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Troubleshooting a New Build

jscasteel — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:46:14 CDT

I have seen quite a few "new build failure" threads here. The following is one of my replies that I have cleaned up, expanded, and added to Tom’s Wiki. This assumes that the new build is completely dead. Even if not completely dead, the same troubleshooting principles still apply.

I have long been a proponent of breadboarding a new build. That enables me to test all of the parts before I install them inside the case. Breadboarding means assembling the components outside the PC case on an insulated surface. In the old days, say 10 or 20 BC (Before Computers), that literally meant using a wooden breadboard. I use a fairly thick nylon cutting board. ________________________________________________________________________
This is a general purpose reply. Comments specifically applying to my eVGA 122-CK-NF68 motherboard (Phoenix-Award BIOS) are in italics.

ed. Apr. 1, 2008 - I am currently assembling a system using a Gigabyte EP35-DS3P motherboard. The BIOS beep patterns for memory failure and missing video are the same.

Assuming the speaker is properly connected (or built in) to the motherboard, no beep means the POST (Powerup Self Test) did not start. A video card or memory problem that does not short the PSU out will still generate a beep pattern indicating video or memory problems. eVGA 680i board has builtin piezo beeper - doesn't need speaker. You should become familiar with the POST codes. Your motherboard manual may list them. If not, google something like " POST codes". The one standard POST code among the BIOS brands seems to the one short beep indicating that the POST was successful.

Check the back of the power supply. If the PSU has a 115/230 volt switch, make sure it is set to the proper voltage. If you plug a PSU set to 230 volts into a 110 volt outlet, nothing much will happen. The system simply will not work. The opposite is not true. If you are lucky, you will fry just the PSU.

Turn off the computer with the switch on the back of the PSU or unplug it. I prefer to use the switch if present. That way, everything is still grounded through the power cord. Wait a few minutes. While you are waiting, double check all the cable connections. Make sure that the case switches and LED's are connected correctly. Pay close attention to the main power and 4/8 pin 12 volt connectors to the motherboard. If the computer is completely dead, the case power switch may be bad. Swap it with the reset switch to test. Turn on the computer. If it still doesn't work, you have to resort to serious troubleshooting. eVGA 680i motherboard has builtin POWER and RESET switches - very useful for testing or troubleshooting.

If so, six possibilities:
1. The motherboard is improperly installed in the case, shorting something out. This happens surprisingly often. Verify that the metal standoffs in the case exactly match the motherboard mounting holes. Many cases have extra holes to fit different sizes of motherboards.

2. Bad or inadequate PSU. A working PSU will send a control signal called "PSGood" or something similar to the motherboard. eVGA calls it "PWROK". You can find this signal on pin 8 (gray wire) of the 24 pin power connector. It should rise to around 3.5 to 5 volts in less than 1 second after pressing the power switch. The motherboard needs this signal before the CPU can start the boot process. A problem with any output should kill the PSGood signal. Losing the PSGood signal forces a CPU reset. This is one of the causes of random resets because of PSU problems. Even with all of the power outputs present, if “PSGood” is missing during initial powerup, the CPU will stay reset. PC's with modern components NEED a good stable PSU. The +12 volt outputs are particularly critical. The forums here contain guides on how to select (by brand and capacity) a good PSU. And even a reputable PSU may be DOA or have other internal problems.

"Quick and dirty" under load PSU voltage checks (carefully, carefully) of the main outputs with
DMM black lead grounded and red lead inserted into the back of the various PSU connector pins
plugged into the motherboard:
yellow, yellow/black, and yellow/blue wires: +12 v
red: +5 volt
orange: +3.3 volts
blue: -12 volts
purple: +5 volt aux or standby - should be present if PSU plugged in and main power switch on
All readings should be +- 5%.

The 5 volt Standby or AUX output is completely separate from the main outputs. So seeing the red or green LED on the motherboard does not mean that the PSU is good.

While we are talking about PSU's, if you have a suspected bad PSU, also check the grey wire on
pin 8. It provides a control signal called "PwrOK" that the CPU needs to start booting.
With the PC off, it should be at 0 volts. It should go to around 5 volts (anything over 3.6 volts
will be OK) within .5 seconds after pressing the power switch. You can have all the power outputs
present. But if you don't have this, your PSU is broke and your PC won't boot.

3. A bad drive or video card that shorts out the PSU.

4. Bad memory.

5. Bad CPU.

6. Bad motherboard.

CAUTION - you need to remove power (ON-OFF switch on back of PSU or unplug it) from the computer each time you install or remove anything. I know this sounds stupid, but you'd be surprised ...

Disassemble everything.

Here is where I start any new build.

While the CPU is removed, inspect the LGA775 socket for obvious damage such as bent pins and debris inside the socket. (One poster at THG reported finding a tiny piece of wire that had fallen inside the socket.) Breadboard only the PSU, motherboard and speaker, and CPU and HSF. Doublecheck HSF installation, especially on an LGA775 board if using the Intel-style push pin mounting scheme. An improperly installed HSF will lead to thermal problems that should shut the system down within about 10 - 15 seconds (about long enough to complete the POST and start booting). If the problem was in the CPU socketing (very rare, but has happened), reinstalling the CPU should solve it. Plug in the main power connector and the 4 or 8 pin EPS connector into the motherboard. Now you need a way to turn on the computer. I normally use wiring, switches, LED's, and a speaker scavenged from an old case.

Turn on the computer. If the fans start spinning, you at least have some 12 volt power present. Look for any motherboard LED's. If you hear beeps, the computer at least started POSTing and the PSU, motherboard, and CPU are probably good. No beeps means that at least one of the three are bad. At this point, all you can do is test the parts by substitution. I say "probably good" here because an inadequate PSU could pass this test and fail later when it is more heavily loaded.

A working motherboard with only power connected and the CPU and HSF installed will complete the POST with a failure beep pattern. Beeps now should indicate memory problems. With no memory installed, an eVGA 680i mobo will generate a series of long single beeps. Install the memory. No beeps probably means that you have a shorted memory chip. Dual channel motherboards can operate with only a single memory module installed. Install each one separately and test. Sometimes motherboards do not properly set the memory operating voltage. That is a more complex problem than the simple "It won't start" problem. ("Simple" is not the same as "easy".) For one thing, if the computer does not start and complete the POST you cannot get into the BIOS to adjust the memory voltage.

With the memory installed, multiple beeps should indicate that the POST detected video problems. With no video card installed, a 680i will generate a series of one long and three short beeps. Install the video card, plug in any necessary aux power cables, and plug in the monitor. Turn on the computer. No beeps now means that the video card is shorting out the PSU. Otherwise, at this point you should see something on the monitor if the video card is good. At this point, if there are no problems, an eVGA 680i mobo will successfully POST (a single short beep) and the LED display will show "7F". The monitor will indicate a boot failure.

Turn off the PSU and plug in a keyboard and mouse. Turn on the computer. Try to enter the BIOS to set date and time and verify the amount of memory present. If you can do this, it means that all the expensive parts are probably good.

Start plugging in the rest of the components one at a time and test. No beep, and you have found the problem. If everything works, it probably means that something was improperly installed in the case. Reassemble in the case and test, following the steps above. If you are lucky, everything works.

I always breadboard a new build. I pretty much reserve the fourth port of my KVM switch for system testing.

John S. Casteel - "jsc" in the forums

Evil.

TheAnubisGrim — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:50:02 CDT

Evil is Not evil. Its Good with a dark tint.
When you think of evil. what pops into your mind? Serial Killers? Murder's? Ebil(ya ebil) Scientest's?

Evil can be that ONE annoying kid, who will never get i ntrouble for ANYTHING. the kid is darkness inmprimate Online. The kid is Pure evil. And so ebil it aint funny :-)

You think this skull is evil?->
Why is it so evil??

"I am whatever you say i am"-Eminem

By:TheAnubisGrim

Water Cooling

Phreejak — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:51:46 CDT

A Beginner's Guide to Water-cooling
by Phreejak

Chapter 1: Introduction to Water Cooling
Chapter 2: The Equipment

CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Water Cooling

Section 1 Introduction

The steady advancement of computers and their components gave rise to the increase in their energy consumption and, consequently, the rise in their internal temperatures due to the collective heat. It became apparent that cooling a computer was a priority and, as the state of cooling concepts were at the time; air was the medium through which the ends would be achieved. Advancements in heat sink and fan design proved usual for a period of time but the technology began to outpace air’s cooling capabilities and further alternatives were needed. The experimentation into water cooling proved successful and its potential as a viable cooling option was born.

Initially, skepticism of such a method of cooling limited its widespread acceptance. Running water through a device that was largely powered by electricity seemed ludicrous at best. However, as development in this area grew, innovation paved the way for the creation of more secure water cooling elements and thus, its acceptance and even its implementation became more widespread.

Now, water cooling has carved itself a niche in system cooling circles and continues to grow in use everyday. There was a time when a person might rarely encounter a water cooled computer. Today, its presence is fast becoming commonplace – both as a method of cooling and as a topic of discussion amongst many enthusiasts.

