NickS' Project: ШДŦΞШ //56K//

[NickS]

OK so nevermind the retarded name (WaTeW in regular writing). It was just a quick botch, combining Water & "amtew," or "AM2." So yeah, I got bored & fed up with a 3000+ so I decided to sacrafice some RAM & VGA and go to a new platform. Yeah it may sound dumb but I was also quite bored with s939. I've had the platform for over a year. Actually, my mobo was a touch over a year old, and boy will I miss it. It's gone to a good home now anyway.

So onto the details of the build. It really isn't anything impressive so if you want to be "wowed," press the back button on your brower and look elsewhere.


Photo's
Thus far, I've just done some regular stuff like cleaning blocks (soakin in vinegar), a bit of cutting, etc.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/modding%26such%20%281%29.jpg

The Maze 4 :)

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/modding%26such%20%282%29.jpg

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/modding%26such%20%283%29.jpg

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/modding%26such%20%284%29.jpg

MP-05 takin a bath. :)

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/modding%26such%20%285%29.jpg

Nice'n Clean, complementing my glass of milk nicely.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/modding%26such%20%286%29.jpg

Best fans ever, I don't care what joo say :p

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/modding%26such%20%287%29.jpg

And some retarded 3 minute dremel work. I don't care how it looks, its under the mobo anyway.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/watew%20012.jpg

Gotta show off the leet sleeving job Frozen CPU did on my PSU a while back.

Anyway, stay tuned for more pix :)







[/CENTER]

[nn_step]

I say get one 1GB stick now and one later.
and get the 65W edition since it is just a little bit more

[Sparky]

I say get one 1GB stick now and one later.
and get the 65W edition since it is just a little bit more
Agreed about the ram

[NickS]

4x512>2x1024 for AM2 IIRC. It has some interleaving thingy.

I might consider EE edition too. Thnx for input. :)

[nn_step]

4x512>2x1024 for AM2 IIRC. It has some interleaving thingy.

I might consider EE edition too. Thnx for input. :)
True But 4x1024 > 4x512 ;) DDR2 is going to be around for a while
The interleaving only works if the Memory/CPU that you have can't run T1 and You can up to DDR2-800

[Sparky]

4x512>2x1024 for AM2 IIRC. It has some interleaving thingy.

I might consider EE edition too. Thnx for input. :)
really, that is interesting. I just remember s939 CPU's not liking 4 sticks of ram very much.

True But 4x1024 > 4x512 ;) DDR2 is going to be around for a while
hmmm I like your thinking :D

[eXa]

jup, mostly because running 4 sticks on 939 forced you to use 2T instead of 1T and that made an significaly(?) impact on performance. but ddr2 uses 2t anyways so...

[NickS]

Yeah, I might get 1x1024. NN has a point :p:

[nn_step]

Just one last suggestion for the Chipset cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835119080

[NickS]

I know, I used to have one. Doesn't fit my new board, theres a cap or two in the way. I'm getting this beast.

http://www.svc.com/rr-ncw-l4e1-gp.html

Unless you can find something else thats cheaper?

[nn_step]

Well http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showpost.php?p=598110&postcount=19
Well I couldn't find one better for cheaper...
But I could find it cheaper else where
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835103015

[NickS]

http://www.svc.com/vansolcopvga.html Hmm..

[nn_step]

http://www.bestbyteinc.com/HSK-VAN-A1C.html

[NickS]

Duh, I read somewhere VC-RE nudges a cap a ton.

http://lp.pcmoddingmy.com/albums/userpics/10001/normal_vcre_UltraIIM2_1.jpg

I think not :rolleyes:

Looks like VC-Re it is :)

[nn_step]

I vote just Snip the Corner off

[eXa]

Thermalright HR-05(sli) ftw!!!

[nn_step]

Thermalright HR-05(sli) ftw!!!
Over Double the Price with only a 2C drop.. not really worth it

[eXa]

fanless cooling not worth it? no way anythin less than 80mm coming in my case (probably not anything less than 120 either)

[NickS]

IDC about the fan noise. I've had VC-RE's before, they're more than tolerable. Plus I think 3" of alu. sticking out from your mobo is kinda ugly.

[nn_step]

IDC about the fan noise. I've had VC-RE's before, they're more than tolerable. Plus I think 3" of alu. sticking out from your mobo is kinda ugly.
Plus can cause problems with SOME graphics cards :fact:

[Sparky]

I vote just Snip the Corner off
same here. Snip then file to get rid of the sharp edge.

[eXa]

oh well, different taste.
I crinch when i see small fans like that!

Oh, cant wait for the actuall building starts! post lots of pics! :)

[embeejay]

Deffo get rid of any active chipset cooling unless it's WC, get either the Thermalright or my personal fav - the Zalman ZM-NBF47, your ears will thank you immensly.

If you decide to go for active air cooling of the chipset, do yourself a huge favour and stay away from coolermaster - their chipset coolers perform quite poorly, and the fans have a tendency to start making serious noise after very short while (3-4weeks) for no obvious reason.

