Slammin

I agree 100%

Just use the nForce drivers you use with XP. You want the ones in the Legacy folder. If you already have Vista installed and want it to see an existing raid, then just upgrade the drivers for your Serial ATA controllers using the drivers from the Legacy folder. Doing it after the fact will probably require you to use another Activation (it did for me), since so much of your hardware changes - CDRW, CDROM, HD's, all get re-detected.

Yes, though I love this case as far as build quality and space, it really is bad for case airflow until you add some internal fans, and even then, it's not great.

I should probably sell my topless 3800x2 before the prices go down. It does 2750 stabe

Max temp of 40c with stock vcore sounds like a good mount to me. Really, once you start approching the limit of the cpu, assuming you are giving the cpu enough vcore (I think you are), load temp will jump dramatically! For instance, with 1.3 vcore, my max cpu speed is about 2700 and max temp about 36c. With 1.48 vcore max cpu speed is 3000 and max temp is about 49-51c. And I'm on water. Air coolers have a limit as to how much heat they can handle and the limit is much lower than the average w/c rig, so that spike you see is not a surprise to me. You might be able to put a loud @ss tornado fan on there, but I think you are at the ragged edge. I've settled for [email protected] vcore because to do 3000 stable requires 1.48 vcore, but the difference in load temp between the two is 7c! 5mhz is not worth 7c to me, and not to mention the PWM temps when using that much vcore; it takes a huge leap as well.

The easiest for me was using a double edged razor blade. There is nothing thinner and sharper. Was really easy. The best thing is that the razor itself is so fragile-feeling, that I think it would be pretty difficult to screw up for fear of breaking the razor, mostly. Just make sure to put tape on the other side of the razor so you don't leak on your cpu if you slip.

My guess is that your mobo is shorting out against your case. Try it with the mobo removed from the case.

Flashing back won't affect your raid setup. As for your OC, you might try setting Twtr to 1, and maybe bump Trfc to 15 or 17.

You can always expect temps to go up when you increase clock speed, regardless of voltage. It's not linear either - the higher the clocks, the bigger the temp jump, or to better discribe, the closer you get to max clock, the bigger the temp jumps will be.

I agree 100%. The Swiftech kit will come with everything you need. And just in case you start do do more research and 'learn' that kits are bad, just do a little more research and realize that the Swiftech kit comprises all the components that folks use to build 'custom' kits, and actually, better components than most use to build 'custom' rigs. Swiftech kits are really that good, and especially since you can have complete confidence that you will have everything you need. Excellent for first timers, and they are as expandable as any 'custom' kit.

My ambient is 76f right now and my chipset temp is reading 53c and I'm not worried about it. All of my case fans are controlled to fire up full speed once temps hit certain levels. The two 90m fans I have that blow air onto my vid cards and chipset hsf will go full blast once the chipset temp hits 56c and after the chipset temp drops back down, they drop back to 50% speed. PWM is sitting at 48c and once it hits 51c, my case exhaust fan and the fan I have blowing on my PWM/RAM area ramp up from 50% speed to 100% speed. I use a VLSystem LIS2 to do this, but there are cheaper automatic fan controllers, and I really might replace this with some m-cubed stuff, but this is really a very nice automatic fan controller. The only reason I'm thinking about replacing this is because, this has a drive bay display but my case has a door. Doh! My machine has zero bling factor. I also have a bling machine that needs some automatic fan control, so perfect fit. And as said, the m-cubed stuff is cheaper.

I don't know. I can tell you that I cannot use the plastic shims/spacers that my block required when the IHS was on. If I did, my block would not come into contact with the core, so, good question, and hopefully somebody with that HSF can give you a good answer. One thing I can tell you though, and not really knowning any about that HSF mounting, but if it uses the standard clip mechanism for securing it to the cpu, I'd probably think twice about removing the IHS. HSF's that use the clips make it really difficult to install them w/o putting uneven pressure on the bare core, so chipping/cracking the core is a very real possibility when both installing or removing it. If that HSF mounts with screws and springs though, you're fine, just tighten them down evenly, alternating between one screw and the other. Same with removing it. Oh, and nekkid cpu's are sexy! :nod:

Pushing that Opti with your vid card and chipset in the loop with just a 2x120 rad is the reason your temps are where they are. And really, those temps are fine and you probably won't want to suffer the temps you'll see if you head up to 3.0. My chip takes 1.48vcore to get stable at 3.0 but dual prime pushes my temps to the 49-51 range and this chip freaks out beyond 51c. Worse, and even before that, once I start using above 1.4vcore, my PWM temp takes a huge jump upwards. I know I could use stronger fans, but I prefer the silience so I just usually keep my cpu at 2900 w/1.36vcore with an 1100 rpm Nexus 120mm fan blowing at the pwm/ram area.

If you get that 3800x2 to 3.2ghz on air, you should go buy 10 more from where you got that one from and sell them on ebay! If you are getting 2.9ghz, than I'd saw that is one awesome chip. Mine only went to 270 stable but it took like 1.6v to do it, and that was with water, and IHS removed!

170. As stated, the 10 multiplier does give you more flexibility regarding ram, and if your 170 clocks as good as mine, you will need it!