Cheap Emergency Upgrade

[Neon2303]

Alright guys, here is the info:
My two friends gave me a good 800W power supply and a 7900GS video card as incentive to upgrade and play games with them.

I just bought a new 640GB hard drive.

I need a PCI Express motherboard for the 7900GS. I had an old thread involving a Socket 754 PCI express board, but I've decided that would be a waste of money to keep my old hardware and spend that much on an upgrade. Instead, I may as well make an upgrade to newer tech.

I require:
New Intel Processor
New Motherboard
New RAM

It can't be too expensive. I don't want to spend more than $360.
My current picks:

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
G.SKILL G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

What are your opinions?

I want it to last for about a year as far as gaming goes. I understand the 7900GS is aging, but I can eventually upgrade that. I'll have a job soon, and by then be able to build a new gaming rig.

 

[tiraides]

I suggest replacing the GA-EP35-DS3L with either the GA-EP43-DS3L or the MSI P43 Neo3-F. The Intel P43 chipset, which both boards have, supports PCI Express 2.0, so it's a nice option to have.

You don't need DDR2 1066 RAM to overclock the E7200; get the DDR2 800 kit instead. Some figures:

Formulas for Intel platform @ 1:1 settings: (base FSB speed is SDR, or single data rate)
c x [Base FSB speed] = CPU speed (c = CPU Multiplier)
2 x [Base FSB speed] = RAM speed (DDR: double data rate)
4 x [Base FSB speed] = FSB speed (QDR: quad data rate; Effective FSB speed)

On Intel platforms, running the RAM higher than a 1:1 ratio with the CPU is, for the most part, useless, so don't bother trying to do so. If the BIOS does it for you, just let it. All you need is a 1:1 config, though. Here's some possible clock speeds (as always with OC'ing, your results will vary):

E7200:
Multi x Actual FSB = Clock Speed, RAM Speed
9.5 × 266Mhz = 2.53Ghz, DDR2-533 <<== Stock speeds
9.5 × 333Mhz = 3.16Ghz, DDR2-667 <<== Easy OC
9.5 × 400Mhz = 3.8Ghz, DDR2-800 <<== Excellent OC

 

[Neon2303]

Thanks for the reply. You can always count on tiraides and enginurd to help you out.

A few questions:

The difference in price between the 1066 and 800 isn't much.
Is there a specific reason to get the 800 (such as for OC)?

Looking at enginurd's post... I don't have the world's best cooling (Centurion 5 stock with 80mm Front Fan and 120mm Rear Fan), so I don't plan on an extreme OC. I certainly will not be using liquid. Chances are I'll use a stock heating solution for the CPU, but I may switch to aftermarket if I can find one at a good price, or if any spare in my house supports 775 (I have to look).
What's a good target OC for the E7200 (assuming I use the DDR2 800 and a P43 board with above cooling)?

Side note:
Aside from the PCI Express 2.0, are there any major benefits the P43 chipset offers? I've read on [H] that PCI Express 2.0 is really there for the future, and certainly won't matter with a 7900GS. Since I don't plan on using this computer with anything more than an 8800GT or 9800, is it really needed?

 

[tiraides]

Truthfully, you don't need a motherboard with the P43 chipset right now, as today's PCI-E 2.0 cards are backwards compatible with the P35's PCI-E 1.1 bus. However, in addition to the P43 chipset and PCI-E 2.0 support, both boards have more SATA ports than the GA-EP35-DS3L for around the same price. (The GA-EP43-DS3L can be found for a bit less at ZipZoomFly.)

The recommendation of DDR2 800 RAM is primarily to save (some) money, because you may reach the processor's OC limitations before you reach the RAM's. However, the price of the DDR2 1066 kit is relatively good, especially compared to the prices of 2GB kits from other brands.

