Spec me a system... please

tehgazza

tehgazza

tehgazza

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Joined
13 Apr 2006
Posts
143
Right then i have to upgrade my system, and i could do with some advice on what i should buy.

Things i would like:
Capability to overclock (definitely)
Firewire (not that important, can do without)
OK for some gaming (i dont want crossfire/sli though, 1 graphics card will do for me)
Dual core
Nice and stable machine (even if this means not overclocking it as much as it could go)
Vista compatible
Budget is around £500 but can stretch further if need be.

Already have:
Case
Moniter
DVD-RW
Keyboard
Mouse
Scanner
Printer
Windows XP Professional

I was looking at something like:
Gigabyte DS3
Core 2 Duo E6600
about 1GB RAM
7300GT

What do you suggest, is that an OK selection??
 
I would drop the E6600 down to an E6400 and get 2GB RAM. It'll be a much better all round system then. Don't worry if the 6400 isn't a proper "conroe", I saved myself £80 going for the E6400 but once you get overclocking you forget all about it!

CP-127-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-127-IN) 1
£139.99 £139.99
MB-061-GI Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-061-GI) 1
£91.99 £91.99
MY-058-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) (MY-058-GL) 1
£134.95 £134.95
GX-040-OK OcUK GeForce 7300 GT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-040-OK) 1
£49.95 £49.95
Subtotal £416.88
VAT £72.96
Total £489.84
 
Last edited:
thanks, a few more questions though:

what would be an adequate power supply for this build?
is there anything cheaper than a ds3 that will overclock well?
how bad would a E6600 with 1GB RAM perform?
how much difference is there between a overclocked E6400 and a overclocked E6600?
and can anyone recommend a new case (in this case would a new psu be needed?)

I suppose after a while i could just add some additional RAM if i got 1GB

thoughts please
 
I personally think you're better off getting 2GB now.
450W should power this sort of system nicely, even 400W would do because the 7300GT and E6400 don't use much power.
The MSI 965P neo might be a good option if you don't want to spend that kind of money on the DS3.
The difference between the two CPU's overclocked would probably be about 10%.
How much would you spend on a new case?
 
maximum of say £50 for the case, unless it has a quality psu in it.
what is your 6400 running at and does this extra 2MB of cache do anything useful? i shall check out that other m/b in a moment
 
My E6400 is currently running at 2.7GHz, my RAM doesn't let me push it past that :( . It's 28 degrees at idle and 50 degrees under heavy load (gaming, virus scanning and downloading with no lag!). The 2MB cache is useful for game loading times, file transfer rate etc.
 
ok, i see something on the msi manual for that board that worries me though, it says it is in compatable with 1GB ddr2-800 dimms, so maybe id have to have 4x512MB's
 
thanks for looking, yes i took a look to see if it had the usual 1 IDE port, and i noticed that about the memory. i will price it up with case and psu and see if its buyable

ill prolly go into OC's and get it when i can
 
didnt notice that the ds3 has integrated graphics, this will suffice for the moment for playing a few games, so i have some up with another shortlist, dont know whether to go 6600 or 6400 though:

Shopping Cart (Prices in British Pounds) REFERENCE DESCRIPTION QUANTITY PRICE COST
MB-061-GI Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-061-GI) 1
£91.99 £91.99
MY-057-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB6400UDC) (MY-057-GL) 1
£84.99 £84.99
CA-021-AK Akasa AK-ZEN-01-WH Zen White Case - No PSU (CA-021-AK) 1
£27.95 £27.95
CA-003-AK Akasa Ultra Quiet 460W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.0 PSU - Black Nickel (CA-003-AK) 1
£44.99 £44.99
CP-128-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN) 1
£199.99 £199.99
Subtotal £449.91
VAT £78.74
Total £528.65
 
fenderbass86 said:
Oh, 6400 + 2GB for the win.
Click to expand...
I'd agree with the memory, and the CPU if I were someone else. But if it were me, I'd go for the E6600 just because I demand the best I can get. :D

But pretty much, well all, of what fenderbass has said in this thread has been spot on and I think you'd be unwise to take onboard what he's said.

Particularly where the RAM is concerned, and if that means getting the E6400, then so be it. It'll still beat pretty much everything else out at the moment to the ground by a considerable amount.
 
Sorry to post in here, I thought it would be better than to start a completely new thread...

I'm almost ready to order bits for my new PC. Seeing as I've never built a computer before and I would like to try but I'm worried I might do something completely wrong. If I order the hardware etc for my new PC, can Overclockers put it together for me and send it to me with all the components inside for a little bit extra?

Kind regards,
-Alex.
 
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