Need to upgrade for <$1k

M

Mjr Bigguns

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Jul 28, 2006
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I want to upgrade my pc and get off the ol' AGP era gfx.

My current system:
2.8ghz P4 Prescott socket 478
2x1gb Crucial Ballistix pc4000
Geforce 6800GT
ABIT Max3 mobo
74gb 10k Raptor HDD
Audigy 2
500W Ultra PSU
Exos2 Cooling system on CPU/GPU

I want something that has dual PCI-e for future SLI possibly.
And a 8800gtx to tear ass at BF2 and future dx10 @1650x1080
I was looking at socket 939 because that would save me from having to ditch my expensive ram but I may just be trading one dead tech for another.

This is what ive been looking at so far from the egg:

EVGA 123-K8-NF47-AX Is this a good OC'er?
MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E
AMD Opteron 165 Denmark 1.8GHz
People seem to be getting insane OC on this chip, is the performance of the opteron comparable to a similarly clocked X2?

Im not so familiar with the AMD - 'the Dark Side' I have been building P4 systems since my first self built 1.5ghz P4 Willy so any advise on things I might not be aware of/to look out for would be helpful.

Also need a good Socket 939 water block with 1/4" fittings.
 
I'm sure that eVGA board can OC fine, since its an nForce4SLI chipset. The performance of Opterons vs X2s (at the same clock speeds) are actually slightly higher, due to their extra cache (except, of course, for the X2's with the same 1MB cache per core as the opterons; in which case, performance is equal). Though, extra cache has proven to be not as big a factor in performance with these chips as opposed to higher clock speed. Socket 939 orders will be taken up until the end of this year. After which, AMD will only ship s754, AM2, and socket F, I believe. So yes, you are upgrading to a "dead" tech, but you will see performance gains.

You should consider upgrading to a Core2Duo and selling your current components to help offset the cost of the upgrade. You'll see more of a performance boost, and there is a better upgrade path (to quad core, kentsfield, etc). Also, since you have wc, you can push the E6300 pretty damn fast. On air, it can OC to 2.59Ghz and still be as good as an FX-62: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802&p=9

There is a VIA chipset board (AsRock 775Dual-VSTA) that supports both DDR and DDR2 (as well as AGP and PCI-E), but since you're goin with an 8800GTX, I'm afraid you won't be able to push that card to its full potential with that particular mobo (due to its 4x pci-e speed).

You could also do the 8800GTS instead of the GTX, and still get great performance in BF2. Although, it'll be slightly over your $1k limit since you want SLI:
$430 - eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 ($450 - $20MIR)
$250 - eVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
$210 - G.SKILL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ
$182 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
=========
$1072 + tax and shipping

I think a good alternative to the "eventual SLI plan," would be to sell your old extreme high end card and buy the new card out at the time. For example, if you had a 7800GTX from a year ago, sell that now, and buy an 8800GTX as an upgrade instead of buying another 7800GTX for SLI. So if you go for non-sli, you could save a bit there.
 
enginurd said:
You could also do the 8800GTS instead of the GTX, and still get great performance in BF2. Although, it'll be slightly over your $1k limit since you want SLI:
$430 - eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 ($450 - $20MIR)
$250 - eVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
$210 - G.SKILL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ
$182 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
=========
$1072 + tax and shipping
Click to expand...

thats a tasty setup right there. throw in a hsf (or watercooler if you're so inclined) and that's a $1000 damn well spent.
 
Personally unless you have a huge screen SLI is a waste.

You can get a cheaper board save a bit of 4 and get the GTS. That will hold you longer than the 6800 did.

January is also around the corner and ATI has their dx10 coming out = cheaper GTS
 
GMoney42392 said:
thats a tasty setup right there. throw in a hsf (or watercooler if you're so inclined) and that's a $1000 damn well spent.
Click to expand...
I think he has watercooling, since he asked for a s939 waterblock. Though, I have no suggestions for an LGA775 waterblock, hehe.

