what upgrade should i do from P5b and 6400?

[markreflex]

what upgrade should i do from P5BD and 6400?

Hello this is my first post and i done abit of research but i still got questions and love some advice. I own a Asus P5B Deluxe with 965 chipset and a 6400 Conroe with 4x1Gb Corsair DDR2 667 taking up all 4 slots that i had since 2006. I was heavily into overclocking upto 2007 but a so called long time friend(****) betrayed me so my heart wasn't into it anymore. I now like to upgrade again. I now see the P35, X38, 45mm has passed me by during that time and the X48 is due out next month not to mention the Nehalem which i don't think be out end of year but next year. I am wanting to upgrade to a quad core as i play chess alot but am unsure what to do. I know i want Nehalem when it arrives and don't want to shell out a fortune now but i like some decent performance increase. I know it make good sense to wait for X48 as the X38 should drop. I want to keep cost down if i can but want a decent performance % increase. I don't think i need to buy DDR3 right now as it far too expensive vs. performance. I'm in the Uk so i quoting £ not $. Just double it to get $.

Can i fit a 45mm in my Asus 965 P5BD as it still says 775 socket? I got a feeling i can't.

Can i flash my bios of my P5BD to make it 1333FSB?

If i can't do the above What should i do? Should I...

Buy a Q6600 65mm quad core to fit my existing m/b? £147
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products...sp?WebProductID=702631

Buy a 45mm Q9450 and a motherboard to match? £218 for chip alone.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products...sp?WebProductID=743028

What m/b chipset should i get?
I seen X38 m/b is too expensive and scan only list 3 is there so few out for X38?
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products...tegories=235&OrderBy=3

I heard great things mentioned about a certain Gigabyte P35. As i understand it the X48 is the chipset the X38 should of been and only slight improvements. They overclock about the same.

What is confusing will the X48 take DDR2? I read 2 different answers.
It will won't take DDR3 as the Asus P5E3 Anandtech article mentions just DDR3 and the end of DDR2. http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3229
It will take DDR2 but only 2 slots can be used.
So whats the crack?

I am thinking buy the Q9450 and a cheap motherboard and use my existing 4x1gb DDR2 Ram to get good performance and not have expense of a top range motherboard. If you think this is the best idea what motherboard should i get? Now i'm reading the X38 isn't much better over the P35 and only needed if you use crossfire which i won't be. You think i should get a P35 for now? I need Raid btw.

What i like to see is some performance differences of my 965 chipset over the 45mm quad core.

What i really like to know is there much performance difference between 65mm Q6600 and 45mm Q9450 to be worth the expense of buying a new motherboard for it.

Sorry for all the questions. I been out of it and getting upto speed.

Many Thanks and great site and forum.

 

[markreflex]

Thinking all this out. The cost of a Q9450 and a P35 motherboard will be approx. £300. Is it justified when i could just get a 65mm quad 6600 for £147 and overclock it and wait until nehalem comes out? I am understanding there only be a 10% performance increase from using Q9450 and P35 over 6600? So is it justified getting the Q9450 and a P35 motherboard?

There will be Intel price cuts in April.

 

[OldSkool]

TO THE FORUMS!

I would suggest not going too overboard if you're upgrading in a bit anyway. That in mind, the Q6600 would be plenty for you to play with in the meantime. I hear the P35 is a good board, however i have no experience to state either way. I will be getting a 780i myself, from EVGA.

 

[jason4207]

Your P5BD won't be able to OC the Quad very well, but it will do well w/ an e8400/e3110, so that is definitely something to consider.

If you really want a quad, the Foxconn MARS P35 looks to be doing very well w/ the Q6600.

 

[dfonda]

Your P5BD won't be able to OC the Quad very well, but it will do well w/ an e8400/e3110, so that is definitely something to consider.

If you really want a quad, the Foxconn MARS P35 looks to be doing very well w/ the Q6600.

Jason do you consider 3.2GHZ on air(That would be 800Mhz overstock) not very well....just curious.

To me the that P5B OC's just fine.

Can i flash my bios of my P5BD to make it 1333FSB?

Here are the BIOS's and when they supported 1333.(Bios's for the P5B of course)
Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (3.00GHz,1333FSB,L2:2X4MB,rev.G0,4 cores) ALL 1201 beta Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (3.00GHz,1333FSB,L2:2X6MB,rev.C0,4 cores) ALL 1221
Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz,1066FSB,L2:4MB,rev.B2) ALL 0302
Core 2 Quad Q6400 (2.13GHz,1066FSB,L2:2X4MB,rev.B3,4 cores) ALL 0609
Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.40GHz,1066FSB,L2:2X4MB,rev.B3,4 cores) ALL 0711
Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.40GHz,1066FSB,L2:2X4MB,rev.G0,4 cores) ALL 1210
Core 2 Quad Q6700 (2.66GHz,1066FSB,L2:2X4MB,rev.G0,4 cores) ALL 1201
Core 2 Quad Q9450 (2.66GHz,1333FSB,L2:12MB,rev.C0,4 cores) ALL 1226 beta Core 2 Quad Q9550 (2.83GHz,1333FSB,L2:12MB,rev.C0,4 cores) ALL 1226 beta

Update your Bios and I would up your memory to 2 gb and Get a Go Q6600.

