Never Built An Intel System Built Lots of AMD's anything to watch for?

[imaginepc]

Currently Intel's really hold the prize for gaming systems. I'm about to build a new system and am Looking to go the INTEL route this time around. Since I have build many AMD systems in the past I don't know any pitfalls that come with building an intel system. Any pointers?

As far as the intel chipsets I'm not even sure what would be the best bet.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[brxndxn]

Look for processors not overclocking near as far as people are saying..

I've NEVER had a problem overclocking a processor to at least the average with AMD..

With my E4300, I get 2.7ghz (and barely.. with high voltage).. It won't even boot at 3ghz. Yet, I see pretty much everyone saying they're running it at 3.0ghz to 3.4ghz..

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
Look for processors not overclocking near as far as people are saying..

I've NEVER had a problem overclocking a processor to at least the average with AMD..

With my E4300, I get 2.7ghz (and barely.. with high voltage).. It won't even boot at 3ghz. Yet, I see pretty much everyone saying they're running it at 3.0ghz to 3.4ghz..

Maybe you just suck at overclocking?

 

[Markfw]

P35 is probably the best right now for chipset. The X38 is very new, and I have heard the drivers aren;t mature yet. My pointers are
1) Get some fast ram like PC-8000 or better, its always good to have the option and some headroom for OCing, and only quality ram.
2) Get a good motherboard and PSU, skimping hurts down the road.
3) As stated above, always take what you read about max OC with a grain of salt, mine never hit what everyone else says.
4) Intel procs like cache, since they don't have an IMC.

Any many here may disagree with my pointers, as I am not as restricked by funds, but they probably are.

Edit, I just saw the post above me, and I don't suck at OC'ing, I have had Stevety and Duvie (well respected members here) over to my house to assist and work with me on my overclocking skills, I can't speak for the poster brxndxn.

 

[kenrippy]

you really only need ddr800 which gives plenty of headroom for overclocking purposes. just don't limit yoursef with ddr667 which is the minimum for the intel cpu's.

plan on buying an aftermarket cooler.

intel cpu's generally overclock better than amd

if you're going quad core, you might as well get the better stepping (G0 SLACR) since you've got a choice right now for the same price.

P35 boards are pretty much top dog right now. i've read that the X38 boards don't offer any improvements.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
1) Get some fast ram like PC-8000 or better, its always good to have the option and some headroom for OCing, and only quality ram.
3) As stated above, always take what you read about max OC with a grain of salt, mine never hit what everyone else says.

RAM depends on how high FSB you expect to run. Personally I just go with cheap RAM because the extra $50-100 for expensive RAM can be a couple speed grade bumps on a CPU. Basically, low ROI IMO. However, if you're planning for really high FSB, then you pretty much have to get fast RAM. Basically know your FSB goals before buying.

As for #3, it really is YMMV. The thing is that people are more likely to shout out their successes than their failures, so what you read on forums are biased more towards successful overclocks. Also, people have varying personal definitions of a "stable" overclock. Some feel that their overclock should be 100% stable under indefinate stress testing. That's the ultimate in stability, but of course renders your system indefinately useless if all you're doing with it is running stress tests. :laugh: Some feel that their overclock is "successful" if it can boot up Windows, grab a CPU-Z screenshot and run a few seconds worth of SuperPI.

I've had chips that were really good, and chips that stunk at overclocking. I had one Opteron 144 that was so bad that when I posted about it here, people started calling me names. isgust; It was one out of three chips. All tested on same parts. One chip was good for around 2.9GHz, another one a bit less. Third chip would barely hit 2.3GHz. All on same parts (mobo/RAM/HSF/PSU).

People who refuse to understand that some chips overclock higher than others are just... <I'll be nice and not say anything that may be construed as a personal attack>

It peeves me to see people write stuff like "oh such and such chip is GUARANTEED to overclock to ?.?GHz" Oh rly? Who's gonna guarantee it? You gonna put your money where your keyboard is and offer to buy chips from people that can't reach your guaranteed overclock?

That's just setting people up for disappointment.

BITD I sold "pretested" Celeron 366 CPUs "guaranteed" at 550MHz. If it didn't work as specified, refund. Now THAT is a guarantee! I can say this... we got in many, many trays of OEM chips. about 2/3 of them were easy 550MHz chips (we binned for those requiring Vcore and those that did 550MHz with no additional Vcore). The rest just couldn't do it in a stable and reliable manner. Why I mention this was that at the time many in forums were proclaiming these to be "guaranteed overclocks." My clientele were either those who didn't want the risk, or had taken the risk and ended up with a chip that wouldn't hit the higher speeds.

 

[Markfw]

ZAP, Good post ! and I agree on both your definition of stable (mine have to do F@H 100%load 24/7 with ony one EUE per week at most), and the memory thing. I have 3 E6300's that are stable at 3.43, and I needed PC-8000 to get there. My Q6600's, I want high FSB, as it does make quite a different running the higher FSB for performance. I have proved it for myself in F@H times.

As for the OC, I have an X3210 that won;t go over 2800 for anything, and runs hotter than my B3 Q6600's (both of them) at 3.3 and 3.2, and using almost .1 vcore less ! (1.275 vs 1.360 and 1.408) They run 68-70c, and it runs 82c, all have the same coolers, Ninja Sythe, and all run open case. (except the B3@3.3 in in a 900, and thats almost like an open case with all those fans.) Nobody believes me that my chip is that bad.

