pimped air cooled p820D ...

[ this from another thread on this same website; since this is my first overclocking project and since this site gave me such killer feedback, i thought i'd post some pics ]

right on .

i'll download the clock utility and run it again overnight ...

the motherboard temps were sort of bugging me so i added a couple fans ... i've been running dual prime95 for about 2 hours and my motherboard temps haven't broke 37 ... a big improvement over the previous 45+ temps.

i got this cool zalman arm mounted fan that locks on to the cases internal card screw attachments (where the pci cards/etc. screw down ... i've got it pointed right over my 7900gt and the northbridge chipset ... has dramatically cooled the mb and video card. also put in a blower type card that takes up two case/pci slots and sucks hot air out of the case.

here's the two pieces i added:

the antec blower:
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=77194#

the arm mounted zalman:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=872879&Sku=Z20-3052

as well as cooling the northbridge down to 37 from around 46 at load, i've also got the 7900GT card up from defaults of 500/750 to 564/852 (core/memory). the fan hits both northbridge and pci-e card at same time. a pretty good 10 dollar upgrade.

since i'm so stoked on my findings thus far and especially the new thermaltake case i bought, i'm posting several (low quality) images of my machine:

here's a generic front shot:





the side fan:





fan specifics:





more info on thermaltakes case, here:

Armor VA800BWS

pretty nice on the temps at this point and post some throttling checks, i'm going to consider it a regular work machine; mostly used for video compositing, web interface jobs and the occasional game (never time!).

Stilletto said:

Not dangerous to the cpu, as you can't burn it up due to heat because it will throttle. But I would download Rightmark Clock utility to detect throttling...it's nice to be fast but throtling will just slow the cpu down.

Click to expand...

Nice case

I like that 25CM fan I wonder if the case would vibrate much if you got it to 3000 rpm

i think the max rmp's of the fan are pretty low ... that's why i had to add the arm mounted zalman over the northbridge and vid card (it HUMS!) ...

do you know of a way i could speed up the side 25cm fan? right now it's totally silent and only outputting a very light (but still noticeable) breeze ...

anyway to make it go double speed?

.joel.

pscout said:

Nice case

I like that 25CM fan I wonder if the case would vibrate much if you got it to 3000 rpm

Click to expand...

leojharris said:

anyway to make it go double speed?

Click to expand...

No and it's not a good idea to try, considering that it's blades are very long and probably wouldn't be able to structurally survive a higher speed. If it has a thermistor that you can hotwire then you will be able to default it to it's top speed, but getting beyond the top speed of a fan introduces the potential for material failure.

37C(98F) and 45C(114F) are by not means abnormally "hot" for a northbridge so there's really no reason to add anymore airflow than you already have. If you want lower temps add more effective surface area for the airflow to pass over. I.E. get a more efficient heatsink for your Northbridge or Video Card.

sound advice ... and, considering how happy i am with my current setup ... i'll follow it ...

(so far, the machine is rocking)

peace.
jbh.

Captain Slug said:

No and it's not a good idea to try, considering that it's blades are very long and probably wouldn't be able to structurally survive a higher speed. If it has a thermistor that you can hotwire then you will be able to default it to it's top speed, but getting beyond the top speed of a fan introduces the potential for material failure.

37C(98F) and 45C(114F) are by not means abnormally "hot" for a northbridge so there's really no reason to add anymore airflow than you already have. If you want lower temps add more effective surface area for the airflow to pass over. I.E. get a more efficient heatsink for your Northbridge or Video Card.

Click to expand...