XPS 700

[danmitch1]

hey sswilson, Yeah i heard that apparently if you install an "extreme" cpu it opens up the 1.4.1 bios for the xps 700 enabling access to the cpu multiplier .So i guess the options are in the bios but are hidden away .
If that was the case then i think id be pretty well off , no (for now) ? Corsair has a nice water cooler for 60 bucks even know the xps has a decent air heatsink setup ( think its ok without the water cooler? for the q cpu that is )
but when you oc does your motherboard need additional heatsinks on certain microchips ? like dell has a guy from their xps graphics card dept. on utube talking about the xps 700 and oc ing(with ntune) it but never tells ya how far how you can push the motherboard its self pci e sli and gpu even...Id like to have more control over what im doing thats for sure.

Dan.

[sswilson]

I never played with the 590 chipset, but IIRC all of the Nvidia chipset boards worked a hell of a lot better with active cooling on the NB/SB. On my P965 DFI dark I went all out with copper heatsinks on all of the exposed chips which displayed any tendancy to overheat.

As far as a Q6600 would go... If you can get your hands on a G0 chip (stepping), and ntune is still available for the motherboard, I'd be surprised if you couldn't get at least 3.2 out of it with decent (not extreme) air cooling / closed loop WC.

[Rasparthe]

If your board does support a QX6800 and QX6700 then it should support a Q6600. The Q6700 is the exact same guts as a QX6700 just the extreme version has an unlocked multiplier. Also if you get the Q6600 for a pretty good price you probably can sell it off it doesn't work properly. You don't have to do that workaround stuff I was talking about because the Q6600 is a 65nm chip which your BIOS doesn't have a problem with. That 45nm chips are the problem, the Q8xxx and Q9xxx chips are 45nm and so are the Wolfedale duals like e8xxx or e7xxx chips, which I recommend you avoid.

In regards to overclocking, because I would be really suprised if your Dell motherboard has voltage control you don't need to worry about much. The worst that would happen is it won't boot correctly and crash. There is a very remote chance you may corrupt the hard drive but that is almost nil (I've corrupted one hard drive in literally hundreds of overclocks - dozens under dry ice). If the board has a clear CMOS jumper (which every board should) you can always reset it back to stock and your good to go.

Also since you can't raise the voltage you won't need any serious cooling than is already provided. The temps won't go up a noticable amount even when raising the FSB until you start raising the voltages on the chip.

[danmitch1]

Hey guys , I am gettting excited ! I felt that my xps was doomed for a while... I have a few questions more before i make the move . Lots of these q cpus have different manufactuers , does this matter ? Like ive even found a dell manufatured one(qx6700).. dont know if this would increase the probability that it functions .
Another thing is the used cpus, i figure you risk quite alot when dealing with them . would refurbished be more safe than used ? Id like to go new though but im looking at at least 270$ for the q6600 (would you think its worth the price for the performance increase ?)

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by danmitch1

Hey guys , I am gettting excited ! I felt that my xps was doomed for a while... I have a few questions more before i make the move . Lots of these q cpus have different manufactuers , does this matter ? Like ive even found a dell manufatured one(qx6700).. dont know if this would increase the probability that it functions .
Another thing is the used cpus, i figure you risk quite alot when dealing with them . would refurbished be more safe than used ? Id like to go new though but im looking at at least 270$ for the q6600 (would you think its worth the price for the performance increase ?)

I personally wouldn't spend $270 on a cpu to upgrade that system.... Even if you couldn't find a decent Q6600 / QX6XXX chip on it's own, is there a reason why you couldn't just drop a different motherboard / processor combo in? I'm sure you should be able to find a Q6600 / motherboard combo somewhere for $150 or below (and in all honesty, even that sounds a bit pricy in today's market).

Edit: What's the config of that memory? I see that you're running 8G, is it 4X2G sticks or 2X4G? If it's 4X2G, you might not have much luck trying to push the FSB/NB up by much.

