AMD Dragon Kit!

nicnik · Apr 15, 2009, 05:04 PM

Hi all,
Time for me to start my thread. I receive my kit some time last week and have already gotten some pictures taken. Unfortunately I received a faulty 4870x2

and am waiting for a replacement (Thx for the help craig).

Just as with the other 2 guys, it's the same kit: Asus M4a79 Deluxe, Asus Trifan 4870x2 and AMD phenom II 940.

I've spent some time on it and built it up already. Still waiting for my case, keyboard and gpu to arrive, until then it'll be using a half broken case and be non functional ^_^

Will get more pix of it when it's up and running.

nic.

lepel · Apr 15, 2009, 06:13 PM

Very nice! What case and keyboard are you getting?

Judas · Apr 15, 2009, 06:13 PM

excellent...

to bad on the hd4870x2.... glad it's getting sorted...

mike2h · Apr 15, 2009, 06:20 PM

gz & have fun with that excellent piece(s) of equip!!

[hobo]eclipse · Apr 15, 2009, 06:30 PM

awesome, awesome, awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that board looks sweet! oc the heck outa it!

all hail driverheaven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nicnik · Apr 15, 2009, 06:39 PM

Thx!

I will be getting wireless keyboard and laser mouse set. prolly either microsoft or logitech.

As for the case, I might for now put it into the antec 300 I have for my old A64, since I can't decide on what case to get. I'll prolly put it in when the gpu arrives and do it all in 1 go.

I've already purchased 2 sticks of 2 GB kingston hyperx 1066 RAM, and an akasa 967 cooler. I would get an alternative cooler but it would merely be 2-3 degree's cooler but allot louder, the akasa is really quiet on full blast.

The 4870x2 fan seems to be ok, you'd think 3 fans would be quite loud but the noise doesn't start to kick in until after 55% fan speed which is about average. I think ~70% is the max I can take, any higher and it's too loud.

The board seems good. I've updated the bios to i think 1202. Not too used to the bios though, all my other boards use either pheonix or award.

The phenom II 940 should easily hit 3.6, which is a great improvement over the first generation of phenoms.

Mac Daddy · Apr 16, 2009, 02:39 AM

Cool on the viddy card glad it is being sorted

Chaos · Apr 16, 2009, 02:56 AM

Another happy winner good to see. I hope the replacement card gets to you soon

nicnik · Apr 17, 2009, 08:46 PM

card's coming on monday. I've already got everything else put together. Ebuyer excellent as always, delivered within a day on super saver.

Once card arrives I'll get cracking with some overclocking

Mac Daddy · Apr 18, 2009, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicnik

card's coming on monday. I've already got everything else put together. Ebuyer excellent as always, delivered within a day on super saver.

Once card arrives I'll get cracking with some overclocking

Sweet

nicnik · Apr 18, 2009, 10:16 PM

Update! put my 1900xtx in the rig for now. Started to overclock the CPU Mildly. Not sure how to overclock the ram using this ASUS board. Only options I have are 677 800 1066, I do not see an option to set the FSB/Ram Ratio or dividers, or memory multiplier. So I am assuming the board automatically sets the divider and mutiplier to "force" whatever speed i choose out of 667 800 1066.

Is this how it works for asus boards? I've always used dfi, and only jus moved to gigabyte, this is the 2nd asus I've ever had, but my first asus is a P3 that i've never bothered overclocking.

Anyway, sitting at 3.6ghz atm, Coretemp shows temps max 49C at 3.6ghz. Not sure how accurate coretemp is though. Prime running stable for a while, not sure how long. Games running fine, no problems, only limited by the 1900xtx (quite badly :P)

update:
3.6ghz (200x18), ram at 1066, cpu v: 1.45 everything else on auto. Crashes at prime within 20 minutes. Could be bug with bios. It seems if I put a setting back onto Auto it retains whatever setting I had before! ie. I had 3.6ghz profile (unstable) went to bios set all back to auto rebooted and cpu-z still showed 3.6

Mac Daddy · Apr 19, 2009, 01:38 AM

I am still learning ASUS BIOS here it is odd

Regarding RAM on this ASUS board in the profile on my specs there are 3 settings that affect the dividers and straps.

nicnik · Apr 19, 2009, 10:28 AM

I can't see any option to change dividers, or the ram multiplier (manual doesn't help at all). Only 667 800 1066. Opening cpu-z afterwards, I can see the divider is automatically set to whatever ratio that makes it stick to 1066. Using latest bios right now, gona try see if there's any beta bios's that has more bios options available.

