New Build / Upgrade of Existing system

[crazylegs]

Hi everyone, i've been a little dormant on these forums recently (reading almost daily but lurking mostly!)

I am about to build a mate a new PC for light gaming - mostly WoW. I plan to sell him my E8200 (not the best OC stepping...) Arctic Cooling Freezer and Abit IP 35 and either run it at stock or using the small OC i currently run (i seemed to hit a brick wall at 3ghz with these particular CPU + MB but this is fine for mates uses)

This gives me the opportunity to slighty 'tweak' my system, i dont have much money to spend (UK £ being battered atm) and will be re-using the majority of components, including:

Antec 900 case
Corsair HX520 PSU
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (just bought, not used yet plan to lap and use with new CPU + MB)
OCZ Reaper, DDR1066, PC8500 RAM
9600GT
24" Benq (game at 1920x1200... plan to upgrade GPU in 6 months time or so, it handles this fine atm!)
Hard Drives
Optical Drives

With my new CPU, HSF and MB i do intend to OC as much as possible, for performance and fun

My general use is gaming (WoW, DOW2, COD4, TF2) so i think that a Dual Core is best for me, although i've been tempted by one of the cheaper Quads and then to OC heavily. Also i dont think i would use Crossfire / Sli in future so not sure if i can justify the extra expense for a compatible MB.

Atm i am thinking about getting:

e8400 (£130)
Abit IP35 Pro XE (£60)

Not a massive change from existing components but hopefully the e8400 and different MB will allow me to clock higher i.e close to 3600 @ 400x9.

Are there any alternatives that i'm overlooking or anything else i should consider?

(sorry for rather long post, trying to cram in all the relevant info - thanks in advance for all who bother to read and reply)

 

[polarbear6]

may be a phenom 2
dont know about its performance
but i heard it oces like(4.2ghz on air)

lately i have been reading about xenon x3380 or x3370(i dont remember the model no.s)
these r server quad chips
whch oc to like 4.2 ghz on air
there r two variants in em
one a 771 socket one and oder a 775 socket
u can go for a 775 socket board

so u shld like post ur budget
but then again a a e8400 is enough for now but what abt the future??

 

[crazylegs]

I was tempted by the new phenom II's but a lack of knowledge put me off slightly. Wouldn't know which is the best value OCing MB to buy also would not know where to start with OC. But i know my way around OC C2D pretty well.

As far as my budget goes i wouldn't want to spend more than £200 for the MB + CPU. Bang for buck is a large consideration, so looking for a platform that OC's well.

Suggestions on an equivalent AMD system welcome

 

[polarbear6]

well amd is all u want then
just yesterday i saw this post in AT about some upcomming phenom 2dual core

but then i feel for WOW this is enough
also if u dont intend to oc that much a g33 board will be enough
but do give p45 boards a look
well since as you re gaming needs r not that much(i never played WOW but i have a feeling it doesnt require much of resources)
a 2.66 ghz 45nm 2 duo chip should be ok
and then u can invest the saved money into a p45 board and overclock it pretty well

 

[krnmastersgt]

I'd go with a Phenom II 920 or 940 but I'm not sure how the prices are in Europe. While quads aren't exactly better than duals in the case of your games, many of the newer game engines will be quad optimized, and if you play WoW with something else running in the background, the extra threads will definitely be of some help to you. If you can afford either of those and a standard 780/790x board, you'll be solid for a while. And yes they do OC quite well, as well as perform on par or better than their Intel counterparts at their price range.

 

[crazylegs]

ok - think i will look into an AMD build before i jump on the E8400 wagon

Bit confusing with the whole AM2/AM2+/AM3 scenario atm, i definetely want to keep my DDR2 for the time being and if there is a way to be a bit more 'future proof' i.e. a MB socket with room to expand CPU in future that would be kool.

Btw - Prices in UK recently are pretty much price in $ US = price in £ UK

 

[Denithor]

What are the prices on the X3 720, X4 920, e8400 and q8300 over there?

The X3 720 offers an extra core over the e8400 & shows similar performance (when overclocked) in many games. It's faster in any multi-threaded cpu-intensive programs (many video encoding apps, etc) than the e8400. And - over here at least - cheaper than the e8400.

Combine that with an AM2+ motherboard and your DDR2 and you could be looking at a quite significant upgrade in performance that won't break the bank.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: crazylegs
Atm i am thinking about getting:

e8400 (£130)
Abit IP35 Pro XE (£60)

Abit is out of business, did you know that?

 

[crazylegs]

Umm no i didn't!

That MB seems to have a very good repuation though and supports DDR1066.

I think (will have to check) that any RMA (if required) would be handled by the retailer so guess i could take advantage of this cheap price.