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

[vincey2kr1]

I had the same problem with my NB heatsink( getting 54-60c), I had to flip it around 180 degrees but now my Enzotech xUltra120 wont fit that way so i'm not sure what i'm gonna do.. Pwm get scary hot also use caution ! Prepare to spend some more $$$ on this already expensive hot board.

Honestly rather replace my DFI 680lt then my Enzotech but thats just cause i havent been having much luck with this board.

[Jobeo]

I had the same problem with my NB heatsink( getting 54-60c), I had to flip it around 180 degrees

i think this makes sense cause the NB HS only has two heatpipes and with it the way sammich has it the pipes are closest to where the 680i chip sits on the board...

with it reversed they are a good bit further away... if the thing had 4 heatpipes with 2 on each end it wouldn't be an issue...

[xTr33m sammich!]

Originally Posted by Jobeo
are you concerned about weight with the two 120mm on the ultra ?

The fans don't add much weight, the HS itself is fairly heavy though, Im not worried at all. for some reason when it was mouted vertical and both fans blowing inward it was 3-4c hotter, mouted horizontal, desided to try it again, its running 3-4c cooler over the last 30min this way, I don't really know why, but the ram gets some good airflow now....

Originally Posted by Jobeo
is the top fan on the ultra clipped or is it just laying on it.

no clip on the top fan, doesnt need it as I don't intend on dragging it with me places, I'll probably wire tie it on when I decide it's good.. looking for some slimmer fans (less than 25mm) for clearance, or a different NB cooler.

Originally Posted by Jobeo
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.

Ran out of fans

[Jobeo]

Ran out of fans

hehe... i will probably not run into this issue... note this is with my 8 best fans already in my rig ::



thanks for your insights ... i'm not sure why the temps would be higher when its mounted vertically... thats the way i wanted to do it... will have to think now HRmmmm.

[vincey2kr1]

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.

Put me in the throttling category, having the same problem. I'm running on air though and have a cooling fan over the VRM. If you look at page 88 of your manual you'll see the options in that screenshot for thermal management but seems like with this bios we dont have that option now?

[Spazilton]

you wanna give any more details ?? what bios post code ??

It was 88 (your screwed code)

I got it working. Found a reference over on DFI Club, that sometimes this board doesn't like to initial boot with a QuadCore.

I put in my E6600, booted it, than swapped to the Quad and it worked fine.

@Vincey, Exact same problem, and I am on water.
TM1 and 2 processor throttling when core temps aren't going over 65c.

Seems to be related to PWM Temps, however once it trips, even cooling down the PWM it wont reset from throttling under any loads..

I can disable it with RM clock, but it shouldn't be doing it in the first place. However I am at 367*9 stable on my quad now running unlinked.

[Spazilton]

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.

I wish they had a US distributor.

[virtualrain]

Put me in the throttling category, having the same problem. I'm running on air though and have a cooling fan over the VRM. If you look at page 88 of your manual you'll see the options in that screenshot for thermal management but seems like with this bios we dont have that option now?

What are the symptoms of throttling? How can you tell it's throttling?

[vincey2kr1]

My 3d mark 06 scored do not change much when overclocked (like 500marks) when it should be alot more. Also using Sisoft Sandra CPU benchmarking utility and the scores are changing based on its performance you can tell were its throttling down to. in my situation its throttling from 3.5ghz down around 2.8-3ghz compared to the other cpus

[OldGuy]

Ya'll got EIST or C1E enabled? Not familiar with this bios but make sure you disable all of the cpu features that will throttle down when idle...just throwin ya some food for thought in case you haven't disabled these lil boogers...

[virtualrain]

Ya'll got EIST or C1E enabled? Not familiar with this bios but make sure you disable all of the cpu features that will throttle down when idle...just throwin ya some food for thought in case you haven't disabled these lil boogers...

Also, if you are running Vista, you also need to set your power profile to High Performance to avoid speed-stepping.

