Spec Check, Please

mwtb · 18 Mar 2007 at 12:46

My Socket 754 motherboard has died and after spending a few weeks looking for a 2nd hand replacement, I'm coming to the conclusion that I may as well just upgrade now and sell the remaining bits or hold them for spares for my Socket 754 server machine. Here's my upgrade list:

Gigabyte GA 965P-DS3P, iP965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, ATX

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300, Socket 775, 1.86 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Allendale Core, 2MB Cache, Retail

Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB

Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)

Samsung SH-S183A/BEBN Black SATA 18x18 ±R Dual Layer DVDRW

400 Gb Western Digital WD4000YS Caviar RE, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ

Questions:

1/ I'm a "value" overclocker. Is the 6300 the best choice here? The 4300 doesn't seem cheap enough to warrant stepping down, but does it OC better?

2/ I'm intending to fit this into my existing Antec Sonata case. Presumably this is not a stupid idea.

3/ Is there anything about to come out that is worth waiting for (DDR3)?

Cheers for any advice.

Will_3rd · 18 Mar 2007 at 12:55

mwtb said:
1/ I'm a "value" overclocker. Is the 6300 the best choice here? The 4300 doesn't seem cheap enough to warrant stepping down, but does it OC better?

2/ I'm intending to fit this into my existing Antec Sonata case. Presumably this is not a stupid idea.

3/ Is there anything about to come out that is worth waiting for (DDR3)?

All your choices look good.

1/ The 6300 is a good chip and might overclock higher then a 4300

2/ Should fit AFAIK

3/ The benefits of DDR2 are only just being felt, not really worth waiting for IMO

Edward01 · 18 Mar 2007 at 13:10

looks good, tho i'd ditch the westein digital and go for either a samsung if you want quite or a seagate if you want fast. apart from tis good

p4radox · 18 Mar 2007 at 13:29

Save money on the PSU, you don't need 620W. Spemd the money on a nicer case, speakers, or better graphics card or something.

mwtb · 18 Mar 2007 at 13:44

Thanks for the replies. Useful feedback.

Edward01, the HD was something I didn't really think much about, and after looking more closely, I think you're right that there are better options. In particular, I had chosen an "enterprise" premium drive and I can get a consumer 500GB drive for less. I've narrowed it to two contenders, and from the reviews and forum posts I've read, it's pretty much a coin toss between them:

500 Gb Western Digital WD5000AAKS Caviar SE16, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms
500 Gb Samsung HD501LJ Spinpoint T, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ

P4radox, you're right that 620W is overkill for what I'm putting in it now, but I like some headroom for future expansion and upgrade. I'll think about dropping back to the 520W Corsair and saving thirty quid though.

Will_3rd · 18 Mar 2007 at 14:32

The WD is the better performer, the Samsung is quieter

mwtb · 18 Mar 2007 at 14:52

After a battle with my credit card company (they seem to like putting a block on my card every time I spend more than a few hundred quid at once), they orders are placed. I went with the WD. I also decided to pick up a copy of Vista, although I imagine that I'll be spending more time in XP for a good while yet.

Cheers all.