Skulltrail - XFX GTX 280 XXX 3-Way SLi /4870X2 CFx

blibbax · Sep 13, 2008, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

coolmister, thats a nice looking setup.

+1

Zardon · Sep 13, 2008, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolmister

Cheers Zardon, its currently plugged into an LG 15"

Oh. It might be a better idea to maybe put the money on the upgrade to a nice new 24 or 30 inch screen ?

sammorris · Sep 13, 2008, 10:52 PM

there's little difference between 'High' and the hacked 'Very High' config in performance terms, and there's no difference between the 'Very high' hacked config and the real thing in Vista, so realistically, not much difference.
Oh, and agreed on the 15" screen. Honestly, I could still get away with my HD3870 for one of those...

Zardon · Sep 13, 2008, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammorris

there's little difference between 'High' and the hacked 'Very High' config in performance terms, and there's no difference between the 'Very high' hacked config and the real thing in Vista, so realistically, not much difference..

Actually between a single 4870x2 and 3x 280s in SLI in crysis (DX10) there is quite a difference in frame rate. its noticeably smoother at 2560x1600. Obviously its also a little more expensive.....

sammorris · Sep 14, 2008, 12:39 AM

Oh, agreed, you will still definitely notice the difference, but realistically, I doubt very many people could justify quadruple the expense on that account... haha

Zardon · Sep 14, 2008, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammorris

Oh, agreed, you will still definitely notice the difference, but realistically, I doubt very many people could justify quadruple the expense on that account... haha

Funnily enough its actually just over double the price. Yeah im being pedantic I know.......

4870X2 - £350 inc vat
280 GTX £250 inc vat x3 = £750.

Zardon · Sep 25, 2008, 04:43 PM

for those interested, overclockers are selling skulltrail systems now.

"Skulltrail Extreme" Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9775 3.20GHz @ 3.40GHz FBDIMM System

mjohns64 · Sep 26, 2008, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthBeavis

Slot 1 and 3 then. . .that is the difference we have it seems.

I have seen many Skulltrail builds (several by Danger Den, a few by Smooth) and they all have been way sweeter than mine.

Smooth Creations | Xtreme Machines

Just been looking at the Smooth Creations site - sweet..

I'm fortunate that I've got my bonus coming to me in a couple of months (just had confirmed - and it arrives just after Christmas) - so in the market for an absolute MONSTER that I won't need to touch again for a little while and I think this hits the spot.... good upgrade path...

However, I notice that everywhere I've been checking shows that the Skulltrail uses DDR2 memory - but if you check the Smooth Creations site, they are selling with DDR3?

See Smooth Creations | Xtreme Machines

So - a new version of the M/board that takes DDR3? A Typo? Or will the Skulltrail also run DDR3? (Everything I've seen says not!)

Cheers.

MJO.

PS - Great reviews and FAB site... I'll be coming back lots in the build up to putting my ordering late Jan!

Zardon · Sep 26, 2008, 03:57 PM

massive errors in that system unless the skulltrail motherboard is actually something else.

firstly QX9770 is a CPU which can't work in dual CPU mode, the QX9775 is the processor for that task.

Skulltrail cant take DDR3 it needs fully buffered DDR2 (and can take 4x4gb modules incidentally such as crucial sell). and why are there 4 video cards? different options?

Wouldn't go near these guys....... I have emailed them letting them know. Massive concerns about their technical department after seeing that.

**Mousey** · Sep 26, 2008, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthBeavis

Quad SLI is the standard I run bro . . .no problems.

Have also run Crossfire X 3870X2s but did not get them scaling well:

And four 8800 GTXs which never worked (and made n00b h2o mistakes with it as well:

I'm in love with the red green and blue coolant on the second pic

mjohns64 · Sep 26, 2008, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

massive errors in that system unless the skulltrail motherboard is actually something else.

firstly QX9770 is a CPU which can't work in dual CPU mode, the QX9775 is the processor for that task.

