Q6600 board suggestions with a 8800 GTX

[drpcken]

I currently have an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium, with AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ processor and a Nvidia 8800 GTX. I'm using only 2 gigs of some Crucial DDR PC3200 RAM ( I have 4 gigs total but only using 2 cause I'm running XP Pro, RAM is brand new). Decent gaming rig but want more I feel like the mb/processor is holding the GPU back a bit.

I want to upgrade my processor/mb and really like the Intel Q6600 (about $180 retail right now). I notice on newegg that the mb everyone is getting is the GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 (about $120 retail). Is this a good combination in conjunction with my RAM and GPU? I don't plan on overclocking anything, but I will be adding an arctic cooler 7 just because of some reviews I read on the factory cooling fan.

I'm open for other suggestions as well in that price range or cheaper.

Also, I don't want to use Vista even though I'd like to get the 4 gigs of ram in there. I'm trying to hold off until Windows 7. I use Vista on my laptop and I don't think the performance is as good as XP Pro. Is 2 additional gigs of RAM worth the trade off of using Vista for another year?

Thanks!!!

 

[Outlander_04]

Your RAM wont work in that motherboard .

You will need DDR2 .

 

[drpcken]

Thanks for the heads up! I'll order some DDR2 then if I decide to go with the combo.

 

[Outlander_04]

It would be a powerful system , and a lot of gamers seem to like the Q6600 because it overclocks so well .

Personally if I wanted a socket 775 quad I would probably want to get a 9550.
Its faster clock for clock , and is built on the later 45 nanometer process so it uses less power and runs quieter .

Either way you have picked a good time to buy . Intel; just cut its prices for processors.....

 

[mi1ez]

You can still put in the 4 GBs, you'll just not see all of it. Around 3.2-3.5 (I get 3326MB in Vista 32bit)

The difference is between 32 and 64 bit OSs rather than the OS itself (if that makes sense)

 

[silverh20]

i have the exact same mobo and a 4400x2 and i just bought the q6600 and gigabyte ep45 ud3r yesterday so youll be fine with that combo from what ive seen

 

[sprucebr1]

4GB DDR2-800 is fairly cheap right now, I would say your going to want P43 or better right now, x38 and x48 are still a little too expensive right now, even with x58 out already. ASUS and Gigabyte usually have very solid reliable boards. The UD3R should be fine.

 

[jerreece]

4GB of DDR2-800 is about $40 these days.

That Gigabyte board should be fine. Any P45 based motherboard is a good idea with the Q6600. Try to stay away from nVidia based (SLI capable) motherboards, as they don't seem to OC quad core processors very well. (assuming you wish to OC at all).

I run a Q6600 with an 8800GTS (512) and do quite well. So you should have a decent setup with your 8800GTX I can play Farcry 2, Crysis, and GTAIV pretty reasonably. Not necessarily maxed out settings, but I can play at 1680x1050 without a problem.

 

[atomicWAR]

for the most part i agree with jerreece. though the 700 series do a good job as long as you update your bios.

I find the 790i it compreble to a X38 i have running my home theater/gaming pc (OC'd q9300 @3ghz). i have no trouble OCing a QX9650 to 4ghz (ram linked and synced at 1600 w/ the FSB)with my 790i now. I used evga step up from 780i so can speak for those as well..good sli boards for ddr 2. the first four months were a bit shaky till the new bios (P06 brought the stablity needed...mostly ram speed issues with ddr3 1600 while linked and syncedwith the FSB with 4ghz cpu speed) came out in the case of the 790i. my 780i ran like a dream from the word go.

I can run fry cry 2 at ultra high 2x filtering @ 1080p ( 1920x1080) and not dip below 60fps with 3 8800GTXs (cpu @ 3.6), crysis very high (physics, shaders, particles at high though) 2x filtering 1080P @ FPS 35-55 (cpu at 4ghz)...don't own GTAIV or i would add my scores. Good perspective how much a few G differance is in FPS/image quality in comparsion to Jerreece's rig. Basically not much for the amount of money...lol.

