretty far along in this project, but not quite there yet.

I just know they've done a lot to try and tweak this chipset and it wouldn't surprise me if the first few runs are nothing but trouble... for anyone wanting to go octa core, you still can't beat the stability of the 5000 chipset.

[DShankar]

I was just about to buy the Seaburg-based TYAN S5397 dual LGA771. What's the difference between that and this Skulltrail motherboard?

[disruptfam]

M A X I M U M orgasm lmfao

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I was just about to buy the Seaburg-based TYAN S5397 dual LGA771. What's the difference between that and this Skulltrail motherboard?

4 pci-e and nvidia chipsets for graphics. Ive got an i5400 xt, ill let you know how it works out

[Blauhung]

I was just about to buy the Seaburg-based TYAN S5397 dual LGA771. What's the difference between that and this Skulltrail motherboard?

Your TYAN board is most likely tuned in the BIOS for extreme stability. The Skull Trail BIOS is specifically setup for overclocking, tweaking, and it has been tuned for performance at the cost of the extreme stability that most DP server chipsets make their name upon. I would venture a guess that the CPU/memory/chipset power regulation is also of a bit higher quality to support the extra voltage that will be thrown at it.

[DShankar]

Your TYAN board is most likely tuned in the BIOS for extreme stability. The Skull Trail BIOS is specifically setup for overclocking, tweaking, and it has been tuned for performance at the cost of the extreme stability that most DP server chipsets make their name upon. I would venture a guess that the CPU/memory/chipset power regulation is also of a bit higher quality to support the extra voltage that will be thrown at it.

Thanks. I guess OP is gonna have some fun with nice OC'ing while I sit in the corner with my TYAN...:rolleyes:

[DShankar]

4 pci-e and nvidia chipsets for graphics. Ive got an i5400 xt, ill let you know how it works out

Sorry didn't see your post. Which motherboard do you have? S5397/S5396/S5396W/S5392? ;). I'm thinking about the S5396 (no SAS, don't need any) but I'm tempted to wait for the cheaper S5392.

[Cronos]

Your TYAN board is most likely tuned in the BIOS for extreme stability. The Skull Trail BIOS is specifically setup for overclocking, tweaking, and it has been tuned for performance at the cost of the extreme stability that most DP server chipsets make their name upon. I would venture a guess that the CPU/memory/chipset power regulation is also of a bit higher quality to support the extra voltage that will be thrown at it.

I already made notice about this -it's actually seems otherwise.Tyan's board has 6-phase VRM and Intel's has 5.

I would venture a guess overclocking options will be limited, as it is always with Intel. They even go as far as totally block even the possibility for software overclocking on their server 5000-based boards :)

[railer]

MB is DOA:rofl: this suks. Anyway best of luck with new one.

[jabski]

We'll wait patiently...Ok, some of us will.
This is worth waiting for!:up:

tick tock :up:

[Blauhung]

I already made notice about this -it's actually seems otherwise.Tyan's board has 6-phase VRM and Intel's has 5.

I would venture a guess overclocking options will be limited, as it is always with Intel. They even go as high as totally block even the possibility for software overclocking on their server 5000-based boards :)

I was just guessing on the VRM, I guess we'll see how it does soon.

But Bad Axe 2 is one of the best overclocking boards for the 975x chipset and has more options then most of the rest of the flock.

Bone Trail is doing ok, but has a few wandering bugs left.

And this isn't a server class board. This board was specifically designed with overclocking a server chipset in mind. I have no clue on all the options, but expect to see a fully fleshed out BIOS full of options.

[DShankar]

I was just guessing on the VRM, I guess we'll see how it does soon.

But Bad Axe 2 is one of the best overclocking boards for the 975x chipset and has more options then most of the rest of the flock.

Bone Trail is doing ok, but has a few wandering bugs left.

And this isn't a server class board. This board was specifically designed with overclocking a server chipset in mind. I have no clue on all the options, but expect to see a fully fleshed out BIOS full of options.
Seeing that this is Intel demoed 5ghz+ overclocking on Skulltrail, I'm sure it has moderate to better overclocking options.

[AdmiralThrawn]

I'm planning to build a Skulltrail System too, but only with one CPU, my tower setup (including a big RAID-6 array) won't allow for the second CPU to be installed.

Could you please tell me, wich socket is the primary one? I hope it is the one closer to the rear of the case..

[STEvil]

why bother if you're only going to use a single cpu?