Skulltrail cant take DDR3 it needs fully buffered DDR2 (and can take 4x4gb modules incidentally such as crucial sell). and why are there 4 video cards? different options?

Wouldn't go near these guys....... I have emailed them letting them know. Massive concerns about their technical department after seeing that.

Thanks - I've assumed they are different options that you can choose from, but looking at the other specs, they are also showing the DDR3 - so clearly not a typo... definately something fishy....

Besides - half the fun is building it yourself! Just great seeing some of the case mods as well.. if I only had the time and patience... :-)

Zardon · Sep 26, 2008, 04:15 PM

yeah if you have the time and ability, Id build it yourself. just pick up a few QX9775's (or other 771 cpus if those are too much cost). get a nice chassis, PSU and some FB DDR2 and get working. would be a great project for the new year. 280GTXs are a great price right now as well.

I have emailed that company and if I get a response ill let you know, hopefully they change that page, its extremely misleading.

Welcome to DriverHeaven.

mjohns64 · Sep 26, 2008, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

yeah if you have the time and ability, Id build it yourself. just pick up a few QX9775's (or other 771 cpus if those are too much cost). get a nice chassis, PSU and some FB DDR2 and get working. would be a great project for the new year. 280GTXs are a great price right now as well.

I have emailed that company and if I get a response ill let you know, hopefully they change that page, its extremely misleading.

Welcome to DriverHeaven.

Just been reading your aircooled variant review - now THAT looks like fun...! I think a great challenge would be see just how high you could O/C, while keeping as cool as possible with the least noise... My first gen watercooling system was *a lot* louder that if I'd just stayed with air!

Nice to be here and thanks for the welcome - friendly place! :-)

Zardon · Sep 26, 2008, 04:34 PM

Yeah I have had a lot of fun building that air cooled skulltrail system, glad you enjoyed it. I actually finished it last night, changed a few fans around for better cfm and same DB (amazing some of the high quality fans now compared to a few years ago).

The Corsair PSU I noticed recently can get very hot after extended gaming with the CPUs at 4.5ghz and the 3 overclocked 280 GTX's. its not dangerously hot but I think their thermal configuration for fan speeds is set for optimal noise rather than air flow. I was going to open it and replace the fan but I think adjustments would be need to the controller as well.

What I did was I modded the Corsair HX1000W PSU and attached a high quality YSTECH92mm fan to it on the outside of the chassis with it sucking out hot air. I find it has kept the unit much cooler and less ambient heat gets expelled downwards (internally) near the CPU coolers.

All surprisingly quiet considering there are 10 fans in the system.

Zardon · Sep 26, 2008, 09:32 PM

From: "Smooth Creations Sales" <sales@smoothcreations.com>
To: "'www.smoothcreations.com...snip... axxx@driverheaven.net>

Subject: RE: www.smoothcreations.com Contact Us Page
"Well aware.....typo it is being fixed"

So there you go guys. the fact they used 2x 9770 cpus which wouldnt work in dual mode and DDR3 on a skulltrail motherboard (in 2 various speeds!) is all a simple "typo".

Purchase from these guys with caution.

macbiter · Sep 26, 2008, 10:31 PM

A typo is a misspelt word, not configuring a system with wrong memory, wrong processors and charging quite a premium for it as well. Looks to me like they don't really know what they are doing.

The guys attitude in email is appalling also, that alone would make sure I never ordered anything from them. How the hell are they going to treat a customer with problems?

Technical configuration issues and attitude in email, great combination for customer confidence there. Thank god I built my own, ive more confident in my own ability than these guys.

**kris23** · Sep 26, 2008, 10:35 PM

either they know nothing about the product they're trying to sell or.....

it may all just a poorly spelled marketing scheme to get the less educated buyers to pay them more money because of what they see in the specs.....

$8,000 is a big chunk of change.....

