New PC Components

[Gamah]

Hi There,

Upgrading the PC ATM and wondering what to buy.

I just brought a 320gig SATA II Drive that arrives tomorrow to replace my 60gig ide and 120gig sata.

I currently have a 3500+ single core with 1gb of ram and a gigabyte mobo.

Looking to get the following

ABIT IL9 Pro - Motherboard - i945P
Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 (2.13Ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 4MB Cache
OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC with LIFETIME WARRANTY

Now should I really pay the extra and go for the 4MB core 2's or could I go for the AMD's? is the difference really as much as every makes out?

Or does anyone know a better motherboard for around the same price £50~

 

[cHodAX]

Right, first of all I bought the IL9 Pro for my step father 6 months ago and it has been perfect since day 1. It lacks any BIOS overclocking features which was a pain for me as I wanted to overclock his E6300 a bit but the board has zero memory overclocking options to play with. If you don't need any of that then the IL9 Pro is a good little board but if you are wanting to overclock then this board is not for you.

As for Core 2 Duo, I wouldn't touch AMD right now and I am an AMD fanboy. The hardware from AMD just isn't competetive and yes Core 2 Duo is a hell of alot faster, you are looking at 30% faster in most situations. AMD is the cheaper options and the X2 are still very fast but personally I see nothing on the horizon from AMD that would tempt me into buying from them again so my next upgrade will be away from AMD for the first time in a decade. I will snag one of those quad core penryn puppies a couple of months after they are released.

 

[Gamah]

Right, first of all I bought the IL9 Pro for my step father 6 months ago and it has been perfect since day 1. It lacks any BIOS overclocking features which was a pain for me as I wanted to overclock his E6300 a bit but the board has zero memory overclocking options to play with. If you don't need any of that then the IL9 Pro is a good little board but if you are wanting to overclock then this board is not for you.

As for Core 2 Duo, I wouldn't touch AMD right now and I am an AMD fanboy. The hardware from AMD just isn't competetive and yes Core 2 Duo is a hell of alot faster, you are looking at 30% faster in most situations. AMD is the cheaper options and the X2 are still very fast but personally I see nothing on the horizon from AMD that would tempt me into buying from them again so my next upgrade will be away from AMD for the first time in a decade. I will snag one of those quad core penryn puppies a couple of months after they are released.

OK, I like to overclock my stuff so could you recommend another board around the same price/quality with OC features?

 

[cHodAX]

Oh and the 4mb cache is very handy in certain situations, video encoding gets a nice boost from and it helps alot of games as well. Is it worth the extra £ though? Hard to say really but we aren't talking a massive price difference here so if you can afford the extra then buy it. More performance never hurts.

 

[cHodAX]

OK, I like to overclock my stuff so could you recommend another board around the same price/quality with OC features?

That was the problem I ran into bud, 6 months ago I couldn't find one that came even close to the IL9 Pro in that price range and offered overclocking. As it wasn't my PC the lack of overclocking wasn't the deciding factor, price was everything. Nvidia has some new chipsets around now but I have no idea on prices so I will do a little research and see if I can find a board that suits you. What kind of price are we talking though? I bought the IL9 Pro about 6 months ago and the price was £60ish, is it still the same?

 

[cHodAX]

Wooooshhh!

Ok, this might be an option. The reviews tab looks good.


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-011-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=205

Had ASRock before and they aren't bad, basically just the budget range from Asus.

 

[Ballard]

Now should I really pay the extra and go for the 4MB core 2's

The 6420 quoted in your original post has a 4mb cache. Its a good CPU but one thing to bear in mind is the 6600's have just had a big drop in price. Currrently they should be no more than NZ$60 (25quid approx) more than 6420's. Slap a 50 quid cooler on it and you have significantly better than E6800 baseline performance My two picks for the core duo line at the moment would be the E4300 (easy Oc'er) or the E6600.

Or does anyone know a better motherboard for around the same price £50~

There are alot of good mobo choices out there. I would probably lean towards something based on P965 or 680i based on the different builds I have seen running. But to be honest you can get good results from almost all the chipsets. I run the top o' the line 975X and its run very smoothly at good clockspeeds so far.

Unfortunately I doubt you can get a reasonable 680i / 975X motherboard for anywhere near 50 quid, but you might get lucky and find a P965 for that.

If you can stretch the budget a little ( £82.24 ) then

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-061-GI

is by far the best 'affordable' mobo in my opinion, it is highly recommended both on the web and I know a few people that would recommend it 100%.

If the budget wont stretch at all, MSI have an entry level 965 mobo called the 965 Neo-F. It should be around 55-60 quid. The main limitation is the CPU FSB wont go much higher than 333 so for example on a E6600 you will cap out at 'only' 3ghz. Have a look at the other cheaper producers like gigabyte etc I am sure they have similar products. Just make sure you read a few reviews first.

 

[Ballard]

Wooooshhh!

Ok, this might be an option. The reviews tab looks good.


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-011-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=205

Had ASRock before and they aren't bad, basically just the budget range from Asus.

definetly an acceptable mobo but it is firmly in the 'budget' end of the market. PT880 is right at the limits of its specifications. as per the reviews you will be capping out significantly lower than other modern chipsets.

 

[cHodAX]

definetly an acceptable mobo but it is firmly in the 'budget' end of the market. PT880 is right at the limits of its specifications. as per the reviews you will be capping out significantly lower than other modern chipsets.

Yep, the price is the main issue and £50-60 doesn't buy a good overclocking motherboard sadly but the ASRock is a reasonable compromise if you are happy to settle for a mid-range overclock.

 

[Chronictank]

If you want SLI i would go with Asus P5N-E 650, if you dont i would get a DS3 (as stated above by Ballard) both are around the £80 mark depending where you buy from, i have a E6600 and i had it running at 3Ghz on stock out the box (no tweaking) and far as i know is the best performance:£ atm

 

[Gamah]

Went for..

OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 4MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor

ABIT AB9 iP965 SKT LGA775

 

[Amiga]

Its too late i guess but i really would have bought 2 x 160gb hdd's instead of 1 x 320. Raid 0 rocks!