EDIT: i see alot of posts came in while i was writing this, making this irrelevant *LOL* - just ignore me :P

[eXa]

yeah, and the zalman wouldnt fit because of gfx card!

[septim]

i wonder how much more Hz he can squeeze from air/water cooling the NB...

would a swiftech mcx159 fit inbetween those vid cards?

[Kobalt]

http://www.svc.com/vansolcopvga.html Hmm..
Not so good...this is the same version that was on the NF7's and I have one in my closet. Its basically a 2mm thick base attached to the metal side fins with a whiney fan.

[MaxxxRacer]

well frankly, ewww dont get the Athlon. get the brand new Intel Core dual 2 processor. thats the new hype from what i heard. ive heard the overclocking on these are amazing if you have a solder, dont quote me, just rumored.

;)

looking good nick.

[NickS]

Hahah ;)

Thanks Maxxx.

[Hound53]

would a swiftech mcx159 fit inbetween those vid cards?


judging from that pic above I would not think so, however there is always the big maybe. 159 is pretty much the size of a 40mm fan on the x and y dimensions, and about 3 or 4 times the height. So that would be the way to see before purchase.

[septim]

wish all mobo design their NB to be conviently replace stock heat sink with better heat sink or water cooling in mind and more space between this and that.

[NickS]

Yeah. I wonder why nVidia chose that location for their chipsets.

[2fink]

good luck building your new rig!

*wantssomethingnewtoo*

[Sparky]

Yeah. I wonder why nVidia chose that location for their chipsets.
DFI does that with the ATI board as well. No clue why, I think they just like whiney little fans :p: That's why I like my asus A8R32-MVP crossfire mobo, chipset between top PCIe and CPU. Plenty of room for custom coolers if I want, but it comes with a larger passive one already :D

[eXa]

Yeah, its not nvidia but DFI wich is weird...

[NickS]

Wow, wasn't expecting this but I got the CM heatsink today in the mail lol. Me & my dad were discussing what chipset heatsink to buy and I guess he went ahead and ordered it the 23rd. Not bothered really. It seems really solid. Plus, I don't have to remove the mobo from the case if I ever want to reapply thermal paste. It screws down :).

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/chipset%26mobo%20010.jpg

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/chipset%26mobo%20005.jpg

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/chipset%26mobo%20009.jpg

Mobo hasn't shown up. Prolly tmoz.

[NickS]

Wow, got the mobo! Came a bit late but I'm happy, ty UPS :)

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20001.jpg

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20003.jpg

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20006.jpg

Very nice box IMO. Better than the old Infinity ones.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20008.jpg

Mmm, SLi :)

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20010.jpg

That's so getting replaced haha.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20011.jpg

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20012.jpg

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20014.jpg

Very nice looking board in my opinion. Colors aren't the best but it's tolerable.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20015.jpg

If you havn't noticed yet, this is almost the same exact layout as the DFI Expert :)

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20018.jpg

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20019.jpg

I hate the bubblegum crap they use. The chipset HS/F is so crappy too. Doesn't even have fins, just "waves." Googone to the rescue!

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20020.jpg

Clean enough ;)

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20024.jpg

Pretty sexy :)

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20025.jpg

Time to get the waterblock mounting ready. One con about this board is it doesn't come with a backplate, but instead uses plastic pushpegs. After some close inspection, I found that you could remove all the plastic pushpeg crap from the retention bracket itself by pinching the pegs and sliding them out of it.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20027.jpg

Mm I love it. The nuts fit snug inside the indented part of the retention bracket just right, so I can screw bolts on tight & even on the back. Talk about meant to be.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20028.jpg

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinity%20030.jpg

So yep, there it is :)

Ordering RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231093) tonight :D. If it comes from NJ warehouse I'll have it by Friday. I'm gettin one stick now & one stick later in November.

Stay tuned for more updates!!

[nn_step]

Hey NickS, what Caps are on that Board?
If you can't tell, post some pics

[NickS]

Here ya go, two extremely high-res shots. I'm proud of my camera for once.

RAM Ones:

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinitycaps%20003.jpg

CPU Ones:

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/infinitycaps%20004.jpg

[nn_step]

looks like chemi-con and the OST, I can't tell which brand that is

[NickS]

Is that good or bad? :p:

RAM say OST, the brown CPU say KZG, and the black ones behind brown say nichicon.

[nn_step]

some good and some average. yet none to worry about

[en4cer]

Lookin real good so far :D That mobo looks a lot better in the pics you took!

[NickS]

Hehe, ty :) I love that chipset cooler. I really wanna know how it performs.

Oh and yeah, RAM ordered.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231093

I'll have it by Tues @ latest.

[Sparky]

I thought all DFI boards had the orange and yellow color scheme, this one surprised me.

I agree with you, that bubblegum stuff is pretty nasty. Hmm, looks like that new chipset heatsink could get in the way if you have a long graphics card. Hopefully it doesn't though.

[NickS]

It might block the bottom slot but I'm not an nVidia person so I'll prolly never use it. Top slot is clear.

