What do you guys think about this?

[Orcoa]

Hey guys,

What can i do to make this rig have "major" improvement with the least amount of money?
Here is what i got now, tell me how it is as it is now.. thanks guys !

Intel E6600 @ 2.4GHz -- > 2.9 Ghz (ON STOCK COOLING)
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3
ASUS EN8600GTS, Oced slighty to 720Mhz, 2028 Mhz (DDR)
Corsair ValueSelect 667Mhz oced with the CPU to around 800Mhz ( 2 x 1GB)
2-the-Max PSU 580W

Heres wht i got on the Vista Performace thing.. ( 5.6, 5.9, 5.9, 5.6, 5.7)

Overall rating of 5.6

Thanks alot.

 

[sephiroth_749]

the only thing i could see even upgradeing is the ram get a higher freqency ram and run it 1:1 but you dont even really need to do that cause that system is really nice

 

[hUMANbEATbOX]

^^ if that ram can actually run ddr2-800 speeds, then that would be enough for 3.6ghz on the cpu (9*400=3600). it is impossible to run less than 1:1 with a 965 board, so i would assume he's currently using more than 1:1.

OP, what are the exact settings you are using? what fsb? what memory ratio? i would start with the 9x multi, and your ddr2 at 1:1. if you run 333fsb, your ram will be perfectly in spec at 333mhz, or ddr2-667 speeds, and your cpu will be at 2.97ghz.

if i were in your shoes, and i had ddr2-667 that could actually do ddr2-800 speeds, all i would buy for that rig is a nice aftermarket cooler.

 

[Orcoa]

Here is an update on the Ram...

its 398Mhz each,
4:5
(5,6,6,17)

What about my graphics card ??
do you think the stock cooling is enough and do you think its maxed out ??
i personally think it maxed out

 

[jivetrky]

Here is an update on the Ram...

its 398Mhz each,
4:5
(5,6,6,17)

What about my graphics card ??
do you think the stock cooling is enough and do you think its maxed out ??
i personally think it maxed out

that all depends on your load temperatures. If they are still below ~65c (MAX) you could still do a little increasing. But if you can spend the $60-75 and get a really good air cooler, 3.6 could be attainable.

 

[CrazyIrish]

I'm not sure anything you could do would be a "major" improvement without swapping out a "major" component.

 

[inkfx]

"2-the-Max PSU 580W"

I would change that before anything else.

 

[jivetrky]

"2-the-Max PSU 580W"

I would change that before anything else.

ahhh...I missed that. I agree that the PSU should be the first thing to worry about for an upgrade. Get a good quality PSU. You don't have to spend a ton...just get a decent one. Either a Corsair HX 520W or a Silverstone OP650 would be 2 good choices.

 

[hUMANbEATbOX]

Here is an update on the Ram...

its 398Mhz each,
4:5
(5,6,6,17)

What about my graphics card ??
do you think the stock cooling is enough and do you think its maxed out ??
i personally think it maxed out

so your ram is for sure good up to 398fsb, 1:1. that would give you 398*9=3582mhz.

i really don't know anything about your psu, except that it is probably an off brand, and not all that solid. you should replace it, IF you are serious about wanting 3.4ghz+ (very attainable). that and a new heatsink, and you should be able to hit 3.4+ no probs.

 

[alexhuzar]

ahhh...I missed that. I agree that the PSU should be the first thing to worry about for an upgrade. Get a good quality PSU. You don't have to spend a ton...just get a decent one. Either a Corsair HX 520W or a Silverstone OP650 would be 2 good choices.

On another forum (http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/167489-asus-p5n32-e-overclocking-guide.html) there have been reports of people RMAing the Silverstone PSUs because they gave unstable voltage output and crapped out after a week while getting progressively worse untill then. Take a look at Enermax. I know my 1000W Galaxy is a fortune, but it is THE best investment since I bought my Thermaltake Xaxer 3 case. There's a review on it at www.guru3d.com. That place only uses the 1000W Galaxy for ALL their tests since they first reviewed the PSU. There's a cheaper 850W model. 5 (five) individual voltage rails...can't go wrong with that.

You can't get stable high overclocks on the Core 2 Duos if your PSU gives unstable voltage. You might be able to run Orthos/Prime for 2 hours, but you will wonder why you get BSODs all the time.

 

[White_Pawn]

i agree with the power supply.

 

[jivetrky]

On another forum (http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/167489-asus-p5n32-e-overclocking-guide.html) there have been reports of people RMAing the Silverstone PSUs because they gave unstable voltage output and crapped out after a week while getting progressively worse untill then. Take a look at Enermax. I know my 1000W Galaxy is a fortune, but it is THE best investment since I bought my Thermaltake Xaxer 3 case. There's a review on it at www.guru3d.com. That place only uses the 1000W Galaxy for ALL their tests since they first reviewed the PSU. There's a cheaper 850W model. 5 (five) individual voltage rails...can't go wrong with that.

You can't get stable high overclocks on the Core 2 Duos if your PSU gives unstable voltage. You might be able to run Orthos/Prime for 2 hours, but you will wonder why you get BSODs all the time.

I searched that entire thread and only found one person that said they were having issues with a silverstone PSU. And that was a totally different line than what I recommended. But either way, the line he was having issues with was the Zeus line (specifically the 750W and 850W models) which is made by a Etasis, which is regarded as a very high quality, server grade PSU manufacturer. In all of the reviews I've seen on those PSU's, the ripple and regulation was excellent. The dude just got unlucky or had another issue going on.

But either way, I wasn't even talking about the Zeus line (which would also be a great choice) I was talking about the Olympia line. They've had good reviews and the only issue they had was a squealing transformer, which has been addressed and fixed by Silverstone.

Now I'm not saying the Enermax Galxy isn't a good PSU as well...just that the Silverstones are definitely not bad and shouldn't' be avoided because one person had issues with them.