What this water cooling guide is going to attempt to do is give the new user a better understanding as to what the whole water cooling scenario is about – the philosophy, equipment, effort and expense involved - to better prepare them should they decide to step up to this method of component cooling.

Section 2 Why?

I think the first thing you have to ask yourself is why you want to get into water cooling. When immersing yourself into new concepts and ideas, there are certain expenses involved that could be from the relatively inexpensive premade kits to the more expensive Do-It-Yourself (Hereafter referred to as DIY) projects. Make certain that what you wish to achieve is beyond the realm of air cooling as the potential cost involved is going to be substantially greater. There are some very good heatsink/fan combos that are very effective and, as long as you have an adequate air stream moving through your case, it could be adequate for your needs. The best air cooling solution will perform as effective as some of the cheaper water cooling solutions. That being said, air cooling is much cheaper and is effective - to a certain point.

The Word: Investing in a custom liquid cooling solution for your computer will require that you do some research because you will need to develop your own philosophy as far as how you want to approach water cooling. The information that you collect from the forums and from people who are experienced with WC is a valuable tool. People who have experience with water cooling can help you avoid some of the mistakes you may be prone to make as a newcomer to this field. It’s not enough to know what equipment is involved or how something looks – experience will teach you things that you can’t find out from a catalogue or an online site like how a GPU water blocks construction can affect water flow or determining whether placing a radiator internally or externally is condusive to what you want your cooling loop to achieve.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions, that is what forums are there for – to spread knowledge. For every knee jerk reaction you get from some smart mouth user, there are half a dozen (or more) people who will be more than happy to assist you.

Section 3 Different Classes of Water Cooling

The magical number is ambient temperature.

That is, the ambient temperature (or the surrounding environmental temperature around the computer) is what air cooling and water cooling concepts strive to reach. Neither will attain it specifically but, the allure of water cooling is that it comes much closer than air cooling to achieving this.. Your computer components (those which need cooling) will always be warmer than the ambient temperature. Both use the ambient air around (or in) the computer to accomplish certain results when trying to remove heat from a source. Water cooling is more effective as water is a better conductive medium for removing heat away from a source than air cooling. This is a qualified statement as water cooling is also influenced by the equipment involved.

There are premade kits which are designed to have most of the necessary equipment involved in an effective cooling loop. This is further enhanced by those kits that add additional components to cool your GPU (video card) and Northbridge chipset as well as your CPU. You’ll find kits like the Corsair COOL Water, Thermaltake BigWater, Vantec, Cooler Master Aquagate and Gigabyte among others. These kits come with everything involved in a typical cooling loop – radiators, reservoirs, tubing, water blocks (some include more than just for the CPU), etc. The expense is nominal insofar as typical water cooling kits are to cost. However; with some of these kits, their effectiveness is very limited. Typically, these types of kits will cost no more than $150 with many less than $100.

The next step, beyond these kits, are the kits offered with water cooling manufacturer’s parts (often offered BY the manufacturers themselves). These kits are considerably more expensive than the aforementioned premade kits in that they involve actual specialized components of a more refined nature. Here you will become more acquainted with the more reputable component companies like Swiftech, Danger Den, Alphacool, Aqua Computers, etc. These kits will normally involve parts made only from the manufacturer for each phase of water cooling – take a typical Danger Den kit – Black Ice radiators, maze 4 water blocks, a Danger Den pump and a Danger Den reservoir – I think you get the idea here. These kits will be more effective than the premade kits previously mentioned as their selective components were designed to be more effective. These kits are offered in many different configurations to cool just the CPU or go so far as cooling the CPU, GPU and the Northbridge chipset. Of course, the price here is considerably more expensive than the premade kits and can be anywhere from $175 to more than $300.

The last and final step for water cooling enthusiasts is going to be what is often referred to as Do-It-Yourself (or DIY). Here concepts and standard practices are pretty much just used as guidelines as parts are mixed and matched and typical practices are often disregarded for more imaginative solutions. But, be forewarned, this often ends up with considerable expense at its ultimate end. The nice thing about this type of class is that the parts do travel with each computers upgrading and, with the exception of the liquid coolant and, perhaps, tubing, most of your parts will continue to provide you with usage for years to come – regardless of what new equipment comes out. (Of course, there is the change in GPU structure or CPU socket that will necessitate new parts being bought but this is the price of maintaining an absolutely effective cooling solution). Water cooling in this area is often becomes an enjoyable experience because of the reward of designing a working cooling solution takes on a matter of pride. The expense of being in this class is nothing short of a google to the nth power (or whatever that is) but you get the idea – it’s enough to make you pass a bowling ball through your colon.

Section 4 Philosophy

While this is not a really important section I thought to mention that the water cooling enthusiasts here in the United States seem to be more subscribed to a slightly different philosophy than is elsewhere (especially in Europe). Here, while we will use kits that use ¼ ID and 3/8 ID parts and tubing, we have a fondness for ½ ID products and the high flow characteristics and powerful pumps that it involves. I’ve found that most European countries are more apt to use just the ¼ ID and 3/8 ID parts as most European companies that produce water cooling equipment do so for those two measurements. Very rarely will you find much of any European part for larger diameter usage while here in the States it is attainable in abundance.

When planning a cooling solution you will find that your preferences may change over time. Whether you want to maintain a maximumized flowrate and try to limit the number (and type) of waterblocks OR you want to cool as many components as possible, the choice of what to do will be influenced as you gain more knowledge so keep up with the technology!

CHAPTER 2: The Equipment

There is so much that could be mentioned here. I mean, there is so much varied equipment for each section of water cooling that it would take a lifetime to mention them all – so we won’t. We’ll cover the basics of equipment, give a few examples and just hope that it gives you a more thorough understanding of what basically is needed to form a complete cooling solution. Note: the equipment discussed is not to be viewed as any kind of "recommended buyers guide" but was used for purposes of ease of discussion and as examples.

Inner Diameter

There is a common characteristic of water cooling that covers the equipment that you will encounter - Inner Diameter.

It affects everything from the water blocks and radiators to the clamps, tubing and reservoirs. It is the measurement of the size of the inside of the specific type of medium vehicle (i.e. tubing) or connector through which the liquid coolant will flow. When reading or hearing someone speak of something such as "Swiftech Storm Water block with 3/8 fittings" or "reservoir with 3/8 barbs" this means that the equipment is ideally designed to use 3/8 inch tubing. Likewise if your radiator uses 1/2 ID high flow fittings" the only important thing you need to look at is that it said "1/2 ID" which will indicate that it was designed for 1/2 ID tubing. The most common measurements for tubing and connectors are: 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2. You may also see mention of an O.D. or "Outer Diameter". This, of course, is the measurement of the outer wall of whatever component is being discussed. This can vary depending on the type of equipment but is most commonly associated with tubing. A product, as in this case - tubing, can have an ID (Inner Diameter) of 1/2 but can have various outer diameter degrees like 3/4, 11/16, etc. In this case it just helps to distinguish between the different types of tubing products offered for the 1/2 ID product.

When dealing with components like barbs, connectors or fittings you might see them referred to by their "Outer Diameter" Remember, the O.D. is a measurement of the outer wall of whatever component is being discussed. But, it also determines what type of part you may select for use with a particular tubing size. If you have a 1/2 "Inner Diameter" tube then you would want to use a connector, barb or fitting that would fit snugly inside of it. That would mean you would want a part with a 1/2 O.D. I know this can get confusing but it does make sense. For 3/8 I.D. tubing you couldn't use a 1/2 OD barb because it's too big. Likewise, a 1/4 O.D. fitting would be too small. You get the idea? 3/8 ID tubing fits over a 3/8 O.D, 1/2 ID tubing would work with a 1/2 OD connector.

Section 1 Listing

Water block(s)
Pump
Radiator
Reservoir
Tubing
Fittings
Liquid
Miscellaneous

Section 2 Water block(s)

A water block is, basically, a housing through which water flows to remove heat from a source - in terms of water cooling, a specifically designed mechanism for a specific computer component. It’s the most recognizable part of a water cooling solution because, unlike most other parts, it evolves more often as certain computer parts evolve (like the GPU or a new CPU socket type). The design of a radiator or reservoir rarely ever changes except through conceptual design but water blocks change often based upon need. Rather, it should be said that additional water blocks are introduced into the market as computer parts change so they are the most abundant of parts, ultimately. This is, of course, a generalized statement as some specific water blocks are more difficult to obtain than others. They are all offered with ½, 3/8 and/or ¼ connectors. Not all water blocks offer compatibility with all sizes of ID though – some are designed more specifically to function at particular ID sizes. This listing is meant more as an explanation of the different types of water blocks available.

1) CPU Water block

The CPU block is one of the most important parts of the loop. This is the gateway where the water cools down the CPU. Obviously the block goes on top of the CPU so that there is optimal heat transfer. This might sound like a simple idea, but the world of block design is crazy and very complicated. Like the standard heatsink/Fan combo this also uses some form of thermal paste as an interface between the CPU and the water block.

