View Full Version : Updating the Skulltrail rig
DarthBeavis
04-25-2008, 03:41 PM
waiting on the Silverstone Zeus to come back from Smooth Creations . . .got a SB block from Vadim (will replace with a DD block when they are available) and a sweet MIPS ram cooler . . .)
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7899/dsc00375mu8.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00375mu8.jpg)http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/8435/dsc00374cf9.th.jpg (http://img186.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00374cf9.jpg)http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/3456/dsc00373md7.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00373md7.jpg)
also got more ram on the way . . will go Vista 64 with 8 gigs . . .
Asgard_thor
04-25-2008, 03:43 PM
awesome
cant wait
71 (Bryan)
04-25-2008, 04:23 PM
does the ramcooler help with clocks or timings or or something?
DarthBeavis
04-25-2008, 04:54 PM
does the ramcooler help with clocks or timings or or something?
helps you download pRon faster . . .
Intel suggests active cooling the ram on this board . . .seriously
does the ramcooler help with clocks or timings or or something?
FB dimms run hotter than normal ddr2/3 and active cooling on ram in general helps to prolong component life, especially at higher voltages.
NaeKuh
04-25-2008, 05:19 PM
RAWR thats the only toy left i want to play with. However cant justify blowing 5k on a machine core parts. :X
Plus i have no idea on how to pull off the perfect h2o on that thing. I would get lost.
Do some justice on that thing DB :up:
Snyxxx
04-25-2008, 05:46 PM
Does water actually flow along the RAM chips or does the whole top cool down and the heat has to work its way up to the block?
disruptfam
04-25-2008, 06:34 PM
i think the heat works its way to the top
Does water actually flow along the RAM chips or does the whole top cool down and the heat has to work its way up to the block?
The latter, looks like he is using custom ram sinks and cooling the top of the heatsink with the w/b.
OCZ has Flex2 which cools the chips but you can only use 2 dimms.
Whoa DB.... excellent!!! :clap: :clap:
BTW, in the third pic it looks like those heatsink things on the RAM aren't fully attached or are coming off....
DarthBeavis,
Can you help me with a few questions, please?
(1) Can you please confirm that the MPC-X38 chipset block fits perfectly on the NB? Does the MPC-X38 already come with the right backplate?
(2) The MC-TDX is a perfect fit even though its made for a S775? Does it have a hard mount kit with backplate ?
(3) The Blastflow SB is available on this continent. Was it an easy install ? Does it flex the mobo?
(4) Which brand of ram do you use? I've been eyeing the Mushkins, but on my phone call, they warned me about chosing the right modules because the heatsinks may interfere with the memory sockets since the ram was really designed for Apple. I have friends with a very rough time with FBDIMMs in general. Some brands can't even maintain CAS5 with light overclocking without having to jack up the voltage. One highly respected member here had to go to CAS6 and even then go to 1.9 volts top keep the overclock. Its a shame.
(5) What does DD have up its sleeves? lol
DarthBeavis
04-25-2008, 08:06 PM
Thanks smee, I just thru it on for pix ;) will fix it.
IanY:
(1) Can you please confirm that the MPC-X38 chipset block fits perfectly on the NB? Does the MPC-X38 already come with the right backplate?
I don't use a backplate but the block fits perfectly.
(2) The MC-TDX is a perfect fit even though its made for a S775? Does it have a hard mount kit with backplate ?
Perfect fit, again no back plate. We can get DD to cut some up tho. They really like to accomodate their customers ;)
(3) The Blastflow SB is available on this continent. Was it an easy install ? Does it flex the mobo?
I had to order from Vadim's site overseas, great customer service I might add. Got the MIPS cooler from them as well. DD said they are working on a zSkulltrial SB block so one should be available. I asked EK about mofset blocks . . .did not sound like they are on the horizon . . .sniff.
(4) Which brand of ram do you use? I've been eyeing the Mushkins, but on my phone call, they warned me about chosing the right modules because the heatsinks may interfere with the memory sockets since the ram was really designed for Apple. I have friends with a very rough time with FBDIMMs in general. Some brands can't even maintain CAS5 with light overclocking without having to jack up the voltage. One highly respected member here had to go to CAS6 and even then go to 1.9 volts top keep the overclock. Its a shame.
RAM Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SM9UC4
(5) What does DD have up its sleeves? lol
Oh, lots . . .something things you really will be suprised by . . .
LinusTech
04-25-2008, 08:32 PM
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=29103&vpn=BLASTFLOW%2DTIDAL%2DSKULLTRAIL%2DSB%2DBLOCK&manufacture=Vadim%20Computers
Vadim block is here and now.
DarthBeavis
04-25-2008, 09:35 PM
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=29103&vpn=BLASTFLOW%2DTIDAL%2DSKULLTRAIL%2DSB%2DBLOCK&manufacture=Vadim%20Computers
Vadim block is here and now.
Damn you dirty apes to hell ;) Why did I not see that . . .arg
RockfordFosgate
04-25-2008, 11:49 PM
Money money money must be funny in a richmans world :D:D:D:D
Looks awesome;)
Sly Fox
04-26-2008, 12:23 AM
Is it actually beneficial to watercool the southbridge on Skulltrail?
I'm curious because it appears fairly common on Skulltrail, but on other boards it seems to be agreed upon that watercooling the southbridge is relatively useless for all but the most insane overclocks.
THRASHER2
04-26-2008, 12:47 AM
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=29103&vpn=BLASTFLOW%2DTIDAL%2DSKULLTRAIL%2DSB%2DBLOCK&manufacture=Vadim%20Computers
Vadim block is here and now.
Damn you dirty apes to hell ;) Why did I not see that . . .arg
DAMN..... I must have THAT! :up:
ME! looks in the Sofa for spare COINS
biftek.
04-26-2008, 04:51 AM
Is it actually beneficial to watercool the southbridge on Skulltrail?
I'm curious because it appears fairly common on Skulltrail, but on other boards it seems to be agreed upon that watercooling the southbridge is relatively useless for all but the most insane overclocks.
I think it has to do with the fact that the southbridge fan on skulltrail sounds like a whiny jet engine. ;)
And the only other option is to watercool it.
Damn you dirty apes to hell ;) Why did I not see that . . .arg
Like I said.. on this continent lol And Linus has the MIPS ram freezer as well :)
Thanks for info.
Is it actually beneficial to watercool the southbridge on Skulltrail?
I'm curious because it appears fairly common on Skulltrail, but on other boards it seems to be agreed upon that watercooling the southbridge is relatively useless for all but the most insane overclocks.
Its not about cooling, my man. Living with the Skulltrail stock SB fan is like living with a dozen nagging wives rofl :) I better be careful :)
The stock fan will turn anyone into a deranged psychotic serial killer. They should use that fan at Guantanamo Bay to extract sensitive information from enemy combatants.
Sly Fox
04-26-2008, 05:09 AM
Its not about cooling, my man. Living with the Skulltrail stock SB fan is like living with a dozen nagging wives rofl :) I better be careful :)
The stock fan will turn anyone into a deranged psychotic serial killer. They should use that fan at Guantanamo Bay to extract sensitive information from enemy combatants.
Suddenly I'm glad I don't own a Skulltrail. Amazing board, but it sounds like even the southbridge is a beast, what with needing a fan like that to cool it. I guess that's part of the price you pay for crossfire and SLI on one board :up:
Suddenly I'm glad I don't own a Skulltrail. Amazing board, but it sounds like even the southbridge is a beast, what with needing a fan like that to cool it. I guess that's part of the price you pay for crossfire and SLI on one board :up:
With full credit to CyberDruid, I post three of his pictures here.
