The Makiav3llian Enchantment…

Well, my so called project has been stagnant for the past 6 months and nothing really new to keep everyone excited about it. Right now, the hardware is still the same and no upgrades have been done. However, I am quite pleased with the out come of events although I am not very happy with my memory and processor at the moment. I believe they will not have a place in the second hand market either as the prices for memory has dropped immensely and selling it off at such a big loss does not make good business sense. The processor on the other hand is a week 24 which is the first and by far the worst when it comes to overclocking. Maybe my combination is not right but usually this is the price you pay when you are the first of all your peers. Of course there will always be bragging rights and I’m glad I had the opportunity. The question now is will I be able to complete the project I started 18 months ago?
You see hardware doesn’t really last a long time, like the mobile phone business, it is over run within the next six months for me, the mobile phone is a worthless investment if you just keep changing every now and then, the PC is the same. The system performs the way I want it and I believe I will be changing parts maybe next year or so. I may actually be following the steps of my friend Cris who just ditched his desktop PC, it was one of the grandest one, and replaced it with an Asus laptop. I may follow soon but let me just get the video card for this baby. I believe I will be looking at a grand total of 7000AED to complete the transition getting a high end video card and a nice AMD tablet for me or I can just scrap the video card and shop for a laptop. Of course, again, I am waiting for DX10 compatible laptops in the market. Darn! I hate this; the waiting game just never ends.

Ever since making that impulse buy on the Gigabyte 3D Rocket II Cooler, I began to think of how silly I was. I mean the concept of my coolers sending air here and there and the flow of air into the side mesh of my case was indeed a winner. All of a sudden though, my ears started to become sensitive to the noise it was generating and as I lie in bed I hear a silence ripping buzz. At 1890RPM you expect things to be quiet but it seems that the second fan built into the heat sink could be the cause of his mayhem. After lapping the Asus S2 and having to go through the tedious steps unmounting and remounting the motherboard, I finally decided that the S2 was the heat sink for me. It practically cooled my Conroe 1°C higher than the Rocket, it was virtually inaudible and the fact that I am the only to have an Asus Silent Square is a bragging right. Besides I paid more for the S2 than the Rocket, so selling it is also an insult. So the Rocket is up for sale and thank goodness I got a buyer for it.

I took a bite at a bullet this week and many of my peers either considered me having balls the size of grapefruits or having balls for brains. I actually am still in shock for what I did with my Conroe (processor). Anyways, I just dropped by my local hardware store to get some sand paper. Grit ratings from 320, 400, 600 and 1500. Unfortunately, Dubai doesn’t carry all of them and I have to settle with what have. So my newly acquired Gigabyte 3D Rocket II Cooler was going under the knife called Lapping. Lapping is a process where you use really fine waterproof sandpaper and smoothen up the finish of a metal. You see, your heatsinks are factory lapped and isn’t really polished off, under a microscope, the edges are still rough, a metal which actually has been lapped the best shines and is like a mirror giving off a reflection. Of course we don’t lap because we want to see that shine but because this whole process improves conductivity. So this whole process was to bring down my temperature generating from my processor.
Lapping doesn’t require any skills at all, just a lot of patience.

What you need:
Water
Waterproof Sandpaper (Grits 400, 600, 800, 1000 & 1500)
Flat Surface or Glass Pane
Duct Tape
Dishwashing Liquid
Patience (lots of it)

What to do:
1. Divide your whole sandpaper into vertical strips.
2. Using the duct tape, secure your first strip (lowest one) on both ends into the glass. Make sure it is as straight as possible.
3. Get some water and dab the area where sanding will take place. Don’t put too much. You may also dip the whole sand paper into water and then attach to the glass pane.
4. Now put a drop of dishwashing liquid on the HSF base turn it facing the sandpaper and create vertical up and down motion on the sand paper. Do at least 10 repetitions.
5. After 10 repetitions, rotate the base of the HSF at a 90 angle and repeat process 4, reapplying dishwashing liquid and put water on the sandpaper. Keep repeating until you’ve done a complete 360 rotation.
6. Once completed, move to the next grit level and repeat step 2.

