cheap C2D upgrade

[rogue1979]

Has anyone tried an e2140 on the Asrock Conroe1333-DDR667?

My thinking is that 2.66GHz should be fine even on stock voltage.

I don't need anything faster. I am upgrading 3 computers at once so I want to
spend as little as possible.

Video cards will be 7900GT's in two, and an X1900GT in the other. Will do a video upgrade later after the new 8800GT drops some in price.

Of the two reviews that I have seen, the fsb was successfully ran at 350MHz or above, I only need 333, so it seems like an easy overclock.

$46 for the motherboard and $68 for the processor at mwave. It doesn't get much better than that for best bang for the buck.

What do you guys think, will it work like I think is should?

 

[myocardia]

Nobody can ever guarantee any overclock, that's just the nature of the beast. Besides that, it oughta work fine, although I haven't personally tried that processor with that motherboard. If it were me, I'd spend the extra couple of bucks, and buy E2180's, but then again, it's not my money, huh?

 

[IEC]

I would recommend buying the 2180 because of the 10x multi. That way you don't have to crank the FSB as much and it is also likely to hit higher clocks on average than the 2140 anyways. My 2140 is having stability issues around 3GHz (although only spent about an hour messing with OC so far).

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Bottle neck may be the RAMs. DDR2 667 is usually good up to 400MHz only if you have quality ICs like the $10/GB HP RAMs or Kingston N5 DDR2 667 ValueRAM. It's best to stick with DDR2 800 RAMs if you have an 8x or lower multi CPU. E2160 would offer the best value if you have DDR2 667 RAMs.

 

[dreddfunk]

Serpent - the HP RAM is actually $8.95/GB now on TechOnWeb. That's what finally sold me on your advice as I got those, an IP-35E and a 2140 just this morning.

rogue - I think Spartan and Serpent are giving good advice, though your DDR2-667 will run at 333FSB, which would give a 8x333 = 2664 MHz, on a 2140.

Serpent & Spartan - am I wrong about that? If he's only looking to hit 2.6GHz, shouldn't it come down to the CPU with those components. The MB and RAM both can run a 333 FSB without a problem.

Now if he was looking to hit 3 GHz, then I can absolutely see where you're coming from: higher multiplier or better RAM.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: dreddfunk
Serpent - the HP RAM is actually $8.95/GB now on TechOnWeb. That's what finally sold me on your advice as I got those, an IP-35E and a 2140 just this morning.

rogue - I think Spartan and Serpent are giving good advice, though your DDR2-667 will run at 333FSB, which would give a 8x333 = 2664 MHz, on a 2140.

Serpent & Spartan - am I wrong about that? If he's only looking to hit 2.6GHz, shouldn't it come down to the CPU with those components. The MB and RAM both can run a 333 FSB without a problem.

Now if he was looking to hit 3 GHz, then I can absolutely see where you're coming from: higher multiplier or better RAM.

E2140 = E2160 = E2180. Same chip. INTC's marketing uses 8x, 9x, and 10x multi to fatten the bottomline. With the $10 HP DDR2 667 RAM, one should be able to run the RAM at stock 1.8Vdimm up to 340MHz/4-4-4-12-2T. Bumping Vdimm to 2.0 will net 400MHz/5-5-5-15-2T. That's enough speed to take the E2160 to 3.6GHz, or E2140 to 3.2GHz. CPU lottery and the quality of the MB will determine the maximum stable CPU overclock speed. Most of these chips will hit 3.2GHz with 1.46Vcore.

So why is it safe to run 1.8V RAM at 2.0V? Reputable vendors like Crucial and Kingston will rate the working voltage at 1.8V +/-0.1. They also concede that the MB can vary Vdimm by +/-0.1V. Therefore the total stackup tolerance is +/-0.2V.

 

[dreddfunk]

Serpent - yeah, I understood the only difference between the 2140/2160/2180 was the multiplier. I merely was trying to clarify for the OP that neither his RAM nor his suggested MB would be an issue if he only wanted to achieve a mild OC with a 2140, to 2.6GHz, for example. At the same time I was trying to agree with you that heading higher than that might require better RAM/MB, luck, etc.

Thanks for the note about RAM voltages, it makes a lot of sense and it was something I didn't know!

Cheers.

 

[rogue1979]

I could go with a 2160 or a 2180.

From what I've seen so far, these cpu's would need a slight voltage boost to hit 2.8GHz and above.

The Asrock Conroe1333 has a rudimentary overclock voltage setting for the cpu, but not one that can be set by increments. That wouldn't really be a problem since there are pin mods to manually raise the voltage.

But I suspect the stock coolers might not be good enough for 3GHz and increased voltage.
Also I have 3 Fortron Source 400-watt power supplies that have been running flawless on overclocked Athlon64 single cores. This may become an issue running CD2's at 3GHz+ with more core voltage.

Take an aftermarket cooler (maybe $25), a decent power supply (probably $70+ to get one of better quality than what I have now) and mutliply that by three. Along with the few extra bucks for a Allendale with a higher mutliplier the cost becomes a very significant factor.

$315 to $345 more, kinda takes the bang for the buck out of the equation for a relatively cheap upgrade!

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: dreddfunk
Serpent - yeah, I understood the only difference between the 2140/2160/2180 was the multiplier. I merely was trying to clarify for the OP that neither his RAM nor his suggested MB would be an issue if he only wanted to achieve a mild OC with a 2140, to 2.6GHz, for example. At the same time I was trying to agree with you that heading higher than that might require better RAM/MB, luck, etc.

Thanks for the note about RAM voltages, it makes a lot of sense and it was something I didn't know!

Cheers.

Many phone monkeys will tell you that you cannot overclock valuerams. However, if you work in this business as a designer, then you must built-in tolerances to compensate for other variables.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: rogue1979
I could go with a 2160 or a 2180.

From what I've seen so far, these cpu's would need a slight voltage boost to hit 2.8GHz and above.

The Asrock Conroe1333 has a rudimentary overclock voltage setting for the cpu, but not one that can be set by increments. That wouldn't really be a problem since there are pin mods to manually raise the voltage.

But I suspect the stock coolers might not be good enough for 3GHz and increased voltage.
Also I have 3 Fortron Source 400-watt power supplies that have been running flawless on overclocked Athlon64 single cores. This may become an issue running CD2's at 3GHz+ with more core voltage.

Take an aftermarket cooler (maybe $25), a decent power supply (probably $70+ to get one of better quality than what I have now) and mutliply that by three. Along with the few extra bucks for a Allendale with a higher mutliplier the cost becomes a very significant factor.

$315 to $345 more, kinda takes the bang for the buck out of the equation for a relatively cheap upgrade!

CPU cooler...FREE AR
http://www.clubit.com/product_...il.cfm?itemno=A1906910

Earthwatts 430...$30 AR but existing Fortron should work
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817371006

E2160...$70-$80

Abit IP35-E...$61 AR

HP DDR2 667 RAM...$18 AR (1GB x 2)

$154 and change will get you a new rig capable of 3.2GHz with 45nm Peryn support.