Hi
I am thinking of ordering the following system today. Please let me know if you have any comments. There is no graphics card as I will be using my x1550 until the HD4870 is released. I also already have a 24" monitor (thanks to work).
I considered the e2160, but have read that the e7200 should overclock a little higher and that the 3MB of cache vs 1MB will make a bit of a difference in games and some applications. From what I have read, the 6MB cache on the e8xxx series gives about a 10% increase clock for clock over the 3MB e7200. I am presuming a 1MB cache will drop performance further (I think the sweet spot is somewhere around 2-4MB). I also like the lower power requirements and the other slight enhancements.
I would be looking at pushing the e7200 to a 400MHz FSB and am presuming I can drop the multiplier from 9.5x to 9x or 8x if needed (would give me 3.8GHz, 3.6GHz and 3.2GHz, respectively). I may upgrade to a quad core late next year if I need the extra cores.
If you know of a cheaper, good PCIe 2.0 16x motherboard, let me know. I need a 2.0 board as I believe the HD4870 will start pushing the 16x 1.0/1.1 slot (the review I read shows a slight bottleneck at 8x PCIe 2.0 / 16x PCIe 1.1 on the high end cards right now). Currently, my preference is the GA-EX38.
Also, advice about RAM would be appreciated. I am looking at spending around $100 or less on RAM. The way I understand it, just about any decent DDR2-800 RAM will be sufficient.
GIGABYTE GA-EX38-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard
$199.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128089
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7200
$134.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
$36.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound
$6.99
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996580
$25.00 Mail-in Rebate
$114.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146726
Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DVR-115DBK
$29.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$84.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$119.99
ASUS Xonar D2 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Ultra Fidelity Sound Card with Complete Dolby/DTS Sound
$164.9
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
$129.99
Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 Speaker
$78.99
Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 Black USB Ergonomics Keyboard Mouse Included
$21.99
Thanks!
I am thinking of ordering the following system today. Please let me know if you have any comments. There is no graphics card as I will be using my x1550 until the HD4870 is released. I also already have a 24" monitor (thanks to work).
I considered the e2160, but have read that the e7200 should overclock a little higher and that the 3MB of cache vs 1MB will make a bit of a difference in games and some applications. From what I have read, the 6MB cache on the e8xxx series gives about a 10% increase clock for clock over the 3MB e7200. I am presuming a 1MB cache will drop performance further (I think the sweet spot is somewhere around 2-4MB). I also like the lower power requirements and the other slight enhancements.
I would be looking at pushing the e7200 to a 400MHz FSB and am presuming I can drop the multiplier from 9.5x to 9x or 8x if needed (would give me 3.8GHz, 3.6GHz and 3.2GHz, respectively). I may upgrade to a quad core late next year if I need the extra cores.
If you know of a cheaper, good PCIe 2.0 16x motherboard, let me know. I need a 2.0 board as I believe the HD4870 will start pushing the 16x 1.0/1.1 slot (the review I read shows a slight bottleneck at 8x PCIe 2.0 / 16x PCIe 1.1 on the high end cards right now). Currently, my preference is the GA-EX38.
Also, advice about RAM would be appreciated. I am looking at spending around $100 or less on RAM. The way I understand it, just about any decent DDR2-800 RAM will be sufficient.
GIGABYTE GA-EX38-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard
$199.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128089
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7200
$134.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
$36.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound
$6.99
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996580
$25.00 Mail-in Rebate
$114.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146726
Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DVR-115DBK
$29.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$84.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$119.99
ASUS Xonar D2 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Ultra Fidelity Sound Card with Complete Dolby/DTS Sound
$164.9
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
$129.99
Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 Speaker
$78.99
Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 Black USB Ergonomics Keyboard Mouse Included
$21.99
Thanks!