Budget Intel System question...

Hi. ,

I've been using my Xp1600 for past year and a half and i think it's time for a change. AMD's Bartons won't cut it for me , so i'm looking Intel's way. I'm in no way AMD nor Intel fan , just Xp CPU was better buy at the time , plus i dont have time for fanboy silliness.

2.4C seems to be one of the better OCing chips so i'm probably going to get that one and OC heck out of it.

Memory is bigger probelm tho. Buffalo/Twinmon modules are nearly half the price Corsair and Hyper X. What's best perf/price stick out there today ? And what kind of performace decrease can one expect when running memory @ 5:4 (or 3/2 ) instead of 1/1 ratio ?

3rd , mobo ?!

Somewhat lame layout Abit did with their IS7 line ( ATA connectors on the side , WTF ? ) prevent me from installing that in my case. My radiator and fan on it are in the way. There's no way i'm re-doing alll my watercooling stuff so i'm going to have to looks elswhere. Which manufacturer makes good boards for INtel besides Abit ? I'm probably looking into i865 chipset since it offers i875 performace for few bucks less.

Thanks in advance for suggestions !

Hi there. I'll address your questions one at a time.

First of all, you are absolutely right about the 2.4c, it is the best overclocker of the bunch, because all the 800fsb P4s are basically the same chip with a different multiplier burned in. Since the multiplier is locked, but none of these chips like to overclock much past 3.3 or 3.4ghz, the most logical course of action is to select the chip that you can increase the fsb the most, and that is the 2.4c. You'd rather be faster in your fsb than your multiplier, right?

For my ram, I use corsair PC3200 DDR value select. It overclocks decently at a 1:1 ratio but you will want to run it at a more relaxed setting. Run it 5:4 and you won't be able to notice any difference, cuz your fsb will be screaming.

Boards. Right now I have an asus P4P800. O/Cs decent, albeit touchy voltage. It likes to undervolt when the CPU is taxed. It's a good deal for a budget system though, it runs you about $140 off newegg. Though there is really no substitue for Abit, the closest you will come is the Asus P4C800. Notice I said P4C800. Like the Abit IC7-G, it is endowed with a canterwood chipset instead of a springfield one. I can tell you as surely as the sun hurts your eyes that you will get better OCing results with a canterwood chipset. Don't ask me why, it just grooves better. Check the design on newegg (they got pics) to make sure it doesn't get in the way of your water works.

I was sorry to hear about Abit boards not fitting in your case, let's hope I have better luck when I install my IC7-G.

I am an overly helpful person and please don't hesitate to ask 545,345 questions if necessary. Hope this helps.

Thanks for taking your time to write that.

" I was sorry to hear about Abit boards not fitting in your case, let's hope I have better luck when I install my IC7-G. "

Isnt IC-7 board the one that overrides memory timings ?


I looked at ic-7 and p4P800 Asus. They're in same price league yet one is 875 chipset while Asus is 865 chipset. What gives ?

Plus I was looking for little faster than PC3200 DDR...

Get some Corsair XMS 3700 for your ram, and if you don't want the abit the ASUS P4C800 is a good board. I am using the P4C800 and got the numbers below in siggy. I have read of alot of people getting good results with the buffalo ram so you may be ok to get this while personally I would go with the "premier ram"

OUCH. P4C800 is about the most expensive board out there , aint it ? I dont need all those fancy features , i got my LAN card , i have Audigy 2 Platinium , i'm NOT purchasing SATA drives for RAID anytime soon.

Thier lower priced p4P800 isnt worth it when MAT ( or PAT ? ) isnt working when you up the FSB above 200 Mhz mark.

It seems that IC-7 (g) both mobos were rushed. There's like 20 threads on Abit forum and (H) forum about boards just turning off in the middle of the game and then refusing to power up.

I just might go for IS-7 and re-do the darn radiator thing.

I think you have a couple of options for RAM. You can spend a bunch of money on Corsair stuff, or buy something like Crucial PC3200 or Mushkin. Crucial's PC3200 easily hits in the 230s and Mushkin's Blue PC2700 comes with Winbond CH-5 chips. They also have a promo build of PC3200 that uses BH-5 chips. The Crucial is about $90 for 512mb, while the Mushkin PC2700 is about $95 after the 10% discount. The Mushkin PC3200 is a little over $100.

OK , i think i got it....

IC-7 should have most of its bugs fixed by the time i order , so i'm going to order this mobo. I'll do something about my radioator. I'm not about to spend $190 on 'C' Asus and P4"p"800 doesnt support PAT above 200 FSB so that's out.

2.4C or 2.6C , depending on what my budget is going to be , but i'm leaning towards 2.4C.

Memory ? There's quiet few posts regarding Canterwood's incompatibility with Corsair ( or vice versa ) especially LL series.

IS OCZ EL DDR PC-3500 smart choise ? IT's only $65 and OCZ is getting pretty good comments here.

Here are specs / price what i'm looking at

Again , THanks all for your input !

Indeed! My P4P800 has been one long disappointing night - voltage problems especially - and I am ready to trade up to an abit IC7 as well. If I have a problem with my corsair memory cooperating with the canterwood chipset then my spleen will probably rupture, but it's a risk I'm willing to take... glad you're leaning toward the 2.4c, I traded my 2.6 for a 2.4 today, but I'm not going to OC it until I get the new mobo. I hope to be able to squeeze 3.2ghz out of it with the abit cause I know that I won't get past 250 fsb (3.0ghz) with the temperamental board I presently have. Good luck with that 2.4c, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Edit- oh yeah, the question... OCZ should be fine. Can't speak from experience on that but it is getting good reviews. Hope you notice the difference in the ram speed, I'd like to hear about that. I'll let you know if I have any problems with my corsair with the new mobo but I don't anticipate any problems.

Thanks ,

Indeed , Asus seems kind of over priced and from the looks of it , extra cost doesnt translate into better board.

I really like my Abit with AMD chip and their eRMA , albeit somwhat unorganizez and confusing , works out great in the end.

IC-7 it is
2.4c it is ( hop[efully i'll be able to get on that Staples deal that's floating around )

Memory ? I'm lucky to have Fry's store couple exits down 405 free way , so i'm gonna get 2 Corsairs , 2 Mushkins plus what ever they'll have and keep the best. ( and of course return others ).

Hopefully i've covered just about everything

Cool man good luck on the purchase hopefully all goes well.
FWIW I have the OCZ EL 3700 series running around 453 mhz now and it is running stable but I did have to use some crappy timings, see sig. I also had one stick that was bad so I may be able to get better timings after my RMA goes through. We will see. Even with these timings i still got over 6k in Sandra

So far so good. Just got off the phone with Staples , $146 shiped to my door is pretty good , for retail 2.4C chip.

I will order IC-7 sometime next weekend.

Weltall -> those are pretty bad timings , not very encouraging , to say the least. Corsair XMS 3500 C2 stick goes for $69 at Fry's , think it'll be better fit ?