TRITIUM4EVER's
Computer Stuff

[ NEWS ] - [ SYSTEM SPECS ] - [ BENCHMARK SCORES ] - [ PICS ] - [ STUFF FOR SALE/TRADE ] - [ EMAIL ADDRESS ]

COOL LINKS:
   

News:

2007-1-4 12:52pm	Very quick update...just upgraded my video card to an EVGA 7900 GTO. Core speed of a 7900GTX, memory speed of a 7900GT. Sweet.
2006-12-30 12:14pm	Ok I haven't updated this page in ages, and I blame it all on World of Warcraft. I've been playing like a fiend these past two years and I've practically forgotten about comp stuff along the way. Anyway, just a few changes in store. I updated all of the computer info that needed updating, and maybe one of these days I'll get back to doing some benchmarking. Maybe.
2005-03-01 12:33pm	About a week ago my MSI K8N Neo Platinum died (while I was in the middle of a PvP battle in World of Warcraft, no less). I went to Canada Computers to get a replacement, but it was unstable as hell even at stock speeds. It'd be fine in 2D, but go into a game and eventually the entire system would lock up and would refuse to restart until a "cooling off" period (and no, it wasn't a heat problem). In was a real pain in the ass, so last Friday I went to return it and luckily CC didn't give me any problems about it. So what did I do? Well CC had the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI in stock, so I grabbed it. Expensive at $236, but I figured it'd give me a good upgrade path. Then I went over to Infonec and grabbed an Athlon 64 3000+ in Socket 939 format (90nm Winchester loving, baby). Earlier that day, I had gotten an Asus 6600GT PCI-E in the mail, which I had bought used on RFD (got a nice deal on it too). I got the system set up that afternoon, and it's been running flawlessly. The system is fast, extremely stable, and overall it runs a lot cooler than the 3000+ Newcastle and 9800 Pro before it. I haven't done much overclocking yet though. I verified that the system will run stably with the 3000+ at 2.4GHz (stock is 1.8GHz) and the 6600GT at 550/550 (stock is 500/500). I know they're modest overclocks (it's amazing to think that a 33% CPU overclock can count as being modest), but eventually I'll work my way up. Benchmarking results are pending.
2004-12-28 9:20pm	Just a minor update. The Pioneer DVD-500M DVD-ROM drive has been replaced with an NEC ND-3500A DVD±RW drive.
2004-10-28 3:48am	I just discovered yesterday that my Athlon 64 3000+ does 2.6GHz stable at 1.7V. This is only on air cooling too...a Cooler Master Hyper 6 heatsink with an 80mm Vantec Stealth. Frankly I'm amazed that this chip can do those speeds. The next step is to find some RAM that can do decent timings at 260MHz! I'm hoping my BH5 will be able to put out reasonable results with only 2.85V, but I'm not holding my breath.
2004-10-15 1:14am	Well I finally have the P4 system up and running. Incredibly, the system booted right into Windows on the first try, not needing even a repair despite the fact that it was a switch from an Nvidia-based Athlon XP system to an Intel-based Pentium 4 system. Simply amazing. So much for the "you gotta format every time you install a new motherboard" theory. Anyway, I'm testing the system out right now, including a bit of overclocking. My goal is a minimum of 3.2GHz rock stable. I've also swapped out the Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu in my main system for the gigantic Cooler Master Hyper 6 heatsink. Currently I only have a single fan installed, but once I get a matching fan I will install that and put in a ghetto duct (again). Ducts are why Dells can run so incredibly quiet and still not overheat, and considering my previous successes with ducts (both homemade and retail), I figure I might as well do it again. The Zalman has now been installed on the new P4 system. I could've switched the two around, but the Hyper 6 is so tall that the panel in the secondary system's Antec Overture won't close if I used it. The system specs have been updated to reflect all these changes.
2004-10-09 6:31pm	I grabbed a couple new toys yesterday. First is the ATI Silencer 1, which I have now installed on my 9800 Pro. The 9800 Pro's VGA Silencer has migrated over to the Radeon 9500, and the Zalman ZM80C-HP heatpipe cooler on the Radeon 9500 has now been sold. My other new toy is a Coolermaster Hyper 6 heatsink, which is incredibly heavy...and that's without a fan! I haven't installed it yet, but I'll be doing that soon. The other news is that I'll be replacing my Athlon XP system with a P4. Today I sold the Abit NF7-S and the mobile 2500+, and taking its place will be an Abit IS7 and a 2.4C. I'll be happy if I can reach 3.2GHz with the chip, but I have a feeling I'll be able to do better than that. If it hits 3.6GHz, it should approach the performance of my Athlon 64 3000+ at 2.4GHz, which is what I run at on a day-to-day basis. This new system should arrive in several days.
2004-10-02 10:13pm	First things first: I got a new video card for my secondary system. I've replaced the MSI GeForce4 Ti4600 with an ATI Radeon 9500 128MB. This card has the RAM in the "L" shape and successfully softmods to a Radeon 9700! I've managed 17,000 in 3DMark2001, 5,400 in 3DMark03, and 2,200 in 3DMark05. These numbers are waaaaaay better than what I got with the GF4 Ti4600. I've added a new 3DMark05 section, and I've finally gotten around to updating the 3DMark score tables with my Athlon 64 results. I've got some excellent numbers up now that I'm really happy with. I'd love to play around with an X800 Pro or a 6800GT, but I just don't have that kind of money.
2004-09-03 7:39pm	There have been quite a few changes since my last update. For one, I have switched out the 2x256MB OCZ PC3500 Platinum Limited Edition in my main rig in favour of 2x512MB Crucial PC3200. That extra memory really helps system responsiveness, and as a bonus it also overclocks unexpectedly well. I've also had to RMA my 80GB Maxtor drive since it decided not to spin one day. I "fixed" it by gently tapping it, but I did the RMA anyway...just in case. Finally, I've also installed the SP2 update. My secondary system's Gigabyte Radeon 8500 has finally rendered its last polygon, after repeatedly crashing in 3D apps. I've replaced it with an MSI GeForce4 Ti4600 VIVO card, and I get a nice little boost in Doom 3. The 2x256MB OCZ PC3500 EL that was in the system has been sold and replaced with the Platinum Limited Edition that was pulled out of my main rig. I replaced the Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical with a Logitech MX310, and the old ghetto monitor and speakers with a better monitor (17") and even more ghetto speakers. With regards to my overclocking adventures, I'm a happy camper. I figured out why my system didn't like 300MHz HTT (the SATA1/2 ports are not locked down while the SATA3/4 ports are, so I switched the SATA drive from SATA1 to SATA4), and I have managed 315MHz HTT rock stable as a result. The new Crucial RAM is able to run at 240MHz @ 3-3-3-8 1T @ 2.85V, and that has allowed me to get a personal record 3DMark2001 SE score of 23,058. Man I love this Athlon 64 system.
2004-08-11 3:37pm	Initial overclocking results are in, and they're pretty good. I was able to hit 2.4GHz (10x240) at a mere 1.55V, and rock stable too. However, I had to run my RAM at 5:6 (200MHz, 2-2-2-11, 1T) since the 2.85V Vdimm limit prevents me from doing the high speeds I could on my DFI NFII Ultra Infinity. Also, I seem to be unable to hit 300MHz HTT regardless of what I try. In any case, combined with my 9800 Pro at 450/375, I was able to hit a new personal record of 22,300 points in 3DMark2001 SE. Not bad if I say so myself.
2004-08-10 4:18pm	I got the motherboard today and had the old one out and the new one installed in about two hours. I spent 10 minutes heating the stock backplate with a hair dryer to loosen the adhesive so I can put on the Zalman backplate. The placement of the ATX power connector is really poor, blocking the IDE cables, and the heatsink sits perilously close to the video card (in fact, the fins touch the mounting bracket of the VGA Silencer). Overall the installation went pretty smooth and Windows even booted right up without any complaints. One reinstall of the nForce drivers later and I was fully up and running. I look forward to playing with this rig!
2004-08-05 4:01am	Well it's been a long time since I updated this page, and in that time I have gotten a second system up and running. A number of parts are rather subpar (notably the monitor and the speakers) but I won't be spending much time on that system so I don't mind too much. The Radeon 8500 is on its last legs and I'll need to RMA it soon. Stupid leaky capacitors. However the real news is that I'm finally going to an Athlon 64 system! I will be replacing the DFI NFII Ultra Infinity and mobile 2500+ with an MSI K8N Neo Platinum (nForce3 250Gb) motherboard and an Athlon 64 3000+. This ought to keep me competitive in the benchmark race. The motherboard should arrive in a day or two, and I'm planning on buying the CPU tomorrow. Naturally I will update the specifications and add some pics when the parts arrive.
2004-05-11 12:48am	More changes for my system. I've replaced my 2x256MB OCZ PC3500 EL kit with some sweet 2x256MB OCZ PC3500 Platinum Limited Edition. BH-5 lovin' baby! The old RAM will go into my second system (still under construction), which at this point will consist of an NF7-S Rev 2.0, mobile 2500+, 2x256MB OCZ PC3500 EL, and a Fortron 300W PSU.
2004-04-02 2:58am	Very quick update. I've swapped my Audigy 2 for an Audigy 2 ZS. The life of a relentless upgrader...
2004-03-19 4:42pm	Two news updates for today. First, I bought a DFI NFII Ultra Infinity motherboard earlier this week, and yesterday I finally came around to installing it. Hit a few hitches on the way, but now everything is working as it should. Secondly, I got my new 2500+ XP-M today and I'll be throwing it inside the computer any time now. In the meantime, I've taken the liberty of posting new pics of the mobo and CPU in the Pics section. Check it out. Of course, I've also updated the system specs to reflect the changes.
2004-02-06 5:18pm	Well this is a much-delayed update, but hey better late than never. I finally ditched the Alpha heatsink for a brand new Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu copper beast. Thanks to Ralph at E-Compuvision for offering me such a great deal on it. I had to make a few modifications for the heatsink to fit (bend a few pins on my Zalman ZM-NB32J passive northbridge heatsink, lop off a portion of the retaining clip, and slightly bend a capacitor), but I think it's worth it. It performs just as well as the Alpha and it's definitely quiter. Overall, another nice reduction in my system's noise level. Now if I could only quiet down the rattling from the 60mm fan on my video card...

