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A solid OC foundation?

C

CoW]8(0)

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 25, 2005
Messages
1,427
Haven't gone Intel in a VERY long time....

So I'm looking for some comments and suggestions...Criticism is welcome. :cool:

Motherboard? EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI
RAM? Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
CPU? Good question (you decide, something around $120 would be nice)
COOLING? Swiftech Apogee CPU block/Bonneville no-ac heatercore
PSU? Ultra 500W V-Series

I'm probably not changing the cooling setup mainly because I already have it (switching it out my other system).
Some of you may have noticed by now that I like to maximize my performance/price ratio.
 
possibly way overkill on the memory, consider that almost any c2d will do:

400FSB x mulit of 8 = 3.2GHz and all but the 6300 have a mulit of 8 or higher, with a cpu mulitplier of 9 you can do 3.6 GHz at a FSB of 400.

I keep using the 400 FSB because to run at its most effecient (no extra buffering or wait states) you run the memory in synch mode at 2 x the FSB = 800MHz (PC6400)

So what I am trying to say is that with a cpu with a mulit of 8 or 9 and a board that will do 400FSB (easy) you dont need much more than PC6400 as you wont even start to OC it until the CPU is already screaming.

Now you can unlink the memory from the FSB and run it at any strange divider you want at faster speeds and you will see some performace in memory bandwidth benchmarks, but real world gains will be small. Move some cash from the memory to the cpu side or get a block for the NB.
 
I'd say either a E4300 or E6320. Personally, I think the E6320 is a good option even though it's a little outside your budget range.
 
BillParrish said:
possibly way overkill on the memory, consider that almost any c2d will do:

400FSB x mulit of 8 = 3.2GHz and all but the 6300 have a mulit of 8 or higher, with a cpu mulitplier of 9 you can do 3.6 GHz at a FSB of 400.

I keep using the 400 FSB because to run at its most effecient (no extra buffering or wait states) you run the memory in synch mode at 2 x the FSB = 800MHz (PC6400)

So what I am trying to say is that with a cpu with a mulit of 8 or 9 and a board that will do 400FSB (easy) you dont need much more than PC6400 as you wont even start to OC it until the CPU is already screaming.

Now you can unlink the memory from the FSB and run it at any strange divider you want at faster speeds and you will see some performace in memory bandwidth benchmarks, but real world gains will be small. Move some cash from the memory to the cpu side or get a block for the NB.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, why is there little performance gain with a divider allowing the memory to run at full bandwidth? Does it still have to wait for the FSB to clock before it can do anything?

kirbyrj said:
I'd say either a E4300 or E6320. Personally, I think the E6320 is a good option even though it's a little outside your budget range.
Click to expand...
The extra L2 cache is nice, but I'm not sure if it's worth the extra cash (pun intended).
 
Which Core 2 Duo out there will force the highest FSB on me to give me an excuse for getting PC2-8500 (1066Mhz) RAM? :)

I really wish the OC database in this forum would also show some FSB/Multiplier values in the chart.
 
just keep it there. these guys are trying to get you out of getting high end RAM, lol. an E6400 would do fine. 500 FSB on an E6400 is equivalent to around 4.0 ghz and 1000 mhz on RAM. I think that's good enough, lol. Now let's just see if your chip can do that...
 
Is there a list of the specific multiplier values for each Core 2 Duo? Since I won't be going extreme edition, that will probably be an OC limitation.

Also are all Core 2 Duo FSBs quad pumped?
 
CoW]8(0);1031155366 said:
Is there a list of the specific multiplier values for each Core 2 Duo? Since I won't be going extreme edition, that will probably be an OC limitation.

Also are all Core 2 Duo FSBs quad pumped?
Click to expand...

all intel chips (P4 and greater) all have quad pumped FSBs

and here are the multipliers at stock (some may vary up and down because of EIST and such):

E4300 - 9x multi
E4400 - 10x multi
E6300 - 7x multi
E6400 - 8x multi
E6600 - 9x multi
E6700 - 10x multi
X6800 - 11x multi (and greater)
Q6600 - 9x multi
QX6700 - 10x multi
QX6800 - 11x multi (and greater)
 
Which Core 2 Duo has been shown to be the best overclocker? Breaking 3.0ghz without a sweat would be nice. :D
 
CoW]8(0);1031157474 said:
Which Core 2 Duo has been shown to be the best overclocker? Breaking 3.0ghz without a sweat would be nice. :D
Click to expand...

I'd say maybe an E6400. My friend managed to get one that does around 3.8 ghz on his MSi 975X Platinum Power up.
 
Get a P35 MB... Something like the ASUS P5K or P5K-DLX. Then you'll be able to upgrade the processor to a Penyrn.

