Advice on this spec please.

Quacky84 · 25 Mar 2006 at 15:34

Hi, I would like to be able to over clock at stock, And I am not sure which type of memory I need ( I dont understand what "2-3-2-5" means) to be able to over clock.I would also like this upgrade to be a long-term one.

Any advice is welcomed.

The reason for my upgrade is because I want to be able to play "The Elder Scrolls - Oblivion" and have fun (No low fps ect).

Cheers.

Abit AN8-32X nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-092-AB) *Link*
£99.95 £99.95

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3700BNBOX) (CP-121-AM) *Link*
£126.95 £126.95

XFX GeForce 7900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (PVT71G-UDLR) (GX-075-XF) *Link*
£199.95 £199.95

G.Skill 2GB DDR ZX PC3200 (2x1GB) CAS2 Dual Channel Kit (F1-3200PHU2-2GBZX) (MY-007-GS) *Link*
£121.95 £121.95

Tagan TG580-U15 580W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-009-TG) *Link*
£67.95 £67.95

Subtotal £616.75
VAT £107.94
Total £724.69

Explicit · 25 Mar 2006 at 22:41

Don't worry about the memory timings. Since you're buying PC3200, you will be using a divider anyway.

But if you really want to know what it all means, check this:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53160

Good spec by the way. Looks like you're set on the SLI route. There's always dual core if that tickles your fancy.

ACESHIGH · 26 Mar 2006 at 08:21

The 3700+ is a good gaming CPU. However if you want to multitask, encode & have a longer lasting CPU for gaming then a Dual core X2 3800+ is a very good option.

Also you may want to look at the ..

PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)
Available This Week Only for just £199.95 +VAT.
Faster & double the ram of the card you listed.

Quacky84 · 26 Mar 2006 at 16:05

Thank you for your reply Explicit. Are you aware which memory (I’ll go with 1GB now then buy another 1GB in the future) is the cheapest but also good for over clocking... Do I just need to make sure I go with a branded type? I want some memory which is going to last long-term you see.

Quacky84 · 26 Mar 2006 at 16:17

ACESHIGH I must say, I do like the look of that PowerColor X1800 XT ( Do you know how long PowerColor cards warrantees last for? ) … I have notice that it only has 16 pixel pipelines while the 7900Gt has 24 … Does this make much different? I think I will go with an ATI card but does that mean I need to change the type of motherboard I have (Do i need a Crossfire motherboard)? Thank you.

P.s, Is it true that all the latest ATI cards have come down in price due to the release of the 7900`s?

Dark_Angel · 26 Mar 2006 at 16:46

the x1800XT is actually faster in Morrowind (take a look in the graphic cards forum, and you will see comparions that prove that).

Pipelines dont always make a difference, the x1800XT is a bit faster than the 7900GT (read... a few percent) but the 7900 puts out less heat and uses less power.