New Rig: OCUK CPU mobo Memory bundles / good combinations

IceWolf

IceWolf

IceWolf

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Joined
7 Dec 2002
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Frauenfeld, Switzerland
Hi, I've been waiting for Crysis to upgrade my rig and after seeing the hardocp review of the HD 2900XT I think I will just get a BFG 8800GTX OC. I was going to go with a socket 939 AMD dual core so i can keep my nice Crsair 2gb DDR RAM and mobo then i remembered it's AGP not PCI-E :D
I mainly use my PC for Gaming, webuse and HD video playback / encoding, and it will be running Windows Vista Ultimate / Home Premium for DX10 and shiny interface :)

So i can either get:
1) Socket 939 mobo, keep RAM, and get the best AMD X2 939, [cheapest]
2) AMD X2 AM2 CPU, mobo and 2gb Corsair DDR2 RAM [middle]
3) Intel Core 2 Duo, mobo, and 2gb Corsair DDR2 RAM [most expensive]

I am looking to spend around £150 on processor, around £100 on mobo, up to £150 on RAM. I really haven't ever had much luck overclocking in the past so i'll be looking to buy stuff that runs sweet at stock.

am thinking of "Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail" as it is best core 2 duo under £200. I see overclockers have some bundles:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?&groupid=701&catid=339&sortby=priceAsc

and was wondering if any of the ones with 2gb corsair RAM are worth getting - I haven't used intel before as price used to be prohibitive so i really have no ideas which mobos are good at stock - not really for overclocking, unless it is a small, stable one i can do super easily with no unreliability :p If any of them have good enough onboard sound for Logitech 5.1 speakers then that'll save money on a soundcard. With the 8800GTX I'm also going to need a good PSU - Enermax and Antec have been good for me in the past.

Lastly is the stock cooler good enough @ stock speeds on the core 2 duo, and is the memory cooler by corsair worth having?
 
What about hard-drives/case/PSU? If you've got IDE drives that you want to reuse, then I'd get the Asus P5N-E SLI (£82), E6600 (£150.39) and 2GB Crucial Ballistix 5300 RAM (£75.19). If you're using SATA hard drives, then get the Gigabyte GA965-DS3P (£82) motherboard instead.

As for overclocking, the stock cooler is fine for stock speeds, and even for overclocking a bit (say pushing that 6600 to 3GHz, no problem). Overclocking a C2D is very easy, very reliable.

The RAM is rated at 667MHz, but can overclock very easily (If you get the DS3P I can talk you through it step by step) to 800MHz and even 1066MHz.

Those components gives you enough spare change for a decent soundcard, even though both motherboards give you decent onboard sound, maybe use the extra £100 spare to get a new case/PSU?
 
thanks - I have a raptor SATA HD which i'll be keeping and i like my current case as it has 2x120mm fans so is cool and quiet. I read a bit about the mobo with only one IDE connector (for my DVD/RW drive) so i could get another SATA drive cheap for more storage on HD movies.

If these processors are so fast what does the oc to say 3ghz bring to the table?
 
IceWolf said:
thanks - I have a raptor SATA HD which i'll be keeping and i like my current case as it has 2x120mm fans so is cool and quiet. I read a bit about the mobo with only one IDE connector (for my DVD/RW drive) so i could get another SATA drive cheap for more storage on HD movies.

If these processors are so fast what does the oc to say 3ghz bring to the table?
Click to expand...

if your running at stock, get an e6600, any compatible cheap motherboard and any compatible cheap ram, if overclocking then get a decent mobo and 6400 ram
 
ahh so 6400 is going to be good enough for a modest overclock - nice to know :)

how much power would i need for the cpu and 8800GTX?
 
IceWolf said:
ahh so 6400 is going to be good enough for a modest overclock - nice to know :)

how much power would i need for the cpu and 8800GTX?
Click to expand...

6400 would allow you to do a major overclock not modest, to at least 3.6ghz if your chip allows it, mine does anyway

why dont you start a new thread, giving us your current setup and parts and how much money you have to upgrade and what your intentions are then we can help you better rather than you just asking small questions
 
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