Alright, just looking for some general ideas on my choice of equipment for this system I am building. It's geared towards being a mid-range price PC, thus I don't really want to go above around 600 bucks. also if I haven't included something in here (such as a CD drive) that means I am probably going to be using something from my older PC.

 

 

 

Heres what I plan on getting so far:

 

 

 

Tower: I'm not final about what tower I am going to get yet but I think I'm going to stick with a mid range case. It'll mean I'll be a bit SOL (possibly) when going back for christmas but I don't want to deal with the micro cases.

 

 

 

nForce 650i Motherboard: This is what I'm mostly curious about. The reviews on newegg look nice and its supposed to be a good OC motherboard on the cheap.

 

 

 

7900GS KO: This one I'm fairly certain on. I'm waiting for the 9000 series to come out from Nvidia and possibly get one once it lowers in price. The 8000 series is, IMO, crap for what it costs.

 

 

 

500w PSU: had this recommended to me by a friend of mine.

 

 

 

Intel 2 core duo 1.8ghz processor: This is another given I think. Acording to reviews this baby is easily overclocked with even stock cooling up to 3ghz!

 

 

 

2gb DDR2 ram: Not sure how good this ram is, it looks like some great budget ram however. Fairly cheap.

 

 

 

320gb hard drive: Its out of stock atm but will probably get back. Mostly just a nice hard drive for what I need.

 

 

 

 

 

The sound card/OS/cd drive and stuff I'm going to be using from my old system.

 

 

 

Right now this comes out all to around $600 with rebates, maybe closer to $580 I forget.

 

 

 

is there anything you guys would recomend? if possible please keep it around what price I already have it.

 

 

 

Also, cooling. Not sure if I want to invest a little bit in it or not to be honest. The CPU comes with a cpu cooler I think.

All looks good.

 

The motherboard is a good quality board, if you still have doubt you should look into the Asus P5B boards as they are very popular with system builders at the moment.

 

The ram is some of the best you can get for the money, plus Corsair is a great brand.

 

The parts I think you should look is the hard drive.

 

This hard drive is better then the one you choose as its SATA and uses perpendicular writing for better/quieter performance. Plus its only $5 more.

All looks good.

 

The motherboard is a good quality board, if you still have doubt you should look into the Asus P5B boards as they are very popular with system builders at the moment.

 

The ram is some of the best you can get for the money, plus Corsair is a great brand.

 

The parts I think you should look is the hard drive.

 

This hard drive is better then the one you choose as its SATA and uses perpendicular writing for better/quieter performance. Plus its only $5 more.

 

 

 

Awesome, I'll add in that hard drive instead thanks. :P

 

 

 

 

 

Great to hear that the motherboard is a good quality. I didn't really want to skimp on it.

 

 

 

 

 

Now would it be wise of me to get some form of cooling other than w/e fans are going to be default with the case? I've never really had to deal with it before. If I could get some decent cooling for cheap It'd be nice as I plan on OCing at least the CPU. (perhaps the video card slightly).

The stock heatsink will be fine for medium to moderate over clockers.Trouble is the noise it generates when you start to overclock more as well as the fact its not designed to cool a OC'ed CPU. Don't get me wrong the stock heatsink is very good to just in case you what a different one.

 

Here's two very good heat sinks which don't cost too much.

 

For $40 you can get the Scythe Ninja Plus which is very quiet and a great cooler, I own one and swear that it will be quieter and cooler, then your stock heatsink :mrgreen: . (See this graph.)

 

If your looking to spend less then the Scythe Katana 2 is another good cooler.

That PSU is good for the graphics card you picked out now but it will not be strong enough for the 9 series when it comes out. The 12v rails are really weak for a 500w psu. I recommend something with 18+ on each rail.

 

 

 

For cooling the case you picked out has 2 120mm fans for intake and exhaust which is a must have with any case. If you are going to overclock a 3rd party heatsink is a must. The E4300 gets hot soon as you up the voltage at all. Trust me, I'm running the same processor :P .

 

 

 

Give me a price range for what your willing to spend on a cpu cooler and I can suggest something.

Hmm.. not sure how much I'll be OCing. I was hoping of getting the 1.8ghz CPU up to around 2.8 or 3ghz which acording to the reviews (all 200) thats fairly easy to do. Would I need a non-stock cooling for it?

 

 

 

Not really sure how much I'd want to spend on a cooler, but thanks for the recomendations Joe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also I'll probably just upgrade PSU's whenever I end up getting a new card down the road a year+ from now. Not worrying about it now.

Hmm.. not sure how much I'll be OCing. I was hoping of getting the 1.8ghz CPU up to around 2.8 or 3ghz which acording to the reviews (all 200) thats fairly easy to do. Would I need a non-stock cooling for it?

 

 

 

Not really sure how much I'd want to spend on a cooler, but thanks for the recomendations Joe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also I'll probably just upgrade PSU's whenever I end up getting a new card down the road a year+ from now. Not worrying about it now.

 

 

 

For that overclock you will need a new cooler. Don't let some of the reviews fool you saying that you don't. I know from personal experience. You will not need some $60 high end cooler to do that though maybe one of the above ones suggested.

Hmm.. not sure how much I'll be OCing. I was hoping of getting the 1.8ghz CPU up to around 2.8 or 3ghz which acording to the reviews (all 200) thats fairly easy to do. Would I need a non-stock cooling for it?

 

 

 

Not really sure how much I'd want to spend on a cooler, but thanks for the recomendations Joe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also I'll probably just upgrade PSU's whenever I end up getting a new card down the road a year+ from now. Not worrying about it now.

