Source
r/buildapc•
junaru

P67 Build with an overclock in mind.

So I've been lurking here for almost a year now, and have finally decided to go on and purchase my next build. Since the recent reintroduction of P67 motherboards it seemed like a perfect opportunity to try and build a decent gaming rig. Now my last build was back in the s939 days. I went for the "Light" editions of most of my hardware, and thus was quite upset when I figured out I could barely overclock it at all. So now I'm trying to achieve maximum potential for overclocking. Basically out of pure curiosity I want to reach 5GHz on air, and bump up the 6950 via 6970 BIOS flash.

The parts are as fallows:

PartComment
Intel Core i5-2500KBecause 2600K has hyperthreading and is not worth the money for a gmaing rig.
Scythe "MUGEN-2 Rev.B"Price & recomendations
Asus P8P67Considering ASrock P67 Extreme4 from youtube videos it looks like Asus has a more detailed configuration via UEFI.
ASUS HD6950 PCI-E 2GB GDDR-5Planning to flash it with 6970 BIOS
8GB Corsair Vengeance Dual Channel Kit, 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24, 1.5VOr G.Skill RIpjaws-X
Corsair Force Series™ F60For system drive (old SATA drives for storage)
Antec Three HundredPrice & positive reviews
Corsair TX650Allready aquired, since my last generic PSU died.

I have 3 questions:

  • RAM: I gather that on Sandy Bridge the speeds are more important than timings and everyone claims that 1.5v is the way to go if you want to overclock. Why? What will happen if I go for a kit that is designed for 1.65v? Do the RAM bus voltages vary a lot on default and overclocked profiles? Any technical details would be much appreciated.

  • GPU: 6950, is it still flashable with 6970 bios? Also, does only the 2GB model qualify for the flash?

  • SSD Boot time: Since it will primary be used for OS should I go for the listed model with sequential read and write speads near 1:1 ratio, or should I try and get something faster on the reading side to try and minimize the boot times even more?

Posted Feb 28, 2011, 12:47 PM UTC

915
HopeThisNameFi•

I've heard of problems with those high memory modules in combination with that big cooler. You might want to check if the cooler will still fit.

Regarding SSD; OCZ is soon releasing the Vertex3 and I think Intel is releasing a new model in March as well.

2
junaruOP•

Thanks for the cooler tip, a quick google search revealed that the fan could be flipped to the other side, so i think the ram will fit quite nicely (granted the picture is from a 1156 board).

As for the Vertex3 its quite pricey for my budget.

2
HopeThisNameFi•

I agree the Vertex3 does look quite pricey. As far as I can tell the smallest model will be 100GB so that won't help price-wise. A new generation SSDs might drive the price of the current generation down though. Although that's probably not worth holding out for.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

0
[deleted]•

Related: will r ram modules and a hyper 212+ fit on a p8p67?

1
nubbinator•

I gather that on Sandy Bridge the speeds are more important than timings and everyone claims that 1.5v is the way to go if you want to overclock. Why? What will happen if I go for a kit that is designed for 1.65v?

Intel CPUs are far more sensitive than AMD CPUs to RAM voltage. If the RAM voltage is too high, you run the risk of frying the CPU since the memory controller is on the CPU. Intel's recommended voltage is 1.5v +/- 5%. 1.65v RAM will work, but overclocking it and raising the voltage increases the potential damage to your processor. The damage may be immediate or it may be cumulative.

6950, is it still flashable with 6970 bios? Also, does only the 2GB model qualify for the flash?

I have yet to see anything saying that it no longer works. And yes, only the 2GB version works for it.

Since it will primary be used for OS should I go for the listed model with sequential read and write speads near 1:1 ratio, or should I try and get something faster on the reading side to try and minimize the boot times even more?

Until you see the new SATA III SSDs come out you won't really see a huge difference between a Sand Force based SSD and one like the C300. I'd stick with the Sand Force based one or wait for the new SATA III SSDs to come out.

I'd probably take the ASRock board over the Asus. It gets great reviews and the Asus was rife with problems at launch. They may have finally worked some of the issues out, but a ton of people had issues with it, amongst them cold boot issues, BSODs, RAM compatibility issues, and the inability to retain overclocking profiles.

2
junaruOP•

Thank You, seriously considering going for ASrock.

1
proskater_83•

go for the P8P67 plus simply because its only a couple of bucks more and it has full sli/crossfire support. i have the p8p67 and i'm lucky that they had a design flaw because i'm now going upgrade to the pro, no questions asked!

1
giantjoey24•

Where are you finding the prices for these mobos?

-1
mirror_truth•

They aren't on many retailing websites right now because of the recall, but apparently the manufacturers will be shipping new ones this week or next, meaning they'll be on the sites around the same time

1
proskater_83•

Canada computers

0
technate•

Research Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. B CPU Cooler. It is the best air cooler out right now. With 2 ultra kazes, its insane. I also have some 38mm clips I could give you. They are hard to find. Oh yea check the card to see if it was hardware locked. You may be sool on that mod unless you find an old card. I need to research the ram voltage overclocking issue.

1
proskater_83•

also, i read that the sapphire radeon 6950 is the most successful when it comes to flashing from 6950 to 6970 firmware

0
junaruOP•

Techpowerup guide provides a success table at the end of article (updated feb1). It doesnt look like Saphire stands out compared to the others. I'm kinda reluctant to buy Saphire since my old card was made by them and then fan gave out in about 4 months.

0
proskater_83•

CLICK check the table at the bottom of the page

1
proskater_83•

sorry, when i said sapphire, i meant HIS

1