Request for C2-Q9400 Rig Advice

[Arttemis]

(1h-typing w/ broken arm, will try to be brief)

I've just recently won a free Q9400 in a contest and am now finally forced to replace my current 4.5-year-old, socket 939, AGP, DDR behemoth.
Having been out of the tech-loop since the creation of my last computer, I've been spending the last week researching to get relatively caught up on the current state of hardware.

From what I've read, the 45nm chips are definitely capable of an impressive overclock without much hassle.
I'd like to keep this machine pretty future proof, so I'm definitely going with DDR3 - which will also allow for an even ratio with the Q9400's 1333 MHz FSB.

Looking at prices, the P45 chipset seems to be the most reasonable. Only a few seem to support DDR3, so I was thinking of going with a Gigabyte EP45T-DS3R.
Anyone have some experience with this particular board, or a better alternative?

Because of the sale/rebate and very low CAS/RAS latency, I was planning to go with a set (4GB total) of OCZ ReaperX DDR3 1333 With 6-5-5-18 timings, this seems unbeatable - despite the extreme heatpipes.
How capable is this of a ~10-15% OC?

Since I don't want to trust the (shockingly tiny) stock Intel LGA775 heatsink for any kind of quadcore overclock, I figure I'll go with the ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro which got excellent results all around on Anandtech's HSF review, and the price is very acceptable.
Anyone know if this comes with any thermal paste?



Alright, I was hoping to squeeze a few more MHz from this rig from stock settings without having to do any hardcore power tweaking.
I'm looking for an OC from 333 to ~360 x 8 = 2880 Mhz, with the ram following suit for 1:1 ratio.

Does anyone have any suggestions or critiques on the hardware or OCing plans?

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Arttemis

I'd like to keep this machine pretty future proof, so I'm definitely going with DDR3 - which will also allow for an even ratio with the Q9400's 1333 MHz FSB.

Dude, you should do some thread reading before you plunk down your $$ on DDR3, thinking you're "future proofing"...
Whatever that's supposed to mean! :laugh:

 

[DSF]

DDR3-1333 does not run 1:1 with your Q9400. DDR2-667 does. Good old DDR2-800 will let you up the FSB from 333 to 360 without a problem. Save your money, considering that 4GB of good quality DDR2 can be had for under $50, and sometimes even less than $30 these days.

 

[Arttemis]

Originally posted by: Blain
"future proofing"... Whatever that's supposed to mean! :laugh:

Well, I built my last computer with an AGP slot and DDR sticks - neither of which progressed in the following years. I figured investing in a newer ram spec would allow me the opportunity to upgrade to higher quality and cheaper stuff in a couple years from now without having to buy a new motherboard.
If DDR3 is on its way out, I wasn't aware of it.

Originally posted by: DSF
DDR3-1333 does not run 1:1 with your Q9400. DDR2-667 does. Good old DDR2-800 will let you up the FSB from 333 to 360 without a problem. Save your money, considering that 4GB of good quality DDR2 can be had for under $50, and sometimes even less than $30 these days.

I wasn't aware of that. I figured it was a 4x multiplier (double DDR2) for 1333 / 4 = ~333 to be an equal ratio with the FSB - just like DDR2 667 / 2 = ~333.

Since DDR3 is so taboo, was I still right in looking for a the P45 chipset MB? Any suggestions?

 

[Blain]

The ratio for memory isn't the same as Intel CPU's...
CPU Q9400 runs on a 333MHz FSB - 8 x 333 = 2.66GHz
Memory 2 x FSB - DDR2-800 is rated for a FSB of 400MHz (67MHz more than 333), gives buffer for OCing.

Your last build was on an AGP platform. Meaning you keep your rigs for a while.
DDR2 is dirt cheap right now and gives you plenty of performance for the slow Q9400.
By the time you rebuild, DDR3 will be cheaper OR may not be the main memory for the platform at the time.

Bottom Line: Stick with the plenty fast and dirt cheap DDR2-800 for this build.

 

[Arttemis]

Originally posted by: Blain
Bottom Line: Stick with the plenty fast and dirt cheap DDR2-800 for this build.

Cool, thank you for the advice and money saved.



As for the rest of the machine, would a P45 chipset still be the best way to go, and are there any specific brands of ram or motherboard I should go with? I hear a lot about ASUS.
Note - Since I'm much more confident about OCing with DDR2 800, I'll probably push the rig closer to 400 MHz.

 

[Blain]

Gigabyte P45 MB with 1.8-1.9v Corsair, Mushkin or G.Skill DDR2-800