Biostar MBO TPower I45 - $333. Honestly, if you’re looking to push those 45nm processors to their absolute limit by overclocking the FSB, this might just be the gold standard for enthusiasts right now, especially since I've heard whispers that people are actually cracking past 700MHz...
Sapphire ATI HD4870 X2 - $1067. This thing is an absolute beast, a total powerhouse when it comes to raw performance, though I should probably mention that it definitely drinks power like there's no tomorrow...
8800GT 512 - $262. Such a fantastic little piece of hardware, and it even comes equipped with a really solid heatsink to keep things under control...
To get your Validation done, you just need to grab the latest version of CPU-Z, head over to the very last column labeled [about], click on [validation], then hit [save validation file]... just make sure you don't rename anything before you click [save]. After that, you just upload it right here http://valid.x86-secret.com/ and well, you know the drill from there...
As for temperatures, I always recommend checking them using real temp settings...
When it comes to voltage, for a 45nm chip, I’d say a Max Vcore of around 1.45V is the sweet spot, though if you're feeling particularly daring, there really aren't any hard limits out there...😬
By the way, I used to push my Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 up to 1.75V back in the day, but personally, I wouldn't dream of pushing a 45nm chip past 1.6V for a benchmark run...
Hey, would you mind tossing over a screenshot? There’s absolutely no need to include the validation if you don't feel like it, though... if you happen to be in the mood to share it, I certainly wouldn't complain! 🙂
By the way, that CPU Clock Speed is absolutely monstrous...! 🙂 So, I was sitting here thinking about all the different directions one could take with this... wondering which fridge would actually be the best fit for the setup... because honestly, there are just so many options out there these days! It’s a bit overwhelming if you really stop to think about it, isn't it? Anyway, I was curious... which refrigerator are we talking about?
Arctic Cooling Xtreme Twin Turbo VGA cooler - $80 - It’s kind of similar to an old school S1 setup, except this beauty is designed to fit almost any card you throw at it, and it actually comes with two built-in 80mm fans featuring their own little potentiometer for fine-tuning...
Seagate SATA-II Hard Drive, 640GB, 32MB cache - $190
OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU cooler - $93 - Honestly, I'd say this stands out as one of the truly superior options for keeping your processor chill...
Zalman VF1000-Cu VGA cooler - $100
Gainward 8800 GT 512 (G92) - $300 - This one ships with a solid dual-slot cooler that really gets the job done by keeping temperatures nice and low, so if you're looking for something reliable, I'd definitely give this my stamp of approval...
GAINWARD ATI Radeon HD4850 GS (golden sample) - $433
I’d say just leave it at the fail-safe defaults for now, though you could always give it a little nudge upward if you're feeling adventurous... there’s plenty of time later on to dive into some serious overclocking! 🙂
The reason why the fail-safe defaults sit at around 1.2V is because you really ought to start by testing out a lower voltage first, and then if things don't quite stabilize—well, that's when you start bumping it up... 🙂
And honestly, I think it would be a pretty smart move on your part to go ahead and pick up a proper heatsink, especially if it turns out you actually have a decent little chip that can handle some serious overclocking...
First things first, you'll want to select the Fail-safe defaults
And secondly, just make sure you don't push that CPU voltage any higher than 1.3V... once you've got that dialed in, you can go ahead and start tweaking all those clock speeds however you see fit, then just run a few stability tests with Orthos to make sure everything stays smooth and steady, and you should be all set!
