Sprocket sashays...

[clocker]

Um, yeah, you're right.
I dunno why it says that.

It's definitely Vista x 86...I spent time this morning installing SP1.
At this point Vista is the only OS I have installed.

[kaiweiler]

Did you notice any improvements with SP1? Is it the final release or the RC version?

[clocker]

It's the final release and no, I haven't seen anything obvious as yet.
My understanding is that the file transfer speeds will be increased and I plan on testing that out soon.

My brother, sister and nephew are all visiting this week, so time is at somewhat of a premium.

[Detale]

D., you need to disable the power saving features in BIOS (EIST, CIA2?)...they are what causes the multiplier to default down to 6 whenever they decide the processor can run slower.
I thought that overclocking the chip usually disabled the power save features automatically but it wouldn't hurt to do it manually.

TheAC Freezer Pro is tough to beat for the money.
On the high end, the Thermalright Extreme 120 is generally considered the unit to beat.

Dude thanks so much. I hope all is well with the whole Clocker crew. I did some research on the Thermalright and I found that only 1 cooler beat it in certain tests the Enzotech Extreme-X Copper Forged Premium Heatsink I think I am going to go with it What do you think?

[kaiweiler]

Looks like a decent cooler, but I would personally go for the Ultra 120 Extreme from Thermalright instead. I like having the freedom of choosing a fan that suits my liking.
That Enzotech is rated at 43dBa, which is quite loud. Of coarse sound level ratings have a lot of variables involved to make them accurate, but regardless I'd probably end up changing out the fan anyway. It depends what you want really.
In any case, I have never ever heard of anyone being disappointed with the Ultra 120 Extreme.

[clocker]

...I think I am going to go with it What do you think?

Given my freakish weakness for cooling products, I'd probably buy both and see for myself.
But that's just me.

I've used Thermalright products in the past and believe their rep is fairly earned.
Enzotech is relatively new but seems well reviewed.

Forced to choose, I'd go with the Thermalright since I have many, many fans I could slap on, not to mention the world's best fan controller (Sunbeam), so I could tailor the performance/noise ratio to a T.

If you're working with the e8400, it really doesn't matter much...the chip runs so cool that almost any quality sink would handle the load.
I suppose one deciding factor would be how you want the heatsink oriented on the board...the TR sits vertically and the Enzo horizontally, so you may want to analyze your layout and see which might be more advantageous to the components surrounding the CPU socket.

[Detale]

[quote=clocker;2731532]

...I think I am going to go with it What do you think?

Given my freakish weakness for cooling products, I'd probably buy both and see for myself.
But that's just me.

I've used Thermalright products in the past and believe their rep is fairly earned.
Enzotech is relatively new but seems well reviewed.

Forced to choose, I'd go with the Thermalright since I have many, many fans I could slap on, not to mention the world's best fan controller (Sunbeam), so I could tailor th

...I think I am going to go with it What do you think?

Given my freakish weakness for cooling products, I'd probably buy both and see for myself.
But that's just me.

I've used Thermalright products in the past and believe their rep is fairly earned.
Enzotech is relatively new but seems well reviewed.

Forced to choose, I'd go with the Thermalright since I have many, many fans I could slap on, not to mention the world's best fan controller (Sunbeam), so I could tailor the performance/noise ratio to a T.

If you're working with the e8400, it really doesn't matter much...the chip runs so cool that almost any quality sink would handle the load.
I suppose one deciding factor would be how you want the heatsink oriented on the board...the TR sits vertically and the Enzo horizontally, so you may want to analyze your layout and see which might be more advantageous to the components surrounding the CPU socket.

Don't temp me bro. Damn I still don't know I have to think on it a while but Im leaning towards the Enzotech because I think it looks a bit nicer.

