Need some feedback please

[azazelnydm]

Hi all, i need some feedback please on a new shoestring budget gaming build i just did for a customer. I had a mere $725 budget for this including my labour!! Specs are as follows
Intel core 2 duo E8400 3.0GHz 1333fsb cpu
4 GB Ocz Fatal1ty Edition SLI ram (running in expert mode)
Asus Striker Extreme Motherboard at customers request and my relentless efforts to find a new one for him.
OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 450W PSU
Sapphire 5750 1Gb GDDR5 Video Card
The customer also wanted the system pre-overclocked and stable.
Thus i have reached the following specs .
Cpu is running at a Core speed of 4016.53MHz @1.32500V idle temps. 37-38c under load 65-67c
Mutiplier 9.0x
Bus Speed 446.3MHz
Rated FSB 1785.1MHz
The ram is running in sli expert mode at 935 MHz-stock voltage
Video card is set to 835MHz on the core and 1330MHz on the memory.
I have ran Prime95 for 16 hours without error anything above the 1785 fsb on the cpu and prime95 would stop worker#1 on core 1 almost right away and also strange errors would occour in firefox.
Now the customer is saying that 4.5GHz on the cpu and 1333 on the ram should have not been a problem if i knew what i was doing he gaave a $500 deposit with the balance due upon delivery. my question is have i done pretty much all i can do with this budget build and my daughter is currently in need of a system that will play her devil may cry 4 dirt 2 batman arkham asylum and fallout 3 all of wich i know this system can max out on her 32" sony bravia that she uses for her monitor via HDMI cable. So do i give this ungreatful jerk back his deposit and tell him to hit the road and give her the rig or is there more i can do with this to get it closer to the specs he is so sure it will run at but yet lacks the talent and knowledge to build and overclock himself? here is the CPU-z validation and GPU-z validations.

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Thanks for anyfeedback.

 

[Lmeow]

Were you using this on stock cooler? If so... that ungrateful jerk doesn't know what he's talking about. I'd try to have slightly lower temps, but it's not bad. This computer would be pretty good for the games she plays, but I would try selling it - the ASUS Striker Extreme isn't cheap and you could've gone with a Core i3 530 & H55 motherboard for a lot less, and those Core i3s overclock like crazy. Sell the old Core 2 Duo computer to the guy, and tell him to try and o/c to 4.5GHz. Call him a week later and ask how it's going, if he's failing to to 4.5GHz, well, you'll feel a lot better. If you can get it stable on a lower CPU voltage, that might help, otherwise never mind.

 

[azazelnydm]

No it's not on stock cooling i gave him an OCZ vzndetta II that i had laying around my workbench. I am actually on this machine right now so i will i see if i can get stable a lower voltage. But no matter what cooling solution i employ on this i don't think that 4.5 would be obtainable, not because of mobo limitations but because of the cpu itself. i have seen 5GHz on the E8400 but only with liquid nitrogin. And yes the striker extreme is not a cheap mobo although this one cost alot less then the one i have my own rig until my parts arrive from newwegg. I believe i paid a tad over 400 for mine while this one i found brand new on ebay and got it for 150us.
Thanks for the reply i will brb after i try some lower voltages and let you know how they hold up.
Jay

Lol had to edit this...sell it to him and call him up a week later with pic caption.... so how'd that oc work for ya genious !

 

[azazelnydm]

Were you using this on stock cooler? If so... that ungrateful jerk doesn't know what he's talking about. I'd try to have slightly lower temps, but it's not bad. This computer would be pretty good for the games she plays, but I would try selling it - the ASUS Striker Extreme isn't cheap and you could've gone with a Core i3 530 & H55 motherboard for a lot less, and those Core i3s overclock like crazy. Sell the old Core 2 Duo computer to the guy, and tell him to try and o/c to 4.5GHz. Call him a week later and ask how it's going, if he's failing to to 4.5GHz, well, you'll feel a lot better. If you can get it stable on a lower CPU voltage, that might help, otherwise never mind.

Ok i was able to lower the voltage but not by much, i am watching prime95 on that box right now and my load temps i was incorrect on they hovering between 51-54c. I just spoke to the customer a few minutes ago and he is totally unresonable about the oc so i suggested to him your suggestion to pay me the rest of my money and oc it himself as imo i think i have already done more then most system builders would have done for the money he paid. He don't want to pay the rest because I can't get it to 4.5 so my daughter gets the rig .I will however give my daughter the Q8400 out off my striker board when my new parts arrive and sell mine with the e8400 in it as i would not be likely to get my money back out of the one i just did if i tried to sell it. thanks for the reply.

 

[azazelnydm]

Best answer selected by azazelnydm.

 

[coldsleep]

Just a note, you might want to (for future customers) specify that you will pre-overclock, but you will not guarantee any specific speeds.

 

[azazelnydm]

Actually that was stated in the beginning that i could not garentee how far this cpu could be pushed and without my "gift" of the ozc vendetta II cooler the overclock that i was able to achieve would not have been possible. I think this guy was just looking for a way to get the system without paying the rest of the money. I really would not have spent that much on a tower for my daughter with only a mere e8400 instead i would have built her something similar to the i5 i am building for myself. But atleast i got another striker extreme mobo out of the deal. Maybe in the future when a customer comes to me wanting a build of any kind when they try act like they know everything but yet can't do it themselves that might be an indicator to refer them to futureshop and let the geek squad deal with them lol.