[rossmackay]

First of all, Hello :wave: . This is the first ime i've posted here, although i have been a reader for a while no.

Second of all. I'm looking for some advice on a new machine. I have always built my own machines and will always do so. I've not built one for a few years but have now decided to take the pling again and start from scratch.

I've been looking at Core2 Duo processors, particularly the 2.4GHz model. The motherboard that i was thinking of is the Asus P5WD2-E.

What I would like to know is.
1. Do you see any issues with this pairing?
2. Can you recommend a graphics card combination for this motherboard. ( I assume i can fit 2 cards? If so what type, what are the advantages of this?)
3. What sort of memory do you recommend for this?

Many thanks.ray:

 

[linderman]

Hello ~~~~:wave:


the board you have choosen is a very good model to choose from for sure

I personally have always been a big Asus fan (am running an asus board personally now!)
However IMHO asus isnt really running the top of the heap when it comes to conroe offerings. I am not by any means stating they are not "good" performers; I am of the opinion though they are over priced for their performance.

I been been impressed with Gigabyte when it comes to Core-2's they set up easier and less weird nit picky troubles.

here is a listing if you are intersted

http://www.motherboards.org/ranking/motherboards/Intel7752006/


as for selection of CPU the E6600 has enjoyed the sweet spot for performance vs cost since last July. However may people are flockign to the E4300 allendale as its a great overclocker. I have seen this chip overclocked easily to 3.0ghz on air cooling only, and the temps & stability were right there!

your call

as for ram; make sure whatever you choose use the memory selectors at the website of crucial, corsair, Ocz, patriot, muskin to select a memory for your board. If you plan on overclocking I suggest you pay the price for the DDR2-800 if you have no such ambitions or the budget is tight then get the DDR2- 667

as far as video cards and sli >>>>>>>>>>>>> hmmmm I personally would rather run one high end video card like the Ati X1900 series or Nvidea 7950

I am not impressed with Sli unless you are a die hard gamer, its alot of money to set up two high end cards, if you dont go high end then the single high end card will out perform two lesser grade cards ?

You have not spoken of your choice of the most critical component of your new system POWER SUPPLY UNIT

I personally would rather go with one high end video card & a Seasonic 700 watt PSU then do the ultimate BLUNDER and get two high end cards and a clunker PSU!

enjoy your new build, dont buy more machine than you can use or spend hordes of money on features that you have no need for ???

ask plenty of questions, you will get a great smathering of information, we dont all like and suggest the same components; as we dont all use our machines for the same purposes, so dont get all "fuzzed" up if you were expecting a unanimous vote on a system build.

 

[rossmackay]

Joe,
Thanks for your time. I will look at the Gigabyte boards when i can find a decent supplier in the UK. Any tips? As for the CPU you recommend, I will definately go for that. I did not realise that a 1.8GHz chip could be overclocked to that level. (Unless I am looking at the wrong CPU).

Thanks again.

 

[linderman]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2duo-e4300.html

 

[rossmackay]

I am amazed at this. I cant get my current processor to clock anywhere near that increased % (Athlon XP3200+ on an asus asn8x-deluxe)

As for the motherboard, how does this one look? gigabyte ga965p ds3 Dabs.com for £76. Seems reasonable.

Memory too is coming in at £146 for 2GB. (800mhz)

Whats a good price for that PSU? A guy on ebay is selling them for £110. That seems a bit pricey to me but I've not been looking for ages.

Thanks.

 

[linderman]

Hello


yes you have a very good board selected there


the intel core 2's are overclocking very well!

there is alot of thought and views on the net concerning the AMD processors which normally cant get much above 10% overclock normally. There is alot of opinion that AMD's are overclocked to start with. I dont know what to think of that theory but they are certainly very limited in contrast to the new core-2's

It seems to me that Intel has a goal to really squeeze the cpu market, this is a deviation from their previous stance where they limited the OCing on their processors.

the Seasonic 700 watt is a tad pricey; they are about $200.00 here in the US
but they are top of the heap in performance!

if you want to sqeeze the PSU budget and dont want to SLI or dont forsee yourself ever getting a power hog video card liek the new 8800's

then have a look at the Antec 650 watt Trio (trio series only)

but regardless, before you buy make sure you ask what your found, there is alot of junk on the market selling cheaply to lure unsuspecting builders, they will cause you a mountain of grief and wasted cash!

enjoy

 

[linderman]

if you currently have fast low latency ram and are running an Asus A8N-Sli deluxe board


I would look to stretch what you have


you could throw on a 4800 + X2 processor and be darn near the speed of the E6600

not equal but the diff in the 4800+ / E6600 wont be worth what you are about to spend IMHO

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=9

Also: The AMD FX-60 will run at 2.8 mhz

food for thought

 

[rossmackay]

PSU question, how about OCZ GameXStream 700W? The guy I phoned from Tekheads recommended it and gave me a discount on it? i hope its OK as i've bought it! All the others seem to be out of stock.

So here is the list
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3
Intel Core Duo E4300
Thermaltake Tsunami case
Corsair Twin2X 2GB DDR2 XMS26400
Nvidia GeForce 7900GS 512MB DDR3
Vista home premium X64 edition
OCZ GameXStream 700w SLI power supply

Let me what you think