Just to point out if he's jumping on the Win7 bandwagon and want some of that xp virtualization (whatever they call it) the E5200 doesn't support Intel VT technology therefore won't be able to use it whereas one of the E5300 models can, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...microprocessors#.22Wolfdale-3M.22_.2845_nm.29 I've no idea how to make sure you get an Intel VT supported model though, maybe ask the e-tailer you're buying from? EDIT: Decided to read the second page ^_^, the best way to use your HDD on a single drive setup is (imo) making a boot partition that you put your programs on and nothing else, then a second partition for storage and games, I don't like having a partition for each storage and games because if you make either one too small then you would have to place your storage or games on the other partition meaning you'll get files all over the place. For you I'd say make the boot partition 50-75GB for XP, Although that's only if you're using the full creative suite crap, I remember CS3 taking up 17GB O_O. As for me I find 12-15GB the sweet spot, I use a very limited amount of applications and most of which are open source so they aren't very big . As for partitioning I use GParted for everything, it's easy, quick and it can format to tons of file systems, I find it quicker than the XP setup formatting tool for NTFS.
I doubt he'll be going for Win 7 Pro on that budget (though I may be wrong), so probably no XPM anyway.
Do you already have an A7P? I've read great things about the OCZ Vanquisher, it's cool and cheap! (if thats not true, you should blame Hardware.info, not me!)
That looks almost exactly like an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, but with an OCZ sticker on instead. Looks like the heatpipes have been tweaked slightly, but that's the only difference. Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro OCZ Vanquisher
I think the differences are only superficial - if you look closely the fins are also slightly different. That, together with the (IMO) better heatpipe design, means it could perform a bit better than the ACF7P (the difference in heatpipe and fin design may make a massive difference as they are integral to the performance of a heatsink), although I'm not sure as I've not seen any benchmarks for it (or even heard of it before for that matter). EDIT - This review seems quite positive, though they haven't tested it against the ACF7P.
No, I'd just heard very good things about it. But that OCZ Vanquisher enjoys a similar level of praise so I might plump for that. With either of these, how high do you predict I could safely take the OCing of the CPU? Stability is important but so is speed.
The time is just about upon me to make the purchases. This is where I'm at with the build, with my only hesitation being regarding the GPU and the MoBo: Gigabyte P43-DS3 Intel Dual Core E5200 XFX HD 4850 512mb GPU Corsair XMS2 4GB RAM Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB Corsair CX400W PSU Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7 Antec Three Hundred case What are people's thoughts? The entire thing comes in at around £325.
Virgin build at £300 Nice build pal.Cant wait to here the end results. ---------- Post added at 11:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 AM ---------- O yeah Dave this is for you my friend
New thinking is that I hold off on the GPU at the minute as I won't be playing any games for a few months. It's been mentioned to me that, for Photoshop etc, more than 4GB is hugely advantageous. What motherboards can accommodate 6-8GB of RAM? Is it really worthwhile?
I'd just get the HD4850 now TBH, you need a graphics card anyway. 4Gb of RAM should be more than enough for you for a while yet.