MC FLMJIG said:
Personally unless you have a huge screen SLI is a waste.

You can get a cheaper board save a bit of 4 and get the GTS. That will hold you longer than the 6800 did.

January is also around the corner and ATI has their dx10 coming out = cheaper GTS
Click to expand...
I agree.
 
enginurd said:
I think a good alternative to the "eventual SLI plan," would be to sell your old extreme high end card and buy the new card out at the time. For example, if you had a 7800GTX from a year ago, sell that now, and buy an 8800GTX as an upgrade instead of buying another 7800GTX for SLI. So if you go for non-sli, you could save a bit there.
Click to expand...

Yea I've been noticing in benchies that the sli/crossfire setups never seem to be able to really compete with the next generations single card offering.

I like that Core2 setup and i could probly recoup some of the difference by selling my current stuff.

So if SLI was taken out of the equation would there be a different mobo I should look at for Core2 or does the 680i just pwn all?
 
The 680 pwnz, but there are good alternatives if you don't want SLI. Here are a few:
$100 - Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express (review)
$116 - GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$145 - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$151 - ASUS P5B-E Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$183 - ASUS P5B Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express

Side-By-Side egglink:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16813127004,N82E16813131070,N82E16813131045

All of those boards can OC pretty well.
 
Mjr Bigguns said:
Yea I've been noticing in benchies that the sli/crossfire setups never seem to be able to really compete with the next generations single card offering.

I like that Core2 setup and i could probly recoup some of the difference by selling my current stuff.

So if SLI was taken out of the equation would there be a different mobo I should look at for Core2 or does the 680i just pwn all?
Click to expand...

Rememebr you need DDR2 for this and I would suggest DDr2 800 minimum.
So b4 we go any further are you sure that is what you want?

Abit was suppose to come out with a new "blue" ATX board. Where in the world is it?

Though I don't like Junkabyte a lot of ppl seem to be having success with the D3. The Asus deluxe is probably a good choice. Hey, even the Tforce might not be too bad for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Subcategory=280&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=
 
If you don't like those g.skills i recommended, here are some corsairs:
$228 - Corsair XMS2 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 TWIN2X2048-6400 ($268 - $40MIR)

The OCZ Plats 2gb ddr2-800 rev2 had a rebate before, but it seems its only rev1 with the rebate now. Those are goin for $218AR.

Though, the g.skills will work just fine. So I'd stick with those.
 
Ok I'm coming in a bit over my desired budget... but I cannot resist the GTX sirens call. :eek: something about the GTS missing pipes would get to me... at least with the 6800gt/ultra the only difference was the clocks.

So far I'm looking to go with the Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 board, E6300, G.Skill ram, eVGA 8800GTX and a Koolance waterblock

Comes to about $1210 shipped.

Will this ram get along well with the Mobo, im seeing lots of reports of tempermental T boards?

500W PSU is enough i hope...

Thx for all the help so far guys.
 
You're buying a water block too?

You don't need it, IMO, unless you already have the entire system. If you plan on staying with the board for more than 3 years get the other Junkabyte, heh heh sorry.They have better caps.

Edit: just re-read. How much is the koolance?
 
It's the same as the D3. However the caps on the D3 are much higher quality = LAST LONGER. If you don't upgrade for a long time I think the D3 is much better. I'm not saying the s will die in 1-3 years. hey, it may last 5 years. but why risk it? Are you going to OC? If you are and are planning on keeping the system for some time... go with the D3 or a board in the same area.

The block is a bit pricey and you could do better... lookie here

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=119699
and here
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=75873
 
Its not much of a risk by goin with the S3 as opposed to the DS3. Most components out right now use the same type of caps used on the S3, lol. Plus, Gigabytes have a 3yr warranty, so you'll be covered for at least 3 years. After which, would be a good time to upgrade your mobo, but you shouldn't have to, lol.

Go for the Core2Duo setup... you won't regret it. Its worth it. Just sell your old parts on fleabay.
 
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