Another n00b and another load of Q's

ewaste · 4 Oct 2011 at 19:26

Hello everyone no idea if this is the correct place to post this but it seems as good a place as any.

I was wondering if anyone could advise me about one of the Overclocked P67 bundles specifically the I5 2500k, one of the options is to select 8GB of RAM rather than the standard 4GB. The page then goes onto say that with the additional RAM the achievable overclock may be ‘significantly reduced’ the question I have is how much is significant and does anyone have an idea of the average overclock OcUK would still manage without a problem. Furthermore would the choice of the Pro version of the ASUS P8P67 motherboard affect the result in anyway whatsoever? Also if I bought all of the parts separately how easy would it be for an idiot to overclock it with 16gig of RAM with a cheapish aftermarket CPU cooler.

I’m currently thinking of getting about 3 bundles to upgrade some machines that I built a while ago with the possibility for another bundle bringing that number up to 4. To be cheeky any idea if there would be a chance of getting some sort of discount, if you don’t ask you don’t get

Thank you very much for your time, Euan

shamzzz · 4 Oct 2011 at 19:48

with 8GB of ram you're probably only looking at about a 0.1/0.2 ghz overclock reduction, which wouldn't really be noticable when you add the extra memory.

honosuseri · 4 Oct 2011 at 20:11

Build yourself buddy.

Z series mobo will still have overclocking but also has integrated graphics too. I doubt you'd need more than 8GB of RAM. There are plenty of coolers to suit taste and budget, the gelid tranquillo is popular but there are also liquid cooling solutions too.

Remember these mobos will offer an auto overclock option which often makes life easier. The cooler you can keep the CPU the harder you can push it in laymans terms.

Post what you going to order. We can check it over for you and see what daily or weekly offers are on to help out. Good luck with the build

ewaste · 4 Oct 2011 at 20:47

Hi there and thanks for the replies so far.

I’m thinking about ordering this:- (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-078-OE&groupid=43&catid=2053&subcat=2064) I5 2500K bundle simply because it’s just about ideal and I’m upgrading from an Intel Q8200 so would like to stick with the Quad cores.

Graphics wise I would be going from a GTX260 to probably the GTX560Ti although since I run dual 23” monitors the idea of the ATI 6950 appeals to me more than the Nvidia cards as it opens the possibility for eyefinity. Furthermore I would probably try and flash the 6950 to unlock the shaders and push the clocks up to the same levels as the 6970 although I’ve read the more recent cards no longer can do this. Therefore the ability to use integrated graphics which the Z68 enables is not really of any interest to me I’m afraid the only thing I like about the Z68 is the possible addition of an SSD to use as a Cache. As for the memory the main reason for that is I don’t have a SSD and with a normal system uptime of around 16hrs everything I need should just be able to sit in RAM the whole time quite happily while I hop around. I also on occasion run multiple virtual machines to experiment with stuff I am learning in college or just for the hell of it when im thinking about something so the extra RAM would be handy. The main system bottleneck is probably the Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ however when I get more money together I would consider getting one of the cheaper OCZ Vertex 3’s as a system drive.

So lets see components list:- Up to about £650 including delivery is the budget.

Intel i5 2500k =£167.99
Asus P8P67 PRO =£122.98
Corsair Vengeance 16GB =£95.99 (This is on a this week only offer)
ATI 6950 <=£240 or Nvidia GTX560Ti <=£200

That would probably be x3, maybe x4, for everything and the missing bits to make a computer I already have as I’m upgrading PC’s that are Core 2 Duo’s and mine is a Core 2 Quad.

Thanks again for the Help

honosuseri · 5 Oct 2011 at 13:35

The z series mobos offer lucid virtu which allows the IGP to be used as a processor for encoding while you are using the dedicated card for the graphics.

I prefer mobos with an IGP as it makes troubleshooting easier. Let's say your gfx card when delivered is duff, atleast on the Z series mobo you can use the IGP to confirm this without needing a spare gfx card to test. Silly lil thing really but can make the world of difference when your building yourself.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/293?vs=330

That link compares the two GPUs you mentioned, hopefully it helps you make a decision. If eyefinity is appealing it maybe wise to find a flex edition card, they can output to 3 DVI monitors without the need of an active adapter.

Oh and most people here seem to favour the crucial M4 SSDs, they are apparently more reliable.

ewaste · 7 Oct 2011 at 23:09

Honosuseri, Apologies for taking a while to post again.

I’ve done a fair bit of reading now about the differences between the chipsets and about the GPU virtualisation software you mentioned and I agree a Z68 motherboard would be the better choice. One of the main things that changed my mind toward the Z68 chipset was the fact that Gigabyte apparently plan to only produce a single P67 motherboard going forward and stick with the Z68 chipset.

I think my motherboard choices are now really between the Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4, the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 and the Asus P8Z68-V PRO which are within a couple of quid of each other. Any recommendations on which would be the best to go for as it’s been a while since I done much shopping and I am currently using a Gigabyte board which has given me no problems so I would probably just get another. However I’ve used Asus stuff before which is good for playing around with stuff and I’ve also used Asrock before which I can’t remember having any trouble with so I’m pretty happy to go with either of the three. Although any guidance or other suggestions would be greatly appreciated as to what motherboard would be the better choice in terms of bang for buck and reliability.

Also thanks for that link to the GPU comparison I’ve also looked at quite a few more and I’m pretty stumped the 560Ti can be had for less money depending upon which specific one is chosen. Furthermore the results are too close to call in many instances and the 560Ti even beats out the 6950 in some cases however that is probably the standard 560Ti and not the superclocked versions that would be in the same price range as the 6950. So at the end of the day it seems like the best option would actually be to go for a factory overclocked 560Ti which would offer the best price to performance ratio in games.