[Team.AU]XFire HD4870X2, E8600, Gigabyte EP45T-EXTREME, Corsair DDR3 + Skulltrail fun

Hey fellas

I had a small benching session this weekend and wanted to share my results with ya'll :D


Test Configuration:

• Gigabyte EP45 EXTREME Motherboard F4b bios
  (vdroop mod down to 1.6Kohms)
• Intel Core2 Duo E8600 Q820A599
• 2GB DDR3 1800MHz CAS7 Corsair DOMINATORS
• 1x Gigabyte HD4870X2 Graphics Card
  1x HIS HD4870X2 Graphics Card
• HX1000 + 620W Corsair PSUs
• Stock heatsink on NB
• kingpin F1 Extreme Edition Solid copper CPU LN2 Pot
• Big mamma 35L LN2 Dewar
• 160GB PATA
• Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit SP1
  
  oh i also tested an
• Intel Skulltrail D5400XS board with dual QX9775, 4GB Micron FB-Dimms on Zalman air heh

thanks to Felix from www.onlinecomputer.com.au in Sydney for his support by lending me much needed benching hardware :D
Thanks to Intel Australia for lending out the skulltrail setup....i promise i won't hurt it (too much) :D

3:5 divider on RAM is bugged for those that don't know > real divider it's running on is 2:3 so RAM clocks are roughly 100MHz lower

These Corsair PSUs are just rock solid.........LOVE'EM >> will post a video later on showing power usage during one of the tests heh. i could have probably just benched on HX1000 alone but i thought i'd just go overboard with power hehehe

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3DMARK06 - 30,593 points
Gigabyte EP45T EXTREME Setup with E8600
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=8253890

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9830/3dmark06dv4.png



3DMARK05 - 41,867 points
Gigabyte EP45T EXTREME Setup
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=4500300

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/6051/3dmark05ct2.png



3DMARK03 - 150,724 points
Gigabyte EP45T EXTREME Setup
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=5944717

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4134/3dmark03wp6.png




3DMARK Vantage Performance - 21,366 points
Gigabyte EP45T EXTREME Setup
fastest dual core vantage run?? (obviously without physx heh)
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dmv=393374

oh just a little tip if you notice screen corruptions when you install the Xfire 4870X2 setup and root the system >> it took me a couple of hours to realise that screen corruptions actually go away when you restart the machine for the second time after installing the cards and new drivers :rolleyes:

Also i seriously don't know what ATI was thinking.......one of my cards (Gigabyte) which was sandwitched between NB and second card had idle temps as high as 80C at stock clocks until i figured out how to control fans with Rivatuner v2.11. Someone tell ATI that it's nice that they are trying to make the system quiet but at what cost >> graphics card :rolleyes:

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1458/vantagetm2.jpg


Pifast 15.80s
Gigabyte P45T EXTREME setup

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3156/pifastsf8.png




This next score is not a joke................................3DMARK01/Vista/Xfire 4870X2 as a combo absolutely stinks >> really such an insult for all the 3D enthusiasts i must say...........i cannot believe this :ROTF:

3DMARK01 - 78,149 points
Gigabyte EP45T EXTREME Setup
Crossfire HD4870X2
Vista 32bit
E8600@5.9GHz

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=9420220

:rolleyes:





32M & 1024M wPrime 1.55
Skulltrail setup.....sweet setup
Stable at 4.4GHz for wprime & 3D

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/5492/wprimezw4.png



Skulltrail CPU test in 3DMARK Vantage is just nuts :D

22,210 points in Performance Preset

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dmv=391861


43,665 points in Entry Preset

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dmv=391883



I initially tested these 4870X2 cards in Xfire on Skulltrail but the performance wasn't very good at all.....i tried running the second card in two different slots, installed, reinstalled drivers, did the same with benchmarks just couldn't seem to get better scores. I tried the same kind of clocks on this P45T EXtreme and there was definitely a noticeable difference in performance efficiency between the two boards. I'll have to do some more testing to see what's up here. I was running 4.4GHz in the following screenshot.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/866...ail111kua4.png






Maaaaan i could feast my eyes on these babies all day long
Dual HD4870X2 Radeons in flash

Oh yeah they are sitting on a skulltrail setup eeeek....shame that the 3D performance on skulltrail seems worse than P45/X48......I gotta try harder i guess :D hehe

