Upgrading a few things...anything dumb here?

[CapaJC]

Hi all. I'm new here, so I realize I haven't earned any answers yet, but I'm still hoping.

Last time I upgraded was when the AIW 9800 Pro was pretty hot stuff. It's time again, and things seem to be expanding pretty quickly in my plans.

Current system:
2.66GHz P4
ASUS P4G8X Deluxe mobo
1GB Kingston HyperX PC3000 (370MHz) in 4x256MB modules
ATI AIW 9800 Pro (128MB)


Now, my first thought was to go SLI with a pair of 6600GT 256MB cards from Asus ($180 each). I'm under the impression that this'll get me better performance than I could get from a $360 card, and I'll have upgrade options should I come into more money down the line.

This, of course, dictates a new mobo, so I feel I should go AMD. Thinking about the Athlon 64 3700+ in the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe. This will mean a new power supply.

I have a question about the RAM. The ASUS mobo supports PC3200, and my sticks are PC3000. I know very little about RAM: can I use the PC3000 sticks? If so, would it be stupid? (i.e., would I be crippling my new system right out of the gate)

And a larger question, since I'm looking at about $1000+ of upgrades here, is it worth it? Subjective, I know, but maybe a better question is should I be looking at a different setup/option with all this to give me the performance I'm craving?

Thanks! I hope to be around these forums for awhile, so I hopefully can repay some of the help/answers.

--James in S.D.

 

[NaOH]

Your ram should be fine and it will run on your new mobo i suspect. If it really is pc3000 then you won't notice a performance hit if there are any. Nice CPU for gaming, although I would suggest a Dual Core if you are upgrading to future proof your system. Also, don't get the dual 6600Gts, just spend your money on one card that is as fast as two of them and so you can easily upgrade down the line. Two 6600GT are the lowest SLi configs possible I believe, that or 6600.


I had nearly the same setup as you (same CPU speed, same amount of ram but clocked down to pc2700, and a Geforce 6800LE overclocked). I noticed a big increase in performance by upgrading my CPU, mobo and GPU. Everything else I kept the same.

 

[alimoalem]

welcome to the forums James.

there are actually quiet a few things i would change, but first the answer to your smaller question. pc3200 on your motherboard means it supports up to pc3200 speeds so yes, you can use your pc3000. i'm just wondering, was it pc3000 stock? cause i've never seen that before.

now for your system...
that SLI thing u said (2x6600gt > 1 $360 card) is VERY off. a $265 7800GT outperforms SLI 6600GTs. actually, the 7800GT performs about as well as SLI 6800GS's and a 6800GS compares to about SLI 6600GT's (if i remember correctly). also, i would recommend going Dual Core.

i would recomend the following components for $1000. this system will be a great overclocking one so if you're not ready for that, get an AMD x2 3800 for $30 less than the opteron 165. i've included a case and dvd burner as well so you can save $54 + $40 if you already have both....if you need both, buy only 1gb of the ram i recommended. so here's the list:

CPU: Opteron 165 - $328
motherboard: DFI UT NF4 board - $116
GPU: eVGA 7800gt - $265
RAM: 2gb kit of g.skill value ($144 - CAS 2.5)
hard drive: Western Digital SE16 250gb - $96
psu: fortron 450 w - $50
optical: NEC DVD Burner - $40
case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 - $54

this comes to $1093, before shipping (all prices from newegg). i know this is almost $100 over your budget but this is without shopping around (check out zipzoomfly, monarchcomputer, etc.) and i already said, you can save a little over $30 by dropping down to a 3800x2 cpu or buying only 1gb of ram.

i think this would be a significantly better computer than what you put together and be very overclockable. enjoy building

 

[NaOH]

That's a pretty good setup. Maybe he could save some money on the harddrive though. I have 160gb and have never even come close to use it all. I save tons of dvd images on my hdd too.

He should also save his money on ram since he won't notice a performance hit. Also, he already has 1GB which is more than sufficient for most games and uses. If he decides he wants to shell out for more. Then I suggest he buys that set you suggested. I'm looking to buy a set of 2GB, but I don't really NEED it yet.

 

[alimoalem]

i agree with not getting the ram. save the $140 and you'll be under the the $1000 mark

amdualy, the reason i recommended the 250gb was because it's like the best GB/$ size for hard drives but yes, getting a smaller is fine. i have a 180gb with only 40gigs used so saving a few bucks on the hard drive isn't a bad idea either

 

[NaOH]

True true, just throwing stuff out there for him to think about. Harddrives are relatively cheap now anyways. I'm just pretty frugal in general with my money haha

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Get an opteron 165 for $267 @ monarch: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1020827
Enter the coupon and it will work. Bought myself an opteron 170 yesterday for $365!!!

 

[CapaJC]

I appreciate all the advice and info.

I neglected to mention I'm hoping to continue using my foamed-up Antec Sonata, and I'm good on hard drives (got a 200GB primary and a pair of 250s RAIDed for a backup/aux drive, all SATA).

I'll certainly do some reading tonight on the 7800gt. I hadn't realized they were that cheap. I've never owned anything but ATI and Intel ('cept for an AMD K6 long ago), so this system is definitely requiring some changes/education.

