Hello and Welcome to TL's Project O/C Diary. :D
OK, so I am a bit behind FatBob, but I figured I start a thread and keep you posted so you know how it all develops/melts/explodes* delete where not applicable
Stage 1: Items purchased:
Athlon XP1700+ (JIUHB)
Abit NF7-S Rev 2.0
OCZ Twin 2 x 256MB PC3500 Dual Channel DDR RAM (cos Corsair don't do TWINX PC3500 yet :( )
Building will commence in a temporary test rig real soon now, along with a fresh install of XP Pro.
Stage 2: Things I still have to buy:
PSU - I am going to go for another Enermax 465W (http://www.enermax.com.tw/product-01.htm).
Case - I am leaning towards a Lian Li PC-6085T (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/product.php?view=1071&PHPSESSID=06ef1a113d84363838f25e5927bba9e6) because it suits the style of the Prometeia Lian Li Mod Base kits (http://www.cpucity.co.uk/acatalog/Prometeia_cases.html). It also has a nice window to put all the flashy light thingies :lol:
Stage 3: Things I need to make up my mind over:
Graphics card - I am torn between several different ideas at the moment.
I like the look of the Albatron Ti4680P Turbo as it has super fast memory chips and the potential to o/c a bit more. It comes running at 250MHz/550MHz stock, so 600MHz is within sight. :D
I am also thinking of getting a Radeon 9500 (non-pro) and using the soft-clocking as described here (http://www.maxdownloads.com/~ian/wizzard/). This seems to give very good results, but it seems to depend a little on luck as to whether or not your particular gfx card will give you lots of sparklies or artefacts before you reach really high speeds. This would be faster than the Albatron if it works, but slower if it doesn't. :?
Or I could go for an OCSystem Enhanced pre-clocked gfx card like these:
Ti-4200 running at 300/650MHz (http://www.ocsystem.com/ocengefti412.html).
Ti-4600 running at 320MHz/740MHz (http://www.ocsystem.com/ocengefti4122.html)
9700 Pro running at 375/670MHz (http://www.ocsystem.com/ocenati97pro2.html)
9700 Pro running at 400/690MHz (http://www.ocsystem.com/ocenati97pro.html)
Trouble is threefold: (a) OCS are based in the US and I would not be able to get hold of one until June/July when I have friend who goes over there (I am not willing to risk postal and getting caught for import tax on those prices), (B) I have heard some concerns over quality in their forums (I shudder to think about an RMA to the US) and © the price. The Level II o/c (400/690MHz) is a bit above what I would want to spend (about £235 ignoring shipping, assuming I get it in to the country without import duty and VAT, and also assuming it works first time and doesn't need to be replaced). The positives are that I have read about some absolutely spectacular results with their cards and cost wise, they are probably way better an o/c than I could do myself. :?
Give me help peeps - do we do anything like the OCSystem Enhanced gfx cards in the UK or Europe? And what would you buy if you were looking for a gfx card for this system? Budget for the card cannot exceed the Level II cost above (and I would prefer lower).
Stage 4: Things I will buy if the lottery numbers come up.
Prometeia Phase Change Cooling Unit - I haven't taken the plunge on this one yet, but I am drooling :wink: I think I'll have a go at an air cooled o/c system first and then when cashflow is better think about it again :D
Enough of the diary for tonight. I'll report back with some pictures and some updates in due course, once I have made up my mind abotu the gfx card :D
Does anyone know where I can get a good fire extinguisher :onfire:
TL. 8)
My Radeon didn't like my mobo??? Compatability problems etc etc, which it said it wouldn't have, but hey presto it did! :evil: :x
Thos O/C graphics cards from OCers are a world of trouble. If it goes wrong you'll just be kicking yourself as its hassle you dont need at the end of the day. Besides, its only 700 marks faster, without much effort on the radeon cards you'll get about 300-500 yourself!! really!
Those were kind fo my thoughts too, but when you say Radeon, do you mean you would go for the 9500 non-pro softmod route (wap11 bios and hacked drivers etc)?
TL. 8)
I've seen a lot of happy people with the radeon softmod. Its a damn good card anyways and you can easily play with the clock speeds if you have sufficient cooling in place. So even if you cant do the softmod you can at least clock it up some.
Sold to the Keanu Reaves looking dude on the left....
TL. 8)
you can get all sorts of coolers, right down to little limpet type heat sinks that are stuck one to each ram chip by heat conductive thermal glue.
OK, I have been reading a bit more about 9500 Pros and you CAN o/c this with Warp11's latest bios :D This means a good quality 9500Pro should o/c to better than 9700 Pro speeds 8O As the 9600 and 9800 have just come out, I am hoping that if I wait a week maybe I can get one for even less than they cost now!
