Install & Test SetupsWe are going to have a quick look at potential installation issues with the GTX2 modules. As noted, the top heat sink cooling fins are taller than standard Dominator modules and on some motherboards with large processor coolers in specific orientations, there are conflicts when using the slots closest the CPU.   As we already knew based on our dominator and other 'tall' memory heat sink experience, the first slot in both the EVGA X58 and EVGA P55 Classified boards will not work with these modules in the first slot. With that said, the industry standard is to optimize the second set of slots for primary use. That doesn't alleviate the issue for those that want to run all four slots on P55 or six on X58, but even in those situations you can turn the TRUE and run it in the other orientation. Either way, the height of the heat sinks are going to play a role in a portion of peoples setups, so be aware of their height.   In the first photo above we can see that installation of the KingpinCooling.com F1 EE liquid nitrogen cooling pot doesn't interfere at all with memory modules. We even have space for a second layer of insulation around the pot as you will see in some photos below. In the second photo we have shown the difference in height of the two different Dominator heat sinks. The regular Dominator heat sinks in the foreground are about 11mm shorter than the GTX modules. Time now to take a look at what we are going to be cooking with today...I apologize in advance for the mess.
| P55 Test Platform: | | Motherboard: | EVGA P55 Classified 200 | | Processor: | Intel i5 670 (934B282)
Intel i7 860 (925B478) | | Processor Cooling: | Chilly1 SS (Tuned by Ruffus)
KingpinCooling.com F1 EE & LN2 | | Thermal Paste: | Arctic Silver Ceramique | | PCH Cooling: | Stock | | NF200 Cooling: | Stock | | PWM Cooling: | Stock | | Memory: | Corsair Dominator GTX2 2x2GB PC3-18000 8-8-8-24 (CMGTX2) | | Power Supply: | Corsair HX1000W | | Video Card: | Diamond HD5870 | | Additional Fans: | Scythe Ultra Kaze 120MM 2000RPM 87.6CFM (DFS123812L-2000) | | Hard Drives: | Seagate 7200.9 80GB SATAII 8MB cache | | OS: | Windows XP SP3
Windows Vista SP2 |
Our P55 setup is centered around the EVGA P55 Classified 200 that we reviewed not so long ago. Now this platform has its issues when it comes to overclocking memory. The word on the street is that the EVGA FTW is better for memory clocks but some people have no problem with the Classified and Lynnfield processors...we do. Regardless, it is all we have for memory overclocking so we will make do with what we have. You should also notice the i5 Clarkdale processors listed above, these are used primarily for the fun overclocking seen at the end of the review. Let's now see what we have cooked up in the way of X58 overclocking.
| X58 Test Platform: | | Motherboard: | EVGA X58 Classified | | Processor: | Intel Xeon w3540 (3845B010) | | Processor Cooling: | Chilly1 SS (Tuned by Ruffus)
KingpinCooling.com F1 EE & LN2 | | Thermal Paste: | Arctic Silver Ceramique | | NB Cooling: | Stock | | SB Cooling: | Stock | | PWM Cooling: | Stock | | Memory: | Corsair Dominator GTX2 3x2GB PC3-18000 8-8-8-24 (CMGTX2) | | Power Supply: | Corsair HX1000W | | Video Card: | 2 x MSI GTS250 1024MB | | Video Card Cooling: | Stock
KingpinCooling.com Tek9 4.0 Slim & LN2 | | Additional Fans: | Scythe Ultra Kaze 120MM 2000RPM 87.6CFM (DFS123812L-2000) | | Hard Drives: | Seagate 7200.9 80GB SATAII 8MB cache | | OS: | Windows XP SP3
Windows Vista SP2 |
The X58 platform utilizes our trusty, and beaten, EVGA X58 Classified motherboard. This motherboard has been to WWII, Vietnam, and two deployments to Iraq. It takes a beating and always comes back. It has also been the guinea pig to a number of volt-mods in attempts to lower cold bugs. Needless to say, ever since the day it showed up, it has been the primary X58 motherboard used in this benching lab. The choice of GTS 250's for GPU's might seem odd with such a powerful setup but we had access to them so we figured we would have some fun and go gold cup hunting at HWBot.org for the review. Those results will show up in the Extreme Overclocking section.
Now that we are familiar with the modules and the rest of the supporting cast, we will go over our overclocking methodology and explain in depth exactly how we are going to test these modules today.
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