[KONAKONA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DocHamm /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree with Rhinosaur. Go for the price/performance combo. I personally prefer Gigabyte motherboards but there are some other good ones out there. I don't do SLI but I would recommend going nVidia. I agree with Zodduska ... check out what EVGA has to offer. They are great for price/performance and their customer service rocks. In years past AMD over-clocked their chips in the factory but I don't believe they do that anymore. I still would go with AMD instead of Intel if you over-clock. Personally I don't over-clock anymore. Too much premature CPU failure. I leave my machines on all the time, so no O/C for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why AMD over Intel if you overclock? I don't know about the very latest AMD CPUs but when I bought my C2D they Intel was the OCs choice at the time. I don't think AMD has been the enthusiasts choice for a long time now. BTW, I'm posting this from my AMD computer which is also OC so it's not a fanboi thing with me. My Intel C2D is a 3.0gh cpu OC to 3.4ghz. LOts of peole go higher but I only do modrate OC so that I don't get possible heat issues and have to go buy a $100.00 HSF. Video SLI often causes people grief and is a hefty investment. Soon there will be a single card that will pwn the SLI so personally I never SLI, although I did own EVGA 7950GTX which is two cards sandwiched together that go into one slot. Yes, it caused me some grief and I was glad to be rid of it and SLI never gives you 2X performance either. To save possible grief and money I would just get the fastest single card you can afford.

Until the Phenom IIs came out the AMDs wouldn't OC for junk, people were barely getting 4ghz on dice and LN2. The C2Ds have always been good overclockers, and the netburst chips...Well let's put it this way, I just got a celeron to 5ghz with a noisy fan sitting on top of the stock HS/F yesterday. Of course netburst was a horrible architecture so even at that kind of speed it's still slow as snot.

In any case, something along the lines of a GTX 285 or a 4890 should hold you even at that resolution. If you have extra cash you might spring for a SLI on a board option but that is probably more along the lines of overkill then you want. Of course you can always get 2x GTX 295s and start folding.

 

[Konig]

Is the core i7 920 a suitable processor to overclock? If I value stability should I have gone for the 940 and 950 instead? Is it possible for 920 to achieve the speed of a stock 950 while ensuring stability for years?

 

[Zodduska]

the 920 can be a fantastic overclocker and it's IMHO the cpu to buy at the moment. To add to that I've never had a problem with long term stability when overclocking, just make sure you don't go too far with the voltage and watch your temps.

 

[MCC]

Intel CPUs overclock well. My Q6600 (2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB stock) is comfortably running @ 3.3GHz and a 1.9GHz FSB with the Vcore in spec. This is on a $20 HSF- I've been able to hit 3.6 but I wasn't comfortable with the temps.

 

[milkweg]

Hmm, if your 2.4ghz does 3.3ghz comfortably then I should be able to do more than 3.4ghz comfortably from my 3.0ghz C2D. I have OCZ Vanquisher HSF. I never up voltage though so if it can't do it without voltage increase then I don't bother.

 

[KONAKONA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, if your 2.4ghz does 3.3ghz comfortably then I should be able to do more than 3.4ghz comfortably from my 3.0ghz C2D. I have OCZ Vanquisher HSF. I never up voltage though so if it can't do it without voltage increase then I don't bother.

You have a 65nm or a 45nm? The 45nms might be able to do a little more than that but asking for more than that with stock voltage on a 65nm is kind of pointless.

Then again if you have a good air cooler then upping the voltages a bit wouldn't hurt anything as long as your temps are OK.

 

[milkweg]

Can't remember if mine is 45nm or 65nm. Will have to dig up the info. I'm fine with 400mhz OC anyway as it runs most games quite well and has been rock solid for me on Asus P5K mb. Any game that doesn't run optimal is usually due to crap graphics engine and not lack of cpu power anyway. Throwing more hardware and more speed at it is just using brute force to make a game run half decently and should not really be necessary. We get too much of that crap in the PC gaming world IMO. They seem to think releasing completely buggy ***** on the PC is perfectly ok. Well, I've got news for them.

 

[Anvil]

If you can afford i7, go i7, but only the 920 because the 950/965/975 aren't worth it at all. Below that would be going for AMD's Phenom IIs. Socket 775 and it's CPUs are more or less EOL so it's to be avoided unless you've already bought into the platform. If not, then AM2+/AM3 is advisable at the mid-lower end.

For video cards, the HD 4890 is real cheap now and can run practically everything under the sun. XFX is probably going to be your preferred 4890 brand, but there are cheap deals floating around for 4890s pretty much everywhere. If you see a good deal for one, go for it unless you must fold.

 

[KONAKONA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can't remember if mine is 45nm or 65nm. Will have to dig up the info. I'm fine with 400mhz OC anyway as it runs most games quite well and has been rock solid for me on Asus P5K mb. Any game that doesn't run optimal is usually due to crap graphics engine and not lack of cpu power anyway. Throwing more hardware and more speed at it is just using brute force to make a game run half decently and should not really be necessary. We get too much of that crap in the PC gaming world IMO. They seem to think releasing completely buggy ***** on the PC is perfectly ok. Well, I've got news for them.

