_Slacker

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Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2.0 GHz
EVGA 8800GTS 320MB
Corsair XMS2 2GB (2X1GB) PC2-5400 DDR2-667
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit Edition

Those are what my current system has. I'm looking to upgrade over the summer. I don't really care about the cutting edge, but I would like a good upgrade over what I currently have. I'm not looking to upgrade my motherboard yet, but I will if I must. I will mainly be using this machine for gaming and the occasional HD movie, and I want to overclock.

I have narrowed down my components to the following:

RAM:
G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
G.SKILL F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK PC2-8500 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
Corsair XMS2 Dominator TWIN2X4096-8500C5D 4GB 2X2GB PC2-8500 DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Memory Kit

CPU:
E8400
E8500

I'm going to get a Radeon HD 4870. What manufacturer do you think is the best?

Since my motherboard can only support up to 1333MHz on the FSB, does that mean that overclocking will be useless?
 

irkjab

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I'd go for the E8400, unless you want to spend $22 for 0.16 ghz more.

As for the 4870, I'd go with sapphire.

You can overclock just fine with that board.
 
The other factor you want to look at when choosing memory is the voltage. Lower is better. You don't need more than 800Mhz memory if you aren't going beyond a 400 FSB, so you might want to consider some lower latency RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209&Tpk=PI%20Black

Otherwise, the 1000mhz kit you mentioned first is a good plan. The Corsair is overpriced.


If you are going to overclock, you'll get about the same performance from either CPU. Push the E8400 to 3.6Ghz and you are set.
 

hundredislandsboy

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Check Gigabyte's website for your motherboard's specs. I'm certain it can go to 1600 FSB with overclock BIOS settings. I have the e8400 which is stable at 4.0 GHz on 1.3675 vcore. I also have the exact RAM you listed and it works perfect at stock and OC settings.
 

_Slacker

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Thanks for the replies so far! I was wondering if there was a difference between the E8400 and the E8500 other than the few MHz. Since it doesn't seem like it, then the E8500 isn't what I want.

Proximon: that RAM seems pretty good; I'll definitely check it out.

My motherboard says "Supports1333/1066/800 MHz FSB". I guess what I was asking in my first post was whether or not my motherboard can support a FSB faster than 1333MHz when overclocked if the stock was 1333MHz, or if 1333MHz was the absolute highest it could go.
 
In this case, that's just a statement of the supported CPUs. The E8400 runs on a 333mhz FSB. The "quad pumped" 1333mhz is kind of a marketing number.

I think your P35 board will probably hit 400 FSB with ease. Anything more I'm not sure of, but in general I have heard P35 boards OC pretty well, just not quite the same as P45.
 
On average people with 8500 and 8600s get slightly higher maximum overclocks, but I'd go with the 8400 myself since it really just all depends on your sample. You can get a decent overclock out of it on that board. For the RAM I'd go with Corsair or Mushkin. As for the 4870 just check the warranty and bundle.
 

_Slacker

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Ok, I think I've decided to go with the following:

RAM:
G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
(http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209)

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
(http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037)

Video Card:
SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
(http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810)

I'm also planning on getting an aftermarket CPU heatsink. Is this one a good price to performance ratio? (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134). How much can this CPU be overclocked with an aftermarket cooler?

Any bottlenecks that you can see in this rig?
 

_Slacker

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Thanks for all the help!

One last question - I currently have 2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB 7200 rpm configured in RAID 0, and I was considering buying another one and adding it to my RAID configuration. I'm using the onboard RAID controller, and I was wondering if it could support 3 HDDs. Also, would I have to format the HDDs and then configure RAID again from the beginning?
 

irkjab

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I believe the onboard only supports two drives. If it did support a third, you would likely have to format the existing drives