Recommendations for C2D + P35 overclocking

[Mourngrym]

Hi!

I'm planning to buy a C2D system this summer. It will be used mainly for gaming, and my goal is to find the the highest stable overclock (translating to best gaming performance) with the components. Here is what I had in mind:

CPU: C2D E4300, E4400, E6320, or E6420
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, Asus P5K, or other P35 board (waiting for reviews)
Mem: Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - PC6400, 4-4-4-12@800Mhz, 2.1V
Cooler: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme or Tuniq Tower 120
GFX: GeForce 8800GTX

The memory seems to manage 950 Mhz@4-4-4-12 and 1120 Mhz@5-5-5-15 according to X-bits Labs:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/ddr2-800_2.html

So, which CPU do you think would give me the best overclocked gaming performance? The price difference between these four CPUs isn't too big of a deal for me. I'm leaning toward E6420 because of the 4 Mb cache and higher multipler than E6320.

I suppose I should be able to reach 3.2 GHz with these components, but it would be nice to reach about 3.4-3.6 GHz.

Any recommendations for P35 board? The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 looks promising. Links to overclocking results on P35 would be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Cheex]

If the price isn't that much of a concern...I would suggest the E6600 (best bang-for-buck processor available).

As for motherboard, I'm also considering getting the GA-P35-DS4.

Cooler = Tuniq Tower 120.

Memory is okay I guess (I'm not really a Corsair fan but they do make good memory).

GFX: I envy you. Go for the 8800GTX!!!



PS: Welcome to the forums!!

 

[Shimmishim]

july 22nd is the next price cut... if you can wait until then, the Q6600 will only be around $266.

else, i say just go with the 6420.

for mobo, i'm an asus fan... so the p5k or p5k deluxe would be my choices.

 

[mgutz]

since your intention is to do more than a mild overclock i would also recommend the the 6420 or 6600. i bought an e4300 yesterday and it didn't come close to the OC of my old e6300. original e4xxx chips were much better from my google research as where earlier e6xxxx. so when you read reviews an e4300/4000 went beyond 3.0Ghz, it's probably from the early batches.

 

[Pwntcomputer]

Wait for 45nm Penryn to come out as well. I mean if you need it now, by all means, but if you can wait a little while..... Official launch of p35 is Monday and I am sure they will talk about Penryn as well.

Lower therms with Penryn = higher OC? I would say yes.

 

[1ManArmY]

Originally posted by: Pwntcomputer
Wait for 45nm Penryn to come out as well. I mean if you need it now, by all means, but if you can wait a little while..... Official launch of p35 is Monday and I am sure they will talk about Penryn as well.

Lower therms with Penryn = higher OC? I would say yes.

what online vendor's are selling the P35 boards on Monday?

 

[Cheex]

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY

Originally posted by: Pwntcomputer
Wait for 45nm Penryn to come out as well. I mean if you need it now, by all means, but if you can wait a little while..... Official launch of p35 is Monday and I am sure they will talk about Penryn as well.

Lower therms with Penryn = higher OC? I would say yes.

what online vendor's are selling the P35 boards on Monday?

Bump....I'd like to know as well.

 

[Cookie Monster]

At XS, they hitting 500~600FSB speeds using core 2 duos, while hitting 480ish with quad cores. There quite a bit of threads on the p35 so go check them out.

 

[Shimmishim]

they are already selling these at many vendors online...

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY

Originally posted by: Pwntcomputer
Wait for 45nm Penryn to come out as well. I mean if you need it now, by all means, but if you can wait a little while..... Official launch of p35 is Monday and I am sure they will talk about Penryn as well.

Lower therms with Penryn = higher OC? I would say yes.

what online vendor's are selling the P35 boards on Monday?

Several online vendors have already been selling them. Excaliberpc and eWiz are just a couple. People over at extremesystems have already ordered and received theirs last week.

 

[1ManArmY]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY

Originally posted by: Pwntcomputer
Wait for 45nm Penryn to come out as well. I mean if you need it now, by all means, but if you can wait a little while..... Official launch of p35 is Monday and I am sure they will talk about Penryn as well.

Lower therms with Penryn = higher OC? I would say yes.

what online vendor's are selling the P35 boards on Monday?

Several online vendors have already been selling them. Excaliberpc and eWiz are just a couple. People over at extremesystems have already ordered and received theirs last week.

thanks caveman I'll snag one now before the demand increases next week.

 

[Phokus]

Just out of curiosity, what is "P35"? Is that some sort of chipset on the motherboard? Thanks

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Phokus
Just out of curiosity, what is "P35"? Is that some sort of chipset on the motherboard? Thanks

The successor to the P965 with native 1333 FSB. and I'm not sure what else...

My P5B Deluxe can do everything the P35 does except support DDR3 (if you want it). But, memory bandwidth does seem to be a bit better on the P35 even with DDR2.

 

[Shimmishim]

the nice thing about the p5k also is that it doesn't have the weird 4-4-4 faster than 3-3-3 bug.

also there's no switching of straps at 401 mhz.

 

[Konadreamer]

Here is where I am at so far.....

 

[Mourngrym]

I have updated my shopping list somewhat. I will probably be waiting until July 22 (like everyone else hehe).

CPU: C2D E6420 or E6600 or E6750
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4
Mem: Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C5D
Cooler: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
GFX: GeForce 8800GTX

The stepping on E6750 seems promising, even though I suspect all the review samples sent out are handpicked to overclock much better than whatever I can get my hands on...

Decided on the P35-DS4 mostly due to the quite big price difference to Asus P5K Deluxe, and P5K vanilla doesn't look up to par from what I have read. The BIOS setting for Vdroop mod was one big thing for me, but that setting isn't working on vanilla apparantly. DS4 seems to have OK Vdroop without mods.

Aiming for at least 3.5 Ghz now.

 

[vailr]

E4500 - 2MB - 800MHz - 2.20GHz - 11x - $133 (August release & price)
from:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2027470&enterthread=y

 

[nullpointerus]

Wow! :Q That E4500 should be quite a deal if it tends to overclock well.

 

[drakore]

get a penryn if you want to overclock... it will be overclocking madness.

DO NOT GET A QUAD FOR OVERCLOCKING

 

[trx]

can Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX
http://www.thermaltake.com/pro.../CL-P0310/cl-p0310.asp

and Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
http://www.thermalright.com/a_...t_ultra120_extreme.htm

be mounted on DS4 without removing heat-pipe mobo cooling?

 

[Xvys]

Intel has just announced the E4600 will be added to the fall lineup. It will have a 12x multiplier and 800FSB which I believe should reach 3600 Mhz at only 300 FSB! It is slated to ubiquitously priced at $133.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Xvys
Intel has just announced the E4600 will be added to the fall lineup. It will have a 12x multiplier and 800FSB which I believe should reach 3600 Mhz at only 300 FSB! It is slated to ubiquitously priced at $133.

That would be nice for the Conroe865PE boards which only go to 300FSB, except they have this undervolting problem, so even if those chips could hit 3.6Ghz at default vcore (unlikely to start with), then they would have even further problems in that board.