Project: Feeding Frenzy Interlude

Okay, I shot a few more pics so we have some loose ends to feature here. Here is the CD bezels I had to drill the case for.



FFI_241.jpg




As you can see here I will be making my own plate for the Aquaero down the line. They are just a smidgen too small for the case in width.


FFI_242.jpg





Water in the Aquatube :D



FFI_243.jpg





The wiring from the LED's and reset switch.




FFI_245.jpg






Trial run of the SATA HD cables. It looks like I'm going to need a few more inches of cable to make this the way I want as it just barely made it.



FFI_248.jpg





FFI_250.jpg





FFI_249.jpg





FFI_246.jpg





Didn't like the effect of the water falling as it made to many bubbles so it's time for a little exploratory surgery to see what might work better. :eek:




FFI_253.jpg






First thing out was the return line.




FFI_251.jpg






Decide I wanted to add some more coolant. The old return hole makes for a perfect fill port. :D

Tools: 5-10cc syringe and an 18 gauge x 1.5" needle.




FFI_257.jpg






Take out the rear top plug and insert a 45 degree Legris push-fit.




FFI_258.jpg






Old tubing that needs to get modded.



FFI_258.jpg





Clamp off the water coming out of the radiator.




FFI_259.jpg





Cut tubing and attach to new fitting.




FFI_261.jpg





Screw in front top plug. Makes for a really easy way to get coolant in and out of the system for changing the level in the Aquatube.




FFI_262.jpg





Didn't like the red and blue LED's lighting up the inside of my case so I applied some electrical tape over them. Not totally aesthetic, but it works great. :D




FFI_263.jpg





Here's the Silverstone PSU sound deflector installed.




FFI_264.jpg





Decided that a temp sensor to monitor the coolant going into the radiator might be a good idea.




FFI_269.jpg




FFI_270.jpg





Here's the wiring running along the radiator and held in place with cable clamps.




FFI_268.jpg
 
Glad to see that you're getting around to finishing a project..............;) Now to upgreade the internals to a C2D system and you'll be good to go................:cool:
 
Bio-Hazard said:
Glad to see that you're getting around to finishing a project..............;) Now to upgreade the internals to a C2D system and you'll be good to go................:cool:
Click to expand...

Next up is to revamp Feeding Frenzy. What is a C2D system?


edit: C2D = Core 2 Duo (Intel Corp processor)? Not a chance in hell will this gal ever be running an Intel CPU unless AMD goes out of business. Maybe one of these if anyone can show me software that needs a dual core that I might be using.
 
Top Nurse said:
if anyone can show me software that needs a dual core that I might be using.
Click to expand...

I'm an AMD convert myself & had the same opinion until I was able to play around with a retail setup at a local company that builds their own PCs. If you could find a similar place near you, for the sake of doing so, try it. If you think it's fast, add another 40% for what they can easily overclock.

Granted, there aren't a whole lot of apps able to take advantage of dual-core yet, but still, the difference in just the ability to multi-task is amazing.

I'm a video encoding nut & I thought my A64 3200 was fast less than a year ago... Encoding DVDs alone has increased in time 3-fold.

Regardless, your work is impeccable!!! It's also nice to have access to medical stuff isn't it? ;)
 
Did you try a AMD X2 as well? Just what kind of software out there actually does use the dual core processors? Did Intel back away from "fixing" their processors so they were hard to OC?

Thanks for the nice nice. :)
 
Aye, that I did hun.. like I said it was all AMD for me till I got hold of trying a core2duo.

As far as applications that are capable of utilizing the dual-core abilties, I utilize both QuEnc & CCE (Cinema Craft Encoder), which can utilize both cores. I know that FAH is also capable.

I know if you really want to dig, there are ways to tweak the registry(I believe) that will start an application only utilizing one core, while the other can be used for your other tasks. I don't remember if you mention what you utilize your PC for most, so I can't comment on your specific needs.

As far as overclocking, i've seen people are easily doing over 3.5GHz on the cheapest C2D CPU with minor tweaking.... Read almost 100% overclock if that suits your interest. By the way, if you have a Frys around you, watch their flyers. They just had an e6600 mobo combo for $200... We don't have any stores here, but dang, I would have been all over that one!!!

