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Asus Mars II Quad Sli Build


Conker

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Asus MarsII QuadSLI Build

by ConkersGrillforce1337

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Asus MarsII

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Initial Build

In late October 2011 I and some of my friends built the system for the first time. It was the first time I ever built a desktop system.

Components:

Asus R.O.G. Maximus IV Extreme-Z

Intel Core i7 2600K

G.Skill RipjawsX 4x2Gb, 1866Mhz, CL9

ASUS MARS II Quad Sli

SH100S3Kingston HyperX SSD 240GB + WD VelociRaptor, 10'000rpm, 600GB

Enermax MaxRevo 1500W + Corsair AX850

Corsair H100 + Kingston HyperX Cooling Fan Black

Plextor PX-LB950SA

Aerocool Strike-X Panel

Logitech G19

3x Dell UltraSharp U2412M

The build process was associated with some unforeseen problems. Especially the assembly of the upper psu and the Corsair H100 CPU cooler with lack of space.

After some hours and several tries the system started to work.

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Xigmatek Elysium vs CoolerMaster HafX:

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Xigmatek Elysium + Radeon HD 6990:

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Full resolution pics: Click here

Asus MarsII Repaste

Svl7 has done a repaste on both cards to dissipate heat more efficiently.

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Full resolution pics: Click here

​LGA2011 Update

The configuration above had one big, the lower MarsII was completely over the usb, audio,...connectors. The result was that the lower MarsII had not a permanent 100% connection to the PCIe interface.

I knew Asus recommended the Asus Rampage 3 Extreme to MarsII QuadSli users, fortunately at the same time the successors of the LGA1366 were released. I decided to buy a Asus R4E and Intels new flagship Core i7-3960X.

I ordered a new rear fan with red leds and a second ram cooler too. I also replaced the four ram cooler fans with blue leds by red illuminated fans.

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Full resolution pics: Click here

RMA Rebuild

I had to RMA my Rampage 4 Extreme due to BIOS flash problems. After a month I got my motherboard back and I reconstructed my system. This time I put more emphasis on putting the cables together in order to improve the air flow.

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Due to thermal issues with GPUs 2 and 4 I had to be a little creative. The professional solution would be water cooling system, probably some time in the future...

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Full resolution pics: Click here

Benchmarks

3DMark11

E24118

P17035

X6930

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3DMark Vantage

E94797

P53745

X35753

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Full resolution pics: Click here

Asus GTX 670 DirectCU II Top

The constant heat problems when working with two Asus MarsII graphicscards have forced me to buy an Asus GTX 670 DC2T card. Now I have time to create my own watercooled solution or probably I'm able to get the watercooler design from l3p.nl.

Back on topic, I'm pretty impressed what a single GTX 670 is capable of. I'm running the card on all three displays with a resolution of 6040x1200 (bc) and every game is playable on maxedout settings there are only three exceptions so far: Battlefield 3, Metro2033 and Crysis2.

I ran some benchmarks, results in the images below. Some further testing will be necessary to get the card to its limit, thanks to Svl7 for analyzing the vbios. ;)

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Full resolution pics: Click here

Watercooling Project

Taking the Asus MarsII to the next Level, discussion continues here

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Edited by Conker
added Benchmarks
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  • Founder

wow dude... are you planning to find the cure for cancer by yourself? :P All this power concentrated into such a small area is dangerous :P

needless to say you have a freaking awesome rig. Waiting for some numbers here... ;)

+rep

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Hehehe, overkill :D Insane rig... the case is huuuge.

I tell you guys, these cards are monsters... next to them even the 6990m looks small (which is one of the biggest cards available).

Here's a photo I've taken during the build process, it shows the two Asus Mars II next to a 6990m and a tiny MXM 3.0 Type B card (GTX 260m):

mars26990sizecomparison.th.jpg

Now it's time for benching... Jimbo needs competition and the T|I hwbot team needs points! :D

Edit: Lol, I've just realized that this pic is already in the main post, sry!

Edited by svl7
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Build update above:69:

Different Gpu Voltages:

asusmarsiigpu1.th.jpg asusmarsiigpu2.th.jpg asusmarsiigpu3.th.jpg asusmarsiigpu4.th.jpg

I and Svl7 will do a mod in the next time to disable that. On the backside we will add some switches to disable and enable free voltagesetting:

asusmarsiigpuvoltageocp.th.jpg

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may i ask what's the damage ? :)

I think you mean the dead Asus Mars II. Windows 7 gave me the error code 43, which stands for stopping a device, because it reports problems. I don't know what the exact damage was, because I could replace the card instantly, like I mentioned above.

