Project: Silence

S

silent-circuit

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
16,132
In the beginning man said: let their be quiet.
Then he said: let there be fast.
Finally, months later he said: let there be quiet /and/ fast, and where the hell did my bank balance go?

My latest rebuild has been prompted by the purchase of a 24" LCD and the realization that a single 8800 GTX and a dual core isn't always going to be enough at 1920x1200. Plus, people had way cooler stuff than me, and we can't have that. :cool:

This is mostly a placeholder -- I'll add pictures of any and all mods as I make them, assuming I remember. Which I likely won't.

Parts list:
CPU: Intel Xeon X3220
GPUs: 2 OCZ branded 8800 GTXs in SLI
Motherboard: XFX 780i SLI reference
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) Patriot Extreme Performance DDR2-800 at 4-4-4-12 1T
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad Black
DVDRWs: 2 LiteOn 16x PATA
HDD: 250GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA
Case: Lian Li V2000B Plus II

The case is coming almost pre-modded. I'll just have to clean some things up and should be able to build right off. I'm going water throughout this time around -- dual loops, one for GPUs, one for CPU and northbridge. I may add the PWMs at some point, but right now can't justify the cost of blocks for them. All fans are controlled via a Sunbeam Rheobus. 7/16" tubing throughout.

CPU loop:
Swiftech Apogee GT CPU block
Black Ice Pro II (2x120) radiator
2 Panaflo 120mm fans
Swiftech MCP350 pump with Petra's top

GPU loop:
2 D-Tek Fuzion GPU blocks
2 D-Tek 8800 GTX UniSinks
Swiftech MCR-320 Quietpower (3x120) radiator
3 Yate Loon mid speed 120mm fans
Liang D5 Vario pump

Still working on over all loop routing ideas and trying to decide if I should put the CPU/NB on the 3x120 rad or the GPUs on the 3x120. So far I'm leaning toward the 3x120 on the CPU/NB as that allows me to run lower speed on those fans and only crank up the much higher speed Panaflos on the GPU loop when benching. I may pick up a third 1x120 radiator and include it in whichever loop ends up with the highest temps.

I'm hoping to get 3.6Ghz+ out of the X3220, but we'll have to wait and see there. Excited about the whole thing, but terribly aware of just how much I've spent on it, and how much I've yet to spend.

Thoughts or suggestions welcome here.

This will be used with my soon-to-be-modded Soyo DYLM24D6, Project: Smooth Soyo.
 
I'd say GPU's on the 3x120, as two GPU's would output a lot more heat than a CPU and an NB.

Sounds like an awesome project, I'm sub'd!
 
Phase change put on hold... indefinitely, pretty much. Car trouble took all my sub zero coolin' money.
 
Hey hey, looks like it's "store brand" Ramen time for Silent :)

Come over to my place buddy. I got you covered with all the 11c packages of fried joy you could ever want.

/subbed.
 
Got the case today, along with the second GTX. Still no processor, so I can't mount things up to test. I'll probably be running all stock air for a couple of weeks here (horrible thought...) but it's temporary.
 
Well you've made me feel better about dumping money into my rig, it's hardly anything compared to what yours will cost by the time it's all said and done.
And I want some beautiful good quality pics, ASAP!
 
I'll be getting good use out of my camera, no worries. Just don't have much of anything to take pictures of at the moment. The V2000B is nice, but everyone's seen one of those with a rad hole in the top before. Everyone's seen a GTX before. I'll take pics once they're worthwhile. ;)
 
Phase change put on hold forever and ever due to car trouble. There goes my sub-zero coolin' money...
 
Project put on hold for the next week or two while I wait to get the motherboard back from RMA. I may work on the case some.
 
This is the most silent PC I have ever built:

Intel Core 2 Q6600
Noctua NH-U12P
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Patriot Extreme Performance 2X2GB DDR2-800
Video Card Gigabyte GeForce 8500GT passive cooling
Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Quiet Case 500W
DVD Pioneer DVR-212D SATA
Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA2
Vista Home Premium OEM 64 bit

The Noctua NH-U12P is a really great fan. Silent and very easy to install. The Antec Sonata case is nice too but I am afraid that a large video card like a 8800GTX would not fit.
 
