[Seltox]

Here's my 'planned' upgrade. I want you guys to look over it, tell me if anything isn't compatible, or if I could find something better for a lower price.

What i'm going from:

Case - Silver Xblade ATX case, running a 90mm and 120mm fan
Video Card - nVidia GeForce FX 5200 256mb
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-8VM800M-775 (This thing is the absolute worst motherboard ever!)
Power Supply - 'no brand' 400W
Memory - 1gb of DDR 'no name' RAM.


What i'm planning to go to:

Case - Antec Nine Hundred Advanced Gaming Case (1x200mm fan, 3x120mm fan. 2 more 120mm fans can be added). I've already bought this, so I can't change my mind on this.

Video Card - EVGA GeForce 8800GT Superclocked. 256-bit GeForce 8800GT (650MHz clock), 512MB GDDR3 memory (950MHz clock, 1900MHz effective).

Motherboard - ABIT Fatal1ty FP-IN9-SLI. I've had real trouble finding a decently priced motherboard. And I like this one

Power Supply - Corsair HX-620W. Already bought this one too (Hasn't arrived yet though).

Memory - Corsair Micro TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX.


I've got a 3.4GHz Pentium D Processor right now. It's the thing in my computer that requires to be upgraded the least, and I simply can't afford to upgrade it now.

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The parts that you have already ordered were very good selections.

Do you plan on overclocking? Even with some heavy overclocking I think that RAM will be overkill.

Don't get a 650i chipset board. They aren't compatible with the newest Intel CPUs. You should look into either 680i, 780i, P35, or X38. Right now 680i and P35 is much more practical. The X38 and 780i boards are still very overpriced.

Unless you plan on overclocking I would go with the P35. If you plan on overclocking this would be a very nice board: http://www.scorptec..../product/24498/.

Edited by Titan8990, 22 January 2008 - 01:45 PM.

[Titan8990]

The parts that you have already ordered were very good selections.

Do you plan on overclocking? Even with some heavy overclocking I think that RAM will be overkill.

Don't get a 650i chipset board. They aren't compatible with the newest Intel CPUs. You should look into either 680i, 780i, P35, or X38. Right now 680i and P35 is much more practical. The X38 and 780i boards are still very overpriced.

Unless you plan on overclocking I would go with the P35. If you plan on overclocking this would be a very nice board: http://www.scorptec..../product/24498/.

Edited by Titan8990, 22 January 2008 - 01:45 PM.

[james_8970]

Get the P35-DS3L motherboard from Gigabyte.
http://www.scorptec..../product/25085/
There must be another place you can buy from, that memory seems over priced even for Australia standards. We pay a fraction of the price over here.
Otherwise this build looks great.
James

Edited by james_8970, 22 January 2008 - 02:22 PM.

[Titan8990]

I looked for that board on that site and couldn't find it....

[stettybet0]

There's a lot of conflicting info on whether or not Intel's 45nm chips will work with NVIDIA's 6x0i mobos. As far as I know, the new dual-cores will with a BIOS update, but the quads will not. I'm hoping someone could prove me wrong, as I have a 680i and I really want a new quad.

[james_8970]

There's a lot of conflicting info on whether or not Intel's 45nm chips will work with NVIDIA's 6x0i mobos. As far as I know, the new dual-cores will with a BIOS update, but the quads will not. I'm hoping someone could prove me wrong, as I have a 680i and I really want a new quad.

That is correct. The new Wolfdale (dual core) will work on the 680i, the Yorkfields (quad core) will not.
James

[Seltox]

With regards to that Abit IP35, what's the main differences between the IP35 and the IP35 PRO? I'd probably be willing to put in the extra $20 simply coz it says "PRO" on it, but what's the real differences?

EDIT: Oh, I don't currently do any overclocking, but I do want to get into it. I'm a little scared of damaging my hardware, which is why I havn't done it yet. So I guess i'd like a decent overclocking board.

Edited by Seltox, 22 January 2008 - 08:46 PM.

