Best 790gx mobo for overclocking a PhenomII?

[poohbear]

hmmmm u guys are making me reconsider my options. a 780g biostar micro-atx mobo w/ a 720 would work out to be $15 cheaper than a 710 w/ foxconn 790gx! eeeeek decisions decisions! lol i'll think it through, the micro-atx must have very limited features for the price though. never owned micro-atx b4, are there any drawbacks compared to atx?

Personally, im not even thinking about the 4th core, its a gamble and not basing any purchasing decisions on that.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: poohbear
hmmmm u guys are making me reconsider my options. a 780g biostar micro-atx mobo w/ a 720 would work out to be $15 cheaper than a 710 w/ foxconn 790gx! eeeeek decisions decisions! lol i'll think it through, the micro-atx must have very limited features for the price though. never owned micro-atx b4, are there any drawbacks compared to atx?

Personally, im not even thinking about the 4th core, its a gamble and not basing any purchasing decisions on that.

The big drawback to mATX is fewer expansion slots. If you don't need them, then it doesn't matter.

 

[poohbear]

yea it might be a problem since i have a 2 slot cooler on my vid card (AC acclero s2 w/ turbo module, love my vid cards virtually silent) and a pci X-Fi gamer sound card.

maybe i'll just wait another month and save up the extra $30-$40 it'll take for the foxconn & 720.:/ I've waited 2.5 years to upgrade my cpu/ram/mobo, what's another month?

 

[DrMrLordX]

OP, I hope you realize that the 710 has a 13x multiplier. There is very little reason for you to pick the 720 for its unlocked multiplier. It may have a higher overall overclocking potential for reasons having nothing to do with the CPU multi, but the 710s 13x multi is not much of a limitation.

Any "cheaper" board that would accommodate a 720 to your minimum specifications will probably push a 710 to its limits. My guess is a 720 will OC better due to binning alone.

 

[perdomot]

Originally posted by: poohbear
yea it might be a problem since i have a 2 slot cooler on my vid card (AC acclero s2 w/ turbo module, love my vid cards virtually silent) and a pci X-Fi gamer sound card.

maybe i'll just wait another month and save up the extra $30-$40 it'll take for the foxconn & 720.:/ I've waited 2.5 years to upgrade my cpu/ram/mobo, what's another month?

Micro ATX wont limit you if you have a two slot vid card. Check this mobo out as an example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813157149

 

[poohbear]

i have'nt been able to determine from all the posts im reading whether the 720 does indeed OC better, i just find that alot of ppl buy it due to the unlocked multi, and hence im finding more posts about big 720 overclocks.

 

[DrMrLordX]

You'll find more posts about 720 overclocks period. The few reports of 710 OCs I've seen so far have been in the 2.9-3.0 ghz range at stock vcore, though 710 overclockers are more likely to use cheaper components/HSFs/etc. so whether or not this data is valid remains to be seen.

Until someone does a head-to-head OC review of the X3-710 and 720BE, we'll probably never know.

 

[poohbear]

yea that's what im thinking. I have a massive Thermaltake Big Typhoon which is actually a great cpu cooler despite being from Thermaltake. I use Arctic silver 5 thermal paste, a Corsair HX520 psu, & i'd be buying G. Skill ddr800 ram.

If i get a 790gx foxconn mobo (better quality than the biostar from what im reading but in same price range) w/ a 710, i'm hoping to push it to 3.6ghz, is that too unrealisitc? it would be a small overclock compared to my current cpu which has a 50% overclock.:0

 

[speedfreak]

i would prefer getting the foxconn variant but then again it all boils down to your budget. why not ask a discount if you're buying it a set. =)

 

[poohbear]

yep will definitely ask for a discount. Haggling is quite common over here in Korea, 10%-15% is expected. Japan no haggling at all, like N america.

 

[perdomot]

Originally posted by: poohbear
yea that's what im thinking. I have a massive Thermaltake Big Typhoon which is actually a great cpu cooler despite being from Thermaltake. I use Arctic silver 5 thermal paste, a Corsair HX520 psu, & i'd be buying G. Skill ddr800 ram.

If i get a 790gx foxconn mobo (better quality than the biostar from what im reading but in same price range) w/ a 710, i'm hoping to push it to 3.6ghz, is that too unrealisitc? it would be a small overclock compared to my current cpu which has a 50% overclock.:0

I've got the Big Typhoon on my 720 and it keeps it cool at 28 degrees. As for how far you can OC, these cpus seem to do well but the amount of voltage needed to get past 3.3Ghz seems way disproportional to me. It takes about 1.45v to get to around 3.6Ghz and a measly 300mhz won't make much of a difference in performance.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: poohbear
i have'nt been able to determine from all the posts im reading whether the 720 does indeed OC better, i just find that alot of ppl buy it due to the unlocked multi, and hence im finding more posts about big 720 overclocks.

Well, if you can wait a few more days, I have a new cooler on the way, so then I'll be able to push my X3 710 and let you know.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Originally posted by: poohbear
yea that's what im thinking. I have a massive Thermaltake Big Typhoon which is actually a great cpu cooler despite being from Thermaltake. I use Arctic silver 5 thermal paste, a Corsair HX520 psu, & i'd be buying G. Skill ddr800 ram.

If i get a 790gx foxconn mobo (better quality than the biostar from what im reading but in same price range) w/ a 710, i'm hoping to push it to 3.6ghz, is that too unrealisitc? it would be a small overclock compared to my current cpu which has a 50% overclock.:0

Sounds like a good setup. I use a Big Typhoon VX which is pretty much the same HSF with a better fan (that I replaced anyway with a still-faster fan). If you're serious about hitting 3.6 ghz I would go all out and lap the CPU and the HSF if you're down for that.

In fact, I use the same PSU as you on my rig as well. Granted, it's only an early-stepping x2-3600+ but I pushed it to 3.2 ghz at one point.

 

[poohbear]

Thanks guys. FP i'll be watching your thread for your results w/ the new cooler!

I have the Big Typhoon -VX too actually, thought it was the same as the BT w/ the exception of the adjustable fan speed, but i keep the fan at the lowest speed cause of noise. i was reading 1.45v is the max vcore you should give a 45nm cpu yea? anything above that and its a bit dangerous.... so if 1.45v gets me 3.6 on a 710, then im happy.

btw DrMrLordX what mobo are u using for your 710? i recall your thread about it but u never posted what u got. If i click on your "my rig" link in your sig i go to my user CP for some reason.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I don't own a 710 . . . I have an x2-3600+ on an Abit nf-m2 nview which I had wanted to upgrade with a Phenom or Phenom II but which will probably never happen due to lack of BIOS support, etc etc. Stupid Abit. I'd love to drop a 710 in here but that's not gonna happen.

Not sure why my My Rig link is busted but it could be because I'm a goober.

Anyway I keep the x2 running at about 2.8 ghz which is stable at stock vcore (it's actually 2.75 ghz or so, but what's another 50 mhz?). Yes, it is lapped. So is the HSF.

edit: look for Flipped Gazelle's results. He has a 710 and will be putting a better cooler on there soon, as he has indicated. Should be good for some results.

 

[poohbear]

i see. I basicly have the same thing, but an opty 165 @ 2.8. btw what's a goober?:0

 

[DrMrLordX]

Sorry. Goober is a slang term for a number of things, including peanuts and idiots. Nice Opty btw, those chips will be remembered for a long time methinks.

 

[Adul]

can you sell your old stuff for cheap? perhaps make up that 30 bucks or so.

 

[poohbear]

i'll be selling my opty locally (korea/japan). cheers though. thanks for explaining goober btw.