1st overclock build, What do you think ?

NeVeR

Hi All,

I've built PC's before but i'm doing my 1st over clocking PC and need advice on what works with what and what not to buy

I've got a max budget of €600 - The PC is for 3D design and using 3Ds Max and Photoshop. ( It's only a hobby not a pro)

I'll be buying from http://www2.hardwareversand.de as it's the cheapest i've seen,

I going with the following

I want to overclock this from 2.8 to about 3.5 on the stock fan, I've see some vid's showing this to be possible.

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=34042&agid=1242 cost €158

Motherboard
ASUS M4A87TD/USB3
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=34244&agid=1232 cost €80

RAM: I wanted 8 gig But not sure what to get. As i said above I'll be doing design work and rendering images/movies. I dont want to spend over €90 on RAM. So suggestion welcome.

Power supply. I was thinking about 600watts ?

GPU - I need something with HDMI- I wont be using this for gaming just design so I dont need a massive GPU

Any help would be great.

Below is a finished order I was thinking of buying. But not buying anything till i hear from the Pros

Solitaire

I'd just get a better cooler if I were you. We're talking a CPU that can hit 125W at stock.

Also, why the GT220? There are cheaper nVidia solutions out there.

NeVeR

Solitaire wrote: »

I'd just get a better cooler if I were you. We're talking a CPU that can hit 125W at stock.

Also, why the GT220? There are cheaper nVidia solutions out there.

I got the GT220 cos it has Cuda. I might be able to use it.

What Cooler would you suggest. I've never installed a cooler, Does it just replace the stock FAN ?

Also what GPU would you get ?

Solitaire

There are cheaper nVidia cards out there - all their cards from DX10 onwards have CUDA. You can get GT220s from €45 up on HWVS, no need to blow €65 on one! You could get a much more powerful GT240 for €57! And on the other hand there are 9500GTs for under €40 if you want to economise.

As for cooler, yes it just replaces the stock fan. If your case is big enough a Xigmatek Gaia costs little over €20 and will provide a massive cooling boost. If your case is too small then you can get a cheaper Arctic Freezer 7 Rev2 instead.

NeVeR

If i get a cooler would i be able to get 4gig ? or would i need a better cooler ?

i was looking at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFGPJEIVPto

Solitaire

The Arctic should allow you to stay cool at 3.5GHz or run a bit higher, although also a bit warmer. The Gaia should keep things postively frosty in there until you get close to 4GHz. The catch is that a lot of it depends on how "good" your CPU is - lucky and you'll be hitting 3.6GHz with stock volts and hitting 4.2GHz with the Gaia and still be running cool, unlucky and you'll have to increase the CPU voltage as soon as you reach 3.4GHz and will be running pretty warm even with the Gaia at only 3.8GHz. It all depends on how much extra voltage you'll have to pump in to get past 4GHz.

I do have issues with that mainboard though. I'm not a huge fan of Asus; they've gone really cheap and nasty lately. There are no VRM heatsinks on that mobo, which is a bad sign for OC stability and could also mean its dangerous to OC a 125W CPU on there. The final nail in the coffin is that the uncooled VRMs take up the entire rear of the mobo, pushing the CPU socket abnormally close to the DIMM slots. This is a serious issue for you as you have selected oversized RAM modules and any cooler other than the stock cooler will block some of the RAM slots close to the CPU.

NeVeR

Thanks for that info.. Glad i posted this as I would not have known that,

I want the AMD 6 core. But i dont mind spending a few extra euro on a better mother board.

I've been told to get CL7 ram how is this
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=40557&agid=1192 ? is it still over sized ?

Solitaire can you do me a favour.. I know i seem to ask ya alot but can you post a Spec trying to keep under €600,,, Something you would build for yourself.

6 cores
8 gig ram(if possible)
and all the rest,

Thanks

Solitaire

Those are normal height, but why CL7? Faster (1600MHz+) CL9 RAM would perform just as good and most likely be cheaper. No matter what I tried it just seems to be an AM3 foible that the CPU is mashed up against the RAM, which causes all sorts of RAM/cooler issues. So sticking with RAM modules under 35mm in height is definitely the way to go for AM3 nowadays unless you're using watercooling!

€550 shipped:



Better mobo (I know saying ASRock > Asus is a paradox, but it just is!!), better RAM, better HDD, better (or at least more expandable) case. And over €40 cheaper. Win!

The GPU and PSU could easily be upgraded within budget to a GT240+550W mix for ~€20-25, which still leaves cash spare... unless you do need a DVD drive and just forgot to spec one!