Potential new build..

NuTz · 26 Jan 2008 at 11:25

Hi all, I'm thinking of building a new PC and would like some opinions on what I have chosen so far. I've tried to mix performance with value (I know the two don't always go together). Here is what I have so far;

Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4 Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ)

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.66GHz (1333FSB) - Retail

OcUK ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT 512MB GDDR4 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Totaling £480.47 inc VAT and delivery.

Now, I have always stuck with OCZ for RAM and never had a problem am i better off sticking with OCZ over the gskill and also an Asus mobo over the Gigabyte. I plan to overclock the E8200 a 'little' ... hopefully to the 3ghz mark. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Pneumonic · 26 Jan 2008 at 11:30

If you only want 3ghz (you can probably get a whole lot more) from the CPU then you dont need the PC2-8000 RAM, something like the GeIL 6400 ULL would be fine.. Again motherboard is fine if you plan to get another graphics card later and run xfire.. if not would go for a P35 board

NuTz · 26 Jan 2008 at 11:34

Thanks, forgot to mention about future proofing as well. Regarding the memory I think I'm getting mixed up; CPU = 1333fsb, memory PC8000 = around the 1000fsb mark?

semi-pro waster · 26 Jan 2008 at 11:45

Correct on the CPU and Ram speeds but you don't really need PC8000 as said, the CPUs FSB is quad pumped in effect so to achieve 1333mhz you only need 333mhz on the Ram or PC5300 speeds. I wouldn't recommend that speed of Ram in general but the basic point is that PC6400 is easily sufficient for what you require since 8x400 gives you 3.2ghz.

MumboJumbo · 26 Jan 2008 at 12:13

get the cheaper ram and get a 8800GT instead as its faster.

You could get the Abit Ip-35 Pro P35 mobo instead. However i quite like the idea of having PCIE-2 ready incase the next cards make some decent use of it. In which case youd be regreting not buying an x38 mobo.

NuTz · 26 Jan 2008 at 13:07

Ok, i understand it better now. Looking at PC6400 there are lots of 4gb pairs - do timings make that much of a difference as that is the only difference I can see. e.g.

G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PK PC2-6400C4 (2x2GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK) at CAS 4-4-4-12 Timings which is (£72.84)

GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz Black Dragon DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GB24GB6400C5DC) at CAS 5-5-5-15 Timings which is (£58.74)

£20 more for timings?

MumboJumbo · 26 Jan 2008 at 14:46

4x1 ocz ram can be had for like 70 quid now annd is fast enough. Althought those 2gb sticks are cheaper. As far as i nkwo neither of them will overclock though.

And yes *** better timeings do make the g skill faster, but at 4gb you dont really need it.