Retail Abit IN9 32X-MAX - Pictures, observations and testing...

[revogamer]

is this board really worth the price?

[SmokeyTheBandit]

Well gave it one more chance

As soon as i pull out 1 dimm (doesn't mather wich of the 2).
It will finally rock my world



Was also able to run 515 but forgot to make a screenie
Still a b*tch though Am getting very tired of the "A0" on the dislpay wich thank god was fixed in the Beta 3 bios (read changelog dont have it )

[gandalfone]

Well gave it one more chance

As soon as i pull out 1 dimm (doesn't mather wich of the 2).
It will finally rock my world



Was also able to run 515 but forgot to make a screenie
Still a b*tch though Am getting very tired of the "A0" on the dislpay wich thank god was fixed in the Beta 3 bios (read changelog dont have it )

Great!!!!!

Excuseme but i don't speak english

Please post the bios setting.

[revenant]

hurry Abit.. let's have a nice new bios soon!

(I get my new board today)

[JargonGR]

Well after having a hell of a week trying to set my system up again (3 water loops, 1 damaged filter, 1 wrong PWM water block - now with stock heatsink,a failing DDC+, 2 IN9 32MAX and one broken plexi top of my SB waterblock) I am back online).


What I need to know before I start overclocking is how do I check the NB/SB temperatures so I know if the waterblocks make good contact?

At the moment mGuru shows 26 C as systme temperature. Is that it or should I look elsewhere?

Also did anyone of you had any issues with any 8800GTX? One of mine will not send any signal to the screen when I try to boot with it and its the one I have placed a waterblok on it? The other is workign fine and both are EVGAs however with different bioses and one with green and the other with black PCB.

Any help or info would be appreciated.

[shawn1998]

A quick update for anyone who has been attempting to install/run any Vista 64bit version. The windows update posted earlier does indeed solve the issue. After the patch was applied, I was able to boot into Vista 64bit (Ultimate) with 4 gig installed. I loaded programs, benchmarked and gamed in BF2142 for hours. All is well now.

Shawn

[sedg.raven]

Well gave it one more chance

As soon as i pull out 1 dimm (doesn't mather wich of the 2).
It will finally rock my world



Was also able to run 515 but forgot to make a screenie
Still a b*tch though Am getting very tired of the "A0" on the dislpay wich thank god was fixed in the Beta 3 bios (read changelog dont have it )

sorry i can't understand you, you can run at 500fsb whit the dimm slot number 1 & 3?

bye

[|SiLA|]

where's beta 3?

[day187]

where's beta 3?

i would like to know this to thanks

[Johnny Bravo]

beta3 isn't happening, it's being superseded by beta4 which *hopefully* should be out soon. Beta3 was shelved due to memory incompatibilities.

[\/ENDE][A]

A bit off topic but, i wish i could have got my rig to work today it was -5 in our workshop. Made for some great OC`in in sub zero air temps.

[JargonGR]

Well just a very quick attempt on overclocking I am able to run Orthos at 400FSB with E6600@3.6GHZ 1.45v and with a temp of 39-40C (will post pics tomorrow). Mem is at 800MHz but default timings since I have not tweaked yet. However I was able to do this on air too on my Asus WS64 Pro.

I will stress the system tomorrow

PWM temps are around 60-62C and I am using the stock heatsink but have folded the thermal pad in the middle. The NB is watercooled and the SB is left with the stock heatsink but with lots of AIR on it (Intel stock fan).

So far all is great and seems stable but have not tried games yet. Will let you know.

[revenant]

How did you seperate the sinks from the heat-pipe to remove the NB sink from the other two? cut the pipe off??

[Skrips]

Ok, pardon the dumb question, but since I have never worked with a socket 775 setup, I thought I should ask before I get into trouble. I am trying to install the CPU in the MoBo, the IN9 for reference--thats why im posting here--and the cover that flips down over the CPU and clips to the socket seems to be bowed inward quite a bit. I am not sure if it is supposed to be like that, but I am pretty damn sure I did not bend it myself. Assuming it is normal, I used gentle force and tried to lock the CPU into place, but it seems to me that it was going to require a little bit too much force.