[NickS]

Sweet, found a new spot for my pump, allowing me to use HDD cage now!

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/pumpspot%20001.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/pumpspot%20005.jpg

[Shpoon]

Eee, I dunno....the pumps heatdump really makes the gel hot, and having a constant vibrating force on the HDD just seems wrong (wives tale, who knows?).

Other than that (which I wouldn't do because I honestly don't know the consequences), looking great!

[MaxxxRacer]

call me crazy but i wouldnt want to put the pump on the hdd like taht.

[septim]

that does look like disaster waiting to happen... vibration and heat from top of a seagate hard drive will likely cook that gel pad.

but so far the rest of the rig, mobo and new chipset cooler looks nice.

[aiya]

i have the same case and i removed the hdd cage completely since i only run 1 hdd and no floppy so i put it in the floppy cage. doing that will leave more than enough room for that pump. i noticed in your pics that you have a floppy drive but you should still be okay to put it there even with the floppy.

like others have said, i wouldn't trust a pump sitting on my hdd while both were on.

[BlaqMale]

i'ld say get one of those 5 1/4 lian-li drvie cages, either the three bay with 120mm or the 2 bay, and put back a 120mm and the front lower spot for even more air flow through the case

[NickS]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to search for a thin square piece of cardboard, alu, plastic, or something that I can set in there on the metal tabs to raise it off the HDD.

[eXa]

sounds like an good idea and simple solution! :)

[NickS]

Woohoo, found a solution! I had an old lian li mesh grille laying around so I thought to myself, that's thin meshed aluminum! So I held it up to my HDD cage and found how much I needed to take off. Took an old pair of scissors and hacked it off.

With a bit of force I got it into the HDD cage, and it's resting on the little side lips where a second HDD would rest.

On top of it is my Petra's Gel Stuff, the my pump! A perfect fit. The mesh undering would probably allow the gel to give off a bit more heat too, which it would absorb from the pump. The actual mesh sits about 3-4mm above the HDD too. I can move the HDD in and out of the cage, etc freely with the pump installed. This is awesome!

Plus, any PC-7B user can do this. Just pop out the mesh on the case from the rear, install a chrome grille. Then hack this one down to size. No need to buy anything.

Pictures!!

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=52372&stc=1&d=1162050874

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=52373&stc=1&d=1162050874

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=52374&stc=1&d=1162050874

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=52375&stc=1&d=1162050874

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=52376&stc=1&d=1162050874

[septim]

good job on that. are you still gonna put a 120mm fan in front to cool that HD and pump?

[NickS]

I'm gonna attempt to fit in a RAD & 120mm fan up front with the cage still there.

If not, I'm just gonna remove cage and go back to push pull w/rad up front. Put the HDD back in floppy bay.

[eXa]

nice! more open than a plate too!

[embeejay]

I wonder if a viable alternative to the gelpad would be suspending the pump in rubberwires above the hdd (looks like there is plenty of room for it) - if so it should give the hdd even more breathing room

[NickS]

Wow guys lots of changes!!!

Well I sold my two BIPS already and afireinside is giving me his old Bip3 (gotta love that guy). Thanks Man!

So since I didn't need any retarded single rads in front & rear anymore, a lot has changed and I went ahead and assembled a lot of my rig. Went to home depot and got a pack of assorted spiral wrap, and 100 black 4" zipties all for ~$6.

After about 3 hrs of tedious work, heres what I'm at.

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/buildsof%20001.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/buildsof%20002.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/buildsof%20003.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/buildsof%20004.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/buildsof%20005.jpg

:woot:

[septim]

hmm Nicks what card is that on the bottom with the zalman blue heatsink? sound card?

[NickS]

Yeah, I got bored one day and put a ton of old Zalman ramsinks on my SB Live! 24-Bit haha.

[septim]

haha that cards been around awhile...

[eXa]

Ah nice and tidy! Bip3 vs 2x bip1 should be twice as good!
Where are you putting it? id love it if internal, but radbox? bottom should work fine.... dont know about top of the case though?

[NickS]

Prolly on top raised by standoffs :)

[eXa]

oh, ok

[NickS]

Ahh lets see..

Ordered 3x Yate Loons, swiftech mcres, 10 lili thumbscrews & 12 lili standoffs for rad. :)

This week I'm expecting

-Jabtech: MCRes, and 3x Yate Loons
-Silverpcs: Standoffs & Thumbscrews
-Petras: AM2 Hold-down and 7/16" masterkleer
-Newegg: Gskill ram
-Afireinside: bip3

That and a CPU (3800+x2) whenever I get around to ordering :) This is gonna be one hell of a week.

[en4cer]

Ahh lets see..

Ordered 3x Yate Loons, swiftech mcres, 10 lili thumbscrews & 12 lili standoffs for rad. :)

This week I'm expecting

-Jabtech: MCRes, and 3x Yate Loons
-Silverpcs: Standoffs & Thumbscrews
-Petras: AM2 Hold-down and 7/16" masterkleer
-Newegg: Gskill ram
-Afireinside: bip3

That and a CPU (3800+x2) whenever I get around to ordering :) This is gonna be one hell of a week.


