# Core i7 965 XE Unboxed, Stock Cooler and Processor Exposed



## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

Intel would be rolling out an elite fleet of desktop processors based on the new Nehalem architecture soon. The first derivative, the Bloomfield core, is supposed to be the architecture's flagship for the desktop PC market. And for it, Core i7 Extreme 965 is supposed to be the leading processor. Priced at US $999, the processor is clocked at 3.20 GHz and features four cores and eight logical processors thanks to HyperThreading Technology (encore). Details of it are covered here. 

Mobile01, unboxed the i7 965 before launch. The contents show a massive stock cooler and the processor itself. The stock cooler is composed of the same fins projecting radially, just that they are much thinner, and more in number (to boost surface area of dissipation). The cooler uses 50% of fins made of copper and the rest 50% made of aluminum. The large CPU contact base is made of copper and pre-applied TIM. The box pictured is the "white-box" part, expect the retail box to be of that exact size. 



 

 

 

 

 



*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## Cruvenium (Sep 23, 2008)

How did they get their hands on it D:!


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## lemonadesoda (Sep 23, 2008)

That is fake for sure.  Why? That is the worse design of fan ever. There is a lot of airflow resistance as air is forced into the fins.  Unless there is a baffle around the fan blades, 90% of the air will spill.  That means the cooling efficiency will be absolutely terrible. Most air will spill and the fans will be spinning like crazy. Turbulence in the case, but very ineffective cooling of the CPU. There is no way a company like Intel would make such a big mistake.

P.S. Take a look at just about any Zalman CPU cooler that uses the "spilt airflow" as part of the cooling... why their fins extend around the fan.


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

Oh, so being the worst design makes it fake automatically? Seen the Intel stickers on the fan and the box?


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## lemonadesoda (Sep 23, 2008)

OK, OK, it's possible that Intel have made the worse fan possible. Let's put it another way: the person that designed this for Intel has a FAKE engineering degree. PS. Brown box doesnt look legit.


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## InnocentCriminal (Sep 23, 2008)

Could just be a proto-type cooler.


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## Katanai (Sep 23, 2008)

Ooh finally. That chip looks tasty! I just need to sell an organ or two now to afford a brand new system.


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

Apparently Intel outsources thermodynamics research,  kuhler design, and manufacturing to Sanyo-Denki of Japan (spell?) and others. They worked on the s478, initial models of the s775 coolers. Don't know about the Xeon fans though.


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## InnocentCriminal (Sep 23, 2008)

They also use those stupid push-pin(s) connectors again. >.<


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## Animalpak (Sep 23, 2008)

the thermal paste is already applied ?


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## InnocentCriminal (Sep 23, 2008)

Yep! It's not great thermal-paste to be honest. Current retail Intel CPUs (well, HSFs) do.


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## Error 404 (Sep 23, 2008)

Chip looks crazy, so many pins! 
BUT THEY HAVE PUSHPINS!! :shadedshu
I vote this is the worst fan design ever; the only way it could be worse is if they used all aluminium fins...


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

Pushpin because motherboards have retention back-plates for the CPU socket.


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## Error 404 (Sep 23, 2008)

btarunr said:


> Pushpin because motherboards have retention back-plates for the CPU socket.



Are they any easier to use compared to the LGA 775 ones? I hate those things, feels like I'm trying to push the whole darn pin assembly through the mobo...
Does the larger cooler mean higher TDPs?


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

Yes, Bloomfield chips have 130W ratings. The back-plates hold the CPU socket assembly, if you add another back-plate to the cooler, that would mess with the board-chassis clearance.


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## laszlo (Sep 23, 2008)

i don't think the fan design is wrong is even curved to concentrate the airflow to the pins;considering the thermal output of the cpu and the copper-aluminium cooler i think is enough 

keep in mind that 90%  of buyers use the box cooler anyway which support a small oc also and the rest will buy aftermarket cooler anyway

compared with older intel box cooler is a improvement for sure


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 23, 2008)

I love the way the stepping says q1ck  you reckon it is quick.