You’ll notice that as you climb each grit level, the base of the HSF slowly becomes reflective. At 1500 to 2000 grit, the base is like a mirror. Personally speaking, when working on the lower grit, I use 720 rotations or do two complete rotations and just one complete rotation when you get higher.

So after 2 hours, I added another two hours on it. A total of 5 hours as I completed another lap job. Not just another lap job but something which took a lot of guts to do. Just sit back and admire my effort which went without an ounce of intelligence. Note that if you do this, you void your warranty. Now you know why I had balls for brains.

By the way, the temperature drop was not significant enough.

This is where you will see my wish list for the months to come. Slowly but surely, I will be able to select the items I want to use for my rig and this will be updated regularly.

So the Project stands:
February: Gigabyte 3D Aurora (Casing) - 500Dhs
March: Enermax Liberty 620W (Power Supply) - 690Dhs
April: Logitech Cordless Desktop EX 110 (Wireless Keyboard and Mouse) - 175Dhs and Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB  SATAII 16MB Cache (Hard Drive) - 390Dhs
May: BenQ WD 1640 (DVD Writer) - 170Dhs and Edifier R501 5.1 Speakers (Speaker System) - 350Dhs
June: Iiyama 21" H540S-Wide Screen LCD (Display) - 925Dhs
July: Asus Silent Square (Cooling Solution) - 235Dhs and Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic (Sound Card) - 365Dhs
August: Asus P5B Deluxe Wifi-AP Edition (Motherboard) - 965Dhs
September: OCZ Dual Channel EL Platinum XTC 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800 Mhz Memory (Memory) - 930Dhs
October: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (Processor) - ????Dhs
November: GeForce G8800GTX PCI Express (Video Card)

OK, so the title maybe corny in a lot of ways but with my recent acquisition I feel I have just made a perfect union between my Antec Spot Cool and the Gigabyte 3D Rocket II. It wasn’t that the Asus Silent Square wasn’t efficient, heck it dropped my idle temps to 35C in the middle of the night but I just can’t take it when my temps hit 53C on full (but very seldom) load, particularly in Orthos SP2004. So today I am going to trying a more practical, no nonsense approach with this cooler.
I just bought the Gigabyte 3D Rocket II and the first thing that would astound you is the size. It’s one huge momma at 160mm and at 640g, it can’t be argued that we have a complete heavyweight on my hands. It is definitely taller than my S2 but this is because of the fan exhaust which has a duct, if compared by heatpipe height, the S2 would still be taller. As for the weight, if you remove the fans on both models, the Rocket would weigh less. The Rocket actually has two, yes two fans, that make it heavy, but beauty of it actually lies there because the upper fan takes out air from the ring of fins while the bottom fan sucks in air from the bottom. Now where does the Spot Cool come, well it is just a simple case of blowing air on the right place. I call it Air Circulation and Exit or ACE. It’s simple really and involved three things, the Antec Spot Cool, Gigabyte 3D Rocket and a side panel mesh.  Disposal of hot air has always been an issue, if hot air stays inside, your parts will maintain a high ambient temperature. Now with these three parts, I may have found a way to properly circulate air, unconventionally. The Antec Spot Cool is strategically placed blowing air to three components, the memory modules, motherboard and the base of the HSF. Air hitting the motherboard is cooler and gets warm when hitting the targeted components (it becomes semi-cool) and passes by the HSF base towards the VRM and then exhaust fan. The HSF base will always be hotter than the air that has passed through the memory and motherboard, thus it can absorb the heat emanating from the HSF base and heatpipes too. On the HSF base, the fan at the bottom of the Rocket will suck the air that ricochets of the base, through the fins and eventually sucked out by the 92mm fan on the top. The air is then blown out of my side panel mesh and I get proper removal of hot air.
I think it ingenious but I may not be the first to know about it. Actually it doesn’t require a rocket scientist to join the dots. It just so happened someone showed me this model and because I was not happy that my temps were over 35C at times, I wanted to try a new approach or just be practical…