Mac Daddy · Apr 19, 2009, 01:06 PM

I didn't see any additional options either until I changed the setting in AI tweaker to "normal" even XMP didn't show these memory settings. But then again yours is a different board and using an AMD CPU.

SeraphicSorcerer · Apr 19, 2009, 08:28 PM

I'll take a Dragon kit, please!

I have an obsession with dragons! haha. Do these things retail ?

Grats on yours again, sorry for the DOA Card, but hey It'll get sorted

*CyberpowerUK* · Apr 20, 2009, 11:30 AM

Change the RAM speed to Manual and set to the frequency to what you want to start with, and it'll increase with the FSB. If you leave at limit, it will stick to the set divider.

Mike

nicnik · Apr 20, 2009, 12:32 PM

Thx for the help, i'll try looking into it again tonight and see how it goes. Are all asus bio's like this?

anyway, 1m super pi takes about 22+ seconds to complete. overclocked at 3.6 makes it 19-20seconds. Don't remember the exact numbers. Will do all that once the gpu is in.

*CyberpowerUK* · Apr 20, 2009, 01:21 PM

Nope just AMD ones :P

The RAM dividers are a bit funny and depend on the CPU Multiplier.
This should make it a little clearer:

DDR2 RAM Dividers - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net

Mac Daddy · Apr 21, 2009, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberpowerUK

Nope just AMD ones :P

Not necessarily

nicnik looks like good advise here and + rep for Mike

nicnik · Apr 21, 2009, 06:30 AM

Have it up and running with the 4870 installed now. Seems stable so far at 3.6, I will push it further once it's stable for a while. Temps max at 50 under full load.
The 4870x2 is making an impact to the overall temperatures though, that thing runs very hot and loud. As mentioned before I can only tolerate the fan speed set at 55%. I think the gpu hits 75-80 under full load @ 55%

thx for the help.

Judas · Apr 21, 2009, 07:00 AM

75-80 is pretty damn good for a x2..... i've seen most usually sitting between 90-95... some as high as 105... (which imo is way to bloody hot..)

i'm still waiting on a PSU... but i MAY try using a OCZ GamerXstream 600 watt and see if the sucker will even work at all

Kinda sucks i sold the HD4870 i had .... i was going to try a tri-crossfire setup...

nicnik · Apr 21, 2009, 09:06 AM

All the ATI card's I've had of late has been far hotter than all the nvidia's I've ever had -.-

How can anyone have a card running at 90-100C...

SeraphicSorcerer · Apr 21, 2009, 11:39 AM

Try upping your fan via control panel

lepel · Apr 21, 2009, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeraphicSorcerer

Try upping your fan via control panel

Auto Fan Control for 48xx: a guide - [H]ard|Forum
[H]ard|Forum - View Single Post - Auto Fan Control for 48xx: a guide

I used that guide to set up a dynamic fan speed profile for my 4870x2. It isn't exactly silent, but at least the card is cooler than with the default factory settings.

nicnik · Apr 21, 2009, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeraphicSorcerer

Try upping your fan via control panel

I'm using 55% via ccc.

It started getting hot these 2 days so that definitely doesnt help.

Hmm, Just remembered, I think I put the 4870x2 in the bottom slot of the Motherboard, that restricts allot of free space below the gpu. I'll put it in the top slot tonight I'm sure that will make a difference. using bottom slot makes it about 2-3 inches away from the PSU, which incidently blows right into the gpu fans.

Mac Daddy · Apr 21, 2009, 12:57 PM

The airflow on the internal PSU fan should be intake ... the one exiting the case is usually exhaust.

Neshi · Apr 21, 2009, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac Daddy

The airflow on the internal PSU fan should be intake ... the one exiting the case is usually exhaust.

But if you have a case without a fan hole in the lower plate, you have to turn it over.. That was the case with my Antec 900 case.