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## lemonadesoda (Sep 23, 2008)

Not just Q1CK, but Q1CKES (t).


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## thraxed (Sep 23, 2008)

A 2.93 GHz Core i7 940 system has been used to run a 3DMark Vantage benchmark and gave a CPU score of 17,966.[12] The 2.66 GHz Core i7 920 scores 16,294. A 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo E6600 scores 4,300.[13]

AnandTech tested the Intel QuickPath Interconnect (4.8 GT/s version) and found the copy bandwidth using triple-channel 1066 MHz DDR3 was 12.0 GB/s. A 3.0 GHz Core 2 Quad system using dual-channel 1066 MHz DDR3 achieved 6.9 GB/s.[14]


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## Wile E (Sep 23, 2008)

lemonadesoda said:


> That is fake for sure.  Why? That is the worse design of fan ever. There is a lot of airflow resistance as air is forced into the fins.  Unless there is a baffle around the fan blades, 90% of the air will spill.  That means the cooling efficiency will be absolutely terrible. Most air will spill and the fans will be spinning like crazy. Turbulence in the case, but very ineffective cooling of the CPU. There is no way a company like Intel would make such a big mistake.
> 
> P.S. Take a look at just about any Zalman CPU cooler that uses the "spilt airflow" as part of the cooling... why their fins extend around the fan.



The "baffles" (it's actually called a shroud, just a fyi) aren't that important. Take a look at the fan designs on the Freezer7 or 64 Pros. They are unshrouded, but perform well. I actually built a shroud for my F64 Pro, because I thought the same way you did. You know how much of a temp difference it made? Absolutely nothing.


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## ShadowFold (Sep 23, 2008)

My life goal is to punch the person who made push pins in the face. Intel seriously needs a better design..


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## PCpraiser100 (Sep 23, 2008)

ShadowFold said:


> My life goal is to punch the person who made push pins in the face. Intel seriously needs a better design..



Well Intel needs push pins so that even the newest builders can install their fans. Besides, the first of their kind these fans were supposed to be cleaned yearly because of their fins so I guess that's one of the major reasons why there is push pins...On the other hand, your right. They do need a better design, in cooling though not installation or else they might need to make a commitment with motherboard companies to replaces their push pin slots.


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Sep 23, 2008)

ShadowFold said:


> My life goal is to punch the person who made push pins in the face. Intel seriously needs a better design..



The push pins are pretty fail.  I usually hate them, but sometimes I feel installation is easier...  just not by much.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 23, 2008)

At least there is 4 good spaced holes to mount better coolers on.I dont mind the push pin fitting,at least its relativley easy to remove/replace without taking the board out.I do agree though that its time for a new design.


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## techie81 (Sep 23, 2008)

When are they going to move away from they cumbersome pushpin?

Other than that, looks yummy.


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## bird1 (Sep 23, 2008)

*Fake!*

Are you stupid? It's a big FAKE. Look out for the "INTEL CONFIDENTIAL" note on the processor! It's just az Engineering Sample.


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## ChromeDome (Sep 23, 2008)

don't care if its fake it looks damn _sexy_

i like fake boobs, too


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## InnocentCriminal (Sep 23, 2008)

LOL!

Welcome to the forums Bird! 

LOLOLOLOL!


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## DrPepper (Sep 23, 2008)

I don't think the stock cooler is supposed to perform well anyway, since if it kept it cool even oc'd to about 4ghz then there would no market for after market coolers.


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

bird1 said:


> Are you stupid? It's a big FAKE. Look out for the "INTEL CONFIDENTIAL" note on the processor! It's just az Engineering Sample.



It is indeed an engg. sample. Nobody denied that. You can't link the fact that it's an ES to it being fake.