Cool Marks the Spot

Cooling has always been an issue and I could just never put a fan in the right place. Besides, no one can easily put an 80mm fan or have it hover above your memory modules. Many have tried starting of with the Zalman Fan Bracket series. Believe me, that was a great solution and being able to adjust your fan here and there is a key selling point, unfortunately, you just couldn’t bend it or have it reach in those hard to reach areas. Fortunately for us someone came up with a novel solution to get cooling into those places and more. The company is Antec and today they present Antec Spot Cool. No need for explanations really as the function is self-explanatory; it’s quite easy to imagine what it actually does but what it actually looks like is anybody’s guess.

Packaging:

It weighs around 0.7lbs (310grams) encased in a solid plastic shell. A thin cardboard with the product name and model some sandwiched in between and a small manual. Nothing really fancy but what is inside is what matters most.

The Merchandise:

Well, the best way I can tell you what it looks like is a mechanical lollipop with a fan attached on the end instead of hardened candy, if you guys still don’t get it, think of Sherlock Holmes and his magnifying glasses. The fan at the end can rotate like a gyroscope; on the other end is a strong base where you can attach a screw (included) to your motherboard mount holes or even the PCI slot mount hole. But it doesn’t end there, the beauty of it is in the stick mount, it bends so it can be locked at the base and bent to reach your memory, motherboard and even chipset heat sinks.
The product itself is made of durable plastic, the fan and casing it is in with the stick mount made of some metal alloy that can bend and lock into place. On the fan shell is a switch for 3 settings, Low (1800RPM), Medium (2500RPM) and High (3000RPM). The last thing about this product is the blue LED emanating when powered on. There are a total of four LEDs shining in a cross configuration. 3-Pin power cable is attached to the fan where fan speed can be detected by your motherboard.
There really isn’t much to explain how it is used. Operation is quite simple. Screw it your desired mount, bend the stick mount and point it to those hot spots, or vice versa. (I suggest you do the later to avoid damaging you motherboard as some force is required) Rotate the gyroscopic fan a bit and fine tune your cooling (I call it spotting) and set your desired speed. Power on and enjoy. I had my motherboard heating up to 45C on normal operations; it cooled it down to 36C and decreased my processor temp by 2C. You just need to point it at the right spot, I had mine installed where the fan was cooling my memory modules, motherboard and some part of the base of the heatsink. You can apply this even on your video card and Northbridge / Southbridge heatsinks. Finally someone listened up and designed something a little bit more flexible (pun intended).

Recommendations:

It is really hard to find something faulty about the Spot Cool. It does the job well. Unfortunately, since it is a new product, it does cost a bit. I got mine for 16USD including shipping but now the unit itself costs 11USD to 16USD alone. It definitely will be a popular item for enthusiasts and people looking for great aftermarket cooling solutions. It won’t outperform a NB/SB heatsink with a fan (Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II) but the fact that it can do so much more is something you can consider. The stick mount unfortunately is not as “bendy” as one would expect and sometimes may recoil back to its original posture, so you may need to fix it in place. The fan is also generally quiet, low produces an inaudible hum, but moving it to medium or high produces a humming noise. It isn’t irritating but those who are intolerable of loud fans would notice it at these settings. Another issue is for people with really big aftermarket coolers, it may take a little bit of placing and bending to get things right, I really can’t say it would be a motherboard issue but with so many mounting holes all over, I doubt that your creativity will get the better of you. Finally, “spotting” is important so that it can cool as many PC parts as possible.