Have you put any thought into the Q6600 at all? I personally don't think much of it after the E8400 also I used the new Convert X to DVD 3 ( My video converter of choice) it says it supports quad cores but I only see an increase in converted frames per second of around 10-15 average again not really impressed much, When I have time I'm going back to the Wolfdale prob when I get the new CPU cooler.

EDIT: OK so I never really wanted to get into water cooling before because I feel it's a bit expensive BUT I am lurkiing around on some great cooling sites and I come across this product:

CoolIT Eliminator Thermoeletronic CPU Cooler $160



Now I have not seen anything like this before.
3DGameMan gives it a "kickass" review ( I know he's corney but I think his reviews are thorough)

[youtube]DU7Z8VeRJHQ[/youtube]

I have done some mild reading and can't find anything wrong with it as of yet. Do you guys know anything about it? Please hurry I don't know how long I can hold off from making an impulse but right now

Sorry to hijackyet again, I'll stat a new thread man

[clocker]

I've been playing around some more but in a somewhat unusual direction.

It's pretty apparent by now that the e8400 Wolfdales are freakishly overclockable but there is a huge difference in how people achieve the extra speed.
In the various threads it seems that once the easy level is reached- by this I mean 9 x 400= 3.6GHz- the amount of voltage required to hit 4 GHz is radically different (although there is no way of knowing how competent these people are...they may just be upping the juice because they think they should).

Sprocket's chip seemed to be less voltage hungry than most (I've only seen one or two examples that hit 8 x500 at less than my 1.275v), so I've been experimenting with the highest possible clock balanced against the lowest possible voltage.

Although not exhaustively tested as yet, I have managed to hit 9 x 400 (3.6GHz) with just 1.175 vCore ( this is down from a stock level of 1.225v) and I'll bet she'll go even lower...


This is not just a whim on my part.
Lots of the early users are now reporting a total loss of overclock capability after a few weeks of 24/7 running at elevated voltage.
There is a lot of controversy about what the highest "safe" voltage might be and I've decided that until more trustworthy data is available (which may be never) that I'll just sidestep the question altogether and explore the undervolting option.
So far, it seems to be working out quite well.

The Wolfdale's other main weirdness surrounds it's temp reporting...basically, idle temps are very untrustworthy.
Intel says that it really doesn't care about the sensor's accuracy at low temps since they are there to throttle the chip at dangerously high levels, so that's the area they concentrated on.
There is a program (RealTemp) specifically written to try and spoof this inaccuracy but I'm not sure how good it really is.

My doubt springs from the fact that my idle temps haven't scaled downward with the voltage decrease.
Even my full load temps haven't changed much (after factoring in ambient variations) but as I've rarely seen max temp exceed 40°c under load, I guess I can stop worrying about that as well.

This setup is just sweet as hell...I don't know how AMD will ever catch up again.

Edit: Just finished another round with 1.15v vCore...


Time to drop 'er again...

[Cabalo]

any ideas of which are considered the safe volts to keep a wolfie 24/7 safely? i'm near 1.48v and i think it's kinda high for a 45nm chip.

[clocker]

I don't know and I don't think anyone else does either.

People argue quite vociferously and throw Intel White Paper quotes around like spears about that very topic.
Then there are the folks who have lost the ability to clock at all after a few weeks of higher voltage.

It's confusing partly because heat alone doesn't seem to be an indicator.
Used to be- think AMD 2500 Barton here- that you had to toss lots of voltage to up the FSB but as long as you managed the temps the chip seemed to survive OK.

Nowadays- probably because of the advances in cooling solutions- even insanely (by my definition) overvolted chips max out well below the TJ max value and yet some of them die.

Because of the uncertainty I set my personal comfort cap at 1.3v.
It helps that I got extremely lucky with my chip and excessive voltage hasn't been needed to reach good clocks.

Within a few days of posting initial results (I admit to pimping Sprocket in several other forums) I started getting offers to buy the Wolfie at a premium over what I paid.
The potential to profit has also had an effect on how much I'm willing to push the chip as well.