Which oc'ing m/b for 1090T and DDR2 memory

[twilyth]

I just got my first 1090T back up with the help of a xhair IV and it's running happily at 4gig. It's a beautiful board but I have a bunch of DDR2 800 and 1066 mems that i would like to use. With the last build I used DDR3 1600 cas 9 and if I were to do that again it would probably be at least $200 - more like $250 I think. Of course there's no gun to my head as far as that goes so I could go with slower DDR3 and it would still be faster and cheaper. On the other hand, you can't beat free.

So here are the questions

1. does it make sense to put a chip like that in a system with ddr2 memory?

2. if so, what is the best oc'ing m/b for the job.

I don't need the next rig to get up to 4gig. I'd be very happy with 3.8 for example. And I would almost certainly follow the same approach of a high multiplier and as little extra voltage as I can get away with.

thanks.

 

[twilyth]

bump

 

[cadaveca]

Depending on what you use the ysstem for, even 1333 CAS9 is OK. Sure, it will affect performance, but even 1333 CAS 7 should be much more affordable...

Otherwise, 790FX DDR2 boards...take your pick. I don't think any real differences to be had, unless you compare budget boards to "enthusiast" ones.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

I dont understand your post, you have your 1090t running at 4ghz on an xhair IV so you already have an am3 mobo and ddr3? or do you not??

 

[twilyth]

Depending on what you use the ysstem for, even 1333 CAS9 is OK. Sure, it will affect performance, but even 1333 CAS 7 should be much more affordable...

Otherwise, 790FX DDR2 boards...take your pick. I don't think any real differences to be had, unless you compare budget boards to "enthusiast" ones.

What I'm mainly concerned with is being able to change the multiplier. I have an AM3/AM2+ board I could use but there is no option in the bios to do this. So I was hoping to get a couple recommendations and then I could go and check those out more detail.

I dont understand your post, you have your 1090t running at 4ghz on an xhair IV so you already have an am3 mobo and ddr3? or do you not??

I have 3 machines and I'm thinking about converting the other 2 to 1090's but I have so much DDR2 memory laying around (at least 4-5 sets) that I wanted to use some of it. But the more I think about it, I don't know if it's a great idea. Maybe I should just try to sell it instead.

 

[PaulieG]

What I'm mainly concerned with is being able to change the multiplier. I have an AM3/AM2+ board I could use but there is no option in the bios to do this. So I was hoping to get a couple recommendations and then I could go and check those out more detail.

I have 3 machines and I'm thinking about converting the other 2 to 1090's but I have so much DDR2 memory laying around (at least 4-5 sets) that I wanted to use some of it. But the more I think about it, I don't know if it's a great idea. Maybe I should just try to sell it instead.

I would sell the DDR2. The DDR3 will be a good investment, as you can take it to your upgrade later on. This way you will not be limited to prior generation motherboards.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

ddr2 prices are high at the moment pretty much about the same as ddr3 so its a good time to sell, though if your main rig is a 1090t and you have 2 others, would they really benefit with a six core cpu? main rig is understandable, what do you do wityh the 2 other rigs, or have you just got the itch??

 

[twilyth]

Yeah, I might go ahead and try to sell some/most.

Ndmk: I looked at the current prices for DDR2 and it's crazy how close the prices are to DDR3. I was thinking that I wouldn't be able to get much for them. I'm not used to pleasant surprises. I may need to rest for a while.

The new rig and a back up are in a spare room where I have my desk and filing cabinets. The 3rd one is a sort of "HTPC" - except it's realy just a normal PC that happens to be hooked up to the tv.

The tv pc has a q9450 in it that I've never gotten along with. It works fine and my complaints probably have nothing to do with the chip, but I'm just tired of it at this point.

The backup pc is a 9750 in a very basic m/b that I can't do anything with.

Aside from really liking the 1090, i've been involved with WCG for a few years now (United Devices before that), and I periodically have a jones for more cpu cycles. The thing is though that you're right and I really can't justify doing what I'm planning. I do want to rebuild the htpc though so maybe I'll compromise and just do that one. Or maybe I'll be able to talk myself down and not do either of them. IDK.

 

[cdawall]

its up to you but i have played with the 1090t on some DDR2 boards.

