New Budget Rig for my brother ~£175 to spend

rodneyhchef · Aug 18, 2010

Hi Guys, I'm just after a bit of advice about building a rig for my brother. The 939 he has now is suffering from a dying motherboard and rather than replace it (it's already been replaced once and I don't think it's worth it anymore) He wants a new system. I'm only going to replace the board, chip and ram as everything else is ok. My main question is what to go for? I've looked at the 'Pentium E6x00' range of budget processors and they look pretty good and I can build a system with an E6600, 4gb DDR3 and a Gigabyte motherboard for around £175

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Inte...ale-45nm-306-GHz-2MB-Cache-11x-Core-Ratio-65W
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Giga...E-(x16)-DDR3-1066-1333(OC)-SATA-3Gb-s-VGA-ATX
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-...6-(1333)-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-CAS-9-9-9-24-150V

I would like to do a bit of overclocking and from reviews I've seen of this chip it'll do around 4GHz. I will just be o/cing it to max stable, normal volts/normal power saving features still enabled as I think this will be enough for him.

I'm hearing alot about C2D being EOL so I'm a little reluctant about getting this system, Even though I don't think it can be beaten performance wise for the money.

What's everyone's opinion on the AM3 Athlon II x2 260? It's a bit cheaper than the E6600. I've failed to find any direct comparison between the two. Again I can build a system for around £175 and they look like they overclock quite well.

One really daft thing that almost decides for me is the 939 rig he has now uses an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 cooler which I should be able to re-use on the AM3 chip saving £10-15. It's his money afterall! :laugh:

Cheers

NdMk2o1o · Aug 18, 2010

rodneyhchef said:
Hi Guys, I'm just after a bit of advice about building a rig for my brother. The 939 he has now is suffering from a dying motherboard and rather than replace it (it's already been replaced once and I don't think it's worth it anymore) He wants a new system. I'm only going to replace the board, chip and ram as everything else is ok. My main question is what to go for? I've looked at the 'Pentium E6x00' range of budget processors and they look pretty good and I can build a system with an E6600, 4gb DDR3 and a Gigabyte motherboard for around £175

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Inte...ale-45nm-306-GHz-2MB-Cache-11x-Core-Ratio-65W
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Giga...E-(x16)-DDR3-1066-1333(OC)-SATA-3Gb-s-VGA-ATX
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-...6-(1333)-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-CAS-9-9-9-24-150V

I would like to do a bit of overclocking and from reviews I've seen of this chip it'll do around 4GHz. I will just be o/cing it to max stable, normal volts/normal power saving features still enabled as I think this will be enough for him.

I'm hearing alot about C2D being EOL so I'm a little reluctant about getting this system, Even though I don't think it can be beaten performance wise for the money.

What's everyone's opinion on the AM3 Athlon II x2 260? It's a bit cheaper than the E6600. I've failed to find any direct comparison between the two. Again I can build a system for around £175 and they look like they overclock quite well.

One really daft thing that almost decides for me is the 939 rig he has now uses an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 cooler which I should be able to re-use on the AM3 chip saving £10-15. It's his money afterall!

Cheers

Why not consider PII x2? grab a 550/555 BE and see if you can grab a cheap SB710/750 board to unlock some of the cores, even as x2 they will easy match the e6600 and there is more of an upgrade path

Techtu · Aug 18, 2010

I'd consider selling the part's out my second rig, CPU, Board & RAM + an 8800GT for a nice price.

Just a thought.

rodneyhchef · Aug 18, 2010

NdMk2o1o said:
Why not consider PII x2? grab a 550/555 BE and see if you can grab a cheap SB710/750 board to unlock some of the cores, even as x2 they will easy match the e6600 and there is more of an upgrade path

I initially discounted the 555BE as it's slightly out of price range but I've just noticed the board and ram that I would put with it is on special offer today!

so it is almost within reach. Think I might order the board and ram then wait and see if the chip gets put on offer later in the week.

Anyone have any experience with this board?

http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=35547

Tech2 said:
I'd consider selling the part's out my second rig, CPU, Board & RAM + an 8800GT for a nice price.

Just a thought.

Thanks for the offer but I think a nice shiny and new system is what he wants after years of getting my old cast offs. Plus he has my old 3850 o/c'd to 800MHz/1000Mhz so an 8800GT is not much of an upgrade.

scaminatrix · Aug 18, 2010

I've got a Pentium e6300 (2.8ghz stock) that hits 3.7 ghz on stock voltage. I've had it nearly a year, only used it about 5 months.
PM if you're interested

Dent1 · Aug 18, 2010

rodneyhchef,

For around the same price you can get a Athlon II X3 and it would be much faster than the E6600. In fact the Athlon II X3 will be on par with your Q6600 in gaming.

You can also find some cheap AM3 native boards from £55 on ebuyer or AM2+ boards from £35 easy.

