# Quad Extreme project



## mandelore (Jan 9, 2008)

Hi all. 

Well, this is the only place I could think of posting this "project". Unlike most It has already been done, and includes my 1gb 2900xt setup i rigged several month ago, so ill post this in the order in which i put it together.

Just to let you know that when i originally set up my 2900xt liquid cooling loop i was still on my 939 motherboard and my case front bay layout was slightly different, so any discrepancies you observe in the images will be explained by that.

My system consists of: 

*SYSTEM*

Asus Maximus Formula SE motherboard
2Gb DDR2  Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC8500
500GB Raid 0 (2 disks)
Intel QX9650 processor
1Gb 2900XT graphics card
DVD rewriter

*COOLING*

2x Thermochill PA120.3 Radiators, 1x 120mm Black Ice radiator
2x Dangerden clear front bay reservours
3/8" Clearflex 60 tubing
Dangerden DD-29XT 2900xt waterblock
Arctic web 437W TEC waterblock
Custom-built dual 80mm RAM cooler
1x Swiftech Laing MCP655 12 VDC Pump (CPU loop)
1x Laing DDC 1-T Pro 10W 12 VDC Pump (GFX / NB loop)
1x Dedicated 600W / 24V Meanwell power supply

Cooling for my new rig as listed above consists of 2 separate liquid cooling loops, one cooling both my 2900Xt and the Maximus Formula's Northbridge/Southbridge fusion waterblock. The other loop is dedicated to dissipating the heat generated from the 437W peltier unit within the Arctic Web CPU cooler.
*________________________________________________*

*Setting up the 2900XT cooling loop*

Here are the basic components of the cooling loop shown in the photographs below:






This is the bare Thermochill PA120.3 radiator, pretty damn big in my opinion, and supports the mounting of 3x120mm fans. I opted for low noise / high CFM Akasa fans.

The next 3 images show the coolent base-Fluid XP, clear Dangerden reservoir and DD-29XT waterblock attached to the 2900XT card:












I proceeded to attach the fans to the radiator and then traced out the screw points and radiator shape on the computer case back panel which is where I planned to mount this radiator:









Once I had the basic shape and screw locations, I proceeded to drill the holes and cut out the radiator shape to allow airflow using a mains driven saw. I also cut out a large area at the top of the back panel to allow tubing to pass through the case panel into the computer case. I then proceeded to mount the radiator to the panel:















Here is the 2900XT graphics card connected to the loop resting on some skillfully constructed scaffolding 






Finally here is the final mounted radiator and fillport that I attached to the rear of the case:









*New rig components*

My new motherboard, the Asus Maximus Formula Special Edition is a big step away from my previous systems. I opted for a socket 775 system with built in watercooling on the Northbridge, Southbridge and voltage regulators, as I intend for some serious overclocking:






The Maximus Formula is the base for my newly acquired Intel Quad Extreme 9650 processor, both of which I selected with eachother in mind, and hopefully this pairing will result in some nice overclocks.






-*Cooling the QX9650* 

To cool my QX9650 processor I opted, as with all my previous rigs for a TEC cooling solution. After much looking around I decided to go with the Arctic Web Thermoelectric cooling block.
Below shows the packaging, the contents consisting of the cooling block, instructions and neoprene gaskets:









Here is a close up of the top and bottom of the cooler, with a thin plastic film covering the copper base against scratches:








*________________________________________________*

*Modding the Maximus Formula*

If I was going to overclock as far as I could, I decided to look for ways to improve the motherboard before I installed anything. 
The first thing I did was to remove the built in Fusion waterblock and change the stock thermal glue to the more efficient Arctic Silver 5. Initially the waterblock would not budge in the slightest, so I had to use a hair dryer to heat the block up then gently twist the block for what seemed like forever till it gave way. Using a solvent I cleaned the thermal glue off the block ready for the Arctic Silver 5.

