i7 975 upgrade from i7 965? Is it worth it?

[varrius]

I'm currently running an i7 965 on a Rampage II Extreme.

It's overclocked to about 4.2 ghz on a coolermaster V8.

Does the D0 stepping offer any clock-for-clock performance gains?

is it worth the upgrade? I need some expert advice.

Or would it be better to go to an i7 920 D0?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I'm currently running an i7 965 on a Rampage II Extreme.

It's overclocked to about 4.2 ghz on a coolermaster V8.

Does the D0 stepping offer any clock-for-clock performance gains?

is it worth the upgrade? I need some expert advice.

Or would it be better to go to an i7 920 D0?

no clock for clock changes C0-D0.

Honestly with a moderately good air cooler like that and no water cooling you would probably get better results from an 920 D0 or 950... the 965 is heat limited right now, not clock limited.

[varrius]

What would be a better air cooler, in your opinion?

[highoctane]

Hard to say if its "worth it" which really depends on ones particular budget.

However the way I see it with watercooling or better you can basically use the brute force method of OC'ing with a C0 and just give it the juice it needs in general to push the clocks if you want, this would be difficult on air cooling.

However with a D0 from what I have seen should be able to achieve a higher clock at a lower vcore in general at a lower temp than with a C0 which may make D0 more ideal for air cooling in that regard.

If you have the budget for a 965 or 975 to begin with I would say go for it since the D0 has shown thus far to be an improvement over the C0's in OC'ing.

EDIT: Personally my weapon of choice would be a 920 D0 stepping, I personally just can't imagine spending so much on a cpu.

[justin.kerr]

I would not change anything, unless you could sell your 965 for a good price, and replace it with a 920 D0. Just from a financial standpoint. Performance, and heat with such a moderate OC is a mute issue.

[NaeKuh]

no clock for clock changes C0-D0.

u kidding me right?

D0;s all overclock higher on average.

Is it worth the upgrade? nope, no EE is ever worth an upgrade.

Are the 975's nice.. dayam straight they are.. i got a W3580 (xeon side) coming in soon.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

u kidding me right?

D0;s all overclock higher on average.

Is it worth the upgrade? nope, no EE is ever worth an upgrade.

Are the 975's nice.. dayam straight they are.. i got a W3580 (xeon side) coming in soon.

do you understand what clock for clock means?

4000mhz C0 == 4000mhz D0

now you know

[BulldogPO]

For extreme overclockin if is ofcourse good but offers bad value for money.
Best option for aircooling is still 920 D0.

[Splave]

seems the 975's are clocking quite similar to the 965's

[Falkentyne]

The OP is clearly not hurting for money, so for him, yes, it's worth the upgrade. He may be able to reach 4.7 ghz with a good chip with his cooling system. Some have already passed 4.7 ghz on D0's without needing sub zero.

But for the rest of us? clearly not.

The biggest advantage of the EE's are that BCLK walls won't affect you. That's important to some people.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Some have already passed 4.7 ghz on D0's without needing sub zero.

lol, yeah 4.7 for Super Pi and CPU-Z on air on a test bench in an air conditioned room

[NaeKuh]

do you understand what clock for clock means?

4000mhz C0 == 4000mhz D0

now you know

oh..

sorry snipe..

but the C0 @ 4.0 u can do 4.2+ on the d0 with less voltage.

you should know that.

seems the 975's are clocking quite similar to the 965's

only if a noob has one..

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

oh..

sorry snipe..

but the C0 @ 4.0 u can do 4.2+ on the d0 with less voltage.

you should know that.

yeah I do as I have a 920 D0 I have been playing with here at work. (and I have a 920 C0 at home )

the thing is a 920 D0 on air will clock the same as a 975 D0 on air. so going for $1,000 just for d0 stepping doesnt make sense when you can get it for $280

[NaeKuh]

i got a W3580 coming in too soon.

i hope to get 4.5 out of that... well lets see..

[jcniest5]

With money at your disposal, any latest technology is always worth an upgrade. For middle class people, no, the 975 is not worth upgrading (especially) from the 965. You are already at the top.

[Sparda]

The TDP is the same. More likely it will generate nearly same heat both C0 and D0 at same clock unless one want to believe less voltage means less heat on load since there unknown variable (current) pull out for the CPU. But obviously D0 has lots of headroom if the temp is in check. 4.4xGHz(HT on) @ 4.5xGHz(HT off) for 920 D0 for example.

[ReverendMaynard]

oh..
only if a noob has one..

Not sure of the relevance of your statement, but your clocks aren't really all that special.

Turn on HT, and use more than a 1/4 of your ram then you'll impress someone.

[varrius]

Well, money isn't an issue. However, I don't like to spend money stupidly.

So, if I did upgrade, from what was said here - I'd go with an i7 920.

I'm tired of buying EE processors. In this particular run (nehalem) they seem to be a waste of money.

I should've just used an i7 920 to begin with.

[jcool]

Not sure of the relevance of your statement, but your clocks aren't really all that special.

Turn on HT, and use more than a 1/4 of your ram then you'll impress someone.

Well how about this then



@OP: Seriously, forget about 4,7Ghz stable, let alone on air. Not possible.

4,2Ghz stable on air is already a great OC, especially for a C0/C1 i7. If you buy a 975 now you may get to 4,3Ghz or even 4,4 if you are insanely lucky, but you may also get the same 4,2Ghz you arleady have. I'd rather think about stepping up on the cooling if I were you, if that 965 handles 4,2 on air it will sure handle 4,3-4,4Ghz on water.

[varrius]

I have another question.

I am looking at the: Xeon W3520.

Are these generally better than the standard i7 920?

Also, will it work on a Rampage II Extreme.

Further, are all Xeon W3520's D0 stepping? Or is there some model number I need to watch for.

[jcool]

Yes, all W3520 are guarantueed D0, that's why they are currently the better/safer buy, and yes, it'll work on a RIIE.
Some say the Xeons also OC better in general, but I am not too sure about that. At the very least, they won't OC worse.

[ReverendMaynard]

Well how about this then

Pretty nice jcool.

[Splave]

Well how about this then



@OP: Seriously, forget about 4,7Ghz stable, let alone on air. Not possible.

4,2Ghz stable on air is already a great OC, especially for a C0/C1 i7. If you buy a 975 now you may get to 4,3Ghz or even 4,4 if you are insanely lucky, but you may also get the same 4,2Ghz you arleady have. I'd rather think about stepping up on the cooling if I were you, if that 965 handles 4,2 on air it will sure handle 4,3-4,4Ghz on water.

5ghz superpi is pretty good, my 920 does that though. My phase unit and 920 cost less than the 975 by about $400.

http://www.hwbot.org/result.do?resultId=849205

NAEKuh ES results mean nothing to me sorry. IMO they are a hype device that dont prove anything for better or worse

[jcool]

Insane 920!
And yeah I know the score sucks (ram in crawl mode), wanted to get 5Ghz 1M and ran out of time... this one's better, still totally untweaked tho.



BTT, I'd suggest either getting better cooling or a W3520/W3540.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

jcool watch out your CPU is at 255C!!!!!!!