Uppers:
* Flexible and bending stick mount
* Can be attached anywhere inside your PC, cool those hard to reach places, can cool your video cards, chipsets, motherboards and memory modules
* Gyroscope-like fan
* Three speed controller
* Circulates air and really does cool them spots

Downers:
* Stick mount is not as flexible as it seems
* Fan power cable can ruin aesthetic design of a very clean case
* Humming noise on medium and high settings
* May cause some problems with big HSF and long video cards

Wishlist:
* Making stick mount more flexible
* Make the fan power cable “invisible”

Alternatives:
* Zalman FB123
* Tweakmonster Dual 80mm Fan Bracket

DTA is a quote made famous by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin towards Mr. McMahon of the WWE. It stands for Don’t Trust Anybody and I guess this is my slogan against software based temperature readings. I’ve tried it all, Speed Fan, Asus Probe II, Everest, TAT and I get different readings from all of them. I frankly don’t know who to trust. I sincerely care about my temperatures and since you know that this is a once in a lifetime project, it pays to make sure that my items live long enough to last 4 or 5 generations, that is in CPU years. Four/Five generations is actually like a year, a year and a half in our industry so it isn’t very long at all. Anyways, I have already called my 2nd line of defense against heat, my Asus Silent Square and Gigabyte 3D Aurora being the first. They will be coming in the next few days, I should have the complete set before November. The Antec Spot Cool and the Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II. The Spot Cooler is actually a device that can be place anywhere in your case, basically it looks like a lamp post you see on the streets except at the end, a movable gyro-like fan is connected. Its perfect for those hard to reach places. The Extreme Spirit II on the other hand is a North and South bridge cooler. An all copper design with 40mm fan attached on a heatpipe system. The amazing thing about it is its ability to fit on all motherboard with its "slip and slide" adapter and rotating base. It also has that bright blue LED for that added bling bling look.
Finally, as I was having a discussion with TPC members about the reliability of temperature readings, DM advised me that one of the greatest investments that he has made was the Cooler Master Aerogate front panels. With a temperature sensor and display with USB to boot, it would be the only thing to end the debate about accurate measurements of heat. of course I had to get one and Waycool’s front panel products were very attractive indeed. At the end I had to make a decision because for one thing USB or the card reader did not appeal to me. I have used up all of my slots and my casing has a front bezel which clearly would never work out. So searching high and low, I decided to get a 3.5" front display and Power Optionz and Lian Li was able to answer my call. So today I got myself  a sexy and sleek looking LCD with thermal sensors. It isn’t the fanciest thing in the planet but definitely gets the job done. So I will be posting the real deal with this add-on and hopefully there is someone I can finally trust.

*Update: I broke all three thermal probes for this Lian Li, so I am stuck again, I’ve sent an order of a new batch of probes… damn…* 

After 10 days, 14 hours, 12 minutes and 34 seconds, my RMA-ed OCZ modules was back to its loving master, me… Working on 512MB of RAM wasn’t that bad and I was actually very surprised how well my experience with Nanya modules worked out. Being able to run at 3Ghz with the memory overclocked to DDR2-667 (from DDR2-533) was fulfilling and I would only wish I could have made a more mature decision in getting memory modules. No, I am not implying that I don’t trust how my modules work but basically, the hassle of testing and OC and the frustration of RMA is an issue.
So after a week and a half of waiting and 12USD for shipping, the modules came back (I was like a kid waiting for Santa) looking at the Fedex website every 2 hours to track my package. Anyways, it arrived yesterday boxed and unopened. I had high expectations hoping that I would get OCZ rev.2 Plats, of course I dreamt they would screw up with the packaging and give me the Alpha Titanium model, but this was wishful thinking. Opening the box and clawing through foam, I was shocked to discover that I received OCZ rev.1 Plats, the very models that gave me headaches and could not run 400FSB was back in my arms. "Oh Noes" I cried. Everything was the same, from the model numbers to the plastic casing, the only striking difference was the cardboard label, it just had a different design. I was lost for words and I just lost my appetite to OC. Anyways, I went right back to the drawing board and went to work on it right away and to my utter surprise, I was able to boot off from 400FSB x 6M. So, they have finally sorted out my out of the box issue and I couldn’t be happier. Of course I OC’d ahead, checked if 400FSB x 6M worked and this was a good start. So, would my dreams to reach 500FSB turn into reality? Well this is a start to a very long trip, I mean competing with Micron D9 (GSkillz HZ) against my Elpedia (OCZ) is an honor in itself, being able to perform up to par would make it worth my while. So far running 3.1Ghz with a 443FSB x 7M is good enough, now its just a matter of making it stable. Once that is done, the next step is to go over 450FSB, but under initial attempts, I believe it can’t be done or am I just not looking at the big picture, I’ve hit more than 400FSB but I still feel incomplete, I just hope the BIOSes get better, I think I’m gonna be sick. "Oh noes, Overclocker’s syndrome is the w1n…"

