Which one?

[toothadash]

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ ?

[PeterStoba]

e7200 without a doubt!

[toothadash]

Okay the Intel it is then http://forums.********************/images/smilies/smile.gif As im not looking for the machine as a gaming one but mainly :

Application running, internet, downloading, watching programmes and music..

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.53GHz (1066FSB)
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB)PC2-6400C4 DC Platinum Rev2 XTC Series DDR2
Samsung SpinPoint F1 640GB
Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x


I will be running vista 64 and possibly overclock a little (really little amount)

First question:

1/ Will I need a diferent CPU cooler?

2/ Can I stick with 2gb of memory or go with 4GB?

3/ Which MicroATX motherboard as I have been told if I go with Intel the onboard GPU is not good at all?

4/ Decent SFF case and would I need a really good PSU than normal stock

Cheers guys!

[Monkey]

Ok just wondering mate

1. Why would you need to overclock if your just using the net and downloading?
2. You shouldnt need a different cooler but if you decide to get one go for the Arctic cooler 7, if it will fit in yout tiny SFF case
3. I dont see you needing 4GB of ram but its always nice to have the extra power
4. You wont need a very powerful PSU atall for running that kind of system

[Lynx]

Also, the onboard GPU is fine for displaying internet browsers and everything, your cpu will handle HD content if you did download some, other than that you dont need to overclock. The cpu speed does not increase download speeds or productivity that much, the chip is pretty speedy anyways.

[Mul.]

Looks like a good choice. Fast enough to take on something heavily CPU intensive during any one off periods that you might have to but will otherwise sit around quietly and relatively cool. I'd go Intel purely on the grounds that it runs cooler and will consume less power, very important in a little mATX machine.

As far as Micro ATX motherboards are concerned, I'd vote for the Gigabyte G33 DS2R as it's got a full feature set and overclocks very well. As mentioned, you shouldn't need to overclock it at all as a dinky little P4 machine would do the job this PC is destined to do but if you're like me and like their machines overclocked for absolutely no reason at all, then it's more than possible with the Gigabyte. You should be able to get away with integrated graphics as it shouldn't struggle with any of your uses. I'd try it first and then get a dedicated card if you feel it's necessary.

RAM? 2GB Should be more than adequate.

Case? There's a couple of good SFF cases about but you're looking to spend around the £80 mark for a quality one. These include the Lian Li V350B, Silverstone SG01 and SG03.

As for a different cooler? Yes and no. The CPU will function fine with the regular cooler but as I understand, the E7000's are shipped with a low profile (really small) heatsink. This might get a little loud under extended periods of load, especially in a small case. Something like an Arctic Freezer 7 Pro will be too big for an SFF case so my suggestions, assuming any of the above 3 cases are used would include-

1) Zalman 8700
2) Scythe Ninja Mini
3) Silverstone NT06 (or NT06-E if you can find one) cooled by PSU. This is the quietest solution.

For the Power Supply Unit, you won't need something really special but a slightly higher capacity is always good as it'll indirectly deal with the added heat going through it in a SFF case better.

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/OCZ+600W+GameXStream+SLI+Ready+PSU+?productId=2458 6

[wonderlust]

The G33Ds2R is a good board, but is romoured to run very hot.

that why I went for the slightly cheaper Asus P5k-VM.

Although it is worth remembering that the G33 chipset doesn't do very well (if at all) with HD content.

[Mul.]

The DS2R is cooled very similarly to the P5K-VM and personally the supposed overheating isn't something I've heard of. The P5K-VM is also an excellent board, usually the better choice for anyone that's overclocking a CPU with a default FSB of 800 as it was the only G33 with decent memory dividers for such chips. He'd be fine with either.

[wonderlust]

It would appear that maybe Asus use a better HTC

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/t264625.html

But imho it could be the otherway round, but it was unclear if the chip was hot or the heatsink, (if heatsink is then it could be the gigabyte has better cooling than the asus!)


another suggestion of the Gigabyte board running hot

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1201758&page=4

[Mul.]

I'm still not entirely convinced and wouldn't put it against the board as it's rock stable but I suppose it's something to bare in mind. All Northbridges run hot today, they can take the heat and they can still overclock. Like I said before of course, either P5K-VM or G33 DS2R would suit.

[SimCity]

Go for the Intel :)