Need a lil advice.

T

twogunpete

n00b
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
54
this is my first time posting so bear with me.Iam thinking of upgrading my pc and have a list of components that i would like you guys opinion on.

my current rig is as follows:
asus a7v880 mobo
sempron 3000+ o/c'ed 12*200 at a 400.5 fsb w/ thermalright si-97a heatpipe cooler
asus n6600 td/le
2x1gb g.skill pc3200 2.5,2,2,6@1t
sound blaster live ls
mag crt flat screen @1280x1024 resolution
all in apevia x-plorer case


ok.i am wanting to reuse my ram and heatsink,but i want to go sli.this is the stuff im wanting to get.

2x xfx geforce 7600gt's
a8n-sli premium mobo
opteron 170
pewertek 750w f-5 sli power supply (comes with mobo as combo).


i would really appreciate any advice i can get.thks you guys are awesome!:cool:
 
a single 7900gt/gs/gto/7950gt will be much better for you than dual 7600GT's. that way you can add a second 79** series card in the future instead of being stuck with both pci-e slots full.
 
Sell the ram and go for a core2duo rig instead. It would be a much better investment than a s939 system, especially since s939 has reached EOL.

So that opteron setup would have cost you around $650? If you don't sell the ram, go for this build for under $650:
$180 - Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz 2MB L2 Cache
$110 - G.Skill 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-1GBNQ
$105 - Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$165 - His Hightech H195PRF256DDN-R Radeon X1950PRO 256MB ($175 - $10MIR)
$52 - XClio GoodPower 500W
=========
$612 + tax and shipping (after rebate)

if you do sell the ram, or find you have more money to spend, go for this ram instead:
$210 - G.SKILL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ

Th E4300 can OC easier than the E6300 and will outpeform any AMD CPU. If you can wait, the price on this chip should be $113 in Q2'07.

I agree with Apoxi that you should get a single card solution over 2 7600GT's. However, I don't agree with "upgrading" to SLI. SLI as an upgrade path is not a good idea because there will always be a better single card solution; and you can sell your old card to help offset the cost of the upgrade. SLI isnt needed unless you have a 24" LCD monitor or larger.
 
i really appreciate you takingthe time to replyto my post.i have had a good experience with amd and hate to change , but i will give this setup a try thanks for the advice it sounds really good!wish me luck.when i get it up and running i will let you guys know.
and thks a gain!
 
Yeah, whichever way you go, I wouldn't do SLI at this point. Go for one high-end card - and then, once you need more power, you can do SLI. One high-power card makes more sense to me than two mid-range cards.
 
twogunpete said:
oh!one other question, will my sata 1.5 gb/s work on that mobo?
Click to expand...
Yes. SATA is backwards compatible, but will be limited to the slower device. (eg. sata150 hdd plugged into a sata300 controller, performance would be sata150; sata300 hdd plugged into a sata150 controller, performance would be sata150)

I suggest the best build for the budget. If you're budget was lower, you probably would've had to go AMD. But this core2duo build is worth it for the performance you get.
 
1 x Radeon X1950XT outta do it. This card can beat a 7950GT and in some cases even a 7900GTX. For the price of $260, it beats any card out there in its price range.
 
Don't bother with the powertek 750. HX 520 >.

Else, enginurd's is what you want.
 
Bbq said:
Don't bother with the powertek 750. HX 520 >.

Else, enginurd's is what you want.
Click to expand...
I forgot to mention about the PSU, and Bbq beat me to it. If you didnt catch that, let me translate... "The powertek 750 sux. HX520W is better, period. If you can't afford the HX 520W for $96AR, then the XClio Goodpower 500W is your best choice for 'cheap, but good.'"
 
should i opt for extra ram or get a better cpu fan and heatsink?my si-97a wont work on that rig.oh and i already have a 550w hikiri psu but it has 20 pin connector, is there an adapter or should i just get the xclio?
 
newegg has corsair 1 gb 2x 512 xms with heatspreaders for $123 right now,would that be better than 2 gb of g.skill?
 
e4300 is a good CPU from all reviews, and the intel stock cooler is fine :)

change the x1950 pro to a 7950gt or a 7900gt... better performance, and the x1950 is crossfire, not SLi, so im not sure why it was even mentioned...

spend the extra 10 bucks for the 2gb of ram :p its worth it

(this is all for enginurd's setup )
 
twogunpete said:
should i opt for extra ram or get a better cpu fan and heatsink?my si-97a wont work on that rig.oh and i already have a 550w hikiri psu but it has 20 pin connector, is there an adapter or should i just get the xclio?
Click to expand...
I would strongly suggest the 2GB of ram, and you could sell your DDR ram and other parts to help offset the cost.
twogunpete said:
newegg has corsair 1 gb 2x 512 xms with heatspreaders for $123 right now,would that be better than 2 gb of g.skill?
Click to expand...
No, 1GB Corsair XMS would NOT be better than 2GB of G.Skill. There are Corsair XMS sticks that usually cost about $10 more than the G.Skill sticks, and if you want to pay for the brand name, then go ahead. But the G.Skills work just as good as the Corsairs.
0mega said:
e4300 is a good CPU from all reviews, and the intel stock cooler is fine :)

change the x1950 pro to a 7950gt or a 7900gt... better performance, and the x1950 is crossfire, not SLi, so im not sure why it was even mentioned...

spend the extra 10 bucks for the 2gb of ram :p its worth it

(this is all for enginurd's setup )
Click to expand...
The Intel Stock cooler is fine until about 2.8-3.0Ghz... after that, you should really get an aftermarket one.

