[First Look] DFI 680i LT NF-680i LT SLI (56K Warning~~~)

[Jobeo]

results in my NB running at approx 80c I don't like that..

holy croaks ! !? ! !! ! ! i would shut that thing off quick if i was hitting 80c. i can't believe it's even working at those temps. raja recommends the NB temps not go high than something like 48-50c and you are well past that.. wow.

do you mind posting pics of your MB with the ultra extreme mounted ? i'd like to see what kinda space you're dealing with. i have an ultra in the mail so i'll be going down that same road soon.

[xTr33m sammich!]

Don't laugh

sryy about the crude drawing, this is the best I can think of right now, with both fans pushing air into the HS, it creates good airflow through the NB HS, 5c higher cpu core temp vs one pushing and the other pulling, under load at 3.5GHz, No good.
I re-seated the NB HS and temps have dropped approx 30c down to 48-53c, much better :P
I will post some pics later, have to go get the kids...

BTW, I was running orthos for 1.5hrs with FSB@440, NB@80c, no issues, scary? yes...

[Spazilton]

Don't laugh

sryy about the crude drawing, this is the best I can think of right now, with both fans pushing air into the HS, it creates good airflow through the NB HS, 5c higher cpu core temp vs one pushing and the other pulling, under load at 3.5GHz, No good.
I re-seated the NB HS and temps have dropped approx 30c down to 48-53c, much better :P
I will post some pics later, have to go get the kids...

BTW, I was running orthos for 1.5hrs with FSB@440, NB@80c, no issues, scary? yes...

Sounds like a bad mount to me. Mine doesnt go over 45c or so

[Spazilton]

I have run into a new issue however.


It seems CPU throttling is somehow tied to VRM temps. Even with the CPU under 65c in core temp, the CPU starts to throttle its self. This is on water.

Once I place active cooling on the VRM it stops, take it away and it starts right back up.

Still trying to figure out what would be an effective VRM cooling solution over stock.

[Jobeo]

Still trying to figure out what would be an effective VRM cooling solution over stock.

lol that makes two of us... let me know if ya come up with anything

i don't understand your drawing... where do you have fans and where are they blowing ??

[worthIT]

Yes... Jobeo is correct. Read back to Post #952.

I would trust the BIOS program for voltages, but temperatures I would trust CoreTemp.

Speedfan comes up with some ridiculous voltages sometimes and the VID on CoreTemp is the 'recommended' voltage for your processor. Note: it doesn't change no matter what you do to the settings in the BIOS.

The cpu temperature out of your BIOS program isn't read from the same sensor as your CoreTemp program so technically, both are right.

[Jobeo]

The cpu temperature out of your BIOS program isn't read from the same sensor as your CoreTemp program so technically, both are right.

what sensor does the bios program read from ? i'd like to trust coretemp for my therms cause its reporting about 6c lower than smart guardian...

intel rates my proc as max 65c which i can hit with smart guardian where coretemp reports none of my cores higher than 58c... which should i trust ?

[worthIT]

intel rates my proc as max 65c which i can hit with smart guardian where coretemp reports none of my cores higher than 58c... which should i trust ?

The Bios sensor reads from a sensor based in your CPU socket whereas CoreTemp reads from the temperature sensor inside each core on your CPU. As far as I know, CoreTemp is the only program that can read from the temperature sensors inside your physical cores on your CPU, and is therefore classed as more accurate.

[OldGuy]

Everest also reports the core temp and it is spot on with coretemp...

The Bios sensor reads from a sensor based in your CPU socket whereas CoreTemp reads from the temperature sensor inside each core on your CPU. As far as I know, CoreTemp is the only program that can read from the temperature sensors inside your physical cores on your CPU, and is therefore classed as more accurate.

[virtualrain]

Here's what I've figured out about monitoring on this board...

BIOS, Speedfan, and SmartGaurdian all pull monitoring values from the ITE SuperIO Chip the IT8712F which includes voltages and a few temps (CPU, NB, and SB).

Note for those who don't already know... the temp in BIOS called "PWM Area" is mislabled... this is actually the NB temp.

Like many others have said, the CPU temp pulled from the IO chip should not be trusted... CoreTemp rules. Both Everest and Speedfan also pull the same data from the same registers as CoreTemp so you can use Speedfan or Everest to do the same thing. With Speedfan, you simply need to add a 15-deg C offset to the reported values to make them match with Coretemp (it's built-in offset is not correct but the values from the registers are).

Speedfan can see Vcore, the HT Voltage, and the NB Voltage but initially displays them as Vcore1, Vcore2, and 3.3V... simply rename them with the proper labels.

Unfortunatly Speedfan current doesn't seem to report the VDimm or SB Voltage, but not a big deal. It also can't control the fans which is a shame... you need SmartGaurdian for that (why is it so damn ugly!).

Hopefully a future version of Speedfan will offer more comprehensive monitoring of this board. I'm logging an issue with the author now.

That's about it for monitoring on this board that I know of.

[virtualrain]

For water cooling the PWM area, there is no current block that will work with the mounting hole spacing provided (almost all are either way too long or too short).

