Time for an upgrade!

K

Kelvarr

Supreme [H]ardness
2FA
Joined
Jul 19, 2001
Messages
4,521
Well, I have made my trusty P4c 2.6GHz Northwood last quite a while. Saturday, my 6800GT AGP card died. Rather than just upgrade that (again), I figure the P4c has given me 5 years of service, so I will retire it.

Ideally, I want to spend no more than $500 (can be bumped up to about $700 if needed), and still be able to crank something out. Here is what I am looking at so far, so please let me know how I have done:

Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R
RAM: G-Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ
Proc: Q6600
Power Supply: ??? - something that will run the above. My current PS has only a 20 pin power plug, so I need something new.
Video Card: Some brand of an 8800GT (still the best bang for the buck?)

Hard Drives, Optical Drives will all be staying the same right now...just doing the core.

Usage will be moderate gaming and general use. Upgrade path probably won't be for another 2 years, short of adding some hard drives or maybe DDR3.
 
Check out the DS3L if you don't really need the raid controller, can save some money there to put toward GPU/CPU.

Q6600 would be an excellent choice and would blow the socks off your previous CPU. Some excellent deals, Seen it for 190-200 around Microcenter and Fry's/Outpost. Thumbsup! E8400 wouldn't be bad either.

8800GT is a great chioce. 9600GT is pretty close and can be had for cheap as well.

A lot of these new P35 boards don't haev native IDE controllers, addon J-micron. I don't know how windows xp/vista handles installing off of these third party controllers, but I'd not like to deal with the headache. I'd recommend going SATA and using the regular intel controller for OS hdd and optical drive for installing the OS.

Check out the Enermax Liberty 500W, should have plenty of power, and modular cable support. Corsair HX520 as well. If you dont' care about modular, I'd hit up the list of 80 plus certified units:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...E&N=2010320058 1409730089&bop=And&Order=PRICE
I would probably flip a coin between the Corsair 450VX and Antec EA500. Good prices after rebate.
 
There is no reason to even begin thinking about DDR3. I would just go DDR2 for now, worry about DDR3 in 2-3 years for your next upgrade to Nahalem or whatever Intel's selling in a couple of generations.
 
So no DDR3...I wasn't sure about that and thought that for the extra $8, I would get the DDR3 board...but I'll save where I can save.

Power Supply: Ah yes! Modular. I actually want a modular supply, so those are a couple of good suggestions for me to look at. I guess I would just rather not have the extra wiring when it comes down to it. If I need to cut some money, then I'll consider non-modular.

Motherboard: It isn't really the raid controller that I want, but the DS3R has 8 SATA ports. DS3L only has 4 that I saw. (So maybe it is really the raid controller?) I really don't use raid right now, but rather just using them as additional ports.

I didn't know though that the J-micron wasn't a native IDE controller. How can I tell from the specs whether it has the J-micron or the intel controller? The DS3R says Intel P35 for Northbridge and Intel ICH9R for the Southbridge.

Ideally, I would like to have 2 IDE/PATA ports (support for 4 devices), as I have a few older HDD's I wouldn't mind using. But the only board I've seen with that was a DFI that was $190.
 
You can do this:

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-P35DS3L - $90 at NewEgg
CPU - Q6600 at Microcenter for $200
RAM - A-DATA 2x2gig DDR2 800 - $70 at NewEgg
Video Card - EVGA Geforce 8800GT - $195 ($30 MIR) at NewEgg or EVGA Geforce 9600GT - $150 at NewEgg
PS - Corsair VX450 at Buy.com for $70 ($10 off through Google checkout)

Total $580 - $625 w/o shipping and before rebates.
 
The Intel P35 chipset has no native EIDE support. Therefore, all current Bearlake chipsets (P35/G35/X38/etc) don't natively support IDE, so board manufacturers use a 3rd party controller (jmicron). Your best option is to pickup a PCI IDE Controller card for around ~$10. If you want 8x SATA ports, then the DS3R is great. It took my E6750 to 3.8Ghz. :D

Go for the Corsair 520W if you want modular.
 
