praetorian75

Hello all. Never oc'd before (never had anything worth oc'ing), so I've been reading and reading and... well, you get the idea.

The thing is, I can't seem to find any clear answers on what I should do with my new build, so I thought I'd get some advice from the pros, as it were.

Here's the build:

• Intel QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0Ghz
• ASUS Rampage Extreme
• 8GB OCZ DDR3 1600Mhz SDRAM
• 2x ATI Radeon 4870x2 (CrossfireX)
• 3x 640Gb WD 7200 RPM SATA HDDs (Raid 5)
• 1x 150gb Raptor 10k HDD
• 1200W CoolMax PSU
• CoolIT Systems Boreas MTECH Chassis (+ 2x water blocks for the 4870x2's)
• Soundblaster X-FI Extreme Sound Card
• 2 DVD Burners (One Blu-Ray, one not)

I'm told that with the case I'm getting, I could easily get to 4.0Ghz, and should be able to get to 4.5 or higher with stability. The problem is that I've never oc'd anything, as I said, so the methodology and configurations are all making my head hurt.

Any recommended settings?

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Intel QX9650
ASUS Rampage Extreme
8gb OCZ DDR3 1600Mhz SDRAM
2x ATI RADEON 4870x2 (CrossfireX)
1.2 Tb Raid 5 WD SATA + 150Gb 10k Raptor (System)
Boreas MTEC Chassis


"Be careful what you pretend to be, for in the end, you are what you pretend to be."
- Nick Nolte, Mother Night

gandalf615

well i've definitely never been lucky enough to own your board or your cpu but let me see what i can do here...

first off, i would agree 4.0-4.5 will be obtainable with proper cooling.

just try something easy to start like 400 * 10 = 4000 and leave your memory 1:1. something around 1.325-1.35v would probably run that stable? and you wouldn't have to play with NBv.

Thermal Specification: 71.4°C
VID Voltage Range: 0.85V – 1.3625V

(http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sSpec=SLB8W)

just remember not to go beyond 1.3625 vcore on your cpu and don't let the temps top 70C.

this help any?

praetorian75

I'll read up on all the acronyms and terminology I don't know. I doubt the temps will get that high, as the reviews of this chassis I've seen can keep massively oc'd cpus at roughly 40c under full load (at 100% cooling power), so I'm not too worried about that.

I'll let you know what I find out when my case finally comes in (have to wait for the 4870x2 blocks as they're so new).

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Intel QX9650
ASUS Rampage Extreme
8gb OCZ DDR3 1600Mhz SDRAM
2x ATI RADEON 4870x2 (CrossfireX)
1.2 Tb Raid 5 WD SATA + 150Gb 10k Raptor (System)
Boreas MTEC Chassis


"Be careful what you pretend to be, for in the end, you are what you pretend to be."
- Nick Nolte, Mother Night

ericeod

I would recommend a Q9650 instead of the QX9650. While the Q9650 doesnt have an unlocked multiplier, it is an E0 core which means it has a higher OC potential and can handle higher temps. Besides, with the Rampage Extreme you will have no problem maxing out that CPU OC with its 9x multiplier.

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eVGA 680i Overclocking guide .......... ASUS P5E/Maximus Thread.......... 4.4GHz CPU-Z

mcogan10

The cooling of your CPU has far more to do with your CPU cooler, not as much the type of case you're using. Get a nice cooler...I doubt that 4.2ghz+ is very likely on air cooling personally.

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Lukeatluke

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Takendown2; NO SYSTEM IS EVER GOING TO BE FUTURE PROOF!!!

PM me my English mistakes anytime.

Manyak

You've got 4 things you should change.

1 - Don't get a Raptor. Regular Raptors are actually slower than the drives you picked for storage.

2 - Don't use RAID5 with your onboard SATA controller. Those controllers are extra slow when it comes to RAID5, you'll get write speeds of only around 15MB/s. Not good. Instead, just get two 1TB or 1.5TB drives and use RAID1. Or buy a good dedicated RAID card like the Perc 5/i.

3 - Don't get a Sound Blaster X-Fi. Their drivers are crap, their sound quality isn't great, and they tend to develop popping sounds that you can't get rid of. If you want X-Fi, get an Azuntech X-Fi Prelude. If you don't mind losing EAX and want better sound quality, get an Asus Xonar.

4 - Change the PSU. Get a Corsair 1000HX, much better quality. It will provide much cleaner power than the CoolIT and allow you to overclock higher. And I bet it will have a longer lifespan as well.


Edit: I'm looking at the CoolIT site, they list the specs for the TECs included with your chassis:
Not very descriptive. But even if each TEC used 130W, there's no way in the world it would be able to cool your CPU. In fact, it will burn - literally. You might wanna just go regular water cooling for now anyway, getting a TEC setup when you don't know much about how it works isn't a good idea. After you've had time to research it a bit then you can always get a few peltiers and do it yourself at home - which will end up much better. And its not that expensive of an upgrade at that point.

Here, check out this thread:

- Considering a TEC Setup

I'm getting a TEC setup to cool a QX9650 as well, and pretty much everything is explained there.

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GoHigh

I just don't get it...

Why are people dropping over $2000 for a new system build right now, when the next technology is coming up so soon. With Nahalem releasing very soon, and it promises performances that equals Skulltrail or better, why not just wait a little longer for the new system?

I understand that even the current technology is sufficient for even the most demanding applications, but if we were all just interested in "sufficient" performance, we wouldn't be trying to MAX out our system as is.

We struggle and research to extract every bit of performance out of our current system, yet who can claim that they are not interested in something better?

I would also understand if current prices of current technology was dropping faster than the rate of economy, but that simply isn't true at all.

QX9650 will still set you back a grand, a decent mobo another 300 to 400. Sure most of the other stuff will recycle over, but if you could have done without it for so long, then why not just wait for the 2009 model?

Computers depreciate faster than cars, and I just don't understand dropping so much for a system that will be thing of the past in a couple of months.

But you have a great setup, which has been proven time and time again with amazing overclocking capabilities. I wasn't trying to be a buzzkill, but I just couldn't help but to notice.

10acjed

looks great for a system

I would take the advice on the HD's tho...

Also no point in a QX9650 when the Q9650 is doing the same clocks...

2x4870X2 is overkill, 1 will do just fine...

but hey, if ya got it, flaunt it.

As for why would someone build a sys now... Well no one knows what nehalem is, what its capable of or anything else... And unless your doing some serious cpu calcs or a folding fanatic, I dont see the point in 4 multi threadded cores as its hard for me to get my 4 65nm core cranking now... I mean its getting used, dont get me wrong I love my quad..

Plus this guy isnt running anything right now, we have quads with high end vid cards, its easy to say wait for us... think of running an old P4 dell til nehalem came when you had 2k-3k to spend right now... I couldnt do it

I will wait til 2nd and 3rd gen nehalem are out and the kinks are ironed out...

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mcogan10

You make a very good point...plus the newer Nahalems will be 32nm according to the Intel Roadmap. I wouldn't buy a system now if I had $2000, but I would if I had like $800...if you have enough for a i7 system when it comes out, why not do that?

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3.6G on an AF7

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