A word of warning though to anyone thinking of buying the 9600. Don't. They have taken a perfectly good 9500 PCB that was merely soft-locked down to using only 4 of its 8 rendering pipelines and replaced it with one that physically only has 4 pipelines. You'll not be o/c the 9600 by as much as the 9500 then....... :(
Interestingly the manufacturer websites still claim that the 9500Pro has a 128 bit memory bus whereas in fact it is a 256 bit bus that has been soft-locked down to 128 bit. Again, Warp11 releases all 256 bits :D
TL. 8)
Looks good TL, due to the weather, I am deliberating over golf or pc, the local council course is rather good and only costs £500 p/annum. :lol:
But I am a best of both worlds type of a bloke, so here's the deal, I'm 30 on Sunday (Easter Sunday I know, I was incidentally born on Good Friday--- Spooky 8O ) . So if the each clan member sends me £30 a £ for each year then I can get the PC and play golf all Summer too !!!! :lol: :P :D
So come on I'm on PayPal. 8)
:rainbowafro:
Lets see, I'll send you a £ for each year, you send me the same so I reckon you owe me £10. PS you better get a mortgage for what you owe Oldie :-)
OK, I have completed my final research on graphics cards and a decision has been made: I will get a Sapphire 9700 non-pro for the overclocking system.
I had a look at the 9500/Pro soft mods but eventually discovered that there is only a 2/3 chance that it will work - and £140 is a lot to tank on a gfx card that doesn't cut it.
However, I have also disovered that both Warp11 and Mufu do a 9700>9700Pro BIOS which works in the vast majority of cases. Given that the 9700 is nay a bad card at stock rates and that the mod bios usually allows significant overclocks to both gpu and memory then my mind was made up. Of all the cards that have been successfully flashed, the Sapphire seems to be the one that most people have had success with as it seems to come with either Hynix or Samsung memory (both of which appear to o/c well).
So the system is now:
Athlon XP1700+ (JIUHB)
Abit NF7-S Rev 2.0
OCZ Twin 2 x 256MB PC3500 Dual Channel DDR RAM
Ordered but still to arrive:
Sapphire Radeon 9700 128Mb
Enermax 465W PSU
Building to commence shortly :D
TL. 8)
Everything is now ordered, or canabalised from other machines and the final spec is:
Athlon XP1700+ (JIUHB)
Abit NF7-S Rev 2.0
OCZ Twin 2 x 256MB PC3500 Dual Channel DDR RAM
Sapphire Radeon 9700 128Mb
Enermax 550W EG651P-VE FMA Blue
Western Digital 120GB Special Edition 8MB cache HDD
Lian Li PC-65 with window
Aerocool DP-101 Deep Impact CPU cooler
Arctic Silver III
plus floppy and CDRW drives
I will start putting the system together at the weekend and post some pictures etc as I go through. Then onto the OS install (XP Pro) and then some stock benchmarking, followed by some overclocking :D
TL. 8)
Unfortunately, not all of the hardware has arrived yet. The final batch of components (inc the all important case and PSU) was only shipped yesterday, so I have not been able to start building the system yet, but will do maybe next week! However I have had a look at the Aerocool DP-101 Deep Impact CPU cooler. As this cooler is (a) reasonably new, and (B) not sold in that many places I thought I'd post some piccies for peeps to see. I hope they help! It looks a serious piece of CPU cooling kit :D
The DP-101 seems like a more directly powered Zalman Flower. It has a large copper heatsink and lots of surface area to dissipate heat from the CPU core. It has a copper tube attached to the cpu heatsink and creates the surface area needed to vent the heat successfully by attaching multiple aluminium cooling fins.
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/Aerocoolerupright.JPG)
The blue alloy surround meets a dual purpose: firstly it stabilises the aluminium fins and secondly it provides an attachment points for the standard fan. The aim is to continuously blast cool air air across the fins to achieve a high degree of cooling. The copper conducts the heat rapidly away from the CPU core and then into the cooling fins for the passing air to cool. If that is not enough the DP-101 also provides attachment points for larger fans too :D
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/Aerocoolerback.JPG)
You can see the solid copper heatsink for the cpu core in the below picture. I have also placed the fan where it would be attached just so you get the idea of what it looks like when it is put together.
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/Aerocoolerfan.JPG)
Looks like a bit of a beast this cooler and my sample at least was well put together. I can’t wait to see what temps it manages to keep the CPU down to :D
TL. 8)
8O
...wow...
:wtf:
cant wait!
:scrambleup:
'cough' Gimick :P
sweeeet
but you appear to have wallpapered your entire house in graph paper :?: :?: :?:
Yeah, but by doing that I know exactly how far I have stuck a sharp thing into JB for his depressing replies. He is beginning to sound like a moaning minny.......oh, he IS a moaning minny :lol:
TL. 8)
PS JB: Smite wanted you to commit to either Chinky or Indian so that we could al commit to the other one :wink:
I'd be more than happy with KFC. If only March wasn't such a backwards place, and had heard of 'fast food'
Anyway what's this about my depressing replies? You try dealing with lesser mortals all the time and see how depressed it makes you. I'm one of the Emperor's infidels, the Emperor has instructed me and i am doing his wishes.
Fjeer teh painstick.
hmm, be careful, over time your motherboard can warp 8O
Nice looking heatsink TL. Make sure the bottom is totally clean before application, not even fingerprints!
:D Woot! :D
The rest of the bits arrived today, so I have had a chance to start building the machine tonight. So where do we start?
