New 4Ghz PC, Need Help.

[Zer0Cool]

Hello everyone,

I had decided to upgrade my PC and can really use your help in trying to figure out what parts I would need to reach 4Ghz OC from this PC!

I currently have ABS Tagan BZ 800W PSU, 9800GTX, 3 WD640AAKS HDD (two in raid 0) and Cosmos S case that I will be keeping. I live in the US and newegg had always done a good job delivering my parts in the past, but if other websites have the parts cheaper I dont mind ordering from them. I currently have Two 24" monitors. Im not in a rush ordering these parts. I will be using raid 0 & if a MOBO has SLI & CrossFire enable that would be a plus, I don't plan on using it right now (maybe in the future) but if a certain MOBO is a great for OC but is 3 way SLI crossfire then it doesn't make a difference to me. For now my goal is to get to 4Ghz 24/7 stable. Online Gaming is the primary role of this PC. I don't have a budget but im not made out of money ether if u know what I mean. If an extra $100 is something that will be a big help in getting it to 4Ghz then I will get it.

Its been about a year since I did any extensive research on computer parts, but from lasts night search here is what I have in mind so far. I am 99% sure that I want to go with the i7 920 CPU. I heard this processor are very OC friendly, and a lot of people were able to get to 4.0Ghz with good air cooling. The hardest part for me is to select a good MOBO that will handle a 4.0Ghz OC and good RAM to go with it.

CPU:

I7 920 2.66Ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

MOBO:

Someone told me that these are the Top Tier Overclockers:
EVGA X58 Classified
ASUS Rampage II Extreme X58
Gigabyte X58 EXTREME (can't find it on newegg anymore) All of these boards are about $375-$400 Do I really need one of these boards to get to 4.0Ghz? How hard will it be for me, someone who doesn't really know a lot about OC to get to 4ghz with other MOBO's?

The other MOBO's that I was told are also good are ASUS P6T or P6T Deluxe, Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P or UD5, EVGA X58 3X SLI.

RAM:

From what I hear in order for me to get to 4Ghz I need at least 1600Mhz RAM. I never liked to settle for “at least” so would it be fair to say that 1800+Mhz would be perfect for me? Or will 1600Mhz will be more than enough for me to get to 4Ghz?

Here is a good looking DDR3 1600Mhz 6GB RAM $199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

And here is the same RAM with DDR3 1866 $229
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145232

I don't have much experience with DDR3 but I dont want atlest 6GB so if you have other suggestions, let me know.

Please comment. Thank you

 

[isaiahk]

You could check out the EVGA X58 LE. You get the overclocking features on the other EVGA boards. However, you lose things like the IDE connector -_-, and a second LAN port. You get 4 PCIE x16 2.0 slots running at x16 x8 x4 x8, so 3 way SLI with Physx running in the x4 slot.

You pretty much get everything good about the EVGA x58 boards without the little extras. It comes at a cheaper price too. I don`t think it supports CrossfireX, but this board would probably look way better running EVGA cards anyway, or even most Nvidia cards.

I think this board is sexy for the price. It looks nice at a relatively good price.

The board is here.

Check out this product overview as well from ComputerTV. He overclocks a 975 to 4 Ghz, and I don't think the 920 will be that much more difficult. Oh and ignore the captions in the video. I guess the editor failed on the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtJQjrI3LH4

You could also wait for the new 1156 boards to come out. Most of them that I have seen are P55 boards so far. The P[xx] has always been generally lower end against the X[xx]. There may be no use in waiting. It's up to you. I don't know how well the new i5s/i7s will overclock either.

 

[Grantofhell]

You could probably hit 4GHz with your Q9450. Which stepping do you have? C1 or E1? If you stick with your S775, get a 750i or a 780i. So you can keep your RAM and CPU without changing to DDR3 or S1366.

 

[Zer0Cool]

You could probably hit 4GHz with your Q9450. Which stepping do you have? C1 or E1? If you stick with your S775, get a 750i or a 780i. So you can keep your RAM and CPU without changing to DDR3 or S1366.

I have C1 and I had spend many hours trying to even get it stable at 3.0Ghz with no luck. You can take a look at my thread in the Overclocking section.

Well this is what Im narrowing my decision to:

Ram: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

MOBO: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

 

[Grantofhell]

I don't think a P35 is a very good chipset to try overclocking on. I really think you could at least get 3.8 if you pushed it. Then again, you may just have a lemon proc.

 

[Zer0Cool]

I'm done with my P35/Q9450 very bad exprience with OC, this think just doesnt OC... I will be selling MOBO, RAM, CPU.

I think I had narrowed my decisions to:

MOBO: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131365

And there are 3 different RAM's I'm having hard time deciding what to get... What I hear ASUS recommends not going over 1.6v for ram on the P62, but a lot of people have 1.65v RAM and are doing fine.

Ram: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225 (why is this RAM is so much cheaper then the other once?)

Mushkin 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226030

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

By the way does anyone know if newegg sending out the B0 stepping for i7? Is there a good chance I will one?

Any suggestions, comments plz keep it coming

Thanks

 

[disturbed13]

what heatsink are you using?
have you looked into liquid cooling?
a block on the cpu
a rad, pump, fans, compression fittings, and a res
and your set for some cool temps

 

[Zer0Cool]

what heatsink are you using?
have you looked into liquid cooling?
a block on the cpu
a rad, pump, fans, compression fittings, and a res
and your set for some cool temps

I don't have the money right now to be spending on water cooling. A good WC is about $500 no reason to go with something chipper. I currently have Ultima 90, this is a small brother of the Thermalright 120, and from the reviews that I seen when I was getting it, it produces the same results, maybe 1c-2c difference.

I currently have Cosmos S case with 1 120mm fan on the side and 7 120mm inside. I have a great air flow in my PC IMOP.

 

[Neodude1123201]

Ever Considered an AMD CPU? The new Phenom II 965 Paired with this gigabyte mobo and either a REALLY Good HSF Or even water cooling should reach 4Ghz no problems.

 

[Zer0Cool]

I always been a an Intel fan, and with so many reviews and guides...etc on the i7 I think I would like to stick to that.

Will there be a noticeable difference in boots and games with 7-7-7-20 compared to 9-9-9-24 ? And in terms of getting the i7 to 4Ghz + will this speed difference matter? I really don't know much about RAM as you can see. By the way the 1600Mhz is good enough to get me to 4Ghz but what about if I decided to try and push it just a bit more, 4.2Ghz - 4.5Ghz will the 1600Ghz still be able to take it or will the 1800ghz or 2000Ghz will do the job much better?

For $144 there is a 7-7-7-20 Mushkin kit. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226030 Should I get this over the Gskill 9-9-9-24? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

Thanks.