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Mobo and Ram questions...

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - Mobo and Ram questions...

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flallen   05-13-2008 at 03:03:08 AM

First a bit about the system. Going with E8400 processor. 8800GTS (G92) 512MB video card. 4 (2 x 2GB) RAM.

Mobo Questions:
I was going to use the Giga DS3L mobo that is used in alot of builds here.

#1 Should I spring for a card that has pci express 2.0? the DS3L does not. I understand that the 2.0 card will work in a 1.0 slot, but at reduced performance. Someone said about 7% lost on video forum.

#2 I heard the P35 fsb might be too slow if I want to OC to 4ghz. Should I get an x38 mobo? or something else?


Memory Question:
This is the RAM I am planning on atm... this be good RAM to get max OC out of my processor? should I spend a bit more to get CAS 4?

GeIL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel $70.99 after MIR + $6 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6820144216


Hard disk Question:
Oops. Gonna sneak in a HDD question too. Is there a big difference in a 16MB vs 32MB Cache drive performance?

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dagger   05-13-2008 at 03:22:18 AM
- 0 +

1) Currently, pcie1.1 isn't bottlenecked, so pcie2.0 will give minimal performance boots. 7% on the more powerful graphics cards sounds about right. It's just not significant.

 

2) P35 will allow you to reach 3.6ghz reliably. Considering e8400 easily reach 4.3, you should really get at least a x38 for it, or the e8400 will be wasted. You can get a q6600 with p35 and have it oced to 3.6ghz, and not having it wasted, since q6600 don't do much above 3.6 anyway. Having e8400 bottlenecked at the same speed as a quad core makes no sense, since the quad core will perform better even on older non-quad optimized games, due to background programs being moved to spare cores, thus freeing up 2 cores dedicated for the main application.

 

That ram should do. I use the exact same model on x38, 8gb of it oc stable to 1066mhz.

 

32mb cache will give better performance, but not a "big difference" on typical non-server tasks. Still, if prices difference isn't too big, get 32mb cache hdd for good measure.

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
 Reply to dagger
Bronze Home Brew badge Shadow703793   05-13-2008 at 03:25:41 AM
- 0 +

^Agreed. :lol: you beat me to the post dagger.

 

1. There is NO 7% loss in performance on PCIe 1.0, current GPUs don't come close to using full PCIe 1.0 bandwidth.

 

2. You should/maybe be able to hit 4Ghz on the DS3L providing you have RAM that OC since the P35 in general seems to have problems with RAM natively higher than DDR2 800, meaning if your RAM can't OC you will be limited to 3.6Ghz. Just go with a X38 if you need a 4Ghz OC.

 

3. Slight difference in access time,etc between 32MB and 16MB.


Message edited by Shadow703793 on 05-13-2008 at 03:27:45 AM
------------------------------ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2617/3815217176_0a5be7955d_o.gif
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/3818083596_1a772f7162_o.gif
 Reply to Shadow703793
flallen   05-13-2008 at 03:45:42 AM
- 0 +

Ok.

So, I will either...

A) Keep the DS3L mobo and go to a Q6600 and expect to OC it at 3.6GHz.

or

B) Move to an x38 mobo and keep the E8400 and OC it to? with a good heatsink/fan what do you think typically can OC this to? dagger said easily 4.3GHz. what is a typical expected OC? I know it will vary by processor etc.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to flallen
dagger   05-13-2008 at 03:53:18 AM
- 0 +

flallen wrote :

Ok.

 

So, I will either...

 

A) Keep the DS3L mobo and go to a Q6600 and expect to OC it at 3.6GHz.

 

or

 

B) Move to an x38 mobo and keep the E8400 and OC it to? with a good heatsink/fan what do you think typically can OC this to? dagger said easily 4.3GHz. what is a typical expected OC? I know it will vary by processor etc.


Yes, 4.3ghz is typical for e8400. E8400 runs relatively cool, but you should still get the best cooler for max oc.

 

Benchmark
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
 Reply to dagger
flallen   05-13-2008 at 04:04:56 AM
- 0 +

Ya. I saw a post before about heat sinks. I have the #1 cooler from that review.

Question about memory. I did a last once over of the memory on newegg and noticed a nice MIR on this.

OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227284
Cas Latency 5
Timing 5-5-5-18
Voltage 2.1V
$59.99 after $35 MIR + $5.99 Shipping


vs what i had originally:

GeIL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6820144216
Cas Latency 5
Timing 5-4-4-12
Voltage 2.0V - 2.2V
$70.99 after $15 MIR + $5.99 Shipping

Which would you choose?

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to flallen
dagger   05-13-2008 at 04:11:09 AM
- 0 +

flallen wrote :

Ya. I saw a post before about heat sinks. I have the #1 cooler from that review.

 

Question about memory. I did a last once over of the memory on newegg and noticed a nice MIR on this.

 

OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227284
Cas Latency 5
Timing 5-5-5-18
Voltage 2.1V
$59.99 after $35 MIR + $5.99 Shipping

 


vs what i had originally:

 

GeIL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6820144216
Cas Latency 5
Timing 5-4-4-12
Voltage 2.0V - 2.2V
$70.99 after $15 MIR + $5.99 Shipping

 

Which would you choose?


Use your original one. The timing is significantly higher, plus a high fixed 2.1v rated voltage, compared to low timing plus a healthy range of rated voltage.

 

Ignore the "Reaper" or "HPC Edition" and similar fluff. It's worthless marketing gemmicks. On a ram with below average timings like that, they should be ashamed to give it such names. :na:

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
 Reply to dagger
flallen   05-13-2008 at 04:31:18 AM
- 0 +

Alright. Thanks for all the input, guys. I think I have things finalized now.. I'll make a new post with all the components as a final check before I pull the trigger. Think I'm going to go with the x38 mobo and e8400 for now and if i want to upgrade in future, i can grab one of the 45nm quads and OC it.

Reply to flallen
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