My Ultra-Budget Gaming Box

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BecauseScience

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 9, 2005
Messages
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This will be my first gaming-only machine and my first OC ever. I have tons of hardware experience but know little about overclocking or which hardware yields the best gaming performance.

There will be nothing else done on this box -- not even web surfing.

I want maximum performance at the absolute lowest cost. This will be my "throw away" gaming box so component quality isn't top priority.

The stuff listed under "From the Parts Bin" and the E5200 are set in stone. I don't want to deal with the hassle of selling anything. Everything else is up in the air.

GOAL: I'd like to take a e5200 up to 3.5Ghz. Any more would be icing on the cake.

(I know I'm missing a HSF. I plan to run the stock HFS through it's paces before shelling out an additional $30-50 on an aftermarket solution.)

From the Parts Bin:

BFG 8800GT 512MB
Antec True Power II-550
Seagate 750GB 7200.10
Coolermaster Centurion 5​

Processor:

Motherboards:

People are getting nice e2200 overclocks with the TG31-A7. (See third post in that thread.) The Rebel's Haven guys claim that it's stable up to 343FSB. Too bad I have no idea how that compares to other $60 boards...

I haven't been able to find a nice big thread detailing the OCing ability of the GA-EP31-DS3L. Can anyone provide any reviews/benches/threads to help me make an informed choice between these boards with respect to overclocking?

The GA-EP35-DS3L probably wins the popularity contest here on [H] but do I really need to spend another $20 over the TG31-A7 to max out an E5200? Then I'll be thinking I should spend another $20 to get a P45 board and I could go on and on...

Additional board suggestions are appreciated. Keep the price under $75. Lower is better! Rebates from reputable companies are ok.

MEMORY

I game at 1900x1280. Would I see a noticeable difference in framerate or loading times going from 2G to 4G? (ignore 32 bit OS limitations)

My newbie OC reasoning tells me that DDR2-800 should be fine for this build. Am I right?

I also remember reading that memory timings are more or less irrelevant on Core2 for gaming purposes. Correct?
 
What OS will you be running? If XP, I think 2GB runs sweet (though I stuffed 4 in mine just because I had it). For Vista, 4GB seems the sweet spot. Either way, DDR2 is pretty cheap.

Oh, I say go for the Biostar, or try this Foxconn that I've had good luck with on stability, but I can't comment on OC as they were family machines and didn't get bothered.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186146
 
kristof said:
This will be my first gaming-only machine and my first OC ever. I have tons of hardware experience but know little about overclocking or which hardware yields the best gaming performance.

There will be nothing else done on this box -- not even web surfing.

I want maximum performance at the absolute lowest cost. This will be my "throw away" gaming box so component quality isn't top priority.

The stuff listed under "From the Parts Bin" and the E5200 are set in stone. I don't want to deal with the hassle of selling anything. Everything else is up in the air.

GOAL: I'd like to take a e5200 up to 3.5Ghz. Any more would be icing on the cake.

(I know I'm missing a HSF. I plan to run the stock HFS through it's paces before shelling out an additional $30-50 on an aftermarket solution.)

From the Parts Bin:

BFG 8800GT 512MB
Antec True Power II-550
Seagate 750GB 7200.10
Coolermaster Centurion 5​

Processor:

Motherboards:

People are getting nice e2200 overclocks with the TG31-A7. (See third post in that thread.) The Rebel's Haven guys claim that it's stable up to 343FSB. Too bad I have no idea how that compares to other $60 boards...

I haven't been able to find a nice big thread detailing the OCing ability of the GA-EP31-DS3L. Can anyone provide any reviews/benches/threads to help me make an informed choice between these boards with respect to overclocking?

The GA-EP35-DS3L probably wins the popularity contest here on [H] but do I really need to spend another $20 over the TG31-A7 to max out an E5200? Then I'll be thinking I should spend another $20 to get a P45 board and I could go on and on...

Additional board suggestions are appreciated. Keep the price under $75. Lower is better! Rebates from reputable companies are ok.

MEMORY

I game at 1900x1280. Would I see a noticeable difference in framerate or loading times going from 2G to 4G? (ignore 32 bit OS limitations)

My newbie OC reasoning tells me that DDR2-800 should be fine for this build. Am I right?

I also remember reading that memory timings are more or less irrelevant on Core2 for gaming purposes. Correct?
Click to expand...

I had experience with this Gigabyte board that is in the same price range. It's the G31 chipset but that is nearly the exact same as the P31 + integrated gpu. The problem I found with this board is that the bios is absolulte trash, no good OC'ing options what so ever. Can't adjust fsb:dram settings, not even basic memory timing settings!! If the P31 has a bios even remotely close to that G31 board (which I wouldn't be suprised) it won't OC worth crap.
 
CamaroZ28 said:
I had experience with this Gigabyte board that is in the same price range. It's the G31 chipset but that is nearly the exact same as the P31 + integrated gpu. The problem I found with this board is that the bios is absolulte trash, no good OC'ing options what so ever. Can't adjust fsb:dram settings, not even basic memory timing settings!! If the P31 has a bios even remotely close to that G31 board (which I wouldn't be suprised) it won't OC worth crap.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. That's one of the things I was worried about on the Gigabyte G31 boards.

The Biostar looks like it has decent OC options.
http://www.rebelshavenforum.com/sis-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=33;t=000200;p=1#000002

I have another contender:

ASUS P5K SE/EPU - $75
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008046
http://asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=534&l4=0&model=2067&modelmenu=1

It's a totally different layout than the P5K Pro. There's a lot of OC info on this one. It looks like a steal at $75.
 
Kil4Thril said:
What OS will you be running? If XP, I think 2GB runs sweet (though I stuffed 4 in mine just because I had it). For Vista, 4GB seems the sweet spot. Either way, DDR2 is pretty cheap.
Click to expand...

I'll be running XP initally then Vista 64 if/when there's a good reason to switch. I expect this machine to last at least 2 years. I'm not a hardcore gamer.

Kil4Thril said:
Oh, I say go for the Biostar, or try this Foxconn that I've had good luck with on stability, but I can't comment on OC as they were family machines and didn't get bothered.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186146
Click to expand...

Yea...I'm specifically looking for a good overclocker, preferably a board that's at least somewhat popular in the OC community so I can find some help when I run into problems.
 
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