Asus T3-p5g965

[Acidmax]

Yeah it is possible to install a third one since there is a third SATA port and a separate crappy IDE port.

About the watercooling inside, i think its way too tight! Im going external with it (and totally silent) with the Reserator1 V2 (to cool the GFX card too). Get your self a processor mate, they arent that expensive

[Jine]

No no no.. Its allways possible

I have friends that god Watercooling inside SMALL Shuttles and also got a BIG Gfx and a PCI card

This case is BIG if you compare to shuttles

A small pump on top of the existing fanduct, a small 80x80x30mm radiator in front.. and a GFX waterblock isent so big

Also, you got the WHOLE BIG space above the PCI and PCIe slot! A homemade tank in Plastic there.. Or maybe the pump?

Also possible to place the pump INTOP of the HDD rack. Its like BIG space there..

SO.. Nothing is impossible!

//Jim

[Centreone]

Been looking for a reasonably powerful but quiet system for some time and this little fella seems to hit the sweet spot!

Can someone clarify what the power supply rating is? Seen it mentioned that it is 250/300W - which seems a bit lacking for adding a bit of gfx grunt as an upgrade down the line?

[Jine]

The PSU is a normal ATX psu, 24PIN and a P4 Connector..
Its specified to 250W MAX, and PEAK 300W, so you cant use more then 250W in "Normal usage".. Just but a powerful new ATX psu and replace the old and you got more power..

I just orderd parts to a small watercooling system to this bbone.. A small powerful pump, 80mm Radiator, and a "normal" s775 block.. Also a x1950 waterblock that i will use when i can afford the card ^^

Regards, Jim

[Centreone]

Cheers for info Jim - gonna have to make a decision soon - xmas bonus in hand and desperate to be spent :-)

Kevin

[Acidmax]

Let us know how installation on this one goes Jim. Phillipe from Scan might be interested in this one too! Still no funds for my Reserator1 :S

[snedger]

The PSU is a normal ATX psu, 24PIN and a P4 Connector..

Jim,
Have you already replaced the PSU? And if so was fitting the new one 100% straightforward - or was some sort of rigging required?

The PSU is quite efficient. It's been a few weeks since I read the spec, but I can remember that the combined +12V amperage available was 18A - there were strange unequal max limitations on each of the +12V lines, I think of 10A and 12A, but would need to crack the case open to be sure.
I'm just saying that the PSU is never going to be a problem if you use the onboard graphics and you don't overclock. I might be whacking a mid to top end graphics card in, so I might have to upgrade the PSU.

[timmac]

hi,
i just got my P5G965 and have it running vista reasonably happy. the spec is E6600, 2x512 ballistix 800mhz dimms, primary disk is raptor 74Gb and secondary is a 500gb SATA-II caviar. i'm going to stick with on-board graphics if i can get away with it, i only do office stuff and dvds etc anyway.

i'm getting some blue screens with no driver mentioned, but i'll worry about that later. right now i'm puzzled by the bios, my old shuttle had a phoenix award bios so there's obviously a few differences. i updated the bios to the 0308 from asus web site. if anyone can help with these questions below i'd be really grateful:

where can i confirm that my DDR2 800 ram is running at 800 Mhz? i can't find any memory adjustments in the bios, but surely they must be there somewhere. i'm a bit suspicious that the mobo has it set to 533 or something, my old shuttle bios had a low default setting.

also, in windows, the task manager shows the full 1Gb available RAM, previously any RAM allocated to the onboard graphics was deducted from system ram, as reported in windows. has this changed with the 965 chipset? there is one setting in the bios that says 8mb internal ram enabled, and another setting that says 128 mb ram enabled. i got no documentation on the bios so i'm only guessing. i suspect it's only 8mb because i get no aero in Vista, and it needs 64 or 128 to work. i installed the latest intel 965 chipset drivers.

thanks to anyone who can help!
tim

p.s. the ASUS cpu fan was brutal loud, louder than my 1U server which is like a tractor. i pulled off the fan and stuck on the Intel fan that came with the processor. the intel fan is round but the cooler mount is square, but i eventually got it reasonably well fixed. now it's silent, except for the harddrive seeks which are crazy loud. i'll try and get a custom shock absorber thing going when i get the time.

