Upgrade advice

Camalot

Camalot

Camalot

Soldato
Joined
7 Mar 2005
Posts
6,921
Location
Wolverhampton
Hi guys, i really need to treat myself so im looking for some advice :)

My current spec:

E2160 @ 2.5ghz
ASROCK 4coredual-sata2 motherboard
2gig of cheapo ram DDR (cant remember where i got it now)
430w seasonic psu
ati x1800xt 256mb
acer 19" widescreen monitor
160gb western digital hard drive

Now im planning two upgrades, the first upgrade will be a new motherboard + ddr2 memory, the second will be a new graphics card.

Motherboard - Im looking for a cheap motherboard that will, along with the ram, overclock the e2160 to 3ghz or over. Wanting a nice fast cpu for upcoming gaming, like crysis. I've been looking at the gigabyte p35 once because i read great things about them. But they seem to be many versions. Which one would suit my needs?

GA P35C DS3R
GA P35 DS3R
GA P35 DS3P

Confusing, whats the difference? The top one is cheapest, is that fine?

Ram - I'm looking at the GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit currently on this weeks offer. Hows that?

PS - When does the offer end? And that Ram is 800mhz and mobo is 1333mhz, what happens there?

Cheers guys.
 
Last edited:
The top one is fine, it supports 4xDDR2 or 2xDDR3 (for what that is worth presently - which is not much put simply).

The Geil will work perfectly well. You don't really have to worry about the FSB speed compared to the Geil, it is more than enough to run the CPU at 3ghz (9x multiplier * 333mhz Ram speed = 2997mhz give or take). The Ram is rated at a minimum to work with a 400mhz Ram speed which would put you at ~3.6ghz if your CPU and cooling could keep up. If you are unsure then ask but since your CPU has an FSB of 800mhz it is a bit unnecessary to worry about the potential 1333mhz FSB the motherboard can support. :)
 
semi-pro waster said:
If you are unsure then ask but since your CPU has an FSB of 800mhz it is a bit unnecessary to worry about the potential 1333mhz FSB the motherboard can support. :)
Click to expand...

Cheers mate.

Is it ok if you explain how dd2 works a little more, regarding the mhz speed etc:)

I used to understand DDR ram overclocking an AMD, but overclocking an intel on dd2 ram is a first for me!

Cheers:) May order the ram now if it's good enough!
 
DDR2 comes in various speeds, most common are PC4200(533mhz), PC5300(667mhz), PC6400(800mhz) and PC8500(1066mhz). The speeds in brackets are all the nominal speeds that they run at, to get the actual speed you divide by two which gives you the FSB speed they match to e.g. PC4200 is actually running at a speed of 266.5mhz.

Core2Duo CPUs are 'quad-pumped' or at least that is how I term it e.g. a CPU that runs at 1066mhz (the E6600 say which has a 9x multiplier, same as yours) actually needs an FSB speed of 266.5mhz (PC4200 speeds) to run at stock speed i.e. 266.5*4=1066mhz. If you up the Ram speed to 333.5mhz (PC5300 speeds) then you have a 9x multiplier * Ram speed = 2997mhz or 3ghz near as damnit which is what you want. The Geil is rated at 400mhz actual (PC6400 speeds) which would potentially put you up to 3.6ghz but you might find that either your CPU or cooler gives up before the Ram does. The general approach is to clock the Ram as high as you can while lowering the multiplier if necessary to reach the desired speed as it should lead to better gains - quicker Ram is better than higher multiplier.

I hope that all makes sense but if not I'll try to clear it up. :)
 
So i would need 200mhz ram to run my 800mhz e2160 :) at stock.

200mhz ram would be PC4200, even that would be underclocked slightly?

The geiL would be fine then getting 3ghz, my cpu at 3.6 would just be running ram at stock :D Think i get it now :p

If i can get at least 3ghz out of a 2160, you recon that will handle the new upcoming games, ie crysis?
 
Last edited:
Yep, that is pretty much it. :)

I don't know the minimum or recommended requirements for Crysis but the base of your system would be pretty decent at 3ghz so I reckon it would give it a good go.
 
Thanks for the help, just need that to sink in now, always forget how it works.

I think i've got phase one of the upgrade sorted now then.

GA P35C DS3R + GeiL 2gb DDR2 800Mhz. If i can get that to 3ghz ill be over the moon :D

Phase two will be the graphics card, might wait untill christmas for that and buy it myself as a present :)

Any new cards coming out around xmas time? My res is 1440x900 and have been looking at the 8800gts cards at the minute. But if a better one is coming out around xmas that wont be overkill at my res, i might hold on for it:)

Cheers again.
 
semi-pro waster said:
The general approach is to clock the Ram as high as you can while lowering the multiplier if necessary to reach the desired speed as it should lead to better gains - quicker Ram is better than higher multiplier.
Click to expand...
I've sorted out the basics of overclocking but didn't realise that.

Thank you
 
Marse said:
I've sorted out the basics of overclocking but didn't realise that.

Thank you
Click to expand...

Think it's to do with memory bandwidth.

If i've worked this out right, and maybe he can confirm.

9x300 = 2.7ghz
8x338 = 2.7ghz

Bottom is faster due to higher memory bandwidth ? :confused::eek::)
 
Camalot said:
If i've worked this out right, and maybe he can confirm.

9x300 = 2.7ghz
8x338 = 2.7ghz

Bottom is faster due to higher memory bandwidth ? :confused::eek::)
Click to expand...

That is more or less as I understand it, to be honest it is one of those things I've just accepted since I don't have a Core2Duo to play around with and test myself. Ram is slower than the internal workings of a CPU so the faster you can get your Ram the less the system will be slowed down. :)
 
While we are on the Ram subject.

Whats the best program to test ram speed?

I wouldn't mind doing a test on my system with ddr ram vs ddr2 ;)

GA P35C DS3R + GeiL 2gb DDR2 800Mhz ordered :cool:
 
Last edited:
The motherboard doesn't really have an FSB as such, the figure 1333mhz is simply telling you that it is capable of handling CPUs up to that FSB speed (as well as the 1066mhz and 800mhz ones). Many motherboards will allow overclocking beyond that sort of speed anyway but an older motherboard might not be able to handle an E6X50 CPU without a bios flash because they don't natively support the 1333mhz FSB even although they can overclock past it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom