Anyone here play with computers too?

[allthatwhichis]

I've mentioned overclocking computers a few times and was wondering if anyone else here played with PCs also? I also wanted to show off my newest h2o set up. I just got a 3x120mm radiator and went from 3/8in tubing to 1/2in. Dropped my loaded temp from 62C to 51C!!! But it was a bitch to install...













and just so there is somthing with lasers in it...



That's my sig from the overclocking forum I also BS around at. They require a sig before they'll help you. That way they don't have to ask what someone is using, it's already there... I need to make a new one. I have sold a video card and am now pushing the chip at 1.56 volts and 334x9 (3.006GHz). Hence all the geeky excitment for the 10C drop in temperature from the radiator. And that's without the 3 fans I still have to add to the top of the radiator.

Anyone else have this habit also. It is almost cheap compared to lasers...

[sbk]

Hehe, nice config

A few years ago when I was a student, I was an overclocker, but now I stopped a little, essentially since I have a laptop (you can't improve a lot of stuff lol) and I had a lot of new hobbys which let the pc stuff behind

[dave]

Hehe,

you seem to like mixing water and electricity Aaron. I think you need a water cooled Yag or Argon

[PNjunction]

Cool rig, allthat! Not having messed with water systems myself, I'm curious about the noise... is the liquid rig more noisy, or actually quieter than just using fans inside the case?

My Opty 170's got pretty much the same stepping! CCBBE 0615 EPMW. Newegg had the right steppings at the right prices late last year. Replaced the 3200+ in my recording machine, and love it. No water setup, but the stock heatsink has some serious merit! Definitely heavy duty.

I'm about to give it a slight overclock, but with more emphasis on stability than running at the limit. Toward that goal, I've found two combinations of numbers that should work nicely. Depending on which combo gets used, the 170's 10X multiplier allows for either a .4 or .5GHz increase, while running the RAM and HT at near stock values. Just a stroke of luck how the math worked out, as it's better for this particular machine to keep the memory timings tight.

MSI 6600GT AGP, 2 X 512 Corsair Value (don't laugh... hehe... it's actually great stuff for the money!) My two main music apps are multi-threaded, so they can make good use of the dual core.

All in all, Opteron's are fantastic chips.

Edit: Some more specs.

1 X IDE WD 250 gig special edition (system)
2 X SATA '.7 Barracuda 250 gig drives (data)
1 X SATA Plextor 712SA
Antec Plus 1080AMG w/Truepower 430W - looking to eventually get a pcp & p 510.

[allthatwhichis]

Thanks!

That is a good stepping. With decent cooling you chip could get to 2.9 maybe 3G, and I'd run that ram at stock speeds also. I usually run my ram at stock for stability. I have a 175 CCBWE that I can't get stable @ 2.7 Yours should run a .5GHz overclock at close to stock voltage. Well, what motherboard are you using?

The prices on the 939 opterons just dropped a lot last week. I think a 170 is going for just over $100...

The water cooling "can" be quieter than fans, but if you overclock, you wnat more fans cooling your water... It is dependent on how you use your fans also. I had two 120mm radiators with two fans on eash radiator and it was fairly loud compared to the 3x120mm radiator with three fans. I plan to add 3 more fans but I also have this radistor outside the case and the fans have an eaiser time moving air. With them inside there was a lot of noise from the air going in the intake spots of the case.

[PNjunction]

Oops... forgot the mobo. MSI Neo 2 Platinum. When building this machine two years ago, I actually went with nF3ultra/AGP over nF4/PCI-E because of major issues with the newer stuff in digital audio workstations. Speculation revolved around the PCI-E bus, but as far as I know, these problems have not been fully identified and resolved.

Wow!... the 170 is almost down to $100?! That's a definite Nice that it should do a moderate overclock at real close to stock V. Cool thing after installing it... it defaulted itself down to 1.35V from the 3200+'s 1.4V.

Thanks for the info on water and noise. At some point I'm gonna' try it. To keep things cheap for now, I really have to do something about my case. It's horrible if you want a quiet machine. Gonna' look into some dampening materials, drive bushings, etc.