The Power Supply - Enermax 550W EG651P-VE FMA Blue
You got to love this baby - what a PSU! 550W and cool as you like with 2 variable speed fans: one sucking air in from above the simmering cpu and a second expelling it out of the case rear. The rear wall (where the power leads exit the PSU case) is actually a huge air intake with most of the blue metal case having been neatly cut away to leave a large ventillation grill. This allows the rear fan to pull air on a straight path through the psu innards - this gives it a slightly better control over its own temperature as it is able to get a much higher airflow rate through the psu case with the extra grill.
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/psu.JPG)
The Case - Lian Li PC-65
Fitting the PSU into the case could not have been easier. With the removal of 4 chromed thumb screws both side panels slide off to allow easy access to the case innards. Another 4 thumbscrews and the PSU retaining plate is off as well. The PSU just slides in to position and is then screwed to the retaining plate. This PSU has extra power connectors as well as the additional cooling and massive power capacity, just right for lots of overclocking bits to be tested! It also provides copper shielding for the major power lines, which really look the business with their aluminium finish.
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/psu-in-case.JPG)
The Lian Li case looks great from the front, but also catches your eye from the rear too - highly polished PCI blanking plates are difficult to photograph with their mirror-like finish (it almost looks like they are not there!), but they really make the back of the case look nice. Note the hard drive cage at the bottom righthand side - this just slides out so that you can install your latest HDD with ease. Lian Li also do a range of removable aluminium drive bays......may be I should stick one of those in too :D
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/case-rear.JPG)
Right, I'm off to unpack the motherboard and have a wee look at that now :D
TL. 8)
The Motherboard - Abit NF7-S Rev 2.0
As Radman would say, the motherboard is a 'beaut' and with the removal of some more chromed thumbscrews from the Lian Li, you can slide out the motherboard tray. The mobo provides onboard ethernet, USB2, official PC3200 DDR RAM along with the full nForce2 capabilities.
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/mobo-tray.JPG)
The Lian Li case comes with a massive bag of screws, motherboard mounting clips and various clips and cable ties. It took about a minute to insert mobo mounting clips (they just click into place) and another minute to screw the mobo to the tray.
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/mobo-fitted.JPG)
The Graphics Card - Sapphire Radeon 9700 128Mb
The Sapphire is a well reviewed and highly regarded graphics performer, so it should be able to deliver some stonking good frame rates. nfortunately, my sample came with the Infineon 3.3ms RAM rather than the Samsung 2.8ms RAM and the general consensus is that the red pcb 9700 with Infineon RAM doesn't overclock quite as well as the black PCB 9700 with faster Samsung RAM. Never the less, I have high hopes for this card.
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/9700.JPG)
The CPU - Athlon XP1700+ (JIUHB)
This is the baby that started all the fuss in these forums - the JIUHB stepped Athlon XP1700+. FatBob has already spun one up to 2.3GHz and we'll see exactly how fast we can crank up my one later in this thread :D Put your fire extinguishers on danger money :wink:
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/jiuhb.JPG)
The Thermal Compound - Arctic Silver 3
The one on the left came with the cpu heatsink - we can throw it out! But the one on the right is the new Arctic Silver 3 and it is destined to assist us in achieving overcloking greatness! One small blob (with the emphasis on small) on the cpu core, spread carefully with a credit card to a more or less even 0.5-1.0mm depth. Try to leave a bit of a gap around the edge so that when the heatsink is attached there is room for the surplus to squeeze out towards the sides and provide a perfect interface between heatsink and core.
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/as3.JPG)
The CPU Heatsink - Aerocool DP-101 Deep Impact
Now this hefty beast should really knock 'n' degrees of something off the cpu! A copper base and cylinder conducts the heat away fron the cpu, whilst the fan on the rear blasts air across the cooling vanes to remove the heat. Where does the heat go I hear you ask? Straight towards the exit vent on the rear of the Lian Li case. You will not see a straighter air path to help you cool your cpu and case than this one :D
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/cooler.JPG)
Now where did I put that ram?
TL. 8)
just shows how good careful choices can make for such a sweet system! Like your detailed review, keep it coming chap.
Memory - OCZ Twin 2 x 256MB PC3500 Dual Channel DDR RAM
Lovely fast memory with very heavy copper heatsinks on each stick. OCZ (like Corsair) make some very fast and very overclockable memory. I've used Corsair in the past, but as they don't yet do any XMS Dual Channel PC3500 then OCZ got the nod for this project. You can add similar heatsinks to your existing RAM if you want to overclock it - they are on sale at most of the usual overclocking haunts.
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/oczram.JPG)
Extra Cooling Needed
The Sapphire 9700 comes without any heatsinks on the 4 RAM chips and this is something I would like to add, but I haven't had a chance to look around for suitable hardware yet. The ability to overclock the card and the memory in particular can really be helped by adding sinple things like the RAM heatsinks. If you know of any good ones then please let me know :D
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/9700-noramcooler.JPG)
You Got Connections? - The Lian Li System
When you are fighting with tiny wires and trying to connect them to even smaller pins, the Lian Li system really comes up trumps. In addition to the removable motherboard tray (every case should have one!) they also provide a cable clip so that you can make all of these connections whilst the motherboard and tray are still outside the case :D Et voila!