[Spazilton]

Ya'll got EIST or C1E enabled? Not familiar with this bios but make sure you disable all of the cpu features that will throttle down when idle...just throwin ya some food for thought in case you haven't disabled these lil boogers...

EIST isn't an option in the BIOS. DFI board always seems to be running at full multi. C1E is disabled.

[Spazilton]

What are the symptoms of throttling? How can you tell it's throttling?

I can tell its throttling multiple ways. The temps will drop 5-7c really quick than go back up in constant cycles.

CPU-Z shows the reduced multi kicking in. Than going back. RM Clock monitoring shows both the clock bumping down to a 6x multi and the VID getting bumped down. Its typical TM2 throttling.

With Coretemp 94 temps never going over 65c ~61-63 on on all 4 cores (@ 1.4 Bios, Strong drive, around 1.32 DMM measured actual load), if I remove my fan from the VRM heatsink for more than 10 seconds it will go into a constant throttle cycle (6x multi for a second 9x for a second etc..)

Even putting the fan back, it will constantly throttle under full load.

Very odd problem, I'm assuming that the PWM temps are being read somewhere and are tied into processor throttling.

I can stop it from happening with RM clock by disabling TM1 and 2 throttling.

My testing is on XP. Btw.

[Jobeo]

CPU-Z shows the reduced multi kicking in. Than going back.

wow ... hrmm... thats not good.

wonder if we can get an official answer from DFI on this ... problem is it doesn't seem like this board has caught on very much. sorta what VR was talking about the other day... without the consumer base backing it i'm afraid they'll just move onto other things.

i guess i'll have to look into cooling this pwm better... so far i've had no luck. =/ not good

[vincey2kr1]

wow ... hrmm... thats not good.

wonder if we can get an official answer from DFI on this ... problem is it doesn't seem like this board has caught on very much. sorta what VR was talking about the other day... without the consumer base backing it i'm afraid they'll just move onto other things.

i guess i'll have to look into cooling this pwm better... so far i've had no luck. =/ not good

Have you tried taking off the pwm and getting rid of the Thermal Clay(yes clay lol), its a tedious job prepare to use a toothpic and qtips though. I added some AS5 and I believe it helped, at least i can touch the heatsink for longer then a 2seconds now

[Raja@ASUS]

I think ceramique is the best to use in this situation,it's non capacitive, make sure your board is not bowed to the extent that some of the devices are not making contact with the sink, or over compensate with some ceramique to ensure contact with the heatsink in all situations.. Be midful of the smt capacitors that also sit under the recessed area of the heatsink, they should not make any form of contact at all..

The circuit handles dual cores great, quads need real sturdy cooling of the pwm area to hold them steady at any meaningful overclock..

regards
Raja

[Roger_D25]

Have you tried taking off the pwm and getting rid of the Thermal Clay(yes clay lol), its a tedious job prepare to use a toothpic and qtips though. I added some AS5 and I believe it helped, at least i can touch the heatsink for longer then a 2seconds now

I could be wrong here but if your heatsink is now cooler to the touch (since you can now touch it for longer than 2 seconds) than the AS5 is most likely not conducting heat as well as the factory installed stuff (if the heatsink was hotter before than it would be safe to assume it was getting more heat transfered to it before)? I went through this same thing on my eVGA after replacing the same clay stuff with AS5. It ended up being that my factory installed heatsink just wasn't making contact with all heat producing chips after the reinstall? Anyway just something to think about...

[OldGuy]

That brings a rueful smile to my face... I have a tatored Abit IN9 32X-MAX with a splattered PWM from shorting out. Melted that little puppy all over my board. Be mindful of what Raja is telling you...I have first hand experience and he speaks the truth

I think ceramique is the best to use in this situation,it's non capacitive, make sure your board is not bowed to the extent that some of the devices are not making contact with the sink, or over compensate with some ceramique to ensure contact with the heatsink in all situations.. Be midful of the smt capacitors that also sit under the recessed area of the heatsink, they should not make any form of contact at all..

