I have to make a hardware decision here.....help please

HawgsHead · May 11, 2007, 03:33 PM

My Quad SLi rig has 2 7950GX2's on board and a Core2 E-6400{2.13GHz factory speed}But is OCed to at 2.5GHZ.Would you guys upgrade the the CPU to the E6700 or get the 8800GTX onboard 1st?

Judas · May 11, 2007, 03:41 PM

er...

probably the 8800 for me...

PangingJr · May 11, 2007, 04:29 PM

hmm for the system processor i would keep using E6400 for a while longer, then if you still want to upgrade it check back again after just a few months from now.

BlueMak · May 11, 2007, 06:24 PM

If you plan to upgrade your CPU anyway in the near future, then go for the graphics card first. If getting the graphics card means you will not get a new CPU for more than a year, then get a cheaper graphics card since the 8800gtx is an overkill for your current CPU.
If you plan to change both in the next few months and it is only a matter of order, then I would get the CPU first since you will not see much difference in speed with the 8800gtx with your current cpu anyway and by the time you will buy the second part (in this example the graphics card) the 8800gtx will be far cheaper.

**ChaosMinionX** · May 11, 2007, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HawgsHead

My Quad SLi rig has 2 7950GX2's on board and a Core2 E-6400{2.13GHz factory speed}But is OCed to at 2.5GHZ.Would you guys upgrade the the CPU to the E6700 or get the 8800GTX onboard 1st?

8800GTX....because if you overclock that 6400 to say like 3.0-3.2ghz you wont really see a bottle neck at all with the 8800..... The only real difference your going to see between a e6400 is the lack of L2 cache on FP calculations.... Also the multi doesnt go as high, but I would opt for a video card over the next up in C2D lineup....Just get some solid cooling air or water and OC that chip to 3.0/3.2ghz

HawgsHead · May 11, 2007, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaosMinionX

8800GTX....because if you overclock that 6400 to say like 3.0-3.2ghz you wont really see a bottle neck at all with the 8800..... The only real difference your going to see between a e6400 is the lack of L2 cache on FP calculations.... Also the multi doesnt go as high, but I would opt for a video card over the next up in C2D lineup....Just get some solid cooling air or water and OC that chip to 3.0/3.2ghz

I wished that I could get more out of it.2.55 seems to be the max.If you know something I dont,which I'm sure you do,tell me!

I have bumped the v core up but I dont wanna fry it.And the 2.55 is on passive water also.....{Zalman Reserator}

CDsDontBurn · May 11, 2007, 10:32 PM

i'd say go for the CPU first.

a quad SLI set-up such as yours will perform similarly to a single GTX card. the power requirements are slightly lower than the one GTX card, the GTX is about ~10FPS higher (average) than the quad set-up, etc. so yea.

Sure, you get dx10 benefits out of it, but you gotta have Vista and whatever game(s) currently support dx10, which btw, is sill ZERO.

**ChaosMinionX** · May 12, 2007, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HawgsHead

I wished that I could get more out of it.2.55 seems to be the max.If you know something I dont,which I'm sure you do,tell me!

I have bumped the v core up but I dont wanna fry it.And the 2.55 is on passive water also.....{Zalman Reserator}

Ive fed 1.7v to several of my chips and they all run tip top shape

......You probably dont have enough vMCH and vFSB to bring the chip higher.... That takes a lil more aftermarket cooling.

Lowfat · May 12, 2007, 03:07 PM

2.55 is very weak for an C2D. I've never seen one that wouldn't do @ least 2.7 to 2.8GHz. My suggestion would just spend a bit more time an try to overclock it a bit higher, then keep everything else.

**ChaosMinionX** · May 12, 2007, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lowfat

2.55 is very weak for an C2D. I've never seen one that wouldn't do @ least 2.7 to 2.8GHz. My suggestion would just spend a bit more time an try to overclock it a bit higher, then keep everything else.

Yep, post some bios settings for us and other settings you have, and Im sure someone can help you get it worked out

HawgsHead · May 13, 2007, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lowfat

2.55 is very weak for an C2D. I've never seen one that wouldn't do @ least 2.7 to 2.8GHz. My suggestion would just spend a bit more time an try to overclock it a bit higher, then keep everything else.

You guys were right about the OCing of my 6400

I streched the V-Core out abit and it's running at 2.8GHz now.I'm gonna play with a little more today and see if I can squeeze another 200-300MHz out of it.

The temp Is running 43C{idle} to 54C{loaded}....I know Intel says it's save at 60C but to not go over that.

Lowfat · May 13, 2007, 10:05 AM

Even 70C is fine for a Core 2 Duo as long s you are reading Core Temp. I would run mine up to 75C for 24/7 even.

HawgsHead · May 13, 2007, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lowfat

Even 70C is fine for a Core 2 Duo as long s you are reading Core Temp. I would run mine up to 75C for 24/7 even.

Cool beans!.....Thanks 4 the help guys!

RaveneR · May 13, 2007, 12:22 PM

IMO, get the CPU first, overclock it to say about 2.8GHz? then put in the GTX to remove most bottlenecks...

CDsDontBurn · May 13, 2007, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaveneR

IMO, get the CPU first, overclock it to say about 2.8GHz? then put in the GTX to remove most bottlenecks...

an e6700 can OC well above and beyond 2.8Ghz. people can easily get 3.5Ghz on air on those suckers

.

Lowfat · May 13, 2007, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaveneR

IMO, get the CPU first, overclock it to say about 2.8GHz? then put in the GTX to remove most bottlenecks...

his CPU is already doing 2.8GHz if you read the rest of the thread

the extra 2mb isn't going to make much of a difference.

RaveneR · May 13, 2007, 08:03 PM

oh ok my bad, didnt notice the 2.8Ghz hidden in the middle... the E6700 is capable of 3.2+ right?

**ChaosMinionX** · May 13, 2007, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaveneR

oh ok my bad, didnt notice the 2.8Ghz hidden in the middle... the E6700 is capable of 3.2+ right?

E6600 and up is capable of 4ghz on air, will everyone get that? probably not.

average OCs for e6600/6700/6800 are 3.0-3.6ghz (3.6ghz being toward the end and one of the harder OCs to get stable or get thermals undercontrol, more people have trouble with it.) Some do 3.8ghz