What should I buy for overclocking

[coyote1982]

Hello, this is my first thread in this forum and after searching it for hours, I only got confused. I'm about to buy a new PC but I never tried overclocking anything so I will need some guidance and I hope I can find it here.
The system I wanna buy is:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850
Intel DP35DP Motherboard
2x2Gb DDR II 800MHz RAM
Radeon HD3870 512Mb Graphics Card

I was offered the Sapphire graphics card as well as the Asus equivalent. Also, I was offered the G. Skill 4GB Kit PC6400 4-4-4-12 F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK and the OCZ 4Gb Kit PC2-6400 Titanium 4-4-4-15 OCZ2T800C44GK (which is more expensive but basically the same as the G. Skill kit according to the salesman).

Which graphic card and RAM should I take to have a better result with overclocking? Also, is the Intel motherboard good enough or should I take a different one?

 

[DOM]

Welcome to TPU

where are you from ?

cuz the new intel dual cores are out E8200, E8400, E8500 which are better then that E6850

 

[coyote1982]

I'm from Israel. I haven't heard about these new CPUs but I think I reached my budget limit with the E6850 (you wrote E3850, but I hope you know what I meant)

 

[will]

I would get a different mobo (ie not intel) as intels don't overclock well (or maybe not at all). I would get an Asus or gigabyte instead. Just make sure it's p35 or x38 based.

 

[coyote1982]

thanks will, I will take it into consideration. Is the Asus P5K good enough? What about the vid card and RAM?

 

[will]

the p5k is ok, i would get a slightly more expensive one like the p5k-e. the plain p5k only has 3-phase power (if i remember correctly!) and doesn't have heatsinks on the mosfets. basically it wont be as good for overclocking. I have heard good things about the p5k-e and the gigabyte p35 series.

 

[DOM]

well the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

should be less then the E6850 in the US they go for $220 and the E6850 are $275

 

[coyote1982]

Update:
I asked the salesman to send me a list of their available Asus Mobos. I will only list here the ones with P35 chipset... (X38 are too expensive for me):
P5K SE
P5K
P5KR
P5KC
P5K-E
P5K PRO
P5K64 WS

Does any of these have HDMI connectors?
Which one would be the best choice if I want to OC my RAM, CPU and possibly my Vid-card?

The rest of the system I'm buying is:
Intel E6850 CPU
G.Skill 4GB Kit DDR2 PC6400 800MHZ 4-4-4-12 F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK
WD 500GB 16MB SATA II
Radeon HD3870 (not sure yet if Sapphire or Gigabyte)

 

[vivanco]

buy Intel E8400 cpu it is cheaper and overclocks better with less voltage since its 45nm as compared to E6850 65nm

edit: go for Asus P5K-E

 

[will]

Out of those i would say the P5K-E, although i have never heard of the P5KR or the P5K pro! I'm not sure about the P5K64 WS, it's a workstation motherboard, only useful if you need to run about 8 monitors! The P5K-E should be the best overclocker with the most features. The P5KC is a combo board (supports DDR2 and DDR3) but isn't that great apart from that!

 

[will]

Oh yeah and get the E8400 if they have it!

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Just had a look,the p5k pro looks interesting,they have put a sink on the other(top) vregs wereas the p5k-e has none on there and it has no heatpipes.Anyway i'd say go with the p5k-e too,as its a known good board.

 

[das müffin mann]

i would go for the e8400 although a few people have been having problems getting accurate temps from those things but i can say for sure if its the processors fault or not, but thats a minor issue the e8400 still has my vote, as for teh graphics, i no that you can oc the hell out of the 3870(with proper cooling)

 

[coyote1982]

Thanks a lot guys! I now know exactly what I should buy - the P5K-E
The reason I'm buying the E6850 CPU is only because the E8400 is not available in Israel...
I could ship it from the US....hmmmm....I'll have to think about it, but anyway thanks for the advice.

 

[coyote1982]

UPDATE: I went to a different computer store yesterday and got a way better offer than the first store!
please tell me what u think about this system:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (they finally got to Israel =YAY=)
Gigabyte GA-X38-DS5 Motherboard
2x2Gb OCZ Reaper DDR II 800MHz CL4 RAM OCZ2RPR800C44GK (they also got the OCZ2RPX800EB4GK for 30$ more)
Sapphire Radeon HD3870 512Mb Graphics Card
WD 500Gb SATA II 7200RPM 16Mb HDD

They have plenty of other RAMs from OCZ, G. Skill, Corsair, Kingston, Super Talent and PQI.
I think this is a good configuration for my budget...
any other suggestions?
EDIT: I was wondering about the power supply. Do I need something stronger than a 400W HEC power supply? And another thing, Will I need an additional/special cooling fan to OC the Mobo/CPU/RAM???

