New rig suggestion, advice needed!

sygnus21 something to say about the old rig? Do you think is better?

Reverence said:

Old rig:

EVGA P55 FTW Motherboard
SAPPHIRE 5970HD Video Card
Corsair Dominator GT 4GB Kit 1600MHz 7-7-7-20 OC to: 8-8-8-20 1900Mhz
CPU Intel i7 860 2.8Mhz OC to: 3.8Mhz
Thermalright TRUE 120 Extreme
NOCTUA NF-P12 120mm 1300rpm X2
HDD SSD Corsair 128GB 200/220 Mb/s
HDD Westren Digital 250GB
Corsair HX1000W PSU
Thermaltake SPEDO ADVANCE CASE

Not really much to say. It is a nice rig, but it's used. Do you REALLY know what was done to the system in the other person's hand? And bear in mind that the system is overclocked 1000MHz above spec!!! That means heat & stress

So.... how much does he/she want for the system???

However, If you break the "old" system down, it has the better....

- video card - 5970 vs 5870
- Better (and bigger) SSD Drive - Corsair 128GB vs Callisto Series 60GB SSD
- Memory... Corsair's GT kits are nice, but between what you chose and what he has, you're not missing much, but between the two, I'd take the GT's.
- CPU cooler - Thermalright TRUE 120 Extreme vs Mugen II Rev.b 5 (though this can be debated, maybe)

As to the motherboard/overall systems, bear in mind that the old system is a P55 chipset -1156 socket (800 series processors), whereas the new system is an X58 chipset - 1366 socket (900 series processor) system. We're also talking dual channel memory vs triple channel memory.

Meaning the X58 chipset system is more of a high end performance system whereas the P55 chipset is considered more mainstream.

Intel X58 vs P55: What's the Difference?

My two cents

I live in Israel. For the old system the guy wants 1200euro, the new system I can get for 1700euro.

About the case I opened a thread before that I am looking for an elegant mid tower case and P183 provide that.

OK, so is the 500euro difference worth the unknown status of an 8 month old 1000MHz overclocked system? Do you trust this guy?

If you say yes to those, then go with that system. As I said, it is a nice system, at a good price, and barely any difference between them in terms of gaming. Outside of gaming, other benchmarks (synthetics) will favor the X58 system.

Good luck on your decision.

I want to point out Reverence, the reason I don't think you should get the OCed system, REGARDLESS of how long it has been working... Is that how familiar are you with Overclocking?

Given you are asking us how good the system is compared to a new system, it suggests to me you are not a hardware type person. Which also means, you may be a little weak on what it may take to maintain an OCed system. Unless the guy selling the computer is willing to support it, I think you are doing yourself a disservice as a user to getting an unsupported OCed system, and putting yourself into further trouble later on should you want to add more RAM and not familiar with what is necessary nor having the previous system owner who tweaked the system willing to provide support for you.

While people here can offer help to you, in the long run, you will find it more problematic than spending the extra 500 euros with a system that isn't overclocked.

First of all thank for your replies.

I cant say I trust the guy 100%, Keiichi25 you are also right last 6 years I been using only laptops.

But since I finished university and have a stable work I stopped move around so thats why I want to get a desktop pc. I never knew that OCed systems need special maintenance.

I ask many questions cause things changed the last desktop PC I had was P3 :) if I remember correctly.

Laptop hardware is so different from the desktop PC.

First off, the OLD system CAN be set back to it's default setting! In other words it doesn't have to be in an overclocked condition if/when you buy it. Simply ask him to set it back to factory settings.

Now something to consider is how much stress has it been under since the overclock occurred? Is there any damage done? That's really the question? People run overclocked systems all the time, and some manufactures actually sell overclocked systems. The trick is doing it without damage to the components, or shortening the lifespan.

For the record, I run two overclocked systems without issue; and one of my overclocked systems (Q6600 - 2.4Gig OC to 2.9Gig) has been running that way for 3 years now without issue.

Those are the issues to think about when buying someone else's used system, especially an overclocked one.

And again, from what he's selling, that appears to be a good price, especially If you look at the breakdown of the system that I provided. It DOES have some better parts than the system you propose to build/get.

So the bottom line is this... is it worth taking the risk? You know this person better than us

Good luck.

Note, as Sygnus stated, you can put it back to normal spec, but it won't be at the same speed. As for damage, again, you won't be qualified to know how bad off the system is.

As for care, I only stress this as for a normal user, you need to be aware that OCed systems require extra care for the user to pay attention to heat and knowing if he has to tweak the system later. This is not to say you shouldn't get an OCed system, but when you inherit someone else's work, and not knowing what you need to tweak... Well, it's like buying a souped up car and not knowing what you need to keep it in the condition you bought.

To give an example, I knew of one person who didn't take care of his overclocked system, with a water cooling system. The Water cooling system leaked and it corroded the main board.

This is not to say this will happen, but it is necessary to occasionally check the system to avoid nasty little surprises that you might end up getting another computer again quickly.

Ok thank for all your replies I have decided to go for the new system and not the old one.

Now I need more help to choose the monitor and cooler.

So about the cooler I got 2 choices:

Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B CPU Cooler - Mugen 2 Rev. B: Scythe - The Cooling Experts

or

Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler - Noctua.at - sound-optimised premium components "Designed in Austria"!

For monitors I want to go for Samsung they got 2 models I like need help to decide also:

Samsung XL2370-1 - SAMSUNG | 23" Widescreen LED-Backlit LCD Monitor

or

Samsung BX2450 - 24

Waiting for your suggestions.

Thanks

Uhhh... the Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler is the far superior CPU cooler. Google it and read the reviews. However, if you're not going to overclock, or do any high overclocks (3.8 & above), it may be overkill, and you could find reasonable products at a lower price.

I myself use this... Noctua NH-C12P SE14, though it is a bit expensive as well. My thoughts here - Experience with Gigabyte motherboards?. The big plus about it is it is quiet!

As for Monitors, I say get what you like because you'll be the one staring at it. In short, don't skimp on monitors.