[stettybet0]

Mild overclocking carries virtually no risk of damaging your hardware. The conception of "damaging" your hardware comes from the fact that once you get into more serious overclocking, voltages may need to be significantly raised to keep the component stable. The increase in voltage flowing through a component will shorten its lifespan by a few years. However, the decrease of lifespan from say, 8 to 5 years is a sacrifice most serious overclockers are willing to make as they won't be wanting the component for more than a year or two anyways. However, mild overclocks can be obtained without raising the voltage enough for this to become an issue. I don't know about a Pentium D (which are notoriously bad for overclocking due to their very high heat output), but my E6750 can OC from 2.66Ghz to 3.2Ghz on stock voltage. Therefore, I can get a nice little speed boost with no added risk.

I'm sure once you get your new mobo we could help you out with overclocking if you wish.

[Seltox]

Okay, here's a question. Should I put in the extra $20 for the IP35-PRO, or is it not worth it?

[Titan8990]

The Pro version appears to have dual LAN ports as well as onboard eSATA. Not worth the extra money IMO.

[Troy]

With regards to that Abit IP35, what's the main differences between the IP35 and the IP35 PRO? I'd probably be willing to put in the extra $20 simply coz it says "PRO" on it, but what's the real differences?

Obviously get the PRO version, then

[Seltox]

Yeah, I can call all my friends noobs and proclaim myself the pro gaming king. If they say anything against me I can tell them to 'LOOK AT MY MOTHERBOARD! IT SAYS I'M PRO!'.

I guess i've settled on that then. I can't quite afford it just yet, but soon I should be putting it all together.

Thanks all.

[Seltox]

Okay, just a small question regarding teh TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX RAM.

I don't have time to go exploring myself and a quick google search hasn't found anything. I think his RAM is 2.1v but i'm not sure. Motherboards come set as 1.8v for RAM, don't they? If this is the case, i'll have to go buy some cheapo DDR2 that runs at 1.8v, right?

Can anyone find out the voltage for the RAM? And how much is some cheapo DDR2 gonna cost? =p. It could be 32mb for all I care, just have to be able to get to the BIOS, right?

[Troy]

Hi Seltox,

This is wrong, you do not need to purchase anything extra, though the RAM might need to be run at 2.1V (It will tell you on the pack, or on a sticker on the RAM module itself), it can run at 1.8V no problem. Here's a case in point:

My computer = Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 and GeIL Ultra DDR2 800MHz. (Of course, there's more to it than that )

When I set everything up and started it, everything was running fantastic. I entered the BIOS and saw that the RAM was running at 800MHz (yipee) and 5-5-5-18 timings. My RAM is rated at 4-4-4-12 timings (quicker). To get everything running correctly, I had to a) up the stock voltage to 2.1V (marked as a +0.3V setting) and then I manually changed the timings to the lower 4-4-4-12.

If I was a noob I would have left it at 1.8V (with the higher timings) and thought how great my computer was, but of course, I'm not a noob, and my computer runs better

I hope this is helpful in some way

Troy

[Seltox]

On the note of video cards - the 8800GT is a very good video card to have right now isn't it?

Are there any new GeForce's coming out soon (Don't bother mentioning an ATI, I refuse to use those) and if so, how do they compare and how do they price? =p about what the 8800GT costs is my absolute maximum price right now though.

EDIT: Just a little more on video cards. I just looked around a little more and found a card that has slightly higher clock speeds, for $6 more. Tell me if you think it's worth it.

eVGA GeForce 8800GT Superclocked edition. This is what I was originally going to buy.

XFX GeForce 8800GT Alpha Dog XXX edition. This is what I just saw.

Compare:
eVGA - 650MHz, memory 950MHz with 1900MHz effective (How do these work?)
XFX - 670MHz, memory 975MHz with 1950MHz effective.

Would I simply be able to overclock a little bit to achieve the same results? And which do you think would run cooler, as I live in Australia and we're 3 quarters of a mile away from the sun. Even in my Antec Nine Hundred I think demanding games may still overheat my card (Crysis or something). Think it would be worthwhile buying two more 120mm fans for my case? (One can be mounted directly across from the video card, another can be mounted on the side.)

Thanks
~Seltox

Edited by Seltox, 25 January 2008 - 10:03 AM.