Bundle: A few questions...

jamieoliver22

jamieoliver22

jamieoliver22

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Joined
24 Jun 2007
Posts
70
Hey everyone, I am new to the forums, but not to Overclockers. I wasn't quite sure on where to post this either, I hope it is ok in here.

Anyway, at the moment I currently have this spec and I fancied upgrading it.

AMD Athlon 2000+ 1.7ghz (well, less actually as it is overclocked)
MSI K4-Ultra motherboard
1gb PC-2700 DDR Ram
ATI Radeon x850XT (256mb - AGP)
2x IDE HDDs (80gb and 320gb)
2x Optical drives (DVD-ROM and DVD Rewriter)
Tagan 420w power supply
Click to expand...
As you can see, the CPU is rather poor, so I wanted to upgrade it. I am currently thinking of going with this bundle from Overclockers:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail / Gigabyte 965P DS3 / 1GB GeIL PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Kit - Bundle (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-036-OK&groupid=701&catid=339&subcat=) - Has anyone had this bundle before? Would it be a good upgrade?

And also, this is a PCI-E board, so I need to upgrade my graphics card also, so I was thinking of getting this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-070-PC - Now would this be a lot better than my current x850 XT or not? Obviously, I need a new one anyway, but I was wondering how much better it actually is.

And I have a few questions, seeing as I arent that familiar with some newer standards:

  1. Firstly, the website says that it is 1.8ghz - now does this mean that the processor as a whole only runs at 1.8ghz, or that each core runs at 1.8ghz. If its the latter, does that essentially mean that it runs at 3.6ghz?
  2. The motherboard only has one IDE slot, so I can only connect one cable to my motherboard. So does this mean that I will have to connect my optical drives to the IDE slot and then my hard drives to a SATA connector using a convertor (and doing so, would it slow down the rate of transfer?) or the other way around?
  3. I have also heard that Intel are reducing the prices on a number of their processors, does that mean it would be cheaper for me to get it in another month or so?
  4. There are a 3 rev's of this motherboard also, which rev would I be getting with this bundle?

Thanks in advanced,
Jamie.
 
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With regards to your qustions:

1) No it just means that there are 2 cores each running 1.86Ghz

2) Yes only 2 PATA devices you can connect, and although you can get PATA-SATA converters it might be easier if you just get a mobo with 2 PATA ports, like the Nvidia 650i based mobo (ASUS P5N-E SLI or Abit FP-IN9). Both of which are similar in price with the DS3

3) Yes there will be a price cut in July so it maybe worth waiting especially if you are after one of them quad-core chips.

4) All DS3 on sale now on OCUK are the latest rev. 3s I believe.

And yes the 1950XT is a lot faster than what you have now but I'd personally go for the 256mb because for the price of 512Mb version you might as well add extra £25 and get 8800GTS 320mb.

you don't actually save any money with the bundle so i'll suggest getting everything seperately as there are better buys out there, like the Gigabyte P35C-DS3R which supports both DDR2 & 3 as well as future CPU support and is only £20 more expensive than the old DS3. Also I'd go for 2gb RAM instead as it will come in handy especially in games. I think you'll likely need a new PSU too if it has been in your system for a while, what PSU do you have?

I think the best thing to do is to state your budget so people can suggest the best value for money stuff to get.
 
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Thanks for the quick reply.

I have edited my post just as you posted, I have a Tagan 420w power supply - it isn't very old.

The reason why I wanted a bundle was so I can make sure that everything worked together and makes it easier to choose when knowing that they do work together.

And I wouldn't mind using a converter, but which would I use it on? The IDE cable for my hard drives or my optical drives?

And I still aren't sure on the graphics card yet, but I did like the look of that one.

And budget wise, I don't have a great deal of money - looking for something around about the £300-350 mark preferably. I should hopefully be getting about £200 from a job I have been working on, and I was hoping to use that and some extra saved up cash to upgrade my computer.
 
If you are to get it now I'd probably go for this:

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
£79.99
(£93.99)

Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£67.99
(£79.89)

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300C4 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB5300DC)
£44.99
(£52.86)

Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
£94.99
(£111.61)

Sub Total : £287.96
Shipping : £8.95
VAT : £51.96
Total : £348.87

After the price cut the E6320 should be a lot cheaper giving you extra cash for better RAM.

the 1950pro is powerful enough for games at 1280*1024 and is a lot less power consuming so should work fine on your PSU.

The SATA adapters are not very reliable last time I read and at £12 each (IIRC) they're not exactly cheap, it works out a lot cheaper and more convenient to get a mobo with 2 PATA ports instead. I understand your concern about compatibilities but the above will work just as well.
 
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That's for the suggestion, muchly appreciated. I will have to have a look into them.

And my games will be running at 1440x900 resolution (the native resolution of my 19" Wide monitor).

And I wouldn't need to pay for postage as I live quite close to the Overclockers warehouse/shop.

And that ram is slower than that of the bundled ram? And what differences are there between those motherboards and graphics cards?

EDIT: And that motherboard you suggest isn't compatible with that processor I don't believe. What about this motherboard? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-121-AB&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=565
 
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The 1950pro will be able to handle that resolution absolutely fine, it's just a tad higher than 1280x1024.

Look at this for the difference between the XT & the pro. The XT would be a better buy but I'm worried that the +12V rail on your PSU (22A) won't be able to handle it with C2D and several hard & optical drives.

About the RAM, yes it's slower than the one in the bundle but still more than enough for C2D at stock (I assume you are not going to overclock). And having 2Gb itself is going to have much more benefits than having 1Gb of PC6400.
 
steve258 said:
Where did you get that info from :confused:

Yes it does indeed support E6320
Click to expand...

Well the Overclockers website it was under the 'Other Chipsets' category and on the Core2Duo page it said "Only compatible with new Intel 965 and 975X socket 775 Motherboards (Older 975 boards are not compatible)" so I assumed it was a different chipset and wouldnt work. I did look on the Asus website but it only meantioned quad core and pentium D, nothing about core2duo.

Sorry about that then, my mistake :p

And I probably will go for that motherboard, it does seem like a nice bored. And I did do a power supply calculator thing the other night, and it said I would only need about 320w for the above bundle with the XT card. And I assumed I had a good 12v rail? =\

And I was considering getting 2gb of ram, there is an offer for this week only for GeIL 2gb PC2-6400 actually.

And I still aren't sure on which graphics card to go for. I will have to see how much money I get also, I might not be able to afford a higher spec one.
 
Yeah with PSU you never know until you actually tried it. Hopefully it all just a hype and your PSU will handle it.

The XT is defo worth the extra £20 but be prepared to shell out for a new PSU if your current one doesn't cut the mustard.
 
Thanks very much for the help, its appreciated.

One other thing I wanted to ask also, do you need to apply thermal paste when putting in a Core2Duo? Just wanted to make sure. And if so, what would you recommend?
 
If you don't overclock then the bog standard Intel HSF that comes with the CPU will do just fine, it will come with pre-applied thermal material at the bottom so all you need to do is install it.

If you are looking at aftermarket coolers then I'd suggest the Arctic Silver MX-1 or AS5, both are great although the MX-1 seems to be better (and cheaper).
 
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