 

[markreflex]

TO THE FORUMS!

I would suggest not going too overboard if you're upgrading in a bit anyway. That in mind, the Q6600 would be plenty for you to play with in the meantime. I hear the P35 is a good board, however i have no experience to state either way. I will be getting a 780i myself, from EVGA.

Thanks OLDSKOOL from OLDSKOOL dance.

I think this sums up the motherboards

965 = compatability issues with newer chips without appropriate bios
975 = compatability issues with newer chips without appropriate bios
P35 = probably the most mature and proven with the newer chips
X38 = buggy with some manufacturers
680i = too buggy
780i = too new too buggy

 

[markreflex]

Thanks everybody for all info posted.

I want a quad core as it be better for chess as it utilizes all cores. I realise it won't overclock so great but overclocking to the max can give you less performance overall. I might just go for a 6600 and w/c it with my existing parts.

I am staying away from Asus after that double reboot quirk when you o/c and there quality control doesn't seem great. I looking and the Abit P35 Pro Gigabyte DS4 and Foxconn Mars all seem decent boards and all have raid. I remember Abit were slack at releasing bios updates. I think it could be the Foxconn a nice change. Ok so i narrowed it down to a Foxconn and a Q9450 or a 6600.

 

[jason4207]

Jason do you consider 3.2GHZ on air(That would be 800Mhz overstock) not very well....just curious.

To me the that P5B OC's just fine.

Your right that 800MHz is a fine OC, but relatively speaking the P5BD doesn't hold a candle to how the P35/X38's OC quads. You also have a B3, so 3.2GHz is about the most you can expect anyway.

My quad is 2.13GHz OC'd to 3.6GHZ = 1.47GHz OC, and I can bench at 3.8GHz = 1.67GHz OC....all on air! Now that is impressive!

Thanks everybody for all info posted.

I want a quad core as it be better for chess as it utilizes all cores. I realise it won't overclock so great but overclocking to the max can give you less performance overall. I might just go for a 6600 and w/c it with my existing parts.

I am staying away from Asus after that double reboot quirk when you o/c and there quality control doesn't seem great. I looking and the Abit P35 Pro Gigabyte DS4 and Foxconn Mars all seem decent boards and all have raid. I remember Abit were slack at releasing bios updates. I think it could be the Foxconn a nice change. Ok so i narrowed it down to a Foxconn and a Q9450 or a 6600.

The P5BD did have the double-boot issue, but the P35 boards from Asus seem to be fine. A lot of P35 Gigabyte and Abit boards seem to have a double-boot issue as well.

A Foxconn and a Q6600 will not disappoint. I'm sure the MARS will handle the Q9450 well also, but there is just no way to be sure until they are released.

Personally, I'm staying away from 45nm until I feel a little better about the chips. The coretemp issues, and now the dying chip issues are keeping me at bay. I think Intel still has some bugs to work out. I'd like to see a new stepping, but by the time that happens nehelem might be right around the corner. In the meantime my quad is kickin' *** and takin' names, so I can't complain!

 

[markreflex]

I didn't explain myself very well. I meant get a foxconn and a 9450 or just get a 65mm 6600 for my P5BD not a foxconn and a 6600. I might as well pay the bit extra and get the 9450 if im going to layout for the motherboard too.

Ok it settled i get a Foxconn Mars and a 9450. The Foxconn sounds like a winner but willl the Foxconn support DDR2 667 and be ok using all 4 slots?

I think i can hold off till April what with X48 coming out too it should be cheaper when i buy then.

I heard Nehalem out in Jan 2009 so i get plenty use out of it by then.

 

[moto211]

what is this double boot issue that you guys keep mentioning?

 

[LilBuddy]

I think you should wait until the new stuff comes out. Right now you have one of the medium dual cores. I don't think you'll see much going with anything else right now.

 

[markreflex]

what is this double boot issue that you guys keep mentioning?

When you o/c'ed the P5BD, if i remember rightly over a certain FSB going to the new strap it would post for 2 secs then it would shutdown and then restart again then boot. This was very annoying but did no harm it happened on all P5BD's.

LilBuddy
Yes lets see what April brings.

 

[markreflex]

ok i changed my mind to save alot money £200 i get a 6600 and watercool it on my exisiting P5BD board and get better memory over the my 667mhz like a 1000mhz to o/c abit more. it isn't justified all that to get like 10% more performance.