thanks for that info. Nick. seems to be getting harder these days to find good no non-sense reviews.btw, once i get the Therm. installed, i think it'll be time for some overclocking. had the sys. a week now without any random restarts and cold start-up probs. & no probs. with any of the programs either.i'm hoping the Thermalright will bring down the Proc. idle temp. at least 10 degrees (currently at 50 degreesC). with the i-7 965 Extreme that i'm using i'd like to get the Proc. speed between 3.6 - 3.8Ghz. and the Mushkin Red Line PC1600 Mem. running at the 1600 speed (currently running at 1333). i'd be satisfied with triple 8 timings at the 1600 speed. looking for a little more stability this time around. the 1600 speed with the P6T Deluxe v2 is via O/C only according to the manual. however, when the DRAM Freq. is set to Man. in the BIOS the DDR3 1600 speed is one of the options listed. what would be the best way to obtain the above speeds with the Mem. and Proc.? any voltage suggestions to start with (Mem., Proc., QPI etc...)?b4 i forget, INTEL SPEEDSTEP, CE1 SUPPORT, CPU/PCIE (SPREAD SPECTRUM), CPU TM, HT, INTEL VIRTUALIZATION & TURBO MODE are Disabled in the BIOS.again, many thanks for your time and help. very much appreciated. happy flyin, Tim

thanks for that info. Nick. seems to be getting harder these days to find good no non-sense reviews.btw, once i get the Therm. installed, i think it'll be time for some overclocking. had the sys. a week now without any random restarts and cold start-up probs. & no probs. with any of the programs either.i'm hoping the Thermalright will bring down the Proc. idle temp. at least 10 degrees (currently at 50 degreesC). with the i-7 965 Extreme that i'm using i'd like to get the Proc. speed between 3.6 - 3.8Ghz. and the Mushkin Red Line PC1600 Mem. running at the 1600 speed (currently running at 1333). i'd be satisfied with triple 8 timings at the 1600 speed. looking for a little more stability this time around. the 1600 speed with the P6T Deluxe v2 is via O/C only according to the manual. however, when the DRAM Freq. is set to Man. in the BIOS the DDR3 1600 speed is one of the options listed. what would be the best way to obtain the above speeds with the Mem. and Proc.? any voltage suggestions to start with (Mem., Proc., QPI etc...)?b4 i forget, INTEL SPEEDSTEP, CE1 SUPPORT, CPU/PCIE (SPREAD SPECTRUM), CPU TM, HT, INTEL VIRTUALIZATION & TURBO MODE are Disabled in the BIOS.again, many thanks for your time and help. very much appreciated. happy flyin, Tim

for 3.8-4Ghz operationCPU Voltage - 1.35 to 1.42 - you must find the lowest stableDRAM VOLTAGE - 1.65-1.69 (1.65 most common) and you will probably need to run that regardless to use REDLINE 1600QPI/DRAM VOLTAGE - 1.37 - 1.42 (1.37 most common) and you will probably need to run that regardless to use REDLINE 1600Rules and relations:BCLK (Base Clock