I did some testing on air cooling to see what i can get before i drown them with LN2 lovin' for some nice wprime numbers and probably some Vantage and '06

Gigabyte EP45T-Extreme was pretty good. It was stable, predicatable....but it has one big no no...............i spent a good part of my 7 hour bench session trying to bench past 600MHz FSB to no avail. I've never been more frustrated in my life i have to say as these cards are absolutely screaming for horsepower. My EP45 Extreme (DDR2) benched 620MHz FSB with an Nvidia GTX280 last week. i was hoping i'd be able to get at least the same speeds but just could not get it there for the life of me :(

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/3...ltrail2wt5.jpg


http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/952...topsidepb8.jpg

pretty straight looking PCB after tightening

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/2...ingflatbw3.jpg

Return of killer tomatoes anyone?? :rofl:
i used Liquid Electrical Tape(LET) on most of the board
black nail polish in the CPU area
and vaseline around mosfets therejust to be able to get into those little spots i could miss with other forms of insulation

vdroop mod is covered with blutac just to make sure i don't yank it out by accident

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9...ionpicsrd2.jpghttp://img201.imageshack.us/img201/1...pedtogoxw0.jpg

E8600 happily chugging away at a lowly -148C during a 3D run

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/657...adtempsfx9.jpg



Skulltrail ja :D

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3...ltrail1an6.jpg


dinos22 :)

Great Work Dino22 !!! :)

Nice run dinos22 :)

as 3:5 memory on P45T it's bug right ?

thanks bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NiNe_iZe

Nice run dinos22 :)

as 3:5 memory on P45T it's bug right ?

---

yeah it's bugged
i think it's running on 2:3 :)

Excellent scores...:up:

Someone has to report the 01 score to hwbot... This should be called "Ridiculously Low Bugged" score...:ROTF:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dread77

Excellent scores...:up:

Someone has to report the 01 score to hwbot... This should be called "Ridiculously Low Bugged" score...:ROTF:

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hahaha tell me about it

highest score on bot has about 100MHz more on CPU from memory and about 1K better score........i just couldn't be bothered wasting more LN2 on this "low bug" score :rofl:

sweet work Dino and you really got a colerful board now uh?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dinos22

hahaha tell me about it

highest score on bot has about 100MHz more on CPU from memory and about 1K better score........i just couldn't be bothered wasting more LN2 on this "low bug" score :rofl:

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Well, don't tell massman about it.. he'll start a new thread.:rofl:

nice weekend you had dinos :) congrats, nice scores :up:
ps: that 01 score is soo ****ed up :D

thanks guys

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Oliver

sweet work Dino and you really got a colerful board now uh?

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i made a GIgabyte board even more colourful :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Nice work Dino, there's a lot of potential in that Skulltrail board, pity it's performance isn't quite there yet. Really nice 03/05/06 runs :up: No aquamark though, that should benefit from skulltrail also :D

And lol at the low 01 score, that really is terrible. That's only slightly better than my e8400 @ 4.1 and 8800GT :rofl:

heh

i'll be running Aquamark with a GTX280 on LN2 but i have to find a DDR3 board capable of high FSB which i don't have :rolleyes:

Your P45T looks like "Shamino Style".:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndreYang

Your P45T looks like "Shamino Style".:D

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:ROTF:

no one beats Master Shamino in ghetto :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dinos22

i made a GIgabyte board even more colourful :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

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ya, that is a task which require some skills :D

Overclocking with skulltrail is baaaad, cuz fbdimm ddr2 sucks ass! :D

nice runs dinos... vista + 01 = for the lose! cant believe 78k is 2nd place for 2x 4870x2 :)

red LET is LEET :D

excellent results dinso considering the boards' limitations :)

Wow, great work dinos, really sweet results you got there :clap: :up:
Skulltrail and CFX photo is cool, but the result is not so encouraging :(
As far as the 01 run is concerned, I'm happy there is no screenshot included ... I would kill you :D

About the red on the Gigabyte I'm not so sure, maybe something in yellow or maroon ? :p: LOL ! :ROTF:

hehe thanks guys

Congratz Dino. Alot of work there. I started playing around with this mobo and a quad this weekend.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by k|ngp|n

Congratz Dino. Alot of work there. I started playing around with this mobo and a quad this weekend.

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that's too bad, you've always had such a nice head of hair. it will look funny with the chunks missing
that you will no doubt be pulling out in the near future ;)

killer sessions here mate...nothing more satisfying than typing up the thread after an ass load of work :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by k|ngp|n

Congratz Dino. Alot of work there. I started playing around with this mobo and a quad this weekend.

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This really is a bad news for ASUS. lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 3oh6

that's too bad, you've always had such a nice head of hair. it will look funny with the chunks missing
that you will no doubt be pulling out in the near future ;)

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LOL be nice now. :lol:


Sweet runs Dino. :clap:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gautam

LOL be nice now. :lol:


Sweet runs Dino. :clap:

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Funny thing is he doesnt even know :D

What do you run your NB at Dino (not just for this testing but usually) volts/temps?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by k|ngp|n

Funny thing is he doesnt even know :D

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please show me Chief Knock-A-Homer. if anyone can, it has to be you :up:

but now that i think of it, i don't recall ever seeing or looking for quads in this board, let alone actually ran one so...i am just talking out my ace as usual ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 3oh6

please show me Chief Knock-A-Homer. if anyone can, it has to be you :up:

but now that i think of it, i don't recall ever seeing or looking for quads in this board, let alone actually ran one so...i am just talking out my ace as usual ;)

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No no no Jod :) you got it all wrong man

hehehe guys
appreciate the kind words

Vince, as far as i can tell with MOST Gigabyte boards now you have to just get the relationship between VTT and VNB correct. Everything else falls into place ;). Tinkering some more with VTT Ref volts or Skews might gain a little but not a lot and 1:2 divider on RAM with CAS8 is where you want to be as Jody showed us recently what sort of monster bandwidth this board puts out. The VTT/NB volts are always different on each board and setup but my moto is always to start low and build it up. I will have to sit down and do some bios settings work in the thread after my Taiwan trip this week. This thread is pretty much just result atm as i haven't had much experience with DDR3 Extreme board yet....first session with it and staight to LN2 :ROTF:......i'm dropping the ball a bit heheheh :D

don't worry about temps as GB boards are usually pretty cool running just change the stock TIM on it with something decent and tighten the mother hard. Vdroop mod is a must but aside from that it's all good. This board is one of the rare P45s which does benefit from subzero cooling on NB as some guys have seen clock increases and monster PL at high FSB from extra volts

Expecting to see you bench quads on this board between 500-540MHz FSB :up:

i'm gonna have to give REX board a thrashing seeing that most top runners seem to be getting great results with monster FSB including some decent benchmarks from my mate T_M recently :)

RE is the way to go for sure right now.
It just works.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T_M

RE is the way to go for sure right now.
It just works.

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yeah let's hope i don't get some nasty cold bugs with REX like i had with some asus boards in the past

i liked my P5B DLX though...could run -140C no problem and i need up to -150C for this chip and stable volts when i stick a couple of 4870X2

i have to do some testing to find out how to get this "boost" in GT2 and GT3 in 3DMARK03....it's really strange how random it is ..........

i'll use it for my SuperPi runs as well as AM3/pifast

i can't wait now :D

Vince for quad/board my sweet spot is exactly 1.38 vMCH, and VTT must stay low around 1.3. Any much higher VTT and you will lose FSB.

Dino - Asus Z7S-WS is faster than Skulltrail ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by STEvil

Dino - Asus Z7S-WS is faster than Skulltrail ;)

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nice board
i don't normally have a lot of time for these sorts of loans so by the time i source it Intel will want the rig back hahah

Sweet scores.

Your insulation looks nasty :D

hehe thanks

i'll be continuing with this benching session

i am going to try and see if GB bios guys can do some more tweaking to give us some ~650MHz FSB bioses for extreme cooling

600 is nice but not good enough

Nice results Dino! Congrats!:up:

Nice results !!!!

Awesome Benchs :clap:

thanks guys

i've bought a few VGA blocks
still missing one more and i will somehow try to mount them on these 4870X2s and try again when i finally get a board that will do 630/640MHz FSB stable with these cards

i'm hoping either REX or this new Gigabyte EP45-UD3P will do the trick
surely one of them will give me what i need hehehe