[NapalmV5]

We'll wait patiently...Ok, some of us will.
This is worth waiting for!:up:

uhh nope not worth waiting for.. lol im getting dual-harp now! :D

im sick and tired of mediocre desk mobos and waiting..

[AdmiralThrawn]

why bother if you're only going to use a single cpu?

Valid Question!

The answer is SLI. Plain and simple.

I do not want to use an nForce Chipset ever again (I did once on an Intel+SLI setup). So, i do not want to use ATi cards with Crossfire and i do not want to use an nVidia Chipset (which doesn't support ASPI for instance, something i need).

I want to use an INTEL chipset with an nVidia SLI setup! And Skulltrail delivers just that. I guess there won't be any drivers needed for the nVidia bridge chips there, just as it is with PCI-2-PCI bridge chips too. I could live with those chips, as long as i can use pure Intel chipset drivers.

One Quadcore is enough for me i suppose. Besides gaming i also do a lot of DivX compression and Video Post-Processing. SSE4 should help a lot on the DivX front. Don't think I'll need eight cores. But if the right socket is the primary one, i wouldn't be able to use that board at all, cause my harddisks would be in the way (Don't really wanna change the case either).

[Blauhung]

Valid Question!

The answer is SLI. Plain and simple.

I do not want to use an nForce Chipset ever again (I did once on an Intel+SLI setup). So, i do not want to use ATi cards with Crossfire and i do not want to use an nVidia Chipset (which doesn't support ASPI for instance, something i need).

I want to use an INTEL chipset with an nVidia SLI setup! And Skulltrail delivers just that. I guess there won't be any drivers needed for the nVidia bridge chips there, just as it is with PCI-2-PCI bridge chips too. I could live with those chips, as long as i can use pure Intel chipset drivers.

One Quadcore is enough for me i suppose. Besides gaming i also do a lot of DivX compression and Video Post-Processing. SSE4 should help a lot on the DivX front. Don't think I'll need eight cores. But if the right socket is the primary one, i wouldn't be able to use that board at all, cause my harddisks would be in the way (Don't really wanna change the case either).

Aside from the fact that I'm not sure that the board will even work with only 1 socket filled, prepare to be underwhelmed. Most likely the overall FSB headroom is going to be lower then just about any of the single socket boards available and you will also be limited by buffered memory.

This board will use more power then most any comparable single socket board and also ad to that the power needs of buffered memory.

So if you don't plan on overclocking and are prepared for higher electricity bills. Then right now this is the only Intel chipset that will run SLI

[AdmiralThrawn]

Aside from the fact that I'm not sure that the board will even work with only 1 socket filled, prepare to be underwhelmed. Most likely the overall FSB headroom is going to be lower then just about any of the single socket boards available and you will also be limited by buffered memory.

This board will use more power then most any comparable single socket board and also ad to that the power needs of buffered memory.

So if you don't plan on overclocking and are prepared for higher electricity bills. Then right now this is the only Intel chipset that will run SLI

I'm pretty much used to extreme power consumption rates. Running a Quad PentiumPRO 1MB system as a home server right now ([IBM PC Server 704 (http://www.xin.at/xin/sysinfo/sysinfo.htm)]).

I'm also running a system consisting of two quad cores and 16GB of FB-FIMM at work, plus a single-CPU quad core with another 2GB of FB-DIMM as a file server with 8 x 500GB RAID-6 and a 8 x 1TB RAID-6 at home. Plus, I'm running a Voodoo5 6000 @ i840 system, so I'm also used to rather exotic system configurations..

I would like to OC the Skulltrail system, but only by around 400-800MHz of core clock rate, that should be possible i guess... I'm not planning any phase change cooling here...

What I need to know is, which of the two sockets on the SkullTrail board is the primary CPU socket, and yep, I would need to know if the thing works with only one CPU...

[Cronos]

One CPU will have only 1/2 of total memory bandwidth available, that will be almost 3 times less than it is possible to have on desktop chipsets.

[Movieman]

I'm pretty much used to extreme power consumption rates. Running a Quad PentiumPRO 1MB system as a home server right now ([IBM PC Server 704 (http://www.xin.at/xin/sysinfo/sysinfo.htm)]).

I'm also running a system consisting of two quad cores and 16GB of FB-FIMM at work, plus a single-CPU quad core with another 2GB of FB-DIMM as a file server with 8 x 500GB RAID-6 and a 8 x 1TB RAID-6 at home. Plus, I'm running a Voodoo5 6000 @ i840 system, so I'm also used to rather exotic system configurations..

