i7950,930 or sand bridge???

[OCBalmang]

Anyone else in this predicament where they can't decide to take there new build? i recently pretty much hit a wall with my qx9650, at 4.1GHZ able to finish 32M but not prime95, 4.02 stable 24/7. Here's my problem i want to be on top of the future as far as it goes, and i'm not sure if i should land a new i7 build which would be a first for me never oc'ed an i7 or wait for the arrival of the sandy bridge and have the possibility of landing the first bad batch lol!... need anyone in put im working with about 2500$$-3000$ resources.... anyone have a build or suggestions? please feel free to leave a post in this thread or contact me at one of my IM addresses.

Thanks as always to my XS family!!

[xsbb]

Upgrade your heatsink. The Zalman CNPS9900NT will not be able to handle a quad at 4Ghz. Talk to the aircooling section of this forum.
I think the only thing holding you back is temperatures. Drop those and overclock some more.

The only other suggestion would be to upgrade to a higher quality PSU. Refurbished and coolermaster?
That's like using second hand discount tires on a Ferrari.
Seasonic X-series?

Upgrade the heatsinks on mosfets, northbridge, southbridge on your motherboard.

It's a shame to see a QX9650 ONLY 4Ghz so much potential trapped

No need to spend a few thousand. Only a couple of hundred to unleash that beast.

[OCBalmang]

yup i yoinked the coolermaster 650W for free i replaced the fan which died in it was all lol, but i know theres more potential in the qx9650 but i just dont want to spend a lot of money where i am stuck 2-3 years ago... also i'd like to upgrade to something recent to get a different more advanced view on overclocking and broaden what i've learned so far..

[the_real_7]

Upgrade your heatsink. The Zalman CNPS9900NT will not be able to handle a quad at 4Ghz. Talk to the aircooling section of this forum.
I think the only thing holding you back is temperatures. Drop those and overclock some more.

The only other suggestion would be to upgrade to a higher quality PSU. Refurbished and coolermaster?
That's like using second hand discount tires on a Ferrari.
Seasonic X-series?

Upgrade the heatsinks on mosfets, northbridge, southbridge on your motherboard.

It's a shame to see a QX9650 ONLY 4Ghz so much potential trapped

No need to spend a few thousand. Only a couple of hundred to unleash that beast.

Agreed xsbb

[pogiman]

I am very happy with my 9650. I just came across a i5 760 for really cheap so I might go and try this new build out. I can sell my old system and I will get money back after I finish the new one. The only reason is money for me. If my current 9650 system is worth less and I had to shell out money for a Ci system, I wouldnt do it. But since its the reverse, I get money in return and the newer parts will have a higher resale value years later when C2D is completely gone like the P4.

[xsbb]

yup i yoinked the coolermaster 650W for free i replaced the fan which died in it was all lol, but i know theres more potential in the qx9650 but i just dont want to spend a lot of money where i am stuck 2-3 years ago... also i'd like to upgrade to something recent to get a different more advanced view on overclocking and broaden what i've learned so far..

If you really want to be learn, you have to be able to push what you have to it's limits. Like i mentioned earlier, you are about 70% there with your current setup. You only need to upgrade a few things, and really sit down and tweak everything. That setup of yours has a lot of potential. You seem to be giving up and want to go the easy route.

If you really want to spend thousands, your money is yours.
If you really want to learn how to push your setup, you have come to the right forum.

Like I said, you're only 70% there.
Once you learn what are the things holding back your setup, and eliminate it one by one, you won't need to switch to an i7 or sandy bridge just yet.

You have a diamond in your hands, just need to polish it up a bit


Before you upgrade to a newer equipment, get your system stable first and really learn what makes it unstable.
You have to learn the foundations of overclocking and stability.
Temp too hot? Not enough voltage? GTLREF adjustments? need mosfet cooling? too much ripple/low quality on PSU? etc.
Learn Learn Learn and master driving the Mazda Miata before Jumping into a Ferrari Enzo



List to start you off
------------------------------------------
Upgrade your heatsink. The Zalman CNPS9900NT will not be able to handle a quad at 4Ghz. Talk to the aircooling section of this forum.
I think the only thing holding you back is temperatures. Drop those and overclock some more.

The only other suggestion would be to upgrade to a higher quality PSU. Refurbished and coolermaster?
That's like using second hand discount tires on a Ferrari.
Seasonic X-series?

Upgrade the heatsinks on mosfets, northbridge, southbridge on your motherboard.

It's a shame to see a QX9650 ONLY 4Ghz so much potential trapped

No need to spend a few thousand. Only a couple of hundred to unleash that beast.
----------------------------

[RPGWiZaRD]

I wouldn't upgrade to a Bloomfield at least, like every1 else start by swapping cooler for your current setup and use it a bit longer, it aint so bad. Sandy Bridge might be worth it later on but you could always wait a while until the chips matures and see pros & cons of different motherboards etc. The greatest thing about SB seems to be the overclockability, looks like 5GHz on air isn't out of reach (maybe not for all samples but for some).

[sin0822]

I was going to say wait until sandybridge matures. Honestly its going to change overclocking, its probabaly going to be more expensive to overclock, and in the beginning you wont see happy campers, unless of course you can buy a K series processor.

[OCBalmang]

i love the feedback i'm getting back about my CPU but honestly it would be great if someone could help me learn how to understand the timings on my memory so i can get more potential out of this CPU and of course ill address the cooling. my contact info is available id really like to hear from people on how i can change the timings to become more stable with higher processing speed, maybe using my multiplier a bit..

[Cursed_Wings]

yeah, no real reason to go i7 with what you currently have, but I'd hold off for at least a good year after SB's released to see where it stands (there's no question it'll be faster at similar clocks, but cost and overclockability are really just ??? atm). wasn't it also mentioned that intel wants to charge for unlocking the stock clock for some version of SB too?