Upgrade help please...

Ranger · 22 Mar 2006 at 17:42

It is finally time for me to upgrade my PC.
Current PC is XP2700, 1gb ram ASUS mobo, 9800XT, Audigy ZS 2.

I will at some point want to try and overclock the new system (never done it before and am interested) please bear that in mind.

CPU and RAM chose below:
Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 (MY-079-CS)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)

As for the motherboard / Cooler / GFX card I would like some opinions please...

I think very highly of Asus boards and would definately buy another one, however which one I am unsure. Is the A8N Premium worth the extra cash over the SE version? Does the motherboard have a big influence in overclocks?
Would a Thermalright XP/SI 120 fit the A8N's? I hear these are one of the best coolers around.
Finally onto the GFX card, I was thinking about pushing the boat out and purchasing a 7900GT. Good choice or...?

I will be keeping my sound card and hard drives from my current PC, also my PSU which is a hyperpower 420w. I can't see me needing a more powerful one?

Thanks for reading

fenderbass86 · 22 Mar 2006 at 17:58

You won't be able to overclock very well with an Asus board, they're more known for reliability. Abit, DFI and MSI are better overclockers. The 3800+ X2 is a good choice for an overclocking CPU, some people can hit 2.5/6GHz. I would go for these:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2
HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940)

Ranger · 22 Mar 2006 at 19:13

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

I have just had a read of the **Official Asus A8N-SLI Premium Thread** and people in there have had some reasonable results on overclocking. Also some people are using the thermalright coolers on the same motherboard.
I think I will stick with ASUS as reliablity and stability is probably more important.

The ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X is probably more than I would like to spend on a grahpics card, what are the X1800's like? Much better than the 7900GT's?

Cheers

fenderbass86 · 22 Mar 2006 at 19:39

Ok that's fair, yeah I think the X1800XT's are about the same as the 7900GT's. If you play games at high resolutions and/or AA&AF, then splash out for the 512MB one.

ACESHIGH · 22 Mar 2006 at 23:35

The X2 3800+ is a great CPU.
As for graphics the X1800XT is slightly faster than the 7900GT. The X1800XT 512MB is a great buy as more & more games are likely going to need the 512MB ram to run at full settings.

stvmor · 23 Mar 2006 at 01:22

ACESHIGH said:
The X2 3800+ is a great CPU.
As for graphics the X1800XT is slightly faster than the 7900GT. The X1800XT 512MB is a great buy as more & more games are likely going to need the 512MB ram to run at full settings.

Yep, go for the 512Mb

stvmor · 23 Mar 2006 at 01:27

Asus overclock ok and are reliable imo.

I'm not sure your PSU is suitable, is it ATX 2.0 (24pin)?