Computer Upgrade Questions

[Nucholza]

So I'm looking into possibly making some hardware upgrades, but if I do I need to stay really cheap (like $300 or lower) so here's what I found:

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130228

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103649

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220347

Total Cost = $265

my current stuff is:

Mobo: (Asus website acting up so can't link) Asus Crosshair (1st gen, not Crosshair II or III)

CPU: Athlon 64 x2 6400+ (~3.2 ghz dual core)

RAM: 2 sticks of 2 GB DDR2 800

My main questions are

A) The mobo seems too good to be true for that price, but it looks just fine to me at least

B) I'm not too sure what it will be like going from dual-core 3.2ghz to triple-core 2.8 ghz will be like....am I going to see things go slower? Or will it just be something like XP will seem slower but windows 7 will be a ton better - really not sure on all that junk.

C) Would it be smarter to spend another $20 or so to get 3 sticks of 2 GB RAM for a total of 6 GB for windows 7 and run it in triple channel (but I don't think the mobo supports that). I guess I'd plan on keeping this setup roughly 2 years so am I wrong in assuming that this mobo and 4 GB in dual channel would be good enough?

D) Am I missing something I'd need to upgrade? My PSU is 700W so I don't think that would need an upgrade and I plan on just using the same case. Onion is a doll and is sending me a video card of his that should (fingers crossed) resolve my gay issues needing to restart my game over and over during raids.

And if you can find something better than I did for roughly the same price feel free to point me in that direction >.>

[Megasteve]

A) It's fine. AMD chipsets are just crazy cheap.
B) You won't notice a decrease.
C) Triple Channel would require a different motherboard. Gonna be hard pressed to have that sort of configuration on $300.
D) 700w is plenty fine.

[Verah]

Tripple channel is an Intel thing because they put the memory controler on the CPU now. That's the whole "Core i7" thing.AMD will not support this until their 6 core CPU's come out.

I'll send you a computer if I get member without singing.

[Jirouu]

i Just bought me this systerm 1 month ago

Intel Core i7 940 Quad Core (2.93GHz) - Socket LGA1366, 4.8GT/s QPI, 8MB Cache Boxed Processor (Nehalem - 45nm) OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666 Platinum i7 Low-Voltage Triple Channel - OCZ3P1333LV6GK Antec Nine Hundred (900) Ultimate Gaming "Stealth" Tower With Window - Black (No PSU) OCZ 610W PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 Power Supply (SLI/CrossFire) - Black Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control MASSIVE 200mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB (7200 RPM) 16MB Cache SATA2 LG GH22NS30 Super Multi DVD Writer | 22x DVD?RW/RAM | SATA | Black Extreme PC ATI HD4870 MAXX FPS Edition 815MHz Core | 512MB 3700MHz DDR5 (Quad Data Rate) PCI-E DX10 | 2 DVI | HDTV | AVIVO | HDMI - AC3 7.1 Sound Standard 1 Year Parts and 5 Year Labor Warranty Included Free Asus P6T SE Intel Core I7 X58 | ATI CrossFireX (NO SLI Support) | X16 PCI-E S1366 | DDR3 1600Mhz | GB LAN | Audio HD | RAID | OC Cooler Master V8 (RR-UV8-XBU1-GP) Super Quiet & Super Powerful CPU Cooler (S775/1366/AM2/AM2+/940) Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control Coolmax 18" SATA Cable 2-Head Model SATA 18" 2H - BLUE Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB (7200 RPM) 16MB Cache SATA2 On Board SATA, RAID0, 1,10, JBOD Hardware RAID controller Extreme PC ATI HD4870 MAXX FPS Edition 815MHz Core | 512MB 3700MHz DDR5 (Quad Data Rate) PCI-E DX10 | 2 DVI | HDTV | AVIVO | HDMI - AC3 7.1 Sound 7.1 Realtek ALC1200, 8-channel High Definition Audio D-link DWA-130 > Wireless N USB Adapter Windows Vista Business Edition (64-bit) - English - Full Licence OEM DVD
And i have my old I7 quad core with 4 gigs ram, basically everything listed above but with 2 9800gt's. Id be willing to see you that tower only for $300 or so nuch.

[Megasteve]

