The Official OC (OverClocking) Thread!

Me too. However, I haven't found any yet that made the difference for my configuration. So far, the models I've tested in the past few yrs have limited me to how they can be shaped without some added ties to keep them in shape. Any new products out there? I'd be most interested to see. Like maybe something with a bending wire to shapr form. Too many wire ties all over can look unatractive as well. Also, for me, time is money, so willing to spend a little of that for a neat custom job. I got some nice results and can rout these in places where fat rounded can get. I got mine down to the size of average SATA cable and most not need ties.

 

Might as well show you what an E6600 OC'ed to 3.2ghz looks like.

 

Buy only the length you need. They make them in 10", 18", 24", and 32" lengths. The ones I've used have been only been about 3/8" in diameter at most and are extremely flexable. Lay nicely in my case. No wire ties needed. I've got a whole box of ribbon cables I'll give away.

 

Nice set up, what sSpec version are you using (SL #) and what is the difference between the "2"? Are you running CPU/RAM 1:1 and @ what FSB multiplier? I'm just looking for comparances as you seam to have the same Intel CPU/MOBO I use, different RAM. I got the older Corsair pC5400UL @ 3-2-2-8. I'm looking toward the 2x2G set of Corsair PC6400C3 @ 3-4-3-9. Any testing on the PC8000UL for speeds over 1066?

 

I'm not sure about the sSpec but the SL # is 9S8. I'm running cpu/ram @ 4:5. Ram is @ 888mhz (444 x 2). Fsb is 355. Multiplier is 9.

 

Thank You so I think I will screw the sound card, but what about the video card is that necessary and a cpu cooler.

 

You will need a video card. Most mobos don't have onboard video and if they do it's worthless. A good mid-range card is a nvidia 7600GT.

If you buy a retail cpu, it will come with a heatsink/fan but if you intend to OC, depending on how much you want to OC, you need to invest in a good aftermarket performance hsf. You can OC to some degree with the stock hsf. A popular and good choice is the zalman CNPS9500. Zalman also makes a CNPS9700 (better) and CNPS7700 and CNPS7000 (not as good but better than stock hsf). Some like hsf's made by artic freezer.

Here's a couple more screenshots with sandra with some better cpu's to compare to.

 

Cheera for that now I think I have a completed list but please can anyone make sure I have since I dont want to miss parts out.

Tower: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=452016 @ £58.36

PSU: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=290214 @ £105.15

CPU: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=430633 @ £195.86

Motherboard: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=434311 @ £133.95

RAM: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=402849 @ 151.15

Hard Drive: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp WebProductID=530765 @ £93.94

DVD writer: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=472927 @ £21.10

DVD Reader/ROM: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=161182 @ £12.33

Video Card: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=518627 @ £38.06

Cables: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=494572 @ £2.34 Not sure how many though.

CPU Cooler: http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=405603 @ £30.42

Well thats it and the whole set costs £842.66

If I missed out anything from a fully operating, overclockable pc then please tell me and also tell me if all the parts are compatible with each other so I dont buy the wrong parts.

Thank You

 

If you really don't want quality sound then forget the sound card.
As I have a P5WDH with obviously the onboard sound, and as it was also fitted with an X-Fi card, I can say without any doubt the onboard although acceptable is total crap compared to the X-Fi.
If you do a direct comparison with the same music, the same speakers in the same room, you can hear it without any problems.
You'd be better off spending the £18 on the card Sammorris suggested earlier than using the onboard.

As for airflow on the cables, the easiest way to get around this, is to just use SATA drives, there are both SATA DVD/CD ROMs and writers available now, and as you are starting from scratch I see no need to put your money in the older technology.

Not quite sure what your asking, but I don't use speedstep, there is no way your going to push a system up as far as mine with speedstep enabled.
I'll post the revison of my chip when I get a chance.

P.S. do yourself a favour and phone the order through with Scan.
They have become very slack in recent months, and often by the time your order is picked a particular part goes out of stock and that then holds up the whole order, meanwhile they then take the parts out of your part-picked order for another order that can be completed.
Also double check that the parts you want are not in the today only as they do not automatically adjust the prices down if you order the same part from the components search area.

