**EDIT** Updated Temperatures after a raft of changes to my system
My original thread got buried, so I thought I'd just post my results here.
System Specs:
Hardware
PentiumD 805
Thermaltake Big Typhoon with SilverStone FM 121 Fan, AS5
Asus P5WD2 Motherboard
HiperPower 580Watt Original
2x 1GB Corsair VS DD2-533
Asus Geforce 6600
Maxtor SATA 160GB HD
Thermaltake Soprano Case, Dual 120mm Fan Intake/Exhaust
Overclocking Results: STABLE
CPU: 2.66Ghz to 3.6Ghz (180FSBx20)
FSB: 180Mhzx 4 = 720Mhz
Memory: (4x180) DDR2-720 Cas 4-4-4-12 (1:2 Divider) (!)
Voltages:
Vcore: 1.35
VDimm: 2.1
MCH: 1.4
ICH: 1.05
Temperatures:
Idle: CPU - 41C MB/Case - 28C
Load: CPU - 65C MB/Case - 36C
Benchmarks:
Non Overclocked - 2.6Ghz/ DDR2-400
SuperPi: 49 Seconds
Aquamark CPU: 7,720
Overclocked - 3.6Ghz / DDR2-720
SuperPi: 35 Seconds
Aquamark CPU: 11,200
Thoughts
I'm really happy with this now. Its run rock solid stable, temperatures are stable at full dual core load with throttling, and I've managed to increase DDR Memory speed significantly. I was very surprised with how far I was able to push it! So far I managed to sync the speed with the FSB!
Issues
I believe the temperature readouts from PC Probe are incorrect by an order of 10 degress. Part of the problem is to do with the Stack Cool techhnology on these boards - I may be getting some 'bounce back' heat from the bracket that is holding the BigT to the underside of the board and causing a bit of a hotspot nightmare.
I believe there is some kind of Heat issue with the board though - it is a fanless design and the Stack Cool technology doesn't work IMHO.
Annoyances
Forgetting to set the jumper on an IDE WD HD. Set it to Master with Slave, but no additional drive on the cable caused the ITE Controller to scan the IDE bus for around 45 seconds on boot up before finding the drive. Not only that, Windows paused for 30 seconds before resuming its boot up.
I found the problem after a few days, but decided to junk the old ATA100 drive in favour of a SATA drive anyway
Future Overclocking / Upgrades
I'd firstly like to get a full set of SilverStone fans - the 111CFM really is fantastic, and the noise isn't too bad. I'd like to get one especially for the exhaust, as I'm hoping this will help temper off the CPU temps by getting rid of the hot air faster. That being said, the air coming out of the back of the case isn't that Hot anyway!
I know the chip can be pushed Higher, a lot higher - I can post at 4.0 Ghz and I had a tremendous fight with getting it stable at 3.8 while maintaining control of the temperatures. I was beaten in the end as the temperatures were high enough to start causing throttling while I was upping the Vcore to get it stable. The one thing I did not want was a CPU throttling on me, I'd rather have a slightly lower clock and better temps/ no throttling.
Unless I pull off the 'Weird Mod thought' below and its has a positive impact on my temperatures, I won't be going any further without Watercooling - and a decent budget to do it at that.
System Performance & Price
Awesome. Pure Awesome. The Dual core really is a great help to me maintaining work load while using Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Lightwave and a variety of smaller apps while having no slowdown, no annoying pauses - nothing! Its really fast too in CPU intensive, Photoshop filters take a few seconds now.
Truly is a great 'Bang for the Buck' system
Latest Update
At the weekend, I made several changes to the system to try and improve the heat dissapation on the CPU, as 70C was just too much.
Changes I've made to the system.
Rebuilt the motherbaord:
- removed the NB & SB heatsinks, cleaned up the paste and applied AS5.
- removed the Thermaltake Big Typhoon, reseated the CPU, reapplied AS5 and made sure every nut was evenly screwed down, and that it was tight against the CPU. Found a holding nut that was 1mm away from the board.
Modded the Case:
- Removed the grill in front of the intake fan, removed the plastic guard infront of the intake fan dust guard.
- Removed the dust guard from the Exhaust Fan.
- Strapped a 120mm fan to the inside of the case - pushing air across the motherboard from the intake fan across the NB, the BigT HS and the VR heatsink.
Cabling:
- Performed a major tidy up of the Cabling, NOTHING is in the way of my air flow.
This has all resulted in some temperature come down - a good 5C off both CPU & Mobo LOAD temps, which is great!
Sorry for the long post, hope it was insightful though
Arthalen
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