AMD Athlon II X3 440 3.0GHz 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 Retail Box Processor
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit Unbuffered CL9
ASROCK M3A770DE 770 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard

£188.63 with free delivery

AMD Athlon II X3 440 3.0GHz 512KB L2 Cache Socket ...
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit Unbuff...
ASROCK M3A770DE 770 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX...

claylomax · Aug 18, 2010

Why not a x2 550/555 and an unlocker board? you could end up with a 4 core cpu; I got an unlocker Gigabyte board from Scan last year for £50.

JrRacinFan · Aug 18, 2010

rodneyhchef said:
I initially discounted the 555BE as it's slightly out of price range but I've just noticed the board and ram that I would put with it is on special offer today! so it is almost within reach. Think I might order the board and ram then wait and see if the chip gets put on offer later in the week.

Anyone have any experience with this board?

http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=35547

Basically my wife's board in specs, just a better "version" of it with better phases/vrm's and ddr3. You will love it!!!

Dent1 · Aug 18, 2010

claylomax said:
Why not a x2 550/555 and an unlocker board? you could end up with a 4 core cpu; I got an unlocker Gigabyte board from Scan last year for £50.

Because now its pot luck, AMD's fabrication is becoming more accurate, the unlockable chips are not as easy to find these days. The Athlon II X3 may also unlock a core but if it fails atleast you've got a overall more powerful system than the Phenom II X2...for cheaper too.

rodneyhchef · Aug 18, 2010

Thanks everyone, I've ordered the board and the ram. Processor is still TBA. Will see what offers come up over the next few days!

rodneyhchef · Aug 23, 2010

Ended up getting the X3 445 as the 555 BE was out of stock. Not had time to play about with ACC yet, but fingers are crossed! Total cost was £179.

rodneyhchef · Aug 23, 2010

Wow, unlocking has gone far better than I ever could have imagined! :eek:

Dent1 · Aug 23, 2010

^ glad to hear.

JATownes · Aug 23, 2010

I see you were also able to unlock the L3 Cache. Nice. Congrats. :toast:

Techtu · Aug 23, 2010

JATownes said:
I see you were also able to unlock the L3 Cache. Nice. Congrats.

I second that

How are your temps under full load after an hour or so? I noticed you had only been running that prog for only a minute and your temps seem a little high, just you may want to keep an eye on the temps :toast:

again... congrats on the unlocking the core's and L3 cache.

rodneyhchef · Aug 23, 2010

It had been running for a while when I did the print screen, half an hour or so. (1024k passed, 11 tests at 2-3mins each) So think it's going to be ok. 50°C at full load seems alright to me? Northbridge is higher than I'd perhaps like but I don't think my bro is going to be stressing it as much as me.

Really chuffed about unlocking the L3, means it's equivalent to the now defunkt X4 950. :toast:

I had no idea these x3s were full Deneb cores.

JrRacinFan · Aug 23, 2010

Most of them aren't. Nice to see you got a good chip!

Dent1 · Aug 24, 2010

rodneyhchef said:
It had been running for a while when I did the print screen, half an hour or so. (1024k passed, 11 tests at 2-3mins each) So think it's going to be ok. 50°C at full load seems alright to me?

You need to test it longer than that. I wouldnt class it as stable if it couldnt do atleast 7-9hrs of stress testing in Prime without errors. Leave it over night.

And yes 50c is cool, I wouldnt worry until you start breaking 60C at full load and even then you're fine.

rodneyhchef · Aug 24, 2010

Fair Enough.

I'll see if I have time to test it more thoroughly. He wants it back tomorrow! :rolleyes:

System Name	Colin #2 - the revenge!
Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite V2
Cooling	4x Phanteks SK140 PWM & Arctic Freezer II 280 AIO
Memory	TeamGroup Dark Pro 8 Pack 2 x16Gb dual rank B-die 3666MHz CL16
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 4080 Suprim X
Storage	980 Pro 500Gb + WD SN770 2Tb
Display(s)	Acer XB280HK 4K GSYNC (next thing I need to upgrade!!)
Case	Phanteks P500A
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1200/1220
Power Supply	750W Corsair RM750

System Name	Ryzen Reynolds
Processor	Ryzen 1600 - 4.0Ghz 1.415v - SMT disabled
Motherboard	mATX Asrock AB350m AM4
Cooling	Raijintek Leto Pro
Memory	Vulcan T-Force 16GB DDR4 3000 16.18.18 @3200Mhz 14.17.17
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ 4GB RX 580 - 1450/2000 BIOS mod 8-)
Storage	Seagate B'cuda 1TB/Sandisk 128GB SSD
Display(s)	Acer ED242QR 75hz Freesync
Case	Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair VS 550w
Mouse	Zalman ZM-M401R
Keyboard	Razor Lycosa
Software	Windows 10 x64
Benchmark Scores	https://www.3dmark.com/spy/6220813

System Name	Colin #2 - the revenge!
Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite V2
Cooling	4x Phanteks SK140 PWM & Arctic Freezer II 280 AIO
Memory	TeamGroup Dark Pro 8 Pack 2 x16Gb dual rank B-die 3666MHz CL16
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 4080 Suprim X
Storage	980 Pro 500Gb + WD SN770 2Tb
Display(s)	Acer XB280HK 4K GSYNC (next thing I need to upgrade!!)
Case	Phanteks P500A
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1200/1220
Power Supply	750W Corsair RM750

System Name	Benny
Processor	Phenom II 1055t @ 3.3GHz; 300x11; 1.380v; NB 2700; HT 2400
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (2002 BIOS)
Cooling	Thermalright TRUE 120 Black + 2 Xilence Red Wing PWM 120mm (push/pull) + polycarbonate fan holders
Memory	8GB GeIL Ultra 2133MHZ C9 running at 1600MHz @ 7-7-7-21 1T 1.5v
Video Card(s)	MSI Twin Frozr II GTX470 @ Stock w/CPU fan cable-tied on, as one of the GPU fans broke.
Storage	60GB OCZ Agility3 (OS);500GB WDC Grn; 1x1TB WDC Blk (Backup)
Display(s)	ASUS PA823Q
Case	Silverstone Raven 2 (all cables custom sleeved with velcro mod on side panel...)
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi (Onboard) + Harmon Kardon HK6100 amp powering JVC HA-RX700's with Zalman mic
Power Supply	Corsair HX650W
Software	Win7 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	No benchies so making this space useful! Corsair M90, Logitech G19. Phobya FlexLight LED's (gawjus)

System Name	My baby
Processor	Athlon II X4 620 @ 3.5GHz, 1.45v, NB @ 2700Mhz, HT @ 2700Mhz - 24hr prime95 stable
Motherboard	Asus M4A785TD-V EVO
Cooling	Sonic Tower Rev 2 with 120mm Akasa attached, Akasa @ Front, Xilence Red Wing 120mm @ Rear
Memory	8 GB G.Skills 1600Mhz
Video Card(s)	ATI ASUS Crossfire 5850
Storage	Crucial MX100 SATA 2.5 SSD
Display(s)	Lenovo ThinkVision 27" (LEN P27h-10)
Case	Antec VSK 2000 Black Tower Case
Audio Device(s)	Onkyo TX-SR309 Receiver, 2x Kef Cresta 1, 1x Kef Center 20c
Power Supply	OCZ StealthXstream II 600w, 4x12v/18A, 80% efficiency.
Software	Windows 10 Professional 64-bit

New Budget Rig for my brother ~£175 to spend

rodneyhchef

NdMk2o1o

Techtu

rodneyhchef

scaminatrix

Dent1

claylomax

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...

Dent1

rodneyhchef

rodneyhchef

rodneyhchef

Attachments

Dent1

JATownes

The Lurker

Techtu

rodneyhchef

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...

Dent1

rodneyhchef

System Name	Jaspe
Processor	Ryzen 1500X
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X370-F Gaming
Cooling	Stock
Memory	16Gb Corsair 3000mhz
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTS 450
Storage	Crucial M500
Display(s)	Philips 1080 24'
Case	NZXT
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Enermax 425W
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Dual Build Streamer
Processor	Ryzen 7900x3d : Ryzen 4600G
Motherboard	AsRock B650E Steel Legend : Giga B450i Aorus
Cooling	Custom Water 1x420 : Stock
Memory	32GB T-Force Deltas : 16GB Dominator Platinums
Video Card(s)	PowerColor 7900 XTX Liquid Devil: iGPU
Storage	20+ TB
Display(s)	Sammy 49" 5k Ultrawide
Case	Custom White Painted Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
Audio Device(s)	Onboard : Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA 1200W P2
Mouse	Corsair M65 RGB Elite White
Keyboard	Hyperx Origins 65
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Mr. Reliable
Processor	Ryzen R9 5950x
Motherboard	MSI Meg X570s Ace Max
Cooling	D5 Pump, Singularity Top/Res, 2x360mm EK P rads, EK Magnitude/Alphacool Blocks
Memory	32Gb (4x8Gb) Corsair Dominator Platinum 3600Mhz @ 16/19/20/36 1.35v
Video Card(s)	MSI 3080ti with Alphacool Block
Storage	2 x Corsair Force MP400 1TB Nvme; 2 x T-Force Cardea Z340; 2 x Mushkin Reactor 1TB
Display(s)	Acer 32" Z321QU 2560x1440; LG 34GP83A-B 34" 3440x1440
Case	Lian Li PC-011 Dynamic XL; Synology DS218j w/ 2 x 2TB WD Red
Audio Device(s)	SteelSeries Arctis Pro+
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNova 850G3
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V2
Keyboard	Das Keyboard 6; Razer Orbweaver Chroma
Software	Windows 10 Pro