Spec Check

Eriedor · 11 Oct 2006 at 17:33

Sorry to add what im sure is an abundance of this type of thread but i've been out of the computer component scene for awhile.

Basicly i want to upgrade my gaming rig. The fact its only a gaming rig means i really only need a single core processor however highend versions don't seem to be around anymore so i looked to the new intel core 2 duo conroes.

Heres my rig, feel feel to rip apart ;d

OCZ ModStream 450w ATX2.2 Power Supply £44.99
NZXT Lexa Classic Series Ultra light Aluminum Midtower £79.95
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB5300DC) £139.99
Leadtek GeForce 7900 GS 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £107.99
Core 2 Duo E6400 £130.65
ASUS P5B £76.87

Is the asus p5b mobo good enough to clock the proc to 3ghz? Is the spec balanced? Any thoughts taking into account this is purely my media pc (gaming/watching films/music)

/edit ignore prices they are without vat as usual ~_~

semi-pro waster · 11 Oct 2006 at 17:37

Welcome to the forums, the specification looks reasonably balanced although I'd probably suggest the Gigabyte DS3 in preference to that Asus. You might also want to get an aftermarket cooler for the overclocking, something like the Arctic Freezer 7 would be ideal.

If that means the budget is stretched by getting those two items you could look at getting the Antec Sonata II which includes a decent quality 450w PSU and is still cheaper than the case you have selected.

Eriedor · 11 Oct 2006 at 19:57

semi-pro waster said:
Welcome to the forums, the specification looks reasonably balanced although I'd probably suggest the Gigabyte DS3 in preference to that Asus. You might also want to get an aftermarket cooler for the overclocking, something like the Arctic Freezer 7 would be ideal.

If that means the budget is stretched by getting those two items you could look at getting the Antec Sonata II which includes a decent quality 450w PSU and is still cheaper than the case you have selected.

Thanks for the feedback.

I was wondering about the motherboard, theres a lot of praise for the asus p5b deluxe so i thought for a slightly less hardcore user the vanilla would be fine, ill look into the gigabyte.

Also i actually intended to ask in the initial post about a cooler, ill check out your suggestion.

Finally, the reason im partial to that case is

1) ive had a boring case for awhile so i thought a fancy one was in order

2) biggest reason - its extremly light at 5.8kgs!
3) comes with a harness to carry (handy for lans)
4) temp display + 4 fans included

Eriedor · 12 Oct 2006 at 22:00

Sorry for bump, I've updated spect to following, can someone check its all good.

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £91.99
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £139.99
NZXT Lexa Classic Series Ultra light Aluminum Midtower £79.95
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) £17.99
OCZ ModStream 450w ATX2.2 Power Supply £39.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 160GB ST3160811AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £69.90
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM £20.95
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO) £114.99
E6400 Core 2 duo

Would you reccomend I spend £35 more getting pc6400 memory instead of pc5300?

Any thoughts...

semi-pro waster · 12 Oct 2006 at 22:12

Since you have a good clocking motherboard then I'd suggest the PC6400 provided you can afford it, it will make it easier to overclock the system.

I'd also highly recommend getting a Seagate 7200.10 drives rather than the 7200.9 series, it isn't that the 7200.9 drives are poor but the 7200.10s are faster and better overall. The 320gb 7200.10 should either be the same price or cheaper than 2x160gb drives.

Other than that it all looks good now.

Eriedor · 12 Oct 2006 at 22:20

Ok ill get the OCZ memory (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/OCZ_DDR2_Memory.html - 4th down)

The logic for 2 160gb's is to setup a raid 0, which im sure would perform better than 1 320gb 7200.10

semi-pro waster · 12 Oct 2006 at 22:25

You may wish to take a look at this thread or on the Gigabyte website to check if the OCZ is compatible, in theory it should be but I don't know for certain.

Raid0 is faster for certain tasks e.g. large file editing for video/audio/graphics etc but it isn't faster in all cases and it does significantly increase your risk of data loss.