I'm sure others could chime in, but seriously, take some time & check one out then decide for yourself ;)

~ X-AMD luver ~
 
If anything I think you should take a serious look at the C2D line. Price/Performance is through the roof :D , especially with the kind of overclocking that can be done.
 
Top Nurse said:
Did you try a AMD X2 as well? Just what kind of software out there actually does use the dual core processors? Did Intel back away from "fixing" their processors so they were hard to OC?

Thanks for the nice nice. :)
Click to expand...

Intel is the new AMD of sorts. the processors have slowed down, in favor of performing more things per clock, like AMD chips do :p and they overclock better 0_0

Seriously, i was a die hard, go to hell Intel type of person, but the new low end C2D's are just a bargain! that, and the fact that AMD uses DDR2 now leaves me no reason not to go with Intel. the quads suck as though, as theyre split Die... which degrades performance i believe...
 
You should get yourself some sata cables with right angle ends on one side. ANyway project is still looking real good.
 
As you guys probably noticed I had some nice looking coolant in my system. Unfortunately it was by accident as it should have been as clear as water. I mixed up my AC Fluid in an exact 2% solution as specified by AC. AC was at a loss to explain why I was getting all the foaming, bubbles, and the color change.



ACF_1.jpg





After doing some experimentation I realized that the only variable was the mixing cup I bought at the grocery store. So I scrubbed the cup out religiously and made up some new AC Fluid in distilled water. This time I got nothing but clear solution, no foaming, no bubbles, and no greenish color. There must have been some chemical on the mixing cup from the store...

So now I had to drain my system and flush it real good before charging the system with new coolant. Hmmm... so how to do this real easy? If I would have had a garden hose setup I would have had some problems as opening a big ass tube can be a real PITA with hose barbs and lots of water going everyplace. Fortunately I am using push-fits so it was really easy to take some tubes off and put a finger to the ID of the tubing. :D

What I did was setup a ghetto external reservoir setup so I at first could just flush the system with 4 gallons of distilled water into my bathtub.


FFI_274.jpg




Then I let the system charge with nothing but distilled water and let it run in the deaeration mode (yeah with an AC system you get extras!) that gets rid of the air in your system for a couple of hours.



FFI_273.jpg





FFI_272.jpg





FFI_271.jpg




From previously charging the system I knew that I used approximately 350cc of distilled water. So after the air was out I then added in 7cc of AC Fluid so as to give me a 2% mix through the top of the Aquatube hole as previously mentioned.




Not bad for just raising the FSB frequency and doing nothing else! Didn't raise the temps to much either as the radiator fans still hasn't come on yet. :p



OC_5_19_07.jpg
 
Top Nurse said:
Did you try a AMD X2 as well? Just what kind of software out there actually does use the dual core processors? Did Intel back away from "fixing" their processors so they were hard to OC?

Thanks for the nice nice. :)
Click to expand...

Intels are a breeze to OC, nothing like a 100% OC out of a $100 CPU, but they generate a lot of heat, much more than any of my A64's or A64 X2's I have. And regardless if there's any real software out there to take advantage of both cores at the same or not, C2D are still much faster than any AMD, core for core at this time. Oh, one other thing, there are some games that are or will be out shortly that support multi cores..........:eek:

36ocxx1.jpg


http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=201765

Now throw a real OC on that thing........:D And finish the thing.
 
235 FSB is a baby OC for your chip, clock it's brains out you're on water! :p
 
nice project. back to the basics of real hard core modding ! none of this crazy paint jobs and custom molded servo powered doors.. ect. ;)

sata connectors are great if you get good quality cables and dont stress the connectors!

they are not as prone to cable failure as some rounded or standard 80wire pata cables.. and are not as hard to plugin and unplug as pata 40pin plugs..

as for molex power.. w/e it works.. but sata connectors were standardized for the hotswap-ability!
 
If you really do decide to upgrade your CPU. Something a bit left field might be the new low power AMD X2s. I've found dual cores makes my system more responsive. The new low power ones generate a much smaller amount of heat.
 
