Upgrade Time!! :)

DeusExMachina · 03-01-2006, 02:51 PM

Hi, folks.

I have a older P4 2.4A - Northwood that I'll like to OC (my first time at OCing, but not around hardware).

Don't have the cash at hand to upgrade all my system at once to a dual core, so I want to get some bang for the buck with that processor. It's a sweet one, and what I've read it can overclock like crazy.

So would like some suggestions of hardware I could get that can work with the P4 2.4A - Northwood processor that'll still work in a dual core system (minus the motherboard suggestion). Like:

What's a good and available OCing motherboard (been using Asus for 8 years now) for a Northwood 533mhz? Good by being stable, not just bells and whistles.
What's your impression of the Sintek 500SLi power supply? Is it close to a PC Power and Cooling PSU without the pricetag (if not what PSU is)? Really concerned about +5v rail as I'll be plugging in 4 HDD, 6 Vantec LED Spectrum fans, 2 DVD Combo drives, and an Enermax fan controller into it. That taxes this cheap Turbolink 425watt PSU, as the 12v rail will dip in the 11.80 range; the +5v rail, in the 4.90 range (no OCing).
Already have some new, still in packaging, OCZ (Platinum - 2-3-2-5 - OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K) DDR 3200 memory. Not the best for screaming OC speeds, but can it reach 3.2Ghz (stable) or not? The timings aren't perfect 2-2-2-2 so concerned that it'll even break 3.0Ghz.
Should I go with the Thermalright SI-120 (with Panaflo 120mm w/rpm), or it's little brother that's all copper (the XP-90c) but has an insane C/W factor on par with water coolers? Don't want to go with water cooling (don't have the budget in the first place), so want the best air cooled solution, as I hate the thermal heat which is BAD for electronics. Even on a non OC P4 system, I dislike 89F idle temps on the processor (80F or less instead).
Will be using Shin Etsu thermal grease. Will it be on par to Arctic Silver 5?
What's the best air cooled memory cooling solution? RAM sinks (like Tweakmonster's)? Or is there a better (and easier) cooling? Since the DDR I have isn't the greatest keeping it cool is essential to squeeze the most mhz out of it.
Since I only have IDE drives now, what route is the best: getting the Raptor 150mb (non windowed version); 2x36GB Raptors/Striped; 2x***GB SATA 3gb/Striped drives? Budget is $250.
What software do I need to give the system a good burnin, stats, and performance testing (have Sisandra/Memtest/Pi already)?

Really would appreciate some help on suggestions from those who OC the mess out of their systems (and I need to know this today -- please, please, please I got the upgrade bug and would like to have the system build this weekend).

DXM

h20-ski · 03-01-2006, 11:44 PM

One thing to check is to see if that processor you plan on overclocking is a 400MHz FSB or 533MHz. The 400MHz versions aren't very well known for overclocking.
1. P4P800 (any version you pick)
2. PSU I would go with either an OCZ, Sparkle Power, or PC P&C. I have used the first two and they are tanks when it comes to PSU's
3. That ram should be fine. Depending on the max fsb you may be able to push 2-2-2-X
4. As far as air coolers, the XP-90 or Thermaltakes Big Typhoon are excellent options. FYI. my systems barely idle at 32C/90F on cold days watercooled.
5. I did a test of Shin Etsu vs. AS5, and the top Shin Etsu G571 beat AS5 by 1C loaded.
6. Besides sticking a slow rpm fan on the ram, you are not going to get many of any extra MHz out of ram by making it colder. Someone once Vapochilled their ram and got like 20MHz out of it with no changes in timings.
7. You might want to look into getting 2 250GB drives whether SATA 1.0 or SATA 2.5. The new Raptors are on SATA 1.0 and extremely rarely could they fill the 1.5Gbps pipeline.
8. Those 3 programs are about the only programs that everyone uses. May want to add Prime 95 to test the stability of the system when you are done overclocking.

