Striker pwns EVGA with Q6600 G0

[nugzo]

After 15+ EVGA 680i boards, the time has finally come. In the beginning, i owned every 680i released by every manufacturer. 2 strikers, 2 gigabytes, 2 abits, 2 foxconns, 2 msi diamonds, 1 dfi and over 15 EVGA's. The evga beat all of them performance wise, thats why i stayed with them. SLI here so 680i was my only choice. This past weekend after 4 EVGA's with issues, i finally gave up. I ordered a striker overnight and all waterblocks. After install, using linflas bios settings, i was priming 200mhz higher with my quad than the last 5 EVGA's. This Striker is amazing. I have 3 q6600's that did 3600 24/7 and 3700 benchable on the EVGA. I've only tested one of them so far, but its priming now at 3825 (425 x 9) on the striker. The striker really sucked in the beginning, and the price was alot higher than the others. I'm pretty sure thats why you don't see much talk about them now, but they've turned around. In my expert opinion, the striker is absolutely the way to go if you need SLI. I would have never dreamed that this board could have given me 200+ mhz over the EVGA with a Quad. It may get me more, this is just where i'm at atm. I ran 3dmark 06 @ 3900 mhz with no issues, it failed prime though after 30 minutes. I didn't try to tweak it anymore there, i just dropped it to 3825. If this proves completely stable i'll move on up. My main reason for this post is because i know there's alot of people out there that run SLI and are fed up. To you, please try the striker! If your are one of the lucky ones with a good EVGA or other reference board, just remember this post so you know which way to go when your board finally craps out. I'm putting together a bunch of benchmarks and screenshots, they should be up soon. Hooray for Striker!!

[NKD]

i just got my a1 revision evga, its good so far, but its giving me overclocking issues. stable for hours and than not stable, i am in the same boat as you, i am going sli and the only reason i didnt buy the striker is because i didnt think they clocked very high with quad cores.

i had an ip-35 pro before the evga and that one did 3.6 with 1.39v loaded and 1.5v set in bios, that was prime stable for 8 hours. and the evga wants more voltage for some reason, i was able to prime at the same settings as my ip-35 pro for about an hour and after that it wanted more voltage, right now i am testing at 3.2, it wants the same voltage to run at 3.2 that it did at 3.4 with my ip-35 pro.

Could it be because i am using 4-pin to 8pin adaptor?

i do have a 8 pin cable but since it wont reach the top of my board because my psu is on the bottom. i just ordered an 8 pin to 8pin extension cable from newegg to see if that makes any difference. or i might just return mine to frys and order a striker from newegg, i guess they have finally fixed the quad core issue with those, i am surprised because asus wouldnt just sit around and let these board overclock like crap with quads.

where did you get yours?

[nugzo]

where did you get yours?

Newegg

[GripS]

After 15+ EVGA 680i boards, the time has finally come. In the beginning, i owned every 680i released by every manufacturer. 2 strikers, 2 gigabytes, 2 abits, 2 foxconns, 2 msi diamonds, 1 dfi and over 15 EVGA's. The evga beat all of them performance wise, thats why i stayed with them. SLI here so 680i was my only choice. This past weekend after 4 EVGA's with issues, i finally gave up. I ordered a striker overnight and all waterblocks. After install, using linflas bios settings, i was priming 200mhz higher with my quad than the last 5 EVGA's. This Striker is amazing. I have 3 q6600's that did 3600 24/7 and 3700 benchable on the EVGA. I've only tested one of them so far, but its priming now at 3825 (425 x 9) on the striker. The striker really sucked in the beginning, and the price was alot higher than the others. I'm pretty sure thats why you don't see much talk about them now, but they've turned around. In my expert opinion, the striker is absolutely the way to go if you need SLI. I would have never dreamed that this board could have given me 200+ mhz over the EVGA with a Quad. It may get me more, this is just where i'm at atm. I ran 3dmark 06 @ 3900 mhz with no issues, it failed prime though after 30 minutes. I didn't try to tweak it anymore there, i just dropped it to 3825. If this proves completely stable i'll move on up. My main reason for this post is because i know there's alot of people out there that run SLI and are fed up. To you, please try the striker! If your are one of the lucky ones with a good EVGA or other reference board, just remember this post so you know which way to go when your board finally craps out. I'm putting together a bunch of benchmarks and screenshots, they should be up soon. Hooray for Striker!!

My GOD man!!! Are you super rich or do you get samples? That's a crazy amount of money to own all those boards and all those processors.

[nugzo]

My GOD man!!! Are you super rich or do you get samples? That's a crazy amount of money to own all those boards and all those processors.

lol no i'm not super rich. I do own 2 struggling computer repair/sales stores so i get to sell what i do not want fairly easy. Just an investment. I keep what i like and sell the rest.

