Maximus Extreme + Zalman GT1000 tri-loop setup - picture heavy

Well, here's my take on watercooling the maximus extreme. First of all, I did get decent temps using a Reserator XT with the stock fusion block chipset cooler. However, I decided after all to go all the way and replace this with custom blocks and radiators. So I'll start with a review of the components:

Zalman "Z-Machine" GT1000
http://www.zalman.co.kr/images/produ...1000_img06.jpg
4-5mm thick aluminum walls, tool-free HDD cage, supports up to 6 HHDs and 7 expansion slots

Laing DDC Ultra
http://www.aquatuning.de/images/prod...ges/1021_0.jpg
4,7m head, 600L/h, 110 ml plexiglass reservoir

EK-Supreme CPU block
http://ekwaterblocks.com/shop/images/Supreme-acetal.jpg

EK-NB S-Max
http://ekwaterblocks.com/shop/images/nb-max-s.jpg

EK-SB Max-Ex (SB/crosslinX block)
http://ekwaterblocks.com/shop/images...-ex-acetal.jpg

EK-Mosfet ASUS 3a
http://ekwaterblocks.com/shop/images...3a_1acetal.jpg

EK-FC3870 X2 (GFX cooler)
http://ekwaterblocks.com/shop/images/3870_X2_Ac1.jpg

Zalman Reserator XT
http://www.zalman.co.kr/DataFile/pro...XT_02_b(0).jpg

120mm Papst 4412 F/2M
http://www.aquatuning.de/images/prod...ges/1788_0.jpg
2400 rpm, 140 m3/h, 38dBA

Three types of tubing:
1) ClearFlex60 19/13mm (1/2") for CPU loop
2) Tygon R3603 11/8mm (5/16") for chipset/GFX loops
3) ClearFlex60 12,7/9,5mm (3/8") for bringing CPU loop out of case to the radiator - see next post
http://www.aquatuning.de/images/prod...ges/2265_0.jpg

For other hardware - check signature.

So, to remove the stock asus chipset cooler, I had to first heat it up a little with a blowdryer. Prior to this, it was completely impossible to get it off (I've been running the MB for several months so thermal paste had gotten hard like brick lol).

http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/4644/002cl5.jpg

I used ArctiClean 1 & 2 to completely remove the stock paste and prep the chipset blocks. Then Arctic Silver 5 as thermal paste.

http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/3761/001ou2.jpg

The Z-Machine with everything installed except for mobo and related components. Side walls have been removed for ease of installation. The case comes with a handy MB backplate although there is no express removal option as it has to be secured to the case with 8 allen screws. Note the HDD cage - one of the reasons I chose this case in the first place as it is completely tool-free and features some nifty shock absorbing mechanism. Note also there's room for 2 more HDDs in the bottom of the case.

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/692/003hd6.jpg

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6021/005nb7.jpg

EK blocks were easy to set up and there was no drama involved. I also ordered their CPU backplate as well as mosfet backplates. Would have been nice with backplates for the other blocks as well, in particular the SB/crosslinx as it is quite elongated.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/3125/006pv6.jpg

EK-SB Max-Ex was recently released. It's quite an intelligent design as it 1) covers both SB and crosslinx chips and 2) has barb mounting holes in a position so it will fit neatly between two GFX cards. Check this thread to see how this block came into place - many thanx to Eddie over at EK as well as Giuliano for his work with forwarding exact measurements over to EK - a big :clap: to both for their contribution! There is a 2nd revision coming up soon which should be an even better fit. As for me, I couldnt wait and ordered the block the day it appeared on the EK website lol

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/3256/007nb2.jpg
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6483/008sc0.jpg
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6169/009du3.jpg

Now some photos of the EK-FC3870 X2 cooler. I really like this and IMO the "acetal" version is nicer than the acrylic version - it also blends in well with the rest of the acetal blocks.

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2782/027cb7.jpg
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/9651/026ez6.jpg
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1884/031km8.jpg
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/676/028ki1.jpg
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/4933/029di4.jpg
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1367/030uo2.jpg

Fast forward about 8 hours; add significant amounts of blood, sweat, tears as well as a pair of severly bruised hands and :D everything is set up. Oh, and throw in some severe back pain too following an attempt to move the beast (alone) from the living room where everything was mounted and into the office... Looking back I have no idea how this was even possible considering the weight of the machine!

