Rig Spec

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I'm looking to upgrade to C2D, and could do with some help in specing the parts I need. PC use is mostly gaming, graphic design etc.

I've budgeted for around £500, and I anticipate that I only need mobo, CPU, graphics card + ram really. The only addition to this would maybe be windows vista.

Was initially thinking of e-6750, but having read a bit I am now in favour of getting the less than 1/2 price e-2160, and overclocking it. This would give me some headroom for upgrading the CPU at a later point.

Second, I was thinking of a 8800GTS, but as the 9800s are supposedly out at the end of the year, thought it may be better to get a x1950 for the time being, then upgrade at a future date.

Struggling a bit more with the mobo and ram. P35 chipset definitely, but which one? Probably Abit or Gigabyte, and I don't mind spending a bit more on this component especially if I can save somewhat on the CPU and graphics as suggested above. I feel that a good motherboard at this stage would help in the long run.

Is it worth having a DDR3 compatible board at this stage?

Ram wise, 2 x 1GB DDR2 - but which speed? I would prefer to be able to keep this through future upgrades of CPU and GPU.

Any suggestions would be very helpful. I intend to upgrade in the next week or so.

Thanks

bornslippy
 
Although you said PC6400, this Ram is supposed to use the same chips as the more expensive PC8500 (but may need slacker timings) so should be able to keep up very well with any overclocks. Do you already have a good PSU?

OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £151.99
(£178.59) £151.99
(£178.59)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) £57.99
(£68.14) £57.99
(£68.14)
Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £26.99
(£31.71) £26.99
(£31.71)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
(£88.11) £74.99
(£88.11)
Sub Total : £361.95
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £64.91
Total : £435.81
 
Thanks for this, the ram looks impressive and by the looks of it would give plenty of headroom for future CPU upgrades.

My PSU is the one in the sig, Tagain 530W. Hopefully, it is enough.

Do I need a CPU cooler? Thought I could use my XP120 as it has a bracket suitable for socket 775 - I'm pretty sure.

I'm still tempted to get a x1950, to save some money until the next gen gpus come out.


semi-pro waster said:
Although you said PC6400, this Ram is supposed to use the same chips as the more expensive PC8500 (but may need slacker timings) so should be able to keep up very well with any overclocks. Do you already have a good PSU?

OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £151.99
(£178.59) £151.99
(£178.59)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) £57.99
(£68.14) £57.99
(£68.14)
Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £26.99
(£31.71) £26.99
(£31.71)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
(£88.11) £74.99
(£88.11)
Sub Total : £361.95
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £64.91
Total : £435.81
 
mmm you might even decide you wouldn't need to upgrade after getting a GTS, you should probably just try and pick up a nice 2nd hand one for around 120.
 
So you reckon GTS rather than x1950 then? I had originally settled on a card from this range, as I cannot justify the extra expense of a GTX. Where for £120 second hand then?




*Chris said:
mmm you might even decide you wouldn't need to upgrade after getting a GTS, you should probably just try and pick up a nice 2nd hand one for around 120.
 
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