Shall I upgrade?

[turok_t]

and the 4GB ram kit?!

Additional Comment:

Okay, after ALOT of thinking and budgetting, here's what I arrived at. All prices are in CAD:

System 1
Core i5 750 ($205)
eVGA P55 ATX ($220)
Corsair XMS3 2x2GB ($152)
Corsair TX850 ($130)

TOTAL = $770

System 2
Core i7 920 D0 ($309...$270 if im lucky)
Gigabyte UD3R ($170)
OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-12800/ 1600MHz / Platinum XTC / Triple Channel Kits ($170)
Corsair TX850 ($130)

TOTAL: $779.....$740 if im lucky on the 920

So i think im going to opt for System 2 since its cheaper, slightly faster with HT, triple channel, upgrade potential and higher longevity, and doesnt have the FOXCON socket problem unlike P55 boards when overclocking at high speeds.

When the 5850 becomes more widespread, i might pick up one of those too.

So tell me, what do you guys think about my decision? Should the PSU be sufficient for my 920 build considering i will be OC'ing and getting the 5850? Thanks again for all your assistance, I appreciate it alot.

[LennyRhys]

The X58 system looks great but you shouldn't need to buy a new PSU...the 700W you already have is fine. That's $130 less to pay.

[turok_t]

Here's the thing.. i managed all my PSU cables already on my old computer and it took me days to rearrange since i modded my case and planned out my cable management really well. If i use my old psu, then my old computer would need a new psu, so might as well jsut get a new psu.

So the PSU should good for my X58 right?

Hows the ram? ppl use different kind of ram and there isnt really one that is popular.

[turok_t]

Actually, im going to switch the PSU to a Corsair 750HX because its modular.. 750 should be enough for ocing my CPU and for Xfire/SLI right??

Also, when looking at benchmarks and results, people use various mobos and ram and i cant find one that seems to be "popular" among overclockers. Does this mean that any mobo and ram can do well? How would u know which ones to pick??

[Chickenfeed]

The HX750 would be perfectly fine.

As far as ram, you honestly don't even need anything above 1066 on X58 given the 3rd channel is largely overkill for a desktop system. However most of the ram being sold is 1600 so you may as well find the cheapest compatible kit unless you really give a crap about timmings ( and trust me the extra 20-50 you'd pay for tighter timmings isn't worth it unless you are into benchmarking )
Basically as far as real world usage and games go, high speed / low timming memory is wasteful on X58.

I'm personally a big fan of Corsair as they have the best support in the industry bar none. I'm also from Canada and usually dealing with US based companies and warrenty service is a total gongshow so when one actually steps up and makes it painless, I do take notice. NCIX often have a bundle discount on some DDR3 Corsairs dimms so keep an eye out for that.

As far as the UD3, it is basically a UD5 without the 3rd PCIE slot and a couple other minor differences. Givien how well the UD5 has done, I'd say it is a safe bet ( this is my first GB board and I'm quite impressed ; I've owned a DFI, EVGA and 2 ASUS prior to this )

The only other consideration you've lefted out is a cooling choice. There a good few out there but I'll let you do your own research and make up your own mind where that is concerend. With any luck you should be able to do 4-4.2ghz on air with a decent D0 ( even with hyperthreading ) You can do 3.2 on the stock cooler but beyond that you will need aftermarket cooling.

[turok_t]

Thanks for your reply ChickenFeed

1. Well, my main concern with the ram is whether it will limit my CPU overclock or not. Ram timings are important to me, but I want some good ram that will NOT limit my i7 920 overclock. Im torn between OCZ platinum 7-7-7-24 and Corsair memory. Im not sure which one to go by tho my research indicates equal votes for each one.

2. Also, im getting mixed suggestions about the PSU. Many people say that Corsair 750 should be enough, others say that u need at least an 850W. Ive also used many PSU calculators including the one from corsair and antec and they vary from 650W -1000W!! How do i know which one is accurate?

Oh ill be using stock cooler at first and then when i overclock ill be using watercooling. I wont dare oc my 920 until i get proper cooling.

[Chickenfeed]

A 750 will be more than enough even for a highly clocked I7 and 2 5870s. It is always wise to account for capcitor age as well as the rated power dimishes over a PSUs lifetime. (see below)

As far as ram goes, PC12800 *should* be adequete. At 200blck ( reasonably obtainable with these x58 GB boards ) at a 20-21 multi you'll hit 4-4.2ghz and if you keep turbo on another 200Hz in most cases. With water, you'll likely be limited by your cpu / board before the cooling holds you back. If you think you want extra head room a slightly faster kit wouldn't kill you however it may not be necessary ( thus a waste ) Both the OCZ and Corsair are good bets just be sure to check the respective forums to ensure capability.