RadXge said:
The Noctua NH-U12P is a really great fan. Silent and very easy to install. The Antec Sonata case is nice too but I am afraid that a large video card like a 8800GTX would not fit.
Click to expand...

I don't have the budget left for $20+ fans, and I have /way/ too much hardware to fit in a Sonata. I had to replace my P180B, I had so much stuff. I'm also not looking for a basic 3D card, and there's no such thing as OCed passive cooled 8800 GTXs in SLI. ;)

Nice build though.
 
Got it together in the case with stock cooling for the moment. Itching to OC, but with the X3220 on the horrible little Intel thing... not so much. High 60's load at stock cause my board refuses to give it less than 1.3vcore. ;)

In that line of thought... who the hell at Abit decided "Yeah, making vcore go up from 1.30 up to 1.90 is a great idea!" Serious. Despite the little "don't set it too high you'll frag your very expensive CPU" message. Still crazy.

The good news:
I was pissed when I ran 3DMark 06 and got less than 13k at stock, default settings, 1280x1024.
Then I ran it again at 1920x1200 and got about 300 points less. Still broke 12k, at stock. Almost the same frame rates.
God I love being CPU limited. :D:D:D

Now the bad news:
The IN9 hates my RAM. It'll run with one kit of 2 sticks, it'll run with the other kit of 2 sticks... it only boots about 1/4 of the time with all 4 installed regardless of vdimm or CAS settings. No memtest problems. Makes no sense. So I'm selling it and getting 2x2GB sticks instead. Probably the $100 G.Skill DDR2-1000 kit, unless there's something else by the time I get the cash. That'll take th X3220 as high as it'll go synced, and then some.

And the worse news:
I think I may have /serious/ clearance issues. My radiator is not really think, but not really thin either -- MCR320. Fans aren't real thick either, 120mm Yate Loon low speeds. Despite this it's looking like the end of the radiator may not clear the second 8800 GTX. I hadn't even thought about this, figured I'd be fine cause I was running water and the CPU would be up top. Forgot the V2000 is inverted ATX. Hopefully swapping for a low profile fan will be enough, and the cooling difference shouldn't be too bad... but if it need more than that I may have serious problems. Still too early to say. I'll definitely be back on Friday, and you'll know I'm coming -- either by the loud and happy tune, or the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
 
How much is that all going to cost!? I wish I could spend so much money.. I would love to do water cooling on my new system, that'd be awesome. Especially with the two GTX cards.

I think you need to come up here to help build my computer with me, that way I won't break anything :p
 
Syribo said:
How much is that all going to cost!? I wish I could spend so much money.. I would love to do water cooling on my new system, that'd be awesome. Especially with the two GTX cards.

I think you need to come up here to help build my computer with me, that way I won't break anything :p
Click to expand...

I dare not even think what this is costing me. Honestly. It's the single worst financial decision I've ever made, now ~8 months in and counting. ;)
 
It costs so much he's selling everything else he owns... just look at his FS thread (including a 3000GT door?!?!), lol.

still waiting for pics btw. :D we be a visual society.
 
enginurd said:
It costs so much he's selling everything else he owns... just look at his FS thread (including a 3000GT door?!?!), lol.

still waiting for pics btw. :D we be a visual society.
Click to expand...

...that's about the size and shape of it, yeah.

As for the 3000GT door (doesn't /someone/ need that damn thing? Geeze!)... long story. Crash & smash, totaled, lost the car, guy in his 60s lied, said he didn't run a stop sign and cut directly in front of me... I'm out a 2 month old (to me) car I still owe a /lot/ on and have to pay $1500 for a new sign to my friend's subdivision. Not my happiest hour.

I miss you Eleanor...

1995_Mitsubishi_3000GT_Pic_1.jpg
 
That's terrible :( What a nice car too, I really love those.

I'd find that guy and beat him up or something.. at least it would make you feel better? :)
 
Syribo said:
That's terrible :( What a nice car too, I really love those.

