THANKS for the troubleshooting advice for my A64 system!

[Toasty]

UPDATE 3:
*Almost* resolved, see my post below, and pics are coming soon!

UPDATE 2:
Bought everything, put it all together, volt-modded CPU fan (Evercool 120mm) to 5V, plugged extra power connector to 6800GT card, and I get graphical corruption on BIOS screen, even before OS is installed! When I put my old Geforce 4 Ti4200 in the new system it worked fine, and I used it while installing Windows, which also works fine - and damn quiet!
Anyway, I had put the 6800GT in my old P4 1.6A (running at 2.13Ghz) system before I built my new system and it worked beautifully. So after I put it in the new system and it didn't work, then I put it back in the old system and it no longer worked there either! The weird thing is, after I put my old Geforce 4 in the new system the GF4's fan stopped spinning. What the hell is going on?!
If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate your feedback. Is it the new gfx card, is it the mobo, is it the PSU? I have no clue...


UPDATE:
As you can see below, I've already bought most of the parts; rtsai mentioned that the Abit AV8 has unfortunate placement of the PSU connector since it impedes airflow to the rear case fan. I am currently searching for an alternative highly OCing mobo that has XP-120 compatibility: The Asus A8V Deluxe is a possibility. Does anyone have good OCing experience with this mobo? Can you suggest any alternatives? Also, is there a possibility that the Leadtek card's cooling solution won't fit alongside the XP-120? I appreciate any advice!

And if anyone is interested, I'll post pics of the system being built and completed, hopefully with the mods suggested by Cams and burcakb.


ORIGINAL POST:
Hi, I've been a longtime lurker on this forum, soaking up info about building low noise PCs, and I've finally decided to go for it, after getting some advice from you knowledgeable SPCR regulars. I am planning to OC this thing to the hilt while maintaining a reasonable noise level (<35 dBa, compared to my current OC'd P4 1.6A which is probably 50+ dBa due to 7 fans and a cheap PSU).

Anyway, here is a proposed rig I've come up with - I already have these things in the shopping carts of various websites, so unless you strongly advise an alternative, I'll be buying them in the next 24-48 hours!

The list:
Mobo: Asus A8V Deluxe Rev 2.00, BIOS 1010.003
CPU: A64 3000+ Winchester 90nm (CBBHD 0450TPBW)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright XP-120
PSU: Enermax EG475P-VE SFMA Noisetaker 470W
Memory: OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel Kit 1GB PC3200
Graphics: Leadtek A400 GT 6800 GT
Optical Drive: BenQ DW1620
Storage: WD 1200JB and WD 2500JB (from old PC)
Case: Antec SLK3000B
Fans: Built-in rear case fan, Evercool 120mm for heatsink. No front case fan (yet).

Does anyone have experience with these components? If anyone has any suggestions as to how to improve this list for maximum cooling and minimum noise please feel free to post! I would especially appreciate any suggestions for a better OCing mobo, and quieter alternatives to the graphics card, though something in the same price range would be best (<$400). Also, any advice on which fans to buy and how to lower their noise while maintaining a good OC would be great. I look forward to your comments!

[Cams]

The orange Nexus 120mm fans are quiet and work well with the Winchester 64s and XP-120 combo. To attach one at the front without using the supplied plastic mount, you will most likely need to use the Bluefront cable-tie method, as the holes punched in the case line up with the plastic mount, not with standard 120mm fans.

Those hard drives will likely be a source of noise - my WD drive is like a jet plane, which is why it was ditched and is used now only for backups.

Suspending the hard-drive cage using the burcakb method is fairly easy to achieve: it uses elastic. Look at his Thor's Hammer thread in the Gallery section to see how it's done.

If you're going to overclock, have you considered going for higher-rated RAM? I have PC4000 Crucial Ballistix running at 117.5 MHz at CAS 2.0. It should go to 125 MHz without a problem and would probably go higher. Saying that, I'm new to overclocking of any sort so take my advice with a large pinch of your own research.

Cams

[burcakb]

WELCOME TO SPCR !!!


Normally I'd suggest the Nexus fans as well but you might want the higher flow capabilities of the Globe fans just in case. You'll need fanmates to make them quiet though. You definitely don't need a high-flow fan for the front though. The front fan is just good for cooling the harddrives.

