QX9650/Vapochill LS/Asus P5N-T Deluxe, my new build discussion Options

[drifter_SLI]

So just as it says i am up to a new build, only 3 8800 Ultras will be migrating to the new rig (leaving the poor sucker with an old 8800GTS).
New rig:
QX9650
ASUS P5N-T Deluxe
Thermaltake Toughpower 1500
Thermaltake Xaser 6 case
Gskill 2x2 DDR2
3 Msi Ultras
Vapochill LS
Case cooling is 3 thermaltake 140mm Fans (a bit low on the cfm) and a few SilenX 120x25 72 cfm fans (SilenX fans at 100% are a bit loud but the compressor on the Vapochill is the real killer, so i do not mind the SilenX noise)
1 150G Raptor and 1 optical drive

the Ultras will keep the Koolance waterblocks but i might put something else instear of the Koolance 720-inx pump/res/tank combo. I got the Thermaltake 760i and 735 Bigwater units i might use instead ( i do not like the small diameter on the 760i internal tubing as it might be the flow killer, but for that reason i might go with dual pump setup. anyways i have a few elbows on my ultras, one more reason to have an extra pump). And dont give me crap how bad TT watercooling kits are, i know how to do a DIY WC setup and have plenty of components to do so (GTX, GTS,PRO DD rads which i will use instead of the TT ones), I just think TT is not as bad as it once were (Xaser case is really good and kills my antek P182 with build quality and ease of use, also has plenty of screws supplied) and the TT Bigwater 760i got really good reviews. Nothing tops that unit in terms of price/ease of use ratio, it has a decent 500L pump and a good rad, even if it dies on me i will not take my words back. If some of you feel it does not give enough performance i sudgest looking at it as a NB, RAM, Vreg cooler, i really think it can do a great job at that (just pair it with another rad).

No pictures of my build so far as i have a problem with my camera, soon though.
So far i have mounted the Case on top of the vapochill unit (the case is a bit longer but sits really nicely nontheless), installed the insulation on the mobo, put some thermal compound in the socket, installed the CPU, fitted the Vapochill unit and all the heater pads. when i turned on the CPU everything seemed fine... then i decided to OC the CPU a bit just to see how my vapochill would react in terms of temps. I just Pumped up the FSB to 400 and the multi to 11 and since i wanted to do it quick and dirty i left the voltages on auto, and to my surprise when i rebooted voltages did not go up! and before i had time to set BIOS to default ( i was in the process of doing so) my pc rebooted, and came up just a black screen ! at first i was thinking it was a short caused by condensation or something wrong with my cpu, but the insulation seemed perfect so i decided to try and clear the CMOS, no luck still black screen, no beeps, no nothing. Hmm... i was like "did i really screw it up?". then i tried to flash a new bios with an asus supplied DVD (apparently Crash Free Bios 2 allows you to do that), still no luck, then i went and bought a floppy drive (i mean come on! those are like light years old! and we still need em) and triyed flashing the usual way with a boot disc, but the floppy would not even start up (i tested it separatley and it worked fine). So i since i was set on thinking it was the BIOS problem (i would've liked to test the CPU and the mobo separatley but because of all the heat compound in the socket i did not want to put another cpu in) i took out the bios PLCC and took it to a repair shop making sure in advance they had a programmatron at their disposal as it was almost the only solution (i say almost cause if you have another mobo with a removable BIOS chip, even if it is a different Mobo but the same chip socket, you can start up the other mobo, carefuly take out the BIOS chip, trying not to short anything, while in DOS (cause the bios chip is no longer needed) and insert your broken chip, flash it and switch off the PC. do not forget to switch back the chips) to flash the BIOS. it took em like 30 mins and i went back home. And guess what, it worked like a charm (i should get myself that "programmatron" thingie)! Everything would boot and work (so far)!

Now back to business: i want my system 24/7 stable OCd. I tried Feeding it a 10 multi and a 400 FSB for warmup, at 1.4Vcore. when i booted in to windows CPU-Z was showing 1.296 Vcore, must be the Vdroop (might mod it later) and for some reason 4200G at 10.5 multi! Why the .5 multi? I have set it to 10 again, still the same thing! WTF? so my temps were -5 in bios (prolly cause i used the thermal paste supplied with the vapo unit as i could not get my hands on AS5 or smth. and cause my heater pads were running to heat up the socket surrounding area to avoid condensation) and i pumped the Vcore to 1.45 in the bios ( CPU-Z was 1.34) and it crashed after 10 min small FFT test. so far i decided to call it a day and do some more stuff tomorrow.

Like i said i do not care bout max overclocks i just want 24/7 system. i am aiming at 4.2-4.6. i feel comfy with OCing and working with PCs, just wanted to "show off" a bit (just kidding), and discuss my ongoing build and anything related to either one of my components (i do expect most of the discussion round the CPU and max stable overclock/vcore settings and other voltages). Please comment and feel most welcome to slap me for leaving the vcore on auto! (pics and updates will follow)

[chad_SLI]

wow thats a serious build you have going, Update with pics

[SoloBuggMaster]

How much was that PS
I don't see why it was needed since the ultras take 525 Watts MAXIMUM all together, the CPU 130, the drives, maximum 75 (I would think), all the liquid cooling, RAM, fans, etc shouldn't take more than 175-200

I just hope you didn't spend TOO much on that PSU.

