Doesn't the A7N8X use 5 volts for cpu power vs. 12 volts for the NF7? Depending on the PSU choice and loading from other system components, that might make a difference. Or I could just be over-analyzing the situation

Is it right that you kept the bits to your now burnt up card and cleverly put it all back together and RMA it for a shiny new one? NO! Because of people like you I pay more for my graphics cards. What do I do when I burn one up when I have modified it? I go buy a new one. Sorry you have to keep buy...

So Ati should have expected people to void the warranty, and make it esier for them to do so as well? Yes, they should have expected some people to modify the cooling and to intentially make that more difficult for everyone (aftermarket vendors inlcuded) doesn't seem a good marketing decision. I su...

The fact that the shim is higher than the chip isn't a design flaw. It is intended to be that way. The shim, plus the shape of the stock cooler, and the thickness of the stock TIM pad are all designed to provide proper contact... with the stock HSF The fact that some aftermarket cooling device desi...

It isn't certain you 9500 has the shim higher than the core. Considering its age and being a sibling of the 9700, I'd bet money on it though (a little anyway :) ). Many 9700's had the problem. Mine (an older 9700 pro) did and I removed the shim which can be very tense because some (many, a few, ????...

Rig#1 is similar to what you are describing. Both cpu and gpu are watercooled. The radiator is a basic chevette heatercore with a single 120x38mm fan and a shroud made from a plastic storage dish (rubbermaid brand). My cpu die temps rarely go over 50C playing Far Cry which will use up all gpu and cp...

The 5/8 tubing size listed for the heatercore tubes is an OD meaning outside diameter of 5/8 inch. 1/2 ID tubing can fit over 5/8 OD fittings but it has to be streched. Heating it with hot water helps soften the tubing and makes streching it over the tube easier. This is one place that thick wall tu...

For a comparison: I stopped folding on rig#2 and the temps dropped from 55C to 47C after a few minutes. The CPU is an XP barton overclocked to 2.25GHz (13.5x167) with a cpu voltage of 1.68v. It is cooled using a vantec aeroflow with the HS fan turned down to 4300 rpm. The aeroflow draws cool air fro...

It doesn't hurt as much as you might think: 1 to 2C plus it prevents cracking the die. It's usually only worth it for people with extreme cooling setups (serious water, chilled water, or phase-change) who are willing to take risks for extreme overclocks.

I removed the bottom 92mm fan from an Antec SL350. It's been running that way for 2-3 months now. It is much quieter without the 92mm fan. I did use a piece of plastic to cover the front 1/2 of the 92mm hole. That forces the air to flow over the heatsinks rather than take the easy path straight to t...

Use good components and assemble them well. If you do the homework upfront, you shouldn't have any problems with watercooling. Do a 24 hour leak check everytime you redo or change something. Draining seems to be a high priority. Unless you are planning to change components often, don't worry about i...

You'd have the same CPU heat but more north bridge heat, which is probably easier to deal with but more heat just the same. Edited to add: I think it would add more heat to the north bridge. I'm not positive though. The NB would work harder so it would dissipate more heat, but it shouldn't be a pra...

i've not run the prime95 test as i use my pc for light office stuff. oh there are no fans in my system, no cpu, psu, gpu or case fans, and there are no holes in it either. Are you sure it never has to work hard for even a few minutes? CPUs can heat up fast with load changes. As the heatsink temp ri...

The RBX (like the Whitewater) really like a high flow system.... may want a stronger pump for that... if you go with the maze 4 than that eheim is just fine... IMveryHO Yes, the white-water and RBX work very well with high flow rates. They work better than other blocks at low flow rates also. This ...

i would recommend a case fan, but you'll be able to run it slower that normal. note that you won't really need the case fan if your radiator is inside your case, since the airflow from the radiator fans will be sufficient to move air around inside (probably) With no case fans (except the psu fan), ...

My opinion FWIW, I would recommend looking at the swiftech MCP-600 pump instead of the ehiem. It is compact, powered by the computer PSU, and only uses 9 watts of power. It also has a pressure head of about 10 feet! That is more than any of the other aquarium pumps being discussed except the Danner ...

I just checked rig#1. It has a p680 tinker worth 237 points. The frame times are about 4 and half minutes. That works out to ~1300 points per week :shock: -advmethods is gone! Should I also take out -forcesse? It helps with gromacs, but tinkers??? EDIT: I checked the log file and nothing is mentione...

The (good) reason for 2 molex connectors is the ATX power supply spec limits the amount of current that can be drawn through one molex contact. The fact that seperate power strings are recommended/required tends to indicate the wire size is the limit. The circuit board for the video card is not the ...

I started with a Quiet One 1200 pump. It's a good pump with specs comparable to a Hydor L30 or Ehiem 1250 for less than $30 shipped, but it's not a quiet pump. Many (at overclockers.com forums) who have tried the pump complain of a clicking sound that never goes away. I didn't really notice it much ...

Since the framerates did vary at least 40% among the cards, I'm not convinced they are CPU limited. I can believe the cpus are heavily loaded and that might somehow affect the video card performance. Or the game could just be using enough advanced DirectX-9.0 effects to extremely load even the newes...

You should check this out, http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/nv40_38.html Even the mighty 6800ultra couldnt handle this game... Sim games are CPU intensive and GPU intensive? Wow, you have to go to 800x600 video for a decent framerate with the current top video cards :shock: and I thou...

I just read the 6800 review at Anandtech. The fact that it requires 2 molex connectors says alot. Using just 1 power connector would have exceeded the ATX spec :shock: My 9700 pro almost seems wimpy by comparison, but I'm not paying $500 for a new video card and installing a 500W PSU. The bar has ce...

The block seems like the best option but i'd bet good money that it'll raise my temps just enough to force my to upgrade or add another fan to my rad :-( I didn't see a noticable temp rise on the cpu after adding a gpu waterblock to my system. Check this thread for setup and temp details: http://fo...

It is really tight around the pump but I managed to put the soundcard into the open PCI slot next to the video card and leave the pump in the original location. Here's some results at 2.4GHz (215x11) with Swiftech MCW5002 and MCW50 blocks, Ehiem 1250 pump, shrouded chevette heatercore with a 120x38m...

The fanmate could be used, but you'd be cutting and soldering wires and maybe installing a new connector.

What do the 400-AL and Ultra-AL lack? Neither support CPU diode temp readings. And I can't find info on whether they are undervoltable or not. I almost bought one of those 2 boards when I found a soltek SL-NV400 (single channel NF2-400) at newegg refurbs. It came with everything except left channel...

What do the 400-AL and Ultra-AL lack?

I think the DFI series motherboards may do what you want. I know they have everything except being undervoltable and I've never looked into that. AFAIK, only Soltek, Abit, and DFI have the full 5-bit multiplier control so you don't have to wire-mod to get above 12.5x. The Soltek (I have 2) doesn't h...

You beat me to it wumpus. Screen resolution is key to the subject. If you're happy with 800x600, then the 9600 might serve your needs. However, if you like to play at 1280x1024 then the 9600 is just not enough for newer games without turning off every visual effect. For me, that is part of the attra...

As goose mentioned, the SS cascade is currently the best and is custom built by a fellow named Cathar in Australia. They aren't cheap and the lead time is several months (or more). I think your question really is "what is the best performing block that I can build without a CNC machine shop?" For th...