My overclocking adventures hasn’t been the best experience right now, I personally feel that with Project-PC (Codename: Tempest) 90% complete, squeezing the extra juice is one, if not the most important objective of this entire design. Picking the parts one by one from a list that updates regularly and reading review sites has been been a lifesaver for me. I was actually having regrets of not waiting for the P5W DH Deluxe but after reading on and on (as well as BIOS improvements) I actually am proud of my acquisition of the P5B Deluxe AP/Wifi as well as mourn for the loss of my DQ6. However, there is a certain aspect of Project-PC that bummed out and it was not waiting when it came to the memory modules, thus, my overclocking woes.The i965 chipset and the OCZ 2GB PC26400 Platinum EL XTC Rev.1 didn’t make a likely pair. Apparently the Elpedia chipset in the OCZ Rev.1 was like giving a fork to a soup dish. By standards, my motherboard should be running 400FSB X 6M, all I can hit is stock (266FSB X 9M) or play with settings below 350FSB. I mean I don’t blame anybody but who would have thought that this would happen, but sometimes compatibility issues will give way to false advertising and it looks bad with how the Rev.1s were slamming the high end market for OCZ. Many complained including myself but a downfall of a product line will usually open up an area where one company will excel. Thankfully, OCZ rose to the occasion and their support staff (Marcus & Jimmy) brought their game on and tried to help me out. I am just glad that their support team helped me out and diagnosed my batch as "too low for my liking" as Marcus pointed out. Thankfully, they issued an RMA# and my Rev1s where shipped to the Netherlands for an additional 12USD. I guess I didn’t save at all, as Rev2s come with a tag of 279.99USD, bought mine for 280USD with shipping, so you do the math. This is the first time I owned OCZ mems and I am not about to let it go, whatever gave me an idea to post it on TBreak.com and Souq.com. Anyways, I better save my praises for later and wait for my RMA-ed RAMs to return. Till then, my thanks to Marcus and Jimmy as individuals.

So you got the wonderful combination of the P5B Deluxe, an E6600 and the OCZ Platinum EL DDRII 800 XTC Dual Channel… Rev.1… So why put so much emphasis on it, well its because a lot of people seem to have problems hitting the magic combination for this RAM with the Conroes. No its not a manufacturing defect but lets just say it was unexpected that they would not perform according to their standards on the new Intel chipset, the 965P. Regardless of the number of complaints, the modules will work, it just takes a little bit of patience. So today, I share what I have learned to get around this short coming.
Right now, I am running at 3.1Ghz and have achieved stability at it. You can probably go up to 3.3Ghz without issues, but you need the right combination. But before you start overclocking this, let us stick to these facts:

1. The OCZ Plat. Rev.1 modules cost around $215 with a rebate, cheaper than most DDRII 800 in this category. May people take advantage of this deal and then RMA it to revision 2 without even trying them on. Revision 2 of this module is at $255 after rebate, so getting a freebie at this rate is a bad thing for those who originally purchased before Rev. 2 was addressed. Those who deserve an RMA are screwed by this misuse.
2. Consult the OCZ website, they’ve got tips and tricks on how to make it work. Although it is not 100%, you got some idea on how to make it work. Work with the support guys from OCZ like Marcus and Ryder.
3. Patience is required.
4. This actually maybe a BIOS issue and not related to your modules.
5. When you overclock, you shorten the lifespan of your components, it may work or not and I will not bear responsibility for these. Try these at your own risk but one thing I can say is that they do work.

