Final comp spec

[flamethrower205]

Hey guys, I think I settled on what I finally want as my computer, just thought I'd get your input on this:

CPU: QX6700
HS: Zalman 9700
RAM: 2x1GB DDR2 667, 4-4-4-4-12 timings
Motherboard: nForce 680i
HDD0: 2x150GB Raptor
Video Card: GeForce 8800GTX
Case: ABS Stealth CS-05A2BL
PSU: 700W OCZ

I have a preorder on the quad core, so I'm not buying the parts until it ships (which is why I don't have specific brands for some of them). I plan to OC the quad core to 1333Mhz fsb. I figure having the 667 in dual channel yields 1 to 1 timings which should be optimal over 800Mhz DDR2.

What do you guys think?

 

[NMDante]

Nice stuff.

I am quite interested in the 680i mobo, myself. I read some pretty interesting reviews on it, and it has got me opening up my wallet a bit.

Otherwise, pretty nice gear you picked out.

 

[WR]

All your components seem top-of-the-line except for the RAM. Do yourself a service and get at least 800MHz CL4 or 1066MHz CL5 RAM.

According to the reviews, the 680i FSB easily breaks 470MHz, so 1:1 RAM timings would be established at 900MHz+. Ideally I'd get PC8000 CL4 for this to leave room for the following setup:

3.6GHz QX6700 (35% o/c)
FSB450, 8x multiplier
DDR2-900 4-4-4-10, 1:1

Of course, Kentsfield is still two glued Conroes, so heat would be an issue and you'd likely have to hold back the overclock a little lower. Thus DDR2-800 at CL4 would afford maximal value, I think, because you could test the limits at CL5 and then finalize at CL4 with an 8x or 9x multiplier.

 

[m25]

Of course, Kentsfield is still two glued Conroes, so heat would be an issue and you'd likely have to hold back the overclock a little lower. Thus DDR2-800 at CL4 would afford maximal value, I think, because you could test the limits at CL5 and then finalize at CL4 with an 8x or 9x multiplier.

Agree; you can't calculate it as a 1:1 ratio because there's 8M of cache in the middle and it has to communicate as fast as posible with the ram, independently from the FSB, so a dual 800MHz CL4 is considered the end of the world, be it a Core2 or AM2 CPU (the last is even more affected).
I am also thinking about heat issues; a lot of people have had problems even with dual cores, so what if we multiply the problem by 2 ?!

 

[flamethrower205]

I don't plan on ocing it very much. This workstation is probably going to get shut down once a week, and only to restart, so I want to minimize any overheating risks. I know just OCing the FSB will make it run hotter, but that is still cooler than if I pushed the proc to its limits.

 

[WR]

I don't plan on ocing it very much.

I see. You can still extract further performance with CL3 DDR667, which is not very expensive. Higher-binned RAM also remains stable at higher temperatures.

The overheating risk would really be at the CPU, not at the Northbridge (FSB) on the 680i, or the RAM running at specified voltages/timings.

Example:

Due to heat concerns you only wish to run the CPU at 3.33GHz.

Scenario1:
FSB 333, multiplier 10x = 3.33GHz
RAM 1:1 at DDR2-667 CL4

Scenario2:
FSB 370, multiplier 9x = 3.33GHz
RAM 1:1 at DDR2-740 CL4

Under the second scenario, the CPU's peak load temperature would remain the same, while memory and bus performance would increase by 11%, resulting in a speedup for many applications. The 680i is perfectly capable of handling this FSB overclock, and there are also higher-performing memory modules capable of even tighter timings.

I mention this because with 4 cores sharing one socket, it's even more likely than with dual-core to choke up at the memory/FSB.