Upgrade Help. Memory, graphic card or processor.
I have been a frequent reader of the forum posts but I have limited knowledge of the interworking of the various components so I need help.
I had a system built about 18 months ago, mainly for use with Photoshop and Bridge, but used as a general business machine and as my TV and recorder.
The spec (with the 2 Raptors running XP-32bit in RAID 0 and the 2 Barracudas, also in RAID 0, holding my data) is:
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB)
2 @ OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK)
OcUK GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express)
2 @ Western Digital Raptor 36GB WD360ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache
2 @ Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache
Pioneer DVR-112DBK 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black)
Zalman CNPS9700-LED Aero Flower (Socket AM2/939/754/775) CPU Cooler
Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer 7.1 Soundcard
Hauppauge WinTV HVR-4000 Freeview/Digital Satellite TV Tuner
Thermaltake VA8003BWS Armour Super Tower - Black
Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP 30" Widescreen LCD Monitor
Due to the size of images I am working with I have decided to upgrade to Vista 64-bit with 8GB ram.
The motherboard spec lists the memory supported as 800/667/533 so the memory I am looking at is 2 @ OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800Mhz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2RPR800C44GK) and I presume there would be no benefit in going for the 1066MHz sticks.
The motherboard is Rev 3.3 so will support a Duo or Quad processor up to 1333MHz FSB which, again from the spec sheet, would run memory at 833 MHz when a 1333MHz FSB processor is fitted. Would I gain anything by upgrading the processor to the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.16GHz (1333FSB) or the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB).
Having recently looked at a Computer Buyer article about the interrelationship of GPU/CPU ( http://www.nvidia.co.uk/content/opc/v2/configurator.asp?lang=en-uk ) should I be looking at changing the graphics card in addition to, or instead of some of the above. I run the Dell at 2048 X 1536 and usually have a Belinea 22" CRT hooked to the second output.
Thanks in advance.
I have been a frequent reader of the forum posts but I have limited knowledge of the interworking of the various components so I need help.
I had a system built about 18 months ago, mainly for use with Photoshop and Bridge, but used as a general business machine and as my TV and recorder.
The spec (with the 2 Raptors running XP-32bit in RAID 0 and the 2 Barracudas, also in RAID 0, holding my data) is:
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB)
2 @ OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK)
OcUK GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express)
2 @ Western Digital Raptor 36GB WD360ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache
2 @ Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache
Pioneer DVR-112DBK 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black)
Zalman CNPS9700-LED Aero Flower (Socket AM2/939/754/775) CPU Cooler
Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer 7.1 Soundcard
Hauppauge WinTV HVR-4000 Freeview/Digital Satellite TV Tuner
Thermaltake VA8003BWS Armour Super Tower - Black
Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP 30" Widescreen LCD Monitor
Due to the size of images I am working with I have decided to upgrade to Vista 64-bit with 8GB ram.
The motherboard spec lists the memory supported as 800/667/533 so the memory I am looking at is 2 @ OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800Mhz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2RPR800C44GK) and I presume there would be no benefit in going for the 1066MHz sticks.
The motherboard is Rev 3.3 so will support a Duo or Quad processor up to 1333MHz FSB which, again from the spec sheet, would run memory at 833 MHz when a 1333MHz FSB processor is fitted. Would I gain anything by upgrading the processor to the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.16GHz (1333FSB) or the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB).
Having recently looked at a Computer Buyer article about the interrelationship of GPU/CPU ( http://www.nvidia.co.uk/content/opc/v2/configurator.asp?lang=en-uk ) should I be looking at changing the graphics card in addition to, or instead of some of the above. I run the Dell at 2048 X 1536 and usually have a Belinea 22" CRT hooked to the second output.
Thanks in advance.
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