Help me spec a few parts... and answer a few questions!

FartBandit · 1 Mar 2007 at 22:35

I am thinking about upgrading my CPU from an AMD san diego 3700+ to something more current as in a couple of recent games ive been experiencing slow down that I can only attribute to my CPU holding the rest of my system back. I have a decent enough graphics card in an ATI x1900xtx which is pushing pixels around a Dell 2407 so i have to run games at a native res of 1920x1200 for the best results. Im also running Windows Vista ultimate and the inbuilt performance rating system is giving my graphics and gaming graphics subscores of 5.9 and 5.8 respectively, however my CPU score is a mere 4.1 in comparison.

I am happy with everything else in my system so I just looking for a new CPU, motherboard, memory and CPU air cooler. For my CPU im looking at the Intel Core 2 DUO E6600. However i am unsure of what mobo and ram to go for. I know I dont want an SLI board as i will only ever run a single graphics card in my system. I'll also be looking to upgrade to a DX10 card later in the year.

I am also looking for a 2Gb set of dual channel ram as my current 2Gb isnt DDR2. I dont want anything too expensive as i wont be overclocking my system that much.

Also i would like a CPU heatsink thats suitable for use with my lian li v1000 case as i will be using the air extractor cover included with the case if anyones familiar with it. Currently im using a thermalright XP90 with 92mm fan and i would like to continue using the fan i have. Are there any high performance heatsinks out there for a socket LGA775 that i can just use my 92mm fan with? or am i better with with a new cooler entirely?

semi-pro waster · 1 Mar 2007 at 22:41

I'd probably go with the below parts, I know the motherboard is SLi but that is fairly unimportant since it is a good clocking motherboard and at a reasonable price. Can you not re-use the XP90? I can't remember for certain but I thought they supported socket 775. If not then a Tuniq Tower, Scythe Ninja or Noctua would do however all are fairly large.

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £167.99
(£197.39) £167.99
(£197.39)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £97.99
(£115.14) £97.99
(£115.14)
Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Sub Total : £335.97
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.25
Vat : £60.24
Total : £404.46

FartBandit · 2 Mar 2007 at 00:48

is the only real difference between the 975x chipset and the 965 the fact that the 975 has SLI support??

d1am0nd g33z3r · 2 Mar 2007 at 02:34

Crossfire support, but yes, pretty much. And the price! Also some reckon the 965 is a better clocking chipset. Can't go wrong with Semi-Pro's suggestions.

semi-pro waster · 2 Mar 2007 at 11:24

FartBandit said:
is the only real difference between the 975x chipset and the 965 the fact that the 975 has SLI support??

Not quite although close, for instance the Gigabyte DS4 has Crossfire support and is based on the 965 chipset. The 975 chipset is a higher end chipset but it doesn't tend to reach such high FSB speeds as the 965 chipset so is best paired with a 6600 or above Conroe.

FartBandit · 2 Mar 2007 at 19:18

So your saying the 965 is a better overclocker? If so can you recommend me a decent 965?

semi-pro waster · 2 Mar 2007 at 19:26

FartBandit said:
So your saying the 965 is a better overclocker? If so can you recommend me a decent 965?

It tends to be better for overclocking the lower Conroes in the range due to the ability to hit higher FSB speeds but with the 6600 and above the multiplier is high enough to mean you will generally hit the limits of the chips overclockability before you run out of FSB i.e. with a 9x multiplier on the 6600 and PC6400 Ram you can theoretically hit 3.6ghz providing you have adequate cooling without running out of specification on the Ram which is a pretty hefty overclock - remember of course that this is totally dependant on the chip itself as not all will overclock well.

If you really want a 965 based motherboard then I'd suggest a Gigabyte DS3 or DS4 (has Crossfire support, firewire and apparantly a slightly better cooling system than the DS3) but a 975X based motherboard would also do for your needs since you are getting a 6600. However the Asus P5N-E 650 SLi I suggested is fine and you can unlink the FSB from the Ram so even if you don't have great Ram (and the Geil is pretty good) you can still overclock well.