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/5780/010hh8.jpg

Due to the relatively compact size of the Zalman case, the rads had to be mounted on the outside. For the CPU loop this was solved with a very nifty design by Swiftech: the MCB-120 radbox.

http://www.swiftnets.com/assets/imag...-FOR-ASSEM.gif

Using this, it was possible to fix the PA120.3 rad to the back of the case using the included screws and bolts and the 120mm exhaust fan mounting holes. Unfortunately, I could not bring the 1/2" tubing outside the case and had to use reducers to convert to 3/8". The loop exits/enters the case through the bottom PCI bracket and joins the 120.3 using G3/8 to 3/8" ID barbs.

As for the top 120.2 rad serving the GFX loop, it was simply placed on top of the Reserator XT using a Thermochill PS120.2 shroud.

http://www.thermochill.com/images/products/S4100004.jpg

Between this shroud and the rad is a layer with neoprene gasket for some vibration absorption.

One of the DDC Ultras had to be mounted externally as well - using a thick sheet with velcro and self-adhesive to fix it onto the case top. I guess this works to reduce some vibration as well.

http://www.aquatuning.de/images/prod...ages/354_1.jpg

The DDC Ultra for the CPU loop however did fit snugly in the front 5.25 drive bay with same velcro sheet fixed on top of the CD/DVD drive. Drive bays have been left open so the pump can be seen.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/4987/013pf8.jpg
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8348/015sy8.jpg
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/2148/016qg1.jpg

Here at the back of the case one can see that the tubing for the GFX loop has to travel a looong way from the rad on top of the case. The Papst fans for both rads have been hooked up to a couple of Zalman Fan Mate 2's for some cheap and easy fan rpm control. The controllers are attached to the back of the case but cant be seen in the picture.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/7313/017qf1.jpg

I'm just using distilled water with Anti-Corro fluid - no other additives. Note the slightly off-whitish colour of the fluid in the CPU loop - for some reason it is completely clear in the other 2 loops although I'm using same concentration - 2% - anti-corrosive agent in all loops.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/4480/018yv4.jpg

A close-up of the radbox in action.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/2422/019rn1.jpg

CPU / mosfet area.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8330/020vy7.jpg

And finally the two 3870 X2's cooled by EK-FC3870 X2 - here using another cool invention - a SLI/crossfire connector.

http://www.aquatuning.de/images/prod...ges/2957_3.jpg

It comes in 1, 2 or 3 slot variations and makes for the most tidy setup using two or more cards together. Unfortunately, I had to use 90 degree angled barbs in this loop but I guess some compromises have to be made once in a while :D

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/5714/021mo1.jpg

Finally in the next post a look at some performance/temp stats when I get around to it.

Idle temps

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/2...letempslu5.jpg

FSX at highest settings

http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/4...fsxloadps6.jpg

Suscribed..
Waitin for pics ... :d

Nice hard there... :d

edit:

Wow thats alot of stuff in that smallish case....

looking preety good did you flush out your rads beforehand?

can you switch the hd's the other way? that would clean up the cables alot

abit of tidying up here and there and you got yourself a nice rig

Good work :D

That looks very cramped. If all I had was a midtower, I'd rather do air than water. There just isn't enough space in anything other than a full tower.

Nicely done..

What kind of tubing clamps did you use on the Crosslinx block?


I can't tell from the pictures..

Thanks for comments & interest everyone!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by disruptfam

edit:

Wow thats alot of stuff in that smallish case....

looking preety good did you flush out your rads beforehand?

---

I did flush out the rads. In fact I even managed to damage a 120.3 rad by inserting one of the fan screws way too far. I didnt discover this until later -
in the worst possible way! Some 5-10 mins into leak testing all lights/electricity suddenly went out in my flat :eek: Turned out water had been leaking from the
read rad , then trickled onto the table then further down to the floor where it collected on top of the power outlet for my computer :p: Luckily, I had another 120.3
lying around (reserved for future use hehe) so didnt have to wait for several weeks for a replacement to be shipped. Oh well. Learned a few lessons there
I guess!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by disruptfam

can you switch the hd's the other way? that would clean up the cables alot

abit of tidying up here and there and you got yourself a nice rig

Good work :D

---

No, I don't think it is possible to turn the HDD cage around. Anyway, most of the wires that can be seen in the pictures are well hidden when the side
panels are mounted.

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/4875/001go5.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NetburstXE

That looks very cramped.. If all I had was a midtower, I'd rather do air than water. There just isn't enough space in anything other than a full tower.

---

Indeed! It ain't a pretty sight, I agree. But the reason behind this project was to utilize and upgrade this case for some serious uber-watercooling of some xxxtreme components :D This build is for performance - not aesthetics / silence in any way. I did it this way rather than buying a new case - I like the Z-Machine a lot really.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Giuliano

Nicely done..

What kind of tubing clamps did you use on the Crosslinx block?

I can't tell from the pictures..