 

[craigo]

Welcome to TPU,
Sounds like you have a solid system in the making....
sure does pay to shop around.

 

[will]

UPDATE: I went to a different computer store yesterday and got a way better offer than the first store!
please tell me what u think about this system:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (they finally got to Israel =YAY=)
Gigabyte GA-X38-DS5 Motherboard
2x2Gb OCZ Reaper DDR II 800MHz CL4 RAM OCZ2RPR800C44GK (they also got the OCZ2RPX800EB4GK for 30$ more)
Sapphire Radeon HD3870 512Mb Graphics Card
WD 500Gb SATA II 7200RPM 16Mb HDD

They have plenty of other RAMs from OCZ, G. Skill, Corsair, Kingston, Super Talent and PQI.
I think this is a good configuration for my budget...
any other suggestions?

Yeah thats a great config there, you should definitely go for it! Also definitely go for 4gb 1000mhz ram if they have it, you will need the extra speed for o/cing the e8400 with high fsbs! You can get OCZ reaperx (if they have it) or g.skill pq, they both come in 4gb (2x2gb) 1000mhz. If they dont have either of those, get the g.skill 4gb 800mhz PQ, these now use the same chips as the 1000mhz kit so should reach the same speeds. If they dont have any of these, the OCZ ones you listed will be fine.

 

[Yin]

is it really necessary for 2x2gb = 4 gb ram?
depends on what you doing with your computer i guess.

 

[King Wookie]

Looks good, but you Really need to go for a better psu for overclocking.

I'd recommend a 650w or 700w from Antec, OCZ, Seasonic, Corsair, Thermaltake, or another well known brand.

This forum is a must read.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=39758

As for a better cpu cooler, that would be a good investment. Remember, the default Intel cooler was only specced to run at stock speeds.

Do enjoy your new build.

EDIT: What case are you planning to use? Your case will have a impact on your temps.

 

[Scrizz]

with that x38 motherboard you should be getting either two HD3870 or a HD3870x2

 

[vexen]

I was wondering about the power supply. Do I need something stronger than a 400W HEC power supply? And another thing, Will I need an additional/special cooling fan to OC the Mobo/CPU/RAM???

Yes you need something stronger than a 400W HEC Power Supply, look for well known brands, you DON'T want to cut on a PSU.

And you don't NEED an aftermarket fan to overclock the CPU, RAM, or to cool the MOBO.

Good airflow does the job for the MOBO and the RAM. Also, most of the time (90%), the RAM will physically just not want to clock higher. For the CPU, it is not needed, but recommended at higher overclocks to keep low temps.

I suggest you take a look at http://www.frostytech.com/ they have a section with the best AMD/INTEL heatsinks by temp/noise. Made my choice on the Noctua U12P from here.

Have fun!

 

[coyote1982]

Thanks everybody for your suggestions. I looked some more at the store's website and found these things:
instead of buying the OCZ DDR2 Reaper 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 800MHZ CL4 (OCZ2RPR800C44GK),
they also have the OCZ DDR2 ReaperX 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 1000MHZ CL5 (OCZ2RPX10004GK) but it's 17% more expensive. I'm not sure it's worth the extra cash.
They have the G.SKILL DDR2 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 1000MHZ CL5 (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ)
and the G.SKILL DDR2 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 800MHZ CL4 (F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK) as well (both are cheaper than both the OCZ kits).
I'm a little confused - what has the bigger importance: frequency or CL & timings?

Also, I was planning on putting all this system inside a HEC Compucase 6AR6 or 6A19 case.
I'm guessing you guys are gonna tell me to spend more money on a Thermaltake case but is it really worth all the money? I'm trying to keep the budget from going too far...
I'm also still not sure why would I need a better/stronger PSU. How strong should it be? 450W? 500? 550? more?
I still didn't read that forum post about cases but I will when I have more time tomorrow.

