Project N0NAME

[dgrmkrp]

i'm once again happy.. i got a nice and nifty 6800gs to replace my 9550... i think this is an upgrade.. from 450mhz/4pipelines to 450mhz/12pipelines, from 540mhz ddr2 to 1000mhz ddr3
on another plane of thought, i did some research and i'm doing some controllers, PWM style, which i'm gonna post eventually.. after all testing is done.. i love what i learn at university
gonna have some pics and exps in the morning... till then.. bye

[dgrmkrp]

as promised, i have pics of some of the stuff i've been doing.. 1 bad news, 4 me that is, my keyboard died and i gotta buy a new one

i've been working on a water-cooling idea, studying some .pdfs from arctic cooling, learning more about programming 4 the web.. and learning how to type with the on-screen keyboard.. till monday.. :|

b4 the kb died, i was working on my mouse:

darn blue led wonttrack as good as the original red one.. so.. color change time .. red and blue all the way...

cut the old led..in w/t the new..

my workshop.. the lack of a kb made it this big

some shots of the re-assembled mouse:

added a blue ultra-bright led to counter the red light showing from the sensor.. a,my phone sucks..

dark shots:

..replaced the bi-colored led with 2 separate leds.. also, they are not as bright or colorful (=annoying). the effect:

red.. 600dpi

purple.. 800dpi

blue.. 1000dpi

more to come soon..

[dgrmkrp]

...some shots of my new video board, which satisfies 3 of my needs: gaing, modeling and a cooling challenge. performance-wise, this board is at least 4 times better than the previous.. but noisier.. unmodded..

so.. the box..

plain and not very informative.. frequencies or nifty numbers are missing..

THE box which contains the card.. sturdy packaging..

typical set of accessories: dvi2vga, pci power express connector (yes! this card is agp but has a peg power connector! weird.. but useful..)

time for the card:

it'sbigger than i expected.. no problem tho

power stage.. peg connector.. 3 or 4 phase voltage.. nice..
this needs cooling

stock cooler.. thermally controled, but still whiny.. a bit lite when compared to the 6800 ultra. will change it

i'm planning on using all the outputs in the near future.. so yay! for 3.. nothing new tho, as i actually wated 2 dvi ports.. i read lots of (partial and unrewarding) reviews and i've seen a model with 2..

with the current setup, the back of the card almost hits the fan.. less than an inch clearance there.. and the latches of the dimm's could scratch off a few resistors if not carefully installing it.. getting crowded..

i had some problems powering up after installing.. i had to 'persuade' my mobo to start.. had to boot several times with no video adapter.. only then did it post.. i haven't routed the cables for final placement, 'cause i'm waiting for a sleeving kit, uv lights and some fans to arrive..

end of "hard" part

on the software side.. using riva tuner and lots of read material, i studied the possibilities of my new acquisition. so, time for some info for those wanting to buy an 6800gs, agp8x, 128b video adapter:
the model i bought has an nv42 gpu, clocked at 450mhz, with 3 quads and 5 vp.. also, on the crippled 128b bus are 4 modules of gdd3 ram or 256mb of 1000mhz sweet memory.. i like this round number if it would have been an nv40, i might have able to unlock some gpu parts.. 1 quad and 1vp.. no luck here..

temperature wise, the core idles at 25~30 degrees and goes 60ish~70 after 6 hours of maxed out details in nfs carbon

noise wise, fan is loud at boot (over my 3x120mm 5v fans..) then quiets down, ten revs up when i start a 3d application.. i would change the cooler with a silencer, and will do it too, but there is a slight issue: 4 ram modules, parallel with the gpu, instead of the 8 modules, surrounding the gpu in a 6800/7800 fashion.. some modding may be required..

running 3dmark 2006, i got 2500+ marks at defaults.. i believe my cpu and memory may limit the performance.. will see in the future ..

as i am low on cash now (card cost ~150$ with vat), a nv5 silencer mod will have to wait.. but i need a keyboard, as my skill with the mouse/on-screen keyboard is increasing at a scary level .. i've looked around for something to suit my needs.. and didn't have much luck.. so i ended up with searching the models in stock..

