A (hopefully) overclocking friendly build.

Associate
Joined
15 Apr 2008
Posts
1,240
Hi there,

I've never done a complete build before, but I really need a new system, haven't upgraded for five years or more! One thing I'd really like to do is to get into overclocking, at first just on air but installing a water-cooled system later on. To start I'd like to get the Q6600 up to 3.3 maybe 3.6 (wouldn't everyone). Here's what I was thinking of, prices exclude VAT because there's a good chance I'll be able to claim it back for this build, so the price I've listed will hopefully will be the ultimate cost.

Processor: Q6600 - £119.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-172-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793

This still seems to be the best processor if you want to overclock, any votes for the 6700?
And the AMD's in a similar price bracket don't have anywhere near the overclocking potential, do they?

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Tracer RED 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz - £64.99 (usually £69.99)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-116-CR&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=813

I don't know what makes a good overclocking RAM, these look like the right stuff, but I'm not too happy about some of the things I've heard about these. Because of the 3D apps I'll be running I'll need RAM that is uber stable. The OCZ ReaperX are too big, is it worth considering PC2-8500+ RAM, perhaps it will benefit a replacement processor a year or two on? Is 2.2v a must for overclocking?

Graphics: Gigabyte 8800GT OC - £114.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-035-GI

I don't need a heavy duty card for the viewport OpenGL usage, I chose this card because it seems like a good price for a pre-clocked card, and has the Zalman cooling.

HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB - £63.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-054-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=940

I'm not sure what HDD setup I'll be settling for in the long term, so I'll just get the one for now, this one a decent buy?

Fan: Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler - £34.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-002-SB&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=821

As far as a CPU cooler goes I'll get whichever is best, I've heard good things about this and I'm assuming that just because the others are more expensive it doesn't mean they're performance warrants the cost? And is this just the same as the other Tuniq Tower but just with LEDs? If that's the case I think I'd rather get something different. Also when I'm rendering, the CPU will be working hard for prolonged periods, so I guess I may have to settle for overclocking @ 3.0 - 3.3 until I get water cooling installed.

Case: Lian Li PC-A10A Aluminium Full-Tower - Silver - £119.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-080-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=187

I want an aluminium case that I can upgrade to water cooling later on. I was considering the PC-A70A but it's not the most attractive case to my taste, even though I swore aesthetics wouldn't play a part. A good case for this price band, or is it overkill? For video editing I may be using four HDDs in my final setup, five if I have RAID so I'll need space for those. I'd also like to make sure that I can use this case for my next upgrade.

PSU: Thermaltake ToughPower 750W £74.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-064-TT&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1101

3D apps can temperamental without a good supply of power, even if the toughest games are happy. Is this a good make?

Motherboard: No idea, anything up to £150

I'm really lost when it comes to mobos, I know I don't want an nForce board despite choosing the 8800 GT. I do need a good quality one though, because I've heard that the 3D apps I use can be a pain in the rump otherwise. I'm guessing an X48, but I've no idea really, I could push to the Asus Rampage if it was that much better, that's if folk think an X48 is a worthwhile investment. I will be upgrading to 8GB of RAM, so overclocking with this is also a consideration for the mobo.

Components condensed:

Q6600
Crucial Ballistix 4GB
Gigabyte 8800GT OC
Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB
Tuniq Tower 120-LFB
Lian Li PC-A10A
Thermaltake ToughPower 750W
With mobos I'm lost

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm quite looking forward to putting a system together and overclocking it... preferably without blowing up my new purchases! I've got some other bits to buy, like a keyboard and a decent mouse, any extra fans and thermal paste etc.. But I wanted to get the main parts clear in my head first.

Apologies for the long starter, thanks to those who make it this far.

P.S. Thanks to Soviet for the welcome (didn't reckon it was worth resurrecting the other thread to say it there).
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2008
Posts
19,696
Location
Bedford
Yeah i thoughly recomend the P35 boards too and point out you could go for a gtx over the gt with the money saved from going for an X48 board (you get a bigger, quieter cooler and general better performance than the pre overclocked cards that can be faulty...)

Other than that your one lucky guy to be getting all that :)
 

Mud

Mud

Soldato
Joined
13 Dec 2004
Posts
3,186
Location
Bristol
Consider a different HDD, the 750GB ones don't seem too reliable. A 1TB F1 for £100 (though OcUK haven't caught up with other retailer's prices on this one yet) or one with 320GB platters (so 320GB or 640GB total) from Western Digital or Samsung would be better choices.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
15 Apr 2008
Posts
1,240
psycodelicmonti: I see you're getting 3.2 out of your Q6600 on this board, makes me think I might be able to cut back on this spec without too much compromise. Thanks for the link, I had browsed through it before, I almost blew a fuse reading it.

pingwing: Heh, I really am tempted to go for a GTX, but although I do want to game with the rig, I wouldn't gain much OpenGL benefit with it, which is my main concern. I think what I'll do is drop to the PNY GT and wait for new architecture to come out from Nvidia, it'll give me an excuse to practise overclocking a video card too.

Mud: Thanks for the warning, I'd hate to get a new rig together and then suffer a drive failure, I'm thinking that I might skimp even more on the case, put together more of a budget system and maybe look to putting together a 'killer' rig once DDR3 becomes affordable and the next generation cards settle down to affordable.

Thanks for your input guys, it's appreciated.

How about this for a more affordable system:

Q6600 - £119.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-172-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793

OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series - £46.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-086-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=813

PNY GeForce 8800 GT 512MB - £91.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-002-PN&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1008

Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - £40.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-130-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=768

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - £14.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-017-AR&tool=3

Gigabyte GZ-X3 Silver Midi Case - 24.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-029-GI&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

Asus P5K-E WiFi Intel P35 - £79.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-241-AS

Can I still get a good overclock out of this, or am I cutting too many corners? Like the case and fan? It just doesn't seem worth it to splash out on a nice case for a medium spec build, it can be ugly as sin, as long as it's cheap and does the job! I'll go for water cooled on my next build instead.

I do want an above what's needed power supply, but I guess I could come down to 600W and still be in the clear?

Thanks again chaps.

*Edited for mistake in mobo link/price*
 
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