Building a system i7 920 OC

[mattp]

I had posted in another section of this forum for ideas for just a computer. Now I am thinking I might as well set it up to overclock. Here is what I have so far if there are any suggestions to my system that would be better for overclocking my i7 920 please let me know as I havent ordered anything yet. I have never OC'd anything but I figured now is a good time to learn. I have read allot of people easily getting 4.0ghz or a bit more.

Will my power supply be enough and will the heat sink I have add be good enough for cooling. And will it fit on my mother board without any issues?

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case -$99.99

BRACKET25 Adapter Kit to Mount 2.5" HDD in 3.5" Drive Bay -$11.79

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard -$188.99

XFX HD-467X-ZDF2 Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card -$69.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 - $89.99

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor -$288.99 Actually getting this at a local micro center for $200

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK -$149.99

OCZ Agility Series OCZSSD2-1AGT60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) -$169

2 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $199.98

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $139.99

Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm Case Fan -$16.99

Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler - $69.99

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Yanko693]

just to be safe id jump to the 750 watt corsair and i would jump the 10 usd for the antec 902 as its the same thing but with the fan filters and the nice black finish interior.

 

[eli]

Power supply looks good to me. The Scythe is a decent cooler for the price. I think You have a great build. The WD is pricey for the storage. Why not go with a cheaper drive if you're just going to run programs?

 

[mattp]

Power supply looks good to me. The Scythe is a decent cooler for the price. I think You have a great build. The WD is pricey for the storage. Why not go with a cheaper drive if you're just going to run programs?

What would you suggest? I will be running them in RAID 0 so I will always be backed up.

 

[eli]

I'm confused. I don't see where you mentioned Raid in the equations. Raid 0 is stripe (2x30gb drives combined for 1x60gb drive). I can see why you would want to, to gain the most speed.

If you're buying the Terabyte drive for storage, you can pick one up for much cheaper than $200. I would look at the 1.5 terabyte drives as the sweet spot. I got mine a year ago for $100 a piece.


With Win7 I wouldn't do raid 1. You can use backup images and restore if something goes wrong. Just my thoughts.

 

[psionic98]

use 2 small <60gb drives for raid0 for OS and main apps, a WD black 640 for storage (75 bucks or 2 for 150, still cheaper)

as for everythying else i think the first PSU you listed is fine, no need to step up.

also noticed you're getting a sub-midstream card with a mainstream system.. reasons?

if you plan on gaming id step that up to at least a 4890 or 5770.. 5850 if you have the spare cash..

if you goto microcenter look for a d0 batch processor.. not that a c0 wont oc as well, but they usually take more juice to stay stable at 3.8+

 

[mattp]

I guess I meant raid 1? I want the first drive to mirror the second drive. The 60gb ssd drive is for my os and other apps. The two 1tb drives are only $100 each. I thought $200 was pretty good for 2 1tb drives.

 

[mattp]

I don't plan on gaming much if any. I'm a photographer so I want a fast computer for editing. If I went with a 4890 or 5770 which brand and what is the differnce between the two cards.

 

[psionic98]

well since its not gaming you're not going to need dx11 support, nor super gfx engine since you're not making movies just alot of photoshop etc?

you should be ok with that card, or a 5750..57xx cards will use less power and make less heat.. or the same as you've listed really should be fine too.. but basically the diff between the 46xx you put down and a 4890 will be sheer computing power.. the 4890 is more gaming than editing and since you want photoshop editing etc i'd go with the 5750 if the price is in range just for the lower power consumption etc

 

[MIAHALLEN]

Photoshop CS4 is CUDA enabled (in limited ways), so using an nVidia card should give you a small performance boost. Still, a lower end card is all that would be necessary.

Something like this should do the trick:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125295

 

[eli]

Photoshop CS4 is CUDA enabled (in limited ways), so using an nVidia card should give you a small performance boost. Still, a lower end card is all that would be necessary.

Something like this should do the trick:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125295

I'm a photographer and I would have to agree. If you want the best for your money get a nice little Nvidia card. When CS5 comes out, I'm betting we see more integration with GPU processing.

I see what you mean with the raid. I think that would be a good setup. Should take you awhile to fill 1tb, unless you shoot a D3x/5d mkII and do weddings. Then that would be no time at all.

 

[mattp]

Just a couple D300s's. Maybe a D3x in the future.

So the nividea card that is cheaper is better for photo editing? I'm all about saving $$$$ if I'm not sacraficing performance. Right now I am using a old P4 2.0 and I think I have a 256mb agp nividea card. It takes me a good 45 sec to just load a picture in my old Photoshop CS.

Also that video card should work with the power supply I'm getting correct?

 

[psionic98]

that vid card should be fine with psu as it doesn't look like it needs its own power adapter to run and draws power from the pci slot

 

[mattp]

I would like something with two dvi outputs. I did a search on newegg for gts 200 series and there are like 20 differnt brands. Does it matter witch one?

 

[psionic98]

most come with a vga to dvi plug...though since this has a dvi port maybe not..

looked through all the 220gt and didnt see a dual dvi output, but you can buy a vga to dvi adapter for next to nothing if you really want to run 2 dvi monitors

 

[pik4chu]

most come with a vga to dvi plug...though since this has a dvi port maybe not..

looked through all the 220gt and didnt see a dual dvi output, but you can buy a vga to dvi adapter for next to nothing if you really want to run 2 dvi monitors

I think you checked the wrong section

there are 11 GTS series cards with dual DVI outputs and for not much money.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ption=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

The GTX series cards pretty much all have dual DVI but cost a bit more (cause they are better cards)

and XFX, eVGA and BFG are all excellent brands for nvidia cards.

 

[mattp]

Ok cool. But now which one of those 11? What is the better brand. I dont mind paying the $150 for a good quality card. The only card I have ever heard of is PNY. This one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133266

It says it is a "Power Connector 6 Pin" will my PSU work with that? I see where it has 2 x 6+2Pin

What about the XFX models?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150365
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150439

Crap I didnt see all the above reply. So the XFX is good. I see you didnt mention the PNY. Out of the two above XFX cards what would you suggest? theres only a $10 difference.

 

[evilme]

Hi Mattp, I am building a setup almost the same as yours. Hope to see your final build list and a oc. My build is posted here if you have not seen i yet http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=632904. I will be adding another 2x ssd, hs, and card later to my build maybe in a couple weeks or so.

 

[mattp]

Hi Mattp, I am building a setup almost the same as yours. Hope to see your final build list and a oc. My build is posted here if you have not seen i yet http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=632904. I will be adding another 2x ssd, hs, and card later to my build maybe in a couple weeks or so.

I am going to pick up my I7 920 tomorrow. You didnt happen to go to the MC in Houston Texas did you?

I am thinking of changing my build a bit after reading your post. I will probably go with just 1 30gb for my os and if I like it later get a bigger ssd for my photo editing and video editing.