I need advice on upgrading my system. So much has changed in the two years since I did my last big upgrade that I?m getting confused with it all. I want to do this in two steps. First step is motherboard, CPU, memory, video card(s), power supply and if necessary a new case. Second step will be the hard drives.
I want to upgrade to be able to enjoy the new heavy graphic MMORPGs that are coming out such as Vanguard. I?m not that much into FPS games but I do play them. Overclocking is not a major factor. Nice if it can be done but not necessary.
I?m looking at going with an Intel Core 2 Duo E6700. I want a CPU that will serve well for the next 12 to 24 months. Is the QX6700 or X6800 worth twice the price of the E6700? Will that extra $500 now make a difference a year from now?
I have been partial to ASUS motherboards in the past so ASUS is my first choice but no clue if there is another motherboard that will suit my needs better. I think the P5W64 WS PRO gives me what I?m looking for although I don?t know if it is Crossfire capable. An alternative is the Gigabyte 965P-DQ6? If I don?t go Crossfire, will the ASUS P5B-E be adequate? Am I correct in thinking these motherboards can use either ATI or nVidia single card? Biggest priority here is a motherboard that gets everything out of the CPU and can do the RAID configuration I want. Crossfire capable is secondary.
For video my gut says ATI because I?ve been using them the past couple years with no problems. I don?t know if I should go with a dual card set up or stay with single cards. I tend to upgrade video more often than the CPU & motherboard upgrades. So I don?t know if it is worth it to go with Crossfire and be buying another 2 cards 12 months from now or just buy the best single card (either ATI or nVidia) every 8 to 12 months.
For memory I?ve used Corsair in the past and will go with that but there seems to be so many flavors I?m not sure which will be right. I currently have 2 1GB sticks, which I think are XMS or CAS-2?
I have an Antec SX1040B case with Antec 430W power supply. How big a power supply should I get and will it and the new motherboard fit in the case I have now?
The second step will be to change my hard drives (once I have the first step working). Currently I have an Adaptec 29160 with four 136GB SCSI drives (mix of 1 Maxtor, 2 IBM/Hitachi and 1 Fujitsu all 10K rpm). My gut feeling is that I should migrate to SATA drives in a RAID configuration. Preference would be 4 300GB drives in a RAID10 if that is possible. I want performance and reliability. I currently use a 300GB USB drive for backups but since I live in the lightning capitol of the world I would also like the safety of RAID mirroring. Otherwise I?ll take the performance of RAID striping and get a second USB HD for extra backups.
So my list looks like this:
CPU - Core 2 Duo E6700 or QX6700 or X6800
Motherboard ? Asus P5W64 WS Pro or Gigabyte 965P-DQ6
Video ? ATI, possibly Crossfire if the motherboard supports it.
Memory ? 2GB of something (need help here getting the right memory for this)
Power Supply ? another unknown, need help here.
Will all this work in my current case?
For step two, go with RAID10 (which I believe is available on the ASUS and Gigabyte motherboards) and something akin to 4 ATA-II 320GB Barracuda drives.
Appreciate any advice, suggestions or comments.
Yazuli
I want to upgrade to be able to enjoy the new heavy graphic MMORPGs that are coming out such as Vanguard. I?m not that much into FPS games but I do play them. Overclocking is not a major factor. Nice if it can be done but not necessary.
I?m looking at going with an Intel Core 2 Duo E6700. I want a CPU that will serve well for the next 12 to 24 months. Is the QX6700 or X6800 worth twice the price of the E6700? Will that extra $500 now make a difference a year from now?
I have been partial to ASUS motherboards in the past so ASUS is my first choice but no clue if there is another motherboard that will suit my needs better. I think the P5W64 WS PRO gives me what I?m looking for although I don?t know if it is Crossfire capable. An alternative is the Gigabyte 965P-DQ6? If I don?t go Crossfire, will the ASUS P5B-E be adequate? Am I correct in thinking these motherboards can use either ATI or nVidia single card? Biggest priority here is a motherboard that gets everything out of the CPU and can do the RAID configuration I want. Crossfire capable is secondary.
For video my gut says ATI because I?ve been using them the past couple years with no problems. I don?t know if I should go with a dual card set up or stay with single cards. I tend to upgrade video more often than the CPU & motherboard upgrades. So I don?t know if it is worth it to go with Crossfire and be buying another 2 cards 12 months from now or just buy the best single card (either ATI or nVidia) every 8 to 12 months.
For memory I?ve used Corsair in the past and will go with that but there seems to be so many flavors I?m not sure which will be right. I currently have 2 1GB sticks, which I think are XMS or CAS-2?
I have an Antec SX1040B case with Antec 430W power supply. How big a power supply should I get and will it and the new motherboard fit in the case I have now?
The second step will be to change my hard drives (once I have the first step working). Currently I have an Adaptec 29160 with four 136GB SCSI drives (mix of 1 Maxtor, 2 IBM/Hitachi and 1 Fujitsu all 10K rpm). My gut feeling is that I should migrate to SATA drives in a RAID configuration. Preference would be 4 300GB drives in a RAID10 if that is possible. I want performance and reliability. I currently use a 300GB USB drive for backups but since I live in the lightning capitol of the world I would also like the safety of RAID mirroring. Otherwise I?ll take the performance of RAID striping and get a second USB HD for extra backups.
So my list looks like this:
CPU - Core 2 Duo E6700 or QX6700 or X6800
Motherboard ? Asus P5W64 WS Pro or Gigabyte 965P-DQ6
Video ? ATI, possibly Crossfire if the motherboard supports it.
Memory ? 2GB of something (need help here getting the right memory for this)
Power Supply ? another unknown, need help here.
Will all this work in my current case?
For step two, go with RAID10 (which I believe is available on the ASUS and Gigabyte motherboards) and something akin to 4 ATA-II 320GB Barracuda drives.
Appreciate any advice, suggestions or comments.
Yazuli
