Its update build time - Intel a go go

Krazeyivan

Hi All

My CFX3200 board is driving me nuts with its ULI problem so I decided a basic update is in order below is the current rig specs

Akasa Mirage 62
Enermax Galaxy 850W PSU
DFI LanParty UT CFX3200-DR - BIOS - (28/07/06)
AMD Opteron 170 (Currently 2.6Ghz)
Big Typhoon CPU Cooler
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC4000 Dual Channel Platinum Series EB-DDR
2 x Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB (RAID 0)
1 x Maxtor 80GB
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB
Zalman VF900-CU VGA Cooler
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme
Asus DRW-1608P2 DVD±RW

I have decided to order the following

Thermaltake VA8003BWS Armour Super Tower - Black
DFI Infinity 975X/G
Core 2 6300
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK)
Coolermaster Gemini II CPU Cooler
2 Artic Cooling 120mm Fan's
2 Scythe S-FLEX 1200RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan
Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II Northbridge Cooler
Artic Silver Ceramique
Samsung 500Gb HDD

The rest of the bits needed are coming from my current one - then I'm going to sell my Opty (which has been a great CPU) and the memory (again solid performer) and then I gonna smash the motherboard with a sledgehammer.
I dislike the Akasa case I'm using its not good enough quality in my opinion.

Hopefully I can start a new build thread here - with my experience from receiving boxes to having a fast quick system hopefully to help others that may need some sort of guide. Plus it helps order my thoughts!

Gunning for 3.2Ghz out of the E6300 - should be a cakewalk - this motherboard is rock solid now and an amazing performer for the money! Not making the same mistake twice!

Waiting on the bits............

As always comments welcome

drasnor

Those Scythe fans are awesome.

-drasnor

Krazeyivan

I heard they were nice - hence they were purchased for the case!

Thrax

DFI is good for AMD. It is not good for Intel.

Krazeyivan

The infinity has turned into a nice easy reliable board from all reports, will see how it goes when it arrives. Should be fun!

Krazeyivan

All the items have arrived at work so I just need to take everything home with me. Got to stay here for 3 hours more yet!

Have decided to lap the Core 2 - so at lunch I went and bought some 400, 800, 1200 grit sandpaper.
I'm really busy the next few days but hopefully I can get the processor done and maybe mount the new heatsink (which is a monster) and northbridge cooler. Will post some pics too

Krazeyivan

OK people

Have only enough time today to do the basics - I have put the CPU in and installed the new CPU Cooler and Northbridge Cooler - some pics for you enjoy

Probably be saturday before I can start this bad boy up and get OC'ing - see what temps it does

I checked the CPU - it seems fairly flat - I noticed one side is very slightly elevated when I checked with a razor blade but will see how the temps do, if it needs lapped will do that later.

Krazeyivan

Pics part 2

Krazeyivan

Oh this Cooler has no backplate - its running off just the 4 pins!

Krazeyivan

Gutted Board was DOA (Dead on arrival) would get nothing happening so will RMA it - have bought another as I cannot be bothered waiting, hope this one works

Leonardo

I'm enjoying watching your progress. Photos are enjoyable as well. Please keep it coming.

Krazeyivan

Thanks Leonardo

I have got my new board and that one worked straight off - so I will RMA the old one and hope to get that fixed - may even build 2 rigs!
My new case will not work with my enermax Galaxy 850W (its too big) so I bought the 720W liberty model. I will leave the 850W with the Opty for now

I am currently building windows onto the system, but I have flashed the BIOS with the latest version and done a complete clear with KillCMOS program and clearing the CMOS - so its as clean as I can make it

My 2 x 250Gb drives are now in RAID 0 - and once I get the basic drivers installed etc I will move it to the new case (its currently all over the floor)

Will get some more pictures of the build tonight....

I did run a very quick Orthos max CPU stress and measured the temps with Coretemp - totally stock I could not push it harder than 30c and the northbridge would not go over 35c

Obviously the main overclocking game is for slightly later - I am fairly confident I'll get 3.2 - 3.4 for 24/7 use

Next upgrade - is to ATI/AMD's X2900XTX when thats out! My current card will shuffle off to the Opty, which is still a very nice system and will move to another location in the house

Krazeyivan

Quick update - took me most of last night but its now at home in the case, took a while to neatly do the cables and this board has the most stupid placement of the power connection ever, but its done.

Onwards now to overclocking - some photo's when I get a second too.

