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[Case Gallery] 4.8 Ghz Tri SLI Update

HeavyH20

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Processor Core 2 Duo QX9650
Motherboard EVGA 790i SLI FTW Digital PWN
Cooling Phase
Memory 4 GB DDR3-1600
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 260 Tri SLI
Storage 2 x WD RaptorX RAID 0, 1 x WD RaptorX, 1 x Seagate 500 GB 7200.11
Display(s) Dell 3007 HC
Case CoolerMaster Stacker 832 Evolution
Power Supply Coolmax 1200 Watt
Software Vista 64 Ultimate
To view this case mod, go here.



Specs:
qx9650 @ 4.8 GHz, Vapochill LS, 8 GB DDR2-1000, 3 x EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 video cards, 2 x 150 GB RaptorX in RAID 0, 1 x 150 GB RaptorX (games, swap, temp), 1 x 750 GB Seagate 7200.11 (data), CM Stacker 832 NVIDIA, Coolmax 1200 Watt PSU

Mods:
Original case came with green mesh which was pulled and anodized black. Vapochill LS was upgraded slightly for quad support ( coolant recharge, extended plumbing, better fans). Side panel was dremeled to install window kit.

31K in 3Dmark Vantage - 25K in 3Dmark06
 
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Haven't seen a mod from you for awhile, what's the TRI-SLI scaling like, worth it?
 

HeavyH20

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System Name In flux
Processor Core 2 Duo QX9650
Motherboard EVGA 790i SLI FTW Digital PWN
Cooling Phase
Memory 4 GB DDR3-1600
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 260 Tri SLI
Storage 2 x WD RaptorX RAID 0, 1 x WD RaptorX, 1 x Seagate 500 GB 7200.11
Display(s) Dell 3007 HC
Case CoolerMaster Stacker 832 Evolution
Power Supply Coolmax 1200 Watt
Software Vista 64 Ultimate
Haven't seen a mod from you for awhile, what's the TRI-SLI scaling like, worth it?

I have to run some more testing in games, but, my tests at 2560x1600 indicate that turning up AA and AF has very little cost. I think that is where Tri SLI will shine. I will be posting more information as I move along through testing the platform on the Tri SLI thread.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=71382
 
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System Name Z77 Rev. 1
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Memory 2x G.Skill F3-2400C10D-16GTX
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1080
Storage Samsung 850 Pro
Display(s) Samsung 28" UE590 UHD
Case Silverstone TJ07
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME 600W Titanium
Mouse EVGA TORQ X10
Keyboard Leopold Tenkeyless
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores 3DMark Time Spy: 7695
vapochill + high CPU OC = 10/10
tri-SLI + waste of money + lots of heat - no GPU WCing = 7/10
stock "franken cooler" on board + lots of heat = 6/10
very clean system = 9/10


overall 8/10
 
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Ah yes, HeavyH2O strikes again with a system that makes everyone else feel bad :p Very clean and impressive.
 

zvonjola

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Clean, cool & powerful. Awesome job on modding & build Quality.
 

HeavyH20

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406 (0.06/day)
System Name In flux
Processor Core 2 Duo QX9650
Motherboard EVGA 790i SLI FTW Digital PWN
Cooling Phase
Memory 4 GB DDR3-1600
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 260 Tri SLI
Storage 2 x WD RaptorX RAID 0, 1 x WD RaptorX, 1 x Seagate 500 GB 7200.11
Display(s) Dell 3007 HC
Case CoolerMaster Stacker 832 Evolution
Power Supply Coolmax 1200 Watt
Software Vista 64 Ultimate
Thanks, guys. New toy to play with.


vapochill + high CPU OC = 10/10
tri-SLI + waste of money + lots of heat - no GPU WCing = 7/10
stock "franken cooler" on board + lots of heat = 6/10
very clean system = 9/10


overall 8/10

Those are legitimate critiques. Actually, if Tri SLI does not work out, I can move a card to a new home. But, gaming at 2560x1600 almost requires this. :)

As for the watercooling, I will defer that effort until I know the cards are all solid. I have been testing each card individually and that is a pain with watercooling installed. Additionally, I will likely Step Up the cards to GTX 280 or the GTX 280+ if it is released early enough.