To uncomplicated things, we’ll classify two forms of CPU blocks.

Non-Impingement Blocks: these blocks are less restrictive; most of these designs are simple. The water basically flows from one end of the block to another with the addition of some fins which cause turbulence (more water movement = more heat displacement). These blocks are great for people with weak pumps that can’t give much head pressure. An example would be the Swiftech MCW 6002.

Impingement Blocks: these are the cream of the crop, top notch water blocks delivering high performance. However, this obviously comes at a price. These blocks range from mildly restrictive to extremely restrictive. The impingent blocks should only be bought in par with a very powerful pump. The basic concept of this block is to shoot the incoming stream of water into a “pin matrix” design. It is a series of pins that are formed into a grid that creates a larger surface area from which heat escapes and can be removed. As a rule of thumb, a larger surface area means a potentially more efficient block. The Swiftech Storm comes to mind as a prime example of this type of CPU water block.

2) GPU Water block

Probably the second most used water block in terms of addition to a water cooling loop, this type of water block is also the most evolved of any of the water block types. As competition amongst the graphics card makers rages on, so have their designs. As of late, Invidia has attempted to keep a particular design structure with their 6800, 7800 and 7900 GPUs and that has made water blocks designed for use in their products easier to keep up with - much more so than ATI. It is possible to use some 6800 water blocks on some 7800 cards and you can use most 7800 water blocks on most 7900 cards but ATI water blocks are more specific. This is, of course, for those water blocks that are “all inclusive” in that they also include video memory cooling incorporated into their design (referred to as "Full body" waterblocks). In addition to cooling the video memory, some of these water blocks also have attachments that will help cool the voltage regulators of the video card.

There are more basic designs which just cool the GPU and you would have to purchase additional “micro heatsinks” to be placed on each memory location to effectively cool the video ram.

Some water blocks of a more specialized nature include bridges that also cool the voltage regulators on a video card – these components can get very hot.

Companies suck as DangerDen, Innovatek and Aqua Computers have developed even more specialized GPU water blocks that cater to the enthusiast market for video card configurations such as Nvidia SLI and the dual pcb (printed circuit board) 7950GX2.

The Word:

3) Northbridge Water block

The Northbridge, typically, controls memory functions like – a memory controller (for Intel Chipsets), a level 2 cache communicator and bridges the gap between the CPU and Ram – it also handles functions between the CPU and the graphics processor on the PCI, AGP and PCIe slots. Since this particular part is always busy it can generate quite a lot of heat. In terms of water cooling, specific blocks were designed (based upon retention type) for these chips. The retention type refers to the method that is subscribed by the motherboard to hold its Northbridge chipset cooling mechanism.


Most motherboards (and, hence most chipset water blocks) use a “two hole” method for use with spring loaded plugs or screws.	Some motherboards, though, use “hooks” that are applied in two and four hook configurations, to loops that are on the Motherboard – disallowing the use of screws or spring plugs.

4) Hard Drive Water block

Is it any wonder that with the increase in relative speeds and sizes of hard drives that the heat they produce is also increased? Anyone who has ever owned a Raptor Series of hard drives can attest to the heat they generate. That heat can lead to added heat to the overall computer temperature as well as endanger the stability of the drive itself in such an enclosed space if the heat is not dealt with sufficiently. The water cooling world has answered this concern with the creation of hard drive water blocks. Some designs involve enclosing the entire hard drive while others are made with a very basic skeletal structure. The basic premise of each, though, is the same – run water against a surface that is in connection with the hard drive. There are two basic designs:

Side-cooled Blocks – these are water blocks that hold the hard drive along both its sides and run water through these contact points. These offer the smallest of contact areas but are very popular in their design because of the flexibility they offer within a case. The Alphacool SILENT star, Danger Den Aqua Drive and the Innovatek HDM L-Pro are examples of this. Attachment to the drive is done via screws which go into the sides of a hard drive much like a drive bay rail or guide.

Top/Bottom Blocks – these blocks are mounted on the top or bottom of the hard drive and cover the entire surface area of its contact point. While they are more effective at moving heat away from a hard drive they are also the most cumbersome to use as they often take up access to a surrounding drive bay. Some of this type of bloc, though, allows two hard drives to be attached, one on top and the other on the bottom. Examples of this type of hard drive block are: the Koolance Hydra-Pak, the Alphacool HDD3 and the Asetek Waterchill Hard Drive Cooler.

5) Miscellaneous

There are more highly specialized water blocks that are available for particular parts of motherboards and graphics cards – you’ll see them referred to as Mosfet Water blocks, Voltage Regulator Water blocks, etc. These type of water blocks are usually associated with a particular brand of computer equipment like the Mosfet Water block for Nvidia 7900 series video cards or the Long Mosfet Water block for the Abit AW8 Fatality series motherboards. Now that you have some understanding of what water blocks do you can surmise that these water blocks are used to remove heat from a potentially hot source but are more specific as to where they will operate. There are also water blocks available for system memory (Koolance Ram-30) and for video memory (Alphacool MCX ram).

Section 3 Pumps

The pump is a very crucial part of the cooling loop and is the heart of your setup.

Before we begin, though, I wanted to explain some terms that you might encounter quite often. The first of these is “Head”. For purposes of definition, “Head” refers to the height of a vertical column of water. This is the maximum height that a pump can sustain any semblance of flow rate before it loses its capabilities. For purposes of an example we'll use a pump rated at 317gph with an imaginery "head" of 36 inches. At 0 inches of height you will have maximum flow rate and the pressure will be zero. Pressure is a measure of resistance to flow. Thus, at its initial discharge, at 0 height, the pump experiences its least resistance and generates its fullest flow. As the height in the cooling loop increases, the resistance to flow increases and the flow rate decreases. Earlier we said that our pump had a "head" of 36 inches. The closer the pump gets to its "36 inch" height, the less flow is generated.

So, at 0 height we have 0 pressure and 317gph. At 36 inches we have full pressure and no flow.

The second term I wanted to explain is liters and gallons. Some pumps rate their flow at liters per hour (lph) and other at gallons per hour (gph). 1 liter is .264 gallons. 1 gallon is 3.785 liters. So, if a pump has a flow rate of 1400 liters per hour then the equation would look like this: 1400 (liters) * .264 (gallons) = 369.6gph. Likewise, if a pump has a flow rate of 317gph then the equation would look like this: 317 (gallons) * 3.785 (liters) = 1200lph

For purposes of classification, we’ll touch on two different categories which will themselves have to different classifications within them. In terms of power adaptation there are two types of pumps – 12v and AC. The most obvious distinction is that the 12v draws power from a direct connection to your computers PSU via a standard 4-pin molex connector. The AC pump uses a power cord that connects to a wall outlet. Modifications are possible for the AC pump to use an internal relay switch from which a power cord can be utilized but does not have to invade the computers structure. Having a relay switch with an AC pump also serves to turn the pump on when the computer is powered up. Relay switches come in several forms and will typically occupy a standard PCI access slot on the back of your computer. Some, though, might require a little modding work on the case.

Also, within these two types you will find that pumps can be further subdivided into “submersible” and “non-submersible” pumps. Submersible pumps are those that are encased within a reservoir, underwater so to speak. Alphacool’s Laing brands of pumps are submersible.

However, you will most likely deal with non submersible pumps over the course of your water cooling experience. With that in mind let’s distinguish between the AC and DC (12v) pumps. What you will find is that the AC pumps are going to be the most powerful. They are also the largest and most expensive. Bigger does not always mean better in this case. It might be more accurate to say that bigger or more powerful does not always make a pump practical. The relative size and power of larger AC pumps might prove less advantageous due to the sheer space that they occupy. While more flow means a better cooling loop, in the case of some of the larger AC pumps, their size can become an issue. Take the Hydor SELTZ L 45 II – it pumps water at an incredible rate of 950 gph (gallons per hour). That’s a lot of movement. But, the pump itself stands a full 7 ¼ inches tall and is 7 ¼ inches long and has a width of almost 4 ½ inches. There aren’t that many cases that could even begin to think about housing that unit. Of course, such a pump is more normally used to cool more than one computer at the same time but you get the idea. The Eheim 1250 pump is a slightly less powerful when compared to the aforementioned Hydor but as an AC pump it is still quite large. While it pumps water at a high rate of 317gph, it too is very large at just over 7 inches long * 4.7 inches tall * 3.8 inches wide.

DC pumps, though, are considerably smaller and, as a general rule, are less powerful although, some are as powerful as their AC counterparts in certain cases. Drawing their power from your computer’s PSU, they are much more convenient to use and have a much smaller footprint than most AC pumps. One of the most popular pumps on the market is the 12v MCP 655 (Swiftech) which is also the same thing as the DD-D5 or Laing D5 (Danger Den). It is a very powerful pump when you consider its size relative to the flow rate it creates. At 317gph it is as powerful as the Eheim 1250 but it is only about 4 inches long * 3 ½ inches wide * 3 ½ inches tall. This particular pump is also silent running. Basically, the only way to tell that it is running is the turbulence created by its flow rate.

