With greater CPU cooling power now, I tried to squeeze a bit more power from the Phenom 9500. Having the CPU multiplier locked, this presents a bit of a challenge to easily overclock very high. Not wanting to press too hard I was able to get some more speed while maintaining acceptable load temperatures.

The Phenom 9500 is a 2.2 GHz processor. With minor tweaking and testing I was able to overclock to 2.497 GHz with load temps holding a steady 50°C, according to CPU-Z, while running a stress test with Prime95. With the thermal compound settled my idle temps are holding at 25°C now.

While a ~300 MHz overclock is not that substantial, it will still provide me with faster rendering times in Lightwave.

In this past week I have seen my CPU idle temps at ~41°C which is pretty high. After defeating the Level 5 Evil Dust Boss inside my case, I got the GeminII S cooler installed this morning and so far the numbers are good.

Installation was pretty straight-forward. The only hiccup I had was from my RAM. I have two sticks of Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 which I had to move to the second two slots because the new cooler angles over the first RAM slot. The heat sink on this RAM is pretty tall.

Like a chef that can’t leave a recipe alone, I made a few mods before installing. I used the lapping kit I purchased from easypckits.com to help smooth out the heatsink surface. I can brush my teeth in the reflection now. Splendid. I also replaced the stock cooler fan with an Evercool 120 MM Spider Filter Fan. The stock fan was rated at 1000-1800 RPM and pushes 69.69 CFM of air. The Evercool was rated at 2000 RPM and pushes 80 CFM of air. The GeminII S comes with a syringe of Cooler Master labeled thermal compound, but I used the Arctic Silver 5 instead.

I also took a moment to clear the dust off of my video card which was pretty thick after six months of use. I got another 9° cooler after this was done, now my load temp on the card is ~61°C.

CPUID Hardware Monitor reports initial numbers of 26°C idle, 39°C load after playing a few minutes of COD4. Temps should be pretty similar when rendering in Lightwave. I’ll keep monitoring for the next day or so but so far I am pleased with the results of this product.

The GeminII S cooler is interesting. On Newegg.com only one person has reviewed it (at the time of this post). In the wake of more popular coolers this one seems to have slipped below the RADAR. I have a mid tower case so my options are limited as to the cooler I can install. This cooler also blows air back down onto the motherboard to cool off surrounding chipsets.

I received my new CPU cooler today from NewEgg: a Cooler Master GeminII S. My CPU temperatures have been running around ~33C idle and ~50C load, typically. I have my BIOS temp warning set to 60C, which I have reached twice while rendering. This new cooler will hopefully bring those temps down.

I was a bit saddened when I pulled the protective seal off the base plate. It appears to not actually be flat. The reflections in the metal show there is a conical point in the center, though I can’t tell if it’s convex or concave. I picked up a the Premium Heat Sink Lapping Kit from easypckits.com so I should be able to help that out and get a shinier finish.

A special thanks to the Florida Times-Union for publishing an article about the Jacksonville 3D project on Monday, July 21, 2008. The article, written by Jessie-Lynne Kerr, was prominently featured on the cover of the Metro section, showing me at my computer desk (with Dr. Doom, my monitor mascot, in the corner), and a rendering of my most recent building I’ve been working on: The San Marco Place.

You may read the article online at the Florida Times-Union’s Web site.

Beginning stages of the San Marco Place mixed-use building. This building sits across the street from The Strand and the Penninsula.