Suggestions for a sub $1500 Conroe cascade rig

[FragTek]

Alright guys, I've been thinking about POSSIBLY selling the MBP (not due to any reason of dislike, but my god the overclocking itch is SOOOO bad) and building a cheap'ish Conroe setup in which to put under the cascade that will hopefully be here soon.

What type of components would you choose for <$1500 (this would leave me about $1000 left from the MBP sale to put some rims/tires on the new car... )?

I was thinking something like:

E6600

Asus or Abit board

2gb G.Skill 4-4-4-12 (the stuff people are fussing about lately)

X1900XTX or 7900GTX? Used 7950GX2? (remember this rig is going to be for the sole purpose of RAPING benchmarks under cascade action so I need a decent card)

150GB Raptor

Dunno, what do u guys think a good setup would be in that price range?

 

[Raging]

wow the fragster on a budget

i would suggest having a lookout on ebay for new parts,some people sell new stuff for some pretty cool a$$ prices on the bay.

that would deffo save you a few bucks bro,dont kno if you would buy you could also check out some second hand x1900xtx?

hope this helps and we will be glad to have you back rocking some 1337 a$$ overclocks mang:rocker: :rocker: :rocker: :rocker:

Jason.

 

[NickS]

Frag.. I'm SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK. (INTO PC'S)

NOW...lets plan the beast shall we?

E6600

Asus or Abit board

2gb G.Skill 4-4-4-12 (the stuff people are fussing about lately)

X1900XTX or 7900GTX? Used 7950GX2? (remember this rig is going to be for the sole purpose of RAPING benchmarks under cascade action so I need a decent card)

150GB Raptor

The E6600 is a great choice, so let's move on to the board. There are a lot of choices, so lets lay them out.

The ASUS, a very popular board, with OK performance and good overclocking. Slightly expensive, but lets look at some other choices shall we?

The Intel 975XBX "BadAxe." Great board, great oc, great perf, great price. But, it has issues with suddenly failing for no known reason. I have heard though that there is a new revision coming out too so you may want to wait for that.

Then, the MSI 975X Platinum 2.1 (PowerUp! Edition). Yes, I like my MSI's but my totally unbiased opinion is that it's a great looking board. Honestly. It's sub $200 at most online stores, it has great overclockability (Coolaler has proven that), ok looks, and good performance. So if you're on a budget, the MSI looks like the way to go.

The Abit, I really havn't heard much about but people seem to be interested in their conroe boards, hoping abit is "back." I have not seen any overclock results, comparisons, or anyone using it at XS tbh... so this one might not be the one you want.

The G.Skillz, I think I know what ones you're talking about. They're black and 'bout $220 @ Newegg. Good choice, good price.

Either card is good. The XTX can be a little harder to OC but much more fun. Plus, software voltage adjustments are the leetest thing ever, especially if you're ever going to put the board under ur uber-phase. The GTX on the other hand is easier to OC, has a better stock cooler (unless you opt for the HIS IceQ3 X1900XTX), and is by far quieter. They both have relitively the same performance, so it's pretty much down to brand preference at this point, mine being ATi. On to storage...

150G raptor? Waste of cash. Get two 80GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 in RAID0 and that will rape a single raptor and give you a little more storage. It'll be a lot cheaper too, allowing you to spend more monay on a more important thing like mobo, ram, etc.

Anyway man, that's just my take on the situation.

 

[FragTek]

Frag.. I'm SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK. (INTO PC'S)

NOW...lets plan the beast shall we?



The E6600 is a great choice, so let's move on to the board. There are a lot of choices, so lets lay them out.

The ASUS, a very popular board, with OK performance and good overclocking. Slightly expensive, but lets look at some other choices shall we?

The Intel 975XBX "BadAxe." Great board, great oc, great perf, great price. But, it has issues with suddenly failing for no known reason. I have heard though that there is a new revision coming out too so you may want to wait for that.

Then, the MSI 975X Platinum 2.1 (PowerUp! Edition). Yes, I like my MSI's but my totally unbiased opinion is that it's a great looking board. Honestly. It's sub $200 at most online stores, it has great overclockability (Coolaler has proven that), ok looks, and good performance. So if you're on a budget, the MSI looks like the way to go.

The Abit, I really havn't heard much about but people seem to be interested in their conroe boards, hoping abit is "back." I have not seen any overclock results, comparisons, or anyone using it at XS tbh... so this one might not be the one you want.

The G.Skillz, I think I know what ones you're talking about. They're black and 'bout $220 @ Newegg. Good choice, good price.

