New Pentium D 805 system

kw87 · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2004 Posts: 93

So after selling my old AMD system I realized that I could make a decent little system with the money I received. In searching for a dual core I found the 805 for only $116 USD! I have to take that one up even though I never thought I would buy an Intel. Here are my specs so far. My biggest concern right now is the motherboard. I read meobius' posts on the 805 and he got a great overclock. He did mention that if it was up to him he would not choose the Asus p5ld2. I'm wondering why. he sure seemed to get a great overclock. If there are issues that I don't know about I would love to hear them. Here's what I'm thinking

(all prices w/ shipping @ newegg)
pqi DDR2 667 2GB Dual Channel (bought for $110)
ASUS P5LD2 ($124)
Intel Pentium D 805 ($116)
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro ($25)
I have a case with 6 fans including a PSU with a fan (I think it's an Antec 480W)
Video Card? depends on how much money I have left over

I've pretty much maxed out my budget so I'll need to stay where I am or less.
Please let me know if you see any problems with this setup. I'm mainly looking for suggestions on a motherboard and also any GPU suggestions in the budget range.

Thanks,
kw
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Pentium D 805 2.6 @ 3.8GHz
Asus P5ND2-SLI Intel Edition
240GB RAID 0 SATA
2 GB DDR2 666 @ 766MHz
Gigabyte 7600GS Silent

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meobius · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 5:16 am Post subject:

I wouldn't choose the p5ld2 simply because of asus' terrible quality. That's right i've said it. In the past week I've had 4 out of 5 brand new out of the box asus boards die on me, 2 where DOA, 1 lost the IDE controller shortly after windows was installed, and the last one had problems with the onboard videocard.

As far as what to get, Intel is good quality but forget overclocking with intel. DFI lanparty or ABIT usually get very good overclocks, and in general are very well made boards.
I'ld look into changing the PSU though, the antecs aren't that stable (unless you have an older 300 or 350watt) thermaltake or enermax are good choices in that
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kw87 · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2004 Posts: 93

Which Abit would you suggest? The reviews on the AW8-MAX don't look very good for the 805. It appears that it will only allow it to OC to about 3.3 GHz. The only DFI I could find with a recent chipset on newegg is the DFI INFINITY which is $249. Is there another board I'm missing?

Thanks for the reply,
kw
_________________
Pentium D 805 2.6 @ 3.8GHz
Asus P5ND2-SLI Intel Edition
240GB RAID 0 SATA
2 GB DDR2 666 @ 766MHz
Gigabyte 7600GS Silent

kw87 · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2004 Posts: 93

After a LOT of reading in the many forums including the Asus and Abit forums I've decided on the ASUS P5ND2-SLI. It's only $87.99 and many people have been able to acheive 3.8-4.1GHz overclocks with the 805 D. Now I figure I'll get a graphics card that's SLI compatible so that when I have anotehr $90 in the future I can get another one.
Just FYI for anyone else reading this who is considering an 805 with an Abit mobo, I found that the Abits really don't like the Pentium 805 D. The AW8D and above are not really designed for the 805's FSB and so don't overclock past a 170 FSB. Just in case anyone else is reading this I want to save them the time of having to look through the Abit forums.

My only concern now is that my 450W power supply can't support everything I'm going to try and do. Has anyone found a good cheap PSU that can handle a big overclock and SLI? If I'm stuck buying a $150 PSU I can deal with that, I'm just hoping that there's something out there that can work for under $50. let me know what you think.

-kw

oh, if I can afford it, would any GeForce 7 series be better than any GeForce 6 series card?
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Pentium D 805 2.6 @ 3.8GHz
Asus P5ND2-SLI Intel Edition
240GB RAID 0 SATA
2 GB DDR2 666 @ 766MHz
Gigabyte 7600GS Silent

Mordacain · Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 6:29 pm Post subject:

I've also had terrible experience with Asus boards (actually as far back as a P3 -don't remember the actual board).

I also am running a PD805. I usually run it only slightly overclocked to 3.32 (FSB set equally to my 667 ram). I have had it stable at 3.7 but it required serious voltage (1.5 volts) to remain stable. However, at this speed I can here the mosfets popping (literally). My board is a Biostar TForce U775.

To be honest...I hate this system. Most of my games actually run slower than my old Socket 754 3000+ (at stock 2.0 GHZ the majority of the time). I would certainly take Moebius' advice as I am here to offer the counter-point; the motherboard is the critical element to success in overclocking a D805 to supreme levels.