Pics:

Here is my brand new 2500+ XP-M mobile CPU. I'm looking to hit 2.5GHz with this chip.

My new DFI NFII Ultra Infinity motherboard. Reports are that this mobo overclocks even better than the Abit NF7-S, which is pretty remarkable.

The clean lines of the Lian-Li PC-6070 case...no drive stealthing required!

Inside the case...that's about as neat as I can get it. Everything is fully accessible and the pic really doesn't do justice to the neatness of the interior.

A closeup shot of the two Thermaltake ducting mods attached together. Combined with the makeshift Coke cardboard duct, hot air from the heatsink is exhausted right outside the case, resulting in a drop in CPU temperature of about 5C.

A view of the serial number sticker and the heatsink mounted to the southbridge.

Here's my 9700 Pro with a Cooljag JAC313C 1U rackmount heatsink epoxied to the core. Even at low fan speeds it's more than enough to cool the card at overclocked speeds.

Gotta have the necessary clamping force when epoxying heatsinks to components...this ought to work!

Here's the card after all the ramsinks have been attached. Sexy...

Profile shot of the ramsinks. I put a little more epoxy than needed, but better safe than sorry I say.

- hardly used, in excellent condition
- includes USB to PS/2 adapter (not shown in the pic)

My email address:

[ NEWS ] - [ SYSTEM SPECS ] - [ BENCHMARK SCORES ] - [ PICS ] - [ STUFF FOR SALE/TRADE ] - [ EMAIL ADDRESS ]



Since Wednesday, June 11, 2003