"New" Core2Duo Build advice

[UKpsych]

My girlfriend just gave me her old mobo(dell) which after a closer look it turns out it had a core2duo e8400 on it. So I'm looking to build a reasonable gaming rig around it.

I need advice on a small selection of mobos that would allow for moderate (air) overclocking and hopefully sli.

I'd like to go with an nvidia based video card build as I have never built one before. I'll likely drop a 460 in it.

My price range is in the 40-60 range used. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Rifter]

If shopping used you cant be picky. Just get one with SLI support and go for it.

Though honestly a 8400 is going to bottleneck any modern SLI setup.

 

[Kenmitch]

If it was me I'd just sell it off and use the money towards a better combo. Your location states Ohio don't you have a microcenter within striking range of you?

If you wanna go ahead and get a MB and play around with overclocking you'll need to look more towards the higher end S775 MB's tho. Being that the stock FSB is 1333 it'll pretty much be hit and miss with the lower priced S775 MB's of the past. Well at least from my experience back in the day. Budget boards did work great with chips like the e5200's tho.

 

[DaveSimmons]

An e8400 still works reasonably well for games even at stock speed. If the Dell has a decent PSU and a PCI-E slot you could just add a graphics card and be done with it.

 

[UKpsych]

Thanks for the responses. I think I will just settle on a decent single card mobo based on responses. As for selling it, I honestly just wanted to build a cheap XP gaming machine/windows 2008 server.

 

[DaveSimmons]

After my Gigabyte s775 motherboard flaked out I replaced it with a $35 Foxconn G31 chipset mictroATX from Newegg and it's working perfectly for me.

 

[Spikesoldier]

whats wrong with just using the dell mainboard and adding like a 5770 or 460 to it?

 

[UKpsych]

whats wrong with just using the dell mainboard and adding like a 5770 or 460 to it?

I suppose that's an option. I have the psu/ram/case.

I don't know much about it, it does have a pcie slot but I assumed it wasn't the greatest. Ill run some gaming benchmarks tonight Ill go from there.


I have access to a Asus p5g41-m LE for 25 dollars, would this be a worthy upgrade?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Probably not -- if it's a PCI-E x16 slot in the Dell (1.0 is fine) you're not going to notice any speed difference.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If you want SLI, S775, and used, and possibly overclocking, you're in a bit of a bind.

The only chipsets that support SLI on S775 platform are Nvidia chipsets.

Unfortunately (or perhaps the opposite), Nvidia has exited the chipset business. So there are no New motherboards available with NV SLI support.

The other problem is that those NV S775 chipset boards were generally horrible overclockers, compared to their Intel counterparts.

Now, there are some hacked drivers that allow SLI on, say, X38/X48 mobos. Going that route is up to you.

At this point, it's hardly worth spending a ton putting together a top-notch S775 rig. Much better to consider 1155. Even a cheap Z68 board and i3-2100 would be better for gaming than an E8400, likely even considering overclocking of the E8400. (You cannot OC the i3-2100.)

 

[killster1]

If you want SLI, S775, and used, and possibly overclocking, you're in a bit of a bind.

The only chipsets that support SLI on S775 platform are Nvidia chipsets.

Unfortunately (or perhaps the opposite), Nvidia has exited the chipset business. So there are no New motherboards available with NV SLI support.

The other problem is that those NV S775 chipset boards were generally horrible overclockers, compared to their Intel counterparts.

Now, there are some hacked drivers that allow SLI on, say, X38/X48 mobos. Going that route is up to you.

At this point, it's hardly worth spending a ton putting together a top-notch S775 rig. Much better to consider 1155. Even a cheap Z68 board and i3-2100 would be better for gaming than an E8400, likely even considering overclocking of the E8400. (You cannot OC the i3-2100.)

I guess you miss the part where he said single card.. way to go on and on about it tho =P e8400 is a fine cpu overclocking it be nice but use it then sell it and move on later.. id use dell mobo as well i hate stock speeds but why sink any extra money into it.. gl

 

[nenforcer]

The LGA775 is a dead platform and I honestly wouldn't put any more money in it than your budgeting.

Here is an EVGA B Stock nForce 730i which doesn't support SLI, only a single video card.

http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=20

and it's only $40 and has an nVidia chipset with a single x16 PCI-E slot.

Since you don't want to SLI at all there should be no reason to upgrade unless that DELL board is really bad and doesn't have an onboard PCI-E slot or it maybe be physically a PCI-E x16 slot but it only runs electrically at x8 or x4 speeds.

 

[dajeepster]

My friend just gave me her old mobo(dell)

fixed that for you.. don't want you to lose all your street creds...

 

[UKpsych]

fixed that for you.. don't want you to lose all your street creds...

Haha, thanks for saving me there.

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_overview.aspx?ID=en-us0000319

This is the mobo, it turns out that it's quite capable. With a 1950xt it runs most games well. I just need to upgrade the card and its a decent gaming machine.

Thanks for all the advice. Just to clarify, this is just a fun project. I have no real need for it. Just wanted to put together a budget gaming PC from leftover parts.

Now to to find a 460 or similar on the cheap...

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Haha, thanks for saving me there.

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_overview.aspx?ID=en-us0000319

This is the mobo, it turns out that it's quite capable. With a 1950xt it runs most games well. I just need to upgrade the card and its a decent gaming machine.

Thanks for all the advice. Just to clarify, this is just a fun project. I have no real need for it. Just wanted to put together a budget gaming PC from leftover parts.

Now to to find a 460 or similar on the cheap...

On the "girlfriend" v "friend" thing, I don't get it . . . . I must be "too old" . . .

I agree with most of the posters here. Just some reminders.

Whichever parts you intend to recycle from the Dell machine, they had always been notorious for making some components proprietary. As I recollect (and ask for any correction if some deem it necessary), this holds true for the memory modules. Or -- it did at one time or the other.

Either the Foxconn board (Intel chipset, I assume) or something like the nVidia 730 someone mentioned -- or my personal recommendation -- a used eVGA 780i, and even better -- the "FTW" version of the board. But I really doubt you'll have too much luck finding those "available." I have one, and I wouldn't sell it to you. Call it "sentiment."

But the processor? Yeah. If never abused, I'd bet it could be OC'd to maybe 4.0 Ghz.

And this is always about the juggling act. "Having fun" versus getting the extra "bang" out of used parts, against putting new money into older technology when it might be equally or better applied toward the latest generation and so forth. I think VirtualLarry mentioned getting parts for a socket-1155 rig. Heck! I might even offer to buy the E8400 from you at a decent "used" price, but you're in UK, and too much trouble for the shipping etc.

EDIT: 3 minutes later: WHOOPS! It says UKpsych and "Ohio." Well -- I'll check my PM's. You could just as well search for the extra parts, though. Those Wolfdales were sweet. My E8600 still flies my FA-22 steatlh fighter. Virtually speaking . . . I mean . .

 

[DigDog]

If it was me I'd just sell it off and use the money towards a better combo. Your location states Ohio don't you have a microcenter within striking range of you?

If you wanna go ahead and get a MB and play around with overclocking you'll need to look more towards the higher end S775 MB's tho. Being that the stock FSB is 1333 it'll pretty much be hit and miss with the lower priced S775 MB's of the past. Well at least from my experience back in the day. Budget boards did work great with chips like the e5200's tho.

gigabyte 965p_ds3, rev 3, will happily go to fsb 500. my rev1 runs @ 400x8, no extra voltage. was £65 new, you can get an used one for a few bucks on ebay.