As i7 is too pricey, how's this spec for top-end gaming?

Fledge

Fledge

Fledge

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9 Jan 2009
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Olney
24" 1920x1080 resolution.
550W PSU already in possession. (calculator says it's enough wattage:D)
I apologise for the presentation : /



Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775)

Corsair 4GB DDR3 10666C9 1333MHz XMS3 TwinX Dual Channel Kit (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1333C9)

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail

LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive - Retail

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM(WD6401AALS)

Antec 900-2 Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)

Akasa AK174CB-4BLB 120mm Blue LED Fan




Total : £1,011.55
There's isn't really much I can say...
Thanks in advance!


EDIT: Happy St. Patrick's day!!
 
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you've got ddr3 memory on a ddr2 board so that wouldn't work, also for gaming I would recommend a faster dual or tri core such as the new phenom II 720 as these give far better performance in games. (of course then you would need a different socket motherboard)
 
Oh christ I didn't notice that was DDR3, thanks for that :) Can someone recommend me Dual-channel DDR2 1366Mhz ram please?
Thing is with the processor, I've heard so many godly tales about the Q6600 overclocking like a beast I'd love to give it a go myself.
A 3.2ghz quad can't be worse than a 2.5ghz dual, can it?
When people say that games don't utilise all cores, does it literally mean that two are left redundant?

EDIT: Typo :)
 
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something like this would give you much better gaming performance.

the memory is lower latency, you've got a good cooler for overclocking and the motherboard supports crossfire if you ever decide to add another graphics card
 
Fledge said:
Oh christ I didn't notice that was DDR3, thanks for that :) Can someone recommend me Dual-channel DDR2 1366Mhz ram please?
Thing is with the processor, I've heard so many godly tales about the Q6600 overclocking like a beast I'd love to give it a go myself.
A 3.2ghz quad can't be worse than a 2.5ghz dual, can it?
When people say that games don't utilise all cores, does it literally mean that two are left redundant?

EDIT: Typo :)
Click to expand...

The Q6600 does OC well, but it's an old chip, and isn't as good as some of the new chips. A 3.2GHz quad will most likely be better than a 2.5GHz dual, but the wolfdale dual cores can OC to 4GHz+

Yes, when people say a game will only use 2 cores, that means literally. 2 cores could be at 100% load, while the others could be idling away. I suggest 3 cores, because this allows 2 cores for the games, and a core for the background stuff. Quad core is good, but they just don't clock as well as less cores due to the greater heat produced. At the moment there are few games that can utilize 4 cores, and still, games are more GPU dependant than CPU (which shouldn't be a problem with your 4870*2 :D)

Instead of:

Corsair 4GB DDR3 10666C9 1333MHz

Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P Intel P45 (Socket 775) DDR2 Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 2.40GHz

£377.17

How about:

OCZ 4GB DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Platinum

Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard

AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz

£316.22

£60 saving, it'll overclock better and it'll perform better in games.
 
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argh post cross :D, the q6600 will clock to around 3.6Ghz if you're lucky and the tri phenom will easily match that with a decent cooler (such as the one in the above spec), and you're getting faster ddr3 memory too.
 
i dont think this is too shabby at for a gaming system and a blu ray drive???

2q30uma.jpg


get this mobo instead to save a few quid

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-320-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1283
 
for about £40 more you can also get a blu ray writer to.

nice specs that machine, o/cr's had a nice i7 bundle for sale at £499 inc vat to.
 
Please don't get an AMD tri core. There will never be a game that supports 3 cores and not 4. So now you would have 1 wasted core in games, and when games start supporting more cores (4) you will be 1 core short.

the UD3P is a good choice.
Get either a dual core E8400, E8500, E8600 or a quad core Q9550, Q9650.

Yeah I'm biased I own an E8600 on a UD3P.

The Q6600 is dated, the E8400 is a much better choice for less money. It is 45nm and it will most definitely have E0 stepping. I would be willing to bet that you could take it to 4ghz with the arctic freezer 7 instantly with a short trip to the bios.
 
A Q6600 Is pritty old but with XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 in it it will play most games full detail and res any way.

sketch145's Rig looks good though and is better for the price.
 
neithcat said:
Please don't get an AMD tri core. There will never be a game that supports 3 cores and not 4. So now you would have 1 wasted core in games, and when games start supporting more cores (4) you will be 1 core short.

the UD3P is a good choice.
Get either a dual core E8400, E8500, E8600 or a quad core Q9550, Q9650.
Click to expand...
:confused:
 
neithcat said:
Please don't get an AMD tri core. There will never be a game that supports 3 cores and not 4. So now you would have 1 wasted core in games, and when games start supporting more cores (4) you will be 1 core short.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and when will that happen? Seriously, I'm a quad core evangelist, but it's gonna be a long time before games show a significant improvement from having a forth core.
 
With the special offers from OCUK this week its bargain time!!!!

I'm pig sick as i udgraded 3 weeks ago and could have got an amazing deal if i had only waited :p Dam PC gaming
 
reflux said:
Yeah, and when will that happen? Seriously, I'm a quad core evangelist, but it's gonna be a long time before games show a significant improvement from having a forth core.
Click to expand...

Yes ... and for now with an X3 a game can fully load 2 cores and when you virus checker decides it needs to do a regular phone home or something like that you've got a spare core for it to use.
 
^^

Probably just as well that the Op can save some money from the PSU because he hasn't included a cooler for that i7. By going for an OEM, he forgoes that little luxury :(

Not a problem though, just add in a TRUE 1366
 
Don't bank on the q6600 being a great clocker, there have been a fair few cases recently where some of the more recent ones havn't been that good at all.

Take a look at this link: http://techreport.com/articles.x/16570 for an idea on CPU.

For most apps the sweet spot seems to be a draw between the amd tri core and the e8400.

Saying that if i7 is possible within your budget (as others have shown) then why the hell not!
 
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