---

Actually, the picture of the crosslinx block in the first post is misleading as it turned out I didnt use the barbs as shown. Instead, I went for this 11/8 mm combined barb/clamps on all of the chipset blocks:

http://www.aquatuning.de/images/prod...ages/871_0.jpg

idle temps looks a tad high whats your ambient?

Ambient is probably around 18C when office has not been used for half a day then it rises steadily to 25-26 after a few hours of use (got 2 systems running at the same time).

I'm having some serious problems with stability. It seems to have gotten worse after I did this mod... At both stock and each bios setting I have tried so far the system just freezes and stops responding completely after 10-15 minutes. It seems this happens a little bit quicker during torture testing but it can also happen randomly whilst browsing the web.

So far I havent been able to pin the cause of this down... Just before the system stops responding the graphics of the taskbar changes - then the desktop icons changes colour when I click on them - although this varies from time to time. Sometimes it just seizes to respond - although the mouse cursor can still be moved around but system is completely dead... ::shrug:

Also a fan of mid tower cases having recently installed a loop with a PA120.3 inside my mid but I would never attempt anything this extreme. Three loops including wc'd sli in a mid :shocked:

Nice job.

Just had a session with super-relaxed timings (used auto). At the same time I cranked up the voltages significantly. Stable so far (screenie below) but I find the voltages and timings completely unacceptable.

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/5...estloadbv3.jpg

That looks awesome !

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by calvin

Also a fan of mid tower cases having recently installed a loop with a PA120.3 inside my mid but I would never attempt anything this extreme. Three loops including wc'd sli in a mid :shocked:

Nice job.

---

Well, as I said I quite liked this case when I saw it but back then I had not been introduced to xtremesystems lol :D so I was using a E6600 with a Zalman ZNPS9700LED CPU cooler and a single 7950 GT haha! No watercooling at all! Then as I constantly upgraded the system and ended up with an OC'ed 65nm quad, DDR3 memory and 2x 3870 X2s in crossfireX i realised i wanted some extreme cooling - and I ended up with the system as displayed here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by taylormsj

That looks awesome !

---

Thanks - glad you like it! To be honest, the case IMO looked way prettier with just the reserator xt on top - but hey cant have it all especially with a 3-loop setup in a mid tower. Guess I could have used a tj07 or a coolermaster like lots of people around here but wanted to keep the Z-machine.

If only I could get the beast to run stable :( Last test did run for about 20 minutes then some vista error message saying not enough memory or resources i can't remember and i had to force shut everest via the task manager although the system remained responsive this time at least.

Quote:

---

To be honest, the case IMO looked way prettier with just the reserator xt on top

---

Have to admit the two do complement one another very well.

polar bear how did you get Everest on the side like that in Vista?

Hehe it's nice isn't it, the everest ultimate sidebar for Vista :D Here's how: goto everest file - preferences - vista sidebar - enable vista sidebar support. Then just add the everest gadget from the other gadgets for the sidebar. Then you can add/remove the various temps/voltages etc under vista sidebar - sidebar items.

I've been using everest now for maybe 6 months and its a great program. Remember to download the latest update from their website - just copy the files over your installed files in the lavalys-everest folder under program files. Then you will get support for latests mobos and other hardware e.g. graphics cards etc.

Also I really like the "system stability test" and it's way of graphically displaying various parameters (as seen in above screenshots). All in all a must-have app IMHO!

Update:

1. Added some photos of the 3870X2 cooler in post 2.

2. I think I have found the solution to my instability woes :D Turned out it was actually one of the 3870X2's causing the trouble. I remember now that during setup of the waterblocks, as I removed the stock fan/heatsink on one of the cards, one of the capacitators? (i think so but not completely sure what it's called) came off :p: I did manage to hold it in place with the new heatsink but I guess once it was off it did not function as before, hence causing system freezes after a certain time - 10-15 mins as mentioned before. This also explain the graphical glitches just before the system went unresponsive.

Anyway the problem was gone after I removed the 3870X2's and inserted a 8600GTS instead. Suddenly I could finish PCMark Vantage + 3DMark06 as well as run everest stress test for several hours.

So now as to what to do with the broken card... Do I RMA it? I did in fact do this with a 8800GTX that also got damaged in my other system (short circuited as the hose clamp from the card above touched its backside :hitself: ). That card was replaced without any issues after I submitted an RMA claim.

It's just I feel a tad guilty as it was clearly my fault that I broke the card (again) - as well as the warranty - isnt that voided once you replace the stock heatsink with something else?

Well, for now I'm back to a stable system - I'm so glad it wasnt the mobo - would have been considerably more strenous to replace that with all those waterblocks installed... So now for some further testing and an attempt to bring the Q6600 towards 3.8GHz and then perhaps 4.0, let's see, now that there should be more OC headroom once the old Reserator XT and Apogee GT has been replaced by PA120.3, Laing DDC Ultra and EK-Supreme :D

:eleph: Well, I was just midway through a Vantage run then I just glimpsed over to the everest sidebar ;) and what catches my eye (drumrolls please): all of a sudden I can see 4050MHz!! Turned out after I swapped the GFX cards (actually had to do this twice as it was the 2nd one that was faulty, so had to reconnect the tubing and refill water and bleed and all lol) the bios had decided to switch multipler from 8x to 9x (it does that sometimes after a hardware change but usually results in system that wont boot).

BUT NOT THIS TIME MAMA! Oh no cause I had already cranked up the voltages as I was not sure why system was not stable - was running Vcore of 1.60. So YES I am happy to say that I am finally stable above 4.0GHz the MAGICAL limit (for me anyway lol :D). Below follows proof (yes I am not making this up ;) ) - not the best Vantage score but anyway my personal fav so far as it beat the previous score (same system with Q6600 at 3.6GHz) by nearly 700 points ie a 9,3% increase!

Lol still awhile until I can compete with MikeGuava though :rofl:

:rocker: :rehab: :bananal: :banana2: :banana: :toast:

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7...4050mhzkp0.jpg
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4...4050mhzwe0.jpg

For some reason 3DMark score is not nearly as good - well, to be honest very disappointing in fact :( (as my previous high score running at 3840MHz with 3870X2 was 19284?!! ...). Could be cause I was running catalyst 8.2 dunno yet (had 8.3 of course as I was using crossfireX). Anyway check screenie below, will continue testing this rig.

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/8...rk06loagd3.jpg

Another 3DMark run with 8.3 installed. Still not good. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here :shrug: ...

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/8...rk06loalt8.jpg

Solved! Turns out I had catalyst AI disabled which resulted in the low score. I had been experimenting with FSX and forgot to turn it back on. Have not completed 3DMark06 yet just realized its already better cause opening of return to proxicon got 120 fps. Will post screenshot and link when it's complete.

That is a lot of stuff OUTSIDE that smallish case :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by disruptfam

edit:

Wow thats alot of stuff in that smallish case....

looking preety good did you flush out your rads beforehand?

can you switch the hd's the other way? that would clean up the cables alot

abit of tidying up here and there and you got yourself a nice rig

Good work :D

---

great work man, reminds me of this http://67.90.82.13/forums/showthread...34877&page=312
I don’t know which gave the milky look the tubes or the coolant, but I wish you used transparent tubes with some colored coolant (green or red)

:banana2: That's it baby I'm back in business! :rehab:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=6023743

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/1...600at40ul5.jpg

Catalyst 8.2: 20025
Catalyst 8.3: 20016

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=6023743

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by firas

great work man, reminds me of this http://67.90.82.13/forums/showthread...34877&page=312
I don’t know which gave the milky look the tubes or the coolant, but I wish you used transparent tubes with some colored coolant (green or red)

---

I'm using transparent tubes and only anticorro+H20. And it's only in CPU loop the water is whitish. Dunno why and for me it does not matter that much. I was considering using colour but so far have decided against it as I wanted a "clean" look and also have read stories about the dye forming residues etc degrading performance.

I thought one of your ATI cards were bad? Did you manage to fix it or just buy a new one?

No no, the 3DMark score is using just one 3870X2. Still deciding whether I should RMA the faulty one.

EDIT: when I get a chance I will post a picture to show the broken card - guess I have to remove the EK waterblock at some point anyway (but phew mounting it was quite a bit of work hehe). Perhaps someone here has a suggestion as to how I can fix it myself.

Oh, 20k with one card... I really need to get rid of my 8800 GTX.

Well seems my overclocking feast is coming to an end. Dont think this chip is capable of much more than 4050, but it's okay, I'm happy :cool: Didnt think I would break the 20k 3DMark06 barrier either so quickly but I did, once I resolved that catalyst AI issue.

One day I might just get a 45nm quad (QX9650 :slobber: ) let's see been dreaming of this for months but it's got one hell of a price tag.

Tried to step up a little bit further to 466*9=4200 but got a BSOD during vista boot. Dont really wanna go higher than Vcore=1.6 and V_CPU_PLL=1.7 lol.

Well, to conclude, it seems the equipment upgrade has brought an extra 400MHz on the quad.

As for temperatures:

[At 3.6GHz using everest stress test]
CPU idle 56 to 48 = 14% cooler
CPU load 85 to 68 = 20% cooler
NB idle 41 to 36 = 12% cooler
NB load 47 to 37 = 21% cooler
SB idle 41 to 34 = 17% cooler
SB load 44 to 35 = 20% cooler

[GPU temps using 3DMark06 and reporting hottest core]
idle 60 to 34 = 43% cooler
load 83 to 45 = 46% cooler

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kilyin

Oh, 20k with one card... I really need to get rid of my 8800 GTX.

---

If you are planning to replace your 8800GTX, seems a 9800GX2 is the way to go, at least judging by this thread.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Talonman

On average, the GX2 is currently 40% faster than the 3870x2 at 1920 x 1200 res.

---

Auch, seems I'm not sailing completely smooth yet as I have discovered YET another issue with the 3870X2 :shakes: :

Been stability testing with 3DMark06 loops (prefer this over everest/OCCT/orthos as it tests the system as a whole including 3D performance/stability). Anyway what happens is into the 2nd or 3rd loop graphical glitches start to appear, e.g. horizontal lines and similar artifacts. A little while after this the screen goes black for a few secs, then 3DMark06 stops (at least system doesnt freeze this time). I can start another run if I want. It gives the following error messages (different message on 2 different occasions).

On the 2nd run (no reboot in between) the desktop resolution jumped back to 800x600 then the system froze as I tried to restore to 1280x1024 via CCC...

Also in both screenies one can see the vista notification area "display driver stopped responding" message just before it fades away.

Will post a thread about this in the video card section - I have not experienced it before. And btw it seems to occur with 8.2 as well as 8.3 drivers.

http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/5...rmessagdu5.jpg

http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/7...rmessagbf0.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mcoffey

I always thought those cases were really sharp. I like the lines of it, and thick AL construction. Really nice job, and great chip you have there.

congrats on a great build, very sharp.

andyc

---

Hey, thanx! Glad you like it. It's a thoroughly made case yes, very sturdy, very sleek. Nice clean lines all around, no gimmick, no BS. I've been very happy with it since the day I got it - it replaced a Tt Armor.

Decided to try to solve my stability issues and first go for overall system stability - as this might be the root of the 3D instability and ATI driver error messages.

So just to demonstrate that system is not stable at all with some screenies.

First I roll back to BIOS 0904 - the "safe" bios if there's any such thing lol...

Then I change to 1:1 ratio for mem at auto timings ie FSB450 => mem 900. At the same time NB goes from 1,61 to 1,71 lol (been fine temp wise so feel I can do this - heck I'm desparate so if I fry the board at least I'll be done with it...) FSB termination goes up to 1,60 (last "yellow" setting before red lol). Leave DRAM at 2.06. SB on auto, same with SB 1.5V. FSB450*8. Vcore still on 1.6. CPU PLL 1.70.

Idle temps:
CPU 56
NB 33
SB 32

Now for some OCCT...

Test Completed - Stable ! but cannot access the system as it is completely unresponsive - this happened from around 51 mins (1 hr test)

:rofl: :ROTF:

Notice artifacts on taskbar as well as missing values in everest sidebar...

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/3551/x001sq8.jpg

Then back to "stock" settings with FSB267*9=2400 but with voltages from above ie totally maxed out. Cannot really run 1:1 here (534 lol) so decide to go for 2:1 ie 1069.

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/2...2400mhxpr5.jpg

Then volts back to stock. System is unresponsive towards the end of OCCT 1hr again (no screenie). At least system is dead stable at 2400 but some voltage tweaking compared to stock is necessary - oh well I dont think the board is faulty at least then...

Now for some FSB testing with multiplier at 6x. Set following voltages for this:

Vcore = 1.43125
CPU PLL = 1.60
NB = 1.73 (last yellow before red)
DRAM = 2.06
FSB term = 1.60 (last yellow before red)
SB and SB 1.5 = auto

First out is FSB 475 with DRAM 951 (1:1)

Nope. Same thing, fails after 50 mins or so. Well, looks like I have narrowed this down to a FSB stability issue, guess we can agree on that. Problem is, I'm not comfortable with upping NB/FSB volts any higher than this.

One crazy thought - could it be that running everest in the background is interfering with the OCCT stress test? The only stable run so far (9h 41m) has been with only OCCT running - no other apps incl AVG suite, no internet connection. Will try another run with only OCCT. 1 hr is good enough initially before I shoot for 12 hrs finally when things are looking brighter.

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/1528/001ti6.jpg

Well, seems that might have done it - 1hr stable, no BS this time around. Hence in the future I'll ditch that everest monitoring in the background - it's only complicating matters further.

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/2...rstablenv4.jpg

As for FSB 500, system freezes during vista load. Tried with different combinations of mem (1002MHz, 1201) and maxing out on the volts (CPU PLL 1.70, NB 1.73, FSB 1.60) but no luck so far. Well, that's okay, as I probably wont be needing that high FSB with my Q6600 anyway as I dont think it's capable of much more than my existing 4050MHz OC.

So now I'm all set to increase multiplier to see if I can reach stability with higher CPU clocks...

First one out is FSB 333*9=3000MHz with DRAM=1066. Leaving Vcore at 1.60 for these tests initially, other volts as stated above.

So far so good.

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/794...rstablepe0.jpg

Next up is FSB 400*9=3600 with mem @ 961.

http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/4...rstablegb7.jpg

Next up is FSB 450*9=4050 @ mem 900MHz

That run was fairly short lived, this is what happened after maybe 5 secs lol:

http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/328/occt002fy3.jpg

Increasing Vcore from 1.60 to 1.65 and during post i get this: "CPU Over Voltage Error! Press F1 to Resume"

Pressing F1 and vista load starts (guess it was some sort of "warning" msg) and a new OCCT run crashes in same way.

Think I will stay below 1.6 on the Vcore, dont really have balls to go any higher, temp wise its not good either with more than 60C on idle... So let's see how high I can get using 1.6V in terms of OCCT 1hr stability, then 3DMark06 stability. Finally I will increase DRAM, hopefully to 1800, tighten the timings, reduce the voltages... perhaps after all I might end up with a decent system, who knows!

Next up FSB 425*9=3825 with mem @ 850.

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/9...rstablelf5.jpg

Next shooting for FSB 435*9 = 3915 with mem @ 871

Same story here. Guess I could try out FSB 430 but feeling too lazy lol anyway I actually dont care about the extra 45MHz on the CPU.

So that's for max OCCT 1hr stable: FSB 425*9=3825. Will have to change mem settings though.

Now onto the highest benching clock. I'll go right for the "jugular" with 4150=461*9 with mem @ 1845 and 8-8-8-26-2T.

Right. Well that results in BSOD during vista load lol. Changing to DDR3 @ 1476 and crossing fingers. Nope. Increasing Vcore to 1.65. Nope. Running 1:1 mem timings ie 923. Nope. Vcore at 1.70 - seems to get a bit further during vista boot then reebots - probably due to excessive heat lol.

I know that I've been successful in getting to FSB 475 with NB 1.73 and FSB term 1.60 so no point changing these for a lower FSB.

So I will have to face it - 4050MHz is max for benching, could probably get little higher for vista boot and perhaps a 1M super-pi run though. For OCCT stability 3825MHz semms to be the absolute max for my Q6600 as I can't really raise the Vcore beyond 1.60 due to temperature limitations.

To optimize for benching then - set FSB 450*9=4050 with mem @ 1801 at 7-7-7-20-1T. Booting into vista with idle temps as follows:

CPU = 62 for hottest core
NB = 38
SB = 36

Now for 3DMark06.

Well, due to tightened timings at 7-7-7-20-1T compared to 8-8-8-26-2T i was able to get a whoopping 91 extra 3DMarks :clap: /sarcasm off.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=6068636

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/6...rewith4qf5.jpg

Well, I am happy with this. Don't see any reason to tweak the timings any more. Now for some 3DMark loop testing. I will aim for 3 loops on all tests. That should do it.

...and it passes the 3-loop test. Now all that is left is to clean up the voltages. My system is finally stable! :D

An extra 219 points from tightening the mem timings in Vantage :D

Not sure, but as I am a flight sim addict, I would guess PCMark reflects flight sim stability better than 3DMark as it is so CPU/mem/HDD intensive. 3D rendering plays a minor role, that's why I am quite happy with "only" 1x 3870X2 at the moment... Anyway stability is absolutely crucial as you dont want to spend 15-20 mins preparing for a flight, then around 30 mins doing pre-flight setup (boeing 767-300) then take off for a 5 hr flight say from Hawaii to LA and just 2 mins before touchdown, on final approach, your system crashes :p: Anyway flight simming seems to be a bit of a niche in gaming but I'm loving it - also I hold a real world private pilot licence. Guess what I'm saying is that I'd much rather be soaring over photo-real Hawaiian island of O'ahu than running around photo-realistic jungle shooting down vietnamese soldiers lol :D

Oh, and even at 4050MHz quad-core with DDR3-1800 and a quad-raptor 10,000rpm raid array with the latest and greatest dual-core GFX card (save for the latest 9800GX2 from nvidia), it is STILL not possible to run FSX at highest settings at 1920x1200 and get decent performance :down: Perhaps with a 5GHz phase-cooled QX9650 lol it's possible to get smooth fps lol.

So in that respect I guess FSX is sort of like the CPU system hog analogue to Crysis being a 3D hungry beast.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?pcmv=64541

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/6...2scorewpb6.jpg

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6...mhzatddaf1.jpg

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/8...itdthatri6.jpg

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4...cyat405qc3.jpg

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/8...rmanceapg9.jpg

Well, as I said I have been adjusting the volts - and below is what I will keep for 24/7 usage:

Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up: Auto
OC From Memory Level Up: Auto
CPU Ratio Setting : 9.0
FSB Frequency : 450MHz
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 330
PCI-E Frequency: 110

DRAM Frequency : DDR3-1801MHz
DRAM Command Rate : 1T
DRAM Timing Control : Manual
Primary Info : 7-7-7-20-5-60-9-6
CAS# Latency : 7
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 7
RAS# Precharge : 7
RAS# Active Time: 20
RAS# to RAS# Delay: 5
Row Refresh Cycle Time: 60
Write Recovery Time: 9
Read to Precharge Time: 6
Secondary Info : 8-5-6-4-7-4-7
Read to Write Delay (S/D) : Auto
Write to Read Delay (S) : Auto
Write to Read Delay (D) : Auto
Read to Read Delay (S) : Auto
Read to Read Delay (D) : Auto
Write to Write Delay (S) : Auto
Write to Write Delay (D) : Auto
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
DRAM Dynamic Write Control: Disabled
Ai Clock Twister : Strong
AI Clock Skew for Channel A: Auto
AI Clock Skew for Channel B: Auto
Transaction Booster : Enabled
Boost level: 2

Voltages:
CPU Voltage : 1.5625
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.64
North Bridge Voltage : 1.61
DRAM Voltage : 2.06
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.54
South Bridge Voltage : Auto
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.63x
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67x
DDR3 Channel A REF Voltage : Auto
DDR3 Channel B REF Voltage : Auto
DDR3 Controller REF Voltage : DDR3_REF
SB 1.5V Voltage : Auto

Advanced CPU Configuration
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
Ratio CMOS Setting : 9.0
C1E Suppport : Disabled
CPU TM Function : Disabled
Vanderpool Technology : Disabled
Execute Disable Bit : Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled

Temps: (see graphs below)
[Using Everest system stability test with all components selected for 10 mins]
CPU min 58 max 87 average 73.5
NB min 37 max 39 average 38.4
SB min 36 max 37 average 36.2

[GPU temps using 3DMark06 and reporting hottest core]
GPU min 37 max 47 average 42.5

Everest system stability test 10 min run: (4050MHz)

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/2...050mhzdmp5.jpg

3DMark06 run with Everest monitoring in background: (4050MHz)

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/3...veresttia5.jpg

Probably this is about as high as I can go for a Vista boot and 1M:

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=339690

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/1...hzatddrrl7.jpg

Well, I have reached another milestone here with this... Seems like I'm already worlds away from yesterdays woes when I wanted to give up. However, until I raised the Vcore a bit, I could not pass more than a couple of "return to proxicon" loops. Hence, new Vcore is: 1.575.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=6072311

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/1...th4050mih4.jpg

Well, folks, sorry for my rants hihi (dunno if anyone's even reading this thread anymore lol) but IMO I've come a long way. I never thought I would get this beast stable, BUT with a logical, systematic approach, I can finally say that I have achieved it.

EDIT: OCCT has just passed 12 hr stability at 425*9 :D This with nice voltages too. I am VERY happy with this result as it means I can finally start to USE this machine and not worry about the next BSOD lol. Here's the voltages I used to achieve this:

CPU Voltage : 1.575
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.64
North Bridge Voltage : 1.61
DRAM Voltage : 2.06
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.54
South Bridge Voltage : Auto
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.63x
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67x
DDR3 Channel A REF Voltage : Auto
DDR3 Channel B REF Voltage : Auto
DDR3 Controller REF Voltage : DDR3_REF
SB 1.5V Voltage : Auto

It seems there is probably some more headroom for OCCT stability upwards towards 4.0 but from there it's a battlefield haha! It requires a massive voltage increase anyway - even at 1.65V it cannot tolerate more than a few secs of OCCT at those clocks. At 1.70 the system is overheating and auto shutdown occurs. So my interpretation is that the chip is just not capable of those levels. Which is completely acceptable of course, considering how it has performed so far. To reach OCCT / prime95 stability above 4.0GHz with a quad, I'm reasonably sure I will have to go for 45nm (although I have seen some lucky bastards bring a kentsfield to those heights, I guess those folks have had a very fine revision). Also of course is the cooling solution - mine's a pretty good one I think - EK-Supreme, DDC Ultra and PA120.3 is not anything to scoff at and will probably bring OC potential with a 45nm up towards 4.5 if not more judging by the result of others around here.

Well, a last screenie showing my efforts, then I'm off for some serious flight simming... or maybe *just*one*more*BIOS*adjustment*then*another*3DMark *run haha /polar bear out

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/7015/12hocctln6.jpg

Really kewl build! I like how much time you put into documentation of the clocking process. Really sweet!

Nice setup polar bear. I woulda liked to have gone with a zalman case but they are so dang pricey.

How big of a difference did the nb sb crosslinx and mosfet coolers make over the stock setup. I am debating if I should get the ek stuff for my maximus extreme. And now I know the stock fusion setup isnt too hard to get off I was worried about that if I do switch since its slightly different than the formula board.

Nice diary !
Good work

Thanks for your input guys, just as I thought this thread had died ;)

Been spending the last week tweaking FSX for performance as well as some annoying out-of-memory issues I struggled with. System now works like a charm. Had to go down to 3825MHz for 24/7 use as FSX chrashed a few times with 4050. Not a big difference performance-wise anyway. Don't think I've had a BSOD or a freeze for about a week now :cool:

Well, finally got my MIPS blocks for my strikerII, as well as a replacement PA120.3 after I caused the first one to leak :p: so once again I'll go into building/modding mode this afternoon for some more watercooling hysteria. Check it out in my sig - updates coming soon.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dontgvadamn

Nice setup polar bear. I woulda liked to have gone with a zalman case but they are so dang pricey.

How big of a difference did the nb sb crosslinx and mosfet coolers make over the stock setup. I am debating if I should get the ek stuff for my maximus extreme. And now I know the stock fusion setup isnt too hard to get off I was worried about that if I do switch since its slightly different than the formula board.

---

See below (post #32) re: temperature improvement with new EK blocks. Previously I had the Reserator XT watercooling the CPU (Swiftech Apogee GT) AND chipset (stock Asus fusion solution) in the same loop. As for the GPUs I used the stock HIS solution (reference fan design) prior to the EK blocks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by polar bear

[At 3.6GHz using everest stress test]
CPU idle 56 to 48 = 14% cooler
CPU load 85 to 68 = 20% cooler
NB idle 41 to 36 = 12% cooler
NB load 47 to 37 = 21% cooler
SB idle 41 to 34 = 17% cooler
SB load 44 to 35 = 20% cooler

[GPU temps using 3DMark06 and reporting hottest core]
idle 60 to 34 = 43% cooler
load 83 to 45 = 46% cooler

---

Nice photos of the removal process for the Fusion Block, etc. I have the same case, same Mobo and will end up with a similar set of blocks but smaller cooling system.

Not bad, its a bit ugly though don't u think?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by polar bear

Well seems my overclocking feast is coming to an end. Dont think this chip is capable of much more than 4050, but it's okay, I'm happy :cool: Didnt think I would break the 20k 3DMark06 barrier either so quickly but I did, once I resolved that catalyst AI issue.

One day I might just get a 45nm quad (QX9650 :slobber: ) let's see been dreaming of this for months but it's got one hell of a price tag.

Tried to step up a little bit further to 466*9=4200 but got a BSOD during vista boot. Dont really wanna go higher than Vcore=1.6 and V_CPU_PLL=1.7 lol.

Well, to conclude, it seems the equipment upgrade has brought an extra 400MHz on the quad.

As for temperatures:

[At 3.6GHz using everest stress test]
CPU idle 56 to 48 = 14% cooler
CPU load 85 to 68 = 20% cooler
NB idle 41 to 36 = 12% cooler
NB load 47 to 37 = 21% cooler
SB idle 41 to 34 = 17% cooler
SB load 44 to 35 = 20% cooler

[GPU temps using 3DMark06 and reporting hottest core]
idle 60 to 34 = 43% cooler
load 83 to 45 = 46% cooler

---

I have almost the same setup as you and I'm running the XT with the Q6600 and 2 GTX's in one loop and I have the almost the same temperature as you.

Looks good man i saw that case at Fry's one day... omg Fry's is an computer lovers heaven!!!!!!! Fry's FTW!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MasterChiefElmo

Looks good man i saw that case at Fry's one day... omg Fry's is an computer lovers heaven!!!!!!! Fry's FTW!

---

I love frys.

Best part: return policy.

"So you don't have a receipt, no box, no manual, and you broke it? Okay here is your money back sir!"