I made the mistake of reading too much. Too many reviews, too many recommendations for people wiling to have a 60DB machine ruin their hearing.
What I intend: Overclocked i7 and ram, plus single gpu.
Not looking to win any contests, I would prefer to lose out on the 5% performance gain with a $300 MB.
What I have decided on so far:
i7 920 D0 stepping $200 (bought)
COMBO:GA-EX58-UD3R
Super Talent DDR3-1333 6GB (3x2GB) CL8 Triple Channel Memory Kit
$234.99 with coupon (oc very well to 1600) (buying today possibly)
Aerocool Extremengine 3T case with built in fan controller.
(side fan modded to be external and blow out, not in)
Scythe Kamabay with Kaze 800RPM.
-I spent a lot of time on this case for my old core2 setup
-I'd rather spend the $249 for a P183 on the GPU.
-Already inaudible
Currently at load I get 37degree cpu on a E4300 @ 3.2GHZ
What I have available and would like to reuse:
BFG 8800GTOC (until I get more cash for a better gpu)
Scythe Kaze 1200rpm (appx two years old)
Scythe Ninja B with Kaze 1200rpm
Enhance 5150gh 500Watt psu
Questions:
The power supply. Some people are telling me I need 750 watts. The nice PSU recommended on SPCR is $240+ Is there something respectable in the $125 range? I keep hearing about the antec psu in that range. Some sites recommend the BFG psu which is even cheaper ($70)
Cooler: Can I use the scythe ninja again? It was originally on my
OC p4 3.2 prescott which kicked out nearly 120Watt.
Just buy the Mugen II or what?
Fans: Two year old fans ok? there that much a difference
between the nexus to change over?
As you can tell I'm trying to build and oc on a budget.
Any advice is appreciated!
i7 build advice needed - too much info in my head
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
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ASSEMblerEX
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2003 3:15 pm
The major issues you will have to deal with in an overclocked i7 system would seem to be the power consumption, and the heat it produces. Based on the reports on the web, it would be by no means unusual to find a OC i7 system power consumption in the 350w to 400w range under load. Loads somewhat over 400w have also been recorded, followed by a drop to around 350w as the CPU throttles back.
In terms of the PSU it is not just the overall wattage but also that you will have a large power draw on the PSU 12V rails. Your motherboard has an 8 pin PSU power supply socket. You will need a PSU will either 2 4 pin plugs or a single 8 pin plug to supply it. If your existing PSU only has a single 4 pin plug it will not be enough, and you will need to go for a replacement.
I would say go for something in the 750w range, mainly because of the 12V rails issue. This bears in mind that your graphics card will also be a significant consumer of 12V. If you look at say the Corsair TX 750 its fan only starts to ramp up under a 375 watt load, so it would be quiet and would cope with the potential power loading. Like many Corsair PSUs it has a big single 12V rail, with a potential capacity of 60amps so it would work.
Cooling an overclocked i7 is to some extent a question of what CPU temperatures you are prepared to tolerate, but undercool and you will get blue screens and/or reboots. A cooler/fan combination which works on 775 CPUs cannot be assumed to be suitable for an overclocked i7. The Scythe Ninja B - who knows.
Coolers which will work with overclocked i7s include the TRUE which is marketed with a 1600 rpm fan as the Thermalright 1366RT eXtreme, and the Noctua NH-U12P that is sold with 2 1300 fans working in push-pull mode as the SE1366. Then there is the Scythe Mugen 2 which some reviewers have found to be the most effective Core i7 cooler but make sure it fits.
Personally if I was building another Core i7 system then I would seriously consider the Zalman CNPS10X Extreme recently reviewed by SPCR. That's partly because I prefer PWM fans for CPUs, but it is a 1366 cooler and it does offer a great deal of control over the fan speed without needing to swap out fans.
In terms of the PSU it is not just the overall wattage but also that you will have a large power draw on the PSU 12V rails. Your motherboard has an 8 pin PSU power supply socket. You will need a PSU will either 2 4 pin plugs or a single 8 pin plug to supply it. If your existing PSU only has a single 4 pin plug it will not be enough, and you will need to go for a replacement.
I would say go for something in the 750w range, mainly because of the 12V rails issue. This bears in mind that your graphics card will also be a significant consumer of 12V. If you look at say the Corsair TX 750 its fan only starts to ramp up under a 375 watt load, so it would be quiet and would cope with the potential power loading. Like many Corsair PSUs it has a big single 12V rail, with a potential capacity of 60amps so it would work.
