Best budget OC'ing option for the coming months?

[cheesehead]

To put it short and simple:
I am not rich.

I OC because I cannot afford a good processor, not because I want a super-fast gaming machine.

And I'm buying a new PC in the near future, becuse my laptop does not run games worth crap.


I was thinking of going for a single-core socket AM2 processor, like the 2800+ Sempron. With a pricetag of 60$ at Newegg, it's affordable, and I've heard that they can overclock easily to speeds of 2.4 ghz; although this is slow by your standards, I can't afford much better.

I figure I'll get my CPU heatsink used (Yay F/S/T forum!), so I'll not likely spend more than 25$ on that.

So, what should I do for my motherboard, RAM, and GPU?

I'm thinking that 1GB of RAM should be plenty; but should I spring for DDR2 800? DDR2 667 is 2/3 the price, and I would'nt mind saving the 30$. However, if it would make for easier OCing, I suppose I can spring for the faster stuff.

For the GPU, I was looking at the PNY 7600GT. It's cheap, and performs well enough. But is there a better option? I have'nt been following GPU's that well lately, and all the options have given me a headache. (There used to be two ATI cards, each of which came in four easily distinguished flavors. Now, there are a dozen diferent options, all of which give me a headache.) I don't need amazing gaming power, just enough to run games at 1024x768. (1024x1280 is the max resolution of whatever I'm likely to get, anyway.)

I have no clue what to get for a motherboard. I'm looking for something in the 70$ range. Cheap is good, here. Of course, being able to O/C is also important, but I don't need SLI.

I also need a PSU. Should I get one used, or just go for a Fortron?

I'm likely to get a used SATA drive, so no worries about the HDD. I have a DVD-ROM drive and CD burner already, in addition to a case.

Total outlay:

AMD 2800+ - 60$
1GB DDR2800-95$
PNY 7600GT - 160$
Motherboard - 75$
HDD - 40$
Heatsink - 25$ (hopefuly a XP-120)
PSU - 30$

Total cost :
490$. (I'd prefer to keep it down closer to 400$.) A MIR (currently availible for the PNY) drops the price to 460$, and DDR667 drops it to 430$.

I'm hoping to hit 2.2 - 2.4 ghz with this setup; hopefully this will let me play Half-Life 2 and Auto Assault at a reasonable speed. No, this is nothing fancy, but it's good enough for me!
(Besides, a 50% OC is pretty impressive.)

 

[imported_inspire]

Don't forget the case. MSI makes some decently affordable AM2 boards. Check out the MSI K9N Neo-F

 

[cheesehead]

I already have a case. And I know how to weld. Problem solved.

The K9n-Neo F looks like a winner, too.

Any reccomendations for a sub-200$ graphics card? The eVGA 7600GT KO, at 155$, is supposed to be quite good for the money. And I do not have a lot of that.

 

[imported_inspire]

That's a good card, yeah. If you're gonna OC, make sure to get some thermal paste.

 

[cheesehead]

I'm debating just submerging the silly thing in coolant. (I might actualy custom-make a waterblock.)

I take it that DDR800 is the way to go? It would seem so from what I've read. I don't want a crash-prone system, and I do want to OC.

Also, is the 7600 worth it? What kind of performance increase would I see from spending more? Would it be adequate to play most new games (OMG TEH SPORE L00KS t3h AWEXOME! I AM tEH FANB0I!) such as HL2, Spore, and the like? I suck at FPSs, but I do rather like being able to play KOTOR with all the settings turned up. (Not kidding on this one, folks. That said, KOTOR is hardly a "new" game, but I wish I could keep on AA without feeling like I'm looking at a flipbook.)

Thanks for the help, by the way. Also, welcome to the forums, Inspire. Don't let the "veterans" hassle you; I have 1000+ posts, and I can honestly say that I am completely @$#$!@$ing confused when it comes to overclocking these days. (I primarily work with Pentium III based machines. Good money, but I feel rather behind.)

 

[cheesehead]

Sorry to be an ass, but I'm bumping out of desperation.

 

[Zap]

Hey, a fellow "value conscious" user! Your choices were overall pretty good. I'll link to exact products that you can actually buy new, and list their "shipped" price.

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
AMD 2800+ - 60$
1GB DDR2800-95$
PNY 7600GT - 160$
Motherboard - 75$
HDD - 40$
Heatsink - 25$ (hopefuly a XP-120)
PSU - 30$

Socket AM2 Sempron 2800+ retail box $44 shipped
Don't know how long deal will go for so grab one while you can at this price.

1GB DDR2-667 dual channel CAS 4 $79 shipped
Get something similar to this. You can always run a memory divider and this is almost as cheap as the cheapest stuff, but is higher speed and lower latency.

eVGA 7600GT KO $145 shipped AR
It's overclocked, has a lifetime warranty and a copper cooler. Price reflects $30 MIR.

Biostar Tforce6100 AM2 motherboard, $81 shipped
I've had reasonably good experiences with the Biostar Tforce6100 series boards (socket 754 and 939). I'd expect the socket AM2 version to be decent as well.

