Mountain Mods Extended Ascension - 4way SLI GTX580 + 3930K + Asus R4E rebuild

[Phatboy69]

Hi all,

I didnt bother posting any updates on my last build, but I did just about get it all finished over christmas. The replacement RMA 990X for my X58 UD9 build was degrading too and no longer stable so I decided to grab an Asus Rampage IV Extreme and 3930K CPU to upgrade as it was about the same price as a replacement 990X. (thats if you can even find them now!)

I will be re-using everything else in my system including the 4 Way GTX580's all the water blocks and the Corsair Ram for now.

In addition I will be using the new VGA hotwire feature to voltage mod the cores on all 4 GTX580. I will probably upgrade the Ram to a 4x8GB kit and get the koolance Rampage IV motherboard water block in the future too.

I'll update the thread with a full list of the components and photos when I get started in the next couple days.
Wish me luck!!

[Phatboy69]

[Phatboy69]

Started working on the GPUs and finally got 1 working with the VGA Hotwire after following some incorrect instructions that had me remove the WRONG resistor! I stayed calm though and asked for help and got it sorted.
I was obviously a little panicked as I had modded all 4 cards since it was such a simple job!

All fixed though and I will get on to the other cards tomorrow!

[Phatboy69]

I replaced my 1.5GB cards with new 3GB cards and installed a Koolance R4E waterblock.

1st new 3GB card modded below and working and it's even a cleaner mod than I had hoped!!

Here's the stuff that arrived and the pics of the finished card. I still have to re-mount water blocks and do the other cards.














The solder job




The 2pin socket mounted



The cable connected



Installed for testing



The 1st card vcore (VGA1) registering in software @ 0.978v (default 2d volts with VGA tweak disabled)

[Phatboy69]

All 4 cards successfully modded and tested!
Blocks and full testing tomorrow!

[Phatboy69]

All up and running 1st Go! Pheeeww!!!!

Here's the Koolance block installed on the R4E along with CPU and Ram blocks.







Here's the whole board assembled for checking.






















Installed and running!!!!!!!!!!!!










Now off to tweak!!!!!!!!!

[Phatboy69]

Mission Accomplished!
CPU 5Ghz @ 1.55v max temp 78c
GPUs 1000/2200 @ 1.32v max temp 55c
Peak power draw PSU1 1300W PSU2 850W (at wall)

Not sure if I can really go any further than this and I've achieved the holy grail of 1000 on the GPUs! ;)

3dmk11 P23133 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3930K Processor,ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. RAMPAGE IV EXTREME score: P23133 3DMarks

[Phatboy69]

I got a bit more out of the CPU and Ram for Vantage. Will go back and do another 3dmk11 run!

CPU 5.1Ghz @1.63v max temp 88c
Ram now at 2100Mhz
GPU's still at 1000/2200

3dmkVantage P65926

[Phatboy69]

Hooley Dooley!!!!
3dMk11 draws 1350W and 850W off both PSUs at these settings.....

3dmk11 P23431

[Phatboy69]

I was playing my flight sim for an hour today in surround which pushes all 4 GPUs to 100% constantly.

It pushed the GPU core temps to 61c and water temp to 51c out of the GPUs and 47c after cooling in the radiators. This was after 1 hour. The CPU wasnt much better at 42c after CPU and 40c after cooling.

Ambient temp in my room is about 28c at the moment.
CPU idles at 40c with 35c water & peaks at 75c with 40c water
GPUs idle at 34c with 34c water & peaks at 61c with 47c water

The system was rock solid and stable drawing a constant 1800Ws from the PSU's during that time.

You should have felt the hot air coming out the exhaust fans! Almost as hot as factory GPU air coolers when on max load! Ambient temp in my room went up to about 32c.

Also did a proper noise level test at ear height (sitting next to it) and the system makes 36dbA at idle and 46dbA at full noise. A few people asked a while ago and I didnt have a meter capable of going below 50dbA.. I bought the most expensive iphone App ive ever seen! Signal Scope Pro for $80. So there you have it.

Subjectively that means it sounds about twice as loud under full load compared to idle but it's actually pretty tolerable really!
Oh and it's barely liftable at 52Kgs!!! (114 pounds)