The 6800GT is one hot card to cool down quietly. I doubt you'll cool it passively (and your noise floor will accept an active solution anyway). NV Silencers and Zalman VF700 come to mind.

Your biggest noisemakers will be those WD harddrives and there probably is no way to quieten them down, even with my suspension method.

Cams is right about the memory ceiling. Get one with a higher rating. Higher rating RAM usually comes with larger CAS ratings but low CAS + high ceiling are usually extremely expensive & I doubt the benefit is justified. IIRC, OCZ has some PC4000 RAM in the performance series that is relatively cheap.

[rtsai]

The list:
Mobo: Abit AV8 3rd-Eye, based on Via K8T800 chipset
CPU: A64 3000+ Winchester 90nm
CPU Cooler: Thermalright XP-120
PSU: Enermax EG475P-VE SFMA Noisetaker 470W
Memory: OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel Kit 1GB PC3200
Graphics: Leadtek A400 GT 6800 GT
Optical Drive: BenQ DW1620 (already bought it)
Storage: WD 1200JB and WD 2500JB (from old PC)
Case: Antec SLK3000B (includes one 120mm fan I think)
Case Fans: Two 120mm fans from SPCR recommended list (one for front of case and one for the XP-120)

I've had something very similar: A64 3500+ Winchester, Abit AV8, Thermalright XP-120, Antec SLK3000B, and Seasonic Super Silencer 400.

The only relevant component for this discussion is the Abit AV8; I didn't like the layout. If you study pictures (available at NewEgg or Abit), you'll find that the PSU connector is smack dab in between the I/O panel and the CPU area. This means all your PSU cables will be interfering with the airflow out your rear case exhaust fan, not to mention cabling all over your XP-120+fan.

I think the AV8 is the only socket-939 motherboard with this PSU connector layout. All the other motherboards have their PSU connectors on the opposite side, outside the RAM.

I ended up returning the AV8 (and eating the restocking fee ), and am now awaiting a Soltek SL-K8TPro-939. There are a few other options (Asus A8V, MSI, etc.); just be sure to examine: (a) location of the various headers, PSU in particular, (b) compatiblity with XP-120 (available on Thermalright website), and (c) passive cooling for Northbridge chip because there are a few that have a small fan.

[Toasty]

Cams and burcakb, thanks for the tips about fan type/mounting, I think I'll get a Nexus for the front case to cool the hard drives, and a higher RPM fan for the XP-120. I see the Globe fan is ~$15 US+shipping, but I found a fan with model# D12SM-12 (similar to the Nexus, which is model# D12SL-12) that costs only $7 US+shipping. It seems like it's a higher RPM version of the Nexus, according to the similarities in model#. Does anyone have experience with that model, regarding its CFM/noise? Would undervolting it produce acoustic/CFM performance similar to the Nexus?

Regarding hard drives, I know that the WD drives make a racket, but I can't afford to get new ones, and I just got the 250GB model last year for ~$35 US after rebates! I'll definitely try mounting them to eliminate some noise - or do you think an HD enclosure would be more effective?

The OCZ PC3200 memory seems like its rated too low for effective OCing, but I understand that its made with Samsung TCCD chips, which are notoriously good overclockers, running up to DDR600 speeds in some cases! I'm hoping to get some good speeds with this memory.

rtsai, I chose the Abit AV8 because its highly rated at the Tech Report, whose reviews I trust. I see your point about the PSU connector blocking the rear case fan; I was hoping to get a mobo with a working AGP/PCI lock for the best OCing and the Abit AV8 had one. Do you know of any other boards with better layout, XP-120 compatibility, and an AGP/PCI lock?

And finally, I have to say I'm amazed by the SPCR community; A few hours after my first post and I'm getting responses from people in Luxembourg, Turkey, and the US! Thanks a lot for your responses, I really appreciate it!

[Cams]

I was hoping to get a mobo with a working AGP/PCI lock for the best OCing and the Abit AV8 had one. Do you know of any other boards with better layout, XP-120 compatibility, and an AGP/PCI lock?