[snedger]

timmac,
the bios options are limited - I bet there is a hidden menu!
You could try running CPU-Z to confirm your memory speed?
I'm not in front of my machine now, but I remember that there are two settings in the BIOS regarding video memory - I just maxed both of them.

You're right about the noise.
I'm only using E6400 and so excess heat isn't constant, but for a few seconds after a bios upgrade the fan came on at what must have been full speed and I nearly cacked myself!
I'd be interested to hear if you can successfully muffle your HDD noise.

[timmac]

hi snedger,
i got some of those rubber screw grommit thingys from a silencing kit from my local computer shop. they did a good job of reducing the disk seek noises, you still hear them, but no more so than my previous shuttle system which had suspended drives for zero vibration.

everything is stable now, no driver troubles in vista anymore, but i can't figure out how to overclock this motherboard. the only setting i can find in the bios is the cpu ratio lock, the next setting is set to 9 and can be adjusted to 6,7,8 or 9. don't seem to be able to adjust VCore and there's no sign of a Vdimm setting at all. seems crappy no?

could anyone post how they got on with overclocking this board, is it even possible? i'm running an E6600 with crucial ballistix 4-4-4-12 DDR 6400 ram. i read that the 965 chipset has poor overclockability compared to the 975.

[scriabinop23]

Is this case aluminum or steel? how much does it weigh?

also, can I use any socket 775 cooler in this thing? (i have a zalman cooler that i'd like to throw on it)

[timmac]

i don't have a weighing scales handy, but once i had the case filled up with 2 hard drives and the DVD drive, it is a heavy case. i would guess about twice as heavy as my shuttle SFF system. i would say it's aluminium but i couldn't be sure. the existing cooler installed on the motherboard is obviously a BTX design and the hard drive tray is designed to fit very snugly on top of the cooler box, there isn't even 1cm to spare i think. i don't think you'd fit anything taller than what's there already. i looked at replacing the cooler but in all the designs i looked at, the cooler fins / heat pipes were as tall as the existing cooler enclosure, and then if you have the fan on top of that, it won't fit. also, remember that the BTX case only has the power supply fan, and the CPU fan, which is placed behind the CPU to send cold air across the whole motherboard, rather than just for the CPU. there aren't many BTX coolers out there yet. also, most socket 775 coolers won't fit the BTX mounting holes, they are very different to ATX.

hope this helps, and sorry i can't be more specific.

[M.Kalf]

I have a T3-P5G965 with a nvidia 6600 gt videocard it's working fine, is it possible to switch to a 7600 gt will the psu have enough power?
I did google but is there someone with the same combination.
Just gave it a try and until now the system is working fine with my new BFG 7600 gt - 256Mb underclocked it to 500/1400.

Thank's M.Kalf

[scriabinop23]

Is this case aluminum or steel? how much does it weigh?

also, can I use any socket 775 cooler in this thing? (i have a zalman cooler that i'd like to throw on it)

curious enough, i just received this box and installed it. Mine is whisper quiet!! came with manuals. it is a steel case, but quite beautiful and of excellent construction.

also, i removed the heating pads and thermal tape, and used my own paste (arctic ceramique)

I am having a problem with Vista where my IDE DVD drive disappears half the time. have no idea why. any ideas? RTM version.

should i upgrade BIOS?

[timmac]

i upgraded the bios straight away to 0308 and it worked fine. i used the ASUS UPdate tool but download the new bios off their web site first because the Update tool kept timing out. when you run the program you can choose to update from a file instead of the internet. my IDE DVD drive has no problems, although i didn't try anything before updating the bios.

[Acidmax]

I had IDE issues from the beginning, even after upgrading the BIOS. I went with a SATA optical drive instead since its got 3 ports!