Skulltrail v Smackover

[coolmiester]

I've got two pretty high spec systems sitting in my living room so it would be a shame not to stick them head to head to see how they fair against each other.

Its quite a sight i must admit and that's saying something as i made them both.

Anyway, one thing i can't get working in Windows 7 on the black Skulltrail is Sli (been an ongoing problem from the start tbh) so to make it fair for the time being until i can get it working i took the Sli bridge off the Smackover as well so essentially they are both running single cards.

Skulltrail System Spec:
Coolermaster Cosmos S
Skulltrail DX5400 Board
2x QX9775's CPU
Zotac 9800 GX2's
4GB Dual Channel FB Memory
OCZ Core 30GB Solid State Drive
Coolermaster Ultimate 1100w PSU

Smackover System Spec:
Coolermaster ATCs 840
Smackover DX58SO Board
core i7 965 CPU
Zotac GTX 295's
6GB OCZ Triple Channel Memory
WD 74GB Raptor
Coolermaster Real Power 1000w PSU

I ran both systems at stock speed of 3.2GHz on the Skulltrail and 3.73GHz for the Smackover and left both GPU cards at stock also and ran 3dMark 06

Skulltrail = 14046
Smackover = 18303

Quite a bit of catching up to do but there was always going to be one winner in this fight but as i intend to max both systems out and see what can be had and as the i7 overclocks for fun i see the gap getting even bigger tbh but i'm having fun and they both look nice side by side so there isn't any real winner in my book as both will do pretty much anything i will be throwing at them in the foreseeable future.

I've just started overclocking the Skulltrail to 4GHz and and card using the Zotac Nitro but as i only have one and its taking rather longer than expected so will follow up with both overclocked results later.

I've got to say, i'm no professional when it come to overclocking either boards or cards and usually leave it to the experts but i've got to say its pretty good fun though.............where did my Saturday go!!!

I just wish i knew what i was doing :biggrin:

http://www.coolercases.co.uk/zotac_mod_box/skulltrail_smackover.jpg

http://www.coolercases.co.uk/zotac_mod_box/skulltrail_smackover_1.jpg

[Baldeagle]

Both pretty sweet lookers bud,but the black one gets my vote.

It looks the dogs. :)

[Helior]

HAHA i love those pictures, nicely set up like that to cause maximum amounts of envy, it works! gief!

[cje]

wow, those things must have cost you a mint! Nice systems though.

[Brad]

Looking forward to the results dude. Both sick rigs there.

[KyleG]

black one is sick but the red one is i7 lovelyness :P
where u fromin the northeast ;) i wanna see these bad boys ;)

[GeordieNo1]

Just think tho Kyle, he lives smack in the middle of both of us ... I`ll knack the front winda in, you rush in and nick `em both and we`ll argue later who gets what :D

[coolmiester]

****...............i got to sleep with one eye open now:D

[Helior]

Assuming you could only take 1, which one would it be?

I'd probably be arrested while choosing :D

[KyleG]

im creased geordie xD :P coolmiester, u got any jobs going ;) i need one xD

[GeordieNo1]

Helior, I don`t do anything by half?? All or nowt :D

Kyle, look here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topiary) and suss it, you`ll deffo have a job ;)

[Jonny2Bad]

As I mentioned in another thread this fella's builds are legendary, The black one for me I so hope its not the skulltrail lol I'd be most disappointed if I robbed the wrong darn pc lol
And very interesting results as my q6600 at 3.6ghz with the 4870 manages over 17000 in 3dmark06, i would have expected far more tbh, and yeah overclocking is great fun and i cant remember a better way to spend it than getting the most out of both of those babies, if you were closer to me cooler i would gladly offer my services lol

[Helior]

As I mentioned in another thread this fella's builds are legendary, The black one for me I so hope its not the skulltrail lol I'd be most disappointed if I robbed the wrong darn pc lol
And very interesting results as my q6600 at 3.6ghz with the 4870 manages over 17000 in 3dmark06, i would have expected far more tbh, and yeah overclocking is great fun and i cant remember a better way to spend it than getting the most out of both of those babies, if you were closer to me cooler i would gladly offer my services lol

I'm guessing from the watercooling loops the black one is indeed the skulltrail, you can have it and i'll have the i7, seems fair to me :)

I absolutely love the front of that cosmos s tho, the visible resovoirs look truly amazing, kudos to you coolmiester.

[GeordieNo1]

if you were closer to me cooler i would gladly offer my services

hehehe, I KNEW Jonny was an uphill gardener :D :D

[coolmiester]

Appreciated Jonny.

I put it down to EBKAM (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=EBKAM) to be fair as i just got better results from a GTX9800 and Skulltrail

[GeordieNo1]

Or free (http://forum.novatech.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6853) if u ever wanna come up the nice end :D

[Jonny2Bad]

Lol Cooler a little expensive for my very poor budget im afraid £35 a night B&B would much better suit my single Dad budget lol. Got to admit though would love to get my hands on those for a day im sure i could get them playing nicely ;) Never rated the skulltrail it all looked and sounded nice but was just a fad where is any mention of it now? Great workstation for a heavy multitasker and encoder but very disappointing really.

[Jonny2Bad]

Cheers G1 I have a connection to Newcastle my Grandad is a geordie he was a footballer, he moved to southampton way back to play for saints. Funny story goes with that when he had to play Newcastle in a match for Saints he came out wearing a Newcaslte shirt what a ledgend!

[GeordieNo1]

my Grandad is a geordie he was a footballer, he moved to southampton way back to play for saintsYay, Jonny`s Grandad is Shearer!

[Jonny2Bad]

Lol 1950's may have been a little before shearers time but i will admit he paved the way for shearer in these parts ;)

[Helior]

Skulltrail is kinda iconic, the performance is great for the time ofc, but its outrageously expensive, nevertheless its just kinda cool! Something you will never have but still like to look at, if you know what i mean? Probably my youth outing! :D

[jamesdean]

Have to say my fav system of the two is the Black one... but the spec of the red one :D

[kimandsally]

As usual from Paul AKA Coolmiester they are both superb no stone left unturned, I just wish I had 1/10 of his skills with modding, Overclocking I always found to be great fun and came easy to me although I've done none for 18 months my last attempt is still in 120th on CPC benchmarks, not bad considering all the new gear out in 18 months and I only used air on my run.

So Paul I'd say with all the patience you have for modding overclocking will come easy to you after a few months or weeks, overclocking is just like doing a good mod no rushing but make notes of every adjustment you make and what it did.

If I were closer I would be up with you playing with those rigs but 120 miles is a bit far, although we do have a caravan:D

[coolmiester]

LOL, get the caravan up and play till your hearts content Kim :agree:

Decided to get to the bottom of why one of the GX2's in the Skulltrail only decides to work every now and again and after much swapping around i came to the conclusion its buggered so decided to take a trick out of BlueAquas book and refit the original casing to the one that works.

Anyway, i've reinstalled it and all is working fine and my 4" tft seems to be working in colour after a few reboots so touch wood the card could of been to blame for a few problems.

Some pictures of it all back together.......man i love having the cover on with the hose routed through :D

So thats the end of Sli for now anyway.

http://www.coolercases.co.uk/skull/gx2_1.jpg

http://www.coolercases.co.uk/skull/gx2_2.jpg

http://www.coolercases.co.uk/skull/gx2_3.jpg

http://www.coolercases.co.uk/skull/gx2_4.jpg

[Jonny2Bad]

Amazing I must say even makes me wanna get some water cooling seeing that, even though i know mine wont look as good lol