Budget slashed, had to downgrade - still look good?

[michaelpbfl]

My budget got whacked for my rig(thanks for comments last time!), so.. had to make some changes. I thought I was good before, but I was waiting for the E8400 to get back in stock because it was sold out everywhere that had it for a decent price ($229-240). But before it came in stock, my budget got thwacked! I managed to get price down over $150 by slightly down-grading 3 itmes; CPU, Video Card, and Memory. Yes, those are important parts, but I'm not downgrading by much I don't think!

My board (GA-P35-DS3L), PSU (Corsair 550VX), HD (WD3200AAKS 320GB), and case (COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP) remain the same. Going to still run XP Pro, BTW.

So, here's my downgrades;

■E6750 (before; E8400)
■Sapphire Radeon 3870 512MB (before; MSI OC'd 8800GT)
■2GB (2x1) Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 (before; same memory, just 4GB)

I think these replacements are still very good and will still allow me to use this rig for gaming as I did before, only change is that I might OC the CPU now where-as with the E8400 I wasn't really planning to.

I just hope this plays Crysis nicely. I MIGHT get a different HSF for the CPU since I may be OC'ing, but heard you can reach good speeds and cool temps with the stock one long as you don't go crazy.

So ya'll still think I'm okay?

 

[Maziar]

Yep it stills looks good, OC your E6750 and u will be fine, also HD 3870 is a very good performer so u will be able to play Crysis just fine

 

[Champcar]

Why not get a e2160, OC it and keep the 8800GT and/or the 4gb of ram?

 

[Maziar]

Wait a sec, have u bought your parts yet or no ?
if u havent then i agree with Champ, get a E2160/E2180 and keep your RAM and VGA

 

[akhilles]

3rded. E2180 all the way. HD3870 at $180 is a no brainer. 8800GT may have priced itself out of the market. 9600GT is not far behind and the new Geforces are around the corner.

 

[michaelpbfl]

Wow!! E2180 is $79?? How far ya'll think I can go with that puppy? Mind you, I'm not OC wiz, but I can follow instructions.

Think 3.0 is possible / stable with the other parts listed? (memory, motherboard, etc..)

Wow, I didn't even think to go with an Allendale...... that's $100 cheaper guys, and if I can OC near 3.0 I can always grab a more powerful CPU down road when those prices drop way down.

 

[Champcar]

I have herd that the E2160 OC's better then the E2180. People have get the e2160 to 3.0 most of the time with no problem. There are a few threads in the Overclocking board about it.

 

[mtyermom]

Another vote for the Allendale CPU, OC'd I think you'll be more than happy with the performance until you are able to upgrade to a faster/more OCable model down the road. The board you've chosen should be more than adequate for a moderate OC of the 2160/80, though I'd still recommend an aftermarket HSF. The stock HSF might be ok, but I think you'll get better cooling performance and less noise with something like the arctic freezer 7 pro.

 

[Plyro109]

I have a 2180, and with my cooler (TEC/Air), I was able to get it to 3.33ghz pretty easy with 1.385v. Only took a few minutes to get it there (Didn't boot with 1.350v), and ran prime95 for 24hours. Good chip. ^_^

 

[michaelpbfl]

Man, you guys got me drooling here.. LOL I've never OC'd before, a little nervous about it. But for the price...man, right off NewEgg the E2160 is $72. $100 cheaper then the 6750 I was looking at. Just looked at the Artice Freezer 7, yikes, $27!

Think I may go for it..... (E2160 w/ aftermarket HSF)

I have faith in you guys..

 

[michaelpbfl]

Does the Artic7 come with thermal paste? It doesn't mention in product description...

 

[pous]

Look at the Arctic Mx-2 thermal compound, it works better than AS5 like most people get.

Not sure how great cooling will be for you in that case, especially OC'ing. I use that case in my rig (listed below) and have some really high ambient temps. Might just need to add an extra fan to the front for intake... I haven't tried, I think I'm just going to buy a new case.

You could opt for a different case with the $$ you save on the lower CPU.

 

[zenmaster]

Here is your 8800GT 512mb for $195.

http://www.chiefvalue.com/Product-_-ProductDetails.cv_-_Item--CE00153879010060&CMP=AFC-SlickDeals

CPFBTRTND27=$8 Coupon

 

[amd_fanboi]

The AC freezer 7 does come with thermal paste preapplied very good thermal paste, i may add

 

[chuckm]

If you're sticking with 2gig of ram go with Ballistix, $35 after MIR;
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16820146565

 

[geofelt]

I think you can save a bit on the OS. XP-PRO oem is $135 at newegg, XP-oem is $90. There are very few features that Pro gives you that the gamer would need. Also, I saw vista home premium upgrade at costco for $84. That gives you a retail license instead of oem.
If you are a student, there are academic discounts for the os.

Do a bit of shopping for memory. Any ddr2-800 should work well, the cheaper the better.

If you overclock, expect to pay extra for better cooling and for better memory. I saw somewhere that they had a E8400 for <$200 in stock. There was also an E8500, and E8200. I don't remember where. By the time you get done overclocking, you still don't have a cpu as good as the E8400.

Spend the savings on the vga card which is the critical factor in gaming.