[NKD]

i think i will be getting the striker, i am taking out my evga, because i hate the fact that one day i can get 3.4 stable for 8 hours priming and next day it will freeze mins in to priming at the same settings and requires way more voltage than the ip-35 pro i had, probably due to not so quality parts on the reference board. asus seems to have fixed the striker's

[ShoNuff]

After 15+ EVGA 680i boards, the time has finally come. In the beginning, i owned every 680i released by every manufacturer. 2 strikers, 2 gigabytes, 2 abits, 2 foxconns, 2 msi diamonds, 1 dfi and over 15 EVGA's. The evga beat all of them performance wise, thats why i stayed with them. SLI here so 680i was my only choice. This past weekend after 4 EVGA's with issues, i finally gave up. I ordered a striker overnight and all waterblocks. After install, using linflas bios settings, i was priming 200mhz higher with my quad than the last 5 EVGA's. This Striker is amazing. I have 3 q6600's that did 3600 24/7 and 3700 benchable on the EVGA. I've only tested one of them so far, but its priming now at 3825 (425 x 9) on the striker. The striker really sucked in the beginning, and the price was alot higher than the others. I'm pretty sure thats why you don't see much talk about them now, but they've turned around. In my expert opinion, the striker is absolutely the way to go if you need SLI. I would have never dreamed that this board could have given me 200+ mhz over the EVGA with a Quad. It may get me more, this is just where i'm at atm. I ran 3dmark 06 @ 3900 mhz with no issues, it failed prime though after 30 minutes. I didn't try to tweak it anymore there, i just dropped it to 3825. If this proves completely stable i'll move on up. My main reason for this post is because i know there's alot of people out there that run SLI and are fed up. To you, please try the striker! If your are one of the lucky ones with a good EVGA or other reference board, just remember this post so you know which way to go when your board finally craps out. I'm putting together a bunch of benchmarks and screenshots, they should be up soon. Hooray for Striker!!

QFT! It's about time somebody recognized this!

I've been very pleased with my Striker. I've had the same one since January. It's been rock solid. I was blow away when I got it to push my Quad to 400*10. 3DMark06 at 4GHz isn't bad either for Vista on plain jane 8800 GTX's.

[crowie]

I'd recommend u to use 1301 bios instead, as i've encountered cpu init a dozen times with 1303, and last time i couldnt fix it without hotflashing the bioschip on a friends striker.

[Bail_w]

What you do with all those rigs? Have you ever though of putting them in a good use? How about take a look at the WCG section of this forum.

[linflas]

Congrats nugzo,

Glad my bios settings worked strait away for you. I had a basically impossible time stabalizing anything above that for 24/7 WCG stable.

Kepp us UTD on what you can accomplish.

[nugzo]

Congrats nugzo,

Glad my bios settings worked strait away for you. I had a basically impossible time stabalizing anything above that for 24/7 WCG stable.

Kepp us UTD on what you can accomplish.

Sure thing and thanks again. I'm sure i woulda got there, but having your settings to go by after an all day install made the outcome extra sweet. Nothin like 30 seconds in the bios to get you 60% OC. It's going to be fun when i get around to throwing my other quads on here. i have 3 more q6600 go's and a qx6700. I also have 2 E6850's that did 4ghz on the EVGA. I wonder what they'll do on this board?!?!

[Leeghoofd]

So the watercooling does the trick then... my radiator for my 2nd loop is finally being shipped so I'm dying to get my board under water... till now no go for my GO , it's in the P5K Dlx running happily crunching 4 instances of folding home, 6850 in the Striker at the moment and ready to start building my new cube.... the future looks damn nice

[REVHEAD]

Good work Nugzo ,I am having some good success with my striker and 1303 bios ,b3 stepping and air ,but am lacking stabillity with 3.825 ghz ,what voltages are u running ,would u be able to give us your bios voltages?

I am @ 3.6 24/7 but I would really like to have 3.825 24/7

[linflas]

not sure if nugzo made any adjustments, but these are the settings I sent him earlier.

AI Tuning: Manual
Nvidia GPU Ex: Disabled
LinkBoost: Disabled

FSB - Memory Clock Mode: Unlinked
x FSB - Memory Raio: N/A
FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1700
Actual FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1700
MEM (DDR), Mhz: 850
Actual MEM (DDR), Mhz: 850
Vcore Voltage:1.625 for actual of 1.52
Memory Voltage:2.05
1.2v HT Voltage:1.75
NB Core Voltage:1.5
SB Core Voltage:1.7
CPU VTT Voltage:1.5
DDRII Controller Ref Voltage: auto
DDRII Channel A Ref Voltage: auto
DDRII Channel B Ref Voltage: auto

tCL (CAS Latency): 4
tRCD: 4
tRP: 4
tRAS:12
Command Per Clock (CMD): 2


Advance Memory Settings
tRRD: AUTO
tRC: AUTO
tWR: AUTO
tWTR: AUTO
tREF: AUTO
tRD: AUTO
tRFC: AUTO
Async Latency: AUTO

CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled
MCP PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled
SATA Spread Spectrum: Disabled
LDT Spread Spectrum: Disabled

CPU Internal Thermal Control: Disabled
Limit CPUID MaxVal: Disabled
Enhanced C1 (C1E): Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled
Virtualization Technology: Disabled
Enhanced Intel Speedstep Tech: Disabled
LDT Frequency: 5x

PCIEX16_1 Frequency (Mhz): 101
PCIEX16_2 Frequency (Mhz): 101
PCIEX16_3 Frequency (Mhz): 101
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, Mhz: 201

[projectrps13]

I'm playing with my Evga board for another week, if I cant get it running right in that timeframe I'm returning it and getting a Striker or IN9-32MAX. I'm used to my 975x board so this 680i board has been a nightmare. Nugzo, did you watercool the mosfets as well? Any pics? What MCP is on the striker board, 570??

