12 replies to this topic

[shaokang]

Hey guys im thinking of building a new pc very soon. My old rig is getting.......well..old. it has served me well, plays cs with only 384mb ram and 1.8ghz p4. Anyway this is what i'm thinking off. any advice would be appreciated.

core 2 duo e4300 - possibly will be overclocked(even tho idk how)
ati x1950pro/XT- havent decided which one yet
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) - really need advice on this one
A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) ram- will need advice on oc'ing it
and the other basic stuff.

So what do u guys think?

[Mandraque]

....thats a pretty good set up, and if i remember right that mobo is a beast.

[At The Gates]

hold off on the x1950 pro OR xt...i can let you know which one may be better, I ordered one 1950xt for a buddy of mine and should be receiving it soon...most likely tomorrow, I can test it out on my computer and let you know if you should get the xt.

oh and I would save some cash and get the E6600 conroe...I am not a huge fan of intel but that processor is actually very well made and is a beast of an OC on stock cooling from what I have personally seen on a friends rig.

Edited by At The Gates, 18 June 2007 - 06:19 PM.

[shaokang]

well ive read that the 1950xt is a really powerfull card. and @ $180 at the egg, it looks like a really good deal. save for the e6600. then that increases the budget. the whole rig should be about $700. i really dont want to go higher cause i also have to get a monitor and a sound card too. oh and isnt the e4300 supposed to be really overclockable. i dont want to go far i just want to go as far as possible without changing voltages and with stock cooling

Edited by shaokang, 18 June 2007 - 06:51 PM.

[At The Gates]

E6600

not much more expensive than the one you are looking at, but this one is a beast so I have seen, and I have read some reviews that you can overclock a decent amount without changing voltages and on stock cooling...it is limited but all and all even at stock for less than 100 bucks more you get a pretty good processor.

[The Drizzle]

If you cant afford the E6600, go for a E6320 or E6420, same ammount of cache, lower speed. They all overclock like crazy anyway without much tweaking.

[wondergod]

Driz is right, if you can't get the 6600 get the 6320, or 6420. I have the 6320 and it OC's like mad...(and I'm using the stock cooler)

Motherboard: I have the MSI P6N SLI-FI, currently 108 at the egg, you can also get the platinum version for 144, both have a tremendous OC'ing section in bios. I heard the Gigabyte board you want is equally good, however since it as no SLI/Crossfire capability you are kind of stuck...

Video card: I have a 7900gs and I got it for 110 on a deal, plus with the motherboard I have I can always SLI it.

Also for RAM get the best you can afford...RAM does make a difference...however I was previously using some A-DATA ram and I've never had a problem with it.

all in all, if you get a cheaper vid card and mobo you may be able to foot the bill of a better cpu...plus if you get a cheaper vid card and mobo that supports sli, when you get more money you can always get another video card for a pretty good upgrade in performance

thats just my two cents...

[shaokang]

Driz is right, if you can't get the 6600 get the 6320, or 6420. I have the 6320 and it OC's like mad...(and I'm using the stock cooler)



Video card: I have a 7900gs and I got it for 110 on a deal, plus with the motherboard I have I can always SLI it.


all in all, if you get a cheaper vid card and mobo you may be able to foot the bill of a better cpu...plus if you get a cheaper vid card and mobo that supports sli, when you get more money you can always get another video card for a pretty good upgrade in performance

thats just my two cents...

well to be honest. I don't see thr advantage of SLI/XFIRE. By the time can afford the second card. there will be a more powerful card available for the same price or a bit higher. and the x1950xt shouldn't be that bad. but about the e6320. its more than 50 bucks. that's getting beyond the budget

[Mandraque]

well to be honest. I don't see thr advantage of SLI/XFIRE. By the time can afford the second card. there will be a more powerful card available for the same price or a bit higher. and the x1950xt shouldn't be that bad. but about the e6320. its more than 50 bucks. that's getting beyond the budget

by the time you can afford another it will also be much cheaper.

also any conroe procesor oc really good, so if you have to keep the e4300, do it. You dont get much improvement in games from the extra cache in the e6320.
and yea, you can try to get a better deal on the video card, you can find a 7900gs with rebates for $130.

[vet.mad hatter]

With the 4300 you wont be gaurenteed to overclock high but with the 6300,6350 or higher they will overclock to 3.0-4.0 depending if you get great ram and good board.I have a biostar board T-Force, gskill ram and a [email protected] do you plan on building cause i think all intel drop july22 thats when im getting a Q6600 for 280 thats a quad so you know.Also if you dont overclock intel might not be what you want.Amd has there 6000 chip for 222 i think and that with good ram and good video card would=great gaming and no worries about learning how to overclock.Overclocking is the way to go but at the same time its risky if you dont have the cash if you tweak something cause it happens if you dont do your homework.

Edited by vet.mad hatter, 19 June 2007 - 02:28 PM.

[Lost Hatter]

wHAT HE SAID ^^^^^

[At The Gates]

ok so here it is, I dont have any benchmarks for the x1950xt 256mb. my buddy does not have any on his computer....his processor is an old amd athlon 3800+ 64....all stock with no oc.
we upgraded his psu to a antec neo power 500 watt... Antec NeoHE

thing was a since to install and runs very cool with no voltage spikes.

anyway without droning on more and sounding like an idiot it is a great card, and for his setup, it's the most powerful item in his "rig".
and for 179 bucks for the vid card, he runs oblivion almost maxed out with 1280x1024 resolution, no hdr on and he averages about 40ish with FPS even with 5-6 people fighting.CSS he gets 100ish FPS....so it is a very good card, well worth the money.

Edited by At The Gates, 19 June 2007 - 07:17 PM.

[shaokang]

With the 4300 you wont be gaurenteed to overclock high but with the 6300,6350 or higher they will overclock to 3.0-4.0 depending if you get great ram and good board.I have a biostar board T-Force, gskill ram and a [email protected] do you plan on building cause i think all intel drop july22 thats when im getting a Q6600 for 280 thats a quad so you know.Also if you dont overclock intel might not be what you want.Amd has there 6000 chip for 222 i think and that with good ram and good video card would=great gaming and no worries about learning how to overclock.Overclocking is the way to go but at the same time its risky if you dont have the cash if you tweak something cause it happens if you dont do your homework.

Yeah i'm definately trying to do my homework about the e4300. the main reason i chose it is because it is cheap. Oh and when are the intel price drops coming. then maybe it would be wise to save up and wait cause i was planning on ordering the parts tomorrow. I was just looking to squeezing just some juice out of it, maybe if i learn more i'll squeeze the last drop out of it. Actually, now i'm thinking of getting a p35 board instead.

Edited by shaokang, 22 June 2007 - 12:04 PM.