GUIDE: 3+GHz Core 2 Duo Budget System for $426 (Overclock)

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wiz83

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********** SHOP LIST **********

NOTE: This is my second(2nd) version of the similar guide I wrote 6 months ago. The main difference between these two(2) guides are the prices ($631 vs $456), CPU (E6300 vs E4300), RAM (1GB vs 2GB), and Graphics Card (7300GT/X800GTO vs 7600GT/X1650XT), and as you could compare, this latest guide's recommendation is not only better than the previous setup, it is also $175 cheaper. The list of item that I recommend here are solely based on a low budget system (and will remain a budget system), and would definitely achieve the results of hitting at least 3GHz. You might think that some items don't suit you, instead of other alternatives, which might be cheaper and better, if that's the case, go ahead and purchase that instead, but I can't guarantee that you'd achieve the same result as mine, as you might get better/worse results. Some might argue that X1650XT is a better graphic card than 7600GT, but I prefer 7600GT, as it could be purchased for a cheaper price after rebate. My personal advice, read from this guide, learn from it, and shop smart, and buy whatever fits within your budget. There is always a difference between $456 spent on a 3GHz system, compared to $2000 spent on a 4GHz system, but whether that kind of money is available to everybody, would be a question to be answered individually. I personally think for the price you're paying for this system, would definitely be good money spent.

CPU: Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale (Retail Box with HSF) - $114
HSF: Stock HSF - $0
M/B: BioStar TForce965PT (Open Box) - $52
RAM: 2x 1GB SuperTalent PC2-5300 DDR2-667MHz CL5 - $56
GPU: 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 - $75 ($110-$35MIR)
HDD: Seagate 7200.10 160GB SATA2 (3.0Gb/s) - $52
DVD: 16x DVD Writer - $29
FDD: 1.44" Floppy Disk Drive - $5
PSU: ChiefMax 650W $20
CASE: Generic Case (without PSU) - $12
FAN: 4x 8CM Fan ($1.50 each) & 1x 12CM Fan ($5 each) - $11

TOTAL: $426


Price Updated on June 12, 2007.


********** EXPLANATION OF CHOICE **********

CPU: Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale (Retail Box with HSF) - $117
As this is the cheapest C2D available on the market, and a proven great overclocker, I chose this processor. These Allendale cores has a 2MB L2 cache, instead of the 4MB on other higher end Conroe models. But benchmarks have proven the 2MB in cache differences only accumulate up to a mere 2-3% increase in performance, which I personally think doesn't do any justice for the price difference.

HSF: Stock HSF - $0
You may want to purchase a better HSF, which will cost you more money, but the stock HSF shouldn't have problems getting you above 3GHz for the time being. Since we're low on budget, we don't want to spend more money on something we've got, that we've already paid for along with the retail box CPU.

M/B: BioStar TForce965PT (Open Box) - $52
I chose this motherboard as this is the cheapest proven overclockable motherboard on the market. I've purchased two(2) of these, Open Box OEM from NewEgg and both has proven to work flawlessly. This model does not come with RAID, but if RAID is desired, purchase the Deluxe edition of the same model. Other alternatives would be to purchase Gigabyte's lineup of motherboards with the P965 chipsets, especially S3/DS3 which has been proven to be of great value. Since we're building a budget system, we'd avoid RAID, as RAID motherboard costs more, so do extra HDDs. But if you want to have a RAID system, go for the other alternative motherboard recommended above, or even purchase a RAID Controller Card later in the future.

RAM: 2x 1GB SuperTalent PC2-5300 DDR2-667MHz CL5 - $83
If you've been staying around and reading reviews on RAM modules recently, SuperTalent have been producing pretty good RAM modules. The best RAM modules in the market are equipped with Micron D9 chipsets, but they come at a higher price. I have personally got great success from these SuperTalent modules, and the price is unbeatable. Since our goal would be to hit 3GHz, we aren't really putting much stress on the RAM, therefore it makes sense to go with the choice I've chosen above.