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/connector.JPG)
And Finally - Tonight's work is done!
Now that the wires are clipped back together I can just slide the mobo tray back into the case. 4 thumbscrews later and she is done up tight. I'll put things away now until tomorrow evening now, at which point I'll finish the connections, add the storage devices and then install the OS and of course, CS :D
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/tray-in.JPG)
nn peeps!
TL. 8)
There are all sorts of ram sinks, right down to these limpet style ones.
Tweakmonster BGA Ram Sinks 4 pack #CP242
http://www.pclincs.co.uk/acatalog/PCLincs_..._Coolers_5.html (http://www.pclincs.co.uk/acatalog/PCLincs_Online_Store_Chipset__Memory___VGA_Coolers_5.html)
These ones can work well and look nice when attached properly with the correct thermal glue.
Well it has been a quiet night on the Project Overclock front. I have taken the front off the case and taken the FDD cage out. It is a heck of a sight simpler to work on things when their mounting cage slips out of the case, it stops all those grazed knuckles etc, not that the Lian Li has any rough edges that is :lol: With the front off, you can see the circuitry for the variable speed fan switch (middle right), the 2 x 80mm intake fans at the bottom (with a washable filter behind the grill) and the 5.25" drive bays.
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/fdd-cage.JPG)
The FDD has been screwed into the FDD cage and I have put the cage back, courtesy of another 3 thumb screws - it is nice to be able to access bits of the case without the need for a screw driver all the time :D And even if I do say so myself, the faux aluminium finish on the FDD looks really cool!
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/silver-fdd.JPG)
Final hardware step for today, is to slot the CD drive into place. It looks awful, but I am intending to do a stealth mod on it using one of the surplus Lian Li aluminium drive face plates. I won't get that bit done in time for the LAN, but it shouldn't be that long afterwards before the ugly beige of the CD drive is totally masked by a shiny aluminium plate :D
(http://www.btinternet.com/~p.d.herbert/mhpcs/projectoverclock/cdrw.JPG)
RAM heat sinks have been ordered (along with some Arctic Silver Alumina Thermal Adhesive) and when they arrive I will be adding them to the 8 RAM chips on the Sapphire 9700. For the moment I have put in normal ribbon cables, but these will be replaced with rounded cables next week when I know it is running properly. A Lian Li Temp LCD bay is awaiting fitting, but I am going to wait to do that until after the round cables have been fitted. In that way I can do all the cable run planning at the same time so that the interior of the case looks neat and tidy.
So the hardware changes have been made. I have just booted the system up and it powered up nicely first time (always a satisfying moment). The machine is currently running at totally stock speeds and I have just started an NTFS format of the HDD. A clean install of XP Pro SP1 will then be put onto the HDD. When the system is up and running I will install a few benchmarking software packages and run a variety of them to get some base lines to work from. And then we'll start to ramp the speed up a wee bit at a time :D
Total time to build system so far - 2 hours.
Total time to write these reports - 3 hours 8O
More reports soon.......I hope you are enjoying them - if not tell me real soon and I'll stop wasting my time :wink:
TL. 8)
whats that silver cable wrap u have used????
keep writing TL, I think this is going for the most read topic :-)
Cheers Stryker :D
Sheepy - it is the stock wrap that comes with this PSU. The main power cables are copper shielded and finished with that nice metallic silver look :D
I am currently burning some stuff onto CD to transfer to the new machine so that I can run some benchmarks. I'll post them when they have been run along with the stock settings.
TL. 8)
That is slowly turning into a real nice machine. Would you like any etched glass stickers for it? PM me with details if you do. I can cut anything if you can supply a vector. (You do have a window, right?)
Service only for really cool looking machines :)
u must havt thought that my old one was really cool m8, the amount u gave me last lan!
I have never seen a machine that is so shiney wot do u clean it with ? lol.
Quote That is slowly turning into a real nice machine. Would you like any etched glass stickers for it? PM me with details if you do. I can cut anything if you can supply a vector. (You do have a window, right?)
:D :D :D :D
QuoteService only for really cool looking machines :)
:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
QuoteThat is slowly turning into a real nice machine. Would you like any etched glass stickers for it? PM me with details if you do. I can cut anything if you can supply a vector. (You do have a window, right?)
Service only for really cool looking machines :)
Of course it has a window! An etch would be good - undecided yet what to have on the window. I'm also still trying to figure out what colour light to stick in it :? Any suggestions on either the design or colour of the light? I was thinking maybe a red cathode or laser led this time, but how about the deadmen logo that Slowhand designed? The one that is used on the Clanbase site?
Update on the PC. The drivers are all loaded up and I am transferring the follwoing benchmarking software to use:
3DMark2003 build 320
3DMark2001SE (final build)
PCMark2002
Prime95
SiSoft Sandra Pro
I am also loading up some system data software (I don't know which one will be of use at the moment): CPUFSB, CPU-Z and WCPUID.
Anything else I should include for the initial benchmarks? I intend to work my way through the lot of them each time I ramp up the speeds.
More posts later.......
