C2D system build once-over

gamephile

Member
Jul 10, 2001
162
0
0
Hey all,

I'm going to throw my hat into the popular Core2Duo system ring.

My current list is as follows:

Antec P150 with NeoHE 430W *Already Purchased*

Gigabyte ga-965P-DS3 *Revision 3.3 (From clubit.com)*

Core2Duo E6300


Tuniq Tower

Buffalo Firestix 2x1GB PC6400 - FSX800D2C-K2G - May be using Elpida instead of Micron D9, how do I check?

Powercolor x1950Pro

From previous computer:

WD 250GB PATA drive using IDE->Sata adapter
WD 320GB SATA

Lite-On CD Burner
BenQ DVD-RW


The questions I've been tossing around lately are:

What type of over clock can I expect? Can I hit 3.0 or 3.2 Ghz?
Furthermore, is it worth buying a P5B-E or an E6400 instead to improve my chances of getting a high over clock?

Is 400Mhz worth the extra effort?

Is this ram sufficient for that type of over clock, do I need to put more money in better ram?

Should I just drop down to an E4300?
I know I would lose virtualization but don't I lose some performance due to the lower FSB?

Finally, the total for this build is hovering around $800. I would like to keep it around that, but if there is performance to be had by swapping something out for an extra 20-30 bucks I'll do that. The way my cash flow runs I may not get a chance to upgrade this for a long time. I'm still running on an Athlon XP 2100+ that I basically fished from a dumpster.

Also, the timing of midrange DirectX 10 boards is killing me. I want to wait but I just can't. I need this computer for video processing and interactive media thesis work. Damn you R600! Come out 6 weeks ago!

Anyways, that's where I'm at right now. Thank you forumers.
 

Roguestar

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2006
6,045
0
0
The S3 is a bit cheaper than the DS3, may let you get an E6400 instead of an E6300 (need to spend less on RAM, slightly easier overclock).

The firestix are apparently no longer using D9 so get something from this thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=1966035

Or you could get an E4300 and 2Gb of valueRAM DDR2-800 and save even more.



Here's a quick list (any longer and I'll miss the bus)
8800GTS 320Mb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814125054
2Gb DDR2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231098
S3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128017
E4300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115013
total $754
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
16
81
Get budget DDR2-800 and a E6400. You'll hit 3.2ghz without running the RAM over stock (or massively overvolting the CPU, as E4300s often need).