New PC Build

neilw

neilw

neilw

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Joined
14 Feb 2007
Posts
692
Hi, I've been reading this forum for awhile now picking up lots of usful tips and information.

I'm in the process of choosing which parts to build a new machine with. My old P3 600mhz is really getting abit slow now.

I'm looking at a mid-range machine, and I want to build a nice quiet machine which I can play games on and my Girlfriend can use to surf the net. I also want to play about with over clocking it, not by too much mind you, nothing mad.

My machine im going to build is spec'd like this so far

-- Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
-- Intel Core 2 DUO E4300
-- Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x512MB)
-- 256MB XFX 7600GT 'Fatal1ty' PCI-E(x16), Mem 1600MHz, GPU 650MHz

+ all the other boring odds and ends Hard disks ect

Built in a Antec P150 Quiet PC case.

Afew questions.... what sort of speed could I get with a basic overclock, not messing with memory speeds/voltages/latencys, using a aftermarket cooler (Something like the Arctic colling freezer 7 Pro). Can I just increase the FSB Speed, and adjust the vcore accorindly? Getting it up to speed with the E6600 would be nice, That would mean an FSB of around 270?

Can I connect my Lcd monitor with only a VGA connector to the DVI output on the graphics card with some kind of apapter? Or will I need a new monitor?

Is it worth the extra money to get 2GB of RAM? I've noticed the Prices of Ram have been comming down lately.

It will be running Windows XP

Cheeres,

Neil
 
Yes 2Gb is defo worth it, you will need it when you upgrade to Vista later this year. Even if you are not planning to upgrade soon chances are we will all end up using Vista in the end anyway. You can get a decent 2Gb DDR2 kit for <£150 now so no reason not to go for 2Gb IMO.

DDR2 800 will allow you to up the FSB to 400Mhz without pushing the RAM. E4300 should have no problem running @ 2.4Ghz without extra volt, will probably go further at stock volt if you are lucky.

Yes you can connect D-Sub monitor to DVI connector you just need the adapter which is usually provided with the graphics card.
 
2GB essential for gaming tbh. If you get that mobo you will be able to run the RAM unlinked with the FSB so you can go up to 500 on the FSB if you want. Go for the cheapest PC6400, and just run the memory at stock.

If you slap a tuniq tower or a scythe ninja on that CPU, no reason why you couldn't get that chip to 3GHz (340 FSB approx), better than e6700 speeds :D
 
Nice one.

Would I notice any difference between the OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit at £112 and say the Corsair XMS2 Kit which is £40 more expensive?

Its it worth the extra £40?

Then also is it worth paying extra to get the 4-4-4-12 over the 5-5-5-12 stuff

Those coolers look good, but I think I'll just see what speeds I can get with either the stock cooler or a freezer 7 pro. Then If I want to take overclocking further then upgrade to a more efficient cooler for the cpu.
 
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neilw said:
Nice one.

Would I notice any difference between the OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit at £112 and say the Corsair XMS2 Kit which is £40 more expensive?

Its it worth the extra £40?
Click to expand...

I'd say it wasn't. I think with RAM you fall into one of 2 camps with conroe builds. (a)Like me, you leave it at stock, so just get the cheapest PC6400 RAM. (b)You want to get the best speed out of the RAM, so you pick stuff with Micron chips (Crucial 10th Anniversary, Team, Cellshock)

neilw said:
Then also is it worth paying extra to get the 4-4-4-12 over the 5-5-5-12 stuff
Click to expand...

I doubt it, as conroe rigs don't show much real world benefit from tighter timings, certainly not like AMD systems do.

neilw said:
Those coolers look good, but I think I'll just see what speeds I can get with either the stock cooler or a freezer 7 pro. Then If I want to take overclocking further then upgrade to a more efficient cooler for the cpu.
Click to expand...

It's worth it, honestly. I have a tuniq tower, and I have heard from people who have tried both it is like basic watercooling without the hassle.
 
Thanks for the info. I'll see what my money situation is then when I come to buy the bits and bobs and then choose my cooler.

Itching to get building this now.
 
I got an E4300 from the 1.8GHz to 3.0GHz with the Geil 6400 C5, a FSB of 333. With stock cooling and rock solid Orthos stability. It really is a doddle. I would go out on a limb and guarantee that 3.0GHz to any 4300 from what I have read in the 4300 overclocking thread in the CPUs forum.
 
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