• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Help! Considering a worthy upgrade from a 2 year system

Apocalypse23

Apocalypse23

Golden Member
Sup people,
I want to upgrade my mobo and processor ( abit nf7-s 2.0 and xp2500+ ). Im open to Abit or Asus boards but you experts help me decide which one to go for, i.e what processor and mobo to go for that will last me a good while. Im a gamer, music listener so id prefer a nice dolby integrated sound system on the board as well.

PS- i plan to sell my nf7-s and xp2500+ so what could i expect to make outa them?
some of you may recall me posting a year or 2 ago about my system's upgrade, that was when u folks here introduced me into the world of the nf7-s and barton world. Anyways, here are my current system specs:

6 year old pentium 3 system case (smalller than the standard ones these days but still fits new stuff tightly)
xp 2500 + barton ( i have it oced stably at 2.2 ghz)
abit nf7-s rev 2.0 board (beautiful board, great ocer)
1.5 gb of ram ( 2x256mb ocz el platinum dual channel + 1 gb ocz high performance memory)
80 gb harddrive
5900 non ultra bfg video card

Now i've bought an evga 7800 gt co SE pci-e video card brand new , that im waiting to use, but have no clue on what mobo to buy

Also, im an overclocker personality so i plan to buy an amd 64 bit chip (Something affordable and worth the overclock to last me a while)

THanks
 
well, do you want dual core? extreme overclocking? i would say, keep the ram, get an X2 3800+ dual core, and get a dfi lanparty ultra-d
 
Well I have a fairly tight budget and the main reason I am upgrading is because I got the 7800, so I need a pci-e mobo and obviously need to upgrade the proc as well. I'm thinking athlon 64 3200-3700+ or something like that. I'm still uncertain and just going through prices and trying to look for a decent deal. Any reccomendations for a proc/mobo combo in that range?

PS- i have a 80 gig maxtor id rive, would i have to discard this and buy a sata drive or can i use this with my new mobo

Also, i have a thermalright SLK-900a heatsink and vantec tornado 92mm fan that i'm using on the 2500+ oc. I don't think the heatsink will work on a 939 socket, but would I face a problem with mounting the tornado on a new heatsink for the 64 proc I get? How much can I expect to make from selling the mobo+proc+heatsink?(nf7-s/2500+/thermalright) Thanks a lot.
 
I've decided to go for the EPOX 9NPA+SLi , thermalright xp90c heatsink (gonna put my 92mm tornado on it) plus an Antec Sonata II case.

Now im only confused as to which processor to buy, the x2 3000+, 3200+, 3500+ or 3700+. Im guessing i can only afford a max of 3500+. Which one has the best oc potential? Thanks alot.
 
dont get the sli board, just get the ultra. its very very good. you should probably go for the 3200+ venice for overclocking, or the 3700+ san diego because it has 1mb L2 cache. or, you could get an opteron 146. that will overclock really well. and, yeah, you can use your 80gb ide drive with any motherboard.

 
Thanks a lot for the response. Why shouldn't I get the SLI board? It is more expensive(about $50CAD+ more), but I figure the SLI would come in handy down the road. Or do you think its unneccesary and that I should save the money instead?

Also, as far as procs go, i'm reading reviews and it seems that the 3000+ can be oc'd to ridiculous speeds, making it best bang for the buck. But i'm still unsure of whether I should chalk up some more money and get the 3200+ or 3500+ instead (is there really a significant difference?) The opteron 146 is a little too expensive for me right now, it was on a really good price on ncix (one day suprise sale) but I missed it =(

Thanks again
 
you should save the money instead. because, in a few months, the new generation of video cards will be out, and a single card will kill your SLI setup. so, just buy 1 card, and then sell it and upgrade later. yeah, the 3000+ is the best for overclocking, since it goes just up just as high as the faster cpu's. however, it only has a 9x multiplier, so, if your board cant handle the high fsb, you might be limited there. but, the epox is very good at overclocking, and unless there's a fluke, you should be ok.
 
Thanks, I see your point. I think I am going to go for non-sli, as long as I get to save myself a few bucks. I also realized that I can't find the epox locally, so I might go for the "DFI LANParty UT NF4 ULTRA-D" S939 since i've been hearing a lot of good things about it. But i'm going to have to look up some reviews, see if there is a significant difference in performance and overclockability between the DFI and ePOX boards. And I think i'll also go for the 3000+ 90nm and hope I can oc it high enough.
 
Update:

I have decided to go for a DFI lanparty nf4, Antec Sonata II case, Thermalright XP-90 heatsink, vantec tornado 92mm fan on top of it, eVga 7800 GT CO SE, and my current OCZ ram and HDD.

What i'm still unsure about is whether to go for a 64 3000+ and hope to overclock that to 2.6, or get an Opteron 146 and hope to overclock that to 3.0. I've been reading around and a lot of people are saying the OC potential of the 146 really depends on what stepping you get and that the best steppings are now very rare. Now unless I can OC that to 3.0ghz(or close) speeds, I would rather save some money and OC the heck outta the 3000+ instead(there is about $100CAD difference between the two).

My question is: Based on this setup, how good are my chances to overclock the Opteron 146 to 3.0GHz?

Thank you.
 
you really need to give a set budget. i personally wouldn't go with SLI if in your position because SLI only truly benefits those that want THE top of the line pc with 2 7800GTs or GTXs when they first come out. for your situation, i would go with the amd 3000+ or opteron 144. if you have the cash, get the 3700+. stay away from the 3500 (waste of money imo) and the 3200 isn't bad, but the 144 can get just as good clocks
 
you really need to give a set budget. i personally wouldn't go with SLI if in your position because SLI only truly benefits those that want THE top of the line pc with 2 7800GTs or GTXs when they first come out. for your situation, i would go with the amd 3000+ or opteron 144. if you have the cash, get the 3700+. stay away from the 3500 (waste of money imo) and the 3200 isn't bad, but the 144 can get just as good clocks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top