Heck yea! I love weeks like that :D

[nn_step]

Crank it, crank it, crank it, Nice work dude, crank it, crank it

[NickS]

Oh I plan to. I want 2.8GHz + bad :D

[UnreaL]

I havent read the thread (just piccies :p)

but personally I would look to mount the hard drive either in the floppy 3 1/2" slots or with a 5 1/4 -> 3 1/2 adapter.

This is how mine used to be:
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1686/cimg1562small6lp.jpg

[NickS]

Rad isn't gonna be up front man. Got a BIP3 comin ;)

[LordofDoom]

Nice.

[UnreaL]

Rad isn't gonna be up front man. Got a BIP3 comin ;)

As in a tripple rad? where will the PSU go?

If its a double this is how I did mine (with a front rad too ;))

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/8638/cimg2774smalleb2.jpg

[Shpoon]

Nice job keeping the pump elevated, nice use of the materials....

I love weeks like yours, every day you get a package or two delivered ;)

[eXa]

its going on top of the case with stans offs, he already said this!

[fhpchris]

Rad isn't gonna be up front man. Got a BIP3 comin ;)

Chain Donating!

My HE120.3 arrived damaged, so im just giving it to Afireinside to fix/test forever, and was able to get AFI to give his BIP3 to Nick ;)

I cannot wait to see some pictures with the BIP3!

[NickS]

Yep. You rock Chris :D

[NickS]

Ram came..

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=52432&stc=1&d=1162239264

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=52433&stc=1&d=1162239264

...I'll have another stick later this month :).

[nn_step]

ooh la la :D sexy ram man :D

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

dude, get that pump away from your hdd. they can really put out alot of magnetic waves and lead to problems.

also, id be pissed about how frozen cpu sleeved your psu. it looks like :banana::banana::banana::banana: dude, id send it back.


looks like a solid rig coming together though. we should have some of the people with mid range am2 systems have a little clock off.

[.sentinel]

Thats some sexy ram :D Good luck on the rest of your project.

[Sparky]

Shouldn't the front fan be blowing IN and not out?

[NickS]

Yeah I realized the error in fan placement, it's switched :)

@ West side. I doubt the pump will cause any issues but if it does I'll move it. As for the sleeve job, they only sleeved the molex & sata. All the others are stock. They did a nice job imo.

Thanks for input guys :)

[Bad213Boy]

ya thats not a good thing to have your pump on top of your HDD, specially when pumps use magnetic rings to push the water. ive never sat there and watched a HDD in motion, but isnt it like a CD? how do you think a CD looks after it gets scratch from a lazer lense when bumped, or in this case mass vibration from a pump? i cant see how that would be good for your HDD. your balls out crazy dude, lol. hope it works out. i like the idea of mounting a fan next to the pump though.



http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=52439&stc=1&d=1162249122

[NickS]

From what I've heard it takes a hell of a magnet to even disturb an HDD.

[andersson.j]

The hdd + pump discussion has been up hundreds of times. I wonder if it's in the stickies? If not it should be! I've never read about anyone actually having problems.

[Sneaky]

The hdd + pump discussion has been up hundreds of times. I wonder if it's in the stickies? If not it should be! I've never read about anyone actually having problems.


its always been about a pump near them... but never on top of them

[septim]

his setup with pump on top should not have any problems, besides its not exactly sitting on top of the HD, he has that alu mesh and the gel pad for around an inch clearance estimated...

[NickS]

Mmmhm. Sneaky gave me a good idea too, on AIM. Might see if I can implement it later. If I can, pix :)

[fhpchris]

Someone's BIP3 went in the mail today ;)

Just move the SATA drive to the top of the case, do not even think about putting a HDD near a big magnetic field for a long time...

[NickS]

Major update!!!

Got a lot of stuff today, and did a bit of modding. Now before you think "wow that came out kind of meh," remember that I'm only in 10th grade, in High School. But, one thing did come out good and that was the screw hole positions for mounting the rad (4). They lined up PERFECTLY. I mean, PERFECT.

Pardon the crappy pictures too. I was in a hurry, was very dark in here and everything got pretty fingerprinted.

Anyway, pictarz!

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/DSCF1791.JPG

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/DSCF1792.JPG

3 Yates. Decided not to use them on Rad though, but going with 3x Panaflo M1A instead. Already have two, ordered the third yesterday.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/DSCF1794.JPG

Lian Li Thumbscrews. Replace the regular screws on PCI brackets with these puppies.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/DSCF1796.JPG

MCRes, which I hereby declare it the leetest reservoir ever made.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/DSCF1797.JPG

Another view of rad. Oh yeah, thats my old 2000+ @ backpack as a keychain.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/DSCF1800.JPG

OK. The tube holes and fan wire holes drilled. Mounting holes too. Got one set of bolts/nuts in too.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/DSCF1801.JPG

All of'em in :)

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/DSCF1803.JPG

Oh yeah, see the pump? It's on the metal HDD adapter orientation thing that came with my dads PC-65 Plus. Stuck that in there, screwed it down and kablam. Took two long bolts, shoved them throu the back up through the gel-pad and through the pump screw holes. Tightened the nuts down and tada. Also used the small bolts/nuts that came with MCRES and now it has a nice home.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/DSCF1804.JPG

MOUNTED!!! SICK!! It's PERFECTLY straight too, I'm glad all that measuring & re-measuring paid off.

http://nickfire.com/photo/watew/DSCF1805.JPG

ZOMG!!?!?!

