Help a noob OC his Pentium D 2.8Ghz PLEASE

[xrealm20]

That machine on cragislist would be a great machine -- that motherboard is compatible with all the current phenom II processors, so you'd have an upgrade path if you so choose. Great deal for 490.

 

[guitarfreaknation]

It's pretty good. It's not the newest thing around, but it is no slug either. Quad core is pretty good even though it's old, the 8800GT is great also even though it's old it can still play pretty much any game, 4GB of RAM and a Blu-Ray drive are nice features. Straight out of the box this system is better for games. But the first system has more long-term potential. Q9500 series processors get pretty close to i7, and that EP45T-UD3P supports DDR3 which is nice. It's up to you and how much money you want to spend and what your upgrade path is.

Edit: However I think getting the Q9550 system will be both more cost-effective and way more future proof. Just add a 9800 or better video card and you're set.

Hey thanks for your input. Yeah I already have a EVGA 9800 GTX+ so I think this will be a refreshing step up from my current pc. Haha

 

[DirectorC]

Oh that is awesome man. Grab that Q9550 if you can, slap that 9800GTX+ on there, and watch it fly fly fly! A Q9550 will not bottleneck any video card. That system is ready to do DX11 gaming with the next generation of video cards for the next few good years!

 

[guitarfreaknation]

Hey all.

I went over to the guys house and realized he has no knowledge of computer hardware whatsoever. He sold me the system for 400 buck and its brand new.

Gigabyte motherboard GA-EP45T-UD3P
4 gigs of DDR 3 1066
Intel core 2 quad q9550 2.83 ghz
BFG 9600 GT 512 meg
Antec 550 watt Modular power supply

Im about to throw in my 9800GTX+ in there and just wanted to ask if anyone knows how much power do I need? Will 550 watts be enough for my small rig?

Thanks again for all your help

 

[brandonwh64]

WOW nice!!! let me have your Pentium D LOLOL! j/k

use it as a HTPC

that PSU should be fine!

 

[Mussels]

550W will be enough for that, seems like quite a solid upgrade.

 

[guitarfreaknation]

550W will be enough for that, seems like quite a solid upgrade.

Thanks. Although the 9600 GT that is in the pc right now is not too bad.

 

[brandonwh64]

Thanks. Although the 9600 GT that is in the pc right now is not too bad.

yea i have a 9600GT while i wait on my 5850 to get here and it works good. will play BC2 @ 70-110 FPS on low so very playable.

 

[Mussels]

9800 has a good boost over 9600 however, so its definitely worth putting the 9800 in there.

 

[guitarfreaknation]

Its a bit weird though. I already installed it and it seems to work fine (COD4,MD2,STALKER CS) but on the box it says it needs a minimum of 24 amps on the 12v rail. BUT on my PSU its max is 17 amps. Wonder if I should plan on buying something more powerfull.

BTW. LG vs Acer?

 

[Melvis]

Its a bit weird though. I already installed it and it seems to work fine (COD4,MD2,STALKER CS) but on the box it says it needs a minimum of 24 amps on the 12v rail. BUT on my PSU its max is 17 amps. Wonder if I should plan on buying something more powerfull.

BTW. LG vs Acer?

How many 12v rails does it have? if it has two then the PSU will be fine, if its only the one then yes it be a good idea to get a new PSU with more amps on the 12v rail.

Also good work on getting that system, great deal

 

[guitarfreaknation]

How many 12v rails does it have? if it has two then the PSU will be fine, if its only the one then yes it be a good idea to get a new PSU with more amps on the 12v rail.

Also good work on getting that system, great deal

Thanks. Im not sure but this is what it is:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16817103940

Im also planning on hooking up another drive so it might not be enough.

 

[brandonwh64]

your ok! it has 3 12V rails

 

[guitarfreaknation]

your ok! it has 3 12V rails

Oh, cool. BTW hooked up the 9800 GTX+ and played a little BC 2. Looks very nice.

 

[brandonwh64]

nice!!! im glad you got a killer deal!

 

[Melvis]

Yep as brandonwh64 said (3 12v rails) you are good to go enjoy

 

[guitarfreaknation]

Ty dude

 

[skizo]

Nice...I guess you won't be working with your old setup then.

I came across this thread because I'm in a very similar boat. I'm a n00b and I don't have a great deal of $ to buy a new computer and was thinking of giving my Dell setup a refresh. So, from what I read, I guess you can't overclock factory Dell systems; if I were to buy some new parts (such as a motherboard), would I be able to port my processor over and overclock?

I currently have the Pentium D 820 (2.8 ghz, 800 FSB) as well and a NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GPU.

I saw this motherboard in an earlier post:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131347

Are there any other alternatives?

Since I currently have a stock setup, I think I need a better cooler, case and a power supply.

Is this an okay product?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002G1YPH0/?tag=tec06d-20

I also did a bit of research and it seems that with the right settings you can get a stable OC of 4.0 ghz on air.

I'll be using my computer mainly for school, running a good amount of engineering software i.e. MATLAB, COMSOL, etc. I guess my main goal is to get another few years out of this setup.

I tried HWMonitor but it didn't display my processor, only my GPU and hard drives. I'm running Win 7; does that matter?

Thanks in advance!