Returner to Intel - Is this a good build?

DanB

DanB

DanB

Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
347
Location
Cambridge
Hi folks. I've been an AMD supporter for as long as I can remember, but I've finally lost patience with their lagging performance. I'm about to order a system refresh, and I want to spec a Core2, but I don't know that much about the millions of different motherboard chipsets and processors. I've selected the system below - would it all be compatible/complementary, and would it make a good all-round multimedia and mid-range gaming system?

Abit IP35
EVGA 8800GT 512mb
Core2 E8200
GeIL 2GB PC2-6400C4

Any views/suggestions welcome. On another point, would a 9600GT be better? They seem to cost the same!

Cheers,

Dan
 
Thanks for the reply.

On the Q6600, I'm not sure I see the point of the quad - nothing I do particularly benefits from more cores, so I figured I'd be better off with a high bus, 45nm, overclockable chip?
 
Looks great, you've either been doing some reading or you just hit the perfect combination straight away by blind luck :p

That said, as mentioned, you may as well throw in some more RAM. If you're overclocking, 2x2gb would be better than 4x1gb.

Also if you are overclocking it'd be worth throwing in a cpu cooler. Depending on how much you have to spend (and how cool you want it to run) you can either go for an arctic freezer 7 pro (£17) or higher up a tuniq tower (£35) and slightly above that, a thermalright ultra extreme (£33) + yate loon 120mm fan (£5)

The 8800GT is the best bang for buck out at the moment, it's considered better than the 9600GT by most. I feel obliged to point out that new midrange cards are out this week from ati, which could be good.
 
Oooohh - interesting point Ben. Any previews, or ideas what they will be like and cost?
 
DanB said:
Oooohh - interesting point Ben. Any previews, or ideas what they will be like and cost?
Click to expand...

If you go over to the graphics cards forum, there's loads about it.

My understanding of the summary of what's happening is:

nvidia new cards GTX260 and GTX280 are going to be expensive, with the 280 being very expensive (north of £300), and the 260 less expensive (£200+ I think)

ati aren't bringing all their cards out on the same day, but they are releaseing a 4850 (mid-range ~ £150) and a 4870 (which costs more) then bringing out X2 versions of both cards.

nvidia cards are in stock now:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?&groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1176&sortby=priceAsc
 
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Wow those Nvidia cards are expensive again! I guess I'll just have to hope that the 8800gt prices go down as a result, or that the ATI cards get in under the bar.
 
Okay, I ordered the following last night (didn't really want to wait for ATI, and I suspect they'll be a little more expensive for a few weeks):

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.66GHz (1333FSB)
Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
Abit IP35 Pro XE Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)
MSI GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Does that still look like a decent/compatible bundle?

I couldn't resist throwing in a sata optical spindle to keep the inside of my case tidy :D I also swapped to the Pro XE for futureproofing and it was on This Week Only, and the MSI because it's an overclocked model over the Evga.

Also chuffed, because I sold a pair of 7900GSs and matching Zalman VF-900's locally for £111 this morning - result!
 
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