STAY TUNED, MORE UPDATES SOON!!!!

[en4cer]

Very nice work, I'm impressed :D I want more pics :woot:

[NickS]

Hehe, they'll be up in a bit.

[fhpchris]

Beautiful setup!

I am glad we were able to pry that rad from Sean's sticky little fingers ;)

[NickS]

Haha, no pickin' on Sean (until later) ;).

Anyway, PICTARZ.

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/moddingfinishedneedstube%20026.jpg

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/moddingfinishedneedstube%20030.jpg

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/moddingfinishedneedstube%20031.jpg

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/moddingfinishedneedstube%20032.jpg

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/moddingfinishedneedstube%20035.jpg

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/moddingfinishedneedstube%20037.jpg

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/moddingfinishedneedstube%20038.jpg

http://www.nickfire.com/photo/watew/moddingfinishedneedstube%20040.jpg

Mounted the PWM fan with the MCRES mounting brackets lol. Works great :)

It's a Protechnic Electric that I got out of an older PSU. Love the damn thing. Soldered on a 4 pin tail instead of a weird 2 pin and it kicks butt.

The tubing & AM2 hold down (last of parts) will be here MONDAY!

[Fr3ak]

Looks very good Nicks :)
Have you tested if push or pull gets you better temps?
I had the same setup, but after testing the fans on top of the rad, I stuck with that as temps were 2C better that way.
Depends on the particular setup, fans and Rad used I suppose, but before you cant reverse the mod, give it a try :)

[NickS]

Pull is almost always better so pull it is :)

[Fr3ak]

Doh I didnt notice in what direction the fans were mounted.
I use the same setup then, I just mounted the fans on top, because I thought the hotter air is getting farer away from the case, but I guess that advantage, if there is any at all, is negligible.

[Sneaky]

*cough*

you're welcome for the idea on mounting the pump on the LL horizontal HDD bracket, as well as the link to silverpcs for the thumbscrews and standoffs




but the fan filter on the rad need to go - WAYYY too restrictive for airflow (and tend to make the fans louder due to that added restriction)... plus its easy enough to vacuum the top of the radiator when its outside the case, so the need for fan filters is negligible... if anything, get a peice of black MeshX and cut it to the size of the radiator to cover it up and make it look uniform


and get some black trim for around the through-holes for the hoses - the white LL edging ruins the clean look of a lian-li case - pick up some 1" rubber grommets from mcmaster and you'll appreciate how much cleaner it looks


and then I'm gonna bug you about needing a 90 degree SATA cable with your HDD in that location... as well as removing the cable pull tags on your IDE cables... oh, and the wire loom on the wires from the top fans needs to go... get some sleeving or heatshrink tubing



thats my rant for now... but all in good fun Nick ;)

[SiGfever]

Nice work Nick!

But if you can get that res up higher than the pump you will get better feed to your pump and quicker bleed time.

[NickS]

heh I'm gonna have to fill loop @ top, I already know.

It posted @ first try too. I rigged the stock cooler on kinda (the bolts kinda got in the way) and put a VF700-CU on the X800 and I'm formatting windows ATM.

7v'ed the Panaflo's @ Top and it runs great! Water MONDAY.

[NickS]

Wow, got it up & running. At stock it's faster than hell!

[nn_step]

Crank it man
Crank it

[NickS]

Trying too, but did I ever mention I fuc*ing hate DFI?

[thunderstruck!]

Trying too, but did I ever mention I fuc*ing hate DFI?
That's what you get for using the Infinity. :p:

[septim]

hmm get an Asus? lolz.
more pics pls.

[en4cer]

I'm sure your DFI is fine ;) Lets see some OC now :D

[NickS]

All is well now. I did some playing around in the BIOS, getting a feel for things and my hardwares limit. I posted 2.7GHz @ CPU, stock volt. Things started to really heat up though after playing for a good ~20 minutes with different volts & frequencies. That ALU heatsink sucks.

Got ram to 1000MHz 4-4-4-8-12 w/TWR@6 & Volt @ 2.3v. (2T)

That was with CPU @ 2.5Ghz, 800MHz divider.

I'll play more Monday when I get water up! :)

[thunderstruck!]

As much as I hate external parts, you've really made the most of it, great job.:up:

[MaxxxRacer]

That's what you get for using the Infinity. :p:

QFT

[NickS]

Heh, like I said guys it's not too bad now :)

[NickS]

It's finished! After a few hours, I'm done.

