# My Baby Gets an Upgrade



## CyberDruid (Mar 18, 2008)

Without going into ancient history I have this personal rig that I simply love. Having built a few rigs it really takes a special one to stay #1...

Here's that latest improvement.






That's my baby...





Dual Quad Core Xeon 5420's OCed to 3ghz and Dual HD3870X2 Oced to 850/950: Skulltrail 





I've built a lot of LCed rigs for people...but this is the first time I indulged myself with LCed GFX.





I got the EK blocks this morning and started around noon...by dinner time I had everything benching...





Considering what all is in the case it's a challenge keeping it tidy...this is pretty sloppy...but you know the old saying: In the house of the blacksmith there is only wooden knives...I rarely treat myself to the level of attention I give my builds...





The EK full coverage blocks arfe solid copper nickel plated...they fit the cards perfectly. I get 28C idle and 32C load.





The blocks are works of art...too bad they are so hard to see once installed 





Here's how the rig looked before I LCed the GFX. I think there was about 1/8" breathing room between the cards...they idled at 60C and loaded past 80C.

I even managed to slip my X-fi between them by trimming the double wide PCI plate on the HD3870X2...

Mounting the blocks was not exactly hard...but you have to be patient...there are a lot of small pieces of thermal tape to cut out and apply..





The tape is supplied by EK but you use your own TIM. I chose Shin Etsu.

Hope that got your juices flowing guys.

I have one last upgrade planned to the cooling: a SB block from BlastFLow (Vadim in the UK) and an EK block for the MCH. The MCH runs really hot. The Skulltrail SB block is a real find...it's not like there is going to be a giant market for them lol...and Vadim tgold me this one is numero uno...which is always cool to own.

Since I will be reviewing the BlastFlow modular VGA cooling system it worked out great and Vadim just added it to my order.

I love this rig...it's the only case I cannot imagine modifying...it's already perfect.


----------



## Dr. Spankenstein (Mar 18, 2008)

Just Beautiful!

10/10!

Love seeing the SkullTrail, and you're right, those EK blocks are mighty purty!

Great work!


----------



## Easy Rhino (Mar 18, 2008)

damn, that is a hell of a rig. what impresses me most is that the 750 watt psu runs it all.


----------



## mrw1986 (Mar 18, 2008)

Dude, that is buttsecks. I'm not going to lie, easily my favorite machine that I have seen on here.


----------



## Grings (Mar 18, 2008)

That is absolutely superb

Oh, and a question... What ram are you using?, and can fbdimms have their spd altered?, reading reviews of skulltrail it seems the ram speeds cant be adjusted, but it does support 667 or 800 fbdimms, so i was wondering, could a set of 800 dimms be flashed to 667's (without changing any other timings) with something like spdtool, so higher fsb's (on the cpu's) could be acheived


----------



## PrudentPrincess (Mar 18, 2008)

3Dmark06 screenie plz?


----------



## CyberDruid (Mar 18, 2008)

The PSU is a DA1200

The RAM is Transcend DDR2 800 2GB modules (8 x 256) FBDIMM ECC 1.8V CAS5 SPD 5 5 5 15

Not sure about the RAM trick being of much use on this board. The D5400XS is really made for the QX9775 and I am using the Xeon E5420. It's like comparing a Ferrari to a Lexus.

With the Big Dog CPUs the SkullTrail is a monster...FUGGER over at XS posted ridiculous benchmarks.

With the Xeons it's a very fast work station..but no monster. At 3 ghz Cards maxed out I pull just under 18K in 3D06. However in rendering benchmarks like CineBenchR10 the rig kicks butt. Everest benchmarks are off the scale.

My QX9650 rig with HD3870X2 Xfire pulls 23K in 06 and _is_ a gaming monster...Crysis at 1920 x 1080 on a 52" LCD is very nice...

I Fold...so being able to run two SMP clients and pull 1% ever 9and a half minutes is what I am after...that and playing Crysis at 1680 x 1050 on High 


Thanks for the complimetns guys...I wub my puter soooooo much. lol


----------



## intel igent (Mar 18, 2008)

simply CRAZY! 

what case you have that stuffed into?


----------



## 3870x2 (Mar 18, 2008)

The case is amazing... did you do the paint job yourself?
I have a rig with G-skill ram@1066(the prettiest ram you can get)
a nice cooler that looks absolutely amazing, so that it comes off the cpu and right up to the window of the case, a g92 512 gts, and a gigabyte blue motherboard, and altogether it looks pretty amazing.  I figure if i painted the inside blue, like yours is metallic red, it would be nice, but its a pretty expensive case, with voltage, temp, and fan speed guages on the front, and i would hate to ruin it.


----------



## intel igent (Mar 18, 2008)

hey Cyber do you have this running off of your "manifold"  or does this have its own loop?


----------



## Kovoet (Mar 18, 2008)

All I can say is WOW


----------



## craigo (Mar 18, 2008)

art.


----------



## Nitro-Max (Mar 18, 2008)

> My Baby Gets an Upgrade



Thought i was gonna see a nice boob job! 

But im not dissapointed this is much better what a sexy machine that is


----------



## CyberDruid (Mar 18, 2008)

The Rig is running off my *Monolith* external cooler: IwakiRD30, PA120.3 w/ 6 Panaflos, Bonnie Core w/ 2 120mms, 24V PSU and 12V PSU, Rheostats, Switch Panel, Quick Disconnects. I built a metering manifold for three loops. The cooler can handle three overclocked quads but it's getting maxed out with the Xeons and HD3870X2s.  I have a dual PA120.3 Dual Iwaki RD 30 build in mind for the next generation. The MCH and SB are smoking hot..and once I dump that load into the loop even the *Monolith* is going to be staggering...

Updated my System Specs to reflect the SkullTrail...the QX9650 build is actually the Family PC lol. It's a bad mammer jammer too...22K in 06 

Here's a really short vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d__3GRvL_8Y

The case is a Soldam Alcadia XR-1 NRS


----------



## intel igent (Mar 19, 2008)

ive never seen those cases before are they limited?

what happened to the custom cooling tower you built? is it in use on another rig or did you build it for a client?


----------



## CyberDruid (Mar 19, 2008)

The cases are made in Japan and only sold locally...there are no distributors. A friend in Singapore arranged transportation.

I'm running the rig on that cooler now. The Panaflos are not too bad at 7 volts but the Iwaki is pretty loud even with the Sonex.

Here's a couple of shots of the case. it's red anodized inside and black outside.


----------



## intel igent (Mar 19, 2008)

i cant get over how sweet that case is! i love the anodized interior to bad no one brings them over for sale here in N/A


----------

