Ravin

Well, the time has finally come for another overhaul of my system. I have over the past year been swapping parts here and there, A motherboard here, a CPU there, RAM now....etc. Essentially this is a motherboard swap; a P5NE-SLI for a Maxumus Formula. Realistically it will allow me finally open up the throttle on my quad.

On that note, this will be the final major overhaul on this rig. Down the road I'll replace the video card with something from ATI for sure.

Down to the specs-for the finer details see my sig rig

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Maximus Overhaul *Updated 03/05/08*

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Ravin

I got mu board today I gotta say, just holding it....wow....It's really nice. The PCB is thick- it does not flex easily. Layout is pretty darn good, lots of fan connectors onboard. I think I'm going to really like this board and have it a long time.

I went ahead and did the teardown of the heatsinks- here are my notes:

Funny thing... the CPU socket guard is from Foxconn....

The blocks appear to be solid copper, while the fins are definitely annodized aluminum with copper plating. No biggie, looks nice- copper is heavy and expensive.

All of the pieces were fairly easy to remove. The NB was stuck on pretty good, but firm, gentle, steady pressure did the trick. No heat/cold was needed.

In the thumbnails you can see my tools at hand. Generally speaking, a #1 or #2 phillips head screwdriver, and needle nose pliers are all you need for removal of the heatsink. Have a hairdryer on hand just in case.

You will also note the bottles of various chemicals and cleaning implements for removing the stock TIM. Standard ArticClean TIM remover did not even phase the stock epoxy-TIM. Moving on to more drastic measures I tested PCE (Perchloroethene; C2CL4) and Acetone, both non-polar solvents. PCE works great, but carries some serious health and saftey risks-Consult MSDS before use. Acetone (regular nail polish remover) works just fine too. Acetone also can pose a H&S risk, use caution.

Just apply a few drops and scrub with the toothbrush. Wipe with a paper towel and repeat as needed. Follow up with a round of ArticClean TIM remover, surface purifier, and isopropyl alcohol. I pitched out the rubber tape TIM that came on the VRM Mosfet heatsink.

Here's what I found once I cleaned it all up:
NB marking: NU82X38 SLALJ L737A979 INTEL 06
SB marking: NH82801IR L7325152 SLA9N 06 MALAY

Apply your TIM of choice to the fresh surfaces and re-install the heat sinks. I used AS5, but you may want to consider Ceramique for the VRM Mosfet sink as it is non-conductive. If you use AS5, use it very sparingly and spread it with a rubber spatula. Use care not to short out the VRM leads with TIM.

Next Episode:Board Swap.

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Maximus Overhaul *Updated 03/05/08*

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Clinic

Cool cool. You should upgrade your cpu cooling as well. If you are wanting to really unleash your quad, your going to need to ditch the zalman.

I'm leaktesting my loop on the floor by me right now.

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Ravin

Ok...Pics of the teardown and rebuild. First is the P5NE-SLI gutted from the case, after TIM removal frm the CPU/Heatsink. While I had the P5NE out, I decided to remove everything from the case and clean- Inside the case was vacuumed and wiped down, and all components and fans were wiped down and cleaned. I even disassembled and cleaned inside the PSU.

Shot of the Maximus installed in the chassis....and then the front and backside of the rig during initial boot and test at stock settings. My RAM would not pass Memtest86+ in 1066 mode, so it's running in 800MHz mode for now.

Note that the PSU is sitting outside the case......Hmmm why is that????

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Ravin

Well, the my PSU ATX 8 pin connector wire was 3 inches short from a straight line connect on to the Maximus. With XP and antivirus installed and updating, I ran down to Home Depot and grabbed 3 rolls of 16 gauge copper wire (105C rated) and some polyolefin shrink wrap.

I shut down the rig and unplugged the PSU first.....you know, common sense and all. Then I marked each wire and cut the ATX 8-pin connector off. I spliced in about 1 foot of wire, using 3/16" shrink wrap to cover the individual splices and 1/2" wrap to cover all 8 wires neatly. Apply heat (hair dryer) to the polyolefin shrink wrap to make it shrink.

The added foot of cable, neatly shrink wrapped is now long enoug to run along the edge of the case hidden, all the way to the board.

Almost there!!!! Just gotta get the case back together.....

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Maximus Overhaul *Updated 03/05/08*

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Ravin

The rig is finally put back together, BIOS, OS, and other software has been updated. Overall I gotta say a good run on this project- much fewer problems than usual.

Final pre-OC thoughts:
I'm impressed with the Maximus Formula. First, the PCB is thick and sturdy- quality made. Second, 8 phase power and all solid state caps...more quality in the build. Third, the board layout is superb- infact, probably the best I've seen. Every connector, PCI/PCIe slot, jumper, fan header, capacitor, and chip on this board is in the exact right spot. Finally the BIOS is wicked powerful- lots to tweak.... which could be a down for inexperienced builders.

Making the grade:
Overall Quality: 10/10
Features: 10/10
Appearance: 9.9/10 (I don't like the blue/white slots, but that is personal)
Layout: 10.1/10 with bonus points
Cooling: 9/10 Does the job and looks good, but could be improved slightly. Packaged fan is crap.
BIOS: 9/10 Very powerful, but I don't like the RAM MHz adjustments, does not run PC2/8000 (1000MHz).

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Maximus Overhaul *Updated 03/05/08*

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Dostoyevsky77

Awesome photos of the process! You'll be so happy knowing you re-seated the chipset. I haven't yet because I have okay temps, but sometimes it keeps me up at night knowing what substandard muck is passing for "thermal" paste in there (well, it doesn't literally keep me up).

REP for the photos. Be sure to check out my gallery, too (profile).

BTW, 0907 FTW (don't even THINK about 1003), and look HERE if you haven't yet.

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Ravin

Thanks man. Good advice- I like to avoid beta BIOSes unless I hear a lot of really good things...I stuck to 0907. Yea, if your temps are good there is no need to reseat really. I was just worried after what was on the NB of the P5NE-SLI and had to be sure. One thing Ive noted on ASUS is they tend to do a crappy job with TIM. ATM my NB/SB load at 37-40C on stock/auto settings. We'll see how that holds as the AS5 cures and I start to OC.

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Maximus Overhaul *Updated 03/05/08*

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Ravin

30 minutes in to my first OC. To the point....400x9=3.6GHz @ 1.4000V 1:1 CPU:RAM. Zalman fan set to low.

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Maximus Overhaul *Updated 03/05/08*

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rottenotto

I'm not sayin it's not, . but is acetone rally a good thing to be using to remove stock TIM?

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