# Project log [Sladesurfer Wannabe][56k Warning]



## tkpenalty (Jan 3, 2008)

Hello guys, this is my project log showing off my system, and showing you what modifications I'm doing at the moment with it. Basically, this is something similar to a blog, please comment and give suggestions!
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Specifications as of 03/1/08 
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_Processor:  Core 2 Duo E6300
Memory: 2x1GB DDR1066 PQA
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA P31 DS3L Rev 1.0
Video Card: Powercolor X1950PRO Extreme 256MB
Hard Drive(s): Western Digital WD 1600 SATAII 160GB
Power Supply: Coolermaster iGreen 600W SLi Certified
Enclosure: ANTEC SOLO Sonata series Midi tower
Cooling:
-Extra 120mm fan at hdd bay
-Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme CPU Cooler + 120mm AKASA AMBER series silent 120mm fan
-Thermalright HR-05 High Riser Northbridge Cooler_

Anyway here are some pics of the current configuration:







_An overall view of the system...._





_Angled shot of the cooler to show its size_





_Close up of Cooler and NB cooler... I thought the NB cooler was huge for the NB, so is the CPU cooler huge for the CPU_





_Didnt look so big outside of the case however... relativity anyone? _

I have some gripes about the newly installed Ultra 120 however.

1. Northbridge cooler doesnt fit side by side..... I thought the cooler was SMALLER than this by a lot. The HR-01 Plus was what I intended to get originally, but i got a damn good deal for the fan + cooler, in a combo. 
2. Case...if i revert to the stock nb cooler, I still cant have the cooler in the proper position.

Well, one advantage of the setup like this is the fact that the 120mm fan, which moves a fair bit of air and seems virtually silent to me, cools my NB and GPU. When I took the cooler out of the box i was like "olololol huge". If I opted for the Ultima 90 instead I would have been able to fit the cooler in the position I wanted however... but go for the best!

Orthos runs really well, before I got around 65*C/68*C on each core with the stock cooler, with the CPU underclocked + undervolted... now at stock speeds, 52*C/52*C! Talk about holy crap! The IHS reading is 41*C... exactly the same as Craigleberry! He has a IFX14... now lets see what happens if I turn up the out take fan that is right next to it?


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## spud107 (Jan 3, 2008)

just need another amber fan strapped to the other side now,
looks like a good setup, the nb will be getting cooled better with the air being drawn thru it now.
how heavy is that thing? i needed to support the one i have an its not as big,


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## tkpenalty (Jan 3, 2008)

Any comments? ;_;


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## Hawk1 (Jan 3, 2008)

Get rid of that red SATA sticking out the side and upcurl it dammit! 
Other than that, excellent work(as usual).


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## tkpenalty (Jan 3, 2008)

Hawk1 said:


> Get rid of that red SATA sticking out the side and upcurl it dammit!
> Other than that, excellent work(as usual).



I'll need to buy a 1m long SATA cable to do that...


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## Ripper3 (Jan 3, 2008)

Looks good, tk. Don't worry about that red SATA cable, it's not exactly in the way, and it's barely noticeable.

D'you happen to know by how much your northbridge temps lowered? I'm contemplating buying that cooler for my NB (still unsure if it'll fit alongside my Vindicator, which is larger than your HR-01, from what I can tell, but more cooling is definately needed, as it turns out my system isn't actually completely stable at 2.8GHz, like I thought it was), as it really gets way too hot to the touch, with the stock cooler, which is a pretty beefy heatsink.


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## tkpenalty (Jan 4, 2008)

Ripper3 said:


> Looks good, tk. Don't worry about that red SATA cable, it's not exactly in the way, and it's barely noticeable.
> 
> D'you happen to know by how much your northbridge temps lowered? I'm contemplating buying that cooler for my NB (still unsure if it'll fit alongside my Vindicator, which is larger than your HR-01, from what I can tell, but more cooling is definately needed, as it turns out my system isn't actually completely stable at 2.8GHz, like I thought it was), as it really gets way too hot to the touch, with the stock cooler, which is a pretty beefy heatsink.