First, start of by getting the correct BIOS. You need the 0507 BIOS from Asus since they are one of the better overclocking BIOS. If this is what you have, start with it, if you don’t have it, get it and flash it. But what if my motherboard doesn’t boot with these RAM? So my tip is don’t have things set up in DC mode, work with one module and boot of that. With the 0507 BIOS, the only thing I noticed is that the Asus CPR does not work properly when the mems are in DC, so I would advise to work with one module. Then flash the BIOS and work with this single module the whole way. If completely, doesn’t boot of the old BIOSes, the only way is to an el cheapo or spare RAM module. Until you flash, this is the only option. The BIOS 0614 has the fix for the OCZ2P8002GK, that’s the Rev.1, but lets work on that later. You can download this OC profile to try and get things running once you have the 0507 BIOS, if you prefer to do manually here are the settings.

AI Tuning: Manual
CPU Frequency: 345
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-690 - This is 1:1 divider.
PCI Express Frequency: 101
PCI Clock  Sync: 33.33Mhz
Speed Spectrum: Disabled
Memory Volt: 2.15v
CPU Vcore: 1.40v
FSB Termination Voltage: Auto
Northbridge Vcore: Auto
Southbridge Vcore: Auto
ICH Chipset Voltage: Auto

Chipset Northbridge
Memory Remap: Disabled
Configure DRAM: Disabled
CAS: 5
RAS: 5
RAS Precharge: 5
RAS Activate: 15
Write Recovery: 6
DRAM TRFC: 42
TRRD: 10
Write to Read: 10
Read to Precharge: 10
Write to Precharge: 10

Advanced CPU Settings
CPU Settings: Disabled
C1E: Disabled

So these are the settings you can set manually if you don’t want the OC profile. Actually the OC profile is a bit different but these are just references you can use. Once you’ve booted with your single stick, load the second module and work you magic. You can play with these settings up up-ping the VDimm and lowering the Vcore. Once it all stable, then update to the 0614 BIOS and save this profile. The 0614 BIOS as mentioned has fixed the issues with our RAM. If you’ve got any Q’s just drop me a line.

The question of me shifting sides like a politician was a surprise. Many would think I had actually given up on what I originally wanted to accomplish, to create a kick @$$ rig with a reasonable high budget. With the video card the only missing piece and prices of the XTX and 7900 series, I should hit everything right on the buzzer. Unfortunately, I made some costly errors along the way though not the fault of my own or the manufacturers, being unable to get an insight on the matter cost me dearly. The memory modules was actually one of the components holding me back. The OCZ Plat. Rev.1 modules just made it difficult to overclock. Buying these pieces late in the game would have had a different story. As of right now I am still working with OCZ techs to get my modules to boot at 400FSB and be stable enough. I’ve booted at 450FSB with stability issues but as of we speak, I finally broke through with a magic combination of 345FSB X 9multi.
I spoken with Marcus (from OCZ) and well, he has decided that an RMA maybe in order, well I do hope it pushes through. I am partly satisfied with the speed I have achieved, a 3.1Ghz boost but of course I am not satisfied since I have not hit a stable 400FSB. I actually believe that I could hit 500FSB with my P5B Deluxe but how can I reach this figure when I can’t even get past 400FSB? Anyways, Mr. Woody of Japan has helped me tremendously with his advise and OC setup, and now I share to the world the information he shared getting around this problem. So kiddies listen up, if you’ve got the P5B Deluxe, a Conroe E6600 and OCZ Plat. Rev.1 memory modules, check my next posting…