A few thoughts:

Well first let me start by thanking Petra. You, have the best store on the internet. Only you can top Newegg in price, speed, and awesomeness.

Why you ask? Well look what I got with my order.

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras.jpg

Haloween candy. Yeah. Petra's Tech Shop = Rape.

Now onto the parts. Well installing the AM2 hold down (swapped out USMA) was a :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: and a half. Trying to get it on by hand didn't work, I ended up bending it. It's kind of hard to bend that thick of metal too. I FINALLY got it on after using two pliars very carefully. Then came the 7/16" ID Masterkleer. Another :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: to work with. Getting it on the MCRES barbs? Fat chance. Got it on everything else BESIDES that. They're on about, mm 7/16 of the way :p:. Tried running the tube under hot water @ tap (which was steaming), tried soaping up barbs, no go. So they're on, and they're not going anywhere. Not on all of the way though. Some of you are going to be like :eek: The MCRes itself I love though.

Onto Overclocking. Well the DFI OC's great BUT has its quirks. Could be CPU, could be BIOS (I'm running newest ver). It REFUSES to POST @ 2.8GHz (280x10) with RAM @ 667MHz Divider, which would give me ~940MHZ RAM. I tried everything. The RAM has and will do 1000MHz, too.

So I drop the multiplier to 9x and do 314*9, RAM @ 667 Divider still. Gives me roughly 938MHz. (4-4-4-12) It posts. Sigh, so yeah I'm running 9x Divider atm. Heres my stable perma PC from now on. 1.625v @ CPU.

Validation (http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=136110)

Anyways, onto the pictures shall we?

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20001.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20003.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20005.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20006.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20009.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20011.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20015.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20016.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20017.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20018.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/petras%20021.jpg

ENJOY!

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

whats wrong with DFI? my dfi has been treating me good once i got to know it.

DFI boards all have their own personality, and it takes a bit of time to find what they like.

nice looking setup though.

[nn_step]

Looks awesome dude

[|Aegi3|]

Awesome work Nick! :toast:

[en4cer]

that looks very good :D

[MaxxxRacer]

looking good man.

[thunderstruck!]

It looks like the tube going from cpu > gpu is severely kinked.

And WSP, you didn't read it, but he's using the Infinity, a totally different animal than the LP series.

[Shpoon]

Looks great! But I agree with thunderstruck..you may possibly need to lengthen the tubing between cpu and gpu...maybe it's just the picture though?

I like the placement of the micro-res though..

[NickS]

Here, took some pix. Not kinked. :)

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=52643&d=1162868061

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=52644&d=1162868061

[thunderstruck!]

Pics aren't very helpful, but I will take your word for it. Nice setup!

[skaktuss]

...
Haloween candy...
damn!
*considering to purchase something at christmas time*

[Xavior]

PTS' small finishing touches is what makes them so great. Who'd actually think of adding candy in a WC order?

Great looking setup, very clean. Just keep an eye on the res barbs, you wouldn't want a tube slipping off the barb.

[NickS]

Wow, I just spent about an hour and a half totally de-designing SmartGuardian's GUI. I love that app, so easy to edit.

Made a new template/background in Photoshop CS2, and changed coordinates & names of ALL buttons/temps/volts/etc.

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/smartguardianmod2.JPG

wooh.. tired now.

(quality of that JPG is junk, sry)

[Patriote]

Good Looking dude! Woooohoooo Fan Grills on the Rad :p:

[septim]

nice rig Nicks. good job on that clean looking inside.

[NickS]

Thanks man. This thing heats up my room so bad its nuts.

With it on air @ 2.5GHz 1.4v, it felt only a little hotter than my venice @ 2.5 1.35v.

Now 2.8GHz 1.625v? Insta-room-heater.

[Burn]

Looking great! I personally want a PC-A10B, hopefully it'll come around the holidays, Lian-Li makes such good cases.

Overall, quite a sexy setup.

[NickS]

Aight, some changes here :p.

Modded my chipset to SLi, switched jumpers to 8x and 8x, and threw in two of these http://forum.overclock3d.net/oc3d_gfx/smilies/cussing.gifhttp://forum.overclock3d.net/oc3d_gfx/smilies/cussing.gifhttp://forum.overclock3d.net/oc3d_gfx/smilies/cussing.gifhttp://forum.overclock3d.net/oc3d_gfx/smilies/cussing.gifhttp://forum.overclock3d.net/oc3d_gfx/smilies/cussing.gifes (http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?productConfiguration Id=592431).

Yeah, 590/1600 out of a 7600GT. You'll soon see why.

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/SLI%21%20011%20%28Medium%29.jpg

First off, the SLi mod on the chipset. What a pain. It look me a good 10 minutes of careful scraping only to find that the things I need to connect arent beveled solder pads, they're flat with the chip. So after a bit more scraping, I finally joined the connection with a trusty #2 pencil. Swapped the six jumper blocks over and my board is SLi. Nabbed my Dads SLi bridge that came with his A8N-SLi Premium. These were his cards too.

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/SLI%21%20006%20%28Medium%29.jpg

Theres card #1. Mm.

