"How far can YoYoTech make £500 stretch into building a mid-range gaming rig? We find out as we review their latest Spartan 300 Gaming PC."

[IMG]http://www.overclock3d.net/gfx/articles/2008/07/29183854708s.jpg[/IMG]

[B][B]YoYoTech Intel Spartan 300 Gaming System[/B][/B]

I`ll open by being brutally honest in that I`ve never forgiven YoYoTech for advertizing the IX38-MAX, and it of course not making the shops :p

However, great review Jim, and I have equally be honest that if some1 came to me with the story we all get "can u build me a pc" - for £500, I`d point them at this. Jim had to technicalities.. but here`s the beauty about it - the person who bought it wouldn`t be on my phone all the time with an issue ;) That my friends is priceless.

Once going and benching is pretty darn decent, and there`s a fair bit of expansion u can add to it in the future - which is the downfall of most pre-made systems.

Good stuff.

[IMG]http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/demos/Image/spartan300-animation.gif[/IMG]

Cracking VFM, shame about the slight issues. Still, they've stretched £500 a long way

Several times you mention the mobo as a P45 chipset but it's not, it's a P43.
Rumour has it that P43 has been constrained to ~400fsb (way down on P45) for overclocking which I would love you to test if you still have the system.

Several times you mention the mobo as a P45 chipset but it's not, it's a P43.

Fixed, good catch

Several times you mention the mobo as a P45 chipset but it's not, it's a P43.
Rumour has it that P43 has been constrained to ~400fsb (way down on P45) for overclocking which I would love you to test if you still have the system.

From what I've been told the board that was used in that system is actually a P45 board and MSI have just changed the sticker on it to read P43 so that they can sell it at a lower price.

If you check the pics in the review, have a look at the model number printed on the PCB and punch it into Google.

Maybe MSI have done something to it...but to me it looked like a P45 with a sticker on it.

Out of curiosity I went to MSI's site and downloaded the manual for those board. By the looks of it, there are three different boards bearing the model number (P45, P43, and G45). From my reading, the P43 is essentially the same chip as the P45, just with a few features disabled (only 1 x16 PCI-E, weaker official memory support). Possibly low-binned P45's. The G45 is just a P45 with an integrated graphics solution. So I suppose you could look at this board as being a lower-binned, feature-capped P45 board

Thats really strange how they gave you an ES chip :S

Pretty cool if they gave everyone one though :D

From what I've been told the board that was used in that system is actually a P45 board and MSI have just changed the sticker on it to read P43 so that they can sell it at a lower price.

If you check the pics in the review, have a look at the model number printed on the PCB and punch it into Google.

Maybe MSI have done something to it...but to me it looked like a P45 with a sticker on it.

Oh, I'm sure that P43 & P45 are pin compatible allowing mobo manufacturers to re-use PCBs - afterall that's what many have done with IX38/IX48 mobos, Asus P5N32 uses a Striker PCB etc. etc.

This is by far the best budget gaming setup someone possible could get right now. The arctic cooler is great. Very nice choice of components.

£35 for them to build it, overclock and RTB warranty!!!! GREAT VFM!!!

1.445v Vcore !! ouch. I thought the 45nm chips were failing at voltage close to that. Seems a bit steep for Yoyotech to get stability?? Intel spec VID up to 1.365v. Very risky imo.

Great review. And hope this pc sells like hot cakes. It is miles infront of other system builders in terms of value!!