Hi everyone, im new here and new building pcs... Still know something and hace normally replaced pieces and basic stuff but this is my first complete build. Im an average user, not an editor or hard gamer but use the computer quite a lot and normally with lots of applications at the same time. As I said not a game, but normally play some random game for a while so i still want them to run at least in basic to mid specs. My idea is to OC but just with air and relaxing speed. Was thinking about the 3-3.2 range.

Im pretty much set on the q6600, hard drive (Seagate 500GB 7200rpm SATA 32Mb) and on the vid card (Asustek NVidia 8600GT 512MB Magic HDTV PCI-E 2X DVI-I) , but im not sure of memory, cooler and motherboard. I read that p35 chips work good with the q6600 so i was thinking of an asus p5k. Theres many of those and im not sure if there is a real OC performance problem or the difference is mainly the extra ports, wifi and that kind of stuff. Since im not gonna be using multiple vid cards, neither e-sata i was thinking about the p5k-se which is a lot cheaper, but not sure as it will work as ok as the p5k-se.

As for the memory i dont know much, all ive heard is that pobably ddr2-800 is enough for those OC speeds and that lower CAS latency is better. I was thinking of 4gb of OCZ reaper orCorsair XMS2 DHX, both around $110.

For the cooler since i dont wat to go that high was thinking for a medium range on, maybe around 30-40 dollars. Pretty lost there, help would be thanked.

Thats it, any help is welcome, cheers,

Ignacio

The ASUS P5K-E is very well known for it's wide options for OCing and it's high FSB OC. I suggest you get that, it's very OC friendly.

For memory, you do not need any hardcore ones. Just learned from our memory master here that all you have to do is pick the memory with the lowest voltage, like 1.8V-1.9V. The ones rated at 2.1V - 2.2V are cheaper ram that's overvolted some so it can run those speeds. Truthfully, any 800MHz ram will do, since you will hardly notice the difference.

For cooler, stick with the Xigmatek HDT-S1283, it's one of the best air cooling you can get. It's priced around $37.

Make sure you get stepping G0 and a good cooler to 3.2 Ghz. The lower vid is the better. The stock fan can take you to 2.8 without a problem. But, in my case, passing over the 3.0 Ghz line requires a significant Vcore boost , and it is stable at 1.344 V. You definately want to keep it cool with a good cooler. Some people get lucky and they do not need as much vcore as i do. You may be lucky or you may not. So, do yourself a favor and get a good cooler. Mine is rock solid at 3.2 after hours of test.

If you do not care of extra stuff such as raid, wifi, esata, i would recommend Gigabyte p35 ds3l that i have. It is cheap and it is easy to overclock. I would recommend intel chipset especially p 35 for q6600. As far as Ram is concerned, i have Corsair XMS2 DHX 4GB. It looks cool and works great. i am loving it. I got that from fry for only 60$.

Good luck.

Ah, I forgot a detail. I dont live on the US and i plan to go there in about 2 months and by the pieces there. This means that it is really important for me that the pieces i buy are working correctly since I cant return them back. Also to know is that i probably wont be changing my pc for around 3 or 4 years, dont know what importance that coould bake, but just so you know.

Ignacio

how about this 129.99 750gb HDD?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148298

for RAM DDR2 800Mhz seems to be the sweet spot 4-4-4-12 is very good but loosen up to 5-5-5-15 if 4-4-4-12 doesnt work, G.skill is also a very good brand.

for PSU the antec earthwatts are very good and they have more than enough watts.

cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] _-35103031

thank you everyone. Any more comments? What do you think about about the gigabyte board?
cheers

DS3L+ Q6600 would be a good choice so will the P5K. Also agree on the Xigmatek HDT-S1283
see: http://www.frostytech.com/top5heat [...] ELHEATSINK

If you need help with OCing on the DS3L see:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] w=0&nojs=0