Its finally here...

Dirk · 7 Jan 2007 at 00:42

For me the 9700 is a great HSF, even over the 9500. Bear in mind i'm using a Coolermaster Stacker that has a lot of airflow through it. If your case cooling isn't shifting the hot air it won't matter if you use a stock HSF or a Zalman. The larger surface area on a 9700 works well if your case cooling is adequate. 10c better than the 9500 for me, under load.

At this point in time i'd avoid upgrading your gfx until you can afford at least an 8800GTS. I went from a 1900XT to a 1950XTX with little performance benefit. Not even worth trying a 7950 imo, unless you can get one at a very good price. Wait until DX10 cards are within your price range and upgrade then.

joeyjojo · 7 Jan 2007 at 00:52

Dirk said:
Wait until DX10 cards are within your price range and upgrade then.

That's the bottom line tbh. I'm hanging on to my 7800GT as long as possible

(partly as it's watercooled and I don't wanna drain the loop).

phill9800 · 7 Jan 2007 at 00:54

Would the Zalman 9700 fit my Abit AW9D-Max board? I was very impressed with my Zalman 9500 over my retail heatsink on my AM2 rig. At 2.75Ghz (1.55vcore I think) it knocked the temps down 18C when under a full load... Impressed as hell I was!! Managed to hit 2.9Ghz and be stable with that heatsink, shame the board wouldnt ever boot up first time tho....

I'm also using a Coolermaster Stacker (810 model, but not for long!!) as I was hoping to put the AM2 rig in the 810 and buy a 830 and use that for the Conroe rig

I assume I'd have plently of room for that?
What model stacker do you have? IF you have the 830 model, do you put the 4 fans in front of the motherboard at all??

What would you call a good price on the 7950 GX2 card? Would my OC Z 520W Mod Stream handle a 8800GTX ok? I was looking at the BFG model I think, although I'm sure others will come out in time. Kinda looking forward to seeing what ATI's latest offering will be able to do...

I'll leave buying the graphics card, I'm sure the X1900 XT will manage for me for a little while longer yet.. Nearly sped up twice as much from upgrading from my overclocked AM2 rig!! :eek:

Many thanks for the help BTW

I just notice that most of the guys on this forum are from the West Mids!! That's good news considering I'm not so far from Wolverhampton!! Anyone fancy helping me lap the Tuiq Tower or telling me I shouldnt buy a Zalman 9700 heatsink??

joeyjojo · 7 Jan 2007 at 01:14

Says you're in North Devon :confused:

phill9800 · 7 Jan 2007 at 09:35

I am as I live here, but my fiance lives in Coven, Wolverhampton

I'm driving up to see her next week and I cant wait to get back in my car!! Its been awaiting parts for a few weeks (due to Christmas and New Year etc) but never mind

I think with the cooler I'm gonna try the Zalman 9700.. As I'm gonna try and buy it as I've had to RMA my motherboard and CPU. When flashing the bios crashed and I cant do nothing with it. It posts fine, but its stuck trying to read the floppy drive. Thats the last time I'll disable that!! :lol: