Q9450, 9800gx2, 8gb Ddr2 Mobo Please?

[FSX]

Hi all!

I am an FSX fanatic and run the Simulator through 4 cores and therefore have invested in the Q9450. I am also going to use the 9800GX2, with 8GB of DDR2 running either XP 64bit or Vista 64bit. Either or it will be a 64bit Operating System to take advantage of the 8GB of DDR2. FSX will use about 3.5GB of that and the rest will use up the other internal and external pieces of equipment I will be using such as Active Sky X, X Graphics, Live ATC, Skype etc.

FSX is one of the most demanding games on the market and I have been looking at numerous motherboards but am getting discombobulated with the compatibility issues. I have a budget of £300 for the motherboard.

Any help on the matter would be much appreciated?
Any suggestions on the rest of the set up feel free to add..

Case
Hard-Drive
Graphics Card (will be using 9800GX2)
Sound Card
Power Supply
RAM (8gb of the fastest DDR2 please)
Motherboard
Processor (Q9450 quad)
OS (XP 64 or Vista 64)
Fan


From my browsing online and brain storming I have made a small shortlist of motherboards. You may not need to agree or disagree but any help and advice on the matter would be much appreciated?

ASUS Rampage Formula X48: http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=3691
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6: http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=4233
Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6: http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=3722
DFI Lanparty UT X48-T2R: http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=3811

I dont think I can wait for the P45 so I suspect the above 4 are the top end motherboards to handle a Q9450 and 8 GB of DDR2 (please don’t persuade me to buy just 4Gb) with the 9800GX2 on Vista 64bit.

I am also not going to wait for the GTX280, however , I believe I can upgrade to it in the future and it will be compatible with the above motherboards if I remove the 9800GX2.

Many many thanks in advance any help is much appreciated.

 

[Anon_F]

FSX if you put as much effort into all your different forum postings across the web on this matter you would be done by now!!

 

[Adywebb]

Tthe Rampage Formula and the DFI are both excellent....but I'd go for the Rampage.

 

[FSX]

Anyone else wish to pick the best motherboard for my set up?

ASUS Rampage Formula X48: http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=3691
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6: http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=4233
Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6: http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=3722
DFI Lanparty UT X48-T2R: http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=3811

Many thanks again.

 

[Anon_F]

As a complete novice on games & flight sims i suggest you may need "specialist" help.
I suggest you click http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=FSX+Forums&meta
These may be the people to ask on this matter.
Good luck.

 

[FSX]

OK thank you all for your help so far. I am now at the stage of investing in my RAM. Can anyone recommend me the fastest and best 8GB of DDR2 (4x 2GB). I am going to overclock the Q9450 to about 3.2ghz per core using the Asus Rampage: http://www.afterdawn.com/hardware/product_details.cfm/4971/asus_rampage_formula

Can someone please help me choose the best, I am not so concerned about the money but instead being able to overclock the Q9450 and having the most powerfull RAM to support my PC running a 64bit as powerfull as possible and helping FSX go as fast as possible. I use CS3 and Cubase as well.

Many many thanks again.

 

[Adywebb]

Get 2 lots of G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PK PC2-8500C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit - you won't be disappointed

 

[FSX]

Thank you for your suggestion. I have found another 5? Does anyone know if I am on the right tracks or suggest any more thats better, or if so from the list below which one is the best or are any better ones out there?

G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PK PC2-8500C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK): http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-023-GS

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 PC2-8500 (1066):
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=782925

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800):
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=632574

Hynix 240 Pin DDR2 PC2-8500 - DDR2-1066: http://www.offtek.co.uk/ddr2.php?subcat=70&subgroup=1&memtype=DDR2-PC8500

and 2Gb Team DDR2 PC2-9600 1200MHz Xtreem Dual Channel kit CL5:
http://computers.pricegrabber.co.uk...skd=1/search=ddr2%209600/st=product/sv=title/

Thanks in advance.

 

[Adywebb]

The G.Skill I linked to and the one you link to at Newegg in the USA are very similar - depends on whether you live in the UK or USA I guess.

Regarding the third link to the Corsair Dominator - I would avoid, there are plenty of reports flying around at the moment about these failing - I myself have had 2 sets fail - and the G.Skill is better anyway.

Your fourth link is to 800MHz RAM -I thought you wanted the fastest that your motherboard supports?

Re your 5th link - forget it.

The Team Elite Ram in your final link on the price comparison site goes to DDR PC3200 RAM if you go to what its comparing - no use to you whatsoever.

You could spend all day linking to RAM if you want, but I've given you a big hint in my previous post about what to get

 

[FSX]

Thank you Adyweb. Yes I am in the UK and am very confused with all the RAM out there. I am sorry but I do not know how to identify which RAM is the fastest in relation to my motherboard. I am looking at the manual which I downloaded from the ASUS website http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us . Could you please tell me what specification I should be looking in relation to the best or fastest RAM I need, please? Also, I have been looking at things like heat sinks stuck on the RAM are these important or not?

Many thanks on your suggestion I will seriously consider it, and at the moment from what you have said Sir it is clearly the winner. I was merely trying to see what else was out there but untill I can find out what specification I should be looking at in the RAM I will not know. I am also hoping to overclock my Q9450, I dont know if this will have any affect or not?

Sorry for blagging on.

 

[Adywebb]

Your motherboard supports DDR2 667, 800 and 1066 RAM - 1066 being the highest spec which the G.Skill I linked to is.

What is going to get rather tedious is if you keep posting 'what about this RAM' links, as with the amount of RAM out there we could be here for an awfully long time - let me assure you the G.Skill RAM will do everything you want it too.

The importance of heat spreaders are much exaggerated as overall fan flow and cooling within the case is more important, however they do help and I would get RAM with them - most branded DDR2 RAM have them these days anyway.

Overclocking your CPU will have an effect on RAM as they are linked - as you clock the CPU the RAM moves in a certain proportion, but RAM is also effected by other factors such as the dividers you use.

If you use 1066 RAM then you won't have any problems and will probably be able to run them at stock even when the CPU is overclocked.

Overclocking CPU/RAM is a bit of a mystic art and I highly recommend you do some reading up on the subject before you go playing

 

[FSX]

From the Rampage manual I have copied this:

System Bus: 1600/1333/1066/800 MHz
Memory: Dual-Channel memory architecture
- 4 x 240-pin DIMM support unbuffered ECC/ non-ECC DDR2 1200*/1066/800/667Mhz memory modules
-Supprts up to 8GB system memory

*The DDR2 frequency reaches 1200MHz after overclocking

Would 1200Mhz not be more powerfull than 1066Mhz, sorry if this is a stupid question, trying to figure out how to identify how Ram is rated in speed.

Thank you again.

 

[FSX]

Ok thanks Adyweb that has certainly cleared things up for me. I will need to a lot of reading up on the overclocking. I presume 1200Mhz Ram listed above from the Manual would not be a faster Ram?

 

[Adywebb]

As I said, the RAM is inexplicably linked to the CPU.

The Q9450 has a x8 multiplier and runs stock at a bus speed of 333 x 8 for a CPU speed of 2664 MHz. At that speed your RAM at 1:1 with FSB will be running at 667MHz (333 x 2).

Your maximum overclock on air is going to be somewhere up to 3400MHz depending on cooler, and also due to the low x 8 multiplier the FSB has to be raised quite high to get high clocks - this means the CPU will be running at 425 x 8. At that speed the RAM will be running at 850Mhz (425 x 2) if at 1:1 with FSB.

To get it to run at even 1066 when 1:1 with FSB you will need to to have the CPU running at 533 x 8 (4264MHz) which is impossible on air and probably on water too due to the high FSB needed.

Therefore to get the 1066 RAM even running at stock you will need to play with the dividers and go from 1:1 to something like 2:3.

So do you see where I'm coming from? - having RAM capable of running at 1200MHz is frankly pointless when you can get all the performance you need at 1066MHz.

Did I mention this overclocking thing ain't simple?

 

[Waynos_Face]

As Adywebb says overclocking isn't something you can jump straight into, as i posted a couple of weeks ago my mate was messing with his CPU and wrecked it and that voids the warranty.

I think your proposed Rig will play just about anything at max spec anyway so you could just sit with stock values.

Also 8GB of 800Mhz or 1066Mhz is more than plenty.