New computer confuzzlement?!

Sasso · 9 Dec 2007 at 22:24

Hey, first thread so i hope its a good one

or ages now ive been playing games on my laptop and its been doing me pretty well the past 2 years but its starting to..well become rubbish with the latest games comming out so iver decided to build myself a new pc

Every computer i have ever owned has been AMD but lately ive been thinking about going to the dark side and switching to intel

Was thinking about spending all my loan on the latest processors but they are slightly pricy. And thats where my interest in Intel came along, all these threads about OCing a E2180 to 3.0Ghz or higher jut seem like such a good idea.

so ive built myself a pc in the basket of overclockers but confused on one or two things...... which mobo and cooler?

So far i have

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case

Thermaltake ToughPower 850W Modular Power Supply

Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.00GHz (800FSB) - Retail

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit

Zotac GeForce 8800 GT AMP 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM X2

Asus DRW-2014L1T 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter

And well picked other things like monitor got a sound card mouse keyboard etc......

So back to business... Which Mobo? i have been looking but i dont know which would be best for the 1066 ram, the cpu and with the 8800gt with possible sli in the future. i would like this computer to last a while too so would like it to be slightly future compatible so maybe pcie2.0? but i dont know... any thoughts?

and the Cooler, have been looking at this

Titan Amanda TTC-NP04TZ TEC CPU Cooler

seems like an excellent cooler but is it decent for overclocking? and depending on the mobo will it fit?

would really appreciate your thoughts

Sasso

jak731 · 9 Dec 2007 at 22:30

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) for cooler if your on a tight budget.

abit IP35 or IP35 pro for MB (not possible to do SLi with those MBs but great for OCing the e2180 and about any other C2D/Q cpu)

corsair 520W PSU will be enough for the system

only PC2-6400 ram is needed for a 3GHz+ OC

the seagate 7200.10 drives are a tiny bit faster (the single platter ones)

iviv · 9 Dec 2007 at 22:39

Claimed!

Ok, carry on.

Sasso · 9 Dec 2007 at 22:45

lol claimed? excuse me

but anyways my budget aint too tight so would the Amarda give me a decent temp drop over the Freezer7? as with the ram i might be wrong but if trying to get above 3Ghz might the pc2-6400 restrict its possbilities? also with trying to find mobos that run 8500 a lot of them have an "*" next to the ddr2 8500? what that about?

trying to build it so if i do fancy an upgrade in the not so far future i only need a new mobo and cpu, hence the 850 W

Sasso

Indy500 · 9 Dec 2007 at 22:46

Why not a single 500GB drive?

Sasso · 9 Dec 2007 at 22:53

well want to keep one for just windows and needed software and then install all games music etc etc on the other one

also with the pc build i will be able to play new games comming out? cos atm im on laptop AMD MT3700, 1Gb etc etc and on med-low settings and lots of stuff off i can get a constant 25-35fps. so i would like a significiant improvement

jak731 · 9 Dec 2007 at 23:00

the compoents that use the most power are the GPU and CPU, and the power requirements for those are dropping due to a trend in energy effieiency products so a 850W psu is just a waste of money. if sods law had anything to do with it, when 800+W PSUs are really needed, they will introduce a new connector that all current PSUs not have, making people get adaptors or new PSUs anyway.

the P35 chipset is capable of supporting the next range of intel CPUs.

Sasso · 9 Dec 2007 at 23:08

ahh crafty

just saved a small fortune by downgrading the Psu

hehe would still like the keep the pc2-8500 tho, so what p35's are good for that ram and chip for overclocking? and what about the amarda, will it fit

?

jak731 · 9 Dec 2007 at 23:19

np, for MBs look at my origanal post

Sasso · 10 Dec 2007 at 00:06

hehe been looking through them but im so indecisive, really want one for the 8500ram and to fit the beast amarda

, also will my pc be good enough for the latest games?

jak731 · 10 Dec 2007 at 00:12

it will depend on the res you want to game at. both the IP35 and IP35 pro are nearly identical, the pro just has some extra connectiors and a higher price tag

Sasso · 10 Dec 2007 at 00:18

well im getting a 20" lcd widescreen

jak731 · 10 Dec 2007 at 00:28

the screen size means little, its the resolution that counts. the higher the res the more the GPU has to work as there are more pixals.

you could run the 20" at the widescreen resouution equivilent of 600x480 and it will be fine or you can run it at 2048x1*** (if its possible) and you will be seeing a slideshow

Sasso · 10 Dec 2007 at 13:34

lol sorry should have been more specific

1680x1050 is the max monitor resolution so would like to run it at that, but am worried that everything else in the pc should be fine but would the cpu even overclocked to hell and back be the only slow down or should the E2180 oced be able to process games comming out?

Sasso · 10 Dec 2007 at 16:09

also been looking at the gigabyte DS4 or DS3P, are they good for overclocking this chip and anyone know if the amarda will actuall fit on in

?

also with these boards it says it supports DDR2 1066 but has an astrix next to it but doesnt explain? so can it actually sup[port that speed? also can the E2180 support that speed ram?

jak731 · 10 Dec 2007 at 16:54

games currently are mostly GPU limited not CPU limited apart from a few, so a e2180@3ghz or more will be able to handle over 99% of games smoothly. any drop in framerate will most likely be from the GPU.

Sasso · 10 Dec 2007 at 16:56

jak731 said:
games currently are mostly GPU limited not CPU limited apart from a few, so a e2180@3ghz or more will be able to handle over 99% of games smoothly. any drop in framerate will most likely be from the GPU.

ahhh thanks

sticking with the cheap chip then

still like some ideas on a mobo that can house the titan amarda and DDR2 pc2-8500 ram tho

and good overclocking for the E2180

Kelt · 10 Dec 2007 at 17:43

Sasso said:
ahhh thanks sticking with the cheap chip then
still like some ideas on a mobo that can house the titan amarda and DDR2 pc2-8500 ram tho and good overclocking for the E2180

Happy with the one in my sig.

AND its got flashy lights!!

Sasso · 10 Dec 2007 at 18:12

KelticDaz said:
Happy with the one in my sig.

AND its got flashy lights!!

lol all about the lights :cool:

i was going to get the tracer ones but was planign to get the dominator fan, but with the titan amanda i dont think it would all fit, you think the Titan amarda would fit on ya board? :confused:

also whats ya pc like at the latest games eg UT3 an crysis etc etcc.....

Kelt · 10 Dec 2007 at 19:16

Sasso said:
lol all about the lights i was going to get the tracer ones but was planign to get the dominator fan, but with the titan amanda i dont think it would all fit, you think the Titan amarda would fit on ya board?

also whats ya pc like at the latest games eg UT3 an crysis etc etcc.....

Don't see why it wouldn't fit, plenty of room around the socket. And it simply flies with the latest games, crysis nice at 1280. Chuffed to be honest.