farmerfred

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Hi, I'm lost with MBs and need some help. I generally know what I want but need some suggestions or guidence.

I'm building a new machine and I'm going with the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdave 3.16Ghz LGA 775. I want to overclock it to be over 4.0. I'm looking to get SLI and probably going to get a Geforce 8800 GTX and another one down the road.

I don't know if I should go with DD2 or DD3. I've seen some boards with those. I was going to go with the 780i SLI for the north bridge because the prices are a little lower than the 790i. Is it worth it to go 790i at this point?

I'm just hung up on MB's at the moment and I don't want to make a mistake.

Thank you in advance for your time and experience.
 

Andrius

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My general advice would be : skip SLI, get a P35/X38 board and wait for HD 4870 to arrive in 3 weeks.

If you're going to overclock the E8400 is way better value than the E8500.
DDR2 is also better value than DDR3.

780i is a good SLI choice but it's expensive.
The 8800GTX is an old model. 9800GTX is a poor choice as it will likely not be available for long.
450MHz FSB is going to be quite a task for a 780i board.
I'd recommend an X38 for such an overclock.

If you want 4.0GHz you also need a good aftermarket cooler.
The XIGMATEK S1283 is the current king of the hill in performance ($40).

If you need further details we're here.
 

kad

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If you want to overclock E8500 over 4GHz
Max Multiplier of this processor is 9.5
to reach 4.2GHz you need to push FSB to 442
442X4=1768
Look for a motherboard support this value or more say 1800
I dout P35 mobo will do
Stick to DDR2 wich is much cheaper than DDR3 and unmentioned difference in performance
DDR3 will work really with Nehalem
But a Nehalem rig will cost you a fortune
 

FwoGiZ

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e8400 instead of e8500
ddr2.......... ddr3 is a waste for now
u can reach 4ghz on 780i and u can get SLI
for the same price, u can OC a bit more, and no SLI with x38
i think SLI is kindo useless unless ur some rich ass kid and would SLI 2x 9800GX2... ;P
 

Jealousy is a cruel mistress is she not ;) , although I agree with you on the DDR3 being a waste of cash and for the record 4ghz on an E8400 is achievable on a good 680i mobo.

@OP, forget the G80 based cards, it's G92 and beyond dude. :sol:
 

crazywheels

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Yeah I agree, DDR3 is to expensive for the minor performance gain. You can get a 9800gtx for a cheaper price than the 8800gtx and you get more performance with the 9800gtx
 

Andrius

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Yes. It will. But it might also develop random features beyond 367MHz like mine. Strange application loading delays, network issues in linux, USB slowdowns. It runs Prime95 stable at 8x400MHz. But it's not really faster than 9x333MHz.

I think my P35 board is a bum overclocker. I just couldn't be bothered to figure out what happens at 400MHz to cause all those issues. But it runs nicely at 367MHz at stock voltage and my Q6600 runs 3.3GHz @ 1.3V == VID
 

dagger

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367x4 is pretty bad for p35, so yeah, you got a bum chipset. P35 should be able to reliably push its fsb up to 1600mhz (400x4). 1800mhz (450x4) is not reliable, and should not be counted on, or you may find yourself very disappointed. If it goes that high, you're lucky. If not, you have no right to complain. Beyond 1800mhz is mostly impossible on safe chipset voltage.
 

Andrius

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^Well 367MHz is not the limit frequency wise (it's a mental limit of mine).
For 400 I have to raise (G)MCH and ICH9 voltages by 1 notch. Prime95 is 12 hours stable, but all kinds of strange stuff starts happening at 8x400MHz (like stated above).
I had no errors or crashes in my rule of thumb checklist (Prime95, SupCom, 3DMark, USBfilecopy + md5 check).

EDIT:The only real error was Linux not detecting/starting my network card.

I'll have to try with a fresh install of XP when I get the chance I just thought it'd be a good idea to note that you can get a bum P35.
You get what you pay for (everything else is a bonus!).
 

doubletake33

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i say go with the 8400. the 8500 is a toss up with the q9300 (quad core) and price the same as well.

so go with 8400 because it's cheaper and you can get 4.0GHz on it OR go with the q9300 at it's price range and good performance for a quad core!

i also agree with the others in going with DDR2 and the 780i would be the best choice at this point because of your intention to go SLI. good luck with tha build!
 

dagger

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The problem is q9300 use 7.5x multiplier, which at 1600mhz fsb, is only 3.0ghz.
 

doomsdaydave11

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These days it isn't as much the case. SLI is a getting more, and more a decent option. Games are more optimized, drivers are more optimized. SLI 9600GT's or 8800GT's is not only affordable, but powerful. You could get the 9600GT SLI for $300 or less, and it would beat cards like the 9800GTX by a longshot. Not only that, but SLI motherboards are getting cheaper. You can get a 650i motherboard for a budget rig for $110-$130. Even me, super budget gamer, am able to afford SLI (and I just ordered a MSI P6N Platinum :p)

Do get an e8400 and DDR2 RAM.
 

dagger

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650i is a bad idea. Those are cheap for a reason. They overclock horribly and are known to kill ram. :p
 

dagger

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I wouldn't recommend the second x38 board. That model runs on lower binned x38 chipset that runs natively at 1333mhz fsb instead of the 1600mhz that's standard for other x38 chipset boards. DFI buys the cheap stuff. :na:

If you want x38, get this instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128089
 

Andrius

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I don't think any of the DFI X38 boards are rated for 1600MHz FSB.
And you never know if it's really from DFI.
 

Andrius

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halcyon

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I know there's a lot of love for EVGA. ...but the fact that they have not stepped up their motherboards to use solid capacitors while all the other major players have is a sore point with me. Yeah, it may cost them more...but isn't that the point, these are enthusiast products.
 

dagger

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Yeah, lots of love... And you just blown the money you saved for no performance gain. :na:
 

halcyon

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...and without solid capacitors you don't even have a more reliable product to show for it. BAD EVGA.