Here you can see the bare Northbridge and southbridge and the removed Fusion waterblock:












After I reattached the Fusion waterblock, I proceeded to add small 40mm fan with built in LED's to the Northbridge heatsink adjacent tot he waterblock. This fan was salvaged from an old hard drive cooler:









I also mounted a larger 50mm fan to blow horizontally through the length of the RAM modules to aid in their cooling. This is to go in conjunction with my removable dual 80mm fan RAM cooler:












Here you can see the motherboard with the 2 new fans in place and connected up:









Note: At a later date, once the motherboard was installed, I removed the cap from the southbridge heatsink and added a small 40mm fan to it to improve Southbridge cooling. Every little helps 






*________________________________________________*

*Prepping the motherboard for the Thermoelectric cooler*

This is quite an involved and extensive procedure, and can be quite messy too! 

Because the thermoelectric cooler will introduce subzero temperatures to my system, it is crucial to insulate accordingly. The first thing that I did was to cover all of the slots/connectors and cpu socket with tape and coat the motherboard pcb with a Conformal coating spray:









I then proceeded to spray the pcb, both front and back with conformal coating 3 times. Each time I allowed 15 minutes for curing before proceeding onto the next coat.

Once this was done, I then removed all the tape from the motherboard and moved onto insulating the internal part of the socket. I will post this next part as a sort of step-by-step  guide for any members who want to know how to correctly use Dielectric grease.

*1) Fill the central recess in the socket with dielectric grease till it is level with the socket pins: 



*

*2) Smear dielectric grease across the pins and gaps in the socket, try to get it everywhere in the socket you can



*

*3) Push in the CPU and the dielectric grease that is squeezed out try to spread this around the cap. Avoid getting this onto the IHS



*

*4) Pull the lock lever and secure the cpu. Once secured into the socket proceed to squirt more dielectric grease into any visable voids and gaps. I found a small syringe ideal for this



*

*5) Apply a neoprene gasket to the back of the pcb where the processor socket is located to insulate against condensation from the rear of the cpu.  



*

*6) Add dielectric grease to the gaskets designed to fit around the processor socket and then place them onto the motherboard. I had to trim some of mine to allow for adjacent components. I also used silicone glue on the gaskets around the motherboard base to completely lock away any possibility of air getting in. Here you can also see where I have applied Liquid Metal Pro Thermal interface material to the CPU:






*

All that was left to do was add neoprene to the Arctic Web block and then attach this to the motherboard:









*________________________________________________*

*Connecting Radiators, tubing and finalisation*

Here you can see the Arctic Web cooler with the 3/8" barbs installed:






There are two inlets and outlets on this waterblock, and as you can see I have connected them diagonally as stated in the instructions, and then connected "like" connectors via a Y-shaped splitter:






Here you can suspended tubing ready for the motherboard installation and then quick connection, as well as a side shot showing the dual front bay reservoirs, one for the graphics card loop and the other for the Arctic Web loop:









*Radiators*

I decided to mount my other Thermochill Pa120.3 radiator to the back of the computer case, while having the much smaller 120mm Black Ice (tho blue in colour lol ) radiator to the inside lower front bays of the case:









Once the radiators were mounted correctly I proceeded to fill most of the loop with coolent, which as you can see here, looks very much like good old blood .

This brings a new meaning to the guts of a computer system 









*-Finalisation*

Once the loop was mostly filled, excluding the tubes being connected to the motherboard, I installed the motherboard with the Arctic Web installed, and proceeded to connect up the corresponding loops to the northbridge and the Arctic Web cooler:












I hope you have found my project interesting, and I will provide various Overclocking and benchmarking results on this thread as I get to grips with my new system.

Mand 


*___________________________________________________*
*Benchmark Results*

*9-1-2008*


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## hat (Jan 9, 2008)

oh. my. god.
that is one hell of a... cooling contraption...
and I was proud of myself when I installed my freezer 64.


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## DaMulta (Jan 9, 2008)

Can you take some pics of around the case? After pics you might say.



Oh and I want your machine......heheh 

Did you figure out about the temps?"


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## mandelore (Jan 9, 2008)

DaMulta said:


> Can you take some pics of around the case? After pics you might say.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



sure i will take more pics.. erhem.. just need to clean my room lol!

its an electronics graveyard in here

as for the temperatures, whenever the cpu is not under load, the reported temperatures instantly reset to fixed values, I guess it just cant handle subzero readings. Just would love to know just how "cold" it is at idle. under orthos, occt etc, at over 4ghz, the temperatures do increase to around 35ish on each core.tho it takes a while for them to get there


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## Disparia (Jan 9, 2008)

You're a madman! Very nice


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## Random Murderer (Jan 9, 2008)

wow... i hope for your sake you don't spring a leak! everything will be dyed red!


