E6400 upgrade option?

[powerfuel]

System:
E6400 @ 2.2GHz
P5B dlx
Kingston PC2-5300 (2GB kit) DDR2 333.4MHz 5-5-5-15-2t
GeForce 7950 GT

I'd like to overclock my CPU, I got a nice guide for it but I can't decide which heatsink to take.
Do you have any suggestion for new RAM?
Do you have any idea for a graphic card?

I was thinking at a rad 4850/4870.

 

[obsidian86]

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227199

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150351&cm_re=4850-_-14-150-351-_-Product

or 4870

 

[skora]

Whats the budget and monitor resolution?

 

[powerfuel]

Ah sorry, about 300$ for the upgrade, monitor excluded.
1920x1080 if possible. I think the E6400 is overclockable to 2.6GHz easily, so I bet it still can handle recent game.

 

[skora]

For a 1920x1080, nothing less than a 4870 1gb unless you'll accept lower settings. But anything more might be bottlenecked as the PCIe x16 will be v1.1 and only have half the bandwidth of the current 2.0 slots. That will eat $145 of your budget.

For the cooler, get something that is multi platform. Something (even if its needs a bracket) that is AM2/3, 1156, or 1366 compatable. Since this is a P965 board, its not going to be around much longer. Figure $45 tops.

I'm inclined to say wait on upgrading the ram. It will be expensive and useless once you do a full platform upgrade. At least the GPU and HSF can be used on the next build if picked correctly. A 4gb DDR2 800 set will run $55-$60. Just adding 2gb and accpeting the slower speed would still cost $30-$40 if you get matching kingston.

I'd start with the HSF and GPU. OC the CPU and see where you're at. If you run a lean OS, then gaming should be adaquate on 2gb of ram. Save the money for a platform upgrade.

 

[powerfuel]

Thanks for advices.
I have already checked some benchmark of the 4870 and I'm wondering if it really worth it to buy it with an after market cooler. Link to the list Radeon HD 4870 the price is turning around 160$ for a 1Gb.

For the cooler, do you think I can find an adaptator for that board?

I'll soon buy a new rig with a 1500$ budget, but not until december-january so that's why I need a little more power - I don't think I'll reuse the fan anyway...

 

[obsidian86]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093&cm_re=scyth_mugen-_-35-185-093-_-Product

 

[RetiredChief]

A number of people have hit 3.2 with the E6400
But you would need DDR2 800 memory. Set Bus to 400, mult to 6 (if works at 6 then check x7, then x8) and Mem ratio to 1 to 1

Note: that is what I am running E6400 @ 3.2 - Mem set to 1:1 (FSB = 1600) on a Gigabyte P965-DQ6 and a ATI 4870

 

[skora]

If you're building that soon, I'd hold off on the ram and only buy parts that I was planning to use in the next build. The OEMs really screwed the pooch and haven't had the adapter brackets for even the new HSFs to market yet. Buy a fairly new and high rated HSF for the socket 775 and its shouldn't be long before an adapter bracket is available and you can use it on whatever your next build is.

Same with the GPU, get one that you'll use for your next system, even if it is grossly overpowered now. Then you can either save money then or spend the same and get a second card. But that's part of why you'd need to do some early planning, either nvidia and an Intel CPU later or ATI and leave AMD or Intel CPUs as an option. But you could spend all your budget on the newer cards. If you just want something to get you through a few months, the 4850 can be an option, better suited for 1680x1050, but cheaper than the 4870.

You never mentioned you're using $CAD, so thats why my prices were off.

 

[powerfuel]

Mmmmh, 3.2GHz? Is it your 24/7 settings?
@skora. I really want to keep that computer functional. For my next build, I'll probably using a new version of the radeon 5XXX.

Update list:
Thanks for the Fan suggestion,
Scythe 2 retail:37$US
For the G/C:
I wanted to have the GTX 275 in SLI for my new build before I learn that a new gen of card were coming. I didn't know that the E6400 could be clocked that high, so why not using all the juice from it and put a single 275 GTX on it? I've already read some benchmark of this card and it has pretty good comments.
GTX 275 retail: 235$CA

I hit a total of ~272$ without tax.

Tell me what you think bout these sticks:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145239

 

[obsidian86]

the ram looks good,but what resolution is your monitor?

 

[powerfuel]

My PSU is a bit old, do you know any program able to test it?
By memory, it is a 550W corsair and it has atleast 2 years.

 

[powerfuel]

1920x1080

 

[skora]

That ram should work just fine at rated speeds. 3 things to know. First, all 3 will run at the speed of the slowest ram or 667mhz. Second, watch the voltages if they aren't the same. You don't want to cook one chip to run with the others. Third, adding a 3rd chip will have all 3 run in single channel mode, lowering performance a little. If you can get a 2x1gb kit, it would work a little better. Try to get something that has the same specs since kingston doesn't seem to have something price appropriate.

The 275 GTX is a good card. Will come close to saturating a pcie 1.0 x16, but not quite. Anything bigger would be a waste in more ways than one. If you can get the CPU clocked over 3ghz, should be a very good system.

The other option is settle for a 4870 1gb or 4890 if you can squeeze it in, and then get a full set of 4gb 1066 ddr2 ram. I think it will be a little more balanced and give you the best shot at a good OC on the CPU. Even though the 275 is a superior card, I think the rest of the system will hold it back from stretching its legs.

 

[obsidian86]

i dont think you need to test a 2 yr old corsair psu