So I did the unthinkable and deviated from my so called “spending money wisely” mentality. After my overclocking woes with the GA-965P-DQ6, I decided to sell off the motherboard and get back to my original project, getting Asus back in the picture. Despite the board performing to what it was expected to, I did the stupidest thing, ditch the board instead of the memory modules which were causing the problems. After going through OC hell just to get around 3.3Ghz, I still did not hit 400FSB and this was such a frustrating thing for me since the OCZ modules were looking great. One good thing was that I was able to sell off the motherboard for 800Dhs, I’ve removed the (???) mask and I was actually able to get the DQ6 for 875Dhs. The price is not bad considering that it is still cheaper here than in Manila. So it’s a two week old board and fortunately, a T-Break member has expressed interest in buying it. So he sent the money over and I finally had the opportunity to buy another motherboard, same chipset but different brand and different price.

I introduce to you the DQ6 beta replacement, the Asus P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP Edition. Why beta, well I don’t know either, most of my peers know that I am suppose to get a P5W DH Deluxe for my Conroe setup but because I have failed so many times, I will end up changing the motherboard instead of the RAM. If I have to try every single chipset to work properly with the OCZ Platinum EL DDRII-800 XTC, I will do so. If it has to be the 975X or the NF570 or 590, I’ll jump. I now truly feel how helpless it is when you live in Dubai and your vendor located half way around the world but you have to support the products you buy. I thought like could RMA this and it is not a question of when I will get it back but will I actually get it back. So I swallowed the bitter pill and decided to try and sell my RAM or get something temporary. Anyways, I did not want to wait and since the P5B Deluxe and the P5W DH Deluxe are practically the same, I decided to get the P5B Deluxe Wifi-AP Edition, it just differs on the added features like the P5W has a remote and can play even when turned off. As for the P5B Deluxe, I’ve got an improved ICH8 chip, whatever that is and a mic array for my gaming needs. My noob-ness is actually showing and I can’t afford to stumble, anyways the good thing is that the P5B Deluxe has been able to perform as expected and I am just glad that I have hit the mark on the overclocks and even got up to 450FSB. Now its time to get the temperature stabilized. I will have the OC results posted soon but for now, let me bask in the glory of the P5B Deluxe Wifi-AP.
And if you are asking what the hell does Kuwait have to do with all of this, Kuwait’s international country code is (965) the same chipset identification (P965) used on my motherboard.

Every now and then pieces here and there come into a geek’s life. Just like real life relationship, an enthusiast develops a bond with his hardware. Unfortunately, my relationship with my DQ6 was just like having a relationship with a very pretty lady but just couldn’t keep up with the lifestyle I live. She is a beauty no doubt, better than most and I will re-iterate in my previous entry, having the DQ6 around made you feel really special. From the all-solid capacitors to heatpipes and 12-phase power, you just couldn’t stop talking about it, like a typical male Pinoy yapping about his "impossible" blond girlfriend. Sad to admit, geeks don’t get the girls (there are a lot who will object) but sometimes we tend to be more particular with our stuff.
Anyways, to cut the long story short, after a 2-week whirlwind romance, I have decided to sell the DQ6 since I couldn’t squeeze enough juice out of my OC. The funny thing is that I am not even running on OC extreme all the time but when an enthusiast feels it is not enough, you need to go to the next level or dispatch and start testing again. Basically, I am taking a very different road from where I started and this will cost me extras, though it will be minimal. I am still contemplating on a P5W DH Deluxe or a P5B Deluxe. Whatever, it maybe, it still another twist in the plot which some will enjoy, except for my back pocket.
To Mr. Terrence of T-Break, who will be buying my motherboard, thanks. So with love, take care of my ex.