GPU: 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 - $75 ($110-$35MIR)
Since we're building a budget system, we need to make sure we're spending good money for our graphic cards. After looking at all the graphic cards below $100 available, we came to conclusion that 7600GT and the X1650XT were the best cards for the money. The X1650XT produces a slightly better raw performance in games, compared to 7600GT at stock speed, but it can be countered with a mild overclock. The $35 Mail In Rebate offered is unbeatable. The other reason to stick with DirectX 9 cards would be that none of the DirectX 10 card in the market justify the price of its performance, unless you have money to spend on 8800GTS, which could be purchased for $219 after rebate. The only card falls under the $100 from the DirextX 10 models are 8500GT, and the performance compared to what we've chosen is totally unacceptable, whereas the 8600GT is priced around the $150 region, with a very mild advantage over 7600GT, which doesn't justify for its $75 price tag difference. It'd be wise to stay with 7600GT for the time being.

HDD: Seagate 160GB SATA2 (3.0Gb/s) - $52
The reason I chose Seagate was because of the fact that the 7200.10 models are running on Perpendicular Recording Technology. You could go with any SATA2 (3.0Gb/s) HDD you're comfortable with.

DVD: 16x DVD Writer - $29
Need I explain further? :p

FDD: 1.44" Floppy Disk Drive - $5
Some may need it, some not, but this definitely comes in handy when you want flash your bios, or even running MemTest86+ on a bootable DOS floppy disk. (NOTE: BioStar's motherboard has built-in MemTest)

PSU: ChiefMax 650W $20
If there's any parts that I have doubt in my guide, it would be this power supply. I have had bad experiences with ChiefMax, and some good ones. My first ChiefMax PSU I used for a Core 2 Duo setup was about 3 months ago on a E6300, and has proven to be a reliable power supply for me. After since, I've built 4 systems on top of this ChiefMax model, and has yet to have any problems. After overclocking, the Vcore fluctuates 0.08V between idle and load, which is indeed very good. 650W is way more than enough for the parts I recommended above, and even if ChiefMax can't supply 650W of pure power, anything between 400-450W would power up this system easily. You may choose another brand of PSU which comes at a higher price tag, but I would stick with ChiefMax till I face problems with them. According to some reviews, some of ChiefMax's PSU may be shipped Dead On Arrival (DOA), and you may want to check for such problems and get it replaced ASAP.

CASE: Generic Case (without PSU) - $12
Since we're building a budget system, we don't want to be spending too much money on a case. Better branded casings may have better air ventilation, but this can be solved with adding more fans.

FAN: 4x 8CM Fan ($1.50 each) & 1x 12CM Fan ($5 each) - $11
Since we're using generic casing, which doesn't promote good air flow circulation, we'd need plenty of extra fans to counter that issue. Some may perfer to go with 12cm fans instead of 8cm ones, if you do, purchase a casing that would allow you to install them.





********** INSTALLATION/SETTINGS **********

*** NOTE: Each system reacts differently, and these settings might differ on others, but shouldn't have problems achieving 3GHz, as I've achieved (9x 412MHz) 3.708GHz with a full load temperature at 66C, but decided to bring it down to 3.573GHz running 60-61C at full load. Your settings may (most probably) be different, especially Voltages, precisely Vcore and Vdimm, therefore take extreme precaution and test it based on trial and error. If you have any problems/questions regarding the settings, feel free to ask them, and I'll be helping you out with it, as long as I still own the same setup, I could still fully support/help with troubleshooting, etc.

1) Assemble all the parts, and install all those Fans to increase casing's air flow circulation.

2) Flash Bios with Latest version. (P96RH404)
Note: Customized hacked Bios available from http://www.lejabeach.com/Biostar/965pt/

3) Enter Bios Settings

********** FOR BIOSTAR TFORCE965PT **********
CPU Thermal Control: Disable
Limit CPUID MaxVal: Disable
C1E Function: Disable
Execute Disable Bit: Disable
Virtualization Technology: Disable
Shutdown Temperature: 70C (Auto Shutdown if CPU above 70C)
*** CPU Voltage: 1.40V ***
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.4V
(G)MCH: 1.55V
Memory Voltage: 1.80V
PCIE Clock: Fixed 100MHz
System Memory Frequency: 533MHz (1:1 Ratio)
CPU Clock: 334MHz
DRAM Timing: 5-5-5-15 (NOTE: I have successfully run 4-4-4-12 @2.1V)


********** FOR GIGABYTE MODELS **********
Advanced BIOS Features
- Disable CPUID Max to 3
- Disable No-Execute Memory Protection
- Disable C1E
- Disable TM2
- Disable EIST
- Disable Virtualization Technology

