(Out of the loop) What is "THE" combo right now for mobo/cpu?

[StageLeft]

You know - THE thing to own. It used to be the 300A @ 450. Then arguably the P4 1.7 @2.4 was a good buy. So if price is a concern but I do want a good chunk of power what's the most generally recommended combo to pick up now? I'd need mobo & cpu & ram. Also my case is an old ATX so I'm quite sure I'd need a new powersupply at the least and probably just a whole new case for good measure. Also what's general pricing on the mobo/cpu/ram combo?

Hardware used to be my life and now I don't even know the biggest hardrive out on the market. Sad times have come, but it's time for an upgrade.

 

[RIGorous1]

Hi skoorb,

I've seen you around alot and I thought I might help you...

The best cpu right now for "value" is the pentium 2.4c which can supposedly be the next 1.6a ... go to (H)OCP and see how the guy overclocked the 2.4c to 3.3 stable... so you won't have a hard time going 3.0ghz.

About boards: the MSI 875p is the #1 board on 3dmark2001se bld330, however the people at (H) had a hard time getting it to 1ghz bus... they even slammed it for that reason. I'm doing research right now on a good board that will hit 1ghz bus while performing like a king and I'll let you know...

 

[Corporate Thug]

2.4C for proccesor (any c stepping would do but 2.4 is the cheapest), and i like the Abit IC7 for the mobo

 

[Corporate Thug]

double post :Q

 

[StageLeft]

OK it's good to see some agreement on this CPU

What do I need to know about memory now? I see it's bloody cheap these days but DDR what speed do I need? 3500? 3700? Nothing even that fast?

Will any old ATX case that a person can buy now do? I've always gone with the cheapest cases I could find and they've always done me well, so I'm gonna go cheapy on that.

 

[RIGorous1]

any old atx case will do you fine, but if you wanted to go a little more high tech for better heat dissipation, go for an aluminum case... the antec 1040 clones are all over the market now and I got mine for around $70 shipped with 2 free cheap fans and a window.

You should definately get a new PS though .... if you're going to OC get nothing less than 350W and becareful of the brands. I've gone cheapy on my PS for a number of years now without a hitch, but I've heard the horror stories that OC'er have with generic PS's, so head's up on that.

As for memory, go dual channel if you want a 2%-10% boost on certain apps, probably 2x256mb. If you don't think the 2% is worth it then go for one stick of 512mb. which will do you good in residual value when and if you decide to sell your rig later. Also if yo buy 512 now, then if necessary you can go dual channel 512 when prices go down.

if you decide to go for the p4 800mhz line go for no less than pc3200... go pc3500 and up if you're a hardcore O'Cer, but personally I think the premium isn't worth it.

 

[bjc112]

Go for some Kingston Hyper X 3500...

2x512 would suit you nice.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

The fastest your money can allow for RAM because at the speeds you overclock a 2.4C, its not really possible to keep it in sync with the RAM and FSB. I think I saw some PC3900 chips the other day at some site but its probably just overclocked PC3700...

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'd stay away from MSI right now, at least until they fix their BIOSes to allow turning off the "dynamic overclocking" they added to cheat on benchmarks (see Tom's 865 review, [ H ]'s 875 review). Also [ H ] couldn't get their board stable at the "normal" OC level of 1 GHz FSB.

 

[RIGorous1]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I'd stay away from MSI right now, at least until they fix their BIOSes to allow turning off the "dynamic overclocking" they added to cheat on benchmarks (see Tom's 865 review, [ H ]'s 875 review). Also [ H ] couldn't get their board stable at the "normal" OC level of 1 GHz FSB.

that's what I said on my first post :beer:

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: RIGorous1

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I'd stay away from MSI right now, at least until they fix their BIOSes to allow turning off the "dynamic overclocking" they added to cheat on benchmarks (see Tom's 865 review, [ H ]'s 875 review). Also [ H ] couldn't get their board stable at the "normal" OC level of 1 GHz FSB.

that's what I said on my first post :beer:

saw that, and would have put in "as RIGorous1 said ..." if I'd had just one more cup of coffee today

You did forget to mention Tom's though -- unlike nvidia, MSI actually admitted to cheating (using weaselly PR-speak) after he detailed exactly how they were cheating.

 

[bluemax]

I must admit, I'm surprised noone mentioned the AMD route yet... I must admit that you can get some awesome power for a VERY low price right now!

A good nForce2 board that supports dual-channel memory isn't that expensive, and I'm downright shocked at how cheap the AMD processors have gotten! About $70US now gets you a retail 2200XP! If you're on the cheap, it's pretty hard to ignore!

I don't know of any 300A of today though, short of the uber-cheap AMD 1700XP "B" processors that apparently overclock very nicely and are really, really cheap.