So I'm thinking of buying one of these and adding a couple of mounting ears to it so I can fasten it down. It's a bit longer than the stock heat sink (65mm vs 50mm for stock) but I think it would work nicely with the mounting hole most inboard and then I could use the ATX motherboard screw down point near the edge of the board to fasten the other end of this thing. We shall see.



Link

[virtualrain]

For air cooling the PWM area, you may want to track down one of these fans that ASUS and ABIT provided as an option on some of their boards to cool the heat-pipes...



You might have to do a bit of modding and/or use superclue to get it to stay on the DFI heat sink, but it should work.

Alternatively, you could cut a hole in the large blank area of the I/O plate adjacent to the PWM area and mount a 40mm fan to the exterior so it's blowing air through the hole in the I/O plate over the PWM area.

[worthIT]

Everest also reports the core temp and it is spot on with coretemp...

There ya go, you learn something new everyday.

VirtualRain - Your work with this board is fantastic. Well done.

[century child]

Here's what I've figured out about monitoring on this board...

BIOS, Speedfan, and SmartGaurdian all pull monitoring values from the ITE SuperIO Chip the IT8712F which includes voltages and a few temps (CPU, NB, and SB).

Note for those who don't already know... the temp in BIOS called "PWM Area" is mislabled... this is actually the NB temp.

I've been working on the assumption up to this point that this also means that the temp reported as "System" by Smart Guardian is actually the NB temp since this category would normally refer to the PWM Area and that the "Chipset" temp reported by SG is actually the PWM Area. Does this seem to be the case with you as well?

[palese]

Wow... that seems way high... Perhaps try remounting the NB sink.

I just have a basic 120mm fan leaning up against the NB cooler. I guess it's pretty effective since it cools the top and base together. I'm working with it open on the bench though so that helps as well. I'll be water cooling it when it eventually goes in the case.

Here's pics... http://virtualrain.blogspot.com/2007...-dfi-680i.html

And the vid card with that fan sitting like that

[virtualrain]

I've been working on the assumption up to this point that this also means that the temp reported as "System" by Smart Guardian is actually the NB temp since this category would normally refer to the PWM Area and that the "Chipset" temp reported by SG is actually the PWM Area. Does this seem to be the case with you as well?

Not exactly... in SmartGuardian... "System" = SB, "Chipset" = NB.

[virtualrain]

And the vid card with that fan sitting like that

LOL! The fan is not touching the video card but even if it was, it's not a problem (a) because the fan is plastic and (b) the video card is a POS!

I'm just using a POS MX4000 PCI video card for the bench setup since I want to keep my old system up and running until I'm satisfied with the OC and ready to mount it all in the case. I work at home so I can't afford any down time and it's also why I'm a bit more of a prime-stable fanatic I guess.

[xTr33m sammich!]

Thats it, I'm pulling it all apart tomorrow night, cleaning all the surfaces and trying some different paste.

NB temp was at 50c for 3 hrs of prime, then shot up to 70c and seems that the NB HS is not completely stable on the chipset, if i push on it a lil the temp drops, I would say its a bad mount, how about that foam tape on the board and HS, is it necessary to have on there for stabillity? I'm thinking about taking it off for a tighter seat.

[Jobeo]

I'm thinking about taking it off for a tighter seat.

there's a thread about this on dficlub...

http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2650

[EvilMoe]

I've a solution for the PWMs:

Wait about a few days, MIPS-Computers is producing new PWM-Coolers for the DFI board!

They design a new NB Cooler, too. The Intel Freezer for the Bad Axe Board does not fit well.

[xTr33m sammich!]

Fixed for now, dang it...
NB under load at same setings is now at 46c
flipped the NB HS so the lanparty logo is upright, lost an inch or so clearance for ultra-120 ex so I had to flip it 90degree too, post a pic tonight, man it's tight...

[Raja@ASUS]

the pwm mosfets are very small, they are similar to the ones found on the ATI 1900 cards at first approximation. These are delicate devices, and do not take well to skewed pressure on the die, if you are going to fiddle with the stock heatsink do so under caution and use a delicate touch at all times..

regards
Raja

[Jobeo]

for ultra-120 ex so I had to flip it 90degree too, post a pic tonight, man it's tight...

ya please do i'd like to see it...

on another note regarding mips computers please let us know when this gear becomes available...

[xTr33m sammich!]

After tearing it apart, flipping the s#!t, and prying it back into place temps are fairly good, I wanted the Ultra120ex to be mounted vertically exhausting out the rear of the case, instead, since my NB overheats with its HS mounted upside down(doesnt dfi picture it upside down?) this is the only way it all fits together, all fans blowing up.. btw, the fans are what I had laying around from previous builds, the NB fan is a zalman 80mm fan (spare from the GPU HSF) it works, whatever, it's my not so quiet xTr33m sammich!

[Jobeo]

After tearing it apart, flipping the s#!t, and prying it back into place

uhmm wow ! great pics. couple questions... are you concerned about weight with the two 120mm on the ultra ? was it an issue at all like did you hear the motherboard creaking lol... is the top fan on the ultra clipped or is it just laying on it.

when you say flip the NB upside down you mean rotating it 180 degrees from where it is now ? good to know there could be overheating issues with it like that...

looks like you aren't using a back case exhaust fan?? is that to do with negative airflow issues or just cause you ran out of fans lol