Upgrading from P4 to Core 2 Duo

[smartin]

As the parts come in and I get it up and running, I'll update this thread with more details.

I built my last system in, coincidentally, July 2004. A P4 Prescott socket 478 (ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe) that has served me well. I'm looking for another long term solution.

For this upgrade, I'd like to spend close to $500 for everything, including $110 for the Windows Vista with free win 7 coupon, and $60-$70 for a hard drive. I plan to keep my Antec Performance Plus case with TruePower 430 PSU as both are in excellent shape and should suite my needs fine for now.

I play games, such as Sins of a Solar Empire, but am not really a true gamer. I'll go with the PCI Express 2.0 x16 interface, and will pick one of the Radeon 4670 video cards, which will blow my current setup away, and will fit my PSU which doesn't have a 6pin cable.

But in 2 years if needed, I can upgrade the PSU and video card. Likewise with the CPU. I'll start now with the E7500 Duo, which is almost 3GHZ and only $120. In 2 years if needed, for very little money, I should be able to jump to a screaming Core 2 Quad.

From what I can tell, I probably want a P45 chipset, or something close. I see no reason not to run my memory at a speed of at least 1066, which also matches the FSB of the E7500. I'll play with overclocking, but want to use the stock hs/fan, both for simplicity and cost reasons.

I really don't think I need or want to pay for a MB that supports 2 video cards. And with socket 775 going away, I shouldn't have to spend all that much. But I don't want a piece of garbage either, and I'm seeing tons of negative reviews on newegg on various P45 models, even the popular Gigabyte and ASUS ones, which troubles me.

Suggestions?

 

[MBurke]

Are you interested in selling your Asus motherboard ? I'm looking to buy one.

 

[Ileader36]

If that is Just the standard Truepower 430w PSU, don't expect it to handle what You are going to expect of it.
Maybe the trio model might cope.
According to Antec's website Your PSU has a single +12v rail of 20A only, probably not enough.

My old Antec 500w Smartpower 2 couldn't handle my current system, even without the overclock.
However it had no probs with my old rig, which was same video card but ASUS P4P800dlx and
Overclocked Pentium M cpu @ 2.7ghz.

You may be lucky and get away with it, but I don't fancy Your chances.

 

[Nickel020]

If you don't overclock, you don need 1066. the RAM that actually matches the bandwidth of the CPU is DDR2 533, in dual channel mode that provides the same bandwidth as the CPUs FSB has (bandwidth per Mhz is eaual, CPU has 1066 effectively, 533 RAM x2 in dual channel mode ia also 1066). So DDR2 800 will already provide mroe bandwidth than the CPU can take.

Rather invest a little more in the video card. The performance jump froma 4670 to a 4850 is huge, and the price difference relatively small. So it's better to safe some money with slower RAM and get a better video card. You'll never ntoice the slower RAM, but you'll definitely notice the faster video card

You'll always see negative reviews of motherboards on newegg, as people feel more inclined to post a review about a product that they're having problems with. And many of the problems are caused by a stupid user, not a bad product...

Since you don't need support for two video cards, I would go with the Gigabyte EP45-UD3R. This also the Core 2 mainboard that AnandTech recommends for non-crossfire systems btw. I have the UD3P version with crossfire support and I must say it's a great board, and it's recommended by reviewers all over the net and one of the most popular P45 boards.
The board is also available for $99 after rebates at zipzoomfly:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10009460

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: Nickel020
If you don't overclock, you don need 1066. the RAM that actually matches the bandwidth of the CPU is DDR2 533, in dual channel mode that provides the same bandwidth as the CPUs FSB has (bandwidth per Mhz is eaual, CPU has 1066 effectively, 533 RAM x2 in dual channel mode ia also 1066). So DDR2 800 will already provide mroe bandwidth than the CPU can take.

Correct, but also... incorrect. Yes DDR2-533 is the proper match to the 1066FSB of the CPU, but it has nothign to do with dual channel. The CPU fsb is quad pumped, meaning 1066/4 = 255mHz true FSB clock. DDR2 ram gets double pumped (a la double data rate) meaning the match to a 266 "true" fsb is ddrs-533. So you're right on the 533 number, but it's not related at all to dual channel

 

[Nickel020]

Sure it is related to dual channel: Because of dual channel 533 (effective) MHz RAM matches the bandwidth of the 1066 (effective) MHz quad-pumped FSB. One channel of 533 MHz RAM has half the bandwidth of the FSB, two channels have the same bandwidth.