I want a 'fast' Value system

Was thinking about:

- Venice 3000 o/c to 2.4GHz
- 1GB Corsair Value Select RAM
- 74GB Raptor
- nForce4 (ABIT)
- 68/78GT

78 Depends on Price.


Thoughts?

In terms of motherboard, i'd go with a ULi M1695 based board, they haven't hit retail yet but will begin early September. You can find a review of the ASROCK board based on the above chipset here. To sum up what the review concludes, "Performance comparable to the nForce4 with a cheaper price tag, it has overclockability but isn't what one would consider an overclockers board, some unique features that make the baord great value for money".

CPU wise, definitely go with a Venice based core as you've decided, the 3000+ can overclock quite easily to 2.4GHz and i wouldn't put 2.6GHz out of your sight. If you have the time to go to a computer fair rather than buy online you could hand pick a stepping, everyone seems to be raving about the following in order, CBBLE 0512DPBW, LBBLE 0517EPAW, LBBLE 0516CPBW.

I hope this helps.

might want to wait till rev 2... anandtech reported a rock stable FSB @ 400MHz.. should be good.. and no, I don't want to throw my AGP A400 GT...

Im not sure how a raptor really counts as value. What cooling are you going for?

Get a normal hdd and spend more on your ram. Its more likely to overclock that way.

Your ValueSelect ram may not go > DDR460. Memory divider usually does not work well below 3/4. Getting a 3200+ would be a slightly better choice.

74G Raptor + 7800GT = Value?
the DFI LP NF4 SLI-D can run 400HTT fine.
I saw some guy in HKEPC ran his Winchester at 400x5, primed fine
The ULI chips are good and cheap. I would recommend that too.

Be aware that it is difficult to get older Venices. 0512, 0516 and 0517 are ALL sold out in Hong Kong, I reckon UK have the same situation.

Not ALL Venices can go > 2.4Ghz. My 0518 tops out at 2.35Ghz.

6800GT overclocked
3200+
Epox 9nPa+
Diamond Max 10 250Gb (Same or better performance as a raptor on everything except random seek)
Whatever ram you like really, Crucial Value is decent, as is corsair value

you might be better off with a 6800GT, x800xl or at best an x850xt(non-pe).. its much cheaper and provides enough horsepower to play anything available today at 1280x1024 (even 1600x1200 if u have the proper hardware) with all the eye candy turned on.. and yes.. spend more on your RAM, maybe some TCCD or BH5 if you're able to grab hold of them.. Corsair XMS and OCZ are all good choices..

Venice's are all pretty well made cores.. runs cool.. overclocks well.. but don't expect a miracle past 2.4Ghz.. and they do tend to run quite hot at 2.6Ghz load, so expect to pay an extra premium for a good cooler..

3200+ venice will be your best bet.. its not awfully slow at stock yet it provides the 'miracle' 10x multiplier.. you could be stepping into your processors limit on air without even breaking 280HTT.. and it doesnt slow your memory down so much as as running say 11x240 on a 3500+..

Dividers works pretty well until u decide to use stuff under 266MHz, but TBH, with 10x multi.. you really never have to use a divider anyways.. all XMS 3200 will run fine at 240MHz sync with ur CPU (which gives u 2.4Ghz).. some of the C2PT even works at 250MHz when u loosen timings up..

get ocz value VX chips with ddr booster or a dfi mobo with this combination u can reach speeds of upto DDR500-600 and have 1:1.
here:
http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2392
http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2369
http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2386

Ditch the raptor, it's not that much faster, but does cost that much more.

Spending a bit more on ram would be ok, but don't go overboard. The price/performance ratio of getting expensive memory is rarely worth it.

A raptor is only REALLY good if you have a large storage medium to back it up, £/Gib tho its crap on its own.

I have 240GB of standard storage alongside my 36GB raptor and its fine.

I had raid 0 36.7Gb raptors and there was basically no noticeable real world difference between them and my single 40Gb 7,200rpm 2MB cache PATA deskstar. They didnt even help my video recording because at the time I was CPU/Video limited. Thye might be of some use now, but the cost hardly justifies it to me.