Need help upgrading my system...

[T-800]

Hey guys,

I'm planning on upgrading my ALX, as its getting on a bit now (2-3 years old), and am currently looking to replace the motherboard, CPU and RAM with the following setup, but keep my dual 8800 GTX cards for the time being...

x1 Asus Crosshair II Formula nForce 780a SLI (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

x1 AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9950 2.60GHz Black Edition (Socket AM2) - Retail

x1 Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x2GB) Supplied with Airflow Fan (TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF)

Just wanted to know if everything listed above would work together OK, and if there's anything I've overlooked, or any additional parts I'd need to purchase, things like that...

If it's of any help, I use my PC for video-editing (Premier Pro & Vegas), graphics work (Photoshop, Lightroom & 3ds), and gaming.

Anything else you wanna know, shoot me a question.

Cheers, guys!

T-800.

 

[T-800]

why did you pick AMD? Intel are considered (far) superior to AMD at present.

I'd read somewhere that you're not able to use SLi on an Intel board...

 

[T-800]

You can on nvidia chipset boards...

Aha - I wasn't aware.

I've also just noticed that Intel do quad-core processors, too.

********... Just when I thought I'd made up my mind...

 

[T-800]

OK, guys... What would be the equivalent setup, but with an Intel chip and board? And could I get a *better* setup for around the £400 mark? Bearing in mind I'd like to keep my dual 8800 GTX cards.

 

[T-800]

Perhaps a more important question...

Do Intel make a motherboard that supports quad-core as WELL as SLi?

 

[T-800]

Not yet, just supporting ATI's CrossFire. But next Intel chipset is rumoured to support SLi.

But the EVGA SLi board and Intel Core 2 Quad CPU you mentioned will work OK together, right? I probably need a few things explained to me...

 

[T-800]

Currently the only chipsets supporting Intel Core 2 Quad CPUs and SLI are made by nVidia.

The eVGA uses nVidia 780i SLI, which supports all the latest Intel CPUs, DDR2 and SLI.

Aha! Gotcha... My apologies. When I asked "Do Intel make a motherboard that supports quad-core as WELL as SLi?", I meant to ask if there was *a* motherboard that supported quad-core Intel CPUs as well nVIDIA SLi setups.

So I'd *definitely* be better off with an Intel CPU over AMD?

What happened to AMD, anyway? I thought they were leading the race not so long ago...

 

[T-800]

Just a thought, but what about getting a more "future proof" motherboard, then getting around 4GB of the "cheaper" DDR3 RAM (instead of 4GB of higher-end DDR2 RAM), and a low-end Intel Core 2 Quad CPU? I can always upgrade the RAM and CPU at a later date...

• MOBO: Asus Striker II Extreme nForce 790i Ultra SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard - £239.99
  
• RAM: Corsair 4GB DDR3 DHX 1333C9DHX Twin3X (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1333C9DHX) - £99.99
  
• CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail - £112.99
  
  
• Subtotal: £452.97
  
• Shipping: £8.25
  
• VAT: £80.71
  
• Total: £541.93
  

It's a tad more expensive, but if it sets me up for the future, then at least it's justifiable.

 

[T-800]

What happened to AMD? Well, Intel Core microarchitecture is what: A complete revamp of Intel processors (read more here)

Many thanks for the link!

7-series NVIDIA boards not very good. In fact only the EVGA branded one seems to have no/less issues.

What are the known issues with 7-Series nVidia boards?

DDR3 still needs a bit more time to mature (say next year), especially in regards to current crop of mobos supporting it.

When you say DDR3 still needs a bit more time to mature, do you mean it would be unwise to go for a DDR3 setup at the moment? Or simply that there will be better DDR3 modules available in the near future for the motherboards of today?

 

[T-800]

Bumpity-bump. (Hope this isn't frowned upon!)

 

[T-800]

Anyone?

 

[T-800]

your DDR3 spec looks fine.

Excellent. How's the choice of processor? I'm currently running a 2.80GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX Dual Core CPU...

but just my opinion, sell your GTXs, and get 2 4870s with an x34 mobo and DDR2 RAM

I've been looking at ATi's current lineup, and although impressive, I'm quite happy with my 8800 GTX cards for the time being.

Stability/corruption issues just search around to find out more.

I did a quick Google search and read a few extensive reviews on the Asus Striker II Extreme, none of which spoke of any stability / corruption issues with this particular model... Maybe it's the one that got away?

DDR3 is more to do with the current crop of mobos. By the time its mainstream better (mobo) chipsets & prices should have reduced drastically.

Do you mean to say that any DDR3 motherboard I go with now, I'm likely going to want to exchange for one of the more "stable" DDR3 motherboards available in the near future?

Cheers, guys. You're helping me fill a lot of the gaps in my mind.

 

[T-800]

Bump.

 

[T-800]

Thwack.

 

[T-800]

CPU is fine aswell.

Alright, cool... So would you guys say I'm ready to take the plunge and give Overclockers a fairly (but not overly) large chunk of my hard-earned cash?

 

[T-800]

Just read that the Intel Nehalem is right around the corner (sorry, not very up-to-date on technology these days), so was just wondering if I'd be better off waiting for the new boards and chips to start arriving before making any decisions?

In the mean time, if I'm *desperate* to upgrade my current configuration, I could go with the suggestion in my original post - What do you guys think?

 

[T-800]

I ended up going with the AMD configuration, as I didn't want to spend more than £400. When these new Intel "Nehalem" processors have been out for a while, I'll consider a complete overhaul.

Anywho, last time I built / upgraded a PC was probably over 10 years ago, so I'm more than likely a little rusty now, and as a result, have a few questions...

• My ALX has a water-cooling system inside it - I've never installed one of these, nor ever detached it from my CPU, GFX cards, or wherever else it may be cooling - I *presume* it just clips on and off like a heatsink?... But I'd like to be sure.
  
• My 8800 GTX SLi graphics cards seem to be attached together by some sort of strip (?) - Do I need to remove this before removing the graphics cards from my old motherboard? Or does this "strip" not actually come off?
  
• Will I need to format my HDD after upgrading, or just install the new drivers?
  
• Is there anything else I need to think about / do when upgrading my PC?

Thanks again, guys.

 

[T-800]

Useful to say what components you end up getting.

I ended up getting the following...

• Mobo: Asus Crosshair II Formula nForce 780a SLI (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
  
• CPU: AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9950 2.60GHz Black Edition (Socket AM2) - Retail
  
• RAM: Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x2GB) Supplied with Airflow Fan (TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF)

And I'm currently running this...

• Mobo: Alienware (Foxconn) nForce4 590i SLI x16 Motherboard
  
• CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 Dual Core 2.80GHz
  
• RAM: Corsair 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-3200

New mobo = (highly recommended) format & reinstall OS. Can backup current HD/partition as is with your docs, etc then recover just the latter. Use this.

Does this mean I should be buying another external HDD as well?

 

[T-800]

Could you go up to a 790i? Would be more future proof

I thought I'd just stick with AMD for now, and get the fastest CPU they currently do.

I'll build my next rig from scratch, and make it Intel... Well, providing they're still ahead of the game by then.

 

[T-800]

Would you guys recommend any specific hard-drives to use with the Asus Crosshair II Formula nForce 'board? Looking for something fast, reliable, and around 500GB in size...