Need a new computer, Suggestions?

Ok after a lot of researching and fiddling things around I think I have my final setup which I will order tomorrow hopefully :)

Please let me know what you think.

occo8.jpg


I managed to get everything under the £700 mark which I'm pleased about. My reason for the change of CPU was that I plan on upgrading the CPU to one of the new quads that people have been talking about later on in the year prob around the Q3/4 mark. I will of course OC the CPU to around 3gz+ and of course the rest of my PC.

The change of coolers was to save a bit more money and from the reviews and comments left by people here I think its a great bargain and will support my CPU nicely.

So I guess thats it so if I need to change something or you recommend something better let me know.
 
Looks good mate ;) Have a look at the e2140/e2160 clocking thread in the CPU forum to get a good idea of what these chips are capable of. The 9x multi is perfectly balanced, and that motherboard is an excellent clocker by all accounts. I'd consider a tuniq tower on that, but the AF7 Pro is also capable.
 
Looks good mate, but for the price of that case, i'd change it to the lian li pc7, the build quality of lian li cases is second to none, and you won't regret the look of brushed aluminium...

Also, get rid of the AS5, and get the cheaper, larger quantity and better performing MX-2 ;)
 
Damn lol now when I look under the Lian Li cases I cant decided which to get even though you recommended the PC7. I actually like the PC-G50 however its a mid and not a midi so would this affect me e.g. space etc. like will everything on my list fit without too much hassle.

I also decided to go for the tunic instead as melbourne720 has suggested so would that make things worse with that case(PC-G50 or PC7)?
 
Final setup:

occo9.jpg


ok got my final setup done. Changed the case to the Lian Li PC-7 Silver version, changed the DVD drive to match the case, changed the CPU cooler to the tunic due to recommendations by melbourne and finally changed the graphics card to the leadtek due to it being on the weekly sale thingy as its the same price as my previous one and has a larger fan which I guess would help with temps.

Also changed the CPU to the 2180 as it was also on the weekly sale thing and was the same price as the 2160 however if the 2160 or 2140 is better in terms of OC let me know :)

In regards to the termal compound I will stik to it as its currently in stock and want to get my system before this friday so i can spend the rest of the week building and overclocking it.

But thanks again to all those who helped me, much appretiated :)
 
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Just recieved everything 1 hour ago, Man im so excited lol just like a little child at christmas.

Will start building it as soon as I have my lunch :) for energy :P will try take some pictures during building and finished :)

Wish me luck on my first build :P
 
Just make sure you install the cooler BEFORE you put the motherboard in. Otherwise you will be making it mucho difficulto for yourself. Enjoy!

When i got my current build my house looked like a bombsite as i ripped all the packaging off in a cloud of polystyrene, clamshell packaging and bubblewrap. Also decide to re-arrange the desk, and forgot to eat my dinner.
 
Yeah, I miss meals when I have a PC to build :)

Flake99, let me know if you have any motherboard/general build issues, as I'll be building a e2180/p5k system tomorrow. I'll check back at this thread
 
Hi again :P

Well I fitted everything on friday which took me roughly 6 hrs or so to build but since it was my first ever build I took my time, had breaks (lunch and snacks :P) . The only main problem I had was since I've got an old BT broadband modem it was only compatible with XP (32) and below so couldnt have XP (64) and VISTA installed :( Going to get this sorted and upgrade my broadband soon I hope but for now I'm stuck with XP (32) which isn't that bad really though it doesnt recognise the full 4GB RAM.

I have a few questions so ask and hopefully you can asnwer them :)

1. Should I remove the 2x 1GB RAM sticks or just leave it in?

2. I started with my very first OC and got it to 3.1GHz however when I load CPU-Z it shows 1.860GHz. See the picture below:

CPUZ.jpg


How do I resolve this?

3. As mentioned above I did my first ever overclock and was wondering if the following settings used are alright and whether these temps are alright: (I used CoreTemp to find it)

(I'm using the bios names/layout)

CoreTemp.jpg


External Clock - 310MHz
Multiplier Factor: 10x
DRAM Speed (CPU:DRAM) - 1:1
CPU Core Voltage - 1.45v
DDR2 Voltage - 2.1v
CPU VTT Voltage - 1.28v

I'm going to do stress tests soon but jsut wanted to get these out the way first.
 
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Just a few quick questions...

1. What are the best temp programmes as when I check the temp on SPEEDFAN its a lot different to that of CORETEMP so what is more reliable?

2. My case is a Lian Li PC-7 and I was wondering what fan will fit onto the top vent and which would you recommend?

3. What are the best temps or what is expected with my cpu with a arctic cooler 7?

4. Last, when I did the stress with orthos I did the Small FFT's test on the CPU it seemed to go fine however the desktop starts to be slugish and doesnt really respond like its freezing at around 20 mins into the test and nothing responds or takes ages too.

Thanks
 
flake99 said:
I have a few questions so ask and hopefully you can asnwer them :)

1. Should I remove the 2x 1GB RAM sticks or just leave it in?

2. I started with my very first OC and got it to 3.1GHz however when I load CPU-Z it shows 1.860GHz. See the picture below:

CPUZ.jpg


How do I resolve this?
Click to expand...

1. if it was me id leave them in

2. When your pc is idling your multiplier automatically changes to X6 so will drop the GHz as soon as you do something that uses your CPU it will sort it self out and work at 3.10GHz

HTH
 
Ok cool thats good too hear :P

What is the most accurate temp software to see the temp of my cpu etc. as stated in my previous post CORETEMP shows something different to SPEEDFAN?

What temps should I see idle and load on a e2180 @ 3.00+ with a artic cooling freezer 7 pro?

Thanks
 
Anyone know about the questions posted in the last two posts by me? would like to know so I can finally sort everything out

Thanks :)
 
Coretemp is generally regarded as the most accurate mate.

Also, the temp's are ok at 44°c, but you gotta check load temps, they could be rather high if your idling at 44°c.... get 'em checked out dude.
 
Apologies for not getting back to you sooner flake99.

Coretemp or intelTAT are widely regarded as the only two true measure apps of CPU temp, the others not measureing from inside the chip. Coretemp is the only one for quads iirc.

regarding temps, idle temps have more to do with whether or not you have the heating on in your house than the state of the cpu :) Just keep the load temps under 70 degrees, and you should be fine.

regarding the RAM, leave it in, and CPU-Z, disable speadstep in the BIOS. That is the thing (IIRC) that lowers the multiplier when the load is low.
 
Thanks for the replies :)

Well when i use prime95 for the torture test my max load temp I saw is 72 degrees which seemed high to me but I dont know what I can do. Should I reattach the cooler or add more thermal paste or even get a new cooler?

Plus Ive got a Lian Li PC-7 case, what would be the size and good fan to attach to the top part of the vent?

Thanks
 
Less is more with thermal paste. Have you left the voltage on auto? Manually set it to, say 1.35, and then try lowering it and testing for stability.

Edit: You'll need a 80mm fan for the top, I'd get a sharkoon silent eagle for that.
 
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