Overclock Warehouse Dual CPU Bundle
Conclusions.
The whole point of a guaranteed overclock bundle like
this one is to save you time, money (relative to an unoverclocked system of
comparable speed), and aggravation. Putting together the right components for a
successful system overclock isn't hard, but there can be significant stumbling
blocks if you are doing it yourself. The nice aspect of this bundle is the ease,
and the guarantee. The only snags I had were in figuring out the mainboard 3-pin
connectors weren't up to spinning these monster Delta fans, and in finding out
about the reboot issue noted above with cores above 1.9v (again, MSI is working
on a BIOS update to correct this issue, as yet unavailable).
Once overclocked, and with a clean Windows 2000 install,
it just works. Beyond the Sisoft Sandra benchmarks, I threw the whole Spec
Viewperf suite at it (since this is as much a test of the graphics card, as it
is the CPU, I omitted the results, as finding a relavent comparison would have
been difficult under my current circumstances), lots of Quake3 Arena,
Distributed.net's RC5 cracker, and Prime95 for several hours with nary a hiccup.
I would have included the ubiquitous Quake3Arena benchmarks with r_smp 1 set in
the q3config.cfg, but it's clear that SMP support in Q3a was an afterthought, as
performance was LOWER with SMP enabled (this has been duplicated in many SMP
system reviews). Under Quake3A v1.25b r_smp 1 is largely broken, as it exhibits
errors and crashes that do not occur under v1.17. Installing and building the
system was relatively easy. Keep in mind that this board, like most dual CPU
boards, is a bit larger than your average ATX board, so make sure you have
adequate space to mount it.
For a system like this, it comes down to this
fundamental decision. Do you want to save a few bucks and roll your own? Or do
you want a guaranteed reliable system that will work out of the box, and give
you a lot more bang-for-the-buck than a similar performing non-overclocked rig?
It doesn't take alot of searching on
iBuyer.net or
pricewatch.com to figure out just how much the still seemingly vapor-ware
PIII-1Ghz processors are going for (~$700+ each). At that rate, the Gen-X-Tech
bundle is a steal! Of course compared to buying the components separately
yourself, it's more expensive. The big problem there, is does your work have a
guarantee?? ;) I would have to say, that in the value department, Gen-X-Tech
wins in spades here. A one year Gen-X-Tech warranty on the system component is a
lot of "cover thy *ss" for the money. If you're looking for a no-brainer
overclocked dual CPU board combo, I can wholeheartedly recommend this latest
offering from Gen-X-Tech. Also Tech Zone readers get a special deal
here.
Pros:
-
Quality components - MSI 694D dual S370 board,
currently the best shipping dual FCPGA board for overclocking IMHO. Hardcore
Alpha PAL6035 heatsinks with 60mm 6800rpm Delta fans, make keeping the CPU's
cool easy.
-
Warranty. How many companies will GUARANTEE, and
WARRANTY overclocked components. It speaks to their confidence in their
work, and pretesting.
-
Attractive Price, when compared to a *real* dual
P3-1Ghz system.
Cons:
Rating:
8.5/10
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