making intel build soon

[MDme]

Been putting off an upgrade for a while but now will take the intel plunge. I will be making my build in Q1 of 2008 and would like your opinion on the ff:

thanks in advance to those kind enough to offer their advice.

1) Q6600 vs Q9450. which do you think is a better buy? I intend to OC the chip using high end air cooling (am not comfy yet with water cooling)....I was thinking Q9450 has an 8x multi so and is basically (333x8) so assuming I am hoping to OC beyond 3.6 that would mean my FSB (quad pumped) would have to be >1600MT/s. I suspect the chip should be able to handle the 1600 FSB but >1600? while if get the G0 Q6600 which is a 9x266 chip (1066 effective FSB) I would need to achieve an FSB of 400 (1600 effective) to reach 3.6 on a chip rated for 1066 operation. I think it will have little problem reaching 1333 but >1333?

So what do you think? I mean the Penryn obviously has 12MB L2, SSE4.1 and some IPC enhancements.....but what do you think though?

Is my understanding correct?

2) What MB would be nice? (Been so out of touch with intel for a while) not so sure if I intend to do multiGPU.

Thanks for your advice!!!

By the way I already have 4GB of DDR2-800 in hand (if that is a factor)

 

[sutahz]

If Penryn is availible go that route (though you may need DDR2-1066 to get the mobo to boot if you get a 'Memory Standard 1066' mobo) but if Penryn gets delayed as is rumored/plausable, then I guess your choice of 2 is really only a choice of 1. For what its worth, there's my pennies worth.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813127033
Memory Standard DDR2 1066

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813136038
Memory Standard DDR2 800

I dont upgrade my system every cpu/memory/chipset/gfx change (like _ _ _ _Aviator) so I dont know what impact it has when a mobo says its memory standard is DDR2 XXXX.
Enlighten me, I'm here to learn (which is why I know High Performance RAM is 98% Marketing BS (cause you do get that 1-2% boost, w00t!)).

 

[MDme]

what do you mean by "a memory standard 1066 mobo"? Can't you change the DRAM speed settings anyway to keep the memory in spec? The OCZ I have can run at 1066 though.

 

[MDme]

uh.....anyone there with any more suggestions? What chipset should I get?

 

[imported_Scoop]

3.6Ghz on Q6600 is pretty high on air cooling. Even 3.4Ghz isn't a sure deal. But anything over 3Ghz is good enough. I guess the new yorkfield will be somewhat faster than kentsfield but how much and is it worth the money is another question to be answered later on.

If you intend to use SLI you need to buy a nvidia chipset motherboard. If you get the new 750i or 780i, you don't have to worry about compatibility with penryn processors. If you intend to use Crossfire, the X38 chipset is recommended.

 

[hypeMarked]

What happens if you don't intend to do SLI or Crossfire? You can get any chipset?

 

[MDme]

Originally posted by: Scoop
3.6Ghz on Q6600 is pretty high on air cooling. Even 3.4Ghz isn't a sure deal. But anything over 3Ghz is good enough. I guess the new yorkfield will be somewhat faster than kentsfield but how much and is it worth the money is another question to be answered later on.

If you intend to use SLI you need to buy a nvidia chipset motherboard. If you get the new 750i or 780i, you don't have to worry about compatibility with penryn processors. If you intend to use Crossfire, the X38 chipset is recommended.

So only the X38 does crossfire and only an nvidia chipset does SLI.....from what I heard the 780i is only a rebadged 680i or something....

...anyway, I think the penryn CPUs (yorkfields) should easily reach 3.6++ Ghz the question is in order to do that on a Q9450 (with an 8x multi) what kind of FSB should I have 450Mhz+? (450x8=3.6)....will the mobos do that? and if so, will my memory (DDR-800) hold me back or is there way to limit DRAM speed (sort of like a divider)? And if the memory is not an issue at 450 FSB will my quad pumped FSB be therefore = 1800?

I hope someone can clarify this for me.

 

[graysky]

I would wait for the yorkfield personally. I don't think DDR2-800 can do 8x450; I would recommend DDR2-1066 memory if that that is your game.

 

[Denithor]

Eh...quality DDR2 can usually clock well beyond its rated speed with a touch of extra voltage and loosened timings. Without knowing what you've got (please don't say OCZ) it is probably safe to say you could hit 900-1000MHz (450-500fsb) with your DDR2-800 at 1.9-2.0V (or higher if your memory is rated for high voltage).

Regarding chipset, if going single GPU or Crossfire, there is one best choice at this point: Intel P35. Boards with this chipset from quality makers (Gigabyte, abit, etc) can generally hit 500fsb and are therefore excellent for overclocking. Recommended models include:

abit IP35-E/Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ($100) Basic features, no firewire/raid, single x16 PCI-E
DFI P35-T2RL ($115) Raid, single x16
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R ($130) Raid, single x16
abit IP35 ($130) Firewire & raid features, single x16
abit IP35 Pro/Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P ($150) Firewire/Raid, dual x16

There are equivalent ASUS boards that would be great also but I'm not as familiar with their products.

EDIT: Penryn quads are going to be delayed until Feb/March due to poor competition from AMD. There are a couple of threads here with additional details. But those Penryn chips look to be worth waiting for, lower heat generation, better OC potential, increased cache and SSE4 (if you do any video encoding, etc these two will help lots).

 

[MDme]

Originally posted by: Denithor
Eh...quality DDR2 can usually clock well beyond its rated speed with a touch of extra voltage and loosened timings. Without knowing what you've got (please don't say OCZ) it is probably safe to say you could hit 900-1000MHz (450-500fsb) with your DDR2-800 at 1.9-2.0V (or higher if your memory is rated for high voltage).

Regarding chipset, if going single GPU or Crossfire, there is one best choice at this point: Intel P35. Boards with this chipset from quality makers (Gigabyte, abit, etc) can generally hit 500fsb and are therefore excellent for overclocking. Recommended models include:

abit IP35-E/Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ($100) Basic features, no firewire/raid, single x16 PCI-E
DFI P35-T2RL ($115) Raid, single x16
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R ($130) Raid, single x16
abit IP35 ($130) Firewire & raid features, single x16
abit IP35 Pro/Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P ($150) Firewire/Raid, dual x16

There are equivalent ASUS boards that would be great also but I'm not as familiar with their products.

EDIT: Penryn quads are going to be delayed until Feb/March due to poor competition from AMD. There are a couple of threads here with additional details. But those Penryn chips look to be worth waiting for, lower heat generation, better OC potential, increased cache and SSE4 (if you do any video encoding, etc these two will help lots).

thanks for the great advice......btw...I do have 4GB of OCZ DDR2-800. Hope there's nothing wrong with that. Anyway, isn't there an option in those BIOSes to lock the DRAM speed? or is there? I believe my ram can do the 1066 with some voltage.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Denithor
There are equivalent ASUS boards that would be great also but I'm not as familiar with their products..

Assuming we're talking about the P35 chipset, the best Asus motherboard is the P5K. Of course, there are many different versions of it, and they vary in price and features.