Which Mobo Cpu And Ram

[AndrewJ]

Hi all.

Following on from Biscuits thread, I have £500 to burn on an mobo/cpu/ram upgrade.

I fancy Quad Core with the Q6600, I would like 4GB ram preferably 1ghz..and a heavy duty high end mobo.

What would you recommend for me, also I am moderatly getting interested in overclocking and will order from Scan if I can.

[staffsMike]

Q6600 - £150 + Thermalright Ultima 90 / Scythe Ninja - £30
(2x2GB) Corsair XMS2 PC6400 ~ £70 (no need for 1000Mhz RAM, 800Mhz is stock speed to run the quad at 3.6GHz which is all yo ucan expect them to clock to)

Abit IP-35pro, couldn't ask for a better overclocking board. - £100 most today only's (can be as low as £90).

£350 and all you need to spend

[AndrewJ]

Thanks Mike.

Was looking at the Asus P5 range specifically the P5k-e, always had Asus boards will give some reviews a look on the Abit.

[staffsMike]

Theres a good custom PC lab for lots of boards here
Motherboards | Motherboards | Labs Tests | Custom PC

Unfortunatly it's not a great review for the Abit PRO but don't be disheartened by that I think they just had a bad board or bad bios.

The P5K-E is a good board given it's feature set but the abit would still get my money

[Blitzen]

Take a look at the ABIT X38 QuadGT.

Not everyones cup of tea tbh but its the flagship ABIT board.

I took delivery of one this morning and althogh the actually 'extras', or lack of, leave alot to be desired this board is the sexiest i have ever seen.

[AndrewJ]

Curious what people's experienced with Novatech are like?.

Ordering a week this Wednesday so I really would like to know my choice of suppliers should items be out of stock with some.

[staffsMike]

Havn't ordered from novatech myself but I would if they had something I wanted I can't remember hearing anything bad about them anyway and certainly heard some positive comments.

A lot of eTailers are in the Hexus Trust which is linked at the top of the page

Most of them are OK to be honest. If you are worried about a particular one though don't hesitate to post up again.

I'd try to stick to scan but as you say they might have stock issues.

[AndrewJ]

Defo getting the Abit board..worth searching for since I noticed Novatech don't stock Abit boards...argghhh

Going to follow up on your recommended spec and try to get 4GB ram though.

[Taz]

Hi AndrewJ, I concur with Mike.

I've recently built a Q6600 system using the following bits (with current prices from Scan and OcUK, including VAT):

Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 G0 SLACR: £150.27 (Scan)
Abit IP-35 Pro: £112.44 (Scan)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4: 2 x £35.24 = £70.48 (OcUK)
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme heatsink: £38.76 (Scan)
120mm fan for heatsink: around £10

TOTAL: £381.95

Plenty of overclocking ability with that combo and a fair amount of change from £500.

Everything works perfectly. RAM voltage was upped to 2.1V (IP35-Pro sets it to 1.8V by default). I have that as a working system with Vista 64 so can confirm it works like a champ! I hope that helps.

You could save a bit on the heatsink and buy the one that Mike suggested as the Ultra-120 eXtreme is a bit of an overkill for my setup. Plus it will need a separate 120mm fan.

[AndrewJ]

Thanks guys, very new to this whole changing voltage thing, be a new thing for me, so may be taking phone numbers for advice

Running DDR400 Giel ram right now in this machine and it's been good to me never OC'd it just ran it like it is.

[staffsMike]

I havn't overclocked with the PRO myself but my mate has one and it's pretty much just CPU and RAM voltages you will need to play with. All PC6400 RAM defaults to 1.8V with 5-5-5-18 timings.. You may need to boot on one stick if the system doesn't boot first time and then change them to 2.1v (whatever is on the label) and rated timings.

Give clunks overclocking guide (in the stickys) a read and then if you need more help then i'm sure hexites will be on hand as always

[AndrewJ]

Sure if it won't boot I can always nab partners laptop and get in that way.

[AndrewJ]

So my final setup after much deliberation which takes my fancy is

Q6600

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Abit IP35 Pro

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Loving the reviews on this board.

CorsairXMS2 4GB 2x2GB KIT 800MHZ

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK


Now then I have a friend to help me with cpu installation * have shudders... annoying and being treated* which cpu heatsink would be best for this cpu... I've heard loads of recommendations but I should point out all this has to fit inside a Antec 900 and some of those coolers look like they need a city block to fit

[staffsMike]

Most standard width cases can fit the big coolers tbh. I've used scythe ninja's in the build because they focus on silence and it's great silent cooler as it's design to work with either no fan or a low speed fan.

The best is the thermalright ultra 120 EXTREME but that is very tall, not sure it will fit the case some will be able to confirm that.

It's little brother is very good the Thermalright ultima 90 + a half decent fan gives very good results for the same sort of money as the ninja.

[AndrewJ]

Would you recommend the Ninja for a 900 case? and what fan would you recommend to go on it?

[staffsMike]

I personally would go with the scythe ninja. It comes with a very quiet fan which is perfect for it.

Just make sure you fit it properly if you get it. Fit when the motherboard is out else you'll never get it in. My test although not fool proof is carry the motherboard from where I've fitted the ninja to the PC holding only the ninja. If it stays on..it's done