Gigabyte 880GM-UD2H -- Already want to replace it!!

As the title says... I purchased a GA 880GM-UD2H about a month for my baby rig (see siggy for details)... And although this little board has treated me well in the short period of time, I'm already looking forward to upgrading it...

Why? The motherboard is fine and for the price ($89) is a good little cruncher... but try as I might I can't get my 555BE past 3.8GHz stable... I've been able to break 4GHz with the chip, but only long enough to get a CPU-Z screeshot.

I suspect the limiting factor on my quest is the MoBo, so I think I'm going to break down and go for broke with the Crosshair 4E...

This little GA is most likely going to be put inside a classic XBOX that I have stored in my closet... I've seen a couple XBOX case builds and it would look awesome in my living room as my HTPC...

That's all... I just wanted to rant a bit on my little MoBo.

Sebastian

Its your money bro, but i think close to $300 for a mobo just to get a few more mhz out of it really isnt a wise use for that money. You could buy a top end X4 or X6 for those prices and have a much better chance of getting 4ghz with them provided you dont burn out your PWM section on that lil board of yours.

I would suggest that if you just have to upgrade your mobo that you go for the Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H 890GX board for $135. It is the bigger brother of the lil board you got, and you will save enough money with it that if your 555 is the reason you cant oc it, then you could grab a 560 for $100 and still be less than the price of the C4E.

I completely get your point... The CHIVE is more like a wet dream of mine. I'm actually looking at MoBos in the the $150 range (That GA included); will use those and my 555BE and probably an X4 in the near future to learn all the intricacies of OCing and Benching; that way when I take the plunge and get the high end CPU/MoBo I'll have the necessary knowledge so that I don't blow them up on my first try.

You might squeeze a few more MHz out of that board if you added MOSFET heatsinks. I've always thought it a very bad idea to OC without them and its a cheap upgrade - assuming you can get them to fit under that monster cooler of yours ...

QuietIce said:

You might squeeze a few more MHz out of that board if you added MOSFET heatsinks. I've always thought it a very bad idea to OC without them and its a cheap upgrade - assuming you can get them to fit under that monster cooler of yours ...

Click to expand...

Thanks QI...
I'm not 100% sure, but I think I may have enough clearance under the HSF to place heatsinks for the MOSFET... I'll measure tonight and make sure...

Here come my questions:
- I found a few heatsinks over at FrozenCPU, but none of them seem to be compatible with my particular board... Should I just McGiver any of those to fit?


- On closer inspection of my board over at the GA site; it doesn't even have the holes where the screws from the MOSFET would go... I know drilling holes into the MoBo is a No-No... But how would I then get the heatsink to stay put?

EDIT Found these: RamSink... I guess I could just buy that pack and put one on top of each of the MOSFET chips... That would do it... right?

Thanks,
Sebastian

Those will work and I think Enzo(?) has some similar heatsinks maybe a little smaller if you need them ...