Is this normal? Is the socket cover supposed to be bowed slightly to keep the CPU secure? Man, I am just worried about killing a $1000 CPU

[Speederlander]

Ok, pardon the dumb question, but since I have never worked with a socket 775 setup, I thought I should ask before I get into trouble. I am trying to install the CPU in the MoBo, the IN9 for reference--thats why im posting here--and the cover that flips down over the CPU and clips to the socket seems to be bowed inward quite a bit. I am not sure if it is supposed to be like that, but I am pretty damn sure I did not bend it myself. Assuming it is normal, I used gentle force and tried to lock the CPU into place, but it seems to me that it was going to require a little bit too much force.

Is this normal? Is the socket cover supposed to be bowed slightly to keep the CPU secure? Man, I am just worried about killing a $1000 CPU

Yes, it's supposed to be.

[Skrips]

Yes, it's supposed to be.

You offer a warranty rebate if it turns out you are wrong? Just kidding! I will try it again, and see what turns up. Wish me luck...

Good times!

[Speederlander]

Who has put this board on phase?

[OKsoVRomoSkylo]

ok! so i was one of the guys with the insane pwm temps under normal load even for a non extreme board .

which meant: with a quad @ 1.41v vcore + 1.4v nb ,320 fsb x10= 3.2g qdr
idle: 36-40amps, pwm temps between 55-69
load: 96-100+amps, pwm temps 110-135(shutdown..)
that was without touching-removing or modifying any of the stock coolers except placing fans allover the place...

i was very-very frustrated with the situation as other people here i guess, because these temps rendered the mobo useless..

So i took the board out, removed the silent bull solution, to discover the crappiest quality Chinese aluminum sinks and pipes i had ever come across... also that brown crappy thermal tape...
for a moment i thought I'd follow John's excellent advice on folding the tape (among other excellent info and help- thanks man!) and remounting... but the tape was already cut in places and full of oil from my hands touching it to re mold it like plasteline.
Also the fact that the tape was compressed in a good manner at the contact points with the chips in the first place, told me the tape's quality sucked..

DISCOVERY NO 1: THE BOARD WAS WARPED..

DISCOVERY NO 2: THE 3 HEAT SINKS CONNECTED BY THE TUBES WOULD NOT SIT FLAT ON A GLASS SURFACE... OR FLEX EASILY TO DO SO..

(you would say: nb and sb are the same hight and pwm's are lower...well nothing near that even!!)

So i said bye bye to the warranty and cut the aluminum heat pipes between nb and pwm, keeping nb and sb connected.

1. Twisted the nb and sb sinks until they both sat evenly flat on a flat piece of glass inspecting from the sides and underneath through the glass... putting some water on the glass helps even more!

2. I applied some zalman thermal grease (find it better than as) on both chips and sinks and remounted.. remember not to put too much or spill any around as it's conductive (silver based). also keep the white insulation pads on the sinks.

that was the easy part.

3. I lapped the two "feet" of the pwm sink down to 1.2mm from the contact surface. you can do that by either:
a. Putting fine grade sand paper on a flat surface and rubbing the sink in a figure of 8 motion keeping it always in a right angle to the flat surface.
b. Using a sander and holding the sink on it with your hand as above
c. Using a mini lathe.

Check both feet to have the same hight (1.2mm) looking from the side, and their surfaces to both sit flat on that piece of glass, looking through the glass (remember the water trick)

be sure to clean the sink thoroughly from aluminum dust (you don't want that on your mobo!)

4. Apply a thin layer of thermal grease on the contact area of the sink and carefully place it on the chips. -the mobo should be on a flat surface- apply a gentle force evenly on the sink and remove it.
Visually inspect the 5 chips. ideally all 5 chips should have thermal grease cover their entire contact surface.
if not, see photo, your board is warped...



Continue applying layers of thermal grease allowing some time between applications and recheck until all chips have a good contact area.

