i7 920 overclock questions

[knightprozac]

I plan on building my first hackintosh with the following components and overclocking my BCLK to around 180 using nominal voltages.

 

Processor: Core i7 920

Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58-UD5

Graphics Card: Radeon 4870

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P (2 fans)

Case: Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570

 

 

I've got 2 questions. My first is regarding how much power I need? I may end up adding another 4870 at a later stage and I may overclock my graphics cards as well but i intend to use my processor at nominal voltages. I'll probably be using a few 7200RPM SATA Hard Drives.

 

The second thing I'm not quite sure about is regarding RAM. I was originally intending to get 3x2GB 1333MHz RAM but from what I've been reading I think this might not be very good. My understanding is that my RAM will run at either 180x8 (1440MHz) or 180x6 (1080MHz) depending on which multiplier i use. I get the impression that I shouldn't try to use a setting of 1440MHz for 1333MHz RAM but the additional speed of 1333MHz RAM (in comparison to 1066MHz) will be wasted with the alternative multiplier. Am I correct in my assumptions or is there another way to do it?

 

Thanks Everyone

[rama]

I have the same system, I have 1600mhz ram just to be safe, I'd rather under-clock than over-clock the ram, and the price difference was negligible ... my board runs 180 with hardly any voltage change, make sure you turn on load line calibration (or something like that) in the cpu power options... gives it more stable power.

As far as PSU goes... I have a coolermaster 850W. i did have an antec 750w in there, and that worked fine too... but that was with one video card. these new cards suck the juice! i might upgrade to new 4890's soon... apparently they are less greedy.

As a rule, you should be running about HALF of the power rated on your PSU, this will give the most economical use of power. Just because its rated at 850 doesn't mean its always sucking that much. with two video cards, an overcloced cpu, and a few hdds... you'll be pushing 400w easily, so i'd go for 850.