I've managed to blag and wangle the following to make a new (old) computer. I would like your opinions on what I can expect, and weather its any good. I would also like someone to explain about the Pentium Extreme Edition (which Ive read is dual core or HT) being 3.73GHz when comapred with the Core2Duo 1.6GHz's. ALSO, this whole thing is going to cost me £170 excluding case (or $340). Is taht good? Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 965 - 3.73GHz ABIT AW8-MAX LGA 775 Intel 955X ATX Intel Motherboard 160 GB Western Digital WD1600AAJS Caviar SE, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9 ms 600W ARCTIC Modular JN-600-AP with 120mm XFX GeForce 8500GT 256MB DDR2 PCIE DVI TV VGA 450/667 OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 Links below are to reviews and spec pages of the product if anyone needs some extra info. Thanks very much, WENCH CPU: Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 965 - 3.73GHz (Overclocked to 4.3GHz if Im lucky.) MOTHERBOARD: ABIT AW8-MAX LGA 775 Intel 955X ATX Intel Motherboard HARD DRIVE: 160 GB Western Digital WD1600AAJS Caviar SE, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9 ms PSU: 600W ARCTIC Modular JN-600-AP with 120mm HARD DRIVE: XFX GeForce 8500GT 256MB DDR2 PCIE DVI TV VGA 450/667 RAM: OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2
Personally, I'd rather use the £170 on a better set of equipment - which is very possible with current prices. However, if you've already got all these bits so saying that isn't very helpful. To be honest: - The CPU is reasonable, but it will run very hot. - The motherboard is good, but I'm not sure if it supports the latest chips - Hard drive is fine - Power supply looks dodgy, never heard of that company before - The 8500GT is awful for gaming - The RAM is fine, 2Gb of DDR2 is very cheap though these days. All in all, it'll be fine just don't expect to do any serious gaming on it. For that, you'd need to rip out the 8500GT and replace it with someting better (like a 8800GT or 9600GT). P.S. Just in case you haven't bought it yet - I think you could do better with your money: Motherboard: Abit IP35-E - £57.92 Memory: Corsair 2Gb PC2-6400 - £31.30 CPU: Intel E2160 - £43.45 PSU: Corsair VX450 - £44.05 Total: £178. - This system would be a lot faster, cooler and you could overclock it a lot more if you wanted (from 1.8 to 3Ghz). To keep the cost at £178 you could get a motherboard with integrated graphics instead of the board above (one of the best motherboards out there right now for the price), but a much better option is one of these: Graphics: BFG 9600GT OC - £105.62
Thanks. Look interesting. I may end up volt moding the 8500, or getting one of the top overclockering guys I know to do it. Its not a great system, but I got the mobo free, and for some reason, it doesnt support dual core / conroe ships. P4EE was the highest it supports. Now, the CPU: What are the advantages of using something like a 1.6GHz C2D instead of the one Ive got there? I mean, ones >4.3GHz, and the others 1.6GHz, albeit on 2 cores. Thanks very much Oh, and the PSU is from JeanTech. A small but good case company.
The Pentium is based from an older generation - when Intel came out with their new Core line of processors they introduced a much more efficient core architecture: (thank you Wikipedia) Check out this page - http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=882&model2=885&chart=435 Rank the 965 against even the lowest of the Core 2 Duo line, and you'll see the Core processor beat it in (almost) every chart. (And those are Allendale - which means a smaller cache than "true" Conroe CPUs) And if you try to overclock, good luck cooling it - those babies get hot! That being said, you can't upgrade to that without changing your motherboard - I understand, I am in the same boat too. While I considered getting a 965, the price/performance ratio is so poor for that processor even now (can't get one for less than $1000 here in the states) that I am just going to wait until I can buy a new motherboard and a mid-range Core processor. I would suggest buying a Pentium D 930 like myself (or higher if you want) because these are much cheaper and can be easily overclocked on air to over 4Ghz. Oh yeah, and the 8500 really does suck. At least try to go into the 8600 line if you can - or even better, go with oasked's suggestion.
the architecture of the core2duos is must better than the pentium extreme. There was another discussion/arguement on another forum a while ago, where some guy was claiming his super high clocked pentium D was better than the core2duos. In reality the lowest core2duo is going to be better than a pentium d or pentium extreme even if the pentium is clocked over double that of the core2duo. And like oasked said that cpu is going to run incredably hot, so you are going to need a very good cooler to keep it at good temps even at stock speeds. If I was you, I would sell the motherboard, or keep it as a spare and buy a system like oasked said, lets say you got £20 for the mobo, and spent £60 on another plus around the same price you where going to spend on the other stuff, you have only spend £40 more on a much better system, plus the price of a graphics card. edit: damn you sam.g.taylor, you beat me to it
Sell the 8500 if you have it already. If moneys tight, grab an XFX 8600 512Mb. (Dont start yelling about the 9600s, its 100 bucks cheaper) That card can run crysis on medium/high at about 35 fps
Fair do's! By the way, the cooler i have my in cupboard is: Akasa AK-920-2 EVO 120 v2 CPU Cooler - Another freebie! The D965 was only £47, so I cant complain too much. And the 8500 was only £35. Anyway. Thanks for the advise. Its only going to be a temporary thing. Proberly for about 11-12 months. It'll still be a good upgrade from my DDR 512x2 RAM, P4 3.0GHz (478), GeForce 5200 with a 210W PSU =] I love SFF though! Pity this one wont be =[ Thanks guys.