LukeK · Sep 27, 2008, 12:01 AM

fascinating find there. Thats not a typo by any stretch of the imagination - looks more like a system that someone built who actually doesn't know the hardware but more said "ok lets just check all the best components we have" - would certainly be a good indiction of the fact the skulltrail mobo is in there with DDR3, amateur mistake. Also didnt think the reply was very courteous or helpful - wouldnt touch them. Strongly advise all the DHers to stay away too, ive seen too many fly by nights open tech stores, get a chunk load of money and offer substandard builds and over priced systems. I mean would you trust a company who had 2 cpus that cant work in dual mode together with a motherboard that cant take the ram? The Attitude sucks too.

coolmister · Sep 27, 2008, 12:27 AM

Not a biggy in the scheme of things but on two of those systems (that i can see) the Danger Den TDX CPU blocks are mounted up-side-down which can result in an air bubble getting caught in the top of the block similar to a sprit level and while there is air in a CPU block the water isn't able to its cooling job.

The really annoying thing for me with this faux pas though is that the hose routing would have actually been easier and better if they'd plumbed it the correct way.

All very strange

mjohns64 · Sep 27, 2008, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

So there you go guys. the fact they used 2x 9770 cpus which wouldnt work in dual mode and DDR3 on a skulltrail motherboard (in 2 various speeds!) is all a simple "typo".

Purchase from these guys with caution.

Yeah... I think I'll be building my own...

It is a hefty chunk of change - but the excahge rate does work reasonably well... O/C UK is selling a complete system here at just over £5K... (£5079.78)! Current exchange rate for that to USD using xe.com is $9345!!! Thats $1300+ more than Smoothcreations are marketing them for - more than enough to cover the shipping to the UK - I'm sure there would be a *lot* of people who want the latest, but don't have the confidence to do it themselves, so this would be very attractive..... Got to love living in the UK at times...

(And before anyone flames me - I know, depending on which US state they are in, there would be the taxes to go on as well, so may not be an apples for apples comparison...! My point being, is that I generally feel that we pay over the odds for kit at times! Global market forcres my Ar$e!!)

/rant

Lian Li case will go on order later this weekend (I can at least afford that between now and Christmas!)... and gives me some time to ponder 'to water cool, or not to water cool'... :-)

Thanks for letting us know their reply Zardon... I wonder how long that has been up on their site for?? Just for reference though - it has now been changed and corrected, so they have moved pretty quick once pointed out to them!

As an aside.... would the mobo even powerup with the DDR3 in it? Again, from what I've seen / read I would doubt it... Mind you, I don't think I'd fancy slapping a couple of DIMMS in just to find out!

cheers,

MJO.

Zardon · Sep 27, 2008, 10:37 AM

Actually they have changed the page but its STILL wrong.

They are now listing "DDR2" at clock speeds its not capable of running at - they don't even seem aware that this motherboard requires fully buffered ram and the maker of those sticks (also spelt wrong) doesnt even stock it. I will contact them again to see if I get a further reply.

Turning into a rather funny little escapade this.

mjohns64 · Sep 27, 2008, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

Actually they have changed the page but its STILL wrong.

They are now listing "DDR2" at clock speeds its not capable of running at - they don't even seem aware that this motherboard requires fully buffered ram and the maker of those sticks (also spelt wrong) doesnt even stock it. I will contact them again to see if I get a further reply.

Turning into a rather funny little escapade this.

I bet they will *love* us! :-)

HAHAHA.... I wonder what else they can mess up!

[hobo]eclipse · Sep 27, 2008, 11:00 AM

ya it is, real bad showing.

Zardon · Sep 27, 2008, 03:00 PM

Allen
Thanks for looking over the specs
That system has just been posted not to long ago and we haven't had time to go over the errors
Web guys don't have the knowledge a builder does and as I am sure you would agree he basically mirrored the Neptune specs adding one proc...2 different systems
I know you dought our work and we can't please everyone but you might take a look at the CPU Dream Machine article posted on our page
For the money we had the fastest system there scoring the highest Crysis bench marks they have ever tested
Beating a 15 thousand dollar Falcon Northwest machine ours running 8k almost getting 2 systems for their price
If you or the web site you are posting from would like to review a skulltrail system from us I would be glad to send you one.
We have just built a Skulltraill Tri Sli 280 GTX system
No overclock it runs a 22k on vantage. Working with intel they have given us some tweaks to overclock to a 4.4 ghz and have stability
I do think you would agree Skulltrail is not the way to go for a gaming rig anyway.
Tech Support
SmoothCreations