Section 4 Radiators
A radiator is, simply, a heat exchanger. It is designed to remove heat from any liquid moving through it onto a row of “fins” from which the heat “radiates”. There are quite a few notable companies who sell first rate radiators – Danger Den is probably the most well known – then there is Swiftech, Alphacool, Thermaltake, Corsair and Thermochill, to name a few. Radiators come in varied sizes, largely based upon both size and number of fans employed. They can be found in single, dual, triple and larger configurations. Two fan sizes are used in radiator design (generally) – 80mm and 120mm. Furthermore, fan mounting holes are placed on both sides of a radiator to allow for flexibility in mounting, fan placement and whether or not the air is “pushed” or “pulled” through the radiator. Radiators can be mounted internally or externally. As it was earlier mentioned, air can be “pushed” or “pulled” through the radiator fins depending on how the fans are arranged. There is a popular method whereby fans are placed on “both” sides of a radiator. Known as “push-pull”, fans on one side of the radiator are set to “push” air through the fins while another set of fans, attached on the other side of the radiator, are used to aid in “pulling” the air. This method is used to maximize the potential to a greater degree than a single row of fans. Shrouds are also used to further enhance the efficiency of the fans and air movement through the fins of a radiator. A shroud is a “plate” (with fan holes for 120mm or 80mm fans cut through it) that is laid between the fan and the radiator. They seal the area around the fan and radiator so as to allow for a more directed flow of air through the pathway into (and out of) the fins. The benefit here is that there is less air disruption from gaps between the fans and radiator where a complete seal is not otherwise found.

Single-Pass and Dual-Pass Radiators
Think of a row of tubes, being a parallel row of tubes from one side of the radiator to the other. Imagine it as being like a slice of bread, with tubes running from one end to the other. A single-row radiator is like a single slice of bread. A dual-row radiator is like two slices of bread together.

Single Pass

In a single-pass radiator, the coolant flows from the inlet at one end, straight through all the tubes all at once, to the outlet. Single-pass benefits because it presents all the tubes with the highest possible water temperature at once (whereas a two-pass radiator will only get the highest temperature inlet water on one side, and then cool slightly cooler water up the other side. This doesn't make a huge difference though. Generally it provides a 1-15% performance benefit from this effect alone).

Where single pass falls down, though, is the tubing velocity. Because the water is presented to all the tubes at once, the water velocity through the tubes is half of what it is through a dual-pass radiator. As the flow rate (and hence water velocity in the tubes) goes down, the radiator performance starts to fall away. With a single-pass you've gone and halved the water velocity in one hit. This is offset somewhat by the temperature delta benefit of single-pass, but it is by no means a sure thing that single pass will be better.

Dual Pass

In a dual-pass radiator the water flows down one half-side, U-turns, and back up the other half-side. For multiple row cores, dual-pass is always better and flow restriction doesn't really come into it. The vast bulk of the flow restriction in these types of cores all comes from the fittings. The pressure drop difference is insignificant when water blocks are involved, so long as the radiators have correctly designed end-tanks. Higher CFM fans are more suited for this type of radiator.

Reservoirs

Reservoirs are receptacles for holding a volume of water that is cycled through the cooling loop and for trapping air that is existent in the water flow. This is an extremely populated category of water cooling component as there are so many different types of reservoirs available. For purposes of giving you a basic understanding, this guide will discuss the most commonly designed models.

The most basic design of a reservoir is a container with two screw holes and a cap. The screw holes will have some form of thread size to which various fittings will mount. These threads allow a person to adjust the ID size (to a point) based on the ID theme of the cooling loop. The cap is where you pour your coolant to fill the tank. Since there are so many different types of reservoirs, you won’t be lacking for a design to choose from as they come in such shapes as (but, are not limited to) cylindrical, rectangular and circular.

There are a varied number of ways that reservoirs can be mounted – in the drive bay, suspended by specific clamps, mounted in fan blow holes, etc. I think you get the picture – there are a number of options available to any person as far as reservoir design and method of placement. Some reservoirs are more highly specialized in that they have multiple thread holes for enthusiasts who may have need for more than a single cooling loop in their system. This type of reservoir allows for a convergence of the loops into one source of coolant. Reservoirs, while chiefly made of acrylic, can also be found to be made of many other materials (i.e. aluminum, delrin, etc.).

It should be noted that some enthusiasts forgo the use of reservoirs in favor of “T” fill lines or “Fill and Bleed” kits but for purposes of this guide, they aren’t going to be discussed.

Tubing

Tubing, basically, is the medium that is used in the transportation of liquid coolant from one point of a cooling loop to another. The size variations include (but are not limited to) ¼ ID, 3/8 ID, ½ ID, 5/8 ID and 7/16 ID. Also, tubing wall thickness can be varied amongst the same ID size – this influences both bend radius and ant kinking properties as well as flex fatigue. Flex fatigue is the ability of the tubing to maintain its bend radius without collapsing over time or usage. Tubing’s importance is often overlooked – much in the same vein as the way power supplies are chosen when constructing a computer. However, it is to an enthusiast’s folly that they do not take the significance of this component more seriously. The importance of tubing cannot be overstated by any means as there are so many factors that both influence tubing integrity and are influenced by the tubing’s quality.

There are so many different types of tubing in the market that it gives an enthusiast a number of options with which to base their choice. Factors such as chemical resistance, kinking, price, memory, bend radius, permeability, flex fatigue and discoloration are but a few of the characteristics to consider when deciding upon tubing.

Of the many varied tubing products available to an enthusiast, tygon, Clearflex60 and Primoflex are of the most abundant. Of the three, tygon is considered as being the premium product. It is also the most expensive (in some cases, twice the cost of Clearflex). Primoflex is the cheapest alternative of the three.

In almost all phases of tubing characteristics, Clearflex60 is a viable alternative to the more expensive tygon – kinking, bend radius and flex fatigue. But, where tygon gains its advantage is in permeability, chemical resistance, wall strength and memory. Clearlfex60 uses a standard 1/8 wall size compared to 1/16 of the tygon tubing on comparative products. Of course, there are also specialized wall thickness sizes for each product like ¾ OD, 11/16 OD and so on. tygon tubing was designed to be a premium lab grade product and, thus, specializes in chemical resistance and permeability. The best example of this when compared to Clearflex60 is discoloration over time. When you are funneling coolant through a water cooling loop, tubing will generally begin to discolor over a prolonged period of time. This will be evident in the degrading effect that is witnessed in the tubing’s opacity. What happens is that as the coolant travels throughout the loop, the tubing’s permeability has the effect of “collecting” a buildup of the coolant along its walls and that is evident by the “cloudiness” that most water cooling loops experience. tygon tubing is much more resistant to this effect than any other tubing product and maintains its clear visibility much longer.

Primoflex is unique in that, besides being an even cheaper alternative to Clearflex60 and tygon, it also comes in UV reactive wall designs – red, blue and green. Primoflex is adequate with respect to the other characteristics of tubing and measured along side Clearflex60 and tygon but, falls short when measured up against them. Also, Primoflex will not work with compression fittings.

So, the most abundant tubing offered to potential water cooling enthusiasts is standard Clear PVC, Primoflex, Clearflex60 and tygon. However, there are a myriad of other products – each offering their own testimonies - such as Thermaltake iTube, Mazzer, Masterkleer, Silicone, Polyurethane and Aqua Computer’s Plug & Cool to name a few. You will not be lacking for options when choosing tubing for your water loop(s). The choice of product will be based on your budget and/or desire for level of quality and characteristics.

Fittings

Fittings, in short, are the connectors through which tubing is attached to a component in a water cooling loop. This component can be anything from a water block, reservoir or another piece of tubing. They can come in all the various standard sizes (1/4 ID, 3/8 ID, ½ ID, etc) and perform various functions based on their design.

For water blocks you’ll have fittings with a specific screw thread that will offer various sizes. For example, A Danger Den Koolsah GPU water block uses G1/4 screw threads for its connectors. Based upon the ID theme of your cooling loop, to use this water block you would have to get a ¼ ID, 3/8 ID or ½ ID connector with a G1/4 screw thread on it.

The same thing can be said for virtually any type of water block as well. They all have specific screw thread sizes (some of the more common ones are 9/16 straight, G1/4, G1/8, 3/8 BPP, etc.). Connectors with specific thread sizes and tubing sizes are also found on reservoirs and radiators. It is important to pay attention to, not only what component you are purchasing but also the thread and connector size available for that part, not all connectors are offered in all sizes and the same can be said for the threads as well – not all thread sizes offer tubing connectors for all inner diameter sizes. A common thread size for ¼ ID and 3/8 ID tubing is G1/8, Because of the rather small channel of the G1/8, it is not offered in anything larger than 3/8 ID because it would be flow restrictive beyond that.

The fittings with screw threads can be found in many variations such as the 90 degree elbow for right angle bends out of a component like a reservoir.