I'd find that guy and beat him up or something.. at least it would make you feel better? :)
Click to expand...

It's been 4+ years now. I generally don't beat up old people, even if they're total jerks who lie to the cops and ruin my life. I try to be nice like that.

That's not saying I haven't wanted to burn down his house or something. Really bad.
 
silent-circuit said:
It's been 4+ years now. I generally don't beat up old people, even if they're total jerks who lie to the cops and ruin my life. I try to be nice like that.

That's not saying I haven't wanted to burn down his house or something. Really bad.
Click to expand...

Ha, I sort of know how you feel. I can't tell you the hate and bitterness I have towards the Workers Comp doctors who wrote entire reports saying nothing was wrong with me, and I have no disability.. And because of them, I didn't receive any money for 2 years.

I found the name of one of them.. And sometimes when I'm up really late, I'll call his house at about 3AM and just hang up when someone picks up ;) ^67 of course. Bwahahaha.
 
hm... i think you're selling that door on the wrong forum, lol. i love that car, but its so damn heavy you need a huge ass turbo and a bunch more mods to make it go. :(

insurance didn't pay for the sign?!?! :eek: so what are you rollin now? oh wait, thats off-topic. get some pics of the rig up already! lol.
 
enginurd said:
hm... i think you're selling that door on the wrong forum, lol. i love that car, but its so damn heavy you need a huge ass turbo and a bunch more mods to make it go. :(

insurance didn't pay for the sign?!?! :eek: so what are you rollin now? oh wait, thats off-topic. get some pics of the rig up already! lol.
Click to expand...

1998 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro. Silver, black leather interior. In all honestly, a lot nicer car... but it doesn't make me feel like a badass the way the 3000 did. ;)

Also have a 1966 Ford Mustang Sprint 200 SE I need to sell. Restored it before I learned to drive, never drive it. Ever. It's just like... rotting, in my grandparents driveway cause there's no space for it here at college with me or at the parents' house. Sad thing.

Pics will come when it's not limping along under air.
 
Here's some pics of the machine in its current sad, fully stock cooled and un-OCed state. Best I've been able to manage stable is 2.8Ghz. 3Ghz and it locks up in 3DMark. It's not a temp issue, as it only hits like, 62C when it locks. Not sure what's going on -- PWM area is /hot/. Seems I may be finding/fabricating a PWM waterblock after all... damnit. Those things are /expensive/ too.

unfinished1.jpg

unfinished2.jpg


Nothing is ever easy.

Probably going to need to extend several of my PSU wires/cables and resleeve as a result before this is over, too. I may just call up PC Power & Cooling and see what a custom harness will cost me.

Excuse the total lack of cable management. I was just trying to get the thing to work.
 
that circular shaped fan looking cooler-esque thing ontop of your cpu is probably creating more heat with it in your case than in your garbage. it looks a lot like the thing i got in this box with my Q6600 that i threw on the ground and stepped on to make sure it didnt try to fuck anything up in my house.

kill it before it realizes it can spin. plastic blades can cut butter like a plastic knife through frozen baby back ribs.
 
Apathy said:
that circular shaped fan looking cooler-esque thing ontop of your cpu is probably creating more heat with it in your case than in your garbage. it looks a lot like the thing i got in this box with my Q6600 that i threw on the ground and stepped on to make sure it didnt try to fuck anything up in my house.

kill it before it realizes it can spin. plastic blades can cut butter like a plastic knife through frozen baby back ribs.
Click to expand...

Oh trust me, that thing is going /down/ ASAP. I've got a water loop and a big ass radiator with this CPU's name on it... I just have to get the time to mount it all up and fill it. One of many projects for this weekend.
 
require water cooled pictures to shun my air cooling box which will be posted this weekend.

btw

i wasted $50 on zone alarm security suite, just found out upon install that there aint no support for vista64. fuck?

and also, when i was getting shit setup today on my rig, i rebooted, and the 1st lan port was lit up, but i couldnt get any internet connection. reinstalled drivers, tried this and that, undid changes in the bios. still doesnt work. the 2nd lan port works though. dunno what the fuck happened.

i cant believe i finally decided not to pirate a piece of software that i would be using over a long term basis, only to realize that it wont even begin to install.

btw, 3dmark06 hit 10.9k with my rig without oc'ing anything yet. excited to see where i can get it with a little bump. still waiting on the 4x yate loons. should be here today or tomorrow, but my case doesnt even fit under my desk. going to have to move the keyboard tray up a bit to just barely get the case to squeeze in there.

dont understand something though, the abit ip-35 pro vcore settings only go as low as 1.31 or so, so it seems that i cant turn it down any lower. gettting 45 / 44 / 43 / 39 temps at idle with no OC. what the fuck was abit thinking?
 
