Where to pick up X9000 for NP5790/M570RU

Since finding out that zfactor and others have got the x9000 running at 3.0ghz or even 3.2ghz or more, its been burning out the itch in the back of my brain (I'm on the T7700 which is a great little processor, but __ I didn't get this beast to be slow!)

ebay seems to be the place where folks are going for these bad boys, but for CPUs it just makes me paranoid a little; I want a solid X9000, new, that can run fast

Intel doesn't seem to sell 'em direct naturally, and XoticPC can't seem to source one for me. I've checked a few places and no luck.

Anywhere/one reputable that can get me one? (And at what price should I expect?) Anyone here have one?

jeff

 

try Eurocom.com

 

You could try rjtech.com or as the previous poster mentioned, eurocom. eBay is also a good place to look into; just be sure to buy from a reputable seller with a lot of feedback.

The ES and QS chips can be had for less than retail or regular OEM prices so you might want to look for those on eBay too.

 

Not sure offhand was ES and QS are, so time to go reading

Do I need the improved heat sink and new plastic panel (to fit the heat sink)? (Couple stores are recommending it, but ... sigh

jeff

 

No, you don't need the new heatsink/panel. The improved HS design was implemented for the x7800/x7900 chips, but the x9000 is lower tdp than those

 

duane is right! u can find a lotta X9000s on e-bay!

but i don't trust the chinese sellers!

 

The heatsink and panel is only $80 or so from sager, so no biggy I guess; the stores are showing some really high prices (ow!) so need to shop around a bit. The CPU can't be worth 50% of the total investment can it?

jeff

 

ES = Engineering Sample, QS = Qualified Sample (I think)

It would be a good idea to get the updated heat sink, especially if you plan on overclocking.

Hehe; I always look into their feedback and see if they have sold the same item previously.

I just took a quick look at eBay and many sellers are selling them for around 400 - 500 $. Purchasing it from a retailer may be more expensive, but you probably get a warranty on it (not to say that eBay sellers will not do the same). Look around and see where you feel most comfortable buying from and what you budget allows. Good luck.

 

Are all X9000's capable of going to 3 or 3.2 GHz or is that an uncertain thing?

For running it at that clock, is that a feature of the chip (you get a 3.0 ghz x9000), or done using one of those little overclock tools .. ie: at boot time, you run setclock or whatever it was to kick your cpu up to speed.

ie: If I can be ensured the x9000 I'm getting will run 3 or 3.2, I'll be pretty happy.

(I use the thermeltek unpowered cooler pad, so hopefully that will be sufficient for now to keep temps down until I get a better heatsink and case plastic; if they're $80 or so, might as well pick them up, but sounds like they're not critical.)

Is running x9000 at 3.2 really really hot?

jeff

 

3.2 is ok, ab 3.4 is really hot.....

 

With the t7700 at 2.4 I run about 58 deg Celsius (using HW Monitor); clocking up to 2.8 with SetFSB Auto tool (From the forum here) and its no appreciable difference.. sitting at 60 right now, sometimes going up to 63 or so when doing some fiddling. (non gaming.)

I'll have to fire up fallout 3 and see how she goes..

But if I can OC to 2.8 or 2.9 without a problem, should I even bother with an X9000?

jeff

 

Hmm, seems okay for awhile, but after a bit of a Fallout 3 session the OC'd temps start to hit 80 deg C on the CPU; that sounds hot, and sure feels hot if I left up the lappy (its on a cooler pad) ..

Seems to run about 70 deg C when not overclocked.

So over do it and gain 10 deg C .. hmmmm..
jeff

 

the x9000 will run cooler at its native speed than the t7700 will overclocked. also you can do it through the bios which imo is much better than setfsb is. if i can use the bios to oc i always to its much more stable. if your temps are fine with the t7700 overclocked than i dont think you will see much difference between it and the x9000 but if you are over 80deg its getting pretty hot. run prime or occt for a while and MONITOR temps and see how hot it gets that will show you the max it will ever get