As you can see, the "SB fan" is not really just for the SB itself. There are three chipsets under that heatsink and that also covers the seperate IO and network chipsets. The additional problem is that all of these chipsets are not level with each other, and therefore Intel quick fixes the problem with extra thick thermal tape that does nothing for cooling. The fan spins at a super high velocity, and that's why its so noisy.
I myself don't own a mobo yet. Just observing a friend's.
Sly Fox
04-26-2008, 05:36 AM
Huh, weird. You'd think to solve the problem of the chips being at different heights they'd just have the heatsink at two different levels. I mean, obviously it's a custom heatsink anyways, I'd assume they could have fairly easily just cut off a bit from the bottom where the higher chip is.
DarthBeavis
04-26-2008, 06:01 AM
I found out about the SB block from Cyber. Then I took it further with the MIPS block (Cyber take note and catch up bro ;) ).
DarthBeavis
04-26-2008, 09:26 AM
Note for anyone using MIPS cooler on Supertalent FB DIMMS . . .
You will need to use thermal pads on one side as it is not level which is why the heatspreader in the pic above does not rest flat. the chip in the middle sits higher than the ram chips
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3140/dsc00368mg3.th.jpg (http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00368mg3.jpg)
rioja
04-26-2008, 09:31 AM
if it's not a secret, how much all this rig costs?
WesM63
04-26-2008, 09:34 AM
Looks good! I was thinking about going water on my "Skulltrail" , but it looks like the blastflow block will interfere with my 8800's in SLI.
NaeKuh
04-26-2008, 09:40 AM
Man having friends like DB CD and Iany blows.
Having friends who can afford the top 2% and me admiring there nice toys sucks!
:rofl:
:up:
Seriously jealous at all you Skulltrail owners. Wait til neha runs around. And i'l be with you guys!
I have a dual processor rig. I jacked Movieman's Dual Sossoman setup. :D
Movieman
04-26-2008, 09:45 AM
Man having friends like DB CD and Iany blows.
Having friends who can afford the top 2% and me admiring there nice toys sucks!
:rofl:
:up:
Seriously jealous at all you Skulltrail owners. Wait til neha runs around. And i'l be with you guys!
I have a dual processor rig. I jacked Movieman's Dual Sossoman setup. :D
:rolleyes: Jacked? ..No.. Just saw a good guy that wanted the cpu's..
I'm patient, I'll find another pair..;)
DarthBeavis
04-26-2008, 09:55 AM
Man having friends like DB CD and Iany blows.
Having friends who can afford the top 2% and me admiring there nice toys sucks!
:rofl:
:up:
Seriously jealous at all you Skulltrail owners. Wait til neha runs around. And i'l be with you guys!
I have a dual processor rig. I jacked Movieman's Dual Sossoman setup. :D
what makes you think I could afford a Skulltrail rig ;)
Movieman
04-26-2008, 10:03 AM
what makes you think I could afford a Skulltrail rig ;)
YGPM:D
LinusTech
04-26-2008, 10:19 AM
Like I said.. on this continent lol And Linus has the MIPS ram freezer as well :)
Thanks for info.
We're on the same continent as you.
FYI, the MIPS RAM freezers are not here YET. This is the latest tracking info from DHL. We've actually got a bunch of MIPS stuff, but most of it is hidden on the site because I don't want people ordering it until it's ready to ship.
Status: Departure from outward Office of Exchange in Country of Origin
Status from: 24.04.08 01:08
biftek.
04-26-2008, 02:28 PM
Good luck getting DHL to ship anything...
I ordered stuff from California a week ago.
[Note: I'm in Colorado]
It spent 4 of those days in Califonia... Going between facilities...
Yet magically, in less than a day, it makes its to Utah? WTF?
Okay I'm done mini-ranting, I'm just really angered by them ATM. :p:
Linus what is the price on those MIPS ram freezers gonna be?