Originally Posted by Jirouu

i Just bought me this systerm 1 month ago

Intel Core i7 940 Quad Core (2.93GHz) - Socket LGA1366, 4.8GT/s QPI, 8MB Cache Boxed Processor (Nehalem - 45nm) OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666 Platinum i7 Low-Voltage Triple Channel - OCZ3P1333LV6GK Antec Nine Hundred (900) Ultimate Gaming "Stealth" Tower With Window - Black (No PSU) OCZ 610W PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 Power Supply (SLI/CrossFire) - Black Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control MASSIVE 200mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB (7200 RPM) 16MB Cache SATA2 LG GH22NS30 Super Multi DVD Writer | 22x DVD?RW/RAM | SATA | Black Extreme PC ATI HD4870 MAXX FPS Edition 815MHz Core | 512MB 3700MHz DDR5 (Quad Data Rate) PCI-E DX10 | 2 DVI | HDTV | AVIVO | HDMI - AC3 7.1 Sound Standard 1 Year Parts and 5 Year Labor Warranty Included Free Asus P6T SE Intel Core I7 X58 | ATI CrossFireX (NO SLI Support) | X16 PCI-E S1366 | DDR3 1600Mhz | GB LAN | Audio HD | RAID | OC Cooler Master V8 (RR-UV8-XBU1-GP) Super Quiet & Super Powerful CPU Cooler (S775/1366/AM2/AM2+/940) Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control Coolmax 18" SATA Cable 2-Head Model SATA 18" 2H - BLUE Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB (7200 RPM) 16MB Cache SATA2 On Board SATA, RAID0, 1,10, JBOD Hardware RAID controller Extreme PC ATI HD4870 MAXX FPS Edition 815MHz Core | 512MB 3700MHz DDR5 (Quad Data Rate) PCI-E DX10 | 2 DVI | HDTV | AVIVO | HDMI - AC3 7.1 Sound 7.1 Realtek ALC1200, 8-channel High Definition Audio D-link DWA-130 > Wireless N USB Adapter Windows Vista Business Edition (64-bit) - English - Full Licence OEM DVD
And i have my old I7 quad core with 4 gigs ram, basically everything listed above but with 2 9800gt's. Id be willing to see you that tower only for $300 or so nuch.

That's a fucking steal.

[Jirouu]

Originally Posted by Megasteve

That's a fucking steal.

yeah but keep in mind it the video cards are 2 9800GT's and only 4 gigs of ram not 6..


SLI Ready!
Intel Core i7 Processor
Windows Vista Home Premium
4GB DDR3-1333 Memory (RAM)
10 USB Ports (2 front)
2 IEEE1394 Firewire (1 front)
640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
22x DVD/CD Writer
650W Power Supply
7.1 high definition audio
Onboard Gigabit Ethernet

here's the link to what it is exactly
http://pc.ncix.com/ncixpc/ncixpc.cfm...6DDC01-2441016

[Gogan]

B) I don't know much about these tri-core cpus, but I'd bet money that a dual core 3.2 will still be marginally better than a tri-core 2.8 for WoW. Games in general aren't very well multi-threaded, so you're better off with whatever gets you a faster clock speed. I personally wouldn't waste the money on the new cpu.

C) Going from the 800/ddr2 to 1600/ddr3 may be worth it, though I'm not sure how big of a gain you'll realize from it. As for moving to 6GB, unless you're running 64-bit XP/Vista/7, the most your system will recognize and use is 4GB (it's actually a bit less than 4GB). As for the gains of triple channel vs dual channel, again the gains are pretty small and only realized when you can fully saturate the memory bus, which you won't do in something like WoW.

In summary, everything I've read and experienced tells me the biggest gains you'll see for gaming come from 1) fastest cpu clock speed and 2) best video card you can get.

[Nucholza]

Originally Posted by Asano

B) I don't know much about these tri-core cpus, but I'd bet money that a dual core 3.2 will still be marginally better than a tri-core 2.8 for WoW. Games in general aren't very well multi-threaded, so you're better off with whatever gets you a faster clock speed. I personally wouldn't waste the money on the new cpu.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't use my processor I don't think since it's an Athlon 64 x2 socket AM2 and the motherboard shows that it supports Phenom II X4 / Phenom II X3 ?

And thanks for the offer Jirou, I'll get back to you on it in a day or two.

[Tenzo]

Originally Posted by Nucholza

Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't use my processor I don't think since it's an Athlon 64 x2 socket AM2 and the motherboard shows that it supports Phenom II X4 / Phenom II X3 ?

And thanks for the offer Jirou, I'll get back to you on it in a day or two.

What motherboard do you have. Phenoms use AM2+ socket compared to the AM2. AM2 socket motherboards are *suppose* to be fully compatible with AM2+ socket motherboards. Basically, your cpu *should* be backward compatible but will not run at its full potential with an older motherboard (AM2). It should work fine, but you should double check your manufacturer's website, and you may need to update the BIOS.

On a side note, all quad-cores have little or no performance advantage while playing video games over their dual-core counterparts (1-6fps in difference). Triple cores numbers very similiar to quad-cores, so a triple core is a good low-cost choice for gaming if you are convinced you gotta have more than two cores because that was so two years ago. So if you are on a budget, its definitely something to consider.

If you are not on a budget and are not content with keeping your same motherboard, I would switch to Intel. Few years ago, high end CPUs were switching back and forth, but now AMD has changed their marketing strategies and have gone for more affordable CPUs while Intel is still pumping out high end CPUs and a good chunk of mid-level and "tweeners" along the way.

The best thing to do is just do the research on your own. In one hour of reading sites like tom's hardware, you can get a general idea of whats the best out there, and whats the best for you and your need. If all you do is play WOW, you definitely do not need a high end cpu.

[Onion]

buy jirouu's computer