[danmitch1]

Sswilson, my case is apparently "btx" , so id have to modify it for an atx board to fit.
I got the fsb oc'd to about 305mhz with ntune before the system crashes/reboots which i beleive the multiplier 8 x 305 =2440 which is crap from 2.13 and since it crashes id really be setting it to maybe 300 giving 2400..
Id like to completly start over, but i want to minimize cost for now.
Im figuring id like to spend max 350 ,400 bucks and just max out the xps for a year or so.
so if i get the twin graphics card nvidia7900 gtx sli mode for 115 bucks and a cpu for max 285 im thinking id be satisfied for a bit. As for the ram, i got 4x 2gb corsair xms2 ddr2 . which i kinda splurged on tbh.. 150 with tax..
What would you think about buying the used or refurbished cpu from 100 to 150 ?

Thanks for all the input !

Dan.

[sswilson]

Heh... well.... we're not allowed to pimp our own gear, but I'm sure if you look around the forums here you should be able to find somebody with fairly decent rep who might just have a Q6600 up for sale......

As far as the case goes...... if it's BTX, then I'd try a proc to see if it worked, and if not I'd bite the bullet and pick up a reasonably priced ATX case to transfer the rest of the kit over to.... again... I really couldn't see dropping $250 on a chip for that system..........

[Rasparthe]

Originally Posted by danmitch1

Hey guys , I am gettting excited ! I felt that my xps was doomed for a while... I have a few questions more before i make the move . Lots of these q cpus have different manufactuers , does this matter ? Like ive even found a dell manufatured one(qx6700).. dont know if this would increase the probability that it functions .
Another thing is the used cpus, i figure you risk quite alot when dealing with them . would refurbished be more safe than used ? Id like to go new though but im looking at at least 270$ for the q6600 (would you think its worth the price for the performance increase ?)

The Q processors shouldn't have more than one manufacturer they are all made by Intel. They may have belonged in a Dell system or another manufacturer but if its a Q6600 or QX6700 or similar they are all made my Intel.

Quite honestly there isn't much problem buying used, sure new is nice but for an older socket like 775 you pay and incredible amount for one. If the chip is in working condition when you bought it then you shouldn't have any problems because its used.

As for the graphics cards any reason why you are stuck in the 7900 series and not making the jump into 500 or even the 400 series of Nvidia or the 6xxx/5xxx series of Radeon?

[danmitch1]

Hey guys , Id like to get a new case mobo and go for a higher end graphics but I feel if im gonna go that far i might as well just start from scratch .If i can drop another 300 bucks or so in the xps700 and get a little more performance id be happy for a couple of years and when i do build new i know im gonna have more than 300$. I also would like to keep this system after i buy a new one for network rendering and for a backup .So having it beefed up a bit would be nice.

I think im gonna go with a used cpu and take a chance, seen a q6600 for 130$. Also seen an entire system(from an office) for sale with a q6600 cpu installed bid is at 30$
Case :ChenbroCPU :Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 2.4GhzMemory :2GB DDR 2Hard Drive:80GB SATAOptical Drive:DVDVideo:Integrated videoNetwork :Integrated 10/100 ethernetAudio:Integrated audioPorts :VGA, front and rear USB, serial, parallel, PS/2Expansions:1 x PCI-Ex16, 2 x PCIOperating system :Windows Vista Business COA, not installedkeyboard & Mouse:Not includedPower cable :IncludedPhysical condition :can have minor cosmetic issuesWarranty :30 days

Im thinking if i win this and everything is in working condition id swap the cpus and have 2 systems !(im guessing this office pc would be backward compatible with a 775socket cpu ?)

[danmitch1]

Sorry to bump , but im excited again ! Found a local guy selling a used qX6700 for 100$ ! Now , i asked if it had been overclocked and he said for about 2 months at 3.2(is that bad? i guess ill ask what voltage and what cooling?). Just realized though , i dont have a system to test this on other than the xps 700 which is still kindov a "myth" to me if its gonna take a quad ( you guys seem pretty sure though, its just dell has me a bit paranoid) .But there will be no way for me to tell if the cpu is DOA or is just not compatible with my system. Not sure what craigs list has for doa return or refunds....