Plz Help Me - Unleash the beast (overclock the Quad core)

[Dan2kx]

Hello to all who read this post and thanks in advance to any who reply.

Within the next few weeks I will be giving my hardware a colossal overhaul, and before I do I seek expert advice so as not to waste all my cash.

The setup I’m looking at involves:
A Qx6700 quad core processor
p5w dh asus motherboard + zalman cnps9700 cpu air cooler (open to suggestion)
2/4GB Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator 3.4.3.9 timings PC2-6400C3 (question here later)

I’m going to put this in the antec 900 case (most probably) and suck out the national grid with the enermax galaxy 1000w PSU.

I'm going to install windows vista ultimate 32/64 Bit (another question here later)
On two 150GB WD Raptors in raid 0, and use two 500GB WD RE2 drives in raid 0 for storage of files and what not.

Cheapo x1950 Graphics card for the time being because I’m waiting for the ATI DX10’s to come out and will crossfire them then.

So the first question:
What do you think to the rig so far? Any suggestions?

Next,
I want to overclock the qx6700 to 400fsb so that I can run 1:1 with the ram, will the quad core do this on the p5w dh? Ive looked around and still found no conclusive evidence.
Or should I not bother and just overclock to whatever I can get it to? Is the multiplier locked on this board!?
Or shall I get the E6800? Or anymore alternatives?!
What kinda temperatures can I really expect cos ive seen ranges from 40C-80C!

Regarding the ram… would anyone recommend I need 4 GB or will 2GB suffice, I’d rather have more than less but do I need to spend the extra £300?

Final question for the moment, what’s the main difference between 32bit and 64bit vista? I know lots of software incompatibilities existed with XP 64, but do you think vista will be better?! Which should I get?

I know there’s a lot of questions here and I’m not a complete idiot really, but I don’t want to spend close to £3000 for just anything so anyone offering advice……

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

 

[Big.Wayne]

I do I seek expert advice so as not to waste all my cash.

Hi Dan2kx,

Welcome to the forums!

Looks like u got a ton of cash to blow ££££

Is there any need to buy a quad core? what rig are u using now? the regular Core2 Duo processors are pretty quick and overclock really well, loads of new CPU's coming out this year . . .

2GB is a nice amount of memory, 4GB is pretty much for extreme power-users or professionals doing major photo-shop work or video editing.

What budget have u got in mind for your new monster?

 

[Sean_UK]

Is there any need to buy a quad core? what rig are u using now? the regular Core2 Duo processors are pretty quick and overclock really well, loads of new CPU's coming out this year . . .

Agree with above...hence why im not upgrading till Jan 2008

 

[Foxor`]

Agree with above...hence why im not upgrading till Jan 2008

Heheh then next Jan there will be somthing bigger and better out, and you'll convince yourself to wait till the Jan after that

 

[WJA96]

Hello...+rest of Quote

Have you just picked the most expensive components in each category? It sort of looks like it. If you have it's potentially a source of great disappointment.

The performance increase between a well specified £1000 system and a £2000 system is actually quite small. The difference between a £2000 system and a £3000 system is miniscule and is completely eroded by 3 months of depreciation and a few hours of careful overclocking usually.

You say you want to hit 400FSB with the Q6700 and that's laudable. Is it possible though? Most reviews I have read show the Quad cores to be relatively poor clockers. They also show that the Q6600 is as fast as the QX6700, but £90 less. And the clocked E6600 beats them both for £350 less. In truth, a clocked E6300 would be almost as good in most situations and costs £550 less than the QX6700.

The lower order chips also hold their value very well so you can swap out components once you have played with them for very little loss.

I would also take issue with your choice of graphics card. The 8800GTX is the top graphics card at the moment and you'll see more benefit from upgrading that than the processor in games in my opinion.

My baseline advice would be to spend £1000 on a good system now and £500-£1000 on upgrades over the next 6 months as you feel the system drag a bit. Then sell your system for £1000 in 18 months time and buy another one for £1000 that will definitely outperform it.

Finally, you should carefully think about your case, cooling and power supply. In a system that powerful, I would want water-cooling. I would also be thinking about dual power supplies rather than a single big one. The better Lian Li cases offer the space for dual PSU's and you can either aggregate them or allocate one PSU to the motherboard and hard drives and the other to the graphics and cooling. This is cheaper, cooler and more flexible.

 

[Dan2kx]

Thank you and hello to all

yeah i have gone through and got the most expensive pretty much, thats the way i like it tho, lol
at the moment im running only a pentium 4 HT 3.6 OC @ 4 with 2GB corsair ddr667 on an asus p5wd2e premium board (old 975chip) so i need a new board for the conroes (bought it about a month before damn me lol),

i like asus and ive done a lot of deciding between the p5b and the p5w dh with the p5w being the winner, im fond of corsair and dont mind paying a lot for it so the dominator with the low timings looks good for me, unsure about 2/4GB cos i've heard that vista uses a lot of mem.. true?

i need a good processor cos i like to multitask heavy apps all at once cos im very impatient i want to put the new dx10 ati cards in when they are out and ill have two in crossfire. with all this i need a good psu so i picked the galaxy.

this is the base really the rest of the cost is the drives really, i like raptors i have two of the old 74gb (8mb cache) in raid0 and like to have lots of free space for storage and "usage" space so they need to be the best too.

like i said i multitask heavy apps ie video converting p2p downloading, system utilities and possibly games too. my sytem now is very good but ive been saving and its time for a change. i plan to get the new system with vista and keep my "old" one around.
so its a complete build i need atm i have an antec p180 (silver) and its great so i want either another 180 or the 900 havent seen any others that i like much. i like the zalman coolers and hav never dabbled with watercooling as yet not really that knowledgeable with it either but it seems like a lot of maintenence.

