Thinking of taking the plunge... Looking for advice

Associate
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26 Sep 2011
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Hi guys

I posted here a few days ago, I want a new PC and was looking at some prebuilt machines from OC's

The replies I recieved really have inspired me, and the guides stickied at the top of this forum are spectacularly good.

I built and messed about with PC's 10+ years ago, so will be very rusty but I think I'm up to the challenge so just need to decide on my components and crack on.

After advice, I think I'll be going for an Intel i5 system and I've really got my heart set on the ATI HD6950. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions.

One question: Whats the general consensus on the overclocked component bundles? such as this one ? Are they good value for money, and are they really just plug and play?

I'm confident I can build the components no problem, but am very apprehensive when it comes to messing about with the BIOS, and no clue where to start overclocking a CPU myself so the bundles seem a good option for me.

I was slightly concerned about the disclaimer on there:
Note - Please note that adding in additional memory to the spare slots will require new BIOS settings and the maximum clock speed attainable may be significantly reduced. OcUK recommend a quality brand PSU for use with all our bundles such as the Corsair TX & HX range. Updating the BIOS on the overclocked bundle range will void the warranty on the overclock. If you update the BIOS we will no longer be able to provide support for configuring and maintaining the CPU overclock.

And just wondered what this actually meant in English

thanks, I'll post my component list soon for you all to cast your discerning eyes over :)
 
Man of Honour
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It means, if I'm reading this correctly, that if you add memory of a different type or speed, it's introduction will require a change in the BIOS/UEFI settings. i.e. your memory speed will be reduced to the slower speed/latency of that introduced..

Basically, what they are saying is that these are shipped already tested so messing with the BIOS will void the support of the OC only.. not the product.. But check in with Customer Services just to make sure.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18104267
 
Soldato
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the disclaimer seems a bit of a get out for me, so if you add more memory or the overclock doesnt give you a stable system when you get it then you'll void it by making changes to get it stable the way i read that.

with the new sandy bridge the overclocking is fairly simple so worth having a go yourself, plenty of people around to help.
 
Associate
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So they're saying its stable as is, but if I add more RAM it invalidates the warranty(with OCs)
What about if I buy it from them, with the 8Gb RAM? (which is what I want) - Will this be guaranteed, stable and literally plug and play like a none OC'd processor?

And roughly what are they charging for the overclocking? Compared to the individual components? (if its a nominal fee, I'd be more inclined to just pay it and save myself the hassle)

Cheers!
 
Associate
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I worked out one bundle a while ago and they were charging something like £50~£60 which is really not worth the money when you can find a guide online and OC it easily.
 
Associate
OP
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If it is guaranteed, and I wont have to mess about with it at all I think I'd be happy to pay £40 for the OC.

The CPU cooler etc are all sufficiently kosher too I assume?
 
Associate
OP
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Excellent, and can anyone advise me which mobo I'd be best getting?
The asus P8Z68-V, V Pro or deluxe?
I've just looked them up and the Pro/Deluxe models look to just have DTS audio, have more Sata 6Gb/s storage, and (deluxe) lack the onboard video.

I will probably only have 1 optical drive and 1 HDD, and I will be using a pci GPU (is it still just a jumper setting to disable onboard gfx?)

~Thanks!
 
Soldato
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had a quick look at the asus website and the only thing i noticed the V doesnt have over the other 2 is an inbuilt firewire port.

so if thats needed go with the cheapest of the other 2, if its not needed then go with the cheapest overall.

last time i disabled on board gfx it was a bios setting.
 
Last edited:
Associate
OP
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Hey
Well I've been shopping...

o Krypton Z68 590i Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.40GHz Overclocked Bundle £229.99
o Options applied to the above product:
o Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £45.98
o Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £85.98
o HIS ATI Radeon HD 6950 IceQ PLUS Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £219.98
o OCZ ZS Series 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £56.99
o Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £50.99
o Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £46.99
o OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) £16.99
o Sub Total : £780.54



The Krypton bundle includes
- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.40GHz Sandybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (default choice)
- RAM: Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel
- Cooler: Corsair A50 CPU Cooler
- Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound


Does it look ok? Anything I've missed out? (apart from oem win7 64bit)

Cheers
Chuff
 
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