how far on 3.0c or 2.8c with quiet air cooling

[LilBuddy]

i have a 3.0c now and am maybe thinking of taking it back for a 2.8c boxed. my 3.0c was oem and has no HSF on it, so i'm looking for a quiet hsf or possibly exchanging it for the 2.8c that has the hsf on it already

how far do you think i could take each chip with stock cooling or a quiet cheap HSF?

[batboy]

I'd keep the 3.0C and get a Zalman 7000A. Those are better than stock coolers and pretty quiet. I would think that 3.6 gig is a reasonable goal with your 3.0C and that Zalman.

[LilBuddy]

what about PSU? i have a sparkle fsp350-60bt right now, it runs ok, but i think the +12 is a little low, reads at 11.49, i have a antec smartpower 400 in right now and the +12 rail reads 11.795. i'm taking the antec back, so should i keep the sparkle or get a new one. what i am looking at is the $65 antec i think...3700amb or something with the 350 watt. i'm going to attempt to trade the ecs board for a ai7 and pay the $50 difference if they'll let me too

[batboy]

Yeah, those +12v rails do seem low. Get something that is rated for at least 20A on the +12v rail.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=17-103-908&DEPA=1

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-968&depa=1

These would be my picks for the best power supply at the lowest price. It don't pay to skimp on the PS.

[LilBuddy]

i just tested the 400 watt antec, +12 and 5 were right on the money. on my sparkle 350, the +12 came out to 11.7 and the 5v was at 5.1 the +3.3 was right on too

are those numbers more acceptable?

[LilBuddy]

batboy,

it's together now. i got the 2.8c with ecs 848p-a motherboard. i tried to get the ai7, but couldn't exchange it, so i'll try it later or just buy the other later on. this bios is pretty stripped down. you can't even control the vcore in it. right now it is running at 230x14, sandra dhrystone is 9416mips, 3858/6796mflops. it feels good, but i think it's not blowing me away like i thought it might. hopefully my 9800se will liven it up some more tomorrow when fedex drops it off

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