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A new era for my TestBench

Zka17
Level 16
Hello mates!

It's been a while since I have started a thread... but now I'm getting back into the business... :cool:

As the title suggests, this time will be a little bit different... the main goal is to go sub-zero with cooling, but I also got back to the LGA775 platform - finally! Since I have started to bench I had this idea to go through most of the platforms - and I pretty much did... for those who did not see it yet, check this thread (warning: it is long!): http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?20047-The-Chronicle-of-My-TestBench

So, now it's time for LGA775! :cool:

I have got the Asus Commando a while ago to start with and I have collected a bunch of LGA775 CPUs (nothing fancy, just from old machines). Last weekend I have tried to fire it up, but no luck... lights are on, fans are spinning - but nothing on the monitor... Since the board was rescued literarily from the trash, I have assumed that it had a reason to be there...

Then I have started to read about LGA775 boards, and I started to really like the Asus Rampage Extreme... but that one is bloody expensive! I was at the point to give up my LGA775 dreams when an opportunity came... One of the REX boards on the ebay was actually listed from here where I live... Contacted the seller and setup a meeting for yesterday - and voila:

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We have made a mutually better deal... 😄

The board seems new (still had those plastic tapes/sealings on the heatsinks), has most of it's original accessories (except and english manual) - but it did not have the original box... well, I can live with that...

The goal is to go sub-zero cooling (I already have my SS unit - will present it later on), but I wanted to see this beauty working and see how it's BIOS looks like... So, for the start it got the Noctua NH-D14 for the CPU and it's NB water block changed to the regular air-heatsink:

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And the sexiest thing about this LGA775 board is that it has DDR3 memories! Yes, those are one of my Pi kits used on the newest platform before:

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And then I have fired it up! And nothing happened... In the morning I saw the board working at the seller's place and in the afternoon is not working anymore?! Double-checked everything what came in mind and nothing, lights on, fans are spinning - but nothing on the monitor... the same as with the Commando before...

I have started to suspect the graphics card, so I have started to swap them around... I have couple older cards left which all were tested before on other platform, but none of them gave me a signal... Finally, the light came in my mind! Started to check the other end of the power cables... - and the PCIe power connector wasn't connected to the PSU... yeah, that's how it is when you're getting old... or senile... or something...

But now my LGA775 system is working! :cool:

Here are some benchmarks I have tried wile I was pushing this system:

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I think, not too bad... certainly this platform has more in it! The BIOS is definitely different, but not too hard to get used with it... The only flaw I observed until now is the temperature... I have compared the temps in BIOS with those shown in HWMonitor - but they're like showing two different systems... HWMonitor also was showing temps below ambient for the cores... Then I got rid of the HWMonitor and got RealTemp - that at least shows more acceptable core temps... but no other temps... well, the point is to pass benchmarks, not to anxiously watch temps - right? 😄
36,985 Views
105 REPLIES 105

Myk_SilentShado
Level 15
Nice one Z!!! oh and the reason the REX is still expensive, is because the hardware is still popular. i've been trying to look for a cheap 990X, or even a 980X and they are still 800 - 1000 AUD.

meankeys
Level 13
Real Nice Z Good find!
Have fun

Zka17
Level 16
Thanks, guys! I think, I'm going to have fun... :cool:

To use the SS I have to finish my TestBench first... on this one won't fit with the mounting of the SS head...

abvolt
Level 11
looks fun
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Arne_Saknussemm
Level 40
Oooo time travelling test bench! Complete with cryogenic clouds (but no sparks I hope)!!:D

Zka17
Level 16
He-he, it is time traveling, indeed...

Retired
Not applicable
775 is a great platform, and fun to OC

WhitePaw wrote:
775 is a great platform, and fun to OC


I hope so! 😄

Now I will need to wait a little bit for kneaded eraser... proudly I have got 2 of them, planning to insulate more than one board - but I didn't realized how small actually they are...

Check this, as a reference I have used the NB block from the REX:

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Retired
Not applicable
run with the smallest amount of ram possible, so you can max out the boards IMC