So I may be building an I7

voyagerfan99

voyagerfan99

Master of Turning Things Off and Back On Again
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Unfortunately it won't be for me. It'll be for a customer at work. Is there anything different with the CPU and heatsink installation than an AMD or Core2/P4 installation?

Also, what should I look for in a motherboard? (Chipset, Memory, etc) Do you recommend a specific manufacturer for the mobo? (I'm pretty sure this will be a gaming machine, but I'm not sure as my boss talked to the customer)

And how about DDR3 memory? I'm not familiar with the different frequencies of DDR3. It's a little confusing.

Anyway, I'm hoping the guy goes through with it cause I'd like to build one more custom machine before I go off to college :)
 
Installing the CPU is the same as any LGA socket, along with the cpu cooler.

As for a motherboard, just stick with big name brands. Most of the X58 boards
out right now are pretty nice, and a lot of them are SLI.
EVGA, Gigabyte, Asus, Foxconn for example.

The Core i7 only officially supports DDR3 1066 but you can safely run at least
1600, and many others have had luck with even higher. I run DDR3 1600 and
my system is smokin fast.

The thing to remember is that X58 motherboards run Triple Channel memory.
This means you need to run at least 3 sticks of RAM, no matter what size, to enable Triple Channel mode.
 
Bodaggit23 said:
The thing to remember is that X58 motherboards run Triple Channel memory.
This means you need to run at least 3 sticks of RAM, no matter what size, to enable Triple Channel mode.
Click to expand...

The customer wants to run 8GB of RAM. What's the best way to go about that for triple channel? (Maybe 4x1GB and 2x2GB?)
(I originally found a Gigabyte board with 4xDDR3 and I was gonna do 4x 2GB)
 
Yeah, that goofy board is the exception to the rule. I've only seen one board like that.

Don't run 4 sticks. 3 of the slots on that board are White.

Get a Triple Channel kit and fill the White slots.

3x1Gig or 3x2Gig

EDIT: The 3 slots are White, not blue. Oops.
 
Bodaggit23 said:
Yeah, that goofy board is the exception to the rule. I've only seen one board like that.

Don't run 4 sticks. 3 of the slots on that board are Blue.

Get a Triple Channel kit and fill the Blue slots.

3x1Gig or 3x2Gig
Click to expand...

Okay I mine as well do that then. Thanks for the info.

EDIT: I'm going to get two triple-channel kits
 
Last edited:
That board confuses me tbh. It says it runs Dual or Triple channel.

EDIT: This explains it. Downloaded the manual from here:


Capture-4.jpg


Capture2.jpg
 
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I decided to find a better mobo and get two triple-channel kits instead. It'll be easier.
 
Right on. I have an EVGA board myself. They make nice stuff and their support is outstanding, as well as their support forums.

Nice choice.
 
Bodaggit23 said:
Right on. I have an EVGA board myself. They make nice stuff and their support is outstanding, as well as their support forums.

Nice choice.
Click to expand...

Thank you :) Price doesn't matter for me cause I'm not paying for it and the guy wants a good machine :)

I built a Core2 system for my cousin and used an EVGA Cause I really liked the board.
 
Bodaggit23 said:
That board confuses me tbh. It says it runs Dual or Triple channel.
Click to expand...

It's wierd. My UD4P - which has 2x3 channels open will run Dual or Triple too. You can run dual channel in the 3 channel set - depending on the slots you choose to put your DDR3 RAM in. I just figured the CPU was optimized for triple channel - but could run single or dual like any other MOBO

The UD3 Gigabyte board has a triple channel setup - and a single channel for the 4th slot.
 
Jamin43 said:
It's wierd. My UD4P - which has 2x3 channels open will run Dual or Triple too. You can run dual channel in the 3 channel set - depending on the slots you choose to put your DDR3 RAM in. I just figured the CPU was optimized for triple channel - but could run single or dual like any other MOBO

The UD3 Gigabyte board has a triple channel setup - and a single channel for the 4th slot.
Click to expand...

I posted the explanation and pictures of the board in question on the first page.

You've just confused me more.... :D
 
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