I had this crazy idea to mount the PSU in the top front of the bottom chamber of the case. Then I realized it was, indeed, a crazy idea, not a crazy good idea, and I stopped thinking about it. It's driving me nuts that so many of my PSU leads are barely long enough -- it's ruining my cable management! I could turn the PSU mounting plate over and the problem would be pretty much solved, but a new one caused; then I've got nowhere to mount the 2x120 radiator, unless I cut the bottom of the case for it or put in in the hole for the 3x120 up top and cut the bottom for the 3x120. That's probably what I'll end up doing. I have a feeling there's going to be more cutting and swearing and gnashing of teeth before this is all over with. I also have a feeling I'm going to lose my last remaining HDD tower in the name of better cooling/betting cooling location before the end. The top rad grill may end up a glorified 3x120 fan hole if my current fears over clearance prove to be justified... which, unfortunately, I'm pretty sure they are. Don't think the rad with all three fans, even if I switch one to a low profile, is going to clear the top GTX. The 2x120 may end up up there, with a fan in the third spot (that'll clear at least) to keep it from looking /too/ stupid, and I'll likely cut the bottom of the case to fit the MCR320. HDDs will have to go in the top 5 1/4" bays; good thing there's a ton of them. That and I only have one drive for the moment.

Ran 3DMark to check and I think everything's working properly, though I'd be lying if I said I was impressed with the numbers in comparison to the old setup.
Before I was breaking 13k on my way to 14k with everything OCed. That's an E6420 @ 3.7Ghz, 8800 GTX @ 675Mhz core 1620Mhz shader 1000Mhz RAM, with my 4GB of DDR2-800 running unlinked at ~DDR2-800, CAS 4-4-4-12 2T, 2.1vdimm.

Now I'm not quite breaking 13k with everything at stock. You'd think that between the bump up for a quad and the (should be massive at least in benches, clearly isn't so much, has me worried...) bump up for the second GTX it could at least do a little better than before, even at stock. X3220 @ stock (2.4Ghz), 2x 8800 GTX SLI @ stock (575Mhz/1350Mhz/900Mhz), 2GB DDR2-800 @ CAS 4-4-4-12 1T 2.1vdimm.

I can do one thing I certainly couldn't before, though -- almost the exact same framerates at 1920x1200 as at 1280x1024. ;) ~12700 at 1280x1024 default, ~12300 at 1920x1200 default. I'm happy with that. Broke 13k with the CPU at 2.7Ghz, so it's obviously slowing things down in its current state, and of course both GTXs are at stock under their stock HSFs for the moment, until I can get the water loop for them placed installed and filled properly.

Later today / this weekend I'll pull the stock heatpipe setup from the IN9 and clear up the horrible goop I'm sure they've got under there, hopefully drop chipset temps and improve my chances of a good solid OC. I think I'm going to be limited with the quad until I can afford a little low-profile fan for the southbridge and can find a waterblock that'll fit the PWM area... cause that thing gets ridiculously hot. Already have a couple of standard 680i NB blocks; here's hoping they match up to the mounting holes on this thing. With my luck, no.
 
I think the combination of stupid-new (174.something) beta drivers and a really old copy of 3DMark dropped my score considerably. It played Crysis fine, though, and if it'll play Crysis fine... can't be much wrong.

Anyway. Sold old, IN9-hates-it RAM, bought shiny new Patriot RAM. Should be here tomorrow. I'll put everything back together late Friday, early Saturday and see how it goes. Gotta take everything out again and cut up my case some more. Going to bottom mount the 3x120 rad, which means moving the harddrive, but that's not a huge deal. Unfortunate I'm losing the last remaining HDD rack, but... sacrifices must be made.

