Suggestions for upgrade please.

[iksander]

Hey hey!

I currently have a p4 1.4Ghz with 384mb PC800 RAMBUS and its time for an upgrade.

I plan on getting either a P4 2.4ghz or 2.53ghz (2.4 seems to be the better value)
My problem is the motherboard:
I am tossing up between the Intel 845PE chipset or the new Granite Bay Intel E7205 chipset.
With either the Asus (P4PE) or Gigabyte (8PE667 Ultra) for the 845PE chipset
OR
Asus (P4G8X) or Gigabyte (8INXP) for the Granite Bay.

One question I wouldnt mind knowing the answer to is what RAM would be required for the dual channel DDR (granite bay) boards? I have read that they run at 266Mhz so does that mean that I only require PC2100 RAM or is it a case of the faster the RAM the easier it will be to overclock.

I also should mention that I am wanting to overclock this system (nothing too drastic - say 160Mhz FSB: ive heard thats not too difficult for an Intel chipset board)

And I was thinking of buying the Antec 1080AMG case mainly because it is rather affordable and from what I have read rather effective in terms of cooling.

I am currently undertaking a Bachelor of Multimedia Degree at uni and use programs such as Photoshop, Flash, 3d Studio Max, Adobe Premiere, etc.

Any advice on what to look for including the type of RAM I should be looking for (was thinking of Corsair Micro PC3200) is much appreciated.

 

[bigpig]

From the Bench marks I've seen the Granitbay mobos are top notch. As far as the ramm goes you would be better off with DDR3200 or 3500 to insure O/Cing and stability. I bought 512 of Geil DDR3500 ultra and I'm most pleased with it.

 

[iksander]

Thanks very much for that near instantaneous reply!

Any advice on the motherboard brand - or are both Gigabyte and Asus pretty similar?

I noticed gigabyte doesnt offer Firewire on their board, not a big worry I guess.

Cheers mate