Also, there are many different types of threaded fittings – compression, barbed, quick connect, high flow, plug-n-cool, etc. The most common fitting that you will deal with is going to be barbed or high flow – from which the tubing is slipped over and held in place by a clamp.

There are fittings without threads that are used to direct water in a certain way. They can come on many variations like “Y” splitters and “T” lines. There are also fittings that will allow you to reduce tubing sizes mid-loop (one end of the fitting might be for ½ ID and the other end would be 3/8 ID). You can, typically, find a fitting for whatever function you are looking for.

Liquids

Coolant is the medium in a water cooling loop through which heat from a source is transported. There are a considerable number of products available within this category of component that offers a wide variety of advantages and purposes. Coolants will, typically, come in two forms, premixed and additive. In a premixed form, the coolant has already been combined with deionized water in a balanced mixture. PrimoChill ICE and FluidXP are two examples of this. Premixed solutions come with galvanic inhibitors, biological retardants and lubricants in their mixture. In the additive form, a small bottle of coolant is often provided but must be mixed with a proportionate amount of water. Note: Since most water blocks are copper and most radiators have aluminum cores, this creates a battery-like reactive situation as those two metals don’t work well together and promotes a breakdown of their integrity (over time). Coolants have properties that retard this type of reaction. Water does not - which is why you should always used water cooling specific liquids in any cooling loop. Never use regular tap water as there are a number of additives and impurities that would decrease or affect the cooling potential of the water loop. It is recommended that you use bottled water for this. Corsair COOL, Hydrix, Zalman G100 are examples of additives.

Furthermore, there are specialized additives that are designed for specific effects like UV Dyes, which can be added to water loops to give the flowing liquid an ultraviolet light reactive appearance.

There are also specialized coolants that are “non-conductive”. Coming in premixed forms, non-conductive coolants are what they state – non-conductive. The obvious benefit of this type of coolant is that if there are leaks and/or spills in the computer, the escaping liquid will not short out any computer components through conductivity. These premixed coolants are considerably more expensive than the additives. Where an average bottle of additive might cost approximately $4.00 to affect 32 ounces of water, a 32 ounce bottle of non-conductive premixed solution might cost anywhere from $20 - $35.

Galvanic Reaction and Biological Contaminants

Galvanic degradation is a condition that exists when dissimilar metals come into contact and are joined by some kind of electrolyte.

Amongst the materials that water cooling components are made of, aluminum and copper are of the greatest abundance. Radiators are, typically, made of aluminum and the majority of water blocks are composed of copper. When a medium such as water is run through a cooling loop, it picks up particles of everything it comes into contact with and carries them into contact with any surface it interacts. Because these two metals do not react well with each other, it becomes necessary for there to be some kind of inhibitor that will compensate for such a possible reaction. Most coolants have some form of corrosive inhibitor and it is so very important that this is taken seriously. This is one reason why you simply cannot run pure water as a coolant. Not using a proper coolant could result in the shortening of the total life of radiators, fittings and water blocks.

Most coolants also have some form of algaecide that reduces the possibility of any biological presence from appearing. Besides its unsightly appearance in any place of the cooling loop, algae can clog water block or radiator channels thereby increasing the flow rate resistance and decreasing the components effectiveness.

Fans

In order for a radiator to fully utilize its potential in removing heat, fans must be attached to it to blow air through the fins. This air movement carries the heat away and assists the radiator in sending cooler liquid back into the cooling loop. Chiefly, there are two sizes of fans that you will encounter for rads – 80mm and 120mm. You won’t find 80mm rads or fans in use in a cooling loop as frequently as you will find 120mm though. Typically, a fan is attached to a radiator by way of screws. The direction of the fan can be either pushing or pulling air through the radiator grill. As for which is a more effective method – MaximumPC recently did a study on this very question and the end result was that there is actually very little difference either way.

It is highly recommended that you use Shrouds with the fan/radiator setup. A shroud is a piece of equipment that is placed between the fan and the radiator and is used to seal off that area. Its benefit is that it focuses the air direction straight into the radiator grill, void of any turbulence created by gaps, which will definitely aid in its efficiency. These shrouds are placed wherever fans are attached – on either side of the radiator.

There is a method of fan placement that generates a greater volume of air movement through the grills called “push-pull”. Since radiators have the ability to house fans on either side of its grill, some enthusiasts have used this as a means to force a greater volume of air to be circulated through the fins. In a standard radiator, one fan is attached (with shroud) on one side, directing air through (“pushing”). On the opposite side, a fan is placed (with shroud) pulling air through, thus aiding the air movement. The advantage of this technique is, of course, greater air movement through the radiators fins and thus, better cooling efficiency. However, having additional fans may prove problematic if placing the rad within a case. Externally, the issue lies with power connections as they will prove challenging to find if you are using a dual 120mm radiator (or triple). That is up to 6 fans – all of which need to find a power source somewhere.

Miscellaneous

Besides the main components of a cooling solution that have been previously discussed thus far in the guide, there are a number of smaller parts that are still of relatively extreme importance in completing a loop. There are also a number of components that, while not absolutely necessary, do offer advantages in maintaining cooling loops integrity.

To keep attached tubing from leaking and to help maintain its hold on a fitting, it will be necessary to apply clamps of some form over the tubing/fitting interface. Clamps come in two types, metallic and plastic. The plastic clamps are equipped with alligator teeth that, when squeezed together, for a strict bond that won’t slip. They will maintain their hold on the tubing until they are removed. Breeze miniature hose clamps are metallic clamps that are adjusted by using a screwdriver. They offer certain advantages over the plastic clamps. They offer higher sealing pressure with minimal torque requirements. They are constructed of marine grade stainless steel and are extremely corrosion resistant.

Sometimes, it becomes necessary, when forming cooling loops, to have tight bends when connecting one water block or component to another. The problem with this is that, under certain conditions, tubing can collapse or kink due to pressure or age, To help guard against this, a person can use “coolsleeves” to strengthen the tubing’s walls. coolsleeves are a length of coiled plastic that is wrapped around tubing where tight bends are expected. It forces the walls into equalizing the pressure as much as possible at various points. This will allow for the use of tighter than normal bends.

radbox Assemblies are used with external radiators. Their function is to act as a standoff between the computer case and the radiator/fans. Typically attached to a 120mm blow hole either in the rear or the top, a radbox assembly will create a gap of approximately two inches between the case and the rad. This greatly aids in air movement around the rad.

*I would like to acknowledge thanks to shawnlizzle for use of his previous “Water cooling 101” guide and from various sites through which much data was gathered.

Build Your Own

mpilchfamily — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:20:23 CST

Featured Page: Water Cooling

The steady advancement of computers and their components gave rise to the increase in their energy consumption and, consequently, the rise in their internal temperatures due to the components rise in collective heat... Advancements in heat sink and fan design proved usual for a period of time but the technology began to outpace air’s cooling capabilities and further alternatives were needed.

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Mobos & RAM

mpilchfamily — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:19:51 CST

Featured Page: RAM Basics

RAM is an acronym for random access memory, a type of computer memory that can be accesed randomly; that is, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computers and other devices, such as printers.

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Graphics & Displays

mpilchfamily — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:19:18 CST

Featured Page: Crossfire

CrossFire is ATI's version of SLI. Like SLI (Scalable Link Interface), it uses 2 video cards to process a single frame with output to one or more displays. The purpose of CrossFire is to increase the frame rate and visual quality in a 3D game or 3D application.

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Working With Acrylic

mpilchfamily — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:09:35 CDT

By: mpilchfamily

One of the most common PC mods is the case window. Today nearly every case manufacturer has several modes that have premodded windows. Now this may be good enough for some, but for enthusiast like myself nothing beats the satisfaction of creating your own window mod. In order to create a one of a kind window you will need to know how to work with Acrylic/ Plexiglas. In this Article we will cover:

Tools Needed
Cutting
Finishing
Molding
Joining Acrylic

Topic continued at: http://www.xcpus.com/forums/case-mods/112-moding-acrylic.html

PC Maintenance

mpilchfamily — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:48:37 CDT

A Guide to PC Maintenance

By:mpilchfamily

This topic has been moved to its new home at www.xcpus.com

http://www.xcpus.com/forums/case-psu-cooling-articles/2389-pc-maintenance-guide.html

USB WiFi Adapter Mod

mpilchfamily — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:45:14 CDT

By: mpilchfamily

I have been using a Belkin USB WiFi adapter for my Internet access for some time. I was plagued with constant problems of maintaining a solid connection. After finally reaching a breaking point I decided to do something about the problem. So I did some searching on the web for a solution and found this web page.

http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/

So I thought I would give it a try and see what would happen. Well my wife was kind enough to sacrifice the lid to her Wok for the project.

See the rest of the information at: http://www.xcpus.com/forums/other-mods/151-usb-wifi-adapter-mod.html

Tools Of The Trade

mpilchfamily — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:43:10 CDT

By: mpilchfamily

Find the updated information here: http://www.xcpus.com/forums/case-mods/113-case-moding-tools.html

PC Mods have become a very common sight amongst PC enthusiasts. You are limited only by your imagination. Mods range from adding windows, fans and lights, to altering the internals or painting the case to suit your needs. We will be covering some of the basic and most common tools used in PC Mods. Mainly along the lines of physical alterations to the case.

