FEAR test, v2.0: No difference!

Now that I have a big honkin' dual core, ddr2, 680i uber-rig, I thought I'd redo the FEAR test I did a while back. If you recall, I basically equaled or beat the scores of vastly superior systems with my "humble" ddr, single core, AMD rig.

So, what difference does a 3.15ghz Core 2 Duo, DDR2 800 at 4-4-4-12-1T, cutting-edge motherboard system make in FEAR? The answer: zero. And I don't mean zero as in, "practically zero". I mean literally zero.

Previously, at max settings, 4xAA + 16xAF, I averaged 101 frames per second. This time, I averaged... 101 frames per second. Bumping it up to 8xAA, I had averaged 88 frames per second. This time, I averaged... are you ready?... 88 frames per second. So at least in FEAR, all the whiz-bang technology makes literally zero difference. The bottleneck continues to be the graphics card, plain and simple.

There is one small caveat, which is that I have yet to install my Creative Soundblaster card. However, last time, disabling the sound card yielded no change in the frame rate.

So, is a whiz-bang, cutting edge system a waste of cash? No. I can definitely see the difference of a dual-core processor in multitasking. Additionally, FEAR is not a threaded game, so there is not likely to be a difference with dual-cores anyway. Not to mention that FEAR's in-game test does not run any AI algorithms, which would certainly benefit from the added CPU power. But my little test at least goes to show that you do not have to spend a ton of cash to get a fantastic gaming experience.

Overclocking update

Standing at 3.15ghz with total stability after a good run of Prime95. That's a FSB of 450mhz. I may try to push it to 500mhz soon, even before I get the fan controller. Right now temperatures are still good with the Noctua fans. Not exactly "cool" per se, but at full tilt it's hitting about 56° in the nVidia system monitor, and 50° in Core Temp. It's idling around 40° and 34° in those programs, respectively. Voltages are at 1.45 CPU, 1.5 FSB, all other voltages auto. In my experience, the voltage increase is responsible for most of the heat increase. So, I suspect that even if I hit 500 FSB, I won't see a huge temperature increase. Of course, ultimately I'd like to break 500mhz, but we'll see. I will likely need the benefit of the Panaflo fans.

I just couldn't be happier with this board. It has a reset switch on there, but I haven't had to use it. When I over-overclocked (pushed the clocks too hard without raising voltage enough), the board just booted into its own "safe mode" and I was able to go right back into the BIOS and make adjustments. Big thumbs up for this motherboard.

Oh, and one last thing. After some research and much though, I've decided to re-do the loop for the water cooling system. While the loop I have is good, I feel that it is too long. I'm going to be shortening the loop significantly, which should give me better temperatures.

Overclocking begins without a hitch

I just received the Panaflo fans last night, but on installation they were way too loud. Funny... these were the "medium" level. But 86 CFM per fan is still a lot of air (one of them is more than double one of my Noctua fans). So, I've ordered a fan controller, and in the meantime I'm sticking with the Noctuas. The Noctuas are remarkably quiet, and I really like them. They're clearly unique, well-designed fans. But I'm concerned that they just don't move enough air. With the included resistor, they are literally inaudible; without it, they're still very, very quiet. If I could find a high-speed Noctua, I'd be a happy camper. Unfortunately, the 1200rpm model I have is the fastest 120mm fan they make. The big issue will be finding that sweet spot of optimal performance and quietness.

So far, I'm having zero problems overclocking the 680i board – a total contrast with the problematic 650i. I hit 400mhz FSB and a 2.8ghz CPU clock with no effort at all. That's a full 1ghz overclock of the chip! When I first got into high-end PCs last year, all the boutiques were using AMD chips. Overclocking usually meant a 200mhz or so overclock, if you were lucky. But a full gigahertz with no effort at all? Wow. Man, there's just no arguing the value of these budget Core 2 Duos.

Finally! Up and running!

