GA -P35-DS3L mobo questions

[vegetto]

So it's time to go out and buy a new computer for me. However, I haven't been keeping up with the latest info and reviews on mobos. From what I understand, initially, c2d chips' multipliers are locked up and down. However, some googling has informed me that last year, asus released a bios capable of changing the cpu multipliers. I could not find more recent information regarding those advances and whether other manufacturers followed suit. From what I have read from recent reviews, many of those boards answer yes to "cpu multiplier adjustment".
Example link:http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/31/x38_comparison_part_1/page10.html

My question is boils down to "is that for all c2d processors, or just applicable to the x6800 series that allows adjustments by default?" I'm currently looking towards the GA -P35-DS3L mobo because of the price and it's reputation in ocing. Probably paired up with e2160 /e4500. If I cannot change cpu multi than this would obviously affect my purchase decision, as there is less freedom in tweaking with the numbers for max cpu clock and fsb simultaneously.

Any help would be appreciated. As my previous set up had been a amd64 3400+ whose multi is unlocked downwards, I assumed all cpus adopted the same stance which is incorrect.

 

[akhilles]

C2D/C2Qs are upward-locked & downward-unlocked.

Xtreme & ES are totally unlocked. Hence, the price tags. ES is not for sale.

A good P35 board will let you o/c C2D with lower than rated multiplier. Same for DS3L. I have one. You have to press CTRL F1 in bios then go to MIT menu.

 

[vegetto]

Excellent! So based on this, I could buy an e4600 with 12x multi, then raise the fsb slowly and when I hit a wall, most probably the cpu at first, bump it down and keep going, correct?

Also, which memory would be suitable along with this setup?
I see a lot of DDR2 800 ram with the same price right now, most of which have MIR.
In case you're wondering, http://www.memoryexpress.com/Produc...RAM(ME)/DesktopDDR2_PC2-6400(ME)/Default.aspx is the site where I will be primarily buying many of my components. If anyone can recommend a better place that is able to ship to western Canada, that would be great.

Edit: Oh forget to mention my budget is about $80 cdn for 2GB ram.

 

[akhilles]

Yep. Or you can raise vcore or nb/mch volt to gain stability. Or you can skip the fsb strap from i.e. 299mhz to 351mhz with a lower multiplier if the strap is 300-350mhz. How time has passed. The e4600 has 12x multi:

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sspec=sla94

I buy from ncix.com. They have bi-weekly sales. These are good chioces for o/cing:

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24641&vpn=BL2KIT12864AA804&manufacture=CRUCIAL%20TECHNOLOGY&promoid=1016
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24926&vpn=BL2KIT12864AL804&manufacture=CRUCIAL%20TECHNOLOGY&promoid=1016
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=23691&promoid=1016

If you must shop at ME, get any of these:

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX14500(ME).aspx
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX14498(ME).aspx

I have the Ballistix that goes up to 11xxMhz.

 

[truehighroller]

What do you mean by the strap part? I have my E4400 @ 9X350 Which is stable. I can get 365 most but, not stable. I have a GA-P35-DQ6 and know about the mch voltage and all but, this whole straps thing is still aluding me. Not hijacking just curious.

 

[vegetto]

I just googled "fsb strap" and a quick analogy would be a situation similar to ram. The northbridge has a clock of its own. This is calculated as (original cpu multi) / (current cpu multi) * fsb. To run higher clocks, it must use different sets of latencies, like loosening timings on ram for higher frequencies. This has a performance hit. ie. You might actually be better off sitting at 400 MHz fsb than 401 MHz.

In akhilles' example, the strap starts at 300 until 350 MHz. Your cpu can go as high as 330 MHz for example. But the rest of your setup is able to go farther. So you reduce your multi, and bump the fsb past 350, rather than stay in that zone. Hopefully I got the right idea, if I screwed up somewhere, feel free to correct these statements.

Now that you brought up the concept of fsb strap, how does one go about finding where it occurs? I assume you do tests and keep comparing, trying to find a trend. If so, what would one use, just any benchmarking software?

Oh and I'd just like to thank-you akhilles for your help so far. I've decided on the GA-P35-DS3L with e2180 and Crucial Ballistix Tracers (cheap thrills for 5 more dollars than plain Ballistix).

 

[truehighroller]

I have the tracers ddr2 1066 2x 1gb. They are good shi7. I have my E4400 running at 9x 355 so, I think I am right over the hump. I seen a couple of times on post that the next hump is 350-400, 401 being the next step. I just didn't fully grasp the whole concept till you just told me thank you. I am getting a E6750 in a week you can buy my month old E4400 for cheap if you got cash for it. I have lapped it already.

 

[albenza]

Umm.. Sry for interrupting here but from what I have been reading here on THG the ASUS P5K series is better for OC'ing than the Gigabyte P35. you may wan't to take a look at this post before deciding.
For the record. I have no hands on experience with any of these boards (yet).

 

[truehighroller]

Yah they are crap. That is the one I almost bought and it has obvious flaws considering you can't have a raid0 setup on it with sata2 drives that are western digital. I must say also that my board will crush that board and make it beg for mercy. lol and besides I just checked that link out that is just people talking about them look at this link. http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/06/19/eight_p35-ddr2_motherboards_compared/page21.html