jano

Hey all,
I am building a budget graphics workstation
e2 vs e4?
what mobo (around $150)?
what cooling?

This system will be a basic graphics/video workstation so I will also need GPU, so SLI mobo is my preference. How about oc the gpu?

Thanks,
Jano

Chozart

Since your talking graphics workstation and budget, SLI isn't really something I'd advice. SLI is specifically for 3D Gaming, and I am pretty sure your graphic work doesn't even use SLI, making it a waste of money.

Thus, I don't recommend an SLI board to be honest. My recommendation is for a motherboard with the Intel P35 chipset and the ICH9R southbridge. A very good motherboard would be the DFI Infinity P35-T2RL (PS: Cyberdruid is a respected member here, and also a vendor rep. contact him here via PM if you have any questions).

I recommend this board since it has features you might like:
1) Support for any Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Quad CPU
2) ICH9R Southbridge; currently one of the best to set up a RAID array, which is HIGHLY recommended for your situation

Regarding the CPU.... I would seriously think about looking a bit up here, and consider the E6750. That's one heck of a CPU that overclocks like mad (mine does 3.6GHz like a walk in the park...and I already have it Orthos stable at 3.75GHz... ). I know it's more money, but worth it.

Now, I cannot give you advise on the rest, since I don't know how much you're willing/able to spend. Give me a budget, and we can talk about the GPU and such.

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jano

I want to spend around $100 on the cpu and put the rest into the mobo and graphics...as the next logical upgrade would be the cpu I think...graphics I need at least 256 but 512 recommended...dont want to spend more than $200 on it though..
therefore struggling between e2 and e4 - 1Mb l2 or 2Mb l2 not sure how e4 overclocks...mixed reviews...and what is the best cooling for it?

jnk

hello jano, here's a link i found very helpful:

http://www.techspot.com/article/61-i...board-roundup/

I think I got that from here too

linskingdom

E2180 is a great cpu for budget build. Whether or not get the E2180 vs. others for me is two questions.

1. Is this a budget build?
2. Does extra cache really matter to you?

E6750 is excellent one as Chozart said

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Chozart

I would never budget 'per component', but for the rig as a whole. In your case, since the CPU seems just to be a holdover, I'd probably even get an E2180....

What is your TOTAL budget, and which parts do you need?

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jano

what would you get for a first oc system for such budget?
cpu - $100-150
mobo - $100-150
cooling - $50-100
gpu - $250...at least 256MB
memory I have is 2GB OCZ 800Mhz
...I was thinking about sli because maybe i will end up needing more graphics power in future for rendering/textures and such...

CravinR1

I'd get:
e2180 ($93)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...6052&Tpk=E2180
Gigabyte 965 ($90)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128042
Tuniq Tower 120 ($45)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835154001
8800 GTS 320 ($290)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130082
XClio 500 Watt Goodpowe ($50)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189005

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