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## cdawall (Sep 23, 2008)

bird1 said:


> Are you stupid? It's a big FAKE. Look out for the "INTEL CONFIDENTIAL" note on the processor! It's just az Engineering Sample.



whats your point how does that make it any less of a i7 965? i have a e7200ES it looks the same way? is it any less of a e7200 b/c its an ES?


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## InnocentCriminal (Sep 23, 2008)

Bird obviously doesn't know what he/she is talking about.


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

cdawall said:


> whats your point how does that make it any less of a i7 965? i have a e7200ES it looks the same way? is it any less of a e7200 b/c its an ES?



In reality it's more. An ES is usually of a higher-grade and tends to OC better than retail chips.


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## Morgoth (Sep 23, 2008)

its getting close


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## El Fiendo (Sep 23, 2008)

As for the question of whether the design is fake due to the lack of shroud on the fan, Intel hasn't used any shrouds on stock coolers since around the P4. At least, not that I have seen. Maybe not the best design, but I'm actually quite surprised at how Intel's coolers have beaten third party products in performance or noise level. Not even talking about the obvious cheapies you can buy.


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## Konceptz (Sep 23, 2008)

btarunr said:


> In reality it's more. An ES is usually of a higher-grade and tends to OC better than retail chips.




You know he is right, I have a ES 9770. Anyway, thats the real thing, i've seen it before back when I was working as a tech for a OEM PC manufacturer, I can't say which one just to cover my arse...but trust me, thats the real thing people.


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## bird1 (Sep 23, 2008)

My point was that it's not a retail i7 965 that is supposed to go for sale.

Besides, E.S. parts usually has no specific number (i.e. 965), instead they titled simply f.ex. "Intel Engineering Sample", or so. (Look at some CPU-Z screenshots...)


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## erocker (Sep 23, 2008)

bird1 said:


> My point was that it's not a retail i7 965 that is supposed to go for sale.
> 
> Besides, E.S. parts usually has no specific number (i.e. 965), instead they titled simply f.ex. "Intel Engineering Sample", or so. (Look at some CPU-Z screenshots...)



No one claimed it to be the retail chip.


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

bird1 said:


> My point was that it's not a retail i7 965 that is supposed to go for sale.
> 
> Besides, E.S. parts usually has no specific number (i.e. 965), instead they titled simply f.ex. "Intel Engineering Sample", or so. (Look at some CPU-Z screenshots...)



Looking at the white box, it's more than commonsense telling it's not the retail part. However, that's what you get inside a 965 XE box. That's the cooler you get, that's the packaging you get, that's the dimensions of the box. Which even carries the sticker. Yes, the sticker is blurred, for security reasons (since the photographer breached NDA in taking/publishing those pics, and if the batch numbers are shown in the pics, Intel could easily track down which channel vendor gave away the sample (and allowed pics). And for the last time, the cooler is not a fake. And that's an XE cooler you won't be getting with a 920/940, etc.

With 920/940, this is the cooler you're most likely to get:


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## InnocentCriminal (Sep 23, 2008)

HUH!

I may just have a suspicious mind, but is it me or... nah, nevermind, I'd be going off topic.


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## Konceptz (Sep 23, 2008)

bird1 said:


> My point was that it's not a retail i7 965 that is supposed to go for sale.
> 
> Besides, E.S. parts usually has no specific number (i.e. 965), instead they titled simply f.ex. "Intel Engineering Sample", or so. (Look at some CPU-Z screenshots...)



you do realize there is no visable difference between a engineering sample and a retail chip, the only way you can tell one from the other is that it says ES on it.


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## lemonadesoda (Sep 23, 2008)

Some peeps said (earlier in thread) that ES samples are better than final retail. Not true! ES samples are often "pre-stepping". They can be an absolute nightmare for some BIOSes. Some of them are buggy. Some of them run hot. Case in point: Pentium M engineering samples. You can pick ES very cheap on ebay. No one wants them.


