Upgrade advice please

RC21

RC21

RC21

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Joined
25 Aug 2005
Posts
252
Hi All,

Thanks in advance for any advice, you guys have always put me on the right track.

okay...........I currently have:

CPU: Pentium 4 805D overclocked to 3.7Ghz
Motherboard: Gigabyte 8I945P-Pro (Doesn't accept C2D)
Heatsink: Freezer 7 Pro
Memory: 1Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2-667
Graphics Card: XFX 7800GT 256Mb
Monitor: Dell 2005FPW
Hard drives: 4 x 320Gb Seagate 7200.10
PSU: Tagan-Modular 430W

Anyway, I've been playing the Supreme Commander Demo and I love it, it seems like it's been a long time since I've played a decent game but it's a bit choppy when there are about 5000 vehicles on the screen so I'm thinking I need an upgrade. I was thinking of upgrading the CPU to C2D which means I'd need a new motherboard too and also the memory.....I don't have much to spend so was thinking the most economical upgrade route would be:

1: A C2D E4300 CPU and over clock it?
2: What motherboard should I get to go with a C2D E4300 CPU?
3: I heard that you don't need fantastic memory to go with the E4300 as the FSB doesn't go that high....Could I use the current memory I have (1Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2-667) and buy another 1 Gb to go with it?
4: Is there anything else I'd need?
5: Is it actually worth it, am I even going to notice a difference?

Thanks again in advance
RC :)
 
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RC21 said:
1: A C2D E4300 CPU and over clock it?
2: What motherboard should I get to go with a C2D E4300 CPU?
3: I heard that you don't need fantastic memory to go with the E4300 as the FSB doesn't go that high....Could I use the current memory I have (1Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2-667) and buy another 1 Gb to go with it?
4: Is there anything else I'd need?
5: Is it actually worth it, am I even notice a difference?

Thanks again in advance
RC :)
Click to expand...

1: The E4300 is a good choice
2: Asus P5W DH
3: The memory you have can be used, get another gig of it if you can.
4: Not that I can see.
5: C2D blows anything Intel or AMD have released out of the water.
 
Will_3rd said:
1: The E4300 is a good choice
2: Asus P5W DH
3: The memory you have can be used, get another gig of it if you can.
4: Not that I can see.
5: C2D blows anything Intel or AMD have released out of the water.
Click to expand...

1: Great!
2: KAA-POOW! Robin: "Holy haberdashery, Batman!" Thats expensive, anything cheaper......hopefully a lot cheaper than £150?
3: Great!
4: Great!
5: Great!

Thanks for the answers :)

The motherboard is too expensive for me, I don't have much to spend on this but will stretch a little to get decent stuff. I just think I can get something that will do what I want without costing as much - All I want is something that will give me a decent overclock and support RAID 0+1...I have been reading up in the motherboard section and seen the Gigabyte DS3, I think this would do, but was wondering if it was overkill as I don't need much and could hopefully save some pennies.....Any other suggestions?

Thanks again.
RC
 
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Gigabyte DS3 or Asus P5N-E SLi are both good motherboards at ~£80, you could for for a Gigabyte S3 which will save you around £10 but it doesn't have the solid capacitors of the DS3 and has a shorter warranty. Other than that I can't add to the advice. :)
 
semi-pro waster said:
Gigabyte DS3 or Asus P5N-E SLi are both good motherboards at ~£80, you could for for a Gigabyte S3 which will save you around £10 but it doesn't have the solid capacitors of the DS3 and has a shorter warranty. Other than that I can't add to the advice. :)
Click to expand...

S3 or DS3.

My personal experience with the S3 (and gigabyte boards in general) is stellar.
 
Thanks guys....Looks like the S3/DS3 is the way to go :)

I've checked the prices and the cost difference between the E4300 and E6300 is only £10!! Is it worth getting the slightly cheaper E4300 or should I just get a E6300 as there's not much cost saving?

Errrrr......I don't know what to do now.
If I got the E6300 could I still use the memory I have and get a decent overclock or would I have to replace that too.....I can see the costs growing?

Maybe it would be better to stick to the E4300?????

What to do?........What to do?...........

Thanks again for any advice.
RC
 
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The 4300 has a higher multiplier allowing easier overclocking and negating the need for expensive memory.

The 6300 uses the same memory, but has a lower multiplier.
 
Take a look in the overclocking and cooling forum. If you want to overclock then get the E4300 its £10 cheaper and you could probably (dont quote me on this) overclock it to E6400 levels on a stock cooler. The memory looks okay to me too, but someone abit more knowledgable ought to double check that. If you can reuse your memory then do so, spend what you save on another GB of the same stuff.
 
Motherboard - P5N, and then you can run the RAM unlinked. Failing that a P5B or a DS3/4

CPU - e4300, and a tuniq tower / scythe ninja to cool it.
 
RC21 said:
Stupid question.....But what do you mean unlinked?
Click to expand...

Not a stupid question. You can run the RAM faster, slower or the same speed as the FSB (Front Side Bus). I think with the P965 chipset you can only run the memory as fast or faster than the FSB.

So if you want to clock your CPU. You have the multiplier at it's highest, and you raise the FSB. If the mobo won't let the RAM be unlinked, then if the RAM is limited to say 450MHz then so will the FSB.

If it is unlinked (mine is) then just leave the RAM at stock, and raise the FSB to raise the clock speed of the CPU on its own. Then once you are happy with that, then you can just raise the memory speed if you want to, or just leave it at stock.

RC21 said:
Are the Ninja's pretty good then?
Click to expand...

So I've heard. I have a tuniq tower that I fan-modded (replaced the fan basically, for a nexus) as the stock was a bit noisy for my liking.

The design of heat pipes from the CPU to fins, where it is dispersed and blown away by a fan, is common to both.
 
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