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## mandelore (Jan 9, 2008)

Thanks guys! 

im actually waiting on a replacement for my cpu loop pump, ive opted for a Laing DDC with Petra's DDCT-01s Top. As I kinda accidentally left my pump running dry for 3 days. Ouch!

It still works, but makes alot of noise and probable will explode soon enuff. also replacing the 80mm fan in the meanwell power supply with a equally powerful yet much quieter fan, as the current one is a leafblower


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## mandelore (Jan 9, 2008)

Random Murderer said:


> wow... i hope for your sake you don't spring a leak! everything will be dyed red!



ahh, but i can cope with dyed red, its non conductive so at least it wont blow anything up


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## DaMulta (Jan 9, 2008)

mandelore said:


> sure i will take more pics.. erhem.. just need to clean my room lol!
> 
> its an electronics graveyard in here
> 
> as for the temperatures, whenever the cpu is not under load, the reported temperatures instantly reset to fixed values, I guess it just cant handle subzero readings. Just would love to know just how "cold" it is at idle. under orthos, occt etc, at over 4ghz, the temperatures do increase to around 35ish on each core.tho it takes a while for them to get there



I'm surprised that it doesn't stay frozen at all times.


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## mandelore (Jan 9, 2008)

DaMulta said:


> I'm surprised that it doesn't stay frozen at all times.



being quite honest, untill i buy a probe and fix it to under the cold plate i cant be certain what the temperature is. I simply dont trust what im being told


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## DaMulta (Jan 9, 2008)

Are you giving that TEC plenty of volts?


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## vivanco (Jan 9, 2008)

wow i love that cooling setup and all the goodies you got 
have fun clocking that buddy 
one question tho, why not ocz xtc memory cooler ?

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/OCZ/XTCMemoryCooler

edit: and how is that ballistix tracer is able to do 1200mhz with 4-4-4-6 timings?


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## Duxx (Jan 9, 2008)

That is a b-e-a-u-t-y.


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## mandelore (Jan 9, 2008)

DaMulta said:


> Are you giving that TEC plenty of volts?



yup, im using the reccomended psu, 600W, and dishing out 24V. 

the rads are luke warm to the touch so they are doing brilliantly at cooling the tec, if the temps are accurate, I guess the cpu is dishing out quite a bit of heat when its clocked high. 

the T junc max is 105C, so 35C is PLENTY away from that 

however, i am having difficulty getting the fsb high on this motherboard. It doesnt make sense, I even tried a bios config the same as that of another maximus formula + qx9650 owner and its a no go?

I want to use a low multi + high fsb, but i just gotta figure out why its not stable


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## pt (Jan 9, 2008)

pls tell me your adress so i can steal that rig
it looks very good
and what about oc results?


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## CDdude55 (Jan 9, 2008)

Did you set the Motherboard on the motherboards box? Or use the anti static bag to put the motherboard on?


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## mandelore (Jan 9, 2008)

I got those timings with high voltage 1.4V, but kept chilly by the fans i use. I set everything up on the mobo box, but i discharged all static when handling it.

ATM im trying to get a stable oc, running occt then bumping vcore when needed. started thismorning from stock frequency. 

If anyone else here has a maximus formula, any help getting my fsb high would be appreciated, ive already trauled the web for info, mostly from xtreme etc..


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## mandelore (Jan 9, 2008)

pt said:


> pls tell me your adress so i can steal that rig
> it looks very good
> and what about oc results?



i managed 4.4ghz on the stock cooler, so id imagine a wee bit more with nicer temperatures. im still working on getting this stable. dunno why my mobo wont play game atm, and my psu is rated for quad cores, tri gfx cards, 18 satadrives, so its plenty methinks, i hope..


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## mandelore (Jan 9, 2008)

*Update*

Well, after messing around, and finding it was my ram that was bsoding my pc, i upped the ram voltage and got this: *4620MHz*


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## Random Murderer (Jan 9, 2008)

mandelore said:


> Well, after messing around, and finding it was my ram that was bsoding my pc, i upped the ram voltage and got this: *4620MHz*



holy crap!
you gonna keep pushin her?


