It has been a VERY long time since I put together a PC with the intention of having decent performance/overclocking ability - must be ~6-7 years now. So, I was hoping for some advice, requirements are: I'd like to keep it around £450-500(incl. VAT) which might be a bit tight, but only need the contents of the case - I'm planning to re-use my Chieftec Dragon that's been hiding in the loft. Only needs mid-ish range GFX, currently I'm more bothered that games and apps load and get going in a reasonable time rather than how high I can run the settings. Nice and quiet! As far as I'm aware I don't think I need a Quad core processor - I have an E6600 at work and that does me fine, so went for the same thing. After a bit of reading, I have picked out the following so far: A PSU needs to be added along with a CPU cooler, and leave £30 orso for a small HDD. I have no idea how suitable the board and ram are, and thinking about it now, a 3850 will probably be fine so a bit more budget available for other stuff there. Advice and recommendations welcome. Ta muchly!
The board, RAM and processor are fine. PSU: Corsair VX450, CPU cooler - BiT did a roundup of S775 coolers in summer - not much has changed. Basically, pick one which suits your budget, I think arctic coolers are still pretty excellent for price/performance.
PSU: I agree with a Corsair... but I'd suggest their 520w HX instead - for more future-proofing It's available for <£65. HS+F: And as suggested... the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is a great cooler, for those on a budget Although there's one store selling it for just £11.69 (including VAT)... it costs around £15 - £17 elsewhere. Adding those two, will still leave you around £60 - £65 (out of £500) for a HDD
very good RAM, having 2 pairs running 4GB now, no problem at all, can go to 3-4-4-10 with 2.15v at 800Mhz if you have got good cooling. i was scared when i have my DDR2 running higher than 2v, so im now running 1.95v with standard CL4 4-4-4-12 timing. agree with Corsair Hx520w, and Arctic Cooling Freezer 7. but why not save on cash and go for e6750 ?? lower temps, due to the newer stepping, and really easy to overclock. my friend has his running at 3.2Ghz on Intel stock cooler 24/7
What's the difference between the E6600 and the E6750? I see that the E6750 is ~£30 cheaper and has a faster FSB
the e6750 has lower multiplayer: e6600 have x9, e6750 have x8 due to it's faster FSB. so it in theory have less overclock, but as long as you've got good motherboard and good memory, the one less multiplayer doesn't mean anything. also, the e6750 is a newer stepping, so it can be overclocked higher if your mobo and RAM can handle it.
Yo Chrix! Board - crap. i975X, right? Old and crap - get something P35 - £80 will get you a Gigabyte DS3R or Abit IP35-E. £90 will get you an MSI P35 Plat and £105 will get you an Abit IP35 Pro. CPU - get something "50" - the E6750 is a good price: performance, or even 6550 and oc a bit more. Both should do 3Gs with ease on a decent board. Memory - WOW! £35 for 2GB DDR2-800 cl4! BARGAIN! Get 4GB mate
Oooh, ta for all the advice! I like your bluntness regarding the board Bindi Changed processor and board, and here's what I have now... gone over budget a bit but not changed the card yet so should be ok.
