XFX 650i Ultra : Another look ! + Testing with Q6600

[darklord]

A friend of mine wanted to upgrade his PC and so i got a call from him, asking me what he should do,what he should get and so on.

After a lot of discussion, we decided to get the following for his upgrade -

1] XFX 650i Ultra Motherboard
2] Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 [B3 ]
3] Corsair Value select 1GB x 2 DDR2 667Mhz Memory kit
4] Seventeam 500-BKP PSU

Yesterday was a sunday and i had nothing better to do, so i thought,why not check out the board closely and see what the 'B3' is capable of and why people curse it so much

So here we go,

The Box,Package...

*img224.imageshack.us/img224/6430/img0244xw4.th.jpg *img180.imageshack.us/img180/8971/img0247ix9.th.jpg *img148.imageshack.us/img148/1385/img0249jo6.th.jpg

*img461.imageshack.us/img461/9613/img0294pg2.th.jpg

The Board -
*img502.imageshack.us/img502/3451/img0252yz7.th.jpg *img45.imageshack.us/img45/9589/img0274qx9.th.jpg *img154.imageshack.us/img154/930/img0277sb8.th.jpg

*img502.imageshack.us/img502/3254/img0279hv2.th.jpg *img181.imageshack.us/img181/7228/img0281tn3.th.jpg *img176.imageshack.us/img176/3694/img0282zm7.th.jpg

*img179.imageshack.us/img179/4403/img0283pp0.th.jpg *img503.imageshack.us/img503/4597/img0286mm1.th.jpg *img361.imageshack.us/img361/8192/img0287dm9.th.jpg

*img245.imageshack.us/img245/1665/img0291eq0.th.jpg *img105.imageshack.us/img105/3448/img0293gk0.th.jpg

Continued..

 

[darklord]

Re: XFX 650i Ultra : Another look !

Continued..

BIOS Shots - [Note: Bios P03 which released recently was flashed]
*img105.imageshack.us/img105/1668/img0322iv5.th.jpg *img294.imageshack.us/img294/7639/img0325be0.th.jpg *img171.imageshack.us/img171/4831/img0327di9.th.jpg

*img301.imageshack.us/img301/273/img0330pq0.th.jpg *img227.imageshack.us/img227/3140/img0332xj8.th.jpg *img179.imageshack.us/img179/1185/img0334ux3.th.jpg

*img92.imageshack.us/img92/244/img0335hg2.th.jpg *img171.imageshack.us/img171/5859/img0336rl6.th.jpg *img120.imageshack.us/img120/7089/img0338hl7.th.jpg

*img171.imageshack.us/img171/1708/img0339fw4.th.jpg *img120.imageshack.us/img120/9726/img0341mo5.th.jpg *img45.imageshack.us/img45/9864/img0343my5.th.jpg

*img524.imageshack.us/img524/2636/img0344ks4.th.jpg *img454.imageshack.us/img454/8561/img0345cj7.th.jpg *img120.imageshack.us/img120/3779/img0346ag9.th.jpg

Continued...

 

[darklord]

Re: XFX 650i Ultra : Another look !

Continued...

*img461.imageshack.us/img461/9726/img0347wt7.th.jpg *img524.imageshack.us/img524/9512/img0351nx3.th.jpg

Some Observations -

Pros -
1] The board layout is simple and almost perfect
2] From the looks, the quality of components used, especially in the CPU socket area seems very high.
3] No Heatpipe jungle
4] Not much headaches, works flawlessly, out of the box.

Cons -
1] Even though the heatsink is chunky on the NB, trust me, it gets mighty hot.
2] Bundle that came along with the board, was nothing exciting, god knows why XFX made the Box so Huge !
3] The BIOS is seriously lacking in the Overclocking department.Needs better options on the voltage front.

I will be testing this board with a Q6600 CPU, i have already played with it with a Core2 Duo but am eager to see what it can do with a Quad.

Stay Tuned !

Edit : Testing added -

Stock Air Cooling -

*img525.imageshack.us/img525/4572/img0317nv4.th.jpg *img111.imageshack.us/img111/6664/img0319mp3.th.jpg

I started off with a pretty clean setup as you can see. Then i remembered reading somewhere, about the 650i heat issues, immediately i tried touching the big,chunky heatsink and man, was it steaming hot !
I just don't like chipsets getting too hot, i installed a simple 80mm DC Fan over it to cool it down.
As i wasn't going to do any extreme clocking since i don't have a good PSU, i didn't bother much but i am dead sure, this chipset will need some better cooling for extreme benching.

Results with Stock Air Cooling -

*img187.imageshack.us/img187/2940/stockcpuzhh9.th.jpg *img512.imageshack.us/img512/2385/stockorthosoh3.th.jpg

Temps don't look good on stock cooling under load

Watercooling for CPU -

Once i realized, stock cooling isn't that great, i wanted to see what water could do

*img62.imageshack.us/img62/2021/img0349hc7.th.jpg

Results with Watercooling -

Let me tell you that, i was using Swiftech Apogee which is NOT designed for Quad Core CPUs. Still i feel, it did a pretty decent job of cooling,at least at stock,
*img469.imageshack.us/img469/7289/stockidlewaterrl4.th.jpg *img180.imageshack.us/img180/8795/stockloadwaterab3.th.jpg

Nothing great but still, much better that stock cooling

With temperatures within safe limits, i wanted to 'play' with the chip

I set 1333 FSB in BIOS and tried booting, no boot into windows, upped the voltage to 1.4V [Real : 1.36V]
Booted into Windows, as soon as i started Orthos, everything shutdown. No crash, no BSOD nothing, simple as power outage. I guessed that the PSU wasn't handling it [Read: Powersafe 400W being torchered ]
I tried 2.8GHz, same thing. Then i tried 2.6GHz but then no point in testing at 2.6GHz so i called it a day.
I will be receiving my Seventeam 600W today hopefully, once its here, i will resume the REAL testing.
Till then, Stay Tuned !

