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Newbie OCer

S

SWT4ai

Member
I just purchased a p4 2.6c chip and was wondering if overclocking it to around 3.0 is safe (will the cpu die off a lot faster than on stock speeds). I also need advice on what mobo, ram, and heatsink/fan to get. I do some gaming (counter strike, call of duty). I'm also hoping my raid card that i bought from SIIG will work (USB2.0+1394+UltraATA RAID Part # JU-NNAR11) ---> The card didn't work on my old p4 1.7 with intel d850gb motherboard so i'm hoping it will work on future mobos. The card worked fine on my brother's old computer...

Here's what I have so far:
p4 2.6c
ati radeon 9600xt
2 hitachi 180 gig hard drives PATA (got on that fry's deal)
Lite On 52x24x52 cdrw
 
To play those 2 games that setup at default should be fine.

I've seen a 2.8C reach 4GHz on an Asus P4P800 and Corsair XMS PC3500 RAM so something similar to that should help. You shoudn't aim for too high of an OC but I think 3GHz is very reachable. You also might want to get a good powersupply.
 
The 2.6c should get to 3.0 with no problems. No one can tell for sure how long the cpu life will be decreased by overclocking. Most people don't worry about cpu life b/c they don't keep the same system for more than 4 years anyway. For mobo I suggest Abit IS-7 or IC-7. The ram and HSF depend on how high you want to o/c. If you want to get to 3GHz you'll most likely need to run a 5:4 divider. You should be fine with any quality pc3200 memory like micron, kingston, samsung, etc. Get memory with low CAS2 timings if you want the best performance. THe stock HSF is more than fine for a 3.0GHz o/c, don't waste money on a new one. Oh, and make sure you get a good power supply (antec, fortron, sparkle, enermax).
 
For a 2.6C, a P4C800 is the best, get some Kingston HyperX PC3000 or PC3200 Non-A, or Mushkin Level II PC3200 or 3500. You'll want to run 1:1 at about 230MHz (460 MHz) with tight 2-2-2-5 timings.
 
Curious, but I thought the Kingston HperX was having problems with the ASUS P800C? Last I heard look for any of the better brands (GEIL, Mushkin, Crucial, Corsair, OCZ) using matched pairs of DDR RAM. Look for fastest rating PC3500 or faster) with lowest latency (CL2 or 2.5). Just go for 4 sticks if it is single sided or 2 sticks of double sided RAM, for fastest speeds. I also hear that at or above 1000 (quad pumped 250) the latency is not so important, i.e., PC4200 CAS3 is faster than PC3200 CAS2, but that is a rumor only (haven't seen any benchmarks). Of the high speed stuff (PC3700 or higher) OCZ is the champ at the moment, GEIL is a little slower but much cheaper. All others are playing catchup, but Mushkin, Corsair and Kingston dominate at the low speed, low latency, i.e., PC 3200 area.

The MB brands are not that important, but look for a good price on a major brand (ABIT, ASUS, MSI, GIGABYTE, Shuttle, Chaintech, DFI, SOYO, EPOX, etc.) with a 875 (best) or 865PE (better) chipset that is OC friendly and has the feature set you want. Especially make sure you can adjust AGP and RAM voltages in the BIOS (download the manual and read it).

Chuck the old RAID card if you need to buy new HDs. Buy the SATA standard and get a board with built-in SATA RAID. BTW, the ASUS built-in IDE RAID sucks in both the P800C and P800P boards (I know because I have them), the SATA RAIDS are much better. Not to mention but SATA cables are much better (smaller and prettier) than IDE. Make sure you have SATA power cables too, they should come with either the MB, HD or PS or all 3.

Buy a good 400 watt or better Power Supply. Fortron or Sparkle are the best, IMO, for the money. I have one of those fancy see-through 500 watt Turbo Case Aspire PS (I found it on sale for $40 and could not resist ;-)) and it works as well as my 450 watt SmartPower Antec (also an excellent PS). Stay away from light weight junk PS's, that usually come with cheap cases.

Water cool, if you can afford it and your case has enough room. It will be much quieter and more stable the an equivalent air cooled system. I could not talk on the phone over my old air cooled system. Use nothing smaller than 3/8" inside diameter (ID) tubing. Danger Den has the best beginners kit, IMO, but ASETEK, AquaStealth, AquaXtreme, and Swiftech, also offer good kits. Stay away from the Thermaltakes and anything else with small ID tubing, they are only good for quiet stock speeds. If you don't have (or buy) quiet fans invest in a cheap fan controller, you ears will love you.

Good luck OC'n
 
Thanks for the input guys. I narrowed down my mobos to the asus p4p800 or the abit IS7. Any input on these guys?
 
I havnt had problems with my P4c800-E and my Hyperx. Stay away from 4 sticks of ram if OCing, try to keep it to 2. Latency is important, theres just nothing out there that can to low timighs at PC4000+.

The P4P800 is a nice bored, I also like the Abit AI7, and IC7.
 
Originally posted by: ferrarifreak93
The 2.6c should get to 3.0 with no problems. No one can tell for sure how long the cpu life will be decreased by overclocking. Most people don't worry about cpu life b/c they don't keep the same system for more than 4 years anyway. For mobo I suggest Abit IS-7 or IC-7. The ram and HSF depend on how high you want to o/c. If you want to get to 3GHz you'll most likely need to run a 5:4 divider. You should be fine with any quality pc3200 memory like micron, kingston, samsung, etc. Get memory with low CAS2 timings if you want the best performance. THe stock HSF is more than fine for a 3.0GHz o/c, don't waste money on a new one. Oh, and make sure you get a good power supply (antec, fortron, sparkle, enermax).
Click to expand...

...I second all of that.

My rig (see sig) runs fine at 3.15 GHz on stock cooling, though it gets a little warm in the Australian summer. I'm going to get the Zalman 7000AlCu, and another 120mm case fan to keep it a bit cooler/quieter, but it's probably not strictly necessary.
 
Some P4P800's run fine at 1/1, some won't, I have run 3 to date, only 1 would run 1/1 over 245fsb, thats the 1 I am typing from. A word to the wise, only OC as much as you need. For instance, The cpu I am running right now, which is a 3.0, will do 3925, however, I run it daily at 3750, reason being, to My eyes, I can tell no difference from the 2 speeds, and, I can run at a lower voltage, not to mention I havn't found ANYTHING to date that will bog the system down. This includes crunching, running media player, several web pages open, email, and photchop open at the same time.
 
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