PC Health Status
- Disable Smart Fan Control Method

Motherboard Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.)
- Press Ctrl+F1 for Advanced Settings
- CPU Clock Ratio (CPU Multiplier) at 9x
- CPU Host Frequency (FSB) at 334MHz
- PCI Express Frequency at 100MHz
- Disable CIA2
- System Memory Multiplier at 2.00 (1:1 Ratio)
- DRAM Timing at 5-5-5-15 (NOTE: I have successfully run 4-4-4-12 @2.1V)
-DDR2 OverVoltage Control NORMAL (1.8V)
- FSB OverVoltage +0.2V (1.4V)
- (G)MCH Voltage +0.1V (1.55V)
- *** CPU Voltage at 1.40V ***

*** Your settings may vary. Some may achieve stability at higher voltage, whereas some may achieve stability at a lower voltage. ***



Room Temperature: 25.9C - 28.1C (Reading from my Room's Digital Thermometer)
CPU Temperature: 39C (Idle) - 55C (Full Load)
Passed Prime95 Torture/Stress Test for 15 Hours 26 Minutes.
Passed MemTest86+ 1.65 for 11 Hours 21 Minutes.





********** PICTURES (NEEDS UPDATE) **********

The pictures below were not updated, as I did not have a MMC card reader to upload the pictures from my latest system I built 2 days ago, which is similar to the setup I had above. I will update the pictures as soon as I get a MMC card reader.

The pictures below are from E6300 running at 3GHz, which was my previous version of the same guide, priced at $631. The new setup should look slightly different, and better as well, since the major difference here is an upgraded 7600GT, as opposed to the 7300GT/X800GTO in the previous guide, and 1GB vs 2GB of RAM.

- Invoice (Red-Boxes are censor box. Had to do it to protect my privacy, and my part's serial number for registration/warranty purposes, and yes I'm paranoid)


- Parts


- Case: Front


- Case: Side (Closed)


- Case: Side (Opened)


- Case: Side Panel


- Case: Inside


- Full Load after more than 10 Hours 50 Minutes


- Passed Stress/Torture Test for 10 Hours 52 Minutes with 0 Errors and 0 Warnings


- SuperPI


- 3DMark2001SE


- 3DMark06


- PCMark05






********** EXTRAS **********

This system can definitely overclock much higher (Intel's specified max temp is 61.2C, but I've seen friends who run 24 hours stable at 67C). What I'm trying to prove here with the settings and temperature is that, these settings can be easily achieved, with a mere $456. I will try to post more pictures, and possibly more benchmarks, so check back soon.

Wilson
 

orangegator

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Nice guide. However, I am very skeptical about temperatures with a stock hsf @3Ghz. Are you stressing it with TAT or just Orthos/ Prime95? TAT seems to increase the temperature much more than Orthos at full load. I have a E4300 @3GHz, 1.29V, an ACF7P, x23 TIM, and many case fans. I idle at 27C and TAT load at 54C, but Orthos load is only 46C, both read from speedfan.
 

wiz83

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I stress them with Prime95, on two instances.
I've got plenty of fans running through the casing, which dropped the temperature by 6C, as opposed to without any fans. Those $11 invested in fans in exchange for 6C during load, helps out a lot.

Besides that, I have not encountered a E4300 that wouldn't overclock to at least 3GHz that I've personally dealt with on stock HSF. This is my 4th E4300 I'm overclocking since February.

Anyway, I'm going to attempt to lower the Vcore slowly, till I achieve absolute stability at the lowest Vcore possible, and therefore expect the CPU temperature to be lower.

To lower your temp, you might want to consider lapping your HSF.
 

orangegator

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I actually did lap the heatsink. However, I do suspect the cpu is slightly concave. I suggest you try running Intel TAT and see what temps you get @ 3GHz and stock cooling. I bet you it is Much higher that you get with dual Prime95. What I mean is the temperature as read by Speedfan while TAT is running, not on TAT itself (it typical reports 15Chigher than actual). Let me know the results. I am curious.
 

Featherstone

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I'd say if you're putting together a guide not to use open box products since those are kind of a one time deal. I'd say that you used such and such open box products, and then maybe suggest an optional non-open box product that the people using the guide could use. Also giving links to all of the parts would be good.