Either card is good. The XTX can be a little harder to OC but much more fun. Plus, software voltage adjustments are the leetest thing ever, especially if you're ever going to put the board under ur uber-phase. The GTX on the other hand is easier to OC, has a better stock cooler (unless you opt for the HIS IceQ3 X1900XTX), and is by far quieter. They both have relitively the same performance, so it's pretty much down to brand preference at this point, mine being ATi. On to storage...

150G raptor? Waste of cash. Get two 80GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 in RAID0 and that will rape a single raptor and give you a little more storage. It'll be a lot cheaper too, allowing you to spend more monay on a more important thing like mobo, ram, etc.

Anyway man, that's just my take on the situation.

Great suggestions Nick, thanks!

I may look very closely at that MSI board, sounds like a good option with a nice pricetag, and that's actually important to me with this build *amazingly*. hehe

I'm thinking about the X1900XTX, that seems to be the best overall option it seems. I like the fact that it has all the nice voltage options and better visual performance than the nVidia cards (unless nV fixed that with the 7900's).

I just sent a set of those black G. Skills to overclocker in the UK and he loves em, so I think that's what I'll pick up unless something better comes along in the meantime.

Good suggestion on the drives too mate, those are the new PRT drives right? Those are supposed to rip pretty damn hard. More savings too!

I'm gonna go play with some prices and see whats up. Repped matey

 

[NickS]

Thanks man. Those are those new PRT drives, ye. Effin fast. BTW, like 10 or so ppl bought the MSI @ XS and are waiting to recieve it, so check up on this thread to see what kind of results ppl are getting with them before biting the bullet.

Good luck!

 

[FarFarAway]

X1900XT for sure mate

I am getting the Abit AN9 soon with a new BIOS revision so we'll see how that goes in a review.

Also getting the Asus P5W DH for my personal use

 

[PV5150]

Nice pre-build list Frag/NickS. :yumyum:

Hey Frag, seeing as you said you wanted a budget build what about the E6300? They are quite respectable overclockers in their own right, and you save some moolah over the E6600, to spend elsewhere.

 

[Ham]

Looking at your list the drives be pricey. Nicks has covered them though.

As for the mobo, as this is a bench rig, couldn't abit sort you out? As they're sposed too sponsor us.

Also what rims you looking at?

 

[PV5150]

As for the mobo, as this is a bench rig, couldn't abit sort you out? As they're sposed too sponsor us

Abit are an OC3D sponsor in so-far as providing gear for review. Not, helping someone build their rig lol (someone correct me if I'm wrong here)

 

[FarFarAway]

Providing gear for review - and that competition motherboard. The gear is not for personal use

 

[FragTek]

Nice pre-build list Frag/NickS. :yumyum:

Hey Frag, seeing as you said you wanted a budget build what about the E6300? They are quite respectable overclockers in their own right, and you save some moolah over the E6600, to spend elsewhere.

Does the E6300 have the same architecture as the Conroe chips? If so it might be an option!

I was doing some thinking last night though and I'd really like to use the money from the cascade to put some rims on my ride and get it turbo'd. Bah, I wish I had won the lottery.

 

[FarFarAway]

Same architecture except a 2mb cahce, compared to the E6600's 4mb

Frag don't do up your car - you'll lose reliability and lots of money

 

[PV5150]

Same architecture except a 2mb cahce, compared to the E6600's 4mb

Frag don't do up your car - you'll lose reliability and lots of money

Yep, and agreed.

 

[FragTek]

Frag don't do up your car - you'll lose reliability and lots of money

Horse poo! It'll just make it faster and give it a much better resale value!

 

[FarFarAway]

Horse poo! It'll just make it faster and give it a much better resale value!

Yep and nope

 

[Ham]

Nothing wrong with a nice set of rims though.

 

[FarFarAway]

Nothing wrong with a nice set of rims though.

Agreed. But it is kinda throwing money at something that you will lose as soon as it's on. Bit like PC's but on a bigger scale

 

[FragTek]

Agreed. But it is kinda throwing money at something that you will lose as soon as it's on. Bit like PC's but on a bigger scale

Unless ur like me and ur computer usually cost more than ur car and dump more money in to it than a car each month (previous me)

 

[Ham]

Agreed. But it is kinda throwing money at something that you will lose as soon as it's on. Bit like PC's but on a bigger scale

Thort alloys can actualy raise the value of the car? Obviously not as much as the depretiation as it changes hands, but a little.

 

[JN]

When selling a car, you recoup very little money that you've spent modifying it. Simply because most people dont want/care about the mods.

Also if you turbo a non-turbo'd car, its pretty obvious what you've been doing with it - ragging the sh*t outta it.

Note: Due to my Essex boi upbringing, i'd certainly not consider this as a reason not to modify a car. Modded cars roxxorz!