Is it possible to OC this?

[dajini]

Looking into upgrading my P4 3ghz, 1GB ram, 6600 geforce. Yeah I know, a bit behind the times. =P By the way, this new machine will be used for gaming.

My motherboard only supports up to a 320MB 8800, so I'm settled on the video card selection, but CPU selection is confusing me. My motherboard only supports up to a Core 2 Duo with a maximum FSB of 1066. I was originally looking into a quadcore, but when I found out the 4 cores aren't all used for gaming (correct?) and that my current mobo wouldn't support it, I sorta ruled it out.

So I looked into getting an E6600. Now, I've heard that these are very good CPUs for overclocking. Since Dual Cores don't use a multiplier, isn't the only way to overclock an E6600 to raise the FSB? If the stock E6600 starts at a 1066 FSB, won't trying to overclock it raise it past the 1066 FSB limit that my motherboard supports?

Or would I be better off looking into a motherboard that would allow me more than a 320MB 8000 and more than a Core 2 Duo 1066 FSB limit? ... gaaaah.

Thanks for any help.

 

[MarcVenice]

How could a mobo support a 8800gts 320mb and not something better? What mobo we talking about anyways, that would help a lot. And all cpu's use multipliers, it's just that you can't raise those unless you buy a VERY expensive cpu, which isn't worth it, because raising the FSB works just fine. And I actually have no clue why mobo's support 1066 fsb cpu's, yet they easily run with an fsb of 400 or whatever. But you're assumption is wrong, almost any mobo will allow you to raise the FSB past what it's intended to run at.

Why don't you go over to the general hardware forum, look up the stickied post for new builds, and get some real advice there. If you mention your budget and what it is going to be used for, gaming, then people will get you on your way in no time.

 

[dajini]

I'm running an Asrock 775-DualVSTA. And yeah I realize that all CPU's use multipliers, I was trying to say that only the high end CPU's allow it to be changed... came out sounding weird in my original post.

On asrock's website the highest video card it lists is the 8800 is the 8800/320m, which I'm assuming stands for megabytes. And the manual says it supports FSB 1066/800/533 MHZ. Maybe it does support a 640mb 8800 or a higher FSB CPU, but the manual / website don't say so.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I'm guessing the 320mb is specified as the max for size reasons, the 640 and 768 versions are longer cards and may interfere with the layout of the mobo. I recently put an 8800gts 320mb in my sons s939 rig and even it blocked one of the IDE ports.

As far as the FSB speeds your board supports chips based on the 1066 quad pumped FSB (real FSB 266mhz), but is capable of running much higher FSBs when overclocking, and the current Quads are 1066 chips and should run on that board with the proper bios unless the manufacturere specifically states otherwize.

Your board is likely quite capable of running 1333FSB but I'm not sure how it would react to one of the new 1333FSB chips (E6550,E6750,E6850,etc...)

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Your board is likely quite capable of running 1333FSB but I'm not sure how it would react to one of the new 1333FSB chips (E6550,E6750,E6850,etc...)

Nope, that board is only capable of 290-300 Mhz FSB, it uses a Via chipset. Also, dajini, don't waste your money on an 8800GTS, if you're gonna keep that board. It's PCI-E slot is a physical 16x slot, but it's only capable of 4x speeds; it isn't even fast enough for a PCI-E X1950 Pro. The X1950 will perform much better in a board with a true 16x slot, in other words. Oh, and welcome to anandtech.