Wow, what an ordeal it's been. I replaced my crappy 650i board with an EVGA 680i T1 board, and it's positively fantastic. I also ditched the not-so-hot OCZ RAM and got some Corsair XMS DDR2 800, which happened to have a $50 rebate with it. Woohoo!

Anyway, the new board is installed and running well. I'm replacing my quiet Noctua fans with more robust Panaflo fans. I do like the virtual silence of the Noctuas, but they just don't move nearly enough air for this system. My new Panaflo fans will triple the airflow through the case. Once I have them, I'll start overclocking the new board.

I also noticed that the small, optional Northbridge fan that is included with this board is ridiculously loud. I'll probably replace slap a resistor on there if I decide it's useful.

Otherwise everything is going great. EVGA's BIOS are leagues better than ASUS's and I'm looking forward to some great overclocks. Full blog with building deets coming soon.

Fuck and shit

I've been meaning to do more of an update, but here's the latest scoop: I'd finished the rig and was looking forward to some ass-kickin' performance. But as soon as I got into overclocking, major problems started cropping up. Long story short I have a dud motherboard. I'm RMAing the board and the memory, which had trouble performing at the rating specs and wouldn't budge past them.

I'm switching to an EVGA T1 680i board with some Corsair DDR2 800 RAM that has EPP. If there is one thing that is a massive pain in the ass, it's changing out motherboards from a liquid-cooled PC.

Incidentally the PC runs fine at stock settings. It's extremely quiet, and when I put resistors on the Noctua fans, I could barely tell the thing was on.

It is evident, though, that liquid cooling an 8800 card drops a lot of heat in the loop, and the processor is warmer because of it. It's actually around the same temp as my 4000+ was. Shouldn't hurt overclocking, as even with high voltages it didn't get too hot. But overclocking has been very limited on this board, which is a huge disappointment. I bought it solely for overclocking.

State of the new rig

Everything's coming along well. The fittings for the radiator were the wrong kind, so Danger Den has sent me new ones which should be arriving shortly. I've also ordered a Swiftech kit for cooling the 8800GTS. I hope to have the card a bit more stable, and possibly increase the clock speed a bit. I've decided, for now at least, against water cooling the Northbridge. Even though the block is fairly inexpensive, I have two fans blowing air directly over the heatpipes on the board. So I don't think cooling will be too much of a problem.

I found an elegant and ridiculously simple solution to the mounting of the radiator; four L-brackets did the trick. Other solutions I've heard about, like putting screws through the top of the chassis, are needlessly complicated.

The case is now fully wired and ready to go. I'm simply waiting on the rest of the cooling system so I can finish assembly and get rollin'. I expect to finish this coming week, and when I do I will do a big blog detailing the whole process, with lots and lots of pics.

So it begins....

I've received most of the parts for the new PC – everything but the motherboard, processor and memory. I've been spending some time installing components, working out wiring ideas, etc. So far at least, the wiring looks nice and clean – but it's not gonna be easy!

The TJ09 chassis is a sight to behold. I positively love it. The attention to detail on this case is just amazing. Everything from the design to the functionality to the flexibility to the aesthetics is just outstanding. As soon as I saw that black brushed aluminum, I knew I didn't want to have it painted.

There are some challenges with the case. I have a dual 120mm radiator, but there is a gap between the top fan brackets; plus, they're only secured with a plastic clip – not ideal for suspending a radiator. I knew about this, but had seen someone mod mount the fans direct to the mesh on the top of the case. However I quickly discovered that they must have drilled it anyway, because the holes in the mesh are far to small to fit any screws through. It looks like the solution is actually quite simple: I've removed the fan brackets (one thing I really like about this case – pretty much everything is removeable), and I'm just going to use some L-brackets to secure the radiator to the top.

So I've got to swing by Home Depot today, but otherwise everything is looking fantastic. I figured out a ridiculously good location for the pump, and I've got a spot picked out for the reservoir, too. It's going to be a project, but it's going to rock.

Why water cooling?

Lamboman from the OPC forums dropped in and asked,

"littledoc, why WC? Do you need to be that quiet lol. There aren't many different results with WC and without."