Amey,
Team THL

 

[john_the_ultimate]

Now that's an excellent review......waiting for the results with the new PSU. Anyway, could you please check if the pc works fine with all the memory slots occupied.
Or just check the memory slots indivisually. Mine and few of my friends mobo had to be replaced since some had one or even two faulty memory slots.

 

[infra_red_dude]

thats an excellant review!!!

one thing i liked abt the board: placement of the battery!
one thing i think can do better: placement of the ide connector.
one thing that surely needs to be improved: overclocking options.

 

[darklord]

Now that's an excellent review......waiting for the results with the new PSU. Anyway, could you please check if the pc works fine with all the memory slots occupied.
Or just check the memory slots indivisually. Mine and few of my friends mobo had to be replaced since some had one or even two faulty memory slots.

Recd. my Seventeam, will be testing this evening. Will try out whatever you want and post back here.

 

[Pathik]

darky u rock.. I was waiting for this.. But y didnt u get the g0 stepping q6600..

 

[darklord]

darky u rock.. I was waiting for this.. But y didnt u get the g0 stepping q6600..

Its not my chip, a friend bought it

 

[Ambar]

dood gr8 analysis.....btw do u know how to make a water block...or frm whree to get one??

 

[Harvik780]

Can u tell me where u got that seventeam psu from.Abroad??

 

[Hells_Fury]

Hmmm...temps dont look too good at all...

 

[arun_chennai]

wow wow wow....exciting yar....eagerly waiting for ur continuation....

 

[mukherjee]

Re: XFX 650i Ultra : Another look !

Continued...


Edit : Testing added -

Stock Air Cooling -


I started off with a pretty clean setup as you can see. Then i remembered reading somewhere, about the 650i heat issues, immediately i tried touching the big,chunky heatsink and man, was it steaming hot !
I just don't like chipsets getting too hot, i installed a simple 80mm DC Fan over it to cool it down.
As i wasn't going to do any extreme clocking since i don't have a good PSU, i didn't bother much but i am dead sure, this chipset will need some better cooling for extreme benching.

Temps don't look good on stock cooling under load

Could you please guide me as to how to place the 80mm fan on top of the north bridge?

also recommend a fan/heatsink/fan+heatsink solution for the southbridge.

 

[Harvik780]

Asus Commando based on the 965 chipset would have given better performance as i have seen that the mobos based on intel chipset perform better than the ones from nvidia and via in cpu scores.I don't know about its overclocking capabilities but i guess it should be a good overclocker as its from asus also its got the logo of "Republic of gamers".And please answer my query about the seventeam psu.

 

[darklord]

dood gr8 analysis.....btw do u know how to make a water block...or frm whree to get one??

Making a waterblock is not that easy. You can purchase it from abroad. They are available with Sidewinders, they ship to India.

Can u tell me where u got that seventeam psu from.Abroad??

I got it locally. Got it couriered from Mumbai

ST-500BKP = ~ 3800/-
ST-600EAD = ~ 7900/-

Hmmm...temps dont look too good at all...

Welcome to the world of Quad Cores !
Please note, Swiftech Apogee is not a block designed for Quad Cores. Guess i will have to stop being lazy and mount that Dtek Fuzion i have

Could you please guide me as to how to place the 80mm fan on top of the north bridge?

also recommend a fan/heatsink/fan+heatsink solution for the southbridge.

For benching, i have kept the 80mm on the heatsink, since its not a High CFM fan, it doesnt move around

Cooler for SB = Coolermaster BlueIce, perfect one.Its the same one i used in Singapore on the Asus P5K3 Deluxe when i ripped the Heatpipes apart

Asus Commando based on the 965 chipset would have given better performance as i have seen that the mobos based on intel chipset perform better than the ones from nvidia and via in cpu scores.I don't know about its overclocking capabilities but i guess it should be a good overclocker as its from asus also its got the logo of "Republic of gamers".And please answer my query about the seventeam psu.

You think i am not aware of 965 performance capabilities ? Commando is an excellent mobo, great overclocker. Please note, this setup is for a friend.He didnt want a uber expensive mobo.Also Commando is ridiculously priced at 14k+ and now that P35 is out,it doesnt make sense to get 965

 

[mukherjee]

For benching, i have kept the 80mm on the heatsink, since its not a High CFM fan, it doesnt move around

Cooler for SB = Coolermaster BlueIce, perfect one.Its the same one i used in Singapore on the Asus P5K3 Deluxe when i ripped the Heatpipes apart

Where to get the coolermaster from? and the price?

Any permanent fan solutions for the northbridge at an affordable rate?

 

[Ambar]

dood collermaster is available from SMC international.....ya a permanent fan solution for northbridge is a small fan paste it on the north bride...all done

 

[darklord]

Where to get the coolermaster from? and the price?

Any permanent fan solutions for the northbridge at an affordable rate?

You can try Thermalright HR-05 which is available with Prime ABGB, Mumbai.

As for coolermaster, its for 400-500 i guess, try contacting Coolermaster dealer or so.

 

[mukherjee]

You can try Thermalright HR-05 which is available with Prime ABGB, Mumbai.

As for coolermaster, its for 400-500 i guess, try contacting Coolermaster dealer or so.

well,any links for the contacts or something?
price for the thermalright?

 

[darklord]

well,any links for the contacts or something?
price for the thermalright?

No idea , sorry