Nvidia 680i sli and q6600 question

[UnderT@keR]

Hello my first post here. ive been overclocking for a long time mostly on common knowledge but then again i always used amd chips. i have recently moved to the intel quad core series. and while fast id like to jack my 2.4 upto 3.0 now while have done this by upping the fsb and voltage. IT becomes unstable while loading into windows vista. and inevitably reboots itself to try again . i have had it upto 2.9 stable and it seemed to work fine during the 3dmark benchmark. i left the desk for a half hour while it compressed a rather large file and when i came back it had blue screened on me. my question is this. temps are not a problem for me my entire system runs on thermaltake water lines custom built. not to mention i keep my pc room border line freezing. it has to do maybe with the memory and fsb. heres what i did maybe someone with prior knowledge can help me out.

Upped the core voltage to 1.40 from 1.28 (auto setting), jacked up the fsb speed to hit 3.0 unlinked with my ram which i maintain at 800 mhz (1 x patriot 2 gig stick). so basically 336x9 upped the fsb voltage to 1.4 . and didn't tinker with the memory settings due to lack of knowledge on my part. anyone have any luck with this one? my friend has his e6750 up to 3.4 ghz stable with a frekin air blowing fan!! makes me sick to say the least. help? thanks in advance guys and great forums.

specs are as follows

680i SLi motherboard with dual 7950 gts overclocked (factory oc)
q6600 @ 2.4
patriot 2 gigabyte ram moule 800 mhz
Thermaltake BigWater cooling system custom design
and the rest blah blah blah.

[toddm27]

which 680i board is it, the revised version or original? if original it may be fsb wall and what rev q6600? go or b3

[JamesXP]

His fan is probably better than your 'water cooling'


Is it the T1/A1 or the the TR series Board?


And Try upping NB voltage.

[treatmentx]

i'm on 3.8ghz Q6600 at 1.5v so it's more than feasible to achieve your desired speed and i hit 3.6ghz at 1.4v.

The biggest issue is, what motherboard are you using, you just said 680i SLI. The EVGA 680i performs better with quads. And CPU temps?

Also northbridge voltage and temps.

I could try to help you more after that info.

But if your temps are in check, try upping and cooling your NB. The quads are a bit tougher to clock on a 680i board (but not too hard if you know what you're doing)

[UnderT@keR]

its the evga 680i sli TR series board cpu under heavy load maxes at 60 c idles at 34 c like i said temps not an issue for me. ill try tinkering with the nb setting. any recommendations on that? nb has the built in heat pipe and fan blowing. etc. nice board but a little new to me. thanks for the help

[JamesXP]

Right.

RMA your board to eVGA and ask for a a1 revision board.

[UnderT@keR]

its the 680i SE edition. i just looked at the box the area that says quad core overclocking is unchecked. does that mean it doesnt support quad overclocking? this is a new board from newegg.com.. is tha a1 series better? do you think they would even do that if i RMA it?

[UnderT@keR]

His fan is probably better than your 'water cooling'




not to brag but i will anyway :P

http://unrealwarriors.net/images/pc1.jpg
http://unrealwarriors.net/images/pc2.jpg
http://unrealwarriors.net/images/pc3.jpg
http://unrealwarriors.net/images/pc4.jpg

[EchoTheDolphin]

its the 680i SE edition. i just looked at the box the area that says quad core overclocking is unchecked. does that mean it doesnt support quad overclocking? this is a new board from newegg.com.. is tha a1 series better? do you think they would even do that if i RMA it?

See if you can still return it to Newegg and get a board that supports Quad overclocking.

