Building a super OC rig for £2500, need advice

[Hype]

Hi all,
I'm trying to put together a new PC build for some serious overclocking (4Ghz+ hopefully) and was wondering if you could look over my component list and tell me if theres any issues I should know about, or weather theres any better stuff out there within my budget of £2500.

So here it my current list, things I really need help with are which PSU to get, and weather I should get the IC7-MAX3 mobo or go for the ASUS P4C800 Deluxe? Does the IC7 have dodgy dividers??

Heres my list:

Processor:
Intel Pentium 4 "Northwood" 3.4GHz £305

RAM:
OCZ 1GB PC4000 EL-DDR Dual Channel Kit £268

Graphics:
Asus ATI Radeon 9800XT/TVD 256MB £316

Case:
SavRow SR-71 Blackbird £150

HDD:
2x Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10000RPM 2x £170 = £340

Mobo:
Abit IC7-MAX3 "Canterwood" £140

Cooling:
nVENTIV Mach II ST £405

Speakers:
Creative Inspire T7700 7.1 Speakers £90

Soundcard:
Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro PCI £167


Total £2181

I already have a good LCD monitor and keyboard etc so I dont need any of that.

What do you guys think? I'll post my results and how far I can OC this thing using that Mach II (-45 degrees!) cooling system when I finally build it in a few weeks.

Thanks,
Alex

[unrealrocks]

I would recommend either Corsair or Kingston HyperX rather than OCZ.

Keep in mind that SATA HDDs will limit your overclock as SATA controlers are quite temperamental with FSB.

I'd chuck the Audigy2 and get an mAudio - much better quality, and cheaper price.

[Korky]

im guessing youve already made up your mind with the above list. Anyway the dif between ic7 and p4c800 is very small, but i'd vouch for the p4c800 because i've used one before. Was a 3.2 (cant remember core) with mach 2 @ 4.2ghz, any higher was slightly unstable but i think this problem was linked with the 3200 memory that was in it.

As for PSU, Antec True Power 550w probably has the best lines you can get in the UK.

What I'd like to know though, why not fx-51/53 or p4 EE? I suppose a 3.4EE is just too expensive @ about £700 and odd, but I'd go for the fx range ;-)

[SilentDeath]

The gfx should also o/c very well given decent cooling. imo w/c it and cpu and use a waterchiller instead.
Also creative soundcards are well marketed but are far from the best.
Wait a few weeks and get one of the new ati r420 cards which will outperform the 9800xt by a lot.
I agree about getting an FX over a p4 too...

[Agent]

Keep in mind that SATA HDDs will limit your overclock as SATA controlers are quite temperamental with FSB.

Isnt the PCI bus locked on the IC7 ?

[walnuts]

Best PSU is the PC Power & Cooling 510 ATX Deluxe costs a bomb but nothing comes close to it. You can get from savrow. If you don't want to spend that much on a PSU checkout the 550w Antec TrueControl with adjustable rails throw a floppy bay panel.

[mike_w]

Good PSU? If you search on the forums you'll find people recommending CWTs and Antecs.

[Platinum]

Savrow are overpriced dont waste your money, get a case such as a lian li and a good 555 wattige PSU such as antec and you will be fine.

[Howard]

I'd expect that motherboard to be PCI locked.

I'd recommend a better soundcard like M-Audio too.

I'd also recommend Logitech Z680 speakers over Creatives.

[Korky]

walnuts, nice one didnt know u could get the PCPandC in the UK, these certainly are the best but come with the price of the best.

R420 out in a few weeks?? whered you find that out SD.

Sata harddrive corruption does occur when u get to about 280fsb. This can be overcome by using a PCI sata card.

I'd also not waste my money on a creative card, why not use the onboard sound (i think its soundstorm?) and use that extra £167 for somethin else?

Waterchillers are custom built and I doubt he'll want to take part in what it takes to build these, a nice big meaty cpu heatsink on the gfx core should do you up to around 500mhz core w/volt mod.

[Howard]

Pentium motherboards don't use Soundstorm. That's an Nforce2 feature. They'll most likely use standard Realtek or AC97 or whatever the low-cost sound chips are. Which will be beaten in terms of quality by any half-decent soundcard.

[Korky]

ye sorry :S thats why i was questioning myself, whered that come from :S aye anyway i guess a soundcard is most definitly relevant here.