Dual MPs, a k7d, 1 GB XMS - and im a newby!

[voxace]

Hi I will be building a system for a mate of mine and he wants AMD Dual. AMD and Duallies are both alien to me however.

I have designed a system that looks reasonable so far and is within his budget. Can anybody recommend anything.

How does all these different speed DDR modules work.
If I want to run 156 mhz FSB (aiming for that at least) what will the RAM run at (it's XMS PC3500).

Here is the System.
- 2 X Athlon MP 2200 (when they come out)
- MSI k7d Master
- 2 X 512MB of Corsair XMS PC3500
- 2 X Volcano 7+ HS/Fs to cool the Athlons??
- 2 X 80 GB Western Digital 7200 rpm drives in RAID-0
- Triplex GF4 Ti4600

Will this all work together well - and how will it Overclock?
It will be going in to a sufficiently air cooled Antec 1080AMG Case with 4 80mm fans.

Any help is much appreciated on how to set up the OCing and the memory...and any suggestions about changing the system are welcome.

[voxace]

Does that RAM work in that board????
Come on - can anyone help. Many must have this board - or if there is a better dual board out there?

[{PMS}fishy]

HAHA, and you spelled newbie wrong. WOW!

Get the XP1600+ chips they are much cheap and easier to cool than the 2200+ That or wait for the 2400+ You do not need the MPs for dual, but in some cases you may need to modify them, which is very simple. The memory you picked is way over kill for that set up, as most duals do not go over 150 FSB. I would look into some registered Crucial ram, its not needed but it makes for less headaches. For HSFs look at the SK6 and the AX7, you'll need something big if you go with the 2200+ Oh and don;t forget a big PSU Like an Enermax 431w or better.

[voxace]

Thanks...
How come I should wait for the 2400 - will they be revised in some way and not get as hot. I'm looking for maximum speed here - maxium OC. Hopefully past 3000+ speeds. I can't see the 1600+ doing that so I'll tell him to wait a while.

[voxace]

If I go with the AX7's and the Registered RAM it goes a bit out of budget. Is it alright to use PC2700 (non-registered) RAM - what exactly are these headaches caused by not using it.

[Spec_Ops2087]

you don't need that kind of RAM...the FSB dosen't go over 150FSB on the MSI anyway(or somthing close to that)....I say just pick up some ECC crucial...remember duals are not made for OCing and for that, they do not OC well at all...

Also if you get the AX-7s on this mobo you are going to have to hack away at them with a dremel since they do NOT fit on this motherboard....



Spec

[voxace]

Well looking at your sig - I'll go for something like that. What I need to know though - is it fast. My friend wants something that will blow away the newest P4's in graphical design and stuff.
I would like to have a Heatsink which fitted straight on to this board too - would you be able to suggest one.
I will OC this still but obviously not as much.
Thanks for helping me out - as you can see I have no idea!

[SickBoy]

SLK800's are highly suggested in terms of heatsinks.

Regular RAM is OK but keep in mind this limits you to two slots. If you want to use more than two slots, it ALL has to be registered (meaning you'd need to toss that PC3500 stuff). And the board is currently limited to 150 FSB so PC3500 might be overkill.

The MP2200's are already out but as mentioned they -are- harder to keep cool. Definitely either go for MP2100's (Palomino core) or MP2400's (TBred B core). XP's are a possibility as well if you guys can manage to unlock them (both for multiplier and SMP).

[{PMS}fishy]

Originally posted by voxace
Thanks...
How come I should wait for the 2400 - will they be revised in some way and not get as hot. I'm looking for maximum speed here - maxium OC. Hopefully past 3000+ speeds. I can't see the 1600+ doing that so I'll tell him to wait a while.

The 2400+ is the "B" revision of the t-bred core, which runs cooler and scales much better. If you were looking for top of the line that would be the chip to go with. The 2400+ and the 2600+ both scale the same at this point in time, so the 2600+ would be a waste of $$$.

Headaches that you would run into with the unregistered ram could be instability issues, random reboots and lock ups. Compabiltiy issues, and lack of expandibilty. For video and rendering situations stability is key. You do not want the computer to lock up 90% of the way through an 8 hour render.

The dual AMD set up with 1gig+ of ram for the editing and rendering will walk all over even the fastested P4 rigs out there, excluding the Dual Prestonia's.

Even if you go slightly over budget it will be worth it in the long run. Never skimp on memory for a dual, especially cosidering the tasks that it is going to be running. As for HSF if you go with the "B" revision T-breds you could get away with something along the lines of an SK-6 which is far less pricey than the SLK-800 and the AX-7.