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/SLI%21%20007%20%28Medium%29.jpg

Eek, nude!

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/SLI%21%20002%20%28Medium%29.jpg

The core :)

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/SLI%21%20004%20%28Medium%29.jpg

Yeah, you read that right. These things have 1.1ns RAM. The same ram you "cool" people have on your "almighty" 7900GTX's and X1900XTX's. :p:
Well guess what, I got the same stuff on my $150 card.

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/SLI%21%20005%20%28Medium%29.jpg

Some heatsink action for the lonely mosfets @ rear. These things WILL be vModded later this week, when the SECOND Maze4 arrives. Oh, and some swiftech ramsinks too.

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/SLI%21%20009%20%28Medium%29.jpg

Maze4 is just begging to be used right there :p:

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/SLI%21%20010%20%28Medium%29.jpg

Hehe, dual boxes :)

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/SLI%21%20013%20%28Medium%29.jpg

My Tagan 2Force 480w-u22-SLi is holding up well two, even with all this stuff.

Keep checkin the thread, later this week I'll be..


Lapping my CPU Heatspreader
Installing Dual Maze4's
Mounting Swiftech Ramsinks
vModding VGA's
Benchmarking

[nn_step]

Wow, you really are going all out on this build.

[en4cer]

:hm: I'm gonna keep an eye on this thread. Very nice work

[JoeBar]

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/SLI%21%20013%20%28Medium%29.jpg



"Nick Sarpolis". Do u have Greek origin?

[NickS]

Yep. Full first name is Nicholas haha.

I'm very little greek though. Just a very greek name I guess.

[NickS]

Ordered another Maze4 and some Swiftech ramsinks, from Petras! :)

[thunderstruck!]

Is the tygon or masterkleer? Have you noticed any clouding?

[NickS]

Masterkleer, and nope :)

[msimax]

hey nicks are you able to run 315*9 with temps below 20c??

[NickS]

Um no way lol. My IHS is :banana::banana::banana::banana:ing wavy, good game AMD.

I hope to be under 50*C load when I get it lapped. At the moment it runs really friggin hot, because of poor contact.

[Sparky]

Why don't you remove the IHS? I just did on my opty and it dropped temps a ton. Glad I did now, but it was my first time and was really nervewracking.

On a side note, I have the 1.1ns RAM on my X1900XT but I found out that apparently it is "failed" 1.1ns because with the XTX bios I get bad artifacting from the memory. So just because it is 1.1ns labeled doesn't always mean it can run at that speed. But if it does, more power to ya :)

[NickS]

AM2 IHS' are soldered on. If they werent it'd have been gone a week ago :p:

[2fink]

AM2 IHS' are soldered on. If they werent it'd have been gone a week ago :p:

are you sure? where have you read this?

[badhabit]

@NickS, I saw in your other thread you were looking for ramsinks, but you've also found a cool mosfet sink? Where did you get it?

[eXa]

are you sure? where have you read this?

U didnt read the thread about the smartass who ripped out the core on his new am2 FX cpu?

[NickS]

@ Exa, haha that was great.

@ Badhabit, those copper mosfet sink things? They were ramsinks but I didn't want to use them on my RAM.

I got them off newegg, a pack of eight was like $12.

[2fink]

U didnt read the thread about the smartass who ripped out the core on his new am2 FX cpu?

read it after my post.... but, there is mentioned someone had a am2 without soldered ihs (iirc)

[Shift]

U didnt read the thread about the smartass who ripped out the core on his new am2 FX cpu?

Can I get a link? :D

[FragTek]

Lookin' great Nick, get us more pix as soon as you get that other waterblock installed! Nice RAM on those vid cards too, very 1337 :)

[HaxR3]

read it after my post.... but, there is mentioned someone had a am2 without soldered ihs (iirc)

worth risking it? lol

[eXa]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=114951&highlight=solder+ihs

Here u go!

[NickS]

Today I spent FOUR HOURS lapping my 3800+ and oh god I hope it works again after being raped in a puddle of water for that long haha. Took a blow dryer on low heat to it fro a bit, seems to be OK. Just hope theres no water inside.

Anyway, pix :)

http://nickfire.com/public/ihs-lap/ihslap%20001.jpg

Before. Yeah, bad.

http://nickfire.com/public/ihs-lap/ihslap%20002.jpg

Cleaned up. :D

http://nickfire.com/public/ihs-lap/ihslap%20003.jpg

After ten minutes of 400 grit. Yeah, it's concave.

http://nickfire.com/public/ihs-lap/ihslap%20004.jpg

After about an hour of 400 grit.

http://nickfire.com/public/ihs-lap/ihslap%20009.jpg

45 minutes later, on 800 grit.

http://nickfire.com/public/ihs-lap/ihslap%20010.jpg

About another 45 minutes, still on 800 - 1000 grit.

http://nickfire.com/public/ihs-lap/ihslap%20013.jpg

Finally, about an hour later and stopped for dinner. That was at 1500 grit.

