Hello mates,
I’ve already presented my temporay system, based on an Asus ROG mobo:
http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?13372-My-temporary-system-not-perfect-but-works I was thinking to open a new thread about optimizing/tweaking it...
I won't post pics about it as I didn't really changed much on it... but I'm posting the specs here too:
Mobo: Asus Rampage III Extreme
CPU: Intel Core i7-980X
CPU cooler: Corsair H100 with Cougar Vortex PWM CF-V12HP fans in push configuration
VGA: Asus ENGTX560 Ti DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5
Memory: Kingston HyperX T1 Black 24GB
Primary storage (OS + softwares only): Corsair Force GT 120GB
Secondary storage (everything else): WD Caviar Black 2TB 7200 rpm
PSU: Corsair AX1200
Case: slightly modded Thermaltake DokkerAs I said in my previous thread, it was built only temporarily for working purposes (mostly MS Office things and Photoshop) - hence the not too nice cable management... Did not have the time to set it up completely, the only objective was to have a working computer as fast as possible. Everything was running at stock settings and was able to finish my work on it. Then it was just sitting there...
Until couple days ago... when I turned it on for some files stored on it... While just looking around, waiting to finish downloading updates, start freezing - just for few seconds, then came back, then doing it again... in mean time got the message that the graphic driver successfully recovered (or something like that)... - immediately got my full attention!
So, I started with downloading CPU-Z and GPU-Z... while doing that, just double checked the driver - it was the newest, version 301.42... I clearly remembered that i installed a version 29x.xx... so, it turned out that Nvidia was on "auto" and updated itself...
As a fast assessment of the system, started the WEI and this is what I've got:

PCIe bus only at 8X, CPU at 3.47GHz, Memory at 1333MHz... - why only 8X?! Then I realized the obvious, the graphic card was in the second slot... why?... who knows, why I put it there...
So, last night I moved the card in the first slot, uninstalled the driver in safe mode, then reinstalled the same newest version. Working now at 16X and max rating in WEI:

Then I got curious, and set the memory to their XMP profile. The WEI didn't changed, run 3DMark11 and PCMark7 for checking the stability:


Not my best values... but the CPU is almost at stock... I restarted to enter BIOS for some CPU tweaking - and I've got an "Oveclocking failed" message... it's hard to stabilize 24GB Kingston at 1600MHz...
So, I set it back to 1333MHz and increased the CPU's multiplier a little bit (at 29, with BCLK 133.5 got 3.8GHz)... and checked temps running AIDA64:

Pretty high temps for my taste... but I knew from the beginning that the airflow in my case is not the best...
But now, I got excited by this! :cool:
I think, there is more in this system... want to find out! Perhaps, will change the memory kit into a 12GB Corsair Dominator one (it was better overclocker on non-Asus mobos)... and definitely will play around with the fans to get better airflow...