upgrade advice...

Tonytank

Tonytank

Tonytank

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4 Sep 2006
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514
upgrade advice...(final desicion)

hey folks

first off let me say hi to you all, im first time poster here but ive been using ocuk for some time now, with dx10 cards and vista right around the corner, vie decided its time for another upgrade, so i fought where better to get advice but form you guys, ive already posted this in a couple of other forums and the response was weak and slightly offensive tbh, i knew i should have come here first....anywho

heres my rig as it stands

athlon 64+ 3200
gigabyte k8 triton nf4 mobo
2 gb of pc 3200 drr 400 ram
bfg oc 7800 gt
2 x 80gb hds
audigy 2 zs


now, first off im not going to do anything with the graphics card, i firmly believe its simply not worth the leap to a 7950 gig model, and with dx10 cards right aorund the corner i thinks its better to wait and see what happens...

now, for my processer i think this
intel core duo e6600

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...Core_Duo2.html

(several down on the page)

it seems like a meaty processer, which will show a lot a poke over my old one

this mobo
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...abyte_179.html

once again, several down

this ram
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...R2_Memory.html

several down again

now, thats seem all good to me, but i would really appreciate some good opinions here

will i see a lot of difference over my current rig? i.e my 64 3200+??
will this processer be adaquate enough to take me into at the least this time next year??

someone suggested perhaps avoiding the ram and mobo issue by going for the athlon dual core 4800+, is this a good idea? ir pointless considering the apparant differences between a intel and amd chip at the mo?

i know its a lot to ask but please, any suggestions or feedback would be massively appreciated

cheers folks, hope your all having pleasant days...
 
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What do you use your pc for ?
There is no point upgrading yet if it is just for Vista, better of waiting till it and DX10 have been out about 12 months and are mature, stable and patched.
Current pc spec is good. Iy you want you could invest in the hard drives and a sound card now, rather than an all at once upgrade.
 
Welcome to the forums, yes you will see a big difference, of course that does depend on how far you push your PC though, if all you ever do is word processing and internet browsing then probably not but for gaming/encoding or the like yes it will show.

The CPU ought to last you for quite a while especially given that most Conroes are overclocking nicely, you might find that an Asus motherboard is better for the 6600 though(I really ought to find out the model number).

The main Ram issue that I knew of was some Gskill with Gigabyte motherboards but my research hasn't exactly been exhaustive. As far as I know though Geil works fine with everything so no I wouldn't advise on getting the X2 4800. It isn't that it is a bad chip but it doesn't compete with Conroe effectively right now.
 
cheers guys, that what i fought about the 4800+ chip, cheers



to be honest i use my pc for gaming, and im a die hard fan of those high resoloutions, i have one of the belienea 20 widescreen monitors and unless its 1680 by 1050 i dont wanna know....


so, i am to asusme this rig im looking to purchase will give me that?


also deadeyedic30, although vista is on my mind i want to upgrade now mainly cus the 3200+ is starting to show its age, and i am right i assume in understanding that the core duos overlcock well, although i know nothing about overclocking, im sure one of you chaps can point me in the right direction there....

so, its not really an upgrade for vista, more for everything in general, gaming specifically, hence why im not touching the graphics card for until t least the end of the year, as tempting as a gig nividia 7950 is, theres no point if its going to be out of date and non dx10 compliant in a month or so...

cheers, anymore advice? powersupplys perhaps, bit shady on those...

cheers fellas
 
Conroes do overclock well, %wise the lower Conroes overclock further but they have less cache to begin with so as they say swings and roundabouts. I'd go for the 6600 personally if I needed a new PC and had the money.

PSU wise I'd be looking for something around 600w or possibly even higher, brands to look for include - Seasonic, Enermax, Tagan, Antec and FSP :)
 
DS3 is generally known for being better for the Allendales ' 6300 / 6400 ', and the DS4 for anything above, 6600 etc....

There's been some ram issues with both these boards, but i know the CAS setting issue with the DS3 is fixed in the bios update.

If you ring OC they can suggest RAM that will work with whatever board you choose, and that way if it doesnt work, then you have a leg to stand in regards to returning it.

Personally i'd choose Corsair.
 
Tonytank said:
600w??

christ are you sure?

i mean im not doubting but man that seems a lot of jouice
Click to expand...

Sorry, re-reading what you have specified anything in the region of 500w+ should be fine, I've been looking between a few posts today and must have got a bit confused :o

The main point to look out for is that you have enough Amps on the 12V rail, 25-30A+ is a good area to aim for. If you go for a higher wattage PSU it won't hurt for overclocking but I was probably over-estimating before by mistake.
 
thats ok, its an honor to take advice form someone who has the mighty tony soprano as his avatar

im thinking the seasonic silent 600w will be good...

how well do the duos overclock? and is it an easy procedure??
 
Tony Soprano is available to anyone over 1,000 posts so don't value my advice too highly ;) :)

The Seasonic 600w is a good PSU, it isn't modular but very quiet and a solid PSU.

Conroes are easy to overclock I believe although I have yet to try one myself, you can do it by adjusting the multiplier(only down I think) or FSB and memory clocks, there is plenty more advice in both the overclocking and CPU sub-forums where they know rather more than me about it. The 6600 starts at 2.4ghz but you can probably aim for 3ghz+ as a minimum with a good clocking motherboard and CPU cooler.
 