TL. 8)
UT2003 has a benchmark
TL - get the new cathodes that are within the fans, ill get u a link.
this site has lots of diffrent lighting soloutions
http://www.crazypc.com/products/casemods/lighting.htm (http://www.crazypc.com/products/casemods/lighting.htm)
QuoteI am transferring the follwoing benchmarking software to use:
3DMark2003 build 320
3DMark2001SE (final build)
PCMark2002
Prime95
SiSoft Sandra Pro
UT2003 FlyBy Benchmark
OK I have added the UT2003 benchmark, but will not publish the Bot ones as they are not comparable across different machines. Cheers! :D
TL. 8)
Quote
Of course it has a window! An etch would be good - undecided yet what to have on the window. I'm also still trying to figure out what colour light to stick in it :? Any suggestions on either the design or colour of the light? I was thinking maybe a red cathode or laser led this time, but how about the deadmen logo that Slowhand designed? The one that is used on the Clanbase site?
ok, Slowhand. Do you have the logo as a vector graphic? If not, can you mail me a high res version?
TL, I recently bought a circlular cold cathode for my fan. Word of warning, red cold cathodes shine "light-red", and whats light-red? yes its PINK!
!
I've got both my cathodes (blue & red) on the rheobus so I can at least turn it down some.... or if I'm feeling camp or wishing to attract moths, turn down the blue and blast the pink! :lol:
Colour commentary noted Stryker, cheerrs for the feedback. Sheepy, tanx 4 teh w0n 1ink :wink: I'll have another think about things before commiting to something. Which rheobus you got Stryker and do they do one in Aluminium?
TL. 8)
OK, I have installed the following software only in the below order, rebooting between each instal.
Windows XP Pro SP1
nForce2 XP Drivers
Abit Hardware Doctor
Sapphire 9700 ATI Drivers
Hydravision
DX9
BIOS Flash to v1.1
I have run a variety of benchmarks and these are my baseline scores before I start doing any tweaking at all.
SiSoft Sandra Pro
CPU Arithmetic Benchmark - 7669
CPU Multimedia Benchmark - 16732
Memory Bandwidth Benchmark - 3908
File System Benchmark - 25378
PCMark2002
CPU Score - 4501
Memory Score - 4060
HDD Score - 1139
3DMark2001SE
3DMark2001SE Score - 11442
3DMark2003
3DMark2003 Score - 3962
The above are not blindingly good scores, but I know from a quick peek at a lot of the system settings that a lot of them are set well below what the should be, but I wanted to benchmark the system and demonstrate the performance you might get if you just took delvery of it and didn't do any tweaking at all. Any performance gains from here on will be down to tweaking and overclocking.
I'll post incremental sets of results in due course as I start playing with system settings.
TL. 8)
I'm totally hooked now :D
"Will TL be able to rack up those benchmark scores or will it all end in meltdown and a visit from the Fire Brigade :?: Keep watching folks"
Riveting :!:
(That sounded sarcastic :( ...which it shouldn't have. I am genuinely intreagued to see what happens when the tweakage commences.)
hehe, I agree. I think TL needs a new forum title. Kinda like....
Overclocking King
PC Mod Master
Bow before my l337 PC skillz!
Damn, can't wait until next week to see this puppy. You are bringing it, right TL?
post cancelled
I have been increasing the Multiplier this evening and got it running nice and stable at 14 x (instead of 11). It has been slow progress as the benchmarks take a while to run, but I thought the data might be helpful. Anyway, it is not exactly uncharted territory as FatBob got his JIUHB up to 14 x too, but I'll try 15 tomorrow (14.5 is reserved by AMD) and then start to look at the FSB. Benchmark increases are set out below.
The current increase in multiplier means that the 1.47GHz CPU is now running at 1.871GHz, a 27.2% increase and providing a PR rating of circa 2713 :D
SiSoft Sandra Pro
CPU Arithmetic Benchmark - 7669 >>> 9776
CPU Multimedia Benchmark - 16732 >>> 21166
Memory Bandwidth Benchmark - 3908 >>> 3993
File System Benchmark - 25378 >>> 30022
3DMark2001SE
3DMark2001SE Score - 11442 >>> 12784
PCMark2002
CPU Score - 4501 >>> 5625
Memory Score - 4060 >>> 4350
HDD Score - 1139 >>> 1185
3DMark2003
3DMark2003 Score - 3962 >>> 4086
A good first night's work on the CPU. I'll get around to doing a little bit more tomorrow, but I guess that the most time will be spent on it on Monday.
TL. 8)
Well a Multiplier of 15 works just fine and gives a PR rating of 2907. It seems as though it system is very comfortable with the higher multipliers. I may see how much higher they can go, but I suspect that I will start to look at raising the FSB now instead so as to increase the memory bandwidth. At the stock 133MHz (133*2*8 = PC2100) the 434MHz (PC3500) OCZ RAM sitting in the mobo is somewhat underused as you can see from some of the results.
The 15x setting results in the 1.47GHz 1700+ CPU running at 2.005GHz with a PR rating of 2907.
I'm off out for most of the day now, but here are the benchmarks for the 15x tests. Temperatures seem reasonably steady at 45-46 under load, i.e. all the benchmarks that get run one after the other!
