Hi guys.. I am sure this has been asked before. I have a x6800 (Core 2 Extreme) and I am tired of getting 9998 3dmarks 2006. I can't seem to push forward without Ortho or SuperPi crapping out on me. I have an Asus P5W DH Deluxe. I don't care how much noise it makes, what is the absolute best heatsink to use? I have artic silver 3.. should I spend the money and get Artic Silver 5? Is there a better thermal conductor? Should I also remove the heatpipes and add my own thermal compound?

So really, the real question I have is: What heatsink will take the most heat away from my CPU (I have about 3 Fans right on top of the CPU right now)

First off, are you certain you want to stick with air cooling? Don't get me wrong, air cooling is reliable and all of my rigs are currently on air. But if you are focussed on getting more performance out of your CPU, you might want to check out a water system. If you are certain you want to air cool, there are numerous aftermarket coolers that cool significantly better than stock. I've used the Zalman 9500, the Scythe NinjaPlus, the Scythe Mine and the Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro. I've gotten the lowest load temps with the Zalman, followed by the Mine, NPlus and then the AC, but the temp spread was just about 4C. The stock cooler was about 8C warmer than the Zalman. All of these numbers are for an overclocked AMD Opteron 170. I don't know how its heat production compares to your OC'ed 6800.

In my previous 3Ghz machine, I actually created my own machined water block and used a motorcycle radiator with clear plastic tubes I got from the hardware store. It was a pain in the neck to get the epoxy/Silicon and make sure the water didn't leak out. I finally got it working and got almost nowhere with the overclocking. The x6800 is a HUGE beast when it comes to the ability to overclock. Although, I am not sure if I want to go through the hassle of spending 200+ for a watercooler and then setting it all up. I am going to replace this with something better and faster within 2-3 years.. so I figure what is the point. If I could get this sucker running well at 3600 with the 400Mhz FSB and memory running at the 800mhz frequency, I would be running everytihng synchrounous and jammin. I actually barely managed to break the 10,000 3dmark 06. I got 10,009 points. But I want the system stable when I do that.. and I mean no lockups, random program failures, computer reboots, or any funkyness like that. Specially since I am running two raptors in raid.. I know how those can fail..... power failure and bang, no more raid (not fun)
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Shedding

PS: So is Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro better than artic silver 5? And is it the general consensus that the 9500 zalman is the way to go with the P5W DH Deluxe and Core 2 6800?

If I'm reading you right, I think your mistaken. Arctic Silver 5 is the thermal paste used between the heatsink and the CPU. The AC Freezer Pro (which I use) is a hs/f. Honestly, its a damn nice price/performance ratio because it kicks ass and looks cool too but if your looking for a high end extreme air cooled overclock, AC freezer pro is not for you.

OMG man.. the The Tuniq Tower 120 is HUGE! I have this aluminum guide that directs airflow in my case, I don't think it will allow me to install the Tuniq.. however, I can always remove it if you think this is worth it. I have the Lian Li 201. The design is a bit screwy as everything is backwards.. The Hard drives and power supply are below to separate their heat from the motherboard and CPU. Do you still think it is worth getting the Tuniq?

http://www.lian-li.com/Product/Cha [...] PC-201.htm

What are your current CPU temps.... And what have you pushed the vcore to, a little extra vcore may push you over the 10k,,,,

This is what I have my system setup as:

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=123927

It is a CPU-Z Validation page. It is not stable.. craps out with ortho at around 1 hour 20 minutes. I think I have my core voltage at 1.375V . A bit leery of going higher, although people have said that it can take up to 1.5V.

Another option, if your mobo supports is, it how about drop down to a 10x multiplier then up the FSB to 1375 ish.... This may eek out the extra points...

Also what memory are you running.... (edit) I found the RAM info on the link... As the ram is overspec atm are you sure it's not this that is giving out... Set the Ram 1:1 atm and see how far you can push the CPU, see is the CPU really if the limit not the RAM having issues...

Well, I am not sure how I can maintain the 800Mhz native to the ram? I have to set an FSB multiplier to be a common denominator to 800 (can anyone correct me if I am wrong on this?) The next step would be 3600Mhz and 800Mhz ram (400*9 or 300*12) Can anyone tell me what is better to do.. up the FSB and lower the multiplier or lower the FSB and increase the multiplier. Never was too clear on this. Jamesgoddard.. what do you mean with the 1375? 1375*10=13750 not good. Let me know
Any help on this is appreciated.

IMO best air* heat sink available is the Asetek Vapochill Micro. My chip idles at 20*c and gets to about 27*c on full load, sometimes it can get to 30*c if the room is very warm.


*It's not strictly air seeing as there is a refridgerant gas inside but for all intents and purposes it is.

I was talking about the FSB after the "quad pumping" aka about 344 FSB with a x10 multiplier. This should be fine as the P5W is OK up to about 400FSB so I hear (I hope so cos I have a P5W on order atm)...

If the BIOS does not support the multiplier change then look into getting the 1405 bios version, link http://www.diskusjon.no/index.php? [...] &id=100933 This BIOS supports the all the multi change features and would allow the x10 multi...

I think if you set the multi to x10, then set the RAM to 1:1, then see how far you can push it....

Note this BIOS version is officially BETA - but sounds good....

PS I still think you are conservitive with the Vcore - 1.4 should be very very safe...

Hey wusy.. I have the x6800. Where is your forum to check out the info? Let me know.

Given that the Infinity only provides mounting brackets for one fan. How could I set this up??

Crazy glue, silicon, multiple rubber bands, multiple home-made wire frames, some tape. << That would be the only self-made attachment I would trust. I wouldnt want a loose fan wringling at 16k RPM inside my case...

16K rpm... That could suck your hard drive right off it's mount.

I saw a pretty good 120mm hs/f the other day with 10 heatpipes on it (well it's actually 5 but it goes up both sides so for all intended purposes, it's 10). It's the Scythe Infinity 5. If you replaced the current fan on it with, say, a silverstone fm121, then you'd get some good cooling there. HERE'S the URL for the page on NCIX.

get a scythe mine, and replace the fan with a turbine 120 mm fan from xoxide. the stock mine gets about as good performance as any top heatsink. but replacing it with the turbine fan... the fan pushes like 3-4 times the air of the stock fan that comes with the mine. so you could only imagine what the performance would be.

16K rpm... That could suck your hard drive right off it's mount.
Yeh, I think he meant 16h(hecto) or 1.6k.

1.6k yes lol
16k would better be used to turn cows into steak...

I considered the scythe MINE at first. But it has less heatpipes and its smaller than the Scythe Infinity. Definetly a nice choice in the 92mm section, but not the cutting-edge performance.