Venice Overclocking Adventure: Part 2

Because this is a computer I'm trying to build, Murphy's law is in full effect. Self imposed time constraints weren't much help either. The time constraints were due to Josh's dumpy work hours, but I'm here to bitch about the computer, not Josh. Onward!

Josh was pretty excited and he checked out all the parts before leaving for work. Everything was fine. He calls me up after work to tell me we can proceed to phase 2 of FrothMKiii Froth3D. As a veteran of the online shopping wars, I know to check the packing list with the box before opening, but Josh had already took a look at the goods. After my quick inventory I noticed that the motherboard was NOT the model we ordered. First I checked to see if Josh paid for this motherboard, and he did not. He got and paid for the DFI LanParty UT nForce4 Ultra-D. Now I had to check if the motherboard was of equal or grater value. SLI-D? At first I didn't know the difference. One supported nVidia's impressive-when-it-works dual video card craziness, and the other doesn't. After a little 'net research, this was the ONLY difference. Newegg shipped a motherboard that was $30 more then what Josh paid for. I'm not going to complain. Not like he's ever going to use SLI anyway. Maybe 5 years from now when SLI video cards are a dime a dozen, but not right now.

Before mounting the motherboard to the removable tray, you have to attach the sound module for the on-board audio. I found it odd that it was something you had to plug in. This is not the strangest thing I've seen, just a first. This is where we had our first speed bump. The plastic bracket that is suppose to support the audio module's ports... didn't fit. It was pressing against one of the capacitors. My Dremel tool would make short work of the plastic bracket but I didn't have it. We tried heating the plastic with a lighter to make it soft enough to reshape but that just got the bracket all sooty. I washed it off and went at it with a razor, shaving it down. This worked excellent. Bracket fits and there is no pressure on the capacitor. Josh's new motherboard now has some character. Before going any further I attached the XP-90 mounting bracket. I'll need this later for the CPU heatsink installation.

The rear IO bracket was easy to pop out and pop the new one in. (I often have a hard time with these things.) Mounting the motherboard was easy enough. Count the holes in the board, count out the screws and mounting posts you'll need, and assemble. After I got all the screws for the motherboard started but loose, I attempted to get proper placement of the motherboard's ports through the IO bracket, but it wouldn't let me. Some of the sides of the ports were putting pressure on the IO bracket, namely the audio ports. It didn't seem like there was much I could do about it either so I continued to tighten up the motherboard screws. Moving forward.

We then installed the 3000+ Venice CPU. I had Josh copy down the OPN for later reference. Just something you might want to do before you install the heatsink and fan. The XP-90 is surprisingly light for its size. I'd love to get my hands on an XP-120. Instructions for the XP-90 are on Thermalright's website and instructions for mounting a heatsink are on Arctic Silver's website. The clipping system for the XP-90 is very good. It applies a good deal of pressure, which helps increase heat flow from the CPU to the heatsink. To keep the heatsink centered and level during the install, I held it over top of the CPU and put pressure on it while Josh quickly clipped it in place. Because I was holding the 'sink in place, Josh was able to attach the clips in a crossing pattern. This was one of the nicest heatsink installs I've ever done. Quick, simple, painless, and done the right way the first time. I learned how to attach heatsinks from the AS instructions, so if you wanna try something like this your self, read them very carefully.

I un-boxed the HIS X800 XL and we both gazed upon its beauty and accessory cables (and enormous heatsink.) After attaching the vent bracket for the Arctic Cooling (not to be confused with Arctic Silver, two different companies) cooler I attempted to slide the card into the first PCIe slot. But it wouldn't go in. I was snagged on something. Turns out the gigantic Arctic Cooling heatsink was bumping up against the chipset fan, preventing proper installation. Brick wall. So we stopped, but mainly because it was now early in the morning. The plastic knob of the fan housing is a lot more resilient then the soft audio bracket. No razor shaving is going to slice this one off. I repacked up the video card back into it's tomb of a box. (Which gives me a great video card marketing tool, coffin shaped boxes! I can see the horrible tag-line now, "Suck the blood out of your games." Yes, I need help.) I've lost this battle, but not the war.

I found this to be a glaring incompatibility because both the nForce3 and nForce4 motherboards have the chipset in about the same position. I feel this would be a problem for more then just DFI motherboards. Later that morning in my internet stumblings, bit-tech happened to have the same problem as we did. Yet they didn't have as graceful (and manly) a solution as I did.

Happy Paul Reubens' Day