SiSoft Sandra Pro
CPU Arithmetic Benchmark - 7669 >>> 10498
CPU Multimedia Benchmark - 16732 >>> 22715
Memory Bandwidth Benchmark - 3908 >>> 4017
File System Benchmark - 25378 >>> 29893
3DMark2001SE
3DMark2001SE Score - 11442 >>> 13032
PCMark2002
CPU Score - 4501 >>> 5987
Memory Score - 4060 >>> 4412
HDD Score - 1139 >>> 1150
3DMark2003
3DMark2003 Score - 3962 >>> 4124
I have to say I am quite pleased with the results so far from a £45 CPU :lol: I might not do much more tweaking today as I am out now until late afternoon, but if I do then I'll post the results up. However tomorrow should be THE day for finishing the main FSB/Multiplier overclock, I'll then settle down to try to tweak the RAM settings etc to make sure they stay loose enough for the overclock.
TL. 8)
TL, you will get better performance from raising the FSB to say 166Mhz. Not sure what the multiplier will go up to at that speed tho!
When raising the FSB make sure the PCI and AGP busses are not being over clocked!!! some motherboards determin their speed by a simple clock divider which means Mhzs over 133 is overclocking them... 166 is fine but take it to 170 and your again over clocking them by 4Mhz.
My rheobus is the sunbeam one http://www.sunbeamtech.com/ (http://www.sunbeamtech.com/) for rightup. Bought mine from ebuyer.
The AGP and PCI buses are locked and controlled separately on the NF7-S mobo - one of the reasons I chose it :D I just wanted to see how the set up responded to the multiplier changes first as I didn't have the time yesterday to do the FSB increases (they involve moving clock dividers & multipliers as well at the same time). It has also given me some reference data to see how the system is performing compared to the multiplier changes. I will be trying to up the FSB tomorrow when I have more time. The RAM will cope with a 217MHz FSB, but I am not sure the rest of the system can and I don't want to take the system that high as it would probably go beyond the Vcore limits of the mobo, but we'll see tomorrow how high we can get - I am hoping to get it past 2.4GHz, but that may be wishful thinking - wish me luck :wink:
TL. 8)
Currently still playing with the 15x Multiplier. The FSB is at 150 at the moment giving the cpu a 2.26GHz rating with a PR rating of 3271. I just had to up the voltages a bit for this multiplier, but I am keen to see how high I can go with the FSB and still on a 15x multiplier. If I top out too earlier then I'll drop down to 14x and lower, reset the voltages and start upping the FSB again.
More reports later and when I am finished I will put up the full table of data.
TL. 8)
A quick update prior to the 6.00pm clan match match tonight.
The afternoon has been spent gradually reducing the multiplier and increasing the FSB to ensure the memory bandwidth was fully utilised. The OCZ PC3500 is running successfully in synchronous dual channel mode the benchmarks for the bandwidth are scarily high!
Currently the system is running the FSB at 222MHz with a clock multiplier of 10.5. This gives the cpu speed as 2.34GHz and an AMD pr rating of XP3393+ :D
Big shout out to FatBob as we spent the best part of an hour talking through settings on his and my PCs. At the end of it all we managed to get both our machines to run in excess of 3300 and I believe that there is a bit more to squeeze out of the system itself.
Once the system is sorted, then I will tweak the RAM settings and start overclocking on the graphics card. Currently the gfx card scores 14515 in 3D2001SE.
TL. 8)
what are your reported temperatures tealeaf? and if you have a thermonitor give room temps too :-)
I have no idea what room temperature is here, but it has had a window open all day because it has been warm enough to do it! I guess 19-20, but I'll try to dig out a thermometer for a more accurate reading. The CPU itself is running at about 47-48 centigrade, which is well within sensible tolerances.
I'll post some more info up later tonight, I am still trying to tweak those settings upwards :D Not bad though for a £45 CPU, eh?
TL. 8)
OK, so here is the latest: With Vcore 1.65v, Vchipset 1.7v and Vram 2.8v I got the FSB to 225MHz, however at that speed the system bails out of 3DMark2001. As I do not want to up the voltage any more at the moment I have backed off to 222MHz FSB and will keep this (for the timebeing) as my standard FSB speed. I am running a clock multiplier of 10.5, so the £45 JIUHB 1.43GHz XP1700+ is running at:
Current Speed: 2.338GHz equivalent to an XP 3392+ :D
System temperature at that speed is 30 and the CPU temp is 49 under prolonged load. Remember, this is ALL with stock air cooling, nothing fancy, just fans and air. When the system has run for a week or two, I will probably look at upping the voltage a bit more as the Abit NF7-S tends to undervolt, so running e.g. 2.8v Vram actually means about 2.7v. This should allow a little bit extra on the FSB.
The OCZ PC3500 Dual Channel RAM is performing prodigiously. It is coping very well at 444MHz and could go another 30-36MHz higher if I can get the FSB increased. However at its current speed it is providing an absolutely massive amount of bandwidth - 3424 Mbps (SiSoft Sandra Integer Buff test) and 3206 Mbps (under the Floating Point Test). The benefits of running synchronous dual channel ram rather than a single stick of ram are extremely clear - this single point was the biggest difference between FatBob's and my system.