200GB Maxtor SATA $66 shipped
HDD deals come and go, just keep trolling Hot Deals and wait... This deal is for SATA and without rebate so pretty nice. I've seen better deals but only after rebates (yes sometimes multiple) and often are for EIDE drives and not SATA.

retail box HSF $included
I've run my A64 x2 3800+ at 2.5GHz on a Sempron 2600+ HSF before with no problems. You should be okay even overclocking as long as you have decent case ventilation and you aren't trying to push the chip at 3GHz using 1.85vcore.

Enhance 360W PSU $35 shipped
This is a good price on an excellent PSU. Sure the wattage "rating" may not be high, but it really puts out that power unlike many other inexpensive but high "rated" PSUs. This has the requisite 20+4 pin power connector plus even a 6 pin PCI-E power connector (in case you upgrade video).

$450 total

 

[cheesehead]

Thanks for the help!
I'm probbably going to get an el cheap used SATA drive, if only to save some cash. I don't need much room, really, and I need to keep this as cheap as possible. However, I'm a believer in big copper-and-aluminum monstrostities, so I'm going to get the best HSF I can for 25$.
Also, I can't buy this right away, so I'm likely going to have to pay 15$ more for my Sempron (oh well).

EDIT:
eWiz has that board for 75$, and it is'nt even on sale. Woot!

I'm likely going to spring for DDR2-800, as I've heard that the performance losses are nasty. In fact, one review of the Tforce-6100 board mentioned that, when OCing the 1.4ghz Sempron to 2.2ghz, the performance loss from running a divider was so large he dropped it to 2.07ghz, and had improved performance.

I'll see how it works with a stock HSF, I guess. AS5 and a big fan can always help.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
I'm a believer in big copper-and-aluminum monstrostities, so I'm going to get the best HSF I can for 25$.

In fact, one review of the Tforce-6100 board mentioned that, when OCing the 1.4ghz Sempron to 2.2ghz, the performance loss from running a divider was so large he dropped it to 2.07ghz, and had improved performance.

I'd say stick with stock HSF initially. To really move into "great" HSF levels needs more than $25.
For that review, the "problem" is that it is running single channel RAM. Socket AM2 Semprons are dual channel so you're already at double the bandwidth.

 

[meksta]

if you are running at only 1024x768, get a 7600gs gfx card instead. Costs about $100....performance should be close to a 7600gt at low res

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: Zap
Hey, a fellow "value conscious" user! Your choices were overall pretty good. I'll link to exact products that you can actually buy new, and list their "shipped" price.

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
AMD 2800+ - 60$
1GB DDR2800-95$
PNY 7600GT - 160$
Motherboard - 75$
HDD - 40$
Heatsink - 25$ (hopefuly a XP-120)
PSU - 30$

https://www.centralcomputer.com/itemdetail.asp?item=CPUAMDS2803R">Socket AM2 Sempron 2800+ retail box $44 shipped</a>
Don't know how long deal will go for so grab one while you can at this price.

1GB DDR2-667 dual channel CAS 4 $79 shipped
Get something similar to this. You can always run a memory divider and this is almost as cheap as the cheapest stuff, but is higher speed and lower latency.

eVGA 7600GT KO $145 shipped AR
It's overclocked, has a lifetime warranty and a copper cooler. Price reflects $30 MIR.

Biostar Tforce6100 AM2 motherboard, $81 shipped
I've had reasonably good experiences with the Biostar Tforce6100 series boards (socket 754 and 939). I'd expect the socket AM2 version to be decent as well.

200GB Maxtor SATA $66 shipped
HDD deals come and go, just keep trolling Hot Deals and wait... This deal is for SATA and without rebate so pretty nice. I've seen better deals but only after rebates (yes sometimes multiple) and often are for EIDE drives and not SATA.

retail box HSF $included
I've run my A64 x2 3800+ at 2.5GHz on a Sempron 2600+ HSF before with no problems. You should be okay even overclocking as long as you have decent case ventilation and you aren't trying to push the chip at 3GHz using 1.85vcore.

Enhance 360W PSU $35 shipped
This is a good price on an excellent PSU. Sure the wattage "rating" may not be high, but it really puts out that power unlike many other inexpensive but high "rated" PSUs. This has the requisite 20+4 pin power connector plus even a 6 pin PCI-E power connector (in case you upgrade video).

$450 total

Nice! It's about time for a upgrade for my parents, and this system would work great for them and be in their price range.

How well are the AM2 Semprons overclocking for you, Zap?

 

[Zap]

Dunno yet. I'm waiting to make sure chips get here (ground from CA, delivery Tuesday) before I order some DDR2 RAM and a motherboard. I currently only have various DDR and socket 754/939 stuff. I don't think they'll do any worse than the other chips, meaning the 1.6GHz chip should easily hit 2GHz and perhaps 2.4GHz with some luck and a willing motherboard. That's something I'm worried about though because I've read some reviews of AM2 boards and at least the budget ones are not hitting really high HTT. I'm NOT willing to pay $200 for a motherboard just to overclock a $36 CPU. :laugh: I'll probably go with a Biostar Tforce6100 AM2 because I've had good luck with their socket 754 and 939 boards, plus mATX makes it a bit more flexible for my purposes.