Building new PC, Mobo/Processor?

spud17

spakker,

Cases are not a problem, I [STRIKE]scrounge[/STRIKE] take peoples cast-offs and recycle them to family and friends, recently took 5 cases to the council tip, all perfect.

From the original post, I have a brand new case, a real !!!!!!!

I've stuck in an old HD and installed XP, just to try it, it is faster on Super Pi than my current mongrel, but I don't think it's got enough potential to make it worth spending time and money on it.

I have one of the cheap pre-release retail versions of windows 7 and I think the 2GB RAM max will be a limiting factor.

Oneday77,

Thanks for joining in, any suggestions?

Especially with regard to AMD boards, as they seem to be more expensive.

We have to remember it's easy to run away with the spec and forget the PC is only for light use.

I keep running through the options, and bearing in mind I'm 'tight's a ducks rear end'
I've almost settled on the Gigabyte board, E5300, is the E6300 worth the extra £6 and 4GB RAM.

After this session, I can't get back until tomorrow (Monday) evening so don't think I'm ignoring you.

I'd like to get it sorted and delivered before Xmas, or, are there going to be bargains to be had after the holiday.

Cheers R

Oneday77

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?&groupid=701&catid=5&subid=1481&sortby=priceAsc MB £68
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-249-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1328 CPU £78
£130 but tbh didn't look real hard
As far as after the 25th it is possible that memory will drop in price, speculation mind you. Memory is like gold it increases in price with demand. All the new PCs from Santa drive the demand up so memory gets more expensive. Jan/feb should see a slump if trends are true to form , the VAT increase will make little difference.

What Super Pi Settings are you using. I will give it a run on mine. Give you an idea of what a DDR2 2GB, E5300 machine spits out.

Oneday77

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-215-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1482 MB £45 DDR2 rather than DDR3
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-252-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=803 CPU £48
£93 with the option for more modern powerfull processors latet

spud17

It's been a long hard day, I work outside, rain 36 of the last 39 days!

I've not really had time to think about anything, but for my modest needs, I'm still drawn to the E5300/Gigabyte with 4GB RAM.

What Super Pi Settings are you using

I've been using 1 million places,

Current PC
Athlon XP2400 and 1GB 266MHz RAM = 1m11secs

SparePC
Celeron 2.3 and 1.25GB 266MHz RAM= 1m50secs

Asrock/Pentium D 2.8 with1GB 400MHz RAM= 57secs.

All much slower than many here, but I use as a rough way of comparing setups.

Anyway off to bed, heavy rain forecast for tomorrow.

Oneday77

Asus P5KPL-Am \ E5300(stock) \ 2GB DDR2 6400 RAM
Super Pi 21.07 seconds 1M places so computationally a lot quicker than your current setup.

spud17

Update, rain 37 of the last 40 days, I now have skin growing between toes and fingers.

But I've got a lovely complexion. :j

Asus P5KPL-Am \ E5300(stock) \ 2GB DDR2 6400 RAM
Super Pi 21.07 seconds 1M places so computationally a lot quicker than your current setup.

Thanks for that, certainly a bit faster. but mine cost a total of around £100 and £60 of that was for XP.

One more thing if you don't mind,or anyone else, ebuyer have a deal on, and an E6300 + 4Gb 1066Mhz Crucial RAM would be £13 more than an E5300 + 4GB 800MHz RAM

Is is worth the extra spend, considering my expected light usage?

Oneday77

It does mean that later on if you source a faster quad core cheap the ram will run at the same FSB as it.
Just remember that either RAM will need a new MB at the same time.

spakkker

Here's an e6300 thread - http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-263004_10_0.html
For light use you could save the money. Quad cores will get cheaper but who needs them?
Here's a link -http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=520100 -using cpu and m/b you're thinking of.
This is my best - http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9792/12421.png - I run 24/7 at 3.5ghz and 15.4 superpi. only using cheapo adata 800 ram
I don't think you will regret spending a few quid more.
Memory prices have gone mental in the run-up to xmas ,maybe try and buy minimum now.

spud17

spakker

I don't think you will regret spending a few quid more.

Is this referring to the E6300 with the faster memory?

I agree Quad is overkill.

I've just had a quick look at ebuyer, and they are no longer listing the Gigabyte board.

The Asus that Oneday77 has, is still available.

Might try overclocking one day.

I'd guess I'm waay over the average age on here, but I'll have a go at most things.

BTW how good/bad are the onboard graphics likely to be on the Asus board, remembering I don't game or watch films etc.

And to sum up, I'm a real skinflint, ask anyone I work with, but I don't have a problem spending if I feel it is genuinely a good deal.

I can afford it , but can I justify it?

Oneday77

I use a dedicated graphics card with my board. For what you will use the system for it will be fine. Just remember to set the graphics aperture low in the BIOS so it doesn't steal heaps of your memory
I will say I haven't overclocked this as my memory sucks big time, it never let me clock my previous process in a different board either. I got this board as my last one blew up but it was a different model and this was cheap at the time

I only mentioned the quad core as later on when they are old hat it would be a worthwile upgrade to give the machine a bit more life if required.
Multi core is the future though, Intel just showed off their latest prtotype, 48cores on one processor :0