New i7 build

[rourkchris]

Finally got all the parts in to put together an i7. No digital camera so no pics but plenty of screenshots and benchmark scores. Had initially thought about 12GB of RAM but have only 6GB installed currently. Holding back the other 6GB for another build but I'll add the RAM down the road. Everything assembled smooth and easy. Choose an Asus Rampage II GENE micro atx board based upon needs and an excellent review done here. It's exceeded my expectations so far. Using 6GB Mushkin Redline DDR3 1600 6-7-6-18-1T. 2 Sapphire Vapor-X 4890s CrossFired and powered by a PC Power & Cooling 750 watt power supply. Running Windows Vista Premium 64 bit on a Western Digital Black 1TB HDD until Windows 7 is officially launched. Cooling an overclocked i7 920 with a Prolimatech Megahalems with 2 Scythe 110CFM fans.

 

Felt like I was overclocking a little blindly but had done extensive reading here on i7 overclocking. There's probably a lot that I have yet to learn and lots of tweaking to do. After assembling I ran OCCT 1 hour test to make sure everything was stable at stock. Passed without errors. Next bumped it up to 4Ghz just going for it all early(not how I'd recommend going about things) and ran OCCT again. Everything passed.

 

Next I went for a suicide screenshot and hit 4460Mhz Still a little more left in it but I'll leave that for another day.

 

Next to run some benchmarks that are a little more fun. Ran 3DMark2001SE, 3DMark03, 3DMark06, and 3DMark Vantage. Screenshots are available in the 3DMark Competition thread http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.p...p;#entry1715748. You can also see these same 2 4890s compared with a Q9550, Phenom II 965, and i7.

 

Running @ 4.3Ghz scores were:

2001SE 56176

03 114445

06 28381

Vantage P19552

 

I'm actually using all 8 threads for a Distributed Computing project This is my 24/7 stable settings with temperatures that I'm comfortable with. Hyperthreading was one of the reasons I chose to build an i7 for the added output. I didn't build this to game on though I certainly will. My Q9550 and Phenom II 965 gamed just fine and nothing would bog them down including Crysis. Both were exceptional processors. So if you have a Core 2 Duo or a Phenom II I think a graphics card update would meet your needs better. Not complaining about the i7 at all as I absolutely love this thing I'm just saying it isn't needed for gaming to really enjoy the experience-which is what gaming is all about, not benchmark numbers.

 

Some things I learned:

Overclocking this CPU was easier than I thought. Not to say there weren't crashes and mistakes along the way but overall it was a fun and simple process. Temps for the i7 are much higher than I'm used to but seem to be the norm. A big thank you to all those who posted their i7 overclocking experiences before me so I could read and learn before taking the plunge.

 

The Asus Rampage II GENE is a really nice board but not entirely without issues. The trend to put onboard start, reset, and clear CMOS buttons on enthusiast boards make benchmarking a little easier. I really appreciate these features. No more starting the PC with a screwdriver or having to remove the CMOS battery and wait. I also really like the RAM slots locking mechanism. It has the standard clips away from the video card and a set locking mechanism closest to the video card. Now adding or removing RAM doesn't push a locking clip against the video card. I've had to remove the video card before removing RAM on other boards. The onboard LCD poster is neat and has a lot of functions but overall I don't really need or even use it. That's just my opinion though. I also don't need an IDE connection and would rather it wasn't there. Again that's just me as I'm sure other users will need it. No floppy connector. I'm glad to see it go. 5 fan connectors all have the PWN 4th pin. This board has an extremely in-depth BIOS that can be almost overwhelming with the available options and features. The 2 PCI-E 2.0 16x slots are close together. I knew this being a micro-atx board ahead of time but they're really close with any dual slot video cards. Overall an excellent board and I'm happy I decided to go with this over others.

[N.E.A]

nice build , .....

[rourkchris]

Thank you.

[IVIYTH0S]

nice computer and clocks so far, keep going!! :angry2:

[N.E.A]

nice computer and clocks so far, keep going!! :angry2:

lol

[ekiM]

Very nice, what's a safe 24/7 VCore for a D0 920?

[rourkchris]

Why the angry face IVI? I'm extremely happy with it where it is temp and production wise. I may give it another suicide screenshot attempt on a rainy day. I know the RAM will do DDR3 1700 6-7-6-18 @ 1.65v and I may try later today to see if it can do 1800-1866 speeds with 6-7-6-18 timings @ 1.65v. Some other time I'll see how tight the timings can run at slower speeds though I don't know which will benefit more-straight speed or faster timings. I'd like to know which is better if anyone knows.

 

I need something beside Memtest to test the RAM. I'd like something to test from within Windows.

Edited September 10, 2009 by rourkchris

[IVIYTH0S]

Why the angry face IVI? I'm extremely happy with it where it is temp and production wise. I may give it another suicide screenshot attempt on a rainy day. I know the RAM will do DDR3 1700 6-7-6-18 @ 1.65v and I may try later today to see if it can do 1800-1866 speeds with 6-7-6-18 timings @ 1.65v. Some other time I'll see how tight the timings can run at slower speeds though I don't know which will benefit more-straight speed or faster timings. I'd like to know which is better if anyone knows.

It was supposed to be a joking anger like a > face but we don't have one of those

[N.E.A]

It was supposed to be a joking anger like a > face but we don't have one of those

lol ,

[rourkchris]

I see.

 

Now I understand why so many have gone to watercooling their i7s. Starting to really consider this myself. I think I've mulled over the Fesser Monsta radiator just about everyday for a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll go ahead and get it. Maybe not I can't decide if I want to commit to it.

[N.E.A]

I see.

 

Now I understand why so many have gone to watercooling their i7s. Starting to really consider this myself. I think I've mulled over the Fesser Monsta radiator just about everyday for a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll go ahead and get it. Maybe not I can't decide if I want to commit to it.

if your temps are fine , then do not waste your money , i say save it and you can put in dx 11 card .......

[rourkchris]

if your temps are fine , then do not waste your money , i say save it and you can put in dx 11 card .......

I'll add a pair of the next generation ATI/nVidia cards regardless. Watercooling is just something I'm considering right now. It's not needed so I probably won't.

 

Direct X 11 doesn't get me that exited though to be honest. I read a post by Verran today that really reminded me how excited everyone was for Direct X 10 and I don't really see what the big deal is with it. Actually I resent it a bit. I have to buy a whole new video card just to take advantage of some small texture, shading, and lighting improvements? I feel that I should be able to use simple software extensions if the hardware is powerful enough with nothing more than a simple downloadable patch. Having said that I'm always buying the latest hardware and am chasing technology even when I really don't need it to enjoy my gaming experience. I just enjoy having new hardware but it's never as satisying as I thought it would be.

 

EDIT: My hypocrisy knows no bounds. I'll probably order a socket 1156 i7 860 this weekend for my new backup PC. I've loaded my shopping cart at newegg with a i7 860, Asus P7P55D EVO motherboard, 4GB Kingston Hyper X DDR3 1600 combo, and a Cooler Master CPU cooler.

Edited September 10, 2009 by rourkchris