Boards Built to Overclock

[J1993]

Hello there, soon i will be building a system with either a Q6700 or a Q9550 processor

I will also be using the GTX260 (216 core)

I want to overclock the processor to around 3.2/3.4/3.6GHz

I also would like the option of SLI

Is the Asus striker extreme v2 680i motherboard good for overclocking.

All i have heard is that nvidia chipsets are bad for overclocking, but im wondering if this is a good board for overclocking

will be using decent air cooling in an Antec 300 case

All advise welcomed

Thanks, Joe !

[Brad]

I think the 790i boards are pretty good.

[J1993]

I think the 790i boards are pretty good.

yeah lol, pretty expensive too

its overclocking im worried about. I like the option of SLI, but if im not sure then i will probably go for the Biostar T power motherboard and use a single gtx 260 or 275

[Brad]

Im running a P45 and single Nvidia card. Will clock really well.

[J1993]

Im running a P45 and single Nvidia card. Will clock really well.

Which one you using?
is it easy to overclock for beginners?

[Brad]

I dont even have it yet but im getting a gigabyte UD3. If you want a easy board i found my first asus a good board to learn on. DFI are built to OC but are very complicated and i wouldnt advise you getting one to learn to OC. Tbh i dont think you will go far wrong with the biostar as there pretty popular around here.

[gurusan]

If going for a Yorkfield setup then I advise a Gigabyte UD3, otherwise as mentioned the Biostar is excellent bang/buck as are the Asus P5Q series.

[Asce]

Ive found the Asus base intel chipset easy to work with in the bios and to overclock.

[J1993]

Ok thanks for all your help. I dont think i will go with Biostar because i think the max fsb is 450MHz, and the acers have a huge choice while BS have ony two.

Can anyone recomend me one of the Asus boards that is good and easy to overclock on.

Also, what about the Gigabyte Extreme motherboard because on scan there is an offer when bought with q9550.

[TheMadDutchDude]

NVIDIA motherboards are not bad for overclocking... they are BAD for overclocking Quads. They love to overclock dual cores.

Can you let me know what your budget is?

[gurusan]

Well the biostar does MUCH MUCH more than 450mhz fsb :) ...but as I said, if you are going to be going with a Yorkfield chip (q9550) then I recommend the Gigabyte UD3 series. Most consider them to be the best boards for 45nm Quadcore clocking.

[J1993]

NVIDIA motherboards are not bad for overclocking... they are BAD for overclocking Quads. They love to overclock dual cores.

Can you let me know what your budget is?

Well i will be using the Q6700 most likely or the Q9550 if i can get a good deal

I dont really have a budget on the motherboard, just i want something that is easy to overclock (never done it before), and will do it well, to around 3.4/3.6GHz

Something just above £100 would be ok

If it is a lot, i will go for GTX260 graphics card, if it is cheap(ish) i will got for GTX275 or GTX280

[gurusan]

Well I recommend this board then
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?GIG-EP45UD

then this one
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ASU-P5QP

then this one
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?BIO-TP45HP

[Brad]

+1 on those recommendation's. Btw you can OC a 260 to speeds of a 280 no worries. Will handle anything on a 22" screen a breeze. I ran it on my 24" Oced to 280 speeds and ran like a dream.

[TheMadDutchDude]

How much is the CPU going to cost you?

Gurusan, don't start with your BIOSTAR argument again..

Don't mind him, the BIOSTAR is a fantastic motherboard!

[J1993]

The Q6700 will be around £140 i think
I dont know which one, gigabyte, asus or biostar, which one has the most user friendly bios and the best everything lol.
The thing is when you say about 260 and 280, i could get a 260 to run like 280, but if you have 280 you overclock that to run even better. imo the 275 owns cos it is right in the middle where i like it, plus i will only play on a 19/20" monitor

[system7]

Asus boards are just dead easy to overclock. About 3 settings, FSB, strap and CPU voltage. For a quad you want a P45 with good heatsinks on the voltage regs. P5Q Deluxe, stuff like that.:thumbs:

[J1993]

Asus boards are just dead easy to overclock. About 3 settings, FSB, strap and CPU voltage. For a quad you want a P45 with good heatsinks on the voltage regs. P5Q Deluxe, stuff like that.:thumbs:

KK thanks a lot

I will be getting good cooling anyway so that doesnt matter much. btw, what is strap? (i am noob)

[system7]

We had some bios pictures of the overclock on P5Q Pro boards you could dig up here.

Search for strap. Strap just sets the available memory ratios. So if it's a Q6600 at 266 that you overclock to 333, you set the strap to 333 and the memory clocks like it's an E8400, ie at 400 MHz. Doddle.

[J1993]

We had some bios pictures of the overclock on P5Q Pro boards you could dig up here.

Search for strap. Strap just sets the available memory ratios. So if it's a Q6600 at 266 that you overclock to 333, you set the strap to 333 and the memory clocks like it's an E8400, ie at 400 MHz. Doddle.

oh ok so its basically a ratio between cpu and memory if im right, as one raises the other does too.

[Brad]

The Q6700 will be around £140 i think
I dont know which one, gigabyte, asus or biostar, which one has the most user friendly bios and the best everything lol.
The thing is when you say about 260 and 280, i could get a 260 to run like 280, but if you have 280 you overclock that to run even better. imo the 275 owns cos it is right in the middle where i like it, plus i will only play on a 19/20" monitor



Lol 19" monitor with a 275 is a total waste of money. A 260 is a total waste of money and you were thinking of going sli? A gtx 250 would be plenty for your screen.

[J1993]

Lol 19" monitor with a 275 is a total waste of money. A 260 is a total waste of money and you were thinking of going sli? A gtx 250 would be plenty for your screen.

Really?
You see i want to run things at ultra high graphics so im not sure, i will post a new thread about gpu's

[TheMadDutchDude]

I missed that completely... a 260 in SLi is a complete waste of money unless you're at 1920x1080+ resolutions. My mate has a 260 216 and he has a 24" @1920x1200 and he can run ALL his games without a problem.

[J1993]

I missed that completely... a 260 in SLi is a complete waste of money unless you're at 1920x1080+ resolutions. My mate has a 260 216 and he has a 24" @1920x1200 and he can run ALL his games without a problem.

Lol yeah, dont know what im thinking

I will probably get a GTX 260 216 core then i still have the option of going for a bigger screen later, and the cheapest 260 is near the price of the cheapest 1gb 250

[TheMadDutchDude]

A 250GTS is nothing different to a 9800GTX, do NOT be fooled by this and think it's newer.

I've seen it done, people have flashed their good overclocking 9800GTX's to the "new" 250GTS for benchmarks where they know they overclock well so they can get potentially higher than other people (we are talking sub-zero cooling, voltage modification etc. here) I am getting fustrated with NVIDIA rebranding older cards as for the normal person, they wouldn't have a clue and they would think they got a new, top of the range card when essentially it's old tech!

I've replied in your other thread by the way.

[skunksmash]

A 250GTS is nothing different to a 9800GTX, do NOT be fooled by this and think it's newer.

I've seen it done, people have flashed their good overclocking 9800GTX's to the "new" 250GTS for benchmarks where they know they overclock well so they can get potentially higher than other people (we are talking sub-zero cooling, voltage modification etc. here) I am getting fustrated with NVIDIA rebranding older cards as for the normal person, they wouldn't have a clue and they would think they got a new, top of the range card when essentially it's old tech!

I've replied in your other thread by the way.


the 250GTS has better AA delivery @ higher resolutions than the 9800GTX..... but that's it...



:)SK