Bunch of Questions about a new Opty 165 setup

[bebop06]

Hey, I'm just about to buy parts for a long overdue new system. Here's what I'm getting:

CPU: Opteron 165
RAM: G.SKILL Extreme Series 2x1GB DDR500
Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D
HDD: Western Digital SE16 250GB
Video Card: Sapphire X1900XT
PSU: (I already own a PC Power & Cooling 510)

First, I was wondering if anyone knew about this week's batch of opteron 165s. Any suggestions on where to get it? (somewhere that would list specify the stepping, if any good steppings are around right now)

I'm hoping to OC the opty to (fingers crossed) 2.6 GHz, and I have some questions about memory dividers. Is there any performance hit for not running 1:1 (beyond the lower speed of the RAM)? If I tried to run 1:1, that would put the RAM at 289MHz (assuming I get the opty to 2.6)--would G.SKILL be the best RAM for that? Would there even be a real difference between running 1:1 and running with a slight divider?

And I assume that the DFI is the best OCing board out there, but just thought I would make sure that an RD580 board (like Asus') wouldn't be better. What do you guys think?

Any suggestions on a heatsink? My PSU is kinda loud (not super loud), and I definitely don't want anything louder than it (it's maybe high 40s decibles?), but I want something good enough for OCing. Any suggestions?

Thanks a ton you guys.

 

[MDE]

1) No idea
2) There really isn't a noticeable difference when using a divider. I was using some Mushkin basic PC3200 running 183MHz (266 divider) and now I have some Mushkin XP4400 running 270MHz (1:1) and I can't tell the difference.
3) DFI's boards are great OCers. I've had great luck with my last couple Epox boards, the most current being the 9NPA+ Ultra, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. I haven't used an ATI based board so I can't comment there although I've seen some good things said about them.
4) You'll get a lot of recommendations for an XP-90\120 or SI-120 and a fan of your choice. I'm using a Thermaltake Big Typhoon right now and I have no complaints other than a really bad installation process.

Welcome to AT! Check the link in my sig for specs on my system if you're curious.

 

[robertk2012]

Originally posted by: MDE
1) No idea
2) There really isn't a noticeable difference when using a divider. I was using some Mushkin basic PC3200 running 183MHz (266 divider) and now I have some Mushkin XP4400 running 270MHz (1:1) and I can't tell the difference.
3) DFI's boards are great OCers. I've had great luck with my last couple Epox boards, the most current being the 9NPA+ Ultra, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. I haven't used an ATI based board so I can't comment there although I've seen some good things said about them.
4) You'll get a lot of recommendations for an XP-90\120 or SI-120 and a fan of your choice. I'm using a Thermaltake Big Typhoon right now and I have no complaints other than a really bad installation process.

Welcome to AT! Check the link in my sig for specs on my system if you're curious.

What he said. Dont worry to much about the ram. The difference between value and performance is soooooo small. Dividers do no cause a loss of performance.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

for big oc i recommend the xp-90 or 120 but for me i do minimal ocing and i have an ac freezer 64 pro and its nice

 

[bebop06]

Thanks so much for your responses everybody. As the time approaches for me to finally buy the parts, I'm getting nervous about this whole overclocking business. I'm going to be writing my thesis on this computer next year, and it would be awful if it randomly crashed or corrupted the HDD or something--I guess I want to ask how sure you can be about the stability of an OC. I don't want to push the processor too far, and would be happy to stay at 2.4 near stock volts if that would pretty much guarantee stability. If the system is, say, 24 hours dual Prime95 stable, would that make random crashes as unlikely as with a processor running at stock speeds?

Also, I found an offer for this stepping: Opteron 165 CCBWE 0551 WPMW. Does anyone have any information about that stepping (or about the steppings this week at newegg)?

Thanks for the warm welcome to AT.

 

[imported_Chilly]

Get the retail version of the Opty 165 and you get a good 4 pipe heatsink. It has a 80mm fan than spins at 2300 rpm.

 

[palindrome]

i've got a Volcano 12 and its the best heatsink I could ask for. I've got my crappy little newcastle 3500+ running at 2.51ghz with idle temps around 38C and load around 44C. I plan on using this heatsink when my opty 165 arrives monday, so I can OC the snot out of it =). Also, don't forget your AC5!

PS - if you crank the volcano/venus 12 all the way up, its like a jet turbine. But if you keep it around 3300-3600 rpms, you get really good cooling and no jet turbine. Did I mention that installation doesn't even require a screwdriver and its the easiest heatsink I've ever put on (even easier than a P4 LGA775 heatsink with the push button hole things...)

 

[chiguy2891]

tankguys.biz lists the stepping of the 165's