Nick,this is the Mush. Redline Mem. that i got....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226050i did not see the Mem. that you linked me too (in ur previous post) when i ordered the Mem. i wish i had.i doubt the Mem that i got will run at those advertised 6-7 timings at the 1600 speed. what do u think? will those heat sinks make that much of a difference in the cooling?btw, you kinda lost me here...QPI Frequency = BCLK x QPI Multiplier (Options: 4800/5866/6400 MHz @ BCLK 133 MHz)what shoud the QPI Multiplier be set to? which one of those options would be more suitable for a 3.8 - 3.9 CPU clock speed?Uncore Multiplier (frequency) ≥ 2 x Memory Multiplier (frequency)understand that partUncore Multiplier (frequency) : QPI Multiplier (frequency)lost me againsome of this stuff is new to me. correct me if i'm wrong, with the 965 extreme if i interpret your info. correctly, i need to do the following Only in the BIOS...1. leave BCLK at 133 2. for a CPU clock speed of 3.8Ghz - set CPU multiplier manually to 28 or 29 3. Mem. Speed (Frequency) of 1600 - select DDR1600 (change the DRAMFREQ. setting from AUTO to DDR1600) and set the Memory Timings manually. if the Mushie's can't handle the 6 7 x x timings because of the HeatSinks, will 7-7-7 18 timings be acceptable at 1.65v?4. set CPU, Memory, & QPI/DRAM voltages manually (CPU tweaking required and possibly QPI/DRAM). as i enter the voltage figures for each field do i need to hit the "Enter" key afterwards to make them "Stick/Take" so to speak? seems like i read somtheing about that recently in one of my PC Mags. 5. Uncore Multiplier(Frequency) 2 x Mem. Multiplier(Frequency) and QPI Multiplier(Frquency)...set all those Manually? or are they set correctly Automatically upon saving changes & exiting the BIOS? thank you very much for your help and patience.happy flyin, Tim

btw, once i get the Therm. installed, i think it'll be time for some overclocking. had the sys. a week now without any random restarts and cold start-up probs. & no probs. with any of the programs either.i'm hoping the Thermalright will bring down the Proc. idle temp. at least 10 degrees (currently at 50 degreesC). with the i-7 965 Extreme that i'm using i'd like to get the Proc. speed between 3.6 - 3.8Ghz. and the Mushkin Red Line PC1600 Mem. running at the 1600 speed (currently running at 1333).

Looks like we have a new king of the hill. Hopefully we'll see a few more hardware sites test this puppy out and get a more balanced look.The thing is massive!CoolMaster V10FaxCap

Looks like we have a new king of the hill. Hopefully we'll see a few more hardware sites test this puppy out and get a more balanced look.The thing is massive!CoolMaster V10FaxCap

naaaaaathat thing is a monster that blocks you from getting to your memory and although it uses TEC for that price it better let me clock 4.5+GHz and thats not happening so I see no use for that thingGimmick is more in line with that... gotta have something that looks like a V8 engine to max out a CPU when another HSF for 1/2 the price will do the same thing and wont block my access to my memory

Nick,this is the Mush. Redline Mem. that i got....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226050i did not see the Mem. that you linked me too (in ur previous post) when i ordered the Mem. i wish i had.i doubt the Mem that i got will run at those advertised 6-7 timings at the 1600 speed. what do u think? will those heat sinks make that much of a difference in the cooling?btw, you kinda lost me here...QPI Frequency = BCLK x QPI Multiplier (Options: 4800/5866/6400 MHz @ BCLK 133 MHz)what shoud the QPI Multiplier be set to? which one of those options would be more suitable for a 3.8 - 3.9 CPU clock speed?Uncore Multiplier (frequency) ≥ 2 x Memory Multiplier (frequency)understand that partUncore Multiplier (frequency) : QPI Multiplier (frequency)lost me againsome of this stuff is new to me. correct me if i'm wrong, with the 965 extreme if i interpret your info. correctly, i need to do the following Only in the BIOS...1. leave BCLK at 133 2. for a CPU clock speed of 3.8Ghz - set CPU multiplier manually to 28 or 29 3. Mem. Speed (Frequency) of 1600 - select DDR1600 (change the DRAMFREQ. setting from AUTO to DDR1600) and set the Memory Timings manually. if the Mushie's can't handle the 6 7 x x timings because of the HeatSinks, will 7-7-7 18 timings be acceptable at 1.65v?4. set CPU, Memory, & QPI/DRAM voltages manually (CPU tweaking required and possibly QPI/DRAM). as i enter the voltage figures for each field do i need to hit the "Enter" key afterwards to make them "Stick/Take" so to speak? seems like i read somtheing about that recently in one of my PC Mags. 5. Uncore Multiplier(Frequency) 2 x Mem. Multiplier(Frequency) and QPI Multiplier(Frquency)...set all those Manually? or are they set correctly Automatically upon saving changes & exiting the BIOS? thank you very much for your help and patience.happy flyin, Tim

