Preslar 940 Engineering Sample

[grandmaster]

Hi there,

I have an lntel system in pieces that I'm looking to reassemble, which will be based around the Supermicro PDSG4 motherboard (one of the parts I already own - PCI-X, PCI and PCIe slots on one board).

Here's a shot of the meagre overclocking options:

I have been offered an engineering sample of the 3.4GHz 950 chip for around £130. Am I right in thinking that being an engineering sample, the CPU has its multiplier unlocked, and that I can use the Clock Ratio option to crank it up?

If so, what sort of performance on air can I expect and what cooler should I purchase?

 

[jbrukardt]

Not to thread hijack, but im interested in engineering samples as well. I have a chance to get some opteron 866's (875 equivalent) engineering samples for dirt cheap. A more general question is what exactly is different about them if anything

 

[boshuter]

Yes you should be able to use the "cpu clock ratio" to "crank it up". You use that to set the divider, then you can up the fsb speed using the "cpu clock" setting.

As to what performance you can expect.... that's impossible to answer. I can tell you that you will need excellent cooling to overclock that 950 Below is a screenshot of mine, at that speed it completely overwhelmed a good single stage phase change cooling system. To get higher I'lll have to stick it on a cascade or ln2. Most, but not all ES cpus are decent oc'ers, all my Intel chips are es and most are good, I have had a few real duds also. The main benifit of having an ES is the unlocked multi's.

 

[grandmaster]

I don't think I really need a 5.5GHz system. If I could get it to 4.0-4.2, I'd be satisfied. As you have the CPU, what's the best stable 'air' OC you had and what cooling solution would you recommend?

 

[boshuter]

I don't own a heatsink....lol. My daily use pc is water cooled and all my benching is on phase, i've never had that cpu on anything but phase change.