Anyway, looks like a great guide tho.
 

lordaardvark2

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great guide, WiZ83!

verynice.gif


i'm planning a budget build and i will certainly use this as a place to start. thank you very much!
 

wiz83

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I did recommend a few motherboards.

The BioStar TForce965PT's brand new costs $90, and the Deluxe version costs $105. The difference between them is the non-Deluxe uses ICH8 Southbridge, without RAID, whereas the Deluxe version uses ICH8R, which comes with RAID. The board I used before this was the Deluxe version, and decided to give this non-Deluxe a try, and it worked out perfectly.

The other budget boards I recommended are Gigabyte 965P S3 and DS3, difference are Catalytic Capacitors vs Solid State Capacitors. I read some users having problems with setting up RAID on Gigabyte's motherboard, my first attempt to setup RAID on them seemed to be a bit difficult, whereas the RAID setup for BioStar's motherboard seemed to work flawlessly on my first attempt. Gigabyte's JMicron RAID Controller seemed to be not as easy to setup as Intel's on-board RAID Controller.

If you purchase a non-OpenBox version, you'd still be able to get the whole system around $500, which is really cheap for the performance you get. Some people had problems with OpenBox, but you get 14-days from NewEgg to test things out, and if it doesn't work as it's supposed to, send it back, and NewEgg will issue a 100% Refund on it, or replace em' if they still got them in stock. Out of the last 9 systems I built, 6 has been Open Box, and only 1 came DOA, and NewEgg handled them well. In fact, all Open Box from NewEgg I received, did indeed looked like new, and there wasn't any screw marks, or any signs of usage, and the best of all, it comes with its retail box, and full accessories.

I actually did lap the heatsink. However, I do suspect the cpu is slightly concave. I suggest you try running Intel TAT and see what temps you get @ 3GHz and stock cooling. I bet you it is Much higher that you get with dual Prime95. What I mean is the temperature as read by Speedfan while TAT is running, not on TAT itself (it typical reports 15Chigher than actual). Let me know the results. I am curious.

All the temperatures from SpeedFan, CoreTemp, and Intel TAT report the same temperature, with CoreTemp's temperature 1C higher occasionally. I even had a temperature/heat sensor sticked to the heatsink and it shows the right temperature. Trust me, I know what I'm doing, this is not the first time I overclock. :wink:
 

wiz83

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My previous guide gained almost 70k views, and most people did try to ask a moderator to sticky it, but it didn't get stickied. I personally think this guide should serve a good reference, at least for the next 3 months to come, or till a graphics card's price drop.

Regarding the temperature, it's only 3GHz, it's not that high, and each and every four(4) E4300 I've encountered, hit more than 3GHz on stock HSF. But like I said, I've got an ambient temperature of around 25-28C, sometimes lower as I've got AC on most of the time now.
 

rammedstein

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lol, i don't see the point in tesating with TAT, if only TAT can get to them levels, and nothing else can, why test that high? nothing is going to reach it...
 

melarcky

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i would love that system at Stock Frequancys i mean Damn for under $500 thats an amazing deal
just one year ago THG did a budget system it was was something like
gf 6600
amd 3000+ and 512ram or something
It makes me want to save my cash and get somethign like that
 

amdwilliam1985

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excellent guide. That's what I call a "best bang for the buck". I'm going to build a system for a friend soon, seeing your guide gives a lot of inspirations. Thanks again.
 

wiz83

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Vdimm can be set to 2.2V max on the BioStar motherboard, and yes, it is compatible with GA-965P-DS3. I've built a lot of systems off the S3 and DS3 motherboards.

If you need higher than 2.2V, you can do a Vdimm Mod.
 

Dr_asik

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Could you post alternatives for the SuperTalent RAM? That brand isn't too common here in Canada it seems. Is the Corsair ValueSelect any good, for instance?
 

Dr_asik

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By making this guide you make it sound like everyone can have a 3ghz core 2 pc for under $500, while the truth is you can get a far more powerful amd system in general for that same budget
Exactly what kind of AMD system for under 500$ is much more powerful than a Core2Duo at 3Ghz? 8O
 

wiz83

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This BioStar motherboard is indeed a very good overclocker. The default bios supports up to only 400MHz, but if you flash the bios, it hits up to 600MHz.

