Alright suppose Ill start with system specs.
Q9450 OC'ed to 3.2 cooled with Arctic Freezer 7 Pro - Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
Foxconn X38a Motherboard
ATI 4870 1GB Crossfire (1 is diamond and the other is HIS)
Seagate 500GB
Antec 1200 Case
Bgears inspirer sound card
ABS labs 900 watt PSU
4GB Gskill DDR2 800
Vista 64
Everything was bought from Newegg.
My first CPU was a Q6600 oc'ed to 3.4 but later upgraded to a Q9450 b.c I got it for free (long story.) Thinking I was going to be with a Q6600 for a while and considering the prices of DDR3 I went with DDR2 instead thinking that it would give me the kind of overclock I was looking for with the Q6600 and it did.
So once I switched to the Q9450 my DDR2 for whatever reasons refuses to OC over 800MHz leaving my Q9450 stuck at an OC of 3.2 when I know I can get up to 3.6 on air if my memory could OC that high.
The x38a mobo supports both DDR2 and DDR3 so I bought some OCZ DDR3 1800 thinking I could OC my Q9450 up to 3.6 without having to OC the memory and run in a 1:1 ratio.
So I set my bios back to defaults and turn off the computer and drop the two new sticks in and power back on to a blank screen that just sits there. Hell. So I try each stick one by one and they will both boot but only in the first DDR3 ram slot on my motherboard. The 2nd DDR3 slot must be defective because none of the sticks will boot solo in that slot, only in the first DDR3 slot.
I already have everything wired up and everything just right (aside from my partially defective motherboard) and as far as I can tell my system is running at the level it should.
My HIS 4870 has already been replaced by newegg once for a grinding sound coming from the fan and the one they sent back I swear has been used, noticeable scratches on the outer casing and finger prints. Not to mention the actual box wasnt even tapped shut. However it appears to be working fine.
Sooo in an effort to spare myself the aggravation and money and time it will cost me to take everything apart and send it back and wait for the replacements to return and hope they work im wondering...is it worth it?
I could probably get +800MHz out of my CPU on air safely if I could use my 4GB of DDR3 Ram instead of using 4GB DDR2 RAM...is there that much of a performance gain to justify $250 in a memory upgrade? And having to replace my motherboard.
Cause if i sent my motherboard back id send this replacement 4870 with it and hope to get an actual new one, after all I paid new...is it so wrong to expect new?
Or since everything is running fine now just stay with what I have and return the DDR3 ram and get my money back and upgrade the motherboard / cpu / memory in a year or so?
Its my only rig so id be without a computer or internet for two weeks while waiting for replacements.
What would you do?
Q9450 OC'ed to 3.2 cooled with Arctic Freezer 7 Pro - Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
Foxconn X38a Motherboard
ATI 4870 1GB Crossfire (1 is diamond and the other is HIS)
Seagate 500GB
Antec 1200 Case
Bgears inspirer sound card
ABS labs 900 watt PSU
4GB Gskill DDR2 800
Vista 64
Everything was bought from Newegg.
My first CPU was a Q6600 oc'ed to 3.4 but later upgraded to a Q9450 b.c I got it for free (long story.) Thinking I was going to be with a Q6600 for a while and considering the prices of DDR3 I went with DDR2 instead thinking that it would give me the kind of overclock I was looking for with the Q6600 and it did.
So once I switched to the Q9450 my DDR2 for whatever reasons refuses to OC over 800MHz leaving my Q9450 stuck at an OC of 3.2 when I know I can get up to 3.6 on air if my memory could OC that high.
The x38a mobo supports both DDR2 and DDR3 so I bought some OCZ DDR3 1800 thinking I could OC my Q9450 up to 3.6 without having to OC the memory and run in a 1:1 ratio.
So I set my bios back to defaults and turn off the computer and drop the two new sticks in and power back on to a blank screen that just sits there. Hell. So I try each stick one by one and they will both boot but only in the first DDR3 ram slot on my motherboard. The 2nd DDR3 slot must be defective because none of the sticks will boot solo in that slot, only in the first DDR3 slot.
I already have everything wired up and everything just right (aside from my partially defective motherboard) and as far as I can tell my system is running at the level it should.
My HIS 4870 has already been replaced by newegg once for a grinding sound coming from the fan and the one they sent back I swear has been used, noticeable scratches on the outer casing and finger prints. Not to mention the actual box wasnt even tapped shut. However it appears to be working fine.
Sooo in an effort to spare myself the aggravation and money and time it will cost me to take everything apart and send it back and wait for the replacements to return and hope they work im wondering...is it worth it?
I could probably get +800MHz out of my CPU on air safely if I could use my 4GB of DDR3 Ram instead of using 4GB DDR2 RAM...is there that much of a performance gain to justify $250 in a memory upgrade? And having to replace my motherboard.
Cause if i sent my motherboard back id send this replacement 4870 with it and hope to get an actual new one, after all I paid new...is it so wrong to expect new?
Or since everything is running fine now just stay with what I have and return the DDR3 ram and get my money back and upgrade the motherboard / cpu / memory in a year or so?
Its my only rig so id be without a computer or internet for two weeks while waiting for replacements.
What would you do?
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