My mind is at ease now about the RAM...thanks. I'll stick with what I've got until I decide to throw all my spare components into building a 2ndary setup...

--James in S.D.

 

[alimoalem]

nice find gersson....CapaJC, u should definitely get the opteron 165 if the coupon is still valid

 

[alimoalem]

well now that you don't need ram, a case or hard drives, you can stick to ATI and get an X1900XT for $460. to see the performances of both the 7800GT and X1900XT, here are two links...i couldn't find one with both the x1900xt and 7800gt in one article for some reason so just open up both links (or if someone can provide a link with both cards in the same test) and compare them side by side....u can use the 7800GTX as a reference because it's pretty much the same number of frames per second in both tests.

7800GT link

X1900XT link

 

[CapaJC]

Hmm...looking around for an article somewhere that compares the Opteron line to other processors. This thing won't be a server, per se, and gaming is absolutely the most intensive thing it'll do (by an order of magnitude), so I want to find some info on how the Opteron stacks up in that area.

Thanks for the coupon link...looks like a great deal!

--James in S.D.

 

[imported_rod]

Are you planning to Overclock?

If not, replace the opteron 165 with an athlon64 3800+ X2, and replace the MoBo with an ASUS.

RoD

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: rod
Are you planning to Overclock?

If not, replace the opteron 165 with an athlon64 3800+ X2, and replace the MoBo with an ASUS.

RoD

good suggestion for the motherboard brand....the Epox 9npa+ Ultra is also a great and stable board

rod, the opteron would be about $30 cheaper (with the coupon), wouldn't that make it the better deal?

 

[CapaJC]

You know, I've bought several components in the past that were supposedly great for overclocking...and just never got around to doing it. No excuse. So I'd have to honestly say that chances of my overclocking this new rig are slim-to-none.

Going with an ATI card would mean buying a Crossfire board (vs. SLI), and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with that considering the year leadtime NVIDIA's had over ATI in the dual-card race. I dunno, but I just don't see many as many articles out there about ATI dual-card systems as I do about NVIDIA's.

And I'm not finding Opteron processors to be commonly used in gaming benchmark testing...there's the occasional article here and there, but nothing comprehensive that I've found.

--James in S.D.

 

[alimoalem]

most gaming benchmarks use FX processors...you're looking for A64 or Opteron.....

don't worry about CrossFire or SLI. ATI and Nvidia cards work perfectly in nforce4 boards. and you wouldn't want to use crossfire or sli. by the time you're ready to upgrade, a newer card will be available. the 7900GT is just around the corner and could be $300. that should last you a good 2 years i think

about opteron and the difference between it and A64, the only thing is opterons use a higher quality silicon for the chips so it can take more stress and overclock more. i'm 99% sure they perform equally clock for clock

 

[CapaJC]

Whoever said the 7900GT was just around the corner...boy, you weren't kidding. That card's almost a no-brainer for me now.

My question would now be: do I jump on one of the first 3 companies (eVGA, XFX, BFG)? Or do I wait for someone else to come up with something better (ASUS...Gigabyte...other...)? I won't be buying for a couple weeks, so maybe something else will be out by then.

Anyway, thanks again for the advice, all. This has been informative for me.

--James in S.D.

 

[alimoalem]

i'd wait the 2 weeks just because there might be a deal you can save $10 on the card with. go eVGA. they also have an overclocked version for $60 more

 

[CapaJC]

Heh...you're right. The eVGA card dropped $20 in just a day. Guess everyone's still figuring out their pricing schemes.

--James in S.D.

 

[alimoalem]

true. plus they might come with a different OCed version or a different brand might come out with a 7900

 

[CapaJC]

Well, Fry's Electronics had a good deal yesterday on an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ with an ABIT A8N-32X mobo. The two together were maybe $20 less than Newegg wanted, so I picked 'em up.

Newegg has more brands today, but I think I'll wait for eVGA's cards to get back in stock somewhere, and I'll get their regular 7900 GT. I'm already over budget, so no factory overclocking for me. Then soon as I can find a nice, relatively quiet PSU, I'm aces.

Ahh, it's been so long I'd forgotten what this feels like, when the research winds down and the buying begins.

--James in S.D.

 

[alimoalem]

well good to hear you're almost done. you should consider the p180 for a quiet case but it could be too expensive if you're already over budget

 

[CapaJC]

For a case I already had an Antec Sonata, all foamed up for extra noise reduction. Excessive, probably, and the foam may or may not make a difference. I didn't do any testing.

For the PSU, I have a quiet one, but it's not rated for SLI and is pretty weak anyway. I'm looking at the Seasonic S12-500, as I fear their 430 might not be enough when I go and add that 2nd video card later on. I've got three hard drives in there and two optical drives, and the front bay piece for my Audigy2.

Now to find a local dealer for the Seasonic so the wife doesn't see it on the credit card...

--James in S.D.

 

[Bobthelost]

Foam helps a little, but suspending the drives or even using rubber screws makes more difference. Enjoy your seasonic, i am!

 

[CapaJC]

Yeah, the Sonata came with rubber grommets for the drives and rubber screws for the fans. A nice touch.

--James in S.D.

 

[alimoalem]

rubber screws? nice. where and how much?