The circuit handles dual cores great, quads need real sturdy cooling of the pwm area to hold them steady at any meaningful overclock..

regards
Raja

[Jobeo]

based on sammich's pic, do you guys think it would be better to have that rear case fan intaking or exhausting? he doesn't have one installed but you can see from the holes to the left where it would be::



i guess my concern is with it exhausting it would be fighting the two cpu HSF's

[OldGuy]

Best suggestion is to try it...only way to know fo sho...

based on sammich's pic, do you guys think it would be better to have that rear case fan intaking or exhausting? he doesn't have one installed but you can see from the holes to the left where it would be::

i guess my concern is with it exhausting it would be fighting the two cpu HSF's

[virtualrain]

I can tell its throttling multiple ways. The temps will drop 5-7c really quick than go back up in constant cycles.

CPU-Z shows the reduced multi kicking in. Than going back. RM Clock monitoring shows both the clock bumping down to a 6x multi and the VID getting bumped down. Its typical TM2 throttling.

With Coretemp 94 temps never going over 65c ~61-63 on on all 4 cores (@ 1.4 Bios, Strong drive, around 1.32 DMM measured actual load), if I remove my fan from the VRM heatsink for more than 10 seconds it will go into a constant throttle cycle (6x multi for a second 9x for a second etc..)

Even putting the fan back, it will constantly throttle under full load.

Very odd problem, I'm assuming that the PWM temps are being read somewhere and are tied into processor throttling.

I can stop it from happening with RM clock by disabling TM1 and 2 throttling.

My testing is on XP. Btw.

Something doesn't seem right here... This is the first this has been mentioned (you and vincey) and lots of people have been overclocking. If this was a design/feature, I'm sure many more people would have been running into this by now. I've personally never witnessed this issue with my board and I was running some high clocks and Vcore before I decided to put a fan on the PWM area. My initial throttling was Vista's power management at work. If you're certain you've disabled all software speed-step type of stuff, you should consider logging this over on the DFI Club Forums to ensure this is expected behavior.

[virtualrain]

based on sammich's pic, do you guys think it would be better to have that rear case fan intaking or exhausting? he doesn't have one installed but you can see from the holes to the left where it would be::

i guess my concern is with it exhausting it would be fighting the two cpu HSF's

Ideally, you would have an exhaust hole (no need for a fan) on the top of the case!... However, if the PSU is above this setup, then that's not an option.

Generally, most people have air intake on the lower front of their case and exhaust on the upper rear. The HSF's should generally blow front to back and/or bottom to top if possible so that air flows in that general direction. If you have intake on the front, exhaust out the back.

[Jobeo]

(no need for a fan)

i dunno... not sure i agree with ya on that one. i just started disassembling my rig for the third and hopefully final time... before turning it off i hadn't been doing anything torturous to it, just general websurfing. upon opening it up let me tell you things were quite warm inside.

this is using a stacker 832 case running 2 high powered exhaust fans and 5 intake fans. you have a stacker case so you know the whole top and sides are vented with holes...

it was surprising the amount of warm air inside... i didn't expect it. its probably due to my setup with 2 GTX and 4 harddrives... but the thought of not running those exhaust fans would be insanity. if anything i need to stepup my exhaust =/

[virtualrain]

Yeah, I should avoid commenting on stuff I'm not intimately familiar with... I'm not aircooling my components as you know... but I have my stacker 830 configured such that the four fans on the door/rads are all blowing into the case as well as a fan on the lower front.... no exhaust fans at all and there is a considerable breeze of warm air emanating out of the blow-hole.

I'm sure you are right in that you are better off with more fans than less when air cooling.

[vincey2kr1]

virtualrain do you have any screen shots of your bios options, just to make sure there isnt something i missed concerning this cpu throttle issue? Maybe its mislabled.