The 2x120 fits on the top at least. There's literally about 2 mm of clearance, if that, between the end of the topmost 8800 GTX and the end of the radiator when it's in, though. Makes it look like I meant to do it. ;) Not sure if I should run the fans on the top radiator as intake or exhaust -- opinions on this, and reasoning behind them? Disappointed by how loud the DDC-3.1 is compared with my D5. Very disappointed. It may be replaced once I can afford it. Thing sounds like a damn aquarium pump.... buzzzzzzz....

Anyway. Here's a pic of the CPU loop fully bled and running. Nothing else in the case at the moment. Sad thing is, I'll probably have to tear down this loop in about a week, if that, when I put the northbridge block, southbridge fansink, and Thermalright HR-09S PWM sink on the board.

Looking for a D-Tek Fuzion GPU block used for a good price, too. Anyone has a lead on one, by all means, PM me.

bleedingcpu.jpg
 
I can't believe you people with your TWO GTX cards! ;P Or rather.. I can't believe people could afford two of the GX2 cards already also! Crazy.
 
Syribo said:
I can't believe you people with your TWO GTX cards! ;P Or rather.. I can't believe people could afford two of the GX2 cards already also! Crazy.
Click to expand...

I bought my 8800 GTXs pretty far apart... and got the second card for about 1/2 of what I paid for the first. Normally this is a /horrible/ upgrade path, but the 8800 GTX is still kicking ass and taking names. It's a rarity. The exception that proves the rule, if you will. I'll be watercooling both of them once I get a second block, too. Had two, but one didn't fit. :)

Yeah, I wish I could swing a pair of 9800GX2s, but both my current cards are only worth ~1 9800GX2, and they're faster. No reason to get rid of them. ;)
 
Sold the IN9-32X MAX due to disappointing quad core OC results (best I could do was 3.125Ghz on water and temps on the CPU were /low/... that's insane). I've got a MSI P7N Diamond on the way in the mail. Should be here by Wednesday or Thursday.
 
Geez man, you're certainly living up to the [H] standards of PC building.

So is the IN9-32X MAX still on your recommended list for 680i mobos?

Good luck!
 
Danny Bui said:
Geez man, you're certainly living up to the [H] standards of PC building.

So is the IN9-32X MAX still on your recommended list for 680i mobos?

Good luck!
Click to expand...

It's the [H]ardest 680i on the market if you're running a dual. It just... sucks pretty bad with quads.

The only real good thing about this is that I won't have to cut up my case any more if I use the P7N (I don't think) because the GTXs will move down 2+ slots compared with the IN9, and that should allow me to top mount my 3x120 rad in the existing 3x120 hole rather than the 2x120 in order to make room for the topmost GTX. I'll probably end up cutting the bottom for the 2x120 anyway... and probably replace it with another 3x120, adding motheboard blocks (north and southbridge + MOSFET blocks) over time. This machine has to last me for 2+ years with little more than a GPU upgrade in over a year, so... awesome cooling and the potential for equally awesome OCs are key. Plus I want it to turn out really slick looking, as I'd like to start building/modding on the side. Same deal with the Soyo mod, though that's been put on the back burner until I can get the machine up and running again.
 
silent-circuit said:
It's the [H]ardest 680i on the market if you're running a dual. It just... sucks pretty hard with quads.
Click to expand...

Ouch. Good to know. :)

Man that Lian Li case looks sexy. Too bad I don't have the cash to spend on a new case now.
 
OK, here's the rundown.

EVGA 680i SE SLI ---> XFX 680i LT ---> ABIT IN9-32X SLI ---> MSI P7N Diamond ---> XFX 780i.

Here's hoping the XFX board is less buggy and cryptic than the P7N was. At this point I don't even care if it blows up on me every 6-8 months and has to be RMAed, if it gets the quad to 3.6 Ghz stable and lets me use my damn keyboard in BIOS (two things the MSI wouldn't let me do..) I will be happy.

