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Finally got everything pieced together and overclocked to my original goal going into this adventure. Parts list:
Meet my new computer: LENORE
Antec P180B
Corsair HX620W
DFI Infinity P965-s motherboard
Intel XEON quad core x3210 2.13Ghz processor
G.Skill 2GBHZ PC-8000
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme with Silenx Ixtrema Pro 120mm fan(rated 18db @ 90cfm!!)
2 150gb Raptor X's in RAID-0
1 Seagate 750GB SATA
eVGA 8800GTX
The Goal:
I wanted a quiet(so I have to look to see if it's still running) system that performs well at everything, and is reliable. Sounds simple. Well, I decided early on that I wanted to run 400mhz fsb and 8x multiplier for 3.2Ghz. I couldn't make up my mind on the processor though. I wanted a quadcore, but the multipliers were high, and the prices were Super HIGH($900 for the qx6700). So I started looking at the e6400 and e6420's. Before I pulled the trigger on one, I read an interesting article about a xeon socket 775 processor I had never heard of before. Enter the Kentsfield Xeon x3210 quad core processor. Rated at 2.13Ghz (266mhz x 8), this processor had the multiplier that I needed for my goal, AND it only cost $409!! after the price cuts on April 22nd. Needless to say, I was probably the first person to order one once the price drops hit.
OK, first off It was hard doing research on some stuff because quad cores aren't so popular yet. It was even harder because almost nobody is running Kentsfield Xeons either. Anyways...
The Case:
Before the Antec P180 I used a Coolermaster Wavemaster aluminum case. I decided to upgrade the case because you can't mount 120mm fans in the wavemaster without extreme mods. The Antec comes with three 3-speed 120's and has room for another so it was a pleasant upgrade. I did however feel like the Antec was of lesser quality than the precision cut rolled edges of the aluminum in the Coolermaster. HOWEVER, the Antec is VERY solid(about 35lbs of solid!!), and is much quieter. The steel on the antec doesn't feel like steel, but more like some sort of sound deadening material when you knock on it. It also has little rubber things to insulate the sound between the harddrives and the chassis which were innovative. It did take me a LONG time to figure out how to route all of my wires in this thing. I'm just thankful to have gotten a modular power supply.
The Power Supply:
The Corsair HX620W is an awesome power supply. It's everything I read about online(super quiet, no lights, modular, powerful, and reliable). I really don't care for the whole "industrial" looks thing, but hey, it's a power supply, you don't really see it much, and I hate computers with windows.
The Motherboard:
The DFI infinity P965-s "Dark" motherboard was an absolute BITCH to get ahold of. I think they're still sold out all over the country as I write this. I spent about 2 weeks of down time to get ahold of one, but finally procured one(for those still searching, don't lose faith, keep checking, it's an awesome board). Like the xeon processor, there's only a handful of benchmarks and information on these boards right now. But, there are guys hitting 500fsb on them left and right(which is more than I wanted originally). Came packaged pretty nicely, great manual, and the board looks good. I do wish there was a small fan or something on the Northbridge to help keep cool it, but no big deal, it doesn't get that hot anyways.
The RAM:
Since I was only going for 400mhz fsb, I really didn't need anything more than PC-6400 RAM to give me a perfect 1:1. However, I knew that I wanted 2GB of it, and coming from AMD, I know the importance of RAM timings. So I wanted them as tight as can be. I opted for the G'Skill 2GBHZ because of the D9 chips, and PC-8000 so I could run tighter timings than the PC-6400. The PC-8000 is rated at 4-4-4-5 @ 2T and 2.2-2.4 vDIMM I am MORE than impressed with this RAM(I'll get to that later).