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## Konceptz (Sep 23, 2008)

lemonadesoda said:


> Some peeps said (earlier in thread) that ES samples are better than final retail. Not true! ES samples are often "pre-stepping". They can be an absolute nightmare for some BIOSes. Some of them are buggy. Some of them run hot. Case in point: Pentium M engineering samples. You can pick ES very cheap on ebay. No one wants them.




ES chips are luck of the draw. Some chips are horrible, and then some are actually better then the retail.


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## cdawall (Sep 23, 2008)

bird1 said:


> My point was that it's not a retail i7 965 that is supposed to go for sale.
> 
> Besides, E.S. parts usually has no specific number (i.e. 965), instead they titled simply f.ex. "Intel Engineering Sample", or so. (Look at some CPU-Z screenshots...)



point being noone came out and said hey here is a retail 965



lemonadesoda said:


> Some peeps said (earlier in thread) that ES samples are better than final retail. Not true! ES samples are often "pre-stepping". They can be an absolute nightmare for some BIOSes. Some of them are buggy. Some of them run hot. Case in point: Pentium M engineering samples. You can pick ES very cheap on ebay. No one wants them.



2nd'd my PD805ES chipwas even unlocked and it was terrible




Konceptz said:


> ES chips are luck of the draw. Some chips are horrible, and then some are actually better then the retail.



yep e7200ES of mine is nice


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## bird1 (Sep 23, 2008)

erocker said:


> No one claimed it to be the retail chip.


Sure? The article reads:


> Mobile101, unboxed the i7 965 before launch.


It sounds to me like it's a piece of a batch of retail chips waiting for the launch, at some retailer.
E.S. chips are not supposed to be handled this way, right? E.S. chips are there to help engineers to design motherboards, OEM's to make new systems, and so on -- even before and unrelated to the official launch date.



Konceptz said:


> you do realize there is no visable difference between a engineering sample and a retail chip, the only way you can tell one from the other is that it says ES on it.


I do. Of course I did not mean it's a fake processor package in itself, LOL.

(Regarding the cooler, if it's not a retail package, one can't be absolutly sure the retail one is going to go with the same cooler..)


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

bird1 said:


> Sure? The article reads:
> 
> It sounds to me like it's a piece of a batch of retail chips waiting for the launch, at some retailer.
> E.S. chips are not supposed to be handled this way, right? E.S. chips are there to help engineers to design motherboards, OEM's to make new systems, and so on -- even before and unrelated to the official launch date.
> ...



Intel's coolers that are engineering samples, always carry an ES mark on the cooler's sticker, this one didn't, it's not an ES. Other websites are even terming this as an "unofficial unboxing" with no regard to it being an ES chip. Why? because the retail package is going to resemble this. example: http://www.tcmagazine.com/comments.php?id=21874&catid=2 it has little to do with a whether it's a retail package. It is said to resemble it.


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## bird1 (Sep 23, 2008)

btarunr said:


> Intel's coolers that are engineering samples, always carry an ES mark on the cooler's sticker, this one didn't, it's not an ES. Other websites are even terming this as an "unofficial unboxing" with no regard to it being an ES chip. Why? because the retail package is going to resemble this. example: http://www.tcmagazine.com/comments.php?id=21874&catid=2 it has little to do with a whether it's a retail package. It is said to resemble it.


I don't think unboxing an ES chip is unofficial, once you got it... You get it to unbox it, and use it for what's needed. It's to post photos of it that's unofficial, and perhaps illegal, as well.

All in all, it's not an unofficial unboxing of a retail i7 965 XE processor package, but an unboxing of a package holding an ES chip, and supposing the "real thing" will resemble to this all.


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## cdawall (Sep 23, 2008)

bird1 said:


> Sure? The article reads:
> 
> It sounds to me like it's a piece of a batch of retail chips waiting for the launch, at some retailer.
> E.S. chips are not supposed to be handled this way, right? E.S. chips are there to help engineers to design motherboards, OEM's to make new systems, and so on -- even before and unrelated to the official launch date.
> ...



there are several reasons ES chips are sent out some get sent out to be oc'd to death some are sent out to be tested by OEM's some are sent to test intel's coolers.

the copper+alum is a pretty smart way to increase the ability of the cooler to cool while keeping costs low and weight down. ugly and smart lol


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## zads (Sep 23, 2008)

1. i7 is delayed until Q1 2009

2. Who cares if the XE fan design is good or sucks? How many people are actually gonna buy that processor at $1000+? I highly doubt many of those people are gonna stick with stock heatsink fan.