Be very careful when cleaning or touching the chips. they are extremely fragile and their surface can be easily scratched or broken.

when ok, remount the sink carefully.

5. Measure the spacer mb mounts in you box and find a rubber pad at the same hight. stick it under your mobo at the center between the two pwm sink mounting holes to prevent the board from warping at that point.

6. IF YOU RUN WATER COOLING ON YOUR CPU, find a sink in your scrap box that could be used or moded to go on the pulse pwm ic. this gets extremely hot and needs a sink. Abit didn't put one there because it would interfere with the intel stock cpu cooler.

I chopped a slice off a p3 intel stock sink that fits perfectly.
its fan fits the nb sink perfectly! long live p3!!



Notice: the width of the sinks contact surface is narrower than the chip's because of the live metal contacts on the pwm side. see photo.
Shorting these with a sink or conductive thermal grease will destroy your mobo!!



another solution is using a mica film strip for electrical insulation.

RESULTS: Under the same conditions, 55-69 has dropped to 27-30 at idle and 110-135 has dropped to an amazing 42-46 !!!



SORRY for the long post again, but i'm so happy with this,
i had to share it with you guys!!

HAPPY N'RUNNING! AS IT SHOULD BE OUT OF THE BOX!!

[Speederlander]

pulse pwm ic

Not being an EE, could someone please post a pic with the various chips, etc. around the CPU socket area indicating name and cooling issues?

Thanks!

[maxwedge]

hurry Abit.. let's have a nice new bios soon!

(I get my new board today)

I thought you were going to get something else??

[maxwedge]

DISCOVERY NO 1: THE BOARD WAS WARPED..

The area is warped in this area because of the cpu HS pulling on the board.

I've hacked up my heat pipes too and have come to the same conclusions as you. The board is warped there. I sanded down the feet too and got good temps on the end chips but the middle ones were hot. I've only been using thermal tape on it so I put a 2nd strip on the center 3 chips and now the ends were hot, LOL. So I have to take it all apart again.

5. Measure the spacer mb mounts in you box and find a rubber pad at the same hight. stick it under your mobo at the center between the two pwm sink mounting holes to prevent the board from warping at that point.

That sounds like a very good idea. Maybe under the cpu socket area as well to help hold the board flat.

Oh, and when you cut those pipes be sure to get all the liquid out of them. I didn't get it all out of mine and it started to drip when the pwn heated up. Had to wad up a paper towel up in there until it was done dripping!

[Lvcoyote]

Hopefully the ABIT parts store will make the heatpipe assembly available in the near future, that way if a warranty is required you can put it on and send the board in.

[JargonGR]

How did you seperate the sinks from the heat-pipe to remove the NB sink from the other two? cut the pipe off??

Oh yes its Dremeled in 3 pieces! I know I know no warranty but hey I have 2 IN9 32MAX so I still have one full heatsink to use if I need to return the board. The second will go to my brothers PC.

[Skrips]

Build Diary, Day 1:

I got the last shipment of parts, assembled them all, and am now in the process of trying to get the system to run. Upon bootup the post screen pauses and gives me an error message: "CMOS checksum error" and "CMOS battery has failed". Then it tells me that the system is running in BIOS safe mode and that I should check my CPU and/or ram settings in the BIOS. I checked the CMOS battery manually with a multimeter, and it checks out fine. I cannot figure this one out, its got me.

Suggestions?

[revenant]

ok, I think I am going crazy... the PWM on this board is making the same noise.. anothing over 1.4 vcore or putting the machine under load at default it makes a hissing noise.. it's for sure not my psu.. it's coming from the pwm area.. maybe something about my psu's power delivery is doing this? it's an enermax galaxy 1kw dxx.. all voltages look perfect.. everything else is fine.. maybe some noisy inductors? it's loud.. @ 1.5 vcore my wife can hear it from the friggin couch.. this is not acceptable. I am thinking about going back to my p5w dh and calling it a day.. I am tired of rebuilding this machine.

edit: could it be what's going on here regarding the "buzz" noise? http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...125865&page=21 ??