Sadly, this whole experiment has left a bad taste in my mouth. While I would love to go ahead and upgrade to a new Core 2 rig, the motherboards and ram are cost-prohibitive to me. For the money, I would actually achieve better results using my old Corsair XMS ram set and going with a 939 89watt 4400+. Of course, Crossfire is also a prime consideration for me going forward, and the DFI LanParty Xfire board is very cheap right now at $130. Closest competitors I have found in the intel space are around $250.

If you have yet to purchase the rig, I would advise other options. Tom's Hardware has a rather in-depth article chronicling the power consumption of a highly overclocked D805. To be frank, the gains really don't justify the means for me.

Mordacain · Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 6:34 pm Post subject:

Oh, I forgot to respond on the power supply issue. Your 450 can't handle the load. But, Thermaltake has a very interesting solution. It's a 5.25 bay 300 watt power suplpy designed to daisy chain off your existing power suplpy and provide dual 12v rails strictly for your graphics cards. That is a very viable solution in your case as it retails for around $50.

Also, considering your graphics card options, don't weigh out the x1900. Even the AIW and GT versions of this card generally outperform SLi configurations of everything up to the 7900 series. When you add it up, it's more cost effective to go with the single-card solution. Also, quite a few mobos sporting the 945P and 975x chipsets will suppport XFire and SLi. If you're stuck on the 805, consider that

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

As far as a PSU goes, I agree that the 450 watter might not be enough......it'll be fine for what you're planning right now, but if you do decide to go SLI or CrossFire, or add in another HDD or two, it'll start to choke. I use an iStar 750 watter that's not too expensive, but an awesome performer. Won't win any beauty contests, though.

Stable as heck, though.

http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/istarusa750/

As far as Antec goes, they had some issues with the first versions of the NeoPower HE's, due to some problems with the plant they were being made in. I have a NeoPower 480 that's as stable as a rock, and the 550's are highly rated. You might also want to look into the Cooler Master iGreen series. Both the 550 and 600 are SLI rated, run at high efficiency, and are very solid.

I can't really comment on mobos, I'm still running a Chaintech 9CJS

. I have heard a mix of reports on Asus, but I can pretty much say that about any manufacturer. From my experience, DFI has had just as many problems, as has Abit.

Really, you're just going to have to choose which type of mobo chipset you want. If you're going for Intel, but can't wait for a couple of months, CrossFire is a good setup, and as Mord said, the X1900 is a kickin' vid card. If you CAN wait, the newer SLI Intel Edition chipsets are supposed to be really sweet, and will run nVidia SLI instead...........and with AMD buying ATI, who knows what will happen with that.
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Xal · Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 2:37 am Post subject:

If you are trying to build a future proof rig, with Vista and DX10 arround the corner I would just get a cheap GFX card to tide you over till the DX10 cards come out. Something like this should tide you over nicely and still allow you to play most games at decent framerates.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125208

And once you upgrade to a DX10 card you can always build a cheap media center arround this card (passive cooling)

Eg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16856110045
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820218062
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537
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Phenom II x4 955 @ Stock
Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
Nexus 600W Silent PSU
Nexus Fans
Custom case

Mordacain · Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 5:10 am Post subject:

In the temporary card arena, I would avoid the LE variant of the 6600. It crops the pixel pipes to 4. Here is a base 6600 that is about the best bang for buck you're going to find sub $75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143068

I wasn't sure what 3d Fuzion was, so I checked it out and they are a new BFG subsidiary, created to market low-mid cards. I also like the heatsink on this one, as it covers the RAM fully.

Xal · Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 5:22 am Post subject:

Good point, I didn't see the LE at first. I just like the passive cooling for a TV box

You could even find a 6600GT for a little more, that would be even better. It all depends on your budget, TH just got an X800GTO for cheap and I just found this for an amazing price

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102688

But you would have to jump on it quick as its a limited time sale.
_________________
Phenom II x4 955 @ Stock
Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
Nexus 600W Silent PSU
Nexus Fans
Custom case

Mordacain · Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 7:01 am Post subject:

Oh, that's an excellent find.

Funny thing is that card can actually beat the 7600 GT and x1800GTO in several games at higher resolutions. I had an x800 Pro before I upraded to this rig and it was a great card, lot's of overclocking headroom (never could unlock the other 4 pipes though

)

ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

that GTO i got is rockin...only 130 from newegg.....check pricegrabber!
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