Upgrade Advice

[wedge22]

I am thinking of upgrading some core components in my rig which is listed in my sig.
I am thinking of a E6550, Gigabyte P35 DS3L mobo and some faster ram not really sure what though.
I would appreciate some input regarding these components as I do intend to overclock the system. I do not require SLi. My PSU is a 520W Seasonic. I could really do with some advice on RAM as I am unsure as to what speed to buy and what is good for overclocking.

[Oobie-]

What speed is the RAM you currently have?

I'd be looking at PC6400 which can be had at ridiculously low prices (grrr) now. Some corsair RAM would do the trick.

I think the general census here would be to get a Q6600 (unless of course you want a native 1333mhz fsb support) and put it in a P35 chipset board.
That Gigabyte board is fine to my knowledge, or you could get this or an abit/asus board. They be all good.

[LegacyOne]

Good board for up to 1600FSB maybe more but for 2000FSB+ Asus P5K-E with DDR2 1066Mhz and a good cooler.

[staffsMike]

667mhz RAM (PC5300) is the minimum you need for that chip. I would go for a nice set of PC6400 though.

I would go with this stuff persoanlly as i've got 3 sets and had nothing but good experiences with it

Oh.. and it's dirt cheap!

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)

This stuff looks good to but I've never used it. If it lives up to the black dragon name it will be hardcore though
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Black Dragon DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GB22GB6400C4DC)

Crucial Ballistix is arguably the best overclocking out there without going into crazy money but you do pay a premium for it over the geil which I find perfectly good.

Motherboard wise I would go with the Abit IP-35 as it's a good overclocker and got a nice feature set as well as some of the best support around (a care forum right here on hexus)

Also the E6750 is only £10 or £15 more than the E6550

[wedge22]

I have also heard that the E2180 is a good chip and will overclock very well. I guess that cpu plus the Abit IP35 and some good OCZ pc6400 ram would work really well.

[Blitzen]

Motherboard wise I would go with the Abit IP-35 as it's a good overclocker and got a nice feature set as well as some of the best support around (a care forum right here on hexus)

I installe one of these yesterday in an ANTEC 900 for someone. The board was very nice.

Unfortunately, due to the design of the mobo/case, the powerLED's/Reset headers etc were a VERY long way from the leads.
It JUST fitted.

[wedge22]

Thanks for the info Blitzen, at least I know that it will fit if I do buy the Abit board. Would anybody suggest an Asus board over the Abit?

I am thinking of going with this selection.


Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ATX LGA775 P35 1333FSB 1PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard
In Stock 25369 $101.96 $101.96

Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 Dual Core Processor LGA775 2.0GHZ 800FSB 1MB Retail Box
In Stock 26099 $97.00 $97.00

OCZ Platinum XTC REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
In Stock 19337 $81.37 $81.37
Check to delete an item


YOUR TOTAL $280.33

[staffsMike]

E2180 is a good chip especially on a budget Of course there is always the dnager of buying a chip with the intent of overclocking it a certain amount and it not being up to the task but as long as you are realistic ~2.8 - 3.0GHz i'm sure it will not dissapoint. It'll proabably go further anyway which is a bonus

If I were to get an Asus board I would probably go for the P5K-E
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Seems to have a good feature set for the money, over here on the expensive side of the pond anyway I think you get better support from asus over there to so it might not be a bad way to go.

I don't know much about the motherboard you've picked but i'm sure it will be fine. I used to hate Gigabyte but i'm starting to like them. I wouldstill prefer the abit though

[wedge22]

I only went for the Gigabyte board as its a bargain at a $100, plus I do not need Firewire and Raid. I think I may go any buy these items on Boxing Day as they have a huge sale that day so it may be even less. If they go mad and have some newer items on sale then I may go Quad Core. I would buy a Q6600 if it was around $200, they are currently $266. You never know they may have the Phenoms for $199

[wedge22]

I will definately be getting the E2180 unless the new AMD X2 5000 Black edition is worth getting as its not much more than the E2180, not sure which mobo would be good for it though? The X2 is currently selling for $130 here in the sale.

[staffsMike]

I really like the black edition and I also like the fact that it can be overclocked with the cheapest motherboard you can really think of with the slightest of overclocking functions

You won't notice a difference between the two chips running the same speed really, I mean there will be a difference if you benchmark them but nothing noticable.

I think the black edition will hold a bit of its value to as black editions always seem to.

[wedge22]

Thanks for giving me your views on the Black edition staffsMike. I think I will still go for the E2180 as its $40 less atm, plus the Gigabyte board I am going to get is also on sale right now. I purchased this ram OCZ Platinum XTC REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 for the bargain price of $17.99 in the sale.

[staffsMike]

$18! thats a steal not a deal!

I didn't really need the black edition, it was an embelishment and I broke my rule of building this particular PC to get it (nothing costs more than £45). In the end though I was really quite happy with it. Felt good about having an AMD again lol

It was mainly due to the motherboard which drove me to AMD though. It was a uATX build using the IGU not dedicated gfx so I needed a good board. I bought an Asus 690G based board for £34 and it's got everything you could want on a board.

Now there is the 630i nvidia boards for intel but I may have still gone for the AMD just..because..

You can't go wrong with either chip really. The intel is the better overclocker but may top out lower than the AMD. The AMD is certainly easier to overclock but the intel may out perform it even at a lower clock. Intel is cheaper and you say the motherboard you want is cheap so it's probably a good way to go.

[wedge22]

As far as Intel mobo's go I was looking at buying the Gigabyte P35 DS3L as its only $90. Not too sure what I would buy the the AMD chip.