Game PC (silent) AMD X2 3800

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zikje
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:58 am

Game PC (silent) AMD X2 3800

Post by zikje » Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:55 am

SeaSonic S12 500Watt
Antec P180
OCZ DDR PC3200 Platinum Enhanced Bandwith 2x1Gb
Western Digital Caviar 2500KS SATAII 16MB cache 250Gb
ASUS A8N SLI
AMD Athlon 3800+ 64Bit X2
Scythe SCNJ-1000 Ninja
::::::::::::::::::::::::::
XFX Geforce 7800GTX
Zalman VF700 Cu
Zalman ZM NB47J

- or -
ASUS Geforce 7800GTX Top
::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The last bit is the problem area. I already decided to go for ASUS SLI to be able to place a decent cooler on the graphics card (AC or Zalman)

- Is it possible to put a northbridge heatsink (Zalman) on this motherboard? Is it possible when there are 2 cards with VGA cooler? Is it possible for only Zalman or only AC? Other easy to get northbridge heatsinks which can go under the card?

- I read on http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle. ... icleid=719 that the difference between AC and other coolers in case temp = 4°C. With possibly 2 7800GTX cards later on, would it be best to go for AC which clears the hot air immediately?

- I also read that Zalman VF700 cools better then AC and is also more silent.

Thx

zikje
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:58 am

Post by zikje » Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:57 am

ok, I seem to have 2 topics??? Something must have gone wrong: I apologize and will try to contact an moderator to delete that one. :oops:

EDSat
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:38 am

Post by EDSat » Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:01 am

You can just purchase the A8N-sli premium which comes with a stock passive heatsink that doesn't interfere with the video cards at all. Also, the pci-express slots are positioned with enough space to put two video cards. You'd probably be able to put aftermarket coolers on both cards, but I think it would be a tight squeeze (thus interfering with airflow?).

zikje
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:58 am

Post by zikje » Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:04 am

Yeah, I know the SLI Premium but that costs a lot more. A "normal" SLI with custom heatsink would be cheaper. I'm spending a lot of money, but I don't want to throw it away :).

Interitus
Posts: 374
Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2004 4:58 am
Location: Near St. Louis, Missouri

Post by Interitus » Tue Oct 04, 2005 12:09 pm

I have an A8N-SLI Deluxe. Should be the same pretty much.

One thing you will find is that when using longer graphics cards like the 7800GTX and 6800Ultra that you will be very hard pressed to fit the card in there with the Zalman NB47J and an aftermarket cooler. There were some pics on this when the A8N-SLI Deluxe first came out, if you do a search on the forum you might be able to find some of them.

Long story short:

Be careful choosing your chipset cooler and VGA card's cooling. The NB47J can cause obstructions. AFAIK you can use 2 VF700's just fine for SLI configs as long as they don't obstruct the NB47J. The bottom card should be fine regardless, it's just a question of whether the top card's VF700 will hit the NB47 or not. I've seen it work with a 6800Ultra but it was VERY VERY tight.

cmcquistion
Posts: 278
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 6:05 am
Location: Tennessee

Post by cmcquistion » Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:24 am

I have an A8N-SLI (not premium or deluxe). I have a Zalman northbridge heatsink on it and the Zalman ZF-700 heatsink on my 6800GT. It all fits fine and works great! I run the ZF-700 at 4.25V and it still cools the video card and northbridge with periperal airflow.

I also have the Scythe Ninja heatsink and I can't say enough good things about it. (You can't beat fanless operation.)

My system now contains only three fans; the Zalman ZF-700 (at 4.25V), the power supply fan (Seasonic SS-430 temp controlled), and a Nexus 120mm fan for the exhaust (hooked up to the CPU fan header and controlled by Asus Q-fan, generally running 700-800 RPM.) This system is REALLY quiet. Right now, I have an Athlon 64 3200+, but I'm upgrading to an X2 3800+ next week.

zikje
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:58 am

Post by zikje » Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:35 am

Thanks, that's interesting.

Did you put you card into the upper slot, or the lower one?
Is the SS-430W able to power my system with 2 graphic cards?
I didn't undersatnd the positioning of your nexus fan: is it on the heatsink or is it on the case at the back near the heatsink.
pictures would be great :)

gitto
Posts: 142
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Ballina, Australia
Contact:

Post by gitto » Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:58 am

I have a VF700 on a X800XL card, with a A8N-Sli Deluxe motherboard. My chipset heatsink is a Swiftech MCX-159, without the fan on it. I had to bend a few of the fins on the VF700 to make this fit, but it's fine. The fins are very flexible. The MCX-159 is 40mm high without the fan.

cmcquistion
Posts: 278
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 6:05 am
Location: Tennessee

Post by cmcquistion » Sat Oct 15, 2005 1:47 pm

zikje wrote:Thanks, that's interesting.

Did you put you card into the upper slot, or the lower one?
Is the SS-430W able to power my system with 2 graphic cards?
I didn't undersatnd the positioning of your nexus fan: is it on the heatsink or is it on the case at the back near the heatsink.
pictures would be great :)
I've got my card in the upper slot. I think the SS-430 should be able to power two cards. My 120mm Nexus fan is in the exhaust fan position, a couple inches from the heatsink. There is NO fan directly on the Scythe Ninja heatsink.

zikje
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:58 am

Post by zikje » Sun Oct 16, 2005 1:39 am

cmcquistion wrote:I have an A8N-SLI (not premium or deluxe). I have a Zalman northbridge heatsink on it and the Zalman ZF-700 heatsink on my 6800GT. It all fits fine and works great! I run the ZF-700 at 4.25V and it still cools the video card and northbridge with periperal airflow.

I also have the Scythe Ninja heatsink and I can't say enough good things about it. (You can't beat fanless operation.)

My system now contains only three fans; the Zalman ZF-700 (at 4.25V), the power supply fan (Seasonic SS-430 temp controlled), and a Nexus 120mm fan for the exhaust (hooked up to the CPU fan header and controlled by Asus Q-fan, generally running 700-800 RPM.) This system is REALLY quiet. Right now, I have an Athlon 64 3200+, but I'm upgrading to an X2 3800+ next week.
What are your temps (idle/load) with the Ninja and 1 casefan?

cmcquistion
Posts: 278
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 6:05 am
Location: Tennessee

Post by cmcquistion » Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:02 pm

zikje wrote:
cmcquistion wrote:I have an A8N-SLI (not premium or deluxe). I have a Zalman northbridge heatsink on it and the Zalman ZF-700 heatsink on my 6800GT. It all fits fine and works great! I run the ZF-700 at 4.25V and it still cools the video card and northbridge with periperal airflow.

I also have the Scythe Ninja heatsink and I can't say enough good things about it. (You can't beat fanless operation.)

My system now contains only three fans; the Zalman ZF-700 (at 4.25V), the power supply fan (Seasonic SS-430 temp controlled), and a Nexus 120mm fan for the exhaust (hooked up to the CPU fan header and controlled by Asus Q-fan, generally running 700-800 RPM.) This system is REALLY quiet. Right now, I have an Athlon 64 3200+, but I'm upgrading to an X2 3800+ next week.
What are your temps (idle/load) with the Ninja and 1 casefan?
Right now, I'm running an X2 3800+ (dual 2 GHz) overclocked to 2.4 GHz (dual) (@1.3375 Vcore, stable) and my peak temps are about 60C. Idle temps are usually around 45C. When I had the 3200+, things were even cooler, but I ran it at stock speed and undervolted.

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