[M] CPU simulator test

While it’s fun to put a CPU under this massive cooling beast, we wanted to see just how much Watt of heat the ECT Mach GT can dissipate. In order to do this we build our very own MAD CPU simulator.



This device can generate up to 625Watt of heat, much more than any current CPU can deliver. We received the sane advice of E.C.T. to not push more then 250Watt through the GT, so we happily complied.

The GT performs best at ~180Watt load, while anything over 250Watt might cause damage to it.

Two temperature sensors were attached to the GT, #1 to the micro-freezer’s head and the #2 to the CPU simulator.

The first charts displays the temperature seen on the E.C.T. Mach2 GT display:



Our second chart combines the 3 temperature read-outs:

Sensor #1 = head

Sensor #2 = heater

LCD GT display = display

If we did not cool the CPU simulator it would have burned to the ground, at 225Watt the temperature was at 70°C and being cooled by phase-change!





[M] Real Hardware Test

AMD 4000+

DFI NF4 SLI

GSkill 3200 GH

Nvidia 6800 GT in SLI

Antec truepower 550 watt

Western Digital WD 360 raptor

Windows 2000/XP/2003

We were only interested in:

HOW FAST WILL THIS CPU GO WITH THIS COOLING ?

If you are not sure how to overclock AMD CPU’s you should take a look at this howto : A64 OC explained, if you have questions about the ECT, you can find support at their forums: Extreme Cooling Technologies

To test stability the small application Memtest can be quite useful, DFI even integrated it in their BIOS (using version 414 here).

It helps you find the limit of your CPU, motherboard and memory capabilities, fine tuning is done afterwards in Windows running several game benchmarks and testing stability.

The AMD 4000+ Clawhammer normally runs at 2400Mhz, let’s see if we can push it to the 3Ghz limit, we start of with small steps.

GSkill 3200 GH 2 times 512 MB 2-2-2-5

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----------200 * 12 = 2400 MHz----------220 * 12 = 2640----------

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----------240 * 12 = 2880 MHz----------260 * 12 = 3120----------
Now we have to make smaller steps

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----------263 * 12 = 3156 MHz----------265 * 12 = 3180----------
The max of 265 MHz results in errors.

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Changing back to bios version 310-2 gave better results. But old Winbond BH-5 still takes the crown when it comes down to maximum speed with low timings in Memtest.

With CL2-3-2-5 settings it’s slower compared to the CL2-2-2-5 settings, so a nice picture but not workable for me


----------265 * 12 = 3180 MHz----------274 * 12 = 3288----------

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In order to get the maximum scores when benchmarking you need to switch around with Operating Systems, to facilitate life a nice multi-boot setup will come in handy



Next step in stress testing the cooling unit is by using a small application called “PIFAST” this tool will stress your CPU while it calculates… φ

When your CPU is on the edge of stability, then any error will be visibly quickly in PIFAST as it will start displaying errors.

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PIFAST


----------200 * 12 = 2400 MHz----------266 * 12 = 3192----------
---------49.47 seconds------------37.23 seconds----------

The GT LCD display showed -54°C. These results in PIFAST were not achievable with mere air cooling, or even water cooling.

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SUPERPI 1M

SuperPI is similar to PiFast, let’s see how our overclocked 4000+ handles it


----------200 * 12 = 2400 MHz----------266 * 12 = 3192----------
---------34.562 seconds------------25.984 seconds----------

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SUPERPI 32M


----------200 * 12 = 2400 MHz----------264 * 12 = 3169----------
---------40 min 45 sec------------32 min 50 sec----------


let's see if the extra CPU power gives us a boost in games and 3D benchmarks ->