There seems to be some controversy and confusion about the viability of water cooling as a solution. I thought I'd take a blog to explain why I'm going to be using water cooling and what advantages and disadvantages there are to it.

Water cooling is a high-end solution for noise reduction and overclocking. Contrary to what some folks might tell you, water cooling definitely makes a difference in performance. Any chip when overclocked will reach limits of stability as heat rises. Keeping the processor cool gives you a higher "ceiling" by which to push your components.

How much of a difference water cooling makes depends on your setup. There are a lot of inexpensive water kits that will make only a small to moderate difference over air. One test I saw for example used a low-end Gigabyte kit and got about a 300mhz difference in a Core 2 Duo over a high-end air cooler, which is quite good. A high-end end kit will of course provide even better performance.

Water cooling the chipset can give you a much higher FSB overclock, and water cooling the processor will give you a significantly higher processor clock, of course depending on the processor and the quality of the cooling. Graphics card overclocks usually aren't as significant with water cooling, but you can maintain stability at maximum tested clocks much more easily. For example, how many times have you passed the overclocking test in Rivatuner or Coolbits, only to find the card was unstable after an hour or two of gaming (i.e., after it heated up)? With water cooling, you can push the card to the max.

So, water cooling is not always the best "value per dollar" in terms of performance. Certainly in that regard a good air cooler will do the job. But if you want to push your system to the limit, water cooling is the only way to go. Water cooling is also the only solution that allows for optimal cooling of multiple system components. There are some great CPU coolers out there for example, like the hybrid TEC coolers. But you really want to push your processor? Liquid-cool the chipset as well!

Water cooling is also much quieter than air. A good water cooling system can be virtually silent. Now, water cooling does require fans, but unlike air cooling, it requires a very small amount of air flow. You don't need fans running at high speed to get maximum performance like you do with normal heatsink/fan devices. With a larger radiator, you can have multiple fans running at low speed and get top performance from multiple components while eliminating some of the noisiest fans in the system. What's more, most HSFs run at varying speed depending on the processor load. Not only are H20 fans quieter, but they run at a constant speed, which makes the noise much less intrusive. If you game with headphones, that's one thing. But once you hear, or rather don't hear a water-cooled PC, you'll never want to go back to air cooling.

New build coming soon!!!

After trying unsuccessfully for a while to sell my PC as a unit, I've decided to break it down and just sell the parts I don't want. I figured out that the end cost would be about the same, and that's assuming I could even sell my PC for a reasonable price, which has been pretty tough.

Anyway, I already have most of the parts accounted for – RAM, processor & motherboard. I just need to sell the case and cooling, which will be sold as a single unit. I actually really like it this way; I'll be keeping the parts I really like, such as my sound card, power supply and graphics card. The 8800GTS is nice to keep in particular because I really lucked out with one that overclocked exceptionally well, even beating a stock 8800GTX on one benchmark.

The new system will be a beauty. I'll be using a black Silverstone TJ09, which I am considering having painted by a local body shop artist depending on how much I like the brushed aluminum finish (which in pictures looks awesome). I'll be using an ASUS Commando Intel p965 motherboard, an E6400, and OCZ DDR2 900 RAM.

The system will be cooled with a totally customized liquid cooling system which will use mostly Swiftech components (the exception being the radiator), but different ones than I used previously. I'm going to start with the processor and possibly the chipset, then add liquid cooling for the 8000GTS down the road. I'm using Noctua fans, which have won a bazillion awards, and will eventually be adding AcoustiProducts' sound damping foam to the interior.

I'm really excited about the build, but I won't be doing any gaming for a bit. Tonight I'll be making backups of my Direct2Drive and Steam games (I purchase most of my games online), and preparing my work station for the new build. It's going to be an amazing system, and I'm pretty excited.

In the meantime, if you know anyone who wants a customized Lian-Li PC-6070 that's outfitted with a top-end Swiftech cooling system, let me know!