GA-965P-S3 965 board from gigabyte?? p965 965p REVIEW !!! UPDATE

[88NovaTwincam]

Most DEF! If she's go 3-4 years then the cpu cooler if FREE over the cost of a DS3

I'm so ready to bite, but I'll probally wait for some C2 revison 965 boards hit the retail channel

 

[dlot]

I'm really happy to have found this thread. I'm planning on building a system and this thread has sold me on the GA-965P-S3 board. Here's my problem, I haven't built a system in about 6 or 7 years (last one was a K62-500 w/ PC133 and a ATI Rage Pro video card)... Needless to say, I'm a little behind the times in terms of hardware knowledge. I could use some advice on what memory to purchase. I'm not really concerned with overclocking at this time - have never done it and don't want to ruin anything - but it seems as if perhaps I would be foolish not to squeeze a little more power out of the system? Most of the reviews I've seen have been using Corsair memory, so I was planning on going that route.

I'm thinking:
GA-965P-S3 motherboard
Core 2 Duo E6600 CPU

Should I go with 800MHz memory or 1066MHz? Cost is a concern to some degree, so is the high clcok speed worth it? Would I benefit more by using MORE of the lower speed?

I also see that Corsair has the same MHz memory, but w/ and without E.P.P. that affects price quite a bit. What should I be doing there? Is the EPP only for overclocking?

I'll be using the machine mostly for work (nothing too intensive), but some gaming. HL2 / CounterStrike... probably some GuildWars.

Any advice you guys could provide would really be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Marmion]

For what its worth, I just built a system with the E6300 and am using Kingston Value Ram 667 Cas5 at DDR2-900 5-5-5-15 timings, 2.1v.

If you're not overclocking, definately don't buy 1066mhz ram. Stock, the Core 2 Duo runs on a 533Mhz FSB, which, 1:1 you only really need 533Mhz ram. My advice would be to go with 667 or 800.

 

[dlot]

Marmion, Thanks for the quick reply. I am confused about the 533MHz comment though... everything I've seen says the Core 2 Duo is running at 1066 http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2duo/specifications.htm which is part of the reason I thought that 1066 would be the right way to go.

Also, should I just plan on overclocking this machine and spend a little extra on cooling? I've worked as an IT consultant for the past 5 years and am not worried about getting in over my head when I do the research, just cautious since I've never gone that route before...

Thanks again.

 

[YoungGun21]

Ok well let me try to explain this to you but I'm no expert so somebody correct me where I'm wrong.

1066mhz is the FSB which is "quad pumped". RAM is only "double pumped".

1066/4 = 266
266*2 = 533

So if you set your RAM divider to 1:1 you would only need 533mhz memory if you were not OCing. If you decide you are OCing you need to look at how much of an OC you would want.
Example:

You want an E6300 to go to 2.8ghz or 2800mhz.
2800/4=400mhz. (FSB is now 400)
400*2=800mhz (memory is now 800)
So you would need memory that could run at 800mhz assuming you used a 1:1 divider.

My terminology may be off a little but I'm pretty sure thats the correct way to figure everything out.

 

[Marmion]

I don't really know much about cooling. My overclock is using stock cooler, I'm running high 30s at idle, goes up to mid-high 50s under load (Orthos prime).
I would never have thought that my kingston value ram would go that high, but it does

And for the FSB, YoungGun has explained it as well as I could

 

[Raduque]

This this ram would work well with this mobo?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146057

Or should I just spring the extra $55 for 2gb of g.skill http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231084 ?

I only plan on going for a modest 2.33ghz @ 333fsb...