quick check on upgrade

bhwarg

bhwarg

bhwarg

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Joined
6 Feb 2003
Posts
12
Location
South Yorkshire
Been a while since i last posted here but I'd appreciate comments/suggestions on the following spec. thought it was about time to get a little more up to date, helped along by the unexplained death of my epox 9nda3j :/

Spec Image Link

A couple of questions i have:

  • Any known incompatibilities between any of these components
  • Is the graphics card suitable for use on a 1680*1050 screen, or would it be better to go for a 640mb gts instead? Haven't really played that many recent games as my current card is a 9700pro. It's served me well!
  • is the psu suitable?
  • i'm hoping to reuse my soundcard (audigy2) and case (Coolermaster Cavlier 3) - are there any incompatibilities with the card, or fitting issues with regards to the case?

I'm sure these questions have been answered before, but its a fair whack im about to spend so i'd just like to be sure ;)

Thanks in advance
 
IMHO you won't need that RAM unless you clock to over 4GHz with that cpu; get PC6400 instead and spend the difference on the 640mb GTS, that would give you more performance per £ than the RAM.

Mind you with the price decrease in a few days it might be better to get a E6750 and the OcUK PC-8500 RAM.

Hope this helps

Nice PSU ;) and very quiet
 
I'd agree with Topitoff about the Ram, it is overkill so either go for the 640mb 8800GTS or a decent aftermarket CPU cooler (Tuniq Tower or Noctua NH-U12F) - preferably both.

I'm not sure about the case and the website I normally look at for the dimensions relative to an 8800GTS doesn't list it (here anyway). Other than that it should be fine. :)
 
Thanks for the replies, think I'll have a look at the pc6400 instead. Any recommendations as to the brand of 640mb gts at all?

Re: cpu cooler; is this going to make any noticeable difference to a stock setup; are they going to be any quieter?
 
If you dont over clock im not sure its needed so much for an E6600, but it is still a good idea if you have the extra cash. Go for a tower cooler over a fan cooler on your CPU. The tower ones are a lot more efficient at cooling then a fan.

Recommended tower cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler.

However, on july the 22 there will be a price drop and the Q6600 should be between 150-185. Thats not a lot more then the E6600. If you decide to get the quad it is highly recommendable you get an aftermarket cooler as they will run twice as hot as a duel core.


What case do you have?
 
Have a look at the Crucial PC5300 sticks. Supposed to be able to clock to the PC8500 speeds :)

As everyone else has said I'd have a look at an aftermarket cooler and consider going for a 640mb GTS rather then the 320mb at that resolution.
 
8igdave said:
However, on july the 22 there will be a price drop and the Q6600 should be between 150-185. Thats not a lot more then the E6600. If you decide to get the quad it is highly recommendable you get an aftermarket cooler as they will run twice as hot as a duel core.

What case do you have?
Click to expand...

I had considered that; given that i don't upgrade particularly often (last change was a couple of years back) would it be worth holding on for the reduction? I'm not in a huge rush, so if its only a couple of weeks I don't mind waiting. Assuming theres going to be a big uptake in software (read: games ;)) that'll take advantage of it of course...

Case is a coolermaster cavalier 3 -dimensions are 500 x 202 x 435 (D x W x H) according to the site.
 
may aswell use the original post for this, but here we go:

revised spec

swapped a few bits and pieces, but I think this is the final list of components. I'm probably going to order in the next day or so (maybe even tonight ;)) so I'd appreciate any glaring errors pointing out, if there are any.

the only thing I'm not too sure about is the cooler & whether it'll fit the ds3p; does anyone have this combination, or knows if it will cause any problems?

Should be a fair step up from an a64 3000/9700pro at any rate :p
 
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