I would like to OC the Skulltrail system, but only by around 400-800MHz of core clock rate, that should be possible i guess... I'm not planning any phase change cooling here...

What I need to know is, which of the two sockets on the SkullTrail board is the primary CPU socket, and yep, I would need to know if the thing works with only one CPU...

You really don't want to buy this board if your going to just use one cpu in it.
As cronos said above nicely, it is a waste of money to do that as a top single socket will kick it's butt sideways, backwards and upside down..:D
Now about those other machines you have, we can give you something VERY worthwhile of their abilities to work on:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=207

[AdmiralThrawn]

Hmm. What's the maximum theoretical bandwidth i can expect when only using one CPU when using FB-DIMM DDR-II/800?

I would sacrifice a LOT just to finally get SLI on an Intel chipset. Really, i want that A LOT! ;)

Mostly, the second CPU wouldn't be used anyway, cause i do not have that many applications/games that even could utilize 8 cores! Possible to do some massive multitasking, but still.. Most of the time only 2-4 cores would be working anyway.

I do SETI@Home, but that's surely not a top reason to buy a second $1500 CPU. ;)

[Torphoto]

why buy 1 $1500 cpu when you can buy two for $1500? I'm sure skullrail will oc well with a pair of 2.66 or 2.8 xeons and make it worthwhile getting 2 cpus vs 1.

1 cpu in skulltrail basically defeats the purpose of it.

[STEvil]

Can get other boards for SLI.

[LaMpiR]

IS there any chance of running SLI on X38/X48?

[Torphoto]

right now for sli your stuck with nvidia chipsets

on the power supply question, this board seems to have 2x 8pin cpu connectors not the 8 and 4 pin connectors most other dual cpu boards have

short list I have found for power supplies with 2 8 pin cpu ( +12v eps in either 4+4 pin or 8 pin type ) connectors are

Enermax Galaxy DXX 1000w PSU
Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1250w Power Supply
ABS/tagan ITZ1300 1300w Power Supply ( prolly junk )
Ultra X3 Power Supplies ( the units under 1000w seem to only have 1x 4+4 pin )
Silverstone OP 1000w and 1200w
PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1KW-SR
OCZ GameXStream 1010w
OCZ ProXStream 1000w
Thermaltake ToughPower 1200W

feel free to add more units.

[zanzabar]

IS there any chance of running SLI on X38/X48?

if u get a quatro


but if nv gave intel the use of sli on the x38/48 then no1 would buy a 680/780/790i, but in not licensing they will be put out of high end systems

[AdmiralThrawn]

Will there be any 45nm Dual-Core Xeons? I don't have the whole Roadmap memorized, and it's getting pretty late here (brain beginning to shut down).

That way i might just get 2 x Dual Core and split the workload over four cores while still getting the full mem bandwith and without having to sell my car, flat and body for this. ;)

Edit: Wait, noooo... Money wasn't the first reason for using only 1 CPU, it was that the thing won't fit into my case with 2 CPUs.. unless i go liquid cooling..

[GAR]

if you look at it from nvidia's side it would be the dumbest thing for them to give up SLi, the nvidia chipsets have their bad sides but the same can be said for the x38 as well, with my quad highest stable clock i have gotten is 450-465 anything above crashes while priming, its not held back by cpu either, my 680i did 450fsb stable no problems, i would give up 10mhz fsb for SLi, wouldnt you?

[Torphoto]

There are 45nm quad xeons

2.83 for $750 E5440
2.66 for $550 E5430
2.56 for $350 E5420

better go with dual quads in anycase

[Cronos]

Why not just build two desktop machines, one on 680i /SLI for gaming and another on P35/X38/X48 for CPU-intensive multitasking? This will cost less and will be more effective overall.

Paying 1500$ for 1 CPU is completely insane, if you ask me.
I paid 900$/each for Opterons 265 3 years ago and 900$ /each for Xeons E5320 an year ago, and i would never do this again unless i will be absolutely pressed to do so.
This super-expensive stuff just do not justify the cost. Unless you are Bill Gates, lots of frustration is imminent. Soon you realize you could get 300-400$ CPU which, overclocked, could perform almost just as good.
Then again, at the moment, Intel's dual platform is severely crippled by memory subsystem, while AMD... they just don't have CPUs at all :)

[zanzabar]

the 680i isnt good for gaming since it sucks for cpu, and teh physics is based on cpu power

[Movieman]

Why not just build two desktop machines, one on 680i /SLI for gaming and another on P35/X38/X48 for CPU-intensive multitasking? This will cost less and will be more effective overall.

