Oops!

Well, I've got it working - sort of.

To start with, the machine refused to boot when I started it. All the fans would come on but it would just hang there and not post - it just did nothing. I tried all sorts of things; reset cmos, took the battery out etc several times. Then I had a look around and it looked like the backplate was contacting a couple of connectors on the back of the MB so I took it off and re-fitted the block and, hey presto, life.

Of course, I'd reset the bios so I had to start from scratch. This board is a bugger to OC and it took me ages to get anywhere with it. I partially blame my choice of drink for the difficulties I had. Instead of the traditional whisky, I fuelled myself with 3/4 of a bottle of Booth's gin :p

At the moment, she's Folding away at 4.2GHz but that's with the fans on full tilt (those Triebwerks are quite loud at full speed) and the temps are not good - 86-80-81-75. Vcore is only just over 1.4V and I'm not happy that it's 100% stable at that. The fact that the overall temperature is so high with a relatively low Vcore and there is an 11 degree difference between two of the cores would suggest the block isn't seated properly. I think I'll take the block off, reapply TIM and reseat and see if that makes any difference. I'm pretty sure the flow is OK because, when I put the dye in, it went all the way around the loop in a matter of seconds - wish I'd bought a flow indicator now so I could be sure.

I'm not sure about this CPU, it was running hot before as well. When it was at 3.8GHz under the Noctua, it was over 80 degrees at 1.376V. The new rig, under the same Noctua, runs at 4.2GHz with a Vcore of 1.4V and rarely hits 80 degrees. I have a sneaky suspicion this may just be a hot chip. If reseating it doesn't make any difference, I may swap the two CPUs and see if that makes a difference.

Might be the board that's at fault. In which case I might end up swapping the Gigabyte board into the gaming rig instead of the Bloodrage. I want to have the fastest, most stable setup as my gaming rig. Swapping the boards would ruin my red/black colour scheme but I value performance over aesthetics. I'm not going to mess around with it just now - I have a hangover (bloody gin) :p The current WU is due to complete in about 4 hours so I'll let it finish that and then faff about with it.
 
so are you using the block without a backplate or
have you added some plastic washers behind the board to give more clearance or
have you 'trimed' the excess from the components.

Backplates can make a real differance (air and water)
and 11c is way to much on water at load.
sounds like uneven pressure or an air bubble.
If you have the thumb nuts at the front you could try adjusting them while watching the temps.
my guess is one is overtighten.

when you first setup a loop it's very easy to overtighen one side more that the others.
One reason the swiftech mounting hardware is so good - is it stops this happening
 
so are you using the block without a backplate or
have you added some plastic washers behind the board to give more clearance or
have you 'trimed' the excess from the components.

Backplates can make a real differance (air and water)
and 11c is way to much on water at load.
sounds like uneven pressure or an air bubble.
If you have the thumb nuts at the front you could try adjusting them while watching the temps.
my guess is one is overtighten.

when you first setup a loop it's very easy to overtighen one side more that the others.
One reason the swiftech mounting hardware is so good - is it stops this happening

Running without the backplate at the moment but I've looked out some rubber washers to use as spacers. I'll fit the backplate I bought to use with the Yellowstone as it seems more substantial than the one which came with the Delta V3. I've tried fiddling with the thumbscrews but the RAM is kinda in the way. I'll try my best to get them all even when I refit it. I'll also fire up the loop while I've got the block off and give it a bit of a tap in case there's an airlock.

Any other advice gratefully received - thanks for the help so far :)
 
The v3 doesn't really get airlocks but still worth giveing it a shake :D

I thought that myself - it looks like it would be difficult for air to get trapped in there but, while I've got it off, I may as well give it a shake/tap.

Now that things are more or less how they will be running while I'm home (while I'm away at work, the gaming rig will be running bigadv instead of SMP2 so should be worth an extra 10k ppd), here's a gratuitous "look at my output" screenshot :D

HFM.JPG
 
Update.

Took it all apart and found the problem. I've managed to score the heatsink of the CPU - quite badly and the block slightly. I've sorted it the best I can and applied twice as much TIM as I usually would. I've installed the backplate and put it all together and the temps dropped about 8 degrees. Going to have a look for a lapping kit to sort it properly.

In the meantime, I've dropped the OC - I can actually get 4GHz (191x21) on stock volts (1.29375V) :D this brings the temps right down so I can drop the fans down to the lowest setting on the fan controller. This will save me from becoming deaf in one ear ;) Running Prime on all eight cores gives me a max temp of 72 degrees with the fans on low.

Can't compare the Folding temps for now as it's picked up an A2 WU - dropping my ppd by about 15k :mad:
 
The difference between the A3 and the A1s and 2s is amazing. I was sat in my room earlier and thought it seemed cooler than normal. Checked my folding client and I had bagged an A1, temps were around 65C - normally 75+ when on an A3!

Bad luck with the waterblock Stan, how did you manage to score it? :eek:

You're not having a great deal of luck with this watercooling malarky are you? Hope mine goes smoother when I finally do it. Provisionally looking at April or May, just in time for the hot weather! :)
 
Dam that's a high PPD :cool:

Stan what rad are you using? I get a max temp of around 72C when folding on an A3 and around a max of 75C under IBT/LinX with 1.375vcore @ 4.2Ghz. (With a HK 3.0 and a PA120.3)
 
Dam that's a high PPD :cool:

Stan what rad are you using? I get a max temp of around 72C when folding on an A3 and around a max of 75C under IBT/LinX with 1.375vcore @ 4.2Ghz. (With a HK 3.0 and a PA120.3)

I'm using a Black Ice GT Stealth 360. In order to get 4.2GHz stable with my board, I need over 1.4V - which gives me about 84C Prime95. Hopefully when I get the CPU lapped to remove the scratch, the temps will drop a bit.
 
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