My latest build

[pinman]

Hey all, this is just a followup to a thread over on the hardware board. I said I'd report back my overclocking luck, so here it is. I started with a Celeron 2.4 Ghz Prescott core. Overclocked the sucker to 3.8 Ghz. 211 Mem clock * 4 = 844 effective FSB.

According to Sandra, it benchmarks at about 3.6 Ghz P4 prescott speeds. I personally find that a bit unbelievable, but hey, that's what it says.

I'm a bit concerned about temps. Abit EQ is reading Processor temps at max of 61 C under full load. Idle temps between 48-51 C. Mind you, this is all with the retail heatsink and fan. I got an X-Dreamer 2 case so its got a few fans, kinda loud, but the case stays pretty cool. Oh, I'm running the processor at 1.4 V. The max recommended by Intel for this chip.

I've also got an MSI Geforce FX 5900 XT. I haven't bothered to overclock that yet, but I suppose that's my next project. 1 GB of Mushkin dual channel ram (2 X 512) PC 3200.

I choose the Abit IS7-E as the motherboard. Basically, I went as cheap as I could on most of the parts. (with the exception of the video card)

Processor $67 - good buy for 3.8 Ghz
Ram $145
MB - $80 (or so)
Video card - $190

And finally, some 3DMark scores.

3DMark05 - 974 (@ 3.8 Ghz)
3DMark01 - 14,631 (@ 3.6 Ghz, cause I'm too lazy to run it again at the higher speed)

[MikeTimbers]

Could you run the SuperPi 1M test? Might be interesting to see what a CerelonD can do at that speed.

[pinman]

Sure, you got a link where I can download it. I've never used that before.

[pelligrini]

Not too bad at all.

Are you going to get a better HSF for the rig?

[pinman]

Are you going to get a better HSF for the rig?

Its tempting, but I'm really a tightwad. I'll probably monitor the temps pretty closely over the next week or so. Maybe drop back to 3.6 Ghz or so. Temps there were a little more realistic. (45 C idle, 55 C full load)

I just don't want to drop another $20-40 on a cooler that's only going to get me another 500 mhz or so.

To me, that's the whole thrill of overclocking. Saving money. (and getting more folding units crunched)

Pat

[pinman]

Could you run the SuperPi 1M test? Might be interesting to see what a CerelonD can do at that speed.


Found it. The 1M test took 46 seconds. Is that good?

[MikeTimbers]

46 seconds is not bad at all. That's what I get with an Athlon XP at 2.3GHz. I think the record is 23 with an insanely overclocked FX55. Phil's done a pretty good time too.

[pinman]

OK, I think I'm finally done tinkering with the thing. Here's where I ended up.

3.7 Ghz (206 Mhz FSB)
Dual Channel PC3200 at 206 Mhz
GeForce 5900 XT at 470 Mhz GPU and 745 Mhz Mem. (default 390 and 700)

The 1M test on the PI deal came up at 48 seconds.
1166 3DMark05 marks.

Pretty good stuff I think. I just love buying cheap CPU's and getting great performance out of them.

My only regret(s), maybe I should have spend another $30 to get the LGA celeron D processor. But then I'd have spent another $30 to get a LGA Motherboard with PCI express and then a PCI express video card. All in all, that would have cost me another hundred bucks or so. And I'm a huge tight ass with my money. It wouldn't have given me any performance advantages, but it would have given me a few upgrade paths.

Well, its true what they say, just buy that damn shit. if you wait a few days it will be cheaper for better stuff. Problem is you'll always be waiting for the next cheaper stuff and you'll never end up buying.

Bottom line. Huge performance increase from my celeron 1.2 @ 1.6 with a FX 5200. Throw in a DVD burner to boot, I'm a happy camper. :)