In all the years that I've been trolling these forums, I've yet to s
ee TN ever completely finish a mod before it was completely out of date, if it ever got finished at all. All goes great in the planning and basics, but it would really be outstanding if we could see a completed project..............:eek:
 
Bevous said:
In all the years that I've been trolling these forums, I've yet to s
ee TN ever completely finish a mod before it was completely out of date, if it ever got finished at all. All goes great in the planning and basics, but it would really be outstanding if we could see a completed project..............:eek:
Click to expand...

But there is always something that works better, looks better, or can be done better. How can any job be finished with those kinds of problems to deal with. ;)

I still trying to track down the SATA cables I want. I could just reverse the HD's in the cage, but I like to see the circuit boards peeking out of the holes in the HD cage. :D

I'm also adding in some dry transfer work that everyone will like. Still mulling over what to do with a PATA cable going to the DVD's. I thought of putting in SATA optical drives, but then I have to deal with the SATA power connectors. I haven't been able to find a crimping tool for making custom SATA power connectors. Anyone know where I can get them?
 
As you recall I dremeled out part of the case grid under my PSU a ways back so it would be easier to get to the adjustment holes. I also drilled a hole in the side so I could get to the adjustment hole without taking out the PSU as below:




FFI_167.jpg






FFI_184.jpg





So now I'm ready to do a little bling bling with what they call dry data transfers. Now I don't have to go searching for the information when I need it. After doing the transfers I then used a matte spray that protects them from wear and tear.




FF_PSU_Data_1.jpg





FF_PSU_Data_2.jpg





Here's also some more detail than I have showed before of the water cooling.




FF_CPU_1.jpg





FF_GPU_1.jpg





FF_GPU_2.jpg





FF_GPU_3.jpg





I also added in a flow meter, but you will have to wait till I get the thing bolted in and the cable sleeved. :D
 
Top Nurse said:
I was thinking of either of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103002

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103045

Got any other ideas for a 939 pin socket?
Click to expand...

The 185 is the best chip AMD have produced for 939.

The reason I bought one is because I'm going to be stuck with 939 for a while. Going quadcore is my next upgrade, and I will not be doing that for at least 18 months.

Given that I like to overclock, I wanted to give myself the best platform to start from. Chances are that any dual core opteron will hit the 2.6 speed a 185 does. However, I'm trying to go over 3.0, so the 185 gives me an advantage.

Unless you're intending overvolting and overclocking, then there really wouldn't be anything for you to gain by buying anything better than the Opteron 170. It has a 10x multiplier, so depending on your RAM you can probably take it to 250x10 for 2.5Mhz, and probably at 1.4V or there abouts.
 
Time for a bit more detail here. I was about to leave for work when I posted about the CPUs earlier.

The dual core opterons are all essentially the same chip.

They get speedbinned if they are suitable for the speed AMD is looking for.

But because a chip has been speedbinned for 2200 Mhz that does not mean it cannot do 2400.

What can happen (and it was famous with the single core Opterons, where the entire supply just about across the world sold out right away), is that AMD needs chip X, and as long as what's coming off the assembly line can do the speed then it'll get branded as chip X and sold as chip X.

What happened with the Opteron 146s was that AMD wanted them, and they were producing much higher grade silicon than was required for them, but they badged them as 146s anyway and sold them as 146s, and overclockers quickly realised they were good up to at least 2.8.

What seems to be the case with the dual core Opterons is that the manufacturing process is so refined they can't intentionally produce slower speed chips. They just produce chips and some get labeled as 165s, some as 175s and some as 185s etc.

There is, however no guarantee that if you buy a 175 it wasn't originally intended to be a 185 and didn't do the speed. Or that every chip can do 185 speeds.

The reason why I bought a 185 is because I wanted to make sure I was getting the best silicon, and I didn't mind paying the premium for it.

There is another difference between the CPUs as well.

All AMD processors (apart from FX line) for some time now have been multiplier locked. This means the multiplier is locked and cannot exceed what it is intended to run at.

You can change the multiplier down the way, but not up.

What that means is that if you have a processor that runs at (they all run at 200) 200x11, then that processor does 2200 at stock.