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## tcorbyn (Sep 24, 2008)

LOL, I myself had a chance to play around with one of those a month back. I cant say anyhing about performance of the CPU or the stock cooler :rolleys: Pretty cool to see the picies out now though  Will be getting 920 when they come out  ...wonder what watercoolingwill be like, looking at the size of that thing...


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## OnBoard (Sep 24, 2008)

Even less protection in the fan shroud that current coolers have. Not too hard to get a wire stuck in these. Guessing that's an 92mm fan then, looks so big and the cooler shold already be bigger. Good for the noise (and great stock cooler for wolfdales if it would fit s775) 



Konceptz said:


> ES chips are luck of the draw. Some chips are horrible, and then some are actually better then the retail.





cdawall said:


> yep e7200ES of mine is nice



My retail is nicer


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## Mussels (Sep 24, 2008)

i know a girl who blew $1200 on a Qx6700 not long ago. people do exist who buy the ridiculous hardware.

This is not fake - its an ES, but thats what the CPU's look like and what the coolers look like. Thats enough for the rest of us.


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## Wile E (Sep 24, 2008)

Mussels said:


> i know a girl who blew $1200 on a Qx6700 not long ago. people do exist who buy the ridiculous hardware.
> 
> This is not fake - its an ES, but thats what the CPU's look like and what the coolers look like. Thats enough for the rest of us.



Count me in that group. If these prove to OC as well as the current chips, I am buying one.


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## cdawall (Sep 24, 2008)

OnBoard said:


> My retail is nicer



doubtful that oc was on a ECS mobo


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## btarunr (Sep 24, 2008)

Moar:

Size comparisons between s478, LGA 775 and LGA 1366 packages:






Size comparisons between standard LGA 775 stock cooler versus i7 XE stock cooler: 






You can also see that the i7 XE fan rotates counter-clockwise.


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## DrPepper (Sep 24, 2008)

Clear fans look tacky imo then again they are not much worse than black.


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## Mussels (Sep 24, 2008)

dear god, that fans on BACKWARDS.

wouldnt it be silly if it blew the air up off the heatsink, lol.


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## btarunr (Sep 24, 2008)

Mussels said:


> dear god, that fans on BACKWARDS.
> 
> wouldnt it be silly if it blew the air up off the heatsink, lol.



no no...it blows downward, but rotates counter-clockwise to do so, look at the shape of the blades


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## Octavean (Sep 24, 2008)

Its just mounted differently. The i7 XE stock cooler fan has its rear stationary hub facing down whereas the LGA 775 stock cooler has its rear stationary hub facing up thus the differences in rotational direction. I’m assuming in both cases air is forced down into the sink fins.

Yeah I think its an ugly design but I’ll take two 

Actually I’ll be going for a Core i7 920 and I wish it came with that cooler too. I’ll probably go with sock cooling at first and move up to better cooling later. Lord knows those push pins make installation and removal easy but you never really get the feeling that its secured right (at least not big heavy coolers).


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## Morgoth (Sep 24, 2008)

zads said:


> 1. i7 is delayed until Q1 2009
> source or stfu


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## Solaris17 (Sep 25, 2008)

InnocentCriminal said:


> They also use those stupid push-pin(s) connectors again. >.<



i saw that and got sad inside


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## Thrackan (Nov 21, 2008)

It's stunning how many people curse the pushpins, while I have had no trouble at all installing 3 or 4 systems with stock coolers


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## Mussels (Nov 21, 2008)

Thrackan said:


> It's stunning how many people curse the pushpins, while I have had no trouble at all installing 3 or 4 systems with stock coolers



its mostly because push pins provide inferior temps to screw down designs.