You can use the stock cooler for running at normal speeds and for some overclocking but once you start pushing it a bit then I'd definitely advise going for something else. Maybe just try the stock cooler for a while and see how happy you are with it and what the temperatures are like before thinking about getting another one.
 
hey folks

well, in about 2 weeks im going to have to money for my upgrade, although, after thinking about this for sometime, my question is this, is my upgrade smart move at this time?

i mean, if you go to the start of this topic you will see the system im going form and too, ive explained i will change my graphics card when dx10 ones roll out, but is the change im suggesting a smart one? at this time?


i mean, come january next year is there going to be a big push and change on processers and the such? am i buying into redundant technology? or am i making a wise purchase


i cant thank you enough for all the advice youve given, but i guess im just looking for some re-assurance that this is a good thing to do now...

cheers for any more advice in advance guys

stay groovy
 
You should notice a huge jump from your current system, I don't know what may be coming out in January sort of time except that DX10 compatible cards should be out but the socket designs should be remaining the same for at least the next year or so which means a bios update may be necessary but that is all.

If you want to wait and see then that is no problem either, someone can advise on a suitable system then also but personally I think once you have the cash and your system is too slow for your intended uses that you might as well just commit. I'm possibly a bit different to most though in that I am more likely to build a whole new PC than attempt to upgrade what I have so I work on a two yearly cycle or thereabouts.
 
cheers for the reply man, my issue is that im in a real stop gap, if i upgrade, is really has to be the whole enchilada or nothing at all, i.e the processer, the ram mobo powersuplly etc, which doesnt make it cheap, prob aorund the £600 mark, so, like i say, its either all together or not at all, i could scrmip and gor for a dual core 939 4800+, but they just dont offer the same muscle as the core 2 duo, when the difference is only 30 odd wing wangs...


but i think your right, when the chance is there it doesnt make a lot of sense not to act on it..


conincidentally, can you advise a cooler for my core 2 duo 6600, they are famous for there overlclocking so it only seems fair to give them the breeze they deserve
any suggestions, cheap as poss, but i want quality too

cheers guys
 
hey fellas, me again, aha, lol

im going to be ordering these bits and pieces very soon, i have a few more questions though


ive been looking at the sata raid hard drives, are they worth splashing out on? how complicated are they to install and maintain?

also, ive pretty much been use to building amd rigs all my life, so im wondering will my new parts be any different and/or more difficult to install?

or would it just be easier to take it down the road and pay my local pc merchant 40 wing wangs to build it for me? i mean, im fairly compatant with these things, i just wanna know if things are different this time around

once again thanks for all yout advice folks
 
Raid can be done with any (preferably identical or at least on the same interface e.g. can't mix IDE and SATA) hard drives, the Raid editions just mean they have been subjected to more testing and should in theory be more reliable plus occasionally they have firmware coded to work better in pairs. I don't think I'd personally bother with Raid in most circumstances, I used to use Raid0 but for most of my uses it didn't make any real difference in speed.

Parts haven't changed that hugely, the basics are still the same although the slots are marginally different and the connectors have changed but it is largelly unchanged. I'd build it myself and save the £40 because it is still simple, if you get stuck ask on here and someone should be able to help :)
 
hey folks

well, the time has cometh and this week i will be ordering my parts, im going to do a final run down here as there are still some bits and pieces im unsure about, and would really appreciate some advice...

Processer
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Intel_Pentium_Core_Duo2.html

that one seems like a no brainer to me....

power supply

Seasonic S12 500W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-001-SS)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Seasonic_Power_Supplies.html

seems nicely priced, and a silent power supply would be a god send at the moment

cpu cooler

Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower (Socket 939/754/478/775) CPU Cooler (HS-015-ZA)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Zalman_CPU_Coolers.html

once again, a no brainer which comes very reccomended

now, heres where i need a few final pieces of advice, first of the memory, at the moment i have 2 gb of the 3200 geil value stuff, the blue ones, now, i assume im right in thinking that i cant use this in my new rig, so, i spotted this

G.Skill 2GB DDR2 PK PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK) (MY-017-GS)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/GSkill_Memory.html

its £20 cheaper than the geil alternative, and runs at, which i assume is good, speed of 6400 and what not, plus the times seem to be nice and low aswell, not that i know what that means, im just assuming from what ive read its a good thing...

so, is this good ram? is there a cheaper alternative? or should i spend this little axtra for the better speeds?

which moves us swiftly on to the motherboard, now, this is where i draw a blank, i have a gigabyte on at the mo andim very happy with it so i did naturally look towards them first, however im really looking for some solid advice here.
i do want to overclock hence the good ram and cooler, but im not made of money either, so 100 wing wangs maxium would be great, but im willing to go a cheeky tenner either way

im going to grab some silent case fans and what have you to round off the whole deal, but any advice on the ram and motherboard would be massively appreciated...

any other tid bits or advice regarding the rig in general are also welcome

stay groovy fellas, your doing a bang up job
 
It looks good but you do have a bit of a problem with the motherboard and Ram here, the Gskill(apart from the HZ and maybe the stuff even further up the range) doesn't get on with the Gigabyte motherboard. This is further complicated by the fact that the 975 chipset is better for overclocking the 6600 and above CPUs, I haven't seen any motherboard with this chipset on sale much cheaper than £135 which is above your budget, however it is less fussy about the Ram it uses.

I don't know which option is better for you then, either get the DS3 and spend a bit more on Ram(Corsair do some PC6400 for not much more) or go for a motherboard based on the 975 chipset and you can go with that Ram.
 
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