You should look into benchmarking, it's pretty fun.

Last winter I pushed my Q6600 (65nm) to 3.8ghz-4.0 stable for long 3d benches (3dmark 03 and 06), 4.3ghz stable for quicker benches (Super Pi) and 4.4ghz for "Let's see how high we can get without crashing and still validate cpu-z", all with a AC7, a noisy fan and some cold winter air.

 

[milkweg]

Yes, I do that when ever I buy new cpu/gpu. I use 3DMark, the one with the Deep Freeze bench. If it passes that a few times then you are good to go. Deep Freeze bench has revealed a lot of borderline video cards that should be replaced but still may run most games fine so you will never now if your card is on the flaky side or not if you never ran Deep Freeze.

I go back to the Dos days when we used to even benchmark our crap 2D only cards. OMG my Diamond Stealth gets 2fps more than your ATI crapola card!

 

[MCC]

Intel has a database of all their CPUs that can be used to determine your max Vcore when overclocking. Here's the sheet for mine- it's listed at 0.85V – 1.5V. My specific chip shipped w/ a 1.275v Vcore I believe and I'm currently running it @ 1.35. Don't go outside Intel's specs unless you want to take some years off your CPU's life. Pay close attention to your thermal spec for the same reason.

There's already two entries for the i7 920 BTW, be sure to pick the right sSpec ID if you get this chip.

 

[KONAKONA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MCC /img/forum/go_quote.gif Intel has a database of all their CPUs that can be used to determine your max Vcore when overclocking. Here's the sheet for mine- it's listed at 0.85V – 1.5V. My specific chip shipped w/ a 1.275v Vcore I believe and I'm currently running it @ 1.35. Don't go outside Intel's specs unless you want to take some years off your CPU's life. Pay close attention to your thermal spec for the same reason. There's already two entries for the i7 920 BTW, be sure to pick the right sSpec ID if you get this chip.

Real overclockers push the limits when benching, I ran my Q6600 at about 1.8v for short periods of time, and I would have gone further had I been under better cooling. Most people will go anywhere from 1.6v to 2.0v+ when using DICE or LN2. (Not to say your not a real overclocker if you just run a small OC with little to no voltage increase for daily use. We all do that.)

Voiding warranties is what we do!

 

[bonkon]

Dude, it seems to me you are not upgrading but getting a whole new system. You have been asking questions about processor, mobo, graphics card and a power supply. I also assume that you will be getting some memory as well.

Why don't you tell us what your current system is and how much you are planning to spend upgrading. If gaming is your main priority than a graphics card is the most important, the processor will not be your bottleneck. There is no game that a good C2D can not take, if you all ready have one there is no need to upgrade.

I have a C2D E8500 with 2 HD4850 in crossfire and there is no game that I cannot max out in 1920x1200 resolution. My power supply is a 450W and it works fine with 2 burner and 2 HD, don't let the industry fool you in needing 1000W.

I am not even overclocking the processor nor the graphics card, why not? I don't feel the need to do so, everything runs smooth so why risking avoiding the warranty for a few framerates? I understand if you are passionate about OC but at the end it is just not practical. I also had bad experiences back in the days busting my Geforce 4200 for a few extra points in 3d Mark. I might OC later on when my system feels limited by a game.

Conclusion, tell us your current system because getting the latest, fastest, biggest might not be the best route but certainly the most expensive one. OC is more like a passion or hobby than real practical solution. Why strain your system and void warranties when every game runs fine? Unless of course you enjoy running benchmarks everyday and want that few extra frame rates as well as few extra seconds less when unzipping your videos.

 

[milkweg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KONAKONA /img/forum/go_quote.gif Voiding warranties is what we do!

I saw a Japanese guy on TV just a week or so ago who uses liquid nitrogen to cool his cpu just so he could reach 5ghz. That was the world record at the time and was on an Opteron cpu so must have been quite old footage. I only OC so I get a faster cpu for less money and not for any bragging rights. First CPU I ever OC was the very first Celeron with no L2 cache and got it stable from 200mhz to 400mhz without having to do any fiddling.

 

[MCC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KONAKONA /img/forum/go_quote.gif Real overclockers push the limits when benching, I ran my Q6600 at about 1.8v for short periods of time, and I would have gone further had I been under better cooling. Most people will go anywhere from 1.6v to 2.0v+ when using DICE or LN2. (Not to say your not a real overclocker if you just run a small OC with little to no voltage increase for daily use. We all do that.) Voiding warranties is what we do!

It's more of a heat problem. I'd have no problem temporarily pushing the voltage if my chip wouldn't melt. IntelBurnTest (Linpack) pushed my CPU to 85*C within 30 seconds, after which I of course aborted and it promptly fell to ~50*C. Thankfully normal usage and even Prime95 stay within the thermal spec.

$20 HSF + properly applied AS5 = meh.