I never found that cooling the board helped much on the OC. I already removed the stock heatsinks and applied proper thermal paste (AS Ceramique). Seems to keep cool enough.
 
Last edited:
K

kyle2020

Guest
can i just ask, how much (total) have you spent on that god like rig?!?!?!
 

HeavyH20

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Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
406 (0.06/day)
System Name In flux
Processor Core 2 Duo QX9650
Motherboard EVGA 790i SLI FTW Digital PWN
Cooling Phase
Memory 4 GB DDR3-1600
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 260 Tri SLI
Storage 2 x WD RaptorX RAID 0, 1 x WD RaptorX, 1 x Seagate 500 GB 7200.11
Display(s) Dell 3007 HC
Case CoolerMaster Stacker 832 Evolution
Power Supply Coolmax 1200 Watt
Software Vista 64 Ultimate
can i just ask, how much (total) have you spent on that god like rig?!?!?!


Not that much, actually.

CPU - $250
RAM - $150
Case and PSU - $300
Vapochill - $400
Hard drives -$600
Motherboard - $250
DVD - $20
Fans, etc - $50
And, recently $900 on the video cards.

So, about $ 2,900. Cheaper than Voodoo or like. :)
 
K

kyle2020

Guest
Not that much, actually.

CPU - $250
RAM - $150
Case and PSU - $300
Vapochill - $400
Hard drives -$600
Motherboard - $250
DVD - $20
Fans, etc - $50
And, recently $900 on the video cards.

So, about $ 2,900. Cheaper than Voodoo or like. :)

wow thats quite impressive. ÂŁ1.5K on an epic build. DO WANT! :D
 

_jM

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Processor Core2Quad-Q9550@3.9ghz/1860mhzFSB @1.344v
Motherboard ASUS Maximus II Formula = best damn P45 OCer out there!
Cooling CoolerMster V8-- Custom WC system on the way! =]
Memory 8GB DOMINATORS @1100mhz 5-5-5-18
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 280
Storage 150GB WesternDigital Velociraptor OS Drive/1 WD 500AAKS for Storage
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Case Cooler Master Cosmos S w/custom lighting and cable management
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too rich for my blood... all those VGA's are a waste of money.. shoulda bought a 4870x2 and ditched the NVIDIA mobo.. bad NB not stable enough for me. The phasechange is good though ;)
 
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System Name Z77 Rev. 1
Processor Intel Core i7 3770K
Motherboard ASRock Z77 Extreme4
Cooling Water Cooling
Memory 2x G.Skill F3-2400C10D-16GTX
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1080
Storage Samsung 850 Pro
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too rich for my blood... all those VGA's are a waste of money.. shoulda bought a 4870x2 and ditched the NVIDIA mobo.. bad NB not stable enough for me. The phasechange is good though ;)

all those VGA's are a waste of money.. shoulda bought a 4870x2
- agreed

ditched the NVIDIA mobo
- agreed

Don't mean to crap on the thread.

I don't like my 780i so much. I can reach stable clocks and have had not nearly even close to as many problems with mine as some others (still on my first board even), but the high power consumption due to poor investment NVIDIA made [didn't upgrade their chipsets and kept the large manufacturing process] and the insane amount of heat it creates scares me.

I can run my board fine in excess of 2,000MHz FSB QDR with a NB (SPP) voltage of 1.3v which is not too bad. So, I disagree that their NB sucks; I just believe the whole board is subpar in general.

I cannot wait for the x58. IMO x58 will kill the NVIDIA motherboard/chipset division and NVIDIA will be only making GPUs at that point.
 

_jM

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System Name The money pit v.2 (v.1 is the wife!)
Processor Core2Quad-Q9550@3.9ghz/1860mhzFSB @1.344v
Motherboard ASUS Maximus II Formula = best damn P45 OCer out there!
Cooling CoolerMster V8-- Custom WC system on the way! =]
Memory 8GB DOMINATORS @1100mhz 5-5-5-18
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 280
Storage 150GB WesternDigital Velociraptor OS Drive/1 WD 500AAKS for Storage
Display(s) SAMSUNG 2243SWX 22" LCD
Case Cooler Master Cosmos S w/custom lighting and cable management
Audio Device(s) X-Fi Titanium (Fatality edition) - paired with RAZER Barracuda's
Power Supply CORSAIR HX1000W modular PSU
Software Windows 7 RC 7100--eats vista for breakfast lunch and dinner!
Benchmark Scores Coming to a theater near you!
I cannot wait for the x58. IMO x58 will kill the NVIDIA motherboard/chipset division and NVIDIA will be only making GPUs at that point.