 

no sound is not a top priority so is my list completed now so I can order the parts, but I also thought you need a operating system or something and is there anything else I should get to get my pc up and running.

 

The CPU cooler you've listed is an AM2 type CPU
You need this
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=369638


DVD Writer - The only issue I would have is that to make full use of it, you will be limited to certain media types. As I only use taiyo Yuden (The best media) I wouldn't bother with it.
If you get an Epson R200 series printer and full face printable disks, you can print directly onto disks you write and they look as good as the originals.

Yes you need an operating system, I mentioned earlier that you should go with either XP Pro 32 or Vista Home Premium 32.

You also haven't ordered a monitor and keyboard or mouse.

An anti-static strap is something you should use, you can easily damage components with static from your body, even if they work to start with, the damage may cause it to fail later on.
You can aviod using one, if you keep a hold of the case, but then you are limited to working with one hand (not good)

 

Alright thank you I will change the cpu cooler, and regarding the keyboard, mouse and moitor I got set already.

So thats me set, so how do rate the machine, costing me about £845 and just out of interest how much will it cost if I got the same specification at a retailer.

 

novadrago
The 1st pick was a nickel-chromed copper finish and does come as model CNPS9700-NT. It is the bigger brother to the 1st 1 you picked but correct for Intel LGA775 & fit the build you chose.. It fits with close tollerances so if you change the case or mobo you need to make sure to measure the space between the bottom of PSU and top edge of mobo and how far in the LGA775 socket sits on the mobo and how close to PCI-E slot it sits.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=505971

 

yeah I realised so im deciding to change to the one bigdk suggested and if I was to upgrade my computer in the future what properties will I need to change to get a faster processor and speed eg motherboard, ram, cpu etc cause im new to this

 

For others reading; the Zalman CNPS9500-AM2 is essentially the same part as bare copper (red) CNPS9500-LED (blue lighted fan) but with green lighted fan and only lacking the metal brace and mounting ring to adapt to Intel LGA775 and 2 bar brackets for use on S478. If like me one had several units around and both AMD and Intel simply boorrow the parts needed (extras) from another build and you are good to go. To add, the plastic ring bracket is the exact same part included with the CNPS7700 series so for those upgrading to these 9500/9700 do not need to remove mobo to change out. It is easier but not needed.

 

oh ok so I changed it now.

 

With the E6600 CPU and the memory you are getting, then you already have plenty of power there waiting to be unlocked.
The P5WDH is extremely easy to OC as it has a BIOS made for tweaking.
The board is very stable with loads of over-volting available.

For the future, you could just get away with upgrades on the parts such as GPU and sound, but that is only if you feel the need to spend money.
Another area would be the HDDs, adding another disk and running in RAID0 will give increased disk speed, this will always be the slowest point of the PC anyway.

The good thing about having the DDR800 is you will be able to run the FSB up to 400 and still maintain a 1:1 ratio on the memory, using dividers is not a clever move when overclocking.

There is no real improvement to be had in changing the CPU, as unless you intend to change the cooling method, you're not going to get any higher than you are with the E6600.

The E6600 will normally overclock to 3.6GHz even on air, so thats quite a simple setup of 400fsb using a 9x multi and a 1:1 divider on the memory.
However to get that to run on that board there are certain tweaks in the BIOS you need to make, certain things will need to be disabled.

To start with you're better off running at stock speed whilst it all beds in.
Let us know what BIOS you have loaded when its up and running, as there are some very poor revisions for the board worth avoiding.

 

You've chosen a black case and silver drives. Was that intentional. The reason I am not a fan of NEC dvdrw drives is because I booktype all my dvd+r media dvd-rom. The NEC dvdrw drives are not bitset ready for dvd5 media and require a flash with modified (hacked) firmware to booktype dvd5 dvd+r media to dvd-rom. Just something to consider.

 

oh really, I never realised I chose a bad dvd writer, so please can you suggest a writer from scan.co.uk please.

 

Hey I live in portsmouth too

well.......southsea actually