[-Silent-]

I've seen people do 4.0 ghz even 4.4 ghz on air. I don't think the Phase unit is really necassary. But hey, it looks cool. Post some pics

[drifter_SLI]

pics coming shortly. the PSU cost mi like 320$ and was 100$ cheaper then my galaxy 1000 psu and i really recommend it (so far Thermaltake really surprises me! the case is great, the psu fantastic, especially for that price, the bigwater unit is the most convinient wc solution i have seen, i especially like those quick disconnect valve which come preinstalled (i know they kill the flow, but it is very practical). as for the phase, i know i could've taken it to 4.2 easily on water, but i just wanted to try something new. Phase cooling turns out to be really simple, and a good investment (it is basically a fridge it should last for a few years atleast) cause if i take a 300$ cpu later on, i can always take it to 1K psu specs and above with. i am really looking forward to the phenoms which will be released in 6 months or so, the newer and possibly 45nm. amd promises to keep up the good trafition of releaseing sub 300$ black edition models! i also bought a phenom black edition, but have not even touched it yet since apparently not many are able to take it over 2.6-27 prime stable).
As for QX9650 @ 4.2-4.4 stable on air, well i saw it done many times, but that is like at over 70-80C load even with good air cooling as you have to give it 1.5V or more to have it prime stable with all four cores working that is. It is one hot cpu, and like i mentioned previously it is the best cpu to use with SS phase cooling since you need to have a very hot cpu 'and heater pads working) not to wory too much bout condensation. asetek even recommends running prime while in windows jut to keep your cpu temps up.

this edit is for people interrested in buying such a unit, i just think it could be helpful. I do not know everything, just sharing what i can...
edit: Vapochill unit is really simple to use cooling solution, a bit on the expensive side, but hey, i cant wait for that cryo-z unit forever! if some of you are considering a possibility of getting one, do not hesitate, if you've done a WC setup yourself and modded a case to install a few extra fans then you have all the skills needed. The vapo heater pads are great, but as an extra precaution i used some extra foam behind the socket, also if you want to feel really safe you can alvays cover the socket area with some nail polish and put over a layer of dielectric grease (lubreflex or smth, i could not find it where i live so i had to do without). the only serious drawback is your mobo, if it fails, is permamently modded with the dielectric grease or compound you fill the socket with( you can clean out the grease with a toothbrush and some acetone or smth, but the compound is really a PITA to get rid off). So test the mobo and the cpu before, to be sure everything is working. And one more thing, if you're really considering such a unit go to your kitchen, and sit 1 meter away from the back of your fridge, if this kind of noise 24/7, pluss some extra noise generated by the airflow do not bother you that means you are deaf ( just kidding), that means you'll be ok with the noise vapo unit is making.

This post has been edited by drifter: Jan 27 2008, 09:31 AM

[drifter_SLI]

Ok, so i put the whole thing togther, test ran it a few times before, then did some cable management, put the rig in place, closed all the side doors, and fired it up... guess what? it would just shut itself down after the psu fan would spin for a fraction of a second! It was like a good kick in the balls. So i redid all my cables and doublechecked everything, swithed wall outlets, reduced the number of components to a minimum, checked my ram, everything! still no boot! so i got my galaxy psu to test the build, the results were the same, meaning either it is a cpu or a dead mobo. i read quite a few bad reviews bout my mobo and decided it was most likely the source of my problems, but then why did it run before? this got me really worried, cause the other most likely suspect was my cpu! there was no way to test those separetly (sort of) cause i got the socket filled with heat compound and did not want to get my other cpu dirty (or in case it was the mobo after all, maybe even dead) and my previous mobo. the mobo was not giving any beeps, nothing... i was pulling hairs out of my ass trying to figure out what it was, i even checked my insulation a few times to be sure i got everything right. The darn thing would not fire up! Then i checked my WC setup for leaks, all clean. Finally i removed the cpu and cleaned off the heat compound (as i suspected i've put too much of it), and put it back in, now it runs like a charm! This story really drove me to the edge (of almost smashing my pc and tearing it to pieces) cause all was fine, till for no apparent reason it would not boot, and i did not add any compound between the first tests and the finalised build.
Anyway, moving on.... Now my problem is the BIOS. I set the OC to 400FSB, 10 multi, and the bios gives me 10.5 multi (4200G), whereas cpu-z shows 10! i set v core to 1.45: BIOS shows it at 1.4 cpu-z at 1.36, i set it to 1.465, bios 1.42, cpu-z 1.316!!! What is happening???? Anyone?

oh, BTW, my 06 score is 20700 marks now. Link