[GTengineer]

not to brag but i will anyway :P

http://unrealwarriors.net/images/pc1.jpg
http://unrealwarriors.net/images/pc2.jpg
http://unrealwarriors.net/images/pc3.jpg
http://unrealwarriors.net/images/pc4.jpg

Lots of piping does not make it a good water cooling system, you are cooling what looks like two GPUs, a quad core cpu, and something else up there on a single loop with a water block which I do not even recognize and what appears to be a 1x120mm fan radiator? If what I can see is correct you got a recipe for mediocre cooling at best. And yes an air cooling solution could easily outperform it because you are putting so much heat into the loop. Not to mention that your friend's 6750 puts out less heat than your Q6600.

Just for comparison, I have one loop with my Q6600 (3.8GHz) alone and a triple radiator with 6 fans.

[UnderT@keR]

triple radiator eh? got any pics handy? i feel my radiator could definitely perform better. upper portion is the reservoir. i split the lines basically so heat doesnt accumulate throughout the loop from part 1 to 2 and three having to suffer the hottest heat in the line. splitting the line has made it all work more efficiently but yes there is the more heat issue. need a bigger radiator. any suggestions would be appreciated. im curious to this triple radiator.

[GTengineer]

triple radiator eh? got any pics handy? i feel my radiator could definitely perform better. upper portion is the reservoir. i split the lines basically so heat doesnt accumulate throughout the loop from part 1 to 2 and three having to suffer the hottest heat in the line. splitting the line has made it all work more efficiently but yes there is the more heat issue. need a bigger radiator. any suggestions would be appreciated. im curious to this triple radiator.

MCR320 radiator, I have 3 fans blowing and 3 pulling
http://www.jab-tech.com/Swiftech-MCR320-QP-K-Triple-120mm-Radiator-pr-3320.html

what water block are you using? And is this a G0 or B3 stepping Q6600?

your stability problem probably is not related to cooling (yet) since you are not pushing it so much. But I suspect it will become a problem later on. Especially if you have a B3.

[UnderT@keR]

i like that radiator . think ill get me one and mount it to my window ac unit. hmm the water block is the one that came with my bigwater se kit
http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Liguid/Upgrade/cl-w0010/cl-w0010.asp

as for the cpu it is a B3 stepping core. is that bad? should i have looked more into this beforehand?

[GTengineer]

The G0 are rated 95W and the B3 is rated 105W. The G0 tend to run cooler and in general overclock better. Newer B3 have been overclocking well too but it is safer to go with a G0. If you have a recent pack date on the box, it may be a good overclocker. If it is an old B3 then around 3.0GH-3.2GHz is about the max before heat starts becoming a big problem.

[UnderT@keR]

yea tell me what you think of this. i turned up my voltage to 1.5 and my fsb volts to 1.5, amped up the mpp sp bridge a little too and when i ran 3d benchmarks my system kicked off. you think a 500 watt psu is sufficient for what i have running? i have an 800 on the way already but im curious to what anyone else might think.

[toddm27]

I'd say 500 watts is a bit shy with a quad and sli, the quad alone will pull at least 200 watts by itself overclocked if not more

[treatmentx]

It's your motherboard. AR/TR has difficult clockin A1/T1. Contact newegg, then contact EVGA.

[treatmentx]

I was lazy to read this yesterday, but now that I read it a bit more, just to add... more tubing is actually a bad thing. Longer path. Rather not explain it, that's for the watercooling section.

[JustChill]

wow where to start.

You have way to many heat sources on that loop for the rad you have.

You are running to much voltage to your Q6600 for the cooling solution you have.

It sounds like you have not tested your memory for errors (use memtest86) its free.

The motherboard you are using 680i TR is all wrong for the quad. They are known to have problems clocking the quad chips. You need to get a A1/T1 revision.

You need better cooling. At least a bigger rad and I also seggest a better CPU block.

You need a bigger PSU for the equipment you trying to run.