Though I don't recommend using the stock HSF while overclocking, you may be able to get a decent overclock of the E7200 with it. You could probably reach around 3GHz on stock cooling, but YMMV. However, if you can afford to, you may want to consider an aftermarket CPU cooler, like the Xigmatek HDT-S963 (if you go with it, I recommend getting the ACK-I7751 retention bracket to make mounting it easier for you).

 

[Neon2303]

I like the XIGMATEK. Thanks for showing me a good bracket. I hate dealing with 775 mounting issues.

I currently have 4 drives: 2 SATA, 2 IDE. I have a single IDE optical as well.

The GA-P35-DS3L got good reviews here and the EP35 is the newer model... but if I stuck with P35 is the EP35 still the board to get, or is there a better option from other manufacturers these days?

On the P43 front, $86 @zipzoomfly is much closer to $84 P35 than $94 @ newegg. It makes me consider P43 more. Would it be OK to assume the EP43 is comparable in build quality and features and OC support to the EP35?

I trust your judgment and recommendations.

PS.
Your comment on the 1066 RAM has me thinking I should just get it because it doesn't make much of a difference and the prices are so close. Am I correct to believe this?

 

[tiraides]

Regarding the RAM, many people may consider getting the DDR2 1066 (for overclocking the E7200) overkill. At the price the G.Skill 2GB kit is, however, no one will make that much of a fuss over it. Get what you want; though you probably don't need the DDR2 1066 kit, it won't kill your budget.

The P43 motherboards I mentioned earlier will work just as well as the GA-EP35-DS3L. I recommended the P43 boards for their additional SATA ports and as a long-term platform, as there is the possibility that future video cards would only support PCI-E 2.0. (Again, it's not a necessity right now, but at that price range....) The problem you'll run into is that, regardless of the motherboard you end up choosing, you'll only have one IDE slot (that supports two drives) to work with. You may want to consider buying a spend a SATA optical drive, like the Samsung SH-S223F, and use the IDE port for both hard drives.

 

[Neon2303]

Well, I may as well go with DDR2 800 due to cost if I get a SATA optical drive (looks like a necessity).

Also, I'll get the P43 because if I have any external eSATA drives in the future it'll be good the have the extra ports.

Summary:
P43 board, DDR2 800 RAM, XIGMATEK cooling, new SATA optical (and of course the E7200)
Looks sound?

Oh, and for P43, Gigabyte or MSI or other. I like Gigabyte but if you have any major concerns or feel one would be better, do tell.

 

[tiraides]

Many people consider the Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L to be one of the better overclocking P43-based motherboards. If you want eight SATA ports, however, consider the MSI P43 Neo3-F instead.

Other than that, everything sounds good.

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

this is the BEST bang for the buck you are going to get

4GB ram $70
G33M $80
E8500 $170

total $320

 

[tiraides]

this is the BEST bang for the buck you are going to get

4GB ram $70
G33M $80
E8500 $170

total $320

Please explain why that's the best bang for the buck.

 

[Neon2303]

Yah, I'm not seeing it, YeuEmMaiMai.

 

[tiraides]

this is the BEST bang for the buck you are going to get

4GB ram $70
G33M $80
E8500 $170

total $320

Compared to the above setup, the OP is considering (a NewEgg-only setup):

$120 - Intel E7200 (free shipping)
$25 - Xigmatek HDT-S963 CPU cooler
$7 - Xigmatek ACK-I7751 retention bracket
$84 - MSI P43 Neo3-F ($10 mail-in rebate)
$40 - G.Skill 2x1GB DDR2 800 kit (free shipping)
$23 - Samsung SH-S223F (free shipping)
=====
$299 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

That's a much better deal -- he's getting more items -- for less money. And the "advantages" that a better processor and more memory would provide isn't that significant. The OP could overclock the E7200 to around 3GHz (or higher), which would all but eliminate any possible bottlenecking issues with games; and 2GB of RAM is more than enough memory for many games and programs. (Don't get me wrong, though: The OP could easily afford to double his memory capacity for only $23 more.)