Best current Presler for overclocking

Hello everyone,

New poster here. I've searched archives and haven't really found a good answer on point, and most posts about the Presler are pretty old. Here's my current rig.
Asus P5WD2 Premium - 955X Chipset
Intel PD 805 @3.6 Ghz 1.40 vCore
720 FSB with 1:1 Memory divider at 1.90v
Corsair XMS 6400 2x512
OCZ 520W PSU
Water cooling

I've been running the 805 for about a little over a year now and I need something new to play with. I have reached the peak for this chip and want a little more, but i'm not quite yet prepared to drop the cash on a primo 965 board and Conroe. I'm looking to spend less than $200, but don't want to spend more than i have to. Current newegg prices for the chips i'm looking at are:

Pentium D 925 3.0Ghz 15x Mult $123
Pentium D 935 3.2 16x $145
Pentium D 940 3.2 16x $179
Pentium D 945 3.4 17x $179

So here's my question. Which of the above is the most overclock friendly? Because the prices are so close together, the price isnt a controlling factor. That pretty much leads me to ask which multiplier do I want?

I was really thinking the 940. I would hope to run it at 1066fsb with 5:4 memory dividers to put the ram at 850Mhz and the CPU at 4.25Ghz. Is this plausible? It just a rough estimate of what i hope to achieve.

Also, I havent been able to find a definitive answer as to whether speedstep on the newer ones will allow you to lower the multiplier in the BIOS. In this case, i would think that the highest multiplier chip would give me the best flexibility, but if not, i could end up maxing my CPU out before getting everything i could out of the FSB.

Should the 930 be an option to consider? Newegg doesnt seem to list them anymore.

VT isnt really a selling point for me.

I believe my watercooling setup is adequate for a Presler. The 805 has been running Prime95 on both cores pretty much 24/7 for the past year with no Chernobyl incidents.

OK, thats all I can think to type right now. If anyone can shed some light on my options, it would be greatly appreciated. Also please let me know if you need more info.

Thanks,
DKJ

Look for a D0 stepping core. Which means you'll have the best luck with something that ends in a "5".

Yes you can allow SpeedStep to set the multiplier, or lock it low, or lock it high.

I have a 945 on a P5WD2-P myself.

Because the P5WD2 tops out at around 275FSB (YMMV), I'd recommend the higher multiplier in order to get the chip speed up.

My D0 945 (SL9QQ) does 17x 275FSB (4.7ghz) with a tiny voltage bump. My board limits me to ~275FSB so I don't know what the chip would really do. This is with Zalman air cooling - temps are never a problem.

FSB is definitely what you want so if you want to play it safer go for a 935.

So all-in-all I'd say 935 or 945, depending how lucky you feel (and if you can make sure it's a D0 stepping).

JCLW said:

Look for a D0 stepping core. Which means you'll have the best luck with something that ends in a "5".

Yes you can allow SpeedStep to set the multiplier, or lock it low, or lock it high.

I have a 945 on a P5WD2-P myself.

Because the P5WD2 tops out at around 275FSB (YMMV), I'd recommend the higher multiplier in order to get the chip speed up.

My D0 945 (SL9QQ) does 17x 275FSB (4.7ghz) with a tiny voltage bump. My board limits me to ~275FSB so I don't know what the chip would really do. This is with Zalman air cooling - temps are never a problem.

FSB is definitely what you want so if you want to play it safer go for a 935.

So all-in-all I'd say 935 or 945, depending how lucky you feel (and if you can make sure it's a D0 stepping).

Click to expand...

Dam, that's really nice.. you can give Core 2 duo's a challenge... Congrats on that nice clock.. What are your dual load prime 95 temps?

GigaHertzAddict said:

you can give Core 2 duo's a challenge...

Click to expand...

i doubt it.

Yeah, not quite in C2D territory but it's perfectly adequate for my needs. A much better chip then my old 830.

Temps fully loaded are in the 60~62C range.

Day to day I usually run it at 250FSB (4.3ghz), so I can leave the vcore at stock and speedstep will idle the chip when I'm not using it. At 250FSB I can also run my memory at 417mhz 4-4-4-12. This puts the temps in the 58~60C range without a lot of fan noise.

Thanks for the replies. 945 it is; guess i may order the cpu today. I'll post some screens when i get it up and running.

Thanks again,
DKJ

dkjbama said:

Thanks for the replies. 945 it is; guess i may order the cpu today. I'll post some screens when i get it up and running.

Thanks again,
DKJ

Click to expand...

I'd go with a 915 D0 stepping for $100.

OK. I ended up with the 945. CPU-Z reports my stepping as "4" as seen in the screencaps. Whats the difference between this and D0 stepping? I'm at 240x17 for 4090 @ 1.350v in the BIOS. Its a start. I'll probably tinker some more tonight.

Good start!

Yours is a C1. It's actually listed under "Revision" on CPUZ.

Are you stuck at 240FSB? Or just stopped there for now?

Nice overclock.. My PD 915 is on the way.. If I hit 4GHz, I'll be happy..

I have the 0709 BIOS. Are any of the earlier ones better for oc'ing? Where can i find downloads of the older versions. Do any of the older versions allow you to set the multiplier. I can only set mine to max, min and default.

No, the chips are multiplier locked.

I'm using BIOS 802.