Sep 13, 2008, 10:52 PM	#93
sammorris HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brentwood or York, UK Posts: 178 Rep Power: 26 System Specs	there's little difference between 'High' and the hacked 'Very High' config in performance terms, and there's no difference between the 'Very high' hacked config and the real thing in Vista, so realistically, not much difference. Oh, and agreed on the 15" screen. Honestly, I could still get away with my HD3870 for one of those... __________________ Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 & Philips MC-70 [homebrew surround via ATEN CS1782 KVAM] for HTPC. Logitech Z-5500 for gaming PC. I/O: Razer Diamondback Magma, MS Intellimouse Optical, MS Sidewinder X6, Saitek Eclipse II, Pertelian X2040 USB Display DVD: As little as Possible (LG GH20NS15) Networking: Netgear GS105, GS605, GS608, WRN2000, Linksys WRT54GL [Tomato], DrayTek Vigor 120, yards of CAT6

Sep 14, 2008, 12:39 AM	#95
sammorris HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brentwood or York, UK Posts: 178 Rep Power: 26 System Specs	Oh, agreed, you will still definitely notice the difference, but realistically, I doubt very many people could justify quadruple the expense on that account... haha __________________ Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 & Philips MC-70 [homebrew surround via ATEN CS1782 KVAM] for HTPC. Logitech Z-5500 for gaming PC. I/O: Razer Diamondback Magma, MS Intellimouse Optical, MS Sidewinder X6, Saitek Eclipse II, Pertelian X2040 USB Display DVD: As little as Possible (LG GH20NS15) Networking: Netgear GS105, GS605, GS608, WRN2000, Linksys WRT54GL [Tomato], DrayTek Vigor 120, yards of CAT6

Sep 26, 2008, 10:35 PM	#107
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	either they know nothing about the product they're trying to sell or..... it may all just a poorly spelled marketing scheme to get the less educated buyers to pay them more money because of what they see in the specs..... $8,000 is a big chunk of change..... __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Sep 27, 2008, 03:00 PM	Thread Starter #114
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	reply ........ Allen Thanks for looking over the specs That system has just been posted not to long ago and we haven't had time to go over the errors Web guys don't have the knowledge a builder does and as I am sure you would agree he basically mirrored the Neptune specs adding one proc...2 different systems I know you dought our work and we can't please everyone but you might take a look at the CPU Dream Machine article posted on our page For the money we had the fastest system there scoring the highest Crysis bench marks they have ever tested Beating a 15 thousand dollar Falcon Northwest machine ours running 8k almost getting 2 systems for their price If you or the web site you are posting from would like to review a skulltrail system from us I would be glad to send you one. We have just built a Skulltraill Tri Sli 280 GTX system No overclock it runs a 22k on vantage. Working with intel they have given us some tweaks to overclock to a 4.4 ghz and have stability I do think you would agree Skulltrail is not the way to go for a gaming rig anyway. Tech Support SmoothCreations

Sep 25, 2008, 04:43 PM	Thread Starter #97
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	for those interested, overclockers are selling skulltrail systems now. "Skulltrail Extreme" Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9775 3.20GHz @ 3.40GHz FBDIMM System

Sep 26, 2008, 03:57 PM	Thread Starter #99
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	massive errors in that system unless the skulltrail motherboard is actually something else. firstly QX9770 is a CPU which can't work in dual CPU mode, the QX9775 is the processor for that task. Skulltrail cant take DDR3 it needs fully buffered DDR2 (and can take 4x4gb modules incidentally such as crucial sell). and why are there 4 video cards? different options? Wouldn't go near these guys....... I have emailed them letting them know. Massive concerns about their technical department after seeing that.

