Gaming Worth $55?

[Lanlan]

One thing I did notice, that mother board you linked supports dual channel memory but the picture your posted looks as if it only has 3 out of the 4 slots populated.... This means that your memory is operating in single channel mode.

I would say remove/add one stick but that depends on how much RAM is there and also what speed it is and if you do decide to add a stick get ready for some sticker shock DDR2 is now way more expensive per GB than DDR3.

Just something to keep in mind.

I run an OCed E8500 myself with 8GB's of dual channel DDR2 800 that pairs up nicely with my 1600Mhz FSB lol

There are only two sticks, in dual channel. And that make the CPU close to 3.8 ghz right? How stable is it, and with what cooling?

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

One thing I did notice, that mother board you linked supports dual channel memory but the picture your posted looks as if it only has 3 out of the 4 slots populated.... This means that your memory is operating in single channel mode.

I would say remove/add one stick but that depends on how much RAM is there and also what speed it is and if you do decide to add a stick get ready for some sticker shock DDR2 is now way more expensive per GB than DDR3.

Just something to keep in mind.

I run an OCed E8500 myself with 8GB's of dual channel DDR2 800 that pairs up nicely with my 1600Mhz FSB lol

There are only two sticks, in dual channel. And that make the CPU close to 3.8 ghz right? How stable is it, and with what cooling?

I use an after market cooler I want to say Cooler Master but I am not 100% sure about that with out taking my PC out of my desk (one of those wooden door type desks.) it has 4 heat pipes and a copper core and a pretty good sized fan. Keeps things nice and chilly as far as stability goes this machine has not crashed on me once since I built it. Well other than when I originally OCed it... The only stable OC I can get out of it is 1600Mhz FSB anything less and it won't even boot into the BIOS. I have to hold down the reset while I boot to reset to stock. (A nice Asus mobo the P5K/EPU.)

 

[Scorpei]

One thing I did notice, that mother board you linked supports dual channel memory but the picture your posted looks as if it only has 3 out of the 4 slots populated.... This means that your memory is operating in single channel mode.

I run an OCed E8500 myself with 8GB's of dual channel DDR2 800 that pairs up nicely with my 1600Mhz FSB lol

There are only two sticks, in dual channel. And that make the CPU close to 3.8 ghz right? How stable is it, and with what cooling?

First, 3 sticks of ram can run in Dual Channel L-shaped mode.

Second @ OC: No, don't do it. Just don't.
This machine is for your little brother who knows less then you do. You clearly haven't (often) OC-ed Core 2 Duo machines so this is just a bad idea waiting to happen. The Core 2 duo series OC's like crazy, much worth the effort, but only if you either know what you are doing, are free to kill the machine (though that is unlikely to happen) or are willing to learn. The CPU could be running on 1200MHz for all you know. Next to that ANY OC that ANY other processor reaches sais nearly nothing (not quite true, but applicable all the same) about your specific processor.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

One thing I did notice, that mother board you linked supports dual channel memory but the picture your posted looks as if it only has 3 out of the 4 slots populated.... This means that your memory is operating in single channel mode.

I run an OCed E8500 myself with 8GB's of dual channel DDR2 800 that pairs up nicely with my 1600Mhz FSB lol

There are only two sticks, in dual channel. And that make the CPU close to 3.8 ghz right? How stable is it, and with what cooling?

First, 3 sticks of ram can run in Dual Channel L-shaped mode.

Second @ OC: No, don't do it. Just don't.
This machine is for your little brother who knows less then you do. You clearly haven't (often) OC-ed Core 2 Duo machines so this is just a bad idea waiting to happen. The Core 2 duo series OC's like crazy, much worth the effort, but only if you either know what you are doing, are free to kill the machine (though that is unlikely to happen) or are willing to learn. The CPU could be running on 1200MHz for all you know. Next to that ANY OC that ANY other processor reaches sais nearly nothing (not quite true, but applicable all the same) about your specific processor.

Two things...

Number 1, no 3 stick dual channel mode on his Mobo he posted a link to the specific board, so yeah thats a 100% no....

Second item is with OCing it's pretty hard to damage a CPU unless you mess with voltages and on a C2D there really isn't a need most of the time, especially on the E8500. btw on an Intel board (again the one he linked) is also going to be pretty hard to do since Intel does lock its BIOS options down pretty tight. You can OC on them but it's limited and pretty safe, just have to expect your not going to hit the same type of OC you get out of Asus or another OC friendly board.

 

[Lanlan]

The CPU could be running on 1200MHz for all you know.

1333mhz, yo. I'm not as dumb as you think when it comes to computers by the way.

 

[Scorpei]

The CPU could be running on 1200MHz for all you know.

1333mhz, yo. I'm not as dumb as you think when it comes to computers by the way.

I'm sorry, I was merely trying to help you out. Feel free to feel offended in any way and me ignoring this thread from now on. Aside of course from you stating the stock FSB speed from the e8500.

Leaving this thread with awesome:

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

The CPU could be running on 1200MHz for all you know.

1333mhz, yo. I'm not as dumb as you think when it comes to computers by the way.

The only warning I would offer is stay away from changing the voltage on your CPU or RAM leave those alone unless you really read up on everything before hand. There should be a ton of OC guides for that mobo just follow one of those that has the same CPU and you should be golden.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

A coworker is offering me a computer. He's quite computer illiterate, but according to him it's a custom built gaming computer built in 2008 with Nvidia onboard graphics and a Core 2 Duo and it has 4 slots for memory. . Obviously this is no gaming computer, but is it worth the asking price? Any guess as to what socket it might be? I know C2Ds have different socket types, so it may just be all guessing. Since it's pretty recent it would most likely have a PCI-e slot, right?

That's a gaming computer. That's pretty much what I have, except I have e8400. And it runs games just fine like Arkham City and such no problem even with PhysX activated.