Multiple System Upgrade Dilemma

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,951
Location
Bristol
I have two systems:

E2160 (1.8GHz, 800FSB 1MB) at 3GHz on Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R P35 + ICH9R with 7300GT
E4300 (1.86GHz, 800FSB, 2MB) at 3.2GHz on Asus P5N-E SLI 650i with x1950 Pro

I will be installing Windows 7 on both of them. One will be a media centre PC, the other my main desktop PC. I'd like to leave the MB/CPU combos the same as they are working nicely. The Asus board is in an Antec 900 with a highspec Corsair PSU, the other system in a basic Antec case and more more basic PSU.

The question is which for media centre and which for desktop?

Whichever one ends up as desktop will get an SSD, 4GB RAM and x1950 Pro, the media centre gets 2GB and the 7300GT.

Lastly, which motherboard has the best audio - I'm just using analogue stereo? I also have a Creative Labs Audiology II, would that be better than onboard audio for the media centre?

Some time in the future I'd like to drop a 45nm Quad Core CPU in the desktop machine, maybe the Q9450 (2.66, 1333FSB, 12MB). But I want to overclock it to at least 3.2GHz, which board would be best for this?
 
Last edited:
Soldato
OP
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,951
Location
Bristol
Regarding sound:

My nVidia board does this:
Realtek ALC883 6 -Channel CODEC

The P35 board this:
Blu-ray Full Rate Audio Support
The ALC889A enables high quality Full Rate Lossless Audio for content protected media and support Blu-ray formats for an exhilarating home theater entertainment experience.

ALC883 vs ALC889A. How big a deal is that? And how does the old Audiology II compare?
 
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