Time for a nice cheap upgrade

Bones · 2 May 2008 at 00:23

Its getting to that time when an upgrade is looming, just want to upgrade the main core bits. Opinions/advice on the items below please

I would like to OC to about 3ghz if possible, to run along side my existing 8800 GTS 320mb and a couple of raptors in RAID. Would like to keep it as cheap as possible as i'm extremely skint. As long as its an fairly reasonable improvement over my x2 3800 @ 2.5ghz i'll be happy.

Thanks for your time.

Nick1881 · 2 May 2008 at 00:33

Looks very good, what psu do you have?

Bones · 2 May 2008 at 12:45

i have a Tagan 530w, would that be suffient?

gt_junkie · 2 May 2008 at 12:51

Yup - should be fine as that's a nice PSU!

What operating system you on?

gt

errata · 2 May 2008 at 13:09

I guess going from 800fsb on the 1.8 just needs a very convenient 1333 bus speed

but the 2 ghx chips only £2 more and the 2.2 £9 more

matt_fsr · 2 May 2008 at 13:51

This is the same kinda thing as im thinking of, except with 4Gb of RAM for future-proofing.

Can someone confirm if the E2xx series all have the same multiplier, as if they do then we might as well all get the cheapest and overclock it?

gt_junkie · 2 May 2008 at 13:53

Nope.

They all have incrementally increased multi's depending on code name and price.

2140 - 8x
2160 - 9x
2180 - 10x
2200 - 11x

I've found the 2160 to be the best bang for the buck although the current price of the 2180 would be a temptation!

gt

mp260767 · 2 May 2008 at 14:08

i'd maybe swap the mobo for the gigabyte p31.

Bones · 2 May 2008 at 15:03

I will be running XP probably. I figured that i may aswell go with the cheapest e2xxx and just overclock as they seem to be very good Oc'ers. They all have the same cache dont they?

I do a fair bit of video editing and gaming so they would be the main uses.

Why do you suggest going with the gigabyte instead? any particular advantages?

thanks for the comments so far

**EDIT** just checked and the gigabyte mobo would save me some money and theres some b-grade versions available at the moment for even cheaper! How does it compare to the Abit for Overclocking? will it give me a chance of reaching the 3ghz mark i'm aiming for?

gt_junkie · 2 May 2008 at 15:16

My old P35 DS3P was the best intel board i've ever used. Anything similar would be good - especially if you can find it at a nice price!

gt

Bones · 2 May 2008 at 15:32

Well the one i am looking at is the Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L Intel P31, is there anyone here that has had experience with this board? Hoping that one little letter in the name wont make too much difference

**EDIT** Just had a thought, currenty i am running 2xWD raptors and 2x250gb HD in 2 RAID0 arrays. Is it possible to just tranfer these drives and setup on the new board with out losing the arrays?

PhoenixUK · 3 May 2008 at 01:25

I've got the E2200 with P35DS3L which isnt much more expensive, I can definitely recommend this mobo.

I would recommend the GeiL Black dragon memory which i think is even cheaper than the OCZ a bit.

Not sure about the 3ghz tho, depends what chip u get.
My E2200 stays very stable at 2.9-3.0, after that it needs hell lot of volts and the temperature might be the issue if airflow in your case isnt good enough.

I've got tuniq tower and my case is perfectly cooled and still I've got problems if I want to push it over 3.1ghz ( and the stock clock is 400mhz more than e2160).

I think with that kit you're looking more likely for 2.7-2.8ghz range, but if you get lucky on chip 3ghz shouldnt be problem.