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## DaMulta (Jan 9, 2008)

4.6 stable? What do you have your memory volatge set at?




Hey what do you run your 2900 at stable? I went ahead and ordered a maze block for my card. The only reason I didn't get the full covage block was because of the fact that it would only work for that one card. Do you think that I will be able to set it at your GPU speeds?


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## mandelore (Jan 9, 2008)

DaMulta said:


> 4.6 stable? What do you have your memory volatge set at?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



i am 3dmark stable at 955 core at 1.45vgpu @ 62c load, as long as your volt regs/ram is sufficiently cooled, i see no reason why you cannot get those speeds, no reason at all.

yeah, the full coverage is a drawback in that sense, I was quite tempted by crossfire 3870's. but meh, I lub my card , and i doubt id get anywhere near what i paid for the card + waterblock. damn this habit is expensive.....

however dx10 is a bit more picky, I cant run much above 900 in dx10 without small artifacts, but that was only tested with the bios's 1.35v, maybe more vgpu would help. 

my ram voltage is veried atm, still trying to work out what the hell it likes. I have ran 1200 on my other cpu @ 1.4volts, been running around 1.35ish atm just to make sure that theres no instability. 4.6GHz at that fsb is dissapointing tho, i just cant seem to  get a high fsb without crashes, im sure im doing something wrong... AMD overclocking was SOOOOO much easier


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## panchoman (Jan 9, 2008)

whoa man! thats pretty crazy, can we get a 360 of the case? i want to see how you mounted the other 2 rad's. also 35C is a little hot a 437w tec isn't it? but i would get a diode or an infared gun, etc. as i wouldn't trust the bios for such readings. great job!


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## Completely Bonkers (Jan 10, 2008)

Thanks for taking the time to write up your project (with photos). Great job. Good luck going faster still.


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## steelkane (Jan 10, 2008)

kick-ass overclock, I seen the case after the cutting you did for the rad,, just wondering is your computer with all that awesome hardware, time & money spent,, In test mode. and your going to take it back apart to paint the case to make it all look the way it runs, or are you just going to leave it the way it is.


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## DaMulta (Jan 10, 2008)

mandelore said:


> i am 3dmark stable at 955 core at 1.45vgpu @ 62c load, as long as your volt regs/ram is sufficiently cooled, i see no reason why you cannot get those speeds, no reason at all.
> 
> yeah, the full coverage is a drawback in that sense, I was quite tempted by crossfire 3870's. but meh, I lub my card , and i doubt id get anywhere near what i paid for the card + waterblock. damn this habit is expensive.....
> 
> ...


Yea running at 4.6 stable must really suck.......:shadedshu
_O I wish i could hit 4.6_

For the HD
I found that 1.25 was better on AIR at 900Mhz. I still had artifacts, but less of them. I seen some of the highest OC bios have lower volts. 

Have you tried 1.25-1.30v yet with your card?


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## Judas (Jan 17, 2008)

Good idea sticking the rad on the side never thought of that one 
Blooming big job how long did it take you?


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## mandelore (Jan 18, 2008)

*Update*

length of time, a good full weekend, plus waiting for parts, which im still doing.

I have got my new peltier, took apart the Arctic Web and installed. Just waiting on my new pump for the TEC loop. Been in touch with Todd quite abit (the nice guy who makes them)

When i took out the Arctic Web module I reasembled with secure worm gear 15mm clamps, so every tube now is 100% secure against leakage. Tested the TEC unit and it works. (unless fate has another idea)

I am, quite frankly going bonkers not being able to use my pc, currently typing from my folks pc, a (  ) quality Dell E3010 machine. 

I aim to have some nice reports, pretty damn soon...

Believe my pump will arrive within the week since they were out of stock.

will keep everyone updated, getting restless not being able to bench!!!

Mand


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## Irish_PXzyan (Jan 21, 2008)

holly smokes 
ive never seen anything like that before! 
You got a sexy QX9650  and overclocked to 4.6GHZ .....my god....I....I feel really pissed off 

iam going to find your house and take all your stuff


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## DaMulta (Jan 24, 2008)

update?