Here is a picture of my setup. It has two water loops. One cools the Q6600, the other cools the NB and SB on the motherboard along with my 8800 Ultra. If I ran a SLI setup I would have a tripple 120mm rad on the bottom also. I also have a scree shot in there of my temps and som of the clocks I am running. Keep in mind though I have a G0 stepping CPU and my MB is a T1. My point is you need more cooling

http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/7984/img1101sf5.jpg

http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/4636/img1116cropgw8.jpg

My Lapped D-Teck Fusion CPU block

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/1930/img0965rx1.jpg

Tis is a screeny on idle. temps are in the upper right corner. Along with the correct vcore.

http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/3305/screenyidleyl5.jpg

and load temps

http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/3759/screenyloadbm7.jpg

[UnderT@keR]

nice setup . i took the advice of a few people here. ordered a new pump. the thermaltake p500 high pressure pump. a double radiator to add onto my existing single along with 5 120 mm fans to add here n there. and im debating wether or not to seriously mount it over a window ac unit to make it nice and chill :P thanks for all the advice gents. since coming here i ran more and more disgnostics and found that indeed it is highly inadequate. for now it will do at stock speeds. i also RMAd this board for an A1 its a 70 dollar difference but i suppose its worth it. i have a question. for an lga 775 cpu whats a good waterblock to use that is compatible with 3/8" tubing? thanks again for the insight. im new to all of this.

[UnderT@keR]

wait. so should i split the loops up for my sli and for my q6600? and what would be the best way to do this? two pumps one for each completely separate the lines ? both with their own radiators? do you guys think that will do the trick? btw i looked more at those pics that is a beautiful rig you have my friend wow. thats what i call a pro watercooling system. very impressive indeed.

[UnderT@keR]

and one more question. what do you think of using premixed antifreeze solution in your lines? advisable or ill advised?

[Spawn-Inc]

i would/ will (once i go for w/c) get a Swiftech Apogee GTX (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=199&products_id=21389). oh and i would take out the flow meter, it add unneeded restriction. as for additives i'm going to use 1 bottle of this (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1955) and the rest distilled water. both the block and water additive are ranked first on performance pcs.

since you already have the one pump and are getting a second i would put the old pump on the cpu and the new on the rest of the stuff.

[MRD]

You guys are all slackers. Any real overclocker uses liquid nitrogen.

and one more question. what do you think of using premixed antifreeze solution in your lines? advisable or ill advised?

For what reason? I doubt your computer is going to freeze, and I don't think antifreeze absorbs heat better than water does, at least not appreciably.

Lots of people in the south don't even use antifreeze in their cars, they just use water, because there is no danger of freezing and the water works fine.

[GTengineer]

You guys are all slackers. Any real overclocker uses liquid nitrogen.



For what reason? I doubt your computer is going to freeze, and I don't think antifreeze absorbs heat better than water does, at least not appreciably.

Lots of people in the south don't even use antifreeze in their cars, they just use water, because there is no danger of freezing and the water works fine.

I think people use it because they think it stops algae growth. But I agree I NEVER use that crap on my WC system, and it does not perform as well as 100% water. Pure distilled water for me only thank you :)

[MRD]

I'd imagine there are better solutions than antifreeze to control algae. It doesn't take much to do that.

I don't know that much about water cooling, but I'd think if algae were an issue, a small amount of algicide and or bromine/chlorine would do the job. I'm not sure though really, you should ask someone who really knows more about water cooling or talk to the manufacturer if you are getting algae issues.

Antifreeze is also very, very toxic. If it leaks at all, and you have a pet, they will often lick it up because it's sweet, which leads to complete, irreversible kidney failure, and death.

[UnderT@keR]

Actually even antifreeze will not control algae growth as i found out from personal experience. so you use distilled water? do i need to add algae growth additives to it? i thought that would evaporate over time. and the solution thermaltake sent with the package was propelyne glycol which in essence is just antifreeze. maybe ill try the distilled water. aughta be fun flushing out my lines :D just got my new bfg power supply in as well. what a deal too 70 bucks for this brand new off ebay. it retails for 220 in best buy . i can see why . my current power supply now looks very pale in comparison.

