Project Overclock: XP1700+ to XP3392+

[Rad_Man]

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

[TeaLeaf]

Thanks Rad, I'm glad you enjoyed it    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   ).  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  

TL.  

[A Twig]

I wanna see ure CD drive stealth mod, I've been wantin to do that for ages!

[suicidal_monkey]

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

did I miss the news?

[TeaLeaf]

: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.  

[tugs]

And...? :-)

[TeaLeaf]

....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.  

[suicidal_monkey]

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.

[tugs]

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.

[suicidal_monkey]

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:

[tugs]

Look, if it doesn't involve a Dremel, it doesn't count.

Honestly, it's as if case modding were commoditised these days.

*sigh*

[tugs]

Plus "Do a stealth mod" sounds so much better than "superglue a chunk of aluminium to the front".

[suicidal_monkey]

: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.

[suicidal_monkey]

oh, and I dont have a dremmel, but the mains-powered drill managed to go through the plastic casing just fine

[tugs]

MicroSnot Knowledgebase Article #109228399 says:

Symptom: Whirry noise from CD Drive
Occurs: When CD is inserted
Workaround: Do not insert CD into drive