Asus M4A78-E
Asus M4A79 Deluxe
Asus Crosshair II Formula
GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-UD4H
GIGABYTE GA-MA790FX-UD5P

i would pick from one of those i tried it in my lower end XFX MIA78S8209 (NV 8200) and it booted up as a dual core so make sure you have a board that supports X6 chips

 

[trt740]

DDR2 has plenty of banwith and at lower tight timing is just about as fast as DDR3, maybe a 5 percent difference. To save money I would use that ram you have and buy the DDr2 board. My father inlaw has this board and it was from the egg revision 2.0. It supports the x6 and is a great board.

GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Mot... I'm betting now they are shipping revision 2.1

http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=3314&ver=

for 80.00 they cannot be beat.

 

[twilyth]

OK, I put in my requirements to the Newegg power search menu and got the list below.

Here are the requirements.

1. must handle 8gig of ram
2. must have 4 memory slots
3. must be AM3 compatible.

This is what I got

Foxconn Cinema Premium Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Foxconn A85GM Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

JetWay JMA3-79GDGD-LF Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

MSI 770T-C45 ATX AMD Motherboard

ASRock N68C-S UCC Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

These also came up but are DDR3 not DDR2

Open Box: MSI 790X-G45 ATX AMD Motherboard

MSI 790X-G45 ATX AMD Motherboard

Foxconn A7DA-S 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

I didn't mention this sooner because I always forget that some m/b's only have 2 memory slots.

 

[twilyth]

OK, ignore that last post - more or less. There are a lot more boards - too many. But the one's I've looked at so far don't have support for X6.

I've looked at most of the boards listed so far - possibly all - not sure.

Right now I'm looking at this one Foxconn A85GM AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX... - what do you all think?

785G NB, 8 gig max, 1066 mem std, 4 slots, all X6's are supported. I need to look at the manual but from the foxconn product page, it sounds like it should have everything I need for at least basic overclocking.

 

[twilyth]

bump

 

[ShRoOmAlIsTiC]

i would stay away from the foxconn stuff. I have one to do the same thing and it just wasnt an overclocking board. had no nb-vid and a few other things essenstial for overclocking. Look towards asus or gigabyte or even msi. my msi 785g-e45 has x6 support if you want to go the 785 route. out of the ones on your list, the msi 790x board looks much more tempting.

 

[twilyth]

i would stay away from the foxconn stuff. I have one to do the same thing and it just wasnt an overclocking board. had no nb-vid and a few other things essenstial for overclocking. Look towards asus or gigabyte or even msi. my msi 785g-e45 has x6 support if you want to go the 785 route. out of the ones on your list, the msi 790x board looks much more tempting.

Thanks for the heads up on the foxconn. I liked MSI's 775 Neo boards but I've had a lot of bad luck with them recently. I don't mean that necessarilly as a dig, I'm just wary. This one does look nice - MSI 790XT-G45 AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Mother...

Probably the only thing I'm going to touch (more than a couple clicks) will be the CPU voltage. It should be able to handle at least 1.4v right?

I'm probably going with the 1055 instead of the 1090. It would be nice if I can keep the cost under $300. I wasn't looking at it that way, but it's good to exercise some self-restrain now and again.

 

[MohawkAngel]

Ok man

Asus M4A785-M

AM3 125watts socket
4 slots of memory 1066-ddr2 overclockable to 1200mhz (up to 16 gigs)
785G chipset
onboard gigabit lan, 8.1 channels,radeon HD4200 512megs
3.0 gigs/s transfer
12 X USB 2.0 ports (6 on back panel + 6 connectors on the mobo)
6 sata ports
IDE connector
Back panel Connectors: VGA,DVI-D,HDMI, Optical sound

Shit load of features and evenif the limit of the motherboard is 125watts unless your an overclocker freak you will never use the full power of the 1090T.

That mobo with cool n quiet will keep the cpu at its lowest setting and adjust it automatically upon demand, anti surge to protect in case of power peak from wall outlet, and Asus EPU-4 engin that adjust automatically the power of HDD, fans and optical drivers for low consumption and less noise from fans depending on the loads.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131595

70$ shipped !!!!