The reason I went with this motherboard is because I read a lot of reviews, even TomsHardware, Anandtech, and a few other sites reviewed this board against the Gigabyte, Asus and MSI lineups of motherboards, and this motherboard is the only one to hit 580MHz. And if you search up google, go to dedicated forums for this motherboard, you'd see many people having trouble with this board, but once the bios is flashed, they're all grateful, and a lot of them RMA their S3 and DS3 motherboards to go with this.

The initial bios needs to be updated, and once you've done that, you're almost guaranteed a high overclock, depending on your CPU/RAM combination.

I personally am not a BioStar fan, nor am I an Intel fan, but I go for the best bang for the buck.

I'm having a finals now, I will update my guide further, and thanks for the comments Taco, I appreciate your input. :)
 

JonathanDeane

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By making this guide you make it sound like everyone can have a 3ghz core 2 pc for under $500, while the truth is you can get a far more powerful amd system in general for that same budget
Exactly what kind of AMD system for under 500$ is much more powerful than a Core2Duo at 3Ghz? 8O\


lol was kinda wondering that myself (maybe he means that some other components could be better with a cheaper CPU and mobo ? although thats a tough one since the CPU is just a little over 100$ and the mobo is cheap as well....)
 

flasher702

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Quote:
FDD: 1.44" Floppy Disk Drive - $5

Some may need it, some not, but this definitely comes in handy when you want flash your bios, or even running MemTest86+ on a bootable DOS floppy disk. (NOTE: BioStar's motherboard has built-in MemTest)

DIE FDD!!! die die!

You can easily run Memtest, or any other program designed to run from a floppy disk, from a bootable CD with the use of VFD http://chitchat.at.infoseek.co.jp/vmware/vfd.html in 32bit windows, a bootable floppy image (download it from anywhere), and any current cd burning software. For the love of god please stop buying them. You only encourage lazy programmers to keep making apps for them. I persoanlly flashed my BIOS from CD then ran Memtest from CD on my last computer build after forcing them to run on a bootable CD. If your motherboard will boot from a flash drive it should be even easier.

Otherwise the build looks ok. The PSU is maybe a bit on the cheap side and some of the prices seem a bit lower than what might be readily obtainable or reliable. You can't exactly make a "guide" that tells people to buy something for a price using gimmicks that may not be available. You may as well tell them to buy a FAR case w/ PSU that'll sure save a bundle on a computer build but you might have to wait awhile to find one and who knows what the quality control will be like when you get it.

Without gimmicks, open box deals, cheap PSU or MIRs the cost for this build is closer to $580, no? Still a decent gaming build at that price.

For a mid to low-end rig that won't have heat issues or put large electrical load spikes on the PSU a cheapy psu rated for ~2x what the system requires should work fine. Not for an OCed gaming rig.

Oh, and it's a dvd "writer" ;) (firefox w/ real time spell-check rules)
 

skyguy

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A new Guide, eh Wiz? Good job!

And remember people, this is a Guide, not a rulebook. Temps, specs, etc can vary, but overall I say it's a great resource to newbies looking to do performance on the cheap.
 

wiz83

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Tacos, I have to agree on your argument on the PSU, but I will have to tell you one thing. This BioStar motherboard that I'm using, if you do enough search and read up, it is proven to be a very stable motherboard. In fact, I ordered 2 of these from NewEgg, as they only allowed me to do a maximum of 2 orders for open-box promotions, and the current system I recommended here is running on 3.4GHz, and the other one is currently running on 3.708GHz on BigTyphoon + Silverstone FM121. I've already got a buyer to pay me $800 for the 3.7GHz system, and I'm still testing it, and it has been proven to run 100% stable passing dual Prime95 stable for 24 hours at maximum 62C full load, I'm still trying to reduce Vcore, and other voltages, and tweak around, and then work on overclocking the graphics card for him. All the problems with the motherboard has been solved with bios update, as far as I'm concerned, after reading some ppl's complaint. The motherboard you're recommending (DS3) is indeed a great motherboard, I've built several systems off S3 and DS3, but if you could save $80 by just flashing bios, don't you think it's worth it? I would flash a bios just to save $10, nonetheless $80. So, I don't quite understand why you're still not convinced this motherboard is indeed a good stable overclocker's motherboard?

