Review My Build! + Overclocking Help!

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Glad to help. :)

Keep in mind that the Q6600 is a quad, and the Anandtech review was for a dual-core. With a quad, the cooler has to work harder. Here's a comment from a guy who bought the Freezer at newegg:

Pros: This cooler is a great buy for the price for those who wish to do mild-to-medium overclocks on their CPU's. And those who don't wish to do an overclock, but just wanna extend the life of their CPU, this heatsink/cooler this the product for you! It does a good job off cooling in these situations.

Cons: For those heavy overclockers out there, this isn't the CPU cooler you'd wanna buy. It's can't keep a heavily overclocked CPU cool like some of the other companies can do out there.

Other Thoughts: So like I said, it depends on what type of computer you're building on whether this is the CPU for you. If you plan on doing no overclocking or mild-to-medium overclocking, this is a good cooler for you. But if you plan on doing some hardcore overclocking, I'd recommend going with an more high-end cpu cooling setup. My current system specs: Q6600 @ 3.2Ghz(idle 44C, at maximum load 65C using Prime95), GA-P35-DS3l, 2GB Corsair RAM, 8800GT OC 512MB, 620W PSU, 320GB WD 7200RPM, and a Apevia X-Cruiser-BK computer case. I am a more hard core overclocker, so in my case, I wish I would of gone with a more high-end CPU cooler, I think I've pushed the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro to it's limit at 3.2Ghz of an overclock, without CPU temps getting too hot.

Another one:
Pros: This cooler is very good to use with a q6600. I overclocked it to 3.0ghz and 30C Idle and 47C at full load. Fits nice in my antec 900 and is not expensive at all.

and this one is too good so I don't really believe it:

Pros: Sony 32"" HTDV/Thermaltake Tsunami/Antec True Power Trio TP3-650/Q6600 G0 2.4 OC @ 3.6/ABIT IP35 Pro/CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2-800 OC @ DDR-960/ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro/WD Caviar 16MB SataIIx160GB Raid 0/Pioneer 2x20X DVD±R/SAPPHIRE 194L Radeon X1650 /AS 5 Thermal Compound Keep my CPU extremely cool without any overheating issue. It's just plain and simple to install. I don't know how people complain that they cut themselves so on and so forth. BUY THIS ONE. IT'S THE BEST AND I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S DIRT CHEAP COMPARE TO THIS AWESOME PERFORMANCE.

Cons: NONE

Other Thoughts: WILL BUY 1 MORE JUST FOR A SPARE.

I'm not saying the guy lied, with his Q6600 at 3.6 GHz on a Freezer 7, but he either keeps a very low ambient temperature or he hasn't done the stability testing properly yet and he may discover issues later. Still, for 3.2 you should be fine IMO.


 
You've been a huge help. Guess since I already bought it, might aswell try out the Artic.

My final question is, which OS?

Xp
Vista 32 bit
Vista 64 bit

What would work best with my system. To tell you the truth, I'm tired of XP and looking at Vista. I have played around with it and love the new little features. Not to mention it is the future, so might as well take the step now. But which version and why? What is the difference (32bit or 64bit)

Thanks,
 
Yeah, I think Vista is the way to go, now that the service pack is ready. XP is still a few frames per second better in games, but with an 8800GT you don't have to care. I still like XP, but they will stop making security updates for it one of these days. The only reason to still buy XP now is to support old devices with no Vista drivers or old programs that don't have any Vista-compatible versions or cost a lot to upgrade.

Between the 32-bit and 64-bit Vista: 64-bit lets you see all 4 GB of RAM and (later) upgrade to 8 GB, while with the 32-bit you will only see 3.5 GB and that's it even if you do buy 4 more GB. No idea if this is important to you, but it might become important in time as programs get more and more bloated. Apart from that, there's nothing different and important AFAIK. For example Microsoft awards certifications for drivers only if they pass tests on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. That means the 64-bit Vista has the same chances of working properly as the 32-bit Vista.
 
Well you've been a huge help Aevm =)
Since you seem to know what you're talking about, I was wondering if you could recomend me any good speakers. I've been going bonkers trying to find a good 2.1 speaker set. I've been looking at the Logitech Z 2300, but for the price I just can't see myself buying them. So more or less I am looking for a speaker set that will get me the most bang for my buck. Since there is so many types, I don't know what to chose. When I look for review's, most talk about the high end speakers. Like I said I just want a decent set that will give the most bang for my buck.
If anyone could help me out with this please =)

(The final peice in my computer puzzle =P)
 


Hello

I have the same motherboard and cpu thtat you have. i am not sure what steping you have got. Mine is G0 and it is very easy to oc. i am now at 2.8 on stock cooling. Under cpu stress test the highest core can only go 42 C. Idle temperature is between 23( hottest core) and 16 (the coolest core). You can achieve 3.2 with a decent after market cooler.

One advice to you is: regardless of what cooler you use, pay special attention to cpu installation. use AS5 all over the cpu. never raise the voltage unless you need to. the voltage can shoot up the cpu temp quickly.

Good luck.


 
Idle temperature of 16??? Even the best air cooling solutions can't do that unless the room temperature is less than 16. Man, you'll get a pneumonia, be careful :)

About the cooler: I've been reading great things about a cooler called Xigmatek. I can't find it at the usual Canadian e-tailers, unfortunately.
 
Well I decided to go ahead and get the Logitech Z 5300-e. I picked them up for $105 while the Z-2300 were $130. So even though I didn't want/need surround, for that price I had to pick them up.
 



i quote the reading from core temp.
 


Core Temp tells me something like 35/35/31/33 degrees at idle, with 24 ambient. It's also a Q6600 G0. TBH your numbers sound too good by about 15 degrees. I vaguely remember reading something about a TJunction thing in some versions of CoreTemp that could explain that. It doesn't matter anyway.

$105 for Z-5300s is VERY NICE 😍
Just so you know, a 5.1 set has so many wires, you'll get bored before you install them all :lol:
 
Would you guys know what type of cables I would need to extend the speakers? Need about 2 - 20ft wires to extend the speakers to the end of the room. Anyone know what type I need?