Spec request.

Colin The Grey · 3 Oct 2008 at 16:07

Got a budget of around £750, looking for a good Motherboard/Processor and Ram combo.

Currently running a Q6600 with 4*1Gb Crucial DDR2 -1066 on an Asus PK5Deluxe, passing this down to a relative.

No need for SLI or crossfire, am running a single 280GTX.

Not kept up to date with latest motherboards and would like an idea of what to get.

OS is currently Vista 32.

Pc is used mainly for gaming.

Thanks in advance for any replies

Chimerical · 3 Oct 2008 at 16:27

Overpriced option:

Sensible one:

To be honest, I probably could have chosen a better mb for the first spec (like the Rampage Extreme or the Foxconn Blackops).

Plus, in the lower spec, switch to P45 if you're not into extreme O/Cing, I only specced that due to your £750 budget.

Something like the Asus P5Q Deluxe is great

Colin The Grey · 3 Oct 2008 at 16:33

Thanks Chimerical,

Is there any real benefit going to DDR3, except in benchmarks?

And would putting a Q9650 in the ddr2 spec be better than a Q9550 with ddr3?

PwnDirect · 3 Oct 2008 at 16:39

Colin The Grey said:
Thanks Chimerical,

Is there any real benefit going to DDR3, except in benchmarks?

And would putting a Q9650 in the ddr2 spec be better than a Q9550 with ddr3?

nope ddr 3 is still a waste of money

Chimerical · 3 Oct 2008 at 21:16

PwnDirect said:
nope ddr 3 is still a waste of money

Well yes and no. There is about £120 difference in the two specs (£200 if the P5Q replaced the Rampage). To be honest though, I was suprised that the OCZ RAM is 'only' double the cost of the DDR2 Corsair which is a lot cheaper than it used to be. The other real culprit adding to the cost of DDR3 is the motherboards.

Fact is though, only Nehalem will benefit from DDR3 and by then the prices will be lower so definitely just go for the DDR2/P45 motherboard option. Q9550 is all you need really, considering how much more expensive the Q9650 is.

Maybe consider adding Vista 64 to your purchase?

EDIT: Plus, what CPU Cooler do you have?

Tuniq Tower 120, Arctic Freezer 7 Pro, Thermalright Ultra 120 & Zalman CNPS9700 all recommended (Arctic Freezer is the cheapest and easiest to fit, in case you didn't already know).

Colin The Grey · 3 Oct 2008 at 23:25

Case is a Cosmos S.

Currently using an Akasa AK-925 Revo for cpu cooling, and reasonably pleased with it. Got this cooler mainly because of problems fitting some of the larger ones in the cosmos s case.

OS is Vista 32 Ultimate.

Based on your advice I will prob go for:

Q9550 CPU.
Asus Rampage Formula DDR2 M/B
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX.

Might go for 8Gb and install Vista 64 - but not decided about that yet.

flinco · 3 Oct 2008 at 23:31

definitely go for a p45 mobo if you're not crossfiring as they can overclock higher and are more stable:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Colin The Grey · 6 Oct 2008 at 22:47

After much reading and checking of various reviews and qvl lists I ended up purchasing the following.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 3.0GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - Retail
Asus Maximus II Formula Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Black Dragon EVO ONE DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GE24GB1066C5DC)

Went for the Geil memory as it is on the QVL for the Maximus II, and decided to get the Q9650 as it was still within my budget.

Thanks to flinco, Chimerical and PwnDirect for your feedback and advice.