 

[sonoran]

Some of the chips that get downbinned end up in the lower speed grade because they really won't run any faster. No one should ever talk about "guaranteed" overclocks, because the only thing the manufacturer guarantees is that the chip will run at the rated speed.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: sonoran
No one should ever talk about "guaranteed" overclocks, because the only thing the manufacturer guarantees is that the chip will run at the rated speed.

Exactly! Some people act as if you trampled their petunias...

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: adairusmc

Originally posted by: brxndxn
Look for processors not overclocking near as far as people are saying..

I've NEVER had a problem overclocking a processor to at least the average with AMD..

With my E4300, I get 2.7ghz (and barely.. with high voltage).. It won't even boot at 3ghz. Yet, I see pretty much everyone saying they're running it at 3.0ghz to 3.4ghz..

Maybe you just suck at overclocking?

Man that's just not nice. Poor forum etiquette... :thumbsdown:

I've actually seen a bunch of people saying they can only hit 2.7-ish, so either they all 'suck', or your post is bollocks. :light:

OP: IMO the best intel chips are the 2140 and the Xeon 3210 (quad core, similar to the Q6600, but cheaper).

Get a '35' or '33' chipset motherboard so you can upgrade to penryn and maybe even newer chips.

Check into the kind of ram you'll need to overclock a particular processor, depending on the settings your motherboard has.

 

[Markfw]

Sorry, my experience with the X3210 bites..... 2.8 is the best, on the same cooling and motherboard that my B3 Q6600 does 3.2.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
Sorry, my experience with the X3210 bites..... 2.8 is the best, on the same cooling and motherboard that my B3 Q6600 does 3.2.

The new 3210's are G0. You probably had bad luck and got a core that had been in a warehouse for a year. :thumbsdown:

 

[rogue1979]

Originally posted by: adairusmc

Originally posted by: brxndxn
Look for processors not overclocking near as far as people are saying..

I've NEVER had a problem overclocking a processor to at least the average with AMD..

With my E4300, I get 2.7ghz (and barely.. with high voltage).. It won't even boot at 3ghz. Yet, I see pretty much everyone saying they're running it at 3.0ghz to 3.4ghz..

Maybe you just suck at overclocking?

Dude, that is just wrong and plain rude!

 

[Miramonti]

With the amd processors, you need to be careful of the fragile pins on the underside of the cpu, but with the intel socket 775 cpu's, you need to use some caution not to bend any of the individual connectors on the motherboard's cpu socket pad (they are like little copper spring boards with an elevated contact point at the tips.)

Its much safer than delicate cpu pins, but still worth noting since its your first intel build imo.

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: rogue1979

Originally posted by: adairusmc
Maybe you just suck at overclocking?

Dude, that is just wrong and plain rude!

Rude, yes, but I have to admit that I laughed out loud when I read it! :thumbsup:

 

[brxndxn]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: adairusmc

Originally posted by: brxndxn
Look for processors not overclocking near as far as people are saying..

I've NEVER had a problem overclocking a processor to at least the average with AMD..

With my E4300, I get 2.7ghz (and barely.. with high voltage).. It won't even boot at 3ghz. Yet, I see pretty much everyone saying they're running it at 3.0ghz to 3.4ghz..

Maybe you just suck at overclocking?

Man that's just not nice. Poor forum etiquette... :thumbsdown:

I've actually seen a bunch of people saying they can only hit 2.7-ish, so either they all 'suck', or your post is bollocks. :light:

OP: IMO the best intel chips are the 2140 and the Xeon 3210 (quad core, similar to the Q6600, but cheaper).

Get a '35' or '33' chipset motherboard so you can upgrade to penryn and maybe even newer chips.

Check into the kind of ram you'll need to overclock a particular processor, depending on the settings your motherboard has.

Thanks for sticking up for me..

I'd say I'm an overclocking veteran.


AMD K6-200 @ 233mhz - stock fan
Celeron 300a @ 450mhz - stock fan
Celeron 300a @ 504mhz - stock fan
Celeron 366 @ 550mhz (built a bunch of these for friends) - upgrade fans
Pentium 3 550mhz @ 825mhz - stock fan
Pentium 3 600mhz @ 900mhz - upgrade fan
Athlon Tbird 700mhz @ 1.1ghz - stock fan
Pentium 3 800mhz @ 990mhz (big overclock for a cartridge processor) - stock fan
Athlon 1.2ghz @ 1.4ghz - stock fan
Barton 1833mhz @ 2.3ghz - stock fan
Barton 1833mhz @ 2.4ghz - stock fan

I cannot remember the specs on the Barton 'laptop' chip I would always order from Newegg and get huge 40% overclocks on.. I built 3 of them for friends.. basic fans too.

I also built numerous overclocked systems for my friends. I would get processors pushed pretty far and then set them back a bit just to be safe (since I didn't want to be full-time tech support for them).

Then..

Core 2 E4300 1.8ghz @ 2.7ghz - lapped, PCP&C 610watt power supply, 680i chipset, 2gb 1T memory, Tuniq tower, arctic silver

So there.

 

[imaginepc]

Flames and good advice all in one. I love forums

Not looking to really overclock. Just something good and stable and I run a ton of applicaitons at once so memory is extremely important

Thank you for all the tips, especially the one about the INTEL CPU pins.


so far I believe I'm going with the EVVGA 8800GT (or therien) card - Ive been reading all the sticky posts on the forum and checking the mobo's to see if I can find one that will meet my needs. Tons of USB ports is a must and super high ram support is a must.