Weekly Buyer's Guide: Overclocking System - April 2004
by Evan Lieb on April 8, 2004 10:47 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Overclocking System Summary
| Hardware | Component | Price |
| CPU & Cooling | AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Mobile (OEM) plus SLK-947U HSF & Vantec Fan | $134 |
| Motherboard | ABIT NF7-S Rev.2 (nForce2 Ultra 400) | $98 |
| Memory | 2 X 256MB Mushkin Level One PC3500 (DDR433) | $145 |
| Video Card | 128MB Gigabyte Radeon 9600 Pro | $135 |
| Monitor | Samsung 955DF DynaFlat CRT | $200 |
| Computer Case | Kingwin K11 Aluminum ATX plus $72 430W Antec PSU | $142 |
| Sound Card | Creative Labs Audigy 2 6.1 (OEM). Or free onboard sound. | $70 |
| Speakers | Logitech Z-640 5.1 surround | $55 |
| Networking | Onboard 10/100 Ethernet or 10/100/1000 Gigabit controller | $0 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 800JB (80GB) | $72 |
| CD-RW | Lite-On 52x32x52x16 Combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM | $52 |
| Bottom Line | - | $1103 |
$1103 is the final price of our high end system this week, not including any money that you'll spend on software (Windows XP Home or Professional, Office, etc.) or a keyboard and mouse.
Long-time overclockers are absolutely going to love a setup like this. They'll have quality DDR that they can use for many months, if not years, to come, and will enjoy great performance and stability at the same time. Beginning overclockers should consult our forums for more information on how to overclock, as it can be dangerous for inexperienced users. What we've talked about in this guide may be difficult to understand if you don't have some type of background in modern day overclocking, making AnandTech's forums (or any good online hardware forum, really) the best place for you to ask for building advice.
Now go build your system and let us know what you think in our comments section.
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stoneranger - Thursday, July 22, 2004 - link
I built this, and I luv the thing. I used a gig of mushkin instead of 512, also used a 9800pro. and a asus deluxe rev 2 board. I have an abit nf7, but I really wanted to keep it quite, and wanted the dual net. So I used the asus. I spent about the same thing, well withen 20 bucks of what was posted. I built it to run quite, but I have run it up to 2.5mhz. and my scores are fantastic. I now have it tuned down to 2.2 mhz, at the lowest voltage my board will register. And I am still getting well over 17000 on the 3d2001 mark. I love flight sem, halo, and far cry. And its quite till I crank the sound. Actually one of the quitest I have ever built.Steve
gimper48 - Thursday, June 3, 2004 - link
When are we going to see the new Overclock guide? Are we going to get into 64-bit overclocking like the DTR or mobile?Kittcg - Friday, May 7, 2004 - link
What alterations would you make to this current setup if you were to optimize it for gaming?Etacovda - Sunday, April 18, 2004 - link
Wow, im surprised actually. The FIRST motherboard ANYONE with knowledge will recommend for a mobile is either a DFI lanpartyII B or a DFI infinity board... 270fsb is nothing to sneeze at with active northbridge cooling.Whats with the 9600pro again? the 5900XT totally destroys it in 90% of tests, its obviously a better card... in saying that, the gainward ultra 5900 isnt much more and has 2.2ns ram, the card is known to go over 5950 speeds. Take it one more step and you've got the 9800pro etc... im sure an overclocker will not be happy with a 9600pro, thats for sure.
Its always nice to see reviews/suggestions like this, good work :)
ceefka - Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - link
Yes indeed, #23 and #24, that would be nice. It would clearly show the bang for your buck factor. Maybe a nice idea for the closure of each cycle since this looks like a monthly thing.ceefka - Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - link
A rather late post, that I intended to put here much earlier. Well let's hope people still read this.This is a very helpful topic of course in getting an idea of what to buy for a such and so PC. The thing I am missing here is the qualification in terms of use.
Wouldn't it be an idea to specialize a machine for say DAW purposes, Video Editing, Gaming and maybe other demanding tasks. This makes choices in hardware rather different, I assume. Is that something that can be done here on AT or does anybody know sites where they do this. I am especially interested in DAW and Video editing.
timebecomes - Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - link
I agree, I think that benchmarks between the guides would be helpful. I would like to see how the overclocking system stands up to the athlon 64 system specifically.gimper48 - Tuesday, April 13, 2004 - link
I would like to see benchmarks as well between the 3 guides..Dantzig - Monday, April 12, 2004 - link
Why recommend the Athlon XP-M 2500+ over the 2400+ and 2600+ parts? The 2400+ is a good deal cheaper and only spec'd for a few MHz below the 2500+, and the 2600+ is spec'd for a full 2GHz with only 1.45v and is only $10 more than the 2500+. I'd say that the 2600+ is definitely the best overclocking buy right now since many people are getting ~2.5GHz @ 1.65v and 2.6-2.8GHz with higher voltage.DannyOcean - Sunday, April 11, 2004 - link
Jeff7181,That was the same comment I meant in reply to timebecomes' reply on the 2.4A's 533 FSB - which, with half-decent cooling, can go above 800 FSB.