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smithy1988

smithy1988

smithy1988

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3 Jul 2007
Posts
354
Location
Newcastle UK
After a few weeks searching the forums and asking questions i think i am now at a final decision- latest change has been to go with a 4850 card over a 8800/9800gtx.
I would like to thank everyone who has answered questions and helped me with my newbie questions, great forum and a great resource.
Basically i am going to post the basket below and i just want any last min comments.
The more experienced will be able to see if there are any problems or compatability issues with the below.
Few questions id like to clarify.
-Will the card fit ok in the Lian Li, not aware of the dimensions of these over the gtx's.
-Hard drive wise i wasnt sure with which brand to go for. Was looking at 320gb drives but saw the 500gb version for the same price- never know when you might need the extra space- Samsung spinpoint a good one to go for?
- Do i need to purchase any cables? most of the components are OEM are all the cables i will need for the build supplied?

Thanks again- and no doubt be hearing from me as i build the machine- probably a lot more questions to follow!


 
Two things i'd change.

a) The RAM - for the money why not get 4GB? Maybe not as overclockable but the performance would be much much better.

b) I'd take the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R over the P5K-VM, I had the Asus board and it was a right pain, would randomly stop detective drives and fighting with my DVD writer. I think it was something to do with the drive being SATA, as the drive worked flawlessly in any other PC, and when I swapped it for an IDE one the problem went away.
 
Thanks Tute i had wondered about 4gb. Only thing is the gigabyte board doesnt support the faster ram like the asus. Will there be a big difference between the 800 and the 1066mhz? I suppose 4gb of 800mhz will probz outweigh the speed difference of 2gb on 1066mhz?

Also just a side point id noticed while browsing around Vista has had a problem with detecting 4gb of ram. I have read to install OS on 2gb of ram add a patch and then install the remaining 2gb? Is that correct.
IS the thing to do get 2x2gb or get 4x1gb
 
Support doesn't matter anyway. The CPU is 266MHz FSB so it's only going to be using PC4200 at stock. Anything above that will have to be obtained by overclocking, so technically the maximum RAM clock is limited by your board overclock.

And as for Vista, i'm not really sure. If you have problems installing, just take 2GB out, and pop it back in when everything's working again.
 
Ah k that makes sense. Iv replaced basket with the gigabyte board and 2x2gb ocuk ram. Probz wait till later on to see if any one else posts and then its oder time :p
 
Well there is that, however then you're going over £60. I was trying to keep it around £45! :p

If you can afford the extra, get the PC6400 stuff. But the PC5300 will still allow a modest overclock, and probably a bit more.
 
Yea appreciate that. I'll make a decision on that tonight. Is the OCZ the one to go for then? Seems its been developed specially for vista?
 
Ignore the Vista bit - it's just some RAM they're trying to mark as "special for Vista" when it runs the same on XP.

It's by far and away the best kit for the money anyway. :)
 
Right then i think i'll stretch to the 800mhz ram. 750 was supposed to be max budget but thats ok.
Any last min things or should i get the bank card out?

Updated basket- changed board to gigabyte and gone for 4gb of the OCZ ram.


 
Looking good. Should be set for a while with that.

Click order and enjoy! Oh, and if you like, post a build log. :)
 
Thanks tute for all the help, The next learning curve will be a bit of Overclocking well thats if i manage to get the thing built!
Yea i think i might try and do one- give something back to the forum possibly help others.
 
3GHz should be easily obtainable - in fact i'd be shocked if you couldn't just boot straight up and install Vista at that speed.

I think once you get above 3.2GHz it might get trickier. :)
 
I was thinking if i do overclock to take it up to around the 3.0ghz mark id be happy with that. First job is to build it at stock and get everything working and installed then possibly have a tinker.
In terms of overclocking i havnt the foggiest!
I understand that its a case of changing settings on the bios to make things work faster and thats about my overclocking knowledge in a nutshell.
Looking forward to getting the parts and starting the build tho
 
Okay, well, simply put, the CPU frequency will just be a combination of two values in the BIOS.

The FSB speed x the Multiplier.

For your chip it's going to be 266x9 = 2.4GHz at stock. Now the multiplier will be locked upwards, meaning the only way to go is to up the FSB.

So that's what you need to do. Keep putting the FSB up in small increments, whilst keeping an eye on stability and CPU temperatures.

It's child's play, honestly. :)
 
So all u do is enter a new value in the box under fsb in the bios then check for stability?
Do i need special programs for keeping a eye on the system or are they provided.

In terms of overclocking other componenets such as ram thats a case of changing mobo settings?
Gpu the same?
 
RAM normally stays at FSB speed. You can change it using something called a "divider" but I wouldn't bother personally.

In theory your RAM will allow you to 400x9 = 3.6GHz but in a V350 i'd be shocked if you could keep it happy at that speed. Most likely the heat will stop you before then.

As for utilities, you can use the ones that come with the motherboard, or ones such as CoreTemp, or Everest. They'll monitor temps too. And don't forget the readings in the BIOS.
 
the 400 x9 you state is that the base frequency of the ram 800mhz halfed with it being ddr2? So 400xthe multiplier. If thats right i must be learning haha. Probz not. Doesnt seem to complicated-especially as im not wanting to go overclocking mad.
Lets get the thing built first haha
 
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