Get G. Skill 2 x 1GB F2-6400CL4D-2GBHK DDR800 4-4-3-5 from newegg for around 100.00. This stuff has insane timings.
Get an E6600, drop the mult. down from 9 to 8 and you'll be doing 3.2GHz DDR800 at 1:1 with 4-4-3-5 timings.
 
vchip said:
Get a P35 MB... Something like the ASUS P5K or P5K-DLX. Then you'll be able to upgrade the processor to a Penyrn.

Get G. Skill 2 x 1GB F2-6400CL4D-2GBHK DDR800 4-4-3-5 from newegg for around 100.00. This stuff has insane timings.
Get an E6600, drop the mult. down from 9 to 8 and you'll be doing 3.2GHz DDR800 at 1:1 with 4-4-3-5 timings.
Click to expand...

Newegg is selling Crucial Ballistix PC2 8500 for around 120 right now as well. Have your choice. It's pretty much just coming down to if you want RAM with black PCB and yellow heat spreaders (ballistix) or a green pcb and black heat spreaders (G.Skill HK), lol.
 
Well I've already bought the RAM and the board, right now I'm still on the fence about the CPU.

And what's nice is that I got the Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 for $85.00 AR shipped. I got the EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 for a very decent price as well (~$37.00 shipped brand new).
 
CoW]8(0);1031158981 said:
Well I've already bought the RAM and the board, right now I'm still on the fence about the CPU.

And what's nice is that I got the Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 for $85.00 AR shipped. I got the EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 for a very decent price as well (~$37.00 shipped brand new).
Click to expand...

I hate you, lol. I spent 134 on my GeIL (back when RAM was expensive). I got my AW9D-Max for 140 shipped, so I can't complain about that. But in all seriousness, great deals on RAM and the motherboard.

Anyway, still, I'd recommend you get an E6400. It's one of the best price to performance chips out there.
 
The E6400 is very tempting right now, I'm trying to choose between that or the E4300.

When is the next price cut for Core 2 Duo chips?
 
CoW]8(0);1031161489 said:
The E6400 is very tempting right now, I'm trying to choose between that or the E4300.

When is the next price cut for Core 2 Duo chips?
Click to expand...

I think it's June 24th
 
I'm seeing damn good results from other people with the E4300. I'm saving right now to get the E4300 with some G.Skill DDR2 800 (HK) and a P5B. From what I have heard, 3.4 is easy with that.
 
CoW]8(0);1031164965 said:
It's that soon? I thought it was going to be Q3. I think I might wait it out till June 24th then.
Click to expand...

I thought it was in July personally. e.g. July 24th sounds more like it to me, but I could be wrong.
 
It's been said to be July 22nd. Wondering why people are saying June 24th.

e4300 FTW, OP.
3.0GHz no problem, stock cooler, tiniest voltage bump. Git'r'done.
 
But do you think the OC on a E4300 would be a good balance with my other components? Ideally, I would want to max out all my components to get the best performance efficiency. Can a E4300 be enough?
 
CoW]8(0);1031167975 said:
But do you think the OC on a E4300 would be a good balance with my other components? Ideally, I would want to max out all my components to get the best performance efficiency. Can a E4300 be enough?
Click to expand...

Sure...I don't see why an E4300 wouldn't be enough....especially running at 3Ghz.
 
CoW]8(0);1031167975 said:
But do you think the OC on a E4300 would be a good balance with my other components? Ideally, I would want to max out all my components to get the best performance efficiency. Can a E4300 be enough?
Click to expand...

Enough? It all depends. I mean if all you do is aim and browse then you're good at ... a quarter that speed. Maxing out your components is a crap shoot. You probably aren't going to be able to run stably on the bleeding edge for every component. e4300 will go further, easily, with good cooling. Your mobo choice.. Not the best, but it'll work just fine. Your ram is ready to rock and roll, and I'm sure that you'll be able to take great advantage of that.

The e4300 is arguably beast bang for the buck chip on the market right now, and that's at stock. Overclocking it draws extreme value.
 
mwarps said:
Enough? It all depends. I mean if all you do is aim and browse then you're good at ... a quarter that speed. Maxing out your components is a crap shoot. You probably aren't going to be able to run stably on the bleeding edge for every component. e4300 will go further, easily, with good cooling. Your mobo choice.. Not the best, but it'll work just fine. Your ram is ready to rock and roll, and I'm sure that you'll be able to take great advantage of that.

The e4300 is arguably beast bang for the buck chip on the market right now, and that's at stock. Overclocking it draws extreme value.
Click to expand...