By the way I like this PSU calculator myself : HERE

As an example I filled it out based on a system simliar to mine at 100% TDP and 100% system load ( something that is completely worst case and would never happen ) and 20% capcitor aging ( couple years use ) using 2 HDs, 6usb devices, 3 DDR3 Dimms, a highend x58 board, a 920 at 4Ghz / 1.3V, a single 5870 1gb, 8 120MM fans, a sound card and a MCP 655 pump. It still only suggested a 654watt psu. So suggesting you'd need a 850+ with a single 5850 is just batsh1t crazy...

Now it is always wise to have some headroom as running a psu near its limits for extended peroids is usually not a great idea. That said any quality 750watt psu is more than enough for your proposed system with some room to spare. For 2 5870s, I'd personally roll with an 850 ( I have my eye on the HX850 myself ) for the above reason but unless you get into a tri / quad gpu setup ups 1kw + psus are complete and utter wastes of money and space for the average enthusiast system.



Hope that helps

[turok_t]

Thanks for your reply Chickenfeed

Okay, so after reading your reply, I think I can finally finalize my system now..


Im going to get the Corsair 850HX since its only $20 more at Newegg, because I want to be safe than sorry, especially since Im going to OC under water and I might be getting Nvidia's Fermi when it comes out (of 5850's in Xfire). In terms of the memory, I think im going to stick with OCZ platinum/XTC 7-7-7-24 (OCZ3P1600LV6GK) since its alot cheaper than Corsair (~$40-$70 more). Also, I live close to the OCZ warehouse so if theres any problems or need for RMA, i can always go there and quickly exchange my ram.

For now, im going to stick with Gigabyte UD3R as the mobo. If another X58 mobo (ie. Asus P6T, EVGA X58) goes on sale during black friday or boxing day, then ill get that instead since they will prob have 6 slots dimm as opposed to the UD3R which only has 4 slots.. Good for future upgrade incase if I need it.

Oh btw, this question may be a side topic, but does anyone still remove their IHS (integrated heat spreader) from their core i7 cpu's to reduce temps and increase overclock? I did that for my opty 165 and my temp's dropped drastically!
.

[turok_t]

Hey guys, so i finally got my system and here are my final specs:

Core i7 920
EVGA X58 3-SLI (132-BL-E758-A1)
Corsair XMS3 Dominator 6GB (8-8-8-24)
Corsair 850HX
BFG 9800GT and EVGA 9800GT

Ive seen a significant increase in FPS in most of my games now compared to my old opty. So everything is left at stock settings in the BIOS right now, but sometimes when i play UT3 or Far Cry 2, my computer freezes and I need to restart my computer. When i do restart, the computer doesnt see my second SLI card (BFG 9800GT) in control panel unless if i shutdown and reseat the card in the PCI-E 16X socket. All my drivers are up to date.

Does anyone know why this problem is happening and how to rectify this issue?

[firerx]

makke sure you memory is set to 1.65v, and the timing are on standard, manually set to manufacturer specs. that should fix it. on the GPU drivers, bump back to pre 191.07 drivers. the 191.xx and up has had issues lately.

[turok_t]

makke sure you memory is set to 1.65v, and the timing are on standard, manually set to manufacturer specs. that should fix it. on the GPU drivers, bump back to pre 191.07 drivers. the 191.xx and up has had issues lately.

Yes, all my RAM timings and voltages are set at stock. Has anyone had the same issues before?

[Peen]

750W is more then enough, I ran Quad core and crossfire with a little 430W antec

And, get the 920 no doubt

[turok_t]

750W is more then enough, I ran Quad core and crossfire with a little 430W antec

And, get the 920 no doubt

I dont know how that relates to the question I have asked.

[Peen]

Switch the cards around maybe pin it to a faulty card.

just making a point that people always ask if there PSU is enough, and that I ran 430w quad+cfire with no probs

edit: sorry a bit drunk

[turok_t]

Here are some of the suggestions I have tried but failed to work:



1. I used an older NVIDIA driver.
2. I swapped the cards but the problem still persists.
3. Instead of using PCI-E #1 and #3, i used PCI-E #1 and #5.



Anyone?

[turok_t]

So it has been 3 days of problem solving for me, and guess what? I finally fixed the problem

So as I was trying out each video card individually, my BFG kept on showing artifacts and freezing. So i removed it, took off the stock heat sink and guess what? Half of the die was in contact with the heatsink (the thermal paste imprint on the heatsink did not match that of the die). I remmebered when i used to watercool this 9800GT in my old system, i coated it with arctic silver 5. When, i removed it, i had no arctic silver 5 left so i scraped the remains on the waterblock and applied it on the chip. Apparently, the layer was too thin and thats why it wasnt in good contact with the stock heatsink which explains why all games freeze at the very beginning when the GPU was under load, and why this card heated up to 84C as indicated in GPU-Z...... I cant believe its finally fixed now.. i thought it was hopeless