Mac Daddy · Apr 22, 2009, 02:14 AM

True Bro but I was referring to this posted above my post by nicnik.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicnik

using bottom slot makes it about 2-3 inches away from the PSU, which incidently blows right into the gpu fans.

That fan isn't blowing into the GPU fans it is intake and drawing air from the GPU fans.

Judas · Apr 22, 2009, 02:59 AM

nicnik... your not alone on the faulty HD4870x2

mine doesn't work either

nicnik · Apr 22, 2009, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

nicnik... your not alone on the faulty HD4870x2

mine doesn't work either

seriously, that's really bad luck!

I have mine running now, and I'm not sure if it's my psu that's not holding up. It could be. I'm using a moderately priced psu Hipower 800W, 20A x 3 on 12v rails. I want to make sure that it is the PSU that's not pumping enough juice into the 4870x2. Right now with the system overclocked at 3.6, rock stable tested fully and tested with my gtx 260 as well, I am getting little stutters in some games with the 4870x2 (crysis etc), and in some games I will get shadow corruption of some sort, the shadows will flash and blink sometimes. especially if game camera is moved, or after a reload of new area. Downclocking CPU back to stock will make the problems appear to disappear. However, I only found this out this morning and had only 5 minutes on the PC at stock settings so i cannot fully confirm that this is the case until later this evening.

If it is for sure the PSU not good enough then that's fine. Any other way to test to be sure?

GPU-Z shows the 4870x2 VDDC Current at 12.2 and under most games it hits 40A, and in crysis full load it reaches 50-51A.

Apr 15, 2009, 05:04 PM	#1
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	AMD Dragon Kit! Hi all, Time for me to start my thread. I receive my kit some time last week and have already gotten some pictures taken. Unfortunately I received a faulty 4870x2 and am waiting for a replacement (Thx for the help craig). Just as with the other 2 guys, it's the same kit: Asus M4a79 Deluxe, Asus Trifan 4870x2 and AMD phenom II 940. I've spent some time on it and built it up already. Still waiting for my case, keyboard and gpu to arrive, until then it'll be using a half broken case and be non functional ^_^ Will get more pix of it when it's up and running. nic. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV

Apr 15, 2009, 06:13 PM	#2
lepel HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Belgium Posts: 552 Rep Power: 41 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! Very nice! What case and keyboard are you getting?

Apr 15, 2009, 06:20 PM	#4
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! gz & have fun with that excellent piece(s) of equip!! __________________

Apr 15, 2009, 06:30 PM	#5
[hobo]eclipse ...just bummin 'round Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,907 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! awesome, awesome, awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! that board looks sweet! oc the heck outa it! all hail driverheaven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apr 15, 2009, 06:39 PM	Thread Starter #6
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! Thx! I will be getting wireless keyboard and laser mouse set. prolly either microsoft or logitech. As for the case, I might for now put it into the antec 300 I have for my old A64, since I can't decide on what case to get. I'll prolly put it in when the gpu arrives and do it all in 1 go. I've already purchased 2 sticks of 2 GB kingston hyperx 1066 RAM, and an akasa 967 cooler. I would get an alternative cooler but it would merely be 2-3 degree's cooler but allot louder, the akasa is really quiet on full blast. The 4870x2 fan seems to be ok, you'd think 3 fans would be quite loud but the noise doesn't start to kick in until after 55% fan speed which is about average. I think ~70% is the max I can take, any higher and it's too loud. The board seems good. I've updated the bios to i think 1202. Not too used to the bios though, all my other boards use either pheonix or award. The phenom II 940 should easily hit 3.6, which is a great improvement over the first generation of phenoms. __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV Last edited by nicnik; Apr 15, 2009 at 06:50 PM.