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## Thrackan (Nov 21, 2008)

Mussels said:


> its mostly because push pins provide inferior temps to screw down designs.



Most people I've heard had problems actually pushing them in correctly


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## Mussels (Nov 21, 2008)

Thrackan said:


> Most people I've heard had problems actually pushing them in correctly



thus the bad temps


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## DaMulta (Nov 21, 2008)

EX fans kick ass!!!!

I use one!

Wile can I oc the crap out of your cpu with it?....?please


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## Melvis (Nov 21, 2008)

I just looked up were i get all my PC parts from, and they now have the new i7 in stock, but only the 2.66GHz ones, and the only mobo i could also find that supports it was Gigabyte and the price was insane, the CPU was just under $600, and the mobo was $400. Then i saw the price for the 3.2GHz and it was $2.777 now thats just OMG ridicules, how in the world is anyone goin to buy one of these new intel CPU's? I cant see intel selling many of these new i7's at all if there at that insane price tag, if the new AMD CPU's come in alot lower, and they will, i can see AMD getting alot more sales then intel this time around.


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## Mussels (Nov 21, 2008)

Melvis said:


> I just looked up were i get all my PC parts from, and they now have the new i7 in stock, but only the 2.66GHz ones, and the only mobo i could also find that supports it was Gigabyte and the price was insane, the CPU was just under $600, and the mobo was $400. Then i saw the price for the 3.2GHz and it was $2.777 now thats just OMG ridicules, how in the world is anyone goin to buy one of these new intel CPU's? I cant see intel selling many of these new i7's at all if there at that insane price tag, if the new AMD CPU's come in alot lower, and they will, i can see AMD getting alot more sales then intel this time around.



every new launch has the prices this insane. they go down rather quickly... the profit is in the people who cant wait.


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## Melvis (Nov 21, 2008)

Mussels said:


> every new launch has the prices this insane. they go down rather quickly... the profit is in the people who cant wait.



Yea to true, i just don't remember any new CPU being that high in price at launch ever?

And if i see someone that has one of these new CPU's in the next 3weeks im going to bitch slap them lol

Or ask them for a loan? hehe


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## Mussels (Nov 21, 2008)

Melvis said:


> Yea to true, i just don't remember any new CPU being that high in price at launch ever?



athlon FX and all the intel extreme editions.


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## Melvis (Nov 21, 2008)

Mussels said:


> athlon FX and all the intel extreme editions.



Yea i know they was high in price, but i don't remember seeing them getting past the 2grand mark? most of the FX's was around $1500 ish, and the extreme's was closer to 2grand, but that 3.2GHz is closer to the 3grand mark, crazy:shadedshu


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## DrunkenMafia (Nov 21, 2008)

Thrackan said:


> It's stunning how many people curse the pushpins, while I have had no trouble at all installing 3 or 4 systems with stock coolers



Have you tried sticking one of those suckers on one of your own $400 mb's.  You do have to exert a fair bit of force and when its on your new shiny cost a arm,leg and both nuts motherboard you tend to get a little sweaty.

I know I did.


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## DrunkenMafia (Nov 21, 2008)

heres a nice cheap one I found in Aussie  

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=187_346&products_id=8487

Not dissing PCCG though, they rock


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## Mussels (Nov 21, 2008)

DrunkenMafia said:


> heres a nice cheap one I found in Aussie
> 
> http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=187_346&products_id=8487
> 
> Not dissing PCCG though, they rock



slightly more expensive than the norm, but far more reliable/faster than the norm.


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## Melvis (Nov 22, 2008)

DrunkenMafia said:


> heres a nice cheap one I found in Aussie
> 
> http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=187_346&products_id=8487
> 
> Not dissing PCCG though, they rock



Thats alot cheaper then the one i found were i shop most of the time, ill show you there prices and also the mobo prices.


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