The (new) Official PC building thread!

believe me that's the most important part of the build without that you will burn up the cpu very thin layer so the heat can escape the unit..

you need to grab some

 

Already got Arctic paste
COMPUSA carries it. Little more but better then none
The tech at my Computer repair shop was nice enough to put a little on a CPU 4 me once

 

if you change it to 1:1 you will be underclocking your memory. that would set the value in the dram box at 266, then double the number that to get the actual speed of the ram. so if you set it to 1:1 you memory will be at 533mhz. if you set it at 1:2 it will be at 1066mhz.

edit: i just noticed i messed up my math. the memory in a 1:1 would be 533mhz. 266 x 2 = 533.

 

I'd say do the maths. If you're an extreme overclocker, you'd probably do with PC8500 stuff, but for most, PC6400 would still let you overclock by miles.

 

I know I'm not russ but having used this setup for a little bit I thought I'd input something. Going by your specs here
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_jump.cfm/426825/4114778
I'd say yes also, because my Q9450 in Gigabyte EX38-DS4 starts getting warm and wanting more CPU volts at around 420-430FSB and with linked memory hits a spot that 6400 can usually hit, as it underclocks the 8500 but I've read where your board can squeeze more out of that chip than mine so thats my reasoning. At stock or tiny OC I feel are fine for regular memory but a power user will want better. I could up my voltage but have read the horror stories and dont want to really go there if I'm happy with what I've reached so far.

 

but if you use a lower cpu multiplier(8 as i have done) you can increase the frequency and make your mem run faster.

for me this is what i have done. taken my CPU multi down to 8 from 9 and changed the frequency to 455 from 400 and i still get a 3.64ghz oc but then my mem would be running at 455x2=910. thats with the 2.0 mem multi. i forget what it would be if i left it in auto... there is more than 1 way to skin a cat..lol

 

rick,

I commend you on your choices. that's gonna be one hellofa rig. well done my friend. I would have recommended DDR2 1066 memory or at least cas 4 6400 instead of cas 5 but it'll be ok, especially if you don't intend on a major OC.

I don't think I can stand it much longer. gonna have to bite the bullet soon and upgrade to a Q9450. I doubt they get much cheaper than $300 in the near future.

 

i agree Mort im wanting a quad bad. but at one time we never thought the Q6600 would be $189-209 range either..lol

 

@rick5446

i looked over what type case you planned on getting.it has the 120mm fan ports front and rear but don't come with the case fans..what type of fans are you goin to go with dont forget to add that to your order gotta keep it cool..lol ic your cost is over $1000.00 so far

me myself..i would go with a better case with more fan space to add for the same price as $69.99 plus it already comes with 2 / 120mm fans front and back i have this case below now and lov'in it all the more than my first case..i bought ..i regret doin..case it was.nt keeping things cool enough so..i wasted money on that case and could have had bought something else instead..i have added more cooler master fans to it sense and my e6750 cool now from 52c in a clear case to 32c in a cooler master case at idle..

Cooler Master Centurion 590 RC-590

 

If I get a SATA DVD burner, will a SATA II cable work with it?? Is there even a difference?

 

I realize this was quite a few posts back but what kind of problems are they having and with what mobo/chipset?

the mobo you are getting has 4 different fsb straps to choose from at any given cpu frequency. that will give you a total of 11 different memory frequencies to choose from at any given cpu frequency. there is no reason why you can't run DDR2 1066 (or DDR2 800 for that matter) at or very near it's rated speed at any cpu frequency/OC. my corsair DDR2 1066 dominators are running at 1068mhz with my cpu freq at 445mhz.

I was able to keep the memory frequency within 10mhz of its rated speed as I gradually bumped up the cpu frequency from 333mhz to 445mhz which is a cpu clock speed of 4.0ghz and where I set my goal.

 

SATA is 1.5 Gb/s where as SATA II is 3.0 Gb/s. they're aka known as SATA 1.5 and SATA 3.0 respectively. there a very few SATA 1.5 drives available now as they are becoming obsolete. no difference in the data cables.

 

There is more than one way of course, I like my skinned cat marinated in lime juice and grilled like flank steak fajitas and served with a dry white wine. The Q9450 however with its 8x multi, raising FSB from 333 stock to 425 gives it a 3.4OC if I tried to hit that with 7x multi the FSB would be 486 and that number seemed a bit bigger step from 333 than I was comfortable with. I thought about trying that but felt like my hands were tied with the lower multi. That plus the fact I've been on the road for 2 weeks with my band and was just figuring out how to keep this thing stable as I was leaving. Now I'm back home with inernet and my own toys and I can experiment with things like this.

 

I agreed with all of you too about using the 1066, just giving different reasons from my experiences. You dont think running the FSB up near 500 is too much? I understand changing the memory multi to suit the speed, I just thought I'd run into other stability problems. Not trying to turn this into the OC thread, just trying to expand on some of the ideas floating around in here.

I have 2 teenage boys in this house, there wont be extras, in fact if I wasnt the dad figure entitled to (use Chris Rocks voice here) "the first plate and the big piece of chicken" I doubt thered be food left by the time I made it to the table! LOL

 

no 500 isnt gonna hurt ya. at stock the 1066 is running at 533 so your good to go there. as you know getting up higher speeds like that will require a little more volts than normal. to keep it stable.

yea i have 3 boys myself not teens yet but the eat like wild boars. and still say there hungry 15 mins after eating...lmao

 

shaffaaf,

Sorry to disagree, but that all depends on a few other factors. The type of bios in the MB and the multiplier of the CPU as well as the available memory multipliers. With the PC-6400 memory you run out of options much faster and if 2.0 is your lowest available multiplier, you have to OC the memory past a 400MHz fsb. There's no way around it. If the memory won't OC, then you're out of luck with your OC! It's that simple! Your OC stops where the memory gives out and there's nothing you can do about it! Throw in a CPU with a 6X or 7X CPU multiplier and you will run into a real problem!!

The price difference between the 800MHz PC-6400 and the 1066MHz PC-8500 Dominators is only $15, and in my opinion, it's worth it!

Respectfully,
Russ

 

sorry rob,

I don't have any experience with any rescent gigabyte bios's. they are quite a bit different than my asus bios.

because of the differences in our bios's, I don't need to lower my cpu multiplier to keep my memory freq within boundrys. then again I have only used PC 8500 with this mobo and cpu but I don't think I would run into any obstacles with PC 6400 either due to the 4 fsb straps. I don't have to mess with memory multipliers. the bios figures them for me and then gives me the different memory frequencies to choose from and with the 4 fsb straps there are a lot of choices. 2 in the 200 strap, 3 in the 266 strap, 3 in the 333 strap and 3 in the 400 strap.

I don't know if this feature is available for all mobo's with the X48 chipset or just a nice feature of my bios. the gigabyte mobo's with the X48 chipset might give you your choice of fsb strap but I would imagine they still require you mathmatically figure out what memory multiplier you need and then select it as that has been gigabyte's way in the past. I don't know either way for certain. every manufactures bios is different.

I am not boasting or bragging. I am only explaining the differences with different mobo's. it's been a long time since I've used any other mobo besides asus and I've become very familiar with their bios's and have become fairly out of touch with other manufactures bios's and their methods of adjusting memory frequency.

sorry, I kind of wish I had a gigabyte mobo so I could familiarize myself better with their bios's since there are a lot of folk here that have em. I have to sit down and really think about how to figure memory multipliers now. I used to be able to figure them fairly easily but my last few mobo's have made things to easy and spoiled me. I'm getting lazy.