[eva2000]

nice.. what revision is your current striker extreme Nugzo ? made in china or taiwan ? serial number ?

[dinos22]

max fsb stable overclock at lower multi?

[nugzo]

not sure if nugzo made any adjustments, but these are the settings I sent him earlier.

AI Tuning: Manual
Nvidia GPU Ex: Disabled
LinkBoost: Disabled

FSB - Memory Clock Mode: Unlinked
x FSB - Memory Raio: N/A
FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1700
Actual FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1700
MEM (DDR), Mhz: 850
Actual MEM (DDR), Mhz: 850
Vcore Voltage:1.625 for actual of 1.52
Memory Voltage:2.05
1.2v HT Voltage:1.75
NB Core Voltage:1.5
SB Core Voltage:1.7
CPU VTT Voltage:1.5
DDRII Controller Ref Voltage: auto
DDRII Channel A Ref Voltage: auto
DDRII Channel B Ref Voltage: auto

tCL (CAS Latency): 4
tRCD: 4
tRP: 4
tRAS:12
Command Per Clock (CMD): 2


Advance Memory Settings
tRRD: AUTO
tRC: AUTO
tWR: AUTO
tWTR: AUTO
tREF: AUTO
tRD: AUTO
tRFC: AUTO
Async Latency: AUTO

CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled
MCP PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled
SATA Spread Spectrum: Disabled
LDT Spread Spectrum: Disabled

CPU Internal Thermal Control: Disabled
Limit CPUID MaxVal: Disabled
Enhanced C1 (C1E): Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled
Virtualization Technology: Disabled
Enhanced Intel Speedstep Tech: Disabled
LDT Frequency: 5x

PCIEX16_1 Frequency (Mhz): 101
PCIEX16_2 Frequency (Mhz): 101
PCIEX16_3 Frequency (Mhz): 101
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, Mhz: 201

I used those exact settings, except i did the vdroop pencil mod so my bios is set at 1.55. for 1.54 windows/loaded

I'm playing with my Evga board for another week, if I cant get it running right in that timeframe I'm returning it and getting a Striker or IN9-32MAX. I'm used to my 975x board so this 680i board has been a nightmare. Nugzo, did you watercool the mosfets as well? Any pics? What MCP is on the striker board, 570??

570MCP on the striker, yes cooling the mosfets and NB with water. SB is air cooled. I have some pics here. not real MB detailed though.

nice.. what revision is your current striker extreme Nugzo ? made in china or taiwan ? serial number ?

Not sure eva. I'll check when i get home. I do know that the bios chip is non removable where on the earlier strikers you could just pop it out.

max fsb stable overclock at lower multi?

On 8 multi i had problems at 463 FSB. would freeze on post screen. I havent checked for max fsb yet on lower multi. I will though.

[phelan1777]

I have been contemplating getting a Striker as I am fed up with EVGAs........

[ShoNuff]

nice.. what revision is your current striker extreme Nugzo ? made in china or taiwan ? serial number ?

eva, have you found that the revision and place of origin make a difference with the Strikers? Any group stand out above the others? Just curious as I haven't heard this before.

@nugzo - How did you get your HD temps to show up under Vista?

[nugzo]

eva, have you found that the revision and place of origin make a difference with the Strikers? Any group stand out above the others? Just curious as I haven't heard this before.

@nugzo - How did you get your HD temps to show up under Vista?

Not sure about the HD temps. In everest it doesn't show them in the OSD setup, dont know why its showing on the display.

[ShoNuff]

Thanks for the reply nugzo. I thought you successfully implemented the workaround referenced here.

I think I am going to attempt the fix when I get some time this weekend.

[The Nemesis]

I'm wondering if the waterblock on the mosfets really helped. Did you cool the Evga mosfets with water? I was so prepared to grab the x38 or p35. My evga, abit & dfi 680i boards did nothing to satisfy my quads so I stopped using them and went back to dual core. This complicates matters now.

[TheSamurai]

nice reassurance as i'm thinking about going the striker route also. just haven't made up my mind on Q6600 or the E6850. any thoughts on that nugzo (system will be mostly for gaming)?

[nugzo]

I'm wondering if the waterblock on the mosfets really helped. Did you cool the Evga mosfets with water?

No, just the CPU on the EVGA. I cooled the NB/SB with air. Mosfets were kinda cooled by top case 120's.