[chrisjmoss]

It was early January and the post Christmas blues had begun to set in when I realised that I wanted to start messing around with my computer again.

The first thing that had to go was the harrier jump jet of a fan that comes attached to most GeForce 7800's, this was replaced with the sexy and effective, yet slightly large Zalman vf700, yes I know the 900 will be out soon, but I didn’t know that at the time and I needed something to stave off the blues and get me past 8k in 3dmark05. Having cranked my graphics card as far as it could be taken I decided that I was due a well earned rest and I couldn't possibly sit there and watch another benchmark all over again, or could I?

As I lay the drifting slowly towards sleep thoughts of HTT and Voltage started seeping into my head, I don't know where from, perhaps it was that AS5 I had mistaken for marmite earlier on in the day, but they were there and they were keeping me from sleep, so I rose from my bed flicked on my pc and waited barley containing my excitement whilst hammering the del key, the bios loaded and I was ready, ready to overclock again. I fiddled and I diddled until I couldn’t fiddle and diddle no more, well at least until prime failed, but that wasn’t difficult when I only had a shabby stock HSF, but it came, it came today, the new HSF an Artic Cooling freezer pro 64 it’s fantastic, my temps are well down and I can now prime @ 2.8Ghz, I did, I cracked my goal, I made it to the fx-57 mark, but where to go from here, what to do next, that’s the real question I ask you?

Current BIOS settings

HTT 255
Multiplier 11x
vCore1.525v
dRam voltage2.7v
HTT multiplier4x
Ram Divider333Mhz

I’ve got various ideas in mind, but not sure what to pursue so am looking for some inspiration and advice.

Current Ideas
1.Hiper modular power supply would give me more juice and would make my case a lot tidier, but is it really worth it?
2.Corsair 2GB XMS4000PT 2x1GB It’s fast, It’s twin matched, it’s 2Gig, but how much performance gain will it really give me?
3.Zalman reserator, a silent PC what a novel idea, but how effective is it’s passive cooling when attempting high overclocks
4.Volt mod the motherboard, would give me more headroom to overclock, but do I really want to take a soldering iron to my motherboard?
5.Go SLI with another GeForce 7800, but does it price warrant it’s overall gain?
6.Flashy neon lights, can this ever really be the way?

An ideas or suggestions would be great here are a few pics of my baby

 

[erauman]

I wouldn't even think of adding another graphics card before i got another power supply. IMO, that should be your next upgrade, a stable supply of power is essential for a stable system and your best overclocks. After, that, i would look into a volt mod or if you can't pull yourself towards doing one, sell your current mb, and get one that will supply more voltage to your cpu, 3700+ are getting to 3ghz pretty easily, you may get higher, but being an overclocker myself, i wouldn't just be able to leave my 4000+ sitting at 2.8. Then, the ram that i get depends on what you want to use your computer for, if it's for gaming or 'extreme' multitasking, a 2 gig set will get you a few more fps in huge games like bf2 (that push 1 gig sets to their limits) and will allow you to completely eliminate your pagefile.

Also, what kind of ram do you have currently? Value, or xms? If it's xms, then you should try and squeeze more out of your ram. Right now it's only running at 212mhz. You should try using lower multi's. If your ram can run 230+, then try a cpu multi of 10x and an htt of 280, which will put you ram at 233mhz. If it can't run that high, atleast try a 10.5 multi at and your htt at 267, which will put your ram at 222mhz. This is all keeping your divider at 333mhz, and your cpu core speed at 2800mhz.

 

[Highly-Annoyed]

chrisjmoss,

I'd go with the PSU and/or the RAM. These two options seem the most worthwhile out of your selection for your current system. PSU first, then RAM, or if you can afford it, both together.

I was going to suggest water cooling your CPU and/or graphics card as a seventh option, but it might not be a sensible upgrade compared to the above...

I would avoid taking a soldering iron to your motherboard if I were you and yes, you're right, flashy lights shouldn't really be a priority over other components

. I'm not a fan of the "too fast, too furious" lookin' PC, but I guess its just down to personal taste.

Good luck with whatever you decide upon!

Highly-Annoyed

 

[chrisjmoss]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the feed back,

Erauman thanks for the help with the multis and HTT am currently priming at 2860 am having to creep up cause sadly my ram is value select at the moment, and it tops out at about 215Mhz, so yes I think some new ram is definatley on the list, any suggestions welcome, bare in mind i live in the uk, so everything is extrodinairly expensive.

About the hiper power supply, has any one used these yet? am just really attracted to the fact that it's modular, so there is no need for millions of cables that you just don't use.

Biggest problem for me now is finding another £100 to get a nice new Motherboard or sit and practice soldering for a week

Down with the flashy lights hurah!

 

[Highly-Annoyed]

chrisjmoss,

If you are running DDR (not DDR2 etc) like me, have a look at this RAM. It'll be in my PC soon and it should be good. I have looked around the net quite a lot for RAM and have found that, on average, GEIL and Crucial seem to be the best value for money. Can't find name brand PC4000 anywhere for as little as Crucial are selling it and they do free delivery on orders over £25.00 too!

I'd still be thinking about a new PSU if I were you though as (as erauman said) a decent PSU is important for overclocking and general system stability.

Highly-Annoyed