DeusExMachina · 03-02-2006, 10:40 AM

Thanks for replying, h20-ski. Sorry about so many questions. I treat hardware hunting like a science. :/

The processor is a 533mhz, 2.4A Northwood that was on a P4T533 (another RDRAM convert here), that I bought retail in 2003. Even lapped it along with the Alpha heatsink. Been using Arctic Silver 3 on it, but not satisfied with the cooling results (89F on a non OC processor, even with a Sunon 39db fan -- Seems the P4T533 was a hot board with that quad pipeline pumping). Thus, searching for a massive heatsink to use with that Shin Etsu. Like to try Panaflos with it next since I've tried Sunons, Antecs and Vantecs (trying to find the perfect fan for my environment).

What is the difference between the P4P800-SE and P4P800-E Deluxe? Been searching but the links to the explanations are dead. And which of the two is the best? Seems to be just a $20 difference @ Newegg.

Do you like your 2x36GB Raptor config? Have plenty of IDE HDD to use as plain storage around here (7 <-- JBOD config for them would be perfect), so only need the apps and OS to be fast. Currently have 4 IDE HDDs stuck on this old P3 Slot 1, and even though not RAID or striped, it's faster than a single disk. =:o

Appreciate the info. Been 3 years since I last shopped for hardware and so much has changed!

DXM

DeusExMachina · 03-02-2006, 12:59 PM

Crap can't post links...But the processor is actually a 2.4B/533mhz [SL6D7/L224B456/09/11/02]. So it's truly a Northwood and not a Prescott.

DXM

DeusExMachina · 03-10-2006, 05:24 AM

Settled with a P4P800-E Deluxe motherboard because it offered IDE RAID (have a lot of IDE drives, and they make cheap storage), along with SATA RAID. Board came in today, and it looks good.

Can't wait to install it.

DeusExMachina · 03-12-2006, 05:21 PM

Got the beast up and running, and posting from it. It was a chore putting it all together and getting BIOS and IDE drives in sync (Promise RAID controller+WD IDE drives don't mix well -- Put a jumper on the CS pins on the second IDE drive, and it'll recognize then).

The Shin Etsu thermal compound, and resanding the Alpha heatsink and processor, has knocked 3F from the CPU already (normally it was 89F, now sits around 84F to 86F idle, and days still left in curing the thermal compound. Ambient temps are around 80F).

What unusual is the motherboard is running hotter than the processor, now!

Doing the burn-in with some massive archiving (uber compression of over 1hr a piece). Even after an 1hr of burning, with this 80F ambient temps, the CPU doesn't get over 105F. Not bad for a 32cfu fan.

Will run some more tests after I get done with the archiving and moving other HDD over.

DXM

h20-ski · 03-13-2006, 12:43 AM

Nice setup, although you may not want to hear this but the motherboard temps that you see absolutely stink. True they give you a ballpark figure as to how hot the computer is running, but by no means really comparable. My 2.8C went for a P4S800D-E deluxe to my IC7-G and gained 10C at stock with various remounts.

DeusExMachina · 03-14-2006, 03:58 PM

It's weird. In the ASUS manual a pic of the temp area in BIOS shows the motherboard of being around 91F too.

Coming off a P4T533, I find it really strange that the motherboard for the P4P800-E runs even hotter. :/ The P4T533 was a HOT board, and I really missing it now (sob) <-- it was a heck of a lot easier to configure and worked as fast as this board now with DDR memory.

I usually tack on an extra 10F breathing room to the temps to be on the safe side. So not overly alarmed at 105F temps on 100% CPU utilization. When it gets past 115F then I'm searching for a better HSF or heatsink.

Temps now @ idle:
CPU: 86F
M/B: 86F

That Shin Etsu is some nice thermal compound!