Whenever you do any cutting, filing, sanding, or clipping of the case you will want to perform these task out side. Preferably on a solid surface away from anything flammable. You will also want to wear the proper ear and eye protection.

If you intend to do any kind of cutting, filing, soldering, or anything that could potently send a foreign object into your face and eyes then one or both should be worn. I recommend wearing both whenever you decide to start cutting into metal. As i said earlier cut-off wheel will break., reinforced or not. Not to mention all the sparks that fly everywhere. Believe me they will burn your face. You will also want some sort of ear protection. Cutting metal gets quite loud.

The #1 tool of all modders is the Dremel®. If there is a hole to be cut this is the tool of choice.These tools have a great number of attachments available to cut through any material you need. I recommend getting a variable speed unit like the one pictured. When cutting through materials like Acrylic and Fiberglass you will need the lower speeds. Otherwise you will just be melting the material rather then cutting it.

The Fiberglass Reinforced cutting wheel is the best for cutting into metal cases. There are a few other cut-off wheel options available. These have a bad habit of shattering right in your face. Well needless to say it's not a pleasant feeling especially when it was spinning at 25000+ RPM.

One of my favorite tools in modding is the Kronus Nibbling Tool. You can cut most anything using a pair of these. Granted you will have sour blistered hands but it works. I was able to cut a 120mm fan hole in the top of a case. I used these rather then the Dremel because the Dremel will easily scratch up your case. The nibblers leave a nice clean cut every time. So long as you make the cut from the bottom side of the peice.

A must have in any modders tool kit is a set of Jewelers Needle Files. They are great for cleaning up ruff edges that the Dremel will leave behind. A must have for keeping your cuts sharp and clean.

You will also want a set of full size files. You always want to make your cuts just inside the line then file it all down to size. The larger files will make quick work of this. But that's for another article.

There are other handy items you may want to have to help you prep your mod. Things like Painter's Tape and an Exacto Knife. These are for planning out and taping off your cuts. This helps to minimize scratches on the case from a tool slipping out of the cutting area. A permanent marker is also a handy item for marking out your cuts from the inside of the case.

As mentioned before, modding is limited only by your imagination. So use any tools you can adapt to your needs. I've known many people who have used Jigsaws to cut there holes. A friend of my went so far as to buy a Drill Press and a very expensive set of whole saws so he could cut perfect 80mm and 120mm holes.

Overall the Dremel is a must have for moding. There are many addons and bit options available for this tool. You just can't go wrong with a Dremel.

This was just a short list of the tools used in modding. As I mentioned before anything can be used but these are among the most common. Any thing goes in modding so use your imagination.

Tiered PSU Listings

mpilchfamily — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:40:10 CDT

This is taken from the Official XS Tiered PSU Manufacturer Brand Listings and has not been updated here in quite some time. The original listing can be found at:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

I found this to be a very good list to refure to when sellecting a PSU. So here is the article from the above link. Thank you perkam for compiling this great list.

WHICH ONES TO BUY ??

Tier 1 can handle 4Ghz Conroe or 3Ghz AMD along with Oced Quad Crossfire/SLI With Ease.
Tier Z offers quality and power unequalled in its wattage range and is second only to other Zippy units.
Tier 2 offers almost as much power and stability as Tier 1 at Comparable Wattage levels with lower price/better availability.
Tier T offers the high quality components of Tier 2 with slightly less Rail stability due to Topower internals.
Tier 3 is ONLY Recommended if Price difference is present between Tier 3 and Tier 2 or due to availability issues with Tier 1/2 PSUs.
Tier 4 is recommended for stock or low power systems if Tier 3's are more expensive or are not available.
Tier 5 are NOT RECOMMENDED, but some brands have high/medium quality components in Tiers 2 through 4.

-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----

Tier 1 Brands - The Most Powerful And Stable Components On The Market
Enermax Galaxy
PCP&C TurboCool
PCP&C Silencer >610
Zippy/Emacs SSL
Zippy/Emacs GSM
Zippy/Emacs PSL
Silverstone ZF (Etasis 85/75/56)
Seventeam ST >600 (SSI, V2.91)

Tier Z - Less Powerful Than Tier 1 Zippy Units...but they're still Zippys
Zippy/Emacs HG2
Zippy/Emacs HP2

Tier 2 Brands - Top Quality components With Top Notch Stability - For Those With Price/Availability Issues With Tier 1
Antec Neo HE
Akasa PowerGreen 80+
CoolMax CTG-750W/850W/1KW
Cooltek CT
Corsair HX
Enermax Liberty
Enhance ENP-GH
Fortron (FSP) GLN
iStarUSA PD2
iStarUSA PD3
OCZ GameXStream
OCZ EvoStream
PCP&C Silencer <610
Seasonic S12
Seasonic M12
Seasonic Energy Plus
SevenTeam ST <600
Silverstone EF
Supermicro/AbleCom
Thermaltake Toughpower >600W
Xclio GreatPower
Zalman ZM

Tier T - High Quality PSUs Made With Topower Internals - Less Rail Stability Compared To Tier 2 But Still Better than Tier 3
Mushkin Enhanced
Tagan U95
Tagan U25
Tagan U15
Tagan U22
OCZ PowerStream

Tier 3 Brands - High Quality and Stability, Second Only To Tier 2 Brands
Acbel Polycom
AMS Mercury
Akasa PaxPower
Akasa PowerPlus (>500W Models)
Antec Phantom
Antec TruePower III
Antec True Power II
Antec True Control II
Antec Neopower 480W (Old Model)
Antec Smart Power 2.0
Athena Power Space Shuttle Series
Channel Well
Enermax Maximum Plus
Enermax Noistaker II
Enermax Noisetaker
Enermax Whisper II
Enermax CoolerGiant
Enhance ENS-G
Fortron (FSP) GLC
Fortron (FSP) THN
Fortron AX
Fortron HLN
Fortron PFN/PN/PA
Seasonic Super Versatile
Silverstone F
Sparkle FSP
Spire Rocketeer V/VI
Sunbeam Nuuo
Thermaltake Purepower
Thermaltake Toughpower <600W

Tier 4 - Not Recommend With Tier 3 In same Price/Wattage Range
Aerocool
Asus Atlas
BFG
Coolermaster Real Power
Coolermaster iGreen
Delta
Enlight
E-Power
Futurepower
Hiper
HIPRO
Lite-On
Masscool
MGE XG
Mushkin HP
NorthQ 4775-500S/BU
OCZ Modstream
Scythe Kamariki
Sintek
Thermaltake TR2
TTGI/Superflower
Ultra Xfinity/X2

Tier 5 - Other than the units listed above for any of these brands, NOT RECOMMENDED
A-TOP Technology
APEX (SUPERCASE/ALLIED)
Aspire(Turbo Case)
ATADC
Athena Power
ATRIX
Broadway Com Corp
Cooler Master
Coolmax
Deer
Diablotek
Dynapower USA
EagleTech
FOXCONN
I-Star Computer Co. Ltd
In Win
JPAC COMPUTER
Just PC
Kingwin Inc.
Linkworld Electronics
Logisys Computer
MGE
MSI
NMEDIAPC
Norwood Micro/ CompUSA
NorthQ
NZXT
Powmax
Q-Tec
Raidmax
Rosewill
SFC
Shuttle
Skyhawk
Spire Coolers
Star Micro
STARTECH
TOPOWER TOP
Ultra X-Connect
Wintech
XClio
XION
YoungYear
Zebronics

-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----

Phase III compensates for overcrowded Tier 1, while clumping together previously Tier 2 and 3 PSUs if only because no definite way to categorize then as good enough for Tier 2 or bad enough for Tier 3.

Storage

mpilchfamily — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 04:43:27 CDT

Featured Page: RAID

1. What is RAID?
RAID is an acronym for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (as opposed to SLED - Single Large Expensive Disk). Today, most drives are relatively inexpensive and the meaning of the 'i' is changing into 'independent'. The purpose of RAID is to use 2 or more drives together in order to obtain increased performance and/or data security.

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Motherboard Basics

mpilchfamily — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 06:03:28 CDT

What is a motherboard?

A motherboard is basically a piece of board with printed circuits on them. It holds the processor, chipset, RAM, Graphics/Video card etc.. In short, a motherboard is a central hub for all the computer components as they are all connected to it. A computer cannot work without a motherboard.

A Typical Motherboard

Sizes

Motherboards come in different sizes. The most common ones are ATX and Micro-ATX motherboards.

ATX - 12" x 9.6"

An ATX Motherboard

Micro-ATX - 9.6" x 9.6"

A Micro-ATX Motherboard

There are no major differences in terms of fuction or specifications between different-sized motherboards. An ATX board normally contains more expansion slots or more spaced-out hardware than Micro-ATX boards.