You hit the nail on the head. The x58 will be a new turning piont for future technology. I cant wait either... but i can.. im going to stick with my P45 mobo and E8500 i have ordered untill all the bugs are worked out with the X58 / i7 chips.
 

_jM

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System Name The money pit v.2 (v.1 is the wife!)
Processor Core2Quad-Q9550@3.9ghz/1860mhzFSB @1.344v
Motherboard ASUS Maximus II Formula = best damn P45 OCer out there!
Cooling CoolerMster V8-- Custom WC system on the way! =]
Memory 8GB DOMINATORS @1100mhz 5-5-5-18
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 280
Storage 150GB WesternDigital Velociraptor OS Drive/1 WD 500AAKS for Storage
Display(s) SAMSUNG 2243SWX 22" LCD
Case Cooler Master Cosmos S w/custom lighting and cable management
Audio Device(s) X-Fi Titanium (Fatality edition) - paired with RAZER Barracuda's
Power Supply CORSAIR HX1000W modular PSU
Software Windows 7 RC 7100--eats vista for breakfast lunch and dinner!
Benchmark Scores Coming to a theater near you!
Not that much, actually.

CPU - $250
RAM - $150
Case and PSU - $300
Vapochill - $400
Hard drives -$600
Motherboard - $250
DVD - $20
Fans, etc - $50
And, recently $900 on the video cards.

So, about $ 2,900. Cheaper than Voodoo or like. :)

Where in the world are you buying all those parts for those prices..i.e. qx6850 for $250 !!! k newegg has that chip for 999.99$ And only 900 for 3 evga 260's... all i can say is wow. give me a link to where your buying that crap.
 
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Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1080
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Display(s) Samsung 28" UE590 UHD
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Power Supply Seasonic PRIME 600W Titanium
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Where in the world are you buying all those parts for those prices..i.e. qx6850 for $250 !!! k newegg has that chip for 999.99$ And only 900 for 3 evga 260's... all i can say is wow. give me a link to where your buying that crap.

Cought that as well. He must be purchasing second-hand and likely has no warranty on the CPU.

Best QX6850 price I could find on short order:

QX6850: $888
http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=1064
 
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I don't believe he says he bougt anything retail? I've seen QX's go very cheap new, through certain programs not available to the general public. Nice build HeavyH20!
 

HeavyH20

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System Name In flux
Processor Core 2 Duo QX9650
Motherboard EVGA 790i SLI FTW Digital PWN
Cooling Phase
Memory 4 GB DDR3-1600
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 260 Tri SLI
Storage 2 x WD RaptorX RAID 0, 1 x WD RaptorX, 1 x Seagate 500 GB 7200.11
Display(s) Dell 3007 HC
Case CoolerMaster Stacker 832 Evolution
Power Supply Coolmax 1200 Watt
Software Vista 64 Ultimate
I don't believe he says he bougt anything retail? I've seen QX's go very cheap new, through certain programs not available to the general public. Nice build HeavyH20!

Intel Retail Edge - $249 - new with warranty - QX6850 - this is the reason why there are so many brand new sealed QX6850's on fleabay as of recent.

EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 - $299 retail for $900.

As for the NVIDIA chipset, I got sick of buying a new Intel chipset motherboard for every single revision of a CPU. I have had no issues with the NVIDIA boards. Had them since the NForce 3 days, so it is probably a comfort factor. Deviated from the path with a MSI PowerUp Edition 975X board and a GigaByte DQ6. Worst mistake(s) of my life. I have three 680i boards and the 780i board with no issues, so I cannot say that I am not pleased with the quality. Worked solid on all my systems.

As for video cards, I tried the x1900 when it came out and recently had a 3870x2. Nice cards. I looked at the 4870x2, but, for the same cost as a couple of GTX 260 cards, I opted for the 260's. The third 260 was thrown in the mix since I was curious about Tri SLI.
 
