Help building a system around some components I was given for free

[rodyaj]

I have been given a relatively old ATI Sapphire X1950pro 256mb DDR3 (very power hungry needs 30a on a single 12v rail) and a 1.8ghz Core 2 duo e4300. Someone I met on a forum also offered to send me another X1950pro for £20 so I can make a Crossfire system. I'm also considering purchasing the following additional items from Overclockers to build a full system around the freebies. Total: £285.88 with delivery.

Foxconn ELA Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard


Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X4096-8500C5C)


Corsair VX 550W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-550VXUK)


Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Low Profile CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775)

Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound

Akasa AK-TC TIM Clean CPU & Heatsink Cleaner

If I had more time before Christmas I'd do more research - it's a while since I've built a system, and I've never attempted overclocking - but since I do want to order my components asap I need your help.

My worry is that the e4300 will bottleneck the system because the fsb is only 800mhz. I'm assuming that the fsb isn't locked in and I can overclock it to 1066 since the motherboard also supports 1066. Can I?

Another worry is the ram: it says the voltage is 2.1 (2.2 on some other sites), and I can't see from the specs if the Foxconn motherboard supports it. I've also read that 1.8ghz core duo runs on upto 1.4v. Are the voltages of the processor and ram linked together?

I'm not sure how good two x1950pro will run in Crossfire, but it will only cost me £20 to get the extra card and £20 on top of what I would have payed for a motherboard to get Crossfire support. Will the extra £40 be worth it to get a Crossfire system? Or do you think I am better off getting a lower range motherboard and maybe a lower range psu (if possible) and just get either a more powerful graphics card or a better cpu?

Thanks for your time.

 

[rodyaj]

The one I have is pci-e, as will be the one getting sent. If I'm honest the last computer game I really played is Oblivion after the last time round I built a computer (I gave the computer to my brother and kept the old one), so graphics aren't all that essential to my day-to-day use. Even so, it is always nice to have the option to play newer games. The only game I'm really interested in trying out is Modern Warfare 2. If I could run most of the titles that came out before this year at medium/playable graphics I'd be happy.

Are there already a lot of titles that won't play very well on what I'm building?

 

[rodyaj]

Thanks for your suggestions. My case is old and big, but it does the trick.

Looks like it's the Chieftec Dragon DX-01WD:

http://www.chieftecusa.com/dragon.htm

My brother said the Sapphire is overheating so that is why I'm getting extra thermal paste to re-apply to an Akasa Vortexx Neo cooler on the graphics card. I'll look round on ebay for one of those cards.