I Doubt it. E4300 has a lot of performance loss with the inefficiency. If you've even taken a look at the chip, on the bottom where the solder array is, you can notice that the E4xxx have removed capaciters (compared to the E6xxx chips). There has to be a relation between the loss of efficiency and those missing capaciters. That and I am not impressed with the E4300 overclock to performance ratio. An E6400 at 3.2 ghz WILL run faster than an E4300 at 3.2 ghz, that's been proven with side by side tests. It takes around 200 - 400 mhz over what an E6xxx is at for an E4300 to be comparable. I still recommend an E6400 over an E4300 because it's overall a better quality chip and people have had better overclock yields.

The motherboard is good. I don't think there's any difference between 680i//680i LT//650i, from what I've been hearing and reading, it all looks to have the same northbridge, just different southbridge configurations. 680i has generally been performing decent, though I would highly recommend you consider 975X chipset motherboards.

Also, to the guy above, if we were going to browse, there's no point to even get an conroe. Let's recommend him a P3 1.0 Ghz, he can go to all the websites with little to no lag. If this guy wants to overclock, there's a reason he wants the speed. I wouldn't recommend people half the performance and have them waste their money on a lower-end system unless they were really on a budget. G.Skill HZ has D9GMH, which has been yielding clocks of over 1000 mhz effective (500 mhz). The 680i LT is a decent motherboard. An E6400 is a good clocking chip. Like I've said, my friend has an E6400 that hit 3.8 ghz and there are a lot of guys like him. 3.0 ghz may be easy on an E4300, but it's just as easy on an E6400 and it will run faster at those clocks as well.
 
There are certain budget constraints. The OP said around $120. The E6400/6420 are both well above that. The fact of the matter is the E4300 has a high multiplier and doesn't need a 400+ mhz bus speed to achieve high speeds, not to mention the high end memory and a good PSU to run it all (3.8Ghz is out of the question for the average user). Bang for the buck, the E4300 is a good choice regardless of the inefficiency.
 
I'm trying to keep the budget for the CPU to $120, but I feel like I might be mismatching parts if I don't utilize everything to their full potential.

Right now, I'm waiting for a deal on the E6400 (or E6420), they seem to be the same price (but the 6420 has a larger L2 cache). I'm also waiting on the E4300, basically whichever I see a deal out first, I'll probably choose it.

But I am also trying to ensure the OC possible (680i LT board, PC2-8500 RAM, watercooling)...
 
The 6420 is a great chip. With WC, I'd just wait for a good deal on one of those. You might be able to get a deal on a used 64XX from someone who is upgrading to quad core once the price drops hit in July.
 
How large are the price cuts usually? I'm not sure if I have the patience to wait on a CPU for a month :rolleyes:
 
Do the price cuts of the specific models in that graph indicate any pattern in the models that aren't listed?
Or are the price cuts on those processors for those processors only?

In other words, if those specific processors are going down in price on July 22nd, can I expect other Core 2 Duo's that aren't listed to go down as well?
 
CoW]8(0);1031152951 said:
Haven't gone Intel in a VERY long time....

So I'm looking for some comments and suggestions...Criticism is welcome. :cool:

Motherboard? EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI
RAM? Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
CPU? Good question (you decide, something around $120 would be nice)
COOLING? Swiftech Apogee CPU block/Bonneville no-ac heatercore
PSU? Ultra 500W V-Series

I'm probably not changing the cooling setup mainly because I already have it (switching it out my other system).
Some of you may have noticed by now that I like to maximize my performance/price ratio.
Click to expand...

I don't know if ultra has gotten better but a good psu is more important then anything else. Without proper and consistent power the rest won't wake a difference. I am saying this from my own experience with cheap PSUs. I have unfortunately fried a couple of boards in my day:(
 
From what I've read in the past, the V-series hasn't had issues. IIRC, what gave Ultra a bad reputation was the X-connect series.
 
In one of the few moments I have so much extra time on my hands, I can't help but wait in anticipation. I think it's high time I began some good old fashioned speculation :)

I've decided to sit tight with an E4300 (unless there's some expected price drops on the other CPUs) until Penryn establishes itself on the market at a worthwhile price.

So here's the setup:
Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
CPU: E4300 C2D
Video Card: BFG 7900GS OC
PSU: Ultra 500W V-Series
Cooling: Swiftech Apogee CPU block/Bonneville no-ac heatercore

Not surprisingly, I've configured it for the a very high performance/price ratio. No, it won't be breaking any records in terms of sheer power. But it will stay strong for years to come.

Have I forgotten to tie any loose ends? What are my odds on the overclock (oh, and it has to be stable 24/7)?

While I let this post settle into the mind of whoever is reading this, I think I'll sit back and enjoy this article, posted by someone in this very forum:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/747/747606p1.html
 
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