i kinda like this.. if it can have lights built in to it.. oh, i can't find a good keyboard with leds and multimedia keys and not in a mini format.. argh.. there are some aspects i dislike and some i love in the above model.. if i buy it, i'll explain

[dgrmkrp]

hello everybody... i didn't buy the keyboard i posted yesterday... i instead shopped for a nice quiet and easy to type board... not very moddable, as it's a slim.. here it is:

..hmm... i will do naughty stuff to it.. and it has a nice software.. headphone and mic.. usb port

on another note (man is this nice to type...), i bought some stuff today.. ICs and stuff.. and lost it.. man i suck... well, i need more parts

[NocturnaL]

Its lookn great so far. I wish you had a better camera so i could get the full awesomeness of this mod lol. Other then that its great i like what you did with the mouse

[dgrmkrp]

1st, thanks nocturnal (still, i don't have cash to buy a camera yet and i don't think i'll get one for x-mas.. i try my best with the phone cam.. )
2nd.. worklog time.. i have lots of things done.. will post only some, as i'm still experimenting with something..

i wanted to do something nice with my 6800.. and i had some bucks to spare too.. so i read reviews and reviews and... i bought "meself" a nice cooler:

..an accelero x1

..with 3 heatpipes, big aluminum fins.. i almost fell in love.. it doesn't have DHES... but...

it came with lots of stuff.. thermal tape, screws.. lots of them...

but it didn't fit my board.. one end was hitting the dvi connector, the other was "touching" the power components.. and the holes didn't line up! i thought about modding it.. but i found 2 downsides: 1. can't cut the heatpipes and redrill holes... 2. not clear plastic.. just black and shiny.. that is not to my liking, because i had something in mind

so i returned it, got my money back.. and bought my second option:

hooray! an AC nv5 silencer.. only slightly worse than the x1 in reviews, with a clear shroud, direct heat exhaust and no heatpipes to hinder my modding process... the thing is that the heatsink must fit in such a way that it covers the HSI chip as well, as i still use a socket A with AGP.. i looked at the vf-900 and vf-700, some passive products from Tt and Zalman.. but they can't work properly..

i got the usual in the package.. instructions.. won't need them.. heatsink for ram on the backside.. won't need that.. brackets for outputs.. don't need that either.. and the sticker i'll use that...

ah, before i proceed with the actual modding, i played a lil with the components i had laying around (i ran my pc with an g4mx400 in the process, so i could enjoy some nice long mixes..). it struck me that the stock heatsink wasn't that bad actually, from a design and structure point of view.. of course, the fan was the problem, 'cause it was loud in 3d mode..

stock heatsink: notice the high fin density... and the look of it.. i have to use it for something else.. i really like it..

silencer heatsink.. less fins, further apart.. but taller and longer.. also, they kinda strike me as equally heavy.. so, more copper in the nv5, more aluminum in the stock..!? ok.. i would really like to see a silencer with this fin density, even if it wasn't that silent

side by side, you can see some wierd stuff.. my opinion of course.. size and shape differ.. after testing the installed cooler, i hear nothing, so the guys from AC rock (silently).

my fans compared... stock is small and whiny, altough it does move some air.. i'm thinking of reassembling and using it at 25~50% power and maybe mount the thing on my north bridge.. or sound blaster?

oooh, i had to see this.. it fits in a weird way and i bet i could make a "silencer" type thingy with some acrylic.. i may try it.. for something else of course.. maybe for a low power cpu?

..next post, nv5 mod

[dgrmkrp]

to the actual work now...
first, we take the bare card:

..which doesn't actually have the usual 6800 layout.. annoying thing.. the ram modules are placed non-standard, some holes are way-off.. or originally placed..(!?)

then i lose the sticker.. as it is in my way.. and stick it on some other transparent surface

i marked the areas which conflicted with the components on the pcb..

started cutting.. man, copper is really hard to cut.. i used 2 and a half big discs for this.. and i mean big.. as big as the motor's hub in a fan (that's what i used to mark my discs when they were still apart of the grinder disc i use.. hihi).. still, i felt like it was going thru butter... copper butter

first cut..

a notch here...

i also cut away from the copper, which wasn't making contact with the memory at all in the top, so as to fit back a stock heatsink...

also, i have some plans for the motor.. as we all now, black fans and LEDs have rarelly been seen around.. so..

