Buying an I7 920 for Overclocking

[Razaroth]

Well, assuming that the prices on the I7 arent going down any time soon, im finally giving in. I'm going to buy an I7 920, on an Asus P6T motherboard. 6gb of 1600mhz ram (2gbx3 triple channel), water cooling, 2x 500gb hard drives (in raid 0) and a geforce gtx 260.

Im buying this rig basically for a couple things. I want to overclock it to 3.8ghz or 3.99ghz with complete stability, and being able to not reach high temps.

My questions are these: Will 1600mhz ram be good enough for the overclocking? also, what strength power supply would handle all of these needs?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jonpaul37]

First, that RAM should be fine, especially if it is a decent brand (G Skill, OCZ, Corsair), Second, you'll DEFINATELY (and i cannot stress that word enough) want a quality power supply. Corsair, PC Power & Cooling would both be nice choices. With a good quality power supply, you'll only need like a 600w PSU. Hope this helps

 

[RJR]

Im buying this rig basically for a couple things. I want to overclock it to 3.8ghz or 3.99ghz with complete stability, and being able to not reach high temps.

The OC and Ram shouldn't be a problem at all, and I presume when you state watercooling that you are talking about a custom setup with a single cpu loop and at least a triple radiator, if that's the case you should be good to go.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

1. No need for water cooling at 4.00 Ghz.....running 4.4 at low fan speeds now on Prolimatech Megashadow.

2. MoBos:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

3. Grab these if still in stock:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226050&Tpk=998691

4. What are you expecting out of RAID ? If you'll be doing intensive database work, it's worthwhile......if for gaming and you're expecting more than 2-7% performance increase, I don't think you'll be happy.

5. A 650 watt PSU is more than enough. The Antec SG-650 is the one to beat:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article880-page6.html

The Antec Signature 650 performs better electrically in most areas than any other PSU that's been through the SPCR test bench. Voltage regulation, AC ripple, energy efficiency, power factor, cooling — not a single measured parameter was less than excellent. The build quality matches its electrical performance; we've never seen better. The technological advancements — such as the ingenuity of the physical / cooling design, the use of DC-to-DC conversion for the sub-12V lines, and PWM fan control — deserve to be lauded. This is no me-too product, but a declaration of innovation in a field rife with copycats.....The Antec Signature 650 really is a statement, it's Antec's challenge to the overpopulated computer power supply world: Here's our best, go ahead and match that if you can.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=113

Antec knocked the ball out of the park with the SG-850, and repeated the feat with the SG-650. I simply haven't met a unit that can outperform these units, and my challenge from last time seems to have gone unanswered so far

 

[Razaroth]

Thanks for all the quick responses.

I found a built (premade etc) i7 920 with all the specs i said at cyberpowerpc.com. so, i figured itd save me the trouble and chances of screwing up for 100 or so, and would give me a semi warranty, so i thought to go with that.

The water cooling they would provide is the "Asetek LCLC 120", which seems to be a cheap model, but im not planning to go hardcore to 4.4 gighz or higher. Although its cheap, i figured itd handle the job.

The entire rig seems too cheap to be true, so i thought i couldnt wait. However, i decided id have to do some research/figuring on the parts first.

 

[RJR]

I wouldn't even count on 4.0 GHz if you want good temps.

You better also select your hardware carefully, they will stick you with a underpowered no name PSU and other off brand parts if you don't upgrade them. How do you think they sell them so cheap. Once you go with good parts the price seems to skyrocket, then it doesn't seem like that great a deal at all.

 

[Razaroth]

i dont know. ive bought 3 computers from them in the past, and all the parts i got were very quality. computers have lasted for years now, and the ram they sent on all of them were corsair or OCZ. i trust them for parts, im just worried about the cooling / overclocking mostly.

 

[Rustyy117]

The watercooling that comes with that prebuilt PC is rubbish, You'll have a very hard time pushing 4ghz with that.

Better off with high quality air cooling, or invest alot of time in research about watercooling and get a quality custom loop.

RJR is right about Prebuilt PC's alot come with Poor quality PSU's, RAM and Motherboards. I personally would only ever build my own

 

[jonpaul37]

Oh man, shoulda listened to my post earlier about the PSU... I was the first to reply here... anyway, think about it in terms of this, a good quality PSU will last you the longest and may serve you throughout 2-3 different Rigs.

Cyberpower will throw in a no-name brand PSU and charge you Corsair prices, so i ask you, why would you not take my advice and buy the Corsair PSU and not worry about putting other hardware at risk?