I've decided after 4 or so years that I might finally upgrade. I tend to do this... Put up with old builds until I want burn them! So anyway, my lady is getting my P4 and I'm upgrading. This is what I'm thinking...
I've got everything else bar the PSU. Also, I hear the 920s overclock no worries to around 3.6Ghz... So here are my questions.
1. Is the proposed build ok for overclocking? 2. What CPU cooling should I get if I'm OCing (obviously not going to use the stock)? 3. What PSU should I get? I was thinking I'd need at least 750w to run the 4870x2 - but I don't know much about this stuff. 4. Is there anything I'd be better off doing with the build to take advantage of the new tech (Core i7)? Any bottlenecks you can see?
I'm going get all this happening around mid to late January so I've got a bit of time to think about what's what.
1. The mobo you've chosen is great for overclocking - lots of power option flexibility and solid capacitors. 2. Stock cooling will be fine for small overclocks. A 2.4GHz Core2Duo can do 3GHz on standard cooling with just a 5 degrees celsius increase. The i7's have just as much leg room. 3. 750w should be ample. Just make sure you're buying a good unit, esspecially if you're overclocking (eg. Seasonic or other high efficiency brands/models) 4. *shrugs :P Looks kick-arse to me.
OK... I've done a bit more research and this is what I've come up with.
1. Found a 750w Thermaltake ToughPower PSU at MSY for "79 which I think is good bang for buck. Reviews look good. What do you guys think?
2. Was thinking about the Noctua NH-C12P CPU Cooler (with appropriate new socket adapter). It looks like I can safely overclock the 920 to the 4Ghz mark, but I want the thing to last a while so I'm getting some decent cooling. So will it be sufficient for what I want to do?
3. Is the 300 case suitable or do I need to get the 900? Will everything fit?
By overclocking your CPU off the bat, you're only going to shorten its lifespan. Considering how crazy-powerful these CPU's already are, I think it would be foolish and unnecessary to be cranking it up so high straight away.
I personally would leave it at its stock speed until the time comes you're feeling you'd like some extra grunt. Then throw it up to 4GHz.
Erm, ok. Might leave the overclocking til later then...
I hope the card fits... I'll guess we'll just see what we see. I just put a 9800GTX in a three hundred case for a mate... fit no worries. I know the 4870X2s are bigger, but are they taller?
Intel's Core i7: Blazing Fast, But Crippled O/C : Eight Virtual Cores Through Hyper-Threading
Quote: Clocked at 3.20 GHz, the Core i7 Extreme is currently Intel’s fastest processor: in our benchmark suite, this new performance heavyweight is an incredible 165% faster on average than AMD’s flagship model. It also pulls ahead of its own predecessor, the Core 2 Extreme QX9770, by 25%.