From what I can see those are the same memory sticks.. I dont have time to look up why the model # is different at this point but they have the same timing and speed specsIf its from Mushkin you can expect them to do what they say however it will also depend on how stable the CPU is too. One thing about Mushkin.. you can go to their forums and they will assist if those sticks are not running specYou got the idea of how it works from your list but do not make it complicated.. its very simple. Look at the list I posted and that is what you need to setWhen you get into Windows and check with CPUz to verify memory speed and timing you will know if something is not right.. it will display 800MHz dram speed on 6-7-6-18 1TStability is problematcial in a clock.. you have to work that out with temps and I gave you all the voltage variables to do it... for 3.8-4Ghz operationCPU Voltage - 1.35 to 1.42 - you must find the lowest stableDRAM VOLTAGE - 1.65-1.69 (1.65 most common) and you will probably need to run that regardless to use REDLINE 1600QPI/DRAM VOLTAGE - 1.37 - 1.42 (1.37 most common) and you will probably need to run that regardless to use REDLINE 1600

hi Nick,i understood most of ur info. i was a little unsure about the Uncore/UCLK stuff (step #5) in my previous post. i know about the Uncore Mulltiplier(Freq). needing to be 2x the Mem. Speed(Freq.) as u said, since i have the 965 i didn't know for sure if i needed to set the Uncore/UCLK settings manually or if they will be set automatically after saving the other changes & exiting the BIOS. no reason to do something manually that might be done automatically right?You got the idea of how it works from your list but do not make it complicated...its very simple.not trying to complicate things here. heh heh since we're talking about a $1,000 Proc. alone here, i'd prefer to "know" what i'm doing b4 i do it. not just having an idea of how it works. not because i don't trust what you're saying - far from it. but because i might be mis-understanding something and do something totally opposite from what u suggested and possibly having another mess on my hands. just trying to play it safe here. i appreciate your patience. can you verify step #5 in my previous post?it may be a day or so b4 i can try any O/C'g. gotta get that Therm. HS in and get CPUz downloaded again.again, many thanks for your help and patiencehappy flyin, Tim

Nick,i got the Therm. 120 Ultra Xtreme HS mounted today. unfortunately, i'm not that impressed with the results so far. running at the same stock speed, temps. dropped 5 degrees at the most. 50c down to 45c according to CPUz the processor is running at 3.2ghz. same as with the Zalman 9700 that i removed. using AS5 TIM with both HS's. also, i used roughly the same amount on both. and, i had to remove the video card cooling fan mounted on the case cover (case access cover) in order to get the cover back on. it was making contact with the 120 Xtreme HS and i could not get the cover back on without removing it. the case is an Alienware Full Tower from 2003. if this is as cool as i'm going to be able to get the CPU at the stock speed, what's the Max. O/C that i should be gunning for in your opinion? or should i be trying to O/C at all?just to let you know up front i have No intentions of removing the Board or HS again. i say this because judging by looking at the CPU heat spreader when the Zalman was removed (as well as the base of the Zalman itself) too much AS5 was Not applied. if anything, possibly not enough was applied. and, there's No damage of any kind to the 120 Ultra Xtreme HS from top to bottom. i checked it out b4 i installed it.again, thanks for all your help and info.happy flyin, Tim

Hi TimI can not answer in detail right now however if you installed that 120 correctly and that tower can breathe right and your BIOS is setup correctly then you should have no problem hitting 3.8-4Ghz <80c stable under a full loadIwill post back later