But I think it was a dying GPU or Vram, that would explain the rainbowcolors before death.

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Also how much was the damage in other words how much was total cost estimate on the rig. Welcome to TI Conker. That's one uber beast can't wait to see those numbers. 3960X FTW

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Well total cost was about 6550.- Swiss Francs (about 7200$ USD) only for the towerparts and with all peripherals, it's about 7600.- SFr. (about 8300$ USD).

I know these numbers are crazy :S but I could reclaim the 8% VAT from the above price. :fat:

Had some problems with benchmarking last night, 3dMark crashed allways on one of the gputests. Will try to find the cause today and hopefully get some numbers tonight.

Edited by Conker
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  • 2 weeks later...

Benchmarks:

Wprime: i7-3960X@5Ghz

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3dMark Vantage: P58198 MarsII@800/1600/2004 core/shader/mem GPU: 64499 [email protected] CPU: 45008

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3dMark11: P19913 MarsII@800/1600/2004 core/shader/mem GPU: 23996 [email protected] CPU: 14496

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Benchmarks were running with 285.62Whql Driver, I will do some runs with 290.36Beta and other versions after svl7 and I did the mod as it's mentionend in post#6.

290.36Beta enabled NvidiaSurround on X79 so I returned to 6040x1200 resolution :80:

Metro2033 Benchmark: Settings: AA: AAA; DoF disbled; Tesselation enabled; other settings maxed out, 1st run with PhysX, 2nd without PhysX

metro2033bmphysxonmarsi.th.jpg metro2033bmphysxoffmars.th.jpg

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Nice Conkers You have superb choice in hardware. Amazing setup! Those scores are great. Those gpus creamed those benches and that cpu is multi headed beast.

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2022547

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2023237

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http://3dmark.com/3dm11/1823875?show_ads=true&page=%2F3dm11%2F1823875%3Fkey%3DeUQTu7eubcRC0NB7dZRTXyHvWFXhq9

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http://3dmark.com/3dmv/3453194?show_ads=true&page=%2F3dmv%2F3453194%3Fkey%3DVqZ7PSdSxT6uAtMjWpK03AvPEZxsFD

for some mobile cpu reference of how much your chip is over mobile (well on air). Jimbo's gives you a little competition... but you quad cards cream everything in sight.

Edited by mw86
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for some mobile cpu reference of how much your chip is over mobile (well on air). Jimbo's gives you a little competition... but you quad cards cream everything in sight.

This is crazy... both, your benches and conkers results... hahaha, I feel slow with my 6 seconds wprime 32M.

It's gonna take a bit to beat Jimbos dual card bench... (when using "only" one Mars II), he got some very impressive scores.

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Had some disassembling fun... Mars II repasting!! :D

marscooler.th.jpg mars2details.th.jpg marsiipcbfactorypaste.th.jpg

Look at the factory paste... hmmm, I'd expect a slightly better quality paste for such an exclusive product. I'm curious to hear about the new temps... Should hear from Conker as soon as he got the cards back in his system.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I feel your pain, my rig was down for a month or so recently.

I would get on their case as it's a top of the line board, you have two of their mars IIs etc, just demand a replacement instead of a 6 week wait. Worth a try.

EDIT: What is the HX850 powering? Decided a 1500w just wasn't enough?

Edited by Jimbo
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What is the HX850 powering? Decided a 1500w just wasn't enough?

The Corsair AX850 powers one MarsII :friendly_wink: Overkill :glee:

I decided so, because if I push my MarsII to its limits in the future (higher voltage, higher clockspeed,...), it easily will reach ~900W powerconsumption.

So my calculation is 300-400W for CPU, and double 900W for graphics.

:43_002:

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The Corsair AX850 powers one MarsII :friendly_wink: Overkill :glee:

I decided so, because if I push my MarsII to its limits in the future (higher voltage, higher clockspeed,...), it easily will reach ~900W powerconsumption.

So my calculation is 300-400W for CPU, and double 900W for graphics.

:43_002:

Haha that's amazing. I would probably have gone 500-800W for CPU and the rest. Then a dedicated 1500W for both GPUs but maybe that wouldn't be enough? I dunno. Desktop noob here :D

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