[voxace]

Thanks for the help - will be much easier now.

[cmcquistion]

I have a MSI K7D Master and I STRONGLY suggest you get Samsung Registered ECC PC2700, especially if you're going to be running two sticks. Crucial will not be able to reach 150 FSB, especially if you're running two sticks, but the Samsung Registered ECC PC2700 will have no problem. I run two sticks at 150, my settings are : 16,16,6,2,2,2,3 @ 150 FSB. I can run 16,16,5,2,2,2,2 at 133 FSB.

This rig flies! I have dual XP1600's (AROIA) @ 1800 MHz (XP2200-speed) and default voltage. I also have some XP 1600's (AGOIA), but they will only reach about 1733 MHz at default voltage.

P.S. You may have some problems with the USB @ 150 FSB, depending on your USB device. 144 seems to be perfectly stable wiht my USB scanner, though.

[Spec_Ops2087]

yep....my kind of system(soon to be yours) tramps p4s in even kind of multimedia thing you can think of, except games of course....and to be prefectly honest...I CANNOT boggle my processors...The highest power I have ever gotton the 2 CPUS to was 75%...that was installing 3 things and rendering another...that is pretty nice....where as if you grab the little bar on the interent explorer and move it all the way up and then all the way down over and over and over you can get the CPU usage up to 60%:eek:....really shows how NOT powerful single CPU systems are:D

BE WARNED...VERY WARNED....once you go dualie you will NEVER be able to go ONLY single CPU again....I broke my dualie(awaiting RMA) and I stuck on this dumb 1.5Ghz p4 system and this thing is sooooooooo slow compared to my dualie...I HATE IT:D




Spec

[camfortner]

The dual AMD set up with 1gig+ of ram for the editing and rendering will walk all over even the fastested P4 rigs out there, excluding the Dual Prestonia's.

Yeah, my dual 2.4 ghz xeon (prestonias) are going to walk all over your overclocked dual XPs.
Then again, I spent about 2 grand building my tower.

And for overclocking, you prob wont want to overclock those duals because you want the system to be as stable as possible, if you plan on doing rendering or video editing, since compiling and rendering takes so long. (even on duallies)

[cmcquistion]

My overclocked K7D has been rock stable since day one. The only problem I have had was the afformentioned issue with my USB scanner at 150 FSB.

[FunkDaMonkMan]

for ram you could go with samsung pc2700 registered ecc ram

linky

http://www.memplus.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=A&Product_Code=880669

This will go up to 166mhz, and costs less than the crucial stuff.

[voxace]

Well I'll go with the Samsung RAM...but probably only set the system up at 140 or so FSB. The CPU's will be MP 2400's and XEONS would be way out of budget - but way easier for me to set up.
I live in Australia so this system will cost about $3700 here.
Thx for all your help.

[Caffinehog]

Hey, don't forget that you need windows NT, 2000, or XP pro to utilize duals. (OK, linux and some others work too, but...)

[earion]

can somebody tell me more about ocing on k7d ? I have 2x 2000mp and all i can get is 1750mhz@35/48c ! and it's watercooled !

[cmcquistion]

It looks like you're probably running 140 FSB with the default mulitplier of 12.5. Is this right?

What kind of RAM are you using? What are your RAM timings?

What is your voltage on the CPU's?

Have you tried more voltage and did it help?

Have you unlocked your processors? Probably don't need to, but just wondering.

If you have unlocked them, you could try lowering the multipler to 10 and running the FSB at 144, then 150. If that works, then it isn't your RAM or other components holding you back, it's probably the CPU. If you determine that it is the CPU, trying giving it more voltage. Just a little at a time, and just enough to get it stable at your desired speed.

Did you say that your CPU's are 48 degrees C on watercooling? That seems pretty high. I watercool my duals (XP1600's @ 1800MHz) and they average 35 and 39 degrees respectively. This is at full load. I run 3 instances of Folding@Home 24/7.

[tragic_monkey]

hey cmcquistion, earion wont need to unlock his cpu's they are MP's these come multiplyer unlocked, i am correct in thinking this arn't i?

and i would suggest raising the multiplyer (for higher clock speeds) or buying better ram (for a better overall overclock, as that is proab what is holding backyour FSB's)

and what temp is yor CPU at load cos u say 38 in your sig but 48 on your post

[cmcquistion]

You're right. His MP's should already be unlocked. By telling him to lower his multiplier and raise his FSB, I was just trying to help him determine which was holding back his overclock, FSB issues or CPU/voltage issues.

Besides, the MP2000 has a multiplier of 12.5. He can't get a higher multiplier without serious modification to the chips themselves.