The benchmarks are set out below. The first number is the original baseline benchmark prior to any modification, the second bold number is the new overclocked result.
SiSoft Sandra Pro
CPU Arithmetic Benchmark - 7669 >>> 12253
CPU Multimedia Benchmark - 16732 >>> 26505
Memory Bandwidth Benchmark - 3908 >>> 6630
File System Benchmark - 25378 >>> 30225
3DMark2001SE
3DMark2001SE Score - 11442 >>> 15070
PCMark2002
CPU Score - 4501 >>> 7219
Memory Score - 4060 >>> 6273
HDD Score - 1139 >>> 1167
3DMark2003
3DMark2003 Score - 3962 >>> 4287
As yet, the Sapphire 9700 graphics card is running at totally stock speeds. I will try to have a look at overclocking it during the week as I think that should add a fair amount to the graphics based benchmarks.
Anyway, the majority of the 'system' overclocking has now been done - I hope you have enjoyed reading about it as much as I have enjoyed tweaking the system. I will post more here as and when I get round to getting the number any higher. :D In the mean time, why not go out and get one of those cheap as chips chips :roll: and go and overclock it yourself, eh? But please make sure you post your benchmark results so that we can all enjoy the efforts of your hard work.
The system will be coming to the LAN, but for the moment, I believe my work here is done :smokin:
TL. 8)
Quote
Current Speed: 2.338GHz equivalent to an XP 3392+ :D
8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O :end:
Excellent stuff TeaLeaf, that was a pleasure to read. What was the total cost of the system?
The cost depends on what you are re-using from your existing system. My decision was made easier by the need to separate my business and leisure activities and and a big expenses claim being paid :D
If you re-use your case and peripherals then the upgrade would cost £275:
Athlon XP1700+ (JIUHB) - £45
Abit NF7-S Rev 2.0 - £90
OCZ Twin 2 x 256MB PC3500 Dual Channel DDR RAM - £140
I also added a new cooler, aluminium case and some high quality peripherals:
Aerocool DP-101 Deep Impact CPU cooler - £51
Sapphire Radeon 9700 128Mb - £185
Enermax 550W EG651P-VE FMA Blue - £105
Western Digital 120GB Special Edition 8MB cache HDD - £116
Lian Li PC-65 with window - £105
Arctic Silver III - £5
Silver Floppy - £11
System Total: = £853
I still think that this represents absolutely storming value whenyou think that a comparable retail CPU running at a slower stock speed would cost you about £450 on its own!
TL. 8)
The Tweakmonster BGA RAM heatsinks for the 9700 graphics card arrived this morning so later today I will try to lap the bottom surfaces before mounting them. I'll post some pictures and details of how and with what etc when I have got the job done. I am also aiming to install the Lian Li temperature guage today now that the round silver Akasa cables have arrived. Again, I'll post some pictures up when this has been done.
When it is all put together I will try to up the graphics card speed using a straightforward overclock of the gpu and ram frequencies (with the aid of the extra cooling provided by the bga ram heatsinks) and flashing a new graphics card bios (warp11 and mufu variants). I will post benchmarks for before and after as usual.
TL. 8)
TeaLeaf,
A good set of forums that I use for nForce2 based boards is nForcers HQ ( http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/ (http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/) ).
I've found some really useful stuff on there regarding minor niggles I've had with my A7N8X Deluxe, and the ABit forum is pretty active too.
The chaps on there might be able to help you wring that last bit of performance out of your new beast. Although, to be honest, it sounds like you've a pretty good handle on things already :D
Anyways, just an FYI...
Cheers Cadaver - I've registered over there and am having a good look around at the moment :D
TL. 8)
Man that was the best overclocking system manual i have ever read.....TeaLeaf you are the OverClockMeister, you should also start selling this stuff man build it for 800 and sell it at 1200. I am buying your exact same spec right now thx mate .... fkin beauty
Thanks Rad, I'm glad you enjoyed it :D It has been real fun actually doing the build and overclock too! Anyway, a further update:
The Tweakmonster Heatsinks have been lapped to flat and installed. When they arrive they are shiny chrome and appear flat, but your eyes can deceive you! They underside was actually domed - the worst thing that you can have :?
I started to rectify the problem by placing some 150 grit sandpaper onto a glass block and gradually sanding down the underside of the eight heatsinks by sanding in small circular motions (it was actually an optical block I had left over from my school days, but it is perfectly flat - marble or anything else you can guarantee is (a) perfectly flat and (B) will not bend under pressure will do). It is very easy to see how much you have removed through sanding as you are removing the chrome effect from the heatsink and so it is obvious when you should stop as all of the chrome will have disappeared! If you can still see chrome then the heatsink is not yet flat. When I had got the surface flat on 150 grit, I then replaced the sandpaper with some 320 grit to give it an initial polish and then finished by buffing on 400 grit sandpaper. The finished heatsink had a perfectly flat underside and a shiny (but not chrome) finish again. On all of the heatsinks once you have finished lapping them you will start to see the copper alloy starting to show through the outer metallic coating - this is not a problem.
