Testbed and Methods
Test Setup

• Case: Vigor Force
• Power Supply: PCP&C Silencer 750 EPS12V | Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850
• Motherboard: Intel Desktop Board D975XBX2 (Bad Axe 2)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (Varying MHz)
• Hard Drive: Western Digital 2500KS 7200RPM, 250GB with 16MB Cache Buffer
• Video: ASUS GeForce 8800GTX | eVGA NVIDIA GeForce 7900GT KO Superclocked (580/1580)
• Memory: 1024MB (2x512MB) Corsair XMS2 PC2 6400 (TWIN2X1024A-6400)
• Optical Drive: Lite-ON SHW160P6S05
• Cooling: Vigor Monsoon II
• Audio: Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
• NIC: Killer Network Interface Card

Software Configuration

• Motherboard BIOS: D975XBX2 Express BIOS Update (Rev. 2214)
• Operating System: Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2
• Video Driver: NVIDIA ForceWare Version 96.89 (October 16 release)

This power supply is, by a pretty significant margin, the most powerful one we have tested to date. Therefore, our normal testbed would not really be adequate to stress this monster, so some modifications had to be made. In our Silencer 750 EPS12V review, we secretly used a Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor to stress the unit. We will be using that processor again, as well as the Monsoon II TEC cooler from Vigor Gaming, as it uses far more power than any other cooling solution we have access to.

This time around we will also be using an 8800GTX, as it the most power hungry consumer level video card available today. For even more power consumption, we will toss in a GeForce 7900GT. The 7900GT won’t be functioning as a video device, but it will be plugged in and sucking up power. We will also be overclocking the processor in this system by well over 37%, to a total speed of 3.67 GHz, a full 1 GHz beyond stock for a QX6700. Due to stability problems, the RAM in the system will only be chugging along at increased voltage and not overclocked.

Detailed overclocked system settings consist of the following:

• Processor Clock Speed: 3.67 GHz (roughly 37% overclock)
• Processor Voltage: 1.5375 (1.35 stock)
• MCH Voltage: 1.65 (1.5 stock)
• RAM Voltage: 2.2 (1.9 stock)