Is this spec any good for an all rounder?

Wow.. a good spec and under budgit! I do have spare cash though and like the idea of the quad core but i just cant decide.

I need to spend it otherwise the missus will only go and buy more shoes with it! :)

Taking that last rig, what could i upgrade to max out my budgit of around £400 - £450? As good as that rig is I'd prefer not to at the bottom rung of the current ladder and i like the iodea of the higher cache that the higher specs offer.

sorry for all the questios guys. I'm on a very steep learning curve! Your help and patience is much apreciated.

Incidentally, whats the quad coors like at overclocking? easy enough for a beginner overclocker?

Ohhh the decisions :)
 
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aeropars said:
Wow.. a good spec and under budgit! I do have spare cash though and like the idea of the quad core.

I need to spend it otherwise the missus will only go and buy more shoes with it! :)

Taking that last rig, what could i upgrade to max out my budgit of around £400 - £450? As good as that rig is I'd prefer not to at the bottom rung of the current ladder and i like the iodea of the higher cache that the higher specs offer.

sorry for all the questios guys. I'm on a very steep learning curve! Your help and patience is much apreciated.
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Ok then. Add a Q6600 and get rid of the 2180 and it comes in at £459.30 delivered inc vat. Cache does'nt make that much of a difference though.
 
Does that motherboard support the quad cores? Looking at the spec it only says core 2 duo?

Is it worth overclocking a quad core?
 
aeropars said:
Does that motherboard support the quad cores? Looking at the spec it only says core 2 duo?

Is it worth overclocking a quad core?
Click to expand...

Just double checked Gigabytes website and it supports just about anything CPU support list.

As for overclocking, overclock everything i say. :D Seriously though, i had my Q6600 all the way up to 3.8Ghz. A mild clock to 3Ghz would see an improvement though.
 
And i assume both the motherboard and cooling option is sufficient for a 3ghz clock?

incidentally, whats the difference between the P31 and P35 boards? Just to satisfy my curiosity :)
 
aeropars said:
And i assume both the motherboard and cooling option is sufficient for a 3ghz clock?

incidentally, whats the difference between the P31 and P35 boards? Just to satisfy my curiosity :)
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If that mobo can get a 1.6 Ghz E2140 to 3Ghz it will do the same for the Quad. It's only an extra 600Mhz compared to an extra 1.4Ghz of the E2140.

I think the P31 is just a budget P35 with a couple of things missing. Still a damn good board though.

The cooling should be more than adequate as well.
 
Thanks for your help. I'm almost at the point where i'm confident I can press the buy button :)

for the sake of a few quid, would it be worth getting a P35?
 
Right, I might have a look into a P35 board then. Are we looking at over the £100 mark for a good one? I've seen some ones which are not the cheapest for about £85 which i'd e happt to stretch to if it would give be some performance benefit.
 
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aeropars said:
Right, I might have a look into a P35 board then. Are we looking at over the £100 mark for a good one? I've seen some ones which are not the cheapest for about £85 which i'd e happt to stretch to if it would give be some performance benefit.
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The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L/R/P boards are very good and overclock well. Have a look in the mobo section to see some results people have had.
 
I'm a Fan of Asus, so completely one-sided (can't spell buoyast :P).

But great P35 boards under £100:

Asus P5KC - £75-80 (Can run DDR2/DDR3)
Asus P5K-E - £95 (Same board as above really, though instead of DDR3 capabilities, was Wifi-AP)
Abit P35 - Can't be bothered to check, but pretty sure it's in same league as the P5k in price and quality, good reviews.
MSI P35 Neo FR - £70 (Nice board, can't be faulted really)
 
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