Motherboard Questions - First Post

[kbaird]

vista 64
1920 x 1200

tried a thermaltake screw on cpu fan and got 55c. ( intel board, don't ask )
when switching to asus p5q tried golden orb seemed to tight
with heatsinks and capacitors.
switched to the intel fan and I am at 27c. ( asus p5q )

I can add some better or worse parts to get two pcs.

The q9300 starts at 333 freq and I was bumping it up
slowly by 5 and after it got to 368 it seemed ok 29c.

Not sure what tests to run on it.

Isn't the 4780 $500?
What psu watts and what
plugs needed on card?

The gtx 260 is looking
good at $220-250.
I have a 650w I can return.
also 550w for the 9800gt.

The 9800gt seems good
the second pc vista flies
and can run age of conan
at 80fps on medium.

For me the tough part is the mobo
plain, ati, or sli. and ddr2 vs ddr3.

 

[kbaird]

Found info on HD 4870.

Not bad at all.

Will have to consider
crossfiring over.

 

[Nagasama]

similar clocks? no. Its a quad. You'll need a good board and the low multi will not let that happen. 3.7 is about where it stops

indeed. that low multi on the 9300 does it in. no way that will clock to 4.3+ like an e8400.

 

[saltynay]

similar clocks? no. Its a quad. You'll need a good board and the low multi will not let that happen. 3.7 is about where it stops

I am talking about air clocks like any standard enthuisiast user would do. This is a gaming pc not a folding farm a cpu faster then 3.6ghz will just not get utilised on a single gpu solution tomshardware have already proved that once your at 2.6ghz there is little/no bottleneck and gaming improvment hardly improves after 3.2ghz.

Using air the Q9300 will get very similar clocks to the E8400 providing a decent cooler is used.

vista 64
1920 x 1200
tried a thermaltake screw on cpu fan and got 55c. ( intel board, don't ask )
when switching to asus p5q tried golden orb seemed to tight
with heatsinks and capacitors.
switched to the intel fan and I am at 27c. ( asus p5q )
I can add some better or worse parts to get two pcs.
The q9300 starts at 333 freq and I was bumping it up
slowly by 5 and after it got to 368 it seemed ok 29c.
Not sure what tests to run on it.
Isn't the 4780 $500?
What psu watts and what
plugs needed on card?
The gtx 260 is looking
good at $220-250.
I have a 650w I can return.
also 550w for the 9800gt.
The 9800gt seems good
the second pc vista flies
and can run age of conan
at 80fps on medium.
For me the tough part is the mobo
plain, ati, or sli. and ddr2 vs ddr3.

Use prime95 to stress the cpu when overclocking leave for an hour but when you start getting high say around 3.4-3.6ghz run it for a bit longer to thoroughly stress it just incase.
4870 starts at $200 Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100257L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards the 4870 is about $450 starting point if memory serves. This is the best 260 as it gets similar speeds to a 280 Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1267-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards. Psu Watts aren't a very good gauge to find a decent psu as the amps are what matter and it depends whether your going sli/crossfire or not if going crossifre/sli I would get a Corsair 750hx if just single gpu then get a 500W psu from a brand on this list http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/read-first-updated-power-supply-guide-137927/

At your resolution sli or crossfire will give you a definate improvement in performance about 60-70% over a single gpu but thats for an extra 100% of the cost plus sli/crossfire can be a massive headache my sli has decided there are games that it hates and although I can play every 60-70thframe seems to blank then it blurs for a few seconds then come back not great.

Don't go ddr3 its only a little faster then DDr2 and the price/performance really isn't good. P45 and 780i are good mobo chipsets

 

[kbaird]

Thanks for all the info.

Mobo for gaming and overclocking...
DDR2 780i - Asus, Evga, or other? Suggested model?
DDR2 P45 - Asus P5Q, upgrade, or other? Suggested model?

Q9300 - Work or Game?
Work runs full db server and IDEs
Round out with E8400 Q6600 Q9550 for other?

Is it worth DDR2 1066/1200? Or add later?

Thanks again.

 

[saltynay]

I have the Asus striker 2 formula and think its a great mobo alot of people like the Asus p5q and the gigabyte p45 boards are meant to be very good.

Q9300 when overclocked will be excellent for gaming and also very good for work. If your other build is going to be your work then I would get the Q6600 it should get upto 3.2ghz on air so will still be more then adequate for "work".

DDR2 just get 800mhz its a good all rounder for price/ overclockability the g-skill pi black sticks are meant to be good.

 

[kbaird]

Thanks.
Been looking at striker 2 formula.
can do q6600 for the p5q work.
800 sounds good.
what about dhx for better heatsinks?

I was wrong about temp.
Coretemp shows 58-63c under
load and 44-48c idle.
( with intel fan )

Is it ok if the cpu fan mounting
brackets are really close to
heatsinks and capacitors?

is golden orb II ok? work?
better one for gaming pc?

Thanks again.

 

[saltynay]

Imo ram heatsinks aren't needed unless your using watercooling and overclclocking to the max.
Its fine to have brackets close to capacitors won't effect anything unless it bent them on mounting then you could have an issue.
What case do you have as size can be major factor on cpu hsf.
Golden orb is ok but its designed for low heights like a htpc style case also the Striker 2 formula has loads of heatsinks on literally everything so it might get in the way.

 

[kbaird]

Thanks.

antec 900

better cpu fan?

golden orb return
or work pc?

look at a pic
of p5q heatsinks,
it's crazy

 

[saltynay]

Asus striker 2 formula has more heatsinks I think...
Core contract freezer, Ultra120 extreme, tuniq tower are all good cpu coolers which will fit.

If you can return it for sull price then I would otherwise its a shame to bin a good bit of hardware so can be reused.