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## mandelore (Jan 24, 2008)

DaMulta said:


> update?



sort of....

after much waiting i still did not recieve the pump, emailed the website and cancelled my order. i got a Liang D5 Vario with a 3/8" adapter kit, so that will be here within a couple of days and i can start getting my pc working, at frikkin last....

I know the TEC module works, well, as in that there is continuity within the module unlike the one I replaced, as that was a certifiable dud.

I think the new pump will be better anyway, as I can get upto 1500L/hour with it, my old pump did 1200L/h (D4) and the other one i was ordering was a modded DDC to do 900-1000L/h.

Once it arrives, i simply need to refill the loop with coolent, then switch it on 

and at last I will be able to get some benching done and check for load temperatures at various clock speeds and voltages. wewt.


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## mandelore (Jan 26, 2008)

not happy, and extremely confused....

emailed the guy who makes the arctic web block.

new pump arrived, everything is set up correctly, correctly powered etc..

getting similar reported temperatures to when the pelt block was not working at idle.. as in no single figure temperatures or very low idles. similar shitty temperatures under load. 

NOT HAPPY, NOT FRIKKIN HAPPY.

so far what a bleedin waste of money, time, effort and just frikkin everything. Wish i had just went for an Apogee GTX or something, just sick of this


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## Random Murderer (Jan 26, 2008)

mandelore said:


> not happy, and extremely confused....
> 
> emailed the guy who makes the arctic web block.
> 
> ...



that sucks... you're SURE the pelt is working?
and not to add insult to injury, but i told you so....


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## DaMulta (Jan 26, 2008)

mandelore said:


> not happy, and extremely confused....
> 
> emailed the guy who makes the arctic web block.
> 
> ...



What happens if you just run the block off of the cpu?

Does it freeze?


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## CDdude55 (Jan 26, 2008)

Did you set the Motherboard on the motherboards box? Or use the anti static bag to put the motherboard on?


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## ShadowFold (Jan 26, 2008)

CDdude55 said:


> Did you set the Motherboard on the motherboards box? Or use the anti static bag to put the motherboard on?



Im pretty sure you have to put it on the anti static bag


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## asb2106 (Jan 26, 2008)

alright after reading every post here Im kinda confused,  Ive not been happy because Im hitting a wall with my q6600 at about 3.6~3.7 with an apogee GT, and my temps are about 46 C and about 55 on all the cores.  Those are temps after 100% load for 24 hours.  Would I benefit from doing a TEC.  I really really want to but it almost seems not to be worth it


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## DaMulta (Jan 26, 2008)

His isn't working right still. His last TEC system(225watt) stayed in the -s on a hot chip.


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## Wile E (Jan 26, 2008)

mandelore said:


> not happy, and extremely confused....
> 
> emailed the guy who makes the arctic web block.
> 
> ...


Look in the Wolfdale/Yorkfield performance thread. Everybody is getting bad temp readings on these 45nm chips. You're gonna have to verify the setup with a probe. Also, try what dm said, and run the pelt loop with the block off of the cpu, to see if it actually freezes.

Also, in my research, I have found that most quads won't stay stable much over a 400fsb. I know my quad doesn't like a fsb over 400. That's why you see the 3dMark06 record runs done with high multis and low fsb. I say stick with an even 400fsb (give or take a few Mhz), and use the multis from there.

I'm eagerly awaiting for you to work out the bugs. I feel the TEC bug starting to bite again. lol. Need a better quad tho. I'm gonna try to get a QX9650 with my tax return, but I have to buy another vehicle first. If I can't swing the 9650, I think I'll try for a Q6700.


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## DaMulta (Jan 26, 2008)

I'm really wondering if the meanwell is working right. If this 2ed TEC isn't freezeing it makes you wonder.


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## mandelore (Jan 26, 2008)

*Temperature sensor issues to blame?*

Right, I noticed something interesting. My bios was showing the same as core temps lowest temp reading until i reflashed  to the latest bios (907)

it then showed 9C in the bios, the core temp readings did not change at all, but, speedfan showed 9C for the cpu temperature also, as well as the "cpu" temp from occt on its results graph.

I did some poking around and found a few people with MY motherboard and the QX9650 that have had temperature sensor problems, but only with the QX9650.

So... I decided to run OCCT , speedfan and core temp and do some testing.