 

[WJA96]

Right, thanks for the clarification. And yes, with your requirements you need a quad-core, no doubt about that.

Everything else, hmmmmm....

 

[Dan2kx]

Everything else, hmmmmm....

What would you change?

another thing.. will things that only use 1 core(of the 4) run slower than my current (OC 4ghz p4) or is it generally better anyway?

 

[Mekrel]

The corsair dominator was a poor choice as they no longer use Micron chips anymore if bought recently and don't clock as well but still you pay the premium.

Also no matter how much CPU intensive apps you use at the same time, Quad core is probably a bad investment due to how much you pay for what will be "a bodge job" processor when 45nm penryn chips hit. I.e a true quad core on one die with less heat and power consumption. Not two dies kicking out two loads of heat.

Overclocking a quad core is a PITA as most boards are FSB limited on them and the heat they kick out means you need good cooling.

 

[Dan2kx]

and the new chips will need new boards!??

 

[Linz]

...They also show that the Q6600 is as fast as the QX6700, but £90 less. And the clocked E6600 beats them both for £350 less..

Dude, my OC'd QX6700 trashes the E6600, even an OC'd X6800 in ALL video editing, encoding, ZIP/RAR archiving, DVD ripping, Photoshopping...

try 8.3 secs in the Radial Blur test with ANYTHING else out there

Not wishin' to start the wars

later...

 

[Dan2kx]

sounds good,
is the heat really an issue on the qx6700?
my 3.6 prescott OC's @ 4 idles at 45-50 depending on case temp and tops at about 60 with the zalman fatality cooler.
read another post sum guy has his qx at stock with zalman cnps9700 and it only reaches 50 at load. apparently (40ish idle)

 

[Linz]

Heats an issue but you just buy a class cooler to account for that if you choose to overclock.

Mine's at 3.3 24/7 (3.5 stable if needed) and in my warm room is resting at 46C
Goes to 58C on benchies but the ASUS P5B fans speed up and cool it all back down again (granted with an increase in fan noise)

At stock mine idles at room temp. But I cannot resist a free 600MHz as I do a lot of 3D stuff and video recoding

 

[Dan2kx]

what cooler do u use then!?
i havent got my kit yet as you know from the previous posts,
but sounds like from what you say the temps are the same as i have now and that'll do me! watercooling is a bit to much faff for my nature anyway (lazy dude) what i want to try with it is overclocking it to 400 fsb and reduce the multipier if needed so that it runs 1:1 with the ram u reckon i'll get that? would there even be a noticable performance boost if it did?

 

[Linz]

I use a Arctic Freezer Pro 7
BIOS set at Q-Fan on, 'Performance' (nice and quiet until it needs more cooling)

Sorry I am the wrong person to ask about FSB's and ratios. I have 10 x 330 for general use (now) and 10 x 350 for when I need it faster (never, apart from benchies). I up the Vcore a few steps, that's all. Never been any more complex than that and I'm happy as larry. Some folks seem to live for the overclock itself, rather than using the pc. More power to 'em, they probably think I'm alien living for 3D rendering all day

Water cooling? I agree with you, I'm too lazy, I want it simple and quick, nice cos' I'm thick

 

[MoodyB]

On two 150GB WD Raptors in raid 0, and use two 500GB WD RE2 drives in raid 0 for storage of files and what not.

Where's the backup drives for if / when the raid0 arrays fail ?

 

[Dan2kx]

Where's the backup drives for if / when the raid0 arrays fail ?

do u mean what's the backup drives for?

if so.. the two raptors are for system files and installations and the two 500GB drives are for storage of my downloads and files and the space to convert avi to dvd files before burning to disc. also storage of avi files. (i have about 200gb of tv shows lol)

im just in the process of trying to find out weither the board will support 4 drives in two raid's tho i know it has 3 slots on the southbridge, 1 int + 1 ext on another chip for "sata on the go" and 2 more for "ez-backup" unsure weither these two are for backup only tho.
(ive posted in another forum - but anyone know here!?)

thanks again

 

[Sean_UK]

Heheh then next Jan there will be somthing bigger and better out, and you'll convince yourself to wait till the Jan after that

Pfft no way, Jan 2008 is kinda D-Day for my current rig as wont outlive its welcome much beyond then. I dont require the best toys going, can settle for close 2nd so long as they run everything for 12 to 18 month period ok.

 

[WJA96]

Dude, my OC'd QX6700 trashes the E6600, even an OC'd X6800 in ALL video editing, encoding, ZIP/RAR archiving, DVD ripping, Photoshopping...

try 8.3 secs in the Radial Blur test with ANYTHING else out there

Not wishin' to start the wars

later...

And if you read a few posts back, once I discovered he was doing multiple heavy processing taks simultaneously I said he needed a quad-core. Your (and his) requirements are highly specific - in games and general use there is no real benefit to having a quad-core.

 

[MoodyB]

do u mean what's the backup drives for?

What I meant is since you are planning on using 2 raid0 arrays, I would have thought you would need 1 or 2 backup hard drives to keep a copy of all your data on. If one of the drives in either of the raid0 arrays fail, you would lose all the data on that raid.