Update from the phase nOOb....

S

ses.RoadRunner

New member
I have paid a deposit on Maverik-SG1's Mack2 and intend to collect it early April.

I am still waiting for my money to become available (long story!) but it is due March, so can't be long now!.

Anyhow, here's what I'm thinking of buying, please feel free to give any advice / comments where you see fit :wink:

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor

PNY VCG7900XXWB Geforce 7900GTX 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 550 (PC 4400)

I intend to OC the 3800 to out-perform a 4800.....

My intention is to buy mid-range CPU's and use the Mach2 to OC them to higher-end CPU's, saving a few quid each time ;)

I'm also considering a water kit so I can abuse ... er, sorry, flash & OC the GPU, any advice here would be greatly appreciated :)
 
Change Maxtor drive to hitachi 7k250 and change the 7900GTX to the cheapest model as thay are all the same cards with the same coolers fitted (BIOs is different but u can flash that ;)).

Maybe is you intend to go sli at a later date get urself a 700w or higher PSU.

Mav
 
Forgot about the maxtors, they were from a much lower budget :)

I have dropped to the cheapest GTX @512m as well. Oh, and gone for a more powerfull PSU.

I couldn't find a GT card from newegg with 512M, but the 7900GTX extreme is the cheapest 512M 7900 @ $510
 
The wishlist got some last min changes and added to me basket!

It will take a while to get here, but when it does, I'll be building & taking loads of photo's ;)
 
Right, got most of my kit here, just waiting on the hard drives & DVDR.

I've decided to be sensible about this.... I have put everything together (minus drives) but not made any connection to the phase cooler.

I am going to fire her up 'stock' with the HS/F that came with the CPU and no clock adjustments for my first benchmark set :)

Then I intend to clock her as far as I can with the stock HS/F benching along the way, so I can get a real perspective of what the cooler can do ;)

For those that didn't see the wish list, here's me kit:

Lian Li Aluminium case

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert

XFX Geforce 7950GX2 1GB GDDR3

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Manchester 2000MHz HT

G.SKILL Extreme Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 500 (PC 4000)

HITACHI Deskstar 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

BenQ 16X DVD±R DVD Burner

Silverstone Zeus 750w quad 12v rail PSU
 
Finaly got the time to cut my case up and fit the cooler :)

Everything has gone as planned. PC runs fine with the phase cooler hooked up & everything stable.

So, I fitted my HDDs and did a fresh install of Windows onto a stripe0 array.

Finished all my windows updates, drivers etc. and decided to hit the sack and start overclocking today.

Got up this morning, powered up the cooler.... -25c later, the PC powered up for a few seconds & then off.

After much messing about, disconnecting the phase cooler, fitting the stock HS/F etc. it looks like I have a dead CPU.

My MoBo powers up, all 4 lights stay on, then it will either power down after about 3 secs or just stay on in that state.

So, I'm gonna save me pennys and buy another CPU.

In the mean time, anyone want a nice 3rd hand phase unit??

Mav can vouch that it is a stunning cooler and has already been regassed and set up.
 
Mate - thats sucks about the CPU- but could just be a bad day at condensation central.

Check the board and CPU socket for dampness - if some damp is apparent, allow to dry off (24-48hrs in a airing cupboard or sutiably warm place) and try again.

Four lights on are sometimes indicative of a dead/injured mobo - a dry out session should be okay.

To be sure it's the cpu - simply try it in another mobo or try another cpu in the mobo.

That mach is a fine unit - Fatty tuned and ready to rock with lain li panels too ;)
 
I am in the data center tomorrow, and will be taking my CPU with me :)

There's a nice dual CPU board there for a new build, so I am going to try my CPU out in that. If it works, I have a dead mobo.

I am now pulling out the mobo (again) and putting it in the shed.... sounds odd, but the shed is VERY dry and quite warm (there's a de-humidifier in there and it's like 33c today!) so, ya never know, I might be lucky!

I'll let y'all know the outcome tomorrow.

fingers crossed
 
*FINALY* got round to replacing the mobo!!

So, I have my system running again, albeit at stock speeds and coold on nowt but stock HS/Fan.

As I murdered my last board with condensation, I'd like your best advice on what to use to prevent a nasty re-ocurance!

Now I'm off to find out all I can about OCing my DFI Expert board :D
 
Right, got it all hooked up.... problems :(

When I got the cooler from mav, I just connected everything EXCEPT the USB and fired her up.

The cooler started and dropped to -20c then the PC powered up.

This time however, as soon as I introduce mains to the cooler it fires up and says "boot loading ... waiting"

I deciede to connect up the USB lead and fired up the PC.

It saw the new "prometeia" device and seemed happy to install the software.

Once installed, device manager has an entry for "nVENTIV" with 2 entries "WinDriver" and "Mack2"

I fired up the software but it tells me USB is lost and it is retrying.

So, I shut down the PC and fired it up again (using the power button on the DFI Expert mobo)

Now I have no Mach2 in Device Manager, the software doesn't work and the cooler still complains about boot.

Now I am 50/50 split between carrying on with the cooler, or taking pics and sticking the bloody thing on e-bay!!!!

Any help appreciated.
 
Sounds like its lots the firmware and you need to reflash it which you will need to do from a pc thats up and running on air before you can flash it.

There is a guide round on here somewhere
 
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