Originally posted by: RussianSensation
System:
CPU: Core i7 860 L926B422
Heatsink + Fan: Prolimatech Megahalems + Scythe S-Flex F
1600 RPM, 64 CFM
Motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3R LGA 1156 Bios F3f
Memory:
GSkill Ripjaws F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH
Case:
Thermaltake Soprano
^^^ Budget case with 1x120mm intake fan at the front, 1x120mm exhaust case fan in the back, and 92mm fan side intake
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5
Camera: Don't have any picture of my own right now. Will try to get some as soon as I can.
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Installation
So I'll start off with the Most important question everyone has been asking.
(1) Will fitting Prolimatech Megahalems in the Horizontal Heatpipe orientation cause problems with 1x120 25mm fan due to the fan portruding into the 1st Dimm Slot on UD3R or other similar Socket 1156 boards (i.e. the fan blowing towards the back of the case fan)?
Depends on your Ram. The fan will sit right above the 1st DIMM slot. Prolimatech Megahalems by itself has no problems clearing GSkill Ripjaws in the 1st and 2nd DIMM slot (it is tall enough). However, as soon as you put the fan on, the
Fan clips portrude into the 2nd DIMM slot and one of them hits the tallest "heatsink tooth" of the Gskill Ripjaws.
You can of course try raising the fan higher but it will reduce the airflow to the bottom of your heatsink. In my case, the fan clip was still touching the Ram heatsink on one side and as a result the Megahalems was NOT making a proper contact with the CPU no matter what I tried. Perhaps, those with more patience can get it to work but...the deal breaker for Horizontal Heatpipe type of installation on UD3R came with the actual installation attempt.
I want to highlight that if it wasn't for
just 1 Heatsink Tooth on the Ripjaws, the fan clip would have fit without problems in the horizontal heatpipe orientation.
(2) Can you install Prolimatech Megahalems with Horizontal Heatpipe positioning on 1156 board such as UD3R so that the fan blows towards the case exhaust fan?
Maybe (but someone else should confirm). I spent 15 minutes trying to fit the cooler in the
Horizontal Heatpipe Position as seen in picture #3 on socket 1366 board here.
Then I finally gave up and took out my ruler. After measuring, I realized that in this position
The top securing bracket is 2mm-3mm off from ONE of the screw holes. You may think 2mm is not a big amount of space and that I'll just move the bracket .... but regardless of tiny movements, it made it impossible with my board and 1156 Prolimatech kit to fit the cooler in the Horizontal Heatpipe Orientation. Believe me I wanted to fit it this way to exhaust air into my case fan and not into my Power Supply.
I conceed that I probably made a mounting error here.
Anyways, I installed the cooler with the fan blowing towards the TOP of the case (i.e.
in the Vertical Heatpipe Position like so), since I wanted to see what my performance would be like in the future when I install 8 Gigs of Ram (and this is the only way that fit for me). In other words the screws for the top mounting top bracket fit when I installed my bracket
This Way
(3) Does Prolimatech Megahalems clear 1st and 2nd DIMM slots on 1156 boards like UD3R with Gskill Ripjaws when the cooler is mounted in the Vertical Heatpipe Orientation (i.e., the fan blows towards the top of the case)? Will 8GBs of Ram with low to medium sized ram heatsinks fit?
YES to both questions. I was able to fit GSkill Ripjaws in Dimms #1 and #2 without problems. The fan clip ends up right between the 2 Sticks and as I mentioned before the Megahalems heatsink itself has no problems clearing them in Height.
However, anything of height such as Gskill Tridents will NOT fit.
***Note*** I am hoping that perhaps it was my lack of mounting skills, and I hope others disprove my inability to mount the cooler with the fan blowing towards the back of the case on Socket 1156
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Non-overclocked Performance:
Idle - Core i7 860 with power saving technologies = 1200 mhz (133 x 9.0) @ 0.864V
Intel Stock Cooler: 39 / 40 / 39 / 40 *C (
Image)
Prolimatech Megahalems: 29 / 29 / 31 / 30 *C (
Image)
*Notice my hard drive and GPU temperatures did not change so the case airflow is the same.
Load - Seti@Home (8 threads) - Core i7 860 = 2931 (133 x 22) @ 1.152V
Intel Stock Cooler: 78 / 80 / 76 / 80 *C (
Image)
Prolimatech: 50 / 49 / 49 / 51 *C (
Image)
Load - Prime 95 (Small FFTs) - Core i7 860 = 2931 (133 x 22) @ 1.136-1.152V
Intel Stock Cooler: 83 / 84 / 82 / 84 *C (
Image)
Prolimatech: 54 / 54 / 54 / 55 *C (
Image)
Non-overclocked Conclusion: On Average Prolimatech beat the Intel Stock cooler ~ 9.75*C at idle and ~ 29*C at load.
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Overclocked Performance:
Settings:
PCH - Auto
PLL - 1.800V (stock)
VTT (Internal Memory Controller) - Auto (will find lowest setting at the end)
Load Line Calibration: Enabled
QPI Ratio 32x
CPU Multiplier 21x
CPU Vcore - start 1.26875 in BIOS (bumps updated below, where applicable)
DDR3 - 1.650V start (bumps updated below, where applicable)
All Vcore was measured from CPU-Z.
Intel Stock Cooler: Lost by default (no point when getting 84 *C at 2.93ghz)
Prolimatech Megahalems:
3.15ghz => BCLK 150, idle Vcore 1.248V, Prime95 100% load Vcore 1.280V @ 60-62*C
3.36ghz => BCLK 160, idle Vcore 1.248V, Prime95 100% load Vcore 1.280V @ 64-66*C
3.57ghz => BCLK 170, idle Vcore 1.248V, Prime95 100% load Vcore 1.280V @ 64-66*C (FAIL)
--- Updated VCore to 1.2750V in BIOS ---
3.57ghz => BCLK 170, idle Vcore 1.2640V, Prime95 100% load Vcore 1.280V @ 67-70*C
3.78ghz => BCLK 180, idle Vcore 1.2640V, Prime95 100% load Vcore 1.280V @ 69-73*C
--- Lowered DDR3 Voltage to 1.60V from 1.65V without changing speed or timings ---
3.88ghz => BCLK 185, idle Vcore 1.2640V, Prime95 100% load Vcore 1.280V @ 74-75*C
--- Lowered DDR3 Voltage to 1.58V from 1.60V without changing speed or timings ---
3.99ghz => BCLK 190, idle Vcore 1.2640V, Prime95 100% load Vcore 1.280-1.296V @ 76-77*C
So far passed 7 minutes, which is nothing but getting a feel for temperatures. Will obviously test Prime 95 for much longer.
My current standing after 1 hour 20 min of Small FFTs:
3.99ghz @ 79 / 80 / 76 / 80*C 1.296V
Getting Prime95 stable above this frequency needs more than 1.31875V on Vcore which takes my temperatures to 83-84*C. I don't want to run my system 24/7 under these conditions so I am limiting my overclock to 80*C.
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