Crossfire or SLI is irrelevant, since the board has a P965 Express chipset. Even if it were an SLI/Crossfire chipset, both cards work with or without a second card. He had 2x7600GTs in SLI... and that isnt worth it. you'd be better off with a single card solution instead. Choose whichever one fits your budget. They're listed in order of performance, first is best:
X1950XTX ($360) >> 7900GTX (n/a) > X1950XT ($230) > 7950GT ($200) > X1950Pro ($165) >= 7900GT ($200) > 7900GS ($150)

X1950XTX ($360) >
7900GTX (out of stock) >
X1950XT ($230) >
7950GT ($200) >
7900GT ($200) =
X1950Pro ($165) >
7900GS ($150) >
7600GT ($100)

Its not an extra $10 for 2GB... its an extra $10 for "Corsair" 1GB versus 2GB "G.Skill" ... and the 2GB wins, but costs $100 more. 2GB is still worth the price, imo. If you want cheaper options, here's an egghunt. The GeiL, with its rebate and 4-4-4-12 timing, would be better than the G.Skill.
 
thanks for all the info guys!:) i cant wait to set this up!
with this setup i can give my skt A setup to the kids so they will stop bugging me to play BF 2!LOL
 
enginurd said:
I would strongly suggest the 2GB of ram, and you could sell your DDR ram and other parts to help offset the cost.

No, 1GB Corsair XMS would NOT be better than 2GB of G.Skill. There are Corsair XMS sticks that usually cost about $10 more than the G.Skill sticks, and if you want to pay for the brand name, then go ahead. But the G.Skills work just as good as the Corsairs.

The Intel Stock cooler is fine until about 2.8-3.0Ghz... after that, you should really get an aftermarket one.

Crossfire or SLI is irrelevant, since the board has a P965 Express chipset. Even if it were an SLI/Crossfire chipset, both cards work with or without a second card. He had 2x7600GTs in SLI... and that isnt worth it. you'd be better off with a single card solution instead. Choose whichever one fits your budget. They're listed in order of performance, first is best:
X1950XTX ($360) >> 7900GTX (n/a) > X1950XT ($230) > 7950GT ($200) > X1950Pro ($165) >= 7900GT ($200) > 7900GS ($150)

X1950XTX ($360) >
7900GTX (out of stock) >
X1950XT ($230) >
7950GT ($200) >
7900GT ($200) =
X1950Pro ($165) >
7900GS ($150) >
7600GT ($100)

Its not an extra $10 for 2GB... its an extra $10 for "Corsair" 1GB versus 2GB "G.Skill" ... and the 2GB wins, but costs $100 more. 2GB is still worth the price, imo. If you want cheaper options, here's an egghunt. The GeiL, with its rebate and 4-4-4-12 timing, would be better than the G.Skill.
Click to expand...

couldda sworn it said 120... didnt bother checking the link... did you make a typo or did i read it backwards? :S
 
$180 - Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz 2MB L2 Cache
$110 - G.Skill 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-1GBNQ
$105 - Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$165 - His Hightech H195PRF256DDN-R Radeon X1950PRO 256MB ($175 - $10MIR)
$52 - XClio GoodPower 500W
=========
$612 + tax and shipping (after rebate

this is what im going with :went ahead with the 2 gb ram upgrade ,everything else is same.this sounds like a sweet build! thanks for the help.this is my first time with intel so wish me luck!:)
 
Don't buy the Powertek PSU. Unproven, and just looking at it, not too promising. I mean, they can't even add properly. Or spell Continuous properly. That doesn't give me much hope.

And, it's quite expensive for what you get. Corsair HX 520 has more USABLE power (40a on the +12v), quality, and it's only about 100 at zzf, shipped.
 
twogunpete said:
should i go vista yet?
Click to expand...
No... wait for SP1 or some other compelling reason (some game you want to play is DX10).
Bbq said:
Don't buy the Powertek PSU. Unproven, and just looking at it, not too promising. I mean, they can't even add properly. Or spell Continuous properly. That doesn't give me much hope.

And, it's quite expensive for what you get. Corsair HX 520 has more USABLE power (40a on the +12v), quality, and it's only about 100 at zzf, shipped.
Click to expand...
He went with the XClio Goodpower.
twogunpete said:
$180 - Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz 2MB L2 Cache
$110 - G.Skill 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-1GBNQ
$105 - Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$165 - His Hightech H195PRF256DDN-R Radeon X1950PRO 256MB ($175 - $10MIR)
$52 - XClio GoodPower 500W
=========
$612 + tax and shipping (after rebate

this is what im going with :went ahead with the 2 gb ram upgrade ,everything else is same.this sounds like a sweet build! thanks for the help.this is my first time with intel so wish me luck!:)
Click to expand...
You did go with a 2x1gb kit, right? just double checking.
 
thanks enginurd !! i am very pleased! i am a lil lost though , intel is all new to me lol!
 
well for starters i am getting different readings on the core temp.easy tune and coretemp show each core at 27 c , but the bios says 35c.
i have already updated the bios and easytune software and no changes!

also system seems laggy in windows but seems ok in a game.i ran 3d mark 06 and my score was 4789,everything running at stock speeds.
 
laggy in windows? is this a fresh install of windows? if not, that may be the cause. the temps are different between easytune/BIOS and coretemp because they read the temps differently, I believe. Intel's TAT should also give you a different reading, hehe, but should be the most accurate.
 
TaT says both cores temp is 50c @ idle! can it really be 30 degrees off from the the bios and easy tune 5?
 
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