New bulid maximum £800

[Blackmage]

I need to put the rig in the sig to bed, I feel the need for an update.

Now this machine must last me for at least two years; it will be used for music, films, internet, Office and Java programming. It won't be used for gaming at all, so the onboard graphics will be enough. My upper limit is £800, but I want to make this machine as cheap as possible. I also plan to overclock this machine. Also would love a RAID 0 setup.

Now, I would love an Intel Core i7 set up but I'm not willing to pay 50% more, if I don't gain 50% more performance.

Now here is what I've put together.



Questions

1. I was thinking the PSU is overkill?

2. Would the IGP affect my overclock?

3. I heard the Phenom II 965 can't use DDR 3 1600?, even if the motherboard supported it would i see a performance gain?

4. Should I not buy a Phenom II 955?

5. I'm thinking Core i7 would be more future proof

6. Do I really need to upgrade? I only do the above mentioned(Top of the post).

Thanks for your help.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I need to put the rig in the sig to bed, I feel the need for an update.

Now this machine must last me for at least two years; it will be used for music, films, internet, Office and Java programming. It won't be used for gaming at all, so the onboard graphics will be enough. My upper limit is £800, but I want to make this machine as cheap as possible. I also plan to overclock this machine. Also would love a RAID 0 setup.

Now, I would love an Intel Core i7 set up but I'm not willing to pay 50% more, if I don't gain 50% more performance.

Now here is what I've put together.



Questions

1. I was thinking the PSU is overkill?

2. Would the IGP affect my overclock?

3. I heard the Phenom II 965 can't use DDR 3 1600?, even if the motherboard supported it would i see a performance gain?

4. Should I not buy a Phenom II 955?

5. I'm thinking Core i7 would be more future proof

6. Do I really need to upgrade? I only do the above mentioned(Top of the post).

Thanks for your help.

I would get a 500W PSU TBH. The advantage of 1600MHZ DDR3 is the fact that you can run the RAM at 1333MHZ using low latencies which is the optimal setting for a non overclocked Phenom II. However if you intend to overclock the Phenom II and increase the HT speed the faster RAM may help.

One of these PSUs should do the job IMHO:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500W-...lar-cable-V-10

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/450W-...-year-Warranty

The other alternative is too see what quad core Core2 CPUs your existing motherboard will take.

[nibbler]

Don't get that case man get a nice antec

[Ulti]

Case is usually personal preference.

The build looks good but seeing as you're using IGP, even if you're overclocking, a 400W PSU will definitely be enough.

I've heard that the processor doesn't overclock that massively though, however I've got to ask, does a 3.2ghz quad core at stock really need overclocking? I've heard people get stuck around the 4ghz mark even with high voltages but 3.2ghz is plenty I feel. For your purposes though I guess the higher the clock speed the better.

You definitely won't get 50% performance from an i7 system if you pay 50% more so all in all, build seems good.

To answer your questions:

1) PSU is overkill yes, even a Corsair CX400W will be enough to be honest.
2) No, the IGP will not affect the stability of the clock. You can overclock the IGP though.
3) 1600mhz DDR3 CL9 vs 1333mhz DDR3 CL7 will generally feel the same. The only difference that will show is likely to be on benchmarks only.
4) No reason not to go for it. Provides performance equal to the Q9550 in most cases.
5) I don't see how this build isn't equally future proof itself.
6) Now this is a matter of question, with 4GB RAM and a 3ghz dual core, your system should be able to do what you listed above without any problems at all.

Personally I've got an E8200 in the post to replace my E5300, I believe they'll clock the same but I'm going to have 6mb L2 cache vs 2mb L2 cache. I'm a casual gamer so the extra L2 cache will help but seeing as it's going from a dual core to a dual core I doubt any performance will be seen from normal applications and it's likely to be the same in your situation as most the things you do doesn't require quad core processing I believe.