- Aug 23, 2010
- 27
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- 18,530
So several years ago I built my computer, which has been constantly changing with every tax return since. Currently it houses a C3 Phenom II 945, which is right at the 95 Watt Limit programmed into my motherboard's bios. Originally my latest upgrade was going to be moving over to Ivy Bridge, but that fell through when I got back a pitiful amount on my taxes.
So I'm stuck with a Phenom II that can most likely overclock a bit, and a first run 780G motherboard that has that infamous 3+1 power phase and 95 watt processor limit programmed into the bios. Ouch.
I still want more, and if I can get more out of what I have I will. The problem is these old 780G motherboards, of which my GA-MA78G-DS3H is a shameful member of, apparently don't play well with 125 watt processors. I've heard horror stories of the original Phenom X4's causing fires. Naturally any amount of overclocking is risky, but that makes me hesitant, so the question is, is it safe?
I really hope so. I've seen good things concerning the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo, and I've got a nice HAF 922 to help with airflow. If it's safe, I'll grab the Hyper later this week, and if not, I'll have to make do without any sort of upgrade this year.
Just because they may be useful, here's my specs:
Yeah, I know mixing ram is risky, but Super Talent had stopped making DDR2 when I picked up my second pair of sticks. At least Corsair's RAM tweaks well.
So I'm stuck with a Phenom II that can most likely overclock a bit, and a first run 780G motherboard that has that infamous 3+1 power phase and 95 watt processor limit programmed into the bios. Ouch.
I still want more, and if I can get more out of what I have I will. The problem is these old 780G motherboards, of which my GA-MA78G-DS3H is a shameful member of, apparently don't play well with 125 watt processors. I've heard horror stories of the original Phenom X4's causing fires. Naturally any amount of overclocking is risky, but that makes me hesitant, so the question is, is it safe?
I really hope so. I've seen good things concerning the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo, and I've got a nice HAF 922 to help with airflow. If it's safe, I'll grab the Hyper later this week, and if not, I'll have to make do without any sort of upgrade this year.
Just because they may be useful, here's my specs:
GA-MA78G-DS3H motherboard (rev. 1.0)
Phenom II 945 at stock
4 GB Super Talent DDR2 800 RAM
4 GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 RAM (timings tweaked to match the Super Talent)
Seasonic S12II 520w Power Supply
XFX Radeon 6950 (non-reference), overclocked to 840 Core/1300 RAM
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB (SATA III version) as OS disk
Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB (for backing up important files)
Windows Vista SP2 (can't afford to upgrade this or I'd be grabbing Windows 7)
And a Coolermaster HAF 922 with an added 200mm side fan
Yeah, I know mixing ram is risky, but Super Talent had stopped making DDR2 when I picked up my second pair of sticks. At least Corsair's RAM tweaks well.
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