Should I go for it?

[rhiridflaidd]

The PC I use for my wife as an office PC is now unstable and crashes after 5s of prime.

 

So I thought I might be kind to her and give her my NF4 and x2 motherboard instead.

 

That would obviously mean needing a new motherbaord, processor and memory - so a 975xg, but which core 2 duos tend to OC well, and as ever, memory is always changing. i gueess it's early to tell what's a good mix.

 

A starting point would be

 

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK)

 

DFI Infinity 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard DFI Infinity 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

(£99.86)

Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail

(£149.21)

[Thraxz]

Find the cheapest set of Micron D9 memory sticks you can get your hands on... regardless of speed or brand even if they're 667Mhz... they will likely break DDR1000 at CAS4 with 2.4vdimm and since they are so cheap compared to the higher DDR2 speeds 2.4vdimm won't be hard mentally to put through them. I'd suggest an E6600 since their FSB/cache and heat requirements are match well with other components the best.

 

Try to get a week 30 stepping chip if you can... revision B is possible. They clock the best.

[ollietwinam]

So I thought I might be kind to her and give her my NF4 and x2 motherboard instead.

 

:shake: You just want a new PC :shake:

[lackobreath]

I already got burned on that memory kit (OCZ2P800R22GK) about a month ago, along with a bunch of other people who've had undue problems with that kit and this board -- NOT recommended RAM, for this mobo at least.

 

I do however enjoy my E6400, though I haven't bothered pushing it past 3ghz yet. Overclocking to this point has been easy on the 975X/G, but I only tried overclocking with the 11/15 BIOS. I'm at 2.97ghz now, about a 40% increase with no added CPU voltage yet. Core Temp temps only hit 50C under full dual core load on the hottest days in my computer room, which is about 85F/29C ambient.

 

I could have spent the extra 100USD on the E6600, I decided not to, due mainly to budget reasons. A couple weeks later I put my rig up against a 2.93ghz E6600 on an ABIT 975X board and I realized I was right by not spending the extra 100 bucks, since I doubt I will ever push this CPU past about 3.2ghz (400mhz FSB).

 

Hope this is some relevant info for you.

[WintersFury]

I already got burned on that memory kit (OCZ2P800R22GK) about a month ago, along with a bunch of other people who've had undue problems with that kit and this board -- NOT recommended RAM, for this mobo at least.

 

Not sure what kind of problems you guys were having. I got my memory, put it in and it booted right up even @ 900MHz which was cause I forgot to turn off my OC from when I had the DDR2-900 in it right before I switched (Went from 1 to 2 GB of memory). Not sure if it would have been stable at that speed but it booted at it no problems... Been priming with it for 4 hours now and I have no doubt it'll keep going well past 8 if I let it run.

 

To the OP, that setup would be what I sometimes think I should have gotten. But I got a great price on my e6300 so I went with that instead. The e6400 is $30 that is decently spent, but if that $30 can get you a graphics card with more pipelines, use it for that instead

[rhiridflaidd]

What manufacturers use micron D9 - Going from memory (no pun intended) Crucial use micron memory. Waht about Geil which also seem cheap and seem to be developing a decent reputation for cheap stuff.

 

Sorry if my questions are basic, but I had no intention whatsoever to upgrade at this point in time!

 

p.s. I've just gon back to the stoneage, after finding a manual, and reducing the bus of the decrepid xp2000 system from 133 to 100.

 

The underclocking seems to stabilise things. So that gives me a bit more time at least to make a better decision.

[WintersFury]

Well D9 or not... DDR2-800 will still get you 400fsb. Which is 3.2TGHz with an e6400. So getting D9 or not really depends on how fast you really want the thing, and even non D9 will OC past 800.

 

So it really depends on how far you feel the need to push it.