Basically I want to buid an AM2 rig that will overclock alot and easily. Im sticking with AMD because im more familiar with it and wouldnt like to change my motherboard to support due to FSB issues, I know this can be fixed by drivers and stuff but I rather stick with what I know. My setup right now (any critics would be appreciated):
4200+ X2 Would the 65W be any more overclockable than the 89W one??
OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB CL4 Recommend by my motherboard for overclocking and the best value found at newegg. And proven to reach 550Mhz at CL5.
EDIT: Ive been looking trhu alot of reviews and the Scythe Infinity SCINF-1000 seems to have an excellent cooling/noise ratio, and I can later one change the fan to a better one to get even more performance. I know it doesnt have the best $/performance ratio but I want a really good cooler. What do you guys think??
Everything looks good! Should get a very good overclock out that setup. Only ditch the Scithe! There are much better HSF's out there Like the Freezer 64 pro, Thermalright XP 90, or the Zalman 9500. All are good. You just have to find the best price over all. I have the Zalman, but I got a hell of a deal when I bought it. Also have you checked some of the Mushkin DDR2? It might be a little cheaper and OC just as well if not better. Let us know how that new DFI board works!
Everything looks good! Should get a very good overclock out that setup. Only ditch the Scithe! There are much better HSF's out there Like the Freezer 64 pro, Thermalright XP 90, or the Zalman 9500. All are good. You just have to find the best price over all. I have the Zalman, but I got a hell of a deal when I bought it. Also have you checked some of the Mushkin DDR2? It might be a little cheaper and OC just as well if not better. Let us know how that new DFI board works!
EDITED
Given that newegg is my only option, the Scythe Infinity is my way to go, it has beaten the zalman 9500 and I dont really mind spending alot because I want to reach high overclocks. I would pair it up with an Aerocool XtremeTurbine fan wich should even proove better performance.
Just don't sacrifice any $ on gfx card to put it into any three(or 4 if you include HSF) of the components listed here.
Gfx card should be put on #1 priority when spending.
X1900XT 256MB, $235AR is what you should be getting.
Exactly what I was thinking of. Sadly the stock cooler seems to be very good for those cards, so there isnt much room to upgrade (except on sound wich I dont have as a priority).
Currently im thinking of an Accelero X2 for that card, could you recommend anything better??
Im trying to reach the X1900XTX speeds.
Just finished building a new system around the 4200. I used the Epox 570 board.
I've got it running on stock HSF at 2.5 and never break 36' C even after running prime overnight or playing COD2 for 4 or 5 hours. I haven't changed anything but the FSB (mostly because I'm still trying to learn how to do all this)
I know I could have gone a lot higher if I hadn't gone cheap on the RAM. I bought the Kingston HyperX 5400 (667) and it just won't let me go any higher.
I had the processor at 2.6+ and I could get into windows but the ram kept killing the system.
I'm looking for the sticky (maybe it was a different site???) that talked about setting the memory timings and ratio.
As for video, I got the x1800GTO2 and it is awesome. No issues at all and COD2 is just friggin amazing maxed out.
Last thing, I was going to order from NewEgg, but they were higher on several items and then ran out of the motherboard and video card when I was trying to order. I used ZZF and MWave for the first time and was really impressed. MWave had everything shipped 24hrs after I ordered, and ZZF Rma'd my RAM within a week.
You don't need anything but the stock fan to hit XTX speeds. Mine hits 650 core/1550 DDR mem with no problems. Fan isn't any noiser than usual, but you won't notice it, not because you'll be playing a noisy game, but because youre overclock is too loud!
I know the stock cooler on the X1900 is actually really good. Wich is somewhat dissapointing because I wanted to upgrade in cooling performance (noise isnt that important to me).
It seems like the Accelero X2 would only decrease the noise but wouldnt improve the cooling. Do you have an idea of a better VGA cooler than this??
Wusy how would I be able to reach 1900xtx speeds with this 1900gt (i mean can i and will it be possible). Seeing as it has a custom cooler designed like the 1900xtx (and it has a heatpipe also). Ive alredy go the card but i was wondering if i could reach those speeds the 190xtx has. 8)
woo hoo! if the 1950xtx can handle high memory speeds and fats gpu core speeds with this cooler im sure the 1900gt with a custom cooler that looks just like it could (maybe ).
oh well ive alredy got it (as i said earlier) but i was going to get the saphire 1900gt + get an AC accelero x2 but the HIS 1900gt seemed cheaper than the later. seeing as it had a hsf roughly the same as the 1950xtx i thought it would be good, anyway how much of a difference does 48 to 36 pixel shaders mean? (arent they quads so that would mean 2 shader quadsare disabled right)? :?
If youve got the money to spend on a IceQ X1900GT (wich isnt is the cheapest $190 one) you would be better off with a X1900XT 256mb for that price.
Sadly the X1900XT 256mb IceQ is $310... not worth the cooler even if you can overclock it slighty higher than with a standard old school one.
sadly they did not have the 1800 series (the ones costing around >£150) and they ddi not have a 1900xt at th time of purchase (anyway it costs more than the 1900gt overhere in england) ...anyway im fairly happy with my purchase although i have not recived the core 2 duo and everything else yet...
The NH-U12F is a great cooler....Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro has a great price/performance/noise ratio...
X1900XT is good, the 7900GTO isn't too bad either...X1900GT is missing some pipelines, X1900XT/7900GTO are better deals, IMO.
Remember, the PSU is an important part in OC'ing. Head over to DFI Street for some recommendations. Make sure it has a 8-pin connector for the motherboard. The Brisbane may be better, it will be 65nm, and has a higher stock clock.
The NH-U12F is a great cooler....Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro has a great price/performance/noise ratio...
X1900XT is good, the 7900GTO isn't too bad either...X1900GT is missing some pipelines, X1900XT/7900GTO are better deals, IMO.
Remember, the PSU is an important part in OC'ing. Head over to DFI Street for some recommendations. Make sure it has a 8-pin connector for the motherboard. The Brisbane may be better, it will be 65nm, and has a higher stock clock.
~Ibrahim~
oh god so sorry, I meant the 65W version. Not the upcoming brisbane cores (just corrected it in the OP).
Wich would do you think would be more overclockable, theyre just $7 apart and the 65W version runs at 0.10v less.
).
oh well ive alredy got it (as i said earlier) but i was going to get the saphire 1900gt + get an AC accelero x2 but the HIS 1900gt seemed cheaper than the later. seeing as it had a hsf roughly the same as the 1950xtx i thought it would be good, anyway how much of a difference does 48 to 36 pixel shaders mean? (arent they quads so that would mean 2 shader quadsare disabled right)? :?