From what i understand on the nvidia 500/600 series...OCing was a bit tedious and unreliable at its best. if you avoid mobos based around those two nvidia chipset you should be good to game on till you start thinking DX11 and then its just a GPU upgrade. Enjoy your new rig!

 

[Zorg]

Nvidia's chipsets have been seriously flaky as of late and that is for non OCed as well.

drpcken, I would stick to the P45 unless you really want to run SLI. If you are considering an Nvidia mobo, then hit the forums and make sure no one is screaming about the mobo you want.

 

[Noya]

It would be a powerful system , and a lot of gamers seem to like the Q6600 because it overclocks so well .

Personally if I wanted a socket 775 quad I would probably want to get a 9550.
Its faster clock for clock , and is built on the later 45 nanometer process so it uses less power and runs quieter .

Either way you have picked a good time to buy . Intel; just cut its prices for processors.....

Yeah, and the Q9550 is virtually the same price as the i7 920 and with Gigabyte's X58 UD3R at only $184 with rebate, it doesn't make much sense buying a near $300 socket 775 processor.

 

[f111]

udr3 is my choice as well, i think its the perfect mb for a q6600, and i say go for the ddr2 1066 ram, there's some good deals on it right now

 

[jthorn]

A motherboard with P45 chipset and 4GB DDR2 memory for sure. Asus P5Q series are nice choices. P45 MB's work for every Intel CPU except the new I7's and intel dropped their prices on most of them. Q6600 is a good choice unless you can find a few more $$$ to step up to the Q9400.

 

[drpcken]

These are great suggestions! I already purchased the q6600, along with the udr3 and some crucial ddr2 800 ram. I may order some different ram but I'm not sure.

Is there anything I want to configure in the BIOS after putting it all together? I haven't messed with overclocking or anything since about 2001 so I'm a bit out of practice

 

[f111]

get a nice cooler like a xigmatek 1283 and some arctic silver,
then increase your fsb slowly. Keep ram ratio low at first. Run prime95 and other stability tests. When the system cant take it anymore, increase voltage a little on the board, memory, then processor. You'll have to get a feel for it to know where your instability is coming from.

Keep raising the fsb and voltage until the voltage gets too high -- you'll have to find voltage info elsewhere. with 800 ram you'll probably keep that thing at 1:1 ratio.

I would recommend 1066 ram at least, its not much more expensive, esp on newegg with a rebate.

 

[f111]

oh, relax the timings on the ram when pushing it higher above 800, and up its voltage. You probably shouldn't go over 2.4 volts though, so know your chip's limit.

 

[Zorg]

Definitely get the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler with the XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket. The bracket is a must IMO.

When applying thermal paste with the Xigmatek cooler, apply a very thin layer across the CPU IHS (top) or across the whole base of the heatsink. The paste won't spread properly through contact because of the gaps between the heatpipes and the base.

After you burn it in at stock settings and confirm good temps and stability i.e., using Prime95 small FFTs with Core Temp and running Memtest86+, then try these settings.

PCIe [100]
FSB [333]
Performance Enhance [Normal]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) [2.4] (5:6 @ 800) or [2] (1:1 @ 667)
Set the RAM voltage to spec.

This should run stable. If it doesn't you may need more Vcore, raise it in small amounts. You should not need more than 1.35v for that speed. For example I have a Q6600 P35-DQ6 and a VID of 1.30V @ auto and my Vcore in CPU-Z is 1.136-1.168 XP (1.136-1.216 W7) idle and 1.264 Prime 95 small FFTs.

If you still have problems, then start a new thread. Post all pertinent info including your VID from Core temp.

 

[drpcken]

Got all the equipment today. I have a CXI-500B power supply, I'm thinking it will be ok but I want to make sure it will be enough with the q6600 and the 8800 gtx.

 

[drpcken]

Looks like its ok with everything hooked up