$900 gaming pc , any suggestions?

[mrfluffles]

Heh......Anyways, one thing I'm not sure on is whether to get the NQ or the NR RAM. I don't need even DDR2 800 speeds since the highest FSB I'll be going up to is 315 or so so I don't need the extra overclockability of the NRs. But would it still be worth to pay $15 for the NRs so I can tighten the timings/increase RAM speed?

 

[Nagasama]

actually if your RAM scales like mine does, and it probably does:
you will be going to 315 htt.
your multiplier will be 9.5
you will be using the same divider as a 10 multi (1/2 dividers dont exist, so it rounds up) which would be cpu speed/5.
okay?
so that means you would be running:
315 x 9.5 = 3000(+-)/5= 600mhz. (ddr2-1200)
so, yeah, to run that RAM at full ddr2 speed you will need some REAL good stuff. the gskill HK or HZ will do it, maybe. my corsair will not(at least not with the max voltage of 2.3 that i can give it). i would have to drop my ram speed going that high.
otherwise, you will have to set your ram speed to ddr2 667. which will change the divider number and i cant remember to what, i think 7. which would still be 428mhz actual.
so yes, get good overclocking RAM.

 

[mrfluffles]

Wow. That confused the **** out of me. I haven't overclocked before but I've read some stuff on it and I thought I had the basics down. And you just confused the **** out of me. I'm pretty sure I totally misunderstood what I read on the dividers and what not.

I just read this chart and thread here DDR2 RAM Dividers - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net and I think I've cleared some of my confusion but still a little lost. I thought dividers were like 1:1, 1:2 etc.. Gah.. anyways, according to the chart, I would need to run it at 1050 (I don't know what that number actually refers to!) if the divider was set at DDR2-667. If I am reading it correctly, the divider number is actually 6 for DDR2-667, and not 7 so it would actually have to run at 500mhz actual with the DDR2-667 divider? Am I right?

So then I should at least get the NRs? And what exactly is the point of these darn dividers!?

 

[Sora]

You can set your divider down and not much performance will be lost really

 

[helix2301]

I am a big INTEL supporter and I love my 6600 but definatly AMD is cheaper and many of my friends say there Athlon X2 dual core are solid. TigerDirect.com Super Buys - Computer Parts, PC Components, Desktop Computers, Laptops, Notebooks has some great motherboard and processor combo deals.

 

[jordo_99]

Also, just FYI, the 3600+ is no slouch. Overclocked to 3.0, which is often obtained, it is on par with a stock E6600.

hey, TactiKs123. I just thought I'd stick up for Intel on this...I have my E6400 overclocked to 3.4Ghz and have even made it up to 3.6 and had it running fine on air cooling(lowered it because it was just unnecessary for it to be that high and was making my room too hot)

Anyways, my 3.4Ghz E6400 is faster than an FX-62 (It may even be faster than AMD's new FX's but I haven't looked into them much lately.) and probably twice as fast as that AMD 3600.

The reason these things are being praised so much is because they OC like crazy and still keep low stable temps.


I'd recommend an E6300 or E6400 unless you want to wait for the new AMD's but for the price right now nothing AMD has out can put a candle to Core 2 Duo.

 

[jordo_99]

Wow. That confused the **** out of me. I haven't overclocked before but I've read some stuff on it and I thought I had the basics down. And you just confused the **** out of me. I'm pretty sure I totally misunderstood what I read on the dividers and what not.

I just read this chart and thread here DDR2 RAM Dividers - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net and I think I've cleared some of my confusion but still a little lost. I thought dividers were like 1:1, 1:2 etc.. Gah.. anyways, according to the chart, I would need to run it at 1050 (I don't know what that number actually refers to!) if the divider was set at DDR2-667. If I am reading it correctly, the divider number is actually 6 for DDR2-667, and not 7 so it would actually have to run at 500mhz actual with the DDR2-667 divider? Am I right?

So then I should at least get the NRs? And what exactly is the point of these darn dividers!?

the dividers are used to run the ram and cpu at different speeds...1:1 matches up the mhz of the ram and cpu. I'll go into more detail if you want me to.

 

[Sora]

Once again stop acting like we are saying Intel is slow.

I have my E6300 at 3.22ghz and it of coarse is blazing...HOWEVER

If i could rebuild my rig right now which was $850 to start with.

I payed ~330 bucks for my Mobo, CPU, and CPU cooler for 3.22ghz.

Right now for ~170 bucks you can build an X2 3600 that will hit 3.0ghz.

at 3.22ghz the C2D is around 20% faster in gaming benchmarks than the X2 3600@ 3.0ghz HOWEVER...the C2D is also about 97% more expensive.

So 20% speed for almost double the cost. Do you know what I could have done with that money today? I would be able to have bought a good Xclio 500w PSU for 35 bucks more and an 8800GTS 320 and upgraded to G.skill HK's.

The amount of performance I would see in gaming would be FAR more than a C2D.

I HIGHLY suggest right now going with the X2 3600 and overclocking it and then when AMD's new CPU's come out just pop one into your mobo and be faster than C2D. I wanted an Intel so frickin bad but god if prices were like this then...I would have a crazy gaming PC.

 

[mrfluffles]

the dividers are used to run the ram and cpu at different speeds...1:1 matches up the mhz of the ram and cpu. I'll go into more detail if you want me to.

Yeah that's what I thought at first.. I don't understand why DDR2-800 and DDR2-667 are being used to name the dividers? How does it correspond to the ratios?

 

[Nagasama]

...and probably twice as fast as that AMD 3600.

hate to break it to ya, but its not. certainly not when they are both overclocked on air.

mrfluffles welcome to the wonderful word of amd overclocking.
it is very confusing starting out.
lets start with this, it may help:
if your ht multiplier is set to 10 (yours will be 9.5 but remember it rounds up to 10), and your RAM speed is set to ddr2-800.
your divider ratio will be cpu/5.
so if your htt (basically the fsb of amd...they dont really have fsb because they have integrated memory controllers) is 200, then multiply that by 10, so that equals 2000(mhz, or 2.0ghz). so your ram frequency would be 2000/5, which equals 400mhz. if you want to look at it intel-ratio wise it would be 1:2, but that really doesnt work because they DO NOT WORK THE SAME. so you see intel ratios at 2:1 because (as an example), the fsb is 1000 and the ram is running at 500mhz. intel peole correct me if i am wrong, please.
hopefully that helps you out, but dude it will really make no sense unless you sit down, adjust the cpu multiplier and ram speeds and see how that affects your htt/ram ratio.
good luck dude it took me awhile but once you get it, you got it.