Building a Budget Gaming Rig - First Timer Needs Advice

Marvin · 10 Jan 2010 at 12:18

The UD4 has two PCI 2.0 x16 lanes, as does one of the UD3s, but the bandwidth for the UD4 is at x16,x8 (first lane, second lane), whilst the UD3 only has x16,x4 (first lane, second lane), so the UD4 would be better in crossfire.

If you don't intend to go crossfire later on, then the UD3s will be fine.

Scroll down a bit on these pages to see the PCI specification:
-GA-P55-UD4
-GA-P55-UD3
-GA-P55-US3L

Eat_My_Brains · 10 Jan 2010 at 14:27

Do I need to purchase and thermal paste for the CPU or is that soemthing that comes with it?

shmacks · 10 Jan 2010 at 14:47

If you go with the suggestion cmndr_andi made and get the artic cooling cpu cooler it will come with paste so do not worry.

Just to remember to actually get a cpu cooler as you specified an OEM chip which does not come with one and you dont want to have to reorder later down the line.

Marvin · 10 Jan 2010 at 15:28

You'll need some thermal paste - even if the CPU cooler comes with it, it might not be very good (I had this issue with an Asus cooler for my brother, the thermal paste was rubbish - it looked like it had 'gone off'), and thermal paste is always useful.

cmndr_andi · 10 Jan 2010 at 16:17

Marvin said:
You'll need some thermal paste - even if the CPU cooler comes with it, it might not be very good (I had this issue with an Asus cooler for my brother, the thermal paste was rubbish - it looked like it had 'gone off'), and thermal paste is always useful.

I agree that having a tube of thermal paste is useful. I got a tube of MX-3 for about a fiver and has lasted me 5 builds and I expect it to last me many more. Its also useful if you decide to reseat your heatsink.

That said, the ACF7 comes with pre-applied MX-2 paste- which is rather good stuff, not really worth the effort replacing.