Due to the difference in case size, it is strongly recommended / compulsory for you to select and purchase your motherboard before buying the system case. Refer to Case Selection for more specific details.

Choosing A Motherboard

Motherboards generally look the same, but you have to take note of the components they have / support. The major component that divide the line of motherboards is the processor. There are two major processor companies:

- AMD a chipmaker of Athlon / Athlon 64 products
- Intel a chipmaker of Pentium / Core Solo / Core Duo products

Each company produces their own processors with specific technologies. However, it will be unfair to compare the performance of processors in this article.

These two companies use different sockets to hold their processors. Newer sockets support faster speeds and newer technologies.

TO BE CONTINUED

Case Selection

mpilchfamily — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 02:23:13 CDT

There are several things to consider when looking for a good case. Some are more important then others. For the most part case selection is a matter of personal preferences and your individual needs. Amount the things to consider are:

Construction
Cooling
Noise
Features
Aesthetics

Construction

The materials that make up your prospective case can determine if it's a quality case or not. The most commonly used materials are steel, aluminum and acrylic. Some of the sturdiest cases are made from steel. Overall it's the thickness of the material that matters. While steel weighs more then aluminum it has a more solid feel to it and you can use somewhat thinner material and still have a solid case. While aluminum needs to be fairly thick to make for a solid case. Overall aluminum is lighter then steel even when thicker material is used. So the thickness of the material is an important item to look at. Make sure the case is durable. If it’s flimsy to the touch then you may want to move on. Cheaper cases try to save money by using thinner material making for a shifty case that may be out of square. This will make installing the components difficult. Regardless of the weather it's steel or aluminum, if it's a cheap case it will have sharp edges that can further complicate your build. Some cases are made completely from Acrylic. While these cases are generally sturdy and look good they can have issues with static buildup. As long as the system is properly grounded this doesn't present much of a problem.

Cooling

Your choice of cooling, be it air or water, has a large impact on your choice of cases. While most cases center on air-cooling there are those that take water-cooling into consideration. Good cases tend to come with fans even if there isn’t a fan for every position in the case. Airflow configurations will very from one case to another. It all comes down to the overall design of the case as to what the optimal configuration of the fans will be. Cases like the Coolermaster Stacker 830 is designed to use a wall of fans on the side as intakes and every other fan is set as an exhaust, even the front fans.

Noise

For many noise level is a key concern. In general more fans mean more noise. Regardless of weather it's a silent fan or not. Air makes noise when it moves. Also pay attention to the size of fans. You will want the case to have 120mm fans or larger in it. Larger fans don’t have to spin as fast to supply the same amount of air as smaller ones. The faster a fan spins the more noise you get from both the motor and the fan blades cutting through the air.

Features

Now we enter the area of personal preference. There are a wide variety of features on cases. Ranging from windows and lights to removable motherboard trays and tool less drive bays. The list is almost endless. Now positioning of these features such as the placement of the front panel play a role in choosing a case. You wouldn’t want a top mounted front panel if your case is going to sit inside a cabinet. So think about the features you want and consider their impact. If you run your system in your bedroom 24/7 you may not want a case with LED fans. It may keep you up all night. Another facet is the interior layout of the case. There are those cases that are a bit cramped and difficult to work with. You also want to consider if the case has the room to fit that nice 1 kW PSU and that new video card. Also consider the orientation of the motherboard in the case. Some cases like many of the Lian-Li case mount the motherboard upside down. Many boards now use heat pipes to cool the chipset. Most of those heat pipes will not function well when mounted upside down.

Aesthetics

Simply put, you don’t want an ugly case. Maybe you’ll want a case that looks good to you and possibly fits in with the rest of your room. Maybe you want a case that can sit in your living room and not be noticed. Many people like a case that is noticed and can be showcased to friends. What ever your style is there should be a case to suit you. A wide range of colors and styles are used on cases. So whatever your preference may be you can find a case or at least make it look the way you want.

Conclusion

In the end it’s all a matter of finding what you like. Sometimes you may have to make compromises. Generally this is due to a limited budget. Just try not to compromise build quality for the look you want. Great thing about cases is if you don’t like something about it they can be modded but that’s another topic all together.

Mice

mpilchfamily — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 06:39:02 CDT

Basics of Mice

By: Mpilchfamily

A mouse functions as a pointing device by detecting two dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of a small case, held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons. It sometimes features other elements, such as "wheels", which allow the user to perform various system-dependent operations, or extra buttons or features can add more control or dimensional input. The mouse's motion typically translates into the motion of a pointer on a display.

There are currently three types of mice used today. They are:

Mechanical Mice
Optical Mice
Laser Mice

Optical are the most common mice used today. Mechanical mice have been all but replaced by optical mice. The latest technology is the laser mouse. These mice tend to be more accurate, cost more and are focused at the gaming crowd.

Mechanical Mice

The mechanical mouse or ball-mouse was invented in 1972 by the Xerox PARC group. The ball-mouse uses a single ball that can rotate in any direction and came as part of the hardware package of the Xerox Alto computer. Perpendicular chopper wheels housed inside the mouse's body chopped beams of light on the way to light sensors, thus detecting in their turn the motion of the ball. This variant of the mouse was used with PCs throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The Xerox PARC group also settled on the modern technique of using both hands to type on a full-size keyboard and grabbing the mouse when required.

The ball mouse utilizes two rollers rolling against two sides of the ball. One roller detects the horizontal motion of the mouse and other the vertical motion. The motion of these two rollers causes two disc-like encoder wheels to rotate, interrupting optical beams to generate electrical signals. The mouse sends these signals to the computer system by means of connecting wires. The driver software in the system converts the signals into motion of the mouse pointer along X and Y axes on the screen.

The mechanical mouse had a bad habit of dirt collecting on the ball and internal rollers. This caused the mouse to not function and required regular cleaning. As with all mechanical items they tend to wear out and break much fasted then non-mechanical devices such as the Optical mouse.

Optical Mice

An optical mouse uses a light emitting diode and photo diodes to detect movement relative to the underlying surface, rather than moving some of its parts, as in a mechanical mouse.

As computing power grew cheaper, it became possible to embed more powerful special-purpose image-processing chips in the mouse itself. This advance enabled the mouse to detect relative motion on a wide variety of surfaces, translating the movement of the mouse into the movement of the pointer and eliminating the need for a special mouse-pad. This advance paved the way for widespread adoption of optical mice.

Modern surface-independent optical mice work by using an optoelectronic sensor to take successive pictures of the surface on which the mouse operates. Most of these mice use LEDs to illuminate the surface that is being tracked; LED optical mice are often mislabeled as "laser mice". Changes between one frame and the next are processed by the image processing part of the chip and translated into movement on the two axes using an optical flow estimation algorithm. For example, the Agilent Technologies ADNS-2610 optical mouse sensor processes 1512 frames per second: each frame is a rectangular array of 18×18 pixels, and each pixel can sense 64 different levels of gray.

Optomechanical mice detect movements of the ball optically, giving the precision of optical without the surface compatibility problems, whereas optical mice detect movement relative to the surface by examining the light reflected off it.

Laser Mice

As early as 1998, Sun Microsystems provided a laser mouse with their Sun SPARCstation servers and workstations. However, laser mice did not enter the mainstream market until 2004, when Logitech, in partnership with Agilent Technologies, introduced the laser mouse with its MX 1000 model. This mouse uses a small infrared laser instead of an LED, which increases the image resolution taken by the mouse. This leads to around 20× more sensitivity to the surface features used for navigation compared to conventional optical mice, via interferance effects.

Engineers designed the laser mouse — as a wireless mouse — to save as much power as possible. In order to do this, the mouse blinks the laser when in standby mode. This function also increases the laser life. Laser mice designed specifically for gamers, such as the Logitech G5, appeared later and lack this feature, in an attempt to reduce latency and to improve responsiveness.

Understanding Noise Level

mpilchfamily — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:46:46 CDT

Noise level has become more of a major concern in today’s system. With more and more PCs becoming the centerpiece of people’s entertainment centers, the need for a quite system has grown. There are a number of options to quiet your PC but there is only one item that is the main contributor to noise. That of course is each and every fan in your system. Of course to meat the needs of the consumer more and more quiet fans are available for your system. You may or may not have seen the various noise ratings of these fans. So what do those numbers mean and what is "dBA"?

Well dBA is short fro Decibel. A Decibel, for PC purposes, is a unit of measurement used for measuring sound levels. Loudness is measured using a Logarithmic scale. This means that a 10 decibel increase does not simply add 10 to the previous level. In fact it multiples the previous level by 10. Much like the Richter scale does with earth quakes.

Now that we know a very brief explanation of the Decibel, it's time to get an idea of what it really is. When you see that a fan has a noise level of 34 dBA, what does that really mean. Well below is a small chart of relatable situations and what there common noise level is.