Last edited:

_jM

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Jun 4, 2008
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Location
Ocala,FL
System Name The money pit v.2 (v.1 is the wife!)
Processor Core2Quad-Q9550@3.9ghz/1860mhzFSB @1.344v
Motherboard ASUS Maximus II Formula = best damn P45 OCer out there!
Cooling CoolerMster V8-- Custom WC system on the way! =]
Memory 8GB DOMINATORS @1100mhz 5-5-5-18
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 280
Storage 150GB WesternDigital Velociraptor OS Drive/1 WD 500AAKS for Storage
Display(s) SAMSUNG 2243SWX 22" LCD
Case Cooler Master Cosmos S w/custom lighting and cable management
Audio Device(s) X-Fi Titanium (Fatality edition) - paired with RAZER Barracuda's
Power Supply CORSAIR HX1000W modular PSU
Software Windows 7 RC 7100--eats vista for breakfast lunch and dinner!
Benchmark Scores Coming to a theater near you!
Intel Retail Edge - $249 - new with warranty - QX6850 - this is the reason why there are so many brand new sealed QX6850's on fleabay as of recent.

EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 - $299 retail for $900.

As for the NVIDIA chipset, I got sick of buying a new Intel chipset motherboard for every single revision of a CPU. I have had no issues with the NVIDIA boards. Had them since the NForce 3 days, so it is probably a comfort factor. Deviated from the path with a MSI PowerUp Edition 975X board and a GigaByte DQ6. Worst mistake(s) of my life. I have three 680i boards and the 780i board with no issues, so I cannot say that I am not pleased with the quality. Worked solid on all my systems.

As for video cards, I tried the x1900 when it came out and recently had a 3870x2. Nice cards. I looked at the 4870x2, but, for the same cost as a couple of GTX 260 cards, I opted for the 260's. The third 260 was thrown in the mix since I was curious about Tri SLI.

You still havent said where you bought this stuff.. i would really like to know where i can buy a QX6850 for 249$
 

HeavyH20

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406 (0.06/day)
System Name In flux
Processor Core 2 Duo QX9650
Motherboard EVGA 790i SLI FTW Digital PWN
Cooling Phase
Memory 4 GB DDR3-1600
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 260 Tri SLI
Storage 2 x WD RaptorX RAID 0, 1 x WD RaptorX, 1 x Seagate 500 GB 7200.11
Display(s) Dell 3007 HC
Case CoolerMaster Stacker 832 Evolution
Power Supply Coolmax 1200 Watt
Software Vista 64 Ultimate
You still havent said where you bought this stuff.. i would really like to know where i can buy a QX6850 for 249$

Nowhere, unless you are in the retail channel sales or know someone. There is the program called "Intel Retail Edge". You take Intel tests all year, build up points, and you get a deal from Intel. Most people simply flip the item on eBay and make a little money.
 

_jM

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Joined
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Messages
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Location
Ocala,FL
System Name The money pit v.2 (v.1 is the wife!)
Processor Core2Quad-Q9550@3.9ghz/1860mhzFSB @1.344v
Motherboard ASUS Maximus II Formula = best damn P45 OCer out there!
Cooling CoolerMster V8-- Custom WC system on the way! =]
Memory 8GB DOMINATORS @1100mhz 5-5-5-18
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 280
Storage 150GB WesternDigital Velociraptor OS Drive/1 WD 500AAKS for Storage
Display(s) SAMSUNG 2243SWX 22" LCD
Case Cooler Master Cosmos S w/custom lighting and cable management
Audio Device(s) X-Fi Titanium (Fatality edition) - paired with RAZER Barracuda's
Power Supply CORSAIR HX1000W modular PSU
Software Windows 7 RC 7100--eats vista for breakfast lunch and dinner!
Benchmark Scores Coming to a theater near you!
Nowhere, unless you are in the retail channel sales or know someone. There is the program called "Intel Retail Edge". You take Intel tests all year, build up points, and you get a deal from Intel. Most people simply flip the item on eBay and make a little money.

Yea i just found it. Funny thing is... i already have the 3000 chips for the QX6850 for 239.99.. i dont work for best buy.. but my friend does and hes coming over to let me use his stor chain and employee ID in order to buy this cpu.. Thanx for that lil tib bit of info... im going to save over 700$!!!!
 
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