Cooling:
I had originally decided on the Tuniq Tower to cool my rig. The night I went to order the Tuniq was ironically sold out nearly everywhere(which is fine because I didn't want to stress my motherboard by strapping a cinderblock onto it). However I had read about a new cooler which was supposed to perform awesome. The Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme with 6 heatpipes. Anandtech has two reviews on this cooler paired with a Scythe S-Flex 1600rpm fan, saying it's the best aircooler ever tested. Well, the Scythe S-Flex was too damn loud for me, and it was rated 28db and 63cfm. So I went fan shopping. I heard lots of good things about the Noctua fans, and I was all set to order one, however I read a little blurb about a new fan company Silenx and their fan had the(and I quote), "worlds best noise-to-airflow ratio"(that's written on the front of their box too). This fan was rated at 18db @ 90cfm!! Half the sound and twice the airflow of the S-Flex. Silenx Ixtrema 120 Pro(IXP-76-18). I have no doubts that I can beat the Andandtech test results with this fan/heatsink combo, and it's extremely quiet.
The Build:
Overall, the build went smoothly. Everything fit together nicely, and didn't really have any troubles. The hardest part was probably routing my cables since I kept changing my mind and rerouting while everything was in the case. Also, the 8800GTX card is HUGE! I had no idea until I opened the package and looked at it, it made me laugh. But, it BARELY fit in the case with my Raptors mounted in the upper cage. less than .5" clearance. Also, if I want to pull the CMOS jumper or battery, I have to remove the video card, it's that big.
The Boot:
The BIOS booted up fine first try. The BIOS defaulted my processor to a 6x multiplier, but I bumped it back to stock, and raised vDIMM to 2.1 and booted. Windows XP Pro install took ~7minutes. All stability tests passed with Orthos, Prime95, memtest86+, etc... at stock settings.
The Tools:
For this I used Orthos, Prime95, memtest86, Smart guardian, Core Temp, and CPU-Z. I launched 4 instances of Prime95, and 2 of Orthos, making sure to set their affinities so that each core gets an instance.
The Overclock;
I went back into BIOS and raised my FSB first to 333mhz, and disabled the CPU throttling features in the BIOS. I also set a 1:1 ratio with the RAM. The BIOS did not boot. Pulled CMOS jumper, etc... Reset settings, then I remembered that I forgot to raise vDIMM to stock specs(2.2-2.4v), so I bumped it to 2.35 to be safe and it booted great. I rebooted, raised vcore +150mV to ~1.4v just to overdo it and be safe. Ran some tests, tried 366mhz FSB, worked fine, then 400fsb x8, and I had to tweak northbridge voltage up a bit, and temps were HOT(~78C under load) but everything was stable at 400 x 8 and 1:1 RAM. So, I started backing the vcore down and down. Temps dropped drastically. I finally settled on vcore 1.34v at 3.2ghz stable. So I started backing my vDIMM down from 2.35, eventually settling on 2.20v. I think I could go lower on that, but I'm not too concerned as this is the lowest rated spec. and I'd like tighter timings. I started tightening up my timings, and eventually reached an impressive(to me) 4-3-3-3 @ 2T 2.225v. Idle CPU temps are ~29C, idle core temps ~38C, under load, CPU temp is ~55C, Core temps ~63C. Very impressive! I must say that vCore is the secret to getting cool temps with a quadcore, my temps would skyrocket with a higher vCore approaching 80C with 1.42v. But, at these clock(3.2ghz), the xeon just didn't need that much.
Overall:
I did a lot of research before building this rig, and about the only thing I would do differently is to buy an extra 120cm fan for the empty bay in the case, and or to replace all of the 120's with the silenx ixtrema's. I am extremely impressed with their performance.
OVERCLOCK SUMMARY:
CPU: 3.2Ghz (400mhz x 8) overclocked 1.34v
RAM: 4-3-3-3 @ 2T 2.225v
idle TEMPS: CPU idle: 29C CORE idle: 38C
load TEMPS: CPU load: 55C CORE load: 63C
AIRCOOLED and damn near silent even with all of the fans on max(which I will run at medium).
EDIT: OK, I got some pictures up and a benchmark. They're not great, but you'll get the gist.
I'm planning to take some pics soon too. The Ultra-120 Extreme with the Ixtrema fan looks pretty cool. I hope this help out anyone considering purchasing either a Quad core, a Kentsfield Xeon, or a DFI P965-s motherboard. Feel free to comment or post questions!