Scythe Shuriken SCSK-1000 CPU Cooler $67 — This little guy is a low-profile cooling solution, which makes it absolutely perfect if you're building one of those slim HTPC cases that don't have much breathing room... It runs incredibly quiet, which I personally love, and the price point is quite reasonable too! Now, don't get me wrong, the thermal performance isn't exactly going to break any world records, but if you aren't pushing your processor with heavy overclocking, it’ll honestly be more than enough to keep things running smoothly 🙂
Frontier Opera Media Center 400W $85 — This is actually a pretty solid chassis overall, but there is a massive catch... it comes bundled with an absolutely catastrophic power supply unit. Seriously, please don't take any chances if you've got a high-end build; just swap out that junk PSU immediately The case arrives loaded with a bunch of 80mm fans, but in my humble opinion, you should just rip them all out and toss them... replacing them with just two 120mm fans is really the sweet spot for airflow. As far as internals go, you can fit two hard drives, two optical drives, and even a full ATX motherboard, which is quite impressive for its size
XFX NVIDIA 9800GT Graphics Card with 512MB GDDR3 on a PCI Express interface - $333
A massive AOPEN H700A Big Tower case paired with a 400W power supply - $66 😁
I also have this cool Thermaltake X Tuner fan controller that fits right into a 5.25" bay - $33
Then there's the MSI NVIDIA GeForce PCI-E N9800GX2 card - $808 - though I really hope I didn't make a bit of a slip-up with the pricing on that one... 🙂
Seagate 500GB SATA-II Hard Drive, 16MB Cache - $167$
Gigabyte nVidia 9600GSO Graphics Card - $220 - Honestly, this is such a solid little card for any casual gamer out there, especially since it comes equipped with a Zalman cooler that keeps things running nice and chilly even when you're pushing it...
Thermaltake VF7000BNS DH101 HTPC Case, Black - $293 - I have to say, in my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful HTPC cases ever made, and the best part is that it actually fits a full ATX motherboard and standard power supplies without any issues at all...
Arctic Cooling Accelero S2 VGA Heatsink - $23 - This is an absolutely fantastic cooler if you're working with a mid-range graphics card, and it's really the perfect choice if your old stock cooler just isn't cutting it anymore... 🙂
Lenovo L220X Monitor - $976 - This was hands down the best 22" LCD I've used, mainly because that S-PVA panel guarantees such incredibly accurate color reproduction, plus it has pivot functionality and a 1920*1200 resolution...
Honestly, if you’re looking for one of the absolute best power supplies on the market right now, you really can't beat this deal at just $167... It delivers an incredible amount of juice while keeping the fan so quiet you might actually forget it's even running inside your rig! You get a solid 3-year warranty, plus it comes equipped with an 8-pin PCI-E connector, which is great... Even though it's technically rated at "only" 425W, it handles pretty much any modern setup without breaking a sweat at all . Check it out here:
ruggedotter10 said:Come on, let someone just admit it... people honestly just find it fun... you know, playing along until I've had enough... 🙂
It’s honestly pretty much the same deal as when people obsess over hard drives, getting into those endless, pointless debates about HD tach results when you can't even see the difference with your own eyes...
And don't even get me started on LCD monitors, like those Samsung LCD-i or various other panels out there... nobody is actually going to notice the difference between a Samsung panel and a CMO panel, yet everyone acts like an expert because they ran some tests using gear worth several thousand dollars...
There are so many parallels between RAM speed and IQ, man, maybe I'm just being thick... but hey, I just wanted to look at my monitor and see "1200MHz+" staring back at me... the hardware isn't actually bigger, it's just the ego... 👍
I gave some ST to a buddy, sold off my Dominatore yesterday as part of an HTPC build, gifted some Kingmax to my brother-in-law, handed over 1GB of DDR to my girlfriend, just had those 2GB Ballistix arrive yesterday, and I've actually had the OCZ 2 x2GBje sitting in my rig for quite a while now...
I have to say, though, memory really is the most inconsequential component in any computer system... I mean, honestly, if someone claims they can actually tell the difference between Kingmax and Crucial, they clearly have way too much free time on their hands...😁
Passive cooling. I've managed to push it to 1300MHz using 2.5V, but I'm definitely not going any higher than that for some pretty obvious reasons... if I bumped it up to 2.7V or maybe 2.8V, I might be able to squeeze out around 1350-1370MHz, or at least that's my best guess...
That's a solid meme, honestly, you can't deny it... 🙂
Logitech G5 - $113 - honestly, one of the absolute best mice out there if you're looking to level up your gaming setup
The Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave keyboard and mouse combo via USB - $133just a really solid choice for a clean desk... Logitech X240 2.1 speakers - $67perfect for adding some much-needed punch to your audio experience...
