E6400 budget OC system -- your comments please?

[docdrow]

Hi all,

I'm considering building my first conroe system, and I'm on a budget (as always). I'd really enjoy hearing your comments on this system I'm thinking about buying:

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wi...3213411&WishListTitle=Aug06+new+system

Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3
Intel E6400 retail
Patriot 2x1GB PC2-6400 (4-4-4-12)
Radeon X1900GT (yeah time for a new card too )

From what I've read in the forums, people are achieving 2.88 "effortlessly" with this combo.

A friend of mine about has me talked into waiting on Dell to do a conroe+LCD combo offer, as he believes for around $700 they are going to have a T6300 system with a 24" LCD.

Newegg's prices don't seem as attractive as they once were.

 

[brianlam425]

thats no budget system!

very very very nice

 

[BF04]

Ive been looking at a Core 2 budget system for a friend so I know where your coming from. However, "as he believes for around $700 they are going to have a T6300 system with a 24"" - I find this very hard to believe. The 24' itself is 700+, they might do a 20' or so for 8-900 I think but cannot see them doing a 24' and full Core 2 system for 700. If they do, Ill buy 2

My current thoughts, setup is.

ASUS P5NSLI Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI -- the one in Anands review
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
OCZ Gold 1GB DDR2 667
eVGA 7600GT
Seagate Sata 3.0 80GB
Samsung 16X DVDR
Atrix case + 480W
Win XP Home

approx $900 @ newegg

I do not think I mised anything other than generic keyboard/speakers. Ill do monitor seperatly.

 

[docdrow]

BF04,

What kind of success did you have in OC'ing? or have you tried?

My goal here is to find the "sweet spot": which I define as OC'ing to maximize the bang for my buck, without significant risk of damaging my system and without fancy cooling solutions. In other words, I'm not necessarily looking for the maximum possible OC here, just what's reasonable.

Everything I've gleened so far from the forums here indicates that 2.88ghz should be about right.

As for the dell deal, I told my buddy the same thing. I'd buy two hehe. We'll see. I'm really tempted to buy this setup now though, addicted to Titan's Quest and it runs like a dog on my current system. (AMD-32 XP3200+ / 6600GT-AGP)

My buddy keeps throwin' stuff in my face LIKE THIS. What do you think? UGH.. decisions...

 

[nyker96]

THis is my budget build:
RAIDMAX Elite ATX-208 Beige 0.7mm SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
XFX PV-T73G-UDD3 Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 1066MHz FSB LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail
mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model 991512 - Retail

total: 930 @ newegg.

 

[Pabster]

Not bad, but I'd dump that Antec PS for something better.

 

[docdrow]

Hey guys, when you post your rig components, would you mind posting your CPU clock speeds/voltages, Memory voltages etc and whether you're using stock cooling or not.. Thanks!

 

[River Side]

budget builds use an E6300 not E6400 and no fancy shmancy RAM either.

here's a build i'm working on

E6300 + Gigabyte DS3 = $338
Patriot 2GB kit DDR2 667 (may scale back and get just 1GB stick) - $175-$20rebate=$150ish
Antec Super Lanboy - bought - $20AR
ULTRA X-Finity 500W - bought - $15AR
7600GT or equivalent Radeon if ATI drops prices due to the new x1950 - $150-$20rebate=$130ish
80GB Seagate/Samsung/WD/Hitachi whatever is available cheap with rebates for fast winxp startup - $45ish
cheap 200/300GB ATA drive for storage - bought for $30 AR

Total cost about $730

and tell your buddy to keep waiting for that $700 deal with the 24" LCD... .. he'll get a PD 820 at best at that price.. not to mention crappola MB and bios and RAM

 

[Skott]

Here's mine as a comparison. I call it a mid-range system. Its for my daughter and the only game she plays is Sims2. She's into music though. No monitor. Her old one still works fine for now.

Enermax Chakra case (Not high tech but not el cheapo quality neither)
2- Enermax UC-12EB 120mm case fans
Seasonic S-12 600 psu
Intel E6400 processor
Zalman CNPS9500 AT HSF
ASUS P5W DH mobo
Corsair TWIN2X20486400C4 RAM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB hard drive
Mitsumi 7-in-1 Floppy Drive
2-BenQ DW1655 DL DVD RW Writer w/Lightscribe (for disc to disc rip/burn)
eVGA 7600GT KO Video Card (Not a gaming rig)
Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic sound card.

Total: $1582.53 - This price includes all shipping charges from various stores to my door. Obviously a person can do better depending on components and setup (prices are dropping everyday on some of these components) but this is what I went with for this build. Like I said its more of a mid-range rig than a budget rig but it provides a comparison for those wanting to do something similar. I will overclock it of course. I think its great people can build a nice Conroe budget rig for well under a $1000 now.

 

[BF04]

nice setup skott.

docdrow - I havenot built it yet. My friend is still deciding on things.

I am keeping eye out for 20%+ off on monitors at Dell, I do really like Dell monitors.

I play EQ2 and use 2 - Dell 20inch widescreen monitors at 1680x1050 and love it.

 

[happy medium]

Why 4 gigs of ram? In your newegg cart?