Building Overclockable gaming pc

[nmk1988]

So, S3/DS3 + E4300 + 8800 GTS 320mb is a good choice right ?

Or one 680i + E6600 + 8800 GTS 640mb/GTX for more perfomance.

 

I'll have 2 options, depending on price.

Anything else ?

[Verran]

Yeah honestly, I think it's REALLY hard to argue against the S3/DS3 when you figure in their price-point. At roughly HALF the price of a lot of the other common 775 boards, they seem to keep up surprisingly well.

 

Ultimately, I think I'd stick to the DS3 recommendation with a 4300 and the 640 GTS. That should give you really great performance at a relatively low investment.

[nmk1988]

Thanks everyone for your help.

I made a research and i have ended up to this:

 

C2D E4300 + Scythe Infinity

Asus DS3 Rev.2 + Case Sumbeam Trio ATX

G.Skill DDR2 2x1GB 800mhz 4-4-4-12

OCZ GameXstream 600W

XFX 8800 GTX 768 MB

WD 150GB 10000rpm SATA

Acer 22" 5ms 1680x1050 widescreen

[nmk1988]

Well, here's how I see it. If you're going to get the most of out a GTX, I think you need to consider at least an E6600. That adds about $150 to your budget over the 4300.

A GTX and 660 would be better, but will cost quite a bit more too.

I think you are wrong:

I read this in-depth article about performace of 8800 GTX with Core 2 Duo's

A stock E4300 + 8800 GTX can even outperform a X6800 + 8800 GTX in a few benchmarks at high resolutions !

Just a benchmark reference:

Edited March 30, 2007 by nmk1988

[Verran]

I think you are wrong:

I read this in-depth article about performace of 8800 GTX with Core 2 Duo's

A stock E4300 + 8800 GTX can even outperform a X6800 + 8800 GTX in a few benchmarks at high resolutions !

Well, I assume the fact that you have returned to this post after your last update in order to post again with research that you've clearly done after your purchase was made means one of two things: Either you feel the need to justify your decisions to yourself, or you feel that that the advice I gave (that you quoted) was unjust in some way. If the latter is the case, I apologize. Having said that, let's analyze the information you've presented.

 

First of all, the 4300 "outperformed" the 6800 48.6 to 48 in the benches you posted. That's a margin of 1.25%, and hardly justifies the claim of "outperforms". That's well within a margin of error. Second, you will notice that all four of the GTX benches were within this 1.25% margin of each other. I find it hard to come to any other conclusion than a "tie" in that circumstance. But either way, the intuitive approach would be to ask why? To me, it looks like this game is simply unable to fully utilize more than the 4300. They all basically tied in the benches because the extra bandwidth of the higher chips was not being put to use. This benchmark is clearly much more graphics-intensive. Using the numbers you posted to support a claim that the 6600 offers no benefit is craziness. The 6600 is 33% faster with more cache. It's not inferior to the 4300 in any way.

 

But yes, I see your point. In Oblivion (at high resolutions), the cheaper chip is the way to go. However, in a different game, like these Supreme Commander benches, that is absolutely not the case. It depends on the game, amongst many other factors.

[nmk1988]

You are right Verran.The word "outperform" was wrong, but i wanted to give emphasis that even a tie of e4300 and x6800 is a big "plus" for the e4300, and as you said I admit that I wanted to justify my decisions.

Keep in mind that i still consider myself a n00b of in-depth hardware analysis/software even if i use/own pc's since windows 95 era ,and have recently started studying programming languages in a university.

On the other hand, you are an PC expert + moderator here, so your advice is always considered with respect.

Anyway i'm gonna buy the PC the next week so i'll probably stick with this combo, but suggestions are still welcome.

How do u find it ?

Nice Price/ excellent perfomance. That was my initial target.

With respect to Verran and everyone else in these forums,

Nikos

Edited March 29, 2007 by nmk1988

[Verran]

Well from your other post, it sounded like you already had ordered it. Either way it looks pretty good, but I think you've got the motherboard confused. The DS3 is made by Gigabyte, not Asus (asuming you're going with the one that everyone else recommended in the thread). Other than that, I think it'll work well for you.

[nmk1988]

No I haven't ordered it yet.

Well i made a typing mistake, 'cause at first I wanted Asus P5B-E, but i'll finally get the Gigabyte DS3, (i'll try to find rev2, or 3.3).

I also found a nice 9-page step by step guide for overclocking E4300 to 3,47 Ghz with DS3 mobo and G.Skill Ram.

Please check it out and tell me your opinion.

Edited March 29, 2007 by nmk1988

[Verran]

I also found a nice 9-page step by step guide for overclocking E4300 to 3,47 Ghz with DS3 mobo and G.Skill Ram.

Please check it out and tell me your opinion.

Hmm... I don't want to get too "preechy", but overclocking doesn't really work like that. You can't just follow this guy's steps and get the same results. Your chip could be the same, or better, or worse than his. Here's my quick OC procedure ramble:

 

"Step by Step" guides like this one are great... until your steps don't go like theirs. If 3.47 was stable for their chip but not for yours, well now you're hosed, because you don't really know what all the previous steps meant. You were just doing what you were told. And once your steps deviate from theirs, the guide becomes almost worthless.

 

You're much better off just learning the OC concepts for yourself, and then testing your chip methodically to find it's maximum speed. 3.47 is certainly possible for a 4300, but I think it's a bit ambitious. From what I've seen, I think it's safe to "count on" about 3ghz, and consider anything past there a bonus, especially of this is your first time OCing.

[nmk1988]

O.k.

Could you recommend me please some interesting articles to start with overclocking basics ?

I have already found some, at google.

Edited March 29, 2007 by nmk1988

[Verran]

Sure!

 

Kingdingeling started a thread specifically for Core2 OCing. You can find it here. Also, I wrote an Overclocking Basics guide a while ago as well. Mine is a more general approach to the concepts of OCing. It's kind of like a "what you should know before you start OCing" sort of thing, while king's is more specific steps for your chip. Also, the good doctor made a thread for OC Software a while back too.

 

Give some of that a shot, and don't hesitate to ask if you need more help.

[Ziggy54354]

It should not be difficult to oc that 4300 on the DS3. The DS3 will hit a FSB wall anywhere from 450-500+ FSB. To get to 3ghz, you would need 9x333 which is a fairly easy task. All you should need to do is up the vcore. I'd keep the memory 1:1 as well. Even though you can use a divider to get higher memory speeds, from my testing ive noticed that it operates less efficiently so it just cancels out the extra clockspeeds and just makes the memory work harder. I also have the HSF you are planning on getting and i've got my chip at 1.425v right now with no probs at 3.2ghz.