Sep 26, 2008, 04:15 PM	Thread Starter #102
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	yeah if you have the time and ability, Id build it yourself. just pick up a few QX9775's (or other 771 cpus if those are too much cost). get a nice chassis, PSU and some FB DDR2 and get working. would be a great project for the new year. 280GTXs are a great price right now as well. I have emailed that company and if I get a response ill let you know, hopefully they change that page, its extremely misleading. Welcome to DriverHeaven.

Sep 26, 2008, 04:34 PM	Thread Starter #104
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Yeah I have had a lot of fun building that air cooled skulltrail system, glad you enjoyed it. I actually finished it last night, changed a few fans around for better cfm and same DB (amazing some of the high quality fans now compared to a few years ago). The Corsair PSU I noticed recently can get very hot after extended gaming with the CPUs at 4.5ghz and the 3 overclocked 280 GTX's. its not dangerously hot but I think their thermal configuration for fan speeds is set for optimal noise rather than air flow. I was going to open it and replace the fan but I think adjustments would be need to the controller as well. What I did was I modded the Corsair HX1000W PSU and attached a high quality YSTECH92mm fan to it on the outside of the chassis with it sucking out hot air. I find it has kept the unit much cooler and less ambient heat gets expelled downwards (internally) near the CPU coolers. All surprisingly quiet considering there are 10 fans in the system.

Sep 26, 2008, 09:32 PM	Thread Starter #105
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	From: "Smooth Creations Sales" <sales@smoothcreations.com> To: "'www.smoothcreations.com...snip... axxx@driverheaven.net> Subject: RE: www.smoothcreations.com Contact Us Page "Well aware.....typo it is being fixed" So there you go guys. the fact they used 2x 9770 cpus which wouldnt work in dual mode and DDR3 on a skulltrail motherboard (in 2 various speeds!) is all a simple "typo". Purchase from these guys with caution.

Sep 26, 2008, 10:31 PM	#106
macbiter DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 81 Rep Power: 0	A typo is a misspelt word, not configuring a system with wrong memory, wrong processors and charging quite a premium for it as well. Looks to me like they don't really know what they are doing. The guys attitude in email is appalling also, that alone would make sure I never ordered anything from them. How the hell are they going to treat a customer with problems? Technical configuration issues and attitude in email, great combination for customer confidence there. Thank god I built my own, ive more confident in my own ability than these guys.

Sep 27, 2008, 12:01 AM	#108
LukeK DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 158 Rep Power: 61	fascinating find there. Thats not a typo by any stretch of the imagination - looks more like a system that someone built who actually doesn't know the hardware but more said "ok lets just check all the best components we have" - would certainly be a good indiction of the fact the skulltrail mobo is in there with DDR3, amateur mistake. Also didnt think the reply was very courteous or helpful - wouldnt touch them. Strongly advise all the DHers to stay away too, ive seen too many fly by nights open tech stores, get a chunk load of money and offer substandard builds and over priced systems. I mean would you trust a company who had 2 cpus that cant work in dual mode together with a motherboard that cant take the ram? The Attitude sucks too.

Sep 27, 2008, 12:27 AM	#109
coolmister HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: North East - England Posts: 93 Rep Power: 40	Not a biggy in the scheme of things but on two of those systems (that i can see) the Danger Den TDX CPU blocks are mounted up-side-down which can result in an air bubble getting caught in the top of the block similar to a sprit level and while there is air in a CPU block the water isn't able to its cooling job. The really annoying thing for me with this faux pas though is that the hose routing would have actually been easier and better if they'd plumbed it the correct way. All very strange

Sep 27, 2008, 10:37 AM	Thread Starter #111
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Actually they have changed the page but its STILL wrong. They are now listing "DDR2" at clock speeds its not capable of running at - they don't even seem aware that this motherboard requires fully buffered ram and the maker of those sticks (also spelt wrong) doesnt even stock it. I will contact them again to see if I get a further reply. Turning into a rather funny little escapade this.

Sep 27, 2008, 11:00 AM	#113
[hobo]eclipse ...just bummin 'round Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,907 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	ya it is, real bad showing.