Paying 1500$ for 1 CPU is completely insane, if you ask me.
I paid 900$/each for Opterons 265 3 years ago and 900$ /each for Xeons E5320 an year ago, and i would never do this again unless i will be absolutely pressed to do so.
This super-expensive stuff just do not justify the cost. Unless you are Bill Gates, lots of frustration is imminent. Soon you realize you could get 300-400$ CPU which, overclocked, could perform almost just as good.
Then again, at the moment, Intel's dual platform is severely crippled by memory subsystem, while AMD... they just don't have CPUs at all :)

There's 2 answers to this:
1) Your dead right 10000%
Two independant systems is the ideal way and lost cheaper.
2) There are those of us who are pigheaded idiots who just love the duals and will overlook some of the drawbacks of their design.
I have 4 machines running here.
2-8 core clovertowns at over 3000mhz
1-Q6600 at 3600
1 old FX51 on an Asus SK8N MB

The Q6600 is by far the fastest system any way you look at it and for the money involved a steal IMO
The Clovers are my "babies"..Had them before clovers were released and stable as all hell.
They have run at 100% load essentially for the last year and I'd bet the uptime barring an electrical outage is over 99%.
That old FX51 is a new one here. Interesting machine to me as I haven't had an AMD since the Slot A's
That little single core at 2423mhz is a beast in it's own right and out works a dual xeon 2400/512/533 machine I had..

For what you want. Build 2 machines, one with a Q6600 and one with as expensive a Yorkfield as you can afford.

[generalpetres]

i was just wondering on the tyan mobo will it be capable of running two Qx9775 or are thoes cpus based only for the skulltrail. i will either be building a skulltrail comp or a tyan based server to run maya, cad, and some games here and there. what are your likes and dislikes for the board and if some one had the money would you tell them to get it or not. thanks

[AdmiralThrawn]

For me, building two machines isn't an alternative. I would need more space for that, and i don't really WANT two machines. I want one single workstation, that can handle prettly much everything i can throw at it, be it video post-processing or gaming. For me personally, nForce is out of the question. I don't even remotely consider that an option. I'd rather give up SLI and have choppy game performance than buying an nForce again.

So much for nVidia chipset marketing strategies, from me they would get more money if they would just sell the SLI license to Intel, cause I either buy an Intel Chipset and ONE NV card or an Intel Chipset and TWO NV cards, their choice...

Even the Daemon Tools driver supports ASPI, but nVidia can't do it for their chipset drivers obviously, which i find extremely weak. As i said above, I'm using ASPI and not thinking about giving that up in favor of SPTI or anything else..

Can you maybe explain to me, how the Skulltrails memory subsystem works, and how/why the bandwidth is split up between the two sockets (hardwired)? Thank you!

Edit: Seaburg is the i5400, right? I hope, i've read the correct [Whitepaper (http://download.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/318610.pdf)] then. It says there, that the chipset uses two front side busses and four memory channels organized into two branches. But it says nowhere, that a single FSB couldn't talk to both branches (all four channels)? I can't find that information. :(

Even if so, imagine a single-threaded application, let's say an older game, whatever. Let's say, I'll start that app on my Skulltrail platform, it runs on CPU #0, Core #0. Now, as long as that app is limited to one Core on one CPU, plugging in a second CPU won't do anything for bandwidth, as long as the App doesn't use BOTH CPUs, right? So if i understand this correctly, i can only take advantage of the full bandwith, while using both CPUs? So, for a single threaded app it would make no difference in bandwidth if i was using one or two CPUs?

It would be very kind of you, if you could point out the information regarding that bandwidth split-up in the Intel documentation for me, as i just can't locate it. There is a [Spec Update (http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/specupdt/318638.pdf)] too.. Didn't read that yet.

[generalpetres]

any new updates?

[Movieman]

any new updates?

I think he's waiting for some parts..
And barricading his doors and windows so that some old fart from New Hampshire doesn't break in and steal it....:wasntme:

[Pudi]

Iso that some old fart from New Hampshire doesn't break in and steal it....:wasntme:

ahah quality :rofl:

[generalpetres]

yeah i talked to him the other day said the board was dead so he was waiting for the new one to come just checking to see if he got it or not.

[Movieman]

yeah i talked to him the other day said the board was dead so he was waiting for the new one to come just checking to see if he got it or not.

Your right..I've been hiding in the bushes outside his house for the last 4 days and no deliveries..
Hey, someone drop my off a coffee and a pizza..
Getting cold and hungry out here..:rofl: