How does this upgrade look? EDITED 02/07/07.

[judasmachine]

Currently Using:
3.0GHz Pentium4 w/HT
4x256MB PC 3200 (1 set Corsair XMS, 1 set Kingston HyperX)
ABIT IC7 (i875)
Sapphire X800GTO AGP

Looking at: (updated 02/07/07 Will be ordering within a week!)
2.13GHz C2D E6400
2x512MB PC6400 Buffalo Firestix
Gigabyte P965 DS3
Sapphire Ultimate RADEON 1950Pro PCI-E

Budget has expanded to 950, but I'm buying an aluminum Gigabyte Case, so that takes up like $140, so everything else needs to come in around $810.

 

[Roguestar]

The motherboard is great for the price. Good choice with the graphics card too. You need to decide between overclocking and breaking your budget, or staying within your budget and missing out of a bit of a higher overclock. You wanted decent RAM for that but if you get any kind of generic value RAM rated for DDR2-667 then you'll at least be able to overclock your FSB from 266 to 333. Try and find the cheapest DDR2-800 you can.

 

[judasmachine]

Yeah I could probably go with another $50, I'm just trying to keep in within reason. I've just been out of the loop and have been reading threads here like mad, trying to catch up. I'll look for the DDR2 800. What brands do you suggest for say upto $145 or $150? The word Fiance' is a little close to the word Finance...

 

[judasmachine]

Looking at Crucial Ballistix PC6400 DDR2 800 2x512MB for $159. The Micron chips are good right? Crucial=Micron right? That doesn't even bust my budget very much.

 

[sjandrewbsme]

I've built lots and lots of systems and I have had great results with corsair RAM. Micron owns crucial so I'm assume that all their chips will be micron.

Here's some good Corsair:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145566

or, you could go with this (same timings as the Crucial for less $):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145040

It's been my experience that Corsair is more stable for overclocking...then again the last time I used Crucial was before they offered the ballistix line. I switched to Corsair and have never had a reason to use anything else.

 

[judasmachine]

Yeah I like Corsair too. I like the price too, thanks.

 

[n7]

Corsair is synonymous with crap ICs & poor OCing unless you spend a fortune on their overpriced Dominator 1066 or 800 3-3-3 kits.

Get the Crucial, or maybe just a single 1 GB dimm of Team Xtreem, G.Skill "HZ", Crucial, or others using Micron D9GMH.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: sjandrewbsme
It's been my experience that Corsair is more stable for overclocking...then again the last time I used Crucial was before they offered the ballistix line. I switched to Corsair and have never had a reason to use anything else.

No offence but then by your own admission you're out of the loop. Corsair's Value RAM are good, (as are Crucial's) but of late Corsair have been unreliable and disappointing in regards real world overclocking seeing as they tend to switch out their Micron chips for cheaper manufacturers down the line. Getting Crucial Ballistix guarantees you Micron D9 chips and that's as good a chance at a decent overclock you'll get. My RAM, for example, is D9 and sold as DDR2-533 yet I have it running at DDR2-920.

 

[gerwen]

My advice, instead of an E6300, step up to the E6400. That'll cost you $35.
Get a set of value ram that is DDR2-800 (corsair at 5-5-5-15 should be cheap) That should save you the $35 bucks you spent up on the processor.
Spend $30 on a Freezer 7 Pro HSF (It's not the best out there, but it's the best value imo if you're not going for extreme overclock)

Aim for an overclock of 3.2GHz. That will be a FSB of 400MHz, which is your value ram's rated spec. It's doable with the mobo and 6400 unless you get a bum chip. The HSF will have no problem cooling that. No worrying about OC'in the ram at all.

To hit the same speed with a 6300 you'll have to push past a 450 fsb, which means a considerable ram overclock. (900+ MHz) Plus the motherboard is being pushed farther. With the ram and mobo being pushed, as well as the processor, there is less chance of a stable overclock.

Imho, this is the best way to go on a budget. It won't satisfy the speed junkies(as the value ram will likely refuse to go past a 400FSB), but should satisfy anyone looking to get the best performance for the least amount of cash.

Oh ya, get some thermal paste, Arctic silver 5 is king there.

 

[judasmachine]

Updated, and ordering soon!