More Shared Hardware
Though processor families must be used with specific types of motherboards, other parts, such as the power supply, RAM, and hard drive work across multiple platforms.
Cooler Master’s RS850-EMBA power supply has far more capacity than needed for today’s guide, but was chosen because it was already on the bench. Its 80 PLUS rating should allow realistic comparisons of power draw between stock and overclocked speeds of each processor.
We didn’t need three modules to test this guide’s dual-channel systems, but two of the same parts can be used in dual-channel mode. Kingston’s DDR3-2000 wasn’t just handy; it’s also capable of low latencies at various speeds, available in single-module packages for dual-channel kits, energy efficient, and able to extract peak performance from each processor. Builders should look forward to a cost-conscious comparison of modern dual-channel kits later this month.
Western Digital’s VelociRaptor was again chosen for convenience, since its higher-than-average data rate allows quicker load times, but with little to no affect on most benchmark scores. It certainly won’t affect the outcome of today’s overclocks.
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Using top end motherboards isn't really budget overclocking, a cheap p43 board is sufficient for e5200 overclocking, additionally a q9400 is only 25% more than a q8200 and overclocks to 3.5Ghz with ease
..or allows, considering different models often come off the same wafer xD
Still, I doubt the AMD-basher's will let that one rest..
I like it. I like to see how far we can push this technology as well as how to keep the idle TDP as low as possible. I think the phenom II 955 suits me the best. AMD overdrive allows you to set both preformance settings as well as the idle settings. Something were i7 failt for me.
I would like to keep cool and quiet on at all times because i dont would want a high power bill and because my computer is on for a few days in a row. So my challenge would be how can i keep the voltage and clocks very low at idle but maintain a resonable desktop preformance. However for gaming i can use some extra headroom. i like to fine tune it well.
Why the hell did you choose an 8200? That makes no sense at all, its poor overclocking performance is widely documented.
Better would be to choose something else, then have a side note saying 'do not buy this part to OC'.
if you want a cheap stable intel overclockable intel quad core look for a Q6600 or if you really want a challenge look for a Q6700, both are very good OCers but are EOLed
Strange to think its Intel that got an unfair bashing this time around. Using top-end mobos in a budget OC session is a major no-no. Using a Q8200 instead of something closer to the X4-955BE's price tag, like the Q9300, is just plain stupid.
To be honest, switching to budget mobos wouldn't have affected the outcome that much; from what reviews I've heard the MSI 770-C45 is a perfectly decent AM3 budget OC board going for a pittance and there are a few MSI and Gigabyte P35/P43 mobos in the same price range on the Intel side of things.
I need to get out of my closet and start reading these forums way more.
Thanks for a very interesting thread
(Even if criticed by some)
e5200 oc at fsb 1066 (no voltage increasing)
What would be the lifespan of the processor.