hi again Nick,thanks for the reply. take your time. not a prob. while i'm here and have some time i thought i'd give u a little more info. and lay a couple more questions on ya.the case Had a total of 5 fans before i had to remove the cooling fan from the side cover yesterday. 4 fans remain - 2 intake fans on the front and 2 exhaust fans in the back. all are 80mm fans i believe. not sure what you mean by.."if the Ultra 120 is installed correctly"... unless your referring to the orientation of the HS then you lost me on that one.if your referring to the "orientation/positioning" of the HS then, the "Fan side of the HS is facing the front of the case. according to the instructions, the HS fan Pulls air into the HS. so, with that position air is being directed to the back of the case which i thought would be the best position. i've seen pics. of Both positions being used with the Ultra 120 installed on Core i-7 boards on the Web.i know the Core i-7 Heat spreaders are slightly elongated as opposed to square like the Core2 procs. i'm sure you know more about this than i do. but to be quite honest i would be very surprised if the Fan side of the HS facing the top or bottom of the case would yield a 5 degree or more drop in the CPU temp. but i could be wrong...just guessing here.SPEEDSTEP, HT, TURBO MODE, VT, CPU/PCIE SPREAD SPECTRUM are Disabled in the BIOS. there is 1 setting i came across in the BIOS the other day that i'm not sure about...Virtualization VT-d I/O - what should i set that one to? Default setting is Disabled. also, with C1E Support Enabled on the new board, according to CPUz the Proc. is running at the 3.2 stock speed. with the P5E3 with C1E Support Enabled the 9650 was running at 2-2.5Ghz according to CPUz. weird huh? btw, can i get the Mem. running at the 1600 speed 1st then o/c the Proc.? or does the Proc. need to be o/c to a certain speed b4 the Mem. will run at the 1600 speed? as i'm sure you can tell i'm not an experienced o/c'er by any means.again, respond to this post and the previous one in more detail at your convenience.thanks again for your help and patience with me on this.happy flyin, Tim

I am really pressed for time Tim so I am going to run down everything as quickly as possible and let you work with it from there.. I will try to assist as I canGood thing I can type 110WPM and keep copy/paste notes LOLI was talking about its relation to the tower and yes the direction you installed it is correct but I was also talking about how well it was sitting on the proc. There are some reports that they need a bit of help with tension by adding a thin washer to the top where the screw holds the X bracket together and fits into the notch of the base plate. I do not have one of the newer 120's.. I used my originals with a 1366 mount plate kit. Applying thermal compound is important too.. and let me make something clear.. AS breaks down over time and must be reapplied about every 6 monthsand AS is really not the compound of choice for intel quads.. At this point lets just assume you are fine with that.Just because the temp only dropped 5c on the same settings means nothing.. there is a thermal CURVE involved with heatsinks. In other words your Zalman @ 3.8/4GHz would run that proc well over 80, possibly 90+ where the 120 wont. The efficiency curve of the Zalman drops where the TRUE maintains==================================Working with i7 calculationshere is a little tool you can use to figure out relationships with i7.. http://icrontic.com/downloads/nehalem-over...king-calculatorThe deal is it works in multipliers instead of frequency values and with the extreme processor your job is a lot easier. Its also made for the non extreme procs so the multiplier only goes up to 25 with that toolA web base tool here: http://www.linuxforge.net/freqcalc.phpBe aware.. the only way you can damage your processor isa. exceed 100c or run well above 90c for long periods of timeb. set QPI/DRAM voltage less than .5v of DRAM - if DRAM 1.65 then lowest safe QPI/DRAM = 1.15 c. set DRAM voltage above 1.70 (its actually higher but I'm not going to post the limit)so do not worry about damage.. be ware of the 3 items above and you will be fine regardless of any crashes or instability======================================Uncore Multiplier (frequency) : QPI Multiplier (frequency)lost me againSimple.. that just means UNCORE and QPI are the same thing.. some BIOS's and web sites call it UNCORE others call it QPI========================================QPI Frequency = BCLK x QPI Multiplier (Options: 4800/5866/6400 MHz @ BCLK 133 MHz)what shoud the QPI Multiplier be set to? which one of those options would be more suitable for a 3.8 - 3.9 CPU clock speed?This one is a trial and error test situation.. as you increase QPI Frequency you increase the data rate between the memory and CPU. nudging it up can create instability. I would leave QPI Frequency on AUTO for now.. the one you need to be concerned with is UNCLK. If setting UNCLK to AUTO nets the 1600 DRAM speed unavailable in the DRAM Frequency settings, set UNCLK Frequency to 3200 or 2x the DRAM speed. ========================================correct me if i'm wrong, with the 965 extreme if i interpret your info. correctly, i need to do the following Only in the BIOS...1. leave BCLK at 133 correct2. for a CPU clock speed of 3.8Ghz - set CPU multiplier manually to 28 or 29 - correct3. Mem. Speed (Frequency) of 1600 - select DDR1600 (change the DRAMFREQ. setting from AUTO to DDR1600) and set the Memory Timings manually. if the Mushie's can't handle the 6 7 x x timings because of the HeatSinks, will 7-7-7 18 timings be acceptable at 1.65v?yes, correct however as stated Mushkin is well known for hitting their marks on timing.. that is what you paid for! So if you are not able to run 6-7-6 I would look at other possibilites in trim. There are other BIOS settings I can give you for stable memory however I reserve those for last after the prime values are verified. Also, Mushkin suppot forums have real mushkin techs there that will assist4. set CPU, Memory, & QPI/DRAM voltages manually (CPU tweaking required and possibly QPI/DRAM). as i enter the voltage figures for each field do i need to hit the "Enter" key afterwards to make them "Stick/Take" so to speak? seems like i read somtheing about that recently in one of my PC Mags. QPI/DRAM must be set to 1.37v. Dropdown or manually enter value and hit enter5. Uncore Multiplier(Frequency) 2 x Mem. Multiplier(Frequency) and QPI Multiplier(Frquency)...set all those Manually? or are they set correctly Automatically upon saving changes & exiting the BIOS?That

