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New to all this...

T

Tunnie

n00b
Joined
Feb 21, 2004
Messages
40
Hello all. I'm quite new to all this overclocking business, and need your advice. To start off with, my current system is this:

Duron 1300 (=100*13)
Coolermaster Aero Lite
Jetway V6DP motherboard (onboard graphics)
256mb pc2700 (dimm1)
256mb pc2100 (dimm2)
*32 megs of the ram is shared with the graphics chip, so windows shows 480mb
16gb seagate drive (ata100) (in a removable 5.25" bay, for reasons explained later)
4gb seagate drive (ata66)
36X Creative CDROM
Floppy
Very old desktop case, will only hold 2X 5.25" drives and 1 internal 3.5". This micro ATX motherboard (3 pci slots) only just fits in, and I don't think it's a standard PSU size
Very cheap, noisy, 145W psu
1X YS-TECH 80mm fan in a custom blowhole (this brings my cpu temp down about 15 degrees somehow)
Cheap 15" TFT and some old speakers that rattle

So now you see my problem. This system won't take an extra 10mhz on the fsb, it becomes unstable even though the temperatures stay exactly the same. However, I have ordered a new system for my room that looks like this:

Abit IC7-Max3
P4 2.4C with retail cooler
Coolermaster Silver Centurion
2X 256mb pc3200 cheap ram
Asus 128mb FX5200
52x24x52 plextor cdrw
1X 160gb Maxtor SATA drive
480W Tagan PSU
I have another 80mm ys-tech fan that I will install in the back of my case
No floppy drive!
NAD 3020 amp with 2X JBL and 2X Tannoy speakers (don't think the onboard sound will do this system justice, any suggestions?)
This very same 15" TFT I'm using now, this system is getting a cheap 15" Iiyama

From what I've read, this should overclock well. Apparently the 2.4C is THE overclockable chip. Also it was only 100 quid. Again the motherboard should do well, but I'm slightly worried about the RAM. If I'm running the FSB at 250, the cheap ram will probably have to stay at 200mhz, right? By my maths that's a ratio of 5:4. Will this be a serious performance impact? What I'm really asking is what I should spend the rest of my money on. One of those huge Zalman copper coolers looks quite good, as I do have to sleep about 10ft from this machine and I'm going to run it as a small webserver, so it will be on 24/7 if I can stand it. Also a silent Zalman graphics cooler might be a good idea I think.

My main question is this though, what is the best I can do for this machine with £150? If I wanted to run the RAM synchronously with the FSB at 250, what make/model would you recommend? Or would a better investment be in some water cooling kit?

Sorry if I've confused anyone with my numerous questions, but I think you get the idea.
 
A computer is only as good as the RAM you've got in it. Don't expect much from junky RAM. By your list you have some high dollar hardware that may be a bit more than you need. Give a little and buy some good RAM.
 
Yes, go get quality ram cause you're not going to run at 1:1 ratio at 250 fsb with the cheap ram. Save money and get an ATA harddrive instead of the sata one unless you're getting a raptor.
 
Thought that might be the case. The SATA was only another £10 and I thought I might as well, just for making the inside of my case tidier. Is there any specific brand of RAM to be looking at? How important are latencies, because all the PC4000 (that's what I need, right?) I've looked at seems to work on fairly high latencies, and low ones at a fairly big premium? Corsair look like a good bet. Also OCZ looks quite good but is generally more expensive. I don't think Mushkin is very widely available in the UK, but if anyone could prove me wrong that would be greatly appreciated. Also, is PC4400 worth spending money on? Would I really be able to run it at 1:1 at 275Mhz with the Zalman air cooling? Also has anyone fitted a Zalman CNPS7000-Cu to an IC7-Max3, because apparently they are HUGE and the OTES looks like it could get in the way?

Thanks in advance
 
go ahead with teh SATA

get Mushkin pc3500 lvlII RAM

see if later you can save up for teh Zalman HSF unit

or, save up long term and get a WC kit.

also, if you're running a webserver and it's important, do you want to OC it? really?
 
yes, go with the sata

but you will need to have a floppy drive hooked up when you first install windows so that you can load the drivers

and mushkin would be better on the memory

to run in dual channel, you timings need to be 3,3,3,x or better
 
Any idea where I can get Mushkin RAM then in the UK? I am running a webserver but no it's not important, it's mainly for testing stuff and transferring files around. Will a Zalman CNPS7000-Cu definitely fit on an IC7-Max3?

Edit - I will probably borrow the floppy drive from this machine, just to install the drivers and flash the latest BIOS (if the board doesn't come with it).
 
should have gotten the AMD 2500+. It overclocks up the yang with RETAIL COOLING!
 
Maybe, but the Intel looked much more powerful for this sort of money in all the reviews/benchmarks I've read. If I'd had another £100 or so I probably would've got the Athlon64 3200+ on a KV8-Max3, but hey. How well do those things overclock anyway? Also, all I need is another £50 and I should be able to get 3Ghz out of my 2.4C, right?
 
www.mushkin.com

and i forgot, they stopped making the PC3500 lvlII b/c they don't have any Winbond BH-5 chips anymore; get teh ones w/ Winbond BH-6; just as good @ stock but might not OC quite as spectacularely.
 
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