If I don't go modular, is this a decent power supply? Or am I better off sticking with the Corsairs? And do the number of 12V rails matter if I am not doing Crossfire or SLI?

Also, what is the general concensus on wattage? My current PS is a 500W one, but obviously is not 80+ certified nor does it have the 24 pin power plug. Would 500W be considered the minimum? 450W?

I have next to zero knowledge in the PS area.
 
Heh, my bad. I did not bother to even read this part.

Kelvarr said:
Ideally, I would like to have 2 IDE/PATA ports (support for 4 devices), as I have a few older HDD's I wouldn't mind using. But the only board I've seen with that was a DFI that was $190.
Click to expand...
 
Not a problem HG. It isn't like the board I have in my OP has two IDE either.
 
Yea, Logysis stay away.

The fewer rails the better, one single large rail is the best setup.

A quality 450W, like the Corsair or Seasonic on newegg would work. But I would still recommend a 500W. The Antec Earthwatts, and typically for modular the Enermax has the best price if you filter by 80plus certified and modular and the list by price.

$90 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&Subcategory=58&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=

edit: although at second glance, it doesn't have free shipping, and the corsair does. Puts their prices very close. Meh, coin toss.
 
Is there an appreciable difference between the 9600GT the XFX 9600GT XXX, the EVGA Superclocked 9600GT, and these two (EliteGroup w/ Arctic Cooler 8800GT)(EVGA 8800GT)??

Does the 25MHz difference between the XXX and Superclocked make that much of a difference?

I can tell from gpureview that the 8800GT has the higher Texture fill rate, but the 9600GT has the higher Pixel fill rate. 9600 has slightly higher core clock, slightly less power consumption, but also half the texture units. Obviously, can read those differences, but is there any noticable real world difference, since I won't be running benchmarking tools all the time? I have read a couple threads leaning towards the 8800GT, and a couple towards the 9600GT. I would like to stay closer to $500 than $700, but if an extra $40 means a better card, or one that will last a bit longer, I'll pay it.

To throw a final loop in the whole thing, what about the 8800GT compared to the Radeon 3870?

Just as an FYI, I am running on a Sony e540 Trinitron 21" CRT. The highest I play (or can play I think) is at 1280x1024...possibly 1600x1200 (although the old system wouldn't run that res). I DO plan on upgrading to an LCD sometime in the future, but it is not in this upgrade/build.
 
HardOCP has some great roundups of 9600GT's and 8800GT's. Take a look at the difference in in-game setting quality they can select and see for yourself. Also realize that Hard is running much higher res than you are.

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ4NSwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ3NywsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ2OSwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ2NiwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ0OCwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQyNiwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

Sony Trinitron should do even higher than 1600x1200, if memory serves it should be able to do somet funky 1920x.... something 5:4 ratio resolution. Excellent displays of the time.
 
Since you have a CRT, you can save money on the GPU by lowering your gaming resolution. In addition to the [H] reviews, there are multiple review sites linked in the GenHard FAQ WLWC, so check them out. IIRC, the HD3870 was no match for the 8800GT. I haven't read up on the 9600GT, but I'd assume its all you need for your CRT monitor.

As far as clock speeds go, get the cheapest one you can and OC it yourself if you want it to be faster. The cards with better cooling solutions tend to OC better than cards with reference cooling.
 
Yeah...I've been reading since I posted, and have since crossed the 3870 off my list. Just trying to make a personal decision now, as to whether the price jumps are worth it: 9600GT < 8800GT < 8800GTS (G92). Total difference of about $80-$100. Like I said, I'll do it and get it done with if it is a lot better/lasts longer.
 
Well, I have started. I got in on the Fry's deal for the Q6600 for $186.44 shipped. I couldn't really pass it up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top