First Time Overclocking - Need help selecting CPU MB and RAM...

[ffaffe]

Hi all,

 

This is my first ever forum post so please bare with me.

Basically I'm looking for some solid advice about selecting a motherboard, RAM and CPU on a budget of about £400 ($580). This will be me first ever overclocking experience so would really appreciate any words of wisdom from you seasoned overclockers. I will be using the system for gaming and also using multiple programs at once such as photoshop, illustrator, 3ds max 9, hammer, unreal editor, etc.

 

Thanks

[Speedway]

Hi all,

 

This is my first ever forum post so please bare with me.

Basically I'm looking for some solid advice about selecting a motherboard, RAM and CPU on a budget of about £400 ($580). This will be me first ever overclocking experience so would really appreciate any words of wisdom from you seasoned overclockers. I will be using the system for gaming and also using multiple programs at once such as photoshop, illustrator, 3ds max 9, hammer, unreal editor, etc.

 

Thanks

 

 

If you were just gaming, then i would tell you to go AMD all day long, and get the most bang for you buck! But, when running multiple program at once, especially when doing any video editing or rendering, I would seriously think about spending a little bit more than your $580 American and go Intel i7-930. When it comes to gaming both AMD and Intel are basically the same give or take 1-3fps depending on the game, which is nothing. But where Intel i7's really shine as the clear winners on performance, are definately on the editing programs!

 

But either way, you are still getting a great chip, on the AMD side you can get a 6 Core cpu in your budget also!

[sack_patrol]

Yea, as much as I prefer AMD and I'll probably always use AMD, for your editing n stuff programs, I have to suggest the i7.

 

For the RAM, I'd say go with a 1600mhz 2x2GB from either GSkill, Crucial or Corsair. Those are the leading brands for quality RAM.

 

For the mobo...DFI has a good selection of some sick mobos although DFI's quality has dropped over the years... I still like it though. Other than that, you could try MSI or ASUS and even Gigabyte.

I'm not giving any precise models because there is a very big variety and you'll just have to look through em and see something that meets your preferences. Maybe you want a certain amount of pcie slots or maybe you want or don't a debug LED...u know..stuff like that. Then when you got a bunch of mobos you think are what you want, go to google, type the name of the mobo and after that type "review". Then obviously read the reviews and see which ones are good quality and are worth the money and which ones aren't.

[carinae]

shouldnt you go for tripple channel memory when getting a i7 930?

[Speedway]

shouldnt you go for tripple channel memory when getting a i7 930?

 

 

I would absolutely go triple channel with the i7, even though tests show there isn't a huge difference in performance, the i7 platform does like it better! However it will also add to the cost! Especially when your overseas! I mean if he was near a Fry's they have the same cpu/mobo combo that i have right now for $379.99 after rebate! Then the OP would jjust have to stretch his budget out slightly to get the RAM I have, which is just remarkable when it comes to performance. But, then again I am a Corsair Dominator "fanboy" so my opinion is heavily favored to one side But, overseas, they do not have these prices for the most part! So in order to go triple channel it will most likely give a big stretch to his stated budget!

 

But here is a link to the RAM I use with my i7

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

 

But there is also solid triple channel RAM around $170 as well

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147%201052129233%201052345114%201052429371&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

[Swervin]

is there much difference in price between the 1600mhz and the 1333mhz (TR3X6G1333C9) Corsair 6gb triple channel ram and particularly performance? just thought i'd throw in some suggestions and questions

[sack_patrol]

is there much difference in price between the 1600mhz and the 1333mhz (TR3X6G1333C9) Corsair 6gb triple channel ram and particularly performance? just thought i'd throw in some suggestions and questions

~10 dollars difference. For that kind of difference I'd say go for the 1600mhz. That way when and if you overclock it, you'll only need to worry about tightening the ram timings. Unless you want your mhz even higher that is, though 1600 is enough I think.