I have made three screenshots:

1) Idle with the TEC unit powered up:






2) Load with TEC powered up:





3) Load with TEC unpowered:






And I actually got some interesting results:

The speedfan reported temperature matches the initial bios reading, which incidentally matches nothing shown in core temp, the latest speedfan does not require temperature offsets to be made on core2 processors. and the load temperatures on the "core" readings are so drastically different to the cpu temperature, which does scale with load, and when the TEC is unpowered.  (everest apparently doesnt make sense of either correctly)

15C 100% load on each core looks far better than 40+ 

what do you guys think?


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## asb2106 (Jan 26, 2008)

that sounds like a good result to me.  and ~30 looks great on the cores!  Try to do some OCing and see how it goes up, I am suprised though that your temps didnt go below 0 during IDLE, I thought TEC was supposed to freeze up when at idle


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## mandelore (Jan 26, 2008)

asb2106 said:


> that sounds like a good result to me.  and ~30 looks great on the cores!  Try to do some OCing and see how it goes up, I am suprised though that your temps didnt go below 0 during IDLE, I thought TEC was supposed to freeze up when at idle



31C was with the TEC upowered, it got to a max of 15C under full load on each core.

but i still need to know if i can trust that cpu temp, and that coretemp is indeed innacurately detecting temperatures


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## asb2106 (Jan 26, 2008)

mandelore said:


> 31C was with the TEC upowered, it got to a max of 15C under full load on each core.
> 
> but i still need to know if i can trust that cpu temp, and that coretemp is indeed innacurately detecting temperatures



the 15C was the CPU, the 30's were the CORES, the temps on the cores are always higher and they are they number that us really important

in everest you will see 14 on CPU and 30's on CORES, be sure to check the cores


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## asb2106 (Jan 26, 2008)

asb2106 said:


> the 15C was the CPU, the 30's were the CORES, the temps on the cores are always higher and they are they number that us really important
> 
> in everest you will see 14 on CPU and 30's on CORES, be sure to check the cores



notice


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## mandelore (Jan 26, 2008)

the whole point is that i think the  "core" readings are bugged. the unpowered idle/powered idle are the same, the numbers ALWAYS reset to the EXACT numbers seen in coretemp, eveerest numbers just dont budge as it dont read anything correctly

Edit:

I believe it may be a problem with the motherboard/cpu combo, as on a copuple of other sites peeps have reported similar occurances.

im just trying to find a set of numbers i can trust, as at 4ghz, the "core" values are similar to air cooling!


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## asb2106 (Jan 26, 2008)

mandelore said:


> the whole point is that i think the  "core" readings are bugged. the unpowered idle/powered idle are the same, the numbers ALWAYS reset to the EXACT numbers seen in coretemp, eveerest numbers just dont budge as it dont read anything correctly
> 
> Edit:
> 
> ...



core temps are always higher than the CPU temp, and a probe will tell you surface temp, the cores are internal, who knows, maybe there is a bug with the qx but every dual/quad proc Ive ever had the cores are always more than the surface CPU temp


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## DaMulta (Jan 26, 2008)

Seems high for the wattage of that TEC to me


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## Random Murderer (Jan 26, 2008)

DaMulta said:


> Seems high for the wattage of that TEC to me



me too. i still think you should pull that sucker off and see if it freezes...


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## pt (Jan 27, 2008)

Random Murderer said:


> me too. i still think you should pull that sucker off and see if it freezes...



second that


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## asb2106 (Jan 27, 2008)

well hey, since everyone is talking TEC in here.....

Im buying the parts for my TEC soon and Im putting together the kit and I want to go through the steps to figure it out before I get it.

When I put the Copper plate inbetween my apogee gt and my peltier cooler,  should I just squeeze it in or should I somehow brace the whole system.

I was thinking of laying out my weatherstripping out so that the peltier and the copper plate rest in there real nicely


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## asb2106 (Jan 27, 2008)

and oh one more....

It goes

Apogee GT
then
Peltier Hot Side
Peltier Cold Side
then
Copper Plate
then 
CPU

Is that right?


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## DaMulta (Jan 27, 2008)

Yes that is right.


