Hi all -
I am looking to upgrade/rebuild my current system soon, and I need opinions from people who build machines more than I do.
I currently am running a Abit KN8 Ultra with an Opteron 165, Thermalright XP-90, 2x1GB PQI RAM, 2x250GB WD HDD, CM Centurion 534, Antec Earthwatts 500W PS, and an XFX 8800GT. I bought most of the system in early 2006 (Jan/Feb range), added the case and PS last year, and added the 8800GT a couple of months ago.
I bought the Opteron with the plan of OC'ing, but I could never get much out of. Not having OC'd a system before probably was a major part of the problem.
I use this machine for various things; gaming (COD4, Vanguard mainly), web and application development, and general use (e-mail, surfing, etc). My budget is, well, flexible: I can spend what I want, but I'd like to stay towards the best-bang-for-the-buck end, rather than the bleeding edge, had-to-sell-a-kidney end.
At any rate, I'd like to upgrade my current system and then use the leftover parts to build a replacement for an older box. I'm pretty sure I will go with the Intel e7200 paired with the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L. Optionally, I would replace my current HDD's with a pair of WD WD6400AAKS 640GB drives. I will reuse my current case, PS, and GPU.
I haven't picked RAM yet, because there are so many options in the 2x2GB kits I have been looking at. Voltage, CAS rating, timings, speed... I have no idea what to get.
Assuming I am going to OC the CPU, does it matter if I buy PC800/1000/1066 RAM? Are there any brands that tend to work better (or worse?) with OC'ing and/or the Gigabyte board? I'm not married to any brand, and have looked at Mushkin, OCZ, PQI, Corsair, GSkill, Kingston... all are reputable brands, so I'm Ok with any of them. Basically, I'm looking for RAm that will work well with the OC'd E7200, as well as a quad-core should I upgrade to that in the next year or so.
I hope I gave you enough information to work with; if not, let me know and I'll happily ramble on some more. 😀
Thank folks. Looking forward to some expert advice! 🙂😕
I am looking to upgrade/rebuild my current system soon, and I need opinions from people who build machines more than I do.
I currently am running a Abit KN8 Ultra with an Opteron 165, Thermalright XP-90, 2x1GB PQI RAM, 2x250GB WD HDD, CM Centurion 534, Antec Earthwatts 500W PS, and an XFX 8800GT. I bought most of the system in early 2006 (Jan/Feb range), added the case and PS last year, and added the 8800GT a couple of months ago.
I bought the Opteron with the plan of OC'ing, but I could never get much out of. Not having OC'd a system before probably was a major part of the problem.
I use this machine for various things; gaming (COD4, Vanguard mainly), web and application development, and general use (e-mail, surfing, etc). My budget is, well, flexible: I can spend what I want, but I'd like to stay towards the best-bang-for-the-buck end, rather than the bleeding edge, had-to-sell-a-kidney end.
At any rate, I'd like to upgrade my current system and then use the leftover parts to build a replacement for an older box. I'm pretty sure I will go with the Intel e7200 paired with the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L. Optionally, I would replace my current HDD's with a pair of WD WD6400AAKS 640GB drives. I will reuse my current case, PS, and GPU.
I haven't picked RAM yet, because there are so many options in the 2x2GB kits I have been looking at. Voltage, CAS rating, timings, speed... I have no idea what to get.
Assuming I am going to OC the CPU, does it matter if I buy PC800/1000/1066 RAM? Are there any brands that tend to work better (or worse?) with OC'ing and/or the Gigabyte board? I'm not married to any brand, and have looked at Mushkin, OCZ, PQI, Corsair, GSkill, Kingston... all are reputable brands, so I'm Ok with any of them. Basically, I'm looking for RAm that will work well with the OC'd E7200, as well as a quad-core should I upgrade to that in the next year or so.
I hope I gave you enough information to work with; if not, let me know and I'll happily ramble on some more. 😀
Thank folks. Looking forward to some expert advice! 🙂😕
