How to buy 775/771

[Jumper118]

First of all you need to decide what motherboard you want.

 

Intel chipset are better for overclocking these cpus.

 

Chipsets to avoid if you can, these boards may seem cheap, but the potential for overclocking will be much much lower.

Intel:

i845GV,GE,i848P,i865G,GV,P,PE,i910GL,i915G,GL,GV,P,PL,i925X,XE,i945,955,i945G,P, i955X,i946,946GZ,PL,965,i975,Q965,P965,G965,Q963,i975X, X35,Q35,G35,P33,G33,Q33,P31,G31,P43,G45,G43,G41,B43,Q43,Q45. 

 

Most other chipset are not as good as the intel chipset, however some of the higher end nvidia chipsets are ok, but they tend to struggle when overclocking quad core cpu's

 

The best intel chipsets are P35, X38, P45 and X48.

 

P series chipsets support modding for 771 xeon cpus

X series chipsets may support modding for 771 xeon cpus, but they may need a custom bios and some will not work at all.

 

List of all P45 can be found here: http://hwbot.org/hardware/motherboards#key=p45

List of all P35 can be found here: http://hwbot.org/hardware/motherboards#key=p35

List of all X38 can be found here: http://hwbot.org/hardware/motherboards#key=x38

List of all X48 can be found here: http://hwbot.org/hardware/motherboards#key=x48

 

How do you tell which boards with the correct chipset are good? the more copper heatsink on the vrm, north bridge and south bridge=better

 

DDR2 VS DDR3 motherboards

DDR2 is generally cheaper and so are the ddr2 motherboards, the density of the ddr2 is normally lower but you can get 2gb sticks fairly easy.

With DDR2 its is best to get a kit that is over 1000mhz if you have a cpu with a lower multiplier as it will give you more flexibility when overclocking.

In real world performance and even most benchmarks a good kit of ddr2 is not any slower than ddr3 on this platform.

 

DDR3 can be higher density, however you might find that some boards do not like the newer 4gb sticks, so when buying ddr3 consider buy 2gb sticks instead if you are unsure.

You dont need fast ddr3 at all for 775, however it is better to run tighter timings, otherwise it will be slower than ddr2, so 1600c7 kits should perform much better than your standard 1600c9 which may add cost.

 

How can i tell if a board supports DDR3?

Google the name of the motherboard is the best way.

For gigabyte boards it will have a T on the end of the name (EG: Gigabyte EP45 Extreme is DDR2, Gigabyte EP45T Extreme will be DDR3)

For Asus boards they will have a 3 on the end of the name (EG Asus P5Q Deluxe is DDR2, P5Q3 Deluxe is DDR3)

All the manufactures have there own way to tell what ram it takes so google is your friend

 

Buying a CPU

 

Look at the cpu support list for your motherboard

 

Decide which cpu or cpus you will consider buying based on budget

Here is a list of all cpu's on socket 775 including ES http://hwbot.org/hardware/processors#key=lga775

Here is a list of all cpu's on socket 771 including ES http://hwbot.org/hardware/processors#key=s771

 

Popular options:

775

E8400, 3ghz 45nm clocks like a beast with the correct stepping, but you need a really good board.

Q6600, 2.4ghz 65nm overclocks well should see 3.2-3.6ghz on a good board.

Q9650, 3ghz 45nm, tends to be expensive, but they oc well and have relatively high multipliers

 

771 

X5450, 3ghz 45nm, same as Q9650, but much much cheaper

 

X5450 vs E5450 vs Q9650

as you can see some of the xeons are the same the E chips are a better bin and have a lower tdp, but they might not oc as high. the Q9650 is way more expensive, but will not require a socket mod and sticker, other than that they are the same. my advice is get the cheapest.

 

£ to performance

ok here is where you country will come in to play for me its like this

Q6600 ~£20

X5450 ~£25 < best £/performance 

Q9650 ~£50-60

QX9650 ~£70

 

Stepping

 

To give yourself a higher chance of getting a good cpu, you need to know what stepping/revision are available for the chip you are looking to buy. As a rule of thumb the later stepping cpu's overclock better.

 

To find out what stepping a cpu is you can either look on cpu or read it off the top of the cpu.

 

As you can see on the two pictures below these chips are both Q6600, however they are different stepping, so they will overclock very differently. The CPU with SLACR on the top is G0 stepping and this cpu is likely to over well, whereas the chip with SL9UM on the top is B3, so this chip is likely to hit an fsb wall early on and not overclock very far.

 

 

Comment CPU's and which stepping to look out for

E8400 E0/SLB9J

Q6600 G0/SLACR

E5440 E0/SLBBJ

X5450 E0/SLBBE

Q9550 E0/SLB8V

Q9650 E0/SLB8W

QX9650 C0 SLAN3

 

To find any other cpu's please use http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/index.html

 

other 775 guides

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/232325-lga775-core2duo-core2quad-overclocking-guide/

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/365998-mod-lga771-to-lga775-cpu-modification/

 

[fire219]

Nice information. Wish I had seen the various guides like this before i bought a Q35 system (The "SFF Wonder" in my sig) for cheap. This particular system doesn't even have options in the BIOS for OC'ing, so I just ended up buying a X3320 to stick in it.