On my northrbridge its somewhat overkill, however in your case the 650i really needs it. The nb works only good if your nb die is large, which the 650i is. I would recommend you purchase the IFX model because it has a better designed retention system.


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## GLeN (Jan 4, 2008)

It would look immense if you sprayed the inside Black, other than that it must ran cool theres like 1 m worth of fans in that thing lol


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## erocker (Jan 4, 2008)

Very impressive!  Cable management is beautiful.  I can't wait to ditch my IDE DVD burner for a sata burner, just looks great!  The new cooler and your fan setup looks just amazing.  It looks very cool literally!  A black interior would really finish it off nicely.


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## tkpenalty (Jan 4, 2008)

Now, I've just updated the system a bit, used a 1m long SATA cable  just to do what you guys wanted...Redid the thermal paste as well. lol, compare the two... seriously the ultra 120 is just awesomely huge.. BUY IT GUYS!!!!


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## btarunr (Jan 4, 2008)

Thermalright 120...the closest you can get to liquid-cooling. Does the PSU have a fan facing downwards? If yes, does it draw in air or blow down air?


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## tkpenalty (Jan 4, 2008)

btarunr said:


> Thermalright 120...the closest you can get to liquid-cooling. Does the PSU have a fan facing downwards? If yes, does it draw in air or blow down air?



what PSU blows down air :S.

Yes the PSU draws air into it. What do you think of my friend's build?


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## btarunr (Jan 4, 2008)

tkpenalty said:


> what PSU blows down air :S.
> 
> Yes the PSU draws air into it. What do you think of my friend's build?



The PSU blowing air (heated by the PSU's components) into the Thermalright cooler is harmful. I'll tell how: The fan cliffed onto the Thermalright 120 blows in air heated from the NB heatsink. The 120mm case fan immediately draws out air from the left-hand-side of the heatsink which means the RHS (the pipes heating the fins at the RHS) stay a little warmer, to add to that, the PSU blows in air (and it's above the whole setup, where hot air should settle up the case (hot = less dense = moves up)) If the PSU blows in the air (even cool air) from top, it still won't help big deal. Since yours draws in, that's good.

What I think of your friend's setup: The fact that there's no PSU fan to interfere with the aero-thermodynamics, that's a slightly more efficient design.


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## Ripper3 (Jan 4, 2008)

Never seen a PSU that blows air into the case, it's an inefficient design, that is against the ATX specifications, since it's always meant to have been that the PSU is near the CPU, acting as an exhaust for the hot air.


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## btarunr (Jan 4, 2008)

My friend's "Powmax" PSU does just that...and mine has a conventional design, no big single fan which is why I had that doubt.


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## tkpenalty (Jan 4, 2008)

btarunr said:


> My friend's "Powmax" PSU does just that...and mine has a conventional design, no big single fan which is why I had that doubt.



Err... my igreen blows air as in blows into the PSU... Learn that only seriously retarded PSUs have the 120mm/140mm fan sucking air out of the PSU from the inside of the case.


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## Random Murderer (Jan 4, 2008)

looking good tk!
keep up the good work, my friend.


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## Sydneyboi (Jan 4, 2008)

Thats gold there mate, keep up the good work.


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## erocker (Jan 5, 2008)

tkpenalty said:


> Err... my igreen blows air as in blows into the PSU... Learn that only seriously retarded PSUs have the 120mm/140mm fan sucking air out of the PSU from the inside of the case.



What?  That is ridiculous!


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## tkpenalty (Jan 5, 2008)

http://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/1253

an update.









Any death note fans?


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## Duffman (Jan 5, 2008)

so, TK, can me and my Housemate ship our PC's to you to perform a cable-ectomy?


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## tkpenalty (Jan 6, 2008)

Mods, may you please move this to the project logs part thanks.


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