Cooling an overclocked i7 is to some extent a question of what CPU temperatures you are prepared to tolerate, but undercool and you will get blue screens and/or reboots. A cooler/fan combination which works on 775 CPUs cannot be assumed to be suitable for an overclocked i7. The Scythe Ninja B - who knows.
Coolers which will work with overclocked i7s include the TRUE which is marketed with a 1600 rpm fan as the Thermalright 1366RT eXtreme, and the Noctua NH-U12P that is sold with 2 1300 fans working in push-pull mode as the SE1366. Then there is the Scythe Mugen 2 which some reviewers have found to be the most effective Core i7 cooler but make sure it fits.
Personally if I was building another Core i7 system then I would seriously consider the Zalman CNPS10X Extreme recently reviewed by SPCR. That's partly because I prefer PWM fans for CPUs, but it is a 1366 cooler and it does offer a great deal of control over the fan speed without needing to swap out fans.
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ASSEMblerEX
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2003 3:15 pm
As far as I can see, Intel having established Core i7 as a premium, enthusiasts CPU brand don't want it restricted to socket 1366 X58.
So P55/socket LGA1156 will feature high-end CPUs branded as Core i7s, mid-range CPUs branded as Core i5s and lower-performance models branded as Core i3. In addition, Intel will be giving CPUs a star rating, i.e. 5 stars for the most features and capabilities. The 920 incidentally will be rated, along with all the other 1366 CPUs, as 5 stars. The existing Core 2 E8000s will be 4 stars, and the E7000s 3 stars. All this will come with a new set of logos.
Where does that leave socket 1366. Well there does seem to be a Core i9 6 core in the works, so I would not worry about X58 too much.
So P55/socket LGA1156 will feature high-end CPUs branded as Core i7s, mid-range CPUs branded as Core i5s and lower-performance models branded as Core i3. In addition, Intel will be giving CPUs a star rating, i.e. 5 stars for the most features and capabilities. The 920 incidentally will be rated, along with all the other 1366 CPUs, as 5 stars. The existing Core 2 E8000s will be 4 stars, and the E7000s 3 stars. All this will come with a new set of logos.
Where does that leave socket 1366. Well there does seem to be a Core i9 6 core in the works, so I would not worry about X58 too much.
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deruberhanyok
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:06 pm
- Location: MD
Since you already have the processor, P55/H55/P57/H57 and any other chipsets being talked about can be safely ignored. They all will use a different interconnect to the processor than the X58 chipset.
I don't see Intel abandoning the high end enthusiast market of the 1366 socket. That's a high margin area and it's a great method of product segmentation. Those processors are the only ones they'll be selling with a triple channel memory controller.
I'm guessing that the Ninja could handle your processor, but it's entirely dependent on whether or not you can find an adapter to make it work with the 1366 socket. The holes in the motherboard are further apart so a 775 retention bracket won't fit.
I don't see Intel abandoning the high end enthusiast market of the 1366 socket. That's a high margin area and it's a great method of product segmentation. Those processors are the only ones they'll be selling with a triple channel memory controller.
I'm guessing that the Ninja could handle your processor, but it's entirely dependent on whether or not you can find an adapter to make it work with the 1366 socket. The holes in the motherboard are further apart so a 775 retention bracket won't fit.
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MikeC
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Just try your old PSU first. The 8-pin power socket simply doubles the number of cables to the VRMs for the CPU -- it's not actually mandatory. That 8pin jack on the board will take a 4pin one.
The 5150gh is rated for 18A on each of its 12V lines for a max of 36A, which is 432W. Even if capacitor aging dropped the max power 20%, you should have plenty of power for your i7-920. In theory, the max it can pull is about 11A on the 12V line.
The 5150gh is rated for 18A on each of its 12V lines for a max of 36A, which is 432W. Even if capacitor aging dropped the max power 20%, you should have plenty of power for your i7-920. In theory, the max it can pull is about 11A on the 12V line.
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MikeC
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Your Ninja might provide good enough cooling, especially with a second fan in a push-pull setup, both fans on very low speed. But I'd suggest a bolt-through kit like one of Thermalright's -- though I think you'd still have to get one of Scythe's 1366 adapters to use the springs/bolts on. Maybe this is too much fiddling.