[MRD]

Well, there is a big difference between the two. Ethylene glycol (regular antifreeze) is HIGHLY toxic as it is metabolized to oxalic acid in the body which blocks up the kidneys. Propylene glycol is metabolized to lactic acid, which occurs in the body naturally anyways, and so it is not toxic in reasonable amounts. It is used in lots of cosmetics, in toothpaste, as a food additive sometimes, etc. I would not go drinking it, especially industrial grade, but propylene glycol is MUCH less dangerous than ethylene glycol.

[JamesXP]

I'd really try to cancel your orders(p500+radiator)


Thermaltake parts are not upto par especially watercooling parts.


I'd get:

D5
MCR2/320

[UnderT@keR]

you know what. i just double checked my thermaltake kit. sure enough its ethelyne glycol not propelyne, (dont even know where i got that from) has all warnings on the bottle as well. toxic keep away from children do not drink blah blah. heh bit late on the pump and radiator but the radiator is the blackice brand not thermaltake. blackice gt stealth model gonna mount it up on the rear side of my chassis with a bunch of fans on it. separate my lines for cpu and graphics cards. use one pump for each as was suggested. ill let you guys know how it turns out.

[treatmentx]

ok i feel like i should chime in about now

Anti-freeze it isn't that people are afraid of it freezing, that would be the day lol. They are increasing the surface tension, which increases the transfer of heat as it passes through the rad. The bonus effect is that ethlyene glycol has some toxic effects (it damages glomerular structures in your kidneys), and has a heightened effect in young children because A) ethlyene glycol is sweet and tastes like candy so kids have more affinity and B) their kidneys are not as developed as adults. So it is toxic to SOME bacterial/protozoan that has a kidney-like apparatus, but because there are also other life (plant or bacterial) that doesn't have kidney-like organs/organelles, you will still need to use some other kind of growth control. It's commonly thought that you don't need any kind of bug killer, because it is a closed system. However, like anything in life, nothing is perfect and there are still areas in the closed system that will have some air-contact, and eventual, 1 week, 10 years, sometime in between, it will eventually grow something so why not have a little biocide which would take care of it anyways. (and i just re-read some posts and found out someone already clarified it, but thought I'd reiterate)

So the purpose is to heighten the heat transfer and viscosity changes. Basically. Algaecide and iodine are popular with watercooling crowd. I use a pinch of both.

Loop wise, of course two loops is better than 1 loop, but it's more trouble and much more expensive for the marginal improvement. Triple rad would be more than adequate given the right ambient. The SLI cards, people have approached it differently, most people do it serially, from one card to the next, instead of doing a Y connector, there was conjecture that the negative pressure reduces flow so people opt out of the Y. I haven't done a Y loop so I can't tell you for sure, but that's what I've read.

Rad placement is important, but the shorter the loop the better.

[MRD]

I like the iodine idea. That will kill off stuff in small quantities and isn't so toxic to people/kids/pets.

I don't know why ethylene glycol is toxic to microbes, but they don't have anything kidney-like. =P

[UnderT@keR]

just wanted to thank you guys for the help and advice. especially justchill with that sweet setup, gave me some good ideas on what to do. and so i spent the better part of the weekend upto today and finally got something nice going. also took your advice to use distilled water instead of antifreeze. it flows sooo much better kudos. anyway heres some pics of the new setup. you may notice a slight difference from my earlier pictures. not running sli mode anymore. due to my stupidity i inadvertantly fried one of my gpus this past weekend. :( dunno how the hell it happened but it happened during this overhaul. oh well. circuit citys loss not mine :D refunds for defective equipment are a godsend. anyways here they are. im just gonna replace the card i have with an 8800 probably or somethign better when the 9 series is released. til then im content with a 7950

http://unrealwarriors.net/images/newrig1.jpg
http://unrealwarriors.net/images/newrig2.jpg
http://unrealwarriors.net/images/newrig3.jpg
http://unrealwarriors.net/images/newrig4.jpg