Project ZdB (Zero deciBel)

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:23 pm

Throttler wrote:Specs are heavy which was a problem.

P6T, i7 920, etc

Temps are at load but underclocked. PSU fan only starts at 65 degrees Celsius, which is seldom to never.

How did you fit the Thermalright IFX-10 rear CPU cooler onto the Socket 1366 motherboard? Did you mod the bracket?

I'm trying to work out how to re-use the IFX-10 when my new Socket 1366 motherboard arrives.

Throttler · Post by **Throttler** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:05 pm

WR304 wrote: How did you fit the Thermalright IFX-10 rear CPU cooler onto the Socket 1366 motherboard? Did you mod the bracket?

I'm trying to work out how to re-use the IFX-10 when my new Socket 1366 motherboard arrives.

I thought someone would ask. Asus P6T has BOTH 1366 and 775 mounting holes. I suppose there must be some more mobos that do that.

walle · Post by **walle** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:49 pm

Nice build Throttler, cable sleeving looks top notch too, classy.

Welcome to SPCR.

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:32 pm

Throttler wrote:
WR304 wrote: How did you fit the Thermalright IFX-10 rear CPU cooler onto the Socket 1366 motherboard? Did you mod the bracket?

I'm trying to work out how to re-use the IFX-10 when my new Socket 1366 motherboard arrives.
I thought someone would ask. Asus P6T has BOTH 1366 and 775 mounting holes. I suppose there must be some more mobos that do that.

I got a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 motherboard. That only has the Socket 1366 holes so the IFX-10 is in the spares box for now. That's a shame as the Socket 775 backplate that came with the IFX-10 was really good - much better than the standard Thermalright one as it was very solid.

My Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme cooler using the Thermalright Socket 1366 bolt-thru backplate is doing ok without it though. With a Scythe Slipstream 500rpm fan and another Slipstream 500rpm as an exhaust the CPU core idle temperatures are a lot better than I was expecting in the high 30c - low 40c range according to Real Temp 3.00 at a room temperature of 17c approx.

Have you considered fitting a Scythe Slipstream 500rpm fan on the cooler? It's going to move away from the fanless PC ideal a bit but will be more practical for everyday use whilst still being quiet. It could save needing to underclock the processor. The Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme has narrow fin spacing and isn't really that good as a passive cooler. Something like a Thermalright HR-01 Plus might be more effective whilst keeping the Thermalright theme.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article842-page1.html

Throttler · Post by **Throttler** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:26 am

@ walle : Glad to be here at last

feels like home already.

@ WR304 : Your observations are really good. However I must add the following.

Since the pc is used for music production, currently there is no DAW software (I use Cubase) that uses more than 30% actual CPU when it reaches their DAW peak at CPU usage. This is mainly due to bad cpu utilization programming of the respective company for each DAW. So all in all, I only underclock it if I want to do a burn test like Orthos Prime or Everest. Other than that the PC is at default values, and the temperatures at 30% as you can understand are veeeeeeery low.

As for adding a single fan at low RPM I cannot disagree with you, it would be better and barely audible. But I'm a sucker for the fanless ideal

As for the fins, since the stack effect really works, there is enough air movement to be considered as there actually IS a working fan there.
By using the following ASHRAE Fundamentals handbook I estimated that the air flow can reach 60CFM or more. Also please consider that the same applies to IFX10 at the same time.
I have no comparison to give to HR-01 Plus, purhaps I will buy one and give a try.

P.S. I want to REALLY thank everyone here, because your ideas and suggestions are fantastic, well thought and always helpful.

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:03 am

Throttler wrote:Since the pc is used for music production, currently there is no DAW software (I use Cubase) that uses more than 30% actual CPU when it reaches their DAW peak at CPU usage. This is mainly due to bad cpu utilization programming of the respective company for each DAW. So all in all, I only underclock it if I want to do a burn test like Orthos Prime or Everest. Other than that the PC is at default values, and the temperatures at 30% as you can understand are veeeeeeery low.

That's a good point. For typical usage the CPU is going to spend most of the time idling at a reduced clock speed using Intel Speedstep or under only partial load. Running a program like Prime 95 isn't really a realistic test of how hot your CPU will get in day to day use.

If every program was able to load the CPU fully for multithreading (as when stress testing using all 4 cores plus hyperthreading) the CPU would run a lot hotter and need more cooling. The newer D0 stepping Core i7 1366 processors are supposed to be cooler running and require less voltage than the original C0 processors also which may help to explain why they're not as ridiculously hot as you'd expect from the official Core i7 130w power consumption figure.

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=584

One thing to keep an eye on is the temperature of the motherboard components with little to no airflow. The CPU will just throttle if it overheats but you could cook the motherboard over time without realising as not every part of the motherboard is monitored.

Throttler · Post by **Throttler** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:48 am

WR304 wrote:One thing to keep an eye on is the temperature of the motherboard components with little to no airflow. The CPU will just throttle if it overheats but you could cook the motherboard over time without realising as not every part of the motherboard is monitored.

I have only seen the cpu throttling at +10% o/c with Everest burn and never since.

As for the mobo, when I begun building this, I had the original coolers and since then the motherboard total temps have dropped 10 degrees celcius!

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 10:38 am

The stock heatsinks on the standard Asus P6T are relatively small compared to other X58 chipset motherboards, especially on the southbridge which is right next to the graphics card . Replacing them with Thermalright ones is sure to be an improvement.

It looks like you can monitor a lot of different temperatures with Asus PC Probe on your motherboard:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/sho ... ostcount=3

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/sho ... 80&page=48

Chris Beard · Post by **Chris Beard** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:37 am

Wow - not only have you got a no moving parts PC (ignoring other's comments about the semi-passive PSU), you've also made it beautiful.

I'm in awe.

Throttler · Post by **Throttler** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:16 am

Thanx Chris, glad you like it.

I think a semi passive PSU is a more "secure" solution for warm Greece

sentry · Post by **sentry** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 6:05 am

That is very impressive. Great job.
Sexy case

Throttler · Post by **Throttler** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 6:30 am

A7110B. The case is serious and sexy and very expensive too! It got much better when I added the wheels, the top, and side panel.