The Official Budget-Conscious Dream Machine!

What's the stock speed of the memory in the 4870? I personally think the GDDR5 version of the 4850 will easily be overclocked to 4870. Let's see what happens.

 

900MHz 3.6Ghz effective. its quadpumped jsut as DDR3 (not GDDR3)

 

Yes, I know the difference between GDDR3 and DDR3

So the core speeds of the 4850 is only 150mhz or so less right? I don't feel like looking it up. Anyway I read the 4850s have heat issues so high OCs are out of the question.

Hopefully they can get things worked out and make 4850s with better coolers and GDDR5.

 

well any 3rd party coolers for the 3 series will work for it.

it uses the same coolign as the 3850s. IMO it should have been dual slot. no worries though. and pencil mods FTW. it can reach 700 and about 1100 so far, but the 700 is a bios lock (as there was int he 3 series) a new bios is comng out which unlocks the 700. people have repoted about 900 max, on air.

 

Pencil mods for the lose. The cards are close enough to melting as it is without random fires introduced to the equation as well...

 

UK sales link for the 4870
Not half bad, at 300USD I was expecting 200 pounds plus...
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=838515

 

yeah saw it. but tis a shame it not in stock for that price, and most likely wont be till the 8th july.

i ordered a hd 4850 (sapphire) from ebuyer for £125. shoudl arrive ina couple of days. cant wait to play with it might get one more and a xheap x38 (found them for around £110 for DFI DK T2R)

 

Wow, that's a lot cheaper than I've seen them...

Alas, the 4870 price at Scan was a rouse - it's been upped to £200. Still cheaper than OcUK's £235, but they have them in stock now

 

thats exactly what OCuk do on new products. buy a shed load, and sell at a prem.

 

Still at least the option's there to get something when it's hard to find when you're willing to pay the extra - if it turns up of course...

 

hehe (its not an IF with me, but i get you)


btw £300 budget:

 

That's not bad. How much more is it for the 512MB 3850? It would really help you out in some games.

 

umm i think its an extra £15. so that would push it outside of the budget. lemmie do a £400 one:

 

Antec - Three Hundred Versatile Mini Tower Gamer Case
$59.95

Arctic Cooling - Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler for P4/775
$29.95

Intel - Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz w/ 2x4MB Cache
$239.95

eVGA - nForce 780i SLI w/ DualDDR2 1200, 7.1 Audio, Dual GB Lan, 1394, PCI-E 2.0, 3-Way SLI
$259.95

Patriot - Extreme Performance Viper Series DDR2 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-8500 Enhanced Latency Dual Channel Kit
$139.95

SEAGATE - 500GB Barracuda 7200.11 SATA II w/ NCQ, 32MB Cache
$79.95

Lg - Super Multi Security DVD Writer 20x DVD +/-RW Dual-Layer, Black (OEM)
$29.95

eVGA - e-GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out
$154.95

Corsair - TX 750W Power Supply w/ 140mm Fan
$114.95

Total: $ 1109.55

Performance to price? I'd say its a good meaty part of the curve.

 

ok one sec, lemmie go on newegg and spec :



and remember the $40 rebate, so its cheaper. the gfx card will trash your selected one, and the option for xfire (which is superb on this card) is open.

one suggestion though, spend extra for this



more OCablility

 

For once I have nothing to lampoon about your list, shaff! Not the first one anyway. The second one is only off my good list for the EVGA graphics card - I'm just too much of a fusspot. Your US builds are also creditable.

TheftAuto: for reference, the 8800GTS 320MNB is rubbish - the HD3850 even beats it a lot of the time. The 780i SLI motherboard is overpriced and unnecessary, and the Q6600 is too outdated to be in a rig over a grand. Why the 750W PSU when that system will run off a 450?

 

Theftauto, I would also dump the 8800GTS 320MB. Get the 512MB 9600GT. It's much faster and newer. Not to mention a few bucks cheaper The GTS will perform like a demon in some stuff, but 320MB will hurt you bad in newer games like Crysis, FEAR, and Oblivion. Even on a 17" screen.

The high-end motherboard is not needed unless tri-SLI is in the plans, which it's not on a budget build. Something like a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L or similar is much cheaper and just as capable an overclocker if not better. The Gigabyte P35 board can be found for ~$120

And a 750W PSU? Again, too expensive and not needed unless for tri-SLI. You would be better advised to get something like an OCZ StealthXstream 600W or a Corsair 450VX. Both can be found for <~$90

4GB of RAM can be had for much cheaper than that. And honestly, unless you dual boot two OS's you only need 2GB. 2GB of good RAM can be found for ~$80

And replace that Q6600 with an E6750 or E6550 and OC to 3.2GHz+ just fine. Quad core isn't much of an advantage right now, and when it becomes truly useful, there will be cheaper quads that you can OC.

All in all, too much high-end or overly expensive stuff. A build much more powerful than that can be built for ~$800.

 

Hey thanks for the tips, yeah I was trying to find a better priced vid card for him, but I wasn't sure.
9600GT eh? sounds good to me...

I still like the quad core Q6600 over any dual core however, but the rest of your guys advice I will def take into consideratation...I also think he will keep the 750 PSU due to a lil' future proof, but I will talk to him.

The MB i will def go with your advice, I hear gigabytes are badass for price/performance curve.

 

I would stick with the Quad core as well. If this PC's lasting you a long time, you'll regret having chosen a dual core in this day and age, especially an outdated one like the E6750. Going Quad is a wise choice if you don't update often.

Just be advised that the 750W PSU you've chosen can run two of those PCs put together with room to spare, 24 hours a day, it's ludicrously over the top unless you're overclocking like mad and are using several high powered graphics cards.

The 9600GT is a good card for very little cost, and easily outclasses the 8800GTS 320MB, whether it's out of memory or not.

 

Slightly aged, but outdated? Come on, cut me some slack here The E6750 is a superb CPU with monster OC abilities and blistering speed. I honestly think dual core is still the sweet spot for price/performance.

I mean, if quad is what you want, then by all means, go for it. The Q6600 is every bit as good as the E6750

I also agree on the 9600GT. It's an excellent value as of now and well worth the money VS an HD3850/3870/8800GTS320. It'll play Crysis decently and almost any other game maxed out.

Also, I have to agree with sammorris on the PSU. 750W is super overkill for almost any rig. I don't see the need to spend so much money when you could find something cheaper with more than enough power for that rig or any upgrade it might get.