Upgrade Opinion

[Bony Maloney]

Folks I have:
Athlon 64 FX-53
Asus A8N Deluxe
2 Gig GeIL Ram
BFG 7800XTOC


I am looking to get:

Intel Q6700 Quad core @ 2.66 £346.61
Asus P5K E Motherboard £99.86
4 gig OCZ PC2 6400C5 Ram £129.24
installiWD Raptor 150Gig H/drive £131.59


I will use my 7800 for now and may look to upgrade to one of the newer DX10 Nvidia cards soon. I will be installing Vista 64bit to utilise the 4 gig ram, and sticking with my Dell 2005FPW 20" monitor. I have a Seasonic 600w psu that should do the trick.
(I can still use a single nVidia card on a crossfire mobo can't I ?)

Thoughts please.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

The 6700 is a complete waste of money. The Q6600 costs much less and clocks to that speed effortlessly in 5 minutes.

I'd get the IP35 Pro rather than the low-budget P5K, though if you wanted to spend a bit more the P5K Deluxe is my favorite board.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

This would be an excellent start. It's a great clocking chip on a great board with an excellent cooler. Those two disks should just about double a Raptor's performance while still costing less.

 

[Bony Maloney]

The 6700 is a complete waste of money. The Q6600 costs much less and clocks to that speed effortlessly in 5 minutes.

I'd get the IP35 Pro rather than the low-budget P5K, though if you wanted to spend a bit more the P5K Deluxe is my favorite board.

Thanks Billy, I couldn't see the Deluxe DDR2 model on the site only the DDR3 version. Time for new glasses is it? Budget isn't an issue, so if there is anything you can see that you would upgrade I'd consider it. Maybe I will go for the Q6600 .Do the quads clock easily? I haven't upgraded for awhile and I am out of the loop.
Thanks for your help.

 

[MumboJumbo]

I agree with billy but id add in some artic silver to get taht better connection with the heat sink.

O and nice signature lol.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

With the mobo, cooler, and RAM I have above you'd be looking at about 3.2-3.4 GHz without too much effort. Check this out: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17757702

 

[Bony Maloney]

Do I have to mess around with the mobo backplate with that cooler or does it just fit straight onto the socket?

 

[BillytheImpaler]

It uses a backplate. It's a heck of a lot easier to install than the standard LGA775 magic clips. Those things are terrible.

 

[Bony Maloney]

It uses a backplate. It's a heck of a lot easier to install than the standard LGA775 magic clips. Those things are terrible.

No risk of breakage then lol Very easy you say

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Yeah, you should be fine.

 

[Bony Maloney]

Yeah, you should be fine.

Looks a good spec for the money. Thanks Billy. Just tell in 5 year old terms what I need to do to fit the cooler please m8. I take it I have to remove the Intel stock socket, if so is this screwed or glued on?

 

[BillytheImpaler]

There isn't a socket, it's just four holes in the motherboard. You line up the backplate and the retention bracket and screw them together.

You can see some installation photos in the following article: http://www.cybergooch.com/tutorials/pages/systembuild_5.htm

 

[Bony Maloney]

God damn that's a huge biatch Once I upgrade I'll be back to ask more question about clocking this set up. I appreciate your help. Thanks

 

[BillytheImpaler]

You're quite welcome. I demand pics when you've got it together!

 

[Bony Maloney]

No problem. What's the shelf life of Arctic Silver. I have some that's a few years old My case is a Lian Li V1000 so the mobo goes in upside down, I think it will be OK with that huge heatsink.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Once its been exposed to air it starts to harden. I imagine if it's been in a sealed tube the shelf life would be quite long. I have tubes of heatsink sauce that are 4+ years old and they all seem to work the same.

That said, the stuff's so cheap that if you thought that it might be bad you could always just get a new tube.

It should fit OK:

Here ya go...kinda shows it =P

 

[Bony Maloney]

Again thanks. Hey. I've just driven through the South West of USA. What an awesome country you have. That big sky and open road did it for me. Amazing country

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Where'd you go? I was in Arizona and Nevada a while back to visit the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, and Vegas. Gorgeous country that is.

 

[Bony Maloney]

Started in Vegas, dropped down to the Hoover Damn, then went on to Zion, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Sedona and finished up in Scottsdale AZ. Absolutely touched my heart. The best holiday I've had. I'm going back next year to see San Fransisco, Yosemite, Death Valley, Sequoia, and Joshua Tree national parks.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

SOunds beautiful. I'm glad you liked it.