Ok, finally going to upgrade...
Looking at the ASUS 650i board, Zalman HS, Intel Core 2 E6400 (will OC), 2GB of Corsiar PC800 and a new PowerSupply as well as a couple of SATA drives.
So... Video... purchasing all that (freakin' RAM is $250) there is NO way I can afford a 8800 GTS or GTX right now... since there arne't that many DX10 games anyway I'm looking at a GeForce 7950. It's got the new rights management stuff for watching videos and seems to be a fast solid card. My understanding is that it's basically a 7900 GT with 512MB of GDDR3 and a little bit higher clock speed...
Anyone have one of these? if so what are your thoughts? My other consideration would be a 7900GS but I want something that will push EQ2 in the higher settings at 1600 x 1050 and I'm not sure the GS will do that. This summer I might add another for SLI (yes I know the 650i is only x8 when in SLI but no cards are pushing x16 yet anyway).
I've got an EVGA 6800 GT and have been very pleased with EVGA, I got my mom a BFG 7600GT last year and it's been a great card and I love their customer service... both are about the same in price for the OC models but the EVGA Super OC is $15 more for about 50 more MHz...
Thoughts?
Marb
7950 GT?
That's almost the exact same build I'm putting together. But I'm still not sure on the video card.
If you can wait, the GTS with half the ram will be out in a month or so for $300...and that's probably the best bet to go with.
The 7950GT and the 1900xt are both 200 bucks now...so either or will be great for anything out now....plus you can start saving now for the 2nd generation DX10 cards that will come out in a year.
As for processors, IF you are going to overclock, then wait. The E4300 comes out on the 21st, which is an 800mhz FSB core 2 duo, but has a multiplier of 9. Its supposed to be 150 bucks or something. Reviews of "enineering" samples...keep that in mind...have this thing flying with stable 400+ FSBs...so multiply that by 9...you get the rest.
I wouldn't buy that Corsair XMS2 anymore. If you read around, Corsair pulled a "Bait and Switch" on consumers. Apparantly, the early makes of the XMS2 had micron chips on it...the new ones have some shoddy brand used....so the overclockign of the ram is gone, and the chips almost refuse to run stable at 4-4-4-12 T2 at 800mhz.
On Asus' website, they have a QVL list to buy against, but its very sparse atm. The crucial memory is more expensive, but you are definitely getting quality parts in it. A few people have the G SKill stuff running on that board just fine too...which is who I'm probably going to go with.
Power Supplies...goto http://www.jonnyguru.com He reviews power supplies.
If you can wait, the GTS with half the ram will be out in a month or so for $300...and that's probably the best bet to go with.
The 7950GT and the 1900xt are both 200 bucks now...so either or will be great for anything out now....plus you can start saving now for the 2nd generation DX10 cards that will come out in a year.
As for processors, IF you are going to overclock, then wait. The E4300 comes out on the 21st, which is an 800mhz FSB core 2 duo, but has a multiplier of 9. Its supposed to be 150 bucks or something. Reviews of "enineering" samples...keep that in mind...have this thing flying with stable 400+ FSBs...so multiply that by 9...you get the rest.
I wouldn't buy that Corsair XMS2 anymore. If you read around, Corsair pulled a "Bait and Switch" on consumers. Apparantly, the early makes of the XMS2 had micron chips on it...the new ones have some shoddy brand used....so the overclockign of the ram is gone, and the chips almost refuse to run stable at 4-4-4-12 T2 at 800mhz.
On Asus' website, they have a QVL list to buy against, but its very sparse atm. The crucial memory is more expensive, but you are definitely getting quality parts in it. A few people have the G SKill stuff running on that board just fine too...which is who I'm probably going to go with.
Power Supplies...goto http://www.jonnyguru.com He reviews power supplies.
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noel
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There was an article in I think January's PC Magazine where a guy showed he could get better performance out of two 7950 GSes than 1 GTX or something that cost more. I'll see if I can find it and find linkage for you since that's kinda vague. Hopefully it will also be helpful. 
Edit: So pleased I actually know how to use the Internet occasionally: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2076291,00.asp
Edit: So pleased I actually know how to use the Internet occasionally: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2076291,00.asp
Oh, my God; I care so little, I almost passed out.
Just make sure the memory/mb combo you chose has multiple OC successes in the forums you've been researching. I don't know about this new E4300 CPU. You're already going cheap with the E6400, I wouldn't wait on a new chip. The E6400 is a proven OCer.
The most important part of researching a new build is reading as much as you can on the motherboard forums. That's your number one concern. (combined with memory) You want to make sure the MB isn't brand new, has several bios updates and maybe a revision if it's the first MB based on a new chipset, and has addressed any issues users have had...do not assume that they will be fixed in the future bios update.
If overclocking, you're primary goal is to be able to OC it and forget about it from then on, hopefully with stock cooling. (with Arctic Silver 5 of course)
As for video cards, I don't know what to say. If you don't already have a PCI-e card to use, id' go cheap on that (some GS card) and plan on upgrading the video card again in 6-12 months with a DX10 compatible card when they're cheaper and ATi actually brings some competition to the field for nVidia...and there are actually drivers for the DX10 cards for Vista which there aren't atm.
PS, Vista rocks as an OS. Don't let the "DRM" paranoia deter you. That means absolutely nothing for day to day use. A fast CPU (duo core anything) and 2GB of ram will make you a happy camper with Vista. Someone said games are slower on Vista? Slower my ass. Frame rates are off the scales playing anything out there right now using just a 7800GT and even if it is "slower", the new games which challenge frame rates are going to be DX10 Vista only (at least to take full advantage of the feature set which the card you're planning to buy won't handle anyway).