DarthBeavis
04-26-2008, 04:11 PM
My Aqua SLI connectors shipped from Germany on the 15th, have no idea where in the heck they are:
Foreign International Dispatch GERMANY 04/15/08
8:35am
Foreign International
Origin Post is Preparing Shipment GERMANY
04/15/08 7:28am
Origin Post is
Foreign Arrival at Outward Office GERMANY
04/15/08 5:00am
Foreign Arrival at
Foreign Acceptance GERMANY 04/14/08 4:53pm
DarthBeavis
05-20-2008, 04:05 PM
Skully's new PSU . . .Silverstone Zeus painted by Smooth Creations . . .
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/3757/dsc00439wk7.th.jpg (http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00439wk7.jpg)http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/307/dsc00440mk2.th.jpg (http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00440mk2.jpg)http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/9189/dsc00442qv2.th.jpg (http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00442qv2.jpg)
ownage
05-20-2008, 04:16 PM
Sickest PSU ever!
biftek.
05-20-2008, 05:22 PM
Wow good job on the sleeving who ever got stuck with doing that :D
DarthBeavis
05-20-2008, 06:29 PM
Wow good job on the sleeving who ever got stuck with doing that :D
Performance PCs did it.
SiGfever
05-20-2008, 06:33 PM
Now that is classy. :up:
disruptfam
05-20-2008, 06:35 PM
Very nice psu and lovely job on the sleeving by perfpc
WHOA!! I really really like that DB!! :up: Insane job there! :shocked:
DarthBeavis
05-20-2008, 06:45 PM
WHOA!! I really really like that DB!! :up: Insane job there! :shocked:
All I did was buy the PSU . . .Smooth Creations and Performance PCs did all the magic. Thanks for the compliments.
Thanks for Varrius for convincing me to get the Zeus instead of Decathlon
varrius
05-20-2008, 06:54 PM
Yeah, Zeus owns face. No proprietary power cables, like Decathlon. And less ripple.
That paint job is sick.
Yeknom
05-20-2008, 07:05 PM
That PSU looks beautiful!
DarthBeavis
05-20-2008, 07:18 PM
The cool thing about this PSU is you can switch between single rail and six rail.
DarthBeavis
05-20-2008, 07:42 PM
Would this work ok for a GX2 card (single 8 pin from psu to the 8 pin and 6 pin on the gpu)? PSU is set to single rail.
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5659/dsc00448hq4.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00448hq4.jpg)
That must be the 1200W version? The two Zeus that I have are not modular, but they are old and are a 750W and a 850W. Its strange that the PSU is modular. I'm not going to start some flame fest about modular PSUs (not with you), so I'll exercise restraint from here on.
DarthBeavis
05-20-2008, 08:40 PM
That must be the 1200W version? The two Zeus that I have are not modular, but they are old and are a 750W and a 850W. Its strange that the PSU is modular. I'm not going to start some flame fest about modular PSUs (not with you), so I'll exercise restraint from here on.
I am a modder first and foremost . . .modular works for my purposes. I have a 1k PC Power and Cooling right here . . .hey, all the cables are attached . . .arg. ;)
Always trade offs there are . . .
charles_h
05-20-2008, 09:45 PM
Keep the updates flowing DB, I'm counting on you to blaze the trail with the skulltrail on water. I'm planning a build called "pure|murderbox" based on the skulltrail. Unlike the murderbox which was designed to reproduce, pure|murderbox will be an attempt at a one off creation.
Looking forward to seeing your progress. :)
varrius
05-20-2008, 10:01 PM
The Zeus 1200 watt is one of the only modular "server" power supplies available. It allows you to run two CPUs, multiple video cards, etc. All while keeping "wire management" in mind.
I personally think it's the best PSU you can buy right now.
What else could you want? It's six-rail OR single-rail.
Congratulations, but, for me, no thanks. Class A.. modular. I'll look elsewhere.
DarthBeavis
05-21-2008, 07:27 AM
Congratulations, but, for me, no thanks. Class A.. modular. I'll look elsewhere.