 

 

 

For that overclock you will need a new cooler. Don't let some of the reviews fool you saying that you don't. I know from personal experience. You will not need some $60 high end cooler to do that though maybe one of the above ones suggested.

 

 

 

Ok cool, I'll check those up a bit more listed above. :)

if possible I would go with a conroe core 2 duo, as they overclock better then the allendale cores and the L2 cache is twice the size, which leads to slightly better performance. (the conroe core is a newer model then the Allendale) this is a good one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115015

 

 

 

its about 40$ more then the one you have posted.

if possible I would go with a conroe core 2 duo, as they overclock better then the allendale cores and the L2 cache is twice the size, which leads to slightly better performance. (the conroe core is a newer model then the Allendale) this is a good one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115015

 

 

 

its about 40$ more then the one you have posted.

 

 

 

I think I'll stick with the one I posted. Don't really want to spend "$40 here, $40 there" on small upgrades because then I'd be in a few hundred more bucks. Trying to save as much as possible (gotta save for college).

Just ordered it, it's supposed to get here in two days. :D

 

 

 

I had to get an OS (thought we had an extra one, guess not) and I got the Scythe cooler that Joe recommended. =D>.

 

 

 

 

 

Comes out to a total of $800 with shipping and rebates counted in, and thats with the damn OS :P . Not bad I say, not bad.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll update in a few days when I get it built.

RAM is crap as I've tested some myself. It can't overclock for [cabbage] even a little bit. Get some Mushkin RAM and make sure you get the kind with the heat spreaders.

 

 

 

Get an E6600 processor. It has the same core as the one your thinking of and your saving money instead of buying the overpriced version with the same wafer in it. Get the E6600 I've overclocked mine to a stable 3.6 GHz on air cooling.

 

 

 

Graphic Card - Do whatever you want, it moreso a matter of how much you want to spend so whatever you want is good. I'm running a 7800 GTX right now which has worked me fine up till now, your right the 8000 series is a rip-off.

 

 

 

PSU: Whatever you want as well, but if I had to recomend you one I would tell you to get a GameXStream from OCZ.

 

 

 

Mobo - consider getting a EvGa 680i Mobo.

 

 

 

And don't get the Conroe procesor like the guy said above. The extra cache space provides a minimal increase when it comes to overclocking.

First of all he already ordered the computer.

 

 

 

Your saying Corsair ram is crap? You must be joking. Can't overclock? Corsair is known for their overclocking potential, it's budget ram anyway, he's probably not expecting to overclock it a lot.

 

 

 

The extra cache does not help in overclocking (generates more heat) but does have some performance gain. but you suggested a processor to overclock with the extra cache even if you said it's not good? :? It is also priced a lot more than he's looking for.

 

 

 

The ram also does not need to be overclocked on a E4300 processor because of the high multiplier. You can have it at 3.6ghz (400x9) and still be at 1:1 at DDR 800 ram running at DDR 800. Or you could overclock it be using different dividers but then there's more latency in the north bridge and other complicated stuff.

First of all he already ordered the computer.

 

 

 

Your saying Corsair ram is crap? You must be joking. Can't overclock? Corsair is known for their overclocking potential, it's budget ram anyway, he's probably not expecting to overclock it a lot.

 

 

 

The extra cache does not help in overclocking (generates more heat) but does have some performance gain. but you suggested a processor to overclock with the extra cache even if you said it's not good? :? It is also priced a lot more than he's looking for.

 

 

 

The ram also does not need to be overclocked on a E4300 processor because of the high multiplier. You can have it at 3.6ghz (400x9) and still be at 1:1 at DDR 800 ram running at DDR 800. Or you could overclock it be using different dividers but then there's more latency in the north bridge and other complicated stuff.

 

 

 

Thanks. Pretty much my thoughts exactly.

 

 

 

Also I'm really only concerned with OC'ing the cpu and 'maybe' the video card.

Mushkin ram is a horrid waste of money, you pay double for a name and get no added performance...

 

 

 

Corsair XMS is great RAM, but has had a bad track record with the nforce4 650 chipset.

All I'm gonna say mate, despite the good power supply, is: Get a surge protector! :P

 

 

 

Lesson learnt hard way over here.

All I'm gonna say mate, despite the good power supply, is: Get a surge protector! :P

 

 

 

Lesson learnt hard way over here.

 

 

 

I always have had a surge protector. :P

 

 

 

 

 

I'll see how the ram goes Albosky. The parts should get here tomorrow if they are on time with the delivery. :)

I have heard that corsair ram only has a problem on the ASUS nforce 6 motherboards and not all of them :? . Although I could be wrong.

 

 

 

Nadril want to post here and let me know how that heatsink is when you get everything set up?

I have heard that corsair ram only has a problem on the ASUS nforce 6 motherboards and not all of them :? . Although I could be wrong.

 

 

 

Nadril want to post here and let me know how that heatsink is when you get everything set up?

 

 

 

Sure thing. I'll hopefully have it all set up tomorrow if it comes in then, I'll spend some time OCing. :)

Dang, found out I won't get the parts until Thursday now. :P . I guess they waited to get billing info before shipping.

 

 

 

Ah well, I have a day off then.

Out of interest, any got any good links to OCing resources?

Hmm, I'll tell you when I get some. I know a few OCers on a guild forums of mine. :)

If you need any guides these are the ones I'm currently using now :) . 3GHz and still going.

 

 

 

Overclocking a core 2 duo

 

 

 

Overclocking a Core 2 Duo 2nd guide

 

 

 

Safe temperatures for the Core 2 duo

Awesome, checking out those links now blade. :D

Great stuff, blade, but do you have any for an AMD Athlon 3600?