 

[vexen]

Thanks everybody for your suggestions. I looked some more at the store's website and found these things:
instead of buying the OCZ DDR2 Reaper 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 800MHZ CL4 (OCZ2RPR800C44GK),
they also have the OCZ DDR2 ReaperX 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 1000MHZ CL5 (OCZ2RPX10004GK) but it's 17% more expensive. I'm not sure it's worth the extra cash.
They have the G.SKILL DDR2 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 1000MHZ CL5 (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ)
and the G.SKILL DDR2 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 800MHZ CL4 (F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK) as well (both are cheaper than both the OCZ kits).
I'm a little confused - what has the bigger importance: frequency or CL & timings?

Also, I was planning on putting all this system inside a HEC Compucase 6AR6 or 6A19 case.
I'm guessing you guys are gonna tell me to spend more money on a Thermaltake case but is it really worth all the money? I'm trying to keep the budget from going too far...
I'm also still not sure why would I need a better/stronger PSU. How strong should it be? 450W? 500? 550? more?
I still didn't read that forum post about cases but I will when I have more time tomorrow.

Hello Coyote, it's not really about how big in Wattage a PSU is, there are really cheap 700W PSU (ie. Ultra), as there are really good 500-550W (ie. Antec Neo HE). All your pieces are connected and powered by the PSU, you do not want it to fail and blow up the motherboard or anything, right?

For the RAM, frequency has the biggest impact on most applications. At the same frequency, you want to go for the lowest timings. You are better with DRR2-1066 @ 5-5-5-15 than DDR2-800 @ 4-4-4-12. But it is your budget.

 

[will]

Thanks everybody for your suggestions. I looked some more at the store's website and found these things:
instead of buying the OCZ DDR2 Reaper 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 800MHZ CL4 (OCZ2RPR800C44GK),
they also have the OCZ DDR2 ReaperX 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 1000MHZ CL5 (OCZ2RPX10004GK) but it's 17% more expensive. I'm not sure it's worth the extra cash.
They have the G.SKILL DDR2 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 1000MHZ CL5 (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ)
and the G.SKILL DDR2 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 800MHZ CL4 (F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK) as well (both are cheaper than both the OCZ kits).
I'm a little confused - what has the bigger importance: frequency or CL & timings?

Also, I was planning on putting all this system inside a HEC Compucase 6AR6 or 6A19 case.
I'm guessing you guys are gonna tell me to spend more money on a Thermaltake case but is it really worth all the money? I'm trying to keep the budget from going too far...
I'm also still not sure why would I need a better/stronger PSU. How strong should it be? 450W? 500? 550? more?
I still didn't read that forum post about cases but I will when I have more time tomorrow.

Out of those I would get the g.skill 1000mhz cl5 kit, especially if its cheaper than the ocz. Generally frequency is more important in ram than latency, the 1000mhz cl5 kit would feel a lot faster than the 800mhz cl4 kit. Also higher freuency ram lets you overclock higher if your running a 1:1 ratio.
Definitely get a good PSU, its more about quality than wattage, go with a good brand. there's a good psu guide on the TPU forums somewhere, find that and read it!
cases are not that important but it can be really annoying if you have a cheap one (with poor build quality) and you change hardware a lot. a good relatively cheap case is the coolermaster cm-690, its really good quality but i dont know how much more expensive it is than the case you're planning on getting. also don't forget you will probably have to look at your computer a lot if its on your desk or something so make sure you like the look/design of it!

 

[coyote1982]

Thanks a lot Will. I was hoping you'd tell me to go with the cheaper, faster G. Skill Kit. My PC is usually placed on the floor (I have wall to wall carpet in my room) and the only visible side is the front. I currently have a case that has a very powerful blue power LED and I hate it cause I can't keep it on when I sleep. I like HEC's (Compucase) designs because they are clean, simple and don't have annoying LEDs. The inside is also built with high quality materials and good engineering (Silicon rings to prevent the HD from touching the cage, Detachable cages, Aluminium case, etc.) and it's still a cheap case.
I'm going to buy the PC tomorrow so all I really need to find is my PSU and we're done!
Thank you all for helping me and stay tuned for updates in about a couple of days when I get my new system up and running

EDIT: I was looking into CPU heatsinks as suggested by vexen and found this one: Scythe MINE Rev.B. It got 87% overall rating on frostytech.com, and it's pretty cheap. The question is, is it a good buy?
Also, I followed the PSU calculator but not really sure I did right. Anyway, I got to 439W recommended PSU Wattage. That doesn't sound like a lot.
I still have about 25 PSU models with 400W-550W to pick from. Most of them are very expensive and I'm not sure which one I should buy. Should I write all the models right here? it's a pretty long list...