Building for moderate overclocker

[UnIrit]

Hey guys,

Planning to build my first OC machine with the following:

CPU: Q6600 2.4Ghz 8mb cache (hopefully with GO step)

MOBO: Gigabyte P35 DQ6 (need firewire)

GPU: 8800 GTS 320 ? brand

Memmory: Crucial Balistic 2 x 1Gb 800 mhz or Corsair ?

HD: Seagate 7200.10 500G or 750G raid

Optical drive: Samsung 18 or 20 X SATA

Case: Antec p182

Power: Corsair 620HX

Cooler: Thermalight 120 vs. Tunig Tower 120 vs. Thermalake Ultima - 90 (quieter but enough?)

Monitor: 22" Samsung (206BW or 226BW) vs Acer AL 2216WB ?


I will use this for gaming, some video and try overclocking (maybe low to mid 3G range). I've read Gigabyte may be easier to OC compared to Abit P35 (although many here love the stability)? Been reading too many different and conflicting sources out there but I did well with my past builds based on postings here so any suggestions, refinements appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[jkresh]

gigabyte, asus, abit, and dfi all have good overclocking boards (dfi is probably the best but also most difficult). For a quad you want an aftermarket hsf as they tend to get hot and the stock cooler will limit your overclock and because of gigabytes board cooling there are some limitations on which aftermarket coolers will work so you might be better off with an asus board.

 

[bamacre]

What do you consider "moderate" overclocking?

You don't really need expensive DDR2 800 memory to get a Q6600 up to 3Ghz. At 3Ghz, you are running at DDR2-667 speeds.

If you want to run a 22in LCD, and game on it, I would get at least a 640MB 8800 GTS instead of the 320MB version.

Power supply is overkill, Corsair 520W is plenty.

If you are on a tight budget, honestly, for multi-threaded games like Crysis, I would spend more money on a better video card rather than spending a lot overclocking the Q6600. Your performance is going to be better with a GTX and a stock Q6600 rather than a 320MB 8800GTS and a 3.6Ghz Q6600. But like I said, IF you have a tight budget.

 

[UnIrit]

Will try to reach 3.3 to 3.4G range on overclock.

Hesitating on move up to GTX because of rumors of future X-10 games requiring significant upgrades to current graphics cards?

I was on the fence re: Corsair 520 vs 620 - thanks for the push in the right direction

Thanks again!

 

[bob4432]

for gaming you would be better off w/ a better gpu and a lot less cpu, plain and simple.

also define "video" - editing/encoding or just watching? hd or sd?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Spend as much $ as you can on GPU. $71 Abit IP35-E and E4400/E4500 should get you to +3.2GHz. I'm doing 3.47GHz with my E4300. Upgrade to 45nm quad in 2008 if you need more CPU power at that time. 4GB of HP/Crucial 1.8V DDR2 667 RAM will set you back $60 AR. RAM is stable up to 400MHz with 2.0Vdimm and 5-5-5-15-2T timing. Again, good enough to take a capable E4400 to 4.0GHz. CPU speed is KING. People spend big bucks on overclock RAMs only to discover that they cannot POST with a new MB. Speed improvement is only about 3% under many conditions. Get JEDEC RAMs for best compatibility and stability with four modules. Note that windows 32-bit will only detect up to 3.2GB.

There is a big Abit IP35-E thread at MB forum. Plenty of OC tips and help from various users.

 

[UnIrit]

Thanks for all the great advice guys.

After looking at several forums re: Gigabyte p35 motherboard and cooling, space issues with larger aftermarket coolers may be a problem for overclocking. Still trying to decide now between ASUS vs Abit boards.

I'll look into Abit IP35 (and pro) since I dont think the IP35-E has the firewire I need for video input from digital video recorder and editing (a pile of home movies need lots of work). I assume the tips for the IP35-E will also apply to the IP35?

I was originally planning on 2G of RAM and using 32bit version WinXP pro.

Sounds like the 8800 GTX is the way to go.

Thanks again!