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Project RainMaker: Benchtesting DFI 680i

Well, the time has finally arrived for me to switch over to C2D after a couple of years on AMD X2. The new rig consists of the following components:


  • DFI 680i LT Motherboard
  • Intel Xeon X3220 Quad-Core CPU
  • Mushkin PC2-8500 4GB Kit (2x2GB) 5-4-4-1
  • Areca 1210 with 4x 74GB Raptors (which I reviewed here)
(Click images to enlarge)






For bench testing, I'm using the following scrap parts:

  • Corsair 520W PSU
  • EVGA MX4000 PCI GPU (What a POS... LOL!)
  • Old HD
  • SATA Optical Drive

I decided to hold off for a couple of weeks before buying a graphics card to see how the R600 plays out and how it affects pricing on the 8800GTX.

Cooling will ultimately be H2O with dual loops: a dedicated loop for the CPU using a Thermochill 120.2 and an Apogee GTX; a secondary loop for the chipsets, GPU, and water cooled PSU also running through a Thermochill 120.2. Both loops will be powered by a DDC-Ultra pump.

Anyway, enough blabber, here are some pics...

X3220 (L640F058)...

4GB of Mushkin RAM...

Stock Intel cooler for initial DOA testing (Note the warping of the motherboard... Not good!)



Assembled board with HSF and LanParty NB cooler...



The bench setup...

Using a 120mm fan for the NB for now...

The bench setup...


Did an initial pass in Memtest at SPD timings and a few hours of Orthos at stock settings to ensure everything is working to spec...(Wow... that sucker gets hot with the crappy Intel HSF on there!)


Is that warp in the board flex from the heat sync attachment or was it warped out of the box?

That's the stupid heat-sink... I curse Intel for not using a back-plate. At any rate, I will be switching to an Apogee GTX water block soon and will definitely use a back plate with it.

Glad someone is having luck with this board, I have two (I'm a reseller in Australia). Sometimes the voltages go back to stock even though they read higher in the yellow section and even stting the FSB from 1066 to 1100 results in a no POST, this is on both boards hope the new BIOS fixes issues (Have tried stock and Beta QX67TEST Bios), I won't be selling these boards to any of my customers until these bugs are squashed.

Let me know if there are any tips or tricks I have missed.

VR, Have you taken any pics of your setup since you added the PWM cooler?

Cascades

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