Like a modular PSU vs non-modular PSU will make a diff in breaking 40k in
3dmark06 ;) IanY do you have one of those Ford Vs Chevy Calvin Peeing stickers? ;)
NaeKuh
05-21-2008, 07:52 AM
since when did ETASIS make modular?
You guys all do know the Zeus is made by ETASIS.
You guys arent thinkn of the STRIDER or OP are you? Cuz i know those are modular. But the zeus series by ETASIS was never modular. I own 2 of them.
Like a modular PSU vs non-modular PSU will make a diff in breaking 40k in
3dmark06 ;) IanY do you have one of those Ford Vs Chevy Calvin Peeing stickers? ;)
Not really :) My sticker features the German brands lol 3D Mark 2006. PSU. There you go obfuscating the issue.
Its a real pity when Silverstone takes a first class Etasis or Seventeam product and then convert it into a modular. Its a first tier Jonny Guru PSU. When I deviated from PCP&C, I took extra care to get a Zeus and stay away from the Strider series.
[serious edit]
No Naekuh, they really made the 1200W Zeus a modular product. There's a review on Hardware Cannucks.
Now.. here is the reason!!!! Its not an Estasis or SevenTeam product !! Like WTF?!!?? Can you believe that?!!?? Can you say downhill?
Unlike other Zeus models, that have been manufactured by either SevenTeam or Etasis, this unit is built by robots by Impervio in Taiwan.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/4636-silverstone-zeus-1200w-power-supply-review.html
DarthBeavis
05-21-2008, 09:24 AM
This PSU anti-modular thing is totally new to me and I have been building rigs for a long time. I am not saying you should not have your preference . . .but this reminds me of the guys who just cling to their CRTs . . .or guys who just love Tubes in their audio equipment and reel-to-reel tapes. Yes, IanY, these are very good analogies.
Modular works well for us modders anyways.
How about guys who put big wings and deep spoilers on their car because it looks more cool, never mind that the underlying handling characteristics are all twisted up ?
I'm not trying to throw wet blankets. There are technical reasons but I'm not going to get into that. Naekuh, care to explain? Flame fests are not necessary.
Back to Jonny Guru's Tier 1 list. Not a single modular PSU is on that list.
I'm not here to sling mud, but I do treasure vacuum tube audio equipment (but don't use them primarily now), and they are still among the highest end audio equipment made (hey, you mentioned it). Audio Research and Conrad Johnson are just two companies that continue to sell out of vacuum tube power amps costing two to four Skulltrail rigs each. Never mind that the industry is fully of led dancing mud-sounding Japanese electronics. You don't want me to get started on digitized audio. You hit a very sore spot on your vacuum tube comment.
This vacuum tube power amp costs $40,000. You may think that people who buy these are morons, and you are entitled to your opinion.
http://www.audioresearch.com/ref610T.html
NaeKuh
05-21-2008, 11:16 AM
Its a real pity when Silverstone takes a first class Etasis or Seventeam product and then convert it into a modular. Its a first tier Jonny Guru PSU. When I deviated from PCP&C, I took extra care to get a Zeus and stay away from the Strider series.
[serious edit]
No Naekuh, they really made the 1200W Zeus a modular product. There's a review on Hardware Cannucks.
Now.. here is the reason!!!! Its not an Estasis or SevenTeam product !! Like WTF?!!?? Can you believe that?!!?? Can you say downhill?
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/4636-silverstone-zeus-1200w-power-supply-review.html
omg they are killing the zeus name.
Iany you know im with you on this one. I like quality above all things, which is why i pay for it.
oh wellz i have 2 PCnC 1KW SR series on backup anyhow got them on sale for 149.99 on clearance! just too lazy to fit the extended psu inside and route the cables.
HaCKs
05-21-2008, 11:54 AM
$149 for a PCP&C 1KW????
WHERE?
Want to sell me one for what you paid???
:yepp::yepp::yepp: