Time for an upgrade

[Luke]

Hi all,
Time has come to upgrade my computer now ive got another student loan installment and the current system is a little dated (running an original 2.4ghz northwood with 512mb memory)

Looking at dual core, the Intel E6600 looks about right for me. Im not an AMD fanboy so dont go there Novatech are doing a bundle with the E6600, 2gig DDR2 memory and GBit mobo for around £400 which seems reasonable...
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MBB-C2D620

The price hike for the E6700 doesnt seem worth it compared to the amount of difference i get over the E6600...



So any other alternatives that may be worth considering, and a place to get it?

Also looking at new SATA hard-drives (Still running IDE here) and PCI Express (Running AGP 4x at the mo) graphics card. Also need a power supply for it, though i have a decent Lian-Li ally case which i will be using.

So in summary, im looking for:
- Dual core processor
- Memory
- Mobo
- Graphics card
- Sata Hard-drive
- Sata DVD drive

budget, around 700-800

 

[arc]

pretty much what i did.. nw with 512mb ram and agp to a new setup.

i went with the 6300 because ive been told its good for overclocking. gigabyte DS3 (same reason) and 2gb of Geil low latancy ram.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-036-OK&groupid=701&catid=339&subcat=

that, but with an extra giggle of ram.

You're going to need a new PSU btw.

 

[custard]

when i was looking to upgrade before the funds went bad the reviews of the intel dual cores were excellent.
"the only aNSWER amd HAVE TO THE INTELS ARE PRICE CUTS"
THE REVIEW I READ SHOWED THE LOWEST DUAL CORE WAS THE BEST OF THE RANGE WITH PRICE IN MIND WITH ITS o/c CAPABILITIES

 

[custard]

oops caps

 

[Luke]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-042-OK&groupid=701&catid=339&subcat=

That seems a better deal for basically the same price as the novatech stuff no? Corsair memory, the DS3 mobo and the E6600 DC processor.

Take it i have to get the fan aswell with these bundles? i cant pilliage my current as im passing it on

 

[custard]

states retail so should have a fan

 

[arc]

comes with a fan.

but, overclocking..

ive heard of the e6300 chips hitting 3ghz air cooled with these

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-017-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=821

i gonna buy one when i get round to it.

 

[Luke]

OK, graphics card questions now

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-067-HT&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=404
or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-070-HT&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=404

one has 512mb memory but slower clock speed and memory and less pixel renderers. But is twice the memory enough to make up for this? Price pretty much the same. And depending on other costs, i may get a pair to run SLI :yum:

 

[Stu DemonD]

Personally, I would go for the X1950XT - a better card all round.

Would need to look at some benchmarks between the two, not sure if the extra 256MB would make up for it, or not...

 

[arc]

DS3 doesnt do SLI.

I've no idea about graphics cards. Mine was a freebie. I'm not even sure what it is!

oo, actually, X1950XT, that's what i put in my sisters comp. it seems to do the job well.

 

[Stu DemonD]

Just a quick search, found this:

http://www.rage3d.com/board/archive/index.php?t-33883825.html

AND this:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1175979

 

[Luke]

Cheers.

Well if it doesnt support SLI, that means i can spend more on another one or spend it elsewhere. any recommendations?

So far ive covered:
- DS3 + E6600 + 2gb Corsair mem
- 2x Hitachi Deskstar 250gb SATA-II (have been using deskstar and mobile equivalents for years with no probs so am happy to stay).
- the X1950XT (if theres nothing better within about an extra £50)
- Samsung SH-183LBEBN DVD RW (SATA) with lightscribe

Still need a PSU to power it all then i believe im done.

 

[Luke]

Ok finally finished spec'ing out my new machine...

- Intel Core 2 DUO LGA775 E6600 2.40GHz Retail / Gigabyte 965P DS3 / 2GB GeIL PC2-6400C4 DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
- Tagan TG480-U01 480W ATX2.0 SLi Compliant Silent PSU
- Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black)
- Akasa AK-961 CPU Cooler with Fan Controller (LGA775)
- BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC2 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
- 2x Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 NCQ 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache (8.5ms seek)

Think that should last me a few years *fingers crossed*

 

[Liam]

Nice choice of DVD drive, not fancy 500GB of SATA HDD for £68.95?

Liam

 

[Luke]

Nice choice of DVD drive, not fancy 500GB of SATA HDD for £68.95?

Liam

In 5 years ive not managed to acrue more than about 100gb of data, so 350 will give me plenty of headroom PLus when buying in pairs (im mirroring the HD's just incase of failure - id more than cry if i lost all my music collection) it gets a fair bit more expensive

Ordered the whole lot this morning with some better sata cables and some lightscribe DVD's so i can have a play Should be with me tomorrow so up and running by tomorrow evening if i can find my vista cd. If not will be thursday; but no rush as im meant to be revising