Overclocking Hardware: List

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LoserXLeet

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 16, 2005
Messages
173
Hey guys. I made somewhat of a shopping list of the parts I was considering throwing together to make my new rig. I was hoping I could get some input on the parts I have chosen (If they adequately fit my needs). The only thing that I should probably state before hand, is that I intend to overclock the venice big time (Hoping to get around the fx-55), I want this rig to be centered around high end gaming, and my budget is around $1200. Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope to hear some input soon.



Hardware
--------------
Mobo: DFI SLI - $115 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136164#DetailSpecs
CPU: Venice 3200+ - $160 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535
VidCard: 7800GT N16 - $300 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130256
VidCard: 7800GT N16 - $300 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130256
RAM: 2x1GB 2.5-3-3-6 - $170 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231047
PSU: 550W - $100 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingReview.asp?Item=N82E16817103932

SubTotal -------------- $1145

Cooling
--------------
CPU HeatSink: $37 - http://www.jab-tech.com/Scythe-Ninja-SCNJ-1000-pr-3130.html
CPU 120mmFan: $10 - http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa12mesp.html
VGA HeatSink: $45 - http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thv1ulvgaco.html
VGA 80mmFan: $9 - http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa80hisp.html
VGA 80mmFan: $9 - http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa80hisp.html


SubTotal -------------- $110


Total -------------------- $1255
 
I'd say that's pretty good, with exception to the board; it's not a guaranteed overclocker from what I've read. Spend the extra money for the Expert. Also, I know how cool SLI is, but you might not want to spend $600 on DirectX 9 hardware when DirectX 10 is only five months away. Take some of that $300, buy a more adequate motherboard, and maybe some DDR500 ram (guarantees a little more with the overclocking).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...+70002119+70002893&Submit=ENE&Subcategory=147

The best choices there are probably the Muskin and OCZ Gold, until they get the Redline and Platinums back in stock.
 
Thanks alot for the response! I had a question for your comment on direct X 9/10, however. When directx 10 comes out, won't video card manufacturers simply make new next-gen cards for it? If so, wouldn't it takes 5 months for directX to come out, and another half year for that top quality card (with dx10 support) to drop to where the 7800GT is now? Do you think building a high quality PC around this time of the year is a bad idea, considering DX10 is coming out in about 5 months?

You suggested springing for DDR500 and the DFI sli expert mobo, but it looks as though that mobo only accepts ddr400:

"DDR Standard DDR 400 (PC 3200) "
 
LoserXLeet said:
Thanks alot for the response! I had a question for your comment on direct X 9/10, however. When directx 10 comes out, won't video card manufacturers simply make new next-gen cards for it? If so, wouldn't it takes 5 months for directX to come out, and another half year for that top quality card (with dx10 support) to drop to where the 7800GT is now? Do you think building a high quality PC around this time of the year is a bad idea, considering DX10 is coming out in about 5 months?

You suggested springing for DDR500 and the DFI sli expert mobo, but it looks as though that mobo only accepts ddr400:

"DDR Standard DDR 400 (PC 3200) "
Click to expand...

I disagree with the poster's view on waiting for DX10, but I do want to say that you might want to wait until the next refresh of cards (the 7900 and 1900xtx) arrive so you can either benefit from the price drop (maybe grab two gtx's instead of gts) or grab the newest best-of-the-best. This refresh is happening quite soon, so I'd at the very least wait for that to happen.

As for the DDR500 comment, although your board only supports DDR400, the idea is when you're overclocking, you'll be forcing the ram to run at higher speeds. DDR400 runs at 200mhz stock, and the idea is you might want to raise it beyond that. There is no guarantee that the RAM is stable much beyond 200mhz, and therefore if you buy RAM that is rated for a higher speed (DDR500 runs stock at 250mhz), raising it beyond your board's stock capabilities of 200mhz will be no problem, as it will be guaranteed to run at least at 250mhz.
 
I can't seem to find a board that supports DDR500, however. The "Standard" for every board including the DFI expert seems to be pc3200 DDR400. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding the meaning of DDR standard?
 
The point is this: DDR500 is capable of running (at factory settings) at 250mhz. When put in a DDR400 board it will run at 200mhz (which is standard DDR400 speed). By purchasing RAM that can run @ 250mhz (DDR500), when you overclock there is a larger chance that you'll be able to run stable 1:1, because the RAM is rated to run at a faster speed.

The board doesn't have to explicitly state support for DDR500; the DDR500 will run at DDR400 speeds until you overclock.

take a look at this thread for some info on OC'ing
 
BTW I just noticed that the fan you selected that is going on the Ninja is too thick. The ninja only allows for 25mm thick fans. If you really want to you can just fashion some paper clips that will work with the panaflo, but the better choice would be grabbing this fan.

Also, if you do consider waiting until the next vid card refresh, you may want to think about stepping up to a quicker Opteron or A64 proc. The only reason I suggest this is because if you're really into the idea of SLI, that current proc (unless oc'd heavily) will be a big bottleneck.
 
Axman said:
I'd say that's pretty good, with exception to the board; it's not a guaranteed overclocker from what I've read. Spend the extra money for the Expert. Take some of that $300, buy a more adequate motherboard, and maybe some DDR500 ram (guarantees a little more with the overclocking).
Click to expand...

I agree with all of the above except for the overclocking part. NOTHING is guaranteed in oc'ing, and buying faster, more expensive ram does not guarantee you anything except having less money in your pocket. The great thing about the A64 cpus is the ram divider. If I had to rely strictly on my ram to get my oc, my ddr400 ram that is good to 220mhz at 2-2-2-5 1T would've limited my oc to 1980mhz. Using a divider, my 1.8ghz cpu is running 24/7 @ 2901mhz (ram @ 208mhz). And the difference in ram speed means squat to real world apps (games, 3d rendering, video encoding, etc).
Having said that, ddr500 ram is alot cheaper now than it was 6 months ago, and a good 2gb set can be had for ~$250, just know that you don't HAVE to get anything faster than ddr400.
Any of the dfi nf4 boards are good. The expert is the newest and possibly best, but the ut sli-d / sli-dr boards are great as well.
As for the vid cards, if I had the coin right now, I would go with the
xfx 7800 gtx 512 for another $50-100. (If you can find them in stock right now) It kills a 7800 gtx, which is ~same as 2 gt's sli.......just a suggestion.
 
quadnad said:
Also, if you do consider waiting until the next vid card refresh, you may want to think about stepping up to a quicker Opteron or A64 proc. The only reason I suggest this is because if you're really into the idea of SLI, that current proc (unless oc'd heavily) will be a big bottleneck.
Click to expand...

As long as the 3200+ gets to 2.4 or higher, the cpu will be fine. Can't remember the review, but iirc they showed that anything over 2.2ghz was good enoough for 7800 gtx sli @ 1600 x 1200
 
What kind of monitor are you using? If it is a 1280x960 or so LCD, it's almost not worth going SLI because you'll probably be able to max out the resolution/eye candy with a single 7800GT(X).
 
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