The Vista decision is easy...got a duo core and 2GB? Upgrade. Don't? Stick with whatever you've got. (get a fast HD for your OS too!)
The most important part of researching a new build is reading as much as you can on the motherboard forums. That's your number one concern. (combined with memory) You want to make sure the MB isn't brand new, has several bios updates and maybe a revision if it's the first MB based on a new chipset, and has addressed any issues users have had...do not assume that they will be fixed in the future bios update.
If overclocking, you're primary goal is to be able to OC it and forget about it from then on, hopefully with stock cooling. (with Arctic Silver 5 of course)
As for video cards, I don't know what to say. If you don't already have a PCI-e card to use, id' go cheap on that (some GS card) and plan on upgrading the video card again in 6-12 months with a DX10 compatible card when they're cheaper and ATi actually brings some competition to the field for nVidia...and there are actually drivers for the DX10 cards for Vista which there aren't atm.
PS, Vista rocks as an OS. Don't let the "DRM" paranoia deter you. That means absolutely nothing for day to day use. A fast CPU (duo core anything) and 2GB of ram will make you a happy camper with Vista. Someone said games are slower on Vista? Slower my ass. Frame rates are off the scales playing anything out there right now using just a 7800GT and even if it is "slower", the new games which challenge frame rates are going to be DX10 Vista only (at least to take full advantage of the feature set which the card you're planning to buy won't handle anyway).
The Vista decision is easy...got a duo core and 2GB? Upgrade. Don't? Stick with whatever you've got. (get a fast HD for your OS too!)
Last edited by Winnow on January 15, 2007, 11:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
NewEgg dropped the EVGA 8800 GTS to like $350 with rebate... felt that was too good to pass up since I got an SLI motherboard.
Ended up going with the E6400 and the Asus P5N-E SLI. It got the Editors choice at Motherboards.org and has decent reviews on New Egg as well. Seems to work well with the GSkill memory so I picked up 2GB of the DDR2-800 and a couple of 160GB STAT drives (still have IDE) along with the Corsair 620 powersupply (which has stellar reviews from that side Kluden posted and on NE plus is on sale for like $160). It should pull 2 GTSs with ease.
Wasn't sure on the board, almost went with a GTX and the DS board you have Win but the Asus was about the same price and gives me the option to go SLI should I choose. The RAM seems to OC well from the reports I have seen and I picked up some Artic Silver 5 and a Zalman 9700 Heatsink. While I think the AC5 and the OEM one would be fine, I'm like you in that a 5 sec delay might scare the shit out of me every time I reboot
With the 9700 I should be able to get close to 3GHz with ease.
Once I get everything in an but together I'll post some results as to how it's running.
Thanks for all the information.
Thanks!
Marb
Ended up going with the E6400 and the Asus P5N-E SLI. It got the Editors choice at Motherboards.org and has decent reviews on New Egg as well. Seems to work well with the GSkill memory so I picked up 2GB of the DDR2-800 and a couple of 160GB STAT drives (still have IDE) along with the Corsair 620 powersupply (which has stellar reviews from that side Kluden posted and on NE plus is on sale for like $160). It should pull 2 GTSs with ease.
Wasn't sure on the board, almost went with a GTX and the DS board you have Win but the Asus was about the same price and gives me the option to go SLI should I choose. The RAM seems to OC well from the reports I have seen and I picked up some Artic Silver 5 and a Zalman 9700 Heatsink. While I think the AC5 and the OEM one would be fine, I'm like you in that a 5 sec delay might scare the shit out of me every time I reboot
With the 9700 I should be able to get close to 3GHz with ease.Once I get everything in an but together I'll post some results as to how it's running.
Thanks for all the information.
Thanks!
Marb
Yeah, good job! Let me know about that RAM and that Mobo. especially which GSKILL model you bought from the Egg. I would love to get away with buying cheaper memory.
The cool thing about the P5N-E motherboard, is that you can separate the FSB from the memory frequency...so you can OC your memory to a point, and just leave it there, and then take the CPU as far as you want, without haveing to worry about memory stability.
The cool thing about the P5N-E motherboard, is that you can separate the FSB from the memory frequency...so you can OC your memory to a point, and just leave it there, and then take the CPU as far as you want, without haveing to worry about memory stability.
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Sylvus
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So, I'm a little embarassed to admit it, but I'm still running on a 6800. 
I guess maybe it's time to upgrade. What should I move up to? Is there one card I should go with, or should I go for SLI?
Money's not a huge issue, but I'd prefer to stay below $400. I'd also like to maximize the amount of time I can get away with not buying a new card. I'm not religiously affiliated with either ATI or nVidia.
I guess maybe it's time to upgrade. What should I move up to? Is there one card I should go with, or should I go for SLI?
Money's not a huge issue, but I'd prefer to stay below $400. I'd also like to maximize the amount of time I can get away with not buying a new card. I'm not religiously affiliated with either ATI or nVidia.
"It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant." - Barack Obama
Go Blue!
Go Blue!
Depends on what you need, my 8800 GTS is smokin' on almost all games (except EQ2). If you don't run at really high resolutions though, 1280 or below (1600x1050 WS) then I would suggest the new EVGA 8800 320MB Superclocked. It's like $300 on New Egg and is faster than the 640MB version up until the high resolutions. If you have an SLI board you can always add another at a later date.
Marb
Marb