Threshold of Hearing...............................	0 dBA
Human Breathing....................................	10 dBA
Whispering..................................................	20 dBA
Quiet Room ...............................................	45 dBA
Conversation..............................................	55 dBA
Car (50 mph at 50 ft)..................................	65 dBA

Now how does all of this relate to your system's overall noise level? If you have three 120mm fans running at 36 dBA, what is your total noise level? Well because of the way the noise level is measured, combining these 3 noise levels is not achieved by simple addition. In fact the noise level will only be about 40 dBA tops.

RAM Basics

mpilchfamily — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:49:55 CST

RAM in an acronym for random access memory, a type of computer memory that can be accesed randomly; that is, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computers and other devices, such as printers.

There are two basic types of RAM:

dynamic RAM (DRAM)
static RAM (SRAM)

The two types differ in the technology they use to hold data, dynamic RAM being the more common type. Dynamic RAM needs to be refreshed thousands of times per second. Static RAM does not need to be refreshed, which makes it faster; but it is also more expensive than dynamic RAM. Both types of RAM are volatile, meaning that they lose their contents when the power is turned off. For the purposes of this article we will focus on the more commonly used DRAM.

RAM Keywords

DIMM: Dual In-Line Memory Modual, usually used to refer to the physical package RAM package.

Types of RAM

RDRAM:

Short for Rambus DRAM, a type of memory developed by Rambus, Inc. Whereas the previous memory technologies used by PCs (SDRAM) can deliver data at a maximum speed of about 100 MHz, RDRAM transfers data at up to 800 MHz. As of late 1999, Intel has been using RDRAM in its Pentium III Xeon processors and more recently in its Pentium 4 socket 423 and early socket 478 processors. RDRAM was only used for a short time and was quickly replaced my DDR.

DDR SDRAM:

DDR SDRAM ( or DDR1), or Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory is a type of RAM

that has now been mostly superseded by DDR2, mainly because DDR2's ability to achive higher clock speeds, and requires lower voltages, then DDR1. All DDR1 DIMMs have 184 pins and has a single notch, so it cannot be inserted incorrectly into the RAM slot.

The most common speeds of DDR1 RAM are:

DDR-200
DDR-266
DDR-333
DDR-400

DDR2 SDRAM:

DDR2 SDRAM or, Double Data Rate 2 Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory is now the most commonly used type of RAM, in both AMD and Intel platforms. Unlike DDR1, DDR2 DIMMs have 240 pins, but they both have a single notch.

Quality PSU Brands and Models

apt403 — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 14:10:51 CST

All Power Supplies are not created equal. How do you know which power supply you can trust your system with? What some people don’t seem to understand is that the power supply is the most important part in your entire system. This guide has been created to help you make a more informed decision about PSUs (power supply units). First of all, if you haven’t read mpilchfamily’s Power Supply Units 101. I highly recommend that you do so.

Power Supplies, like PCs, must be built with quality components to give quality performance. Power Supplies that are not made with quality parts can fail and/or produce major problems with your system. Underpowered power supplies can produce system instability and seemingly inexplicable problems. Some Power Supply companies overestimate the max output a Power Supply can provide and this can provide some major problems. To inform the THG Community I (with mpilchfamily’s help) have written this list of high quality power supplies and low quality power supplies. I intend to provide more detailed specs on specific power supply manufacturers in later versions that include: An overall rating, exactly who it is manufactured by, max combined output on the +12V rail, price to performance and overall aesthetics. I will also try to keep this thread updated frequently.

Feel free to add your opinions of PSU rankings. Here are some possible catagories we would like to build a listing for. I'm thinking a spread sheet kind of listing may be best. We would use some sort of rating system for each catagory.

Modular PSUs
Price to performance ratio
Features
+12v rails total amperage
Overall rating

You get the idea though. Basing the information off of multiple reviews and the units specs. If a review can't be found then it may be a good idea not to have it listed.

Rules of Thumb:

$40+ rule: A PSU under $40 should be considered carefully as those under that amount have a high chance of being a very low quality unit. This excludes special offers and rebates.

Bundled Case/PSUs: Bundled PSUs that come with cases are nearly always of the lowest quality PSU you can find (although it really depends on the company but still... stay away!). This is because by selling the PSUs together the manufacterer can make a bit more money off of a case by putting a cheap and most likely overestimated PSU into the case.

The "Heaviness Test": Usually, higher quality PSUs are heavier than lower quality ones. This is because higher grade components are heavier than lower grade components.

Here is a quick reference of high quality PSU brands:

Generally High quality PSU brands:

Antec (except for Smartpower/Basiq)
Corsair
Cooler Master (iGreen)
Enermax
Etasis
OCZ
PC Power & Cooling
Seasonic
Silverstone
Tagan
Thermaltake
Xclio (Greatpower/Stablepower)
Zalman
Zippy

Antec

Before we move forward I would like to point out that both the Smartpower and Basiq series should not be purchased do to the poor quality of those units.

Earthwatts 500:
+12V: 34A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .36A
SLI Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

TruePower II:
+12V: 31A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .44A
SLI Certified:
PFC: No

TruePower Trio 430W:

+12V: 32A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .45A
SLI Certified:
PFC: Active

True Power Trio 550W:
+12V: 42A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .42A
SLI Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

True Power Trio 650W:
+12V: 52A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .4A
SLI Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

NeoHE 430W:
+12V:
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI Certified: No
PFC: Active

NeoHE 500W:
+12V: 38A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

NeoHE 550W:
+12V: 42A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Apex

SL-8600EPS 600W:
+12V: 40A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .44A
SLI Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Cooler Master

RS-500-ASAA 500W:
+12V: 33A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .33A
SLI Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

RS-600-ASAA 600W:
+12V: 38A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .32A
SLI Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Corsair

CMPSU-520HX 520W:
+12V: 40A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar: .31A
SLI Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

CMPSU-620HX 620W:
+12V: 50A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar: .28A
SLI Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Enermax

There two different types of Liberty and Galaxy psu, one type is SLI certified, the other is Crossfire certified, there identical in everyway besides there certification.

Liberty 400W

+12V: 30A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Liberty 500W
+12V: 32A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Liberty 620W
+12V: 36A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF: Yes
PFC: Active

Galaxy 850W
+12V: 68A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Galaxy 1000W
+12V: 75A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Infiniti 720W
+12V: 56A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Infiniti 650W
+12V: 52A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

FSP

FX600 600W:
+12V: 48A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .40A
SLI/CF Certified: Yes (Quad)
PFC: Active

FSP700-80GLC 700W:
+12V: 50A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .38A
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

FX760-E 760W:
+12V: 56A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .30A
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Hiper

HPU-4M670-SS 670W:
+12V: 38A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .30A
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

HPU-4M730-SS 730W:
+12V: 56A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar: .40A
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

HPU-4S730-MS 730W:
+12V: 56A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar: .36A
SLI/CF Certified: Yes
PFC: Active

Seasonic

Seasonic M12 500W
+12v: 38A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PCF: Yes

Seasonic M12 600W
+12v: 48A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PCF: Yes

Seasonic M12 700W
+12v: 56A
Modularity: Yes
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PCF: Yes

Seasonic S12 430W
+12v: 29A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: No
Active PFC: Yes

Seasonic S12 500W
+12v:
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Seasonic S12 600W
+12v: 36A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Seasonic S12 Energy + 550W
+12v: 41A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Seasonic S12 Energy + 650W
+12v: 52A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

PC Power & Cooling

Turbo-Cool 1000W
+12v: 72A (80A Peak)
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Silencer Quad 750W
+12v: 60A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Silencer 610W
+12v: 49A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Silencer 470W

+12v: 26A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: No
Active PFC: Yes

Zalman

ZM600-HP 600W
+12V: 42A
Modularity: Yes
Amps per dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Silverstone

Zeus 850W
+12v: 70A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Zeus 750W
+12v: 60A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Zeus 650W
+12v: 42A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Zeus 560W
+12v: 38A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Olympia 1000W
+12v: 80A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: CF & SLI
Active PFC: Yes

Olympia 720W
+12v: 60A
Modularity: No
Amps Per Dollar:
SLI/CF Certified: SLI
Active PFC: Yes

If any of the above PSUs are SLI Certified they will also run CF and vise versa.

Project Contributers:

Valtiel
mpilchfamily
apt403
gwolfman

Crossfire

Averyman — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 10:35:42 CST

CrossFire is ATI's version of SLi. Like SLi (Scalable Link Interface), it uses 2 video cards to render a 3D scene with output to one or more displays. The purpose of CrossFire is to increase the frame rate or visual quality (or both) in a 3D game or 3D application.

One of the obvious visual differences between crossfire and SLi is that crossfire requires a DVI "patch cable" to link the two cards together. While some communication between the cards is done over the PCI-E bus, most is done over the DVI cables. This sort of "patch cable" system was used in the older 3DFX SLI platform. nVidia's SLi uses a "SLi bridge" connector for communication and does not require the DVI loop/patch cables. Fart!

Motherboard and Component Installation

CHEEZball — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:34:05 CST

This section will be about the Installation of the motherboard and components into a case. Not the setup of the motherboard prior to case installation.