Upgrade advice for REALLY old hardware

[LxMxFxD4]

Originally posted by: faxon
the i7 is out today man. check mwave.com for the current lowest prices (that i have seen) on the net. i7 920 for $289, MSI X58 PLATINUM for $215, and $256 for one of several 6gb (3x2gb) memory kits. it probably isnt worth it for your budget for obvious reasons though, esp since if you need the extra scratch disk space you can get cheap DDR2 for dirt cheap right now just about anywhere.

I compared prices as of today's release date:

All told, the i7 920 (2.66ghz x4), 4GB DDR3 with cheapest ($220) mobo would be $710 at newegg

Compare this to $454.99 for the q9550 P45 at newegg w/ $15 MIR.

The question is really whether In the next week or two the release of i7 will push the prices of these older components down further.

My only question is:

Would this be the right ram for the q9550? Someone linked to this on page 1:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231145

DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) ? Or do I need somethign else? DDR2 1333?

Thanks!

 

[Assimilator1]

I don't know offhand, though where possible you at least want to match the the FSB speed, & you can (with some FSB speeds) have faster RAM for a little more performance, if it's worth the cost to you.

I would think the new i7 coming out will drop the prices of older h/w over the next few weeks, but only in the market segment it's replacing. Of which I have no idea really, but I'm guessing the i7 is high end gear atm??

 

[Jingato]

Originally posted by: LxMxFxD4
Before I pull the trigger on $600 worth of upgrades though, the new i7 comes out TOMORROW (Monday). Any ideas on whether I should wait for that? Or, wait for it to come out and watch the older stuff drop in price?

Thanks again!

That's what I did. I'm upgrading to a core i7, but it's def a lot more $$ so it all comes down to how much you wanna spend.

Originally posted by: Denithor
1) Build a rig with 8GB DDR2.
2) Buy Ramdisk Plus 9
3) Set up a 5GB ramdisk.
4) Point your scratch disk onto your new ultra-fast ramdisk.
5) Enjoy some much faster CS3 performance.

I just purchased an Intel SSD for my system. Is a ramdisk like this faster than using an Intel SSD as your scratch disk? If so how much? Is it worth the extra money over the SSD?

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by: LxMxFxD4
I'm upgrading my 3+ year old computer today, or at worst.. this week. This is my old (created september 2005) rig:

Run Windows XP 32bit with latest updates
AMD X2 3800+ O/C to 2.4ghz, Socket 939
Asus A8N-SLI Premium MOBO (dual pci-e slots)
2GB (4x512MB) PC3200 RAM with crap specs
16x DVD burner
4x Raid array 300GB maxtor drives (3+ years old drives now)
2x IDE 160GB drives (run my OS and for data I dont "need")
$20 Sound card
GeForce 8800GT (600mhz core one I think) - Added January 2008
Antec Earthwatts 430W PSU - Added January 2008

I THINK thats all the important details. So this is what im looking to upgrade and why:

CPU
MOBO
Memory
Possibly the raid array due to age of HDs

The problem is I don't know where to start. I don't want a quad core because based on what I've seen, I'd have to have a new PSU as they suck TONS of power. I use this rig for a lot of CS3 and the only game I play is Warcraft, so dual core would be just fine.

Other caveat is.. I have 800GB of storage on my raid array.. and the raid controller is the onboard one on my MOBO.. so I doubt I can buy a new mobo with the exact same controller (and thus I'd have to transfer it all to a temp drive of some kind or something before moving it to a new system with a new raid controller). But if someone has a more elegant solution, please let me know.

Also, one last quick question - if I just added another 8800GT (they're only $100 now) would I see a ton of increase of performance in warcraft?

Thanks for all advice guys!

EDIT: I probably will NOT overclock this new system.

Gigabyte UD3R
or....
Gigabyte UD3P There is no better board than this for the price.
G-Skill 4 GIG
Intel E8400

Total : $329.97 w/ Gigabyte UD3R
Total : $339.97 w/ Gigabyte UD3P $319.99 AMIR

I would go for option 2. If you dont like the E8400 and must have a Quad, then

Total : $354.97 w/ Gigabyte UD3R + Q6600
Total : $364.97 w/ Gigabyte UD3P + Q6600 $344.97 AMIR

 

[LxMxFxD4]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: Dadofamunky
But if the RAM disk solution works under 32-bit XP, then there's no reason for you to switch!

It does, at least with the software that Denithor linked.

Originally posted by: LxMxFxD4
Yep from what I read CS3 uses 2 cores but not 4. Maybe CS4 uses all 4? If thats the case I would consider upgrading to CS4 even.

CS4 still doesn't benefit from more than 2 cores. The big difference between CS3 and CS4 is that they've added CUDA to CS4, allowing you to run CS4 on your 8800GT (or any other nVidia card that's at least as new as an 8800GT). So, upgrading from your 2.4 Ghz X2 to an E8400 will give you ~twice the speed. Using a RAM drive, along with a new motherboard that will allow you to use a RAM drive, will be ~2.5-3x as fast as an E8400-based system that uses a hard drive as the scratch disk, or 5-6x as fast as your current system. Here's the kicker, though: adding CS4 and your 8800GT to the mix should, in theory, make it 5-10x faster than it already had become, somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-30x as fast as your current system.

Well I pulled the trigger on all of this. This post was really the cause

I only went with 4GB ram, i'll see what I can do with that with this ramdrive business and go from there (another 4GB is only $55 if needed).

Intel q9550
4GB G.SKILL DDR2 1000
Asus P45 P5Q pro mobo ($35 discount in combo with the cpu)
1TB Seagate 7200.11 (I went with this one because in my past experience maxtor and seagate have BY FAR best MTBF)
$575 w/shipping before $15 MIR

I hope this Asus P45 is backwards compatable with my nvidia 8800GT which is pci-e 1.1 I think. If anyone can tell me it ISNT let me know.

I haven't owned an intel cpu since the intel celeron 466mhz days circa 1999. I feel like a traitor in some way.. I'm an AMD fanboy and.. feel that keeping AMD "alive" is crucial to the future of the CPU world. Oh well, I'll deal with my guilt another day I guess..

Thanks again to everyone who helped me on this.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: LxMxFxD4
I hope this Asus P45 is backwards compatable with my nvidia 8800GT which is pci-e 1.1 I think. If anyone can tell me it ISNT let me know.

Its definitely compatible. I just recently upgraded my Q6600 to a P5Q Pro, and it has an 8800GT in it. BTW, 8800GT's are PCI-E 2.0.

 

[LxMxFxD4]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: LxMxFxD4
I hope this Asus P45 is backwards compatable with my nvidia 8800GT which is pci-e 1.1 I think. If anyone can tell me it ISNT let me know.

Its definitely compatible. I just recently upgraded my Q6600 to a P5Q Pro, and it has an 8800GT in it. BTW, 8800GT's are PCI-E 2.0.

I tried and tried but I couldn't find it on evga's website, and my box and manual say nothing about it being 2.0.

http://www.evga.com/articles/378.asp That right there though does say my 512MB version is PCI-e 2.0. But even if the car is 1.1, it should still be backwards compatible right?

 

[cubeless]

yup