Adding Antec Kuhler 620 to my build

[Sabotage22]

Don't really have a specific question at this point, but I wanted to keep everyone posted on my progress so that I could get comments as I progress with my first build. I'll post pictures later tonight, and keep you updated as I add the last few mods. I am totally open to suggestions/comments/criticisms, particularly since this is my first custom build and I am just learning about overclocking.

Here's what I've got so far (see my sig for the details):
I've installed everything and have had my OS up and running for about 2 weeks now - the only cooling mod I've made thus far is adding another antec 120mm blue led fan to the side case port, which helps quite a bit since the ambient temperature in the room is pretty chilly (around 62f generally). I feel like I've done a decent job of cable management (again, I'll post pictures later today or tomorrow), I've tried to keep everything out of the way of airflow and I've sleeved wherever I can for aesthetics. I have 4 extensions on the way as well so that I can get the CPU power routed behind the motherboard tray instead of right in front of the case window, and because the 6+2pin PCIe connectors from my PSU are ugly and also right in front of the case window. That should help a lot with the look.

Here's the primary reason for the post: my CPU cannot handle ANY oc'ing with the stock cooler; when I run prime95 at stock speed, it shoots up immediately to about 62c on the cores (hwmonitor and the LED on the board both read the same) which as I understand it is the absolute top end for the Phenom II x6's. I tried to OC just 100mhz using the multiplier and can't even boot. My Ram is "OC'd" to 1600mhz, although that's what it's rated at. I looked at the timings and I think my board detected correctly.

That said, after some research I've ordered the Antec Kuhler 620 -- couple of reasons: 1) I'm trying to make the build look nice, thus all of the massive fan/heatsink combos really don't appeal to me. 2) I'm also not sure they'd fit in my case (the heatsink over the NB on this board is BIG, and there's not a lot of space between that and the rear of the case). And to be perfectly honest the brown fans on the Noctua turn me off a bit.

Here's the plan, and please feel free to comment: because the exhaust fan is already in place on the rear of the case, I'm planning on mounting the radiator directly to that one, and using the fan included with the Kuhler on the other side as an "intake" into the radiator, so I'll have a pusher and a puller. I may rearrange based on LED's and what looks nicer in the case, but I think with my hardware that's going to be my best option. Any thoughts on that?

I'll keep everyone updated as I install, and I'll show the results as I attempt to OC -- I'd love to get to at least 4ghz.

 

[stool]

Not going to get too elaborate, but its nice to see that you've actually planned your cooling out(case-wise). Its sometimes kind of a ***** that what you originally start with for cooling just isn't good enough, and then other measures are called for. Hope you get where you want to be.

 

[Sabotage22]

Quick Update - sorry no pictures yet; I've taken a few just haven't had time to post yet. I got cable extensions in the mail yesterday and got that part of the build taken care of -- I had to extend the CPU Power cable or there wouldn't have been room for the Kuhler. While I was at it I extended the PCIe and 24-pin motherboard power cables as well to make it look better (got individually sleeved Black/Blue cables - looks great with all the other black/blue in the case).

Kuhler is out for delivery today, so I should be able to do some OC'ing tonight and post results/pictures. I ran Prime95 this morning for about 6 minutes on the blended test, got to 65C pretty quick (surprised it didn't shut down, I've read that the 1100t doesn't like anything above 62). I got nervous and stopped the test after that. That's running completely stock speeds. Hope to see a major improvement tonight.

 

[Sabotage22]

Cooler came in the mail - I was able to install it in about 60 minutes during lunch today and even had time to boot up and run a quick benchmark test.

First off - I was able to install the fans the way I had hoped (using my existing Antec blue LED exhaust fan on the inside as a pusher, and the fan that came with the Kuhler as the new exhuast. The bottom of the assembly rests a bit close to my Graphics Card for my liking, but it's not touching. I'll keep an eye on temps as I do graphics intensive benchmarks tonight. The case looks fuller now than it did by far, which will take some getting used to but over all it's still very tidy.

Secondly - The install was fairly easy, although I wish I'd left the backplate that came with the Mobo instead of using the one that came with the Kuhler -- the one that came with my mobo was much sturdier feeling. By the time I figured out that the threads were the same I had already installed the Antec plastic backplate. That adhesive is STRONG so I decided not to risk tearing it off and dealing with the residual goop. I used advice from this forum and ran a quick Prime95 heat intensive test before I uninstalled the stock cooler, got it up as hot as I was comfy with for 3 - 5 minutes and then shut down the machine. The cooler slid around and came off easily, as did the thermal compound with a cloth and bit of goo gone (the heat made the arctic silver compound quite maleable). Everything else worked well - for anyone who hasn't installed this yet, DON'T TIGHTEN THE SCREWS TOO TIGHT ON THE FRONT MOUNT! The mount has to be loose so that the cold plate assembly can fit underneath it, THEN when the screws are tightened it pulls into place. That easily added 15 minutes to the install while I nervously fiddled, trying not to harm my CPU. An extra pair of hands is VERY useful when installing the fan and radiator. My wife did a great job and even pretended to care.