Then, the finished product after about ~25 minutes of 2000 grit, then 5 minutes of printer paper.

http://nickfire.com/public/ihs-lap/ihslap%20015.jpg

http://nickfire.com/public/ihs-lap/ihslap%20019.jpg

http://nickfire.com/public/ihs-lap/ihslap%20022.jpg

Ownage. It forms a small suction to my bathroom mirror haha :)

Enjoy!

Tomorrow, springs for waterblock should come.

[wtkprol]

What do you mean "printer paper"? Like actually printer paper. lol.

[NickS]

Yep. It's abrasive :)

[eXa]

Abrasive? can u translate to norwegian?:p:

Edit: dang thats one nice lap! if u spend another 7 hours with 800 u would minimize the impact of the ihs! haha! but dang, almost miror finish!

[en4cer]

Abrasive? can u translate to norwegian?:p:

Edit: dang thats one nice lap! i uspend another 7 hours with 800 u woiuld minimize the impact of the ihs! haha! but dang, almost miror finish!


abrasive = rough (like sandpaper) :)

[eXa]

ah thought maybe it was something like that.

[NickS]

Mounted the stock cooler for now (as I said earlier waiting for new waterblock springs.)

Wow what a temp difference. 2.7GHz 1.5v just chilling in windows it's 32 & 34*C in Core Temp :)

[|Aegi3|]

n1 Nick, cant wait to see what u get w/water :toast:

[FragTek]

Very nice lapping job Nick. That should realllllly help when ya get your waterblock back on it. Don't forget to update us with new temps once it's back under water, the temp drop should be pretty drastic!

[NickS]

Oh yeah I will :)

It was VERY concave.

[Sparky]

nice job. Yikes that looks like the C2D - let's not copy intel on that now, AMD :nono:

[NickS]

Haha yea really. All AMD AM2 soldered IHS' are concave it seems. Afireinside had the same problem with his. He lapped too.

[MaxxxRacer]

wow.. thats quite alot of effor that went into that lap job.. what were the reported temp improvements.

[eXa]

my 165 is flat. but my brother's 146 is not. the corners is higher, almost so im starting to believe that its soldered after reading this but guess its not since its 939...

[FragTek]

my 165 is flat. but my brother's 146 is not. the corners is higher, almost so im starting to believe that its soldered after reading this but guess its not since its 939...
Just because it's 939 doesn't mean that the IHS is flat. My first 3000+ Winchester was far from flat, and after a good lapping job similar to Nick's the improvement in temps was instantly noticeable.

[Herr Brun]

FragTek: He doesn't mean that it's necessarily flat, but that it isn't soldered, since it is s939.

[NickS]

No the edges were high. They were the first to turn copper. The center took forever to be complete.

[NickS]

OK so I got SLi under water, encountered some problems along the way though.

First problem was getting the masterkleer to take the bend. That didn't work.

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/improvise.jpg

So I had to come up with a solution. Now I know I'm going to get flamed and get n00b stamped acrossed my forehead for this, but it works. It's better than almost totally kinked tubing too.

Suprisingly, my temps are great too. vModded the cards and they're purring at 640/1800 atm. Anyway, pix, and the flamefest.

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/finished%20005%20%28Custom%29.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/finished%20018%20%28Custom%29.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/finished%20019%20%28Custom%29.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/finished%20025%20%28Custom%29.jpg

This project is pretty much done, sadly. :(

Ordered an external HDD cage, and my new 320GB 7200.10 is already waiting to be installed. All that's left is RAM. :)

There will be a few more planned updates. Namely the installation of HDD + External cage, Benchmarks, and final stuff like that.

I'd like to take this time to thank you all for reading my thread and posting comments. It's my first real successful, "full" project and I'm quite proud of it. All your suggestions and comments have greatly improved it too, from what it was going to originally going to be.

Special thanks to Afireinside for the Radiator too. That was extremely kind of him.

Thanks to PetrasTechshop for the leet prices & the second free pen too. :)

Check back in a few days, will prolly be the second to last update.

Thank you all again,
Nick

[nn_step]

Very nice work man and kick ass lapping job :up:

[NickS]

Thanks nn_step :) I really appreciate your approval :D

[fhpchris]

You mean, This didnt work well?

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/improvise.jpg?

[_G_]

http://www.petrastechshop.com/40swsm625f5o.html

[eXa]

im not shure what u tried with the zip ties and stuff yhere. but it should make that bend if done properly!

Ur build is quite nice though!

[NickS]

Attempting to make my own style of "coolsleeves" :p:

[NickS]

Heres some pics of the HDD :)

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/seagate1.jpg

http://upload.nickfire.com//files/1/seagate2.jpg

[thunderstruck!]

Try coolsleeves. Nice hard drive though.:)

[NickS]

Meh, don't want to spend any more money. Plus, I doubt it'd fit anyway, side fan.

Ty bout HDD :)

[Timmay]

They are very nice hard drives... Quick n Speedy.

[septim]

btw Nicks what is that short stump of a heatsink on the vid cards backside, is that a gutted mcx159? looks like the big brother of the mc14 though.