500 build machine

O

oe800

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A friend wants to build a new comp, and I'm suggesting picking up the lowliest core 2 chip e6300 which will allow for some crazy good overclocking.

the dillema now what motherboard/ram to get? Does the ram affect the overclock? we are initially going with sharky's suggestion of the ASROCK 845p xfire mobo
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=245017

it seemed like it was fairly feature packed, but wasn't the latest-greatest mobo out there. seeing that ddr2 ram is expensive: ~100 bucks, we were opting for the cheapest 1 gb dual channel kit we could get our hands on. which turns out to be ddr2-533

I'm wondering if we should bag the e6300 chip, and instead hit up an AM2 socket chip instead...

ideas?
 
Does he plan on goin to a crossfire setup any time soon? $500 for a good, overclockable E6300 setup? does that include everything (case/psu/cpu/mobo/ram/vidcard/hdd/odd)? If so, then it doesnt look too good. While a full conroe setup is possible with $500, it won't overclock that great. I'd suggest goin with a cheap board now (like that asrock, or the 775DUAL-VSTA Asrock), then upgrading to a better board later on, when he has more cash.

Yes, ram speed will affect overclockability, but there are always ram dividers. To get the best performance, you should run at a 1:1 ratio, but if you can't afford it, o wellz. However, the cheapest 1GB kit is about $93 at the egg. While this kit is only $95, it is DDR2-800:
$95 - Wintec AMPO 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-800 3AMD2800-1G1K-R

I'd go with this instead ($13 more for a better mobo, but no crossfire), if he doesnt plan on goin crossfire:

$182 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
$100 - Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$95 - Wintec AMPO 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-800 3AMD2800-1G1K-R

Even if he does plan on goin crossfire, with his low budget, he'd be better off with a high end single card solution instead. Here's a review on that Foxconn board:
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/963/6/page_6_bios_and_overclocking_foxconn/index.html

Since that ram is DDR2-800, reaching 2.8Ghz is possible (7*400). Though, he may need a better HSF to reach that speed. Anandtech was able to push the E6300 to 2.59Ghz with only 1.35v while using the STOCK intel HSF. This is a good, cheap alternative to the stock intel:
$30 - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
But I'd go with either of these instead:
$65 - ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU HSF
$55 - Scythe SCNJ-1100P 120mm CPU HSF
 
Can your friend reuse a hard drive, CD drive, case and power supply? If so, then $500 is more than enough for a Core 2 build.

But if the budget is $500 for everything, the system will be a poor overclocker like enginurd said.

Oh and will this new system be used for gaming?
 
We have:
DVD Burner, HDD< and Monitor.

He loves to try and game, but wouldn't be considered a hard-core gamer. He's only on the semi-latest trend of games (HL2... not even episode 1) but was in love with FEAR on my big screen TV.

He's going to hook this up to a 32" LCD westinghouse TV monitor, and do some gaming on that. couch web surfing, and some matlab enginerding. I'm going to suprise him with a TV Tuner card, and help him outfit his MCE so he has DVR functionality etc..
 
So you will be needing a power supply, mobo, CPU, RAM, and videocard for $500?

Hmmm, I do like a challenge. So building from enginurd's suggestion:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz - $184
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express - $100
Wintec AMPO 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-800 - $95
ASUS Radeon X1600PRO 256MB PCI-E - $87
FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN 400 Watt PSU - $42
--
Total Cost: $508 plus shipping and handling.

It's a decent gaming system for Half Life 2 able to overclock well.
 
Maybe we could splurge a bit more for a 7600gt? From what I've read they seem to perform better than the ATI at a similar price point. we are going for price performance here, and I think I could convince him that 50 extra bucks on a key part would be worth it. (when is 50 bucks ever NOT worth it?) I love relating it to something they can understand, "hey man, just don't take that girlfriend out ONE time... BOOM 50 bones more to spend".

I think you guys are right. That foxconn board looks like the one to get, as well as the e6300. The overclocking potential of that chip is killer! it reminds me of the old celeron 300s... 100% overclocks... good times!
 
oe800 said:
when is 50 bucks ever NOT worth it?
Click to expand...
When it doesnt do much, performance-wise, or when its for a name, lol. :p I'm not so sure an E6400 is worth the extra $40 over the E6300... it would only benefit you more if your board couldnt reach a high fsb, for example. Anyhow, yah, go with the 7600GT, since the better ATI card would be a X1650XT, which costs more.

Hm... if I skip a mortgage payment, I could buy a Dell 3007FPW!!! :D
 
Yes definitely get a 7600GT. It's a pretty decent card.
 
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