It could well be capable of doing 2800, but that would mmean since you can't change the multiplier, increasing the FSB to 255.

Increasing the FSB has 2 problems. Firstly your memory likely won't be able to handle the extra speed, and secondly the hypertransport bus almost certainly won't be able to.

There is a way to compensate for both of these, and most motherboards support these ways.

You can run a memory divider. This means you can have your memory running at 166. So while your CPU might be running at 11x250, your memory is running at 166/200*250 = 207.5, which is much more likely to be handled ok by the memory.

The second thing is simply decreasing the hypertransport multiplier, which has little or no effect on anything, and is compensated for when you raise the FSB. In the case I'm talking about you would want to drop it to 4x, and you would be fine.

It is seen as desirable to run a 1:1 overclock - in other words run without a memory divider. Some motherboards apparently clock better without the divider, some people say there's a performance gain. The gain is negligable, and a memory divider in most cases is fine.

Since the dual core Opterons all have different clock multiplier settings, it can be desirable to have a higher clock multiplier, depending on how fast you want to go.

If you go for a 2200 speed Opteron, that's a 11x multiplier. Then you're going to have to run your ram at 270 to reach 3000. For standard ram this is not achievable and you'll be running a multiplier.

For a 185 the stock speed is 2600, which is a 13x multiplier. This means running memory at 230. Most DDR400 memory will run at this speed, but memory timings will need to be slackened in most cases.
 
omegatotal said:
nice project. back to the basics of real hard core modding ! none of this crazy paint jobs and custom molded servo powered doors.. ect. ;)

sata connectors are great if you get good quality cables and dont stress the connectors!

they are not as prone to cable failure as some rounded or standard 80wire pata cables.. and are not as hard to plugin and unplug as pata 40pin plugs..

as for molex power.. w/e it works.. but sata connectors were standardized for the hotswap-ability!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input on the SATA and Molex connectors. :) I doubt you will ever see this case painted or any servo doors on it. I have toyed with the idea of putting electric radio controlled wheels on it so I can move into a LAN in style. :D
 
Top Nurse said:
Thanks for the input on the SATA and Molex connectors. :) I doubt you will ever see this case painted or any servo doors on it. I have toyed with the idea of putting electric radio controlled wheels on it so I can move into a LAN in style. :D
Click to expand...

You could take it out for a walk! Other people have pet dogs, you have a pet AquaComputer!
 
I found the SATA cables I wanted and they should be here in a week or so. Finding Left Angle to straight x 30" long was difficult. Also the rest of my Aqua Computer stuff should be here in a couple of weeks except for the two silver TwinPlex's I ordered which should be here in about 8 weeks. :D

Spent some time calibrating the Aquaero temp sensors in an ice bath (Water In, Water Out, and Ambient) and they are now reading correctly. Didn't bother with the HD sensor as it is a PITA to get to as it is under the HD rack.

Here are my latest stats. Been trying to get it up to 250 FSB, but it just isn't stable in Windows. 247 FSB seems to be the magic number. :)




FFI_071307LoadTemps.jpg
 
Looks good to me. I wish I had more stable overclocks... that is what I get for getting the most tweakable board availablefor S939 :rolleyes: Your cooling system seems to be put together quite well for those temps. I am willing to bet you could crank up the voltage to at least 1.52V. Dunno if your mobo supports that but anyways. Keep it up.
 
Willsonman said:
Looks good to me. I wish I had more stable overclocks... that is what I get for getting the most tweakable board availablefor S939 :rolleyes: Your cooling system seems to be put together quite well for those temps. I am willing to bet you could crank up the voltage to at least 1.52V. Dunno if your mobo supports that but anyways. Keep it up.
Click to expand...

Actually I do think it goes to 1.525 and with the good temps I am getting I suppose I could go higher. Not bad for an Aqua Computer low-medium flow rig, heh?
 
Your attention to detail is awesome! I love it. The HD power loom, how come you didn't go along the backside of the mobo tray? Would have looked 100% cleaner and from what I can tell, it still would have fit? Also, I've never used one but I know heat rises, so shouldn't the psu deflector thingy be facing up?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top