Apr 16, 2009, 02:39 AM	#7
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 80 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! Cool on the viddy card glad it is being sorted __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Apr 16, 2009, 02:56 AM	#8
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,268 Rep Power: 167 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! Another happy winner good to see. I hope the replacement card gets to you soon

Apr 17, 2009, 08:46 PM	Thread Starter #9
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! card's coming on monday. I've already got everything else put together. Ebuyer excellent as always, delivered within a day on super saver. Once card arrives I'll get cracking with some overclocking __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV

Apr 18, 2009, 10:16 PM	Thread Starter #11
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! Update! put my 1900xtx in the rig for now. Started to overclock the CPU Mildly. Not sure how to overclock the ram using this ASUS board. Only options I have are 677 800 1066, I do not see an option to set the FSB/Ram Ratio or dividers, or memory multiplier. So I am assuming the board automatically sets the divider and mutiplier to "force" whatever speed i choose out of 667 800 1066. Is this how it works for asus boards? I've always used dfi, and only jus moved to gigabyte, this is the 2nd asus I've ever had, but my first asus is a P3 that i've never bothered overclocking. Anyway, sitting at 3.6ghz atm, Coretemp shows temps max 49C at 3.6ghz. Not sure how accurate coretemp is though. Prime running stable for a while, not sure how long. Games running fine, no problems, only limited by the 1900xtx (quite badly :P) update: 3.6ghz (200x18), ram at 1066, cpu v: 1.45 everything else on auto. Crashes at prime within 20 minutes. Could be bug with bios. It seems if I put a setting back onto Auto it retains whatever setting I had before! ie. I had 3.6ghz profile (unstable) went to bios set all back to auto rebooted and cpu-z still showed 3.6 __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV Last edited by nicnik; Apr 18, 2009 at 10:36 PM.

Apr 19, 2009, 01:38 AM	#12
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 80 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! I am still learning ASUS BIOS here it is odd Regarding RAM on this ASUS board in the profile on my specs there are 3 settings that affect the dividers and straps. __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Apr 19, 2009, 10:28 AM	Thread Starter #13
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! I can't see any option to change dividers, or the ram multiplier (manual doesn't help at all). Only 667 800 1066. Opening cpu-z afterwards, I can see the divider is automatically set to whatever ratio that makes it stick to 1066. Using latest bios right now, gona try see if there's any beta bios's that has more bios options available. __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV

Apr 19, 2009, 01:06 PM	#14
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 80 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! I didn't see any additional options either until I changed the setting in AI tweaker to "normal" even XMP didn't show these memory settings. But then again yours is a different board and using an AMD CPU. __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Apr 19, 2009, 08:28 PM	#15
SeraphicSorcerer HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 2,295 Rep Power: 156 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! I'll take a Dragon kit, please! I have an obsession with dragons! haha. Do these things retail ? Grats on yours again, sorry for the DOA Card, but hey It'll get sorted __________________

Apr 20, 2009, 11:30 AM	#16
CyberpowerUK DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: The Toon Posts: 81 Rep Power: 25 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! Change the RAM speed to Manual and set to the frequency to what you want to start with, and it'll increase with the FSB. If you leave at limit, it will stick to the set divider. Mike

Apr 20, 2009, 12:32 PM	Thread Starter #17
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! Thx for the help, i'll try looking into it again tonight and see how it goes. Are all asus bio's like this? anyway, 1m super pi takes about 22+ seconds to complete. overclocked at 3.6 makes it 19-20seconds. Don't remember the exact numbers. Will do all that once the gpu is in. __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV

Apr 20, 2009, 01:21 PM	#18
CyberpowerUK DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: The Toon Posts: 81 Rep Power: 25 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! Nope just AMD ones :P The RAM dividers are a bit funny and depend on the CPU Multiplier. This should make it a little clearer: DDR2 RAM Dividers - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net

Apr 21, 2009, 06:30 AM	Thread Starter #20
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! Have it up and running with the 4870 installed now. Seems stable so far at 3.6, I will push it further once it's stable for a while. Temps max at 50 under full load. The 4870x2 is making an impact to the overall temperatures though, that thing runs very hot and loud. As mentioned before I can only tolerate the fan speed set at 55%. I think the gpu hits 75-80 under full load @ 55% thx for the help. __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV

Apr 21, 2009, 09:06 AM	Thread Starter #22
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! All the ATI card's I've had of late has been far hotter than all the nvidia's I've ever had -.- How can anyone have a card running at 90-100C... __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV

Apr 21, 2009, 11:39 AM	#23
SeraphicSorcerer HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 2,295 Rep Power: 156 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! Try upping your fan via control panel __________________

Apr 21, 2009, 12:57 PM	#26
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 80 System Specs	Re: AMD Dragon Kit! The airflow on the internal PSU fan should be intake ... the one exiting the case is usually exhaust. __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen