mATX for E4300 @ 3Ghz in Antec Fusion

[olmer]

HTPC for 1080p games/movies.

Currently thinking of Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2.

Can anyone tell me if supplied chipset cooling is sufficient on that board ? i?d like to have no more than two Antec?s tri-cool 120mm ? already in the case. Passively cooled graphics. Can a stock cooler be kept at 800-1100 ?no-buzz? as with S3 during overclock?

 

[renethx]

Have you read the thread overclocking GA-945GM-S2, post #8? It seems that GA-965GM-S2 does not work well with E4300. Among mATX motherboards, only P5L-MX and FI-90HD work fine with E4300 without BSEL mod.

 

[olmer]

Well, i?ve got a recommendation from another forum (new F5 BIOS used) and ordered S2 ? I should get it tomorrow and update this post with my results. Thanks for your input.

 

[olmer]

3Ghz (FSB 333, memory 667) ? nope.

So no 333 . Mobo just loads default BIOS settings (not fails to boot/freezes) ? i am held up by generic 667 memory i guess (currently @533). So far after an hour-two of fiddling (putting together and testing) 9x267 ? miserable 2.4 (33%). I cannot get anything between 267 and 335 to stick ? it just defaults. PCI-E in 100Mhz. Memory as above auto (4-12). Using F5 bios, PCIE graphics. Any advice welcome.

Temperatures below are in Orthos blend test (stable for 47 minutes so far, no errors).

Now both G965 and ICH8 are pretty hot ? well above 50C on touch. Room 19, motherboard reports as 46. Two Antec?s tri-cool 120mm on low ? exhaust and now added one 60mm intake modded to 7v plus another 5v slot intake blows on passively cooled graphics (65 max 15 minutes in-game). Intel stock (new Nidec) cooler, MX1. On ?legacy? fan control settings in bios (800 ? 1100 rpm max, no buzz). Max temperatures (no difference between two cores) are Everest ? 52, TAT ? 68, CoreTemp ? 67, SpeedFan 51.

Gigabyte mobo sensor is useless ? i did not check where it is, but no way it can be 46C (Everest) in the case and it does not drop much with an open case ether ? so i just ignored it and used clock to get real temperatures ? getting 34.

So i am satisfied with the performance so far (shall keep it working overnight to make sure) providing it is the memory that holds the overclock. And since i cannot justify buying expensive memory for HTPC 33% overclock is okay for me as noise levels and temperatures are acceptable and Arctic Freezer 7 goes back to the shop (just about fits) + passive Noctua cooler for northbridge goes back to the shop.

Can post pictures if needed.

Antec Fusion related tips:

Cover led on your optical.

Get molex to SATA power connector (or make one yourself ? same colours, no orange) if using SATA optical.

If overclocking get an intake fan or reversible/customisable exhaust blower for passively cooled graphics. Or if you are okay with noise ? just put tri-cools on high.

Make sure your graphics/cooler is standard height.

If you need a quiet system (passive graphics, passive/low rpms cpu cooler) the case will definitely benefit if those thi-cool fans are replaced with something quieter/better like Skythe Kama Flow or Nexus D12SL or Noctua 1200rpm, while PSU fan noise is acceptable.

 

[GnatGoSplat]

I am considering the same board. Does it run an E4300 @ 266x9 with proper PCIe/PCI frequencies?
If not, is it compatible with the BSEL mod?