new motherboard + power supply overclocking help

[kinnth]

Im looking to buy a new motherbaord, currently have asus p5ne-sli and it has random crashes and restarts concidering i have a very new pc this is unacceptable.

I want to spend around the £100 mark on the motherboard, I want it to last, to have wifi if possible not essential, to have 2x pci-e both capable of x16 and to be a good stable overclocker.

The 2x pci-e is not totally necessary i need at least 1 x16 as i have 8800gts, and would like to in the future run another sli.

The power supply. Now I want to get the cheapest yet most efficient and reliable power supply, one that will last over a year and i wont need a new one when i upgrade. If possible i want it to be able to run 2x 8800gts and 2 hd.

I have Q6600 and want to overclock it some, I have arctic 5 paste and the scythe large mesh cooler with 12cm fan, however at the moment its running so hot as standard i havnt attempted to overclock it, but im hoping to.

In the future im looking to invest in 2gb pc8500 ram, so I want the motherboard to be compatable. My biggest thing here is to get the best motherboard, so that it will last me. I could go upto £120 if people think its worth it.

If anyone needs anymore info to help me ide be glad to share. Im using your collective expertise here guys and its much appreciated.

p.s this is another cost thing but hopefully i want a raid array in the future.

[Choo Choo]

Just out of interest, your specs say 600W power supply but what brand/model power supply is it?

[kinnth]

it came with the pc, i think its a generic one. Its called win power atx 600 L

its ratings are
12v 18a
5v 30a
3.3v 35a
-12v 3.0a

[Webby]

I would hazard a guess that your current PSU is the cause of all your problems 18A on the 12v rail is probably a bit light... the radeon x1950's require 30A on the 12v rail (spec from ATI, not saying they actually need all that juice!) so I would guess a 8800GTS would require something similar. In fact adding up the wattage of your power supply it comes in at (12*18)+(5*30)+(3.3*35) = 481W that is quite a way off 600W and it is unlikely to be able to run the full 12v, 5v and 3.3v at once.

So my first suggestion would be to get a better power supply before spending money replacing a potentially fine mother board. You talk of wanting to run 2 GTS's so I would say a decent 550W+ PSU is in order, check out Corsair, Seasonic, Tagan, Coolermaster and Silverstone all produce top quality kit. You will be looking between £55-£100 probably depending on the features of each unit.

[Choo Choo]

Webby's said it all. I'd say it was an inadequate PSU letting you down rather than the motherboard.

[Blitzen]

it came with the pc, i think its a generic one. Its called win power atx 600 L

its ratings are
12v 18a
5v 30a
3.3v 35a
-12v 3.0a

That PSU has absolutely shocking specs and i wouldnt let that loose on a £50 system let alone what you have.

Bin it IMMEDIATELY.

There are plenty of decent PSus out there for sub £50 that will suit your needs.

Fortron Blue Storm
XCLIO 480W
Corsair 450W
Enermax Liberty 400W
OCZ Stealth
(not Coolermaster...they are cack).

All cheap and cheerful (but quality units) and all are more than up to running what you want.

[kinnth]

so those ratings I gave you there, are they known as rails in the power trade? Which does each of the ratings correspond to and do more rails mean more reliability or ability to run more things. Would i need 4 rails if i want to run 2 gfx cards?

Im going to get a new psu today then and get it by end of the week.

Is this psu anyhting to do with my overheating issues on the q6600?

[Blitzen]

Is this psu anyhting to do with my overheating issues on the q6600?

Possibly yes.

Also, the argument over single rail/multi-rail is interesting.

Basically, any PSU that can truely supply 32A (single card) or 40A+(SLI/Crossfire), whether its single or multi rail will do the job.

I am a fan of the multi rail PSUs just for the fact that the power drawn splits to where it is required.


BE AWARE though...some PSUs claim to have dual/multi rails and in fact dont.

[kinnth]

well in the end after reading some other posts in the forums I went for a corsair HX520. Heard it had better capacitors, great customer service and is supported on hexus. I also thought i could get away with the 520 version even if i do get another gts although it will be tight.

I took my entire pc apart and put it back together and in the process fixed my heatsink and fan 2 my q6600 as it wasnt on properlly and my comp was running 75+ degrees!!! Now after 2 hours of prime it just crept into the 72 degrees. I prob dont have the best core due to the fact ive had the heatsink improperlly installed for around 2 weeks and that must have done some damage. Im still gona go for the push to the 300mhz mark but it may end up around 290. Still thats better than nothing.

Im loving the new power supply now, no crashes and it seems my fans are going faster, could just be me tho. Next on the shopping list is some paired pc8500 ram, prob go corsair aswell. The motherboard can wait a year as there will be some much better ones out then.

[Webby]

Glad to hear that it was the PSU, makes us look almost intelligent Good choice on the Corsair HX520 its what I have got and I have no complaints.

Just as a matter of interest when you reseated your CPU cooler did you clean off and reapply the thermal paste? If you did great if you didn't would be worth it.

[kinnth]

yeah i did that, used record cleaner (contains IPA or whatever that is a good solvent for thermal paste) I had bought myself some arctic silver 5 so reapplied that, made sure the sink was on good and tight and connected it all up again, its working sweet.

I do have a super custom fan stack (involves cardboard and a 120mm fan positioned in the dvd drive bays) but now its blowing like a garden strimmer from b and q and i can feel the heat pouring off the sync which i couldnt feel before so its working. Still got my high temps which im annoyed about but i can easily live with.

This q6600 is a beast it doesnt even break a sweat rippin full dvd's on high priority and running folding at home still got 20% spare juice for me to prattle around with.

Gona let the sync burn itself in for a week and then im going to attempt the overclock :happy: