Mid-Range OC Build

[ksonnad]

Newegg Wishlist

Summary:

• Core2 Duo E8400

• GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L

• G.SKILL 2 x 1GB DDR2 800

• COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05 ATX Mid-Tower

• EVGA 880GT 512MB

• PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS500 500W ATX12V/EPS12V

I'll be going off to college in the fall as a Computer Science major, and this build will accompany a Dell laptop. I'm hoping the laptop will last me all 4 years if I take care of it, but I'd like to be able to upgrade this build in 2 or 3 years when Nehalem is mature. I also plan to OC the processor, though not extremely--just to squeeze some extra value out of my money.

With all that in mind, I have a couple of questions about this build:

1. Is everything compatible? Kinda pointless if it isn't...

1. I've found it difficult to get a straight answer as to whether the power supply I've got can accommodate an 8800GT. Can it?

1. How far can I be expected to push the E8400 with this setup (as a working overclock)?

1. I do some light gaming (mainly City of Heroes, currently), but I don't intend to go for SLI--so is there any reason to jump to P45?

1. I was hoping to get the price down a bit further--are there any good components I could swap out for better deals?

Anything else I should be aware of, concerned about, etc?

 

[mharr7]

Yes that Mobo and E8400 will work together nicely.

Yes that PSU will be plenty of power for the 8800 GT.

The cooler you got shouldn't have a problem pushing the chip to 3.6+, but it all depends on the chip you get. Every chip reacts differently, but from what i've gathered, most seem to reach 3.6ish, and some more than that.

IMO no reason to go SLI. You're getting a 19" monitor, which that GT will handle pretty much any game at that resolution(Crysis should be only one to give u problems on very high). That mobo will work great since you don't need SLI.

Pretty much all I can help you with, someone else will chime in for the other things.

 

[mharr7]

LMAO since you're ordering 16 of everything, but only 1 cooler...might wanna add some more coolers to keep the temps down.

 

[ksonnad]

16? I don't see that....

 

[ksonnad]

Hmm...a couple people over at Tom's Hardware suggested that I go for P45--as it runs cooler and overclocks better--and they suggested either the Asus PQ5-Pro or the MSI Neo3-FR. Thoughts?

 

[Urtho]

If you're only going to be doing "light gaming" as you said, I wouldn't be too concerned about maxing out on an insane overclock really. The E8400 & DS3L are a great high performance and relatively cheap combo - I've got mine running nice and easy at 3.6 right now and it could (and has during testing) easily go higher if I find I need it to do so at some point when that speed level isn't enough.