Krazeyivan

OK

have started a bit of overclocking - went straight to 350 FSB with some settings from the various sources on the net (advantage of proven tech) - seems fine I am running the memory at 533 - and at 4,4,4,15 which its rated for at 2.05V

I have added a little juice to the CPU (1.4v) and the northbridge is up to 1.70v that has done nothing to the northbridge temps its now a massive 37c (up 2c from stock)

Its currently stress testing with max CPU stress not blend on orthos and I am pulling 41/42c measured in core temp so its a start - good news is on load the CPU temps for both cores is identical! Makes a change from my Opty 170 which was wildly different

Here are some photo's - your missing the windowed case with a HUGE size fan in it - so everything is nice cool
Some of these shots are also of me copying vital files from another HDD

Enjoy

Krazeyivan

More Pics

This board is really easy to overclock - am going to get the green light on this 2.46Ghz first then push onward

Krazeyivan

Here's the screenies

Leonardo

CPU stress not blend on orthos and I am pulling 41/42c measured in core temp

That's good temperature management. So what's the overclock now as measured by CPU clock?

Krazeyivan

Well as of last night I was prime/Othos stable at 2.52Ghz

Tonight I expect to be up to 2.8Ghz - a nice round (400 x 7) on with memory running 533.

Then see how far the rabbit hole goes - would love to get to (430 x 7) for 3Ghz - that would do.

If 2.8Ghz is rock solid I may have found my "summer" weather overclock!

At that speed it should put my Opty 170 to shame

Krazeyivan

Doing a 20-30 min test at 371 x 7 before I move on up - core temp is reporting cooler temps - I am at max CPU stress and both cores are 40c - this is all good

Thrax

It put your 170 to shame at stock speeds.

Krazeyivan

I'm getting problems going over 371 x 7 because of my memory, its not really working very well. Going to try the other white slots. Seems to be down to the timings being set.
I can boot at 2.6Ghz and then with a bit of a play with Memset 3.2 and clockgen I can easily get to 2.8Ghz prime stable too.
Hopefully playing some more with the memory will enable me to get more from the BIOS - max CPU temp seen at 2.8Ghz via Coretemp = 43c

DogSoldier

Read this thread with some enthusiasm. I'm looking at getting a new Core 2 system in the coming weeks and threads like this make me drool. A couple of questions: Should I get Vista or XP with the new computer? And that HSF is massive, the biggest I've ever seen. Is that standard equipment for overclocking a Core 2 CPU?

Krazeyivan

I would stick to XP with SP2 - Vista is just not ready in my opinion while XP is rock solid with gaming etc

Also the CPU cooler is great - it cools the whole area around the memory and CPU, its a bit fiddly to get round it when its in the case - a tip is to not install the fans until you have sorted all the motherboard connections.
If you get a Core 2 at big overclocks they put out a LOT of heat so get the best cooling solution you can find about 55c if your going to run 24/7 is about what I would say is the safe limit. Most I have seen from mine at 2.9Ghz is about 45c so far. But the new DFI 965 board will take this CPU to about 3.7Ghz (Cooling vital!) way over 500FSB - it looks fantastic.

Update on the Overclock - I am at 2.9Ghz rock solid stable - Am folding for team 93 too at this speed - not hitting 39c on the CPU with folding its not as stressful as Othos but I'll see if I can get to 3.2Ghz

I have not got very far with the BIOS - seems the memory is just not playing fair or its timings are getting set incorrectly, so I boot at what speed I can around 370FSB then I push on in windows with memset and clockgen from there.

Hope to grab some more screen shots for everyone.

Krazeyivan

Right after a right good read on the net about clocking the 975 intel platform and about chipset strap problems I have come to the conclusion the RAM is fine, and I have tested this it will run dandy at 900Mhz at 4,4,4,15 (2.1v) with memory set to run 667.

At 1:1 - 533 (I run on a 1066 strap you see) it just will not really boot with a high FSB - this is due to overclocking the northbridge itself. Now you can get a lot quicker than what the motherboard decides but the problem is the critical settings it keeps for itself (this board is not a lanparty) you cannot modify them in the BIOS, the two biggest things that affect performance are tRFC and tRD.

I am going to experiment with some looser settings - I have (near stock speed) manually put in very loose settings deliberately in the BIOS to record in windows via the memset 3.2 tool what my memory is setting these and other critical figures too, then when I load up at 50% of target overclock with tight settings - I modify my memorys secondary settings to these loose settings - then via the magic of clockgen - the FSB wall is pushed back - 380Mhz is standard with the board really, I have seen 415 with my ham fisted approach earlier but I believe 440 is reachable. Pushing me over the mighty 3Ghz.
Obviously a 965 board will push my little E6300 much more - I am mobo limited really but a 3Ghz PC will do me fine at the moment.

I will get some screenshots and hopefully that brain dump might make sense! :-)

Leonardo

At 1:1 - 533 (I run on a 1066 strap you see) it just will not really boot with a high FSB - this is due to overclocking the northbridge itself.

Your motherboard has memory/CPU FSB dividers, right?

Krazeyivan

Yes I can select 800, 667, 533 or 400