805D, P5WDH system build upto OC results

Hi some of you may know that I have been undertaking a project to build a "Conroe" ready (and later) platform and test spin an 805D on it until prices for the "Core 2 Duo" come down a bit. My budget was roughly $2,000AUD and I am at ~$2,100 so starting to stretch the budget a bit.

Over the next week or two I will show photos of the system build and OC results as I build, tweak and fine-tune this system to see what I can really get out off it.

I have spent more than 100 hours in researching this project, bouncing ideas and seeking technical input of others from this forum and elsewhere and finally parts have started to arrive and in a couple of days I will finally be able to undertake the build (RAM & PSU are still in the mail.

A primary reason I started with the 805D:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/05/10/dual_41_ghz_cores/print.html

P5WDH was choosen because "KingPin" says he loves this board:

http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/pr/PR_TWIN2X2048-6400C3_World_Records.pdf

He is breaking/establishing many OC records and if he says it's good well.

Here's some pics while I'm still waiting on the other parts. Any ques etc feel free

 

Also that little OC gem the 805D

 

As I'm still waiting for parts to arrive I have built the first half of the system. Here is a pic of the bottom of the Zalman CNPS9500 and you can see that is has an almost mirror finish, I'm very impressed with the finish on this product but I have to say it required a bit of pressure to mount it following the directions for the LGA775 supplied.

As I have blown my budget and know absolutely nothing about H20 (some reviews indicate good air beats many water cooling set-ups), good airflow is crucial if I want to optimise the potential OC of this CPU. I have a front 120mm inlet and you can see the extraction setup.

Tommorow hopefully I will finally get my PSU, RAM and Vid Card (been waiting since the 11/08/2006 and still waiting )

 

lookin good so far dude, what case are you using?

 

Well after looking at many cases I decided I hate the ones with these front doors, especially plastic, as I literaaly had them fall off while in the shop and the sales rep. apologised to me saying that happens all the time, so that ruled them out.

In the end I went with the "Coolmaster: Centurion 532":

http://www.hardware-review.net/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=844

The main reason being is the front panel is completely perforated and lined with a filter (cheap foam but hey keeps out the crud). It already has a 120mm front inlet but I may mount a 2nd 120mm in the 5.25'' bays under the DVD drive and see if this improves temps. Also I didn't have to buy some crappy PSU I would never use.

 

After greater than 2 months of waiting I have finally received the parts I wanted. Sadly Australia can be such a technological backwater that we have months or even years to get the best stuff. I had to order my "Crucial Balistix RAM & x1900xtx from the US.

Below you will see the OZC GameXtreme 700w PSU (arguably the best PSU at this current point in time and it wins technoligical review after review after review so I had to have one). Have put all the parts together but will wait to this w/e when I will have time to start on the BIOS and install the OS.

 

Okay finally have the OS installed and the drivers all sorted the x64 bit has been a bit of a challenge but her she is finally under power and the first benchmark at stock, i.e. CPU@2.66GHz, GPU@500/594 (rated at 640/770 will crank this shortly).