thanks for the help and info. Nick. very detailed. i will let u know the results asap.happy flyin, Tim

Yup, I agree, as always, very good info indeed from Nick and will come to good use with my next upgrade. My intent is to reach the standard 4.0GHz overclock with decent timings on the RAM. I'm just waiting for the d0 CPUs to ship with certainty now which will make the overclock goal that much easier to obtain. I assume the selected RAM below will allow me to do this? Does anyone see any issues here?Current Newegg wish list (comments welcome): Intel Core i7 Upgarde - Wish listASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - RetailNote: Basic good components without all the extras found on the deluxe boards. Using 3ware PCIe Raid controller and Creative X-Fi Audio, this seems perfect. Hope the BIOS settings aren't restricted compared to the big 'deluxe' brothers.CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - RetailNote: Do I really need this? I already have Corsair 620HX but it may be on the edge of the supply envelope when used with my GTX285 and four Raptor drives.Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - RetailNote: Waiting for the d0 steppings to ship with certainty. Seems to be luck of the draw at the moment.mushkin Redline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 998692 - RetailNote: Extra wide heatsinks (3 slots max). Good low timings and recommended by Nick.Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - RetailNote: Good xbitlabs review for this model at a very reasonable price. Will replace my current Zalman 9700.

Yes. .you need the PSU, no doubt about thatI can not comment on the HSF as I have not seen enough data to indicate one way or another. Xbit is one of the more trustworthy sites.. but none the less one must look at the environment being tested and any circumstances in use.. such as fan speeds, number of fans on the unit, etc. It does look like that unit is showing promise however its size is quite massive too

Yes. .you need the PSU, no doubt about thatI can not comment on the HSF as I have not seen enough data to indicate one way or another. Xbit is one of the more trustworthy sites.. but none the less one must look at the environment being tested and any circumstances in use.. such as fan speeds, number of fans on the unit, etc. It does look like that unit is showing promise however its size is quite massive too

Thanks Nick! Undertand about the HSF and I think I've looked over the specs well enough that I'm comfortable with it. If it doesn't work out well, it's not too expensive to replace.Regarding the P6T SE MB, even though it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the Deluxe models, do think the BIOS may be crippled in any way as compared to the BIOS settings available on the deluxe models? Can I expect to find all the neccessary settings listed above in this thread, even on the this 'lighter' SE motherboard?