I do not recommend the P7N Diamond to anyone who isn't an absolute masochist when it comes to OCing and still uses a PS/2 keyboard. (or at very least, has no need to get in to BIOS often) Stupid USB bugs and cryptic BIOS settings combined with a still horribly immature BIOS leave it an absolutely infuriating board to work with, despite the nice layout and quality component choices. I was also happy with the onboard cooling -- it ran warm, but not /hot/ like the 680is had, with a single 120mm fan pointed at it, even with fairly high voltage to the northbridge. The CircuPipe thing really works pretty well. Again, however, the BIOS sucks so bad it brings the board down with it.
 
Sorry to hear the P7N didn't work out for you. I'm still in the process of getting mine setup and running stable before I try to overclock it. Right now it freezes all the USB ports whenever I try to connect to my wireless network..... good stuff. I'm hoping it's an easy resolution but we'll see. Why did you pick the XFX board as your next choice? Hope it works out better for you.

Any pics of the sprint? I really don't need another Mustang but it never hurts to look right? ;)

-Jade
 
Very old picture of the Mustang (around 3 years) before I got the replacement wire wheel covers for it:
Digital_s_1966_Mustang_Coupe.jpg
 
JadeMonkeyStang said:
Sorry to hear the P7N didn't work out for you. I'm still in the process of getting mine setup and running stable before I try to overclock it. Right now it freezes all the USB ports whenever I try to connect to my wireless network..... good stuff. I'm hoping it's an easy resolution but we'll see. Why did you pick the XFX board as your next choice? Hop it works out better.

Any pics of the sprint? I really don't need another Mustang but it never hurts to look right? ;)

-Jade
Click to expand...

Well, there's the reference boards, and the Striker II, which sucks pretty much as bad as the original Striker from everything I've heard... and I'm not an ASUS fan at all. As for XFX vs. EVGA.... 3 year warranty is enough, and the XFX board was ~$30 cheaper for the exact same hardware. My single experience with XFX RMA support was ok... lackluster, but only because they were out of stock of replacement boards and didn't bother to tell me this for quite some time.
 
Machine is up and running, and my second GPU block is in the mail. I'll be tearing down for the last time this weekend to clean up my cable routing and cut the last hole in the bottom of the case for the 3x120 rad that'll be dedicated to my GPU loop.

In other good news I'm now perfectly stable for 8+ hours Prime95 small FFTs + 3DMark06 infinite loop at 3.6Ghz on the quad. Temps are not where I would like them to be (63-69C depending on fan speed) but I don't think it's going to melt, either. Unfortunately the temps aren't the worst of it -- I had to set vCore to 1.6v in the BIOS to get stable. I may be able to back that down a notch or two, but not much. However, even at 1.6 after vdroop on this board under load that's ~1.49 -- yes, I'm losing more than 0.1v to vdroop, if CPU-Z is to be believed.

Nvidia boards cannot read the VID of my chip properly! At stock with speedstep on loaded with Prime95 small FFTs so it's running full speed at 2.4Ghz it reads as 1.18. At stock with speedstep and C1E and all that disabled loaded with small FFTs it read 1.24. With /any/ OC, from 2.5 to 3.6Ghz it will read 1.3 regardless of vCore setting in the BIOS or if it is loaded or unloaded. This is all going by CoreTemp's VID reading. I suspect this may be the source of much of my difficulty when OCing this thing.

Also, I got a chance to run it on a friend's DFI LanParty Dark P35-TR2S and got it to 3.8Ghz with relative ease -- vCore to +0.3, a couple notches of bump on the northbridge and elsewhere, and we were golden, probably could've gone higher. Yet to get stable on /any/ nForce board above 3.6Ghz, so I know it's the platform rather than the chip (and I shouldn't need so much vCore -- WTF!). SLI, you are such a pain in the ass, I swear... Granted, watching 3DMark loop at 1920x1200 with 8x AA and 16x AF, barely ever dropping below 30FPS despite Prime95 small FFTs running in the background is pretty cool... and that's before I OC the GTXs at all, since they're still on stock cooling. :D
 
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