DXM

03-01-2006, 02:51 PM	#1
DeusExMachina ABX Folder Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: The Empire State Posts: 477	Upgrade Time!! :) Hi, folks. I have a older P4 2.4A - Northwood that I'll like to OC (my first time at OCing, but not around hardware). Don't have the cash at hand to upgrade all my system at once to a dual core, so I want to get some bang for the buck with that processor. It's a sweet one, and what I've read it can overclock like crazy. So would like some suggestions of hardware I could get that can work with the P4 2.4A - Northwood processor that'll still work in a dual core system (minus the motherboard suggestion). Like: What's a good and available OCing motherboard (been using Asus for 8 years now) for a Northwood 533mhz? Good by being stable, not just bells and whistles. What's your impression of the Sintek 500SLi power supply? Is it close to a PC Power and Cooling PSU without the pricetag (if not what PSU is)? Really concerned about +5v rail as I'll be plugging in 4 HDD, 6 Vantec LED Spectrum fans, 2 DVD Combo drives, and an Enermax fan controller into it. That taxes this cheap Turbolink 425watt PSU, as the 12v rail will dip in the 11.80 range; the +5v rail, in the 4.90 range (no OCing). Already have some new, still in packaging, OCZ (Platinum - 2-3-2-5 - OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K) DDR 3200 memory. Not the best for screaming OC speeds, but can it reach 3.2Ghz (stable) or not? The timings aren't perfect 2-2-2-2 so concerned that it'll even break 3.0Ghz. Should I go with the Thermalright SI-120 (with Panaflo 120mm w/rpm), or it's little brother that's all copper (the XP-90c) but has an insane C/W factor on par with water coolers? Don't want to go with water cooling (don't have the budget in the first place), so want the best air cooled solution, as I hate the thermal heat which is BAD for electronics. Even on a non OC P4 system, I dislike 89F idle temps on the processor (80F or less instead). Will be using Shin Etsu thermal grease. Will it be on par to Arctic Silver 5? What's the best air cooled memory cooling solution? RAM sinks (like Tweakmonster's)? Or is there a better (and easier) cooling? Since the DDR I have isn't the greatest keeping it cool is essential to squeeze the most mhz out of it. Since I only have IDE drives now, what route is the best: getting the Raptor 150mb (non windowed version); 2x36GB Raptors/Striped; 2x***GB SATA 3gb/Striped drives? Budget is $250. What software do I need to give the system a good burnin, stats, and performance testing (have Sisandra/Memtest/Pi already)? Really would appreciate some help on suggestions from those who OC the mess out of their systems (and I need to know this today -- please, please, please I got the upgrade bug and would like to have the system build this weekend). DXM
(Offline)

03-01-2006, 11:44 PM	#2
h20-ski Forget Wakeboarding Join Date: May 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 2,460	One thing to check is to see if that processor you plan on overclocking is a 400MHz FSB or 533MHz. The 400MHz versions aren't very well known for overclocking. 1. P4P800 (any version you pick) 2. PSU I would go with either an OCZ, Sparkle Power, or PC P&C. I have used the first two and they are tanks when it comes to PSU's 3. That ram should be fine. Depending on the max fsb you may be able to push 2-2-2-X 4. As far as air coolers, the XP-90 or Thermaltakes Big Typhoon are excellent options. FYI. my systems barely idle at 32C/90F on cold days watercooled. 5. I did a test of Shin Etsu vs. AS5, and the top Shin Etsu G571 beat AS5 by 1C loaded. 6. Besides sticking a slow rpm fan on the ram, you are not going to get many of any extra MHz out of ram by making it colder. Someone once Vapochilled their ram and got like 20MHz out of it with no changes in timings. 7. You might want to look into getting 2 250GB drives whether SATA 1.0 or SATA 2.5. The new Raptors are on SATA 1.0 and extremely rarely could they fill the 1.5Gbps pipeline. 8. Those 3 programs are about the only programs that everyone uses. May want to add Prime 95 to test the stability of the system when you are done overclocking. __________________
(Offline)

