Legit Reviews

I am building my parents a new "CPU" (sorry I heard that a few times today) for Christmas (don't get offended). I want to build them a decent machine and I plan on overclocking the hell out of it. I have essentially configured two set-ups. One is with a legit motherboard and the other is with a POS ECS combo deal from Fry's. Here are the setups....

Setup A - Real Motherboard

Allendale E2180
COOLER MASTER Centurion 534
ABIT IP35-E
OCZ Vista Upgrade 2GB
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 - ST3320620AS
SILVERSTONE ST350
Scythe SCNJ-1100P
SAMSUNG SH-S203B
7600GT
$486.48

Setup B - POS ECS Combo

Core 2 Duo E4500
COOLER MASTER Centurion 534
ECS 945GCT-M
OCZ Vista Upgrade 2GB
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 - ST3320620AS
SILVERSTONE ST350
Scythe SCNJ-1100P
SAMSUNG SH-S203B
7600GT
$408.70

Will the listed Silverstone be enough for either of these setups? Is there a better power supply in that price range (I'm already spending more that I want)? If you're wondering why I have a 7600GT in there it's because I have it sitting in my closet since I upgraded to the 8800GTS.

Silverstone PSU Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... ne%2bST350

Mainly all i can say is the E4500 is a very nice over clocking core, check this out.
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getart ... rticID=629

or with the E4400
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/di ... html#sect0

so either way, by looking at the reviews i found most cores from the E4*** range over clocked pretty well, you just need to make sure you get the right board.

That PSU *might* be enough but I would get at least 500w. It may cost more now but if you upgrade the vid card, you'll definitely need the bigger PSU and have to buy a new one anyway. If you OC and you are pushing the limits of the PSU, it could hurt your OC by not providing a clean, stable power source.

According to eXtreme PS Calculator Pro, stock will have no problems with that PSU, but massively overclocking it will be reaching the limits of the PSU when the system is at full load.

The PS Calculator recommends 18.6A on the 12v rail, but that PSU has two 12v rails at 18A and 16A, and I don't think it tells you how it balances the 12v across the connectors.

So that leads me to echo Joe's comment, you might be able to get away with it, but for peace of mind I'd personally want to go with something larger.

Dan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139003 would do you fine

Thanks for the responses but a moot point now. I picked up an Antec Basiq 500W from Circuit City earlier for $44.99 + tax.

Sorry for digging up this old post.

Question, which setup did you go for in the end? Because I bought an Intel Celeron 430/ECS 945GCT-M combo from Fry's (for cheaper than the cost of processor alone on Newegg) and there are absolutely no overclocking options in the BIOS that I could find. Not a very big deal since it's mostly used as a low-power surfer, but it would be nice if it's overclockable.

Ended up with neither really.

Newegg Invoice:
* Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E2180 - Retail
* GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail
* Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
* A-DATA Value Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model VDQVE1A16K - Retail
* SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - OEM
* COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
* ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

Antec Basiq 500W

I already had a 7600GT laying around so that went in the PC.

The CPU is sitting at 3050Mhz now with the memory in the 950ish Mhz range. I'm sure the setup could do better but I had a limited amount of time to tweak it. I know one thing it beats the crap out of my Opteron in everything I throw at it minus games (and that's due to the parity between video cards).

Thanks. I haven't overclocked my GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R-based build yet (just connected all components necessary for POST) but it's amazing how many options are customizable with it compared to the ECS mobo. I think the only thing I could change with the ECS is the time and boot order.

Oh well, I guess can't really complain. ECS 945GCT-M/Intel Celeron 430 combo cost me $49.99 at Fry's. The whole budget build clocked in at $240 and it's powerful enough for what it will be used for.