And, the benchmark:
Thanks!
Meet my new computer: LENORE
Antec P180B
Corsair HX620W
DFI Infinity P965-s motherboard
Intel XEON quad core x3210 2.13Ghz processor
G.Skill 2GBHZ PC-8000
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme with Silenx Ixtrema Pro 120mm fan(rated 18db @ 90cfm!!)
2 150gb Raptor X's in RAID-0
1 Seagate 750GB SATA
eVGA 8800GTX
The Goal:
I wanted a quiet(so I have to look to see if it's still running) system that performs well at everything, and is reliable. Sounds simple. Well, I decided early on that I wanted to run 400mhz fsb and 8x multiplier for 3.2Ghz. I couldn't make up my mind on the processor though. I wanted a quadcore, but the multipliers were high, and the prices were Super HIGH($900 for the qx6700). So I started looking at the e6400 and e6420's. Before I pulled the trigger on one, I read an interesting article about a xeon socket 775 processor I had never heard of before. Enter the Kentsfield Xeon x3210 quad core processor. Rated at 2.13Ghz (266mhz x 8), this processor had the multiplier that I needed for my goal, AND it only cost $409!! after the price cuts on April 22nd. Needless to say, I was probably the first person to order one once the price drops hit.
OK, first off It was hard doing research on some stuff because quad cores aren't so popular yet. It was even harder because almost nobody is running Kentsfield Xeons either. Anyways...
The Case:
Before the Antec P180 I used a Coolermaster Wavemaster aluminum case. I decided to upgrade the case because you can't mount 120mm fans in the wavemaster without extreme mods. The Antec comes with three 3-speed 120's and has room for another so it was a pleasant upgrade. I did however feel like the Antec was of lesser quality than the precision cut rolled edges of the aluminum in the Coolermaster. HOWEVER, the Antec is VERY solid(about 35lbs of solid!!), and is much quieter. The steel on the antec doesn't feel like steel, but more like some sort of sound deadening material when you knock on it. It also has little rubber things to insulate the sound between the harddrives and the chassis which were innovative. It did take me a LONG time to figure out how to route all of my wires in this thing. I'm just thankful to have gotten a modular power supply.
The Power Supply:
The Corsair HX620W is an awesome power supply. It's everything I read about online(super quiet, no lights, modular, powerful, and reliable). I really don't care for the whole "industrial" looks thing, but hey, it's a power supply, you don't really see it much, and I hate computers with windows.
The Motherboard:
The DFI infinity P965-s "Dark" motherboard was an absolute BITCH to get ahold of. I think they're still sold out all over the country as I write this. I spent about 2 weeks of down time to get ahold of one, but finally procured one(for those still searching, don't lose faith, keep checking, it's an awesome board). Like the xeon processor, there's only a handful of benchmarks and information on these boards right now. But, there are guys hitting 500fsb on them left and right(which is more than I wanted originally). Came packaged pretty nicely, great manual, and the board looks good. I do wish there was a small fan or something on the Northbridge to help keep cool it, but no big deal, it doesn't get that hot anyways.
The RAM:
Since I was only going for 400mhz fsb, I really didn't need anything more than PC-6400 RAM to give me a perfect 1:1. However, I knew that I wanted 2GB of it, and coming from AMD, I know the importance of RAM timings. So I wanted them as tight as can be. I opted for the G'Skill 2GBHZ because of the D9 chips, and PC-8000 so I could run tighter timings than the PC-6400. The PC-8000 is rated at 4-4-4-5 @ 2T and 2.2-2.4 vDIMM I am MORE than impressed with this RAM(I'll get to that later).