03-02-2006, 10:40 AM	#3
DeusExMachina ABX Folder Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: The Empire State Posts: 477	Thanks for replying, h20-ski. Sorry about so many questions. I treat hardware hunting like a science. :/ The processor is a 533mhz, 2.4A Northwood that was on a P4T533 (another RDRAM convert here), that I bought retail in 2003. Even lapped it along with the Alpha heatsink. Been using Arctic Silver 3 on it, but not satisfied with the cooling results (89F on a non OC processor, even with a Sunon 39db fan -- Seems the P4T533 was a hot board with that quad pipeline pumping). Thus, searching for a massive heatsink to use with that Shin Etsu. Like to try Panaflos with it next since I've tried Sunons, Antecs and Vantecs (trying to find the perfect fan for my environment). What is the difference between the P4P800-SE and P4P800-E Deluxe? Been searching but the links to the explanations are dead. And which of the two is the best? Seems to be just a $20 difference @ Newegg. Do you like your 2x36GB Raptor config? Have plenty of IDE HDD to use as plain storage around here (7 <-- JBOD config for them would be perfect), so only need the apps and OS to be fast. Currently have 4 IDE HDDs stuck on this old P3 Slot 1, and even though not RAID or striped, it's faster than a single disk. =:o Appreciate the info. Been 3 years since I last shopped for hardware and so much has changed! DXM
(Offline)

03-02-2006, 12:59 PM	#4
DeusExMachina ABX Folder Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: The Empire State Posts: 477	Crap can't post links...But the processor is actually a 2.4B/533mhz [SL6D7/L224B456/09/11/02]. So it's truly a Northwood and not a Prescott. DXM
(Offline)

03-10-2006, 05:24 AM	#5
DeusExMachina ABX Folder Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: The Empire State Posts: 477	Settled with a P4P800-E Deluxe motherboard because it offered IDE RAID (have a lot of IDE drives, and they make cheap storage), along with SATA RAID. Board came in today, and it looks good. Can't wait to install it.
(Offline)

03-12-2006, 05:21 PM	#6
DeusExMachina ABX Folder Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: The Empire State Posts: 477	Got the beast up and running, and posting from it. It was a chore putting it all together and getting BIOS and IDE drives in sync (Promise RAID controller+WD IDE drives don't mix well -- Put a jumper on the CS pins on the second IDE drive, and it'll recognize then). The Shin Etsu thermal compound, and resanding the Alpha heatsink and processor, has knocked 3F from the CPU already (normally it was 89F, now sits around 84F to 86F idle, and days still left in curing the thermal compound. Ambient temps are around 80F). What unusual is the motherboard is running hotter than the processor, now! Doing the burn-in with some massive archiving (uber compression of over 1hr a piece). Even after an 1hr of burning, with this 80F ambient temps, the CPU doesn't get over 105F. Not bad for a 32cfu fan. Will run some more tests after I get done with the archiving and moving other HDD over. DXM
(Offline)

03-13-2006, 12:43 AM	#7
h20-ski Forget Wakeboarding Join Date: May 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 2,460	Nice setup, although you may not want to hear this but the motherboard temps that you see absolutely stink. True they give you a ballpark figure as to how hot the computer is running, but by no means really comparable. My 2.8C went for a P4S800D-E deluxe to my IC7-G and gained 10C at stock with various remounts. __________________
(Offline)

03-14-2006, 03:58 PM	#8
DeusExMachina ABX Folder Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: The Empire State Posts: 477	It's weird. In the ASUS manual a pic of the temp area in BIOS shows the motherboard of being around 91F too. Coming off a P4T533, I find it really strange that the motherboard for the P4P800-E runs even hotter. :/ The P4T533 was a HOT board, and I really missing it now (sob) <-- it was a heck of a lot easier to configure and worked as fast as this board now with DDR memory. I usually tack on an extra 10F breathing room to the temps to be on the safe side. So not overly alarmed at 105F temps on 100% CPU utilization. When it gets past 115F then I'm searching for a better HSF or heatsink. Temps now @ idle: CPU: 86F M/B: 86F That Shin Etsu is some nice thermal compound! DXM
(Offline)

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