... you can get an oem x2 3600 for $69, a fairly good RETAIL am2 board for under $100 or a bit over $100 if you want integrated gfx, a nice arctic cooling freezer 64 for under $20 at most sites, and have roughly $300 more to spend on parts and these are all new products here. If you want to go openbox, you could save tons more money and get the cpu+mobo and cpu cooling for $100 total if you looked hard enough, meaning roughly $400 to spend on other components and you'll still have a fairly fast computer. I personally wouldn't buy an intel board below the quality of the ds3, and that one is pretty constantly at $130, so if you got a proven oc board, the cheapest you could go would be over $200, or perhaps a bit under if you go openbox, but the amount left for a worthwhile psu would be more, something that really counts and people overlook it

If you want to save even more, go AMD, I could even go out purchase a full 486 system for $20, no doubt about it, but it can't provide you the performance a C2D could. You're mentioning fanboy, I'm personally a fan of AMD, but I will not pour money into something that that doesn't justify for what I paid for. The 3.7GHz E4300 system I built, is in fact very stable, like I mentioned above, I did a benchmark, and beats Athlon FX-62 and 6000+ in all the SuperPi benchmark I did. I decoded a 120minutes video and compressed to XViD in 98 minutes, which no AMD processors could do that for. And tell me, which AMD processor could overclock as much as any C2D, especially on a stock HSF. Besides that, Intel is running on 65nm, and AMD on 90nm, which uses more energy, produces more heat, and harder to overclock in overall as well. Talking about efficiency, hands down Intel the winner. Perhaps you might be left behind in terms of technology, C2D's are no similar to NetBurst, it's a total new structure, and I'm quite surprised that I've got many friends, who are actually convinced AMD is still leading the processor market. There's a reason AMD is going through a business restructure, they've been losing a lot of market share, and they haven't been able to produce a product that could even come close to beating Intel's lineups, and thus, their fastest processor the Athlon X2 6000+'s initial price tag is not at $1000, it's actually $225. About a year ago, you will not be able to buy AMD's fastest processor for less than $700.

Again, don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of AMD, but I will not pour more money into a sinking boat, and I do not wish AMD to go out of business. AMD is the reason Intel's price has gone down and become more affordable, and I want them to stay in the market, as it would be of great help to us consumers.
 

RichPLS

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Taco, it seems it is you who are portraying the fanboy... since you are trying to bust up the party on how to build a KILLER RIG for on the cheap...
And no, AMD does not have competion that can beat the performance for the prices, period.
And yes, they do overclock stable. I have no problem running 3.2GHz 24/7 on air and stable running orthos, granted I have not run it more than an hour, but enough for me to be comfortable... besides, what other times do you stress your system like orthos....
No BFD since at all other times your PC never reaches that level of output... hence it is stable.
 

skyguy

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I've owned both AMD and Intel, and I'm no fanboy either way. There are pros and cons to each. Yes, AMD offers a cheaper solution.....and it can be a very good solution for a gaming rig. An X2 3600, cheap mobo, 2 gigs RAM, and a good vid card is great for gaming, no doubt.

On the other hand, an overclocked C2D offers much more horsepower, but it also costs more, generally speaking. And depending on how hard you push an overclock, it isn't for everyone. Duly noted.


So Taco has a point. However, Wiz's post was not about which solution is better. It is simply a post for people that WANT to go with C2D, this gives them the opportunity to learn HOW to overclock fairly easily, and how to do it on the cheap. So for someone who plans on going Intel, this is very useful. Wiz has not made any argument for/against AMD, he is simply saying that if someone wants to do C2D on the cheap, then here's how.

Is AMD or Intel "better"? It depends. But the proper answer is: "It doesn't matter." That is not the question. Rather, the question posed here in this topic is: "How can I get an overclocked C2D gaming rig on the cheap?". And the answer is: "Read Wiz's Guide".


Now, let's all move beyond the AMD/Intel thing, it has no place here. Nor does open box/OEM/retail. Wiz isn't being deceiving.....he's stated his reasoning right off the bat, and also stated that it was his PREFERENCE, and that everyone can choose another option. So no need to knock that either and split hairs. Let's also move beyond that.

This Guide isn't for everyone. But for those looking to do some easy overclocking for a budget gaming rig on a C2D platform, it's very good and easily understood by newbies. Hopefully this will save most of us alot of time from rehashing this info over and over again.

So, thank you Wiz for your Guide. It is what it is, and serves its purpose well.