[Jumper118]

Nice information. Wish I had seen the various guides like this before i bought a Q35 system (The "SFF Wonder" in my sig) for cheap. This particular system doesn't even have options in the BIOS for OC'ing, so I just ended up buying a X3320 to stick in it.

this is why i did it  you can see how long the list of chipsets that arent so good is compared to the good ones. 

[Decon]

this is why i did it  you can see how long the list of chipsets that arent so good is compared to the good ones. 

 

much thanks for this informative post!

[Jumper118]

much thanks for this informative post!

yor welcome, you seem to have some very nice rigs

[Decon]

yor welcome, you seem to have some very nice rigs

 

over the years I have managed to come across some rather interesting and unique items...

[Jumper118]

over the years I have managed to come across some rather interesting and unique items...

indeed the sr-2 is a monster and i would love to own one, one day

[Decon]

indeed the sr-2 is a monster and i would love to own one, one day

 

it's an amazing board outside of NF200's quirkiness with upstream DMA collisions and VT-D

[arnavvr]

Did you forget about the QX9770? They are generally the same price as the QX9650

[harrynowl]

Did you forget about the QX9770? They are generally the same price as the QX9650

Not really in the UK... and that 1600mhz stock fsb

[agent_x007]

I would like to ask for correction in chipset list :

i955X,i946,946GZ,PL,965,i975,Q965,P965,G965,Q963,i975X, 

Those two are quite good, IF U get the right board.
ASUS Commando (P965), ASUS P5B's (P965 - "Vannila", Deluxe), ASUS P5W DH Deluxe (975X).
Here's a great site with moded BIOS'es (they all have uCodes in already) : http://genius239239.myweb.hinet.net/771/

Also :
X38 and X48 chipsets can't support E54xx and X54xx Xeon CPU's.

[harrynowl]

I would like to ask for correction in chipset list :

Those two are quite good, IF U get the right board.

ASUS Commando (P965), ASUS P5B's (P965 - "Vannila", Deluxe), ASUS P5W DH Deluxe (975X).

Here's a great site with moded BIOS'es (they all have uCodes in already) : http://genius239239.myweb.hinet.net/771/

Also :

X38 and X48 chipsets can't support E54xx and X54xx Xeon CPU's.

That first part basically goes for all chipsets

 

And they're usually still as expensive & slower than the P35/45 stuff

[agent_x007]

True, but other chipsets are basicly for corporation/office use (no "Good" MB's), or can't support Core 2 Quad's (too old).

In what exacly P35 is faster than P965 ?
Both support PCI-e 1.x, both can OC to FSB 2000MHz (exact result depends on CPU and MB model used).
I can understand Memory bandwidth, since P965 can't support DDR3, but DDR3 is pointless on LGA 775, since those CPU's don't have the IMC needed to really get that increased bandwidth speedup (FSB limitation).

[Jumper118]

True, but other chipsets are basicly for corporation/office use (no "Good" MB's), or can't support Core 2 Quad's (too old).

In what exacly P35 is faster than P965 ?

Both support PCI-e 1.x, both can OC to FSB 2000MHz (exact result depends on CPU and MB model used).

I can understand Memory bandwidth, since P965 can't support DDR3, but DDR3 is pointless on LGA 775, since those CPU's don't have the IMC needed to really get that increased bandwidth speedup (FSB limitation).

the maximum fsb speed and also its abilty to maintain that maximum fsb speed with the quad core cpu's

[Jumper118]

13 minutes ago, ONOTech said:

Looking to get an X5450 or 5460 for a test bench and OC it to 4.0 on air.

 

Here are a few motherboards I have in mind:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-P5Q-Pro-LGA-775-Intel-P45-ATX-Intel-Motherboard-/191865644843?hash=item2cac15672b:g:9XEAAOSw1DtXK6vu

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-MS-7519-P45-C51-V2-0-Motherboard-skt-775-DDR3-Intel-P45-/282033144036?hash=item41aa7c40e4:g:ib0AAOSwInxXMUo~

 

Sound doable? @Jumper118

 

the asus is your best bet. 

[Jumper118]

2 minutes ago, ONOTech said:

Is 4 on air reasonable? 

what air cooler? 

[Jumper118]

8 minutes ago, ONOTech said:

Not sure yet honestly. Looking to pick up something relatively inexpensive though. ~ $30.

ok, i would recommend a second hand one thats very big. these chips are efficient for there age, but still 125w tdp. a 212 evo wont cut it at 4ghz so you need a single tower cooler with 6 heatpipes minimum. you are goin to need 422fsb minimum and around 1.35-1.45v. make sure your chip is E0 as well otherwise you'll be looking at 3.6ghz or less at the same voltage.  

[Jumper118]

8 hours ago, ONOTech said:

How would I check the stepping? This is the X5450 I'm considering. http://www.ebay.com/itm/272193748718

As for the cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118133

http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SL/SLASB.html SLASB is C0 which is the slow one that doesnt oc as well. SLBBE is E0 which will overclock much better.

 

That cooler should be ok  

[Jumper118]

2 hours ago, ONOTech said:

Thanks!

Your welcome.  Please report back when you have got all the parts together and the pc is up and running also if you need any help to oc once you have it I am happy to help. 

[Jumper118]

2 minutes ago, ONOTech said:

Just noticed that the X5450 only has 4 threads. Any 771 CPUs you recommend that are HT?

No quad cores have ht. Only the pentium d extreme edition has ht and that's very very slow and dual core.