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## asb2106 (Jan 27, 2008)

DaMulta said:


> Yes that is right.



cool, thank you


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## asb2106 (Jan 27, 2008)

Do you think a 245watt would work fine, or should I go higher
The temps are normally like 56 - 59 on the cores, its cool in the house now
I want this to be good for keeping me cool in the summer, it gets warm in the house


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## asb2106 (Jan 27, 2008)

and do I want to put thermal paste between all the layers or just the CPU/Copper?

Seems like it could help will it interfere with anything?


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## DaMulta (Jan 27, 2008)

On all of the layers.


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## asb2106 (Jan 27, 2008)

very good, do I want to lap the copper plate?


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## Random Murderer (Jan 27, 2008)

it should be pre-mirrored if you get a good one.


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## asb2106 (Jan 27, 2008)

its from frozen CPU, doesnt look to well finsihed

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2410/exp-03/50x50mm_Copper_Cold_Plate.html


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## Random Murderer (Jan 27, 2008)

asb2106 said:


> its from frozen CPU, doesnt look to well finsihed
> 
> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2410/exp-03/50x50mm_Copper_Cold_Plate.html



yea, lap that sonovab...


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## asb2106 (Jan 27, 2008)

Random Murderer said:


> yea, lap that sonovab...



im getting the parts on wednesday(orderin all monday mornin) and Ill post results, I prob start a new forum though!


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## Wile E (Jan 27, 2008)

asb2106 said:


> core temps are always higher than the CPU temp, and a probe will tell you surface temp, the cores are internal, who knows, maybe there is a bug with the qx but every dual/quad proc Ive ever had the cores are always more than the surface CPU temp


You're not understanding. The core temps are not reading properly. He cannot use the core temps, they are wrong.


Head over to the Wolfdale/Yorkfield watch and performance thread. The 45nm chips have bad core diodes. This is also the reason Intel has pushed the release date back for the notebook 45nm chips. Apparently Intel feels accurate core temp reporting is not important on a desktop, but is on a laptop.

They say that it starts to report more accurately at higher temps, but that won't happen with this TEC.

And I have to agree Mand, I expected more from a 400W+ TEC. Really need to get that probe, or maybe you need more pump. Perhaps 2 in series?


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## asb2106 (Jan 27, 2008)

Wile E said:


> You're not understanding. The core temps are not reading properly. He cannot use the core temps, they are wrong.
> 
> 
> Head over to the Wolfdale/Yorkfield watch and performance thread. The 45nm chips have bad core diodes. This is also the reason Intel has pushed the release date back for the notebook 45nm chips. Apparently Intel feels accurate core temp reporting is not important on a desktop, but is on a laptop.
> ...



dude, I said maybe there was a bug, how the hell could I not understand.... read


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## Wile E (Jan 28, 2008)

asb2106 said:


> dude, I said maybe there was a bug, how the hell could I not understand.... read


I was just trying to point out that it's on more than his quad. A good portion of the Wolfdales and Yorkfields have the problem.

Plus, I slightly misunderstood where you were going with your comment. Saying that core temps are always higher led me to believe you meant his were reading correctly. I took it in the wrong context.


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## asb2106 (Jan 28, 2008)

Wile E said:


> I was just trying to point out that it's on more than his quad. A good portion of the Wolfdales and Yorkfields have the problem.
> 
> Plus, I slightly misunderstood where you were going with your comment. Saying that core temps are always higher led me to believe you meant his were reading correctly. I took it in the wrong context.



my bad too!  sorry,

rough time now, just killed my 3870


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## Wile E (Jan 28, 2008)

asb2106 said:


> my bad too!  sorry,
> 
> rough time now, just killed my 3870


That blows man. Can you rma?


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## CDdude55 (Jan 28, 2008)

asb2106 said:


> my bad too!  sorry,
> 
> rough time now, just killed my 3870



Thats just a excuse to get a 3870 X2!


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## mandelore (Jan 28, 2008)

on a side note:


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## DaMulta (Jan 28, 2008)

Where's that 3dmark06 CPU score


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## asb2106 (Jan 28, 2008)

Wile E said:


> That blows man. Can you rma?



gonna try today, dont see why not, theres no physical damages whatsover


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## asb2106 (Jan 28, 2008)

CDdude55 said:


> Thats just a excuse to get a 3870 X2!



seems to be the most likely answer


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## mandelore (Jan 30, 2008)

*Progress, sort of...*

Righto, i got cheesed off, replumbed my loop and tightened the coldplate on the Arctic Web block. (think the temperatures are maybe due to flow restriction? possibly..)