..silver blades nice and shiny.. i don't have the LEDs yet, as I'm pondering whether SMD or regular LEDs would be best...

masked the shroud for painting and added a lil' flame.. i was thinking what to add more.. and...

here came this.. unoriginal tho.. i don't like it, but i have more plans for the shroud later on..

prepped for silver coat..

..silver coat on.. on the inside..

test fit before final assembly (the inner/lower shroud is not installed yet)

final pic.. till now
one thing i have to note: the shroud isn't chromy in any way.. just a metallic gray.. the inside is super shiny tho.. very annoying for me this is .. well, doesn't really matter, asi painted the inside silver for future lighting..
till next time, happy modding

[dgrmkrp]

Hi everybody,
i'm thinking of buying some stuff.. but i'm unsure, as i'm low on cash, yet i feel the urge to do something.. and as i can't find a big piece of mesh/plexi to use for my case's window...
So,

red sleeving? this is the only one i can get.. at all.. (i'm limited to buying from one place, so i must choose carefully..)

one of these as a top exhaust maybe?

definitely some uv lights are needed to make the sleeving glow, right? i'm thinking of a nice palce to hide this.. also, my previous inverters went out with a "smoke", so i have 2 spare blue CCFLs.. hmm...

I wanted to ask you guys if red looks good? i mean, i want a black painted case (inside and out), with some lite silver/blue accents.. that means, i will install some leds to make silver fans led fans i'm wondering if red sleeving will look nice or not.. the fan and the CCFL are on their way... to the shop.. i just have to decide on the sleeving... by, oh, today

[MDCS]

You've done a really good job on the leather. Nice trim too. And nice even cuts.

[dgrmkrp]

10ks MDCS
it won't be the last experiment.. leather is sooo nice to work with and is really good for adding 3d details.. as soon as i get my hands on a big leather piece of the stuff i used on the mouse and the ati2 silencer.. i'm gonna dress the nv5 too.. and maybe more stuff... i'm thinking keyboard.. and maybe front of case.. but i wanna do some structural work there before

back to my weird ideas.. i was thinking of adding something to the ideas section, but... hmm... if the silver sonic tower is too expensive/dificult to build... maybe something else... like an... "AQUA" tower... therefore, i would like to offer the ones who read this the mental challange to find problems this design i worked on has:

pics:

basic housing, made from plexi..

the cooler itself...

any way of connecting the hoses is nice i would really like a program to simulate water and thermal flow..

i pondered on the proportions of the back side a lot..

hihi, wouldn't it be funny to see logos on fins inside a waterblock

Some explanations: i'm thinking (heated) acrylic (2mm), not too thick, transparent, glued with special glues and sealed with silicone? And a steady and patient assembling of the acrylic pieces.. they have to go round the tower, so.. care and attention would be important The waterflow would be like in a double-pass radiator.. the water is forced in half the space, then it passes thru a back chamber and goes to the other half, then exits.. the middle separator (not shown, as i'm not sure yet) would be made of some filler/adhesive sandwiched/injected between the middle fins, so as not to allow water flowing thru. the barbs are just for show, as i may end up using anything handy, from 3/8 to 3/4" size.. plastic or metal..

why would i consider this at all u ask? well, first, i don't have the money to buy a nice waterblock, no machine to build one of my other designs(which involves milling thick copper...) and lots of spare "CPU" time

this is like a version 1... well, after lots of tweaks and area/sections maths and boring stuff.. plus, it has to look good... and even though the sonic tower isn't the most efficient heatsink, it's performance with 2 12cm fans is wowish.. and noisy, so i thought that maybe immersing it in flowing water would do miracles (maybe not as good as a jet impingement block, but hey, no mill..)

one issue i can point out myself is weight.. i think a thru mobo and case mounting
would be best.. and maybe even a small piece to connect the cooler to the strengthening bar of the case... i don't know..well.. this is just another experiment.. i just want some opinions