The Phenom II X2 550 is a Black Edition, meaning the multiplier is unlocked so you can tweak it even more for overclocking. It also has the potential of unlockable cores, as the 550 is really a quad core with 2 cores locked whether they work or not - sometimes you can get lucky. ASRock and Biostar are apparently committed to preserving the core unlock in their BIOS's, Gigabyte and Asus and MSI you'll have to get lucky with.
If you don't actually care about OC'ing the CPU you'd probably want to get an Athlon II X4 620 instead, as the extra cores will pay off more in the long run than the higher clock speed.
The Samsung F3 is pretty much the fastest 7200RPM drive now, but I can't guarantee its longevity, if that worries you get a Seagate or WD (Black or Blue).
A 650W PSU is total overkill, but it's on sale for the same price as the 550W, and the 450W might not handle 2 video cards very well if you add a 2nd one in later but you could easily run this off a 450W for £20 less.
They do have a Geforce 250 for £80, I would suggest that over the 4850 except that the mobo I linked supports Crossfire and not SLI, and the site has no AM3 socket mobos with SLI so you'd have to shop around or change some things in the build if you planned to add a 2nd video card later on.
If you have more coinage you might want to get a Radeon 5770 for £125 instead of the Geforce GTS250.. if you need to tone it down, the cheapest respectable rig possible is an Athlon II X2 245, 770G AM3 mobo, 4gb DDR3 ram, Radeon 4670, 450W PSU.
Originally posted by GodKent So Overclockers are the best UK company to use?
I do want to try overclocking aswell so i will take your advice and have a look at the components you suggested first.
Thank you for the help i appreciate it alot and if anyone else has any input, please feel free to share.
I have no idea if overclockers is the best UK site, I actually google 'newegg uk' to find out what your equivalent e-tailer is and overclockers, microdirect, ebuyer and some others came up but oc'ers looked like it had the best layout, selection and prices of those I checked.
Comments
So, building a cheap rig that will let you experiment with settings the most, I'd go with:
Phenom II X2 550 BE £79
Asus 785G AM3 mobo £72
4GB DDR3-1600 Ram £70
Samsung F3 500GB HD £38
Radeon 4850 £80
Samsung 22X DVD-RW £18
Corsair 650W PSU £70
Total £428, you'll need to add a case though.
The Phenom II X2 550 is a Black Edition, meaning the multiplier is unlocked so you can tweak it even more for overclocking. It also has the potential of unlockable cores, as the 550 is really a quad core with 2 cores locked whether they work or not - sometimes you can get lucky. ASRock and Biostar are apparently committed to preserving the core unlock in their BIOS's, Gigabyte and Asus and MSI you'll have to get lucky with.
If you don't actually care about OC'ing the CPU you'd probably want to get an Athlon II X4 620 instead, as the extra cores will pay off more in the long run than the higher clock speed.
The Samsung F3 is pretty much the fastest 7200RPM drive now, but I can't guarantee its longevity, if that worries you get a Seagate or WD (Black or Blue).
A 650W PSU is total overkill, but it's on sale for the same price as the 550W, and the 450W might not handle 2 video cards very well if you add a 2nd one in later but you could easily run this off a 450W for £20 less.
They do have a Geforce 250 for £80, I would suggest that over the 4850 except that the mobo I linked supports Crossfire and not SLI, and the site has no AM3 socket mobos with SLI so you'd have to shop around or change some things in the build if you planned to add a 2nd video card later on.
If you have more coinage you might want to get a Radeon 5770 for £125 instead of the Geforce GTS250.. if you need to tone it down, the cheapest respectable rig possible is an Athlon II X2 245, 770G AM3 mobo, 4gb DDR3 ram, Radeon 4670, 450W PSU.
So Overclockers are the best UK company to use?
I do want to try overclocking aswell so i will take your advice and have a look at the components you suggested first.
Thank you for the help i appreciate it alot and if anyone else has any input, please feel free to share.
I have no idea if overclockers is the best UK site, I actually google 'newegg uk' to find out what your equivalent e-tailer is and overclockers, microdirect, ebuyer and some others came up but oc'ers looked like it had the best layout, selection and prices of those I checked.