 

[twilyth]

Ok man

Asus M4A785-M

AM3 125watts socket
4 slots of memory 1066-ddr2 overclockable to 1200mhz (up to 16 gigs)
785G chipset
onboard gigabit lan, 8.1 channels,radeon HD4200 512megs
3.0 gigs/s transfer
12 X USB 2.0 ports (6 on back panel + 6 connectors on the mobo)
6 sata ports
IDE connector
Back panel Connectors: VGA,DVI-D,HDMI, Optical sound

Shit load of features and evenif the limit of the motherboard is 125watts unless your an overclocker freak you will never use the full power of the 1090T.

That mobo with cool n quiet will keep the cpu at its lowest setting and adjust it automatically upon demand, anti surge to protect in case of power peak from wall outlet, and Asus EPU-4 engin that adjust automatically the power of HDD, fans and optical drivers for low consumption and less noise from fans depending on the loads.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131595

70$ shipped !!!!

How would that compare to the MSI board in the previous post?

What exactly is the diff between 785 and 790 - both are 710 SB I think.

 

[twilyth]

I always forget to mention that I've just rejoined the TPU WCG team and all my rigs run 24/7.

WCG seems to generate almost as much heat as Prime95 (large FFTs)

 

[MohawkAngel]

The MSI have more pci slots but no onboard video so you will have to buy a separate video card with the msi and pay 15$ more.

So ok you got more pci slots but one of them will be busy with the new vid card.

chipset is diffeent but i dont see any difference in buildup ofthe mobo...lets say that MSI have put the 790 chipset but not used it to its full power in my opinion they just used it to put more pci slots.

the Asus i told you is almost plug and play and also the memory of the msi is stuck at 1066mhz max the asus can be overclocked to 1200mhz with ease...the rest all the same power and features even in hypertransport its the same speed even if msi use a more recent chipset.

 

[TheMailMan78]

I run a Asus M4A78-E and a 1090T. It takes me 1.47v to run 3.9Ghz stable. Whats funny is at default the chip draws 1.47v at 3.2Ghz. Weird and sad at the same time. My suggestion is go DDR3. If not then get a Asus Crosshair II Formula

 

[eidairaman1]

if u want the Ultimate OC board the Biostar took a Quad all the way up to 7.1Ghz on LN2.

 

[twilyth]

The MSI have more pci slots but no onboard video so you will have to buy a separate video card with the msi and pay 15$ more.

I have extra cards but the 790x looks like it might do better for oc'ing - if you trust Wikipedia.

# Extreme overclocking, reported to have achieved about 420 MHz bus for overclocking an Athlon 64 FX-62 processor [11], from originally 200 MHz.

That's for the 790FX not the 790X but I'm hoping they will be comparable.

the Asus i told you is almost plug and play and also the memory of the msi is stuck at 1066mhz max the asus can be overclocked to 1200mhz with ease...the rest all the same power and features even in hypertransport its the same speed even if msi use a more recent chipset.

I'm just to chicken shit to play with the memory. I will try doing that someday, but if I don't focus on one aspect at a time, I won't get anything right. As the great philosopher Dirty Harry once said, 'a man's gotta know his limitations.'

I run a Asus M4A78-E and a 1090T. It takes me 1.47v to run 3.9Ghz stable. Whats funny is at default the chip draws 1.47v at 3.2Ghz. Weird and sad at the same time. My suggestion is go DDR3. If not then get a Asus Crosshair II Formula

First - Yeeaaaaa Uncle Fester and the original Adam's family. I was in love with Morticia.

Second - I can't find the xhair II on the egg. What would be your second choice?

 

[twilyth]

if u want the Ultimate OC board the Biostar took a Quad all the way up to 7.1Ghz on LN2.

Which biostar? Does it do ddr2?

 

[eidairaman1]

oops, DDR3 is what it was, Id suggest selling the DDR2 and goin DDR3 now unless if you want a 790FX/GX/X or 785 or 770 Motherboard

BIOSTAR TA890FXE AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s ATX AMD ...

 

[twilyth]

oops, DDR3 is what it was, Id suggest selling the DDR2 and goin DDR3 now unless if you want a 790FX/GX/X or 785 or 770 Motherboard

I thought about it, but it was too expensive. I'm selling most of my DDR2 but I still have another 3 or 4 sets - at least - if you count what in my rigs now and one set of 4 I just found.

It has to be AM3/DDR2/4 mem slots.