I have an Asus A8V Deluxe which has a working PCI lock. Make sure you get BIOS 1007 or above (mine is 1008 and it works fine). The XP-120 fits on it no problem - you can see the clearance between the heatpipes and my RAM in the photos on my site. It's not SLI or PCIe; just bog-standard AGP.

And finally, I have to say I'm amazed by the SPCR community; A few hours after my first post and I'm getting responses from people in Luxembourg, Turkey, and the US! Thanks a lot for your responses, I really appreciate it! :

Yep, it's a great community all right. I built my system after spending a few months here and it's a silent, overclocked beauty!

[Toasty]

I'm desperate, see above. All the new info is in the original post under the UPDATE 2 heading. Please help!

[ET Awful]

Graphic artifacts or corruption are usually the graphics card itself. I'm guessing you've never oc'ed it since it's brand new.

I would recommend returning the card and getting a new one to try.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello:

I'm sorry to hear that you are having POST & BIOS video problems. I have seen this with Matrox cards and some Asus mobo's. It may be the combo of your video card and motherboard is the issue.

You can try to fix it by updating the motherboard and/or the video card BIOS. Sometimes, if you turn off the "boot logo" screen (assuming you can get into the BIOS) so you can see the POST text instead, then that fixes it.

Worst case is you use a PCI video card to get the system up and running -- and do all your BIOS adjustments with it in the system, and then install the fast video card, and just ignore the garbled video. Obviously, this is not a long term, or very good "solution" but if you can get it running, and then hope that a future BIOS update will fix it.

IHTH

[Toasty]

Thanks for the response Neil, I took your advice and updated the Asus A8V BIOS to beta 1010.003 (the newest) and I tried to update the 6800GT's BIOS but even without a boot logo there is graphical corruption and I can't see the command prompt. I tried updating the 6800GT BIOS in my old P4 system, but after placing it in the new system then putting it back in the old system it is giving me the same corruption at bootup - this is the same 6800GT that worked perfectly in my old system BEFORE I placed it in the new system, which leads me to suspect that one of my new components, most probably the mobo, is not getting along with and possibly damaging my 6800GT. But how can I be certain...?

And ET Awful, I have already obtained an RMA # for my gfx card, but I'm worried that if the problem is the mobo, then it will ruin the new gfx card as well, so I'm trying to figure out how to isolate the problem. BTW, the new gfx card worked fine in my old system, it just didn't work in either my new or my old system after placing it in the new system. Oh, and my old gfx card's (GF4 Ti4200) fan stopped spinning but I'm not sure if that had already happened in my old system since I was running The Card Cooler in my old system, which obviously is really, really loud and would drown out the sound of the gfx card's dying fan.

[burcakb]

Toasty, I'm getting the same feeling that there's something wrong with your mobo or PSU. The PSU is easiest to check, use a voltmeter.

[Toasty]

burcakb, I used a voltmeter to check my PSU, it read 5.2 on the 5V rail and 12.2 on the 12V rail, both are within the 5% tolerance given by the ATX spec. So it's not the PSU (apparently) so I'm down to a bad mobo, or a series of coincidences, namely the unrelated failure of my new gfx card and the failure of my old gfx card's fan. Am I missing something, or is it RMA time for my gfx card?

[undefined]

burcakb, I used a voltmeter to check my PSU, it read 5.2 on the 5V rail and 12.2 on the 12V rail, both are within the 5% tolerance given by the ATX spec. So it's not the PSU (apparently) so I'm down to a bad mobo, or a series of coincidences, namely the unrelated failure of my new gfx card and the failure of my old gfx card's fan. Am I missing something, or is it RMA time for my gfx card?

It sounds like it is time to RMA your gfx card and your mobo.

[Toasty]

Well, I did a thorough examination of my PSU, mobo and old and new gfx cards, and I've narrowed it down to the new gfx card (the most likely possibility to begin with! DOH!). My old gfx card's fan is spinning again after a thorough cleaning, and the mobo works with both my old gfx card and my friend's card, so I'll be RMAing the 6800GT this week. Thanks to all of you who read and responded to my post, it's been a huge help for me and I appreciate all the comments. I'll keep you posted on its status, and I did promise pictures so look for those after I get the new card back (within 2 weeks?! Ever hear of cross-shipping, Leadtek?). Anyway, thanks again to you, the SPCR community!