Finally - Booted up like a dream, my idle temps used to be mid 30s, and fell immediately to mid 20s. I ran Prime95 on blended for about 5 minutes before I had to leave and never broke 42 (compared to the 65 and rising I was seeing this morning). I'll run some serious tests tonight and start OC'ing.

 

[Sabotage22]

SO - Not much luck with overclocking. The system is VERY stable at stock, and runs quite cool (rarely even into the 30s unless I'm doing something pretty CPU intensive. Ran prime95 for nearly 4 hours yesterday and the core temps never got above 45c (generally stuck around 42).

I can clock up to 4ghz using just the multiplier, but only if my memory is at 1333mhz; if I change the ratio on the memory to clock it up to 1600 (I bought 1600mhz ram) then I can't use the multiplier at all (when I save settings in the cmos the board flashes "FF" at me for abotu 30 seconds and then boots in default mode).

I broke down and used the MSI program that tries to max out the FSB, which got me to just over 3.7mhz with a pretty quick FSB speed (don't remember what it was) - with the ratio on the RAM turned back down the RAM was around 1500mhz, so not terrible. I may turn those settings back on and see if I can get the board to remain stable.

Back to the cooling topic: I read a really interesting post on the Asetek blog site that showed some testing with different arrangements of the Antec 620 (exhuast in pull, exhuast in push, intake in push, intake in pull, intake in push/pull). The CPU benefits quite a bit from taking in fresh air from outside the case to throw over the radiator, but the ambient temps in the case obviously suffer since the air flowing through contains dissipated heat from the CPU. I'm not crazy about that since the 6970 in my case is so close to the CPU, I'm a big fan of pulling fresh air from the front/side and pushing it out the back/top. I might get bored this weekend and try it though, see if I get any improvement in temps at all. Will definitely tackle my OC'ing problems first though.

 

[Khan]

SO - Not much luck with overclocking. The system is VERY stable at stock, and runs quite cool (rarely even into the 30s unless I'm doing something pretty CPU intensive. Ran prime95 for nearly 4 hours yesterday and the core temps never got above 45c (generally stuck around 42).

I can clock up to 4ghz using just the multiplier, but only if my memory is at 1333mhz; if I change the ratio on the memory to clock it up to 1600 (I bought 1600mhz ram) then I can't use the multiplier at all (when I save settings in the cmos the board flashes "FF" at me for abotu 30 seconds and then boots in default mode).

I broke down and used the MSI program that tries to max out the FSB, which got me to just over 3.7mhz with a pretty quick FSB speed (don't remember what it was) - with the ratio on the RAM turned back down the RAM was around 1500mhz, so not terrible. I may turn those settings back on and see if I can get the board to remain stable.

Back to the cooling topic: I read a really interesting post on the Asetek blog site that showed some testing with different arrangements of the Antec 620 (exhuast in pull, exhuast in push, intake in push, intake in pull, intake in push/pull). The CPU benefits quite a bit from taking in fresh air from outside the case to throw over the radiator, but the ambient temps in the case obviously suffer since the air flowing through contains dissipated heat from the CPU. I'm not crazy about that since the 6970 in my case is so close to the CPU, I'm a big fan of pulling fresh air from the front/side and pushing it out the back/top. I might get bored this weekend and try it though, see if I get any improvement in temps at all. Will definitely tackle my OC'ing problems first though.

might want to check out amd overclock guides on the AMD font page, you might not be running you cpu/nb high enough, and 1333 is where you should leave the ram till you get a good stable cpu clock.

pop in the amd section with some cpu screenies of cpu/memory/spd tabs and they can give you some good tips.

you might even be able to get it cooler at stock because if you have settings on auto for voltages, they give way more voltage than is necessary to the cpu and nb most of the time.

 

[Sabotage22]

Thanks Khan - really appreciate it.

I'll pop some screenshots of my bios settings on the AMD page tonight and see if we can settle on some better settings.

 

[SgtFoo]

I just installed the Kuhler 620 last night.

I have no A/C in the room where my rig sits. A/C is in the main living room and barely makes it into my studio. Being as such, the ambient air in the room is rather warm in the summer... easily over 27 degrees Celcius. My Xigmatek S1283 cooler wasn't cutting it anymore.

Now with the Kuhler 620, I'm running 2.6Ghz (100Mhz over stock) with 1.28vCPU and it never goes higher than 44 Celcius so far (during a prime95 test). CPU is the Phenom 9850BE 2.5Ghz (125w)

In terms of Fan config, in my Antec P183 Case...
2x120mm Scythe SFlex 1600RPM fans at the front
1x92mm Scythe 1200RPM fan at the front (in the 5.25" bay area)
.. both of those are pulling in

The P183 comes with 3-speed (2000RPM +/- max) Antec case fans for rear and top. I used the Kuhler's new Fan as the case out-take for the rad, and the old 3-speed is now set at medium (roughly 1400RPM) to push into the rad. Temps are better with the 3-speed Antec fan at medium than at high speed. It seems the final out-take wasn't pushing out hot air fast enough so that prompted me to slow it down.

I installed mine with the tubes coming out of the top of the rad. It left for better clearance in the case and the top fan somewhat pulls hot air away from the tubes too.

So far I'm pretty happy with the 620.

 

[Conumdrum]

Yep, it will be much better than the stock cooler for sure, glad your happy with it.