I stuck the RAM heatsinks on to the eight Sapphire 9700 RAM chips using a combination of Artic Alumina Thermal Adhesive and Arctic Silver 3. The adhesive is delivered in two tubes with a very handy plastic mixing and spreading stick (so I didn't have to use my credit card for this one :D ). The adhesive constituents were mixed 1:1 and then an equal quantity (2:2)of AS3 was added and blended together. The addition of AS3 should weaken the adhesive sufficiently that if you should ever want to get the heatsinks off again you should be able to do so without pulling the top of the RAM chip off as well 8O I did the RAM sinks 4 at a time, leaving them for 4 hours in between so that the first 4 didn't just fall off when I turned the card over to do the second four!
I will be trying to overclock the gfx card this week, so I'll keep you posted. Once that is done, then I will be moving on to the 'stealth mod' for the ugly CD drive that sticks out of the front of the case. Hopefully the result shold be a completely invisible CD drive :D
TL. 8)
I wanna see ure CD drive stealth mod, I've been wantin to do that for ages!
QuoteI will be trying to overclock the gfx card this week, so I'll keep you posted. Once that is done, then I will be moving on to the 'stealth mod' for the ugly CD drive that sticks out of the front of the case. Hopefully the result shold be a completely invisible CD drive :D
did I miss the news?
:oops: Err, nope you didn't, I just haven't had time to complete the further planned work.
1. The DVI KVM switch has not yet arrived and I need that so I can run both PCs simultaneously.
2. The tracking down of my software/hardware intermittent lag has taken a higher priority.
3. I still haven't overclocked the gfx card and that is a must when the KVM switch gets here.
4. I forget, but there was 4th reason I'm sure :wink:
Stealth mod will follow and I WILL post piccies when I do it, some time real soon now.....
TL. 8)
And...? :-)
....and I'm busy and haven't had the time. :( My 'To Do' list on this machine currently includes:
1. Get the cables for the KVM.
2. Overclock GPU
3. Flash gfx BIOS and re-overclock
4. Think hard about watercooling the CPU instead for higher overclock, poss including GPU and NB cooling.
5. Do the stealth mod for the CD drive
6. Wack a DVD burner in as well and stealth mod that too.
All in all I have some work to do before the LAN.........anyone fancy popping round and giving me a hand?
TL. 8)
what exactly is a "stealth" mod for your optical drives? How do you plan to shut them up? because that would be a mod I would be keen to try. :D
Make it look like a blanking plate, pretty much - as I understand it. Of course, I think covering it in military camouflage could be classier.
To address TL's TODO list:
1. Fair point :-)
2. That's what we're waiting for.
3. And that.
4. I'll bring a towel.
5. Pah.
6. Pah pah.
Sorry about 5 and 6, I appear to have a chronic flatulence problem.
oh.
I thought he was gonna take the optical drives to bits and rebuild them with silent motors, and sound suppressing stuff :roll:
Cant you just buy thos aluminium bezel plate things?
:morning:
Look, if it doesn't involve a Dremel, it doesn't count.
Honestly, it's as if case modding were commoditised these days.
*sigh*
Plus "Do a stealth mod" sounds so much better than "superglue a chunk of aluminium to the front".
:roll:
true
I took off all the plastic front bits and painted them on my CD-ROM. I wonder what I can do to make it less whirry when I stick cd's in it. 8)
oh, and I dont have a dremmel, but the mains-powered drill managed to go through the plastic casing just fine :D
MicroSnot Knowledgebase Article #109228399 says:
Symptom: Whirry noise from CD Drive
Occurs: When CD is inserted
Workaround: Do not insert CD into drive
QuotePlus "Do a stealth mod" sounds so much better than "superglue a chunk of aluminium to the front".
:rofl:
TL. 8)
Well, after a lot of delay I can report that I am expecting my new dremel drill set to arrive this week. So the stealth mod will be underway and I will also be looking at some of the Matrix LCD mods as well. More info to follow, probably next weekend as I am now away until Wednesday night.
TL.
OK, I have finally got around to starting the stealth mod for the CD drive. Just one bit of bad news, my better half's car was broken into recently and the digital camera was stolen - so no pictures are available just yet. I will try to borrow one and rectify the picture position real soon.
I took a Lian Li case aluminium drive bay blanking plate and using a Dremel 420 Heavy Duty cut off disc I cut the side 'wings' off the blanking plate. I now have a nicely finished aluminium plate that more or less fits over the front of my CD. Before I finish this next section i will try to get a digital camera involved!
I now intend to:
- 'dry fit' the blanking plate to the case front (to ensure that there is enough room for it to move in and out when attached to the CD drawer).
- Remove the CD drive and fit the blanking plate to the front of the drive's drawer.
- Grind down the CD drive drawer front as appropriate - it is domed at the moment and I want it flat to aid stability and adhesion to the blanking plate - this will involve taking the CD drive apart and invalidating the warranty.
- Possibly drilling a hole in the blanking plate to accept a small section of plastic rod, where the hole and the rod line up with the CD drive's LED, thus passing the light out the front of the blanking plate.
- Add a 'pad' or rod of some sort to allow the open/close button to be activated by applying pressure to that corner of the aluminium plate.
I'll post more when it is done and I have some piccies to put up.
TL.