Anyways, since doing this i have noticed that the temperatures do not move at all now, neither the core temp readings nor the speedfan cpu temperature!!  progress of a sort. heres a comparison of a occt run at 22min (ish) remaining of a 30 min run. 

one with the original plumbing and the other post re-plumb. as you can see the results are quite remarkable, need to test under 100% each core load at 4ghz, but at 4ghz, when playing any game, the cpu remains at 9c 

the occt runs were at stock speeds for a base comparison (also i only had the original screenies from stock speeds anyways, tho i have graphs saved from 4ghz runs which ill post soon, as graphical comparisons will be far better)

anyways:

*Original loop setup @3ghz full load*





*New loop setup @3ghz full load*





And heres a quick  cut 'n paste job on the pics inc idles for easy comparison:


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## asb2106 (Jan 30, 2008)

very nice!  how you like the 9650?


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## mandelore (Jan 30, 2008)

its pretty damn sweet, its completely fixed my Never winters nights: mask of the betrayer extreme low fps issue, i can now even run every single setting maxed @ 1920x1200 smooth and  apparently with a very high fps reguardless of my 2900xt's clock speeds 

same with unreal tourny 3, every maxed out, vsinc, i dont get less than 58ish fps, when uncapped im running 90-100+fps. intensive battles, lots of carnage maybe as low as 70fps 

memory bandwidths breaking 10k in sandra, and when gaming etc i can run all sorts of crap without worrying about bogging down the cpu. 

However, about the cooling, i think im gonna need to upgrade to 1/2" tubing, which sucks as im gonna have to do alot of replumbing etc, as Todd, the guy who assembles the Arctic Webs is getting -9C idle on his QX6700 @ 3.7ghz, and 6C load, Im still certain that the core readings are erronious, and im not even 10000% certain that the cpu temp is accurate


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## DaMulta (Jan 30, 2008)

It sure takes a lot of juice to cool that chip!!!1


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## Wile E (Jan 31, 2008)

mandelore said:


> its pretty damn sweet, its completely fixed my Never winters nights: mask of the betrayer extreme low fps issue, i can now even run every single setting maxed @ 1920x1200 smooth and  apparently with a very high fps reguardless of my 2900xt's clock speeds
> 
> same with unreal tourny 3, every maxed out, vsinc, i dont get less than 58ish fps, when uncapped im running 90-100+fps. intensive battles, lots of carnage maybe as low as 70fps
> 
> ...


You may not have to go to 1/2". Try putting a second pump inline with the first. That should easily overcome any flow restrictions.


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## trt740 (Mar 11, 2008)

I just want to say I love your rig mandelore great job with it!!!!   please post some overclocking results here aswell if you don't mind. http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=54948


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## PartyLikeARockStar (Mar 12, 2008)

nice to see another armor owner. nice cooling too btw


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## CDdude55 (Mar 12, 2008)

I am going to get a Thermaltake Armor when my tax return cash comes in. Mainly because my bro has a Kandalf and i need more space for bigger cards. My good ol Super Lanboy is not cutting it in terms of space.


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## TechnicalFreak (Mar 12, 2008)

Woohaa! Damn that's fast 

I can't even imagine the time it took you to do all of this..

That CPU cooler.. I have never seen one like that ever before. Is it new on the market??


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## mandelore (Mar 12, 2008)

the cpu cooler is kind of a re-done job of the original dominator TEC cooler.

I have a pleasent 9C load when gaming for several hours @ 4.4ghz

superpi and everest cache/mem bench:


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## tkpenalty (Apr 28, 2008)

Mandalore why dont you purchase a temp diode so you can confirm the real temps...? Half inch tubing is a good idea as well as a second pump


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## Wile E (Apr 28, 2008)

tkpenalty said:


> Mandalore why dont you purchase a temp diode so you can confirm the real temps...? Half inch tubing is a good idea as well as a second pump



Cause the temp diode wouldn't give real cpu temps either. In an environment like that, there's too many variables to calculate core temps from temps at the IHS with a diode. All he would essentially know is the temp of the pelt.


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