Cooling:
I had originally decided on the Tuniq Tower to cool my rig. The night I went to order the Tuniq was ironically sold out nearly everywhere(which is fine because I didn't want to stress my motherboard by strapping a cinderblock onto it). However I had read about a new cooler which was supposed to perform awesome. The Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme with 6 heatpipes. Anandtech has two reviews on this cooler paired with a Scythe S-Flex 1600rpm fan, saying it's the best aircooler ever tested. Well, the Scythe S-Flex was too damn loud for me, and it was rated 28db and 63cfm. So I went fan shopping. I heard lots of good things about the Noctua fans, and I was all set to order one, however I read a little blurb about a new fan company Silenx and their fan had the(and I quote), "worlds best noise-to-airflow ratio"(that's written on the front of their box too). This fan was rated at 18db @ 90cfm!! Half the sound and twice the airflow of the S-Flex. Silenx Ixtrema 120 Pro(IXP-76-18). I have no doubts that I can beat the Andandtech test results with this fan/heatsink combo, and it's extremely quiet.
The Build:
Overall, the build went smoothly. Everything fit together nicely, and didn't really have any troubles. The hardest part was probably routing my cables since I kept changing my mind and rerouting while everything was in the case. Also, the 8800GTX card is HUGE! I had no idea until I opened the package and looked at it, it made me laugh. But, it BARELY fit in the case with my Raptors mounted in the upper cage. less than .5" clearance. Also, if I want to pull the CMOS jumper or battery, I have to remove the video card, it's that big.
The Boot:
The BIOS booted up fine first try. The BIOS defaulted my processor to a 6x multiplier, but I bumped it back to stock, and raised vDIMM to 2.1 and booted. Windows XP Pro install took ~7minutes. All stability tests passed with Orthos, Prime95, memtest86+, etc... at stock settings.
The Tools:
For this I used Orthos, Prime95, memtest86, Smart guardian, Core Temp, and CPU-Z. I launched 4 instances of Prime95, and 2 of Orthos, making sure to set their affinities so that each core gets an instance.
The Overclock;
I went back into BIOS and raised my FSB first to 333mhz, and disabled the CPU throttling features in the BIOS. I also set a 1:1 ratio with the RAM. The BIOS did not boot. Pulled CMOS jumper, etc... Reset settings, then I remembered that I forgot to raise vDIMM to stock specs(2.2-2.4v), so I bumped it to 2.35 to be safe and it booted great. I rebooted, raised vcore +150mV to ~1.4v just to overdo it and be safe. Ran some tests, tried 366mhz FSB, worked fine, then 400fsb x8, and I had to tweak northbridge voltage up a bit, and temps were HOT(~78C under load) but everything was stable at 400 x 8 and 1:1 RAM. So, I started backing the vcore down and down. Temps dropped drastically. I finally settled on vcore 1.34v at 3.2ghz stable. So I started backing my vDIMM down from 2.35, eventually settling on 2.20v. I think I could go lower on that, but I'm not too concerned as this is the lowest rated spec. and I'd like tighter timings. I started tightening up my timings, and eventually reached an impressive(to me) 4-3-3-3 @ 2T 2.225v. Idle CPU temps are ~29C, idle core temps ~38C, under load, CPU temp is ~55C, Core temps ~63C. Very impressive! I must say that vCore is the secret to getting cool temps with a quadcore, my temps would skyrocket with a higher vCore approaching 80C with 1.42v. But, at these clock(3.2ghz), the xeon just didn't need that much.
Overall:
I did a lot of research before building this rig, and about the only thing I would do differently is to buy an extra 120cm fan for the empty bay in the case, and or to replace all of the 120's with the silenx ixtrema's. I am extremely impressed with their performance.
OVERCLOCK SUMMARY:
CPU: 3.2Ghz (400mhz x 8) overclocked 1.34v
RAM: 4-3-3-3 @ 2T 2.225v
idle TEMPS: CPU idle: 29C CORE idle: 38C
load TEMPS: CPU load: 55C CORE load: 63C
AIRCOOLED and damn near silent even with all of the fans on max(which I will run at medium).
EDIT: OK, I got some pictures up and a benchmark. They're not great, but you'll get the gist.
I'm planning to take some pics soon too. The Ultra-120 Extreme with the Ixtrema fan looks pretty cool. I hope this help out anyone considering purchasing either a Quad core, a Kentsfield Xeon, or a DFI P965-s motherboard. Feel free to comment or post questions!
And, the benchmark:
Thanks!
Enjoy.
